CP – Number 25 (2020)

Issue:

CP, Number 25

Section:

No. 25 (2020) Editorial

Abstract:

Choosing the name of a perfume represents a real challenge, especially in a context where we frequently witness the promotion of such luxury products. Our paper aims to highlight the results of reference research in the literature dedicated to perfume naming, undertaken by Marie-Claude Vettraino-Soulard (1984), Mariette Julien (2009), Magalie Gobet and Emmeline Le Gall (2011), emphasising a number of trends characteristic of certain periods. One of the current trends is the “exploitation of different territories of evocation” (Seidmann 2009) and the focus on exclusive collections, which give the consumer the feeling of authenticity and uniqueness. Starting from the study of relatively recent online articles, we intend to present the story of perfumes whose composition and/or whose name was inspired by the cities through which their creators have passed. Such perfumes offer a unique experience, through the olfactory power of evocation, design and even through the location from which they can be purchased.

Keywords:

naming, perfumes, city olfactory identity.

Code [ID]:

CP202025V00S01A0001 [0005171]

Note:

Full paper:

Download pdf

Issue:

CP, Number 25

Section:

No. 25 (2020) Editorial

Abstract:

Urbanization gradually generated new needs and resources which, in their turn, led to a significant increase in technological innovation. As a consequence, digital transformations marked a radical change in the way people rethink and reorganize today’s society. Such transformations have not only shaped our lives but also influenced our cognitive status. We intuitively conceive and develop new concepts on the basis of metaphor. As a means of cognition, metaphors help us conceptualize things. The visual representations of what we perceive play a very important role in the way we conceptualize one mental domain in terms of another. By linking language to thinking and visual images, cognitive metaphor theory opens up the possibility for metaphor to serve as a vital methodological tool in investigating metaphoric representations.

Keywords:

conceptual metaphor, source domain, target domain, metaphoric representation, mapping, digital culture, urbanization.

Code [ID]:

CP202025V00S01A0002 [0005172]

Note:

Full paper:

Download pdf

Issue:

CP, Number 25

Section:

No. 25 (2020) Editorial

Abstract:

Our paper aims to respond to the cultural need of asserting cultural identity by rediscovering Romanian food-related practices and meanings in association with a traditional cooking facility: the oven. More specifically, it is an attempt to present the Romanian traditional oven as a cultural object in relation to practices of cooking food, tools used in food preparation, and the time of the day/month/year when a certain dish is made, to reveal deep meanings that are part of the traditions and identity of the Romanian people. Our broader aim is to promote aspects of Romanian cultural life from the visible and invisible Romanian cultural heritage at an international level. The premise is that, in the area of cultural food heritage, more than in any other domain, each community has layers of popular knowledge accumulated historically, as a result of the interaction with the environment and the living conditions and many of these are supported by a solid scientific basis. Due to the cultural transmission from one generation to another, traditional knowledge is influenced by the historical continuity of using resources. Rediscovering them does not contrast with the idea of progress but, on the contrary, includes it. The research methodology combines methods of cultural and ethnographic studies: scientific documentation based on reference literature and field survey.

Keywords:

cultural practice, cultural object, oven, function, signification.

Code [ID]:

CP202025V00S01A0003 [0005173]

Note:

Full paper:

Download pdf

Issue:

CP, Number 25

Section:

No. 25 (2020) Editorial

Abstract:

Nowadays, people communicate in an intercultural environment on daily bases using not just language but nonverbal elements as well. Sometimes nonverbal elements, consciously and unconsciously, convey stronger meaning than the verbal part. For this reason, it is necessary to apprehend that this behaviour differs significantly from culture to culture and therefore its meaning and the message that it transmits must be studied. In this paper, research conducted among members of different cultures is presented and discussed. Starting from the idea that the understanding and the awareness of body language are important in intercultural communication, this research aimed at identifying and highlighting some of the differences in the interpretation and use of these elements. The categories of proxemics, paralanguage showed a great diversity of their perception, while oculesics, gestures, facial expressions and mimicry indicated the differences in the frequency of their use. Since most of the participants belong to contact cultures, in the category of haptics and posture there are no significant deviations. The research also revealed that female and male participants understand differently certain nonverbal elements, which could be a good starting point for further research. In addition, it proved that nonverbal elements are as important as language knowledge to achieve effective intercultural communication.

Keywords:

gestures, haptics, proxemics, paralanguage, facial expressions, oculesics, posture.

Code [ID]:

CP202025V00S01A0004 [0005174]

Note:

Full paper:

Download pdf

Issue:

CP, Number 25

Section:

No. 25 (2020) Editorial

Abstract:

This paper focused on several aspects of life in Great Britain. I wanted to concentrate chiefly on two important points. Firstly, I tried to find and compare the differences in lifestyle and related entertainment in the country villages, towns and cities in the early years of the nineteenth century which I perceived as largely dominated by deeply rooted traditions and strict social norms. As the basic source for my research I selected some of Jane Austen’s novels as they serve as real social chronicles of her times. Secondly, I did a similar analysis and comparison of the same aspects at the turn of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries as they were reflected in Helen Fielding’s novel Bridget Jones’ Diary. I thoroughly analysed and compared the aspects of life, the habits, norms, rules and views, class affiliations, the snobbery, vanity and conceit of middle and upper classes in Britain in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The findings, based mostly on the strictly observed and applied rules of socializing showed that no matter what century we live in now, nothing much has changed between Austen’s and present times when speaking of social rules, norms, class distinctions and equally importantly – position of women.

Keywords:

society, social status, dances, social events, marriage, traditions, social norms.

Code [ID]:

CP202025V00S01A0005 [0005175]

Note:

Full paper:

Download pdf

Issue:

CP, Number 25

Section:

No. 25 (2020) Editorial

Abstract:

Aspects of the London Blitz are represented in the novels The End of the Affair (Graham Greene 1951) and Spies (Michael Frayn 2002), and these representations involve a reflection on the effects on urban culture and city lives of the translation of the destructive action of war to the metropolitan sphere. To the purpose of elucidating the extent of this reflection, this article offers a comparative analysis of the depiction of human lives in an urban environment under threat of instantaneous ruin in both novels. The analysis is guided by the specificities of urban ruin originated by bombing as useful indicators to relevant textual items, and focuses on the divine associations of air bombing, the articulation between built and open or “natural” spaces in the urban framework, social difference encoded in the city landscape, the significance of bomb sites and urban routine affected by the war. The conclusions attempt to show how, conversely, the literary representation of bombing attacks on the city illuminates the actual experience or city life and urban culture.

Keywords:

bombing, London, The End of the Affair, Spies, ruin, Blitz, war.

Code [ID]:

CP202025V00S01A0006 [0005176]

Note:

Full paper:

Download pdf

Issue:

CP, Number 25

Section:

No. 25 (2020) Editorial

Abstract:

The influence of the Victorian on postcolonial Indian narratives in English dates to the 1930s with the Founding Fathers: Mulk Raj Anand, Raja Rao and R.K. Narayan. There is a clear development of the Indian social novel that emerges in the Gandhian era to the connexions with the Victorian, underlying the relationship between neo-Victorianism and globalization. It is the aim of this article to highlight a Dickensian pervasive presence in the first stages of Indian narratives in English, specifically the Indian social novel. I will establish a comparative approach between Dickens’ celebrated novel Great Expectations (1860-61) and Coolie (1936) by Mulk Raj Anand, the social Indian writer par excellence. I suggest a neo-Victorian encounter framed within a colonial/postcolonial encounter, making explicit how different historical processes – late eighteenth-century England and the Gandhian era in India – cause a similar social impact on so different contexts. Mulk Raj Anand adapts and appropriates the Victorian in Coolie, showing deep social concern and claiming against social evils, injustice and hypocrisy in India. This analysis stands as a transcultural exercise that shows Dickens’ universal scope regardless of time and space.

Keywords:

postcolonial novel, Indian social novel, neo-Victorian, Charles Dickens, Mulk Raj Anand, globalization.

Code [ID]:

CP202025V00S01A0007 [0005177]

Note:

Full paper:

Download pdf

Issue:

CP, Number 25

Section:

No. 25 (2020) Editorial

Abstract:

Black Lives Matter (BLM), a civil movement that originated in the United States of America in the year 2013 to condemn racism and police brutality against African American people, has recently sparked more interest around the world. The teaching of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) has moved from solely linguistic and grammatical approaches towards a more inclusive cultural and social experience (Peterson & Coltrane 2003). The EFL classroom reality should focus not only on the linguistic aspects of the target language, but also foster learners’ critical thinking, cultural awareness and societal core values. This article introduces the basis for a theoretical and pedagogical proposal around the topic of anti-racism urban protests in the USA, the UK and other places around the globe. The cities have a dual role in this context; on the one hand, as performers of ideal nucleus of freedom of speech, liberation and justice; and on the other hand, as places that allow and even promote violence and feelings of anger and frustration to be released, which may result in the destruction of urban elements, such as furniture and memorials. The ultimate goal of this proposal is to design a didactic unit to be later on implemented in the EFL classroom as part of the course curriculum of English Bachelor’s Degree subjects. Integrating urban cultural awareness in the EFL classroom could be applied to any educational level, as it is a meaningful way of developing critical intercultural competence in the EFL learners and grasping the current urban realities around the globe.

Keywords:

urban protests, anti-racism, Black Lives Matter (BLM), cultural awareness, EFL classroom, critical thinking, foreign language skills.

Code [ID]:

CP202025V00S01A0008 [0005178]

Note:

Full paper:

Download pdf

Issue:

CP, Number 25

Section:

No. 25 (2020) Editorial

Abstract:

Generally, the expression “urban culture”, through a variety of elements that set up its profile (like, for example, history, personalities, language, art, architectural style, fun or music), becomes synonymous with the culture of the elite, the intellectuals or the people of culture. In Romania, this phenomenon of urban culture is new and still in progress, with a constant balancing between preserving the local elements and connecting to the values of modernity (Stan 2010). The aim of the present paper is to highlight the manner in which the urban culture of a Romanian provincial town, Bacău, is shaped through English, in its attempt to adapt to the European values.

Keywords:

Bacău, urban culture, min axis, store names, street events.

Code [ID]:

CP202025V00S01A0009 [0005179]

Note:

Full paper:

Download pdf

Issue:

CP, Number 25

Section:

No. 25 (2020) Editorial

Abstract:

Shobha Rao’s An Unrestored Woman: And Other Short Stories (2016) sheds light on gendered traumas that span decades as they adopt new forms: from the often neglected figure of the abducted woman in post-Partition India to sexually abused girls in 1980s New York, to name a few. Most of the female characters in the collection face a suppression of their agency enforced by legal dictates and patriarchal attitudes. This evinces the sharp contrast between everyday reality and social constructions which, despite being meant to create a sense of community, exclude some of the intended members. By drawing on Agamben’s theorisation of potentiality (1999), and through the analysis of two of the short stories—“An Unrestored Woman” and “Unleashed”—, it will be argued that being part of a group is not so much a result of yielding to pressure as it is of realising and subverting imposed circumstances. Characters on a quest to fulfil their potential will ultimately demonstrate that, in the absence of social cohesion, individuality and the exercise of free will are essential for belonging.

Keywords:

belonging, gender, India, potentiality, short story.

Code [ID]:

CP202025V00S01A0010 [0005180]

Note:

Full paper:

Download pdf

Issue:

CP, Number 25

Section:

No. 25 (2020) Editorial

Abstract:

Monsoon Wedding (2001), a film directed by Mira Nair, is a comedy of manners which portrays what wedding movies offered to the global, western palate until the turn of the 20th century. Nair’s novelty and great success is putting India in the center and not in the margins. If Monsoon Wedding acquainted a western audience with the sights and sounds of the new global India (Sharpe 2005), Made in Heaven, an Indian drama web television series directed by Zoya Akhtar, Alankrita Shrivastava and Nitya Mehra, premiered on Amazon video on 8 March 2019, attempts, on the other hand, to make a shift in Indian social awareness addressing a global/glocal (Ritzer 2003) audience. This “Big Fat Indian Wedding” blends the old and the new India, showing a postmodern India where modernity coexists with traditional rituals. Made in Heaven breaks barriers and represents a progressive and daring show within the Indian market. The voice-over that closes each of the nine chapters acts as a wake-up call for its global/glocal audience. Kabir Basrai (Shashank Arora) – the voice-over – disrupts mainstream conventions and redefines the nature of the margins allowing minorities a resistant space in which to be heard (Moodley 2003).

Keywords:

global, glocal, otherness, TV series, social awareness.

Code [ID]:

CP202025V00S01A0011 [0005181]

Note:

Full paper:

Download pdf

Issue:

CP, Number 25

Section:

No. 25 (2020) Editorial

Abstract:

This article represents a theoretical approach to the elements of the didactic communication process. Our theoretical plea will open with the distinction between educational communication and didactic communication. Then, following the line of analysis drawn by the classical theories of communication, we will present some interdisciplinary approaches to the elements of the didactic communication process: the teacher and the student in their double capacity of transmitters and receivers, the pedagogical message transmitted in the traditional or virtual classroom, the feedback and the specific features of the context of this type of communication. Our theoretical analysis restates the need for analysis and understanding of didactic communication by all actors involved, considering that the quality of didactic communication directly influences the quality of teaching – learning – evaluation in the educational system.

Keywords:

didactic communication, communicative competence, pedagogical message, feedback, educational communication.

Code [ID]:

CP202025V00S01A0012 [0005182]

Note:

Full paper:

Download pdf

Issue:

CP, Number 25

Section:

No. 25 (2020) Editorial

Abstract:

Literary works have contributed a crucial role to the manifestation of the dominant themes of the time and the era to which they belong. Each writer and each work has a special orientation in its approach to convey the intended message. This article, having as its approach context and metacontext analysis of the text, scrutinizes Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mocking Bird in order to assess the writer’s tact in the illustration of specific issues through the manifestation of their cultural, historical, and religious context and background. Through the introduction of these materials, this study has also tried to answer the question concerning the manner in which the writer has captured the theme of racism via the projection of the unseen, unfathomable, and the unobjectionable information of the mentioned origins to touch upon our consciousness and arouse sympathy towards the humanitarian crisis practised at that time. The article reveals the plausibility of the interpretation of the novel based on religious, historical, and cultural background references. It renders the fact that Lee contributed a significant share to the illustration of such themes as racism and inhumanness at that time and stands as a landmark of inspiration for others as well.

Keywords:

religious, historical background, cultural background, Harper Lee, racism.

Code [ID]:

CP202025V00S01A0013 [0005183]

Note:

Full paper:

Download pdf

Issue:

CP, Number 25

Section:

No. 25 (2020) Editorial

Abstract:

This paper deals with a classic of American literature, a master of the short story and poetry, a literary critic who demanded seriousness, professionalism and high standards of literature – Edgar Allan Poe – along with his contribution to literature in his native Appalachia and to world literature, and the way his literary legacy has been cherished in modern times and seen from different cultural perspectives. The paper will also shine additional light on the way the literary works of the “Tomahawk Man” influenced new generations of artists.

Keywords:

Poe, short story, anniversary, cultural perspectives.

Code [ID]:

CP202025V00S01A0014 [0005184]

Note:

Full paper:

Download pdf

Issue:

CP, Number 25

Section:

No. 25 (2020) Editorial

Abstract:

The article focuses on the manner in which the space of the city is employed in Zadie Smith’s NW so as to reveal not only a cosmopolitan map of contemporary London, but also to draw a map of the journey of the contemporary individual in finding himself/herself. Smith adopts in NW an experimental manner of introducing the contemporary individual in a strongly cartographied space both at the level of the city and at the level of the body of the text. Thus, through the space of North West London, the author speaks about family, social class, (inter-racial, marital) relationships, (complying or not with) gender roles (and dealing with the defiance against such roles), mobility (at the level of the cityscapes and at the level of the mindscapes), community and possibilities (and impossibilities) of belonging.

Keywords:

city, text, space, mobility, identity, self-fashioning of self.

Code [ID]:

CP202025V00S01A0015 [0005185]

Note:

Full paper:

Download pdf