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’.

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.”

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 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>

scholarly journals Breaking Aesthetics and Universaling Plague in Mary Shelley’s The Last Man

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beatriz González Moreno
Keyword(s):  
Mary Shelley ◽  
The Self ◽  
The World ◽  
Poetic Inspiration ◽  
Last Man ◽  
Anima Mundi ◽  
The Last Man

Para los poetas románticos la imaginación era un puente necesario para salvar las distancias entre el mundo y el yo, y haciendo uso de ella estetizaron el mundo según las categorías estéticas de belleza y sublimidad. Es más, la Weltanschauung romántica permitió el resurgir del motivo del anima mundi, donde la naturaleza era fuente de inspiración, un ser vivo y madre nutricia. A lo largo de este artículo, me propongo explorar las cuestiones arriba mencionadas en la obra de Mary Shelley, The Last Man para mostrar hasta qué punto la autora consigue subvertir las pretensiones románticas y presentar una visión distópica del pensamiento romántico.Palabras clave: Romanticismo, estética, belleza, sublimidad, naturaleza, plagaABSTRACTFor Romantic poets imagination was understood as mainly a bridge to save distances between the world and the self; by means of imagination poets created an aestheticised world: nature was perceived either under the lineaments of beauty or of sublimity. Besides, the Romantic Weltanschauung favoured the resurgence of the anima mundi theme, which came to be very significant: firstly, because the spirit of nature favours poetic inspiration/ creation (wind and harp themes); and secondly, because nature is perceived as both an animated being and a nurturing-nursuring mother. Thus, my aim throughout this essay is to explore the concepts and themes stated above in Mary ShelleyKs The Last Man (1826) and to show how the author succeeds in subverting Romantic pretensions so that her work is to be understood as a dystopian vision of Romantic theory.Key words: Romanticism, aesthetics, beauty, sublimity, nature, plague

Male-Female Characters’ Tenor of Discourse in Akachi Ezeigbo’s The Last of the Strong Ones

2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 167
Author(s):  
Innocent Sourou Koutchade ◽  
Severin Mehouenou
Keyword(s):  
Social Role ◽  
The Other ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Female Characters ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
The Social ◽  
Class 1 ◽  
Role Relationships ◽  
The One

<p class="1"><span lang="X-NONE">This article attempts to explore male-female characters’ tenor of discourse in the novel entitled: <em>The Last of the Strong Ones</em> by Akachi Ezeigbo. According to Halliday’s (1978), the tenor of the discourse is the social role relationships played by interactants. It is associated with the grammar of interpersonal meanings which is, in turn, realized through the mood patterns of the grammar. The paper, through the analysis of mood system, modality and vocatives, reveals how male and female characters establish relationships between each other. The tenor of their discourse unveils how women are oppressed by patriarchy on the one hand, as well as how they fight against the system, on the other. From these linguistic choices, the work concludes that there exists an atmosphere of tension, distance, aggression and dominance between some characters of the novel. </span></p>

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 Miriam y Dalila ¿en fuga?

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Cecilia Prenz Kopušar
Keyword(s):  
20Th Century ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
The Other ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Female Characters ◽  
Carmen De Burgos ◽  
The One

This work analyses some female characters present in the novel Luminarias de Janucá by Rafael Cansinos Assens. The dimension of the escape is analysed from different perspectives taking into account its double meaning that, on the one hand, can be understood as persecution and, on the other, as escape. Other meanings of the term are also considered. The female characters are analyzed within the problems posed by the historical context to which the novel refers, that is, the philosephardic campaign promoted by Senator Ángel Pulido at the beginning of the 20th century. Dalila and Miriam as well as the other treated female characters personify real women: Miriam is the author’s sister, Dalila is Carmen de Burgos, known as Colombine.

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.

scholarly journals Gaboriau, Reviewer of the Manners in L’argent Des Autres

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 126-145
Author(s):  
Virginie Fernandez
Keyword(s):  
The Other ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Detective Novel ◽  
Police Investigation ◽  
The Social ◽  
The World ◽  
Novel Of Manners ◽  
The One ◽  
Serial Novel ◽  
Emile Gaboriau

L’Argent des autres (1873) is not a “true” detective novel like Monsieur Lecoq (1868) written by the same author, Émile Gaboriau. The novel appeared in print eight years after the publication of L’Affaire Lerouge, the first French detective novel; however, there is no police investigation; the culprit is known from the first pages. Like his previous novels, La Dégringolade (1871–1872) and La Corde au cou (1872–1873), L’Argent des autres shows an evolution towards the novel of manners in which Gaboriau reveals the failures of the society of his time. Thus, the novel depicts a dark picture of Parisian finance. Furthermore, if there is a criminal in this serial novel, it is a woman! Gaboriau takes his reader into the viscera of the world of money and discloses the social mechanics of those who live off the money of others. Gaboriau denounces the appetites of the morally corrupt society through the description of fictional spaces, such as the Comptoir de crédit mutuel, the office of the newspaper Le Pilote financier, the office of the speculator Lattermann, on the one hand, and of actual emblematic places such as the Bourse, the large boulevards or the Bois de Boulogne on the other

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