Stefan Čizmar | University of Novi Sad, Faculty of Philosophy (original) (raw)
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Papers by Stefan Čizmar
Belgrade English Language and Literature Studies, 2022
The novels of Angela Carter provide a sharp satirical insight into the politics and culture of tw... more The novels of Angela Carter provide a sharp satirical insight into the politics and culture of twentieth-century Britain. One major aspect of these areas that Carter occasionally tackles is the relationship with the Victorian heritage of Britain. The aim of this paper is to examine how Carter enters a dialogue with the Victorian past through the lens of neo-Victorian theory to see if and to what extent her works can be seen as neo-Victorian. The paper focuses on three novels, Shadow Dance, Nights at the Circus, and Wise Children, as they feature neo-Victorian concerns most prominently, and provides a close reading of certain passages, comparing them to the typical traits of neo-Victorian novels.
Reči, 2021
A.S. Byatt's works have had an intricate relationship with postmodernism, and this relationship i... more A.S. Byatt's works have had an intricate relationship with postmodernism, and this relationship is probably best exhibited in Possession and The Biographer's Tale. Both novels display complex webs of allusions, references, play with genre and form, as well as intense self-reflection, all of which can be seen as typical postmodern features. However, it can be argued that both novels go beyond that, and instead of merely being self-reflexive, they are primarily intensely reflexive of their status as postmodern works. In other words, both novels seek to examine and parody postmodernism from the inside, thus subverting it and transcending it by going beyond its typical features. This approach to writing can be referred to as meta-postmodern since the novels essentially use postmodern techniques to discuss postmodernism, as well as to contrast it with some other periods of literary history and/or approaches to literature and scholarship in general. The aim of the following paper is to examine these characteristics of the novels and to find an apt description of Byatt's narrative style.
Philologia Mediana, 2021
This paper will aim to analyse the ways in which Robinson Crusoe corresponds with the ideology of... more This paper will aim to analyse the ways in which Robinson Crusoe corresponds with the ideology of early colonial capitalism which was burgeoning in Defoe's time, and of which he was a great proponent. Arguably, the novel presents the worldview of the flourishing capitalist class to which Defoe belonged, especially concerning the matters of trade, entrepreneurship, and colonial rule. This is particularly present in Crusoe's actions upon becoming shipwrecked, which embody the Protestant ethics of hard work, and also in the way he observes the island as his colonial dominion and Friday as his natural servant. The paper will seek to describe how the novel illustrates the economic background which leads to colonialism, and how the two give rise to a particular ideology which was present not just in Defoe's time, but in various shapes survives until today. For that purpose, the paper will rely on the way in which Terry Eagleton views and defines ideology, in the hope of giving an insight into the interplay of material conditions and ideology in the novel.
Thesis Chapters by Stefan Čizmar
Class, Gender, and Sexuality in the Novels of Angela Carter, 2021
This thesis will aim to situate the novels of Angela Carter in their social context and analyse ... more This thesis will aim to situate the novels of Angela Carter in their social context and analyse them within that context, while focusing on the themes of class and gender, and their interrelationship. Apart from that, another key subject of the analysis will be the theme of sexuality, which is firmly tied to the first two themes and serves to make certain points about them. The thesis will analyse the social and economic conditions in which Carter’s novels came into being and look into the ways in which these conditions are reflected in her oeuvre, as well as the ways in which these conditions influence the representation of class and gender relations as well as sexuality. Carter’s works have hitherto mostly been analysed through the lenses of feminism, postmodernism, and psychoanalysis, as well as various combinations of these three approaches, which has left the social aspects of her works, especially pertaining to class relations, which are omnipresent in most of her oeuvre, insufficiently studied and analysed. This thesis will aim to provide a different approach to Carter’s novels, basing itself in the traditions of Marxist literary theory, and primarily on the theoretical basis formulated by Terry Eagleton. Carter’s novels lend themselves to this approach precisely because of their successful portrayal of social relations in capitalism, and in her comprehensive, dialectical understanding of minute aspects of these relations. Apart from focusing on Marxist literary theory, the thesis will be based on Carter’s non-fiction texts, primarily The Sadeian Woman, as well as certain theoretical works focusing on transgression in literature, such as The Politics and Poetics of Transgression by Stallybrass and White, and Walter Benjamin, or Towards a Revolutionary Criticism by Terry Eagleton. Furthermore, the thesis will seek to provide a critique of previous approaches to Carter where necessary, and connect it to the entirety of the analysis.
Belgrade English Language and Literature Studies, 2022
The novels of Angela Carter provide a sharp satirical insight into the politics and culture of tw... more The novels of Angela Carter provide a sharp satirical insight into the politics and culture of twentieth-century Britain. One major aspect of these areas that Carter occasionally tackles is the relationship with the Victorian heritage of Britain. The aim of this paper is to examine how Carter enters a dialogue with the Victorian past through the lens of neo-Victorian theory to see if and to what extent her works can be seen as neo-Victorian. The paper focuses on three novels, Shadow Dance, Nights at the Circus, and Wise Children, as they feature neo-Victorian concerns most prominently, and provides a close reading of certain passages, comparing them to the typical traits of neo-Victorian novels.
Reči, 2021
A.S. Byatt's works have had an intricate relationship with postmodernism, and this relationship i... more A.S. Byatt's works have had an intricate relationship with postmodernism, and this relationship is probably best exhibited in Possession and The Biographer's Tale. Both novels display complex webs of allusions, references, play with genre and form, as well as intense self-reflection, all of which can be seen as typical postmodern features. However, it can be argued that both novels go beyond that, and instead of merely being self-reflexive, they are primarily intensely reflexive of their status as postmodern works. In other words, both novels seek to examine and parody postmodernism from the inside, thus subverting it and transcending it by going beyond its typical features. This approach to writing can be referred to as meta-postmodern since the novels essentially use postmodern techniques to discuss postmodernism, as well as to contrast it with some other periods of literary history and/or approaches to literature and scholarship in general. The aim of the following paper is to examine these characteristics of the novels and to find an apt description of Byatt's narrative style.
Philologia Mediana, 2021
This paper will aim to analyse the ways in which Robinson Crusoe corresponds with the ideology of... more This paper will aim to analyse the ways in which Robinson Crusoe corresponds with the ideology of early colonial capitalism which was burgeoning in Defoe's time, and of which he was a great proponent. Arguably, the novel presents the worldview of the flourishing capitalist class to which Defoe belonged, especially concerning the matters of trade, entrepreneurship, and colonial rule. This is particularly present in Crusoe's actions upon becoming shipwrecked, which embody the Protestant ethics of hard work, and also in the way he observes the island as his colonial dominion and Friday as his natural servant. The paper will seek to describe how the novel illustrates the economic background which leads to colonialism, and how the two give rise to a particular ideology which was present not just in Defoe's time, but in various shapes survives until today. For that purpose, the paper will rely on the way in which Terry Eagleton views and defines ideology, in the hope of giving an insight into the interplay of material conditions and ideology in the novel.
Class, Gender, and Sexuality in the Novels of Angela Carter, 2021
This thesis will aim to situate the novels of Angela Carter in their social context and analyse ... more This thesis will aim to situate the novels of Angela Carter in their social context and analyse them within that context, while focusing on the themes of class and gender, and their interrelationship. Apart from that, another key subject of the analysis will be the theme of sexuality, which is firmly tied to the first two themes and serves to make certain points about them. The thesis will analyse the social and economic conditions in which Carter’s novels came into being and look into the ways in which these conditions are reflected in her oeuvre, as well as the ways in which these conditions influence the representation of class and gender relations as well as sexuality. Carter’s works have hitherto mostly been analysed through the lenses of feminism, postmodernism, and psychoanalysis, as well as various combinations of these three approaches, which has left the social aspects of her works, especially pertaining to class relations, which are omnipresent in most of her oeuvre, insufficiently studied and analysed. This thesis will aim to provide a different approach to Carter’s novels, basing itself in the traditions of Marxist literary theory, and primarily on the theoretical basis formulated by Terry Eagleton. Carter’s novels lend themselves to this approach precisely because of their successful portrayal of social relations in capitalism, and in her comprehensive, dialectical understanding of minute aspects of these relations. Apart from focusing on Marxist literary theory, the thesis will be based on Carter’s non-fiction texts, primarily The Sadeian Woman, as well as certain theoretical works focusing on transgression in literature, such as The Politics and Poetics of Transgression by Stallybrass and White, and Walter Benjamin, or Towards a Revolutionary Criticism by Terry Eagleton. Furthermore, the thesis will seek to provide a critique of previous approaches to Carter where necessary, and connect it to the entirety of the analysis.