Televising Memory: The Tenth Anniversary of 9/11

This thesis examines the formation of national memory by exploring tenth anniversary television coverage of 9/11. By analyzing themes of nationalism that structure the television specials and create a positive national memory, this thesis argues that the national memory of 9/11 serves current national goals and develops myths of American exceptionalism while it ignores the negative consequences and realities of 9/11

Review: Jens Brockmeier (2015). Beyond the Archive: Memory, Narrative, and the Autobiographical Process

Jens Brockmeier's new book proposes a very provocative aim for memory studies: "[T]o radically re-think our very idea of memory and challenge the notions of remembering and forgetting that we have taken for granted" (p.vii). The main target for the author's critique is the archival model of memory. In order to support his approach, the author provides empirical evidence from the neurosciences, social sciences, and humanities. "Beyond the Archive" represents an innovative contribution to the field of memory studies. It brings together disparate disciplinary fields in a novel and sophisticated fashion with a clear goal in mind: to propose a new model for the analysis of autobiographical remembering. Brockmeyer's book is a true exercise of multidisciplinary research in action, which is much needed in the current climate of psychological and neuroscientific reductionism in the sciences of memory.Jens Brockmeiers neues Buch schlägt ein sehr provokatives Ziel für memory studies vor: "to radically re-think our very idea of memory and challenge the notions of remembering and forgetting that we have taken for granted" (S.VII). Das Hauptziel seiner Kritik ist das archival model of memory. Um seinen Ansatz zu belegen, führt der Autor empirische Beweise aus den Neurowissenschaften sowie aus den Sozial- und Geisteswissenschaften an. "Beyond the Archive" bildet einen neuen Beitrag zum Forschungsfeld der memory studies. Es vereint verschiedene Forschungsfelder auf anspruchsvolle Art zu einem Roman mit dem klaren Ziel, ein neues Modell vorzustellen, um über autobiografische Erinnerung nachzudenken. Brockmeiers Buch ist die Aufgabe multidisziplinärer Forschung in Aktion, die dringend benötig wird in der gegenwärtigen Zeit der psychologischen und neurologischen Reduktion der memory sciences

Jens Brockmeier (2015). Beyond the Archive: Memory, Narrative, and the Autobiographical Process.

International audienceJens BROCKMEIER's new book proposes a very provocative aim for memory studies: "[T]o radically rethink our very idea of memory and challenge the notions of remembering and forgetting that we have taken for granted" (p.vii). The main target for the author's critique is the archival model of memory. In order to support his approach, the author provides empirical evidence from the neurosciences, social sciences, and humanities. "Beyond the Archive" represents an innovative contribution to the field of memory studies. It brings together disparate disciplinary fields in a novel and sophisticated fashion with a clear goal in mind: to propose a new model for the analysis of autobiographical remembering. BROCKMEIER's book is a true exercise of multidisciplinary research in action, which is much needed in the current climate of psychological and neuroscientific reductionism in the sciences of memory

Great Queer Provocation: The Seriously Playful Recognition Game (translated from German by Henry Holland)

Queer cultures are vibrant components of the constantly transforming societies of the 21st century. This is both socially and anthropologically recognizable, as well as individually readable. Categories such as wealth, success, amusement, but also sexuality and beauty have undergone major changes within queer subcultures and have influenced the reality of life for the general public. The entanglements in heteronormative systems and capitalist orders are increasingly putting a queer point of view under pressure, so that the question seems justified: What makes someone or something queer? Martin Gössl reflects on the possibilities of queer recognition in different social contexts

Pantheism and Science in Victorian Britain

In discussing the relationship between science and religion during the Victorian period, historians have paid much attention to Christian monotheism, deism, spiritualism, materialism, agnosticism, and atheism; however, pantheism has received little attention. Yet the Victorians published thousands of discussions of pantheism, which shows that pantheism was a significant religious position in the Victorian ferment of faith. Through exploring these writings, this dissertation shows that there was considerable interest in pantheism among Victorian thinkers concerning the viability of pantheism and its relationship with science. The first two chapters present a general account of pantheism in Victorian Britain, with eight Victorian advocates of pantheism being identified and their lives and philosophies being introduced. These people are John Hunt, Alfred Barratt, James Martineau, Thomas Elford Poynting, James Hinton, James Allanson Picton, Charles Bray, and Constance Plumptre. As science became the dominant intellectual authority in Victorian Britain, many Victorian religious thinkers made use of it in support of their religious doctrines. The next three chapters show that advocates of pantheism likewise drew heavily on contemporary scientific theories in advancing and defending their pantheistic views of God, the world, humans, ethics, science and religion, and the future of religion. They were strongly attracted to theories that implied a unified and creative universe, such as the correlation of forces, the idea of living matter, and the evolutionary theory of life. Scientific practitioners John Tyndall and Thomas Huxley and evolutionary philosopher Herbert Spencer were their most popular scientific sources. In consequence of pantheistic uses of science, these writers and their theories were sometimes criticised for being pantheistic, and pantheism was often treated as a science-related threat by Christian critics. This dissertation demonstrates that pantheism was more widely accepted in Victorian Britain than has been previously recognised and that pantheistic thinkers drew extensively on science

Paris-Monad: Origin, Passage, Intermittency. Benjamin and the Metaphysics of Modern Times

The background thesis of the paper concerns the deep methodological continuity that binds Benjamin’s Project on the Parisian Passages to his book on the Trauerspiel. The starting point is offered then by the reprise of the connection between Benjamin’s micrology and the theological task of critically reconstituting the whole in its original sense. This connection is consequently developed in a consideration of the “passage” as a nominal substance. On this basis is focused the complementarity in Benjamin’s late philosophy between historical materialism and theological nominalism. From the intertwining between urban and linguistic spaces emerges the figure of modern city as a labyrinth. The last move consists in converting the labyrinth in a monad, that is in an intensive space of knowledge and experience of truth

Migration’s Alienations: Bertolt Brecht’s Mother Courage

Brecht’s so-called anti-war drama Mother Courage and her Children (1939) will be read as a migration drama that demystifies rhetorical cynicism as a coping device for the traumatic torments of migration. By placing Brecht’s work in the context of Peter Sloterdijk’s theory of cynicism, our reading demonstrates how this work adds further perspectives to Thomas Nail’s recent theory of migration and to the discussion of the play’s theatrical production

Relations between ethnocentrism and national attachment

Pripadnost i vezanost za različite društvene grupe, kao što su nacionalna država i etnička grupa može da ima izraženu motivacionu snagu. Istovremeno, osećaj nacionalne vezanosti može da preraste u etnocentrizam i da postane izvor neprijateljstva i sukoba među pripadnicima različitih nacija, kao što i konflikti u neposrednoj prošlosti mogu da doprinesu većem ispoljavanju pojedinih oblika nacionalne vezanosti, pa i etnocentrizma. Zbog toga ovo istraživanje malo za cilj da: (1) utvrdi izraženost etnocentrizma i različitih formi nacionalne vezanosti kod mladih srpske nacionalnosti na Kosovu i Metohiji (345 ispitanika, prosečne starosti AS=19,36); (2) ispitamo kakva vrsta relacija postoji između etnocentrizma i nacionalne vezanosti. U istraživanju su korišćene Skala za procenu etnocentrizma (Šram, 2010) i Skala oblika nacionalne vezanosti (Rot i Havelka, 1973). Rezultati pokazuju da od aspekata etnocentrizma ispitanici ispoljavaju najviši stepen nacionalne homogenizacije koju odlikuje snažna potreba za nacionalnim jedinstvom, dok je najizraženiji oblik nacionalne vezanosti istaknuta nacionalna vezanost za koju je karakteristično idealizovanje sopstvene nacije i isticanje osećanja patriotizma. Istaknuta i isključiva nacionalna vezanost su povezane sa svim aspektima etnocentrizma što govori u prilog tezi da ocobe koje karakteriše visok nivo nacionalne idealizacije, što je odlika isključive i istaknute nacionalne vezanosti, često ispoljavaju i izvesnu tendenciju ka etnocentričkom načinu reagovanja.Belonging and being attached to various social groups such as nationality and ethnicity, can have a significant motivational effect. At the same time, a sense of national attachment can develop into ethnocentrism and become a source of hostility and conflicts among members of different nations, with conflicts in the immediate past contributing to greater manifestations of certain forms of national attachment, and even ethnocentrism. That is why the objectives of this paper were to: (1) determine prominence of ethnocentrism and different forms of national attachment in young people of Serbian nationality in Kosovo and Metohija (345 respondents, average age AS=19,36) (2) investigate what kind of relationship exists between ethnocentrism and national attachment. Instruments used in the research were the Ethnocentrism Scale (Šram, 2010) and Scale of National Attachment Forms (Rot and Havelka, 1973). The results show that of all aspects of ethnocentrism, respondents manifest the greatest degree of national homogenization, distinguished by a strong need for national unity, while the most accentuated form of national attachment is prominent national attachment, characterized by idealizing one's own nation and emphasizing the feeling of patriotism. Prominent and exclusive forms of national attachment correlate with all the aspects of ethnocentrism which supports the claim that those individuals who are characterized by a high degree of national idealization, which is a feature of both prominent and exclusive national attachment, often demonstrate a certain tendency to react in an ethnocentric way