Hospitable Hosts, Educated Elites: Relativism vs. Absolutism in the writings of Alberuni and Ibn Battuta
«In exploring nations and cultures outside of their own, Alberuni and Ibn Battuta encountered ideologies, customs, and practices that stood in opposition to the beliefs and ways of life they personally upheld. Faced with foreign behavior and thought,...» Document abstract
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SummaryIn exploring nations and cultures outside of their own, Alberuni and Ibn Battuta encountered ideologies, customs, and practices that stood in opposition to the beliefs and ways of life they personally upheld. Faced with foreign behavior and thought, the authors found themselves in a position to judge, to criticize or compliment the outside culture. Both authors incorporated cultural relativism (the doctrine that all judgment is relative, and that one must look at a culture from an insider’s point of view to judge it) in some instances of their texts, and adopt culturally absolutist standpoints (judgment based on an absolute, universal scale without considering different cultural circumstances) in others. Though neither is clearly absolutist or relativist, the authors have separate reasons for reserving judgment.
Table of Contents
- Alberuni's relativism in the qualitative sciences.
- Relativism ceases when Alberuni is discussing the sciences of numbers and measurement.
- He shows remarkable relativism when discussing the 'educated' Hindu.
- Another factor in Ibn Battuta's relativism is his level of personal security.
- Ibn Battuta makes no special claim to objectivity as does Alberuni.
- Alberuni's scholarship determines his relativism toward educated classes and toward qualitative sciences.
«The anthropological study of capitalism is rendered difficult by the inaccessibility of capitalist subjects as informants, the political legacy of Marxist and socialist movements, and the continuing disagreement over the origins and productions of...» Document abstract
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SummaryThe anthropological study of capitalism is rendered difficult by the inaccessibility of capitalist subjects as informants, the political legacy of Marxist and socialist movements, and the continuing disagreement over the origins and productions of capitalism, among other things. However, there are a great many texts that cover the theoretical ground needed to evaluate the competing claims about political economies under conditions of capitalism. Three such texts are Immanuel Wallerstein’s The Rise and Future Demise of the World Capitalist System, Dipesh Chakrabarty’s Two Histories of Capital, and Arjun Appadurai’s The Social Life of Things. This paper puts these texts in conversation to explore some of the problems encountered when we try to specify the reach of capitalism and commodities around the world.
Table of Contents
- What emerges from this intertextual give-and-take is a set of helpful and not-so-helpful ways to think about capitalist practices.
- Identifying units of analysis.
- internalizing-via-contradiction.
- Marxist critics like Chakrabarty and Wallerstein are not unaware of this totalizing thrust within their own works.
- historian 1 and the labor of abstracting.
- Rethinking labor and production
- Universal aspirations.
- Conclusion: the end of history (one).
«On the occasion of International Women’s Day, I find myself wanting to write about feminism. I don’t know what wave I am—4th, or maybe some unknowable iteration in the process of being born and matured. But I do know that I think a lot about what it...» Document abstract
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SummaryOn the occasion of International Women’s Day, I find myself wanting to write about feminism. I don’t know what wave I am—4th, or maybe some unknowable iteration in the process of being born and matured. But I do know that I think a lot about what it means to be a woman wielding her power in the world, and today I thought I’d share some of those thoughts with you. They don’t have much to do with Nepal, except peripherally, so my apologies.
Table of Contents
- We (women) be able to choose with whom and under what circumstances we have sex, have a baby, and get married
- For years we have fought to get equal pay for equal work, we have had to be better than our male counterparts.
- After all that has come before, it should be obvious that the feminist movement served more than one purpose.
- There are continua upon continua of discrimination, of disrespect, or turning-a-blind-eye on the part of the world.
«At the very beginning there is the structure. The structure is a skeleton, the premise, the base on which the flesh is arranged, systematically, so that a body maybe created. It may not always make itself palpable but if there is a structure then...» Document abstract
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SummaryAt the very beginning there is the structure. The structure is a skeleton, the premise, the base on which the flesh is arranged, systematically, so that a body maybe created. It may not always make itself palpable but if there is a structure then there must also be a center. A structure without a center is both incomplete and dysfunctional. This is because the lack of a center deludes the very purpose of organization the structure is meant to serve. The center maintains this strict level of organization in a variety of ways. For the purpose it not just ‘orients’ and ‘balances’ the structure, but also effectively reduces or ‘limits’ the extent of ‘play’ in it. The center therefore is a reductionist tool. Its inherent purpose is at the level of ‘reducing’ or ‘neutralizing’.
Table of Contents
- Introduction.
- The ‘Absolute' and the Central Absence.
- Pinter has remained stubbornly unapologetic about the apparent lack of a concrete closure in his plays.
- The Pinter'esque Masks.
- The Known and the Un-Known: Pinter's Character Division
- Onstage and off: A Pinter pause.
«To what extent does Nietzsche impose his ideals on the reader or create an open and flexible world-view? Upon closing his arguments in On the Genealogy of Morals Nietzsche imagines a reader asking him “’What are you really doing, erecting an ideal...» Document abstract
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SummaryTo what extent does Nietzsche impose his ideals on the reader or create an open and flexible world-view? Upon closing his arguments in On the Genealogy of Morals Nietzsche imagines a reader asking him “’What are you really doing, erecting an ideal or knocking one down?’” (95). He answers with a rhetorical question: “But have you ever asked yourselves sufficiently how much the erection of every ideal on earth has cost?” (95). By this we are not to assume that he must therefore be knocking down an ideal, he is simply questioning the nature of the act of ideal creation. Rather than erecting ideals there seems to be latent in his text the idea of a different kind of ideal creation which turns back to the womb, to the potentiality of pregnancy and new generations, and finds in the mother an opportunity for rebirth of society through her artistic gift to and manifested in the child. Crucial to the development idea is an examination of the imposed, which Kant first began in his essay “What is Enlightenment?”
Table of Contents
- The answer, Kant says, is 'Enlightenment is man's emergence from his self-imposed nonage?
- Nietzsche's critique of the history of religious guilt and its developments appears to be in line with Kant's belief
- One of the more interesting ways he does this is by examining the religion of these nobles.
- Aside from the rhetorical brilliance of this passage, Nietzsche is creating a remarkable synthesis of ideas.
- To return to our original question, what is Nietzsche imposing and what is he leaving open?
«According to M. M. Bahktin, heteroglossia is the use of different novelistic modes of expression (authorial speech, narrators, inserted genres, speech of characters, dialogue, etc.) to express and represent the diversity of social speech types and...» Document abstract
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SummaryAccording to M. M. Bahktin, heteroglossia is the use of different novelistic modes of expression (authorial speech, narrators, inserted genres, speech of characters, dialogue, etc.) to express and represent the diversity of social speech types and a diversity of individual voices. Mary Shelly’s 1818 publication of her famous novel, Frankenstein, utilizes many aspects of heteroglossia to tell the story of her “modern Prometheus.” The novel begins with a narration of letters by R. Walton, on his exploration toward the North Pole, to his sister in England. After the discovery of Frankenstein by Walton and his crew, the narration turns to Victor Frankenstein’s telling of his story to Walton. Midway through the book, when Frankenstein encounters his monster, the narrative voice changes to the Monster and the telling of his story.
Table of Contents
- By beginning the novel with a series of letters and using the narrative construct that she chose for this novel.
- Dispersed throughout Frankenstein's narration are several letters from minor characters of the novel.
- During the monster's tale there are references to three other literary works, most notably Paradise Lost.
«Langston Hughes's poem, "Trumpet Player", is both a celebration of and reach for a Black identity. The poem's vivid imagery and careful metaphors connote to a theme consistent among Hughes's work. The poem quietly speaks of oppression, of a...» Document abstract
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SummaryLangston Hughes's poem, "Trumpet Player", is both a celebration of and reach for a Black identity. The poem's vivid imagery and careful metaphors connote to a theme consistent among Hughes's work. The poem quietly speaks of oppression, of a violent past, of desperation and ongoing struggle, of a search for identity, but at the same time celebrates the grace and beauty of the "Negro." The poem's rhythmic structure and rhyming scheme give it a musical flow appropriate to the title and the subject matter. The poem is about Black man; a trumpet player playing at a club and the poem serves to speak how the music this man plays mellows the violent conflict within him.
Table of Contents
- The persona of this poem is not necessarily the trumpet player but more likely an observer at the club in which he is playing
- The words 'vibrant hair tamed down' refer to the suppression of African Americans in our society.
- In Hughes's "Trumpet Player" the repetition of certain words and lines lend to the suggestive structure of the poem, almost like lyrics that repeat, or a pattern of notes that form a chorus.
«A viewer watching the 1948 and then the 1967 film versions of Anna Karenina (directed by Julien Duvivier and Aleksandr Zharkhi, respectively) for the first time might think that there is much in common between the two films. They look very similar,...» Document abstract
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SummaryA viewer watching the 1948 and then the 1967 film versions of Anna Karenina (directed by Julien Duvivier and Aleksandr Zharkhi, respectively) for the first time might think that there is much in common between the two films. They look very similar, and this is due in large part to attempts, by the film-makers, to be meticulously literal both to history and to their source, Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina. However, despite this seeming faithfulness to the original, the films also diverge wildly from each other at certain important turning points in the plot, and it is in these key moments that a different viewpoint, the directors’ own, asserts itself and distinguishes the film adaptations as, in some sense, original works of art (whether successful in this regard or not is a different matter). These adaptations are unique not because they are “spins” or “take-offs” on the original, rather, they are valuable as cultural commentary, as attempts to define and relate the society that produced the films with the society that Tolstoy lived in and wrote about. Some might question whether the films actually present unique viewpoints or if, due to censorship issues and the cruel drive of market forces, they simply represent the prevailing societal views of their times. But it must be kept in mind that Tolstoy also wrote during a time of censorship and strict morals and yet was able to produce a meaningful work of art.
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- Behind the Scenes: Adaptation, Censorship and Production
- Much of this stereotype is rooted in the belief that all art being produced in the Soviet Union conformed to the proletariat-glorifying aesthetic of Soviet Socialist Realism.
- Literalism and Interpretation
- Horse-Racing and Ballroom Scenes
- Conclusion.
«The memoirs of Anna Evdokimovna Labzina, a noblewoman during the reign of Catherine the Great, might be expected to contain numerous references to the salon of St. Petersburg and the fashions of the time. Titled Days of a Russian Noblewoman, her...» Document abstract
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SummaryThe memoirs of Anna Evdokimovna Labzina, a noblewoman during the reign of Catherine the Great, might be expected to contain numerous references to the salon of St. Petersburg and the fashions of the time. Titled Days of a Russian Noblewoman, her account is remarkable for its religious tone and adherence to virtues and morality. The first part of her work is an extensive memoir written in 1810 which focuses on her married life with her first husband, Alexander Karamyshev, whom she married in 1772 at the age of thirteen. The latter part is a diary written from 1818-1819, after she had married her second husband Alexander Labzin, a prominent Petersburg Freemason. Labzina had a difficult time adjusting to life with Karamyshev and his infidelities, and the majority of her memoir documents her struggles with him. Although her second marriage was happier, the diary describes more of the strains she experienced as a religiously idealistic woman trying to understand the noble class.
Table of Contents
- Labzina's fervent religiousness put her at odds with some of the Russian nobility.
- Trying to understand her husband's nature was a particular trial for Labzina.
- When they moved to Siberia Labzina continued her practice of seeking paternal benefactors.
- Labzina did not just play the role of an obedient 'orphan' who receives favors from those above her.
- Her old-fashioned beliefs were challenged by the new worldliness and materialism.
- Her old-fashioned practices might have been unsuitable for the city.
- Labzina's insights into the Freemasons are interesting.
- It would be easy to disregard Labzina for her religious tangents.
- Days of a Russian Noblewoman focuses on Labzina's struggle to reconcile religion and worldly attitudes.
Subplot and Plot: The Commentary of the Madhouse on the Castle in Middleton and Rowley’s The Changeling
«In the seventeenth-century Jacobean revenge tragedy The Changeling, Thomas Middleton and William Rowley present two seemingly separate worlds in both location and action. The main plot is characterized by the locale of the castle in Alicante, ruled...» Document abstract
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SummaryIn the seventeenth-century Jacobean revenge tragedy The Changeling, Thomas Middleton and William Rowley present two seemingly separate worlds in both location and action. The main plot is characterized by the locale of the castle in Alicante, ruled by Vermandero. This setting is centered on the appetite of Vermandero’s daughter, Beatrice-Joanna, against the paternal will. Further, the action of this setting develops through the love triangle between Beatrice, Alsemero, and De Flores that magnifies Beatrice’s character. The subplot is distinguished by Doctor Alibius’ madhouse within which Alibius becomes increasingly fearful of his wife, Isabella, potentially acting disloyally; the playwrights also present the “mad” characters of Antonio and Franciscus and their actions toward Isabella, of which Alibius grows extremely jealous.
Table of Contents
- Initially, Middleton and Rowley divide the play.
- Beatrice's desire for Alsemero stems from her objection to her father's will.
- De Flores tells Beatrice that she has been transformed by her crime, and it now defines her.
- While Isabella, as the wife of the madhouse's doctor, is locked up, she becomes an object of desire for outsiders.
- As Antonio is a changeling, the players in both the main plot and subplot experience conversions in character.
- Beatrice's own inability to act reasonably causes her to follow her desires.
- Middleton and Rowley create a relationship between the setting of a castle and a madhouse.
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