556 research outputs found
The Picture Letters: an "Illustrated Story-Telling" by Beatrix Potter
No full textA distinctive and noteworthy detail of Beatrix Potter’s literary production is her ability to coordinate text and illustrations, both created by herself. This feature is already evident in the picture letters that the author addressed to children and acquaintances, and that will inspire her most famous stories.
In my presentation, I focus primarily on Beatrix Potter’s artistic education. Then I dwell the characteristics of her picture letters, making particular reference to the evolution of the Tale of Peter Rabbit from letter to its first commercial edition. Finally, as illustrations are so important in Beatrix Potter’s picture letters as well as in her later books, I focus on their characteristics, emphasizing their innovations compared to other children’s illustrations of her age.Even as a child, Beatrix Potter (1866-1943) shows a strong propensity for the arts. Grown up studying scientific manuals, didactic tales, and picture books for children, and observing with curiosity the world around her, Beatrix Potter in her literary production combines the talent for prose with that for drawing. In fact, in the many tales for which she is remembered, many illustrations are used as a supplement to the written text.
The interesting relationship between text and images is particularly evident demonstrated in the series of picture letters – an expression coined by the author herself – letters that Beatrix Potter directs to the Moore children, and from which she will draw inspiration for her most famous characters, such as Peter Rabbit and Benjamin.
In my paper, I intend to study this series of letter, dwelling in particular on their format, based on the relationship between narration and pictures. This formal choice is a true artistic statement of the author, a choice that offers multiple interpretations to the story, and stimulates the attention of the children to whom the letters are addressed, realizing what Linda Lear defines as an “illustrated story-telling”.
Thanks to their unconventional format, the picture letters represent a focal point in Beatrix Potter’s literary production. Probably, just understanding how much her young readers appreciated these letters, the author reached to the idea of writing and illustrating books for children.
These letters are also an artistic experiment and a valid means to mediate between contrasting worlds: the imagination and the natural sciences, fantastic stories for children and the social considerations Beatrix Potter provides in her diary, the iconic impact of the visual set against the structural elements at the base of story-telling (Lear, 2008:132). Nor should it be forgotten that Beatrix Potter used her real life and pets as inspiration for her picture letters. Thus, the letters are capable of reconciling the author’s private experience and her public art.
Illustrations in the picture letters deserve particular attention. They are inspired by the pictures drawn by famous artists for children, such as Edward Lear (1812-1888), Walter Crane (1845-1915), and Rudolph Caldecott (1846-1886). At the same time, Beatrix Potter demonstrates an exceptional scientific accuracy and invaluable attention to detail in them. The self-apprenticeship and study Beatrix Potter had pursued at the Natural History Museum in South Kensington strongly influences the animals in the picture letters – even if they are anthropomorphized, as evidenced by the pretty clothes with which they are equipped – and the bucolic nature around them. The scientific attention demonstrated by Potter’s pictures testifies to a well-spread Victorian attention for the natural sciences, displayed especially by high-society women
Children’s Literature and the British Empire: Colonialism and Orientalism in F. H. Burnett’s A Little Princess (1905) and The Secret Garden (1911)
No full textAs a typical product of their time, Francis Hodgson Burnett’s novels contain many classist and racist descriptions. In both A Little Princess (1905) and The Secret Garden (1911), the London setting is contrasted against the British Empire. In my paper, I analyse the description of the United Kingdom and India: worlds set apart according to geographic, social, and cultural viewpoints, but brought together by characters who migrate from one country to another, or, more specifically, from what is considered the periphery to the centre
Cheap Pills of Philosophy: Calvin and Hobbes and contemporary wisdom
No full textCalvin and Hobbes is a daily comic strip created by the American cartoonist Bill Watterson, published between 1985 and 1995. The setting is a non-specified US city. The strip stars Calvin, a 6-year-old hyper-imaginative boy, and Hobbes, his stuffed tiger. Hobbes has a dual nature: in Calvin’s eyes, Hobbes behaves like a real toy tiger, whereas adult characters perceive it exclusively as an inanimate toy.
In my presentation, I intend to analyse the comic strip Calvin and Hobbes by emphasising the unconventional means through which Watterson discusses contemporary issues and famous philosophical theories. In fact, through Calvin’s daydreams and his friendship with Hobbes, the comic strip broaches contemporary issues, but it also opens to cultural and philosophical discussions, offered to the readers with simplicity and gentle irony.
The name of the characters highlights the philosophical subtext that underlies the comic strip, intended for a crossover readership. Calvin recalls John Calvin (1509-1564), the philosopher who believed in the predestination of the human souls; accordingly, in the comic strip Calvin takes advantage of the theories of his namesake to justify all his wrongdoings. Hobbes takes its name from the philosopher Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679), mainly known for his pessimism about the social behaviour of humankind; likewise, Hobbes the tiger shows its contempt for humanity and is rather proud of its animal condition.
Hobbes’s dual essence of toy and real animal also offers some interesting ideas about the epistemological horizon that surrounds us and the poor perception we have of the world behind the veil of Maya. Watterson plays with this contrast and in some strips inserts situations in which Hobbes’s dual nature manifests itself in a rationally incomprehensible fashion.
“Calvin and Hobbes may have whisked its readers away to faraway planets, the Mesozoic era and a cubist world, but Watterson was always most concerned with having his richly detailed characters parse real issues” (Martell, 2010). Thus, although Watterson retired in 1995, Calvin and Hobbes is still thought-provoking and able to stimulate an audience made, at once, of young and adult readers
Calvin e Hobbes, un dialogo per immagini
No full textCalvin & Hobbes è stata una striscia di fumetti ideata dal disegnatore statunitense Bill Watterson, pubblicata quotidianamente dal 18 novembre 1985 al 31 dicembre 1995 su diverse riviste contemporaneamente. La striscia, ambientata in una città non specificata degli Stati Uniti d’America, ha per protagonisti Calvin, un bambino di sei anni con un’immensa immaginazione, e Hobbes, la sua tigre di pezza. Hobbes è caratterizzato da una doppia natura: agli occhi di Calvin si comporta come una vera tigre animata, mentre gli adulti percepiscono il personaggio esclusivamente come un giocattolo inanimato.
Il fumetto Calvin & Hobbes, inoltre, richiama la celebre serie di A. A. Milne, dedicata all’orsetto Winnie the Pooh
Mrs. Beeton : gastronomia, scienza e innovazione nella cucina vittoriana
No full textSebbene quasi sconosciuto nel contesto culinario italiano, il "Book of Household Management" scritto da Isabella Mayson Beeton (1836-1865) è generalmente considerato una delle opere di maggiore interesse socio-culturale in ambito vittoriano. Le scelte stilistiche dell’autrice, le fonti utilizzate, la struttura del testo e il confronto con manuali simili dell’epoca suggeriscono come l’autrice sia stata in grado di riassumere e chiarire la concezione della cucina nell’Ottocento britannico. Considerando che i manuali di economia domestica non si limitano a descrivere la situazione culinaria contemporanea, ma plasmano anche la realtà proponendo ideali condizioni cui ambire, la serie di "Book of Household Management" pubblicati a partire dal 1861 è indispensabile per comprendere il modo in cui la casa era concepita durante il lungo regno della regina Vittoria. La sezione delle ricette, la parte più corposa del manuale, costantemente aggiornata nel corso delle numerose edizioni successive (nonostante il prematuro decesso dell'autrice!), ricorda all’ambiziosa "middle-class" vittoriana i tradizionali valori domestici, ma anche le nuove teorie nutrizionali, introduce esotici prodotti culinari e illustra i più ricercati stili per allestire la tavola
Mrs Beeton: cooking, science, and innovations in the Victorian kitchen
No full textThe Book of Household Management by Isabella Mayson Beeton (1836-1865) is generally considered one of the most interesting works in the Victorian social and cultural context. The author’s stylistic choices, the sources used, the text structure, and the comparison with similar manuals of the period altogether suggest that Mrs Beeton was able to summarise and clarify the leading concepts of nineteenth-century British cuisine. Indeed, domestic manuals not only describe contemporary culinary habits: they also shape reality, offering the ideal condition to be attained in the kitchen (Gray 2013: 50-52). Therefore, the series named the Book of Household Management published from 1861 onwards is essential to understanding how English homes and food were represented during the long reign of Queen Victoria
Children’s Sexualisation and Toys
No full textThis article offers an analysis of children’s sexualisation in children’s literature by focusing on the collection Barbie Unbound: A Parody of the Barbie Obsession. With Photos by Geoff Hansen (1997) by Sarah Strohmeyer. In the book, the Barbie doll is used as a medium to discuss sexual issues. Away from her typical pink, glossy and superficial world, in Strohmeyer’s collection, Barbie is depicted while facing real problems; thus, she gets involved with dramatic historical events and violent life experiences, at a variety of social roles. Inasmuch as the famous toy is easily identifiable by a children’s, adolescent, and adult audience, Barbie Unbound addresses a crossover readership, and stimulates an intergenerational debate about sexuality. Yet, since adult writers and readers usually repress children’s relationship with sexuality, sex in Barbie Unbound is depicted in antithetical fashion. On the one hand, Strohmeyer offers detailed theoretical instructions to her young readers, and discusses topics of current interest. On the other hand, she tries to limit children’s and teenagers’ actual sexual experiences by stressing their terrible consequences, such as rape and venereal diseases, thus offering a dual interpretation between transgression and politically correct
The Englishwoman’s Domestic Magazine: A Victorian Fashion Guide Edited by the Famous Mrs Beeton
No full textMrs Beeton’s name is for sure one of the most well established in English culture. Her Book of Household Management (1861) is still sold today and recommended as a cookery guide for young women. However, a vital aspect of Mrs Beeton’s literate life is barely known to most readers. Before publishing her household guide, Isabella Mayson (maiden name of the famous Mrs Beeton) used to write about fashion in her husband’s monthly magazine, The Englishwoman’s Domestic Magazine.
In this paper, I intend to explore The Englishwoman’s Domestic Magazine, analysing the question of gender and the cultural issues present in this publication.
Published during the Victorian era (1852-1879), The Englishwoman’s Domestic Magazine was an extremely innovative editorial project. At a time when many magazines were discussing miscellaneous subjects, The Englishwoman’s Domestic Magazine occupied a niche market, addressing itself for the first time to middle-class women and their interests, among which fashion is a central topic. Considering the limited financial conditions of the audience, the editors understood the importance of underlining the economic issues involved in house management and in the requirements of fashion. Mrs Beeton’s fashion column offered pragmatic advice to help her readers to get dressed like well-to-do ladies. Furthermore, by combining practical information, fiction, and instructions for everyday life duties, the magazine set a model for the women’s press of today. It discussed the social condition of women and included two correspondence columns, an essay competition, a loyalty bonus – all three instances of the editorial novelties introduced by Mr Beeton’s creative mind. Last but not least, a detailed fashion column was always present, enriched with illustrations.
While taking inspiration from several French magazines, such as Le Jardin des Modes, the Beetons managed their fashion column with great style and originality. They even introduced for the first time patterns in real size, which, on request and for a fee, could be tailored for the readers. Thus, The Englishwoman’s Domestic Magazine obtained a deserved and solid success, setting Mrs Beeton’s name in the editorial canon long before her cookery series
Gdybyś zaźadala / Tosti, comp. O matko moja / Moniuszki [sic], comp ; Adamo Didur, B [acc p]
No full textTitre uniforme : Tosti, Paolo (1846-1916). Compositeur. [Si tu le voulais]Titre uniforme : Moniuszko, Stanisław (1819-1872). Compositeur. [O Matko moja. Voix, piano]Comprend : Gdybyś zaźadala / Tosti, comp ; Adamo Didur, B [acc p] ; O matko moja / Moniuszki [sic], comp ; Adamo Didur, B [acc p]Enregistrement : (Italie) Milan, 22-02-1906Contient une table des matière
Neuroleptics attenuate stereotyped behavior induced by beta-phenylethylamine in rats
No full textβ-phenylethylamine (PEA), a sympathomimetic amine, has been detected in a number of mammalian tissues (Wyatt et al., 1977), but its function is unknown. It is structurally similar to amphetamine; the only difference being the absence of a methyl group on the α-carbon of the side chain. PEA is preferentially degraded by the type B (Yang and Neff, 1973) monoamine oxidase (MAO) which is deficient in the platelets of some chronic schizophrenics (Wyatt and Murphy, 1976). PEA, like amphetamine, produces stereotyped behavior and hyperactivity in rats (Randrup and Munkvad, 1966; Sabelli et al., 1975); moreover, there are progressive increases in these behaviors with increasing dosages of both PEA and the monoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAOI), pargyline (Moja et al., 1976). In this paper we report modification of PEA-induced stereotyped behavior (in pargyline-pretreated rats) by neuroleptic drugs. Pargyline, when given in the doses used here, preferentially inhibits the B form of MAO (Fuentes and Neff, 1975)
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