Text Matters No. 1 (2011)

The first issue of Text Matters, published in 2011 and supervised by its editor-in-chief, Professor Dorota Filipczak, consists of two main sections. The first one, entitled “Women and Authority,” contains thirteen texts exploring, in its editor’s words, “the relationship between women and authority, vested in literary and philosophical texts.” The authors come from different backgrounds: philosophy, theology, literature, while their articles concern the works of authors as varied as Michèle Le Dœuff, Jane Urquhart, Laurence Sterne, Michèle Roberts, Iris Murdoch, Virginia Woolf, Ian McEwan, Muriel Spark, Denise Levertov, Mary Dorcey, Carol Shields, Sylvia Plath, and Janet Frame. One of the analyses is devoted to the male/female relations in selected late medieval and early modern English texts. In the second section, named “Word/Image/Sound,” there are six scholarly articles that cover the following topics: the oeuvre of Rudy Wiebe, close connections between artistry and religion, the postcolonial aspects of Michael Haneke’s Hidden, the use of Ulster dialects in the poetry of Tom Paulin and Michael Longley, the role of dance in Brian Friel’s Molly Sweeney, and, finally, the depiction of ambiguity and paradox in Ian McEwan’s Saturday. Additionally, the volume includes an overview of book tributes to Professor Andrzej Kopcewicz, a look at the current state of American newspapers, a review of The Body (edited by Ilona Dobosiewicz and Jacek Gutorow), as well as two conversations: between Jared Thomas and Teresa Podemska-Abt, and Pamela Sue Anderson and Alison Jasper.

Editorial WOMEN AND AUTHORITY Pamela Sue Anderson (University of Oxford) Michèle Le Doeuff’s “Primal Scene”: Prohibition and Confidence in the Education of a Woman Dorota Filipczak (University of Łódź) “Alternative Selves” and Authority in the Fiction of Jane Urquhart Agnieszka Łowczanin (University of Łódź) Who Are You, Mrs Walter Shandy, Aberratio Naturae? Alison Jasper (University of Stirling) Michèle Roberts: Female Genius and the Theology of an English Novelist Joanna Kazik (University of Łódź) “Of all creatures women be best, / Cuius contrarium verum est”: Gendered Power in Selected Late Medieval and Early Modern Texts Marije Altorf (St Mary’s University College) “Initium ut esset, creatus est homo”: Iris Murdoch on Authority and Creativity Małgorzata Myk (University of Łódź) Let Rhoda Speak Again: Identity, Uncertainty, and Authority in Virginia Woolf’s The Waves Adam Sumera (University of Łódź) Woman and Authority in Ian McEwan’s “Conversation with a Cupboard Man” and Its Film Adaptation Monika Rogalińska (Academy of International Studies) Inner Strength of Female Characters in Loitering with Intent and The Public Image by Muriel Spark Małgorzata Poks (English Teacher Training College, Sosnowiec) The Poet’s “Caressive Sight”: Denise Levertov’s Transactions with Nature Katarzyna Poloczek (University of Łódź) Women’s Power To Be Loud: The Authority of the Discourse and the Authority of the Text in Mary Dorcey’s Irish Lesbian Poetic Manifesto “Come Quietly or the Neighbours Will Hear” Alex Ramon (Kingston University) Writing About a Woman Writer’s Writing: On Gender Identification(s) and Being a Male Critic of Carol Shields’s Work Tomasz Fisiak (University of Łódź) Feminist Auto/biography as a Means of Empowering Women: A Case Study of Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar and Janet Frame’s Faces in the Water WORD/IMAGE/SOUND Paul Tiessen (Wilfrid Laurier University) Memoir and the Re-reading of Fiction: Rudy Wiebe’s of this earth and Peace Shall Destroy Many David Jasper (University of Glasgow) The Artist and Religion in the Contemporary World Tomasz Dobrogoszcz (University of Łódź) The Hidden Gaze of the Other in Michael Haneke’s Hidden Joanna Kruczkowska (University of Łódź) The Use of Ulster Speech by Michael Longley and Tom Paulin Katarzyna Ojrzyńska (University of Łódź) One, Mad Hornpipe: Dance as a Tool of Subversion in Brian Friel’s Molly Sweeney Joanna Kosmalska (University of Łódź) Dichotomous Images in Ian McEwan’s Saturday: In Pursuit of Objective Balance REVIEWS AND INTERVIEWS Agnieszka Salska (University of Łódź) Tributes to Professor Andrzej Kopcewicz Richard Profozich (University of Łódź) New Media Effects on Traditional News Sources: A Review of the State of American Newspapers Grzegorz Kość (University of Łódź) Review of The Body, ed. by Ilona Dobosiewicz and Jacek Gutorow “Taste good iny?” : Images of and from Australian Indigenous Literature Jared Thomas Speaks with Teresa Podemska-Abt Engaging the “Forbidden Texts” of Philosophy Pamela Sue Anderson Talks to Alison Jasper Contributors