Giovanni Pontano’s De bello Neapolitano

2020 ◽  
pp. 113-156
Author(s):  
Marta Celati
Keyword(s):  
Political Conflict ◽  
Historical Narrative ◽  
Political Activity ◽  
Critical Study ◽  
Italian Renaissance ◽  
Political Realism ◽  
Common People ◽  
The Common ◽  
Social Components ◽  
Concrete Model

This chapter presents a critical study of Giovanni Pontano’s De bello Neapolitano, the historical account of the ‘conspiracy of the barons’ against Ferdinando of Aragon, king of Naples, and the war that followed the rebellion (1459–65). Pontano’s work is contextualized in the historical and cultural scenario of the Aragonese monarchy and in the humanist’s broader literary and political activity, as a historian, political and literary theorist, and royal secretary. In particular the De bello Neapolitano can be placed in the realm of ‘political historiography’, a genre that enjoyed considerable fortune in Italian Renaissance. Pontano’s work is inspired by different models, both classical and contemporary, and continues the tradition of Aragonese historiography (inaugurated by Valla, Facio, and Panormita). Moreover, the chapter examines the text from a political angle by investigating its connections with Pontano’s most significant political-theoretical treatises: De principe and De obedientia. The analysis illustrates how the humanist’s princely ideology and his theory of statecraft is framed by means of different works, through the interplay of historical narrative and theoretical speculation. In this productive literary interaction, the topic of internal political conflict occupies a prominent position and its treatment in Pontano’s works reveals a developing idea of political realism. Pontano provides a concrete model of an ideal state that is based on the principle of obedience and on the hierarchical relationship between different social components: the prince, the barons, and the common people, components that play a key function, both narrative and exemplary, also in the humanist’s historical work.

scholarly journals Realism of Political Activity in the Teaching of Pope Francis

2021 ◽  
Vol 56 (4) ◽  
pp. 143-156
Author(s):  
Janusz Szulist
Keyword(s):  
Social Order ◽  
Common Good ◽  
Human Person ◽  
Political Activity ◽  
Political Realism ◽  
Pope Francis ◽  
The Common ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Unique Status

This paper presents an argument for political realism in response to the trends of populism and liberalism. Pope Francis emphasizes the need to restore a social order whose functioning would be judged from the perspective of the common good. The human person holds an overriding social value that is not subject to the laws of exchange. This unique status justifies selflessness of action as a long-term measure aimed at restoring social equity. In that context, education as a process of the formation of personality becomes synonymous with the process of humanization of the world, where the human person is increasingly conscious of his or her subjectivity. Conversely, the ideologies of populism and liberalism and the resulting systems aim to objectify the individual by catering to the lowest instincts and seeking immediate benefits. In his political reflection, Pope Francis draws directly from his encyclical letter Laudato si, and thus – indirectly – from the constitution Gaudium et Spes.

The Conspiracy Against the Prince

2020 ◽  
pp. 190-211
Author(s):  
Marta Celati
Keyword(s):  
Fifteenth Century ◽  
Historical Memory ◽  
Historical Narrative ◽  
Historical Event ◽  
Political Realism ◽  
Common People ◽  
Distinctive Features ◽  
Narrative Approaches ◽  
Classical Models ◽  
Definition Of

The chapter offers a comparative study that traces the evolution of fifteenth-century conspiracy literature, illustrating its distinctive features, narrative approaches, and political perspectives. The analysis focuses on the multiform operation of recasting classical models, which matches and, at the same time, underpins the ideological viewpoint in these texts. Specific attention is also paid to the multifunctional role of history in this literature, as it exploits historical narrative, historiographical techniques, and principles, in order to construct a historical memory that conveys a precise political message. This message coincides with the condemnation of the conspiracy as an attack against the state and the ‘prince’, who is now the dominant figure in the political discourse. The key elements that frame this political outlook in the texts are: the function of the author–narrator (as a poet, letter writer, historian, witness); the speeches delivered by historical characters; the stress on the exceptionality of the historical event; the portraits of the conspirators; the representation of the common people; the image of the revenge against the plotters; and the uneasy balance between clemency and vengeance in the ruler’s reaction to the conspiracy. Through the interplay of these components the texts reflect, and contribute to, the development of a theory of statecraft that is informed by a blossoming notion of political realism and plays a crucial role in the definition of a new model of state. Significantly this strand of political thought also emerged in mirrors for princes, which display many elements in common with works on plots.

scholarly journals Revisiting Gandhian Philosophy: A Critical Study of R K Narayan’s Waiting for the Mahatma

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 34-45
Author(s):  
Sheikh Mehedi Hasan ◽  
Benazir Elahee Munni
Keyword(s):  
Critical Study ◽  
Political Leader ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Common People ◽  
Independence Movement ◽  
The Common ◽  
Partition Of India ◽  
Political Turmoil ◽  
Considerable Detail

R K Narayan’s novel Waiting for the Mahatma covers in considerable detail the years of political turmoil preceding the Partition of India, taking Mahatma Gandhi as one of its leading characters. The article attempts to analyse how the novel illustrates the role of Gandhi as a political leader and philosophical guide and the influence of his ideology and philosophy on other characters during the Indian independence movement. First, it pinpoints Gandhi’s philosophical thoughts as documented in his own writings and activities and then points out how those are integrated into the novel. The article also investigates the attitudes of Gandhi’s followers (as the characters of the novel) as well as those of the common people towards his thoughts and activities. Thus, the study aims to offer a textual analysis of the novel by revisiting Gandhian philosophy focusing, especially, on values of ahimsa, Satyagraha and non-violent resistance.

Ardabil Becomes a Province: Center-Periphery Relations in Iran

1997 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 235-253 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. E. Chehabi
Keyword(s):  
Linguistic Diversity ◽  
Local Politics ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Political Activity ◽  
Common People ◽  
Commercial Activities ◽  
Cultural Life ◽  
National Life ◽  
The Common ◽  
Ethnic And Linguistic Diversity

Amid all the attention that Iranian politics has received since the Islamic Revolution of 1979, local politics has been almost totally neglected. This neglect vitiates our understanding of contemporary Iran, as it is at the local level that state policies are carried out, contested, reshaped, resisted, or revised. Beginning with the centralizing state-building of Reza Shah Pahlavi (r. 1926–41), Tehran increasingly dominated Iran's politics, commercial activities, and cultural life, and most of the country's Westernized elites lived in the capital. The 1979 revolution was to some extent a populist revolt against this Westernized elite, and among the new rulers those whose social and family roots are outside Tehran abound. Among the common people, “the experience of participation in mass political activity … undermined the feeling of political abjection,” while the new rulers have attempted, not always successfully, to lessen the gap not only between rich and poor, but also between rich and poor provinces. The new prominence of provincials in national life has gone hand in hand with a greater recognition of Iran's ethnic and linguistic diversity, while at the same time the sense of common participation in the revolution and the Iran–Iraq War has knitted people of different ethnic backgrounds more closely together.

Between High Culture and Low Culture; and also The Difference Between Popular Culture and Folk Culture

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (8) ◽  
pp. 12
Author(s):  
Kunal Debnath
Keyword(s):  
Popular Culture ◽  
Folk Culture ◽  
Common People ◽  
High Culture ◽  
The World ◽  
The Common ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Low Culture

High culture is a collection of ideologies, beliefs, thoughts, trends, practices and works-- intellectual or creative-- that is intended for refined, cultured and educated elite people. Low culture is the culture of the common people and the mass. Popular culture is something that is always, most importantly, related to everyday average people and their experiences of the world; it is urban, changing and consumeristic in nature. Folk culture is the culture of preindustrial (premarket, precommodity) communities.

Myths about COVID-19

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (SPL1) ◽  
pp. 907-912
Author(s):  
Deepika Masurkar ◽  
Priyanka Jaiswal
Keyword(s):  
World Health ◽  
Indian Society ◽  
Common People ◽  
The World ◽  
New Type ◽  
The Media ◽  
Personal Level ◽  
Novel Virus ◽  
The Common ◽  
Health Organization

Recently at the end of 2019, a new disease was found in Wuhan, China. This disease was diagnosed to be caused by a new type of coronavirus and affected almost the whole world. Chinese researchers named this novel virus as 2019-nCov or Wuhan-coronavirus. However, to avoid misunderstanding the World Health Organization noises it as COVID-19 virus when interacting with the media COVID-19 is new globally as well as in India. This has disturbed peoples mind. There are various rumours about the coronavirus in Indian society which causes panic in peoples mind. It is the need of society to know myths and facts about coronavirus to reduce the panic and take the proper precautionary actions for our safety against the coronavirus. Thus this article aims to bust myths and present the facts to the common people. We need to verify myths spreading through social media and keep our self-ready with facts so that we can protect our self in a better way. People must prevent COVID 19 at a personal level. Appropriate action in individual communities and countries can benefit the entire world.

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