
Арии. Веди. Санкхя и Йога
Collection of papers and articles on ancient Indian literature and culture
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Collection of papers and articles on ancient Indian literature and culture
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"Sava Slavchev's essays are balanced, elegant and erudite, completely devoid of unnecessary categorical timelines. Here's what I wrote to the author as soon as I read his book: "This is your form, the enjoyment of freedom in the way you use it is evident. I wanted the end of the essay in the part on literature and culture to be bolder and accusing, even sinister, to gain a place in the mind of the reader. Luckily there is nothing like that! The cultural man is known in the way he protects the culture, and I am a barbarian and realized myself as such while I was reading. But this awareness does not hurt me, no - it inspires me! " - Peter Delchev
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“Troping the Troubles” shows how recent Northern Irish fiction remembers the past. The focus of this work is on recent history and contested narratives of the past; it seeks to illustrate the significance of cultural representations of the Troubles in shaping collective memory. Northern Ireland provides a particularly interesting set of historical, social and political circumstances to inspire literary productions, which Drong calls, following Birgit Neumann, fictions of memory. Novels connected with the Troubles, featuring characters preoccupied with the past – with remembering or forgetting the conflict – are explored at length here, particular heed being paid to how they affect models of mnemonic performance. Inspired by recent research into memory studies, and cultural memory studies in particular, Drong identifies distinctive aspects of memory culture in Northern Ireland. In consequence, Troubles fiction proves to be a uniquely adequate illustration of performative memorealism, a discourse that is responsible for a cultural normativization of the past due to its potential to create the illusion of history’s stability and identity in the characters’ or/and narrators’ memories. Chapter 1 is concerned with the historical and political background that underpins most of the novels interpreted in Chapters 3-6. Its main purpose is to explain the circumstances that had led to the establishment of Northern Ireland in 1921 and then to the eruption of violence there in 1969. A detailed discussion of the Troubles is offered to explain and/or refute common misconceptions connected with the conflict, including the allegedly religious motivations of the two major communities in Northern Ireland. The current situation in the province is also explored at some length to explain why Brexit may threaten the peace process. Chapter 2, in turn, focuses mostly on memory studies and its relevance to Northern Irish fiction. Recent developments concerning cultural memory studies are placed in political and historical contexts relevant to Irish studies to produce a rhetorical perspective that is particularly sensitive to how Irish fictions of memory perform, i.e., what role they play within Irish memory culture. The argument offered in this chapter is premised on the assumption that literary works are both representational and performative: their performance in culture depends upon the illusion of reference (hence the significant role of memory in fiction). Chapter 2 also raises the issue of Northern Irish literature as a distinct category and its usefulness for further analysis. The chapters concerned with Northern Irish novels focus on „Reading in the Dark” by Seamus Deane, „Ripley Bogle” by Robert McLiam Wilson, „One by One in the Darkness” by Deirdre Madden and „The Truth Commissioner” by David Park. Those four works of fiction are discussed in light of the concerns raised in Chapter 2 but also much attention is given in those readings to their specific historical and geographical circumstances, the linguistic minutiae, all those apparently trivial, idiosyncratic details suppressed by mainstream history but intriguing and captivating as aspects of minority narratives, counter-narratives, postnational/transnational memory cultures, etc. The concluding chapter introduces the concept of restorative memory, which is not so much concerned with truth recovery per se but instead envisages either individual or communal redemption or restitution if those may lead to reconciliation within Northern Irish society.
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Japon Dili İncelemeleri (JDİ IV) Serisi olan 4. kitabımızı basmış bulunmaktayız. Erciyes Üniversitesi ev sahipliğinde 21-22 Haziran 2018 tarihleri arasında düzenlenen III. Japon Dili ve Eğitimi Uluslararası Sempozyumu’nda (JADEUS 2018) sunulan bildiriler, hakem heyetinin değerlendirme ve görüşleri doğrultusunda yazarları tarafından düzeltilerek yayına uygun hale getirilmiştir. Kitabımızın 4. sayısında Türkçe ve Japonca dillerinde yazılmış 16 bölüm yer almaktadır. Bölümler, Japonca eğitimini edebi ve kültürel açıdan ele alan araştırmalar, Türkçe-Japonca karşılaştırmalı dil araştırmaları ve uygulamalı araştırma alanlarındandır. Bu bölümler Japon dili, kültürü ve eğitimi konularına ilgi duyan, öğrenmek - öğretmek isteyenlere ve akademik düzeyde araştırma yapanlara kaynak olması amacıyla kitap haline getirilmiştir.
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In this article we provide an answer to the question why this particular poem, “Ya vas lyubil” by Pushkin, has become so famous. It doubtlessly belongs to the canon of literary love poems in the Russian language. But why? Its fame seems to be in flagrant contradiction with its simplicity. Indeed, many readers may not perceive anything particularly “literary” in the language of the poem. In what follows, we argue that this is a mistake, and that the greatness of the poem lies exactly in the illusion of simplicity that Pushkin creates, while at the same time expressing the deepest emotions to which lovers are able. Addressing the question of how we can verify our argument, we offer some examples of empirical methods by which one can investigate the reaction of readers to the poem.
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The article deals with creative violations of the semantic limitations of predicates in Polish poetry. Until now, this problem has not been consistently taken into account, although it opens new research perspectives in the field of linguistics and literary studies. Characteristics of the words used in a given text in terms of their valency structure allow to draw the boundary between the poetry from earlier periods and its more avant-garde forms. The way in which the problem is solved in artistic texts can also be an important criterion for distinguishing between one author’s poetic workshop and the artistic strategy of another. It also allows you to follow how the poets gradually familiarize the reader with the creative technique studied in this article, what additional tools they use to encourage him to make an interpretive effort. From the theoretical point of view, the relationship between the question of semantic-syntactic modifications in the modern poetry and the problem of metaphor, metonymy, comparison, zeugma, syllepsis and similar tropes is also interesting. In the main part of her article, the author gives examples of creative violations of the principles of deep syntax in selected poems of B. Leśmian, K. K. Baczyński and Z. Herbert. This allows us to pay attention to three different approaches to the analysed issue.
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Investigation of verse forms and their functioning in literary texts leads to the conclusion that they may be employed as bearers of semantic values. The present paper is going to show the richness of this resource. The semantic values of various verse structures are interpreted here in terms of the semiotic categories introduced by Charles Sanders Peirce: as symptoms, symbols, or iconic signs. The basis for this kind of reflection is earlier research in Polish verse structure and a systematic study of various verse forms and their linguistic morphology conducted by a group of Polish and other Slavic researchers (the results of their collaborative work have been published in the “Comparative Slavic Metrics” series („Słowiańska Metryka Porównawcza”); a particular interest to the semantic function of verse forms is a hallmark of the volume (Semantyka form wierszowych (1988)). The semantic function of the rhythmical organization of an utterance may be found even in antiquity and can be noted in many cultures. Rhythmical utterances were treated there as standing in opposition to non-metrical everyday speech and as vehicles of such cultural values as “sacred”, “solemn”, “important for the community”. The semantic value of a metrical structure can be attributed to the fact that verse forms function as filters of various linguistic units and that the metrical organization of a text determines its stylistic characteristics. This stylistic value may be employed and interpreted in many different ways, for instance to represent the social status of the speaker or to differentiate between various literary genres. Many metrical forms perform an iconic function (which depends not only on the rhythmical organization of a text but also on its verbal and conceptual content). Some semantic values are derived from the intertextual relationships of a poem and result from the position of its verse form in the verse form system of a given literature. Verse structure may also be seen as a kind of author’s signature, and it may be employed to perform axiological functions. Many such cases have been illustrated in the paper.
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Recently, relevance theory has been increasingly used in literary studies. However, little research has examined the role of inferences in the interpretation of a poem. This article illustrates how pragmatics and, more precisely, relevance theory, may provide a scientific, cognitive ground to understand how poetic interpretation is constructed through the reader’s inferences. To do so, I analyse “Mr Bleaney”, by British poet Philip Larkin (1922-1985), as a case study for applying relevance theory concepts to literary interpretation. Specifically, I analyse inferences that may be drawn from the poem’s linguistically encoded word meanings, and how such inferences are influenced by the poem’s sonorous qualities, like rhythm and meter. The resulting reading emphasises the poet’s identification with a stranger, Mr Bleaney, who by the end of the poem emerges as an alter ego upon whom the poet projects his own existential fears. Because relevance theory is not prescriptive, it may also be useful in explaining dissenting readings, as shown by briefly comparing the resulting “pessimistic” interpretation of the poem with an “optimistic” one offered by Wayne Booth (2014). Thus, I suggest that inferential analysis may improve dialogue among critics dealing with the same literary work. Overall, I argue that inferential analysis based on relevance theory may help explain interpretations in poetry and thus become a firm first step towards a better understanding of other aspects of aesthetic and poetic effects.
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On the basis of Paul Ricoeur’s, Aleksandra Okopień-Sławińskia’s, Maria Mayenowa’s and Max Black’s theories of metaphor, I undertake an attempt of interpretation of Krzysztof Kamil Baczyński’s poetry. The historical-literary context outlined by Stanisław Stabro in his study of Baczyński’s texts becomes an important help in my attempt at the uniting theory of metaphor with theory of consciousness. The combination of the concept of the literary I of Okopień-Sławińska with the Neotomistic Personalizm of Karol Wojtyła and Mieczysław Krąpiec OP allows me to delineate the concept of poetic consciousness expressed in metaphor.
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The subject of the article is the intercultural dialogue which emerges out of the musical undertaking “Kora Ola Ola!” (2003) of the Polish artist Kora Sipowicz. The collection comprises various reinterpretations of the twentieth century Polish lyrical works in a Latin arrangement, accompanied by some other Polish, Spanish and English songs, especially those formerly performed by the very artist herself with the famous Polish band, Maanam. In the composition resound convergent transatlantic echoes of mystical poetry, Graeco-Roman mythology, Christian culture and philosophical reflections. The author attempts to delimit the peculiar amalgam of individual Polish identity in this specific, intertextual and intercultural set-up by means of an interdisciplinary analysis and interpretation of particular poetic works and cultural description of their musical arrangement. Moreover there is proposed an analysis and interpretation of the poet’s language, in which the presence of occasionalisms and deictic expressions bring about deformations of the temporal structure. This kind of “estrangment” (ostranenie) contributes to a deconstruction of linguistic (or cultural) automatisms. In the context of interaction and synergy of many cultural codes imposing contradictory requirements, it may help us get closer to the transcultural condition, in terms of the theory developed by Ewa Łukaszyk.
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The article presents a linguopoetic interpretation of Nikolay Gumilov’s poem “Otravlennyy”. The linguistic means involved in the process of metaphorization have been investigated. The connection between the motives of Gumilov’s poetry and the Russian classical tradition has been established. Approaches to characterization of the “image of the author” have been outlined.
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The article deals with the phenomenon of “interfluve”, which arises in modern poetic books due to the transition from one semiotic code to another. The author discusses the fundamental intertwining of the languages of poetry and other arts, illustrating it by examples of interference between the semiotic systems of poetry and “temporary” music, on the one hand, and “spatial” painting, on the other. At the same time, the paper is concerned not with hybrid discursiveness, but with the presence of semiotic cross-codes in textes-hybrids, i.e. with similar principles of encoding, which allow to represent the transmitted message as if the backlight illuminated by another art form. The inadequacy of the codes becomes in this case the basis of interpretation, of the search for new knowledge.
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According to (Сильман 1977), the main compositional divide in lyrical discourse is that between presentation of the author’s emotional/mental experience, which normally constitutes the backgrounded part of the text, and some generalization implying discovery of a significant truth and/or change in the author’s attitude towards the world, which in most cases becomes the foreground. While in general this distinction may be marked by a vast range of linguistic devices, it is hypothesized in the article that one of the major characteristic features of the foreground of lyrical poem is its strive for greater informativeness, and it is manifested, inter alia, by considerably higher incidence of discourse new entities in foregrounded fragments. This claim is supported by counts based on analysis of 100 outstanding poems written mostly in Russian.
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Referring to the song culture of nomadic metal workers (Travellers or, negatively, “tinkers”) in Ireland, Mary Burke asserts that ‘the ballad tradition of Ireland is arguably a Traveller art form’.1 She does not back this bold claim, but the volume, diversity and distribution of their songs certainly supports this, at least for songs in English and macaroni songs featuring worlds in shelta (or cant). The Travellers were very long-established nomadic group whose main occupation was metal work. They later spread to Scotland and England. Since the ability to work with metals once seemed very close to magic, tinsmiths clearly had high status, which is seen today in the many songs of sexual prowess which feature them as heroes. By the end of the 19th century however, their status had declined as a result of poverty, lack of education and repeated exclusion by the settled population. It was not until 1988 that Travellers began to be described in legislation as an ethnic group with special requirements, and by 2000 they were recognised as a group with equal status, because of their shared history, culture and traditions, which included a nomadic way of life. In 2002 a separate volume of the Irish Census was devoted to them. These changes came about as a result of the rising awareness of the Irish Traveller community and of their distinct and positive role in Irish society. In particular, like the Roma (Gypsies), they were seen as social victims rather than petty criminals. Drawing on the work of Burke, and on songs collected both in Ireland and the Diaspora, this paper suggests ways in which the widespread and distinctive singing culture of the Travellers contributed to this politicization. Drawing on the work of Emily Lyle and others, this paper examines the construction of alternative, parallel or parodic worlds in songs, a practice which draws on the numerous folktales told by Travellers which show mortals flying, hearing ethereal music or encountering otherworld creatures like elves and change lings, but also relates to recent work in gender studies on resistance and identity.
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This paper analyzes the first modern Chinese short story, Lu Xun’s “Diary of a Madman” with the help of some ideas from modern psychology and literary theory. My theoretical frame of reference is Foucault’s idea that madness is a particular lack of language (voice). Both Foucault and the American psychiatrist Thomas Szasz see psychiatry as a discipline for the scientific protection of society and an instrument of oppression. In Lu Xun’s short story “madness” is also related to the castigation of society, not to health and reason. Descartes divides reason and madness, Foucault tries to restore the voice of madness and its right to speak. Lu Xun, however, goes a step further than Foucault. He equates thinking with “madness.”
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Walahfrid Strabo was a celebrated poet and theologian of the 9th century. He lived and studied mainly in Reichenau, a monastery in modern Germany, where he was monk and at some point abbot. His education covered the Scripture, the writings of the Holy Fathers, as well as Latin, Greek, geography, poetry and the liberal arts. Walahfrid’s many works, written in Latin, consist of theological treatises in prose and many poems on different subjects. Among them is a poem on gardening and the medicinal uses of the plants titled „De cultura hortorum” – „On the cultivation of gardens”. The poem has many scientific and poetical sources: Pliny the Elder, Collumela, Dioscorides, Celsus, Serenus Sammonicus, Pliny Valerianus, Apuleus Platonicus, Isidore of Seville, Virgil, Horace, Lucretius Carus. Strabo used his sources creatively, with a view to do more than just another compilation. He used the words and phrases he found as building blocks in order to come up with a new, contemporary concept for both aesthetics and utility. He is believed to have served as a monastery gardener himself, so likely fused his ideas and practical experience with the received literary tradition of his time. He thus created a unique snapshot of a real life cloister garden – his own garden – both authentic and ideal.
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Paradoxes and strong contrasts have always been one of the most common ideas of the Baroque movement. However, what seems unusual is the permanent oscillation between life and death, but also the mixture between the illusory and the real. Thereby, eloquent examples could be represented by two of the authors devoted to the literature of the time. As for the two texts belonging to Pierre Corneille and Pedro Calderón de la Barca, the motif of illusion and the theme of dream are, of course, aspects that bring these pieces together. We will see how their playwrights reflect the threshold between the life and dreams of their characters, in “L’Illusion comique and”: “La vida es sueño”.
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The present paper examines Chinese short forms xiaopin or xiaopinwen 小品文 which origins can be traced back to the period of the Six dynasties (3rd – 6th cc.). The focus is specifically on authors from Ming Dynasty period such as Gui Youguan 归有光, Zhang Dai 张岱, Xu Wei 徐渭 and Li Zhi 李贽 in view of the extremes to which the lives of China’s intellectual elite were thrown. Extremes that find their reflection in literature. Zhang Dai (1597–1689) is a prominent ℎ𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑛 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑒𝑥𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑀𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑑𝑦𝑛𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑦, 𝑎 𝑝𝑜𝑒𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑑𝑟𝑎𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑠𝑡, 𝑎 𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓-𝑑𝑒𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑎𝑦𝑖𝑠𝑡 (Wang 2022). The essay which translation we present here in Bulgarian is titled “西湖七月半” and describes the celebration of one of the important traditions in the festive calendar of Chinese, namely the Ghost Day 中元节. As this tradition originates from both Taoism and Buddhism, the festival is celebrated in other East Asian countries as well.
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Ghassan Kanafani is a Palestinian novelist whose works were translated into dozens of foreign languages and gained international recognition. He was born in 1936 that was the year of The Great Palestinian Revolt. The author constantly returned to this date in his books because of its importance in the modern history of the Palestinian people. The emigration from his early childhood also left a strong imprint on his creativity. The alienation and the threat of death during the extraordinary military events that took place in his hometown of Acre, as well as his early diabetes deeply affected him. They led Kanafani to believe that his death was inevitable. Nevertheless, he masterfully took advantage of Western literary devices to describe the reality of the Arab world and, in particular, the everyday life of the Palestinians and their survival after long wars and losses. The present paper discusses his several works that reveal a loss of identity as a consequence of alienation, and invoke readers not to remain isolated and indifferent to the fate of others and to be brave enough to change their life path, despite all the obstacles.
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