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.

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.

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.

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.

THE SURREALITY OF PETRU CIMPOEȘU'S NOVEL "THE UNWILLING HERO"

Author(s): Alina Costea / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 39/2024

The fictional treatment of reality seems to be a solution to the entropy it imposes. "What can literature do?" is the question that Cimpoeșu addresses as an invitation to further reflections on the themes cultivated and permanently slipped into a created space of fictionalized reality. The article aims to unravel a complicated and labyrinthine mechanism mediated by narrative instances. An illusion of the credible, permanently displayed in the subtlety of the means of pastiche, reveals the surreality covered by successive formulas of truth, afterwards by the lies denounced. The impossibility of diverting the textual meaning creates the equivocal character of literature. The criminal scenario gives birth to a heroic destiny from the living substance obtained thanks to perceptive manipulation following a close collaboration between the Model Reader and the Author. Cimpoeșu's poetic interferences materialize in a dialectic of an imaginary continuum of forms that resides in the interpretative malleability.

THE ROMANIAN INTERWAR SOCIETY. IDEOLOGICAL CONTEXT

Author(s): Paula Andrada Hurducaci / Language(s): English Issue: 39/2024

When we talk about Romanian interwar society, we refer to the period between World War I and World War II (1918–1939), a time marked by profound transformations. This era, often regarded as a "golden age" of Romanian culture, was characterized by the following features: Social Structure, Political Landscape, and Cultural Renaissance. The ideological context of Romanian interwar society was shaped by a dynamic interplay of local identity influences and the tensions between Western and modernism, nationalism, traditionalism. This period, marked by the creation of Greater Romania and the integration of diverse cultural and ethnic regions, fostered intellectual debates and the rise of ideological movements

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Бравый новый мир Виктора Пелевина. К вопросу о польском переводе романа „S.N.U.F.F.”

Author(s): Jolanta Lubocha-Kruglik / Language(s): Russian Issue: 1/2024

The paper examines difficulties in translating meaningful (allusive) proper names and selected paratexts in the novel S.N.U.F.F. by Victor Pelevin. The chosen exemplification material shows the multi-dimensionality of Victor Pelevin’s prose and the resulting translation problems. Translation is transferring a text from one intertextual and cultural space to another. For this reason, it inevitably results in a loss of some intertextual references and a gain of new ones.

Международна конференция „Континуитет, единство, културно и езиково разнообразие в Югоизточна Европа“

Author(s): Milen Petrov / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 49/2024

Научна конференция „Острови на неблажените. Неконвенционалната българска литература от 1944 до 1989“

Author(s): Boryana Vladimirova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 49/2024

Сирма Данова. Какъв ни е Паисий? Християнство и национализъм в културната биография на „История славянобългарска“

Author(s): Anna Alexieva / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 49/2024

Пламен Антов. Любов и Отечество. Изследвания върху българската възрожденска литература и култура

Author(s): Nevena Mihova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 49/2024

Белетристиката в архивите. Подборът на факти и документи в научното изследване

Author(s): Tiha Boncheva / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 49/2024

„(…) będę czągał sankie szniegem (…)”. Głosy dzieci z Domu Sierot

Author(s): Wojciech Lasota / Language(s): Polish Issue: 2/2024

The purpose of the article is to present excerpts from primary sources from the history of the Orphans’ Home. There have been preserved the children’s texts, written down by them or their educators. Selected quotations illustrate functioning of the children of the Orphans’ Home in the Polish-Jewish borderland, as well as related struggles and dilemmas, primarily on the linguistic and identity levels. The excerpts presented are then juxtaposed with Janusz Korczak’s narrative of the Orphans’ Home in his book, to make it clear that he completely omitted Jewish themes from this story.

„Kiedy rozpoczęła się wojna (…) byłem jeszcze mały (…)”. Wypracowania szkolne pisane w roku 1946 jako źródło do badania dziecięcych autobiografii

Author(s): Marcin Gołąb / Language(s): Polish Issue: 2/2024

In this article, using the example of a collection of source materials – school essays relating to World War II, written in various parts of Poland in 1946 and collected by the Ministry of Education in Warsaw, some of which are now stored at the Archives of New Records in Warsaw – I try to show their autobiographical potential, and why it is necessary to make a distinction between autobiography and testimony in the case of the sources discussed. I draw attention to the connection between the genre of verbal creativity, which is the school essay, and children’s writing practices, as well as the impact of these practices on the autobiographical nature of essays. Using selected examples taken from school texts, I demonstrate the possibility of using them to analyze the ways in which children construct their autobiography.

Dokument osobisty jako problem literacki (na przykładzie zapisów z czasu Zagłady)

Author(s): Paweł Rodak / Language(s): Polish Issue: 2/2024

This article considers the situation in which every day, documentary and autobiographical records, made by non-writers and hitherto treated as non-literary, are beginning to be included in the field of literature and are acquiring the status of literary works. This is the situation we are facing today in Poland, among others, with regard to records of Holocaust experiences. They are introduced into the realm of literature through the category of ‘personal document literature’, introduced by Roman Zimand. The author of the article sees the legitimacy of such an operation, thanks to which everyday, documentary and autobiographical records are given the importance they deserve. He mentions two examples of publications concerning records of the times of the Holocaust: the volume Literatura polska wobec Zagłady (1939–1968) and the edition of the Ringelblum Archive in the series of the National Library. At the same time, he points out five basic operations that characterise modern literature, which we do not find in these records: decontextualisation, fictionalisation, textualisation, rematerialisation, remediation. In the conclusion, the author draws attention to the need for a new take on literature and a new understanding of it in the context of literary records and practices, primarily autobiographical and documentary, such as records from the time of the Holocaust.