Popular Modernism and Its Legacies: From Pop Literature to Video Games, Scott Ortolano (2018)

Review of: Popular Modernism and Its Legacies: From Pop Literature to Video Games, Scott Ortolano (2018) New York: Bloomsbury Academic, xi + 277 pp., ISBN 978-1-50132-511-3, h/bk, £100.00, p/bk £29.99

The Heroine Concept in a Filipino Graphic Narrative

This study explored the concept of “HEROINE” in the context of “Darna,” a Filipino graphic narrative written by Mars Ravelo that was first published on May 13, 1950 by Filipino Komiks. Extracted from the 27 episodes of “Darna” are realities of experience as well as innuendos related to the real character of Darna, the super heroine. Further, the study delved into a deeper meaning of heroine beyond its lexical meaning. As a result, the researcher formulated her own definition of “HEROINE” as “Humaneness and Equanimity in Reimagining Optimistic, Iconic, Novel, and Empowered” persona, which led to the findings that, indeed, Darna has reached her apotheosis as a superheroine. These insights were not fathomed had it not been for the researcher’s focus on close reading, application of Expressive Realism, and “Argustic” reading. Keen eyes are needed to enjoy reading a graphic narrative which is both visual and verbal. The study proved that in Philippine society, Darna is the most accepted, loved and idolized Filipino icon as savior of a devastated and crippled society after World War II. Lastly, it is aimed that this humble analysis will put itself into the realm of a body of Pop Literature and the Humanities.

«Du weißt, dass ich Journalist war»: Gonzo Journalism y autoficción en la literatura pop

The term Gonzo Journalism refers to a journalistic style closely linked to the figure of the author, with the presence of the latter as the basis of his narrative. The genre of autofiction is also the result of the combination of fact and fiction around the figure of its creator. Joachim Lottmann combines gonzo style and autofiction in his work, combining them to achieve the critical portrait of German society in the 21st century that characterises his work. The novels Der Geldkomplex (2009) and Endlich Kokain (2014) show two different ways of applying the stylistic requirements of both to pop literature, to the point of achieving their fusion by «lottmannising» the world around the author without losing the author’s social commitment.

LANSKAP SIBER SASTRA: POSTMODERNISME, SASTRA POPULER, DAN INTERAKTIVITAS

Kajian ini bertujuan mengungkapkan kaitan antara posmodernisme, sastra populer, dan siber sastra. Dengan pemahaman posmodernisme sebagai pergerakan budaya, sastra populer sebagai sastra pelarian, dan siber sastra sebagai konsekuensi atas pergeseran produksi sastra yang memanfaatkan internet, kajian ini merelevansikan asumsi bahwa ketiganya memiliki kaitan yang cukup erat. Pendekatan kajian ini adalah fenomenologis dengan teknik analisis deskriptif. Posmodernisme menghasilkan pergeseran pola pikir terpusat menjadi tersebar sehingga batas antara yang adiluhung dengan yang populer menjadi kabur ditambah lagi dengan fenomena media sosial yang menghadirkan interaktivitas penulis-pembaca sebagai pola baru kesusastraan, seperti pemanfaatan media sosial (facebook, twitter, wattpad, dan lain sebagainya) yang mampu menawarkan intimasi antara penulis dengan pembaca serta bagaimana wacana kebebasan menulis menjadi hal yang realistis lagi tanpa perlu kompetisi ketat yang penuh dengan kekuasaan dan legitimasi. Tentu saja, interaktivitas penulis-pembaca tersebut merupakan hal yang sulit terwujud dalam produksi sastra yang konvensional (versi cetak). Kata kunci: Posmodernisme, sastra popular, siber sastra, interaktivitas This study aims to reveal the relation among postmodernism, pop literature, and cyber literature. By the understanding of postmodernism as a cultural movement, popular literature as escape literature, and cyber literature as a consequence of the shift in literary production that utilizes the internet technology, this study revives an assumption that the three have a fairly close relationship. The approach of this study is phenomenological with descriptive analysis techniques. Postmodernism results in a shift in decentralization process, so that the margin between the noble and the popular get blurred along with the phenomenon of social media that faces writer-reader interactivity as a new mode of literature, such as the use of social media (facebook, twitter, wattpad, etc.). Those offer intimacy between writers and readers, as well as how the discourse of freedom of writing becomes realistic without requirement toward intense competition that is full of power and legitimacy. Of course, the writer-reader interactivity is difficult to be realized in conventional literary production (print version). Keywords: Postmodernism, pop literature, cyber literature, interactivity

'Barocke' Lyrik lesen

How should one go about reading German 17th century poetry? Dirk Werle answers this question on the basis of a consistently historical understanding of both genre and epoch. In the seventeenth century, “poetry” had a decidedly different meaning from what we take it to be today, and there was no such thing as our term “Baroque”. For each of the chapter's introductory analyses, from which more general considerations and points of view are developed, poems have been selected that do not appear in relevant anthologies and therefore allow unbiased access to a fascinating field of literary history. The Author shows that 17th century poetry is characterized by a poetics of repetition, based on affinity to music and the principle of convivial play. It is a form of pop literature that does not directly refer to reality, but creates a poetic world all its own. To grasp this phenomenon, a “hermeneutics of simplicity” is called for, which is introduced and explained in this book.

Zur REvolution des Populären. Christian Kracht und seine Bedeutung für die Popliteraturforschung

The revolution of the popular: Christian Kracht and its significance for pop literature researchThe aim of the study is the analysis of the reception of the German writer Christian Kracht in the pop literature research. As empirical material were used selected scientific articles about the pop literature. At the beginning are an introduction and theoretical elaborations. The second part focuses on analytic considerations. At the end is a summary. The thesis is that Kracht is considered one of the most important representatives of the pop literature. He contributed significantly to a revolution of the literary stream and the beginning of the New German Pop Literature in the 90s.