Close Reading Research Articles

Neptune Frost and the Anthropocene: Rethinking Third Cinema’s Anticolonial Politics

The aim of this article is to reveal the ongoing currency of Third Cinema’s politics in view of the Anthropocene through a close reading of Saul Williams and Anisia Uzeyman’s Neptune Frost (2021). The introductory part of the article addresses the continuing relevance of Third Cinema’s politics and connects it with research interested in decolonising the Anthropocene. In the main corpus, I proceed to analyse Neptune Frost through a Third cinematic lens. I argue that the study of the film can participate in recent debates on the importance of problematising the “we” of human responsibility for the Anthropocene. 1

The Name of the Key

Sirāj al-Dīn Abū Yaʿqūb Yūsuf al-Sakkākī’s (d. 626/1229) Miftāḥ al-ʿulūm is one of the most influential and seminal works dedicated to al-balāghah (Muslim eloquence), and one of the most extensively studied, although frequently criticised for alleged prescriptiveness and dryness. Often providing close readings on how concepts are organized within the work, previous scholarly treatments have isolated the Miftāḥ from the rest of al-Sakkākī’s production, the part that accounts for the author’s life as both locksmith and scholar, and his gloomy penchant for cultivating sciences and occultism. Conceiving al-Sakkākī’s scientist’s approach to cause and consequence as an attempt to frame them within a coherent divine and cultural project, I argue that his use of logic and wonder can be conceived as the key to a cardiogram-like mapping of emotions accessible to human rationality. My inquiries focus on al-Sakkākī’s understanding of al-ḥaqīqah wa-l-majāz and his bold perlocutionary style, sketching the craftsmans-like basis of his modus operandi in the Miftāḥ to show how the framing of language control in communicative performance retains the power of silence and the mystery of human art. This approach positions the Miftāḥ’s “dryness” and prescriptiveness as the logical output of a project intended to explore the craft, not the beauty, of the handicraft, like a spell that simultaneously performs the prodigy without unveiling its mystery. Key words: al-Sakkākī • balāghah • magic • pragmatics • literary craftsmanship • perlocutionary speech acts

Two Mountains, Two Tricksters: A Comparative Analysis of Nart Sosruquo and Mercurius/Hermes

As this study concerns itself with previous scholarship on the Nart Sagas of the Caucasus—that particularly focus on the figure of Sosruquo—it remedies certain lapses and misrepresentations present in the literature. Furthermore, in its analysis of “Sosruquo and the Inquisitive Ayniwzh” (Colarusso), the study utilizes a Jungian framework to interpret the complex mythological figure of Sosruquo, as to an archetypal dimension of Sosruquo is wanting in previous scholarship. As the study argues Sosruquo presents a unique blend of the divine child, the hero, and the trickster archetypes, it emphasizes the sui generis position of this character in comparative mythology through a close reading of the aforementioned tale—and emphasizing the tension between Sosruquo the figure of Mercurius / Hermes, the latter whom Jung explores in his Alchemical Studies. As the study argues Sosruquo, and therefore on a larger scale, the Nart Sagas cannot be reduced to variations of other mythological corpi, it also establishes Sosruquo as a distinctive figure that breaks through the mold of traditional Jungian dichotomies. The significance of the study lies in the fact that it goes against the grain of the orthodox readings of Caucasus mythology—and yet it does not entrap itself in a contrarianism simply for its own sake. Rather the study intimates a paradigm shift in reading the mythopoeia of the Caucasus within the context of oral literature, a paradigm shift that does not rest on parallelisms and psychologisms.

Learning Etiquette History in an Age of Confessional Ambiguity

*** Scheduled for publication mid-June 2025 *** The evident similarity between the learning etiquette treatises Ādāb al-mutaʿallimīn by (pseudo) Naṣīr al-Dīn al-Ṭūsī (597-672 /1201-1274) and Taʿlīm al-mutaʿallim by Burhān al-Islām al-Zarnūjī (fl. between 576/1180 and ca 640/1242) raises the questions of what distinguishes the two treatises and how divergences between them function. Close reading of the notable interventions that (Ps.) al-Ṭūsī’s Ādāb al-mutaʿallimīn represents allows for modeling them as serving the formation of a Muslim learner who is not specifically Sunnī, even if not particularly Shīʿī either. The analysis sheds light on the role of intellectual borrowing and its place in the midst of confessional ambiguity. Key words: History of Ethics • Learning • Ḥawza • Madrasa • Philosophy of Law

Preaching on the Edge: Presence, Concealment, and the Tension of Truth

Preaching is often imagined as fearless proclamation—unmasking truth in the full light of day. Yet for many preachers, especially those navigating identity-based vulnerability, full self-revelation is neither safe nor possible. This article challenges the familiar dichotomy between pastor and prophet, arguing instead for a homiletic that honors both presence and concealment as interwoven expressions of faithful proclamation. Drawing from incarnational theology, kenotic Christology, performance theory, and queer and coming-out discourse, this study reframes strategic withholding not as a failure of authenticity but as a theological practice of love and wisdom. Through close readings of Scripture and historical exemplars—including Oscar Romero, Pauli Murray, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer—it explores how truth may be proclaimed through subtext, timing, gesture, and silence. In doing so, it proposes a model of preaching rooted in pastoral discernment and prophetic courage, where embodiment becomes proclamation, and discretion emerges as a Spirit-led mode of truth-telling.

The therapeutic effect of fixation using alternative implants for the treatment of hip fractures (FAITH) in elderly patients with femoral neck fractures after falls: a meta-analysis

BackgroundFixation using Alternative Implants for the Treatment of Hip fractures (FAITH) is widely used for the treatment of femoral neck fractures.AimThis study conducted a comparative and meta-analysis of the therapeutic effects of different screw fixation methods in femoral neck fractures, with the aim of finding a better treatment.MethodsPubmed, Embase, Cochrane Library and Web of science databases were searched using MeSH Terms combined with free words without time or language constraints. MeSH Terms were "femoral neck fractures", "Sliding Hip Screw", "Cancellous Screws", "Fixation using Alternative Implants for the Treatment of Hip fractures", "over 50 years old". The search deadline is August 15, 2024. Two researchers sifted through the retrieved literature to come up with the included literature. After a close reading of the literature, Review Manager 5.4 was used to analyze the risk of bias in the included literature, compare various indicators of different screw fixation, and make forest and funnel maps.Results214 literatures were retrieved from 4 databases were included in the study after screening. The bias of the included literature is good, and the randomness and blindness are clearly indicated in this paper. Pauwels Type III (Chi2 = 0.00, df = 3, I2 = 0%, z = 0.80, p = 0.43), fall (Chi2 = 2.23, df = 2, I2 = 10%, z = 1.88, p = 0.06) and Mortality (Chi2 = 4.80, df = 2, I2 = 58%, z = 3.53, p = 0.0004) were lower in sliding hip screws than in cancellous screws. Garden type III and IV (Chi2 = 1.37, df = 3, I2 = 0%, z = 0.71, p = 0.48) and Infection (Chi2 = 0.01, df = 2, I2 = 0%, z = 0.28, p = 0.78) were lower in sliding hip screws than in cancellous screws (Both p > 0.05).ConclusionsIn Femoral neck fractures, sliding hip screws have a distinct advantage over cancellous screws. This has guiding significance for clinical treatment. Elderly patients with femoral neck fractures should be given priority for fixation with sliding hip screws.

Bridging Hebrew and Yiddish: Dvora Baron’s Multilingual Vision in “Ogmat Nefesh”

Dvora Baron’s “Ogmat Nefesh” exemplifies the complexities of early 20th-century Jewish multilingualism, offering distinct Hebrew and Yiddish versions of the story to explore intersections of gender, ideology, and identity. This paper draws on theoretical frameworks from Harshav’s concept of the “language of power”, Miron’s notion of “amphibianism”, Even-Zohar’s polysystem theory, and Brenner’s “lingering bilingualism” to examine how Baron’s bilingual authorship shapes her narrative strategies and critiques systemic inequities. Through close readings of key passages, it analyzes how her linguistic choices influence character portrayal, narrative tone, and thematic emphasis across the two versions. Situating “Ogmat Nefesh” within the historical contexts of Eastern European and Palestinian Jewish communities, the study also considers Baron’s engagement with Zionist and diasporic frameworks and her feminist critique of patriarchal structures. Finally, Baron’s personal experiences of exile and literary seclusion further illuminate the interplay between individual circumstances and cultural production in her work. By engaging with secondary scholarship and feminist perspectives, this study highlights Baron’s contributions to early 20th-century feminist writing and her enduring relevance to debates on multilingualism and cultural identity in Jewish literature.

Medicine at the Jesuit Missions of California

Abstract This article analyzes the development of transcultural medicinal practices and knowledge at the Jesuit missions of the California peninsula during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. It shows how the province’s medical culture depended on— and expanded from—the one previously developed at the Jesuit missions of Sonora and Sinaloa, as well as from the medical culture of New Spain, which had already incorporated significant amounts of Mesoamerica’s medicinal arsenal into Europe’s medical botany. Jesuit medicine in northwest New Spain also incorporated medicines and remedies from Nahua, Mayo, Yaqui, Apache, Cora, Caribbean, and other Indigenous medicinal traditions. A first section describes the generally arid geography of the California peninsula and its great strategic value for the Spanish empire; it also provides a brief history of its early colonization, emphasizing Jesuit missionaries’ medicinal culture, mostly based on a close reading of Miguel Venegas’s Noticia de la California (Information on California; 1757). The second section analyzes the transcultural medicinal culture of the Jesuit missions of northwest New Spain, based on the Florilegio medicinal (Anthology of medicinal knowledge), a foundational collection of remedies written in the Jesuit college of Chihuahua by German-Moravian pharmacist Juan de Esteyneffer (1664–1716), and first printed in Mexico in 1712. The third and main section analyzes the medicinal culture of the California region, based on the 1798 natural history of missionary Miguel del Barco (1706–90), who worked many years as the leading medic in the mission of San Javier. Esteyneffer and Barco codified both Mexican and local remedies and medicines as empirically proven substitutes to their common Mediterranean counterparts, sometimes noting a perceived superior efficacy.

Of Mice and Canines: Anthropomorphizing Animals in Art Spiegelman’s Maus

This research article is mainly concerned with the wide-ranging interpretation of animal metaphors especially the dogs and mice in the graphic novel Maus. In the novel, the mice are the stand-in for the Jews, and the American are taken as dogs. Pondering the metaphor’s aptness and authenticity, the study employs the theories of metaphors and interrogates the metaphorical use of mice and canines in the novel. The methodology of the study is informed by the close readings of the grammatextuality. The analysis of the verbal and visual texts of the graphic novels is carried out by the comparative analysis method. The relation of the verbal and visual sections of the graphic novel are further elucidated by the analysis of the arrangement of the images. In order for the interpretation and the analysis of the evidence collected, an analytical framework consisting of two concepts: suppression of differences and the contradictions of internal validity has been developed so that the mice and canine metaphors in the verbal and visual texts are examined. The graphic novel that has drawn the attention of cognitive linguists to Posthuman animal studies scholars yields an argument: the metaphors employed in this novel lack aptness and authenticity. The researcher argues that the comparison of Americans as dogs and Jews as mice has been interrogated and charged the simplistic and shallow use of metaphor that has created internal inconsistency and turns out to be the inappropriate comparison.

Memes we live by: visual rhetoric on justice

ABSTRACT This essay combines theories of verbal metaphors and visual rhetoric with Chaïm Perelman's work on the rule of formal justice and its six material principles. Taken together, these tools enable a careful analysis of an influential meme group that professes to teach the reader about the meaning of “justice.” The results of this analysis show how multimodal artifacts need to be carefully unpacked to reveal underlying implications. It also illustrates an important phenomenon that can be observed in the juxtaposition of visual and verbal concepts, the rhetorical equilibrium. Understanding the rhetorical equilibrium helps assess the way in which seemingly trivial visual explanations in an educational context can have a complex persuasive structure. Using this tool, the close reading of this meme group shows how small shifts in picture, text, and context can be used to turn seemingly descriptive metaphors into powerful arguments in a justice centered debate.

Messages of Peace and Morality in the Novels Kazak dan Penyerbuan by Leo Tolstoy

Leo Tolstoy (1828–1910) is widely recognized as one of the most influential figures in Russian literature, whose works have had a lasting impact on the global literary canon. This study focuses on a critical analysis of two of his early novels, Kazak dan Penyerbuan, composed during Tolstoy’s service in the Caucasus. Despite their seemingly slow narrative progression, these works employ a deliberate pacing that reflects both the existential stillness of military life and the moral introspection characteristic of Tolstoy’s evolving philosophy. This paper addresses the problem of how Tolstoy articulates the ideals of peace and morality within the structure of narrative and character development in these early works. Utilizing a close reading method combined with historical-literary contextualization, the study identifies three major elements: Tolstoy’s thematic construction of peace, the mediation of moral reflection through dialogue and narrative events, and his technique of narrative immersion. By situating Kazak and The Invasion within the broader historical context of 19th-century Russian imperial expansion into the Caucasus, this analysis contributes to a deeper understanding of Tolstoy’s early engagement with ethical and existential questions. The study proposes that these early texts not only anticipate Tolstoy’s later moral philosophy but also offer a foundational perspective for mapping Tolstoy’s evolving literary and ideological trajectory within Russian literature.

Trauma and Memory in South Asian Partition Literature

The 1947 Partition of British India is the most traumatic event in South Asia, displacing over 14 million and killing almost a million people (Talbot & Singh, 2009). Literature born out of this break in history records the collective and psychological traumas suffered by individuals and groups.The work of trauma and memory in South Asian Partition fiction is critically examined in this academic study, with a focus on narrative meaning in the works of Saadat Hasan Manto, Khushwant Singh, Bapsi Sidhwa, Amrita Pritam, Intizar Hussain, and others. Drawing on trauma theory (LaCapra, 2001; Caruth, 1996) and memory studies (Assmann, 2011), the research investigates the ways in which novels write individual suffering onto shared memory and reconstruct violent histories. Its interests lie in fractured identities, suppressed histories, gendered trauma, and intergenerational transmission of memory. The essay explores Partition literature as a site of witnessing, grieving, and resistance to the erasures of official history through close reading and thematic analysis.The paper also reveals the transnational medium of Partition memory in diaspora fiction. With the coming together of literary analysis, historical fiction, and theories of trauma, this essay excavates the high-stakes game of narrative, memory, and self in post-Partition literary imagination. The evidence is presented to illustrate how Partition literature is not a record of suffering but a successful site of testimonial history and moral intervention.

Antifascist feminisms: forging a travesti-trans international

In her foundational work Feminist International , Argentine feminist theorist and activist Verónica Gago raises one of feminism's most primary and driving questions: ‘[w]hat does it mean to act together when the conditions for doing so have been devastated?’. With the global ascendance of fascism, I take up Gago's feminist provocation anew to suggest that Latin American travesti theorising and activisms are vital to imagining global models of coalition for an antifascist feminism. To do so, the article explores connections (and gaps in conversation) between Latin American travesti theorising, Latin American feminisms, and US feminist theory. I draw specifically on thinkers whose work remains essential to these theoretical projects: travesti theorists and activists Lohana Berkins and Marlene Wayar, Latin American feminist theorist Gago, and US queer of colour critique theorists Cathy J Cohen and Roderick A Ferguson. From an international and intergenerational close reading, I revise feminist political concepts such as ‘transversality’ and ‘transversal politics’ through travesti theory to reimagine antifascist coalition politics. As animating concepts that move us across geographies and scales, transversality and transversal politics shape alliances born of material precarity and proximity, of economies of sex work and incarceration, and of social reproduction and labour. Offering concrete examples of transversality, I connect the feminist strike (2017–) and the travesti reparations movement in Argentina (2017–), analysing each movement's reterritorialisation of social reproduction as the basis for expanded coalition. In doing so, I suggest that together these activist demands show us how to enact and theorise coalition, even before liberation can be imagined. I conclude by calling for a ‘travesti-trans international’ grounded in reparations to illuminate globally articulated projects of fascisms past and present and the centrality of international racial and sexual terror to global fascisms’ operations.

Introduction: On Reading

Abstract This essay serves as the introduction to the special issue on close reading. It begins with the etymology of “read,” tracing its evolution across languages, before examining the material history of books and reading practices in different cultures. It then introduces all the contributions to the issue, which range from highlighting how reading is both an interpretive act and a cultural practice to exploring the role of translation in shaping textual meaning.

Triforce of Canon

The subject of this article is "canon" in the video games. This study examines the formation of canon in video games. The foundation of this research is built upon the synthesis of existing studies on canon in various media, including film and literature. This is achieved through a literature review, which also highlights the absence of analysis on canon in video games. The methodology is close reading technique and comprises an examination of the criteria to be utilized in canon determination with examples from video games. The discussion assesses the implications of canonization for game design, storytelling, and immersion. By advancing the understanding of canon in video games, this research contributes to the advancement of academic discourse about canon.

Von Sprache zu Sprache: Winkler Translating Rübner Translating Himself

Abstract In his 1957 Hebrew language poetry collection, Ha’esh ba’even (The Fire in the Stone), Tuvia Rübner included a poem dedicated to his sister who was murdered in Auschwitz. A close reading of this poem shows its strong connection to German poems he published in various collections during the 1990s, some of which were written shortly after he immigrated to Mandatory Palestine from Bratislava in 1941. Such dwelling between languages comes to the fore in Manfred Winkler’s German translation of Rübner’s Hebrew poem. Focusing on this poem, while employing theories from translation and memory studies, this article examines the relationship between literary self-translation and the working-through of trauma. I argue that the oscillation between German and Hebrew encapsulates the transition between reflection and experience, as well as the enactment and the mourning, of the terrible loss. In analyzing Winkler’s translational choices, the article sheds light on Rübner’s “self-translations,” while calling attention to Winkler’s own engagement with both languages in dealing with the horror of the Holocaust.

The Art of Poetry and the Poetry of Art in Shakespeare’s Sonnets

Abstract This essay explores Shakespeare’s metapoetry, examining the nature of verse and poetic immortality in his Sonnets. Through close readings of Sonnets 17, 54, 78, and 105, it highlights Shakespeare’s self-conscious use of language, amplification, and rhetorical devices to emphasize both the power and limitations of poetry. The analysis also considers his engagement with literary traditions, including themes of procreation, idolatry, and poetic rivalry.

Symbolism and Allegory in English Romantic Poetry Songs of Innocence and of Experience by William Blake

William Blake's Songs of Innocence and of Experience is an important work in English Romantic poetry, known for its use of symbolism and allegory. This study looks at how Blake uses symbols and allegories to show the differences between innocence and experience and how these themes criticize the society and religion of 18th-century England. The goal of this research is to identify important symbols and allegories in Blake's poems and explain their meanings. Using close reading of selected poems like The Lamb, The Tyger, and London, the study examines how these symbols work. The analysis also includes insights from other studies, such as Juanda's work on understanding hidden meanings in modern media (Putri & Juanda, 2021). The findings show that Blake’s symbols, such as the contrast between innocence and experience or nature and industrialization, reflect Romantic ideals and criticize power structures in society. For example, the contrast between The Lamb and The Tyger shows the mix of gentleness and violence in the world. The study concludes that Blake’s use of symbols and allegory adds depth to his poetry, allowing readers to find multiple meanings in his work. This research helps us better understand Blake’s poems and the value of symbolic interpretation in literature. Keywords: William Blake, Symbolism, Allegory

CONSUMPTION OF THE FEMALE BODY IN ILLUSTRATED EDITIONS OF CHRISTINA ROSSETTI’S “GOBLIN MARKET”

Christina Rossetti’s “Goblin Market” (1862) places a great emphasis on the female body, where ravenous consumption of the forbidden fruit is associated with loss of purity. The poem has haunted the imagination of numerous artists, several of them representing the female body in a sexualised manner for voyeuristic purposes, while others refusing to commodify the female body and its experience of suffering. From a feminist perspective and through close reading, this article aims to explore how artists have portrayed the sexual connotations of Rossetti’s “Goblin Market” and their choices when depicting voracious appetite, (sexual) violence and the decaying of the female body.

„Nu credeam să-nvăț a muri vrodată” – „Quando io crederò imparare a vivere, e io imparerò a morire”. O paralelă între Eminescu și Leonardo

This study explores a correspondence between the opening line of Mihai Eminescu’s poem ‟Ode (in Sapphic metre)” — ‟Nu credeam să-nvăț a muri vrodată” [I never thought that I would learn to die] — and Leonardo da Vinci’s laconic aphorism: “Quando io crederò imparare a vivere, e io imparerò a morire” [When I believe I am learning to live, I will learn how to die]. Rejecting the notion of Leonardo’s influence on Eminescu, given the limited accessibility of Leonardo’s writings during the poet’s lifetime, the study investigates a more complex network of possible relationships between these two textual loci. A comparative-genetic methodology is employed, situating both texts within the specific intellectual traditions to which they belong. Leonardo’s aphorism is contextualized within the tradition of ars bene moriendi writings, which proliferated in Europe from the mid-14th century onward. In contrast, Eminescu’s verse emerges as a product of poetic evolution through various stages of the poem’s drafts, spanning a prolonged period. Regarding Schopenhauer’s influence on Eminescu, as well as the transmission of Greco-Roman Stoic philosophy through Schopenhauer, the study highlights both the poet’s exposure to this intellectual tradition and his skepticism toward the applicability of Stoic exercises. Both texts under analysis repurpose formulas with long-standing traditions without adopting the solutions these formulas encapsulate. The subject articulating the formula is distinctly modern, questioning its enduring validity. This conclusion is reached through a close reading analysis, identifying pivotal elements within the two texts, as well as their linguistic and thematic contexts and intersections. The study also delves into the texts’ indeterminacy and the „unsaid”, which undermines a prestigious literalism.