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Egungun - Moving the Masks of our Ancestors
No full textThis chapter will examine the concept of the Egungun, the practice of the living memorial, as a dance for the ancestors. In the ancient Yoruba tradition, Egungun-Oya is an orisha of divination. Egungun refers to the collective spirits of the ancestral dead. Egunguns are considered to be the children of the Orisha Oya, who is popularly known as the Orisha of extreme weather, examples being; lightning, heavy storms, tornadoes, raging waterfalls and earthquakes. She is also linked with funerals and cemeteries. This is part of her responsibility of carrying the souls of the dead and departed to the afterlife. In practice, Egunguns are masquerades where the body of a percipient performer is completely covered from head to toe by thick layers of cloth, who then proceeds to masquerades by parading in a festive community setting with musician and ritual guards with long sticks with whips to playfully clear a path for the occasion. The word Egungun literally means ‘powers concealed’; metaphorical with the dry bones of our ancestors. Egunguns are mobile, visually colourful, and performative displays of the departed spirits concerning our ancestors. They are seen as revisiting us periodically to remind the living, the importance of keeping the ancestors alive in the minds of our human community. The dance performance is an expression and practice of remembrance, celebration, and blessings as we realise the integrated symbiosis between the ancestor, the living and the unborn
Pancultural nostalgia in action: Prevalence, triggers, and psychological functions of nostalgia across cultures
Get PDFNostalgia is a social, self-relevant, and bittersweet (although mostly positive) emotion that arises when reflecting on fond past memories and serves key psychological functions. The majority of evidence concerning the prevalence, triggers, and functions of nostalgia has been amassed in samples from a handful of largely Western cultures. If nostalgia is a fundamental psychological resource, it should perform similar functions across cultures, although its operational dynamics may be shaped by culture. This study (N = 2606) examined dispositional nostalgia, self-reported triggers of nostalgia, and functions of experimentally-induced nostalgia in young adults across 28 countries and a special administrative region of China (i.e., Hong Kong). Results indicated that nostalgia is frequently experienced across cultures, albeit better valued in more-developed countries (i.e., higher national wealth and life-expectancy). Nostalgia is triggered by psychological threats (especially in warmer countries), sensory stimuli (especially in more-developed countries), and social gatherings (especially in less-developed countries). The positive or negative affect prompted by experimentally-induced nostalgia varied by country, but was mild overall. More importantly, recalling a nostalgic (vs. ordinary) memory increased social connectedness, self-continuity, and meaning in life across cultures. In less-developed countries, recalling an ordinary memory also conferred some of these functions, reducing the effect size of nostalgia. Finally, recalling a nostalgic (vs. ordinary) memory augmented state satisfaction with life in countries with lower quality of living (i.e., lower life-expectancy and life-satisfaction). Overall, findings confirm the relevance of nostalgia across a wide range of cultures and indicate cultural nuances in its functioning
Elegy and Exile:Letitia Landon's The Zenana
Get PDFThe popular lyric poet Letitia Landon, known as «LEL», died in October 1838, in the Cape Coast in west Africa, poisoned by the ingestion of hydrocyanic acid; she had married George Maclean, a British colonial governor, earlier the same year. The shock of Landon’s sudden death was compounded by its mysterious circumstances, quickly giving rise to rumours of suicide, murder, adultery, and cover-up. Landon’s first posthumous collection included a reassuring and almost certainly dishonest «Memoir» of the poet. The publication of The Zenana in 1839 fulfilled both a literary and a social need. The volume served to cool down the strong possibility of scandal in the circumstances around Landon’s death, to sanitize Landon’s reputation, and give her admiring public a final re-affirming taste of her exquisite work. This article interprets the «text» of Landon’s death in the light of new biographical work on Landon and Maclean, re-evaluation of poetry of the 1830s, and debates about the nature of modern elegy
Analysing digital audiences:A case study of YouTuber depression videos
Get PDFThe affordances of social media have created a new relationship between media figures and their audiences, and new methods are required to study the interaction between them. In this chapter, audience comments on YouTube videos are analysed in order to study the dynamic interplay between creators and the viewing community expressed in the ‘below-the-line’ comments accompanying the videos. In each case, the creator is a lifestyle vlogger who has uploaded a confessional video in which they talk candidly about their experiences of depression. The audience comments are interpreted with reference to the concept of parasocial interaction, an approach whose literature, mostly based on broadcast media, assumes a largely one-to-one correspondence between media figure and media user. Some viewing communities do indeed reproduce patterns of traditional parasocial interaction, with viewers addressing the creator directly, and the creator remaining silent, while others resemble fan communities, with the creator often being discussed in the third person. In others, however, the creator becomes a dynamic participant in the interactive environment, challenging long-held assumptions about the parasocial
Clinical performance and cost-effectiveness of a Silicone foam with 3DFit™ technology in chronic wounds compared with standard of care: An open randomised multicentre investigation
No full textThe objective of the study was to show the clinical performance and cost‐effectiveness of a Silicone foam dressing with 3DFit™ Technology compared to current standard of care. This was an open‐labelled, two‐arm, randomised controlled multicentre study conducted from February to December 2023. One hundred and two participants with an exuding, non‐infected and chronic ulcer were randomised in a 1:1 fashion and treated with either a Silicone foam with 3DFit™ Technology or standard of care (a filler combined with a secondary dressing), stratified by venous leg ulcers and diabetic foot ulcers. After a 4‐week study period, wound size and total costs were evaluated. After 4 weeks of treatment, a comparable percentage in wound area reduction was observed in both treatment arms with mean and 95% confidence interval of 54.3% (37.1%; 71.5%) and 43.0% (26.5%; 59.6%) for the investigational and comparator dressing, respectively. This corresponded to a mean difference of 11.3% ([−10.22; 32.86], p = 0.299). Total mean estimated costs were significantly lower for the investigational dressing (£14.3, 95% confidence interval [£9.6; £19.0]) compared to the two‐dressing regime (£21.4 [£16.9; £26.0]), corresponding to a 33% price reduction (p = 0.033) after 4 weeks of treatment. With this RCT, a conforming Silicone foam dressing with 3DFit™ Technology was shown to be clinically comparable and a cost‐effective alternative to using a filler and a secondary dressing at a significantly lower cost in both venous leg ulcers and diabetic foot ulcers up to 2 cm in depth
A late long-eighteenth century description of Barbados written by Alexander Anderson (1748-1811) with commentary
Get PDFAn exploratory study on manifesting decision-inertia in a 360-degree extended reality terrorist incident
No full textEmergency response decision making is crucial in managing critical incidents; however, several studies have demonstrated the negative effects of decision inertia. Understanding the manifestation and impact of decision inertia, as well as utilising extended reality (XR) technology with 360-degree immersion, should enhance decision making in high-stress environments and improve emergency response efforts. This study investigated decision inertia, using 109 participants, in an XR 360-degree environment and its impact on decision-making outcomes. The findings revealed that participants often opted for a sub-optimal outcome, and decision inertia scores varied across these outcomes. Linear regression analysis demonstrated that decision inertia scores significantly predicted decision outcomes, with higher decision inertia scores associated with sub-optimal decision-making. Participants prior moral decision-making did influence subsequent immersive reality decision outcomes and demonstrated a Bayesian updating effect. The Structured Tabular Thematic Analysis highlighted the importance of information validity, decision confidence, and scenario fidelity in decision-making within the immersive environment. The study provides insights into decision inertia in immersive virtual reality critical incidents and offers practical solutions for improving decision-making processes in emergency response contexts
