scholarly journals The Thrill of the Nordic Kill: The Manhunt Movie in the Nordic Thriller

2015 ◽  
pp. 76-90 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rikke Schubart

‘This world’s divided into two kinds of people: The hunter and the hunted,’ big-game hunter Rainsford says in The Most Dangerous Game (1932) and self-assuredly continues, ‘Luckily, I’m a hunter. Nothing can ever change that.’ Well, he will discover that in the manhunt movie even the hunter can become prey. The manhunt movie is a subgenre of the Hollywood thriller which joins two elements: big-game sport hunting and hunting humans. Sport hunting stirs up themes of nature and culture, morals and ethics, masculinity, and, finally, civilisation. Here, we will ask what happens when the subgenre is used in the Nordic thriller. The chapter has three aims. First, it establishes the central generic traits of the manhunt movie. Second, it sets up a theoretical framework of sociobiological and ecological theories with hunting as a reference point. And, third, it examines the Nordic version of the manhunt movie focusing on the themes of hunting, nature, social standing and civilisation. I look at the Danish drama The Hunt (Thomas Vinterberg, 2012), the Norwegian thriller-heist-comedy Headhunters (Morten Tyldum, 2011) and the Swedish thrillers The Hunters (Jägarna, 1996) and False Trail (Jägarna 2, 2011) by Kjell Sundvall.

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 259-292
Author(s):  
Oded Heilbronner

Abstract This article argues that the first two decades of Israeli state-building can be compared structurally to some main processes in postwar Western-European societies, and that this approach productively situates Israel within a global perspective, uncovering new relationships between the local and the global. In addition, it proposes a methodological reading of the young Israeli society before the Six-Day War and a theoretical framework in which to place it. It provides an analysis of this young society from the perspective of Western history, constituting a new reference point that does not strive to negate other common approaches. If, until now, the history of the first two decades of Israel has been examined from a local and particular point of view – whether the state-building process or political, social, and national controversies – I propose to view the Israel of the 1950s–1960s as a postwar society that underwent the same structural processes as other Western European societies during those years, despite domestic differences.


Slavic Review ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 70 (4) ◽  
pp. 873-892 ◽  
Author(s):  
Petre Petrov

Most existing accounts of socialist realism rely, implicitly or explicitly, on a commonsense notion of truth as correspondence between representation and its object (the state of affairs being represented). In this view, socialist realism is commonly denounced as an epistemological fraud, while quasi-dialectical formulas such as "reality in its revolutionary development" are viewed condescendingly as the fraud's fanciful garnish. Such an approach fails to see in Stalinist culture a radical shift in the understanding of truth—a shift that has less to do with Marxist orthodoxy than it does with the intellectual reflexes of early twentieth-century modernity. In this article, Petre Petrov sets out to describe this shift and, in doing so, to propose a novel theoretical framework for understanding Stalinist socialist realism. The work of Martin Heidegger from the late 1920s through the 1930s serves as an all-important reference point in the discussion insofar as it articulates in philosophical idiom a turn from an epistemological to an ontological conception of truth.


2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 54-77
Author(s):  
Melissa M. Parks

Ecoculture is an emerging focal concept reflecting the inextricability of nature and culture. It is applicable to and employed in many disciplines, yet it is rarely defined, cited, or interrogated, causing potential inconsistencies in scholarly operationalization. In the present analysis, I use Steven H. Chaffee’s method of explication to develop an analytical review of ecoculture. I explore the primitive terms—ecology and culture—before assessing the scholarly use of the derived, compound term. I trace ecoculture across multiple disciplines, synthesizing operationalizations into one transdisciplinary theoretical framework. I find that ecoculture connotes interconnectedness and place relations, and has been critically operationalized in ways that problematize dominant human-centered ideologies, making it a productive scholarly frame that emphasizes the relationships between humans, their cultures, and their ecologies.


2014 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
pp. 717-751 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chongwon Park

This article examines three types of Korean constructions: case stacking and two types of non-nominative subject constructions. Relying on an independently established descriptive construct known as reference-point, I argue that the complex forms of these constructions reflect their meanings and functions. I further argue that the reference-point-based analysis of these constructions offers a unified account of a substantial range of phenomena when it is combined with the notion of conceptual and constructional blending. In providing technical analyses of the phenomena, I adopt the Cognitive Grammar (CG) framework. To justify the choice of the theoretical framework of my analysis, I examine the crucial role of spatial semantics in the said constructions, which is viewed as the primary factor underlying the distribution of case marking in CG. I then demonstrate that my CG-based analysis yields a natural explanation of the constructions both intuitively and theoretically.


2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 309-333
Author(s):  
Massimo Leone ◽  

The essay proposes a concise map of some of the current research trends in the semiotics of religion. Within the theoretical framework of Peirce’s philosophy of semiosis as interpreted and developed by Umberto Eco, the essay situates the semiotic study of religion at the crossroad of nature and culture and singles out as its main task studying both the abstract level of religious ideologies of signification and the empirical level of religious systems of expression and communication.


2013 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-63 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chongwon Park

This article focuses on the conceptual structures of Korean Multiple Object Constructions (MOCs), which exhibit various types of meanings. I argue that these various meanings are systematically explained when we adopt the notion of reference point. I claim that the accusative-marked nominals in the constructions are metonymically connected; outer accusative-marked nominals function as reference points. More specifically, NP1, in the schematic configuration [NP-Nom [NP1-Acc [NP2-Acc [PRED]]]], functions as a reference point in relation to the complex verb [NP2-PRED], where NP1 provides access to the target. In other words, the function of Korean MOCs is to provide mental access to a target, similar to English possessive constructions. For example, since one natural mental path of access is by following a taxonomic hierarchy from general to specific, the metonymic meaning of the Type-Token construction arises. The same mechanism is then recursively applied to explain the case of multiply-occurring accusative-marked nominals. In order to provide technical analyses of my claim, Langacker’s Cognitive Grammar is adopted as a theoretical framework as it accurately captures the properties of the constructions without additional unnecessary mechanisms.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 6438
Author(s):  
Domenico Branca ◽  
Andreas Haller

Mountain cities specializing in tourism increasingly aim at valorizing cultural and natural heritage to compete for global attention. In this context, the postmodern urbanization of mountains plays a decisive role: driven by touristification processes, it alters the sociospatial and economic configuration of mountain cities and their hinterlands, which are becoming vertically arranged “operational landscapes”, and profoundly changes city–mountain interactions. To foster sustainable development in urbanizing mountain destinations, it is crucial to understand these settlements’ embeddedness in both (1) nature and culture and (2) space and time. The Andean city of Huaraz is a case in point: an intermediate center in highland Peru, it is characterized by a strategic location in the Callejón de Huaylas (Santa Valley), influenced by Hispanic and Quechua culture and dominated by the glaciers of the Cordillera Blanca. Combining (1) a theoretical framework that considers planetary urbanization, touristification and vertical complementarity and (2) a case study technique inspired by urban environmental profiles, we trace the development of the city–mountain relation in Huaraz, focusing on the way in which the material and non-material dimensions of the surrounding mountains influence urban development. We conclude with a call for overcoming a set of three persisting dichotomies that continue to impair sustainable development.


2009 ◽  
Vol 58 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Michele Lenoci

Il saggio esamina il rapporto tra i concetti di vita e di potere, tenendo presenti posizioni fondamentali nella storia della filosofia, con particolare attenzione ad alcuni scritti di Kelsen e Schmitt. Lo scopo è quello di mettere in luce come la forza della vita e il potere sulla vita esigano di essere integrati e completati in strutture concettuali e teoriche più ampie e più organiche, per evitare unilateralità e aporie. Risulta che una posizione meramente vitalista rischia di negare se stessa e invoca una norma, che, a sua volta, sia in grado di richiamare un ordine costitutivo, non frutto esclusivo di arbitrio, ma dotato di intrinseca intelligibilità, in modo da attuare un raccordo e una connessione tra la dimensione naturale e l’orizzonte personale, in cui la vita si eleva alla consapevolezza e alla libertà responsabile. Il richiamo all’ethos vuole, allora, comporre i livelli della vita, del potere su di essa e delle norme per regolarlo in una prospettiva complessiva, nella quale il momento soggettivo e quello oggettivo si implichino reciprocamente, in modo da evitare sia forme di imposizione estranea, percepite come eteronome, sia l’esaltazione dell’opzione arbitraria, assunta come unica regola. L’ultimo passo porta ad allargare il discorso dall’ambito umano a quello dell’intera realtà, per sottolineare come natura e persona possano essere connesse, se a fondamento ultimo sta un Logos creatore e ordinatore, un’Intelligenza creatrice, capace di rendere possibile una verità delle cose a un livello primariamente ontologico. Il percorso concettuale sviluppato cerca di delineare, in tal modo, un processo, insieme teorico e reale, in cui le possibilità della tecnica in relazione alla vita e alla vita umana non siano affidate alla mera casualità di scelte arbitrarie e di opzioni prometeiche, ma vengano collocate in un più ampio orizzonte ontologico, dotato di intrinseca intelligibilità e finalità, e quindi capace di raccordare, a un livello più alto e più profondo, natura e cultura, ordine oggettivo e progettualità personale, libertà e responsabilità. ---------- This paper analyses the relation between life and power, inquiring into some of the most important theories in history of philosophy, and in particular some works by Kelsen and Schmitt. Our purpose is to cast light on how the power of life and the power on life need to be encompassed and integrated in a more comprehensive conceptual and theoretical framework, in order to avoid paradoxes and unilateral positions. In fact, a simply vitalist position risks falling into a internal contradiction, denying itself. Vitalism requires rules deriving from a constitutive order that cannot be the exclusive result of will; on the contrary, it must be characterized by intrinsic intelligibility. On this perspective, natural and personal dimensions can be related to each other, and life can rise to self-consciousness and responsible freedom. The notion of ethos could reconcile the different levels of life, power on life, and the norms aimed at regulating it into a complex perspective, in which the subjective and objective dimensions depend on each other. This account can thereby avoid the risk of embracing extreme positions, characterized by external forms of imposition, perceived as heteronomous, or by the absolute exaltation of will, considered as the only rule. The last conceptual step leads to extend this viewpoint from the human sphere to the whole reality. On this view, nature and person can be related to each other on the grounds of Logos, or Intelligence, conceived as their ultimate foundation and regarded as the principle that creates and ordinates reality, showing its underlying truth at a primarily ontological level. The purpose of this conceptual system is to trace a theoretical process grounded on reality, in which the technological possibilities of intervening on life and human life are not left to arbitrary choices or promethean decisions. On the contrary, such possibilities should be considered within a broader ontological perspective defined by an intrinsic intelligibility and goal. This perspective can join together at a higher and deeper level nature and culture, objective order and personal aims, freedom and responsibility.


2003 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 91-128 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tsachi Keren-Paz

This Article responds to one challenge to the aspiration to incorporate distributive-egalitarian sensitivity into tort law. Arguably, any attempt to effect redistribution by means of tort law is bound to be random and, hence, unjust. There are two facets to the randomness charge: partiality of the participants and crudeness of the distributive result. I argue that the randomness charge, in both its aspects, does not provide a convincing reason to oppose infusing tort law with distributive-egalitarian sensitivity. The charge of randomness is based on two factual assumptions and one normative claim: namely, that existing tort law has no significant redistributive effect; that redistribution through tort law is especially susceptible to the charge of randomness; and that random progressive redistribution is less fair than the status quo distribution. In this Article, I challenge all three claims. I first argue that existing tort law has inevitable distributive consequences and that these consequences are predominantly regressive. I then raise four challenges to the assumption that distribution through tort law is partial, arguing that either such distribution is not partial at all or that it is no more partial than the distribution produced by alternative mechanisms: “localized distributive justice”; “participation through insurance”; “the complement thesis”; and “no comparative randomness.” Next, I develop a methodology for comparing the fairness of the post-tort litigation redistribution with that of the status quo distribution. This methodology is based on the respective proximity of these distributions to the reference point of society’s ideal distributive scheme. Applying this methodology, I argue that partial progressive redistribution is fairer than the status quo distribution. Regarding the problem of partiality of participants, I maintain that any injustice that arises from treating differently members of the same group is overridden by the more egalitarian distribution achieved between the different groups, namely, that the inter-group justice outweighs the intra-group injustice. With respect to the problem of the crudeness of the distributive result, I posit that adopting a guideline for redistribution that is “pro-disadvantaged” rather than “anti-well-to-do” ensures the superiority of the partial progressive redistribution relative to the status quo. Furthermore, even under a more radical “anti-well-to-do” benchmark for redistribution, that superiority might still be maintained. Finally, I apply my three claims to the context of gender inequality and lost earnings. I argue that the theoretical framework developed in this Article provides support for gender-neutral damages awards for lost earnings.


2004 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 237-251 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lori Baralt ◽  
Linda Kalof ◽  
Amy Fitzgerald

AbstractThe furor and public outrage surrounding the release of a fictionalized video in which naked women are hunted down and shot with paintball guns ("Hunting for Bambi") inspired this paper. Arguing that distressing representations of hunting as a sexually charged activity are resilient popular culture images, this paper examines the theoretical framework that links hunting with sex and women with animals and the empirical evidence of such linkages in the hunting discourse of a popular newsstand periodical. Contemporary feminist theory often connects hunting with sex and women with animals. This paper details clear evidence of the juxtaposition of hunting, sex, women, and animals in the photographs, narratives, and advertisements of a random sampling of Traditional Bowhunter magazines (1992-2003). Particularly prominent in the magazines' hunting discourse is the sexualization of animals, women, and weapons, as if the three are interchangeable sexual bodies in narratives of traditional masculinity. This paper concludes that moral outrage at the degradation of women might be targeted best at widely read newsstand periodicals that serve as popular culture precursors to videos that celebrate hunting naked women.


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