Search

Engaging with Amitav Ghosh's recent essays that link imperial modernity's mechanistic view of the world to the novel's failure to imagine climate change, this article examines how Ghosh's fiction attempts to dislocate narratives of modernity to reveal a world constructed by capital and naturalized through reason. Drawing on the work of postcolonial theorists on the introduction of Western science to India, this article returns to Ghosh's first novel, The Circle of Reason , to focus on the intimate scale of the transformations that imperial modernity enacted on the human body and psyche. Though underrepresented in scholarship on Ghosh, this novel is a critical site for understanding Ghosh's view of how the ideology of modernity gets entrenched as scientific reason, reshaping humankind's relationship with the human body and the surrounding world. The novel's representation of the body, moreover, proposes an intimate and uncanny space that discloses alternative ways of imagining the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Narrative has long been central to the study of literature about illness, but we err if we assume that memoir and fiction alone depict the embodied experience of physical suffering. Contemporary writers also turn to the essay. In French, essayer means to attempt, and writing essays requires facing difficult questions and predicaments, confronting uncertainty and the unknown. Among recent literary essays, many are about women in pain. These include Eula Biss's "The Pain Scale" (2005) and Leslie Jamison's "Grand Unified Theory of Female Pain" (2014). Each of these writers asks: How, when, and why do we suffer? Why is women's pain so often diminished, dismissed, and misunderstood? And why, in response to the suffering of others, do we regularly fail to provide what is needed? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article highlights the introduction of the new editorial team of the Children's Literature Association Quarterly (ChLAQ) and emphasizes the importance of encouraging new scholars to contribute to the journal's scholarship in the field of children's and young adult literature. The current issue features essays on diverse topics related to children's literature.

The article focuses on the personal essay "Letter from a Region in My Mind," by James Baldwin, published in the November 17, 1962, issue of the periodical "The New Yorker." The author discusses the essay's contents about Baldwin's religious transformation and its reception amongst the magazine's white readers.

A literary criticism of the book de Grummond Mirage by Angelica Shirley Carpenter, its outlines an introductory book used to teach children how to read that often includes a variety of texts drawn from different aspects of children's literature, collection of essays also discussed, an overview of the story is also given.

This essay examines a set of poetic strategies that create a peculiar tension in Sidonius's poetry. While displaying profound erudition, several poems skillfully undermine the impression that they are the predictable products of carefully mastered methods of composition. They self-consciously displace reader expectations by posing as something they are not, by referring to poems that were never written, or by obliquely delivering what they proclaim to reject. The first part discusses the programmatic statements at the beginning and at the end of Carm. 9 (the poem dedicated to Magnus Felix which opens the collection of the Carmina minora). The second and third parts examine the rhetorical structure of the recusationes in Carm. 9 as well as in Carm. 12 (a poem addressed to Catullinus), and the last part addresses Sidonius satirographus, mentioned in Ep. 1.11.8. This essay argues that the poetic strategies examined here do not aim to marginalize the poetry's content nor betray an extreme pessimism regarding poetry's ability to express something. Rather, they contribute to the creation of a poetic stance that goes beyond erudition and rational method and allows the reader to be surprised and unsettled. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The essay published here is from Bruckner's most recent book, A Brief Eternity, forthcoming with Verso Books. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"On Being Out of Touch: Evan S. Connell and the Aesthetic of Social Oblivion": Evan S. Connell (1924-2013) is widely regarded is an innovative, talented and under-studied American writer. This essay seeks to contribute to his wider critical appreciation by examining a central element of his oeuvre, namely his depiction of the socially oblivious, or those who function in life, but are what popular parlance calls "out of touch." Specifically, the essay explores the portray of two such oblivious characters: Mr. Bridge, the title figure in the 1974 novel of the same name, and Muhlbach, in the 1974 novella, The Connoisseur. The argument claims these figures have an aesthetic sense of their own, and that Connell cultivated a special aesthetic in bringing them to the page. The essay also explores the implications of this idea in that one of Connell's special gifts was the capacity to extend artistic considerations to a category of people who are typically regarded as beneath or beyond the purview of serious art. Simultaneously, the essay argues that a key reason why Connell remains noted but not really integrated into engaged critical reception is because the aesthetics of social oblivion receives insignificant attention. Placing oblivion "in focus" makes Connell's work more interesting and relevant for our age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses articles in the issue on topics including unpublished writings, attending "Making Melville Legible," a symposium held at the Newberry Library in Chicago, and essays.

This essay investigates Mary Shelley's use of contemporary chemical discourse in Frankenstein. Shelley states that Victor Frankenstein studies "chemistry, in the most comprehensive sense of the term," as he prepares, and then animates, his Creature. Though readers are never allowed to know the secrets of Victor's practice, this essay suggests that Shelley engages carefully with the work of Humphry Davy and other early nineteenth-century chemists. A detailed investigation of the chemical discourse of the novel reveals that Victor's animation of the Creature uses chemistry in a range of ways, and that he does not merely shock the creature into life using galvanic electricity. Rather, the novel suggests the gothic uncertainty at the heart of even Davy's cutting-edge chemical research during this period, an uncertainty which Shelley exploits in her representation of Victor's science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract In The Writing of the Disaster, Maurice Blanchot includes a brief discussion of the Narcissus myth, implicitly inviting us to ask, as Claire Nouvet notes, "what is 'disastrous' in Narcissus's story." Translating this question into a postcolonial context, this essay argues that what is "disastrous" in colonial narcissism is the profound disturbance the story reveals in Narcissus's capacity to relate to others: a disturbance which imprisons Narcissus in a "crippling solipsism." In seeking to sow the seeds for an effective response, the paper draws on contemporary psychoanalytic theories of narcissism to propose that Narcissus's "grandiose" disavowal of relationality is a mere smokescreen to cover up his profound vulnerability and fear: a fear of the other which originates in relational trauma. Making reference to the settler colonial context, I argue that this traumatic core of the narcissistic condition has remained largely occluded because trauma studies' dominant event-based model of trauma is ill-equipped to recognise colonialism's relational trauma. To break with colonial narcissism's toxic legacy, I therefore propose, a relational trauma theory—such as it is developed in the work of D. W. Winnicott and Masud Khan—is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author reflects on the essay written by classicist Adam Parry. It notes the approach used by Parry in the essay which closely resembles to the Virgil's classic literary work "Aeneid," and discusses the view of Parry in distinguishing the voices used in Virgil's work. The author also analyzes the work of Wendell Clausen and compares his work to Parry's.

An introduction to essays from the English Institute on the figuration of language in 2015 is presented which include Arthur Bahr's essay "Compulsory Figures," Ian Balfour's essay "Figures in Excess and the Matter of Inversion in the Discourse of the Sublime," and Anahid Nersessian's essay "Literary Agnotology."

A literary criticism of the memoir-essay "Edmund Wilson in Benares," by Pankaj Mishra is presented. It discusses the difficulty experienced by Mishra in writing the essay about critic Wilson, the theme in the essay about the city of Benares, India, the essay's engagement with literary criticism, and a story of autodidactism tackled in the essay.

A literary criticism is presented on essays by the 20th century African American author Ralph Ellison, including "Harlem Is Nowhere," "An Extravagance of Laughter” and “New York, 1936.” Particular focus is given to the geography within Ellison's depiction of the 20th century African American migration known as the Great Migration from the Southern States to the Northern States, including to New York City, New York. Ellison's perspective on African American laughter is discussed.

The article offers information on the academic society American Association for the History of Medicine's awards and prizes for 2017. These awards and prizes include the Osler Medal Essay Contest 2017, the Shryock Medal Essay Contest 2017, the J. Worth Estes Award 2017, and the Jack D. Pressman-Burroughs Wellcome Fund Career Development Award in 20th Century History of Medicine or Biomedical Sciences 2017.

A literary criticism on the essay written by Gregory Doran, artistic director of the Royal Shakesperean Company (RSC), on the performance of the theatrical play "The Merchant of Venice." The essay comments on the performance of the theater actors and actresses playing their roles in the presentation. It also comments the way Doran describes his performance as a theatrical director.

The article discusses the essay titled "Experience" written by essayist Ralph Waldo Emerson. Topics discussed include the essay marking a breakthrough in Emerson's thinking which was at least partially triggered by the death of his son Waldo, the concept of mourning enacted through his writing, and the tone of the essay reflecting a transformation from optimism to a sober pessimism.

An introduction to the journal is presented in which the editor discusses various essays published within the issue that focus on teaching the works of poet William Shakespeare including one by Lauren Esposito, another by Christy Desmet and an essay by Sheila Cavanagh.

The article focuses on the transitional space of memory that has emerged on the Mediterranean island of Lampedusa. Particular focus is given on the essay "The Émigré" by Günther Anders, published in 1962 in the German periodical "Merkur," which involves an anonymous voice and its silent counterpart. The voice in the text is aware of its counterpart's objection that life's subdivision into phases does not make memory ineffective. Also discussed is the European Union's Integrated Border Management (IBM) and of political relevance for estimating the difficulties of keeping memories alive.

The article focuses on novelist Muriel Spark. Topics mentioned include her essay entitled "The First Year of My Life" which reimagines her childhood in Edinburgh, Scotland, the occupied space in scholarship and literary history, and her novels "The Comforters" and "The Abbess of Crewe." It also mentioned his views on media as means of accessing the global perspective and the use in truth manipulation. It also mentioned her work as duty secretary with the scrambler green-painted telephone.

The article explores the secrets hidden in the two lockets in Charles Dickens' novel "Oliver Twist." It presents a new way of thinking of the symbolic functions of the lockets based on the subject-object explorations in Bill Brown's essay "Thing Theory." It concludes that the tale of the two lockets highlight the entanglement of objects and subjects in webs of Dickensian social relations while recovering the myriad hidden stories that inanimate objects can reveal, reconstruct and retell.

The article explores the author's introduction to publishing industry. Topics include marriage, diplomats as publishers and the publishing company Weidenfeld & Nicolson Ltd. founded by George Weidenfeld and Nigel Nicolson in 1949. A review of the book "Some People," a series of whimsical semi-autobiographical essays, is also given.

The article focuses on the virus of suggestion between ideology and rhetoric. Topics discussed include Frederic Jameson's essay "The Symbolic Inference," Jameson as the postmodern diviner of literary Marxism in "The Ancients and the Postmoderns," and why Jameson and Kenneth Burke are mutually complementary.

The article explores American realism, beautiful circuits, and subterfuges. Topics discussed include Henry James and Mark Twain who both produced novels in the pinnacle of nineteenth-century American realism, the reflections of Jameson in the essays collected in "The Antinomies of Realism," and the fact that political activity in society is not ignored by novelists.

The article discusses the essay titled "Edgar Allan Poe, sa vie et ses ouvrages," by Charles Baudelaire regarding the life, poems, and works of Edgar Allan Poe, an author and poet. Topics include the failure of Baudelaire to register the mnemonic gap of the role of memory in the texts in the essay, the nature of memory and automaticity, and psychic inscription.

This section offers news briefs on the American Association for the History of Medicine (AAHM) Awards and Prizes, 2016. The writer of the 2016 Osler Medal Essay Contest will be invited to attend the 2016 AAHM meeting on April 28-May 1, 2016 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The winner of the 2016 Shryock Medal Essay Contest will be invited to attend the 2016 AAHM meeting on April 28-May 1, 2016 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

The article presents views on the poet Anthony Hecht's works which include a sestina – which is a very strict and old verse form dating back to the 12th century, named “The book of Yolek". The article also provides an insight into Hecht's literary career and his tours to different countries. Hecht had also written some essays on his literary works.

An introduction to the journal is presented in which the author discusses essays presented at the 2013 English Institute event including the notion of form and its centrality to literary and the literary-historical discussions, essay on the poetry of Natasha Trethewey and the notion of the progress of poetry from complex and fixed forms to free verse.

An essay is presented about the transition of Burma from decades of military dominance into a government administered by democratic principles. It offers information on the scenarios that forced the military officials to withdraw from politics, capability of the Burmese government to prevent the intrusion of the army in political affairs and commitment of the military to promote the ideals of democracy.

An essay is presented on the transformation of Venezuela from hybrid into authoritarian government under the rule of law by President Nicolás Maduro. It offers an argument on the role of the lack of competitiveness within the United Socialist Party of Venezuela, influence of the foreign policy in protection from international intervention and elements of the autocratic law that gave more power to the executive branches of the government.

In this essay I explore the moral crisis of modernity as identified in J. H. Prynne's latest book Kazoo Dreamboats or, On What There Is. The analysis focuses on the idea of "void" that in Prynne's book both grants freedom for the linguistic creation of reality in line with the textualist viewpoint of such thinkers as Richard Rorty and allows for a threat to the moral existence of man as diagnosed by Zygmunt Bauman. I argue that Kazoo Dreamboats challenges the discourses of science, philosophy, rationality, and popular culture as means to impose order on a reality in which gross violations of morality have become a routine that evades direct exposure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay analyzes the functioning of minor-character elaboration genre in the contemporary literary marketplace. Topics discussed are the influence of the mergers and acquisitions in the publishing industry in the promotion of minor-character elaborations, the sociopolitical and literary-cultural implications of marketplace transformations, and the impact of political orientations of minor-character elaborations on demographics.

The article discusses the author dedicating the periodical issue to the editor Tom Postlewait after his death and recalls Tom's help during his undergraduate years at Indiana University to sharpen his prose through his intensive editing style. He also acknowledges editor Jean Graham-Jones who worked closely with him to refine his essay on trauma and performance in northern Uganda, which became his first publication in this journal.

An index for the October 2014 issue, or volume 102, of “Yale Review" is presented.

An essay is presented which discusses the relationship of the novel "The Known World" by Edward P. Jones with various fictional stories on African American slavery. Topics discussed include the author's comparison of the Waldseemuller world map with the fictional map contained in the novel, the author's assessment of the novel, and her attempt to redefine the postmodern slave narrative and categorization of the novel.

An essay is presented which discusses the novel "The Farming of Bones" by Edwidge Danticat. Topics discussed include an exploration of the historical context of the novel, the author's view on the use of fictional stories to provide insight into real world events, and an analysis of the book's style of turning oral stories into verifiable facts of history. It also presents an overview of the novel.

This essay examines the annotations of three readers of the Dartmouth Brut. Each engaged the manuscript in different ways: the first had prior knowledge of its contents, the second used the text to teach himself English history, and the third mined the chronicle as a primary source for facts. Together, these readers provide insight into why a medieval chronicle--outdated in content and manuscript form--would continue to attract the attention of early modern readers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this photo essay, we reflect on our respective encounters with the object now known as Dartmouth College, Rauner Special Collections Library, MS 003183. Deborah Howe describes the process that turned a fragile object into a functional codex. Michelle Warren considers how this process intersects with the practices of medieval studies and digital humanities. Together, we trace the kinds of collaborations that orient material history toward the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An essay is presented which discusses the 19th century American philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson's political thought, including through offering a comparison with the political thought of the English philosopher Thomas Hobbes. It often references the essay "Politics," by Emerson to analyze his political and moral philosophy. An overview of Emerson's perspective on friendship and rights is provided.

An essay on literary texts like poetry, drama, fiction, and familiar essays, as works of art rather than as cultural documents, is presented. It examines the standard of accuracy and comprehensiveness to textuality when such texts are digitized. Other topics include virtual collection of transcriptions, virtual archives, and the accessibility by way of the Internet.

A literary criticism is presented of the book "The Surrounded," by D'Arcy McNickle and the essays "Numipu among the White Settlers” and "Racial Minorities in the Soviet Union," by Archie Phinney. The depiction of the modernity of the indigenous peoples within the aforementioned literature, including in the Soviet Union and the modernity of the Indians of the U.S, is discussed. The influence that popular fronts had on McNickle and Phinney's literature is also discussed.

The article discusses the translation made on the "Hamburg Dramaturgy," a collection of short essays that represents one of the first sustained critical engagements with the form and function of theatre and its potential to advance humanistic discourse. It mentions the eighteenth-century German playwright and philosopher Gotthold Ephraim Lessing who made several contributions to aesthetic theory in his lifetime, the text that has had the greatest influence on the practice and theory of theatre.

This essay proposes that Melville's sketch of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau in chapters 36-41 of The Confidence-Man (1857) was written, in great part, for his estranged friend Nathaniel Hawthorne. The chapters, it argues, respond to Hawthorne's thoughts about Emerson's character theory, expressed in "The Great Stone Face" (1850) and in conversations the two men shared in the Berkshires in 1850 and 1851. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article looks at the fictional essays of writer James Baldwin, looking particularly at the post-sentimental literary aesthetic. It looks at Baldwin's desire to move past a sentimental/anti-sentimental literary structure and his formulation of the post-sentimental literary form. The article also looks at Baldwin's novel "Another Country," which the author feels is the strongest example of the post-sentimental aesthetic.