On Style in Victorian Fiction

Some writers of the Victorian period, as well as more recent critics, have argued that the prose style of Victorian fiction aims to efface itself or that an absence of style may in itself represent the nineteenth-century ideal. This collection provides a major assessment of style in Victorian fiction and demonstrates that style - the language, techniques and artistry of prose - is inseparable from meaning and that it is through the many resources of style that the full compass of meaning makes itself known. Leading scholars in the field present an engaging assessment of major Victorian novelists, illustrating how productive and illuminating close attention to literary style can be. Collectively, they build a fresh and nuanced understanding of how style functioned in the literature of the nineteenth century, and propose that the fiction of this era demands we think about what style does, as much as what style is.

LITERARY TEMPTATIONS OF PHILOSOPHY

The article examines the features of literature that are attractive for philosophy. Literary temptations are diverse: from special literary means of expression to a literary style of thinking, from posing common human problems to special ways of representing the world, from studying literary phenomena to following them. The differences between philosophy and literature took shape in antiquity. Philosophy posed a question and gave a reasoned answer, while literature described an interesting adventure. Further evolution has accumulated many differences in means, and in goals, and in perception. But from time to time philosophy and literature interacted. Philosophy sometimes analyzed literature like Heidegger, occasionally used a literary style like Nietzsche. But literature has repeatedly posed philosophical problems like Dostoevsky. Of particular attractiveness are: 1. the comprehensibility and accessibility of the literary language, 2. the emotional impact of literature as the creation of a special experience of the read, 3. a narrative way of representing the world. The desire for clarity has led to the emergence of encyclopedias, various propaedeutics, simplified courses in philosophy and other new forms of organization and presentation of knowledge. The example of children’s literature led to the emergence of philosophy for children. A personal emotional attitude to the text can be a sufficient basis for the scientific work of a humanist. A philosopher always needs rational foundations, but the subject of research could also be asked by literary emotions. Narrative has proved to be an impressive temptation for philosophy. For a long time, it was studied only within the framework of literary theory. From there he came to philosophy. Under the influence of philosophy, the narrative turned into a paradigm for the methodology of humanitarian knowledge. Literary temptations of philosophy gave positive results: discussions were stimulated, interesting concepts were put forward, if philosophy remained philosophy.

Authentic Literature in Textbooks of Czech as a Foreign Language

Usage of the literary style is an important part of teaching and learning Czech as a native or foreign language. The literary style, or more exactly, the style of literature, drama and poetry, is an important way of that representing the culture at the basis of the taught language. In this paper, we provide a short outline of the problem of authenticity in textbooks of Czech as a foreign language. The aim of this article is to present some of the aspects of using authentic literary texts in modern communicative textbooks. The study is based on analysis of the textual content of contemporary teaching materials.

Luxurious, Erotic Drinking in Literary Texts

A more poetic, literary style goes hand in hand with more elite drinking. Chapter 4 explores a range of texts on such drinking, which often involves servants, privacy, precious vessels, imported wine, erotic encounters, intense literary moods, and perfumed betel. Again, the conventions of genre are very much in evidence here, so this chapter is more a guide to those features of literature than a study of practice. The chapter also considers representations of ancient Indian “wine talk” and presents some didactic passages on how to drink properly, including a few from the Kāmasūtra. Additionally, the chapter examines the small number of Sanskrit texts devoted primarily to the pleasures and purposes of drinking.

An Odyssey at the Interface – A Study in the Stream of Consciousness

Experimental science should be experimental in every aspect of it, from the life and career path of the experimenter to how its results and thoughts are being written up. In this paper, the author experiments with the stream of consciousness style of writing. To conform to this literary style, the text follows a natural train of thought that abounds with analogies and associations and deliberate typographic and syntactic omissions at times. Paying an homage to Joyce’s Ulysses as the hallmark of the stream of consciousness writings, the author demonstrates empirically and through a bibliographic meta-analysis that a nanoparticle protected against biodegradation in lysosomal compartments of the cell, like Odysseus, takes significantly more time to return to its point of origin than to reach its intracellular destination. Thus, getting across the biological barrier and into the living system is less laborious and tardy than escaping from it. From here on, the corollaries of this finding relevant for the field of targeted drug delivery using nanoparticles are elaborated. This discussion is entwined with the storyline of the paper, which reflects Homer’s epic poem about Odysseus and his long journey home. This experiment in scientific writing is motivated by the hope that rejuvenation of the literary style of technical papers in natural sciences might revitalize the rusty creativity and ill social relations underlying them. By experimenting with literary novelties and eventually adopting them as a common practice, science would be brought closer to the world of arts, at the interface of which it could rediscover its renaissance identity and flourish anew.

Archimandrite Leonid (Kavelin) as a Hagiographer of the Optina Desert

В 2022 г. исполняется 200 лет со дня рождения известного богослова, церковного историка и археографа XIX в. архимандрита Леонида (Кавелина). Первые исследования о. Леонида были связаны с Оптиной пустынью, где под руководством прп. Макария Оптинского он сформировался как инок и церковный исследователь. В духовном наследии архимандрита Леонида значительное место занимают агиографические работы, посвящённые первым оптинским старцам Льву и Макарию. Отличительной чертой агиографических сочинений было широкое использование исторических документов и свидетельств: воспоминаний очевидцев, биографических справок, писем, выписок из различных документов и книг. Историзм всегда сочетался с простотой и доступностью изложения, хорошим литературным слогом. Отец Леонид подготовил три редакции «Жития прп. Льва Оптинского» (1845, 1847, 1855-1857), а также первое «Житие прп. Макария Оптинского» (1861). Впоследствии другими агиографами Оптиной пустыни жития первых оптинских подвижников, составленные о. Леонидом, были дополнены и расширены. Значение ранних агиографических трудов о. Леонида, бесспорно, является очень важным для оптинского духовного наследия и для дальнейшего формирования о. Леонида как крупного церковного исследователя, оставившего большой след в науке. 2022 marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of the famous theologian, church historian and archeographer of the XIX century, archimandrite Leonid (Kavelin). His first studies were related to Optina Desert, where under the leadership of the prp. He was formed as a monk and an ecclesiastical researcher by Macarius of Optina. In the spiritual heritage of Archimandrite Leonid, a significant place is occupied by hagiographic works dedicated to the first Optina elders Leo and Macarius. A distinctive feature of hagiographic works was the extensive use of historical documents and testimonies: eyewitness memoirs, biographical references, letters, extracts from various documents and books. Historicism has always been combined with simplicity and accessibility of presentation, a good literary style. Father Leonid prepared three editions of the life of St. Leo of Optina (1845, 1847, 1855-1857), as well as the first life of St. Macarius of Optina (1861). Subsequently, the lives of the first Optina ascetics, compiled by Father Leonid, were supplemented and expanded by other hagiographers of the Optina Desert. The significance of the early hagiographic works of fr. Leonida is undoubtedly very important for the Optina spiritual heritage and for the further formation of fr. Leonid as a major church researcher who left a great mark on science.

Stories That Make History

From covering the massacre of students at Tlatelolco in 1968 and the 1985 earthquake to the Zapatista rebellion in 1994 and the disappearance of forty-three students in 2014, Elena Poniatowska has been one of the most important chroniclers of Mexican social, cultural, and political life. In Stories That Make History, Lynn Stephen examines Poniatowska's writing, activism, and political participation, using them as a lens through which to understand critical moments in contemporary Mexican history. In her crónicas—narrative journalism written in a literary style featuring firsthand testimonies—Poniatowska told the stories of Mexico's most marginalized people. Throughout, Stephen shows how Poniatowska helped shape Mexican politics and forge a multigenerational political community committed to social justice. In so doing, she presents a biographical and intellectual history of one of Mexico's most cherished writers and a unique history of modern Mexico.