Literary Awards Research Articles

The artistic value of the bestseller: the genre art of G. Yakhina’s novel “My Children”

INTRODUCTION. The study is devoted to identifying the artistic technique “genre hybridity” in the novel “My children” by modern Russian writer Guzel Shamileevna Yakhina. The purpose of the study is to identify the hybridization of the genres of the novel “My Children”, analyse the approach to its implementation, comprehend its meaning and the effect on the formation of the author’s creative style.MATERIALS AND METHODS. The research material is the novel “My Children” G. Yakhina, winner of the national literary award “Big Book” in 2019. When analysing the text of the novel, a phenomenological approach, a method for reconstructing the artist’s work and his art, and textual analysis are used.RESULTS AND DISCUSSION. It is revealed that the text of the novel describes historical events with the help of artistic techniques characteristic of folklore genres of fairy tales and legends, and shows the essence of real history against the backdrop of fantastic flavor. “Genre hybridity” manifests itself due to the fact that the fairy-tale plots present in the text of the work play a special role, they begin to come true “in the opposite direction”. It has been established that the work reflects the author’s handwriting in the depiction of an object in the novel (Germans of the Volga region) against the background of the “ebullient era” with mythological elements, as a result of which the depth of the work’s meaning increases.CONCLUSION. It has been established that the use of genre hybridity in the novel by G. Yakhina “My Children” helps overcome the contradiction between reality and romance, historicity and fiction, providing readers with a variety of aesthetic experiences.

‘So Much for Literary Democracy’

Abstract This study examines the effect and impact of literary prizes, focusing on the Not the Booker Prize (NTBP) and its reception on social media platforms. The NTBP, organized by The Guardian, served as a counter to the prestigious Man Booker Prize, offering a more democratic alternative in which the audience is allowed a central role in nominating and voting for books. This article examines the impact of the 2012 scandal surrounding the NTBP, in which allegations of vote-rigging and author canvassing led to significant controversy. By analysing the Twitter discourse, the study explores how scandal influences the perception and value of literary awards. The findings highlight the tension between professional and lay criticism, the role of social media in literary evaluation, and the transformation of literary prizes in the digital age. Finally, the article emphasizes that cultural gatekeeping is undergoing significant change, while pointing out contradictions and frictions besetting the democratization of the literary field.

On Translated Modern Iraqi Fiction in English: Target Readership Perspective

English translation of modern Iraqi fiction remains uncharted territory mainly from target readers’ perception. For this purpose, the paper aims to investigate the target ordinary readers’ perception of modern Iraqi novel translated into English using a collected corpus of reviews published in Goodreads online review platform. The study adopts a case study approach to examine target readers’ comments on Ahmed Saadawi’s Frankenstein in Baghdad (2013), translated by Jonathan Wright (2018). The novel has succeeded in reaping a number of international literary awards; it was also on the shortlist for the Man Booker International Prize in 2018. This paper draws on non-professional (ordinary) readers’ reviews to explore how English literary readers have welcomed, although slowly, the presence of contemporary Iraqi fiction. In line with this view of readership, a corpus of 164 text reviews and 2030 ratings were collected from Goodreads platform and analyzed to understand the ordinary English-speaking readership perception of the translated novel as to the features of a favorably received translation of Iraqi fiction. Therefore, the study has two aims to address: first, to identify the key features which may impede/enhance the non-professional readers’ enjoyment of the translated novel under study; second, to introduce a brief account of modern Iraqi translated fiction. The study is significant in that it helps to encourage future research on readers’ reception of modern Iraqi fiction translated into other languages and also to fill in a gap in literary translation studies on target ordinary readers’ perspective.

Building the Literary Award System and Marketing of Works in the Era of Intelligent Communication-An Analysis of the Reasons Behind the Bestseller Status of Golden Slumbers

By examining the online systems established by publishers in the era of intelligent communication, and analyzing the award-winning status of Golden Slumbers and its author, as well as the development of relevant literary awards by publishers, this paper finds that both mainstream Japanese literary awards and civilian literary awards have each achieved significant credibility through their respective developmental explorations. Furthermore, the establishment of internal literary award systems by publishers, represented by Shinchosha, not only aids in the marketing of their authors and works but also contributes to the growth of the publishers themselves

Decoding Anti-Blackness in Children’s Literature

This dissertation critically examines the representation of Black authors and themes within the John Newbery Medal canon from its inception in 1922 to 2023. It explores how this literary award has mirrored or challenged societal perceptions of race, particularly in children’s literature. Utilizing a thematic content analysis methodology, the study investigates the works of the six Black authors who have won the Newbery Medal, using a priori coding to critically examine the racial narratives, themes, and authorial diversity presented in these titles. Despite the noted increase in diversity within children’s literature, this research identifies a persistent underrepresentation of Black authors and Black cultural themes in Newbery Medal recipients. The study highlights a significant gap in racial inclusivity, with a mere six Black authors receiving the Newbery Medal in over a century. This underrepresentation is not only a marker of racial disparity but also reflects broader systemic biases within the literary and publishing industries. This dissertation engages with theories from critical race theory and critical librarianship to interrogate the structural barriers that sustain this racial homogeneity. In examining the implications of these findings, the research advocates for a more equitable literary landscape, emphasizing the need for librarians, educators, and publishers to foster inclusivity in children’s literature. The ultimate aim is to ensure that young readers encounter a more representative spectrum of narratives that celebrate racial diversity and promote inclusiveness.

The author’s individuality is back in the limelight

Pereverzin, a contemporary poet, a winner of the ‘Moskovskiy schyot’ literary award (2009), and the editor-in-chief of the poetry journal Piroskaf, discusses new names and trends in modern poetry with the critic E. Pogorelaya. Starting with an overview of the changes that have marked contemporary poetry following the dissolution of the publisher Voymega almost three years ago, the conversation next considers the journals Prosodia and Piroskaf and discusses: their objectives, priorities, and target audiences; the similarity of the situation faced by contemporary poets and artists alike; new methods in poetry and artificial intelligence. The discussion mentions the names of modern poets and artists featured in Piroskaf, a journal that promotes an innovative mixture of verbal and visual arts. Pereverzin suggests that today’s poetry seeks new forms of interaction with its audience, but pandering to readers’ tastes will lead the poet to a dead end. Poetry is supposed to perceive and recreate the world as a reality, rather than a reflection, including the reflections in the reader’s eyes.

An Exploration of IFLA LRM for Literature Data Representation

The digital humanities have witnessed a clear development in recent years due partly to their adoption of Semantic Web and linked data technologies and the creation of knowledge bases. In this work, we target the creation of an ontology and knowledge base for literature data representation based on the IFLA Library Reference Model (LRM). IFLA LRM is the main model for book-related data, allowing for a fine representation of the various layers that constitute a book. However, by design, it doesn’t deal with some aspects usually available in literature databases, such as information about authors, literary awards or book themes. As a result, LRM requires some extensions to be able to represent ancillary data. Another challenge is the querying of IFLA LRM knowledge bases, with a performance cost that comes with the fine-grained expressivity of the LRM model, which creates longer and therefore typically slower SPARQL queries. In this work, we propose an extension to the IFLA LRM ontology called IFLA LRM* that targets these limitations including a connection to the vocabulary Schema.org and to the taxonomies Thema and Dewey Decimal, and the representation of literary awards. We also present a practical case study on using our extended model to create a Quebec literature knowledge base, discussing the interest of our extensions.

Gender Representation in Postcolonial African Literature

Purpose: The aim of the study was to assess the gender representation in postcolonial African literature. Materials and Methods: This study adopted a desk methodology. A desk study research design is commonly known as secondary data collection. This is basically collecting data from existing resources preferably because of its low cost advantage as compared to a field research. Our current study looked into already published studies and reports as the data was easily accessed through online journals and libraries. Findings: The study found that authors often critique patriarchal structures and colonial legacies that have influenced gender dynamics. Female characters in these narratives are depicted as resilient and multifaceted, challenging traditional roles and seeking empowerment. Works by writers such as Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Tsitsi Dangarembga highlight the struggles and triumphs of women navigating postcolonial societies, reflecting broader themes of identity, autonomy, and resistance. Additionally, postcolonial African literature often explores the intersectionality of gender with race, class, and ethnicity, offering a nuanced understanding of the lived experiences of African women and men in a rapidly changing world. Implications to Theory, Practice and Policy: Postcolonial theory, feminist literary theory and queer theory may be used to anchor future studies on assessing the gender representation in postcolonial African literature. Supporting emerging authors through literary grants and mentorship programs is essential for promoting diversity and inclusivity in literary production. Promoting gender-inclusive literary awards can incentivize authors to explore and challenge traditional gender norms in their works.

When a Children’s Literary Jury Imagines Other Children as Potential Readers: A Case of Collaborative Research

In 2022, the Chilean literary award Premio Medalla Colibrí had a children’s jury for the first time. This article has been written by four researchers, two adults and two children, who participated in this process and then studied the experience. We did interviews with different people involved and an analysis based on the notion of wonder. Here, we present some reflections on the criteria used by the children’s jury and some findings that surprised us during the research process.

La Narrativa Española de Posguerra

With the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), a new era began in Spanish literature. New promotions undertook the hard and difficult task of rebuilding the cultural life of the country even if they had to face different kinds of obstacles. The new poetic or novel productions were, without a doubt, the work of another generation. However, the literature of the first post-war years cannot be reduced to the production of those who joined it after 1939, given the invaluable contribution of highly distinguished personalities belonging to previous generations. If during the first post-war years, poetry had reached a certain development, the novel, already little cultivated in the preceding stage, remained stagnant in Spain until approximately 1945, at which time, for a series of reasons, among which we could mention the establishment of several literary awards, it began to replace translations of foreign authors. The political, economic, social and ideological consequences, in addition to the difficulties imposed by censorship, will influence the literary work of the moment and will, undoubtedly, constrain the creation of the novel

Maslows Hierarchy of Needs: A Framework for Analyzing Female Characters in the Theater Bailu Plain

Bailu Plain, written by Chen Zhongshi between 1988 and 1992, won the 4th Mao Dun Literature Award in China in 1998 and was selected for the Collection of 70 Novels in the 70 Years of the Peoples Republic of China in 2019. At the same time, the novel has also been adapted into various art forms such as films, TV series, theaters, and a Qin opera. In the face of such an excellent work, many scholars consider it a selected topic. However, only some scholars have applied Maslows Hierarchy of Needs theory to analyze the motivations of the characters in the play. In this paper, we review Maslows Hierarchy of Needs Theory, analyze the motivations for the behavior of two female characters in the work of Bailu Plain, Tian Xiaoe, and Bai Ling, using different levels of the theory, and conclude the basic rules. With this article as an example, Maslows Hierarchy of Needs Theory can be used as a theoretical framework for analyzing characters behavior in literary works in the field of social sciences, in addition to business and management psychology.

Maslows Hierarchy of Needs: A Framework for Analyzing Female Characters in the Theater Bailu Plain

Bailu Plain, written by Chen Zhongshi between 1988 and 1992, won the 4th Mao Dun Literature Award in China in 1998 and was selected for the Collection of 70 Novels in the 70 Years of the Peoples Republic of China in 2019. At the same time, the novel has also been adapted into various art forms such as films, TV series, theaters, and a Qin opera. In the face of such an excellent work, many scholars consider it a selected topic. However, only some scholars have applied Maslows Hierarchy of Needs theory to analyze the motivations of the characters in the play. In this paper, we review Maslows Hierarchy of Needs Theory, analyze the motivations for the behavior of two female characters in the work of Bailu Plain, Tian Xiaoe, and Bai Ling, using different levels of the theory, and conclude the basic rules. With this article as an example, Maslows Hierarchy of Needs Theory can be used as a theoretical framework for analyzing characters behavior in literary works in the field of social sciences, in addition to business and management psychology.

Plot, Characters, and Representation: Patterns and Gaps in Award-Winning LGBTQ Children’s Books

ABSTRACT Children’s books representing LGBTQ identities are a vital part of elementary school classrooms and libraries, as well as family resources, and more of these diverse books have been published over recent years. While existing research on these books catalogs how many of them represent traditionally marginalized groups, our research examines the diversity of narratives within these books. In this study, we used narrative critical content analysis to examine 51 books from three award lists: the Lambda Literary Awards, the Rainbow Booklist, and the Stonewall Book Awards for Children’s and Young Adult Literature. These books are age-appropriate for read-alouds for all elementary grade levels based on their text complexity and storylines. We categorized books with identity-based conflicts and conflicts not based on identity. Overall, we found that books rely heavily on LGBTQ identities as the main source of conflict, using repeated plotlines of coming out, resisting bullying, love stories, and LGBTQ rights. In most cases, these repeated plotlines limit representation of LGBTQ people’s complex, multifaceted lives. We discuss the implications of these repeated plotlines, and we provide a list of recommended books that represent LGBTQ characters with more multifaceted lives and provide more unique stories.

청소년소설과 젠더 -한국 청소년문학상 수상작을 중심으로-

This study focuses on the ways in which Korean society's gender norms are reinterpreted by the winners of the Young Adult Literature Awards. First, I examined how the gendered family system in Korean society has been transformed and reconfigured, and how it affects the youth identity. Families in the Young Adult Fiction do not conform to conventional models of normal families and gender role norms. However, I critically examined the direction of family narratives by pointing out that the newly transformed familism limits the imagination of Young Adult Fiction. Next, I examined the representation of adolescent sexuality as a consistent practice. Male adolescents were often portrayed as the protagonists of events, which is problematic from a gender-sensitive perspective, and female adolescent sexuality had largely been addressed in the realm of pregnancy, abortion, and childbirth. However, I expect to see more narratives exploring female sexual self-determination in a new light. Finally, I highlighted issues of queer identity that are not captured by the gender binary. The winners of the Young Adult Literature Prize tend to deal with queer identity issues in friendships, and the recent winners have portrayed queer issues in new ways and formats through a combination of family, travel narratives, and romance narratives. Unlike in the past, when queer people were categorically excluded, minority issues have recently been addressed in terms of human rights education; however, it remains to be seen whether this will generate meaningful reflections in the future.

Works of R. Edelbauer in Context of Contemporary Austrian Literature of Early 21st Century

This study explores the novels of contemporary Austrian writer Raphaela Edelbauer (Raphaela Edelbauer, b. 1990) “The Fluid Land” (Das flüssige Land, 2019), “DAVE” (DAVE, 2021), “The Incommensurables” (Die Inkommensurablen, 2023) in the context of contemporary Austrian literature of the early third millennium. The relevance of the research is driven by the necessity to comprehend the trends in Austrian literature during an era of global changes. It is revealed that, on one hand, the author continues the traditions of Austrian literature of the second half of the 20th century, particularly on a thematic level (Austrian identity, overcoming the past, the false idyll of provincial Austria, conflicts between fathers and children, etc.), while on the other hand, delving into pressing contemporary issues (transhumanism, artificial intelligence, etc.). The concept of fictionality is central to the analysis, exploring the ways and specifics of its implementation in the artistic text in alignment with the author’s communicative intentions. Special attention is given to Edelbauer’s individual style, the uniqueness of narrative organization in the examined genre varieties (parable novel, science fiction novel, historical novel), and the quest for a “personal” language. The novelty of this research lies in the fact that Edelbauer’s work, distinguished by prestigious literary awards in Austria and Germany, has not been a subject of study in Russian literary studies.

A Translingual Voice in Japanese Literature: A Conversation between Li Kotomi and Elaine Wong

Abstract Li Kotomi learned Japanese as a teenager in Taiwan. She is a prolific author writing in Japanese and has received several literary awards in Japan, including an Akutagawa Prize in 2021. Li translates her own works into Mandarin Chinese, her first language. Her novels and short stories often depict experiences of crossing between Japanese and Chinese, such as how a character’s encounter with a new language shapes or even determines her understanding of a new country. In this interview, Li talks about the influences of language and linguistic differences on her creative writing, her learning of Japanese, her thoughts about Japanese and Chinese, self-translation, and linguistic identity. She also discusses, from a queer perspective, her way of innovating Japanese literature by incorporating original Chinese classical poems into contemporary Japanese fiction, and how this act of innovation subverts heteronormativity in Chinese and Japanese literatures for different reasons.

Reading No Friend but the Mountains: From National to Transnational Contexts of Recognition

ABSTRACT In 2018, Behrouz Boochani’s testimonial memoir No Friend but the Mountains confronted Australian readers with their complicity in the nation’s carceral border-industrial complex. In the five years since its publication, it has been translated and sold into eighteen languages in twenty-three countries and adapted for film, theatre and a song cycle. This article uses a book-historical approach to present a short biography of No Friend, analysing how it has evolved as a noteworthy work that has taken on distinct lives in the nation and beyond. It analyses two significant moments of recognition in the biography of this book: the Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards, and the special issue of the life writing journal Biography. The life of this book—its production, reception and material form—suggests the potential for allegiances between cultural and literary elites in the reception of life narratives by forcibly displaced people. These allegiances mark the early versions of No Friend and have been central to its extensive mobility to new readerships.

Confused in Time (Some Observations on the Latest Bulgarian Novels)

The report focuses on the “boom” of the new Bulgarian novel, on the themes, problems, the images that these novels discuss and on the reasons for this “boom”, offering its hypothesis about it. The text does not claim to be exhaustive in the analysis of the novels published in the last 3 years, since these novels for the period far exceed one hundred, rather it focuses on texts that have received literary awards or nominations, a fact that is sufficient to bring them to the fore in the analysis, but is not an indicator of their value essence. That is why the report seeks to bring out some general features of the novel boom, without making value comparisons, which are too early for newly published novels.

“Hope, but also Danger”: A Conversation with Larissa Lai on not Going Back and the ‘Re’ of Recuperation

Larissa Lai is a poet, fiction writer and academic who holds a Canada Research Chair at the University of Calgary, where she directs The Insurgent Architects’ House for Creative Writing. She has authored nine books. Her most recent works are The Tiger Flu, Iron Goddess of Mercy and The Lost Century. She is a recipient of the Jim Duggins Novelist’s Prize, the Lambda Literary Award, and the Otherwise Honor Book. She was recently awarded a Maria Zambrano Fellowship at the University of Huelva in Spain and has been actively engaged in cultural organizing, experimental poetry and speculative fiction communities since the 1980s. Her work often explores themes of identity intertwined with elements of science fiction and the fantastical imagination. This interview took place in Parque García Sanabria on 24th March 2023 during a visit of Larissa Lai to the University of La Laguna. This interview focuses on the convergence of history, myth and affects, providing a reflection on the circularity of time and the promise of happiness.

Children's literature: reading strategies and receptivity in early childhood

To ensure students' mastery of reading and writing constitutes one of the biggest challenges currently facing Brazilian public schools. Data from the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (Pirls, 2021) estimate that around 40% of Brazilian students in the 4th year of elementary school do not master basic reading skills. Despite the complex nature of the theme, when specifically dealing with young children, literary books play a very relevant role in this process, since research indicates that they constitute a kind of gateway to the world of literature and reading. In this sense, the present article presents the results of an action investigation that aimed to analyze the reception of children's literature books for preschoolers in the age range of 4 to 5 years old, from a preschool, in the city of Presidente Prudente/SP. For the development of the research, we provide children with high-quality literature books – awarded by the Jabuti Prize, which is the most prestigious literary award in Brazil. Group organization was utilized to have a bigger “control” of children's speech and press conferences with the purpose of understanding what criteria the children use when choosing the books. Reading circles were utilized as a methodology to initiate a dialogue within the group and the sharing of impressions about the chosen books. Three elements emerged as central in the choice of books by the children: the cover as the most decisive element, the illustrations and the connections that they made between the book, its characters and the pre-existing knowledge they already had. The work demonstrates that it is necessary to provide opportunities in schools for practices that involve children more, that encourage them to choose what they want to read.