Main Protagonist Research Articles

Narratives of excision: master- and counter-narrative in Ahmadou Kourouma’s The Suns of Independence

Abstract This article examines the forms taken by master- and counter-narratives in fiction through a case study of Ahmadou Kourouma’s first novel, Les soleils des indépendances (1968), published in English as The Suns of Independence in 1981. It focuses specifically on the third chapter, which contains the narrative of the genital excision and rape of Salimata, the main protagonist’s wife and second protagonist of the novel. As Michael Bamberg and Molly Andrews remind us, “[c]ounter-narratives only make sense in relation to something else, that which they are countering” (2004: x). First, I shall examine the relation of countering in the chapter in question: it contrasts the glorious narrative of excision presented by Salimata’s mother with Salimata’s traumatic experience as recalled by the character herself. Then, I shall consider the master- and counter-narrative of excision from the perspective of narrativity and tellability: contrary to the mother’s master-narrative, which features a relatively low degree of narrativity and tellability, the counter-narrative centered on Salimata contains all the elements making it possible to speak of an individual, prototypical narrative, therefore a counter-narrative in the proper sense. Finally, I shall ask what fiction brings to counter-narrativity: in particular, a distinctive account of “what it is like” to undergo the operation of excision. Overall, the aim of the article is to show that the interpretive frame of master- and counter-narratives allows in some cases to shed new light on what is loosely called the “message” of a fictional narrative: in this case, the denunciation of traditional practices harmful to women, with the active or internalized participation of women themselves.

Tellings of the Pacific Ocean: A Landscape-based Approach for Multispecies Design and HCI

Environmental disturbances induced by climate change have caused significant changes in our ecosystems and are threatening the health of our environments. As a response to this issue, a growing body of work has emerged in HCI and design, which seeks to foreground more-than-human stories in support of making more sustainable and just futures. This research contributes to this broad agenda by probing graphic novels as a multispecies storytelling method for design and HCI. Combining ideas from Anna Tsing’s adventures of landscape and from HCI and design’s use of sequential art (e.g., storyboards), we use landscape as the main protagonist of the story and show how graphic novel features, such as the use of panels and the ability to represent different perspectives across times, scales and geographies, affords tellings of multispecies stories. Through a critical engagement with the creation of the graphic novel as a research process and product, we offer an approach to challenge the human-centeredness and solution-orientedness of designs and stories.

Challenges And Solutions In Building Multicultural Education At Smk Sabilul Muttaqin Mojokerto: A Study Of Islamic Values

This research shows that multicultural values are implemented systematically through inclusive pedagogy,?diversity based curriculum, and instruction models which promote tolerance, inter-religion dialogue, and the strengthening of cultural identity. This article uses a descriptive qualitative approach to deeply understand the implementation of multicultural values in Islamic Religious Education (PAI) learning at Sabilul Muttaqin Vocational High School. The PAI teachers are the main protagonist in fostering?the value of respect for cultural and religious differences in the school environment. Yet, ongoing barriers such as racism against students and the lack of resources for education compromise potential for?effectiveness across these initiatives. The results of this study are to improve teacher capacity, for example by providing focused multicultural?training, and the creation of inclusive, diversity responsive teaching resources.

Characterization Analysis of the Main Character in the Film Hacksaw Ridge (2016)

In a movie, there are personalities developed by every character. The protagonist in the movie possesses traits that need to captivate the audience's attention. Thus, it is important to outline the attributes of the character's traits. For instance, in the film Hacksaw Ridge, the main character is portrayed with a steadfastness in his beliefs. Desmond Doss’s character engages everyone who views the film, immersing them in the atmosphere and allowing them to experience what the character experiences. The aim of analyzing this main character is to understand the personality or qualities of Desmond Doss. The approach employed in carrying out this research is a qualitative method. The data collected for this study consists of dialogues from the character within the film Hacksaw Ridge. The focus of this study is undoubtedly on the character of the main protagonist himself. From the findings of this study, it is evident that Desmond Doss exhibits commendable traits, including bravery, patience, humor, determination, fairness, humor, and adherence to the Bible. This is illustrated by how the principal character conducts himself and how other characters respond to the main character. Keywords: Film, Character, Main character

O corvo Moisés: a religião cristã na Revolução dos Bichos, deGeorge Orwell

In the plot of Animal Farm, George Orwell exposes the betrayal of democratic ideals that characterizes every totalitarian regime, especially when it originates from a spontaneous popular revolution. The characters in the story, crafted so well that none of them seem out of place, invite us to reflect on their representations and their speeches. Among them, I highlight in this paper the character of Moses the raven who, while not a main protagonist, is closely tied to the theme of the revolution as he represents Christianity during a period of sociopolitical deconstruction and reconstruction. Through his appearances in the narrative, Moses illustrates how religion was viewed from a socialist perspective in terms of his stance and conduct at the time of the book’s publication in 1945. Thus, through the subtle mentions of the raven, I emphasize perspectives on Christianity as a utopia via the message of a paradise-like mountain where all animals would go after death and as an institution historically detached from sociopolitical reality due to its worldview or alliances. Therefore, I bring into discussion the relevance of the critique made in the early 20th century of Christianity, concerning its value and usefulness in sociopolitical issues—an absence that, however, contradicts the ethos pointed to in its creed, which emphasizes love for one’s neighbor, fraternity, and justice in the world with hope for its transformation.

Suitable Sweden: Co-producing Sweden Through Reproduction, Technological Development and International Aid in the Mid-twentieth Century.

In the mid-twentieth century, there were worries about overpopulation globally. Birth control - an often-sensitive topic - was made to be an issue of urgency through an overpopulation discourse. It stopped being associated mainly with sex and started to be associated with ending world starvation. Some nations were seen as requiring help; some nations were seen as politically sensitive to birth control; some nations were seen as financially capable; and other nations, such as Sweden, were seen as well suited for developing birth control technologies. This paper traces how Sweden became a main global protagonist in international aid that focused on reproduction through local birth control development. By using perspectives from science and technology studies, I examine the specific networks and actors that made birth control development and testing possible in Sweden in the mid-twentieth century. Centering around the testing of intrauterine devices and abortion pills in the 1960s, this paper shows how technological development in Sweden co-produced understandings of reproduction and the conditions for reproductive research infrastructure. It argues that the technological development of birth control is an important and yet understudied aspect of how Sweden situated itself internationally when it came to the overpopulation scare.

Linguocultural representation of ethnic mentality in the context of globalization

The article analyzes the literary representation of the Cajun ethno-linguistic minority in the text of the comic book of the late XX century. The relevance of this study is due to the fact that globalization has established the tendency to represent small ethnic groups in modern popular culture. The desire to create unique and memorable characters made authors appeal to the representation of features of different ethnic groups, including small ones. The national colour, manifested in the character’s appearance, speech, etc., gave the authors an opportunity to speak about cultural similarities and differences, thus introducing diversity into the plot component of popular culture. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the implementation of the characteristics of the small Cajun ethnic group in the speech of the comic book character. As the material of this study Gambit (1993) comic mini-series was chosen, the main protagonist of which identifies himself as Cajun. 300 Gambit’s lines were extracted from the 4 chapters by continuous sampling. The selected replicas were examined using linguocultural analysis to identify the features of the Cajun culture in the character’s speech. Thus, the most prominent feature that allows Gambit to be identified as a characteristic representative of an ethnos is his use of Cajun English. At the phonetic level, the dialect features are manifested in the distortion of interdental consonants, the consonant sounds drop-outs in the middle or end of certain words, and the periodic replacement of the nasal sound [ŋ] with the standard [n]. The influence of the French language on Cajun English explains grammatical deviations peculiar to Francophones and French lexemes in Gambit’s speech. The combination of phonetic, lexical, and grammatical features characteristic of the hero’s lines, but not based on his Cajun dialect, also maintain his image as a native of South Louisiana. In his first solo comic, Gambit appears before readers as a stereotypical Cajun, whose image was originally based on prejudice about the ethnicity.

(Re)Presentation of Belgrade’s New Wave Movement in the Novel When You Say That I Am Yours

The New Wave movement in rock and roll music represents a significant phenomenon within the local (Yugoslav) context. Its impact on the perception of both the past and the present is reflected in the continuous and increasingly pronounced need to organize tributes in the form of concerts, exhibitions, panel discussions, documentary films, and novels. This paper presents an anthropological analysis of the novel When You Say That I Am Yours (Kada kažeš da sam tvoj) by the writer Goran Skrobonja. The novel is set in the second half of the 1980s, during the existence of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The main protagonist, Lazar Petronijević, lives and grows up in Belgrade and belongs to the ‘New Wave’ rock and roll scene that emerged in the early 1980s and continued to exert its influence in various forms throughout the decade. The aim of this research is to reconstruct the meanings attributed to the New Wave movement, the music scene of the time, and the city of Belgrade during that period, meanings that are shaped through memory and personal narratives. One of the conclusions drawn from the analysis is that the reality presented in the novel largely corresponds with the kind of (New Wave) reality that is frequently discussed, written about, filmed, and continuously reproduced as the ‘everyday life of the 1980s in Yugoslavia’. The novel's analysis also reveals that although the term New Wave is not explicitly mentioned in many instances, it is deeply embedded in various meaningful elements identified in the text, such as descriptions of the city, public and private gathering places, radio and television shows, and magazines. These elements, which form the basis of the socialization process centered around music, not only create a symbolic network of meanings that shape the daily life of Lazar Petronijević but also ‘bring back’ to the 1980s a particular generation of readers, to the time of their youth, allowing them to evoke memories while simultaneously constructing retrospective meanings that transcend individual experiences and evolve into shared cultural representations, thus making them anthropologically relevant.

Experiences of Early Childhood Caregivers in Times of Covid-19 Pandemic Confinement

The objective of the study was to analyze the creative experiences of caregivers of children in early childhood in a children's home in times of confinement due to the COVID-19 pandemic, from a qualitative approach with a phenomenological design. The in-depth study was carried out with six families, three nuclear and three extended, selected under the theoretical or conceptual sample; a semi-structured interview was applied as an instrument for the collection of information. From the experience of the participants, the results allowed us to establish domestic work, protection, adaptability and emotional support as the main activities assumed by the caregivers in the midst of confinement. Likewise, diversity in caregiving was visualized in the insertion of multiple caregiving functions that generated caregiver overload. Finally, the permanence of caregiving, the strengthening of emotional bonds and the woman as the main protagonist were reflected as particular elements in the caregiving experiences of the participants.

BOUNDARIES OF BEING IN THE EYES OF FRANZ KAFKA’S METAMORPHOSIS

The presented Artwork projects evoking the centenary (2024) of Franz Kafka´s death developed at the end of last academic year 2023/2024 by College of Arts and Design (ESAD, Matosinhos - Portugal) and University of Design, Innovation and Technology University (UDIT, Madrid - Spain), centred its focus on creative storytelling production for film, animation and gaming. At the turn of the twenty-first century or pictorial turn, we are seeking to understand to what extent the realm of moving pictures establishes the tension between belief and disbelief, or the depicted real and the constructed reality, staging sentimental fabulations of being. The metaphor of the boundaries of being in-between Metamorphosis and primal scenes unfolds the need of debating filmic object´s post-mediation and its immersive experience today. After a century of history, cinema seen as an Art form - which depicts space, time and causality - is still today subject of constantly evolving, and wherein the diegetic world of the presented Artwork projects aims to foster critical thinking upon the Metamorphosis´ main protagonist Gregor Samsa major existential concerns, still new today.

Is There Anything Like Humane Jail Design: Whether the Changes in Design Will Prove Beneficial or Injurious to Society?

This case is an attempt to draw attention towards the condition of inmates in the prisons of the country. The case revolves around the major experiences of Professor Keshav Kumar, senior architect of Uttar Pradesh Nirmaan Nigam (UPRNN) who to the best of his efforts tried to implement reformative prison design to in􀏐luence the psychology of the inmates, making him the main protagonist of the case. The case discusses his efforts, attempts and experiences in the form of narration and conversation with different people involved in the design. He advocated the use of well thought architectural strategies as a tool to in􀏐luence the psyche of prison inmates and also following all the mandatory norms. It expresses the major concern of Professor Keshav Kumar to provide humanitarian conditions to prison inmates and at the same time highlights uncertainty among the decision makers to accept such design strategies. It also revealed the emotions of the inmates and their preferences in reference to the basic needs they have during their sentence.

Societal Trends and Opportunities in the Aftermath of the Nova Psychedelic Trance Rave, Through Lilla and Benjamin

ABSTRACTThis fiction article is about trauma and grief, resilience and the celebration of life. It also addresses the role psychedelics can play in bringing about change in our traumatized society by inspiring us and showing us how to use the present as a possibility for fundamental transformation. It is written in the form of a short story to exemplify how these substances work and underline the critical importance of challenging protocols and conventional ways of thinking, and opening up a space for the unexpected. The story discusses societal trends, either already noticeable or hoped for, in the aftermath of the terror attack on the Nova music festival in Re'im, Israel, on October 7, 2023, where roughly two‐third of the partygoers were under the influence of psychedelics. Lilla, our fictitious main protagonist, first describes her experience on that day, at the interface of psychedelics and trauma. This part of the story is influenced by observations from our clinical work with survivors as well as by preliminary insights from our phenomenological study. She then goes on to share her fears, thoughts and visions, initiating a discussion on psychedelics and society. Read through the lens of Walter Benjamin's historical materialism, dialectics between past and present, old and new, we believe that insights from psychedelics can provide a critical view of society while allowing us to envision how this moment can be seized as an opportunity, right now, for creating a break in the continuum of history!

The Return of Repressed Past Trauma in The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides (2019)

This study is about the return of the repressed trauma that was experienced by one of the main protagonists in the novel The Silent Patient (2019) by Alex Michaelides. This study focuses on the internal problem of one of its protagonists. This analysis uses psychoanalysis and literary theory. The results of this research are that the main protagonist suffers quite a lot due to her repressed trauma. One of the main protagonists tries to make her talk and make her get out from her silent treatment habits that plagues her nowadays.

The Genesis of the Writing of the Third Part of the Secret of Fátima. Doubts, Anguish, and Sufferings of Sister Lúcia Maria das Dores During the Second Half of 1943 in Tuy. A Historical Controversy

This research explores the historical conditions that facilitated the redaction of the so-called third part of the Secret of Fátima, focusing on the circumstances and experiences of the main protagonist, Sister Lúcia. The drafting and concatenation of the events surrounding the famous document is due to an amalgam of historical, spiritual, and ecclesiastical factors that created a favorable context for the expression and formalization of Sister Lúcia's messages. This paper also reveals a contradiction between the testimonies in the diary of the Carmelite convent of Coimbra and the research of Sebastião Martins dos Reis and António Maria Martins, suggesting inconsistencies in the account of events, which underlines the need for a critical and objective analysis of historical sources, highlighting the complexity of examining sources that relate to inner experiences within the discipline of religious studies in the Catholic framework.

Dematerializing Riegl’s Modern Cult of Monuments

This paper delves into the transformation of memory and heritage in the digital age, interpreting Alois Riegl’s pivotal 1903 work, “The Modern Cult of Monuments,” through the lens of today’s digital technologies. Riegl’s axiological examination, foundational in the field of heritage preservation, is reevaluated to explore how digital documentation reinterprets historical and age values of monuments, aligning with his philosophy of ‘touchless’ preservation. This research proposes a novel paradigm for representing and engaging with monuments within the digital sphere that I term “Cult Beyond the Digital.” Furthermore, the paper argues for the contemporary relevance of Riegl’s methodologies in architecture, particularly those linked to non-contact recording methods that result in the creation of intangible heritage. The paper speculates on future preservation strategies, especially as emerging AI technologies promise the potential to reconstruct missing historical data and enhance monument preservation efforts. By examining the interaction between technological advancements and monument preservation, the study revisits and expands Riegl’s theory, offering a forward-looking perspective on the discipline in the digital and beyond the digital era, aligning with the theme “Beyond the Visible” by exploring how architectural processes such as aging are documented by contemporary digital tools to protect our heritage and memory. This invisible force of time leaves architecture with traces that can be seen as a continuous “unmaking” or dematerializing of its physical forms. The age value of monuments was considered the monument’s most essential value of the twentieth century, according to Riegl. Extending his theory to our time, the age value is surpassed by what I call a “timeless” value that represents digitally documented monuments over time. They, as digital data, shift their properties from the material world to the digital realm. By doing so, the main protagonist of this architectural “unmaking” is not an architect but the environment itself.

Forensic View and Personal Opinions to the Lethal Cases of the Alcohol Dependent

Summary Objectives: The objective of this work is to document four lethal alcohol cases and discuss our opinions concerning alcoholism in young, and adult, people. Material and methods: We will consider archive examples of four lethal cases with a view to considering possibilities for intervention and prevention. The study involves one woman and three men who were dependent on alcohol. It is a brief description of events that led to a tragic outcome without apparent influence of others within the frame of acquired knowledge concerning these cases. Results: In the first case, the main protagonist is a woman who died lying on the ground in the hallway of her own apartment. The second case describes a man who died after falling or jumping out of the fourth-floor window in an apartment building. The third case is a man who died lying on the floor of an empty apartment. In the fourth and last case, there is a man who died sitting on the couch in his own home. Conclusion: All the mentioned people started drinking young, never admitting their growing alcohol dependence. They refused treatment and never stopped drinking. Here several factors come into consideration: family influence, nurture, social environment, educational institutions, to say nothing of the influence of support mechanisms concerning the management of the problem by government agencies. There appears to be a consensus among experts that alcohol is a major health risk that needs to be communicated throughout public, institutional, channels, especially to young people in order to address this public health crisis.

“Some Minor Words”: The Debate on Symphonia at the Moscow Church Council of 1666/67

Although principles were, as a rule, not a matter of debate in Muscovite political culture, experiences of crisis, such as the Smuta or the conflict between Patriarch Nikon and Tsar Aleksei Mikhailovich, did instigate pertinent fervent discussions on how the God-given order was best to be perceived and restored. This paper outlines the debate on the relationship between and the mutual dependency of secular and ecclesiastical power that erupted after Nikon’s ambiguous abdication in 1658 and culminated at the Moscow Church Council of 1666/67. It focuses on a crucial but somewhat enigmatic episode during the Council, when two Russian bishops, Metropolitan Pavel of Krutitsy and Bishop Ilarion of Riazan, protested against the formulation included in the Tomos of the four Eastern patriarchs (1663) concerning the primacy of the emperor. Their objection led to the Council issuing a revised statement, reformulating the classical notion of symphonia (the emperor is responsible for political matters, the patriarch for spiritual ones), although the two prelates had to face disciplinary sanctions. The paper draws mainly on the writings of the debate’s main protagonist, the infamous Metropolitan of Gaza, Paisios Ligaridis, in order to clarify what we may reasonably deduce from the account of the self-righteous Greek prelate and certain further evidence concerning, on the one hand, the protagonists’ motives, and on the other, the whole episode’s actual significance.

Знание – без власти: благая весть Венедикта Ерофеева

SUMMARY: Ilya Gerasimov revisits Venedikt Erofeev's iconic poem Moscow-Petushki (1969–1970) through the double lens of its aesthetic, theological, and political polemic with Mikhail Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita and Julia Vaingurt's reading of Erofeev as an embodiment of the "weakness" trope in late Soviet culture. The author argues that Erofeev rejected Bulgakov's elitism and Faustian modernist ideal of heroic action. Erofeev's polemic with the Faustian cult of power and the implied belief that "might is right" is highlighted by Vaingurt's concept of "weakness." However, the acceptance of weakness as intrinsic to human nature is only one aspect of Erofeev's complex worldview. Gerasimov argues that key to this worldview is the understanding of an individual as endowed with multifaceted personality irreducible to any rigid set of qualities or single social identity, as exemplified by the poem's main protagonist, Venichka. Gerasimov suggests that Erofeev created this protagonist using the trope of Ahasver – the Wandering Jew, – emphasizing his role as a timeless witness to the supreme truth rather than a Christ-like figure. His life takes the tragic turn when the open future suddenly closes, collapsing into the endless repetition of the same under a new disguise. Gerasimov defines the postmodern condition as this radical change of cultural temporality defying modernity's futurism, evolutionism, and progressivism. Experienced time as standing still, the culture of postmodern era imagines the future as no longer offering a distinct alternative to the present. Erofeev's poem transcends a simple dichotomy of power and weakness, instead exploring the possibility to find personal freedom and meaning of life in an era where modernist ideals have become obsolete.

MELANHOLIJA REČI U ROMANIMA MI, IZBRISANI I VELIKI JURIŠ SLOBODANA VLADUŠIĆA

In this paper, we analyze the motif of the melancholy of words in the novels Mi, izbrisani and Veliki juriš by Slobodan Vladušić. Our research endeavor is initiated by the hypothesis that the imaginary world of Vladušić's novels can be unveiled through the variously attributed words the protagonists search for (but fail to find). In the first part of the paper, we conclude that words can serve as a counterbalance to the increasingly pervasive intrusion of the popular game Metropolis into the protagonists' everyday lives and, as such, can be bequeathed as the most valuable symbolic asset. However, since books and reading are perceived as incidental in a one-dimensional, tightly structured everyday life, and given the pronounced influence of consumer culture, spectacle, and entertainment, the main protagonist lacks the “right words” that could be effective. Consequently, his writing in such an environment must remain merely potential, with the story handed over to someone whose writing aligns with the spirit of the times. In the second part of the paper, we demonstrate how language organizes the image of the world, yet simultaneously reveals itself as a deceptive and insufficient instrument of communication, particularly evident when it comes to expressing emotions. It is precisely in this that the paradoxical crux lies—a story can be understood but not felt, or it can be felt without understanding a single word. Finally, we conclude that the inability to authentically shape one's own story implies an inability to authentically encompass the world.

The novel Ikaros by Axel Jensen as an example of road literature in Norwegian prose of the 1950s

The aim of this article is to present the novel Ikaros by Axel Jensen as an example of road literaturein Norwegian prose of the 1950s. Analysis of the book, which is set in Algeria in 1953/54 and hasbiographical overtones, is conducted in relation to themes of history, adventure, ethnography,mysticism and mythology. It is also shown against the background of the development of Norwegianliterature in the 1950s, in connection with its most important writers and phenomena,and highlights some of the mythical symbols and archetypes that are embedded in Europeanliterature and culture. Additionally, it shows – in a prophetic way – how the identificationof the novel’s main protagonist with the symbol of Icarus was fulfilled in the author’s later life.