• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.171-194
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• 2005

The essay attempts at a critical reading of Thomas Hardy's The Mayor of Casterbridge (1886) in terms of character and socio-cultural change. Juxtaposing the story of Michael Henchard's career with the social and economic changes in the agricultural town, it attempts to elaborate on the complex ways in which Hardy relates the old modes of life and thinking to the material culture. Though the novel is centered on the story of Henchard, the Henchard-Farfrae clash represents the conflict of "old" and "new" modes of socio-economic organization and consciousness. The story of the rustic man of character struggling with his contradictory traits of strong will-power and emotional collapse suggests that Hardy's literary representation of the rural community and the rustic protagonist is deeply rooted in historical reality. However, while there is the interlocking of the changes in personal fate and social change, the representation is a "reinvented" literary construction with complex mediation. Despite the narrator's emphasis on Henchard's immutability, peculiarity, and resilience, his character is, in a complex, mediated way, shaped by the material conditions of English rural community in the late 19th century. The mediating role of Elizabeth-Jane as a narrative resolution embodies Hardy's ambivalent historical position concerning the period undergoing change and conflict.

• The Research Journal of the Costume Culture
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.381-397
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• 2024

This study investigates the negative perceptions (veganphobia) held by consumers toward vegan diets and fashion and aims to foster a genuine acceptance of ethical veganism in consumption. The textual data web-crawled Korean online posts, including news articles, blogs, forums, and tweets, containing keywords such as "contradiction," "dilemma," "conflict," "issues," "vegan food" and "vegan fashion" from 2013 to 2021. Data analysis was conducted through text mining, network analysis, and clustering analysis using Python and NodeXL programs. The analysis revealed distinct negative perceptions regarding vegan food. Key issues included the perception of hypocrisy among vegetarians, associations with specific political leanings, conflicts between environmental and animal rights, and contradictions between views on companion animals and livestock. Regarding the vegan fashion industry, the eco-friendliness of material selection and design processes were seen as the pivotal factors shaping negative attitudes. Furthermore, the study identified a shared negative perception regarding vegan food and vegan fashion. This negativity was characterized by confusion and conflicts between animal and environmental rights, biased perceptions linked to specific political affiliations, perceived self-righteousness among vegetarians, and general discomfort toward them. These factors collectively contributed to a broader negative perception of vegan consumption. In conclusion, this study is significant in understanding the complex perceptions and attitudes that con- sumers hold toward vegan food and fashion. The insights gained from this research can aid in the design of more effective campaign strategies aimed at promoting vegan consumerism, ultimately contributing to a more widespread acceptance of ethical veganism in society.

• The Journal of the Convergence on Culture Technology
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.143-150
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• 2022

The folk language that lives and breathes in modern works does not just come from old stories, but it is a personal narrative which is based on the experiences of the narrator. Like many genres in oral literature, most of these personal narratives occur from the impulse of communicating and reinventing rather than from the impulse of creating. Compared to traditional folktales, stories about an individual's experiences, such as personal narratives are often performed by adding the individual tendencies of the narrator. In so doing, the phenomenon of "processing the experience by estimating it and reinterpreting the memories roughly" occurs, and this is a significant factor in making the oral literature. However, the question that arises here is: How can we deal with these significant elements that are inevitably captured when performed orally? Text linguistics, the main methodology of this paper, implies the possibility of expressing the impromptu elements of oral literature. Also, textual linguistic analysis of personal narratives provides the possibility of discussing oral characteristics from various angles which have been difficult to analyze, such as on-site atmosphere, speaker mistakes, contradictions in stories, and audience reactions. Hence, it is possible to effectively discuss oral-poetics in oral literature which are based on the one-off of 'words', the 'roughness' of the on-site atmosphere, and the stackability of the 'wisdom of crowds'. Furthermore, it is expected to contribute to the study of personal narrative storytelling that plays an important part in Veabal art in community culture.