Suchergebnisse

In this illuminating collection of oral-history style interviews, Casey Jarman talks to a funeral industry watchdog about the (often shady) history of the death trade; he hears how songwriter David Bazan lost his faith while trying to hold on to his family; he learns about cartoonist Art Spiegelman using his college LSD trips to explain death to his children; and he gets to know his own grandparents, posthumously. These are stories of loss, rebuilding, wonder, and wild speculation featuring everyone from philosophers to former death row wardens and hospice volunteers. In these moving, enlightening, and often funny conversations, the end is only the beginning.

This essay aims to give an overview of Hong Kong queer media productions by presenting specific media representations that speak to local queer sensibilities and sexual politics. I investigate the nature of a localized queer nonchalance that cultivates an environment readable as both tolerant and limiting of queer desires, as well as resistant of the rumors of a broader cultural death. One of the case studies includes, to use Helen Hok-Sze Leung's term, "do-it-yourself" queer cultural projects that focus on reaching out to LGBT communities rather than to a wider mainstream public reception. Another example involves gender-crossing performances and cultural productions from mainstream media icons in popular culture. Finally, I discuss gossip magazine coverage of queer celebrity rumors. I locate my concerns in questioning whether mass-media practices can perversely normalize same-sex sexuality in our everyday lives.

"We are like an admirable, wandering Numancia, who prefers to die gradually than to admit defeat" (translated from Alfonso Guerra's documentary, Exilio). Uttered during the fall of the Republican government during the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), Spanish author Luis Araquistáin's ominous phrase not only speaks to the slow death of Republican hopes while in exile, but also hearkens back to a small town in the north of Spain that existed in the second century AD. Famed for its resistance to the advancing Roman armies, Numantia fell in 133 BC to Scipio Aemilianus who led the forces of the Roman Empire against the city and besieged it for eight months. Yet, even as late as the twentieth century in Spain, people could still hear references being made to this small town; the preservation of the memory of Numantia is largely due to the work of Miguel de Cervantes, who in the 1580s penned El cerco de Numancia (or simply, La destrucción de Numancia), a play based on the events of 133 BC. After Cervantes came multiple playwrights, poets, and even politicians who reinterpreted the play in various forms to communicate distinct messages. One of the most unique moments in the life of Cervantes' El cerco de Numancia came during the Spanish Civil War; during this clash between visions of the future of Spain, both Republican forces and the Nacionales of Franco utilized the image of Numantia to motivate their constituents and sway others to their cause.

Death is the inevitable fate of every single person on earth. How do we accept the inevitability of our own death? How do we live our lives with meaning? Will money lead us to happiness? Satish Modi examines these questions is a moving, powerful, thought-provoking work based on his own reflections as well as the experiences of people from all walks of life. The result is a fascinating book that teaches us that whoever we are and whatever our aspirations in this life, it is important for each and every one of us to accept our own passing. In doing so we can free ourselves to live as well and fu