Numer 8.1 (2022)
Redaktor: Krzysztof Fordoński
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Krzysztof Fordoński
From the Editor
5 – 5
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Uniwersytet Warszawski
Agnieszka Seredyńska
“Literary Critics Make Natural Detectives” – Or Do They? Detection and Interpretation in A. S. Byatt’s Possession: A Romance
7 – 24
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Słowa kluczowe

literary criticism |A. S. Byatt |detection |historiographic metafiction |neo-Victorianism

Streszczenie

This paper explores the themes of detection and interpretation in A. S. Byatt’s Possession. A Romance, which, I argue, are interconnected in two ways. Firstly, the plot centres around an investigation conducted by a pair of academics, who exercise their skills as literary critics to piece together the story of two Victorian poets. Secondly, the novel’s structure, specifically the inclusion of the pseudo-Victorian intertexts the scholars use as evidence, offers the reader an opportunity to become an armchair detective and perform the interpretive work undertaken by the modern-day characters. Even so, this article aims to demonstrate that Possession actively resists this detective-like approach to literature. Byatt’s critics prove blundering sleuths, relying on lucky coincidence and intuitive apprehension more than reasoning and critical insight, and the conclusions they arrive at turn out to be partially misguided. Furthermore, a close-reading of the pseudo-Victorian intertexts challenges the assumption that literature offers an unproblematic window into its author’s life and feelings, which the investigation tacitly relies on. The article contends that despite the writerly games Possession plays with its audience, it ultimately favours a non-academic approach to reading as opposed to one that takes the text apart in search for meaning.

Magda Szolc
Violence and Rejection: The Hegemony of White Culture and Its Influence on the Mother–Daughter Relationship in Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye
25 – 42
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Słowa kluczowe

rejection |mother–daughter relationship |white hegemony |the black body |blackness

Streszczenie

For quite a long time, mainstream academic discourse has ignored the significance of the mother–daughter relationship and excluded it from thorough scholarly analysis. However, the theme developed the interest of twentieth-century women’s literature, and the bond between a mother and her daughter marked its presence with the emergence of motherhood studies in the 1970s. Toni Morrison – one of the finest black female writers – in her debut novel, The Bluest Eye (1970), illustrates the complex bond between Pauline and Pecola Breedlove. Their relationship is shaped by the women’s fascination with white culture and the standards it promotes. In the novel, Morrison raises awareness of black women’s marginalisation and the way in which white culture shapes a woman’s vision of herself. The aim of this paper is to analyse the destructive influence of white hegemony on the perception of the black female self and its devastating effect on the mother–daughter relationship in The Bluest Eye.


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Uniwersytet Opolski
Adam Briedik
Colonial/Imperial Discourses in a First-Contact Narrative: Terry Bisson’s “They’re Made of Meat” (1991)
43 – 65
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Słowa kluczowe

Terry Bisson |They’re Made of Meat |first-contact narrative |colonialism

Streszczenie

This article explores the intersection of colonial/imperial discourse inherent in the genre of science fiction using the example of a first-contact narrative – Terry Bisson’s short story, “They’re Made of Meat” (1991). As a first-contact narrative, the story is analysed in the context of Mary Louise Pratt’s (1992) theory on transculturation: contact zone, anti-conquest narrative and autoethnography. First, the paper considers the historical development of the first-contact trope, then the narrative is interpreted as establishing and reproducing several functions of colonialism/imperialism. The distinctively colonial character of the hegemonic discourse informs the dynamics of the contact. However, what sets Bisson’s story apart is not only the subversive nature of the narration, but its seemingly philosophical implications presented in the figure of an alien. The ethnographic framework of the contact zone emulates cognitive appropriation as a function of colonial/imperial discourse; simultaneously, it legitimises the dominant culture while being permeated by discourses such as primitivism and racism. Yet, the narration itself functions as a projection that does not offer space for the marginalised other to actively construct their own identities.


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Univerzita Konštantína Filozofa v Nitre, Słowacja
Fatmah Al Thobaiti
“When You’re Most Invisible of All”: The Search for Identity in Jon McGregor’s Even the Dogs
66 – 81
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Słowa kluczowe

home |social identity |individual identity |Jon McGregor |homelessness |contemporary fiction

Streszczenie

Individual and social identity have generally been considered inseparable components of a person’s self-concept. When the social identity of a person is marginalised or stigmatised, his or her individual concept of self gets disrupted. In Even the Dogs, Jon McGregor utilises the metaphor of home to explore the individual and social negotiation of identity. The novel illustrates the struggle of a homeless group in forming individual identities when their social identities are lost and unrecognised. This study advances knowledge of the meanings of home and homelessness and contributes to existing understandings of identity formation in relation to marginalised groups.


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Uniwersytet Taif, Arabia Saudyjska
Marek Ochrem
The Distortion and Demise of Language and the Written Word in Aldous Huxley and Selected Russian Dystopias
82 – 103
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Słowa kluczowe

dystopia |Huxley |Russian dystopia |novels

Streszczenie

Critical studies of classic British dystopic novels from the first half of the 20th century have undeniably been extensive and voluminous, whereas the more contemporary Russian dystopias came into being later and there is therefore much less critical research on the issues raised therein, especially in comparison with the scholarship on British dystopia. The aim of this study therefore is to fill a gap in this field of academic research. Specifically, the author pays particular attention to the interplay between selected works of classic British/Russian dystopia and contemporary dystopic Russian novels. Furthermore, an attempt has been made to pinpoint connections between the reality of the dystopian worlds discussed herein and the real world.


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Uniwersytet Wrocławski
Jacek Fabiszak
An Appropriated Antipodean Monstrosity Revisited: Jane Campion’s The Piano as a Comment on Shakespearean “Salvage and Deformed Slave” and The Tempest
104 – 122
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Słowa kluczowe

appropriation |adaptation |The Piano |The Tempest |sexuality |monstrosity |Shakespeare |Jane Campion

Streszczenie

The article revisits the question of Jane Campion’s The Piano as an adaptation of Shakespeare’s The Tempest. It is argued that The Piano can be considered an adaptation, but one that – in terms of adaptation studies – can be classified as both a case of appropriation (Sanders 2006) and a second-order adaptation (Lanier 2002). Special attention is paid to Campion’s adaptive strategies and her treatment of monstrosity, which appears to be as ambiguous as it is in Shakespeare’s play, especially in view of recent post-colonial criticism of the tragicomedy. A particularly interesting aspect is the director’s rendering of the characters of Stewart (Prospero-figure), Ada (Miranda/Prospero/Caliban-figure), Baines (Caliban-figure), Flora (Miranda-figure) and the Maori characters (or spirit-of-the-island figures), in that Campion reconstitutes and restructures the Shakespearean characters by creating modern, feminist-sensitive and post-colonial adaptations.


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Uniwersytet im. Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu
Abdul Awal
English and Sustainable Languages: Collective Consciousness in Bangladesh
123 – 153
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Słowa kluczowe

Collective consciousness |environmental language |global language |language and development |sustainable language

Streszczenie

In modern times, sustainability plays an important role, a fact which is also valid in sociolinguistic studies. The comparison of English to other languages in Bangladesh is examined from the point of view of sustainability. It has not yet been established whether the English language is sustainable or not in the context of Bangladesh and around the world. Most studies on sustainable development neglect the relationship between sustainability and a particular country’s language. The purpose of this work is to expand our knowledge of how to measure sustainable language based on specific indicators. The research first explored the development of English in Bangladesh, sustainable language and collective consciousness. Overall, these results suggest the sustainability of Bangladesh’s different languages. Ultimately, this article is intended to contribute to a new perspective on the English language in Bangladesh and sociolinguistics in general. The findings should make an important contribution to the field of sustainable language.


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Uniwersytet Łódzki
Jerzy Skwarzyński
The Preferences of Teenage Readers Regarding the Translation of Cultural References in Adolescent Fiction: a Pilot Study
154 – 174
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Słowa kluczowe

translation studies |children’s fiction |young adult fiction |focus groups with adolescents |participant-oriented research

Streszczenie

Readers’ expectations should be an important factor in the process of literary translation, especially concerning fiction for children and adolescents. Their views are relatively unknown, as empirical data regarding that matter is in short supply. This paper presents a focus group pilot study among teenage readers of fiction; it focusses on the readers’ preferences for translating references to the culture of the source text. The rationale for choosing the focus group method and the description of the preparation process are provided. The main aim of the paper is to assess the reliability of the project as designed and the related materials, as well as to suggest improvements; nevertheless, the results of this preliminary study are presented as well. Consequently, a methodological foundation for more focus group projects regarding this widely understudied subject is established.


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Katolicki Uniwersytet Lubelski Jana Pawła II
Bálint Szántó
Book Review: Anna Kérchy and Björn Sundmark (eds.), Translating and Transmediating Children’s Literature
175 – 181
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Uniwersytet Segedyński (Szegedi Tudományegyetem), Węgry
Pobierz cały numer
1 – 193
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Polish Association
ISSN 2543-5981
for the Study of English