scholarly journals Alienation in Irvine Welsh’s Trainspotting

Literator ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-36
Author(s):  
B.A. Senekal
Keyword(s):  
Systems Theory ◽  
Social Isolation ◽  
Theoretical Approach ◽  
Contemporary Literature ◽  
The Other ◽  
Western Society ◽  
Contemporary Fiction ◽  
Commercial Success ◽  
The Social

This article examines how Melvin Seeman’s theory of alienation (1959) and modern alienation research manifest in Irvine Welsh’s “Trainspotting”. This is an important novel, not only because of its commercial success, but also because it depicts a specific marginalised subculture. Postmodernism and systems theory approaches, as well as changes in the social and political spheres have motivated researchers such as Geyer (1996), Kalekin-Fishman (1998) and Neal and Collas (2000) to reinterpret Seeman’s theory. This article attempts to incorporate this new theory of alienation in the analysis of contemporary fiction. Seeman identifies five aspects of alienation, namely powerlessness, meaninglessness, normlessness, social isolation and self-estrangement. Following Neal and Collas (2000), in particular, this article omits self-estrangement, but shows how the other four aspects of alienation have changed since Seeman’s formulation. It is argued that “Trainspotting” depicts a specific occurrence of alienation in modern western society, besides normlessness, meaninglessness, and social isolation, highlighting Seeman’s concept of powerlessness, in particular. The article further argues that applying Seeman’s theory of alienation in the study of contemporary literature provides a fresh theoretical approach that contributes to the understanding of how fiction engages with its environment.

scholarly journals The applicability of Parsons’ action system to the food system

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (30) ◽  
pp. 40-58
Author(s):  
Martin Milán Csirszki
Keyword(s):  
Systems Theory ◽  
Social System ◽  
Food System ◽  
Human Condition ◽  
The Other ◽  
Final Conclusion ◽  
Talcott Parsons ◽  
Action System ◽  
The Social ◽  
Abstraction Levels

In this paper Talcott Parsons’ systems theory is applied to the food system. After the introduction of the basic categories of the food system, the main elements of Parsons’ theory are drawn up. Then, the detailed analysis takes place on three abstraction levels: within the general paradigm of human condition, the action system and the social system. During the analysis, two conclusions are formulated: one of them is in connection with the correction of abstraction levels concerning the food system, the other one creates the classes of the food system that can be corresponded to the four Parsonsian functions. In the end of the study, a final conclusion is formulated.

scholarly journals The impact of legislation on Covid-19 mortality in a Brazilian federative unit was mediated by social isolation.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fredi A Diaz-Quijano ◽  
Tatiane Bomfim Ribeiro ◽  
Alexia Viana da Rosa ◽  
Rossana Reis ◽  
Fernando Aith ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Isolation ◽  
Ecological Study ◽  
The Other ◽  
Preventive Effect ◽  
Mobile Data ◽  
The Social ◽  
Isolation Index ◽  
Delayed Mortality ◽  
The Impact

This study aimed to estimate the effect of restrictive laws on actual social isolation and COVID-19 mortality. Moreover, we evaluated how community adherence, measured with an index of social isolation, would mediate the lockdown effect on COVID-19 mortality. Methods: This ecological study assessed the legislations published until June 30, 2020, in the Brazilian state of Ceara. We performed a systematic review and classification of restrictive norms and estimated their immediate effect on social isolation, measured by an index based on mobile data, and the subsequent impact on COVID-19 mortality (three weeks later). A mediation analysis was performed to estimate the effect of rigid lockdown on mortality that was explained for effective social isolation. Results: The social isolation index showed an increase of 11.9% (95% CI: 2.9% - 21%) during the days in which a rigid isolation norm (lockdown) was implemented. Moreover, this rigid lockdown was associated with a reduction of 26% (95% CI: 21% - 31%) in the three-week-delayed mortality. We also calculated that the rigid lockdown had the indirect effect, i.e., mediated by adherence to social isolation, of reducing COVID-19 mortality by 38.24% (95% CI: 21.64% to 56.07%). Therefore, the preventive effect of this norm was fully explained by the actual population adherence, reflected in the social isolation index. On the other hand, mandatory mask use was associated with 11% reduction in COVID-19 mortality (95% CI: 8% - 13%). Conclusions: We estimated the effect of quarantine regulations on social isolation and evidenced that a rigid lockdown law led to a reduction of COVID-19 mortality in one state of Brazil. In addition, the mandatory masks norm was an additional determinant of the reduction of this outcome.

scholarly journals A Phenomenological Variant of Ecological Systems Theory (PVEST): A self-organization perspective in context

1997 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 817-833 ◽  
Author(s):  
MARGARET BEALE SPENCER ◽  
DAVIDO DUPREE ◽  
TRACEY HARTMANN
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Systems Theory ◽  
Ecological Systems ◽  
The Other ◽  
Ecological Systems Theory ◽  
Self Organization ◽  
Learning Attitude ◽  
Learning Attitudes ◽  
The Social ◽  
American Students

A framework that emphasizes and integrates individuals' intersubjective experiences with Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory (PVEST) is introduced and compared with self-organizational perspectives. Similarities, differences and advantages of each framework are described. In a demonstration of PVEST's utility, a subset of data from the 3rd year of a longitudinal study (14- to 16-year-old middle adolescent African–Americans) is used for examining an achievement variable: negative learning attitude. Explored separately by gender, a regression model that contained risk, stress, and a reactive coping variable for the prediction of negative learning attitudes was investigated. For boys, stress was an independent stressor across steps independent of the other variables entered; social support was particularly important for males. For girls, not only was stress not important but it was also only the social support variable, perceived unpopularity with peers, that was a significant predictor of girls' negative learning attitude. Particularly for boys, the findings suggest critically important roles for teachers and peers in the negative learning attitude of midadolescent economically disadvantaged African–American students.

scholarly journals Mathematical Modeling to Perform an Analysis of Social Isolation Periods in the Dissemination of COVID-19

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 595-608
Author(s):  
A. Molter ◽  
R. S. Quadros ◽  
M. Rafikov ◽  
D. Buske ◽  
G. A. Gonçalves
Keyword(s):  
Mathematical Modeling ◽  
Mathematical Model ◽  
Mathematical Models ◽  
Social Isolation ◽  
Computer Simulations ◽  
The Other ◽  
Stable Level ◽  
The Social ◽  
The World ◽  
Second Peak

The outbreak of COVID-19 has made scientists from all over the world do not measureefforts to understand the dynamics of the disease caused by this coronavirus. Several mathematical models have been proposed to describe the dynamics and make predictions. This work proposes a mathematical model that includes social isolation of susceptible individuals as a strategy of suppression and mitigation of the disease. The Susceptible-Infectious-Isolated-Recovered-Dead (SIQRD) model is proposed to analyze three important issues about the dynamics of the disease taking into account social isolation: when the isolation should begin? How long to keep the isolation? How to get out of this isolation? To get answers, computer simulations are provided and their results discussed. The results obtained show that beginning social isolation on the 10th or 15th days, after confirmation of the 50th case, and with 70% of the population in isolation, seems to be promising, since the infected curve does not grow much until it enters the isolation and remains at a stable level during the isolation. On the other hand an abrupt release of the social isolation will imply a second peak of infected individuals above the first one, which is not desired. Therefore, the release from social isolation should be gradual.

scholarly journals Mobilność artefaktów protestu. Maska Guya Fawkesa w cyklu kontestacji 2008–2017

2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 83-97
Author(s):  
Bartosz Ślosarski
Keyword(s):  
Theoretical Approach ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
The Other ◽  
Cultural Contexts ◽  
The Social ◽  
New Meanings ◽  
The World ◽  
The Given

The mobility of protest artifacts: The Guy Fawkes mask in the cycle of contestation in the years 2008–2017The aim of the article is to present the process of protest artifacts’ mobility using the example of the social biography of Guy Fawkes’ mask. The applied theoretical approach is based on a three-ele­ment concept of the social biography of the artifact which includes transformations in the field of cultural practices what is done with an object, industrialization of an object how and by whom it is made, and the change and acquisition of new meanings by the given artifact in which cultural contexts it is located. The example of the Guy Fawkes mask, as well as masking policy in general, is considered in the context of protests against ACTA in Poland and the other events in the world from the 2008–2017 contestation cycle. The mask leads its own social life, being active and mobile, both in the spaces in which it occurs, social groups that use it and what they do with it, and the forms that it takes.

scholarly journals The intersection between systems theory and grounded theory: the emergence of the grounded systems observer

2005 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 3-21
Author(s):  
Barry Gibson ◽  
Jane Gregory ◽  
Peter G Robinson
Keyword(s):  
Grounded Theory ◽  
Systems Theory ◽  
Social Theory ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Social World ◽  
The Other ◽  
Systems Methodology ◽  
The Social ◽  
The One

The aim of this paper is to outline how a theoretical intersection between systems theory and grounded theory could be articulated. The paper proceeds by marking that the important difference between systems theory and grounded theory is primarily reflected in the distinction between a revision of social theory on the one hand and the generation of theory for the social world on the other. It then explores figures of thought in philosophy that relate closely to aspects of Luhmann’s theory of social systems. An effectual intersection, an operational intersection, an intersection based on the concept of primary redundancy and a global/transcendental intersection between systems theory and grounded theory are proposed. The paper then goes on to briefly outline several methodological consequences of the intersection for a grounded systems methodology. It concludes by discussing the sort of knowledge for the social world that is likely to emerge from this mode of observation.

scholarly journals Robot and ukiyo-e: implications to cultural varieties in human–robot relationships

AI & Society ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Osamu Sakura
Keyword(s):  
Japanese Society ◽  
The Other ◽  
Western Society ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Edo Period ◽  
The Third ◽  
The Social ◽  
The World ◽  
Mother And Child ◽  
Cultural Causes

AbstractThe social and cultural causes behind the widespread use and acceptance of robots in Japan are not yet completely understood. This study compares humans and robots in images gathered through Google searches in Japanese and in English. Numerous pictures obtained by the search in Japanese were found to have a human and a robot looking together at something else (“third item”), whereas many of the images acquired by search in English show a human and a robot facing each other. This is similar to the composition of mother and child in paintings: in ukiyo-e that was painted mainly in the Edo period of Japan, the mother and child are often depicted together viewing something other than themselves, whereas this is not the case in Western paintings of mother and child. It has also been pointed out that, in modern Western paintings, the world inside the picture is separated from the outside world, forming an independent microcosmos, whereas the inside and outside are continuous in Japanese paintings. These may indicate that, in Japanese society, robots are to a certain extent regarded as fellow human beings who can share the third item. In Western society, on the other hand, no code is embedded that can fix robots’ superiority or inferiority to humans, which would easily trigger an antagonistic view toward artificial intelligence (AI)/robots as threatening entities, as shown in most of Western literature and movies. We suggest that such cultural characteristics of Japanese society can contribute to enhance coexistence with AI/robots.

Live through of the Students in the Conditions of Pandemic of Covid - 19

2021 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 154-171
Author(s):  
Valeri Stoyanov
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Social Isolation ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Negative Attitude ◽  
The Other ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
The People ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Impact

Using the methodological approach of qualitative research to conduct empirical research in the social sciences, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on students' experiences of the present and their projections for the future is revealed. The results show that many of them find positives from social isolation in the opportunity to pay more attention to the people important to them and to work more purposefully on their own development. On the other hand, serious fears are revealed, the main of which is for the health and life of their loved ones, as well as for the future, for their career development and realization. They find it difficult to tolerate social isolation and most of them experience their mental state as shaky, as depressed. In general, students have a negative attitude towards distance learning – online, considering it inferior to face-to-face training and assess this training as a risk to their professional development and subsequent realization in the labor market.

scholarly journals The Affective Dominant: Affective Crisis and Contemporary Fiction

Poetics Today ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 42 (4) ◽  
pp. 541-574
Author(s):  
Hans Demeyer ◽  
Sven Vitse
Keyword(s):  
Contemporary Literature ◽  
Literary Text ◽  
The Other ◽  
Contemporary Fiction ◽  
The Past ◽  
Alternative Conceptualization ◽  
Zadie Smith ◽  
Ideological Context

Abstract Contemporary developments in fiction have so far primarily been interpreted as an attempt to move beyond postmodernism toward a renewed sense of realism and communication. This article suggests an alternative conceptualization and puts forward the hypothesis that contemporary fiction marks a shift toward an affective dominant. In Postmodernist Fiction (1987) Brian McHale defines the dominant as a structure that brings order and hierarchy in a diversity of techniques and motifs in a literary text. Whereas in modernism the dominant is epistemological and in postmodernism it is ontological, in contemporary literature we contend this dominant is affective. The prevailing questions are “How can I feel reality (myself, the other, the past, the present, etc.)?”; “How can I feel to belong to reality?”; and “How can I feel reality to be real?” This affective dominant manifests itself in motifs such as desire, attachment, fantasy, and identification. Formal and narrative devices that in modernist or postmodernist fiction contributed to an epistemological or ontological dominant tend to foreground questions of affectivity in contemporary fiction. Through the analysis of novels by Ben Lerner, Alejandro Zambra, and Zadie Smith this article substantiates this hypothesis. This approach allows us to study contemporary fiction both diachronically, in relation to postmodernism, and synchronically, in relation to its social and ideological context.

When the Periphery Becomes the Center: New Trends in Contemporary Brazilian Fiction

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 065-073
Author(s):  
Xing Fan ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Social Problems ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Contemporary Literature ◽  
The Other ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Social Changes ◽  
Brazilian Literature ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
The Social ◽  
New Type

Contemporary literature has always been a dynamic arena for reflecting on and discussing a country’s social changes. With the worsening of social problems and the resurgence of right-wing forces in Brazil in the last decade, literature has endured a series of crises, but it has also found new opportunities. The “marginal writers” who attracted attention at the beginning of the century have gradually moved to the center of Brazilian literature. Aside from denouncing the social problems that exist in the periphery, such as violence, discrimination and poverty, they now pay more attention to the inner feelings of the vulnerable. On the other hand, writers who are known for their psychological descriptions have also begun to explore social issues, often maintaining the subjective perspectives of their characters. This essay argues that the merging of the marginal with the center and of collectivity with subjectivity implies the advent of a new type of narrative in contemporary Brazilian literature.

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