404 research outputs found
“MIDDLE GROUND,” “DUALITY,” AND “DIVERSIMILARITY” AS RESPONSES TO POSTCOLONIAL AND GLOBAL CHALLENGES IN CHINUA ACHEBE’S "THE EDUCATION OF A BRITISH-PROTECTED CHILD" AND "NO LONGER AT EASE"
No full textThis paper discusses two literary works by Chinua Achebe—"No Longer at Ease" (1960) and "The Education of a British-Protected Child" (2011)—in the context of the issue of diversity in the postcolonial setting. It aims to approach Achebe’s work from a new perspective, by applying a theoretical paradigm employed in business to the study of literature and culture. The “diversimilarity” paradigm, used for managing cultural diversity in organisations, is applied and shown to be pertinent to the investigation of literature, too. The methodology employed combines theoretical data with the practical implications of the conceptual framework on Achebe’s work. The paper starts with a discussion of the diversity concept and then moves on to tackle the diversimilarity paradigm in business. Then the investigation focuses on Achebe’s “duality” and “middle ground” concepts as they assist diversimilarity, concepts which work together at the levels of mentality, ideology, and identity. Finally, the paper focuses on language and the methods proposed by Achebe to manage and solve the existing linguistic diversity problems in Nigeria. The findings show that in the works explored, the diversimilarity paradigm is assisted by other concepts as solutions for the Nigerian people to cope with diversity. Moreover, Achebe shows that the other conceptions that support diversimilarity are still effective, even though they are rooted in the ancestral values of his Igbo people. The originality of the paper results from placing Achebe’s literary work in the context of contemporary concerns related to human identity in the postcolonial globalized environment and from expanding the scope and methods of literary research by employing concepts from other areas of human activity. Thus, the intersection between the worlds of the economy and culture seems fruitful for the investigation of cultural diversity
A New Early Ripening Table Grape Cultivar Obtained in Pietroasa Research Station: Vitis vinifera L. cv. Mihaela
No full textAbstractThe evolution of the internal Romanian market for table grapes in recent years suggests that there are occasional problems with the supply, sometimes requiring imports, as well as a need for early maturing varieties, which can bring important benefits for both producers and consumers. This paper presents some data regarding a promising new variety of table grapes, Mihaela, obtained at the Pietroasa Research Station located in Buzău county, Romania, by crossing of Vitis vinifera varieties Cardinal and Coarnă neagră, the last being the maternal ancestor. Presented data includes ampelographic features, agrobiological and technological traits for the new Mihaela cultivar, as well as for its parent varieties. The results recorded thus far present Mihaela as a valuable early ripening variety which could be a good addition to the table grapes assortment of many producers
From Defoe to Coetzee’s Foe/Foe through Authorship
No full textThe article investigates the concept of authorship in the works of two authors separated by three centuries, namely, Daniel Defoe and J. M. Coetzee, both concerned, in different ways, with aspects regarding the origin and originators of literary works or with the act of artistic creation in general. After a brief literature review, the article focuses on Coetzee’s contemporary revisitation of the question of authorship and leaps back and forth in time from Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe (1719) to Coetzee’s Foe (1986). The purpose is that of highlighting the multiple perspectives (and differences) regarding the subject of authorship, including such notions and aspects as: canonicity related to the act of writing and narrating, metafiction, self-reflexivity and intertextuality, silencing and voicing, doubling, bodily substance and the substance of a story, authenticity, (literary) representation and the truth, authoring, the author’s powers, the relation between author and character or between narrator and story, authorial self-consciousness, agency, or ambiguity. The findings presented in the article show that both works are seminal in their attempts to define and redefine the notion of authorship, one (Defoe) concerned with the first literary endeavours of establishing the roles of professional authorship in England, while the other (Coetzee), intervenes in existing literary discussions of the late twentieth century concerning the postmodern author and (the questioning of or liberation of the text from) his powers
NOȚIUNEA DE ”ONLINE” ÎN SISTEMUL EDUCAȚIONAL
No full textAceastă lucrare își propune explorarea amănunțită a termenului ”online” la nivelul instituțiilor de învățământ prin analizarea evoluției digitalizării educaționale. Scopul cercetării este identificarea impactului transpunerii în online a mediului academic, analizând modul în care decursul educațional este adaptat noilor tehnologii, precum și efectele asupra proceselor de predare și învățare. Cercetarea se fundamentează pe mai multe articole științifice și studii anterioare ce abordează subiectul digitalizării învățământului, având drept sursă de inspirație o serie de jurnale ale facultății SNSPA: SCRD Journal, SCIC Proceedings, TRUST Proceedings. Mai mult, lucrarea utilizează o gamă largă de abordări, prin îmbinarea studiului, analizei datelor și interpretarea rezultatelor sondajului de opinie. Prin acestea, se dorește obținerea unei perspective complexe și complete asupra percepției termenului ”online” la nivel educațional și nivelul de receptivitate asupra noilor tehnologii. Lucrarea include o analiză a modului în care instrumentul bazat pe Inteligența Artificială: ChatGPT poate fi utilizat în procesul educațional și în redactarea lucrărilor de licență. Rezultatul acestei cercetări va reliefa diferențele între universitățile deschise la digitalizare și cele reticiente față de aceasta, avantajele și dezavantajele implementării, precum și impactul adaptabilității atât asupra studenților, cât și a cadrelor didactice. Va fi subliniată o evoluție la nivelul integrării resurselor online, dar, cu toate acestea, evoluția este stompată de accesul inegal la tehnologie, analfabetizare digitală și pregătirea insuficientă a cadrelor didactice. Rezultatele sunt relevante în special pentru persoanele afectate direct de digitalizarea educațională: cadrele didactice și studenți, cât și pentru cercetătorii din domeniul învățământului, din perspectiva oferirii unei viziuni asupra termenului ”online” și discrepanța decalajelor digitale întâmpinate. Această lucrare reflectă contribuția personală asupra domeniului educațional și asocierea acestuia în cadrul tehnologizării, prin corelarea datelor analizate și a aspectelor teoretice în vederea propunerii unei analize comparative și a metodelor de combatere a obstacolelor în contextul actual
Images of the Moral Order: (Im)Morality and Redemption in Daniel Defoe’s The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders
No full textThe article starts from investigating the human preoccupation with the role and importance of divine providence through the centuries, with special emphasis on eighteenth-century English images of providence and divine authority, while observing the way in which the old tradition of magic and providential action was, during the same century, gradually overcome by the influence of Christian precepts and beliefs. Eighteenth-century England does not appear, at first sight, as a particularly religious age. Yet, religious themes pervade almost all the novels of the period, focusing on issues of morality or immorality. The recurrent invocation of, and belief in, God’s guidance of humans was also related to human sinful practices under such forms as theft, adultery, or prostitution. The article analyses the way in which images of providence and human practices related to morality or immorality played an important role on the cultural scene of the eighteenth-century England, particularly in Daniel Defoe’s novel The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders and Henry Fielding’s The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling. Special attention is paid to some key social and cultural agents such as the priest or, at the opposite pole, the prostitute seeking redemption. Investigating these characters’ relation to the divine order and its injunctions, the article intends to reveal their moral and spiritual accomplishment or failure
Addressing the age-old question of human perfectibility in Daniel Defoe's Mere Nature Delineated: or, a Body without a Soul
No full textThis article discusses the concern with the improvement or perfectibility of human nature in eighteenth-century English society and the necessity of its encouragement considering the prevalence of human degeneration at different levels: intellectual, moral, social, political or cultural. After a brief presentation of the philosophical and literary background of the perfectibility debates, we look into Daniel Defoe's literary representation of human improvement and degeneration in his Mere Nature Delineated: or, a Body without a Soul (1726). Defoe's pamphlet had its roots in a real case of human imperfection or degradation, namely in Peter the Wild Boy's story, which gave him the opportunity to criticize his contemporaries' vices and failures.This article discusses the concern with the improvement or perfectibility of human nature in eighteenth-century English society and the necessity of its encouragement considering the prevalence of human degeneration at different levels: intellectual, moral, social, political or cultural. After a brief presentation of the philosophical and literary background of the perfectibility debates, we look into Daniel Defoe's literary representation of human improvement and degeneration in his Mere Nature Delineated: or, a Body without a Soul (1726). Defoe's pamphlet had its roots in a real case of human imperfection or degradation, namely in Peter the Wild Boy's story, which gave him the opportunity to criticize his contemporaries' vices and failures
Images of the Moral Order: (Im)Morality and Redemption in Daniel Defoe’s The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders
No full textThe article starts from investigating the human preoccupation with the role and importance of divine providence through the centuries, with special emphasis on eighteenth-century English images of providence and divine authority, while observing the way in which the old tradition of magic and providential action was, during the same century, gradually overcome by the influence of Christian precepts and beliefs. Eighteenth-century England does not appear, at first sight, as a particularly religious age. Yet, religious themes pervade almost all the novels of the period, focusing on issues of morality or immorality. The recurrent invocation of, and belief in, God’s guidance of humans was also related to human sinful practices under such forms as theft, adultery, or prostitution. The article analyses the way in which images of providence and human practices related to morality or immorality played an important role on the cultural scene of the eighteenth-century England, particularly in Daniel Defoe’s novel The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders and Henry Fielding’s The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling. Special attention is paid to some key social and cultural agents such as the priest or, at the opposite pole, the prostitute seeking redemption. Investigating these characters’ relation to the divine order and its injunctions, the article intends to reveal their moral and spiritual accomplishment or failure
Images of the Moral Order: (Im)Morality and Redemption in Daniel Defoe’s The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders
No full textThe article starts from investigating the human preoccupation with the role and importance of divine providence through the centuries, with special emphasis on eighteenth-century English images of providence and divine authority, while observing the way in which the old tradition of magic and providential action was, during the same century, gradually overcome by the influence of Christian precepts and beliefs. Eighteenth-century England does not appear, at first sight, as a particularly religious age. Yet, religious themes pervade almost all the novels of the period, focusing on issues of morality or immorality. The recurrent invocation of, and belief in, God’s guidance of humans was also related to human sinful practices under such forms as theft, adultery, or prostitution. The article analyses the way in which images of providence and human practices related to morality or immorality played an important role on the cultural scene of the eighteenth-century England, particularly in Daniel Defoe’s novel The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders and Henry Fielding’s The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling. Special attention is paid to some key social and cultural agents such as the priest or, at the opposite pole, the prostitute seeking redemption. Investigating these characters’ relation to the divine order and its injunctions, the article intends to reveal their moral and spiritual accomplishment or failure
KNYGŲ KAIP PREKIŲ ŽENKLŲ SKLAIDA IR AUTORIAUS TAPATYBĖS REIKŠMĖ: LYGINAMASIS POŽIŪRIS
No full textMarketing books discuss personality branding, institutional branding, corporate branding, product branding, or touristic branding, but books are excluded from the discussion on product brands, even though we witness a growing interest in books and writers as cultural products. More than that, we may say that the book is a commodity in the context of the consumer revolution and “the commoditization of knowledge”, to use Roberta Sassatelli’s phrase [31]. If nations, towns, universities, business schools, celebrities, even TV programmes are brands, then books could be considered as brands, too. We could even say that books are commodified brands and the branding process must involve efficient branding strategies, so authors construct a brand as a marker of their identity in the postmodern commodified world.The paper looks at some current strategies for book and authorial branding, which were theoretically launched by American authors, and the ways in which they are practised by English and Romanian authors. Firstly, we provide the aims and scope of the study and the conceptual framework assisting us in the discussion of current trends in book branding, and we also expound the trajectory from classical brand types to books as brands. Secondly, we present the major features of the book branding process and illustrate some book and authorial branding strategies and the extent of their usage in England and Romania, such as self-publishing, the digitalization of the writer, the commodification of arts or the pact between art and business, which instantiates this phenomenon. The results of the comparative exploration of these branding strategies disclose the various differences between Romanian and English literary production, management and marketing practices that enable books and their authors to respond to the new cultural and commercial demands.The investigation takes its cue from aspects concerning literary production, modern publishing and print culture, marketing discourse and practices, cultural production, and cultural studies in general.Faculty of Letters, Vasile Alecsandri University of BacăuStr. Spiru Haret, nr. 8, Bacău 600114, RomaniaE-mail address: Kalbant apie knygų prekybą, nagrinėjama institucijų, asmenybių, korporacijų ir bendrųjų produktų, net turistinių prekių ir kitokių ženklų sklaida, tačiau apie pačias knygas kaip prekių ženklus dažniausiai nutylima, nors susidomėjimas knygomis ir jų kūrėjais kaip kultūros produktais akivaizdžiai didėja. Negana to, Robertos Sassatelli žodžiais galime teigti, kad vartojimo revoliucijos ir „žinių suprekinimo“ kontekste knygos tampa preke. Jei tautos, miestai, universitetai, verslo mokyklos, asmenybės, net televizijos programos yra prekių ženklai, tai ir knygas galima vertinti kaip prekių ženklus. Galima net sakyti, kad knygos – tai sukomercinti prekių ženklai ir jų sklaidos procesas turi apimti našias strategijas: autoriai kuria savo prekės ženklą kaip savo tapatybės žymenį postmoderniame suprekintame pasaulyje.Straipsnyje nagrinėjamos kai kurios šiuolaikinės knygų ir autorių kaip prekių ženklų sklaidos strategijos, kurių teorinį pagrindą sukūrė JAV autoriai, ir tai, kaip šias strategijas taiko Jungtinės Karalystės ir Rumunijos autoriai. Pirmiausia apibūdinami tyrimo tikslai, apimtis ir konceptualioji sistema, padedanti aptarti dabartines knygų kaip prekės ženklų sklaidos kryptis, taip pat aiškinama, kaip buvo pereita nuo klasikinių prekės ženklų tipų prie knygų kaip prekės ženklų, atskleidžiami svarbiausi knygų kaip prekės ženklų sklaidos ypatumai, kai kurios knygų ir autorių kaip prekės ženklų sklaidos strategijos ir jų naudojimo mastas Jungtinėje Karalystėje bei Rumunijoje (autorinė leidyba, tekstų skaitmeninimas, menų suprekinimas arba meno ir verslo susiliejimas kaip šio reiškinio išraiška). Lyginamasis šių strategijų tyrimas išryškina Jungtinės Karalystės ir Rumunijos rašytinės kūrybos, vadybos ir rinkodaros praktikų skirtumus, kurie knygoms ir jų autoriams padeda atitikti naujus kultūrinius ir komercinius poreikius.Nagrinėti šią temą paskatino spausdintinės produkcijos, dabarties knygų leidybos ir spaudos kultūros aktualijos, rinkodaros diskursas ir jo praktika, kultūrinės produkcijos ir kultūros studijos apskritai
Revisiting British royalty myths in Alan Bennett’s The Uncommon Reader
No full textA number of English writers have started to criticize the monarchy in line with
public anti-monarchist views which are mainly stimulated by campaign group
Republic.2 Among them, Sue Townsend (1946 – ) is both comical and subtly ironic
in her novels The Queen and I (1992), Number Ten (2002) or Queen Camilla
(2006). In The Uncommon Reader (2006/2008), the critical voice of another
English writer, Alan Bennett (1934 – ), is milder and more sympathetic; yet,
underneath the apparently humorous attitude concerning the British monarchy, he
also tackles some significant concerns or complaints of the British subjects
concerning their sovereign
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