Abstracts – Beyond Otherness

Beyond otherness

ABSTRACTS / POVZETKI

Lilijana Burcar

Mainstream Multiculturalism and its Aftermaths: Trappings of Intersectionality in Sandra Cisneros’s The House on Mango Street

For the last three decades, Sandra Cisneros’s The House on Mango Street has featured as one of the pivotal literary pieces in the contemporary Anglo-American canon, bringing together and supposedly successfully merging the issues of gender, class, race and multiculturalism under the rubric of intersectionality. This paper sheds critical light on mainstream multiculturalism that Cisneros’ work embodies, problematizing the discourse of tolerance versus true equality. Mainstream multiculturalism based on identity politics constitutes one of the central axes and building blocks of the intersectional approach that critics have sought to apply to the understanding and interpretation of Cisneros’s contemporary classic. The paper argues that mainstream multiculturalism based on tolerance discourse helps to perpetuate essentialist identity categories, which in turn, contrary to surface appearance, also function as basic operating principles of intersectionality. Rather than overcoming these essentialist categories, intersectionality, contrary to the claims of its mainstream proponents, helps to further consolidate them, which in turn also constitutes one of the trappings of intersectionality and aftermaths of mainstream multiculturalism.

Mainstreamovski multikulturalizem in njegove posledice: pasti intersekcionalnosti v Hiši v Ulici Mango Sandre Cisneros

V anglo-ameriškem kanonu Hiša v Ulici Mango avtorice Sandre Cisneros že trideset let velja za eno od osrednjih in ključnih literarnih del, ki naj bi med seboj uspešno povezalo vprašanje spola, razreda, konstrukta rase in multikulturalizma v okviru t. i. intersekcionalizma. Prispevek kritično osvetli mainstreamovski multikulturalizem, na katerem sloni obravnavani roman, pri čemer problematizira diskurz tolerance, za katerega pokaže, da stoji v nasprotju z diskurzom enakosti. Posledično iz tega izhaja dvoje diametralno nasprotnih oblik gledanja in delovanja v svetu. Mainstreamovska oblika multikulturalizma, ki temelji na identitetnih politikah, predstavlja tudi osrednji gradnik intersekcionalnega pristopa, ki ga literarna kritiška srenja neproblematično aplicira na razumevanje in interpretacijo romana Hiša v Ulici Mango. Prispevek pokaže, da mainstreamovski multikulturalizem, ki je zavezan diskurzu tolerance, ne pa enakosti, utrjuje in nadalje perpetuira esencialistične identitetne kategorije. Te nadalje naturalizira in poglablja tudi intersekcionalizem navkljub videzu njihovega preseganja, kar predstavlja osrednjo past nereflektirane rabe intersekcionalizma, in eno od trajnih posledic mainstreamovskega multikulturalizma.

Oliver Currie

Globalization, Dispossession and Resistance: Evocations of the Highland Clearances in Contemporary Readings and Translations of Moladh Beinn Dòbhrain (“Praise of Ben Dorain”)

Duncan Ban MacIntyre’s long poem “Moladh Beinn Dòbhrain” (“Praise of Ben Dorain”), composed in the mid-18th century, is an uncontested classic of Scottish Gaelic and Scottish literature more generally, regularly included in anthologies of Scottish poetry and retranslated into English, including by Hugh MacDiarmid (1941, 43-58), Iain Crichton Smith (1969) and most recently by Alan Riach (2013) and Garry Mackenzie (2019, 2021). Yet, its interpretation has become somewhat of an enigma. Is it simply a virtuoso nature poem and intimate account of deer stalking, a eulogy of a mountain (Beinn Dòbhrain) and the deer that inhabit it (Crichton Smith 1986, 132-135), or is it perhaps also a political poem, obliquely asserting the right of the people, symbolised by the deer, to live on their ancestral lands, from which they were soon to be evicted and replaced by sheep as part of the Highland Clearances (Gillies 1977)? Part of the reason for this enigma is that the potential for political interpretation lies not (explicitly) in the text of the poem itself, but rather in its intertextuality and place in wider Gaelic culture and poetic tradition, including not only earlier Gaelic panegyric poetry, but also later poems by Duncan Ban MacIntyre lamenting the lost communities and the changed landscape of Beinn Dòbhrain overrun by sheep, as well as Sorley MacLean’s influential and overtly anti-Clearance poem “Hallaig” (MacLean 1989). There is, perhaps, no starker manifestation of globalization than when local communities are overwhelmed by more powerful global economic and political forces and are dispossessed of their ancestral lands. Such dispossession of local communities and indigenous peoples is a well-known feature of contemporary globalization, but has also recurred throughout history, particularly notoriously in the 18th and 19th century Highland Clearances, as it affected a whole people, the Gaels of Scotland. It deeply marked their cultural memory and literature and was ultimately met with fierce resistance. This paper explores why there is an enduring interest in “Moladh Beinn Dòbhrain” and how the theme of the Highland Clearances is evoked in contemporary readings and translations (Riach 2006, 2013; MacKenzie 2021), which, notwithstanding the cultural distance between today’s globalized English-speaking world and that of “Moladh Beinn Dòbhrain”, seek to identify with the past and reclaim its voices of resistance.

Globalizacija, razlaščevanje in upor: sledi višavskih čistk v sodobnih interpretacijah in prevodih pesmi »Moladh Beinn Dòbhrain« (prev. Hvalnica gori Ben Dorain)

Pesnitev Duncana Ban MacIntyra »Moladh Beinn Dòbhrain«, ki je nastala v 18. stoletju, nesporno velja za klasično delo škotsko-gelske in tudi nasploh škotske književnosti. Vključena je v številne antologije škotske poezije, obstaja pa tudi več njenih prevodov v angleščino, in sicer izpod peres avtorjev, kot so Hugh MacDiarmid (1941, 43-58), Iain Crichton Smith (1969) ter nedavno Alan Riach (2013) in Garry Mackenzie (2019, 2021). Toda kako jo razumeti, ostaja uganka – ali gre preprosto za mojstrsko pesem o naravi in osebno pripoved o lovu na jelena, slavospev gori (Beinn Dòbhrain) in jelenom na njej (Crichton Smith 1986, 132-135) ali pa morda za politično pesem, ki indirektno govori o pravici ljudi, ki jih simbolizirajo jeleni, da živijo na zemlji svojih prednikov, s katere so bili med čistkami v Škotskem višavju kmalu zatem pregnani, namesto njih pa so tam naselili ovce (Gilles 1977)? Delno je razlog za to uganko v dejstvu, da možnosti za politično interpretacijo ne ponuja (eksplicitno) sámo besedilo pesmi, temveč prej njene intertekstualne navezave in njeno mesto v širši gelski kulturi in pesniški tradiciji, in to ne le v starejši gelski panegirični poeziji, temveč tudi v kasnejših pesmih Duncana Ban MacIntyra – v katerih pesnik žaluje za izgubljenimi skupnostmi in toži nad spremenjeno krajino gore Beinn Dòbhrain, ki ji gospodarjo ovce – kot tudi v vplivni in proti višavskim čistkam naravnani pesmi Sorleya MacLeana »Hallaig« (MacLean 1989). Morda se globalizacija nikjer ne kaže z večjo silovitostjo kot v okoljih, kjer lokalne skupnosti pod udarom močnejših, globalnih ekonomskih in političnih sil izgubijo zemljo svojih prednikov. Tovrstne razlastitve lokalnih skupnosti in domorodnih ljudstev dobro poznamo v okviru sodobne globalizacije, pojavljale pa so se tudi skoz vso zgodovino. Še posebno znane so višavske čistke v 18. In 19. stoletju, saj so prizadele celoten narod škotskih Gelcev. Globoko so zaznamovale njihov kulturni spomin in njihovo književnost, naposled je prišlo tudi do ostrega upora. Prispevek se ukvarja z okoliščinami, v katerih se je lahko razvilo trajno zanimanje za pesem »Moladh Beinn Dòbhrain«, in s pojavljanjem teme višavskih čistk v sodobnih interpretacijah in prevodih (Riach 2006, 2013; MacKenzie 2021), v katerih kljub kulturnim razlikam med današnjim globaliziranim angleško-govorečim svetom in okoljem, kjer je nastala »Moladh Beinn Dòbhrain«, lahko opažamo poistovetenje s preteklostjo in v katerih prihajajo do izraza nekdanji glasovi upora.

Melanija Larisa Fabčič

Between Fiction and Reality: Virus as an Ecopolitical Metaphor in Science Fiction

Traditionally science fiction (as the subcategory of speculative fiction that imagines the future) is ascribed a prophetic function, and that is especially true of the disaster movie genre. However, disaster movies don´t really predict the future, but rather the present or the “present future”, as Cory Doctorow writes in his collection Overlocked – Stories of the Future Present (2006): “The easiest way to write futuristic (or futurismic) science fiction is to predict, with rigor and absolute accuracy, the present day.” To paraphrase: disaster movies (and the corresponding literary subgenre) record and – in a specific way – encode “the future in the present”, not least to offer the audience a teachable moment. During the COVID-19 pandemic many have, understandably so, turned to apocalyptic movies, especially movies about virus outbreaks, that are often based on literary works, which in turn tend to draw on (popular) scientific literature. A historical overview of movies and literary works about virus outbreaks shows an interesting uniformity in the conceptualization of the virus as the enemy and the epidemic as war. There also exists a reverse form of this conceptualization: humanity as the virus, to which the immune system of the earth reacts with various natural disasters. In both cases there is a sharp divide between humans and nature. What about other forms of metaphorical conceptualization of the virus? These are considerably rarer and often only latently present, but also all the more interesting, for example, in the concept of merging or alliance with the virus. And this is what we will explore in greater depth. Can we, in the case of merging with the virus, speak of hybridization, a bonding of two different entities? If we consider the intriguing redefinition of humanity (and human politics) in the essay “From the Anthropocene to the Microbiocene” (2020) by the Canadian philosopher Tobias Rees, a virus is not the “other” or “otherness”, nor the “occupier”; viruses have been part of human DNA since the dawn of time, and humans are therefore part of the viral/microbial world: virus and man form a multiplicity together (“a multi-species assemblage among multi-species assemblages in a microbial — viral — world”).

Med fikcijo in resničnostjo: virus kot ekopolitična metafora v znanstveni fantastiki

Tradicionalno znanstveni fantastiki kot tisti veji spekulativne fikcije, ki imaginira prihodnost, pripisujemo neke vrste preroško funkcijo, kar še posebej drži za filmski žanr oz. podžanr znastvene fantastike: za film katastrofe. Dejansko pa filmi katastrofe ne napovedujejo prihodnosti, ampak sedanjost oz. »sedanjo prihodnost«, kot pravi Cory Doctorow v svoji zbirki Overlocked – Stories of the Future Present (2006): »The easiest way to write futuristic (or futurismic) science fiction is to predict, with rigor and absolute accuracy, the present day«. Če parafraziramo: filmi katastrofe (in seveda tudi ustrezni literarni podžanr) dejansko beležijo in na specifičen način kodirajo prihodnost v sedanjosti, nenazadnje z namenom ponuditi gledalcem učni moment. V času pandemije Covida-19 se je zato pozornost mnogih pričakovano usmerila na apokaliptične filme, še posebej na filme o virusnih izbruhih, ki pogosto v celoti ali delno temeljijo na literarnih predlogah, te pa pogosto na (poljudno)znanstveni literaturi. Zgodovinski pregled filmov in literarnih del o virusnih izbruhih pokaže zanimivo uniformiranost v konceptualizaciji virusa kot sovražnika in epidemije kot vojne. Obstaja sicer tudi obratna oblika te konceptualizacije: človeštvo kot virus, na katerega imunski sistem zemlje reagira z različnimi naravnimi katastrofami. V obeh primerih gre za ostro ločevanje med človekom in naravo. Kaj pa drugačne oblike metaforičnega uokvirjanja virusa? Te so občutno redkejše in pogosto le latentno prisotne, a zato toliko bolj zanimive, npr. koncept združitve oz. zavezništva z virusom. In prav tem bomo posvetili posebno pozornost. Gre v primeru združitve z virusom dejansko za hibridizacijo, torej za spoj dveh različnih entitet? Če izhajamo iz zanimive redefinicije človeškega (in človeške politike) v eseju »From the Anthropocene to the Microbiocene« (2020) kanadskega filozofa Tobiasa Reesa, virus ni drugo/drugost, ni okupator, virus je že od pradavnine del človeške DNK in človek je posledično del viralnega/mikrobnega sveta: virus in človek sta del iste mnogoterosti (»a multi-species assemblage among multi-species assemblages in a microbial — viral — world«).

Florence Gacoin-Marks

Translation of Multilingualism in the Post-Colonial War Novel Allah n’est pas obligé by Ahmadou Kourouma

The article deals with the translation of an African war novel titled Allah n’est pas obligé (“Allah is not obliged”) by Ahmadou Kourouma from French into Slovene. In general, the writer’s style is known for the numerous Africanisms that color and enrich it. In this novel, linguistic elements from different cultural areas (literary French, Africanisms and Englishisms) and from distinct registers (children’s language, colloquial language, dictionary definitions) are intertwined. This linguistic diversity requires that the translators of the novel into a foreign language (e.g., into Slovene) apply a consistent strategy based on an analysis that first determines the function of various elements in the narrative structure (psychological-linguistic credibility, ironic distance to emphasize the intolerance of described reality etc.) and then the degree of translatability of these elements. In parallel, we will examine how the Slovene translator of the novel, Katja Zakrajšek, solved the problems and to what extent she managed to transfer the linguistic diversity of Kourouma’s novel into Slovene.

Prevajanje večjezičnosti v postkolonialnem vojnem romanu Allah n’est pas obligé Ahmadouja Kouroume

Prispevek se ukvarja s prevajanjem afriškega vojnega romana z naslovom Allah n’est pas obligé (Allahu ni treba) Ahmadouja Kouroume iz francoščine v slovenščino. Na splošno je pisateljev slog znan po številnih afrikanizmih, ki ga obarvajo in obogatijo. V omenjenem romanu se prepletajo jezikovni elementi iz različnih kulturnih območij (knjižna francoščina, afrikanizmi in anglicizmi) ter iz različnih registrov (otroški jezik, pogovorni jezik, slovarske definicije). Ta jezikovna raznolikost zahteva od prevajalca oz. prevajalke romana v tuj jezik (npr. v slovenščino) izoblikovanje dosledne strategije na podlagi analize, s katero najprej opredelimo funkcijo različnih elementov v strukturi pripovedi (psihološko-jezikovna verodostojnost, ironična distanca za poudarjanje neznosnosti opisane realnosti…) in potem stopnjo prevedljivosti teh elementov. Vzporedno bomo preučili, kako je slovenska prevajalka romana Katja Zakrajšek rešila težave in v kolikšni meri ji je uspelo jezikovno raznolikost romana Ahmadouja Kouroume prenesti v slovenski jezik.

Michelle Gadpaille

“That Impudent Mulatto Thing”: Othering, Insanity and Incarceration

The intersection of gender, mixed-race heritage and imputed insanity as rationale for incarceration marks the 19th-century account of a Jamaican woman in a Caribbean asylum (Seven Months in the Kingston Lunatic Asylum, and What I saw There, 1860). Study of the original text by Ann Pratt, along with the official colonial enquiry it generated (Official Documents on the Case of Ann Pratt, 1860), reveals much about the systematic othering of those with intersectional disadvantages. The paper compares details from the Pratt text with a related but earlier text “written” by Maria Monk, from another corner of the British empire (The Awful Disclosures of Maria Monk, as Exhibited in a Narrative of Her Sufferings During a Residence of Five Years as a Novice and Two Years as a Black Nun, in the Hotel Dieu Nunnery in Montreal, 1836); Monk’s account of incarceration in a Quebec nunnery won a wide readership and similar official investigation, but with few tangible results. The proposed textual study reveals covert emphasis on repressed fears, primal drives and dissolution of identity under the constraints of incarceration. Both texts instrumentalise female suffering for ideological ends. Whether in the Roman Catholic nunneries of British North America or in colonial pseudo-medical institutions in the Caribbean, these women’s cases highlight the importance of witnessed narrative in creating a distinction between mere philanthropic pornography and genuine socio-political agency.

»Ta predrzna mulatska reč«: Drugost, norost in ječa

Seven Months in the Kingston Lunatic Asylum, and What I saw There iz leta 1860 je pričevanje jamajške ženske o dogajanju v karibski umobolnici 19. stoletja, ki ga zaznamuje preplet spola, mešanega rasnega porekla in pripisovanja norosti kot razloga za zapiranje v ječo. Izvorno besedilo Ann Pratt, ki je povzročilo uradno preiskavo kolonizatorja, v kombinaciji z dokumentacijo le-te (Official Documents on the Case of Ann Pratt, 1860) razkriva marsikaj o sistematičnem drugačenju intersekcionalno prikrajšanih oseb. Prispevek primerja nekatere podrobnosti iz besedila Ann Pratt ter sorodnega, vendar zgodnejšega besedila Marie Monk iz leta 1836 in z drugega konca britanskega imperija. The Awful Disclosures of Maria Monk, as Exhibited in a Narrative of Her Sufferings During a Residence of Five Years as a Novice and Two Years as a Black Nun, in the Hotel Dieu Nunnery in Montreal je pričevanje o prisilnem zaprtju v quebeškem samostanu, ki je pritegnilo mnogo bralk in bralcev ter povzročilo podobno uradno preiskavo kot v primeru Pratt, le-ta pa je ponudila malo oprijemljivih zaključkov. Pričujoča besedilna analiza omenjenih del razkriva prikrite poudarke na potlačenih strahovih, prvinskih nagonih in razkroju identitete zaradi prisilnega odvzema prostosti. Obe besedili v osredje postavita trpljenje žensk z namenom zasledovanja ideoloških ciljev. Ne glede na to, ali gre za rimokatoliške samostane britanske Severne Amerike ali kolonialne psevdo-zdravstvene institucije na Karibih, izkustva teh žensk osvetljujejo pomembnost na pričevanjih osnovanih zgodb za razlikovanje med golo filantropsko pornografijo in pristnim družbenopolitičnim potencialnom.

Nina Grahek Križnar

Representation of African Anglophone Feminist Writing in Slovene Translation

Women writers of African origin writing in English, introduce a feminine perspective on the socio-political vision of Africa. They address issues relating to female subjectivity in order to expose the cultural impediments to female agency. Women in colonial context are subject to intersectional oppression – not only on the grounds of race but also on those of gender. In the postcolonial era, and with the resurgence of the women’s movement in Europe and the USA, demands by African women for legal recognition, identity and rights have begun to emerge. Literature is a powerful medium through which this self-definiton has been given voice. African women authors arrived on the literary scene much later than their male counterparts. This is a product of cultural restraints imposed on the African woman, coupled with western sexism within the colonial system. In recent decades, however, Africa has produced several female authors who have been able to assert themselves as writers, on both a national and international stage. They have treated a wide range of themes in their novels, such as the position and role of women in the institution of family or marriage, female circumcision, gender inequality and societal/traditional expectations of women. As the women’s rights secured in the 1960s and 70s are once again undermined, African feminist literature serves as an apt reminder that the struggle for equality is never over. Unfortunately, Slovene translations of African Anglophone women writing are scarce. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie forms the exception; however, books by acclaimed authors such as Chika Unigwe, Leila Aboulela, Buchi Emecheta, Ayòbami Adebayo, Lola Shoneyin, and Nadifa Mohamed have not gained the recognition by the Slovene publishing industry that they undoubtedly deserve.

Afriška anglofonska feministična literatura v slovenskem prevodu

V Afriki rojene pisateljice, ki pišejo v angleščini, odpirajo ženski pogled na afriško družbenopolitično situacijo. V svojih delih obravnavajo vprašanja, povezana z žensko subjektivnostjo, in razkrivajo kulturne ovire, ki ženske ovirajo pri njihovem delovanju. Ženske so bile v kolonialnem kontekstu v podrejenem položaju – ne le na podlagi rase, temveč tudi spola. V postkolonialnem obdobju in z vzponom ženskega gibanja v Evropi in ZDA pa so se začele pojavljati zahteve afriških žensk po priznanju lastne identitete in enakopravnosti. Literatura je močan medij, prek katerega je ta samoopredelitev dobila svoj glas. Afriške pisateljice so na literarno prizorišče prišle veliko pozneje kot njihovi moški kolegi. To je posledica kulturnih omejitev, ki jim jih je nalagal seksizem kolonialnega sistema. V zadnjih desetletjih pa iz Afrike vendarle prihaja več avtoric, ki so se uveljavile kot pisateljice tako na nacionalnem kot mednarodnem prizorišču. V svojih romanih obravnavajo teme, kot so položaj in vloga žensk v družini ali zakonu, obrezovanje žensk, neenakost spolov, pričakovanja družbe do žensk ipd. Ker so pravice, ki so si jih ženske zase izborile v šestdesetih in sedemdesetih letih prejšnjega stoletja, ponovno ogrožene, je afriška feministična literatura primeren opomnik, da se boj za enakost nikoli ne konča. Žal slovenskih prevodov afriške anglofonske ženske literaturi ni veliko. Izjema je Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, knjigam prav tako priznanih avtoric, kot so na primer Chika Unigwe, Leila Aboulela, Buchi Emecheta, Ayobami Adebayo, Lola Shoneyin, Nadifa Mohamed, pa slovensko založništvo ni namenilo pozornosti, ki si ga nedvomno zaslužijo.

Vesna Kondrič Horvat

Two Approaches to Global Thinking: Switzerland’s Max Frisch and Hedi Wyss

The paper will focus on Peter von Matt’s essay “The Horrors of Perfection” (“Die Schrecken der Vollkommenheit”) from his essay-collection Das Kalb vor der Gotthardpost. In this essay, von Matt deals with works by the Swiss author Max Frisch – a writer who has been committed to global thinking since the beginning of his career but nevertheless always strongly addresses his own position. I soon realized that another Swiss writer, Hedi Wyss, whom I have been studying extensively in the last few years, has much in common with Frisch. Thus, I try to show the parallels and differences and stress that besides Max Frisch – and Friedrich Dürrenmatt, of course – Switzerland has many other distinguished authors dealing with global themes in their own way, although some are not well known. This also holds true for Hedi Wyss, who was very successful in the 1980s but who has unfortunately not been much celebrated recently. In the comparison of these two authors, Max Frisch and Hedi Wyss, more stress is placed on Wyss, since Frisch is a well-known author.

Dva načina globalnega razmišljanja v Švici: Max Frisch in Hedi Wyss

Prispevek se osredotoča na esej Petra von Matta »Die Schrecken der Vollkommenheit (prev. Pod pritiskom popolnosti) v njegovi zbirki esejev Das Kalb vor der Gotthardpost. V tem eseju se von Matt ukvarja z deli švicarskega pisatelja Maxa Frischa – avtorja, ki je bil vse od svojih pisateljskih začetkov zavezan globalnemu razmišljanju, a je vedno znova postavljal v središče samega sebe. Kmalu sem ugotovila, da ima pisateljica Hedi Wyss, s katero sem se zadnja leta veliko ukvarjala in ki prav tako prihaja iz Švice, veliko skupnega s Frischem. Poskusila bom pokazati vzporednice med njima, a tudi razlike in predvsem, da ima Švica poleg Maxa Frischa – in seveda Friedricha Dürrenmatta – še veliko izjemnih avtorjev, ki se na svoj način ukvarjajo z globalnimi temami, a niso preveč znani. To velja tudi za Hedi Wyss, ki je bila izjemno uspešna v 1980ih, a se o njej zadnje čase žal več ne piše veliko. V primerjavi Maxa Frischa in Hedi Wyss bom zato, ker je Frisch precej znan, bolj izpostavila slednjo.

Mojca Krevel

Formatting Emptiness: Zen, Postmodernity and Metafiction in Ruth Ozeki’s The Book of Form and Emptiness

It is not an easy task to find an angle from which to approach the densely intertwined, totalizing rhizome that is Ruth Ozeki’s latest novel The Book of Form and Emptiness (2021), a metafictional tour de force narrated alternately by a boy and his book – the titular book of form and emptiness. In Zen Buddhist terms (and besides being an award-winning novelist Ozeki is also a Zen Buddhist priest), emptiness is the original state of fullness of all potential forms, of all the possibilities of being. In that respect, this key Zen Buddhist principle conceptually corresponds to the fundamental tenets of the post-Cartesian, i.e., postmodern, metaphysical framework, most literally to Jean Baudrillard’s concepts of identity and reality as hyperreal, fractal systems of pure simulacra. The correspondence between the two ontologies allows us to consider the novel from the perspective of Baudrillard’s categories, which is the approach this paper pursues. By examining the structuring of the literary subject(s) and literary world(s) in The Book of Form and Emptiness with regard to Baudrillard’s concepts, this paper establishes that Ozeki’s last novel indeed complies with the fundamental ontological tenets of postmodernity. As such, it is an instance of a growing body of literature that not only comments on the postmodern condition but is an inherent part of its non-dualist ontology. Moreover, the analysis reveals that the novel’s ontological provenance is predominantly determined by metafictional (auto)referentiality. This suggests that within the postmodern ontological order, metafictional references are no longer a tool for contesting the reality principle because of their fundamental otherness. Rather, metafiction functions as a world-building device that productively participates in the formation of postmodern realities and identities.

Formatiranje praznine: zen, postmoderna in metafikcija v romanu The Book of Form and Emptiness Ruth Ozeki

Težko je najti vidik, s katerega bi pristopili h gosto prepletenemu in vsevključujočemu rizomu najnovejšega romana Ruth Ozeki The Book of Form and Emptiness (2021). Delo je namreč metafikcijski tour de force, v katerem se izmenjujeta pripovedi dečka Bennyja in njegove knjige, ki je knjiga iz naslova: torej The Book of Form and Emptiness (prev. Knjiga oblike in praznine). V zen budizmu (in Ruth Ozeki ni le večkrat nagrajena pisateljica, ampak tudi zenbudistična duhovnica) praznina označuje izvorno stanje polnosti vseh možnih oblik oz. vseh možnosti obstajanja. S tem ta osnovna zenbudistična postavka konceptualno ustreza temeljnim premisam postkartezijankega oz. postmodernega metafizičnega okvira, zlasti Baudrillardovi definiciji postmoderne identitete in resničnosti kot hiperresničnih, fraktalnih sistemov čistih simulakrov. Ontološko ujemanje obeh nam omogoča, da roman obravnavamo s stališča Baudrillardovih kategorij. Z analizo strukture literarnega subjekta in literarnih resničnosti v The Book of Form and Emptiness s perspektive Baudrillardovih konceptov v prispevku pokažem, da roman ustreza temeljnim ontološkim premisam postmoderne. S tem se uvršča v vse večjo skupino proznih del, ki ne le zrcalijo postmoderno stanje, ampak so sestavni del postmoderne nedualistične ontologije. Poleg tega analiza romana razkriva, da ontološko provenienco tega romana v osnovi določa metafikcijska (samo)nanašalnost. To pomeni, da v okviru postmodernega ontološkega reda metafikcijske reference niso več orodje za relativizacijo kategorije resničnosti zaradi a priori drugosti, ki jo vzpostavlja meta-pozicija. Metafikcija se potemtakem v aktualnih razmerah izkaže za strategijo, ki produktivno sodeluje pri gradnji postmodernih resničnosti in identitet

Tomaž Onič

Witchcraft or Otherness: a Contrastive Analysis of Tituba’s Speech

Tituba, a supporting character in Arthur Miller’s iconic play The Crucible (1953), can be associated with the concept of otherness in several respects. For one, she is not free like the rest of the population of Salem, Massachusetts, where the play is set, but had been brought to the community from the island of Barbados by Reverend Parris as an enslaved woman. Being of Caribbean origin, she is also not an English Protestant like the rest of the village, and despite having accepted her master’s church, as was common for the enslaved throughout the British colonial period, Protestantism is not her first religion. Finally, the two most evident and immediately perceivable characteristics placing her in the category of the Other are her skin colour and her language, which also seem to be the main reasons that she was the first person to be accused of witchcraft in Salem. This paper will focus on Tituba’s speech, particularly from the point of view of the possibilities as well as difficulties of translating her utterances into Slovene. The contrastive analysis of her speech will include Miller’s original play and its only published Slovene translation, Lov na čarovnice (1964), with an occasional insight into the documentary files of the real Salem witch trial transcripts. The latter opens a tightly connected issue of representing the non-standard language of (frequently) illiterate speakers that has been “improved” or “made appropriate” by the writer or note-taker in various literary and non-literary texts, which can be seen as a centuries-long exercise in the erasure and the exploitation of otherness.

Čarovništvo ali drugost: kontrastivna analiza Titubinega govora

Titubo, stransko osebo iz ikonične igre Arthurja Millerja Lov na čarovnice (The Crucible, 1953), lahko povežemo s konceptom drugosti v več pogledih. Prvič, Tituba ni svobodna kot ostali prebivalci in prebivalke Salema v Massachusettsu, kjer se drama odvija, ampak jo je pastor Parris pripeljal v skupnost z otoka Barbados kot sužnjo. Poleg tega v angleškem protestantskem okolju izstopa zaradi svojega karibskega porekla, in čeprav je sprejela veroizpoved svojega gospodarja, kot je bilo to običajno za sužnje v britanskem kolonialnem obdobju, protestantizem ni njena prva vera, kar jo ločuje od skupnosti. V kategorijo drugosti jo uvrščata tudi barva kože in jezik, ki se poleg dejstva, da je ženska, zdita glavna razloga, da je prav ona kot prva v Salemu obtožena čarovništva. Prispevek se osredotoča na Titubin govor predvsem s prevodoslovnega vidika. Kontrastivna analiza njenega govora bo osvetlila možnosti in težave prevajanja njenih replik v slovenščino, pri čemer bo vključevala izvirno Millerjevo dramo in njen edini objavljeni slovenski prevod iz leta 1964. Vzporedni vpogled v avtentične zapise resničnih salemskih čarovniških procesov odpira širšo, a tesno povezano problematiko zapisovanja nestandardnega jezika (navadno) nepismenih govorcev in govork, ki so ga pisci oz. zapisovalci pogosto »izboljšali« ali »prilagodili« v različnih književnih in neknjiževnih besedilih, kar lahko obravnavamo tudi kot večstoleten poskus izbrisa in izkoriščanja drugosti.postmoderno stanje, ampak so sestavni del postmoderne nedualistične ontologije. Poleg tega analiza romana razkriva, da ontološko provenienco tega romana v osnovi določa metafikcijska (samo)nanašalnost. To pomeni, da v okviru postmodernega ontološkega reda metafikcijske reference niso več orodje za relativizacijo kategorije resničnosti zaradi a priori drugosti, ki jo vzpostavlja meta-pozicija. Metafikcija se potemtakem v aktualnih razmerah izkaže za strategijo, ki produktivno sodeluje pri gradnji postmodernih resničnosti in identitet.

Mateja Pezdirc Bartol

Otherness and Identity in the Modern Slovene Picture-book

Identity develops through periods of growth and maturation. Since picture-books are the first books children get to know, in this paper I examine to what degree they reflect questions of identity and otherness. To analyse the picture-books, I use a typology in which the overarching concept is the distinction between personal and social identity. Although picture-books on the theme of otherness are supposed to help children develop grow more tolerant and empathetic, the theme itself does not ensure such an outcome, as not all topics are appropriate for children of all ages, and some topics do not pertain to their emotional and experiential worlds. Therefore, I am also interested in the question of the quality and the ethical dimension of picture-books with such themes.

Drugačnost in identiteta v sodobni slovenski slikanici

Identiteta se razvija skozi obdobja rasti in odraščanja in ker je slikanica prva prava knjiga, s katero se seznani otrok, v prispevku raziskujem, v kolikšni meri se vprašanja identitete in drugačnosti zrcalijo v slikaniški obliki. Analizirane slikanice prikažem s pomočjo tipologije, kjer kot krovna pojma uporabim razlikovanje med osebno in družbeno identiteto. Čeprav naj bi slikanice s temo drugačnosti pomagale k razvoju bolj tolerantnih in sočutnih otrok, sama tematika tega še ne zagotavlja, saj vse teme niso primerne za vse starosti otrok in ne sodijo vedno v njihov čustveni in izkustveni svet, zato me zanima tudi vprašanje kakovosti slikanic s tovrstno tematiko ter njihova etična razsežnost.

Katja Plemenitaš

Inhabiting the Bodies of Others: Color-Blind Casting and Identity

Non-traditional casting in theatre, film, and TV addresses the complexities of identity by turning deep-rooted characteristics into ideas that can be fleshed out by actors whose ethnic, sex, race, and gender identities do not correlate with the characters on paper. The primary purpose of this non-traditional practice in casting minority actors has been to rectify historical injustice, considering that people of color have long been barred from many roles. These include even roles not specified for color or ethnicity, such as those of multiple characters in fantasy genres. Today, color-blind casting regularly challenges unwritten assumptions about the visible identity of literary characters unmarked for specific identities. Moreover, it goes beyond that by casting actors of color in the roles of known historical figures who were white, or as “unmarked” characters of historically white social strata. The visible discrepancy between the literary character and the role underlines the anachronistic nature of such casting. However, it simultaneously reveals the universality of the human condition by questioning the boundaries of the otherness of actors in the context of the characters they embody. Given the inherent complexity of such correlations, it is evident that every casting of this type makes a meaningful contribution to the overall message of the work of art. The paper examines several recent examples of color-blind casting in various genres, such as the musical Hamilton (2015), the TV series Bridgerton (2020) and the limited TV series Anne Boleyn (2021). The purpose of the comparative analysis is to evaluate different functions of color-blind casting in these cases and explain the disparities in their success and in public responses to them. The analysis is based on the assumption that the modern answer to the issue of ‘who is best for the role’ hinges on a reinterpretation of the notion of identity.

Življenje v telesu drugih: barvno slepe zasedbe vlog in vprašanje identitete

Netradicionalne izbire vlog v igralskih zasedbah v gledališču, filmu in na televiziji odpirajo vprašanja o kompleksnosti identitete. Zakoreninjene značilnosti spreminjajo v ideje, ki jih lahko utelešajo igralke in igralci, katerih etnična, spolna ali rasna identiteta se ne ujema z liki na papirju. Glavna motivacija za netradicionalne izbire igralske zasedbe pri igralcih in igralkah temnopolte manjšine je poprava zgodovinske krivice, ki je temnopoltim v preteklosti močno omejevala dostop do igranja vlog. To je veljalo tudi za vloge, ki niso bile opredeljene z barvo polti ali etnično pripadnostjo, na primer za vloge likov v fantazijskih žanrih. Dandanes pa se z barvno slepo izbiro igralskih zasedb presegajo nenapisane predpostavke o vidnih značilnostih literarnih likov, ki niso izrecno opredeljeni glede na barvo polti. Še več, temnopoltim igralkam in igralcem se odpira tudi dostop do vlog znanih zgodovinskih osebnosti bele polti ali izmišljenih likov iz zgodovinsko belopoltih družbenih slojev. V takšni zasedbi vlog je vidno neskladje med literarnim likom in utelešenjem vloge dojeto kot anahronizem, vendar obenem razkriva univerzalnost človeške narave in premika meje drugačnosti igralcev in igralk v odnosu do likov, ki jih utelešajo. Glede na inherentno kompleksnost takšnih korelacij je očitno, da vsaka tovrstna zasedba vlog pomembno prispeva k celotnemu sporočilu umetniškega dela. Prispevek tako predstavlja več nedavnih primerov barvno slepih zasedb vlog v različnih žanrih, kot so muzikal Hamilton (2015), TV serija Bridgerton (2020) in kratka TV serija Anne Boleyn (2021). Namen primerjalne analize je ovrednotiti različne funkcije barvno slepih zasedb vlog v teh primerih ter pojasniti razlike v dojemanju njihove uspešnosti in odzivih javnosti nanje. Analiza temelji na predpostavki, da sodobni odgovor na vprašanje, kateri igralec ali igralka je najboljši za vlogo, izhaja iz novih interpretacij pojma identitete.

Nastja Prajnč Kacijan

“I forget things . . . but I’m not mad. Not yet.”: Dementia, Old Age and Mental Illness in Emma Healey’s Novel Elizabeth Is Missing

Emma Healey’s novel Elizabeth Is Missing is an unusual detective story, for it is written from the point of view of Maud, an elderly woman with an undefined type of dementia. Although the novel does not focus on describing the experience of having dementia but on solving two potential crimes, it offers important insights into Maud’s experience of her cognitive problems and other people’s reactions to them. While Maud’s disease progresses, her narration of the present becomes more and more confusing; however, her memories of her adolescent years, especially of the time around her sister’s disappearance, become more vivid. An important part of her past is “the mad woman” (a woman with an undefined mental illness) who is crucially connected to solving the novel’s mysteries. Three marginalized groups are thus highlighted in the novel (elderly people, people with dementia and people with mental illnesses), and they play an important role in the way the main crime is solved. This paper analyses the novel’s portrayal of the three groups, especially the protagonist’s perception of her condition; it analyses whether Maud’s perspective on “the mad woman” influences her perception of herself; and it attempts to define how specific motifs and details connect Maud and “the mad woman”, who are both perceived as different by others because of their age or disease.

»Pozabljam stvari . . . ampak nisem nora. Ne še«: Demenca, starost in duševna bolezen v romanu Elizabeth Is Missing avtorice Emme Healey

Roman Elizabeth Is Missing avtorice Emme Healey razvija nenavadno detektivsko zgodbo, saj je napisan s perspektive Maud, starejše gospe z nedefinirano vrsto demence. Roman se ne osredotoča na opis osebne izkušnje življenja z demenco, ampak na razreševanje dveh morebitnih zločinov, kljub temu pa ponuja pomemben vpogled v protagonistkino izkušnjo s kognitivnimi težavami in odzivi drugih nanje. Z napredovanjem bolezni postaja Maudino pripovedovanje sedanjosti vedno bolj nejasno, na drugi strani pa postajajo njeni spomini na najstniška leta, še posebej na obdobje izginotja njene sestre, vedno bolj slikoviti. Pomemben del protagonistkine preteklosti predstavlja »nora ženska« (ženska z nedefinirano duševno boleznijo), ki je ključno povezana z reševanjem skrivnosti v romanu. Roman tako izpostavlja tri marginalizirane skupine (starejše ljudi, ljudi z demenco in tiste z duševnimi boleznimi), ki imajo pomembno vlogo pri reševanju glavnega zločina. Prispevek analizira prikaz vseh treh skupin v romanu, še posebej protagonistkino dojemanje lastnega stanja. Ob tem analizira, če Maudin pogled na »noro žensko« vpliva na Maudino dojemanje sebe, prav tako pa poskuša določiti, kako določeni motivi in podrobnosti povezujejo Maud in »noro žensko«, ki sta s strani drugih dojeti kot drugačni – zaradi starosti ali bolezni.

Julija Rozman, Tanja Žigon, Adriana Mezeg

Translating Slovenian Literature into German, French, and Italian (1992–2021): A Case Study of Three Minority Writers

Most of the research on translation flow conducted so far at the international level has focused on translation activity from the (hyper-)center to the periphery, while studies from the periphery to the (hyper-)center are rare (see, e.g., Sapiro 2002; Van Es and Heilbron 2015). Research on translation flow from Slovenian into other languages has also been sparse. Most contributions have focused on the translation and reception of individual literary genres, works, and authors over short periods of time (Klinar 2008; Biggins 2012; Ožbot 2012; Žbogar 2014; Kocijančič Pokorn 2016; Zlatnar Moe, Strsoglavec, and Žigon 2017; Zlatnar Moe, Žigon, and Mikolič Južnič 2019; Mezeg 2020). However, more comprehensive and in-depth studies of translation flow from peripheral Slovenian into several more central languages over a longer period of time have not yet been conducted. At the macro level, this article provides an overview of translation activity from peripheral Slovenian into a semi-peripheral language (Italian) and two central languages (German and French) over the last thirty years (1992–2021), while a comparative analysis shows the trends in translation flow from Slovenian into individual target languages and cultures. At the micro level, the focus is on the most translated Slovenian minority writers for each foreign language, i.e., Florjan Lipuš, Boris Pahor, and Dušan Jelinčič. These authors were selected because preliminary results showed that they were among the most translated authors for the selected languages. The analysis will focus on how they entered the selected target literary markets and why they achieved success and recognition there. The results of this study will contribute to a more complete understanding of the strategies deployed by authors from peripheral languages to enter larger literary markets, the obstacles they encounter, and the reasons for their works attracting foreign readers.

Prevajanje slovenske književnosti v nemščino, francoščino in italijanščino (1992–2021) na primeru treh manjšinskih avtorjev

Večina dosedanjih mednarodnih raziskav o prevodnih tokovih se je ukvarjala s prevodno dejavnostjo iz (hiper)centralnih jezikov v periferne jezike, medtem ko so študije iz periferije proti (hiper)centru redke (prim. Sapiro 2002; Van Es in Heilbron 2015). Pomanjkanje prispevkov o prevodnih tokovih je mogoče opaziti tudi iz slovenščine v druge jezike. Večina se je namreč osredotočala na preučevanje prevajanja in recepcijo posameznih literarnih žanrov, del in avtoric ter avtorjev v krajših časovnih obdobjih (Klinar 2008; Biggins 2012; Ožbot 2012; Žbogar 2014; Kocijančič Pokorn 2016; Zlatnar Moe, Strsoglavec in Žigon 2017; Zlatnar Moe, Žigon in Mikolič Južnič 2019; Mezeg 2020), medtem ko širše in bolj poglobljene raziskave o prevodnih tokovih iz periferne slovenščine v več bolj centralnih jezikov v daljšem časovnem obdobju zaenkrat še niso bile opravljene. Pričujoči prispevek na makroravni poda pregled prevodne dejavnosti iz periferne slovenščine v en polperiferni jezik (italijanščina) in dva centralna jezika (nemščina in francoščina) v zadnjih treh desetletjih (1992–2021), primerjalna analiza pa pokaže trende v prevodnih tokovih iz slovenščine v posamezne ciljne jezike in kulture. Mikroraven raziskave se osredotoča na najbolj prevajane slovenske manjšinske avtorje za posamezen tuji jezik, in sicer na Florjana Lipuša, Borisa Pahorja in Dušana Jelinčiča. Ti avtorji so bili izbrani, ker so preliminarni rezultati pokazali, da so med najbolj prevajanimi v preučevane jezike. V analizi želimo odgovoriti na vprašanje, kako so omenjeni avtorji prodrli na izbrane knjižne trge ter kako so tam dosegli uspeh in prepoznavnost. Rezultati raziskave bodo doprinesli k boljšemu razumevanju strategij, ki jih avtorji in avtorice iz perifernih jezikov uporabljajo za prodor na večje knjižne trge, kot tudi ovir, s katerimi se pri tem srečujejo, in razlogov, zakaj so njihova dela pritegnila tuje bralke in bralce.

Anamarija Šporčič

Oscillating Utopias: Oscar Wilde and the Utopian Discourse of Metamodernism

Throughout literary history, utopia has proved to be a resilient phenomenon that is continuously being rehabilitated and re-evaluated. The proposed paper focuses on two literary periods from opposite ends of the 20th century and examines the relationship between utopian ideas of fin de siècle and the re-emergence of utopian desires within a metamodernist context. The two periods discussed, while separated by a century of what is typically understood as progress, are both permeated by impending change and in dire need of alternatives to their respective forms of capitalism, making the appearance of utopian discourse almost inevitable. While their understanding of utopia certainly differs in many respects, I will argue that they both recognize its oscillatory potential and that neither focuses on ere facilitation of escapism, instead consciously employing utopia as a method for investigating various alternatives. Oscar Wilde’s assertions on this topic may, when encountered out of context, lead us to believe that his views on utopia were typically Victorian, casting the eye back on utopia’s bourgeois origins and the simplistic understanding of it as an imagined ideal society of tomorrow, yet Wilde’s ideas on the matter can also be interpreted as much more complex, ambiguous and inextricably linked to utopia’s inherently contradictory nature. The latter emerges as key in relation to both the paradoxical wit exhibited in Oscar Wilde’s works and oscillation as a central concept of metamodernist thought. Metamodernism, as conceived by Timotheus Vermeulen and Robin van den Akker, is one of the more prominent among numerous attempts to map and analyse the elusive and volatile landscape of the presently still emerging post-postmodernist sensibility. It is understood to be ontologically oscillating, most notably between modern sincerity and postmodern irony, and consequently encouraging a form of deliberate pragmatic idealism (termed ‘informed naivety’) within which utopias can once again be reimagined.

Nihajoče utopije: Oscar Wilde in utopični diskurz metamodernizma

Utopija se skozi literarno zgodovino kaže kot vzdržljiv in prilagodljiv fenomen, ki se vedno znova vrača in ki ga je potrebno v skladu s tem tudi vedno znova vrednotiti. Pričujoči prispevek se osredotoča na dve literarni obdobji neposredno pred in po 20. stoletju in proučuje povezave med utopičnimi idejami britanske dekadence ter ponovnim vznikom utopičnih hrepenenj v metamodernističnem kontekstu. Dasiravno ti dve literarni obdobji loči celo stoletje, ki velja za čas največjega in najhitrejšega napredka v človeški zgodovini, pa obe prežemata negotovost zaradi neizogibnih sprememb in potreba po alternativah zadevnim kapitalističnim ureditvam, kar v obeh primerih skoraj neizogibno privede do pojava utopičnega diskurza. Pojmovanje utopije v poznem 19. stoletju se v mnogih vidikih gotovo bistveno razlikuje od tistega z začetka 21. stoletja, vendar v pričujočem prispevku zagovarjam tezo, da je v obeh obdobjih moč zaznati prepoznanje oscilacijskega potenciala utopične misli, hkrati pa tudi preseganje utopije kot zgolj ene ob oblik eskapizma, saj lahko v obeh primerih govorimo o zavestni rabi utopije kot metode s pomočjo katere je mogoče raziskovati in analizirati raznolike alternative. Izvenkontekstualna obravnava odnosa Oscarja Wilda do utopije pogosto daje vtis tipično viktorijanskega razumevanja tematike, z njenim buržoaznim izvorom vred, kot zgolj izmišljene popolne družbe prihodnosti, vendar je mogoče Wildove ideje interpretirati tudi kot mnogo bolj kompleksne, dvoumne in tesno vezane na prepoznavanje inherentno nasprotujoče si narave utopije same. Slednja se izkaže za ključno ne le za doseganje paradoksalne humornosti v Wildovih delih, temveč tudi v primeru oscilacije kot osrednjega koncepta metamodernistične misli. Metamodernizem, kot ga opisujeta T. Vermeulen in R. van den Akker, je eden izmed vidnejših poskusov analize trenutno še zelo izmuzljive in nedorečene krajine post-postmodernistične senzibilnosti, ki naj bi ontološko nihala med mnogimi poli, najbolj opazno med moderno odkritostjo in postmoderno ironijo, in posledično spodbujala nekakšen načrten pragmatičen idealizem (oz. »poučeno naivnost«) znotraj katerega je utopijo znova mogoče (os)misliti.

Janko Trupej

Representations of the Middle East in the Slovenian Translations of Karl May’s Orientzyklus

Karl May, one of the best-selling German writers of all time, originally published the six-novel series entitled Orientzyklus [Orient Cycle] between 1881 and 1888. The first three novels in the series are set in the region which is nowadays—from a Eurocentric perspective—commonly referred to as the Middle East. While the protagonist of these novels, May’s literary alter ego Kara Ben Nemsi, at times expresses sympathetic views of the people living in that part of the world, he far more frequently behaves in a patronizing way towards them and expresses opinions that may have been commonplace during his time but would eventually come to be considered less acceptable, given their xenophobic/racist attitudes. After May’s death, the Orientzyklus was re-edited and published in the series of May’s collected works; those versions of the novels were translated into Slovenian twice: the first time in the late 1920s and early 1930s, and the second time in the early 1970s. At the time when the first translations were published, the territory that today constitutes the Republic of Slovenia was part of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, while at the time when the novels were re-translated, Slovenia was part of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Although for much of its history, the Slovenian nation has lacked direct contact with most nations from the Middle East, the Ottoman Turks have traditionally been perceived as ‘Others’. However, after World War II, Yugoslavia’s relations with the Republic of Turkey improved, and Yugoslavia developed close ties with several Middle Eastern countries in the framework of the Non-Aligned Movement. The paper will thus compare the Slovenian translations and re-translations of the Orientzyklus and establish to what extent the different contemporary socio-political circumstances influenced how the Middle East was represented.

Prikaz Bližnjega vzhoda v slovenskih prevodih romanov iz orientalskega cikla Karla Maya

Karl May, eden najbolj komercialno uspešnih nemških pisateljev vseh časov, je serijo šestih romanov z naslovom Orientzyklus(prev. orientalski cikel) prvotno objavil med letoma 1881 in 1888. Dogajanje v prvih treh romanih v seriji je postavljeno v regijo, ki je danes – iz evrocentrične perspektive – običajno poimenovana Bližnji vzhod. Protagonist teh romanov, Mayev literarni alter ego Kara Ben Nemsi, včasih sicer izraža naklonjene poglede na ljudstva, ki živijo v tistem delu sveta, toda do njih se veliko pogosteje obnaša pokroviteljsko in izraža mnenja, ki so bila v njegovem obdobju morda povsem običajna, sčasoma pa so postala manj sprejemljiva – bila so namreč ksenofobična oz. rasistična. Po pisateljevi smrti je bil cikel podvržen ponovnim uredniškim posegom in objavljen v okviru Mayevih zbranih del; te različice romanov so bile v slovenščino prevedene dvakrat: prvič na koncu 20. let oz. na začetku 30. let, drugič pa na začetku 70. let prejšnjega stoletja. V obdobju, ko so izšli prvi prevodi, je bilo ozemlje današnje Republike Slovenije del Kraljevine Jugoslavije, medtem ko je bila Slovenija v času ponovnih prevodov del Socialistične federativne republike Jugoslavije. Čeprav slovenski narod večji del svoje zgodovine ni imel neposrednih stikov z večino narodov z Bližnjega vzhoda, so bili osmanski Turki tradicionalno dojemani kot »Drugi«. Po drugi svetovni vojni pa so se jugoslovanski odnosi z Republiko Turčijo izboljšali in Jugoslavija je v okviru Gibanja neuvrščenih vzpostavila tesne vezi z več bližnjevzhodnimi državami. V prispevku bomo primerjali slovenske prevode in ponovne prevode romanov orientalskega cikla ter ugotavljali, v kolikšni meri so različne družbenopolitične okoliščine v določenem obdobju vplivale na prikaz Bližnjega vzhoda.

Špela Virant

“Let love flow like a river”: The Novel Identitti by Mithu Sanyal

Saraswati, one of the main characters in Sanyal’s bestselling novel Identitti (2021), nominated for the German Book Prize Award 2021, is a professor of postcolonial theory and gender studies, modelled after Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak. The novel starts with her debunking. She is not Indian, as supposed by her students, but of German and Polish origin, a fake person of color. What follows is social media controversy and the story of her students, who try to make sense of the situation. The plot development is based on the central conflict of ideas about identity and empowerment, on one hand, and about the deconstruction of race and gender categories, on the other. Mithu Sanyal asserts in her novel that it is not possible to skip any step on the way to social equity. It is important to recognize race and gender as social constructs and to admit that they still exert a major impact on modern societies. A successful deconstruction can be aimed for only when all social groups meet on equal footing. On the other hand, while striving for empowerment, one should not forget about the fictional character of identities. Intersectionality, media communication, and the discussion of postcolonial and gender theories are major themes in this novel, but in addition it explores the question of the function of art and imagination in dealing with problems of social equality and individual self-awareness. From the intercultural point of view, Sanyal’s novel is especially interesting, because it foregrounds the differences between the American and the European discourses and socio-historical contexts, most notably regarding racism.

»Let love flow like a river«: Roman Identitti nemške avtorice Mithu Sanyal

Saraswati, ena glavnih oseb v Sanyalinem romanu Identitti (2021), ki je bil leta 2021 nominiran za prestižno knjižno nagrado Deutscher Buchpreis, je profesorica za postkolonialne teorije in študije spolov. Sanyal se je pri oblikovanju tega literarnega lika zgledovala po Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak. Roman se začne z razkritjem, da Saraswati ni Indijka, kakor so domnevali študirajoči, temveč nemško-poljskega rodu, lažna oseba temne polti. Sledijo burne razprave na družbenih omrežjih in zgodbe njenih študentk, ki poskušajo razumeti situacijo. Zgradba zgodbe temelji na osrednjem konfliktu idej o identitetah in opolnomočenju z idejami o dekonstrukciji kategorij rase in spola. Mithu Sanyal pri tem slikovito prikaže, da ni mogoče preskočiti nobenega koraka na poti k družbeni enakopravnosti in udejanjanju enakih možnosti. Rasa in spol sta sicer družbena konstrukta, ki pa še vedno močno vplivata na moderne družbe, zato ju je treba ustrezno upoštevati. Dekonstruirati ju je mogoče šele, ko pri tem enakopravno sodelujejo vse družbene skupine. Po drugi strani pa se je treba v boju za opolnomočenje ranljivih skupin zavedati fikcijskega značaja identitet. Intersekcijskost, medijska komunikacija, razprave o postkolonialnih teorijah in študijah spolov so osrednje tematike romana, ki pa poleg tega odpira še vprašanje o vlogi umetnosti in imaginacije pri reševanju problemov družbene enakosti in posameznikovega samozavedanja. Z vidika medkulturnosti je Sanyalin roman zanimiv, ker tematizira razlike med ameriškimi in evropskimi diskurzi in družbenozgodovinskimi konteksti, še zlasti, ko gre za probleme rasizma.

Urša Vogrinc Javoršek

Ken MacLeod: Left Idea, Freedom of Genre and the Idea of Space

This talk will highlight the work of Scottish science fiction writer Ken MacLeod over the past two decades. At the turn of the millennium, SF is once again becoming a vehicle of social critique that is influenced by a range of social and political mechanisms. We will observe how genre becomes increasingly hybrid and loose in MacLeod’s work, which seems inseparable from the multiplication of his literary spaces. Moreover, the left-wing perspective seems increasingly evident in his recent works. We will argue that there are several elements that play a key role in MacLeod’s approach to the genre of SF, while approaching the subject in an interdisciplinary way.
We will examine his work from the perspective of critical theory and two theories of SF (Suvin’s and Rieder’s). However, these theories will be underpinned by a discussion of the idea of literary space, which we will base on the idea of space and place as conceived by the spatial theorist Michel de Certeau and the distinctly left-wing sociologist and spatial theorist Henri Lefebvre. We will also examine the socio-political character of the author’s habitus, grounding it in Pierre Bourdieu’s concept of habitus and Itamar Even-Zohar’s notion of the polysystem. We will present a brief analysis of the political, social, literary, and meta-literary factors in MacLeod’s work and show how his works position themselves in a social context as vehicles of a social criticism all their own, having escaped the shackles of genre.

Ken MacLeod: leva misel, osvobojeni žanr in ideja prostora

V prispevku bomo osvetlili zadnji dve desetletji ustvarjanja škotskega pisca znanstvene fantastike Kena MacLeoda. Ob začetku dvajsetega stoletja je moč opaziti, da (predvsem britanska) znanstvena fantastika spet postaja nosilka ostre družbene kritike, saj se odziva na vrsto družbenih in političnih mehanizmov ter silnic. Pogledali si bomo, kako romani Kena MacLeoda v tem obdobju postajajo žanrsko vse bolj hibridni, kar se zdi neločljivo povezano tudi z množenjem literarnih prostorov v njegovih delih. Obenem se z množenjem literarnih prostorov v njegovih delih vse bolj jasno izrisuje tudi angažirana leva misel. Zagovarjali bomo tezo, da je ta, drugačni, značaj MacLeodove znanstvene fantastike posledica različnih elementov, zato bomo k vprašanju pristopili interdisciplinarno. Njegove romane, napisane po letu 2000, bomo osvetlili z vidika kritične teorije in dveh teorij ZF (Suvinove in Riederjeve) ter nanje navezali idejo prostora, ki jo bomo temeljili na misli Michela de Certeauja in izrazito levo usmerjenega teoretika prostora Henrija Lefebvrea. Opredelili bomo tudi družbenopolitični značaj avtorjevega položaja v družbi in ga razložili s Bourdieujevim konceptom habitusa ter Even-Zoharjevo idejo polisistema. Na kratko bomo analizirali politične, družbene, literarne in metaliterarne dejavnike, ki vplivajo na MacLeodovo ustvarjanje, in pokazali, kako v kontekstu sodobnega sveta njegova dela postajajo družbenokritična; kako avtor v njih išče možnost utopije; in kako se, ko literarni prostor v njih postaja vse bolj heterogen, osvobajajo spon žanra.

Bernhard Winkler

Erotic Otherness – The Love Gaze in Botho Strauß’s Niemand anderes

Love today is without risk, without coincidence, without encounter – argues the French philosopher Alain Badiou in Éloge de l’amour. In the city this predictability is still fragile, and urban areas still generate many encounters based on otherness, surprise and suddenness. In his book Niemand anderes (1987), the German writer Botho Strauß, whose core topic since the 1960s has been the erotic encounter in all its manifestations, presents many examples of these random urban scenes of (mutual) sexual attraction. In this text Strauß depicts a poetic theory of love, with the love gaze at its centre. By combining scientific theories like John Bowlby’s concept of monotropy with philosophic, esoteric and literary intertexts (Baudelaire, Kleist, Benjamin, Goethe), Strauß develops a poetic theory of the love gaze. Like Paris in Baudelaire’s poems, the city of Berlin is here present in the background. An erotic encounter leading to this special form of love gaze is only possible in the city space, where people appear and disappear, and fluidity, acceleration and masses of people can be found; in brief: where the “expulsion of otherness” (Byung-Chul Han) is not yet complete. In this paper I analyse how the erotic gaze depicted by Strauß is linked to the urban space. The volatility of the encounter in the city leads to forms of encounter which attack the modern subject and seduce it from its profane everyday path of similarity to an aesthetic space of otherness, which Badiou calls a “scene of two”. How does the urban space impact our erotic behaviour, and how is this impact depicted in literature? By using spatial theory and combining it with these works on love and eroticism, I seek to show how the city shapes the forms of encounter with otherness.

Erotična Drugost – Zaljubljeni pogled v delu Niemand anderes (prev. Nihče drug) Botha Straußa

Francoski filozof Alain Badiou v Hvalnici ljubezni trdi, da je ljubezen danes brez tveganj, brez naključij, brez doživetij. A v mestih ta predvidljivost ostaja krhka in urbana območja še vedno botrujejo mnogim srečanjem kot posledici Drugosti, presenečenja in nenadnosti. Nemški pisec Botho Strauß, ki se vse od šestdesetih let prejšnjega stoletja v svojih delih osredotoča na erotična doživetja v vseh mogočih oblikah, v knjigi Niemand anderes iz leta 1987 predstavi niz primerov teh naključnih urbanih prizorov (medsebojne) spolne privlačnosti. Strauß v tem besedilu upodobi poetično teorijo ljubezni osrediščeno na zaljubljeni pogled. Svojo poetično teorijo zaljubljenega pogleda razvije s pomočjo združevanja različnih znanstvenih teorij, na primer koncepta navezanosti Johna Bowlbyja, s filozofskimi, ezoteričnimi in literarnimi medbesedili (Baudelaire, Kleist, Benjamin, Goethe). Kot v Baudelairovi poeziji Pariz, je pri Straußu v ozadju vedno prisoten Berlin. Erotično doživetje, ki privede do te posebne oblike zaljubljenega pogleda, je mogoče le v mestu, kjer se ljudje pojavljajo in izginjajo, zaznamujejo pa ga fluidnost, pospeševanje in množice ljudi. Na kratko, mesto je tam, kjer še ni prišlo do dokončnega »izgona Drugosti« (Byung-Chul Han). V svojem prispevku želim analizirati povezavo med erotičnim pogledom, upodobljenim v Straußovem delu, ter urbanim prostorom. Nestanovitnost doživetij v mestu pripelje do oblik srečanj, ki predstavljajo napad na sodobni subjekt, in ga s profane, vsakodnevne poti nenehnih podobnosti zvabijo v estetski prostor Drugosti, ki ga Badiou imenuje »prizor Dveh«. Kako urbani prostor vpliva na naše erotično obnašanje in kako je ta vpliv upodobljen v književnosti? Z uporabo teorij prostora v kombinaciji s prej omenjenimi deli na temo ljubezni in erotike želim pokazati kako mesto zaznamuje oblike srečevanj z Drugostjo in njeno doživljanje.

Marija Zlatnar Moe

Center and Margin in the Translation and Reception of Ibsen and Shakespeare in Slovenia

While today William Shakespeare and Henrik Ibsen are both considered classic playwrights, standing side by side in syllabi and theatre programmes, their journey has been somewhat different. Even before the first Shakespeare plays were translated and staged in Slovene, he was considered perhaps the greatest genius of literature and theatre. Once his plays were translated, the translations were mostly direct and done by the greatest literary figures/translators of the period, and the audience was never in doubt that, regardless of the performance, every play itself was a classic work of immortal genius. The fact that Shakespeare is now considered merely a great classic playwright and connected to the Elizabethan British source culture, rather than to a timeless genius independent of any particular culture, marks a slight decrease in the author’s status. Ibsen, on the other hand, entered the Slovene culture as a contemporary author from a peripheral, somewhat exotic culture. The first Slovene performance of Ibsen preceded that of Shakespeare, partly because the performers thought they were not yet ready for Shakespeare. Ibsen’s plays have also been translated and retranslated, but by theatre professionals who wanted to put on a performance, rather than by the most important literary figures. Until the 1960s, translations of Ibsen were indirect, mostly from German; only later were translations made directly from Norwegian, and only then were some of these published in book form. Reception differed considerably, too: far from being warmly welcomed, Ibsen’s plays were often seen as disturbing and depressing, at first as too foreign/exotic for the Slovene audience, and later as obsolete. Only from the mid-20th century on was Ibsen considered as one of the classic authors and took his place among the greats.

Središče in obrobje pri prevajanju in sprejemanju Ibsena in Shakespeara v Sloveniji

William Shakespeare in Henrik Ibsen dandanes sodita med velika imena svetovne dramatike in se skupaj pojavljata v učnih načrtih in gledaliških sporedih, vendar je bila njuna pot do tega položaja precej različna. Še preden so prevedli in uprizorili prva Shakespearova dela v slovenščini, je že veljal za morda največjega književnega in gledališkega genija. Prevodi njegovih dram so praviloma neposredni, med prevajalce lahko štejemo največja imena slovenske književnosti ter prevajalstva in občinstvo ni nikoli dvomilo, da, ne glede na kakovost uprizoritve, gledajo uprizoritev dela nesmrtnega genija. Da Shakespeara zdaj štejemo za enega velikih svetovnih dramatikov, ki prihaja iz britanske izhodiščne kulture, pravzaprav zmanjšuje njegov ugled. Henrik Ibsen pa je v slovensko kulturo prišel kot sodoben avtor iz obrobne in nekoliko eksotične kulture. Prva uprizoritev Ibsena na Slovenskem se je zgodila pred prvo uprizoritvijo Shakespeara, med drugim tudi zato, ker so ustvarjalci menili, da še niso pripravljeni na Shakespeara. Tudi Ibsenove drame so prevajali vedno znova, a med prevajalci najdemo več gledališčnikov, ki so poskrbeli tudi za prevode, ker so hoteli igro postaviti na oder, kot pa velikih imen slovenske književnosti. Vse do šestdesetih let prejšnjega stoletja so bili prevodi Ibsenovih del posredni, večinoma iz nemščine, šele pozneje so se njegove drame prevajale neposredno iz norveščine in samo nekatere od njih so izšle tudi v knjižni obliki. Ciljna kultura je Ibsena tudi sprejemala precej drugače od Shakespeara. Ni doživel vsesplošnega toplega sprejema – Ibsenove drame so pogosto imeli za skrb zbujajoče in depresivne, na začetku preveč tuje/eksotične za slovensko občinstvo, pozneje za zastarele. Šele od sredine dvajsetega stoletja naprej Ibsen v slovenski kulturi sodi med velike klasične avtorje svetovne književnosti.

Alojzija Zupan Sosič

Transgender in the Novels Orlando and Ime mi je Damjan

Today, the issue of gender identity, which questions the understanding of gender, is no longer characteristic only of the post/feminist movement but is also prominently featured in philosophical, sociological, anthropological, cultural and psychological discourses, as well as the eclectic mix of these approaches. What unites these disciplines is the essential embarrassment that arises in the study of modern identity, which is represented by a simple question: how many genders do we know and what does transgender mean? Virginia Woolf’s novel Orlando (1928), which is nowadays considered a modernist, queer narrative masterpiece, dealt with the revaluation of sexual/gender identity and, above all, with the breaking of the established binary of biological or social gender. In a genre-syncretic novel, which combines the properties of autobiography, with the dialogical, historical and love novel, the author established an existential insecurity in relation to the Other with a special transgenderness with which she repeatedly undermined any hierarchy of identities. The basic premise of this innovative novel is that each identity comprises several selves (“more than two thousand”), which can be perceived in different ways. Slovene writer Suzana Tratnik also linked existential anxiety to identity confusion in the first Slovene transgender novel Ime mi je Damjan (My Name is Damjan, 2001). The confusion encompasses a wide range of gender-related issues, from androgyny, lesbianism and transsexuality, to non-recognition of sexual dynamics, as the transgender character Damjan persistently claims to be “normal” and therefore refuses to/cannot identify with any sexual minority.

Transspolnost v romanih Orlando in Ime mi je Damjan

Problematika spolne identitete, ki prevprašuje razumevanje spolov, danes ni več značilna samo za post/feministično gibanje, pač pa tudi za filozofski, sociološki, antropološki, kulturološki in psihološki diskurz oz. neko eklektično zmes vseh ravni. Te druži bistvena zadrega, ki nastopi pri preučevanju sodobne identitete in jo predstavlja že zelo preprosto vprašanje: koliko spolov poznamo in kaj sploh pomeni transspolnost? S prevrednotenjem spolne identitete, predvsem pa z razbijanjem ustaljenega binarnega biološkega ali družbenega spola se je ukvarjal že roman Orlando (1928) Virginie Woolf, ki je danes razumljen kot mojstrovina modernistične kvir pripovedi. V žanrsko sinkretičnem romanu, spoju avtobiografije, dialoškega, zgodovinskega in ljubezenskega romana, je avtorica vzpostavila bivanjsko negotovost v odnosu do Drugega s posebno transspolnostjo, s katero je večkrat zanikala kakršnokoli hierarhijo identitet. Osnovno izhodišče tega inovativnega romana je, da je vsaka identiteta sestavljena iz več jazov (“more than two thousand”), ki jih lahko percepiramo na različne načine. Tudi slovenska pisateljica Suzana Tratnik je bivanjsko tesnobo v prvem slovenskem transspolnem romanu Ime mi je Damjan (2001) navezala na identitetne zmede. Te nihajo od androginosti, lezbičnosti in transseksualnosti do nepriznavanja spolne dinamike, saj transspolni lik Damjan vztrajno trdi, da je »normalen« in da se zato noče/ne more identificirati z nobeno spolno manjšino.

Igor Žunkovič

Reading Diversity

Reading is not innate to people but must be learned through a long process that must also be institutionalized accordingly. But while the social, institutional, and pedagogical consequences of this statement are well known and accepted as a fact on the basis of which we create curricula and formulate various policies at the local and national levels, the consequences for readers of literary texts in general are less clear. The embodied view of reading developed by second-generation cognitive literary studies shows that mental, emotional, memory, motor, and other processes are involved in reading literary texts. The basic time frame for reading at the cognitive level is about half a second, or 500 milliseconds. This is the time it takes us to grasp the meaning of what we read from the moment the light reaches our eyes till the moment of conscious understanding. While on the phenomenological level, we experience this time span as an instant, on the neurobiological level, it signifies a relatively large number of possibilities for the formation of physical and cognitive processes that have a certain hierarchy, but within which there are countless different possibilities for interaction with each other. On the other hand, literary texts, by virtue of their literariness and by virtue of the reader’s awareness of their fictionality, have a deeper effect and are read differently than non-literary or non-fiction texts. The complexity and interconnectedness of these cognitive and social processes unlock the essential features and benefits of literary reading, especially its diversity. This kind of diversity means not only the possibility of different interpretations of the same text, but also sexual, social, generational, linguistic, and other forms of specificity of reading literary texts through the personal and contextual (social, cultural) characteristics of the reader. In this respect, the question of literary translation (traditore – traduttore) is particularly important, but also the didactics of literature, bibliotherapy and other forms of social use of literature. If in the middle of the last century, literary science was still discussing the necessity of ignoring the reader’s emotions while reading, as well as the feelings before and after reading, today we know that the meaning of a literary text does not exist without simultaneous emotions, and that the reader’s well-being (his self-image, identity, etc.) inevitably helps to shape the meaning.

Raznolikost in branje

Branje ljudem ni prirojeno, temveč se ga moramo priučiti skozi dolgotrajen in načrten učni proces, ki mora biti tudi ustrezno institucionaliziran. A če so družbene, institucionalne in pedagoške posledice te ugotovitve znane in jih sprejemamo kot dejstvo, na podlagi katerega tvorimo učne programe in oblikujemo različne politike na lokalni in tudi nacionalni ravni, so posledice za bralce in branje literarnih besedil nasploh manj jasne. Utelešen pogled na branje, ki ga razvija kognitivna literarna veda druge generacije, pokaže, da so v branje literarnih besedil vključeni miselni, čustveni, spominski, motorični in drugi procesi. Temeljni časovni okvir branja na kognitivni ravni je približno pol sekunde ali 500 milisekund. To je čas, ki ga potrebujemo, da se od trenutka, ko z očesom zaznamo črke na papirju, zavemo pomena prebranega. Čeprav na fenomenološki ravni to obdobje doživimo kot trenutek, na nevrobiološki ravni pomeni relativno veliko možnosti tvorjenja telesnih in kognitivnih procesov, ki sicer imajo določeno hierarhijo, a znotraj nje nešteto različnih možnosti medsebojnega interagiranja. Po drugi strani pa literarna besedila skozi svojo literariziranost in tudi skozi bralčevo ali bralkino zavest o njihovi fikcijskosti delujejo globlje in se berejo drugače od neliterarnih in faktičnih besedil. Kompleksnost in prepletenost teh kognitivnih in socialnih procesov odpirata ključne značilnosti in prednosti literarnega branja, še posebej njegovo raznolikost. Tovrstna raznolikost ne pomeni le možnosti različnih interpretacij istega besedila, ampak spolno, socialno, generacijsko, jezikovno in druge oblike določenosti branja literarnih besedil s strani bralčevih osebnih in kontekstualnih (družbenih, kulturnih značilnosti). V tem oziru je posebej pomembno vprašanje literarnega prevajanja (traditore – traduttore), a tudi literarne didaktike, biblioterapije in drugih načinov družbene rabe literature. Če je literarna veda na polovici prejšnjega stoletja razpravljala o tem, da je za ustrezno interpretacijo treba odmisliti bralčeva čustvovanja ob branju, pa tudi počutje pred in po branju, danes vemo, da pomena literarnega besedila brez sočasnega čustvovanja sploh ni in da počutje bralca oz. bralke (tudi njegova oz. njena samopodoba, identiteta itn.) neizogibno sooblikuje pomen kot tak.