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Abu Ghraib, 2004: Doctrinal Confusion of American Military Police
No full textThe Abu Ghraib prison scandal in 2004 was one of the worst and most widely talked-about cases of prisoner abuse by American forces during any war. This scandal had lasting implications for the War in Iraq and America's War on Terror as a whole. This essay examines what failures in military doctrine led to such egregious abuses and how those failures have or have not been remedied
The Cosmological Mosaic in Mérida, Spain: Preserving Pagan Roman Tradition through Art
No full textThe Cosmological Mosaic, a Roman imperial period mosaic found in Mérida in western Spain, has been the subject of inquiry for numerous archaeologists and art historians since its excavation in the 1960s. Though a large portion is no longer extant, there is much to be gleaned about this mosaic through the stylistic, scientific, historical, political, and religious contexts in which it finds itself. The visual resemblance to other mosaics in the Middle East and North Africa show that this work was invested with connections and interests spanning across the large empire. This view is supported by the elements of astronomy found in the work and how they relate to the possibility of an abundantly prosperous society. With this, one may deduce what exactly would have occupied the missing portion of the mosaic. The time period in which the mosaic was likely constructed provides insight into the political climate of the era, which then reveals the possibility of religious motivation for installing the mosaic in its space. Here, I intertwine all of these factors to speculate on the significance of the Cosmological Mosaic, not only in terms of broader history of art, but for the motivations of its ancient Roman owner as well
"Larimar" and "The Impossible Chase"
No full textTwo films screened on the occasion of Cultural Modernisms
Blurring Borders: the self, the wanderer and the observer in Edgar Allan Poe, Charles Baudelaire and Machado de Assis
Get PDFMuch has been published and discussed in relation to Edgar Allan Poe’s and Charles Baudelaire’s intertextual dialogues, as well as to the French reception of Poe’s writings and aesthetic theories through Baudelaire’s translations and essays. Likewise, there have been several studies in Brazil comparing Poe’s and Brazilian writer Machado de Assis’ short stories and individual aesthetic theories, as well as studies regarding Baudelaire’s aesthetic reception in 19th century Brazilian literature. However, despite some academic studies and papers in Brazil referring more closely to their literary projects and their possible intertextual bindings, a deeper study into how Machado de Assis may have actually read and subverted Poe’s writings so as to fit it within his own framework and thus help foster his project of defending the formation of a national literary identity still needs to be carried out. The same may be said about both Baudelaire’s role in Poe and Machado de Assis’ literary encounter and Machado de Assis’ reception of Baudelaire’s aesthetic theories and poetics.
In this paper, therefore, I want to take a transatlantic voyage while addressing the question of how Machado de Assis may have actually incorporated and, paradoxically, subverted Poe’s and Baudelaire’s imagery, topoi and aesthetics into his own literary project. Two broad aspects regarding the three authors’ writings will be tackled: the universe of mind and man’s isolation vis-à-vis society, within the scope of the fantastic as a genre. To do so, I will focus on “Só!” [Alone/Lonely], a short-story published by Machado de Assis in 1885, thus aiming at addressing how the self, the wanderer and the observer appear in this story and how they dialogue with the same figures in some of Poe’s and Baudelaire’s writings
The Route to Crisis: Cities, Trade, and Epidemics of the Roman Empire
No full textThe goal of this paper is to provide a universal model that outlines the origins of disease contraction and transmission in the ancient Mediterranean world. While numerous scholars have written on the subject of epidemics and their effects on the Roman Empire, very limited studies focus on the general causes of epidemics throughout the Roman era. I propose that Roman culture, urbanism, and the interdependence between cities and provinces led to the entry and transmission of communicable diseases, contributing to conditions that ultimately caused the fall of the empire. I first discuss and describe the causal factors of epidemics. I start by presenting Roman ideologies as this will aid in the understanding of city structure. After a description of a typical city layout, I present the conditions which encouraged the spread of disease within cities. Cities and provinces were not in isolation, but rather part of a greater economic network. I, therefore, also describe the nature of trade routes and how trade impacted the global spread of pathogens. I conclude by applying the proposed theories to two plagues—the Antonine Plague and Justinianic Plague—from different, yet comparable, time periods. I also gauge the effects of disease on Roman economy, demography, and society by using these case studies
Frederik, Laurie A. Trumpets in the Mountains: Theater and the Politics of National Culture in Cuba
Get PDFPreface to “Cultural Modernism in the Americas III: The French and Italian Avant-Garde”
No full textPreface to Cultural Modernisms
Toward Postcolonial Liturgical Preaching: Drawing on the Pre-Columbian Caribbean Religion of the Taínos
No full textPostcolonial criticism has made its way into the field of religion mostly in the disciplines of theology and biblical studies. Little has been done to approach liturgics and homiletics from a postcolonial perspective. Building on such initial approaches, this paper recovers the tradition of the Taíno religion—the pre-Columbian religion in the Antilles prior to colonial times—and borrows from it a worldview of “complementary dualities” and a ritual pattern that embraces both conflict and unity. Drawing on the tradition of the Taíno religion and building on the work of postcolonial theologians, this paper proposes a liturgical dynamic that moves the community from spaces of tension to experiences of connectedness in order to alleviate the segregation of colonized and colonizers