scholarly journals Carnival Anthropocene: Myth and Cultural Memory in Monique Roffey's Archipelago // Antropoceno Carnaval: El mito y memoria cultural en Archipelago de Monique Roffey

Author(s):  
C. Parker Krieg

      This essay examines the role of myth in and as cultural memory through a reading of the novel, Archipelago (2013), by the Trinidadian-British author Monique Roffey. Against conceptions of the Anthropocene as a break from the past—a break that repeats the myth of modernity—I argue that Roffey’s use of cultural memory offers a carnivalesque relation to the world in response to the narrative’s account of climate change trauma. Drawing on Bakhtin’s classic study of the carnival as an occasion for contestation and renewal, as well as Cheryl Lousely’s call for a “carnivalesque ecocriticism,” this essay expands on the recent ecocritical turn to the field of Memory Studies (Buell; Goodbody; Kennedy) to illustrate the way literature mediates between mythic and historical relations to the natural world. As literary expressions, the carnivalesque and the grotesque evoke myth and play in order to expose and transform the social myths which govern relations and administrate difference. Since literature acts as both a producer and reflector of cultural memory, this essay seeks to highlight the literary potential of myth for connecting past traumas to affirmational modes of political engagement. Resumen     Este ensayo examina el papel del mito en y como memoria cultural analizando la novela Archipelago (2013), escrita por la autora trinitense-británica Monique Roffey. Frente a la idea del Antropoceno como una ruptura con el pasado—una ruptura que repite el mito de la modernidad—este trabajo argumenta que el uso de la memoria cultural de Roffey ofrece una relación carnavalesca con el mundo en respuesta al trauma del cambio climático detallado en la novela. Basando mi argumento en la teoría clásica de Bakhtin sobre el carnaval como una ocasión para la contestación y la renovación, así como la llamada de Cheryl Lousely por una “ecocrítica carnavalesca,” este ensayo amplía el reciente giro de la ecocrítica hacia el campo de los estudios de memoria (Buell; Goodbody; Kennedy) para ilustrar cómo la literatura media entre las relaciones míticas e históricas con el mundo natural. Como expresiones literarias, lo carnavalesco y lo grotesco evocan el mito y el juego para revelar y transformar los mitos sociales que gobiernan las relaciones y gestionan la diferencia. Ya que la literatura actúa tanto como productora y como espejo de la memoria cultural, este ensayo busca destacar el potencial literario del mito para conectar traumas del pasado con modos de compromiso político más afirmativos.

Politeja ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (2(65)) ◽  
pp. 189-204
Author(s):  
Katarzyna Marcol

The Role of Language in Releasing from Inherited Traumas. Negotiations of the Social Position of the Silesian Minority in Serbian Banat The aim of the paper is to show the dependence between language, collective memory (also post-memory) and sense of identity. This issue is analysed using the example of an ethnic minority living in the village of Ostojićevo (Banat, Serbia) called ‘Toutowie.’ Their ancestors came in the 19th century from Wisła (Silesian Cieszyn, Poland); they left their homes because of great hunger and were looking for jobs in Banat. Narratives about the past contain traumatic experiences of the past generations transmitted in the Silesian dialect and constituting communicative memory. At the same time, a new Polish national identity is being constructed, supported by institutions and authorities; it carries a new image of the world and creates a new cultural memory. This new identity – shaped on the basis of national categories – leads to changes of its self-identification and gives the opportunity to raise its social position in the multi-ethnic Banat community.


2018 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 261
Author(s):  
Nurul Salsabila Abu Bakar ◽  
Mohd Nazri Ahmad

The life of  Prophet Muhammad/ Sirah Rasullullah, SAW, (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) is one of the written works of scholars to be featured as having played a major role in developing da'wah and Islamic Shari'ahs around the world from the past. The bond between Moslems and the prophet is strong so the Moslems can use sirah as a reference to strengthen faith, morals, foster the struggle of Islam and encourage the Muslim to hold on to the truth.  This study will highlight the role of the sirah in strengthening the social aspect of society and this will be seen based on the views of Sheikh Ramadan al-Buti. Content analysis is  used to analyze Fiqh as-Sirah an-Nabawiyyah. The data was analysed descriptively and explanatory. The findings show that the need for a sirah approach in the social aspect is high for the good of  social aspect itself. However, Syeikh Ramadan al-Buti has opened the opportunity so that the aspects of the sirah is applied to the social change of the Islamic society from time to time. The implications of the study show that the Prophet's sirah/life has succeeded in forming a good Islamic Government over the history of Western civilization. Sirah Rasulullah SAW merupakan salah satu karya penulisan ulama perlu diketengahkan kerana telah memainkan peranan yang besar dalam mengembangkan dakwah dan syariat Islam diseluruh dunia sejak dahulu lagi. Mempelajari sirah Nabi ini bukanlah semata-mata untuk mengetahui peristiwa menarik dan aneh yang berlaku di zaman Nabi SAW.Pengkajian sirah ini juga bukan sekadar ingin mengetahui peristiwa-peristiwa yang telah melakar sejarah sebagaimana kajian-kajian sejarah yang lain sebagai contoh sejarah hidup seorang khalifah atau sejarah tamadun yang silam. Sirah juga bukanlah sekadar satu kisah yang dibaca pada hari keputeraan baginda SAW sahaja. Apa yang lebih besar sebenarnya adalah ikatan seseorang Muslim dengan Rasulnya sehinggakan pada akhirnya Muslim itu berjaya menjadikan sirah sebagai sesuatu yang dapat menambahkan iman, memperelok akhlak, menyemarakkan perjuangan Islam serta dapat mendorong Muslim itu untuk terus berpegang dengan kebenaran dan seterusnya istiqamah kepadanya. Kajian ini akan mengetengahkan peranan sirah dalam mengukuhkan aspek sosial masyarakat dan perkara ini akan dilihat berdasarkan kepada pandangan Syeikh Ramadan al-Buti. Kaedah analisis kandungan akan digunakan dalam mengkaji kitab Fiqh as-Sirah an-Nabawiyyah bagi mendapatkan data. Data tersebut akan dianalisis secara deskriptif dan eksplanatori. Dapatan kajian menunjukkan bahawa keperluan pendekatan sirah dalam aspek sosial adalah tinggi bagi membentuk aspek sosial yang baik itu sendiri. Walau bagaimanapun, Syeikh Ramadan al-Buti telah membuka ruang sepenuhnya supaya aspek sirah diaplikasikan kedalam perubahan sosial masyarakat islam dari masa ke semasa. Implikasi kajian menunjukkan bahawa sirah Rasulullah telah berjaya membentuk satu Kerajaan Islam yang baik berbanding sejarah tamadun Barat yang musnah ekoran tiada sisa-sisa kemanusiaan yang dihidupkan.


Author(s):  
I. I. Blauberg

Marcel Proust’s works contain a lot of ideas consonant with the ideas that were actively discussed by philosophers of his time. Many philosophers focused on the issues of perception, memory, will, freedom, personal identity, etc., which constituted an important part of academic curriculum. Proust familiarized himself with the issues studying philosophy at the Lyceum (he was taught by Alphonse Darlu) and at the Sorbonne. In his novel In Search of Lost Time, Proust describes an existential experience of his character viewing these issues from a particular perspective, through the prism of the main character’s lifelong search of his calling. He gradually proceeds from philosophical psychology exploring the interaction of memories and impressions in a particular perception, to philosophy proper, to metaphysics aimed at understanding the truth, at going beyond time. The article traces some moments of this transition, shows that for Proust it is not just the work of memory that is important but the emphasis on those states of consciousness where the present and the past coincide, merge, and thereby we go beyond time, to eternity. The author analyzes some images and signs that accompanied the character of the novel on the way to the realization of his calling. Particular attention is paid to the Proustian interpretation of the role of art in changing and enriching the perception of the world, as well as the importance in human life of a habit in which positive and negative aspects are highlighted. Proust himself believed that a work of art is an optical instrument through which the readers begin to discern in themselves what they would otherwise fail to see. His own novel was such an instrument.


Porównania ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 325-339
Author(s):  
Markéta Kittlová

This study focuses on Adam Borzič, one of the most distinctive contemporary Czech poets. The study contextualises his work within current Czech poetry but also examines his other work that is not strictly classified as art as though it were cultural work with avant-garde features. It investigates four volumes of Borzič’s work in terms of the changes in the author’s creative gesture, which expands from his conviction that the world is at a turning point and the avant-garde longing to change the world by poetry. In the four volumes of Borzič’s poetry (written so far), this gesture is embodied through delicately intimate, acutely physical, or even gigantically all-embracing positions, where he employs motives of the heart, head, hand and mouth. The study attempts to evaluate the change in Borzič’s work in the lightof T. S. Eliot’s understanding of the social role of poetry and avant-garde longing to change reality through art. The Czech poet, Adam Borzič, is one of the most distinctive figures of the current Czech literary scene. His poetry is distinct because of its unique gesture andalso represents a strong current in the poetry production of the past decade with its emphasis on the social function of poetry7 and the poet’s role as somebody who should nurture the world through his/her work or even change it. This study attempts to portray Borzič’s work as focused on the mentioned topics and related issues of the end of the first decade of the twenty-first century and renew interest in them, contextualise his work within current Czech poetry but also investigate his other work, which is not strictly artistic but which possesses some avant-garde features.


2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 45-52
Author(s):  
Makhmudjon Ziyadullaev ◽  

This article presents ofthe content of the right to social security, which is considered as one of the constitutional rights of citizens, the role of state pensions in the social protection of pensioners and the world pension systems, including distributive, mandatory and conditional pension funds.As well as the size of pensions and their components, the relevance and importance in the Republic of Uzbekistan, the ratification of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights and changes in thepension sector over the past 3-4 years, taking into account the types of pension provision, frombeginningsof independence of our country


2020 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 413-427
Author(s):  
Leonie Holthaus ◽  
Nils Stockmann

In this essay, we consider the role of academics as change-makers. There is a long line of reflection about academics’ sociopolitical role(s) in international relations (IR). Yet, our attempt differs from available considerations in two regards. First, we emphasize that academics are not a homogenous group. While some keep their distance from policymakers, others frequently provide policy advice. Hence, positions and possibilities of influence differ. Second, our argument is not oriented towards the past but the future. That is, we develop our reflections on academics as change-makers by outlining the vision of a ‘FutureLab’, an innovative, future forum that brings together different world-makers who are united in their attempt to improve ‘the world'. Our vision accounts for current, perhaps alarming trends in academia, such as debates about the (in)ability to confront post-truth politics. Still, it is a (critically) optimistic one and can be read as an invitation for experimentation. Finally, we sympathize with voices demanding the democratization of academia and find that further cross-disciplinary dialogues within academia and dialogues between different academics, civil society activists and policymakers may help in finding creditable solutions to problems such as climate change and populism.


2015 ◽  
Vol 61 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert D. Holt

Science is an organized enterprise of inquiry which tries to tie together multiple strands of evidence to craft coherent explanations for disparate patterns in the natural world. Philosophers call this enterprise “inference towards the best explanation”. Such inferences at times depend upon detailed quantitative models, but at times one can rely upon the confluence of multiple strands of qualitative evidence. Humans are having unquestionable influences upon many aspects of the earth system at present, on land, in freshwater systems, and indeed the ocean, including devastating impacts on biodiversity. There are many patterns in the world at present – shrinking glaciers, shifting seasonal patterns in species’ life histories, and altered spatial distributions – which point to the signal of climate change, independent of the details of quantitative climate models. Yet, there are many other factors at play, often confounding clear assessment of the specific role of climate change in observed changes in the world. A deeper synoptic understanding of the drivers and impacts of climate change would be incredibly valuable and is urgently needed, even if in the end (though this seems increasingly unlikely) anthropogenic drivers were not the main factor underlying observed climate change.


2015 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mălina Ciocea ◽  
Alexandru Cârlan

<p>This paper1 investigates the sources of representations on the communist period and the type of engagement with the past in an experiential museum, in the context of the National Network of Romanian Museums’ project for a laboratory-museum of Romanian Communism. Our analysis of focus-groups in October-November 2012 explores the public’s expectations in terms of museum experience and engagement with objects and the potential of an experiential museum to facilitate deliberation about the past. We use the conceptual framework of recent studies on postmemory (Hirsch, 2008) and prosthetic memory (Landsberg, 2004, 2009) to focus on ways of building the experiential archive needed to produce prosthetic memory. We consider that such an analysis is relevant for two interconnected problems: the bidirectional relationship between a projected museum of communism and a prospective public, and the methodological insights available for investigating this relation. With regard to the first problem, this paper makes a case for treating museums as a memory device rather than a lieu de memoire and analyses the role of the museum in relation to cultural memory. With regard to the second problem, it offers an example of conducting research on prospective publics which departs from traditional marketing approaches, adopting theoretical insights and analytical categories from specific conceptualizations in the field of memory studies.</p>


Author(s):  
Nadezhda I. Pavlova

The article is to study a mythological subtext of the novel “Children of mine” by G. Yakhina, which appeared at different levels: composition, plot, construction of the system of characters ' images. Main character of the novel, Jacob Bach, and his beloved Clara are reunited into a single whole, not only as lovers, but also as representatives of two interrelated and complementary principles of German culture-folklore and literature. The interaction of this pair of heroes should be considered in this symbolic context. Thus, the novel develops a fundamentally significant for its conception motif of prophecy, which implies a subtext about the creation of the world-Logos, which is further developed in the narrative, when the image of the main character fulfills the function of guardian of the cultural memory of the Volga Germans. At the same time, the act of creativity is synonymous with creation, which allows us to grasp in a complex novel whole the repeatability of components of a closed cycle of “myth-life”, fully realized in its narrative structure. Mythological world surrounding Bach is in opposition to the space of Soviet history, embodied in the image of the agitator Hoffmann. There is an inverted picture of the world: historical world as dead and the world of culture as a living world. Thus, in the novel, the poles of life and death exchange places in relation to the present and the past. In view of this conception, one can read a deep intention of the writer representing the word of culture as giving immortality and life in eternity.


Catalysts ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 1185
Author(s):  
Eva Díaz ◽  
Salvador Ordóñez

In a recent United Nations draft report (August 2021), a large number of scientists from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change described the climate change over the past century as “unprecedented” and warned that the world will warm at an increasing rate, with unpredictable results, unless aggressive action to cut emissions of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases is taken [...]


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