‘Forlorn on the Fringe of Life’: Exploring Working-Class Childhood in Katherine Mansfield’s Short Stories

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Argha Kumar Banerjee
Keyword(s):  
Short Stories ◽  
Working Class ◽  
Short Story ◽  
Short Fiction ◽  
Verbal Abuse ◽  
The Other ◽  
Parental Rejection ◽  
Narrative Strategies ◽  
Childhood Experiences ◽  
The One

Abstract In Katherine Mansfield’s short story ‘Life of Ma Parker’, the old, widowed charwoman is plagued by ‘unbearable’ thoughts of her deceased grandson Lennie: ‘Why did he have to suffer so?’ Lennie’s unfortunate death in the story is not a solitary instance of tragic portrayal of working-class childhood in Mansfield’s short fiction. In several of her tales she empathetically explores the marginalized existence of such children, occasionally juxtaposing their deplorable existence with their elite counterparts’. From social exclusion, child labour, parental rejection, infant and child mortality on the one hand to physical and verbal abuse, bullying in the school and appalling living conditions on the other; Mansfield's exploration of the working-class childhood in her short fiction is not only psychologically complex but sociologically significant. Focusing on the relevant short stories in her oeuvre, this brief analysis intends to closely examine such depictions of marginalized childhood experiences, particularly in light of the oppressive societal conditions that validate their repressive alienation and sufferings. Tracing various biographical circumstances that may have fostered Mansfield’s deep empathy with the children’s’ predicament, this analysis also draws attention to her subtle oblique narrative strategies that effectively represent the plight of working-class children in a convincing and an ingeniously nuanced manner.

scholarly journals Images of the East in the Short Fiction of Ivan Bunin

2020 ◽  
Vol 49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kata Juracsek
Keyword(s):  
Short Stories ◽  
Short Fiction ◽  
Postcolonial Theory ◽  
Postcolonial Studies ◽  
The Other ◽  
Semantic Structure ◽  
Social Setting ◽  
Postcolonial Criticism ◽  
The One ◽  
Second World

The article examines the images of the East in the short fiction of Ivan Bunin. With the help of the narrative model of Jan van der Eng, consisting of three basic thematic levels (action, characterization, geographical and social setting) we read and arrange the works of Bunin through the prism of postcolonial criticism. On the one hand, we will consider the arguments of traditional postcolonial studies; on the other hand, we will also take into account the postcolonial theory regarding the “second world” (Russia, Eastern and Central Europe).We start our analysis with the texts in which images of the East are only featured on one thematic level, gradually directing our attention towards the short stories in which these images determine the whole semantic structure.

scholarly journals Karen Bixen reads the Olaf Tryggvason saga: Reseption of the saga and narrative strategies in “The Bear and the Kiss”

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 323-337
Author(s):  
Anastasia Lomagina ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Short Stories ◽  
Short Story ◽  
The Other ◽  
Semantic Gap ◽  
Reception Theory ◽  
Narrative Strategies ◽  
Oral Storytelling ◽  
European Modernism

The article analyses the reception of the Norse sagas in Karen Blixen’s short story “The Bear and the Kiss” written in 1958 with the main focus on the “saga of Olaf Tryggvason”. Drawing on Wolfgang Iser’s reception theory, the article explores the hierarchy of the pre-texts that are traceable in the text of the considered story and suggests a system of markers that are meant to include interaction with the precedent texts. The typology of markers includes the characters’ names, metaphorical use of mythological or historical personas, the identified cited texts or stories, identical attributes (in this particular text — a glove thrown into a person’s face), the characters’ appearance, and similarity or contrast with the storyline of the other unidentified text. The analysis shows that there are two possible effects of the use of references: semantic compression and, conversely, symbolist and Neoplatonic circling around the event, which creates a semantic gap. The reader can either find himself aware of a riddle yet being unable to understand how the events or reactions fit into the plot or assume the role of an investigator creating his own interpretation of the storyline. The examined strategy of circling around the truth in order to indicate an idea or a fact by using metaphors, comparisons, and allusions in combination with Walter Benjamin’s and Edward Forster’s philosophy of oral storytelling allows Blixen’s short stories to fit neatly into the context of European modernism.

The Short Story in Australia

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Webby
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Short Stories ◽  
Working Class ◽  
Short Story ◽  
Short Fiction ◽  
Male Voice ◽  
Fiction Writing ◽  
History Of ◽  
The 1950S ◽  
Australian Tradition

This chapter examines the history of the short story in Australia. Australia's tradition of short fiction writing dates back to the mid-nineteenth century. In the days when Australian novels were mainly published in England, the short story was a source of income for many authors. By the 1950s, the type of realist story favoured by Henry Lawson — using a colloquial, usually male, voice and featuring working-class characters and bush settings — had been established as the Australian tradition. The chapter first considers short stories written in the 1950s and 1960s, which reflect versions of realism and modernism, before discussing works published in the 1970s and 1980s that deal with postmodernism and feminism. It also looks at short stories published since the 1990s, such as Gail Jones' The House of Breathing, Tony Birch's Father's Day (2009), and Cate Kennedy's Like a House on Fire (2012).

scholarly journals KOHESI GRAMATIKAL PENGACUAN DALAM CERPEN PEMBELAAN BAH BELA KARYA MOH. WAN ANWAR

2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Asep Muhyidin
Keyword(s):  
Short Stories ◽  
Short Story ◽  
Text Analysis ◽  
Oral Communication ◽  
The Other ◽  
Communication Process ◽  
Cohesive Devices ◽  
It Support ◽  
The One ◽  
High Level

Abstrak Kohesi Gramatikal Pengacuan dalam Cerpen Pembelaan Bah Bela karya Moh. Anwar. Dipandang sebagai proses komunikasi antara penyapa dan pesapa dalam peristiwa komonukasi secara lisan, sedangkan dalam komunikasi secara tertulis, wacana terlihat sebagai hasil dari pengungkapan ide/gagasan penyapa. Wacana yang padu adalah wacana yang apabila dilihat dari segi hubungan bentuk atau struktur lahir bersifat kohesif dan dilihat dari segihubungan makna atau struktur batinnya bersifat koheren. Wacana dikatakan utuh apabila kalimat-kalimat dalam wacana itu mendukung satu topik yang sedang dibicarakan, sedangkan wacana dikatakan padu apabila kalimatkalimatnya disusun secara teratur dan sistematis, sehingga menunjukan keruntutan ide yang diungkapkan melalui penada kekohesian. Cerpen dipilih sebagai objek kajian dikarenakan bentuk cerpen ringkas namun tetap menuntut tingkat kohesi dan koherensi yang tinggi agar tetap berupa satu wacana utuh. Oleh karena itu, cerpen berjudul Pembelaan Bah Bela diteliti karena cerpen ini merupakan salah satu karya terbaik dari Moh. Wan Anwar yang ceritanya berisi budaya jawara dalam masyarakat Banten. Analisis teks dalam penelitian ini akan menggunakan seluruh kalimat yang ada pada wacana cerpen tersebut. Penelitian ini diharapkan dapat memberikan hasil analisis yang lebih nyata karena masalah kohesi dan konteks situasi menyangkut masalah ketergantungan unsur-unsur dalam wacana.Kata kunci: Kohesi gramatikal pengacuan, wacana, analisis teks, cerpen. Abstract Referent Cohesion in Pembelaan Bah Bela a Short Story by Moh. Anwar. From the prespective of oral communication discourse is understood as a communication process between an addresser and an addressee. From written communication perspective, on the other hand, discourse is thought as the expression of the addresser. An integrated discourse is the one that is cohesive and coherent. It is complete when the sentenses constituting it support the topic, and integrated when the sentences are systematic and well-structured. Well structured idea is indicated by the use of cohesive devices. A short story has been chosen to investigate as it is short yet requires a high level of cohesion and coherence to allow it to be a complete reading. This article investigate “Pembelaan Bah Bela” one of best short stories by Moh. Wan Anwar. It tells about a Jawara culture in Banten. All the sentences in the short stories are analyzed. The investigation serves to show how cohesive devices work to construct a discourseKeywords: referent cohesion, text analysis, short story

«Climbing The Alps»: Symbolic Toponymy as aFactor of the Cycles Formationin I.A. Bunin’s Oeuvre

2020 ◽  
pp. 34-47
Author(s):  
Yana Bazhenova
Keyword(s):  
Short Stories ◽  
Short Story ◽  
The Other ◽  
Literary Works ◽  
Poetic Voice ◽  
The Third ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
The Alps ◽  
The One

The article analyzes the unassembled cycle of I.A. Bunin’sthree texts with the same title «In the Alps». The poem and the chronologically first short story with the same title were written at the beginning of the writer’s literary career. At that time Bunin learned from outstanding predecessors in order to find his own poetic voice and place in the field of literature. The result of the searches showed the invention of a unique genre – the genre of prosaic miniature. Then, half a century after publication of the first texts «In the Alps»,the third short story with the same titleappeared. The meaning of the toponym «The Alps» in the title of the short stories is explained by appealing to Bunin’s memoirs and self-describing notes. The concept «The Alps» in his literary works is initiated, on the one hand, by the writer’s first trip to Switzerland, and, on the other hand, by the parallel reception of the so-called «Swiss myth» in the works of European and Russian romantic poets and writers: G. G. Byron and V.A. Zhukovsky. While the motifs and imagery system of Bunin’s «alpine » cycle is inherited from his predecessors, the innovations of his literary method are demonstrated in the narrative organization of the texts.

scholarly journals “Uprooted:” Anton Chekhov’s Influence on Frank O’Connor

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 98-109
Author(s):  
Márta Pellérdi
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Short Story ◽  
Short Fiction ◽  
The Other ◽  
Anton Chekhov ◽  
Russian Author ◽  
Narrative Techniques ◽  
The One ◽  
Lasting Influence ◽  
Crab Apple

Abstract Thus far perhaps the most acclaimed Irish practitioner of the short story, Frank O’Connor, attributes a lasting influence to Russian author Anton Chekhov when he considers the direction that the modern Irish short story was to take in the twentieth century. In The Lonely Voice: A Study of the Short Story (1963), O’Connor emphasized two particular themes in Chekhov’s short fiction that influenced his own stories: on the one hand, a preoccupation with loneliness; on the other, a belief that venial sin, or the adoption of a false personality, was “far more destructive” than mortal sin itself. In other writings, he expressed an interest in narrative technique and structure as he found them in Chekhov’s stories. The article explores O’Connor’s “Uprooted” from his collection Crab Apple Jelly (1944), a story about displaced intellectuals. My reading illustrates how the Irish writer was not only adopting Chekhov’s themes but was also experimenting with Chekhov’s character types and narrative techniques, particularly as found in the Russian author’s story “The Lady with the Dog.” At the same time, O’Connor developed a distinctly individual technique of his own within the Irish realist/naturalist short story tradition, making a lasting impact on the art of the modern Irish short story. Unlike his displaced Irish characters in “Uprooted,” he prefers to remain faithful to this tradition.

scholarly journals Edogawa Rampo’s short story Kagami Jigoku: A Structural Study

KIRYOKU ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-17
Author(s):  
Yuliani Rahmah
Keyword(s):  
Short Stories ◽  
Short Story ◽  
Japanese Society ◽  
Modern Technology ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
The Other ◽  
Cultural Aspects ◽  
Analysis Process ◽  
Structural Methods ◽  
Modern Era

The purpose of this research is to analyze the intrinsic elements found in the short story Kagami Jigoku by Edogawa Rampo. By using structural methods the analysis process  find out the intrinsic elements which builds  the Kagami Jikoku short story. As a result it is known that the Kagami Jikoku is a short story with a mystery theme as the hallmark of Rampo as its author. The characteristic of this short story can be seen from the theme which raised the unusual obsession problem of the main characters. With the first person point of view which tells in unusual way from the other short stories, the regression plot in Kagami Jikoku is able to tell the unique phenomenon of Japanese society and its modern technology through elements of place, time and socio-cultural aspects of Japanese society in the modern era

PRAGMATIC, LINGUAL CULTURAL SENSES AND ETHNIC SYMBOLS IN ARTISTIC TRANSLATION

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 (32) ◽  
pp. 130-148
Author(s):  
Oleh Tyshchenko
Keyword(s):  
Short Story ◽  
Speech Acts ◽  
Narrative Structure ◽  
The Other ◽  
Grammatical Structure ◽  
Expressive Speech ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
English Translations ◽  
The One ◽  
The Master And Margarita

The article considers performative speech acts (expressives, commissives, wishes, curses, threats, warnings, etc.) and generally exclamatory phraseology in the original and translation in terms of the function of the addressee, the specifics of the communicative situation, the symbolism and pragmatics of the cultural text. Through cultural and semiotic reconstruction of these units, their semantic and grammatical structure and features of motivation in several linguistic cultures were clarified. Collectively, these verbal acts, on the one hand, mark the semiotic structure of the narrative structure of the text, and on the other hand, indicate the idiostyle of a particular author or characterize the speech of the characters and the associated range of emotions (curses, invectives, cries of indignation, dissatisfaction, etc.). Several translated versions of M. Bulgakov’s novel «The Master and Margarita» (in Ukrainian, Polish, Slovak and English) and English translations of M. Kotsyubynsky’s novel «Fata Morgana» and Dovzhenko’s short story «Enchanted Desna» constitute the material for the study. The obtained results are essential for elucidating the specifics of the national conceptual sphere of a certain culture and revealing the types of inter lingual equivalents, idiomatic analogues in the transmission of common ethno-cultural content. This approach can be useful for a new understanding of domestication and adaptation in translation, translation of culturally marked units, onyms, mythological concepts, etc. as a specific translation practices. There was further developed the theory of phatic and performative-expressive speech acts in lingual cultural comprehension.

Ugliness and Beauty: the Politics of Landscape in Walter Greenwood's Love on the Dole

2013 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-47
Author(s):  
Claire Warden
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Working Class ◽  
The Other ◽  
Surrounding Area ◽  
North West ◽  
Avant Garde ◽  
The North ◽  
The One ◽  
The University ◽  
Open Fields

The multi-spatial landscape of the North-West of England (Manchester–Salford and the surrounding area) provides the setting for Walter Greenwood's 1934 play Love on the Dole. Both the urban industrialized cityscape and the rural countryside that surrounds it are vital framing devices for the narrative – these spaces not simply acting as backdrops but taking on character roles. In this article Claire Warden reads the play's presentation of the North through the concept of landscape theatre, on the one hand, and Raymond Williams's city–country dialogism on the other, claiming that Love on the Dole is imbued with the revolutionary possibility that defines the very landscape in which it is set. From claustrophobic working-class kitchen to the open fields of Derbyshire, Love on the Dole has a sense of spatial ambition in which Greenwood regards all landscapes as tainted by the industrial world while maintaining their capacity to function independently. Ugliness and beauty, capitalist hegemony and socialistic hopefulness reside simultaneously in this important under-researched example of twentieth-century British theatre, thereby reflecting the ambivalent, shifting landscape of the North and producing a play that cannot be easily defined artistically or politically. Claire Warden is a Lecturer in Drama at the University of Lincoln. Her work focuses on peripheral British performances in the early to mid-twentieth century. She is the author of British Avant-Garde Theatre (Palgrave MacMillan, 2012) and is currently writing Modernist and Avant-Garde Performance: an Introduction for Edinburgh University Press, to be published in 2014.

The Law’s Betrayal

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew C. Willford ◽  
S. Nagarajan
Keyword(s):  
Middle Class ◽  
Working Class ◽  
The Other ◽  
Important Class ◽  
Indian Community ◽  
Legal Decisions ◽  
Cultural Displacement ◽  
The One ◽  
Deep Sense

This chapter focuses on the professionals of the Tamil population. A cultural displacement, as experienced by the Indian middle class, has produced its own narrative that was subsequently hijacked by Malay “extremists.” This sense of betrayal among the Indian middle class is important because their narrative of victimization takes cohesive ideological shape in a form that disseminates to the working class through the work of activists, politicians, writers, NGOs, and lawyers. Through this, one sees an important class dialectic within the Indian community that is divisive, as well as signs that recent legal decisions and events have exacerbated a sense of insecurity. Ultimately, a deep sense of political betrayal within this elite class is producing nostalgia for a nonracialized Malaysia on the one hand, and a consolidation of Indianness on the other.

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