Colloquium: New Philologies (E-Journal)
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Resistance of the Postmodern Turkish Novel to the Return of Nationalism
Get PDFMy aim in this paper is to survey the journey of Turkey’s postmodern historical fiction, referred to as “historiographic metafiction” by Linda Hutcheon (1988). This genre of postmodern fiction designates a narrative with two predominant features: (a) it is principally a retelling of a historical occurrence from a counter-position against the supposed factuality of the original story, and (b) it contains the self-reflexivity of its author, which enables him/her to question the boundary between fact and fiction, if there is any at all. Obviously, Hutcheon’s conception of this particular category of postmodern fiction was mainly derived from an approach which stresses inherent narratological characteristics in the writing of history, as argued by Hayden White and other historiographers. My research questions in this study are: How successfully is historiographic metafiction used by postmodernist writers in Turkish literature? When we consider the rise of nationalism in Turkey and in the world, can postmodern literature offer an alternative to authoritative discourses? Has postmodernism been able to challenge traditional representations in Turkey? An analysis of selected works of contemporary Turkish literature will supply an answer to these questions
The phenomenon of propaganda as reflected in Victor Pelevin’s novel S.N.U.U.F
Get PDFThe aim of this paper is to draw a parallel between today’s situation – not only political and military, but also between the ideological confrontation between Russia and the Western world and the religious wars, which were waged during the Reformation, and Counterreformation in Europe in the 17th century. Epoch when arguably wars were waged not only for the military domination in Europe, but also, and most importantly, for the minds of people. Jose Antonio Maravall in his book “Culture of Baroque: Analysis of Historical Structure” describes the means of influencing audiences, calling this influence a “Baroque mechanism”. The connection between the modern times and the epoch of Baroque is also described in Greg Lambert‘s book “The Return of the Baroque in Modern Culture”. Lambert is comparing the alliance between politics and culture present in the modern world to that of Baroque epoch. Recent developments in Russian history and its reflection by the state propaganda and television quite often make the citizens feel that it is almost impossible to tell where fictional tragedy ends and a real one starts. The occupation of Crimea by the Russian Federation and the sanctions that followed gave rise to a new spiral of Russian propaganda which gave an impetus to a new wave of nationalism on the government-sponsored television and created the so called “Olgin Trolls” on the internet. This policy of state-sponsored ideology and propaganda found its reflection in Russian literature. Prominent contemporary writers, such as Viktor Pelevin and Vladimir Sorokin, gained almost prophetic status for their ability to predict developments in Russian politics albeit in a satirical and provocative form. By describing the present, Pelevin models the future and for this reason he is often credited with prophetic qualities. It seems that he manages to foresee not only the general outline of events, but also the smallest details. While reading Pelevin, one cannot help returning back to the title page and double check the date – it\u27s hard to believe that the book has been written not in the wake of the Chechen wars (Generation II) or the hybrid war with Ukraine (S.N.U.F.F.) but anticipated the events and provided their astonishingly accurate description. As a rule, Pelevin\u27s books outpace the historic events by about five to six years. Presumably we are not dealing here with a mystical providence, but with Pelevin’s unique ability to observe and his brilliant capacity for analysis. The aim of this paper is to analyze Viktor Pelevin’s novel S.N.U.F.F. This post apocalyptic novel was published in 2011 and predicted the confrontation between Russia and the Western world, which began after 2014. Pelevin suggested even the name of Ukraine, albeit in a distorted form – Urkaina, which is a derivative of укры (the term which became to serve as a pejorative name for Ukranians in Russia), орки (Orks by Tolkien) and урки (prisoners in the prison jargon). Although the book describes a dystopian future, one can clearly establish a connection with modern day realities. One of main discourses of the book is a fusion of ideology and art. The research based on works by Greg Lambert and Jose Antonio Maravall will be mainly focused on the analysis of the system, created in Pelevin’s book. In this system society is based on the films it is itself producing. The films are divided in two halves: one part of the film is a pornographic footage, and other part is a footage of killing during war, hence both the book and the films are called snuffs. The films relentlessly fed to the public serve to educate it and to offer it news.
In this way they are the only source of information in Pelevin’s dystopia. The connection discussed in this paper will show that these films carry out not only an educational and information functions, they also become the main object of a religious cult and are an integral part of ideological and religious propaganda.
The results of our analysis will hopefully show the mechanisms and effects of such forceful cultural pressure on individuals and how they can cope with and resist the pressure of goverment-controlled media
Beyond Nationalism: Faith Movements as Transnational Communities
Get PDFThe paper will argue that Faith Movements in India like the Ramakrishna Mission, the Self Realization Fellowship and The Art of Living Foundation can be looked at as transnational communities in their own right by offering cosmopolitan religiosity rather than religious universalism as their ideal.
ContentTheoretical Preliminaries: A shared tenet of many of the disparate strands in the discourse concerning cosmopolitanism that looks beyond the boundaries of the nation-state, is the desire to reconfigure world society as a community joined by a common thread of social justice, and common good which could be articulated as “emergent social order that extends political rights beyond exclusivist territorial boundaries” (Papastergiadis 2011) or “universal political communion with justice” (Jazeel 2011) etc. In this context, the paper will posit religious communities of transnational social movements, such as the New Religious Movements in India as imagined communities where national boundaries do not matter. Ulrich Beck in his book A God of One\u27s Own: Religion\u27s Capacity for Peace and Potential for Violence (2010) offers, as a part of the framework of “reflexive modernization”, a strong case for individualization and cosmopolitization of religion. He suggests that as globalization erodes cultural boundaries and exposes people to diverse faiths, a de-territorialization of the traditional cultural systems takes place and the rigidity of institutionalized religions is resisted in favour of more personal, “individualized” religion(s). This radicalized religious freedom also offers a new definition of God, who is “a personal God who has a firm place and a clear voice in the intimate heart of one’s own life”. Beck also foregrounds here, the peace-building capacity of religion in the modern world. Although Beck mostly focuses on Christianity in the west, he indicates that a cross-cultural research is required before judgments can be made about the wider applicability of his thesis. In the proposed paper therefore, I would like to explore the resonances of Beck’s theory with the Indian religious public sphere. For this I will consider three New Religious Movements- The Art of Living Foundation, Ramakrishna Mission and Self Realization Fellowship to understand these religious social movements as transnational communities in their own right. These religious societies are all regionally rooted and globally connected through sophisticated urban channels wherein identity formation and perceived common good is the intended outcome. Their geographical footprint and the ideological underpinnings will be looked into, in order to ascertain the function played by them in contemporary society. The paper will thereby inquire religiously inspired cosmopolitan consciousness in the light of the various critical perspectives on cosmopolitanism. Tentative Arguments The paper will thus argue that Faith Movements in India like the Ramakrishna Mission, the Self Realization Fellowship and The Art of Living Foundation can be looked at as transnational communities in their own right by offering cosmopolitan religiosity rather than religious universalism as their ideal. These transnational imagined communities are formed around the figure of the guru, who serves as a godhead and the organization, with its own set of sacred geography, philosophy and iconography; and an element of Seva or service to humanity as a tenet associated with each. All these elements come together and serve as a binding force around which the community defines itself and its place in the society. The paper will inquire into these movements for their potential in inspiring a “cosmopolitan consciousness” by trying to remain preeminently multicultural, while also emphasizing upon the moral sensibility and issues of social concern. What is significant about the above mentioned faith based groups is that they do not go with an isolated orthodox view, cut away from contemporary reason and rationality, rather they represent themselves as modern day organizations, by highlighting the scientific elements in of Yoga, and meditation. Beck calls this attitude “post-modern” religiosity as the individuals, instead of having to choose between religion or rationality, appropriate both the aspects together, or “a new equality between religious and scientific knowledge” (Beck 2010 134). Furthermore, the paper will also look into Beck’s work on the role of religion in modern, “post secular” European society, with the ideas of “cosmopolitan constellation”, “cosmopolitan religiosity” and “post-modern religiosity” etc and discuss a wider applicability of his thesis, especially in the Indian context. Finally the paper will also try to question the assumptions associated with religious nationalism in India and try to demonstrate that different publics may indeed be attracted to different elements within the same religious community. Whilst there can be many counterpoints to this argument, for instance such Faith Movements have often been looked at as signifiers of globalized Hinduism, the paper, taking a consideration to these issues will try to understand the various reasons associated with the rise of such Faith based movements like the rising middle class in India, capital flows, western education and seek to measure their potential in creating a cosmopolitan consciousness
Unification, Nationalism and/or Brexit? The impact of the Nationalisms and the Northern Irish Good Friday Agreement 1998–2018 on local media discourse
Get PDFIn 2018, on the twentieth anniversary of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, the treaty that formally ended the civil war in Northern Ireland, three very different kinds of nationalistic ideologies (the term \u27nationalist\u27 in this context is mainly used for Irish republicans) are shaping Northern Irish public discourse. The first and perhaps the most widely known is linked to the outcome and consequences of the British \u27Brexit\u27 vote. The most prominent and symbolic aspect of this, the possible re-introduction of a hard border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland is speculated to undermine peace efforts and only feed into the ideologies and actions of republican paramilitaries.
The second is the just mentioned republicans, who see Northern Ireland as part of the Republic of Ireland, away from the UK. This is the side of the ideological spectrum where parties like Sinn Féin and the paramilitary IRA are situated. In the Good Friday Agreement, this side has committed to reaching their means of a united Ireland solely by democratic means (for example a referendum). The third is the unionists, who are content with the status quo of Northern Ireland being a part of the UK, which does however not automatically mean that they approve Brexit. They see themselves as British and although Northern Ireland does not currently (early April 2018) have a government, the main unionist party (the DUP) was the winner of last year’s general election.
Despite this, there is a growing amount of people on all sides, that want to work towards a shared future for their country and, despite having their socio-cultural beliefs, try to resist the often black-and-white stereotypes invoked by nationalistic thinking patterns. All of these different takes on nationalism and the ideal national state, which influence the handling and implementation of the Good Friday Agreement and the attention it is getting twenty years after it was signed, will be the topic of this talk: How do they influence each other? How are the individual strands of nationalism portrayed in the source texts (which can be found below)? Is a mediated form of nationalism even possible in a place, where the population is about equally split into two groups, one who in essence wants to be part of the Republic of Ireland and the other wants to remain within the UK? How is this tension picked up and treated by media outlets, who both point back to the original signing date of the Good Friday Agreement and speculating on how and if it can survive in a post-Brexit UK? And, most importantly: How much attention/agency is given to people who are trying to overcome these nationalist tensions?
MethodologyAlthough it is neither possible nor practical to aim for a corpus that is anywhere near ‘complete’, I will be taking both a multimodal (cf. Kress 2010) and a multimedial approach to the keyword ‘nationalism’ in connection with the Good Friday Agreement, which will be generating a rather large number of individual items, such as newspaper articles, videos, speeches and perhaps more.
The search itself will be restricted by date: two weeks before and after Good Friday (29th April 2018). Following these criteria, the following media outlets will be searched (for content of all types, not only written articles):
The online versions of the Belfast Telegraph and the News Letter, two unionist-leaning Northern Irish newspapers
The Irish Times, from the Republic of Ireland
The Guardian, from England
In order to be able to focus on the sub-discourse of nationality in these sources, I will be following the general notion of Critical Discourse Studies (cf. Wodak and Meyer 2016) but as this is a very broad term which characterizes a critical, aware and multidisciplinary approach to one’s data and research, I will additionally be making use of the DIMEAN-Model (cf. Spitzmüller/Warnke 2011) to limit the output I am generating by focusing on the traits in the model’s ‘upper level’, the transtextual level, which deals with (among a handful of other factors) with intertextuality, frames and – this is probably the most important aspect for this analysis – historicity.
Tentative outcomes: The – at this point in time very tentative – outcomes of this media survey will most likely be pointing at a climate of tension, the rather unique situation of Northern Ireland within the EU, where there is not one (like in Hungary or Poland) but two nationalistic groups opposing each other, in addition to the state-changing and unpredictable consequences of Brexit. This tension and the prospect of twenty years of more or less sustainable peace-building attempts being either eradicated or lessened by the change in circumstances that comes with the UK leaving the EU is surely visible in media coverage, and it will most likely show in the usage of topoi related to division of the civic society, hints to a violent past and symbolism of terror and unrest. I do not expect to find many attempts to deal with the topic from a non-nationalistic view
Wissenstransfer im universitären Kontext: Unterschiede und Gemeinsamkeiten zwischen den GSK und anderen wissenschaftlichen Disziplinen
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