The most-performed operas today were written at least a hundred years ago and carry some outdated and deeply problematic ideas. When performed uncritically, the misogyny, racism, and other ideologies present in many of these works clash with modern sensibilities. In Rape at the Opera, Margaret Cormier argues that production and performance are vital elements of opera, and that contemporary opera practitioners not only interpret but create operatic works when they put them onstage. Where some directors explicitly respond to contemporary dialogues about sexual violence, others utilize sexual violence as a surefire way to titillate, to shock, and to generate press for a new production.
Drawing on archival footage as well as attendance at live events, Cormier analyzes productions of canonic operas from German, Italian, and French traditions from the eighteenth to the early twentieth century, including Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Don Giovanni, La forza del destino, Un ballo in maschera, Salome, and Turandot. In doing so, Cormier highlights the dynamism of twenty-first-century opera performance practice with regard to sexual violence, establishes methods to evaluate representations of sexual violence on the opera stage, and reframes the primary responsibility of opera critics and creators as being not to opera composers and librettists but to the public.
This chapter introduces the idea of a postformalist aesthetic theory of reconstructing remote artefacts aesthetic statuses. The case is immune to the misgivings about aesthetic enquiry prevalent in the humanities and social sciences, since it does not assume that recovering such statuses involves experiencing the artefacts potential to provide an intrinsically rewarding gratification of the senses, of the intellect, or of both together. Postformalist aesthetics sees itself as part of a broad investigation into the nature of evaluative attitudes towards visually conspicuous artefacts. Such a broad investigation represents a necessary step towards establishing whether an object was meant to merit aesthetic attention.
When viewing a circular coin rotated in depth, it fills an elliptical region of the distal scene. For some, this appears to generate a two-fold experience, in which one sees the coin as simultaneously circular (in light of its 3D shape) and elliptical (in light of its 2D 'perspectival shape' or 'p-shape'). An energetic philosophical debate asks whether the latter p-shapes are genuinely presented in perceptual experience (as 'perspectivalists' argue) or if, instead, this appearance is somehow derived or inferred from experience (as 'anti-perspectivalists' argue). This debate, however, has largely turned on introspection. In a recent study, Morales et al. (2020) aim to provide the first empirical test of this question. They asked subjects to find an elliptical coin seen face-on from a search array that also included a circular coin seen either face-on or at an angle. They found that subjects reacted more slowly when the distracting circle was seen at an angle, such that its p-shape matched that of the target ellipse. From this, they concluded that the similar p-shape between the ellipse and circle constituted a phenomenal similarity between the two, and thus that perspectivalism is true. We show that these results can also be explained by pre-attentive guidance by unconscious representations (in what follows, just "unconscious pre-attentive guidance") and that this explanation is at least as plausible as one from phenomenal similarity. Thus, we conclude that the experiment does not support perspectivalism over anti-perspectivalism.
Exploring a wide variety of visualizations of pregnancy and fetuses through 300 years of history, this timely volume offers a fresh look at the influential feminist concept of the "public fetus." Images of pregnant and fetal bodies are today visible everywhere. Through ultrasound screenings at maternity clinics, birth videos on social media platforms, or antiabortion propaganda, visualizations of pregnancy are available and accessible as never before. The origins of today's visual culture of pregnancy are often traced back to the 1960s, when Swedish photographer Lennart Nilsson's stunning photographs of human development were published in Life magazine and widely disseminated over the world. But the public display of pregnant and fetal bodies actually has a much longer and more complex history. In this timely book, a group of scholars from a range of disciplines explores this multifaceted history by highlighting visualizations of pregnant and fetal bodies in a variety of geographical and cultural contexts, spanning a period of more than 300 years. By reengaging with the crucial concept of the "public fetus," coined by feminist scholars in the 1980s and 1990s, the volume aims to revitalize the scholarly discussion on the visual culture of pregnancy and demonstrate the constructed nature of fetal images. Including chapters on a wide variety of representations in different media, such as wet specimen collections, papier-mâché models, sculpture, film, and photography, the book provides a much-needed argument against the widespread notion of the "universal" fetus. On publication this title is available as an Open Access ebook under the Creative Commons License: CC-BY-NC-ND.
From premodern societies onward, humans have constructed and produced images of ideal masculinity to define the roles available for boys to grow into, and images for adult men to imitate. The figure of Alexander the Great has fascinated people both within and outside academia. As a historical character, military commander, cultural figure and representative of the male gender, Alexander's popularity is beyond dispute. Almost from the moment of his death Alexander's deeds have had a paradigmatic aspect: for over 2300 years he has been represented as a paragon of manhood - an example to be followed by other men - and through his myth people have negotiated assumptions about masculinity.
This work breaks new ground by considering the ancient and medieval reception of Alexander the Great from a gender studies perspective. It explores the masculine ideals of the Greco-Roman and medieval past through the figure of Alexander the Great, analysing the gendered views of masculinities in those periods and relates them to the ways in which Alexander's masculinity was presented. It does this by investigating Alexander's appearance and its relation to definitions of masculinity, the way his childhood and adulthood are presented, his martial performance and skill, proper and improper sexual behaviour, and finally through his emotions and mental attributes.
Masculine Ideals and Alexander the Great will appeal to students and scholars alike as well as to those more generally interested in the portrayal of masculinity and gender, particularly in relation to Alexander the Great and his image throughout history.
Nature was called on to justify what was based on social stereotypes and gender preconceptions ever since the Cold War. Gender discrimination in the US space programme indeed has a long history. Imaging phantoms simulating the human body or parts of it played that exact role. Right after the Second World War, the International Commission on Radiation Protection recognized the need to formulate a set of standard biological parameters, describing the "average individual," that could be used to calculate permissible radiation doses for those working with radionuclides. Designing artefacts such as spacesuits based on the universal and the standard, reinforces the importance of physicality and justifies exclusion. It prescribes femininity as much as it does masculinity, both in the singular. For long, the history of technology has focused on artefacts as technical entities and scrutinized the role of inventors, engineers, scientists, corporations, the state, regulators, the press, and of course users and consumers.
Earthquake early warning (EEW) for Aotearoa New Zealand is in its infancy. Establishing a public EEW system in New Zealand that can warn the general population comes with several reservations as there are many technological, societal, and cultural challenges to overcome. Even with recent technological advances, a successful EEW system will rely on people to react appropriately to the alerts and follow protective action recommendations, such as Drop, Cover, and Hold. Designing an EEW system requires a multidisciplinary approach that involves multiple stakeholders, including the public. This chapter introduces an overarching design science approach in investigating the feasibility of an EEW solution for New Zealand. It includes a participatory design method used for eight community workshops to understand people's views on EEW. The workshop participants envisaged an EEW system for New Zealand that considers the intersections between services and technology, communication, and human behavior. They expected a holistic EEW system to incorporate public engagement, transparency, and inclusion. The design-led approach described in this chapter puts people at the center, encouraging a close engagement with communities to inform the development of relevant and trusted technological solutions. The robust engagement processes provide insights relevant to designing an EEW system for New Zealand.
This book is about digital humanities laboratories, places where the humanities take up new digital and computational technologies for teaching and research, which often grow out of—or turn into—other contemporary labs configurations: research software engineering labs, digital heritage labs, feminist labs, and social labs. In this introduction, the editors present the goal of the volume, which is to discuss the concept of a laboratory in digital humanities from a broad range of perspectives: epistemological, infrastructural, technological, and socio-cultural. This book offers a reflection on how to interrogate the organisational structures of digital humanities, how to reimagine a "critical laboratory" with great sensitivity towards racial, gender, and indigenous issues, and what can be offered to other humanities fields interested in laboratories (e.g., science and technology studies, media studies, and cultural heritage studies). Laboratories have become an important lens for investigating the development of the field of digital humanities and its connections with science, technology, industry, and society, drawing on interdisciplinary approaches from science and technology studies, infrastructure studies, philosophy of technology, feminism, postcolonial studies, and critical digital pedagogy. This collection aims to pave the way toward "laboratory studies" as a new research direction in digital humanities.
Themistios, ein anerkannter Philosoph seiner Zeit, gilt als einer der erfolgreichsten Lobredner des 4. nachchristlichen Jahrhunderts. Lange Zeit wurde ihm vor allem die Rolle eines Regierungssprechers zugeschrieben und seine Behauptung, dass er den Kaiser als Philosoph lobt, für reine Rhetorik gehalten. Diese Arbeit geht unter der Prämisse des Akzeptanzmodells vor allem der Frage nach, wie der große Erfolg Themistios' zu erklären ist, der immerhin Hauptredner auf vier aufeinanderfolgende Kaiser war. Die textnahe Untersuchung der Reden zeigt, dass sich Themistios als nicht-christlicher Philosoph stark von den neuplatonischen Philosophen seiner Zeit unterscheidet und vor allem diese Themistios abgesprochen haben, als Philosoph zu sprechen. Ein Ergebnis der Untersuchung ist, dass die Gruppe der nicht-christlichen Philosophen weniger homogen war als bisher vermutet, und es bei Themistios eine größere Nähe zu den christlichen Herrschaftsvorstellungen, gibt als bislang angenommen. Es zeigt sich, dass Themistios' Vorstellung eines guten Herrschers mit dem der Neuplatoniker nicht zu vereinbaren ist und diese jedoch bei dem Gros der Eliten großen Anklang fand. Themistios kann damit als einer der ersten politischen Philosophen gelten. ; Themistios, ein anerkannter Philosoph seiner Zeit, gilt als einer der erfolgreichsten Lobredner des 4. nachchristlichen Jahrhunderts. Lange Zeit wurde ihm vor allem die Rolle eines Regierungssprechers zugeschrieben und seine Behauptung, dass er den Kaiser als Philosoph lobt, für reine Rhetorik gehalten. Diese Arbeit geht unter der Prämisse des Akzeptanzmodells vor allem der Frage nach, wie der große Erfolg Themistios' zu erklären ist, der immerhin Hauptredner auf vier aufeinanderfolgende Kaiser war. Die textnahe Untersuchung der Reden zeigt, dass sich Themistios als nicht-christlicher Philosoph stark von den neuplatonischen Philosophen seiner Zeit unterscheidet und vor allem diese Themistios abgesprochen haben, als Philosoph zu sprechen. Ein Ergebnis der Untersuchung ist, dass die Gruppe der nicht-christlichen Philosophen weniger homogen war als bisher vermutet, und es bei Themistios eine größere Nähe zu den christlichen Herrschaftsvorstellungen, gibt als bislang angenommen. Es zeigt sich, dass Themistios' Vorstellung eines guten Herrschers mit dem der Neuplatoniker nicht zu vereinbaren ist und diese jedoch bei dem Gros der Eliten großen Anklang fand. Themistios kann damit als einer der ersten politischen Philosophen gelten. ; Themistios, a recognised philosopher of his time, is regarded as one of the most successful eulogists of the 4th century AD. For a long time, the role of a government spokesman was attributed to him and his claim that he praised the emperor as a philosopher was considered pure rhetoric. Based on the premise of the acceptance model, this work primarily examines the question of how Themistios' great success can be explained, given that he was the main speaker for four successive emperors. The textual examination of the speeches shows that Themistios, as a non-Christian philosopher, differs greatly from the Neoplatonic philosophers of his time and that they in particular denied Themistios the right to speak as a philosopher. One result of the study is that the group of non-Christian philosophers was less homogeneous than previously assumed, and that Themistios was closer to Christian ideas of domination than previously assumed. It turns out that Themistios' idea of a good ruler cannot be reconciled with that of the Neoplatonists and yet it was very popular with the majority of the elites. Themistios can therefore be regarded as one of the first political philosophers.
This book explores shared religious practices among Jews, Christians, and Muslims, focusing primarily on the medieval Mediterranean. It examines the meanings members of each community ascribed to the presence of the religious other at ""their"" festivals or holy sites during pilgrimage. Communal boundaries were often redefined or dissolved during pilgrimage and religious festivals. Yet, paradoxically, shared practices served to enforce communal boundaries, since many of the religious elite devised polemical interpretations of these phenomena which highlighted the superiority of their own faith. Such interpretations became integral to each group's theological understanding of self and other to such a degree that in some regions, religious minorities were required to participate in the festivals of the ruling community. In all formulations, "otherness" remained an essential component of both polemic and prayer.
There are two increasingly distinct strands of thought regarding rights to mental health and mental health care in mental health legislation. According to one school of thought, reflected by some (but not all) United Nations (UN) and World Health Organization (WHO) bodies, substitute decision-making and treatment without consent should cease. This is based on a particular, contested reading of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and a hope that the need for such measures can be completely eliminated through improved practices. The other school of thought includes many mental health service-users and providers who acknowledge the need for reform and supported decision-making, but believe treatment without consent will still be needed occasionally, and feel the UN and WHO are increasingly detached from clinical evidence and service provision. There is a need for deeper dialogue, inter-disciplinary research, and enhanced collaboration to protect rights in mental health care.
This chapter explores the role transnational networks and informal ties play for small-state-status seeking in Central and Eastern Europe. Using the example of Slovakia, I argue that since their accession to Western institutions, these states have continuously sought to carve out a place for themselves on the mental map of European and North American policymakers. Major security-policy conferences have become central nodal points for this kind of activity. They allow the foreign-policy establishment of small states to manage and shape existing status hierarchies by forging personal contacts with decision-makers from more powerful states. I illustrate this phenomenon empirically with reference to the Bratislava Global Security Forum (GLOBSEC), which began in 2005 as a student-led initiative and has since become the main outreach platform of Slovak foreign policymaking.
EPDF and EPUB available Open Access under CC-BY-NC-ND licence. This volume brings together an international team of contributors to provide a much-needed examination of climate litigation in Africa. The book outlines how climate litigation in Africa is distinct as well as pinpointing where it connects with the global conversation. Chapters engage with crucial themes such as human rights approaches to climate governance, corporate liability and the role of gender in climate litigation.
Mental health legislation has a lengthy history in most societies. Legislation commonly outlines the circumstances under which treatment without consent is permitted in psychiatric facilities. While the history of mental health legislation varies somewhat across jurisdictions, many saw significant expansions in mental health law during the nineteenth century, especially with the establishment of large public 'mental hospitals'. These institutions generally declined during the twentieth century as treatments improved, societies became less tolerant of institutions, and bodies such as the United Nations increased their emphasis on human rights. This chapter summarises the history of mental illness and relevant legislation, early efforts to control people deemed 'mentally ill', the emergence and decline of mental hospitals, recent emphasis on human rights, and likely future developments. While this chapter uses the examples of Ireland (a high-income country in the Global North) and India (a lower middle-income country in the Global South), many countries remain under-represented in both the historiography and general literature. This chapter concludes that it is essential that mental health laws are just and fair, but that legislation has always been part of a broader social system of care which has commonly failed people with mental illness. We can and must do better.
Archival Film Curatorship is the first book-length study that investigates film archives at the intersection of institutional histories, early and silent film historiography, and archival curatorship. It examines three institutions at the forefront of experimentation with film exhibition and curatorship. The Eye Film Museum in Amsterdam, the George Eastman Museum in Rochester, NY, and the National Fairground and Circus Archive in Sheffield, UK serve as exemplary sites of historical mediation between early and silent cinema and the digital age. A range of elements, from preservation protocols to technologies of display and from museum architectures to curatorial discourses in blogs, catalogs, and interviews, shape what the author innovatively theorizes as the archive's hermeneutic dispositif. Archival Film Curatorship offers film and preservation scholars a unique take on the shifting definitions, histories, and uses of the medium of film by those tasked with preserving and presenting it to new digital-age audiences.
