Poliglocia

Introductory paragraph to an assignment in a class about "Transnational Literature" whith a professor who is also keen in discussing "Ethnic Literatures" as opposed to non-ethnic, "normal" literature. When addressing the question whether a writer does or not present colonial traits, we must at all times remember to be open to either of the possible answers. Deterministic materialism very often assumes that all writers born in a first world country will necessarily be doomed to write in the name of the empire, even if they claim the opposite. If this was so, we would already have the answer to the quality of an author's work before reading it. Any literary discussion on the contents of his writing would be pointless, since the outcome is already predefined. In the best of cases, we would only look for details that confirm what we already know - but we would not be open to whatever the text might actually bring forth itself. This attitude is frequent ...

Ich habe mir vorgestern den den ersten Band vom Manga "X" von Clamp besorgt, aus zweiter Hand. Viele gute Mangas kriegen wohl nicht so oft neue Auflagen, wie dagegen die amerikanischen Comics sie haben. Man findet viel mehr haufenweise Schuhlmelodrama die erst neu erscheinen aber schon seit Jahrzehnten das gleiche erzählen, und kriegt den Eindruck, dass soll eigentlich alles sein, was der Manga zu bieten hat, wehrend nebenan Monster wie Allan Moore und Neil Gaiman stehen. Ist natürlich Quatsch. Das Manga blätter ich erst oberflächlich durch, so ganz nebenbei, und versuche erst mal schnell durch die Story zu wandern. Plötzlich sehe ich, dass ein einziges Panel eine ganze Doppelseite übernimmt. Papierverschwengung, denk ich erst, und blättere weiter. Ist dass überhaupt noch ein Panel wenn es von nichts abgegrenzt wird? Ich blättere nochmal zurück und sehe jetzt, dass es doch eigentlich im rahmenlosen Bild mindestens zwei Perspektiven gibt, denn so wohl Kotori wie auch Kamui sch...

Being meguca is suffering The concept of tragedy is fundamental to the plot of Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica, even if it may not seem related at first sight. The reason why the story appears dark, rough and negative in contrast to older magical girl anime is because it assumes the possibilities of heroism and goodness in a very different way than most contemporary popular fiction. The quote which I consider key in this case is what Kyouko first states in episode 7: "Wishing for hope creates an equivalent amount of despair." This is restated by Sayaka en episode 8: "The balance of hope and despair is always zero", and finally confirmed in the shape Madoka takes in episode 12. This may in the first place be linked quite closely to a critic concept of karma in Buddhism, which after all is ultimately defined as the struggle to change the world instead of accepting it. At the beginning of episode 11, Kyubei also explains that "The potential of a magical girl depends o...