Open Access Scientific Journals of the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures of the University of Verona
Not a member yet
1385 research outputs found
Sort by
“It Must Even Be Dramatized”: Scrittura teatrale e forme shakespeariane in “The Moon Is Down” di John Steinbeck
No full textLa principale intenzione di questo saggio è riportare all’attenzione critica uno dei romanzi cosiddetti ‘minori’ di John Steinbeck, The Moon Is Down (La luna è tramontata, 1942) attraverso l’analisi dei rimandi e delle connessioni con i temi dell’opera shakespeariana in generale, e con il Macbeth in particolare. Nato come libro propagandistico a sostegno dell’azione dei paesi alleati degli Stati Uniti durante la Seconda guerra mondiale, il testo viene pensato da Steinbeck nella forma del play-novella, scelta che viene posta in primo piano nell’argomentazione del saggio. Sulla scorta di indizi di lettura presenti nella ricezione critica coeva al testo, l’autore propone e sviluppa la centralità del tema del sogno nell’ipotesi di The Moon Is Down come testo contro la guerra.In this essay the author means to analyze a ‘minor’ text by John Steinbeck, The Moon Is Down (1942), by bringing new attention to its Shakespearian themes and modes, in particular its link with Macbeth, already apparent in the title of the book. To reconsider this novel, written by Steinbeck as a piece of war propaganda for the US allies in the Second World War, also implies tackling the debated issue of the literary genre, implicated in Steinbeck’s experimental choice of the play-novella. Framed in the context of the critical reception of the time, this essay develops the relevance of dreams and dreaming in the antiwar theme of the novel
William Winstanley, «El paladín de Essex», introducción, traducción y notas María Losada Friend, estudio y traducción Pedro Javier Pardo, Salamanca/Madrid, Universidad/Instituto Cervantes, 2022 (Biblioteca del Quijote Transnacional
No full textRecensione di William Winstanley, El paladín de Essex, introducción, traducción y notas María Losada Friend, estudio y traducción Pedro Javier Pardo, Salamanca/Madrid, Universidad/Instituto Cervantes, 2022 (Biblioteca del Quijote Transnacional).Reseña de William Winstanley, El paladín de Essex, introducción, traducción y notas María Losada Friend, estudio y traducción Pedro Javier Pardo, Salamanca/Madrid, Universidad/Instituto Cervantes, 2022 (Biblioteca del Quijote Transnacional).Review of William Winstanley, El paladín de Essex, introducción, traducción y notas María Losada Friend, estudio y traducción Pedro Javier Pardo, Salamanca/Madrid, Universidad/Instituto Cervantes, 2022 (Biblioteca del Quijote Transnacional)
Occupations in Two Editions of Webster’s “Speller” as Evidence of Socio-Economic Changes in the Early Republic
No full textQuesto articolo esamina le professioni elencate in due edizioni dello speller di Webster, The American Spelling Book (1829) e The Elementary Spelling Book (1832), per confrontare le occupazioni che appaiono in ogni speller. Molte occupazioni sono registrate nell\u27American Spelling Book o nel Elementary Spelling Book, ma non in entrambi, il che indica che gli speller descrivono diverse fasi dello sviluppo del paese. In primo luogo, l\u27Elementary Spelling Book registra le occupazioni che dimostrano la specializzazione e la professionalizzazione dei lavoratori e dimostra che la situazione socioeconomica è cambiata. Così, l\u27esame indica che nel suo desiderio di caratterizzare la nuova nazione, Webster finisce per registrare i cambiamenti socioeconomici che hanno caratterizzato la rivoluzione industriale e la burocratizzazione dello stato.This article compares the professions listed in two editions of Webster’s speller, The American Spelling Book (1829) and The Elementary Spelling Book (1832). Many occupations are recorded either in the American Spelling Book or in the Elementary Spelling Book, but not in both, which indicates that the spellers are describing different stages in the development of the country. Principally, the Elementary Spelling Book records occupations that evince the specialization and professionalization of the workers and demonstrate a reorganization of socioeconomic factors. The examination indicates that, in his desire to characterize the new nation, Webster ends up recording the socioeconomic changes that typified the industrial revolution and the bureaucratization of the state. Since Webster wanted to influence the youth and educate children to be good citizens, his spellers do not simply list words for plain linguistic reasons, but record words with social relevance. Therefore, the list of occupations that Webster presented in the spellers depicts different social circumstances and different stages in the country’s developmen
MoReThesisCorpus: Documenting Academic Language as Used in the Theses Submitted to the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia
No full textThe article discusses the on-going process for the creation of the MoReThesisCorpus, outlining its major characteristics and offering an account of the considerations and issues involved so far. The corpus, composed of the theses submitted to the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia between 2011 and 2020, is being developed as part of the project CAP (‘Comunicazione Accademica e Professionale;’ Academic and Professional Communication), and is meant to foster research into academic language in a cross-disciplinary discourse perspective, as well as to facilitate the production of educational materials aimed at university students. It aims at supporting the acquisition of discipline-related vocabularies and styles to improve the learning of academic writing through corpus tools and resources, following a data-driven learning approach. Technical details surrounding the acquisition and subsequent processing of the data are discussed, along with considerations on a number of issues pertaining both to computer science and linguistics, directly impinging on the capability of the corpus to correctly support an investigation of academic discourse across different languages and disciplines
Between Paradise and Apocalypse: The Relationship between Man, Nature and Technology in Matthias Glaubrecht\u27s «Das Ende der Evolution»
No full textDiese narrative Medienanalyse des Sachbuchs Das Ende der Evolution von Matthias Glaubrecht (2019) zeigt auf, wie ein non-fiktionales Medium nach dem Muster eines Future Narrative den Kampf zwischen Mensch und Natur inszeniert. Technologie spielt dabei nur dann eine positive Rolle, wenn sie die Biologie in ihrer Arbeit unterstützt, deren Ergebnisse als Herrschaftswissen dominant gesetzt werden.This narrative media analysis of the popular German science non-fiction bestseller Das Ende der Evolution by Matthias Glaubrecht (2019) shows how such a medium can portray the conflict between humans and nature in the shape of a Future Narrative. Humans are displayed as «predators» that must withdraw from nature in order to preserve it, popularizing in this way the scientific concept of strong sustainability. Technology can only support humans that work as biologists, whilst other humans are depreciated, thus constructing the biologists’ knowledge as dominant. Nevertheless, the text itself discusses on a meta-textual level its constructive character, thus leading to a doubled paradox of postulating the inambiguity of facts despite of the existence of contesting alternatives
Remembering what it is like to have Wings. Man and Nature in «Sibirien Ett självporträtt med vingar» by Ulla-Lena Lundberg.
No full textNell’opera Sibirien. Ett självporträtt med vingar (1993, Siberia. Un autoritratto con ali) dell’autrice svedese di Finlandia Ulla-Lena Lundberg, la rappresentazione del sé si lega indissolubilmente alla percezione degli elementi naturali circostanti. Il presente contributo, attingendo alle riflessioni proposte dagli Human-Animal Studies e dall’ecocritica, analizza il modo in cui Lundberg mette in discussione la dicotomia natura-cultura e sfuma i confini tra uomo e ambiente.In Sibirien. Ett självporträtt med vingar (1993, Siberia. A self-portrait with wings) by the Finland-Swedish author Ulla-Lena Lundberg, the representation of the self is inextricably linked to the perception of the surrounding natural elements. Drawing on the reflections proposed by Human-Animal Studies and Ecocriticism, this contribution analyses the way in which Lundberg questions the nature-culture dichotomy and blurs the boundaries between human beings and the environment
Post-postmodernists can’t jump: Il basket come metafora letteraria in “Vanilla Dunk” di Jonathan Lethem
No full textIl contributo intende analizzare la rappresentazione del basket in “Vanilla Dunk” di Jonathan Lethem. L’ipotesi che si intende dimostrare è che l’autore usi il basket per orchestrare una riflessione meta-letteraria sull’eredità del postmodernismo letterario. Le regole del basket fantascientifico inventato da Lethem si prestano perfettamente a rappresentare alcuni tic della letteratura postmodernista: in “Vanilla Dunk,” ciascun giocatore indossa una ipertuta che gli permette di giocare campionando lo stile di un grande cestista del passato. Questi giocatori costretti a praticare uno sport destinato solo a ripetere all’infinito momenti di partite che sono già state giocate da altri echeggiano le ansie di Lethem e dei suoi contemporanei: cosa vuol dire fare letteratura dopo che una generazione di rivoluzionari ha ribaltato il tavolo della finzione letteraria svelandone i meccanismi nascosti? quando le storie da raccontare sono state esaurite e la letteratura sembra destinata a rappresentare sempre e solo sé stessa? Facendo leva sulle analisi del postmodernismo letterario condotte tra gli altri da Patricia Waugh e John Barth, il saggio intende soffermarsi in particolare sui tre personaggi principali del racconto, che incarnano altrettante possibili strategie per relazionarsi con questa ingombrante eredità. Tra una accettazione acritica ma superficiale del funambolismo stilistico postmodernista e un ritorno a un realismo ormai anacronistico, Lethem sembra invocare la necessità di una terza via. Il saggio tenta infine di definire i connotati di questa terza via, analizzando il finale del racconto di Lethem alla luce delle riflessioni di David Foster Wallace sugli anti-rebels letterari.This essay aims to argue that in his short story “Vanilla Dunk” (1992), Jonathan Lethem employs basketball to reflect on the legacy of literary postmodernism. In Lethem’s story, basketball players wear exo-suits which duplicate the skills of great ballers from the past. This science-fictional sport, where athletes are forced to continuously re-enact games that somebody else has already played, is meant to echo the meta-fictional literary practices that became common during the Sixties. Lethem is trying to express a generational anxiety: how is it possible to keep creating literature after a generation of revolutionaries unveiled the hidden mechanisms behind fictional illusion? The essay focuses particularly on the story’s three main characters, who are meant to portray three different strategies for writers of the post-postmodernist generation to deal with this cumbersome heritage. Lethem seems to suggest a compromise: younger writers can neither acritically duplicate postmodernist style, nor can they simply ignore it and resort to traditional realism. In the end, the essay interprets Lethem’s compromise by drawing a comparison between the narrative strategies employed in “Vanilla Dunk” and David Foster Wallace’s considerations about literary anti-rebels.
(Re)presenting Science in Research Articles and Press Releases: A Contrastive Analysis of Titles and Headlines
No full textScience communication is a powerful supplier of scientific knowledge for the public (see Harmatiy 2021; Kueffer and Larson 2014). While popularization discourse has been explored in depth (see for example, Calsamiglia and Van Dijk 2004; Garzone 2014, 2020; Gotti 2014; Luzón 2013; Myers 2003), the ways specific linguistic strategies impact content and the communication of science still need to be fully explored. The general purpose of this study is to explore how titles of scientific articles are transformed to be turned into headlines of press releases. Specifically, it aims first to identify recurring discursive patterns in the adaptation of titles in scientific discourse to headlines in science communication. Second, it investigates whether these patterns have an impact on the way scientific knowledge is presented. Two matching corpora were used: one of titles of research articles and one of headlines of research-based university press releases. The unique feature of these two corpora is that they have a bijective relation, so that each of the 210 titles of scientific papers matches one of the 210 university press release headlines. Results show that many linguistic strategies in science journalism are the mirror image of scientific discourse: three strategies were identified that contribute to two different representations of science, as an ongoing process in academic titles and a conclusive fact in press releases’ headlines: 1) the validity-endorsement strategy; 2) the V-ing construction; 3) the opposition between unspecified association vs. explicit relation
Analyzing Binary Relationships of Identity Labels Using Distributional Semantic Models: A Critical Queer Linguistic Analysis of an English Language Subreddit
No full textFollowing the shift towards quantitative, corpus-based analysis in queer linguistics, I examine the usage of identity labels to explore the binary relationships and predicted normative effects in the case of the online community r/lgbt, a subreddit dedicated to minority identity labels and discussion.
I analyze the distribution of the most frequent identity labels of the subreddit in a 2-year period with distributional semantic models, vector-based matrices that capture word distributions as numeric representations, showing evidence for various binaries that co-construct each other within the corpus. Additionally, I utilize concordances and collocations to examine the discourses surrounding gender and sexuality in the comments and submissions subcorpora, showing a more queer-aligned perspective in the former and a label-searching perspective in the latter.
Finally, the results from these techniques demonstrate the overall complex relationships between the many types of labels currently in use and between the subreddit users and their feelings about adopting specific labels to describe their identities