An Evolutionary Textual Environment

This article introduces the notion of evolutionary textual environment as the outcome of a digital experiment. The experiment consisted of transforming a digital archive of Fernando Pessoa’s Book of Disquiet into a changing textual space sustained by role-playing interactions. As conceptual and technical artifact, this living archive expresses an innovative model not only for the literary acts of reading, editing and writing, but also for reimagining the book as a network of reconfigurable and dynamic texts, structures, and actions. The programmed features of the LdoD Archive can be used in multiple activities, including leisure reading, study, analysis, advanced research, and creative writing. Through the integration of computational tools in a simulation space, this collaborative archive provides an open exploration of the procedurality of the digital medium itself. The “unfinished machine” metaphor suggests the open-endedness both of the evolving textual environment and of the computational modeling of literary performativity that sustains the whole experiment.

Dismemberment of Kathleen’s Psyche in Joyce Carol Oates’s 'The Rise of Life on Earth'

Postmodern literary texts have been exploring characters that are whimsically strange. The tacit plots in the postmodern textual space enable the writers to construct and manifest the mental space of the characters in the textual world. The Rise of Life on Earth written by Joyce Carol Oates concocts the emotional estrangement of the protagonist, Kathleen Hennessy. Decrypting the text amplifies the unabating efforts of Kathleen to survive in a world that has been portrayed as a larger, repressive and pernicious family. Her masquerade to be a shy, passive and well-behaved girl hides the menacing vengeance that has culminated as a result of abuses and afflictions. Her mental spaces are constructed during the course of narration. This paper purports to scrutinize the fragmented psyche of Kathleen and the conceptual integration of mental space and textual space that replicates both social and individualistic reality and expands the understanding of Oates’ text.

Livy’s Cato and Commodities at Centre and Periphery

This paper is part of a larger project on how Livy represents the Elder Cato, from his entrance into the text in Book 29 to his last witticism preserved in the summary of Book 50, the longest biographical arc in this first third of Livy’s text. It views Cato through the lens of his relationship with objects, and with Livy’s narrative as an object as well. This paper focuses on one episode in the life of Livy’s Cato, the debate over the repeal of the Lex Oppia, and builds on previous scholars’ work to unite three arguments: 1) Livy weaves together textual space and Roman topography so as to emphasise the simultaneous marginality and centrality of this debate; 2) Livy’s Cato and Valerius fill Rome’s urban topography with images of things so as to draw attention via women’s bodies to the relationship between luxury and Rome’s imperium; 3) Livy uses this episode to make an argument about his own historical writing and its active relationship to the expansion of empire. This project focusing on Livy’s Cato is itself part of an even larger reexamination of how we read, and might read, Livy.

Conceptualizing In-Text “Kshetra”: Postcolonial Allahabad’s Cultural Geography in Neelum Saran Gour’s Allahabad Aria and Invisible Ink

Literary renditions of cities have always gravitated towards the spatial imagination and its ethical counterpart outside the textual space. This paper explores the multicultural geography of the North Indian city Allahabad (recently renamed Prayagraj) observed through Neelum Saran Gour’s postcolonial narratives Allahabad Aria and Invisible Ink, projecting the narrative alignment of spatial aesthetics and cultural ethics. Interrogating the spatial dimensions of a “narrative world” within narrative theory (Ryan) and its interdisciplinary crossover with cultural geography (Sauer; Mitchell; Anderson et al.), the article seeks to examine Gour’s literary city not simply as an objective homogeneous representation, but as a “kshetra” of spatio-cultural cosmos of lived traditions, memories, experiences and collective attitudes of its people, in the context of E. V. Ramakrishnan’s theoretical reflections. The article proposes new possibilities of adapting the Indian concept “kshetra” to spatial literary studies; its aim is also to suggest a new source of knowledge about the city of Allahabad through a community introspection of “doing culture” in the texts, bringing into view people’s shared experiences, beliefs, religious practices and traditions as offshoots of the postcolonial ethos. The article aims to re-contextualize the city’s longstanding multicultural ethics in the contemporary times of crisis, which may affect a shift in the city’s relevance: from regional concern to large-scale significance within ethnically diverse South Asian countries and beyond.

Rhetorical Structure of Ghanaian Tourist Destination E-Brochures

Currently, Ghana‘s economy seems to be relying on income generated from the tourism industry to support national growth. However, interest in tourism appears unattractive as compared to developed countries. It is in the light of this that this research focused on conducting an investigation into one of the main means of persuading potential tourists. This research, therefore, used purposive sampling to select 20 Ghanaian tourist destination e-brochures from the website of the Ghana Tourism Authority. The texts were analyzed using the English for Specific Purposes (ESP), Swales' (1990) genre analysis approach. The purpose was to explore the rhetorical structure of the tourist destination brochures. The results showed that the Ghanaian tourist destination e-brochure could be constructed with seven different communicative functions which constitute its Moves (Identifying Tourist destination, Providing Background Information, Detailing Tourist Destination, Providing Service Information, Soliciting Response, Providing Extra Information, and Urging Action). However, their frequency of occurrence showed that only three of the Moves (Identifying Tourist Destination, Providing Background Information, Providing Service Information) occurred in all the texts. The first four Moves constituted the commonest sequencing pattern of the texts. In terms of length of the texts or textual space given to the Moves, the second Move occupied the largest space of the tourist e-brochures studied. This research has implications for the Ghana tourism industry in improving the rhetorical structure of its brochures and also academic research.

Quadronimic interpretation of English-language digital discourse

The paper focuses on the English-language digital discourse (EDD) and considers it in terms of Descartes’ square. Despite the incongruence of the medieval philosophical paradigm with the modern stage of posthumanitarian studies, it is the quadronymic and clearly delineated frame, “perspicuae veritates” (according to R. Descartes), which can balance a diverse phenomenon of digital discourse. There are three main aspects of the study considered further: English-language digital discourse and its quadronymic potential, which is interpreted in three main perspectives: in terms of discursive impulse and discourse response; within hyper- / hypodynamic levels of English-language digital discourse and the English-language digital textual space (EDTS). Quadrominic interpretation of English-language digital discourse results in the following findings: symmetry of discourse construction; logic and sequence of discourse representation and its parameters; slot representation of discourse paradigmatic parameters; identification of interdependencies, conditions and parameters of discourse within quadrants.

“It is not a miracle, but grief...”: representations of Sergey Kozlov's on soteriological mission of the woman (based on the novella “Mother-Masha”)

This article analyzes the views of the contemporary Ugric writer Sergey Kozlov pertaining to mission of the women in 1990s – 2000s, which was the turning period for the country. The novella “Mother-Masha” demonstrates that it textual space, namely the woman becomes the symbol of justice of the Christian fabric of life, and is reflected in the sincere desire of the protagonist to establish good and justice in the world. The author contemplates on S. Kozlov's ideological and artistic views upon the role of the woman at the time of major transformations in the Russian history. Reference to the writer’s fictional prose, diaries, and interviews allows revealing the peculiarities of his axiological position in the context of the Russian philosophy of femininity. The scientific novelty of this research is substantiated by the need for articulation of the problem related to the study of specificity of female images in the creative heritage of Siberian writer Sergey Kozlov. Comprehensive analysis of the writer's novella “Mother-Masha” included into the book “Duty Angel” (2011) is carried out. The article introduces the sources, such as diary notes and interview materials, which have not been previously used in studying the works of S. Kozlov. The conclusion is made that soteriological mission was imposed on Mother Masha – the woman who proliferated the Divine Commandments to the world and is associated with the symbol of national salvation.

Totality of Means of Interaction with the Reader in the Footnotes of A.D. Cantemir to the Russian Translation of Conversations on the Plurality of Worlds

The article deals with functional totality of means of interaction with the reader in the footnotes by A.D. Cantemir to his Russian translation of Conversations on the Plurality of Worlds. The content, the language and the genre of the footnotes prove them to be addressed to the Russian reader. On the linguistic level, it is expressed by actualization of modus categories and metatextual means that do not only point at the addresser indirectly, but also highlight the reader’s figure in the footnotes’ text. Actualization of modus categories allows Cantemir to bring him closer to the reader in the same textual space and time, whereas metatextual units control the reader’s attention by structuring information. Interaction of these linguistic means within the text of footnotes provides interaction between Cantemir and the Russian reader: their common space and time increase the persuasive effect of explanations and examples introduced by metatextual means.

Structure of Research Article Abstracts in Political Science: A Genre-Based Study

The research article (RA) abstract is the first section researchers read to determine its relevance to their interests. Researchers need to possess an implicit knowledge of the rhetorical move structure and organization of this section. Unlike most scientific disciplines, political science RA abstracts are unstructured, that is, with no headings (or moves), which makes it more challenging. To the best of our knowledge, the rhetorical move structure in high readership political science RA abstracts has not been researched. This study investigated (a) the rhetorical move structure in 120 political science RA abstracts from six high-impact journals, (b) the most common move patterns, and (c) the move(s) occupying most textual space. The findings indicated the lack of obligatory moves. A move structure model for writing a political science RA abstract is proposed, comprising four conventional moves (Introduction [I]–Purpose [P]–Methods [M]–Results [R]) and two optional step/move, namely, Research Gap step and Discussion [D] move. The results also showed that the first most frequent move pattern is I-P-M-R-D, followed by I-P-M-R and the I-P-R-D. The fact that an RA abstract summarizes the whole RA results in move embedding, particularly in the four moves, I-P-M-R. The findings revealed the importance of the Results move as it occupied nearly one third of text space. The results may contribute to the fields of discourse and genre studies. They may provide invaluable insights for novice political science researchers attempting to publish their work in high-ranking journals. The proposed move structure model can act as a guide for English for Academic Purposes (EAP)/English for Specific Purposes (ESP) tutors and political science authors.

Literary Discourse as a Cognitive Dialogue About «Language as the House of Spirit»

The article is focused on the diversity of literary discourse which is viewed through the prism of “the internal life of the text” and is considered as a dialogue within “the life and power” of the language. As an object of interdisciplinary scientific research literary discourse is perceived as a complex metalinguistic phenomenon, which is inherently dialogic in its character and able to generate certain reality in which modern human beings live and act. In the triad “discourse – language – language personality” the median marker is viewed as “the house of being” (M. Heidegger), “the spirit of the nation” (W. Humboldt), which allows for the understanding of flickering ideas standing behind the creativity of a modern poet.This paper provides the interpretation of the linguistic dynamics of textual space as one of the possible methods of understanding “the life and power” of the text, which helps to objectively represent the notion of “language as the house of spirit” and the spirituality of modern poetry.The purpose of the article is to study the discourse of a literary work of art as a cognitive dialogue about “language as the house of spirit” and reveal the dynamics of “the spirit” within “the soul of the text”. It should be underlined that the multidimensional character of literary discourse provides for several levels in studying a literary text:Level 1: “the text and the reality”;Level 2: “the text and the language”;Level 3: “the author and the text”;Level 4: “the reader and the text”.The research is based on the analysis of the poetic essays by Tamara Sokolskaya – “The Honesuckle” and “Poetic Ariozo. G#HF#E”.The methods employed in the paper include modeling and interpretation of the linguistic dynamics of the textual space, contrastive and synergetic analysis of the “life and power” of the text and the method of conceptual analysis.The findings of the research comprise the following the results:1. Literary discourse is specific in its multidimensional character and the variety of expressed ideas, which sets it apart from other types of discourse;2. This multidimensional character of literary discourse reveals the complexity of the spiritual life of the author of the text.3. The synergy in the dynamics of textual units demonstrates spiritual content of modern poetry which exists at different levels of consciousness.4. Literary discourse serves as the material realization of the spiritual energy of a person.5. Literary discourse should be viewed as a cognitive dialogue about “language as the house of spirit” which reveals “the dialectic of the spirit” of the author and the dynamics of “the life and power” of the text as a multicultural language code representing the spiritual energy of the nation.