Lopatina, N. and Fridstein, Y., eds. (2019). ‘Whom thou desertest not, O Genius…’ Goethe in translations by Russian 19th-c. poets. Moscow: Infinitiv: Lingvistika. (In Russ.)

2021 ◽  
pp. 274-279
Author(s):  
G. V. Yakusheva
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Awareness ◽  
Russian Society ◽  
The Novel ◽  
European Literature ◽  
Original Language ◽  
The Past ◽  
Poetic Translation ◽  
Western European

A review of the anthology prepared by N. Lopatina, a renowned Russian bibliographer. The collection includes 187 translations of Goethe’s 78 poems, which are quoted in the original language, and of several poetic fragments from the tragedy Faust, the novel Wilhelm Meister, as well as the cycle West-Eastern Divan, made by 63 Russian 19th-c. poets, representatives of various traditions — from Classicism and Sentimentalism to Symbolism and Acmeism. The collection showcases the high achievements of the country’s school of poetic translation and acute cultural awareness of the Russian society in the 19th c., and focuses on the part of Goethe’s poetic oeuvre that was especially popular with the Russian reader. Another role of the anthology is to bridge a gap in our knowledge and uncover names, often unfairly forgotten, of Russian poets and philologists of the past in their interaction with the Western European literature.

scholarly journals Indestructible Pasts and Paranoid Presents: John Franzen against Active Forgetting in Purity

2019 ◽  
pp. 21-34
Author(s):  
Cristina Garrigós
Keyword(s):  
Traumatic Event ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Contemporary Society ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Past ◽  
Personal Archives ◽  
Conscious Process ◽  
Unconscious Desire ◽  
Selection Of

Forgetting and remembering are as inevitably linked as lifeand death. Sometimes, forgetting is motivated by a biological disorder, brain damage, or it is the product of an unconscious desire derived from a traumatic event (psychological repression). But in some cases, we can motivate forgetting consciously (thought suppression). It is through the conscious repression of memories that we can find self-preservation and move forward, although this means that we create a fable of our lives, as Nietzsche says in his essay “On the Uses and Disadvantages of History for Life” (1997). In Jonathan Franzen’s novel, Purity (2015), forgetting is an active and conscious process by which the characters choose to forget certain episodes of their lives to be able to construct new identities. The erased memories include murder, economical privileges derived from illegal or unethical commercial processes, or dark sexual episodes. The obsession with forgetting the past links the lives of the main characters, and structures the narrative of the novel. The motivated erasure of memories becomes, thus, a way that the characters have to survive and face the present according to a (fake) narrative that they have constructed. But is motivated forgetting possible? Can one completely suppress facts in an active way? This paper analyses the role of forgetting in Franzen’s novel in relation to the need in our contemporary society to deny, hide, or erase uncomfortable data from our historical or personal archives; the need to make disappear stories which we do not want to accept, recognize, and much less make known to the public. This is related to how we manage information in the age of technology, the “selection” of what is to be the official story, and how we rewrite our own history

Between the Alternate and the Apocryphal

2019 ◽  
pp. 124-138
Author(s):  
Derek J. Thiess
Keyword(s):  
Literary Representations ◽  
The Novel ◽  
National History ◽  
Alternate History ◽  
The Past ◽  
Material History

This chapter explores connections between two treatments of history in science fictional literature—the apocryphal history and the alternate history—as they deal with material place. Theorists (Jameson, Hughes-Warrington) have explored the role of materialist history in our need to create counterfactuals by examining the cityscapes and structures in literary representations of the past. This essay connects the disparate strands of materialism, place, and religious revisionism via Juan Miguel Aguilera’s La locura de Dios. It reads the novel as both an apocryphal adventure to a “lost world” civilization and an alternate narrative of Spanish national history. La locura comments surprisingly self-consciously on the crystalline fragility of the logic holding material history together, threatened as it is by a revisionist, escapist orthodoxy.

scholarly journals The Role of Dental Professionals in Pandemic Events and Disaster Responses

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guangwen Li ◽  
Bei Chang ◽  
Hui Li ◽  
Rui Wang ◽  
Gang Li
Keyword(s):  
Human Resources ◽  
Emergency Response ◽  
Mass Casualties ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Public Health Emergencies ◽  
The Past ◽  
Emergency Responses ◽  
Novel Coronavirus ◽  
Dental Professionals

Abstract The past 20 years have seen major public health emergencies and natural disasters, including the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome outbreak caused by the SARS-associated coronavirus (SARS-CoV) in 2003; the Wenchuan earthquake in 2008; and the novel coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) of 2019, which caused mass casualties, infections, and panic. These also resulted in complex demands for medical resources and information, and a shortage of human resources for emergency responses. To address the shortage of human resources required for these emergency responses, Chinese dental professionals made useful contributions. From this work, deficiencies in emergency response training and opportunities for the expansion of rescue capabilities were identified, and relevant recommendations made.

scholarly journals The journey of Claire in the works of Gaito Gazdanov: the analysis of the female image of Claire in the novels “An Evening with Claire”, “Hannah”, and “The Fate of Salome”

Litera ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 162-170
Author(s):  
Ziwei Zhu
Keyword(s):  
Real World ◽  
The Novel ◽  
The Past ◽  
Character Type ◽  
Female Image ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Inner World ◽  
New Perspective ◽  
Gradual Transformation

  This article is dedicated to the analysis of the female image of Claire and its variant in the works of Gaito Gazdanov. This character type in the works of G. Gazdanov often resembles the past in the present, i.e. an important part of the “lost world” for the protagonist. However, deliberate examination allows following the gradual transformation of the authors attitude towards the character of Claire throughout his creative path. In the novel “Ab Evening with Clair”, the author adheres to priority of that past world over the present, while in the novel of his later period “The Fate of Salome”, the narrator tends to release from the shadow of the past. The underlying cause for such change lies in the transition of the writer from the romantic theurgical worldview towards phenomenal. In the later period, Gazdanov reconsidered the real world and justified the earthly existence due to the fact that submerging into the own inner world can entail loneliness and dissolution “Self” in one’s mind. The goal of this research consists in tracing the transformation of the role of Claire in the works of Gaito Gazdanov, as well as in description of different types of relations between the protatonist and the heroine in order to prove the evolution of the writer's reasoning on the problem of “two-worldness”. The relevance of this article consists in explication of the type of Claire in Gazdanov’s artistic system of “two-worldness” as a literary technique, as well as from the new perspective of studying the evolution the writer’s worldview.  

scholarly journals On Philosophical Themes in Marcel Proust’s Works

2018 ◽  
pp. 78-95
Author(s):  
I. I. Blauberg
Keyword(s):  
Personal Identity ◽  
Human Life ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Philosophical Psychology ◽  
Optical Instrument ◽  
The Past ◽  
States Of Consciousness ◽  
The World ◽  
Lost Time

Marcel Proust’s works contain a lot of ideas consonant with the ideas that were actively discussed by philosophers of his time. Many philosophers focused on the issues of perception, memory, will, freedom, personal identity, etc., which constituted an important part of academic curriculum. Proust familiarized himself with the issues studying philosophy at the Lyceum (he was taught by Alphonse Darlu) and at the Sorbonne. In his novel In Search of Lost Time, Proust describes an existential experience of his character viewing these issues from a particular perspective, through the prism of the main character’s lifelong search of his calling. He gradually proceeds from philosophical psychology exploring the interaction of memories and impressions in a particular perception, to philosophy proper, to metaphysics aimed at understanding the truth, at going beyond time. The article traces some moments of this transition, shows that for Proust it is not just the work of memory that is important but the emphasis on those states of consciousness where the present and the past coincide, merge, and thereby we go beyond time, to eternity. The author analyzes some images and signs that accompanied the character of the novel on the way to the realization of his calling. Particular attention is paid to the Proustian interpretation of the role of art in changing and enriching the perception of the world, as well as the importance in human life of a habit in which positive and negative aspects are highlighted. Proust himself believed that a work of art is an optical instrument through which the readers begin to discern in themselves what they would otherwise fail to see. His own novel was such an instrument.

scholarly journals Mediation in Germany and Other Western Countries

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 5 ◽  
Author(s):  
HELMUT KURY ◽  
ANNETTE KUHLMANN
Keyword(s):  
Positive Impact ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Historical Background ◽  
The Past ◽  
Alternatives To Incarceration ◽  
Western European ◽  
Positive Results ◽  
Limited Usefulness

Empirical studies over the past decades have repeatedly shown the limited usefulness of harsh punishment in reducing crime. In response to these research results, historical approaches to crime reduction, such as mediation and restorative justice, have regained prominence, especially in Germany and other western European countries. The women’s movement and the growing role of victimology have contributed to the increased use of these methods as alternatives to incarceration. The debates across these countries vary depending on the historical background of the penal climate in these states, which particularly explains the differences between Eastern and Western European countries in this regard. Empirical studies show the positive impact of mediation on offenders as well as victims. Yet in spite of these results, in most countries, including Germany, the use of mediation remains limited, especially in regard to adult offenders. At the same time, the uses of mediation in non-criminal conflict settings, such as schools, family or work disputes have increased significantly with positive results.

scholarly journals THE IDENTITY CRISIS IN THE CONTEXT OF GLOBALIZATION IN THE NOVEL BY OLGA TOKARCZUK “FLIGHTS”

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Identity Crisis ◽  
Historical Narrative ◽  
The Novel ◽  
The Past ◽  
Perpetual Motion ◽  
National Memory ◽  
Philosophical Aspect ◽  
Nobel Prize Laureate ◽  
Original Type

This article considers the issue of the identity crisis in the context of globalization, represented in the novel Flights by Olga Tokarczuk, a Nobel Prize laureate and one of the best-selling Polish writers of our time. The artistic world of the novel reveals key features of globalization such as increasing global mobility, intensifying migrations, the dissipation of national borders, and the deactualization of national memory. O. Tokarczuk portrays an original type of a character acting in such conditions – a modern nomad that can be an emigrant, a refugee, a traveler, or a homeless person. This paper focuses on the correlation between memory collapse and identity crisis depicted in several stories from the novel. It mainly considers the philosophical aspect of the issue, namely, people’s fear of death and desire for immortality expressed through their propensity for perpetual motion and rejection of individual and national memory. The topic of plastination (a method of body preservation), deeply elaborated throughout the novel, is examined in the context of interdependency between human’s body and identity. Specific attention is dedicated to fragmentariness as essential characteristic of both formal side of the novel (composition, narrative) and its thematic range. Fragmentariness is also intrinsic to the artistic manifestation of memory, presented in the form of a heterogeneous archive. Providing an alternative, polyphonic narrative, O. Tokarczuk opposes it to any kind of a coherent, monolithic historical narrative. Written in 2007, this novel is particularly interesting to analyze nowadays, when impugning the globalization values is becoming a common tendency. In the new context, Flights can be construed as a warning about creating a world devoid of memorial meaning. This article highlights a well-pronounced appeal to recollection and verbalization of the past. In the “narrating” of life, O. Tokarczuk sees the way to salvation and liberation, thus affirming the crucial role of memory in dealing with the identity crisis faced by contemporary societies.

scholarly journals Carnival Anthropocene: Myth and Cultural Memory in Monique Roffey's Archipelago // Antropoceno Carnaval: El mito y memoria cultural en Archipelago de Monique Roffey

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 41-55
Author(s):  
C. Parker Krieg
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Cultural Memory ◽  
Political Engagement ◽  
Memory Studies ◽  
Natural World ◽  
The Novel ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Social ◽  
The World

      This essay examines the role of myth in and as cultural memory through a reading of the novel, Archipelago (2013), by the Trinidadian-British author Monique Roffey. Against conceptions of the Anthropocene as a break from the past—a break that repeats the myth of modernity—I argue that Roffey’s use of cultural memory offers a carnivalesque relation to the world in response to the narrative’s account of climate change trauma. Drawing on Bakhtin’s classic study of the carnival as an occasion for contestation and renewal, as well as Cheryl Lousely’s call for a “carnivalesque ecocriticism,” this essay expands on the recent ecocritical turn to the field of Memory Studies (Buell; Goodbody; Kennedy) to illustrate the way literature mediates between mythic and historical relations to the natural world. As literary expressions, the carnivalesque and the grotesque evoke myth and play in order to expose and transform the social myths which govern relations and administrate difference. Since literature acts as both a producer and reflector of cultural memory, this essay seeks to highlight the literary potential of myth for connecting past traumas to affirmational modes of political engagement. Resumen     Este ensayo examina el papel del mito en y como memoria cultural analizando la novela Archipelago (2013), escrita por la autora trinitense-británica Monique Roffey. Frente a la idea del Antropoceno como una ruptura con el pasado—una ruptura que repite el mito de la modernidad—este trabajo argumenta que el uso de la memoria cultural de Roffey ofrece una relación carnavalesca con el mundo en respuesta al trauma del cambio climático detallado en la novela. Basando mi argumento en la teoría clásica de Bakhtin sobre el carnaval como una ocasión para la contestación y la renovación, así como la llamada de Cheryl Lousely por una “ecocrítica carnavalesca,” este ensayo amplía el reciente giro de la ecocrítica hacia el campo de los estudios de memoria (Buell; Goodbody; Kennedy) para ilustrar cómo la literatura media entre las relaciones míticas e históricas con el mundo natural. Como expresiones literarias, lo carnavalesco y lo grotesco evocan el mito y el juego para revelar y transformar los mitos sociales que gobiernan las relaciones y gestionan la diferencia. Ya que la literatura actúa tanto como productora y como espejo de la memoria cultural, este ensayo busca destacar el potencial literario del mito para conectar traumas del pasado con modos de compromiso político más afirmativos.

Das Geschichtsbild Walter Benjamins und die Inszenierung von Erinnerung in Regina Scheers Roman Machandel

2021 ◽  
Vol 57 (2) ◽  
pp. 155-174
Author(s):  
Christoph Seifener
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Memory ◽  
Direct Access ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Personal Memory ◽  
The Past ◽  
East German

The following article discusses Regina Scheer’s novel Machandel (2014) and the approach to personal memory and historical perception that Scheer develops by drawing on Walter Benjamin’s famous essay On the Concepts of History, published in 1940. The article examines formal and narrative aspects of the novel, which tells the story of a family and an East German village from the 1930s until the present day, in order to demonstrate how Scheer rejects the possibility of direct access to history and the reconstruction of the past. Special attention is devoted to the specific meanings of different forms of silence and the role of literature in the process of cultural memory.

scholarly journals Metaphor in discursive poetics of árpad kovács

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 112-123
Author(s):  
Angelika Molnár
Keyword(s):  
Life Experience ◽  
Integrative Analysis ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
European Literature ◽  
Western European ◽  
Interpretive Frame

The article provides an overview of the main theoretical and methodological premises of discursive poetics and indicates the key role of metaphor in this analytical and interpretive frame. The topic is delivered on the basis of a long-term research of Árpad Kovács who proposed an original integrative analysis (from sign to genre particulares) when referring to the classic texts of Russian, Hungarian and Western European literature. He is also known as the founder of the Budapest school of discursive poetics. In contrast to the range of linguistic, philosophical and aesthetic definitions of metaphor, Kovács complements and develops the poetical tradition of metaphor studies and demonstrates the multidimensional phenomenon of metaphor by analyzing and interpreting literary texts. The metaphor in Kovács’s discursive poetics demonstrates the organic connection between poetics and the existential sphere of life experience. The article gives a set of concepts such as “intonation metaphor”, “existential metaphor”, “metaphorical digression”, which were introduced or reinterpreted by Kovács.

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