Analyzing The Ballad of the Sad Café with Actantial Model

The actantial model is an appropriate and universal way to analyze the deep structure of any novel.By analyzing Carson McCullers’famous novel The Ballad of the Sad Café with actantial model,the theme and the beauty of the novel are easier to acquire.     

Counter from the cathedra: Democratic School Workers Association redefining teachers’ political agency in Finland 1973–1989

Finnish school teachers are unlike their colleagues in many countries, for their ethos and skills have traditionally formed the basis for a profession which has been very loyal to the state and to the changing educational ideologies of the government. Critical historical periods of wars and social revolutions have, however, produced – to a small degree – different kinds of tendencies. This article discusses the political agency of comprehensive and upper secondary school teachers by looking at a particular point of rupture in the Finnish “master narrative” of a neutral and impartial teacher image. As an example of a counter-narrative, the paper presents a small leftist teacher association called the Democratic School Workers Association (Demko) which existed between 1973 and 1989. Demko’s manifesto texts are analysed with the help of A.J. Greimas’ actantial model in order to find the possible kind of political agency that is constructed for teachers. The analysis shows a major change between the 1970s and 1980s. The early Demko narrative draws from the vocabulary of the neo-leftist student movement, inviting progressive teachers to join the “common struggle”. Demko aims at lobbying the more established political actors, whereas individual agency is shackled by the ideals of monolithicity and unanimity. In the 1980s, along with the fading of societal radicalism, Demko’s narrative evolves into a more polyphonic space for identity debates. Political agency is transferred from the collective to individuals who are supposed to critically reflect Demkoian ideals against their everyday praxis. All in all, Demkoian narrative is interpreted as having enriched the gamut of “possible discourses” in the era of the early Finnish comprehensive school. With its distinctively socio-political orientation, Demko tested the boundaries of the political agency of Finnish teachers.     

从叙事学的行动元模式看窦娥之冤——兼评苏力先生的“冤案”观

从叙事学关于行动元模式看,在窦娥悲剧诸种因素中,窦娥冤死的"冤头"只能是判处窦娥死刑的楚州太守桃杌,这是<窦娥冤>运用脸谱化的基本手法,通过桃杌声称"告状来的要金银"的"言"而省略他收受金银的"行",又通过桃杌在审判中偏袒张驴儿的写意性叙述等,体现出来的作品的思想倾向.因此,认为桃杌是"清廉但平庸"的官吏,对"取证技术局限"和"法官的智识局限"是窦娥冤死的"冤主",都不是切合作品实际的.