Literatūros muzikalizavimas: Kosto Ostrausko Kvartetas

In works of literature, music can be found in the form of score fragments, notation symbols, song lyrics, musicological terminology, acoustic aspects of speech, musicians as characters, etc. Such manifestations connect two systems of signification and create an intermedial dialogue between music and literature, which requires a specific methodological approach. According to the intermediality theoretician Werner Wolf, “[t]he verbal text appears to be or become [...] similar to music, or to effects connected with certain compositions, and we get the impression of experiencing music ‘through’ the text”26. This paper discusses possible forms of a musico-literary relationship, the effects they produce, and examples of musicalization found in Kostas Ostrauskas’s play The Quartet (1969). In this play, the musico-literary dialogue is developed on different levels: structure and story, the twofold nature of the characters, intertextuality. Analysis of the play’s architextual relationship with the medium of music helps to identify the specific, musico-literary genre of this play. This unusual genre is defined not only by the content of The Quartet but also by its expression, i.e. graphic nuances, inserted imagery, etc. As shown by the analysis, the play could be understood as a metonymy of the history of both contemporary music and dramatic literature.Muzikos (ar muzikalumo) apraiškų literatūroje gali būti įvairių: veikėjai muzikantai, kompozitoriai, atlikėjai; veikėjų pokalbiai apie muziką; minimi ar aprašomi skambantys kūriniai; cituojamos dainos; įterpiamos kompozicijų partitūrų ištraukos ir t. t. Tačiau, kaip teigia intermedialumo tyrinėtojas Werneris Wolfas, norint kalbėti apie literatūros muzikalizavimą, muzika privalo dalyvauti literatūrinio teksto signifikacijos procese, o verbalinė jo plotmė skaitytojui turi suteikti muzikos, patiriamos „per tekstą“, įspūdį1. Šiame straipsnyje siekiama aptarti literatūros muzikalizavimo ypatumus Kosto Ostrausko pjesėje Kvartetas (1969), kurioje dialogas su muzika skleidžiasi struktūros, veikėjų iš(si)dėstymo, pačios pristatomos istorijos (siužeto) ir intertekstinių ryšių lygmenimis, veikiančiais kūrinio reikšmės suvokimą. Architekstinio šios pjesės ryšio analizė padeda nustatyti ypatingą jos žanrą, palaikomą ne tik Kvarteto turinio, bet ir draminio teksto išraiškos, t. y. grafinių niuansų, vizualių intarpų. Pjesės žanro savitumas ir literatūros-muzikos santykio analizė išryškina siužetinę Ostrausko kūrinio mintį bei leidžia aptariamą draminį tekstą įvertinti platesniame istoriniame meno kontekste

Semiotinis žvilgsnis į Greimų tiltą Prienuose

In 2017, the world celebrated 100 years since the birth of Algirdas Julien Greimas (1917–1992). The anniversary inspired many commemorative works, events, conferences, research projects, etc. That is also the case with this paper.Here, instruments of semiotic analysis are applied to a rather unusual object – a bridge located in the town of Prienai, Lithuania. In 2010, the bridge was given the name of Greimai by the Government of Lithuania as a way of paying tribute to Julius Greimas (1882–1942), schoolteacher and burgomaster of Prienai (1934–40), and his son Algirdas Julien Greimas, literary scientist and semiotician who as a child liked to wander the woods of Prienai.The paper discusses the semantics and narrativity of the Greimai bridge. The main focus is on its function, the characteristics of the bridge and its shores, the semantic universe it embodies. Also considered is the transformation from a simple and concrete structure with a clearly defined function to a symbolic monument.The findings of this small research suggest that the bridge’s characteristics make the Greimai name a good fit and that it creates additional meanings: one recognizes plurality and duality, the echo of the father-son relationship, cyclicality and rituality, etc. In addition, the bridge appears to act as a mediator between nature and culture, life and death.Šiame straipsnyje aptariamas semiotikos kontekste gana neįprastas objektas – tiltas. Analizei pasirinktas konkretus Prienų mieste esantis tiltas, kuriam Lietuvos Respublikos Vyriausybės 2010 m. birželio 21 d. nutarimu suteiktas Greimų vardas. Straipsnyje siekiama tiltą analizuojant išbandyti paties A. J. Greimo kurtos semiotikos įrankius, daugiausiai dėmesio skiriant statinio paskirčiai, paties tilto ir juo jungiamų krantų savybėms, elementariosioms semantinėms kolektyvinio ir individualiojo universumų artikuliacijoms.Pasirinkus netradicinį objektą atsiskleidžia semiotinio metodo galimybės. Atliktos analizės rezultatai išryškina prasmę to, kas įprastai laikoma tik erdvine, du sausumos taškus sujungiančia statybine konstrukcija. Objekto aptarimas parodo, kokios vertės būdingos šiuo statiniu jungiamoms Prienų dalims ir kaip tiltas dalyvauja viso miesto ir kiekvieno prieniečio gyvenime.Šio nedidelio tyrimo išvados leidžia teigti, kad Greimų vardas dera su įvairiomis tilto savybėmis bei sukuria naujų prasmių: atpažįstame daugiskaitiškumą ir dvilypumą, tėvo ir sūnaus santykio įprasminimą, cikliškumą, rituališkumą. Be to, tiltas pasirodo esąs tarpininkas tarp gamtos ir kultūros, gyvenimo ir mirties

Comprehensive evaluation of antioxidant and antimicrobial properties of different mushroom species

Antioxidant properties of mushroom extracts sequentially isolated by cyclohexane, dichloromethane, methanol, and water from Phaeolus schweinitzii, Inonotus hispidus, Tricholoma columbetta, Tricholoma caligatum, Xerocomus chrysenteron, Hydnellum ferrugineum, Agaricus bisporus and Pleurotus ostreatus were evaluated by DPPH, ABTS+ scavenging capacity, ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP), oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC), and Folin–Ciocalteu total phenolic content (TPC) methods. The integrated values (‘antioxidant scores’) for evaluating antioxidant potential of extracts and dry mushroom substances are proposed. Antimicrobial activity was screened against Gram-positive (Bacillus cereus), Gram-negative (Pseudomonas aeruginosa) bacteria and fungi (Candida albicans) by agar diffusion method. The highest antioxidant capacity values (in μM TE/g extract dw) were found for methanol fractions of P. schweinitzii (9.62 ± 0.03 in DPPH; 109 ± 3 in FRAP; 164 ± 1 in ABTS+; 340 ± 3 in ORAC assays) and I. hispidus (9.5 ± 0.04 in DPPH; 54.27 ± 0.46 in ABTS+; 88.31 ± 1.96 in FRAP; 290 ± 1 in ORAC assays). Extracts of other species possessed considerably lower antioxidant activities. The extracts of I. hispidus were more effective against tested microbial species than other mushrooms. In conclusion, our results show that some wild mushrooms might be promising dietary sources of natural antioxidants and antimicrobial agents

Reading with attuned ears: Mmusic in the plays of Kostas Ostrauskas

The author of this article surveys and systematises the many manifestations of music in the texts of Lithuanian playwright and pioneer of absurdist and postmodern drama, Kostas Ostrauskas (1926–2012). Ostrauskas’s drama talks about music and cites it, turns famous figures of the music world into characters and the reader into an active performer, forcing the audience to see (and “hear”) music in various shapes and forms. To explore this dynamics, the author of the article draws on the classification of musico-literary connections developed by intermediality theorist Werner Wolf, which was in turn based on Steven Paul Scher’s triadic typology: a) music and literature; b) literature in music; and c) music in literature. The references to music that can be found in Ostrauskas’s works “illustrate” all of the variations and forms of the interplay between literature and music outlined by Wolf and Scher. The reader of Ostrauskas’s plays is invited to adopt an attitude more active than usual: emphasis is primarily on the plane of expression, as the plays are oriented towards the active reader-performer’s eyes and “ears” (presentation, visuality, plasticity). The systematisation of the connections between music and literature makes it possible to argue that Ostrauskas’s drama examines questions related to the specifics of both media

Women’s collective identity formation in team sports: a case study from women’s basketball

Although the number of sportswomen grows, however the sport is conceptualized as exclusively male domain. For this reason, women, who want to be sport leaders have to confront with a lot of boundaries. The aim of this work is to find out whether gender inequality exists in sport and if it does, to show the role that collective identity plays in contesting sexism structures in team sports. According to conceptions of social recognition, gender as a social structure, power and presentation of sportsmen/sportswomen in media, the theoretical part of this work reveals that the sport is not just the male domain. In this part is described the legal basis (the principles of international “Women and sports” conferences Title IX (USA)) that regulates women‘s rights in sports. A.Melucci, V.Taylor and N.Whittier collective identity concepts allow us to examine the processe of how groups define who they are, contruct the group consciousness and mobilize against perceived injustices. Here are also discussed the circumstances that cause the rise of collective action. The research of gender differences in ice hockey by C.F. Pelak is presented. The empirical base of this work is a case study – VU women‘s basketball team – analysis, which helps to find out whether female confront gender inequality in sports and if they do, how it shows. The same indicators were adapted in making the interviews with the VU basketball players as in C.F.Pelak female ice hockey players research, in order to establish whether there are conditions to form collective identity as an implement to make the situation better in sports. According to in-depth interview with the women basketball players, it may be stated that gender inequality in sport exists and it shows differences in terms of financial conditions and society’s interest in women’s and men’s sport. Theere were evaluated conditions to play basketball that gives VU sports administration, the regulations of LSBL (Lithuanian Student Basketball League) for women‘s and men‘s teams and peculiarities of organization competitions‘ were overlooked. It was established that in the team exists a collective feeling and the shown initiative to change the existing situation allows to state, that in VU women‘s basketball team there are conditions for collective identity formation

Scores in the collection of Kostas Ostrauskas’s works, "Paskutinis kvartetas" (The Last Quartet)

This paper discusses the various relationships of the word (or literature) and music, their functions and the meanings they produce, found in the collection of Kostas Ostrauskas’s works, "Paskutinis kvartetas" (The Last Quartet, 2014). Using the ideas of Steven Paul Scher and Werner Wolf, the possibilities of applying verbal and music studies, on the one hand, and intermediality studies, on the other, to the analysis of the relationships between the word and music in literature, are examined. Aiming to find a productive approach to study these relationships in a work of drama, the theoretical problematics of dramatic and musical texts and their performance is considered in the context of John L. Styan’s, José Ortega y Gasset’s and Anne Ubersfeld’s writings. The discussion mainly focuses on the impact, forms and functions of the scores in Kostas Ostrauskas’s "Penktoji" (The Fifth) and "Varnėnas arba Koncertas fortepijonui G-dur, K. 453" (The Starling, or Piano Concerto in G-flat, K. 453). The analysis shows that the scores, inserted into verbal texts, are capable of taking over features of dramatic works, providing explanations for the text’s titles, becoming instructions for performers or the characters’ lines and / or actions, expressing subjectivity and objectivity, revealing the relationships between characters as well as constructing a specific relationship between the reader and the text. The reader of Ostrauskas’s works, engaged by and engaging in the play of verbal and musical combinations, in a sense also becomes the text’s performer

Share capital concentration in the joint-stock company "Snaige": are the scenarios of other Lithuanian enterprises being replayed?

Vytauto Didžiojo universiteta