Affective entanglements with the sexual imagery of paradise in the Qur’an

2020 ◽  
pp. 52-70
Author(s):  
Mahdi Tourage
Keyword(s):  
Power Relations ◽  
Affect Theory ◽  
Sexual Imagery ◽  
Symbolic Function ◽  
Embodied Experiences ◽  
Qur'an Commentary

This paper examines affective structures and power formations that are constructed,maintained or contested when the significance of the sexual imageryof paradise in the Qur’an is divided into sensual and spiritual. I take a fictionalstory by Mohja Kahf as an example of a Qur’an commentary that centresgendered and embodied experiences in the text, and contrast it with MuhammadAbdel Haleem’s commentary, who views the sexual rewards of paradiseas allegorical. Using affect theory, I will argue that allegorical interpretationslimit the affective efficacy of the sensuality of the text to their symbolic function,associating spirituality with a disembodied, hence transcendent masculinity.Kahf’s exegesis, however, shows that affect and meaning are not pre-given, butproduced in interaction with the text. I will conclude that configuring the textas sensual or spiritual is not due to any intrinsic or predetermined content, buta product of power relations.

The postcolonial perspective: an introduction

2014 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 294-311 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charlotte Epstein
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Power Relations ◽  
International Politics ◽  
Embodied Experiences ◽  
Situated Perspective

In this article I consider what it means to theorise international politics from a postcolonial perspective, understood not as a unified body of thought or a new ‘-ism’ for IR, but as a ‘situated perspective’, where the particular of subjective, embodied experiences are foregrounded rather than erased in the theorising. What the postcolonial has to offer are ex-centred, post-Eurocentric sites for practices of situated critique. This casts a different light upon the makings of international orders and key epistemological schemes with which these have been studied in international relations (IR), such as ‘norms’. In this perspective colonisation appears as a foundational shaper of these orders, to a degree and with effects still under-appraised in the discipline. The postcolonial perspective is thus deeply historical, or rather genealogical, in its dual concerns with, first, the genesis of norms, or the processes by which particular behaviours come to be taken to be ‘normal’. Second, it is centrally concerned with the power relations implicated in the (re)drawing of boundaries between the normal and the strange or the unacceptable. Together, these concerns effectively shift the analysis of the ideational processes underpinning international orders from ‘norms’ to the dynamic and power-laden mechanisms of ‘normalisation’. In addition, I show how theorising international politics from a postcolonial perspective has implications for IR’s conceptions of time, identity, and its relationship to difference, as well as agency.

scholarly journals Identity and Hair Narrative in Adichie's Americanah

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 859-864
Author(s):  
Dr. Angela Ngozi Dick
Keyword(s):  
Social Construction ◽  
Human Hair ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Power Relations ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
New Historicism ◽  
Human Being ◽  
Symbolic Function ◽  
The Social ◽  
Academic Calendar

Although the social construction of the human hair varies from culture to culture, the symbolic function of hair varies from person to person. In Adichie’s  Americanah, the characters are primarily defined by their hair before the construction of their race, career and  personality. The human hair becomes the premise for brotherhood and sisterhood in. Many episodes take place in the salon, thereafter a person’s hair is qualified as either good or bad. The theoretical framework for this paper is New Historicism which interrogates social life and power relations among people in the society. In this work we conclude that Adichie tells the story of human hair not for its sake but to portray the problem of immigrants, religious fanaticism, disruption of academic calendar and the frustration therein, loveless marriage, the environment and other human conditions. Finally, the hair shows that every person is a complete human being first and foremost

Embodied Subjectivities: Intersections of Discursive and Critical Psychology With Socio-Cultural Exercise Research

2014 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 139-161 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pirkko Markula
Keyword(s):  
Identity Construction ◽  
Power Relations ◽  
Critical Psychology ◽  
Physically Active ◽  
Research Traditions ◽  
Embodied Experiences ◽  
Common Interests ◽  
Individual Actions ◽  
Sociocultural Research

There has been a longstanding divide between the sociology and psychology of exercise despite common interests in individual subjectivity and identity construction through exercise practices. In this paper, I aim to find possible intersections for the two disciplines by using theoretical insights from discursive and critical psychology as well as sociocultural research on embodied experiences in exercise. Drawing from both psychological and sociocultural research on exercising bodies, I problematize different conceptualizations of subjectivity, identity, and power relations to critically examine interconnections between these different research traditions. I also highlight some of their theoretical limitations to suggest further theoretical readings that might enhance interdisciplinary analyses of change emanating from the microlevel of individual actions by both psychological and sociocultural research on the physically active body.

scholarly journals Efekt ślepej plamki. Antropologia krytyczna wobec neoliberalizmu

2020 ◽  
Vol 64 (2) ◽  
pp. 119-137
Author(s):  
Marta Songin-Mokrzan ◽  
Michał Mokrzan
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Bias ◽  
Power Relations ◽  
Affect Theory ◽  
Blind Spot ◽  
Critical Anthropology ◽  
Anthropological Critique

In this article, the authors argue that critical anthropology must inevitably recognize its intrinsic aporia, which can be illustrated by the “blind spot” metaphor. They use the metaphor to point to a cognitive bias that can be described as the tendency to claim one’s own epistemological objectivity and axiological neutrality while ignoring the fact of being entangled in the object of anthropological critique. To illustrate the blind-spot effect they refer to the visible neoliberalization of Polish academia in the last decade. Their aim is to show how critical anthropologists (re)produce the entrepreneurial regimes, power relations, and mechanisms of subjugation that they critique. For the sake of their argument they use theories drawn from studies on governmentality, namely affect theory and the idea of the dispositive.

Submission and resistance in the English linguistic landscape of Chaoshan

English Today ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 20-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mingming Yuan
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Identity ◽  
Power Relations ◽  
Language Planning ◽  
Specific Region ◽  
Linguistic Landscape ◽  
Symbolic Function ◽  
Road Signs ◽  
Public Road ◽  
The Status ◽  
Language Boundaries

Linguistic landscape (LL), a concept which first emerged in the field of language planning, refers to ‘[t]he language of public road signs, advertising billboards, street names, place names, commercial shop signs, and public signs on government buildings' (Landry & Bourhis, 1997: 25). There are two functions attached to the linguistic landscape of a given territory: an informational function and a symbolic function. The informational function serves to inform people of ‘the linguistic characteristics, territorial limits and language boundaries' of a specific region; whereas the symbolic function serves as an indicator of the status, power relations, and cultural identity of the inhabitants, affecting how individuals feel about their community (Landry & Bourhis, 1997).

Accent Policy and Accent Modification Enterprises as Potential Indicators of Intercultural Power Relations: A Call for an Updated Research Agenda

2013 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brynne D. Ovalle ◽  
Rahul Chakraborty
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Identity Construction ◽  
Social Theory ◽  
Power Relations ◽  
Linguistic Diversity ◽  
Cultural Organization ◽  
Using Data ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

This article has two purposes: (a) to examine the relationship between intercultural power relations and the widespread practice of accent discrimination and (b) to underscore the ramifications of accent discrimination both for the individual and for global society as a whole. First, authors review social theory regarding language and group identity construction, and then go on to integrate more current studies linking accent bias to sociocultural variables. Authors discuss three examples of intercultural accent discrimination in order to illustrate how this link manifests itself in the broader context of international relations (i.e., how accent discrimination is generated in situations of unequal power) and, using a review of current research, assess the consequences of accent discrimination for the individual. Finally, the article highlights the impact that linguistic discrimination is having on linguistic diversity globally, partially using data from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and partially by offering a potential context for interpreting the emergence of practices that seek to reduce or modify speaker accents.

WACANA, KUASA DAN AGAMA DALAM KONTESTASI PILGUB JAKARTA

ALQALAM ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 47
Author(s):  
Joko Priyanto
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Power Relations ◽  
Mass Movement ◽  
Power Structure ◽  
Hegemonic Discourse ◽  
Islamic Society

Religion Blasphemy addressed to Jakarta Governor who is also a candidate for Jakarta Governor Election 2017 is the beginning of a series of polemic along process of Jakarta Governor Election 2017. This case triggers friction between Islamic society as a civil society and government as authority. This research explored this case by using theory of power relations Foucault. The result shows that the mass movement of Islamic society is power from Islamic society knowledge. Power structure tries to discipline this movement by hegemony in form of discourse. However, hegemonic discourse from civil society (Islamic society) also tries to challenge. The fight of hegemonic in form of discourse becomes so viral in all media, element and institution. This research shows that the discourse of Leader and Diversity is a signifier empty which be contestation of giving meaning.   Keywords: knowledge, power, Foucoult, religion.

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