The article focuses on the comparative analysis of Margaret Atwood's 1985 novel and Bruce Miller's (2017) TV adaptation of The Handmaid's Tale. Special attention in the paper is given to the construction of the main character's identity in the respective media, most particularly the fact that in the Hulu series (2017-2022) the main character is depicted as a modern feminist activist constantly offering resistance to repressive ideology, unlike in the novel in which her new identity completely erases memories of prior existence and is compliant with inhuman treatment in Gilead. Just like Atwood, Miller applies the strategy of the interior monologue and intensifies its impact by using voice-over narration and italic subtitles that turn the audience into a secret confidante and willing ally in the main character's struggle against repressive heteronormative and misogynist rules. This thought-provoking platform of expression is purposefully used by Miller in order to emphasize the importance of storytelling as a subversive act of resistance. With the help of Atwood herself, who has been collaborating with the series cast, producers, and director in screenwriting, this TV adaptation draws attention to contemporary issues of political conflicts, sexual slavery, war, toxic pollution, poverty, LGBTQ, women's rights, as well as the need to address these issues and ultimately influence a long-craved social reform. The theoretical framework of the research relies on the concepts of transmedial narratology as elaborated by Thon (2015, 2016), Ryan (2014), Rajewski (2005), Gobyn (2019) and others.
This paper explores marginal characters in Shakespeare’s plays that offer a valid alternative to the power- craving aspirations of their ideological authorities. Special attention in the research is paid to the role of the nameless murderers in Richard III, nameless servants in King Lear and soldier Williams in Henry V. The common denominator for these marginal characters is the fact that they willingly disobey their superiors’ orders and unequivocally decide to follow the voice of conscience rather than the voice of authority. Shakespeare introduces marginal characters to point to the notion that rebellion against the dominant ideology has to start from the individual level in order to inspire a global act of resistance. It is our aim to prove that Shakespeare's genuine idea was to subvert and not glorify Tudor's Golden Age. The theoretical framework of the paper relies on the critical insights of Greenblatt, Eliot, Leggatt, Rudnytsky, Fernie, etc.
The paper first discusses two documentaries by Donna Read, Signs Out of Time (2004) and Goddess Remembered (1989), that focus on the pacific tradition of the female centered settlements on the territories of modern Eastern Europe in the Neolithic and Bronze Ages. Read depicts significant findings of a world-renowned archeologist Marija Gimbutas who claims that a peaceful image of Old Europe embodied in the omnipotent Great Mother changed radically towards the end of the third millennium when violent Indo-European nomads came from Russia and shattered the matriarchal utopia of equality and natural harmony. These tribes introduced the principles of hierarchy and violent male-rule. Read's and Gimbutas' findings are further developed and examined in the studies by Riana Eisler and Erich Fromm who also claim that conspicuous material aggrandizement of patriarchal culture severely damaged a blissful matriarchal bond between man and nature. These theoretical insights are applied to Williamson's comprehension of nature vs. nurture issue in "Mary and the Seal" (1997). In portraying a tender relationship between Mary and the seal, as well as its tragic and totally unnecessary shooting, contemporary patriarchal culture is brought to a trial. The mere existence of the bond between Mary and the seal, an embodiment of an idyllic matriarchal unity between man and nature, testifies to the prevalent need for the return to its substantial but long-forgotten values. The theoretical insights of Graves, Althusser, Freire, Fiske and Miller will also be used in the interpretation of the story.
The paper focuses on a detailed analysis of Robertson's personal queries related to the issue of Scottish independence in two short stories, Republic of the Mind (first published in 1993) and MacTaggart's Shed (2012). Since there is a conspicuous time span in-between the publication of these stories, it is our purpose to track, explore and describe how Robertson's treatment of the same subject has changed over the years, particularly having in mind the references to the Devolution Referendum (1997) and Independence Referendum (2014) in these stories. Bearing in mind the idea of an artist as an active communal participant (Rich, 1993), Robertson ostensibly favours the political cause of Scottish independence; however, his short stories depict his personal doubts about its realization in future practice, a stance that proved to be completely justified after the unsuccessful Independence Referendum (2014). The theoretical framework of the paper relies on the critical insights of Scottish scholars, Campbell, Taylor, Thompson and Massie, as well as numerous contemporary journalist accounts of Scottish political analysts.
Abstract. Since learning a language naturally entails the understanding of the cultural context in which it is used (Kramsch, 1993), it goes without saying that cultural awareness will be best acquired when students immerse themselves in the country of the target culture (Istanto, 2008). The role of the teacher in nurturing cultural understanding is to "take on the role of culture educator and deliberately assist students with their process of cultural analysis" (Istanto, 2009: 280 (Istanto, 2008:290).
It has frequently been stated that the dramatic method of teaching is rather efficient in students’ personal development. The basic practical aspect of this teaching method involves the acquisition of various social and language skills which point to its immense interdisciplinary potential. Apart from the benefits, teaching drama represents a highly challenging task for educators since they are supposed to mediate between the world of artists and the recipients of their art. In order to highlight the challenges and benefits of teaching drama, the theoretical framework of the paper relies on the pioneering lecturing work of Heathcote (1976, 1998), as well as the critical insights of Freire (2005) and Nussbaum (1997). Their methodical perspectives on drama as a learning medium have been combined with the results of the internal survey the authors of the paper conducted in the period 2016-2018 by teaching Renaissance drama courses at the university level.
The paper deals with the notion of moral corruption in Shakespeare's Macbeth. It hopefully proves that the roots of the protagonist's moral corruption stem from diverse social and historical circumstances rather than from his innate capacity for evil, as some critics suggest. By offering the chronicles of crimes and portraying the relationships with the female characters, Macbeth's pangs of conscience are utterly exposed. The paper also includes a detailed account of the notion of guilty conscience and what it uncovers about the protagonist's psyche and the nature of his supposed wickedness.
The paper explores the origins, development and basic genre features of сommedia dell'arte. The first part of the paper deals with the archetypal comic elements of сommedia dell'arte. The historical significance of this type of comedy, as Pandolfi (1957) stresses, lies in the fact that it unequivocally confirms the autonomy of theatrical art by imposing the neverending quest for the freedom to critically examine all the aspects of social life without any dose of censorship or limitations. Its comic pattern has the roots in the grotesque and absurdity of real life, which allows for the actors to fully affirm their artistic aspirations. Shakespeare’s romantic and pastoral comedy focuses on the final reconciliation or conversion of the blocking characters rather than their punishment: the rival brothers Oliver and Orlando are reconciled; Duke Frederick is miraculously converted. This was also a theme present in the medieval tradition of the seasonal ritual play, as Frye notices and claims that “we may call it the drama of the green world, its plot being assimilated to the ritual theme of the triumph of life and love over the waste land...Thus the action of the comedy begins in a world represented as a normal world, moves into the green world, goes into metamorphosis there in which the comic resolution is achieved, and returns to the normal world” (Frye 1957, 182). The Forest of Arden in As You Like It represents an emanation of Frye’s “green world”, which is analogous to the dream world, the world of our desires. In this symbolical victory of summer over winter, we have an illustration of “the archetypal function of literature in visualizing the world of desire, not as an escape from ’reality’, but as the genuine form of the world that human life tries to imitate” (Frye 1957, 184). In addition, the marriage between Orlando and Rosalind takes place in the Forest of Arden not by a coincidence. This is Shakespeare’s vision of the final unity and healing only to be accomplished in the ‘Mother’ Forest, as Hughes terms it (1992, 110), which ultimately represents a symbol of totality of nature and men’s psychic completeness. In Frye’s reading of Shakespeare’s green world, an identical idea of the heroine as the lost soul is expressed: “In the rituals and myths the earth that produces the rebirth is generally a female figure, and the death and revival, or disappearance and withdrawal of human figures in romantic comedy generally involves the heroine” (Frye 1957, 183). Thus, Rosalind represents the epitome of the matriarchal earth goddess that revives the hero and at the same time brings about the comic resolution by disguising herself as a boy (for those members of the audience and/or readers who regard the play as an instance of Hughes’ passive ritual drama and thus primarily enjoy the process of the young lovers’ overcoming various impediments on the way to a desirable end of the play).
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