scholarly journals E Kore Te Tōtara e Tū Noa i Te Pārae, Engari Me Tū i Roto i Te Wao-Nui-a-Tāne: The Symbolism of Rākau and Ngahere in the Huia Short Story Collections

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Kristin Jerram
Keyword(s):  
Short Stories ◽  
Short Story ◽  
Critical Discussion ◽  
Literary Studies ◽  
Post Colonial ◽  
Critical Exploration ◽  
Critical Attention ◽  
New Space ◽  
Language Literature

<p>This thesis is a literary critical exploration of rākau/ngahere symbolism as it appears in the biennial short story collections, published by Huia Publishers, that have resulted from the Pikihuia competition for Māori writers. These stories are examples of modern Māori language fiction written for an adult readership, a section of the Māori literary world that has had limited critical attention. The methodology of this thesis is founded on the close reading process and combines the approaches of both Māori Studies and Literary Studies, looking to provide an example of what “Māori Language Literary Studies” might look like as a discipline. The chapters of the thesis are divided into discussions of the rākau/ngahere motif as it functions with regard to three broad themes that can be identified in the Huia collections. Chapter One explores the theme: “points of origin”. This chapter includes close readings of four of the Huia short stories, especially focusing on the rākau/ngahere symbolism they employ and on how that symbolism and the general narrative content of each text relates to the “points of origin” theme. Chapter Two responds to the (post)colonial context in which these works were written and explores “Māori and Pākehā interaction” as a theme within two of the Huia texts. This chapter also raises questions about who the Huia authors are writing for and posits that a key feature of Māori language literature is that it is written for an almost exclusively Māori readership. Finally, Chapter Three discusses the theme of “different worlds” in three of the Huia texts. This critical exploration includes close readings of how different worlds are related to rākau imagery in the texts and shows how, rather than being “othered”, they are presented as layer upon layer of intersecting and interconnecting Māori worlds. This chapter also highlights the role of fiction as a conduit through which the reader can access new “worlds”. Ultimately, it is hoped that this thesis will create new space for the critical discussion of Māori language literature in a broad sense. The thesis is rooted in rākau/ngahere symbolism, but the lines of questioning that arise from his tight focus can potentially be expanded and applied to other Māori language texts, now and in the future.</p>

scholarly journals E Kore Te Tōtara e Tū Noa i Te Pārae, Engari Me Tū i Roto i Te Wao-Nui-a-Tāne: The Symbolism of Rākau and Ngahere in the Huia Short Story Collections

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Kristin Jerram
Keyword(s):  
Short Stories ◽  
Short Story ◽  
Critical Discussion ◽  
Literary Studies ◽  
Post Colonial ◽  
Critical Exploration ◽  
Critical Attention ◽  
New Space ◽  
Language Literature

<p>This thesis is a literary critical exploration of rākau/ngahere symbolism as it appears in the biennial short story collections, published by Huia Publishers, that have resulted from the Pikihuia competition for Māori writers. These stories are examples of modern Māori language fiction written for an adult readership, a section of the Māori literary world that has had limited critical attention. The methodology of this thesis is founded on the close reading process and combines the approaches of both Māori Studies and Literary Studies, looking to provide an example of what “Māori Language Literary Studies” might look like as a discipline. The chapters of the thesis are divided into discussions of the rākau/ngahere motif as it functions with regard to three broad themes that can be identified in the Huia collections. Chapter One explores the theme: “points of origin”. This chapter includes close readings of four of the Huia short stories, especially focusing on the rākau/ngahere symbolism they employ and on how that symbolism and the general narrative content of each text relates to the “points of origin” theme. Chapter Two responds to the (post)colonial context in which these works were written and explores “Māori and Pākehā interaction” as a theme within two of the Huia texts. This chapter also raises questions about who the Huia authors are writing for and posits that a key feature of Māori language literature is that it is written for an almost exclusively Māori readership. Finally, Chapter Three discusses the theme of “different worlds” in three of the Huia texts. This critical exploration includes close readings of how different worlds are related to rākau imagery in the texts and shows how, rather than being “othered”, they are presented as layer upon layer of intersecting and interconnecting Māori worlds. This chapter also highlights the role of fiction as a conduit through which the reader can access new “worlds”. Ultimately, it is hoped that this thesis will create new space for the critical discussion of Māori language literature in a broad sense. The thesis is rooted in rākau/ngahere symbolism, but the lines of questioning that arise from his tight focus can potentially be expanded and applied to other Māori language texts, now and in the future.</p>

POLIVARIABILITY OF THE BASTARD MOTIF IN THE SHORT STORIES BY GUY DE MAUPASSANT: CHARACTER IN SEARCH OF SELF-IDENTIFICATION

2018 ◽  
pp. 20-27
Author(s):  
Oksana Galchuk
Keyword(s):  
Short Stories ◽  
Short Story ◽  
Social Institutions ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Guy De Maupassant ◽  
Traditional Values ◽  
The Social ◽  
Role Of It ◽  
Structural Methods

The theme of illegitimacy Guy de Maupassant evolved in his works this article perceives as one of the factors of the author’s concept of a person and the plane of intersection of the most typical motifs of his short stories. The study of the author’s concept of a person through the prism of polivariability of the motif of a bastard is relevant in today’s revision of traditional values, transformation of the usual social institutions and search for identities, etc. The purpose of the study is to give a definition to the existence specifics of the bastard motif in the Maupassant’s short stories by using historical and literary, comparative, structural methods of analysis as dominant. To do this, I analyze the content, variability and the role of this motive in the formation of the Maupassant’s concept of a person, the author’s innovations in its interpretation from the point of view of literary diachrony. Maupassant interprets the bastard motif in the social, psychological and metaphorical-symbolic sense. For the short stories with the presentation of this motif, I suggest the typology based on the role of it in the structure of the work and the ideological and thematic content: the short stories with a motif-fragment, the ones with the bastard’s leitmotif and the group where the bastard motif becomes a central theme. The Maupassant’s interpretation of the bastard motif combines the general tendencies of its existence in the world’s literary tradition and individual reading. The latter is the result of the author’s understanding of the relevant for the era issues: the transformation of the family model, the interest in the theory of heredity, the strengthening of atheistic sentiments, the growth of frustration in the system of traditional social and moral values etc. This study sets the ground for a prospective analysis of the evolution the bastard motif in the short-story collections of different years or a comparative study of the motif in short stories and novels by Maupassant.

scholarly journals THE URDUNIZATION OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE: A CONTENT ANALYSIS OF THREE SHORT STORIES FORM SHORT STORY COLLECTION, “IN OTHER ROOMS, OTHER WONDERS”

2021 ◽  
pp. 09-13
Author(s):  
Qurat- Ul-Aine
Keyword(s):  
Short Stories ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
Short Story ◽  
English Language ◽  
Colonial Literature ◽  
Written Discourse ◽  
Post Colonial ◽  
Written Text ◽  
Short Story Collection ◽  
Emerging Trends

This paper investigates the use of Urdu words by Post-colonial writer Daniyal Muneenuddin in his short stories. A content analysis of four short stories from the short stories collection “In other rooms, Other wonders”, published by Random House Group Limited, UK, has been conducted carefully. The three short stories are “NAWABDIN ELECTRICIAN”, “SALEEMA”, and “IN OTHER ROOMS, IN OTHER WONDERS”. The current research answer many questions like why have English words are replaced with Urdu Word in English short stories? Is the English Language is failed to convey contextual meanings? The frequency of Urdu words in the written discourse of short stories indicates the Multilingualism phenomenon in given texts. The analysis also highlights the emerging trends in Pakistani English writings and language mixing as multilingualism in written text. The post-colonial literature written by Pakistani writers provides a clue of the emergence of Pakistani English, and the use of Urdu words in Pakistani English variety anticipates its different forms and functions in written discourse.

Regionalist short fiction as humble fiction

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 161-172 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alda Correia
Keyword(s):  
Short Stories ◽  
Short Story ◽  
Short Fiction ◽  
Spatial Context ◽  
Regional Literature ◽  
Aesthetic Value ◽  
The World ◽  
Cultural Connections

The representation of the world cannot be separated from its spatial context. Making the effort to understand how space and landscape influence short stories and their structure, and are represented in them, can help us to make sense of the role of this formerly underestimated subgenre, its social and cultural connections and dissonances, its relation to storytelling and popular narratives, and its alleged low importance. How does the short story genre relate to regional and landscape literature? Can we see it as humble fiction and, in this case, how does the humbleness of this subgenre play a part in the growth of the modernist short story? The oral, mythic and fantastic sources of the short story, together with the travel memoir tradition that brought the love for landscape description and the interest in the narration of brief and easily publishable episodes of local life, helped to consolidate a connection between the short story form and regional literature. ‘Humbleness’ is used here in association with the absence of complexity, plainness, simplicity of approach to a complex reality, straightforwardness. From this perspective, aesthetic value was usually absent from regionalist fiction as its only aim was to render the local truth faithfully. However, this ‘aesthetic humbleness’, which should not be used as a generalization, has been increasingly questioned in regard to modernism, postmodernism and postcolonialism and also when we consider specific works.

“Aleksei Alekseichi” of Bunin’s short stories: integration elements of an unassembled cycle

2021 ◽  
pp. 144-157
Author(s):  
Ya. V. Bazhenova ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Short Stories ◽  
Short Story ◽  
Central Element ◽  
Literary Field ◽  
Proper Name ◽  
Specific Theme ◽  
The One ◽  
Unique Ability ◽  
Experimental Attitude

The paper analyzes I. A. Bunin’s short story “Alexey Alekseich,” which is the central element of the unassembled cycle with a hero named Alexey Alekseevich. The cycle also includes short stories “The Archival File” and “Inscriptions.” A reconstruction of the writer’s strategy of composing the cycle expressed in Bunin’s metaposition towards literature as an aesthetic activity is carried out. Bunin actualizes the expressiveness of the authors’ proper noun (patronymic name) to hold a dialogue with his predecessors and intensify a debate with contemporaries in the literary field. On the one hand, in “Alexey Alekseich,” Bunin diminishes the role of a literary word in culture by parodying authoritative pretexts and polemics with them (L. N. Tolstoy). In this way, the writer invokes the specific theme of modernists – experimental attitude to the literary sign (Potekhin’s character). In addition, he introduces motifs of tomfoolery and oratorical behavior (with allusions to M. Gorky). On the other hand, comparing the different editions of “Alexey Alekseich” and its linkage with other two texts of the unassembled cycle shows that Bunin rehabilitates an artistic word and literary activity by applying onomatopoetic and narrative devices in the poetics of his short story. In this aspect, the role of the literary sign in culture is justified by its unique ability to confront death and oblivion. Thus, Bunin’s short story “Alexey Alekseich” reveals extensive use of the meaningforming possibilities of the proper name.

Kerima Polotan-Tuvera: An Analysis of Her Style and Craft as Reviewed from Her Short Stories The Virgin and the Sounds Of Sunday

2012 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Emeliza Torrento Estimo
Keyword(s):  
Short Stories ◽  
Short Story ◽  
Complex Structures ◽  
Writing Style ◽  
Single Word ◽  
Story Writer ◽  
Simple Sentences ◽  
Changing Role ◽  
Quantitative And Qualitative Methods

This study is an attempt at describing and analyzing Kerima Polotan-Tuvera’s style and craft as a short story writer. This attempt is anchored on the combined constructs of Short (1996), Hayes (1966) and Chapman (1973) which emphasize that analyzing text style must be done by examining linguistic choices which are intrinsically connected with meaning. This paper also borrows Hayes’ (1966) concept of writing style as a characteristic, habitual, and recurrent use of the apparatuses of language which must be amenable to statistical measurement in order to reveal the writer’s craft. Combining both quantitative and qualitative methods, the study revealed prevalent use of simple and complex structures where the use of simple sentences is more predominant and lengthened only by an extensive use of a variety of modifiers. Tuvera’s writing revealed a dominant use of single word adjectives or “true adjectives”---a term borrowed from Gibson (1966). Furthermore, her simple, natural, and spontaneous use of description was perceived to be used as a foregrounding device for characterization and theme-building, as a withholding technique, and as a strategy to imply meanings and to highlight the setting of the story. Further analysis of the stories revealed social realities during Tuvera’s time particularly on the changing role of women in the society.   Keywords - Kerima-Polotan Tuvera, short stories, The Virgin, Sounds of Sunday

scholarly journals O pensamento liminar como uma resposta à colonialidade do poder em La mano en la tierra, de Josefina Plá

2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 65
Author(s):  
Leoné Astride Barzotto
Keyword(s):  
American Literature ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Short Story ◽  
Latin American Literature ◽  
The South ◽  
Post Colonial ◽  
The North ◽  
Post Colonialism ◽  
Border Thinking

Resumo: Este artigo tem a intenção de fazer um estudo da literatura latino-americana pela perspectiva pós-colonial como representação de uma dada realidade, para demonstrar que o conceito de “Pensamento Liminar” (MIGNOLO, 2003) é uma resposta potencial do Hemisfério Sul às novas investidas de domínio percebidas pela descrição do conceito de “Colonialidade do Poder” (QUIJANO, 2005), advindas do Hemisfério Norte. Neste contexto, analisarei ambos os conceitos e as estratégias pós-coloniais pertinentes à esta análise, adentrando o conto La mano en la tierra (2002), da escritora Josefina Plá, a fim de averiguar o papel da mulher local, neste caso Ursula, uma indígena Guarani paraguaia, e sua relevância na narrativa e nas questões de gênero que implicam parcela deste estudo.Palavras-chave: pensamento liminar; colonialidade do poder; pós-colonialismo; literatura latino-americana; gênero.Abstract: This paper aims to develop a study on the Latin American Literature through the post-colonial perspective as a representation of a certain reality, to demonstrate that the concept of “Border Thinking” (MIGNOLO, 2003) is a potential answer from the South Hemisphere towards the new control quests which are perceived through the concept of “Coloniality of Power” (QUIJANO, 2005), from the North Hemisphere. Within this context, I will analyze both concepts and also the post-colonial strategies that connect to it, investing in the short story La mano en la tierra (2002), written by Josefina Plá, to investigate the role of the local woman, in this case Ursula, a Guarani indigenous lady from Paraguay, and her relevance in the narrative as well as in the gender debate which implies part of this study.Keywords: border thinking; coloniality of power; post colonialism; Latin American literature; gender.

scholarly journals Cultural Inheritance and Subjugation in Mahasweta Devi’s Water

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (9) ◽  
pp. 117-124
Author(s):  
Deepa RathnaC. R
Keyword(s):  
Short Stories ◽  
Short Story ◽  
Native Language ◽  
Cultural Inheritance ◽  
Social Activist ◽  
Post Colonial ◽  
Colonial India ◽  
Mahasweta Devi ◽  
Agrarian Society ◽  
Story Writer

This paper focuses on the cultural inheritance and the Subjugation of the oppressed in Mahasweta Devi’s play, Water (Jal), which was translated by Samik Bandyopadhyay. Mahasweta Devi, a Bengali writer, was a committed social activist, dramatist, novelist, short story writer and winner of many prestigious awards for her contribution to the field of literature and cultural studies. She has written several novels and short stories in her native language, almost half of which were later translated. Her works are based on the marginalised and the oppressed, projecting her concern for the downtrodden. In the play, the basic consent was denied for a particular group of people which in turn exploded into a rebellion.The use of characters, plot construction and structure paves way for the exploration of the conflict between the oppressor and the oppressed. This paper also focuses on the myth and the agrarian society of the post-colonial India in regard to the play.

scholarly journals Karen Bixen reads the Olaf Tryggvason saga: Reseption of the saga and narrative strategies in “The Bear and the Kiss”

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 323-337
Author(s):  
Anastasia Lomagina ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Short Stories ◽  
Short Story ◽  
The Other ◽  
Semantic Gap ◽  
Reception Theory ◽  
Narrative Strategies ◽  
Oral Storytelling ◽  
European Modernism

The article analyses the reception of the Norse sagas in Karen Blixen’s short story “The Bear and the Kiss” written in 1958 with the main focus on the “saga of Olaf Tryggvason”. Drawing on Wolfgang Iser’s reception theory, the article explores the hierarchy of the pre-texts that are traceable in the text of the considered story and suggests a system of markers that are meant to include interaction with the precedent texts. The typology of markers includes the characters’ names, metaphorical use of mythological or historical personas, the identified cited texts or stories, identical attributes (in this particular text — a glove thrown into a person’s face), the characters’ appearance, and similarity or contrast with the storyline of the other unidentified text. The analysis shows that there are two possible effects of the use of references: semantic compression and, conversely, symbolist and Neoplatonic circling around the event, which creates a semantic gap. The reader can either find himself aware of a riddle yet being unable to understand how the events or reactions fit into the plot or assume the role of an investigator creating his own interpretation of the storyline. The examined strategy of circling around the truth in order to indicate an idea or a fact by using metaphors, comparisons, and allusions in combination with Walter Benjamin’s and Edward Forster’s philosophy of oral storytelling allows Blixen’s short stories to fit neatly into the context of European modernism.

E.M. Forster’s Queer Re-Orientations: “Dr Woolacott” and “The Classical Annex”

2020 ◽  
pp. 51-71
Author(s):  
Manuel Hueso Vasallo
Keyword(s):  
Short Stories ◽  
Short Story ◽  
Short Story Collection ◽  
Critical Attention ◽  
Story Collection ◽  
To Come

E. M. Forster’s short story collection The Life to Come and Other Stories (1972) features a set of intensely homoerotic stories. In this article, I re-address two of them: “Dr Woolacott” (1927) and “The Classical Annex” (1930) through the lens of Sara Ahmed’s theory of Orientation. I shall argue that Forster’s erotic short stories offer their potential readers the possibility to re- orientate themselves towards the representations of queerness and towards Forster himself. They manage to do this by presenting readers with depictions of queer realities that are often ignored or misinterpreted in a direct way, and by subverting the traditional discourses of pathology and aestheticism. I argue, as well, the criticism of these stories needs to be reviewed so that they may attract the critical attention they deserve among Forster’s creations.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document