"Shaping and Cutting and Improving and Adding": Acknowledged and Hidden Influences in Scott Westerfeld's Uglies series and Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials

<p>This thesis aims to identify and analyse the most prominent influences on Scott Westerfeld's Uglies series and Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy. It looks particularly at the difference between the authors' attitude towards influences they happily acknowledge and those influences which they attempt to conceal because they cause them anxiety (in the case of Westerfeld) or embarrassment (in the case of Pullman). This focus, combined with the speculative analysis of His Dark Materials' influence on Extras, the fourth book of the Uglies series, is intended to show the variability of literary influence. Comparative close readings throughout the thesis display the variety of ways influences are used within the texts, and illustrate the factors on which their use is dependent: the compatibility of the latecomer text with its precursor, the author's opinion of the earlier work, and the reading the author makes of the precursor text. Pullman's acknowledgement of influences is dependent on whether he considers them worthy precursors (in the case of Heinrich von Kleist, William Blake, and John Milton) or an embarrassing ancestor (in the case of C. S. Lewis). Westerfeld's is dependent on how similar his precursor works are to his own texts, as he does not acknowledge the obvious influence of Aldous Huxley, but happily names Ray Bradbury, John Christopher, Ted Chiang, and Charles Beaumont as influences. The thesis shows that the use of literary influences is not straightforward as one author may, as Westerfeld and Pullman do, display different attitudes to and appropriate precursor texts in differing ways within one work.</p>

"Shaping and Cutting and Improving and Adding": Acknowledged and Hidden Influences in Scott Westerfeld's Uglies series and Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials

<p>This thesis aims to identify and analyse the most prominent influences on Scott Westerfeld's Uglies series and Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy. It looks particularly at the difference between the authors' attitude towards influences they happily acknowledge and those influences which they attempt to conceal because they cause them anxiety (in the case of Westerfeld) or embarrassment (in the case of Pullman). This focus, combined with the speculative analysis of His Dark Materials' influence on Extras, the fourth book of the Uglies series, is intended to show the variability of literary influence. Comparative close readings throughout the thesis display the variety of ways influences are used within the texts, and illustrate the factors on which their use is dependent: the compatibility of the latecomer text with its precursor, the author's opinion of the earlier work, and the reading the author makes of the precursor text. Pullman's acknowledgement of influences is dependent on whether he considers them worthy precursors (in the case of Heinrich von Kleist, William Blake, and John Milton) or an embarrassing ancestor (in the case of C. S. Lewis). Westerfeld's is dependent on how similar his precursor works are to his own texts, as he does not acknowledge the obvious influence of Aldous Huxley, but happily names Ray Bradbury, John Christopher, Ted Chiang, and Charles Beaumont as influences. The thesis shows that the use of literary influences is not straightforward as one author may, as Westerfeld and Pullman do, display different attitudes to and appropriate precursor texts in differing ways within one work.</p>

The Problem of the Uniqueness of Ambrosiaster on the Material of his Commentary on the Epistle of St. Paul to the Romans

Амвросиаст, анонимный римский экзегет IV в., известный рядом комментариев на отдельные места и книги Священного Писания. Самой крупной его работой является корпус из XIII комментариев на послания ап. Павла, среди которых центральное место занимает толкование на послание ап. Павла к Римлянам. Вопрос литературного влияния на формирование стиля и идей Амвросиаста остаётся до сих пор не вполне выясненным. И хотя исследований о литературных связях изучаемого автора с прочими латинскими писателями существует довольно много, но работы о его связях с восточными экзегетами практически отсутствуют. При этом некоторые учёные отмечают сходства экзегетического подхода и некоторых идей Амвросиаста с традицией Антиохийской школы. В настоящей статье предпринимается попытка систематизировать сведения о литературных связях и зависимости Амвросиаста, а также описываются результаты сравнительного анализа толкований римского экзегета и Диодора Тарсийского на послание ап. Павла к Римлянам. Делается вывод о необходимости и перспективах более глубокого исследования литературной взаимозависимости Диодора Тарсийского и Амвросиаста. Ambrosiaster, an anonymous Roman exegete of the 4th century, known for a number of commentaries on certain passages and books of Holy Scripture. His largest work is the corpus of the XIII Commentaries on the Epistles of St. Paul, among which the central place is occupied by the interpretation of the epistle of St. Paul to the Romans. The question of literary influence on the formation of the style and ideas of Ambrosiaster remains still not entirely clear. And although there are quite a lot of studies on the literary connections of the studied author with other Latin writers, there are practically no works on his connections with Eastern exegetes. At the same time, some scholars note the similarities between the exegetical approach and some ideas of Ambrosiaster with the tradition of the Antiochian school. This article attempts to systematize information about the literary connections and dependence of Ambrosiaster, and also describes the results of a comparative analysis of the interpretations of the Roman exegete and Diodorus of Tarsus on the epistle of St. Paul to the Romans. The conclusion is made about the necessity and prospects of a deeper study of the literary interdependence of Diodorus of Tarsus and Ambrosiaster.

Lafcadio Hearn and Russia

The article studies the reception of the Anglo-American writer Lafcadio Hearn in Russia. The author analyzes the literary influence of L. Hearn on K. Balmont and his individual mythology, reveals the connection with such Russian cultural figures as S. Eisenstein and P. Florensky. The essay “Living God” by L. Hearn is compared with its translation by K. Balmont. The use of color in works by L. Hearn is considered from the standpoint of Eisenstein’s sound and visual correspondences.

Post-historiographical metafiction: Maggie O’Farrrell’s Hamnet

Maggie O’Farrell’s Hamnet (2020), the novel about Shakespeare’s son and wife, is considered as the continuation of postmodernist interest in Shakespeare exemplified by A. Burgess’s and R. Nye’s novels about the Bard. However, O’Farrell’s approach to history through the lens of everyday family life, her present-tense narrative and especially her manner of reinterpreting the historical facts all point to another, more recent literary influence – Hilary Mantel’s Cromwell novels.

Sublimity by fiat

Longinus’ On the Sublime is thought to have been ushered onto the English literary scene by Boileau’s Traité du Sublime (1674). The search for antecedents to Boileau has yielded scattered references in Rainolds, Chapman, Junius, Milton, and a few rhetorical textbooks, but not enough to indicate a school of thought or even particular enthusiasm. The reception of Langbaine’s Latin translation of 1636 hardly predicts the vast literary influence the treatise would wield by the end of the century. A more promising readership may, however, be suggested by a string of citations in seventeenth-century sermons. In Longinus’ quotation from Genesis and praise of Moses’s oratory, clergymen found literary and rhetorical roots for their explorations of divine sublimity. Developing alongside Longinus’ reception in Christian rhetorics, these citations offer an alternative route for the early association of On the Sublime with Milton’s Christian epic, and its eventual entry into the literary mainstream.

IMAGE SPIRITUALITY AND COLOR TRUTH IN HISTORICAL WORKS

The article is devoted to the study of the mastery of Alisher Navoi's innovative creativity in the use of color in historical works. A number of examples were given of the fact that color is an important tool in illuminating historical reality. In particular, the problem of color compatibility is being addressed for the first time from a historical and artistic point of view. For example, in the work "Tarixi anbiyo va hukamo", modified forms of the words white, green, black, red, yellow, blue are used, which mean color, as well as their meanings from other languages. It is found that only the first three of these words are found, which express color in "Tarihi muluki Ajam". It has been proven that some colors in the color system equate to a word that is an expression of evil, oppression, anger, evil or good and beauty without further explanation or explanation. It is also shown that all the works of the poet represent a single literary canvas, each of which has a comple-mentary, enriching and developing character.Key words: color, symbol, harmony, history, tradition, innovation, literary influence, artistic skill, image, appearance, language features, white, black, red, yellow, green

ALISHER NAVOI CENTURY AND PROSE IN ALMAZ ULVIY RESEARCH

The article is devoted to the analysis of the monograph “The Epoch and Prose of Alisher Navoi” (scientific-philological and religious-mystical works), published in 2020 as a result of many years of scientific research by the Azerbaijani Navoi scientist Almaz Ulvi. This monograph, published in Baku by the publishing house “Ilm and Takhsil” as the 11th book in the series “Scientific passport of the artist” of the Institute of Literature named after Nizami Ganjavi of the National Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan, includes “Alisher Navoi: the pages of his time, life and work”, “Chronol-ogy of the scientific-philological and religious-mystical works of Amir Alisher Navoi mentioned in the study”, “Works on language and literature”, “Sanads” , “Biographical works”, “Tazkiras”, “Historical works”, “Religious works”, “Uncollected and unwritten works of Alisher Navoi”, “Lit-erary nicknames of Alisher Navoi”, “Great Herat”. At the same time, the study provides informa-tion on the availability of such applications as a list of poets mentioned in “Majalis un-nafois” and a list of poets, saints and sheikhs mentioned in “Nasaim ul-muhabbat”. The article also notes that 61 copies of the manuscript of Alisher Navoi and 37 copies of his diwans in Azerbaijan were stud-ied by Bakir Chobanzoda, Hamid Arasli, Kulamhuseyn Aliyev, Jannat Nagiyeva, Nushaba Arasli, Temur Karimli, Tarlon Guliyev, Almaz Ulviy and other scientists.Key words: Chigatay literature, Alisher Navoi, Azerbaijani literature, Navoi studies, diwan, prose, manuscript, literary influence, tradition, heritage

Literary Modernity and the Emancipation of Voice

Chapter 1 approaches the literary manifesto as an exemplary form of literary modernity, which writers all over the world used in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries to declare bold new conceptions of literature and aesthetics. It focuses on texts by Percy Bysshe Shelley and Lu Xun, major writers whose critical sophistication and wide-ranging erudition have made their work sources of both literary influence and forces in ongoing legacies of cultural critique. While the chapter focuses on Shelley’s 1821 A Defence of Poetry and Lu Xun’s 1908 “On the Power of Mara Poetry” and “Toward a Refutation of Malevolent Voices,” it refers also more widely to other of these authors’ writings that sustain and extend the preoccupation with the emancipatory power of poetic voice found in the aforementioned literary manifestoes.

Feline Affinities Between E.T.A. Hoffmann’s The Life and Opinions of the Tomcat Murr and Natsume Sōseki’s I Am a Cat

Natsume Sōseki (1867-1916) was an eclectic writer and voracious reader during a historical period when western literary influence flourished in Japan. This article hypothesizes that the German novel, The Life and Opinions of Tomcat Murr (1819-1821), by E.T.A. Hoffmann (1776-1822), is as strong a formative influence in terms of structure and satirical perspective on Sōseki&rsquo;s novel, I Am a Cat (1905-1907), as other satiric contenders. It pursues this argument by examining correlations between these two polyphonic novels which mix many registers and discourses in a similar way. Biographical, historical and literary analysis underpins this comparison.