scholarly journals Noël Coward, Rebecca West, and the Modernist Scene

2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 351-369
Author(s):  
Faye Hammill

Noël Coward and Rebecca West shared a long friendship, and often met each other at theatrical openings, on transatlantic liners, and at parties hosted by the ‘international set’. Their wary negotiation with one another's celebrity and cultural value played out not only at these social events but also in print, through reviews, gossip columns, and memoirs. Using the relationship between Coward and West as a case study, this essay explores the social scene of modernism, paying particular attention to the suggestion of theatricality in the word ‘scene’. It takes up the notion of the ‘modernist party’ as, on the one hand, a kind of stage on which celebrities from different spheres performed together, and, on the other, a happening which, through reports in print, contributed to the forming of literary reputations and to the public fascination with modern style.

Popular Music ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liz Garnett

Until recently, the world of the British barbershop singer was a self-enclosed community whose existence went largely unrecognised both by musicians involved in other genres and by the public at large. In the last few years this has started to change, chiefly due to the participation of barbershop choruses in the televised competition ‘Sainsbury's Choir of the Year’. Encouraged by the success of Shannon Express in 1994, many other choruses entered the 1996 competition, four of them reaching the televised semi-finals, and two the finals. During this increased exposure, it became apparent that television commentators had little idea of what to make of barbershoppers, indeed regarded them as a peculiar, and perhaps rather trivial, breed of performer. This bafflement is not surprising given the genre's relative paucity of exposure either in the mass media or in the musical and musicological press; the plentiful articles written by barbershoppers about their activity and its meanings are almost exclusively addressed to each other, to sustain the community rather than integrate it into wider musical life. The purpose of this paper, however, is not to follow the theme of these intra-community articles in arguing that barbershop harmony should actually be regarded as a serious and worthy art, or to explain to a bewildered world what this genre is actually about; rather, it aims to explore the way that barbershop singers theorise themselves and their activity to provide a case study in the relationship between social and musical values. That is, I am not writing as an apologist for a hitherto distinctly insular practice, but exploiting that very insularity as a means to pursue a potentially very broad question within a self-limited field of enquiry.


2008 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 88-115
Author(s):  
Dietmar Neutatz

The Russian Constitutional Experiment, 1906–1918: On the Relationship between Tradition and Modernity The revolution of 1905 turned the virtually unlimited autocracy of the Russian Empire into a constitutional monarchy. However, this experiment survived the fall of the Tsar in 1917 by only a few months and was obliged to give way to the Bolshevik dictatorship. This article investigates how far the failure of constitutionalism in Russia was due to the special circumstances surrounding the crisis of 1917, or whether it is better explained by the ill-conceived application of a notion imported from Western Europe that could not be grafted onto indigenous Russian traditions. The article discusses the competing concepts of Western-style parliamentarianism on the one hand and a ‹Russian› ideal of direct popular representation on the other (i.e. the ‹Zemskij Sobor› dating from the era before Peter the Great). It investigates the constraints within which the State Duma worked, and the social and political practice of Russian constitutionalism between 1906 and 1918, in order to analyse how deeply rooted constitutional concepts were in late Tsarist society. Special attention is paid to the following themes: the capacity of the Duma to address practical problems; the changing character of political culture; new forms of the public sphere and the growth of civil society; the relationship between parliament and the peasantry; the activities of both supporters of a parliamentary order and their right- and left-wing opponents; and finally the importance of ‹Russian›-style counter-proposals to ‹Western›-style constitutionalism during the crisis years of 1917/18.


2017 ◽  
Vol 27 (6) ◽  
pp. 690-707 ◽  
Author(s):  
Montaña Cámara ◽  
Ana Muñoz van den Eynde ◽  
José A. López Cerezo

Using data obtained from Spanish surveys on the public perception of science, this article presents a critical review of current practices of population profile segmentation, including the one-dimensional representation of perceived risks and benefits and of the systematic underestimation of critical attitudes to the social impact of science and technology. We use discriminant analysis to detect a somewhat hidden cluster in the Spanish population which we call ‘critical engagers’. These individuals are critically and socially responsible and are not reticent about expressing concern regarding scientific-technological change. While they hold an overall positive attitude towards change of this kind, they are at the same time well aware of the risks posed by particular fields of application. We highlight the academic interest and political value of these individuals, attributing to this population a mature and intelligent stance which may well be employed in enhancing the relationship between science and society.


2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 121-137
Author(s):  
Erika Fülöp

Social networks have changed our relationship to the world wide web and the ways in which we communicate. This applies to the relationship between authors and readers and affects the ways in which authors can and need to be present in the public sphere and enact their authorship. Digital authors experience this particularly acutely, and the present article proposes an overview of the three main types of attitude they have chosen facing the largest social network, Facebook: using, refusing and abusing, each presented through a case study. François Bon embraces the platform and encourages authors to take advantage of the tools it offers in order to reach readers, network with authors, and become independent of traditional infrastructures. After years of almost addictive use, Neil Jomunsi came to quit the network and explained his decision, but also the dilemma upon his return, until eventually leaving again. Jean-Pierre Balpe’s ‘digital installation’ ‘Un Monde Uncertain’, finally, abuses the website by circumventing its terms and conditions and animating a series of fictional author profiles whose Facebook statuses are created by Balpe’s text generator software. Each of the three approaches represents a different response to the constraints and opportunities offered by the social network in light of the author’s situation, their political stance regarding Facebook, and objectives as an author.


Author(s):  
Tuomas Martikainen

Issues related to migration, security and integration are currently among the top priorities of European states. Lately, ‘religion’ has emerged as something separate from ‘culture’, ‘ethnicity’, ‘nationality’ and ‘race’ in the debate over integration and security. Collective religious activity is among the most common forms of the social organisation of immigrants. Immigrant communities have been analysed from a multiplicity of perspectives, but one area that has until recently received little attention is the relationship between on the one hand the local and national authorities, on the other religious organisations of immigrant origin. Religion, most notably Islam, has been identified as a social problem among the public authorities in Europe. The article provides a critical viewpoint on the formation of immigrant voluntary associations as authorities’ tools of governance. While voluntary associations can be seen as tools for integration and empowerment, they may become embedded in power structures that are not at first glance self-evident. The article argues that the local and national authorities in Finland support and encourage Muslim immigrants to organise themselves into voluntary religious associations, enabling the authorities to better govern issues that have been defined as social problems. The work applies the theory of governmentality as developed by Mitchell Dean, to Muslim organisations in Finland.Keywords: Governance, governmentalisation, Islam, immigration, Muslims, security


Author(s):  
Admink Admink ◽  
Катерина Гайдукевич

Обґрунтовано, що видовища характеризуються специфічними ознаками, серед яких варто наголосити на культурній цінності, що виявляється у використанні видовищем різних складових культури. Доведено, що видовища є показниками суспільних зрушень у системі цінностей, ідеологій, наявних і латентних проблем, устремлінь та бажань громадськості. Показано, що в сучасній культурі України пріоритетною є функція соціальної регуляції й формування  суспільної думки, яка реалізується у форматі імітативних практик та множинних культурних інтерпретацій. Проаналізовано напрями, за якими розвиватимуться видовища й видовищність в Україні: зміцнення й популяризація традиційних видовищних заходів; усталення нових видовищних практик; збагачення видовищної культури інноваційними формами та практиками. It is substantiated that the spectacle is characterized by specific features, among which it is worth emphasizing the cultural value that is expressed in the use by the spectacle of different components of the culture. It has been proved that the spectacles are indicators of social shifts in the system of values, ideologies, existing and latent problems, aspirations and desires of the public. It is shown that in the contemporary culture of Ukraine the priority is the function of the social regulation and the formation of the public opinion that is implemented in the format of imitative practices and multiple cultural interpretations. The directions for development of the spectacles and entertainment in Ukraine are analyzed: strengthening and promoting traditional entertainment events; establishing new entertaining practices; the enrichment of the spectacular culture with innovative forms and practices.


2020 ◽  
Vol 136 (2) ◽  
pp. 538-566
Author(s):  
Sandra Issel-Dombert

AbstractFrom a theoretical and empirical linguistic point of view, this paper emphasizes the importance of the relationship between populism and the media. The aim of this article is to explore the language use of the Spanish right wing populism party Vox on the basis of its multimodal postings on the social network Instagram. For the analysis of their Instagram account, a suitable multimodal discourse analysis (MDA) provides a variety of methods and allows a theoretical integration into constructivism. A hashtag-analysis reveals that Vox’s ideology consists of a nativist and ethnocentric nationalism on the one hand and conservatism on the other. With a topos analysis, the linguistic realisations of these core elements are illustrated with two case studies.


2009 ◽  
pp. 93-112
Author(s):  
Emanuela Confalonieri ◽  
Cristina Giuliani ◽  
Alessandra Bongiana ◽  
Paola Pavesi

- The present study, related to the one published some years ago (Confalonieri et al., 2004), is an investigation on forced prostitution and the related violence's types in immigrant women involved in streetwalking prostitution. Using the social records available by the Ufficio Stranieri (Comune di Milano), the purpose is to identify the presence of 1) childhood maltreatments or violence before the entry in sex exploitation market and 2) subsequent adult sexual revictimization from partners, pimps and clients. Data were analysed using phenomenological descriptive analysis. The relationship between childhood maltreatment and abuse and subsequent involvement in sex work is discussed comparing data and life histories of immigrant prostitutes coming from Nigeria and East Europe. The role played by social and contexual variables in sexual exploitation story are also considered.Key words: immigration, violence, prostitution, infancy, adulthood.Parole chiave: immigrazione, violenza, prostituzione, infanzia, etŕ adulta.


Author(s):  
Dr Rose Fazli ◽  
Dr Anahita Seifi

The present article is an attempt to offer the concept of political development from a novel perspective and perceive the Afghan Women image in accordance with the aforementioned viewpoint. To do so, first many efforts have been made to elucidate the author’s outlook as it contrasts with the classic stance of the concept of power and political development by reviewing the literature in development and particularly political development during the previous decades. For example Post-World War II approaches to political development which consider political development, from the Hobbesian perspective toward power, as one of the functions of government. However in a different view of power, political development found another place when it has been understood via postmodern approaches, it means power in a network of relationships, not limited to the one-way relationship between ruler and obedient. Therefore newer concept and forces find their way on political development likewise “image” as a considerable social, political and cultural concept and women as the new force. Then, the meaning of “image” as a symbolic one portraying the common universal aspect is explained. The Afghan woman image emphasizing the historic period of 2001 till now is scrutinized both formally and informally and finally the relationship between this reproduced image of Afghan women and Afghanistan political development from a novel perspective of understanding is represented.


Author(s):  
Marco BRANCUCCI

"Learning about freedom as freedom to make right choices responsibly is the pivotal task of educational intervention (Chionna 2001). As a practitioner of juvenile penitentiary re-education I experiment it, trying to re-educate young offenders in a prison, where the “capability approach” should be invoked (Sen 2011) and, according to the relational ethics paradigm (Muschitiello, 2012), we teach the young the capacity/ability of choice between alternative life experiences, which should be inspired and embodied by the educational authority of the adults. As agency is a constitutive element of a capability, I wonder: who is the agent? The one who re-educates an inmate? Or the inmate himself? Who should be more efficient and responsible to act in prison? Is it all about specific required competencies that are influenced by the context where penitentiary personnel and inmates act/react reciprocally? Penitentiary educators should adjust their approach, improving their language-as-dialogue tools first, just because the relationship with inmates is based on a dialogic axis. No exception can be made for cultural and linguistic mediators, who are involved in the treatment of foreign inmates (Brancucci 2018). So, I investigate the agency level of penitentiary educators and cultural/linguistic mediators, working together synergistically and/or autonomously. They try to respond to different scenarios, recognizing there is no one-size -fits-all approach to managing cases of re-educational emergencies, and assuming that educational interventions recall a daily presence in the context (Bertolini 1993), especially in prison where people ‘live’ in close proximity (WHO, 2020). But, how to achieve agency when this proximity fades away, or is temporarily interrupted, even turning into a virtual telematic educational approach? The challenge is to transform the consolidated educational-linguistic-dialogic practices into a new bidirectional way to think, act/react (from prison personnel towards inmates and vice-versa), because of the social distance required by the COVID-19 breakthrough."


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