Signs and Emotions as the Experience of the Urban Explorer

Although we have the impression that we understand the urban texture in which we live, the city still holds surprises in the way it communicates everyday aspects, situations, and cultural history.The experience of the urban explorer, that flâneur/stroller mentioned by Guy Debord (1955) and the Situationist school, was until recently only a literary experience. The emotion of discovering the unusual in the urban daily life was communicated only in the form of textual narratives (Sinclair, 1997). Recently the psychogeographical approach to the city has become again a topic of interest. Although contemporary design transposed the behavioral codes of urban life into signs, it did not propose emoticons for the phenomenological experience of one who experiences the city. The original purpose of this paper is to translate the phenomenological experience of the urban explorer into infographics (which translates complex concepts into signs with condensed meaning) and to quantify and communicate emotionally and visually, the experience of the "invisible" [out of sight] cultural details to the hurried passerby. This paper will discuss the phenomenological (psychogeographical) experience of the city transferred into visual signs will be presented. The authors insist on the communicative value of infographics in making visible the hidden beauty of the city, the historical and esthetical details that are not seen by the passersby on the street, proposing a new urban visual language accompanied by visual design theory and cultural history explanations.

STRATEGIC CULTURE FENOMENA IN IRAN-ISRAEL RELATIONS

The current confrontation between the State of Israel and the Islamic Republic of Iran is not an exceptionally new phenomenon; however, it is noticeable that escalation around the “Iran nuclear deal” makes this issue one of the most urgent on the current political agenda. This article focuses on countries’ strategic culture as both public and non-state actors see and respond to challenges and opportunities international system − which is the result of cultural perception. Iranian and Israeli strategic cultures have some similarities - consideration of which is necessary to understand the specifics of the relationship between the two states and Jerusalem's possible response to a potential nuclearization of Tehran. Cultural details are often overlooked when we are trying to analyze the policy of a particular state, however, this analysis can provide an understanding of a particular country's response to challenges and threats. Learning more about how and why actors use force in the system is an important topic to which strategic culture may provide some answers but the process of applying it is difficult. In this article, we overview historical preconditions of Iran-Israel relations, Israel's specific view of its ambitions in the region, and nowadays escalation between two countries. The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action is still on the agenda between the two countries, while negotiations in Vienna continue, Iran increased its enrichment up to 60 percent – the highest level in Iranian history. Iranian nuclear program is a cornerstone in the US-Iran and Iran-Israel relations, but the strategic culture of Israel still cannot adopt improvement of relations between the US and Iran, as Iranian progress in its nuclear ambitions.

What do we read to our children? Messages concerning ethnic diversity in popular children’s books in the Netherlands

Children’s books can create opportunities for children to see themselves as well as others in different settings and stories, but cultural details and specificity within these stories can play an important role in the messages that children take away. Therefore, the present study aims to provide insight in the messages concerning ethnic diversity and various cultures in a subset of popular books that Dutch young children are likely to be exposed to. Books aimed at young children that were sold or borrowed most often or were awarded between 2009 and 2018 in the Netherlands are examined through the combined lens of critical race theory and critical multicultural analysis. Specifically, books including a protagonist or secondary character of color were selected. The study provides insight in the degree of cultural specificity and cultural authenticity, as well as prevailing power relations between characters and ideologies that are portrayed within the books. Results indicate that while cultural stereotypes and ideologies including White supremacy and eurocentrism are found only in a few books, cultural details are generally lacking and colorblindness is common in books aimed at young children. The study therefore underlines the particular need for books that are culturally specific and include authentic cultural details, to improve the reflection of various cultures and experiences of characters of color.

Translation Strategy of Cultural Aspects in Lat Cartoons: The Kampung Boy

This paper discusses the translation of the Malay cultural elements into Japanese by focusing on translation techniques used by the translator in a cartoon The Kampung Boy (Budak Kampung カ ン ポ ン ボ ー イ). The Kampung Boy is a graphic biographic book of the famous cartoonist, Dato 'Mohd Nor Khalid or better known as Dato' Lat, who appealed to the life of his childhood in a village in the Kinta Valley, Perak, in the 1950s and early in the year 1960, as well as the stories of family life in the rural and traditional customs. The book was first published in Malaysia in Malay and English in 1979 and was translated into several languages ​​, including Japanese. This paper is a qualitative study using comparative methods, analyzing cultural details based on translation theories, semantic theory, and sociolinguistic theory. Comparisons are also conducted to identify translation strategies adopted by translators in translating cultural elements in this work. This paper is guided by the translation strategy submitted by translation figures such as Newmark (1988) and Abdullah & Ainon Mohd (2007). Six (6) samples of cultural elements have been selected, i.e., related to birth, head shaving, circumcision, recite the Quran, traditional wedding, and games. The findings show that translators tend to use loan techniques with explanatory notes compared to other six (6) samples from twelve (12) selected samples. The sample translated with this loan strategy is a cultural element in custom culture/ideology. At the same time, five (5) samples use replacement techniques, and one (1) sample using a generalization strategy.

SHOULD FEMINISTS STOP TALKING ABOUT CULTURE IN THE CONTEXT OF VIOLENCE AGAINST MUSLIM WOMEN? THE CASE OF “HONOUR KILLING”

The violence, scale, and power of anti-Muslim narratives circulated on the internet and elsewhere continue to have considerable impact on feminist antiviolence initiatives. I examine contemporary responses to “honour killings” with particular reference to the Palestinian, Indian, and North American contexts, reflecting on how anti-violence advocates negotiate the terrain of culture in the case of honour killings. I ask whether the focus on culture has an impact on how courts and society view violence committed by Muslim men (and sometimes women) against Muslim women and girls. I suggest that cultural details contribute little to an enhanced legal understanding of the crime simply because this is not their primary purpose. Instead, the cultural details are part of a pedagogy that conveys a message of the racial and cultural superiority of the dominant society and a corresponding inferiority of Muslim cultures. We should therefore always talk culture with the greatest of restraint lest the racism that accompanies culture talk inhibit our understanding of the violence and limit our capacity to respond to it.

Adapting Public Spaces to the Wellness Needs of the Local Community

Research problem and relevance. With continuously expanding cities, less space is left for public, open areas. The urban planning is performed with regard to urbanistic elements, however, public spaces do not receive enough attention and creative potential (Piekienė, 2015). Individual’s and state’s political concept of public space changes by virtue of the premise of physical rationality and equality, moral values and the role of nature in modern cities. It is now defined as an urban structure, rather than a physical form of space, which meets not just the physiological needs of the individual, but also the general values of the community. The focus is on the moral, social, cultural details and their combination with physiological needs of an individual. Lately, people have become increasingly concerned about their living or recreational environment, necessity and importance of taking care of their health is no longer in doubt. Therefore, M. Burinskienė (2003) notes the aim to create right conditions that meet the interests of different people in various cities. Thus, in order to create sustainable balance between social, economic and environmental aspects, apart from the development of the physical infrastructure of the city, other aspects should be in focus (Čiegis, Žalevičienė, 2012). Analysis of application of public spaces has revealed that there are many scientific articles about the public spaces and related issues, however, opinions, criticism or discussions on this topic go in the same direction – public spaces are considered as isolated objects, rather than one, closely related system.The aim of the research was to assess the circumstances of adapting public spaces to the wellness needs of the local community on the case of Kaunas. The object of the research was the adaptation of public spaces to the needs of the local community. Research methodology. The qualitative research was conducted and a semi-structured interview was selected to collect the data using a convenience sampling method: several interviewees were selected from the researchers’ academic environment (university) upon recommendations. The method based on geographical definition was followed when selecting the interviewees. All interviewees study, work and live in Kaunas.Results. The study revealed that the adaptation and accessibility of public spaces for the wellness needs of the local community was still insufficient. Public spaces were not yet directed to even distribution and adaptability and their formation process did not fully satisfy sustainability criteria.Keywords: public space, leisure, community, wellness, adaption.

Analysis of Symbolic Meanings between Chinese and English Food Proverbs from the Perspective of Cultural Linguistics

Each nation has its own characteristic food culture, and cultural inheritance requires language as its carrier. Therefore, proverbs, as part of the treasure of human language, definitely contain profound cultural details. On account of people’s different perceptions of food, some relevant proverbs present different cultural connotations. This paper is to analyze symbolic meanings between Chinese food proverbs and English food proverbs from the perspective of cultural linguistics, and to explore the differences and similarities between Chinese culture and Western culture.

Ezra Pound’s The River Merchant’s Wife: Representations of a Decontextualized “Chineseness”

This article provides a detailed comparison of various interpretations of The River Merchant’s Wife: A Letter presented by Western scholars and the widely-recognized interpretation in the field of classical Chinese studies concerning its Chinese source text Changgan Xing. Analyzing the discrepancies between the two texts from a cross-cultural perspective, this article argues that The River Merchant’s Wife has produced a decontextualized “Chineseness” by using Japanized romanizations, manipulating cultural details, and changing the original messages. Consequently, Ezra Pound’s rewriting and manipulation have induced misunderstandings regarding the Chinese source text and have reinforced stereotypical preconceptions of gender image and married life in ancient China.