Literary Subgenre Research Articles

Reinstating Olympe de Gouges? A Graphic Odyssey

Since the mid-2010s, interest in Olympe de Gouges as a pioneer of feminism has consistently grown in the wake of fourth-wave feminism and international social movements such as #MeToo. After almost two centuries of oversight or representations of de Gouges as illiterate and a victim of her time, a number of historians and authors have been working to reinstate her legacy as a writer and actor of the French Revolution. In conjunction with this newfound interest in feminist figures like Olympe de Gouges, the literary field experienced a metamorphosis with the growing popularity of graphic novels, from both popular/mainstream and scholarly perspectives. This article proposes to analyze how the depiction of Olympe de Gouges in the eponymous graphic novel by Catel and José-Louis Bocquet in 2012 contributed to the mainstream recognition of de Gouges as well as subsequent feminist figures, and enabled the development of graphic biographies as a literary sub-genre.

Los corridos revolucionarios publicados por la imprenta de Eduardo Guerrero (México, siglo XX)

Based on the question of how much the editorial dimension has been considered in the production and circulation of the revolutionary corrido, in this paper I present the results of the research around the first compilation of this literary subgenre, published in 1931 not by a researcher, but, precisely, by an author, editor and printer of popular literature. I am referring to Eduardo Guerrero and his Corridos históricos de la revolución mexicana desde 1910 hasta 1930. In addition to offering a profile of Guerrero's publishing house, recovering primary and secondary sources, I place the compiled volume in its context, critically assuming its biases and the fact that it is made up of materials that originally circulated as broadsheets, whose dynamics may contradict the commemorative vocation of the compilation. Then, I address the results of the main analysis, which is the editorial dimension of the broadsheets around four aspects (the graphics, the enunciation of the titles, the organization of the texts and the authorship). All these aspects are inseparable from the complete understanding of the history of popular printing in the 20th century and from the evolution of the revolutionary corrido as a literary expression aimed fundamentally to be oralized.

THE SCIENCE FICTION OF TRAUMA IN MATT HAIG’S THE MIDNIGHT LIBRARY

This study examines the emergent literary subgenre known as The Science Fiction of Trauma which involves the distinctive combination of science fiction components and studies of the complicated effects of trauma. The study posits that science fiction narratives often address trauma more explicitly than traditional literary studies, which may shy away from grappling with its complex and chaotic nature. An analysis of speculative fiction allows the exploration of intricate symbolic depictions of symptoms related to trauma (such as flashbacks and dissociation), the influence of trauma on one’s sense of self, and the broader societal ramifications of significant traumatic incidences. Exploiting science fiction settings that incorporate futuristic technology, encounters with extraterrestrial beings, or society that have been altered greatly, enhances the ability to depict the psychological and emotional consequences of trauma. Science fiction encompasses more than just the portrayal of spaceships and robots. It can be utilised to investigate genuine human experiences such as trauma. Science fiction writers employ the extraordinary components of the genre, such as sophisticated technology, alien civilizations, and futuristic settings, as instruments. These tools serve a purpose beyond creating visually impressive action scenes or constructing fictional worlds. They are employed to enhance the emotional resonance of trauma and make it more relatable for the reader. The aim of the study is to analyse Matt Haig’s The Midnight Library conducting the elements of The Science Fiction of Trauma in which fictional portrayals can both reveal and influence the dynamic advancements in scientific comprehension and representation of trauma.

THE CONCEPT OF CYBERPUNK AS A VISION OF THE FUTURE WORLD IN SCIENCE FICTION GENRE

The fast-paced advancement of technology in recent times has made it an indispensable part of our everyday routine. Almost all spheres of our life are connected with technology, starting with our smartphones, which we use in our daily lives, until supercomputers, which aid people in researching the universe around our planet. This trend shows no signs of slowing down. Cyberpunk, a science fiction subgenre, delves into the potential consequences of technological progress on individuals in the future. This genre describes the future where technology will be intertwined with people's daily routines and even affect their external appearance. Cyberpunk delineates the future where the assimilation of humans and technology will be inevitable. Although technology has the potential to enhance society, it also threatens our liberty. Due to the rapid formation of technology, some people even argue that artificial intelligence will dominate the world soon. This article explores the origins and development of cyberpunk literature, which is a subset of science fiction. It delves into the distinctive features of cyberpunk as a literary subgenre and examines previous research on the topic. Additionally, the article analyzes the perspectives of scholars on the cyberpunk genre.

“Everything Is Going To Be All Right”: Poetry as “Covid Comfort”?

This article examines the artistic and, in particular, poetic response to the COVID-19 pandemic, that was witnessed in the Republic of Ireland in 2020. I will first try to show how this poetic response to the pandemic is linked to the historical and traditional role of the figure of the poet in Ireland, the “file”, and to the poet’s speaking out in the Irish public sphere during major historical events. With this in mind, I shall then analyze several case studies, such as the remarkable influence of a phrase uttered by Seamus Heaney used again during the Irish lockdown, or the impact of a poem by the President of the Republic of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins, himself a poet, eventually leading to the launch of an advertising campaign designed to reinforce physical distancing during lockdown. After examining other Irish artistic productions linked to Covid-19, I shall conclude with a counterexample, that is poet Paul Muldoon’s critical analysis of Derek Mahon’s famous poem, ‘Everything Is Going To Be All Right’, which enjoyed immense success during the pandemic in Ireland and was perceived by many as a poem of comfort and hope. But can any poem be reinterpreted as part of the literary sub-genre of “pandemic poetry”?

Twitterature: A New Digital Literary Genre

In the history of literary experimentation, the writer has evolved into a social medium for literary readings of numerous literary works that were previously only known to those with a keen interest in literature and literary genres. As a result, many well-known literary works have been succinctly summarised in front of everyone in a way that is both helpful and provides details while still remaining concise. In this essay, the researcher wants to show how Twitter has developed into a literary form, competing with other well-known literary works like novels, plays, short stories, and poetry, particularly haiku. Beginning with an introduction to Twitter literature and its definition, the study then focuses on the format in which literary tweets are provided, including the word count and length of the presentation of the literary work. Then, the literary subgenres that appeared on Twitter were criticised. The paper provides instances of literary accounts on Twitter and distinguishes the literary genres on Twitter. The study also discusses Twitter’s literary value in educating readers about a variety of literary works, particularly those who are uninterested in or uninterested in literature. Moreover, the distinction between reading literary works in their authentic forms vs their Twitter-based forms. The researcher contrasts the literary subgenres that are best suited for Twitter distribution. As a complement to the other well-known literary genres and in keeping with the varied, quick, and advanced modern day, the researcher concludes by presenting Twitter as one of the crucial literary genres of the new millennium that must be given significance and relevance. However, this study makes the case that Twitter might be. It is seen as an expression of an experimental platform for postmodern electronic literature that can ensure a revival of the steadily dwindling fantasy reading habit that is appealing to the generation of technology enthusiasts.

‘Etsi peccaui, sum tamen ipse tuus’. O elegii pokutnej Drakoncjusza (i słówko o pojęciu: barokowa ‘elegia’ pokutna)

Dracontius’s Satisfactio, though undoubtedly a prime example of a very complex literary work, is not really a work that cannot be properly described in generic terms. Upon consideration, the label ‘penitential elegy’ appears to be the most appropriate one, as it clearly indicates the major theme of the poem (the contrition of the sinner who acknowledges his sin above all before the God and, in the second place, before the Vandal king Gunthamund, to whom he pleads guilty to some not fully specified misdeed) as well as its metrical form. As for the latter, what is of particular relevance is not merely the fact that the piece is composed in elegiac couplets, but also that it is clearly written with an eye on Ovid the elegist. It is above all Ovid’s exilic motifs that Dracontius reuses throughout his poem, with special focus on Tristia II, imitated not so much through explicit verbal echoes, but rather through the general analogy of poetic situations in which the punished poet openly addresses his punisher, the princeps (Dracontius ostentatiously cites this ‘Ovidian’ word). At times, Dracontius happens to be no less provocative than Ovid was in apostrophizing his powerful addressee, although adopting a protreptic tone (which naturally implies some sort of superiority to the literary ‘you’), he does not pose as an expert in poetry with blemish life, despite his musa iococa (as Ovid did), but as a ‘fellow-Christian’ (suppressing all doctrinal discrepancies between his own Catholicism and Gunthamund’s Arianism) and indeed: a ‘fellow-sinner’ who forgives his (royal) ‘brother’ and asks for forgiveness in return. Moreover, the penitential tone of the poem is also stressed by several references to the Psalms and in particular to the figure of King David doing penance, exactly as in the Polish Baroque penitential elegy. The generic label I have advocated throughout my article is, in fact, ‘borrowed from’ the students of Old-Polish poetry, who are virtually unanimous in recognizing Baroque penitential elegy as a separate literary subgenre. It is not my intention to argue against such conclusions, as the generic features indicated by those specialist are quite convincing (I myself have found them very helpful for my own research), yet what I do emphasize is the very fact that the term ‘elegy’ when referred to vernacular poetry is applied not strictly (it is not related to any specific meter) but rather metaphorically, as if merely pointing to a general ‘mood’ of a poem. In Latin poetry, however, ‘elegy’, meaning ‘automatically’ the elegiac distich, means also concrete intertextual associations, primarily with Ovid (precisely like in Dracontius’s Satisfactio). Hence, when used to describe Dracontius’s text, the label ‘penitential elegy’ reveals its full hermeneutic potential.

‘A shared commitment … not to be miserable’: a Posthuman Artists’ Laboratory to explore writing collaborative climate fiction

ABSTRACT This paper continues ongoing research, by the three authors, into possible ways to write climate fiction, a subgenre of literature that focuses on depictions of climate change. Curious as to whether climate fiction has become fixed as a negative genre, most frequently mired in dystopian landscapes, we posited that writing fiction collaboratively might be one method to help us imagine a future in which we have agency and are not simply helpless victims of the inevitable. To explore this hypothesis, we ran a two-day Posthuman Artists’ Laboratory with six other professional writers, all based on Kaurna and Permangk country in Tartanya/Adelaide, Australia. In detailing the setup and findings of this experiment, the paper looks towards artistic practice that does not focus on the capitalist individual and details the thrill of collaboration. We propose that there is a strong (posthuman) argument for writers to abandon the desire to be identified as one singular being with a ‘unique’ voice and reimagine their creative subjectivities as a sticky web of connections.

Сбор языкового материала как один из этапов исследования арготического компонента художественного текста (на материале современной французской криминальной прозы)

Language material is the foundation of any linguistic study; therefore, great importance is traditionally attached to its collection and in some cases, its description may be a priority. The aim of the research, carried out during the approbation of the intermediate results obtained when analysing the argotic component of the modern French crime novel, is to determine the key elements peculiar to the stage of formation of the language data corpus. The scientific novelty of this micro-research lies in the proposed approach to the formation and systematisation of an argotographic source by extracting argotic elements from a modern literary text. The research findings amount to a glossary of 930 argotisms presented in the form of an alphabetical list and provided with primary information: the explication of lexical meaning, the source of borrowing with the indication of pages and the number of word occurrences. The collection of unconventional vocabulary units was based on the texts of modern French criminal prose. The frequency of argotisms and their concentration in the text served as an important indicator in the choice of literary works. The phenomenon of the crime novel is also considered and the criteria according to which the works can be attributed to the specified literary subgenre are indicated. Verification of the linguistic data obtained was carried out involving authoritative argotographic sources without the use of field methods. Special attention is paid to the review of lexicographic sources followed by the representation of selected dictionary entries, each of which explicates the meaning of argotic lexemes.

Puzzling Bloom and Blight: Hawthorne’s Fanshawe as a Precursor to the Environmental Mystery

ABSTRACT This essay discusses Hawthorne’s Fanshawe as a forerunner to the environmental mystery, a literary subgenre with a greater environmental emphasis that shapes the course of the story and possible interpretations. Environmental mysteries focus on how a particular place impacts characters as much as they account for how a crime is committed and a case is solved. Settings are a force, human-environment relationships are central, and metaphors allude to complex and sometimes uneasy conclusions. As these three characteristics are foundational components of Fanshawe, the novel serves as a precursor to present day environmental mysteries engaging with issues such as habitat loss, environmental degradation, and global warming. Fanshawe suggests a deep connection between Hawthorne and a distinct geographical place, a protagonist who must navigate the perils of a particular environment, and memorable supporting characters who reinforce the way environmental circumstances shape identity and relate to crime. It also includes prominent natural metaphors, as well as an ending that redirects readers back to its central human-environment concern, encouraging them to reflect upon human plights in the context of challenging environmental situations.

Representation of Travel Writing in Gabriel García Márquez’s Un Métier De Rêve: Carl Thompson’s Travel Writing Study

Abstract. Travel writing, a subgenre of literature, depicts a writer's journey in visiting unfamiliar places. The author experienced negotiation between himself and the others about similarities or differences. In the travel writing, a reality is a reference emphasized the most, rather than mere imagination or fiction. This study aims to examine the representation of travel writing in Un Métier de Rêve by Gabriel García Márquez and to uncover the influence of the narrator's personal perspective (the self) on his view of Europeans (the others). The story in short story Un Métier de Rêve is one of Gabriel García Márquez's travel stories included in Douze Contes Vagabonds. This type of research is descriptive-analytic research using literature studies. The data collection technique involves reading, noting, and sorting. In analyzing the data, which includes words, phrases, dialogues, monologues, feelings, and behavior of the characters, the researcher conducted data interpretation by proving or debating a matter through valid evidence using Carl Thompson's travel writing theory, which consists of three concepts, namely: Reporting the World, Revealing the Self, and Representing the Other. The results of the study on Gabriel García Márquez's Un Métier de Rêve show that Márquez seeks to portray the world he encountered rationally and objectively, even the subjective element found in the short story still appears to be objective. As a result, there is an ambiguity found that is uncovered due to the contestation between fact and fiction in travel writing. In addition, the influence of the ideology of the former colonial state apparently provides a particular emphasis on Márquez's strategy in writing his travel stories. Keywords: Gabriel García Márquez, Travel Writing, Literatur

L’homme aux lèvres de saphir d’Hervé Le Corre: un exemple de l’évolution générique du polar

"From the detective story, considered a literary sub-genre, to the present-day detective story, the evolution of the detective story shows to what extent this genre has been able to consolidate itself. In its evolution, it has been able to go beyond the limits to assert itself, showing at the same time that the detective story offers a variety of openings to tackle all kinds of subjects. At present, the historical detective story is enjoying enormous success and, based on Hervé Le Corre’s novel L’homme aux lèvres de saphir, we will show that the detective story goes beyond the limits and generic labels. However, the disappearance of boundaries leads to a new debate, since detective novel readers are not targeted by the novels. "

«El estilo he de tener que tuvieron mis abuelos». Tradición y recreación del testamento de animales desde la latinidad tardía hasta el siglo xxi: textos y contextos

This article discusses the literary subgenre of animal testament from an interdisciplinary perspective, addressing the confluence of rite, life and artistic re-creation which articulates its survival from the 4th c. until today. The first part of the study includes a panoramic approach to literary testament and its critical reception, to subsequently focus on the late medieval testimony of the Testamentum Grunnii Corocottae porcelli (4th c.) and its discursive and festive keys. Our second stop explores the turning point which the printing press entailed for the genre and its secular oral transmission, with attention to the texts of the first testimonies of this kind conserved in print: the Testamento del gallo and Testamento de la zorra, by the blind poet Cristóbal Bravo (16th c.). The final section delves into the carnivalesque dimension of the texts, the paratheatrical representations which accompany it and their continuity in modern oral tradition, with the partial inclusion of a Testamento de la zorra from 2019. The article concludes with a brief reflection on the necessity of addressing the social and cultural practices which give meaning to so many enduring literary genres.

Inheriting the “Unfinished Business”: An Introductory Study of the Dictator Novel Set in Africa

Abstract Whereas so-called dictator fiction in Latin America is already established as a significant literary subgenre, it is only recently that an increasing number of studies have started to deal with its counterpart set in Africa. In fact, both inside and outside the postcolonial African continent, dictator novels have been written in several languages, including English, French, Arabic, and Kikuyu. One of the most outstanding achievements among recent studies of this kind of fiction is Magali Armillas-Tiseyra’s The Dictator Novel: Writers and Politics in the Global South (2019), which examines dictator novels in two different regions – Africa and Latin America – by using the keyword “Global South” to connect them with each other. After taking a genealogical overview of some dictator novels by both African and non-African authors, the present essay will critically investigate Armillas-Tiseyra’s argument in order to reconsider fictional African dictators depicted in contemporary novels, especially those written in English, from a global and transborder perspective. The aim of this essay is to clarify both the challenges and prospects of the current studies of this literary subgenre in/about Africa.

Zhonggu wenxue zhong de shi yu shi

Zhonggu wenxue zhong de shi yu shi

Writing by women or for women? Either way, You're less likely to be reviewed

Scholars have consistently found that female artists receive less attention from critics than their male counterparts. In this study, we conduct a closer examination of the mechanisms driving this persistent form of inequality. Drawing on a uniquely comprehensive dataset of all English-language fiction books published in a calendar year, we find that women authors face two significant—and distinctive—gender penalties. First, we find that books classified as belonging to feminized literary subgenres are least likely to be reviewed by mainstream critical outlets. This gendered genre-based exclusion is the first way in which women authors are penalized, since the majority of writers writing in these categories are women. Second, we find that even when women writers publish books in androcentric subgenres or gender-neutral categories of literary fiction, their books are still less likely to be selected for review compared to those written by their male counterparts. This is a form of gendered artist-based exclusion. These empirical findings exhort scholars of the arts to move beyond documenting gender inequalities in review coverage to uncovering the multiple ways that gender impresses itself on the review process as an attribute of both artists and genres.

The peasant and the nation plot: a distant reading of the Romanian rural novel from the first half of the twentieth century

AbstractOur article conducts a critical reassessment of one of the most influential cultural myths in Eastern Europe throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries: the nationalist definition of peasantry as embodying the quintessence of the nation. In order to evaluate the imagological scope and ideological implications engendered by this so-called ‘people-nation myth’, we focus on the Romanian culture, whom we consider fully representative for the Eastern European context. More exactly, our study employs a distant reading of the Romanian rural novel from the first half of the twentieth century, precisely the literary subgenre supposed to reflect the coalescence between the peasantry and the nation. By analysing the co-occurrences in these novels between words belonging to the vocabularies of nation and rurality, we aim at showing that – contrary to traditional historiographic consensus – nation building has less to do with language or ethnicity, and much more to do with social emancipation.

Phraseology and Style in Subgenres of the Novel: A Synthesis of Corpus and Literary Perspectives

Phraseology and Style in Subgenres of the Novel: A Synthesis of Corpus and Literary Perspectives

How black is African Noir?: defining blackness through crime fiction

ABSTRACT This article examines African noir as a literary sub-genre that attempts to articulate a revised and updated black Atlantic counterculture (1993). Using the framework provided by Paul Gilroy’s concept of a black Atlantic model of critique, African noir is shown to be transnational and intercultural in many aspects, thereby resisting racist discourses and expanding on conceptualisations of blackness and gender. Two primary texts are selected for analysis: Mukoma Wa Ngugi’s Nairobi Heat (2010) and Leye Adenle’s Easy Motion Tourist (2016). In both novels, detective figures are shown to be transnational, with local, national, or ethnic affiliations and intercultural relations which enable their detection. The article mounts a two-pronged argument. Primarily, both examples of African noir are read as texts which continue the legacy of Gilroy’s pioneering black Atlantic project of uncovering the cultural impact of colonialism and slavery on Africans on the continent and in the African diaspora. Secondarily, by examining the representation of female figures in the selected the texts, the article critically evaluates African noir’s attempt to resist the hegemonic racial and gendered representations of classic noir. To conclude, the article considers how, through the creation of intercultural and intersectional detective trios, the novels explore new black Atlantic race and gender relations, and the potential for solidarity in the face of crime.

New Futures, same old Fear: Gender-based Violence and Victim Coping in Contemporary Young Adult Dystopian Fiction

The ability of dystopian fiction to offer critical views of futures riddled with the devastating consequences of today’s failures is pervasive also in its literary subgenre targeting young readers. While scholarship on these novels is extensive, the prevalence of sexual assaults in this subgenre requires attention. This study offers an introductory analysis of two contemporary young adult dystopian trilogies, Veronica Roth’s Divergent (2011-2013) and Beth Revis’ Across the Universe (2011-2013), with a focus on the sexual assaults the protagonists endure. The discussion draws on trauma and sexual abuse research to ascertain how and if these future societies and heroines challenge traditional representations of this crime.