Contemporary Writers Research Articles

Robert Louis Stevenson and German Sāmoa

ABSTRACT This study revisits the writings of Robert Louis Stevenson on German Sāmoa as a valuable archive for understanding the impact of Western colonialism on the Pacific. It examines Stevenson’s anti-colonial perspectives in writings such as A Footnote to History: Eight Years of Trouble in Samoa (1892), his series of letters to The Times in London (1889–1894), and his private correspondence. Stevenson’s analysis of the impact of the Germans’ militarism and meddlesome officialdom, together with their extensive plantation system and use of unfree labour, also provides an important context for reading contemporary Oceanian writers and artists. The varied creative practices of recovery and remediation deployed by Albert Wendt, Sia Figiel, Yuki Kihara, Michel Tuffery and Tony Brunt, are often inspired by cultural memories of German Sāmoa.

Историко-биографический роман Зюльфю Ливанели «На спине тигра. Тирания и свобода» (2022)

This article is dedicated to analyzing the latest novel of the well-known contemporary Turkish writer Zulfu Livaneli, "On the Back of the Tiger: Tyranny and Freedom" (2022), according to the author's reception of the belletristic paradigm. The article demonstrates how historical events related to the life of one of the last Turkish sultans, Abdulhamid II (deposition from power and exile in Thessaloniki), are incorporated into the narrative scope of the novel and how these events influence the country's life. It is argued that the figure of Abdulhamid is more vividly portrayed through the image of his opponent-doctor, another central character in the novel. The research aim is to establish that this novel, in terms of its poetic features, belongs to the historical-biographical genre. The article analyzes the plot and compositional features of the novel with an emphasis on its imagery (central images) and chronotope. The scientific novelty of the research lies in the fact that the novelistic work of Z. Livaneli, viewed from this aspect, is for the first time the subject of analytical study in domestic Turkological literary studies. As a result, it is demonstrated that the poetics of Z. Livaneli's novel fits within the historical-biographical genre with specific features unique to the author.

A Report on C-E Translation of Children’s Literature: A Case Study of Gen Niao (Excerpts)

Gen Niao is a short story crafted by Cao Wenxuan, a distinguished contemporary writer in the realm of children’s literature. This story chronicles the maturation journey of a young protagonist named Gen Niao. Currently, there is no published translated edition of this book. This paper takes Gen Niao as an example to primarily explore the English translation of Chinese children’s literature. As international cultural exchanges deepen, English translation of contemporary Chinese children’s literature assumes paramount significance in facilitating cultural outreach. Due to the cultural and linguistic disparities between Chinese and English, translators often find it challenging to accurately and vividly convey the precise connotations of the source text, especially when the target audience is children. Hence, in order to convey the meaning of the source language as faithfully as possible, the author tackles the translation process from two aspects: lexical choices and syntactic structures. Based on the strategies of domestication and foreignization proposed by Venuti, the author primarily employs a strategy of domestication, supplemented by occasional foreignization to translate the selected passages, aiming to maintain fidelity to the original while ensuring readability for the target audience. By exploring strategies for translating Chinese children’s literature into English, this research encapsulates reflections and analyses concerning the practice of translating children’s literature, aiming to discover methods that can enhance the international impact of translated works and propel Chinese children’s literature towards global recognition.

The Professorenroman – a New Phenomenon in Bulgarian Literature

The article presents a phenomenon that until now has not been the subject of an independent and systematic study in Bulgarian literary studies. Tracing the development of the Bulgarian novel over the last three decades, it brings out the presence of a relatively homogeneous group of works that share common literary characteristics and ways of communicating with the reading audience. Systematizing and summarizing observations on more than ten novels published by contemporary Bulgarian writers, all of them university professors, the paper defines several specific features that are common to them. The phenomenon of the Professorenroman is examined briefly in the historical context of its emergence in the 19 th century, and in more detail as an effect and consequence of the development of Postmodernism in Bulgaria since the end of the 20 th century. Novels published most recently, including in 2022, are in focus.

Analysis of the Power Alienation in Bi Feiyu's Novel Yumi

Contemporary writer Bi Feiyu's works are very cutting-edge thinking and reflection of potential social problems, and the novel Yumi is a good confirmation. The characters in Bi Feiyu's novel Yumi can almost not escape from "power", and the recognition of power, the pursuit of power, the price paid for the pursuit of power and the influence brought by power will push people into the abyss of alienation. Therefore, the thinking on power and reflecting on alienation are also particularly important in contemporary society. An analysis of the power alienation in Bi Feiyu's novel Yumi can inspire the people who live in contemporary society. In view of this, this paper studies all kinds of characters through intensive reading of the novel Yumi, and analyzes how "power" uses an invisible force to "non-normalize" human survival concept and survival behavior, that is, alienation. Based on the characteristics and the expression of alienation to get the result of alienation caused by power and its influence on contemporary society. At the same time, it also lets the people living in contemporary society see the consequences of people after the alienation of power and get inspiration from it.

“Irish Folklore Has Always Interested and Influenced Me”: An Interview with Deirdre Sullivan

Deirdre Sullivan is an award-winning Irish YA writer who has been praised by several writers and folklore academics, such as Jack Zipes, for her fairy-tale revisions and her rewriting of the Irish legend “The Children of Lir”. Following the steps of contemporary feminist writers like Angela Carter or Emma Donoghue, Sullivan gives voice to minorities and deals with silenced topics such as sexual harassment. This interview focuses on her subversions of fairy tales and Irish mythology, especially in her collection Tangleweed and Brine (2017) and her revision of “The Children of Lir” in Savage Her Reply (2020). In this interview, Deirdre Sullivan talks about her interest in fairy tales and Irish folklore and how she became a writer.

„Być albo nie być” − transhumanistyczna wizja przyszłości według Wiktora Pielewina (na materiale utworu "Transhumanism Inc.")

Victor Pelevin has established a reputation as one of the most interesting, controversial, and mysterious contemporary Russian writers. He is recognized as one of the leading representatives of Russian postmodernism. Pelevin is also known as an attentive and critical observer of the surrounding reality. He is sometimes described as a deep thinker, a prophet, and a visionary. Pelevin’s literary work entitled Transhumanism Inc. (2021) is the subject of the analysis in this paper. The purpose of the article is to show and discuss Pelevin’s transhumanist vision of the future in which an isolated brain (removed from its host) will be able to survive indefinitely in a specialized container (‘a jar’) and human consciousness will exist within a virtual reality. However, access to this ‘jar dimension’ will be exclusive, limited only to the wealthy, leaders, and world oligarchs. However, it is the vampires, as supernatural creatures, who will be the real architects of the world order. This paper focuses on the analysis of the selected aspects of Pelevin’s literary work − mainly those which can be viewed in connection with the assumptions of the transhumanist project. Special attention is paid to the idea of cyber immortality, the concept of morphological freedom, and mind uploading.

Planetary Gifts of Law and Literature

What remains of European thought in law and literature’s “global turn”? To address the question, this article reopens Nuruddin Farah’s Gifts (1993) alongside modern and contemporary writings on globalization, cosmopolitanism, and their (de)constitutive medial conditions. Scholarship in law and literature, comparative literature, and world literature are first reviewed for their disclosed risks and potentials of attending to postcolonial literature in the name of globalization. This is followed by a return to Farah’s novel and its pertaining European intertexts, including Immanuel Kant’s essays on cosmopolitanism, enlightenment, and book publishing. I suggest that these key exchanges between Farah’s critique of humanitarian aid in late-1980s Somalia and Kant’s classics reflect the importance of (re)staging dialogues between postcolonial literature and the European legacy as we work towards a planetary discourse of law and literature.

The Lord of History in Cynthia Ozick’s “Ruth”

Abstract Cynthia Ozick has published widely on the categorization and definition of Jewish literature. This article reexamines her definition in “Toward a New Yiddish” in light of Ozick’s essay “Ruth,” published first in Congregation: Contemporary Writers Read the Jewish Bible (1987) and later in her essay collection Metaphor & Memory (1989). In “Ruth,” Ozick’s enigmatic definition of Jewish literature as carrying “the echo of the voice of the Lord of History” can be read as a transtemporal or Talmudic relationship with contradiction and paradox. Utilizing the Jewish approaches to time described in Yosef Hayim Yerushalmi’s Zakhor (1982) and Lynn Kaye’s Time in the Babylonian Talmud: Natural and Imagined Times in Jewish Law and Narrative (2018), this article examines how Ozick’s elliptical writing style underscores the Talmudic character of her writing. Moreover, “Ruth” exemplifies Ozick’s destabilization of linear time as she adopts the role of a modern-day rabbi who reinterprets ancient texts and illustrates how future readers might do the same.

On Violence Writing in Ian McEwan’s Saturday

Ian McEwan is one of the most preeminent contemporary British writers. His masterpiece Saturday is longlisted for the 2005 Booker Prize. Revolving around the protagonist Perowne’s one-day life, the novel portrays a realistic picture of British society after the “9·11” terrorist attack. So far, scholars have interpreted Saturday from the perspective of space, trauma, intertextuality, culture, and ethics, while few studies have touched upon the violence writing in this novel. Therefore, this paper will explore the manifestations and roots of direct, structural and cultural violence in Saturday based on Johan Galtung’s violence triangle theory. The study of violence writing in the novel can reveal not only hidden violence problems in British society but also McEwan’s appeal for a harmonious society. Meanwhile, the solution to violence issues McEwan provides in the novel is also instructive for modern people to cope with violence dilemmas.

US Death Row Literature and Public Mobilization against Capital Punishment

Abstract: The paper introduces a question of how narrative studies can contribute to abolition of the death penalty in the United States. A second section maps a history of Death Row narratives from incarcerated people and witness memoirs, including early American narratives, Sacco and Vanzetti, Caryl Chessman, and contemporary writers such as Albert Woodfox. This historicization lays a foundation for treating Death Row literature as a coherent witness genre. A third theoretical section argues that the major work of narratives opposed to the death penalty lies in humanization of condemned prisoners and assertion of a human right to life, yet this is an insufficient and flawed argument. Death Row literature from incarcerated people represents an inherent claim on citizenship and protection of a right to life, not sentimentalism. The paper closes by arguing that to have credibility and effect, writing from observers outside prisons demands an encircling link between witness and activism.

An Ecology of Morality

Exiled writer Dương Thu Hương is one of the most renowned contemporary female writers of Vietnam, famed also for her criticism of the Communist Party. In her works The Zenith (2007) and Paradise of the Blind (1993), translated and published abroad, she uses the recurring themes of excess and deficit to comment on the political deterioration of the state, a tragic reality that began just years after gaining independence from France. The hunger that ravages the villages is countered by the ironic gluttony of ghosts, and the performative asceticism practiced by party members only masks the actual greed underlying their political decisions. On one level, this article examines how the politics of excess, playing with different human virtues and vices, reveals a deep irony in the governing systems of Vietnam and the rhetoric of independence. On another, it also points out how Duong Thu Huong uses karmic energy as a narrative force which mercilessly punishes, humiliates, and educates, ultimately promising a restoration of equilibrium. The article argues that ecocritical engagements with Southeast Asian literature must take into account both a natural and supernatural understanding of the environment. This leads to new understandings of diaspora and spiritual allegiances to the homeland that are especially pertinent for the Vietnamese community abroad.

The Metalinguistic Dimension of Literary Multilingualism: Linguistic Biographies in Italian Fiction

ABSTRACT In this article, I argue that a thorough analysis of literary multilingualism and code-switching needs to take their metalinguistic dimension into account. Many scholars have noticed multilingual authors’ tendency to frame code-switches with metalinguistic comments, but they are sometimes treated marginally, or as just one of the many functions of code-switching. My article argues that metalanguage is, in fact, a fundamental characteristic of literary multilingualism, and key to its interpretation. This is particularly evident when we look at how the contemporary Italian writers Laura Pariani, Silvana Grasso and Elena Ferrante construct their characters through linguistic biographies, and how they describe dialect use, bilingualism, language loss and shift and other collective and individual sociolinguistic processes. I also show that metalanguage needs to be analysed together with other tools used by authors to flag multilingualism: namely intratextual translations and peritextual elements (such as glossaries or notes), but also visual cues, such as italics.

Jamal Mahjoub’s The Fugitives and Hala Alyan’s The Arsonists’ City: A Panoramic View of the Occident

Contemporary Anglophone diasporic Arab writers have initiated an “Occidentalist discourse” through which they depict a complete image of the Occident. Their narratives are not meant to distort or misrepresent the “other”, but to provide the reader with nuanced accounts about what an Arab immigrant/ refugee may experience in the “West”. These narratives are deemed consistent because contemporary Anglophone diasporic Arab writers have become part of their host countries’ sociocultural tapestry since they are, in most cases, part of European countries’ population. By applying Zahia Salhi’s definition of Occidentalism to Arab-British novelist Jamal Mahjoub’s The Fugitives (2021) and Arab-American novelist Hala Alyan’s The Arsonists’ City (2021), this paper aims to illustrate how both writers paint a three-dimensional panoramic picture of the Occident by exploring triumphant as well as depressing journeys of Arab individuals in America. This study is also an attempt to demonstrate, by using these two novels as examples, that Occidentalism cannot be defined as “Orientalism in reverse” since Occidentalist literature, as Salhi proposes, represents Western life and culture with a great sense of impartiality.

Abdullah Mohammed Ahmed The poet of contemporary literature and the literary figure among his contemporaries.

The study bears the title “Abdullah Muhammad Ahmad, the poet of contemporary writers,and the writer of poets of his time This paper aims to reveal the works of an eminent Sudanese literary figure and a scholar, namely Abdallah Muhammad Ahmad- may Allah bestow upon him everlasting health-” Abdallah is one of those writers who preferred to keep low profile and avoid publicity. The main goal of this paper is to unveil the unknown works of this well-read writer who drew upon Sudanese and Arabic literary and social heritage in his poetry and prose. Abdallah has a thorough knowledge and deep understanding about Arabic prosody. He proved to be talented since his early boyhood for he was famous for his great passion for Arabic literature and that enabled him to have an excellent command of Arabic language. He contributed enormously to Arabic literature in prose and poetry and his distinguished literary contributions put him in the vanguard of his peers. He composed exceptionally beautiful poems included in his anthology ‘The scent of memories” He also used literature as a tool to explore and combat difficult social issues in his book (insights on life and people.)” which is written in a figurative and impressive language. He drew upon the Holy Quran and the Holy Prophetic Tradition that influenced him greatly and enriched his writings with beautiful images and sublime language, simulating beautiful scenery paintings that captivate hearts and minds. Key words: contemporary – pioneers – Abdallah –literature – thought – culture.

Language of the Future as an Object of Satire in D. Eggers’s Dystopic Dilogy

Personal worldview can be subjected to linguistic modeling even if the person in question is a fictional character. This research featured the vocabulary invented by the contemporary American writer Dave Eggers for his dystopic dilogy, as well as the role of this fictional language in creating satirical mode. The study involved such methods of cognitive linguistics as component, transformational, and stylistic analyses, analytical description, and semantic fields. The article opens with a review of domestic and foreign publications on the connection between language, social processes, and thinking. The Circle (2013) and The Every (2021) were analyzed for satirical and stylistic devices. The dilogy turned out to be a new type of satire, which combines the postmodern irony and deconstruction with the metamodern openness and optimism. The vocabulary of the future as seen by the author was analyzed for its functions in creating the worldview. Its key features include: neologisms and occasionalisms coined in line with actual word-formation models; contrasting high and low-style vocabulary; euphemisms and modified set phrases. D. Eggers also satirized some real linguistic trends, which, in his opinion, deform the language and affect people’s mind and behavior.

Transposition, generationality, and trauma: From psychoanalytic Holocaust studies to post-mnemonic cultures

The concept of transposition, initially linked to the study of affective transmission of trauma across generations, has not progressed far beyond psychoanalytic Holocaust studies, and its broader cultural implications remain underexplored. Through its presentation and appraisal, I make an argument for the critical and epistemic potential of transposition, both recognizing and moving beyond the specific framework of its original articulation, namely the clinical psychoanalytic work with children of Holocaust survivors in the 1970s and 1980s. First, I outline the trajectories of the emergence of the concept, focussing on the work of Judith Kestenberg. I contextualize transposition in relation to the psychoanalytic nexus of trauma and mourning, particularly regarding the effects of what Alexander Mitscherlich and Marguerite Mitscherlich called “the inability to mourn”. I then discuss how, while contemporary trauma discourses have paid little attention to transposition, this concept has been revived in studies of postmemory. Through a close reading of the novel The White Book by contemporary South Korean writer Han Kang, I conclude that the shift of transposition from a clinical notion to a cultural and literary idiom of cross-generational mnemonic legacies marks a significant discursive change, and it paves the way for a broader interrogation of the psychosocial costs of traumatic remembrance.

Examining the Popularity of Yoshimoto Banana with Reference to the Historical Ties Between Italy and Japan

This article investigates the popularity of the contemporary Japanese writer Yoshimoto Banana abroad, especially in Italy. This has its own particular reasons. Italy was the first western country where she achieved immense popularity beyond her home country Japan. The article mulls over the notable developments and other key factors why Italy became the entry point of Yoshimoto Banana to international level of popularity supported with the historical references from the key incidents of historical contact between Japan and Italy. This includes description in travelogues as old as from thirteenth century by various notable historical figures who either came to Japan from Italy or vice versa. It further probes the appreciation received by Yoshimoto Banana through reception of various critical choice awards and an ever expanding fan base in Italy, which is rare for an author from Asian origin.

NATIONAL AND PERSONAL TRAUMAS IN PAUL AUSTER’S MAN IN THE DARK

Paul Auster, one of the most distinguished contemporary American writers, creates a multi-layered narrative within his novel Man in the Dark. Published in 2008, this literary work addresses essential themes and concerns relating to American history as well as social and political agendas of the late twentieth and early twenty-first century. Precisely the events of September 11, which dramatically added a new dimension to the trauma studies, lie in the core of the Auster’s narrative. The author besides focusing on the effects of a traumatic experience on a human being, creates an alternative vision of history that pushes the reader to question the essence of existence. By merging countless narratives, both personal and national, the author initiates a journey of healing for his characters, ultimately guiding them toward recovery. Thus, one of the major focuses of this article will be to follow the evolution of traumatized personalities within the frames of current trauma studies. On the other hand, investigating the subtle bond between national and personal traumas will illuminate the reciprocal relationship between collective memory and individual experience, shedding light on the profound ways in which historical events can shape personal narratives. Hence the article seeks to disentangle the intricate connections between history, memory, and healing, offering a comprehensive exploration of Auster's contribution to the understanding of the human predicament.

World Literature Sickness: Exile and Dissent in Azareen Van der Vliet Oloomi’s Call Me Zebra

ABSTRACT This article explores “literature sickness”, a term coined by the contemporary Iranian-American writer Azareen Van der Vliet Oloomi and developed, I suggest, in her novel Call Me Zebra (2018). In doing so, it aims to offer not only an account of this novel, but to consider the radical potential of the condition Van der Vliet Oloomi outlines. This potential lies in the challenge to the dualism of reality and representation posed by literature sickness, an idea I develop comparatively via Call Me Zebra and the reflections on exile and, specifically, world literature in the work of Edward Said and Erich Auerbach. To develop these ideas further, I explore key concepts relating to the politics of world literature – exile, marginalization, and dissent. I focus on the work of Pascale Casanova to show how the concept of literature sickness that I develop in my readings of the novel relates to current debates in world literature theory. I position Call Me Zebra within a wider critical debate in order to argue that this novel offers a distinctive response to the Kantian dualism evoked in much contemporary world literature theory, one that I unpack using Gilles Deleuze and Bruno Latour. Deleuze’s philosophy of literature is central to my reading of Call Me Zebra, as it has distinct parallels with Zebra’s own theoretical musings. I use Deleuze to illustrate how, in the novel, Zebra’s exile gives her an especial perspective on oppression and marginalization, revealing literature’s capacity for imagining new futures and ways of belonging, and making Call Me Zebra a paradigmatic text of literature sickness and its radical potential.