This paper examines how the socio-cultural contexts have affected readers' responses to particular Saudi novels. It draws on Fish's concept of "interpretive communities", which argues that interpretation is an ins...This paper examines how the socio-cultural contexts have affected readers' responses to particular Saudi novels. It draws on Fish's concept of "interpretive communities", which argues that interpretation is an institutional practice, and that consequently readers hold shared prior assumptions that constrain their interpretive strategies (Fish 1980). Not surprisingly then, some responses to Saudi authors are based on the ideological belief that their novels consist of acts of rebellion against a conservative culture. A close reading of the conflict between Saudi novelists and the social responses to their works can reflect how cultural and social contexts shape the reception of contemporary Saudi novels, and can also help to construct public attitudes toward these texts. Saudi novelists have faced a number of social constraints and factors which have affected the development of the novel in Saudi Arabia. For example, works by al-Gosaibi, Munif, Khal, al-Hamad, al-Mohaimeed, Alsanea, and al-luhani have all been banned because they were seen to pose a major threat to the dominant, patriarchal Saudi ideology. While the social controversy around these writers was raging, some other writers applied self-censorship to avoid touching upon what were perceived to be the most sensitive issues.展开更多
Today's idea of the so-called fin-de-sibcle is still somewhat inexact and incomplete. This lack of precision originates from a deeply rooted methodological approach which consists of considering the respective develo...Today's idea of the so-called fin-de-sibcle is still somewhat inexact and incomplete. This lack of precision originates from a deeply rooted methodological approach which consists of considering the respective developments of literature, art, and science in isolation, without paying attention to any interference or reciprocal contamination. This defective method also affects the overlaps and contacts between high culture and popular culture. Despite the progress made over recent years, there are few researchers who approach their objective with a real awareness of the complexity of a time period which saw the appearance of mass culture in the current sense and an unprecedented boom in scientific and technological development.1 To this end, the example of the great German philosopher Walter Benjamin and his studies on Paris during the 19th century----collected in the essays on the great French poet Charles Baudelaire and especially in the monumental and unfinished work The Arcades Project--is, without doubt, a model to follow. Taking the path suggested by Benjamin, this article sets out a revision of the novel Bruges-la-Morte (1892) by the Belgian writer Georges Rodenbach, considered one of the major exponents of thefin-de-sikcle decadence, which goes beyond the usual approach of a symbolist reading, by paying special attention to the frictions between literature and technology on one hand, and between literature and popular entertainment on the other.展开更多
Katherine Mansfield is a world famous woman master of short stories in English literature. Her stories are sensitive revelations of human behaiour in quite ordinary situations, through which we can glimpse a powerful ...Katherine Mansfield is a world famous woman master of short stories in English literature. Her stories are sensitive revelations of human behaiour in quite ordinary situations, through which we can glimpse a powerful and sometimes cruelly pessimistic view of life. Miss Brill is one of her short stories published in her collection of stories entitled The Garden Party and Other Stories (2007), describing an afternoon in the life of a middle-aged spinster who visits the public park on a weekly basis, leading to her reassessment of her view of the world and the secular reality. Short as it is, it is really worth carful analysis and appreciation. This paper will mainly deal with the theme--alienation that the story conveys in two aspects: some obvious alienate elments in Miss Brill, in which some background information is provided; some less obvious alienation in Miss Brill, in which a detailed analysis is made into the story to reveal its alienation.展开更多
Word meanings change with time. This paper analyzes the meanings of three language units from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice and their Chinese renderings by seven translators. These three units are recollect, hand...Word meanings change with time. This paper analyzes the meanings of three language units from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice and their Chinese renderings by seven translators. These three units are recollect, handsome, and come upon the town. By studying the linguistic, situational, or cultural contexts of each language unit, the analysis shows that of the renderings of these three language units, the accuracy rate is three out of seven, one out of seven, and two out of seven respectively. The paper points out that one of the most important causes of the low accuracy rates is that these language units denote old-fashioned meanings. Another cause of the low accuracy rates is that some of the translators are not careful enough in their identification of the meanings of these language units. The paper suggests that in the translation of a classic novel like Pride and Prejudice, translators need to analyze carefully the linguistic, situational, or cultural contexts of a tricky language unit in the novel for very likely it denotes an old-fashioned meaning. Translators could also consult and compare what a tricky language unit means in other places of the novel, use an encyclopedic dictionary instead of a dictionary of contemporary English, and study the notes on tricky words in the novel made by established scholars.展开更多
The HINT project is a four-country collective of Global heritage interpretation. HINT is a two-year project part funded Geoparks researching the uses and benefits of new technologies in by the European Leader Programm...The HINT project is a four-country collective of Global heritage interpretation. HINT is a two-year project part funded Geoparks researching the uses and benefits of new technologies in by the European Leader Programme. The partners are Geopark Shetland (Scotland), Chablais Geopark (France), North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (England) and Geopark de Hondsrug (The Netherlands). Each partner has developed a pilot project to investigate the practicalities of interpreting and communicating heritage, especially geological heritage, using a particular technology. An overview of each of the four pilot projects is given. The overall aim of the pilot projects is to develop best practice in using new technologies for heritage interpretation and to share information and ideas within the project partnership and with geoparks and heritage organizations around the world. This paper, developed by the HINT partners, aims to give an insight into the practical process of developing interpretive tools using new technologies. Some common problems are highlighted and some ways in which these can be addressed are shown.展开更多
文摘This paper examines how the socio-cultural contexts have affected readers' responses to particular Saudi novels. It draws on Fish's concept of "interpretive communities", which argues that interpretation is an institutional practice, and that consequently readers hold shared prior assumptions that constrain their interpretive strategies (Fish 1980). Not surprisingly then, some responses to Saudi authors are based on the ideological belief that their novels consist of acts of rebellion against a conservative culture. A close reading of the conflict between Saudi novelists and the social responses to their works can reflect how cultural and social contexts shape the reception of contemporary Saudi novels, and can also help to construct public attitudes toward these texts. Saudi novelists have faced a number of social constraints and factors which have affected the development of the novel in Saudi Arabia. For example, works by al-Gosaibi, Munif, Khal, al-Hamad, al-Mohaimeed, Alsanea, and al-luhani have all been banned because they were seen to pose a major threat to the dominant, patriarchal Saudi ideology. While the social controversy around these writers was raging, some other writers applied self-censorship to avoid touching upon what were perceived to be the most sensitive issues.
文摘Today's idea of the so-called fin-de-sibcle is still somewhat inexact and incomplete. This lack of precision originates from a deeply rooted methodological approach which consists of considering the respective developments of literature, art, and science in isolation, without paying attention to any interference or reciprocal contamination. This defective method also affects the overlaps and contacts between high culture and popular culture. Despite the progress made over recent years, there are few researchers who approach their objective with a real awareness of the complexity of a time period which saw the appearance of mass culture in the current sense and an unprecedented boom in scientific and technological development.1 To this end, the example of the great German philosopher Walter Benjamin and his studies on Paris during the 19th century----collected in the essays on the great French poet Charles Baudelaire and especially in the monumental and unfinished work The Arcades Project--is, without doubt, a model to follow. Taking the path suggested by Benjamin, this article sets out a revision of the novel Bruges-la-Morte (1892) by the Belgian writer Georges Rodenbach, considered one of the major exponents of thefin-de-sikcle decadence, which goes beyond the usual approach of a symbolist reading, by paying special attention to the frictions between literature and technology on one hand, and between literature and popular entertainment on the other.
文摘Katherine Mansfield is a world famous woman master of short stories in English literature. Her stories are sensitive revelations of human behaiour in quite ordinary situations, through which we can glimpse a powerful and sometimes cruelly pessimistic view of life. Miss Brill is one of her short stories published in her collection of stories entitled The Garden Party and Other Stories (2007), describing an afternoon in the life of a middle-aged spinster who visits the public park on a weekly basis, leading to her reassessment of her view of the world and the secular reality. Short as it is, it is really worth carful analysis and appreciation. This paper will mainly deal with the theme--alienation that the story conveys in two aspects: some obvious alienate elments in Miss Brill, in which some background information is provided; some less obvious alienation in Miss Brill, in which a detailed analysis is made into the story to reveal its alienation.
文摘Word meanings change with time. This paper analyzes the meanings of three language units from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice and their Chinese renderings by seven translators. These three units are recollect, handsome, and come upon the town. By studying the linguistic, situational, or cultural contexts of each language unit, the analysis shows that of the renderings of these three language units, the accuracy rate is three out of seven, one out of seven, and two out of seven respectively. The paper points out that one of the most important causes of the low accuracy rates is that these language units denote old-fashioned meanings. Another cause of the low accuracy rates is that some of the translators are not careful enough in their identification of the meanings of these language units. The paper suggests that in the translation of a classic novel like Pride and Prejudice, translators need to analyze carefully the linguistic, situational, or cultural contexts of a tricky language unit in the novel for very likely it denotes an old-fashioned meaning. Translators could also consult and compare what a tricky language unit means in other places of the novel, use an encyclopedic dictionary instead of a dictionary of contemporary English, and study the notes on tricky words in the novel made by established scholars.
文摘The HINT project is a four-country collective of Global heritage interpretation. HINT is a two-year project part funded Geoparks researching the uses and benefits of new technologies in by the European Leader Programme. The partners are Geopark Shetland (Scotland), Chablais Geopark (France), North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (England) and Geopark de Hondsrug (The Netherlands). Each partner has developed a pilot project to investigate the practicalities of interpreting and communicating heritage, especially geological heritage, using a particular technology. An overview of each of the four pilot projects is given. The overall aim of the pilot projects is to develop best practice in using new technologies for heritage interpretation and to share information and ideas within the project partnership and with geoparks and heritage organizations around the world. This paper, developed by the HINT partners, aims to give an insight into the practical process of developing interpretive tools using new technologies. Some common problems are highlighted and some ways in which these can be addressed are shown.