Untimely Development, Ugly History:A Drama in Muslinand the Rejection of National-Historical Time

2013 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 161-183
Author(s):  
Mary L. Mullen
Keyword(s):  
Everyday Life ◽  
The State ◽  
The Political ◽  
Nation State ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Historical Time ◽  
Political Processes ◽  
The Core

This article considers the politics and aesthetics of the colonial Bildungsroman by reading George Moore's often-overlooked novel A Drama in Muslin (1886). It argues that the colonial Bildungsroman does not simply register difference from the metropolitan novel of development or express tension between the core and periphery, as Jed Esty suggests, but rather can imagine a heterogeneous historical time that does not find its end in the nation-state. A Drama in Muslin combines naturalist and realist modes, and moves between Ireland and England to construct a form of untimely development that emphasises political processes (dissent, negotiation) rather than political forms (the state, the nation). Ultimately, the messy, discordant history represented in the novel shows the political potential of anachronism as it celebrates the untimeliness of everyday life.

Who’s holding up the sky? On Rymba, a novel by A. Bushkovsky

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 150-158
Author(s):  
A. V. Zhuchkova
Keyword(s):  
Gender Politics ◽  
The State ◽  
Christian Faith ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Central Question ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Flood Zone ◽  
The Social ◽  
Russian North ◽  
And Gender

The article deals with A. Bushkovsky’s novel Rymba that goes beyond the topics typical of Russian North prose. Rather than limiting himself to admiring nature and Russian character, the author portrays the northern Russian village of Rymba in the larger context of the country’s mentality, history, mythology, and gender politics. In the novel, myth clashes with reality, history with the present day, and an individual with the state. The critic draws a comparison between the novel and the traditions of village prose and Russian North prose. In particular, Bushkovsky’s Rymba is discussed alongside V. Rasputin’s Farewell to Matyora [ Proshchanie s Matyoroy ] and R. Senchin’s The Flood Zone [ Zona zatopleniya ]. The novel’s central question is: what keeps the Russian world afloat? Depicting the Christian faith as such a bulwark, Bushkovsky links atheism with the social and spiritual roles played by contemporary men and women. The critic argues, however, that the reliance on Christianity in the novel verges on an affectation. The book’s main symbol is a drowning hawk: it perishes despite people’s efforts to save it.

The reality of translating literature from Hebrew to Arabic The novel as a model

2020 ◽  
pp. 149-164
Author(s):  
أميرة عبد الحفيظ عمارة
Keyword(s):  
Financial Support ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
Arab Countries ◽  
The State ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Peace Agreement ◽  
Existential Anxiety ◽  
Publishing Houses ◽  
Arab Descent ◽  
State Of Israel

This research is interested in studying the reality of translation from Hebrew to Arabic, especially the translation of novels. The research relied on translated and published novels, from certain publishing houses, and it includes about 29 novels translated from Hebrew to Arabic. The first translation in this field was Ahavat Zion )loving Zion(, a novel by Abraham Mapu (1808-1867), translated by Salim Al-Dawoodi, and published by the Al-khidewiah Press in Cairo in 1899. Translations from Hebrew to, and vice versa, had Flourished after the establishment of the State of Israel, in particular after 1967 War, and resumed after the peace agreement with Israel. The largest wave of such translations was carried out in newspapers, magazines and academic research in part. The eighties and nineties of the last century were a period of translation activity in regard of partial translations in newspapers. The numbers of translations of full novels published so far have not exceeded thirty in most cases, and the number of translations published in Israel is approximate to the translations published in the Arab countries. The trends of novels that were translated inside Israel were of specific trends, and the translated works that were chosen were initiated, encouraged, and financed by organizations supported by the Israeli establishment. In addition, the translators also had a role in choosing the translated novels into Arabic to obtain financial support. As for the translated Hebrew works in the Arab countries, their focus was on the conditions and sufferings of the Israelis from Arab descent in Israel, and on the failure of Zionism and the issues of existential anxiety the Israelis are experiencing.

Women, Writing and the Iraqi Ba'thist State

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hawraa Al-Hassan
Keyword(s):  
Cultural History ◽  
The State ◽  
Woman Question ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Cultural Resistance ◽  
Cultural Revival ◽  
Counter Narratives ◽  
History Of ◽  
A Site ◽  
Material Form

The book examines the trajectory of the state sponsored novel in Iraq and considers the ways in which explicitly political and/or ideological texts functioned as resistive counter narratives. It argues that both the novel and ‘progressive’ discourses on women were used as markers of Iraq’s cultural revival under the Ba‘th and were a key element in the state’s propaganda campaign within Iraq and abroad. In an effort to expand its readership and increase support for its pan-Arab project, the Iraqi Ba‘th almost completely eradicated illiteracy among women. As Iraq was metaphorically transformed into a ‘female’, through its nationalist trope, women writers simultaneously found opportunities and faced obstacles from the state, as the ‘Woman Question’ became a site of contention between those who would advocate the progressiveness of the Ba‘th and those who would stress its repressiveness and immorality. By exploring discourses on gender in both propaganda and high art fictional writings by Iraqis, this book offers an alternative narrative of the literary and cultural history of Iraq. It ultimately expands the idea of cultural resistance beyond the modern/traditional, progressive/backward paradigms that characterise discourses on Arab women and the state, and argues that resistance is embedded in the material form of texts as much as their content or ideological message.

scholarly journals Anticipating Jean-Jacques Rousseau: the state of nature in the novel ‟Letters from a Peruvian Woman” by Madame de Graffigny (1747)

2021 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 155-160
Author(s):  
Artem D. Morozov
Keyword(s):  
Laws Of Nature ◽  
The State ◽  
General Interest ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Main Character ◽  
State Of Nature ◽  
Inca Empire ◽  
Noble Savage ◽  
Moral Qualities ◽  
Intellectual Influence

The article deals with the novel ‟Letters from a Peruvian Woman” (Lettres d'une Péruvienne, 1747) by Madame de Graffigny, which anticipates many ideas of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, including the notion of state of nature. The main character, a young Peruvian woman, who was taken away to France, embodies the concept of the ‟noble savage”. Unlike civilised Europeans she has high moral qualities, critically evaluates the institutions and customs of her time, and she aspires to the state of nature, though knowledge about this world did not make her happy. Madame de Graffigny uses the Peruvian theme according to the general interest in the age of Enlightenment in the Inca Empire, which was considered as idyllic society, organised under the laws of nature. She tries, like Jean-Jacques Rousseau, to display merits of savages and demerits of civilised Europeans. The intellectual influence of Madame de Graffigny and Jean-Jacques Rousseau on each other is confirmed by their personal contacts. As a result, we claim that the novel ‟Letters from a Peruvian Woman” was influenced by advanced philosophical ideas of the mid-18thcentury – this text stands at the origins of the concept of the ‟state of nature”, which eventually became one of the main terms of Rousseauism.

Design in Deloney's Jack of Newbury

PMLA ◽  
1973 ◽  
Vol 88 (2) ◽  
pp. 233-239 ◽  
Author(s):  
Max Dorsinville
Keyword(s):  
Middle Class ◽  
World View ◽  
The State ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Way Of Life ◽  
Literary Value ◽  
Greco Roman ◽  
Political Conception ◽  
The Social ◽  
The World

Jack of Newbury's surface realism in characters, setting, and speech has led to an underestimation of its historical and literary value. A close reading reveals the consistent use of the Greco-Roman ethical-political conception of the state, epitomized in the figure of the ruler. Deloney shows his familiarity with this tradition, probably known to him through Erasmus and Sidney, in the three controlling motifs of his novel. First, the middle class of weavers, represented in Jack's household and dramatized in allegories and symbols, is portrayed as a self-sufficient state where peace and harmony reign. Second, this state is shown to be such because of the nature of its ruler, Jack, a benevolent, generous, wise man. Third, the middle-class way of life—hard work, thriftiness, material gains—serves as princely education; accordingly, Jack, from a menial position, goes on to become ruler of the state. Jack of Newbury, as a systematical reordering of an aristocratic tradition, represents the world view of the emergent middle class; and as such, a momentous shift in the social temper of the Renaissance and an important step in the evolution of the novel.

scholarly journals Vidas secas e o ensaio de interpretação social: uma comparação com Os sertões / Vidas secas and the Social Interpretation Essay: A Comparison with Os sertões

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 199
Author(s):  
Ricardo Pedrosa Alves
Keyword(s):  
Theoretical Background ◽  
The State ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Critical Perspective ◽  
Social Perspective ◽  
Institutional Violence ◽  
Indirect Speech ◽  
The Social ◽  
Os Sertoes ◽  
Euclides Da Cunha

Resumo: O artigo analisa de modo comparativo o romance Vidas secas, de Graciliano Ramos, e o ensaio de interpretação social Os sertões, de Euclides da Cunha. Através da comparação das estratégias compositivas e narrativas presentes nos dois livros, como o “narrador sincero” de Os sertões e o uso do indireto livre em Vidas secas, o artigo mostra aproximações e diferenças entre os dois clássicos brasileiros. Também são comparadas as perspectivas intelectuais que orientam o romance e o ensaio, no cientificismo de Euclides da Cunha e na perspectiva sociologicamente crítica adotada por Graciliano Ramos. O artigo ressalta as diferenças também na perspectiva social dos autores, através da análise da representação da violência institucional do Estado nas duas obras. As análises foram realizadas com o apoio de discussões presentes em Willi Bolle, Luís Bueno, Antonio Candido, Miriam Gárate e Luiz Costa Lima, entre outros.Palavras-chave: Vidas secas; Os sertões; ensaio de interpretação social; narrador sincero; indireto livre.Abstract: The article compares Graciliano Ramos’ novel Vidas secas and Euclides da Cunha’s essay on social interpretation Os sertões. By comparing the compositional strategies and the narratives present in both books, such as “the sincere narrator” in Os sertões and the use of free indirect speech in Vidas secas, the article shows approximations and differences between the two Brazilian classic works. The intellectual perspectives that guide the novel and the essay are also compared, analysing Euclides da Cunha’s scientificism and in the sociologically critical perspective adopted by Graciliano Ramos. The article also highlights the differences in the social perspective of the authors, analysing the representation of the institutional violence performed by the State in both works. The present analysis took as theoretical background the works by Willi Bolle, Luis Bueno, Antonio Candido, Miriam Gárate and Luiz Costa Lima.Keywords: Vidas secas; Os sertões; social interpretation essay; sincere narrator; free indirect speech.

scholarly journals Revolution after Revolution: The Commune as Line of Flight in Palestinian Anticolonialism

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nasser Abourahme
Keyword(s):  
Social Transformation ◽  
The State ◽  
The Novel ◽  
The Social ◽  
Historical Necessity ◽  
State Form ◽  
The Revolution

Abstract What is a revolution that neither overthrows a state order nor institutes a lasting one of its own? What happens if we disassociate revolution—the novel beginning, the break, the upending of order, the social transformation—from the movement of historical necessity that marks it even among the left, and open it instead onto those cases of anticolonial politics that did not play out, at least initially, as a desire for the forward march of progress and its terminus in the state form? In these cases, how do we move past the language, or more precisely, the grammar of failure when talking about revolution? What if the Palestinian Revolution, whose fate follows the rise and waning of tricontinental Third Worldism, might be read not as the defeated end of a revolutionary historical arc, but as the start of a line of flight? This essay makes two points. First, what was revolutionary about the Palestinian anticolonial experience was neither the spectacularity of its armed insurrection nor its call for radical equality, but its capacity to creatively make autonomous territory and declare communes. Second, reading this history poses questions about what a renewed encounter between the revolution concept and the anticolonial imperative might once again do.

scholarly journals The Fragility of Identity and the Imagination of Otherness in Bai Hua’s novel The Remote Country of Women

2020 ◽  
pp. 72-91
Author(s):  
Tânia Ganito ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Revolution ◽  
Western Culture ◽  
The State ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Literary Works ◽  
Chinese Author ◽  
The Way ◽  
The Cultural Revolution

Drawing on The Remote Kingdom of Women (1988), the novel written by Chinese author Bai Hua (1930-2019), this essay examines how post-Mao China articulated the notions of memory and identity, as well as of belonging and othering, as an attempt to overcome the state of fragility caused by the trauma of the Cultural Revolution and the post-revolutionary growing influence of Western culture. It proposes to explore the way some of the literary works produced during this period were to promote an encounter between a fragmented yet hegemonic culture and the cultures of the internal ethnic Other, and how this encounter between majority and minority subjects was to highlight precisely the condition of fragility that underlies the very concept of identity. Keywords: China; Literature; Bai Hua; Identity; Majority; Minorities.

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