“РОДИНА-МАТЬ” КАК КУЛЬТУРНО-СЕМИОТИЧЕСКИЙ РЕСУРС СОВРЕМЕННОГО РОССИЙСКОГО АНТИАМЕРИКАНИЗМА

Author(s): Tatjana Borisovna Riabova,A. A. Romanova / Language(s): Russian Issue: 4/2015

The article deals with the role of the symbol of the Motherland in the contemporary Russian Anti- Americanism. The author characterizes reasons, forms, and resources of Anti-Americanism, including cultural and semiotic resources. The materials of the research consist of the results of interview as well as the discussion on the monument «The Motherland Calls!» (April – May 2015) in Russia. The author points out that not only the maternal symbol of Russia but also Russians’ treatment of their own country as «Mother Russia» are interpreted as specific characteristics of Russian culture, diacritics, and thus serve as important parts of the Russian national identity. In contemporary Russia the maternal symbol of the country is involved in practices of legitimation of anti-American attitudes and contributes to actualization of most characteristic which form the negative stereotype of Americans.

Philosophical and Mathematical Correspondence between Gottlob Frege and Bertrand Russell in the years 1902—1904. Some Uninvestigated Topics

Author(s): Gabriela Besler / Language(s): English Issue: 35/2016

Although the connections between Frege’s and Russell’s investigations are commonly known (Hylton 2010), there are some topics in their letters which do not seem to have been analysed until now: 1. Paradoxes formulated by Russell on the basis of Frege’s rules: a) „»ξ can never take the place of a proper name« is a false proposition when ξ is a proposition”; b) “A function never takes the place of a subject.” A solution of this problem was based on the reference/sense theory and on the distinction between the first- and second-level names (Frege). 2. The inconsistency in Frege’s system may be avoided by the introduction of: a) a new kind of objects called quasi-objects (Frege); b) logical types (Frege and Russell); c) mathematics without classes (Russell); d) some restrictions on the domain of function (Frege). 3. Since the inconsistency is connected with a class, what is class? In one of the letters, Frege compared a class to a chair composed of atoms. This approach seems to be similar to the collective understanding of a set (Stanisław Leśniewski). 4. Russell doubted that the difference between sense and reference of expressions was essential. Hence, Frege found some additional reasons to distinguish between them: semiotic, epistemological, from identity, and from mathematical practice. This discussion can be seen as a next step in developing the theory of descriptions by Bertrand Russell.

Haci Bektaş-I Veli ve humanizm anlayişi

Author(s): Ahmet Özalp / Language(s): Turkish Issue: 33/2017

It seems like it is an obligation to examine some motifs in order to understand the socio-psychological viewpoint of Anatolian culture. Within this viewpoint, the examination of certain people who has affected Anatolian people sociologically becomes important. Hacı Bektaş-ı Veli is the most important person among this certain people. The examination of this person’s life and thought in terms of humanistic approach will ease to find answers for some questions related to sociology and social structure in Anatolia. The main purpose of this study which examines Hacı Bektaş-ı Veli’s thought structure in terms of humanism traces based on symbolic approach is to study Veli’s life with a socio-psycologic viewpoint.The method of this study is based on literature search of Hacı Bektaş-ı Veli’s humanistic thought traces and the interpretation of these thoughts with symbols. The reason of this study is to show how much importance Hacı Bektaş-ı Veli attaches to human life and individual values.

Nesuvokiamoji tikrovės motina: materijos sampratos formavimasis antikinėje filosofijoje

Author(s): Naglis Kardelis / Language(s): Lithuanian Issue: 10/2015

The author of the article, drawing upon the data from the history of Classical philosophy and linguistics, presents an analysis of the formation of the concept of matter in the philosophy of Classical Antiquity. In the first chapter of the article, a few preliminary remarks are given concerning with the differences of conceptual economy of the concept of matter in two different spheres – that of ideology and that of pure theoretical philosophy. In the author’s opinion, the understanding of matter in ideologically oriented materialisms, such as the so-called dialectical materialism and the so-called historical materialism, serves certain ideological goals and has nothing or almost nothing to do with genuine efforts to elucidate the concept of matter and to grasp – in terms of pure philosophy and theoretical analysis of purely philosophical nature – the nature of matter and the conceptual economy of this concept. In the preliminary chapter of the article, the author also presents some observations concerning the narrowness and particularity characteristic of the analysis of matter (or materiality understood in various senses and from different angles of view) both in materialistically oriented analytic philosophy, driven by reductionistic agenda, and in materialistically oriented continental philosophy concerned mostly with practical (especially ethical and political) aspects of materiality and corporality. In the second chapter, the author analyses the commonly held views about matter, characteristic of everyday consciousness, as well as the understanding of matter prevalent in the pre-philosophical stage of Classical culture. The author is of the opinion that the most informative corpus of data about the specific features of the understanding of matter in the earliest (pre-philosophical) period of Classical culture can be drawn from the history of language. Therefore, the etymologies of Classical Greek, Latin, and Lithuanian words, meaning matter, materiality, and other similar concepts, are discussed in connection with various possible lines of philosophical interpretation of presented linguistic data. The author shows the philosophical potential inherent in the language itself, even in its most archaic, pre-philosophical, layer, and even in the common, pre-terminological strata of everyday linguistic usage. The Latin words materia “matter (also subject matter as a thing under discussion); the raw material; the mother-stem of a tree; the cen- 40 trally located essential part of any living thing”, matrix “matrix, mother (thought of as giving birth, generating); womb, receptacle; hard form (stereotype); template (prepared in advance for some soft, liquid mass, or molten matter); pattern, form (either material or ideal); etc” (in connection with their common etymological ancestor, the Latin word mater “mother”), and silva “forest; felled trees, logs (collectively); the raw material”, the ancient Greek word hulē “forest; felled trees, logs (collectively); the raw material”, the Lithuanian words medžiaga “matter (also subject matter as a thing under discussion); felled trees, logs (collectively); the raw material”, mediena “felled trees, logs (collectively)”, medis “tree”, medžias “forest”, and other relevant lexical examples are examined at some length. In the third chapter of the article, the author presents an analysis of the formation of the concept of matter in Presocratic and late Platonic philosophy. It is argued that the Presocratics, although lacking any definite, exactly articulated, concept of matter in, say, Aristotelian or late Platonic sense, each viewed their postulated principle (arkhē) of reality as some sort of material substance (sometimes thought of as inherently possessing some ideal, or spiritual, qualities). The author of the article stresses the conceptual relation between the Greek concept of phusis “nature”, commonly employed by the Presocratics, and the concept of hulē, which is evidently the ultimate source of the Latin word materia, understood as a philosophical term and coined by the Romans after hulē, although this latter word began its career as a clearly defined philosophical term only with the writings of Aristotle). The understanding of matter characteristic of the Presocratic Ionian philosophers (Anaximenes, Heraclitus, etc), the ancient Greek Atomists (Leucippus, Democritus, etc), and Empedocles is briefly touched upon in the context of the author’s analysis of the formation of the concept of matter in this period. After that is discussed the late Platonic notion of matter, presented in the Timaeus (in the context of a philosophical myth) as a very vague and inscrutable principle of reality. The late Platonic notion of “Receptacle” (the “Mother” and “womb” of all reality), which might be thought of as ingeniously combining the notion of matter, as a soft substrate of “hard” forms, and the notion of hard matrix, as a receptacle of “soft” material mixture under formation, might be viewed as a great step in the direction of Aristotelian understanding of prime matter. This inscrutable “Mother” of all Reality is given by Plato a lot of different and imprecise names, thus evading strict, non-ambivalent definition. Exemplifying a very significant milestone in the evolution of the concept of matter, the Platonic notion of “Receptacle” – and Plato’s understanding of matter in general, closely related to this vague notion – is given by the author of the article much more attention than all previous stages in the development of the concept of matter. 41NESUVOKIAMOJI TIKROVĖS MOTINA: MATERIJOS SAMPRATOS FORMAVIMASIS ANTIKINĖJE FILOSOFIJOJE In the fourth chapter of the article, the author discusses the Aristotelian understanding of matter. The Aristotelian theory of matter is viewed as a pinnacle and ultimate expression of Classical Greek thinking about matter. The prime matter, thought of as matter par excellence and the purest exemplification of the principle of matter as such, is understood by Aristotle as pure potentiality and contrasted with the conceptually opposite principle of form, that is, the principle of pure actuality. Therefore, the Aristotelian concept of prime matter might be viewed as some kind of a liminal concept (or a conceptual limit), that enables the human mind to think about substances and is employed in order to grasp the difference between substance and its form. The difference between the Aristotelian concept of prime matter and that of secondary matter is also briefly discussed by way of analogy. It is argued that the Aristotelian understanding of matter is significantly removed from the everyday experience of materiality, substantiality and corporality. It is, therefore, somewhat counterintuitive for most people lacking philosophical training, but, nevertheless, despite its counter-intuitiveness – and, arguably, namely for that very reason – it has become part of a very powerful and universal conceptual tool that might be productively employed in the analysis of various and very different manifestations of reality. In the fifth chapter of the article, the author, combining and synthesizing the results achieved in all previous chapters, somewhat extends the Aristotelian understanding of matter and projects it into the context of contemporary science, thus revealing a few contradictions inherent in the very concept of matter. First of all, attention is drawn to the fact that matter, as it is understood in contemporary physics, is almost synonymous with energy, while the Aristotelian concept of matter underscores its closest affinity to the concept of potentiality (thought of as a polar opposite with respect to the concept of actuality, that is, the concept of form). Secondly, the concepts of matter and matrix, after closer analysis, reveal both mutual conceptual proximity and conceptual opposition: in different conceptual contexts, each one of them – both matter and matrix – although usually understood as different types or aspects of matter (the etymology of both two words, linking them to their common source, the word mater “mother”, testifies to their conceptual relation) might acquire an aspect of form (and, so to speak, “masculinity”) in relation to its conceptual counterpart. Thus, viewing them from different interpretative angles and in different conceptual settings, we notice that both matter and matrix might appear, if not as a “mother” and a “father” with respect to its “conjugal” counterpart, yet, surely, as a “more motherly” mother and “less motherly” mother in relation to its “spouse” – and changing places in different conceptual settings. Thirdly, we notice 42 that our commonly used English expressions, such as the “subject matter” (and similar others), which underscore the conceptual relation between the meaning of the word matter (thought of as referring to some sort of subject of thought or speech) and the idea of the “material” content of a grammatical or logical form, are used to express the notion of information (thought of as a material mass “poured” into some sort of “matrix” as a “hard” form). Therefore, information, the nature and essence of which is, necessarily, of an ideal, abstract, and formal (that is, strictly immaterial) kind, in some conceptual settings appears as something material – as a material mixture poured into a matrix as a hard “form”, despite the fact that the pieces of information themselves might be viewed as mental forms (that is, ideal entities constituted in the process of thinking). The conclusion is made that the concept of matter, which is the result of long conceptual evolution in linguistic prehistory, Classical times and afterwards, is irremediably vague notion, yet, nevertheless, very conducive to productive philosophical thought: the very paradoxes of this concept exert a benign effect on human thinking, liberating it from its stupor.

РЕПРЕЗЕНТАЦІЯ ПОСТФОЛЬКЛОРУ В ІНТЕРНЕТ-ПРОСТОРІ: ДО ТИПОЛОГІЇ ЖАНРІВ

Author(s): Zhanna Zaharivna Denysyuk / Language(s): Ukrainian Issue: 3/2016

Purpose of Article. The goal of the article is to study the genres of post-folklore, presented communicative practices on the Internet. Methodology. The methodology of the study is to apply analytical, cultural and semantic methods in the researching of genre variety of the postfolklor, mediated network online. Scientific novelty. Scientific novelty of the work means the classification of the post-folklore genres, represented in the Internet space, basing on the characteristics of the semiotic systems of the texts. Conclusions. It is found out that the basic characteristics of genres of the post-folklore, mediated Internet communication practices, are the non-linearity, hyper-textuality and multicomponent. In addition to verbal genres, known in traditional folklore, the other genres have particularly achieved the development of with superior visual components, which form the complicated creolized semiotic texts. The post-folklore works, which are formed by the communicative process and information sharing, have a predominantly entertainment and play direction (memes, demotivates, photo-gags, cartoons, comics, hyphae art) and reflect the current events and social phenomena, concerned network users.

MUSICAL INDICATORS OF HISTORICAL PROCESSUALITY IN THE PARALLELISMS OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF CHINA AND EUROPE

Author(s): Bingqiang Liu / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2016

The purpose of given work is to discover musical signs of historic knowledge in connection with the reality of chronological parallelisms of musical development of China and Europe of the Middle Ages and New Time. Methodological basis of the work is an idea about a tone of epoch, put forward by G.Hegel and evolved in the conception of Renaissance by A. Losev. Scientific novelty of the study is determined by the fact that for the first time it indicates synchronization of culture reformations of development of China and Europe, provided that, historically interaction and interinfluence were excepted. Conclusions. "New relationship" (after C. Jung) reveals itself – "semantic acausal relationship", which allows to understand the regular nature of chronological coincidences in the history of music culture of China and Europe.

ВЕКСИЛОЛОГІЧНІ ТРАДИЦІЇ У СИМВОЛІЦІ ВІЙСЬКА КОЗАЦЬКОЇ ДЕРЖАВИ (XVI–XVIII ст.)

Author(s): Victor Karpov / Language(s): Ukrainian Issue: 3/2015

The article analyzes the process of becoming veksylolohichnyh traditions of the Cossack state (XVI – XVIII). Ukrainian Cossacks represented the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the XVI – XVIII centuries. Formed on the basis of state-forming forces (first Zaporizhzhya Bazavluk January 1590 – in 1638 and Cossack State Khmelnytskoho 1648 – 1657) from the end of the XVI century. became known Zaporizhia Army. By Cossack watches KLEYNOD, that character troops pertained regimental flags, centesimal icons hetman Bunchuk; Military music – drums; Cossack attributes of power – mace Hetman, colonels pernachi; Rush military judges, clerks ink.At first glance, this vast list of subjects for understanding and have irregular, random. But it reflects a concept, general requirements and aspirations to develop their own Cossack culture of the people – writing (scribes ink), Justice (Rush military judges), spirituality (music – drums), state (attributes Cossack power – mace Hetman, colonels pernachi) and Orthodox state (flags with symbols that reflect the essence of the aspirations of the Ukrainian Cossacks).History of prapornytstva Cossack army and origin veksylolohichnyh tradition meets the basic stages of formation of the Cossack state. Note that in pervogo Cossacks flags received. The emphasis on the fact of receipt of flags from different sources – from kings of the Commonwealth or of Muscovy, Russian Empire, the Ottoman Empire, Crimean Khanate, the Habsburg Empire, and even both at once a sign of their presence on the content of a pattern. Hiring of the European, and not just the Army, Cossack detachments received flags as symbols of mercenary. This shows the impact on the development of the Cossack state's own system of symbols in prapornytstvi other traditions of Ukrainian Cos-sacks – European, Moscow, Asian. During the Liberation War XVII. Cossack regiments at their own expense "stroyily", ie produced their flags of various sizes, formats and colors.So awarded the Cossack army flags of other countries have symbols of states and wore a sign of subordination, membership Cossack troops those countries. Cossacks honor bestowed flags. However, they had their own preferences, which were based on folk traditions. It turned out well during the war, proving the historical sources and preserved in museums originals flags.Significant prosperity acquired Ukrainian military in prapornytstvo legendary Cossack hetman day of the second half XVII. During the long years of constantly enrich, strengthen national features in form and content, the creation of regimental, centesimal banners, flags for military campaigns. Among the heraldic symbols that they used the Cossacks on their banners – sun, moon, crescent, six-, seven-, vosmykonechni stars, weapons, circles depicting saints. As an ex-ample, the 36 flags of the regiments Zaporozhian first half of the seventeenth century. Image 9 times find Michael, The-otokos – 8, Nicholas – 7, George – 3 [16, 747].Obverse and centesimal regimental flags had been a new logo – knight Cossack with a gun in yellow (golden) shield on a blue field panel, reverse – regimental or squadron emblem corresponding to the specified color image. Only after the abolition in 1764 Cossack with a gun disappears from government seals, but later appears as a sign of the Kuban Cossacks Black Sea [33, 11].Prapornytstva Cossack traditions have evolved and during the eighteenth century. In 1709 Cossack regiments and Cossacks huts that remained loyal to Ivan Mazepa, had their own flags, "Eagle archangel and Ukraine Zaporozhye povivaly of the army" [32, 128]. In 1712 Peter I issued the act whereby regiments had flags to produce the Armory in the Kremlin. In the Cossack prapornytstvo all nastiylyvishe penetrates Moscow heraldic tradition. During the second half of the XVIII century. to some extent continued "unification" colors and images on the banners of Cossack regiments. It can be explained by the design of the Cossacks as a specific part of the Russian army at the time, which contributed to relative institutionalization flags samples for this kind of armed forces. In the second half of the eighteenth century. there was an established system images on regimental and centesimal signs: national emblem – the double-headed eagle, the national emblem – a Cossack with a musket and arms of regimental and centesimal cities. Striking evidence of this is the flag Domontovskloyi hundreds Pereyaslav Regiment [1, 283].Thus, the Cossacks historiography symbols indicates the presence of sufficient historical sources and artifacts that reveal the theme of the origin and development veksylolohichnyh traditions of Cossack troops in XVI – XVIII centuries. Symbols Cossack state, which found reflection in the flags passed a difficult way of evolution. First, the foundation were taken heraldic symbols of the Polish-Lithuanian state – the Commonwealth. Later in the Russian cossack banners appear, Austrian, Turkish state symbols. Employing Cossacks for military campaigns, monarchs gave them jewelry, which then remained in the camp. This stage of the use of symbols of the protectors. During the Liberation War 1648 – 1654 рр. Cossacks produced their own idea of symbols and colors flags, flags of different colors used with the image of stars, crosses, month, or hetman territorial emblems. The second half of the eighteenth century. became Ukrainian Cos-sack era heyday own prapornytstva.

Snowdeni skandaali kujutamine eesti meedias: hirmu ja ohtude konstrueerimine

Author(s): Mari-Liis Madisson / Language(s): Estonian Issue: 13/2016

This study concentrates on the discourse of e-Estonia, which is one of the most significant cornerstones of contemporary Estonian identity. The discourse of e-Estonia is articulated in Estonian official selfdescriptions, but it also has an important role in the self-understanding of various peripheral spheres. The aim of this article is to explain how the leakages concerning details of the top secret United States government mass surveillance program PRISM were contextualised in various dimensions of the Estonian public informational sphere and how it was related to techno-optimistic identity-discourse. The analysis indicates that the reflection of Snowden’s leaks is dominated by a discourse of fear which connects PRISM to instant threats but also to more abstract dangers. I outline three dominant subtypes of that discourse: (1) Phobophobia – the fear of fear, (2) the fear that surveillance technology may directly cause harm to a) global democracy and/or b) the human rights of individual citizens, and (3) the fear that PRISM is a sign of NWO conspiracy. PRISM’s reception demonstrates that in many aspects, the techno-utopian sphere of meaning is inverted and replaced with a dystopian one. Perceiving the significance of the social impacts of information and communication technologies remains relatively constant in both cases, but the positive charge of meaning is transformed into a negative one. For example, the important keywords of the e-success story (e.g., NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre, e-healthcare system, paper-free bureaucracy) start to signify hidden danger. The constituent topics of the discourse of e-democracy (e.g., horizontal power-relations, freedom of expression and transparent governing) are, in many cases, replaced with the images that are familiar from the description of totalitarian regimes or NWO conspiracy theories.

Sprawozdanie: The Second Conference of the International Association for Cognitive Semiotics (IACS2016) Lublin, 20-22 czerwca 2016

Author(s): Krzysztof Rojek / Language(s): Polish Issue: 18/2016

Co i jak poznajemy przez obrazy – edycja trzecia

Author(s): Krzysztof Rojek / Language(s): Polish Issue: 19/2016

Български психоаналитични подстъпи към литературното творчество: забравени имена

Author(s): Nina Ivanova Dimitrova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 2/2017

The paper gives a bold outline of the interwar Bulgarian psychoanalytical interpretation of literature. The author of this study strives to fill in the shortages and gaps made by the researchers until now and concentrates on the contribution of some forgotten or little-known names. The research results maintain that these Bulgarian psychoanalysts share the common striving to use the doctrine equally as science and as hermeneutics.

Odmienne języki teologiczne w dialogu katolicko-ewangelickim

Author(s): Józef Herbut / Language(s): English,Polish Issue: 1/2018

The main thesis of the paper states that Catholic theology and Evangelical theology use different languages. The differences stem from the philosophical dispute about universals. The following positions emerged in the debate: radical realism (universalia ante rem), moderate realism (universsalia in re) and nominalism (notitia intuitiva et notitia abstractiva). The language of Catholic theology is a language of moderate realism, while the language of Evangelical theology is a language of nominalism. The linguistic differences result in a different understanding of important theological statements. The paper uses an analysis of selected fragments from a Catholic and an Evangelical catechism as a basis for the demonstration of the way the following issues are understood: (1) knowledge of God, (2) the concept of original sin, (3) the nature of the Church, (4) the origin of sacraments, (5) life in the world to come.

The Műnchausen Effect and the post-truth era advertising messages. Critical analysis on fallacious and enthymematic advertising slogan argumentation

Author(s): Vasile Aurelia-Ana / Language(s): English Issue: 22 (2)/2018

Humans have always been prone to adorning the truth and to producing twisted fallacious arguments in order to sketch a truth (i.e., their own truth) that best suited their interest at a certain time, within certain circumstances. Even more, the communication climate of nowadays has moved from face-to-face communication ̶ that offered a limited kit of means to mold the truth ̶ towards the emerging technology mediated virtual communication that enhances the dressing up and the re-shaping of truth to make the message more appealing to its target public to such an extent that truth loses its substance and may turn into its opposite. Advertising messaging exhibits some contradictory characteristics that are involved in producing what we call and aim at coining here as the Műnchausen Effect. Our research findings have shown that all of the 100 taglines on bestslogans.com relied on enthymematic argumentation and where erroneous in terms of content, all as non sequitur fallacies. However, due to the ambiguity brought about by their elliptical structure (as all of them lacked the conclusion and at least one of the premises), these implicit arguments have proved hard to analyze with regard to the specific kind of fallacies that could hide beyond the missing premise(s), as one could imagine any kind of missing premise(s), where there is an elliptical structure of argumentation. This difficulty that is encountered leaves room to another kind of approach to research in communication, the quantum approach that in critical thinking may have to do with informal logic, and that takes into account creativity and the Umberto Eco idea of opera aperta. We may dwell on such an approach in a further study.

How critical thinking should be at the heart of digital interactions?

Author(s): HULIN Thibaud / Language(s): English Issue: 22 (2)/2018

In this paper, we study how to teach critical thinking at the digital era, in order to promote practitioners autonomy. A theory of interactions is proposed to identify constraints that structure digital creativity. This model helps to design a critical pedagogy, by connecting without opposing a procedural approach to a reflexive one. The paper presents an implementation of this model into a course about writing on a social network. The study of activity diaries of students shows presence of objectivity forms and reflexivity forms, which reflects the development of a critical thinking. This approach offers a way to develop critical thinking not from outside, in a course of argumentation or media analysis, but within the practice itself, in order to become aware of how interfaces structure our expression and thought.

Simboli in ritualne prakse spora in sožitja. Nekateri italijansko-slovenski diskurzi

Author(s): Jurij Fikfak / Language(s): Slovenian Issue: 21/2009

In the last twenty years in particular, the Slovenian (as well as Croatian) and Italian ritual practices that refer to, celebrate, or commemorate events or persons from the period dealt with in the joint report by the Slovenian-Italian historical committee – that is, from the end of the nineteenth century to the 1950s – have been characterized by a problematic relationship and intertwining of various discourses of different branches of authority on both sides of the border, discussions by historians of various ethnic backgrounds and orientations (e.g., negationist, revisionist, realistic, etc.), numerous Partisan and Italian exile organizations, neo-fascist and other subcultures, Internet forums, and so on. Based on an analysis of individual cases in Slovenian-Italian contacts, the author outlines some constants of discourse that assigns ethnic qualities, and occasional internal disagreements or ambivalence, and at the same time reveals the options for a more reflective relationship towards the past that have already been applied before. On 10 February, just over a week after commemorating the millions of Holocaust victims, the Italians annually commemorate the exodus of over 200,000 Italians (among these were also Slovenians and Croatians that opposed communism) from Yugoslavia, and especially the victims disposed of in karts shafts - foible when the Yugoslav Army drove the German army out of Trieste and ruled it for 40 days until the beginning of June 1945, when it had to relinquish it to the Anglo-American allied forces. In February 2007, the exodus and the victims were also commemorated by Italian President Giorgio Napolitano, a former communist, who gave a speech at Quirinal Palace on the barbarism, Slavic expansionism, and bloodthirsty rage of Tito’s army. He repeated the content of this speech again a year later, and then partly mitigated his views in 2009 by mentioning the fascist crimes that occurred before the tragic exodus and killings connected with the karst shafts. Napolitano’s words had a great impact in Slovenia and Croatia; the Croatian president saw elements of racism, revisionism, and the like in them. The European Commission disregarded the speech, but rebuked Croatian President Stjepan Mesić for reacting "inappropriately" to Napolitano’s speech. This official Italian position raises the question of the extent to which sub-cultural productions (especially graffiti, YouTube videos, and other video production) find their roots and a haven in the dominant discourse of certain official branches of authority. Is it possible that the graffiti on the memorial to the Slovenian victims of World War II in Bagnoli della Rosandra-Boljunec near Trieste and on the atmospheric Partisan monument in the village of Trnovo, and the video Trieste – ultima frontiera (Trieste: The Final Frontier) on YouTube, which revives the ideological discourse of a great Italy as the last outpost of civilization, apply certain similar or even identical elements (e.g., the Slavs as barbarians, loss of memory of the fascist violence from 1919 to 1943) as the discourse of the authorities? However, in addition to these options that reproduce the continuation of a conflict treatment of critical historical periods, there are also other options, especially at the local level. On the one hand, this involves the discourse of municipal authorities (e.g., between the mayors of and Gorizia at the towns’ joint Europe Square/Transalpine Square) and the efforts of certain groups, such as Concordia et pax, which seek the harmonious coexistence of all ethnic communities in this territory. Together with the mayors, they commemorate all of the victims from this critical period, clean the monuments that the members of certain far-right parties such as the Tricolor Flame Social Movement (MS FT) and New Force (Forza Nuova) daub with fascist symbols, try to understand this tragic period by organizing dialogue, and seek opportunities for new views. Among the successful campaigns, one needs to be highlighted in particular: the discussion between Lucio Toth, the former president of the Venezia-Giulia and Dalmatia National Association (ANVGD) exile organization and a former senator, Miloš Budin, a former Italian senator and ethnic Slovenian. This discussion was attended by all of the mayors from the Karst region; by stressing the grievances of and injustices against individuals and ethnic communities from the 1920s to the 1950s, the following thought in particular stood out: "We cannot build a common past, but we can build a common present and future." In addition, there is an effort to build a common memory, especially in the Nova Gorica-Gorizia/Gorica region. The Concordia et Pax association is particularly active in this regard: in 1995, they erected a joint memorial commemorating all victims, fallen soldiers, and others on Sveta gora (Holy Mount), raising the question of what to write on this sign. Among various options, the phrase "Concordia et Pax" (Harmony and Peace) proved to be the best choice.

Gastrodiplomacy: a (Not-So-) Soft Power

Gastrodiplomacy: a (Not-So-) Soft Power

Author(s): Raúl MATTA / Language(s): French Issue: 23 (1)/2019

This article aims to analyze gastrodiplomacy, which has become a trendin international relations, as a set of institutional practices that pushes the boundariesof the political uses of food cultures. I will show that the rise of the concept in recentyears lies to the fact that it extends to the national and international levels, itsintrusive and performative nature (that is, generative of participation and action) andstrong ideological charge. More specifically, I will address the way in whichgastrodiplomacy, as instrumentalized by public and private agencies, participates inthe making of imaginaries aimed at facilitating the adhesion of citizens to theinterests of political and economic elites.

Organizing on the Internet: Semiological Analysis of a Digital Apparatus of the Online Candles

Organizing on the Internet: Semiological Analysis of a Digital Apparatus of the Online Candles

Author(s): Delphine Saurier / Language(s): English Issue: 23 (1)/2019

Religion is massively present on Internet, and for two decades scholar shave studied this presence essentially to understand the effects of Internet on religious practices. In this article we conduct a semiological analysis of a digital apparatus called Online candles in order to show how an apparatus for asynchronous cyber rituals has been developed for the benefit of a religious organization: theSanctuary of Lourdes. In so doing, this article contributes new findings that advance our understanding of how religious practices on the Internet reveal a new age religious organization strategy.

Postcard from Istanbul: Digital reconstruction of the city as memory in Tasos boulmetis’s politiki kouzina / A touch of spice / Baharatin Tadi

Author(s): Giorgos Dimitradis / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2018

Reconstructing space with the use of computer generated imagery (CGI) is commonly used in moviemaking to enhance the depicted pro-filmic reality, creating virtual spaces in which layers of the narrative that are more difficult to represent via realistic mise-en-scene, such as emotional conditions, can become visually explicit. In the 2003 film Politiki Kouzina / A Touch of Spice / Baharatin Tadi, the Istanbul-born Greek filmmaker Tasos Boulmetis digitally combines heterogeneous elements to reconstruct a virtual experience of his own sense and memory of Istanbul: the urban landscape in the film is a hybrid of on-location scenes of the modern city, CGI and enhanced coloring, digitally fused into a mural of historical and personal memories. By deliberately conveying a strong emotional tone to the audience, the film equates the notion of place with the experience one has of it: as the memory of mid-Twentieth century Istanbul is digitally recomposed, the city dissolves under the pressure of its emotionally charged reflection, and the general concept of “location” is redefined through individual perception. Digital technology is used not simply to bring to life a past urban setting, but becomes a tool for affect, thus revealing invisible layers of the filmic narrative.

Constructing the corporate Instagram discourse – a critical visual discourse approach

Author(s): Søren Vigild Poulsen / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2018

Since October 2010, the Instagram app has provided its users with means of visual communication that previously were reserved for professional photographers. Simultaneously, the Instagram Corporation’s official blog has offered suggestions on how the features of the app could be applied. In this manner, the corporation has established a norm of Instagram use. Norms of technology use, i.e., socially learned ways of behaving and communicating with technology, are well-researched in technology and science studies, but thus far these studies have only included social media, e.g., Instagram, to a minor degree. Furthermore, it remains largely unexplored how these social rules are represented multimodally in discourses about social media technology. Through a critical multimodal discourse analysis, this paper describes how the aforementioned corporate regulative norms on the usage of Instagram were established on the corporate blog from 2010 to 2014. The findings show that the discourse on the blog adjusts its focus. Initially, it dealt with correctional tools for the app, but it then progressed into presenting tools for experimental visual expression. At the same time, the blog confines the experimental uses of the application and, thereby, the possible perception of what entertaining imagery is. This way, the study demonstrates how the Instagram Corporation seeks to regulate the use of the app.

Cultural transformations of love and sex in the digital age

Author(s): Kristian Bankov / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2019

This second volume of our journal addresses an uneasy topic. It is uneasy exactly because it is too easy to speak about love and sex and yet say nothing. It is uneasy because there has not been tremendous academic interest in this topic within the field of humanities and social sciences, and contributions to the field have thus been sporadic and unsystematic. Moreover, it is uneasy because, compared to other aspects of our everyday life, love and sex concern our being in a way that it is difficult to observe in a neutral or scientific way.