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Hyperbole in the Writings of American Southern Authors

The research project Hyperbole in the Writings of American Southern Authors is funded by the Polish National Science Center (OPUS 2016/23/B/HS2/01207). The project is carried out in the Institute of English Studies at the Jagiellonian University during the period of 2017-2019

The research project Hyperbole in the Writings of American Southern Authors is funded by the Polish National Science Center (OPUS 2016/23/B/HS2/01207). The project is carried out in the Institute of English Studies at the Jagiellonian University during the period of 2017-2019.

Research objective

The principal objective of the project is to offer a fresh, figurative insight into the narrative structures, symbols as well as the style of selected novels, short stories and plays derived from the American South. The underlying argument behind the project is that the novels, short stories and dramas written by various contemporary authors of the American South are, to a large extent, based on the principle of hyperbolic metalogic which relies on a clash of opposites pushed to the extreme. The discussions of literary works conducted as part of the project do not focus on hyperbole as a figurative ornament on the surface of the text but rather as the cognitive framework for the development of plot, symbolism and overall management of language. Through the analysis of different works by Flannery O’Connor, Lilian Smith, Kathrine Du Pre Lumpkin, Tennessee Williams, William Faulkner, Harper Lee, and Kathrine Anne Porter, the project assembles and explores the diverse social, racial, linguistic and cultural factors that condition the hyperbolic clash. The study of the multiple ways in which the hyperbolic figuration is employed in Southern writings enables to elucidate the Southern penchant for the grotesque and the violent, as well accounting for the complexity of the concept of ‘Southerness’.

Research team

  • Dr Michał Choiński (Principal Researcher)

Contact

Michał Choiński: michal.choinski@uj.edu.pl

O projekcie w mediach:

Zespół badawczy

  • dr Michał Choiński (kierownik projektu)

Kontakt

Michał Choiński: michal.choinski@uj.edu.pl