Gaze in Flux

Serial ?he Genius of Russian Detection, I. D. Putilin, written by Russian author Roman Lukich Antropov (Roman Dobryi) at the beginning of the twentieth century, undoubtedly falls into the category of detective fiction; however, the titles of its individual instalments, such as The Secrets of Okhten Cemetery, The Bloodsucking Vampires of Petersburg, The Spring of Volga Sectarians etc., suggest a strong influence of Gothic literature. The article aims to expose the presence of Gothic literary devices in Antropov’s stories, including the introduction of supernatural monsters, namely ghosts and vampires, dismal atmosphere, sublime locations, structures, and objects, causing temporal distancing from the present into the past, suspenseful episodes invoking terror, and horror-infusing visualities. Moreover, the article proposes that the intention behind these elements is not merely to complicate the mystery and intensify the reader’s experience but also to convey cultural meaning related to t...

The newspapers were heaped up on a low bench, the kind pupils use in the private classes of eccentric schoolmarms. Damata sat reading placidly and without haste. Engrossed in the news, he didn’t notice the maids singing in the kitchen or the kids playing noisy games of hide-and-seek. Each time he sat forward to grab another paper his deck chair groaned like ship’s rigging. The noise was driving him mad. He was sick of telling Bia to get it seen to and she just retorting: “Man, that chair’s fine, Damata.” Such pig-headedness! They’d lived together for years, had a few kids – yet that stubborn way of hers was still an obstacle to their getting properly married. All the same, no good house in Mindelo closed its doors to her, for Nhô Damata was an upstanding man and had recognised their children.From his waistcoat pocket he removed a silver-edged snuffbox. With a sharp tap, he knocked the contents forward before taking a pinch between thumb and forefinger.Good stuff this. He took his snort...

Čitajući prvi hrvatski kriminalistički roman, Kneginja iz Petrinjske ulice Marije Jurić Zagorke, objavljen 1910., pomalo me začudilo to što je zagrebački policajac Šimek, koji u romanu istražuje umorstvo jedne gospođe, bio obožavatelj Sherlocka Holmesa. Jednog od najslavnijih svjetskih književnih detektiva nije teško obožavati pa nije me začudilo to. Začudila me činjenica da je Zagorka već 1910. čitala ili barem čula za Doyleova junaka, koji se u književnoj javnosti, i to u Velikoj Britaniji, pojavio tek dvadesetak godina ranije. Pritom nisam, dakako, sumnjao ni u Zagorkinu natprosječnu obaviještenost o aktualnim književnim fenomenima (i po mnogočemu drugom bila je ispred svih drugih) ni u njezin smisao za prepoznavanje onoga što čitatelji vole. Zanimalo me ustvari je li Zagorka za fikcionalnog britanskog detektiva čula ili je čitala o njemu u Hrvatskoj, ili možda u Mađarskoj ili Austriji, kamo je putovala, ili gdje drugdje. Pokušao sam stoga pronaći podatak jesu li Doyleova djela s Ho...

1984 is a peculiar symbol of a tragic future of the mankind. Orwells intention, more or less all his critics agree on that, was not to predict but to warn and to prevent the destruction of the human personality. Political manipulation of reality through the control of the past and language lies in the centre of Orwell’s nightmare. Orwell’s fictional world and reality in which we live provide an answer to a common central question, the question of human freedom. Human existence and freedom have been inseparable since the beginning. Man is a victim of strong influences, which deepen an individual’s agony and his fear of everyday life in which he feels totally lost and alone like a drop in the ocean. Following the example of the main character Winston Smith it is evident that human nature is influenced by the structure of the modern society, that is the way in which social and political organisations, culture and mass media influence human nature. Therefore the question is how and in whic...

Moje pronicljivo oko ne slabi tijekom pregleda i sada pomno istražuje moguće simptome pothlađenosti na bezizražajnom licu žene koja čita. Što to čita? Oprostite, kažem napokon, puhnuvši tu riječ u bijeli šum. Žena ne pomiče nijedan mišić, ni milimetar njezina tijela ne grči se, čak ni ne trepće. Oprostite. Mogu li sjesti? Moje usne mehanički izbace te riječi – to je pitanje dio sklopa kojim hinim milosrđe i koji sama svakodnevno podmazujem uljem. Mogu li? Noge su mi olovne, koljena se koče, bole me zglobovi, zapešća, a najviše kvrgavi nožni palci. No ženu to ne dira i na tren pomislim: da uistinu želim sjesti, mogla bih to učiniti; ova je klupa javno dobro, to jest, moja koliko i njezina. U tom slučaju, moja je molba blesava: mogla bih sjesti, no ne želim niti bih trebala sjesti – snijeg na klupi smočio bi mi bijelu suknju, bijele hulahopke, gaćice i mlohavu kožu dupeta. Da sjednem, smočila bih se, osjetila bih hladnoću poput vrele plahte koja mi prlji guzu. No tražila sam da sjednem, ...

This paper explores how Eurocentric ideas of nationalism and cosmopolitanism differ from Indian thinker and philosopher Rabindranath Tagore’s views and in what ways the intersection between nationalism and cosmopolitanism takes place in his novel The Home and the World (1919), originally published as Ghare-Baire in 1916. The novel will be analyzed mainly through Kai Nielsen’s philosophy of cosmopolitan nationalism (1999) and Kwame Anthony Appiah’s concept of rooted cosmopolitanism (2005). Tagore yearned for the conglomeration of different cultures and despised narrow perspectives on nationalism as constricted by geographical boundaries. As per his humanitarian worldview, he prioritized cosmopolitanism as his forte. The novel does not propose any conflict between ‘the home' and ‘the world'; rather, it suggests a state in which the home and the world would be negotiated to form a harmonious whole. In the Swadeshi period (1905-1911), when the future of Indian self-rule was being mulled ov...