Whereas the scholarship on enslaved women’s resistance to the most intimate forms of bodily exploitation has grown over the years and developed into dif-ferent directions, not enough attention has... Show moreWhereas the scholarship on enslaved women’s resistance to the most intimate forms of bodily exploitation has grown over the years and developed into dif-ferent directions, not enough attention has been paid to the use of strategy by enslaved women. As a result, enslaved women’s resistance to bodily exploita-tions has wrongly been interpreted as impulsive. To correct this myth, this study broadly explores enslaved women’s strategic gendered resistance by looking at a variety of different sources. It looks at how enslaved women were strategic in resisting sexual abuse, it recognizes enslaved women’s adopted strategies in the practice of wet-nursing, and it explores how enslaved women thought stra-tegically about using methods of resistance such as abortion and infanticide. In an effort to combine these different sources and bring separate directions into which enslaved women’s resistance developed together, this study aims to elucidate that, without denying their victimhood, enslaved women were intel-lectually decisive and calculated in their acts and methods of resistance used when resisting the most intimate forms of bodily exploitation. Show less
Kentrotis-Zinelis, D.; Dam, D. van; Eenink, B.; Haak, N.; Jansen, H.R.J.; Kok, C. 2023
This paper presents a peculiar approach of escaping the dual gender-identity conceptualization, using bodybuilding—which is both a sports and corporeal practice—as a tool to shatter gender... Show moreThis paper presents a peculiar approach of escaping the dual gender-identity conceptualization, using bodybuilding—which is both a sports and corporeal practice—as a tool to shatter gender stereotypes. The bodies that are trans-formed as a result of this practice will be analysed and interpreted as a way to develop a relevant distinction between those bodies that are objectified on stage, due to the sport’s regulations, and those bodies that are located within an artistic and activist frame as “critical flesh.” This analysis looks at the bodies of three artists involved in the practice of bodybuilding to develop their artworks in order to discuss whether or not this corporeal identity built through muscle de-velopment creates a split in the gender discourse and in the expectations that this discourse generates. This approach is developed through the visual and conceptual support from the following artists: Cassils [they/them] (Canada-USA), Francesca Steele [they/them] (UK), and the author of this paper [she/her]. Show less
With the advancement of digital technologies, surveillance in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has evolved from state and corporate modes towards everyday domains. This integration occurs... Show moreWith the advancement of digital technologies, surveillance in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has evolved from state and corporate modes towards everyday domains. This integration occurs through the growing reliance of individuals on digital infrastructure in their ordinary interactions, which embodies the concept of ‘surveillance culture’. These novel surveillance methods and control mechanisms have given rise to new forms of institutional power imbalances This paper focuses on multimedia artist Cao Fei’s曹斐 (b. 1978) artwork i, mirror (2007) to explore the artistic strategies employed with updated media to reflect on the PRC’s developing surveillance culture critically. Through a thorough analysis of i.mirror, the research investigates how the artist represents the virtual body to complicate the notion of post-panoptical surveillance culture as a mechanism of control beyond the real realm. The paper examines how the body’s shifting identities, as both the object and the subject of the subtler surveillance collectively undertaken by the PRC’s authorities and civilians in their everyday lives, leads contemporary artists to explore the potential for new subjectivities in the new age of ‘digital China’. The overarching aim is to explore how contemporary Chinese artists can strategically utilise surveillance technologies as a way of political counter-surveillance to challenge systemic power asymmetries. Show less
Using Joe Biden’s speech at the Democratic National Convention as a starting point, in which Biden quoted the famous verse by the Irish poet Seamus Heaney “make hope and history rhyme”, this paper... Show moreUsing Joe Biden’s speech at the Democratic National Convention as a starting point, in which Biden quoted the famous verse by the Irish poet Seamus Heaney “make hope and history rhyme”, this paper traces how Heaney’s phrase has travelled across geographical, cultural, and conceptual boundaries. Heaney’s invocation to hope was originally included in the theatrical play The Cure at Troy (1990), which is an adaptation of Sophocles’ Philoctetes. By appropriating the Greek tragedy of Philoctetes, Heaney devised an ingenious way to comment upon the Troubles in Northern Ireland, exhibiting that only a common embracement of hope epitomized by the rhyming of hope and history could put an end to the sectarian division. Since then, Heaney’s phrase has escaped the boundaries of literature to enter the domain of politics, as it is often quoted by political figures worldwide, with Biden being the last politician to recite Heaney’s line. This paper aims to demonstrate how Heaney’s encomium of hope has gradually become a synonym for change and progress in the political arena. Show less
Caers, B.; Raia, A.; Bergh, C. van den; Roest, A. de; Powell-Warren, C.; Tissen, L.; Tomberge, N. 2021
Prompted by the threat of Ottoman invasion and the recent peasant revolts, in 1527 Albrecht Dürer dedicated his Etliche Unterricht zur Befestigung der Städte, Schlösser und Flecken (Instruction on... Show morePrompted by the threat of Ottoman invasion and the recent peasant revolts, in 1527 Albrecht Dürer dedicated his Etliche Unterricht zur Befestigung der Städte, Schlösser und Flecken (Instruction on the Fortification of Cities, Castles, and Towns) to King Ferdinand I. Included in his treatise was a plan for a city that he claimed would successfully respond to these issues. This paper takes a close look at this understudied plan specifically in relation to the latter issue – the internal social tensions splintering Ferdinand’s territories – to unveil some of its problematic elements, including an unfavourable attitude towards the lower class pervading it. Examined alongside other “ideal” cities created in the period, and within the historical context in which it was produced, Dürer’s city is one of several influenced by its creators’ disregard for the poor, his penchant for social and economic distinction, and his preference for authority. Responding to the peasant unrest that many perceived as a crisis, Dürer designed a city that he saw as ideal for the craftsmen it was built for and for the King, who desired fortified, cooperative towns. As we will see, however, the borders that he, and others working under similar conditions, drew were not ideal for everyone. Show less
In one of the most successful novels of Albert Camus, The Plague, the normal life of Oran is interrupted by the arrival of a disease that imprisons all the residents. By taking the spatial... Show moreIn one of the most successful novels of Albert Camus, The Plague, the normal life of Oran is interrupted by the arrival of a disease that imprisons all the residents. By taking the spatial imprisonment and, consequently, the temporal suspension as the main elements of the structure of the novel, this article addresses Camus’ reflection on the absurd through three different aspects of the plot, intrinsically related to the development of the main topic. The spatio-temporal dynamics of The Plague are tackled by the examination of the fictional city before the arrival of the plague, by the role of the “absurd walls” of Oran during its closure, and, finally, through the moment of liberation which concludes the long struggle of Oran’s citizens and the novel itself. This article aims to analyse the spatio-temporal metamorphosis of the main setting of the novel, to reflect upon Camus’ philosophy on the absurd, as well as to relate to the challenges we have been facing with the actual pandemic, mainly translatable into a modified perception of time and space. Show less
This article explores female agency and the healing role of women in medievalist fiction on Alfred the Great. Alfredian fanfiction written during the pandemic mixes neo-medieval elements with... Show moreThis article explores female agency and the healing role of women in medievalist fiction on Alfred the Great. Alfredian fanfiction written during the pandemic mixes neo-medieval elements with current themes and preoccupations, such as illness, pain, solitude, hope, female agency, and border crossings. The fan authors have constructed a 21st century “neo-medieval-based culture” that mirrors events in current society. Their stories often take place against the backdrop of other times of crisis, such as wars against intruders. The authors use the illness of King Alfred as the Romanticised pandemic, thus reviving horrors with playfulness and humour, as the power of the past is to provide for hope in similar circumstances. This fanfiction also explores how non-normative persons are crossing borders and forming new traditions by reiterating as well as changing elements of their heritage. Show less
This article uses the COVID –19 crisis to re –evaluate the importance of reproductions – 3D prints – for art’s authenticity, and their significance in keeping art museums meaningful in a rapidly... Show moreThis article uses the COVID –19 crisis to re –evaluate the importance of reproductions – 3D prints – for art’s authenticity, and their significance in keeping art museums meaningful in a rapidly changing world. The fixation on ‘auratic experiences’, inherent to artworks’ materiality is integral to contemporary art theory and museum practice, resulting in a rejection of reproductions. However, the inaccessibility to engage with physical artworks due to the coronacrisis would suggest a loss of art’s significance and the museum’s importance. Yet, the opposite is happening, as engaging with artworks happened via anti-authentic: reproductions. Dennis Dutton’s analysis of authenticity helps unfolding the various values an artwork can have beyond its physicality. Additionally, Henry Jenkins’ convergence theory helps seeing our relationship with artworks as dispersed over mixed media, reaching beyond materiality. By considering museums as multifaceted mediums themselves, it becomes possible to understand the dynamics of authenticity in museums without physical borders. Authenticity is not static; it is a social construct allowing various perceptions that change over time, resulting in shifting appreciations of both artworks and 3D prints. Finally, ways are proposed in which reproductions can attribute to developing meaningful narratives that can take place with limited or no engagement with artworks or museums’ physicality. Show less
Raia, A.; Bergh, C. van den; Caers, B.; Roest, A. de; Powell-Warren, C.; Tissen, L.; Tomberge, N. 2021
The two parallel adaptations of Pedro Calderón de la Barca’s El mayor encanto, amor, a retelling of Circe’s and Ulysses’ story from Homer’s Odyssey, put animals onstage. However, the animals were... Show moreThe two parallel adaptations of Pedro Calderón de la Barca’s El mayor encanto, amor, a retelling of Circe’s and Ulysses’ story from Homer’s Odyssey, put animals onstage. However, the animals were certainly not all live animals, for the lions, bears, and tigers that feature in the two adaptations were too dangerous. Therefore, actors performed some animals via costumes. The article considers not only how this was a practical solution, but also how the costumes reflected the transformations that Circe performed on the Greek crewmen accompanying Ulysses. The transformations were incomplete, since even as animals the crewmen retained their ability to reason and, in some cases, even their speech. As such, the plays challenged the early modern understanding of animals as creatures without reason, solely led by their natural impulses. In their animal appearances, they failed to communicate with the human characters, but remained intelligible to the audience, disrupting the fiction of the play. Thus, the adaptations of El mayor encanto, amor questioned whether humans and animals are all that different. Show less
A high degree of intimacy between humans and other animals is expressed in the keeping of animals as pet companions. This practice was common as early as Ancient Greece and Rome and regained... Show moreA high degree of intimacy between humans and other animals is expressed in the keeping of animals as pet companions. This practice was common as early as Ancient Greece and Rome and regained popularity during the thirteenth century. In this period, dogs began to play a vital role in domestic life and so became a favourite pet among nobles in the fourteenth century. Contrary to hunting or working dogs, pet dogs were given names and had privileges within their owners’ households. By virtue of their special status, they even accompanied their owners to church, despite the condemnation of this practice by church officials. This reflects a special relationship that was established during the fourteenth century between man, animals, and the divine. This paper focuses on the trilateral connection of God, humans, and dogs in a book of hours known as the Margaret Hours (c. 1320), where a dog and the praying book owner are depicted side-by-side in various illustrations. Special attention is given to a framed miniature presenting the lady, in prayer, next to a dog and a collared bird. Through this miniature, this paper will demonstrate the participation of both the lady and the dog in prayer. Show less
Anthropomorphism is a recurring and contested topic in the scientific study of animal behaviour. This article aims at gaining a deeper understanding of anthropomorphism and its function for animal... Show moreAnthropomorphism is a recurring and contested topic in the scientific study of animal behaviour. This article aims at gaining a deeper understanding of anthropomorphism and its function for animal behaviour science by examining the study of ants in the German-language discourse of animal psychology around 1900. By analysing the works of physiologist Albrecht Bethe and entomologist Auguste Forel it is demonstrated that the use of analogy as a method in the study of animals led to a debate on anthropomorphism, resulting in the demarcation of scientific approaches from unscientific ones. As the production of knowledge in animal psychology relied heavily on human judgement of scientific methods and philosophical ideas, it can be concluded that the mind of ants is not only conceptually, but socially constructed in these studies. Show less
By examining two exemplary cases, this paper addresses the contemporary phenomenon of artistic collaborations between human and non-human animals, which is referred to as interspecies art.... Show moreBy examining two exemplary cases, this paper addresses the contemporary phenomenon of artistic collaborations between human and non-human animals, which is referred to as interspecies art. Interspecies art has become increasingly significant since the beginning of the twenty-first century and excels at challenging binary oppositions by crediting animals’ creative abilities. Located within the field of human–animal studies, this article combines art historical methods with agency concepts derived from praxeology and action theory. The innovative approach of connecting these ideas of animal agency with interspecies art provides the framework to analyse Aaron Angell’s Gallery Peacetime inhabited by axolotls and CMUK, an interspecies collective consisting of humans and parrots. In order to make the animals’ participation visible as well as to provide a deeper understanding of interspecies art, these specific human–animal relations are examined using Lisa Jevbratt’s and Jessica Ullrich’s criteria for interspecies art and Mieke Roscher’s concepts of entangled and relational agency. This analysis is complemented by a field study and proves to be fertile for revealing the animals’ strong involvement in the artworks as well as beyond the art context. Show less
