This paper deals with the motif of game in Sępy, a collection of short stories by Robert Cichowlas and Jacek M. Rostocki. Among the chief characteristics of those stories is their multiple reality perceived by the protagonists as having various levels and dimensions. The ambiguity of the world’s identity is brought on by the clash between the real and the virtual — which points out to the authors’ interest in the relations between the real world and the imagined one. The games presented in the stories tend to impair the protagonists’ perception, making them incapable of proper assessment of the actual situation, which brings about their physical destruction or moral defeat. Here the convention of horror fantasy turns out a useful tool for the creation of the atmosphere of an inconsistent world, resulting in a cognitive dissonance. The game motif’s function is to make the atmosphere of danger and uncertainty of the world’s real nature. The authors also draw on technological and metaphysical fears, which sets their stories in the modern social-moral context.
This paper discusses the motif of a city in Donna Leon’s ‘Venetian’ series. In this American author’s novels, Venice is as much beautiful as it is rife with decay: under its outward beauty dark secrets hide. The author contrasts the beautiful vistas (product of civilisation, result of man’s architectural prowess) with human proclivity to sin and illegal or immoral conduct. The cityscape provides a background against which various destructive, hurtful, and dishonest goings-on are shown. An important role is played by the contrast between Venice of old (emerging from the protagonists’ vivid memories) and modern Venice, one irretrievably set in Europe’s tourist and industrial landscapes. The former cleanliness (also manifest in the city’s immaculate look) is juxtaposed with the now ubiquitous fi lth and pollution — clearly pointing to the city’s degradation.
The article discusses the serial killer motif in the European detective fiction, the distinctive features and basic psychological factors which make up the general image of a serial killer. The article looks at the literary — and thus artistic, fictional — portraits of serial murderers, either based on real psychological research and forensic science or drawing on popular stereotypes. The study deals with the European literature, especially Scandinavian, French, German, and Italian. The bulk of the Polish literature of this kind makes it suitable for separate examination. The distinctive features of serial murderers, as found in their literary counterparts, are: high IQ, almost exemplary social background, and their family’s negative effect on their conduct. Combined, they arouse murderous instincts. Certain modifications of reality can also be found, such as female serial murderers — often featuring in literary fiction, but rare in reality. The article attempts to shed light on the popularity of the serial killer motif in Europe, especially among its northern societies and cultures — seemingly secure and not threatened by crime. Against such a background a disturbing, traumatic picture of an intruder, a serial murderer, can be drawn — and seen as a transgressive element. The serial killer theme receives a surprisingly generous treatment in the European literature. Artist visions show serial killers as alienated individuals, crossing the boundaries of the established order.
Although post-apocalyptic literature is particularly characterized by attempts to depict the world being destroyed by a cataclysm, some researchers emphasize its germinative nature. This predilection stems from the fact that the plots of the narratives of the dawn of the anthropocene era centre around characters-survivors, who – having endured the catastrophe – try to domesticate the danger area. While the chaotic and haphazard actions of many protagonists are not volitional, but rather a result of fortunate coincidences, they do in fact acquire specific goals, which may include finding a safe retreat, getting the lost family back together, or building the future in a completely new habitat. In this perspective, the end of the world actually signifies only the end of a certain era, or civilizational stage, and becomes a turning point indicating the beginning of a new order, different from the previous one. The prefix “post” in such narratives signals an aesthetic intention to create a “re-started” biotope, which is different from the constructs that imitate the reality known to the readers. Therefore, the worldbuilding strategies of the authors focus on the description of the end and subsequent revival, the new beginning.
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Literatura postapokaliptyczna charakteryzuje się szczególnym dążeniem do prezentacji świata pochłanianego przez kataklizm, choć jednocześnie niektórzy badacze podkreślają paradoksalnie zawiązkowy charakter fabuł traktujących o zmierzchu antropocenu. Ta predylekcja wynika z usytuowania fabuły wokół losów bohaterów–ocaleńców, którzy – przetrwawszy ów punkt dywergencji – starają się oswoić przestrzeń zagrożenia. Wielu protagonistów czyni to wprawdzie niejako pozawolicjonalnie, raczej w efekcie fortunnego zbiegu okoliczności. Jednakże rezultatem ich chaotycznych i stochastycznych manewrów jest zyskanie skonkretyzowanego celu, jakim może być próba znalezienia azylu, odzyskania zaginionej rodziny, budowania przyszłości w zupełnie nowym habitacie. W tym ujęciu koniec świata oznacza w praktyce zaledwie finał jakiejś epoki, etapu cywilizacyjnego i staje się cezurą wyznaczającą odmienny od poprzedniego porządek istnienia. Przedrostek „post” wskazuje w takich narracjach na estetyczny zamiar kreacji biotopu w pewien sposób „zrestartowanego”, różnego od konstruktów imitujących znane czytelnikom realia. Wysiłek światotwórczy autorów skupia się zatem na deskrypcji końca i następującego po nim odrodzenia, nowego początku.
The Ring novel and the subsequent movie gained immense popularity, triggering common interest in Japanese horror. The novel is notable for merging religious themes, usually of Shintoistic, Buddhistic and Shamanistic provenance with element of modern civilization. The author of Ring shows deep interest in important themes prevalent in modern Japanese society, e.g. absence of fathers in the process of upbringing. This alliance of tradition and modernity, common in most genres of contemporary Japanese art is merged by Suzuki with the aesthetics of the horror novel, so the critique of modern Japanese intertwines with traditional story about ghosts and curses. Religious and philosophical elements correspond with the image of the mentality of modern Japanese but they also portray more universal themes (like availability of information, communication and media) and fears (epidemic and pandemic threat). The author also criticizes the way media infl uence people and the world itself, so that the fall of the former media star is more important than her suffering. In this vision such elements of the modern everyday life can transform into the force capable of total obliteration of humankind.
The current vogue for zombie is spreading. The zombie pandemic has affected various dimensions of human life manifesting itself in the sphere of entertainment as well as in economic and social discourse. The epidemic character of this term can be noticed in the language usage, in which it has become a catch-all which signifies a person whose appearance, lack of physical coordination and emotional numbness constitute an opportunity to be compared to a walking dead. Anthropophagy, which has become a part of the zombie topos, seems to have many different meanings that refer not only to a cultural taboo, but also to some external aspects which can be defined as a prefiguration of corporations craving for profits, banks devouring borrowers or immigrants rushing at the gates of alleged European paradise. The theme of zombie may also appear in a psychological and sociological perspective. It can be related to such phobias of civilization as economic collapse, disintegration of human relationships and state structures, or global development of corporation-based system. All these elements make up an allegoric meaning of zombie characters and provoke reflection on how the artistic potential of this theme can be exploited.
Multimodal techniques (meaning the use of narrative modes signalised by various typographies etc.) enable a fuller presentation of Caravaggio’s mental dysfunction (in the novel the focalizing role is performed by, among others, the notes of the painter who is falling into obsession and madness – it is these that form his internal storyworld). Confrontation with the journalistic account, provided by the alter ego of the very author of the novel (so called sylleptic narrator) – that is the second level of narration – constitutes the modal frame for the presentation of the artist’s fate and contributes to showing the mental state of Caravaggio who is obsessed with “black sun” (this obsession might be the source of the chiaroscuro technique), and who sees in hallucinations his own severed head. This way, Camilleri creatively exploits the motif of decapitation, found in Caravaggio’s paintings, following many research studies showing that the heads found in the paintings could have been the painter’s self-portraits and expressions of his expiation. This context is supplemented by reproductions of Caravaggio’s paintings, which are embedded in the narration and “commented upon” in his fictional journal, thus constituting yet another layer registering (and illustrating) what takes place in the artist’s mind.
The post-modern gothic simultaneously makes reference to already well-grounded experience, such as the repertoire of motifs and narrative prefigurations which have entered the artistic canon of the convention for good. A lot of figures and characters identified with horror become a part of the transfictional process of allocating them in new settings and re-designing their fictional biographies. Although in TV series reinterpretations of classical literary narratives quite often focus on instilling a positive image of erstwhile impersonation of numinosum, they do offer in return a construal of more contemporaneous fears, aligned with today’s socio-political-economic landscape. This article will include the following series based on literary prototypes representing the very canon of gothic fiction: Dracula, Penny Dreadful, Jekyll and Hyde, Second Chance and Sleepy Hollow as well as elements of productions connected with literary narrations of horror, such as Once Upon a Time.
The article deals with the stereotypical ways in which game players are represented in various TV series whose characters are constructed on the basisof well-worn (and not necessarily authentic) patterns. As a result, one-dimensional motifs of games and players lead to unvarying representations which tend to be bipolar. The screenwriters seem to be convinced that the only function of video games is escapism. The TV series characters are, therefore, constructed on the basis of definite patterns limited to specific personality models ranging from the genius to the simpleton with a low IQ. The article exemplifies stereotypes of games and players. It argues that the monochromatic way of presenting the players results – among others – from the fact that producers and screenwriters are willing to favour the expectations of average viewers and attempt to mirror some universally-acknowledged convictions which are not true.
The article focuses on Internet magazines which specialise in fantasy. Nowadays many writers make their debut via Internet periodicals, although writers who are already well known to the public also publish there. It should be noted that online magazines are often regarded as a valuable form of artistic, journalistic and critical activity. Internet periodicals are often ephemeral creations whose existence can be put to an end thanks to many factors: when the formula runs out; when the editors no longer take interest in their work; when it is impossible to continue the enterprise because of various reasons which have nothing to do with publishing problems. Internet magazines can exist in both traditional and electronic form. Their role, i.a., is to provide information on literary and publishing activities related to the subject matter of the periodical. Online magazines can hold patronage over cultural events; promote writings of particular authors; engage in critical, literary and at times even publishing activities.
This article sets off to discuss the intertextuality of some of Andrea Camilleri’s detective novels which offer a variety of implicit and explicit signals of the bonds between them and the prior texts, and also display the cultural competence of the protagonists — and, thus, of the author (an imposing assembly of thirty names — from Homer to R. Musil to G. Simenon). On the primary semantic level (the linguistic level), the distinctive elements are realised as citations (e.g. songs, poems, proverbs) and direct and indirect references to the names of literary and filmic characters, names of authors and their works’ titles. The fictional world, i.e. the secondary semantic level, abounds, too, in distinctive elements (such as similar situations, events, structures, characters and the descriptions of their looks). The numerous references to the literary tradition document the writer’s striving to ennoble detective fiction and protect it from the negative impact of the homogeneity of modern culture.
The article „This Demonic Bosch”. In Four-Hundredth Anniversary of Painter’s Death by Ksenia Olkusz and Wiesław Olkusz concerns the reception of Hieronymus Bosch in contemporary popular literature. Bosch inspirations are traced in Michael Connelly’s or Jeffrey Lindsay’s crime fiction, as well as in fantasy genre, represented here by Polish writer Jarosław Grzędowicz. Many writers exhibit interests in Bosch’s biography which, in turn, becomes interwoven in their storytelling. These tendencies come not only from the long-observed liaisons between literature and visual arts, but are also a consequence of the increasing popularity of mysterious works of art following Dan Brown’s bestselling novel The Da Vinci Code. In at least a decade after the premiere of Brown’s work, many subsequent books has already proved to be clearly inspired by his concept. This type of novel requires to recall paintings we do not know much about or biographies of painters that are still incomplete or lack precise account of their lives. Accordingly, the oeuvre of Hieronymus Bosch-an enigmatic figure and author of disturbing artworks alike-is presented as a prodigious source of story ideas.
The article Zombie Apocalypse in Contemporary Children’s Literature tackles a subject which has scarcely been mentioned in Polish research on children’s literature: that of catastrophic zombie-centric narratives, elements of which – especially the motif of the zombie apocalypse – are increasingly common in works targeted at children of pre- school and early school age. Three popular English-language picturebooks are interpreted: A Brain Is for Eating (2001) by Dan and Amelia Jacobs with ilustrations by Scott Brundage, Joe McGee and Charles Santoso’s Peanut Butter & Jelly Brains (2015), and Zombie Cat. The Tale of a Decomposing Kitty (2012) by Isabel Atherton and Bethany Straker. The dominant features of these books are respectively: dark carnivalisation and a drastic representation of bloodthirsty monsters; mild carnivalisation and a zombie-child as a humanised phantom; dark carnivalisation with an animal zombie leitmotif. The texts present a multidimensional, grotesque-macabre depiction inspired by children’s folklore and apocalyptic gore cinema, as well as its significance in the context of discourses focused on post-humanism and social issues of importance in the present day. The article also seeks to answer the question of why these subjects are less popular among Polish authors, and what makes them so important in Anglo-Saxon children’s literature.
PL
Artykuł „Apokalipsa zombie we współczesnej literaturze dziecięcej” porusza mało rozpoznany w polskich badaniach nad literaturą dla dzieci temat katastroficznych narracji zombiecentrycznych, których elementy, szczególnie motyw zombie apokalipsy, pojawiają się coraz częściej w utworach skierowanych do dzieci w wieku przedszkolnym i młodszym wieku szkolnym. Interpretacji podlegają trzy popularne anglosaskie książki obrazkowe: „A Brain is for Eating” (2001) Dana i Amelii Jacobsów z ilustracjami Scotta Brundagea,„Peanut Butter & Jelly Brains”(2015) Joe’go McGee i Charles’a Santoso oraz „Zombie Cat. The Tale of a Decomposing Kittu” (2012) Isabel Atherton i Bethany Straker, w których dominuje kolejno: mroczna karnawalizacja i drastyczne ujęcie zombie-dzieci jako krwiożerczych monstrów; łagodna karnawalizacja oraz zombie-dziecko jako fantom uczłowieczony; mroczna karnawalizacja z przewodnim motywem zwierzęcia zombie. Omówione teksty prezentują wielowymiarowe, zaczerpnięte z folkloru dziecięcego i apokaliptycznego kina gore, groteskowo-makabryczne obrazowanie, jak też jego znaczenie w kontekście dyskursów zogniskowanych wokół posthumanizmu i tematów społecznych istotnych dla współczesności. W artykule pojawia się również próba odpowiedzi na pytanie: dlaczego polscy twórcy niechętnie sięgają po omawianą tematykę i z jakiego powodu jest on tak ważny w anglosaskiej literaturze dziecięcej.
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