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Updating Roman Jakobson’s ‘Poetic Function’ with Vector Semantics
Read more: Updating Roman Jakobson’s ‘Poetic Function’ with Vector SemanticsKurzynski discusses how poetry extends beyond sound and rhythm and taps into a deeper network of meanings.
C. S. Lewis and His Medieval Mirror
By Erik Eklund C. S. Lewis is best known for his introductory exposition of Christianity, Mere Christianity (1952), as well as his series of children’s books, The Chronicles of Narnia (1950–56), yet, notwithstanding his numerous theological works, his identity as…
Freedom of Speech as Well as Listening: From Thinking with Words to Listening Through Language
By Igor R. Reyner It is evident that we are living in a particularly challenging time, where transformative and empathic ways of listening, as well as of understanding, are much needed. Surrounded by fake news and intransigent behaviour, isolated in…
A Sociologist and a Philosopher Attempt to Learn from COVID
Edward Avery-Natale, interviewed by Colin C. Smith My childhood friend Dr. Edward Avery-Natale is a professor of contemporary sociology, while I am a lecturer in ancient philosophy. Although Ed studies the modern world and I the ancient, we are often…
In Memoriam Sophinette Becker (1950-2019): Appreciation of new thoughts on sexuality, psychoanalysis and politics from the past
By Patrick Henze-Lindhorst Stubborn, a loving mentor and dedicated therapist, and an acutely perceptive authority on countless political and theoretical issues: The psychoanalytically oriented psychologist, sexuality researcher, and psychosomatics specialist Sophinette Becker shaped the renowned Institute for Sexual Science at…
St. Helen’s, the East India Company and Shakespeare
by Geoffrey Marsh Wednesday 31 December 1600 is one of the pivotal dates in English history. It was not only the end of the 16th century but the day Queen Elizabeth I granted a charter to 215 London merchants for…
Q&A with Mark Mclay, author of ‘The Republican Party and the War on Poverty: 1964–1981’
Tell us a bit about your book. My book is on recent American political history. It examines the Republican Party’s challenge to Democratic President Lyndon B. Johnson’s ‘War on Poverty’. It shows that leading Republicans – most notably President Ronald…
The Lost Splendour of Ghazni: Rediscovering an Islamic Capital in Medieval Afghanistan
By Viola Allegranzi Located in present-day Afghanistan, Ghazni was once a prosperous commercial and cultural centre at the crossroads of Iranian, Central Asian and Indian regions. Under the rule of the Ghaznavid dynasty (r. 977-1186), the city was home to…
Five Interesting Neighbours of Shakespeare in the 1590s
by Geoffrey Marsh Who were the most interesting ‘neighbours’ of that Living with Shakespeare explores? I tried to follow up on all of the hundred or so families that made up the parish of St. Helen’s, Bishopsgate in the 1590s.…
Shakespeare in the North: Nation, Race and Haircuts
by Adam Hansen I got a post-‘lockdown #3’ haircut in my Tyneside town recently, to my relief, and everyone else’s. (You know things are getting desperate when 90% of what anyone sees onscreen in a Zoom call is not your…