This paper examines the life and work of Miyazawa Kenji, emphasizing his humanist ideals and efforts to alleviate poverty in his native Iwate. Influenced by the region's harsh climate and frequent natural disasters, Miyazawa became a devoted Nichiren Buddhist. The paper analyzes his distinctive interpretation of Buddhism, his syncretic use of Shinto motifs, and his incorporation of local folklore into his writings. It explores his deep connection to nature, a recurring theme in his stories. The paper concludes that harmony with nature is the only force capable of saving and calming the human mind. In Japan, balance with the universe has been promoted through various religions, making the country’s religious landscape highly integrated, resilient, and profoundly compelling.
The alignment system is a feature that allows us, as spectators, to gain an understanding in each constructed world of Shin Megami Tensei (“Metempsychosis of the True Goddess”) through a unique lens by various interactions with supernatural entities depicted across the globe. When compared to the other three endings offered in the “Canon of Creation” arc, the more chaotic route appears to be portrayed somewhat biased by its developers. Therefore, despite the absence of Amaterasu, who is considered Japan's mythological chief, patriotic ideals stemming during the Edo period (1603-1868) seem to resurface in this creative work to reinforce a “distinctly Japanese” perspective. However, why would such nativist motives even be relevant for this title in particular? Can it be assumed that Japanese made products try, in a way, to manifest the country's presumably uniqueness?
This corpus-based paper reports research findings emerging from an online survey and ten interviews conducted within Ovidius University of Constanta, as part of the Digital Language and Communication Training for EU Scientists (DILAN) Erasmus project. The aim of this paper is to identify sustainable strategies and transformative practices employed in professional and public communication of science in digital environments. It also assesses whether competence in communicating science online to expert and broader audiences needs to be a transversal skill to be taught/learned in higher education institutions. The analysis of our data revealed that digital communication is an emerging yet uneven practice among researchers at Ovidius University of Constanţa who clearly distinguish between communication with peers and communication with the general public. OUC researchers tend to favor traditional, peer-oriented dissemination (journal articles, open-access platforms) for professional visibility, while adopting more accessible formats (blogs, Facebook, institutional websites) when reaching lay audiences. This reflects an awareness of genre adaptation to context and audience, a key feature of digital genre competence.
This article examines cultural perceptions based on a theoretical framework which includes anthropological concepts, especially that of cultural relativism (Franz Boas, Melville Herskovitz, and Ralph Linton), emphasizing that human behaviour and language require contextualization, rather than universal judgement. Utilizing a qualitative interpretative method, the study applies Linton’s cultural reading grid to analyse Erasmus students’ narratives. While the students identify objective Universals and Specialties, through cultural observation and social interaction, their subjective engagement with Alternatives and Individual Peculiarities transforms static norms into a personalized reality; in other words, it turns standard social rules into a unique experience.
This study analyzes the use of Anglicisms in German fashion advertising through a qualitative content analysis of selected fashion posters. The aim is to analyze the formal forms and communicative functions of English language elements in the advertising context. Methodologically, the study is based on the principles of qualitative content analysis according to Mayring. Anglicisms, in their various forms, are intended to appear modern and international, to convey prestige, and to contribute to the emotionalization of the advertising message. The results show that Anglicisms are not used arbitrarily in German fashion advertising but rather constitute a central strategic element of brand communication and serve as a symbolic tool for generating meaning and establishing fashion. Der Beitrag untersucht den Einsatz von Anglizismen in der deutschen Modewerbung am Beispiel ausgewählter Werbeplakate. Auf Grundlage der qualitativen Inhaltsanalyse nach Philipp Mayring (2015) werden sowohl formale Erscheinungsformen als auch kommunikative Funktionen im Werbekontext herausgearbeitet. Anglizismen erfüllen dabei in ihren unterschiedlichen Ausprägungen die Funktion, Modernität und Internationalität zu signalisieren, Prestige zu vermitteln und die Werbebotschaft emotional zu intensivieren. Die Ergebnisse verdeutlichen, dass Anglizismen in der deutschen Modewerbung nicht zufällig verwendet werden, sondern ein zentrales strategisches Element der Markenkommunikation darstellen. Sie fungieren als symbolische Ressourcen zur Bedeutungsproduktion, durch die Marken nicht nur beworben und im Bewusstsein der Zielgruppe verankert, sondern zugleich als relevant, modern und gesellschaftlich anerkannt positioniert werden.
Corpus linguistics provides empirically grounded insights into the pedagogy of abstract writing in Medical English, offering a more evidence-based and rhetorically informed alternative to mechanical, prescriptive approaches. This study applies a speciality-specific corpus methodology to examine key linguistic features of biomedical abstracts in a corpus of 48 original research article abstracts published in the Intensive Care Medicine journal (ICM) between January and October 2024. The analysis focuses on the use of passive voice and nominalisations, with a view to their exploitation in Medical English teaching, given the conflicting recommendations journals and publishers provide regarding these features. Although style manuals advise against passive constructions and nominalisations, the present findings demonstrate that these features are frequently employed in this specialised corpus of intensive care medicine, often preferred over alternative constructions. Current tendencies should inform Medical English instruction, where pedagogical recommendations benefit from actual language use and academic writing practice.
The current paper uses an interdisciplinary approach (business and anthropology) to situate a business model case study in the context of Japanese culture, in an attempt to elucidate what Japonisme 3.0, the third wave of Japanese influence in the world, might represent. The solution proposed by the authors lies in a new concept, kinôbi, an idea with roots in traditional Japanese attitudes towards artisanship, creation, and production. Kinôbi, translated by the authors as “beauty in function,” suggests a potential business model that uses understanding, knowledge, and technique as indispensable skills for value creation.
This paper aims to examine the “sad girl” music phenomenon, stating that sadness is not just an authentic expression of the self, but a performative and highly commodified affect. While popular artists like Lana Del Rey and Mitski, at first glance, seem to be expressing genuine feelings, this study suggests that their sadness is just a performance, packaged in a marketable product. Using concepts from affect theory, media studies and feminist theory, the research applies Critical Discourse Analysis to examine songs from two artists: Lana Del Rey and Mitski, and to indicate the way sadness sticks to both artists’ artistic personas, turning into a desirable aesthetic.
This article (Part I of a two-part study) explores the archetype of the Sage in anime through a theoretical framework grounded in Jungian analytical psychology and comparative mythology. It examines how Eastern and Western traditions conceptualize wisdom, particularly within mentor–disciple dynamics, and analyses the transformation of the Sage figure in contemporary Japanese popular culture. Part I focuses on the conceptual foundations of the Sage archetype, including its mythological origins, symbolic functions, and the evolving representation of female wisdom. Special attention is given to the relationship between wisdom, self-control, and the balance between rationality and emotional intelligence. Part II of the study (which will be published in the following issue of this journal) applies this theoretical framework to a detailed analysis of Shinsekai Yori, demonstrating how the anime reconfigures the Sage archetype within a dystopian narrative structure. Ultimately, the study reveals that wisdom in anime is portrayed as an ongoing process rather than a fixed state.
Elif Shafak’s fiction enjoys a unique cultural and literary position at the convergence of Eastern and Western traditions, blending personal experience, political thought, and imaginative storytelling. Her fiction is distinct by the way she consistently challenges binary cultural framings, rigid nationalism, and identity singularity, promoting instead “multiple attachments” and inclusive perspectives. Previous research on Shafak’s fiction has examined the thematic engagement with gender, politics, and mysticism, as defining features of her novels. This article aims to advance a more integrated analysis of how her novels and public discourse jointly deconstruct long-standing cultural stereotypes and build identity beyond geographical determinism. The purpose of this study is to explore the ways in which Shafak’s fiction and public discourse function as interconnected spaces for negotiating cultural intersections, fostering empathy, and disrupting East–West dichotomies. This research attempts to contribute to broader discussions on transnational literature and the narrative strategies used to bridge diverse cultural frameworks.
This paper aims to reflect on the use of chatbots, such as ChatGPT and Copilot, in all phraseological work stages in the classroom, including discovery, practice and consolidation, as well as active language production. Despite the current limitations identified, such as the inability to "understand" phraseology-specific terminology and the difficulty in generating texts at a certain CEFR level or in a specific language style and register, chatbots' added value for phraseodidactic practice remains. This paper presents three arguments in favor of the conscious use of language models in phraseodidactics: learning processes personalization, internal differentiation in teaching, and the use of multilingualism. This approach promotes critical thinking by encouraging learners to discuss, analyze, and question AI-generated responses and results to different prompts.
Performativity can rob movements, phenomena, places, and images of their substance. The purpose of this article is to study this function, as it engages with the art of Jean-Michel Basquiat. His work has been subjected to this process, suffering a taxidermy. His method, context, social engagement, and the urgency characteristic to his art have been reduced to self-referential symbols. This paper introduces the original concept of artistic taxidermy, aiming to analyze the evisceration undergone by the conceptual content of Basquiat’s work, while providing a theoretical filter for the distinction between authentic artistic intention and taxidermy.
The article presents key landmarks of the postwar Japanese avant-garde in photography, revealing the ideological and artistic positioning of the main local photographic movements. Focusing on the three postwar decades, particularly the 1960s and 1970s, a period of intense creative expansion shaped by reconstruction, rapid modernization, and Western influence— the study situates photographic practices within a broader cultural context that reinterpreted both traditional and foreign elements. During this time, photographers acted and reacted through journalistic protest, ideological provocation, and artistic performance, articulating diverse visions—both radical and realist—of photography as an art form and medium. Evolving in close dialogue with other artistic disciplines, photography became central to the Japanese postwar avant-garde, engaging in multicultural exchanges and intermedial transgressions that challenged established aesthetic boundaries. Through iconoclastic ruptures, experimental practices, and sustained theoretical reflection on the nature of the medium, Japanese photographers contributed decisively to the emergence of new aesthetics and to broader artistic transformations within the dynamic crucible of postwar avant-garde arts.
The present paper looks into the main challenges language instructors face when teaching report writing to business students who are advanced or proficient in English and puts forward possible solutions for improving the educational approach in order to achieve a more adequate result. In their first academic years, students lack genre awareness, which translates into a persistent reliance upon previously acquired essay-writing conventions. This writing mindset negatively impacts the students’ ability to adapt to the factual, concise, purpose-driven style required when writing business reports. The corpus analysed includes 90 documents submitted by first and second-year students; our findings highlight the most common issues encountered: the use of long, convoluted sentences, an overly academic style, information overload, a tendency to slip towards informality or the use of abstract language choices, all of which reveal a weak audience awareness. Therefore, our study argues in favour of a pedagogical shift that includes explicit genre comparison, the use of authentic tasks, resorting to metacognitive strategies and scaffolding. The ultimate purpose of our research is to highlight the fact that mastering genre appropriacy is as crucial as language proficiency in professional communication.
This paper examines Murakami Haruki’s short story “The Anteater in Musashi-Sakai: Kaho, Part II (Musashi-Sakai no arikui – Kaho sono 2, hereafter referred to as “The Anteater in Musashi-Sakai”2 ) from the perspectives of spatial theory and suburban studies, focusing on the representation of Musashi-Sakai as a “Tokyo suburb.” While Murakami’s previous research tends to emphasize the binary oppositions expressed through the narrative structure of the “real world” versus the “other side”, this paper explores how as the boundaries separating these two dimensions are deconstructed in “The Anteater in Musashi-Sakai”. Through an examination of everyday spaces such as verandas and shopping streets, this paper argues that Musashi-Sakai appears as a stratified space composed of overlapping historical layers and multiple boundaries, in which the extraordinary is embedded within the realities of suburbanization process. Furthermore, by analyzing the narrative’s ambiguous temporal representation, this paper demonstrates that the text constructs a composite space in which different stages of Musashi-Sakai coexist, revealing historical processes while reconfiguring them within a fictional framework.
Cormac McCarthy’s novels have proven to be favorites with critics and readers alike and have been consequently translated into multiple languages. But McCarthy’s style presents many challenges and numerous religious, philosophical, and socio-cultural references are pervasive in all his novels. The present article focuses on the translation of the author’s distinctive style into Romanian in the case of McCarthy’s 2006 The Road and the 2009 Romanian translation by Irina Horea. The primary aim of this paper will be to analyze how the post-apocalyptic American identity portrayed in this novel was translated for a Romanian reader.
