Cultural Studies

L’articolo si propone di analizzare alcune delle performance più rilevanti di Marina Abramović e Regina José Galindo alla luce dei concetti elaborati dal filosofo italiano Giorgio Agamben nell’ambito delle riflessioni sulla biopolitica: per esempio, "homo sacer", campo, potere sovrano. Da una parte, verrà evidenziata la volontà di Abramović di discutere lo statuto dell’artista, nel suo rapporto col pubblico, all’interno di uno "stato d’eccezione" creato appositamente; dall’altra verranno analizzate le modalità artistiche con cui Galindo rende conto del sanguinoso passato e del drammatico presente nel suo Paese, il Guatemala, in cui lo "stato di eccezione" rappresenta la norma.

Until recently finding stone rollers next to ancient wine presses was considered a rather rare phenomenon. Even in the few instances when scholars mentioned such rollers, they deemed them to be an element unrelated to the wine press and the wine-making process and suggested they have a function that is not associated with the work of a wine press.
It seems the first one to deal with these stone rollers, indeed the kind that is specific to the Carmel, was L. Oliphant in 1883. He described the remains at H. Sumaqa on Mt. Carmel and wrote:

“I often found near these mills huge limestone rollers about three feet in diameter and seven feet long. On the sides of these were four vertical lines of sunk grooves, four or five grooves in each line. Taking 2.7 as the specific gravity of the stone, they must have weighed about two tons each. What their functions were, or whether they had anything to do with the olive-crushing process, I am at a loss to conjecture” (Oliphant 1887: 95).


Approximately 120 years later E. Netzer published installations used to produce date wine that he exposed in Jericho. He described a roller that was found in one of the installations as evidence that corroborates his conclusion that this was not a press for manufacturing grape wine because “a stone that is meant for crushing or pressing has no place in wine presses used to produce grape wine” (Netzer 2002: 73).
These two quotations, separated by 120 years, are sufficient to illustrate to what extent stone rollers were considered unusual and foreign to the landscape of ancient agricultural installations in the Land of Israel. It was against this background that we were surprised to discover, during study trips we conducted in southern Mount Hebron, a series of wine presses from the Roman period in the region of Susiya, in each of which there were a number of large stone rollers (Amit and Baruch 2007; Figs. 1-7). It was clear that these rollers are part of the wine press installations and are connected to the process of wine production. They were intended for crushing the grape skins and extracting the rest of the must from the fruit after treading on it by foot.

From a standpoint of the history of the research we should begin the discussion with the grooved stone rollers of the Carmel, which are a phenomenon unto themselves. It is possible that this phenomenon and its scope in that limited region is what diverted attention from the general picture of rollers in the other regions of the country and have delayed their study until now. The 19th cent. explorers of the Land of Israel have already expressed their opinion regarding the phenomenon on the Carmel. More than anyone else L. Oliphant, whose quotation is presented above, dealt with these rollers.
The largest concentration of such grooved columns (c. 30 items) is located at H. Sumaqa on Mount Carmel. The excavator of the site, S. Dar, discusses the grooved columns in the context of the production installations at the site and its vicinity, as well as at H. Raqit (Dar 1999: 77-94, 145-174; Dar 2004: 85-86). Dar surveyed a dozen installations which he refers to as “workshops” and excavated five of them. He dated them to the Late Roman period. The workshops where the grooved columns were used are different than the wine and oil presses that were found at the site and in its vicinity, although some of the components that are common to each of the agricultural production installations are somewhat similar. Because of this similarity Dar (1999: 77) first rejected the proposal put forth by R. Frankel and E. Ayalon (1988: 43) that these are wine presses. He also rejected his original suggestion that these are tanning installations because of the absence of any resemblance to known installations that were used for working skins. By way of elimination Dar proposed that these workshops were used to produce dye from the vegetation that grows on Mt. Carmel; however, he does admit the topic is still open to further discussion and even mentions the possibility that they were used for grape pressing (Dar 2004: 86).


In our search for parallels of the phenomenon, we were surprised to discover that the distribution of the wine presses with rollers is much more extensive than it seemed until now. It turns out that wine presses of this type are located in relatively dense concentrations and in defined regions that cover most parts of the settled country.

La relación de la obra de arte con la realidad histórica es, desde diferentes perspectivas, un tema de discusión en los campos del arte y la comunicación: ¿mera representación o reconfiguración de los materiales de la naturaleza? Una parte de la obra fílmica y literaria de Jorge Acha  (Miramar, 1946-1996), por su abordaje de cuestiones históricas e identitarias por medio de una estética y unas condiciones de producción  underground en la postdictadura argentina, cae en un lugar especial dentro de la producción cinematográfica nacional. Así, permite pensar las figuraciones en torno a acontecimientos nodulares del país y del continente: el “descubrimiento científico” de América por Alexander von Humboldt, la Conquista del Desierto, la construcción del Altar de la Patria de José López Rega (y en un sentido general, la construcción simbólica de la nación, de un pasado), la desaparición de personas en la última dictadura y la visibilización de la inmigración de países vecinos a principios de la década de 1990.
Proponemos que la tesis, en un registro de tipo ensayístico, conste de cinco secciones más un prefacio. La primera sección, “Liminares” sirve de introducción y contextualización del corpus. La segunda, “Representación, figura”, delinea un debate en torno de las nociones de figuración y representación, y sienta las bases para las reflexiones en torno a las ideas de comunicación, arte, cultura y naturaleza que se concretan en la quinta y última sección, “Coda (aperturas y cierres, respiración)”, donde también se especifica la importancia de estas discusiones en relación a nuestros objetivos y, claro está, a la obra de Acha.
La tercera sección se titula “Estética del sueño”, busca desarrollar la relación entre la obra achiana seleccionada y el barroco como ethos histórico de la modernidad capitalista latinoamericana. Consideramos necesaria la permanente interrelación entre las concepciones teóricas abordadas y el análisis de las obras para lograr una mayor organicidad muy difícil de lograr en la típica subdivisión entre marco teórico por un lado y análisis por el otro. Esto se mantendrá para el resto de las secciones. Aquí, en lo específico, buscamos establecer la profunda relación entre América Latina y el barroco, cómo su carácter de puesta en escena de la cultura encuentra un eco en la simulación y artificialización de la puesta en forma achiana (en las películas) y en el desarrollo narrativo (en los guiones cinematográficos).
La cuarta parte, “Arquitectónica del sueño” es la más extensa, dividida en cinco capítulos. Intentamos establecer cómo la obra seleccionada desarrolla la problemática de la comunicación ser humano-ser humano y ser humano-naturaleza, lo que nos conduce a una noción de desgarro original de lo americano, entre la cosmovisión temporal cíclica del indígena y la cosmovisión temporal lineal del invasor europeo. Pretendemos, asimismo, observar cómo es posible establecer una relación comunicacional (y figural) entre la conquista de los territorios que habrían de conformar América, la ‘campaña del desierto’ y la ‘lucha antisubversiva’ en el marco de la construcción de un continente y una nación. De este modo, es necesario indagar en las formas en que aparece el conocimiento científico y la religión.

A cultura visual religiosa como linguagem religiosa própria: propostas de leitura Religious visual culture as its own religious language: reading proposals Helmut Renders  Resumo O artigo apresenta a investigação de culturas visuais religiosas dentro do conceito de línguas religiosas, introduzido na área de Ciências Religiosas e Teologia e incluído em sua árvore do conhecimento. Ao fazer isso, essa linguagem religiosa é considerada uma linguagem própria e distinta das linguagens textuais, e que, por essa necessidade, requer uma atenção especial. Num segundo e terceiro momento, considerando a composição da área 44 como Ciências da Religião e Teologia, possíveis ênfases e abordagens das culturas visuais são feitas para ambos os campos de pesquisa. Para isso, distingue-se a cultura visual como uma linguagem das ciências da religião na perspectiva de línguas e narrativas sagradas e uma linguagem religiosa da teologia no sentido de símbolos visíveis e impactantes. Numa retrospectiva, o texto apresenta os movimentos de elaboração deste campo de estudo na área como uma investigação de aspectos e expressões da religião muito pouco investigada e mapeia, pontualmente, suas epistemologias subjacentes e possíveis formas de aplicação. Com isso, o artigo fornece um acesso alternativo à dinâmica performativa das religiões e aos fenômenos do encantamento. Palavras-chave: Brasil; teoria da religião; linguagens religiosas; cultura visual religiosa; interpretação de imagens religiosas. Abstract The article presents the investigation of religious visual cultures within the concept of religious languages, introduced in the area of Religious Sciences and Theology, and included in its tree of knowledge. By doing so, this religious language is considered a language of its own and distinct of textual languages, and which by this need requires an unique attention. In a second and third moment, considering the composition of the area 44 as Sciences of Religion and Theology, possible emphases and approaches of visual cultures are made for both fields of research. For this, it distinguishes visual culture as a language of the sciences of religion from the perspective of sacred languages and narratives, and a religious language of theology in the sense of visible and impactful symbols. In a retrospective, the text presents the movements of the elaboration of this field of study in the area as an investigation of aspects and expressions of religion very little investigated and maps, punctually, its underlying epistemologies and possible forms of application. By this, the article provides an alternative access to the performative dynamics of religions and the phenomena of enchantment.

Silent peplum notoriously offered a model of masculinity in which Fascism was able to recognize itself. Instead, the connection between the peplum of the 1950s and 1960s and the fall of Fascism has never been addressed. This essay examines how, and with which strategies and meanings, the new peplum was received by ultraconservative magazines which guarded the relics of fascist imagery. Recognition was then replaced by disavowal, and a no more hegemonic masculinity was blamed for carrying unacceptable values and homoerotic undercurrents. This article explains how what used to be synonym for strength, sexual potency and a binary conception of gender was now accused to be instead a cover for fragility, impotency and ambiguity, and the meaning of certain consonance between the rightist and the leftist reception of peplum. It considers also how Forza e salute (later renamed Ercole) – one of the first Italian bodybuilding magazines – answered back promoting a positive image of muscle-bound men, exploiting again the peplum and insisting on sexuality through no less conservative discourses.

Cultural Studies in Italy and the Influence of Gramsci, Catholic Culture and the “Birmingham School” (CCCS) ... Published by Centre for Media and Communication Studies “Massimo Baldini” LUISS University Department of History and Political Sciences Viale Romania, 32 ...

Le présent article fait partie d’une recherche en cours sur la transition des sociétés de l’Europe du Sud-Est : celle-ci se traduit par l’institutionnalisation de la culture folklorique ou populaire de la fin du XIXe siècle aux années 1940 pour la formation d’une culture nationale. Dans les pays balkaniques, la notion de culture de masse correspond à la transformation des sociétés après la guerre et notamment après les années 1950 et 1960. Pendant cette période, l’évolution de la culture populaire et la consommation de ses produits n’étaient pas les mêmes pour les sociétés de la région. De fait, l’examen d’une petite partie des productions des Balkans montre que la région étudiée ne partage pas les caractéristiques de l’Occident ni avant ni après les années 1940. A l’exception peut-être de la Grèce, où la circulation du roman-feuilleton à partir des années 1840-1850 connait un succès remarquable auprès du public lettré, les sociétés balkaniques restent largement rurales jusqu’aux années 1940. Le passage de la culture populaire urbaine des années 1920-1940 à la culture de masse dans les années 1950-1960 n’est pas le même pour les pays du bloc soviétique et les pays du bloc occidental. L’évolution de l’industrie culturelle en Grèce et en Turquie nous offre une deuxième piste de recherche dans deux sociétés qui sont en train de se développer mais où les traditions en matière de mœurs restent très vives.

Tile was introduced in the Iberian Peninsula by Muslims, who occupied it from the 8th century ahead, following the Muslim invasions. This material has become a striking element of the centre and south Spanish culture. However, its introduction and dissemination in the present Portuguese territory occurred only in the sixteenth century, more specifically in the D. Manuel I Reign. Not being a Portuguese creation, but resulting from multiple contacts and cultural crossings, the tile was not only absorbed by the local culture, but also taken by the Portuguese people to other places, such as Brazil or India. In these new places, it acquired new meanings, being adapted and transformed according to the local aesthetic tastes. The tile acquired a maximum expression in Portugal as a decorative element narrating, at the same time, events of the Portuguese society and culture. It has been used extensively over five centuries and has been adapted to the local spatio-temporal circumstances, being created in innovative and aesthetic forms. The tile, starting as a decorative element inside palaces, manor houses, churches and convents, would eventually become a material for facade cladding of public and private buildings. This represents panoramas of an abstract geometry and also events of the local life. In the 21st century, tile has acquired new symbolic values in the representation of the community to the tourist audience.

Ensayo Sociológico. Herrera Farfán, Nicolás Armando / López Guzmán, Lorena. (Compiladores)
Ciencia, compromiso y cambio social. Textos de Orlando Fals Borda
1a ed. - Buenos Aires: El Colectivo - Lanzas y Letras - Extensión Libros, 2012. 460 p. ; 15x22 cm. - (Colección: Pensamiento Latinoamericano)
2ª edición, Montevideo, 2014

Drawing on the ongoing dialogue between current music video
scholarship and a cultural turn to affect, this article argues for an
approach to affective aesthetics that focuses on both the aesthetically
and theoretically generative work of affects within the music videos’
audiovisual forms and their performative mechanisms. Through a close
analysis of ‘National Anthem’ by Lana Del Rey (dir. A. Mandler, 2012)
and Baauer’s ‘Day Ones’ (dir. H. Murai, 2016), it examines anachronistic
strategies through which contemporary music video performs
political history, encompassing both past events and their mediation.
While Mandler’s video generates nostalgia through the combination
of archival media materiality, trip-hop tunes, and the narrative loop,
mutually reshaping Kennedy’s 1960s and the Obama era, Murai’s
piece plays out the ironic reenactment that actualizes the remote past
through the affective perspective of anger enacted by the existential
lyrics, dark beats, and anachronistic imagery of violence, merging the
American Revolutionary War with suburban hip-hop reality. Opening
up past events to the contemporary affects that shape audiovisual
forms and trigger a transhistorical experience, both videos compel us
to rethink the force of music video affects as neither emotional, nor
representational, but rather performative.