Millennial Dark Ladies

The Dark Lady evoked in Shakespeare’s Sonnets has been the subject of numerous speculations since the Victorian period. Several male writers and critics – George Bernard Shaw, Frank Harris, A. L. Rowse and Anthony Burgess, for example – have undertaken extended imaginative explorations of this alternative woman. More recently, the Dark Lady has become a central figure in millennial novels by women writers, designed primarily for a female reading audience. This article considers what’s at stake by placing this imaginary woman at the heart of Shakespeare’s artistic inspiration, and what this tells us about the meaning(s) of ‘Shakespeare’ for contemporary women writers and readers.

NONSENSE E REPRESENTAÇÃO: ALICE E A RELAÇÃO COM O REAL

O presente artigo tem como objetivo a análise da relação entre o nonsense literário e o real nas obras Alice no País das Maravilhas e Através do Espelho e o que Alice encontrou por lá, ambas de Lewis Carroll. Busca-se compreender como configura uma representação da realidade ou daquilo que tomamos por real. Atribuindo-lhe assim, significado e reflexão acerca do conceito que, primariamente, remete a algo que “não possui sentido”. O caminho que se pretende percorrer no trabalho começa com uma observação sobre a ocorrência do nonsense em Alice, aliando a teoria específica sobre; passando adiante para as concepções de representação. Para tanto, serão tomadas noções de representação em Adorno, Aristóteles, Benjamim, Auerbach, Barthes e considerações acerca do nonsense trabalhadas por Anthony Burgess.

Who’s Not Afraid of Shakespeare

The ever growing and updating Shakespearian context is the topic of this article examining the almost simultaneous appearance (in Bulgaria, 2019) of a book, a film, and a theatre production related to the Bard: the book is “Nothing Like the Sun” by Anthony Burgess (translated by M. Melnishka), the film is Kenneth Branagh’s “All Is True”, and the theatre production is “Romeo and Juliet” at the Mladezhki Theatre (Youth Theatre) in Sofia.

A PSYCHOLOGICAL STUDY ON THE NOVEL A CLOCKWORK ORANGE

Purpose of the study: This paper is a study on the novel A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess. It is an analysis of Alex’s psychological condition and a study on the Ludovico experiment in relation to other popular experiments in psychology. The paper brings to light the dark and evil side of adolescence. Methodology: This study uses a psychological approach in analyzing the character of the protagonist Alex. Various psychological theories are applied in this paper to interpret this novel. Main Findings: Examining Alex’s depiction in the novel, he is presumed as a sociopath with a narcissistic personality disorder. The Ludovico experiment which stole the limelight in this novel is a behavioral modification technique, powered by negative reinforcement. Despite being a fictional experiment and a product of Burgess’s imagination, the Ludovico experiment is stemmed out of Ivan Pavlov’s classical conditioning. This experiment also complements Watson and Rayner’s ‘Little Albert’ experiment. The termination of Alex’s free will by the Ludovico experiment is reversed by the flooding method of desensitization. Applications of this study: The novel, A Clockwork Orange is brimming with psychological theories, hence a fascinating book to the psychologists. The protagonist Alex, continues to remain as a case-study amongst the scholars of psychology. Novelty/Originality of this study: The final chapter in the novel has various interpretations. The reversal of Alex’s condition is caused by the flooding method of desensitization. While the cause of reversal holds varied comprehension, the flooding method seems like the fitting one.

THE SEMANTICS OFNADSAT. A STUDY ON LANGUAGE AND ITS FUNCTIONS IN DEFINING CHARACTER – A CLOCKWORKORANGE BY ANTHONY BURGESS

Having on its background the topic of youth culture and its language, social disorder and its criticism, the general disruption in society and the pitfalls of social and technological progress in the age of modernism, the present article critically looks at Anthony Burgess’s novel A Clockwork Orange (1962) with a view to analysing character, language and its functions. After a brief introduction to the context of the book’s publication, its genre, and some general remarks on the novelty of the language created in the novel, the article progresses to the presentation of the major sources of this language. The central part of the paper originally approaches Nadsat from a semantic perspective with the aim of testing and validating the functions of Nadsat already identified and further investigating (individual and group) character portrayal as unfolded by the language used. The analysis is based on a quantitative and qualitative research of the Nadsat code/(anti-)language of the novel.

THE ENDERBY NOVELS BY ANTHONY BURGESS: THE ARTIST’S CONCEPT

Purpose of the study: Anthony Burgess (1917 – 1993) is an English writer, author of the intellectual novels and serious musical works. Being a talented and inventive person, he was very interested in art and its creative processes. Anthony Burgess’s artistic creativity concept can be traced in many of his works about fictional and non-fictional writers Methodology: The article uses the analysis of the fictional world created in the novels as a means of its consideration. The image of the artist is considered from the perspective of the writer's worldview reflected in the composition and the message of his works. Results: The conducted analysis shows that in Anthony Burgess’s opinion the artist is a craftsman whose artistic activity is closely connected with his sexual attraction. In addition, the writer is characterized by isolation as the main condition of the creative process and the total devotion to Art. Applications of this study: This research can be used for the universities, teachers, and students. Novelty/Originality of this study: Thus, the novelty of the paper consists in its first trial to present the artist’s image thoroughly studied in the mentioned above novels. It is worthwhile mentioning that the research is conducted according to Anthony Burgess’s creative concept.