The Linguistic Epitome of Paradox as a Means of Expliciting Black Humor in Joseph Heller‟s Catch-22

Author(s): Iulia Cocu / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2016

Joseph Heller has learned from Beckett, Camus and Kafka and his style resembles the style of these writers but he is clearly himself a novelist who may be looked upon as one of the most interesting black humourists, mainly through his use of the paradoxical character that lays behind the rule named Catch-22. Paradox is, in fact, the main stylistic means of expressing black humor used by Heller in his novel, Catch-22. This is the reason why the present paper focuses on the linguistic stylistic analysis of black humor as expressed by the catch-22 rule and by other instances of paradox usage all through the novel.

Translating Popular Canadian Fiction in (Pre-)Communist Romania. Mazo de la Roche as a Case in Point

Author(s): Ana Magdalena Petraru / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2016

This paper analyses the first novel of the Jalna series by the English Canadian writer Mazo de la Roche whose romantic fiction for women was very popular in pre-communist Romania. We will compare the two translations of the novel Jalna, namely Jul. Giurgea‘s (1935; reedited in 1990) and Liana Dobrescu‘s (1973) using Christiane Nord‘s functionalist model in Translation Studies with both its intratextual and extratextual factors and account for the differences and similarities in the two versions.

Translating Differences, Translating Aboriginality: A study of Taiwanese Aboriginal Literature by Shammon Ranpoan

Author(s): Shuhwa Shirley Wu / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2016

This study examines the translation of aboriginality in contemporary Taiwanese aboriginal literature. It explores the strategies Taiwanese aboriginal writer of the Tao tribe Shammon Ranpoan (1947-) employed in his books Cold Sea, Deep Love and Memories of Waves. Ranpoan is one of the pioneer aboriginal writers who write in Chinese to the wider readership of Taiwan. Since the 1980s, the Taiwanese aboriginal people have been finding their voice in aboriginal movements and in pen. For Taiwanese aboriginal writers, to write is to translate, whether the narrative is a journalistic report or literary creation, such as poetry or stories. In other words, when aboriginal people pick up their pen, they inevitably perform ―translation‖, which in this study I will discuss mainly in terms of language and ideology. To demonstrate how Ranpoan translated and imported cultural difference, I will elaborate two categories of translation styles he used in his writing: reconciled translation, and assertive translation, which mainly describe linguistic and cultural translation techniques. These two categories of translation styles are useful for understanding how Taiwanese Aboriginal authors such as Ranpoan translate aboriginal concepts into Aboriginal literature. This paper is informed by translation studies and post-colonial literature studies (or post-colonial translation) proposed by Maria Tymoczko, in line with concepts advocated by Susan Bassenett and Harish Trivedi. Through literature examined, I hope to illustrate the strategies of translating differences in Taiwanese Aboriginal Literature in the light of cultural contact and language contact.

Hypostases de la féminité vaudoise dans la prose de Jacques Chessex

Author(s): Otilia-Carmen Cojan / Language(s): French Issue: 4-I/2010

In Jacques Chessex’s works, the woman identifies with the intimate source of creative inspiration. Whether a novel, short story or chronicle, eroticism is ubiquitous. The presence of the feminine element in men’s life is often associated with a devastating phenomenon as it is described as one of the causes of impaired consciousness and inner conflicts of the characters. In La Confession du Pasteur Burg, the woman is seen as the incarnation of evil, the source of sin and the Devil’s emissary. However, we cannot say that for Chessex the woman is only a foundation of the erotic desires. In Portrait des Vaudois, the writer describes and reveals several incarnations of the vaud womanhood: young girls, mothers or grandmothers, the women represent the centre around which all the family is organised. They are tougher than men, ready to risk everything, tenacious, wise and bitter. A last instance of the femininity is the one presented in Dans la buée de ses yeux, which actually represents a true praise of feminine sensibility, a trip to her inexplicable charms. We aim the study this triple hypostasis of the womanhood in Jacques Chessex’s writings while emphasising the perspective of the writer on femininity.

The first ever comparative study of Shakespeare and Thomas Mann

Author(s): Petra Bjelica / Language(s): English Issue: 160/2016

Facettes du discours fictionnel postmoderne dans la littérature québécoise contemporain

Author(s): Carmen Andrei / Language(s): French Issue: 2/2011

Contemporary postmodern period is characterized by major changes reflected in reinventing new dominant values (recognizing individuality, customizing lifestyle, the spirit of ethnic, religiuous and sexual tolerance, individual reference to history,etc.). These changes were determined by a significant development of new communication and information technologies. The specificity of modern fictional discourse in quebeqoise literature lies in biulding a metastory of History and Time, and Individual and Collective Identity as well. All these, very well rooted into the social, political and cultural francophone Canada. Our aim here is to review the constant elements of postmodern poetics exemplifying with samples of feminine and feminist literature (Nicole Brossard, Louky Bersianik, Yolande Villemare, Francine Noel, etc.). Then we continue with a brief analysis of a classic such as Jacques Poulin and conclude with a summary of the new generation of postmodern “novelistsof despair" (ChristianMistral, Louis Hamelin, Louis Beauchemin, Monique Proulx, Gaetan Soucy, etc.)

KONTRAPUNKTUALNA KONSTRUKCIJA DRUGOSTI U POEZIJI MAHMUDA DERVIŠA

Author(s): Mirza Sarajkić / Language(s): Bosnian Issue: 14/2016

A very significant poetic determinant of resistance poetry is reflected in the contrapuntal understanding of the Other. According to this view, the position of the Other is assigned to the colonial subject by inverting the matrix of symbolic simulacra and by rearranging the predetermined positions of Centre and periphery. Although Darwish clearly highlights rival alter ego as an ethical and epistemic difference, he does not perceive the otherness as static phenomenon, which is the nature of Orientalist canon. On the contrary, in the Palestinian poetry of resistance the Other develops from the position of enemy to that of Wittgenstein’s fugitive part of personal spirituality. In this way, resistance poetry opposes the concept of alterity defined by the canon, since the Other represents a complex and polyvalent entity, rather than a stereotyped one. Consequently, such verse represents an opportunity to rediscover the man in his totality which indicates the intensity of universal humanism in Palestinian poetry.

Трудности художественного перевода английских эпитетов (на примере романа Н. Хорнби «Как стать добрым»)

Author(s): Gulnara Kamilevna Gimaletdinova,M.A. Perminova / Language(s): Russian Issue: 5/2016

The paper studies epithet as an integral part of contemporary literary text and as a culture-specific phenomenon. The research touches upon the issue of translating epithets from English into Russian. Data for the study have been taken from Nick Hornby’s novel “How to Be Good” and its translation into Russian made by Sergey Frolenok. The influence of the structural type and semantic meaning of epithets on their translation has been investigated. The research has shown that transposition, modulation, and lexical-semantic replacements are the most effective means of translating simple and compound epithets, while omission is preferable to convey the meaning of two-step epithets and modulation and explication for translating phrase (holophrastic) epithets. Translation of metaphorical epithets presents certain difficulties due to connotative meanings peculiar to the English language, which can hinder the perception of the text by Russian readers. In such cases, the imagery of the text is achieved by other stylistic means. The study has revealed that phrase epithets and compound epithets, having no equivalents in the Russian language, are the most difficult to translate. On the whole, the research expands the knowledge about epithet as a unit of contemporary text, complementing the theory of epithet as a stylistic device in general. Further studies of creative writing by N. Hornby can throw light to other aspects of his idiostyle.

Постмодернистские особенности сборника рассказов Бахи Тахира «Я ходил к водопаду»

Author(s): D.R. Akhmetzyanova / Language(s): Russian Issue: 6/2016

Two short stories written by Bahaa Taher ( بهاء طاهر ), a modern Egyptian postmodernist writer, i.e., “Love Story” ( اسطورة حب [usturatu hoob]) and “Happiness” ( فرحة [farha]) from the collection of stories “I Went to a Waterfall” ( ذهبت الي الشلال [thahabtu ilash shilal]) have been considered in the paper. The postmodernist characteristics of the lexicon and narrative style have been revealed. Special attention has been paid to the artistic-expressive means of the writer’s language. The results of the study prove that the writer’s style belongs to the postmodernist school. The conclusion has been made that metaphors, comparisons, epithets, personifications, and other artistic means used in the texts show how the writer addresses contemporary problems, as well as his attitude towards them. In particular, a covert criticism against the aggressive behavior of authorities has been found in the “Love Story”. The story “Happiness” considers the problem of a relationship between the nature and humans. Furthermore, the artistic expressive means create a harmonious stylistic form and the aesthetic perfection of the analyzed postmodernist literary works.

Беллетризация как приём в биографиях Джорджианы, герцогини Девонширской

Author(s): K.F. Ayupova / Language(s): Russian Issue: 1/2017

The paper deals with the current issues of biographical theory: the interaction of fiction and non-fiction, differentiation of biographical genres. Two contrasting novelized biographies of Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, have been juxtaposed. The first biography “The Face without a Frown” was written by the duchess’ descendant Iris Leveson-Gower in 1944 presenting a novelized and idealized version of her life. The “exposing” biography “The Two Duchesses” by Arthur Calder-Marshall came out in 1978 and offers a disparaging view on Georgiana’s life circumstances. The aim of this paper is to define the function of novelization in each of the biographies. Employing the method of comparative analysis, the degree of novelization in each biography has been analyzed, as well as the authors’ intents and methods and the resulting effect. Both works have been found to be containing novelistic elements, but neither of them can be described as a biographical novel. The aim of the first biography was to dispel the myths and rumors surrounding the Devonshires. I. Leveson-Gower novelizes her biography to ennoble Georgiana’s character and to make her world more vivid to the reader. However, this rather impairs her work, disrupting the structure. A. Calder-Marshall employs fictional elements to speculate on the events and characters and to present his own version of the truth. The results of this study help to define the boundaries between the genres of biographical novel and novelized biography.

Внутрішня музикальність як художній принцип китайської поезії

Author(s): Yin Jing Wu / Language(s): Russian Issue: 29/2016

Verses in Chinese culture are considered to be poetry, only in case they possess inner musicality. Such music qualities as rhythm, tempo, and melody only transport the outer features of musicality to the verses. The inner musicality is reached in Chinese poetry through the dynamic of mental images (wind, human, old friend, meaningful place), through the development of such topics as time/eternity, finiteness/endlessness, death/immortality, through mirroring philosophical concepts of a great silence, harmony of the unsaid word and of an unheard universal sound correlating with Dao.

Драматургічні парадокси Габріелє Д'аннунціо

Author(s): Mylenka Halyna / Language(s): Ukrainian Issue: 29/2016

For the first time in Ukrainian art studies examined the features of dramaturgy of Italian poet, writer and dramaturge Gabriele D'Annunzio, one of the most controversial figures in the history of European theater. In addition to specific features of his dramaturgic legacy, the attention is paid to review of D'Annunzio philosophical orientations, including the specific mission of the Italian aristocracy. Paper defines reasons of dramaturge’s delight in philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche that inspired him to create an image of overman, and therefore – to embody the theme of power and freedom of hero, whose immoralism allows ignoring any moral laws and regulations.

"Ненормативне тіло" в романі Енн Райс "Плач до небес": музикознавчий дискурс

Author(s): Yuri CHEKAN / Language(s): Ukrainian Issue: 27/2015

Art of Castrato singers – people who have deliberately modified bodies – until recently was a tabooed topic in local musicology. At the same time, the understanding of the development of European baroque and classical opera without their contributions is not only incomplete, but largely deformed because from 1590 to 1798 in the cradle of opera – Italy (in the Papa State) – women were officially banned from performing on stage. Consequently, all the female parts were performed by castrati. This article in terms of an intermedia approach examines the realities of European opera culture that became the feature material of the novel by Anne Rice "Cry to Heaven" (1982), as well as their interpretation by the contemporary American writer. Contemporary American novelist Anne Rice is known to the public primarily through his texts about vampires and witches – eleven novels form a series of "Vampire Chronicles" (1976- 2014), three novels – the series "Meyfeyrski Witch" (1990-1994), two novels – series "New Vampire Chronicles" (1998-1999). Her debut work "Interview with the Vampire" (1976) became the basis of the same movie Irish director Neil Jordan with Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise starring (1994), bringing the author the deserved popularity and reputation as one of the leaders of modern gothic novel.

Quest for Scottish Independence in James Robertson’s Short Fiction on the Eve of the Referendum

Author(s): Milena M. Kaličanin / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2017

The paper focuses on a detailed analysis of Robertson’s personal queries related to the issue of Scottish independence in two short stories, Republic of the Mind (first published in 1993) and MacTaggart’s Shed (2012). Since there is a conspicuous time span in-between the publication of these stories, it is our purpose to track, explore and describe how Robertson’s treatment of the same subject has changed over the years, particularly having in mind the references to the Devolution Referendum (1997) and Independence Referendum (2014) in these stories. Bearing in mind the idea of an artist as an active communal participant (Rich, 1993), Robertson ostensibly favours the political cause of Scottish independence; however, his short stories depict his personal doubts about its realization in future practice, a stance that proved to be completely justified after the unsuccessful Independence Referendum (2014). The theoretical framework of the paper relies on the critical insights of Scottish scholars, Campbell, Taylor, Thompson and Massie, as well as numerous contemporary journalist accounts of Scottish political analysts.

The Longevity of the Supermarket as a Non-Place in Don Delillo’s White Noise

Author(s): Stefan Pajović / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2017

The paper examines the setting of the supermarket as a non-place in Don DeLillo's novel White Noise, published in 1985, and its lastingness in contemporary culture. Critics have been mainly focusing on the consumerist and religious meaning of the place of the supermarket in the novel, disregarding its spatial implications. As a place, the concept of the supermarket is present in the philosophical thought of the French anthropologist Marc Augé who had developed the term “non-place” during the last decade of the twentieth century. It is this paper’s aim to prove beyond doubt that DeLillo’s concept of the supermarket, as portrayed in White Noise, matches Augé’s notion of a non-place. Other non-places include: a hotel room, a highway, or an airport. Furthermore, there exists a difference between “space” and “place” which is essential for the genesis of a non-place, including the one of the supermarket. This shopping area is marked by transience and created with a certain intention in mind, but it simultaneously represents a familiar place, which is precisely the way numerous DeLillo’s characters perceive it in the novel. The longevity of the supermarket as a non-place can be found in the present cultural context as well. The present-day symbolism of supermarkets is precisely the kind DeLillo wrote about and Augé expounded on.

Res vera agitur – Iuvenalis 4. Szatírájának szerkezetéről és célpontjáról

Author(s): Gergő Gellérfi / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: 1/2016

Satire 4 is one of the most criticized poems of Juvenal. Because of its structural problems, certain scholars even casted doubts on its unity considering it as two fragments patched together by a later editor. The key to understand the satire’s structure is the connection between its two main parts and between their central figures, Crispinus and Domitian. Apart from the structural problems, this paper also deals with certain features of the mock-epic as well as the targets of the invective.

Ein Neuer Versuch zum Ägyptischen Wort ἰwdnb in Schiffbrüchiger, 141/162

Author(s): Stefan Bojowald / Language(s): German Issue: 4/2014

In this article, a new explanation for the Egyptian word ἰwdnb in “Shipwrecked Sailor 141/162” is given. The word will be split into ἰw and dnb, respectively. It will be demonstrated that the second half may contain a metathesis of nbḏ which can be identified with some kind of resin.

On the authenticity of Al-Adab al-ṣaġīr attributed to Ibn al-Muqaffa c and problems concerning some of his titles

Author(s): István Kristó Nagy / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2009

G. Richter, F. Gabrieli, I. cAbbas and M. Zakeri conducted fundamental research on Al-Adab al- air which is attributed to Ibn al-Muqaffac. They concluded that this work is spurious. This view is generally accepted by most of the scholars. The primary objective of the first section of this article is to add some comments and information to their research, as well as to argue that Al-Adab al-a ir is very likely an authentic work of Ibn al-Muqaffac. It is plausible that he compiled Pahlavi texts which he translated, and prefaced this compilation with an introduction. In the second section of this article I will discuss the question of the titles of some of Ibn al-Muqaffac’s compositions, such as the Kitab al-adab al-kabir, Al-Adab al-sa ir, Al-Yatima, and the Polemic against Islam. This article is the second of a series on Ibn al-Muqaffac’s oeuvre. The first article of this series La Lumière et les Ténèbres dans l’oeuvre d’Ibn al-Muqaffac (Light and Darkness in Ibn al-Muqaffac) was published in a previous volume of the AOH (61/3). The next article of this series, “Reason, Religion and Power in Ibn al-Muqaffac”, will be published in one of the next issues.

"A myśli w mym sercu przesłane przez Boga" - ewolucja dominanty lirycznej w poezjach Jehudy ha-Lewiego

Author(s): Barbara Gryczan / Language(s): Polish Issue: 03/2017

The author presented a number of Yehuda ha-Levi’s poems accompanied by their literary translation into Polish. Based on selected lyrical poems she presented ha-Levi’s artistic and philosophical attitude, and especially the changes it underwent during the author’s long life. The author paid special attention to the mystical themes in the works. The inimitable manner of portraying the intimate bond with the Absolute, the dreams, the recollections of Israel’s history, and the trip to Jerusalem as the climax, became a source of inspiration for generations of mystics. In order to encourage fuller and more comprehensive understanding of the phenomenon which Yehuda ha-Levi’s poetry represented, the author also included numerous commentaries serving as references to the author’s biography and the historical, cultural and linguistic background of his times.

Obraz amerykańskiego Zachodu w powieści Rącze konie Cormaca McCarthy’ego

Author(s): Anna Dulska / Language(s): Polish Issue: 2/2017

The paper examines the myth of the American West presented in C. McCarthy’s novel All the Pretty Horses. The aim of the analysis is to show the differences between the common image of the region and the one presented in the novel.