Language, Ethnicity, and the Politics of Literary Taxonomy: Ng Kim Chew and Mahua Literature

PMLA ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 131 (5) ◽  
pp. 1316-1327
Author(s):  
Carlos Rojas
Keyword(s):  
Short Stories ◽  
Social Environment ◽  
Chinese Literature ◽  
Family Resemblance ◽  
Dynamic Interaction ◽  
The Family ◽  
Remote Islands ◽  
Chinese Author ◽  
Malaysian Chinese ◽  
Taxonomic System

Through an examination of short stories from the Malaysian Chinese author Ng Kim Chew's 2001 collection From Island to Island, this essay reflects on the taxonomic functions of criteria such as language, ethnicity, and nationality, particularly as they inform contemporary discussions of Chinese, Sinophone, and Mahua (Malaysian Chinese) literature. Several of Ng's stories are set on remote islands and feature individuals who, having been forcibly separated from their original linguistic or social environment, offer a vehicle for reflecting on some of the consequences of literary taxonomies that arbitrarily prioritize one criterion (such as language or nationality) over others. Drawing on Wittgenstein's notion of family resemblance, the essay proposes a taxonomic system that does not rely on a single criterion but rather attends to the dynamic interaction among a variety of criteria. The resulting model is used to interrogate the naturalized conception of the family on which Wittgenstein relies.

Introduction

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos Rojas ◽  
Andrea Bachner
Keyword(s):  
Short Story ◽  
Chinese Literature ◽  
Modern Chinese Literature ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
Structural Elements ◽  
Modern Chinese ◽  
Chinese Author ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Malaysian Chinese ◽  
Chinese Term

Anchored by an illustrative analysis of Malaysian Chinese author Ng Kim Chew’s 2001 short story “Kebei” [Inscribed Backs], this introduction lays out some of the central concerns of the volume as a whole. In particular, the chapter uses Ng’s story to reassess some common assumptions about what modern Chinese literature is, and how the category might alternatively be understood. In the process, the chapter structures its discussion around an analysis of an early definition of the Chinese termwen, meaning “marking,” “text,” or “culture/civilization”—using three different elements of this early definition to introduce the three parts of this edited volume. The volume is divided into three parts, on Structure, Taxonomy, and Methodology. Part I examines a set of structural elements that inform how texts are produced, distributed, and consumed; Part II focuses on issues of literary taxonomy, and particularly the historical, national, and formal groupings that comprise the category of modern Chinese literature; and Part III illustrates various analytical methodologies that may be used to interpret literary texts.

On the Margins of Modernism

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Rosenmeier
Keyword(s):  
Short Stories ◽  
Detailed Analysis ◽  
Chinese Literature ◽  
Popular Literature ◽  
Extensive Study ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Chinese Fiction ◽  
Scant Attention ◽  
Narrative Techniques ◽  
Chinese Writing

Xu Xu and Wumingshi were among the most widely read authors in China during and after the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945). Despite being an integral part of the Chinese literary scene, their bestselling fiction has, however, been given scant attention in histories of Chinese writing. This book is the first extensive study of Xu Xu and Wumingshi in English or any other Western language and it re-establishes their importance within the popular Chinese literature of the 1940s. Their romantic novels and short stories were often set abroad and featured a wide range of stereotypes, from pirates, spies and patriotic soldiers to ghosts, spirits and exotic women who confounded the mostly cosmopolitan male protagonists. Christopher Rosenmeier’s detailed analysis of these popular novels and short stories shows that such romances broke new ground by incorporating and adapting narrative techniques and themes from the Shanghai modernist writers of the 1930s, notably Shi Zhecun and Mu Shiying. The study thereby contests the view that modernism had little lasting impact on Chinese fiction, and it demonstrates that the popular literature of the 1940s was more innovative than usually imagined, with authors, such as those studied here, successfully crossing the boundaries between the popular and the elite, as well as between romanticism and modernism, in their bestselling works.

Social Reform and Remedy Rendered in the Select Novels of Indira Goswami

Think India ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 848-852
Author(s):  
Dr.B.R. VEERAMANI ◽  
A. KUMARAVALLI
Keyword(s):  
Short Stories ◽  
Social Reform ◽  
Foreign Languages ◽  
The Family ◽  
The Government ◽  
Public Instruction ◽  
Year 2000 ◽  
Creative Effort

Dr. Indira Goswami (Mamoni Raisom Goswami) is one of the leading writers of the India today. She has won the Jnanpith Award for the year 2000, which is the highest literary award of India today. She belongs to the family of Sattra adhikars (Head of Vaisnava monastery) of South Kamrup in Assam. Her father, Late Uma Kanta Goswami, was an economist, who worked as the Director of Public Instruction of the Government of Assam. Indira did her schooling in Guwahati and Shillong. She has written eighteen novels, and several hundreds of short stories. Her novels and short stories have been translated into many Indian and Foreign languages. She tries to write from her direct experiences of her life. She only moulds her experiences with her imagination. Her language is like a velvet dress by which she endeavors to cover the restless soul in its journey through existence. But however hard, she might try, the fabric of this dress seldom takes on the texture of velvet or fine Muslim, and it comes out rather tattered. Sometimes they feel that it is a futile effort to arrest the soul with language and capture it in cold print. It is better, perhaps to feel it only in numb science. But, then, those very experiences impel a person to unload them from the psyche by creative effort which gives a sort of relief. And, the tattered fabric has a beauty which puts to shame the finest of velvets.

Social Environment and Creativity

2011 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 46-58
Author(s):  
Jiří Semrád ◽  
Milan Škrabal
Keyword(s):  
High School Students ◽  
Social Environment ◽  
Family Environment ◽  
Social Background ◽  
Family Influence ◽  
Creative Activity ◽  
School Students ◽  
Cultural Legacy ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Family

The paper deals with issues connected with the motivation of high school students to participate in activities aimed at professional creative activity and, in this context, issues of environmental influences, especially from school and the family. It is responding to some of the growing efforts of neoliberalism to over individualize creative expression and activities and completely ignore social influences. It also takes into account the cultural legacy of past generations and the sources of creative power that have taken root in society and from which individuals draw and process their inspiration. Presented within are the results of an empirical probe focused on the influence of the social environment on the creative activity of teenagers. The paper follows the relations to the existing body of knowledge on the relationship between social environment and creativity, with an effort to capture the social conditionality of creative performances—to capture their roots. The results of the probe have confirmed the initial hypothesis that the creative efforts of secondary school students taking part in vocational training is based on the social background of the family and school. However, the family influence on the students’ creativity is not as significant as one would expect. It is the indirect effect of the family environment that has a larger influence.

scholarly journals Lingkungan Keluarga, Lingkungan Sosial dan Pergaulan Teman Sebaya terhadap Hasil Belajar

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-14
Author(s):  
Trianah ◽  
Pieter Sahertian
Keyword(s):  
Learning Outcomes ◽  
Social Environment ◽  
Peer Relationships ◽  
Family Environment ◽  
Random Sampling ◽  
Learning Activities ◽  
Sampling Techniques ◽  
The Family ◽  
Research Types

Abstract Learning outcomes are changes in behavior obtained by students after experiencing learning activities. Learning outcomes include three domains, namely cognitive, affective and psychomotor. High and low learning outcomes achieved by students are influenced by factors of the family environment, social environment, and the association of students with peers. This study aims to analyze the influence partially (individually) or simultaneously (together) between the family environment, social environment and peer relationships simultaneously on learning outcomes. The method used is quantitative with explanatory research types and research samples of 69 students or 31% of the population taken using proportional random sampling techniques. The results showed that the family environment Social environment and peer relationships affect learning outcomes

scholarly journals The Slovak “Narcissus” with Croatian roots. Rudolf Sloboda, a writer

2021 ◽  
pp. 260-274
Author(s):  
Lyudmila F. Shirokova ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Short Stories ◽  
Social Environment ◽  
Old Age ◽  
Family Problems ◽  
Egocentric Vision ◽  
Gold Reserve ◽  
Film Scripts ◽  
The Village

Rudolf Sloboda is one of the brightest and most distinctive writers of the generation of the Slovak “sixties”. He was born and lived most of his life in the village of Devinska Nova Ves near Bratislava with a predominantly Croatian population. Sloboda is the author of dozens of works, including novels, stories, short stories, essays, poems, plays, film scripts. In his work, he was based on the original “egocentric” vision of reality and the confessional-monologue type of narration. The themes of his largely autobiographical prose and drama were complex, often painful relationships between people, crisis states of the personality — everything he faced in his own life. The main space of Sloboda’s books is his native village, with its constants and inevitable transformation. The novels of the writer, first of all — “The Narcissus” (1965), “The Reason” (1982) and “The Blood” (1991), reflect the most important stages in the life and mental wavering of the author and his hero: the early youth marked by entering into an unknown social environment and his first erotic experiences; the maturity with family problems and setbacks, psychological crisis; approaching the old age with the extinction of feelings and desires, that lead to inner emptiness. The universal sound of “private” statements about the existential problems of a person, the artistic persuasiveness, originality and recognizability of his style — all this makes the works of Rudolf Sloboda a part of the Gold Reserve of the modern Slovak literature.

scholarly journals THE ROLE OF THE FAMILY FOR GAINING SOCIAL EXPERIENCE AND ACQUIRING BEHAVIORAL MODELS AT PRE-SCHOOL AGE

2018 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 915-919
Author(s):  
Krasimira Stefanova Petrova
Keyword(s):  
Social Environment ◽  
Modern Society ◽  
Research Problem ◽  
Social Experience ◽  
Educational Process ◽  
School Age ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Family ◽  
The Impact

Pre-school age is an intensive period in the life of a person which offers great potential for development. The dimensions of the impact of the social environment (children, parents and other adults) on the child’s personality are multifaceted. This accounts for the emphasis on social norms, goals and ideals. Education is the one factor that can best provide the socialization of adolescents.The changes in modern society have led to redefining the parenting patterns for bringing up children. The role of the family as an environment for transferring social experience has never lost its significance. Children need continuous care in order to handle societal failures; they need support for mastering the culture of behavior, as well as timely and appropriate help for ensuring conflict-free communication and for enabling them to take responsibility for their own choices and actions.Psychological studies show that various factors influence both the upbringing of children as well as the parents’ attitudes towardsthem. The relevant factors include: the childhood experiences of the parents; the unrealized needs of the parents; interpersonal relations in the family that are characterized by emotional depth and style that are considered to have established "a standard".The parameters of the actuality of the research problem are based on the interrelationship of the social and educational aspects that are related to the position of the child and his personal assertion in society:- Atpre-schoolage, thechildgraduallyfitsintothesocialsystem, whichistheresult of learningexperiences, actionsandrelationships, awarenessandrediscovery of theselfandtheworld of otherpeople.- Thechildbecomesaware of thenorms of behaviorandthemeaning of actions–their ownandother people’s - andlearns to takeresponsibilityfortheiractions.- Oneyearbeforeschool starts, the childdevelopstheability to accepttheposition of othersand to takeintoaccounttheirownandothers’perspective.- For a successfulpersonalrealization, itisimportantforchildren to havetheskills to worktogetherandcommunicatein a group. Thisisthecompetencethatdirectstheirbehaviortowardsco-ordination, co-operationandsynergy.The abovementioned specific features of the child's personality are the result of the intentional educational interactions between the kindergarten and the family and are related to the acquisition of knowledge, rules and norms, and of value-oriented patterns that define behavior. The foundations for thisare laid during the pre-school age and are considered the most stable and lasting, often referred to as the "basic personality structure". Along with them, the "behavioral potential" of the child, which is demonstrated at different ages, is shaped and developedthrough upbringing. Consequently, behavior is seen as a specific manifestation of the personality associated with its selective attitude towards the influence of various factors in the social environment. The direction of the educational activitiesinspires the motivation for personal behavior aiming at growth and self-actualization. Hence, the presence of a certain skill level which imposes a new approach to learning - replacing the mechanical reproduction with the acquisition of competences for and attitudes towards interaction in a changing environment. What is appropriate for achieving these goals is the applicationof functional models for cooperation, individualization and differentiation of the educational process. These ensure that the child is provided with conditions for activity and for mastering basic, sustainable rules for conscious participation and development that are important for the success of each of his activities. This is a type of social education that is achieved through exploring the social fabric andacquiring the skills for learning, choosing and communicating.

scholarly journals The Social Environment’s Relationship With Frailty: Evidence From Existing Studies

2017 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daan Duppen ◽  
Michaël C. J. Van der Elst ◽  
Sarah Dury ◽  
Deborah Lambotte ◽  
Liesbeth De Donder ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Social Networks ◽  
Social Environment ◽  
Social Participation ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Informal Networks ◽  
Five Dimensions ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Family

Increasingly, policymakers assume that informal networks will provide care for frail older people. While the literature has mainly discussed the role of the family, broader social networks are also considered to be important. However, these social networks can diminish in later life. This systematic review investigates whether the social environment increases the risk of frailty or helps to prevent it. Findings from 15 original studies were classified using five different factors, which denoted five dimensions of the social environment: (a) social networks, (b) social support, (c) social participation, (d) subjective neighborhood experience, and (e) socioeconomic neighborhood characteristics. The discussion highlights that the social environment and frailty are indeed related, and how the neighborhood dimensions and social participation had more consistent results than social support and social networks. Conclusively, recommendations are formulated to contemplate all dimensions of the social environment for further research examining frailty and community care.

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