Juan Marsé: Broadening the Definition of the Catalan Nation

<p>This thesis argues that Catalan writer Juan Marsé (1933-2020) proposes, in a number of his novels, a postmodern construction of concepts of national identity in the case of Catalonia. The novels which are analysed in this study are Últimas tardes con Teresa (1966), La oscura historia de la prima Montse (1970) and El amante bilingüe (1991). Marsé’s innovative and open concept of the nation is presented in these works through three different strategies, which I refer to as discursive, narrative and linguistic. Marsé’s discursive strategies are traced within the framework of textual semiosis, and comprise, for example, certain vocabulary choices over others, or the predominance of adjectives in certain parts of the text. These strategies thus relate to syntactical and grammatical aspects of the texts. Secondly, the author’s narrative strategies are those related to the works’ themes, linked to the analysis of the plot structure and the novels’ settings and characters. The central issue addressed here is the inclusion of the figure of the charnego in the novels selected for study. The derogatory term charnego was coined in Catalonia to refer to people who migrated from the south of Spain to Catalonia during the 1960s. This wave of Spanish-speaking immigration increased the population of Catalonia by almost 1.5 million, and was overwhelmingly seen as negative by locals at the time. The representation of this figure in these novels is examined through an analysis of the physical descriptions and psychological portrayals of these characters, as well as the vocabulary used in these representations. My discussion of Marsé’s narrative strategies also considers the different ways in which he portrays the idea of what it means to be “Catalan”; that is, the habits, traditions or symbols that traditionally provide a basis for identity. Finally, the linguistic strategy that runs through all Marsé’s work can broadly be defined as the choice of Spanish—as opposed to Catalan—as his literary language. This thesis argues that this choice is not only a strategic one in terms of the broader dissemination of his message but is also a key element in his construction of a broader notion of Catalan nationhood. These strategies interweave to present a shifting representation of Catalan national identity informed by postmodern perspectives and in opposition to traditional concepts of nationhood. Over the course of these three novels, Marsé progressively blurs the boundaries between what is traditionally viewed as “the Catalan” and “the Other”. Through his portrayal of certain characters and spaces, and with significant linguistic interference from Catalan in his Spanish, Marsé undermines traditional boundaries between the identities of Self and Other and suggests a more fluid idea of nationhood. This thesis makes three important contributions to existing scholarship. Firstly through its analysis of Marsé’s postmodern construction of Catalan national identity in these three novels. Secondly, this study also comprises a detailed examination of La oscura historia de la prima Montse (1970), which has not been extensively studied by scholars to date. The comprehensive analysis of Marsé’s use of language is a third original component of the study. It opens new possibilities for the linguistic analysis of other novels, both Marsé’s and those of other Catalan writers.</p>

Juan Marsé: Broadening the Definition of the Catalan Nation

<p>This thesis argues that Catalan writer Juan Marsé (1933-2020) proposes, in a number of his novels, a postmodern construction of concepts of national identity in the case of Catalonia. The novels which are analysed in this study are Últimas tardes con Teresa (1966), La oscura historia de la prima Montse (1970) and El amante bilingüe (1991). Marsé’s innovative and open concept of the nation is presented in these works through three different strategies, which I refer to as discursive, narrative and linguistic. Marsé’s discursive strategies are traced within the framework of textual semiosis, and comprise, for example, certain vocabulary choices over others, or the predominance of adjectives in certain parts of the text. These strategies thus relate to syntactical and grammatical aspects of the texts. Secondly, the author’s narrative strategies are those related to the works’ themes, linked to the analysis of the plot structure and the novels’ settings and characters. The central issue addressed here is the inclusion of the figure of the charnego in the novels selected for study. The derogatory term charnego was coined in Catalonia to refer to people who migrated from the south of Spain to Catalonia during the 1960s. This wave of Spanish-speaking immigration increased the population of Catalonia by almost 1.5 million, and was overwhelmingly seen as negative by locals at the time. The representation of this figure in these novels is examined through an analysis of the physical descriptions and psychological portrayals of these characters, as well as the vocabulary used in these representations. My discussion of Marsé’s narrative strategies also considers the different ways in which he portrays the idea of what it means to be “Catalan”; that is, the habits, traditions or symbols that traditionally provide a basis for identity. Finally, the linguistic strategy that runs through all Marsé’s work can broadly be defined as the choice of Spanish—as opposed to Catalan—as his literary language. This thesis argues that this choice is not only a strategic one in terms of the broader dissemination of his message but is also a key element in his construction of a broader notion of Catalan nationhood. These strategies interweave to present a shifting representation of Catalan national identity informed by postmodern perspectives and in opposition to traditional concepts of nationhood. Over the course of these three novels, Marsé progressively blurs the boundaries between what is traditionally viewed as “the Catalan” and “the Other”. Through his portrayal of certain characters and spaces, and with significant linguistic interference from Catalan in his Spanish, Marsé undermines traditional boundaries between the identities of Self and Other and suggests a more fluid idea of nationhood. This thesis makes three important contributions to existing scholarship. Firstly through its analysis of Marsé’s postmodern construction of Catalan national identity in these three novels. Secondly, this study also comprises a detailed examination of La oscura historia de la prima Montse (1970), which has not been extensively studied by scholars to date. The comprehensive analysis of Marsé’s use of language is a third original component of the study. It opens new possibilities for the linguistic analysis of other novels, both Marsé’s and those of other Catalan writers.</p>

A Pragmatic Study of Sarcasm in Selected TV Shows

Sarcasm as a linguistic strategy is a universal property of all languages which means it can be found in any language. However, this research proposes a pragmatic study of sarcasm in the English Language, American TV shows. Sarcasm could also be pragmatically defined by linking it to Grice's Maxims which means that the utterance is violating one of Grice's maxims to communicate something indirectly. This approach suggests that sarcasm is a vital notion in spoken and written language. It shows that the utterance is used to achieve another purpose that is not literal. The research paper contains five sections. Section one deals with the definition of sarcasm pragmatically. Section two shows sarcasm as a pragmatic notion or phenomenon. Section three discusses Grice's Maxims and how they are considered a model that speakers should follow for successful communication. Section four talks about the types of violations of the maxims. Section five tackles how the utterances from a TV show under investigation are violating the maxims to carry out the indirect meaning. The research closes off with the conclusion reached which is followed by the bibliography.

The cult of Adam Mickiewicz in “Soviet paradise” (Lviv 1939–1941)

An ideologization of Mickiewicz began with the arrival of “Soviet paradise” and it was intensified with the Soviet presence in the former Kresy region. Mickiewicz’s politicization primarily served to encourage mass actions: rallies, academies, commemorative exhibitions, and jubilee celebrations. They put effort into placing Mickiewicz in the pantheon of internationalist artists, revolutionaries-democrats, heroes who fight for the freedom of the people, eulogists of Polish-Russian rapprochement. His carefully selected works were used as a propaganda discourse about the “one correct” vision of literature which confirms the strength and timelessness of socialist literature. The most popular linguistic strategy used in the official press (Czerwony Sztandar) was the strategy of apparent praise.

Indonesian Civil War: Comparing Discourse In the Campaign of Jakarta’s 2017 Gubernatorial Election

Political discourse today is no longer dependent on the performance of the political elite; however, it has shifted to active participation of their supporters. This phenomenon is widely recorded in social media as the background event. Without exception to Jakarta’s 2017 Gubernatorial Election that received an international spotlight because the roar is so massive in the universe of cyberspace. This qualitative descriptive study examined the pattern of campaign movements as a political discourse conducted by the public in supporters community account as a form of public participation in the politics of free-active democracy. It aimed to map out the pattern of discourse movements arising from the supporter community accounts of one of the candidate through the perspective of the discourse comparison offered by Sawirman (2014). The findings show that there are three supporting accounts of candidates which posited as primary, secondary and tertiary discourse. For the configuration of the discourse, gradable adjectives are used as a linguistic strategy to weaken and to dispel sympathy for opposing factions. It is based on the spirit that speakers are superior to their rivals. In general, the pattern of discourse movements identified is synergistic and mutual in order to demonstrate the superiority of their group by degrading the opposing side.

Ramón Gaya: "Creo que soy poeta pintando"

Simónides de Ceos, que definió la poesía una pintura que habla y la pintura una poesía muda, contribuyó al origen de la filosofía del arte, base de la moderna estética occidental. Para el filósofo italiano Benedetto Croce el arte es la síntesis estética de la intuición y la expresión a través del lenguaje lírico. Encarna las representaciones de la belleza, un evento universal, ajeno a la Historia y a la crítica de arte. De manera más radical, Ramón Gaya rechazó este mismo saber de una manera más radical desde que era un jovencísimo pintor, decepcionado por las vanguardias. Su planteamiento de la obra de arte se aproxima a una actitud mística. Emerge cuando se enfrenta a la pintura de Velázquez en España, antes de exiliarse en México. Este sentimiento trascendente se agudiza cuando visita Venecia por primera vez, en 1952, y asocia la pintura con el agua que fluye. Es el primer paso de su identificación sagrada de las artes –pintura, poesía, escultura y música– con la Naturaleza y sus elementos cosmológicos. La experiencia veneciana posibilita una nueva creatividad icónica y verbal. La pintura conlleva siempre una enigmática dualidad, manteniendo rasgos de su procedencia misteriosa. Los poemas que Ramón Gaya le dedica al Crepúsculo de Miguel Ángel son una muestra de su intermedialidad heterodoxa, donde a la técnica de lo diáfano en pintura corresponde el uso de la negación lógica por escrito. Esta estrategia lingüística es afín a la de los ensayos que tratan del mismo tema. Simonides of Ceos, who defined poetry as a speaking picture and painting a mute poetry, contributed to the rise of philosophy of art, the basis of modern Western aesthetics. For the Italian philosopher Benedetto Croce art is the aesthetic synthesis of intuition and expression through lyrical language. It embodies the representations of beauty, a universal event that doesn’t concern History nor art criticism. In a more radical way, Ramón Gaya refused this same knowledge since he was a very young painter, disappointed by avant-garde. His approach to works of art is close to a mystic attitude. It emerges when he faces Velázquez’s painting in Spain, before going into exile in Mexico. His transcendental feeling increases when he visits Venice for the first time, in 1952, and he associates painting with water flow. It is the first step of a sacred identification of arts –painting, poetry, sculpture and music– with nature and its cosmological elements. The Venetian experience gives birth to a new iconic and verbal creativity. Painting always involves an enigmatic duality, keeping features of its mysterious source. The poems that Ramón Gaya dedicated to Michelangelo's Dusk are a specimen of his unconventional intertermediality, where the diaphanous technique in painting corresponds to the use of logical negation in the verbal language. This linguistic strategy is in line with the essays dealing on the same topic.

A Phono-Rhetorical Study of Oronyms in English

Oronym is a kind of wordplay where phrases that sound the same are comically used. This study investigates oronyms in English by analyzing their phonological aspects employed to make rhetorical effect, exploring their production mechanism, and constructing a phono-rhetorical model for analyzing them. Twelve examples of oronyms have been randomly taken from TV shows, songs, nursery rhymes, and books of jokes and fun with words. The main findings of the study have been: (1) Oronym is a rhetorical device that combines two ideas in a single sequence of words; (2) Oronyms are constructed on the basis of juncture by which the same sequence of sounds can form more than one morphemic structure; (3) juncture acts as a linguistic strategy consciously used to yield phonological ambiguity necessary for such type of wordplay; and (4) there are two main types of oronyms - Word-to-Phrase and Phrase-to-Phrase - that can be utilized vertically and horizontally. The significance of this study stems from its novelty and being an earnest endeavour to explore the linguistic features of oronyms comprehensively. It laid a theoretical foundation for promising future studies on oronyms even in other languages, especially in Arabic. Received: 29 September 2020 / Accepted: 18 November 2020/ Published: 5 March 2021

Tiantai Buddhist Elaborations on the Hidden and Visible

A crucial feature of Tiantai (天台) Buddhist thought certainly is its elaboration on the hidden and visible, called “root and traces” (ben ji 本跡), as the concept of non-duality (bu er 不二) of these opposites is part of what constitutes the highest level of Buddhist doctrine in Tiantai doxography, called “round/ perfect teaching” (yuanjiao 圓教). Such elaboration is inextricably bound up with paradoxical discourse, which functions as a linguistic strategy in Tiantai practice of liberating the mind from its self-induced deceptions. Observation of paradoxes in the elaboration on the hidden and visible could be called practice qua doctrinal exegesis, because Tiantai masters try to integrate self-referential observation in mind-contemplation (guanxin 觀心) with interpretation of sūtra and śāstra. For Tiantai Buddhists, the ultimate meaning of the Buddhadharma (fofa 佛法) itself is independent from speech and script and only accessible to the liberated mind, yet it cannot fully be comprehended and displayed apart from the transmission of the canonical word. To observe the paradox in non-duality of the hidden and visible is what triggers practice qua doctrinal exegesis and entails liberation (jietuo 解脫) according to the “round/ perfect teaching.” The article traces the formation of paradoxical discourse in Chinese Madhyamaka, particularly referencing the Tiantai elaboration on the hidden and visible and its diverse sources of inspiration, which includes both Chinese indigenous traditions of thought (Daoism and Xuanxue) and translated sūtra and śāstra literature from India.

Linguistic Hybridity, Transnational Connectivity, and the Cultural Territorialization of Colonial Literature

This chapter examines conceptualization and use of a hybrid Chinese language by a leading Manchukuo Chinese writer, Gu Ding (1914/1916–1964). This hybrid language references a type of vernacular Chinese, mixing elements of Japanese vocabulary and syntax, classical and local Chinese, and other linguistic elements from the Manchurian frontier into standard vernacular Chinese, resulting in a collage of different literary styles. By investigating Gu’s theory and practice of this experimental language, the chapter demonstrates how a transnational literary form shaped within the colonial frontier lent voice to a colonial writer’s political agenda for cultural survival, and the limits of this linguistic strategy under political domination. It therefore provides a new way to understand Chinese intellectuals’ collaboration with and resistance to the Japanese in the Manchukuo context.

ISIS Rhetoric for the Creation of the Ummah

I intend to examine the linguistic strategy used by ISIS as a means through which it creates the concept of the Muslim Ummah, which seeks to emphasize the unity of an international Muslim community based off the power of Islam. I apply a Critical Discourse Analysis for the study of Baghdadi's sermon on 4 July 2014 where he declared the establishment of the Caliphate and himself as the Caliph. Baghdadi's discourse creates a new communal identity from a Muslim populace who may have felt marginalized due to their religion in their countries of residence. It is through this discourse that he structures the Ummah loyal to the Caliphate in two ways: a) by summoning Islam to create a singular global Muslim body and the establishment of a Caliphate; and b) the structuring of an indiscriminate opponent, one that conflicts with the “camp of Islam”. The method of convincing and generating consent – of institutionalizing jihad - goes beyond propaganda; it necessitates the formation of an entirely novel lexicon, a narrative that fosters support while concurrently quashing any singular qualms.