Critical Humanities Research Articles

Channeling Midsommar from Celtic Rituals to Pagan Culture and Humanist Criticism

Midsommar presents pagan tradition by hosting a midsummer festival by the cult Hårga in Halsingland, Northern Europe. The midsummer festival is a representation of Celtic ritual –consisting of several rituals as a pagan tradition preserved by the Hårga cult. This research aims to identify the representation of Celtic rituals in Ari Aster's Midsommar using Stuart Hall's perspective. Hall (1997) explained that representation is born from the production of the concept of meaning in the mind through language. The representation of Celtic rituals in Midsommar is a form of Hårga’s pagan tradition that among others provokes humanist criticism. This research uses a qualitative method with a cinematography approach. The research data was collected from direct observation of dialogue, narrative, and scenes in the film Midsommar –and presented in the form of selected screenshots. The results of this research include: 1) Midsummer festival is a representation of Celtic ritual. It symbolizes the gratitude of the Hårga cult. 2) Midsummer festival contains ritual instruments that convey the essence of Hårga’s pagan tradition and raise humanist issues. It negates humanity in some of its rituals, thus provoking humanist criticism as a rejection of the Celtic rituals represented. Midsommar menceritakan tradisi pagan festival musim panas oleh kultus Hårga di desa Halsingland, Eropa Utara. Festival musim panas dalam adalah representasi ritual Kelt -terdiri dari beberapa ritual sebagai tradisi pagan yang dilestarikan kultus Hårga. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengidentifikasikan representasi ritual Kelt dalam film Midsommar karya Ari Aster menggunakan perspektif Stuart Hall. Hall (1997) menjelaskan bahwa representasi lahir dari produksi konsep makna dalam pikiran melalui bahasa. Representasi ritual Kelt dalam Midsommar merupakan bentuk tradisi pagan kultus Hårga yang diantaranya mengundang kritik humanis. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode kualitatif dengan pendekatan sinematografi. Data penelitian dikumpulkan dari pengamatan dialog, narasi, dan adegan secara langsung dalam film Midsommar -dan disajikan dalam bentuk gambar tangkapan layar terpilih. Hasil penelitian ini meliputi: 1) Festival musim panas adalah representasi ritual Kelt. Festival musim panas dalam Midsommar melambangkan rasa syukur dari kultus Hårga. 2) Festival musim panas mengandung instrumen ritual yang menyampaikan tradisi pagan kultus Hårga serta menimbulkan isu humanis. Festival musim panas dalam Midsommar menihilkan kemanusiaan dalam beberapa ritualnya sehingga mengundang kritik humanis sebagai penolakkan terhadap ritual Kelt yang direpresentasikan.

“Warm Robots” for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder? The Thermodynamics of Human Sociality and the Technology of Inclusion in South Korea

Over the past several years, robots that help children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) to develop social skills have emerged as an archetype of “warm robots” in South Korea’s public science and technology discourses. This paper critically examines the socio-historical and conceptual meanings of this phenomenon. First, it traces how these robots have come to bear the “warmth” imaginary of new techno-society at the juncture of two national trends: the promotion of humanist pursuits of new technologies since the 2010s, and the Fourth Industrial Revolution initiated by the 2016 Davos Forum. Second, it analyzes the thermodynamics entailed by the current idea of therapy robots—that these robots bear the warmth of an imaginary techno-society, while the human warmth of autistic children remains bracketed and their mothers’ caregiving serves to insulate these human-robot interactions from broader sociality. By illuminating the complex social implications of such thermodynamics, this paper aims to move beyond the liberal humanist critique of machinic dehumanization of people with autism by criticizing its undergirding scheme of robots as surrogates for devalued gendered, racialized, and colonial labor. In doing so, this paper opens space for re-envisioning a more inclusive and diverse techno-society in South Korea and elsewhere.

Epistemological Foundations of Transmarxism

This article outlines the epistemological foundations of transmarxism through a decolonial Marxist humanism taking up groundwork laid in Transgender Marxism (2021) by Nathaniel Dickson as a starting point. The transmarxist critique of alienated life via the continued subjection of trans people to an arbitrary and finite set of external determinations coincides with hi[r]storical materialism and a decolonial humanist critique of racial capitalism. While there are many debates around various forms of humanism, this article takes the position that a decolonial Marxist humanism does not have to put forward a problematically sexist, racist, or anthropocentric understanding of the human to say that there is nothing proper to the human other than impropriety. As argued in the latter half of the article, the historical and conceptual relations binding revolutionary Marxist humanism to the theory and praxis of autonomous queer, trans, and feminist struggles found in the work of Sylvia Wynter, Wages Due Lesbians, and the concept of hi[r]storical materialism are critical to ending colonial capitalist imperialism, fighting fascism, and revealing the limitations of liberal inclusion as a long-term solution to antitrans violence.

Humanist Missteps, A Black Studies Critique of Posthumanist Archaeologies

Posthumanist archaeologies have attempted to move beyond humanist conceptions of the human for over a decade. But they have done so by primarily focusing on the ontological split between humans and non-human things. This only addresses one part of humanism, as Black studies scholars have long argued that it also equates humanity writ large with white, economically privileged, cis-gendered, heterosexual men, thereby excluding everyone else from the category of the human. They further argue that the violence and oppression inflicted on those excluded from humanism's definition of the human allows this ontological category to come into being. This article introduces Black studies’ critiques of humanism and applies them to posthumanist archaeologies. Ultimately, it argues that by not attending to the critiques raised by Black studies scholars, posthumanist archaeologies have inadvertently made humanist missteps wherein they continue using elements of humanism's definition of the human in their attempts to move beyond humanism.

Commentary

Greer offers an excellent primer on some Black Studies scholars’ critiques of humanism, for which he uses the label ‘counter-humanism’ after Erasmus (2020), distinguishing these approaches from ‘posthumanism.’ He identifies two primary strains of posthumanism relevant to archaeological interpretation, symmetrical archaeology and posthuman feminism, though examples of the latter are drawn from a broader body of academic literature and are subject to less critique. Posthumanists are shown to prioritize dismantling a human–object divide, while counter-humanists critique the human–non-human split. This may appear to be more or less the same project, but the framing of ‘A/not-A’ rather than ‘A–B’ emphasizes the hegemonic relationships between these categories, the continuity within, and makes more explicit the fact that people are included in both the non-human and object categories.

Hume's criticisms of induction and Peirce's semiotic epistemology: the value of pluralistic approaches for organizational knowledge

This article proposes a comparative analysis between two fundamental philosophical theories that contribute to the construction of knowledge: David Hume's Critique of Induction and Charles Sanders Peirce's Cooperation of Truth. We will examine how these two approaches address the process of knowledge acquisition and reasoning. While Hume questions the validity of induction, Peirce develops a semiotic epistemology based on sign mediation. The analysis demonstrates that both highlight the role of inference in knowledge acquisition, though there are differences regarding the reliability of inductive reasoning. Furthermore, while Hume emphasizes the problem of justification, Peirce focuses on the cooperative pursuit of truth. By exploring these theories, we aim to discuss how they contribute to our understanding of the process through which we acquire and justify knowledge, also within an organizational context.

Experiences of Parental PTSD for Children Aged 9–17 in Military and Emergency First Responder Families

AbstractThis study is the first to examine the experiences of children aged 9–17 who have a military or emergency first responder (EFR) parent with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). These experiences of children are important to understand through a lens of intergenerational trauma theory, given the high rates of PTSD in these service populations. Additionally, we need to know if they differ from the experiences of children of civilian parents with PTSD. To examine this, we conducted a total of 17 in-depth interviews in Australia with 5 service parents, 5 co-parents and 7 children aged 9–17 who have a parent who had formerly served in the military or an emergency service. Interviewees were not always from the same family. The families included single-parent, dual-parent, separated, and same-sex families. Gender and service type (military or EFR) were evenly distributed among interviewees. We used a critical humanist approach and undertook a reflexive thematic analysis of the interview data. The major themes were (1) parental emotional extremes, volatility, and unpredictability, (2) changes in home and family relations, (3) impacts on child wellbeing, and (4) PTSD awareness and help-seeking. We found evidence of specific impacts for children related to a combination of parental PTSD symptoms and service conditioning and culture. This study highlights the role of reduced parental capacity in the transmission of trauma from parent to child. It provides an evidence base to direct policy and research into targeted and culturally specific therapeutic interventions and support services for children and parents in service families living with PTSD.

Petrus Berchorius bei den Dunkelmännern

Abstract With his ‘Ovidius moralizatus’ ( c. 1340 ), a Christian-allegorical interpretation of Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Petrus Berchorius ( Pierre Bersuire ) significantly contributed to the rehabilitation of Classic mythology across Christian Europe, and the treatise was widely distributed in various manuscripts for almost two centuries. When it first appeared in printing in 1509, however, the book encountered a significantly different intellectual environment, and it became involved in the dispute between traditionally minded Dominicans and a group of pre-reformation humanists which escalated in the ( in- )famous ‘Pfefferkorn controversy’ at Cologne university. Its humanist critics mocked the work of the alleged Dominican Berchorius ( in fact, he had been a Benedictine ) in their famous satire ‘Epistolae obscurorum virorum’, ridiculing Berchorius’ Christian interpretation of Classical mythology.

Perception of care from the perspective of nursing students: A study using photovoice, storytelling and poetry

BackgroundThe Higher Education in Nursing requires providing students with skills such as critical and reflective thinking about the actions to be carried out so that they are capable of providing humanised and quality care in an increasingly complex and technified society. Participatory teaching methodologies promote the development of these skills. Objectivesto explore the potential of photovoice, storytelling and poetry as instruments capable of encouraging reflection. To identify through images (photovoice) and poetic narratives (storytelling and poetry) the perception that students of the nursing degree express about nursing care. Designqualitative study in the framework of the socio-critical paradigm, using photovoice, storytelling and poetry in the field of care. Participantsfirst-year undergraduate nursing students at two Spanish universities in the academic year 2021–2022. Methodology48 images were shown and students were asked to select one, write a narrative and generate a short poem connected to the image. Subsequently, a content analysis was conducted of those poems evoked by the five photographs most chosen by the students. The analysis was supported by qualitative data analysis software. A total of 67 contributions from 67 students were analysed. Resultsthe concepts addressed in the poems and the compositions generated reveal how critical humanist thinking and reflection on the subject of care developed. The topics identified were care, accompaniment throughout the life cycle, working on the basis of values and caring for small details as subcategories of nursing care. ConclusionThe combination of different tools in university education has encouraged reflection and enabled students to identify for themselves the importance of humanised care. Working on the theoretical foundation in an active way can reduce the gap between theory and practice and foster the empowerment of the nursing identity.

Sociology for Whom? Real Conversations and Critical Engagements in Amerikkka

Sociology, like most disciplines/institutions in racialized (and other oppressive) social systems, are steeped with policies and practices that are designed to maintain the status quo. Thus, they are partly responsible for the gatekeeping, careerism, racism, sexism, and other forms of discrimination that plague our scholarly communities. In this piece, an extension of my 2018 Presidential Address to the Association for Humanist Sociology, I challenge academics to push back and find better ways, through critical humanist sociology, to serve the public good.

Experiment of the World-Picture Logic Philosophy: Towards a Relational Theology

Abstract This paper focuses on the discussion of the concepts of “mixed modern,” “humanist criticism” and “world relational aesthetics” proposed by the author, which are academic outputs of research and critical engagements in the field of contemporary art and culture. It points out that the concept of “mixed modern” constitutes a kind of cultural logic to understand the reality in China; the theory of humanist criticism belongs to a paradigm for criticism in contemporary art, where the individual person is in the focus; the idea of “world relational aesthetics” emphasizes the internal logic and coherence of the theory itself in the process of interpretation. From a broader perspective, as part of the author’s philosophy of art, they are only the “artistic” and “experimental” results of the world-picture logic philosophy, which is finally based on a revealed theology of relation.

Reconstruction of Humanist Criticism Based on the Revealed Theology of Relation

Abstract From an individual’s perspective, relational fields in the philosophy of art serve as departure points in thinking about art, as well as one’s own life. This paper looks at historical texts by Zha Changping, Lü Peng, and Lu Hong as catalysts for thinking on the history of contemporary art, discovering relational fields and occurrences of truth that bring art into being, considering art relations and arising field occurrences, while also reflecting on issues concerning how art relational fields may be reterritorialized. These relational thoughts ultimately direct to a kind of humanist criticism reconstructed by professor Zha Changping. It is based on the ontology of humanist criticism, the methodology of perceptual cultural criticism, the foundational theory of world relational aesthetics, and the revealed theology of relation.

Four Past Path-Builders Incorporated the Humanities and Arts Into Gerontology's Scientific Frontiers.

Scholars and practitioners in the humanities and arts are collaborating with bio-medico-psycho-social scientists and clinicians in projects that illuminate current understandings of how "aging" processes unfold and what they may mean in creating the future of the Gerontological Society of America. Moving ahead by connecting backwards, we should emulate past path-builders who imagined an interdisciplinary agenda that incorporated humanistic perspectives as they imparted scientific age-based insights to experts and lay audiences. Elie Metchnikoff, G. Stanley Hall, Robert N. Butler, and Gene D. Cohen demonstrated critical humanist thinking about aging and dying in advancing gerontology's scientific frontiers.

Posthumanism for Sustainability: A Scoping Review

The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between posthumanism and sustainability and contribute to the interdisciplinary concept of posthuman sustainability. We conducted a scoping review of 45 peer-reviewed journal articles that met our inclusion criteria and employed co-occurrence analysis based on the clustering techniques of the VOSviewer. We identified five themes within the articles: post-humanism, post-anthropocentrism, post-dualism, post-Enlightenment, and post-technologism. Through our analysis, we found that posthumanism can offer insights into ecological issues and help promote alternative sustainable practices. We also identified three immediate concerns for post/humanities scholars: (1) fostering dialogue between critical humanist and posthumanist scholarship based on onto-epistemological plurality, (2) achieving conceptual clarity in the field, and (3) advocating for meaningful engagement with indigenous worldviews in a multidimensional and multitemporal manner. By exploring the relationship between posthumanism and sustainability, we hope to expand our knowledge of the urgent ecological issues we face and contribute to interdisciplinary efforts to address them.

Welcome to Your Home for Critical Humanist, Activist Scholarship

Welcome to Your Home for Critical Humanist, Activist Scholarship

Introduction: The Returns of Fascism

Abstract“The Returns of Fascism” addresses the emergence of New Right political culture on a global scale, attending to the intersections in US, European, Russian, and Indian New Right movements and their relation to the history of fascisms and late capitalist thought forms, as well as their attack on humanist critique. This special issue argues that the topoi of crisis and catastrophe serve the globalization of the New Right's supremacist and majoritarian political culture as it transcends both the academy and the wider world.

"Humanist Criticism": the contemporary transformation attempt of the Christian humanistic tradition

Zha Changping saw the lack of true belief in traditional culture from the group loss of intellectuals and the humanistic spirit aphasia phenomenon of artistic criticism. He transformed the Christian humanistic tradition and founded the contemporary art criticism theory of "Humanist Criticism".This paper summarizes the ideological characteristics of the Christian humanism tradition after the Reformation and the core attention of the contemporary Christian humanism tradition.The article points out that the Humanist Criticism shows the tradition of Christian humanism after the Reformation, and its theme "the renewal of human nature" properly responds to the core concerns of the contemporary Christian humanism tradition.On this basis, this paper holds that "Humanist Criticism" is an attempt to transform the tradition of Christian humanism in the Chinese intelligentsia (especially in the field of contemporary art criticism).

The Shadow of Lives Lost in the Mediterranean Over Europe

Europe’s treatment of refugees provides growing evidence that the continent is losing its moral compass, and that Europe is increasingly callous – so-called Fortress Europe. Brute force, deterrence, including pushbacks and barbed wire fences have become the instruments with which European governments have responded to irregular migration and refugees. This article seeks to bring to the fore the contradiction between the EU’s self-proclaimed values — human dignity and human rights — and the callous policies of nation states and the EU’s migration regime. My main focus lies on the calamitous conditions of refugees and the thousands of deaths that have occurred in the Mediterranean Sea since 2015, the year that refugees fleeing Syria’s civil war started making their way to Europe. Importantly, the Mediterranean is the deadliest border in the world; it is the veritable global epicenter of lethal border crossings. Drawing on contemporary critical theory, I undertake a humanist critique of the European status quo. The EU, as a force for a better, more livable world, is on its way to becoming irrelevant, something that was evident well before the Covid-19 pandemic. This is what is principally at stake today.

Bridging Al-Dunya Wa Al-Diin: A Case Study on Prophetic-Integrative Education on Madrasah-Based Pesantren

Purpose – This study aims to analyze the practice of integrating education in Islamic boarding schools based on the perspective of prophetic education.
 Design/methods/approach – This study used a case study design and was conducted in Madrasah Tsanawiyah and Aliyah Modern Boarding School (PM) Al-Islam. Data were collected using interview observations and documentation and then analyzed using the Miles and Huberman interactive model.
 Findings – This study’s findings show that the spirit and practice of education in Madrasah Tsanawiyah and Aliyah Al-Islam align with prophetic values by prioritizing transcendent spirituality with critical humanist principles framed in the form of institutional integration and content.
 Research implications/limitations – This study strengthens and complements previous research findings on integrating Islamic scholarship in Islamic educational institutions in Indonesia. However, it is also important to continue conducting similar research with a broader scope to strengthen related research findings.
 Practical implications – The findings of this study can be a bridge to close the dichotomous gap and balance the gap in educational orientation to achieve educational goals between religious and pragmatic educational goals.

“Interspecies Empathy and Canine Captivity in Karen Russell’s Short Fiction”

ABSTRACT This essay examines the contributions of American short story writer Karen Russell to debates in Critical Animal Studies and philosophy about the ethics of animal domestication. Russell’s fabulist stories have often been interpreted through a speciesist lens, ignoring her representation of nonhuman animal consciousness. Although humanist critics have interpreted Russell’s animal subjects as allegories for systems of human oppression, I read her work as a critique of anthropocentrism and human exceptionalism. I analyze “St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves” and “Madame Bovary’s Greyhound,” two stories that focus on the oldest domesticated animal species and the one that remains the most entangled with humanity – the domesticated dog, a descendent of the wild wolf. Featuring female protagonists who are dogs or wolf/human hybrids, these stories engage with ecofeminist and posthumanist arguments about the intersectionality of animal subjugation and the exploitation of women and disempowered racial groups. Echoing recent scientific studies of canine cognition and behavior, Karen Russell’s stories represent dogs as a domesticated species whose animal instincts have been routinely thwarted. While most people consider dogs to be a fortunate species, Russell’s canine stories defamiliarize the relationship between humans and dogs to invite cross-species empathy and ethical reflection about pet-keeping practices.