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Resorting to Faith in a World of Dystopia

Author(s): Irina-Ana Drobot / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2022

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the phenomenon of resorting to faith which is present in the science fiction novel published in 2022 “O lacrima de Batavia” by Sergiu Somesan. The novel could be described as showing what happens after an apocalypse, since the sudden lack of electricity and electromagnetism suddenly occur. The story of the main characters resorts to the old myth of renewal and keeping faith. We could make an analogy with the situation during the COVID-19 pandemic, when many turned up to faith given the situation. What makes anyone resort to faith in difficult circumstances will be analyzed from the perspective of psychological theories. The dystopia described in the novel could have links with various presuppositions in the current political world; however, the author claims to have thought of the idea of lack of electricity before it was given as a possible scenario by the EU.

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Kann man Kunstwerke nacherzählen? Ekphrasis und Kunstkonsum in der ,,Ästhetik des Widerstands''

Author(s): Aida Alagić / Language(s): German Issue: 3/2021

''The Aesthetics of Resistance'', a huge literary project of the German author Peter Weiss, is characterized by a curious narrative feature: the content of the work is dense, hermetic and told from the perspective of a single narrator, who places certain works of art in the center of his discourse and describes them in such a detailed manner that they become a central ideological problem of the entire novel. Based on HVIDTFELDT-MADSEN’S (2003) diagnosis of an ekphrasis in the Aesthetics of Resistance, i.e. a deliberately detailed description of various pieces of art, this article attempts to trace how and to what extent the Lessingian Laocoon problematics, diagnosed in the novel, can reflect the habitus of the narrator and what could it mean for his art consumption. In a first step, the ekphrasis is explained as a literary form and some of the most prominent examples of ekphrasis in the history are presented and contextualized. In a second step, the ekphrasis in the Aesthetics is examined as a narratological interplay of the visual and the oral. The third and final step consists of an attempt to explain the interrelationships between the ekphrasis and the art consumption of the narrator.

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Unaussprechbares zur Sprache bringen – Jaap Robbens ,,Birk'' (2014) und Lutz Seilers ,,Kruso'' (2014)

Author(s): Roswitha Dickens / Language(s): German Issue: 3/2021

Jaap Robben’s ‘Birk’ (2014) and Lutz Seiler’s ‘Kruso’ (2014) are both island novels that thematize the traumatic loss of a beloved person. The protagonists witnessed the event, but are suffering from their loss whist being unable to articulate what happened. Although the contexts in the novels differ, – ‘Birk’ takes place at an undefined time and place; the scene in ‘Kruso’ is Hiddensee, in the GDR, a place where dropouts could experience a bit of freedom – they both portray the process of expressing a traumatic experience. This article describes how exactly they realize this through the use of language, images and narrative. At first the article discusses precisely which kind the trauma the protagonists are suffering and how they initially deal with it. Moreover it shows how the reader uncovers this step by step. Secondly, the article emphasizes the different ways of dealing with the situation, as well as the role and development of social relationships through it: in ‘Birk’ this emerges as an incestuous relationship between mother and son, and in ‘Kruso’ the protagonist cares for the memory of GDR-refugees.

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Das Sampling als Erzählverfahren und Sonderform der Intertextualität in Thomas Meineckes Roman ,,Selbst'' (2016)

Author(s): Maria Irod / Language(s): German Issue: 3/2021

The present paper examines the innovative narrative strategies and forms of intertextuality in the novel ''Selbst''(2016) by Suhrkamp pop author Thomas Meinecke. After briefly presenting the plot, the character interactions and narrative perspectives in the novel, it focuses on the literary technique described by previous research as sampling. Based on the close reading of a relevant passage in the novel the paper argues that the way Meinecke employs sampling is not only indebted to his belonging to the DJ-culture and the use of techniques like remixing and scratching but also induced by the need to provide theoretical foundation for the process of archiving contemporary discourses. Pointing at the way the main characters read and interpret the texts quoted in the novel and then use the results as a criterion for choosing what to read next, the article suggests an analogy between Meinecke ́s literary sampling and theoretical sampling as a method in qualitative research. Thus the originality of Meinecke's writing resides in his creating a new hybrid genre (termed here as theoretical sampling fiction) which activates the reader ́s critical capacities in order to compensate for the scarcity of the plot.

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Funktionen des Erzählers im letzten Roman von Christa Wolf „Stadt der Engel oder The Overcoat of Dr. Freud”

Author(s): Juris Kastins / Language(s): German Issue: 3/2021

Functions of the narrator in the last novel by Christa Wolf “City of Angels or The Overcoat of Dr. Freud” The text analyzes the narrative function of Christa Wolf’s recent novel ''The City of Angels or Overcoat of Dr. Freud'' (2010). The narrator’s dominance in the novel is “I”, but it is not the only form of actant. The novel is a peculiar synthesis of narrative and descriptive text, corresponding respectively to two narrative forms and forming a peculiar symbiosis. The term “actant” is used in the text as a literary figure in the interpretation of scientists Algirdis Julien Greimas and Vladimir Propp without any semiotic characterization. The text is described as factual and fictitious, and accordingly forms a complex narrative structure corresponding to the functions used by the “I” and “You” narrators: biographical reminiscences correspond to the “I” narrator function, while the “You” narrator functions manage text related to internal monologue. Such an actant mutation is seen as a change in the position of the “I”-messenger. The “I” becomes the “You” and the “You” becomes the “I” again – this is the narrative structure of Christa Wolf’s self-analysis.

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IDENTITY BETWEEN LIMITS: SEXUALITY AND QUEER LITERATURE IN SICK LOVE BY CECILIA ȘTEFĂNESCU

Author(s): Alexandra Ruscanu / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 39/2024

The paper explores the search for sexual identity and the dilemmas of self-discovery in contemporary Romanian queer literature, with Cecilia Ștefănescu's novel Sick Love as the main point of reference. Published during a period of cultural and social redefinition, Cecilia Ștefănescu's work brings to the forefront an authentic portrayal of intimate relationships through the perspective of the main character, Kiki, whose love life is marked by a dual attraction to two characters with strongly contrasting identities: Alex, her childhood friend, and Renato, a young, magnetic megalomaniac. By analyzing Kiki's relationships, the paper discusses the complexity of queer identity and the challenges posed by social pressures, personal choices, and the need for acceptance. The study highlights the ways in which Romanian literature succeeds in deconstructing stereotypes and addressing sensitive themes such as fluid love, isolation, and sexual identity, all within a social framework where traditional norms still play a predominant role. By examining the protagonist's inner conflicts and ambivalent relationships, the paper underscores Cecilia Ștefănescu's contributions to Romanian queer literature and the significance of her work in the broader process of validation and visibility for the LGBTQ+ community in the Romanian literary space. Thus, the research emphasizes the role of queer literature not only as a reflection of identity but also as a means of expressing the complex universe of the self in relation to others, highlighting the importance of representation and acceptance of diversity in contemporary Romanian literature.

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THE IMAGE OF THE “COMFORT WOMAN”. A FICTIONAL DEPICTION IN THE KOREAN AMERICAN NOVEL AND THE KOREAN GRAPHIC NOVEL

Author(s): Marian Suciu / Language(s): English Issue: 39/2024

During the entirety of the occupation of Korea by Japan, the colonized suffered deeply, after 1937 things became worse, as the Japanese “recruited” Korean girls and women for the so-called comfort stations where they had to serve as prostitutes for the Japanese soldiers and officers. As recently more and more novels depict this topic, the current research will focus on two important works that describe the Korean “comfort women”. On one side, we will emphasize the brutality and violence from the novel White Chrysanthemum that presents, in great detail, the experience of Hana as a “comfort woman”, while the graphic novel Grass will underline the censored but accurate representation of the same experience, as it is intended for a younger generation.

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MANUEL MUÑOZ’S EXPERIMENTAL NARRATIVE TECHNIQUES IN “EVERYTHING THE WHITE BOY TOLD YOU”

Author(s): Daniel Nedelcu / Language(s): English Issue: 39/2024

At the intersection of many identities, postcolonial writers, as is the case of Chicano/as, have had to push the boundaries of traditional narrative techniques in order to portray new, unique situations and experiences. Manuel Muñoz experiments with narrator, perspective and voice in his 2003 short story collection Zigzagger. In the story “Everything the White Boy Told You”, he builds a chimera collective narrator, which weaves multiple narrative levels by switching between 1st, 2nd and 3rd voices, between being heterodiegetic and homodiegetic, and ends up incorporating the main character in its collective ego. This allows Muñoz to build individual characters which are at the same time collective and archetypal, while distributing the responsibility of representation from the subject to its communities. The narrative techniques ensure immersion and cognitive involvement which leads to empathy and understanding, or at the very least to the questioning of the reader’s intersubjectivity.

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HYPERREALITY AND IDENTITY IN POSTMODERN LITERATURE: A CASE STUDY OF DON DELILLO’S WHITE NOISE

Author(s): Saif Ali Abbas Jumaah / Language(s): English Issue: 39/2024

In this research, the controversial relationship between hyper-realism and identity in post-modern literature is revealed by a deep dive into the depths of Don DeLillo’s novel White Noise. In the footsteps of Jean Boudriar's thought, the novel is transported into a scene where media and simulation weave artificial factual threads, in which identities, individually or collectively, form into worlds filled with false symbols and perceptions. Through the lens of criticism, DeLillo visualizes a media-led world, portraying lost figures in a space that lost its first purity, where identity resonates only with abysmal cultural and technological forces. Through the lens of analysis, the research follows the narrative and symbolic techniques created by DeLillo, in order to reveal before us the vision of the novel challenging the known reality, asking the ephemeral question: Is it true that it is in a simulated world? In conclusion, white noise manifests itself as a literary icon that captures the fluctuating consciousness of the post-modern era, and puts the cultural narratives formulated by the forces of media and technology into accountability, offering us a mirror in which we see new reflections on the essence of identity and the tales of modern man.

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THE BEAUTY LITERARY CONCEPT IN YUKIO MISHIMA’S GOLDEN TEMPLE

Author(s): Ingrid Cezarina-Elena Ciochină / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 39/2024

The work of the Japanese writer, Yukio Mishima, is distinguished in its time on the one hand by its complexity, covering various areas from the novel to the essay, poetry, and plays, and on the other hand by the variety of innovations it proposes, the writer demonstrating remarkable abilities of reinvention from one writing to another. Considered by most literary critics the most "Western" of the Japanese writers of the 20th century, Mishima manages to maintain around himself and his work that impenetrable mystery in which antinomies merge and coexist, vibrating in unison with the writer's feelings.

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The Helpless Male: Breaking with the Traditional Male/Female Roles in the Novels Pride of Chanur and Foreigner by Carolyn Janice Cherryh

Author(s): Krunoslav Mikulan / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2023

For decades science fiction literature was almost entirely dominated by men. Female authors, such as C. L. Moore or Leigh Brackett, usually hid behind male pen-names or initials that did not reveal their gender. The prejudices of the period were reflected in the characterization of the principal male and female characters. The typical male hero possessed mostly positive qualities, while the main female character was characterized by passivity and weakness, both physical and psychological. Carolyn Janice (C. J.) Cherryh is one of the authors that have changed the traditional representation of male-female relationships in science fiction. In her novels Pride of Chanur and Foreigner, we can discern at least four levels of subversion of traditional male-female relationships: a) The powerless man is dependent on the woman who is in a position of power. b) The woman is not transformed into the traditional male hero; she retains many of her female qualities. c) The man is not described as useless and stupid, but as intelligent and capable. d) Inter-species sexual intercourse is allowed. Cherryh's work proves that it is possible to speak of contemporary gender related issues in science fiction literature even while following the genre conventions.

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THE EFFECTS OF LITERAL AND SYMBOLIC MASKS IN MARIANA FLAIȘER’S MĂȘTILE DE LA POARTA INFERNULUI (2024)

Author(s): Laura Ioana Leon / Language(s): English Issue: 40/2025

One of the most recent publications of “Grigore T. Popa” Publishing House in Iasi, Mariana Flaișer’s book, Măștile de la Poarta Infernului (2024) seems to have emerged from the author’s need to see what happens to individuals when they are confronted with hardships, wars, endemics and pandemics, catastrophic events by and large. The author tries to carry out this research by using arts and fiction as tools to investigate the human psyche. Mariana Flaișer discovers that during these difficult times artists come back to their familiar places that enables them to create. The act of creation during these times follows the pattern of denial which the author identifies as the natural response. Denial or the fictionalization of the harsh reality is meant to help us to survive. This is not such an unfamiliar technique in fiction. Mariana Flaișer goes even further to overlap the idea of denial with the mask (that may take several forms, from the one used for protection up to those used in carnivals) that people want to wear with the aim of hiding their real feelings and thoughts. Mariana Flaișer’s book is a thorough description of how our health choices are culturally dictated, coming with examples from world literature and various forms of arts that are meant to support the above-mentioned ideas.

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G. CĂLINESCU’S „WEDDING BOOK” AND ASPECTS REGARDING THE FAMILY THEME

Author(s): Ingrid Cezarina-Elena Ciochină / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 40/2025

G. Călinescu’s “Wedding book” was one of the author’s first novels, as he admitted “an exercise” of what G. Călinescu the novelist would become. Therefore, we should not consider the novel worthless just because it represents an exercise, this novel has its own literary value represented by the intellectual quality, the suppleness of taste, the perfect style it was built upon, values also recognized by the literary critics. Addressing the theme of family as the fulfilment of the human being, the novel represents a true monograph of the family as an institution and at the same time a poem of matrimonial love. The foundation for this novel is marriage, with the purpose of creating a family. The very many aspects of family as a literary theme, such as marriage, the conflict between generations, tradition vs. modernity, devotion, etc. are being illustrated in a such an interesting and valuable manner by the author.

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METAMORPHOSES OF LOVE IN ELIADESCIAN PROSE

Author(s): Cristina Lizeta Furtuna / Language(s): English Issue: 40/2025

In the prose of Mircea Eliade, complex worlds are built, loaded with symbols and meanings that are revealed gradually to the discerning reader. Eliade’s narratives generally have multiple interpretation keys, obvious in the text, but through which a series of profound, surprising events and experiences are highlighted, which often redefine the way the individual understands the world around him.The theme of full love and transformations through love can be frequently identified in the writer’s work, in different forms which, however, converge towards the idea of love as a way of knowledge and self-knowledge, a gnostic love, which proposes to those involved to leave the horizontal plane and go through some transformative experiences. Eliade’s lovers leave the sphere of everyday life and could open their eyes to a mythical, eternal reality, accessible but only once a series of conditions are met.To illustrate these two poses of lovers in Eliade’s work, we will analyse two of the writer’s novels, Șarpele and Nuntă în cer, with an emphasis on how couples do or do not metamorphose into representations of the Adamic couple. The two narratives capture two different developments in the case of lovers who aspire to be saved from the human condition through love - in the case of the novel Șarpele, Andronic and Dorina, respectively the failure of the lovers in the Nuntă în cer, who miss their chance for happiness because they are, somehow, out of time.

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REBELLION AND CONFORMITY IN JANE EYRE

Author(s): ANCA RUSU / Language(s): English Issue: 40/2025

The present paper explores the tension between rebellion and conformity as central themes that shape the protagonist’s development. Jane’s journey is one of self-discovery, where she frequently challenges societal norms that seek to limit her autonomy. From an early age, Jane defies the oppressive authority of her aunt and the cruel treatment at Lowood School, asserting her desire for justice and self-respect. Her resistance to the limitations imposed by her gender and social status becomes evident as she navigates her first relationship, where her internal conflict revolves around the clash between love and personal integrity. She rebels against becoming subjugated by the man’s power and chooses independence over a life of submission. Brontë also underscores the significance of conformity within a structured society. Jane learns to reconcile her individuality with her social roles, finding fulfillment through her marriage, where she can assert herself as an equal partner. Through this dual exploration, Brontë portrays the complexities of balancing rebellion with conformity in the pursuit of personal freedom, self-respect, and love. Ultimately, the paper will present Jane Eyre as a profound meditation on the role of personal autonomy within the constraints of societal expectations.

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LAYERS OF MEANING IN HILARY MANTEL’S “WINTER BREAK”

Author(s): Andra Irina Porumbeanu / Language(s): English Issue: 40/2025

It is not seldom that meaning is shaped by the emotional state and past experiences of a person. Any given event is construed through a lens of individual histories. This is artfully exploited by Hilary Mantel in the short story Winter Break. The present paper provides a discussion of the text with respect to the use of ambiguity and how different levels of interpretation can be achieved. Moreover, several examples are employed in order to argue that the story also constitutes a valuable resource for EFL classes.

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LOVE, FALL AND REDEMPTION: A THEOLOGICAL INTERPRETATION OF FRANÇOIS MAURIAC’S WORKS THROUGH THE LENS OF MARIA-OTILIA OPREA

Author(s): Paul-Cristian Albu / Language(s): French Issue: 40/2025

François Mauriac, a deeply Christian writer, explores the complexities of love in his works, portraying it not just as a human emotion, but as a force tied to suffering, illusions, and, ultimately, spiritual redemption. For Mauriac, love is always entangled with the human condition and the fall from grace. In his novels, characters are often torn between earthly desires and the pursuit of divine love that can purify the soul. In François Mauriac şi fiinţa căzută în căutarea iubirii - Pentru o hermeneutică teologică a operei mauriaciene, Maria Otilia Oprea provides a theological interpretation of Mauriac's works, focusing on the interplay between human and divine love. Oprea highlights how Mauriac's characters, such as those in Thérèse Desqueyroux and Noeud de vipères, embody this search for love, marked by illusions but ultimately leading to spiritual awakening and redemption. Oprea argues that for Mauriac, love is both a source of torment and healing, and through embracing divine love, the characters find redemption and reconciliation, not just with others, but with God. Oprea’s analysis presents Mauriac's work as a reflection on the Christian concept of the fall and redemption, with human love, when disconnected from divine grace, leading to suffering. However, through accepting divine love, Mauriac’s characters experience spiritual renewal. This duality between human and divine love forms the core of Mauriac’s literary exploration of the human soul's journey toward redemption. By engaging with Oprea’s theological perspective, this study aims to deepen the understanding of Mauriac’s work, showing how love, for Mauriac, is not simply a worldly pursuit, but a spiritual journey—one that leads to redemption through divine love. Through this lens, Mauriac’s literature takes on a profound spiritual dimension that Oprea’s hermeneutic approach helps to unravel.

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NORMAN MANEA & MIHAIL SEBASTIAN -THE ISSUE OF JEWISH IDENTITY

Author(s): Dana Maria Bendriș / Language(s): English Issue: 40/2025

Norman Manea is a writer who lived under the sign of two dictatorships: the Antonescu dictatorship and then the Communist one. The return of the hooligan (2003) is an „autobiographical novel”, which includes the avatars of the writer’s biography, from the pre-war period, to the Second World War, the communist period, to the present. The return of the hooligan is a document with the value of testimony and confession, a book in which is evoked, in an original style, the tragedy of the Jews in Romania from the two terror regimes, illustrating the drama of lack of identity and existential uncertainty, the title and content of Norman Manea’s autobiographical novel can be put in relation to Mihail Sebastian’s book How I became hooligan. At the same time, the book can also be considered as a reaction to the conduct of some intellectuals of the interwar period who adhered to the legionary ideology (Mircea Eliade, Petre Tutea, Constantin Noica etc.). The novel can also be interpreted as a response to Nae Ionescu’s famous preface to Sebastian’s novel of two thousand years. In this context, it can be seen that the return of the hooligan represents a search for his own identity, but also an attempt to understand the inner contradictions of Jewish writers in Romanian literature (Mihail Sebastian, Norman Manea etc.).

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THE TRADITION OF JESTBOOKS IN THE 16TH AND 17TH CENTURIES: FACETIOUS WRITING FROM ITALY TO ENGLAND

Author(s): Cătălin Bărbunță / Language(s): English Issue: 40/2025

The paper delves into the issues of the facetious transfer from Italy to the rest of Western Europe, particularly to England, in terms of publication of facetiae compilations and their usage in other literary genres, specifically in plays. While Italy is highly receptive to the tradition of facetious writing established during the Renaissance period by Poggio Bracciolini’s Liber facetiarum – a collection of unconventional brief texts characterised by their entertaining purpose and audacious style – England proves more reticent and only fully embraces the genre in the 17th century. The transfer is clearly demonstrated by the large number of English compilations published for the first time during the 17th century – thirty-five titles (Lavie,2020b: 135-136) – marking the emergence of a genre equivalent to the Italian facezia.

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Ризата и смъртта

Author(s): Zdravko Dechev / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 2/2025

A good starting point for considering the connection between the shirt/clothing and the public presence of the human body is the pre-funeral care of the dead in Bulgarian folk culture. As an attribute of ritualized activity, the shirt can be perceived not only as a boundary, but also as a connection between the world of the living and the world of the dead. Research interests lie in how in death a person remains a person precisely through the shirt/clothing. The care put into the shirt/clothing is particularly indicative of the current context. For our people, the shirt becomes symbolic when it gleams white with purity. In this case, “whiteness” and “purity” transcend physical laws and become a moral and spiritual guide to the connection between the shirt and the human body – both living and dead. The peculiar fusion of the shirt with the body and its perception by our people as a “second skin” also stands out. This notion is tied to the violence against the slave body and the removal of its natural protective barrier. And this unimaginable nakedness of the dead slave's body is an example that the slave's body, even in its death, is deprived of any protection.

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