Post-war Society Research Articles

Contributions to the elucidation of a controversial episode.The Ciulei case. (1)

Considered in Romanian historiography as a representative miscarriage of justice, a proof of the imperfection of the military justice system during the First World War, the Ciulei case aroused the interest of post-war society because of the strident injustice that characterized the entire trial. To make matters even more complicated, his brigade commander, Colonel Sturdza, who had signed the order to courtmartial him, deserted to the enemy.What is actually the truth? Was Ciulei the victim of Sturdza or was he the victim of an unfortunate chain of events?With a title inspired by one of the few works that have approached this subject with scientific rigor, and here I am referring to the work of professors Petre Otu and Maria Georgescu, presented in the bibliography, this article aims to contribute to the elucidation of this episode, providing readers with arguments identified in primary sources, from documents in the custody of the Romanian National Military Archives.

The Perils of Privacy and Passivity: Antidemocratic, Racist, and Antisemitic Sentiments in Postwar West Germany

Abstract This article analyzes the affective economy of West Germany's postwar society. After delineating the intellectual history of the Frankfurt Institute for Social Research's “Gruppenexperiment,” which consisted of 137 group interviews with different segments of West German society, my article focuses on one transcript of a 1950 group discussion of young fashion-designer apprentices. Based on a close reading, I study how the younger generation in West Germany constructed a passive and privatist self-image in which they could both articulate their emotional dissociation from National Socialism while clinging to antidemocratic, racist, and antisemitic feelings in metamorphosed form. The micrological focus of the analysis of the group's emotions is balanced by a rereading of both Helmut Schelsky's study about the “skeptical generation” and texts by researchers associated with the Institute for Social Research who came to markedly different conclusions about the West German youth.

The Good Muslim as a Quest for Jus Post Bellum in a Nation in Transition

This paper explores the search for justice after the war in Tahmima Anam’s novel, The Good Muslim. The novel deals with the aftermath of ‘the Liberation War of Bangladesh’ in the 1970s and early 80s, when the country was gravely suffering from famine, consecutive murders of their prominent leaders, political upheavals, natural disasters, and paralyzed democratic norms in the hands of a Dictator Hussein Muhammad Ershad. In such a context, Maya Haque, the protagonist of the novel, and an erstwhile freedom fighter continues writing and fighting for modern education, justice for the rape victims of the war, and democracy in the country. The study analyzes narrative data from the novel to see how the female characters struggle for justice after the war. For this purpose, it uses Larry May’s insights on ‘jus post bellum’. May has proposed six criteria for post-war justice, including ‘reconciliation’ and ‘rebuilding’, to maintain lasting peace in a post-war society. The novel entails these conditions and brings transitional justice to the fore of discourse through the literary creation. The paper claims that the protagonist is not only raising her voice for certain characters in the novel, rather she is constantly contributing to the broader issue of jus post bellum, which has been the most important, yet the most ‘neglected’ topic in just war theories. The article concludes with the idea that a fictitious work like The Good Muslim can be a good voice for the voiceless and a loud and clear advocacy for justice after the war. It can contribute to maintaining law and order and build up lasting peace preventing further violence in a postwar society.

Fragmented Life: "Death of the Subject" in Slaughterhouse-Five

Kurt Vonneguts Slaughterhouse-Five is a quintessential American postmodernist novel. Based on Fredric Jamesons postmodern cultural theories, the text will analyze the characteristic of death of the subject. With the development of capitalism, the religion gradually lost its absolute voice in society and was replaced by extreme individualism. However, after the devastation of the two world wars, people finally realized the dangers of individualism, and the status of the subject went into extinction. In the late capitalist society, Billy Pilgrim, the main character, was hard to gain a sense of belonging from the heroism and wealth, and gradually lost the subjectivity captured from the religion. Facing the crisis of death of the subject, Billy had tried to save himself by pastiche, but he failed in the end. By telling Billys personal experience, the novel not only amply demonstrates the spiritual dilemmas prevalent in post-war society but also expresses profound humanistic concern.

Confessions to intimate violence: FARC testimonies to sexual violations in the Colombian conflict

ABSTRACT This article examines a rare event: confessions to “intimate” acts of sexual violence by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). Using a dramaturgical approach, it explores the transformation of “confessional acts” from silence and denial to excuses to eventual remorse and condemnation. It explains the shifts in the FARC’s narratives (scripts) in terms of who performed them (actors), when and where (stage and timing), audiences’ reactions, and the role of directors (FARC leaders). The article uses the unique FARC case to consider how confessional acts can break global patterns of denial and silence around sexual violence in armed conflicts. As sexual violence lacks heroic or military justification and has the potential to harm armed groups’ image, it is logical that leaders would attempt to manage what is said. Audiences comprised of the FARC’s opponents, former combatants, victim-survivors, and enemies influenced scripts. On alternative stages, new narratives acknowledged sexual violence and acceptance of responsibility for it. Over time, leaders lost directorial control over the original denial performance. Understanding this dramatic and contentious process, the article contends, holds the potential for helping to build a strong norm – shared by all sides of Colombia’s polarized post-war society – to condemn sexual violation whenever it occurs and whoever is involved.

Problematizing Narratives of Tragedy: Postwar Scientific Discourse in Tōho SFX Films

ABSTRACT Tōho SFX films (tokusatsu eiga), more popularly known as kaiju films, are a subgenre of Japanese films that flourished in the postwar era. Since many of the early films feature radioactive monsters, the genre is largely valued for reflecting the trauma and anxiety of nuclear bombs, testing, and effects of radiation in postwar society. Rather than focus on nuclear science, this study considers the continuation of scientific development from wartime to postwar by examining two neglected films that deal with the horrors of military science: Tōmei Ningen (Oda, 1954) and Densō Ningen (Fukuda, 1960). It argues that while the films reflect the social structures that saw the laundering of a more complicated scientific development that included wartime atrocities, they also offer instances of resistance to such prevailing ideologies. By moving away from a preoccupation with nuclear discourse and consequently from victimhood, this study aims to complicate the approach to Tōho SFX films as cultural responses to the trauma of the war experience.

Shaken and Stirred: The Crisis of Masculinity in<em> Casino Royale</em>

This article evaluates the literary figure of James Bond as a manifestation and projection of the Masculinity Crisis of the 1950’s white western male. In his first outing in Ian Fleming’s 1953 Casino Royale, Bond functions as a figure of subjectivity-splitting anxiety through whom the Masculinity Crisis is channelled with catastrophic effects for the character’s own sense of self, mirroring wider social fears about changing roles in an increasingly altering post-war society. While a number of scholars increasingly note the utility of masculinity theory in James Bond studies, the origin of the character’s troubled relationship to his own masculine self is yet to be explored in Fleming’s first novel as cinematic critiques take centre stage in analytical discussions. This article argues that the demands of a hegemonic hyper masculinity, combined with the dualistic lifestyle of a spy, see Bond oscillate between "ideal" and "transgressive" versions of masculine embodiment. This is shown to ultimately work to dissociate the character from his own sense of self, propelling him into crisis. It examines three areas of binary conflict: wealth and ruin, virility and castration, and masculinity and femininity, arguing the extreme pressures of each create an unstable, uneasy, and unhealthy masculine entity in need of critical re-examination.

Excerpts from Einar Schleef’s "Droge Faust Parsifal" (Drugs Faust Parsifal)

Arguably the most important books by Einar Schleef (1944-2001) are his novel Gertrud, a monologue narrated by his fictionalized mother, his diaries, and the work excerpted here, Droge Faust Parsifal (Drugs Faust Parsifal, 1997). Schleef also wrote plays and short stories, and was a theater director, set and costume designer, actor, illustrator, painter, and photographer. His work deserves a wide readership, yet only a story and a play have been translated into English (Buchner 1982, 130-138; Vivis 1987). Drugs Faust Parsifal’s 500 pages are autobiography, theater history, dramaturgy and cultural essay in one. It won the City of Bremen Literature Prize in 1998 and was adapted for the stage in 2011 by Armin Petras. The selected passages from Drugs, which are somewhat anomalous in a book mainly about dramaturgy, concern Schleef’s personal struggles; they have historical relevance and show his linguistic dexterity, articulated in his “suffering language, a language for suffering” (Windrich 2009, 481). Both as child and adult, he is an observer of a postwar society divided against itself.

Features of physical education and sports rehabilitation for combat veterans with traumatic brain injury

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a common consequence of combat actions, leading to significant disability of military personnel. The purpose of the article was to characterize the features of physical culture and sports rehabilitation of combatants with TBI. Scientific publications on medical and physical rehabilitation of individuals with traumatic brain injuries were analyzed. It was found that the integrated use of kinesitherapy, physical exercises, motor learning, sensory stimulation and cognitive training is effective. It is indicated that mine-explosive injury, which dominates among combat injuries, is often combined and accompanied by damage to several anatomical areas. It is the main cause of military casualties. Combat traumatic brain injuries cause severe and combined injuries, which causes high mortality and disability due to the development of a wide range of disorders. This significantly worsens the quality of life of victims. Emphasis is placed on the fact that the Ukrainian health care system will continuously face the consequences of war for the civilian population and military. Veterans will need not only timely and highly qualified medical care, but also long-term rehabilitation, which will contribute to their full reintegration into post-war society. The features of the development of long-term consequences of TBI in combat veterans have been insufficiently studied and need to be investigated to improve the rehabilitation and quality of life of victims, return them to labor and social activity. It is concluded that it is necessary to develop a special program of physical culture and sports rehabilitation for this category of combat veterans.

Social-cultural features of the suicidal behaviour in Bosnia and Herzegovina

The paper considers specific factors related to suicide and the influence of general, social-cultural factors on suicide in a typical post-war society - Bosnia and Herzegovina (BH). Many researchers focus on the life history of a person that committed suicide in order to get a better understanding of its social-psychological and other factors. However, the authors consider the social-economic factors of suicide based on the survey on social-cultural characteristics of suicide in BH. Part of the sample consisted of respondents that were friends or neighbours of the suicider. BH is a multicultural society that suffered war events not so long ago, which determined social-economic devastation and misery. The consequences are post-traumatic syndrome, high unemployment, social disorders, and social-pathological phenomena, including suicide. In BH, suicide is largely determined by the social circumstances, while certain social-psychological factors seem to be less important (individual pain and suffering caused by accidents or discomforts). Therefore, to understand the causes of increased suicide rates in certain periods and societies, we need to analyse the very nature of the particular society. The suicide rate in BH was considered through the social-cultural determinants of suicide. The ten-year timeframe does not exclude the impact of the previous turbulent period, including a decade of great political turmoil and economic crisis in the post-war society. Thus, the authors studied the statistical data collected by the relevant public institutions and the survey data collected with three questionnaires. Based on that data, the authors analysed in detail the causes of suicide in BH and the effects of specific social-cultural factors in the society trying to overcome the consequences of war after two decades of interethnic conflicts and strong international involvement. By considering the biography, interpersonal relationships, physical and mental health, lifestyle and other aspects of life of the person that committed suicide, the authors identify the most significant risk factors of suicidal behaviour, which may influence a personal decision to commit suicide (including ‘triggers’ and the level of suicidal intent). The social-cultural aspects of suicide prove that this phenomenon has a historical, cultural, religious and global social dimension, which means the need in its multidisciplinary study.

Genocide, joint criminal enterprise, and reconciliation: Interactional analysis of a post-war society in the context of legitimizing transitional capitalism

Genocide, joint criminal enterprise, and reconciliation: Interactional analysis of a post-war society in the context of legitimizing transitional capitalism

Modernity and consumer culture in Visconti's early films

AbstractLuchino Visconti is widely recognised as a high-culture director. However, in his films of the period 1943–63 there was a firm engagement with consumer culture and modernity in terms of themes, characters and references. This article explores this often overlooked dimension in Visconti's films by analysing a number of key sequences and moments that relate directly to consumption, consumer culture, leisure, modernity, Americanisation and youth culture. The analysis shows how these representations related to the ongoing changes in Italian postwar society and to incoming Americanisation in particular. My research is informed by the work of Gary Cross, Victoria De Grazia and Emanuela Scarpellini on consumer culture and contextualises how Visconti's referencing of consumer culture and modernity was received by the PCI (Partito Comunista Italiano or Italian Communist Party).

Everything but Restraint: Aldo van Eyck and Constant Nieuwenhuys’ Visions of Post-War Society in Light of Their Lived Experience

This essay investigates how Aldo van Eyck and Constant Nieuwenhuys’ respective visions of post-war society were influenced by their lived experiences. Rejecting the functionalism prevalent in society, both found a guiding principle for their post-war visions in the relation-based thinking found in Johan Huizinga’s 1938 book Homo Ludens. Seeking to reintroduce play into daily life to counter the societal rigidity prevalent prior to the Second World War, they developed visions of societal structures that facilitated and reflected new societal relations. Their respective wartime experiences influenced these visions. Van Eyck, who spent the war years in neutral Switzerland, developed a humane structuralist architecture while Constant, who lived under German occupation in Amsterdam, zeroed in on an all-encompassing utopian vision which surpassed Van Eyck’s, in everything but restraint. Through a comparative analysis, this essay will illustrate how Constant’s more extreme experiences pushed him to take a more radical stance than his spared counterpart.

Literature at the service of truth: Simone Weil and 'L’Enracinement'

The purpose of this article is to elaborate the many literary allusions that Simone Weil used in her ultimate work: L' Enracinement, translated as The Need for Roots, to achieve her goal of encouraging her fellow countrymen to create a new postwar society. Understanding how she used the riches of the French and Western Literary Cannon, less easily grasped by those not educated in the French Education system, enriches the understanding of Weil's purpose and skill in writing on many levels, simultaneously for different target audiences. Underlying her stress on the need for truth and honesty about a county's past and present, with discernable respect for every person, is her foundational belief in the spiritual destiny of every human being. Examining her literary allusions in detail to show her clever subversion of traditionally accepted interpretations brings a new dimension to Simone Weil studies, while underlining the relevance of this essay to contemporary dilemmas.

An Analysis of the Influence of Post-war Culture on The Maltese Falcon Through the Femme Fatale Character of Bridget

Culture is a product of social groups, and art as a medium presents peoples ideas. It has become particularly important and necessary to study the integration of culture into art, that is, how art presents a certain culture to understand society. This paper selects the post-World War II society and the resulting post-war culture. The paper discusses existentialism and feminism in post-war culture by examining the portrayal of the female character Bridget in the film noir The Maltese Falcon based on Sigmund Freuds psychoanalytic personality theory. Summarizing the film and examining the existential femme fatale character Bridgette, the paper explores how the culture of postwar society influenced and reflected each other. The paper concludes that Bridgette, as a typical classic female character in a film noir, has an existential femme fatale personality that reflects the postwar culture that existed in society at that time. At the same time, cinema as an artistic medium interacts with and integrates with society.

The problem of war and peace in European literature of the 20th century

Aim. The aim of the article is to identify and arrange the patterns of influence of the consequences of the wars of the 20th century on literature as one of the characteristic manifestations of the socio-cultural activity of the community involved in destructive military actions, and the influence of these literary works on modernity. Methods. The research employed the following methods: collection and analysis of works of war literature, cross-sectional expert rating analysis, content analysis and drawing analytical conclusions. Results. The study was focused on two lists of literary works about the First and Second World Wars. According to the rankings, Erich Maria Remarque - Der Weg zurück (about the First World War) and Anne Frank - Het Achterhuis (about the Second World War) are the leaders. Stylistic dynamics showed a change from generalized moral reflections to personal experiences of military horrors. The results confirmed the impact of military conflicts on literature and its interaction with other socio-cultural phenomena. Conclusions. The authors’ appeal in the war literature of World War II to the personal experiences of the potential reader through the mediation of autobiographical literary works contributes to a fundamental revision of the moral and ethical norms of the post-war society. The academic novelty is a comprehensive analysis of the impact of global military conflicts on European literature and their role in the modern world. The results of the study can be used in literary studies, education and cultural studies for a better understanding of the influence of military conflicts on literature and the formation of a humanistic worldview. The prospects for further research direction focus on increasing the sample of empirical data through content analysis of a larger number of master works of war literature.

In Defense of Prewar Japan: Promoting the Past in Studies of Crime during the Asia-Pacific War and Allied Occupation

Abstract: While scholarship on the memories of the Asia-Pacific War is extensive, less information is available on the way individuals defined, imagined, or idealized the prewar period. This article examines studies relating war to civilian crime on the main islands, illustrating the role of the prewar period in assessments of wartime and postwar society. Contributing to positive views of prewar Japan detached from the "undesirable past" of the war, the authors of these studies anticipated some of the concerns, interpretations, and aspirations of postwar political and academic notables as well as postbubble social critics calling for the revival of so-called traditional values.

How Do We Come Across the East-Asian Women’s Story from Post-War

This book is a compilation of female narratives focused on themes such as post-war society, East Asia, and the female in literary works by South Koreans, North Koreans, Chinese, Japanese, Taiwanese, Koreans living in Japan, and Okinawans. By comparing various female narratives across the region, this interesting volume unveils how certain aspects of East Asian lives overlap or are clearly distinct from one another. Part 1 examines the points of contact between the female narratives of the Korean peninsula, China and Japan. Part 2 explores the possibility of East Asian female solidarity based on the boundaries and intersections shown in female literature by Okinawans, Koreans living in Japan and Taiwanese. Part 3 highlights, from an East Asian perspective, the achievements and significance of feminist narratives through notable writers and works which have emerged from Korean and Japanese literary field. This book aims to discuss the aforementioned female narratives at the level of the East Asian community, thereby expanding the analysis beyond states and local regions.

Sayyid Qutb: An Intellectual Biography

Sayyid Qutb: An Intellectual Biography

Staging Race and Gender in the Era of Contemporary Crises: Dramas of African American Women Playwrights

Abstract Starting from the premise that contemporary crisis is a pervasive continuation of the modern “series of interrelated crises” (Fernández-Caparrós and Brígido-Corachán vii), this article examines the manner in which the US theater has responded to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Simultaneously considering crises as “agents of change and transformation” (xvii) and bearing in mind the #MeToo, and Black Lives Matter movements, the article questions the likelihood of contemporary American theater overcoming its own crisis of representation. Relating modern and current crises, the essay first outlines twentieth century dramatic literature and theatersi against the backdrop of the World Wars, the 1918 health crisis, economic depression, and post-war (racialized) society, focusing on plays by American women of color. The study then centers on dramatic and theatrical developments brought about by the annus horribilis of 2020, surveying new genres, authors and performances, and discerning no significant improvement in systemic discrimination on Broadway stages. The essay also offers complementary reading of Trouble in Mind (1955), a meta-drama mirroring systemic racial and gender discrimination in American theaters, and By the Way, Meet Vera Stark (2011) which unravels similar issues, albeit in the film industry.