Dream a Little Dream of Will: Shakespeare as a Character in Neil Gaiman’s “The Sandman”

Author(s): Tijana Parezanović / Language(s): English Issue: 5/2012

This paper explores the representations of William Shakespeare in Neil Gaiman’s comic book series The Sandman. Shakespeare figures as a character in three of the seventy-five stories, occupying a somewhat special place since through him Gaiman expresses his beliefs on the nature of poetic creation, the relationship between the author and the narrative, as well as the relationship between fiction and reality. By presenting one of the world’s most significant authors and his two plays, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Tempest, Gaiman plays on the ideas that fiction is as real as historical reality (or even more so) and that an author is merely a mediator of great narratives which unavoidably surpass his or her historical existence. Moreover, separate stories are, in Gaiman’s view, only repetitions or reinterpretations of eternal truths embodied in the realm of dreaming. Gaiman’s ideas are in this paper supported by traditional critical views on Shakespeare, his plays and characters, as well as by Barthes’ more general beliefs on the role of the author in the process of artistic creation. The purpose of this paper is to analyze Shakespeare’s development from an ambitious playwright to one of the most recognizable figures of contemporary popular culture. As presented in word and image by Neil Gaiman, this development entails that Shakespeare should first become aware of the parallel reality of his fiction and its power, and then become himself part of it.

MAKING SENSE OF THE PRESENT: WAKEFIELD AND THE 21ST CENTURY WELTANSCHAUUNG

Author(s): Cătălin TECUCIANU / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2018

Andrei Codrescu is, undoubtedly, one of the most critically acclaimed Romanian-American writers. Born in Sibiu in 1946, Codrescu immigrated to the United States as a teenager, eventually settling in New Orleans where he developed a successful literary and teaching career at the University of Louisiana. The aim of this paper is to analyze, from a cultural perspective, his 2004 novel, Wakefield. Setting off on a journey to understand the 21st century American zeitgeist, Wakefield, the novel’s eponymous character, exposes the strangest phenomena in our contemporary society; examples include the appearance of Internet money, ethnic wars, the clash of cultures, globalism gone awry and the perpetual search of one’s origins in a country that is constantly on the move. The novel becomes representative, not just for the American society, but for the world community as a whole, since it addresses problems that are pervasive in almost every culture and country.

EMPATHY, SYMPATHY AND DEMONIZATION OF THE OTHER IN THE BALKAN LITERATURES

Author(s): Mariglena Meminaj / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2019

The profile of the other in the Balkans literatures is as special and complex as its projection onto real life has been through the region’s history. Since the Balkans itself has been a bridge between East and West, being ‘the other’ in relation to Europe and part of it simultaneously, the concepts of self and the other reveal as specific in the Balkans literatures.In these literatures, the other has been the alien, the invader, who came either from a powerful empire or from ‘beyond the fence’—the neighbour, the similar but also the different one all at once. In most cases, this ‘other’ exerted all its influence to spread their culture and, either when being part of an empire or merely a neighbour, cohabited with them for such long periods as to strive to undo the features of their identity. The present paper aims to highlight some features of ‘the other’ in the Balkans literature that make it essentially unique and (considering the work of albanian and serbian prose writers) which, in relation to self, appears in diverse and often opposite positions: it has been demonized at times, but empathised or even sympathised at pthers, and, as everything else of the Balkans, is depicted in strong colours and contrasts, yet essentially similar.

OUR EUROPE: THREE POST-COMMUNIST WRITERS ON CENTRAL EUROPE AND THE DENIAL OF HISTORY

Author(s): Ramona HĂRŞAN / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2020

The paper focuses on Central Europe’s problematic philosophical relationship with history by bringing together three different post-communist viewpoints on Central Europeanism which seem to spotlight a certain distrust in history as a key element in any relevant understanding of its cultural specificity. The primary sources proposed for analysis consist of three authoritative Central European writers’ essayistic approaches to the said relationship – namely, Andrzej Stasiuk, Mircea Nedelciu and Gheorghe Crăciun’s – as each of them provides a different paradigmatic standpoint on Central Europe’s “historic pudency” and this attitude’s role in re-defining Europeanism in the zone. The investigation’s main purpose is to determine the way in which these discourses articulate around a distinct conceptual apparatus and build emblematic contemporary perspectives, adding up to pre-communist and late, 1980s (anti-)communist philosophical debates concerning Central European identity.

Жанр как категория поэтики (проблемы, тенденции, перспективы)

Author(s): Marina Vladimirovna Zavarkina / Language(s): Russian Issue: 1/2020

The article is focused on one of the key categories of historical and theoretical poetics — the category of genre. Until now, many issues related to genre and the genre analysis of a writing remain unsettled. The article considers the main problems of studying the category of genre, as well as different approaches: genetic, functional, systemic, typological ones. The emphasis is laid on the history of the study of the category “genre” by formal and sociological schools. A particular attention is paid to the contribution of P. N. Medvedev to the development of the genre as a category of poetics, as well as to the concepts of the genre by D. S. Likhachev, M. M. Bakhtin, G. N. Pospelov, V. V. Kozhinov, V. N. Zakharov, L. V. Chernets, N. L. Leiderman and others, some aspects of studying the category of genre in foreign literary criticism are considered. It is proved that, despite the idea of “atrophy”, the genre still remains significant both for the writer’s artistic thinking and for certain “expectations” of the reader from the text.

Morfológia motívu figurálnej transformácie v príbehovej látke o sestre, ktorá hľadá svojich bratov zakliatych na zvieratá

Author(s): Nikola Danišová / Language(s): Slovak Issue: 2/2020

The subject of the paper is transcultural comparison of Slovak and foreign-language stories based on the fairy-tale subject about a sister who seeks her brothers turned into animals. According to Aarne-Thompson-Uther´s international catalogue of folktale types, the fairy tales dealing with the subject in question fall into the central motif type 451 The Maiden Who Seeks Her Brothers. The paper places weight on morphology and iconization of the metamorphosis motif, which is an irreplaceable part of the invariant plot diagram of the fairy-tale subject in question with the aim of finding out what syuzhet and motif constellations include transformations of the characters involved and what (if anything at all) makes depiction of the metamorphosis motif in the Slovak variants of the fairy-tale subject being researched specific in comparison with the foreign equivalents. The sources are constituted by ten fairy tales from all over Slovakia – one authorized record by Pavel Dobšinský and regional versions from Nitra, Trnava, Považská Bystrica, Žilina, Žiar nad Hronom, Trebišov and Humenné, which are mostly compared with the sources from Slavic linguistic and cultural territories (Czech, Bulgarian and Ukrainian fairy tales). The research materials also include a fairy tale The Seven Ravens by the Brothers Grimm, which is in terms of reception one of the best-known European versions of the tale type in question. The variants from the non-Slavic cultural area include a Norwegian fairy tale The Twelve Wild Ducks and a Danish fairy tale The Twelve Ravens, which feature motif elements untypical of the Slavic linguistic and cultural territory in terms of the plot structure.

Ako dobrovoľne „pozastaviť nedôveru“ vo vedeckú metodológiu. Radosť z (meta)spektáklu

Author(s): Danka LEŠKOVÁ / Language(s): Slovak Issue: 2/2019

V jednej zo svojich štúdií uvažuje Miroslav Marcelli o jave označenom termínom autoreferencia a obracia sa i na práce Rolanda Barthesa (Barthes 1964, podľa Marcelli 2003). Ten pripomína, že metajazyk literatúru udržuje pri živote práve vtedy, keď už nie je schopná vypovedať o svete, o posolstvách z vonkajšieho sveta, keď si je silno vedomá toho, že je náhle zbavená referentov a poslaní. Metareferencia sa nemusí týkať len literatúry ako takej, antiiluzívne prostriedky môžu (meta)reflektovať hoci aj metodológiu samotnej (literárnej) vedy. A tak (meta)reflektovať poznanie, že určitým spôsobom položená otázka dovolí vzniknúť len istej odpovedi.

Boccaccio in Europa. 700 anni dalla nascita dell’autore del “Decameron”, a cura di Corina Anton e Mihaela Voicu, collana “Mediaevalia” n. 6 (Bolletino del Centro di Studi Medievali dell’Università di Bucarest), Bucuresti, 2016

Author(s): Miruna Bulumete / Language(s): Italian Issue: 22/2017

U labirintu ‘definitivne knjige’: bilješke o Borhesovskim ishodištima Horozovićevih Talhi

Author(s): Irma Marić / Language(s): Bosnian Issue: 12/2020

Irfan Horozovic is a prose writer who uses the elements of fantastic and outworldly in his fiction. In this paper, we are attempting to point to the elements of the fantastic-poetic model by referring to the poetics, ethics and aesthetics of Irfan Horozovic’s body of work. The starting point on such a vertical line undoubtedly belongs to his work Talha or the Shadrvan Garden, which is also known in the literary criticism as the ‘definitive book’, that is, the book by which Horozovic, as a Borgesian, made his big entrance into the world of literature.

Pan Karol i Pan Optikon

Author(s): Paulina Sokólska / Language(s): Polish Issue: 15/2020

The relationship between Mr. Charles and the space of his abode is considered analogousto that between Rodyon Raskolnikov and his bachelor apartment. Both cases call for a resolution whether the habitational space has any impact on the character. An analysisof the fictional house’s layout makes it possible to distinguish a particular figure of thebed that, according to Yi-Fu Tuan’s conception of the object denoting place, can bemodified into different landscape forms. Dynamic changes of space not only seem totake control over the apathetic, exhausted man, but also visibly influence his physicality.The author focuses on the aquatic and airless atmosphere of Mr. Charles’s house to connectits oppressive influence with the lodger’s mental condition by using symbolic explanationsin terms of water and dust. The apartment preserved by still water becomessimilar to an aquarium. In such an environment, the only possible form of existence is imitation of life resulting from a constant and acute feeling of imprisonment. The paper describes the position of the main character, referring to Michel Foucault’s concept of the Panopticon and suggests the use of this model to approach space in Schulz’s text.

TOPOS ALCHIMIC ȘI IMAGINAR HERMETIC ÎN BASMUL PRÂSLEA CEL VOINIC ȘI MERELE DE AUR

Author(s): Liliana Danciu / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 1/2020

As we have shown in the hermeneutic analyzes of two Romanian folk tales that had in the center the same hero, Țugulea / Țugunea, these folk narratives codified in poetic-symbolic language mythical behaviors, ritual elements, rite sequences, assuming the formative role of a personality. human specimens. This time we will deal with the Romanian folk tale Prâslea cel Voinic and the golden apples, which, as the title of our proposal explicitly suggests, seems to be the literary expression of a hermetic transmutation of a neophyte into an initiate, a parable of seeking and attaining superior occult knowledge.Prâslea's brothers try to unjustly access a higher type of knowledge, but they know nothing about it; they unite worldly with the "silver" and "copper" faces, but they have neither the apple nor the gold face. Only he who descended into Hell holds the secrets of occult knowledge, and that is the little one.

Corporalul şi identitatea în distopii

Author(s): Oana SAFTA / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 2/2018

The article Corporeal and Identity in Dystopias analyses various identity-related aspects in three reference novels of the genre: When The Sleeper Awakes, We and Nineteen Eighty-Four, using the interdisciplinarity triggered by the theme, and the converging points of these narratives. The dystopian space is a very rich one for the existential crisis of the individual, which it follows from various points of view: sociological, historical, psychological, bio-ethical and philosophical. The understanding issue is another highly important aspect in this analysis, as it mirrors the efficiency of the respective literary genre and the impact of the writings as possible mentality studies.

Vétérinaire : un métier exercé par les hommes ou par les femmes dans la littérature de jeunesse d’hier et d’aujourd’hui ?

Author(s): Christine Fontanini,Anne SCHNEIDER / Language(s): French Issue: 2/2019

Our research intends to examine social representations of vetjob in 30 documentary books, fiction books and novels published in France between 1972 and 2017 for 0 to 7 year old young. Based on a research which is a quantitative-qualitative combination we want to show how are vet representations in books for children. For that, we are trying to answer to these following questions: are women and men nearly of the number? How are women and men represented: in which specialties or species and which professional attributes for women and men vet?

De mulieribus illustribus : au sujet des femmes illustres. Représentations des femmes dans les métiers scientifiques en littérature de jeunesse »

Author(s): Anne SCHNEIDER / Language(s): French Issue: 2/2019

Our research intends to examine representations of female scientists in 14 novels, non-fiction, fiction and picture books and published in France between 2010 and 2019 for 0 to 15 year olds. Based on qualitative research, we want to show how female scientists are currently portrayed in children’s books. In fact, in children’s literature, we only seem to remember the famous scientist Marie Curie and her husband Pierre Curie or their daughter Irène Joliot-Curie. However, is it possible to present other science heroines to children? So, we want to give an overview of professional women in science in picture books, non-fiction and fiction books, even if they are a minority. That is why we want to describe stereotypes in the language and pictures and how a young female reader could imagine becoming a great famous scientist in the future, because this is not only reserved for boys.

Le statut de la femme dans la société musulmane

Author(s): Alina-Adina CRISTEA / Language(s): French Issue: 2/2019

The objective of our communication is to eliminate the confusion between Islam and Islamism, to analyse the Muslim woman’s status in society and to focus on the female characters of three Algerian novels of French expression. Our article aims at the woman’s status in the patriarchal Muslim society, which turns its female representatives into the target of all kinds of violent attitudes, manifested towards any woman’s attempt to have access to education, culture, emancipation.

Воспитательный потенциал литературного жанра фэнтези для современной подростковой культуры

Author(s): Olga Anatolevna Karlova,Natalia Petrovna Koptseva,Ksenia Vyacheslavovna Reznikova,Alexandra Alexandrovna Sitnikova / Language(s): Russian Issue: 4/2020

Introduction. The late 20th and the early 21st centuries witnessed an increased popularity of the fantasy genre (books by J. K. Rowling, J. R. R. Tolkien, C. Lewis, their film adaptations, etc.). Although fantasy literature was initially targeted at schoolchildren and adolescents, it attracts readers of all ages. The research problem is to explain the reasons for mass enthusiasm for the fantasy genre in modern culture and to understand the reasons why this genre is not included into school curricula despite of its popularity among schoolchildren. The purpose of this article is to reveal the educational potential of the fantasy genre for modern teenage culture.Materials and Methods. The article reviews and provides a theoretical analysis of a number of studies into the fantasy genre. The author used semantic structuring and semantic synthesis methods. The material of the research included fantasy novels by J. K. Rowling, J. R. R. Tolkien, C. Lewis, etc.Results. It was found that the main reason for the fantasy genre popularity among readers of all ages is the idea that it represents a modern variant of religious literature, focusing on reestablishing universal links as it was in ancient syncretic myths. Fantasy literature was initially targeted at teenage readers; nevertheless, teenagers are ideal actors for modern culture because they are ready for changes and making choices. Consequently, the majority of modern people are characterized by teenage mentality.The reasons for ignoring fantasy by the educational system include the following: concidering fantasy as a means of escapism, the cause of infantilism and virtual rebellion; as an alternative form of institutionalized religion; a strong economic component of the popularity of the fantasy genre. At the same time, the positive educational potential of the fantasy genre is underestimated. It contains a pronounced creative function which contributes to the transition from the role of the reader to the role of the writer.Conclusions. The main educational potential of the fantasy genre for modern teenage culture lies in its beneficial influence on moral education and personal development of adolescents being an alternative to institutionalized religion and helping them to identify the meaning and purpose of life. Fantasy attracts readers to science and travelling. Moreover, it contributes to fostering creativity among adolescents, enhancing their creative abilities.

На путу за Константинопољ: чешки путописци на Балкану

Author(s): Aleksandra Korda-Petrović / Language(s): Serbian Issue: 169/2019

The 17th-century Czech travelogues, written in Latin and Czech, by Václav Budovec of Budova (Anti-alkorаn, 1614), Václav Vratislav of Mitrovic (The Experiences of Václav Vratislav of Mitrovic, which he had in the Turkish capital Constantinople, encountered in his imprisonment in 1591 and recorded upon his happy return in 1599) and Heřman Černín z Chudenic (Diary of 1645) are testimonies of the beginnings of creating a stereotypical image of the Balkans, which the following Czech travel writers would adopt. As members of the Hungarian diplomatic missions, they recorded their adventures, impressions and thoughts in the form of religious polemics, adventure writings and diary entries. The lands, peoples and customs which these Czech travel writers encounter on their way to Constantinople are viewed as the province of the mighty Ottoman Empire, and the people living there are described as subjugated and “en-route”. The travel writers often do not make any ethnic differences and do not offer a broader picture of the regions they pass, but only describe what they see in the vicinity of the Trajan’s road. Their goal is Constantinople and they are focused on it. Their image of the Balkans, which they still do not name so, is blended into the image of the Ottoman Empire. The Turkish empire is presented as powerful, belligerent and dangerous. On his way to Constantinople the traveler encounters many dangers, he needs protection and escort, he could get ill or end up in prison. This is what gradually shapes a stereotype of the whole Balkan region which is experienced as the area characteristic for the Ottoman heritage. The 19th-century Czech travel writers, Vítězslav Hálek and Jan Neruda recorded their observations from their trip to Tsargrad much later than the first Czech travelers to Constantinople. The different historical circumstances changed the angle of their views of the Balkans and the form of their records itself had come a long way in the travel-writing genre development. Their travel feuilletons, however, follow the existing “mental maps” of the earlier travel writers and convey the picture of the Balkans as an exotic destination which they regard as a region where the European and Oriental cultures are intertwined and where the tradition of the Ottoman heritage is predominant.

Geneza motiva kuge u evropskom kontekstu

Author(s): Lidija Čolević / Language(s): Serbian Issue: 4/2017

The plague represents a universal theme that acquired throughout times different interpretations. The plague theme is present in many literatures and as it results from the texts that we refer to from different times (the ancient Greek drama, the middle ages cases of plague, the Renaissance, the modern literature and the contemporary literature), it didn't lose its actuality. The present paper represents a contribution to the interdisciplinary study of the plague theme in the European literary, cultural and historical context.

Российская и английская альтернативная история и антиколониализм: сравнительный анализ художественной прозы

Author(s): Antonina Anistratenko / Language(s): Russian Issue: 4/2018

In this comparative article, the alternative historical novel in Russian and English literature is taken as a historical work, and anti-colonialism will act as the third component on the competitive arena: natural instigator, deep meaning and context of the artistic storyline and extra-textual factors. The aim of the article is a comparative analysis of the functional features of alternative history novels in English and Russian literature in the discourse of anti-colonialism.

ŽARKO RADAKOVIĆ: THE TRAUMAS OF BIRTH, LONELINESS AND EMIGRATION

Author(s): Dragan Đorđević / Language(s): Serbian Issue: 1/2020

The paper describes the unusual and traumatic history of Žarko Radaković and his emergence as a writer. Having been in emigration since the late 1970s, Radaković turned to the strategy of “productive reception”, which enabled him to use the opus of two great artists (the writer Peter Handke and the artist Julije Knifer) as a springboard for his own work. Regarding them as his poetic fathers, Radaković conceived his work as a following in the footsteps of his fathers.