scholarly journals An Exploration into the Satiric Significance of Abuse in Selected Nigerian Drama

2021 ◽  
pp. 143
Author(s):  
Oluwafemi Sunday Alabi
Keyword(s):  
Textual Analysis ◽  
National Interest ◽  
Henri Bergson ◽  
General Survey ◽  
Human Interactions ◽  
Self Interest ◽  
Inherent Part ◽  
Scholarly Attention ◽  
Sociopolitical Issues

A general survey of the contemporary Nigerian theatre and drama reveals that several contemporary Nigerian dramatists have harnessed the art of abuse—invectives— as a device for conveying meanings in their works and achieving their satiric goals. These dramatists create characters that engage abuse to articulate the thematic concerns of their drama, accentuate the conflicts in them, and establish the socio-cultural and political setting of their drama. Although extant works on satiric plays have focused on the use of language, and other satiric devices such as grotesque, irony, burlesque, innuendo, sarcasm, among others (Adeoti 1994; Adenigbo & Alugbin 2020; Mireku-Gyimah 2013; Nyamekye & Debrah 2016), sufficient scholarly attention has not been given to the art of abuse as a trope in Nigerian drama. The article explores the artistic significance of abuse and its forms in selected works of two contemporary Nigerian dramatists: Femi Osofisan’s Altine’s Wrath (2002) and Ola Rotimi’s Who is a Patriot? (2006). These two plays are selected because they manifest ample deployment of the art of abuse and engage various sociopolitical issues. Hence, the article discusses how the art of abuse in these plays projects and addresses such sociopolitical realities as oppression, exploitation, resistance, self-interest versus national interest, and capitalism, among others. The article engages the principles of superiority theory of humour as espoused by Henri Bergson (2003) for textual analysis. It contends and concludes that abuse, as an inherent part of social and human interactions, has been an effective tool in satirising ills in individuals and society at large.

Self-Interest and the Distant Vulnerable

2016 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 335-353 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luke Glanville
Keyword(s):  
Seventeenth Century ◽  
Vulnerable Populations ◽  
National Interest ◽  
Political Leaders ◽  
Self Interest ◽  
Prompt Action ◽  
Do So

What interests do states have in assisting and protecting vulnerable populations beyond their borders? While some political leaders and commentators promote a circumscribed understanding of the national interest that rules out accepting substantial risks and costs for the sake of the distant vulnerable, others endorse an “enlightened” conception of the national interest that recognizes the long-term utility to be gained by helping them. However, while this notion of “enlightened” self-interest gives states reason to act in some instances, it fails to prompt action in other cases where the suffering of strangers is less strategically important. Some leaders and commentators have responded to this problem by reaching for some other, less material conception of the national interest to justify assisting the distant vulnerable, but they have often struggled to find the language they need. This article finds a solution in the debates about self-interest waged in seventeenth-century Europe. Dissatisfied both with Hobbes's narrow understanding of self-interest and Pufendorf's more “enlightened” understanding, Leibniz defended a more generous and “disinterested” conception, grounded not in considerations of material utility but in the pleasure to be derived from helping those in need. This article demonstrates two ways in which this “disinterested” conception of self-interest can be of use today. First, it provides resources for explaining why states already sometimes act in “disinterested” and altruistic ways. Second, it provides leaders with a tool for persuading people to help the distant vulnerable, even when it appears to be in neither their narrow nor their “enlightened” interests to do so.

Borders of Compassion: Immigration Preferences and Parochial Altruism

2020 ◽  
pp. 001041402093808 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Kustov
Keyword(s):  
National Interest ◽  
Population Based ◽  
Self Interest ◽  
Conjoint Experiment

Anti-immigration preferences among educated and racially egalitarian voters is hard to explain using existing frameworks of self-interest or prejudice. I address this puzzle by developing a theory of parochial altruism, which stipulates that voters are motivated to help others at a cost, but they prioritize helping compatriots. I hypothesize that parochial altruists or voters high in both “nationalism” and “altruism” are more supportive of immigration restrictions perceived to be in the national interest. However, parochial altruists are also expected to be more supportive of increasing immigration when it benefits their compatriots. I test my theory by conducting a population-based UK survey. Using a novel measure of elicited preferences, I first find most altruists who donate to domestic rather than global charities are as anti-immigration as egoists who do not donate at all. Using a conjoint experiment, I then show voters support increasing immigration when these alternative policies benefit their compatriots.

Katherine Mansfield and Vitalist Psychology

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clare Hanson
Keyword(s):  
William James ◽  
The Self ◽  
Henri Bergson ◽  
Katherine Mansfield ◽  
Human Interactions ◽  
Changing Environments ◽  
Different Levels

This essay argues that the vitalist psychology of William James and particularly Henri Bergson shaped Mansfield’s understanding of the mutability and multiplicity of the self. It suggests that Bergson’s emphasis on the heterogeneity of consciousness finds an echo in the distinctiveness of Mansfield’s characterisation, as she tracks the fluid interplay between different levels and intensities of consciousness. Drawing on the vitalist understanding of personality, it argues that Mansfield tracks the expression and transmission of emotion between characters in terms of affect and involuntary action, disclosing the porosity of the self and its openness to the unpredictability of human interactions. Delving further into Bergson’s account of consciousness, it suggests that Mansfield shares his understanding of the self as caught between a virtual past and a virtual future, transformed moment by moment under the pressure of a past which breaks through into the present and a future which is constitutively unknowable. For Mansfield as for a number of modernist writers, character is framed in terms of a situational self which is responsive to the changing environments in which it finds itself, and consciousness is rendered as endlessly productive of novelty, of that which cannot be predicted from the familiar and already known.

scholarly journals Genocide Prevention and Western National Security: The Limitations of Making R2P All About Us

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 12-25
Author(s):  
Maureen S. Hiebert
Keyword(s):  
National Security ◽  
National Interest ◽  
International Community ◽  
Moral Norms ◽  
Alternate Conceptions ◽  
Logical Foundation ◽  
Self Interest ◽  
Blue Print ◽  
At Home

The case for turning R2P and genocide prevention from principle to practice usually rests on the invocation of moral norms and duties to others. Calls have been made by some analysts to abandon this strategy and “sell” genocide prevention to government by framing it as a matter of our own national interest including our security. Governments’ failure to prevent atrocities abroad, it is argued, imperils western societies at home. If we look at how the genocide prevention-as-national security argument has been made we can see, however, that this position is not entirely convincing. I review two policy reports that make the case for genocide prevention based in part on national security considerations: <em>Preventing Genocide: A Blue Print for U.S. Policymakers</em> (Albright-Cohen Report); and the <em>Will to Intervene Project</em>. I show that both reports are problematic for two reasons: the “widened” traditional security argument advocated by the authors is not fully substantiated by the evidence provided in the reports; and alternate conceptions of security that would seem to support the linking of genocide prevention to western security—securitization and risk and uncertain—do not provide a solid logical foundation for operationalizing R2P. I conclude by considering whether we might appeal instead to another form of self interest, “reputational stakes”, tied to western states’ construction of their own identity as responsible members of the international community.

scholarly journals John Prestall: A Complex Relationship with the Elizabethan Regime

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Michael Devine
Keyword(s):  
Belief System ◽  
Natural World ◽  
Elizabeth I ◽  
Tudor England ◽  
Catholic Faith ◽  
Alternative Perspective ◽  
Print Material ◽  
Self Interest ◽  
Court Politics ◽  
Inherent Part

<p>This thesis is the biography of John Prestall (c.1527-c.1598) an unsavoury, nefarious, spendthrift, Catholic gentleman from Elizabethan England. A conspirator, opportunist informer, occult conjurer, conman and alchemist, Prestall's biography provides an alternative perspective from which to view Elizabethan history, exposing the dark fringe of the Elizabethan Court and the murky political underworld it attracted. In the polarised politico-religious ferment of late Tudor England, Prestall perennially in debt, utilised his occult powers for his own ruthless self-interest and preservation. Always looking for the best deal, he oscillated between using sorcery and astrology in conspiracies against both Mary I and Elizabeth I, and then traded alchemical promises with members of the Elizabethan establishment for patronage, pardons, and returns from exile. Through an examination of the surviving manuscript correspondence and contemporary print material, this thesis situates Prestall in the broader context of Elizabethan England and uses his life as a conduit linking together a sequence of previously unrelated plots, conspiracies and patronage relationships. Prestall's life, as documented in the manuscripts, was not primarily directed by his Catholic faith which played a secondary role to his search for the best deal and cure for his debt-ridden circumstances. This presents an interesting contrast to members of the Elizabethan regime whose Protestant ideological view of the Catholic-Protestant clash directed many of their actions. This biography explores Prestall's use of conjuring and alchemy to demonstrate the important influence magic had in Elizabethan political conspiracies and Court politics. Within a society whose belief system held magic to be an inherent part of the natural world, Prestall unscrupulously used his astrological and alchemical talents to whatever ends he thought would provide him the biggest payoff.</p>

The ‘culture of honor’ in citizens’ concepts of their duty as voters

2012 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Baron
Keyword(s):  
National Interest ◽  
Moral Duty ◽  
Web Studies ◽  
Culture Of Honor ◽  
Self Defense ◽  
Self Interest ◽  
Right To Vote ◽  
The Right ◽  
Harmful Effects

Web studies explored citizens’ concepts of their duty as voters and their choices concerning actual policies. Some people see a moral duty to support their group (their nation) regardless of harmful effects on outsiders. One study supports the hypothesis that this duty avoids betrayal of the nation, which they see as granting the right to vote for the purpose of advancing national interest. Some also see a duty to defend their self-interest through voting; many think this is a rational way to pursue their interests. Another justification is, “If [the voter] does not look out for her own interests, nobody else will.” I hypothesize a norm of responsibility for self-defense, part of the “culture of honor” (Cohen and Nisbett, 1994) in all of us. Yet politics is by design an inefficient way to pursue self-interest, although it is efficient for advancing the good of all.

Ethics in Conflict Resolution: The Ties That Bind

2002 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 137-142 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Keyword(s):  
Conflict Resolution ◽  
Ethical Dilemmas ◽  
International Negotiation ◽  
Competing Interests ◽  
Introductory Essay ◽  
Self Interest ◽  
Distinctive Role ◽  
Scholarly Attention

AbstractEthical dilemmas are inevitable in negotiation and other conflict resolution situations as parties seek to guard self-interest while reconciling competing interests. There is a developing body of research on the psychology of ethics in conflict, but a relative dearth of scholarly attention to the wider field of ethics in conflict resolution. In this introductory essay, we describe and comment on the diversity of approaches and contexts featured in the articles that comprise this themed issue of International Negotiation. We identify the ethical dimensions of relationships among disputing parties and interveners as a common thematic element that may represent a fruitful avenue for thinking about the distinctive role of ethics in the resolution of conflict.

scholarly journals John Prestall: A Complex Relationship with the Elizabethan Regime

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Michael Devine
Keyword(s):  
Belief System ◽  
Natural World ◽  
Elizabeth I ◽  
Tudor England ◽  
Catholic Faith ◽  
Alternative Perspective ◽  
Print Material ◽  
Self Interest ◽  
Court Politics ◽  
Inherent Part

<p>This thesis is the biography of John Prestall (c.1527-c.1598) an unsavoury, nefarious, spendthrift, Catholic gentleman from Elizabethan England. A conspirator, opportunist informer, occult conjurer, conman and alchemist, Prestall's biography provides an alternative perspective from which to view Elizabethan history, exposing the dark fringe of the Elizabethan Court and the murky political underworld it attracted. In the polarised politico-religious ferment of late Tudor England, Prestall perennially in debt, utilised his occult powers for his own ruthless self-interest and preservation. Always looking for the best deal, he oscillated between using sorcery and astrology in conspiracies against both Mary I and Elizabeth I, and then traded alchemical promises with members of the Elizabethan establishment for patronage, pardons, and returns from exile. Through an examination of the surviving manuscript correspondence and contemporary print material, this thesis situates Prestall in the broader context of Elizabethan England and uses his life as a conduit linking together a sequence of previously unrelated plots, conspiracies and patronage relationships. Prestall's life, as documented in the manuscripts, was not primarily directed by his Catholic faith which played a secondary role to his search for the best deal and cure for his debt-ridden circumstances. This presents an interesting contrast to members of the Elizabethan regime whose Protestant ideological view of the Catholic-Protestant clash directed many of their actions. This biography explores Prestall's use of conjuring and alchemy to demonstrate the important influence magic had in Elizabethan political conspiracies and Court politics. Within a society whose belief system held magic to be an inherent part of the natural world, Prestall unscrupulously used his astrological and alchemical talents to whatever ends he thought would provide him the biggest payoff.</p>

scholarly journals John Prestall: A Complex Relationship with the  Elizabethan Regime

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Michael Devine
Keyword(s):  
Belief System ◽  
Natural World ◽  
Elizabeth I ◽  
Tudor England ◽  
Catholic Faith ◽  
Alternative Perspective ◽  
Print Material ◽  
Self Interest ◽  
Court Politics ◽  
Inherent Part

<p>This thesis is the biography of John Prestall (c.1527-c.1598) an unsavoury, nefarious, spendthrift, Catholic gentleman from Elizabethan England. A conspirator, opportunist informer, occult conjurer, conman and alchemist, Prestall's biography provides an alternative perspective from which to view Elizabethan history, exposing the dark fringe of the Elizabethan Court and the murky political underworld it attracted. In the polarised politico-religious ferment of late Tudor England, Prestall perennially in debt, utilised his occult powers for his own ruthless self-interest and preservation. Always looking for the best deal, he oscillated between using sorcery and astrology in conspiracies against both Mary I and Elizabeth I, and then traded alchemical promises with members of the Elizabethan establishment for patronage, pardons, and returns from exile. Through an examination of the surviving manuscript correspondence and contemporary print material, this thesis situates Prestall in the broader context of Elizabethan England and uses his life as a conduit linking together a sequence of previously unrelated plots, conspiracies and patronage relationships. Prestall's life, as documented in the manuscripts, was not primarily directed by his Catholic faith which played a secondary role to his search for the best deal and cure for his debt-ridden circumstances. This presents an interesting contrast to members of the Elizabethan regime whose Protestant ideological view of the Catholic-Protestant clash directed many of their actions. This biography explores Prestall's use of conjuring and alchemy to demonstrate the important influence magic had in Elizabethan political conspiracies and Court politics. Within a society whose belief system held magic to be an inherent part of the natural world, Prestall unscrupulously used his astrological and alchemical talents to whatever ends he thought would provide him the biggest payoff.</p>

The Statesmanship of Harry S Truman

1985 ◽  
Vol 47 (2) ◽  
pp. 231-252 ◽  
Author(s):  
John W. Coffey
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
National Interest ◽  
Moral Principle ◽  
Marshall Plan ◽  
Truman Doctrine ◽  
Self Interest ◽  
The World ◽  
Meaning And Purpose ◽  
Containment Policy

President Truman's statesmanship consists in the fact that his administration's foreign policy fused moral principle and national self-interest and that his articulation of foreign policy educated citizens in the principles of the American regime and in the nature of the threat to it. The Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan address vital strategic interests, but Truman's conception of the national interest contained a lucid sense of political meaning and purpose in his understanding that the perpetuation of freedom in America required a resolute defense of republicanism elsewhere in the world. Like Lincoln, Truman was committed to the prudent containment of an expansionist power, and for Truman, as for Lincoln, the survival of the Union meant above all the preservation of a regime devoted to the principles of the Founders. NSC-68 crystallized containment policy, uniting power with principle in a strategy that matched military means to political ends.

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