Actorship, parrhesia, and Representation: Remarks on Theatricality and Politics in Hobbes, Rousseau, and Diderot

2018 ◽  
Vol 136 (1) ◽  
pp. 171-192 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dieter Thomä
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
The State ◽  
The Political ◽  
The People ◽  
Political Implications ◽  
Distorted Form ◽  
The Way

AbstractThis paper addresses the strained relationship between parrhesia and actorship and analyzes its political implications. These two terms seem to be antipodes: parrhesia emphasizes the presence of a speaker or author whereas actorship deploys representation. As their relation can be explained by means of the concept of representation it is worthwhile considering the two settings in which representation matters: theater and politics. These settings will be explored in case studies on Hobbes’s, Rousseau’s, and Diderot’s accounts of parrhesia and actorship. Hobbes dismisses parrhesiastic freedom, minimalizes political authorship and favors a model of representation featuring a peculiar, powerful actor: the State. Rousseau criticizes actorship and representation, and seeks to re-install the people as sovereign author. This author is equipped with a strangely distorted form of parrhesia. Diderot takes neither Hobbes’s nor Rousseau’s side. He hints at the political potential of the author-actor relationship and paves the way to a revised notion of parrhesia.

scholarly journals Sur la soumission au pouvoir. Convergences et differences entre le Discours de la servitude volontaire d’Etienne de La Boétie et la pensée politique de Paul Ricœur

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 122-139
Author(s):  
Pierre-Olivier Monteil
Keyword(s):  
Political Thought ◽  
Political Process ◽  
Paul Ricoeur ◽  
The State ◽  
The Political ◽  
Central Concept ◽  
The People ◽  
Paul Ricœur ◽  
The Will ◽  
The Way

This study undertakes a reading of Etienne de La Boétie’s Discours de la servitude volontaire, endeavoring to bring to light the way it convergences with and diverges from the political thought of Paul Ricœur, around the central concept of the will. On the basis of the twin notions of “denaturation” and of “pathology,” a course unfolds which aims at helping establish the people, in comparison with the institution of the State, through a political process revitalised by friendship. But the two thinkers differ when it comes to the resources of the will. This is reflected in the notion of freedom, conceived as absolute in La Boetie, while Ricœur emphasizes its contingency, which leads him to thematize it in terms of capabilities.

scholarly journals How Banyumas people “describe" G30S/PKI in the novel Ronggeng Dhukuh Paruk

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 96
Author(s):  
Khristianto Khristianto ◽  
Widya Nirmawalati
Keyword(s):  
The State ◽  
The Political ◽  
New Order ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Innocent People ◽  
The People ◽  
The Government ◽  
Political Turmoil ◽  
The Way ◽  
The Hamlet

The novel RDP came out in 1982, when the new order regime was still firmly established. One of the important criticisms in the work was the "incorrect" handling of communism by the government at that time following the eruption of the G30S/PKI history. The author of the novel tries to bring a different view of the issue. This paper tries to present how the original Banyumas personified the political turmoil-how the laypeople interpreted the events that had consumed them as victims, or the sacrificed. Based on the recurrent reading of the Indonesian-language RDP novel and Javanese language Banyumasan, the authors firmly state that the people of Dukuh Paruk are merely victims of the outside world. People of the hamlet have no idea what they are doing, other than that they want to perpetuate the tradition they are proud of, ronggeng. Nor do they blame or think that there are people outside of those who have committed crimes against them. The disaster that befall them is none other due to their mistakes do not run the rituals that must be done before performances ronggeng. Their elders also realized that the pageblug had been signaled by the appearance of the latitude of the cubes (comets), and they had ignored the cue. Thus, pageblug should be accepted. Against the innocence of clean thought, the author asserts that something is wrong with them, systematically practiced by the regime at that time. He agreed that the coup was false; but the way in which the state deals with such problems is also unjustifiable. The state has clearly punished many Indonesians without trial, and killed thousands of innocent people.

“I'd make thee eat the mischief thou hast vented”: Discourse of Law in Ben Jonson's Catiline His Conspiracy

2017 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-45
Author(s):  
Akihiko Shimizu
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Political Discourse ◽  
Legal Discourse ◽  
The State ◽  
The Political ◽  
State Of Emergency ◽  
Gunpowder Plot ◽  
Effective Use ◽  
Legal Procedures ◽  
The Way

This essay explores the discourse of law that constitutes the controversial apprehension of Cicero's issuing of the ultimate decree of the Senate (senatus consultum ultimum) in Catiline. The play juxtaposes the struggle of Cicero, whose moral character and legitimacy are at stake in regards to the extra-legal uses of espionage, with the supposedly mischievous Catilinarians who appear to observe legal procedures more carefully throughout their plot. To mitigate this ambivalence, the play defends Cicero's actions by depicting the way in which Cicero establishes the rhetoric of public counsel to convince the citizens of his legitimacy in his unprecedented dealing with Catiline. To understand the contemporaneousness of Catiline, I will explore the way the play integrates the early modern discourses of counsel and the legal maxim of ‘better to suffer an inconvenience than mischief,’ suggesting Jonson's subtle sensibility towards King James's legal reformation which aimed to establish and deploy monarchical authority in the state of emergency (such as the Gunpowder Plot of 1605). The play's climactic trial scene highlights the display of the collected evidence, such as hand-written letters and the testimonies obtained through Cicero's spies, the Allbroges, as proof of Catiline's mischievous character. I argue that the tactical negotiating skills of the virtuous and vicious characters rely heavily on the effective use of rhetoric exemplified by both the political discourse of classical Rome and the legal discourse of Tudor and Jacobean England.

Afterword

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hugh B. Urban ◽  
Greg Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Academic Discourse ◽  
Critical Study ◽  
The Political ◽  
The People ◽  
Political Implications ◽  
Education Today

The Afterword includes an interview with Bruce Lincoln, in which he is asked to reflect on the current study of religion, methods of comparison, and the political implications of academic discourse. In addition to responding to specific points in these chapters, Lincoln also fleshes out what he thinks it would mean “to do better” in the critical study of religion amid the ongoing crises of higher education today. Perhaps most importantly, he reflects upon and clarifies what he means by “irreverence” in the study of religion; an irreverent approach, he concludes, entails a rejection of the sacred status that other people attribute to various things, but not of the people themselves.

scholarly journals Neoliberalism is not dead – On political implications of Covid-19

2020 ◽  
pp. 030981682098238
Author(s):  
Miloš Šumonja
Keyword(s):  
Free Market ◽  
The State ◽  
Working Classes ◽  
Strong State ◽  
Hand Grip ◽  
Right Hand ◽  
The People ◽  
Political Implications ◽  
The World ◽  
The Face

The news is old – neoliberalism is dead for good, but this time, even Financial Times knows it. Obituaries claim that it had died from the coronavirus, as the state, not the markets, have had to save both the people and the economy. The argument of the article is that these academic and media interpretations of ‘emergency Keynesianism’ misidentify neoliberalism with its anti-statist rhetoric. For neoliberalism is, and has always been, about ‘the free market and the strong state’. In fact, rather than waning in the face of the coronavirus crisis, neoliberal states around the world are using the ongoing ‘war against the virus’ to strengthen their right-hand grip on the conditions of the working classes.

Interview with Vicki Kirby

2019 ◽  
Vol 36 (7-8) ◽  
pp. 261-271
Author(s):  
Daniel McLoughlin
Keyword(s):  
Social Theory ◽  
Life Sciences ◽  
The Political ◽  
Nature And Culture ◽  
Political Implications ◽  
New Materialisms ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Way

In this interview, Vicki Kirby discusses her research into the relationship between nature and culture, focusing in particular on her recent edited collection, What If Culture Was Nature All Along? The volume appears in the ‘New Materialisms’ series, and so the interview begins by situating the collection with respect to the recent materialist turn in social theory. Kirby discusses the influence of deconstruction on her thought, and the way that she draws upon Derrida to think through recent research in the life sciences and its implications for understanding the relationship between matter, life, and communication. She also goes into the political implications of her work and the relationship between biopolitics and biodeconstruction.

scholarly journals The Power of Political Cartoons: A Case Study of Zunar’s ‘Twit Twit Cincin’

2021 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 146-180
Author(s):  
Roslina Abdul Latif ◽  
◽  
Sojoud Elgarrai ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Visual Rhetoric ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Institutional Reform ◽  
The State ◽  
Political Cartoons ◽  
The Political ◽  
Works Of Art ◽  
The Way

The following study of selected works of art by Zulkiflee Anwar Haque or better known as Zunar, a Malaysian political cartoonist from his book ‘Twit Twit Cincin’. This study is guided by the visual rhetoric theory that has three areas of study - nature, function and evaluation. The study looks at selected cartoons that addressed political figures, politics and social issues. The research looked at the way the caricatures portrayed Malaysian politicians, his perspectives on the political and social issues and how these issues were addressed. The researcher also looked at metaphors used by the cartoonist to communicate his ideas to the audiences. The study found that Zunar’s portrait of Malaysian politicians is not always positive. He is critical but not in an inflammatory way. The metaphors found in Zunar’s work are found to be common themes and simple to understand. They are also very well-known, visually appealing and a tool to tie his messages together and to get his ideas across. Zunar has managed to resist the oppression of the state through his cartoons while looking at institutional reform, puts forth an alternative articulation of history and nation that juxtapose the current government. Keywords: Zunar, political cartoonist, political and social issues, Twit Twit Cincin, metaphors.

scholarly journals Satire in Shrestha’s Ghintang Ghishi Twank

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-81
Author(s):  
Man Kumar Rai
Keyword(s):  
Positive Change ◽  
The State ◽  
The Political ◽  
Poor People ◽  
Political Leaders ◽  
Common People ◽  
The People ◽  
Hands On ◽  
Special Occasion ◽  
The Common

   The objective of this article is to analyze the use of satire in three poems, from Rupesh  Shrestha’s volume of poems Ghintang Ghishi Twank in order to examine use of the suffering of voiceless people. The poems depict absurdities of the society and hypocrisy of the leaders which are the causes of poor people‟s pains. This poems exhibit how follies, vices and absurdities are hurdle in transforming society into prosperous one. The poet has berated them with the aim of bringing positive change in the society and in the lives of the common people. The poet mocks at the political changes which have brought change only in the lives of political leaders, not in the lives of the people who have been ignored by the state for long. Despite many anxieties, they enjoy dancing and playing sticks in their hands on the special occasion of Gaijatra. The poems are collection of sharp words which are used to butt the corrupt politicians. For this, the elements of Juvenalian satire have been used as tools for analysis of the selected poems. This study highlights upon the anxieties of marginalized people; demonstrates the shameful act of politicians; and exposes the absurdities prevailed in the society. It indicates that the political and social absurdities are subject to be poked in order to reform a society.

Writing Politics: Ottoman Governmentality and the Language of Reports

2018 ◽  
pp. 116-145
Author(s):  
M. Safa Saraçoglu
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
The State ◽  
Significant Part ◽  
The Political ◽  
Local Administration ◽  
Essential Component ◽  
State And Society ◽  
Provincial Capital ◽  
False Accusations

This chapter focuses on the official correspondence between Vidin’s administrative council and the provincial capital, Ruse. These reports pertaining to events in Vidin County were a part of the political procedures of the local judicio-administrative sphere. As such, politics of local administration influenced the official correspondence and our understanding of the events in Vidin County. The writing of reports and petitions and other provincial administrative/judicial practices (such as interrogations) constituted a significant part of Ottoman governmentality. Those who could shape how the official correspondence was constructed gained advantage in local political economy. Such correspondence was an essential component of how provincial Ottoman government functioned; therefore, reports, petitions, false accusations, and interrogations became important tools for agents and groups who were engaged in hegemonic negotiations. Both elite and non-elite agents were able to utilize Ottoman governance to pursue their own strategies against other local agents or imperial government. People who refused to use these bureaucratic tools in making claims and negotiating were presented in this correspondence as defiant stubborn and violent. This perspective is critical of the state–society divide, as the case studies reveal a more complex singular government of state and society.

Introduction

2005 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. C. Smout
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
The Political ◽  
The People ◽  
Short Run ◽  
Political Scene ◽  
The Way

This book presents an overview of the first six decades of the Union of the Crowns. It also provides a picture of the uses to which judicial torture was put after 1660 and a summary of the straits in which Scotland found itself in the opening years of the eighteenth century. It then explores the problems which union posed to maritime lawyers of both nations, the dark reception that the Scots received in eighteenth-century England, and the way Enlightenment Scotland viewed the British unions. It examines the ambitions of Scottish élites in India, the frame for radical cooperation in the age of the Friends of the People and later, and the background for the sojourn of Thomas and Jane Carlyle in London. It finally outlined the Anglo-Scottish relations on the political scene in the nineteenth century. The parliamentary union did little in the short run for Anglo-Scottish relations. It is shown that Scots are indeed worried and worry a lot about Anglo-Scottish relations, but the English worried and worry about them hardly at all, except in times of exceptional crisis, as in 1638–54, 1703–7, 1745–7 and perhaps much later in the 1970s after oil had been discovered.

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