Ambivalent memories of imperial legacies: Asmara as ‘beautiful' and ‘segregationist' from Ethiopia

ABSTRACT

This paper discusses how the capital town of Eritrea, Asmara, is depicted alternately as Italian, Eritrean and Ethiopian thus showing the competing claims of ‘ownership’ that traverses its colonial and postcolonial histories and a multifaceted identity. It focuses specifically on how the Italian architecture of Asmara is depicted both as a sign of modernization and oppression. Literary and oral- sources are analysed to illustrate Asmara as a site of cultural encounter and a historical palimpsest such as the poems Asmara (1958, included in the collection Esat Wey Abeba) by Tsegaye Gebremedihin, and And Nebis (1992, included in the collection Efta 60 Tirekawoch) by Haile Melekot Mewael. The novels Oromay (1984) by Bealu Girma, Ye Burqa Zimita (1992) by Tesfaye Gebreab. These contemporary literary and oral reminiscences of Asmara show how Asmara’s architectural legacies are remembered to express memories of ambivalence between beauty and inhibition; being modern and segregated. Whereby, Asmara gets represented as a model town for other African cities, and a city of colonial decay and segregation, in these contradictory accounts of memories of Asmara, a de-colonial method of engagement seems to emerge.     

新乡土世界的美学建构——新世纪河南女作家乡土小说分析

新世纪以来,一批河南籍女性作家开始崭露头角,并取得了引人注目的成绩。面对急剧转型的时代,传统乡土叙事经验已经无法涵盖已经发生巨变的乡土社会,河南籍女作家以一种更加开放的姿态面对新的乡土世界,她们的创作把日常生活经验转化成一种叙事伦理,从而以独特的乡土感知,细致的文字表述拓宽了传统乡土小说的表现领域,更新补充了乡土小说的叙事内涵,为河南乡土文学注入了新质。     

记忆素与北京城市文化身份--对1980年代京味小说的一种解读

与老舍小说展现老北京广阔的社会历史风貌不同,1980年代京味小说对于北京城市文化身份的型构,是通过极度浓缩简化并重复出现的“记忆素”来实现的。这些由人物、行动、空间与情节组成的“记忆素”具有高度的趋同性。而这些“记忆素”作为一种“传统的发明”,并不是要对老北京的历史文化进行多么精致的还原,而是为了应对“文革”结束后和北京城现代化过程中所出现的城市与人的身份危机而作出的一种解答。     

民族传统文化视域中的创造社小说

民族传统文化和创造社小说的关系,不仅仅是表层契合,更重要的是潜在的作用和深层的回应。民族传统文化已经内化为创造社作家的价值观和审美观,在小说创作的审美情趣、人物性格的文化内涵、体式上的传统渊源三个方面显示出鲜明特质。创造社小说对民族传统文化的承传与超越,为后人提供了中西文学融合的成功经验。     

Lena Finkle’s magic arc: hybrid influences in the Russian American graphic novel

ABSTRACT

The article examines Anya Ulinich’s graphic narrative Lena Finkle’s Magic Barrel and the novel’s use of visual culture from both the author’s Russian and US American backgrounds. The article interrogates the use of history and timelines, Russian art history and Russian art education in Ulinich’s text. It also analyzes other literary constructs that influenced Ulinich’s novel: US American comics/graphic novels and their use of stereotype, and novels by Russian-speaking Jewish American writers, with their thematized Jewishness.     

Who killed change management?

A story is told here of an investigation into change management's apparent death, provoked by the dubious business novel Who Killed Change [Blanchard, K., J. Britt, P. Zigarmi, and J. Hoekstra. 2009. Who Killed Change? Solving the Mystery of Leading People Through Change. London: Harper Collins Publishers]. The story is told over eight chapters inviting you to investigate competing explanations for the death of change management using the structure of the story arc: stasis, trigger, quest, surprise, critical choice, climax, reversal and resolution. An annoying voice (sometimes interior monologue and at other times dialogue) of another reader keen to inform and frame your understanding of the status of change management remains ever present. The case is solved with the story's resolution providing insights into advantages of investigating over literature reviewing, the problematic/masculine nature of murder metaphors, the academic potential of story arcs and the mystery which characterises organizational change.     

中国现代经典长篇小说的审美构成与艺术贡献

中国现代经典长篇小说的审美构成源自于文学经典审美构成的四个要素，即审美性、时代性、典范性和永恒性，以之审视中国现代长篇小说的经典性及艺术贡献将使我们对中国现代长篇小说的历史地位有更为清晰的认识。     

明代小说中寄生词曲与社会生活

明代小说中寄生词曲为明代社会生活之镜像。寄生词曲中最为常见而又特色突出的社会生活描写主要在服饰生活、饮食生活、居住生活、娱乐生活等方面,以此可以窥明代社会生活之全貌。探讨明代小说中寄生词曲与社会生活之关系,有助于深化明代词曲和明代社会生活史的研究。     

被修饰的梦境：明清通俗小说中的“入赘”

在明清通俗小说中，入赘是商贾融入异乡生活的一种有效手段，也代表了士人改换门庭的人生理想．但基于入赘所附着的种种社会属性，对于男性来说，它并不是一种令人愉悦的婚姻方式，不管是婚仪、改姓还是夺休，赘婿享受不到其他男性在婚姻中那种支配一切、掌控一切的快感，他们甚至都无法保持最基本的权利，不仅被人耻笑，而且可以招之即来．挥之即走。但小说作者往往会运用多种手法掩盖或是化解小说人物在入赘中所受到的屈辱和难堪，通过一系列手段的掩盖或是化解，小说作者在营造一个入赘的梦境的同时，也对这个梦境做了必要的修饰：入赘从损害男性自尊、让他们受尽歧视和冷遇，到变成一种男性可以从中寻找到足够的体面和尊严，至少看起来和其他的婚俗没有什么严重差异的婚姻方式。     

北美敌托邦小说的生态书写

敌托邦小说与生态思想有内在的契合.生态主义重视从思想和文化角度对人类驾驭自然进行批判,试图通过挖掘深层次的根源来协调自然与人类的关系,达到平衡.敌托邦文学同样重视思想与文化的批判,它的危机意识涵盖得更广,而这些危机与环境危机叠加在一起,勾勒出一个末日世界.为了更深入地挖掘这二者的深层联系,文章选取了北美敌托邦小说中的一些经典文本,从对自然精神价值的原初体验,循环时间观中的自我和自然,在倾听中存在的“物我合一”,艺术对自然的回应这几方面来探讨这一亚文类中蕴含的生态思想.