Colonial Trauma, Utopian Carnality, Modernist Form

2019 ◽  
pp. 65-95
Author(s):  
Greg Forter
Keyword(s):  
Social Change ◽  
Historical Fiction ◽  
Slave Trade ◽  
Theoretical Models ◽  
The Other ◽  
Colonial Body ◽  
Small Things ◽  
Social Orders

Understandings of trauma in the colonial context fall largely into two strands. A therapeutic strand endorses the potential for “healing” from colonial trauma in the present, postcolonial era but fails to grasp how much this era reprises the toxins of colonialism itself. This view implicitly encourages the once-colonized to align themselves with the purported “health” of postcolonial modernity. An anti-therapeutic strand grants the need for a critique of the postcolonial but generalizes the historically specific toxins of that era to any and all social orders—hence making it difficult to imagine social change. Toni Morrison’s Beloved and Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Things provide more historically astute and dialectical accounts than the theoretical models offer. These examples of postcolonial historical fiction are modernist in form; they explore distinct yet homologous types of domination (slavery and the slave trade on one hand, exploitation colonialism in India on the other) through a similar set of representational techniques. These techniques are crucial to the novels’ political astuteness. The books’ temporally disordered forms at once record the fragmentations and devastations visited on the colonial body and provide intimations of an alternative, erotic futurity in which those bodies will have been made whole.

The Problem of the Typology of Rationality in Muslim Culture

2019 ◽  
Vol 62 (6) ◽  
pp. 88-99
Author(s):  
Andrey A. Lukashev
Keyword(s):  
Modern Philosophy ◽  
Theoretical Basis ◽  
Theoretical Models ◽  
The Other ◽  
Common Denominator ◽  
Islamic Culture ◽  
The Common ◽  
Per Se ◽  
The One ◽  
Muslim Culture

The typology of rationality is one of major issues of modern philosophy. In an attempt to provide a typology to Oriental materials, a researcher faces additional problems. The diversity of the Orient as such poses a major challenge. When we say “Oriental,” we mean several cultures for which we cannot find a common denominator. The concept of “Orient” involves Arabic, Indian, Chinese, Turkish and other cultures, and the only thing they share is that they are “non-Western.” Moreover, even if we focus just on Islamic culture and look into rationality in this context, we have to deal with a conglomerate of various trends, which does not let us define, with full confidence, a common theoretical basis and treat them as a unity. Nevertheless, we have to go on trying to find common directions in thought development, so as to draw conclusions about types of rationality possible in Islamic culture. A basis for such a typology of rationality in the context of the Islamic world was recently suggested in A.V. Smirnov’s logic of sense theory. However, actual empiric material cannot always fit theoretical models, and the cases that do not fit the common scheme are interesting per se. On the one hand, examination of such cases gives an opportunity to specify certain provisions of the theory and, on the other hand, to define the limits of its applicability.

Heralds and witnesses poets of Serbian romanticism - between religion of the nation and loss of faith

2017 ◽  
pp. 635-649
Author(s):  
Aleksandra Pavicevic
Keyword(s):  
Social Change ◽  
Social Organization ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
The Other ◽  
Modern State ◽  
Orthodox Church ◽  
The Balkans ◽  
Poor Condition ◽  
Institutional Infrastructure ◽  
National Romanticism

Ideas of Enlightement, national romanticism and transformation of geopolitical situation on the Balkans, were cultural and historical context in which bases of modern Serbian state was established. That was the time of intensive social change directed towards building institutional infrastructure as well as towards transforming traditional, ?obsolete? folk customs and habits. Poor condition of Serbian Orthodox Church and domination of religious world views among people were considered to be the most serious obstacles in creating modern state. Thus, great number of intelectuals were anticlerical and promoted liberal and secularized social organization. On the other hand, the whole epoch was characterized by strong antiscientistic orientation which was expresed through developing of different mistical, alternative, neopagan cults. Specific for our region was so called ?religion of the nation? which appeared as substitution for loss of eshatological perspective in life of Christian civilization. Poets of Serbian romanticism were heralds and witnesses of this civilization ?turn?. Their poetry can be observed as reflex and announcement of secularization in Serbian society. In this paper, we analyzed their writings about death, love, hope, nature and nation.

PROBING AWAY SIDE JET MODIFICATION WITH THREE PARTICLE CORRELATIONS

2007 ◽  
Vol 16 (07n08) ◽  
pp. 1982-1987
Author(s):  
◽  
N. N. AJITANAND
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Distribution ◽  
Correlation Functions ◽  
Theoretical Models ◽  
The Other ◽  
Experimental Investigations ◽  
Powerful Method ◽  
Particle Correlation ◽  
Low Viscosity ◽  
Jet Modification ◽  
Rhic Data

Recent experimental investigations have focussed on the abnormal spatial distribution of away side jet fragments as signals of significant medium induced effects. A variety of theoretical models including recent string-theory based efforts have supported the notion of Mach Cone like effects in the low viscosity QGP fluid. However, the presence of significant flow fields may deflect the fragmentation direction producing a significantly differing type of jet topology from that of the Mach cone. Three particle correlation functions constitute a powerful method whereby the predominance of one or the other type of mechanism can be differentiated. In this work the use of such an approach will be demonstrated via simulations and the results of its application to RHIC data will be presented.

scholarly journals Breach of Contact: An Intercultural Reading of China Miéville's 'The City and The City'

2014 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara Elizabeth Hanna ◽  
Peter Cowley
Keyword(s):  
Theoretical Models ◽  
The Other ◽  
Intercultural Training ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Intercultural Encounters ◽  
Training Courses ◽  
City States ◽  
City Relations ◽  
The City ◽  
Two Populations

China Miéville’s 2009 'Weird' detective novel The City and The City is a tale of two city states, culturally distinct, between which unpoliced contact is forbidden. While residents of each city can learn about the other’s history, geography, politics, see photographs and watch news footage of the other city, relations between the two are tightly monitored and any direct contact requires a series of protocols, some of which might seem reasonable, or at least familiar: entry permits, international mail, international dialing codes, intercultural training courses. What complicates these apparently banal measures is the relative positioning of the two cities, each one around, within, amongst the other. The two populations live side by side, under a regime which requires ostentatious and systematic disregard or 'unnoticing' of the other in any context but a tightly regulated set of encounters. For all that interculturality is endemic to everyday life in the 21st century, what is striking is that critical and popular uptake of this novel so frequently decries the undesirability, the immorality even, of the cultural separation between the two populations, framing it as an allegory of unjust division within a single culture, and thus by implication endorsing the erasure of intercultural difference. We propose an alternative reading which sees this novel as exploring the management of intercultural encounters, and staging the irreducibility of intercultural difference. We examine how the intercultural is established in the novel, and ask how it compares to its representations in prevalent theoretical models, specifically that of the Third Place.

scholarly journals Cyclical theories of social change: Spengler and Toynbee

Sociologija ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 49 (4) ◽  
pp. 289-312
Author(s):  
Dragoljub Kaurin
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Social Change ◽  
The Other ◽  
Sociological Study ◽  
The West ◽  
Theoretical Concepts ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Historical Cycles ◽  
Proper Unit ◽  
Oswald Spengler

This paper is centrally concerned with discussing critically and rethinking the theoretical concepts put forward by Oswald Spengler in Decline of the West and Arnold Toynbee in A Study of History. It focuses on the theoretical, heuristic and epistemological value of these theories in the era of renaissance of philosophic history in some quarters (see for example Graham, 2002) and cooperation between social sciences. Spengler is credited with the idea of historical cycles, rethinking of the progressivist view and discovering a radically different approach to the study of the human past, which is embodied in his idea of culture as the proper unit for historical and sociological study. However, some of his views proved to be intrinsically intellectually dubious, but on the whole, his was a major contribution to the study of social change. Arnold Toynbee on the other hand was more empirically and sociologically oriented, while Spengler?s views are more heavily philosophical. Toynbee partly developed his ideas rather consistently, but at the same time included many unclear and inaccurate points in his theory. Both authors can be rightfully considered to be classical authors in this field and both provided incentive for studies that cross-cut social sciences (philosophy, history, sociology). Moreover, Decline of the West and A Study of History are truly post-disciplinary works.

scholarly journals Do humanismo ético aos direitos humanos

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 115-135
Author(s):  
Alexandre Silva Guerreiro
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Social Change ◽  
Emmanuel Levinas ◽  
Ancient Greece ◽  
The Other ◽  
Derechos Humanos ◽  
Palabras Clave ◽  
Over Time

O conceito de humanismo passou por transformações ao longo do tempo. Desde a Grécia Antiga até a contemporaneidade, formou-se um caleidoscópio humanista que abarca significados diversos e, até mesmo, antagônicos. Este artigo propõe uma investigação sobre o humanismo, tendo como objetivo a formulação do humanismo ético para, em seguida, conectá-lo aos direitos humanos. Para isso, considera-se a contribuição de Emmanuel Lévinas (1993, 2008) no que concerne à responsabilidade pelo Outro, bem como a formulação da ética como relacional de acordo com Olinto Pegoraro (2005). A partir disso, buscamos aproximar humanismo ético e direitos humanos. No entanto, é preciso entender os direitos humanos dentro de uma perspectiva polissêmica que também marca o humanismo, trazendo para essa relação a noção de direitos humanos contra-hegemônicos, conforme proposta por Boaventura de Sousa Santos (2014). Humanismo ético e direitos humanos encontram-se no desejo de transformação da realidade a partir da reflexão e da ação. Assim, concluímos que os direitos humanos, em sua translação contra-hegemônica, com sua pulsão pela positivação de direitos e pela valorização das diferenças e da diversidade, são atravessados por um humanismo ético que está profundamente conectado com o desejo de mudança social e de responsabilidade pelo Outro, numa perspectiva levinaseana.   Del humanismo ético a los derechos humanos El concepto de humanismo ha experimentado transformaciones a lo largo del tiempo. Desde la Antigua Grecia hasta la época contemporánea, se formó un caleidoscopio humanista que engloba significados diferentes o incluso antagónicos. Este estudio propone una investigación sobre el humanismo con el objetivo de formular el humanismo ético y luego conectarlo con los derechos humanos. Para eso, consideramos la contribución de Emmanuel Lévinas (1993, 2008) con respecto a la responsabilidad para con el Otro, así como la formulación de la ética como relacional según Olinto Pegoraro (2005). A partir de esto, buscamos aunar el humanismo ético y los derechos humanos. Sin embargo, es necesario entender los derechos humanos desde una perspectiva polisémica que también marca el humanismo, trayendo a esta relación la noción de derechos humanos contrahegemónicos, como propone Boaventura de Sousa Santos (2014). El humanismo ético y los derechos humanos se encuentran en el deseo de transformar la realidad a través de la reflexión y la acción. Así, concluimos que los derechos humanos, en su traducción contrahegemónica, con su afán por la positivación de los derechos y por valorar las diferencias y la diversidad, están atravesados por un humanismo ético que está profundamente conectado con el deseo de cambio social y con la responsabilidad por el Otro, en un perspectiva levinaseana. Palabras clave: Humanismo. Ética. Lévinas. Derechos humanos.   From ethical humanism to human rights The concept of humanism has undergone transformations over time. From ancient Greece to contemporary times, a humanistic kaleidoscope was formed that encompasses different and even antagonistic meanings. This article proposes an investigation on humanism, aiming at the formulation of ethical humanism and then connecting it with human rights. For this, we consider Emmanuel Lévinas contributions (1993, 2008) regarding responsibility for the Other, as well as the notion of ethics as relational according to Olinto Pegoraro (2005). Also, we seek to bring together ethical humanism and human rights. However, it is necessary to understand human rights within a polysemic perspective that also marks humanism, bringing to this relation the notion of counter-hegemonic human rights, as proposed by Boaventura de Sousa Santos (2014). Ethical humanism and human rights come together with the desire to transform reality through reflection and action. Thus, we conclude that human rights, in their counter-hegemonic translation with their drive for positivation of rights and differences and diversity valorization are crossed by an ethical humanism that is deeply connected with the desire for social change and responsibility for the Other, in a Levinasean perspective. Keywords: Humanism. Ethic. Lévinas. Human Rights.

scholarly journals PAKARTOJIMAS IR NIHILIZMAS

Problemos ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 84 ◽  
pp. 46-59
Author(s):  
Rita Šerpytytė
Keyword(s):  
Theoretical Models ◽  
The Other ◽  
Philosophical Tradition ◽  
Western Tradition ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Text Fragment ◽  
Western Philosophical Tradition ◽  
Universal Structure ◽  
The One

Straipsnio tikslas yra atskleisti Vakarų filosofijos tradicijoje savitai įsitvirtinusios patyrimo struktūros, įvardijamos pakartojimu, nihilistinę prasmę. Šioje hermeneutinėje analizėje, viena vertus, re­miamasi tam tikra nihilizmo samprata, numatančia du nihilizmo teorinius modelius – nihilizmą, parem­tą Überwindung teorija, ir nihilizmą, paremtą différance idėja. Kita vertus, remiamasi tam tikru („onto-teologiniu“) pretekstu Vakarų mąstymo tradicijoje atpažįstant pakartojimo struktūrą – Pauliaus Laiško efeziečiams Ef. I, 10 teksto fragmentu, laikomu paradigmine pakartojimo struktūros išsklaida. Herme­neutinė analizė projektuojama į Kierkegaardo ir Agambeno filosofiją, atskirus jų mąstyme atpažįstamus pakartojimo invariantus atskleidžiant kaip minėto Pauliaus Laiško fragmento eksplozijos atvejus. Ke­liamas klausimas, kas yra pakartojimas, kur slypi jo negatyvumas ir kaip pasirodo jo nihilistinė prasmė? Kaip šioje negatyvumo ir nihilizmo atskleistyje „tarpininkauja“ différance? Straipsnyje parodoma, jog skirtis kaip neigimo judesys, atstovaujantis nihilistinei logikai, gali būti traktuojamas ir vien formaliai, ir realiai. Skirties kaip realaus neigimo traktavimas Kierkegaardo ir Agambeno mąstyme atitinka pačios patirties struktūros – pakartojimo – ontologinį (tikrovišką) įšaknytumą.Pagrindiniai žodžiai: pakartojimas, nihilizmas, différance, negatyvumas, laikasPakartojimas ir nihilizmasRita Šerpytytė   AbstractThe purpose of this article is to reveal the nihilistic sense of an experiential structure, which has been distinctively rooted in Western philosophical tradition. On the one hand, this hermeneutical analysis will be based on a certain conception of nihilism presupposing two theoretical models of nihilism – nihilism, which refers to the theory of Überwindung, and nihilism associated with the idea of différance. On the other hand, it builds upon a certain (the so-called “onto-theological”) pretext, which might be used for recognition of the structure of repetition in Western tradition of thinking, – i.e. the fragment of a text from St. Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians Eph. I, 10 – the paradigmatic passage proposing this universal structure of repetition. Focused both on philosophy of Kierkegaard and Agamben, hermeneutical analysis will aim to disclose the separate invariants of such repetition as cases of explosion of the mentioned text fragment. The question is raised – what is repetition? Where does its negativity lie? How does its nihilistic sense appear? How does the différance mediate in this process of revealing of negativity and nihilism? The article argues that difference, as a motion of negation representing nihilistic logic, can be treated both in merely formal and in a realistic way. The treating of différance as real denying in Kierkegaard’s and Agamben’s thinking corresponds to the ontological rootedness of the very structure of experience – repetition.Keywords: repetition, nihilism, différance, negativity, time

scholarly journals A model-based method for detecting persistent cultural change using panel data

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Vaisey ◽  
Kevin Kiley
Keyword(s):  
Panel Data ◽  
Cultural Change ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Cultural Beliefs ◽  
Local Environment ◽  
Theoretical Models ◽  
The Other ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Survey Responses ◽  
Close Fit

Kiley and Vaisey (2020) recently published a method for assessing whether survey respondents appear to be changing their beliefs between waves or whether they instead appear to be repeating fixed responses with temporary local influences. This question is important because these processes reflect very different theoretical models of the evolution of “personal culture.” That is, if cultural beliefs are primarily public and responsive to external discourse, we should observe more updating as people respond to changes in their local environment. On the other hand, if cultural beliefs are primarily something learned early, then “settled dispositions” should be relatively resilient to change. In this paper, we build on Kiley and Vaisey (2020) and introduce an alternative method for distinguishing between cases where respondents appear be actively updating their responses and situations where respondents’ responses appear to be settled. This method, based on structural equation modeling, provides a close fit to the theoretical models outlined in Kiley and Vaisey (2020) and provides even stronger support for their claim that most survey responses reflect settled dispositions developed prior to adulthood.

Debating a great site: Ban Non Wat and the wider prehistory of Southeast Asia

Antiquity ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 89 (347) ◽  
pp. 1211-1220 ◽  
Author(s):  
C.F.W. Higham
Keyword(s):  
Social Change ◽  
Southeast Asia ◽  
Cultural Change ◽  
The Other ◽  
Rice Farming ◽  
Copper Base ◽  
The Past ◽  
North East ◽  
Key Sites ◽  
Bronze Casting

Almost half a century has elapsed since the first area excavation of a prehistoric site in north-east Thailand at Non Nok Tha (Bayard & Solheim 2010) (Figure 1). A long and still unresolved debate has ensued, centred on the chronology of the establishment of rice farming and bronze casting, that has dovetailed with further controversies on the pace and nature of social change. Results obtained during the past 20 years of fieldwork focused on the upper Mun Valley of north-east Thailand, together with a new series of AMS radiocarbon determinations from key sites, have thrown into sharp relief contrasting interpretations of two issues: one centres on the timing and origin of the Neolithic settlement; the other on the date and impact of copper-base metallurgy. A consensus through debate would bring us to a tipping point that would see Southeast Asian prehistory turn to more interesting issues of cultural change.

The Feminization of Etiquette Literature: Foucault, Mechanisms of Social Change, and the Paradoxes of Empowerment

1996 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 417-434 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jorge Arditi
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Change ◽  
19Th Century ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Other ◽  
Women’S Empowerment ◽  
Discursive Space ◽  
History Of ◽  
New Space ◽  
The 19Th Century

This paper explores the opening of a discursive space within the etiquette literature in the United States during the 19th century and how women used this space as a vehicle of empowerment. It identifies two major strategies of empowerment. First, the use or appropriation of existing discourses that can help redefine the “other” within an hegemonic space. Second, and more importantly, the transformation of that space in shifting the lines by which differentiation is produced to begin with. Admittedly, these strategies are neither unique nor the most important in the history of women's empowerment. But this paper argues that the new discourses formulated by women helped forge a new space within which women ceased being the “other,” and helped give body to a concept of womanhood as defined by a group of women, regardless of how idiosyncratic that group might have been.

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