The problem of sexual violence, including rape, domestic assault, sexual harassment, and molestat... more The problem of sexual violence, including rape, domestic assault, sexual harassment, and molestation has recently become a topical issue both in public discourse and popular culture. The unspoken individual traumas have found their way to the world of TV series, such as HBO’s mini-series Big Little Lies. The essay explores the unique ways in which the television series treats sexuality and personal traumas. It argues that while by no means can it be regarded as a soap opera, Big Little Lies occasionally uses and rewrites the genre-specific codes of this traditionally low-prestige television genre intended for women to alter the representation of individual traumas in popular culture. The use of flashbacks and involuntary repetition as narrative elements along with the retrospective framework of a criminal investigation make the serial form much suited to examine individual traumas. The television series attempts the almost impossible: to speak of the trauma’s unspeakability, and simultaneously it seeks to maintain its high viewership. (ZsOR
Stephen, the King (1983), the most popular Hungarian rock opera, succeeded in bringing alive the ... more Stephen, the King (1983), the most popular Hungarian rock opera, succeeded in bringing alive the well-known foundational myth of the Hungarian nation state by means of a new genre and its political relevance as a covert protest against the Soviet military presence. The rock opera was also extremely popular among members of Hungarian communities beyond the borders. The article compares two, very different cases of trans-border Hungarian identities focused around Stephen, the King: the Transylvanian reception of the rock opera and, based on Réka Pigniczky’s documentary Incubator, its American-Hungarian readings. The latter qualifies as a hybrid identity in progress, while Transylvania, a site of permanent cultural and political friction between Hungary and Romania, displays a cultural identity that is inherently mixed, a borderland identity. Capitalizing on Stuart Hall’s understanding of cultural identities, we argue that the diasporic/minority reception of the rock opera enabled unique ways of imag(in)ing national belonging, which were, to a great extent, different from its reception in Hungary. Our case studies confirm that both diasporic and borderland identities have received a boost via the new popular genre, enabling both groups to forge bonds with the imagined community of Hungarians and what they perceived as Hungarian national culture.
Hungarian Journal of English and American Studies, Jun 28, 2020
The problem of sexual violence, including rape, domestic assault, sexual harassment, and molestat... more The problem of sexual violence, including rape, domestic assault, sexual harassment, and molestation has recently become a topical issue both in public discourse and popular culture. The unspoken individual traumas have found their way to the world of TV series, such as HBO’s mini-series Big Little Lies. The essay explores the unique ways in which the television series treats sexuality and personal traumas. It argues that while by no means can it be regarded as a soap opera, Big Little Lies occasionally uses and rewrites the genre-specific codes of this traditionally low-prestige television genre intended for women to alter the representation of individual traumas in popular culture. The use of flashbacks and involuntary repetition as narrative elements along with the retrospective framework of a criminal investigation make the serial form much suited to examine individual traumas. The television series attempts the almost impossible: to speak of the trauma’s unspeakability, and simultaneously it seeks to maintain its high viewership. (ZsOR
Hungarian Journal of English and American Studies, Jun 28, 2020
The problem of sexual violence, including rape, domestic assault, sexual harassment, and molestat... more The problem of sexual violence, including rape, domestic assault, sexual harassment, and molestation has recently become a topical issue both in public discourse and popular culture. The unspoken individual traumas have found their way to the world of TV series, such as HBO’s mini-series Big Little Lies. The essay explores the unique ways in which the television series treats sexuality and personal traumas. It argues that while by no means can it be regarded as a soap opera, Big Little Lies occasionally uses and rewrites the genre-specific codes of this traditionally low-prestige television genre intended for women to alter the representation of individual traumas in popular culture. The use of flashbacks and involuntary repetition as narrative elements along with the retrospective framework of a criminal investigation make the serial form much suited to examine individual traumas. The television series attempts the almost impossible: to speak of the trauma’s unspeakability, and simultaneously it seeks to maintain its high viewership. (ZsOR
Gyorgy Dragoman’s second novel, The White King, while being extremely popular with literary audie... more Gyorgy Dragoman’s second novel, The White King, while being extremely popular with literary audiences, also gained considerable critical acclaim. The story of Djata, the young boy who has to grow up without his father in an unnamed Eastern European dictatorship has been translated to thirty languages due to its powerful images and complex, yet easily readable language, which works well with adolescents as well. Using close reading, the present paper focuses on the genre related dilemmas of the novel. The paper uses Paul de Man’s understanding of prosopopeia and the concept of dysfunctional synecdoche to argue that the genres of “father novel”, bildungsroman and dystopia are each other’s logical consequences and as such are intermingled in The White King.
The problem of sexual violence, including rape, domestic assault, sexual harassment, and molestat... more The problem of sexual violence, including rape, domestic assault, sexual harassment, and molestation has recently become a topical issue both in public discourse and popular culture. The unspoken individual traumas have found their way to the world of TV series, such as HBO’s mini-series Big Little Lies. The essay explores the unique ways in which the television series treats sexuality and personal traumas. It argues that while by no means can it be regarded as a soap opera, Big Little Lies occasionally uses and rewrites the genre-specific codes of this traditionally low-prestige television genre intended for women to alter the representation of individual traumas in popular culture. The use of flashbacks and involuntary repetition as narrative elements along with the retrospective framework of a criminal investigation make the serial form much suited to examine individual traumas. The television series attempts the almost impossible: to speak of the trauma’s unspeakability, and simultaneously it seeks to maintain its high viewership. (ZsOR
Stephen, the King (1983), the most popular Hungarian rock opera, succeeded in bringing alive the ... more Stephen, the King (1983), the most popular Hungarian rock opera, succeeded in bringing alive the well-known foundational myth of the Hungarian nation state by means of a new genre and its political relevance as a covert protest against the Soviet military presence. The rock opera was also extremely popular among members of Hungarian communities beyond the borders. The article compares two, very different cases of trans-border Hungarian identities focused around Stephen, the King: the Transylvanian reception of the rock opera and, based on Réka Pigniczky’s documentary Incubator, its American-Hungarian readings. The latter qualifies as a hybrid identity in progress, while Transylvania, a site of permanent cultural and political friction between Hungary and Romania, displays a cultural identity that is inherently mixed, a borderland identity. Capitalizing on Stuart Hall’s understanding of cultural identities, we argue that the diasporic/minority reception of the rock opera enabled unique ways of imag(in)ing national belonging, which were, to a great extent, different from its reception in Hungary. Our case studies confirm that both diasporic and borderland identities have received a boost via the new popular genre, enabling both groups to forge bonds with the imagined community of Hungarians and what they perceived as Hungarian national culture.
Hungarian Journal of English and American Studies, Jun 28, 2020
The problem of sexual violence, including rape, domestic assault, sexual harassment, and molestat... more The problem of sexual violence, including rape, domestic assault, sexual harassment, and molestation has recently become a topical issue both in public discourse and popular culture. The unspoken individual traumas have found their way to the world of TV series, such as HBO’s mini-series Big Little Lies. The essay explores the unique ways in which the television series treats sexuality and personal traumas. It argues that while by no means can it be regarded as a soap opera, Big Little Lies occasionally uses and rewrites the genre-specific codes of this traditionally low-prestige television genre intended for women to alter the representation of individual traumas in popular culture. The use of flashbacks and involuntary repetition as narrative elements along with the retrospective framework of a criminal investigation make the serial form much suited to examine individual traumas. The television series attempts the almost impossible: to speak of the trauma’s unspeakability, and simultaneously it seeks to maintain its high viewership. (ZsOR
Hungarian Journal of English and American Studies, Jun 28, 2020
The problem of sexual violence, including rape, domestic assault, sexual harassment, and molestat... more The problem of sexual violence, including rape, domestic assault, sexual harassment, and molestation has recently become a topical issue both in public discourse and popular culture. The unspoken individual traumas have found their way to the world of TV series, such as HBO’s mini-series Big Little Lies. The essay explores the unique ways in which the television series treats sexuality and personal traumas. It argues that while by no means can it be regarded as a soap opera, Big Little Lies occasionally uses and rewrites the genre-specific codes of this traditionally low-prestige television genre intended for women to alter the representation of individual traumas in popular culture. The use of flashbacks and involuntary repetition as narrative elements along with the retrospective framework of a criminal investigation make the serial form much suited to examine individual traumas. The television series attempts the almost impossible: to speak of the trauma’s unspeakability, and simultaneously it seeks to maintain its high viewership. (ZsOR
Gyorgy Dragoman’s second novel, The White King, while being extremely popular with literary audie... more Gyorgy Dragoman’s second novel, The White King, while being extremely popular with literary audiences, also gained considerable critical acclaim. The story of Djata, the young boy who has to grow up without his father in an unnamed Eastern European dictatorship has been translated to thirty languages due to its powerful images and complex, yet easily readable language, which works well with adolescents as well. Using close reading, the present paper focuses on the genre related dilemmas of the novel. The paper uses Paul de Man’s understanding of prosopopeia and the concept of dysfunctional synecdoche to argue that the genres of “father novel”, bildungsroman and dystopia are each other’s logical consequences and as such are intermingled in The White King.
The Hungarian Journal of English and American Studies (HJEAS), published by the Institute of Engl... more The Hungarian Journal of English and American Studies (HJEAS), published by the Institute of English and American Studies, University of Debrecen, Hungary is soliciting essays for a thematic bloc on affect and immersion in video games. As the only undisrupted periodical sequence devoted exclusively to English and American Studies in Hungary from 1963 on, HJEAS is indexed on the MLA Bibliography, its citations compiled by SCOPUS, and has a worldwide readership due to its availability on JSTOR and ProQuest.
The The Taming of Affect: Affect, immersion and video games thematic bloc is collecting essays of 6-8.000 words exploring the possible intersections between game studies as an academic discipline and the scholarly focus of affect theory on embodied emotions, moods and sensations with a focus on the features of the medium that set it apart from other, representational and non-simulational media, such as immersion, interface and the possibility and capacity of failure. HJEAS would be pleased to present a set of essays that address the complex relationship of the highlighted terms either from a theoretical perspective or by empirical case studies.
To express interest and to give HJEAS the chance to compile a selection of various topics and approaches, please send 300-350-word proposals by 31 March 2022 to the editors of the thematic bloc: Zsófia Orosz-Réti at reti.zsofia@arts.unideb.hu, and Norbert Krek at norbert.krek@gmail.com, as well as the Editor-in-Chief, Professor Donald E. Morse at donaldemorse@gmail.com. Decisions will be made by 15 April 2022.
The thematic bloc is scheduled for publication in 2023, therefore finished essays (double spaced with parenthetical citations using Works Cited following the MLA Handbook 7th edition) will be expected by 15 August 2022.
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The The Taming of Affect: Affect, immersion and video games thematic bloc is collecting essays of 6-8.000 words exploring the possible intersections between game studies as an academic discipline and the scholarly focus of affect theory on embodied emotions, moods and sensations with a focus on the features of the medium that set it apart from other, representational and non-simulational media, such as immersion, interface and the possibility and capacity of failure. HJEAS would be pleased to present a set of essays that address the complex relationship of the highlighted terms either from a theoretical perspective or by empirical case studies.
To express interest and to give HJEAS the chance to compile a selection of various topics and approaches, please send 300-350-word proposals by 31 March 2022 to the editors of the thematic bloc: Zsófia Orosz-Réti at reti.zsofia@arts.unideb.hu, and Norbert Krek at norbert.krek@gmail.com, as well as the Editor-in-Chief, Professor Donald E. Morse at donaldemorse@gmail.com. Decisions will be made by 15 April 2022.
The thematic bloc is scheduled for publication in 2023, therefore finished essays (double spaced with parenthetical citations using Works Cited following the MLA Handbook 7th edition) will be expected by 15 August 2022.