Laughing at Cultural Difference: Aleko Konstantinov's 'Bay Ganyo' and Alek Popov's 'Mission London' (2023)

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Titel:

Laughing at Cultural Difference: Aleko Konstantinov's 'Bay Ganyo' and Alek Popov's 'Mission London'

Auteur (persoon):

Dikova-Milanova, Miglena LW21 biblio

Uitgever:

2014

Nota:

ASEEES-CESS Joint Regional Conference, 2014 2014. :

Samenvatting:

The clash between two different world views can be tragic and lead to insolvable conflicts, or it can make us laugh. The two books explore the rather comic encounter between traditional Bulgarian attitudes and other European cultural settings. ‘Bai Ganyo’ is written at the end of 19th century and belongs to the classics of Bulgarian literature. In its turn, ‘Mission London’ is a contemporary novel set in 21st-century London. Both books however explore the theme of the journey to foreign lands in search for material gain, a better life, a prosperous career and adventure. The times have changed and while Bai Ganyo is convinced that his opinions, habits and home culture are the best possible, Popov’s protagonists are extremely critical of their original cultural background and idolize the possibilities that the better Europe (London) has to offer. Konstantinov’s character is blind to otherness, by contrast, Popov’s Bulgarians are blinded by everything foreign, they are ready to absorb, and be absorb, by difference. Needless to say, both relations to otherness do not work. As a result, the laughter signals the failure to accept, or to be accepted. In his work on difference, the French philosopher J-F Lyotard paints a rather grim picture of non-acceptance and denial. According to him, 'a differend' is a cultural, social, political or legal situation in which somebody is reduced to the status of an absolute victim. That is to say, that somebody does not have the means to voice the different understanding of reality he or she professes. Maybe laughter, despite its shortcomings, is an efficient way to acknowledge cultural otherness and move away from the deadlock of 'the differend'.

Classificatie:

C3

Onderwerp:

Languages and Literatures

Object id:

1854/LU-6956589

Permalink:

https://lib.ugent.be/catalog/pug01:6956589

MLA:

Dikova-Milanova, Miglena. Laughing at Cultural Difference: Aleko Konstantinov’s “Bay Ganyo” and Alek Popov’s “Mission London.” 2014.

APA:

Dikova-Milanova, M. (2014). Laughing at Cultural Difference: Aleko Konstantinov’s “Bay Ganyo” and Alek Popov’s “Mission London.” Presented at the ASEEES-CESS Joint Regional Conference, 2014, Astana, Kazakhstan.

Chicago:

Dikova-Milanova, Miglena. 2014. “Laughing at Cultural Difference: Aleko Konstantinov’s ‘Bay Ganyo’ and Alek Popov’s ‘Mission London.’” In .

Vancouver:

1.

Dikova-Milanova M. Laughing at Cultural Difference: Aleko Konstantinov’s “Bay Ganyo” and Alek Popov’s “Mission London.” In 2014.

RIS:

TY - GENUR - http://lib.ugent.be/catalog/pug01:6956589ID - pug01:6956589LA - engTI - Laughing at Cultural Difference: Aleko Konstantinov's 'Bay Ganyo' and Alek Popov's 'Mission London'PY - 2014PB - 2014AU - Dikova-Milanova, Miglena LW21 000201312079AB - The clash between two different world views can be tragic and lead to insolvable conflicts, or it can make us laugh. The two books explore the rather comic encounter between traditional Bulgarian attitudes and other European cultural settings. ‘Bai Ganyo’ is written at the end of 19th century and belongs to the classics of Bulgarian literature. In its turn, ‘Mission London’ is a contemporary novel set in 21st-century London. Both books however explore the theme of the journey to foreign lands in search for material gain, a better life, a prosperous career and adventure. The times have changed and while Bai Ganyo is convinced that his opinions, habits and home culture are the best possible, Popov’s protagonists are extremely critical of their original cultural background and idolize the possibilities that the better Europe (London) has to offer. Konstantinov’s character is blind to otherness, by contrast, Popov’s Bulgarians are blinded by everything foreign, they are ready to absorb, and be absorb, by difference. Needless to say, both relations to otherness do not work. As a result, the laughter signals the failure to accept, or to be accepted. In his work on difference, the French philosopher J-F Lyotard paints a rather grim picture of non-acceptance and denial. According to him, 'a differend' is a cultural, social, political or legal situation in which somebody is reduced to the status of an absolute victim. That is to say, that somebody does not have the means to voice the different understanding of reality he or she professes. Maybe laughter, despite its shortcomings, is an efficient way to acknowledge cultural otherness and move away from the deadlock of 'the differend'.ER - 

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