Contemporary Culture Research Articles

Civilizing Russia's “Barbarous Kingdom”

Abstract The Hulu series The Great, an ahistorical satire of the eighteenth-century Russian Empire, set at the courts of Peter III and Catherine II, doubles as a critique of contemporary politics and culture. Created for Anglophone audiences with little knowledge of history, but aware of stereotypes of Russia as a despotic, dysfunctional backwater, the show's appeal rests on the love-hate relationship between Peter the bro-emperor and the “girlboss” empress Catherine, as well as the expectation that Catherine, ultimately, will “have-it-all.” This article examines the gender dynamics structuring Peter's and Catherine's narrative arcs and argues that Catherine's trajectory from naïve, self-declared enlightened European princess to skilled, pragmatic ruler undermines Peter's attempt to liberate himself from an outdated model of masculinity.

Howdy Comrade

Abstract American and Western audiences have long come to understand Soviet and Russian womanhood, and thus US womanhood, from representations in popular televisual texts. While there is a long history of popular culture presenting the “othered” women of Eastern Europe, for example as temptress “Bond girls” during the Cold War, these narratives have continued onscreen into the twenty-first century. We examine the myriad representations from both the Cold War and post-Cold War period, noting the typical narrative constructions that focus on femme fatales, psychological and sexual trauma, and economic precarity, and how these have continued in contemporary popular culture to shore up notions of Western cultural and political superiority. The characters and the situations in which they find themselves, as spies, assassins, and double agents, continue to send messages about danger and dominance regarding both gender and geopolitics.

“You’re my people”

In The Last of Us Part II, the second installment in the hit video game series, players are made to reckon with the moral consequences of its protagonist Joel’s disastrous actions in the previous game. For his inaugural column, Ramzi Fawaz argues that the sequel “is one of contemporary popular culture’s most explicit statements of what political theorist Hannah Arendt calls ‘representative thinking.’” The video game as a medium makes representative thinking an embodied experience, forcing players into a range of perspectives and moral positions as they both commit and become victims of virtually enacted violence. In doing so, the game functions a critique of “the ceaselessly spreading network of human violence and its unforeseen consequences,” and testament to the forms of collectivity and connection that are forged in its wake.

On the Re-Alienation Experiences of the Amateur Runners in Istanbul

In contemporary mass culture, individuals are increasingly subjected to standardization, homogenization, and objectification, leading to experiences of alienation within the societal framework shaped by it. Despite efforts to fortify connections with oneself, the environment, society, and meaning, individuals may still find themselves immersed in alienation within the societal structure they inhabit. Through heightened awareness, individuals strive to reclaim their authentic identities, utilizing various means to distance themselves from alienation. However, this pursuit may paradoxically result in renewed ruptures in connections, as individuals encounter re-alienation, finding themselves ontologically identical yet formally distinct within the alienation process. Amidst the complexities of modern life, individuals often seek self-realization through recreational pursuits like running. Hence, this study endeavors to examine the phenomenon of re-alienation, particularly among amateur runners. By conducting semi-structured, in-depth interviews with runners in Istanbul, the study explores both the process of distancing from alienation and the experience of encountering re-alienation through running. Through its investigation, the study aims to contribute to scholarly discourse on alienation, self-realization, and re-alienation with the lens of critical communication studies. By analyzing the lived experiences of individuals, the research seeks to deepen our understanding of the intricate dynamics of alienation and resilience in contemporary society. Research findings show that running as a recreational activity strengthens individuals' connections with themselves, nature, their social environment, meaning, and values, thereby allowing for a sense of autonomy to be achieved; however, due to social infrastructure and individual psychological tendencies, subject and object fetishes can be developed in relation to running activities, leading to experiences of re-alienation. Keywords: alienation, self-realization, mass culture, sports and recreational studies, critical communication studies

Działalność pastoralna Kościoła w świetle Dossier Europejskiego Zgromadzenia Synodalnego

Started by Pope Francis in 2021, the Synod on Synodality is intended to be a guiding principle for the self-awareness of the Church in the coming decades of the 21st century. The Church faces numerous challenges as a global institution, grappling with various issues among its followers who currently inhabit all continents. The situation of young churches in Africa, emerging after the era of colonialism, is different, as they seek their own identity. Similarly, the Church operates differently on the Old Continent, permeated by ideas of freedom, secularism, and liberalism. This article focuses on certain topics presented by participants of the synodal meeting in Prague in early 2023, addressing the functioning of the Church in Europe. The content of the article centers around the discussion of the idea of synodality and its place in the history of the Church and its current ecclesial vision. It then explores the relationship between mercy and truth in theology, openness to contemporary culture while preserving tradition, and the dynamics of power competition within the Church. All of these aspects are presented based on the Dossier of the Synodal Meeting in Prague, which outlines practical and pastoral challenges for the Church’s activities in Europe.

(Di)Simulation of the Bestiary Genre in Animalia exstinta by Esteban Seimandi, Hugo Horita, and Juan Cruz Bazterrica

This article explores one of the latest branches in the evolution of the bestiary genre in contemporary Hispanic literature, (di)simulating bestiaries. The bestiary, a literary genre that proliferated during the medieval period, drew attention with its illustrations and illuminations, as well as the allegories it featured, fulfilling a didactic, Christian function. Although new Hispanic bestiaries published in the past two decades respect the form of the bestiary, that is to say, the presentation of the message with a title, image, and short text, they also offer increasingly creative interpretations that play with the content of the genre. This article explores a subcategory of bestiaries, which through their content pose as other genres for ludic literary purposes. The present study focuses on Animalia exstinta, written by Esteban Seimandi, illustrated by Hugo Horita, and designed by Juan Cruz Bazterrica. Using Jean Baudrillard’s concepts of simulacra and simulation, as well as surface and symptomatic reading, the article analyzes how Animalia exstinta simulates an environmental manifesto from fragments of contemporary Argentine culture and nostalgia.

N. MICHELLE MURRAY. Home Away from Home: Immigrant Narratives, Domesticity, and Coloniality in Contemporary Spanish Culture. Chapel Hill: U of North Carolina P, 2018. 226 pp.

Reseña de Home Away from Home: Immigrant Narratives, Domesticity, and Coloniality in Contemporary Spanish Culture de N. Michelle Murray.

Walking on the Wild Side: Indigeneity, Passion, and Nation in Guillermo Saccomanno’s La lengua del malón

Although the historical novel produced in Argentina after the fall of the last dictatorship has been characterized by the principle of inclusion, the representation of Indigenous peoples in the re-imagining of national narratives has contributed, ironically, to their marginalization. This article focuses on the ways La lengua del malón (2003) by Guillermo Saccomanno engages critically with national narratives from a peripheral position in order to escape the genre’s colonial limitations and proposes narrative strategies that allow the author not only to recognize the country’s Indigenous heritage, but also to acknowledge the continuous presence of Indigeneity in contemporary Argentinean culture.

Exploring Consumer Preference for Sustainable Design Attributes in Music-Inspired Products: Integration of Sustainable Development Goals

Music, as a transcultural art form, offers auditory enjoyment and conveys profound emotion and distinctive imagery. In the era of emotional consumption and within contemporary consumer culture, elements of musical imagery have become intricately entwined with product design, providing consumers with deeper visual and emotional experiences. We explored consumers’ cognitions and preferences concerning the integration of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) indicators into the attributes of music-related imagery products. The Attractiveness Ergonomics IPA (Importance-Performance Analysis) and IRPA (Importance-Relative Performance Analysis) methods were used to evaluate attractiveness and impact on consumer satisfaction. The results showed how music-related imagery products integrate art, culture, and social responsibility to attain a more profound influence. They also unveiled product design elements such as “visual aesthetics” and “color selection” to attract consumers. Additionally, the significance of incorporating SDG indicators into the design of music-related imagery products was found to increase social responsibility and sustainable development. The study’s outcomes allow for a deeper understanding of consumers’ preferences and requirements concerning the design attributes with SDG indicators in music-related imagery products. Valuable insights for the design and marketing of such products propel the application and dissemination of sustainable development goals within the realm of music.

Examining the crucial societal incentive approaches and their impact mechanisms to enhance the purchase intention of carbon-labeled products: A conjoined application of PLS-SEM and NCA methodologies

Enhancing consumers’ purchase intention for carbon-labeled products is crucial for the sustainable development of the market economy. This study aims to address a key challenge by exploring the often-overlooked impact of external incentive mechanisms in the existing literature. Utilizing partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) and necessary condition analysis (NCA), the research dissects survey data from 730 Chinese consumers. It reveals the complex influence of four social incentives (i.e., monetary incentives, price incentives, spiritual incentives, and information incentives) on purchasing intentions from the perspective of perceived value. The results indicate that consumers’ awareness and trust in carbon labels are highly important but show modest performance. To be specific, among the four incentive measures, information incentives significantly promote purchasing intentions, followed by spiritual incentives. Interestingly, although the price incentives are a key precondition for increasing purchasing intentions, they do not show a direct and statistically significant effect. Besides, monetary incentives specifically facilitate the formation of purchasing intentions by enhancing consumers’ perception of the efficacy of carbon-labeled products, while information incentives promote intentions by influencing consumers’ desire for value expression. Benefiting from these four incentive measures, this study provides valuable insights to help develop effective strategies for promoting carbon labeling and green products, refine the design of environmentally friendly choice architectures for public policy, and enhance our understanding of consumer behavior in contemporary culture.

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

Towards an Understanding of Embodiment in Digital Space – A Practical Theological Perspective

Abstract This article presents a theoretical exploration of the notion of embodiment as it pertains to practical theology and lived religion. In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, religious communities responded by increasing engagement with digital spaces and digital forms of worship. This necessarily challenges traditional notions around the idea of embodiment and how the body is understood in non-corporeal religious space. Contemporary memorial culture and its ritualised behaviour provides an effective lens with which to observe and study the evolving role and understanding of digital embodiment. This article uses a ritual perspective to deconstruct traditional notions around the corporeal body and explores the role of memory as an important consideration at the nexus of offline-online life.

AI hype, promotional culture, and affective capitalism

AI hype, promotional culture, and affective capitalism

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.

Exploring Repeated Linguistic Translations in Contemporary Arab Culture: Revisiting Generative Linguistics Translated Works

Exploring Repeated Linguistic Translations in Contemporary Arab Culture: Revisiting Generative Linguistics Translated Works