Delving into Impossible Storyworlds of Terror: The Unnaturalness of Hassan Blasim’s Short Narrative Fiction

2017 ◽  
Vol 52 (1) ◽  
pp. 183-200 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shang Biwu
Keyword(s):  
Short Stories ◽  
Human Suffering ◽  
Narrative Fiction ◽  
Broad Category ◽  
Unnatural Narratology ◽  
Recent Scholarship ◽  
The World ◽  
Unnatural Narrative ◽  
Short Narrative ◽  
Unnatural Narratives

AbstractMany of Hassan Blasim’s short stories fall into a broad category of unnatural narrative. In line with the most recent scholarship on unnatural narratology, this article first discusses the unnatural worldmaking strategies adopted by Blasim that include dead narrators, conflicting events, and ontological metalepsis. Second, it analyzes a set of unnatural acts closely related to the characters’ death and their consequential corporeal impairments. Third, it examines the mentality of Blasim’s characters by focusing on a particular type of unnatural mind – the paranoid mind, which in radical cases involves two conflicting minds simultaneously emerging in one character. By resorting to unnatural narratives, Blasim makes his short stories anti-mimetically impossible but nightmarishly real, which not only generates effects of defamiliarity and horror but also forces us to ponder over what is now happening in the seemingly remote parts of the world and to raise our common concerns for human suffering.

Beckett’s Expelled

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lyndsey Stonebridge
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Short Stories ◽  
Samuel Beckett ◽  
Red Cross ◽  
Human Suffering ◽  
Dark Background ◽  
The World

Samuel Beckett is known for his unique abstraction of human suffering. This chapter shows how his wartime experiences transformed his writing, producing one of the first really critical literary depictions of the new subject of human rights and humanitarianism. Beckett’s engagement with what he described in 1946 as ‘the time-honoured conception of humanity in ruins’ began with his own experience of displacement and with his work with the Irish Red Cross in Saint-Lô. The characters who wander through the three short stories that he first wrote in French, ‘La Fin’, ‘L’Explusé’, and ‘Le Calmant’, collectively known as the Nouvelles, are both subject to a regime of humanitarian indifference (‘They clothed me and gave me money’ read the first lines of ‘La Fin’) and restless agents, stumbling in a stripped down French, groping for a new narrative. These are the new clowns of the dark background of difference, ironists of their own suffering, chroniclers of the gap that had opened up between the placeless people and the rest of the world.

The critique of the common theory of narrative fiction in narratology: Pursuing difference

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-34
Author(s):  
Tommy Sandberg
Keyword(s):  
Short Stories ◽  
Narrative Fiction ◽  
Pragmatic Approach ◽  
Main Thrust ◽  
Default Mode ◽  
Unnatural Narratology ◽  
The Common ◽  
Linguistic Approach

AbstractThis article aims to characterize a commonly misunderstood and neglected critique of narratology and insists that the critique could advance the narratological discussions if taken more seriously. I describe the notions of three individual critics and one group of critics and their suggested alternatives to what they hold to be the dominating description of narrative fiction in narratology. In turn, I take up Sylvie Patron’s linguistic approach, Lars-Åke Skalin’s aesthetic approach, and Richard Walsh’s pragmatic approach, as well as unnatural narratology (which is less radical), and suggest that they have a Difference approach to narrative fiction. The critique is contrasted with what I refer to as a Sameness approach, guiding the dominating description of narrative fiction in narratology. The Sameness approach relates novels and short stories to a notion of a default mode of “narrative” which is based on situated speech about something that has happened. This is, according to the critics, a mistake. The main thrust of the critics, although with some exceptions, is instead that narrative fiction needs to be approached as sui generis in order to be described effectively. Yet how this should be done is still open for debate.

scholarly journals Unaturlige fortællinger. Hinsides mimetiske modeller

2011 ◽  
Vol 39 (112) ◽  
pp. 7-32
Author(s):  
Jan Alber ◽  
Stefan Iversen ◽  
Henrik Skov Nielsen ◽  
Brian Richardson
Keyword(s):  
Narrative Theory ◽  
Unnatural Narratology ◽  
The Future ◽  
Unnatural Narrative ◽  
Unnatural Narratives

UNNATURAL NARRATIVES, UNNATURAL NARRATOLOGY | In recent years, the study of unnatural narrative has developed into one of the most exciting new paradigms in narrative theory. Both younger and more established scholars have become increasingly interested in the analysis of unnatural texts, many of which have been consistently neglected or marginalized in existing narratological frameworks. By means of the collaboration of four scholars who have been developing unnatural narratology, this article seeks to summarize key principles, to consolidate some conclusions, to extend the work through carefully chosen examples, and, finally, to point toward the future.

Beyond sameness and difference: Narrative sense-making in life and literature

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 76-93
Author(s):  
Hanna Meretoja
Keyword(s):  
Real Life ◽  
Sense Making ◽  
Narrative Fiction ◽  
Making Sense ◽  
Unnatural Narratology ◽  
The World ◽  
Truth Value ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Narrative Hermeneutics

AbstractThis article analyses two major problems in the dichotomous framing of the question of whether narratives in fiction and “real life” are the same or different. The dichotomy prevents us from seeing, first, that there are both crucial similarities and differences between them and, second, that there are important similarities between variants of the “similarity approach” and the “difference approach”, both of which tend to rely on ahistorical, universalizing and empiricist-positivistic assumptions concerning factuality, raw experience and the non-referentiality of narrative fiction. The article presents as an alternative to both approaches narrative hermeneutics, which sees all narratives as culturally mediated and historically changing interpretative practices but approaches literary narratives as specific modes of making sense of the world – as ones that have truth-value on a different level than non-literary narratives. Narrative hermeneutics shares with (at least some forms of) unnatural narratology and the Örebro School a passion for the uniqueness of literary narratives, but it places the emphasis on the ability of literature to disclose the world to us in existentially charged ways that would not be otherwise culturally available – in ways that open up new possibilities of thought, action and affect.

The Russian People as They Are. Turgenev’s View

2018 ◽  
pp. 71-82
Author(s):  
Sergey Nickolsky
Keyword(s):  
Short Stories ◽  
Philosophy Of History ◽  
Literary Genre ◽  
Classical Literature ◽  
The People ◽  
The World ◽  
Natural Man ◽  
The Mind ◽  
Nature And Society ◽  
Philosophical Nature

The question of the Russian man – his past, present and future – is the central one in the philosophy of history. Unfortunately, at present this area of philosophy is not suffciently developed in Russia. Partly the reason for this situation is the lack of understanding by researchers of the role played by Russian classical literature and its philosophizing writers in historiosophy. The Hunting Sketches, a collection of short stories by I.S. Turgenev, is a work still undervalued, not fully considered not only in details but also in general meanings. And this is understandable because it is the frst systematic encyclopedia of Russian worldview, which is not envisaged by the literary genre. To a certain extent, Turgenev’s line is continued by I. Goncharov (the theme of the mind and heart), L. Tolstoy (the theme of the living and the dead, nature and society, the people and the lords), F. Dostoevsky (natural and rational rights), A. Chekhov (worthy and vulgar life). This article examines the philosophical nature of The Hunting Sketches, its structure and content. According to author’s opinion, stories can be divided into ten groups according to their dominant meanings. Thus, in The Hunting Sketches the main Russian types are depicted: “natural man,” rational, submissive, cunning, honest, sensitive, passionate, poetic, homeless, suffering, calmly accepting death, imbued with the immensity of the world. In the image and the comments of the wandering protagonist, Ivan Turgenev reveals his own philosophical credo, which he defnes as a moderate liberalism – freedom of thought and action, without prejudice to others.

Resurrection

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leo Tolstoy
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Social Life ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Recent Scholarship ◽  
The Social ◽  
The World

Resurrection (1899) is the last of Tolstoy's major novels. It tells the story of a nobleman's attempt to redeem the suffering his youthful philandering inflicted on a peasant girl who ends up a prisoner in Siberia. Tolstoy's vision of redemption achieved through loving forgiveness, and his condemnation of violence, dominate the novel. An intimate, psychological tale of guilt, anger, and forgiveness, Resurrection is at the same time a panoramic description of social life in Russia at the end of the nineteenth century, reflecting its author's outrage at the social injustices of the world in which he lived. This edition, which updates a classic translation, has explanatory notes and a substantial introduction based on the most recent scholarship in the field.

scholarly journals Future trajectories of festival research

2021 ◽  
pp. 146879762199293
Author(s):  
Michelle Duffy ◽  
Judith Mair
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Daily Life ◽  
Theory Development ◽  
Departure Point ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
Tourism Research ◽  
Sense Of Purpose ◽  
Recent Scholarship ◽  
The World

In their editorial for the first issue of Tourist Studies, Adrian Franklin and Mike Crang made us aware that tourism research had shifted to an exploration of the extraordinary everyday where ‘more or less everyone now lives in a world rendered or reconfigured as interesting, entertaining and attractive – for tourists’. From our standpoint 20 years later, we suggest this particular departure point has important insights to offer our understanding of a quintessential tourism event, that of the festival, which now intervenes in daily life in all manner of ways. In this commentary, we present a reflective commentary on recent scholarship that advocates for more rigour in festival studies, with greater theory development and testing within the festival context, and how this work is suggestive of future directions for festival research. We present several areas that are ripe for further research, particularly given the tumultuous nature of the world we are living in, such as the challenges of climate change and how we might socialise in a post-Covid world. Much has changed in the 20 years since the inception of Tourist Studies, but festivals remain resilient – they will re-emerge in future, perhaps not unscathed but with a renewed sense of purpose.

CONTEMPORARY PERSPECTIVES ON WOMEN'S ENTREPRENEURSHIP: A REVIEW AND STRATEGIC RECOMMENDATIONS

2002 ◽  
Vol 10 (01) ◽  
pp. 67-86 ◽  
Author(s):  
LISA K. GUNDRY ◽  
BEN-YOSEPH MIRIAM ◽  
MARGARET POSIG
Keyword(s):  
Global Economy ◽  
Firm Characteristics ◽  
Major Research ◽  
Enterprise Growth ◽  
Women’S Entrepreneurship ◽  
Recent Scholarship ◽  
The World ◽  
Entrepreneurial Organization ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
Women's Entrepreneurship

The study of women's entrepreneurship has grown steadily during the last two decades, as the number of women-owned businesses worldwide has increased dramatically. This article presents an examination of major research questions and highlights the most recent scholarship on women's entrepreneurship within several key domains. The findings integrate broad areas of inquiry, including the emergence of women-owned firms in the global economy, entrepreneurial and firm characteristics, financing patterns, the greatest challenges to enterprise growth, and the influence of culture and family on the entrepreneurial organization. Recommendations are provided to contribute to an increased understanding of the dynamics of women-headed entrepreneurial enterprises around the world.

scholarly journals INTERPRETATION OF THE THEME OF LOVE IN THE AUTHOR'S EDUCATIONAL AND FICTION TEXT OF THE TEACHER FOR A FOREIGN AUDIENCE AT THE LEVEL OF RUSSIAN LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY B1-C1

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (25(52)) ◽  
pp. 27-47
Author(s):  
Olga Grigoryevna Puzyreva
Keyword(s):  
Short Stories ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Russian Language ◽  
Semantic Concept ◽  
Cultural Space ◽  
The World ◽  
Mental Language

The article describes the interpretation of the theme of love in the author's educational fiction text of the teacher for a foreign audience at the level of Russian language proficiency B1-C1 as a key value-semantic concept of the Russian mental-language picture of the world. The author presents, psychological, pedagogical, methodological and philosophical arguments for the need to include this topic in the proposed cycle of short stories. Special attention is paid to how the speech and "creative-motor " (S. V. Dmitriev) dialogue of the situation of love is interconnected with the surrounding socio-cultural space.

scholarly journals LOVE STORIES IN THE AUTHOR'S EDUCATIONAL FICTION TEXT OF THE TEACHER FOR A FOREIGN AUDIENCE

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (2(71)) ◽  
pp. 45-66
Author(s):  
Olga Grigoryevna Puzyreva
Keyword(s):  
Short Stories ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Russian Language ◽  
Semantic Concept ◽  
Cultural Space ◽  
Love Stories ◽  
The World ◽  
Mental Language

The article describes the interpretation of the theme of love in the author's educational fiction text of the teacher for a foreign audience at the level of Russian language proficiency B1-C1 as a key value-semantic concept of the Russian mental-language picture of the world. The author presents psychological, pedagogical, methodological and philosophical arguments for the need to include this topic in the proposed cycle of short stories. Special attention is paid to how the speech and "creative-motor " (S. V. Dmitriev) dialogue of the situation of love is interconnected with the surrounding socio-cultural space.

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