scholarly journals Materiality in Julio Cortázar’s literature—rereading “Axolotl,” “No se culpe a nadie” and the almanac books

Neohelicon ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 47 (2) ◽  
pp. 477-503
Author(s):  
Verónica Abrego
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Creative Performance ◽  
Current Crisis ◽  
The Real ◽  
The Future ◽  
Material Turn ◽  
The Fantastic ◽  
Material Conditions

AbstractIn the light of the material turn in the Humanities some aspects of Julio Cortázar’s (1914–1984) work become very evident today as a laboratory of the future. For Cortázar, reading was a transforming impulse, part of a process of liberation from mental ties to which he contributed as an author, challenging the barrier between the fantastic and the real, the limit between the human and the animal, between the living and the inert. Thus, as a critic on blind Modernity, Cortázar, from his stories, questions anthropocentrism in a gesture that in the current crisis of the Anthropocene could not be more topical. Moreover, while he supported the transformation of people’s material conditions of life in Latin America, he innovated and celebrated literature in intermedial texts that are the decanted result of a creative performance, embedded in the strongly transcultural context of a diaspora that was first voluntary and then became exile.

Remarks by Mariana Durney

2020 ◽  
Vol 114 ◽  
pp. 329-331
Author(s):  
Mariana Durney
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Institutional Form ◽  
Current Crisis ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
The Future ◽  
Multilateral Institution ◽  
Challenging Question

I will take Karen's challenging question about the goals of a multilateral institution as the starting point for analyzing whether the promise of multilateralism in Latin America has been honored, if the current crisis is related to those goals (or their absence), and whether multilateralism still holds any promise for the future. In my analysis, key elements of Ruggie's definition (institutional form, coordination, generalized principles) will also be at stake. Thus, objectives and principles are at the center of this discussion.

The future of smallholders in Latin America: land, food, livelihoods, and the growth of monoculture

Food Chain ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 140-159
Author(s):  
Arantxa Guereña ◽  
Stephanie Burgos
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
The Future

Aesthetic Dilemmas of Adaptation and the Politics of Subjectivity: Animating the Chinese ClassicJourney to the West

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 34-46 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chengcheng You
Keyword(s):  
National Identity ◽  
Modern China ◽  
Historical Time ◽  
The West ◽  
The Real ◽  
Quest For Meaning ◽  
National Allegory ◽  
Canonical Text ◽  
The Fantastic ◽  
Monkey King

This article reviews four major Chinese animated adaptations based on the classic Journey to the West. It shows how these adaptations, spanning four historical phases of modern China, encapsulate changes in Chinese national identity. Close readings underpin a developmental narrative about how Chinese animated adaptations of this canonical text strive to negotiate the multimodal expressions of homegrown folklore traditions, technical influences of western animation, and domestic political situations across time. This process has identified aesthetic dilemmas around adaptations that oscillate between national allegory and individual destiny, verisimilitude and the fantastic quest for meaning. In particular, the subjectivisation of Monkey King on the screen, embodying the transition from primitivistic impulse, youthful idealism and mature practicality up to responsible stewardship, presents how an iconic national figure encapsulates the real historical time of China.

The Disruption Of Family In Manju Kapur’s Custody

Think India ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 880-885
Author(s):  
K.P. Bhavatharini ◽  
Ms Dr. Anita Albert
Keyword(s):  
Marital Relationship ◽  
Modern Life ◽  
The Real ◽  
Law System ◽  
Metropolitan Cities ◽  
Take Back ◽  
The Family ◽  
Female Protagonist ◽  
The Future ◽  
Key Aspects

Manju Kapur exposes the disparity and how modernity plays a major role in our society and also the hollowness modern life through her novel Custody. The present paper deals with the key aspects of custody, like extra marital affair, exploration of children and the law system of India. Manju Kapur has published five novels and all her novels dealt with postmodern era, which became sensational in the literary world. She talks about the life of people in Metropolitan cities and how it changes the attitude of theirs and makes them to be victims of modernity through her novel Custody. She manages to disclose the atmosphere which revolves around the family and how it destroys their peace. Here the author portrays how her female protagonist goes to an extent to fulfill her need even breaking her marital relationship with her husband and lack of concern with her children. She portrays the unimaginable incident of broken marriage and illustrates how it causes their children to yearning for their custody from their parents. The children are mentally affected because of the conflict between their egoistic parents to take back their custody only to win the battle not having the real concern over the future of their children. The author manages to create an excellent atmosphere that reveals the various disasters roaming around the family. The future of the children is also hazard. This novel proves that Manju Kapur is a great curator of the modern Indian family.

Discounting and the Paradox of the Indefinitely Postponed Splurge

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Rendall
Keyword(s):  
Real Problem ◽  
Costs And Benefits ◽  
The Real ◽  
Reductio Ad Absurdum ◽  
The World ◽  
The Future ◽  
End Of The World

It is sometimes argued in support of discounting future costs and benefits that if we gave the same weight to the future as to the present, we would invest nearly all our income, but never spend it. Rather than enjoying the fruits of our investments, we would always do better to reinvest them. Undiscounted utilitarianism (UU), so the argument goes, is collectively self-defeating. This attempted reductio ad absurdum fails. Regardless of whether each generation successfully followed UU, or merely attempted to follow it, we could never get trapped in endless saving. The real problem is different: without the ability to foresee the end of the world, UU cannot tell us how much to save. Discounting is a defensible response, but only when coupled with a rule against risking catastrophe.

3 Estimating the Burden of Dementia in Latin America and the Caribbean: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

2021 ◽  
Vol 50 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. i1-i6
Author(s):  
Y Xiang ◽  
K Chan ◽  
I Rudan
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Disease Burden ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Public Health Issue ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Dementia Prevalence ◽  
Pooled Prevalence ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
Policy And Planning

Abstract Background and Objectives Rapid increase in life expectancy has resulted in an increase in the global burden of dementia that is expected to become a leading cause of morbidity in the future. Low- and middle-income countries are expected to bear an increasing majority of the burden, but lack data for accurate burden estimates that are key for informing policy and planning. Bayesian methods have recently gained recognition over traditional frequentist approaches for modelling disease burden for their superiority in dealing with severely limited data. This study provides updated estimates of dementia prevalence in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) for the years 2015, 2020 and 2030. Given the paucity of data, estimates were developed using a Bayesian methodology and confirmed by the traditional frequentist approach, with the aim of providing methodological insights for future disease burden estimates. Methods A comprehensive systematic literature search was conducted to identify all relevant primary studies published between the years 2010–2018. The quality of the included studies was critically assessed. A random-effects model (REM) and a Bayesian normal-normal hierarchical model (NNHM) were used to obtain the pooled prevalence estimate of dementia for people aged 60 and above. The latter model was also developed to estimate age-specific dementia prevalence. Using UN population estimates, total and age-specific projections of the burden of dementia were calculated. Results The prevalence of dementia in LAC was found to be 14% (10–21%) in those above age 60 based on REM, and 8% (5–11.5%) based on NNHM. The prevalence increased from 2% (1–4%) in people aged 60–69 to 29% (20–37%) in people above the age of 80. The number of people living with dementia in LAC in 2015 was estimated at 5.68 million, with future projections of 6.86 million in 2020 and 9.94 million in 2030. Conclusions The findings of this review found that burden of dementia in LAC is substantial and continues to rapidly grow. The projected rise in dementia cases in the future should prompt urgent governmental response to address this growing public health issue. We were also able to demonstrate that given the overall paucity of data, a Bayesian approach was superior for estimating disease prevalence and burden.

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