Echoes of the Infernal Machine: 1940s French and English Literature of Resistance and Collaboration as a Revolution in the Mythic Imagination

Author(s): Tadd Graham Fernée / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2019

This article comparatively examines French and English literature based on two novels published in 1947, Malcolm Lowry’s Under the Volcano and Jean-Louis Curtis’ The Forests of Night. Both novels employ the mythic device to construct narratives on the twilight of the British Empire and the German occupied French Vichy regime, respectively, depicting experiences of resistance and collaboration on the eve of and during the Second World War. Both invent a system of symbolic imagery modelled on the Surrealist template in Jean Cocteau’s The Infernal Machine, that turns the classical mythic device still prevalent in the early 20th century (i.e. in Joyce or Eliot) upside down. The revolution in Mythic Imagination follows the Structuralist Revolution initiated by Durkheim, Saussure and Bachelard, evacuating fixed ontological architecture to portray relational interdependency without essence. These novels pursue overlapping ethical investigations, on “non-interventionism” in Lowry and “fraternity” in Curtis. The novels raise questions about the relation between colonialism and fascism and the impact of non-Western mythic universes (i.e. Hinduism) upon the Mythic Imagination. They have implications for our understanding of gender relations, as well as the value of political activism and progress.

Milton’s Two-Handed Engine as a Conceptual Metaphor

Author(s): Robert Tindol / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2019

One of the longstanding mysteries of English poetry is the identification of the “two-handed engine” from John Milton’s 1638 poem “Lycidas,” with which Saint Peter threatens to “strike once, and strike no more” the clergy who have been remiss in their duties. A new way of looking at the image is to read the entire passage with George Lakoff and Mark Turner’s theory of conceptual metaphors in mind. The strength of this approach is to show that identification of the two-handed engine should be considered within the context of the entire poem. As many commentators have argued, Lycidas’s posthumous fate as the “genius of the shore” does not rest solely in the actions of Saint Peter, but instead involves a reconciliation that amalgamates elements of both Christianity and the classical world as well as nature. The conceptual metaphor thus provides a single combinatory image.

The Ageing Poet and Death Anxiety: Art as Existential Therapy in John Pepper Clark’s Of Sleep And Old Age

Author(s): Issa Omotosho Garuba / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2019

Death anxiety refers to the human experience of death awareness and the accompanying inescapable disquiet it provokes. It is a phenomenon in human existence which has attracted substantial studies from existential and psychological perspectives. Noting that every individual experiences this anxiety at some point in life, largely as a result of the awareness of the inevitability of death, the manner and extent to which it is experienced vary from individuals. Meanwhile, existential reflections have described ‘death acceptance’ as the healthy route to lessening this angst. It therefore presupposes that acceptance of death (i.e. knowing that one is a being-towards-death and therefore embracing and acknowledging it) is existentially therapeutic. On this note, in studying J. P. Clark’s Of Sleep and Old Age, artistic creativity is being constructed in the study as an existential therapy against death anxiety for the poetic persona. It is premised, on the one hand, on the poet’s eloquent vision of the boredom of existence and the horror of death which characterize the atmosphere of the text. On the other, the poet’s age has been considered as a factor-agent which has bestowed on him the capacity to be conscious of an imminent death, thereby accepting it via keen reflections in his art. The study adopts two theoretical models in existential studies: (1) Monika Ardelt’s ‘Wisdom’, ‘Religiosity’ and ‘Purpose in Life’ and (2) John Sommers-Flanagan and Rita Sommers-Flanagan’s model of ‘Existential Therapy’ to assess the sway and/or centrality of death anxiety to understanding the text.

Съвременните технологии и тяхната роля в (чуждо)езиковото обучение през XXI век

Author(s): Georgi Dzhumayov / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 1/2020

The article is based on modern technologies and their role in (foreign) language learning in the 21st century. The main objective is to identify ways in which information and communication technologies can facilitate the process of foreign language acquisition and make it faster and more successful. Particular attention has been paid to computer-assisted language learning, internet technologies and mobile-assisted language learning, as they are essential and influential in the creation of foreign language teaching systems, the preparation of (foreign) language teachers and (foreign) language training in general.

„Роза Преображения“ – полилог Алексея Веселовского, Вячеслава Иванова и Ваана Терьяна

Author(s): Suren T. Zolyan / Language(s): Russian Issue: 1/2020

We consider peculiarities of poetic meaning creation in the processes of intertextualization and contextualization while analysing a unique case of a polylogue between an academic scholar (A.N. Veselovsky) and poets belonging to different languages ​​and cultures (Vyach. Ivanov, V. Teryan). Veselovsky’s article “From the poetics of a Rose” became a source for Ivanov’s poem “The Rose of Transfiguration”, then it became the basis for the sonnet of V. Teryan. We demonstrate that intertextuality is a complex and non-linear interaction between texts and meanings. The archetypal semantics of the rose and the motives of flame, blood, and also death and resurrection associated with it are contextualized in relation to the Christian holiday, personal myth-making, the tragic events of the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire. The mythopoetic semantics of the symbol synthesizes various cultures and poetic traditions, creating opportunities for multidimensional semantization and partial translatability of different “texts-echoes”. Expressing new content in different contexts, semantics is based on the same symbols; this leads to a cascade-like actualization of their potential, especially when considering texts connected by intertextual relations in their integrity - as a kind of super-text.

Руският куртоазен маниеризъм – авангарден блясък в постмодернистки контекст

Author(s): Magdalena Kostova-Panayotova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 1/2020

The article studies a phenomenon from the end of XX century in Russian poetry, which is distinguished by its own philosophy and the impulse to revive the refined vocabulary in Russian literature; to bring back to life the cult of beauty, personal life and pleasure, as opposed to the collectivist messages of the Soviet era and the cold breath of the totalitarian winter. The outward manifestations of the works of courtesy poets – the quotient polyphony, the travesties and mystifications, the sarcastic game of their poems – are very reminiscent of postmodern deconstruction. In our view, however, considering its ambition, message, and impulse, this phenomenon is a late avant-garde, realizing its aspirations in a postmodern interior. One of the most characteristic features of the late avant-garde, as well as the avant-garde of the 10s of the XX century, is the rebellious attitude of the spirit, the search for new horizons of meaning. The already known and established is rejected. The skepticism of this art is related to distrust of the adopted measures and categories, hence the negation of the laws, the affirmation of creative improvisation, of the work born in the act of reading. The claim of significance of the word in relation to the fate of culture and art is also preserved.

Граматически игри, Синтактичната игра Питанките на МеСиЗа: създаване и хоризонти на очакване

Author(s): Petya Barkalova,Iva Nedeleva / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 3/2020

The paper presents an attempt to gamify the process of teaching Bulgarian syntax. It is based on a university course in Modern Bulgarian Syntax for the philological and educational programs in the Department of Philology at the University of Plovdiv. The theoretical model of the sentence follows the rules of the phrase structure. The main principle of language analysis, which is presented as a game, is focused on the sentence structure in Bulgarian. The skills for presenting structural graphic representations are being developed. The function of words as parts of the sentence are presented through syntactic projections which are being configured by the students and this develops their critical thinking. The authors provide students with a completely new educational tool by creating the pilot version of 'The MeSiZa's Questions' /grammar game for Meta Language Symbolic Representation/. Scientifically, the implications belong to the e-Science paradigm. The authors offer a further collaboration and partnership to the teachers in Bulgarian language to apply this innovative approach, i.e the use of grammar games, into school teaching practice.

Framing the Identity of an Ideal Primary School Teacher of English

Author(s): Oleksandr Kapranov / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2020

The article presents a study that aimed to examine how primary school teachers of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) framed the identity of an ideal EFL teacher. The specific research aim was to identify and classify frames associated with the identity of an EFL primary school teacher in the corpus of reflective essays of approximately 1000 words about an ideal EFL teacher in Norwegian primary school contexts written by 32 Norwegian in-service primary school EFL teachers. It was hypothesised that the participants’ framing would be reflective of the identity of an ideal EFL teacher in Norway. The corpus of the participants’ essays was analysed in accordance with the framing methodology developed by Entman (1993) and Dahl (2015). The results of the framing analysis indicated that the participants in the study framed the identity of an ideal EFL teacher via frames associated with future ideal selves, ought-to selves, the identity of their former EFL teachers, and the identity of an ideal EFL teacher as a fictional character. The study implications would be beneficial to pre-service and current in-service EFL teachers and teacher-trainers alike, who could treat the results as a collective “portrait” of an ideal EFL teacher.

К проблеме формирования риторической культуры преподавателя высшей школы

Author(s): Liudmila Luneva / Language(s): Russian Issue: 4/2020

The teacher has a special role in the development and improvement of speech culture in the society. The teacher’s word as his main instrument must be the model of verbal intelligence, the model of high speech culture. This article deals with the typical lecturer’s speech errors and investigates means to avoid errors during the specialized course in the system of professional development.This article presents analysis and monitoring of speech etiquette of teachers of different subjects, highlights experience of how to refer to spell books and various dictionaries and introduces different ways of improving communicative activity through the system of professional development at Samara State Transport University.

Фраземы с колоративным компонентом в методике преподавания русского языка как иностранного

Author(s): Nadya Cherneva,Boryana Tencheva / Language(s): Russian Issue: 4/2020

The article is devoted to the Russian phrasemes with a colorative component as a means of forming linguo-cultural competence and developing emotional intelligence during the process of teaching Russian as a foreign language. The phraseological units as a linguistic and cultural sign always evoke strong interest among linguists and also the neophrasemes further enrich the lexico-phraseological system and conceptualize reality through emotional images. The main focus of the research includes analysis of the expressional and emotional characteristics of the phrasemes mentioned above. The article is interdisciplinary: it reveals a structural-semantic typology, as well as a system of exercises that can be involved in the teaching process when developing the listening, reading, writing and speaking on level B1-B2 in accordance with the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.

Актуалност на проблема за прилагане на театралнопедагогическо взаимодействие в подготовката на бъдещи учители (Резултати от измерителна процедура)

Author(s): Rositsa Penkova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 5/2020

The article analyzes the results of a survey with students from the pedagogical specialties of the Pedagogical College - Pleven at the University of Veliko Turnovo „St.St. Cyril and Methodius". The measurement procedure reflects the students' opinion about the application of pedagogical animation in teaching, which is based on the theatrical pedagogical interaction. The survey was conducted in order to determine the degree of recognition of the nature of pedagogical animation, the degree of readiness to apply innovative forms and methods of pedagogical animation and the degree of satisfaction of students in their basic preparation.

Езиково табу и детабуизация на медийната реч (Номинации за обозначаване на половата принадлежност и на семейните и сексуални отношения)

Author(s): Andreana Eftimova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 1/2020

The article draws attention to the linguistic aspects of the problem of speaking in the field of gender and sexual relations. My observations show numerous examples of euphemistic names for marital status, sexual relations and intimate body parts. The presence of euphemisms in the tabloid media and their active use there refute the perception in linguistics (and in particular in stylistics) that euphemisms are a feature of a single type of socially restricted speech (i.e. that they are part of official / high registers). My observations clearly show that in the media environment in Bulgaria there is a clear tendency for the active use of euphemisms within the informal speech register. This tendency is defined as brand new, formed at the end of the 20th century and actively manifested at the beginning the 21st century in journalistic style. Dysphemistic nominations are mostly jargon words and contradictory evaluations include nominations belonging to the group of international terms – impotent, vagina, penis. The transformation of medical terminology into dysphemisms and taboo names is due to the fact that the denoted concepts are strongly prohibited. This is further transmitted to the very terms denoting them.

Styl jako praktyka i forma pamięci zbiorowej

Author(s): Marta Wójcicka / Language(s): Polish Issue: 1/2017

Przedmiotem artykułu są relacje między stylem językowym a pamięcią zbiorową. Styl,ujmowany semiotycznie i antropologicznie, stanowi jedną z form pamięci zbiorowej, obok typutekstu kultury, odmiany, a także gatunku tekstu. Styl jest wyrazem, świadectwem przeszłości.Ze stylu indywidualnego, np. uznanych pisarzy, odczytać można ich obraz rzeczywistości, wtym także przeszłości. Styl jest więc nośnikiem zarówno pamięci indywidualnej danego pisarza,jak też świadectwem przeszłości, w której żył i tworzył. Style typowe stanowią lustroodzwierciedlające właściwe dla danej epoki konwencje wyrażania. Styl przechowuje więcobraz przeszłości, indywidualnej i zbiorowej, jest środkiem dotarcia do niej oraz sposobemwyrażania przeszłości oraz mówienia o przeszłości i jej niewerbalnych nośnikachwspółcześnie. Styl funkcjonalny ukazano więc jako praktykę oraz formę pamięci zbiorowej:komunikatywnej lub kulturowej. Styl potoczny stanowi praktykę wcielania, podczas gdypozostałe style funkcjonalne są praktykami zapisu. Pamięć komunikatywna przekazywana jestprzez środki i wartości typowe dla stylu potocznego, pamięć kulturowa związana jestpraktycznie ze wszystkimi stylami funkcjonalnymi, w zależności od treści pamięci. // The subject of the article are relations between a language style and collective memory. Thestyle, semiotically and anthropologically presented, is one of the forms of collective memoryalong with a type of culture text, variety and text genre as well. On the one hand, the style isan expression, evidence of the past. From an individual style of e.g. recognized writers one caninterpret their image of reality, including also the past. Thus the style is a means of conveyingboth individual memory of a particular author and evidence of the past he used to live in andcreate. Typical styles are the mirrors reflecting conventions of expression appropriate for agiven period. Thus, the style stores the image of the past, individual and collective, and is ameans of reaching it, a way of expressing and talking about it, including its contemporary nonverbal means. Thus, a functional style has been presented as practice and the form ofcollective memory: communicative or cultural. A colloquial style is the practice ofincorporating, whereas other functional styles are practices of recording. Communicativememory is conveyed by means and values typical for the colloquial style, while cultural memoryis practically associated with all functional styles, depending on the contents of memory.

Żydzi w Biblii, czyli uporczywy anachronizm

Author(s): Tomasz Paweł Krzeszowski / Language(s): Polish Issue: 1/2017

Celem artykułu jest wykazanie, że używanie polskiego wyrazu „Żyd” i jego derywatów w odniesieniu do przedstawicieli „narodu wybranego” uczestniczącego w wydarzeniach opisanych w Starym i Nowym Testamencie jest anachronizmem językowym, gdyż wyraz „Żyd” w tym właśnie kształcie graficznym i fonetycznym powstał dopiero w średniowieczu. Dlatego używanie tego wyrazu w kontekście wydarzeń biblijnych jest niestosowne. Ten klasyczny anachronizm językowy jest o tyle zdumiewający, że stosują go nie tylko sami współcześnie żyjący Żydzi, gdy posługują się językiem polskim, ale także inni polscy specjaliści w dziedzinie judaistyki i biblistyki. Artykuł zawiera kilka przykładów rażąco anachronicznych polskich tłumaczeń fragmentów Starego i Nowego Testamentu. Można zaryzykować twierdzenie, że omawiany anachronizm w dużej mierze przyczynia się do kształtowania postaw antysemickich, zwłaszcza wśród niektórych wyznawców chrześcijaństwa. // The aim of the paper is to provide evidence for the claim that the Polish word ‘Żyd’ and its derivatives as used with reference to the “chosen people” taking part in the events described in the Bible is a linguistic anachronism. The word in its present graphic and phonetic shape had not come into existence before Middle Ages. As an anachronism it is inappropriate in the context of biblical events. Yet, it occurs not only in the language of contemporary Jewish people but also as an accepted term in biblical and Judaic studies. The article contains a number of examples of anachronistic Polish versions of the Bible. One can venture the claim that the anachronism in question significantly contributes to maintaining anti-Semitic attitudes, especially among certain groups of contemporary Christians.

Lingwista wobec języka uczuć

Author(s): Elżbieta Laskowska / Language(s): Polish Issue: 1&2/2016

Celem referatu jest zebranie dotychczasowych sposobów rozumienia zagadnienia języka uczućprzez lingwistów oraz zaproponowanie sposobu opisu języka uczuć. Zagadnienie to byłoprzedmiotem zainteresowania takich badaczy jak Wierzbicka, Grabias, Nowakowska-Kempna,Awdiejew, Habrajska, Pajdzińska, Data. Biorąc pod uwagę poziomy języka, uwzględniane wgramatyce komunikacyjnej, autorka rozważa zjawiska nazywanie uczuć oraz ich wyrażania.Nazywanie mieści się na poziomie ideacyjnym, Wyrażanie – na poziomie interakcyjnym.Badając wypowiedzi pod względem języka uczuć, zauważyć można, że nie zawsze łatwo jestwskazać granicę między wymienionymi poziomami. Trudności te związane są przede wszystkimz dwiema kwestiami. Pierwsza z nich polega na wykorzystaniu nazw uczuć do ich wyrażania,mamy wtedy do czynienia z wyrażaniem uczuć za pomocą ich nazywania. Druga kwestia toemotywne nacechowania nazw uczuć albo też emotywne nazywanie reakcji mogącychświadczyć o uczuciu. Analiza wypowiedzi, zawierających nazywanie i wyrażanie uczućdowodzi, że w różnych odmianach języka omawiane zjawisko występuje w bardzo różnychzakresach i przejawia się bardzo zróżnicowanymi środkami językowymi). // The goal of the paper is collecting hitherto existing ways of understanding the concept of the language of feelings by linguists and suggesting a way of describing the language of feelings.This question was the subject interest of such researchers as Wierzbicka, Grabias,Nowakowska-Kempna, Awdiejew, Habrajska, Pajdzińska, and Data. Taking into account the levels of a language, included in communication grammar, the author considers naming of feelings and expressing them. The naming is contained in the ideation level, the expressing –in the interaction level. Examining utterances with reference to the language of feelings one can notice that it is not easy to show a borderline between the mentioned levels. The difficulties are mainly connected with two questions. The first one consists in using the names of feelings for expressing them, in which the feelings are expressed by naming them. The second question is the emotive marking of the names of feelings or emotive naming of reactions which can manifest the feeling. The analysis the utterances including naming and expressing feelings proves that the phenomenon in question occurs in various scopes and manifest in diverse means of language.

Współczesny polski dyskurs publiczny w perspektywie międzynarodowej.

Author(s): Władysław Chłopicki,Stanisław Gajda / Language(s): Polish Issue: 1&2/2016

How Jokes Change and May Be Changed:

Author(s): Christie Davies / Language(s): English Issue: 1&2/2016

Many excellent jokes can pose potential difficulties for tellers and listeners since they require considerable knowledge of the subject of the joke and have a long and elaborate narrative structure such that only a very skilled joke-teller can do justice to them. In a democratic, fastmoving, plural, urban world such features can create problems since they mean that on a particular occasion when jokes are being told some of the listeners may miss the point of the joke and others will feel inhibited from telling a joke. Jokes with seemingly pointless endings may likewise disappoint the broad masse, who like clear, well structured jokes with a strong resolution and who may be bored by one that disappears into nonsense. Each of these points will be considered in turn, partly from an analytical point of view and partly in relation to empirical observations of how jokes in the English language have evolved in the course of the twentieth century.

Recenzja tomu Niedosłowność w języku. Język a Komunikacja 37 pod redakcją Marcina Odelskiego, Aleksandry Knapik, Piotra Chruszczewskiego i Władysława Chłopickiego, Kraków: Krakowskie Towarzystwo Popularyzowania Wiedzy o Komunikacji Językowej „Tertium

Author(s): Grażyna Sawicka / Language(s): Polish Issue: 1&2/2016

Diachronic Analysis and Deictic Means of French Benevolences and Curses

Author(s): Nargiz Seidova / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2021

Benevolences and curses, integral and authentic part of the discourse, most clearly reflect the culture of people. The use of these expressions in the communication space of different languages indicates the need for their study from the standpoint of linguistics, folklore, stylistics, rhetoric, psychology, cultural studies and other sciences. This article provides diachronic analysis and examines the deictic means of French benevolences and curses in the French language. The material for the study was the texts of the Bible, French epic poems, medieval legends, ballads, tales, and fiction. When considering this topic, the author used both general and special scientific methods and techniques: a historical-etymological method, a descriptive method that includes methods for observing, comparing, interpreting and classifying the material being studied; semantic identification method; distribution method. Comparing the medieval French discourse with the modern French language, the author examined the grammatical and semantic evolution, which underwent benevolences and curses.

Обучението по словашки език в Италия в контекста на словашко-италианските културни взаимоотношения

Author(s): Dagmar Kročanová / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 2/2021

The initial part of the paper describes the history of Slovak language and culture teaching in Italy, namely, Slovak lectorates at University of Naples L´Orientale, University of Rome Sapienza, and University of Bologna in Forlì. The central part of the paper discusses the foundation, development and activities of the most recent lectorate, founded in 2006, and currently affiliated with the Department of Interpreting and Translating at University of Bologna in Forlì. The paper mentions the circumstances related to the foundation of the lectorate, especially the message of Alexander Dubček (1921 – 1992) upon whom University of Bologna conferred the honorary doctorate in 1988. The paper discusses various activities of the lectorate (language teaching, research and publishing, promoting Slovakia and Slovak culture). It mentions the collaboration with Slovak and Italian institutions, including the Embassy of Slovak Republic in Rome, Slovak Institute in Rome and Honorary Consulate of Slovak Republic in Forlì. The final part of the paper mentions the current situation and perspectives of Slovak studies in Italy.