I wish to further elaborate on the linguistic tutelage of Moldavian society, i.e. foreign languages assuming the role of official/national language in Moldova. After 1991 Moldova passed from the linguistic tutelage of Russian to that of Romanian, the latter being the closest variety to the local dialect. The Moldavian dialect, as it never had a…
In Moldova apparently there has always been a cultural duality or rather a cultural tension since it became a modern state-entity: first as member state of the Soviet Union, than, from 1991, as an independent state. While a member of the Soviet Union, Moldova and its local culture were subdued to the Russian influence. This…
Edward Burne-Jones: The Last Sleep of Arthur, 1881–1898 When we look at some of the most popular pieces of fiction in the English language we find that most of them contain a little bit of supernatural. From the ever popular plays of Shakespeare to the newest young adult fiction witches are guaranteed to pop up…
In this series we have looked at two tracks of euphemism in Lolita. I use a wider definition of euphemism, than a socio-linguistic phenomenon: something that both undermines and reinforces a social taboo. Taboo is a topic not to be expressed – a gap – in social language (including every instance of social/public interaction). Euphemism…
Previously I discussed how the faun, both as emblem and topic of decadent art, is used to euphemise paedophilia in Lolita. If I were to continue that chain of thoughts, I’d say that the two facets of the novel’s central entity, the faun and Humbert, are interchangeable not only as characters in the plot,…
In classical mythology, the faun became an emblem of lust (replacing the satyr) and raw instinct attracted to nymphs. Stéphane Mallarmé’s Afternoon of a Faun elaborates on this meaning through the recollections of a Faun – the lyric voice – woken from his afternoon nap and reflecting on his dream with nymphs. In Nabokov’s Palace…
A few months ago I visited the Library of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, looking for primary sources for one of my research projects. When I found nothing I asked one of the librarians whether she could help me. Her only answer was a question about whether I’ve tried Wikipedia yet, “because they usually have…
Welcome and thank you for visiting Pázmány EDZine (English Department Magazine). We are thrilled to announce that with this blog post we are launching the English Department’s new project, this Magazine-like blog-journal. In EDZine we are going to write about ourselves to tell the interested what we are up to. OK, in other words what…