Title: Layers of naming and responsibility in Saki's short stories
Source document: Brno studies in English. 2012, vol. 38, iss. 1, pp. [55]-76
Extent
[55]-76
-
ISSN0524-6881 (print)1805-0867 (online)
Persistent identifier (DOI): https://doi.org/10.5817/BSE2012-1-4
Stable URL (handle): https://hdl.handle.net/11222.digilib/124304
Type: Article
Language
License: Not specified license
Notice: These citations are automatically created and might not follow citation rules properly.
Abstract(s)
This study takes as its departure point a comment in Tom Docherty's Reading (Absent) Character about naming and responsibility. It places this notion in the context of Saki's short stories, and through them in the comic context as a whole. General illustrations of Saki's gift for naming characters lead to presentation of three specific stories, "The Schartz-Metterklume Method", "The Unrest-Cure" and "Shock Treatment", which involve the extra "layer" mentioned in the title, as the main characters receive or take on new names for the duration of the story. The study links the author's gesture of naming to Docherty's comments on responsibility and to the relationship of havoc-wreaker to victim and havocwreaker to self.
References
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[42] "Nitchevo" (1916) "Lilian's Lonely Soldier". Bystander 20 September, 511–512.
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[46] Pritchett, V. S. (1957) "The Performing Lynx". New Statesman 53.1347, 18–19.
[47] Pritchett, V. S. (1963) "Saki". New Statesman 66.1703, 614–615.
[48] Purdie, Susan (1993) Comedy: The Mastery of Discourse. London: Harvester Wheatsheaf.
[49] "Rail". http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/rail+against?qsrc=2446
[50] "Reginald's Successor" (1911) Review of The Chronicles of Clovis by Saki. Morning Post 23 Oct, 2.
[51] Saki [Hector Hugh Munro] (1902a) "The Political Jungle-Book: The Wolf-Pack and Others". Westminster Gazette 11 Feb,1, 2.
[52] Saki [Hector Hugh Munro] (1902b) "The Political Jungle-Book II – the Dancing of Mor. Mor the Peacock. The Stampede of Runamukki". Westminster Gazette 21 Apr, 3.
[53] Saki [Hector Hugh Munro] (1909) "The Sex that Doesn't Shop". Westminster Gazette 27 March, 2.
[54] Saki [Hector Hugh Munro] (1910a) "The Unrest-Cure". Westminster Gazette 1 April, 1, 2.
[55] Saki [Hector Hugh Munro] (1910b) "Ministers of Grace". Bystander 30 Nov, 432–434.
[56] Saki [Hector Hugh Munro] (1911) "The Schartz-Metterklume Method". Westminster Gazette 14 Oct, 2.
[57] Saki [Hector Hugh Munro] (1912a) "Ministers of Grace". The Chronicles of Clovis. London: John Lane The Bodley Head, 266–285.
[58] Saki [Hector Hugh Munro] (1912b) "The Unrest-Cure". Chronicles of Clovis 73–85.
[59] Saki [Hector Hugh Munro] (1914a) "The Lull". Beasts and Super-Beasts. London: John Lane The Bodley Head, 73–81.
[60] Saki [Hector Hugh Munro] (1914b) "The Open Window". Beasts and Super-Beasts 50–55.
[61] Saki [Hector Hugh Munro] (1914c) "The Quince Tree". Beasts and Super-Beasts 183–189.
[62] Saki [Hector Hugh Munro] (1914d) "The Schartz-Metterklume Method". Beasts and Super-Beasts 97–105.
[63] Saki [Hector Hugh Munro] (1914e) "A Touch of Realism". Beasts and Super-Beasts 133–142.
[64] Saki [Hector Hugh Munro] (1914f) "Potted Parliament". The Outlook 16 May, 677–678.
[65] Saki [Hector Hugh Munro] (1919) "Shock Tactics". The Toys of Peace. London: John Lane The Bodley Head, 217–226.
[66] "Sangfroid". http:dictionary.reference.com/browse/sangfroid
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[72] Tave, Stuart M. (1960) The Amiable Humorist: A Study in the Comic Theory and Criticism of the Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth Centuries. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
[73] Thrane, James R. (1971) "Two New Stories by 'Saki' (H. H. Munro)". Modern Fiction Studies 19, 139–151.
[74] Torrance, Robert M. (1978) The Comic Hero. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
[75] "Violet". http:www.thinkbabynames.com/meaning/0/Violet
[76] Weekley, Ernest (1916) Surnames. London: John Murray.
[2] Amor, Anne Clark (1985) Madame Oscar Wilde. Paris: Perrin.
[3] Arthur, William (1857) An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names. With an Essay on Their Derivation and Import. New York: Sheldon, Blakeman & Co..
[4] Bergson, Henri (1970) Le rire: Essai sur la signification du comique. Œuvres. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 381–485.
[5] "Beasts and Super-Beasts" (1914) Review of Beasts and Super-Beasts by Saki. Spectator 11 July, 61.
[6] Bilton, Peter (1966) "Salute to an N.C.O.". English Studies 47 (6), 439–442.
[7] Birden, Lorene M. (1996) 'One's bitterest friends': dynamique de caractère et humour chez Saki. Diss. Université de Nice.
[8] Birden, Lorene M. (2011) "Cross Purposes or Crossing Borders? Saki's Mix of Reporting and Fiction". Annals of 'Dunărea de Jos' University of Galaţi Fascicle XIII, Language and Literature, Year XXIX, Issue 30, 1–19.
[9] Chambers Concise Dictionary (2009) Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap.
[10] Charnock, Richard Stephen (1882) Prænomina; or, //The Etymology of the Principal Christian Names of Great Britain and Ireland//. London: Trübner & Co..
[11] Cresswell, Julia (2003) Collins Dictionary First Names. Glasgow: HarperCollins.
[12] "Dagmar". http://www.thinkbabynames.com/meaning/0/Dagmar
[13] Dangerfield, George (1936) The Strange Death of Liberal England. New York: Harrison Smith and Robert Haas.
[14] Didion, Joan (1979) "A Preface". Slouching Toward Bethlehem. New York: Touchstone-Simon and Schuster, xi–xiv.
[15] Digamma (1904) "The Brilliant Young Man". Westminster Gazette 16 Jan, 1–2.
[16] Docherty, Tom (1983) Reading (Absent) Character: Towards a Theory of Characterization in Fiction. Oxford: Clarendon.
[17] Drake, Robert (1960) "The Sauce for the Asparagus: A Reappraisal of Saki". The Saturday Book. N° 20. London: Hutchinson, 61–73.
[18] "Ella". http://www.thinkbabynames.com/meaning/0/Ella
[19] Ganz, Margaret (1990) Humor, Irony, and the Realm of Madness: Psychological Studies in Dickens, Butler, and Others. New York: AMS.
[20] Garner, Philippe (1974) The World of Edwardiana. London: Hamlyn.
[21] Gillen, Charles H. (1969) H. H. Munro (Saki). New York: Twayne.
[22] Gutwirth, Marcel (1993) Laughing Matter: An Essay on the Comic. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
[23] Hanks, Patrick, and Flavia Hodges (eds.) (1994) A Dictionary of First Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
[24] Hanks, Patrick, Kate Hardcastle, Flavia Hodges (eds.) (2006) A Dictionary of First Names. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. King's College Library. 8 Feb. http://www.oxfordreference.com/views.ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=+41.e4336
[25] Henkle, Roger B. (1980) Comedy and Culture: England 1820-1900. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
[26] Herbert, Christopher (1984) "Comedy: The World of Pleasure". Genre 17 (4), 401–416.
[27] "Holy Grail". http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/sangrail.aspx
[28] Hynes, Samuel (1968) The Edwardian Turn of Mind. London: Oxford University Press.
[29] Khayyam, Omar (2010) The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám. Trans. Edward FitzGerald. http://emotional-literacy-education.com/classic-books-online-a/rubai10.htm
[30] "Klum". http://german.about.com/od/names/a/gerNames_2.htm
[31] Knowles, Elizabeth (ed.) (2006) The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
[32] "Krume/Klemme/Klumm". http://www.wordreference.com/krume
[33] Lambert, J. W. (1963) Introduction. The Bodley Head Saki. London: The Bodley Head, 7-62.
[34] Langer, Susanne K. (1953) Feeling and Form: A Theory of Art Developed from Philosophy in a New Key. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
[35] Langguth, A. J. (1981) Saki: A Life of Hector Hugh Munro. New York: Simon and Schuster.
[36] Mais, S. P. B. (1920) "The Humor of 'Saki'". Books and their Writers. London: Grant Richards, 311–330.
[37] McLuhan, Marshall (1964) Understanding Media: the Extensions of Man. New York: Signet-New American Library.
[38] Milne, A. A. (1926) "Introduction". //The Chronicles of Clovis. The Collected Works of Saki//. London: John Lane The Bodley Head, ix–xii.
[39] Munro, Ethel M. (1930) "Biography of Saki". The Complete Works of Saki. By Saki. 2 vols. London: John Lane The Bodley Head, 2: 635–715.
[40] Nänny, Max (1984) "Narrative Modes of Communication". In: Mortimer, Anthony (ed.) Contemporary Approaches to Narrative. Tübingen: Narr, 51–62.
[41] Nasr, S. H. (2006) "The Poet-Scientist 'Umar Khayyám as Philosopher". Islamic Philosophy from Its Origin to the Present: Philosophy in the Land of Prophecy. Albany: SUNY Press, 165–184.
[42] "Nitchevo" (1916) "Lilian's Lonely Soldier". Bystander 20 September, 511–512.
[43] Ong, Walter (1982) Orality and Literacy: The Technologizing of the Word. London: Methuen.
[44] Paulson, Ronald (1998) Don Quijote in England: The Aesthetics of Laughter. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
[45] Pound, Ezra (1934) "The Teacher's Mission". The English Journal 23 (8), 630–635. | DOI 10.2307/804596
[46] Pritchett, V. S. (1957) "The Performing Lynx". New Statesman 53.1347, 18–19.
[47] Pritchett, V. S. (1963) "Saki". New Statesman 66.1703, 614–615.
[48] Purdie, Susan (1993) Comedy: The Mastery of Discourse. London: Harvester Wheatsheaf.
[49] "Rail". http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/rail+against?qsrc=2446
[50] "Reginald's Successor" (1911) Review of The Chronicles of Clovis by Saki. Morning Post 23 Oct, 2.
[51] Saki [Hector Hugh Munro] (1902a) "The Political Jungle-Book: The Wolf-Pack and Others". Westminster Gazette 11 Feb,1, 2.
[52] Saki [Hector Hugh Munro] (1902b) "The Political Jungle-Book II – the Dancing of Mor. Mor the Peacock. The Stampede of Runamukki". Westminster Gazette 21 Apr, 3.
[53] Saki [Hector Hugh Munro] (1909) "The Sex that Doesn't Shop". Westminster Gazette 27 March, 2.
[54] Saki [Hector Hugh Munro] (1910a) "The Unrest-Cure". Westminster Gazette 1 April, 1, 2.
[55] Saki [Hector Hugh Munro] (1910b) "Ministers of Grace". Bystander 30 Nov, 432–434.
[56] Saki [Hector Hugh Munro] (1911) "The Schartz-Metterklume Method". Westminster Gazette 14 Oct, 2.
[57] Saki [Hector Hugh Munro] (1912a) "Ministers of Grace". The Chronicles of Clovis. London: John Lane The Bodley Head, 266–285.
[58] Saki [Hector Hugh Munro] (1912b) "The Unrest-Cure". Chronicles of Clovis 73–85.
[59] Saki [Hector Hugh Munro] (1914a) "The Lull". Beasts and Super-Beasts. London: John Lane The Bodley Head, 73–81.
[60] Saki [Hector Hugh Munro] (1914b) "The Open Window". Beasts and Super-Beasts 50–55.
[61] Saki [Hector Hugh Munro] (1914c) "The Quince Tree". Beasts and Super-Beasts 183–189.
[62] Saki [Hector Hugh Munro] (1914d) "The Schartz-Metterklume Method". Beasts and Super-Beasts 97–105.
[63] Saki [Hector Hugh Munro] (1914e) "A Touch of Realism". Beasts and Super-Beasts 133–142.
[64] Saki [Hector Hugh Munro] (1914f) "Potted Parliament". The Outlook 16 May, 677–678.
[65] Saki [Hector Hugh Munro] (1919) "Shock Tactics". The Toys of Peace. London: John Lane The Bodley Head, 217–226.
[66] "Sangfroid". http:dictionary.reference.com/browse/sangfroid
[67] "Sanguinary". http:dictionary.reference.com/browse/sanguinary
[68] "Scat". http:dictionary.reference.com/browse/scat
[69] "Schartz/ Schatz/ Schar". http:answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090219001 106AACQ6mT
[70] "Schartz/ Schatz/ Schar." http:www.wordreference.com/schartz
[71] Spears, G. J. (1963) The Satire of Saki. New York: Exposition.
[72] Tave, Stuart M. (1960) The Amiable Humorist: A Study in the Comic Theory and Criticism of the Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth Centuries. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
[73] Thrane, James R. (1971) "Two New Stories by 'Saki' (H. H. Munro)". Modern Fiction Studies 19, 139–151.
[74] Torrance, Robert M. (1978) The Comic Hero. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
[75] "Violet". http:www.thinkbabynames.com/meaning/0/Violet
[76] Weekley, Ernest (1916) Surnames. London: John Murray.