Nonstarters

Most coined words die with their coiner. Failure to attract users is an occupational hazard of neologizing. In the world of neology, nonstarters are the norm. Even coined words that enjoy a brief run seldom last. Thinks of this as Sniglet syndrome (for the many cleverly coined “sniglets” that didn’t catch on). When one searches the word “coined” online, it’s striking how many neologisms that at one time looked promising have disappeared. After burning brightly for a time, they fizzled out. Like seasonal kiosks, such terms pop up, do some trade, then vanish. They prove to be pop-ups. New words rooted in current events are particularly likely to become pop-ups (e.g. the onetime “word of the year,” Y2K). Terms that are time and context-specific seldom have lasting utility. Even success coining one word doesn’t guarantee success coining another. Mencken did far better with Bible belt than with ecdysiast (stripteaser).

Decoding Cli-Fi Dynamics in Barbara Kingsolver’s Flight Behaviour

Flight Behaviouris an integration of many important issues that humanity faces today like climate change, global warming, species extinction, and the advent of the age of Anthropocene. The novel is set in rural Tennessee and it explores the reaction of a bible belt community to the arrival of millions of monarch butterflies on the mountains of their hometown. This astonishing phenomenon is branded as a miracle by the townsfolk but the arrival of a research team reveals the troubling truth behind the butterflies’ presence. They have been driven away from their usual Mexican winter grounds because of devastating mudslides and flooding that affected the area. Kingsolver, in simple words, expresses the alarming reality of how changing climate affects biodiversity and leads many species to the verge of extinction. She artfully links the monarch’s struggle for survival with the protagonist’s search for identity, independence and self-expression.

DAS MARGENS AO MAINSTREAM: DESAFIOS SOCIAIS DA ASCENSÃO EVANGÉLICA. UMA COMPARAÇÃO TRANSAMERICANA

Por meio século, o Brasil foi marcado por um crescimento espetacular das igrejas evangélicas. Entre 1960 e 2010, estas passaram de uma subcultura minoritária a um parceiro político-religioso essencial, capaz de influenciar a vida cultural, política e econômica do país em suas mais altas instâncias. Essa mudança ocorreu em um contexto pós-colonial caracterizado por uma recomposição religiosa e social que reduziu a influência da Igreja Católica. Tal processo sócio-histórico não está isolado. Também ocorreu no Sul dos Estados Unidos, entre 1800 e 1850. Assim como no Brasil, o Sul dos Estados Unidos passou de uma sociedade colonial escravista, dominada por uma Igreja hegemônica (a Igreja Anglicana), a uma sociedade pós-colonial marcada pela pluralização do campo religioso e social, no qual as igrejas evangélicas assumiram uma posição dominante. Apresentando na primeira parte a história dessa ascensão evangélica no Bible Belt (sul dos Estados Unidos), o objetivo deste artigo é fazer uma comparação com a ascensão evangélica no Brasil, atento a questões e pistas de análise baseadas em uma sócio-história comparada.

Religion and the Transmission of COVID-19 in The Netherlands

The aim of this study was to find out if the typical spread of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 in The Netherlands, with significantly higher levels in the Dutch Bible belt and the southern, traditionally Catholic provinces, is related to the specific religious composition of the country. To do this, government statistics regarding the level of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 per municipality were combined with statistics regarding church attendance and church membership rates. Results showed that in the Dutch Bible belt the level of patients with COVID-19 was strongly related to church attendance, but in the southern, traditionally Catholic part of The Netherlands nominal church membership mattered more than church attendance. On the basis of these findings, the conclusion was drawn that religion probably facilitates the spread of the virus in both a direct and indirect way. It facilitates the spread of the virus directly through worship services but also indirectly by way of endorsing more general cultural festivities like carnival and maybe even by strengthening certain non-religious social bonds. Epidemiologists monitoring the spread of the virus are called upon to focus more on these possible indirect or latent effects of religion.