Journal of Narrative and Language Studies
Journal of Narrative and Language Studies, NALANS (ISSN: 2148-4066), is a peer-reviewed international academic journal welcoming manuscripts from the fields of Literature, Narrative and Language studies. Established in 2013, the journal is published biannually. The primary aim of the journal is to provide an avenue for scholars and researchers in order to publish and share their studies through an open-access environment.
Karadeniz Technical University - Mustafa Zeki Çıraklı
Literary Constructions of the City and Immigrant Characters in Contemporary European Fiction
As part of the research project “Analysis of Systems in Crisis and of New Consciousness in 21st Century Literature” which examines the phenomenon of crisis in contemporary English-speaking, German-speaking and Croatian literature, this paper investigates the construction of urban spaces and their relationships towards literary urban spaces and how these urban spaces influence integration processes. The theoretical foundation for the analysis is based on Juri Lotman's notions of home and anti-home and Umberto Eco's semantic codes. The analysis will be conducted on four contemporary European novels: Özdamar’s Seltsame Sterne starren zur Erde (2003), Shafak’s Honor (2011), Knapp’s Der Gipfeldieb (2015), and Gavran’s Između (2022). In three of the examined cases, the new city remains a temporary residence for the immigrants, whereas in only one novel (Knapp's), the immigrant protagonist manages to integrate into the new urban space. The analysis will reveal the marginalized position of immigrant characters in the urban space within the literary context and demonstrate that the urban space is an important factor in their failed integration.
Copyright (c) 2025 Journal of Narrative and Language Studies https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Storytelling as an Act of Self-Forgiveness in Age of Iron by J. M. Coetzee
Storytelling can function as a powerful instrument of transformation by fostering self-awareness through ethical reflection. In Age of Iron by J. M. Coetzee, storytelling operates as a sustained mode of ethical inquiry rather than mere narration. The novel is presented through a series of letters written by Mrs Curren, an elderly woman terminally ill with cancer, to her estranged daughter. Through this epistolary form, Mrs Curren confronts both her impending death and the political realities of apartheid-era South Africa. As a white, retired professor of classics living in Cape Town, she begins to examine her moral responsibility within a system of racial injustice from which she has benefited. Her writing reveals an intensifying sense of shame alongside a gradual movement toward self-forgiveness. This process unfolds through prolonged introspection rather than dramatic revelation and remains marked by ethical tension and unresolved dialogue. This study argues that storytelling in Age of Iron functions as a process of ethical self-reconciliation. Although Mrs Curren does not achieve mutual understanding across racial and political divisions, the narrative itself becomes a site of ethical reckoning. Through confession and sustained self-examination, storytelling enables her to confront historical guilt and to pursue a fragile, provisional form of self-forgiveness.
J. M. Coetzee Age of Iron Storytelling and ethics Apartheid literature Narrative and self-reconciliation Confession and testimony in literature
Storytelling Motif, Self-Reflexive Tone and Metanarrative Mode in the Translations of Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar’s The Time Regulation Institute
Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar’s The Time Regulation Institute (1961) is a narrative of narration, punctuated by recurring elements of storytelling. Considering the English versions of the novel (Gürol, 2001; Freely & Dawe, 2013) from a narratological perspective, this study analyses the transfer, or reproduction, of higher-order narrative signs, namely, supertexts, in the target discourses. Initially drawing on Sketch Engine as a launching pad for further qualitative analysis within Chesterman’s causal model, the study discusses the shifts in informative range, abstraction or explicitation, cultural filtering, and modal transfer. The findings indicate that both translations emphasise adherence to language, structure, and cultural nuances, with minimal omissions or manipulations of the text and context, and that the narrative mode is consistent across both versions. Nevertheless, a detailed examination reveals that the translation of supertexts produces different fictional, metafictional, and performative effects on the texts. Modal transfer is efficient when strategies extend beyond syntactic or semantic shifts, focusing instead on how tone, voice, interpersonal stance, narrative gestures, and cultural references are negotiated. The study contends that narratives generate ‘supertexts’ that synthesise many narrative layers and that the act of translation cannot be reduced to mere textual and contextual components; rather, supertexts require narratologically informed attention to capture generic modality.
Literature and Religion as Intergeneric Narratives
The present review article raises the questions of whether the literature offers any sense and meaning for the contemporary age, what its potential is to take over the role of religion, and to what extent it can offer a moral and epistemological ground for humanity in the wake of posthumanism. To do this, the present review article first posits the problem, second provides a review of significant scholars, and lastly discusses them from a contemporary lens. This study reviews how these parallel matrices of meaning-making bring together levels of narrative, ritual, and representation through myth, religion, and literature, and discusses how narrative, as a metaphor, accounts for their impact as resonant myths. Accordingly, the present study questions whether literature can function as a substitute for religion. Apart from discourse levels, these narratives provide an epistemological and ethical ground for humanity. Hence, this study will pursue insights into how certain theoretical views can be revisited from a contemporary perspective.
Narrative of Dispute in Kazakh Folklore: Litigation as a Cultural Concept in Oral and Epic Traditions
Abstract. Litigation is a communicative category that is inextricably linked with the existence of humanity, arising from contradictions in human relations. The fact that opposite phenomena in life have opposite meanings in language communication and cause disagreement between people can be directly connected with philosophical laws. Litigation is an emotional state arising from the mutual disagreement of people in a relationship, or a conflict of interests, views, or opinions. Litigation arises in a conflict situation after the involvement of the disputing subjects is established. The subjects of the litigation get involved in a relationship, regardless of the circumstances during the conflict, and communication is established between them to convey their goals and interests. An act of litigation can be between two people or a group depending on the number of subjects of the dispute. The subjects of conflict aim to explain their position to the participants in the dispute or the opposing party, prove the correctness of their direction or intentions, deny the opposing party or say that their direction and interests are wrong, and other purposes of protecting their rights. The act of dispute cannot be implemented without it. Litigation is brought to light through the act of disputing. Therefore, the dispute cannot be considered outside of communication. If so, litigation is communicative, that is, linguistic unity. The concept formation of the word litigation is also related to the fact it has a value-evaluative meaning in the traditional Kazakh culture. The word litigation is represented in the National Cognitive Association along with the representation of domestic conflicts in the historical-social Society of the Kazakh people, that is, in traditional culture, by the activities of the Biy Institute and its high status for the Kazakh society. From this point of view, there is a good reason to call litigation a cultural concept.
Not a Waste Land?: A Freudo-Nietzschean Reinterpretation of T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land
This paper aims to offer a reinterpretation of T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land. The author in this paper studies Eliot’s own takes on religion, morality, history and juxtaposes it with the understandings of German thinker Nietzsche. The author shows how these two thinkers belonging to two different philosophical positions, address a similar kind of moral stagnancy that limits the possibilities of modernity by redirecting its vector within the quagmire of a historical stasis. The author uses Freud’s theories to understand how within the semiotic body of the text the vector of free will interacts with this historical stasis. The Waste Land has been mainly interpreted as Eliot’s reaction to a morally corrupt post-war generation. However, through this study the author attempts to offer a reinterpretation of the text beyond the existing hegemonic epistemologies in the domain of Eliot studies and contends to argue that The Waste Land hints towards an alternative form of morality and thus provides a completely new understanding of the text.
Recurrence of the Past, Reception of the Present, Reflections on the Future
Arguing for Decolonial Repair: Petrostate, Environmental Injustice, and Decompositional Politics in Helon Habila’s Oil on Water
Helon Habila’s Oil On Water (2011) is often considered a crucial literary depiction of the environmental and political violence resulting from the discovery and continual extraction of oil in the Niger Delta. The novel illustrates the journey and experiences of journalists Zaq and Rufus, who venture into the interior villages to investigate the kidnapping of Isabel Floode, the spouse of an oil company engineer. The novel showcases how the landscape of the Niger Delta is marked by toxic emissions resulting from relentless extraction, along with increased structural violence, which has led to militancy, abductions, and disruptive behaviour on the part of certain individuals. In this context, the article re-examines this novel not merely as a striking illustration of petrostate crises but also as a literary piece that underscores the imperative of ‘decompositional politics’ and the cultivation of epistemic solidarity to transcend the complexities of petrostate violence and comprehend the ingrained forms of epistemic inequalities that have driven the victims of environmental injustice towards insurgent trajectories. The article analyses this work as a reflection of a decolonial perspective that repudiates the top-down model of knowledge formation and underscores the potentiality of ‘decolonial repair’ by addressing the violence and repression of colonial capitalist histories.
Postcolonial Literature / Decolonial Studies
The Complex Panaroma"Shakespeare" in Turkish Theatre Historiography
In Turkish theatre history, the name “Shakespeare” reflects a long-surviving “anxiety of influence,” embodying a continual aspiration for Western dramatic traditions that have extensively shaped theatrical conventions in the late Ottoman Era and Republican Türkiye. Following the late nineteenth century in particular, the means of access to and engagement with Shakespeare’s work were closely linked to theatre’s role as a political agent in the projects of modernism and nation-state building. In contrast to the legitimating authority that Shakespeare provides theatre practitioners today, Shakespeare’s incipient legacy in the late Ottoman period flourished via a fragmented, changing pattern of dramatic texts and performances in various languages. Borrowing Margaret Litvin’s theory of Shakespeare appropriation in the Arab world, we see that Shakespeare entered the Ottoman theatrical scene through a “global kaleidoscope of indirect experiences”. Whereas the name Shakespeare wavered around different connotations such as a canonical playwright who influenced non-Muslim dramatic literature, a marker of knowledge, or an influential dramatist whose works were paraphrased or adapted in the late Ottoman Era, the playwright acquired a preserved, authorial status in modern Turkish theatre. In my article, I evaluate Shakespeare’s complex entry to the theatre scene in the late Ottoman Era and Republican Türkiye by looking at the critical work of the playwright by prominent figures such as İnci Enginün and Muhsin Ertuğrul and address the need for a new vocabulary and methodology with which to evaluate the ambivalent place that Shakespeare has occupied within this complex historical panorama.
Exploring Shakespeare Speaking Old and Modern Georgian
William Shakespeare’s global impact has been profound, which has been furthered especially through local translations of his works. In Georgia, the translations of Shakespeare’s works were utilised for political means amid the Georgian linguistic revival in the 19th and 20th centuries. Discussing the linguistic impact of Shakespeare on the development of the Georgian language, this essay underscores how several translators, including the renowned Georgian translator Ivane Machabeli, used William Shakespeare as a model for linguistic reformation and the development of the Georgian tongue.
Georgian translation of Shakespeare and cultural impact
historical, and linguistic dimensions of Shakespeare's translation
Soviet and Post-Soviet Shakespeare Reception
Unmasking the Mechanics of Brutality in Titus Andronicus: A Žižekian and Girardian Analysis
This article examines William Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus through the dual lenses of Slavoj Žižek’s theory of violence and René Girard’s theory of mimetic desire and the scapegoat mechanism. It argues that the play offers more than a conventional revenge tragedy; it explores how violence is ritualized, normalized, and concealed through ideology. Žižek’s tripartite model of violence (subjective, systemic, symbolic) helps explain how Roman rituals, imperial power, and patriarchal norms transform cruelty into civic virtue. Girard’s notion of sacrificial violence and mimetic rivalry complements this framework by showing that efforts to restore social order through scapegoating often fail and instead escalate conflict. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate how Shakespeare’s play critiques the ideological and mimetic structures that sustain violence, using Žižekian and Girardian frameworks to uncover how Titus Andronicus exposes the political and psychological mechanisms that render such brutality both necessary and invisible within systems of power. By analyzing key moments such as Alarbus’s ritual death, Lavinia’s mutilation, and Titus’s grotesque revenge, the article demonstrates how violence is not a disruption of order but a structural force that upholds it. Through this lens, Shakespeare interrogates the cultural and psychological forces that make violence appear acceptable and even virtuous. The article contends that Titus Andronicus offers no clear moral resolution. Instead, it challenges readers to reflect on how violence is not only normalized but also rendered invisible and ideologically justified, prompting a critical reconsideration of how such mechanisms function within their own social and political realities.
Although it can be said that the influence of William Shakespeare from the early periods of modern Turkish literature was initially limited to the field of theatre, in time this influence spread to the field of fiction through the development of the novel. Accepted as a “master” by the writers of the Tanzimat period in the 1860s, Shakespeare exerted a strong influence on Turkish writers, especially novelists. From the 1890s to 1910s, Halit Ziya Uşaklıgil and Mehmet Rauf, two prominent novelists of the Servet-i Fünûn period, praised Shakespeare in their essays, referring to French literary historian Hippolyte Taine. Uşaklıgil’s interpretation of Shakespeare, who is considered the “founding father” of the Turkish novel, allows us to see Shakespeare’s influence on the development of modern Turkish literature. In his book Hikâye [The Novel] (published in 1891-1892), written to explain the history of the novel in the West and Turkish, Uşaklıgil did not include Shakespeare but when he started to teach at the university, he took a close interest in Shakespeare, and from 1909 onwards, he published essays on Shakespeare, along with other Western writers, in the magazine Servet-i Fünûn. In 1909, his main aim in these essays was to introduce Shakespeare to students and readers. Halit Ziya’s comprehensive essays on Shakespeare were published in 1941, entitled “English and French Poets and Authors: William Shakespeare” in the newspaper Son Posta. In these essays, Halit Ziya commented on Shakespeare as “a name considered the greatest genius in all world literature.” Halit Ziya Uşaklıgil does not include Shakespeare in 1892 but gives him a special place in 1909 and 1941. This means that the place given to Shakespeare in Halit Ziya’s literary universe has expanded over time. This influence, which can be traced in his essays, is not limited to Uşaklıgil. Between 1909 and 1941, Shakespeare received widespread attention in Türkiye. Halit Ziya Uşaklıgil not only acknowledges Shakespeare as a literary “genius” but considers him a “founder” in terms of his perspective on humanity. He claims that Shakespeare’s characters are not based on myths, as in ancient Greece, but on human emotions and actions. He finds the works of Shakespeare, who does not hesitate to show the evil side of humanity as well as its beauty, valuable as a reflection of reality. He praises Shakespeare’s ability to combine contrasts such as “tragedy and comedy”, “monarch and jester”, and “wisdom and madness”, which he sees as human passions. It is quite obvious that Halit Ziya’s appreciation of Shakespeare’s interpretation of humanity directly influenced Uşaklıgil’s portrayal of humanity in his novels.
A Study of Selected Works on Shakespeare in Turkish Academia
Turkish audience became familiar with Shakespeare’s works in the middle of the 19th century thanks to the visiting troupes from Europe and Armenian actors’ performances in Türkiye. The first translations of Shakespeare’s plays, albeit initially from French to Turkish, were also seen in the second half of the 19th century. Although some journalists and critics reviewed Shakespearean performances in newspapers or literary magazines in this period, it took a considerable amount of time to evaluate the context of Shakespeare’s oeuvre and his dramatic approach in Türkiye. Only after the establishment of the Republic of Türkiye in 1923, Turkish intellectuals and scholars began to introduce and analyse Shakespeare in an array of different works. This essay sets out to investigate a selection of works featured in their attempt to introduce Shakespeare to the Turkish reader/audience from the 1930s to 2012. The article maps out some studies extensively bridging the gap between Türkiye and Shakespeare in various ways. The focus of the analysis will be on Cenap Şehabettin’s Vilyem Şekspiyer (William Shakespeare) (1931), Metin And’s “Türkiyede Shakespeare” (“Shakespeare in Türkiye”) (1964), Talât S. Halman’s Türk’ Shakespeare (Shakespeare the Turk) (2003), İnci Enginün’s Türkçede Shakespeare (Shakespeare in Turkish) (2008) and Türkiye’de Şekspir Olmak (Being Shakespeare in Türkiye) (2012) directed by Gülşah Özdemir Koryürek. The range of these works provides a comparative approach to initiate an argument about how Shakespeare is located in Turkish literature, culture, and academia.
Fashioning the Social: Shakespearean Translations in the Kannada Literary Polysystem
Shakespearean plays have been the most widely translated and adapted texts into Indian languages, including the Kannada language. This essay focuses on the translations that occurred during the period between 1847 and 1930. This essay discusses the emergence of modern theatre and translations of English plays in the Kannada literary polysystem[1] in particular and Indian literary tradition in general. The essay examines the transition from the traditional theatre, the emergence of the “company plays”, and transition from traditional theatre to the proscenium theatre, and the rise of plays as social criticism. It attempts to show how English textual practices have influenced Kannada theatre in multiple ways. Further, it explains how Kannada translations of Shakespeare played a significant role in local societal changes, argues that these translations brought modern thought into the Kannada literary tradition, and critically traces the trajectory of the journey of Western texts into the Kannada language through translations of English plays including Shakespeare.
Perception of William Shakespeare in The Republican Era Turkish Novel
This study will focus on Shakespeare’s influence on Turkish literature based on Harold Bloom’s idea that Shakespeare cannot be seen simply as a Western canon, but that he is a world canon. Although the focus will be on the Turkish novels and novelists of the early Republican period, the influence of Shakespeare on modern Turkish literature will be briefly touched upon, starting with the earliest examples, and thus the literary heritage that nourished the writers of the early Republican period will be traced. In the 19th century, with the increase in Western-style theatres in Istanbul interest in Shakespeare also increased. In addition to the staging of his plays, Shakespeare is also mentioned in newspaper and magazine articles, further increasing his recognition among writers and readers. The influence of Shakespeare on the Turkish novel can be seen both in direct references and in allusions to his works regarding theme and narrative structure, starting with Turkish literature of the Tanzimat period, which developed under the influence of Western literature from the second half of the 19th century. This influence increases gradually with the introduction of lectures and academic studies on Shakespeare in universities. During the Republican period, this influence goes beyond the theatre and begins to be seen in poetry, short stories, and novels. Many writers who shaped the literature of the Republican period, such as Halide Edip Adıvar, Yakup Kadri Karaosmanoğlu, and Peyami Safa, consider Shakespeare an important source regarding form or theme within the novel narrative. In the Turkish novel, the influence of Shakespeare is mostly seen as a direct reference to some of his characters. This is because Shakespeare’s characters reflect the universal human condition and the desire to benefit from the traits of these characters who have gained an immortal place in the minds of all readers. This study will focus on the novels of writers of the early Republican period such as Halide Edip Adıvar, Yakup Kadri Karaosmanoğlu, Peyami Safa, Abdülhak Şinasi Hisar, and Hüseyin Rahmi Gürpınar. In addition, the influence of Shakespeare in the non-fiction works of these authors will also be mentioned to have a comprehensive evaluation of the reception of Shakespeare by these authors. In this study, the reception of Shakespeare in the Turkish novel of the early Republican period will be analysed on the 100th anniversary of the Republic, 400 years after the publication of the First Folio.
Brutalism: The Next ‘Liberal’ Narrative of the 21st Century
Brutalism, a theoretical concept originally linked with architectural issues can also be seen as having political economy rendition. This article approaches the concept of brutalism linking it to the crisis of liberalism and the structuration of neoliberalism’s extractive practices in the global south. Building on Mbembe’s theorisation of brutalism, this article examines our living conditions in light of the incremental violence of the political economy. Under brutalism, life and liveability are no longer contingent on a democratic setup but are instead dictated by the exceptionality invested in the state-capital nexus, splitting the world into liveable and non-liveable zones, underpinned as it is by the deep state’s exclusive predatory rights. The brutal living conditions in peripheral zones are symptomatic of a quotidian reality that reinforces the notion of incremental violence – a kind of violence that does not come across as threatening or disabling – rather it is in proportion to one’s absorbing capacity. It further links brutalism to the rapacious and self-serving nature of corporatism, identifying it as neofascism since the notions of freedom and security are constantly punctured.
Brutalism, neoliberalism, global south, abstract violence, incremental violence
Pre-Birth Hamlet: Counterfactual Narratives and the Boundaries of Alternative History in Ian McEwan’s Nutshell
This article analyses the function of counterfactual narrative within the theoretical frame of alternative history and moral responsibility in Ian McEwan’s Nutshell and William Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Both texts investigate the limitations of agency, fate, and moral responsibility through the lens of alternate history and speculative thinking. Hamlet portrays a protagonist that is paralyzed by uncertainty and torn between action and inaction, while Nutshell presents a narrator with omniscient insight who is unable to change the course of events. Therefore, this study aims to examine the different but parallel issues, revealing that counterfactual thinking does not serve as an emancipating activity but rather reinforces existential paralysis in both characters. It situates Nutshell within the wider context of counterfactual narrative and alternative history theory, analysing McEwan’s novel as a metahistorical critique and an extension of Shakespeare’s investigation into historical contingency. Besides, it underlines the impact of counterfactual reasoning on self-perception, demonstrating that identity is shaped by both previous experiences and hypothetical alternatives. In both texts, counterfactual thinking results in the tragic dilemma of the protagonists as counter-historical subjects as Nutshell and Hamlet overlap in their portrayal of speculation as an inherently detrimental aspect of human consciousness. Consequently, McEwan and Shakespeare present a frame to explore how individuals endeavour to reconstruct or resist their preordained circumstances and realities by revealing the boundaries of counterfactual thinking in modifying historical determinism.
Navigating Readability Assessment: Exploring the Dynamics of Classical Formulas
Writers often simplify texts using various readability formulas to ensure clear communication with the audience. The idea that readability gauges how easily a text is understood and its accessibility to readers is essential in designing educational materials. In effect, readability indices classify texts in levels and align them with learners’ linguistic competence. This study compares three classic readability formulas: Flesch Reading Ease (FRE), Flesch-Kincaid Grade (FKG), and the Gunning Fog Index (GFI) to examine their applicability and text complexity. Text-Inspector and Complete Lextutor software online programs assess the readability and vocab-profile of (a) academic (b) non-academic, and (c) entertainment texts. Research outcomes report that the academic text was highly difficult (FRE=37.62), the non-academic text had a standard difficulty (FKG=68.11), and the entertainment text was easy to read (GFI=89.51). These results indicate that the three formulas show significant metric approximations, closely linked to intuitive text processing methods. In conclusion, the functionality of these readability formulas illustrates how readability metrics and vocab-profile indices, to some extent, categorized texts in advance, intermediate or elementary, conditioning readers’ comprehension and interpretation of the text. It also provides insights into the type of genre and level of the reader’s proficiency to whom the text is focused.
Darwish’s act of Naming: Dehumanization and Subjectivity
If Darwish’s writing were to be distilled into a single word, it would be resistance. The word appears in quiet refusals, in tenderness shaped by injury, in silence that gathers force, in dialogues that test the limits of identity. Naming becomes the pivot of these modes, a point where Darwish gathers the pressures of dispossession into a single act of articulation. Drawing on Achille Mbembe’s account of necropolitics, I trace how Darwish’s poetics register the imposed atmosphere that strains Palestinian life and presses it toward a state engineered to diminish presence. I also draw on Paulo Freire’s call to “name the world” and Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o’s emphasis on relevance to trace the linguistic counter-pressure in Darwish’s work. Through these frameworks, naming in Darwish’s poetics departs from designation and becomes a practice that interrupts the forces producing dispossession. In this reading, naming becomes the site where linguistic practice unsettles necropolitical pressure and preserves the possibility of futures that the imposed atmosphere seeks to narrow, giving Darwish’s poetry its distinct political and existential force. It brings into view the mechanisms that confine recognizability while shaping a discursive ground in which subjectivity sustains a presence that cannot be collapsed. Naming becomes the point where Darwish’s language cuts through the necropolitical condition.
Colonialism; Dehumanization; Naming; Necropolitics; Resistance
A Cognitive Linguistic Study on Arabic Female BA Students’ Perceptions of Their Teachers in an English Department
The contemporary age has witnessed many challenges regarding the common and conventional qualities of the best teacher. Langacker’s traditional model of Domain Analysis (1987), that is, the matrix domains of content, design, and delivery, still provides insights into the distinctive features of the best teacher even though the model indicates a relatively outworn model. Integrating Endicott and Lee’s presentation of survival dimensions, the present paper examines the students’ perceptions of their teachers through a qualitative, explorative, and experimental examination. The present research is limited to the domain of teachers and demonstrated that the participants stressed ‘knowledge, interest, mastery and updated information’ regarding the content domain; the participants emphasised ‘clearly setting goals, advanced preparation, and using teaching aids/effects’ regarding the design domain. As for the delivery domain, the participants considered verbal ability, class management, and ethical aspects. The study concluded that the ‘content’ and ‘delivery’ domains are ranked top from the participants’ perspectives. However, the sub-domains of these matrix domains have varied.
Arabic Female BA Students’ Perceptions of Their Teachers in an English Department
Copyright (c) 2024 Journal of Narrative and Language Studies https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Effects of Compound and Total Images on the Cohesion of in Al-Qahtani's Poetry
This article aims to explore the aesthetics of imagery in the poetry of Al-Qahtani, which can be categorized into two types: compound imagery resulting from the accumulation of images and compound imagery in narrative storytelling. Compound imagery is produced by accumulating carefully selected individual images to create a cascade of meanings. The second type encompasses narrative storytelling, either descriptive without dialogue or inclusive of narrative content within reading theory. This study offers a critical practice in light of reading theory regarding meaning issues that represent a complex problem with broad, intertwined and deep theoretical and practical dimensions. Selected poetic texts from the Southern Qahtani tradition are included in the study. The research methodology focuses on understanding the aesthetics of both compound and total imagery and their impact on the coherence of poetic texts. The study demonstrates how imagery serves as an artistic tool through which the poet conveys various themes, including conceptual perceptions, after projecting a sensory attribute onto them, allowing the conceptual to emerge with a sensory guise. Additionally, imagery encompasses sensory perceptions primarily arising from the poet’s sense of reality. This interconnection affords the poet ample freedom to express their imagery and present their ideas.
Cohesion of Poetic Texts within Theory of Reading
Ethics of Storytelling: The Wounds of Deception and Pseudo-PTSD in Atonement
Ian McEwan’s Atonement (2001) is one of the most controversial novels due to the complexity of its narratives and characters, particularly its central character. Therefore, this article deals with pseudo-PTSD in Atonement, examining how trauma is delineated, built, and manipulated within the metafictional framework of the novel. While classical PTSD is depicted through forced memories of traumatic events, McEwan’s protagonist produces an unreliable narrative of guilt and redemption that parodies trauma without genuine experience. This study explores the character’s psychological state, arguing that her self-imposed suffering functions as a simulacrum of PTSD—what can be termed pseudo-PTSD—a term coined by Rosen & Tylor (2007). Drawing their perspective, the article examines Briony’s retrospective storytelling as both a coping mechanism and an act of self-mythologization, highlighting the ethical and epistemological implications of traumatised narrator, narrating trauma and traumatic narrative. Ultimately, Atonement challenges the reliability of memory and the legitimacy of self-inflicted psychological ‘wounds’, raising critical questions about authorship, responsibility, and the commodification of suffering in fiction.
The Wounds of Deception and Pseudo-PTSD in Atonement
Resonances of Celtic Pantheism in Claire Keegan’s Walk the Blue Fields
The relationship between nature and religion has been a matter of philosophical and religious debate for centuries. Nature has been evaluated as a means of reaching God and is considered a reflection of creative power. Pantheism occurs as represented in particular narratives, exploring nature-human coexistence as a manifestation of God. This study aims to explore the elements of Celtic pantheism as a depiction of Christian perception of life, focusing on its attempt to find a reflection of God in nature. Drawing on the terminologies offered by Spinoza, the study analyses Keegan’s story Walk the Blue Fields within a conceptual framework of pantheism, associated with a long spiritual tradition that locates divinity within the natural world, challenging traditional Church doctrines and fostering a mutual relationship between nature and culture. The paper examines how the characters disappoint traditional conceptions by seeking God not within institutional organisations but in nature and the natural. Such an attitude revives the sensitivities of Celtic pantheism by blending natural elements with divine reflections and spiriting the material world with fancy and imagination. The paper also discusses how these stories offer new ethical considerations as to what is good or bad: naturalness. The study shows how the characters’ ‘natural life’ and ‘life in nature’ yield a genuine moral expression and perception through unmediated natural experience. The study concludes that envisaging nature as a potential realm of spiritual connection and reflective involvement brings creative power and healing cure.
Biotext and Chinese/American Identity in Maxine Hong Kingston’s The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood among Ghosts
This article explores Maxine Hong Kingston’s The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood among Ghosts, which is a blend of autobiography, fiction, myth and history, as a biotext, a text that is able to articulate the author through the writing itself rather than being reduced to binaries or to a single genre. This essay makes the case that The Woman Warrior by Hong-Kingston should be seen as a biotext since it gives the author the opportunity to write about herself and make it an extension of who she is. Instead of giving in to the constraints of genre or classification, the biotext gives the writer the opportunity to integrate themselves into the work rather than having them appear as a character in the story. By incorporating both familial and cultural themes and emphasizing the lineage and kindred, Kingston’s text differs from the typical autobiographical genre and creates a warrior who resurrects the suppressed female legends and celebrates her femininity.
Maxine Hong Kingston’s The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood among Ghosts
The Semiotics of Pictorial Discourse in Ahmed Khalid Tawfiq’s The Legend of the Late Night
This paper analyses visual discourse in Ahmed Khalid Tawfiq’s The Legend of the Late Night (2002) by investing in semiotics as a critical method, gripping the essence of the image, especially if it involves an imagination imbued with horror literature, as it will give rise to a kind of novelistic narrative through the enjoyment and amazement at the new form that jumps to the mind to formal camouflage with an artistic and functional impact. The prominent approach to tackle this reading is characterized by its ability to analyze literary discourse, reveal its secrets, and interrogate its symbols to reach its goal or approach. Critical reading is considered a simulation analysis of the conceptual procedure through analyzing the physical form of the sign within the discourse or image, studying the semiotic units such as words, colours, shapes and images, and then linking the signs to their cultural, social and other contexts, and an attempt to observe the effect of narrative employment of two types that come together to establish a genre that inspires in terms of novelty and excitement; they are: the semiotics of the image and horror literature. The research problem can be defined by the question that searches for the nature of the encounter between method and procedure. In other words, how suitable is the semiotic approach for analyzing Arab novelist discourse and revealing its secrets? The conclusions lie in completing the accumulated knowledge to enhance the energies of the different genres and in an attempt to cross-fertilize some genres capable of producing their fruits due to valid hybridization in a place where procedure and employment interact.
Ahmed Khalid Tawfiq’s The Legend of the Late Night
Vlach-language theatre: The role of supertitles as translation in endangered-language heritage performance
During the spring and summer of 2023, I visited my hometown Veria to undertake preliminary research on endangered-language heritage performance with funding from the Welsh Government’s Taith programme. During my visit, I worked closely with the Folklore Association of Vlachs of Veria, observed their work, and participated in their heritage performance, learning not only about the communities’ cultural heritage but also about my own personal heritage. Based on empirical research, observations, personal experience and practice research, this paper focuses on the use of supertitles and multimedia projection as a translation strategy to safeguard endangered languages, traditions, and cultures. In particular, I discuss the case of Vlach-language theatre play La Câshiari (Στο Τυροκομείο / In the Dairy) by Takis Georgiou (playwright and director), performed on 28 May 2023 with Greek supertitles. Here, both the original text and translation are written by the same author simultaneously, self-translation (see Grutman & Van Bolderen, 2014), rather than translated by a different person; “an extreme case of the author/work – translator/work dialectic” (Tanqueiro, 2000, p. 63). It is then enriched by other members of the community contributions, who either identify a more appropriate Vlach word or correct the translation to allow for a clearer meaning to be made, which can be seen as an interlinear and group-dialectic approach to translation. As Geraldine Brodie (2020) notes, ‘[t]he intermedial performance of surtitles positions surtitles within new media dramaturgy, creating a form of interlinear translation’ (p. 450). Indeed, new technologies allow intermedial approaches in supertitled theatre, reaching beyond textual aspects.
When Tablets Speak: Examining Diasporic Identity in Dunya Mikhail’s Poetry
The study aims to demonstrate that diasporic people feel nostalgia for the spiritual value of their homes, not for their physical location. The diaspora theory is applied to frame the analysis of Dunya Mikhail’s selected poems. They represent how diasporic identity is intrinsically linked to the recollection of one’s native culture from positive and negative perspectives. This paper argues that diaspora and traumatic memories of the past impact the formation of the exilic identity, and there is a considerable link between the two. It deals with weighty themes, including migration, homelessness, loss, and nostalgia. It examines the poetry of the Iraqi-American poet Dunya Mikhail (1965–), who has innovated a new poetic genre known as ‘tablets poems’. Furthermore, it exemplifies how diasporic experiences and painful memories may influence the formation of an immigrant’s identity upon arrival. It contends that historical events will always loom large in the minds of immigrants and will always impact their present-day lives.
Liminal Margins and the Appropriation of the Inherited Codes and Imposed Patterns in Abdulrazak Gurnah’s The Last Gift
The study explores the immigrant’s identity crisis in Abdulrazak Gurnah’s The Last Gift from the lens of hybridity and liminality. It analyses how the host society determines identity formation and the tension they experience between their cultural heritage and the prevailing norms of the host culture. As described by Turner, liminality accounts for the transitions that Gurnah’s characters experience while shaping their identities. Their adaptation to Western traditions impacts their cultural identities, making Bhabha’s ideas of hybridity and mimicry particularly relevant. The characters’ struggles to assimilate illustrate their liminality as they struggle with preserving their authentic culture. Second-generation immigrants also confront the challenges of balancing assimilation with a desire to reconnect with their roots. The characters embody hybrid identities, navigating their differences while keeping inherited codes and imposed acts that indicate the elements of liminality and hybridity at a time. By the end of the novel, both characters exhibit enriched hybrid identities, demonstrating the crucial role of liminality and hybridity in their identity formation throughout the novel.
Introduction to Global Folios: Shakespeare in Non-Anglophone Sources
More than 400 years have passed since the publication of William Shakespeare’s First Folio. Being compiled by John Hemmings and Henry Condell, the First Folio has shaped the Shakespearean canon and has had a profound impact on his popularity. Currently, only about 235 of an estimated 700 copies exist today. The series of subsequent folios that followed the First Folio also contributed to Shakespeare criticism and the development of editorial practices in English-language criticism. Eighteenth-century editors such as Nicholas Rowe and Samuel Johnson attempted to perfect folio versions of Shakespeare’s works. Modern publishers like Cambridge University Press and Oxford University Press have differentiated between quarto and folio versions in recent editions. The publication of Shakespeare’s works in non-Anglophone regions, like India and Latin America, has led to unique adaptations that challenge traditional Western views of Shakespeare. The impact of Shakespeare in non-Anglophone regions like India and Georgia is explored in detail in essays included in this special issue focusing on Shakespeare outside the Anglophone world. In India, Shakespeare’s works were among the first to be translated into languages like Kannada, influencing local theatre traditions. In Georgia, translating Shakespeare’s plays into Georgian enriched the Georgian language. Turkish Shakespeares, which are also featured in the special issue, highlight the influence of Shakespeare in Turkish theatre history and literature. Therefore, the essays in this collection shed new light on Global Shakespeares, showcasing the complex histories of transmission, adaptation, and scholarship of Shakespeare’s works in non-Anglophone contexts. They provide valuable insights into how Shakespeare continues to resonate across different cultures and languages, adding a crucial dimension to the understanding of the Bard’s legacy and the significance of the First Folio.
The Interplay between the Consumer and the Consumed: Analyzing Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go through Donna Haraway’s Lens
Today’s culture is predominantly motivated by the urge to produce and consume. Consumption is becoming a defining characteristic in contemporary life. Kazuo Ishiguro is a well-known literary figure whose works explore memory, knowledge, and complex human relationship. This study examines the consumption of genetic engineering in Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go (2005). Donna Haraway's influential theory A Cyborg Manifesto (1985) is employed in the study as its conceptual framework. The study explores the landscape of Ishiguro's dystopian world, where human clones try to understand their existence as both subjects and objects of consumption. In Never Let Me Go, clones are made to donate their organs, stripping them of their humanity. This is consistent with Haraway's criticism of how technology objectifies people. This study aims to elucidate how Haraway's theory can be utilized to inform and enrich the understanding of the characters' experiences in Never Let Me Go. The theoretical framework draws extensively from Haraway's work on the cyborg as a hybrid entity, blurring the boundaries between human and machine. The scope of the research extends beyond literary analysis to encompass broader cultural and philosophical implications of cyborg consumption. This study concludes that the human escalating need for more products results in the grave pain and inhuman treatment of the characters in the novel. The only way to treat people equally is to prioritize humanism over consumption. The study, is then, significant to writers, readers, and academics who grapple with the complex relationship between humanity and human production.