THE FEMINIST HUNGARIAN FOLKTALE AS POSTMODERN COMBINATORICS – THE ANALYSIS OF CSENGE VIRÁG ZALKA'S STORY-BOOK TITLED RIBIZLI A VILÁG VÉGÉN [CURRANT AT THE END OF THE WORLD]

In this paper we analyze the first story-book of the internationally renowned contemporary Hungarian storyteller, Csenge Virág Zalka. In the first section we investigate the differences between folktale and literary tale, storyteller and story writer, further-/retold heritage and own creation as well as how the boundaries between them destabilize if we note down the folktale originally living in the oral traditional form. Furthermore, we will be discussing the female horizon prevalent in the Zalkaian tale-variants as well as the all-time topicality of the stories by putting the contemporary social and psychological analogies and taboo-breaking procedures of the tales in the foreground. In the focus of our investigation the Ribizli a világ végén [Currant at the End of the World] stands as a literary creation, which although we (also) analyze with an approach coming from the relevant literature of folktales and remade fairy tales, we do this all the way through the analysis in light of the postmodern text-organizing strategies.

Portrayal of Women Protagonists in the Selected Novels of Bharati Mukherjee

Bharati Mukherjee is a famous Indian born American non-fiction writer, short story writer and journalist. She is one of the well-known novelists of Indian Diaspora. Within a really short creative time, she has achieved enviable position in the field of English literature. In her works, she has very well depicted the Indian immigrant experience of her women characters both in her novels and short stories. In her works, she talks about the lives of Indian women immigrants in the U.S.A and their journey of transformation and adjustment of their lives and personalities. She tries to explore the themes of immigration as well as transformation. She portrays the various phases of her characters such as the phase of expatriation, the phase of transition and phase of immigration. She very well depicts how the cultural clash or cultural conflict between the west and the east leads to the psychological crisis in the minds of her women characters. In her novels, she has given importance to the feministic perspective of her women characters. Her women characters are the protagonist and hero of the novels. She has tried to portray how her female characters sacrifice their dreams, hopes, desires, wishes, what the various problems, fear, torture they face, and how they finally do their best to overcome from all the hurdles. She has drawn her female characters in various situations and circumstances.

Reversed Myth and Negative Symbols of Narcissus in Mother-Son Relationship in Hayashi Fumiko’s Narcissus

The famous myth of Narcissus is about a mythical handsome young man who indifferently rejects the love of the nymph Echo leading to Echo’s broken heart and untimely death and his being cursed to excessively adore his own handsome reflection on the pond till his death. The short story entitled Narcissus written by Hayashi Fumiko is intriguing because its title calls to mind the famous myth of Narcissus. However, this short story portrays the myth of Narcissus from a unique perspective. Thus, the aims of this paper are to analyse the reversed myth and negative symbols of Narcissus as reflected in the mother-son relationship in the short story. To support the analysis various psychological understandings of the myth of Narcissus are used as well as various understandings of the symbols of the flowers called Narcissus. The methods of research used are a comprehensive combination of textual-contextual methods as well as library research and qualitative research. The textual method focuses on the intrinsic aspects relevant to the focus of analysis, such as character, conflict, and setting, while the contextual method borrows the psychological concepts of the term Narcissus and the symbolic meaning of the flowers named Narcissus. The result shows that the mother-son relationship clearly portrays the reversed myth in the matter of the gender roles, the type of relationship, and the ending of the relationship. Another result shows that all the symbols related to the flowers of Narcissus turn into negative meanings in the sort of story entitled Narcissus by Hayashi Fumiko. In short, the short story writer turns upside down both the myth and the symbols resulting in an engaging story full of hidden meanings to be interpreted

The Unemployed Main Character in the Fiction of Kunut Hamsun and Najeeb Mahfouz: A Comparative Study in the Light of Sustainable Development

The Norwegian novelist Kunut Hamsun published his novel Hunger in 1921. The novel was translated into English by George Egerton. In this novel, Hamsun introduces the character of Andereas Tangen, a journalist who has a good life but starts to lose his living, and his essays begin to be refused. He becomes unemployed and suffers poverty, hunger, and homelessness for some time. By the end of the novel, he finds a job on a ship that is sailing from his town Christiania to fetch coal. During the 1930s the Egyptian novelist and short story writer Nageeb Mahfouz wrote his collection of short stories (Hams Eel- Gnoon) The Whisper of Madness. Among this collection, he published his short story (Al- Goo) The Hunger. In this short story, the main character, Ibrahim Hanafy has been working in a factory until he cuts his arm in an accident and loses his job. He becomes unemployed and he, with his family, suffers hunger and many social and psychological difficulties. He hates his life, tries to commit suicide but is saved coincidently by the son of the factory's owner. The man promises Ibrahim to find him a job. This paper aims to show that the unemployed main character in Hamsun's and Mahfouz's works is unable either to love a partner or to have a friend and if he is married, he is unable to keep his marriage relation. Another aim of the paper is to shed light on the negative relations of the unemployed character on one side with his god and with the government of his country on the other side. The third aim of the paper is to emphasize that unemployment, in Hamsun's and Mahfouz's works, leads the once good character to try to commit suicide. Thus the paper comes into three parts: the first part deals with Tangen’s failure to have a love relation or enjoy a friendship. This part also tackles Hanafy’s disability to protect his love for his wife. The second part introduces Tangen’s criticism of his god and of the government in his country. In the third part, the paper discusses the once good characters, becoming unemployed, thinking of death as a solution, and may try to commit suicide. The paper depends on the theory of needs' priority and the method of social and psychological analysis in tackling its topic.

KĒ. PĀLAMURUKAṈ ‘CURUṬṬU’ CIṞUKATAIYIL KUṬUMPA UṞAVUKAḶ [FAMILY RELATIONSHIP IN K.BALAMURUGAN ‘CURUTTU’ SHORT STORY]

This study, based on K. Balamurugan’s "'Suruttu' Short stories: Family Relationships” aims to explore the status of family relationships in short stories. There are various interesting short stories published in recent times. The relationships between family members is essential in the progress of a family and society. Positive family relationships can create prosperous families. Prosperous families can create a good society. Malaysian short story writer K. Balamurugan's short story 'Suruttu' is used as the primary source for this study. K. Balamurugan, who is a Tamil school teacher is a celebrated short stories writer who has written fascinating short stories. He is particularly interested in creating stories for children. This research studies and analyses the importance of family relationships through K. Balamurugan’s 'Suruttu' short stories.

Tradition Versus and Modernity in Laila al-Juhani’s The Waste Paradise: An Intertextual Approach

The aim of this paper is to investigate the issue of intertextuality in the novel Alfirdaws Alyabab (The Waste Paradise) by the female Saudi novelist and short story writer Laila al-Juhani. Intertextuality is a rhetoric and literary technique defined as a textual reference deliberate or subtle to some other texts with a view of drawing more significance to the core text; and hence it is employed by an author to communicate and discuss ideas in a critical style. The narrative structure of Alfirdaws Alyabab (The Waste Paradise) showcases references of religious, literary, historical, and folkloric intertextuality. In analyzing these references, the study follows the intertextual approach. In her novel The Waste Paradise, Laila al-Juhani portrays the suffering of Saudi women who are less tormented by social marginalization than by an inner conflict between openness to Western culture and conformity to cultural heritage. Intertextuality relates to words, texts, or discourses among each other. Moreover, the intertextual relations are subject to reader’s response to the text. The relation of one text with other texts or contexts never reduces the prestige of writing. Therefore, this study, does not diminish the status of the writer or the text; rather, it is in itself a kind of literary creativity. Finally, this paper aims to introduce Saudi writers in general and the female writers in particular to the world literature.

The cultural and social background of Lucknow in the Stories of Naiyer Masud

Literature of any kind and genre can never avoid the essence of life. Literature represents numerous aspects and dimensions of life. Literature, culture and society are interlinked. Collectiveness is the soul of Society. This culture and it’s colours reflect in the writings of the writers. Naiyer Masud is renowned short story writer having immense inclination towards culture and it’s different shades. He had great inclination towards the culture of lucknow. Lucknow was the central city of state of Owaad. This article is an effort to bring forth the cultural and social background of Lucknow in the short of Naiyer Masud.

Hedonism in George Saunder’s The Semplica-Girl Diaries.

George Saunders is an American short story writer. His writings include moral sting and stints of realism. This article is an analysis of one of his famous stories The Semplica-Girl Diaries. The story is a fine example of hedonism which means favouring pleasure and avoiding pain. This article speculates the idea of hedonism in the characters of this story and brings forth the theme of moral myopia. Hedonistic treadmill was at multiple times was being operated by those characters who try to own pleasure in spite of biting bullets. The other elements like American dream and consumerism have been analysed through the lens of narrator.

KĒ. PĀLAMURUKAṈ ‘CURUṬṬU’ CIṞUKATAIYIL KUṬUMPA UṞAVUKAḶ [FAMILY RELATIONSHIP IN THE SHORT STORY BY K.BALAMURUGAN]

This study, based on K. Balamurugan’s "'Suruttu' Short stories: Family Relationships” aims to explore the status of family relationships in short stories. There are various interesting short stories published in recent times. The relationships between family members is essential in the progress of a family and society. Positive family relationships can create prosperous families. Prosperous families can create a good society. Malaysian short story writer K. Balamurugan's short story 'Suruttu' is used as the primary source for this study. K. Balamurugan, who is a Tamil school teacher is a celebrated short stories writer who has written fascinating short stories. He is particularly interested in creating stories for children. This research studies and analyses the importance of family relationships through K. Balamurugan’s 'Suruttu' short stories.

The Characters of Children in Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use” and Eudora Welty’s “A Worn Path”: A Comparative Study

This article tries to compare between two well-known American short stories, “A Worn Path” by Eudora Welty and “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker, from a comparative perspective. The author of the first of these stories is an African-American novelist, short story writer, poet, and social activist. Alice Walker and the other story is written by an American short story writer, novelist and photographer, who wrote about the American South, Audra Welty. The specific reasons behind choosing these two short stories because they are written by women writers from different cultures, both deal with racial issues, but more importantly is that both include children characters that can add an attribution to be representations of the new African- American generation. Walker’s story includes the characters of two African- American daughters; Maggi and Dee, each of these characters behave in a different way, a behavior which consequently represents a special attitude towards the new generation of African- Americans. While in Welty’s story, we find the character of the grandson of the protagonist, Phoenix, who has a disease which deprived him from his ability to speak. This study analyses how these three characters provide different angles of seeing how the new generation of African- Americans is represented through a comparative outlook.