Survival is insufficient: Degenerate utopian nostalgia in popular culture post-apocalyptic fiction

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 261-275 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kirsten Bussière
Keyword(s):  
Popular Culture ◽  
Collective Memory ◽  
Disease Outbreaks ◽  
Social Concern ◽  
Current Position ◽  
The Past ◽  
Global Pandemic ◽  
Growing Body ◽  
Viral Outbreak

From SARS to H1N1, and most recently COVID-19, global disease outbreaks have defined the past several decades. For many, we are living in what can only be described as a pre-apocalyptic moment. Indeed, we are currently facing a global pandemic outbreak – a situation that had been previously described as imminent and perhaps even long overdue. Consequently, the publication of pandemic narratives has increased exponentially, which exposes a heightened social concern about the risk of viral outbreak. But instead of speaking to these growing anxieties and providing models to interpret our current position, a growing body of popular culture post-apocalyptic fiction remains deeply entrenched in a dangerous nostalgia that undermines the construction of hypothetical models that could appropriately respond to these threats. I argue that these texts can therefore be read as degenerate utopias, Louis Marin’s term for the false utopian myths that circulate within a society. A degenerate utopia is thus not really a utopia at all, but rather an ideology that elevates the past to a false state of perfection. My article examines the construction of degenerate utopian realities through collective memory in Emily St John Mandel’s Station Eleven and Peter Heller’s The Dog Stars.

scholarly journals Pamięć w kulturze teraźniejszości

2016 ◽  
Vol 60 (4) ◽  
pp. 121-141
Author(s):  
Elżbieta Tarkowska
Keyword(s):  
Popular Culture ◽  
New Media ◽  
Collective Memory ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Contemporary Culture ◽  
The Past ◽  
Cultural Phenomenon ◽  
Social Time ◽  
Media And Communication

One of the most substantial interdisciplinary topics in the study of contemporary culture is change in social time, which is expressed in the compression of time (and space) and changing relationships between the past, present, and future. Research and analysis situate the present in an exceptional position in contemporary culture, providing us with the term ‘culture of the present.’ At the same time, however, we are dealing with a phenomenon labeled the ‘explosion of memory’—an astounding multidirectional and multifaceted rise in interest in the past. It is therefore worthwhile to investigate the structures and mechanisms of collective memory, as well as how the past is defined in contemporary culture, from the perspective of time as a social and cultural phenomenon. Questions should be asked regarding the mechanisms that unite the dominance of the present in culture with a rising interest in the past. The perspective of social time reveals that the ‘culture of the present,’ the current dominating forms of memory intensification, and the heightened awareness of the past, are influenced by the same or similar factors. These include new media and communication technologies, as well as consumption and popular culture, which change the structure of time, condense the time horizon, alter the manner in which the past is experienced, and modify the mechanisms of collective memory.

Remembering a problematic past: TV mystics, perestroika and the 1990s in post-Soviet media and memory

2017 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 307-323 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Huxtable
Keyword(s):  
Popular Culture ◽  
Collective Memory ◽  
Historical Consciousness ◽  
Soviet State ◽  
The Past ◽  
Memory Work ◽  
Web Forum

This article examines memories of the TV psychic Anatoly Kashpirovsky, whose TV ‘séances’ were broadcast on Soviet state television in the late-1980s. Based on the results of interviews from Russians and Ukrainians conducted in 2013–2014, a television serial based on the rise of TV mystics in the late-1980s and a web forum devoted to discussion of the serial, this article uses memories of Kashpirovsky in both vernacular and public contexts as a means of understanding the place of perestroika and the 1990s in the post-Soviet historical consciousness. In particular, the article focuses on the continued contestation over the meaning of perestroika and the 1990s in Russian and Ukrainian collective memory and the different interpretative strategies used to explain the past. The article seeks to examine the different forms of memory work taking place in different memory spaces, from the popular, vernacular memories voiced in interviews, to public memories expressed within popular culture.

Memories of Migration

2021 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 70-92
Author(s):  
Barbara Laubenthal ◽  
Kevin Myers
Keyword(s):  
Popular Culture ◽  
Collective Memory ◽  
Political Activism ◽  
Memory Studies ◽  
Civil Society Organizations ◽  
The Past ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Key Concepts ◽  
Marginal Status

Based on key concepts of memory studies, this article investigates how immigration is remembered in two different societies: the United Kingdom and Germany. Starting from the assumption that social remembering has the potential to encourage the integration of migrants, we analyze in several case studies how civil society organizations and government actors remember historical immigration processes and how the immigrant past is reflected in popular culture. Our analysis shows that both countries have several factors in common with regard to the role of immigration in collective memory. A common feature is the marginal status accorded to migration and, when it is remembered, the highly restricted role offered to immigrants. However, our studies also reveal that memory can become an important mode for the integration of migrants if it is used as a form of political activism and if organizations proactively use the past to make demands for the incorporation of immigrants.

Hydraulic Laboratory at University of Liège

2018 ◽  
pp. 80-89
Author(s):  
Willi H. Hager
Keyword(s):  
Basic Research ◽  
The Novel ◽  
University Campus ◽  
Current Position ◽  
Professional Background ◽  
The Past ◽  
Comprehensive Picture

The Hydraulic Laboratory of Liège University, Belgium, is historically considered from its foundation in 1937 to the mid-1960s. The technical facilities of the various Buildings are highlighted, along with canals and instrumentation available. It is noted that in its initial era, comparatively few basic research has been conducted, mainly due to the professional background of the professors leading the establishment. This state was improved in the past 50 years, however, particularly since the Laboratory was dislocated to its current position in the novel University Campus. Biographies of the leading persons associated with the Liège Hydraulic Laboratory are also presented, so that a comprehensive picture is given of one of the currently leading hydraulic Laboratories of Europe.

The Palestinian Refugee Camps In Jordan: Between National Identity and Socio-economic Integration

2004 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 198-221 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ala Al-Hamarneh
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
Collective Memory ◽  
Economic Integration ◽  
Refugee Camps ◽  
Spatial Integration ◽  
Political Activities ◽  
Cultural Traditions ◽  
The Past ◽  
Distinct Character ◽  
Palestinian Refugee

At least 50 per cent of the population of Jordan is of Palestinian origin. Some 20 per cent of the registered refugees live in ten internationally organized camps, and another 20 per cent in four locally organized camps and numerous informal camps. The camps organized by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) play a major role in keeping Palestinian identity alive. That identity reflects the refugees' rich cultural traditions, political activities, as well as their collective memory, and the distinct character of each camp. Over the past two decades integration of the refugees within Jordanian society has increased. This paper analyses the transformation of the identity of the camp dwellers, as well as their spatial integration in Jordan, and other historical and contemporary factors contributing to this transformation.

Collective Memory: Between Values and Historical Knowledge

2020 ◽  
pp. 124-142
Author(s):  
VICTOR BURLACHUK
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Collective Memory ◽  
Rapid Change ◽  
Modern Society ◽  
The State ◽  
Main Element ◽  
Rapid Decline ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Future

At the end of the twentieth century, questions of a secondary nature suddenly became topical: what do we remember and who owns the memory? Memory as one of the mental characteristics of an individual’s activity is complemented by the concept of collective memory, which requires a different method of analysis than the activity of a separate individual. In the 1970s, a situation arose that gave rise to the so-called "historical politics" or "memory politics." If philosophical studies of memory problems of the 30’s and 40’s of the twentieth century were focused mainly on the peculiarities of perception of the past in the individual and collective consciousness and did not go beyond scientific discussions, then half a century later the situation has changed dramatically. The problem of memory has found its political sound: historians and sociologists, politicians and representatives of the media have entered the discourse on memory. Modern society, including all social, ethnic and family groups, has undergone a profound change in the traditional attitude towards the past, which has been associated with changes in the structure of government. In connection with the discrediting of the Soviet Union, the rapid decline of the Communist Party and its ideology, there was a collapse of Marxism, which provided for a certain model of time and history. The end of the revolutionary idea, a powerful vector that indicated the direction of historical time into the future, inevitably led to a rapid change in perception of the past. Three models of the future, which, according to Pierre Nora, defined the face of the past (the future as a restoration of the past, the future as progress and the future as a revolution) that existed until recently, have now lost their relevance. Today, absolute uncertainty hangs over the future. The inability to predict the future poses certain challenges to the present. The end of any teleology of history imposes on the present a debt of memory. Features of the life of memory, the specifics of its state and functioning directly affect the state of identity, both personal and collective. Distortion of memory, its incorrect work, and its ideological manipulation can give rise to an identity crisis. The memorial phenomenon is a certain political resource in a situation of severe socio-political breaks and changes. In the conditions of the economic crisis and in the absence of a real and clear program for future development, the state often seeks to turn memory into the main element of national consolidation.

A Brief outlook on possible available solutions, therapies and suggestions for COVID-19

Coronaviruses ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 01 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rashmi Saxena Pal ◽  
Yogendra Pal ◽  
Pranay Wal ◽  
Ankita Wal ◽  
Nikita Saraswat
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Plasma Therapy ◽  
Social Distancing ◽  
The Past ◽  
Antiviral Compounds ◽  
Global Pandemic ◽  
Case Count ◽  
Current Scenario ◽  
Hiv Drugs

Background: WHO declared COVID-19 a global pandemic. New cases are being added every day, as the case count in United States are to the maximum. No drugs or biologics are yet found to be effective for the prevention or treatment of COVID-19. Objective: To discuss the possibilities of available treatments available. Materials & Methods: Brief out-look is undertaken over the past issues available over the similar situations occurred with respect to the current scenario and prospectives. Results: There can be various possibilities in form of convalescent plasma therapy. The known drugs as HIV drugs, antimalarial medicines and antiviral compounds can serve as suggestive option. Conclusion: Till a confirm medicine or vaccine is sorted out for Covid-19, we need to take natural immune-boosters, along with precautionary steps, social distancing and other preventions as instructed for the benefit of everyone with an optimistic mind and attitude.

Justice, Acknowledgment, and Collective Memory

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Valls
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Collective Memory ◽  
The United States ◽  
Truth Commissions ◽  
Place Names ◽  
The Past ◽  
Regime Transitions

In regime transitions, a number of mechanisms are utilized to memorialize the past and to reject the ideas associated with human rights abused of the prior regime. This is often done through truth commissions, apologies, memorials, museums, changes in place names, national holidays, and other symbolic measures. In the United States, some efforts along these lines have been undertaken, but on the whole they have been very limited and inadequate. In addition, many symbols and memorials associated with the past, such as Confederate monuments and the Confederate Battle Flag, continue to be displayed. Hence while some progress has been made on these issues, much more needs to be done.

Cush will come to Zion with a tribute (Isaiah 18:7)

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jongkyung Lee
Keyword(s):  
Current Position ◽  
The Past ◽  
Marginal Note ◽  
The Future

In this chapter, 18:1-2, 4-6 is identified as the original poem against Cush inherited by the supposed late-exilic redactor who added v 7 at the end of the poem. Verse 3 was originally a marginal note on 17:12-14 written in the post-exilic period which was mistakenly copied into the verse’s current position. The only intentional secondary addition made to the original oracle against Cush is v 7 where one finds some points of contact with chs 40-55. Verse 7 foretells that the Cushites who were stricken by YHWH in the past will one day acknowledge his sovereignty and bring tributary gifts to Zion. The future restoration of a once afflicted people, their journey to Zion, and various connections with chs 40-55 all suggest that 18:7 is a continuation of the same vision first set out in 14:1-2.

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