Full issue.

Title page, editorial pages, letter of contents.

The editor-in-chief’s preface devoted to the key ideas for the contemporary literary and cultural theory, which introduces the debates foregrounded in this issue.

The article discussess the notion of fictionality and the main problems that arise from attempting to provide its clear-cut definition. It also presents multiple exclusionary perspectives that are a part of most debates on the matter. In the course of his meta-analysis, the author gives an in-depth description of the approaches by the two main academic schools of thought, namely literary narratology and analytical philosophy, claiming the exclusive right to define fictionality by placing it in their respective fields of study. The juxtapositional structure of the article is reflected in its six subchapters, in which the author familiarises the reader with contemporary research in order to provide a synthesis of the seemingly opposing viewpoints by highlighting conceptual commongrounds the two philosophies share.

Translated from Czech by Izabela Mroczek.

Translated from Czech by Izabela Mroczek.

Based on the theory of fictional worlds we attempt to rehabilitate the mimetic conception of literature, though not of the reality-fiction continuum, which is sharply criticized with complete justification in the theory of fictional world. If we understand mimesis as the imitation of literature (not as the imitation of reality) then we can deduce a theory of fictional worlds from the long difficult-to-defend standpoint whereby literary works have radical autonomy.

Translated by Izabela Mroczek.

The article discusses the structuralist perspective of Jan Mukařovský in the context of mereology – a theory concerning parts and the wholes that they form. The author traces the development of mereological thought in philosophy, from its ancient Greek beginnings, through the writing of Leibniz, towards the more modern, holistic approach exemplified by J. Ch. Smuts. The author describes Mukařovský’s vision of the structure of the literary work as an examination of the whole in terms of the structural and compositional analysis of its parts, where meaning emerges out of the individual components only when perceived from the holistic perspective of the whole. As such, Mukařovský’s theory constitutes a synthesis of mereological thinking with Hegelian idealism, and the structures of the literary work are seen to transcend the materiality of the world.

Translated from Czech by Małgorzata Kalita.

The article revolves around the transformations of Czech literature and literary culture brought about by the introduction and dissemination of the new media and communication technologies (the Internet in particular) since the second half of the 1990s. The methodological framework of the study is the notion of remediation introduced by J.D. Bolter and adapted by the author for the purposes of historical and literary studies. The material in question is divided into two main areas: the first one is the Czech Internet community informed by many new opportunities for creation and presentation of literary texts (hypertext structures, literary forums, blogs); the second one is represented by texts published in traditional, printed form, yet clearly referring to new digital and media technologies (blog novel, e-mail novel, text message poems). The conclusion of the article presents a definition of the three fundamental mechanisms of mutual interaction between Czech literature and the Internet.

The article analyses the structure of the internal monologue in Czech literature of the second half of the 19^th century. Taking the writing of Lubomír Doležel as the theoretical framework, the author traces and examines the development and the evolution of different forms of an internal monologue, paying particular attention to the role it plays in the construction of the text’s narrative form and the very figure of the narrator. The main intention of the article is to illustrate the complex process of change, whereby the reported monologue came to replace psycho-narration, and to explain the significance of that shift in terms of the roles that monologue plays in character, plot and world construction within the microcosm of the text.

Translated from Czech by Małgorzata Kalita.

The article presents and discusses several approaches to the notion of “the world” as exhibited by members of the Prague School and present in Doležel’s writings in an attempt to pinpoint significant differences as well as common ground in their use of the term. In the course of the article, the author focuses primarily on the use of the term referring to either the description of the setting in individual works of literature, or referring to the surrounding empirical reality, paying particular attention to systems of references. The core of the article provides a detailed analysis of “intentional” reality according to Mukařovský and Ingarden, as well as a relational analysis of the variants of the term in the works of Doležel and Vodička. The author concludes that although some instances of the use of the term do appear to overlap with regard to the notion in question, one cannot be satisfied with considering them as synonymous, since the fundamental divergences in their use stem from different reference subjects.

The article explores the impact that postcolonial studies had on the research imperatives and practices of Black American studies. I am going to argue that postcolonial, and in particular Black British cultural studies, have contributed significantly to internationalisation of Black Studies (and, by extension, of ethnic and American studies), reconfiguring the American concept of ethnicity and expanding the American discourse of multiculturalism. The article focuses particularly on the critical intervention that has come from the Caribbean-born British cultural studies theorists, first and foremost Paul Gilroy, the first critic to use the postcolonial frame of reference to black American texts.

Beckett’s plays are known for being “protected” by their author’s prescriptions. That notwithstanding, it appears that in Poland, especially in recent years, daring performances such as Endgameby Maciej Sobociński (2006), god.comby Tomasz Hynk (2006) or Happy Daysby Krzysztof Jasiński (2007) have been staged. In the first one, the characters are reduced to Hamm swinging and Clov jumping around in a huge sandpit covering the stage. In the second one, Pozzo is played by a woman using a whip from a sex-shop to enslave Lucky, and in the third one, the mound Winnie is buried in becomes a known Krakow landmark, and the character sings more than one song, accompanied by Willie the pianist. Many other violations of Beckett’s prescriptions appear in modern Polish theatre. This paper is intended to present the most controversial ones and to find the origins of such courageous ideas.

Marzena Kubisz's review of Éric Baratay's "Le Point de vue animal. Une autre version de l'histoire" (2012) ["Zwierzęcy punkt widzenia. Nowa wersja historii" (2014)] .

Critical notes on the most promising and recent publications.

Summaries of the feature texts of the issue.

The Er(r)go stylesheet and policies of submission.

The colophon of the issue.