Earticle

Chester Himes’ Harlem Cycle transforms traditional hard-boiled detective fiction through the racial subversion of criminality and the vocational modification of the primary investigative agent. However, despite Himes’ intent to produce a substantially different kind of hard-boiled detective fiction, Harlem Cycle inherits the convention of punishment upon femme fatales and male homosexuals from the traditions of hard-boiled detective fiction. Although Harlem Cycle condemns racial inequality and oppression, it punishes Black femme fatales and Black homosexual men. This paper examines the representation of Black femme fatales and Black homosexual men and their punishment in Harlem Cycle. Black femme fatales are represented as sexually attractive and morally corrupt. Thus, they are deemed threatening to the security of the Black family and home and severely punished. The Black homosexual men in Harlem Cycle are represented not in terms of sexual desire but of criminality, and their harsh treatment is justified because of their villainy. This paper interprets this punishment of Black femme fatales and Black homosexual men as Himes’ attempt to subdue the racial discontent of the Black community by converting their anger ignited by racism into hostility towards women and sexual minorities.

This paper delves into Pulitzer and National Book Award-winning author Alice Walker’s epistolary novel The Color Purple through the perspective of the subaltern. Walker’s story describes the oppression of women of color in an unjust and inhumane Black as well as White community in the early 20th century in a rural area in Georgia. Celie, the main character, embodies women that endured multiple hardships due to disparities in their physical appearance and economic status. To depict the detrimental effects experienced in a marginalized society characterized by racial and gender discrimination, Walker presents undeniable evidence of abuse that her maternal ancestors endured, and succeeds in tackling taboo subjects including incest and child molestation, which represent the harsh realities young women of color faced. Celie strives to break free from the chains of oppression to pursue her own aspirations. Resisting these harsh conditions and seeking solace in the symbolism of the color purple, a blend of blue and red that mirrors the solidarity of sisterhood and motherhood. She embarks on a personal journey of spiritual liberation, overcoming the impact of physical oppression and cultivating internal strength, all of which lead to her ultimate victory.

This study aims to analyze South African novelist, Damon Galgut’s The Good Doctor from the perspective of the dialectics of I and the Other and of interpretations. In the novel the protagonist and narrator, Frank Eloff wishes to maintain the status quo and isolation, but Laurence Waters’s appearance at the hospital disturbs Frank’s desire. The encountering with Laurence initiates a dialectical movement and a struggle for recognition begins. Through this process Frank’s and Laurence’s worlds of simulation, built on words and symbols, are shaken and each sublimates to a different subject. The dialectical movement is not confined to the different subjects but extends to the interpretations of the novel itself. In the early phase of the study of the novel, it was considered a realist work representing contemporary South African socio-political condition and Frank’s cynicism was widely and deeply criticised. However, other scholars have since focused on its poststructural characteristics and emphasized Frank’s willingness to accept his pliable identity and future.

This study examines the networks of power in a patriarchal capitalist society and resistance to it in Stef Smith’s Nora: A Doll’s House. The drama follows a tripartite structure in which the audience follows the trajectories of three different Noras from three eras: 1918, 1968, and 2018. The main focus of this paper is to contextualize the Noras’ suppression and resistance in the domestic and public spheres whilst exploring the psychiatric effects of resisting and the potential to overcome them. Nora: The Doll’s House shines a light on the absurdity of the hypocritical and impossible expectations and standards forced upon objectified women in a patriarchal society. This is refracted through the three waves of women’s emancipation in the last century: the suffragist movement in 1918, the peak of second wave feminism in 1968, and the #MeToo movement of 2018. The perennially objectified Nora struggles to act independently and find ways to resist the patriarchy. As a result of their resistance, the three Noras suffer from depression to various degrees. Their depression has different sources and manifestations, but the Noras are united in cause: familial conflict and societal inequalities. In order to reclaim their identities and overcome the trauma of resistance, the Noras require empathy from their families and those around them, not sympathy. Nora: A Doll’s House hammers home the point that- if women are to live fully, they must be liberated through radical reforms of law and legal institutions with the full support of a recalibrated familial sphere.

Maritime fiction and voyage narratives account for quite a large portion in English literature. However, translation of voyage narratives into Korean has been limited to a few well-known works, and when evaluated, the level of translated versions did not meet expectations. The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket by Edgar Allan Poe, which is set in the era of sailing ships, abounds with nautical terms, and understanding them plays an essential role in the successful translation of the work into Korean. The researchers selected nautical terminology from the English text and compared their translated equivalents in three different Korean versions. The research found diverse cases of inaccurately translated nautical terms. In particular, the fact that cases of inaccurate translation were not concentrated in one text, but appeared across the three versions suggests that nautical terminology is unfamiliar to Korean translators. In order to lay the foundation for better translation, the researchers suggest two strategies. First, building a corpus of nautical terms based on voyage narratives and compiling a standardized dictionary of nautical terminology could help translators in the future. Second, utilizing illustrations of sailing ships showing ship structure, and names of masts and sails could help both translators and readers visually understand unfamiliar terminology.

This paper examines the transitional representation of China in American war stories which take the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression as their topic, and argues that China’s role in World War II has not been unintentionally forgotten but deliberately marginalized due to the dynamics of the wartime and postwar Sino-American relationship. On the one hand, through chronological exploration of the literary representation of China in American war stories, it points out that the literary creation is closely related to and deeply influenced by America’s changing view of China. These works reflect a pattern of praise of bravery in wartime, objectification at the end of 20th century, and marginalization in the 21st century. The literary depiction of China shifts from a powerful and positive defender to a weak and helpless victim. On the other hand, it discusses the literary and historical criticism of the representation of China in these works in both America and China. It shows that American scholars tend to study China from historical perspective, which focuses on historical facts but ignores the manipulation of ideology embodied in cultural works. On the contrary, Chinese scholars’ interest is closely related to patriotism, which emphasizes the Orientalism reflected in literary creation.