Critical Survey

This article discusses the need for discursive reading and creative writing practices aimed towards capable readers in prisons. It contends that prison book groups, particularly those with an embedded creative writing component and themed in considered ways – here ‘isolation’ and ‘loneliness’ – should be taken seriously to encourage incarcerated people to address their current circumstances and engage with the world around them. We argue that such initiatives should not shy away from reading materials presumed to be uneasy, as they may prove valuable for critical discussion and creative production. Fieldwork at two prisons revealed that challenging the protocols of reading as a presumed isolated experience, combined with reading materials and writing prompts that explore the complexities of being alone, can support skill development and self-development.

This article is aimed at determining the role and function of folklore texts in the system of implementation of humanistic aspects of culture. The leading methods of researching this problem are the methods of analysis, comparison, generalization, abstraction, induction, classification and graphic methods of presenting information. The article reveals the content and functions of folklore and how it shapes culture and values. It reviews research on the role of folklore in forming individual and collective identity. The development of competencies in studying folklore genres in school and university is described. The anthropological model in the modern folklore paradigm is examined. The integrative approach to folklore research is outlined. The ethical, educational and aesthetic functions of folklore are explored in detail.

Angela Carter's Heroes and Villains reimagines the human–nature relationship in a post-apocalyptic world through a feminist and ecological lens. Drawing on the framework of ‘critical utopia’, this article explores how Carter subverts the binary between technological civilisation and natural primitivism. The novel juxtaposes the Professors’ enclosed enclave of rational control with the Barbarians’ fragile harmony with nature, exposing the failures of both totalizing systems. Through Marianne's movement between these spaces, Carter envisions an emergent ecological consciousness that transforms division into relational becoming. Her awakening signals a form of critical ecotopia – an open-ended rethinking of coexistence between the human and the nonhuman. By situating the narrative within post-apocalyptic and ecofeminist traditions, this article argues that Carter redefines utopian imagination as a site of ecological renewal and feminist critique, revealing how destruction may engender new modes of interdependence.

As the embodiment of distinction, the nonhuman animal being has frequently epitomized what it refers to as the ‘other’ in Western rationality. However, within the critical framework of post-humanist animal studies, the hegemonic conception of animals by humans has been constantly challenged through a radical shift from the autonomous, rational subject of humanist philosophy to relational ontologies and the distributed agency of the post-humanist cosmos. When analysed from this perch, William Shakespeare's (1564–1616) King Lear (1606) reflects the bard's fundamental insights regarding the intricate structure of human/animal division. Accordingly, this article maintains that Lear's tragic fall from power and sanity, which has a direct parallel with the crisis of the Renaissance speciesism and with the collapse of L'uomo universale, opens up a new route for his transformation from an exemplum of humanist ideals to an apt ‘animetaphor’, referring to Akira Mizuta Lippit. As Lear turns to his own animality, Shakespeare's deep scepticism regarding the legitimacy of normative Renaissance principles that rely on supposedly existing ontological and epistemological boundaries between the two species is heightened.

This article analyses Titus Andronicus in terms of the ideas of mimicry, hybridity and the Third Space proposed by Homi Bhabha. It suggests that the play may enact an early modern crisis of the racial and cultural representations. It revolves around Aaron the Moor, Tamora and Lavinia, and through these characters we see how Shakespeare addresses colonial ambivalence and the performance of identity. The hyper-articulate resistance of Aaron, the artificially emulative behaviour of Tamora and the discontinuous bodily state of Lavinia are all viewed as theatrical manifestations of subversion of the postcolonial. Relying on Bhabha, Hall, Gilroy and other important theorists, the article presents the argument that Titus Andronicus has created a proto-postcolonial space in which race and alterity are not a matter of representation, but of performance. In so doing, it adds to the larger discussion on early modern racial construction and the performative politics of otherness.

Ethical Literary Criticism provides a clear and manageable ethical line, by which the heroes of John Milton's trilogy can be decoded as three-level ethical knots from varied perspectives of the Miltonic Wayfaring-Hero Paradigm. First, Adam and Eve in Paradise Lost, representing ‘everyone’, particularly from the angle of marriage, can be understood as the primal level of the Wayfaring-Hero Paradigm who follows God's Word. Then, Jesus in Paradise Regained can be interpreted as the Prototype of the Paradigm who follows God's Way by concretizing the Word from the Scripture to specific circumstances and actions. Finally, Samson in Samson Agonistes can be viewed as the Wayfaring-Martyr Hero of the Paradigm, exemplifying the highest level and the most Miltonic of the Paradigm. Such ethical reading discloses that Milton lays out the heroes in his trilogy Adam and Eve, Jesus, and Samson in progressing tendency, which endows the Miltonic Wayfaring-Hero Paradigm with uniqueness and profundity, rendering his heroes ‘never to be surpassed’.

Following the passing of the first and second generations of Holocaust writers, whose works were deeply rooted in personal and familial experiences, the third generation has emerged with a distinct focus on commemorating the memory of those who perished. In this article, we analyse six representative Anglophone works (Foer, Krauss, Skibell, Chabon, Mendelsohn and Zusak) using a comparative narratological approach grounded in post-memory and trauma studies. We argue that mythic intertexts and genre hybridity (fantasy, detective and comics) reframe Holocaust memory for contemporary audiences while negotiating ethical accountability and market reception. This new wave of writers has brought a fresh perspective to Holocaust literature, using a variety of artistic approaches and aesthetic modes to represent the trauma, loss and resilience of the past. As a result, the genre has evolved from a niche field into a widely recognized and critically acclaimed body of work. These writers often incorporate myth, folklore and symbolism into their narratives, creating a space for imagination and cultural reflection. By moving beyond traditional family-centred stories and realist portrayals, the third generation expands the boundaries of post-memory Holocaust literature. Their works not only preserve historical memory but also explore the complexities of identity, heritage and collective trauma. In doing so, they offer new ways to engage with the past, ensuring that the stories of those who lived through the Holocaust continue to resonate with contemporary audiences.

This article interprets music as a narration text and believes it to be a powerful witness to collective trauma and cultural memory. The cross-cultural comparison of Henryk Górecki's Symphony No. 3 and Wang Xilin's Symphony No. 4 probes how each composer has constructed a peculiar aesthetic of tragedy. According to this article, these works represent two paradigmatic forms of testimony to historical suffering: Górecki's ‘meditation’, an inward narrative of spiritual transcendence; and Wang's ‘outcry’, an external protest against historical violence. By examining the sound structures of the works, analysing their emotional strategies, and investigating their differing uses of national musical languages, we can see how these aesthetics are created. The composers’ differing attitudes towards tone clusters are at the heart of a significant finding. This is their different aesthetic. In Górecki's work, the diatonic cluster achieves a ‘meditative stasis’. For Wang, the chromatic cluster brings forth an agonistic cathartic cry. In the end, this article enriches our understanding of tragic music of the twentieth century by demonstrating how musical narratives testify to history on account of their cultural specificity and common humanity.