Tove Janssons bildebok Vem ska trösta knyttet? som heltedikt

Tove Jansson’s Picturebook Who Will Comfort Toffle? as a Heroic Poem This article offers an analysis of Tove Jansson’s picturebook Vem ska trösta knyttet? (Who Will Comfort Toffle?) from 1960 as a heroic poem and dramatic monologue, representing an alternative reading to earlier studies of this picturebook as a coherent narrative. Drawing on theory about heroic poetry, poetry and picturebook analysis, we provide a reading that expands those interpretations of Vem ska trösta knyttet? that emphasize the romantic and psychological projects of the book when read as a narrative story. By reading Vem ska trösta knyttet? as a heroic poem, we explore the text as an uttered, ritualistic, and iterative event rather than solely a narrative with fictional characters. Read in the tradition of the heroic poem, Toffle is (still) the hero, where lyrical language and structures allow the reader to remember and retell the poem, letting Toffle’s deeds live on beyond the alleged time of events and the performative declaration by Toffle.

Adaptation in the digital era: The case of Robert Zemeckis’ Beowulf

From fidelity discourse, through medium specificity discourse, to intertextuality and remediation approach, adaptation studies have dynamically evolved and recently have responded with particular flexibility to the advent of the digital era. Even adaptations of classical literary texts, confronting the authority of their hypotexts, have daringly broken away from their fidelity constraints and ventured onto paths facilitated by the development of new media. This article discusses Robert Zemeckis’ 2007 adaptation of Beowulf and examines this film’s potential for illustrating the manifestations of digitality in adaptation discourses. A film that did not make it (in)to the box office, and an adaptation that makes literary fans cringe, it is still a fascinating cultural intertext: a radical reinterpretation of the Old English heroic poem, a star-studded special-effect cinematic extravaganza of an adventurous director, an illustration of adaptation going remediation and an inclusive transmedia hybrid.

Polska epika bohaterska przed i po „Gofredzie”

The article is a review of the most important trends in the development of the Polish epic in the 16th and 17th centuries. In the absence of significant traditions of knightly works, the creation of Polish heroic poetry should be associated primarily with the humanistic movement, whose representatives set a heroic epic at the top of the hierarchy of genres and recognized 'Eneid' as its primary model. The postulate proposed first by the Renaissance and later by the Baroque authors did not lead to the creation of a ‘real’ epic in Poland. The translations of: the Virgil’s epic poem (1590) by Andrzej Kochanowski and Book 3 of 'The Iliad' by Jan Kochanowski can be regarded as the genre substitutes. These translations seem to test whether the young Polish poetic language is able to bear the burden of an epic matter. Then again, the works of Maciej Kazimierz Sarbiewski on the Latin 'Lechias' (the 1st half of the 17th century), which was to present the beginnings of the Polish state, were not completed. Polish Renaissance authors preferred themes from modern or even recent history, choosing 'Bellum civile' by Lucan as their general model but they did not refrain from typically heroic means in the presentation of the subject. This is evidenced by such poems as 'The Prussian War' (1516) by Joannis Vislicensis or 'Radivilias' (1592) by Jan Radwan. The Latin epic works were followed by the vernacular epic in the 17th century, when the historical epic poems by Samuel Twardowski and Wacław Potocki were created, as well as in the 18th century (the example of 'The Khotyn War' by Ignacy Krasicki). The publication of Torquato Tasso’s 'Jerusalem delivered' translation by Piotr Kochanowski in 1618 introduced to the Polish literature a third variant of an epic poem, which is a combination of a heroic poem and romance motives. The translation gained enormous recognition among literary audiences and was quickly included in the canon of imitated works, but not as a model of an epic, but mainly as a source of ideas and poetic phrases (it was used not only by epic poets). The exception here is the anonymous epos entitled 'The siege of Jasna Góra of Częstochowa', whose author spiced the historical action of the recent event with romance themes, an evident reference to the Tasso’s poem. The Polish translation of Tasso’s masterpiece also contributed to the popularity of the ottava rima, as an epic verse from the second half of the 17th century (previously the Polish alexandrine dominated as the equivalent of the ancient hexameter). This verse was used both in the historical and biblical epic poems, striving to face the rhythmic challenge.

Jaan Bergmanni pilaeepos „Jaaniida“: tekst, kontekst ja intertekst / Jaan Bergmann’s mock-epic Jaaniida: text, context and intertext

Mock-epics were first created already in the antiquity and the most famous of them, the Batrachomyomachia, was translated into Estonian already in 1875 by Jaan Bergmann; it was also the first full translation of an ancient epic poem into Estonian. However, until now, no Estonian original mock-epics were known and this genre was presumed to have evolved in Estonian literature only in the 20th century, mostly used in parodies of the national epic, the Kalevipoeg. In this issue, we introduce a new archival find from Jaan Bergmann’s manuscript poetry book. We discovered that, having probably been inspired by the Batrachomyomachia, but perhaps also by Nikolay Osipov’s Eneida (1791), Jaan Bergmann had created his own mock-heroic poem Jaaniida (1875). It is a multidimensional and poetically rich poem, interweaving different verse cultures and different eras. On the one hand, its analysis reveals clear influences of the Odyssey: there are parallels with the portrayal of the main hero, images and the plot, as well as with the Homeric epic techniques (for example, both epics begin with the prooemium, which contains an invocation). But in terms of poetic devices and versification, Jaaniida draws on Estonian folk songs, using the folk meter, plenty of alliteration and assonance as well as parallelism, and imitating their morphology and vocabulary. The storyline of the poem features events that appear to have happened only recently before the writing of the text (most probably in 1866–1875): the transition from villeinage to money rent and the cases of corruption among local administrators. Against this background, Bergmann satirically pictures the rise of an individual and his later downfall caused by his weaknesses and vices.

Multilingualism in the heroic poem by Feofan Prokopovich “Epinicion”

The paper focuses on three versions of Feofan Prokopo-vich’s heroic poem “Epinikion” (in Slavonic, Polish and Latin). These different versions are analyzed in their correlation with Russian and European linguistic and cultural context. Differences in the functioning of ancient and chistian cultural elements of the three texts have been revealed in the research.

Burlesque and Travesty

This chapter considers three important satirical subgenres used by Alexander Pope during the early years of his career: the mock-essay, the dramatic satire, and the mock-heroic poem. It covers his writing from Guardian 40 (1713) to Peri Bathous (1727), published the year before his first mature satire, The Dunciad (1728), when Pope’s satires unite in their use of burlesque and in attacking vain pretenders to knowledge. The works examined are both morally corrective and gleefully scurrilous, featuring (to borrow Émile Audra’s phrase) badinage gracieux and slapstick, equally implicated in high culture neoclassicism and gross travesty. Taken as a body, Pope’s early satires use the comic force of burlesque to mount an attack on false pride in knowledge—before proceeding further, however, it is worth pausing on that term, burlesque.

La épica de los Jesuitas: juicios y comentarios sobre "El Bernardo", de Balbuena

RESUMENA partir de la segunda mitad del siglo XVIII, España necesita más que nunca demostrar al resto de naciones europeas la calidad de su literatura. Se persigue por distintas vías recuperar textos canónicos que puedan aportar una imagen de valor nacional, y una de estas vías es la consideración del género épico. En este trabajo analizamos la labor de Juan Francisco Masdeu, jesuita expulso, que, junto a otros miembros de la Compañía, recuperó la figura de Bernardo de Balbuena y su poema heroico "El Bernardo o Victoria de Roncesvalles" (1624) para proponerlo ante Europa como el Tasso español.PALABRAS CLAVEPoesía épica, jesuitas, Bernardo de Balbuena, "El Bernardo", Juan Francisco Masdeu. TITLEThe epic of Jesuits: judgement and comments to Balbuena’s "El Bernardo"ABSTRACTSince the second half of the XVIII century, Spain needed to demonstrate the rest of European nations the quality of its literature. They tried in different ways to recover canonic texts that could show an image of national value. One of these ways was, for instance, the assessment of the epic genre. In this essay, we analyze the aim of Juan Francisco Masdeu, expelled Jesuit, who, with other members of the Company, recovered the figure of Bernardo de Balbuena and his heroic poem "El Bernardo o Victoria de Roncesvalles" (1624) with the objective of proposing Balbuena as the Spanish version of Tasso.KEY WORDSEpic poetry, Jesuits, Bernardo de Balbuena, "El Bernardo", Juan Francisco Masdeu.

Mythological Epic and Chivalric Fiction in Moderata Fonte's and Lucrezia Marinella's Poems

This article focuses on Lucrezia Marinella’s L’Enrico, ovvero Bisanzio acquistato (1635) and Moderata Fonte’s Tredici canti del Floridoro (1581). Marinella’s epic, or ‘heroic,’ poem belongs to a genre not well represented in women’s writings, while Fonte’s work is the first original chivalric poem written by a woman, an Italian woman who grappled with epic and chivalric romance. These genres were so elite and laborious that they discouraged all but the most enterprising writers of either sex. The female warriors of epic, the women’s aptitude for martial arts, and the increasing openness to female involvement in battle correspond to a shifting emphasis in warfare from physical force to mental agility and astuteness. No attempt will be made here at a comprehensive treatment; rather the focus of the article will be on the question of how women in this period responded to what might be broadly termed the gender politics of chivalric works.Keywords: Moderata Fonte, Lucrezia Marinella, Gender roles, Gender attitudes, Fiction, Epic, force (physical and mental)