Introduction / Aleksandra Wiktorowska -- Patricia Campos Mello, excerpts -- Women and literary war journalism in Brazil : from Sylvia Arruda Botelho Bittencourt to Patricia Campos Mello / Monica Martinez -- Euclides da Cunha, Consiglieri Sá Pereira, Mário Neves and Rodolfo Walsh, excerpts -- Iberian and Latin American literacy journalism under dictatorships : connections, origins and the literary journalist in action / Manuel João de Carvalho Coutinho -- Gabriel García Márquez and Rodolfo Walsh, excerpts -- Telling stories of survivors : Gabriel García Márquez, Rodolfo Walsh, and the question of narrative authority / Liliana Chávez Díaz -- Antonio Callado, excerpts -- Covering the peasants' war in Pernambuco : Antonio Callado's literary journalism / Lilian Martins, Marcelo Bulhões -- Ryszard Kapuściński, excerprpts -- Ryszard Kapuściński in Latin America, Latin America in Kapuściński's writing / Aleksandra Wiktorowska.-- Leila Guerriero, excerpts -- From ¡Basta ya! to Nunca más : Latin American literary jourrnalists, regional wars, and post-conflict societies / Roberto Herrscher -- Charles Bowden and Judith Torrea, excerpts -- La crónica como reflejo del confiicto social en Ciudad Juárez / Antonio Cuartero Naranjo, Juan Antonio García Galindo -- Óscar Martínez, excerpts -- Imaginarios apocalípticos en la crónica contemporánea / Patricia Ponblete Alday
This dissertation analyzes five memoirs written in English by North American writers of Lithuanian descent, published between 2001 and 2017 in the United States and Canada: Painted in Words—A Memoir (2001) by Samuel Bak, The Barefoot Bingo Caller (2017) by Antanas Sileika, White Field, Black Sheep: A Lithuanian-American Life (2010) by Daiva Markelis, A Guest At the Shooters' Banquet (2015) by Rita Gabis, and Siberian Exile: Blood, War, and a Granddaughter's Reckoning (2017) by Julija Šukys. In their memoirs, these writers reflect on and challenge aspects of Lithuanian historical trauma (the Holocaust) and Lithuanian cultural trauma (deportations to Siberia, World War II, the postwar experience, the refugee experience, immigration). They consider the impact of those historical events on their ancestors, themselves, and their descendants. All five embarked on postmemory rite of return journeys to Lithuania after Lituania's independence from the Soviet Union, seeking answers about family narratives. These memoirs function both as memory and postmemory narratives. In each of the memoirs, the writers explore personal narratives as narratives of culture against the backdrop of collective memory and historical and cultural trauma. Superimposed onto their individual memory narratives are explorations of familial and affiliative postmemory that are geographically, historically, and culturally distant for these writers living on the North American continent, and yet vitally important to them. There is a belatedness to these memory narratives, which in part is caused by the divisions of the Iron Curtain and Cold War politics, and in part because of the time needed to process and heal from extreme trauma (the first generation) or come to terms with inherited postmemory traumas (the second and third generations). Writing in English about Lithuania, these writers function as cultural translators who translate their postmemory experience for an audience of North American readers. Their work is representative of a growing body of literary novels, memoirs, essays, plays, and poems that explore postmemory topics related to Lithuanian cultural and historical trauma and collective memory that are written in English and published in North America by both university presses and commercial publishers.
This dissertation analyzes five memoirs written in English by North American writers of Lithuanian descent, published between 2001 and 2017 in the United States and Canada: Painted in Words—A Memoir (2001) by Samuel Bak, The Barefoot Bingo Caller (2017) by Antanas Sileika, White Field, Black Sheep: A Lithuanian-American Life (2010) by Daiva Markelis, A Guest At the Shooters' Banquet (2015) by Rita Gabis, and Siberian Exile: Blood, War, and a Granddaughter's Reckoning (2017) by Julija Šukys. In their memoirs, these writers reflect on and challenge aspects of Lithuanian historical trauma (the Holocaust) and Lithuanian cultural trauma (deportations to Siberia, World War II, the postwar experience, the refugee experience, immigration). They consider the impact of those historical events on their ancestors, themselves, and their descendants. All five embarked on postmemory rite of return journeys to Lithuania after Lituania's independence from the Soviet Union, seeking answers about family narratives. These memoirs function both as memory and postmemory narratives. In each of the memoirs, the writers explore personal narratives as narratives of culture against the backdrop of collective memory and historical and cultural trauma. Superimposed onto their individual memory narratives are explorations of familial and affiliative postmemory that are geographically, historically, and culturally distant for these writers living on the North American continent, and yet vitally important to them. There is a belatedness to these memory narratives, which in part is caused by the divisions of the Iron Curtain and Cold War politics, and in part because of the time needed to process and heal from extreme trauma (the first generation) or come to terms with inherited postmemory traumas (the second and third generations). Writing in English about Lithuania, these writers function as cultural translators who translate their postmemory experience for an audience of North American readers. Their work is representative of a growing body of literary novels, memoirs, essays, plays, and poems that explore postmemory topics related to Lithuanian cultural and historical trauma and collective memory that are written in English and published in North America by both university presses and commercial publishers.
The study presents the situation of the United States experienced by the COVID-19 pandemic and the controversial presidency of Donald Trump. Efforts were made to answer the question of how the superpower was coping with an unprecedented challenge and why the US did not work in this clash. Although the internal situation was also analysed, attention was focused on the external aspect. The main conclusion is that the pandemic has exposed the weakness and incompetence of the Trump administration, as evidenced by the rich toll of deaths and sick that the coronavirus has collected in the US. Nor has the Trump team proven itself internationally, abandoning America's traditional leadership role in such situations, and showing selfishness or pettiness. The Biden administration has attempted to rebuild the U.S. ranks, but faces a difficult task. The new team's first moves not only brought the US back to the traditional trajectory of US foreign policy, where principles and standards matter, credibility and predictability are important. The process of strengthening the US role has also resulted in the reconstruction of transatlantic relations, which are one of the pillars of America's strength on the international stage. The article adopts a research strategy based on the tracking of events, their evaluation, qualitative and critical analysis of texts, conducting comparative evaluations. ; W opracowaniu przedstawiono kondycję Stanów Zjednoczonych doświadczonych pandemią COVID-19 i kontrowersyjną prezydenturą Donalda Trumpa. Starano się odpowiedzieć na pytanie, jak supermocarstwo radziło sobie z bezprecedensowym wyzwaniem i dlaczego w tym starciu USA się nie sprawdziły. Choć analizowano też sytuację wewnętrzną, to jednak uwaga była skoncentrowana na aspekcie zewnętrznym. Główna konkluzja brzmi następująco: starcie z pandemią obnażyło słabość i niekompetencję administracji Trumpa, czego potwierdzeniem było bogate żniwo ofiar śmiertelnych i chorych, jakie zbierał koronawirus w USA. Ekipa Trumpa nie sprawdziła się również na ...
The article aims to evaluate whether and how constitutional replacements influence the quality of democracy in Latin American countries. The fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis method is applied while analysing 18 Latin American countries. The objective of the article- nine new constitutions that are assigned to the new constitutionalism period. The results reveal that constitutional replacements are neither sufficient nor necessary condition for quality of democracy. On the contrary, the parsimonious solution shows that quality of democracy can be explained by both high levels of education and inversion of constitutional replacements and inversion of constitutional replacements, institutionalised party system and non-homogeneous society. Inversion of quality of democracy analysis indicated that constitutional replacements, together with other conditions, form sufficient conditions for inversion of quality of democracy.
The article aims to evaluate whether and how constitutional replacements influence the quality of democracy in Latin American countries. The fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis method is applied while analysing 18 Latin American countries. The objective of the article- nine new constitutions that are assigned to the new constitutionalism period. The results reveal that constitutional replacements are neither sufficient nor necessary condition for quality of democracy. On the contrary, the parsimonious solution shows that quality of democracy can be explained by both high levels of education and inversion of constitutional replacements and inversion of constitutional replacements, institutionalised party system and non-homogeneous society. Inversion of quality of democracy analysis indicated that constitutional replacements, together with other conditions, form sufficient conditions for inversion of quality of democracy.
In the post-cold era, the economic and military power of the People's Republic of China is constantly growing. As a result, the rebirth of the idea of the protectionist economic policy, which has always been present in the American public debate, took place in the U.S. This idea is evidently reflected in the foreign policy of the President of the United States of America, Donald Trump. This article includes the analysis of the contemporary economic protectionism of the United States from the perspective of the offensive realism theory created by John Mearsheimer. The theory is based on three fundamental assumptions: the structure of the international system is anarchic, the primary goal of a state is to survive, for that reason states seek maximalization of their power. ; W epoce pozimnowojennej ma miejsce stały wzrost potęgi ekonomicznej oraz militarnej Chińskiej Republiki Ludowej. Owa tendencja spowodowała odrodzenie idei protekcjonizmu gospodarczego w Stanach Zjednoczonych, która była wcześniej obecna w amerykańskiej debacie publicznej. Owa idea wyraźnie się przejawia w polityce obecnego Prezydenta USA Donalda Trumpa. Artykuł zawiera analizę współczesnego zjawiska protekcjonizmu gospodarczego USA z perspektywy teorii realizmu ofensywnego stworzonej przez Johna Mearsheimera, której podstawowymi założeniami są przekonanie o anarchicznej strukturze systemu międzynarodowego oraz o przetrwaniu jako naczelnym celu państwa, które w związku z tym dąży do maksymalizacji własnej potęgi.
The aim of the article is to present and evaluate the involvement of the United States of America in resolving the 2011 Libya crisis. This problem is considered taking into account bilateral and multilateral circumstances. The individual parts of the article discuss issues such as relations between the United States of America and Libya before the crisis, as well as US actions during the crisis and the reasons for carrying them out. This concerns, inter alia, Washington's political activity in the UN Security Council and the contribution of the US Armed Forces to the military operation in Libya. The evolution of the United States position on the use of the military factor to change the political regime of Libya is also shown. The research problem is included in the questions, what motivated Washington's actions towards Libya and whether the chosen policy was justified? The main thesis of the article is that the basic reason for the involvement of the United States of America in the crisis in Libya were the premises of a humanitarian nature, but the US interests were also important. Unfortunately, the military action did not lead to the end of the internal conflict in this country. The approach of the United States of America to the crisis in Libya was an important element for the formulation of the doctrine of President Barack Obama. There can be observed the elements that match both the liberal and realistic concept of international relations. In the article, the text source analysis method was used. ; Celem artykułu jest przedstawienie i ocena zaangażowania Stanów Zjednoczonych Ameryki w rozwiązanie kryzysu w Libii z 2011 roku. Problem ten rozpatrywano z uwzględnieniem okoliczności dwustronnych i wielostronnych. W poszczególnych częściach artykułu omówiono zagadnienia, takie jak relacje Stanów Zjednoczonych Ameryki i Libii przed kryzysem oraz działania USA w trakcie kryzysu i motywy je warunkujące. Dotyczy to między innymi aktywności politycznej Waszyngtonu na forum Rady Bezpieczeństwa ONZ oraz wkładu Sił Zbrojnych USA w operację zbrojną w Libii. Ukazano również ewolucję stanowiska Stanów Zjednoczonych Ameryki w kwestii wykorzystania czynnika militarnego do zmiany reżimu politycznego Libii. Problem badawczy zawiera się w pytaniach, czym motywowane były działania Waszyngtonu wobec Libii oraz czy obrana polityka była zasadna? Główną tezą artykułu jest stwierdzenie, że podstawowym powodem zaangażowania się Stanów Zjednoczonych Ameryki w kryzys w Libii były przesłanki natury humanitarnej, jednak liczyły się także interesy USA. Niestety akcja zbrojna nie doprowadziła do zakończenia konfliktu wewnętrznego w tym państwie. Podejście Waszyngtonu do kryzysu w Libii było ważnym elementem wpływającym na formułowanie doktryny prezydenta Baracka Obamy. Możemy w nim dostrzec cechy wpisujące się zarówno w liberalną, jak i realistyczną koncepcję stosunków międzynarodowych. W artykule wykorzystano metodę analizy źródeł tekstowych.
Američka administracija zainteresovala se još pedesetih i šezdesetih godina prošlog veka za zemlje severne Afrike, kada su one stekle nezavisnost. Krajem Hladnog rata, američki zvaničnici pozvali su sve severnoafričke zemlje da se uključe u proces globalizacije svetske ekonomije, a posle događaja iz septembra 2001. godine u Sjedinjenim Američkim Državama, njihovi istraživački centri počeli su ozbiljnije da proučavaju islamske pokrete unutar i izvan islamskog sveta. Predmet istraživanja ove doktorske disertacije je određivanje američkih spoljno-političkih interesa i vrednosti prema islamskim pokretima na severu Afrike na početku XXI veka. Naučni cilj ovog istraživanja je naučno objašnjenje američke spoljne politike prema islamskim pokretima, posebno uzroka promene u američkoj spoljnoj politici i njen budući pravac kretanja prema političkim partijama i pokretima, nakon revolucija arapskog proleća i dolaska ovih islamskih partija na vlast u Tunisu, Egiptu i Libiji. To podrazumeva naučnu deskripciju i klasifikaciju značajnih islamskih pokreta na severu Afrike s naglaskom na njihov uticaj na američku spoljnu politiku. Društveni cilj ove teze je da ponudi naučno zasnovane osnove za razvoj odgovarajuće američke spoljne politike prema islamskim pokretima, uključujući i ulogu nezavisnih istraživačkih centara kao i sredstava informisanja u kreiranju američke spoljne politike. Najveću primenu u ovoj disertaciji imale su statistička i komparativna metoda, kao i analiza sadržaja dokumenata kao metoda prikupljanja podataka. Rezultat, odnosno naučni doprinos doktorske disertacije zasniva se na dva bitna činioca. Prvo, ova tema nije razvijena u naučno delo u našoj i savremenoj naučnoj literaturi, dakle radi se o originalnoj doktorskoj disertaciji. I drugo, zbog naučnog cilja odnosno naučnog objašnjenja američke spoljne politike prema islamskim pokretima, kao i njihovoj klasifikaciji. Društveni značaj i očekivani rezultati odnose se na sprovođenje američkih spoljno-političkih interesa i vrednosti, i proučavanja uticaja međunarodnog terorizma i radikalnih islamskih pokreta na američku spoljnu politiku, posebno u procesu globalizacije. ; The American administration has shown interest during the 1950-1960's for the North Africa countries, after their independence. By the end of the Cold War, the US officials has invited all North African countries to engage in the process of globalization of the world economy, and after the events during September 2001 in the USA, their research centers has begun more serious to study the Islamic movements inside and outside the Islamic world. The subject of this doctoral thesis is to determine US foreign policy interests and values towards the Islamic movements in the North of Africa at the beginning of the XXI century. The scientific objective of this research is the scientific explanation of US foreign policy towards the Islamic movements, particularly the causes of changes in US foreign policy and their trends towards political parties and movements, after the Arab spring revolutions and the arrival of these Islamic parties to power in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya. It includes scientific description and classification of the significant Islamic movements in the North of Africa, with an emphasis on their impact on US foreign policy. The social objective of this thesis is to offer science-based foundation for developing the appropriate US foreign policy towards the Islamic movements, including the role of independent research centers and the media in the creation of American foreign policy. The most used methods in this doctoral thesis were statistical and comparative methods, as well the content analysis for collecting the data. The result, ie scientific contribution of this doctoral thesis is based on two important factors. First, this theme has not been developed as scientific work in our and modern literature, so this is an original doctoral thesis. And second, because of the scientific explanation of American foreign policy towards the Islamic movements, as well as their classification. The social significance and expected results relates to the implementation of US foreign policy interests and values, and studying the impact of international terrorism and radical Islamic movements towards American foreign policy, especially during the process of globalization.
The article aims to evaluate whether and how constitutional replacements influence the quality of democracy in Latin American countries. The fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis method is applied while analysing 18 Latin American countries. The objective of the article- nine new constitutions that are assigned to the new constitutionalism period. The results reveal that constitutional replacements are neither sufficient nor necessary condition for quality of democracy. On the contrary, the parsimonious solution shows that quality of democracy can be explained by both high levels of education and inversion of constitutional replacements and inversion of constitutional replacements, institutionalised party system and non-homogeneous society. Inversion of quality of democracy analysis indicated that constitutional replacements, together with other conditions, form sufficient conditions for inversion of quality of democracy.
The article aims to evaluate whether and how constitutional replacements influence the quality of democracy in Latin American countries. The fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis method is applied while analysing 18 Latin American countries. The objective of the article- nine new constitutions that are assigned to the new constitutionalism period. The results reveal that constitutional replacements are neither sufficient nor necessary condition for quality of democracy. On the contrary, the parsimonious solution shows that quality of democracy can be explained by both high levels of education and inversion of constitutional replacements and inversion of constitutional replacements, institutionalised party system and non-homogeneous society. Inversion of quality of democracy analysis indicated that constitutional replacements, together with other conditions, form sufficient conditions for inversion of quality of democracy.
The chief purpose of BBC World Service, Radio France Internationale, and Voice of America in the Context of International Communication: From Propaganda to Public Diplomacy is to analyse the role radio stations fulfil for international communication nowadays in the light of the roles they served in the past (that is, the times when radio dominated). During the interwar period and right before World War II, new radio stations came to being that aimed at broadcasting content targeted at the listeners abroad. Initially, these radio stations were transmitting mostly official messages or functioning as private point-to-point communication; in both cases, they functioned similarly to telegraphs (assuming one addresser and one addressee). Along with not only the development of the transmitting and receiving devices but also the widening of our knowledge on radio waves, radio turned into a mass medium, thanks to various "freaks," including investors and other radio lovers. Having access to the network of correspondents and a powerful radio signal, radio stations back then were able to provide live coverage of the events that interested listeners all around the globe. The capacities of radio were significant during World War II as well; precisely, it ceased to serve communication purposes exclusively, and was included into military arsenal (used not only in operations and diversion actions, but also for jamming and scouting). This military conflict showed that the possibility of reaching listeners abroad – that is, the citizens of adversary, allied, and neutral states – had been of enormous importance, whereas the ability of shaping the opinions of foreign citizens had become a crucial part of contemporary warfare. The relevance of radio for international communication was indisputable also during the Cold War. Radio Free Europe, Radio Liberty, Voice of America, BBC World Service, Radio France Internationale, Deutsche Welle, Radio Madrid, Radio Moskwa, and Radio China International were fundamentally engaged in both ideological war and public diplomacy. Simultaneously, various international processes changed the position radio occupied among other media; the "Golden Age of Radio" reached a significant decline in the 1950s, when the dominance of radio gave way to the advent of television, whereas from late 1990s on the situation of all media was revolutionised by the birth of the Internet. As a result, digitalisation, convergence, shifts in reception and use of media – not to mention other broader phenomena, including the dominance of audiovisual culture – affected not only listeners and their preferences (inclining to fragmented radio programmes), but also ratings and marketability of radio stations. Finally, since political communication has privileged the audiovisual paradigm, and domestic policy has gradually become a media issue, radio has withdrawn in this area as well, giving primacy to television and new media. Because of the aforementioned factors and shifts, it becomes vital to carefully reconsider the contemporary and international status of radio. After all, one might be tempted to think that radio is no longer in its heyday, whereas both governments and individual listeners do not deem it as a genuine informative medium or a means capable of reaching the foreign public opinion. This book, therefore, explores how Radio France Internationale, Voice of America, and BBC World Service changed diachronically in reference to other radio stations alike, points to rules they follow and formats their programmes take, and analyses their recent activity in international communication between 2014 and 2018. Chapter 1 introduces theoretical vocabulary international communication relies on, and juxtaposes its various definitions with related cultural phenomena, including transcultural communication, political communication, propaganda, public diplomacy, cultural diplomacy, media diplomacy, and soft power. Aside from analysing these concepts, this chapter also proposes an innovative definition of international communication and its graphic model. Chapter 2 is diachronic, and it focuses on the discovery of radio waves and the invention of radio read from the technical perspective, which determines the position of radio for international communication. Moreover, the early forms of radio are recalled with regard to their significance for foreign communication. Finally, the development of radio and broadcasting in France, United Kingdom, and the USA is presented with an emphasis put on the differences between their broadcasting models. Chapter 3 is devoted to the development of international broadcasting, dividing it into three stages: 1) the early 20th century (until the 1930s), when radio waves were being tested, the first experimental stations came to being, and first international radio stations were founded, including those in Nauen and Zessen (Germany), Sainte-Assise and Le Post Colonial (France), Eindhoven and Heuzen (Netherlands), Chelmsford (United Kingdom); 2) the World War II period, in which the uses of radio for international military communication are analysed in reference to propaganda radio stations (Radio Berlin, Radio Hamburg, Radio Stuttgart, Radio Tokio) and its prominent figures (William Joyce ("Lord Haw-Haw"), Paul Ferdonnet ("the Stuttgart Traitor"), Mildred Gillars ("Axis Sally"), Ive Togure ("Tokyo Rose")), British pirate radio stations functioning in response to the Axis propaganda (for instance, Gustav Siegfried Eins), the radio stations of French Resistance with a special emphasis put on Radio Brazzaville, that is, Charles de Gaulle's chief means of international communication, and, finally, Voice of America serving for public diplomacy purposes; 3) the Cold War period, in which the objectives, assumptions, and strategies of international broadcasting posed by France, United Kingdom, the United States of America between 1945 and late 1980s are examined. The last chapter is entirely dedicated to BBC World Service, Radio France Internationale and Voice of America nowadays, paying attention to their regulations, structures, and broadcasting services. These radio stations are understood as means used for public diplomacy of their countries, and their institutional and formal connections to government institutions are discussed. Consequently, this comparative chapter refers to the legal contexts, supported by acts and regulations of a given country, presents the principles and levels of funding, reconstructs the institutional positions of radio among other media, and characterises broadcasting in terms of services, directions, and programmes. The analysis of contemporary strategies and activities of the discussed radio stations makes it possible to claim that the use of radio for international communication has not lost its relevance, and currently is supported with television and the Internet, that is, the media that were invented later in the course of historical progress. Radio stations, therefore, are not held in media bubbles; rather, they are still significant means of foreign communication because of their specificities. Furthermore, radio communication complies with strategic foreign policies, which affects various parts of the world where levels of technological development diverge whilst the access to television or the Internet connection is not available. In the countries stricken with military conflicts or poverty, radio is still the predominant means of communication that serves numerous purposes; not only is it a source of information on military operations, epidemiological situations, climate and natural disasters, but also it educates its listeners on civil and human rights, especially women's rights. Finally, Voice of America, BBC World Service, and Radio France Internationale support policies against extremism and propaganda (for instance, fake news). The services of the discussed radio stations are related to the policies the United States of America, United Kingdom, and France put forward against ISIL and international terrorism, but also to those actions that support democratic changes in the countries affected by war and political unrest.
Uporedo sа porаstom političkih tenzijа u globаlnim okvirimа usled аntаgonizmimа ekonomski i vojno nаjmoćnijih zemаljа, prve decenije nаkon Drugog svetskog rаtа donele su i intenzivirаnje konflikаtа unutаr аmeričkog društvа te njihovo problemаtizovаnje u jаvnom i političkom polju. Grаđаnsko nezаdovoljstvo nа tlu SAD-а imаlo je rаzličitа ishodištа kаo i rаzličite vidove kаnаlisаnjа kаdа je reč o metodаmа političkog i društvenog orgаnizovаnjа ugroženih ili obesprаvljenih društvenih grupа. Kаo jedаn od njegovih nаjupečаtljivijih oblikа ispoljаvаnjа bilo je političko, kulturno i društveno delаnje аfroаmeričke zаjednice nаročito tokom 60-ih godinа prošlog vekа, u "nаjborbenijoj" fаzi Pokretа zа grаđаnskа prаvа.2 U ovom periodu znаčаjаn deo аfroаmeričke populаcije počev od predstаvnikа njene političke i kulturne elite do аkterа iz nаjnižih slojevа bio je uključen u rаzličite vidove аktivnosti sа ciljem dezintegrаcije represivnih mehаnizаmа аmeričkog društvа, te otklаnjаnjа ključnih činilаcа političke, kulturne i ekonomske nejednаkosti njegovih pripаdnikа. ; Since the beginning of the 20th century African American intellectual and political elite strived to define the place of black minority in the American society by formulating its political, cultural and economic goals. During that time different concepts of African American culture as well as different cultural policies were promoted in the political, artistic and academic fields. In the 1960s distinct visions of the future of African American community in the American society were consolidated and mediated through the Civil Rights Movement and its multiple organizations that included both the activist from the lower social strata and intellectuals and artists. Among them were many male jazz musicinas as well as a few female jazz artists. Focusing on the artistic work of Nina Simone in the 1960s as a specific example of fusion of political and feministic activism, we will examine the ideological and aesthetical distinction of her position in the fields of politics, music and culture of that period. In that process we will analyze the artistic sublimation of Simone`s understanding of African American racial and feminist identity comparing her views with the predominant perspectives of the African American political, intellectual and artistic elite.
The video game industry has been growing rapidly in the recent years, reaching almost 2 billion players worldwide and sometimes even exceeding profits and other numbers put up by such entertainment juggernauts as the Hollywood. It is safe to say that video-games have become an integral part of contemporary popculture, contributing to the formation of attitudes, especially among younger audiences (18–35 years old). This is especially poignant in the case of historical games, which have always been popular and have been representing one or another version of historical narration for years. Nevertheless, despite the immense popularity of videogames and their growing presence within contemporary culture, historians, political and social scientists have been often neglecting video game studies primarily because of its infancy and inadequacy to provide space for political reflection and argumentation. According to the skeptics, video games can only reflect the current tendencies within the order of neoliberalism prevailing in the world. However, the article contradicts this by proposing to treat this situation as an opportunity instead of an excuse – the fact that video games can reflect the injustices of today's world without providing criticism should act as a catalyst for further studies of political argumentation within the medium of video games, which in turn would contribute to further theorizations on the critical potential of video games in connection to politics. This is deemed especially important in the case of reconstructing historical narratives in the most popular video games, the majority of which focus on various historical instances of war. As a result, the first part of the article presents an analysis on both the potential and limitations of videogames to act as spaces for the commemoration of historical memory. The second part aims to ground the theoretical implications by considering to examples of video game industries – the United States and Russia – and techniques as well as directions that they employ in reconstructing the popular prosthetic memory related to wars in which these countries had participated. The article concludes with the idea that historical games can indeed act as a space for producing specific historical narratives oriented toward the popular memory. When it comes to American games, they mostly focus on presenting more personal stories regarding the heroic and virtuous American soldiers during a given War. This, supplemented by a diminished or exaggerated account of actions taken by other allies (as well as enemies) aims at whitewashing the American historical memory. Among the Russian games, however, personal identification through emotional storybuilding is much less pronounced. Its place is taken by focusing on the technological domination and de-personalized stories of bravery employed by the Russians and Soviets. To conclude, the article once again calls for more engagement with the medium of videogames from the side of social and political science as well as history. Video games have quickly become one of the main venues for younger demographic groups to get their first pieces of knowledge regarding history, politics, gender and other topics. The importance of this is understood not only by American but by Russian officials as well, which demands more research on the power of games and their critical potential. This engagement would allow for less political manipulation (especially in the case of historical games) and for a better understanding and fulfillment of the potential of video games.
The video game industry has been growing rapidly in the recent years, reaching almost 2 billion players worldwide and sometimes even exceeding profits and other numbers put up by such entertainment juggernauts as the Hollywood. It is safe to say that video-games have become an integral part of contemporary popculture, contributing to the formation of attitudes, especially among younger audiences (18–35 years old). This is especially poignant in the case of historical games, which have always been popular and have been representing one or another version of historical narration for years. Nevertheless, despite the immense popularity of videogames and their growing presence within contemporary culture, historians, political and social scientists have been often neglecting video game studies primarily because of its infancy and inadequacy to provide space for political reflection and argumentation. According to the skeptics, video games can only reflect the current tendencies within the order of neoliberalism prevailing in the world. However, the article contradicts this by proposing to treat this situation as an opportunity instead of an excuse – the fact that video games can reflect the injustices of today's world without providing criticism should act as a catalyst for further studies of political argumentation within the medium of video games, which in turn would contribute to further theorizations on the critical potential of video games in connection to politics. This is deemed especially important in the case of reconstructing historical narratives in the most popular video games, the majority of which focus on various historical instances of war. As a result, the first part of the article presents an analysis on both the potential and limitations of videogames to act as spaces for the commemoration of historical memory. The second part aims to ground the theoretical implications by considering to examples of video game industries – the United States and Russia – and techniques as well as directions that they employ in reconstructing the popular prosthetic memory related to wars in which these countries had participated. The article concludes with the idea that historical games can indeed act as a space for producing specific historical narratives oriented toward the popular memory. When it comes to American games, they mostly focus on presenting more personal stories regarding the heroic and virtuous American soldiers during a given War. This, supplemented by a diminished or exaggerated account of actions taken by other allies (as well as enemies) aims at whitewashing the American historical memory. Among the Russian games, however, personal identification through emotional storybuilding is much less pronounced. Its place is taken by focusing on the technological domination and de-personalized stories of bravery employed by the Russians and Soviets. To conclude, the article once again calls for more engagement with the medium of videogames from the side of social and political science as well as history. Video games have quickly become one of the main venues for younger demographic groups to get their first pieces of knowledge regarding history, politics, gender and other topics. The importance of this is understood not only by American but by Russian officials as well, which demands more research on the power of games and their critical potential. This engagement would allow for less political manipulation (especially in the case of historical games) and for a better understanding and fulfillment of the potential of video games.
