Soviet Everyday Culture: An Oxymoron?

Mikhail Mishin, a Soviet satirist, wrote that Russians recognize themselves in the famous fairy-tale character Ivan the Fool. He bides his time napping on the heated furnace and gets up only to undertake major heroic feats. Ivan the Fool might be a great hero, but he has no idea how to survive his everyday life. Everyday life, captured in the Russian word byt, is a more dangerous enemy to him than the multi-headed fire-spitting dragon. The everyday is Russia \u27s cultural monster. The nation might worship its heroes and their fabled ability to withstand hell or high water, but it also celebrates their impracticality and helplessness in the face of everyday life

‘When the reservoir comes’: Drowned Villages, Community and Nostalgia in Contemporary British Fiction

A ‘drowned’ or flooded village describes the destruction of a settlement or community to make way for a reservoir; as a practice, it most commonly occurred in Britain during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries when the need for fresh water in growing industrial cities was at its height. This essay will explore three different representations of the ‘drowned village’ in contemporary British fiction. Reginald Hill’s On Beulah Height (1992), Hilary Mantel’s short story ‘The Clean Slate’ (2001) and Sarah Hall’s Haweswater (2002) will all be considered in terms of how the drowned village is presented and described, and what this representation suggests about the ways nostalgia, ritual and ruin impact upon notions of community and place

Endring i kroppssammensetning ved kostintervensjon

Bakgrunn: Målet er å undersøke hvordan et kosthold basert på kostrådene fra Helsedirektoratet vil påvirke kroppssammensetningen til friske voksne. Et variert kosthold med mye grønnsaker, frukt og bær, grove kornprodukter, fisk, begrensede mengder bearbeidet kjøtt og rødt kjøtt og begrensede mengder salt og sukker er anbefalt for den generelle, friske befolkningen i Norge. Det er også anbefalinger som fremmes for de som er i risikosonen for livsstilssykdommer. Nysgjerrigheten for temaet dukket opp etter en forelesning om kostrådene, der ønsket om å lære fra seg de enkle, evidensbaserterte rådene ble stort. Problemstilling: «Hvordan vil en kostintervensjon over ni uker, med utgangspunkt i kostrådene til helsedirektoratet, påvirke vekt, midje- og hoftemålet til friske individer med KMI > 25?» Metode: Denne studien har en kvantitativ tilnærming, med åpen intervensjonsstudie som studiedesign. Studiens hensikt er å måle effekten av helsedirektoratets anbefalte kostråd kombinert med fokus på vaneendring og bevisstgjøring, uten fokus på kaloritelling. To antropometriske målinger, pre- og post intervensjon, ble brukt som vurderingsgrunnlag for effekten av intervensjonsperioden. Effektmålene inkluderer vekt i kg, fettprosent, vannprosent, muskelmasse i kg og visceralt fett. Disse ble registrert med Tanita vekt. I tillegg ble høyde, midje- og hoftemål innhentet. Med utgangspunkt i effektmålene ble KMI regnet ut. Utvalget bestod av 13 frivillige voksne, fire menn og ni kvinner, med en KMI > 25. Alle deltakerne startet intervensjonen samtidig. Resultat: Intervensjonen viser at det er signifikant forskjell på midjemål, hoftemål og visceralt fett. Deltakerne rapporterte at de følte seg bedre etter intervensjonen, med mer kunnskap og større bevissthet i forhold til mat. Konklusjon: Studien konkluderer med at det kan være gunstig å fokusere på vaneendring og bevisstgjøring når man vil ha en endring i kroppssammensetning. Ved å følge et kosthold som baserer seg på kostrådene over ni uker, kan man se signifikante forskjeller på kroppssammensetningen. Denne intervensjonen passer for personer som er klare for å gjøre en endring, og som er villige til å jobbe selvstendig uten mye oppfølgning

Canonical Generations and the British Left: The Narrative Construction of the Miners’ Strike 1984–85

‘Generations’ have been invoked to describe a variety of social and cultural relationships, and to understand the development of self-conscious group identity. Equally, the term can be an applied label and politically useful construct; generations can be retrospectively produced. Drawing on the concept of ‘canonical generations’ – those whose experiences come to epitomise an event of historic and symbolic importance – this article examines the narrative creation and functions of ‘generations’ as collective memory shapes and re-shapes the desire for social change. Building a case study of the canonical role of the miners’ strike of 1984–85 in the narrative history of the British left, it examines the selective appropriation and transmission of the past in the development of political consciousness. It foregrounds the autobiographical narratives of activists who, in examining and legitimising their own actions and prospects, (re)produce a ‘generation’ in order to create a relatable and useful historical understanding

‘Music is my AK-47’: performing resistance in Belfast's rebel music scene

This article examines how some Irish republicans have used ‘rebel songs’ as a means to resist the hegemonic power of the British state, and how militant republicanism is invoked musically, through sonic and physical references to gunfire. It explores how the use of rebel songs has changed, the inherent tensions within today's scene, and how republicans attempt to co‐opt other conflicts as a means to strengthen their claim as resistance fighters. The article also analyses more nuanced resistances within the rebel music scene, exploring how competing republican factions use the same music to express opposing political positions, and why some musicians ultimately leave the scene on account of the musical and political restrictions placed upon them. In so doing, the article connects with ongoing attempts to rethink, remap, and develop new approaches to resistance within anthropology, while contributing to the developing subfield of ‘ethnomusicology in times of trouble’

Walter Benjamin, a Methodological Contribution

This article examines the work and philosophy of Walter Benjamin as an important source of information for international relations (IR) and International Political Sociology (IPS) scholars, particularly in light of his methodological contributions, which could provide important ground for movements such as the aesthetic turn in IR and everyday life ⁄ popular culture studies within IR and IPS. Benjamin’s contributions are examined in light of his most controversial, albeit unfinished, project— The Arcades Project, a recently published volume that focuses on a selection of documents from the Benjamin archive; and a study by Howard Caygill on Benjamin’s attempt to create a ‘‘new philosophy,’’ and along with it, a new methodology for studying ‘‘experience.’’ The article focuses on three main elements that stand at the basis of Benjamin’s unique methodology: (1) his process of selecting the object of study; (2) his treatment of temporality and processes of change ⁄ history; and (3) his focus on the visual as key to escaping the limitations of traditional ‘‘philosophical’’ text

‘The Rest is Silence’:Psychogeography, Soundscape and Nostalgia in Pat Collins’ Silence

Guy Debord defines the term psychogeography as 'the study of the precise laws and specific effects of the geographical environment, consciously organised or not, on the emotions and behaviour of individuals' (Debord 1955: 23). Similar to the belief of psychogeographers that the geography of an environment has a psychological effect on the human mind, proponents of acoustic ecology such as R. Murray Schafer hold that humans are affected by the sound of the environment in which they find themselves. Further to this, they examine the extent to which soundscapes can be shaped by human behaviour. Recently a body of Irish films has emerged that directly engages with the Irish soundscape and landscape on a psychogeographical level. Rather than using landscape as a physical space for the locus of action, these representations of the Irish landscape allow for an engagement with the aesthetic effects of the geographical landscape as a reflection of the psychological states of the protagonists. Bearing this in mind, this article examines how Silence (Collins 2012) arguably demonstrates the most overt and conscious incursion into this area to date. It specifically interrogates how the filmic representation of the psychogeography and soundscape of the Irish rural landscape can serve to express emotion, alienation and nostalgia, thus confronting both the Irish landscape and the weight of its associated history