Continuity in Discontinuity: The Recurrent Motif of Cultural Autonomy in the Development of Czech Sociology of Culture

This article analyses the development of the sociology of culture in Czechia. Its focus is on the sociology of the arts and cultural sociology, which, it is argued, are connected through the notion of the relative autonomy of cultural structures. While the Czech sociology of culture may have been rendered less dynamic by the lack of a critical mass of sociologists specialising in this area and by the country’s frequent political upheavals and its isolation from the international circulation of ideas, it has experienced moments of considerable vitality. Three periods in the development of the field are identified here, each of them marked by a movement toward a stronger and more sociologically adequate conceptualisation of cultural autonomy: (1) from the diffuse culturalism of the field’s founding figures to the functionalist theory of the interwar sociologist Inocenc Arnošt Bláha, whose view of the relationship between art and society was influenced by the work of the Prague School of Structuralism; (2) from the cultural reductionism of Marxist-Leninist theory after 1948 to the eclectic sociology of culture and the arts of the late socialist period; (3) from the demise of this transitional form of a sociology of culture in the 1990s to the increasingly internationalised but also heterogeneous landscape of the 2010s, which is constituted by a semi-institutionalised centre of cultural sociology at Brno and small groups or individuals in Prague and other academic locales. The thread of continuity in an otherwise discontinuous historical development is found in the recurrent motif of the relative autonomy of culture which the Czech sociology of culture absorbed through its exposure to art and literary theory.

Indo - English Novels Amalgamation of Indian Tradition and World Tradition

In India the novel is the readiest and most acceptable way of embodying experiences and ideas in the context of our time.The duality of Indo-English fiction has been attracting worldwide attention. One wonders whether the Indo-English novel is a part of the Indian tradition or the European tradition or of the abstract world tradition.The Indo-English fiction in Post-independent India assumed over the preceding thirty years all kinds of colorful traditions. It is now free from the social yard political overtones of a rabidly nationalistic variety.As regards the theme of the novel, in the late Twentieth Century alienation has significantly affected the Indo-English novel. It has served as a recurrent motif in quite a few works produced by Indian novelists in English. It is also the dominant trait of several characters created by the novelists.

Station to Station: Colin McCahon's Veronica Paintings, 1949-1979

The stations of the cross were a recurrent motif in Colin McCahon’s art. This article focuses on the one station that he singled out for particular emphasis: Station 6, Veronica wipes the face of Jesus. The paper argues that for McCahon the stations were a kind of matrix, grid or armature, a structure within which he could explore various religious and aesthetic ideas. The appeal of Veronica derives from the possibilities inherent in the image of Christ’s face on her veil or handkerchief as a symbol both of religious truth and aesthetic exploration; in McCahon’s work she becomes a kind of patron saint of painters.

The River Araxes in the Roman Poetry

The River Araxes In the Roman Poetry The Araxes flowing through the Armenian Highlands was one of the rivers mentioned quite often in Roman poetry from the Augustan Age up to the 5th century. In line with the traditional tendency of classical literature, the Araxes was usually shown as a pars pro toto of a country, in this case Armenia, which was one of the aims of the Roman eastern policy and the object of rivalry between the Empire and Parthia/Persia. The great majority of references to the Araxes was connected with the theme of Roman expansion in the East (especially with the campaign of Tiberius in 20 BC and later with the Roman-Parthian war 58–63 AD), which can be observed best in the recurrent motif of a bridge across this river, a clear-cut symbol of Roman domination over Armenia and – more generally – over all of the East.

Unifying the Ambivalent Mechanisms of Protein-Stabilising Osmolytes

The mechanism of protein stabilization by zwiterionic osmolytes has remained a long-standing puzzle. While the prevalent mechanistic hypothesis suggests an ‘osmo-phobic’ model in which osmolytes are assumed to stabilize proteins by preferentially excluding themselves from the protein surface, emerging evidences of preferential binding of popular osmolyte trimethyl amine N-oxide (TMAO) with hydrophobic macromolecules contradict this view. Here we address these contrasting perspectives by investigating the folding mechanism of a set of mini proteins in aqueous solutions of two different osmolytes glycine and TMAO, via free energy simulations. Our results demonstrate that, while both osmolytes are found to stabilize the folded conformation of the mini proteins, their mechanism of actions are mutually diverse: Specifically, glycine always depletes from the surface of all mini proteins, thereby conforming to the osmophobic model; but TMAO is found to display ambivalent signatures of protein-specific preferential binding and exclusion to/from the protein surface. At molecular level, the presence of an extended hydrophobic patch in protein topology is found to be recurrent motif in proteins leading to favorable binding with TMAO. Finally, an analysis based upon the preferential interaction theory and folding free energetics reveals that irrespective of preferential binding vs exclusion of osmolytes, it is the relative preferential depletion of osmolytes on transition from folded to unfolded conformation of proteins, which drives the overall conformational equilibrium towards the folded state in presence of osmolytes. Taken together, moving beyond the model system and hypothesis, this work brings out ambivalent mechanism of osmolytes on proteins and provides an unifying justification.

What Is ‘Home’? The Meaning and Function of ‘Home’ in Morrison’s Song of Solomon

This paper explores the motif of ‘home’ in Toni Morrison’s novel Song of Solomon. Although home is a prominent and recurrent motif in many of Morrison’s works, this paper focuses explicitly on Song of Solomon. In Song of Solomon ‘home’ is more than a piece of geography. Instead, it is a space that is situated in race, a space where race and racial history matters, albeit in a positive and empowering way for the Black community. Such a home lives in the memories of people, and it is kept alive through the oral songs and stories that are handed down across generations of Black Americans. Home is also a space that provides protection from trauma and helps in the healing of the individual. This healing can take place through reconnection with the root or through a reignited sense of belongingness to the community. The sense of belongingness is strong in home, and that helps individuals within the community to shape a formidable sense of identity and a sense of self. Home is enriched by the presence of ancestors, who are the bearers of tradition and who act as the binding force within the community that pulls everything and everyone together into one coherent structure of relationships. But most importantly, home is what Milkman finds at the end of his journey from Northern to Southern America. In addition, once he finds it, he heals and transforms himself to prepare for a future that is more harmonious with his past.

Melehi, Mohammed (1936--)

Mohammed Melehi is known as one of the leading modernist figures in Morocco. Since the 1960s, Melehi has produced a body of work based around a recurrent motif of waves. His canvases are consistently hard-edged and feature optic abstractions—the lines are clean, the colors clearly delineated, and the brushstrokes and movements of the paintbrush are not visible. The waves have been linked to the waves of the beaches of Asilah (Melehi’s hometown), the gesture of writing Arabic calligraphy, and to transcendence and prayer. Beyond his painting, Melehi’s career has been prolific: he has taught, published, produced policy, and worked as a graphic designer. He was a professor at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts of Casablanca (1964–1969), and was an active member of the group surrounding the leftist cultural journal Souffles from 1966 to 1969, designing its iconic original cover. From 1972 to 1977, Melehi was founder and director of the cultural journal Intégral. In 1974, he co-founded and became the director of the publishing house Shoof. In 1978, Melehi and Mohammed Benaïssa co-founded the Al Mohit association and the annual cultural Moussem of Asilah, an arts festival known for its outdoor murals which remains active to this day. Melehi was arts director at the Ministry of Culture from 1984 to 1992.

Ironbark and stone: Place and belonging in the nature novels of Inga Simpson

This article discusses Sunshine Coast writer Inga Simpson's nature writing in three recent novels, Mr Wigg (2013), Nest (2014b) and Where the Trees Were (2016c). It addresses Simpson's self-categorisation as a nature writer, and shows how the recurrent motif of sacred trees allows three introspective protagonists to reach new understandings of universal themes: loss of love and innocence, ageing, inheritance, childlessness, sexuality, death, ancient cultures, cultural integrity and preservation of the environment. The article considers Simpson's ‘anti-Gothic’ approach to landscape in her novels, yet also shows how her ‘realist’ depictions of place evoke unease surrounding the issue of white belonging in Australia. Simpson's metaphoric self-identification with trees, particularly the Australian ironbark, is pivotal to the quiet power of her fiction's exploration of belonging in the Australian landscape.

Myth and Masculinity

This chapter examines the rise of the yanggang (“stanch masculinity”) martial arts films from the late 1960s on, focusing in particular on the recurrent motif of male bonding—not only the horizontal bonding between sworn brothers but also the vertical one between masters and disciples. In imagining and valorizing an exclusively male realm seemingly able to transcend both women and other antagonistic forces in society, this fixation on male homosocial relationships constituted in many ways an attempt to cope with the increasing threats to hegemonic masculinity posed by the rise of female social power and by the growth of a ruthless capitalist order in a rapidly modernizing Hong Kong. These threats, however, were never completely contained, and this explains why the prevailing male order needed to keep reinventing itself, through cinema and other means, to maintain and reaffirm its semblance of control.

«Parir por la boca». vicisitudes de un tema sorprendente del imaginario de la comadreja

<p align="JUSTIFY"> </p><p><strong>Resumen </strong></p><p align="JUSTIFY"> </p><p>Estudio de un motivo impactante recurrente en bestiarios: la comadreja que da a luz a través de la boca. Se muestran diferentes variantes de este <em>topos</em> y se debate su origen, probablemente una anécdota procedente de la mitología antigua, específicamente la historia de Galantis, sierva de Alcmena, que ayudó en el nacimiento de Hércules. Esta historia fue versificada por Ovidio de forma magistral y se encuentra también en Eliano. Su recuerdo persistió aún en algunos textos medievales.</p><p align="JUSTIFY"> </p><p>Palabras Clave: comadreja; bestiario; motivos literarios; fuentes; mitología clásica</p><p align="JUSTIFY"> </p><p> </p><p align="JUSTIFY"> </p><p><strong>Abstract</strong></p><p align="JUSTIFY"> </p><p>Study of an impressive recurrent motif in Bestiaries: the weasel that gives birth through the mouth. Different variants of this <em>topos</em> are shown and its origin is discussed, probably a tale from Ancient mythology, specifically the story of Galanthis, servant of Alcmene, who helped the birth of Hercules. This story was masterfully versified by Ovid, and it can also be found in Aelianus. Its memory still lasted in some medieval texts.</p><p align="JUSTIFY"> </p><p>Key Words: weasel; bestiary; literary motifs; sources; classical mythology</p><p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif;"><span lang="es-ES"><br /></span></span></p>