Lively Histories

This article aims to identify conceptual metaphors in the Middle English text of The Miller’s Prologue and The Miller’s Tale and to find their equivalents in the Croatian translation done by Luko Paljetak, in order to deduce which metaphors are conventional in both languages and cultures. The investigation of conventionality will be based on the comparison of source concepts in English and Croatian linguistic expressions used in conceiving of metaphorical targets. Metaphors in both languages will be classified according to their cognitive function into structural, ontological, and orientational, which will appoint to the type(s) of metaphors with the greatest and smallest amount of overlapping. Finally, the analysis will lead to the conclusion whether the differences in metaphor usage in two languages are the consequence of cognitive differences between their speakers or the consequence of socio-cultural development that took place in the period of about 600 years which have passed bet...

Contemporary Austrian novels with a family theme go beyond the problematization of two-generational conflicts and tell the story of at least three generations of the family. These are generational novels that often deal with the phenomenon of crisis and the collapse of the family as a result of the crisis. The paper shows that historical caesuras run through the generational novel, showing the causes and consequences of major socio-political changes on the family, which is the basis for all family conflicts in the novel Es geht uns gut (We’re Doing Fine) by Austrian writer Arno Geiger. The approach to the topic begins with a conceptual definition of the crisis and the family, and a reflection on their interconnectedness. When it comes to crisis, the starting point is that it requires a reaction within the community, and that the lack of an appropriate response leads to disintegration; in this particular case it concerns the family but can be reflected in the wider society. The aim of t...

In recent decades, the concept of “complexity” has been one of the leitmotifs of social science used to open the conceptual baggage needed to understand the dynamics of “post-modernity,” primarily the composition and structure of society, and the mutations of the technologies of government. Alex Williams, a British political scientist, is best known for the important work Inventing the Future: Postcapitalism and a World Without Work, co-written with Nick Srnicek, which posed the politically dense and central problem of the collective use of technologies to “accelerate” the overcoming of capitalism. His latest book, Political Hegemony and Social Complexity: Mechanism of Power After Gramsci, elaborates on some of the diagnoses set out in the previous one, especially those concerning neoliberalism as not merely an economic but a total social phenomenon, and those on the ambivalent, porous, and productive intertwining of politics and technology. The focus on hegemony allows Williams to con...

The aim of this paper is to research the translation procedures of metaphors for LOVE in the novel Chevengur by Andrei Platonov by using a corpus linguistics search tool to explore the potential of corpus analysis in literary translation. The research shows that the analyzed translation is dominated by the M M procedure, that is, translation with the same conceptual metaphor and, more precisely, with the same linguistic expression. A few exceptions can be explained by different conventions of the Croatian language and the Russian, while, certainly, particular translator’s motivations remain beyond the scope of the research. The observed dominance of the said procedure does not surprise if one takes into account the possibilities of the source and target languages – the Slavic cultural and linguistic heritage which, at least to some extent, enables the understanding of shared concepts and the usage of the same linguistic expressions. The research also proves the potential of corpus anal...

Recent years have witnessed the trend that comedy studies combine with what were once considered separate disciplines, such as translation studies. Nevertheless, few studies have been conducted to investigate the linkages in the areas of comics studies and comedy studies. Rewriting Humour in Comic Books: Cultural Transfer and Translation of Aristophanic Adaptations, which is part of the series of Palgrave Studies in Translating and Interpreting, timely fills the gap by excavating humor in comic book adaptations of Aristophanes’s comedies.The book is composed of six chapters, including an introduction (chapter 1), a main body of 4 chapters, and a conclusion (chapter 6), together constituting a theoretically rich and empirically rigorous study. The first chapter starts by stressing that Marvel Comics may use humor for branding purpose, considering that humor is something memorable that readers are instinctively willing to appreciate and share. The author then explains why he chooses the ...

Life insecurity and precariousness caused by neoliberal capitalist activities as well as the consequences that are felt worldwide as global crises (environmental, economic, migrant, health crisis) have a great impact on people and their sense of living a viable life, a “life that is worth of living.” These circumstances create new forms of life – a life without the promise of stability and without a sense of security. However, with the feeling of insecurity, the promotion of anti-stress activities grows, such as outdoor activities (hiking, walking in nature, running, visiting nature parks, etc.). In this text, inspired by affect theories (Berlant, Ahmed) we analyze different perceptions of nature landscapes (mountains, nature parks in Croatia). We ask: how “nature” is experienced in a social atmosphere marked by different crises and which possibilities emerge from different imaginaries about nature.Keywords: historical present, perception of nature, social atmosphere, consumerism