GAUDEAMUS, the Journal of the Association of Young Researchers on Anglophone Studies

Foreword

2024-03-13T10:38:55+00:00

A Study in Alternative History: Social Criticism Through the Lens of Uchronia in Keith Roberts’ Pavane

2024-03-12T21:08:08+00:00

We often question how, our present would diverge if events in our past –or further behind in history– had occurred differently, leading to an altered outcome. In short, we often question: what if? That is why alternative histories – uchronias– are so appealing: they allow us to attempt to answer that question and explore some of its limitless possibilities, as well as to consider the present from a different perspective. In Pavane (1968), Keith Roberts reimagines a world in which, in 1588, the Spanish Armada succeeds in conquering Britain after the assassination of Elizabeth I, resulting in the unquestionable worldwide supremacy of the Catholic Church. From that point of divergence, the author builds up an alternative present in which the ripples of that specific alteration can be felt almost 400 years later, characterised by a feudal-based society that is politically, morally, and scientifically stagnated. Therefore, this paper aims to analyse how Roberts constructs an alternative scenario following some strategies typical of the uchronian genre. Moreover, this article seeks to examine how this alternative version of history enables him to comment on, and criticise, the influence that religious fanaticism and tyrannical power have on the different sectors of the population. Thus, the analysis will study how alternative history can be employed as an interesting tool that allows us to examine, not only our past, but our present as well.

Narratives of Illness: Dementia, Care Relations and Institutional Spaces in Alice Munro's “The Bear Came Over the Mountain”

2024-03-12T21:23:40+00:00

Drawing from theories of caretaking/caregiving (DeFalco 2010, 2012) and institutional spaces (Goffman 1961; Jamieson 2014), this essay aims at shedding light on the experience of dementia and memory loss as it is transferred to a narrative mode. Alice Munro, a Canadian author, aptly revolves around depictions of illness and care relations driven by her own experience with mental and physical deterioration. In her book Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Marriage (2001), the author unravels the many experiences of illness and their impact on identity and subjectivity. However, this essay will focus on one of these short stories, “The Bear Came Over the Mountain,” and its take on dementia, institutional spaces and care relations. The narrative of illness presented in Munro’s story pivots around the nature of care relations and its aim is twofold: a portrayal of the afflicted—age, loss of memory and defamiliarization—and as a report of the witness who cannot place himself completely in nor completely out of the deterioration process. Drawing from a correspondence between memory and identity, caretakers/caregivers and institutional authority, visitors and patients, this essay ultimately analyzes how characters reveal instances of vulnerability, resistance and resilience through the interaction and collaboration between themselves and their roles as well as the mediation of institutional space in such care relations.

Negotiating the Impossibility: A Postcolonial Analysis of H. G. Wells’s “The Country of the Blind” (1904) through Derrida’s Philosophy of ‘Hospitality’

2024-03-12T21:33:04+00:00

If it has been accepted that colonial interests have significantly affected the history of the world during the last few centuries, the subsequent narratives that sprang from the colonialist enterprise must bear significant weight on the postcolonial discussion. H. G. Wells occupies a highly prominent seat amongst those authors who used their pen and influence to critically scrutinise the ills of Empire, and his 1904 short story “The Country of the Blind” stands as proof of it. The purpose of this paper is to expose the imperialist discourse that permeates Wells’s story so that it may be carefully examined through a postcolonial perspective. The initial hypothesis defends that “The Country of the Blind” can be seen as an ironic reversal of the colonialist effort in which the invader turns into the invaded. Regarding the approach that will be used, the study will follow a thorough examination of the relationships between characters and the social structures that are depicted in the narrative. The research will be framed within postcolonial theory, relying heavily on Jacques Derrida’s ideas of ‘guest’ and ‘host’ as presented in his philosophy of ‘hospitality.’ Finally, this paper shall offer an in-depth analysis of “The Country of the Blind” in search of tangible proof that might help better comprehend the colonialist nature of its character relations.

English Neology: A Journey through the Oxford English Dictionary Online Newest Entries (2018-2022)

2024-03-12T22:15:48+00:00

This paper aims at examining English neologisms that were introduced into the Oxford English Dictionary Online between 2018 and 2022. The research seeks to provide information about the most productive word formation mechanism during that period. The compilation of the data required the creation of a corpus with all the new terms to fulfil that objective. Due to the great volume of new word entries, proportional samples were selected to ensure the representativeness of the data for each of the years. The findings were analysed quantitatively and qualitatively to obtain a comprehensive discussion of the results. The conclusions drawn from this study highlight a shift in the most productive word formation process from affixation to compounding.

Akweke Emezi’s Dear Senthuran: Metaphysical Home(s) in Times of Globalisation

2024-03-12T22:25:18+00:00

This article aims to explore the liminal spaces portrayed in Akwaeke Emezi’s (they/them) memoir Dear Senthuran. In the current globalized world, mobility of African writers to the West has produced a literature that some critics label as “Afropolitanism”. Firstly, I trace the origin and implications of this term, which presents some issues that must be interrogated. Secondly, considering the example of other diaspora writers, I seek to analyze the territories in which Emezi imagines and creates their writings. I argue that these spaces, following Homi Bhabha’s postcolonial analysis of “Houses of Fiction”, act as locus communale, places in-between for the unhomely —the displaced, the refugees (political or social), the discriminated. Akwaeke Emezi identifies as a non-gendered God with multiple identities, an Igbo spirit who was “born to die”. Therefore, home is not perceived as a place of origin nor the place where they reside. Neither it is a place recreated from memories nor a place they observe and deploy in their writings. Instead, corporeal, fixed spaces are a form of delimitation and submission to the colonial discourses that Emezi tries to revert in their texts. Their queer identity does not fit into modern Nigerian society as it has lost touch with Igbo’s systems of values, their condition of black migrant does not allow them to feel at ease in the United States, and their godly identities surpass the physical need of belonging to a specific area. By denying the terrestrial links, they express their thirst to be in constant movement, in literal, continuous transformation. Thus, their existence is based in a flux, in liminal spaces, and by sharing their experience in the form of writing, they provide a safe refuge for those living in the cultural periphery.

Delving into the ‘Melting Pot’: A Corpus-Based Analysis of African American Vernacular English, New York English, and Chinese Pidgin English in Early Australian English

2024-03-12T22:34:10+00:00

This paper examines the concept of the so-called linguistic “melting pot” in Australia as it is presented in Charles Adam Corbyn’s set of judicial reports Sydney Revels (The Eighteen-Fifties) of Bacchus, Cupid and Momus; Being Choice and Humorous Selections from Scenes at the Sydney Police Office and Other Public Places, during the Last Three Years (1854). It has been taken as a basis for the study of Early Australian English by scholars like Taylor (2001), Kiesling (2006) and Burridge (2010). They have analysed some of the varieties that Corbyn represented, including Irish English, Cockney, and Scottish English, and they have tried to analyse the speech of those people whose place of origin is not indicated by Corbyn. They all concluded that he was aware of this extensive linguistic variation during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. However, these previous studies did not examine the rest of the varieties that Corbyn included in his reports: African American Vernacular English, New York English, and Chinese Pidgin English. This gap is worth noting considering that the gold rush era, beginning in the 1850s, saw the arrival of large numbers of Chinese and American miners and companies (Burridge 2020, 176). Given that it was still a period where Australian English was not fully standardized, this paper aims at finding possible evidence for Chinese Pidgin, AAVE, or New York English influence in the Early Australian English period considering Corbyn’s work. To do so, a corpus-based analysis of the reports containing linguistic material from these varieties was carried out. The analysis was performed considering the phonological, grammatical, and lexical features appearing in the reports, with the aim of shedding light on these varieties and their influence on the formation of an emerging variety of Australian English. Results were contrasted and compared with the Oxford English Dictionary and various linguistic handbooks and glossaries containing information about the different dialects. Finally, it was concluded that, although humour is employed to caricature speakers, Corbyn's strategies for representing dialect in writing were notably objective. However, further research on the field will be necessary to achieve solid conclusions, regarding scarcity of data.