The Story and the Myth of the Igor’ Tale

2018 ◽  
Vol 52 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 193-216
Author(s):  
Harvey Goldblatt
Keyword(s):  
Literary History ◽  
Popular Song ◽  
Verbal Art ◽  
Literary Traditions ◽  
The People ◽  
Invented Tradition ◽  
History Of ◽  
European Thought ◽  
Editio Princeps ◽  
Literary Reception

Abstract Since its discovery in the 1790s and the publication of the editio princeps in 1800, the Igor’ Tale has been defined and examined in many different ways. The aim of the present study is to focus on the beginnings of literary reception (1800–1850) for this masterpiece of Old Rus’ verbal art. This study commences with the assertion that the history of the work’s interpretation serves a double purpose. This dual interpretive vision (1) is grounded in the twofold nature of literary history (i.e., in the distinction between literary history proper and literary reception), (2) obliges us to view the Igor’ Tale against a variety of cultural backdrops (including both medieval Western literary traditions and contemporary European thought), and (3) requires us to reflect on the importance of an emerging nationalist orientation and, in particular, of Herder’s underlying ideas of “national individuality” and “spirit of the people.” The present study treats the following interpretive motifs and their relevance for the analysis of the Igor’ Tale in the first half of the nineteenth century: (1) The Igor’ Tale as a Popular Song and Native Artistic Masterpiece; (2) Publication of the Igor’ Tale and its Reception by the Cultural Elite; (3) Interpretive Legacies of the Editio Princeps and the Place of N.M. Karamzin; and (4) From the Invented Tradition of Ossian to the National Spirit and Veneration of the Igor’ Tale.

The Subaltern Critique of Dominant Historiography and a Case for Retrieving a Historiography of Dalit Literary Traditions in India

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-15
Author(s):  
Vandana
Keyword(s):  
Literary History ◽  
Historical Analysis ◽  
History Writing ◽  
Literary Traditions ◽  
Literary Historiography ◽  
History Of ◽  
Longue Duree ◽  
Longue Durée ◽  
And Shifts ◽  
The Third World

In order to retrieve literary history in India, teleology operates on three levels: ancient, medieval and modern. As per the longue duree approach to the study of history, history is not an event or an object, but like the concept of time, is a configuration and a process. The history of the longue duree gives priority to long-term monumental historic patterns, moments and shifts in society, that is, the slow-paced structural processes which tend to have strong historical consequences. Similarly, languages and literatures, too, marked by historical catastrophes, undergo a process of sedimentation. For this reason, instead of a single literary history of South Asia, Sheldon Pollock proposes the concept of ‘literary cultures’ which allows room for ‘historical individuation’ of each culture rather than homogenising them merely for the sake of historical analysis. The basic questions that I have tried to look into through this study include: Why is it problematic to retrieve literary history in India? Why is it essential to have an alternative literary historiography of Dalit literature? How does Dalit subalternity differ from colonial subalternity? How the Dalit voice is disintegrated from within because of the prevalence of graded inequality? What constitutes the politics of history writing and canon formation in the third world countries like India where retrieving subaltern literary trends remain a problematic discourse?

TRANSLATING SICILY

2003 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 140-163 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karla Mallette
Keyword(s):  
Literary History ◽  
Literary Culture ◽  
Linguistic Complexity ◽  
Literary Traditions ◽  
Single Text ◽  
History Of ◽  
Multiple Languages ◽  
Literary Coherence

AbstractThis article sketches a theoretical strategy for approaching the literary history of Norman Sicily (centuries XI-XII). Because of its linguistic complexity—during the Norman era, Sicilians wrote in Arabic, Greek, and Latin—literary historians have resisted treating Siculo-Norman literature as a literary-historical category. Rather, the literature has been divided into three discrete, linguistically defined traditions, understood as colonial extensions of mainland literary traditions. Using a reading of Sicilian coins with multilingual inscriptions in order to examine the parallel use of multiple languages in a single "text," this article argues for a reconsideration of Sicilian literature of the era, one that looks at multilingualism not as a challenge to literary coherence but as constitutive of a literary culture.

scholarly journals Philosophy of social policy in Europe of the XVI century on the example of works of the Spanish thinker Juan Luis Vives

2020 ◽  
pp. 28-44
Author(s):  
Vadim Podolskiy
Keyword(s):  
Social Policy ◽  
Research Literature ◽  
Social Stability ◽  
The People ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Subject ◽  
European Thought ◽  
History Of Institutions ◽  
Number Of Authors

The object of this research is the European thought in the area of social policy in the early XVI century. The subject of this research is the ideas of Spanish philosopher Juan Luis Vives (1492-1540) on helping to people in need. The article reviews the stance on social policy of the Spanish humanist Juan Luis Vives. His thoughts are analyzed in the context of the contemporary to him doctrines of the founders of Protestantism – Martin Luther, Ulrich Zwingli and Jean Calvin, as well as practices formed in the continental Europe and England in the XVI century. The teachings of theologians and philosophers of the XVI century are relevant within the framework of studying social policy from the perspective of ideas, as well as the history of institutions. The comparative-historical approach was applied for studying the practices in the area of social policy and their evolution. A discourse analysis is used for examination of Vives’ basic postulates alongside the ideas of the key philosophers of that time. The following conclusions were made: 1) despite the fact that a number of authors expressed similar ideas, Juan Luis Vives can be called the first theoretician of the social state 2) the establishment of social policy in the research literature is usually associated with Protestantism, but the theory was developed by the Catholic Vives, and the practical measures were implemented by the Catholic kings Carlos and Francis 3) Vives expressed the paramount idea of social policy – the state should prevent from marginalization of citizens in order to maintain social stability. At the same time, marginalization is caused by both, absence of help to the people in need or unwise rendering of assistance, which accustoms to idleness.

Bibliographical Scrupulousness and Philological Zeal: Conrad Gessner Working on the editio princeps of ‘Ad se ipsum’

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 349-375
Author(s):  
Mikhail Sergeev
Keyword(s):  
Literary History ◽  
The Other ◽  
Controversial Issue ◽  
Greek Text ◽  
Marcus Aurelius ◽  
History Of ◽  
Important Means ◽  
Printed Word ◽  
Editio Princeps ◽  
Self Stimulation

Abstract The article concerns the history of the first edition of Greek text of Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations (1559), printed together with its Latin translation and commentary by Wilhelm Xylander. The Zurich philologist and naturalist Conrad Gessner documented it meticulously from its earliest steps in his Neo-Latin bibliographic handbooks, as well as other printed works and letters, meanwhile contributing somehow to its realization. The controversial issue of Gessner’s and Xylander’s role in the establishing of the text of editio princeps, and thus its attribution, is discussed in detail. The other question under consideration is how Gessner imagined the interaction of humanist philology and bibliography, which had to direct literary history in the age of printed word. Taking into account this particular case of Gessner’s bibliographic and philological inquiry, the author attempts to consider his Bibliotheca universalis not only as seminal compilative and critical work, but also as important means of communication and (self-)stimulation.

Grounds of Engagement

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stéphane Robolin
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Literary History ◽  
Common Ground ◽  
Langston Hughes ◽  
Gwendolyn Brooks ◽  
Literary Traditions ◽  
Black South African ◽  
Black Cross ◽  
History Of ◽  
Political Solidarity

Part literary history, part cultural study, this book examines the relationships and exchanges between black South African and African American writers who sought to create common ground throughout the antiapartheid era. The book argues that the authors' geographic imaginations crucially defined their individual interactions and, ultimately, the literary traditions on both sides of the Atlantic. Subject to the tyranny of segregation, authors such as Richard Wright, Bessie Head, Langston Hughes, Gwendolyn Brooks, Keorapetse Kgositsile, Michelle Cliff, and Richard Rive charted their racialized landscapes and invented freer alternative geographies. They crafted rich representations of place to challenge the stark social and spatial arrangements that framed their lives. Those representations, the book contends, also articulated their desires for black transnational belonging and political solidarity. The first book to examine U.S. and South African literary exchanges in spatial terms, it identifies key moments in this understudied history of black cross-cultural exchange, exposing how geography serves as an indispensable means of shaping and reshaping modern racial meaning.

scholarly journals Reaffirmation of the methods and spirit of literary criticism: Contribution to the interpretation of The history of Serbian literature by Jovan Deretić

Bastina ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 55-80
Author(s):  
Ana Mumović
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
Literary Criticism ◽  
Literary History ◽  
Critical Evaluation ◽  
The People ◽  
History Of ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
History Of Literature ◽  
Comprehensive History

The paper discusses five monographs by Jovan Deretić, which the author considers "accompanying books" of his History of Serbian Literature. These are: Marko Kraljević's riddle - about the nature of historicity in Serbian folk epics, The path of Serbian literature - identity, borders, aspirations, Poetics of Serbian literature, Serbian folk epics and Etudes from old Serbian literature. In this paper, we analyze them as a contribution to the interpretation of the History of Serbian Literature, the most comprehensive history of literature in Serbian science to the extent that they are important as proof of Deretić's great synthesis and consideration of the function of literary criticism in Serbian culture. An important definition of the "accompanying books" is provided by the author in their prefaces and notes. It is summarized in the theoretical and applied level in the process of considering important issues of Serbian literary history: periodization and classification of literature, poetic or historical determinants and the significance of particular epochs, writers, or genres. A review of the critical evaluation of Serbian literature and historical and cultural heritage in the accompanying books shows that Deretić pragmatized his scientific thought and reaffirmed literary criticism, directing it "for the benefit of the people". This means that he gave it a practical and social function and intended it "for a distant generation".

Connecting the Dots. Italian Literature in a Global History of Literature

2013 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 300-308
Author(s):  
Bart Van Den Bossche
Keyword(s):  
Literary History ◽  
Italian Literature ◽  
Global Perspective ◽  
Global History ◽  
Literary Traditions ◽  
Literary Historiography ◽  
History Of ◽  
Connecting The Dots ◽  
History Of Literature ◽  
Looking Glass

The goals and methods of a global history of literature may not always be easily reconcilable with those pertinent to local (‘national’ or ‘regional’) literary traditions; however, behind the, at times, lengthy or painstaking discussions on the criteria of selection, emphasis, and on more or less necessary nuances, there are also a number of deeper and more fundamental issues at stake in a global history of literature that can be fruitfully approached through the looking-glass of a local literary tradition. Even characteristics of a particular tradition of literature that may seem specific, even highly specific, can give rise to intriguing questions bearing on some of the wide-ranging issues tied to a global perspective on literature. More in particular, with regard to Italian literature, three issues come to the fore: the way literary history deals with the question of agency, the connections between literary history and cultural repertoires, and the question of canonicity and ideology in literary historiography.

Drawing Down the Moon

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Radcliffe G. Edmonds III
Keyword(s):  
Social Contexts ◽  
Classical Antiquity ◽  
The Moon ◽  
Literary Traditions ◽  
Greco Roman ◽  
The People ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of Religions ◽  
History Of ◽  
Insight Into

What did magic mean to the people of ancient Greece and Rome? How did Greeks and Romans not only imagine what magic could do, but also use it to try to influence the world around them? This book provides the most comprehensive account of the varieties of phenomena labeled as magic in classical antiquity. Exploring why certain practices, images, and ideas were labeled as “magic” and set apart from “normal” kinds of practices, the book gives insight into the shifting ideas of religion and the divine in the ancient past and in the later Western tradition. Using fresh approaches to the history of religions and the social contexts in which magic was exercised, the book delves into the archaeological record and classical literary traditions to examine images of witches, ghosts, and demons as well as the fantastic powers of metamorphosis, erotic attraction, and reversals of nature, such as the famous trick of drawing down the moon. From prayer and divination to astrology and alchemy, the book journeys through all manner of ancient magical rituals and paraphernalia. It considers the ways in which the Greco-Roman discourse of magic was formed amid the cultures of the ancient Mediterranean, including Egypt and the Near East.

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