Az „izgalmas és titokzatos példa”

Lúdas Matyi (‘Matthew, the Goose Keeper, an original Hungarian tale’), an epic poem written by Mihály Fazekas in 1804 (published in 1815 and 1817 in Vienna), is the earliest known Hungarian variant of the tale type ATU 1538 (The Revenge of the Cheated Man). The poem has been interpreted as a pioneer work that introduced a peasant hero as well as the genre of the (despised) tale into Hungarian literature. Yet, hardly any variants of this tale type have been recorded from Hungarian oral tradition in the past two centuries. The author investigates this seeming contradiction, and analysing the eight oral variants as well as popular literacy argues that it was precisely the immense (written and theatrical) popularity of the plot that probably hindered the survival of an independent oral tradition of this tale.

The Uses of Literacy and the Cena Trimalchionis

The mental, cultural, and educational world of rich freedmen in the Roman Empire can be realistically reconstructed from the evidence throughout Petronius’ Cena. Such a study, supported by other literary texts where possible, and by epigraphic and artistic evidence where appropriate, sheds further light on just those questions of realism, narrative technique, and characterization which are so much in fashion in Petronian studies. It is no surprise to find functional literacy widespread among freedmen, since slave-owners were so easily able to augment the utility and commercial value of their slaves by training them within or outside the household, in basic literacy and in other skills. The latest epigraphic discoveries go far to confirm the general realism of the Cena and to explain some of the problems which Petronius’ text presents in respect of the engrossing question of popular literacy in the Roman world.

A Case of Handwriting

At this point the chapters catch up in time with the events narrated in the prologue. Chapter 5 begins by recounting George Nicholls’ discoveries in June 1921. The detective searched the Goodings’ and Swans’ houses and took from the Swans’ a quantity of blotting paper that bore the imprint of some of the libels. Rose Gooding’s handwriting was very different. When Sir Archibald Bodkin, the Director of Public Prosecutions, read Nicholls’ report, he declared that this was fundamentally ‘a case of handwriting’. How, Bodkin mused, could an ‘uneducated’ woman develop such a distinctive style? The chapter uses Bodkin’s reaction to Rose Gooding’s letters, the evidence provided by spelling and misspelling, and the inventory of writing paraphernalia in the Gooding and Swan households, to explore the relationship between popular literacy and agency, engaging with the recent work of Jane Caplan and Patrick Joyce.

The Implications of Literacy Teaching Models

First year students often experience a culture shock as certain literacy practices at the university level are different from their experiences in high schools. Some major challenges that students encounter include students’ ability to maintain academic integrity practices in their studies, to comprehend complex academic texts to outline key ideas, and to communicate confidently and effectively in diverse academic genres. As these challenges are common, often universities offer activities to assist students’ with their academic enculturation process. The three popular literacy teaching models currently in practice are the generic, embedded and literacies models. All the three models offer challenges in their effective practice. By evaluating the ethnographic data from the models used at UNSW Canberra Academic Language Learning Unit (ALL), this paper argues that in line with Lea and Street’s (2006) discussion, literacies is the most effective approach for developing students’ lifelong skills for effective communication, reading and critical thinking. Literary teaching should involve an advanced inquiry into writing practices in diverse disciplines helping students’ identifying and practicing using language devices and rhetorical structures in academic genres.

‘THE TIME OF THE LEAFLET’: PAMPHLETS AND POLITICAL COMMUNICATION IN THE UPA (NORTHERN ANGOLA, AROUND 1961)

ABSTRACTIn March 1961, war broke out in Northern Angola. The Portuguese authorities attributed the violence to the UPA – a nationalist movement led by Northern Angolan immigrants resident in Congo. The movement's leadership tried to keep in contact with its (potential) followers in Northern Angola by various means, pamphlets being one of the most important. Written for a local audience, these pamphlets provide an insight into the inner lines of communication – and internal hierarchies – of the nationalist movement. By using Darnton's ‘communication circuit’ model, this article investigates the processes of writing, distributing and reading the pamphlets and analyses their generic characteristics, and their position in a tradition of regional popular literacy. In so doing, an interpretation is offered of the social history of the pamphlets: they are treated as a historical subject in their own right. While they can be read as anti-colonial tracts, it is shown that the pamphlets' main concern is to establish the mandate of a leadership in exile over a constituency in Northern Angola.