Contemporary Culture Research Articles

The Death Knell for Joy?

The essay explores the puzzling relationship between joy and the problems of postmodern culture, which affect the quality of our being in the world. Reflection on the precarious status of joy and its uncertain position in contemporary culture allows for a unique perspective on this relationship. The higher the political, economic and social stakes, the more the search for joy becomes a search for meaning, an essential nourishment for cultural forms. Such joy, filtered through our struggles with life’s challenges, compels us to examine the consequences of its absence (pain, suffering, joyless existence) and its manifestations in art (music), religion (Christianity), and philosophy (freedom). The power of joy lies in recognizing the inevitable imperfection of all solutions to our problems that do not include it as a fundamental component of life.

Disinterest, normalisation of gender violence and fear of being cancelled: Mediatised learning on antifeminist and anti-LGBTIQ+ discourses among teenagers in Barcelona

This article examines the proliferation of antifeminist and anti-LGBTIQ+ discourses among teenagers in Barcelona (Catalonia) and the role of media and the manosphere – online communities and spaces where discussions about masculinity, anti-feminism, gender relations and men's issues take place – on the pollination of these discourses. Through short-term ethnography conducted in three education centres, involving the collaboration of 59 teenagers between 14 and 18 years old, the study researches the discourses that young people embrace, what mediatised environments are referring to when they speak about gender, feminism and LGBTIQ+ topics, and the meaning young people give to these media content. Findings reveal the manosphere facilitates young people's access to masculinist cultures and point to the urge of addressing the affective dimension of it. To conclude, it highlights the need to challenge these informal learning spaces within contemporary youth culture to promote gender equality and social justice.

Production of Culture in the Vernacular Communities: Confucian Beliefs and the Culture of Shame in Japan

Confucianism has been systematized in Japan since the Tokugawa or Edo period. Since then, Confucianism has contributed to culture in Japan. In fact, influence of the teachings of Confucianism on contemporary Japanese culture is noteworthy. This research therefore examines the influence of Confucianism on the contemporary Japanese society. It employs descriptive-qualitative research methods. All the data was collected through literature. Findings show that Confucianism has influenced contemporary Japanese politics primarily through the Samurai code of ethics or Bushido. Bushido values and morals are applied not only by the Samurai but has become a national code of ethics. The teachings that became national moral values have gradually transformed Japan into a politically stable country. As a result, Confucius' lessons on shame have also influenced the political culture of Japan. Confucius emphasized the importance of leading and governing individuals through morality and decency, which would instill shame in them and cause them to resign if found corrupt. Confucianism is so ingrained in the Japanese culture that its teachings are taken for granted. Many aspects of the Japanese society, including politics, have been influenced by this integration.

Fighting till his Final Breath: Richard Demarco as a Public Intellectual

Richard Demarco has long been a prominent figure in the Scottish cultural sphere. He has been a significant cultural progenitor, raising the profile of the visual arts within Scotland. In his long cultural life he has often come into conflict with Scotland’s cultural ‘officialdom’ and is a strident critic of the present-day Edinburgh Festival and Fringe. This article examines Demarco the public intellectual, often overshadowed by Demarco the provocative, hyperbolic showman. It identifies and contextualises Demarco’s abiding themes, locating them in a belief that art has a unique ability to heal personal and societal wounds. It goes on to examine whether his ‘declinist’ dismissal of much contemporary culture stems from an elitist disdain and whether his cultural vision is nostalgic and narrow. The article also examines Demarco’s critiques of both commercialism and state-supported cultural institutions. It argues that underneath the public persona there lies a unique and challenging cultural vision; one which will survive after his rich cultural life ends.

Etyczny behawioryzm i zwrot relacyjny jako dwa przejawy antyantropocentryzmu

This text discusses three positions within the debate on the moral status of robots. The first, referred to as the “orthodox” position, expresses the still-dominant anthropocentric view in contemporary Western culture, which assigns humans a privileged, central status due to their unique qualities such as consciousness, emotions, free will, etc. The two alternative positions to the orthodox view, ethical behaviorism and relational turn, propose different criteria for attributing moral status than the aforementioned qualities and are interpreted as manifestations of a tendency to deny the unique ontological and axiological status of humans. In the case of ethical behaviorism, humans are “trivialized” to the level of other entities in a reductionist-naturalistic manner, whereas the relational turn involves “extraordinarizing” the non-human by re-legitimizing magical thinking in a posthumanist spirit. Thus, the article illustrates how contemporary cultural tendencies towards dual elimination of human uniqueness, based on reductionist naturalism and magical posthumanism, are revealed in the discussion on the moral status of robots.

EXPLORING THE MYTHS AND REALITY OF SALASAR BALAJI

Oral stories/folk narratives have been passed on from generation to generations in order to preserve culture and history. Myth and mythology have always been at the heart of India’s culture. In this process of passing on traditions, the myths originated in particular time periods have changed their forms and are being moulded according to contemporary needs and demands. The paper focuses on one such site of cultural and historical significance in the northern part of India– Salasar. It has now become one of the most popular religious and cultural sites. The place has rich oral history and is surrounded by various myths associated with Balaji in Salasar. The present paper aims to explore the prevalent myths enveloping this site and to analyse that how this place has acclimatised in accordance with the contemporary times and culture and thrive as popular mythical and miracle place.

The Cultural Construction of NewJeans from the Perspective of Cross-cultural Communication

The communication analysis of Korean pop culture has been the topic of academic research. NewJeans, a K-pop girl group, is a popular global pop music group of the new generation, which has the characteristics of a typical example of cross-cultural communication and strong cultural attraction. This paper attempts to explore the great innovation of the K-pop industry by analyzing its cultural construction, and conducts an empirical study on the text analysis of NewJeans music works. The study found that by establishing a common connection with the market based on the cultural narratives of East Asia and the Western market, and fully utilizing its artistic pursuit as a literary and artistic work, it can express its cultural core of companionship aimed at the young market group, combine the retro elements of the millennium with contemporary popular culture, endow Western mythological stories with contemporary metaphors and modernized expressions, and thus achieve a balance between artistic and market value. Through the analysis of the cultural construction of NewJeans, it can be seen that under the macro-guidance of global market demand, only by respecting the market characteristics of different regions, tapping the internal needs of consumers and guiding the situation in different cross-cultural perspectives can the success probability of cross-cultural communication be increased.

Between media influence and pedagogy in architecture: production of meaning from Luis Barragan’s Pritzker Prize acceptance speech

This text proposes a methodology for teaching and learning the history of architecture, based on the temporal influence of certain legitimizing media as a source of interpretation of architectural languages. The resulting pedagogy is based on the immediate, the mediatic and the mediatized forms, derived from research in architectural communication that analyzes the acceptance speeches of the Pritzker Architecture Prize between 1979 and 2015 and their impact on contemporary architectural culture. It examines the architectural signs enunciated by Luis Barragán and compares them with those of other editions, crossing the information gathered with other approaches, such as that of the languages of the architectural collective imaginary in different contexts, to obtain an alternative didactic for this type of readings. The resulting non-canonical teaching methodology interweaves theories, concepts or terms that reflect the understanding of architecture at a specific time thanks to the work of certain media actors.

Exploring the Functions of Calligraphy in Contemporary Cultural Perspective

Exploring the Functions of Calligraphy in Contemporary Cultural Perspective

Malamente? Niełatwe relacje lokalności i kultury popularnej w twórczości Rosalíi

MALAMENTE? UNEASY RELATIONS BETWEEN LOCALITY AND POPULAR CULTURE IN ROSALÍA’S WORK The aim of the text is to ask questions about how contemporary popular culture enters into transcultural interaction with artistic manifestations of local Spanish identities, using the example of selected works by the Catalan artist Rosalía Vila Tobella, known as Rosalía. The artist mediates between several cultural spaces: Spanish, Andalusian, Roma and Latin American, but also subcultural ones – related to urban culture and the Spanish working class. Importantly, her artistic message should be analyzed both musically and visually. The text examines the relationship between local flamenco culture and popculture in the artist’s work, using the example of the song Malamente from the album El mal querer. There will also mentioned other artist’s audiovisual productions created between 2018 and 2023, which consistently build Rosalía’s musical and visual imaginary on the border of local form of expression – flamenco and global pop culture.

Is the Severity of Preoperative Eyelid Dermatochalasis Directly Correlated with Patient Satisfaction After Upper Blepharoplasty? A Prospective Study Based on PROMs.

Facial ageing, particularly in the periorbital region, is a growing concern in contemporary culture. Upper blepharoplasty, a widely performed cosmetic surgery, addresses both aesthetic and functional issues related to eyelid dermatochalasis. This study aims to investigate patient satisfaction, the relationship between satisfaction and preoperative dermatochalasis severity, and the functional impact of preoperative skin excess. A prospective study was conducted from April 2022 to April 2023, evaluating primary upper blepharoplasty outcomes. Patient-reported outcomes were measured using the FACE-Q questionnaire, assessing quality of life and satisfaction. Preoperative symptoms were evaluated using a functional questionnaire. Dermatochalasis severity was classified into three groups. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS. Seventy-nine patients met inclusion criteria. Postoperative FACE-Q results demonstrated significant improvements in upper eyelid appraisal and satisfaction with eyes. Functional questionnaire results indicated an overall clinical improvement (p<0.01). Visual field tests showed statistically significant improvement in group 3. No correlation was found between preoperative dermatochalasis severity and postoperative aesthetic satisfaction. The study emphasizes the importance of validated questionnaires, particularly FACE-Q, in evaluating patient satisfaction and discomfort with upper lid ageing. Regardless of functional impairments, any degree of dermatochalasis may warrant treatment to ensure patient satisfaction with the cosmetic outcome. On the other hand, the functional benefits and improvements in the visual field also support the impact that the procedure has beyond purely aesthetic aspects. This journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each article. For a full description of these Evidence-Based Medicine ratings, please refer to the Table of Contents or the online Instructions to Authors www.springer.com/00266 .

Research on Value and Influence of Chinese Traditional Culture in Contemporary Cultural and Creative Arts Industry

This paper deeply discusses the value and influence of Chinese traditional culture in the contemporary cultural and creative arts industry. First of all, it introduces the basic concept, development course and the role of Chinese traditional culture and cultural and creative arts industry in today's social and economic development. Secondly, it analyzes the application practice of traditional Chinese cultural elements in the cultural and creative arts industry, including product design, creative planning and value dissemination. Then, it deeply analyzes the positive impact of calligraphy, painting, ceramics and other representative fields on the contemporary market after combining modern design concepts. At the same time, the possible problems and challenges in the process of integration are discussed. Finally, this paper summarizes the role of the government in promoting cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries, and looks forward to the future development.

Technology-empowered Blended Learning: A Case Study of Contemporary American Society and Culture Course

Under the background of integration of technology and higher education, this paper probes the question whether technology can advance liberal education, especial the critical thinking capability required by liberal education, in English major. The paper first identifies English major as a part of the humanity and social science disciplines, in which liberal education is essential and indispensable. Since liberal education emphasizes the capability of critical thinking, the paper then asks whether the integration of technology can promote the student’s critical thinking and therefore facilitate liberal education. The paper then applies the eight principles of critical thinking (TERRIFIC Principles) to evaluate the blended teaching of Contemporary American Culture and Society (CACS), a core course of English major at the Faculty of English Language and Culture, GDUFS. After examining the textbook, syllabus, program setting, teaching practice and assessment of CACS, it is found that blended online and offline teaching is better at developing the student’s capability of critical thinking than traditional offline teaching. The paper concludes that technology-empowered learning is conducive to liberal education.

Transnational Chinese Beautyscapes: Ghetto Glamour and Fake Beauty in Abidjan

This article explores how beauty and fashion practices and imagination have evolved in Ivory Coast since the early 2000s, using secondary sources and ethnographic research conducted in Abidjan in 2017. In addition to identifying alternatives to prevalent Western norms of beauty and style, the article highlights the expansion of Chinese beautyscapes and the ongoing Sinonization of local fashion and aesthetic cultures. It also draws attention to the contradictory features of bobaraba, a term increasingly used to describe Chinese-made clothing and beauty accessories. Though bobaraba is praised as a ghetto glamour and an expression of the urban poor's participation in the global consumer culture, it is frequently viewed as “fake beauty” intended to create an illusion of beauty. This article demonstrates that Chinese consumer goods are increasingly influencing contemporary African fashion culture, beauty ideals, body stylisation, and even sexuality.

I apologize: body positivity love movements

PurposeThis paper delves into the profound influence of societal beauty standards and the prevalence of body shaming in contemporary culture. It explores how these societal norms contribute to self-esteem issues and psychological distress among individuals, particularly young people.Design/methodology/approachThrough the poignant medium of student letters and the power of prayer, it explores the personal experiences and narratives of young individuals who have faced these challenges.FindingsMoreover, this study highlights the transformative role of education in reshaping these societal norms and fostering a culture of body positivity.Originality/valueThis study underscores the potential of student letters and the spiritual guidance of prayer as tools for self-reflection and healing, ultimately advocating for the pivotal role of education in promoting body positivity and challenging the constraints of unrealistic beauty standards and body shaming.

Anger as a feminist instrument of the female superhero in Abhijit Kini’s Angry Maushi trilogy

ABSTRACT This essay examines the unexplored comics trilogy, Abhijeet Kini’s Angry Maushi (2012–2014), studying it against the backdrop of the polemical Indian activism of the 2010s to understand its deployment of the figure of the female superhero and the idea of feminist rage to portray the mapping of citizen dissent against state apathy. Following a mock-heroic format, and drawing on the traditions of the female superhero and citizen caricatures, the trilogy parodies the defining socio-political crises of the 2010s and posits the angry working-class protagonist as a subversive take on the female vigilante superhero to express the collective public rage against the structural political/bureaucratic corruption around her. Harnessing the new visual and verbal vocabularies of civic discontent in contemporary popular culture, the essay attempts to decode the revised templates of protest founded on scepticism, irreverence, and rage as depicted in the comics trilogy.

The Emergence and Influence of Contemporary German Culture and Art

The rise of modern German culture and art is a significant event in European and world history since the 19th century. During this period, Germany s social and economic changes, government cultural policies, and flourishing ideology created an ideal environment for cultural and artistic development. The emergence of modern German culture and art has stimulated innovation in European culture while leaving a profound impact on global artistic trends. Its distinctive style and deep ideologies have served as a wellspring of inspiration for contemporary culture. The remarkable achievements during this period embody Germany s pursuit of artistic and ideological unity, leaving behind valuable cultural heritage for future generations.

Culture War Complexity: How Contaminated Words and Heterodox Positions Challenge Traditional Dichotomies

AbstractThis essay addresses some of the key terminological conflicts of the ongoing culture war between “wokes” and “anti-wokes” in many Western societies. In a public debate culture where words and labels are rapidly contaminated when appropriated by the “other side,” it is increasingly difficult to make sense of the key positions and battle lines to decode who is battling whom. The “culture war matrix” serves as a heuristic tool to contain some of the central culture war positions in an otherwise fragmented space of mediated discourse. Two intersecting tensions are suggested between woke and anti-woke and between cancel culture and free speech. While this two-dimensional understanding by no means exhausts the complex positionings in the culture war landscape, it represents an alternative to the one-dimensional dichotomy-thinking, which reduces the struggle to a matter of left versus right. In conclusion, a third way of understanding contemporary culture wars is suggested by focusing on heterodox impulses and alternative sources of intellectual authority.

The Hebrew Spinoza

Spinoza has gained acceptance into Hebrew culture in the last two centuries, a period that includes the Jewish Haskalah in Europe, the culture created in Eretz Yisrael in the pre-statehood days, and contemporary Israeli culture. This acceptance is rather intimate by nature. Hebrew authors and their readers turned to Spinoza to clarify their own problems. To these audiences, Spinoza was not only a great philosopher, whose writings are worth interpreting and spreading. He was also perceived as someone who could help formulate what Judaism is and learn the possible meaning it can find in the world of Jews who had moved away from a religious lifestyle.

Deciphering China’s higher education outreach paradigm in Southeast Asia: can a neo-tributary perspective work?

AbstractChina’s unprecedented economic rise has fueled scholarly debates about its mentality of power strategy. Pundits have approached China’s strategic objectives through its higher education outreach, with Confucius Institute expansion and international student recruitment as two mostly discussed pathways. Whereas their efforts have been largely oriented by Western lexicon including soft power and center-periphery dichotomy. China’s emerging engagements in higher education aid projects and partnerships, particularly along the Belt and Road, are rarely noticed. Adopting the Chinese history-based neo-tributary perspective as the theoretical lens, this study (re)conceptualizes China’s paradigm for global rise through its higher education export to Southeast Asia, encompassing language training, educational development assistance, student mobility, and institution/program partnerships. Data was collected from documentation, institutional data, and semi-structured interviews with 40 informants from Sino-Cambodian higher education programs. The results suggest that universities serve as a showcase for a more pragmatic Chinese exceptionalism, in which traditional Chinese worldview has been incorporated with scientific outward-looking Western ideals. A cultural recognition-seeking tactic has been experimented through telling stories of China’s attractive contemporary cultures and values in educational practices. China has relied more on utilizing higher education as a tool for short-lived economic incentives, diplomatic alliances, and image-building activities to yield quick returns. However, concrete higher education outreach practices remain scant. Neo-tributary perspective is helpful in systematically examining China’s power projection but still confined to its simplified presuppositions of Sino-centrism. It should integrate pluralistic concepts like tianxia and knowledge diplomacy to unveil China’s interactions with the ‘Global South’ and the ‘Global North’.