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Archives for September 2009

E.M.Forster – biographical notes

September 27, 2009 by Roy Johnson

E.M.Forster - portrait1879. E.M.Forster (Edward Morgan) born in London. His father dies the following year.

1887. Inherits £8,000 from his great-aunt Marianne Thornton.

1890. Educated at private schools in Eastbourne and Tonbridge Wells, where he was very unhappy and developed a lasting dislike of the public school system.

1897. Studies classics and history at King’s College, Cambridge. Influenced by philosopher G.E. Moore and the notion that the purpose of life is to love, create, to contemplate beauty in art, and to cultivate friendships. Becomes a member of the Apostles, which was later to form the nucleus of the Bloomsbury Group. He was a contemporary of Leonard Woolf, Lytton Strachey, Thoby Stephen, and Maynard Keynes.

1901. One year’s tour of Italy and Austria with his mother. Begins writing seriously.

1902. Teaches at the Working Men’s College and Cambridge Local Lectures Board (extra-mural department).

1904. Begins contributing stories to the Independent Review, launched by a group of Cambridge friends, including G.M.Trevelyan. ‘The Story of a Panic’ his first published work.

1905. Where Angels Fear to Tread is published. Spends some time in Germany as tutor to the children of Countess Elizabeth von Arnim (first cousin of Katherine Mansfield).

1906. Works as a private tutor to Syed Ross Masood, a colonial Indian patriot, for whom he develops a passionate attachment.

1907. The Longest Journey published. Forster is a member of the Bloomsbury Group and a friend of Virginia Woolf, Leonard Woolf, Lytton Strachey, and Roger Fry.

1908. A Room with a View.


E.M.Forster: A Life is a readable and well illustrated biography by P.N. Furbank. This book has been much praised for the sympathetic understanding Nick Furbank brings to Forster’s life and work. It is also a very scholarly book, with plenty of fascinating details of the English literary world during Forster’s surprisingly long life. It has become the ‘standard’ biography, and it is very well written too. Highly recommended.
 


1910. Howard’s End: his first major success, which established his reputation as a writer of importance.

1911. Publishes a collection of rather light and whimsical short stories, The Celestial Omnibus.

1912. Visits India and travels with Masood. Begins writing A Passage to India.

1913. Visits Edward Carpenter (an early evangelist for gay rights) and as a result begins writing Maurice, a novel about homosexual love which is not published until 1971, after Forster’s death.

1915. Begins working for the Red Cross in Alexandria.

1919. Returns to England.

1921. Second visit to India. Becomes private secretary to the Maharajah of Dewas.

1924. A Passage to India widely acclaimed. But gives up writing novels because he felt he could not write openly and honestly about sexual relations.

1927. Elected Fellow of King’s College, Cambridge. Gives the Clark lectures which are published as Aspects of the Novel.

1934. First president of the National Council for Civil Liberties.

1936. Abinger Harvest: a collection of his essays and reviews.

1945. Death of his mother. Elected Honorary Fellow at King’s and takes up entitlement to live there.

1947. Lecture tours in the United States.

1969. Awarded the Order of Merit.

1970. Dies in the home of friends.

© Roy Johnson 2009


More on E.M. Forster
More on the novella
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Twentieth century literature


Filed Under: Bloomsbury Group, E.M.Forster Tagged With: Biography, E.M.Forster, Literary studies, The novel

Electronic Texts – a bibliographic essay

September 30, 2009 by Roy Johnson

text, editing, and bibliography in the electronic age

Electronic textuality is a relatively recent concept, yet one that has already had a significant impact upon the practice of scholarly editing. Scholars have debated the subject of textual bibliography and the issue of copy-text throughout the twentieth-century without, it seems, reaching any firm conclusions. The term ‘copy-text’ was first coined by Ronald McKerrow almost one hundred years ago (McKerrow and Nash 1904) but there still remains disagreement about how a text can or should be established. The arrival of electronic texts make this problem even more complex.

Advances in information technology have meant that scholars now have access to new and ever more sophisticated tools to assist them in the preparation of traditional codex editions and to aid textual analysis. Increasingly however, some editors are choosing to exploit the potential of digitised material and the advantages of hypertext to produce texts in an electronic format in either editions or archives. This raises various issues including the role of the editor and the relationship of the reader to the text.

One of the most influential and oft quoted theses on the subject of textual scholarship and one which has provoked a significant amount of debate, is W. W. Greg’s paper entitled ‘The Rationale of Copy-Text’ (1950). In this article, Greg highlights the difficulties of the prevailing editorial practice of attempting to select whichever extant text is the closest to the words that an author originally wrote and using this as the copy-text. In the case of printed books, this is generally considered the first edition, but Greg argues that an over-reliance on this one text, to the exclusion of all others, is problematic.

He advocates that a distinction be made between ‘substantive’ and ‘accidental’ readings of a text and suggests that the two should be treated differently. (He uses these terms to distinguish between readings that affect the meaning and readings that only affect the formal presentation of a text.) Greg asserts that it is only when dealing with accidentals that editors should adhere rigidly to their chosen copy-text and that in the case of possible variants in substantive readings there is a case to be made for exercising editorial choice and judgement. He argues that it is only through being allowed to exercise judgement that editors can be freed from what he terms ‘the tyranny of the copy-text’ (p. 26).

This argument is taken up and developed by Fredson Bowers (1964; 1970). Bowers takes issue with some of the finer points of Greg’s argument, but agrees that whilst rules and theories are necessary, the very nature of editing means that a certain amount of editorial judgement will always be needed. G. Thomas Tanselle (1975) examines the arguments of both scholars, expands them and looks at how their work and theories have affected the practice of scholarly editing. Greg, Bowers, Tanselle and others have slight differences of emphasis. They are however, all in broad agreement with the principle of synthesizing two or more variant editions into one text that represents as closely as possible an author’s intention.

The debate about copy-text and its role in scholarly editing rests largely on the status of authorial intention and the extent to which this is possible to discern and represent in a text. Michael Foucault, in his paper entitled ‘What is an author?’ (1984), argues that even when there is little question about the identity of author of a text, there remains the problem of determining whether everything that was written or left behind by him should be considered part of a work. Do notes in a margin represent an authorial addition or amendment, or did the author simply scribble in the margins a sudden thought that he wanted to remember and refer to later? Such issues remain a subject of debate and are some of the many problems with which editors are faced.

Textual ScholarshipThe practice of editing will always generate problems that scholars need to address and this is the basis for David Greetham (1994) and Peter Robinson’s (1997) assertions that to a certain extent, all editing must be seen as conjectural. However, in his examination of the history of textual criticism, Greetham finds that there has been a fluctuation between two equally extreme schools of thought.

The first, he suggests, maintains that a correct reading of a text is discoverable ‘given enough information about the texts and enough intelligence and inspiration on the part of the editor’ (p. 352). The opposing position is one that claims that any speculation on the part of an editor is likely to result in a move away from authorial intention. Because of this, scholars that hold this belief argue that documental evidence should be given priority over editorial judgement and wherever possible this documental evidence should be in the form of only one document – that chosen as the copy-text.

Yet scholars have found that it is sometimes impossible to establish one ‘correct’ text. Jerome McGann (1983; 1996; 1997) believes the very notion to be a falsity and Peter Donaldson (1997) argues that traditional scholarly editions can be misleading as their very nature suggests that a text is fixed and authoritative when the reality is often very different.

Taking the plays of Shakespeare as an example, he suggests that the collaborative nature of life surrounding the London theatres in the Renaissance combined with the fact that the author did not intend his work to be published, means that variants cannot and should not be ignored. Moreover, he contends, in some cases a single original text may never have existed. Donaldson argues that technology can be used to create new forms of text that incorporate variants in a way that is not practical in a codex edition. Donaldson is himself involved in a project that seeks to do this and he refers to his own experiences in assembling an electronic archive of the works of Shakespeare.

Electronic texts provide some solutions to the problems of editing, but they also raise new issues and opinions are divided about the way in which they can best be used. Some scholars welcome digital texts as a tool to aid the preparation and production of traditional scholarly editions whilst others prefer to look to electronic textuality as a medium for the publication of a different type of edition – an electronic edition.

Several authors (Donaldson 1997; Greetham 1997; Hockey 2000; Robinson 1997) examine the way in which new developments in information technology affect the traditional process of scholarly editing. Robinson for example, examines the analytic functions of electronic text and provides examples of instances in which computer aided collation has assisted in the preparation of scholarly editions. He cites his own experiences in the production of Chaucer’s The Wife of Bath’s Prologue on CD-ROM and explains how he used the particular techniques of computerised cladistic analysis as a method of textual criticism. Further information about computerized collation can be found in Hockey (1980) and Robinson (1994).

(Cladistic analysis has been developed from systematic biology. Susan Hockey (2000) describes it as ‘software that takes a collection of data and attempts to produce the trees of descent or history for which the fewest changes are required, basing this on comparisons between the descendents’. Cladistics is particularly useful in cases where manuscripts are lost or damaged.)

In addition however, Greetham (1994) and Robinson (1993; 1997) discuss the way in which, in an electronic edition, hypertext can be used to solve the problem of textual variants. The term ‘hypertext’ was coined in the 1960s by Ted Nelson (Landow 1992) and it refers to a means of linking documents or sections of documents and allowing a reader to navigate his or her own way through a series of paths in a non-linear way. Bolter (1991), Landow (1992) and McGann (1997) all write in detail about the technology behind hypertext, its functions and the theories that surround it.

Greetham suggests that decisions that were once the responsibility of the editor can be largely transferred to the reader as hypertext allows all possible variants to be included and linked in an electronic edition. This means that editors do not have to wrestle with the problem of authorial intention or give priority to one text but can incorporate several variants, allowing readers to select the most appropriate text for their particular needs.

Electronic TextsThis type of editing is, as Greetham argues, distinct from the methods of either establishing a text or accurately reproducing a particular version of a work in a critical edition. The desired result with electronic editing is not, according to McGann (1983) and others, a single conflated text as advocated by the Greg / Bowers school of editing but one containing such multiple variants.

McGann believes that this type of edition frees the reader from the controlling influence of editors, and George Landow (1992) suggests that it facilitates a greater degree of interaction between the reader and the text.

Kathryn Sutherland (1997) however, warns that this type of text places greater demands on a reader than a traditional codex edition. A hypertext edition that contains multiple variants necessarily requires a reader to select material, choose from amongst the possible variants and, therefore, exercise discrimination. She also points out, in an allusion to Barthesian distinctions, that a hypertext edition offering choice amongst variants is, in effect, offering the reader the ‘disassembled texts’ rather than the ‘reassembled work’ (p. 9).

McGann (1996; 1997) suggests that scholarly editions in codex form have limitations because their structure is too close to that of the material that they analyse. He asserts that hypermedia projects such as the Rossetti Hypermedia Archive with which he is involved, offer a different type of focus that does not rely on one central document. He argues that hyperediting allows for greater freedom and has the added advantage of giving readers access to more than just the semantic content of a primary text.

Moreover, McGann believes that hypertext is functioning at its optimum level when it is used to create hypermedia editions that incorporate visual and audio documents. Robinson (1997) however, warns that editors working on major electronic editions are producing material that will not be used to its full potential until there are further developments in the field of textual encoding and software that is more widely available.

P. Aaron Potter (c1997) takes issue with McGann and Landow’s ideas. He argues that a Web page editor controls the material that appears on the screen to an even greater extent than does an editor working on a traditional codex edition. A hypertext document is not a non-sequential document because an editor has inserted links and chosen what he considers the most suitable places for those links to be. A reader can, therefore, only navigate to a part of a document to which an editor has chosen to offer a path.

Hypertext links, asserts Potter, are ‘no more transparent that any reasonable index’ and whilst offering a choice amongst variants, and allowing readers to share some of the editorial functions, electronic editions are far from being either authorless or editorless texts. Moreover, her refers to Foucault’s theories and suggests that, as is often the case, hypertext is an example of a concept that is purporting to offer greater freedom, when in reality it is just more successful at hiding the mechanisms by which it exerts control – in this instance, control of a reader.

Susan Hockey (2000) warns that whilst editors working on electronic editions are freed from many of the limitations of printed books, and the need to rely on one particular text or reading, there is a danger of such projects becoming overly ambitious. She asserts that the inclusion of too much source material can result in editions that have little scholarly value. She maintains that source material should not replace the critical material that makes scholarly editions valuable. Similarly, Sutherland (1997) suggests that a balance needs to be struck between the quantity and the quality of the material that electronic editors choose to include. Claire Lamont (1997) examines the specific problems of annotation and compares how they differ in a codex and electronic edition. Hypertext provides the promise of annotations which are easier to access and which conceivably, can contain greater quantities of material.

Electronic TextsLamont draws attention to the fact that hypertext editions also have the advantage over traditional editions because they can be updated whenever necessary without the need to prepare an entire new edition and without the cost and time that this inevitably involves. However, rather than solving the problems of annotation such as where, what, and how much to annotate, Lamont concludes that hypertext has simply resulted in ‘another arena in which the debate may continue’ (p. 63). Sutherland (1997) sums up the feelings of many less fervent supporters of electronic textuality by suggesting that the electronic environment is perhaps best thought of as ‘a set of supplementary possibilities’ (p. 7). These possibilities will be debated by editors, theorists and scholars in a comparable way to which they have debated and continue to consider the medium of the book.

Contrary to the optimistic note struck by writers such as McGann (1997), Landow (1992), Lanham (1993) and others concerning an electronic text’s facility to empower the reader, Sven Birkerts (1995) expresses concern at the effect of electronic texts in a book that is pessimistically entitled The Gutenberg Elegies: The Fate of Reading in an Electronic Age. Birkerts suggests that methods of electronic storage and retrieval have a detrimental effect upon a reader’s acquisition of knowledge. Information in an electronic medium, he believes, remains external – something to be stored and manipulated rather than absorbed.

Without claiming to support Birkerts’ theories, Sutherland (1997) suggests that if they do prove to be correct then the implications will be wide-ranging. The scholar who works for years seeking to become and expert in his chosen field for example, could conceivably be transformed by the computer into little more than a technician – able to locate and manipulate information, but without having any real understanding of it.

Rapid advances in information technology are increasingly becoming the source of debate amongst scholars who seek to determine both the best way of taking advantage of technology and the implications of so doing. Greetham (1997) rightly points out that digitisation is only one small stage in the evolution of texts and Sutherland (1997) remarks that computers, like books, are simply ‘containers of knowledge, information [and] ideas’ (p. 8).

However, as electronic textuality continues to emerge as a force to which the academic community will have to adapt there will, no doubt, be a continued explosion in the literature that addresses the issues that it raises. Jerome McGann is seen by more conservative scholars as too messianic in his endorsement of the electronic medium and it is possible that some of his predictions may well prove to have been extreme. However, in his claim that hyperediting is ‘what scholars will be doing for a long time’ (1997), it is likely that he will, ultimately, be proved right.

© Kathryn Abram 2002


Bibliography

Birkerts, Sven. 1995. The Gutenberg Elegies: The Fate of Reading in an Electronic Age. New York: Fawcett Columbine.

Bolter, Jay David. 2001. Writing Space: The Computer, Hypertext, and the History of Writing. Hillsdale, N.J. : L. Erlbaum Associates.

Bowers, Fredson. 1964. Bibliography and Textual Criticism: The Lyell Lectures, Oxford, Trinity Term 1959. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

______. 1970. ‘Greg’s “Rationale of Copy-Text” Revisited’. Studies in Bibliography Volume 31 , pp. 90-161.

Chaucer, Geoffrey. 1996. The Wife of Bath’s Prologue on CD-ROM. ed. Peter M. W. Robinson. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Donaldson, Peter. 1997. ‘Digital Archive as Expanded Text: Shakespeare and Electronic Textuality’, in Electronic Text: Investigations in Method and Theory. ed. Kathryn Sutherland, pp. 173-97. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

Foucault, Michel. 1984. ‘What is an author?’, in The Foucault Reader. ed. Paul Rabinow, translated by Josue V. Harari, pp. 101-20. New York: Pantheon Books.

Greetham, D. C. 1994. Textual Scholarship: An Introduction. New York and London: Garland.

______. 1997. ‘Coda: Is It Morphin Time?’, in Electronic Text: Investigations in Method and Theory. ed. Kathryn Sutherland, pp. 199-226. Oxford: Clarendon Press .

Greg, W. W. 1950. ‘The Rationale of Copy-Text’. Studies in Bibliography Vol. 3 (1950-1951), pp. 19-36.

Hockey, Susan M. 1980. A Guide to Computer Applications in the Humanities. London: Duckworth.

______. 2000. Electronic Texts in the Humanities: Principles and Practice. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Lamont, Claire. 1997. ‘Annotating a Text: Literary Theory and Electronic Hypertext’, in Electronic Text: Investigations in Method and Theory. ed. Kathryn Sutherland, pp. 47-66. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

Landow, George P. 1992. Hypertext: The Convergence of Contemporary Critical Theory and Technology. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press.

Lanham, Richard A. 1993. The Electronic Word: Democracy, Technology, and the Arts. Chicago; London: University of Chicago Press.

McGann, Jerome J. 1983. A Critique of Modern Textual Criticism. Charlottesville: University of Chicago Press.

______. 1996. ‘Radiant Textuality’. Accessed on 19 February 2002.

______. 1997. ‘The Rationale of Hypertext’, in Electronic Text: Investigations in Method and Theory. ed. Kathryn Sutherland, pp. 19-47. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

______. 1997. ‘The Rossetti Hypermedia Archive’ [Web page]. Accessed on 19 March 2002.

McKerrow, Ronald B., and Thomas Nash. 1904. The Works of Thomas Nashe. Vol. 1. London: A.H. Bullen.

Potter, P. Aaron. c1997. ‘Centripetal Textuality’. Accessed on 19 February 2002.

Robinson, Peter M. W. 1993. The Digitization of Primary Textual Sources. Oxford: Office for Humanities Communication Publications.

______. 1994. ‘Collate: A Program for Interactive Collation of Large Textual Traditions’, in Research in Humanities Computing 3. eds. Susan Hockey, and N. Ide, pp. 32-45. Oxford: Oxford Universtiy Press.

______. 1997. ‘New Directions in Critical Editing’, in Electronic Text: Investigations in Method and Theory. ed. Kathryn Sutherland, pp. 145-71. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

Sutherland, Kathryn, ed. 1997. Electronic Text: Investigations in Method and Theory. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

Tanselle, G. Thomas. 1975. ‘Greg’s Theory of Copy-Text and the Editing of American Literature’. Studies in Bibliography Volume 28, pp. 167-231.

 


Filed Under: 19C Literature, 20C Literature Tagged With: Bibliography, David Greetham, Electronic Texts, Kathryn Sutherland, Literary studies, Susan Hockey, Technology, textual scholarship

EM Forster – greatest works

September 18, 2009 by Roy Johnson

novels and stories by Bloomsbury modernist

EM Forster greatest worksE.M.Forster is often seen as a bridge between the nineteenth and the twentieth century novel. He documents the Edwardian and Georgian periods in a witty and elegant prose, satirising the middle and upper classes he knew so well. He was a friend of Virginia Woolf, with whom he worked out some of the ground rules of literary modernism. These included the concept of what they called ‘tea-tabling’ – making the substance of serious fiction the ordinary events of everyday life. He was also an inner member of The Bloomsbury Group. His novels grew in complexity and depth, and yet he suddenly gave up fiction in 1923. This was because he no longer felt he could write about the subject of heterosexual love which he did not know or feel. Instead, he turned to essays – which are well worth reading.

 

Where Angels Fear to TreadWhere Angels Fear to Tread (1902) This is Forster’s first novel and very witty debut. A wealthy and spirited middle-class English girl goes to Italy and becomes involved with a penniless local man. The English family send out a party to ‘rescue’ her (shades of Henry James) – but they are too late; she has already married him. But when a baby is born, the family returns with renewed hostility. The clash between living Mediterranean spirit and deadly English rectitude is played out with amusing and tragic consequences. If you’ve not read Forster before, this is a good place to start.
E.M.Forster greatest works Buy the book at Amazon UK
E.M.Forster greatest works Buy the book at Amazon US

 

Where Angels Fear to Tread (DVD)Where Angels Fear to Tread – DVD This film version is not a Merchant-Ivory production, although it’s done very much in their style. But it is accurate and entirely sympathetic to the spirit of the novel, possibly even stronger in satirical edge, well acted, and superbly beautiful to watch. Much is made of the visual contrast between the beautiful Italian setting and the straight-laced English capital from which the prudery and imperialist spirit emerges. The lovely Helena Bonham-Carter establishes herself as the perfect English Rose in this her breakthrough production. Helen Mirren is wonderful as the spirited Lilia who defies English prudery and narrow-mindedness and marries for love – with results which manage to upset everyone.
E.M. Forster greatest works Where Angels Fear to Tread Buy the DVD at Amazon UK

 

A Room with a ViewA Room with a View (1905) This is another comedy of manners and a satirical critique of English stuffiness and hypocrisy. The impulsive and cultivated Lucy Honeychurch must choose between taklented but emotionally frozen Cecil Vyse and the impulsive George Emerson. The staid Surrey stockbroker belt is contrasted with the magic of Florence, where she eventually ends up on her honeymoon. Upper middle-class English tourists in Italy are an easy target for Forster in some very amusing scenes.
E.M.Forster greatest works Buy the book at Amazon UK
E.M.Forster greatest works Buy the book at Amazon US

 

A Room with a View (DVD)A Room with a View – DVD This is a Merchant-Ivory production which takes one or two minor liberties with the original novel. But it’s still well acted, with the deliciously pouting Helena Bonham Carter as the heroine, Denholm Eliot as Mr Emerson, Daniel Day-Lewis as a wonderfully pompous Cecil Vyse, and Maggie Smith as the poisonous hanger-on Charlotte. The settings are delightfully poised between Florentine Italy and the home counties stockbroker belt. I’ve watched it several times, and it never ceases to be visually elegant and emotionally well observed. This film was nominated for eight Academy awards when it appeared, and put the Merchant-Ivory team on the cultural map.
E.M. Forster greatest works A Room with a View Buy the DVD at Amazon UK

 

The Longest JourneyThe Longest Journey (1907) is one for specialists, and is widely regarded as Forster’s ‘problem’ novel. That is, it deals with important personal issues, but does not seem so well executed as his other works. Rickie Elliot sets out from Cambridge with the intention of writing. In order to marry the beautiful but shallow Agnes, however, he becomes a schoolmaster instead. This abandonment of personal values for those of the world leads him gradually into a living death of conformity and spiritual hypocrisy from which he eventually redeems himself – but at a tragic price.
E.M.Forster greatest works Buy the book at Amazon UK
E.M.Forster greatest works Buy the book at Amazon US

 

Howards EndHowards End (1910) is a State of England novel, and possibly Forster’s greatest work – though that’s just my opinion. Two families are contrasted: the intellectual and cultivated Schlegels, and the capitalist Wilcoxes. A marriage between the two leads to spiritual rivalry over the possession of property. Following on their social coat tails is a working-class would-be intellectual who is caught between two conflicting worlds. The outcome is a mixture of tragedy and resignation, leavened by hope for the future in the young and free-spirited.
E.M.Forster greatest works Buy the book at Amazon UK
E.M.Forster greatest works Buy the book at Amazon US

 

Howards End (DVD)Howards End – DVD This is arguably Forster’s greatest work, and the film lives up to it. It is well acted, with very good performances from Emma Thompson and Helena Bonham Carter as the Schlegel sisters, and Anthony Hopkins as the bully Willcox. The locations and details are accurate, and it lives up to the critical, poignant scenes of the original – particularly the conflict between the upper middle-class Wilcoxes and the working-class aspirant Leonard Baskt. This is another adaptation which I have watched several times over, and always been impressed.
E.M. Forster greatest works Howards End Buy the DVD at Amazon UK

 

A Passage to IndiaA Passage to India, (1923) was started in 1913 then finished partly in response to the Amritsar massacre of 1919. Snobbish and racist colonial administrators and their wives are contrasted with sympathetically drawn Indian characters. Dr Aziz is groundlessly accused of assaulting a naive English girl on a visit to the mystic Marabar Caves. There is a set piece trial scene, where she dramatically withdraws any charges. The results strengthen the forces of Indian nationalism, which are accurately predicted to be successful ‘after the next European war’ at the end of the novel. Issues of politics, race, and gender, set against vivid descriptions of Chandrapore and memorable evocations of the surrounding landscape. This is generally regarded as Forster’s masterpiece.
E.M.Forster greatest works Buy the book at Amazon UK
E.M.Forster greatest works Buy the book at Amazon US

 

A Passage to India (DVD)A Passage to India – DVD This adaptation by David Lean is something of a mixed bag. It’s well organised, reasonably true to the original, and has some visually spectacular scenes. James Fox is convincing as the central character Fielding. But it has tonal inconsistencies, and to cast Alec Guinness as the Indian mystic Godbole is verging on the ridiculous. Nevertheless there is some good cameo acting, particularly Edith Evans as Mrs Moore. Watch out for the Indian signpost half way through that looks as if it’s made out of cardboard.
E.M. Forster greatest works A Passage to India Buy the DVD at Amazon UK

 

MauriceMaurice, (1967) is something from Forster’s bottom drawer. It was written in 1913-14, but not published until after his death. It’s an autobiographical novel of his gay university days which is explicit enough that couldn’t be published in his own lifetime. It’s light, amusing, and fairly inconsequential compared to the novels he wrote whilst pretending to be straight. This poses an interesting critical problem, when you would imagine he could have been more honest and therefore more successful.

E.M.Forster greatest works Buy the book at Amazon UK
E.M.Forster greatest works Buy the book at Amazon US

 

Aspects of the NovelAspects of the Novel (1927) was originally a series of lectures on the nature of fiction. Forster discusses all the common elements of novels such as story, plot, and character. He shows how they are created, with all the insight of a skilled practitioner. Drawing on examples from classic European literature, he writes in a way which makes it all seem very straightforward and easily comprehensible. This book is highly recommended as an introduction to literary studies.

E.M.Forster greatest works Buy the book at Amazon UK
E.M.Forster greatest works Buy the book at Amazon US

 

E.M.Forster - Collected StoriesCollected Short Stories is like a glimpse into Forster’s workshop – where he tried out ideas for his longer fictions. This volume contains his best stories – The Story of a Panic, The Celestial Omnibus, The Road from Colonus, The Machine Stops, and The Eternal Moment. Most were written in the early part of Forster’s long career as a writer. Rich in irony and alive with sharp observations on the surprises in life, the tales often feature violent events, discomforting coincidences, and other odd happenings that throw the characters’ perceptions and beliefs off balance.
E.M.Forster greatest works Buy the book at Amazon UK
E.M.Forster greatest works Buy the book at Amazon US

 

E.M.Forster: A LifeE.M.Forster: A Life is a readable and well illustrated biography by P.N. Furbank. This book has been much praised for the sympathetic understanding Nick Furbank brings to Forster’s life and work. It is also a very scholarly book, with plenty of fascinating details of the English literary world during Forster’s surprisingly long life. It has become the ‘standard’ biography, and it is very well written too. Highly recommended.
E.M. Forster Buy the book at Amazon UK

 

© Roy Johnson 2004


More on E.M. Forster
More on the novella
More on literary studies
More on short stories


Filed Under: E.M.Forster Tagged With: A Passage to India, A Room with a View, Aspects of the Novel, Bloomsbury Group, E.M.Forster, Howards End, Literary studies, Maurice, Modernism, The Longest Journey, Where Angels Fear to Tread

English language terms – a glossary

September 15, 2009 by Roy Johnson

terms used in the study of English language

This glossary of English Language terms contains the vocabulary and the jargon you will need in any analysis of language and its use. These terms are needed in a number of different subjects: language and linguistics, communication skills, the analysis of prose and poetry, and even certain aspects of philosophy. Click on the links for further explanations and examples.

Abbreviations
letter(s) or shortened word used instead of a full word or phrase

Accent
the features of pronunciation which indicate the regional or the social identity of a speaker

Acquisition
the process by which language skills are developed – particularly in infancy

Adjectives
a word which modifies a noun or a pronoun

Adverbs
a word which modifies a verb, an adverb, or an adjective

Agreement
the grammatical logic and coherence between parts of a sentence

Alliteration
the repetition of consonant sounds – usually at the beginning of words

Apostrophes
a raised comma used to denote either possession or contraction

Articles
a word that specifies whether a noun is definite or indefinite

Assonance
the repetition of vowel sounds

Audience
the person or persons receiving a speech or piece of writing

Brackets
Curved or square punctuation marks enclosing words inserted into a text

Capitals
Upper-case letters used to indicate names, titles, and important words

Clauses
a structural unit of language which is smaller than the sentence but larger than phrases or words, and which contains a finite verb

Cliché
an over-used phrase or expression

Colons
a punctuation mark indicating a pause ranking between a semicolon and a full stop

Commas
a punctuation mark indicating a short pause in a sentence

Conjunction
a word which connects words or other constructions

Consonant
an alphabetic element other than a vowel

Dialect
a form of speech peculiar to a district, class, or person

Figure of speech
expressive use language in non-literal form to produce striking effect

Form
the outward appearance or structure of language, as opposed to its function, meaning, or social use

Full stop
a punctuation mark indicating the end of a sentence

Function
the role language plays to express ideas or attitudes

Grammar
the study of sentence structure, especially with reference to syntax and semantics

Graphology
the study of writing systems

Homonyms
words with the same spelling but with different meanings

Hyphen
a short horizontal mark used to connect words or syllables, or to divide words into parts

Idiom
a sequence of words which forms a whole unit of meaning

Irony
saying [or writing] one thing, whilst meaning the opposite

Jargon
the technical language of an occupation or group

Language change
the development and changes in a language

Lexis
the vocabulary of a language, especially in dictionary form

Metaphor
a figure of speech in which one thing is described in terms of another

Metonymy
a figure of speech in which an attribute is substituted for the whole

Morphology
a branch of grammar which studies the structure of words

Noun
a word which names an object

Onomatopoeia
a word that sounds like the thing it describes

Oxymoron
a figure of speech which yokes two contradictory terms

Paradox
a figure of speech in which an apparent contradiction contains a truth

Paragraph
a distinct passage of writing which is unified by an idea or a topic

Participle
a word derived from a verb and used as an adjective or a noun

Phonetics
the study of the production, transmission, and reception of speech sounds

Phrase
a group of words, smaller than a clause, which forms a grammatical unit

Point of view
a term from literary studies which describes the perspective or source of a piece of writing

Preposition
a word which governs and typically precedes a noun or a pronoun

Pronoun
a word that can substitute for a noun or a noun phrase

Punctuation
a system of marks used to introduce pauses and interruption into writing

Received pronunciation
the regionally neutral, prestige accent of British English

Semantics
the study of linguistic meaning

Semicolon
a punctuation mark which indicates a pause longer than a comma, but shorter than a colon

Sentence
a set of words which form a grammatically complete statement, usually containing a subject, verb, and object

Simile
a figure of speech in which one thing is directly likened to another

Slang
informal, non-standard vocabulary

Speech
the oral medium of transmission for language

Spelling
the convention governing the representation of words by letters in writing systems

Standard English
a dialect representing English speech and writing comprehensible to most users

Structure
the arrangement of parts or ideas in a piece of writing

Style
aspects of writing (or speech) which have an identifiable character generally used in a positive sense to indicate ‘pleasing effects’

Stylistic analysis
the study of stylistic effects in writing

Symbol
an object which represents something other than its self

Synonym
a word which means (almost) the same as another

Syntax
the arrangement of words to show relationships of meaning within a sentence

Tense
the form taken by a verb to indicate time (as in past-present-future)

Text
any piece of writing or object being studied

Tone
an author’s or speaker’s attitude, as revealed in ‘quality of voice’ or ‘selection of language’

Verb
a term expressing an action or a state of being

Vocabulary
the particular selection or types of words chosen in speech or writing

Writing
the use of visual symbols to represent words which act as a code for communication

© Roy Johnson 2004


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Essay plans

September 16, 2009 by Roy Johnson

creating firm structure and clear argument

1. Essay plans
You can approach the composition of an essay using a number of different writing strategies. Some people like to start writing and wait to see what develops. Others work up scraps of ideas until they perceive a shape emerging. However, if you are in any doubt at all, it’s a good idea to create essay plans for your work. The task of writing is usually much easier if you create a set of notes which outline the points you are going to make. Using this approach, you will create a basic structure on which your ideas can be built.

2. Planning techniques
This is a part of the essay-writing process which is best carried out using plenty of scrap paper. Get used to the idea of shaping and re-shaping your ideas before you start writing, editing and rearranging your arguments as you give them more thought. Planning on-screen using a word-processor is possible, but it’s a fairly advanced technique.

3. Analyse the question
Make sure you understand what the question is asking for. What is it giving you the chance to write about? What is its central issue? Analyse any of its key terms and any instructions. If you are in any doubt, ask your tutor to explain what is required.

4. Generate ideas
You need to assemble ideas for the essay. On a first sheet of paper, make a note of anything which might be relevant to your answer. These might be topics, ideas, observations, or instances from your study materials. Put down anything you think of at this stage.

5. Choosing topics
On a second sheet of paper, extract from your brainstorm listings those topics and points of argument which are of greatest relevance to the question and its central issue. Throw out anything which cannot be directly related to the essay question.

6. Put topics in order
On a third sheet of paper, put these chosen topics in some logical sequence. At this stage you should be formulating a basic response to the question, even if it is provisional and may later be changed. Try to arrange the points so that they form a persuasive and coherent argument.

7. Arrange your evidence
All the major points in your argument need to be supported by some sort of evidence. On any further sheets of paper, compile a list of brief quotations from other sources (together with page references) which will be offered as your evidence.

8. Make necessary changes
Whilst you have been engaged in the first stages of planning, new ideas may have come to mind. Alternate evidence may have occurred to you, or the line of your argument may have shifted somewhat. Be prepared at this stage to rearrange your plan so that it incorporates any of these new materials or ideas. Try out different arrangements of your essay topics until you are sure they form the most convincing and logical sequence.

9. Finalise essay plan
The structure of most essay plans can be summarised as follows:

Introduction
Arguments
Conclusion

State your case as briefly and rapidly as possible, present the evidence for this case in the body of your essay, then sum up and try to ‘lift’ the argument to a higher level in your conclusion. Your final plan should be something like a list of half a dozen to ten major points of argument. Each one of these points will be expanded to a paragraph of something around 100-200 words minimum in length.

10. Relevance
At all stages of essay planning, and even when writing the essay, you should keep the question in mind. Keep asking yourself ‘Is this evidence directly relevant to the topic I have been asked to discuss?‘ If in doubt, be prepared to scrap plans and formulate new ones – which is much easier than scrapping finished essays. At all times aim for clarity and logic in your argument.

11.Example
What follows is an example of an outline plan drawn up in note form. It is in response to the question ‘Do you think that depictions of sex and violence in the media should or should not be more heavily censored?‘. [It is worth studying the plan in its entirety. Take note of its internal structure.]


Sample essay plan

Question

‘Do you think that depictions of sex and violence in the media should or should not be more heavily censored?‘

Introduction

Sex, violence, and censorship all emotive subjects

Case against censorship

1. Aesthetic: inhibits artistic talent, distorts art and truth.

2. Individual judgement: individuals have the right to decide for
themselves what they watch or read. Similarly, nobody has the right to make up someone else’s mind.

3. Violence and sex as catharsis (release from tension): portrayal of these subjects can release tension through this kind of experience at ‘second hand’.

4. Violence can deter: certain films can show violence which
reinforces opposition to it, e.g. – A Clockwork Orange, All Quiet on the Western Front.

5. Censorship makes sex dirty: we are too repressed about this
subject, and censorship sustains the harmful mystery which has surrounded us for so long.

6. Politically dangerous: Censorship in one area can lead to it
being extended to others – e.g., political ideas.

7. Impractical: Who decides? How is it to be done? Is it not
impossible to be ‘correct’? Any decision has to be arbitrary

Case for censorship

1. Sex is private and precious: it should not be demeaned by
representations of it in public.

2. Sex can be offensive: some people may find it so and should not have to risk being exposed to what they would find pornographic.

3. Corruption can be progressive: can begin with sex and continue until all ‘decent values’ are eventually destroyed.

4. Participants might be corrupted: especially true of young
children.

5. Violence can encourage imitation: by displaying violence – even while condemning it -it can be legitimised and can also encourage
imitation amongst a dangerous minority.

6. Violence is often glorified: encourages callous attitudes.

Conclusion

Case against censorship much stronger. No necessary connection between the two topics.

© Roy Johnson 2004


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Exam tips and shortcuts

September 29, 2009 by Roy Johnson

guidance notes for success

These exam tips and shortcuts are techniques that anybody can use, without any special preparation or knowledge. They are practical, common-sense approaches to any kind of written exam. Even if you only adopt some of them, you will improve your chances of success.

An extract from our eBook — Revision and Examinations

Before you start

1. Take a selection of differently shaped pens.

2. These can ease the pressure on your fingers and thumbs when writing.

3. Take spares, a ruler, rubber, and any instruments you might need.

4. Settle in as quickly as possible, and avoid distractions.

5. Check the instructions and questions on the exam paper.

6. Confirm that the structure is what you expect [number of questions to be answered, time allocated].

7. Remember that the time allowed includes the time for reading the paper and preparing answers.

The paper

1. Make your choices and get started as quickly as possible.

2. Begin with an overview of the paper.

3. Identify those questions you can answer or prefer to attempt.

4. Eliminate any you can’t answer or prefer to avoid.

5. When you have eliminated questions, you have less material to deal with.

6. Analyse the questions as you would for course work – but do it quickly.

7. Some choices can be made [almost unconsciously] whilst you are writing.

8. Stick to those topics you have revised: don’t try something new.

9. Leave room for making changes as you go along.

Making choices

1. The easiest strategy is to start with your favourite topic.

2. This will give you a sense of confidence, and get your creatives juices flowing.

3. You can also gain marks easily this way.

4. However, you might start with a more difficult question, and save your favourite as a ‘reward’ for later.

5. This strategy has the advantage that you are tackling the more difficult question in a fresher state.

6. Remember that you might have ideas about one topic whilst writing about another.

Making plans

1. Make an outline plan or brief notes for your answer(s) in the exam booklet.

2. This provides guidance and a reminder you can refer to whilst writing.

3. Exam markers might give you credit for a plan if your answer is unfinished.

4. If possible, prepare brief plans for all your answers.

5. You can then add notes or examples as you are going along.

Rules and regulations

1. Some exam booklets might specify that notes should only be written on the outside and inside covers – as in the following example.

“For rough work unruled pages are provided on the cover of the book. If you require more than these, use a ruled page but cross the rough work through before handing the book in.”

2. If regulations permit, write your answers only on right-hand pages.

3. Leave left-hand pages blank for notes, corrections, or later additions.

Under way

1. Write as much as possible on each question.

2. If you finish a question early, either think up more to say or go on to the next question.

3. If you go on to the next question, leave blank space on the page for possible later additions.

4. Firm and concise answers are better than those that wander aimlessly just to fill up the page.

5. Keep an eye on the time allocated for each question.

General

1. Write as clearly as possible: examiners are easily annoyed by untidy writing.

2. It is easier to score the first half of the marks for any question than the second half.

3. A firm structure will help to clarify your arguments.

4. If you finish the paper early, use the time left to check and edit your work.

Answer the question

1. The examiner wants you to answer the question in a clear and simple manner.

2. A plain, direct answer with no frills is easier to mark than one which is ornate or flowery.

3. Getting straight to the point creates a favourable impression.

4. The more concise your answer, the easier it is to mark.

Misconceptions

1. There will not be any ‘hidden traps’ in the questions to catch you out.

2. There isn’t some magical key to unlock the secret of exam success.

3. You don’t have to ‘please’ the examiner – except by answering the question!

4. There isn’t a ‘knack’ to exam success. It’s a combination of hard work, preparation, and clear thinking.

Examiners are human too

1. Marking exam scripts is a very boring task.

2. Judging grades is a subjective and difficult matter.

3. Yes – some exam questions are occasionally hard to understand.

4. [But that means that they are hard for everybody.]

5. Poor writing makes scripts difficult to read.

What examiners DON’T want

1. Untidy work which is difficult to read.

2. Longwinded answers which drift on and off the subject.

3. Answers which have been written to ‘impress’, filled with lots of ill-digested jargon.

4. Too much personal opinion, name-dropping, and generalisation.

How to gain extra credit

1. Get straight to the point. No lengthy introductions.

2. Stay on the subject. No digressions, waffling, or ‘packing’.

3. Relate all parts of your answer to the original question.

4. Show evidence of your knowledge of the subject.

5. Wherever possible, give concrete examples as evidence.

Check your answers

1. Spend the last few moments glancing over what you have written.

2. Check for possible mistakes of fact, grammar, and punctuation.

3. Correct mistakes as neatly as possible. Don’t scribble.

4. Write any additions on the left-hand page, and show insertion points clearly.

5. Make sure your name, ID, and other details are on the cover sheet.

An extract from our eBook — Revision and Examinations

© Roy Johnson 2009


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Franz Kafka greatest works

September 19, 2009 by Roy Johnson

stories, novels, diaries

Beginners should start with the short stories of Franz Kafka before tackling his novels. Be prepared for writing which can be very philosophical, heavily symbolic, and full of strange images. In Franz Kafka’s greatest works there is often no plot or dramatic tension, but the prose style (even in translation) is truly original. Kafka’s work is also full of black humour; he often writes both about and from the point of view of animals; and some of his shorter pieces are in the form of parables, meditations, poetic fragments, and sketches.

Keep in mind that Kafka was one of many great writers who did not win the Nobel Prize for literature – along with Tolstoy, Joseph Conrad, Thomas Hardy, Virginia Woolf, D.H.Lawrence, and James Joyce. His work was hardly known outside his native Chzeckoslovakia during his lifetime, and yet it had immediate and enormous impact once it was translated in the late 1920s. He is now regarded as one of the giants of twentieth-century literature.

Franz Kafka greatest works - MetamorphosisMetamorphosis (1915) is truly one of Kafka’s masterpieces – a stunning parable which lends itself to psychological, sociological, or existential interpretations. It’s the tale of a man who wakes up one morning and finds himself transformed into a giant insect. His family are horrified, gradually disown him, and he dies of neglect, with a rotting apple lodged in his side. Franz Kafka is one of the most important and influential fiction writers of the early twentieth century. He was a novelist and writer of short stories whose works came to be regarded as one of the major achievements of twentieth century literature. Metamorphosis is one of his most stunning and memorable works.
Franz Kafka greatest works Metamorphosis Buy the book at Amazon UK
Franz Kafka greatest works Metamorphosis Buy the book at Amazon US

 

The TrialThe Trial is Kafka’s one indisputably successful novel – a haunting and original study in existential anxiety, paranoia, and persecution. Joseph K is accused one day of being guilty – but not told what crime he has committed. He wrestles hopelessly with legal officials and a nightmare-like court which acts on arbitrary rules and refuses to give explanations. He spends the entire novel striving to find justice. In the end he fails, only to be killed ‘like a dog’. Kafka gave expression to modern anxiety three decades before most people even started feeling it. This is a novel which stands outside literary norms – a superb achievement of literary modernism. Be prepared for black humour as well as mind-bending contradictions and deeply etched literary expressionism. Read the stories and The Trial as a start and a minimum.
Franz Kafka greatest works The Trial Buy the book at Amazon UK
Franz Kafka greatest works The Trial Buy the book at Amazon US

 

The CastleThe Castle is Kafka’s last work – a long, rambling, and unfinished novel in which the castle itself operates as a huge metaphor for authority and bureaucracy. If The Trial is about a hopeless search for justice, The Castle is often said to be about the search for grace and forgiveness. The setting is a remote village covered almost permanently in snow and a community fraught with tensions and sexual predators. It lies like a magnificent ruin amongst the many other fragments in Kafka’s oeuvre. This is strictly for the advanced devotee. Tackle this one only when you have read the other shorter works.

Franz Kafka The Castle Buy the book at Amazon UK
Franz Kafka The Castle Buy the book at Amazon US

 

The Man who DisappearedAmerika (also known as The Man who Disappeared) is Kafka’s first attempt at a novel. He is renowned for documenting the horrors of modern life, but Kafka also had a lighter and amusing side. This novel is incomplete, like so much else he wrote. It’s the story of Karl Rossmann who after an embarrassing sexual misadventure is expelled from his European home and goes to live in an imaginary United States (which of course Kafka had never visited). The story is deeply symbolic – as usual – and an interesting supplement to the central texts. In fact it’s a reverse ‘Rags to Riches’ story, because Karl starts his engagement with the American Dream quite successfully – but by the end of the novel he is destitute. The first chapter is frequently anthologised as ‘The Stoker’.
Franz Kafka greatest works The Man who Disappeared Buy the book at Amazon UK
Franz Kafka greatest works The Man who Disappeared Buy the book at Amazon US

 

The Complete Short StoriesThe Complete Short Stories is an amazing bargain, because this includes not only the stories, but also Kafka’s fragments, parables, and sketches. Many of these – although sometimes no more than jottings – contain the germs of ideas and images which Kafka worked up later into his major works. Kafka wrote on the boundaries between fiction and philosophy, and very often he blurrs the distinction between the two.
Franz Kafka greatest works The Complete Short Stories Buy the book at Amazon UK
Franz Kafka greatest works The Complete Short Stories Buy the book at Amazon US

 

The DiariesThe Diaries Kafka wrote to himself almost as much as he did to other people, and he communicated some of his most subtle and revealing ideas in fragments and notes made in the margins of his tormented life. Here there are the wrestlings with guilt and personal inadequacy, plus the aspirations to a a higher spiritual life. They cover the period from 1910 to 1923 and reveal the inner world in which he lived. He also describes the father he worshipped but feared, and the woman he loved but could not bring himself to marry. It is sometimes difficult to see where his fiction ends and his biographical notes begin, but they form an interesting contrast if they are read in conjunction with the letters and the notebooks. They also need to be read with care, because they conceal almost as much as they reveal.
Franz Kafka greatest works The Diaries Buy the book at Amazon UK
Franz Kafka greatest works The Diaries Buy the book at Amazon US

 

Letters to FeliceLetters to Felice Many of Kafka’s surviving letters were written to women with whom he was ‘in love’. The qualification of this term is necessary because they reveal a fascinating ambiguity in his attitude to the recipients. Thousands of words are spent analysing his feelings, arranging meetings then cancelling them, deciding to get married and making all the necessary arrangements for where and how to live – and then changing his mind, and writing endless further letters explaining his reasons. Other letters reveal his painstaking sympathy and scrupulous kindness to friends, his neurotic fastidiousness over what most people would regard as trivialities, and his amazing modesty in dealing with other figures of the literary world.
Franz Kafka greatest works Letters to Felice Buy the book at Amazon UK
Franz Kafka greatest works Letters to Felice Buy the book at Amazon US

 

The Complete NovelsThe Complete Novels is a handy, good value compilation which includes Amerika, The Trial, and The Castle. One Amazon reviewer complains that the print is very small, but you can hardly complain when three major works are rolled into one volume of nearly eight hundred pages for less than the price of two cocktails. The translation used is that by Edwin and Willa Muir written in the 1930s.

Franz Kafka greatest works The Complete Novels Buy the book at Amazon UK
Franz Kafka greatest works The Complete Novels Buy the book at Amazon US


Franz Kafka – web links

Kafka Franz Kafka at Mantex
Biographical notes, book reviews and study guides on the major works, video presentations and documentaries, adaptations for cinema and television, and links to Kafka archives.

Franz Kafka web links Franz Kafka at Project Gutenberg
A major collection of free eTexts in a variety of formats – in both English and German.

Franz Kafka web links Franz Kafka at Wikipedia
Biographical notes, social background, survey of the stories and novels, publishing history, translations, critical interpretation, and extensive bibliographies.

Franz Kafka web links Franz Kafka at the Internet Movie Database
Adaptations for the cinema and television – in various languages. Full details of directors, actors, production features, box office, film reviews, and even quizzes.

Franz Kafka video Kafka in Love
Video photomontage featuring portraits of Kafka, his friends and family, and locations in Prague – with a rather schmaltzy soundtrack in Yiddish and English.

Franz Kafka web links Kafka-Metamorphosis
A public Wiki dedicated to Kafka and his work, featuring the short stories, interpretations, and further web links.

Franz Kafka web links Kafka Society of America
Academic group with annual meetings and publications. Also features links to other Kafka-related sites

Franz Kafka web links Oxford Kafka Research Centre
Academic group based at Oxford University that tracks current research and meetings. [Doesn’t seem to have been updated since 2012.]

Franz Kafka web links The Kafka Project
Critical editions and translations of Kafka’s work in several languages, plus articles, literary criticism, bibliographies.

Franz Kafka Tribute to Franz Kafka
Individual fan site (created by ‘Herzogbr’) featuring a collection of texts, reviews, and enthusiast essays. Badly in need of updating, but contains some interesting gems.

Kafka photos Finding Kafka in Prague
Quirky compilation of photos locating Kafka in his home town – with surrealist additions and weird sound track.

Red button Who Owns Kafka?
Essay by Judith Butler from the London Review of Books on the contentious issues of ownership of Kafka’s manuscripts where they are currently held in Israel – complete with podcast.

Red button The Kafka Archive – latest news
Guardian newspaper report on the suitcase full of Kafka and Max Brod’s papers released by Israeli library.

Red button Franz Kafka: an illustrated life
Book review of a charming short biography with some unusual period photos of Kafka and Prague.

© Roy Johnson 2004


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Franz Kafka life and works

September 19, 2009 by Roy Johnson

Franz Kafka life and workstimeline, writings, social context

1883. Franz Kafka born in Prague, which was then part of the Hapsburg empire. Father prosperous Jewish businessman. Family speaks German. K successful as a schoolboy, but prone to ill-health.

1899. First early writings – all destroyed.

1901. Attends German University in Prague. Studies chemistry for two weeks, then changes to law.

1902. First meeting with Max Brod, who was to become his fiend, biographer, and literary executor.

1904. Working on a novel – The Child and the City [subsequently lost]. Writes first version of ‘Description of a Struggle’.

1906. First love affair. Successful degree in Doctorate of Law. Begins one year of legal training.

1908. Begins work in Accident Insurance offices in Prague. First publication of short ‘stories’.

1910. Starts to keep a diary. Further publication of short pieces. Trips to Berlin and Paris.

1911. Further travels. First spell in sanatorium for ill health. Working on another novel (Amerika].

1912. Meets publishers Ernst Rowalt and Kurt Wolff, and Felice Bauer at the home of Max Brod. Second visit to sanatorium. Writes Metamorphosis. Also writes his story ‘The Judgement’ in one single overnight sitting.


Franz Kafka: An Illustrated LifeFranz Kafka: Illustrated Life is a photographic biography that offers an intimate portrait in an attractive format. A lively text is accompanied by over 100 evocative images, many in colour and some previously unpublished. They depict the author’s world – family, friends, and artistic circle – together with original book jackets, letters, and other ephemera. An excellent starting point for beginners which captures fin de siecle Europe beautifully.


1913. Makes first of several visits to Berlin to meet Felice Bauer, who becomes his fiancee (more than once). Kurt Wolff published The Stoker – which is the first chapter of Amerika. Travels to Vienna, Trieste, Venice and Lake Garda. First meeting with Grete Bloch in Prague.

1914. Moves into the first of many apartments to live alone. Takes leave of absence to work on The Trial. Writes ‘In the Penal Colony’. Official engagement to Felice is broken off.

1915. Resumes relationship and travels with Felice. Another visit to a sanatorium. Writes ‘Before the Law’. Metamorphosis published.

1917. Writes stories ‘The Great Wall of China’, ‘The Hunter Gracchus’, ‘A Report to an Academy’. Renews engagement to Felice and travels with her to Hungary – returning alone. Moves back into his parent’s apartment. Tuberculosis of the lungs diagnosed. Second engagement broken off.

1918. Continued illness. Works as a gardener at sanitarium. Returns to work, but contracts Spanish flu.


Franz Kafka: A Short IntroductionKafka: A Very Short Introduction introduces Kafka’s life and cultural background, then traces a number of themes in his best-known works. It’s in an interesting and attractive format – a small, pocket-sized book, stylishly designed, with illustrations, endnotes, suggestions for further reading, and an index. If you’ve not studied Kafka before, this will give you pointers on what to look for. It covers Kafka’s biography, then interpretations of his work – including one quite original approach concerning the relationship between his writing and his body.


1919. Meets Julie Wohryzek and becomes engaged to her – but wedding postponed. Takes lessons in Hebrew. Receives letters from Milena Jesenska-Polak, who is translating some of his work. Writes ‘Letter to his Father’.

1920. Persistent illness. Begins writing the He aphorisms. Correspondence with Milena, who he visits in Vienna. Breaks off engagement to Julie Wohryzek, but continues seeing her. Returns to work – and to live in his parent’s apartment.

1921. Attempts to break off relationship with Milena. Back into sanitarium. Milena visits him in Prague. He shows her his diaries.

1922. Starts work on The Castle. Pensioned off by his employers. Writes ‘Investigations of a Dog’. Further illness.

1923. Further Hebrew studies. Spends lots of time in bed. Breaks off relationship with Milena. Goes to live with Dora Dymant in Berlin. Writes ‘The Burrow’.

1924. Fuel crisis in Berlin. K’s health deteriorates. Moves back to Prague. Writes ‘Josephine the Singer, or the Mouse Folk’. Dora takes K to sanatorium in Austria. K instructs Max Brod to burn all his writings. Brod agrees, but disobeys instruction. K dies 3 June – buried in Jewish cemetery in Prague.


Franz Kafka – web links

Kafka Franz Kafka at Mantex
Biographical notes, book reviews and study guides on the major works, video presentations and documentaries, adaptations for cinema and television, and links to Kafka archives.

Franz Kafka web links Franz Kafka at Project Gutenberg
A major collection of free eTexts in a variety of formats – in both English and German.

Franz Kafka web links Franz Kafka at Wikipedia
Biographical notes, social background, survey of the stories and novels, publishing history, translations, critical interpretation, and extensive bibliographies.

Franz Kafka web links Franz Kafka at the Internet Movie Database
Adaptations for the cinema and television – in various languages. Full details of directors, actors, production features, box office, film reviews, and even quizzes.

Franz Kafka video Kafka in Love
Video photomontage featuring portraits of Kafka, his friends and family, and locations in Prague – with a rather schmaltzy soundtrack in Yiddish and English.

Franz Kafka web links Kafka-Metamorphosis
A public Wiki dedicated to Kafka and his work, featuring the short stories, interpretations, and further web links.

Franz Kafka web links Kafka Society of America
Academic group with annual meetings and publications. Also features links to other Kafka-related sites

Franz Kafka web links Oxford Kafka Research Centre
Academic group based at Oxford University that tracks current research and meetings. [Doesn’t seem to have been updated since 2012.]

Franz Kafka web links The Kafka Project
Critical editions and translations of Kafka’s work in several languages, plus articles, literary criticism, bibliographies.

Franz Kafka Tribute to Franz Kafka
Individual fan site (created by ‘Herzogbr’) featuring a collection of texts, reviews, and enthusiast essays. Badly in need of updating, but contains some interesting gems.

Kafka photos Finding Kafka in Prague
Quirky compilation of photos locating Kafka in his home town – with surrealist additions and weird sound track.

Red button Who Owns Kafka?
Essay by Judith Butler from the London Review of Books on the contentious issues of ownership of Kafka’s manuscripts where they are currently held in Israel – complete with podcast.

Red button The Kafka Archive – latest news
Guardian newspaper report on the suitcase full of Kafka and Max Brod’s papers released by Israeli library.

Red button Franz Kafka: an illustrated life
Book review of a charming short biography with some unusual period photos of Kafka and Prague.

© Roy Johnson 2004


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Filed Under: Franz Kafka Tagged With: Franz Kafka, German literature, Literary studies, Modernism

Free fonts – a list of suppliers

September 15, 2009 by Roy Johnson

free Fontsa selection of free font suppliers

All these sites listed below offer free fonts. Some of the designs are weird and wacky, but they are all give-aways. Don’t expect miracles: font designers put a lot of love and devotion into their creations, but you cannot expect professional standards in something offered free of charge.

The other limitation in free fonts is that you have to accept that they might not include a full set of characters, including all the special figures such as lining and non-lining numbers, fractions, ampersands, accented letters, and dingbats which would be present in a full professional product. Font designers give away these free samples in the hope you will enjoy their designs and maybe purchase from their commercially available materials.

The good news for font lovers is that the price of these original designs has been dropping as a result of advances in digital type technology. If you use any of these fonts in your work, it would be a nice touch of courtesy to acknowledge where you obtained them. Let us know if you find any more.

Free fonts http://www.k-type.com

Blubtn http://www.ffonts.net

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© Roy Johnson 2004


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Filed Under: How-to guides Tagged With: Fonts, Graphic design, Typography, Web design

Full stops – how to use them

September 6, 2009 by Roy Johnson

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Full stops – definition

full stops Full stops are punctuation marks indicating a strong pause.

redbtn Full stops are used most commonly at the end of complete sentences – like this one.


Examples
  • This is a short sentence. This is another.
  • It happened suddenly in 1996.
  • There are two reasons for this (in my opinion).

Use

redbtn The full stop is the strongest mark of punctuation. It is sometimes called the ‘period’.

redbtn The stop is also used following many abbreviations.

redbtn NB! A full stop is not necessary if the sentence ends with a question or an exclamation mark. Got that?

redbtn Full stops are commonly placed after abbreviations:

ibid. – No. 1 – ff. – e.g. – etc.

redbtn The stop is normally placed inside quotation marks but outside brackets:

“What joy we had that particular day.”

Profits declined (despite increased sales).

redbtn However, if the quotation is part of another statement, the full stop goes outside the quote marks:

Mrs Higginbottam whispered “They’re coming”.

redbtn If the parenthesis is a complete sentence, the full stop stays inside the brackets:

There was an earthquake in Osaka. (Another had occurred in Tokyo the year previously.)

redbtn No full stop is required if a sentence ends with a question mark or an exclamation, or a title or abbreviation which contains its own punctuation:

Is this question really necessary?
What a mess!
He is the editor of Which?
She gave her address as ‘The Manor, Wilts.’

redbtn Full stops are not required after titles, headings, or sub-headings:

The Turn of the Screw
Industrial Policy Report
Introduction

redbtn The stop is not necessary following common titles which are shortened forms of a word (technically, ‘contractions’):

Dr – [Doctor]
Mr – [Mister]
St – [Street]
Mme – [Madame]

redbtn Full stops are not necessary after the capital letters used as abbreviations for titles of organisations and countries:

NATO – North Atlantic Treaty Organisation
BBC – British Broadcasting Corporation
UNO – United Nations Organisation
USA – United States of America

redbtn They are not used where the initials of a standard work of reference are used as an abbreviated title:

OED – Oxford English Dictionary
DNB – Dictionary of National Biography
PMLA – Papers of the Modern Languages Association

Self-assessment quiz follows >>>

© Roy Johnson 2003


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Filed Under: English Language Tagged With: English language, Full stops, Grammar, Language, Punctuation

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