[ostrava journal of english philology—vol.12, no. 2, 2020—book reviews] 114 [E. Jelínková and R. Sanders, eds.: The Literary Art of Ali Smith: “All we are is Eyes.” ...] [doi.org/10.15452/OJoEP.2020.12.0014] time line, and different target audiences). The book brings to the table highly in­ The book also introduces the topic of cre­ formative, current topics, especially in the ative writing courses and pragmatic as­ light of changing dynamics of publishing, pects of publishing. and it reflects on the need to go to meet the The only part of the book related to readers and address their changing read­ a different linguistic territory (French­ ing/literary needs and wants. ­speaking countries) describes French children’s literature and discusses autism Veronika Zavřelová with reference to carefully chosen, sup­ University of New York in Prague portive and stimulating literature. As mentioned, all the essays present­ Ema Jelínková and Rachael ed in the book are highly informative for a person who possesses an interest in lit­ Sanders, eds. [The Literary erature beyond reading for pleasure and Art of Ali Smith: “All we are might have an ambition to become an in­ is Eyes.” The Transatlantic sider in the book business. The presented topics and issues are Studies in British and North applicable to the global market; howev­ American Culture, vol. 31.] er, there are also specific features that are Frankfurt am Mein: Peter rooted in the English­‑speaking world. Thanks to the English language, this mar­ Lang, 2019. ket benefits from a strong ability to pen­ This volume comprises papers from an in­ etrate numerous countries and regions, ternational team of researchers exploring and it benefits from the fact that English is the multifaceted work of the contempo­ used as a lingua franca in the world of busi­ rary Scottish writer, playwright, academic ness; the benefit of the English language is and journalist Ali Smith – who has become literally the ability to speak to the masses. known especially for her short stories and In that light, translating a book into a local novels addressing complex political and language requires several steps (different cultural issues, including feminism, phi­ time lines, different planning/scheduling, losophy or national identities. taking into consideration the quality of The popularity and critical awareness a translation) within the publishing pro­ of Smith’s fiction are documented by mul­ cess. Also, in that context, there is a cul­ tiple essays and one collective monograph tural (even political) question concerning edited by Monica Germanà and Emily Hor­ which authors should represent a national ton: Ali Smith: Contemporary Critical Per- literature outside its territory, and should spectives (Bloomsbury 2013), which pre­ be a part of the national canon with the dominantly explores the aspects of space, ambition of being presented outside of the uncanny, and queer identities. Since their own country of origin. This question the publication of this 2013 monograph, might be relevant for smaller linguistic Smith has authored several acclaimed groups; however, it is not so salient in the works, including the novel How to be Both case of texts in the English language. (2014), the novel quartet Autumn (2016), [ostrava journal of english philology—vol.12, no. 2, 2020—book reviews] [E. Jelínková and R. Sanders, eds.: The Literary Art of Ali Smith: “All we are is Eyes.” ...] 115 Winter (2017), Spring (2019) and Summer that matter. The influence of Greek philos­ (2020), and the short­‑story collection Pub- ophy is also a major concern of Milena Ka­ lic Library and Other Stories (2015). While licanin’s paper “Pythagorean Tradition and this prize­‑winning author has received Its Modern Echoes in Ali Smith’s ‘Com­ growing attention from both critics and mon’,” which discusses the importance of readers, Jelínková and Sanders prove that commonality, liberation from postmodern there is more to Ali Smith than gender fragmentation, and dissociation in the con­ identities and/or nationality concerns, and text of Pythagorean philosophy. This phil­ that her works address complex current osophical approach receives significant social and political topics. While aspects space; the first six pages provide a purely such as Scottishness, gender or sexual theoretical background of Pythagorism preference are naturally considered in the and its variations, while only the second volume, as they form an inseparable part half of the paper applies the philosophical of Smith’s writing, the contributors fo­ concepts to Smith’s short story. cus predominantly on philosophical and In contrast to the philosophical and mythological aspects, and above all on the mythological analyses, Ema Jelínková, “deeply human” (9) and universal impact besides providing an Introduction to the of Smith’s storytelling, as Ema Jelínková volume, centres her paper “‘Small Lives, points out in her Introduction. Easily Lost in Foreign Droughts’: A. L. Ken­ In her contribution “Time, Knowl­ nedy’s and Ali Smith’s Short Stories of Hu­ edge and Metafiction in Ali Smith’s Au- man Interest” on the position of Ali Smith tumn” Attila Dósa examines temporality in the context of Scottish literature, espe­ and Smith’s departure from mimetic nar­ cially in comparison with another Scottish rative within the context of philosophies writer, academic and stand­‑up comedian, of time. Dósa simultaneously employs Allison Louise Kennedy (who prefers to various critical approaches, focusing his go by her initials so that her gender is not detailed analysis on two episodes from the known before her work is). Drawing on novel. This paper, though offering a fresh her previous research of Scottish literature perspective on the connection of time and written by women, Jelinková foregrounds knowledge, assumes a rather expert audi­ the universal human aspect of female ence, not only acquainted with narrative Scottish voices, their emphasis on the traditions, mythologies and philosophies common, everyday stories that are often of time, but also, and most importantly, silenced or unheard due to their seeming with the novel Autumn itself – which re­ simplicity and domesticity. Starting with mains unintroduced. a brief historical context and an outline Héloïse Lecomte discusses the mod­ of the issues and forms of Scottish (wom­ ern mythical dimension of Smith’s se­ en’s) writing, Jelínková depicts the strug­ ries of lectures Artful, focusing on Orphic gle of Scottish women writers to free them­ myths from a feminist perspective. At the selves from various labels, mainly “woman same time, however, she foregrounds the writer”, “national writer”, or even “lesbian universalist concept of mourning, alien­ writer”; their plight is thus very close to ation, and the modern desire for stories that of American or British authors, as is [ostrava journal of english philology—vol.12, no. 2, 2020—book reviews] 116 [E. Jelínková and R. Sanders, eds.: The Literary Art of Ali Smith: “All we are is Eyes.” ...] documented in the essays of and interviews chelle Simmons’s paper “‘I Want to Go to with Elizabeth Bishop or Jeanette Win­ Collage’: On Ali Smith and John Berger.” terson. While acknowledging Smith’s and Simmons focuses on Smith’s employment Kennedy’s narrative experiments, what of Berger’s transformative visions, repre­ Jelínková foregrounds is their constant senting current social issues and the use of concern with commonality and “relevance non­‑verbal means of communication, and to the world as we, readers, know it” (38). social feminist criticism, examining the in­ Jess Orr offers a fresh perspective on fluence of visual arts (specifically painting) visual media and spectators in “New Ways on Smith’s narrative style. Rachael Sumner of Seeing and the Role of the Critical Spec­ analyses the narrative effect of collage or tator in Ali Smith’s The Accidental,” while “bricolage” in “The Art of Memory in Au- Maria del Pino Montesdeoca Cubas dis­ tumn by Ali Smith.” Yet unlike Simmons, cusses cyclical time, ethics and intertex­ Sumner focuses chiefly on the creation tuality in her paper “‘Look into My Eyes’: of identities and the function of memory (In)Visibility in Ali Smith’s Autumn, Win- in the novel Autumn, analysing memory ter, and Spring.” Cubas focuses on the ethi­ in connection with “continual creation of cal role of a writer and the genre that Smith self and world through narrative” (131). understands as a reflection of contempo­ Olga Roebuck adopts a female­‑oriented rary events. As these seasonal novels were approach, discussing the representation written during Brexit, immigration, the of contemporary women in her essay “Au­ mass media and political manipulation thenticating Women: Ali Smith and Denise play a major role in the narratives, as well Mina.” Focusing on the complex negotia­ as the role of the writer and his/her mor­ tions between feminism, nationalism, and al responsibility and active engagement resistance to labelling, Roebuck, similarly in current affairs. The role of the author to Jelínková, foregrounds the authors’ con­ and narrative perspectives are addressed cern with authenticity. in Milada Franková’s essay “Omniscient This volume offers original insights Narrative Revisited by Ali Smith and Kate into the short stories and novels of Ali Atkinson.” Outlining the development of Smith, focusing predominantly on her omniscient narrative and its decline in the Seasonal Quartet. The papers contained in 20th century, Franková argues that this it adopt various approaches, ranging from concept has begun to reappear, at least to philosophical to genre­ and form­‑oriented, a certain degree, undermining the “need feminist, political, or mythological; while for strict distinctions between omni­ some papers are more text­‑oriented, oth­ science or a lack of it” (88). Such a “partial­ ers foreground theoretical discussions. ly omniscient voice” is then examined in Overall, the presented papers reflect the Ali Smith’s Winter and Kate Atkinson’s Life complexity of Ali Smith’s writing and – After Life.