Free Men Research Articles

Социально-философские и философско-антропологические мотивы в поэтическом творчестве Н.С. Гумилёва

The present research paper is devoted to philosophic motifs in the creative work of one of the leading cultural figures of the Silver Age, the poet, writer and philosopher N.S. Gumilyov. His personal fate (executed in 1921 by order of the Petrograd Cheka) is one of the examples of the sad poetic “tradition” of Russian culture: Pushkin, Lermontov, Mayakovsky, Yesenin and others. This paper analyzes philosophical and linguistic peculiarities of the “Akmeism” poetic and theoretical style, which was originated by Nikola Gumilev. In socio-philosophical aspect, Gumilyov’s intentions were associated with the formation of the concept of “Adamism”, which implied the analysis of man as a personality (most fully reflected in the compositions “The Captains”, “The Conquistadors’ Way”, etc.) in comparison with the Nietzschean “superman”. For Nietzsche, his slogan ‘God is dead’ did not mean the exaltation of man, but merely stated the overabundance of the individual in every personality. In this case, Gumilyov adhered to the idea of “transcendental man”, which implied the unity of Man’s natural essence in synthesis with supernatural (higher, i.e. spiritual) origins. This was the purpose of this article. Analysis of Gumilyov’s poetic and publicistic works argues in favour of the proof of the philosophical idea of “transcendental man”, which was later developed in N.A. Berdyaev’s philosophy of personalism. Both Russian philosophers and writers defended the idea of a creative and free Man, capable of self-assertion. Self-affirmation of Man for them is inextricably linked with the ability to Self-knowledge. But it should be noted that the views of Berdyaev and Gumilev on the role of society and the state in human life had certain differences.

Gladiators and amphitheatre spectacles in the greek cities of the Pontus Euxinus

Abstract tradus Our study proposes to discuss several aspects related to the gladiators attested in the Greek cities of the Pontus Euxinus (Chersones, Histria, Tomis, Callatis, Dionysopolis, Odessos, Byzantion, Sinope, Amisos), such as the names, social status and mentality of these amphitheatre fighters. Our analysis also focuses on the equipment and weapons of the gladiators, their fighting techniques and the various aspects of the organisation of gladiatorial combat. Our research is based on the study of epigraphic and archaeological documents (bas-reliefs). Inscriptions and reliefs attest several types of gladiators, such as retiarius, secutor, scissor, provocator and bestiarius. The names of the gladiators reflect their winning qualities and their physical or moral qualities. Most gladiators were slaves or free men. Documents from Tomis from the 2nd-3rd centuries AD confirm that gladiatorial fights and beast hunts in the amphitheatre are closely linked to the imperial cult. At Tomis, Odessos, Sinope and Amisos, the organisers of these spectacles were at the same time pontarchs and high priests of the imperial cult. Gladiator fights took place in amphitheatres (at Tomis) and other specially designed venues such as theatres (at Odessos). Nemesis and Ares are the patron deities of gladiators.

Regulation of civil legal relations according to the Salic truth

The presented article is devoted to the analysis of the norms of the Salic Law which regulated civil legal relations of the Frankish society. The article notes that the Salic Law is a collection that was primarily devoted to the rules of criminal law and criminal procedure. Less attention was paid to the norms of civil law. This was due to the fact that the agricultural economy was not organized on a contractual basis. However, despite this, it contained rules that regulated property rights, obligations, marriage and family law, and inheritance law. The author has established that the Salic Law does not have a clear definition of property. The Franks retained communal ownership of land for a long time, as the rural neighborhood community, the marka, continued to exist despite the formation of the state. It is noted that at the end of the sixth century, the Franks formed a «full allod» – freely alienable land property, which was allowed to be freely given, transferred and bequeathed, including to women. A movable property was owned by families or individuals and could also be freely alienated and inherited. Based on the analysis of the norms of the Salic Law, the author found that the law of obligations was the least developed. There were such types of contracts as sale and purchase, exchange, gift, and loan. For a contract to be valid, in addition to the consent of the parties, it was necessary to observe various rites. As for marriage and family law, the article states that a legal marriage could be concluded between an adult free man and an adult free woman (no minimum age was set), subject to the consent of their relatives and provided that both parties were not bound by prohibited ties of kinship. Marriage was concluded through the purchase of a wife, i.e. power over her, from the person who had previously exercised this power over her. The grounds for invalidating a marriage were also defined. The author also analyzes the order of inheritance according to the Salic Law. It is established that the heirs in descending order were: children (and their descendants); mother and father; brothers and sisters; father’s sisters; mother’s sisters; father’s relatives (up to the sixth generation). Allodial land was а family land, it could not be inherited by females.

Proyectos para la abolición de la esclavitud en Brasil: las perspectivas de Joaquim Nabuco y Luís Gama

Aiming to contribute to the study of Afro-Brazilian history and culture and, therefore, to stand against the coloniality of power and knowledge, this article aims to compare Joaquim Nabuco’s and Luís Gama’ abolition projects, carrying out a partial survey of their respective characteristics and assumptions. Thus, we verify differences and similarities between their proposals and their political and ideological positions to achieve them. It is argued that the abolition project assumed by Nabuco, understood here as a representative of the ruling elites of that historical context, is diametrically opposed to Luis Gama’s project, a formerly enslaved man who succeeded in becoming an anti-slavery poet and advocate. Both act as organic intellectuals of their classes of origin. The first argued that abolition should be conducted by white free men, but deliberate in Parliament; therefore, without the participation of the enslaved ones and with the ultimate objective of whitening Brazil. The second argued that the conquest of freedom should have effective participation of the enslaved, including the use of violence, such as the murder of the lords by the enslaved.

The influence of body composition on the response to dynamic stimulation of the endocrine pituitary-testis axis

BackgroundTestosterone treatment is generally not recommended in men with obesity induced low serum testosterone. However, distinguishing this condition from overt testosterone deficiency in men with obesity where treatment should be initiated is a diagnostic challenge and tools to differentiate these conditions are scarce but could be of important clinical relevance.ObjectivesTo investigate the association between body composition and dynamic responses of the pituitary-testis axis in men.MethodsSingle-center cross-sectional study including 112 healthy men. Participants went through a full biochemical assessment of the pituitary-testis axis, and dynamic stimulatory tests of luteinizing hormone (LH) secretion (gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH)-test) and testosterone secretion (choriogonadotropin (hCG)-test). A subset (N = 78) further had a DXA-scan performed.ResultsA higher body mass index (BMI) was associated with lower basal serum LH (BU = −0.44, 95% CI: −0.88–−0.01, p = 0.04). The GnRH-stimulated LH increase was not significantly associated with BMI (BU = −0.10, 95% CI: −0.72–0.51, p = 0.74). Furthermore, a high BMI was associated with low basal testosterone (BU −0.02, 95% CI: −0.03–−0.02, p < 0.001), and free testosterone (BU −15.0, 95% CI: −19.9–−10.0, p < 0.001) and men with overweight and obesity had significantly lower testosterone (9%, p = 0.003 and 24%, p < 0.001) and free testosterone (25%, p = 0.006 and 50%, p < 0.001) concentrations compared to men with normal weight. The HCG-stimulated testosterone increase was significantly less dependent on BMI compared to the influence of BMI on basal testosterone concentrations (p = 0.04 for the interaction).ConclusionsDynamic sex hormone responses following pituitary-testis axis stimulation were less dependent on BMI, compared to the influence of BMI on basal hormone concentrations and could potentially assist clinical decision making in patients with obesity suspected of testosterone deficiency.

Conspicuous Stigmatized Identities in the Ancient Olympics: Femininity, Slavery, and Physical Disability

This study discusses the exclusion of women, slaves, and physically disabled individuals from the ancient Olympics, focusing on Goffman's theory of stigma. It also delves into how kalokagathia influenced beauty, athleticism, and virtue, reinforced hierarchies and stigmatized those who did not fit the idealized image. Overall, the study provides a comprehensive exploration of how ancient Greek ideals and societal structures stigmatized certain groups based on gender, social status, and physical ability. Femininity, slavery, and physical disability were the conspicuous stigmatized identities of ancient Greek societies. In ancient Greece, the concept of kalokagathia, intertwining physical beauty with moral and intellectual excellence, formed the basis of societal standards. This ideal, however, was exclusive, applying only to free men of good heritage, while women, slaves, and the physically disabled faced stigmatization based on physiognomic reasoning and body temperature distinctions. The stigma was based on physical deviations from the able-bodied male standard. The physiognomic concept hidden behind the ideal of kalokagathia reproduced the stigma. Body temperature played a significant role in shaping discriminatory practices, associating warmth with virtues and deeming the male body superior. Women were considered inferior due to their colder bodies, and slaves were viewed as cold and incapable, reinforcing social hierarchies. Women and slaves were excluded from athletic ideals because of their non-normative body temperatures, while the physically disabled were excluded due to their ugly/deformed bodies. The ancient Olympics showcased able-bodied men displaying their athletic arete. Women's visibility in the ancient Greek Olympics was only representative. Restricted from participating in public athletic events, women were also subject to strict prohibitions on competition in the ancient Olympic Games. Only in the chariot races were exceptions made for unmarried women. While Kyniska emerged as the first female Olympic champion in 396 BCE, opportunities for representative participation in the Olympic Games were limited to women of wealth and status. Sport in ancient Greece served as a means of distinguishing between free citizens and slaves. Slaves, the anonymous figures of the ancient Olympics, could only participate in horse and chariot races on behalf of their owners. Although some local festivals allowed slave participation in athletic activities, major events like the Olympic Games prohibited direct competition for slaves, emphasizing their exclusion. This stigma-based athletic exclusion made it impossible for slaves to represent themselves as competitors in the ancient Olympics. The physically disabled, on the other hand, were completely deprived of the opportunity to compete in the ancient Olympics; they could compete neither representatively nor anonymously. Discriminatory practices against the physically disabled, embedded in social structures reinforced by philosophical ideals, myths, religious stereotypes and sacrificial rituals, resulted in them remaining completely absent from the ancient Olympics.

"Beyond ideologies" – some remarks on the existential and ecocritical tone of Alfred Andersch's autobiographical report Die Kirschen der Freiheit (1952)

The article is an attempt to look at the autobiographical text of the leading writer of early German post-war literature and one of the founders of the famous "Group of 47" Alfred Andersch entitled Die Kirschen der Freiheit (1952) from the perspective of the existential philosophy of Jean Paul Sartre and selected aspects of ecocritical thought. The article discusses in detail the existential concept of individual freedom not determined by twentieth-century totalitarian systems and emphasizes its ecocritical sense, i.e. the dimension of humanity in the bosom of nature, the potential of free will and deciding about one's own fate, as well as the role of art as a special means of expression of free man and his relationship to the world.

Medieval and Renaissance understanding of “body” and “corporeality”

BACKGROUND: The article analyzes the idea that such a concept as “body” is an interesting and complex phenomenon, an integral part of human life, which philosophers, thinkers and theologians have reflected on throughout human history, describing its significance and role depending on ideological attitudes prevailing at one time or another.&#x0D; AIM: Studying the features of the presentation and reflection of the “dualistic” and “holistic” attitude towards the human body in the works of scientists and thinkers of different eras.&#x0D; RESULTS: The explanation of the essence of the first approach is based on an analysis of the features of church doctrine, which saw in the body only a “shell” of the soul and considered it worthy of contempt and death, and to understand the essence of the second approach, the author turns to the ideological attitudes of the Late Middle Ages, the Renaissance and the early Modern Times, which “rehabilitated” the body in the context of a return to the Roman and Greek classics of philosophical thought. Consequently, on the one hand, the medieval religious and political ideal of universalism and ways of “healing” (improving) the body as a social unity (“the body of society”) are analyzed, and, on the other hand, the author reflects on ways to free man from the yoke of church authority that regulates every aspect human life, related to the body, and also describes the history of the emergence of a new understanding of the human body — both as a symbol of beauty (in the understanding of kalokagathia by the Greeks), and as a machine working according to certain laws.&#x0D; CONCLUSION: Understanding how “body” and “corporality” became the guidelines of medieval corporatism in its secular and ecclesiastical (papal) versions (taking into account the duality of the monarch’s body) requires a comprehensive study — not only from a philosophical, psychological, sociological, but also from a medical point of view. Changing approaches to understanding the body as a physical, cultural, social phenomenon allows us to more deeply understand the characteristics of society and people’s attitude towards life and death, suffering of body and soul, as well as the role of public discourse in shaping the population’s attitude towards these phenomena.

To the Iranian Etymology of the Ethnonyms Mari, Merya, Muroma

The article continues the exploration of the ethnonym *märə, previously reconstructed by the author and A. V. Savelyev, as evidenced in the self-designation of the Mari people and in the names of Merya and Muroma found in Russian chronicles. In Finno-Ugric literature, it is commonly sub-derived from the Aryan *márya- meaning ‘young man, warrior.’ However, within the current framework, the specific Aryan origin of this ethnonym, along with the time and circumstances of its adoption, remains unspecified. The Mari-Meryan *märə cannot be construed as an ethnonym meaning ‘human, man,’ as such semantics would be anachronistic in terms of ethnic designation typology. Instead, it is proposed that this word was borrowed as a socionym with the additional connotation of ‘husband’ into the ancestral language of Mari and Meryan around the first millennium BC. The Aryan *márya- denoted a class of free (possibly noble) young men forming military communities, where they undertook feats to attain a social status entitling them to acquire a wife, hence the meaning ‘groom, husband’. Indo-Aryan (including Mitanni Aryan) languages predominantly associated it with ‘warrior’ and ‘noble youth,’ while Iranian languages developed pejorative meanings (‘rascal; slave’) but retained the meaning ‘husband’. An Eastern Middle Iranian language is deemed a more plausible source for borrowing, both temporally and semantically. The etymology suggested in the article resolves the issue of the limited representation of Aryan *márya- primarily as ‘slave, servant’ in Eastern Iranian languages. The proposed derivation links Ossetian bal ‘group, squad, gang, pack (of wolves)’ &lt; Alanian *mal &lt; *márya-; likely borrowed into Proto-Marian-Meryan from a Scytho-Sarmatian language around the middle of the first millennium BC (prior to the transition *-ry- &gt; -l-). The subsequent Turkic designation of the Mari as *čermiš (Chuvash śarmə̑s, Tatar čirməš &gt; Russian cheremis) &lt; Turkic *čär ‘to fight, to wage war’ may be a calque of this ancient ethnonym.

John Witherspoon and Slavery: Ideology versus Praxis

This article reassesses the life and legacy of John Knox Witherspoon on the basis of his relationship to slavery. It argues that Witherspoon's ideological commitment to Presbyterianism came into constant tension with the realities of slavery both in his native Scotland and in the burgeoning American colony he eventually called home. Three snapshots in Witherspoon's life encapsulate this tension: his interaction with Jamie Montgomery, an enslaved man whom Witherspoon baptized in Scotland; his contributions to the scheme to train two free African Americans—John Quamine and Bristol Yamma—for their mission to Africa; and his tutoring of John Chavis, a free Black man from Virginia, at the same time he held property in slaves. Most accounts of Witherspoon's life fail to interrogate these snapshots and so fail to grasp a nuanced portrait of the imminent figure. This article parses through his unequal treatment of the African Americans he taught and the African Americans he enslaved to deliver a new reading of Witherspoon. This reading, in turn, maps onto a broader reconsideration of the founding principles of the early United States.

Bissette and the Police des Noirs: Free Soil, Mobility, and the Status of the Patroné in the Early Nineteenth Century

Abstract In the early years of the July Monarchy, the antislavery activist of color Charles Auguste Bissette petitioned the Ministry of the Navy and Colonies on behalf of Hippolyte Roux, a former slave, to reclaim a security deposit left in the Martinique Treasury a decade earlier, prior to Roux's arrival in Paris. Roux's journey to freedom, and Bissette's advocacy for him, allow us to see how French policy evolved towards slaves and free people of color entering the metropole over the first half of the nineteenth century. As the July Monarchy sought to eliminate racially discriminatory legislation, it encountered the liminal status of the patroné, which had precedents in the colonial laws of Île Bourbon and Martinique during the Empire and customary practice in Martinique during the Restoration. Bissette, at the height of his influence with the July Monarchy, was successful in persuading the Ministry—through legally suspect arguments—to refund Roux's 1,000 livre deposit since the aim of regularizing Roux's status as a free man in the metropole coincided with the Ministry's aims of reconciling the ambiguous status of the patronés (also known as libres de fait and libres de savane) in the colonies. The restoration of France's Free Soil policy in 1836 marked a return to class-based distinctions of colonial slavery and metropolitan freedom and the elimination of the category of patroné.

‘A Blessing of God’: Marriage and Amelioration in Early Nineteenth-Century Montserrat

ABSTRACT Recent scholarship examining enslaved people’s marriages in the Anglophone Caribbean highlights the need to consider the Church of England’s influence over conflicts with the plantocracy. This article examines responses to a proposed marriage between a free man of colour, William Harris, and an enslaved woman, Betty Cudjoe, in Montserrat in 1828. Occurring during the period of ‘amelioration’, this article considers the changing perspectives of ecclesiastical authorities, missionary clergymen, the plantocracy, free people of colour, and enslaved people. It draws upon under under-consulted sources of ‘The Conversion Society’ held at Lambeth Palace Library alongside ecclesiastical correspondence to highlight the gendered property concerns of enslavers that were exacerbated in mixed-status marriages. This article contends that during the period of amelioration, Anglican marriages became an attractive option to free and enslaved people in comparison to nonconformist unions. While this came into conflict with the property rights of enslavers, ultimately a specific definition of marriage was acceptable and enforced by the Church of England, pursued in this case by Rev. Benjamin Luckock. This enforcement came from the authority of the newly established colonial bishoprics, who held substantial influence over sacramental affairs.

Construction and Destruction—Making Delhi World-Class: A Critical Study of Trickster City and A Free Man

In post-independence India, the city has served as a critical site for the negotiation of postcolonial citizenship. As Gyan Prakash has noted, literary and cinematic representations of urban spaces have captured both the promise and the failures of this process (199). In this study, I seek to examine the extent to which the postcolonial neoliberal city in India has delivered on its promise of citizenship for the urban poor, and how literature from the region responds to this issue. To explore these questions, I turn to Aman Sethi’s A Free Man: A True Story of Life and Death in Delhi and Trickster City: Writings from the Belly of the Metropolis which features the works of multiple authors. Both texts offer first-hand accounts of individuals in Delhi who have experienced the effects of neoliberal transformation. These works depict a paradoxical situation: as the city strives to become a world-class metropolis, it simultaneously dispossesses its most vulnerable citizens, who are often the ones contributing their labour to its construction and maintenance. To make sense of this dialectic of construction and destruction, I argue that we must examine the complex interplay between the market, the state, and spatial restructuring. Drawing on the concept of ‘precarity’, as developed by Irene Pang, David Harvey, Kalyan Sanyal, Giorgio Agamben, Amita Baviskar, D. Asher Ghertner, Henri Lefebvre, and Edward Soja, I analyse the mechanisms that contribute to the precariousness experienced by the urban poor in India.&#x0D; Keywords: Postcolonial city, precarity, neoliberalism, metropolis, dispossession

Da ‘opus’ a ‘opera’: considerazioni tra lingua e diritto

Abstract - The linguistic derivation of ‘opera’ from ‘opus’ allows us to advance useful hypotheses on the recent nature of the locatio operarum. From the primitive unity of the locatio-conductio the locatio operarum would in fact have detached itself from the locatio rei in order to move the object of the assignment from the person of the worker to his activity and thus allow the work of the free man who subjected himself imperio alterius et potestati (Cic. Off. 22) for economic reasons. An attraction towards the obligation to do from the original obligation to give would have been exercised precisely by the locatio operis, which left the worker with greater managerial autonomy, limiting the control of the counterpart to the fairness of the corpus perfectum to be returned, without dividing the actions into individual operae to be carried out under the guidelines of others.

The symbolization of a snake and tree among the devotees of the zar spirit in Sudan

This paper deals with a symbolic interpretation of the structural position that the snake and the tree possess in the local worship of the zar spirit within the borders of Islamic Sudan. The paper at hand aims to study, via bibliographic research, how the snake Azrag Banda, a manifestation of zar, and his tree-abode are regarded as significant symbols in the Sudanese zar tumbura, a self-nominated Islamic practice and spirit-possession cult with therapeutic functions. The snake Azrag Banda and his tree play a special role in the life of the cult and are meaningful symbols due to the collective historical experience of the Sudani, the devotees of zar tumbura. As it will be shown, the main characteristic of the Sudani Self is a past of slavery and displacement and a present of living on the margins of Sudanese society. In this regard, the current article aims at indicating what the snake entity Azrag Banda and his tree-abode mean for the Sudani. Adopting an emic approach, the snake and the tree will be seen as traditional Sudanese earth symbols, which are considered able to offer protection, heal the historical stigma of slavery, help the subaltern establish their “roots” in the Sudanese ground, and thus upgrade the low social status of the Sudani. In this way, the latter is transformed into free men and genuine landowners.

“Made by the Son of a Black”: José Campeche as Artist and Free Person of Color in Late Eighteenth-Century Puerto Rico

In response to the absence of a critical discussion of race within his historiography, this essay focuses on José Campeche (1751–1809) as an artist of African descent and argues that the socially and culturally inscribed constructs of race and Campeche’s lived experiences of them in late eighteenth-century Puerto Rico shaped and informed his participation in the arts. Campeche lived both as an artist and as a free man of color within a racialized colonial society, and as such, inquiries regarding how race affected Campeche’s life and artistic practice, and particularly how his immersion in the community of free people of color in San Juan possibly impacted the manner in which he was trained and worked, allow for a more comprehensive understanding of his art production. Using comparable examples of African descendant artists and artisans active in other colonial centers, such as Mexico City and Havana, this article elucidates connections between Campeche’s socioracial reality, his artistic career, and his work through an examination of the relationship between race and art making in Puerto Rico, the broader Caribbean region, and the greater Spanish Empire during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. This analysis of Campeche’s career and work prompts new questions about the artist that have not been asked in previous scholarship, such as how the structures of race would have defined his position and interactions within colonial society and also how his complex multiracial identity may have allowed him access to the different kinds of artistic exposure, training, and opportunities he likely had in San Juan.

A Comparative Study of Nietzsche’s Übermensch[overman] in 'Thus Spake Zarathustra' and Orestes in Sartre’s 'The Flies'

This paper explores the possibility of a comparative study between Übermensch and Orestes by Nietzsche and Sartre respectively. The conceptual process of this research will perhaps allow some justification and validity of the research question revolving around a comparative study of Nietzsche’s Ubermensch[Overman] in 'Thus Spake Zarathrustra' and Orestes in Sartre’s 'The Flies. Sartre and Nietzsche both talked about the Ideal man and put light on their features. While Nietzsche shows his ideal man through the philosophical character Übermensch, Sartre portrayed it through a character drawn from an epic, Orestes, while Übermensch is a character in Friedrich Nietzsche’s book Thus Spake Zarathustra: A Book for All and None which was published in four volumes between the years 1883 and 1885. Sartre produced his play The Flies in the year 1943 which presents the character Orestes, the “Free Man”. Ubermensch depicts a change from conventional morality and religion, not even bounded by conventional ideas of good and evil.

Slavery in Ancient Rome

The institution of slavery was characteristic of all the civilizations from Mediterranean basin in ancient times. However, slavery had its widest application in the Roman state, for which it was of immense importance, since slaves were seen as the driving force of Roman social and economic system. Slaves (servus, puer) were treated as “speaking tools” (instrumentum vocale). The position of the individual in the Roman state was regulated in detail, and there were three special positions: status civitatis (Roman citizen or foreigner), status familiae (elder of the family or its member under the rule of pater familias) and status libertatis (slave or free man). Slaves had a special legal status in Roman law at the time. Unlike animals and things over which power was referred to as domicium, this was about power over man, so the term domicia potestas was used. In the initial stages of the development of state and the law, they were viewed exclusively as property, without any personal, property or other rights. Thus the puer could not be a party to the proceedings, and his union with the slave girl was treated as a de facto union (contubernium), not as a valid marriage. He could only improve the position of his master, and if the servus would cause some damage to a third party, the master was not obliged to eliminate it, but according to Aquilius law of damage from 287 AD there was a possibility of handing over the slave to the injured party according to the principles of noxal liability. An individual could find himself in the status of a slave in three ways: by falling into captivity in war, by being born to a slave mother (vernae) or by losing his freedom as a form of sanction. In addition to private and royal, there were also so-called public slaves (servi publici). Their owner was not a private person, but a wider social community, and power over them was officially exercised by the Roman people (populus Romanus), civilian authorities in municipalities or colonies in Italy and its provinces. Servi publici were most often employed by magistrates or priests, and they also worked as guardians of various Roman buildings: basilicas, temples, archives and libraries. Roman law also knew of other forms of subordination that were not a form of slavery but states similar to it. The first aspect referred to persons in mancipio who were handed over by the pater famillias through mancipation to another elder as labor or to avoid tortious liability. The second case concerned addictus. Under the old civil law (ius civile) the addictus was a debtor in a certain obligatory relationship where, in case of non-payment of his obligation, he would be assigned to the creditor. The creditor had to keep him in the so-called creditor’s imprisonment for 60 days, until a guarantor appeared or the debt was repaid. If this did not happen, the debtor could be killed or sold as a slave. Persons redeemed from captivity (redempti ab hostibus) could be held captive by the redeemer until the ransom is paid either in money or by the work of the redeemed person. During the period of the empire, the duration of captivity of this kind could last for a maximum of 5 years. Gai Institutiones also classified auctoratus in these states. These included men, women and minor children who undertook to work for a person for a certain period of time (iudicati). Liberation from slavery was done through a special legal procedure (manumissio). In the early epochs of the ius civile, it was of an extremely formal nature, and with later praetorian activity this formalism was abandoned and replaced by new, more efficient legal means.

Of a Free Man: Downplaying colonial crisis in the discourse of V. S. Naipaul

V. S. Naipaul was one of the most prolific writers of the modern time. His writings fluctuate between a sense of psychological crisis triggered by collapse of colonization towards the midst Twentieth century and the meaning of a free man. In other words, his writings look at what does it take to be a free man in a decolonized world; whether this freedom is achieved at the cost of the crisis or within the crisis, or whether the crisis itself is a part of the freedom. However, the understanding of the answer to these questions in his readers seems to be very limiting. The sense of the crisis and the freedom in him has been understood as something narrowing and damaging. However, this can be contested and the sense of crisis, its cause and affect can be best understood with a point of reference to the idea of “irresponsibility” and “contamination” in Jacques Derrida and Gayatri Spivak. His discourse is a meditation on several world contexts- Indian, European, African and Caribbean for instance. This paper contends to say and establish that the sense of crisis in Naipaul as far as his writings on the Caribbean context are concerned, is not damaging, rather it is an enabling phenomenon ensuring a sense of freedom.

Layered Maps: Carceral and Fugitive Archipelagos in Walter Mosley’s Down the River Unto the Sea

This essay offers an archipelagic reading of Walter Mosley’s detective novel Down the River Unto the Sea (2018). I argue that the spatial imaginary of the novel constitutes a layered map of the Americas that registers continental visions of the US nation-state but cognitively remaps and breaks up this space into various archipelagic constellations. I read the novel as contributing to a specifically African American mode of the archipelagic, which I trace along two trajectories: a focus on carceral archipelagos and im/mobilities, and a negotiation between what David Chandler and Jonathan Pugh have called “interstitial” geographies, which focus on relationality, and “abyssal” geographies, which posit and critique antiblackness as the world’s foundational violence. In my reading, both trajectories sit firmly within the concerns of archipelagic studies but significantly extend the paradigm’s scope. The first trajectory depicts the US nation-state both as imperial continent and as racialized carceral archipelago and sets these layers off against visions of fugitive archipelagos that afford Mosley’s characters temporary islands of safety or respite, but never grant them the contiguity that undergirds Western fantasies of nation-state sovereignty. The second trajectory employs both interstitial and abyssal analytics to address the question what an "imagined community" can mean in a starkly antiblack world. Via the intertwined stories of two protagonists, the detective Joe King Oliver and the prisoner A Free Man, Mosley’s novel envisions African American responses to systemic betrayal within the US—being sold Down the River—and pushes, geographically and ideologically, beyond constellations of the nation-state and citizenship—Unto the Sea.