Does Literature Matter Today? Thoughts of the Outside

CounterText ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 98-113
Author(s):  
Shaobo Xie
Keyword(s):  
Aesthetic Education ◽  
The Other ◽  
Human Values ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
Lost Cause ◽  
Western Tradition ◽  
The World

The paper celebrates the publication of Ranjan Ghosh and J. Hillis Miller's Thinking Literature across Continents as a significant event in the age of neoliberalism. It argues that, in spite of the different premises and the resulting interpretative procedures respectively championed by the two co-authors, both of them anchor their readings of literary texts in a concept of literature that is diametrically opposed to neoliberal rationality, and both impassionedly safeguard human values and experiences that resist the technologisation and marketisation of the humanities and aesthetic education. While Ghosh's readings of literature offer lightning flashes of thought from the outside of the Western tradition, signalling a new culture of reading as well as a new manner of appreciation of the other, Miller dedicatedly speaks and thinks against the hegemony of neoliberal reason, opening our eyes to the kind of change our teaching or reading of literature can trigger in the world, and the role aesthetic education should and can play at a time when the humanities are considered ‘a lost cause’.

scholarly journals Re-rigging Othering: Subversive Infantilisation in Contemporary Bosnian-Herzegovinian Prose

2014 ◽  
Vol 6 (7) ◽  
pp. 1259-1273
Author(s):  
Fedja Borčak
Keyword(s):  
Mass Media ◽  
Bosnia And Herzegovina ◽  
The Other ◽  
Subject Position ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
Western Discourse ◽  
The World ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Way

In this article I put forward the concept of subversive infantilisation to designate a phenomenon in contemporary Bosnian literature, which by using a certain kind of childish outlook on the world undermines paternalistic and balkanist Western discourse on Bosnia and Herzegovina. By analysing primarily the portrayal of the role of mass media in a few literary texts, principally books by Nenad Veličkovié and Miljenko Jergovié, I highlight the way in which these texts “re-rig” and by means of irony and exaggeration illuminate the problematic logic inherent in the subject position from which one represents the other. Textual characteristics of subversive infantilisation are contextualised further and seen as a discursive continuation of experiences of the 1990s war in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Écrire ‹ l’oral › dans Texaco de Patrick Chamoiseau

2017 ◽  
Vol 52 (2) ◽  
pp. 400-413
Author(s):  
Shereen Kakish
Keyword(s):  
The Other ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
Patrick Chamoiseau ◽  
World Vision ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Historical Factors ◽  
Cultural Alienation ◽  
The World ◽  
The Universe

AbstractIn this analysis, I investigate the coexistence of the oral and writing in Texaco of Patrick Chamoiseau. I try first to explain how Chamoiseau arrived to a certain synthesis between the two registers. Then I examine the objective of the author to develop such a synthesis between oral and writing in the universe of a text. In the case of Texaco, it is not only a matter of two ways of expression but also of two languages and two states of civilization. This expressive and linguistic lining does not depend only on the exile of many intellectuals and some other historical factors, but on a certain cultural alienation. Indeed, the Martinican identity oscillates between two spaces and hesitates between two languages. By this coexistence of the creole oral mode and the French writing, Chamoiseau tried to create a new style in the world of literary texts. On the other hand, this meeting of the different languages and registers creates a certain composition of elements that do not stand in a relation of opposition to each other, but of a tangle in order to communicate a world vision and to assert the original identity.

scholarly journals Identifying Differences in Values: Comparison between Iran and Poland

2019 ◽  
pp. 41-56
Author(s):  
Afsaneh Yousefpour ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Values Education ◽  
Essential Elements ◽  
Education Level ◽  
The Other ◽  
Human Values ◽  
World Value Survey ◽  
Sociodemographic Variables ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
The World ◽  
The Relationship

Values are the central features of societies and they are one of the essential elements in culture. The main aim of this research was examining the differences in basic human values in Iran and Poland, taking into the account sociodemographic variables (gender, age, and education level). Analyses were performed on data coming from the fifth wave of the World Value Survey (2005-2009). The results indicated that Iranians were more likely to embrace power, security, conformity, and universalism values. Poles, on the other hand, reported higher importance of stimulation, hedonism, achievement, tradition, and benevolence values. Age moderated the relationship between country and self-direction, power, and benevolence values. Education moderated the relationship between country and tradition value.

scholarly journals La enseñanza de la interculturalidad a través de la literatura: nuevos desafíos

2020 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Květuše Kunešová
Keyword(s):  
Czech Republic ◽  
Young People ◽  
The Other ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
Teaching Literature ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
The World ◽  
Level Of Knowledge ◽  
Siglo Xx

La enseñanza de la literatura en las escuelas secundarias de la República Checa, contribuye de manera relevante a ofrecer nuevas perspectivas educativas a los jóvenes checos. En tal sentido, esta enseñanza funciona como atesoran en el mundo, desde la Odisea de Homero, por ejemplo, a través del drama Shakesperiano y Fausto de Goethe, a las novelas de Balzac o de Zola, a los autores del siglo XX que se dedicaron a la causa humanista desvelando las facetas ocultas de la existencia humana. El propósito de nuestra reflexión sobre temas interculturales es, en primer lugar, analizar la contribución de la lectura al nivel de conocimiento, proponer la posibilidad de utilizar textos literarios para demostrar hasta qué punto el diálogo entre culturas, está incluido en las propias obras, y, por último, considerar qué textos literarios contemporáneos a escala mundial podrían enriquecer de manera relevante la selección de libros recomendados a los jóvenes checos. La conclusión será una síntesis tratando de comparar la situación de los estudiantes checos con la de los jóvenes franceses. También se resalta el papel de la traducción no sólo en la enseñanza de la literatura, sino en el conocimiento del Otro. The teaching of literature in secondary schools in the Czech Republic (note that this is in the course of Czech literature courses and taught in Czech) contributes in a relevant way to open to young people new worlds. It works starting from the treasury of the world thought, Homer’s Odyssey for example through Shakespearean drama and Goethe’s Faust, to the novels by Balzac or by Zola, to the twentieth century authors who engaged in the humanist cause by unveiling the hidden facets of human existence. The purpose of our reflection on intercultural topics is first of all to analyze the contribution of reading to the level of knowledge, then to propose the possibilities of using literary texts to demonstrate how much the dialogue between cultures is included in the works themselves, and finally, to consider which contemporary literary texts on a world scale could enrich in a relevant way the choice of books recommended to young Czechs. The conclusion will be a synthesis trying to compare the situation of Czech students to that of young Frenchmen, for example. It will also highlight the role of translation not only in teaching literature, but in knowing the Other.

scholarly journals Concept of Memory and National Image of the World in Literary Texts of Alexander Kahn

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 343-351
Author(s):  
Svetlana V. Ananyeva
Keyword(s):  
The Other ◽  
National Literature ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
Great Literature ◽  
National Image ◽  
Common Trend ◽  
The World ◽  
Literary Process ◽  
The Mind

A fairly common trend in the global literary process is when writers - representatives of their nation and their culture - live outside their historical homeland. The search for answers to the most important questions of our time and the challenges of globalization in relation to the ethnocultural world concern each of them. A. Kahns work reveals how opposition of ones own versus the other conveys the national image and national attitude. The principle of equality and recognition of the other as an equal to oneself is the basis of dialogue. Novels and essays by A. Kahn are largely autobiographical and aim at understanding the path of the compatriots, their mission on earth. The path of national literature in the mind of A. Kahn is from the literature of despair through the literature of longing and overcoming to the endless great literature of a great heart.

scholarly journals The principle of dialogue in poems by Mikhail Yasnov for children

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 135-153
Author(s):  
Anastasiia Gubaidullina ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Single Point ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
The Other ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
Aesthetic Value ◽  
The World ◽  
Self Knowledge ◽  
Similarities And Differences ◽  
The Aesthetic ◽  
Different Levels

The article focuses on Mikhail Yasnov’s poetry that is addressed to children of different ages, from younger preschoolers to older schoolchildren. Yasnov’s poetry is viewed as a corpus of texts united by several general principles: among them are the harmony of childhood and the child’s trust in the world. Another unifying principle is poetic dialogue, manifested at different levels of literary texts: from characters and imagery to metatextuality and the author’s consciousness. Dialogue in this paper is understood as overcoming a single point of view, an attempt to go beyond the personal I motivated by the attention to the Other. Yasnov’s poetry focuses on the search for similarities and differences between the phenomena of reality as it presents many voices and life positions. The concept of dialogue has great moral potential in children’s poetry as it contributes to the formation of empathy and development of self-knowledge in children. The aesthetic value of dialogue lays in the enrichment of the thematic and figurative structure of the lyrics.

Ludwig Wittgenstein As a Fictional Character. Part I

2021 ◽  
pp. 196-207
Author(s):  
Oxana A. Koval ◽  
◽  
Ekaterina B. Kriukova ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Ludwig Wittgenstein ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
The Other ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
Fictional Character ◽  
Linguistic Turn ◽  
Language Problems ◽  
The World ◽  
Modern Thought ◽  
The One

In these latter days, there is a clear tendency towards convergence in the com­plex relationship between the two language practices – fiction and philosophy. On the one hand, philosophy increasingly turns to the interpretation of important literary texts. On the other hand, literature responds to the challenges of modern thought. This paper focuses on the creative heritage and personality of Ludwig Wittgenstein, the main initiator of “linguistic turn”, from the point of view not of philosophical, but of literary reception. The art of the word in the 20th century was strongly charged due to the language problems. That is why it could not pass over in silence the philosopher, who showed that language activity is one of the fundamental factors in understanding the world. Different authors, such as Terry Eagleton, Bruce Duffy, Winfried G. Sebald, Umberto Eco, Edgar Lawrence Doctorow, Arkadii Dragomoshchenko, brought out in their works – directly or indirectly – a character undoubtedly similar to Wittgenstein. Eventually, the combination of different aspects creates an integral portrait of the Austrian thinker, representing an adequate alternative to philosophical approaches. The fic­titious space of literature allows us to show something that philosophy is unable to say – because of its disciplinary limits and its need to stay inside the facts and laws of logic. This confirms the well-known thesis of “Tractatus Logico-Philo­sophicus”: “What can be shown, cannot be said” (4.1212).

scholarly journals Examining Duffy’s Textual Space in “Water” and “Cold” through the Unnatural Ecopoetics Concept

2020 ◽  
Vol 28 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zainab Abdulkadhim Mhana ◽  
Rosli Talif ◽  
Zainor Izat Zainal ◽  
Hardev Kaur Jujar Singh
Keyword(s):  
Contemporary Poetry ◽  
The Other ◽  
Pivotal Role ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
English Poetry ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Textual Space ◽  
New Directions ◽  
The World ◽  
Carol Ann Duffy

Unnatural ecopoetics presents new directions for poetry scholars. It is a theoretical lens that studies how texts use self-reflexive language and formal experimentation to create a textual space where material and nonmaterial environmental elements are uncovered. The term material stands for all physical objects and places, whether man-made or occurring naturally in the world. Nonmaterial, on the other hand, refers to the invisible emotional, historical, political, and personal elements that influence the speaker’s experience of space and the translation of it to the textual space of a poem. Post-modernist poet Carol Ann Duffy has played a pivotal role in contemporary English poetry. While many studies have dealt with her poetry, few have examined Duffy’s poetry in light of the unnatural ecopoetics concept. In this paper, the reader is invited to read within the textual space of Duffy’s “Water” and “Cold” (2011) through the lens of unnatural ecopoetics. This article argues that Duffy’s experience and memories of her mother’s last days configured nonmaterial elements fused with material elements of her environment. The findings of this study provide a new way of analysing contemporary poetry through ecopoetics reading by delving into literary texts and examining all the environmental elements and situations around a persona in a poem or the poet.

Basic Human Values of Russians and Other Europeans (The Results of 2008 Surveys)

2010 ◽  
pp. 107-130 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. Magun ◽  
M. Rudnev
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Policy ◽  
European Social Survey ◽  
The Other ◽  
Human Values ◽  
Social Survey ◽  
Russian Economy ◽  
Value Diversity ◽  
Cross Country ◽  
Value Changes ◽  
Fourth Round

The authors rely mainly on the data from the fourth round of the European Social Survey held in 2008 in their comparison between the Russian basic values and the values of the 31 other European countries as measured by Schwartz Portrait Values Questionnaire. The authors start from comparing country averages. Then they compare Russia with the other countries taking into account internal country value diversity. And finally they refine cross-country value comparisons taking the advantage of the multiple regression analysis. As revealed from the study there are important value barriers to the Russian economy and society progress and well targeted cultural policy is needed to promote necessary value changes.

Indonesian Literature’s Position in World Literature

TEKNOSASTIK ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Dina Amelia
Keyword(s):  
World Literature ◽  
The Other ◽  
National Literature ◽  
Western World ◽  
The World ◽  
The One ◽  
The Voice

There are two most inevitable issues on national literature, in this case Indonesian literature. First is the translation and the second is the standard of world literature. Can one speak for the other as a representative? Why is this representation matter? Does translation embody the voice of the represented? Without translation Indonesian literature cannot gain its recognition in world literature, yet, translation conveys the voice of other. In the case of production, publication, or distribution of Indonesian Literature to the world, translation works can be very beneficial. The position of Indonesian literature is as a part of world literature. The concept that the Western world should be the one who represent the subaltern can be overcome as long as the subaltern performs as the active speaker. If the subaltern remains silent then it means it allows the “representation” by the Western.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document