Close Reading Analysis Research Articles

Gender Parity in Sa’idu Faru’s Song ‘Waƙar Mai Babban Ɗaki

This study examines the songs of Sa'idu Faru, a prominent Hausa court singer, to explore their potential for promoting gender parity. Focusing on Faru's compositions for Queen Mother Hajiya Asabe, particularly "Waƙar Mai Babban Ɗaki" (Song of the Queen Mother), the research utilizes Feminist Theory to explore how the song challenges the patriarchal power structure and advocates for gender equality. Through close reading and thematic analysis of the lyrics, the focus is on the Queen Mother's portrayal and how it disrupts traditional gender norms. The paper argues that Faru's songs challenge traditional gender roles by celebrating the Queen Mother's power and authority. By portraying her as a wise leader and philanthropist, Faru subtly subverts expectations of masculinity and proposes an alternative based on respect and collaboration. This analysis highlights the potential of music to promote social change and contribute to a more equitable gender dynamic within Hausa society.

Healing the Self: Mental Health and Existential Recovery in the Select Works of Don DeLillo

This paper explores the coping mechanisms of existential beings during moments of crisis, focusing on the works of Don DeLillo, Zero K, The Body Artist, and Falling Man. Grounded in existential philosophy, psychology, and psychiatry, the study analyzes how DeLillo’s characters navigate crises of meaning, death, and isolation, revealing core existential traits both during and after their experiences. Drawing on theories from Sartre, Heidegger, Nietzsche, Frankl, and Yalom, the research demonstrates that these characters confront alienation, death, and absurdity by embracing authenticity, rebellion, and self-transformation. Through close reading and thematic analysis, the paper argues that DeLillo’s characters use suffering and trauma as catalysts for existential growth, reflecting the human capacity to find meaning and transformation in moments of profound disorientation. The study bridges literature and the humanities, illustrating how the existential crises depicted in DeLillo’s works resonate with universal themes of coping, identity, and survival in the face of the absurd. It will also propose the C.A.R.E model as a healing way to overcome crisis.

Representation and Its Historical Antecedents in New Media: The Queer-ious Case of Assassin's Creed

Videogames, like other new media, reflect and shape culture and are influenced by societal attitude shifts. We conducted a qualitative close-reading analysis of queer representation in the AAA historical-fiction series Assassin's Creed and the historical antecedents thereof to explore (a) the traditional marginalization of queer-identifying folks in (b) the context of growing societal acceptance within the (inter)national zeitgeist. In our examination of the developer's reaction operationalized as observable shifts in developers’ design choices, we observed an increase in representation that aligns with the shift in social attitudes toward queer folks over the last 15 years. With respect to the historical antecedents, we discovered a misalignment between the in-game portrayal of queer folks and acceptance thereof vis a vis the available historical record.

Instinct(ive) senses: the haptic experience of feminist postpornography

ABSTRACT Is feminist postpornography a medium through which it might be possible to experience porn not only from a voyeuristic perspective? Can feminist postpornography provide a deeper sensorial experience? Through the feminist close-reading analysis of one short film, Instinct (2019), directed by Marit Östberg, Adrienne Teicher, Ester Martin Bergsmark and Mad Kate, from the Swedish feminist porn collection Dirty Diaries (2019), this article demonstrates how this kind of approach to pornography can awake senses and lead the spectators to experience porn at a deeper level stimulating an engaged spectatorship. Spectators are active agents in the construction of meaning and value of the artistic product, going beyond the mere passive role of recipient of information. The analysis employs mainly Laura Marks’s concepts of “haptic visuality” and “haptic hearing,” as well as Irina Leimbacher’s “haptic listening,” together with key insights of feminist film theory.

Poetry unveiled: Multimodality and aesthetic responses as a fresh approach to teaching and reading verse

AbstractIn secondary English classrooms, poetry is often a text that is least liked because it is viewed as being “inaccessible,” reserved for the elite, and/or too abstract. Part of the reason for this also lies in the traditional, colonial structures of introducing poetry such as relying on canonical texts and close reading analysis. Yet, outside of the classroom poetry is used in more accessible and engaging manners. With the advancements of technology, there also includes multimodal ways in which to read and write poetry that could be much more interesting for both educators and youth. This paper opens a discussion to consider multimodal and aesthetic responses to including poetry such as using digital apps like PhoneMe, a free accessible platform that allows users to post their written poems, record themselves reciting poems, and pin their poems directly on to an interactive digital map. The uniqueness of PhoneMe—a layered multimodal approach—can provide a more engaging way to teach and learn poetry.

An Analysis of the Time Travel Device for Exploring Black-White Race Relations in Octavia E. Butler’s Kindred

The thesis focuses on Octavia E. Butler’s novel Kindred and employs close reading and textual analysis to explore the depiction of black-white race relations through the time travel device. It points out that Butler cleverly uses the method of temporal rescue to break the “grandmother paradox.” The dual-time setting allows Dana, while saving her white ancestors, to witness the harsh realities faced by her African American ancestors in American history. On this basis, the thesis reveals and critiques the historical roots of racial issues, highlighting the physiological and psychological experiences of racial injustice endured by African Americans, as well as the persistence and improvement of the legacy of slavery. It emphasizes the importance of African Americans confronting history to break the cycle of oppression and shape a more equitable future.

The transmedial triangulation of Dracula: how cinema turned the Gothic bloodsucker into a Gothicized serial killer

G. M. Amza and Al. Bilciurescu’s Vampirul (The Vampire), the first vampire novel in Romania, was published in 1938, a decade after the release of the first translation of Dracula into Romanian. Instead of emulating Stoker’s bloodthirsty undead aristocrat, the two authors envision a priest who exploits the community’s magical thinking, masquerading as a vampire-serial killer and haunting the increasingly industrialized community in the hopes of discouraging capitalistic ventures. Although evoking East-Central European representations of heretic vampire priests, there is textual and circumstantial evidence suggesting that the villain in Vampirul was (in)directly inspired by movies which revolutionized the Gothic trope of the vampire via exposure to real-life crime cases such as that of the Vampire of Düsseldorf. Through a close reading analysis, the article revisits Franco Moretti’s theory of the (semi)peripheries importing “foreign plots” through “local characters” and expands Andrei Terian’s concept of “cultural triangulation” to include cinema, which offers fresh insights into the evolution of literary tropes. As for the influence of this medium on the vampire myth, the article shows that the first vampire narrative in Romanian literature is the product of transmedial triangulation, a process whereby the narratives of 1930s horror cinema influenced the literary reception of the “foreign plot” in Dracula, which was, in turn, reinterpreted through a serial killer vampire priest, a “local character” who embodies the period’s concerns about a lingering feudal order that threatens to hinder the development of the then fledgling Romanian society.

Evelyn Waugh's Satirical Masterpieces: A Delightful Blend of Wit and Critique

This study explores the satirical masterpieces of Evelyn Waugh, a renowned British author, with a focus on their delightful blend of wit and critique. The aims of this research are to analyze Waugh's satirical techniques, examine the themes and subjects of his works, and evaluate their impact on literature and society. The methodology involves a comprehensive analysis of Waugh's major novels, including "Decline and fall," "Vile Bodies," and "A Handful of Dust," using close reading and critical analysis. The results reveal the remarkable ability of Waugh to use humor and irony to expose the absurdities and vices of his contemporary society. Through sharp characterizations, witty dialogue, and clever narrative structures, he satirizes various aspects of British upper-class life, modernism, religion, and the decline of traditional values. The discussion delves into the effectiveness of Waugh's satirical techniques, their relevance in today's context, and their enduring influence on subsequent writers. It also addresses the ethical considerations of satire, as well as the potential limitations of Waugh's perspective. Ultimately, this research concludes that Evelyn Waugh's satirical masterpieces offer readers a delightful blend of entertainment, thought provoking social commentary, and a lasting critique of human follies and societal constructs. His works continue to captivate audiences, inspiring laughter, introspection, and critical engagement with the complexities of the world.

Unveiling The Shadows: Examining Depictions of Human Trafficking for Sexual Exploitation and its Causes in Zura Maids

An ongoing problem in society and more specifically in Uganda, human trafficking for sexual exploitation takes advantage of helpless people and ruins countless lives. Eunice Atuko's moving book "Zura Maids," explores the sinister and unpleasant world of human trafficking. This abstract examines the novel's depictions of human trafficking for sexual exploitation in detail and looks into the root reasons of this horrible crime. This study's main goal is to shed light on the complex aspects of human trafficking as they are represented in "Zura Maids." The analysis focuses on the complex web of traffickers and their allies participating in this criminal operation while also examining the psychological, emotional, and physical traumas suffered by the victims. I sought to obtain a greater understanding of the emotional impact these depictions have on readers and their potential to foster empathy and awareness by looking at the storytelling strategies used by Eunice Atuko. This study also pinpoints and analyzes the underlying factors that contribute to the persistence of human trafficking for sexual exploitation in the novel's setting such as the role of socioeconomic circumstances, gender disparities, a lack of legal protection, and institutional shortcomings in sustaining this abhorrent trade as well as the cultural and historical factors that have shaped the characters' vulnerability, agency, and choices throughout the story are critically addressed. A close reading and textual analysis of "Zura Maids" is used in this study's qualitative methodology to identify pertinent themes and insights. Secondary sources such as academic research, reports, and pertinent literature are also used to support and strengthen the results. By offering "Zura Maids" the author intended to add to the corpus of information on the ugly vice, raise awareness and promote productive conversations aimed at ending human trafficking and defending the dignity and everyone’s rights by comprehending the depictions and underlying reasons of this worldwide horror as depicted in the novel.

Vectors of Violence: Legitimation and Distribution of State Power in the People’s Liberation Army Daily (Jiefangjun Bao), 1956-1989

From personal memoirs and cooking recipes to revolutionary agitation and war coverage, the People’s Liberation Army Daily offers a wealth of insights into the sociopolitical and affective realities of post-1949 China. One of the few major periodicals that continued publication during the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), the journal has received relatively scant attention from scholars, except for political science studies devoted to the PRC propaganda system. Combining close reading and historical analysis with quantitative conceptuality and text mining, we demonstrate how the PLA Daily legitimizes state violence differently through its representation of various soldier figures, the zhanshi, the junren, and the minbing. We also use a large language model to show how the journal distributes violent sentiments to international topics in times of domestic turmoil.

Voices and/of Places

After Indonesia’s independence was officially recognised by the Netherlands in 1949, several former members of the colonial élite repatriated. Many among the Indies-born repatriatees’ generation used writing to come to terms with their own controversial, multifaceted identity. While they belonged to the colonial élite, they can be studied as writers geographically and temporally displaced as their colonial land of birth no longer exists. Their desire for belonging is arguably exemplified in the way their novels’ protagonists’ linguistic identity is depicted. While these authors write in Dutch, their characters are embedded in local cultures, languages, traditions, questioning fixed labels and dichotomies. Taking as example Helga Ruebsamen’s 1997 novel Het lied en de waarheid [The song and the truth], this article explores how linguistic identity is represented in Dutch literature of repatriation and how this is tackled in translation into English. This novel is chosen not only because it allows to explore plurality in literature and translation in the selected context, but also because it takes the issues of linguistic plurality in literature and translation a step further: the five-year-old Dutch protagonist leaves the tropical (colonial) environment with its enchanting nature behind and arrives with her family in the Netherlands in 1939 as the daughter of a Jewish doctor, unveiling a third identity layer beyond the Dutch-East Indian dichotomy. After positioning this novel within Dutch literature of repatriation by means of a close reading analysis, this article discusses why and how it can be studied as a heterolingual, diasporic (in this specific case, neither colonial, nor postcolonial) text. The translation strategies used to tackle representations of cultural and linguistic hybridity into English are then analysed by means of a comparative textual analysis. Looking for recurring trends, the results are finally briefly related to the findings of a doctoral project about the English and Italian translations of Dutch-East Indian novels by Hella S. Haasse, which suggest that shared tendencies to generalisation may risk distorting images of linguistic hybridity.

Unpredictable digital intimacies and virtual backstabbing: the feminist coalition’s political effect in Nigeria

Abstract This article explores digital intimacies within Nigeria’s networked political discourse, focusing on the resurgence of the Feminist Coalition (FemCo), known for their involvement in Nigeria’s 2020 #EndSARS (Special Anti-Robbery Squad) movement against police brutality, as feminist political subjects during the 2023 election campaigns. It analyzes Twitter-networked interactions as FemCo was unexpectedly thrust into hypervisibility when asked to endorse Peter Obi, the Labor Party’s presidential candidate, despite prior criticism of their #EndSARS activism. Employing close feminist reading and social network analysis of Twitter data, informed by a contextual feminist/computational approach, this article explores how processes of unpredictable digital intimacies and virtual backstabbing unfold when feminist political subjects are exploited by opposing clusters online. Investigating how affects circulate and transform feminist political subjects into bodies of hate/value, this article sheds light on the affective contexts of political communication in Nigeria, beset by a range of actors, including, activists, influencers, and citizen-users, wielding central power.

Theorizing the Third Generation of Fashion Designers: The Case of Pharrell Williams at Louis Vuitton

This article delves into the implications of celebrity-driven fashion brands in the 21st century. Initially, it traces the evolution of the first generations of traditional fashion designers from the 19th and 20th centuries, highlighting how designers serve as a simplified reference point, as they aggregate the intricate processes of fashion creation under a public persona. Subsequently, employing a close reading and visual analysis methodology, I examine the case of musician Pharrell Williams in his role as creative director at Louis Vuitton. I argue that celebrities taking on roles as fashion designers represent a new generation in this field. This shift is an inevitable culmination of the “celebrification” that traditional designers have undergone over the years. I further argue that celebrity-driven brands introduce a diverse offering in terms of taste, experience and image. By integrating fashion with entertainment, celebrities enable brands like Louis Vuitton to reorganize as a “Cultural Maison.” These celebrities, outsiders penetrating high-end fashion, exploit the so-called democratic and hybrid logic of social media, and gradually overshadowing the cultural significance of traditional designers, pushing them behind the scenes. This shift challenges and may even redefine our understanding of what constitutes the cultural role of fashion designers.

Returns and Recalls in Julius Ocwinyo’s <em>Fate of the Banished</em> and <em>Footprints of the Outsider</em>

The generic treatment of analepsis as a narrative technique has left some of its sub-aspects, like returns and recalls, understudied. Returns and recalls were first introduced by Gerald Genette (1980) as analepses drawn from the same line of action as the first narrative. Returns fill in after the event, a gap in the narrative while recalls constitute the narrative’s allusion to its past. By extension, therefore, they are posterior to the start of the first narrative and anterior to its end. Recalls and returns get a raw deal from narrative critics and theorists; one hardly finds an article-long discussion of these aspects, even in books primarily about narrative time. Yet, rarely if ever, do novelists craft a narrative without incidents of returns and recalls; hardly do real-life stories unfold without them. Adopting an interpretive paradigm, this paper analyzed returns and recalls and their functioning in Julius Ocwinyo’s Fate of the Banished and Footprints of the Outsider. This paper embraced a qualitative research approach; specifically, a descriptive case study design was deployed. Data was collected through close reading and documentary analysis; the paper was anchored on the Genettian discoursal perspective of narrative theory.

Fandom and Fictionality after the Social Web: A Computational Study of AO3

Abstract: Web-based fanfiction is an increasingly important species of modern fiction that is necessary to understanding contemporary literary culture in a multimedia world. Using the Harry Potter fandom on the platform Archive of Our Own (AO3) as our case study, we combine close reading and computational analysis to examine the narrative features of fanfiction and the rhetorical commentary surrounding it. Our approach models a rapprochement between literary studies and fan studies, offering a new data-driven method for analyzing the relationship between traditionally published fiction, web-based fanfiction, and empirical forms of reader response.

Poezie și pandemie. Textualizarea realității în poemul autoficțional

The thesis of this paper is connected to those poems that activate a semantic renewal of a different kind of “real” and explore the poetic imaginary of the coronavirus, focusing on how Rodica Braga translates the fear, chaos, shock and bewilderment caused by the pandemic into her poetry. In a close reading analysis we will investigate how the pandemic, with all its effects, has reconstructed reality through a “new normality”, identifying, also, the paradigm shifts that this concept has encountered . We will also focus on how the confinement led to a different kind of reflection of reality and life in writing. Also, in the subsequent interpretative exercise, we will analyse the presence of the author, at a figurative level, in the semantics of autofi ctional lyrical discourse and observe with the help of relevant examples from Rodica Braga's poems how a broad interpretation of this concept can be useful for understanding the acting roles and avatars adopted by the “I” in the author's works.

An intertextual exploration of apocalyptic and afterlife hell imagery in The ThirteenthSun

This study conducts an intertextual analysis of apocalyptic and afterlife hell imagery in the novel The Thirteenth Sun, focusing on two specific subtropics. The first subtopic focuses on analyzing the images and themes of the apocalyptic in the novel and its poetic epigraph through close reading and textual analysis of both texts. The second subtopic focuses on a close reading and interpretation of the images and themes of an afterlife hell in both The Thirteenth Sun and Dante's The Divine Comedy. Using a postmodern literary theory, namely intertextuality, this study analyzes the intertexts between the novel and the epigraph, as well as the intertextual relationship between The Thirteenth Sun and The Divine Comedy. The detailed textual analysis reveals that both the poetic epigraph and the novel not only employ dystopian themes and imagery of the apocalyptic and the afterlife hell but also engage in a profound dialogue with The Divine Comedy and Christian eschatological traditions. By juxtaposing these intertextual elements, the study illuminates how The Thirteenth Sun reinterprets and transforms apocalyptic and afterlife motifs, contributing to a richer understanding of the genre and its thematic evolution.

Stylo-linguistic analysis of structure in Niyi Osundare's poem “The Rainsong”

This study conducts a stylo-linguistic analysis of Niyi Osundare's poem "The Rainsong," examining the language, form, and structure used to convey meaning and impact. Through a detailed analysis of graphological, phonological, syntactic, and lexico-semantic features, the study reveals the poet's deliberate choices in crafting a powerful and impactful work of poetry. It highlights the use of repetition, personification, imagery, and defamiliarization to create a sense of urgency, hope, and optimism, demonstrating how the poet's use of language and form shapes our understanding of the world. Employing Halliday's Systemic Functional Language as its theoretical underpinning and adopting the methodology of close reading and text analysis, this study contributes to the field of literary analysis. It demonstrates the value of stylo- linguistic analysis in uncovering the intricacies of poetic language and informing teaching and learning practices to better appreciate the complexities of poetry.

Are Users of Digital Archives Ready for the AI Era? Obstacles to the Application of Computational Research Methods and New Opportunities

Innovative technologies are improving the accessibility, preservation, and searchability of born-digital and digitised records. In particular, Artificial Intelligence is opening new opportunities for archivists and researchers. However, the experience of scholars (particularly humanities scholars) and other users remain understudied. This article asks how and why researchers and general users are, or are not, using computational methods. This research is informed by an open-call survey, completed by 22 individuals, and semi-structured interviews with 33 professionals, including archivists, librarians, digital humanists, literary scholars, historians, and computer scientists. Drawing on these results, this article offers an analysis of user experiences of computational research methods applied to digitised and born-digital archives. With a focus on humanities and social science researchers, this article also discusses users who resist this kind of research, perhaps because they lack the skills necessary to engage with these materials at scale, or because they prefer to use more traditional methods, such as close reading and historical analysis. Here, we explore the uses of computational and more “traditional” research methodologies applied to digital records. We also make a series of recommendations to elevate users’ computational skills but also to improve the digital infrastructure to make archives more accessible and usable.

Samarbetet mellan TNC och RTT 1938–1998: Terminologiarbete som resurs för meningsfull kommunikation

This article describes and analyses the contacts between the Swedish and Norwegian national terminology organisations between the 1940s and the 1990s. The Swedish Tekniska nomenklaturcentralen TNC (1941–2018; 2000–2018 Terminologicentrum TNC) was Sweden’s national center for special languages and terminology work for more than 75 years. Since its founding in 1941, the TNC was active not only in Sweden, but also in establishing and maintaining international contacts. The Norwegian Rådet for teknisk terminologi RTT was founded in 1938 and closed down in 2001. The research material used is the collection of correspondence in the TNC’s document archive, in particular the section stored with the code “Unor”, i.e., letters (N=374) documenting written communication between the TNC and the RTT. The article describes the topics covered in the communication, the individuals involved, the objectives and consequences of the communication and the results achieved. In a quantitative analysis, the themes of the letters are categorised in four main categories: publications, communication, information, and language issues. In a qualitative analysis, a specific terminological issue in the field of welding technology is analysed by close reading and content analysis. Finally, further studies, which complete the picture of terminological cooperation on institutional level in the Nordic countries, are proposed.