Papers by Aleksandra Tryniecka
Athens Journal of Humanities & Arts, Sep 30, 2018
Announcements 483 Athena, the Goddess of 'sophia' (wisdom) is depicted on a red-figure amphora (c... more Announcements 483 Athena, the Goddess of 'sophia' (wisdom) is depicted on a red-figure amphora (ca. 480BC), using a stylus to write her thoughts on a tablet. Her shield leans against her leg, and she wears a helm and snake-trimmed aegis cloak.
All Equally Real: Femininities and Masculinities Today, 2014
In his work Why Read? Mark Edmundson observes that “[w]e read to assert ourselves, to sharpen our... more In his work Why Read? Mark Edmundson observes that “[w]e read to assert ourselves, to sharpen our analytical faculties. We read to debunk the myths. We read to know the other (...)” (52). While the reading process does not offer the “final” or “ultimate” truth, it encourages critical reflection both on the past and the present. In my paper I strive to answer the question: what does it mean to read Neo-Victorian fiction and what does this act signify for the present and for the modern reader? Consequently, I strive to define neo-Victorian fiction. While adopting Louisa Hadley’s notion of ventriloquism, I interpret neo-Victorian texts as literary mediums set in the nineteenth-century past, yet also consciously narrating the present. Furthermore, based on L. Hadley’s, A. Heilmann’s and M. Llewelyn’s works, I analyse the idea of the historical involvement of neo-Victorian fiction against the notions of parody and pastiche. Moreover, I discuss the process of reviving the popular nineteen...
Annales Universitatis Mariae Curie-Skłodowska, sectio FF – Philologiae
Celem artykułu jest omówienie podejścia do intertekstualności w świetle zainteresowania literatur... more Celem artykułu jest omówienie podejścia do intertekstualności w świetle zainteresowania literaturą neowiktoriańską. Szczególna uwaga poświęcona zostaje pojęciu dialogiczności Michaiła Bachtina oraz teorii intertekstualności Gérarda Genette’a, która wydaje się najbardziej odpowiednim narzędziem do studiowania relacji między tekstami wiktoriańskimi i neowiktoriańskimi, oferując stabilną klasyfikację tekstów opartą na pojęciu „architekstualnej sieci” i nie ograniczając jej do „zamkniętego systemu”. Omawiając zagadnienie intertekstualności, zwracam również uwagę na wkład polskich naukowców, takich jak: Michał Głowiński, Ryszard Nycz czy Henryk Markiewicz. Wśród polskich badań nad intertekstualnością szczególnie wyróżniam teorię Ryszarda Nycza, która skupia się na trzech relacjach: „tekst–tekst”, „tekst–gatunek” oraz „tekst–rzeczywistość”. Propozycja Nycza wydaje się najwłaściwsza w studiuowaniu powieści wiktoriańskich i neowiktoriańskich, jako że umożliwia ich analizę nie tylko na pozio...
ATHENS JOURNAL OF PHILOLOGY, Nov 30, 2015
According to James Eli Adams, 'the novel is an extraordinarily rich guide to Victorian culture" (... more According to James Eli Adams, 'the novel is an extraordinarily rich guide to Victorian culture" (A Concise Companion to the Victorian Novel, 52). Hence, the novel offers innumerable possibilities to encode and decode the past. While the Victorian era allowed the novel to enter the domestic sphere and initiated the development of the community of readers, it simultaneously influenced the modern reading habits. (A Companion to the Victorian Novel, 3). Presently, neo-Victorian literature provides the revision of nineteenthcentury fiction. As observed by Kate Mitchell, "the literature and culture of the Victorian period have been courted, sought and summoned across many facets of contemporary culture for more than three decades" (History and Cultural Memory in Neo-Victorian Fiction, 3). In addition, Mitchell poses a question whether modern literature can "recreate the [Victorian] past in a meaningful way" or whether it is only capable of introducing the "nineteenth-century dress-ups" (3). In my paper I would like to examine the reciprocal relations between the Victorian and neo-Victorian fiction in order to account for the modern interest in the revival of the nineteenth-century past. Moreover, I argue that the interest in neo-Victorian texts proves that the revision of the past is necessary for the analysis of the present. Simultaneously, I claim that the modern revisionary fiction is not only a "dress-up," but also an endeavour to decode the past anew. While analysing the popular Victorian novelistic topics (including social hierarchy, family values, industrialism, crisis, disbelief, morality, marriage, money, spiritualism, visuality, disguises, double standards and performance), I argue that they are still valid and present in the modern era and, thus, deserve rethinking in the new context. On the whole, I claim that modern society is still rooted in the Victorian dilemmas and thus relies on the reassuring revival of the past. While literature emerges as the reliable link to the past, it serves as the contemporary tool of revision. In my study I use Bakthin's theory of dialogism and such critical sources as: Kate Mitchell's History and Cultural Memory in Neo-Victorian Fiction, John R. Reed's Victorian Conventions, Francis O'Gorman's A Concise Companion to the Victorian Novel and Brantlinger's A Companion to the Victorian Novel.
ATHENS JOURNAL OF PHILOLOGY
The rise of neo-Victorian literature can be linked to the growing interest in the dialogue with t... more The rise of neo-Victorian literature can be linked to the growing interest in the dialogue with the past. Dialogue, the concept highlighted by M. M. Bakhtin in his study of the novel, accounts for the emergence of Neo-Victorian literature. Referring to their Victorian counterparts, Neo-Victorian texts show that the twentyfirst century literature reader is still anchored in the reality belonging to the past. As aptly indicated by Philip Davis in his Why Victorian Literature Still Matters, Victorian texts are placed "psychologically as well as historically in transition" (qtd. in Brown, 148). Hence, they are never outdated and always topical, both for the past and present readers. Philip Davis refers to a "(...) place in the mind that makes the experience of Victorian literature always matter" (qtd. in Brown, 148). This transitional value of Victorian texts seems to secure the contemporary interest in revisioning the nineteenth century literature from the modern perspective. Thus, the attempt at introducing Victorian texts into the modern reader's context can be perceived as an endeavour to (re)define the past by means of the present. The Neo-Victorian novels such as Jean Rhys' Wide Sargasso Sea (1966) or Syrie James' The Secret Diaries of Charlotte Brontë (2009) highlight the apparent inconclusiveness of the literary past, as well as the necessity to revise it. Thus, in my paper, I would like to examine the issue of negotiating the literary past through revision. Moreover, I would like to argue that understanding the literary past is strictly dependent on the process of "domesticating" it. Based on Bakhtin's theory of dialogism, I argue that neo-Victorian literature emerges in the perpetual process of retelling the literary Victorian past from various perspectives. Therefore, the process of retelling seems to become the paramount, undogmatic force shaping the literary discourse in neo-Victorian works. Neo-Victorian Literature: Revisioning the Past In her work entitled Neo-Victorian Fiction and Historical Narrative Louisa Hadley defines Neo-Victorian fiction as "contemporaneous with but [not] reduced to the category of postmodernism" and she argues that neo-Victorian fiction "is distinguished from postmodernism by its Victorian setting" (60). Importantly, Hadley points to "bi-directionality" of the neo
Books by Aleksandra Tryniecka
10, 2021
Bunky and the Walms: The Christmas Story Bunky and the Walms: The Christmas Story is a novel abou... more Bunky and the Walms: The Christmas Story Bunky and the Walms: The Christmas Story is a novel about the power of friendship, courage, loyalty, and nobility! What will happen if one slightly grumpy and complaining Bunky suddenly has to become a brave Christmas Hero, repair Santa Claus' sleigh, and deliver gifts all over the world? And what will happen if the literary world about which Bunky is dreaming while writing his novel enters his reality? Decidedly, this year's Christmas will be Bunky's greatest adventure, yet on this adventure he will not be alone: there will be his best friends, cousin Rodney and a little Wolf Plum, as well as the entire family of Walms, the Elves, the Reindeer, and even Santa Claus himself! From the magical Walmland, through the charming Faroe Islands, and to the very heart of the fantasy world of Bunkyland, Bunky's quest to save Christmas will take him on a memorable journey through different places, but also a journey into his own heart!
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Papers by Aleksandra Tryniecka
Books by Aleksandra Tryniecka