*Indicates a student co-author.
Kim, Minju. "Development of the Korean Proximal Demonstrative into an Affective Stance Marker," Journal of Pragmatics, vol. 224, no. 1, pp. 1-19.
Abstract: Across languages, demonstratives grammaticalize into various grammatical and discourse-pragmatic markers. Using corpora of natural conversation and scripted drama conversation, and employing the theoretical frameworks of grammaticalization and (inter)subjectification, this study demonstrates that the Korean demonstrative construct i-ke ya '(it) is this' has developed into an affective stance marker, a development not yet discussed elsewhere in the literature. As a stance marker, the form can encode (a) an emphasizing stance and (b) a boasting stance. The study shows that the development of i-ke ya is an instance of subjectification and of intersubjectification, as the functions of i-ke ya changed from exophoric (pointing to a physical object), to discourse deictic (pointing to a referent in a discourse), and then to expressive (encoding the speaker's stance). The analysis of its shifting functions indicates that i-ke ya obtained its affective meanings due to its frequent use in negative and disaffiliated contexts. Frequency information and a prosodic analysis further testify to the emergence of the new affective meanings of i-ke ya. The study contributes to recent research that investigates various emotive functions of demonstratives beyond accounts based on physical proximity.
Kim, Minju, and Y. Nam. “A Study of English-Speaking Korean Learners' Acquisition of the
Postposition to 'also'.” The Korean Language in America, vol. 27, no. 1, September 2024, pp. 30-66.
Abstract: English-speaking learners of Korean frequently have difficulty acquiring the Korean postposition 'to', which is translatable as also. This study conducts two analyses: an error analysis of English-speaking learners' use of 'to', and a comparison of the use of 'to' by advanced learners and native speakers. First, our error analysis of the learner corpus finds that beginners frequently make errors in positioning 'to' and in combining 'to' with other postpositions; intermediate learners also have difficulty with positioning 'to' correctly, as well as with using 'to' to make parallel connections. Advanced learners still struggle with parallel connections, but their overall error rate is significantly less. Second, the study's contrastive interlanguage analysis investigates whether advanced learners can use diverse polysemous meanings of the postposition 'to' and whether they can use complex grammatical patterns including 'to' as proficiently as native speakers. Compared to native speakers, advanced learners use two meanings less frequently: an "extreme presentation" meaning, where 'to' can be translated as even; and an "emphasis" meaning, which lacks a single-word English translation. Our analysis also found that advanced learners use two grammatical patterns less frequently than native speakers: complex combinations of postpositions including 'to'; and adding the meaning of 'to' to a predicate.
Shelton, Marie-Denise. “Haitian Women’s Fiction.” A History of Haitian Literature, edited by Marlene L. Daut and Kaiama L. Glover. Cambridge University Press, 2024, pp. 458-476.
Abstract: From nineteenth-century antislavery pamphleteering to accounts of ecological catastrophe in twenty-first-century fiction, Haitian literature has resounded across the globe since the nation's revolutionaries declared independence in 1804. Starting with pre-revolutionary writing, including the emergence of Haitian Creole letters, extending to the long, largely francophone nineteenth century, and concluding with present-day Haitian writing in the English language, A History of Haitian Literature presents the political, cultural, and historical frameworks necessary to comprehend Haiti's vast literary output. Whether writing in Haiti or its wide-ranging diasporas, Haitian authors have boldly contributed to pressing conversations in global letters while reflecting Haiti's unique cultural and historical experiences. Considering an expansive array of poets, playwrights, and novelists – such as Baron de Vastey, Juste Chanlatte, Demesvar Delorme, Edwidge Danticat, René Depestre, Kettly Mars, Dany Laferrière, and Évelyne Trouillot – the contributors to this volume offer a fresh examination of a richly polyglot, transnational literary tradition that spans more than two centuries.
Valencia, Norman. “Bildung, Masochism, and Contemporary Male Subjectivities in Daniel Galera’s Mãos de Cavalo.” Brasiliana: Journal for Brazilian Studies, vol. 13, no. 2, 2024, pp. 264-290.
Abstract: In this paper, I analyze Daniel Galera’s novel Mãos de Cavalo (2006) as a Bildungsroman, a genre that has become increasingly important for Brazilian literary criticism in the last 30 years. Through its protagonist, Hermano, the novel discusses the influence of gender, class, and mass media in the formation of young male subjects today. I also focus on a topic that has not been thoroughly analyzed: The main character’s masochistic tendencies. With theoretical concepts that include Mikhail Bakhtin and Franco Moretti’s critical readings of the Bildungsroman, recent approaches to the genre by contemporary Brazilian academics, and Sigmund Freud’s analysis of masochism, I contend that Galera produced a significant reflection on some of the darker and self-destructive aspects of class inequality and masculine formation in contemporary Brazil.