Дисертации 2020
Defended PhD theses in Bulgaria in the field of linguistics, literature, history, folklore, ethnography and art studies
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Defended PhD theses in Bulgaria in the field of linguistics, literature, history, folklore, ethnography and art studies
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Data about scientific events in the field of the humanities in Bulgaria in the current year
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The text describes the cemeteries and tombstones in the town of Oryahovo and the nearby village of Selanovtsi. The rich plastic decoration of the traditional type of monuments has the characteristics of the Christian ritual system. In more recent times simple forms are established – plates predominate, on which various details are applied – niches for candles, vases for flowers, religious or communist signs, inscriptions, photos. According to the form and content of the tombstones, there are four time periods. The oldest are stone tombstones, which belong to the stonemakers school of the town of Vratsa and were used until the middle of the twentieth century. Simultaneously with them appear models of urban type memorial, which consists of a pedestal and a main body, a parallelepiped, crowned with a cross. Limestone or granite, applications of porcelain photographs, the appearance of sculptural figures – these differences suggest social inequalities. After the middle of the twentieth century, this type of monument was lost, with the appearance of simple slabs, cast from cement, which included the style of the communist regime in Bulgaria at that time.
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The present paper investigates the biographies of actors published in the periodical press of Greece and Greek communities abroad, from the independence of the nation state (1830) to the 1930’s. One of the main bibliographical and historiographical problems a researcher of the history of Greek Modern Theatre has to face is the insufficient –almost non-existent– information about the fleeting work of actors. The current research aims at contributing to the history of acting and finding answers to questions such as: how the profession of the actor in Greece and in Europe evolves during the 19th century and how this significant change is reflected in the Greek periodical press.
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The review article discusses Karolina Kostyra’s book Wiosenna bujność traw. Obrazy przyrody w filmach o dorastaniu [Splendor in the Grass: Nature Images in Coming-of-Age Films] (2019). The author of the paper emphasises the place of the monograph in the contexts of the film genre theory, new humanities’ tendencies, and the academic discourse. The alternative for the last issue is the so-called haptic criticism, term coined by Laura U. Marks and used by the article’s author to describe Kostyra’s style.
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The article systematizes information about the current cultural heritage programs in the Bulgarian higher education area. The data shows that in eleven Bulgarian universities a diploma of cultural heritage can be obtained.17 master's and 3 bachelor's programs prepare over 500 students a year. Two doctoral programs are also accredited. The rich variety of curricula is an objective result of the complex structure of cultural heritage in itself. However, it is also an indicator for the fragmentation of the higher education system in Bulgaria. The conclusion proposes approaches to overcoming the mentioned fragmentation, as the interdisciplinarity of the scientific field requires pooling of competencies and efforts for better results.
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This article studies the development of painting skills in preschool children by studying the works of impressionist artists. Artistic perception is an important part of visual arts education that creates prerequisites for the formation of aesthetic personal qualities and creativity. The study offers methodological ideas for developing a sense of colour and colour ombination by studying the artworks of the Impressionists
More...pragmatic strategies of verbal humour in Nigerian hip-hop
Extant studies on Nigerian hip-hop have approached the genre as an act and as an art from psycholinguistic, social, sociolinguistic and pragmatic dimensions. However, the possibility of evoking humour through the careful deployment of language by Nigerian hip-hop artistes is a phenomenon which has largely escaped the attention of scholars within the ambit of applied linguistics. This research, therefore, investigates how Nigerian hip-hop artistes, beyond the rhythm and lyrics of their songs, poke fun at their listeners. The study employs Sperber and Wilson’s Relevance Theory to analyse the humorous utterances in four purposively selected hip hop songs: Jo o, by Jahbless, Eyan Mayweather by Olamide, Penalty by Small Doctor and Lyrically by Lil Kesh. The choice of artistes was based on consideration for the two popular subgenres of Nigerian hip-hop, which are rap and dance hall, while the choice of tracks was based on consideration for their humorous potential. The humorous utterances are either name-induced or object/phenomenon induced. The study finds that simile, metaphor, hyperbole, punning, teasing, putdown and litotes, complemented with linguistic devices such as polysemy and repetition, are the humour techniques that are deployed to amuse listeners. Humour strategies adopted by Nigerian hip-hop artistes are comparing, contrasting and extending corresponding concepts, distorting collective knowledge of people, social events and situations and manipulating shared cultural representations. Nigerian hip-hop songs are spiced with humorous utterances which can only be deciphered by people who share the socio-cultural world of the artistes. The referring expressions used by the artistes can help enlarge the vocabulary of Nigerian English.
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The narrative pattern and discursive strategies of stand-up comedy in Nigeria reveal sometropes and motifs that are contemporary to the socio-political realities of the country. Thesenarrative/discursive strategies demonstrate three discourse types: salutation/greetingdiscourse, reporting discourse, and informing discourse. With these discourse types, stand-upcomedians use themselves as the victims of the jokes in order to evoke laughter in the audience.The performances of stand-up comedy, however, have not been accorded due recognition ofthe functional arts that can be used to critique the failure of the ruling elite in the NigerianState. This is because stand-up comedy is class-selective and occasion-driven. To evokelaughter in the audience and to comment on the reality of existence, stand-up comediansdeploy language aesthetics, kinesics, and atmosphere. The modal transition from pure oralstage to the technological phase of performance informs the conceptualisation of mediamediated performance (MMP) through recorded VCDs/DVDs and social media. Data on thestand-up comedy of AY and Elenu are collected through media mediated performances (MMP)on VCD. Data on the subject matter, topicality, and discursive strategies of AY and Elenu’s(who are among ace stand-up comedians in Nigeria) jokes are analysed and discussed. Withthe subject matter and topicality of the jokes, this paper suggests that stand-up comedyperforms the utilitarian functions of literary and performing arts. It entertains, moralises,satirises, and educates members of heterogeneous audiences on some values and ethos of thecontemporary Nigerian society.
More...A diachronic appraisal of the contributions of the masking tradition
Masking is a phenomenon that is traced to almost all human ages, from its prehistoric andprimitive narratives in Africa, its dramatic beginnings in ancient Greece and Rome, to its useas forms of character delineation in the commedia dell’Arte of the 16th and 18th centuryEurope, as well as its age long association with carnivals due largely to its analogous relationto humour and entertainment. Masking, as comic as it may seem, has been critical ofhumanity’s social dispositions from time past. As humans, the façade of the mask is a leewayto speak truth to power and also an opportunity for the performance of self in ways that are atvariant with the real self. As topical as the activities of the masquerade are to the society, noacademic quest has been directed to investigate how humour and satire have always beenassociated with the masquerade. Following the social criticism, humour and entertainmentwhich have become evidently inherent in the emergent stand-up comedy, scholars havedirected their critical attention towards this new live theatre without considering thehumorous functions of the masquerade for an academic enquiry. It is against this backdropthat this paper has decided to investigate and re-establish historically the humorouscontributions of the masking art in almost all facets of human conditions. The resources forthe paper are a combination of library and historical research. The paper establishes thatsatire and humour, as enjoyed in all venues of stand-up comedy acts in Nigeria, are just acontemporary addition to what masks had done in the past but for dearth of properdocumentation of these contributions. The masking tradition has been a source of humour andsarcasm to issues bordering on human relations all over the world.
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Studies in stand-up comedy in Nigeria have recently begun to gain serious attention. Several articles that describe the psychological and socio-cultural contexts of joke texts of stand-up comedy in Nigeria have appeared within the last few years (Orhiunu 2007; Imo 2010;Adetunji 2013; Filani 2015, 2016, among others.). However, one aspect of the phenomenon that is yet to be explored is the function of a multimodal generic framework and its contributions to the humorous content of the genre. While it is important to maintain the spoken text as many writers have done, the “multiple embodied modes” (Norris 2008: 13) that amplify the spoken text must be given due consideration. This study, therefore, examines the Nigerian stand-up comedy from the perspective of a multimodal-ESP theory to genre analysis.This theory takes cognisance not only of joke-texts, but also of the visual features that enhance the performance. The material for analysis is videoed data of a popular stand-up comedy show in Nigeria, A Nite of a Thousand Laughs. The study demonstrates that stage management, nonverbal cues (e.g. gesture, movements, and gaze), speeches, body postures, and music/sounds contribute to the communicative value and the production of the genre. Also, it shows how plausible multimodal-ESP approach to genre is in the description of stand-up comedy in the Nigerian context.
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Various studies exist on the social functions of humour and such studies have been carried outin diverse fields that range from the humanities to the sciences. In linguistics, specifically,research shows that humour has been studied from the perspectives of syntax, pragmatics, andsemantics; moreover, there is a dearth of studies on the creation of humour throughphonological processes. Therefore, this study aims to investigate humour and how it isachieved using phonological processes. The study engages mainly qualitative methods ofanalysis. Five comedy skits were purposively selected from Folarin Falana’s (Falz the BahdGuy) eleven collections. These were chosen on the basis of their internet popularity amongNigerians; this popularity was determined on the basis of the rates of downloading the skits.McGraw & Warren’s (2010) Benign Violation Theory was used to account for thephonological violations in the comedies. The various phonological processes that wereviolated include liaison, deletion, insertion, monophthongisation, coalescence, and vowelstrengthening. It is argued that the phonological distortions are deliberately made to achievehumour in these Nigerian comedies, especially when the high educational level of the artist isconsidered. Also, there anti-Anglicism and pro-Nigerianism in the data as the artist identifieshimself with Nigeria(ns) and creates a niche for himself in the entertainment industry usingthe phonological peculiarities among Nigerians’ language use, especially the Yoruba tribe. Healso creates different personalities to project different messages which are not only peculiar toNigeria but to the world, using these personalities to portray people’s feelings and views ofthe world and how these influence their attitudes.
More...Exploring humour in Wole Soyinka’s Alápatà Apátà
This article explores the deployment of humour in Wole Soyinka’s new and full-length play Alápatà Apátà. The emergence of Moses Olaiya (otherwise known as Baba Sala) on the Nigerian theatre scene at a time it was dominated by such colossuses as Hubert Ogunde, Duro Ladipo, and Kola Ogunmola, as a popular jester and comic actor has elevated the phenomenon called Zd to a popular form of art. The idea of serious theatre involving mostly tragedy had dominated the Nigerian theatrical scene to an extent that little attention is devoted to the less popular form of comedy until it was given impetus by the dexterity of Moses Olaiya. In the dramatic literary circle, Wole Soyinka bestrides the Nigerian space with his biting and humorous satire in such plays as The Lion and the JeZel, The Jero Plays, Childe International amongst others. With a great mastery of satire and humour, in his most recent play Alpat Apt, we witnessed a reincarnation of Moses Olaiya. However, Soyinka does not focus only on the character of Moses Olaiya (whom he dedicates the play to), he explores the misapplication of Yoruba language’s accent resulting in semantic oddity. The incongruity that can arise from the misunderstanding of language and its nuances is brought to the fore in our understanding of the theoretical exploration of the phenomenon called Zd. This article thus situates Wole Soyinka’s Alpat Apt within the literary and theatrical explication of humour in the Nigerian context showing that ‘that which is comic’ resonates as a universal human phenomenon irrespective of language.
More...The potential of informative comedy music as supplementary teaching material
The comedic arts have provided opportunities for humourists to spread information to audiences, sometimes intentionally and other times as a side effect while trying to create laughter. Educators have also found success incorporating comedy into the classroom with humorous activities. While research regarding comedy as a tool to spread information or educate audiences has focused primarily on literature, broadcast media, and film, the area of informative comedy implemented through music remains relatively unexplored. In this paper, the researcher defines ‘informative comedy’ and takes a critical literacy approach analysing song samples of comedy musician “Weird Al” Yankovic—one of the notable comedic music artists in the 20th and 21st centuries—and discusses how his music could be used in a classroom setting. While comedy such as Yankovic’s is not designed to be an educational tool, the researcher suggests that his songs could be used as supplementary materials in the classroom to reinforce concepts specifically regarding cultural issues through commentary as well as lessons in science and grammar. A central aspect of this exploratory paper involves Yankovic’s mix of comedy and informative content focused on culture in the United States, using the popular music genre to convey ideas in ways that may be more palatable for wider audiences and that could be used to assist classroom instruction.
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Report from the scientific symposium Mary, Mother of God, in theology and Christian art, Stadniki, May 6th, 2021
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The main goal of the article is to inscribe the formation, at the turn of the 18th century, of the melodrama in a broader context in order to show that the creation of this dramatic genre was not a result of one man’s talent or pure coincidence but actually a result of the historical process and numerous social and aesthetic tendencies that had been influencing the French theatre over previous decades. All these transformations that would eventually get compounded into melodrama, appearing throughout the century, have been observed and commented on, demonstrating once again that theatre is a never-ending story of making and becoming.
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This article discusses Ian Bostridge’s book Schubert’s Winter Journey: Anatomy of an Obsession, which – beyond the label of musicological research dedicated to Franz Schubert’s song cycle “Winterreise” (“Winter Journey”), a masterpiece of Romanticism that was based on poems by Wilhelm Müller – stands out with its remarkable achievements in the field of comparative literature and calls attention to the contemporary state of this academic discipline.
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A clown travels through times and identities. A personage is handed over to different creators and audiences. A voice changes its purpose. This article observes the metamorphoses of Pierrot from Commedia dell’arte through the romantic malheureux, the decadent Dandy to the perpetual loser and peace-seeker of the turn of the century, following the works of three authors: Giraud, Hartleben, and Schönberg. When and where is this journey going to end? – We don’t know.
More...Speech acts in standup comedy
In How to Do Things with Words (1962), the philosopher John Austin claimed that we use words to do things in the world, not merely to express a state of affairs. This proposal introduced speech acts, and essentially initiated the study of linguistic pragmatics. Speech acts in everyday communication include persuading, apologizing, criticizing, humiliating, complimenting and a host of other intended behaviours. Austin accentuated the idea of speaker intention, on one hand, and hearer’s response to that intention if successfully conveyed, on the other. We consider some of the speech acts used in the work of selected standup comedians to analyse the way they determine the relationship of performer and audience. We argue that there is a reciprocal relationship between the licensing of certain speech acts in standup comedy, and the success of these speech acts in shaping the social lives of the audience. We show that this relationship is at the forefront of standup comedy’s social impact and that it can generate heightened consciousness of the social and political environment of the time. Finally, we consider the question of whether socially critical standup can have any noticeable effect on the attitudes or behaviour of both live and digitally mediated audiences.
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