Poems as Livable Worlds: A Conversation with Afshan D'souza-Lodhi and Jay Bernard

Sometimes the best projects emerge out of serendipitous encounters. It was, indeed, serendipity which allows us to bring you the following conversation. Recorded involuntarily and transcribed thoroughly, the following text is a testimony of an encounter between poets Afshan D'souza-Lodhi and Jay Bernard and a community of scholars and students, during a time when gatherings in rooms were not marked by the laws of social distancing. During our conversation, Jay and Afshan speak to us about languages and mother tongues, queer identities, love and desire, activisms and the archive, affect, politics and the role of literature. Through their answers, as well as the poems that accompany them, we become witnesses to the power of words to create alternative realities, ones that are more livable, gentle and embracing of nonnormativity..

The Performance of Racial and Gender Terror in debbie tucker green’s ear for eye (2018) and Travis Alabanza’s Burgerz (2018)

Programa de Doctorat en Estudis Lingüístics, Literaris i Culturals[eng] This PhD thesis, entitled “The Performance of Racial and Gender Terror in debbie tucker green’s ear for eye (2018) and Travis Alabanza’s Burgerz (2018)” contributes to the field of theatre studies by analysing how debbie tucker green and Travis Alabanza’s plays engage with contemporary forms of racial and gender terror respectively. By applying a queer methodology to text-based theatre, the aim of the thesis is to offer non-hegemonic approaches to the analysis of terror in post-9/11 British drama by looking at two plays which do not traditionally find themselves within the theatre on terror corpus. Alongside the plays, it discusses material produced by the playwrights and which expands the scope of each particular project, both temporally and in terms of their aesthetics. This includes the filmed version of tucker green’s ear for eye (2021) and sound and video recordings of Alabanza’s Tranz Talkz, a series of conversations held in parallel to the creation of the play with various gender non-conforming people throughout the UK. The thesis is organized in two acts, each of which is followed by a short interval. Act One provides the theoretical and methodological frameworks of the thesis. Firstly, drawing on the work of Judith Butler, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Rustom Bharucha and Sara Ahmed, it looks at the effects and affects generated by the hegemonic epistemological framework of terror that emerged after 9/11, and it offers a brief overview of how studies on theatre and terror(ism) (Boll, 2013; de Waal, 2016; Hughes, 2007, 2011; Soncini, 2016; Spencer, 2018) have engaged with it, contributing, perhaps inadvertently, to the perpetuation of this frame. Secondly, drawing on the work of Hannah McCann, Jack Halberstam, José Esteban Muñoz and Sara Ahmed, amongst others, it drafts a scavenger queer methodology which is used to distort the aforementioned framework, slide into queer disorientation and propose a series of key methodological principles and keywords used in the analysis of the two plays, including queer temporalities, queer messiness, and a focus on aspects of livability and worldmaking. The first interval that follows provides a justification as to what are the benefits of approaching an analysis on contemporary forms of terror through a queer lens. Attending to their own particular contexts, Act Two analyses ear for eye through the lens of racial terror and locates how Burgerz discusses forms of gender terror, focusing on how, through its different aesthetic and dramaturgical devices, the plays engage with the principles and keywords previously identified. Some of the formal aspects analysed are elements of Afrodiasporic aesthetics in tucker green’s play and the use of the archive as an act of radical communal care in Alabanza. The final interval interrogates how the discomfort experienced by white and cisgender audience members watching these plays can be (messily) discussed in ways which are not complicit with the hegemonic frameworks that silence these forms of terror, and with forms of epistemic violence towards the racialized and gender non-conforming subjects the plays discuss. Overall the thesis contributes towards expanding the language used to discuss the representation of terror on stage, it proposes a queer methodology for text-based drama that can be applied to the analysis of other plays, and it offers the first available analysis of both the play and the filmed version of ear for eye, as well as the first discussion of Burgerz alongside the archived material of Tranz Talkz, some of which is transcribed and included in a final annex.[cat] Aquesta tesi doctoral, titulada “The Performance of Racial and Gender Terror in debbie tucker green’s ear for eye (2018) and Travis Alabanza’s Burgerz (2018)” contribueix al camp dels estudis teatrals mitjançant l’anàlisi de la interacció de formes contemporànies de terror racial i de gènere amb les obres de debbie tucker green i Travis Alabanza. Mitjançant l’aplicació d’una metodologia queer al teatre de text, l’objectiu de la tesi és oferir enfocaments no hegemònics a l’anàlisi del terror en el drama britànic posterior a l’11 de setembre, a partir de dues obres que tradicionalment no es troben dins del corpus teatral del terror. Paral·lelament a les obres, l’estudi analitza material audiovisual que amplia l’abast de cada projecte en concret, tant temporalment com pel que fa a la seva estètica. Això inclou la versió filmada d’ear for eye (2021) de tucker green i l’enregistrament de so i vídeo de Tranz Talkz (2018) d’Alabanza, una sèrie de converses celebrades en paral·lel a la creació de l'obra amb diverses persones dissidents de gènere a tot el Regne Unit. La tesi s’organitza en dos actes, cadascun dels quals va seguit d'un breu interval. El primer acte proporciona els marcs teòrics i metodològics de la tesi. En primer lloc, a partir del treball de Judith Butler, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Rustom Bharucha i Sara Ahmed, s’analitzen els efectes i els afectes generats pel marc epistemològic hegemònic del terror que sorgí després de l'11-S, i s’ofereix una breu visió general de com estudis sobre teatre i terror(isme) s’hi han relacionat (Boll, 2013; de Waal, 2016; Hughes, 2007, 2011; Soncini, 2016; Spencer, 2018), contribuint, potser de forma involuntària, a la perpetuació d'aquest marc. En segon lloc, a partir del treball de Hannah McCann, Jack Halberstam, José Esteban Muñoz i Sara Ahmed, entre d’altres, s’elabora una metodologia queer (‘scavenger queer methodology’) que s’utilitza per distorsionar l’esmentat marc, transitar cap a la desorientació queer i proposar una sèrie de principis metodològics i paraules clau utilitzades en l’anàlisi de les dues obres: temporalitats queer, desendreçament queer i un enfocament en aspectes de l’habitabilitat del món i la creació de móns. El primer interval que segueix proporciona una justificació sobre quins són els beneficis d'abordar una anàlisi de les formes contemporànies de terror des d'una mirada queer. Atenent als seus propis contextos, l’acte segon analitza ear for eye a partir del concepte de terror racial i Burgerz a partir del terror de gènere, centrant-se en com, a través dels seus diferents dispositius estètics i dramatúrgics, les obres es relacionen amb els principis i les paraules clau anteriorment identificats. Entre els aspectes formals analitzats sobresurten elements de l'estètica afrodiaspòrica en l’obra de tucker green i l’ús de l’arxiu com un acte radical de cura comunitària a Alabanza. A l’interval final s’interroga com el malestar que experimenten els membres del públic blanc i cisgènere que veuen aquestes obres es pot discutir (desendreçadament) d’una manera que no sigui còmplice dels marcs hegemònics que silencien aquestes formes de terror, ni de formes de violència epistèmica cap a les persones racialitzades i dissidents de gènere sobre les que tracten les obres. En conjunt, la tesi contribueix a ampliar el llenguatge utilitzat per discutir la representació del terror a l’escenari i proposa una metodologia queer per al teatre de text que es pot aplicar a l’anàlisi d'altres obres teatrals. Així mateix, ofereix la primera anàlisi disponible tant de l’obra com de la versió filmada d’ear for eye, així com la primera discussió de Burgerz juntament amb el material d’arxiu de Tranz Talkz, part del qual ha estat transcrit i s’inclou en un annex final

The Performance of Racial and Gender Terror in debbie tucker green’s ear for eye (2018) and Travis Alabanza’s Burgerz (2018)

[eng] This PhD thesis, entitled “The Performance of Racial and Gender Terror in debbie tucker green’s ear for eye (2018) and Travis Alabanza’s Burgerz (2018)” contributes to the field of theatre studies by analysing how debbie tucker green and Travis Alabanza’s plays engage with contemporary forms of racial and gender terror respectively. By applying a queer methodology to text-based theatre, the aim of the thesis is to offer non-hegemonic approaches to the analysis of terror in post-9/11 British drama by looking at two plays which do not traditionally find themselves within the theatre on terror corpus. Alongside the plays, it discusses material produced by the playwrights and which expands the scope of each particular project, both temporally and in terms of their aesthetics. This includes the filmed version of tucker green’s ear for eye (2021) and sound and video recordings of Alabanza’s Tranz Talkz, a series of conversations held in parallel to the creation of the play with various gender non-conforming people throughout the UK. The thesis is organized in two acts, each of which is followed by a short interval. Act One provides the theoretical and methodological frameworks of the thesis. Firstly, drawing on the work of Judith Butler, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Rustom Bharucha and Sara Ahmed, it looks at the effects and affects generated by the hegemonic epistemological framework of terror that emerged after 9/11, and it offers a brief overview of how studies on theatre and terror(ism) (Boll, 2013; de Waal, 2016; Hughes, 2007, 2011; Soncini, 2016; Spencer, 2018) have engaged with it, contributing, perhaps inadvertently, to the perpetuation of this frame. Secondly, drawing on the work of Hannah McCann, Jack Halberstam, José Esteban Muñoz and Sara Ahmed, amongst others, it drafts a scavenger queer methodology which is used to distort the aforementioned framework, slide into queer disorientation and propose a series of key methodological principles and keywords used in the analysis of the two plays, including queer temporalities, queer messiness, and a focus on aspects of livability and worldmaking. The first interval that follows provides a justification as to what are the benefits of approaching an analysis on contemporary forms of terror through a queer lens. Attending to their own particular contexts, Act Two analyses ear for eye through the lens of racial terror and locates how Burgerz discusses forms of gender terror, focusing on how, through its different aesthetic and dramaturgical devices, the plays engage with the principles and keywords previously identified. Some of the formal aspects analysed are elements of Afrodiasporic aesthetics in tucker green’s play and the use of the archive as an act of radical communal care in Alabanza. The final interval interrogates how the discomfort experienced by white and cisgender audience members watching these plays can be (messily) discussed in ways which are not complicit with the hegemonic frameworks that silence these forms of terror, and with forms of epistemic violence towards the racialized and gender non-conforming subjects the plays discuss. Overall the thesis contributes towards expanding the language used to discuss the representation of terror on stage, it proposes a queer methodology for text-based drama that can be applied to the analysis of other plays, and it offers the first available analysis of both the play and the filmed version of ear for eye, as well as the first discussion of Burgerz alongside the archived material of Tranz Talkz, some of which is transcribed and included in a final annex.[cat] Aquesta tesi doctoral, titulada “The Performance of Racial and Gender Terror in debbie tucker green’s ear for eye (2018) and Travis Alabanza’s Burgerz (2018)” contribueix al camp dels estudis teatrals mitjançant l’anàlisi de la interacció de formes contemporànies de terror racial i de gènere amb les obres de debbie tucker green i Travis Alabanza. Mitjançant l’aplicació d’una metodologia queer al teatre de text, l’objectiu de la tesi és oferir enfocaments no hegemònics a l’anàlisi del terror en el drama britànic posterior a l’11 de setembre, a partir de dues obres que tradicionalment no es troben dins del corpus teatral del terror. Paral·lelament a les obres, l’estudi analitza material audiovisual que amplia l’abast de cada projecte en concret, tant temporalment com pel que fa a la seva estètica. Això inclou la versió filmada d’ear for eye (2021) de tucker green i l’enregistrament de so i vídeo de Tranz Talkz (2018) d’Alabanza, una sèrie de converses celebrades en paral·lel a la creació de l'obra amb diverses persones dissidents de gènere a tot el Regne Unit. La tesi s’organitza en dos actes, cadascun dels quals va seguit d'un breu interval. El primer acte proporciona els marcs teòrics i metodològics de la tesi. En primer lloc, a partir del treball de Judith Butler, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Rustom Bharucha i Sara Ahmed, s’analitzen els efectes i els afectes generats pel marc epistemològic hegemònic del terror que sorgí després de l'11-S, i s’ofereix una breu visió general de com estudis sobre teatre i terror(isme) s’hi han relacionat (Boll, 2013; de Waal, 2016; Hughes, 2007, 2011; Soncini, 2016; Spencer, 2018), contribuint, potser de forma involuntària, a la perpetuació d'aquest marc. En segon lloc, a partir del treball de Hannah McCann, Jack Halberstam, José Esteban Muñoz i Sara Ahmed, entre d’altres, s’elabora una metodologia queer (‘scavenger queer methodology’) que s’utilitza per distorsionar l’esmentat marc, transitar cap a la desorientació queer i proposar una sèrie de principis metodològics i paraules clau utilitzades en l’anàlisi de les dues obres: temporalitats queer, desendreçament queer i un enfocament en aspectes de l’habitabilitat del món i la creació de móns. El primer interval que segueix proporciona una justificació sobre quins són els beneficis d'abordar una anàlisi de les formes contemporànies de terror des d'una mirada queer. Atenent als seus propis contextos, l’acte segon analitza ear for eye a partir del concepte de terror racial i Burgerz a partir del terror de gènere, centrant-se en com, a través dels seus diferents dispositius estètics i dramatúrgics, les obres es relacionen amb els principis i les paraules clau anteriorment identificats. Entre els aspectes formals analitzats sobresurten elements de l'estètica afrodiaspòrica en l’obra de tucker green i l’ús de l’arxiu com un acte radical de cura comunitària a Alabanza. A l’interval final s’interroga com el malestar que experimenten els membres del públic blanc i cisgènere que veuen aquestes obres es pot discutir (desendreçadament) d’una manera que no sigui còmplice dels marcs hegemònics que silencien aquestes formes de terror, ni de formes de violència epistèmica cap a les persones racialitzades i dissidents de gènere sobre les que tracten les obres. En conjunt, la tesi contribueix a ampliar el llenguatge utilitzat per discutir la representació del terror a l’escenari i proposa una metodologia queer per al teatre de text que es pot aplicar a l’anàlisi d'altres obres teatrals. Així mateix, ofereix la primera anàlisi disponible tant de l’obra com de la versió filmada d’ear for eye, així com la primera discussió de Burgerz juntament amb el material d’arxiu de Tranz Talkz, part del qual ha estat transcrit i s’inclou en un annex final

Ecological and evolutionary significance of novel protist lineages

Environmental molecular surveys targeting protist diversity have unveiled novel and uncultured lineages in a variety of ecosystems, ranging from completely new high-rank lineages, to new taxa moderately related to previously described organisms. The ecological roles of some of these novel taxa have been studied, showing that in certain habitats they may be responsible for critical environmental processes. Moreover, from an evolutionary perspective they still need to be included in a more accurate and wider understanding of the eukaryotic tree of life. These seminal discoveries promoted the development and use of a wide range of more in-depth culture-independent approaches to access this diversity, from metabarcoding and metagenomics to single cell genomics and FISH. Nonetheless, culturing using classical or innovative approaches is also essential to better characterize this new diversity. Ecologists and evolutionary biologists now face the challenge of apprehending the significance of this new diversity within the eukaryotic tree of life

Single cell genomics of uncultured marine alveolates shows paraphyly of basal dinoflagellates

Marine alveolates (MALVs) are diverse and widespread early-branching dinoflagellates, but most knowledge of the group comes from a few cultured species that are generally not abundant in natural samples, or from diversity analyses of PCR-based environmental SSU rRNA gene sequences. To more broadly examine MALV genomes, we generated single cell genome sequences from seven individually isolated cells. Genes expected of heterotrophic eukaryotes were found, with interesting exceptions like presence of proteorhodopsin and vacuolar H+-pyrophosphatase. Phylogenetic analysis of concatenated SSU and LSU rRNA gene sequences provided strong support for the paraphyly of MALV lineages. Dinoflagellate viral nucleoproteins were found only in MALV groups that branched as sister to dinokaryotes. Our findings indicate that multiple independent origins of several characteristics early in dinoflagellate evolution, such as a parasitic life style, underlie the environmental diversity of MALVs, and suggest they have more varied trophic modes than previously thought