Humanities

12 pages, 236 KiB

Open AccessArticle

From the Abyss of the Middle Passage to the Currents of Hydrofeminism “Getting Wet” with the Ocean in Rivers Solomon’s The Deep

by Chiara Xausa

Humanities 2025, 14(4), 93; https://doi.org/10.3390/h14040093 - 17 Apr 2025

Viewed by 68

Abstract

This article proposes a close reading of Rivers Solomon’s 2019 novella The Deep, a recent eco-story about water, memory, and survival. Solomon’s work is inspired by a song called “The Deep” from experimental hip-hop group clipping, a dark science fiction [...] Read more.

This article proposes a close reading of Rivers Solomon’s 2019 novella The Deep, a recent eco-story about water, memory, and survival. Solomon’s work is inspired by a song called “The Deep” from experimental hip-hop group clipping, a dark science fiction tale about the underwater-dwelling descendants of African women thrown off slave ships during the Middle Passage. This imaginative alternate history, or counter-mythology, was invented by the Detroit techno band Drexciya, which, in a series of releases between 1992 and 2002, tells us the story of an underwater realm in the mid-Atlantic, where merpeople and their descendants establish a utopian society in the sea, free from the war and racism on the surface. My analysis uses Saidiya Hartman’s “critical fabulation” to make productive sense of the gaps in the archive of trans-Atlantic slavery that silence the voices of enslaved women, listening to the voices of water to imagine not only what was but also what could be. Moreover, this article examines The Deep through a trajectory that moves from the ocean as a space that reproduces death only to the ocean as a generative force for posthuman and multispecies kinship. Using Black hydrocriticism, hydrofeminism, and econarratology, I will argue that this transition is made possible by the “despatialization” of the ocean—a concept introduced by Erin James—where the ocean is conceived not as a fixed or stable environment, but as a space in constant flux, defying stability, and the subsequent immersion in its waters. Full article

19 pages, 590 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Unity and Fragmentation of Being: Hölderlin’s Metaphysics of Life

by Edward Kanterian

Humanities 2025, 14(4), 92; https://doi.org/10.3390/h14040092 - 17 Apr 2025

Viewed by 57

Abstract

Friedrich Hölderlin (1770–1843) is widely known as a poet and sometimes described as a poet’s poet (Heidegger). However, more recent interpretations, undertaken by Dieter Henrich, Michael Franz and others, have shown that he was a genuine philosopher as well, who had an original [...] Read more.

Friedrich Hölderlin (1770–1843) is widely known as a poet and sometimes described as a poet’s poet (Heidegger). However, more recent interpretations, undertaken by Dieter Henrich, Michael Franz and others, have shown that he was a genuine philosopher as well, who had an original conception of the relation between art, poetry and metaphysics, with neo-Platonic and theological roots. This paper reconstructs Hölderlin’s ideas and their relation to those of Kant and Fichte. Hölderlin emerges, on the interpretation offered here, as a metaphysician of life, a poet of the biosphere and as such most relevant to our present-day predicament. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Hölderlin and Poetic Transport)

29 pages, 12167 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Sacrificial Love (Of Cyborgs, Saviors, and Driller, a Real Robot Killer) in the Comics Descender and Ascender

by Peter Admirand

Humanities 2025, 14(4), 91; https://doi.org/10.3390/h14040091 - 17 Apr 2025

Viewed by 351

Abstract

Seeking to examine cases of sacrificial love for another that is empathetic, unconditional, and morally redemptive, I focus on writer Jeff Lemire’s and artist Dustin Nguyen’s heralded comic series, Descender and Ascender (published by Image Comics starting in 2015 and 2018, respectively). In [...] Read more.

Seeking to examine cases of sacrificial love for another that is empathetic, unconditional, and morally redemptive, I focus on writer Jeff Lemire’s and artist Dustin Nguyen’s heralded comic series, Descender and Ascender (published by Image Comics starting in 2015 and 2018, respectively). In the first main subsection, I argue how illustrative fictional cases (some involving robots) can mirror inter-human ethical struggles in our own world and examine what I call the “The R2-D2 and Wall-E Syndrome”. Next, I look at some representative theoretical, literary, and biblical examples of sacrifice, especially regarding morally problematic theories about Jesus’ death on the cross, a classic Western example of sacrificial love. I then provide a brief context for why I chose Descender and Ascender and highlight some of the main themes and characters in the comics. In doing so, I draw from three main examples: the cyborg and mother Effie (Queen Between), the companion robot TIM-21, and the robot Driller (“a real killer”), where I gleam key traits of sacrificial love as empathetic, unconditional, and morally redemptive. I close with how to distinguish unholy and holy forms of sacrificial love and reflect on how the examples of sacrificial love in the comics ultimately complement my reading of Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross while adding some stipulations to his oft-quoted saying: “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:13). Full article

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24 pages, 4799 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Graffiti, Street Art and Ambivalence

by Graeme Lorenzo Evans

Humanities 2025, 14(4), 90; https://doi.org/10.3390/h14040090 - 15 Apr 2025

Viewed by 154

Abstract

The article considers the practice and praxis of graffiti and street art from the perspectives of law enforcement, local government and placemaking, and between the production and consumption of this ambivalent form of cultural expression. The work is based on primary, site-based research [...] Read more.

The article considers the practice and praxis of graffiti and street art from the perspectives of law enforcement, local government and placemaking, and between the production and consumption of this ambivalent form of cultural expression. The work is based on primary, site-based research and visualisation undertaken in Europe, North America and Australia. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Law and Literature: Graffiti)

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12 pages, 235 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Eco-Activism and Strategic Empathy in the Novel Vastakarvaan

by Kaisu Rättyä

Humanities 2025, 14(4), 89; https://doi.org/10.3390/h14040089 - 15 Apr 2025

Viewed by 159

Abstract

Ecocritical children’s literature research in the 2020s focuses on eco-activism, especially climate activism. Although the causes of activism have changed, different kinds of dissent are still relevant. This article focuses on Mika Wickström’s novel Vastakarvaan (Against the Grain, published in 2002), [...] Read more.

Ecocritical children’s literature research in the 2020s focuses on eco-activism, especially climate activism. Although the causes of activism have changed, different kinds of dissent are still relevant. This article focuses on Mika Wickström’s novel Vastakarvaan (Against the Grain, published in 2002), which describes a young Finnish student’s ethical dilemma: her eco-anarchist friends are planning an attack on a fur farm that the protagonist’s family owns. It evaluates the novel with new theoretical insights from affective ecocriticism and narrative empathy, and the main concepts that have been explored are youth activism and types of dissent. The analysis is grounded in the concept of strategic empathy, exploring the ways in which emotions and ethical decisions of the protagonist are represented in physical, social, and temporal settings: how types of dissent are presented and how bounded strategic empathy, ambassadorial strategic empathy, and broadcast strategic empathy are presented. The analysis demonstrates how the protagonist’s dilemma is emphasized in different stages of dissent: her decision to participate in the attack or not is debated on different levels of narration. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Eco-Rebels with a Cause: Representations and Explorations of Politics and Activism in Children's and YA Literature)

13 pages, 2815 KiB

Open AccessArticle

More than Interactivity: Designing a Critical AI Game Beyond Ludo-Centrism

by Hongwei Zhou, Fandi Meng, Katherine Kosolapova and Noah Wadrip-Fruin

Humanities 2025, 14(4), 88; https://doi.org/10.3390/h14040088 - 15 Apr 2025

Viewed by 180

Abstract

This article presents our work-in-progress game Sea of Paint, aimed at exploring concerns around contemporary machine-learning-based AI technologies. It is a narrative-driven game with dialogues and a custom-made text-to-image system as its core mechanics. We identify our design approach as non-ludo-centric, as [...] Read more.

This article presents our work-in-progress game Sea of Paint, aimed at exploring concerns around contemporary machine-learning-based AI technologies. It is a narrative-driven game with dialogues and a custom-made text-to-image system as its core mechanics. We identify our design approach as non-ludo-centric, as in, de-emphasizing the importance of mechanical interactions. We argue that contemporary game design language has largely been ludo-centric, where audiovisual and narrative aspects are framed as having somewhat static and complementary roles to rules and mechanics: as context, content, or smoothening and juicing up interactions. Although we do not believe that game design writ large has been ludo-centric, given the diversities of games in both commercial and experimental spaces, we still argue that the entanglement of design decisions across a game’s different aspects have been under-discussed. By presenting our project, we demonstrate how the interrelations across mechanical, narrative and visual aspects help us communicate our critical AI themes more effectively, and explore their potentials more thoroughly. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Electronic Literature and Game Narratives)

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14 pages, 238 KiB

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The Myth of Melusina from the Middle Ages to the Romantic Period: Different Perspectives on Femininity

by Maria Ruggero

Humanities 2025, 14(4), 87; https://doi.org/10.3390/h14040087 - 14 Apr 2025

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Abstract

My essay aims at considering the mythological figure of Melusina and her literary development, starting from the Middle Ages up to the Romantic period. The main purpose is to determine how this fictional entity, originally regarded as the symbol of nature and its [...] Read more.

My essay aims at considering the mythological figure of Melusina and her literary development, starting from the Middle Ages up to the Romantic period. The main purpose is to determine how this fictional entity, originally regarded as the symbol of nature and its fecundity, has changed over the time in relation to the historical and cultural complex and how this has reverberated in terms of interpretation of the identity of the literary character. I will consider the medieval versions of Jean D’Arras (1392), with some consequent references to Coudrette (1401–1405) and von Ringoltingen (1456), and the German romantic fairytale rewriting of Ludwig Tieck (1800). If the thematic nucleus remains the same, the configuration of the female character changes by reflecting the new Romantic poetics in terms of interest towards femininity, subjectivity and the study of the morphology of the Earth. In particular, Melusina is no longer seen as a mere and passive object, but as a subject who for the first time, hiding in an emblematic cave, reveals to the reader her own interiority and her own truth, totally assimilating herself to the external environment. The conclusion will show how the cultural subtext modifies the interpretation of this atavistic character. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Interpretation of Fictional Characters in Literary Texts: History of Literary Criticism, Philosophy and Formal Ontologies)

20 pages, 414 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Fourth Sophistic Movement? Mêtis, Rhetoric, and Politics Between Byzantium and Italy in the Fourteenth Century

by Luigi Robuschi

Humanities 2025, 14(4), 86; https://doi.org/10.3390/h14040086 - 9 Apr 2025

Viewed by 234

Abstract

This article adopts the thesis formulated by Laurent Pernot, according to which sophists existed in every period of history. By comparing the rhetorical strategies developed by the Second Sophistic authors—in particular Aelius Aristides—with the works of the Late Byzantine politician and literatus Demetrius [...] Read more.

This article adopts the thesis formulated by Laurent Pernot, according to which sophists existed in every period of history. By comparing the rhetorical strategies developed by the Second Sophistic authors—in particular Aelius Aristides—with the works of the Late Byzantine politician and literatus Demetrius Kydones, striking similarities emerge, allowing an argument for the continuity of the Sophistic tradition. Authors of the Second Sophistic did not only contribute to the Byzantine politikòi stylistic models, but provided them with pragmatic approaches to navigating moments of crisis, even at the cost of negotiating and transforming traditional values. This emerges also in Kydones’ attempt to bring together East and West in order to contain the Turkish threat. His efforts mirror those of Aelius Aristides and other members of the Second Sophistic who similarly tried to mediate with the Roman empire. Furthermore, Kydones’ adoption of Greek paideia as a form of “soft power” in the West played a key role in the diffusion of the Sophistic tradition among Italian Humanists, like Leonardo Bruni. This phenomenon is closely linked with the “Sophistic Renaissance” explored by MacPhail and Katinis. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ancient Greek Sophistry and Its Legacy)

12 pages, 233 KiB

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The Colors of Curiosity: Ekphrasis from Marguerite de Navarre to María de Zayas’ Tarde llega el desengaño

by Frederick A. De Armas

Humanities 2025, 14(4), 85; https://doi.org/10.3390/h14040085 - 9 Apr 2025

Viewed by 474

Abstract

María de Zayas’ Tarde llega el desengaño, the fourth tale in her Desengaños amorosos (1641), is one of the most studied novellas in the collection. The reader’s curiosity may stem in part from the main model for the tale, the Apuleian story [...] Read more.

María de Zayas’ Tarde llega el desengaño, the fourth tale in her Desengaños amorosos (1641), is one of the most studied novellas in the collection. The reader’s curiosity may stem in part from the main model for the tale, the Apuleian story of Cupid and Psyche, which has curiositas as its central motivation. Nevertheless, this essay argues that one of the reasons that the tale has attracted so much attention has to do with the vividness of its scenes, the chromatic design that Zayas uses to write for the eyes and the relationship of these topics to curiosity. The text induces characters and readers to marvel not only at a colorful scene but also to seek to understand the choice of colors in eight impacting ekphrasis in the novella. These colors color emotions and arouse our curiosity regarding scene, symbol, shade, and character. In addition, Zayas alludes to a painting included in one of Marguerite de Navarre’s novellas to further arouse curiosity and visual memory. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Curiosity and Modernity in Early Modern Spain)

30 pages, 456 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Hölderlin’s and Novalis’ Philosophical Beginnings (1795)

by Manfred Frank

Humanities 2025, 14(4), 84; https://doi.org/10.3390/h14040084 - 1 Apr 2025

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Abstract

Philosophers and literary scholars have notoriously struggled with the periodization of Hölderlin’s work, showing particular reluctance to situate it within Early Romanticism. But there can be no doubt that Hölderlin’s philosophical work resides within the context of an anti-foundationalist criticism, which students of [...] Read more.

Philosophers and literary scholars have notoriously struggled with the periodization of Hölderlin’s work, showing particular reluctance to situate it within Early Romanticism. But there can be no doubt that Hölderlin’s philosophical work resides within the context of an anti-foundationalist criticism, which students of Karl Leonhard Reinhold leveled at his programmatic deduction from a “highest principle” (oberster Grundsatz) in the early 1790s and intensified following Fichte’s lectures (1794/95) on the Science of Knowledge (Wissenschaftslehre). Novalis belonged directly to the circle of Reinhold students, while Hölderlin gained access to it through Friedrich Immanuel Niethammer, his friend from student days in Tübingen and “mentor” in Jena. Niethammer encouraged both Hölderlin and Novalis to contribute to his Philosophisches Journal, conceived as a forum for discussing the pros and cons of foundational philosophy (Grundsatzphilosophie). Novalis’ Fichte-Studies and Hölderlin’s philosophical fragments from 1795/96 can be read as drafts for such an essay. Both men developed similar critiques of Reinhold’s reformulated, subject-centered “highest principle”, the “principle of consciousness” (Satz des Bewusstseins). They argued that according to Reinhold, self-consciousness is a representation, i.e., a binary relationship that provides no explanation for the certainty of unity associated with self-consciousness. Both postulate a transcendent “ground of unity”, which would address this issue while remaining inaccessible to consciousness. My article demonstrates that both men failed to disentangle themselves from the snares of Reinhold’s model of representation, and both transferred the solution for the problem of self-consciousness onto the extra-philosophical medium of art. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Hölderlin and Poetic Transport)

19 pages, 360 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Hölderlin: Between Kant and the Greeks

by Àlex Mumbrú Mora

Humanities 2025, 14(4), 83; https://doi.org/10.3390/h14040083 - 1 Apr 2025

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Abstract

In Hyperion, or the Hermit in Greece, Hölderlin introduces two narrative planes: the description of action and the reflection (or memory) of past events. The transition between these points of view is facilitated by the extensive use of metaphor. This paper [...] Read more.

In Hyperion, or the Hermit in Greece, Hölderlin introduces two narrative planes: the description of action and the reflection (or memory) of past events. The transition between these points of view is facilitated by the extensive use of metaphor. This paper examines Hölderlin’s use of metaphorical language through Plato’s conception of beauty as a link between the sensible and intelligible worlds and Kant’s notion of the “aesthetic idea” as an imaginative representation that “occasions much thinking” (viel zu denken veranlasst). This analysis shows how both sources constitute the theoretical framework for the construction of a New Mythology, as outlined in Das älteste Systemprogramm des deutschen Idealismus. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Hölderlin and Poetic Transport)

9 pages, 212 KiB

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What Makes a Version of a Work a Version of That Work?

by Alberto Voltolini

Humanities 2025, 14(4), 82; https://doi.org/10.3390/h14040082 - 1 Apr 2025

Viewed by 150

Abstract

In this paper, I want to defend the following claim. There is a good chance of keeping the Meinongian account of the individuation of fictional works and applying it to the individuation of versions of such a work, provided one properly takes into [...] Read more.

In this paper, I want to defend the following claim. There is a good chance of keeping the Meinongian account of the individuation of fictional works and applying it to the individuation of versions of such a work, provided one properly takes into account some factors characterizing the make-believe games underlying the production of such versions, namely factors characterizing having to do with the remaking of such games, in order to explain why such versions are versions of that work, not mere individual works just as any other. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Interpretation of Fictional Characters in Literary Texts: History of Literary Criticism, Philosophy and Formal Ontologies)

11 pages, 204 KiB

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Delineating Ecoethics in Alexis Wright’s Carpentaria and The Swan Book

by Minimol P G and Preeti Navaneeth

Humanities 2025, 14(4), 81; https://doi.org/10.3390/h14040081 - 1 Apr 2025

Viewed by 195

Abstract

Literary works of contemporary Australian Aboriginal writers are widely read for their engagement with expressions of resilience and resistance against colonial supremacy. But these works have a greater significance in modern times, as they carry forward the Aboriginal cultural traditions of caring for [...] Read more.

Literary works of contemporary Australian Aboriginal writers are widely read for their engagement with expressions of resilience and resistance against colonial supremacy. But these works have a greater significance in modern times, as they carry forward the Aboriginal cultural traditions of caring for the country (an Aboriginal concept that comprises people, their culture, and all living and non-living entities in a place, including the land) and in vocalising the concerns that arise from grief for the loss of the natural environment. This paper investigates how Alexis Wright, in her postmillennial novels Carpentaria (2006) and The Swan Book (2013), redefines dominant ethical and aesthetic frameworks and tries to delineate ecoethics in these novels through a critical analysis of the representation of relationality and interconnectedness between Aboriginal people and their natural environment. By exploring the Aboriginal belief system as represented in the texts and its role in shaping Aboriginal environmental values, this paper argues that Carpentaria and The Swan Book embody ecoethics and offer a reimagining of deep ecological perspectives in contemporary literature. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue World Mythology and Its Connection to Nature and/or Ecocriticism)

16 pages, 533 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Nature, Nurture, and Empowerment: An Ecofeminist Reading of Utkarsh Patel’s Mythological Fiction Shakuntala: The Woman Wronged

by Supriya Maity, Pragya Shukla, Neetu Purohit and Usnis Banerjee

Humanities 2025, 14(4), 80; https://doi.org/10.3390/h14040080 - 31 Mar 2025

Viewed by 259

Abstract

The present research revisits the mythological fiction of Shakuntala: The Woman Wronged (2015) through an ecofeminist lens. Author Utkarsh Patel approaches the legendary tale of submissive Shakuntala and recreates it by arming her with the attributes of resilience, assertiveness, and compassion. Her deep [...] Read more.

The present research revisits the mythological fiction of Shakuntala: The Woman Wronged (2015) through an ecofeminist lens. Author Utkarsh Patel approaches the legendary tale of submissive Shakuntala and recreates it by arming her with the attributes of resilience, assertiveness, and compassion. Her deep bond with nature equips her with the strength to fight against patriarchal strictures. Based on the study of ecofeminism, this paper draws parallels between the exploitation of women and nature at the hands of mercenary and oppressive forces. An analysis of this work suggests that nature itself provides strength and succour and is also a source of empowerment. The strength gained through communion with nature allows her to make her voice heard. The ecofeminist perspective reveals how Shakuntala’s connection with nature offers her a sanctuary where she can explore her identity and voice, unimpeded by the norms that seek to suppress her. Her love for and defence of the environment transcends mere ecological concern—it becomes a catalyst leading to her transformation. Additionally, Shakuntala’s deep connection with Aranyani, the Forest Goddess, aligns with the concept of nature as a mother figure. By drawing attention to the intertwined dynamics of nature, nurture, and empowerment, this research celebrates and propagates the harmony between nature, feminine forces, and their transformative power. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue World Mythology and Its Connection to Nature and/or Ecocriticism)

16 pages, 269 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Cassava/Yuca/Manioc

by Keja Lys Valens

Humanities 2025, 14(4), 79; https://doi.org/10.3390/h14040079 - 31 Mar 2025

Viewed by 241

Abstract

Cassava/Yuca/Manioc: This staple of Indigenous Caribbean diets has gone from being decried for its danger and denigrated for its supposed inferiority to wheat by the early colonists, to being among the few foods that nourished slaves, to creolizing into postcolonial national dishes, and [...] Read more.

Cassava/Yuca/Manioc: This staple of Indigenous Caribbean diets has gone from being decried for its danger and denigrated for its supposed inferiority to wheat by the early colonists, to being among the few foods that nourished slaves, to creolizing into postcolonial national dishes, and to being touted as a wonder food resistant to the climate disaster and dietary breakdowns that manifest the slow violence of the colonial project. Is the uplifting of cassava the rise of the Caribbean plot, the next step in neocolonial globalist expropriation of things Caribbean, or something of both? This paper traces discourses of cassava from the writings of early colonialists like Pere Labat through Caribbean cookbooks of the independence era where it was creolized with African, European, and Asian techniques and traditions and into postcolonial diasporic food writing and commercial projects from Carmeta’s Bajan food independence through contemporary global agriculture projects promoting cassava. Cassava/Yuca/Manioc, this paper argues, continues to be deterritorialized on a global scale at the same time as, in the Caribbean, it continues to nourish locally grounded persistence, adaptation, resistance, and thriving. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Rise of a New World: Postcolonialism and Caribbean Literature)

16 pages, 267 KiB

Open AccessArticle

‘Ring the Bells’: Sound and Silence in Garth Nix’s Old Kingdom

by Sean Williams

Humanities 2025, 14(4), 78; https://doi.org/10.3390/h14040078 - 28 Mar 2025

Viewed by 473

Abstract

Australian author Garth Nix has set six critically acclaimed and internationally bestselling novels and several shorter works in and around the fictional world of the Old Kingdom, beginning with Sabriel (1995) and continuing most recently with Terciel & Elinor (2021). This loose series [...] Read more.

Australian author Garth Nix has set six critically acclaimed and internationally bestselling novels and several shorter works in and around the fictional world of the Old Kingdom, beginning with Sabriel (1995) and continuing most recently with Terciel & Elinor (2021). This loose series of texts, with its bellringing protagonists, is the prime contributor to his reputation as an author of high fantasy fiction, although he is also marketed as and known for writing science fiction and other related subgenres. Most notably, his work prominently features elements of the Gothic. This aspect of his work and the ways in which it creates tension within the “high” fantasy genre becomes increasingly apparent when examined through the lens of sound—a critical method that has potential for charting the entanglements of this genre with other popular genres of fiction. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Music and the Written Word)

12 pages, 252 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Restless Nature

by Susan Byrne

Humanities 2025, 14(4), 77; https://doi.org/10.3390/h14040077 - 27 Mar 2025

Viewed by 134

Abstract

During the Spanish Renaissance, curiosity was the catalyst for change and creativity. Earlier philosophical stories regarding the perils and pitfalls of curiosity, written by Plotinus and Hermes Trismegistus, were adapted to a quite positive end: human creativity in letters. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Curiosity and Modernity in Early Modern Spain)

15 pages, 319 KiB

Open AccessArticle

“You Two Are the Bad Guys!” Intergenerational Equity, Ecophobia, and Ecocentric Card Games in Disney’s Strange World (2022)

by Roberta Grandi

Humanities 2025, 14(4), 76; https://doi.org/10.3390/h14040076 - 27 Mar 2025

Viewed by 632

Abstract

Disney’s Strange World (2022) explores the themes of “energy unconscious”, “intergenerational equity”, and “ecophobia”, focusing on the legacy parents leave to their children. The film centers on three generations of men, each representing different attitudes towards nature. Jaeger Clade, the grandfather, embodies colonialist [...] Read more.

Disney’s Strange World (2022) explores the themes of “energy unconscious”, “intergenerational equity”, and “ecophobia”, focusing on the legacy parents leave to their children. The film centers on three generations of men, each representing different attitudes towards nature. Jaeger Clade, the grandfather, embodies colonialist values, viewing nature as a hostile force to be conquered. His son, Searcher, an intensive farmer, sees nature as a battleground between useful beings and pests, focusing on improving society through domestication. In contrast, Ethan, Searcher’s teenage son, adopts an ecocentric perspective. His worldview is expressed through the card game Primal Outpost, where he and his friends embrace symbiosis, interconnectedness, and the rejection of the man-nature divide. Ethan is the first to recognize that their ecosystem is a living organism reminiscent of the Gaia Hypothesis, advocating for a paradigm shift that the older generations fail to grasp. The article analyzes Strange World as a cli-fi allegory, urging humanity to choose between being parasitic destroyers or symbiotic contributors to ecological recovery. The film, while offering a simplified solution to climate change, presents a comic apocalyptic vision where youth-driven hope for change challenges older, ecophobic attitudes and offers a transformative, ecotopian message. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Eco-Rebels with a Cause: Representations and Explorations of Politics and Activism in Children's and YA Literature)

14 pages, 205 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Friendly Affection and Trans-Racial Community Building in Kathryn Stockett’s The Help

by Wenjun Yi

Humanities 2025, 14(4), 75; https://doi.org/10.3390/h14040075 - 26 Mar 2025

Viewed by 140

Abstract

The Help, winner of the 2009 Exclusive Books Boeke Prize, is the debut novel of American author Kathryn Stockett. Taking Jacques Derrida’s “Politics of Friendship” as the major theoretical framework, this research examines the transformation from the white community and the Black [...] Read more.

The Help, winner of the 2009 Exclusive Books Boeke Prize, is the debut novel of American author Kathryn Stockett. Taking Jacques Derrida’s “Politics of Friendship” as the major theoretical framework, this research examines the transformation from the white community and the Black community to the trans-racial community through the emotional interaction between white mistresses and Black maids. The distinctively exclusive white community perpetuates racial discrimination and confronts Black others with hostility, while the racially injured Black people can only seek mutual refuge and friendly affection in the Black community. On the surface, the white community and the Black community are antagonistic. However, the racist system has entangled the emotions and fates of the three protagonists with different identities. In the book, when the Black people open their hearts to tell their stories and gain support and trust within the community, white people not only witness social injustice, but also unconditionally assume responsibility for the “other” when facing Black “others”. Based on the “law of unconditional love”, the novel breaks through the inherent limitations based on race, class, geography, etc., and calls for the advent of the politics of friendship and the formation of trans-racial communities. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Comparative Literature and World Literature: Toward a Global Cultural Community through a New Cosmopolitanism)

20 pages, 255 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Archival Narrative Justice in Valeria Luiselli’s Lost Children Archive

by Dharshani Lakmali Jayasinghe

Humanities 2025, 14(4), 74; https://doi.org/10.3390/h14040074 - 26 Mar 2025

Viewed by 148

Abstract

Valeria Luiselli’s Lost Children Archive (2019) captures the challenges that “lost”, or undocumented children experience in their attempts to cross the US-Mexico border and provides a stringent critique of the unjust and arbitrary nature of border laws. In this paper, I argue that [...] Read more.

Valeria Luiselli’s Lost Children Archive (2019) captures the challenges that “lost”, or undocumented children experience in their attempts to cross the US-Mexico border and provides a stringent critique of the unjust and arbitrary nature of border laws. In this paper, I argue that Luiselli’s novel merges the narrative with the archival to form an “archival novel”, which generates what I call “archival narrative justice”, a form of achieving justice through an archival narrative when legal and institutional justice is absent or inadequate. In doing so, I demonstrate how the narrative form and the practice of archiving, both independently and collectively, are significant avenues for re-conceptualizing “justice” through generating counterhistories and making visible multiple marginalized perspectives. I connect Luiselli’s archival-narrative practice with how the borderlands house such counterhistories by building on Gloria Anzaldúa’s work on borderlands. I develop the concept of “borderland as archive” to understand how Lost Children Archive recognizes the interstitial space of the borderlands as coded with the knowledges, histories, memories, lived experiences, and resistance of border crossers and border dwellers, from undocumented immigrants to dispossessed Native Americans who have been illegalized by settler-colonial and capitalistic immigration laws. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Imagining the Law: American Literature and Justice)

20 pages, 266 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Code Word Cloud in Franz Kafka’s “Beim Bau der Chinesischen Mauer” [“The Great Wall of China”]

by Alex Mentzel

Humanities 2025, 14(4), 73; https://doi.org/10.3390/h14040073 - 25 Mar 2025

Viewed by 211

Abstract

Amidst the centenary reflections on Franz Kafka’s legacy, this article explores his work’s ongoing resonance with the digital age, particularly through the lens of generative AI and cloud computation. Anchored in a close reading of Kafka’s “Beim Bau der chinesischen Mauer”, this study [...] Read more.

Amidst the centenary reflections on Franz Kafka’s legacy, this article explores his work’s ongoing resonance with the digital age, particularly through the lens of generative AI and cloud computation. Anchored in a close reading of Kafka’s “Beim Bau der chinesischen Mauer”, this study interrogates how the spatial and temporal codes embedded in the narrative parallel the architectures of contemporary diffusion systems at the heart of AI models. Engaging with critical theory, media archaeology, and AI discourse, this article argues that the rise of large language models not only commodifies language but also recasts Kafka’s allegorical critiques of bureaucratic opacity and imperial command structures within a digital framework. The analysis leverages concepts like Kittler’s code, Benjamin’s figural cloud, and Hamacher’s linguistic dissemblance to position Kafka’s parables as proto-critical tools for examining AI’s black-box nature. Ultimately, the piece contends that Kafka’s text is less a metaphor for our technological present than a mirror reflecting the epistemological crises engendered by the collapse of semantic transparency in the era of algorithmic communication. This reframing invites a rethinking of how narrative, code, and digital architectures intersect, complicating our assumptions about clarity, control, and the digital regimes shaping contemporary culture. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Franz Kafka in the Age of Artificial Intelligence)

2 pages, 137 KiB

Open AccessCorrection

Correction: Campbell (2019). Extractive Poetics: Marine Energies in Scottish Literature. Humanities 8: 16

by Alexandra Campbell

Humanities 2025, 14(4), 72; https://doi.org/10.3390/h14040072 - 25 Mar 2025

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Text Correction [...] Full article

14 pages, 268 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Towards an Ontology of the Theatrical Character: Insights from Niccolò Machiavelli’s Comedies

by Giorgia Gallucci

Humanities 2025, 14(4), 71; https://doi.org/10.3390/h14040071 - 24 Mar 2025

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Abstract

This contribution aims to explore the composite nature of the theatrical character, with a focus on the comedy genre. The objective is to outline a theoretical framework for the development of a formal ontology that encompasses the editorial, performative, and receptive dimensions involved [...] Read more.

This contribution aims to explore the composite nature of the theatrical character, with a focus on the comedy genre. The objective is to outline a theoretical framework for the development of a formal ontology that encompasses the editorial, performative, and receptive dimensions involved in the creation of dramatic characters. This article incorporates three perspectives: those of the author, the actor, and the spectator/reader. Drawing on the research of Manfred Pfister and Anne Ubersfeld, this contribution highlights how the study of theatrical characters requires specific methodologic attention, especially when compared with those of the narrative character, given the medial duality of the dramatic context. Since the theatrical character is the product of complex interplay between intentions and perceptions, the role of both the audience and the reader merit particular attention. The comedy genre lends itself to a categorical approach due to the historic configuration of stock types in classical comedy and masks in commedia dell’arte. Theoretical reflections will be supported by an analysis of Machiavelli’s comedies as a case study. The Machiavellian example most effectively illustrates the critical stratification underlying the perception of a character and the classes and properties that are essential to formalize its digital ontology. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Interpretation of Fictional Characters in Literary Texts: History of Literary Criticism, Philosophy and Formal Ontologies)

12 pages, 259 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Eye and the Flesh: Céline, Bataille, and the Fascination with Death

by Alexis Louis Chauchois

Humanities 2025, 14(4), 70; https://doi.org/10.3390/h14040070 - 24 Mar 2025

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Abstract

This paper argues that Louis-Ferdinand Céline and Georges Bataille use voyeurism as a transgressive mechanism to confront death through the female body, a paradoxical site of life and decay. Though Céline’s clinical, disenchanted gaze contrasts with Bataille’s erotic, metaphysical quest, both employ the [...] Read more.

This paper argues that Louis-Ferdinand Céline and Georges Bataille use voyeurism as a transgressive mechanism to confront death through the female body, a paradoxical site of life and decay. Though Céline’s clinical, disenchanted gaze contrasts with Bataille’s erotic, metaphysical quest, both employ the act of seeing to reveal death’s presence within vitality. In Céline’s works, voyeurism shifts from erotic curiosity to cold observation, framing the female body as a sterile emblem of mortality. In Bataille’s, it becomes participatory, merging ecstasy with dissolution in a sacred yet destructive form. Drawing on Freud and Sodom motifs, this study shows how their gazes transform the female body into a lens for existential finitude, challenging life–death boundaries in 20th-century French literature. Full article

(This article belongs to the Section Literature in the Humanities)

17 pages, 1063 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Precarious Childhoods in Malayalam Films: Negotiating Precarity and Posthumanism in Ottaal and Veyilmarangal

by Rona Reesa Kurian and Preeti Navaneeth

Humanities 2025, 14(4), 69; https://doi.org/10.3390/h14040069 - 21 Mar 2025

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Abstract

This article considers two Malayalam films, each of which uses ‘the child’ to reflect on ‘precarious childhood’. Ottaal (2014, Dir. Jayaraj) and Veyilmarangal (2019, Dir. Bijukumar Damodaran) present the ontological relationality of their child characters within their context and the political and social [...] Read more.

This article considers two Malayalam films, each of which uses ‘the child’ to reflect on ‘precarious childhood’. Ottaal (2014, Dir. Jayaraj) and Veyilmarangal (2019, Dir. Bijukumar Damodaran) present the ontological relationality of their child characters within their context and the political and social realities of the people in Kerala. The ecological disasters, economic catastrophes, and multilayered forms of social abjection push the children out of human primacy, predominantly through their birth and existence as ‘nameless’ Dalits. The child characters, who contrast with the adults, negotiate a space for themselves amidst the question of belongingness through their relation with animals and the environment around them during the phase(s) of displacement. Borrowing Haraway’s concept of ‘companion species’, we expound on their assemblage with the environment through which they are able to survive the complex realities of daily life. Furthermore, the children are singularly and effectively extensions of animal personhood in their inability to determine the terms of their existence. In response to the larger question of precarity and childhood in the context of Kerala, this paper explores how these Malayalam films, by realistically portraying the idea that human primacy is oblivious to its precariousness, address the ecological predicament and the interconnectedness of all living things, emphasizing values of cohabitation and mutual care, which are central themes in posthumanist thought. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Child Migration Experiences in Fiction, Film and Visual Art)

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13 pages, 270 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Indian “Boarding School” and Chinese “Bachelor Society”: Forced Isolation, Cultural Identity Erasure, and Literary Resilience in American Ethnic Literatures

by Li Song

Humanities 2025, 14(4), 68; https://doi.org/10.3390/h14040068 - 21 Mar 2025

Viewed by 149

Abstract

Between 1871 and 1969, Native Americans (American Indians) endured the U.S. Federal Indian Boarding School system, while Chinese Americans faced enduring impacts from the Chinese Exclusion Act (1882–1943). Drawing on historical sources, this paper examines literary works by and about Native Americans and [...] Read more.

Between 1871 and 1969, Native Americans (American Indians) endured the U.S. Federal Indian Boarding School system, while Chinese Americans faced enduring impacts from the Chinese Exclusion Act (1882–1943). Drawing on historical sources, this paper examines literary works by and about Native Americans and Chinese Americans, focusing on their sufferings under forced isolation policies. Through works like Ceremony and Gardens in the Dunes by Leslie Marmon Silko and Eat a Bowl of Tea by Louis Chu, this study illustrates how systematic oppression, characterized by erasure of cultural identity, manifested through institutions such as “boarding school” and “bachelor society”. It explores how forced policies (like assimilation and isolation) and institutional oppression, through cultural erasure and the severing of family ties, dismantled family structures, weakened cultural transmission, and led to identity crises, inter-generational alienation, and psychological trauma in marginalized communities. These ethnic narratives not only document histories of oppression but also highlight the ethnic groups’ resilience and their efforts to reconstruct multicultural identity through cultural heritage and community ties under multifaceted pressures. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Comparative Literature and World Literature: Toward a Global Cultural Community through a New Cosmopolitanism)

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Humanities, Volume 14, Issue 4 (April 2025) – 26 articles

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