Fictional Characters Research Articles

Temporality of online reactions to fictional characters’ death

In the digital era, online reactions to broadcast media are an important feature of audience engagement. Although central, the question of the temporality of audience online reactions has been understudied. We investigate this question by exploring the temporal patterns of online reactions to fictional characters’ deaths. More than 3,500 forum reactions to Game of Thrones characters’ deaths were collected over 5 years. Temporal patterns of reactions to expected deaths displayed more long-term patterns, while reactions to unexpected deaths displayed more spontaneous patterns. These results further our understanding of death reactions’ temporality in cyberspace, in a multimedia and transmedia storytelling context.

The allusive comedy of Kingsley Amis’ L.S. Caton

One of the most fascinating comic characters in British fiction is L.S. Caton, the scheming academic who first appeared in Kingsley Amis’ satire Lucky Jim. Based on Amis’ first publisher, R. A. Caton, the evasive and deceitful L.S. Caton became a running joke in Amis’ early novels; other writers then joined the joke by similarly alluding to him. Since Caton’s appearances subsequent to Lucky Jim allude both to his initial appearance and to his subsequent (allusive) appearances, they are metaallusive—allusions to prior allusions. Until now the existence of the metaallusion as a literary device has passed unnoticed. The allusive use of Caton also highlights two further aspects of allusion that are often overlooked: That they can have more than one object, and that their objects can lie in the future as well as in its past. In addition to addressing these theoretical issues this paper argues that Caton’s appearances enhance readers’ pleasure in the text and thereby facilitate the development of social bonds between them—one of the primary aims of humour. But despite his widespread comic appeal and theoretical interest L.S. Caton has received no sustained academic attention. This paper will correct this oversight by addressing this strangely neglected topic.

Blurring the line? Music, sound and “sonic gaze” in post-ceasefire Troubles-themed film

This article appraises developments in soundtracks of narrative fiction features based on the Northern Ireland Troubles, focusing on selected titles released in the post-ceasefire period that was consolidated by the Anglo-Irish (“Good Friday”) agreement of 1998. It does this with reference to earlier approaches to music and sound for Troubles-themed film, and by drawing on Danijela Kulezic-Wilson’s sound-design-is-the-new-score proposition. The article advances “sonic gaze” as a pertinent critical lens through which to complement artistic appraisals of historical and contemporary soundtracks in light of political and colonial contexts and legacies. In comparison to earlier Troubles-themed film, a small number of narrative fiction features from the turn of the twenty-first century propose alternative positions and/or innovations in their overall sound design. Readings of Resurrection Man (Marc Evans, 1998), Hunger (Steve McQueen, 2008), Five Minutes of Heaven (Oliver Hirschbiegel, 2009) and ’71 (Yann Demange, 2014) interpret several significant soundtrack developments. These arise from the involvement of popular music producers, notably David Holmes, technological affordances (production and postproduction) and alternative artistic perspectives that interrupted a colonial-anthropological sonic gaze. The article concludes that Hunger comes closest to Liz Greene and Kulezic-Wilson’s theorisations on the integrated soundtrack and on narrative film’s potential for achieving a holistic audiovisual musicality.

DISCOURSING TRANSNATION SPACE AND LOCATING SUBJECT POSITION IN JM COETZEE’S ELIZABETH COSTELLO AND SLOW MAN: DAVID MALOUF IN CONTEXT

In the Neustadt Prize acceptance lecture (2000), David Malouf had exuded due pride as an Australian and argued that the “power of language” enables one to remap the world “so that wherever you happen to be is the center” (Le, 2019). Malouf’s statement, it is argued, embraces a conspicuous turn from cosmopolitan to transnational. Although, the transnational turn yields certain benefits which are not served in being a cosmopolitan, however, according to Bill Ashcroft, it still fails to fix a definite “subject position”. Ashcroft argues that a definable subject position can be achieved not through embracing transnational turn but being within the space which he calls “Transnation”. This article interrogates the case of JM Coetzee, the South African born Nobel Laureate (2003) who happens to be an immigrant to Australia (therefore, bearing a hyphenated identity), and also contextualizes Elizabeth Costello, a fictional character in two of Coetzee’s Australian novels, in order to discourse the transnation space and locate Costello’s subject position.

Transitioning to proof via writing scripts on the rules of a new discourse

Coming from the commognitive standpoint, we consider proof-based mathematics as a distinct discourse, the transition to which requires special rules for endorsement and rejection of mathematical statements. In this study, we investigate newcomers’ learning of these rules when being taught them explicitly. Our data come from academically motivated high-school students who took a special course in undergraduate mathematics. The course teacher dedicated three academic hours to introducing and explaining selected rules of proof to support students’ shift to the new discourse. The homework assignment consisted of typical proof-requiring problems and a scriptwriting task, asking students to compose a dialogue between fictional characters about a proof-related mistake of their choice. We analyzed the differences and similarities between the rules discussed in the classroom and those that students addressed and implemented in their proofs. The analysis showed that while students’ solutions to proof-requiring problems required rule implementation, fictitious dialogues opened the space for rule formulation and substantiation. In many cases, the students discussed the rules presented in the classroom, extending, elaborating, and specifying the teacher’s formulations. Furthermore, while the students’ proofs were mainly consistent with the teacher’s expectations, some of their rule formulations were more radical and overgeneralized than expected. These findings suggest that newcomers’ communication about the rules of proof may lag behind their capability to implement those rules to prove mathematical statements.

The Affective Turn in Metamodernist Fiction and “New Sincerity”

The aim of the article is to analyze pragmatic strategies and mechanisms to enhance narrative empathy, the key notion of metamodernist fiction that distinguishes it from postmodernist and modernist literary texts. The article postulates foregrounding of emotivity markers in metamodernist texts as a linguistic manifestation of the cultural logic of “new sincerity” in the contemporary fiction that is characterized by the lack of an explicit ludic modality of postmodernist fiction and by stressing means of producing emotional resonance on the part of the reader and their active perspective-taking. The article makes an original contribution to cognitive stylistics, multimodal studies and narratology by hypothesizing polyphony of narrative “voices”, second-person narrative and visual foregrounding as effective pragmalinguistic tools of triggering emotive and cognitive empathy that increases reader’s immersion in metamodernist fictional worlds. Using the novels by M. Porter and J. Egan, the short stories by J.S. Foer and D. Eggers as its case studies, the article proves the relevance of viewing the “new sincerity” concept as a driving force behind the authorial empathy towards fictional characters, which enhances emotionogenic potential of metamodernist fiction and contributes to reader’s engagement with modeled emotive situations. The findings of the research testify to the importance of further research into “new sincerity” and potential mechanisms of inducing reader’s empathy which is justly considered a powerful instrument for promoting social interaction, helping readers of all ages to inhibit aggression and develop understanding of others’ motives, emotions and desires.

Dungeons & Dragons in the Literature Classroom

“The Ballad of Proxima-B” is an educational RPG that promotes learning and collaboration. Students contribute to world-building and game mechanics, creating fictional worlds and characters, including a dystopian Earth, the planet Proxima-B, and alien races. The game incorporates constructivist, constructionist, and Dynamic Systems Model of Role Identity (DSMRI) principles. The hands-on and collaborative nature facilitates learning, reflection, and a strong classroom community. During gameplay, characters form alliances, encouraging students to reflect on their interactions. Design challenges include workload balance and addressing student anxiety. Game elements emphasize critical thinking and self-reflection, foster collaboration and community, and encourage exploring identity through serious play.

The Impact of Actor's Belief on Audience Emotional Resonance and Emotional Transmission

This study examines the impact of actors' Belief on Emotional Resonance and Emotional Transmission of the audience, revealing the key role of Belief in the performing arts. Belief is the actor's ability to regard fictional situations and characters as real in the performance process, which makes the performance strongly infectious and authentic. Through Belief, actors are able to realize a high degree of integration between their characters and themselves, thus impressing the audience and creating Emotional Resonance. This study analyzes the impact of Belief on performance effect, characterization and emotional expression, explores the interactive mechanism of Emotional Transmission and Resonance, enhances the understanding of performance psychology, and reveals the complex interactive relationship between the performing arts and audience psychology.

Revealing the Commonalities Existing in Depictions of Disabled Female Characters in Prose Fictions: A Study of Wilkie Collins’s The Moonstone and Toni Morrison’s “Recitatif”

Literature has numerous dimensions, among which novels and short stories are worth the mention. Stories from the past have been including disabled male and female characters in their plots, but the question of how these characters have been depicted is still debatable. When it comes to writers of the disability study, it has been noticed that they have been trying to establish the present state of people with impairments with the help of their deformed or disabled characters. It has been witnessed that novels and short stories concentrate on bringing out the darker side of a disabled person by focusing on his/ her issues and sufferings. The objective of this paper is to expose that literary works rarely focus on the brighter facet of a disabled character, especially a woman. It projects the differences that are endured by fictional individuals. The analysis undertakes the theory of Intersectionality to support its arguments of projecting the discrepancies in the picturisations of disabled female dramatic personas in novels and short stories. Hence, the research with the aid of select prose narratives brings out the conventional sketches of fictional impaired women.

Assessing Heart Failure Self-management Knowledge Through Vignettes.

Heart failure (HF) self-care is key to managing symptoms, but current HF knowledge instruments are at risk for social desirability bias (ie, tendency to respond in a way that is viewed favorably). Vignettes may be a useful method to mitigate this bias by measuring knowledge via scenarios in which individuals with HF are invited to respond to fictional characters' self-management problems rather than disclosing their own practices. The aims of the study were to develop and test the content validity of vignettes measuring individuals' knowledge of HF symptom self-management. The study had 3 phases. In phase 1, two vignettes were developed. One focused on psychological symptom self-management (ie, anxiety, depression), and the other focused on physical symptom self-management (ie, edema, fatigue). In phase 2, the research team and lay experts made improvements to the vignettes' readability. In phase 3, five HF self-care nurse experts evaluated the vignettes' clarity and importance with a 3-point Likert-type scale using Delphi methods. We calculated the vignettes' content validity using the scale-level content validity index. The final content validation encompassed 2 Delphi rounds (phase 3), yielding a scale-level content validity index of 0.92 and 0.94 for the psychological and physical symptom vignettes, respectively. These results indicate excellent initial content validity. The content of vignettes measuring individuals' knowledge of HF symptom self-management is valid based on the opinions of nurse experts. The vignettes offer a promising method to assess knowledge about HF self-care management without the pressure of disclosing individual patient practices.

Finansjeryzacja lokalności i kulturowe spojrzenie na pieniądz finansowy

Financialization is “a pattern of accumulation in which profits accrue primarily through financial channels rather than through trade and commodity production”. The expansion of the financial sector is enabled by a credit money mechanism that takes on a fictitious character. As a result, financialization leads to the reproduction of social inequality and the subordination of individual behavior to the logic of financial markets. According to critics of the process, local culture is being destroyed by credit money. In this paper, the author points to the social basis of financialization by demonstrating the ways in which local communities produce money – personalizing it and creating its meaning based on debt relationships. He illustrates the influence of culture on money using the example of microfinance and its criticism. Finally, the author proposes a different perspective on financialization, which – by combining the mutual influence of culture and money – allows for changing the categories of thinking about contemporary sources of locality and the divide between the global and the local. Key-words: financialization, microfinance, money theory, credit money, debt relationships, local communities

When TV neighbours become good friends: Understanding Neighbours fans' feelings of grief and loss at the end of the series.

Fans may experience significant upset and distress when a television series ends. However, grief and loss reactions to the end of a fictional series have seldom been investigated. It is likely that the degree to which such reactions are felt is influenced by viewing motives (e.g., pleasure, meaning making), connection to the series and its fan community, relationships formed with characters, including parasocial bonds and experiences of empathy, and tendency to engage with others' perspectives and emotions, including fictional characters. The purpose of this study was to examine predictors of fans' grief and loss reactions to the end of the television series Neighbours, which aired from 1985 to 2022. Fans (n = 1289) completed an online survey shortly after the screening of the final episode. The survey measured grief emotions and cognitions, acceptance that the series had ended, distress at the loss of a parasocial relationship with a favourite character, feelings of closure, and expressions of gratitude for the series. Predictors of these grief and loss reactions examined in the survey were viewing motives, fan identity, strength of a parasocial relationship formed with a favourite character, empathy towards that character, and tendency to take others' perspectives, experience empathic concern and personal distress, and tendency towards engagement with fictional characters. Greater grief and loss reactions were experienced by fans whose motives for watching involved being entertained and exposed to different lifestyles, who felt a stronger fan connection to the series, and who formed stronger parasocial empathic relationships with their favourite character. Factors such as gender, age, and empathic tendencies predicted various types of grief reactions. Understanding fan experiences when a long-running series ends advances theory and research on viewer parasocial relationships and engagement with media, as well as providing evidence that the loss of a series or favourite character can be viewed as a type of grief experience.

The name’s bond. parasocial bond: imagined interactions and state-level empathy

ABSTRACT Empathy, whether state or trait, is an individual’s ability to adopt another’s perspective, feel another’s feelings, or identify with another’s situation (Campbell & Babrow, 2004; Davis, 1983; Nezlek etal., 2007). Research reliably shows relationships between empathy and parasocial interactions (e.g. psychological engagements with fictional characters; Giles, 2002; Tsao, 1996; Zillmann, 1994). The current study sought to identify the relationship between the type of parasocial interactions and subsequent changes in state-level empathy via an experimental design. Results indicate state-level empathy changes are contingent upon valence (i.e. Favorite vs. Least Favorite) and status (i.e. Real vs. Parasocial) of the imagined interaction.

TRAUMA AND RECOVERY: A STUDY OF PTSD MOTIFS IN KISHWAR DESAI’S NOVEL SEA OF INNOCENCE

In light of a renewed understanding of trauma studies, PTSD-affected characters in fiction are a fairly intriguing topic. As a conclusion to the Simran Singh series, The Sea of Innocence revolves around her confronting the drug mafia and sexual trafficking on the unassuming beaches of Goa. The paper elucidates the mental agony of the protagonist, mourning family members, as well as those of the key suspects. Scrutinising each of them under the lens of depression, specifically, PTSD, is the purpose of this paper. It hopes to connect the link between post-traumatic studies and popular fiction, highlighting a social evil. The lasting effects of a crime on the mental imprints of those concerned, particularly young adults, are labelled in the paper. Their coping symptoms to alleviate the wide range of PTSD symptoms for each character in Desai’s novel are discussed.

The multimodality of Chinese folklore images

This scientific article examines the phenomenon of multimodality based on the material of Chinese folklore images. The object of the research is the images of fictional characters of Chinese folklore works, and the subject is the analysis of images of Chinese folklore works in their multimodal expression in modern adaptations. The purpose of the study is to show how modern discursive practices, characterized by a high degree of multimodality, affect the development of the concept of the image of a folklore work in the recipient's mind. The tasks that were solved within the framework of this study: 1) description of the phenomenon of multimodality in the context of modern multimedia technologies; 2) analysis of image concepts in mobile game, cartoons and TV show; 3) assessment of the influence of multimodality on the peculiarities of the development of image concepts and their perception in the recipient's mind. The methods used are the continuous sampling method for collecting the analyzed material, as well as methods of semantic, contextual and conceptual analysis. The scientific novelty of the work is due to the fact that for the first time are studied the various images of Chinese folklore works in their modern interpretation. As a result of a comprehensive analysis, the following conclusions were drawn: multimodality affects the degree of perception of an image in the recipient's mind in different ways, on the one hand, it leads to a simplification of the understanding of meanings, on the other hand, to a complication of systems for creating these meanings. One of the manifestations of this complication is the existence of a high degree of intertextuality, which can undermine perception of fictional characters, lead to the false assumption of some characters for others. The desire to get closer to the preferences of the modern viewer leads both to a slight difference in the basic features of the concepts, and to their complete opposite, which also affects the process of perception of the image. Nevertheless, despite the significant degree of adaptation of images that cause different user assessments, the social and cultural-historical processes of a dynamically changing world require compliance with the conditions of functioning of modern discursive practices.

Yusuf in The Well: Contemporary Prophet and His Self-Search in Abdulrazak Gurnah’s Paradise

It cannot be denied that art and literature constitute an important part of life. Artists are master individuals who hold a mirror to life and create their works by distilling the essence of life into them. Artists are responsible individuals who do not turn their backs on the realities of the society they live in but transform those realities into art by using their ability to re-construct it. For hundreds of years, they have been inspired by the religious and cultural codes of the societies they live in and use them as raw materials for their art. One of these master artists, African-born Abdulrazak Gurnah, who is also one of the contemporary British writers, is one of those who masterfully fictionalizes reality like his previous generations of writers. The author fictionalizes, in Paradise, the Qur’anic story of Prophet Yusuf and creates a modern prophet. In the novel, the author, who centers his narrative on themes such as rootlessness, slavery, and marginalization, tries to highlight the problems that African societies are subjected to. In this study, the real-life story of Prophet Yusuf and the African Yusuf, who is a fictional character, will be examined in the context of religion and fiction, and the difficulties faced by Yusuf character during his identity formation and self-development will be examined.

Exploring factors that affect Kindergarten teachers’ use of picturebooks with gender non-conforming fictional characters

Kindergarten environments are critical settings for early socialization and development of gender perceptions. Teachers play a significant role in shaping children’s understanding of gender, as do the materials and media they introduce to the classroom. The aim of this study is to explore the factors that affect kindergarten teachers’ use of picturebooks with gender non-conforming fictional characters in their teaching process. For the purposes of this research a quantitative approach was utilized. A sample of eighty-five kindergarten teachers answered a semi-structured questionnaire. A descriptive statistical analysis was performed, presenting the factors which affect kindergarten teachers’ use of gendered oriented picturebooks. Results show that factors which mostly affect kindergarten teachers are a) related to the educational framework, b) interwoven with teachers’ own personal beliefs, and c) referring to parents’ influence. The comparison of mean scores of factors in different academic qualification groups shows that highly qualified teachers with the least working experience are not affected negatively in their use of picturebooks with gender non-conforming characters in their teaching process. Those teachers are open to gender diversity, are not discouraged by the parents’ influence and take advantage of both the variety of LGBTQ picturebooks offered and the methodological framework of the Early Years Curriculum to deconstruct gender binaries. Mapping the factors could reveal the need for enhancing teachers’ continuing education on diversity matters and teachers’ resilience towards parents’ influence. Furthermore, findings reveal the need for designing a more detailed and practical methodological framework regarding the approach of gender issues in early years.

Koniec zabijania w imię pokoju? Rewizja modelu fikcyjnego mściciela w komiksie oraz serialu „Peacemaker”

Within the discussion of popular narratives that place the idea of ‘peace’ at their core, stories about fictional superheroes seem to be a potentially ideal area for scientific exploration. However, when delving into the specificity of selected comic book, film and TV series examples, it turns out that the issue of the ‘peace-centricity’ of this type of story requires a more in-depth reflection, going beyond the often naive ideas about the actual ideological content present here. A perfect example of this type of reflection is a fictional character nicknamed Peacemaker, whose transmedia incarnations accurately illustrate the complex status of the superhero mission as a ‘fight for peace’.

Childhood vs Adulthood: A Study of the Characters in Charles Dicken’s Great Expectations

In Great Expectations, Pip travels the path of self-discovery, self-enhancement, and gentlemanly behavior. But differently, the story explores the aspirations of obtaining wealth, education, and social refinement. Victorian civilization instilled morality and etiquette in its readers, as demonstrated by Charles Dickens’ “Great Expectations". The lead character's journey from childhood to adulthood is followed by the reader, who gains insight into the reader's ability to discern morality even in the non-fictional world through the protagonist's interactions with other people, values, and behaviors. Because it acts as a bridge connecting social norms and the development of a fictional character, this is what draws interest to the educational romance genre.

Situationally-triggered metaphor as political argument

Abstract This paper proposes to investigate the public responses to situationally-triggered metaphors as these have been observed in political argumentation. Situationally-triggered metaphors occur when a nonmetaphorical connection is made between the metaphor and an aspect of the relevant situational context. The question addressed in this research is: how are such metaphors perceived by the public when these form part of the political argumentation? To answer this question, the study focuses on a particular instance of political situationally-triggered metaphor i.e., Boris Johnson’s “James Bond” metaphor produced during COP26. The paper draws on Critical Metaphor Analysis and Deliberate Metaphor Theory to analyse the public comments and reactions posted on the social media platform Twitter in response to the politician’s arguments. The analysis reveals that most of the public responses exploit the “James Bond” metaphor to dispute Johnson’s self-identification to the fictional character and provide meta-arguments that revolve around the politician’s misuse of metaphors. In contrast, responses that exploit the metaphor to convey political arguments or endorsement are much more limited. It is thus argued that situationally-triggered metaphors not only represent a political rhetorical device, but they are also effective political tools to shift public attention towards discursive patterns instead of arguments presented in discourse.