Showing papers in "Neohelicon in 1995"

Ovid's shadow: Character and characterization in early modern literature

Abstract: Imagine a future world. A future world, if motivated and consistent, cannot be simple to imagine. Its inhabitants must be at once distinct from those belonging to a present or past world, but still thinkable. However different, they will have to fulfil certain coherence criteria in order to be seen "as a totality, a coherent whole." Even a future world must situate itself along a "continuum of the possible, the highly likely, the wildly improbable and the downright impossible" (Maitre 29, 17). The inhabitants o f such a future world are characters: they have traits, a range of actions, a kind of coherence, an illusion of being (more or less powerful), but they are non-existent. Imagining a future world seems rather like trying to focus a fictional world in the mind's-eye. Here is a possible future world. Imagine animals only. The human race may, or may not, have died out, but its presence is not important to this exercise. What will those animals look like? The world itself will have changed, colder or hotter, wetter or drier, and thus the niches available for life will be different. Now you must bring to this exercise your (imprecise) knowledge of Darwinian biology. You need only remember that life adapts to changing circumstances and seeks ecological niches to exploit and within which to survive. Now imagine the possible animals of the great Australian rain forest. (The continent's climate, and its corresponding ecological niches, will have radically changed.) Perhaps you can see the giantala, Silfrangerus giganteus, whose

Biblische Stoffe und Motive in der Österreichischen Literatur

Abstract: Es scheint sicherlich sehr vermessen, in einem kurzen Beitrag wie diesem fiber biblische Stoffe und Motive in der 6sterreichischen Literatur zu schreiben, Mir ist bewuBt, dab dies nur bruchstfickhaft geschehen und nur dem Wecken des Interesses an einer solchen Fragestellung bzw. als Nachschlagwerk dienen kann. Die Verarbeitung biblischer Stoffe und Motive zeigen uns, wie in einer Epoche die Botschaft und die Sichtweise dieser dargestellt werden. (3sterreichspezifisch untersuchte ich dieses Gebiet, weil gerade die hohe Spiritualit~it des Christentums und deren Verarbeitung die lebendige Kontinuit~it 6sterreichischer Literatur vonder Monarchie fiber die Erste bis in die Zweite Republik und bis in die Gegenwart schafft. Dieser ffir Osterreich typische Teilbereich des Traditionalismus, dessen Kennzeichen also Bewahrung, Pflege, Veredelung, des Uberkommenen aber auch kritische Auseinandersetzung sind, bedeutet keinen Stillstand; denn christliche Tradition wird mithereingenommen, um fiber sich hinauszuwachsen. Logischerweise, dachte ich mir, mfiBten dann die 6sterreichischen Dichter und Schriftsteller auf biblische Motive und Stoffe zurfickgreifen und diese in verst~irktem MaBe anderen deutschsprachigen Literaturen gegenfiber in ihrem Schaffen einarbeiten. Inwieweit dies geschah bzw. geschieht, soil diese Untersuchung kl~iren, Zuerst werde ich kurz auf die Frage ,Stoffe und Motive' eingehen, dann biblische Stoffe und Motive in der 6sterreichischen Literatur aufzghlen und anschliel3end auf einen biblischen Stoff, den Jesus-Stoff, und ein biblisches Motiv, das Motiv ,,Der verlorene Sohn" konkret eingehen.

In defense of rationality

Abstract: Professor Balakian's new book ~ contains essays on topics ranging from the latest developments in the field of literary criticism, the problems of modernism, surrealism, the challenges and pitfalls of interdisciplinary research, and the theoretical and methodological problems of Comparative Literature. Whatever themes she is discussing, all her subjects point to one definite direction: to the rejection of deconstruction, modern hermeneutics, the so-called "dark philosophers" of recent literary criticism on the one hand, and to the delineation of a new aesthetics on the other. In itself, this duality in the structure of her book already shows her essentially different way of approaching theory from that of the groups she criticizes. While refuting the basic grounds of modern literary criticism, asserting her negative stance towards its theses and representatives, she is constructing positive foundations for new perspectives in literary research. The metaphor in the title is a witty allusion. It comes from Heidegger to whom Derrida and his followers are spiritually so indebted. The Heideggerian image, however, suggests just the opposite attitude to literary criticism than that of the modern theoreticians: the snowflake of criticism is never capable of ringing the bell of the literary work, it is necessary only in order "to maintain a seasonal balance in the literary climate". The metaphor also refers to the confusion of roles among the new critics who think their critical texts can compete in importance

Dun Karm, the national poet of Malta

Abstract: It is very difficult to assess the enormous influence Dun Karm had on Maltese literature in general, and on Maltese poetry in particular. He managed to raise the standard of writing in Maltese to levels never known before, and to demand that writers discipline themselves in technique and employ all their resources to give shape to worthy content. A scientific investigation into the subsequent development of literature in Malta further proves that his towering figure became emblematic of what is fundamentally Maltese and authentically poetic. In 1933 Laurent Ropa had already recognized him as a national poet.9 However, his relevance is infinitely wider, and nationhood is only one of the more conspicuous dimensions of his legacy.

«Quête» et «initiation» dansUne vie de boy

Abstract: Nous voyons donc par cette etude qu'Une vie de boy s'eclaircit mieux par la technique de «quete» et d' «initiation», deux elements denominateurs qui permettent de suivre d'une facon systematique, l'evolution du heros et d'idees dans l'œuvre. En lui laissant venir a cette initiation de son propre gre21 (ce qui est tres important pour tout heros de quete ou d'initiation), en lui faisant faire un certain nombre d'experiences ameres lors de son aspiration pour etre integre au niveau social du Blanc, Oyono laisse comprendre a son heros naif comme a tout noir ignorant, non seulement combien le mythe de la superiorite est inexistant mais aussi la vraie nature hypocrite du Blanc. L'intention apologetique dominante de l'œuvre semble donc avoir decide l'ecrivain dans son choix de «quete» et d' «initiation» comme fils conducteurs de l'œuvre. Car devetir le Blanc de ses vetements d'emprunt, pour racheter la personalite bafouee du Noir demande une vue de tres pres: de l'interieur enfin!

The third face of the Elizabethan Mars: The fallacy of heroism in 1 Henry IV

Abstract: The apparent paucity of significant mythological allusion in 1 Henry IV is puzzling. There is, as James Hoyle has shown, a profusion of emblematic imagery, but such imagery is dominantly proverbial in character) Danse macabre, Paradise and Fall, and Neptune themes, which are all powerfully evoked in the first play of the Lancastrian tetralogy, Richard II, are here absent or, at most, greatly diminished in prominence. 2 The differences between the two works in this regard may be instructive and it is possible to con= jecture that Shakespeare sought different mythological objectives in 1 Henry IV. While Richard II may reveal complex schemes of mythological imagery, it conspicuously lacks a myth hero largely because the historical source materials used by the dramatist made such a presentation untenable. Richard was styled as weak and ineffective, though righteous; Bolingbroke as strong and ambitious, but a usurper. It was not the stuff of heroism and Shakespeare's treatment of the material in Richard II does not strike heroic strains. With two young and active military protagonists, very different in character but attractive enough to stand as genuine competitors, 1 Henry IV would seem to harbour considerably greater potential