scholarly journals Forms of a Posthuman Fantastic in Mia Gallagher’s Shift

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Hedwig Schwall ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Short Stories ◽  
Human Subject ◽  
Human Perception ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
The Unconscious ◽  
Self And Other ◽  
Life And Death ◽  
Nature And Culture ◽  
Individual Entity ◽  
The Individual

In posthuman philosophy the human subject is not regarded as an entity but a relational process. Yet the historical construct of “the individual” remains the (unconscious) reference point in human perception, feeding ego- and anthropocentrism. This article will argue that in their call to revise the static ideal of the individual entity posthuman philosophers find “allies” in fiction. More specifically, the fantastic is a genre which offers great possibilities to drastically reshuffle basic tenets of perception. Mia Gallagher’s Shift offers a spectrum of fantastic stories in which protagonists relate to human and nonhuman agents such as animals, minerals, air and water. But, in this posthuman theory and fiction, not only human beings are deconstructed into relational nodes; the categories that constitute them are no independent concepts either, but mere interactional factors. This article’s analysis of Gallagher’s short stories focuses on the ways in which self and other, nature and culture, life and death, feminine and masculine, interior and exterior worlds interact.

scholarly journals Philosophical Discourse in Psychology of C. Jung

2019 ◽  
Vol 72 ◽  
pp. 03028
Author(s):  
Olga Korkunova ◽  
Tatyana Bushueva
Keyword(s):  
Research Methodology ◽  
Human Life ◽  
The Unconscious ◽  
Psychic Phenomenon ◽  
It Value ◽  
Nature And Culture ◽  
Energetic Approach ◽  
The Individual ◽  
In The Beginning

The article considers the role of philosophical concepts and philosophical ideas in the psychological works of C. Jung, owing to which he achieved the results. He was able to deeply and thoroughly comprehend the studied psychological phenomenon: the unconscious and its components. This led him to conclusions far beyond the boundaries of psychology, in the sphere of philosophy and cultural studies. Using the principle of determinism, Jung discovered and analyzed psychological causal relationships. He showed that the interaction of culture and nature in man provides him with a movement towards gaining his integrity. At the same time, Jung identified and considered options for the interaction of nature and culture in man. Through the dialectics of subject and object, Jung defined his position in understanding of unconscious and attitude to the concept of Freud. Jung explained the process of interaction between consciousness and the unconscious using energetic approach which was popular in philosophy in the beginning of 20 century. This particular approach allows the scientist to conclude that every psychic phenomenon is a manifestation of human vitality and energy. Energy itself is neither destructive nor creative. Quality gives it value, giving direction to human life, as energy takes its course. Jung formulated the theme of human life and destiny, and examined it through the prism of the influence of the unconscious. Possession of the dialectical style of thinking allowed him to form his research methodology. He shows that, along with socialization, individualization is important for the individual, ensuring individuality and integrity.

scholarly journals A strawberry, an animal cry and a human subject: Where existential semiotics, biosemiotics and relational metaphysics seem to meet one another

2020 ◽  
Vol 47 (3/4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Katarzyna Machtyl
Keyword(s):  
Human Subject ◽  
Natural World ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Common Space ◽  
Nature And Culture ◽  
The Common

The article discus ses some semiotic approaches to the relation between nature and culture. Starting with outlining the structuralistic approach to this issue, especially the ideas of Juri Lotman and Algirdas Julien Greimas, the author finds parallels between different views on the relation between the natural world and human beings. First, the juxtaposition of Eero Tarasti’s existential semiotics with selected concepts of biosemiotics is discussed. The following part of the paper is dedicated to Bruno Latour’s ideas on nature–culture relation, hybrids and mediations. Then the author refers to Lotman’s notion of the semiosphere as the common space for all living and inanimate elements. Closing the paper with a return to biosemiotics, the author comes back to Tarasti’s ideas and compares these with some ideas in biosemiotics, paying special attention to the concepts of unpredictability, choice and dynamics. The comparison shows that some intuitions, assumptions and theses of these different scholars turn out to be surprisingly convergent. The author believes that the outlined parallels between Tarasti’s view, Latour’s and Lotman’s concepts, and biosemiotics may be promising for further research, inviting detailed study.

Deconstruction

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jemma Deer
Keyword(s):  
Literary Criticism ◽  
Queer Theory ◽  
Film Studies ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Life And Death ◽  
Language And Thought ◽  
Nature And Culture ◽  
French Writer ◽  
Intellectual Movements ◽  
De Man

Deconstruction is one of the most significant and controversial intellectual movements of the 20th and 21st centuries. Beginning with the French writer Jacques Derrida (1930–2004), and subsequently adopted by many others, the reading strategy known as deconstruction works to dislocate or destabilize the structures and assumptions that shape human history. Deconstruction calls into question the fundamental concepts and hierarchies of Western philosophy, demonstrates how notions of “writing” and “text” are generalizable beyond human language and thought, and foregrounds the undecidable or incalculable aspects of reading and being. Through extremely attentive readings of philosophical and psychoanalytic texts, Derrida’s work brings to light the various centrisms and oppositions upon which they are based (centrisms such as logocentrism; anthropocentrism; and phallocentrism; and oppositions such as nature and culture; life and death; presence and absence; speech and writing; human beings and other animals). Alongside having a strong engagement with contemporary issues in society and politics, Derrida was consistently concerned with the literary effects at work in both literary and nonliterary texts, recognizing that meaning and context can neither be absolutely closed off nor fixed by author or reader. Contrary to common misapprehensions about deconstruction, the recognition of the irreducible literariness of all writing is not to suggest that texts are “meaningless,” and nor is Derrida’s generalized notion of writing meant to privilege language over the real world. Its sustained attention to literature and the effects of reading and writing perhaps account for why deconstruction has been, and is still, most eminent within the field of literary studies. Indeed, much of the prominent deconstructive work after Derrida—including, for example, that of Hélène Cixous, Paul de Man, and J. Hillis Miller—is explicitly and primarily concerned with reading literature. That said, deconstruction cannot be reduced to merely a mode of literary criticism, and it remains influential in numerous other fields, including cultural studies, the environmental humanities, feminism, film studies, history, the life sciences, philosophy, politics, psychoanalysis, queer theory, and religious studies, to name a few.

scholarly journals CULTURE AND THE MODERN INDIVIDUAL IN JUDE DIBIA’S A LIFE IN FULL AND MOLARA WOOD’S INDIGO

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Onwukah B. ORJI- MBA ◽  
Joy I. NWIYI
Keyword(s):  
Short Stories ◽  
Young People ◽  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
Indigenous Culture ◽  
Self And Other ◽  
Western Education ◽  
Foreign Culture ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Individual

The modern individual in Nigeria, a creation of western education and culture, is constantly in a struggle with the hegemonic indigenous culture, causing him/her to grapple with the prescriptions of the western lifestyle and the stringent demands of Nigerian culture. Jude Dibia‟s “A Life in Full” and Molara Wood‟s “Indigo” contain ancient and modern cultural practices and the challenges they present to the educated young people, whose exposure to foreign culture and education intensifies their struggle with the status quo. This paper uses the postmodernist argument to examine this conflict between the centre (indigenous culture) and the periphery (the modern individual), as the latter is on a mission to decentre Culture in order to establish itself as a centred subject in the two short stories. It analyses the psychological struggle by the educated Nigerians to challenge the grand narratives of culture. The paper reveals that, whereas in “A Life in Full” the individual topples the centre, in “Indigo” it is the hegemonic centre that overwhelms and suppresses the educated individual. The paper concludes that the educated Nigerian is constantly in a conflict between Self and Other from which s/he emerges redefined.

scholarly journals Representing Oneself and Others

2018 ◽  
Vol 65 (6) ◽  
pp. 323-331 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernhard Hommel
Keyword(s):  
Social Environment ◽  
Social Communication ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Cultural Learning ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Self And Other ◽  
Infancy And Childhood ◽  
Theory Of Event Coding ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Active Exploration

Abstract. Human beings are assumed to own a concept of their self, but it remains a mystery how they represent themselves and others. I shall develop a theoretical framework, inspired by the Theory of Event Coding, of how people represent themselves and others, how and under which circumstances these two kinds of representations interact and what consequences this has. In a nutshell, I shall argue that self- and other-representations can overlap to the degree that they share features, that the shared features are particularly relevant or salient, and that the individual is under a particular metacontrol state. Then I shall argue that self-concepts emerge through active exploration of one’s physical and social environment during infancy and childhood, as well as through cultural learning, and that their main purpose is related to social communication but not online action control.

Virginia Woolf and Being-in-the-world

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emma Simone
Keyword(s):  
Virginia Woolf ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
The Political ◽  
Cartesian Dualism ◽  
Self And Other ◽  
The World ◽  
Binary Oppositions ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Existential Perspective

Virginia Woolf and Being-in-the-world: A Heideggerian Study explores Woolf’s treatment of the relationship between self and world from a phenomenological-existential perspective. This study presents a timely and compelling interpretation of Virginia Woolf’s textual treatment of the relationship between self and world from the perspective of the philosophy of Martin Heidegger. Drawing on Woolf’s novels, essays, reviews, letters, diary entries, short stories, and memoirs, the book explores the political and the ontological, as the individual’s connection to the world comes to be defined by an involvement and engagement that is always already situated within a particular physical, societal, and historical context. Emma Simone argues that at the heart of what it means to be an individual making his or her way in the world, the perspectives of Woolf and Heidegger are founded upon certain shared concerns, including the sustained critique of Cartesian dualism, particularly the resultant binary oppositions of subject and object, and self and Other; the understanding that the individual is a temporal being; an emphasis upon intersubjective relations insofar as Being-in-the-world is defined by Being-with-Others; and a consistent emphasis upon average everydayness as both determinative and representative of the individual’s relationship to and with the world.

“Utopia First!” A Machiavellian Conception of Solidarity in More's Utopia

Moreana ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 55 (Number 209) (1) ◽  
pp. 79-93
Author(s):  
Marie-Claire Phélippeau
Keyword(s):  
At Risk ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Farm Work ◽  
The World ◽  
Social Difficulties ◽  
The Republic ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Democratic Elections ◽  
Communal Organization

This paper shows how solidarity is one of the founding principles in Thomas More's Utopia (1516). In the fictional republic of Utopia described in Book II, solidarity has a political and a moral function. The principle is at the center of the communal organization of Utopian society, exemplified in a number of practices such as the sharing of farm work, the management of surplus crops, or the democratic elections of the governor and the priests. Not only does solidarity benefit the individual Utopian, but it is a prerequisite to ensure the prosperity of the island of Utopia and its moral preeminence over its neighboring countries. However, a limit to this principle is drawn when the republic of Utopia faces specific social difficulties, and also deals with the rest of the world. In order for the principle of solidarity to function perfectly, it is necessary to apply it exclusively within the island or the republic would be at risk. War is not out of the question then, and compassion does not apply to all human beings. This conception of solidarity, summed up as “Utopia first!,” could be dubbed a Machiavellian strategy, devised to ensure the durability of the republic. We will show how some of the recommendations of Realpolitik made by Machiavelli in The Prince (1532) correspond to the Utopian policy enforced to protect their commonwealth.

Reflecting the Sky in Water

2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 112-126 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ilaria Cristofaro
Keyword(s):  
The Unconscious ◽  
Related Case ◽  
Quality Of Water ◽  
Fluid Properties ◽  
Phenomenological Perspective ◽  
Auto Ethnography ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Artificial Water ◽  
Land Water

From a phenomenological perspective, the reflective quality of water has a visually dramatic impact, especially when combined with the light of celestial phenomena. However, the possible presence of water as a means for reflecting the sky is often undervalued when interpreting archaeoastronomical sites. From artificial water spaces, such as ditches, huacas and wells to natural ones such as rivers, lakes and puddles, water spaces add a layer of interacting reflections to landscapes. In the cosmological understanding of skyscapes and waterscapes, a cross-cultural metaphorical association between water spaces and the underworld is often revealed. In this research, water-skyscapes are explored through the practice of auto-ethnography and reflexive phenomenology. The mirroring of the sky in water opens up themes such as the continuity, delimitation and manipulation of sky phenomena on land: water spaces act as a continuation of the sky on earth; depending on water spaces’ spatial extension, selected celestial phenomena can be periodically reflected within architectures, so as to make the heavenly dimension easily accessible and a possible object of manipulation. Water-skyscapes appear as specular worlds, where water spaces are assumed to be doorways to the inner reality of the unconscious. The fluid properties of water have the visual effect of dissipating borders, of merging shapes, and, therefore, of dissolving identities; in the inner landscape, this process may represent symbolic death experiences and rituals of initiation, where the annihilation of the individual allows the creative process of a new life cycle. These contextually generalisable results aim to inspire new perspectives on sky-and-water related case studies and give value to the practice of reflexive phenomenology as crucial method of research.

Gertrude Stein’s Autobiographical Poses: From Identity to Entity

Linguaculture ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 2011 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sorina Chiper
Keyword(s):  
Self And Other ◽  
Dominant Pattern ◽  
The Individual

AbstractThe dominant pattern in the Western hermeneutics has been to view autobiography as an occasion for the celebration of the individual. This article tackles the dialectics between identity and entity, between self and other, and between genius and “everybody” in two of Gertrude Stein’s autobiographies: The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas and Everybody’s Autobiography. Drawing on associations between autobiography and photography, I highlight the performativity of Stein’s autobiographical self, suggest posing as a metaphor for the autobiographical act, and discuss Gertrude Stein’s move from the question of identity to the question of genius as entity

Chimeras In Time-Honored Societies

Think India ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 463-466
Author(s):  
TUMMALA. SAI MAMATA
Keyword(s):  
Major Elements ◽  
The Sun ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Life Changes ◽  
Inner Self ◽  
The World ◽  
Nature And Nurture ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Right ◽  
Superstitious Beliefs

A river flows serenely accepting all the miseries and happiness that it comes across its journey. A tree releases oxygen for human beings despite its inner plights. The sun is never tired of its duty and gives sunlight without any interruption. Why are all these elements of nature so tuned to? Education is knowledge. Knowledge comes from learning. Learning happens through experience. Familiarity is the master of life that shapes the individual. Every individual learns from nature. Nature teaches how to sustain, withdraw and advocate the prevailing situations. Some dwell into the deep realities of nature and nurture as ideal human beings. Life is a puzzle. How to solve it is a million dollar question that can never be answered so easily. The perception of life changes from individual to individual making them either physically powerful or feeble. Society is not made of only individuals. Along with individuals it has nature, emotions, spiritual powers and superstitious beliefs which bind them. Among them the most crucial and alarming is the emotions which are interrelated to others. Alone the emotional intelligence is going to guide the life of an individual. For everyone there is an inner self which makes them conscious of their deeds. The guiding force should always force the individual to choose the right path.  Writers are the powerful people who have rightly guided the society through their ingenious pen outs.  The present article is going to focus on how the major elements bound together are dominating the individual’s self through Rabindranath Tagore’s Home and the World (1916)

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