Literary Merit Research Articles

The Southern Lady from Pedestal to Terra Firma: Isa Glenn's Southern Charm

The Southern Lady from Pedestal to Terra Firma:Isa Glenn's Southern Charm Veronica Makowsky Isa Glenn (1874–1951) is yet another acclaimed woman writer who disappeared from the male-created and male-dominated literary canon after the Second World War. In her case this patronizing devaluation was exacerbated by the patriarchal and racial values of many of the male stars of the Southern Renaissance. Donald Davidson, a Southern Agrarian, sneered: Into their realism of social history or satire come doctrinaire attitudes which are as unhealthy as the undue exaggeration of southern traditions for which writers of the older school have been blamed. They are imported, not native attitudes, and they cause one to reflect how poor an exchange scorn is for sentimentality. In the novels of Frances Newman [her fellow Atlanta native] or the lighter works of Isa Glenn, the deliberate puncturing of pretensions thought to be southern smacks of a paying-off of old scores: the southern woman, now intellectually as emancipated as her northern sister, takes a dig at the tradition that would have kept her in "woman's place." (201) Glenn was the recipient of this dismissive slap because she was a menace to the Old Order of the South, preferring "scorn" to the "sentimentality" surrounding the southern "lady." Even worse, she was a popular and successful threat since, during the late 1920s and early 1930s, her eight novels sold well and were critically acclaimed. They were advertised and reviewed in major newspapers and magazines throughout the country, often accompanied by interviews with or profiles of their elfishly diminutive and opinionated creator. In addition to the literary merits of her fiction, Glenn is noteworthy as a particularly fascinating, even extreme, example of artistic and personal creation and re-creation. As her experience widened beyond the South, Glenn learned that the southern lady was more than the attractive façade of racism and sexism. [End Page 289] She was its dupe and its victim, as Southern Charm (1928) demonstrates through the gradual enlightenment and liberation of the elderly Mrs. Habersham, the epitome of stultified and stultifying southern gentility, as she learns from the struggles of her daughters and granddaughter. Like Mrs. Habersham, Glenn emancipated herself, bit by bit, from the sentimental cage of southern ladyhood. Glenn's formative years were spent on the cusp between tradition and modernity. She was born into two old southern families of distinguished lineage with the obligatory links to George Washington and Confederate officers. She was also a daughter of Atlanta, Georgia, the exemplar of the modernizing South; indeed, she was the oldest child of one of its mayors, John T. Glenn. As a girl and young woman, Glenn tried to be at once the avatar of the southern debutante and leader of young Atlanta society while pursuing her interests in the visual arts, particularly painting and print-making, with the quixotic patronage of James MacNeil Whistler. She tried her hand at genealogy and society journalism. Glenn was always just a little too advanced, a little too clever, a little too much her own person to fit neatly into the expectations of Atlanta's elite young-adult set. She had a broken engagement with a rising young southern newspaper editor when she was twenty-three, but did not marry until she was almost thirty, quite late for her social station. Her husband, Army officer J. Bayard Schindel, not only got her out of Atlanta, but took her all over the world, from dusty army bases in the US West to the Far East. Through her travels, she learned that the South was a microcosm of the greater world: dominated by racism, colonialism, imperialism, and, of course, misogyny cloaked by paternalism. She continued to dabble with her printmaking as she attempted homemaking on the fly, moving constantly in service to her husband's career. After a stillbirth, she raised a son, Bayard Schindel, who remained in many ways the light of her life. As Carolyn G. Heilbrun points out in Writing a Woman's Life (49–50, 126), women of Isa Glenn's era did not follow the male model of a steady progression and development from early career to late...

Сила легенды: Повесть о Словене и Русе в общерусском летописании XVII в.

The article examines the influence of the 1630s Novgorod literary tale about the descendants of Noah, the Scythian princes Sloven and Rus, the Great City of Slovensk, which later became Novgorod, the empire they founded and their descendant Gostomysl, for the broad circles of scholarly book lovers of the 17th – early 18th centuries. The author tries to explain why this tale became extremely popular among highly educated chroniclers and was included into the largest chronicle and chronographic monuments, from the Code of 1652 to the Russian Chronograph, as well as into works of the annalistic scriptorium of Patriarch Joachim, the Novgorod Zabelinskaya Chronicle, Latukhin’s Book of Degrees, the Synopsis and the Detailed Chronicle from the Beginning of Russia to the Battle of Poltava. The tale remained stable in the writings of the overwhelming majority of authors, who were accustomed in other cases to seriously revise, shorten or supplement the text. The fact that the attempt remake the tale in a scholarly way and to integrate it into the chronographic text was unique and unsuccessful makes us think that ancient scribes and readers of their works, like M.V. Lomonosov later, were attracted by the literary merits of this poetic legend. We see the opposite picture in the history of the similarly conceived scholarly story about Mosokh existence, confirming this conclusion by constant alterations of its text.

Recent Articles

Recent Articles

Poe's Lost “Lenore”

Poe's Lost “Lenore”

Reality Bites

Reality Bites

Абдуллах ибн Ризван-паша. Хроника «Теварих-и Дешт-и Кипчак». Часть 3

The column presents one of the principal narrative sources reflecting the history of the Golden Horde and the Crimean Khanate – the work “Tevarikh-i Desht-i Kiptchak” (“The Chronicle of the Desht-i Kiptchak”, 1638) from under the pen of Abdullah ibn Rizvan. Notwithstanding the presence of works in the scientific literature on this chronicle, they still have a superficial character. The artistic and literary merits of the work have not been fully analyzed. The chronicle is a vivid example of the evolution of the Crimean Ottoman traditions of verbal creativity and chronology, which later gave impetus to the emergence of other universal histories. The text of “Tevarikh-i Desht-i Kiptchak” is given in the original transliteration from two manuscripts (National Library of France S 874 and The Library of Topkapı Palace Museum B 289) and in Russian translation (author of transliteration and translation – R. R. Abduzhemilev). The translation is made up of the combined text from two manuscript copies in the book Ananiasz Zajaczkowski “La Chronique des Steppes Kıptchak Tevarih-i Deşt-ı Qıpçaq du XVIIe siecle” (Warszawa 1966).

The Concept of “Thrownness” in Algis Budrys's Short Story “Wall of Crystal, Eye of Night”

This paper analyses the concept of thrownness and the related notions of immediacy and actuality in a 1961 short science fiction story “Wall of Crystal, Eye of Night” by Algis Budrys. It first defines the concept of thrownness (Geworfenheit), created and coined by the German philosopher Martin Heidegger in his classic book Being and Time, and it explains how this notion can be employed in literary analysis in general and applied to this work in particular. The article then analyses how certain stylistic devices in the short story, namely similes, change of pace and the presentation of an inner conflict in the main character, contribute to the feeling of authenticity. In other words, it attempts to exhibit the means used in a prose work to make it seem more realistic and immediate. Finally, the work also argues that science fiction is in many ways more real than other fictional works. Although it belongs to the genre that has traditionally been denied serious literary merit, the novel view and interpretation of this story aims to disclose new horizons of artistic expression that illuminate human mental and physical frailty and stimulate a valuable inquiry into the meaning of life.

Статья — размышления о книге Киры Белостоцкой «Как же мне повезло! Моя жизнь в ОКБ: люди, события» [1

The article is devoted to the multifaceted topic of attitude to labour, which remains relevant for representatives of a number of social sciences and practices due to the extraordinary complexity of the phenomenon of labour itself and the increasing rate of change in the structure of employment. Representatives of the exact sciences also do not ignore this topic. A worthy example is the fascinating book of autobiographical essays by the famous radio engineer and scientist Kira Belostotskaya, Honored Creator and Tester of space technology. In addition to the undoubted literary merits, these are undoubtedly useful for professionals carefully documented observations about labour and work, expressed in a literary, emotionally caring form. About their fullness of meanings associated with a specific job in the outstanding work collective of Experimental design bureau of MPEI, a talented social community and its outstanding persons. This is a cognitively interesting story about the value foundations of highly qualified creative engineering labour, about the choice of “work that matches your soul” and professional growth, behavior at work and effective organizational culture, leadership and personnel policy, about many other things that are important for organizing work with personnel that meet the requirements of the time. The list of problems that form the whole subject of activity of specialists in personnel management would take up too much space. However, even the listed ones allow us to recommend reading the book under discussion to representatives of this demanded profession as a rare opportunity for a broader view of the corresponding labour activity that goes beyond current affairs.

The Constraints of Literary Merit in Heidi L. M. Jacobs’ Molly of the Mall: Literary Lass and Purveyor of Fine Footwear

The purpose of this paper is to examine how Heid L. M. Jacobs’ Molly of the Mall: Literary Lass and Purveyor of Fine Footwear employs its protagonist, Molly’s, experience within the academy to critique the constraints that literary merit standards place on scholarly work. First, I analyze how Jacobs manifests this argument through Molly’s professors, who criticize and penalize her for straying from the traditional essay format in her written assignments. Next, I look at how, by highlighting Molly’s struggle to reconcile her identity as a Canadian writer, this novel critiques the academic presupposition that authors can only achieve valuable content through the reproduction of canonical literary modes. Further, I consider how Jacobs calls literary merit into question by positing that written works that do not meet this standard can still have scholarly value. However, because Jacobs’ novel centres around a white, heteronormative, and academically-inclined protagonist, its investigation of the constraints of literary merit may be limited. I conclude with the argument that Molly of the Mall leaves readers to question what it means that even a character with a privileged relationship to the academy encounters these constraints.

A Manuscript Waiting for its Reader: “A Word About Alma Mater” by Leonid Chernov

The goal of the article is to draw attention of the art community to the little‑known memoirs of Leonid Chernov (1915–1990), a famous Ukrainian graphic artist, professor of Kharkiv Art and Industrial Institute. These memoirs are called A Word about Alma Mater and exist as a 120‑page self‑published book. They provide an opportunity for modern readers to learn firsthand how art education was organized in Kharkiv Art College and Kharkiv Art Institute in the 1930s–1950s. The original text is kept in the artist’s family and exists only as a single typewritten copy. In recent decades, about a dozen scholars have had the opportunity to get acquainted with the literary heritage of L. Chernov. Only some theses from this unique text have been quoted in individual academic papers. Chernov’s memoirs are valuable both in terms of literary merit and in terms of truthful testimony about the aspirations and feelings of the author himself and the people close to him, about real historical facts and personalities with whom his fate and the fate of his home university were closely related. L. Chernov wanted to publish his memoirs in the form of an illustrated photo album, back in the 1980s. However, something then thwarted his intentions. At this stage, with the permission of the artist’s family, one of the fragments of such valuable material – the author’s theses to the memoirs and the first section of the main text is published. Unique photo documents from the artist’s albums are published together with the text.

Абдуллах ибн Ризван-паша. Хроника «Теварих-и Дешт-и Кипчак». Часть 2

The column presents one of the principal narrative sources reflecting the history of the Golden Horde and the Crimean Khanate – the work “Tevarikh-i Desht-i Kiptchak” (“The Chronicle of the Desht-i Kiptchak”, 1638) from under the pen of Abdullah ibn Rizvan. Notwithstanding the presence of works in the scientific literature on this chronicle, they still have a superficial character. The artistic and literary merits of the work have not been fully analyzed. The chronicle is a vivid example of the evolution of the Crimean Ottoman traditions of verbal creativity and chronology, which later gave impetus to the emergence of other universal histories. The text of “Tevarikh-i Desht-i Kiptchak” is given in the original transliteration from two manuscripts (National Library of France S 874 and The Library of Topkapı Palace Museum B 289) and in Russian translation (author of transliteration and translation – R. R. Abduzhemilev). The translation is made up of the combined text from two manuscript copies in the book Ananiasz Zajaczkowski “La Chronique des Steppes Kıptchak Tevarih-i Deşt-ı Qıpçaq du XVIIe siecle” (Warszawa, 1966).

Sexual Identities in Africa: A queer reading of Chinelo Okparanta’s under the Udala trees

In Africa, queer sexual identities have received mixed feelings, leading to the debate in a bid to clearly define the legalization or non-legalization of it in various countries. And, looking at the current changing trends of this concept in Africa, the selected literary text happens to situate itself well within the fluid queer discourse. It follows then that the text provides the sub-plot of characters that have an overtly queer erotic and queer social bonding with some other characters. Consequently, the crust of this study is to draw on the broader queer concept in interrogating some pressing concerns of queer sexual identities in Okparanta‟s Under the Udala Trees. Among other things, the research demonstrates how contemporary works of fiction like Under the Udala Trees use their narratives to conceive space and language whose midpoint encompasses literary innovations and the significance of some experiences of queer individuals within an African setting. The study ultimately uncovers the literary merits of queer sexualities in Okparanta‟s Under the Udala Trees instead of simply portraying these sexualities as alternative solutions in adverse conditions to some individuals who cannot help being the way they are.

On Mitigating Islamophobia

On Mitigating Islamophobia

Between History and Spirit: The Apostolic Witness of the Book of Act

The hermeneutical triad is best described as the process of assessing a text’s history, literary merit, and theology. The careful reader will examine each of these areas in order to assess the text’s meaning. In Between History and Spirit: The Apostolic Witness of the Books of Acts, Craig Keener takes the reader to the very heart of the book of Acts by cross-examining its history, context, and theology. Keener is no stranger to Acts scholarship, as he is the author of an extensive four-volume commentary on the book. In the current selection, Keener brings together a series of essays, some in the Acts commentary and others not, into one volume. These essays are divided into three parts. The first examines the question of history in the book of Acts. Readers will find selections dedicated to Luke’s depiction of the historical Jesus (ch. 1), the use of “we” in the book of Acts (ch. 2), Paul’s apologetic in Acts (ch. 3), the growth rate of the church (ch. 4), a comparison of Acts and ancient novels (ch. 5), the landscape and military brass of Caesarea during Agrippa’s rule (ch. 6), and an examination of Paul’s mission to the Athenians (ch. 7). Each of these essays combines Keener’s encyclopedic knowledge of primary sources and sensitivity to the historicity within Acts’ narrative. The section is especially focused on parts of Acts that commentators have struggled to reconcile with extracanonical evidence.In the second division, Keener explores the literary and contextual aspects of Acts. This section of the volume has essays on interethnic marriages in Acts 7 and 16 (ch. 8), Paul’s use of irony and figurative language in Acts 7 and 26 (ch. 9), turning from idolatry in Acts 14 (ch. 10), postcolonial missions in Acts 16 (ch. 11), Paul’s Asiarch friends in Acts 19 (ch. 12), the relationship between Acts 21 and Eph 2 concerning the temple (ch. 13), rhetorical techniques in Acts 24 (ch. 14), Paul’s madness in Acts 26 (ch. 15), and fever, dysentery, and medicine in Acts 28 (ch. 16). The ordering of this section broadly follows the order of chapters in Acts. It is also interesting to note that, whereas the last chapter consistently displayed long-form articles, the current section has three articles that are concise and punchy.The final section deals with some theological aspects of Acts with special regard to the movement of the Spirit. Essays include engagement with miracles and history in Acts (ch. 17), Luke’s missiology in Acts 1–2 (ch. 18), the use of tongues in Acts 2 (ch. 19), Spirit possession in modern anthropology and its relationship to Acts 16 and 19 (ch. 20), the Spirit-filled ministry described in Acts 19 (ch. 21), and ancient African Christianity (ch. 22). Chapter 23 concludes the essay selections with some of Keener’s reviews of Acts-focused scholarship. Keener engages the work of Bruce Winter and David Clarke, David Gill and Conrad Gempf, Richard Pervo, David Peterson, and Joshua Jipp. The volume ends with an extensive bibliography (78 pages), ancient documents index (57 pages), and scripture, subject, and author indexes.Keener opens with a short preface recounting the request of Michael Thomson to put together the following collection. In an academic world where edited volumes are becoming fewer, it is even more unusual to have an scholar who can edit a volume of their own essays. These volumes are a gift and allow the reader to avoid the hassle of finding some of Keener’s more obscure work. In many ways, the following set of essays contributes not only to ongoing research in the book of Acts but also speaks volumes about the author. Keener has continued to write intensely researched and thought-provoking scholarship on this particular book of Scripture. This quantity and quality of research is a testament to a genuine love of the subject. Keener’s work is a force to be reckoned with and will challenge the reader to reassess the historical records time and again. In the vein of Keener’s work, Ad fontes!

What To Do with the Past?: Sanskrit Literary Criticism in Postcolonial Space

Throughout its history of almost a millennium and a half, Sanskrit kāvyaśāstra was resolutely obsessed with the task of unravelling the ontology kāvya (literary prose and poetry). Literary theoreticians in Sanskrit, irrespective of their spatio-temporal locations, unanimously agreed upon the fact that kāvya was a special mode of expression (distinctly different from the ordinary form of speech) characterized by the presence of certain unique linguistic elements. Nonetheless, this did not imply that kāvyaśāstra was an intellectual tradition unmarked by disagreements. The real point of contention among the practitioners of Sanskrit literary theory was the prioritization of certain formal elements as the ‘soul’ of literature. This strong sense of intellectual disagreement on the question of what constituted the soul of kāvya eventually paved the way for the emergence of new frameworks of criticism and extensive scrutiny of the existing categories, thus playing a vital role in keeping this tradition alive and new. But towards the turn of the 20th century, Sanskrit kāvyaśāstra tradition underwent an epistemic rupture primarily because of a change in the way the idea of literariness was understood. During this phase, the traditional Formalistic notions about literature (to which Sanskrit kāvyaśāstra conformed) underwent a radical transformation, and the style and language of literature eventually became similar to everyday speech. This trend played an important role in severing Sanskrit kāvyaśāstra’s natural tie with literature. Eventually, the vigour in which new treatises in Sanskrit literary poetics were produced also dwindled. This did not mean that the scholarship (pāṇḍitya) in Sanskrit poetics vanished. Scholars in Sanskrit poetics continued to flourish in India, but in a different form and shape. In other words, the focus of scholars in Sanskrit poetics slowly got shifted from the production of new treatises in Sanskrit poetics to the creation of the intellectual history of this field and the application of these theories to evaluate the literary merit of modern literary texts. Though these two approaches played a vital role in disseminating the knowledge about Sanskrit poetics in modern times, they were caught up in an ontological certitude. In other words, neither of these two directions attempted to study these theoretical positions from a standpoint other than that of literary theory. To borrow a Barthian terminology, these two approaches treated Sanskrit poetics as a ‘work,’ instead of a ‘Text.’ This paper aims to intervene in this lacuna of scholarship by proposing the Derridian idea of ‘play’ as a methodological framework to unearth the potentialities lying dormant in these theories and to move beyond the ontological certitude traditionally imposed on these theoretical positions. The new methodological praxis that I put forward in this paper is further exemplified through a non-canonical reading of Ānandavardhana’s avivakṣita-vācya-dhvani (dhvani where the literal meaning is not intended).

Functional Character in Fan Fiction: A Case Study of The Lord of the Rings’ Alternative Universe Fan Fiction For Every Evil

From Henry Jenkins onwards, fan fiction study has walked pass almost 30 years and has covered a relatively large field including feminism, queer theory and mass culture, but many scholars still seem to miss the point that fan fiction is firstly a literary text and thus leave its literariness unexamined. In fact, with a high intertextuality and a “poacher” nature, fan fiction can serve as an ideal text to narratology study. This paper, through conducting a case study of The Lord of the Rings’ alternative universe fan fiction For Every Evil, is attempting to unfold fan authors’ literary talent in constructing functional character in the text and use it as a way to deliver personal interpretation to the canon. By applying characters’ known behavior as a method to resolve instability in fan fiction narrative and complete its narrative progress, authors who write alternative universe fan fiction show that this kind of “amateur” writing is worth a closer literary review. It is hoped that through the analysis, the literary merit of fan community can be better recognized, and fan fiction can be treated more as a genre rather than a cultural phenomenon in the future.

Aspects of Equiano's travels, the autobiography of a Nigerian in late eighteenth‐century England

AbstractThis paper is a study of the English of Olaudah Equiano. His autobiography, published in 1789, was the first book written in English by a Nigerian. It tells how, sold when a boy into slavery and transported to the Caribbean, he later purchased his freedom, settled in England, and became a prominent abolitionist. Literary English of the late eighteenth century adhered to neo‐classical models, with complex sentences and a Latinate vocabulary, and these features are much in evidence in Equiano's writing. The principal focus of the paper is on his use of tenses, especially the present perfect, which in Equiano's day was used much as it is now; but he sometimes uses it in ways that are difficult to account for. Thus his mastery of the language was not flawless; but the flaws do not compromise the literary merits of the work or impede our understanding of it.

The Breakbeat Poets Vol. 4: Latinext ed. by Felicia Rose Chavez, José Olivares and Willie Perdomo

Reviewed by: The Breakbeat Poets Vol. 4: Latinext ed. by Felicia Rose Chavez, José Olivares and Willie Perdomo Ignacio Carvajal THE BREAKBEAT POETS VOL. 4: LATINEXT. By Felicia Rose Chavez, José Olivares, and Willie Perdomo, eds. Chicago: Haymarket Books, 2020. The stated purpose of the fourth volume of The BreakBeat Poets series collection, LatiNext, edited by Felicia Rose Chavez, José Olivares, and Willie Perdomo, is to bring “the aesthetic of hip-hop practice to the page.” It is the latest from Haymarket in a series that has published several collections based around sets of marginalized identities. The editors highlight poetics that have been excluded to center the works as serious subjects of study and literary merit. During a moment in which the analytical use of the term “latinidad” in the United States trembles (se tambalea, por de alguna manera decirlo), revealing both the possibilities and fissures in better understanding or wielding concepts like identity or relation, the voices in LatiNext complicate, rather than attempt to foreclose, those discussions. As a whole, the book celebrates what Perdomo in the introduction calls a “somos más” moment. This proclamation seems to be simultaneously referring to the diversity of communities to which the label of Latinx/a/o may or may not apply, but also to a growing number of artists making noise in increasingly visible stages. There are 125 poets in this anthology. They hail from Houston, New York, Chicago, many places in California, the DMV — but also Cuba, New Mexico, Chile, the Dominican Republic. They are Nuyoricans, Afro-Latinx, Ch/Xicanx/o/as, Central American, Queer, Black, poet laureates, established voices, and young new-comers. In Mariana Goycoechea’s “PoEma for MaMi,” to highlight just one, the speaker mourns a mother who struggled with writing: “Mujer,/... I don’t know what I’ll/write from here on/other than to remember to write the entire alphabet/every time I write your name” (43). Gabriel Ramirez’s “Afro-Latinx Manifesto (or I learned to Count Salsa Steps to Laffy Taffy by D4L)” proclaims that “I let go of my father’s abandonment to carry a name I knew better than any,” that of the mother whose belly was kissed by Celia Cruz (73–74). Too many to name here, the collection includes explicit odes to the peacock, to the chola, to Kendrick Lamar, to dipset, to new money, to Tego Calderón — along with many others to place, memory, and future. “These poems, though, they wanna be about something beautiful like birds ‘n’ shit,” writes Joseph Rios in “Fellowship Application." The poem continues (57–58): This poetry is for the birds......Birds that getcancer. Birds that get valley fever. Birds that die ofdiabetes. Birds that watch professional wrestling andown cats with feline leukemia. I hate that my poetry hasto be about this shit, but it’s true.... [End Page 31] The poems in the collection constitute remembrances, eulogies, portraits, and celebrations. Ashley August’s “Luanne” celebrates a young woman at school, much less concerned with what others may think or say and more with living in her joy. She (23–24): Run when it scares herStay when it feel goodSay nothing when she ain’t got nothing to sayDon’t fake the funkShe don’t be polite for nobody’s feelingsTell you she want it, tell you to take it backTell you you stupid when you is stupid The speaker in Victoria Chávez Peralta’s “Dios te Salve, María” insists that “la virgen de guadalupe loves me, even though i’m queer.” Susi García’s “The Bridge is out” defiantly declares that “The bridge is out/but it won’t stop us, amigax –/ we under water walk” (131). Jonathan Mendoza’s “On nationalism” critically states: “I do not need to wave an empire’s flag/to prove I am deserving of a life” (183). Cierto es, como el poema de Raquel Salas Rivera “preguntas frecuentes” nos dice, que (246): en inglés el plural singular ya exitseel yo muchamenteen español tenemos que inventar el pluralellx elleun singular bastardo una caja de galletas/duct tape...

Books Received

Books Received Mark I. West Animals and Ourselves: Essays on Connections and Blurred Boundaries. Edited by Kathy Merlock Jackson, Kathy Shepherd Stolley, and Lisa Lyon Payne. McFarland, 2020. All of the essays in this collection are tied to the burgeoning field of animal studies. Several of the essays, however, also relate to children's literature and culture, including Stacy Hoult-Saros's "Beautiful Cockroaches and Featherless Birds: Anthropomorphism in Books for Latinx Children," Martin Woodside's "Cultivating Conservation: Childhood and Animalhood in the Fiction of Ernest Thompson Seton," and Mark I. West's "Animal/Human Relations in Two Prairie Tales by L. Frank Baum." Charles Godfrey Leland and His Magical Tales. Edited by Jack Zipes. Wayne State University Press, 2020. Charles Godfrey Leland made a name for himself as an American folklorist during the second half of the nineteenth century, but his reputation in the field of folklore studies has diminished because he often embellished the folk tales that he collected and published. In this new edited collection of Leland's tales, Jack Zipes argues that Leland's magical stories cannot be considered authentic folk tales, but they still have considerable literary merit. In addition to reprinting a selection of Leland's stories, Zipes provides a scholarly introduction in which he covers Leland's life and writing career. Creation and Beauty in Tolkien's Catholic Vision. By Michael John Halsall. Lutterworth Press, 2020. Michael John Halsall draws on his background as a Catholic priest and instructor of philosophy at Allen Hall Seminary in this study of J. R. R. Tolkien's writings. Halsall examines the theological and philosophical themes that run through Tolkien's works. Although Halsall does not focus on Tolkien's stories for children, he does include several passages about The Hobbit. Young Adult Literature: From Romance to Realism. 4th edition. By Michael Cart. ALA Neal-Schuman, 2021. In this latest edition of Young Adult Literature, Michael Cart completely updates his classic survey of YA literature. This new edition includes a greatly expanded discussion of multicultural and LGBTQIA+ literature intended for young adult readers. [End Page 94] Copyright © 2021 Children's Literature Association

Autobiography and Scriptotherapy in Oluremi Obasanjo’s <i>Bitter-Sweet</i> and Funso Adegbola’s <i>He Gave Me Wings</i>

This study investigates how autobiographical narratives enhance wellness, and it pays a specific focus on Oluremi Obasanjo’s <i>Bitter-Sweet: My Life with Obasanjo</i> and Funso Adegbola’s <i>He gave Me Wings: Me and My Dad</i>. The writers are two prominent Nigerian women. Both of them wrote about how a man’s influence significantly shaped their lives. While Oluremi Obasanjo presents her husband as a villain that almost maimed her, Funso Adegbola presents her dad as a hero that made her. Oluremi reveals how the syntax of her existence was only punctuated with momentary joys before her divorce, Funso unveils how her dad gave her wings to fly high above the common storms and limits of young women in a third world country. The study identifies the literary merits of the autobiographical narratives; it highlights the points of convergences and divergences between the two narratives understudied, as well as the inherent mental health benefits to the writers. The process of autobiographical writing is depicted as providing therapeutic authentication for the writers’ grieves. Both authors gained audibility and visibility through the instrumentality of writing. The process of writing these autobiographies became a resilience building device for their authors as they were able to negotiate their traumatic experiences by expressing themselves through writing. While Oluremi creates a positive public image for herself against the domineering political stature of Obasanjo in <i>Bitter-Sweet: My Life with Obasanjo</i>, Funso re-enacts positive memories of her late father through writing to ‘re-member’ him to their community from which death exited him in <i>He Gave Me Wings: Me and my Dad</i>.