Literary Reflections
Embedded Stories and Post-modernist Devices in Margaret Atwood's "The Blind Assassin"
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Marie-Anne Visoi
Drawing on Iser’s theory of reading, I argue that Atwood’s novel constantly engages the reader in a “self-correction” process. Embedded stories, fragmentation, and other post-modernist devices make it increasingly difficult to identify “adultery” as a transgressive act in the novel or to build a frame of reference as far as cultural traditions and social norms are concerned. A close examination of significant passages will show that by bringing together various narrative levels, the reader is able to re-establish the missing elements and understand how references to prevailing norms of early twentieth-century Canadian society and value judgements expressed in the text of the novel influence the image-building process. The examples provided will reveal that contextual meaning in “The Blind Assassin” relies, to a large extent, on the established authority of the narrator.
"There Are No Sharks in the Sky": Interpreting Caribbean Identity in "Cualquier miércoles soy tuya" by Mayra Santos Febres
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Nicole Roberts
Caribbean Cultural Studies is today an area which seeks to legitimise the narration of experiences by those who have lived such. My interest in this paper lies specifically with the representation of identity in Puerto Rico and by extension the Hispanic Caribbean and on the ways in which contemporary Hispanic Caribbean narrative is a site in which constructions of alterity highlight the re-imaginations of identity. Undoubtedly, how the Caribbean frames itself is of paramount importance in terms of self-scrutiny, so that we not only affirm our Caribbeanness but also understand the textured reality of Caribbean life. In this paper, I make a close critical reading of the novel "Cualquier miércoles soy tuya" by the Afro-Hispanic, Puerto Rican writer Mayra Santos Febres. Set in contemporary Puerto Rico, the novel is a fiction noir which recounts the transient life of the urban underclass in San Juan and in which two murders take place. My analysis deconstructs the positionings of Blacks in popular Caribbean culture to suggest ways in which these can be viewed as sites of resistance. Throughout the novel, Santos Febres chronicles the experiences of the Caribbean people but perhaps most importantly she also presents Caribbean identity as defiant despite the challenges confronted.
A Study of Narrative Translation in English Versions of Border Town
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Qingqing He, Zhou Xueting
Border Town is the most pure novel in the history of Huxiang literature. Thanks to its rich local color, it has a unvarying artistic fascination and high social value. The study of its English translation is of great significance to the external transmission of Huxiang culture. Therefore, based on Mona Baker’s narrative translation theory, this paper contrasts the narrative activities in the translation of Gladys Yang and Jeffrey C. Kinkley, and thus explores the underlying cause of how Jeffrey C. Kinkley’s translation made a successful narrative interaction with the target context. It is hoped that it will help deepen and promote the development of the English translation of Border Town and provide reference for the Huxiang culture and the Chinese culture to go out.
