Literary Events Research Articles

The Spanish Translation of Hugh Blair's Lectures: An Early Anglo-Hispanic Canon

The Spanish translation of Hugh Blair's Lectures on Rhetoric and Belles Lettres (1783) at the turn of the nineteenth century was one of the most remarkable literary events of the period in Spain. It appeared at a crucial time of shifting cultural paradigms and provoked an intense debate on some literary issues that were key in the transition to a new Romantic aesthetics, by introducing a view of the creative process based on pre-Romantic versions of the concepts of genius, the imagination and the sublime. But in its adaptation to the Spanish context Blair's work underwent a singular nationalization process. It also helped disseminate an Anglo-Hispanic canon that advanced the shift from French cultural dominance to an increasing Anglophilia that became noticeable in many Spanish authors and critics in subsequent decades. Thanks to the official adoption of the Lecciones as a rhetorical and literary handbook in schools and universities in the first half of the nineteenth century, the pre-Romantic canon established through Blair's work may have even contributed to the consolidation of literary eclecticism in Spain.

The Flow of Memory during the Obsessive Decade. The Case of A.E. Baconsky at Steaua Magazine

"The relationship between the literary and the political field is a debated topic in historiography, especially with the rise of new research methods. The question of how the writer constructs his artistic identity in a communist regime will be given an answer by studying the literary events and developments, which took place in Cluj‑Napoca, in the editorial office of Steaua (The Star) magazine during the 1950s. Steaua quickly enjoyed success in the cultural landscape of the time, and the editorial policy promoted under its editor‑in‑chief A.E. Baconsky, managed through numerous concessions, but also through a game in the mirror, to stage a literature with moderate ideological influences. Based on different sources, the paper reconstructs the environment in which the writers were formed during the communist period, focusing on the attempts made by them to obey the line in order to ensure their financial and professional survival."

Eudora Welty House & Garden

Eudora Welty House & Garden Lauren Rhoades 2020 gave us a new perspective on the meaning of a "sheltered life" here at the Eudora Welty House & Garden. Our small museum and botanical garden were fortunate compared to so many around the country that had to slash their operations and staffing budgets in response to the COVID crisis. We retained all our staff with limited budget cuts and were able to pivot to virtual programming and limited in-person visitation. Thankfully, staff and volunteers have remained healthy throughout the pandemic. On March 13, 2020, we closed to the public and canceled all our major spring programs: the Bettye Jolly Lecture, Scholastic Awards Ceremony, the Eudora Welty birthday celebration, and the Annual Welty Plant Sale. Working from home, our staff quickly ramped up our virtual programs and social media presence. Instead of our in-person summer story time program, for example, we posted virtual #StorytimeInTheGarden children's book readings, including Welty's The Shoe Bird. We engaged with guests on Facebook and Instagram with weekly #FlowerFriday posts, historical highlights from Welty's life and writing career, and features on our new gift shop items. Perhaps our most successful virtual program so far has been the Welty-at-Home Book Club. We began the book club with the goal of reading and discussing works by Welty and authors connected to Welty in some way. On April 29, we kicked off a ten-week discussion of Welty's Losing Battles. Our first call had over 50 participants, and attendance has been steady ever since [End Page 281] with a growing list of participants joining from around the country. Success of the Welty-at-Home Book Club has been in large part due to Suzanne Marrs's masterful teaching and intuitive approach to facilitation, as well as our book club's "slow reading" approach. In July, the book club read Margaret Walker's Jubilee (with discussions led by Robbie Luckett, director of the Margaret Walker Center), and in the fall we read and discussed The Golden Apples over the course of eleven weeks. Even as we look forward to being able to host in-person book signings and literary events in the future, we plan on maintaining the virtual book club as a cornerstone of Welty House & Garden virtual programming. For now, there is no better way to foster an appreciation of Welty's literary legacy and cultivate a community of readers across the country. Since July, the Welty House & Garden has been open for limited tours and small, outdoor programs. We are lucky to have a beautiful outdoor space in which to safely engage with guests, and thus the Welty garden has become the focal point for much of our programming efforts. At the end of June, Susan Haltom, Welty Garden Curator and co-author of One Writer's Garden: Eudora Welty's Home Place, retired after 25 years. We are enormously grateful for Susan's work in restoring, preserving, and maintaining the historic garden in line with Welty's vision. Jessica Russell Hilton, our Garden Projects Specialist, worked closely with Susan in the months prior to her departure and has since taken up the mantle of preserving our "living exhibits." The year 2020 also marked the release of the completely redesigned Eudora Welty House & Garden website. The new website features colorful photography, an accessible design, an events calendar, a teacher resources page, streamlined visitor information, and more. Be sure to visit eudoraweltyhouse.com to see all the updates. In 2021 we look forward to returning to some semblance of normalcy with more outdoor, in-person programs, and the reopening of our popular Saturday afternoon tour times. As always, visitor, volunteer, and staff safety is our top priority. While the past year has been extraordinarily difficult, I am grateful for the connections sustained within our community. I hope our staff at the Welty House & Garden has been able to offer guests—whether virtual or in-person—a peaceful and inspiring respite during stressful times. [End Page 282] Copyright © 2021 Department of English, Georgia State University

«С Брюсовым на равной ноге». Письма М.Ф. Ликиардопуло к В.Я. Брюсову

The publication is dedicated to Mikhail Likiardopulo’s place in the literary life of the 1900–1910s and his relationship with Valery Bryusov. An active journalist, translator of new English prose (Oscar Wilde, H.G. Wells), from 1906 Likiardopulo worked as a secretary of the Symbolist magazine “Vesy” (1904–1909), the actual editor of which was Bryusov. A significant part of Likiardopulo's letters, informing the correspondent “about political and literary events”, is devoted to the literary spite of the day and makes it possible to perceive the behind-the-scenes side of events and phenomena reflected on the pages of the capital's magazines and newspapers. In 1917 he left for the diplomatic service abroad; the last of the published letters (1923) was sent by him from England, where Likiardopulo died in 1925. The published texts are provided with a detailed historical and literary commentary.

Regina Wasiak-Taylor – animatorka kultury, dziennikarka, prezes Związku Pisarzy Polskich na Obczyźnie w Londynie

The aim of the article is to present Regina Wasiak-Taylor – a person of many talents, as a journalist, an efficient animator of the cultural life of the Polish diaspora in Great Britain, a president of the Union of Polish Writers Abroad [hereinafter: ZPPnO – Związek Pisarzy Polskich na Obczyźnie]. The following methods have been used: qualitative analysis of the press content, critical analysis of documents, heuristic analysis, interviews. We get to know Mrs Wasiak-Taylor’s scope of activity: involvement in the organisational life of the ZPPnO, in the Pamiętnik Literacki [Literary Memoir] edited in London, practicing socio-cultural journalism and literary criticism, writing scientific articles, popularisation of the emigration’s literary life and Polish ballet, organizing, among others, multimedia theatre and stage programmes – Poetic Scene [Scena Poetycka] at the Polish Social and Cultural Association [POSK – Polski Ośrodek Społeczno-Kulturalny] in London. Also: initiation of the Literary Parlour within the Polish Watchfire at the Exhibition Road, addressed to the Polish and international intelligentsia in London, active participation in international scientific conferences. Regina Wasiak-Taylor conducts editorial work on books. She is the author of readings, laudations, and her own publications: Dzieje Nagrody Literackiej ZPPnO 1951–2011 [The History of the Literary Award of the ZPPnO 1951–2011] (London 2011), Ojczyzna literatura [Literature Fatherland] (London 2013), Alfabet wspomnień Szymona Zaremby. II Rzeczpospolita, II wojna światowa, emigracja [Szymon Zaremba’s Alphabet of Memories, Second Polish Republic, World War II, emigration] (London 2015). She initiates and promotes books by Polish authors and moderates other meetings of literary and scientific circles at the Polish Embassy in London, at the International Book Fair in Warsaw and at literary events in various places.

Алексей Ремизов и Борис Зайцев: юбилейные хлопоты 1926 г.

The article is dedicated to a story from the literary life of Russian emigration related to the anniversary of Boris Zaitsev of 1926. The article introduces hitherto unknown archival material that demonstrates how Alexey Remizov worked to cover this literary event in the pages of the European press. Archival documents (fragments of a hitherto unpublished emigrant period correspondence of Remizov and Zaitsev) and unknown print sources have allowed me to describe the nature of the relationship between two writers sharing similar literary biographies in the context of the literary situation of 1926. The anniversary celebration as a factor of public recognition for Remizov became an occasion for integrating significant phenomena of Russian literature into European literature and culture. The article contains obscure biographical information about Remizov’s correspondents.

Переписка З.Н. Гиппиус с Ф.А. Червинским

The publication introduces 33 letters of the 1890s from Z.N. Gippius to the writer, poet and playwright, St. Petersburg lawyer F.A. Chervinsky. Gippius’s short romance with Chervinsky, as happened with her other heartfelt passions, provoked an intense epistolary dialogue, avoiding, however, direct expression and self-reflection of feelings. Gippius's letters are dominated by playing and light coquetry, full of hints and provocations, and the life romance itself is built by her as a tense psychological experiment. Their relationship in 1892 –1893 found reflection in the works of both participants — in Gippius's fairy tale “Time” and Chervinsky's story “Sylphide”, typical examples of modernist interrelation of literature and life. At the same time, the letters are interesting for the details of literary events reported in them, for the characteristics of a number of contemporary writers — N. Minsky, D. Merezhkovsky, A.P. Chekhov and other common acquaintances.

Coverage of mystical interpretations in the epics of Yusuf and Zulaykho

The appeal of Islam and the Qur’an in Uzbek literature has become a major literary event. Talented creators have further enriched the Qur’anic theme based on their skill. They created royal masterpieces. This great cultural heritage left by our ancestors is an unforgettable treasure of our spirituality. It should also be noted that “the penetration of Qur’anic themes into world and Uzbek literature in particular is not only from a religious point of view, but also clarifies for us the abstract aspects of Eastern literature, reveals the origins of various literary themes and connects modern Uzbek literature with Islamic literature. It has also helped to re-establish uninterrupted ties”

الدکتورمحمد عبدالمنعم العربی بین الأصالة والمعاصرة

الدکتورمحمد عبدالمنعم العربی بین الأصالة والمعاصرة

Margaret Atwood, World-Famous but Yet to Be Discovered by Many Slovene Readers

Margaret Atwood is the only Canadian author whose 80th birthday in 2019 was celebrated by the global academic community. This is not surprising, as she is the most famous Canadian writer, popular also outside literary circles. On this occasion, Slovene Canadianists organized a literary event at the Maribor University Library, which presented an outline of Atwood’s oeuvre and a selection of translated poems and excerpts of prose texts; some of these were translated especially for the event. Of Atwood’s rich and varied oeuvre, only eight novels, a few short fiction pieces and some thirty poems have been translated into Slovene. This article thus aims at presenting those aspects of Atwood’s work which are less know to Slovene readers. It is no secret that Atwood is often labelled a feminist writer, mostly on account of The Handmaid’s Tale and the TV series based on the novel. However, many Slovene readers may not know that she also writes poetry, short fiction, non-fiction and children’s literature, that she is a committed environmentalist, and that she discussed the problem of “Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth” in a prestigious lecture series. There are not many authors who master as many genres as Atwood and who are so well-received by readers and critics alike. The latter is true of Atwood also in Slovenia, and we can only hope that Slovene publishers will make more of Atwood’s work available to Slovene readers. All the more so since Atwood has no plans to end her career: just before her 80th birthday she was on a tour in Europe promoting her latest novel, The Testaments, and she would have continued touring in 2020 were it not for the COVID pandemic.

Dziennik: źródło w badaniach myśli politycznej. Recepcja praktyki i ideologii komunistycznej w świetle „Dzienników” Marii Dąbrowskiej (1945–1965)

The diary is a “series of dated traces” which refers to the historical reality external to the writer and to the empirical person making the record. Diaries can be a report on everyday events, lyrical notes of feelings and emotions, a form of reflection on political, social, economic and cultural topics. The Dąbrowska Journal, recorded for fifty-one years, is a chronicle of the intellectual life of post-Yalta Poland, an abundant reporter of socio-political, cultural and literary events, a gallery of courts and opinions — often extreme and overbearing — an extremely sober diagnosis of relations between society and power. The uniqueness of the “Diaries” was that the author contained many details of intimate, everyday and political life. “Diaries” are a deep reflection on your own life and Poland. Dąbrowska was aware that she lived in a “police-totalitarian” system. Through journalistic prose, the author sent clear signals that she understands her contemporary political conditions and accurately assesses the surrounding world. Dąbrowska's diary survived as a testimony of the era, kept views and thoughts regarding the political reality of that time.

Cat and the Plumber: An American Radio Drama in China

Abstract The translation and adaptation of Arthur Miller's 1941 radio drama “The Pussy Cat and the Expert Plumber who was a Man” in 1980s China not only conveys the witty humor and intriguing critique of the original, but also carries unique marks of its receiving culture. A comparative close reading of the original and the translation shows how the original survives in a translation. Instead of antagonizing the east and the west as mutually unintelligible, my analysis of the translated Chinese radio drama “Cat and the Plumber” explores ways in which interlingual, intermedia, and intertextual references and variations help build the “image” of the west in post-Mao China through sound media. The literary event of a 1940s American radio drama traveling to 1980s China not only provides us with a new perspective in looking at the social soundscape as well as popular culture of 1980s China but also contributes to the repertoire of Sino-American cultural exchanges during the last decade of the Cold War. At the dawn of a new era in the history of China, the introduction of this American radio drama shows both achievements as well as limitations of the early post-Mao cultural reforms.

Review of *Australian Literary Criticism since 1901*, by Peng Qinglong

Writing a history of literary criticism is undoubtedly challenging in that it requires the writer’s expertise in two aspects: how to unify both theoretical and practical criticism; and how to objectively, accurately and comprehensively give a succinct account of key information in the face of a vast amount of literature. Peng addresses these issues by pursuing a narrative pattern which includes a macro-level portrayal of social and cultural contexts, a meso-level analysis of literary events and cultural debates, and a micro-level interpretation of four individual critics’ ideas about Australian literature in every phase of the development.

Sociogênese possível dos saraus: uma história de rupturas na cultura brasileira

A partir de um resgate histórico-cultural, este artigo discute uma sociogênese possível do termo e da prática dos saraus literários em São Paulo, instâncias que funcionam, hoje, como catalisadores de vivências artísticas nas periferias brasileiras. Partindo de duas “narrativas de origem” dos poetas Binho e Sérgio Vaz – pioneiros do movimento da literatura marginal no contexto paulistano –, retomo a ideia e parte da história desse tipo de atividade nos salões europeus, verificando como ocorreu a sua transposição para a rotina artística nacional, processo que esteve intermediado por mecenas e membros da elite cafeeira. Esses salões/saraus fomentaram um dos mais relevantes movimentos da história cultural do Brasil: o modernismo paulista. Meu argumento é que houve uma correlação entre o apogeu de salões artísticos na cidade de São Paulo, entre o fim do século XIX e o início do XX, a prosperidade de palacetes de uma burguesia agrário-industrial interessada nos benefícios da vida urbana, a eclosão de vanguardas no campo artístico nacional e o ciclo de industrialização por que passava o estado de São Paulo. Nesse contexto, os saraus acabaram constituindo espaços capazes de fundir a absorção de novas ideias oriundas da Europa com a defesa das artes nacionais, processo que ratificou desejos de mudanças no campo artístico e social da época.

Critical Literary Arts in Action: The Decolonial Project of Ba re e ne re within and beyond Lesotho

ABSTRACT In this article we explore the historical construction of literary infrastructure established in Lesotho. Building on an analysis of Sesotho language orthography by Dr Litšepiso Matlosa, we recall the colonial genesis of written Sesotho by Swiss and French missionaries. As a result of this influence, Lesotho’s written Sesotho remains embedded with marks of orthographic inconsistency. The legacies of written language in Lesotho inform the relationships the Basotho have with literature. It is against this backdrop that in 2011, a young Mosotho woman, named Liepollo Rantekoa, organised a series of literary events that she called the Ba re e ne re Literature Festival. We show that through the ensuing dialogues, the Ba re e ne re Literature Festival has since served as a creative outlet and knowledge exchange for Basotho while expanding its reach through additional creative interventions rooted in decolonial theory. Partnerships with peer literary and cultural organisations in other African countries have generated valuable exchanges as well. In mapping out its myriad connections, we argue that through reflexive praxis, the Ba re e ne re Literature Festival unlinks literary culture in Lesotho from colonial institutions and practices by cultivating a new generation of storytellers, readers and cultures.

PRESENTATION ACTIVITIES OF THE LVIV LITERARY AND ART ASSOCIATIONS AT THE BEGINNING OF THE 1920s

The purpose of the article is to reveal the peculiarities of the presentation activities of the Ukrainian centres of Lviv in the early 1920s, to promote understanding of the Ukrainian cultural life of this city. Periodical publications of that period were used for the analysis. The defining methodological principle of this study has been the principle of historicism, which allowed us to determine the meaning, place and consequences of the presentation activities as a new form of communication of creative associations. A systematic approach made it possible to determine the interaction of creative groups in Galicia in the 1920s, and methods of analysis and synthesis were used to study the creation of conditions for effective communication with the audience in order to restore cultural life. The scientific novelty of the article lies in the fact that specific literary and artistic events and their significance for successful creative activity have been comprehensively studied. The presentation activities became possible due to the constant demand for creative innovations, which had been increasing in Galicia since the National Liberation Competitions. Conclusions. It has been demonstrated that the presentation activity in the 1920s became a new and for that time sensational form of communication with the supporters of the creative associations, and was aimed at the recovery of the cultural life of Galicia. At the same time, the presentations mostly corresponded to the social and cultural requirements and brought great success to their organizers because they receive extended reviews in the press, as well as due to the ability of the “Mytusa” group to concentrate around themselves not only the Ukrainian literary forces of Galicia, but also emigration formed in Poland, Czecho-Slovakia, Germany, Austria in the 1920s. It has been shown that the initiators of cultural events – the groups “Mytusa” and “Bohemia”, the authors of the magazine “Budiak” – managed to maintain connections by gaining the support of others, instilling their thoughts and forms of behaviour and to offer to the public the avant-garde ideology and world view through the imposition on the supporters the desired ideas and behaviour during the literary events and through their own adherence to these ideas. Thus, creative presentation occupies a prominent place in modern art. Thanks to it, the mass movement for “new ways”, which developed in the interwar period, was directed to the traditions and realities of the Ukrainian life.

CONDITIONS OF ACHIEVING SCIENTIFIC RESULTS IN COMPARATIVE STUDIES

Nowadays, social, cultural and literary ties are developing day by day, so that the future of comparative literature is one of the perspective areas of science. The commonality and features of literary events are defined in any comparative study. This serves as the basis for the exsistance of general literary theoretical issues. The goal is to provide students, masters and all researchers with theoretical information about the methodology of comparative literature, explain the methods of comparative study of fiction, improve their knowledge in this area. The objective of the study is to provide theoretical knowledge about the comparative historical method and its founders, basic concepts; macro and micro comparative studies; literary relations between East and West and criteria for a comparative analysis of literary texts, as well as developing researchers' ability to compare and contrast literary events.

«КНИЖНИК-REVIEW» – ЧАСОПИС ФАХОВОЇ КНИЖКОВОЇ ЖУРНАЛІСТИКИ

<p><em>The article describes the main typological characteristics of the literary-publishing journal Scribe-Review (SR), published in Ukraine during 2000–2009. The thematic-rubric complex of the publication and author’s composition is analyzed. Particular attention is focused to study the issues of the literary and publishing process of that time, including the reflection of it on the pages of the Scribe-Review. The evolution of the edition from the newspaper Scribal format to the full-color glossy Scribe-Review (SR), an edition about all books and all writers, has been considered.</em></p><p><em>The magazine Scribe-Review (SR) is described as the only founder of the rating «Book of the Year» in Ukraine, not only as a literary event but also as a nationwide one. The magazine’s expert evaluations, led by its editor-in-chief Konstantin Rodik, determined the best books in various categories (from fiction, non-fiction to specialist publications).</em></p><p><em>The work of the editor-in-chief of the journal Konstantin Rodyk is analyzed, which is considered by modern scholars to be an example of quality book journalism.</em></p><p><em>The focus is also on the semantics of the terms «book journalism», «book journalism». Based on the materials of quality book journalism presented on the pages of the Scribe-Review (SR), we will try to identify its most prominent features, express problems, trace conceptual phenomena.</em></p><p><em>Particular attention was paid to the review and processing of the issue of the Scribe-Review (SR). Its main typological characteristics are described: the author’s composition, artistic and technical design and thematic-rubric content. Content analysis of information and analytical materials of different types and genres is carried out. The magazine is presented as a model for the establishment of a «school of book journalism», which can serve as a reference example for information and communication platforms and modern media. The peculiarities of the introduction of a new discursive practice into the pages Scribe-Review (KR) are shown – cultural journalism, book journalism.</em></p><p><em>During the research the following scientific methods were used: systematic, terminological analysis, contextual, communication, method of content analysis, comparative, historical.</em></p><p><strong><em>Key words:</em></strong> <em>book journalism, professional press, book magazine, information policy of media, channels and means of promotion, magazine Scribe-Review.</em></p><p><strong> </strong></p>

„Arvīd, uz kurieni Tu aizgāji?”: Arvīda Griguļa personības loma Rakstnieku savienības vēsturē

The article aims to highlight the role of Arvīds Grigulis’ (1906–1989) personality in the Latvian Soviet literary process in the context of the Latvian Soviet Writers’ Union, attempting to discover the contradictions and significance of Arvīds Grigulis’ personality. Arvīds Grigulis was a long-time member of the Writers’ Union, a member of the Soviet nomenklatura, and an authority of the soviet literary process. His evaluations of pre-soviet literary heritage and writings of his contemporaries were often harsh and ruthless, and also influenced the development of the further literary process. The article is based on the documents of the Central Committee of the Latvian Communist Party, the Latvian Soviet Writers’ Union and the Communist Party local organization of the Latvian Soviet Writers’ Union that are available at the Latvian State Archive of the National Archives of Latvia, as well as memories of Grigulis’ contemporaries. It is concluded that the personality of the writer Arvīds Grigulis, although unfolding less in the context of the Writers’ Union, is essential for the exploration of the soviet literary process and events behind the scenes. The article mainly describes events and episodes taking place until 1965, when Arvīds Grigulis’ influence in the Writers’ Union was more remarkable. Individual and further studies should analyse changes and the impact of his decisions in the cultural process of the 70s and 80s of the 20th century.

Этические проблемы жанра Young-adult и книжный видеоблогинг как формирование круга чтения у современной молодежи

This paper examines the history and current state of literature for teenagers. In modern criticism young-adult genre stands out in literature for adolescents. An introductory excursion into the history of the concept of “young adults” and literature for this category of readers is given. Criticism of such works is considered by video bloggers who place their clips on Youtube platform. It is analyzed whether these responses affect the book market conditions. According to the most conservative estimates, more than half of the literature published by major publishers is Young-adult books. They are read not only by teenagers, but also by adults who want to immerse themselves in their youth. The theme of Young-adult literature is serious and multifaceted. It attracted both professional authors, whose works become real literary events, and young, non-professional authors. The study of these works is important from the point of view of studying the sociology of teenage life, to understand what young people live, what problems are reflected in such works, albeit in a crooked mirror.