Publications search results
An Examination of Power and Translation
1 March 2022
Arthur Schnitzler (1862-1931), one of the major figures of European modernist
literature, enjoyed domestic and international success during his lifetime and
posthumously, yet the arrival of his dramatic works in Great Britain was plagued by false starts, short runs
and inconsistencies. It was only with Tom Stoppard’s adaptations of Das
weite Land and Liebelei, that Schnitzler’s plays were produced at
the National Theatre ─ Undiscovered Country (1979) and Dalliance (1986).
Nicole Robertson’s enquiry into the whys and wherefores of
that dilatory dissemination unearths and examines evidence of power in
transcultural and translingual migrations. Translations, critical reviews,
correspondence and unpublished drafts from the...
Aspects of English, French and German Literature (1880-1939)
18 November 2021
Literary references to smell in social contexts have a long tradition. However, the significant contribution of odour imagery to our moods and emotions goes largely unnoticed, which accounts for the comparatively late attention paid to smell in research into the significance of sensory images in literature. The well-known capacity of smell motifs to affirm and disrupt social and aesthetic norms cuts across historical periods, but the ways in which specific literary-historical periods renew motifs of smell in social life have remained underexplored. This volume, based on the interdisciplinary conference that took place in November 2018 at the University of London's Institute of Modern Languages Research, gives an overview of such...
15 November 2021
Shifts in state boundaries and socio-economic structures deeply affected the political landscape in nineteenth-century Italy, coinciding with changes to the legal system. The patriarchal, hierarchical and strict class stratification of society saw women redefining their sense of self and rethinking their identities beyond the traditional domestic roles of daughter, wife and mother. This volume charts the process and, by analysing the law in action and women’s interaction with it, recovers the forgotten voices and stories of ordinary women who, in their everyday lives, reacted against the limitations and constraints imposed upon them. The picture which emerges gives an alternative interpretation of the nineteenth-century image of women:...
Cultural Transfer and Literary Entrepreneurship in the Enlightenment
30 June 2021
Christian Felix Weiße (1726-1804) is best known as a dramatist and influential children’s writer of the Enlightenment period. This is the first book to explore his singularly extensive output as a literary translator, investigating the conditions which allowed Weiße to become the most prolific German translator of English literature in the eighteenth century, a popular translator of French drama, and an influential editor and ‘entrepreneur’ of the translations of others. Drawing on previously unpublished correspondence, the study examines Weiße’s wide-ranging professional networks as a cultural mediator of European significance. Special attention is paid to his role in the German reception of Ossian, his introduction of English children’s...
18 December 2020
Reading
creates imaginary worlds. Rather than merely contemplating this world, we
establish links between the fictional world and the environment we live in. At
the same time, the books we read form part of our daily lives, and contribute
to the creation of a universe of possible worlds we inhabit. Taking Possible
World Theory as a starting point, DeWald re-evaluates and overturns the assumed
hierarchical relationship between original text and its translation. Focusing
on the translations of Virginia Woolf and Franz Kafka by Argentine writer Jorge
Luis Borges, the author considers why we insist on maintaining borders between
texts. DeWald examines marginal cases of translations and originals
(pseudo-translations and collaborative...
30 June 2020
This study
examines how the literary works of Elisabeth Reichart, Charlotte Roche and
Elfriede Jelinek challenge normativity both in their engagement with gender and
sexuality and with aesthetic choices. The comparative analysis of texts
published over a twenty-year period provides insights into the socio-political
and cultural dynamics at the time of publication. It reveals the continuing
relevance of feminist authorial voices to the present day, challenging the stable,
normative understanding of feminism and feminist writing itself, and showing
how literature can function as a form of intervention that provides a
reflective space for readers to question norms in their own lives and to take
the initiative to change these norms. Cornelia...
20 March 2020
9 August 2019
How
has classical literature shaped culture, knowledge, the thinkable? What happens
when a canonical text is translated from his
gaze into her, and their, gaze(s)? These are some of
the questions Barbara Köhler pursues in her modern epic poem, Niemands Frau (2007), her response to The Odyssey.
Translated and re-imagined over the centuries, Homer’s tale found critical
resonance in intellectual traditions from Christianity through to Post-Colonialism.
Odysseus has been viewed as an ideal, reputedly using reason rather than force
to dominate, but in Niemands Frau Köhler
takes inspiration from Penelope to weave a text that challenges the rationalist
and patriarchal epistemological traditions to which the Odyssey contributes. Readers are...
5 July 2019
Urban microcosms are small-scale
communal spaces that are integral to, or integrated into, city life. Some, such
as railway stations or department stores, are typically located in city centres.
Others, such as parks, are less quintessentially metropolitan, whilst harbours
or beaches are often located on the peripheries of cities or outside them
altogether. All are part of a network of nodes establishing connections in and
beyond the city. Together, they shape and inflect the infrastructure of modern
life. By introducing the concept of urban
microcosm into social, cultural, and literary studies, this interdisciplinary
volume challenges the widely held assumption that city life is evenly spread
across its spaces. Sixteen case studies focus...