Volume 2, Issue 1, November 2004

Abstracts

Les avatars de l’absurde dans Mendiants et orgueilleux d’Albert Cossery (Agnès Hafez-Ergaut) | PDF

Abstract

This article deals with the notion of the absurd and explores its interpretation from a non-Western point of view in a novel by the Egyptian writer Albert Cossery, Mendiants et orgueilleux. It argues that the novelist parodies the philosophy of the absurd by using characters whose outrageous actions and attitudes ridicule what was acclaimed by Sartre as new humanism. It aims at demonstrating that Albert Cossery, by presenting an image of the absurd distorted by parody and ridicule, refutes the notion of the absurd and advocates the superiority of the principle of life over a philosophy that undermines its integrity.

Homografesis en Misteriosa Presencia: Sonetos (1936), de Juan Gil-Albert (Alfredo Martínez) | PDF

Abstract

Juan Gil-Albert’s (Alcoy, Spain, 1906) second book of poems Misteriosa Presencia: Sonetos was printed in Madrid in 1936, but its distribution was aborted by the beginning of the Spanish Civil War. After the war, Gil-Albert was forced to exile himself to France and Mexico, while his poetic voice was silenced in Francoist Spain. His early production would only be reprinted in 1972, within the famous anthology Fuentes de la constancia. Therefore, the influence of his 1936 homosexual sonnets on his contemporaries must have been very marginal; and yet, there is little doubt that other homosexual poets of this generation, including Luis Cernuda, must have been familiar with some version of them. Modern readers of Misteriosa Presencia will discover in the book not only one of the most complete and articulated homoerotic collections of its time, but also a prelude to a panoply of homoerotic themes that would be fully developed in Gil-Albert’s later works. This paper sets out to use Lee Edelman’s concept of homographesis to study the modes of representation of the homosexual voice, its modes of appropriation of the other, and the literary topics associated with this type of love. Some of the sonnets contained in Misteriosa Presencia are analysed in depth.

Teaching languages to mixed-ability groups of learners is quite common in post-secondary University courses, particularly in the case of Italian. This is due to such factors as the widespread teaching of Italian at primary and secondary level, and the very diverse degrees of exposure to Italian and/or Dialect of the background learner. In such situations it is of paramount importance that the students perceive the learning environment as responding to their linguistic needs.

This article presents a classroom-based research study of a group of post-secondary learners of Italian at the University of Sydney. It explores some major issues related to their linguistic diversity and discusses the pedagogical intervention that was put in place to respond to their needs. The article focuses upon the establishment of a positive and collaborative learning environment and the adoption of a flexible curriculum as two crucial factors that contribute to promote students’ positive attitudes and to turn the composite nature of the group from an issue to an asset. Furthermore it aims to inform classroom practices of colleagues involved in similar instructional settings.