Reči

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Reči — Tue, 30 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Reči, Journal of Language, Literature and Culture

EMPATHY IN POETRY TRANSLATION: THE CASE OF METAPHOR

Alena Revutskaya — Tue, 30 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The present article addresses empathy in poetic metaphor translation. Numerous works being dedicated to metaphor translation (Dagut, 1979; Van den Broeck, 1981; Mason, 1982; Newmark, 2008), the ‘cognitive turn’ in translation studies (Tabakowska, 1993; Mandelblit, 1995; Schäffner, 2004; 2017) shifted the research focus from figurative language to figurative thought. However, poetic metaphor translation has not so far been theorized as a re-conceptualization nor identified as an empathic experience. This article focuses on metaphors for space in the ‘last years’ poems’ by the Polish lyric author Maria Pawlikowska-Jasnorzewska (1891–1945) translated into Russian by Natalia Astafiewa (1922–2016), the aim being to reveal empathy in the translator’s figurative thought. The parallel corpora of the study comprise 28 original poems created in 1942 and their Russian translations. Identified linguistically with the MIPVU (Pragglejaz group, 2007; Steen et al., 2010; Nacey et al., 2019) and conceptually with the MSDIP (Reijnierse, Burgers, 2023), the original metaphors are compared to their translation equivalents. Having analyzed the interaction between metaphor translation procedures (Newmark, 2008) and strategies (Delisle et al., 1999), we establish that empathy may parameter poetic metaphor translation.

ARABIC GRAMMATICAL TEXT: VARIATION, PROLIFERATION, AND EVOLUTION IN KNOWLEDGE CIRCULATION

Madyan T. Matar — Tue, 30 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Situated within the lineage of two hubs of grammatical tradition (the Sanskrit and the Hellenistic traditions), the Arabic grammatical tradition represents a captivating intellectual domain that preserves a rich assemblage of linguistic resources. The output of Arab grammarians culminated in a vast textual corpus production, a manifestation of the multiplicity of methodological frameworks and intellectual aspirations that propelled their erudition. However, the textual medium's role in the circulation of grammatical knowledge is an area that has received scant attention in academic circles, marginalizing a crucial aspect of its intellectual evolution. Employing an epistemological approach that questions the substance of grammatical doctrines and the conditions of possibility for their elaboration and dissemination, this article proposes to sketch a synthetic analysis of the textual typologies in the Arabic grammatical tradition and to map their trajectories of evolution. It further aims to argue that such textual plurality was instrumental in advancing the Arabic grammatical knowledge and ensuring the vigorous and efficacious circulation of its theoretical tenets.

EMPATHY AS AN ELEMENT OF SELF-KNOWLEDGE IN THE NOVELS BY JOHN FOWLES

Katarina P. Držajić Laketić — Tue, 30 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This article examines empathy as a constitutive element of self-knowledge in John Fowles’s three best-known novels: The Collector, The Magus, and The French Lieutenant’s Woman. Framed by C. G. Jung’s analytic psychology, it argues that Fowles repeatedly stages individuation as a sequence of moral and psychological tests through which protagonists learn to recognize the other as an autonomous individual and, in so doing, acquire a clearer sense of self. The analysis combines close reading with a Jungian vocabulary of the self, shadow, and anima/animus to show how empathy functions both as a precondition for, and a result of inner integration. In The Collector, the failure or radical deficiency of empathy exposes a blocked path to Clegg’s individuation; in The Magus, orchestrated encounters compel Nicholas Urfe to move beyond narcissistic illusion toward responsible relationality; and in The French Lieutenant’s Woman, Fowles’s metafictional design and competing endings foreground the ethical imagination required to see the other (Sarah Woodruff) beyond social scripts. Across these texts, empathy mediates between private transformation and social constraint, revealing how power, class, and gender complicate psychological growth. By placing Fowles at the intersection of modernist and postmodernist thought and interpreting his characters’ struggles through a Jungian lens, this article sheds light on the dual function of empathy in his work: as a tool for self-exploration and a measure of ethical growth. In doing so, it adds to the body of Fowles scholarship and enriches ongoing discussions in ethical narratology about how inner experience, moral accountability, and literary structure are connected.

DEVELOPING FUNCTIONAL COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE IN ESP INSTRUCTION FOR LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE STUDENTS: APPLICATION OF TBL AND PBL ACTIVITIES

Dragana D. Ilić — Tue, 30 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The paper examines approaches to fostering functional communicative competence in English for Specific Purposes (ESP) among Landscape Architecture students. Functional communicative competence is here defined as the ability to employ language appropriately in professional contexts, combining accurate use of terminology with the ability to describe problems, explain processes, and propose solutions. The study is based on a qualitative analysis of speaking tasks from the course English Language II at the Faculty of Forestry, University of Belgrade, with particular emphasis on the application of Task-Based Learning (TBL) and Project-Based Learning (PBL). The analysis demonstrates that TBL activities, such as compiling a plant species catalogue, and PBL tasks, such as evaluating the condition of a public park, support the acquisition of discipline-specific vocabulary while encouraging teamwork, critical thinking, and the development of presentation skills. These activities connect linguistic practice with authentic content, thereby enabling a more functional use of English. Although challenges were observed, including the differences in students’ proficiency levels and the time required for complex tasks, the findings confirm that well-structured TBL and PBL activities substantially contribute to communicative competence. Pedagogical recommendations emphasise the importance of thorough pre-task preparation, integration of digital tools, differentiation according to proficiency levels, and the provision of continuous feedback. Taken together, these measures can enhance the effectiveness of ESP instruction and prepare students for professional communication in the field of landscape architecture.

PLAGUE AS METAPHOR AND MIRROR OF SOCIETY: CULTURAL MEMORY IN ALESSANDRO MANZONI’S THE BETROTHED AND ALBERT CAMUS’S THE PLAGUE

Milica R. Bulatović — Tue, 30 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The paper demonstrates that both Alessandro Manzoni’s The Betrothed and Albert Camus’s The Plague employ the epidemic not merely as a historical or medical fact, but as a narrative framework through which social, moral, and existential dimensions of crisis are revealed. In The Betrothed, the calamity of the plague in seventeenth-century Milan serves as both a catastrophe and a moral trial. Manzoni vividly uncovers the systemic moral rot of the ruling class, deep social inequality, superstition, and collective hysteria alongside a counter current of robust faith, genuine compassion, and Christian charity which, in his view, is indispensable for human survival and societal renewal.
In contrast, Camus makes the plague universal, turning it into a philosophical metaphor. The epidemic in Oran becomes an allegory for absurdity, totalitarian oppression, and the human condition in a world devoid of any higher meaning. Human responsibility, the need to resist, and the urge to stand in solidarity with others becomes the only answer to an indifferent menace. The novel's conclusion offers no comforting resolution, but instead asserts that the “plague bacillus never dies” and that vigilance against evil must be eternal.
Taken together, the findings indicate that plague narratives in both novels do not simply recount historical trauma but actively shape cultural memory. They reveal that epidemics function as catalysts that expose pre-existing virtues and flaws, forcing societies to confront issues of justice, solidarity, and moral responsibility. In this sense, Manzoni and Camus confirm that literature can preserve and reinterpret collective experiences of suffering, providing enduring insights into the ethical demands of crisis.

COUNTERFACTUALS AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE EXPLICABILITY PROBLEM

Jelena J. Ostojić — Tue, 30 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

In the first part of the text, I present the most important ethical problems in the application of AI, such as perpetuating existing prejudices and discrimination and increasing injustice and inequality, explainability, privacy, transparency, responsibility, and autonomy. The problem of explainability refers to the fact that people do not sufficiently understand why AI makes certain decisions because the principles and processes behind those decisions are not sufficiently clear to them. Recently, several authors suggested that counterfactual conditionals could be used to increase explainability. The second part is a review of the most important theories of counterfactuals.
The third part is a review of the application of counterfactuals in explanations. Understanding the reasons for making particular decisions and why that decision might change under different conditions is the key to building trust in AI models. Explanations can serve many purposes: to inform and help the user understand why a particular decision was made, to provide grounds to contest adverse decisions, and to understand what can be changed to achieve a desired result in the future. In the current literature, “explanation” includes opening the “black box” to provide insight into the internal decision-making process of algorithms. However, explaining the functionality of complex algorithmic decision-making models and their rationale in specific cases is a technically challenging problem. In contrast, counterfactual explanations describe dependency on the external facts that led to that decision. Thus, they can, in principle, be offered without opening the “black box”, what is seen as their main advantage.

AUTOTHEORY: FROM EMBODIMENT TO SOCIAL ACTIVISM

Aleksandra M. Panić — Tue, 30 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This paper positions autotheory as a transdisciplinary and transmedial artistic practice that enables the embodiment of theory and its enactment through the body. By analyzing selected works of Adrian Piper, Meggie Nelson, Chris Kraus, and Johanna Hedva, the paper explores how autotheory engages with identity, feminist critique, and embodied experiences of sexuality, illness, pain, grief, and trauma.
The genealogy of autotheory, though formally named in Maggie Nelson’s The Argonauts (2015), can be traced back to hybrid practices that merge personal narrative with theoretical discourse, from postmodern autobiographical writing to feminist theory. Lauren Fournier conceptualizes autotheory as the integration of self with philosophy or theory in ways that are direct, performative, and self-reflexive.
Case studies illustrate the diverse modalities of autotheoretical practice: Piper’s Food for the Spirit (1971) enacts theory through bodily discipline and performance; Kraus’s I Love Dick (1997) interweaves erotic desire and theoretical critique; Nelson’s The Argonauts (2015) integrates theory with embodiment, relationality, and care; while Hedva’s Sick Woman Theory (2016) positions vulnerability and illness as sites of political resistance. Together, these works demonstrate how autotheory amplifies marginalized voices and invisible bodies and allows taboo themes to be unpacked and liberated.
Finally, the paper situates autotheory within contemporary digital and activist contexts, including online manifestos and digital content, where critically framed personal testimony becomes a collective political tool. Autotheory thus emerges not only as an artistic or literary mode, but as a method of knowledge production and a strategy of resistance, inviting both personal and social transformation.

WITTGENSTEIN ON THE ATTRIBUTION OF MEANING TO TERMS IN THE PHILOSOPHY OF LANGUAGE

Andreina S. Grgarević — Tue, 30 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The aim of this paper is to provide an exegetical analysis of Ludwig Wittgenstein’s philosophy of language as presented in the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus and the Philosophical Investigations. While the traditional interpretation assumes a strict division between an “early” and a “late” Wittgenstein, this paper critically examines this distinction. Through textual analysis of selected fragments, it is argued that there is no radical discontinuity, but rather a continuity of thought: (1) certain elements of the Tractatus may be read as anticipations of later views, while (2) parts of the Philosophical Investigations can be understood as supplements or modifications of earlier doctrines.
Special attention is given to Wittgenstein’s notions of “picture,” “proposition,” and “paradigm,” which reveal significant conceptual overlaps across the two works. Moreover, the discussion of emotions—such as the attribution of pain—illustrates the strongest point of convergence. In both works, meaning is grounded in external, observable manifestations: in the Tractatus, the correlation between picture, proposition, and state of affairs, and in the Investigations, the agreement established through shared criteria of use.
The results of this analysis indicate that Wittgenstein’s philosophy of language develops along a line of inquiry rather than being split into two incompatible phases. One of the main implications is the need to reconsider the standard framework of interpretation: instead of a narrative of existing gap, Wittgenstein’s work may be approached as a unified investigation into the attribution of meaning within language.

CLOSET DRAMA AND STAGE FRIGHT: DIEGETIC AND MIMETIC TARGETS OF ATTENTION

Mozhdeh Sameti — Tue, 30 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This paper reconsiders the tension between mimesis (imitation) and diegesis (narrativity) in the history of drama through the lens of closet drama and its relation to stage fright: a cognitive displacement of theatrical attention from the visible stage to the imaginative sphere. Traditionally, drama has been defined as a mimetic genre oriented toward theatrical performance, while narrativity has been regarded merely as a secondary device for unstageable events. However, from Plato’s dialogues and Seneca’s rhetorical tragedies to the Romantic and modern closet dramas, the genre has demonstrated that speech and narration can themselves constitute a dramatic world. Building on Martin Puchner’s notion of stage fright, this paper argues that closet drama does not signify a retreat from the stage but a reconfiguration of attention. By replacing immediate with delayed perception, diegetic closet drama activates the audience’s imagination through techniques such as messenger reports, descriptive stage directions, deliberate concealments, and Brechtian alienation effects. These strategies continuously redirect attention between showing and telling, generating a heightened responsiveness that rivals mimetic theatre. Ultimately, the paper contends that in modernity it is not diegetic closet drama that suffers from stage fright, but mimetic theatre itself, which fears the superior attentional power of diegesis.

THE LIMITS OF EMPATHY: JUSTICE, MORALITY, AND PSYCHOLOGICAL COMPLEXITY IN AGATHA CHRISTIE’S MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS

Ivana D. Nemet — Tue, 30 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This paper explores the role of empathy in Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express (1934), emphasizing its intricate relationship with moral reasoning and justice. The analysis primarily draws on the theoretical insights of Norma Deitch Feshbach, while also incorporating the perspectives of Jean Decety and of D. L. Paulhus and K. M. Williams, in order to capture the multifaceted dimensions of empathy. The novel presents empathy on both the individual and the collective level, shaping characters’ motivations and influencing readers’ perceptions. Hercule Poirot’s investigative success relies on cognitive empathy—his capacity to understand the emotions of suspects without affective involvement—yet his ultimate moral dilemma reveals the presence of affective empathy. This inner conflict highlights the tension between legal justice and human compassion. The collective empathy of the twelve conspirators, bound by shared grief over Daisy Armstrong’s murder, demonstrates how emotional connectedness can legitimize morally ambiguous actions. Their calculated orchestration of the crime reflects Machiavellian tendencies, as they suppress affective empathy to achieve their aim. The intersection of empathy with traits of the Dark Triad—narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy—adds psychological depth to the narrative, illustrating how cognitive empathy can serve both understanding and manipulation. By examining Poirot’s ethical conflict, the conspirators’ collective response, and the novel’s effect on readerly empathy, this study argues that Murder on the Orient Express transcends the traditional detective genre. Christie portrays empathy not as a purely compassionate force but as a complex, morally ambivalent phenomenon that shapes human behavior and challenges readers to reconsider the boundaries of justice and the ethical implications of empathy.

ERROR ANALYSIS OF SERBIAN EFL STUDENTS’ REPORTED QUESTIONS

Jovana Z. Čaprić — Tue, 30 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This research is aimed at uncovering the errors Serbian native speakers make when reporting questions in English, so that those errors could be addressed more effectively in the practice of teaching English as a Foreign Language in the Republic of Serbia. For this purpose, a diagnostic test was made and distributed to the students of the Faculty of Philology, University of Belgrade, who had taken up English as an elective course. Then, error analysis was applied to the tests. It was found that students had managed to report the questions without error in only 54% of cases. The largest number of errors made pertained to retaining the interrogative word order when reporting questions, often coupled with the omission of if or whether and retention of the auxiliary verb do, as well as failure to apply backshift. Some instances of incorrectly shifted tense were also found. To a small extent, some unexpected errors also occurred (the employment of the wrong grammatical person, subject-verb disagreement, as well as the use of ungrammatical verb forms), but some of these occurrences could potentially be attributed to extralinguistic factors and thus deemed mistakes instead. Given that the official student achievement standards in the Republic of Serbia stipulate that English reported questions should be mastered by the end of secondary education, the results indicate that this structure has not been sufficiently adopted and that additional attention should be paid to it in teaching.

ČITATI DRUGOG – DRUGO ČITANJE

Svetlana M. Velimirac — Tue, 30 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

U izdanju hrvatske izdavačke kuće Durieux, marta 2022. godine objavljeno je delo intrigantnog naslova: Dnevnik čitanja Gorana Đurđevića. Ljubitelji pisane reči uvek su zainteresovani za tuđe literarne izbore, a ovom prigodom autor nam pruža priliku da bez pogleda preko ramena u redove nečijeg štiva ili postavljenog pitanja „Šta čitate?“ saznamo kako se oblikovao njegov stvaralački rad i ko su neki od autora i dela koji su na njega uticali. Listanjem knjige autora Đurđevića pristupamo desetogodišnjim izborima literature koju je proučavao i komentarisao iz više različitih oblasti. Zbirka predstavlja multidisciplinarni prikaz odabranih dela sa evropske i svetske naučne scene za koje autor smatra da su ostavili traga u određenim naučnim oblastima.