Isidore Diala, The Politics & New Humanism of André Brink

ALT 37 ◽  
2019 ◽  
pp. 210-213
Author(s):  
Iniobong I. Uko
Keyword(s):  
New Humanism ◽  
Andre Brink

The puppetry by Viesturs Kairišs: a Holzweg between uncomfortable history and new humanism

2020 ◽  
pp. 68-74
Author(s):  
Lauma Mellēna-Bartkeviča
Keyword(s):  
New Humanism

Pēc vairākiem nozīmīgiem operas iestudējumiem Viesturs Kairišs atgriezies dramatiskajā teātrī un kino pie „lielajiem naratīviem” par sabiedrību un kultūru mūsdienās un nesenā pagātnē. 2018./2019. gada teātra sezonas iestudējumi – Ivana Turgeņeva stāsta „Mumu” dramatizējums Mihaila Čehova Rīgas Krievu teātrī un izrāde „Baltiešu gredzens”, kura pamatā ir Zīgfrīda fon Fēgezaka romāns „Baltiešu traģēdija”, Latvijas Nacionālajā teātrī – iezīmē pavērsienu V. Kairiša režijas stilā un skatuves valodā. Analizētajos iestudējumos lelles darbojas reizē kā metode un metafora. Vienlaikus tās iezīmē jaunus paņēmienus V. Kairiša meklējumos: pirmkārt, leļļu un aktieru mijiedarbība tiek izmantota kā izteiksmes līdzeklis; otrkārt, abos iestudējumos V. Kairišs veidojis arī scenogrāfiju un vizuālo tēlu (kopā ar jaunajiem māksliniekiem Aneti Bajāri-Babčuku un Tomu Babčuku); treškārt, prozas dramatizēšana mērķtiecīgi pakārto tekstu iestudējuma vajadzībām. V. Kairišs meklē mūsdienu patērētāju sabiedrībā, bezjēdzīgos politiskos ķīviņos un vienaldzībā zudušo cilvēcību, cenšoties atdzemdināt tās cilvēces vērtības, kuras stāv pāri etniska un nacionāla rakstura aizspriedumiem, emocionāli aizkustināt un stimulēt indivīda aktīvu līdzdalību sabiedrības veidošanā. Viņa stratēģija un mērķis ir aktivizēt kritisko domāšanu. Un, lai arī idejas ne vienmēr ir skaidri formulētas (tādēļ Martina Heidegera lietotais jēdziens malkasceļš ir atbilstošs, aprakstot radošos meklējumus), leļļu izmantošana dramatiskā teātra iestudējumos ir efektīvs izteiksmes līdzeklis gan formā, gan saturā.

scholarly journals The Law Challenged and the Critique of Identity with Emmanuel Levinas

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Petrilli
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Emmanuel Levinas ◽  
Object Relation ◽  
Legal Order ◽  
The Other ◽  
Ethical Orientation ◽  
New Humanism ◽  
Present Essay ◽  
The Face ◽  
The Subject

AbstractIdentity as traditionally conceived in mainstream Western thought is focused on theory, representation, knowledge, subjectivity and is centrally important in the works of Emmanuel Levinas. His critique of Western culture and corresponding notion of identity at its foundations typically raises the question of the other. Alterity in Levinas indicates existence of something on its own account, in itself independently of the subject’s will or consciousness. The objectivity of alterity tells of the impossible evasion of signs from their destiny, which is the other. The implications involved in reading the signs of the other have contributed to reorienting semiotics in the direction of semioethics. In Levinas, the I-other relation is not reducible to abstract cognitive terms, to intellectual synthesis, to the subject-object relation, but rather tells of involvement among singularities whose distinctive feature is alterity, absolute alterity. Humanism of the other is a pivotal concept in Levinas overturning the sense of Western reason. It asserts human duties over human rights. Humanism of alterity privileges encounter with the other, responsibility for the other, over tendencies of the centripetal and egocentric orders that instead exclude the other. Responsibility allows for neither rest nor peace. The “properly human” is given in the capacity for absolute otherness, unlimited responsibility, dialogical intercorporeity among differences non-indifferent to each other, it tells of the condition of vulnerability before the other, exposition to the other. The State and its laws limit responsibility for the other. Levinas signals an essential contradiction between the primordial ethical orientation and the legal order. Justice involves comparing incomparables, comparison among singularities outside identity. Consequently, justice places limitations on responsibility, on unlimited responsibility which at the same time it presupposes as its very condition of possibility. The present essay is structured around the following themes: (1) Premiss; (2) Justice, uniqueness, and love; (3) Sign and language; (4) Dialogue and alterity; (5) Semiotic materiality; (6) Globalization and the trap of identity; (7) Human rights and rights of the other: for a new humanism; (8) Ethics; (9) The World; (10) Outside the subject; (11) Responsibility and Substitution; (12) The face; (13) Fear of the other; (14) Alterity and justice; (15) Justice and proximity; (16) Literary writing; (17) Unjust justice; (18) Caring for the other.

What New Humanism Today?

2010 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 237-252 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-Hugues Barthélémy
Keyword(s):  
New Humanism

scholarly journals Thomas Mann - Gennem krigens sygdomme mod en ny humanisme

2018 ◽  
pp. 47-64
Author(s):  
Rasmus Navntoft
Keyword(s):  
World War I ◽  
Nobel Prize ◽  
Nobel Prize Winner ◽  
Thomas Mann ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Main Character ◽  
World War ◽  
Major Work ◽  
New Humanism

The German author and Nobel Prize winner Thomas Mann (1875-1955) perceived World War I as a moral battle against the civilization project rooted in the European enlightenment. Like many other German intellectuals of that time, Mann stresses an opposition between the concept of culture and that of civilization – this conflict is seen as inherent in the European soul – and defends Germany’s right to remain a culture that does not evolve into a civilization. The concept of culture can contain irrational features such as mystical, bloody and terrifying teachings, whereas civilization is characterized by reason, enlightenment, skepticism and hostility towards passion and emotion. In his major work The Magic Mountain (1924) however, Mann tries to overcome this opposition and displays, through the metaphors of the text, that a new humanism is dependent upon a mystical and completely illogical balance between culture and civilization. The main character of the novel does not succeed in finding this balance. But, nonetheless, Mann continues to see the possibilities of a new humanism through this perspective in order to point out a humanistic hope in the shadesof two European world wars.

scholarly journals André Brink, Dissenter

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Shelley May Dixon
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
The Political ◽  
New Knowledge ◽  
Andre Brink ◽  
Cultural Conversation

<p>This thesis provides a survey of the novels written in English by Afrikaans author, André Brink. It contextualises these texts in terms of the political and social issues of the era in which each was written. Specifically, it examines the ways in which the novels stand as a dissenting body of work against a particularly prescriptive and preclusive environment, challenging the racially prejudiced practices of apartheid South Africa and, later, challenging other forms of oppression in the post-apartheid nation. One of the most interesting aspects of Brink's work, I argue, is that his challenge comes from within the Afrikaner community. Discussion of the novels is concerned not merely with the literary treatment of a range of themes, but also with the worldly implications of this treatment, the ways in which Brink considers his questions about, and challenges to, authoritarianism. I argue that the oeuvre demonstrates Brink's developing social and political conscience, a series of 'rebirths' in which the artist is prompted to reconsider his role as an artist. I examine Brink's works from a number of perspectives and in relation to a number of central themes. My approach in looking at the oeuvre from different angles is highly suggestive of the problem as it plays out for Brink: he is unable to straightforwardly resolve the themes he treats, but refuses to concede defeat or retreat from the central issues. This, I suggest, is one of the most significant aspects of Brink's work - his willingness to continually reassess his environment and his response to it. He returns to favourite themes and considers the same issues from new perspectives and with new knowledge. The irresolution which defines his treatment allows the possibility for future investigation, a further dialectic interrogation of the issues in a new context. The works also trace the author's 'cultural conversation', a dialogue which both records and challenges the prescriptive and preclusive environment of apartheid South Africa. I extend this examination to include the post-apartheid novels, discussing the situation of the dissenting artist for whom the most obvious forms of authoritarianism have become defunct. Essentially, the thesis investigates the politics of writing as dissident politics and considers whether Brink's dissident project is a success and, indeed, whether dissent itself is viable.</p>

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