To some degree, every artist creates his or her own artistic life preserver, and in doing so resequences and conserves their own artistic DNA so that it may be transferred onto another generation. Vladimir Nabokov’s memoir Speak, Memory, is not only that preserver, but the tug boat that it holds onto, heavy and cramped with the memories and history that Nabokov retells his readers against the currents of time. Speak, Memory operates thematically, not chronologically. Nabokov returns anew to his early childhood and pulls in, as it were, the memories associated with certain themes. Then he turns, changes directions, and sets off again. One such theme that resonates throughout the novel is that of exile and deteterritorialization, both physically and spiritually, acting as the catalyst that drives Nabokov’s feelings of misplacement and nostalgia; an orphan of Russia wishing to reclaim what has been already lost.
Exile is the state of one who lives away from his native land, either voluntarily or unwillingly. However unlike most exiles, refined Nabokov is met with less cultural or linguistic clashes when being in deterritorialization. He physically deterritorializes, in various spaces and times, moving from Russia to England, then from Germany to France. He describes his household as “the kind of Russian family to which I belonged—a kind now extinct, had, among other virtues, a traditional leaning toward the comfortable products of Anglo-Saxon civilization. Pear’s Soap, tar-balk when dry, topaz-like when held to the light between wet fingers, took care of one’s morning bath…At breakfast, Golden Syrup imported from London would entwist with its glowing coils the revolving spoon from which enough of it had slithered onto a piece of Rus...
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... as a Russian intellectual in mishaps and finally recognizes himself as an exile, he seems to suspend his deterritorialization, both physically and spiritually. He recounts, “as I look back at those years of exile, I see myself, and thousands of other Russians, leading an odd but by no means unpleasant existence, in material indigence and intellectual luxury, among perfectly unimportant strangers, spectral Germans and Frenchman in whose more or less illusory cities, we émigrés, happened to dwell” (276). Upon arriving in America, his physical deterritorialization is halted, while his spiritual deterritorialization is reawaked as he adopts the country as his new home, describing America as “a new and beloved world, where I have learned to feel at home” (277), where he will push his deterritorialization further and further to his literary imagination in his new world.
The title of this piece, “Remembered Morning,” establishes what the speaker describes in the stanzas that follow as memory; this fact implies many themes that accompany works concerning the past: nostalgia, regret, and romanticism, for instance. The title, therefore, provides a lens through which to view the speaker’s observations.
Fyodor Dostoevsky wrote these words around 1864 to describe the mental state of a hyperconscious retired bureaucrat whose excessive analysis and inability to act separate him from the mainstream of the society in which he lived. Dostoevsky's underground man, as he termed his character, is characterized by alienation, spite, and isolation. Dostoevsky presents the life of his character as a testimonial to the possibility of living counter to an individual's own best interests.
The Art of the Chekhovian Language escapes from the personal intentions. Reality is neither embellished nor blackened, altered or "signified" through a restrictive conceptual vision.
Yuri Trifonov chronicled the life of a Soviet conformist named Vadim Aleksandrovich Glebov in his novel, “The House on the Embankment.” Vadim Glebov leads a life in support of the Soviet Union’s tyranny and oppression of human rights in order to gain the high social status and power he envied beginning in childhood. The novel is a narrative that revolves around Glebov’s education and success, and it depicts what life was like as a Soviet citizen between the 1930’s and 1970’s. Through Glebov’s revealed repressed memories, we see the ultimate example of conformity.
In the short story, “We Can Remember It For You Wholesale,” the storyline takes place in Chicago, Illinois. This story employs mainly two genre conventions that make it a science fictional reading. The first one is called future science fiction. This is shown in the text because of the tropes of calling the Earth as “Terra” and the futuristic drug called “narkidrine”. Spy Fiction, or Spy-Fi is also another genre convention because of essential tropes such as suspicion and uncertainty. These two genre conventions project the fallacies of the American Government, which Dick uses to persuade the audience into believing that the text is science fiction. Moreover, blending these two distinct genres together makes the storyline much more amusing to the audience because of the supernatural characteristics mentioned above. In the short story, “We Can Remember It For You Wholesale,” Phillip K. Dick utilizes satire, diction/neologisms, and ethical appeal in order to raise awareness of government interference in daily life for the audience.
The poverty-stricken conditions of Russia during the time of which Crime and Punishment was written was a vital factor in bringing out the main protagonists from the novel and revealing the true nature of the protagonist. Further more, his apartment and its desolate condition serves as a metaphor to the poor conditions of Russia. The transformation of Raskolinokov from his false sense of thought of being superior or the urbermensch of the society was all brought out due to the desolate conditions of which the book took place in, proving that such background knowledge of the poor conditions is an essential contributor in character development in the novel.
Dostoevsky’s St. Petersburg is a large, uncaring city which fosters a western style of individualism. As Peter Lowe notes, “The city is crowded, but there is no communality in its crowds, no sense of being part of some greater ‘whole.’” Mrs. Raskolnikov initially notices a change in her son marked by his current state of desperate depression, but she fails to realize the full extent of these changes, even after he is convicted for the murder. The conditions and influences are also noticed by Raskolnikov’s mother who comments on the heat and the enclosed environment which is present throughout the city. When visiting Raskolnikov, she exclaims "I'm sure...
Ida Fink’s work, “The Table”, is an example of how old or disturbing memories may not contain the factual details required for legal documentation. The purpose of her writing is to show us that people remember traumatic events not through images, sounds, and details, but through feelings and emotions. To break that down into two parts, Fink uses vague characters to speak aloud about their experiences to prove their inconsistencies, while using their actions and manners to show their emotions as they dig through their memories in search of answers in order to show that though their spoken stories may differ, they each feel the same pain and fear.
The arena for this ideological contest is Petersburg, full of slums, revolutionary students and petty titular councilors. Scientifically and artificially constructed in the midst of marshland, the city itself is a symbol of the incompatibility of logical planning with humankind's natural sensibilities. The city did not grow randomly or organically, but entirely by czarist decree. Nonetheless, it is a dank and depressing place to live, at least for those in the vicinity of Haymarket Square, where the story takes place. Joseph Frank, Dostoevsky's biographer, says of ...
Every generation faces new challenges and new problems to which we have progressed, conquered or simply just swept right under the rug. In today’s world we are increasingly facing numerous social problems, such as income disparity, unemployment, political instability amongst many others, but racism seems to have resurfaced in these past years. Although, the United States has come a long way in the issue of racism, it has never completely conquered it. Incidents such the shooting at Ferguson Missouri has raised an upheaval of protesters against the Country’s system that claims equal treatment and equal opportunity for all, regardless of race or gender. Incidents such as the one previously mentioned, clearly depicts that white-power continues
In the poem pride, Dahlia Ravikovitch uses many poetic devices. She uses an analogy for the poem as a whole, and a few metaphors inside it, such as, “the rock has an open wound.” Ravikovitch also uses personification multiple times, for example: “Years pass over them as they wait.” and, “the seaweed whips around, the sea bursts forth and rolls back--” Ravikovitch also uses inclusive language such as when she says: “I’m telling you,” and “I told you.” She uses these phrases to make the reader feel apart of the poem, and to draw the reader in. She also uses repetition, for example, repetition of the word years.
It has been stated that the application of memory functions in fictional works which act as a reflective device of human experience. (Lavenne, et al. 2005: 1). I intend to discuss the role of memory and recollection in Kazuo Ishiguro’s dystopian science-fiction novel Never Let Me Go (2005).
The debate on race relations in the United States has been a topic for hundreds of years and it has still not come to a close. From Slavery and Segregation to the Black Lives Matter Movement. Discrimination continues to tarnish society. On college campuses minorities such as African- American, Hispanic, and Asian have been sorely underrepresented;
Racism is still a very prominent yet controversial topic in the United States today. Discrimination in the United States dates back to the 1500s when America was first founded. As generations passed, it has become a social norm to believe that darker skin tones are less desirable to society. The foundation of this country was built upon the false impression that Whites were superior to not just blacks, but all other ethnicities. From this, the idea of white privilege was derived and is still prevalent in society today. Those who are victims of discrimination are sometimes not aware of the psychological effect and the overall impact it can have on one’s life. The persistence of racism over generations has been in correlation to adversely affect the mental health of the victims economically, socially and in turn physically.
Dostoevsky’s noteworthy literary works each contain similarities in theme, character development, and purpose when analyzed beyond face value. Dostoevsky’s early life and ideals, intertwined with life-changing events that shifted his ideologies, and critiques of fellow Russian writers during his time period lay the groundwork for Dostoevsky’s recurring arguments for the way which Russian society would be best-off, as well as ways in which the people of Russia would be suited to live the most fulfilling, non-corrupt lives.