Literary Criticism Research Articles

ICT-facilitated Health Interventions for Indigenous Communities: A Critical Literature Review

ICT-facilitated Health Interventions for Indigenous Communities: A Critical Literature Review

Migrant necropolitics in No Man’s Land camps

Abstract Through genealogical explorations of the understudied No Man’s Land camps at Rukban and Zero Point, this paper aims to contribute a decolonial, South-centric perspective to critical refugee politics literature. The two No Man’s Land camps are conceptualized here as necropolitical spaces of migrant abandonment and containment, where States effectively determine ‘who may live and who must die’ through their violent expulsion of unwanted populations, securitized border policies and restrictions on life-saving aid. Despite their immobilization, the paper highlights how the displaced migrants formed self-government and engaged in claim-making for aid, rights, and homeland political change, thus transforming the death worlds of the No Man’s Land camps into spaces of vibrant political contention. This necropolitical resistance comes with the risk of death or redisplacement, but it provides tantalizing clues of the possibilities of living, even if only momentarily, beyond the law and the State.

Information science in the German Democratic Republic

PurposeThe article aims to give an overview of the history and the achieved status of information science in the German Democratic Republic (GDR) with an emphasis on the organisation of information science and practice in the GDR and on the theoretical foundations of information science.Design/methodology/approachPrimarily, this article is based upon critical literature studies, especially German-language books and journal articles, but the empirical basis also includes some unpublished sources (e.g. letters from information scientists from the GDR).FindingsThere are interesting results concerning the roots of information science in cybernetics, philosophy and the practical area of documentation. The naming of this knowledge field as “informatics”, “informatics of science” or “information and documentation science” is partly very distinct from Western conceptions. We found different theoretical foundations for information science including the approaches of Bonitz, Engelbert, Koblitz and Groß and Fuchs-Kittowski. In the GDR, information science and information practice were centralised, but through the information system science and technology, they were consistently accessible at all levels of professional work. With German reunification, information practice and its institutions, as well as GDR’s information science efforts, disappeared.Research limitations/implicationsThe article gives hints on the importance on and the survival of some GDR approaches in contemporary information science, but those developments should be analysed in much more detail.Originality/valueThis is the first overview article on the state and entire development of information science in the GDR.

Are clusters and industrial districts really driving sustainability innovation?

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to explore and conducts a critical literature review to answer a fundamental question in the industrial district literature: are clusters and industrial (clusters/IDs) driving sustainability innovation? By intersecting different yet related strands of literature, the authors take stock of what the authors know about sustainability innovation in clusters/IDs.Design/methodology/approachThis paper reviews the literature for conceptualizing sustainability innovation in clusters/districts.FindingsInsights point out that the sustainability innovation process (development and diffusion) in clusters/IDs and their firms couples into mainstream cluster/IDs framework; clusters/IDs enable sustainability innovation through usual mechanisms, fostering collective change toward sustainability innovation, vis-à-vis other settings and strengthening firm sustainability innovation and performance. Sustainability innovation in clusters/IDs requires coupling different multi-scalar institutional systems effectively, and the cooperation of local organizations and policymakers for co-designing dedicated policies. Collective actions are important and firm heterogeneity needs to be considered in the clusters/IDs framework.Originality/valueThis study is original because it provides state-of-the-art on sustainability innovation in clusters/districts, enabling the topic to advance in this direction.

The waste of nations: Household trash and the affective politics of recycling in Israel

Solid waste treatment is an acute concern for countries facing waning landfilling capacity, increasingly strict controls on waste transport and treatment, and the persistent threat of climate change. These challenges are typically met by neoliberal and technocratic solutions that privatize public services while encouraging curbside recycling. I examine such an effort to promote curbside recycling in Israel. Drawing on extensive fieldwork in the Israeli recycling world, and on anthropology, geography, science and technology studies and critical waste studies literatures, I interrogate the affective politics of household waste recycling in Israel over the past decade and attempts to configure a Europeanized and moral national space through recycling. I describe the cultural and ethnonational repertoires through which curbside recycling was naturalized in the Israeli landscape, how recycling was mutually animated with a range of sociopolitical concerns that far exceeded its financial or environmental significance, and how these mutually shaped waste as a social–environmental problem. I argue that social and material conditions gave rise to a dual process, in which both the problem of waste, and its necessary solutions, were actively and mutually constructed. This paper contributes to comparative literatures on national cultures of waste recycling, shedding light on how a project of Western ecological modernization was translated and became locally meaningful in Israel's settler-colonial context, how household waste was ontologically coproduced in this process, and how its stakes were experienced, voiced, and materialized.

Milking Sterne’s Subscription Lists, and Extrapolations Therefrom

Abstract In the eighteenth century many books were published with lengthy lists of the names, at the front, or occasionally at the back, of those who subscribed to the publication. Scholars have sometimes turned to these lists to make a point about the author or work involved, but it is fair to say that there has never been a consistent attempt to identify and make use of the subscribers of a specific author until just recently, when the publication of an identification list of Laurence Sterne’s subscribers appeared as part of the Florida Edition of Sterne’s works. This article identifies several Sterne subscribers hitherto unidentified or under-identified, discusses techniques for doing so and pitfalls in such techniques, and, finally, makes a case for the usefulness of such identifications both to literary critics and to social historians interested in Sterne’s work.

Inequities in the green transition: anti-mining protests in the European periphery

Supposed green technological fixes to the climate crisis necessitate the mining of raw materials such as lithium en masse, spurring the proliferation of mining globally and the associated social and ecological harms. Major economies are engaged in a resource race for critical raw materials that are indispensable inputs for electric vehicles and digital technologies in the green transition and fourth industrial revolution (Kalantzakos, 2020; Kalantzakos et al, 2023). As this race materialises, so too has resistance and contestation on the proposed mining sites. This article engages with the critical literature on ecologically unequal exchanges (Hornborg, 1998; 2014; 2016) and extractivism (Acosta, 2013) to explore protracted civil society resistance to two lithium mining projects in rural and agrarian regions of Serbia and Portugal. The European Union is pursuing a dual agenda of decarbonising personal use transport and resource autonomy in an increasingly shifting geopolitical order; in turn a massive effort for onshoring mining activities is underway in Europe. The author argues that recent policy enactments by the European Union for onshore mining produces ecological and social harms in rural and agrarian areas and is illustrative of an unequal ecological and economic exchange. Agrarian and subsistence livelihoods are affected in pursuit of green technological solutions, highlighting the contradictory character of the green transition under capitalism and ultimately advocates for a degrowth position.

Consuming Consumption

Abstract This essay reviews four recent works examining the cultural politics of consumption. It explores the methodological and theoretical distinctions and commonalities between three works which share an historical focus. It notes the different emphases suggested by historians, sociologists, and literary critics but emphasises their shared concern with understanding the complex agency of consumption as it is can be found specifically in cultural representations. The essay also notes the persistence of the theoretical divide between these historical studies, which identify consumption as a site of ambivalent possibility and even resistance, and contemporary accounts that regard it as a site of commodification and expropriation of the self.

Философия поэзии: проблемы изучения (обзор материалов «круглого стола»)

On October 24, 2023, as part of the scientific project of the A.M. Gorky Institute of World Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences “Literature through Philosophical Prism: the History of Russian Lyrics in V. Solovyov’s Aesthetics”, supported by the Russian Science Foundation (RSF, project No. 23-28-00800), with the participation of the Moscow State Budgetary Institution of Culture “‘A.F. Losev House’ – Research Library and Memorial Museum” and with informational support from the journal “Voprosy Filosofii”, an International Round Table “Philosophy of Poetry: Problems of Study” was held. During the round table, the following groups of questions were discussed: 1) How do literature and philosophy interact in Russian lyric poetry from the late 18th to the early 20th century, and what are the connections between philosophical ideas reflected in contemporary philosophical concepts prevalent in the intellectual environment? How was poetry perceived and interpreted by Russian philosophers (Vl. Solovyov, N.A. Berdyaev, S.N. Bulgakov, A.F. Losev, S.L. Frank, and others), and what are the forms of influence of their philosophical-aesthetic systems on poetic creativity, including through literary criticism? 2) What are the theore­tical foundations and chronological boundaries of the existence of “philosophical poetry”? What are the similarities and differences between “philosophical poetry” and “poetry of thought”? What is the relevance and what are the epistemological possibilities of poetic anthropology, ontology, and gnoseology? 3) What are the mechanisms for generating philosophically rich symbols and mythologems in poetry? What are the teleological foundations of artistic rhythm? What function do the spatial-temporal coordinates that form the artistic world of lyric poetry serve?

Evangelical Time, Separatism, and the “Spiritual Travels of Nathan Cole”

Abstract This essay intercedes in our understanding of the temporal formations that characterized New England’s Great Awakening (1730s-1740s). It takes as its case study the Connecticut farmer Nathan Cole, whose spiritual new birth scholarship has been seen as prototypical of both the instantaneity and the affect of evangelical conversion. This essay contests the predominance of these figurations of the awakenings. Offering literary criticism’s first full engagement with Cole’s archive, rather than keeping to well-known short extracts from his “Spiritual Travels,” it posits the interval as the temporal and literary form that structures Cole’s writing. The essay thus reads Cole’s narrative as something more than a lay account that testifies to evangelical feeling, arguing that his writing instead exhibits continuities with seventeenth-century habits of thought. Particularly, it traces how Cole’s writing carries into the eighteenth century Puritan labors to apprehend doctrines (such as predestination) that were, fundamentally, matters of time. In treating Cole’s text as a document of theological heft and temporal consciousness, as well as spiritual encounter, this essay also asks scholars to consider how turning toward cognitive aspects of devotion provokes our field’s understanding of genre, time, and evangelical experience.

Blanchot without Blanchot

Abstract This article explores the arc of Blanchot's life, in conversation with a recent critical biography, to suggest what the significance of his writing might be today. It first situates Blanchot in the 1930s through the lens of contemporary debates about the period. It then explores what his turn to literary criticism and narrative in the 1940s might have signified and allowed him to negotiate as a “counter-law.” Finally, it turns to his time as a dissident postwar thinker who sought to invent ways of thinking capable of forgoing power, often formulated as an inoperative “relation without relation.”

Toward a holistic hermeneutic and preaching in a divided world

Preachers’ finding a hermeneutical and practical bridge in preaching could bring evangelicals and progressives together for productive discussion. After a brief survey on the history of biblical interpretation, highlighting trends that have led to today’s divisions in interpretive approaches among Christians, I engage with the writings of contemporary scholars and principles of Aristotelian rhetoric. Then, a reflection on Luke 18:35–43 facilitates a theological and hermeneutical dialogue using the insights of both theological spectrums and leads to two practical hermeneutical suggestions for holistic preaching: using literary criticism to read and interpret the focal text with an eye to the “bigger” picture and applying reader-response interpretation to bring in the theological perspectives of those in the community.

Subjectivity and the Politics of Self-Cultivation: A Comparative Study of Fichte and Nietzsche

Abstract At first glance, Fichte and Nietzsche might strike us as intellectual contraries. This impression is reinforced by Nietzsche’s disparaging remarks about Fichte. The dearth of critical literature comparing the two thinkers also could easily lead us to believe that they are, for all intents and purposes, irrelevant to one another. In this paper, however, I argue that their theories of subjectivity are in many respects remarkably similar and worthy of comparison. But I further explain how, despite this convergence, their normative philosophies end up so conspicuously at odds with one another. After examining the resemblance between their denials of the substantial self, I respectively analyse Fichte’s and Nietzsche’s positive accounts of subjectivity, self-cultivation, and the political preconditions of self-cultivation. I locate the conceptual juncture at which their practical outlooks begin to part ways in their divergent drive psychologies and in their distinct conceptions of conscience. These apparently minor theoretical differences generate a large-scale disagreement regarding the political systems they believe best enable self-cultivation, with Fichte favouring a democratic regime, while Nietzsche opts for a markedly more aristocratic one. I close by sketching a possible way out of this dilemma.

SECURITISING HEALTH CRISES ON REGIONAL COOPERATION: HINDERING OR FACILITATING COOPERATION?

The securitisation theory (ST) often gives rise to the debate on the positive and negative dimensions of security. ST is frequently quoted in this debate to explore what happens when threats are labelled as a security issue. The positive and negative points in the debate on ST are closely related to migration, environment, and health. However, like other international relations (IR) theories, the ST debate often fails to reflect the voices and experiences of different regional contexts. This article contributed to the securitisation debates by adding the perspectives and experiences of the Southeast Asia region by applying critical literature review analysis, using primary and secondary sources data collection. Although public health challenges are global phenomena, the way they are addressed may vary across geographical regions. The article reviews the consequences of securitising on contagious diseases in Southeast Asia as the region is often associated with distinctive political cultures that shape the governing norms. Securitisation has clearly made a positive impact on the health security cooperation in the region. Instead of encouraging state-centric thinking, the securitisation of health crises has prompted ASEAN countries to be more region-centric, ultimately challenging the regional norms that have historically obstructed cooperation across the nations. Keywords: ASEAN, health security, regional cooperation, securitisation theory, Southeast Asia. Cite as: Mohd Azmi, N. (2024). Securitising health crises on regional cooperation: Hindering or facilitating cooperation. Journal of Nusantara Studies, 9(2), 557-576. http://dx.doi.org/10.24200/jonus.vol9iss2pp557-576

Pendampingan Wirausaha Start-Up Animasi Berbasis Jasa

Over the past year, there have been developments in Indonesia’s creative industry, the animation subsector, both in providing services and producing IP independently. Although the animation sector industry researchers are presented with an effective and efficient animation industry model from ideation to distribution, the model is still difficult to use in Indonesia because of existing limitations so that they are still dependent on government funding. Whereas for the last 65 years there is still no real role that has been done by the Indonesian government to help the growth sector of this sector. So this raises the question of what other things can we do as private parties in developing IP by not relying on funding by the government? Animation, especially in IP production, ia a business with enormous prospects for its impact on the recovery, growth, and development of the Indonesian economy. There are author who have thought about methods that can be carried out or used in efforts to manage this sector. In an effort to realize the things that are dreams of creative industry business actors will be briefly discussed through this critical literature review.

Aesthetic Tradition and Cultural Temperament

British and American literature is one of the bright gems in the history of world literature, which has formed a unique literature after many times of historical evolution and integration of national culture. This paper makes an in-depth study of the historical development of Britain and the United States, starting from the three dimensions of "aesthetic tradition", "cultural temperament" and "translation of British and American literature", and discussing from two aspects of literary criticism and aesthetic perception. It is helpful to understand the unique cultural connotation and temperament of British and American culture, so as to better understand the cultural connotation of British and American classics and improve the translation quality of British and America literary works.

Сюжетные коллизии детективного романа Ахмета Умита «Народ» (2006)

This article is devoted to the structural and substantive analysis of one of the most famous detective novels by the popular Turkish writer Ahmet Umit "The People" (2006), which stands somewhat apart in the mainstream of his work. The article shows that, unlike other detective stories by the author, the action immediately begins with a crime, and as the plot develops, more and more murders enter the narrative orbit. In parallel with the detective line, the novel develops the idea of multiculturalism in Turkey, in which different peoples and religions have long lived in peace and harmony (Christians, Muslims, Jews). Hence the title of the novel, which is not about some specific people, but about peoples historically coexisting within the framework of a single Turkish state. The purpose of the study is to substantiate that this novel fits into the writer's detective paradigm from the point of view of poetological features. The article analyzes the plot and compositional features of the novel with an emphasis on plot collisions and the image system. The scientific novelty of the study lies in the fact that the novel in question "Umita" for the first time becomes an object of analytical study in the domestic Turkological literary criticism. For the first time, the problems of the novel are considered through the prism of its structural and meaningful content. For the first time, it is proved that the artistic structure of the novel is somewhat unusually constructed for the author's detective paradigm. As a result, it is proved that the poetics and plot of the novel correlate with the historical detective genre developed by A. Umit in its most diverse variants.

Есениноведение в Китае с 1980-х годов: проблемы перевода и вопросы исследования

The purpose of this work is to find out the state and trends in the development of translations and research of S. Yesenin's work in China from the 1980s to the present. The article examines the reasons and conditions for rethinking the work of S. Yesenin in the 1980s: the politics of reform and openness in China. In this regard, the translation and study of S. Yesenin's works is given special attention among Chinese scientists. Since the 1990s, Yesenin studies in China have entered a new stage of in-depth development: scientists, freed from the pressure of ideology, began to understand the poetry of the Russian writer in a new way. The scientific novelty of the work consists in the fact that for the first time the article systematically classifies and summarizes the translations and studies of Yesenin's work in China in chronological order from the 1980s to the present day, and analyzes the view of Chinese literary critics and translators on Yesenin studies of this period. As a result of the work, it was found that with the disappearance of ideological pressure, Chinese scientists are becoming more objective and fair in their assessment of S. Yesenin and his work. The author notes that currently translations and research of the creative heritage of S. Yesenin's works in China are insufficiently covered and studied and have broad prospects for development.

Rebuttal to “Reply to road markings and microplastics…” by Järlskog et al

A rebuttal to “Reply to road markings and microplastics- a critical literature review” by Järlskog et al. is necessary because authors of the “Reply…” simultaneously agree with the major issues raised in the review and try to discredit it through presenting a different perspective; thus, clarifications of some key issues are due. In response to “binders derived from, e.g., modified rosin oils are still polymers” (“Reply…”, p. 3), to confirm our claim that such materials are not necessarily polymeric, we are providing a Gel Permeation Chromatography spectrum of an esterified rosin designed for the use as a binder in thermoplastic road markings. Hence, while the value of the “Reply…” is in highlighting differences in definitions, it is unfortunate that no new knowledge about microplastics originating from road markings was provided and none of the multiple research needs and uncertainties were clarified.

Innovative Teaching Research on Literary Theory and Criticism

Innovative Teaching Research on Literary Theory and Criticism