The Ecology of Communicative Contact in English-Speaking Discourse

The article explores the ecological essence of English-speaking discourse as optimal ratio of phatic and informational content in contacts of addressants and addresees in different spheres of communication. Unison and dissonant contacts are distinguished as ecological and non-ecological communicative contacts. The set of standards and rules of verbal and non-verbal behavior in English society organizes and regulates communicative process. The type of situation and the addressee are leading factors on three stages of contact: establishing, maintaining and breaking. The findings are supported with the examples taken from the English discourse.

Confessional conflicts of the Reformation era as a factor of formation of the English people

Статья посвящена анализу дискуссий в британской историографии по проблемам Реформации и её воздействию на английское общество. Данная проблематика рассматривается в контексте различных методологических подходов, актуальных в разное время и в разных направлениях исторической науки. Это позволяет исследовать английскую Реформацию с самых разных ракурсов, от политического до культурно-антропологического, что помогает создать её комплексную картину. The article analyses the debates of the British historians of the second half of XX century on the problems of Reformation and its effects on the English society. These problems are viewed in the context of various research methods, from the political ones till cultural anthropology. It gives a complex picture of English Reformation.

"“The climbing boys” and the English society in the Industrial age: public pressure and legislative changes"

The practice of the climbing boys in the business of sweeping chimneys was spread in England during the Industrial Age (18th - 19th c.). The question of boys’ exploitation is part of the problem of child labour, but it precedes and outlives the overall child exploitation in the factories and mines. This is a sphere where the English society demonstrates conservatism and reluctance to change the attitude to the children of the poor families. The needed legislation was postponed and cost several generations of miserable and deprived boys, losing their health, and often their lives in the chimneys of the rich owners of buildings and mansions. The compassion of some citizens was not enough to convince the lawmakers that the life of children was more valuable than their houses. This was the main topic of the discussions between the lords and the reformers in the Parliament. The struggle for the protection of the climbing boys started in the late 18th c. and is considered successfully finished with the Act of 1875.

‘Newly unfrozen senses and imagination’

When Shelley arrived in Italy in spring 1818, his first sustained literary endeavour was a translation of Plato’s Symposium. The translation is a brilliant achievement: it testifies to Shelley’s genius as a translator (Euripides, Homer, Goethe, Calderón). Shelley’s decision to translate was motivated by a desire to demonstrate for Mary (who could not read Greek) the true character of Athenian culture, with its emphasis on homosexuality. The Platonic ideas are also of significance in the context of Shelley’s experience of English society in the period leading up to his departure for Italy. His overt and published radicalism, sexual libertarianism, and atheism had cost him custody of his children, and the need to mute his views is demonstrated in his recognition that the Symposium translation could not legally be published in England. Its dramatic structure also points to new dimensions in the mature Italian work which immediately followed the translation.

Political Prophecy in Elizabethan England

<p>This thesis examines political prophecy in England during the reign of Elizabeth I (1558-1603). The belief that foreknowledge of events could be attained through means such as the practice of astrology, revelation from God, or the interpretation of supposedly prophetic texts was widespread in English society during the early modern period. This thesis discusses how those both within and outside of the government used prophecy in their engagement with the political issues which faced England during Elizabeth’s reign, especially in relation to religion and the succession. Because prophecy offered a source of authority for political change it was often employed in opposition to established authorities, prompting legislation criminalising seditious prophecies and printed works condemning them. By examining a wide range of primary sources, including assize records, Privy Council reports, depositions, diplomatic and administrative correspondence, and printed tracts and sermons, this thesis reveals how prophecy pervaded the political culture of Elizabethan England.</p>

Political Prophecy in Elizabethan England

<p>This thesis examines political prophecy in England during the reign of Elizabeth I (1558-1603). The belief that foreknowledge of events could be attained through means such as the practice of astrology, revelation from God, or the interpretation of supposedly prophetic texts was widespread in English society during the early modern period. This thesis discusses how those both within and outside of the government used prophecy in their engagement with the political issues which faced England during Elizabeth’s reign, especially in relation to religion and the succession. Because prophecy offered a source of authority for political change it was often employed in opposition to established authorities, prompting legislation criminalising seditious prophecies and printed works condemning them. By examining a wide range of primary sources, including assize records, Privy Council reports, depositions, diplomatic and administrative correspondence, and printed tracts and sermons, this thesis reveals how prophecy pervaded the political culture of Elizabethan England.</p>

Feminist Criticism in Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse and Ibrahim Ahmed’s Janî Gel

This paper investigates the concepts of Feminism and Feminist Criticisms to identify their features in two novels; Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse and Ibrahim Ahmed’s Janî Gel. The theoretical and historical backgrounds of Feminism and the other Feminist Criticisms are presented according to their importance. The paper then introduces the two novels by presenting their plot summary. This paper tries to answer how two prominent writers, one British and one Kurdish, discuss women issues. The author wants to investigate whether both writers’ cultural upbringing and social background affect the way they present women in their respective novels. Through quotations taken from the novels, one learns about the writers’ ideas regarding women’s issues; economic, social, psychological, and political. In conclusion, the present study argues that women’s experiences in English society and Kurdish society have many similarities; however, despite the many similarities, there lay differences regarding the attitudes of both writers towards women issues and representation. For instance, Wood presents an ideal female character to oppose women’s traditional roles in society in her novel. On the other hand, Ahmed paints vivid imagery of what women go through without solid women characters. Thus, this paper hopes to provide future students and researchers with helpful material on Feminism, Feminist Criticisms, and the analysis of both novels, especially the Kurdish one, since research is scarce on it.

J. M. Coetzee and the Failures of Reason

<p>In a speech delivered in Stockholm in acceptance of the 2003 Nobel Prize for Literature, J.M. Coetzee told the story of Robinson Crusoe's life as a wealthy but haunted writer following his return to English society. Entitled "He and his Man," this brief narrative focuses on the absolute gap between the purportedly self-aware individual and the linguistic subject that stands behind the works of fiction set down on paper by this individual's hand; the imaginary figure - perhaps corresponding to Daniel Defoe himself, creator of the original Robinson Crusoe - who travels about the countryside collecting fantastical stories even as the writer sits at his desk waiting for inspiration to come. Crusoe himself lives a quiet life that for the most part involves walking the seashore and writing, and wonders what relation he, a man with an eventful but narrow past, can have to this shadow self that is the source of his stories:</p>

J. M. Coetzee and the Failures of Reason

<p>In a speech delivered in Stockholm in acceptance of the 2003 Nobel Prize for Literature, J.M. Coetzee told the story of Robinson Crusoe's life as a wealthy but haunted writer following his return to English society. Entitled "He and his Man," this brief narrative focuses on the absolute gap between the purportedly self-aware individual and the linguistic subject that stands behind the works of fiction set down on paper by this individual's hand; the imaginary figure - perhaps corresponding to Daniel Defoe himself, creator of the original Robinson Crusoe - who travels about the countryside collecting fantastical stories even as the writer sits at his desk waiting for inspiration to come. Crusoe himself lives a quiet life that for the most part involves walking the seashore and writing, and wonders what relation he, a man with an eventful but narrow past, can have to this shadow self that is the source of his stories:</p>

Feminist Criticism in Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse and Ibrahim Ahmed’s Janî Gel

This paper investigates the concepts of Feminism and Feminist Criticisms to identify their features in two novels; Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse and Ibrahim Ahmed’s Janî Gel. The theoretical and historical backgrounds of Feminism and the other Feminist Criticisms are presented according to their importance. The paper then introduces the two novels by presenting their plot summary. This paper tries to answer how two prominent writers, one British and one Kurdish, discuss women issues. The author wants to investigate whether both writers’ cultural upbringing and social background affect the way they present women in their respective novels. Through quotations taken from the novels, one learns about the writers’ ideas regarding women’s issues; economic, social, psychological, and political. In conclusion, the present study argues that women’s experiences in English society and Kurdish society have many similarities; however, despite the many similarities, there lay differences regarding the attitudes of both writers towards women issues and representation. For instance, Wood presents an ideal female character to oppose women’s traditional roles in society in her novel. On the other hand, Ahmed paints vivid imagery of what women go through without solid women characters. Thus, this paper hopes to provide future students and researchers with helpful material on Feminism, Feminist Criticisms, and the analysis of both novels, especially the Kurdish one, since research is scarce on it.