scholarly journals Still Ekphrasis? Visual and Non-Visual Art in Contemporary Anglophone Fiction

2020 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 15
Author(s):  
Jarosław Hetman
Keyword(s):  
Visual Art ◽  
The Other ◽  
Artistic Expression ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Literary Context ◽  
Contemporary Novels ◽  
The World ◽  
The One ◽  
Definition Of

<p>The article explores the ancient notion of ekphrasis in an attempt to redefine it and to adjust it to the requirements of the contemporary literary and artistic landscape. An overview of the transformations in the world of art in the 20<sup>th</sup> century allows us to adjust our understanding of what art is today and to examine its existence within the literary context. In light of the above, I postulate a broadening of the definition of ekphrasis so as to include not only painting and sculpture on the one side, and poetry on the other, but also to open it up to less conventional forms of artistic expression, and allow for its use in reference to prose. In order to illustrate its relevance to the novel, I have conducted a study of three contemporary novels – John Banville’s <em>Athena</em>, Kurt Vonnegut’s <em>Bluebeard</em> and Don DeLillo’s <em>Mao II </em>– in order to uncover the innovative ways in which novelists nowadays use ekphrasis to reinvigorate long prose.</p>

Camus's Absurd and the World of Melville's Confidence-Man

PMLA ◽  
1967 ◽  
Vol 82 (1) ◽  
pp. 14-27
Author(s):  
Leon F. Seltzer
Keyword(s):  
Careful Analysis ◽  
The Other ◽  
The Novel ◽  
The Past ◽  
The World ◽  
Critical Attention ◽  
Confidence Man ◽  
Ugly Duckling ◽  
History Of ◽  
The One

In recent years, The Confidence-Man: His Masquerade, a difficult work and for long an unjustly neglected one, has begun to command increasingly greater critical attention and esteem. As more than one contemporary writer has noted, the verdict of the late Richard Chase in 1949, that the novel represents Melville's “second best achievement,” has served to prompt many to undertake a second reading (or at least a first) of the book. Before this time, the novel had traditionally been the one Melville readers have shied away from—as overly discursive, too rambling altogether, on the one hand, or as an unfortunate outgrowth of the author's morbidity on the other. Elizabeth Foster, in the admirably comprehensive introduction to her valuable edition of The Confidence-Man (1954), systematically traces the history of the book's reputation and observes that even with the Melville renaissance of the twenties, the work stands as the last piece of the author's fiction to be redeemed. Only lately, she comments, has it ceased to be regarded as “the ugly duckling” of Melville's creations. But recognition does not imply agreement, and it should not be thought that in the past fifteen years critics have reached any sort of unanimity on the novel's content. Since Mr. Chase's study, which approached the puzzling work as a satire on the American spirit—or, more specifically, as an attack on the liberalism of the day—and which speculated upon the novel's controlling folk and mythic figures, other critics, by now ready to assume that the book repaid careful analysis, have read the work in a variety of ways. It has been treated, among other things, as a religious allegory, as a philosophic satire on optimism, and as a Shandian comedy. One critic has conveniently summarized the prevailing situation by remarking that “the literary, philosophical, and cultural materials in this book are fused in so enigmatic a fashion that its interpreters have differed as to what the book is really about.”

scholarly journals Iris Hanika's Treffen Sich Zwei: Reception, Analysis and Interpretation

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Kerry Alistair Nitz
Keyword(s):  
Quantitative Analysis ◽  
Qualitative Approach ◽  
The Other ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Quantitative Evidence ◽  
Literary Context ◽  
Narrative Functions ◽  
The One ◽  
High Level ◽  
The Relationship

<p>Iris Hanika’s commercially and critically successful novel Treffen sich zwei makes use of several techniques in the characterisation of its protagonists. Many of its reviews focus on the author’s deliberate placement of links to a wider literary context. Their interest extends from questions of genre-mixing through to the identification of direct quotes from other authors’ works. The critical preoccupation with intertexts demonstrates their importance for the readers’ response to the novel. More specifically, certain reviews highlight the important role intertexts play in the characterisation of the protagonists. This study catalogues the intertexts, metaphors and parodies in Treffen sich zwei and, by means of quantitative analysis, identifies high-level patterns in the use of these techniques. In particular, patterns are identified between, on the one hand, the different narrative functions of the intertexts and, on the other hand, the different ways in which they are interwoven in the text. The data also shows that distinct patterns are associated with each of the two protagonists and that certain patterns change in the course of the novel in parallel with the changes in the relationship between them. This quantitative evidence is supported by a more detailed, qualitative approach, which examines how specific intertexts or metaphors are used for the purposes of characterisation. In addition, variations in voice are used to distinguish the two main protagonists in a manner consistent with the intertexts and metaphors. It is thanks to the combination of these techniques that the theme of meeting encapsulated in the title, Treffen sich zwei, is woven into the textual fabric of the novel.</p>

The Technocene or Technology as (Neo)Environment

2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 243-281 ◽  
Author(s):  
Agostino Cera ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Philosophy Of Technology ◽  
The Other ◽  
Current Form ◽  
Nominative Case ◽  
The Core ◽  
The World ◽  
Conditio Humana ◽  
The One ◽  
Definition Of

Abstract: While putting forward the proposal of a “philosophy of technology in the nominative case,” grounded on the concept of Neoenvironmentality, this paper intends to argue that the best definition of our current age is not “Anthropocene.” Rather, it is “Technocene,” since technology represents here and now the real “subject of history” and of (a de-natured) nature, i.e. the (neo)environment where man has to live.This proposal culminates in a new definition of man’s humanity and of technology. Switching from natura hominis to conditio humana, the peculiarity of man can be defined on the basis of an anthropic perimeter, the core of which consists of man’s worldhood: man is that being that has a world (Welt), while animal has a mere environment (Umwelt). Both man’s worldhood and animal’s environmentality are derived from a pathic premise, namely the fundamental moods (Grundstimmungen) that refer them to their respective findingness (Befindlichkeit).From this anthropological premise, technology emerges as the oikos of contemporary humanity. Technology becomes the current form of the world – and so gives birth to a Technocene – insofar as it introduces in any human context its ratio operandi and so assimilates man to an animal condition, i.e. an environmental one. Technocene corresponds on the one side to the emergence of technology as (Neo)environment and on the other to the feralization of man. The spirit of Technocene turns out to be the complete redefinition of the anthropic perimeter.While providing a non-ideological characterization of the current age, this paper proposes the strategy of an ‘anthropological conservatism,’ that is to say a pathic desertion understood as a possible (pre)condition for the beginning of an authentic Anthropocene, i.e. the age of an-at-last-entirely-human-man.

Strolling in Tel Aviv: Setting Up and Breaking Down Boundaries in S. Yizhar'sPreliminaries(Mikdamot)

AJS Review ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-88
Author(s):  
Dvir Tzur
Keyword(s):  
The Other ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Urban Experience ◽  
Tel Aviv ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
The World ◽  
The One ◽  
The Individual

The article discusses the image of Tel Aviv, the first Hebrew city, as it is described in the novelPreliminariesby S. Yizhar (Yizhar Smilansky), one of Israel's best-known authors. In this novel, which engages with the question of home and borders, borders function as a double-edged sword: on the one hand, they define home and create a circumscribed place for the protagonist and his family. On the other hand, the novel dwells on the urge to cross borders and shatter the distinction between home and the world. In this regard, Tel Aviv is sometimes described as a pleasant, “normal” city, yet at other times it is written as a perilous place—since it divides between Jews and Arabs. Tel Aviv is also the place where one can imagine a great future or see a concealed history. It is a total urban experience, encapsulating the individual.

scholarly journals Iris Hanika's Treffen Sich Zwei: Reception, Analysis and Interpretation

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Kerry Alistair Nitz
Keyword(s):  
Quantitative Analysis ◽  
Qualitative Approach ◽  
The Other ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Quantitative Evidence ◽  
Literary Context ◽  
Narrative Functions ◽  
The One ◽  
High Level ◽  
The Relationship

<p>Iris Hanika’s commercially and critically successful novel Treffen sich zwei makes use of several techniques in the characterisation of its protagonists. Many of its reviews focus on the author’s deliberate placement of links to a wider literary context. Their interest extends from questions of genre-mixing through to the identification of direct quotes from other authors’ works. The critical preoccupation with intertexts demonstrates their importance for the readers’ response to the novel. More specifically, certain reviews highlight the important role intertexts play in the characterisation of the protagonists. This study catalogues the intertexts, metaphors and parodies in Treffen sich zwei and, by means of quantitative analysis, identifies high-level patterns in the use of these techniques. In particular, patterns are identified between, on the one hand, the different narrative functions of the intertexts and, on the other hand, the different ways in which they are interwoven in the text. The data also shows that distinct patterns are associated with each of the two protagonists and that certain patterns change in the course of the novel in parallel with the changes in the relationship between them. This quantitative evidence is supported by a more detailed, qualitative approach, which examines how specific intertexts or metaphors are used for the purposes of characterisation. In addition, variations in voice are used to distinguish the two main protagonists in a manner consistent with the intertexts and metaphors. It is thanks to the combination of these techniques that the theme of meeting encapsulated in the title, Treffen sich zwei, is woven into the textual fabric of the novel.</p>

Gandhi's Philosophy of Work and Its Contemporary Relevance

1997 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-88
Author(s):  
Joseph Prabhu
Keyword(s):  
Human Person ◽  
Economic Life ◽  
Global Capitalism ◽  
The Other ◽  
Ecological Sustainability ◽  
Total Output ◽  
The World ◽  
Moral Conception ◽  
The One ◽  
Definition Of

There is a crisis of work in contemporary technological society. Afunctional definition of work feeds, and is fed by, an economico-technological ideology that valorizes the cult of productivity and of "total work". This in turn reflects a utilitarian conception of the human being, whose worth is now measured in terms of his or her contribution to total "output". Gandhi was one of the sharpest critics of this notion of man and society; he sees it as materialistic, soulless and fundamentally violent. In its place he proposes a moral conception of work that reflects his spiritual view of the human person. E.F. Schumacher takes Gandhi's ideas further in terms of an organization of economic life that promotes simplicity, beauty, social responsibility and ecological sustainability. The phenomenon of globalization heightens the stark contrast between the world-views of Gandhi and Schumacher on the one hand, and that of global capitalism on the other.

scholarly journals A Portrait of the Mehmandar: Accompanying Hajji Baba, of Ispahan, to England

2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 36-51
Author(s):  
Alina Pelea
Keyword(s):  
The Other ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Literary Works ◽  
The World ◽  
The One ◽  
Insight Into

Abstract There are few professions and professionals to be constantly perceived as ambivalent. But for interpreting and interpreters, this seems to be the norm, rather than the exception. On the one hand, there has always been a sense of fascination for these extraordinary people who speak so many languages and have such a wide knowledge of the world. On the other, they have inspired reluctance, distrust or even fear. While literary works sometimes reflect one or the other perception, James Justinian Morier’s The Adventures of Hajji Baba, of Ispahan, in England (1828) reflects both and provides us with an insight into the nature and circumstances of the situation. By following the attitude towards the mehmandar throughout the novel, the present paper considers a set of memes that seem to be still valid today. The reasons this is so relate to features inherent in the profession, the privilege of understanding both sides ‘of the coin’, the power tamper with information, the risk of misunderstanding, etc.

scholarly journals Hawthorne’s Miriam – a female enigma: A seductive femme fatale or a victim of abuse?

Ars Aeterna ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 16-35
Author(s):  
Irina Rabinovich
Keyword(s):  
19Th Century ◽  
The Other ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Femme Fatale ◽  
Jewish Women ◽  
Political Forces ◽  
The World ◽  
The One

Abstract In his last published novel, The Marble Faun (Hawthorne, 1974), in spite of his seeming sympathy for Miriam’s plea for friendship, Hawthorne’s narrator relates to Miriam as a “guilty” and “bloodstained” woman, who similarly to the female Jewish models portrayed in her paintings, carries misery, vice and death into the world. The narrator’s ambiguity vis-àvis Miriam’s moral fibre, on the one hand, and his infatuation with the beautiful and talented female artist, on the other, stands at the heart of the novel. The goal of this paper is mainly addressed at examining Miriam’s position in Hawthorne’s fiction, through an analysis of his treatment of his other “dark” and “light” women. Furthermore, I enquire whether Miriam is to be perceived in terms of the popular stereotypical representations of Jewish women (usually, Madonnas or whores), or whether she is granted more original and idiosyncratic characteristics. Next, I discuss Hawthorne’s treatment of Miriam’s artistic vocation, discerning her distinctiveness as a female Jewish 19th-century artist. Finally, Hawthorne’s unconventional choice of Rome as the setting for his novel unquestionably entails reference to the societal, cultural and political forces at play.

scholarly journals The Last Man and ‘The First Woman’: Unmanly Images of Unhuman Nature in Mary Shelley’s Ecocriticism

Perichoresis ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 3-15
Author(s):  
Éva Antal
Keyword(s):  
Mary Shelley ◽  
The Other ◽  
Natural Order ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Female Characters ◽  
The Sublime ◽  
The World ◽  
Last Man ◽  
The One ◽  
The Last Man

AbstractMary Shelley in her writings relies on the romanticised notions of nature: in addition to its beauties, the sublime quality is highlighted in its overwhelming greatness. In her ecological fiction, The Last Man (1826), the dystopian view of man results in the presentation of the declining civilization and the catastrophic destruction of infested mankind. In the novel, all of the characters are associated with forces of culture and history. On the one hand, Mary Shelley, focussing on different human bonds, warns against the sickening discord and dissonance, the lack of harmony in the world, while, on the other hand, she calls for the respect of nature and natural order. The prophetic caring female characters ‘foresee’ the events but cannot help the beloved men to control their building and destroying powers. Mary Shelley expresses her unmanly view of nature and the author’s utopian hope seems to lie in ‘unhuman’ nature. While the epidemic, having been unleashed by the pests of patriarchal society and being accelerated by global warming, sweeps away humanity, Mother Nature flourishes and gains back her original ‘dwelling place’.

scholarly journals Spectacle of musealization and literaturization of the world in post/postmodern society

Arta ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 115-121
Author(s):  
Elena Prus ◽  
◽  
Ludmila Braniste ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Mario Vargas Llosa ◽  
The Other ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Cultural Model ◽  
Contemporary World ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
The World ◽  
Nobel Laureates ◽  
Orhan Pamuk ◽  
The One

This article discusses current issues in the evolution of museums worldwide, influenced by global phenomena. The globalization of culture, on the one hand, and the musealization of the world, on the other hand, become the plays of a spectacle of the contemporary world. The museum cultural model becomes dominant in today’s society, influencing all spheres and finding representation in the world’s literatures. Among the various approached theories, the concepts of musealization of the modelled world as a cultural spectacle, “the world as a museum”, imaginary museum, the literaturization of the museum and the musealization of literature. From this perspective, the theses of the Nobel laureates in literature Mario Vargas Llosa and Orhan Pamuk are analysed. In Pamuk’s novel The Museum of Innocence, the museum is the structuring narratological axis of the novel, its theme and compositional nucleus.

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