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Vox et Potestas: personal communication through the built environment of Rome in the time of Augustus
Get PDFThrough the efforts and contributions of Marcus Agrippa, Tiberius Nero, and the extended noble coterie of Augustus, individualized, controlled contributions to the cityscape of Rome are presented as a legacy of the one and the many. While the monuments, architecture and infrastructure of Augustan Rome express the voice and power of the Roman aristocracy afforded the opportunity to participate, they also express the ideology of the city’s greatest patron, Augustus. Each contribution to the civic environment can be understood as an expressive and individual voice from the period, but with the power and glory of Rome residing, ultimately, in the imperial person of Augustus. It is, therefore, Augustus’ vox et potestas we are meant to appreciate
Écriture féminine and the female language of Lady Gaga
No full textWhile Lady Gaga is often acknowledged for her outlandish visual style and elaborate performative identity, the lyricism of the popular singer-songwriter’s music represents a similarly controversial ideology in linguistic terms. Reinterpreting the French feminist concept of écriture féminine or ‘writing in the feminine’, this essay contextualises Gaga’s music as demonstrative of an anarchic, female language that challenges both the phallogocentric constraints of linguistic expression and wider patriarchal culture. Gaga’s utilisation of écriture féminine also expands the theoretical notion of revolutionary gendered language beyond the hypothetical constraints of literary theory and into public, popular discourse, granting a real-world viability and practicality to the term. This essay distinguishes itself as one of the first (if not the first) literary academic studies of Lady Gaga’s music, positioning her work within a feminist understanding of anarchic gender expression and cultural change through the use of chaotic linguistic forms
The non-linear politics of language: history, ideology and assemblages in the context of Catalonia under Franco
Get PDFThis article will examine the relation between power and language in the case of the repression of Catalan by Franco’s dictatorship. This is an issue of contemporary relevance, as the Catalan independence and language movements are coming to increasing prominence within the Spanish state. To analyse why language was of such concern for Franco’s regime, I will look at the relation of language and power in a broader theoretical sense, and how these concepts manifested themselves in the particular Catalan case. Finally, I will examine two events which serve as intersections of the myriad forces at play in Franco’s repression of Catalan. An analysis of the political nature of language in this context must allow for the multifaceted, non-linear interrelations of history, institutions and socio-cultural factors, and so will draw on the discussions of language in the work of Manuel de Landa, and Deleuze and Guattari
No laughing matter: towards an unrestrained comic discourse
Get PDFComedy, as a discourse, is often the object of censorship and moral outrage, both of which are misguided. Here, it is argued both that censorship of any discourse is to be avoided, as it can serve no progressive purpose, and that moral outrage directed at comedy fundamentally misunderstands its nature, as it serves as a cathartic, vaccinating discourse that allows us greater understanding of ourselves and the world in which we live
Walls have mouths: architectural emblems in the Glasgow City Chambers
Get PDFArchitectural sculpture may often be overlooked or dismissed as mere aesthetic embellishment, but on closer examination, important messages may be contained within it. Specifically, it can be used in a uniquely emblematic way to project certain ideologies of power. This emblematic process involves the recombination of various fragmented signs and allusions into new forms by the viewer to arrive at a meaning. It is argued that such a process is employed extensively in the architectural sculptures of the Glasgow City Chambers building as a powerful tool to communicate Victorian ideals of power and value. The power of the emblem in architecture can only be appreciated through a multi-disciplinary approach, incorporating architectural, historical and literary methodologies
Puccini’s Tosca as a representation of a freethinker’s struggle against the corrupted power of the church
No full textGiacomo Puccini (1858-1924), the famous Italian composer, has been described as a cynic towards the Catholic Church, despite having been brought up in arguably one of the most Catholic countries of Europe. The Church was equally mistrusting of him, especially after the first performances of Tosca, one of his most famous works. In this opera his antipathy towards the Catholic Church as an institution is expressed clearly through the narrative, where the struggle of the individual against the corrupted power of the Church is represented as a personal struggle between two individuals who represent the opposite sides of this conflict. However, a more interesting aspect is how Puccini has employed musical techniques to dramatise the power struggle and reflect the shifting of power from one character to the other
Traditions of reaction: post-revolution art from the People’s Republic of China
Get PDFSurveying the recent history of art produced in China reveals a path which is wellworn. The voice of the Chinese artist is at once reactive and cyclical; forever circumscribing a conception of Chineseness itself. In a continuum of political tumult, we witness the intersection of art and authority, and it is in these instances that rhetoric is formed. The dynamic of artist and state oscillates endlessly; herein, we observe the restless banding and disbanding of past and present forms. Played out in aesthetic experience, Chinese art is characterised by the confluence of associations with and withdrawals from the very traditions upon which it is founded. Inquiry will chart the chronic flux of the artist’s voice, amid swelling politic and enduring reform
Voicing freedom: the meaning of Uhuru in Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o’s A Grain of Wheat
Get PDFNgũgĩ wa Thiong’o’s A Grain of Wheat is set in Kenya in 1963, the year the country became independent from the British. It depicts both colonisers and colonised, and explores the workings of power both before and after independence, unsettling the notion that gaining independence can be equated with gaining freedom. Drawing from the political philosopher Isaiah Berlin’s concerns about the dangers of conflating status with freedom, this article reflects on the workings of colonial and neo-colonial power in the novel. There are parallels between the coloniser/colonised dynamics of A Grain of Wheat and those of Shakespeare’s The Tempest, as in both texts the language of freedom is used ambiguously to the benefit of the coloniser. Ngũgĩ’s novel demonstrates that a nation may be declared free in a way which in fact works to conceal the lack of freedom of its people, and that voicing freedom in a negative as opposed to a positive sense exposes the violation of fundamental freedoms
Chinese voices behind ‘The Great Firewall’: exploring the emergence of civil society in the wake of the digital revolution in China
Get PDFThe advent of the digital revolution has brought about a change in the nature of political engagement in China. The Internet and digital technologies have broadened the horizons of China’s net citizens and despite rigorous censorship and intervention on the part of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP); voices are being heard from behind the ‘Great Firewall’. With more than 500 million Internet users, Chinese citizens are a huge online presence, consequences of which include an explosion in blogging culture, cyber vigilantism and user-generated media content. It is clear that the Internet has empowered Chinese citizens in both the online and offline spheres. These developments have prompted scholars to contemplate whether there is a form of civil society developing in China in the wake of the digital revolution. However a culturally attuned conception of civil society must be developed in order to discuss an emerging Chinese civil society with any meaningful outcomes
Sufficient to have stood, or supposed to fall? The authority of God’s voice in the fall of man in Paradise Lost
Get PDFMilton’s decision to anthropomorphise God by portraying him as a character in Paradise Lost has caused endless debate amongst critics. Many decry the attempt to humanise and understand the unknowable, but I intend to argue that Milton’s efforts allow the reader to engage with a theological position. By giving God the power to speak, Milton opens up the possibility for discussion. This article will challenge the perception of a perfect God in Paradise Lost and, incorporating theological and literary criticism, advance the argument that God was guilty of deliberately creating a world that was bound to fall through an investigation of his justified voice