Re-reading Do Haath as an Intersectional Text: Ismat Chughtai and Dalits

Even though scholars and feminists have accused intersectional theory for being superficial, inadequate, context bereft and fashionably more populist than academic, its applicability in addressing multi-layered forms of discrimination cannot be ignored. It is against this background that the article, through a deconstructive reading of an Urdu short story, Do Haath, highlights the challenges of the protagonist, the Dalit household, comprised primarily of women. Besides discussing the intersectional subjects of the story, this article questions the deliberate omissions of the multiply disadvantageous people such as the Dalit-Muslim women, also known as the Pasmanda women from feminist, Dalit and subaltern discourses. Furthermore, this article foregrounds intersectionality framework to understand the multiplicative nature of oppression and discrimination that Pasmanda women are subjected to, and how by excluding them from their respective agenda, feminist and Dalit activists have contributed towards their perpetual marginality. Finally, the article suggests that intersectionality framework should be used to understand moments of celebratory resilience in the lives of intersectional subjects.

‘Forlorn on the Fringe of Life’: Exploring Working-Class Childhood in Katherine Mansfield’s Short Stories

In Katherine Mansfield’s short story ‘Life of Ma Parker’, the old, widowed charwoman is plagued by ‘unbearable’ thoughts of her deceased grandson Lennie: ‘Why did he have to suffer so?’ Lennie’s unfortunate death in the story is not a solitary instance of tragic portrayal of working-class childhood in Mansfield’s short fiction. In several of her tales she empathetically explores the marginalized existence of such children, occasionally juxtaposing their deplorable existence with their elite counterparts’. From social exclusion, child labour, parental rejection, infant and child mortality on the one hand to physical and verbal abuse, bullying in the school and appalling living conditions on the other; Mansfield's exploration of the working-class childhood in her short fiction is not only psychologically complex but sociologically significant. Focusing on the relevant short stories in her oeuvre, this brief analysis intends to closely examine such depictions of marginalized childhood experiences, particularly in light of the oppressive societal conditions that validate their repressive alienation and sufferings. Tracing various biographical circumstances that may have fostered Mansfield’s deep empathy with the children’s’ predicament, this analysis also draws attention to her subtle oblique narrative strategies that effectively represent the plight of working-class children in a convincing and an ingeniously nuanced manner.

Bram Stoker

The affable and popular theater manager Bram Stoker was born in Clontarf, Ireland, to Abraham and Charlotte Stoker in 1847, into an Irish Protestant (although not Anglo-Irish) family. After a sickly childhood he grew into a robust sportsman, and attended Trinity College Dublin from 1864 to 1866, finally graduating with a BA in 1870. Following in his father’s footsteps, he joined the Irish Civil Service in 1866, where he had the opportunity to travel around Ireland as a clerk of Petty Sessions, while also becoming an unpaid theater reviewer for the Dublin Evening Mail from 1871 to 1878, and publishing his first short story, “The Crystal Cup,” in London Society 1872. This he followed with a short novel, The Primrose Path, and two short stories, “The Chain of Destiny” and “Buried Treasures,” all in the periodical The Shamrock in 1875. In 1878 he left Dublin with his wife Florence to take up the position of acting manager of Henry Irving’s Lyceum Theatre in London, and fulfilled this role until Irving’s death in 1905, also managing several American tours. In the earlier part of this period, Stoker managed to publish more fiction, including a first collection of short stories, Under the Sunset (1881), and then his first truly accomplished novel, The Snake’s Pass, set in rural Ireland, in 1890. Short but memorable pieces, “The Squaw” and “The Man from Shorrox,” appeared in periodicals in 1893 and 1894, and then two novels, The Watter’s Mou’, based on his knowledge of Cruden Bay near Aberdeen, and The Shoulder of Shasta, both 1895. Dracula, his most famous work, the product of seven years of research and rewriting, appeared in 1897, followed by a Restoration-era romance of much less merit, Miss Betty, in 1898. The Edwardian era saw his rate of productivity increase with The Mystery of the Sea (1902), another romance set in Cruden Bay, The Jewel of Seven Stars (1903), a Gothic “mummy” story, The Man (1905), Personal Reminiscences of Henry Irving in 1906 (his most successful work in sales terms), and Lady Athlyne and Snowbound (a collection of theatrical short stories), both in 1908. His final, post-theater years were beset with ill health and monetary problems, as he resorted to journalism to supplement his income. However, he also produced the topical Balkan romance The Lady of the Shroud in 1909, and the chaotic The Lair of the White Worm in 1911, before dying the next year, his vibrant personality quietly mourned by London society.

"Ett löfte om lycka"

In this essay, I explore an innovative theme in the interfaces between theology, gender studies, aesthetic theory, and literary studies. More specifically, my aim is to shed light on fundamental theological conflicts underlying the immensely complex subject of the elevated status of "the beautiful woman" as image and idea in Western society. This will be implemented through a close reading of the influential short story of French nineteenth-century novelist Honoré de Balzac, Le Chef-d'œuvre inconnu (The Unknown Masterpiece), from 1831. By virtue of this theologically informed reading, important facets of modern Western society's fantasy of the beautiful woman come to the fore. The essay discloses how this fantasy has far-reaching tentacles and ramifications, by which the beautiful female becomes identified with beauty per se, with art, nature, the divine, and even with life itself. Balzac's short story presents the reader with a strong statement of the scopophilic tendency of Western visual arts, but in its final peripeteia it also provides us with the tools to bring forth a contrary reading, and a direct confrontation with the traditional understanding of the task of the painter.

TRANSLATION OF KOREAN-INDONESIAN SHORT STORIES: AN ANALYSIS OF CLASS AND SEMANTIC SHIFTS OF ADVERBS OF MODALITY

This study discusses class and semantic shifts of adverbs of modality in the Korean short story and its Bahasa Indonesia translation in the short story anthology of ‘Langit dan Kupu-Kupu. This study aims to identify how the adverbs of modality original text change into a different word class in the target text. The sources of data in this study were six Korean short stories entitled ‘Dua Generasi yang Teraniaya’, ‘Seoul Musim Dingin 1964’, ‘Jalan ke Sampho’, ‘Bung Kim di Kampung Kami’, ‘Dinihari ke Garis Depan’, dan ‘Betulkah? Saya Jerapah’ and its Indonesian translation. This study was conducted using a descriptive qualitative method, and the design of a linguistic corpus was used to collect analytical data. The analysis results found that from 46 adverbs of modality, four translated adverbs remained classified as adverbs. At the same time, the other ten words change their class into pronouns, nouns, particles, adjectives, and verbs. Additionally, the other 32 words have a combination of adverbs and other word classes. Furthermore, of the 290 adverb words in the source text, 143 words were accurately translated, 100 were deleted, and 47 changed their meaning in the TT. In the translation of Korean-Indonesian short stories, the shifting technique is used to adjust differences between Korean and Indonesian grammar systems. Translators also make a shift in the word's meaning of short stories as long as they do not deviate from the context and message in the ST to produce a natural translation that TL readers can easily understand.

Significance of Short Story Cycle in Rachel Joyce’s A Snow Garden and Other Stories: An Analytical Study Using Complexity Theory

Rachel Joyce’s short story collection A Snow Garden and Other Stories (2015) is composed of seven stories which occur during a fortnight of the holiday, Christmas season. The collection uses narrative techniques which make it a unique set of stories. The stories have an urban setting and examine the intricacies of human relationships. The sense of interconnection highlighted by Joyce in the stories elevates it to a short story cycle. A short story cycle consists of individual stories which can stand on their own as complete narratives while also maintaining fictional links running through all the stories. The paper is an attempt to establish A Snow Garden and Other Stories as a short story cycle. It also argues that by narrating the interconnected nature of human lives Joyce’s work is exploring life as a complex system. As a scientific philosophy complexity theory explores the behavior of complex systems including human societies. Complex systems are self-organizing, dynamic, evolving networks that operate without any centralized control, similar to human societies. This paper will apply the principles of complex systems to reveal patterns of human behavior represented in Joyce’s work.

Tourist Literature and the Architecture of Travel in Olga Tokarczuk and Patti Smith

This chapter analyses two travel narratives within the scope of literature and tourism studies, aiming to explore the motivations to undertake journeying and the experience of (literary) pilgrims. The first is the novel Flights, by Olga Tokarczuk (2007), and the second is “How the Mind Works,” by Patti Smith (2017). This chapter defines the umbrella concept of “tourist literature” and takes a cross-disciplinary perspective combining the hermeneutics process with findings from the literature review on tourism studies. The analysis of Flights reveals the touring identity and experience of a pilgrim and reflections about airports, travel guides, tourists, and their syndromes. The analysis of Patti Smith's short story uncovers the touring identity and experience of a literary pilgrim who is strongly motivated to undertake literary-inspired trips towards the authors' places.

President Greenwald's Man

To what degree do serious issues require serious consequences for politicians who fail to address them? Should politicians who fail to keep campaign promises have greater consequences than not being reelected? In this work of philosophical short story fiction, Brian Greenwald is running a unique presidential campaign. Not only is he a single-issue candidate for stopping global warming, but an ominous figure follows him everywhere with the promise to kill him at the end of his term if he fails to move the needle. The electorate knows this, and elects Greenwald President in a landslide. Everything he does in office is focused on the single goal of lower greenhouse gas emissions. At the end of his first term emissions have gone flat, but not down. By the end of his second term, even after exceptional efforts, global greenhouse gas emissions have failed to significantly fall. Good to his word, the ominous figure kills him for failing to deliver.