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The Deconstructed Angels in Tess of the D’Urbervilles
Issue:
Volume 5, Issue 3, September 2020
Pages:
79-83
Received:
13 July 2020
Accepted:
30 July 2020
Published:
10 August 2020
Abstract: The nineteenth-century is an age when traditional social expectations for a truly pure and angelic woman pervade the Western world. In Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the D’Urbervilles (1891), two main characters apparently bear unignorable relevance to the term “angel” or its connotation: Angel Clare, whose Christian name alone suggests the subtle artistic design of the author, and Tess, who is overtly defined by the author in the subtitle of the novel as “a pure woman”. The controversial verdict on Tess lead readers to reflect upon the life experiences of the “angelically pure” Tess again in terms of what she does instead of what she is already assumed to be, thus revealing her loyalty, forbearance and nobility of her struggle against fate. Appearing both as an intruder into the Wessex country life and reforming destructionist of the dogma of the church, the other “angel”, Angel Clare deconstructs what his father Reverend Mr. Clare of Emminster holds as absolute truth. His self-deconstruction along the way blurs the simple dichotomy of what is pure and moral, and furthermore, help him finally recognize the disadvantaged female. Prominently, these two “angels” are deconstructed against the incorrigible connotation and the Zeitgeist of their time, showing Thomas Hardy’s possible awareness of the necessity of breaking the stereotypic angelical image as well as wielding the inestimable power of literature to propel changes.
Abstract: The nineteenth-century is an age when traditional social expectations for a truly pure and angelic woman pervade the Western world. In Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the D’Urbervilles (1891), two main characters apparently bear unignorable relevance to the term “angel” or its connotation: Angel Clare, whose Christian name alone suggests the subtle artistic...
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Critical Discourse Analysis of Sino-U.S. News Reports on Trade War: A Corpus-based Comparative Study
Wang Liyang,
Wang Jiayi,
Luo Qian
Issue:
Volume 5, Issue 3, September 2020
Pages:
84-90
Received:
20 July 2020
Accepted:
5 August 2020
Published:
10 August 2020
Abstract: Since April 2018, the U.S. government headed by U.S. President Trump has adopted trade protection measures, and the Sino-U.S. trade war broke out. This lasting event has attracted widespread attention from domestic and foreign media, and the attitudes and opinions presented by various reports are different. In order to explore more in-depth information behind news reports, we analyze the Sino-U.S. trade war news based on the collected corpora. By combining corpus analysis and Fairclough's three-dimensional analysis framework of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) and collecting 15 news reports on the websites of China Daily and The Wall Street Journal respectively from January 2019 to January 2020, this study explores the focuses of Sino-U.S. reports and their attitudes towards Sino-U.S. trade issues, and further reveals the national images of the two countries constructed by the media. It is found that the Wall Street Journal reports focus on the tariff policies and the economic impact of the Sino-U.S. trade war on its own country. While China Daily reports focus on response to trade war. For building a national image, The Wall Street Journal uses more positive words to construct the United States as an image of strong and just. China Daily builds China as an image of a big country that actively responded to challenges and actively promoted global free trade and peaceful coexistence. This study provides some empirical evidence for the critical discourse analysis of news discourse, deepens our understanding of the ideology hidden behind the news discourse, and has a certain enlightening role for discourse analysis of different genres.
Abstract: Since April 2018, the U.S. government headed by U.S. President Trump has adopted trade protection measures, and the Sino-U.S. trade war broke out. This lasting event has attracted widespread attention from domestic and foreign media, and the attitudes and opinions presented by various reports are different. In order to explore more in-depth informa...
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The Political Rhapsody and Ethical Expression in Bernard Shaw’s The Apple Cart
Liu Maosheng,
Long Yanxia
Issue:
Volume 5, Issue 3, September 2020
Pages:
91-97
Received:
1 August 2020
Accepted:
14 August 2020
Published:
25 August 2020
Abstract: As a Nobel Prize winner, Bernard Shaw is undoubtedly one of the most prominent and prolific playwrights of the Victorian age. His works have exerted a great influence on world literature. The studies of Shaw and his works have achieved fruitful results. However, most scholars have long focused on Shaw’s early problem plays and paid little attention to his later political plays. In fact, Shaw discussed more serious themes such as social reality, political criticism and ethical ideals in his later years through unrestrained artistic creation. He wrote dramas in a rhapsodic way which represented the political crisis and fantasy of British society at that time. As a member of the Fabian Society, Shaw never gives up his ethical thoughts and his political rhapsody of social reform and development, which are clearly expressed in his later plays. As Shaw’s most important political satire, The Apple Cart is a case in point. In this play, Shaw combined current events, fantasy, and philosophic thought concerned by the public, criticized the British parliamentary system and bourgeois democracy at that time, and clearly expressed his political ideal and ethical appeal. That is to build a better world order, and reshape the virtuous social ethics and moral codes.
Abstract: As a Nobel Prize winner, Bernard Shaw is undoubtedly one of the most prominent and prolific playwrights of the Victorian age. His works have exerted a great influence on world literature. The studies of Shaw and his works have achieved fruitful results. However, most scholars have long focused on Shaw’s early problem plays and paid little attention...
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Exploring Silence Embedded in Three Selected Sonnets
Issue:
Volume 5, Issue 3, September 2020
Pages:
98-106
Received:
2 August 2020
Accepted:
18 August 2020
Published:
27 August 2020
Abstract: Most sonnets are love poems, but a vast array of subjects can be embedded in sonnets. Silence can be considered a fascinating subject in both British and American Poetry as it is usually associated with philosophy and can arouse intense emotions in readers. In poetry, silence is subtly portrayed despite its negative impact on the moods of some poets. This study attempts to explore how silence is seen from different perspectives in relation to selected sonnets. Concepts of love, loss, death, solitude and nature are disclosed via the vivid portrayal of silence which is subject to both favourable and unfavourable contexts provided in poetry. The reign of silence has a profound impact on troubled mind, blissful solitude, pleasant moments and changes in attitudes. Through silence, poets reveal their innermost thoughts and feelings in three sonnets. This study aims to raise readers’ awareness of blessings and curses of silence, which can make them thought-provoking in analyzing forms of sonnets and figuring out meanings of silence via denotation and connotation. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were deployed in order to find out similarities and differences of three sonnets in terms of denotation and connotation. Based on the results, the most significant proportion of connotation was employed in ‘Sonnet-Silence’. Silence is twofold in each sonnet in that it serves as perfect harmony, sheer bliss or intense grief. Denotative meaning is misleading; it often contradicts connotative meaning. It was found that silence has different layers of meaning indeed. All the poets employ silence as a powerful tool in order to convey interesting messages to readers.
Abstract: Most sonnets are love poems, but a vast array of subjects can be embedded in sonnets. Silence can be considered a fascinating subject in both British and American Poetry as it is usually associated with philosophy and can arouse intense emotions in readers. In poetry, silence is subtly portrayed despite its negative impact on the moods of some poet...
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The Noise of Time: Shostakovich in Biofiction
Issue:
Volume 5, Issue 3, September 2020
Pages:
107-111
Received:
29 August 2020
Accepted:
11 September 2020
Published:
21 September 2020
Abstract: The life of Dmitri Shostakovich, a Soviet composer and Russian intellectual who was censored under the dictatorship of Joseph Stalin, features in many bio-works. Julian Barnes’s The Noise of Time is a reconstruction of the well-known composer’s life story, and it confronts the readers with the deconstruction of biographical conventions. In the novel, Barnes uses biographical and fictional techniques in portraying a person’s life to reflect on the relationship between art and history, artist and power, and shows that historical truth is t reconstituted, reordered, or reconstructed in a selective way. This article is focused on the narrative modes and re-presentation of the historical subject in The Noise of Time. By emphasizing formal features and their impact upon perception and interpretation of history, this analysis considers the genre of biofiction as a narrative for achieving a sense of “poetic truth” of Shostakovich’s time. By relating history with the theory of neo-historical biofiction, Barnes reminds us that history might have been concealed in totalitarian society but could also be restored among the many stories by and about the individual—to connect the histories with his stories. Thus, we should regard The Noise of Time as an amphibious art form, which ideally has both to obey the constraints of evidence and to respond creatively to the challenge of making literary form and meaning.
Abstract: The life of Dmitri Shostakovich, a Soviet composer and Russian intellectual who was censored under the dictatorship of Joseph Stalin, features in many bio-works. Julian Barnes’s The Noise of Time is a reconstruction of the well-known composer’s life story, and it confronts the readers with the deconstruction of biographical conventions. In the nove...
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Female Gender Identity in the Adaptation of Disney Live-action Film Mulan
Issue:
Volume 5, Issue 3, September 2020
Pages:
112-115
Received:
21 August 2020
Accepted:
2 September 2020
Published:
21 September 2020
Abstract: The Disney’s 2020 live-action Mulan is remade from its 1998 animated one whose box office globally grossed 304 million. Both movies are based on Chinese “The Ballad of Mulan” that a young woman disguised as a man to join the army about 1500 years ago. The 2020 Mulan movie is adapted to strengthen Mulan’s motto “loyal”, “brave” and “true” as a warrior, spill Li Xiang into Chen Honghui and Master Tung, replace Mushu with phoenix, and create two female role：Mulan’s sister Xiu and a witch Xianniang for views of new era from the 1998 animated film. These changes are analysed from a perspective of female gender identity to conclude that “loyal”, “brave” and “true” motto will push women to be engaged in social fairs and take more social responsibilities, omission of Li Xiang is helpful for women to break their hidden Cinderella complex, Phoenix, a female symbol, rather than a dragon, a male, is better to be Mulan’s guardian, and Xianniang, the villain in the movie, is pessimistic for women to take their place in the world, showing her power as a woman in a negative way. These adaptations reflect more independent gender identity of females.
Abstract: The Disney’s 2020 live-action Mulan is remade from its 1998 animated one whose box office globally grossed 304 million. Both movies are based on Chinese “The Ballad of Mulan” that a young woman disguised as a man to join the army about 1500 years ago. The 2020 Mulan movie is adapted to strengthen Mulan’s motto “loyal”, “brave” and “true” as a warri...
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Gender Ambiguity, Domesticity and The Public Space: The Case of Wilkie Collins’s The Woman in White
Debora Antonietta Sarnelli
Issue:
Volume 5, Issue 3, September 2020
Pages:
116-123
Received:
1 September 2020
Accepted:
23 September 2020
Published:
12 October 2020
Abstract: Starting from Linda Brannon’s “the Doctrine of Two Spheres” (Brannon 2004) and Barbara Welter’s “the Cult of True Womanhood” (Welter 2000), the contribution aims at analyzing how the “Doctrine of Two Spheres” is clearly visible in Wilkie Collins’s The Woman in White (1859), where the main protagonists’ personalities and behaviors reveal both the preservation and subversion of the separate spheres ideology. The novel is shaped around the dichotomy between two half-sisters, that embody two contrasting forms of femininity. Laura epitomizes the Angel in the House, Marian, by contrast is a liminal figure, characterized by gender ambiguity. She is masculine in her physical appearance and in her behaviors. She constantly moves between gender roles and between the public and domestic space. Similarly, the two male protagonists of the novel, Walter and Count Fosco, are at the antipodes of each other. Walter, after a ‘bildung journey’ towards masculinity, acquires the typical masculine attributes of a Victorian man. Count Fosco, like Marian, is characterized by gender ambiguity. He moves between gender roles, disclosing feminine features and cherishing ladylike habits. In the end, Fosco and Marian’s gender ambiguity is punished with death: death by assassination for the villain, symbolic and social death for Marian the spinster, thus re-establishing Victorian gender roles.
Abstract: Starting from Linda Brannon’s “the Doctrine of Two Spheres” (Brannon 2004) and Barbara Welter’s “the Cult of True Womanhood” (Welter 2000), the contribution aims at analyzing how the “Doctrine of Two Spheres” is clearly visible in Wilkie Collins’s The Woman in White (1859), where the main protagonists’ personalities and behaviors reveal both the pr...
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