In Yevgeny Zamyatin’s We, the protagonist resists the regime in which he lives by engaging in writing/composition. D-503, the main protagonist, begins a journal that records his rebellious activity and movement towards individuality. The protagonist not only records rebellion, but the act of writing/composition is inextricably tied into the resistance it accompanies. In this paper, I will focus specifically on the protagonist of the novel by discussing the role of writing and language in the rebellion of the protagonist. I will also discuss the metafictional aspects of the novel and the effect of first-person narration on the production of this text.

This paper examines the use of dramatic techniques of storytelling and self-narration on the English stage in the late 16th and early 17th centuries, with an emphasis on Christopher Marlowe’s Tamburlaine the Great and John Webster’s The Duchess of Malfi. The playwrights of the period were negotiating their way in a new world in which language was a medium which was coming more and more to be respected, and those who could command it had the potential for advancement in ways never before conceivable. In the forefront of those negotiating for such a place through their dramaturgy were Christopher Marlowe and John Webster. They may be considered the instigators in the development of the self on the English stage in the early modern period through storytelling and self-narration as representational techniques. The paper also examines some of the profound changes in dramaturgy which took place in the period in question and which culminated in the drama of Marlowe and Webster.

This paper examines, based on Suzzane Collins’ The Hunger Games, the students’ perceptionof contemporary issues, society and dominant ideologies within the context of Young Adult (YA)Dystopian literature from the viewpoint of reception theory. The last decade has seen a greatrise in the popularity of this subgenre, with The Hunger Games trilogy as the most popularamongst Bosnian-Herzegovinian youth who have been lured by the success of both the trilogyand the film adaptations. Technological advances of the 21st century have proven to beprofoundly influential on our society, particularly on high-school students, whose reality isshaped by great dependence on social networks and modern tools of entertainment andcommunication. Dystopian literature in general, the subgenre of Young Adult Dystopianliterature in particular, is a reflection of contemporary fears of post-apocalyptic changes of the“status quo”. Therefore, the analysis of Bosnian-Herzegovinian high-school students’ reflectionson YA Dystopian literature is vital for understanding their perception of contemporary social,political and cultural issues on the example of The Hunger Games. Reception theory offers thepossibility to study ideological and hegemonic discourses within dystopian fiction from thestudents’ viewpoint and gives us an insight into the phenomenon of the appeal of YA Dystopianliterature.

This paper undertakes to examine the gender politics of Yevgeny Zamyatin’s We (1924), the probable prototype of the modern dystopia, by analyzing how the author adheres to or subverts the characteristics of dystopia specifically in terms of gender representation. The novel illuminates anxieties about gender issues of the author’s time. It can be argued that Zamyatin’s concern is with equality (sexual and otherwise) at the expense of individuality and creativity within the socialist state. It is my contention that in We, Zamyatin suggests that enforced equality will not solve the gender and sexual inequalities of the day. Furthermore, Zamyatin uses socio-political satire to comment subversively on the complexities of the patriarchal social and political structures present in the society in which he wrote. This paper observes that for Zamyatin, gender and genre are flexible, and that stylistic elements can be the focus in a genre that some would characterize as polemical, topical, and political. Dystopias are thought to be imbedded in a particular political milieu, but this paper shows that there are certain qualities and themes that are common to the genre, no matter when or where the dystopia is written or set.

The tendency among contemporary women writers to look inside themselves for material for fiction is particularly evident in the work of Alice Munro. Munro’s practice of utilizing personal experience in her stories is central to her work, and is therefore identified as an essential element of her fictional aesthetic. In “The Ottawa Valley,” the parallels between Munro’s experiences with her own terminally-ill mother and those of the narrator whose mother has Parkinson’s Disease, are immediately recognizable. Other stories also contain bits and pieces gathered from Munro’s memories; however, she is adamant that her stories should not be seen as strictly autobiographical. Her refusal to allow her work to be described as autobiographical serves as a protective shell into which the author may retreat, and as a reminder that Munro’s stories operate on many levels of reality. In the postscript added to the story, Munro, in the guise of the narrator, deals with the inadequacy of fiction. In several stories the reader is left wondering whether certain events actually occurred or if they were imagined by the teller. This ambiguity between fiction and reality is evident in stories where Munro and/or the characters seem to be second-guessing themselves. For example, the narrator in “The Ottawa Valley” wonders at the end if she has really told a “proper story.” This paper examines the importance of personal experience and inadequacy of fiction in writing by Alice Munro in general, and particularly in reference to her short story “The Ottawa Valley.” The parallels between the narrator’s experiences in “The Ottawa Valley” and Munro’s own experiences with her mother demonstrate that Munro frequently utilizes material from her own life in her stories. Key words: Alice Munro, Postcolonial literature, personal experience, fiction, short story

This paper examines the connections between folk heritage and literary creation, between folk religion and writing. How have writers named or recognized folk tradition in relation to their own writing? At what point does the writer act as a conjurer who calls up and creates literature, who transforms reality through the magical power of words? I argue that Claude McKay not only writes about his folk heritage in legitimizing ways, he writes from it. McKay’s autobiography A Long Way From Home points towards a concept of creativity that grounds itself in a complex imagination that moves between syncretic sources. In his writings, he truly recognizes the potential of folk heritage as a source of writing and innovation. Negritude poets turned to folk religion as evidence of an essential African culture, and the Harlem Renaissance writers conceived of folk culture as an indicator of authentic, albeit unsophisticated, Negro creativity. McKay, however, stands out as a rare writer who portrays folk heritage as a sign of writing itself--a writer who uses folk heritage to undercut a concept of authentic, unitary origins. McKay’s representations of folk religion act as barometers of his reaction to the class biases and political hegemony of the leading writers of the Harlem Renaissance. McKay locates within folk heritage an originary site of black literature. While he does not inscribe folk religion in his autobiography to the same degree as do other Afro-American writers, he does use a secular language of folk religion to depict the creative process of writing. Keywords: Claude McKay, folk heritage, creativity, writing, Afro-American literature.

Key words: Postcolonial literature, Alice Munro, short story, female artist, a woman writer ABSTRACT While much of Alice Munro’s artistic ability may be attributed to natural talent, the simple fact that a good number of her stories contain female artists as main characters convinces me that this matter of a fictional aesthetic warrants scrutiny. In my paper, I argue that these female artists reflect certain issues which are central to Munro’s own work and to her life as a woman writer. The women in these stories concern themselves with such practical matters as the need for a woman to have a room of her own and the difficulty of balancing marriage and family with a writing career. Power and narrative authority and the tension between fiction and reality are issues which are examined by Munro’s women artists. Interestingly enough, a study of the interviews and essays, in which she denies possessing a fictional aesthetic, reveals that Munro’s own thoughts about writing are similar to those voiced by her characters. I examine Munro’s story “The Office,” a story containing a female artist as a main character, as well as theoretical works by renowned scholars which deal directly with artistic concerns. The story harkens back to Virginia Woolf’s theory that a woman needs money and a room of her own in order to write. Although Munro herself insists that she would feel paralysed if someone set her up in a study, she is extremely particular about the conditions which must exist when she sits down to write. Unfortunately, the office acquired by the main character in “The Office” results in a decrease in her writing output, largely due to the continued invasion of her privacy by the landlord. The fact that this aspiring writer felt the need to seek out an office points to the logistical difficulties which are often associated with being a woman writer.