Autobiographical Writings Research Articles

Excavating Memory: Bilge Karasu's Istanbul and Walter Benjamin's Berlin

Excavating Memory: Bilge Karasu's Istanbul and Walter Benjamin's Berlin

Política y cultura en el tránsito entre el Antiguo Régimen y el Liberalismo. La actividad y el testimonio del literato José Musso y Valiente (1785-1838)

The writer José Musso (1785-1838) is very little known today, but he was a figure of enormous activity in the cultural plots that were woven with political activity during the twenties and thirties of the nineteenth century, a particularly turbulent time in our history. After the trauma of the War of Independence, the Lorca author fully entered politics and literature during the Liberal Triennium and established a relationship with a large part of the predominant characters of the moment, throughout the ominous decade and the subsequent implantation of the liberal system. Especially interesting to achieve a fresco of the period is the reading of his autobiographical writings, still largely unpublished, which, together with his copious correspondence, offer a privileged overview of a few years of great social and political changes.

Children’s Books and Childhood Reading in Eighteenth‑ and Nineteenth‑Century Denmark

This article sets out to demonstrate the potential of memoirs and autobiographies as sources to study children’s use of books and other media in Denmark between around 1750 and 1850. Research on historical children’s reading cultures in the Nordic countries has been limited, and knowledge of children’s own experiences of reading, including how, when, where, what and with whom they read, is scarce. Despite the fact that most autobiographical writings were put on paper late in the authors’ lives, and even though most were composed by privileged or exceptional individuals, these sources can open up aspects of children’s book and media history which are otherwise largely inaccessible. Inspired by media scholars Hepp and Hasebrink’s concepts of media repertoires and media ensembles, we point to the importance of studying individual children’s selections of media (“repertoires”) in relation to those available in specific social contexts (“ensembles”). The article looks at six memoirs, representing boys and girls, urban and rural settings, and rich and poor families. We consider how these ego‑documents may tell unexpected stories about children’s media repertoires in practice and about the social life of children’s books and reading.

An unknown poem by Milovan Djilas: "A conversation between Njegos and an unknown hero"

The correspondence between Bishop Dr. Nikolaj Velimirovic and priest Aleksa Todorovic contains an abundance of significant information. These two clerics worked tirelessly on promoting creativity within the Serbian Orthodox Church (SOC) in diaspora, helping to strengthen its organization and connections, advancing its publishing and missionary activities, enabling it to offer consolation to all, but especially to those who decided to live their lives ?far from the warmth of their homeland?. One day, a daily church service in SOC in Munich had been attended by Drag. Janic, who gave a poem written in June 1955 by Milovan Djilas - one of the discarded officials of the Yugoslav communist government, to parish priest Aleksa. Even though in the years prior to writing this poem he denounced his Serbian identity and furthermore fought diligently against it - as he himself asserted later in his autobiographical writings, once he found himself on the other side of the revolutionary legacy that he dedicated himself to, ?something happened? to him. That incomprehensible ?something? inspired him to search for the voice of the Mystic from Lovcen within himself and express his doubts, suspicions and contemplations regarding the national question in a short poetic genre, through the voice of two great people: one famous and acknowledged, and the other unknown and acknowledged. This differentiation mirrors his understanding of both Njegos and everything that is Serbian, which he mentions several times. One could argue that his lament over the fact that ?the Cross has been removed from the Serbian coat of arms? expresses an incredibly difficult sadness of the author, while the ending words of his poem are even more dreadful, emphasising that ?there are no more Serbs in Serbia?. Drying of the author`s ink did not, however, mark the end of his internal struggle - he decided to tear the paper on which he wrote the poem, only to later tape it back together. In the end, even though the author of this paper suggests that Djilas must have been acquainted with the fact that there were circles in Munich that gathered members of Zbor and supporters of Dimitrije Ljotic, and that at the same place there was a parish of the SOC with comprehensive publishing activity, that did not discourage him from making a peculiar move. He turned his song over to Serbian Church - against which he sinned a lot - and supported his decision with the desire that his poem be published, even though anonymously. In the light of all the abovementioned, the readers of ?Serbian Religious Library Svetacnik?, i.e. ?Svetacnik`s calendar with the catechetical booklet? (precise names of the publications in 1956) could get acquainted with this conversation and lament between Njegos and the Unknown Hero over the suppressed and exiled Serbianhood, that is no longer to be found even in Serbia itself - as implicated by the author of the poem. Bishop Nikolaj must have been told about who the author of the poem was, as well as the exciting details that determined the destiny of this text written in decasyllabic style. Sixty five years later, everyone can read this poem and discern about both its value and that of its author, with affirmation of its authorship, and a review of its quite unusual destiny, which in the end was that of Milovan Djilas as well, and which followed him to his death.

Women as a Stigma of Bravery: An Analaysis of Maya Angelou "Maya Angelou"

Marguerite Annie Johnson known as Maya Angelou was an Americanpoet and civil right activist. she is well known for her unique autobiographical writings. Many of her poemsencompasses the themes of survival and protest. she was the hero for many women. she voicesout the rights of women, racism and slavery. The paper examines the racism and injustice meted out of women the in United States. got throws light on the intuition of black people opportunity, slavery and the rights for women. The regarding attempts to analyse whether the rights bestowed to women are acquiesced by the society.

Lietuvių dienraštis „Vilniaus žinios“ (1904–1909): tautinė pozityvistinė programa

THE LITHUANIAN DAILY VILNIAUS ŽINIOS (1904–1909): A NATIONAL POSITIVIST PROGRAMME Summary The empirical basis of the research is the articles and news items from Vilniaus žinios, the first legal Lithuanian daily newspaper, issued in Lithuania between 10 December 1904 and 4 (17) March 1909, which discussed ideas relevant to Lithuanian society at the time, and the ‘social fermentation of Lithuanians’, the memoirs of contributors to and contemporaries of the periodical that were published in the first half of the 20th century, and Petras Vileišis’ autobiographical writings. The material and the historical circumstances are analysed from an ethnological point of view. In historiography and the memoirs of contemporaries, it is emphasised that Vilniaus žinios (1904–1909), had no clear-cut political views, and was open to a wide range of trends that were forming in Lithuanian society at that time. To an extent, this explains the newspaper’s subsequent failures. The article aims to reexamine the programme and content of Vilniaus žinios, and its relevant national issues. It notes that the direction of the daily was framed in a statement in Vilniaus žinios on 9 November 1904, repeated in editorials and supported by the editorial staff. At its heart lie concern with the nation’s education, well-being and happiness. This means the work for and with society, activities in a national-democratic direction, pursuing the welfare of the nation through cultural evolution rather than revolution, and through education, which is believed to lead towards culture and the well-being of the people, restraining from membership of any party, and yet respecting the views of each and every party. The article states that the direction of the newspaper was framed by Petras Vileišis, its officially approved publisher and editor. Vileišis was an advocate of the national program of positivism and ‘organic work’, and a proponent of the liberal trend, which after the January Uprising (1863–1864) established itself in the landscape of Polish and Lithuanian political thought. Legal action, work and realistic ‘small politics’ were at the heart of its struggle for independence. The articles published in Vilniaus žinios reveal how this direction was followed in promoting and implementing educational and civilisational progress, and economic development, strengthening the position of the Lithuanian language in public life, promoting social unity among Lithuanians, and developing cultural literacy. The article also dwells on specific issues of the national agenda, which in the newspaper are presented as objects of the daily life: Lithuanian schools, reading rooms, Lithuanian books and newspapers, co-operative shops and dairy plants, Lithuanian evenings, songs and theatre. They are the strategic images that represent innovation, change, modernisation, and the direction of national activity.

Dziennik antymetafizyczny. "Zeszyty 1957–1972" Emila M. Ciorana – szkic przekrojowy

The authors discuss Notebooks by Emil Cioran. The first part of the article is devoted to the literary aspects of Cioran’s essential writings – the notes are analyzed from an anthropological and genetic perspective in order to present their purpose and function in Cioran’s output. The second part discusses the philosophical aspects of Notebooks . The authors – applying hermeneutics as a general method of interpreting philosophical texts – present Cioran’s philosophical intuitions as a literary strategy that allows him to include his own metaphysics in strictly autobiographical writings. However, the authors point to the limitations of this strategy and suggest reading Cioran’s Notebooks as a reflection on his own work that focuses on the theme of the inability to create.

‘The Opium-Eater Boasteth Himself to be a Philosopher’: Bodily Subjection and Intellectual Self-fashioning in De Quincey's 1821 ‘Confessions’

De Quincey's assertion in the 1821 ‘Confessions’ that the effects of opium were ‘always, and in the highest degree, to excite and stimulate the system’, establishes him in contemporary medical discourse as a follower of Brunonianism. Yet, against this indubitably pharmacological and bodily strain, the ‘Confessions’ also insists upon an intellectual aspect to the opium-eater's dreaming, his ability to dream imaginatively. This essay seeks to relate these discursive tensions in De Quincey, rooted in Enlightenment ideas of the human nervous system held in equilibrium, to his self-presentation as an addict and a philosopher in his autobiographical writings, and to his critical thinking. As I argue, the physiological theory of Brunonianism in the ‘Confessions’ is complemented by an equal emphasis on moral and intellectual development embedded in the ideas of Hartleian psychology which provide a balancing view of body and (embodied) mind in De Quincey's thinking.

“My broken chrysalis”: Narrative processes in Woolf’s autobiographical writings of sexual trauma.

“My broken chrysalis”: Narrative processes in Woolf’s autobiographical writings of sexual trauma.

Airing imperium: A historiography of radio governance in South Asia

The 1920s emerged as a landmark decade in the world history of radio, more particularly in South Asia. About a century later, this paper seeks to stitch together a critical historiography of radio governance in colonial South Asia. In doing so, the paper seeks to unravel colonial constructions, norms and rationalities associated with the modern medium of radio in the South Asian context. This paper draws on the works of Pinkerton, Zivin, Brayne, Potter and gleanings in their work of the autobiographical writings of Fielden and Reith, the first broadcasting controller of All India Radio and the general manager of the British Broadcasting Corporation, respectively, besides some official documents cited in these works pertaining to the goings-on in British South Asia and its broadcasting. Ultimately, this paper seeks to not only historicize the eventual decolonization and democratization that occurred, but also sets the stage to locate, understand and move towards sustainable media governance in a post-2015 world.

Note from the Editor

Note from the Editor Shauna M. Morgan In celebrating and chronicling the first fifty years of CLAJ publications, Dana A. Williams noted "the significant and unparalleled role the journal has played in publishing scholarship by and about people of color and our literatures and languages" (2). Williams's introduction to issue 57.1 served as both a comprehensive historiography and as a re-grounding of the values upon which CLA was built. Her observation that "CLA has always been fully aware of present realities, all the while looking to the future" rings true for the organization's journal even today (7). It is in that spirit that we offer this issue. CLAJ remains ambitious in its endeavors as we chart a new path in the 21st century. In addition to scholarly essays, readers will now find papers engaged with the kind of critical and transformative pedagogical practices that have been at the heart of CLA's work since its founding, and in honoring a tradition which began with the publication of the first issue of CLAJ, our pages will now also feature creative works across genre. This inclusive approach offers a fuller view of the cultural productions of our expanding membership, and it creates space for the innovative and imaginative works currently shaping our literary landscape. Jacob Pagano's "One Must Say Yes: Poetic Acts of Affirmation in Works by Baldwin, Fanon, and Ellison" examines Black speech acts and the ways in which they are represented in order to affirm the complexities of Black subjectivity even as the writers accomplish aims beyond the literary projects. The essay positions the writings (both fiction and non-fiction) of James Baldwin, Frantz Fanon, and Ralph Ellison as constructing communal affirmations and presenting language as a means for understanding community and one's place in it. Pagano's analysis of the seemingly basic affirmation of yes uncovers the innumerable possibilities of questioning extant understandings of canonical Black writing. "Stories to Tell: Family and Reality in Hip-Hop Autobiographies" by John Paul Meyers examines the life writing of three very different hip-hop artists and firmly situates their work in the long tradition of African American autobiography. Exploring the thematic elements which emerge in these texts, Meyers offers us a look at the aesthetic and narrative intersections of these artists lived experiences and lyrical work, and he invites scholars and artists to consider the possibilities of what we can learn about the craft of hip hop by studying autobiographical writings. In his essay, "'Cause that's the way the world turns': John Edgar Wideman's Sent for You Yesterday and the Mnemonic Jukebox, Jurgen E. Grandt asserts that "[r]ecorded music resonates within a suspension of time—or, more precisely, the spiral grooves of records revive a past event in the present, a repeatable action that riffs, however briefly, upon the (ostensibly) linear progression of history." This point [End Page 191] brings us immediately into the environment of the novel as Grandt thoroughly articulates the ways in which Wideman's Homewood is not only infused with music, but in addition to the world of the text, the language of the novel itself employs the aesthetic of the music that touches the character's lives. The pedagogical study presented in Nathaniel Norment Jr,'s "Some Results of Using Culture-referenced Prompts for Pre and Post-Test Writing Examinations at an HBCU" is both a reminder of CLA's roots and historical focus and a call for us to critically evaluate and enhance our pedagogy whether we are rooted at a Historically Black College and University (HBCU) or plowing the earth at a Predominantly/Historically White Institution. As Monique L. Akassi asserts in the brief commentary which precedes this essay, "the need for more pedagogical attention in the CLAJ is more relevant now than ever." doris davenport's brief reflection on CLAJ's creative writing section reminds us that, in addition to being provisions for the exhilarating exercise of literary criticism, literary arts give us "meaning and inspiration" and help us move through a perpetually troubled world. The gathering of poems and creative non-fiction reflects an innerness and calls us to consider our connections to...

HF02-13 THE EVOLUTION OF SEX, OR THE SEXUAL ASPECTS OF CHARLES AND EMMA DARWIN

You have accessJournal of UrologyHistory of Urology Forum II (HF02)1 Sep 2021HF02-13 THE EVOLUTION OF SEX, OR THE SEXUAL ASPECTS OF CHARLES AND EMMA DARWIN Keiko Cooley, and Michael Moran Keiko CooleyKeiko Cooley More articles by this author , and Michael MoranMichael Moran More articles by this author View All Author Informationhttps://doi.org/10.1097/JU.0000000000001993.13AboutPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints ShareFacebookLinked InTwitterEmail Abstract INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVE: Charles Robert Darwin (1809-1882) is perhaps one of the most iconic scientists of all time, clearly in relationship to his sensational On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection published on November 24, 1859. But he subsequently published another startling book entitled The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex on February 24, 1871. We are interested in the history and actual sexual exploits of Darwin and his wife/first cousin Emma Wedgewood Darwin and his sexual notions entertained in this evolutionary biology book. METHODS: The Descent was scrutinized as were many biographical as well as autobiographical writings of Darwin and his sons and daughters. In addition, secondary literature that focused upon the The Descent as well as the Darwin home life were also critically scrutinized. RESULTS: It is not widely known that during his writing of this textbook and the development of his ideas, he recruited his daughter Henrietta as well as his beloved wife Emma for their advice. The figures in this textbook were drawn by zoological illustrator T. W. Wood and the publisher John Murray correctly expected the sales to be brisk. “Everybody is talking about it without being shocked…proof of the increasing liberality of England.” At the outset of his daring book Darwin states, “The sole object of this work is to consider, firstly, whether man, like every other species, is descended from some pre-existing form; secondly, the manner of his development; and thirdly, the value of the differences between the so-called races of man.” CONCLUSIONS: Charles recorded on November 27, 1838 in what is now called Notebook N, “Sexual desire makes saliva to flow ‘yes, certainly’- curious to kiss, & almost bite, that which one sexually loves, is probably connected with flow of saliva, & hence with action of mouth & jaws…The association of saliva, is probably due to our distant ancestors having been like dogs to bitches. How comes such an association in man- it is bare fact, on my theory intelligible.” Charles proposed to Emma on Sunday November 11, 1838 and they were married on January 29, 1839. Emma was pregnant by the following April and during the subsequent 18 years she was pregnant a total of 11 more times (Emma was pregnant 55% of those 18 years). Now Morrison uses some sophisticated notions on pregnancy to state, “All of the above data lead me to the conclusion that most, if not all, of the pregnancies were the result of more-or-less continuously ongoing sexual activity, rather than being the result of deliberate attempts to conceive, or being incidental by-products of celebratory activity. That is, the pregnancies occurred as chance dictated, given the night-time activities being undertaken.” Source of Funding: None © 2021 by American Urological Association Education and Research, Inc.FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Volume 206Issue Supplement 3September 2021Page: e241-e241 Advertisement Copyright & Permissions© 2021 by American Urological Association Education and Research, Inc.MetricsAuthor Information Keiko Cooley More articles by this author Michael Moran More articles by this author Expand All Advertisement Loading ...

Early Autobiographical Writing in The History of Islamic Literature

Autobiographical writing is a historical literary writing that reveals the author's views on himself, man and the environment around his life. This article reviews the development of autobiographical writing in Islamic history, also reviews five autobiographical writings written by several Islamic scholars and philosophers to describe the form and approach used by them. It can be concluded that, autobiographical writing in Islam is not a complete imitation of an external civilization encompassing concepts and forms. On the other hand, Islamic autobiography has its own characteristics and approaches apart from developing various forms of writing.

Big Books in Times of Big Data

Big Books in Times of Big Data

The Sultan’s Syllabus Revisited: Sixteenth-Century Ottoman Madrasa Libraries and the Question of Canonization

Abstract This study revisits the question of the early modern Ottoman madrasa curriculum, which, ever since the famous Studia Islamica article of Nenad Filipovic and the late Shahab Ahmed in 2004, has come to be recognized as the “sultan’s syllabus,” implying a strict imposition of a centrally-designed course of study. By utilizing a host of endowment lists, book registers, and autobiographical writings of high- to low-ranking Ottoman scholars from the sixteenth century that escaped Ahmed’s and Filipovic’s attention, I aim to redress an argument that was based on a misinterpretation of a single document but has been extensively cited and recycled since its first articulation almost two decades ago. All of these sources, some of which have never or only partially received scholarly attention, shed more accurate light, not only on the scope of learning, teaching, and canon formation in the early modern Ottoman world of scholarship but also on the mediating role the Ottoman court played by supplying copies of books wherever and whenever needed.

Truths of Traitors: Colonial Collaboration and Autobiographical Narratives in Postliberation Korea

AbstractThis article examines post-1945 autobiographical writings by alleged pro-Japanese collaborators, focusing on how these ex-colonized Korean writers represented their “shameful” pasts. Autobiographical narratives that confess to writers’ collaborations are customarily interpreted as excuses or self-justifications for collaboration that distort colonial memories. This customary reading of autobiographical writings, based on the factuality and sincerity of the narratives, seems to derive from a preceding literary practice of reading sosŏlga sosŏl (novels about novelists) during the late colonial period, a tacit contract between reader and author of expecting fiction to represent the author’s transparent life narrative. In challenging this mode of reading, this article traces the rhetorical styles and effects and the complexities of the political and ethical implications of two famous confessions of collaboration: Yi Kwangsu’s My Confession and Ch’ae Mansik’s “Sinner of the People.” In doing so, this article demonstrates how specific rhetorical devices produce the sincerity of the autobiographical texts and give closure to the dishonorable colonial past. The author presents a new approach to pro-Japanese collaboration by exploring the arduous task of closure, self-reflection, and decolonization undertaken by Korean writers in the postliberation period, when the decolonizing project was deemed a failure.

Tailoring Truth

As part of the post-war denazification campaign, as many as 20 million Germans were screened for employment by Allied armies. Applicants were ordered to fill out political questionnaires (Fragebögen) and allowed to justify their membership in Nazi organizations in appended statements. This mandatory act of self-reflection has led to the accumulation of a massive archival repository, likely the largest collection of autobiographical writings about the Third Reich. This article interprets individual and family stories recorded in denazification documents and provides insight into how Germans chose to remember and internalize the National Socialist years. The Fragebögen allowed and even encouraged millions of respondents to rewrite their personal histories and to construct whitewashed identities and accompanying narratives to secure employment. Germans embraced the unique opportunity to cast themselves as resisters and victims of the Nazi regime. These identities remained with them after the dissolution of the denazification project and were carried forward into the post-occupation period.

Darwin's "horrid" doubt, in context.

Proponents of Alvin Plantinga's evolutionary argument against Naturalism (EAAN) often quote Charles Darwin's 22 April 1881 letter to William Graham to imply Darwin worried that his theory of evolution committed its adherents to some sort of global skepticism. This niggling epistemic worry has, therefore, been dubbed 'Darwin's Doubt'. But this gets Darwin wrong. After combing through Darwin's correspondence and autobiographical writings, the author maintains that Darwin only worried that evolution might cause us to doubt (a) particularly abstruse metaphysical and theological beliefs, and (b) beliefs arrived at by 'intuition' rather than evidence-based reasoning. He did not worry that unguided evolution should lead us to doubt all of our beliefs in the way Plantinga and others have implied that it does.

Elektra from the lower depths?

AbstractThe role of women artists in the theatre reform of the early twentieth century is usually underestimated. This paper strives to reassess the agency of a female performer (Gertrud Eysoldt) in this process, concentrating on the premiere production of Elektra by Hugo von Hofmannsthal (1903, Kleines Theater, Berlin). Hofmannsthal wrote his version of Elektra not only for Max Reinhardt’s company (which he considered to be a new kind of theatre) but also specifically for Eysoldt, and this article focuses on the communication between them. The main sources for this research are texts written by the actress: her article for a newspaper and her letters to Hofmannsthal (published in 1996) and Hermann Bahr (unpublished, Austrian Theatre Museum, Vienna). These texts are analysed more from the perspective of their poetics than from the perspective of the facts they convey. Eysoldt’s autobiographical writings reveal an unexpected facet of the 'Dionysism' that may have attracted Hofmannsthal. Finally, a question is raised about the meaning of the shift that Hofmannsthal made by offering the performer a rewriting of a foundational myth of patriarchal culture.

Indicios y espacios literarios para la reconstrucción del círculo sáfico madrileño en las obras de Elena Fortún, Rosa Chacel y Victorina Durán

Este trabajo pretende analizar varios escritos de carácter autobiográfico que dan algunas pistas e indicios para reconstruir las experiencias sáficas durante las décadas de los años veinte y treinta (hasta 1936) en España: Así es de Victorina Durán (manuscrito, 1970-1980 aprox.), Acrópolis de Rosa Chacel (1984) y Oculto sendero de Elena Fortún (2016). Estos textos principales se apoyarán en otros de las mismas autoras –y/o contemporáneas– para poder completar la visión de espacios y experiencias. Se utilizará un doble método de análisis ginocrítico y geocrítico para indagar en los lugares transitados por estas mujeres, así como para analizar la estructura y la asiduidad de sus encuentros y reuniones. Reconstruir los espacios físicos e íntimos lésbicos es el desafío delineado por una mirada geocrítica que ambiciona ofrecer más datos sobre estos otros grupos, pensamientos y sexualidades disidentes, de «otras» tertulias culturales y literarias tan poco estudiadas hasta el momento.