Academic literature on the topic 'German literature – history and criticism – theory, etc'

The article talks about the role of D. Chyzhevsky in redefining the paradigm of Ukrainian romanticism, since Soviet canons are still being explored in his theory and history. In particular, emphasis was placed on confronting such ideological basis as: avoiding any mysticism; refusal of psycho-intimate immersion; the imposition of revolutionary and democratic tendencies; pan-realism; the militant nature of romanticism and the genesis of its origins from German idealism. Chizhevsky proposed instead: the recognition of the heart as the center of romantic aesthetics; peculiarity and singularity of Ukrainian romantic philosophy; syncretic ideology instead of “militancy”; giving preference to the psychological and intuitive space in romanticism; nationally creative potency and oneiric and mystical poetry. Among the main features of “Ukrainian romanticism” is: 1) the identification of interest in the figure and philosophy of G. Skovoroda, that is, the historical continuity of ideas, and, therefore, the inconvenience of the emergence of romanticism; 2) the birth of Ukrainian romantic literature is connected with the development of a certain ideology that belongs to the masses and spiritualized them; 3) nationality is a cross-cutting feature of romantic literature; 4) the cult of antiquity; 5) the desire to get closer to the ideal of “complete” literature, create the relations with other literatures, etc. D. Chyzhevsky distinguished three schools of Ukrainian romanticism: Kiev, Kharkiv and Western Ukraine. Considered the representatives of the Ukrainian school of romanticism in Russia and Poland. He gave the motivation of A. Metlynsky’s work, outside the categories of reactionary and revolutionary romanticism (as well as other personalities). He emphasized the role of “History of Rus” and “Zaporozhian old days” to form a romantic historical vision, that is, the principle of historicism; and considered the most expressive of the many receptions of romanticism. Constantly stressed the tendency of romantics to God. The books of D. Chyzhevsky went to the Ukrainian reader long and hard, however, time sets its emphasis, neglecting all authority, because only the future knows what it will need for a new world.

The article analyzes the structural and textual changes made by Lev Kassil in the reprinting of the story “Conduit and Shvambraniya”. The material for this study is the 1935 and 1937 editions of the story, two editions in 1957, and the last lifetime edition in 1965. An analysis of the published editions shows the formation of the story “The Conduit and Shvambrania” as a single novel, a single narrative and structural whole, which was not yet the case in the 1935 edition. The author reveals the changes made by Lev Kassil in later versions of the story and offers a classification of authorial corrections: 1) deletions of ideological and political nature; 2) deletions and changes caused by attacks of pedagogical critics; 3) corrections and changes of artistic nature. Lev Kassil was forced to respond to the ideological campaigns that were unfolding both on the national scale and in the professional literary environment (the anti-Semitic campaigns of the 1930s and 1940s, the deportation of the Volga Germans in the 1940s, discussions of “pseudo-romanticism and formalism” in criticism, etc.). Another reason for changing the text of the story was the circumstances of the writer’s family biography: the repression of his brother Iosif Kassil, who was the prototype of one of the main characters in the story — Os’ka. Nevertheless, The Conduit and Shvambrania was the only book in Kassil’s work in which a Jewish theme was expressed.

The issue of the journal opens with an article dedicated to the formation of metrology as government regulated activity in France. The article has discussed the historical process of development of metrological activity in France. It was revealed that the history of metrology is considered as an auxiliary historical and ethnographic discipline from a social and philosophical point of view as the evolution of scientific approaches to the definition of individual units of physical quantities and branches of metrology. However, in the scientific literature, the little attention is paid to the process of a development of a centralized institutional metrology system that is the organizational basis for ensuring the uniformity of measurements. The article by Irena Grebtsova and Maryna Kovalska is devoted to the of the development of the source criticism’s knowledge in the Imperial Novorossiya University which was founded in the second half of the XIX century in Odesa. Grounding on a large complex of general scientific methods, and a historical method and source criticism, the authors identified the stages of the formation of source criticism in the process of teaching historical disciplines at the university, what they based on an analysis of the teaching activities of professors and associate professors of the Faculty of History and Philology. In the article, the development of the foundations of source criticism is considered as a complex process, which in Western European and Russian science was the result of the development of the theory and practice of everyday dialogue between scientists and historical sources. This process had a great influence on the advancement of a historical education in university, which was one of the important factors in the formation of source studies as a scientific discipline. The article by Tetiana Malovichko is devoted to the study of what changes the course of the probability theory has undergone from the end of the 19th century to our time based on the analysis of The Theory of Probabilities textbook by Vasyl P. Ermakov published in 1878. The paper contains a comparative analysis of The Probability Theory textbook and modern educational literature. The birth of children after infertility treatment of married couples with the help of assisted reproductive technologies has become a reality after many years of basic research on the physiology of reproductive system, development of oocyte’s in vitro fertilization methods and cultivation of embryos at pre-implantation stages. Given the widespread use of assisted reproductive technologies in modern medical practice and the great interest of society to this problem, the aim of the study authors from the Institute for Problems of Cryobiology and Cryomedicine of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine was to trace the main stages and key events of assisted reproductive technologies in the world and in Ukraine, as well as to highlight the activities of outstanding scientists of domestic and world science who were at the origins of the development of this area. As a result of the work, it has been shown that despite certain ethical and social biases, the discovery of individual predecessor scientists became the basis for the efforts of Robert Edwards and Patrick Steptoe to ensure birth of the world's first child, whose conception occurred outside the mother's body. There are also historical facts and unique photos from our own archive, which confirm the fact of the first successful oocyte in vitro fertilization and the birth of a child after the use of assisted reproductive technologies in Ukraine. In the next article, the authors tried to consider and structure the stages of development and creation of the “Yermak”, the world's first Arctic icebreaker, and analyzed the stages of preparation and the results of its first expeditions to explore the Arctic. Systematic analysis of historical sources and biographical material allowed to separate and comprehensively consider the conditions and prehistory for the development and creation of “Yermak” icebreaker. Also, the authors gave an assessment to the role of Vice Admiral Stepan Osypovych Makarov in those events, and analyzed the role of Sergei Yulyevich Witte, Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleev and Pyotr Petrovich Semenov-Tian-Shansky in the preparation and implementation of the first Arctic expeditions of the “Yermak”icebreaker. The authors of the following article considered the historical aspects of construction and operation of train ferry routes. The article deals with the analysis and systematization of the data on the historical development of train ferry routes and describes the background for the construction of train ferry routes and their advantages over other combined transport types. It also deals with the basic features of the train ferries operating on the main international train ferry routes. The study is concerned with both sea routes and routes across rivers and lakes. The article shows the role of train ferry routes in the improvement of a national economy, and in the provision of the military defense. An analysis of numerous artefacts of the first third of the 20th century suggests that the production of many varieties of art-and-industrial ceramics developed in Halychyna, in particular architectural ceramic plastics, a variety of functional ceramics, decorative tiles, ceramic tiles, facing tiles, etc. The artistic features of Halychyna art ceramics, the richness of methods for decorating and shaping it, stylistic features, as well as numerous art societies, scientific and professional associations, groups, plants and factories specializing in the production of ceramics reflect the general development of this industry in the first half of the century and represent the prerequisites the emergence of the school of professional ceramics in Halychyna at the beginning of the 20th century. The purpose of the next paper is to analyze the formation and development of scientific and professional schools of art-and-industrial ceramics of Halychyna in the late 19th – early 20th centuries. During the environmental crisis, electric transport (e-transport) is becoming a matter for scientific inquiry, a subject of discussion in politics and among public figures. In the program for developing the municipal services of Ukraine, priorities are given to the development of the infrastructure of ecological transport: trolleybuses, electric buses, electric cars. The increased attention to e-transport on the part of the scientific community, politicians, and the public actualizes the study of its history, development, features of operation, etc. The aim of the next study is to highlight little-known facts of the history of production and operation of MAN trolleybuses in Ukrainian cities, as well as to introduce their technical characteristics into scientific circulation. The types, specific design solutions of the first MAN trolleybus generation and the prerequisites for their appearance in Chernivtsi have been determined. Particular attention has been paid to trolleybuses that were in operation in Germany and other Western European countries from the first half of the 1930s to the early 1950s. The paper traces the stages of operation of the MAN trolleybuses in Chernivtsi, where they worked during 1939–1944 and after the end of the Second World War, they were transferred to Kyiv. After two years of operation in the Ukrainian capital, the trolleybuses entered the routes in Dnipropetrovsk during 1947–1951. The purpose of the article by authors from the State University of Infrastructure and Technologies of Ukraine is to thoroughly analyze unpaved roads of the late 18th – early 19th century, as well as the project of the first wooden trackway as the forerunner of the Bukovyna railways. To achieve this purpose, the authors first reviewed how railways were constructed in the Austrian Empire during 1830s – 1850s. Then, in contrast with the first railway networks that emerged and developed in the Austrian Empire, the authors made an analysis of the condition and characteristics of unpaved roads in Bukovyna. In addition, the authors considered the first attempt to create a wooden trackway as a prototype and predecessor of the Bukovyna railway.

Abstract This article traces the composition history of The Great Gatsby from manuscript through galley proofs to the published novel, indicating how Fitzgerald intensified conflict between Gatsby and Tom by making Tom the investigator of a bootlegger rumored to have been a German spy during World War I. It shows the conflict to be a displaced reprise of American anti-German sentiment during the war, which provides a gloss on the billboard of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg and the tale of the brewer who built Gatsby's mansion. It cites Nick Carraway's rhetorical tendencies as evidence of the war's persistent effects and contrasts them with Fitzgerald's social criticism.

Most contemporary literary theories are either explicitly or implicitly atheistic. This thesis describes a literary theory whose principles are derived from or consistent with Christian theology. It argues against modern objections to such a theory that this is a rationally and ethically legitimate mode of contemporary literary theory. The first half of the thesis constitutes an analysis of deconstruction, of Marxism and of psychoanalysis. These are three of the most influential discourses in modern literary theory, each of which constitutes a significant argument against the existence of God, as this has traditionally been understood in Christian theology. In a chapter devoted to each theory, I examine its relation to Christian theology, and argue that it does not constitute a conclusive argument against the truth-content of such theology. I go on to assess which of its principles can be used in modem Christian literary theory, and which cannot. The second half of the thesis constitutes an analysis of a Christian tradition of thought that pertains to literary theory. In the fourth chapter, I examine the concepts of language and of art expressed or implied in the Bible, St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas, and assess which of these concepts could be used in Christian literary theory today. In the fifth chapter, I examine certain twentieth-century Christian philosophers and literary critics, and assess how their thought could be used in contemporary Christian literary theory. In the final chapter, I synthesize the conclusions to these arguments into the outline of a literary theory that both derives from Christian theology and takes account of the objections to such theology posed by contemporary literary theory.

Thesis (Ph.D. (English studies)) -- University of Limpopo, 2011
This thesis explores the theme of identity in Es’kia Mpha-hele’s fictional and autobiographical novels, with special attention given to the quest for the lost identity of Afri-can cultural and philosophical integrity. In other words, the revival of the core African experience and the efforts to preserve and promote things African. Mphahlele wrote most of his novels during the time when Africa was under colonial influence. His native land was under the abhorred apartheid system which sought to relegate the African expe-rience to the background. In this sense, he was the voice of the people, reminding them of their past and giving them direction for the future. Chapter One of the thesis outlines the background to the study, defines concepts and gives a survey of African lit-erary identity. It also probes salient aspects which have influenced Mphahlele’s perspective on African identity dur-ing his early years as a writer and socio-cultural activ-ist. Approaches and methodology employed to examine Mphahlele’s writings are also outlined. Chapter Two synthesises the theoretical underpinnings of the study. The thesis adopts Afrocentricity as the basis of analysis, looking at aspects such as the African worldview, humanism (ubuntu) and collectivism. Views by different Af-rican literary critics on what African literature should entail in its distinctive definition are also discussed. Two main literary traditions, orality and the contemporary tradition, which give African literature its unique charac-ter as well as its phases are identified and brought to the fore.Identity in African literature is discussed in detail in Chapters three and four where Mphahlele’s literary works are closely examined. Chapter Five concludes the study and recommends that in order for Africa to forge ahead in her attempt to reclaim and promote her cultural identity, a new perspective must be cultivated and Mphahlele proposes hy-bridity, which is a harmonious co-existence of two or more cultural beliefs without one oppressing the other.
The University of Limpopo

Orientador: Maria Betania Amoroso
Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Estudos da Linguagem
Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-04T04:23:12Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Antonio_CarlindoFausto_D.pdf: 873322 bytes, checksum: c209de4caa2bfeb4191e14c9c17ad267 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2005
Resumo: O esboço de análise dos Cadernos Negros (1978-2004) é, referenciado na cultura e luta para a superação das desigualdades raciais, um painel descritivo do percurso de vinte sete anos de produção coletiva de autores afro-brasileiros. O trabalho que colocou lado a lado, numa relação dialógica, poemas, contos, teorias, autores, leitores, estudiosos e militantes, numa verdadeira encruzilhada, obedeceu à composição seguinte: nos dois primeiros capítulos, fez-se um breve enquadramento histórico ressaltando a pré-história dos Cadernos Negros e, nos dois subseqüentes, fez-se a descrição e análise das recorrências pautadas pela produção literária e pela teoria desenvolvida pelos próprios autores. Por fim, foram retomadas as questões que constituem uma rede polifônica de adesão à cosmogonia negra e os lugares das noções textuais da negrura
Doutorado
Literatura Geral e Comparada
Doutor em Teoria e História Literária

One of the unfortunate corollaries of poststructuralist theorizing about literary texts has been the equation of a skepticism concerning language with a skepticism concerning meaning. The menace of unrestrained relativism has tended to polarize the critical community into proponents of a 'logo-diffuse' onto-epistemology and proponents of a 'logo-centric' one, and critical practice has followed this lead. The critic who attempts to situate literature within the parameters of such a debate is likely to fail unless he or she appeals to a much more extensive discourse, one which antedates the provincial contours of the current discussion. Medieval mysticism is a significant entry in the lineage of influence which comprises the western tradition. This thesis looks at the apophatic or negative strategies of mystical texts in order to locate meaning in the interplay of negation and affirmation with which they are concerned.

The following paper will deal with the actantial place of memory and history in the works of Ge Fei, a so-called avant-garde writer in China. Analyzing his three major novels published in the nineteen-nineties, as well as an earlier short story, the paper will discuss how Ge Fei renegotiates the status and place of the literary subject as configured through the act of writing, and its close relationship with the medium of memory and history. Contrary to the prevailing opinion, the avant-garde experiment in Ge Fei's works does not intimate the dissipation of the subject, but rather assists in reconfiguring it in an entirely new and dynamic conceptualization. Instead of a figural e/End and vulgarization of literature in the nineties, Ge Fei's experimentation with the acts of writing and reading, as well as his play with language, open up new possibilities for the writing of new literatures in contemporary China.

Ramnarayan V. Pathak, a notable reflective critical mind of the 19th century, bear historical and critical significance in the contexts of Gujarati as well as pan Indian language literatures. His work pertains to varied domains such as creative writing, literary criticism, literary history, translation, prosody, epistemology, and aesthetics among others. Pathak’s creative and critical orientation cause strategic deviation in his register, tenor, content and execution in sync with nature of his discourse (historical, formalistic study, philosophical, social, political, aesthetic etc.), form of discourse (critical essay, review, radio talk, key-note address to seminars, etc), audience (informed audience, general readers, students, academics, etc.), subject matter (study of poetic meters, Indian Darshana theories of knowledge, practical criticism of writers like Narmad, Tagore among others). This paper intends to study translatorial perspectives on critical writings of RV Pathak in terms of theory and practice.

This chapter provides an overview of the book and an introduction to its main thesis concerning Walter Benjamin’s development of a philological method in his early literary criticism that shapes all of his work. It focuses on a key letter written by Benjamin to his friend Gershom Scholem on February 14, 1921, that outlines his idiosyncratic redefinition of the traditional field of philology as a method for discovering genuine “historical time” in works of literature. Benjamin’s early work concerns the writings of Hölderlin, the German Romantics, and Goethe as representing together what he describes as “perhaps the greatest epoch in the Western philosophy of art.” This philological theory is situated in relation to the emergence of Lebensphilosophie (the philosophy of life) in the wake of Friedrich Nietzsche’s concept of history and Henri Bergson’s exploration of time as durée in the later nineteenth century.

Walter Bendix Schönflies Benjamin was an influential German intellectual, whose activity spanned the late years of the German empire and the volatile Weimar period, culminating in a tragic suicide at Portbou while fleeing from Nazi persecution. Born into an assimilated Jewish family in Berlin, Benjamin’s prismatic writings straddle diverse fields, including philosophy, art and literary criticism; however, they also mark significant forays into broadcasting, travel-writing, and translation. Although Benjamin remained relatively unknown to a wider public during his lifetime, his influence can be discerned in Frankfurt School critical theory, as well as in his correspondences with leading cultural figures of the day: from Hugo von Hofmannsthal to Hannah Arendt and Bertolt Brecht. Benjamin’s work has been widely studied since the first posthumous publication of his selected writings by Theodor W. Adorno in 1955, laying the foundations for more comprehensive editions in subsequent decades. Since then, a voluminous secondary literature on Benjamin has appeared, including important works by a diverse range of thinkers from Carl Schmitt, to Paul de Man, and Judith Butler. Today, Benjamin is perhaps best-known for his literary studies on Goethe, Kafka, and Baudelaire, in addition to the seminal essays of his ‘anthropological’ turn, above all his piece on ‘The Work of Art in the Age of its Technical Reproducibility’ (1936). Benjamin’s oeuvre is often seen as falling into two periods: an early theological-metaphysical phase, culminating in his ill-fated Habilitation,1Origin of the German Trauerspiel (1925), and a later Marxist-materialist phase, exemplified by his unfinished ur-history of modernity, The Arcades Project (c.1927–40). Indeed, Benjamin’s Habilitation, which was rejected by the University of Frankfurt in 1925, marks the end of his sustained efforts to secure an academic position, and an increase in the production of more occasional writings – many of them produced under considerable material pressures during his years of exile in France, Spain, and Denmark. Moreover, Benjamin’s writings from the mid-1920s onwards often assume startling experimental forms that set them apart from some of his earlier, more pointedly academic production. This is true, for instance, of his philosophical autobiography Berlin Childhood Around 1900 (c.1933–38), or his great work of modernist montage, One-Way Street (1928). However, despite Benjamin’s self-characterization as an author who is ‘always radical’ but ‘never consistent’ (GB 3, 159),2 the theoretical antitheses that this periodization implies tend to cover over important continuities in his thinking. This concerns, not least, his persistent efforts to recast ‘the relationship of a truth to history’ (C, 135–6), as he puts it in a letter to Ernst Schoen. One way of capturing this dimension of Benjamin’s thought is by considering his objections to the perceived strictures of a narrowly defined concept of experience that Benjamin identifies, in part, with Immanuel Kant. This form of experience (Erlebnis as opposed to Erfahrung) is supposed to entail an unsustainable dualism between subjects and objects of cognition – a relation that, in turn, plays out in a homogeneous, empty flow of time. Accordingly, Benjamin is consistent in his attempts to rescue the ‘integrity of an experience that is ephemeral’ (SW 1, 100), as he puts it in his 1918 essay ‘On the Programme of the Coming Philosophy’. This includes a focus on linguistic, religious, and emphatically historical experiences, which interweave in complicated and productive ways throughout Benjamin’s fragmentary writings.