This article can be classified as the one belonging to the broad area of “literary and language plays on words’’ due to its multilevel interpretation of the ludic character of literature in the novel entitled Tres tristes tigres, written by the Cuban writer Guillermo Cabrera Infante, who makes the everyday language of the Havana at the end of the 1950s the object of a play on words, and matter at the same time, which does a literary recreation through its poetisation of the colloquial language. The language, as well as literature, is a pure play on words, which, in turn, destroys in the TTT (Three Trapped Tigers) the traditional canon of the novel and creates a work of literature open to multiple interpretations and which needs an active poliglot reader able to descipher the net of allusions and references to other literary works. The mechanism of the literary play on words is based on parody (of the language itself, of the work of other Cuban writers, of American cabaret, of business celebrities, of the stories related by the characters present in the novel, and of their clumsy English-Spanish translation), on a variety of different points of view that turn the novel into a polyphonic one, on the presence of a stereotype and irony. Moreover, the play on words (anagrams, palindromes, neologisms, polysemy and ambiguity) undergoes an analysis characterised by a polyperspective interpretation of the novel. While talking about the innovative character of the novel, being an example of a new Latin American novel, we present its above-mentioned features and we also do quite a detailed analysis of one of its chapters entitled in Spanish Los visitantes, which best reflects the principal intention of Cabrera Infante: to make everyday language the main character by means of playing with it, and in this way to create a multitude of realities.

Key words: Hispano-American language novel, Guillermo Cabrera Infante, Three Trapped Tigers, polyphony, literary and language play on words, parody.

Towards the Abolition of Gender Identity in Il corpo odiato by Nicola Lecca

Gabriele, the main character of the novel by Nicola Lecca, discovers within himself a homosexual inclination which doesn’t conform to a traditional masculinity. Thus, it causes identity crisis. The protagonist carries out an obsessive auto analysis. He tries to represent self-discipline. This should lead him to regain confidence and social assimilation. The Article shows three stages, which Gabriele goes through: the ideal type of masculinity, the protest period and the discovery of his real identity. All three describe a subordination, an attempt to get the autonomy back and the awareness of freedom. This process was analysed in a range of few components: the main character’s space, his social relations, his homosexual experience, judging his own body, the emotional conflict between trying to be perfect, low self-esteem and the act of writing. Nicola Lecca’s text may be read as a voice in discussion about stereotypical masculine pattern which in this case is questioned.

Key words: gender identity, stereotypical masculine pattern, homosexuality, Italian modern literature.

The feminine world, the world of words. The linguistic expression of the feminine condition in Tutto su mia nonna by Silvia Ballestra

The novel Tutto su mia nonna by Silvia Ballestra is the excellent example of language, writing and sensibility straightforwardly feminine. The main characters of the narration that is the three generations of woman, become the vivid and active subjects of the narration, who form the reality, non only filtering the world which is being narrated in their personal emotional way, but also structuring their world in relationship to the social existence as though their activity does not refer only to their private and personal zone.

The definition of femininity passes through the language as it is not only the way to comunicate but it assumes three different manners: conative, magical and sensual. The sensual and tangible aspect values, by the use of marchigiano dialect, the material, concrete meaning that refers to the body and its physical expression. The magical and commemorative function is proper of the everyday language and it pushes the main character, the narrator to immerge in the recollections of the past that is rituals and old habits of the family. The most important function though is the conative one, which focuses on the interpersonal contact assuming the real communicative function that brings the family together.In this way the language becomes a treasure, a connection and a relationship.

As for the formal level of writing, the interlocutory discourse is maintained by the use of the pronoun tu that refers to the reader who participates in the narration that touches more subjects in the narrative passages and in those of the philosophical and the metanovelistic kind as well.

Key words: Silvia Ballestra, feminine writing, dialect, conative value, dialogue.

The autobiographical novel Cendres et braises by Ken Bugul, a contemporary Senegalese author, presents a comprehensive overview of the victim’s behavior in a violent relationship. By using strong defense mechanisms, the abused woman becomes emotionally attached to her aggressor, isolates herself, refuses any help and stays trapped in the cycle of violence. In the case of Marie, the novel’s main character, anxiety has always been the basis of her relationships since she was abandoned by her mother. The purpose of this study is to analyze the dynamics between the victim and the abuser, as well as to show that anxiety is the source of self-destructive behavior and examine how it keeps the woman in an abusive relationship.

Key words: fear, violence, relationship, woman, abuse

In this essay we intend to emphasize first the subjective way of Victor Hugo in expressing his own thoughts, ideas, visual impressions and feelings within the introductory chapter of this book, entitled “The Archipelago of the Channel”. Then, we intend to show the subjective manner of the narrator in constructing Gilliatt, the main character of the proper novel. In this undertaking, the narrator seems to be objective, while, in fact, he is highly subjective, presenting the hero from an outside view point, and defining his temper and disposition by a collection of gossips and slanders on Gilliatt, from the narrow and xenophobe perspective of his fellow-citizens. The subjectivity of both the author and the narrator is disconcerting for the reader, who should not judge superficially this book, but rather try to find, between the lines, its different values and significations, which are in perfect accord with Victor Hugo’s philosophical and aesthetic conception, based upon the harmony of contraries, upon the coexistence of good and evil, sublime and grotesque, light and darkness.

The article investigates into the conflict of virtue and ‘pleasure principle’ in Italo Svevo’s novel La coscienza di Zeno (1923). Throughout his life, the main character of this novel, Zeno Cosini, sees himself confronted with the demand of leading a virtuous life corresponding to the definition given by his social environment. Engaging himself into this project with resolutions which are equally categorical, firm and ready to be turned round to their opposite, more pleasant side, Zeno Cosini denies his inevitable progression on the slippery slope, his resolutions providing the promising basic condition for his various forbidden pleasures, which at the same time allow him to fathom out the borders and limits of good and evil. The more he digresses from his aim, the more he insists on increasingly exacerbated resolutions, for his emphatic obstinacy concerning his project of being “actively virtuous” allows him to indulge more and more in iteratively “last” deviations from his project which is obviously far beyond his possibilites. Nevertheless, Zeno Cosini manages to wash his hands off by making a virtue out of necessity. Thus, strokes of fate (for instance being diagnosed as having a mortal disease) appear to him as a relief or a blessing, and, looking back, he uses his entire life failure as a shelter from further demands of “reason”. In order to justify (also to himself) his recidivous existence, Zeno Cosini pleads the apparent powerlessness of the modern individual in the face of life which appears to him as per se contingent, ambivalent and full of imponderabilities. He thus delegates the moral responsibility to life itself which he judges to be “original”. From this point of view adapted cynically to his needs, Zeno Cosini realizes that what can be conceived as an “illness” is by no means his vice, his recidivism or his bad conscience, but life itself — which can be catered for with a great deal of good will, analyzed and fathomed out conscientiously via transgression — according to him, is nothing but a manifestation of illness — moreover, an incurable and mortal one — for which there is no remedy, but which can at least be truffled with transgressions.

Key words: Transgression, contingency, ambivalence, irony.

Isolitudine is a neologism coined from isola (an Island) and solitudine (solitude) that was created by Gesualdo Bufalino in order to mark a specific attitude to life which characterizes the mental and emotional ambivalence of Sicily’s inhabitants. On the one hand, they are proud of their difference, but on the other, they feel isolated and disconnected from life on the continent and doomed to cultural and emotional solitude. In the novel Diceria dell’untore the topic of acceptance and rejection of the condition of isolitudine dominates. The main character is excluded from ‘real’ life in a two‑fold way: he is the inhabitant of an Island and the patient of a tuberculosis sanatorium; futhermore, he has been bruised by his wartime experience. The condition of isolitudine is inscribed not only in characterization but also in the chronotope. The places of the novel are the sanatorium and the island itself. Both of them have the qualities of a pleasant place (locus amoenus) and a horrible one (locus horridus), and their characterization results from a combination of those qualities.

Key words: Bufalino, isolitudine, Sicily

Gothic fiction in Argentina, represented by such famous authors as Borges, Cortazar, Bioy Casares or Silvina Ocampo has its followers in the 21st century. In our paper, we present one of the contemporary authors, Pablo De Santis, born in Buenos Aires in 1963. His novel Los Anticuarios (The Antiquarian) is about vampirism in the Buenos Aires of the 1950s. Following the tradition of Gothic literature, the main character is involved in the lugubrious story of vampires known as the antiquarians. Although these long-lived creatures have adapted to living in our times, they must still feed on blood. However, they prefer a substitute in the form of an elixir which allows them to dominate their victims’ minds. Besides, being victims of unrequited love themselves, just like classic vampires, they have a predilection for female blood.

Key words: De Santis, Gothic fiction, antiquarians, vampires, Peronism, Buenos Aires

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the myth of uprisings provoked by Garibaldie, and its diversified perception in the Italian society. Not only does Vincenzo Consolo discuss the myth of the Grabaldie’s uprisings, but he also describes the betrayed poor community of Sicilian tyrannized villagers who join Garbaldie so as to improve their difficult living conditions in the countryside. The main plot is set in the 1860s, which does not correspond with the facts but is the metaphor for the present time. The author builds the climax of the plot by using a historical narrative. What is more, it should be underlined that the narration is a mixture of various idiomatic expressions and registers, so that the community’s tragedy, which is deprived of any rights, could be expressed.

Key words: Garibaldie’s myth, the present time metaphor, memory, history, a betrayed character.

The article is a study of intertextual strategies in Godbout’s philosophical novel “Salut Galarneau!” (1967) Claude Filteau which asserts that inter- and transtextuality belong to the democratic regime of writing. Intertextuality works primarily through literary genres. The paper concentrates on the figure of François Galarneau, the main character of the novel who, in his search for truth, is unable to overcome his own contradictions as a self-taught writer and a ‘Quebecois’ without money in a consumerist world. Through copies of letters, classified ads, cooking recipes, women’s advice columns and TV commercials the main hero relates his life story, while dreaming about being stripped off the book pages by his readers. It is Galarneau’s ‘wandering letter’, called by Jacques Ranciére the ‘orphan speech’,     

Key words: intertextuality; novel; philosophical tale; heteroglossia; low culture; Canadian literature

Femininity in Canadian Children’s Literature. An Analysis of the Incomparable Mademoiselle Charlotte

The influence of children’s literature on the development of gender identity has been well established. However, it seems that many children’s books are conveying stereotypical representations of genders as well as notable iniquities among males and females characters. Therefore, to counterbalance the detrimental effects that this could have on gender role socialisation, books that are presenting positive, non-traditional representations of masculinities and femininities should be put forward. In this regards, the incomparable Mademoiselle Charlotte, the beloved main character of a young Canadian readers series, is certainly bringing her share to the diversity of female models. In this article, this unconventional, eccentric lady is the subject of our interest.
A content analysis was performed on the seven novels of the series in order to highlight many facets of her persona that could influence the developing minds of young readers by broadening their perceptions regarding variable femininities.

Key words: children’s literature, social construction of gender, femininity, stereotypes.

La novela de Antonio Muñoz Molina En la noche de los tiempos se centra en un período de la vida de un arquitecto talentoso y exitoso que vive en Madrid en el período previo a la Guerra Civil española. La historia del personaje principal es solo un pretexto para mostrar el agitado ambiente de la capital y discutir los factores que llevaron al estallido del conflicto armado. Sin embargo, la novela presenta la política y la guerra como un dominio puramente masculino. El propósito del artículo es rastrear voces femeninas ocultas en la obra y analizarlas utilizando los planteamientos teóricos de la aracnología.

Cet article se propose d’étudier la liberté par l’acte scriptural chez Antonin Artaud. À cet égard, il est question de vérifier comment sa pièce Les Cenci incarne parfaitement sa théorie de la cruauté. Pour ce faire, on analysera l’éthopée des deux antagonistes principaux : le Comte Cenci et sa fille Béatrice, en mettant l’accent sur un thème aussi sensible que l’inceste. Enfin cette étude, montrera comment l’écriture artaudienne s’érige en une manumission symbolique en explorant quelques faits de style et la quête esthétique dans la didascalie.