Literary Expression Research Articles

The Marginal Other in Post-Soviet Space (Observations on Polish Literary Reportage Concerning the East)

The paper analyzes Polish literary reportage as a trend evolved from a rather marginalized position of a hybrid genre to a prized form of literary expression in the last decades. More often than not, the genre’s main focus in the unprivileged, problematic or unknown marginal Other, which is visible in the journalistic fiction about Poland’s eastern neighbors. At the same time, the imagining of the Other can be problematic and biased, which is a major concern for the authors, whose position between the belletristic and the journalistic poses different demands on the texts about Russia. The major political, cultural and economic post-1989 transformation in the countries of the former USSR occupy a privileged place among the topics of the genre. The text compares the representation of post-Soviet reality in the literary reportages of Ryszard Kapuściński, Jacek Hugo-Bader and Jędrzej Morawiecki, focussing on the depiction of the marginalized groups in the postcommunist society. The texts argues that each decade after the Soviet Union’s collapse brings forth a different type of marginalization (ethnic and political in the 1990s; social and cultural in the 2000s; religious and ideological in the 2010s).

In Search of a “Newer and Truer” Literature: Thomas Phillips Thompson and The Labor Advocate

This article describes the uses of literature in The Labor Advocate: A Weekly Labor Reform Newspaper (Toronto, 1890-91). As editor of the Advocate, Thomas Phillips Thompson aimed to increase awareness of the means and consequences of industrial capitalism, and thus enhance the possibility of social justice for the working class. He did so in a mixed format periodical that included poetry, short fiction, and serialized novels as well as editorials, biographies, obituaries, reports, letters, and columns. Over forty-four issues, Thompson experimented with literary expression to attract readers and foster the democratic reform of social organization. Analysis of the Advocate points to the importance of communication strategies in both the early history of the Canadian labour press and the longer history of labour in transnational contexts.

The Interpretation of the Characters in Eileen Chang's Novels Under the New Coronavirus Epidemic

In recent years, people's health and even lives have been seriously threatened by the global outbreak of a new coronavirus. As the disaster comes to people's lives unawares, the self of each individual is brought into greater focus. The epidemic calls for literary expression and philosophical reflection, and in the isolated island of Shanghai in the 1940s, Zhang Eiling's attention to and interpretation of people with traumatic experiences gives us the possibility to dialogue with Zhang Eiling's characters under the epidemic, and Zhang Eiling's research provides us with valuable experience in paying attention to the state of existence and the journey of individual lives under the epidemic.

In Pursuit of the “Real” Nigeria/n through the Archives of Heinemann’s African Writers Series

This paper will depart from the premise that with the Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe as its flagship author, exemplar and editorial adviser, Heinemann Educational Books, which aimed to represent Africa and Africans through its African Writers Series (AWS) had a tendency to privilege and prioritise realist literary expressions coming out of Africa. This, combined with the fact that the series was published by an educational company looking for a way to market its product in an environment that did not yet have a place for African writers when it was first launched, might also be regarded as having fostered a tendency within the publishing house to treat the works submitted to it more as socio-historical documents than as works of literary fiction and to lead to their framing in anthropological terms. The paper will investigate the precise terms in which this takes place in two case studies of some of the archival material relating to Heinemann’s interest in representing Northern Nigeria and Nigerians in the early years of the series, and it will investigate the consequences and implications of a drive towards producing a series that could be marketed as representative.

Image based agorithm for automatic generation of chinese couplets

Chinese couplet is one of the important forms of expression in Chinese and even world literature, with its own unique charm and beauty. In order to meet the needs of users who only need one image to obtain corresponding couplets, realize the function of computer automatically writing couplets with images, and improve the literary expression ability of couplets to images, this paper proposes an image based intelligent generative model of couplets. The model first outputs corresponding descriptions based on image extraction features, and then extracts keywords through an improved hybrid algorithm according to the descriptions. Then, based on the keywords, the Chinese GPT-2 model automatically expands the first line of a couplet, and finally generates the second line of a couplet from the first line of a couplet through the encoding and decoding framework. Through experiments, it has been shown that the generated couplets of the model meet the requirements for image description, and the effectiveness of the model has been confirmed by manual evaluation results.

Marvelous Bookcase


 
 
 Yang Jiong 楊炯 (650–ca . 694), though hailed both by his contemporaries and later generations as one of the “Four Elites of the Early Tang,” has yet to receive due scholarly attention. This article contributes to the study of Yang Jiong by examining his “Fu on the Bookcase for Reading While Lying Down” (“Wodu shu- jia fu” 臥讀書架賦). It demonstrates how the poet displays his literary genius by skillfully employing various allusions, using self-deprecating humor for assertive self-display, devising close echoes among different parts, and building an extremely well-balanced structure, written in verse of an elaborately parallel style. More importantly, he cleverly crafts a double text so that both the physical bookcase and he himself, the “mental bookcase,” become the dual subjects of the fu. The interplay between the bookcase, the poet, and his self-representation also contributes to the wider discussions of material culture, social norms, and literary expression.
 
 

Exploring the Wei-Jin Period: Aesthetic Transformations, Metaphysical Discourses, and the Influence on Chinese Art and Culture

During the Wei and Jin Dynasties in Chinese history, political turmoil, ideological expansion, and significant societal and cultural transformations occurred. This article investigates this period's impact on art, literature, social structure, aesthetics, and metaphysical discourse. In spite of the political upheaval, the period fostered intellectual and spiritual liberty, resulting in a flourishing of artistic and literary expression. Existence and universe-related philosophical concerns have influenced the creation of literature and art and contributed to a culturally rich environment. During this period, social structures shifted, and new philosophies emphasized personal spirituality and introspection. At that time, aesthetics were influenced by metaphysical ideas and melancholy emotions, resulting in a distinct artistic style. During the Wei and Jin Dynasties, wisdom, self-cultivation, and the pursuit of excellence were also regarded as essential aesthetic components. This study sheds light on the transitional Wei-Jin period and its enduring influence on Chinese art and culture.

Mnemonic-Historical Materials of Literature: Local Prose Genealogy and Historical Context of Taiwanese Writers during Japanese Colonial Period in the Post-war Era

<p>當前臺灣文學本土論研究的解釋框架中，多以小說作為主軸，散文相對受到忽視。然而，散文對於臺灣文學本土論而言，其實有著不可或缺的意義，因為它作為個人經歷或歷史經驗的表述與再現，具有奠基於真實性的基礎，不僅涉及文學表意，更包含記憶政治的問題。日治作家在戰後回溯過去生命經歷的「散文」，具有述史的性質，因而既是自傳，同時也是「記憶性文學史料」。在日治記憶遭受壓抑的戒嚴期間，他們的散文集是戰後世代認識日治的第一手文本，更是建構日治臺灣史與臺灣文學史的重要一環。本文聚焦由戰後初期至解嚴之前這段期間，曾於生前或身後出版散文集的日治本土作家，透過文本分析，考察日治作家的生命史與精神史，以彰顯個人的歷史意識，並梳理散文的文類概念與語言使用，藉此探討不同時代散文集的出版意義，試圖指出在戰後戒嚴體制的時空情境裡，本土散文具備重建歷史記憶的功能，形成一個有別於中國抒情傳統的本土「述史」傳統。沿著這個脈絡，進而重新評估本土散文在臺灣文學史上的重要性，以拓展臺灣本土文學論的內涵。</p> <p> </p><p>The current studies of Taiwanese literary localism have built its framework mostly on novel; prose, by contrast, is often overlooked. However, prose has crucial significance for Taiwanese literary localism, in that it articulates and represents personal lives and historical experiences. Prose is based on reality, engaging with literary expression and the politics of memory. When Taiwanese writers who lived through the Japanese colonial period wrote about their past experiences in prose, their writings were characterized by a historical narrative. As such, their writings are both autobiographies and “Mnemonic-Historical Materials of Literature.” During the martial law era when Japanese colonial memories are suppressed, their prose collections are the first-hand texts for the post-war generation to learn about Japanese colonization; furthermore, they play a vital role in constructing the history of Taiwan under Japanese Colonial Rule and the history of Taiwanese literature. This paper focuses on Taiwanese writers under Japanese Colonial Rule, who had published prose collections during the life time or posthumously, from the early post-war years to the period just before the lifting of martial law. Through textual analysis, the paper investigates the life histories and spiritual histories to foreground the historical consciousness in these individuals. The paper also explores the notion of genre and the language use of prose to discuss the significance of publishing proses in a different era. The paper seeks to indicate that local proses serve to reconstruct historical memories during the martial law era, forming a local history narrative tradition distinct from the Chinese lyrical tradition. Following this vein, the paper reevaluates the significance of Taiwanese local prose in the history of Taiwanese literature, so as to enrich the scope of Taiwanese literary localism.</p> <p> </p>

Exploring the Role of Testimonio Method in Shaping Collective Memory of Indenture History: From Empathy to Empowerment

The present paper, ‘Exploring the Role of Testimonio Method in Shaping Collective Memory of Indenture History: from Empathy to Empowerment,’ attempts to study how the Testimonio method of study, which is a powerful literary genre rooted in oral history, can be used to study indenture history from the Bhojpuri speaking areas of North India and bridge the gaps and silences of this history using folksongs, folktales, oral accounts, poems, diary, autobiographies, etc. It also highlights the role of Bhojpuri as a lingua franca of the community and its impact on cultural preservation and literary expression, also focussing on the role of Khelauni (baby-sitter) and Ajie (grandmother) culture in the formation of a distinct community in the erstwhile sugar colonies like Fiji, Mauritius, etc., through folk stories and songs narrated to young children. This paper seeks to elucidate the Testimonio method’s effectiveness in unravelling the untold stories of indentured people, and by analyzing a range of testimonial narratives and literary works, it highlights the multifaceted dimensions of indenture history, gender dynamics, and the preservation of cultural identity. It also underlines that the Testimonio method’s unique approach, centred on personal narratives and collective memory, allows for a nuanced understanding of the lived experiences of the Girmitiyas’ struggles and triumphs.

The Interlinking of Language, Culture and Communication

The present paper aims on the preeminence of literature in relation with language, culture and communication. This close relationship is evident because, literature is interlinked with this trio of language, culture and communication. Literature is an art form that reflects the objective reality in the form of language and words. It is by concurred that language and culture are closely related. Works of literature represent tradition and culture of language and people. It is improbable to discuss literature without language preferences. The present paper is an attempt is to explore the link between language and culture and understand how these two are interlinked to enhance communication process and their innovative use in Literature. Through this paper I aim to show the creative uses under which these forms are put to appeal to human senses and make a piece of literature alive. Communication skills affect people in every area of their lives. Literature can stimulate the interests of language learning, provide rich and vivid materials, make learners seem to be immersive and unknowingly complete the accumulation of vocabulary, the infiltration of grammar and the formation of language sense. At the same time of getting the ability of understanding, the ability of outputting language also forms. With the improvement of literary literacy, language skill also increases from the basic understanding and expression to deep understanding and literary expression. The study of English language and literature has an important influence on improving students' skills to use language. It generates personal involvement in the learning process and provides authentic material with a clear picture about different cultures and nationalities by making them familiar with the norms and behaviors of the people and helps in cultural enrichment.

The Semiperipheral Subaltern and Literary Expression: Narratives from Turkey and India

The onset of neoliberal capitalism has endowed the concept of “peripherality” with significant relevance for literary scholars investigating the dynamic interaction between aesthetic structures and the consequences of evolving socio-economic and political

Representation of Humiliation in Bengali Dalit Literature: A Comparative Study

This article proposes to develop a comparatist framework of pan-Indian Dalit writings on one hand and the representative Bengali Dalit writings on the other in the context of the experience of humiliation. The chief objective of this comparison would be a close reading of the treatment of the experience of humiliation, along with its claims and contexts, in both literary traditions. Cutting across the literary genres, the main argument of this article will be to show the qualitative difference in the perception of humiliation in Dalit literary expressions and a resultant realization that Bengali Dalit experience somehow falls short of depicting the intensity of insult abundantly manifest in Marathi and other Dalit writings. Throughout the scope of this article, various factors responsible for such low decibel representation of humiliation will be taken up for detailed study with frequent references to past and present Dalit authors and their most representative studies. Another abiding engagement with the issue of humiliation, vis-a-vis the tragic demise of Chuni Kotal, will lead to questions about the muted presence of the community experience of humiliation by the erstwhile Criminal Tribe, Lodha Savar, in contemporary Bengali Dalit writings.

Analysis of the Expression of Buddhist Monks’ Literary Activities in the Early Sui and Tang Periods Based on Fuzzy Mathematical Models

Abstract Buddhist culture was widely spread in Chang’an during the Sui and Tang dynasties, and as the center of literary development in the country at that time, literary works in Chang’an were influenced by Buddhist literary activities from form to content. This paper first analyzes the current situation of Buddhist literary activities in the Sui and Tang dynasties, applies fuzzy mathematical theory to the analysis of literary activities based on the research of domestic and foreign experts and scholars on the manifestation of literary activities, and establishes an analysis model of literary activities based on fuzzy mathematical methods. Secondly, Buddhist thought is fitted through the closeness of a fuzzy mathematical model. The weights among the influencing factors of Buddhist literary expressions were determined through characteristic factors and affiliation degrees. The experimental results show that the deviation rate of the expression form analysis of Buddhist monks’ literary activities based on the fuzzy mathematical model in the early Sui and Tang dynasties ranges from 5% to 10%, but the deviation rate of the final overall estimation accuracy does not exceed 5%, which verifies that the model can be applied to the expression form analysis of literary activities. The fuzzy mathematical model proposed in this paper is more accurate than the traditional method of literary activity analysis and yields the highest degree of closeness, which is a guide to the study of traditional cultural transmission and integration and provides a new way of thinking for the transmission of traditional culture.

Digital Globalization, Fan Culture and Transmedia Storytelling: The Rise of Web Fiction as a Burgeoning Literary Genre in China

ABSTRACT Digital globalization has established an interconnected virtual world, and profoundly transformed the landscape of literary practice. Anchored in the digital context, the development of new media technologies has exerted substantial influence on literature's context and mode of existence, giving rise to Internet literature, a new form of literary expression based on interactivity, hypertextuality and multimedia. Over the past two decades, the new media landscape opens up opportunities for the thriving development of Chinese web fiction, which is intrinsically a transmedia, fan-driven and – oriented text. With this in mind, this paper analyzes the rise of Chinese web fiction as a compelling cultural phenomenon, and argues that its operation model presents an exemplary alternative to how literature can benefit from new media technologies and reap the interests of digital globalization.

Play it again – redundancy, literature and language games


 
 
 The problem under consideration has its origin in the phenomenon of gameplay, which intersperses the rules and possible freedom of execution. The tensions between habit and surprise, regularity and irregularity created in this way expose the potential that lies in the grammatical conditions of the language use. The phenomenon of redundancy, considered in the context of a language game, can be presented in at least three ways: 1. redundancy as a non-game, 2. redundancy as a game – a struggle, 3. redundancy as a game – cooperation. In the latter approach, the recipient is invited to search for ambiguity, to take pleasure in activating non-obvious orders of literary expression. The article presents two very different examples of how redundancy functions in literary texts - a poem by Krystyna Miłobędzka and a short story by Janusz Rudnicki.
 
 

Dan Dediu Siluete în mișcare. Eseuri despre compozitori români [Silhouettes in movement. Essays about Romanian composers

The silhouettes in movement of the twenty-two Romanian composers, selected by the author from all the generations after 1960, were profiled in time as a consequence of repeated artistic perceptions and sensible human contacts; but especially in virtue of a unique skill of penetrating reflection doubled by a passion for relevant, singular literary expression. [...]

Reader Response on two novels: “The Changing Tides” and “The Hungry Tide” The skill of interpreting the text content on reading of the books taken for reference - Expression Comprehended

The paper is a representation of the ‘reader-response’ theory and its effectiveness in comprehending fictions of interest. The theoretical approach deliberates the efficacy of the theory to the reader and implies its usage to the audience. A comparative self-assesses thought processes can be derived out of the understanding of the reader-response theory. It is on this pretext that this paper has been patterned as a comparative analysis of the novels ‘Hungry Tides’ by Amitav Ghosh and ‘Changing Tides’ by a Zambian writer, Michael Mulilo. Both of them have discussed a change and a requirement as essential in a society. Amitav’s work is on environmental protection and challenges that exists which need to be resolved. On the other hand, Micheal Mulilo’s version relies on the change as required in the existing governance of the nation with the challenges as faced by the tribal clan as general public. Both the fictions are relatively an exposure to the negatives of the society as well as the non-governance existence of reality. The hegemony of the governmental systems are also taken to discussion on a comparative basis of literary expression.

Literary Expression Elements in P.G. Wodehouse's Literature (based on the novel "The Code of Woosters")

Literary Expression Elements in P.G. Wodehouse's Literature (based on the novel "The Code of Woosters")

Pixies and Sexuality: The (Literary) Analysis of the Lyrics of an Alternative Rock Band

This study delves into the lyrics of three songs by the North American band Pixies. These lyrics explore the subject of sexuality, but they present a series of non-standard or traditionally unaccepted sexual practices related to sexual taboos, otherness, sexual objectification, sexual violence, and the body. Literary analysis is the approach used to examine the lyrics and the subjects explored by the band. Given that the central focus of the analysis is rock lyrics, which is a non-traditional subject of literary analysis, this study also addresses fundamental questions related to the nature of literature and literary expressions. In this sense, this article aims to demonstrate the value of rock lyrics as literary texts with a connection to poetry, both of which have music as the foundation of their form.

카멜 다우드의 『뫼르소, 살인사건』

This study examines the novel Meursault Investigation by Algerian author Kamel Daoud, focusing on the language and identity of multicultural subjects. Meursault Investigation reinterprets Albert Camus' classic French novel “The Stranger” from the perspective of an unknown Algerian man called “Arab” who was killed by the main character Meursault. The novel deals with the tools of colonialism, identity and oppression in Algeria during the French occupation. Daoud argues that French, imposed on colonial Algerians, has become a tool of oppression, and that Algerians must regain their language in order to claim their cultural and ethnic identity. It is also a strong criticism of French colonialism and its continued influence on Algeria, and raises important questions about language and identity related to other post- colonial societies as well as Algeria.
 Algeria's historical background, which had been under long colonial rule, also had a profound influence on literature, resulting in a triple structure of the literary expression language of Arabic, French, and Berber. Under French colonial rule, writers had no choice of language due to the implementation of French language assimilation policies. French was a forced language and a language of oppression. So why did Kamel Daoud choose French, the language of the enemy, to write his work in 2014, 70 years after Kamel Daoud's Stranger was published? Daoud has two reasons for choosing French, the language of the enemy, as an expression tool for literary works. First, it is to restore the name of ‘Arab’ (‘Moussa’) that was not even given a name under colonial rule. This means the restoration of national identity. Second, after his brother's death, he had to represent the mother's voice, who did not possess the ruler's language, and his eyes were always separated from the mother's delusion and protected himself. This is reminiscent of Algeria, which remains under French influence, and means separation and independence from it. For Dowd, French, the language of the colonial state, is the language of recovery, the language of independence, the language of creation and order, and the language of subversion that summons past situations and events.
 In Daoud's work, the unknown “Arab” and “Harun” are multicultural subjects of the times. Multiculturalism has be- come a downgraded expression of our society for strangers and migrants. Rather than accepting diversity that is distinct from mainstream Koreans, we evaluate them from the perspective of discrimination and exclusion. Why should they be called “multicultural” that excludes personal identity, including their own ethnicity, historicality, and cultural diversity? Since the situation of “Arabians” and “Moussa” in Kamel Daoud's work resembles the existence of multicultural subjects coexisting in our time, we would like to examine their language and identity, diagnose the present of multicultural sub- jects, and predict the future.