Literature & society

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Adaptation

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Adaptation implies the ability to evolve and change according to changing environments and demands. It is an ongoing process in all parts of the world and can be applied to many different fields. The term arises in regards to, for example, biological processes, technological advancements or reworkings in the arts (film or literature).

Dual Readership

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Dual Readership refers to the process of constructing a work or text, also called crossover literature, which can play to two different levels of understanding for various audiences. This practice is most commonly employed in children’s literature.

BookTube

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BookTube is a community on YouTube that focuses primarily on creating content, specifically videos, around the subject of literature and book-related subjects.

Fairy Tale

Wiki
A fairy tale is a work of literature that is set in a fictional world and typically incorporates magical elements.

Postcolonialism in Children’s Literature

Wiki
Postcolonialism in children’s literature refers to literary works created for children by individuals living in former colonies. This term can also be applied to the analysis and reinterpretation of literary works written from a Western perspective, to present diverse viewpoints.

BookTok

Wiki
BookTok is a sub-community of TikTok that caters to book enthusiasts. Here, they can share their book reviews, recommendations, and other book-related content.

Agency in Children's Literature

Wiki
Agency in children's literature refers to the empowerment and independence of children's characters. It involves portraying children as active participants in their own lives, capable of making choices, influencing their surroundings, and shaping their destinies.

Agency

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Agency is the ability of individuals to act independently and of their own volition.

Refugee Literature

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Refugee literature refers to literary works, including fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and other forms of written expression, that focus on the experiences of refugees. These works often explore the challenges, struggles, and triumphs of individuals or groups who have been forced to leave their homes due to conflict, persecution, or other forms of hardship.

Metaphor

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A metaphor is a trope, or a figure of speech, that directly refers to one thing by mentioning features of another one; an object, or an idea, is viewed as a metaphor which offers people new ways of examining ideas and viewing the world.

YA novel

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Young Adults novel (shortened as YA novel) is a literature subcategory within the Young Adult fiction genre. The concept of the young adult (YA) refers to adolescence and youth, though it is very context-dependent. According to the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) YA books are those aimed at people from 12 to 18 years old (teenagers). In most of the cases, the protagonists of the novels fall within those age ranges, and the story is told through teenage eyes.

Graphic Novel

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Graphic novels are a contemporary literature form of long stories told in comics format. They have the same characteristics of comics: multimodality, cartooning techniques and elements (panels, gutters).

Comics

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Comics (generally referring to comic books and comic strips) are a popular form of visual storytelling that combines still images and text.

Picturebook

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The picturebook is a storytelling medium that presents its text in both verbal and visual language. According to Barbara Bader (1976), a picturebook is words and illustrations in a total design, “an item of manufacture and a commercial product; a social, cultural, historic document; and foremost, an experience for a [reader / beholder]. As an art form it hinges on the interdependence of pictures and words, on the simultaneous display of two facing pages, and on the drama of the turning page” (ibid., p.1).

Young Adult

Wiki
The concept of the ‘young adult’, also synonymous with adolescence and youth, is one which is heavily context-dependent. Over time, the perception of the concept has shifted from merely a developmental outlook to one which is also bound by a socio-cultural understanding. Broadly, it is believed to be a stage between childhood and adulthood, and is influenced by several social, economical and cultural factors.

Orientalism

Wiki
Orientalism refers to a long tradition of Western representations of the Orient as exotic and 'non-coeval' with the West.
This paper compares The fire next time by James Baldwin and Between the world and me by Ta-Nehisi Coates to come to a more inclusionary concept of authorship than Barthes’ death of the Author, based on Foucault’s notion of author function.

Baldwin and Coates: Activist postures as ‘live authorship’

Paper
Jop Gillissen
03/02/2023
30 minutes to read

A comparison of Baldwin's and Coates’ public intellectual positions and their works The fire next time and Between the world and me, for a more inclusionary idea of authorship than Barthes’ death of the Author, using Foucault’s author function.

Image from We Are Water Protectors

Processes of Canonisation in Children’s Literature

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Fanfiction

Between Truth and Fiction: Rethinking the world through fanfiction

Article
Femke Pulles
31/05/2023
8 minutes to read

This article talks about how people use fanfiction as a coping mechanism, while fanfiction can also have an effect on the real world. It makes the line between truth and fiction blurry, so how does fanfiction connect fiction to the real world?

Knives Out (2019)

Knives Out (2019) and the classical detective formula

Paper
Chi-chieh Huang
12/10/2022
14 minutes to read

This article examines how director Rian Johnson follows and deviates from the classical detective formula to create a murder mystery filled with twists and turns in Knives Out (2019).

Image by Anete Lusina

Literaire fictie in de democratische publieke ruimte

Article
Odile Heynders
17/06/2022
19 minutes to read

De democratie is in verval. Kunnen we literaire fictie gebruiken om het tij te keren? Odile Heynders bespreekt 'Hoe ik talent voor het leven kreeg' van Rodaan Al Galidi en 'Het uur van de olifant' van Otto de Kat om antwoord te geven. 

 

Poetry

Instagram Poetry: Am I Good Enough for my Own Endeavor?

Article
Audrey Frijns
14/10/2022
8 minutes to read

Poetry on Instagram is becoming increasingly popular. This article explores if poetry can truly shake its connotations with elitism and how Instagram pages attract an audience that performs visibility labor.

Geisha

GOLDEN vs. IWASAKI: Perspectives about Geishas

Article
Nathaly Yumi da Silva
14/12/2022
21 minutes to read

Golden and Iwasaki have totally different concepts about geishas. The conflict between them is clear: while Golden casts them as prostitutes, Iwasaki reveals them as artists. This article explores these perspectives.