Search Results (22)

While studies consistently show that the popular media often provide medicalized images of disabled people as “other” or inferior, dynamic societal changes, such as the diffusion of human rights laws, increasing public awareness, and the mediatization of disability activism, also influence media representations. The present research aims to identify relevant discursive practices in Hungarian online news media, a non-Western European country with about 50 years of a state party system under communism, and offer insight into how progressive policy changes and mediatized activism shape media features on disability. To establish the dataset, the most visited and independent online news media portal in Hungary (24.hu) was searched for articles discussing disability between 2019 and 2022. The 481 relevant articles extracted were analyzed using Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) with the help of MAXQDA 2020. The findings reveal a multiplicity of disability representations: medicalized and victimized images on the one hand, and reports of resilience and “heroism” on the other. Three distinct discursive practices are identified: (1) traditional/ableist representations, (2) alternative representations with ableist framing, and (3) agency and the co-creation of disability representations. Results suggest that even 30 years after the political changes, disabled people’s collective agency is marginal in Hungary, and that socio-legal changes and mediatized disability activism are yet to influence news media features. Full article

This article examines humanist anecdotes about the turbulent times of the mid-twentieth century by F. C. Weiskopf and Lenka Reinerová. It provides a comparative reading of Weiskopf’s Elend und Größe unserer Tage. Anekdoten 1933–1947 (1950) and Reinerová’s “Tragischer Irrtum und richtige Diagnose” (published in Mandelduft, 1998). The anecdotal form of these texts harks back to the popular Enlightenment (Volksaufklärung) anecdotes of Heinrich von Kleist and Johann Peter Hebel, published in 1810–1811 during the Napoleonic Wars. The anecdote as a literary form is particularly well suited to the representation of wartime and political repression. While Weiskopf’s anecdotes explore cruelty and heroism under the Nazi dictatorship, Reinerová’s autobiographical text juxtaposes crisis points in her own life—her time as a political prisoner in France in 1939 and in Czechoslovakia in 1952–1953; her return to Prague as her family’s sole survivor; and her periodic cancer treatment from 1948 onwards. Reinerová describes how the kindness of ordinary people, and her own optimism and resilience, helped her through the worst times. Her lived experience gives her authority as a storyteller in Walter Benjamin’s sense. Both authors contrast human extremes—the good and the bad—yet both remain optimistic about the human capacity for good. Full article

While pandemics have long been a topic of discussion in public health, COVID-19 placed healthcare leaders in a completely new and challenging situation. This qualitative study sought to understand the personal experiences of healthcare professionals in leadership roles at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Sixteen in-depth interviews were conducted and recorded via Zoom. Most participants were men (n = 8, 57.1%) and had a doctorate or master’s degree (n = 8, 57.1%). The themes of mental health, dynamic infrastructure, and transformative experience emerged from our participants’ narratives. Most respondents reported heightened stress during that time and shared the institutional and personal mechanisms they used to deal with the situation. They were proud of their profession and their work. They discussed the “dynamic infrastructure” they experienced at the time that helped them lead. Feeling overworked was a common experience for them. Most considered leading during COVID-19 a “transformative experience” that taught them valuable lessons. They also witnessed acts of heroism as their colleagues continued to work during difficult times, even though some succumbed to COVID-19. Despite all the challenges and uncertainties healthcare professionals in leadership positions faced at the onset of COVID-19, their resilience, dedication, and commitment to their profession prevailed. In conclusion, the firsthand experiences recounted by healthcare leaders in this study shed light on the multifaceted nature of leadership during a global health crisis. Their unwavering resilience, dedication, and commitment stand as a testament to the fortitude required in such demanding circumstances. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to evolve, the insights gleaned from this research bear significant implications for informing future strategies and support systems aimed at bolstering healthcare leadership worldwide. Full article

The Count de Rethel: An Historical Novel (1779) can be ascribed to Georgiana Spencer Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire (1757–1806) as a translation of Anecdotes de la cour de Philippe-Auguste (1733) by Marguerite de Lussan. The action is set at the court of Philip II of France, known as Philip Augustus, at the time of the war with King Henry II and the Crusade with Richard I, known as the Lionheart. This inspired revival of fictionalised medieval history heralding romanticism in the age of sensibility refashions the codes of chivalry according to the aesthetics of the second half of the eighteenth century. This essay focuses on the interplay between fiction and history, between the present of writing and the rewriting of history through Cavendish’s translational prism, featuring the Middle Ages as a golden age of heroism and the Count de Rethel as a paragon of ancient virtue set against contemporary men of fashion. Full article

The traditional interpretations of the Ramayana have been critiqued for preserving and promoting patriarchal gender structures by emphasising masculine heroism and often portraying female characters as unidimensional symbols of selflessness, purity, and honour. This paper analyses how Samhita Arni and Chitrakar’s graphic novel Sita’s Ramayana offers a retelling that foregrounds Sita’s perspective to question and reinterpret the social constructs. By analysing the text through a feminist literary lens, this paper examines how the novel adapts the traditional narrative to provide centre stage to Sita’s various encounters with instances of oppression. The findings reveal how Arni’s retelling employs unique aesthetics that combine texts and Chitrakar’s patua art illustrations to question the traditional male-centred versions, making this novel a part of a broader structure of feminist reinterpretations that aim to highlight female agency in cultural canons. This paper examines Sita’s stance against societal expectations for women, such as self-sacrifice, while also tracking her personal growth, which is symbolically represented by her reunion with Mother Earth. The novel contributes to the ongoing tradition of literary revisionism by offering a nuanced critique of the patriarchal foundations within classical myths. This is underscored by the novel’s reinterpretation of the epic in a way that points out the plasticity of the Ramayana, which can be reshaped to support more progressive views, encouraging discourse on existing gender norms present in contemporary societies. Full article

This study aims to explore the experiences of frontline hospital nurses over 18 months of struggle with the COVID-19 pandemic. The qualitative thematic analysis method was applied. Twenty-three nurses from nine tertiary hospitals in Israel were interviewed using semi-structured interviews via the ZOOM platform between August and September 2021. Interviews were video recorded and transcribed verbatim. Trustworthiness was assured by using qualitative criteria and the COREQ checklist. Results: Both negative and positive experiences were reported: threat and uncertainty along with awareness of their important mission; anxiety and helplessness alongside courage and heroism. Personal management strategies emerged: regulating overwhelming emotions and managing work–life balance. Team support emerged as the most meaningful source of nurses’ struggle with the pandemic. A sense of intimacy and solidarity enabled the processing of the shared traumatic experiences. Conclusions: A deeper understanding of nurses’ experiences through the pandemic was gained. Informal peer support has proven effective in struggling with the events. Formal interventions, such as affective–cognitive processing of traumatic events, need to be integrated into practice. Healthcare policymakers should promote better support for caregivers, which will contribute to their well-being and impact the quality of care they provide. Full article

This article analyzes the contribution of women to the Soviet Union’s Jewish movement. We argue that an assessment of the personal stories of Jewish female activists in the former Soviet Union reveals a uniquely meaningful impact on the exodus of Jewry from the Soviet Union, the image of the Soviet Jewish struggle in the international arena, and the establishment of a human rights movements in its support. We explore who these women were, their personal identities, and through what factors they became so successful as prominent leaders in their communities as well as within international organizations. More broadly, by highlighting the link between women’s human rights activities and personal life stories, this article emphasizes a more nuanced analysis concerning the complexity of heroism within national freedom movements through its impact on their careers, mental health, and future destinies. Full article

In the process of adapting a written narrative for the silver screen, there is much that can be lost (or gained) in translation. Arrival, Denis Villeneuve’s adaption of Ted Chiang’s Story of Your Life, is no exception. Often analyzed as a work of science fiction, this article argues that understanding Arrival as a work of the frontier gothic renders the attempted erasure of Indigenous presence in the film visible. The frontier gothic elements of Arrival, most prominently the transformation of Chiang’s protagonist, Louise, into a frontier hero(ine), and the looming Montana setting, both evoke and attempt to erase the Indigenous presence in this “frontier”. As a frontier hero, Louise ultimately supersedes the aliens of Arrival, absorbing and appropriating their knowledge and language to save the world (and the superiority of the United States). Full article

In this study, we have identified a Twitter network of bad actors mostly affiliated with Iraqi militias that are closely connected to the federal Iraqi government. Using disinformation and threats of legal action, these users often target journalists and news organizations that are critical of them. Three datasets were collected totaling about 16,000 tweets by using 6 Arabic hashtags. We found three major themes: public shaming and personal attacks; legal threats and misinformation accusations; and glorifying Shiite heroism and promoting conspiracies. These bad actors also created a coordinated attack against journalists, news organizations, and human rights activists and even the UN representative in Iraq, Jeanine Plasschaert, falsely accusing her of fabricating the 2021 federal election results. Full article

This paper examines the philosophy of martyrdom, heroism, and death, with reference to Islam in general and Shiʿism in particular. This paper will be divided into two parts; the first will highlight the etymological and philosophical significance of the Arabic term martyrdom (istishhād) and its interrelation with the notion of testimony (shahāda), allowing for the clarification of the complexity of the existential privation of death and the communality of heroic martyrdom. The second part will move beyond the observation of Qurʾanic canonical sources by traversing traditional Shiʿi references and narratives, allowing for a reflection on the articulation of the ontology of martyrdom, such as its temporal horizon and mortality. Consequently, the state of affairs surrounding the phenomenon of heroic martyrdom embodies testimonies of both love and hate, of belongingness and enmity, and of devotion and hostility. Yet, the identification of such heroism is, in practice, coupled with a tacit sense of a Heideggerian ‘fall’ due to its inseparability from the pull of religious, social, and communal violence and aggression. Thus, in both theory and practice, a phenomenology of heroic martyrdom and death takes into account the ideological and societal contexts of the use of violence and the concrete rituals in its mediation of aggression. Full article

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the ways in which heroic leadership is manifested in current right-wing populism. Based on the distinction between heroic modernity and postheroic modernity, a genealogy of the heroic populist leader is proposed. This figure is analyzed by following the hero’s life process in three moments: recognition of his charismatic exceptionality, the struggle to carry out his mission of salvation and the inevitable consequences of the struggle, which cannot be anything other than victory or defeat. Throughout these three phases of heroic action, the way in which the populist hero manages his charisma and intervenes in the culture wars will be shown. Finally, after accompanying him on this ritual journey, it will be understood why populist heroism adopts a regressive model of heroism. It is concluded that extreme right-wing populist heroism is regressive in character, both in its personal and institutional deployment. As a regressive force, it is a source of instability and conflict in postheroic modernity. Full article

The question of heroism and heroic virtue belongs among the most discussed topics in history. It emerges as a recurring theme, mainly in the context of an imminent military danger provoking horror and fear which an individual must resist. This is precisely why heroism was a subject of Nazi propaganda in the past, when it was associated with an irrational willingness to sacrifice one’s own life for any value. In the context of the current war turmoil and tenebrous scenarios regarding the future of the humanity, this article poses the following question: what exactly is heroic virtue? In particular, it focuses on the image of heroism presented by Josef Pieper, who followed the line of thinking of Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas. He wanted to demonstrate how the courage to face injustice, in spite of imminent danger, develops into heroism when the power of hope is mobilised within individuals. This refers not only to the natural hope associated with our common expectations, but also a mystical hope that helps a hero maintain justice even when face-to-face with the predominance of evil until the end. The article concludes by proposing several motives that might be considered in the process of education to heroic virtue. Full article

In this essay, I consider the significance of Daniel Bensaïd’s work on Jeanne d’Arc with regard to dealing with the “difficult times” in which we live. (1) I first consider some of the background in early critical theory in order to show that Bensaïd’s aim to recover Benjamin’s notion of a “weak messianic power” requires following through with Horkheimer and Adorno’s critique of enlightenment, and that this implies a critical rehabilitation of myth and mythopoesis. (2) Approaching Bensaïd’s account of Jeanne in the light of Blumenberg’s notion of “work on myth”, I show how he portrays her in a way that establishes a concrete connection between the discordant temporalities of contingency and necessity, but that this is best understood in the radically immanent terms of prereflective embodied action as based on the corporeal sedimentation of an intercorporeal ethical habitus. Bensaïd’s account of Jeanne thus offers a new lens of historical perception that can help reveal otherwise hidden possibilities for transformative historical agency in embodied coexistence today. (3) By way of conclusion, I briefly consider the deeper meaning and significance of this in terms of offering a non-Promethean mythico-political framework. Full article

The legend of Empress Jingū’s conquest of the Korean peninsula is well-known for its many divine elements. However, the legend’s successful conquest of a foreign enemy has also been key to its longevity. In particular, the Mongol Invasions of the late thirteenth century inspired a renaissance of the Jingū legend in the fourteenth, with the addition of several new motifs. One such motif is Jinrin, a red demon with multiple heads and immense power from the continent who threatens Japan before being slain by Jingū’s husband Emperor Chūai. In this paper, I argue that the Jinrin motif plays an important role in reenvisioning Jingū’s conquest as a war against evil. Though Jinrin may have antecedents in the Buddhist Canon and Japanese mythology, this “fierce god” emerges in the medieval Hachiman tradition in origin narratives and later in regional kagura. Jinrin serves as a visual representation of the threat of the Korean kingdoms and an opportunity for Chūai’s heroism and honorable death, creating a clear juxtaposition between a depraved Korean peninsula and an ethical Japan. Thus, Jinrin provides a vibrant example of how the belief in Japan as land of the gods (shinkoku shisō) galvanized a reinterpretation of Japan, its world, and its history. Full article

This article relates the transmission history of a single Samaritan text and its fascinating trajectory from a Samaritan legend into early modern rabbinic tradition, and on to nineteenth and early twentieth century Jewish studies circles. It focuses on the only Samaritan narrative cited in all of Louis Ginzberg’s monumental Legends of the Jews (1909–1938). Often called the “Epistle of Joshua son of Nun,” I trace the trajectory of this story from a medieval Samaritan chronicle to Samuel Sulam’s 1566 publication of Abraham Zacuto’s Sefer Yuḥasin. From there, we move to early modern belles lettres in Hebrew and Yiddish, western scholarship and then to the great Jewish anthologizers of the fin de siècle, Micha Yosef Berdyczewski, Judah David Eisenstein and Louis Ginzberg. I will suggest reasons why this tale was so appealing to Sulam, a Sephardi scholar based in Istanbul, that he appended it to Sefer Yuḥasin, and what about this tale of heroism ingratiated it to early modern European and then early Zionist readers. The afterlife of this tale is a rare instance of Samaritan influence upon classical Jewish literature, undermining assumptions of unidirectional Jewish influence upon the minority Samaritan culture from antiquity to modern times. Full article