The Rise and Fall of the Black King: Girardian Thought in the Tragedy of Macbeth

Theorist Rene Girard, in his A Theatre of Envy: William Shakespeare (1991), creates a near-perfect compendium of his critical thoughts by exploring numerous plays and poems of Shakespeare\u27s. Curiously, however, the tragedy of Macbeth is left out of Girard\u27s many thorough analyses. Herein discussed is an analysis of Macbeth utilizing the Girardian model, intending to demonstrate that Shakespeare\u27s Scottish tragedy may benefit from such a reading as equally as the plays and poems Girard himself has already examined. By drawing upon the concepts generated by Girard in his Violence and the Sacred (1972), one may note how Macbeth is filled with the mimetic rivalries, crises of degree, and instances of undifferentiation that serve to propel Shakespeare\u27s Scotland into the throes of chaos. Such chaos is ultimately what constitutes both the rise and the fall of Macbeth, following a twisted course of events tainted with the blood and violence of sacrifice

Heretic territories: Spells for fracture

This monograph accompanies the MFA thesis exhibition, Heretic Territories: spells for fracture. The show uses video, weaving, clay, and bacterial/fungal bodies in three main bodies of work: Inter; Lost, remain, fracture; and For, Of Them. The pieces, and the relationship between them, explore themes of magic, the body, and land in contradiction and opposition to colonial and capitalist structures. I approach the artificial hierarchies that subjugate people, non-human creatures, and land while trying not to replicate the mistakes of posthumanist scholarship that bypasses the fact that not all people are afforded full access to the category of the human. Within this, I use my body– embodiment as a tool for connection and unlearning through somatics, trans embodiment, and connection to land. I also research the era of witch trials in pre modern Europe, as an anchor point to explore the development of capitalism and colonialism. Finally, I explore magic, in history, as an ontological resistance to the hierarchies of colonialism, as a reverential way of connecting to place in the face of climate catastroph

Coming of age [Exhibition catalogue]

Publication to accompany the exhibition Coming of Age at the Visual Arts Centre of Clarington September 3 to October 1, 201

Fermenting Feminism

"Fermenting Feminism brings together artists whose work responds to what it means to bring fermentation and feminism into the same critical space. These are works that approach fermentation through intersectional and trans-inclusive feminist frameworks, and works that approach feminisms through the metaphor and material practice of fermentation. As both a metaphor and a physical process, fermentation embodies bioavailability and accessibility, preservation and transformation, inter-species symbiosis and coevolution, biodiversity and futurity, harm reduction and care." -- p. [1]

Coraline

Coraline (Henry Selick, 2009) is stop-motion studio LAIKA's feature-length debut based on the popular children's novel by British author Neil Gaiman. Heralding a revival in global interest in stop-motion animation, the film is both an international cultural phenomenon and a breakthrough moment in the technological evolution of the craft. This open access collection brings together an international group of practitioners and scholars to examine Coraline’s place in animation history and culture, dissect its politics, and unpack its role in the technological and aesthetic development of its medium. More broadly, it celebrates stop motion as a unique and enduring artform while embracing its capacity to evolve in response to cultural, political, and technological changes, as well as shifting critical and audience demands. Divided into three sections, this volume’s chapters situate Coraline within an interconnected network of historical, industrial, discursive, theoretical, and cultural contexts. They place the film in conversation with the medium’s aesthetic and technological history, broader global intellectual and political traditions, and questions of animation reception and spectatorship. In doing so, they invite recognition – and appreciation – of the fact that Coraline occupies many liminal spaces at once. It straddles the boundary between children’s entertainment and traditional ‘adult’ genres, such as horror and thriller. It complicates a seemingly straight(forward) depiction of normative family life with gestures of queer resistance. Finally, it marks a pivotal point in stop-motion animation’s digital turn. Following the film’s recent tenth anniversary, the time is right to revisit its production history, evaluate its cultural and industry impact, and celebrate its legacy as contemporary stop-motion cinema’s gifted child. As the first book-length academic study of this contemporary animation classic, this volume serves as an authoritative introduction and a primary reference on the film for scholars, students, practitioners, and animation fans. The ebook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com

Coraline

Coraline (Henry Selick, 2009) is stop-motion studio LAIKA's feature-length debut based on the popular children's novel by British author Neil Gaiman. Heralding a revival in global interest in stop-motion animation, the film is both an international cultural phenomenon and a breakthrough moment in the technological evolution of the craft. This open access collection brings together an international group of practitioners and scholars to examine Coraline’s place in animation history and culture, dissect its politics, and unpack its role in the technological and aesthetic development of its medium. More broadly, it celebrates stop motion as a unique and enduring artform while embracing its capacity to evolve in response to cultural, political, and technological changes, as well as shifting critical and audience demands. Divided into three sections, this volume’s chapters situate Coraline within an interconnected network of historical, industrial, discursive, theoretical, and cultural contexts. They place the film in conversation with the medium’s aesthetic and technological history, broader global intellectual and political traditions, and questions of animation reception and spectatorship. In doing so, they invite recognition – and appreciation – of the fact that Coraline occupies many liminal spaces at once. It straddles the boundary between children’s entertainment and traditional ‘adult’ genres, such as horror and thriller. It complicates a seemingly straight(forward) depiction of normative family life with gestures of queer resistance. Finally, it marks a pivotal point in stop-motion animation’s digital turn. Following the film’s recent tenth anniversary, the time is right to revisit its production history, evaluate its cultural and industry impact, and celebrate its legacy as contemporary stop-motion cinema’s gifted child. As the first book-length academic study of this contemporary animation classic, this volume serves as an authoritative introduction and a primary reference on the film for scholars, students, practitioners, and animation fans. The ebook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com

Complexity and accountability: The witches' brew of psychiatric genetics

This paper examines the role of complexity in descriptions of the aetiology of common psychiatric disorders. While scientists attest to the discovery of an underlying reality of complex inheritance — the so-called ‘witches’ brew’ of genetic and non-genetic factors — we argue that ‘complexity’ also performs rhetorical work. In our analysis of scientific review papers (1999—2008), we find a relatively stable genre of accountability in which descriptions of complexity appear to neutralize past failures by incorporating different and sometimes competing methodological perspectives. We identify two temporal strategies: retrospective accounting, which reconstructs a history of psychiatric genetics that deals with the recent failures, citing earlier twin studies as proof of the heritability of common psychiatric disorders; and prospective accounting, which engages in the careful reconstruction of expectations by balancing methodological limitations with moderated optimism. Together, these strategies produce a simple-to-complex narrative that belies the ambivalent nature of complexity. We show that the rhetorical construction of complexity in scientific review papers is oriented to bridging disciplinary boundaries, marshalling new resources and reconstructing expectations that justify delays in gene discovery and risk prediction

The development of witchcraft in the thirteenth century

It was the purpose of this study to trace the conditions during the thirteenth century which, along with prior supernatural beliefs, led to the development of witchcraft in that century. With emphasis placed on the thirteenth century Church, and social, intellectual and economic changes certain conclusions appear valid. For thousands of years before the thirteenth century primitive man believed in supernatural beings. Ancient mythology abounded with references to witches. Early medieval Europe, primarily France, southern Germany, and surrounding areas with similar cultural inheritance which are the areas of this study, knew much of witches and witchcraft. However, until the thirteenth century there was no undue concern over the witches1 activities. The thirteenth century experienced a number of abrupt changes which affected all members of society to some degree. As feudalism dissolved, the social structure underwent unsettling changes. Economic prosperity affected the mental outlook of many; earthly concerns preempted eternal considerations. Towns multiplied and brought peasants into unfamiliar surroundings. Scholastics resolved the supernatural imaginings into realities which the Church was quick to grasp as the cause of mankind's ills. They organized the ancient myths into a vast system of demonology. They provided the facts for distribution to the masses to accept with fear and trembling

Inheritance and Appropriation: Confronting Privilege in Magical Young Adult Fiction

This thesis investigates the way that magical ability and the lack thereof has been racialized through the deployment of blood-based models of inheritance in young adult fantasy literature. Because of the connection between blood and biology, texts that only allow magical transmission from parent to child place significant limits on who can access witchery, creating systems of privilege that enforce racial and classed hierarchies. I will use magical novels written by Laurie Forest, Graci Kim, Nnedi Okorafor, Amy Rose Capetta, and Daniel José Older to illustrate the hierarchies created by blood-based models, as well as to demonstrate the possibilities that exist when authors utilize open community and mentorship models of magical transfer instead. I will then explain the risks of open systems of magical inheritance, primarily cultural appropriation, that exist in both fantastical texts and in the contemporary magickal community. By utilizing an intersectional feminist approach, this thesis will draw connections between racism, classism, and sexism, and modes of magical transfer that both reinforce and resist these power structures in young adult magical texts (YAMs)