Review of Moser, Keith, and Ananta Ch. Sukla (eds). Imagination and Art: Explora-tions in Contemporary Theory. Brill, 2020.

Review of Moser, Keith, and Ananta Ch. Sukla (eds). Imagination and Art: Explorations in Contemporary Theory. Brill, 2020.

Private Sphere in the Age of Digital Communication

Examining the interpretations on the “U.S. observation case,” I am trying to answer the question of which contemporary theory may serve as the adequate context for telling the story of the birth of our right to privacy and the modern power structures endeavoring to oppress this right. Relying on the relevant literature, I have attempted to reconstruct twopossible theories in light of the strength of the relationship between privacy and power: the paradigm rooted in the sociology of work; and one judicial approach based on human dignity. The analysis of the two privacy paradigms in contrast with each other highlights their advantages and disadvantages. I also attempt to outline normative points of viewrelevant when analyzing the relationship between power and privacy in the digital age.

Engaging Westermann and the Assumptive World

The work of Claus Westermann was foundational for the modern study of lament literature in the Hebrew Bible. Westermann’s work on the Psalms arose from his experiences in the Second World War, where he learned to value both the praise and the lament elements of the Psalms. This article reconsiders Westermann’s contribution to the theology of lament in light of contemporary theory on the impact of trauma on individuals, focussing on the understanding of the impact of traumatic experience on the assumptive world of those who suffer. There are significant points of correspondence between the two, demonstrating anew the insights of Westermann’s work.

Reactivating Dynamic Architecture: A Strategy to Inject Relevant Bodily Imagery Back into Architecture

<p>The building-body analogy, which used to be crucial in the designing of buildings, to the exception of a few, is fading. This broken link leaves us with a melancholic yearning; a sense of loss. Reactivating Dynamic Architecture readdresses the use of the body in architecture by the application of an intervening design process. The processes we undertake in order to design architecture are too often assumed, and go unchallenged. In this thesis the design process is seen as a protagonist for change. Representation, both architectural and artistic, is a central theme as the thesis guides images of the human body through abstraction. Both the dynamic body and fragmented body are investigated for their potential to create a relevant expression for the human condition. Dalibor Vesely’s theory of the positive fragment is identified as a way forward for bodily fragmentation, and Analytical Cubism, which resonated with this theory, is explored. The thesis initially moves through the investigation of historical interpretations of the body before drawing on contemporary theory. Past depictions of the fragmented and dynamic body are assessed in order to establish what they can offer us for future analysis. A representational mode is established, based on Cubism’s methods, from here the transition from drawings to architecture begins. Rowe and Slutzky’s text Transparency: Literal and Phenomenal is used to unravel the intricacies of Le Corbusier’s Villa at Garches, and their reading of this building is used to channel a successful conversion process. The resulting architecture was created as a trial of the strategy and is posed as an expression, or speculation, for what can be achieved through this method. Three different scale interventions are explored within the chosen site of Ava Train Station, Wellington. Carlo Scarpa’s techniques guide the last transition to architecture, as his processes are recognised for their ability to fold meaning into design. The described design process gathers complexity as it gains momentum; there is much to negotiate through the realms of bodily perception, modern art and architectural representation. However, the architectural expression carries that density of meaning in a simple expression</p>

Reactivating Dynamic Architecture: A Strategy to Inject Relevant Bodily Imagery Back into Architecture

<p>The building-body analogy, which used to be crucial in the designing of buildings, to the exception of a few, is fading. This broken link leaves us with a melancholic yearning; a sense of loss. Reactivating Dynamic Architecture readdresses the use of the body in architecture by the application of an intervening design process. The processes we undertake in order to design architecture are too often assumed, and go unchallenged. In this thesis the design process is seen as a protagonist for change. Representation, both architectural and artistic, is a central theme as the thesis guides images of the human body through abstraction. Both the dynamic body and fragmented body are investigated for their potential to create a relevant expression for the human condition. Dalibor Vesely’s theory of the positive fragment is identified as a way forward for bodily fragmentation, and Analytical Cubism, which resonated with this theory, is explored. The thesis initially moves through the investigation of historical interpretations of the body before drawing on contemporary theory. Past depictions of the fragmented and dynamic body are assessed in order to establish what they can offer us for future analysis. A representational mode is established, based on Cubism’s methods, from here the transition from drawings to architecture begins. Rowe and Slutzky’s text Transparency: Literal and Phenomenal is used to unravel the intricacies of Le Corbusier’s Villa at Garches, and their reading of this building is used to channel a successful conversion process. The resulting architecture was created as a trial of the strategy and is posed as an expression, or speculation, for what can be achieved through this method. Three different scale interventions are explored within the chosen site of Ava Train Station, Wellington. Carlo Scarpa’s techniques guide the last transition to architecture, as his processes are recognised for their ability to fold meaning into design. The described design process gathers complexity as it gains momentum; there is much to negotiate through the realms of bodily perception, modern art and architectural representation. However, the architectural expression carries that density of meaning in a simple expression</p>

Force fields of the modern

The essentially contested notion of the modern, and its cognate form “modernity,” have a long intellectual history. The emergence and dissemination of the idea of Western modernity was sometimes forcibly imposed, sometimes partially accepted, and sometimes resisted at different levels around the globe. Recent thinking has produced qualifiers and prefixes such as “unfinished,” “post-,” “late,” “inevitable,” “contra-,” “alternative,” or “differential” in relation to modernity, to signal the striations in approaches, interpretations, and positionings towards what is seen as an umbrella term to describe the various possibilities that can be brought to bear while considering contentions in contemporary theory and praxis. The social, economic, political, and cultural dimensions of this field of forces are integral to any thinking about the symbolic contestation of power in multifarious re-imaginings. This article charts this field mainly by looking at the colonial and postcolonial interventions that have impacted and continue to the present day to effect and inflect cultures and societies, including pressing questions of climate change and cyberspace. Sections are sorted under the following sub-headings: “The vortex of the modern;” “Subaltern bodies, subversive minds;” “Communication and colonization: Re-inventing space and time;” “Borderlands, migrations, identities;” and “Contesting and controlling cyberspace.”

Social education through the lens of Bakhtinian theory

A review of Bakhtin in the Fullness of Time: Bakhtinian Theory and the Process of Social Education, Edited by Craig Brandist, Michael E. Gardiner, E. Jayne White and Carl Mika. L.: Routledge. 2020. 160 p. The review of the collection of articles Bakhtin in the Fullness of Time: Bakhtinian Theory and the Process of Social Education represents an analysis of the perspectives, main trends, and interpretations of key points, ideas, and concepts of M. M. Bakhtin in the contemporary theory and practice of Social Education. The book’s nine chapters are grouped within three problem areas, researched by the book’s contributors. This is, in the first place, a re-establishment of those philosophical and sociological sources that trace back to the roots of Bakhtin’s early views that had defined the nature of his responses to the challenges of his time in his early philosophical texts, books about Dostoevsky and books about bildungsroman. Another field of examination is Bakhtin's late dialogue with his contemporaries. Sometimes this dialogue is active and obvious, as it happens in the situation with the latest aesthetic and literary trends in Russia at the beginning of the 1920s. Sometimes this dialogue turns out to be ambiguous, therefore researchers can only guess how to reconstruct it, basing their views on the complementarity of Bakhtin’s ideas and Lev Vygotsky or Paulo Freire’s ones. An equally important aspect of this collection is a number of articles devoted to how Bakhtin's theory is transformed into "classroom practice", whether it concerns the use of dialogue and its capabilities in interaction with foreigners, providing educational opportunities to the most economically vulnerable segments of South African society, or communication with preschoolers in kindergarten. The authors of the book managed to create a convincing picture of how Bakhtinian theory is becoming one of the most important elements of contemporary theory and practice of education. At the same time, not only Bakhtinian ideas, primarily the concepts of dialogue, polyphony, carnival, and chronotope, are important, but also that free polyphony, which puts into effect any creative practice.

PSYCHOLOGICAL STATE OF INDIVIDUALS IN SEEKING THE SELF: A CRITICAL STUDY OF 21ST CENTURY LITERATURE

In psychology, personality crisis is the inability in adolescents to establish ego identification. The psychologist Erikson coined the term. Identity unity vs. function ambiguity is the stage of psycho-social growth in which identity conflicts arise. Psychological literary criticism had its base in the psychoanalytical thoughts put forward by Sigmund Freud. After Freud, some theories by Neo-Freudians such as Jung and Adler also became a part of it. Critics, who choose Psychological literary criticism, champion one particular psychological theory and apply it to works of all the authors. Considering this, Fromm's Humanistic Psychoanalysis has a lot of scope to be used as a theory for Psychological literary criticism. The current study aims to fill this gap in the psychological literature, linking Maslow’s theory to contemporary theory and research on personality and well-being.

Bank Competition Using Networks: A Study on an Emerging Economy

Interconnectedness among banks is a key distinguishing feature of the banking system. It helps mitigate liquidity problems but on the other hand, acts as a curse in propagating systemic risk at times of distress. Thus, as banks cannot function in isolation, this study uses the Contemporary Theory of Networks to examine banking competition in India for five distinct economic phases, emphasizing upon the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. This paper proposes a Market Power Network Index (MPNI), which uses network parameters to measure banks’ market power. This network structure shows a formation of bank clusters that are involved in competition. Specifically, network properties, such as centroid, average path length, the distance of a node from the centroid, the total number of connections in the inter-bank market, and network density, do go on to explain banking competition. It is interesting to note that crisis periods witness a lower level of competition, with GFC bearing the least competition. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic shows a lower trend, but it is of a higher magnitude than GFC. It was also found that big-sized, profitable, capital adequate, and public banks dominate the banking system. Notably, this study was conducted on a sample of 33 listed Indian banks from April 2008 to December 2020.