Foreshadowing Disaster: A Coming Storm

This is about the imbibing of Roman scenes, artefacts and memory in early American painting and literature ... Published in The Festival Issue of The Statesman 2013

Interlitteraria, 2019

The article is about theory and practice in Shakespeare, but while he used the word “practice,” he never employed the term “theory.” After discussing practice a little, I shall examine how Shakespeare refers to poetry and poets, philosophy and philosophers with some brief connections with art, theatre, music, painting and mimesis. Shakespeare showed no inclination for criticism or theory in essays or non-fiction prose, but, as can be seen, for instance, in Hamlet’s instructions to the players, his work, poetry and plays, contain if not a theory of art, theatre and poetry at least some representations of and reflections on such matters by speakers, narrators and characters.

This paper explores the various physical and emotional cityscapes of Edinburgh as perceived by different characters in Kate Atkinson’s subversive detective novel One Good Turn: A Jolly Murder Mystery (2006). This sprawling, panoramic book follows a wide range of characters, at first seemingly unconnected, whose stories gradually become interwoven, one nested in another like a set of matryoshka dolls. Besides matryoshki, Atkinson’s Edinburgh-set novel employs the classic Scottish motif of evil doppelgängers, Jekyll and Hyde character types who, depending on the circumstances, manifest either the good or the bad side of their split personalities. The schizophrenic split as a stereotypical feature of Scottish character has been introduced already in George Gregory Smith’s Scottish Literature: Character and Influence (1919), but Atkinson takes this simplifying dualism a step further in her matryoshka metaphor and shows not two but multiple sides to her characters and her Edinburgh setting. Atkinson’s novel will be approached through Henri Lefebvre’s concept of lived space, supplemented by references to Gaston Bachelard’s oneiric intimate spaces, and through Edward Soja’s theory concerning the operations of class hegemony in the process of the social production of space.

2019

Balina gemilerinde denizcilik yaparken edindigi deneyimlerden yola cikan Amerikali romanci Herman Melville (1819-1891), Moby Dick (1851) isimli basyapitinda insanin denizle ve denizin belirsizlikleri ile olan karmasik iliskisini ele alir. Bu amacla, denizcilik temali romaninda Melville, balina avcisi Kaptan Ahab’in, bir onceki av sirasasinda gemisini tahrip eden ve bacagini dizinden koparan albino sperm balinasi Moby Dick’ten intikamini almak icin girdigi saplantili arayisinin hikayesini anlatiyor. Ahab gibi bir karakter yaratirken, Melville, insan dogasinin kotu, yikici yanini ele almakta ve insan dogasinin sinirlamalari ile potansiyel yikiciligina odaklanmaktadir. Ote yandan, romanin anlaticisi Ishmael, roman boyunca Amerikan Transandantalizminin bircok yonunu yansitmaktadir. Bu nedenle, romanin karsit iki kahramani, romanin yapisina da yansimaktadir. Şoyle ki, Ishmael'in romanin ilk bolumunde sergiledigi Transandant idealizm ve iyimserlik, kitabin ikinci yarisinda yerini Shak...

Guernica Editions, Toronto, 2016

The longstanding challenge and problem of living through tragedy, as opposed to living beyond it or simply carrying on in spite of it, is highlighted in this extensive and in-depth scholarly study. Shakespeare was able to live through tragedy and consequently could come into those higher evolutionary states of mind and being, until now so little known, that are so impressively represented in his last plays. “… rigorous … highly pertinent … the present book, especially the final chapter, “Prospero’s Powers: Shakespeare’s Last Phase,” is the culmination of a long journey [in O’Meara’s study of Shakespeare’s work].” {R.W. Desai, 'The Critical Endeavour', Vol. XXIV, January 2018} Visit the author's website at johnomeara.squarespace.com

This thesis explores the “dialogue” between the text of William Shakespeare’s Othello, the Moor of Venice in the 1998 Cambridge U.P. edition and the 1995 film Othello, directed by Oliver Parker, in particular, some of the ways in which Parker has used images to highlight his interpretation of the text. Chapter one is a rationale of what I will be attempting to do in exploring how a modern film renders a contemporary “criticism” of Shakespeare’s Othello, as well as the implications for the classroom. The next two chapters focus upon the history of Othello in performance. Chapter two focuses upon a selective history of the stage performances from the 18th century to the present, indicating how interpretation has inevitably and necessarily changed over time. Chapter three is a selective history of Shakespeare’s plays on film, especially Othello, drawing on how critics and the public have responded to some of these presentations. Additional attention is paid to the special grammar and language of film and how it differs from that of the stage. Chapter four is an analysis of the differences in structure between Parker’s film of Othello and the canonical text version. In harmony with chapter five, the emphasis is on how the structural differences in the film as contrasted with those in the printed text add to the viewer’s understanding of the tensions of the play. Chapter five continues this analysis with a focus upon the thematic interests of the film. In particular, the animal imagery, race relations, and direct addressing of the audience by the antagonist provide modern audiences with a version of Othello that is a pseudo-sexual thriller relevant to modern times. The final chapter focuses upon this film’s use as a tool for pedagogical purposes.

2013

We hope you find the conference an intensely rewarding experience, one that enriches your appreciation of our featured authors and your understanding of the war that Whitman said constituted the true "parturition years" of the American nation.