If it is indeed the case that people approach literature with the desire to learn something about the world, and if it is indeed the case that the literary medium is not transparent, then a study of its non-transparency is crucial in order to deal with the desire one has to know something about the world by reading literature.

-- Salusinszky, "Criticism in Society," Methuen, 1987, p.166

 

(Re)Invention And Contextualization In Contemporary Native American Fiction

by Wendy J. Rohrbacher

May 1999

Thesis presented to the Faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences, University of Alaska Anchorage, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
Masters of Arts in English

Contemporary Native American authors and critics are retelling, reorganizing, and re-evaluating traditional tribal stories in order to assert a communally ascribed identity that accurately portrays today's Indian. These new stories seek to break down the signs and artifacts of the white man's Indian and replace them with signs of a vibrant and thriving culture. New ways of interpreting, reading, and examining Native texts must be utilized. Native American critics and novelists, such as Louis Owens, Gerald Vizenor, and Thomas King are contributing to a body of work that combines certain Western literary devices with specific facets of Native American culture. The result is literature that liberates the spirit of today's Native Americans and frees them from cultural stereotypes that would limit them. This new body of literature is fascinating and important because it challenges readers to break down cultural stereotypes and participate in the re-invention of the Native American identity.

 

A Section Man's Experience of The Catcher in the Rye

by Jim Rovira

April 1999

 

La experiencia de un hombre de sección de El Guardián en el centeno

por  Jim Rovira

  

The Ascent of Babel: An exploration of language, mind and understanding

A brief overview of "the ascent" and what it symbolises,
as well as a chapter-by-chapter outline, and a short reviews page.

by Dr. Gerry T. M. Altmann

The Ascent of Babel explores the ways in which the mind produces, and understands, language - it explores the ways in which the sounds of a language evoke meaning, and the ways in which the desire to convey such meaning causes us to produce such sounds. The Ascent symbolises the progression from sound to meaning. It also symbolises the quest to better understand the mental processes that underlie our use of language - the psycholinguistic quest. The Ascent of Babel describes these mental processes in a way that bridges the gap between academic and non-specialist writing. It makes psycholinguistics accessible to readers with no prior knowledge of psycholinguistics, psychology, or linguistics, whilst at the same time being of use to students who require an up-to-date introduction to the state-of-the-art. The Ascent of Babel is currently being translated into Italian (published by Feltrinelli Editore) and German (published by Klett-Cotta).

  

Babel In Biblia:
The Tower in Ancient Literature

by Jim Rovira

July 1998

 

Babel in der Bibel:
Der Turm in der antiken Literatur

von Jim Rovira

Juli 1998

  

Вавилон в Библии:
Башня в античной литературе

Джим Ровира

Июль 1998

 

Вавилон у Светом писму:
Вавилонска кула у древној књижевности

Џим Ровира

Јул 1998

 

İncil Literatüründe Babil:
Antik Yazında Kule

Yazan: Jim Rovira

Çeviren: Sevinç Altınçekiç

Temmuz 1998

 

 

Babel in de Bijbel:
 De Toren in de Klassieke Literatuur

door Jim Rovira

Juli 1998

 

 

The Path to the Nest of Translation

by Giulia Guarnieri

Giulia Guarnieri discusses her interviews with Italo Calvino's translator as well as the disagreements Calvino had with Pier Paolo Pasolini about the future evolution of the Italian language.

March 1998

 

 

Il Sentiero del Nido della Traduzione

di Giulia Guarnieri

Giulia Guarnieri discute delle sue interviste con il traduttore di Italo Calvino nonchè delle divergenze di vedute fra Calvino e Pier Paolo Pasolini sulla evoluzione della lingua italiana.

March 1998

 

Der Weg zum Nest der Übersetzung

von Giulia Guarnieri

Giulia Guarnieri redet hier sowohl über ihre Interviews mit dem Übersetzer von Italo Calvino, als auch über die Auseinandersetzungen, die Calvino mit Pier Paolo Pasolini über die künftige Entwicklung der italienischen Sprache hatte.

March 1998

 

Above the Law: Secret Deals, Political Fixes and Other Misadventures of the U.S. Department of Justice by David Burnham

Reviewed by Glynn R. Wilson

The U.S. Department of Justice has been the subject of much public scorn in recent years, most notoriously for the FBI raid on Ruby Ridge and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms' ill fated attack of the Branch Davidian's compound at Waco, Texas.

Now comes an authoritative missive from investigative reporter and author David Burnham, who's latest book, "Above the Law," tells a tale of political woe that will confirm your worst fears about this largest of federal bureaucracies.

March 1998

Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace

Reviewed by Michael Logan

"Can the eavesdropping sensation of death by pornographic virtual interfacing be transmigrated onto the clownish courtesy of smarmy tennis pros seeking to gurgle crowds tourniquet headed genitals and spit them into death on hard clay surface and be captured by live TV? There's terrorists at every break point. And then a headless fountain of bloody punk rock youth at match point, poised.

"I am ripping up yellowed copies of John Barth's Giles Goat Boy and stuffing the insulation into the occlusion-like fractures of the opening one hundred sequences to Infinite Jest. Neuter panic is a reality. Check in with me after the next one hundred. Stare your gerbil in the eye and tell who's free."

March 1998

 

Best Books

Ben Curtis, Adam Goldstein, Yves Jaques, Ted Koppel, Cason Swindle and Glynn R. Wilson give us their lists of which books have meant the most to them in their respective lives.

March 1998