scholarly journals Artist as Witness

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 30-59
Author(s):  
Nancy Deffebach
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Visual Language ◽  
Political Satire ◽  
National Politics ◽  
Abuse Of Power ◽  
Personal Connection ◽  
The Holocaust ◽  
The Matrix

After creating a substantial corpus of art that was political in the sense that the female body and social justice are political, but which had not dealt with national politics, the Colombian painter Débora Arango (1907–2005) embarked on an extended series of works that chronicled and critiqued politics and politicians during the undeclared civil war known as la Violencia (c. 1946 to 1965). This essay examines Arango’s first five paintings about the national politics of Colombia and, by extension, the role of the artist as witness. Arango’s earliest political paintings represent the Liberal politician Jorge Eliécer Gaitán, the rioting that erupted after his assassination in Bogotá on April 9, 1948, and the government’s suppression of Liberal rebels in Antioquia. This essay documents her personal connection to Gaitán, considers the cultural politics of the era, places the paintings in historical context, and analyzes the stylistic changes and international sources Arango employed to visualize the abuse of power. The undated watercolor Gaitán (by 1948), which portrays the politician speaking to a vast, enthusiastic crowd, is the only political painting she ever created that does not criticize its subject. After Gaitán’s murder she switched to a more expressionistic visual language to condemn the violence that followed, first in Masacre del 9 de abril, then in three paintings that depict the transport of rebels in railroad boxcars in ways that evoke the Holocaust. The five images are the matrix from which her incisive political satire of the 1950s evolved.

THE BENTHAM BROTHERS’ PANOPTICON. A MYTHICAL MONSTER OR A USEFUL PROJECT?

2021 ◽  
pp. 38-49
Author(s):  
Sergei G. Lukovenkov ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Social Life ◽  
18Th Century ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Abuse Of Power ◽  
Big Brother ◽  
Road Map ◽  
The Will ◽  
And Control

The article analyzes the concept of the Panopticon and panoptic space, developed in the 18th century by Samuel and Jeremy Bentham. The po- pular image of the “mechanism” is presented as one of the “monsters” of dysto- pian thought, similar to “Big Brother”. Contrary to the original idea, the Pan- opticon and panoptic architecture in general have become synonymous with the exploitation and suppression of the will of human beings. The historical context of the appearance of the Panopticon concept and its philosophical core are considered. There are two “insights” that reveal the immanent connection of two elements of social life – the power and knowledge. In the concept of the Panopticon, the role of the cognizing gaze in the named connection, as an act of domination and control, was captured and reflected. In an era of accomplished digital expansion, when surveillance practices have become a mass phenome- non, the Panopticon can and should be rethought. It is shown that, contrary to popular beliefs, the “insights” of the Panopticon can become a “road map” for informational civilization. A culture, in which the imperative gaze has become a mass phenomenon, needs its own “panoptic” tools that can protect people from the abuse of power by the anti-panoptic overseers of the 21st century.

scholarly journals The Structural Inequalities, Anti-Oppressive and Anti-Discriminatory Approaches Associated with the Marginalization of Asylum Seekers in Australian Historical Context: An Overview

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 6-12
Author(s):  
Niket Paudel
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Social Justice ◽  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Power Balance ◽  
Abuse Of Power ◽  
The World ◽  
Fundamental Value ◽  
Structural Inequalities

Asylum seekers still endure a lot of oppression and alienation, with many erroneous assumptions about them circulating not only in Australia but throughout the world. Asylum seekers are deemed illegal due to the lack of their legitimate visas and are overlooked. The anti-oppressive theory seeks to oppose the underlying institutional and structural challenges in society and power to maintain power balance among minorities. The approach is focused on social justice. Social justice is attained by improving not only the quality of life but also the wellbeing of micro, macro, and mezzo levels with this approach. The fundamental value of diversity is also maintained. The abuse of power among the members of the society with regards to asylum seekers strengthens the notion of oppression; hence the approach strives for the power redistribution by not only defying the structures but also by advocating for the rights of the oppressed. The oppression can arise because of the traditional functioning ways of the systems or individuals’ bigotry. Asylum seekers in Australia are marginalized by the structure through their stern policies and by individual’s bigotry through their hate and sense of threat.

scholarly journals Popular history in the classroom

Anafora ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 367-391
Author(s):  
Lejla Mulalić
Keyword(s):  
Bosnia And Herzegovina ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Visual Language ◽  
National Identities ◽  
Academic History ◽  
Popular Medium ◽  
Popular Appeal ◽  
History Of ◽  
Post War

This paper discusses the historical documentary as an increasingly popular and largely untheorised form of non-academic history. Placed between academic history and the popular medium of television and film, an authored historical documentary presented by a celebrity historian transcends various cultural binaries and demands to be considered on its own terms as a particular way of approaching history. Having in mind its subversive potential as well as its popular appeal, the paper is particularly concerned with the construction of national identities in the historical documentaries of Simon Schama (A History of Britain) and Michael Wood (The Great British Story), in order to elucidate the advantages of their use in the history classroom.Since every classroom exists within a particular socio-historical context, this discussion of British identities is positioned in the English Department’s history class in Sarajevo, within the context of post-war Bosnia and Herzegovina as a reminder that we never teach in a historical vacuum. While comparing Schama’s and Wood’s approaches to history, a number of questions emerge concerning the role of the historian in the construction of particular historical meanings; the use of narrative to present historical information; and the relevance of the documentary’s visual language in conveying specific interpretations of history. The paper attempts to answer these questions and explain how critical engagement with a historical documentary can help students learn not only about the content of history, but also about the processes behind the meanings we consume, which, ultimately, reveal a great deal about us as consumers.

Ferdinand Oyono's Flüchtige Spur Tundi Ondua and Germany's Cameroon

PMLA ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 128 (1) ◽  
pp. 142-148
Author(s):  
Volker Langbehn
Keyword(s):  
Historical Context ◽  
Political Activism ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Colonial History ◽  
German Empire ◽  
German Colonialism ◽  
The Holocaust ◽  
German Publisher ◽  
The Many

Almost anyone who reads ferdinand oyono's une vie de boy (1956) in any language will conclude that the novel focuses on French colonialism. But is it only about colonialism by the French? An analysis of the many German resonances throughout the text—as well as an engagement with the German translation of Une vie de boy—suggests that it is about much more. Oyono's Une vie de boy enables the reader to reflect on Europan colonialism more broadly beyond the role of France. The novel offers a lens onto Germany's colonial history because Cameroon was a former colonial “protectorate” of the German empire. This historical context, therefore, places Une vie de boy in both national and transnational contexts. While my reading addresses possible connections or similarities between French and German colonialism, the publication in German itself adds an important layer to the understanding of Une vie de boy in Germany. In consideration of the political activism of the novel's German publisher, Johann (Hans) Fladung (1898-1982), the publication of Oyono's novel can be read as a criticism of German historiography in the 1950s, which frequently avoided Germany's colonial history, a history that has been linked with the crimes of the Holocaust (Zimmerer).

Extracellular matrix: the gatekeeper of tumor angiogenesis

2019 ◽  
Vol 47 (5) ◽  
pp. 1543-1555 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maurizio Mongiat ◽  
Simone Buraschi ◽  
Eva Andreuzzi ◽  
Thomas Neill ◽  
Renato V. Iozzo
Keyword(s):  
Extracellular Matrix ◽  
Tumor Angiogenesis ◽  
Signaling Cascades ◽  
Cancer Growth ◽  
Cell Behavior ◽  
Metastatic Progression ◽  
Surface Receptors ◽  
The Matrix ◽  
Multiple Signaling

Abstract The extracellular matrix is a network of secreted macromolecules that provides a harmonious meshwork for the growth and homeostatic development of organisms. It conveys multiple signaling cascades affecting specific surface receptors that impact cell behavior. During cancer growth, this bioactive meshwork is remodeled and enriched in newly formed blood vessels, which provide nutrients and oxygen to the growing tumor cells. Remodeling of the tumor microenvironment leads to the formation of bioactive fragments that may have a distinct function from their parent molecules, and the balance among these factors directly influence cell viability and metastatic progression. Indeed, the matrix acts as a gatekeeper by regulating the access of cancer cells to nutrients. Here, we will critically evaluate the role of selected matrix constituents in regulating tumor angiogenesis and provide up-to-date information concerning their primary mechanisms of action.

Moral Factor of Social and Economic Progress

2007 ◽  
pp. 55-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
O. Bogomolov
Keyword(s):  
Economic Development ◽  
Social Justice ◽  
Moral Atmosphere ◽  
Economic Progress ◽  
Moral Factor

The article reveals the influence of the spiritual and moral atmosphere in the society on economic development. The emphasis is put especially on the role of social confidence and social justice. The author indicates also some measures on improving the worsening moral situation in Russia.

Zagłada w Danii: kwestia badań i pamięci

2007 ◽  
pp. 156-177
Author(s):  
Silvia Goldbaum Tarabini Fracapane
Keyword(s):  
Historical Context ◽  
Critical Comment ◽  
Actual Number ◽  
Rescue Operation ◽  
Jewish Refugees ◽  
The Holocaust

The article deals with the most important events of the Holocaust in Denmark. The first part outlines the broader historical context of the events of October  1943 and the deportation of Danish Jews. It also contains a critical comment on the mainstream historical narration, particularly those aspects that concern the situation of Jewish prisoners at Theresienstadt. The second part is an overview of the latest research into the Danish aspects of the Holocaust, such as the expulsion of Jewish refugees, the rescue operation of October 1943, and the actual number of deportees. The author also presents results of her own research of the Danish remembrance culture.

Painted Memories

2007 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 26-29
Author(s):  
mayer kirshenblatt ◽  
barbara kirshenblatt-gimblett
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
World War ◽  
Daily Diet ◽  
The Holocaust ◽  
Yom Kippur ◽  
Root Vegetables

Mayer Kirshenblatt remembers in words and paintings the daily diet of Jews in Poland before the Holocaust. Born in 1916 in Opatóów (Apt in Yiddish), a small Polish city, this self-taught artist describes and paints how women bought chickens from the peasants and brought them to the shoykhet (ritual slaughterer), where they plucked the feathers; the custom of shlogn kapores (transferring one's sins to a chicken) before Yom Kippur; and the role of herring and root vegetables in the diet, especially during the winter. Mayer describes how his family planted and harvested potatoes on leased land, stored them in a root cellar, and the variety of dishes prepared from this important staple, as well as how to make a kratsborsht or scratch borsht from the milt (semen sack) of a herring. In the course of a forty-year conversation with his daughter, Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, who also interviewed Mayer's mother, a picture emerges of the daily, weekly, seasonal, and holiday cuisine of Jews who lived in southeastern Poland before World War II.

GOELRO plan is 100 years old

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
pp. 4-9
Author(s):  
Pavel A. BUTYRIN ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Agricultural Production ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Soviet Period ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Efficient Production ◽  
Soviet Republic ◽  
Starting Conditions ◽  
Per Capita ◽  
State Plan

The historical context in which the State Plan for Electrification of Russia (GOELRO) was developed, establishment of the GOELRO Commission, the GOELRO Plan content, the specific features of its implementation, and the role of the plan in the soviet period of Russia’s history are considered. Attention is paid to the electrification plants of other countries and territories of all inhabited continents, and to the participation of states in the electrification of countries and regions with small-scale and agricultural production in the 1920 s. The specific features pertinent to the electrification of the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic are pointed out, namely, low starting conditions (in 1923, the energy consumption per capita in Russia was 100 times lower than that in Norway), its being state-owned in nature and revolutionary in its purpose: to get done with the main upheavals in the country and to shift the national economy for fore efficient production. The role of V.I. Lenin and G.M. Krzhizhanovsky, who were the initiators of the electrification of Russia, is analyzed in detail. A conclusion is drawn about the need to study both the GOELRO Plan itself and the specific features and circumstances of its implementation within the framework of training modern specialists in electrical engineering.

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