scholarly journals Catoptric Theatres

IDEA JOURNAL ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (01) ◽  
pp. 107-130
Author(s):  
Izabela Wieczorek
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Spatial Relationships ◽  
Present Glass ◽  
Spatial Logic ◽  
House Museum ◽  
Athanasius Kircher

Alluding to the Theatrum Catoptricum described by Athanasius Kircher in Ars Magna Lucis at Umbrae (1646), this article aims to present glass and mirrors, not as mere objects or materials, but as perceptual and spatial devices, defining a technology of immersion. Imbued with a dazzling energy, mirrors and glass appear to defy both spatial logic and the logic of the eye, triggering new ways of observing, channelling and manipulating light, thus redefining the role played by the immaterial in the production and experience of space. With their framing, amplifying, multiplying or distorting qualities, mirrors and glass also entail a shift of emphasis away from materiality as a merely tectonic or expressive medium, towards matter as an activator and catalyst of effects and experiences. Unravelling the magical force and transformative quality of glass and mirrors requires an inquisitive journey, spanning different disciplines as well as historical, socio-cultural and technological contexts. Reflecting the myriad effects and affects of mirrors and glass, a kaleidoscopic range of examples will establish multidirectional dialogues. Although from different eras, the selected works, each one a ‘catoptric theatre,’ will provide the opportunity, not only to reimagine spatial relationships and boundaries, but also to decode the essence of atmospheric staging, suggesting a material pre-history to contemporary concerns for atmosphere and its production. From the enchanting effects of the Baroque Gallery of (fragmented) Mirrors at Villa Palagonia in Bagheria, via Sir John Soane’s unprecedented use of tinted glass and mirrors in his House-Museum in London, to the twentieth century light modulating machines of László Moholy-Nagy, Adolf Luther’s kaleidoscopic assemblages, and twentieth-century architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe’s belief in the performative nature of glass, the reader will discover multiplicities of meanings and ambiguities of reflections, exploring their atmospheric potentiality.

Eating Out in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries: Changes in Food and in Social Identities

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christel Lane
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Social Identities ◽  
Rapid Urbanization ◽  
General Terms ◽  
Quality Of Food ◽  
Nineteenth And Twentieth Centuries ◽  
Eating Out ◽  
Gender And Nation ◽  
The Impact

This chapter examines the impact of rapid urbanization and industrialization on food and eating out. It draws attention to the growing standardization of food and, with greater class differentiation, to the growing diversity in eating-out venues. Class, gender, and nation are again used as lenses to understand the different eating-out habits and their symbolic significance. Towards the end of the twentieth century, pubs moved more fully towards embracing dining. However, the quality of food, in general terms, began to improve significantly only towards the end of the century, and hospitality venues also moved towards selling food from diverse national origins.

scholarly journals Problematizing Olympic Nationality

AJIL Unbound ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 114 ◽  
pp. 374-379
Author(s):  
Peter J. Spiro
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
National Identity ◽  
Focal Point ◽  
Professional Sports ◽  
Sports Teams ◽  
Olympic Athletes ◽  
Nation States ◽  
International Solidarity

One can hope that the convening of the Tokyo Olympics will be a cause for global celebration. Tokyo could prove a focal point for international solidarity, a moment of relief and release after all of humanity faced down an insidious, invisible, and largely indiscriminate attacker. Unified as we otherwise may be, athletes will still come to the Games as representatives of nation-states. That may be an unavoidable organizing principle. Less justifiable will be the requirement that athletes be nationals of the states they play for. Under the Olympic Charter and the rules of particular sporting federations, athletes are subject to a non-state nationality regime that restricts the capacity of individuals to compete for countries for whose delegations they would otherwise qualify. This regime looks to maintain the putative integrity of Olympic competition by maintaining the unity of sporting and sociological national identity. But that legacy of the twentieth century no longer works in the twenty first. Nationality and associated criteria for participant eligibility undermine the autonomy of athletes and the quality of participation. The rules can no longer guarantee any affective tie between athlete and nation, instead arbitrarily enabling some, but not all, to compete on the basis of citizenship decoupled from identity. We don't require that athletes playing for our professional sports teams hale from the cities they represent. There's no reason why we need to require more of our Olympic athletes.

scholarly journals A Field Research as an Anthropological Tool in Literary Reportage (on the Examples of Journalistic Texts by Joseph Roth)

2019 ◽  
pp. 135-145
Author(s):  
Olesya Yaremchuk
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
Qualitative Method ◽  
Field Research ◽  
Paradigmatic Analysis ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Harsh Criticism ◽  
Depth Interviews ◽  
Joseph Roth

This article studies the use of field research as an anthropological tool in literary reportage which is a comprehensive element of the creation of journalistic content. Based on the examples of journalistic texts of the 20s by the Austrian writer Joseph Roth, we have analyzed the anthropological methods which were used by this author in his reportages, that is the main objective of this study. Using diachronic comparison, qualitative method and content analysis to evaluate and to explain the concept of Joseph Roth’s texts, as well as the methodology of textual, syntagmatic (by Volodymyr Propp) and paradigmatic analysis (by Claude Levi-Strauss), we have examined the generated meanings in the texts of the mentioned author. As a result of the study, we have identified four methods that Joseph Roth used writing his news reportages in the 1920s, including “In Midday France” and “White Cities”. Those methods are as follows: overt observation, in-depth interviews, fixing details and gaining empirical experience. The modern authors call these methods as classic ones, without which it is impossible to work in this genre. As we have seen from the examples of literary reportages of the French cycle by Joseph Roth, the anthropological tools used by this author for his works contributed to deepening and improving the quality of his texts which is of great significance for our study. Joseph Roth created a panoramic picture of the twentieth century in his texts through watching, communicating and studing. However, it is worth to add that he was often too subjective, suffering harsh criticism for this.

Potential structural deficiencies within the Gokteik Viaduct Railway Bridge in Upper Burma

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
David C Wohlers
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Railway Bridge ◽  
Steel Company ◽  
Design Quality ◽  
Technical Design ◽  
Historical Aspects ◽  
Safety Concerns ◽  
The Future ◽  
Structural Inspection

This article identifies potential structural deficiencies and safety concerns pertaining to the Gokteik Viaduct railway bridge in Shan State, Burma. The colossal Gokteik Viaduct, which spans 2260 ft and boasts of a superstructure height of 320 ft, was constructed by an American steel company under British contract with the intent of expanding the Burma Railway into Yunnan, China at the beginning of the twentieth century. The author investigates the historical aspects of the Gokteik Viaduct and summarises structural concerns related to the technical design, quality of construction, weathering and wartime damages sustained during the Burma Campaign. The author concludes that an in-depth structural inspection is necessary to ensure the future safety of train passengers.

Labour, charity and voluntary action

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas Deakin ◽  
Justin Davis Smith
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Labour Party ◽  
Voluntary Action ◽  
Active Citizenship ◽  
Local Democracy ◽  
Mutual Aid ◽  
Local Labour ◽  
Life Issues

This chapter overturns the simplistic characterisation of the twentieth-century Labour party as antagonistic to voluntarism. As it sets out, while opposition to voluntarism has indeed been a theme throughout Labour's history, particularly on the hard left, the notion of a broad and consistent antagonism is largely a myth, based upon a confusion of charity and philanthropy with other forms of co-operation, mutual aid and active citizenship. Instead, what Attlee called ‘the associative instinct’ has been an overlooked, but nevertheless important, constant in Labour's social thought, from Attlee's experiences as a young man at Toynbee Hall, through the promotion of active and local democracy in the 1940s and the revisionist turn away from macro-economics, and towards quality-of-life issues in the 1950s and 1960s, to the ‘rainbow coalition’ partnerships between local Labour administrations and voluntary groups in the 1980s.

Working Almost as Slaves?

2018 ◽  
pp. 74-94
Author(s):  
Oscar de la Torre
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Social Memory ◽  
Brazil Nut ◽  
Collective Memories ◽  
The People ◽  
Loss Of Autonomy ◽  
Number Of Individuals

In the collective memories of the Lower Amazon maroons, the decades after emancipation are remembered as a period when “the people were oppressed” by Brazil nut merchants, who “enslaved” the blacks of the region. However, a number of individuals also relate memories of merchants who “helped the people,” who “gave goods for the saint patron’s parties,” and who acted, in the words of a Trombetas River maroon descendant, as “fathers of the people.” To reconcile these perspectives I argue in this chapter that these conflicting stories reflect two spheres in the relationships between black peasants and Brazil nut merchants. While the first one was characterized by domination, a few individuals successfully accommodated to, and even collaborated with, the newly arrived commercial houses. In both spheres, Afro-descendant forest specialists and explorers were fundamental to the merchants’ penetration into a world where the mocambeiros had hitherto ruled. In the end, the loss of autonomy and quality of life in the 1910s and 1920s shaped the maroon descendants’ social memory for the rest of the twentieth century, filling it with narratives of poverty, dispossession, and the speech figure of the “new slavery.”

A Comparative Perspective on Minoan Urbanism

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Quentin Letesson ◽  
Carl Knappett
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Urban Environment ◽  
Bronze Age ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Prominent Feature ◽  
Quality Of Work ◽  
Strong Focus ◽  
Urban Settlements

Urban settlements are often presented as a prominent feature of Bronze Age Crete (McEnroe 2010). And yet, summarizing what is actually known about Minoan towns is much more challenging than one would expect, especially for non-palatial settlements. Many studies are narrowly focused and often take one urban element out of context in all communities (e.g. villas, classification of houses, street system, etc.), hence undermining an understanding of the urban environment as a whole. Furthermore, research on Minoan urban contexts has long been characterized by a strong focus on polite or palatial architecture and very specific urban features related to it (such as the so-called west courts, raised walks, theatral areas, etc.), while most case-studies have often had a rather limited dataset. There are clearly exceptions but, to date, our knowledge of Minoan urban settlements is partly built on a large collection of heterogeneous and disparate information. As already noted some fifteen years ago, the ‘nature and character’ of urban settlements ‘has seen much less discussion, particularly at a generalized level’ (Branigan 2001a: vii; but see chapters 7 and 9). Of course, this situation is also inextricably linked to the nature of our datasets. Research is clearly constrained by the low quality of work in the initial decades of Minoan archaeology when somany of the larger exposures of townscapes on the island were made. And yet, for more than a century now, the archaeology of Bronze Age Crete has thrived:many excavations initiated at the beginning of the twentieth century have either continued or been revived, providing descriptions of numerous settlements of various sizes; new projects have unearthed fascinating buildings and sites; and many regions of the island have now been systematically surveyed. As a consequence, Minoan archaeologists have at their disposal a solid and varied dataset. Of course, sampling issues do exist. Firstly, remains of Neopalatial urban settlements clearly outnumber those of other periods.

Deriving Spatial Integrity Constraints from Geographic Application Schemas

2005 ◽  
pp. 176-183 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clodoveu A. Davis Jr. ◽  
Karla A.V. Borges ◽  
Alberto H.F. Laender
Keyword(s):  
Integrity Constraints ◽  
Spatial Relationships ◽  
Integrity Assurance

Integrity constraints of various kinds must be observed when creating or updating a database in order to preserve the semantics and the quality of stored data (Elmasri & Navathe, 2000). Within the scope of geographic applications, integrity assurance requires special attention from the designer, since most geographic applications use data that depend on spatial relationships (Egenhofer & Franzosa, 1991), thereby requiring the specification of spatial integrity constraints.

scholarly journals Adolescents’ Impact on Family Economy in Sweden: During the First Decades of the Twentieth Century

2018 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-23
Author(s):  
Dan Bäcklund ◽  
Kristina Lilja
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Great Depression ◽  
Youth Unemployment ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Trade Off ◽  
The Great Depression ◽  
Family Economy ◽  
Impact On Family ◽  
Household Budget Surveys

Adolescents’ income contributions to working-class families decreased between the 1910s and the 1930s in Sweden. This was significant for adolescents’ right to self-determination. By using household budget surveys, this article shows that at the time of the Great Depression, working adolescents paid less at home than had been common at the beginning of the twentieth century. Youth unemployment is one explanation, although it was also a consequence of children keeping more of their earnings for themselves. This development led to rising costs for having children and is interpreted as an aspect of the trade-off between quantity and quality of children.

scholarly journals Foreseeing fates: a commentary on Manton (1928) ‘On the embryology of a mysid crustacean, Hemimysis lamornae ’

2015 ◽  
Vol 370 (1666) ◽  
pp. 20140381
Author(s):  
Michael Akam
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Embryonic Development ◽  
Graduate Student ◽  
Royal Society ◽  
Subsequent Work ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Early Training ◽  
350Th Anniversary

Sidnie Manton became best known for her work on arthropod locomotion, and for proposing radical views on the evolution of arthropods that were accepted for a generation. However, her early training was as an embryologist, and the work that she carried out at the beginning of her career still stands as one of the major twentieth century contributions to the study of crustacean embryology. Here, I review her first major paper, largely completed while she was a graduate student, describing embryonic development in Hemimysis lamornae , a small shrimp-like animal found in the seas around the UK. The clarity of her writing and the quality of her figures set a standard that laid the basis for subsequent work, and although not all of her conclusions have stood the test of time, they remain a standard reference for work today. This commentary was written to celebrate the 350th anniversary of the journal Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society .

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