LA MONSTRUOSIDAD FEMENINA EN LAS NARRADORAS FANTÁSTICAS ESPAÑOLAS DEL SIGLO XXI

El monstruo sigue siendo una figura esencial en la ficción fantástica, adaptándose a los nuevos miedos y deseos que se desarrollan en el seno de la cultura posmoderna. En las páginas que siguen voy a explorar algunas de las formas más renovadoras que toma la monstruosidad fantástica femenina en la obra de las narradoras españolas del siglo XXI: la madre monstruo, la experiencia de la maternidad como conflicto y la niña monstruo. Tres encarnaciones que demuestran no solo la pervivencia y funcionalidad del monstruo en la ficción fantástica actual de autoría femenina, sino su reactualización con el objetivo de denunciar los condicionantes culturales, sociales y políticos impuestos sobre la mujer, específicamente en lo referido a la experiencia de la maternidad, las estructuras familiares y el mundo infantil. Abstract: The monster remains an essential figure in fantastic fiction, adapting to the new fears and desires that develop within postmodern culture. In the pages that follow, I am going to explore some of the most innovative forms that the female fantastic monstrosity takes in the work of 21st Century Spanish female narrators: the monster mother, the experience of motherhood like conflict, and the monster girl. Three incarnations that show not only the survival and functionality of the monster in current fantastic fiction of female authorship, but its updating with the aim of denouncing the cultural, social and political conditioning factors imposed on women, specifically in relation to the experience of the motherhood, family structures and the world of children.

LOS PERVERSOS ESPACIOS-SANTUARIO EN LA NARRATIVA DE CRISTINA FERNÁNDEZ CUBAS

La literatura fantástica de Cristina Fernández Cubas muestra una peculiar inclinación hacia espacios en que ciertos personajes se refugian para distanciarse de un mundo con el que no se identifican. La habitación de Nona (2015) ofrece nuevas perspectivas sobre este tipo de espacialidad que hemos denominado espacio-santuario, recurrente en la producción de la autora desde la publicación de su primer volumen de cuentos en 1980. En este artículo exploramos la doble dimensión de este lugar de protección y alienación apoyándonos en la teoría de los borderscapes, las aportaciones antropológicas referentes al símbolo del santuario y el refugio, y mediante una perspectiva espacial del texto literario que supedita el concepto de trama al de dominio espacial. Abstract: Cristina Fernández Cubas’s fantastic fiction shows a peculiar preference towards spaces in which certain characters take refuge to distance themselves from a world with which they do not identify. La habitación de Nona (2015) offers new perspectives on this type of spatiality, which we have called sanctuary-space, recurrent in the author’s production since the publication of her first volume of stories in 1980. This article explores the double dimension of this place of protection and alienation with the support of the theory of borderscapes, through anthropological contributions regarding the symbol of the sanctuary and refuge and, from a spatial perspective on the literary text that subordinates the concept of plot to that of spatial domain.

Фантастическое и его значения

As a rule, there are many meanings of the term “fantastic” in all languages. There are twelve of them recorded in the Ukrainian explanatory dictionary. This is not a complete list. The author of the dictionary entry mixes independent phenomena such as “magical”, key elements of phenomena such as “bizarre” and abstract concepts such as “impossible”. Literary critics from V. Derzhavin, Tz. Todorov to modern ones explore fantastic fiction through bordering notions. In this article, I focus on four meanings the fantastic fiction concept consists of, and not only has similarities with. These are “wonderful”, “miracle”, “amazing” and “bizarre”. Due to ideological factors, primarily declarative atheism and the attribution of bourgeois nationalism to the nation, the miraculous-miracle-marvellous triple remained outside the attention of researchers, since it was necessary to talk about the influence of religion on the formation of literature. The only type of fantastic fiction recognised in the Soviet Union was science fiction, and it had to be separated from religion. Now it is important to describe the formation of fantastic fiction, exploring the path from the intersection of adjacent phenomena to its merger, relying on the works of both classical literature and modern fantastic fiction which represents the entire range of interaction of fantastic fiction meanings. The article describes the structure of fantastic fiction and its inner nature. The issues of meta-genre and mega-genre are disclosed. It is explained why fantastic fiction cannot be considered as a genre in the structure of Ukrainian literary criticism. The article also provides an extensive overview of meta-genre theories in the post-soviet space.

The problem of human tragedy in the genre of science fiction (on the example of R. Bradbury’s works "Tomorrow's Child" and "The Veldt")

This article deals with the problem of relationships among people in the future, which are based not on respect and understanding of each other's value, but on absolute dependence on technical progress. The purpose of this work is to highlight the problem of humanity’s tragedy in the genre of science fiction, using the example of Ray Bradbury’s works „Tomorrow's Child” and „The Veldt”. Firstly, it is noted that the difference and, accordingly, the problem begins immediately with terminology, because there is no single stable definition of the term „fantasy” (as a generic phenomenon) in English-language science. The options offered by scientists are speculative fiction, fantastic fiction, fantasy literature. The author notes that science fiction (Sci-Fi) describes many different super important problems of the human society: technological progress, information wars, the desire of people to be immortal, powerful, rich, possessing the Universe. In fact, the tragedy of humanity begins from these desires. However, R. Bradbury’s works „Tomorrow's Child” and „The Veldt” have a wide range of topics, affecting aesthetic, intellectual, moral and scientific problems. In addition, the science fiction writer reveals his special interest in the inner world of the child. In the mentioned-above stories, the idea of the coexistence of people and the techno world is traced, which leads to a tragic situation. Covering the problem of humanity’s tragedy in the future, described back in the distant 1950s, R. Bradbury aims to present another idea of the future, he describes, at the same time, possible threats to us, and shows what significant consequences this can lead to.

Magiczny ironista. O "Szamańskiej chorobie" Jacka Hugo-Badera

The Magical Ironist. On "Shamanic Disease" by Jacek Hugo-Bader The purpose of this paper is to analyze Jacek Hugo-Bader’s novel reportage “Shamanic Disease” ("Szamańska choroba") understood as a blend of reportage and the conventions of magical realism. By utilizing ironic self-creation of the narrator in the reportage, Hugo-Bader’s discussion of belief in terms of problematization and thematization rather than as a fact-finding process through research does not violate the referential pact. The case study is a part of the discussion on both the literary reportage, which boldly combines the elements of journalism with licentia poetica, and on Melchior Wańkowicz’s “extension of the convention” of the reportage genre in Poland. In addition to the categories of realistic fiction and fantastic fiction – understood in the context of non-fiction – this paper will discuss a third element: magical fiction, which will be related to contemporary theories of performative ethnography. Celem artykułu jest analiza "Szamańskiej choroby" Jacka Hugo-Badera, rozpatrywanej jako reportażowa realizacja konwencji realizmu magicznego. Problematyzowanie i tematyzowanie wiary (a nie faktów i prowadzącego do ich poznania researchu) nie powoduje zerwania paktu referencjalnego dzięki ironicznej autokreacji podmiotu reporterskiego. Studium przypadku wpisuje się w dyskusje na temat literackiego reportażu, śmiało łączącego dziennikarskość z licentia poetica, oraz postulowanego przez Melchiora Wańkowicza „poszerzenia konwencji” tego gatunku. Uruchamiane w kontekście literatury faktu kategorie fikcji realistycznej i fikcji fantastycznej uzupełniam o element trzeci: fikcję magiczną, odnosząc się m.in. do współczesnych teorii etnografii performatywnej.

Quantitative biological data in Pliny’s Naturalis Historia: a comparison of records of human strength, size and endurance in the classic Roman books, with modern Olympic records

Roman author Pliny the Elder is mostly remembered for his book Natural History and for his death in AD 79, while observing the eruption of Vesuvius. For centuries, his book was read as fact, but problems detected in the 15th century damaged its credibility, to the point that in the 20th century it was seen as inspiration for fantastic fiction. However, in recent years, some experimental work has validated some previously rejected statements in Pliny’s book. Here, I compare Pliny’s claims about human strength, size and endurance and find that many of them are within the scope of modern Olympic records.

Debate on the merits of fantastic literature

The possible “value” of “fantastic” or non-mimetic literature has been the subject of an on-going debate. There is, obviously, the dispute between these critics (and academics) who regard non-mimetic literature to be inferior to truly “literary” mainstream fiction and deprived of “literary merit” and those who defend it. Additionally, within the proper field of “fantastic” literature criti-cism there exists an interesting, largely theoretical (but partly also ideological) argument about the merit of particular fantastic genres and cognitive modes that seem to be inherent to those genres. Finally, the status of particular works of fantastic fiction is often debated or questioned.The present paper attempts to initialize a comprehensive discussion on the merits of non-mi-metic (fantastic) literature. It summarizes the previous discourse on the subject and searches for the reasons of various discrepancies and confusion shrouding the field. It also undertakes to dem-onstrate that these discrepancies result primarily from different criteria applied, which are, in turn, determined not only by arbitrary tastes, but, first of all, by methodological, aesthetic, cognitive, and ideological approaches.The whole discussion will, hopefully, prepare the ground for an attempt to approximate poten-tial merits of the whole of non-mimetic fiction and analyze them initially from structural, cognitive, or cultural angles.