THE SPIRIT OF CARNIVAL

An English Philology student at the UNED sends us this contribution to our blog:

Ahora que ha finalizado el Carnaval, y que los estudiantes de Literatura Inglesa (I) comenzamos el cuatrimestre donde reina Shakespeare, no está de más recordar la figura carnavalesca por excelencia de la literatura inglesa, sir John Falstaff, el rubicundo amigo del príncipe Hal, en sus correrías tabernarias de juventud, antes de convertirse en el “ejemplar” Henry V.

Tal como aparece en la Unidad Didáctica, traslado aquí la descripción que Graham Holderness hace de la función de este personaje:

“Falstaff clearly performs the function, in Henry IV Parts I and II, of carnival. He constitutes a constant focus of opposition to the official and serious tone of authority and power: his discourse confronts and challenges those of king and state. His attitude to authority is always parodic and satirical: he mocks authority, flouts power, responds to the pressures of social duty and civic obligation by retreating into Bacchanalian revelry. His world is a world of ease, moral license, appetite and desire; of humour and ridicule, theatricals and satire, of community, freedom and abundance; a world created by inverting the abstract society, the oppression and the hierarchy of the official world. In the tavern the fool reigns as sovereign; on the high road the thief is an honest man; while in the royal court the cares and duties of state frown an the frivolity and absurdity of saturnalian revelry. To this extent Falstaff can be located in that popular tradition of carnival and utopian comedy defined by Bakhtin”.

Termina, pues, el carnaval. Y arranca la Cuaresma. Ash Wednesday. Pero con T.S.Eliot no me atrevo. Todavía.

Thank you very much!

THREE BLOGS ON ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Today I spent some time browsing through some blogs related to English language. This is a small selection:

David Crystal's blog mainly focuses on English usage. As the author states in his initial post, the blog is intended to create a public space where the questions people address him can be accessed by anyone interested in the topic, allowing readers to participate and sparing the writer repetition.

The Engine Room deals with language use, publishing and the media in general. Posts are usually short and light to read. It contains a section on rare 'words of the day'

Literal-Minded provides linguistic analyses based on samples of real speech or written texts.

POESÍA AMOROSA

En un día como éste, parece propio hacer alguna referencia al amor y qué mejor que alguna selección poética. Revisando algunos libros de literatura inglesa, he terminado recurriendo otra vez a Shakespeare, esta vez en su Soneto número 29. La verdad es que no se me ocurrían muchos más poemas que tuvieran tanta fuerza. Al pensar qué seleccionaría en castellano, me venían más ideas aunque me haya vuelto a quedar con un clásico, con este otro soneto de Quevedo. ¿Son las literaturas en lenguas romances más proclives a tratar el tema del amor? ¿no hay diferencia notable entre las tradiciones europeas?


Resultados -

EVOLUTION

A bit late, but still in time to celebrate Charles Darwin's 200th birthday, I'd like to devote a post to this influential scientist.

Although Darwin's work did not constitute an object of study in Filología Inglesa, at least at the UNED, the effect of his theories on literature, especially in the first half of the 20th century, were part of the syllabus for PENSAMIENTO Y CREACION LITERARIA INGLESA EN EL SIGLO XX. Defenders and opponents to Darwinism raised a social debate that permeated different spheres of culture. The ideas of 'evolution' and 'degeneration' took shape in literary works such as H.G.Wells's The Time Machine.

Having a look at some websites with contents related to Darwin, I've come across this Open University page, which among facts and other kinds of information, invites us to "monkey around a little". I've followed their advice and saw my (d)evolution!

THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON

The recently released film The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is based on the short story of the same name written by F. Scott Fitzgerald . I intend to watch the movie after reading it and then write something about the comparison. Meanwhile, I leave here a link to the text:

A review of the film can be read in Vanity Fea.

CATALECTIC

Some ago I wrote about the book The Know-It-All, by A. J. Jacobs, a story about a man who imposed himself the task of reading the whole Encyclopedia Britannica. Well, after this I started myself to read two dictionaries: the Oxford Concise Dictionary of Linguistics and the O.C.D. of Literature (What? You know that even the most stupid idea gets a bunch of followers. Besides, it´s not that bad!) It is not as boring as you may think and once in a while I find some pearls, like this one,

Catalectic: Lacking the final syllable expected in the regular pattern of a metrical verse line. The term is most often used of the common English trochaic line in which the optional final unstressed syllable is not used. Of these lines from Shelley´s ‘To a Skylark’, the second and the fourth are catalectic:

In the golden lighting
Of the sunken sun.
O’er which clouds are bright’ning.
Thou dost float and run

WARNING!

Is there anybody really out there? And I´m not talking about you, José Ángel. You are the only one (God bless you!) who takes the time to write some comments. This blog has only two contributors, Maite and me. Most of my entries are bad written, academically incorrect (don´t miss my next entry about linguistic diversity!) or both and nobody says ANYTHING! Does anybody care? Take part, guys! Get involved! If you don´t want to risk your reputation, you can do it anonymously or using a pseudonym (and spend a good time inventing funny nicknames, such as “The Shadow Student”, “A bored reader” or “The Angry Scholar”). Now seriously, if the participation in this blog doesn´t increase, I´ll start writing about ‘low culture’: comic books, Tele 5 tv programs and Dan Brown´s best sellers. You´ve been warned!

WHO WROTE...?

This is a memory exercise for all those of us who studied English Literature I (From the Anglo-Saxons to the 17th century) and need to refresh the authors and works we learnt about.