Journals an der JLU Gießen (Justus-Liebig Universität)
Not a member yet
1237 research outputs found
Sort by
Right-Wing History Pirates: How the Far Right Hijacks Sites of Memory
Full text linkIn Das Deutsche Demokratische Reich analysiert Volker Weiß die Strategien extremrechter Geschichtspolitik anhand einzelner Fallstudien aus Deutschland, Russland und den USA. Weiß untersucht dabei insbesondere die russische Geschichtspolitik und ihre europäischen Verbindungen, das rechte ‚Ost-Dilemma‘ zwischen Eurasien-Fantasien und antislawischer Tradition, den Mythos des ‚linken Nationalsozialismus‘, und eine ‚antikommunistische DDR-Nostalgie‘ als antiliberale Gegenidentität. Weiß gelingt so eine ertragreiche Studie über rechte Umdeutungsoperationen.In Das Deutsche Demokratische Reich, Volker Weiß analyzes strategies of far right’s resignifications in the field of history in the German, Russian, and U.S. Weiß focuses on Russian history politics and its European ties; the right’s ‘Eastern dilemma’ between Eurasian fantasies and anti-Slavic tradition; the myth that National Socialism as a left-wing movement, and an ‘anti-communist GDR nostalgia’ as an anti-liberal counter-identity. The result is a substantive study of the practices of historical reinterpretation, demonstrated through tightly argued case studies.
Whose Heritage—Whose Narrative? Disrupting Place-Based Narratives to Re(claim) Heritage Sites in Political Agendas
Full text linkThe question ‘Whose heritage?’ is a central denominator when it comes to cultural heritage and the representation of the past in the present. It invites us to rethink who shapes heritage for whom, while simultaneously opening spaces for diverse actors to (re)-appropriate heritage and to disrupt its discourses and performances on different scales and scopes. Unsettled and governed by dissonances and controversies, the heritage pluriverse is a hugely diverse as well as competitive arena, that affects and is itself affected by disruptions and the positioning of alternative (counter-)narratives. This _Article argues that disruptions can hint at crucial issues in heritage spaces, such as the plurality of vested interests, as well as multivocality and individual affective responses. Through the example of St Paul’s Church in Frankfurt and the discourse surrounding sites of democratic history in Germany, it examines how different stakeholders in the heritage pluriverse put forward very different positionalities and argumentative patterns in order to narrate their version of a heritage site and draw associations with particular memories and identities. The _Article traces how counter-narratives form a substantial part of the heritage process and demonstrates how disruptions can become a productive lens for mediating and doing heritage in a diverse and complex world
Das Problem der Fiktion
Full text linkMarkus Gabriel’s Fictions is an attempt to accord the concept of fiction its proper place within the ontological architecture of being. Gabriel argues against both philosophers who treat fiction as mere amusement, and against science that dismisses fiction because unquantifiable. Rejecting such views, Gabriel argues for the political and social significance of fictions. Thus, the book shows that a more substantive concept of fiction is needed if we are to tackle our contemporary problems of misinformation and fake news. Sometimes baffling in its conclusions, at the very least Fictions sets the tone for future discussions of an increasingly important topic.Markus Gabriels Fictions ist ein Versuch, dem Begriff der Fiktion seinen angemessenen Platz in der ontologischen Architektur des Seins zuzuweisen. Gabriel argumentiert sowohl gegen Philosoph_innen, die Fiktion als bloße Unterhaltung betrachten, als auch gegen die Wissenschaft, die Fiktion als nicht quantifizierbar ablehnt. Er argumentiert für die politische und soziale Bedeutung von Fiktionen und zeigt somit, dass ein substanziellerer Begriff von Fiktion erforderlich ist, um unsere gegenwärtigen Probleme mit Fehlinformationen und Fake News anzugehen. Die Schlussfolgerungen, zu denen Gabriel kommt, sind mitunter verblüffend, aber zumindest gibt er mit Fictions den Ton an für zukünftige Diskussionen zu einem immer wichtiger werdenden Thema
Grotesque, Absurdity, Cuteness: On the Intertwining of Argumentative Frames, Aesthetics, and Emotions in the Polish ‘War on Abortion’
Full text linkThis _Article explores the centrality of argumentative frames in shaping the abortion debate in Poland, focusing on their intersection with aesthetics and emotions. Drawing on framing theory, it examines how visual and rhetorical strategies are used to construct narratives, mobilize emotions, and influence public discourse. The analysis centers on three aesthetic framing techniques—grotesque, absurdity, and cuteness—as employed by anti-abortion and pro-abortion movements.
Grotesque frames, characterized by graphic depictions of fetal remains and dystopian imagery, amplify moral shock to evoke fear and reinforce binary narratives of \u27good versus evil.\u27 In contrast, absurdity disrupts such frames through humor and incongruity, as seen in feminist parody campaigns which critique the artificiality of anti-abortion propaganda. Cuteness leverages the disarming and subversive qualities of pastel hues, glitter, and playful motifs to destigmatize abortion and promote resilience and solidarity.
By exploring their cognitive, aesthetic, and emotional dimensions, this study highlights the transformative potential of frames in reproductive politics. It reveals how movements construct powerful narratives to challenge entrenched ideologies while navigating the risks of polarization and trivialization. This analysis thereby contributes to an understanding of the dynamic interplay between visual culture, emotional resonance, and political activism in shaping cultural and political contestations
Rethinking the Good Life: A Crip Critique of Hon Lai-chu’s Surrealist Short Stories
Full text linkThis _Article examines the intersection of disruption, disability, and ‘post-’ concepts in the aftermath of Hong Kong’s 2019–2020 protests. Sparked by opposition to the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance amendment, these protests escalated into a broader resistance movement against the erosion of civil liberties, which was eventually suppressed by the National Security Law, a lasting disruption to Hong Kong’s sociopolitical landscape. The _Article investigates how disability metaphors have been co-opted to uphold enforced optimism for Hong Kong’s neoliberal developmentalism under this new regime. A curative logic that positions health and stability as prerequisites for progress is used to justify the NSL, producing a ‘post-disruption’ identity marked by compulsory able-bodiedness and conformity to state norms. Turning to the surrealist short stories of Hong Kong writer Hon Lai-chu, the _Article explores how narratives of disabled lives critique and disrupt the affective politics of neoliberalism. Interpreted through the lens of crip critique, these stories expose the violent disruptions that challenge the neoliberal promise of progress. Drawing on Lauren Berlant’s concept of ‘cruel optimism,’ the _Articleargues that post-2019 optimism not only disrupts the lives it seeks to improve but also creates a fractured identity landscape where stability is illusory. This analysis deepens understanding of the ongoing effects of the 2019–2020 protests on Hong Kong’s identity and futurity
Disruptive Paradox: Deconstructive Architecture and its Subversive Power
Full text linkThroughout art history, disruption has been a deliberate tool for conveying meaning. In architecture, deviations from norms provoke reflection and challenge principles like Vitruvius’ firmitas, utilitas, and venustas. From the 1980s on, deconstructivist architects systematically used disruption to express Jacques Derrida’s concept of deconstruction through form, space, and perspective. Though buildings are not texts, this movement questioned architectural and societal norms. This article explores how deconstructivist architecture functions as a reflective medium, radically challenging political, social, and aesthetic structures. Disruption, as theorized among others by Lars Koch and Tobias Nanz, acts as both a destructive and productive force. Architects like Peter Eisenman, Bernard Tschumi, and Daniel Libeskind integrated Derrida’s philosophy into their work, exposing architecture as the “last fortress of metaphysics”—an illusion of stability masking its own constructed nature. Their buildings reveal hidden structures and produce an ambiguity of many possible orders and norms without referring to one of them. By employing disruption as a subversive tool, deconstructivism bridged architecture and philosophy, provoking critical reflection on the built environment
Erased de Kooning Drawing: Stemmrich Pleads Innocence in Patricide Case
Full text linkGregor Stemmrichs Studie zu Rauschenbergs Erased de Kooning Drawing (1953) hinterfragt dessen Deutung als Ikonoklasmus und löst sich zugleich von einer singulären Lesart. Durch Kontextualisierung und Theoretisierung zeigt er, wie das Werk Modernismus, Literalismus und Postmodernismus in sich vereint. Stemmrich erweitert den Deutungshorizont und reevaluiert die Bedeutung des Werks im 20. Jahrhundert. Seine Publikation stellt einen unverzichtbaren Beitrag zur Rauschenberg-Forschung dar und ist ebenso ein relevanter, wenn auch herausfordernder, Beitrag zur Kunstentwicklung der Nachkriegszeit.Gregor Stemmrich’s study of Rauschenberg’s Erased de Kooning Drawing (1953) challenges the prevailing interpretation of the work as an act of iconoclasm, offering a broader perspective. By means of meticulous contextualization and alignment with modern, modernist, and postmodern theories, Stemmrich demonstrates how the work integrates ideas of modernism, literalism, and postmodernism. His analysis expands the interpretation and reassesses its significance in postwar art, thereby making his publication a vital yet challenging contribution to Rauschenberg research and postwar art history
A Memoir of My Reading
Full text linkSurveying nearly seven decades of habitual and obsessive reading, I consider how my character and psychology used reading to shape philosophical questions that move me into forms in which I could pursue them by reading. This became both the method and the substance of my philosophical work. It preserved some core emotional issues but also gave me the way to integrate them into scholarship and into my life
Digital Reading in the Context of media-critical Discourses
Full text linkWith the transformation of media in the context of digitization, reading is once again becoming a highly debated topic. Not only are fears being expressed that the end of the ‘Gutenberg Galaxy’ will set back the spread of reading as a cultural technique, but more recent debates discuss the consequences of ‘digital reading’ from pedagogical and neurophysiological perspectives. The aim of this paper is to analyze the media and cultural debates about the consequences of digital reading. The different varieties and reference discourses of the discussion will be distinguished and related to the history of discourses critical of reading. The pedagogical critique of ‘digital reading’ is based on the thesis that it can lead to a diminution of cognitive abilities. The materiality of reading media and the physicality of the reading process are attributed with far-reaching mental and psychological effects. Furthermore, from a culturally pessimistic perspective, the spread of digital reading is seen as a cultural caesura that threatens the ability to think critically and empathize. The central reference discourse for the plausibility of the alleged dangers of digital reading is neuroscientific studies
Please Go Away… We’re Reading: A Practice Approach to a Taken-for-Granted Academic Craft
Full text linkReading is not only a mental decoding activity but also a social, material, bodily, and affective practice. It is learned; changes over time; varies across situations; and is crucial for academic institutions. Nonetheless, academics practice reading largely individually. Yet, reading remains an undervalued part of how professional research (work) is done. In this paper, we take a practice-oriented approach: How is reading enacted as a seemingly self-evident academic technique? Drawing on Science and Technology Studies and collective auto-ethnographic reflections of our readings in the RUSTlab at Ruhr University Bochum, we explore how reading is structured with respect to different goals—be it for critique, fun, teaching, or writing. We consider aspects of the material infrastructure such as pens and (missing) couches, and analyze how situations, bodies, and settings enact and afford different modes of reading. We organize the modes of reading into reading about, reading around, and reading aloud. This paper argues that reading is a craft that requires care and companionship, and that it matters who gets to read, when and where reading is done, and what the legitimate excuses for not reading are. We polemicize that academics would do well to bring reading practices from the individualized margins to the heart of collective exchange