Say there’s no future: The queer potential of Wicked’s Fiyero

2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 305-317 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven Greenwood
Keyword(s):  
Cultural History ◽  
Gay Men ◽  
Social Order ◽  
Musical Theatre ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of ◽  
Broadway Musicals

This article demonstrates the queer potential and pleasure produced by the character Fiyero in Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman’s Wicked (2003). I mobilize two primary frameworks to examine Fiyero’s queerness; the first half of the article views Fiyero in the context of queer theories of temporality and utopia, while the second half is interested in the deep cultural history of gay men’s relationships with Broadway musicals. This analysis produces both theoretical and historical implications of Fiyero’s character as I explore how his representation disrupts heteronormative rituals and aspects of the social order, as well as how he produces a valuable figure for the communities of gay men that have historically developed around musical theatre. The queer possibility of Wicked’s women has been examined extensively in past scholarship – particularly through the insights of Stacy Wolf – and this article expands upon this previous work to account for the role of Fiyero in the musical and the queer possibilities he produces.

Officers’ contributions to Britain’s anti-slavery culture

2019 ◽  
pp. 167-190
Author(s):  
Mary Wills
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Cultural History ◽  
Slave Trade ◽  
West African ◽  
Royal Navy ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Press ◽  
History Of ◽  
Naval Officers

This chapter examines officers’ contributions to the metropolitan discourses about slavery and abolition taking place in Britain in the early to mid-nineteenth century. Furthering the theme of naval officers playing an important part in the social and cultural history of the West African campaign, it uncovers connections between the Royal Navy and domestic anti-slavery networks, and the extent to which abolitionist societies and interest groups operating in Britain during the first half of the nineteenth century forged relationships with naval officers in the field. Officers contributed to this ever-evolving anti-slavery culture: through support of societies and by providing key testimonies and evidence about the unrelenting transatlantic slave trade. Their representations of the slave trade were used to champion the abolitionist cause, as well as the role of the Royal Navy, in parliament, the press and other public arenas.

Individuality and Achievement in South Indian Social History

1992 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 129-156 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mattison Mines
Keyword(s):  
Social History ◽  
Social Order ◽  
Indian Society ◽  
Collective Identities ◽  
South Indian ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Social Importance

One of the unresolved issues of Indian anthorpology is how to characterize and weigh the social importance of individuality and achievement in Indian social history. Of course, the individual as ‘empirical agent’ exists in India as everywhere (Dumont 1970a:9), yet because Hindu culture stresses collective identities over those of the individual, individual achievement, which is a measure of individuality, has been overlooked and sometimes outrightly rejected as a cause of history and social order (Dumont 1970a:107; 1970b; cf. Silverberg 1968). In consequence, the motivations underlying achievement that might explain historic action have also been ignored. This undervaluing of individuality and achievement has given rise to a long debate among South Asianists about the role of the individual in Indian society (e.g., Marriott 1968, 1969; Tambiah 1972:835; Beteille 1986, 1987), a debate that raises questions in wider arenas about the nature of society and culture in relation to individuals (e.g. Brown 1988; Mines 1988).

scholarly journals The Burden of the Empire and the Vocation of Russia: George Fedotov’s Philosophy of History

2019 ◽  
Vol 62 (4) ◽  
pp. 44-57 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. V. Klepikova
Keyword(s):  
Cultural History ◽  
Russian Empire ◽  
Peter The Great ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Republic ◽  
Ivan The Terrible ◽  
The Russian Empire ◽  
Creative Role

The paper discusses the philosophical and historical doctrine of the Russian philosopher and historian George Petrovich Fedotov. The author focuses on the analysis of imperial issues in the works of G.P. Fedotov, especially of his views on the cultural history of the Russian empire and the essence of imperial project in Russia. Fedotov reconsiders the historical experience and revolutionary catastrophe of Russia and searches for the foundations of the social and cultural processes determining the events of Russian history. Fedotov’s works offer a variety of interpretations of the political and cultural phenomenon of empire. This reflects his evolution as a philosopher of history: the focus of his vision shifts from the Medieval Rus to the Empire of Peter the Great, then to the collapsed empire of Nicholas II and finally to the USSR (the latter was also an empire according to him). Fedotov’s concept of Empire evolves into a timeless cultural-philosophical phenomenon but originates from the historical description of the centralization of power in the feudal monarchy of Ivan the Terrible. The evolution of the philosophical and historical views of Fedotov is influenced by the changes of his attitude to the historical conception of Klyuchevsky. In the 1940s Fedotov considers the empire as a universal idea. The concept of empire proposed by Fedotov gives an understanding of the Russian historical development, especially the causes of the decline and fall of the Russian Empire. Fedotov associates the cause of the salvation of Russia with the study of ancient Russian culture, in which he founds a moral and political ideal of the “Republic of Saint Sophia.” The paper shows heuristic potential of Fedotov’s cultural and philosophical ideas on the vocation of spiritual elite and the creative role of personality in the process of nation-building.

A Cultural History of the Home in the Age of Enlightenment

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Cultural History ◽  
Social Order ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Order And Disorder ◽  
Living Space ◽  
The Enlightenment ◽  
History Of ◽  
Role Of Religion

During the period of the Enlightenment, the word ‘home’ could refer to a specific and defined physical living space, the location of domestic life, and a concept related to ideas of roots, origins, and retreat. The transformations that the Enlightenment encouraged created the circumstances for the concept of home to change and develop in the following three ways. First to influence homemaking were the literary and cultural manifestations that included issues around attitudes to education, social order and disorder, sensibility, and sexuality. Secondly, were the roles of visual and material culture of the home that demonstrated themselves through print, portraiture, literature, objects and products, and dress and fashion. Thirdly, were the industrial and sociological aspects that included concepts of luxury, progress, trade and technology, consumption, domesticity, and the notions of public and private spaces within a home. The chapters in this volume therefore discuss and reflect upon issues relating to the home through a range of approaches. Enlightenment homes are examined in terms of signification and meaning; the persons who inhabited them; the physical buildings and their furniture and furnishings; the work undertaken within them; the differing roles of men and women; the nature of hospitality, and the important role of religion in the home. Taken together they give a valuable overview of the manners, customs, and operation of the Enlightenment home.

The Uruk Phenomenon

2020 ◽  
pp. 163-244
Author(s):  
Gebhard J. Selz
Keyword(s):  
Cultural History ◽  
Formative Period ◽  
Transitional Period ◽  
Political Organization ◽  
Trade Routes ◽  
Western Asia ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of ◽  
Cultural Features

The city of Uruk in southern Iraq was the main force for urbanization and state formation in Mesopotamia during the Uruk period (ca. 3800–3300 BC), which takes its name from this “first city.” This chapter discusses this formative period for the social, political, and cultural history of Mesopotamia and beyond, as well as the ensuing transitional period (Uruk III/Jemdet Nasr period; ca. 3300–3000 BC). The focus lies on the key elements of Uruk culture and its spread across Western Asia, including Syria, Anatolia, and Iran; the invention of cuneiform writing; and aspects of social, religious, and political organization of this emergent state. Contextualized in climatic, demographic, and geographic observations, the chapter evaluates key cultural features, stressing the role of population growth intertwined with technological, agricultural, and administrative improvements. These cultural features’ dissemination along trade routes to the Levant, Anatolia, and Iran is linked to the establishment of strongholds that secured the exchange of goods, with the south of Mesopotamia serving as the commercial hub. While the available sources—both textual and iconographic—provide no unequivocal evidence for the alleged monocratic governance of Uruk-period society, the identifiable political structures were strongly intertwined with religious functions, indicating great societal complexity. The alleged collapse of the Uruk culture was predominantly the breakdown of the Uruk (trade) network. Culturally, however, many features of the Uruk phenomenon provided the founding charter for Mesopotamian social structures in subsequent periods.

4. Learning the blues: the establishment and legitimation of professional policing in Britain 1829–2018

2019 ◽  
pp. 65-98
Author(s):  
Benjamin Bowling ◽  
Robert Reiner ◽  
James Sheptycki
Keyword(s):  
Social Order ◽  
Social Impact ◽  
Police Reform ◽  
Cultural Changes ◽  
Operational Strategies ◽  
The Social ◽  
Service Role ◽  
The Face ◽  
History Of

This chapter first looks at the history of British professional policing between 1829 and 1856, when the police idea was highly controversial. It compares the new police with the old forms, the motives for police reform, and the social impact of the new police. It also considers the basis of opposition to the police, and describes how the role of policing in social order became recognized. There follows an analysis of the legitimation of the modern British police in the face of widespread opposition. This partly relates to such operational strategies as bureaucratic discipline, subjection to the rule of law, non-partisanship, accountability, a service role, and preventive policing. These were facilitated by cultural changes, notably the incorporation of the working class, into the fabric of civil, political, and socio-economic citizenship. After the 1970s, with the emergence of neo-liberalism, these processes reversed and the police became increasingly controversial and politicized.

scholarly journals The Role of Akashvani Kozhikode in the Radio Broadcasting History of Kerala with Emphasis on the Contributions of Khan Kavil

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (Special Issue) ◽  
pp. 21-30
Author(s):  
Fida Yasmin
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Oral History ◽  
Cultural History ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Primary Sources ◽  
Ordinary People ◽  
Radio Broadcasting ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of

The study examines the history of radio broadcasting in Kerala from the 1940s to the 21st century, focusing on the contributions of Akashvani Kozhikode. An attempt is made to search the social and cultural history of Akashvani Kozhikode and find out the contemporary relevance of Kozhikode station. The study's primary aim is to delve into the life history of Khan Kavil, who was an anchor, drama writer, actor, drama director, and broadcasting artist. Khan Kavil, born in a small village named Kavumthara in Kerala, was a voice artist who worked in Akashvani Kozhikode from 1978 to 1997 and carved a niche with his dynamic voice in the realm of radio broadcasting in Kerala. The study is trying to identify his contributions to the Akashvani Kozhikode and society. His life and contributions are recollected through popular memories, and an attempt is made to write a local and oral history based on this data gathered through the conversations with the eminent personalities of Khan Kavil's time who admired him and his colleagues. Further, the paper attempts to trace out why radio broadcasting still has a significant impact on ordinary people despite the advent of new forms of media. Magazines, newspapers, brochures, and interviews are used as the primary sources of this study.

3. Encountering the Counter-Reformation

2006 ◽  
Vol 59 (3) ◽  
pp. 706-720 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary Laven
Keyword(s):  
Cultural History ◽  
Social History ◽  
Early Modern Catholicism ◽  
The People ◽  
Local Case ◽  
The Social ◽  
Counter Reformation ◽  
The Reformation ◽  
History Of

While the Reformation has, from the very beginning, been seen as a drama which drew its cast from every sphere of society, the Counter-Reformation was until recently considered the project of elites. Even those who sought to write the social history of the Catholic reform movement allocated to “the people” the role of resisting the course of change rather than contributing to the transformation of early modern Catholicism. Swimming against this tide, a succession of local case studies, focusing in particular on rituals and objects, has demonstrated the manifold ways in which men and women of all social backgrounds participated in the reinvention of Roman Catholicism. This paper considers new emphases in the social and cultural history of the Counter-Reformation, and asks whether there remains a place for thinking about the age of reform in terms of discipline and confessionalization.

The problem of periodization of the history of religion

1997 ◽  
pp. 3-8
Author(s):  
Borys Lobovyk
Keyword(s):  
Religious Studies ◽  
Human Being ◽  
Religious Development ◽  
History Of Religion ◽  
The Social ◽  
The World ◽  
History Of ◽  
Role Of Religion

An important problem of religious studies, the history of religion as a branch of knowledge is the periodization process of the development of religious phenomenon. It is precisely here, as in focus, that the question of the essence and meaning of the religious development of the human being of the world, the origin of beliefs and cult, the reasons for the changes in them, the place and role of religion in the social and spiritual process, etc., are converging.

George Hoggart Toulmin: politics and geology

1978 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 481-481
Author(s):  
ROY PORTER
Keyword(s):  
French Revolution ◽  
Social Order ◽  
Lower Class ◽  
Great Distance ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Christian View ◽  
The Social ◽  
French Enlightenment ◽  
Political Conservatism ◽  
History Of

The physician George Hoggart Toulmin (1754–1817) propounded his theory of the Earth in a number of works beginning with The antiquity and duration of the world (1780) and ending with his The eternity of the universe (1789). It bore many resemblances to James Hutton's "Theory of the Earth" (1788) in stressing the uniformity of Nature, the gradual destruction and recreation of the continents and the unfathomable age of the Earth. In Toulmin's view, the progress of the proper theory of the Earth and of political advancement were inseparable from each other. For he analysed the commonly accepted geological ideas of his day (which postulated that the Earth had been created at no great distance of time by God; that God had intervened in Earth history on occasions like the Deluge to punish man; and that all Nature had been fabricated by God to serve man) and argued they were symptomatic of a society trapped in ignorance and superstition, and held down by priestcraft and political tyranny. In this respect he shared the outlook of the more radical figures of the French Enlightenment such as Helvétius and the Baron d'Holbach. He believed that the advance of freedom and knowledge would bring about improved understanding of the history and nature of the Earth, as a consequence of which Man would better understand the terms of his own existence, and learn to live in peace, harmony and civilization. Yet Toulmin's hopes were tempered by his naturalistic view of the history of the Earth and of Man. For Time destroyed everything — continents and civilizations. The fundamental law of things was cyclicality not progress. This latent political conservatism and pessimism became explicit in Toulmin's volume of verse, Illustration of affection, published posthumously in 1819. In those poems he signalled his disapproval of the French Revolution and of Napoleonic imperialism. He now argued that all was for the best in the social order, and he abandoned his own earlier atheistic religious radicalism, now subscribing to a more Christian view of God. Toulmin's earlier geological views had run into considerable opposition from orthodox religious elements. They were largely ignored by the geological community in late eighteenth and early nineteenth century Britain, but were revived and reprinted by lower class radicals such as Richard Carlile. This paper is to be published in the American journal, The Journal for the History of Ideas in 1978 (in press).

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