Philologia is a peer-reviewed academic journal established by scholars at Belgrade University, Faculty of Philology, whose mission is to promote theoretical and empirical research in linguistics, literature, cultural studies and related disciplines. The journal publishes papers in English, French, German, Russian, Italian, Spanish, and Serbian. The journal comes out annually, and is indexed in DOAJ, ERIH PLUS, EBSCO, MIAR and MLA Bibliography. The Call for Papers is open all year round.
Copyright (c) 2024 Philologia https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
Robert Lecker (ed.), Do You Want to Be Happy and Write?: Critical Essays on Michael Ondaatje. Quebec: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2023, pp. 488.
La réception des romans d’Elsa Triolet dans l’hebdomadaire Les Lettres françaises (1957-1968)
The aim of this paper is to analyze the reception of Elsa Triolet’s novels in the French weekly Les Lettres françaises. We analyze and examine the critical texts and interviews of the author regarding her novel Le Monument (1957), followed by the texts referring to her novel cycle L’Âge de nylon: Roses à crédit (1959), Luna-Park (1959), L’Âme (1962). First, we focus on the articles on the novel Les Manigances (1961), published outside this cycle, continuing with the articles on the two novels that belong to the same cycle, Le Grand-Jamais (1965) and Écoutez-voir (1968). Our research shows a keen interest of Les Lettres françaises in Elsa Triolet’s novels. Literary critics of the time saw great potential, diversity and richness of themes in Triolet’s texts. From the analyzed texts, we observed that this writer’s novels were positively received, with critics utilizing a variety of techniques to introduce the author’s oeuvre to a wider audience.
The Mannequin as an Active Agent: Decentered Subjectivity in Ian McEwan’s “Dead as They Come”
Ian McEwan’s “Dead as They Come” portrays an immaculate picture of an active and defiant object, decentering the subject from the center, thus paving the way for the dismantlement of anthropocentrism. While the short story has been examined through a subject-oriented lens, the object-oriented aspects thereof have not received much critical attention. Therefore, resorting to Object Oriented Ontology terminology, the current study will attempt to analyze the subversive and recalcitrant nature of the mannequin, defying the anthropocentric rule and reality. Graham Harman and Bill Brown’s OOO theories will form the underpinning theoretical framework of this article. It will be contended that anthropocentric dominance gets gradually chipped as the most pivotal tools at the disposal of Anthropos, namely language and name-giving, fail to assist him in controlling and possessing the nonhuman. The ultimate fatal blow is delivered to him when he loses his rationality and reasoning faculty, thus falling from subjectivity into the abyss of madness and insanity, which marks the complete annihilation of anthropocentrism.
Princip ili Ferdinand? Mori Ogai o početku Prvog svetskog rata
The goal of this paper is to show a new interpretation of the poem “One Man” by the Japanese writer Mori Ogai (1862-1922), which concerns Gavrilo Princip’s assassination of Franz Ferdinand and the beginning of World War 1. This poem has been interpreted as Ogai criticizing Princip’s actions. However, by analyzing Ogai’s allusions more closely, we concluded that Ogai is not criticizing Princip, but Franz Ferdinand. This paper makes the case that the poem “One Man” is to be interpreted within the framework of Ogai’s “distancing from Europe” in his literary work, and that the distancing in question happened precisely as a result of World War 1. At the same time, this paper shows the importance of studying Ogai’s work in Classical Chinese, which has been almost neglected thus far, and indicates that this body of work is capable of giving us new information where Ogai’s writings in vernacular Japanese do not.
Logoreja u pesničkoj zbirci Branislava Petrovića Moć govora
In medical terminology, the word ”logorrhea” denotes a disorder of excessive and uncontrolled talking, while in everyday speech it is often used as a synonym for talkativeness or chatter. In this paper, we have tried to indicate the meaning of the logorrheic principle in Branislav Petrovic’s first poetry collection. Given that the term was also used in ancient philosophy to denote the speech of matter, which only sages can hear, we have determined whether Petrovic privileges the position of the poet by using the principle of logorrhea. The author shapes the poetic speech as a free associative verbal flow, with numerous neologisms and repetitions, forming strange morphosyntactic constructions, whereby formal inventiveness is accompanied by numerous metalinguistic assumptions.
By analyzing four representative short stories by Radoje Domanović (Leader, The Stigma, Abolition of Passions, and Dead Sea), the paper marks some of the critical points of his entire poetics and, generally, presents the era of Serbian realism. Placing Domanović’s allegorical and satirical methods in the epicenter of the realist period depicts the sociopolitical proscenium of Serbia at the time and the criticized ruling system (of the Obrenović Dynasty and the Serbian Radical Party headed by Pašić), striving to pinpoint and, in as much detail as possible, examine the state’s “ailments” – the material in Domanović’s satires. Each of the above short stories marks one key point – the parabolic nature of the Leader, the carnivalization potential in The Stigma, the religious subtext of the Abolition of Passions, and the novelistic episodic nature of the Dead Sea – to indicate the wide range of Domanović’s writerly undertones.
Factors Influencing Method Choices of EFL Teachers in Mauritania: A Reflective Perspective
This paper was designed to investigate the factors influencing the choice of teaching methods of foreign EFL teachers in Mauritania. The focus of this study is on English teachers whose native language or second language is English and who have taught or are currently teaching EFL in Mauritania. The main objectives of this study are to identify the factors that influence their choice of teaching methods and to investigate the influence of their pre-service and in-service teacher training, teacher reflection, country of origin, and teacher qualifications. Data was collected using questionnaires and interviews, which were analyzed using a qualitative method focusing on thematic analysis for data interpretation. The findings of this study revealed that several factors significantly influence the choice of teaching methods. These factors can be classified into the following categories: (1) factors related to the students, (2) classroom environment, (3) factors related to the lesson, (5) factors related to the teacher and their reflective teaching and, (6) other factors, which include (a) culture (b) linguistic diversity, (c) working conditions, and (d) administration’s expectations.
Primenjena lingvistika/Applied Linguistics
Using a Bilingual (English-French) Teaching Method to Aid L3 French Vocabulary Learning
Bilingual individuals possess greater experience, strategies, and linguistic awareness compared to their monolingual peers (Cenoz/Ulrike 2000). Despite this advantage, these capabilities often remain underutilized in educational settings. To address this gap, a bilingual teaching material was developed, specifically targeting French vocabulary. The material encouraged students to actively compare English and French, allowing them to draw on the similarities and differences between the two languages. This comparative approach not only enhanced their understanding of French but also reinforced their knowledge of English. The effectiveness of this approach was evaluated through posttests. Participants were assessed after one month of instruction and again after three months to evaluate the immediate results and the long(er)-term retention of the vocabulary they had learned. The findings were clear: the experimental group, which used the bilingual teaching material, demonstrated significantly better retention and acquisition of L3 (third language) vocabulary compared to the control group. This was true both immediately after the instruction and over the longer term, suggesting that incorporating bilingual strategies into teaching can lead to more effective language learning outcomes. By leveraging the inherent advantages that bilinguals have, educational systems can better support language acquisition, benefiting students both in their immediate studies and in their broader linguistic development.
Priručnici inostranih univerziteta i zavoda u nastavi srpskog kao stranog jezika nakon Drugog svetskog rata
This paper analyzes the digital holdings of foreign libraries to identify various manuals published after the Second World War. The goal is to create a comprehensive register of manuals that have not yet been included in bibliographies, while also examining their role and significance in the teaching of Serbian as a foreign language during that period. The study employs the method of theoretical analysis, combined with content analysis techniques. The research results show that the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s were the most productive decades in terms of creating and publishing instructional materials. In addition to textbooks and grammars, which represent the core components of instructional materials, particular attention was given to the publication of various types of manual dictionaries – pictorial dictionaries, conversational language dictionaries, and dictionaries of the most common words and phrases – all of which were distinguished by their specific didactic-methodical design. These manuals were primarily published by Western European and American universities, institutes, and schools for the purpose of teaching Serbo-Croatian as a foreign language. However, there were also manuals intended for travelers in Serbian regions who sought to communicate with the local Serbian-speaking population.
An Ecolinguistic Approach to the Framing of King Charles III’s Climate Change-Related Activities by the Leading American and British Media
Building upon an ecolinguistic approach to climate change (Norton/Hulme 2019), the article presents a study that seeks to identify and analyse the way mainstream American and British mass media frame climate change-related activities by King Charles III, the current reigning British monarch, who is known for his active stance on the issue of climate change. In addition to the ecolinguistic framework, the methodology in the study was based upon the construal of framing in media discourse. The study sought to (i) identify the media frames in American and British media coverages of King Charles III’s climate change-related activities and (ii) discuss the frames through the lens of an ecolinguistic approach postulated by Norton and Hulme (2019). The study established that the leading American and British mass media framed King Charles III’s climate change-related activities via a similar set of frames, such (i) An Advocate for Climate Change Mitigation, (ii) A Challenge to Be Neutral on Climate Change, (iii) A Climate Change-Related Action, (iv) Money to Tackle Climate Change, (v) Renewable Energy, and (vi) Sustainability. The findings were further interpreted in the article through the prism of Norton and Hulme's (2019) ecolinguistic approach.
Minorities in the Digital Space: Vojvodina Hungarians’ Digital Presence, Language Choices, and Language Use Online
The present study explores the digital media practices and language use tendencies of the Vojvodina Hungarian minority, shedding light on their participation in digital spaces, language preferences, and factors influencing their language choices both online and offline. Through a series of research questions, the study aims to identify the extent of the Vojvodina Hungarians’ digital involvement and engagement, how they use their languages in online and offline settings, and the roles digital spaces have for them as a minority. The findings revealed that although Vojvodina Hungarians regularly consume digital media and a variety of internet content in Hungarian, Serbian, and English, they are not overly active in online content creation. While Hungarian remains dominant in face-to-face communication, English slightly outweighs Hungarian in online content consumption. Additionally, younger participants displayed a stronger digital presence and are more inclined towards multilingual language mixing. Despite challenges, participants express support for multilingualism and recognize its advantages in navigating personal and professional contexts.
Desinonimizacija kroz prizmu korpusne i vektorske analize kontekstualnih preferenci leksema kompjuter i računar
In this paper, we discuss the meanings of the Serbian words kompjuter and računar (‘computer’) in terms of their semantic proximity. Using web corpus data, as well as word2vec method for measuring the cosine similarity between their vector representations (based on their contextual preferences), we conclude that, contrary to popular belief, these words should not be considered absolute synonyms. Specifically, we propose that the loanword kompjuter has a narrower sense (‘PC’, ‘desktop computer’), whereas its loan-translation counterpart računar carries a broader meaning (‘any larger computational device’). This conclusion is based on the fact that the two lexemes in question do not share distributional patterns: while kompjuter is typically used as a syntactically free expression, računar is often preceded by various attributes that specify the meaning of the entire nominal phrase (e.g. laptop računar, tablet računar, iPad računar). Consequently, these words are not always contextually interchangeable. Additionally, we propose that computational resources should be utilized when addressing various practical and theoretical linguistic problems.
Copyright (c) 2023 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
Patologija (ne)normalnog u drami Bolnica u doba revolucije Keril Čerčil
Caryl Churchill’s The Hospital at the Time of the Revolution is a documentary play based on Frantz Fanon’s psychiatric reports about the causes and nature of mental disorders, described in his books Wretched of the Earth and Black Skin, White Masks, as well as on Freud’s case study of Daniel Schreber, a judge diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia who wrote about his illness in his own memoirs. The play relies on the anti-psychiatry model by R.D. Laing, who opposed repressive methods of the traditional psychology and psychiatry and defined neurotic disorders as alternative ways of understanding the world. The purpose of this paper is to offer an extensive analysis of the play that deals with the imperative issue of oppressive treatment of the other, be it in the strictly political terms of colonialized countries such as Algiers, or personal exploitation and suffocation of one’s individual self as in still popular authoritarian parenting.
Subject-Verb Agreement in Popular Music and its Potential Impact on Linguistic Development of Non-Native English Learners
This paper aims to examine the impact of non-standard subject-verb agreement (SVA) in popular music lyrics and its potential effects on the linguistic proficiency of non-native English learners. A corpus of 802 songs with over 200 million views on YouTube was analyzed using descriptive, analytic, and statistical methods. The hypothesis assumes that popular music often contains numerous SVA instances that deviate from conventional Standard English usage. If not adequately addressed in foreign language classrooms, these instances could potentially impede the linguistic development of non-native English speakers and learners. The results indicate that 49.37% (396 songs) of the analyzed songs contain standard grammatical elements, while 50.62% (406) do not. Of the 181 songs with non-standard SVA, 37 have over one billion views on YouTube, with most receiving between 200 million and over 5 billion views. The study identified 1506 non-standard elements in the songs, with 417 related to non-standard SVA. The majority of non-standard SVA examples were found in the verses or intro/outro sections of the songs, with 142 songs containing non-standard SVA in these sections, while 38 songs had non-standard SVA in the chorus. The findings of this study have significant implications for language instruction and the role of popular music in language learning. The present research underscores the potential negative impact of non-standard linguistic input on non-native English learners and highlights the need for proper educational guidance in utilizing popular music as an authentic and engaging tool in language instruction. This study lays the groundwork for future investigations on the potential role popular music may play in formal language acquisition.
Grammar and Communication: Two Language Teaching Approaches
This paper analyzes two teaching approaches, the Grammar-Translation Method (GTM) and Communicative Language Teaching (CLT). A brief history and description of the two methods, their advantages and disadvantages, is followed by the practical section, reflecting on an in-house Business English course. The goal of the course was to train employees for competent business communication, especially oral. While CLT would have been the obvious choice for such a course, it turned out that course-takers of different levels of background knowledge needed a step-by-step progression from the GTM to CLT. A selection of tiered exercises is reproduced in the paper.
Intercultural Communication Sensitivity – A Prerequisite for Developing Intercultural Communication Competence
This study aims to prove that teachers in the Eastern part of the Republic of North Macedonia are still lacking intercultural training and have not developed the two prerequisites of intercultural communication competence: intercultural communication awareness and intercultural communication sensitivity. Using a questionnaire for teachers which was distributed in high-schools in Strumica (R. N. Macedonia) and sent to teachers in Ruse (R. Bulgaria) online, the level of intercultural awareness was measured. The results reveal that 63% of the participants have medium level of Intercultural awareness and there is no difference of the level of intercultural awareness in terms of the place of living i.e., the country.
Digital Media and Slang in the ESL Classroom: Hungarian ESL Teachers and Students’ Views
Slang has always been an integral part of language use, which cannot be ignored when examining people’s everyday conversational use of language. With the emergence of digital media, including social media, the trends in slang use have also changed considerably, which is important to explore if we want to gain a deeper insight into the role of slang in this medium and the personal views associated with it. The aim of this study is two-fold: first, to gain insight into how native Hungarian ESL students and teachers use and perceive slang; and second, to assess the extent to which slang is present in the ESL classrooms. The research questions focused on how ESL students and teachers used their L1 and L2 in digital (social) media (1), what roles slang and digital media played in their ESL classrooms (2), and what teachers’ and students’ views were on the incorporation of slang into the ESL classrooms in terms of practicality and usefulness (3). Results revealed that the use of digital and social media were regarded as important and considered as integral parts of the participants’ daily routines, being widespread among both teachers and students. The findings also showed the participants’ vast need for knowing and using slang in their everyday lives. Despite these views, most respondents also emphasized the fact that slang is not present in Hungarian ESL classrooms, and they do not get sufficient help nor support in schools when it comes to more informal ways of language use.
Kritička analiza metafora u medijskom diskursu o veštačkoj inteligenciji na srpskom jeziku
Although artificial intelligence as a concept was created in the twentieth century, significant progress in this field has marked the twenty-first century. Nowadays, media discourse on artificial intelligence reflects a divided public opinion: are robots, machines and chatbots friends or enemies of humanity? The subject of the paper is a critical analysis of metaphors in media discourse on artificial intelligence in accordance with the methodological framework formulated by Jonathan Charteris-Black. The aim of the paper is to observe the presence of ideologies in this type of discourse and challenge the assumption that ideologies related to artificial intelligence are predominantly negative in the articles representing the corpus for the analysis in this paper. The analysis is based on combining cognitive linguistics, pragmatics, critical discourse analysis and corpus linguistics, and is performed in three steps: identification, interpretation, and explanation of metaphors and metaphorical expressions. The results confirm that the negative perception of artificial intelligence prevails in the analysed articles, as well as that they are permeated by various ideological messages. The implications of the research refer to the fact that it is necessary to be aware of possible ideological messages in media discourse and to take them into account when objectively reasoning about a certain topic.
Great Aspirations: Examining VOT of Word-Initial Voiceless Stops in English and Serbian in Serbian EFL Speakers
The role of aspiration (positive VOT) in English and Serbian differs significantly. While positive VOT helps distinguish between voiced and voiceless plosives in English, it has no distinctive function in Serbian. For this reason, a clear contrast between long-lag stops of English and short-lag stops of Serbian might prove challenging for Serbian EFL students. For this reason, this paper examines the degree of aspiration in initial voiceless stops in both Serbian and English with two separate target groups: five intermediate and five highly proficient speakers of English. The aim of this study is to determine to what extent L1 affects L2 speech and how this is reflected in the two groups of speakers. All participants are asked to read sentences containing target words with voiceless stops in initial position while being recorded with the help of Praat (Boersma/Weenink, 2022). For every token, we measure VOT for the interval between the release of the plosive and the onset of voicing of the following sound, expressed in milliseconds (ms). The results show that more proficient EFL speakers reach native-like VOT values. This experiment, however, yielded some striking results, specifically the proof of significant L2 transfer, where the same proficient speakers pronounce their stops with a significant degree of aspiration in Serbian, which deviates from the phonetic habits of native speakers of Serbian. Results also show that, even though the use of long-lag stops in intermediate users does not resemble that of native speakers, they make a clearer distinction when it comes to applying VOT in their L1 and L2 respectively.
Functional Hybridization In Discourse: Turning Imperatives into Discourse Markers
The author addresses discourse markers (DMs), suggesting that DMs represent functional, but not categorical, units. The paper shows that in reading aloud, under specific discourse conditions the readers convert imperatives into interjection-like units similar to DMs. This conversion is carried out through processing and adjusting prosodic features of imperative utterances, according to the function they perform in discourse, and can be defined as “functional hybridization”. The findings of the present paper support previous research in that: 1) according to our findings, prosodic structure of “functionally hybridized” imperatives places them close to interjections, and their function in discourse changes to attract attention to new information, or express “emphasis”; 2) “functionally hybridized” imperatives, like DMs, are characterized by specific formal features: initial position appears prerequisite for their autonomy, in other than initial position “functionally hybridized” imperatives tend to act as an enclitic to the previous word. Factors facilitating “functional hybridization” of imperatives are: 1) the formulaic/iconic structure of the imperative, 2) initial position, 3) emphatic nature of the utterance.
Defining English and Serbian Verbs of Damage
Applying his own collocational method in line with the distributional semantics, the author provides definitions of causative “verbs of damage” in Serbian and English. In this way the two lexical subfields can be compared, and relevant conclusions drawn about their similarities and differences. “Verbs of damage” comprise a small set of verbs that share the definition ‘cause to get in bad state’, and they are to be distinguished from “verbs of destruction”. This common parlance definition is reduced to a semantic definition stated in terms of semantic atoms, and the graphic devices used in the definitions are explained. Its implications are commented on, as well as the evaluative connotation of the object nouns. Collocational method is a variant of distributional semantics, and the article expounds its main principles and states the three steps to be taken when applying the method. In connection with this matter, the acceptability of collocations is discussed. Implications are given of broad semantic categories like ‘sth’, and ‘phenomenon’ by offering narrower categories.
Radojka Vukčević, Razgovorom kroz Ameriku. Novi Sad: Akademska knjiga, 2019, str. 219.
Položaj žena u Mađarskoj dvadesetih godina i uloga Sesil Tormai (1875-1937) u Nacionalnom savezu mađarskih žena i časopisu Napkelet
Women’s national Christian movements were founded in Hungary between 1918 and 1920. These organisations played a visible role in political life during revolutionary turmoils. The purpose of this paper is to provide an insight into the contribution of the women’s political organisation Hungarian Women’s National Association (Hun. Magyar Asszonyok Nemzeti Szövetsége – MANSz). It was established during the Hungarian Soviet Republic with the aim of spreading and promoting counter-revolutionary ideas and was the most important women’s conservative Christian national organisation of Horthy’s regime. Led by the internationally acclaimed female author Cécile Tormay, a prominent public figure of the time, the Association advocated political and social engagement of women, in addition to their involvement in humanitarian work. It embraced a significant number of women of different social classes and contributed to the improvement of their position in society and education. In 1923, Tormay became the editor-in-chief of the conservative literary journal Napkelet, and held this position for the rest of her life. After the Second World War, the new appointed government dissolved all right-wing associations and parties founded during the Horthy era due to their ideology. Napkelet was forbidden, the Association was abolished, and the works of the renowned author, nominated for the Nobel Prize in literature, had been banned and forgotten for more than four decades. This paper aims to present the political contribution of Cécile Tormay in the socio-historical context on two levels, through the work of the Hungarian Women’s National Association and the editorial activities of the journal Napkelet.
Hungarian Women’s National Association (Hun. Magyar Asszonyok Nemzeti Szövetsége)
Hungarian women’s national Christian societies