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Literature and History Are Inseparable: The Great Yu in Poetry
Issue:
Volume 10, Issue 4, July 2022
Pages:
195-202
Received:
6 May 2022
Accepted:
24 May 2022
Published:
20 July 2022
DOI:
10.11648/j.ijla.20221004.11
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Abstract: As a significant figure in the mythological period of the Chinese nation, the Great Yu was recorded in all Four Categories (sibu 四部) of classics. Under the influence of Disputing Antiquity movement, (Gushi bian古史辨), existing studies mainly focus on factual aspects. Moreover, scholars from the perspective of transmitted documents further give priority to the categories of Confucian classics, history and philosophy. In fact, poems and lyrics in the Category of Literature also contain plentiful records concerning the Great Yu, but they are unfortunately neglected by the present academia. In this paper, I present some narrations written by imperial China poets who treated Great Yu as an important sage-emperor in Chinese History. This paper finds that the themes of poetry about Great Yu are very broad, including Great Yu’s story, legend, governing, taming the flood, heritage, tomb, temple as well as marriage. Many famous poets are also willing to write poems with the theme of Great Yu. The paper focuses on the poetry about the Great Yu in the Category of Literature to explore this mythical character in ancient intellectual’s poetic expressions, so as to add to studies about the Great Yu.
Abstract: As a significant figure in the mythological period of the Chinese nation, the Great Yu was recorded in all Four Categories (sibu 四部) of classics. Under the influence of Disputing Antiquity movement, (Gushi bian古史辨), existing studies mainly focus on factual aspects. Moreover, scholars from the perspective of transmitted documents further give priori...
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Nature Imagery and Human Suffering in Albert Camus’s The Plague
Issue:
Volume 10, Issue 4, July 2022
Pages:
203-209
Received:
14 March 2022
Accepted:
12 July 2022
Published:
26 July 2022
DOI:
10.11648/j.ijla.20221004.12
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Abstract: In The Plague, to describe the physical damage that infectious disease inflicts on the sick at Oran, Camus’s narrator uses lyrical images that identify the disease with natural phenomena and catastrophic natural events. This paper first examines the formal literary dimension of nature description and deadly infection in The Plague. The narrative device is especially abundant in describing several characters’ final moments: heat and flames; atmospheric elements, particularly those related to the wind and air currents; and maritime imagery all combine to communicate the tragic end of the infected and the destruction of their bodies. In addition, the narrator associates the heat/wind imagery with anatomical references to the chest or the lungs to typify the advancement of the disease and the loss of life. This mechanism alludes to the health and the destruction of both the physical and the social bodies. Finally, Camus’s use of nature imagery results in highly lyrical descriptions; such passages encapsulate Camus’s own identification with nature and his ability to deal with landscape narrative in an intense and moving poetic style. Such lyrical undertones in nature imagery are an important stylistic feature of Camus’s prose technique, both in his early essays and imaginative writing. The narrative device also speaks to the allegorical nature of The Plague, adding layers of meaning to the literal description of physical destruction that epidemics bring about. Thus catastrophic nature imagery in The Plague relates to Camus’s personal experience with tuberculosis, to the historical context of France under Nazi occupation in WWII, and may equally be considered a literary expression of Camus’s deep-felt humanism.
Abstract: In The Plague, to describe the physical damage that infectious disease inflicts on the sick at Oran, Camus’s narrator uses lyrical images that identify the disease with natural phenomena and catastrophic natural events. This paper first examines the formal literary dimension of nature description and deadly infection in The Plague. The narrative de...
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The Alienated Body in John Williams’ Novel Stoner
Issue:
Volume 10, Issue 4, July 2022
Pages:
210-214
Received:
21 June 2022
Accepted:
18 July 2022
Published:
28 July 2022
DOI:
10.11648/j.ijla.20221004.13
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Abstract: The concept of alienation is a multifaceted issue which has been used to describe the state of human estrangement from society, from others and even from one’s own nature. David Patterson goes further when he states that alienation becomes the norm, more than that it becomes the core of human existence. The present paper delineates bodily alienation in a host of settings, in aging, in sickness, and in death, approaching the issue from a phenomenological and philosophical point of view. At first, the phenomenon of bodily alienation depicts the physical change in the experience of aging and its effects on the protagonist. It puts into focus the alien nature of growing old, representing the body in aging as a tool and an obstacle, as it reflects upon the individual relation with others highlighting the body as a being-for others. Then, the study swirls around the changes that accompany being ill, differentiating between the lived body and body as object. As it also revives around the objectification of the body in illness through the examination stage, the loss of mastery over the body, its dysfunction and otherness. Finally, the paper depends on Sartre’s work to explore the alienated body in death, examining Stoner’s alienation during his dying hours.
Abstract: The concept of alienation is a multifaceted issue which has been used to describe the state of human estrangement from society, from others and even from one’s own nature. David Patterson goes further when he states that alienation becomes the norm, more than that it becomes the core of human existence. The present paper delineates bodily alienatio...
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The Education of the Female Fictional Character, Between a Helpless Anchoring and a Perilous Quest for Self: Crossed Views on Some French-Speaking African Stories
Issue:
Volume 10, Issue 4, July 2022
Pages:
215-219
Received:
26 June 2022
Accepted:
25 July 2022
Published:
5 August 2022
DOI:
10.11648/j.ijla.20221004.14
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Abstract: In an open and competitive world, the instinct for identity survival pushes community groups to anchor. In this pesrpective, our project is to flaunt, by examiniting some French-language novelistic texts, that the modeling of the personality of the female character is a priority in many cases. Rooted in the values of the group consists in inviting young people to strictly observe social directives, noting that any attempt at rebellion will lead to a loss. However, the influence of many outdoor factors, combined to the illusions of fashion, brings the characters to split the walls of the social conformism of their living universe. In fact, the Western school and the modern city bear the seeds of insubmission if we stick to the behavior of the young female characters studied in this paper. The logic of a dichotomous vision is established between young and old people, between the countryside and the city, between a so-called traditional value system and a libertarian tendency. A contrastive analysis of the texts of the corpus allows us to notice that at the arrival, the trail of the protagonists is very tumultuous and that the result is incertain: if some can claim a well-being following a courageous personal decision, others will see their dreams dull, fly away or sink like drops of water on the feathers of a duck.
Abstract: In an open and competitive world, the instinct for identity survival pushes community groups to anchor. In this pesrpective, our project is to flaunt, by examiniting some French-language novelistic texts, that the modeling of the personality of the female character is a priority in many cases. Rooted in the values of the group consists in inviting ...
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Sentiment and Perception: Editorial Cortex in Andre Gide’s Pastoral Symphony
Issue:
Volume 10, Issue 4, July 2022
Pages:
220-227
Received:
8 July 2022
Accepted:
25 July 2022
Published:
10 August 2022
DOI:
10.11648/j.ijla.20221004.15
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Abstract: The sentimental and perceptive expression cross several literary productions among which we can quote André Gide’s La Symphonie pastorale. The author puts in the foreground a fictional diarist who is torn between religious principles and affects for a daughter that amaurosis plunges into a recluse existence. Indeed, taken in by the latter after the death of her guardian, she lives a religious education which is inculcated to her by the narrating subject. Expressing a reciprocal sensitivity towards the subject actor in this state, Gertrude, the object actor, manifests an affective inversion after the recovery of her sight. She is now in love with Jacques, the narrator's son, who was a suitor for her in her blindness; hence the dialectic of feeling and perception. Thus, this conceptual field seems the nodal point of the Gidian text. Taking into account the different notions, this article aims at deciphering the narration through narrative semiotics and theories of perception. It is precisely a question of identifying the construction of the narrative fabric which seems, on the one hand, encrypted and governed by affective affordance, and, on the other hand, by the "phenomenological-empirical" relationship of perception. In fact, the study will reveal the combinatory system of concepts that, through the writer's scriptural strategy, presents itself contrapuntally.
Abstract: The sentimental and perceptive expression cross several literary productions among which we can quote André Gide’s La Symphonie pastorale. The author puts in the foreground a fictional diarist who is torn between religious principles and affects for a daughter that amaurosis plunges into a recluse existence. Indeed, taken in by the latter after the...
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Dismantling Theological Paradigms: A Reading of Selected Plays of Henrik Ibsen and George Bernard Shaw
Issue:
Volume 10, Issue 4, July 2022
Pages:
228-239
Received:
14 July 2022
Accepted:
29 July 2022
Published:
10 August 2022
DOI:
10.11648/j.ijla.20221004.16
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Abstract: Ibsen was introduced to the British society by Edmond Gosse but it was Bernard Shaw who championed Ibsen’s ideas and introduced him to the British public. Although the two playwrights never met, Shaw’s admiration for Ibsen is clear in the former’s works and further butressed in the three critical essays he wrote about Ibsen namely; The Quintessence of lbsenism, Our Theatres in the Nineties, and The Preface. Shaw’s plays are therefore, greatly influenced by Ibsen’s ideas and this is evident in the identical thematic concerns of both authors. They are studied here as non-conformists who challenged dogmatic religious mores of 19th century Europe. The objective of this study entitled “Dismantling Theological Paradigms: A Reading of Selected Plays of Henrik Ibsen and George Bernard Shaw” is to approach a larger comprehension of the religious perspectives and philosophies of Henrik Ibsen and George Bernard Shaw. The article combines the religious ideas and theological paradigms inherent in the plays of both authors and explores the hypocritical mechanisms of the clergy. In another sense, the study questions conventionality, unveils social and religious hypocrisies and attempts to disillusion the reader. This study, therefore, analyses the two authors as satirists of conventional religion and demonstrates that, for Ibsen and Shaw, conventional religion hinders man’s progress and destroys man’s freedom. In other words, the article looks at conventional religious practices as stumbling blocks on the road to self-fulfilment and self-realisation. The hypocritical and exploitative attitudes of Ibsen’s clergymen and the life-denying philosophy of Christian Orthodoxy are the major issues that provoke the satires of both playwrights. All these are analysed here from a Marxist standpoint since their dramas tend towards representing how matters of marriage and religion are based on materialist tendencies. The Marxist’s idea of material possession, being at the bases of all human ventures, is quite relevant to this article.
Abstract: Ibsen was introduced to the British society by Edmond Gosse but it was Bernard Shaw who championed Ibsen’s ideas and introduced him to the British public. Although the two playwrights never met, Shaw’s admiration for Ibsen is clear in the former’s works and further butressed in the three critical essays he wrote about Ibsen namely; The Quintessence...
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Political Apostasy in Henrik Ibsen’s An Enemy of the People and George Bernard Shaw’s The Apple Cart
Issue:
Volume 10, Issue 4, July 2022
Pages:
240-251
Received:
18 July 2022
Accepted:
3 August 2022
Published:
12 August 2022
DOI:
10.11648/j.ijla.20221004.17
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Abstract: Although Henrik Ibsen and George Bernard Shaw hail from different countries, the two playwright’s lived almost the same realities and they are often considered some of the most distinguished playwrights in the European tradition. While Ibsen is often referred to as “the father of modern realism”, Shaw, who was significantly influenced by Ibsen, is a Nobel prize winner. The two iconoclastic dramatists of the 19th century addressed almost the same subjects and all castigated the practice of democracy in Europe. Without being anarchists, both playwrights set out to show the unreality of democracy and its conventional institutions. The article entitled “Political Apostasy in Henrik Ibsen’s An Enemy of the People and George Bernard Shaw’s The Apple Cart” focuses on the political views of the authors and their disagreement with certain political ideologies of their age. While examining the plays of the authors as serious political forums of satire, the study discusses the authors’ satire of democracy and capitalism and highlights why such institutions should be dismantled. Seen from a Marxist perspective, the study combines the realm of political satire and futuristic visions of both authors and postulate that, for Ibsen, and for Shaw, all political institutions and ideologies that do not improve on the lot of mankind should be abandoned. According to the study, the authors share the Marxist ideology that governments are machineries of exploitation of the masses and the Marxist belief that capitalism is a system of government that alienates the masses. The unreal nature of democracy, royalty and capitalism is justified in the plays of the authors who are considered in this study as political philosophers. Although they did not propound a systematic body of political thought, they put forward in their plays a new agenda for anti-capitalist thought and action.
Abstract: Although Henrik Ibsen and George Bernard Shaw hail from different countries, the two playwright’s lived almost the same realities and they are often considered some of the most distinguished playwrights in the European tradition. While Ibsen is often referred to as “the father of modern realism”, Shaw, who was significantly influenced by Ibsen, is ...
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Ecological Imagination in Henry Ole Kulet’s the Elephant Dance
Ahmed Osman Warfa,
Lester Mwetu
Issue:
Volume 10, Issue 4, July 2022
Pages:
252-256
Received:
15 July 2022
Accepted:
1 August 2022
Published:
15 August 2022
DOI:
10.11648/j.ijla.20221004.18
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Abstract: The discourse surrounding the environment is an important one because mankind has a symbiotic relationship with nature. Preservation of the indigenous environment is therefore a key aspect in ensuring quality of life. Human beings thus have a duty to protect the ecosystem in order to make the universe a safe haven for man, flora and fauna. While this is so, a lot of human effort is required to mitigate environmental deterioration and ensure optimal ecosystem through conservation of the indigenous environment. At the heart of Ole Kulet’s The Elephant Dance is the question of ecological sobriety. This paper is therefore a reading of Ole Kulet’s indigenous art and eco-literary thoughts depicted in the novel. The paper interrogates the impediments of a suitable ecology as represented in the novel and examines the ways in which Kulet resolves the issues. The analysis of the text is guided by eco-criticism theory which illuminates the nexus between literature and ecology. Kulet’s literary engagement with the environment in this novel contributes to the debate around nature conservancy and the need to protect the indigenous environment. This research concludes that Kulet captures precisely the environmental crisis in The Elephant Dance and offers hope of a better ecosystem. The paper will be a modest contribution to extant studies on ecology.
Abstract: The discourse surrounding the environment is an important one because mankind has a symbiotic relationship with nature. Preservation of the indigenous environment is therefore a key aspect in ensuring quality of life. Human beings thus have a duty to protect the ecosystem in order to make the universe a safe haven for man, flora and fauna. While th...
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A Probe into Literary Aesthetics and Creation Mechanism
Issue:
Volume 10, Issue 4, July 2022
Pages:
257-261
Received:
25 June 2022
Accepted:
16 August 2022
Published:
24 August 2022
DOI:
10.11648/j.ijla.20221004.19
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Abstract: At present, many scholars have carried out research on literary aesthetics and creation mechanism. They have explored the influence of the internal and external environment of literary creation mechanism on literary creation from different perspectives of literary aesthetics and the relationship between literary aesthetic awareness and literary creation. All scholars have provided more possible perspectives for their research, but they are inevitably a little extreme. This article aims to analyze the elements of the literary creation mechanism by defining the literary aesthetics and creation mechanism and exploring the literary works’ level and creation mechanism. The literary language ability, material processing ability, knowledge structure, cultural background, and literary aesthetic quality of the writer are combined to form a comprehensive ability to nurture literary thought and form in literature. Literary aesthetics and creation mechanism are rooted in the clear inner world, observing the external life-world, brewing talents, triggering inspiration and literary thoughts, prompting writers to create a unique art world, and dedicating excellent works to readers. Studying literary aesthetics, creative mechanism, and the relationship between the two will help clear the source, allow literary aesthetics and literary creation to accompany each other, and always move on the right track of literature and arts.
Abstract: At present, many scholars have carried out research on literary aesthetics and creation mechanism. They have explored the influence of the internal and external environment of literary creation mechanism on literary creation from different perspectives of literary aesthetics and the relationship between literary aesthetic awareness and literary cre...
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Metaphorical Language in the Representation of Political Issues in Swahili Novels: A Focus on Kiza Katika Nuru and Chozi la Heri
Faith Mumo,
Stephen Oluoch,
Kibiwott Kurgat
Issue:
Volume 10, Issue 4, July 2022
Pages:
262-265
Received:
26 July 2022
Accepted:
10 August 2022
Published:
24 August 2022
DOI:
10.11648/j.ijla.20221004.20
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Abstract: This research entailed an analysis of metaphorical language in the representation of political issues in Swahili novels, a focus on Kiza Katika Nuru and Chozi la Heri. Stylistic devices play a very key role in any literary work. Therefore, this research aimed at analyzing metaphorical language in the representation of politics in the selected novels. The study adopted a qualitative research design since it intended to explain a naturally occurring phenomenon. The study adopted purposive sampling where two novels namely: Chozi la Heri and Kiza katika Nuru were used as sources of data. In collecting data, the researcher read the selected novels and extracted the literary devices that depicted political issues. Data analysis and presentation was done descriptively based on the objectives of the research. The study was guided by the relevance theory and the stylistics theory. The relevance theory was proposed by Dan Sperber and Deirdre Wilson in 1986. It holds the principle that communication process involves not only encoding, transfer and decoding of messages, but also numerous other elements including inference and context. Stylistics theory of Viktor Shklovsky 1904, deals with the study of textual meaning. The study found out that the authors of the selected novels used metaphorical language to depict political issues. The literary devices used to represent political issues include: similes, symbolism, proverbs, metaphors, and catch phrases/idioms. Political issues depicted by the literary devices include: post- election violence, voting and votes’ theft, women and politics, corruption, political assassinations, youth and post-election violence and citizen oppression.
Abstract: This research entailed an analysis of metaphorical language in the representation of political issues in Swahili novels, a focus on Kiza Katika Nuru and Chozi la Heri. Stylistic devices play a very key role in any literary work. Therefore, this research aimed at analyzing metaphorical language in the representation of politics in the selected novel...
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