Poetry & Listening

Author(s):  
Zoë Skoulding

Listening has always mattered in poetry, but how does poetry change when listening has been transformed? In Poetry and Listening: The Noise of Lyric, the field of sound studies, which has revolutionised research in contemporary music, is brought into dialogue with new lyric criticism. Examining poetry as mediated by performance, technology and translation, this book discovers how contemporary poetry has been re-energised by the influence of recorded sound and influenced by the creative methods that emerged with it. It offers an exploration of contemporary poetry’s acoustic contexts, moving beyond traditional analysis of poetic form to consider the social, political and ecological dimensions of a poem's sounds and silences. Through detailed discussion of innovative English-language poetry from the UK and USA, including works by Denise Riley, Sean Bonney, Caroline Bergvall, Mei-mei Berssenbrugge, Carol Watts, Claudia Rankine, Vahni Capildeo, Tom Raworth, Emma Bennett, Jonathan Skinner, Holly Pester, Tracie Morris, Hannah Silva, Rhys Trimble, Peter Hughes, Jeff Hilson and Tim Atkins, it argues for the centrality of listening to a form of composition in which language not only represents sonic experience but is part of it. With reference to Jean-Luc Nancy’s distinction between hearing and listening, alongside other key theorists of sound and noise, it shows how poetry offers insights into sensory perception, and how it charts acoustic relationships between language and the environment.

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 9
Author(s):  
Don Bogen

The literary translator taking on the task of rendering a major work of European poetry into contemporary English verse faces several challenges in regard to poetic form, including the problem of finding forms in English-language poetry today for conventions derived from foreign literary traditions and the need to engage the historical context of the work without sounding archaic. If a translation is to transmit the essence of a canonical text from a century or more ago, including its formal dimension, it must both convey what is distinct about the original, moving the reader toward the fundamental foreignness of the text, as Schleiermacher advised, and speak to the reader in the language of our time, because a translation that is not recognizable as good poetry in contemporary terms will not be read. This essay will compare the particular strategies of three successful but quite different contemporary translations of canonical works: Richard Howard’s versijon of Baudelaire’s Flowers of Evil, Robert Pinsky’s translation of The Inferno, and Seamus Heaney’s Beowulf.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-96
Author(s):  
Meshari Muidh Alharthi

Twitter is one of the most widely used social media platforms in Saudi populations; however, research is limited regarding the efficiency, practices, and perceptions of utilizing this platform for the purpose of learning English. This study investigates the ways in which adult Saudi students in the UK use Twitter to learn the English language, and assesses the general practices and perceptions of the social media platform. Employing a sequential explanatory research design by conducting questionnaire and interviews for data collection and analysis, this study reveals that there are several opportunities for English language learning through the use of Twitter. Participants consisted primarily of digital residents who use Twitter to practice and learn English, and many noted that Twitter contributes to refined different language skills and an enhanced vocabulary. Therefore, we strongly recommend that instructors and educators encourage students to use Twitter in an English language learning capacity wherever access is possible.


Author(s):  
L. V. Andreiko ◽  
◽  
D. O. Medvedovska ◽  
Yu. A. Skarloupina ◽  
◽  
...  

The article explores the issue of language standardisation and sociolinguistic roots of varieties of English. It answers the question why some varieties of the English language become recognised as „standard” whereas other varieties are regarded as less prestigious or inferior and advocates the importance of sociolinguistic competence for teachers. Two models of language standardisation (the „popular” and the „expert” model) are critically discussed, providing a detailed explanation of the process of language standardisation and the formation of standard language ideology. The most frequently described variety of English in the UK, the Received Pronunciation, is described in greater detail, tracking down the reason why it has become recognised as the "standard" variety. A strong standard ideology with World Englishes and the current position of regional variations of English as its „deficient” or „fossilized” versions is discussed. The notions of language system and language use are considered in relation to the superiority or inferiority of different varieties. It has been shown that the social component is pivotal in understanding why certain varieties are regarded as less prestigious or inferior despite having equally rich and complex language systems. Such factors as stereotypes and ownership have an impact on their status too. The article proceeds to the discussion of implications of these sociolinguistic aspects for teaching. The importance of teachers' critical awareness of sociolinguistic realities is emphasised. Such benefits of raising students' awareness of varieties of English are presented: avoiding or reducing misunderstandings and misinterpretations in foreign language communication, recognising linguistic and cultural diversity, demonstrating relevance to real-life situations. Specific examples of practising language varieties are given.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 401-413
Author(s):  
Valeria Odnoral ◽  

The article considers the problem of correlation of aesthetic form and social content in contemporary poetry through the prism of contemporary poetry criticism, in particular, the New Lyric Studies of 2008 (M. Perloff, Y. Prins, R. Terada, V. Jackson, etc.). A representation of the lyrics as a genre of poetry, in which historically structured subjectivism and identity of author are interrelated with poetic writing, is at the center of the New Lyric Studies. In this context the lyrics is relative and volatile but also is the closest genre to the poetic nature, that allows to merge an autonomous entity of poetry with ‘agendas’ in the poem, which were difficult to connect in either too formal or too contextual critical approaches to the poetry in the 20th century. This became possible in the conditions of New Lyric critics speaking up against a substitution of poetry and literary criticism for historical, anthropological and cultural criticism because of the high popularity of cultural studies in the 1990s and the ensuing incorporation of interdisciplinarity in literary studies. Despite the objective of New Lyric critics to revitalize a theoretical study of poetry in the spirit of academic criticism of the New Criticism, the modifications in the methods for producing, existence and broadcasting of poetry and therefore in poetry of the last 50 years, poetry itself prevented the New Lyric from becoming the regressive movement. Some representatives of the New Lyric Studies subsequently expressed the need to study poetry in terms of new historical poetics and to create different methods capable to analyze the relations between culture and poetic form – between the social and the aesthetic. Having considered advantages and limitations of the New Lyric studies in the context of contemporary poetry discourse, reflecting not only the nature of contemporary criticism, but also perhaps the history of poetry criticism of 20-21th centuries, which is the dynamical coexistence and the mutual succession of different movements, the author draws a conclusion that this movement defines the right vector for the reconciliation of the long-standing struggle of formalism and contextualism in the poetry criticism as well as social and aesthetic components which poetic work includes.


2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (1 (19)) ◽  
pp. 113-129
Author(s):  
Evgeniia Zimina ◽  
Mariana Sargsyan

The article deals primarily with the poetic discourse surrounding the 2014 Scottish Independence Referendum and the post-referendum developments in the UK. The political processes of the recent years have been unprecedented in terms of the public resonance, which was by and large due to the active involvement of the social media. By examining the language and rhetoric strategies used in poems we become aware of the message behind them, of the political ideologies they are based on and of the means employed to address the public. It is argued that poetry, whether traditional or digital, sentimental or furious, played and still continues to play a significant role in shaping debate over mega political processes in the UK and in affecting people’s opinion.


Ethnicities ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 95-116 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristoffer Halvorsrud

White South Africans constitute a privileged migrant group compared to many other, and particularly ‘non-white’, migrants in the UK. Little research has been conducted on this particular group, however. Through an interview study, this gap in research will be addressed. Based on 30 qualitative and semi-structured interviews, the paper argues that some white South Africans in the UK emphasise aspects of their group status deemed to be ‘desirable’ by the white host society population – and thereby maintain the white privileges with which they have historically been bestowed – in order to offset any negative connotations associated with their status as a migrant group. The privileges accrued by their whiteness that white South Africans are shown to be maintaining include the relevance of British ancestral ties privileging certain white South Africans, the relevance of their socio-cultural background stemming from the colonial ties between Britain and South Africa, the significance attached to English language proficiency as well as their socio-economic status in the global transnational employment market. In the process, it will be shown how some white South Africans construct themselves in a manner that works to distinguish them from more stigmatised groups. It is shown how participants buy in to anti-immigration rhetoric – as commonly associated with the host country’s immigration and citizenship policy environment – in order that this can continue to be directed at more stigmatised groups rather than themselves. This, then, references markers of difference such as ancestry, culture and language, essentially enabling the stigmatisation even of other white migrants, such as Eastern Europeans who are predominantly white but perceived to be lower down in the ‘social hierarchy’ of the host society than white South Africans.


2013 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 769-784 ◽  
Author(s):  
Estella Tincknell

The extensive commercial success of two well-made popular television drama serials screened in the UK at prime time on Sunday evenings during the winter of 2011–12, Downton Abbey (ITV, 2010–) and Call the Midwife (BBC, 2012–), has appeared to consolidate the recent resurgence of the period drama during the 1990s and 2000s, as well as reassembling something like a mass audience for woman-centred realist narratives at a time when the fracturing and disassembling of such audiences seemed axiomatic. While ostensibly different in content, style and focus, the two programmes share a number of distinctive features, including a range of mature female characters who are sufficiently well drawn and socially diverse as to offer a profoundly pleasurable experience for the female viewer seeking representations of aging femininity that go beyond the sexualised body of the ‘successful ager’. Equally importantly, these two programmes present compelling examples of the ‘conjunctural text’, which appears at a moment of intense political polarisation, marking struggles over consent to a contemporary political position by re-presenting the past. Because both programmes foreground older women as crucial figures in their respective communities, but offer very different versions of the social role and ideological positioning that this entails, the underlying politics of such nostalgia becomes apparent. A critical analysis of these two versions of Britain's past thus highlights the ideological investments involved in period drama and the extent to which this ‘cosy’ genre may legitimate or challenge contemporary political claims.


2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 27-39
Author(s):  
Draženka Molnar ◽  
Gabrijela Crnjak

Abstract Over the past few decades the interest in communication apprehension has increased among researchers and teachers in the field of second/foreign language acquisition (SLA/FLA).The present paper is set between the macro perspective of the social-psychological period - by giving a general view of communication apprehension (CA) - and the situation-specific period - by taking into consideration the immediate educational context.The paper focuses on the phenomenon of communication apprehension among the Croatian university level students in a foreign language classroom setting.In particular, it investigates if there is a difference in the total level of communication apprehension between undergraduate and graduate students of English Language and Literature.Furthermore, it explores whether there is a relationship between different aspects of communication apprehension and the total level of communication apprehension and which background factor is the best predictor of communication apprehension among the students.The first part of the paper brings a theoretical background of the main concepts in this research, whereas the second part of the paper reports on the research itself.Two sets of instruments, questionnaires completed by the students and in-depth interviews conducted among the teachers, were used for the purpose of this study.The results show that the year of study is not a significant predictor of the communication apprehension level which students experience.Among all variables included in the analysis, the only significant predictors of communication apprehension are evaluations.


2019 ◽  
pp. 87-95

The article is devoted to the role of Tourism terminology in linguistics and the issue of general classification, peculiarities in the expression and translation of terms related to tourism in English into Uzbek and Russian, as well as the choice of the most optimal methods for translating terms in accordance with the requirements of this professional sphere. The terminology of the English language tourism is distinguished by its brightness, versatility. Tourism terms are formed under the influence of a generalized lexical layer of language and perform a specific functional function.Tourism terms are formed through the affixation method (prefixation, suffixation, circumphixation) and get rich through the process.The terminology of English Tourism is distinguished by its content and structural features, forming a part of the language vocabulary from the linguistic point of view. Texts in the field of Tourism take into their composition concepts of Tourism and interpret them in their content. They will be mainly in the form of advertising, as well as enlighten information about a particular region or place, create informational precedents and ensure their manifestation in the social cultural presence. The relevance of the study of the problems of translation of terms in the field of tourism has been investigated, mainly due to the development of international relations, expansion of cooperation between local and foreign companies, as well as the increase in this area of communication.


2021 ◽  
pp. 026858092199450
Author(s):  
Nicola Maggini ◽  
Tom Montgomery ◽  
Simone Baglioni

Against the background of crisis and cuts, citizens can express solidarity with groups in various ways. Using novel survey data this article explores the attitudes and behaviours of citizens in their expressions of solidarity with disabled people and in doing so illuminates the differences and similarities across two European contexts: Italy and the UK. The findings reveal pools of solidarity with disabled people across both countries that have on the one hand similar foundations such as the social embeddedness and social trust of citizens, while on the other hand contain some differences, such as the more direct and active nature of solidarity in Italy compared to the UK and the role of religiosity as an important determinant, particularly in Italy. Across both countries the role of ‘deservingness’ was key to understanding solidarity, and the study’s conclusions raise questions about a solidarity embedded by a degree of paternalism and even religious piety.


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