2012 Flash fiction winner: Sleep by Richard Clarke

2012 ◽  
Vol 216 (2896-2897) ◽  
pp. 76
Author(s):  
Richard Clarke
Keyword(s):  

In the article, the aspects and types of such stylistic device as foregrounding are investigated in the short stories of contemporary American writers. The quantitative aspect of foregrounding prevails in flash fiction stories which is realized by means of stylistic convergence and parallelism. Convergences are mainly used in strong positions, especially in the endings, as in the stories by J. Updike, D. Galef, D.Eggers. The qualitative aspect of foregrounding is expressed with the help of tropes such as metaphor, simile and oxymoron which are also present in strong positions – titles, beginnings, endings (the stories by G. Paley, D. Galef, J. Updike). The idea of tolerance, sympathy, understanding is dominant in many flash fiction stories. Foregrounding, especially in the strong positions of the stories, emphasizes this idea, thus producing a strong pragmatic, emotional effect. Due to such device in the endings many flash fiction stories can be called modern parables of life, love, justice.


Keyword(s):  

In The Handoff, a flash fiction piece by John Pierre Craig, the narrator Bobby, a sixteen-year-old working in a barber shop, glimpses the matter-of-fact queerness of two soldiers, which suggests to him a way of being and possible future for himself.


Keyword(s):  

In Gaydar, a flash fiction piece by Wilton Barnhardt, a casual dinner between the narrator, an unnamed gay man, and his friend, Tyler, a single mother, erupts into tension after a discussion about the narrator's gaydar.


2009 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 26-26
Author(s):  
Myfanway Collins
Keyword(s):  

Literator ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosemary A. Gray

This article illustrates the theme of the poetic in Ben Okri’s stokus from his Tales of freedom. It does this principally through an exploration of this new literary mode and its use of serendipity. As a sudden insight, serendipity becomes, in this Nigerian writer’s hands, a poetic device equivalent to illumination or an epiphanic moment. The introduction is an attempt to show the interrelationship between poetry and thought, on the one hand, and poetic experience, creative consciousness and serendipity, on the other. This is followed by a brief digression to outline the paucity of critical reception of this prose anthology, followed by a focused discussion of the storytelling form, in general, and the stoku, in particular. This elliptical form to which Ben Okri gives the name stoku is, as he states in Tales of freedom, ‘an amalgam of short story and haiku’. A comparison between the conventions inherent in the ancient Japanese art of tanka or haiku (short poems), also known as waku and displaying the poet’s imaginative wit (derived from the Anglo-Saxon witan [to know]), and those of Okri’s newer art form, the stoku, follows. The core of the article focuses on a brief analysis of a select number of Okri’s 13 rhapsodies in prose, showing how each stoku serves to illustrate a poetically rendered moment of insight, a vision or a paradox. In Okri’s Tales of freedom, the mythic conjunction between short story and haiku reveals hitherto hidden aspects of life. Through this innovative medium, akin to flash fiction, the subconscious can illuminate unknown worlds. This is akin to experiencing serendipity, linked to interiority, to inner vision. The argument concludes by pointing to the serendipities captured obliquely yet poetically in the stokus selected for discussion.Die pleidooi vir die digterlike in Ben Okri se stokus uit Tales of freedom (2009). Hierdie artikel illustreer die tema van die poëtiese in Ben Okri se stokus uit sy Tales of freedom. Dit ondersoek hierdie nuwe literêre vorm en die gelukkige (maar onbedoelde) saamval van denke en poësie (serendipiteit) daarin. As ‘n skielike insig, word serendipiteit in die Nigeriese skrywer se hande ‘n digterlike kunsgreep vergelykbaar met illuminasie of epifanie. Die inleiding is ‘n poging om die onderlinge verwantskap aan te dui tussen poësie en denke, enersyds, en digterlike ervaring, kreatiewe bewussyn en serendipiteit, andersyds. Daarna volg ‘n kort uitweiding oor die gebrek aan kritiese reaksie op hierdie prosaversameling, gevolg deur ‘n gefokusde bespreking van die vertelling in die algemeen, en die stoku, in die besonder. Hierdie elliptiese vorm, wat Ben Okri die stoku noem, is, soos hy sê in Tales of freedom sê, ‘n ‘amalgaam van kortverhaal en haikoe’. Daarop volg ‘n vergelyking tussen die konvensies van die antieke Japannese kunsvorm van die tanka of haikoe (kort gedigte), ook bekend as waku, waarin die digter sy kreatiewe geestigheid (Engels wit, afgelei van die Angel-Saksiese witan, ‘weet’) ten toon stel, en Okri se nuwer kunsvorm, die stoku. Die kern van die artikel is ‘n kort analise van ‘n aantal van Okri se 13 rapsodieë in prosa, wat aantoon dat elke stoku ‘n oomblik van insig, visie of ‘n paradoks digterlik vasvang. In Okri se Tales of freedom onthul die mitiese samevloeiing van kortverhaal en haikoe tot nog toe verborge aspekte van die lewe. Deur hierdie innoverende medium, verwant aan blitsstories, kan die onbewuste onbekende wêrelde belig. Dit is soortgelyk aan die ervaring van serendipiteit, verwant aan innerlikheid en innerlike visie. Ten slotte word die digterlike (maar indirekte) serendipiteit in die gekose stoku aangedui.Keyword: Ben Okri; haiku; literary humanities; new directions in the humanities; stoku; storytelling; Tales of Freedom


Author(s):  
Jaime André Klein ◽  
Angela De Fátima Langa ◽  
Patrícia Luísa Klein Santos

Este artigo analisa a temática da violência familiar. Busca-se investigar, por meio da linha americana de comparatismo como método de análise e também utilizando noções de intertextualidade, de que forma a violência familiar é abordada em dois gêneros literários, um miniconto e umromance, e em dois gêneros não literários, duas charges. Pretende-se averiguar a intencionalidade desses objetos para com o leitor: chocar,fazer refletir, criticar ou sensibilizar. Tem-se como objetos de estudo um miniconto, de Flora Medeiros, o romance “Becos da Memória”,de Conceição Evaristo, e duas charges, uma de Janilton Nunes e outra de Arionauro da Silva Santos. Por meio do estudo realizado pode-se perceber que os agressores, geralmente, são os pais, cuja função seria garantir a segurança e a afetividade dos seus filhos. Ademais, destaca-se que a temática da violência está presente no cotidiano e na constituição da sociedade brasileira. Palavras-chave: Violência Familiar. Literatura. Gêneros Literários. Gêneros não-Literários. Intertextualidade. AbstractThis article examines the topic of family violence. The aim is to investigate, through the Comparatism American line as an analysis method and also using notions of Intertextuality, how the domestic violence is approached in two literary genres, a Flash fiction and a novel, and in two genres, non-literary, two chargers. The aim is to ascertain the intention of those objects to the reader: to shock, to make them reflect, criticize or raise awareness. It has as study objects a Flash fiction, byFlora Medeiros, the novel “Becos da Memória”, , by Conceição Evaristo, and two charges, one by Nandi and Janilton Nunes and the other by Arionauro da Silva Santos . Through the study carried out it is possible to realize that the attackers are usually the parents, whose function would be to ensure their children’s safety and the affection. Furthermore, the topic of violence is present in daily life and in the constitution of the brazilian society. Keywords: Domestic Violence. Literature. Literary Genres. Non Literary Genres. Intertextuality.


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 76-78
Author(s):  
Josep Maria Rodríguez ◽  
María Salvador

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