Agatha Frischmuth

Bio: Agatha Frischmuth is an academic researcher. The author has contributed to research in topic(s): Motif (narrative) & Silence. The author has an hindex of 1, co-authored 1 publication(s) receiving 1 citation(s).

Being Silent, Doing Nothing: Silence as a Symbol of Peace in Ivan Goncharov's Oblomov and Ha Jin's Waiting

Abstract: While many pre-modern narratives conventionally feature active protagonists, the transition into modernity has seen an increase in inactivity as a literary motif. The prominent European examples of this trend, such as Thomas Mann’s The Magic Mountain , Robert Musil’s The Man Without Qualities , or the plays of Samuel Beckett, however, exclude speaking from the list of negated activities, instead depicting voluble characters. This paper proposes that silent inactivity may be an Eastern (and Eastern European) notion, and offers two exemplary readings of this motif in Ivan Goncharov’s Oblomov and Ha Jin’s Waiting . Drawing from the work of Maurice Merleau-Ponty and Roland Barthes, it argues that silence, despite denoting an absence of signs, is meaningful and hermeneutically versatile. A distinction is made between communicative silence and natural silence , the first of which signifies the absence of speech in an interactive situation whereas the latter signifies verbal silence notwithstanding context and — importantly — includes natural soundscapes (as caused by weather, animals or touching objects). Through a number of close readings, natural silence is shown to function as the semantic core of the inactivity motif in that it is a central part of the strategy to attain peace, repose, and contentment. In addition, in both novels the desire for a peaceful way of life dominates the soundscape of romantic relationships. Although the protagonists fall in love with passionate women, they ultimately reject them due to the noise and upheaval they cause. The paper concludes that in connection to the motif of inactivity the notion of silent companionship outweighs that of love (associated with speech). This indicates the existence of culture-specific sound preferences which represent a field of possible future study within audionarratology.

Research on the Psychological Mechanism of Trauma Writing in Ha Jin's New Immigrant Novels

Abstract: In today's mainstream American literary world, Ha Jin is the most famous and most well-known Chinese writer. His novels have won many important awards, which can be regarded to represent the highest achievement of contemporary American Chinese literature creation. His work has had a wide impact throughout the world. This article focuses on the analysis of Ha Jin's Nanjing Requiem and Waiting from the traumatic field of view. He used the writing methods mentioned in the trauma theory to reproduce the sufferings of the old society and the atrocities of the aggressors based on the traumatic writing techniques. First, through the analysis of the fragment of Waiting, it shows the loss of individual humanity and the suppression and injury brought by social reality after the protagonist experienced the marriage dispute in the old China. This has caused the article to rise from personal trauma to social trauma. This not only shows the protagonist's spiritual dilemma and psychological struggle, but also triggers the reader's philosophical thinking on human nature and society. Then, we analyzed the Nanjing Requiem. This paper uses a multi-faceted perspective to describe the Nanjing Requiem. The article mainly reproduces the tragic fate of the people in the disaster from the perspective of the Westerners. The personal trauma of the article has risen to the collective trauma brought about by the Second World War. Finally, we analyze Ha Jin's writing style as a new immigrant writer based on the works in these two traumatic perspectives. We can conclude that Ha Jin recreates the wound by means of traumatic writing to heal the wound to some extent. In addition, the language choice in the early days of Ha Jin's creation was to cater to the needs of the readers and maintain their own livelihoods. The realistic descriptions in his works are derived from his own life history and human experiences. This coordination of catering and realism has resonated with Chinese immigrants and catered to the expectations of American readers for Chinese literature. We can say that his success is inseparable from the coordination of the two.