Etched in Flesh: The Philosophy of Tattoos and Tattooing | Author : Andrew Delunas, Nathan Osborne | Abstract | Full Text | Abstract :Tattooing is an ancient art form, dating back to Neolithic times and is today widely practiced the world over. Given tattooing’s popularity and its wide acceptance in the modern world (a recent survey found that 30 percent of the adult American population has at least one tattoo), philosophers’ continued silence with respect to tattooing is mystifying. If philosophers have nothing to say about tattooing, what could be the reason for such a glaring omission? This disregard is telling: It may be that philosophers consider tattooing too “low brow”, and hence, not worthy of their consideration. In what follows, we offer a few reasons why philosophers of art should take tattooing seriously as an art form. We will also expand on our contention that tattoos represent one of the most intimate forms of art known to humanity (indeed, perhaps the most intimate). Lastly, we will consider tattooing as a representational art form, and attempt to discern what can be gleaned of the tattoo artist’s intentions from her work. |
| To Your Promised Empire Fly and Let Forsaken Dido Die: Character and Destiny in the Early Modern Era | Author : Edna Holywell | Abstract | Full Text | Abstract :Nahum Tate and Henry Purcell’s early modern opera Dido and Aeneas has been popular since the early nineteenth century. Librettist Nahum Tate inherited and adapted topoi representing fate, destiny, love, death, grief and piety among others from Ancient, Medieval, Renaissance, Elizabethan and seventeenth-century literary sources. This article reconsiders Dido’s traditional representation as a heroic victim reappraising her legacy. It argues that rather than simple reproducing the meeting between Dido and Aeneas in Virgil, Tate combined Ovid’s heroine, Tertullian’s ‘monument to chastity’ and other characterisations in Virgil’s Aeneid (29–19 BCE); Ovid’s Heroides (c. 5 BCE–8 CE); Chaucer’s Legend of Good Women (14--); Douglas’ Eneados (1513); Howard’s Virgiles Æneis (1557); Phaer and Twynne’s AEneidos (1573); Stanyhurst’s Aeneis (1582); Marlowe’s The Tragedie of Dido, Queene of Carthage (1594); Tertullian’s Ad Nationes (published 1625) and Dryden’s Aeneis (1697) transmogrifying Dido’s portrayal. The list itself demonstrates the transmission of Dido’s story from antiquity to the Early Modern era. ‘When I am laid in earth’ is part of Britain’s national consciousness performed in an arrangement for brass band on Remembrance Sunday every year since the 1930s. Why does this piece of music still have so much significance? The article calls for Dido’s re-evaluation as a phoenix rising again every year on the second Sunday in November — today’s erstwhile symbol of remembrance. |
| Favela’s Individual and Collective Access to Justice under the Brazilian Democratic Constitution: An Overview of 30 Years of Insurgent Peripheral Litigation | Author : Rafaela Selem Moreira, Gisele Cittadino | Abstract | Full Text | Abstract :This paper discusses the democratization of the judiciary in Brazil considering its access for people who live in favelas. We used a temporal and spatial analysis of the civil decisions rendered by the Court of Appeals of the State of Rio de Janeiro (TJRJ). The analysis takes two perspectives: (1) the access to justice – whether individually or collectively; and (2) the response of judges to the claims filed. The results suggest a connection between: (1) the increasing access by favela dwellers to the judiciary and the improvement of social development levels; (2) low incidence of collective claims and negligence by judges regarding this kind of claim; (3) lack of consistency between the precedents and the favela reality and social changes over the past few years; and how these findings (4) challenged some academic common-sense beliefs on "access to justice" in Brazil. |
| From Vilification to Celebration: Arab American Comedians and Their Alternative Representations of Arabs and Muslims in Hollywood | Author : Syrine Jerbi, Eva Eszter Szabo | Abstract | Full Text | Abstract :This article explores how Arab American comedians use humor and satire to challenge and subvert Hollywood’s negative stereotypes and portrayals of Arabs and Muslims. Drawing on the theory of Jack Shaheen, who analyzed and contested Arab and Muslim stereotypes in American media, the article uses qualitative content analysis to examine stand-up shows, films, and television series featuring Arab American comedians and other ethnic comedians in Hollywood. The article identifies common misconceptions and stereotypes, examines the techniques of humor and satire, and compares the impact of Arab American comedy with that of other ethnic comedies. The article argues that Arab American comedians successfully challenge Hollywood’s stereotypes and create alternative representations that celebrate their identity, culture, and diversity. The article contributes to existing literature on humor, satire, representation, stereotyping, resistance, empowerment, identity, culture, diversity, Arab Americans, Muslims, Hollywood, and the media. |
|
|