The Uses of Print and Writing in Eighteenth Century European Ballet: the Case of The Letters on Dancing and Ballets by Jean-Georges Noverre

This article aims to study the uses of print, especially the Letters on Dancing and Ballets by Jean-Georges Noverre, throughout the emergence of pantomime ballet in the late eighteenth century. Noverre’s discourse is directly associated with a project to revitalize the art of dance. In this sense, books as an object are not only a support for the new aesthetic discourse, but a tool with multiple uses. It simultaneously seeks to modify the spectator’s view of the scene, legitimize the success of the new theatrical genre and value the ballet master profession.

James Sacré, a writing of life gesture

In French contemporary poetry, some poets have wished to return to —and so to increase the value of— the enunciation of the poetic subject. In such poetic scenario, the poet James Sacré exemplifies a new approach that tries to re-establish contact with the expression of the poetic subject, albeit always avoiding the pitfalls of excessive ornamentation and poetic effusiveness. Based on the use of simple language, this approach attaches value to legibility and does not hesitate to tap into the most banal or dullest aspects of reality. This article studies one of the procedures used by the poet to reestablish the expression of the poetic subject. This procedure seeks to rewrite life gestures—a technique that evinces an unavoidable relationship between life and poetic words in the work of James Sacré.

Sherman Alexie’s "The Toughest Indian in the World": Amalgamating the Oral and the Written Traditions

This article argues that The Toughest Indian in the World (2000) by Native-American author Sherman Alexie combines elements of his tribal (oral) tradition with others coming from the Western (literary) short-story form. Like other Native writers — such as Momaday, Silko or Vizenor — , Alexie is seen to bring into his short fiction characteristics of his people’s oral storytelling that make it much more dialogical and participatory. Among the author’s narrative techniques reminiscent of the oral tradition, aggregative repetitions of patterned thoughts and strategically-placed indeterminacies play a major role in encouraging his readers to engage in intellectual and emotional exchanges with the stories. Assisted by the ideas of theorists such as Ong (1988), Evers and Toelken (2001), and Teuton (2008), this article shows how Alexie’s short fiction is enriched and revitalized by the incorporation of oral elements. The essay also claims that new methods of analysis and assessment may be needed for this type of bicultural artistic forms. Despite the differences between the two modes of communication, Alexie succeeds in blending features and techniques from both traditions, thus creating a new hybrid short-story form that suitably conveys the trying experiences faced by his characters.