The Christian Invention of Time

Time is integral to human culture. Over the last two centuries people's relationship with time has been transformed through industrialisation, trade and technology. But the first such life-changing transformation – under Christianity's influence – happened in late antiquity. It was then that time began to be conceptualised in new ways, with discussion of eternity, life after death and the end of days. Individuals also began to experience time differently: from the seven-day week to the order of daily prayer and the festal calendar of Christmas and Easter. With trademark flair and versatility, world-renowned classicist Simon Goldhill uncovers this change in thinking. He explores how it took shape in the literary writing of late antiquity and how it resonates even today. His bold new cultural history will appeal to scholars and students of classics, cultural history, literary studies, and early Christianity alike.

Nietzsche und die Weltanschauungsliteratur

The study aims to demonstrate the significance of Friedrich Nietzsche for ›Weltanschauungsliteratur‹ (ideological literature) in the early 20th century. ›Weltanschauungsliteratur‹ adopts thematic elements of Nietzsche’s cultural criticism. Nietzsche’s habitus of the outmoded academic outsider becomes important for the writers’ self-staging. ›Weltanschauungsliteratur‹ closely observes Nietzsche’s combination of philosophical reasoning and literary writing and develops it further. Finally, the article examines exemplary ›Weltanschauungsliteratur‹ by Salomo Friedländer, Theodor Lessing, Rudolf Pannwitz, and Ernst Bertram.

Characterising the Anthropocene: Ecological Degradation in Italian Twenty-First Century Literary Writing

<p>The twenty-first century has witnessed the exacerbation of ecological issues that began to manifest themselves in the mid-twentieth century. It has become increasingly clear that the current environmental crisis poses an unprecedented existential threat to civilization as well as to Homo sapiens itself. Whereas the physical and social sciences have been defining the now inevitable transition to a different (and more inhospitable) Earth, the humanities have yet to assert their role as a transformative force within the context of global environmental change. Turning abstract issues into narrative form, literary writing can increase awareness of environmental issues as well as have a deep emotive influence on its readership. To showcase this type of writing as well as the methodological frameworks that best highlights the social and ethical relevance of such texts alongside their literary value, I have selected the following twenty-first century Italian literary works: Roberto Saviano’s Gomorra, Kai Zen’s Delta blues,Wu Ming’s Previsioni del tempo, Simona Vinci’s Rovina, Giancarlo di Cataldo’s Fuoco!, Laura Pugno’s Sirene, and Alessandra Montrucchio’s E poi la sete, all published between 2006 and 2011. The main goal of this study is to demonstrate how these works offer an invaluable opportunity to communicate meaningfully and accessibly the discomforting truths of global environmental change, including ecomafia, waste trafficking, illegal building, arson, ozone depletion, global warming and the dysfunctional relationship between humanity and the biosphere.</p>

Characterising the Anthropocene: Ecological Degradation in Italian Twenty-First Century Literary Writing

<p>The twenty-first century has witnessed the exacerbation of ecological issues that began to manifest themselves in the mid-twentieth century. It has become increasingly clear that the current environmental crisis poses an unprecedented existential threat to civilization as well as to Homo sapiens itself. Whereas the physical and social sciences have been defining the now inevitable transition to a different (and more inhospitable) Earth, the humanities have yet to assert their role as a transformative force within the context of global environmental change. Turning abstract issues into narrative form, literary writing can increase awareness of environmental issues as well as have a deep emotive influence on its readership. To showcase this type of writing as well as the methodological frameworks that best highlights the social and ethical relevance of such texts alongside their literary value, I have selected the following twenty-first century Italian literary works: Roberto Saviano’s Gomorra, Kai Zen’s Delta blues,Wu Ming’s Previsioni del tempo, Simona Vinci’s Rovina, Giancarlo di Cataldo’s Fuoco!, Laura Pugno’s Sirene, and Alessandra Montrucchio’s E poi la sete, all published between 2006 and 2011. The main goal of this study is to demonstrate how these works offer an invaluable opportunity to communicate meaningfully and accessibly the discomforting truths of global environmental change, including ecomafia, waste trafficking, illegal building, arson, ozone depletion, global warming and the dysfunctional relationship between humanity and the biosphere.</p>

Satirische Metabolistik: Jean Pauls Skizze „Über die Schriftstellerei“

Jean Paul’s collection Grönländische Prozesse, oder Satirische Skizzen (1783–4/1821) has been scrutinized regarding its exuberant similes and its satirical wit, but ranked low compared to his novels. From the beginning, however, it exposes a groundbreaking strategy resonating in his more famous literary and theoretical works alike. The first sketch “On literary writing. An opusculum posthumum” converts a rhetoric of the known material world – with its diversity of life forms – into a materialistic-physiological writing (and vice versa). The text interchanges processes of transformation (e. g. ‘metabolic,’ ‘biotic,’ ‘chemical’) with techniques that are capable of changing things rhetorically. Pertaining to Jean Paul’s later analysis of antithetical wit, I suggest grasping the structure of this interchanging as a rhetorical process in itself, which can be pinpointed by the figure of antimetabole (or commutatio). Consequently, this complex dynamics is connected to transitions between ‘alive’ and ‘dead’. The status of “On literary writing” as a posthumously published draft and pseudo-poetological treatise, introduced by a fictive editor, thus exactly fits the rhetorico-physiological processes it stages and complements a genuinely anticipatory writing.

Pelatihan Menulis Cerita Pendek Untuk Komunitas Gemar Menulis Desa Bandul Kecamatan Tasik Putri Puyu Kabupaten Kepulauan Meranti

The community becomes a force to gather the younger generation to do positive things. One of the emerging communities is the literary community. In addition to conducting discussions on literary developments, the literary community also carries out writing training. This is what the Love Writing Community, Bandul Village, Tasik Putri Puyu District, Meranti Islands Regency, did. The main obstacle faced by the Love Writing Community is the lack of tutors or trainers for literary writing activities such as writing short stories. From this service, it can help members of the Bandul Village Love Writing Community understand writing strategies and at the same time the strategy of sending works to mass media that have cultural rubrics.

The Advent of the Europeans and the History of the Development of Tamil Grammar Texts

Grammatical and linguistic history, like Tamil literary history, has its own antiquity and continuity. Grammatical writings have kept on showing up as the literary writing has increased and changed. Grammatical texts based on the knowledge of literature, the knowledge of the language, or the critical objectives of the language, the literature that appears in that language, later become more closely identified with social history. Numerous grammatical works have appeared in Tamil but many of them do not exist. However, many of the available texts are qualified enough to speak of the grammatical richness of Tamil. With the grammatical richness of a language, it is possible to estimate how ancient the literary richness of that language and the origin of the speakers of that language are. Thus, the numerous grammars available in Tamil serve as evidence for measuring the antiquity of the Tamil language. The origin of grammatical texts is not a linear one, but one that is continually developing to suit the occasions, the blend of dialects, and the progressions in the writing. This change sets the stage for the development of language. Thus, Tamil grammar texts have undergone a series of changes. This article sets out to evaluate the background to the development of nineteenth-century grammar textbooks following the arrival of Europeans, who occupy a significant place in this change.

No more “Us’’ Versus “Others”: Critique of Cultural Trauma in the Movie Partition by Vic Sarin

On 15 August 1947, the glory of Indian Independence has introduced with a political hubris, dividing British India into two separate independent nations: secular India and Islamic Pakistan. The partition brings trauma in the life of millions; nevertheless, this trauma itself becomes the victim of nationhood and community both in official history and literary writing. In this background, the study examines how a Hollywood movie Partition directed by Vic Sarin in 2007, exceptionally surpasses that tendency of dividing the community into ‘‘as’’ and ‘‘others’’ imparting Indian partition trauma politically. While analyzing the behavior and action of major characters along with the overall imparted theme of the movie, it rethinks the customary archives of community and nationhood depicting partition memory objectively. The protagonist never pronounces a single word of communal intolerance even when he has been mocked and tortured in the name of religion. Conversely, some characters in the movie always attempt to massacre the truth of trauma spreading communal bile; however, the overall essence and message of the movie keep that alive. Rethinking cultural trauma and using the approach of memory, the study concludes that this in-between movie appears as “West Running Brook” that exceeds the common communalization and perpetual politicization in the history of depicting Indian partition. Eventually, the study establishes that sharing pain seems to work as a healer among victims to overcome their trauma on one side and uniquely it adjoins the British as a party in Indian partition trauma in the next, which has been blurred considering insignificant in the one-to-one conflict between two giants.

A Translation of Al-Fuzai’s “Resolution”

Khalil I. Al-Fuzai (1940) is an Arab writer who wrote and published few collections of stories. In his stories, he depicts Arabian society in a simple, clear, and direct way (Dohal 2013). “Resolution” is one of his stories which addresses social issues. I translated this story because it represents a good sample of Al-Fuzai’s literary writing (Dohal 2021 & 2019), telling how a man could be treated at his old age by his children.

An Exploration of the Existence and Utility of a Quaker Literary Aesthetic in the Poetry of Philip Gross and Sibyl Ruth

Quakers have had an ambivalent historical relationship with creativity, initially placing taboos around its creation and reception, but they now actively make and enjoy literature. This article explores what might constitute a Liberal Quaker Literary Aesthetic (QLA), and tests a theoretical model through an analysis of the poetry of British Quaker poets Philip Gross and Sybil Ruth. The QLA, it is suggested, consists of seven key features: openness, ambiguity and seeking; dialogical engagement; ethical rather than moral writing; creative attention; Quaker sensibility; an apophatic approach to the Divine; silence as presence and force. I argue that this QLA, while partially displayed by other writers of faith or none, is fully demonstrated by these writers, as a development in this context of particular values and the silent, apophatic approach found among British Liberal Quakers brought over into literary writing. I demonstrate that this QLA is a distinctive expression of Liberal Quakerism. I discuss its utility and suggest future avenues of research in comparison with other branches of Quakerism and other faith traditions and none.