Contemporary Culture Research Articles

Constructive alignment of materials in tertiary programs

With the increasing adoption of blended learning, tertiary programs are becoming ever more varied and complicated. Laying at the heart of a range of complex learning activities, the role of blended materials once again comes into discussions concerning learning outcomes. But how do contemporary educators design and use blended materials to support pedagogical goals? In this study, we examine the constructive alignment of blended materials with the learning outcomes of modern language programs. Using pedagogical claims analyses with data gathered in two case studies, we found that educators tend to align materials to the curriculum, student interests, a research agenda and contemporary culture. We conclude our work with a discussion of constructive alignment of materials design and use in tertiary blended learning.

As Teachers Not Tourists: Creating Knowledge During a Short-Term Study Abroad Program

Here, I address the call for teacher education programs to feature international elements to help pre-service teachers craft powerful classroom instruction and successfully work with students from culturally diverse backgrounds. I share a qualitative investigation of participants’ experiences during a short-term study abroad program in Japan that explored contemporary disaster preparedness as a result of the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami. The program sponsors, the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, hoped participants would develop an appreciation for the people and culture of Japan while they learned about disaster preparedness. I wondered if collecting curriculum items during a short-term study abroad program could help social studies pre-service teachers create—not just receive—historical domain knowledge? In Japan, participants collected items to use as featured resources around which they designed classroom activities for secondary students. Their activities demonstrated three levels of second-order historical domain knowledge and two elements of civic competence. This study suggests that pre-service teachers with no previous international experience may require explicit modeling and scaffolding to translate their short-term study abroad participation into dynamic learning. Another implication is that participants need strong support to consider the photographs they capture as artifacts of contemporary material culture.

Patriarchal pacts in the neo-archaic manosphere: warband brotherhoods as fascist masculinity

ABSTRACT This paper situates contemporary manospheric culture within archaic forms of masculine identity formation foundational to patriarchal political orders and fascism. What happens when 21st century emergent masculinity is also what Deleuze and Guattari call a neo-archaism? Drawing from Celia Amoros’ understanding of patriarchy as being primarily composed of masculine pacts and packs, I analyse the manosphere as an neo-archaic space for the formation of brotherhoods. Moreover, these fratriarchal groupings are warbands, reviving the Männerbund as fascist patriarchal pact. An analysis that takes seriously the neo-archaic elements of the manosphere sees the archaic not as past imaginary but a revived force that erupts in the present. We can see the manosphere less as one part of the internet than a transnationally spreading zone that expands this archaic war. Finally, the paper argues that the conjuncture is riven by the revival of a patriarchal power that is primordial, defined as a first order in which gender is foundational to its mythical establishment.

Toward a Critical Non-Humanism in Postwar Japan

Toward a Critical Non-Humanism in Postwar Japan

AI hype, promotional culture, and affective capitalism

AbstractThis article centres AI hype within promotional culture. It incorporates scholarship on hype, affect and emotion from media, communications and cultural studies, as well as from market studies, to pose the following questions: ‘What role does promotional culture play in AI hype cycles?’ ‘What are the main promotional forms of emotion evident in the 2020s AI hype cycle?’ And finally, ‘What are the ethical implications of promoting emotion in AI hype cycles?’ The article explores the growth of twenty-first century promotional culture, particularly in the global tech sector, before examining links between promotional culture, emotion, affect, media and capitalism. Drawing on interdisciplinary approaches, the article contends that AI hype has successfully persisted because now, more than ever, contemporary promotional culture strategically deploys emotions as part of affective capitalism, and the affective nature of a digital media infrastructure controlled by the tech sector. The ensuing analysis isolates different emotions circulated by AI hype, including doomsday hype, draw on examples from the 2020s AI hype cycle. The article concludes by examining the ethics of promotional culture as part of the combined knowledge apparatus supporting value construction in AI.

Loneliness corresponds with neural representations and language use that deviate from shared cultural perceptions

The word zeitgeist refers to common perceptions shared in a given culture. Meanwhile, a defining feature of loneliness is feeling that one’s views are not shared with others. Does loneliness correspond with deviating from the zeitgeist? Across two independent brain imaging datasets, lonely participants’ neural representations of well-known celebrities strayed from group-consensus neural representations in the medial prefrontal cortex—a region that encodes and retrieves social knowledge (Studies 1 A/1B: N = 40 each). Because communication fosters social connection by creating shared reality, we next asked whether lonelier participants’ communication about well-known celebrities also deviates from the zeitgeist. Indeed, when a strong group consensus exists, lonelier individuals use idiosyncratic language to describe well-known celebrities (Study 2: N = 923). Collectively, results support lonely individuals’ feeling that their views are not shared. This suggests loneliness may not only reflect impoverished relationships with specific individuals, but also feelings of disconnection from prevalently shared views of contemporary culture.

What do you meme? – Meme-Making as a research method

ABSTRACT Memes have emerged as a prevalent and influential aspect of contemporary culture and their use is a significant feature of social and relational communications. Yet scant research exists within Higher Education on the use of memes to assist in the research of reactions, emotions, and perceptions. The use of meme-making as a qualitative research tool is grounded in visual research methods. This paper explores a framework for using meme-making as a research tool within Higher Education and considers two case studies that demonstrate how meme-making can been used to capture and communicate the experiences of students. Through these case studies, meme-making was revealed to introduce an element of levity and humour whilst being versatile, flexible, and easily dovetailed to other qualitative approaches. Familiarity with the medium and construction process drew upon an instilled sense of ownership revealing the method to be accessible across a diverse participant base.

Fun with friends in the pogodrome: Dancing the disorder in French punk culture

Based on French expressions of contemporary punk culture, this article looks at the formation of the pogo during gigs. Although this dance is one of the characteristics of punk expression, it remains little studied. From an interactionist perspective, using a comparative approach between different ethnographic fields, the aim is to understand how the order of the pogo is negotiated by the actors involved. More than that, the aim is to understand how this improvised collective dance produces disorder and gives rise to a community experience. To do this, we are interested in the context in which the pogo takes place. Venues play a decisive role in the implementation of this dance and help to create a playful space–time. A new world of meaning is created: the pogodrome. From then on, the physical commitment of the participants is linked to the rules of the pogodrome, and the breaks in interaction reveal the limits of the framework thus formed. Finally, the pogo appears to be a tool for embodying disorder, both physical and sociopolitical. In fact, the pogodrome becomes a territory of disorder, taken over by communities of practitioners that sometimes last beyond the time of the concert.

Bandeiras nacionais e retórica política: uma comparação semiótica entre Itália e Brasil

This study explores the semantic and symbolic complexity of flags in contemporary culture. Discussing specific examples in Italy, it analyzes how a variety of contexts employ flags, showing their socio-political, communication, and cultural connotations. It uses semiotic theories to describe the relation between flags and their meanings in different situations, highlighting the ambiguity inherent in these symbols and their role in expressing national identity, protest, and power. This study also addresses the influence of material, color, and context on the interpretation of flags.

Karkulehto S.A., Koistinen, K., & Varis, E. (Eds.). (2019). Reconfiguring human, nonhuman and posthuman in literature and culture. Routledge.

The current climate crisis and the rapid and drastic changes our planet is undergoing at the moment demand a re-thinking of the way in which humanity and nonhumanity are understood. Reconfiguring Human, Nonhuman and Posthuman in Literature and Culture aims to investigate human, nonhuman and posthuman representations in contemporary culture and literature, and analyse the way in which these concepts are reconfigured within the context of the Anthropocene. The volume is part of the Perspectives on the Non-Human in Literature and Culture series edited by Karen Raber, a series that investigates how the non-human is represented in literary and cultural studies. Building on seminal works of authors such as Donna Haraway, Rosi Braidotti, Karen Barad, N. Katherine Hayles, but also on newer scholarship such as Serenella Iovino and Serpil Oppermann’s “material ecocriticism” or Marco Caracciolo’s phenomenology of narrative, this volume seeks to understand the cultural changes engendered by the Anthropocene. 

When Sammy Gronemann Met Nathan Alterman: The Story of Israel’s Most Successful Comedy

Abstract The essay delves into the intricate German-Jewish authorship and enduring legacy of the iconic Israeli musical, “King Solomon and Shalmai the Cobbler,” which premiered in Tel Aviv in 1943. Following its success, a contentious debate arose, overshadowing Sammy Gronemann’s rightful credit as the playwright, subsequently replaced by the prominence of his Hebrew translator, Nathan Alterman. This essay meticulously examines Gronemann’s pivotal contribution, illuminating his collaborative journey with Alterman from the vibrant cabaret scene of pre-state Tel Aviv to their lasting impact on contemporary Israeli culture and theater. By dissecting their creative partnership, it becomes evident that while Gronemann’s playwright prowess shone brightly and set new standards, Alterman’s adept translation skills bolstered the play’s success, thereby etching its indelible mark in Israeli theatrical history.

“Hip Hop and the Televisual Global South: Atlanta and Sintonia”

In recent years, audiences in the United States and around the globe have witnessed an explosion of television and streaming content focused on hip hop. Such content contemplates, historicizes, promotes, and represents the art form, artists, industry, and regional genres that have together emerged as a central feature of contemporary popular culture. This article explores the spatial and thematic links to the theoretical Global South in Atlanta and Sintonia. Analyzing the series’ respective portrayals of race and inequality from the margins, I examine how hip-hop/ funk and the Global South function as narrative tools and symbolic spaces through which notions of a shared precarity stemming from global flows of capital are constructed, consumed, and challenged. By considering the series’ connections to the Global South, this article contributes to a growing body of work that aims to move beyond research that centers the west and the nation-state.

The Dark Side of Branding: Language and the Real in Colson Whitehead’s Apex Hides the Hurt (2006)

The protagonist, an unnamed African American nomenclature consultant, has been a victim of his own trade: his stroke of genius, the name and advertising slogan for a band-aid that fits the many skin tones of multicultural America, “Apex Hides the Hurt”, has ironically cost him an infected toe that he merely covered with the adhesive bandage instead of having it treated. When he is asked to arbitrate the rebranding of the town of Winthrop, the ad man faces both an onomastic and an existential challenge.This paper draws on specific aspects of the philosophy of language to discuss the motivation of signs in relation to naming strategies and analyzes the performatives, performances, and diverse conditions of felicity that naming implies. The former is indebted in part to the legacy of Plato’s Cratylus and branding manuals—strange bedfellows; the latter draws from J. L. Austin’s speech act theory, as revisited by Barbara Cassin and Judith Butler. In both conceptions the real comes to dwell in language, either as a determining factor or as a product of a world-shaping activity. Since Apex is a fiction of naming, it provides an imaginary “actual” context for this verbal act. It can also describe the failed encounters between language and the real, the attempts at euphemizing or repressing reality, as well as the shattering irruptions of the real within discourse. As a satire of corporate culture and its bearing on “race”, it also generates an interface with the reality of contemporary American culture.

Harmonizing Tradition and Innovation: Exploring Cross-cultural Elements in Contemporary Chinese Piano Compositions

With the globalization of music education, the piano has emerged as a universally embraced instrument, serving as a conduit for cultural exchange. Chinese piano music, a fusion of traditional Chinese and Western cultures, occupies a crucial position in global music education. This study investigates the cultural significance, impact on cultural identity, cross-cultural elements, and pedagogical approaches associated with contemporary Chinese piano compositions. Through qualitative analysis of survey data collected from 30 music majors at Yunnan University of the Arts Wenhua College, several key findings emerged. Chinese piano music plays a vital role in representing contemporary Chinese culture on a global stage, harmonizing traditional elements with innovative approaches. Engagement with this genre positively influences cultural identity and pride among students, fostering a deeper connection to their heritage. The study identifies cross-cultural elements and innovative techniques in Chinese piano compositions, providing insights for educators and composers. Furthermore, it highlights the need for a more balanced representation of Chinese piano music in music education curricula, addressing gaps and biases in current pedagogical approaches. Overall, this study contributes to a deeper understanding of contemporary Chinese piano music's cultural significance and its implications for music education, cultural diplomacy, and compositional innovation.

Holocaust***Gulag: Repressing, Rescuing, and Regulating Recalcitrant Legacies

Abstract Is it possible to bring into conversation two different traumatic legacies that occurred in the twentieth century in Europe? How can we engage in productive conversation about two totalitarian systems that repressed, incarcerated, dehumanized, and murdered people deemed enemies of the state or unworthy of living? These were some of the challenging questions addressed in the roundtable symposium “Holocaust***Gulag: Repressing, Rescuing, and Regulating Recalcitrant Legacies.” The symposium aimed at addressing specific aspects of the difficult and painful histories of the Holocaust and the Gulag, and to probe how these long-lasting legacies intrude into contemporary society, culture, religion, and politics.

Better Living Through Creepy Technology? Exploring Tensions Between a Novel Class of Well-Being Apps and Affective Discomfort in App Culture

Well-being apps promise to improve people's lives. Yet evidence shows that the data-hungry app culture that contextualizes well-being apps normalizes the user experience of affective discomfort. This apparent contradiction raises a difficult question: Is it responsible to ask people to improve their well-being by engaging further with an app culture that normalizes affective discomfort? We approached this question by deploying an online, scenario-based survey (n=688) about a fictional, but realistic well-being app called "Thalia." Thalia represents a novel class of well-being apps that are envisioned to: (i) utilize AI-driven facial recognition and analysis; and (ii) collect data for use in medical contexts. We found that people perceived Thalia to be affectively discomfiting even as they judged Thalia to be beneficial. Such findings imply a trade-off between 'better living through technology' and the negative affective implications of surveillance capitalistic app culture. Such a trade-off necessitates high-level analysis of just what "well-being" means in the context of contemporary app culture. Through analysis and discussion, we explore a troubling interplay between novel well-being apps and affective discomfort that requires careful attention from HCI researchers if human-centered well-being -- flourishing -- is truly what our products are intended to foster.

What is ‘freelance feminism’?

This article introduces the concept of ‘freelance feminism’: a term we use to highlight how a combination of casualised precarious labour and platformised entrepreneurialism constitute a key terrain through which contemporary feminist work is enacted. The article proposes that this term can be a way to understand new formations and constellations of activity which are being shaped in the intersections between precarity, feminism and entrepreneurialism. How, in what ways, and with what consequences are feminist activism and platformised entrepreneurialism becoming entwined? How are new forms of self-promotion, self-branding and precarity shaping feminist cultures? Are entrepreneurial projects more broadly taking on feminist forms and, if so, how can we understand their politics? To explore these issues, the article examines in turn (1) neoliberal, short-term, precarious labour in the cultural industries and its exacerbation during the pandemic, (2) contemporary entrepreneurial ‘platformisation’ and (3) the increased visibility of feminism in contemporary popular culture. It concludes by introducing the range of articles in the special issue.

Selection and Increasing Complexity in Evolution

This paper explores the concept of complexity in the evolution of life and human culture, proposing that the overarching increase in complexity is driven by the fundamental mechanism of selection. From the origin of life to contemporary human culture, selection plays a pivotal role in favoring complexity in reproductive processes and cultural expressions. The paper distinguishes two main phases of life on Earth: the emergence and evolution of life and animals, and the subsequent emergence of the human species with its complex cultural expressions. Despite apparent differences, both phases are argued to be guided by the same fundamental mechanism—selection, taking various forms such as adaptive natural selection, non-adaptive selection, sexual selection, and memetic selection. The paper identifies the acquisition of language as a crucial development, influenced by imitation and sexual selection, and suggests that the strong selective pressure for language has driven the rapid growth of the human brain and intelligence. This enhanced intelligence, in turn, has played a pivotal role in cultural, scientific, and technological achievements marked by unprecedented levels of complexity. The role of memetic selection is explored in the dissemination of religion across human societies, and the unintended consequences of Martin Luther's introduction of literacy and schooling for Western culture are examined. By integrating evolutionary principles with cultural and linguistic insights, this paper offers a comprehensive perspective on the unifying force of selection in the evolution of complexity in life and human culture.

Grief Universalism: A Perennial Problem Pattern Returning in Digital Grief Studies?

The year 2024 marks one decade of scholarship in the new interdisciplinary field of Digital Death, concerning the study of death, dying and grief in the digital age. This paper addresses one key subfield of Digital Death Studies, here termed Digital Grief Studies, which centres on theory, research and design concerning grief in today’s digitally saturated contexts. It argues that a classic grand pattern in scholarly treatments of grief—Grief Universalism—with a long, problematic history in Grief and Bereavement Studies, is reappearing in Digital Grief Studies. The Continuing Bonds theory of grief and its application in theory, research and design in Digital Grief Studies is used to demonstrate Grief Universalism in action in our field via hypothetical and fictional examples. This builds toward this paper’s big aim: to illustrate what we as an emerging field stand to gain from positioning the established field of Grief and Bereavement Studies as a veritable goldmine of advances—as well as pitfalls, wrong turns, and recurrent problem patterns to be avoided—generated over a hundred years of scholarship concerning human grief. Harnessing this wealth of prior learning and leveraging it toward the furtherance of our field in the coming decade and beyond becomes more crucial as we repel the seemingly perennial magnetism of Grief Universalism, as we operate within an interdisciplinary field vulnerable to Universalism and as yet unaware of its perils, and amid contemporary digital cultures and environments that may preserve and reinforce universalist grief framings.

No Lives Matter: Resisting Nihilism, Recuperating the Human

ABSTRACT Taking the slogan “no lives matter” as a starting point to diagnose the nihilism of our contemporary political culture, in this essay I tie the rise of nihilism to the resurgence of far-right political movements, chiefly the neo-reactionary thought of Nick Land. Following my discussion of Land and the culture of apocalyptic nihilism, I elucidate a Black feminist and decolonial perspective that, I argue, resists this creeping nihilism, and instead offers avenues of engaged political praxis for recuperating the politics of personhood. Using Sylvia Wynter’s work as an exemplar of such a perspective, I perform a rhetorical criticism of Land’s essay “The Dark Enlightenment” through the lens of Wynter’s understanding of the human. Critiquing his arguments, I argue that Wynter’s work offers a radical alternative to Land’s apocalypticism and antihumanism, one that maintains a commitment to reimagining the human rather than disavowing it.