The present paper makes an attempt to employ concepts developed in philosophy and logic in order to explain natural language phenomena. The study centers on the meanings of the Polish modal verb musieć in relation to aspect and negation. It uses authentic language samples excerpted from Narodowy Korpus Języka Polskiego [The National Corpus of Polish]. It adapts the model of the semantic field of modal expressions (Kratzer, 1991) to disambiguate the modal, focusing on the characteristics of the conversational backgrounds that the speaker evaluates in expressing their modal evaluation of an event. The study proposes that the lack of modality-aspect and modality-negation interaction may be explained with the characteristics of the conversational backgrounds.
In the 13th century, under the leadership of Genghis Khan, the Mongol Empire emerged where alcohol was not merely a consumable item but a multifaceted and functional cultural practice integral to the construction of political legitimacy, the establishment of social order, and the performance of ritual representations. For the nomadic Mongols, alcohol consumption transcended personal habit, playing a central role in regulating social relations, strengthening leadership, and consolidating political alliances. Alcohol presentations during ceremonial events such as kurultais, enthronement ceremonies, diplomatic meetings, military victory celebrations, and festivals were regarded as symbolic indicators of generosity, loyalty, and hierarchical order. Particularly, the “cup exchange” rituals functioned not only as a security measure but also as expressions of political allegiance and social cohesion. The ceremonial use of alcohol was directly linked to Shamanistic belief systems explaining the relationship between nature, humans, and the sacred. Cosmological practices such as pouring alcohol toward the four directions endowed it with sacred and cosmic significance. Additionally, travelers’ accounts confirm that alcohol served as a central element in reinforcing social unity not only in court ceremonies but also among the populace. However, existing literature on Mongol history predominantly focuses on military structures, conquests, and administrative institutions, while everyday life practices, especially alcohol culture, remain relatively neglected. This study aims to offer a new perspective on the symbolic world of Mongol society by examining the ritualistic, political, and cultural dimensions of alcohol through a multidimensional approach based on travelogues and historical sources.
In this study, firstly basic information about Nargin Island was given and then literary works that took the subject of captivity on Nargin Island were evaluated. As a result of our survey, 26 works in 5 different literary genres were identified in which the events on Nargin Island were the main subject or an important sub-theme within the plot. These works written in the genres of novel, poetry, theater, memoirs and diary, were published 12 in Azerbaijan and 14 in Türkiye. The fact that novels and the play were written after the 2000s is related to the inadequacy of relations with the Soviet Union during the period and the strong re-establishment of these relations after 1991. All of the works in the poetry genre were written during the days when the captivity in Nargin continued. This is related to the fact that poetry is concise and moves people emotionally more quickly. Naturally, works in the memoir genre are works written retrospectively in the years following the days of captivity in Nargin. The work in the form of a diary has a very important content because it was written by a Turkish prisoner during his days of captivity. The common points of these works, which were written based on the captivity period on Nargin Island, one of the important events in Turkish history, are that they draw attention to the negative situation on the island and emphasize the extraordinary efforts of the Azerbaijani Turks to rescue the captives.
This paper examines the role of technology and art in dystopian literature and their interrelation in Aldous Huxley's Brave New World and Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go (2005). Both dystopian novels depict the societies where technological advancements profoundly influence and control human life, creativity, and individuality. In Brave New World, technology is used to control and dehumanize individuals and to achieve social stability. Art is limited to suppress humans' emotions and self-expression as the world controllers want to do everything that they can erase the past. In Never Let Me Go, technology plays an important role in controlling the lives of characters who are bred to donate their organs. Within this context, art, particularly the students' creative work at Hailsham, serves as an emotional symbol of expression, identity, human dignity, and value. This paper argues that both novels employ the relationship between technology and art to criticise the dehumanizing consequences of technological progress and highlight the role of art as a space for resistance, self-expression, and the preservation of individuality. Through a comparative literary analysis, the study explores the tension between creativity and technological control in dystopian societies. It concludes that Brave New World and Never Let Me Go encourage readers to consider how art might preserve human dignity in the society dominated by technological innovations. Both novels can make us think about how technology and art coexist and influence each other in shaping the future of humanity.
This study examines the historical impact and representation of the Hephthalites in the context of the Vahaneanc uprising (482-484), a Christian rebellion against Sasanian rule in South Caucasia, as described in the work of Ğazar Pʿarpetsʿi, a 5th-century Armenian historian. Pʿarpetsʿi’s records of the events have been evaluated in comparison with other primary historical sources and attempted to be understood within the historical context of the period. This study is based on Grabarca’s critical edition, which relies on the 1891 Venice edition and the 1904 Tiflis edition of the work. Pʿarpetsʿi’s relevant record has been examined by comparing it with data from contemporary Greek, Syriac, and Albanian historical sources covering the period in question. Within this framework, the influence and representation of the Hephthalites and their position within the Hun world have also been addressed. In addition, an attempt has been made to demonstrate the decisive impact of Peroz’s heavy defeat against the Hephthalites in 484 on the course of the Christian uprisings in the South Caucasus. The military successes of the Hephthalites against the Sassanids became an indirect saving grace for the Christian rebels, without any direct alliance, and ensured the success of the uprising.
