The paper presents a complex analysis of “Arcadia” by Tom Stoppard as an example of the postmodern artistic strategy that reinterprets traditional myth and themes within the context of dynamical changes in the cultural discourse of the last few decades. At the same time, it applies theories of contemporary natural sciences in the construction of characters, scenery and dramatic plot. The paper argues that such artistic strategy aims at the topoi koinoi of the anthropologically conceived culture and technologically oriented civilization. The analysis of Stoppard’s drama is set within two contexts: 1) the historical bifurcations of ancient (Theocritus, Virgil) and modern (Phillip Sidney, Nicolas Poussin) interpretations of the Arcadian myth; 2) the basic notions of chaos theory that are suggested in the dialogues and, at the same time, are applied in the construction of dramatic plot and its representation (bifurcation, attractor). The notion of entopia (‘in-place’), as opposed to the pair of utopia and dystopia, which are usually connected with interpretations of the myth of Arcadia as a desirable or undesirable ‘no-place’, refers to the ‘Arcadian’ aspects and possibilities of living, and especially to the acting here and now. In this respect, the paper argues that Stoppard’s “Arcadia” provides a mental space for the recognition of anthropological and axiological (performative) determinants of contemporary ‘Arcadian’ entopia.
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The article is dedicated to representations of a French village of La Favière in the first-wave Russian émigré literature and painting. The objects of study include S. Chernyy’s poetry, A. Kuprin’s Gouron Headland and M. Tsvetaeva’s poems. Emphasis has also been placed on the epistolography, memoiristics and paintings of Russian emigrants visiting the village. Various Favière’s images are treated – by analogy with Toporov’s St. Petersburg text – as a Favière text: an integrated system of texts, created within a specific time frame and within the boundaries of the semiosphere, characterized by a high degree of consistency in terms of code, context and addressee, understandable to a specific population and containing a detailed baggage of meanings. The way in which Favière is presented as locus amoenus, makes the Favière text unique. In the system of local texts of Russian émigré literature, connected by the motif of foreignness as locus horribilis, Favière is a rare example of Arcadia found in exile.
The article is a consideration of the functionalisation of rustic space in Listy o wsi [Letters on the Country] by Cyprian Godebski. The text, written in 1805, brings praise to the condition of the landed gentry, typical for Polish literature of the first decades of the nineteenth century. Ascribing a therapeutic function to nature does not, however, exhaust the question of the subject positioning themselves against the natural surroundings. Already at first reading, one can identify an imaginary aspect of space, constructed thanks to the reference to ancient tradition and landed gentry poetry. This is because the project of the ‘peaceful countryside’ drafted in Listy o wsi is founded not only on the conventionalised ways of literary portrayal. Tendencies solidified in the Enlightenment, among which the ideal of authenticity plays a special role, are just as important. The sincerity manifested by the narrator, apparent in (among other things) the declaration of distance towards the poetic idealisation of the countryside, appears to be a paradoxical phenomenon. This is especially true if juxtaposed with elements of the nobility’s Arcadia used by Godebski.
Not only bread dumplings. Czech cuisine in the literary representations Czech literature is often connected with the appreciation of the quotidian life. This opinion may be regarded as incorrect or inequitable because of its clichéd nature and for its avoiding intensified interpretation, but it must be considered (also in critical manner) in a case of attempt to define the axiological and cultural basis of our southern neighbours. Culinary motifs — integrally creating the picture of the individual and collective identity — are strongly represented in this literature in which they either illustrate the typical Czech modus vivendi or conceptualize the constancy and role of the national tradition. Sometimes these motifs are also used for attempts of contesting the main components of the cultural heritage. The varied representations of cuisine (recipes, foods, preparing of dishes, ways of consumption) quite often returns in Czech literature and their semantic ability transcend the simply mimetic reflection of the everyday customs.
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Nejen knedlíky. Česká kuchyně jako objekt literární reprezentace Česká literatura je nezřídka spojována se snahou přisuzovat hodnotu různým aspektům každodenního života. Nezávisle na výstižnosti a směrodatnosti tohoto — ve své podstatě schématického, částečně nespravedlivého a vyhýbajícího se hlubším exegezím — názoru, by bylo třeba jej zohlednit (alespoň v kritické perspektivě) při pokusu definovat axiologickou tvář tvorby našich jižních sousedů. Kulinární témata — integrálně spoluvytvářející obraz individuální i kolektivní každodennosti — se v ní objevují jaksi přirozeným způsobem a představují z jedné strany odraz standartního českého modus vivendi a z druhé strany zase určují trvalost a přitažlivou sílu národní tradice, ale nejednou také svědčí o pokusech o její překonání. Různorodé reprezentace kulinárií (předpisů, pokrmů, jejich přípravy a konzumace) se opětovně vyskytují v české literatuře a jejich významový a sémantický náboj dalece překračuje „prostý” mimetický odraz každodenního zvyku.
The aim of this chapter is to present the mythological poem by Claudianus about Proserpine’s kidnapping and marriage. The poem still encourage the scholars to discussion about its aim and the state of its preservation. I will also focus my attention to the intratextual as well intertextual connections joining the poem with itself and the wide ancient tradition. I will propose two very hypothetical lines of interpretation concerning the De raptu Proserpinae.
In the article selected works of Aleksander Groza, a representative of “the Ukrainian school” of Polish romanticism, have been thoroughly investigated. The author used interpretive methods of postcolonialism, comparative studies and intertextuality, and sometimes also from the field of ethnography and ethnology. The article is an introduction to the monograph that the author is currently working on. As a result of the analysis of the works, it was possible to distinguish three main images of the Ukraine, which are stereotypical for the Polish literature in genere: Arcadian Ukraine, Cossack Ukraine and frenetic Ukraine. By using the fragments of Groza’s texts, as well as intertextual references, the author characterized each of these images. After outlining the poet’s profile through a simple biography, which will be developed in the future, the author of the article conducted an analysis and interpretation of the following works by Groza: the volume Poezje, Ukrainian elegies: Soroka and Pierwsza pokuta Żeleźniaka, poem Mogiły, dramas Śmieciński and Hryć. Such a versatile choice of texts allowed to draw some interesting conclusions concerning Aleksander Groza’z profile.
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