scholarly journals Posthuman “Meta(l)morphoses” in Jeanette Winterson’s The Stone Gods // "Meta(l)morfosis" posthumanas en The Stone Gods de Jeanette Winterson

2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 144-160
Author(s):  
Kerim Can Yazgünoğlu
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Concerns ◽  
Jeanette Winterson ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Nature And Culture ◽  
Gendered Bodies ◽  
Life On Earth ◽  
And Robotics

      Jeanette Winterson’s The Stone Gods (2007) pictures a futuristic world in which every body is technologically, discursively, and materially constructed. First of all, The Stone Gods foregrounds the futuristic conceptualization of embodiment and posthuman gendered bodies in relation to biotechnology, biogenetics, and robotics, interrogating contemporary dimensions of the interface between the human and the machine, nature and culture. Secondly, the novel focuses on environmental concerns relevant to our present age. More specifically, however, drawing our attention to posthuman toxic bodies in terms of “trans-corporeality,” as suggested by Stacy Alaimo, The Stone Gods is an invaluable literary means to speculate on our “posthuman predicament,” in Rosi Braidotti’s words, and global ecological imperilment. In The Stone Gods, Winterson provides not only a warning against the dehumanization of the human in the process of posthumanization, but also a salient picture of posthuman trans-corporeal subjects through a discussion of the beneficial and deleterious effects of biotechnology and machines on human-nonhuman “naturecultures.” On this view, looking at both human and nonhuman bodies through a trans-corporeal lens would contribute to an understanding of how material-discursive structures can profoundly transform human-nonhuman life on Earth. Resumen       The Stone Gods (2007) de Jeanette Winterson describe un mundo futurístico en el que todo el mundo está construido tecnológica, discursiva y materialmente. En primer lugar, The Stone Gods pone en primer plano la conceptualización futurista de la materialización y de los cuerpos  posthumanos provistos de género en relación con la biotecnología, la biogenética y la robótica, cuestionando las dimensiones contemporáneas del interfaz entre el humano y la máquina, naturaleza y cultura. En segundo lugar, la novela se centra en preocupaciones medioambientales relevantes en nuestra época. Más específicamente, sin embargo, haciendo notarlos cuerpos tóxicos post-humanos en términos de “trans-corporalidad,” tal y como sugiere Stacy Aliamo, The Stone Gods es un medio literario que no tiene precio a la hora de especular sobre nuestro “dilema posthumano,” en palabras de Rosa Braidotti, y sobre la peligrosidad ecológica global. En The Stone Gods Winterson no solo ofrece una advertencia sobre la deshumanización del humano en el proceso de posthumanización, sino también una imagen destacada de los sujetos posthumanos trans-corporales por medio de un debate de los efectos beneficiosos y dañinos de la biotecnología y de las máquinas sobre las “naturaculturas” humanas-no-humanas. En este sentido, observando los cuerpos humanos y no-humanos a través de una lente trans-corporal contribuiría a comprender cómo las estructuras materiales-discursivas pueden transformar profundamente la vida humana-no-humana de la Tierra.

Robotic-Assisted Endoscopic Laminotomy: 2-Dimensional Operative Video

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yingda Li ◽  
Michael Y Wang
Keyword(s):  
Spine Surgery ◽  
Human Error ◽  
Robotic Assistance ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Robotic Assisted ◽  
Accuracy And Precision ◽  
Surgical Ergonomics ◽  
Patient Consent ◽  
Potential Synergy ◽  
And Robotics

Abstract Endoscopy and robotics represent two emerging technologies within the field of spine surgery, the former an ultra-MIS approach minimizing the perioperative footprint and the latter leveraging accuracy and precision. Herein, we present the novel incorporation of robotic assistance into endoscopic laminotomy, applied to a 27-yr-old female with a large caudally migrated L4-5 disc herniation. Patient consent was obtained. Robotic guidance was deployed in (1) planning of a focussed laminotomy map, pivoting on a single skin entry point; (2) percutaneous targeting of the interlaminar window; and (3) execution of precision drilling, controlled for depth. Through this case, we illustrated the potential synergy between these 2 technologies in achieving precise bony removal tailored to the patient's unique pathoanatomy while simultaneously introducing safety mechanisms against human error and improving surgical ergonomics.1,2 The physicians consented to the publication of their images.

scholarly journals Naturalcultural Hybridity and Becoming: Andrus Kivirähk’s The Man Who Spoke Snakish in a Material Ecocritical Perspective // Hibridismo naturocultural y transformación: The Man Who Spoke Snakish desde la ecocrítica material

2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-57
Author(s):  
Maris Sõrmus
Keyword(s):  
The Novel ◽  
Solid Ground ◽  
Nature And Culture ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Village Life

The article takes a material ecocritical view on contemporary Estonian literature—Andrus Kivirähk’s The Man Who Spoke Snakish. The canonical novel, which focuses on the forest life being replaced with village life as well as the extinction of snakish, or, snake language, has importantly been classified as “the first Estonian eco-novel” (Hasselblatt 1262). In this light, I discuss the ways that nature emerges in new materialist terms as a subject, tangled with culture, challenging normative understandings of humanity. Particularly interesting is the fluid border of nature and culture, which suggests their reciprocal becoming. First, naturalcultural hybridity becomes manifest in the blurring of voices. Snakes emerge as the ancient brothers of humans, speaking with the last forest dwellers, while the protagonist speaks snakish and resembles a snake. The hybridity is further represented through the grandfather, human apes, and the protagonist’s sister. Above all, a hybrid “natureculture” is portrayed through Meeme, who resembles human “turf” and dissolves in nature, foregrounding the trans-corporeal naturalcultural entanglement. As Meeme becomes the earth, the novel suggests the intra-active becoming of the natural and the cultural, confirming the new materialist idea that there is no solid ground on which to stand but a dynamic world, where nature and culture finally still retreat into their own worlds.   Resumen   Este artículo analiza la obra The Man Who Spoke Snakish de Andrus Kivirähk, escritor estonio contemporáneo, desde una perspectiva ecocrítica materialista. Esta novela de culto, que se centra en la desaparición de la vida en el bosque y en la extinción del idioma de las serpientes, ha sido llamada “la primera econovela estonia” (Hasselblatt 1262). Teniendo esto en cuenta, observo cómo aparece la naturaleza como un sujeto entrelazado con la cultura, desafiando de esta manera el concepto normativo de ser humano. Es particularmente interesante el borroso límite entre naturaleza y cultura, haciendo hincapié en su transformación recíproca. En primer lugar, se manifiesta el hibridismo naturocultural en la mezcla de las voces. Las serpientes, hermanos de los humanos, hablan con los últimos habitantes del bosque, mientras que el protagonista habla el idioma de las serpientes y se parece a una serpiente. El mismo hibridismo es también evidente en la figura del abuelo, los simios y la hermana del protagonista. No obstante, la máxima declaración del hibridismo naturocultural es Meeme, que se parece a un pasto humano disolviéndose en la naturaleza y destacando el entrelazamiento transcorporal y naturocultural. Así como Meeme se convierte en tierra, la novela enfatiza la interacción del bosque y el pueblo reflejando una nueva comprensión materialista según la cual la naturaleza y la cultura se funden para formar un solo concepto.

scholarly journals AN ECOFEMINIST READING OF ANITA DESAI’S FIRE ON THE MOUNTAIN

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-24
Author(s):  
Nila N
Keyword(s):  
The Novel ◽  
Anita Desai ◽  
Human Actions ◽  
Social Rules ◽  
Natural Processes ◽  
Nature And Culture ◽  
Man And Nature ◽  
In Fire ◽  
Mother Earth ◽  
Capitalistic Society

Ecofeminism is a term that links feminism with ecology. This paper tries to outline the fact that the capitalistic society has led to a conflict between nature and culture. This also makes it clear that the exploitation of nature and the oppression of women are closely linked with notions of class, caste, race, colonialism and social rules. Anita Desai, in Fire on the Mountain emphasis ecoconsciousness by depicting a serene landscape. She also takes the reader through a maze of human actions, diverse nature of the mountain, the ecological natural processes in the mountain milieu, excessive population disturbing the peace ,man-made dangers exploiting nature; and therefore aims at showing an integral relationship between man and nature. The novel certainly recalls the fact that mother earth suffers just like women living on her, exploited, discriminated, humiliated, raped, disowned, discarded and let to die.

scholarly journals Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein As A Text About Nature and Culture

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (9) ◽  
pp. 10
Author(s):  
Kunal Debnath
Keyword(s):  
The Other ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Natural Landscape ◽  
Scientific Experiment ◽  
Nature And Culture ◽  
Other Hand

In Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein (1818), we find several dichotomies: culture/nature, self/other, ego/id, male/female et cetera. In the novel, Victor is a scientist who wants to inject life into inanimate objects and thereby become a creator, a god. As science is an element of culture, Victor is associated with culture. But he represents the darker side of culture: scientism misused as fantasy. On the other hand, the creature is associated with nature. Though Victor infuses life into the monster through a scientific experiment, the monster is still a nature’s child as he is brought up in the midst of wild natural landscape. In the novel, we find that ‘male’ science (as a part of culture), in the person of Victor, penetrates “into the recesses of nature” (Shelley, 1818).

scholarly journals Will COVID-19 Trigger Extinction of All Life on Earth?

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Homo Sapiens ◽  
Masking Effect ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Industrial Activity ◽  
Global Average ◽  
Average Temperature ◽  
Global Dimming ◽  
Novel Coronavirus ◽  
Life On Earth ◽  
Abrupt Rise

The outbreak of the novel coronavirus and the associated COVID-19 is causing an abrupt reduction in industrial activity. As a result of the associated reduction in the aerosol masking effect (“global dimming”), Earth might experience an abrupt rise in global-average temperature. The current temperature of Earth is the highest with Homo sapiens present, suggesting that an abrupt rise in global-average temperature could destroy habitat for humans on Earth. Human extinction could result.

Hum of the Hive

2016 ◽  
Vol 24 (6) ◽  
pp. 535-555 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ferne Edwards ◽  
Jane Dixon
Keyword(s):  
At Risk ◽  
Environmental Concerns ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Self Sufficiency ◽  
The City ◽  
European Honeybee ◽  
Sydney Australia

A contestation is underway in Australian cities between humans and the European honeybee, which has heightened in recent years as amateur beekeeping has emerged in response to environmental concerns. This paper reports on a brief ethnographic encounter among old and new amateur beekeepers located across Sydney, Australia. Older beekeepers were motivated mainly by a desire for a social hobby, whereas younger apiarists were attracted by the role bees play in addressing environmental concerns, including biodiversity, food self-sufficiency, and greening the city. However, the amateur beekeeper appears to be at risk from a series of conflicts: among themselves (registered and unregistered keepers), and with commercial keepers and suburban residents. These conflicts undermine the novel role that amateur beekeepers, with their distinct methods and perspectives, play in fostering biodiversity, health, and sustainability towards the ecological city.

Myth, Exorcism, and Maggie Tulliver

1988 ◽  
Vol 16 ◽  
pp. 101-122
Author(s):  
M. da Vinci Nichols
Keyword(s):  
George Eliot ◽  
Rural Life ◽  
Matthew Arnold ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Religious Expression ◽  
Nature And Culture ◽  
Mill On The Floss ◽  
As If

Pater speaks here for a perception shared, differently, by George Eliot and Matthew Arnold. Deep respect for Greek learning as the font of humanism led Arnold to suspect that myth held more truth than did mere philosophy. As if in agreement, Eliot's novel, The Mill on the Floss, asks what that more might be. Is myth a religious expression? an illustration of fate? a model of nature? or of some irreducible essence within the grain and texture of reality eluding definition? All may apply. The gross sum of rural life in the novel, a “grovelling existence which even calamity does not elevate” (238; bk. 4, ch. 1), nevertheless possesses an obscure power that Eliot both dignifies and parodies through sustained allusions to the Ariadne myth. In addition and more particularly, Ariadne expresses Maggie Tulliver's otherwise mute impulses and suppressed motives, the same function it performs for Eliot's later heroines in conflict. This evidence of the myth's extended hold on Eliot's imagination strongly suggests that it spoke for personal as well as fictional experience. Here in her bildungsroman, myth begins to provide her with a vocabulary to express antagonism between nature and culture – to put this roughly – or between passion and idea that Eliot herself confronted and returned to time and again in her novels.

scholarly journals Écriture Feminine in the Narration Level of Jeanette Winterson’s The Powerbook

TEKNOSASTIK ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 69
Author(s):  
Nisa’ul Fithri Mardani Shihab
Keyword(s):  
Women's Writing ◽  
English Literature ◽  
Jeanette Winterson ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Ecriture Feminine ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Women’S Writing ◽  
The Way

This writing examines the narration level in Jeanette Winterson’s novel The Powerbook (2000) by focusing on the concept of écriture feminine, referring to the structure and the form of narration. Jeanette Winterson is one of woman writers in English literature whose works indicate a form of écriture feminine as a counter discourse for phallogocentrism. Winterson’s works in the narration level exhibit the difference from the conventional narration forms. In The Powerbook, écriture feminine in the narration level is shown in the form of fragmented narration that comes in three different forms, namely: narcissistic narrative, public narration and demythologizing history. The result of the research points out that the narration form of the novel is a resistance toward phallogocentrism by demonstrating women’s writing that manifests the way women make sense of their world.

scholarly journals Discovery of Hierarchical Representations for Efficient Planning

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Momchil S. Tomov ◽  
Samyukta Yagati ◽  
Agni Kumar ◽  
Wanqian Yang ◽  
Samuel J. Gershman
Keyword(s):  
Structure Learning ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Hierarchical Planning ◽  
Important Advance ◽  
Behavioral Experiments ◽  
Levels Of Abstraction ◽  
Efficient Planning ◽  
Hierarchical Representations ◽  
The Brain ◽  
And Robotics

SummaryWe propose that humans spontaneously organize environments into clusters of states that support hierarchical planning, enabling them to tackle challenging problems by breaking them down into sub-problems at various levels of abstraction. People constantly rely on such hierarchical presentations to accomplish tasks big and small – from planning one’s day, to organizing a wedding, to getting a PhD – often succeeding on the very first attempt. We formalize a Bayesian model of hierarchy discovery that explains how humans discover such useful abstractions. Building on principles developed in structure learning and robotics, the model predicts that hierarchy discovery should be sensitive to the topological structure, reward distribution, and distribution of tasks in the environment. In five simulations, we show that the model accounts for previously reported effects of environment structure on planning behavior, such as detection of bottleneck states and transitions. We then test the novel predictions of the model in eight behavioral experiments, demonstrating how the distribution of tasks and rewards can influence planning behavior via the discovered hierarchy, sometimes facilitating and sometimes hindering performance. We find evidence that the hierarchy discovery process unfolds incrementally across trials. We also find that people use uncertainty to guide their learning in a way that is informative for hierarchy discovery. Finally, we propose how hierarchy discovery and hierarchical planning might be implemented in the brain. Together, these findings present an important advance in our understanding of how the brain might use Bayesian inference to discover and exploit the hidden hierarchical structure of the environment.

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