Development of the “literary evolution” concept by Yuri Tynyanov in the works of Sergei Averintsev

Since the concept of “literary evolution” proposed by Yuri Tynyanov could not be applied to the late Soviet official literature, Sergei Averintsev using this concept examined the relationship between philosophy, sophistry, rhetorics and everyday consciousness in classical Greece. Tynyanov's theory of “parallel series” turned out to be productive for the reconstruction of the tasks of the ancient philosopher and for the interpretation of Plato's dialogues. According Averintsev, Plato acted within the sophistic field, creating irreducible terminology and untranslatable phrases as a moment of the entire further evolution of Western literature. Consideration of Russian formalism as the context of Averintsev's thought proves his contribution to the discussion of Platonism as a tool for posing philosophical problems and of the perspective of philosophy in the postcolonial discussion.

Jeremiah and Inner Biblical Exegesis

Bringing inner biblical exegesis as a methodology to the study of Jeremiah has opened venues to discuss Jeremiah in two quite separate spheres: The book and its literary evolution, as well as the prophetic activity in its early oral-written stages. This chapter is aimed at presenting the great benefits and the many pitfalls that these cross-lines (of methodology and Jeremiah) provide for the study of the prophetic book, and not least, for the basic methodological presumptions of inner biblical exegesis as part of the study of intertextuality in prophetic literature. Focusing on interpretive (i.e., adaptation/actualization) techniques within the plethora of intertextual relationships, this chapter takes the utilization of pentateuchal traditions (rarely, texts) in Jeremiah as a case study, and calls to question some of the basic scholarly assumptions concerning Jeremiah: the differences of style (poetry and prose) and the options to differentiate the prophet from his followers/tradents/editors.

Natural Disasters and the Rise of the Modern Prometheus

The aim of this paper is to present a specific literary evolution in the context of catastrophes brought by war, revolutions, pandemics, and natural disaster. Discussing works by Daniel Defoe and the Byron–Shelley circle, we will observe how traumatic events influenced literary and artistic expression, reflecting the social, political, and historical context of the authors’ lives. People tend to relate to heroes and myths more easily in times of crisis, hoping to find force and motivation in their fight for survival and improvement. The myth of Prometheus as a benefactor of mankind was one of the most influential for romantics, with Byron and Shelley casting him as a revolutionary hero that helps man combat the tyranny of his oppressors. Mythopoeic romantic poets such as Blake, Byron, and Shelley hoped to animate their fellows with their revolutionary creation into fighting against autocracy and for their liberties. Mary Shelley, on the other hand, turned Prometheus from the mythical ancient hero of humanity into the modern romantic anti-hero, creating in the process the first modern work of science-fiction.

From Confessio to Calderón de la Barca: the Literary Evolution of St. Patrick’s Biography and the Question of his Legacy

In the following text, I will discuss the gradual erosion of historical accuracy in connection to a series of hagiographic texts concerning the biography of Saint Patrick, Ireland’s patron saint. I will outline each one against a wide historical and cultural backdrop and subsequently ascertain whether or not the changes that hagiographers introduced over the centuries have been detrimental to his legacy. The texts I have chosen to analyse can be separated into two major time periods: the first being the trio of works that construct the absolute basics of the Saint Patrick legend, all originating from the 5th to 7th centuries, which are the autobiographical Confessio, with its heavy focus on relaying a Christian moral about sin, and the historical sources Bishop Tírechán's Account of St. Patrick's Journey and Muirchú's Life of St. Patrick. With these early hagiographic texts serving as reference points, I will, however, primarily study two Spanish Patrician works from the 17th Century: Pérez de Montalbán’s 1627 work Vida y Purgatorio de San Patricio and Pedro Calderón de la Barca’s play El purgatorio de San Patricio, or The Purgatory of Saint Patrick in its English translation. Within my analysis I will determine whether or not the changes integrated into his story by Montalbán and Calderón in fact matter to the overall legacy of Saint Patrick in the modern-day and if they had any lasting impact to readers, bearing in mind that both texts, more or less, retain the essentials of his Christian message and promote him as an exemplary spiritual figure within history.

Literaire dynamiek, anders bekeken. De heropstanding van de poëzie in Vlaanderen na de Tweede Wereldoorlog

This article discusses the ongoing crisis in the field of literary studies, relating these problems and challenges to the problem of writing literary histories. It advocates a functionalist approach to literary phenomena, taking into account institutional frames and discursive strategies which are developed in order to structure and legitimize literary practices and literary evolution. These theoretical and methodological premises are applied to the very complex years immediately after the Second World War in Flanders (the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium). In particular, it is demonstrated how the very notion of ‘classicist poetry’ as a defensive practice clearly reveals an intricate variety of conceptions aimed at tackling the problems poets are confronted with in a new era.

The vampires of A. V. Ivanov in light of the gothic tradition of Russian Literature

The object of this research is the novel “Food Block” by A. V. Ivanov and the realization of aesthetics of the horror genre therein. The goal is to establish correlation between the gothic tradition of Russian literature and modern horror literature based on the works of the indicated authors. The article examines the influence of the gothic romantic tradition upon composition and imaginary system of A. K. Tolstoy’s novella. The material of A. V. Ivanov’s novel indicates resorting to the literary tradition on the level of composition and individual images; while overall, the historical experience accumulated by the genre over the decades and significant impact of cinematography manifested on the level of cinematographic techniques. The conclusion is made that in the novel by A. V. Ivanov, the mystical attributes of vampirism, which coincide with the pioneer symbolism, have political implications, which contradicts the horror traditions in gothics. Novellas “The Vampire” and" The Family of the Vourdalak” are the result of accumulation of gothic motifs, such as family curse, mystical house, dream, and portrait that came alive. Comparison of the techniques of creating horror literature allows tracing the paths of literary evolution, and formulating conclusions on modernization of the genre at the present stage. The novelty of this research is define by insufficient research of the topic of typological and genetic links between gothic and modern horror, namely in the works of A. V. Ivanov.

Afterword

The afterword evaluates the potential ranges of the methodology for reading comparative modernism proposed in The Evolutions of Modernist Epic. Many more epic works than those discussed in detail could be analyzed in relation to the eclipse of Darwinism in the early twentieth century. These include, for instance, Marcel Proust’s In Search of Lost Time. In addition, there are a number of benefits promised by a thorough understanding of biocentric modernism. Hitherto, however, little attention has been paid to the eclipse and its impact on modernism. One reason for this is that for many years the eclipse was regarded as a scientific mistake. The afterword describes how scholars of evolution, including Lynn Margulis, Elizabeth Grosz, and others, have come to reconsider its place in relation to Neo-Darwinism. It is within this larger reconsideration that it is worthwile returning to modernist epic as a source for radical thinking about human and literary evolution.

Joyce’s Atavism and the New Ireland

Atavism plays a central role in James Joyce’s Ulysses. Describing the return of an earlier evolutionary state in the present, atavism, at the beginning of the twentieth century, was loosely associated both with the epic genre (itself a kind of fossil) and with supposedly less-developed nations. This chapter argues that Joyce shaped Ulysses as a response to both associations. Joyce rejected the idea that literature evolves or improves through history. He also recognized that Ireland lost out when seen through the hierarchies of social Darwinism. In order to counter both, he presented Ireland’s modernity in terms of Homer’s Odyssey. Bringing back the deep past as radically contemporary, Joyce’s fiction questions our assumptions about the archaic and primitive as well as the progressive nature of national and literary history. In Ulysses, scientific ideas of biological and literary evolution are subordinated into Joyce’s own idiosyncratic vitalism to produce a new and quite queer national vision. In a series of detailed readings of various episodes, including “Oxen of the Sun,” “Cyclops,” and “Proteus,” the chapter establishes the logic of Joyce’s imagined lifeword. It then suggests how Joyce’s work on atavism reveals a larger trend in modernist epic fiction, opening up to this book’s rereading of the genre more generally.

El espíritu olímpico en Occidente desde sus orígenes en Grecia y los Juegos Olímpicos de Tokio (1964-2021)

Given the importance that sport has acquired in today’s society and the futuristic relevance that the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021 have achieved, this study proposes to focus on sport and the Olympics as a literary and artistic phenomenon in Japan, analyzing the main connotations of the Japanese imaginary, in contrast to the West. The presentation of the historical-literary layout in relation to the theme of sport and the Olympics throughout the history of literature supposes the verification of the enormous amount of archetypes that can be found in the 21st century. All this highlights, at least qualitatively, the importance of sport as a literary, mythological and artistic subject between 1964 and 2020, period on which we will try to focus our critical and analytical vision, highlighting the main literary skills used to immortalize this world event, ritualized since the Greco-Latin era. We will also carry out an analysis of the literary and philosophical meaning of the Olympics and of the Olympic athlete as a character in Western antiquity and of the Olympics and the athlete in Japanese antiquity, rescuing the ritual and literary evolution until the current century

“I Kept No Silence...” (on the Peculiarities of N. M. Karamzin’s Civil Position)

The article examines the forms and methods of manifestation of Karamzin’s civic position. The novelty of the approach lies in the fact that the stated problem is considered in the context of the literary evolution of the writer, in chronological sequence, as well as in the aspect of addressing. The author analyzes odes dedicated to Russian rulers, “Historical praise to Catherine II”, historical essays, journalistic articles by Karamzin, “History of the Russian state”, a note “On ancient and new Russia...”, “Opinion of a Russian citizen”, as well as the historiographer’s direct oral and written appeals to Emperor Alexander (conversations with him, letters to him). In the course of the study, the image of the Russian historian-citizen, proclaimer of truth, a wise mentor, who appears as an intermediary between the people and the government, indicates to the monarch and compatriots specific directions and methods of activity, is revealed. That makes obvious Karamzin’s transition from mythologizing Russian rulers in the genre of ode and “Historical Praise to Catherine” to documentary substantiation and rigor in their assessment, to direct instructions to the tsar in the note “On Ancient and New Russia...”, in the “Opinion of a Russian Citizen” and, finally, to the eloquent silence.