2026-11-07T09:16:07Z https://olh.openlibhums.org/api/oai/

oai:olh:id:28661 2026-10-20T00:35:00Z

The Ground Shook! Towards a Practice-based Poetics of the Transformer The Ground Shook! Towards a Practice-based Poetics of the Transformer Erslev, Malthe Stavning This article argues that literary experimentation with language models should insist on practice-based, media-specific engagement with model components. Specifically, the article focuses on the attention mechanism of the transformer neural network architecture and argues that this mechanism should be approached and rendered in practice-based ways that are native to (digital) literary culture. Theory can gesture toward literary and poetic potentials of language models yet still fail to escape conjecture without hands-on intervention. We need to think smaller, dig deeper, and stop letting corporate interfaces define what these systems are allowed to be. To make this argument, the article draws on theoretical perspectives on the relation between language models and literature, technical descriptions of the functionality of the attention mechanism, and (not least) a practice-based inquiry taking the form of BERTIFIER, a literary interface to the BERT language model that acts as both method and example in search of a poetics of the transformer architecture. 2026-10-20T00:35:00Z info:eu-repo/semantics/article 12 2 Open Library of Humanities Open Library of Humanities 10.16995/olh.28661 https://doi.org/10.16995/olh.28661 https://olh.openlibhums.org/article/id/28661/ 2056-6700 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 1

oai:olh:id:28898 2026-10-14T00:50:00Z

Toward AI Studies: The Human Project, AI Education, and the Liberal Arts Toward AI Studies: The Human Project, AI Education, and the Liberal Arts Schneiderman, Davis This essay explores how the HUMAN Project at HUMAN (Humanities Understanding and Managing AI Nexus) advances artificial intelligence in higher education through an interdisciplinary approach rooted in liberal arts education. Focused on integrating ethics, AI literacy, technical knowledge, and the humanities, HUMAN prepares students to engage critically with AI as both a technological and cultural force. Although the grant’s primary work centers on courses, visiting artists, and partnerships — including the development of two humanities-based generative AI systems, Cosimo (an AI art docent) and ChiBot (a Chicago-focused history project) — my own parallel research, drawing on cybernetics, William S. Burroughs’ media theory, and the improvisational ethos of the Grateful Dead, informs the project’s conceptual grounding. These influences highlight how feedback, control, and algorithmic culture shape both technological innovation and cultural production, offering students deeper insight into AI’s evolving human–machine ecology. By connecting the humanities’ interpretive power with lessons from past experiments in immersive media and participatory systems, HUMAN offers a model for humanities and AI collaboration that can help students not only understand AI, but govern, critique, and reimagine it responsibly. 2026-10-14T00:50:00Z info:eu-repo/semantics/article 12 2 Open Library of Humanities Open Library of Humanities 10.16995/olh.28898 https://doi.org/10.16995/olh.28898 https://olh.openlibhums.org/article/id/28898/ 2056-6700 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 1

oai:olh:id:28757 2026-10-14T00:35:00Z

Painting Beyond Image Production: A Human Story of Embodiment, Cognition and working with Generative AI in the Artist's Studio Painting Beyond Image Production: A Human Story of Embodiment, Cognition and working with Generative AI in the Artist's Studio O'Kane, Eamon This essay is grounded in my own painting practice and the questions that working with AI image generation has forced me to confront. I am not exploring whether AI will replace painters; that debate tends to treat painting as if it were primarily about producing images. What concerns me is something more specific: what changes when a Generative AI image becomes the starting point for a painting rather than a finished image, and how does this differ from painting from photographs or other borrowed visual sources? To explore this, I draw on Isabelle Graw’s writing on painting as a ‘quasi-person’, Gilles Deleuze’s thinking about Francis Bacon’s artwork, the diagram and bodily sensation, and N. Katherine Hayles’s work on embodied cognition. I also bring in Foucault’s reading of Édouard Manet and Michael Fried’s theorization of the tableau, and David Hockney’s experiments with different technologies as tools for thinking. My examples of artworks come from my own series: Ideal Studio, Hybrid Architecture, Greenhouse Archive, and Museum Collection Series. Throughout the essay, I argue that contemporary generative image systems are best understood as participants within the cognitive ecology of the studio rather than autonomous artistic agents. Their images function as speculative propositions that acquire artistic meaning through embodied interpretation, material transformation, and existential investment. The central distinction is therefore not between technology and painting, nor between digital and analogue media, but between computational image generation and the human search for meaning enacted through painting. 2026-10-14T00:35:00Z info:eu-repo/semantics/article 12 2 Open Library of Humanities Open Library of Humanities 10.16995/olh.28757 https://doi.org/10.16995/olh.28757 https://olh.openlibhums.org/article/id/28757/ 2056-6700 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 1

oai:olh:id:28385 2026-10-09T01:05:00Z

Platformised Performances: Spoken Word Poetry in the Algorithmic Age Platformised Performances: Spoken Word Poetry in the Algorithmic Age Dasseleer, Camille This article analyses the consequences of the platformisation of spoken word practices. It identifies some of the paradoxes that appear when the countercultural and anti-hegemonic features of the spoken word tradition come into contact with the one-sided, hegemonic governance of dominant digital platforms, as well as with their culturally biased algorithms. The case study of Mexican poet Pilar Rodríguez Aranda is analysed in order to highlight the obstacles to politically engaged poetry. The article emphasises the need to adopt a critical, decolonial and post-global understanding of platforms and artificial intelligence in order to understand the potential incompatibilities between counter-hegemonic spoken word poetry and hegemonic digital technologies. 2026-10-09T01:05:00Z info:eu-repo/semantics/article 12 2 Open Library of Humanities Open Library of Humanities 10.16995/olh.28385 https://doi.org/10.16995/olh.28385 https://olh.openlibhums.org/article/id/28385/ 2056-6700 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 1

oai:olh:id:29166 2026-10-09T00:35:00Z

Watching Them Fall: Mountain Climbing, Voyeurism and the Pornography of Risk Watching Them Fall: Mountain Climbing, Voyeurism and the Pornography of Risk Piskurek, Cyprian From Victorian mountaineer Albert Smith to the members in George Mallory’s expeditions, there has always been a public side to many climbers, which allowed various forms of discourse to narrate these people as more than just outdoor sportsmen. However, in recent years this public representation has reached new heights, especially with the advent of documentaries about mountain climbing. In addition to the question of how the public nature of climbing affects the climber, the use of cameras in mountain climbing—a form of sport with a real risk for serious injury and death— raises important ethical considerations for onlookers. In postmodern societies which have turned death into a taboo, this voyeurism or pornography of risk (drawing on a formulation by Geoffrey Gorer) is of special interest, as it directs the viewers’ gaze towards a spectacle which does not guarantee the climber’s survival. As such, the camera problematises the representation and the discursive framing of mountaineering. This article discusses the evolution of climbing into a spectacle and contextualises the voyeuristic gaze inherent in the pornography of risk. Drawing on various examples, a particular focus lies on Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi’s film Free Solo (2018) and how this addresses the complicated relationship between public climbers, their audiences and the medium of the documentary film. 2026-10-09T00:35:00Z info:eu-repo/semantics/article 12 2 Open Library of Humanities Open Library of Humanities 10.16995/olh.29166 https://doi.org/10.16995/olh.29166 https://olh.openlibhums.org/article/id/29166/ 2056-6700 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 1

oai:olh:id:28634 2026-10-07T01:10:00Z

The Development of Vernacular Creativity in the Context of The Culture of Neural Networks The Development of Vernacular Creativity in the Context of The Culture of Neural Networks Piorecký, Karel Husárová, Zuzana The literary research paper proposes the concept of the reskilling phase into the research oriented at the implementation of generative artificial intelligence in the writing process, especially in the context of fiction writing. The reskilling phase does not refer to the disappearance of authorial competence, but rather to its structural rebuilding under conditions of human–machine co-production. The paper places this phase within the framework of digital culture as a continuation and intensification of tendencies established by the Web 2.0 paradigm and analyzed by its key theoreticians. While presenting vernacularization and theoretical groundings of Web 2.0 as the initial conceptual frameworks, we study the consequences of the vernacularization of cultural production on the debates about the contexts of artificial neural networks in literature and the arts in the contemporary era. We also look into the periods that trace the gradual embedding of LLMs into the artistic practice.  We believe that the mutual relationship between the Web 2.0 paradigm and generative AI provides a suitable potential for a thorough understanding of the consequences of generative AI on our culture. The study presents an empirical dataset drawn from a sample of 23 amateur authors who participated in a Czech short story writing contest. A contextual example from Slovak public radio provides a supplementary example. By including the dataset, we aimed to advance a broader theoretical argument about the redistribution of literary competence and its delegation to the computational model. 2026-10-07T01:10:00Z info:eu-repo/semantics/article 12 2 Open Library of Humanities Open Library of Humanities 10.16995/olh.28634 https://doi.org/10.16995/olh.28634 https://olh.openlibhums.org/article/id/28634/ 2056-6700 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 1

oai:olh:id:28222 2026-10-07T01:00:00Z

Lost and Found: (Non-)translation and Transmission of Affect in Multilingual Poetry Performance Lost and Found: (Non-)translation and Transmission of Affect in Multilingual Poetry Performance Ruud, Sonja Faaren While reading an untranslated poem in a language you do not understand may not elicit an emotional response or feeling of connection to the writer, poetry performances open up possibilities for creating social and affective bonds across linguistic differences. Exploring these dynamics, this article asks: what is lost and what is gained in poetry performances in which poets and audience members do not speak the same languages? To address this question, I draw on ethnographic research in Brussels, including participant observation at multilingual poetry performances and collective writing workshops, as well as interviews with poets from diverse linguistic backgrounds. While performers and event organizers employ a range of translation strategies, non-translation is also frequently articulated as an artistic and political choice that highlights the epistemic, affective, and relational value both of not understanding and of seeking understanding beyond words. With a conceptual focus on affect and its links to language, bodies, and understanding, the article explores three interrelated aspects of multilingual poetry performance – language and translation choices, performance strategies, and the role of the audience – to show how performers and audiences co-create meaning and establish relationships across linguistic differences. 2026-10-07T01:00:00Z info:eu-repo/semantics/article 12 2 Open Library of Humanities Open Library of Humanities 10.16995/olh.28222 https://doi.org/10.16995/olh.28222 https://olh.openlibhums.org/article/id/28222/ 2056-6700 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 1

oai:olh:id:28617 2026-10-02T01:10:00Z

Necessity for a New Narrative Necessity for a New Narrative Johnston, David Jhave Given climate and cultural collapse driven by anthropocentric ideologies, this essay advocates for a new species-wide narrative catalyzed by Artificial Intelligence; a narrative grounded in non-duality that transcends traditional fiction’s human exceptionalism. Traditionally, human narrative is rooted in bodies situated in time-space, exploring biophysical fluidity within a recognizable environment. For a cohesive narrative, narratives require entities (or systems) capable of recall about how they navigate spatio-temporal situations. Near-future AI, leveraging biometric data collected at scale — termed here beingness data: [+] the multimodal biophysical stream (physiology, affect, gaze, location, gesture, speech, neural and glandular signal) that maps environmental stimuli to embodied state and embodied state to behaviour — will be capable of simulating the felt-sense of such narrative-entities, and evolve toward physiologically grounded, emotion-simulating, world AI-models capable of superhuman narrative capacity. These world models will emerge from and be fed by a convergence of data from robots, games, medicine, brain research, new microscopy technologies, biometrics, protein research and synthetic reasoning. This interdisciplinary artist-essay offers insights into how emergent research, across multiple scientific domains, is contributing to the development of a new synthetic (in-silico and neuromorphic) form of potentially-superhuman narrativizing intelligence that will advance interspecies communication and normalize hyper-personalized narratives. 2026-10-02T01:10:00Z info:eu-repo/semantics/article 12 2 Open Library of Humanities Open Library of Humanities 10.16995/olh.28617 https://doi.org/10.16995/olh.28617 https://olh.openlibhums.org/article/id/28617/ 2056-6700 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 1

oai:olh:id:20095 2026-10-02T00:45:00Z

"Bühnen exzessiven Denkens". Die Produktivität figurentheatraler Spielweisen am Beispiel der Inszenierungsarbeiten von Katharina Kummer "Bühnen exzessiven Denkens". Die Produktivität figurentheatraler Spielweisen am Beispiel der Inszenierungsarbeiten von Katharina Kummer Hölzl, Jessica Unter dem Titel Bühnen exzessiven Denkens begibt sich der Artikel auf die Suche nach Verbindungslinien zwischen Figurentheater und Roman. Im Fokus steht dabei die Analyse spezifischer Potenziale materialtheatraler Praktiken in der zeitgenössischen Romaninszenierung aus (figuren-) theaterwissenschaftlicher Perspektive unter Einbezug literaturwissenschaftlicher Ansätze. Entlang zweier Inszenierungsarbeiten von Katharina Kummer untersucht der Artikel materialtheatrale Spielweisen von der Textbearbeitung bis zur Bühnenaufführung. Zentrale Elemente der Analyse sind Umgangsweisen mit Text und Zeichen, narrative Perspektivierungen und Figurationen sowie die Umsetzung der Romanvorlage mit materialtheatralen Mitteln. Ausgehend von einer Skizze der Bedeutung von Text im Puppenspiel und Marionettentheater werden eingangs insbesondere die ästhetischen und spielpraktischen Entwicklungen hin zum Figurenspiel ab Mitte des 20. Jahrhunderts vorgestellt. Unter Einbezug gattungsspezifischer Besonderheiten des modernen Romans werden die Spezifika materialtheatraler Spielpraktiken im Umgang mit Text vorgestellt. Anhand Kummers Inszenierungen von Tschingis Aitmatows Djamila (1958) und Boris Vians L’Écume des Jours (1946) werden diese im Folgenden analysiert. Nach einer Kontextualisierung der Romanvorlagen werden Kummers Methoden im Umgang mit den Texten als Ausgangspunkt der Bühneninszenierungen exemplarisch analysiert. Ausgehend von der textuellen Pluralisierung der Romane werden die formale und inhaltliche Multiperspektivierung in beiden Inszenierungsarbeiten herausgearbeitet und davon ausgehend konkrete materialtheatrale Umgangsweisen untersucht. Basierend auf dem Spiel mit Dingen, Figuren, Objekten und Raumelementen verfolgen beide Inszenierungen eine spezifische Ausdeutung der Romanvorlagen, die entlang grenzüberschreitender Praktiken auf die Befragung von Handlungsfähigkeit, Logozentrismus, Kausalität und normativer Sinnkonstruktion zielt. Entlang der Begriffe Referenzialität und Materialität, Performativität und Fiktionalität werden schließlich Bewegungen der Öffnung, Entgrenzung und Befragung in den Romanvorlagen mit Potenzialen zeitgenössischer materialtheatraler Praxis enggeführt. 2026-10-02T00:45:00Z info:eu-repo/semantics/article 12 2 Open Library of Humanities Open Library of Humanities 10.16995/olh.20095 https://doi.org/10.16995/olh.20095 https://olh.openlibhums.org/article/id/20095/ 2056-6700 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 1

oai:olh:id:28631 2026-09-28T03:45:00Z

Walking from the 19th to the 21st Century: from Baudelaire’s to Jean-Christophe Bailly’s Paris Walking from the 19th to the 21st Century: from Baudelaire’s to Jean-Christophe Bailly’s Paris Ori, Julia This paper examines the continuities and ruptures in walking practices in Paris from the 19th to the 21st century, focusing on the works of philosopher and essayist Jean-Christophe Bailly and his dialogue with Baudelaire. During the Second Empire, Paris underwent profound transformations through Haussmannisation, which reshaped the city’s infrastructure to promote hygiene, circulation, and order. While these changes facilitated pedestrian mobility and the emergence of public spaces, Baudelaire famously lamented the destruction of old Paris, revealing an enduring tension between modernisation and nostalgia. Although the 19th century is often seen as the golden age of walking, it also marked the beginning of its decline: broad boulevards became dominated by vehicular traffic, and over the 20th century, pedestrians gradually lost ground. Bailly interprets these historical developments and the contemporary urban condition, showing how capitalist logics of circulation, elitism, and commercialisation have subtly altered the city’s social and spatial fabric. Drawing on essays such as La Phrase urbaine [The Urban Sentence] (2013), Paris quand même [Paris Neverthless] (2022), and La ville en éclats [The City in Fragments] (2025), this study explores Bailly’s critique of the modern city and his reflections on flânerie as a poetic, aesthetic, and ecological practice. Walking is understood not merely as transportation, but as an existential and social activity that engages with the city’s history, spatiality, and people. By emphasising wandering, observation, and engagement with urban life, Bailly positions flânerie as a form of resistance to the depersonalised, utilitarian logic of contemporary cities, offering a framework for a more mindful, inclusive, and sustainable experience of urban space. 2026-09-28T03:45:00Z info:eu-repo/semantics/article 12 2 Open Library of Humanities Open Library of Humanities 10.16995/olh.28631 https://doi.org/10.16995/olh.28631 https://olh.openlibhums.org/article/id/28631/ 2056-6700 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 1

oai:olh:id:28752 2026-09-22T06:50:00Z

Calling the Mountains in East and West: A Contrastive Corpus Analysis on the Language of German Climbing Communities Calling the Mountains in East and West: A Contrastive Corpus Analysis on the Language of German Climbing Communities Hummel, Katharina Claudia Schuppe, Robert Cornelis Across Germany, cultural and linguistic norms in climbing communities differ significantly. Many of the differences which developed during the separation of the country into two independent states can still be observed today. Several studies on German language use of mountaineers have been published in recent years (e.g. Scharf, 2015; Sakowski, 2023; Scheurer, 2023). Analysis of language use in climbing communities in East and West Germany, however, represents a gap within contemporary research. The present study approaches this desideratum by comparing two corpora consisting of publications by local sections of the Deutscher Alpenverein (German alpine club) from the Eastern and the Western part of Germany respectively. Keywords of the two corpora as well as a sentiment analysis will provide insight into the regional differences in language use. Bubenhofer and Scheurer (2014) identified justifications for climbing mountains to be a typical communicative pattern in texts about mountaineering. In the corpora at hand, keywords connected to these types of justifications show significant differences in their occurrence. The presented corpus analysis will allow for conclusions regarding the cultural differences. Moreover, a diachronic analysis of the corpora will examine the changes in these publications over the past two decades. Thereby, this paper is intended to contribute to a better understanding of the complex interplay between the specific language use of the climbing community and diatopic variation across Germany. 2026-09-22T06:50:00Z info:eu-repo/semantics/article 12 2 Open Library of Humanities Open Library of Humanities 10.16995/olh.28752 https://doi.org/10.16995/olh.28752 https://olh.openlibhums.org/article/id/28752/ 2056-6700 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 1

oai:olh:id:28765 2026-09-21T01:10:00Z

Blue Infrastructures: Reading Victorian Sailor Writing as Oceanic Ecofiction  Blue Infrastructures: Reading Victorian Sailor Writing as Oceanic Ecofiction  Pardey, Hannah The article brings infrastructure studies into dialogue with the blue humanities to examine how Victorian sailor writing appropriates the generic conventions of narrating the sea. Building on original research in the Caird Library & Archive (National Maritime Museum, London), it reads sailor-authored texts as oceanic ecofiction to analyse the formal means by which they imagine alternative visions of the relation between human and non-human lives, thereby encouraging critical reflection on contemporary ecological crises. In developing this argument, the article pursues two interrelated objectives: First, it contributes to maritime literary histories from below by approaching sailors as literary agents instead of characters; second, it shows that these agents, due to their class-based shipboard experience, considerably broaden environmental humanities debates. Focusing on shipboard diaries by Edward Beck (1823), Sidney Smith (1867-68) or Richard Cotten (1879-87) as well as shipboard newspapers such as The Illustrated Arctic News (1852) or The Great Eastern Telegraph (1866) to trace the environmental legacies of Victorian maritime infrastructures, the article demonstrates how sailors refashion generically specific constructions of individuality and collectivity or modes of sobriety and satire to negotiate oceanic environments, putting special emphasis on their implicit and explicit criticism of those material infrastructures they helped produce and perpetuate. 2026-09-21T01:10:00Z info:eu-repo/semantics/article 12 2 Open Library of Humanities Open Library of Humanities 10.16995/olh.28765 https://doi.org/10.16995/olh.28765 https://olh.openlibhums.org/article/id/28765/ 2056-6700 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 1

oai:olh:id:28781 2026-09-21T00:19:00Z

‘Drowning is a very prosaic arrangement’: Narrating the shipwreck in the age of steam ‘Drowning is a very prosaic arrangement’: Narrating the shipwreck in the age of steam Stafford, Jonathan The introduction of steam propulsion to transnational shipping in the second quarter of the 19th century marked a profound infrastructural shift, fundamentally reshaping global mobilities and the cultural imaginaries through which the sea was understood. At the heart of this transformation lay a technophilic confidence in the capacity of steamship infrastructure to overcome the violence and unpredictability of the maritime environment, reconfiguring the space of the sea as a domain of order, comfort, and control. This article examines a distinctive discursive formation that emerged in Victorian accounts of steamship disaster: a mode of blasé nonchalance that transformed potentially traumatic wrecks into scenes of bourgeois leisure and imperial self-assertion. Focusing on texts relating to the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company (P&O) and its routes to the imperial East, the article traces how cultural production responded to moments when infrastructure’s promises of speed, regularity and insulation from nature’s violence spectacularly failed. It argues that Victorian wreck narratives departed decisively from earlier traditions, which emphasised graphic suffering, terror, and the sublime horrors of maritime catastrophe. In their place, a new discourse of relaxed disregard emerged, shaped by the material and social conditions of steamship travel—its technological capacities, its luxurious interiors, and its function as a mobile extension of imperial society. This discourse domesticated catastrophe, reinforcing racial hierarchies, performing imperial forms of identity, and naturalising technological confidence even at moments of systemic breakdown. In doing so, it reveals the cultural power of infrastructure: the capacity of imperial steamship networks not only to regulate mobilities, but to produce new symbolic forms through which even disaster could be assimilated to a broader narrative of imperial competence. 2026-09-21T00:19:00Z info:eu-repo/semantics/article 12 2 Open Library of Humanities Open Library of Humanities 10.16995/olh.28781 https://doi.org/10.16995/olh.28781 https://olh.openlibhums.org/article/id/28781/ 2056-6700 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 1

oai:olh:id:25309 2026-08-24T00:25:00Z

The Soviet-Ukrainian Magazine <em>Chervonyi Perets</em> Imagines Fighters for the Independence of Ukraine The Soviet-Ukrainian Magazine <em>Chervonyi Perets</em> Imagines Fighters for the Independence of Ukraine Raikhert, Kostiantyn This article examines how the Soviet Ukrainian satirical magazine Chervonyi Perets employed the image of the Zaporizhzhian Cossack to represent and discredit fighters for the independent Ukrainian nation-state in its first two issues, published in Kharkiv in April 1922. Using Erwin Panofsky’s iconological method, this study analyzes a series of satirical cartoons and texts in which fighters for the independent Ukrainian nation-state—primarily representatives of the Directory of the Ukrainian People’s Republic led by Symon Petliura—are depicted as high-ranking Zaporizhzhian Cossacks and simultaneously labeled as bandits. This article then traces the origins of this caricatured iconography to artist Boris Yefimov and demonstrates how it was built upon the established visual tradition of depictions of Zaporizhzhian Cossacks. It further shows that the cartoons portrayed fighters for the independent Ukrainian nation-state as puppets of Western capitalist powers and drew deliberate associations with the Russian White Movement. The article also investigates the linguistic dimension of this propaganda, revealing how the Russian Bolshevik discourse, particularly the semantics of the word ‘ataman’, was imported into Ukrainian-language texts, creating an associative chain: fighter for the independence of Ukraine—Zaporizhzhian Cossack—bandit. The findings suggest that the 1922 issues of Chervonyi Perets constitute an early instance of the Bolshevization of Ukrainian cultural and linguistic identity, partly to discredit and dehumanize the fighters for the independent Ukrainian nation-state 2026-08-24T00:25:00Z info:eu-repo/semantics/article 12 2 Open Library of Humanities Open Library of Humanities 10.16995/olh.25309 https://doi.org/10.16995/olh.25309 https://olh.openlibhums.org/article/id/25309/ 2056-6700 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 1

oai:olh:id:23491 2026-08-18T00:15:00Z

Matthias Flacius Illyricus, William of Saint-Amour, and the Codex Wolfenbüttel, Herzog August Bibliothek, Guelf. 367 Helmstedt. Matthias Flacius Illyricus, William of Saint-Amour, and the Codex Wolfenbüttel, Herzog August Bibliothek, Guelf. 367 Helmstedt. Traver, Andrew Garrett The manuscript Wolfenbüttel, Herzog August Bibliothek, Guelf. 367 Helmstedt (hereafter cited as HAB) forms a 'Flacian compilation' in which the Lutheran theologian Matthias Flacius Illyricus (1520-1575) assembled texts to demonstrate the continuity of the Christian tradition throughout a period dominated by the so-called papal Antichrist. This manuscript contains two sermons delivered against the mendicant orders by the Parisian secular theologian William of Saint-Amour (c. 1270-1272) which Flacius found in a now lost codex from St. Andrew’s Library in Braunschweig and printed in his Antilogia papae (1555). Preceding these sermons in the Wolfenbüttel manuscript are a series of brief theological works that Flacius detached, along with the sermons that provide further documentary evidence of the conflict between the seculars and the mendicants at the University of Paris in the mid-1250s. Based on internal evidence, three of these pieces can be ascribed to William of Saint-Amour; a fourth piece may have been written by William and later used by his protégé Nicholas of Lisieux in the latter’s polemical works against the mendicant orders. This paper examines Flacius’ knowledge of and interest in William and analyzes the codex Wolfenbüttel, HAB, Guelf. 367 Helmstedt; it contains an edition of the material found in the folia 77ra–77ar, which Flacius did not publish to show how he preserved hitherto unknown Williamite material. 2026-08-18T00:15:00Z info:eu-repo/semantics/article 12 2 Open Library of Humanities Open Library of Humanities 10.16995/olh.23491 https://doi.org/10.16995/olh.23491 https://olh.openlibhums.org/article/id/23491/ 2056-6700 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 1

oai:olh:id:28860 2026-08-03T07:20:00Z

Literary Texts as Cognitive Codependents: the case of electronic literature redux Literary Texts as Cognitive Codependents: the case of electronic literature redux Cayley, John This essay’s title refers to N. Katherine Hayles’s ‘Literary Texts as Cognitive Assemblages’ and reexamines its arguments along with more recent thinking by this important scholar. What, in the light of Hayles’s essay, is ‘assembled’ by literary texts, especially now that their ‘electronic’ or computational constituents may include the outputs of large language models (LLMs)? If a literary text is supposed to be a cognitive assemblage, what kinds of things is it assembled from? Hayles’s delineation of cognitive assemblage is rehearsed and gone over. When it comes to the digital constituents of what she calls ‘cognitive assemblage,’ however, this essay questions whether to accept these as being ‘assembled’ on the same footing as other constituents, of which—for literary texts—language proper to human subjects must typically be one. Representations of language cannot be assembled in the manner that Hayles proposes, even if we concede that corresponding digital representations of language participate in certain technological cognitive nonconscious processes that operate in the digital. These operations do not feed back or forward from the digital into actual literary art. Instead, the language of human subjects puts itself in a relation of codependency with digital linguistic systems and, for this relation to be meaningful, codependency must develop through and into a co-contingency that may or may not engage with literary history. 2026-08-03T07:20:00Z info:eu-repo/semantics/article 12 2 Open Library of Humanities Open Library of Humanities 10.16995/olh.28860 https://doi.org/10.16995/olh.28860 https://olh.openlibhums.org/article/id/28860/ 2056-6700 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 1

oai:olh:id:26769 2026-07-29T00:46:00Z

Melancholic Masculinity in Naughty Dog's <em>The Last of Us Part II</em> (2020) Melancholic Masculinity in Naughty Dog's <em>The Last of Us Part II</em> (2020) Mortimer, Adrienne The spectre of the dead father haunts Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us Part II (2020), which garnered praise for its progressive gender representation. In the game’s prologue, the beloved protagonist of the original game, Joel Miller, is brutally murdered in front of his surrogate daughter, Ellie, by Abby – who is avenging the death of her own father. Through Joel, Naughty Dog had comfortably established the centrality of hegemonic masculinity to the franchise’s gameplay style and narrative; Ellie and Abby are introduced as playable characters in TLoU2 to counter this. However, even as the game seems to divest itself of its anchoring patriarchal force, it finds ways to hold onto him, specifically via Ellie and Abby. Their vengeance for their lost fathers permeates the symbolic structures underpinning the game’s ludic and narrative procedures. I understand their fixation – and the game’s thematic fixation – on the figure of the lost father as melancholic. I mean this in the Freudian sense of a mode of grieving that results in the reincorporation of the lost object – which, in this case, is not only Joel, but the spectre of hegemonic masculinity he leaves behind. I argue that the loss of hegemonic masculinity in TLoU2, as symbolised by Joel’s death, is reincorporated into the game as a kind of melancholic masculinity. This article uses this term to establish a framework for understanding the tension between the game’s progressive challenge to gender norms and its lingering ideological attachment to the trappings and ludic affordances of hegemonic masculinity, raising questions for attempts at more expansive gender representation in mainstream videogames. 2026-07-29T00:46:00Z info:eu-repo/semantics/article 12 2 Open Library of Humanities Open Library of Humanities 10.16995/olh.26769 https://doi.org/10.16995/olh.26769 https://olh.openlibhums.org/article/id/26769/ 2056-6700 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 1

oai:olh:id:28685 2026-07-22T01:00:00Z

Lost in the Fields: Who is Training Whom when Writing with AI Lost in the Fields: Who is Training Whom when Writing with AI Saum-Pascual, Alex In this essay, I examine the 2023 AI-generated text Los campos electromagnéticos [The Electromagnetic Fields] by writer Jorge Carrión as an early example (perhaps the first) of writing with GPT-2 and GPT-3 in Spanish. The text, part essay and part creative exercise, raises the question of whether AI can be seen as an evolution of experimental writing in the tradition of Breton and Soupault (Les Champs magnétiques, 1920) or if it represents something entirely new, beyond the literary avant-garde. Thematically, Los campos electromagnéticos explores the collaborative writing relationship between Carrión and a custom GPT model trained exclusively on his oeuvre, named Jorge Carrión Espejo (mirror). While the Surrealists sought to externalize the individual unconscious, contemporary LLMs enact a systematic, accelerated exteriorization of collective cognition into proprietary, black-box systems. By engaging in a similar writing exercise alongside GPT-4, this paper argues that the GenAI shift risks a Stieglerian loss of critical reflection, where the human writer is progressively re-trained to mimic machine logic.  2026-07-22T01:00:00Z info:eu-repo/semantics/article 12 2 Open Library of Humanities Open Library of Humanities 10.16995/olh.28685 https://doi.org/10.16995/olh.28685 https://olh.openlibhums.org/article/id/28685/ 2056-6700 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 1

oai:olh:id:28650 2026-07-13T03:15:00Z

Four Theses on Algorithmic Folklore Four Theses on Algorithmic Folklore de Seta, Gabriele Recent advancements in machine learning have brought new forms of automation to the forefront of online interactions, exposing users of social media platforms and apps to different and unfamiliar kinds of algorithmic logics, which range from the curatorial biases of recommender systems and content analytics to the expansive possibilities offered by large language models and synthetic media. All these forms of automation are not only shaping how content circulates, but also how it is produced, and this is exemplified by new genres of vernacular creativity that emerge in response to algorithmic tools and their logics. From specialized in-jokes about computational processes to far-reaching myths about generative AI cryptids, there is growing evidence that algorithmic systems are accompanied by their own folklore. Emerging from the encounter between vernacular creativity and everyday automation, algorithmic folklore is not simply the newest iteration of digital folklore, but it encompasses a continuum of knowledges, narratives and practices that are both about algorithms and developed by or through algorithms. In this article, I explore this continuum through four theses, which can be summarized as such: Algorithmic folklore is old in niches, but new at scale (I); its core logic is the mutual shaping of creativities (II), and it emerges to fill a literacy vacuum (III) while rendering the boundaries of expertise more porous (IV). 2026-07-13T03:15:00Z info:eu-repo/semantics/article 12 2 Open Library of Humanities Open Library of Humanities 10.16995/olh.28650 https://doi.org/10.16995/olh.28650 https://olh.openlibhums.org/article/id/28650/ 2056-6700 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 1

oai:olh:id:28618 2026-07-03T03:05:00Z

Reimagining Literature? AI, Textual Collage, and Literary Experimentation Reimagining Literature? AI, Textual Collage, and Literary Experimentation Hongisto, Tuuli Vilja Vellamo Piippo, Laura This essay explores how large language models (LLMs) and digital platforms reshape literary practices through two contrasting case studies: AI Imagines: Classic Literature (2023) and Things of Internet (2018). While appropriation and collage have long been part of experimental traditions, recent advances in AI and platformization have introduced new modes of automated text production and circulation. AI Imagines, a self-published collection of summaries and 'reimaginations' of canonical novels generated by ChatGPT, exemplifies the proliferation of formulaic, low-effort works incentivized by platform economies. Its homogenized style and narrative structures raise questions about whether LLM-based writing can be considered experimental. In contrast, Karri Kokko’s Things of Internet employs screenshots as a conceptual strategy to preserve ephemeral social media content, foregrounding the aesthetics of fragmentation and algorithmic influence. Through comparative analysis, we examine how these works negotiate poetics and artistic intent, highlighting tensions between creative inquiry and automated production. The discussion situates both works within broader debates on electronic literature, uncreative writing, unreadability, and the cultural impact of AI-generated texts. Ultimately, the essay argues that while LLMs enable new forms of literary experimentation, their default outputs often reinforce conventional norms rather than challenge them. 2026-07-03T03:05:00Z info:eu-repo/semantics/article 12 2 Open Library of Humanities Open Library of Humanities 10.16995/olh.28618 https://doi.org/10.16995/olh.28618 https://olh.openlibhums.org/article/id/28618/ 2056-6700 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 1

oai:olh:id:28625 2026-06-24T02:45:00Z

(A)I Cannot See Them: A Situated Reflection on the Simulation of Historical Figures  (A)I Cannot See Them: A Situated Reflection on the Simulation of Historical Figures  Harder, Lina Ruth When algorithms speak in the voices of the dead, who decides what they say? This essay examines that question through a situated and at times uncomfortable reflection on the design and failure of a prototype of what the author terms a histobot: a conversational agent that uses generative Artificial Intelligence to imitate a person from the past. The case study is a histobot of Hedy Lamarr, the Austrian-American actress and inventor, which the author constructed in 2024 using OpenAI's GPT-4o mini. What began as a technical exercise became an inquiry into the assumptions and infrastructures that shape AI-mediated historical simulation. No matter how carefully the system was instructed, it could not hold the situatedness of Lamarr's life. Drawing on Donna Haraway's situated knowledges and Shannon Vallor's concept of AI as a mirror, and informed by feminist, decolonial, and intersectional critiques of algorithmic systems, the essay argues that to simulate a person is to interpret them, and to automate that simulation is to encode that interpretation into an opaque system that mistakes dominant historiography for historical truth. It traces how WEIRD training data, platform alignment layers, and archival silences compound one another, disproportionately erasing marginalised voices across histobot platforms, and considers what more accountable practice might look like. 2026-06-24T02:45:00Z info:eu-repo/semantics/article 12 1 Open Library of Humanities Open Library of Humanities 10.16995/olh.28625 https://doi.org/10.16995/olh.28625 https://olh.openlibhums.org/article/id/28625/ 2056-6700 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 1

oai:olh:id:28709 2026-06-10T01:15:00Z

Artificial Extinction Archives: Machine Learning for Ecological Mourning Artificial Extinction Archives: Machine Learning for Ecological Mourning Krauth, Alinta This article examines how algorithmic and machine-learning–based creative practices can offer new modes for narrating, and mourning, species extinction in the Anthropocene. To do so, I conduct a creative-practice–led analysis of the Artificial Extinction Archives (AEA): a new media artwork wherein a TensorFlow audio model has been trained to recognize the audio vocalizations of fifteen extinct or likely extinct bird species. I argue that computational media can make perceptible the haunting presence of lost species by staging encounters with fragmented translations of these vocalizations. The AEA produces partial, poetic textual apparitions when contemporary environmental sounds partially resemble archived recordings. This intentional incompleteness highlights the unnarratability of extinction, which is a vast, multispecies, multi-scalar process, and aligns the work with post-classical narratology, where narrative becomes fragmented and cognitively co-created by readers. Drawing on extinction studies, material ecocriticism, and computational narratology, I argue that fragmented, combinatory, algorithmic narrative and poetry forms can reflect the discontinuities and absences that structure ecological loss. I further argue that the act of making such an artwork constitutes a form of ecological mourning in itself.  2026-06-10T01:15:00Z info:eu-repo/semantics/article 12 1 Open Library of Humanities Open Library of Humanities 10.16995/olh.28709 https://doi.org/10.16995/olh.28709 https://olh.openlibhums.org/article/id/28709/ 2056-6700 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 1

oai:olh:id:28643 2026-06-03T02:45:00Z

Generative Alternatives: GenAI Realism from the Image Provinces in Kristoffer Ørum’s #freedomlibertyandhiphop Generative Alternatives: GenAI Realism from the Image Provinces in Kristoffer Ørum’s #freedomlibertyandhiphop Pold, Søren Bro In #freedomlibertyandhiphop (#frihedlighedoghiphop) (Ørum, 2023-) Kristoffer Ørum artistically employs generative AI (GenAI) images generated via Stable Diffusion to explore what would have happened to the Danish worker’s movement and late 20th-century culture if early hip-hop culture had been adopted rather than politics of austerity. Ørum’s project employs GenAI as a co-creative partner to depict a realistic yet slightly surreal alternative version of Danish and Nordic culture and politics, highlighting the types of realities and realisms generated by GenAI platforms. By provoking and countering the built-in tendencies of GenAI toward a form of Anglo-American monoculturalism, Ørum unlocks new possibilities for critique, while GenAI is transformed into a tool for reflecting on alternative possibilities. Beyond its humor and critical reflection on Denmark’s recent history, #freedomlibertyandhiphop hints at how we can design and think about GenAI in the future—as a creative and reflective tool. 2026-06-03T02:45:00Z info:eu-repo/semantics/article 12 1 Open Library of Humanities Open Library of Humanities 10.16995/olh.28643 https://doi.org/10.16995/olh.28643 https://olh.openlibhums.org/article/id/28643/ 2056-6700 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 1

oai:olh:id:25287 2026-05-13T00:55:00Z

Border Anxieties and The Politics of BrexLit  Border Anxieties and The Politics of BrexLit  Velickovic, Vedrana This article discusses a recent genre of Brexlit – literary works that have anticipated or directly responded to the Brexit referendum in 2016 – and its contribution to the cartography of political writing in Europe. The events preceding and following the Brexit vote witnessed a flourishing cultural and literary activity. What is now discussed under the category of ‘Brexlit’ encompasses a growing thematic and generic richness - state-of-the-nation novels, crime and thrillers, dystopian narratives, poetry, drama and essays. Focusing on a selection of Brexit poetry that have so far not received much critical attention, and novels and non-fiction that have tended to identify with the Remain position, I explore how these texts capture the zeitgeist of Brexit. I analyse the anxieties surrounding post-2004 EU migration and the tensions between the discourses of Euroscepticism and Europhilia, placing these works in the context of wider and unresolved debates about the nation’s imperial legacy. I conclude by offering my own contribution to the genre with a poem entitled ‘Communist Balcony’ that unsettles the politics of borders through an oppositional discourse centring the ‘Eastern European’ migrant experience.  2026-05-13T00:55:00Z info:eu-repo/semantics/article 12 1 Open Library of Humanities Open Library of Humanities 10.16995/olh.25287 https://doi.org/10.16995/olh.25287 https://olh.openlibhums.org/article/id/25287/ 2056-6700 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 1

oai:olh:id:25031 2026-04-17T01:15:00Z

Challenging the Colonial Archive of Conflict in Kamila Shamsie’s <em>A God in Every Stone</em> Challenging the Colonial Archive of Conflict in Kamila Shamsie’s <em>A God in Every Stone</em> Einhaus, Ann-Marie This article reads Kamila Shamsie’s novel A God in Every Stone (2014) as postcolonial historical fiction that seeks to question and complicate colonial archives of conflict – specifically, the British archives documenting the experiences of Indian sepoys in the First World War and inter-war colonial conflict in the Punjab. Taking my cue from the work of scholars such as Karin Barber, Santanu Das and others, I show the value of reading the novel with attention to the way it juxtaposes fictional ephemera on the one hand (letters, photographs, souvenirs) and fictionalised archaeological objects on the other (Gandhara statuary in the Peshawar Museum and stone edicts linked to King Ashoka). By incorporating both kinds of material traces of conflict in her novel, I argue, Shamsie questions distinctions between important and unimportant histories and experiences, and highlights the importance of establishing emotional connection with the past(s) we narrate. 2026-04-17T01:15:00Z info:eu-repo/semantics/article 12 1 Open Library of Humanities Open Library of Humanities 10.16995/olh.25031 https://doi.org/10.16995/olh.25031 https://olh.openlibhums.org/article/id/25031/ 2056-6700 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 1

oai:olh:id:25607 2026-04-14T03:40:00Z

Anything, Anytime, Anywhere: Semiotic Landscapes, Labour, and Ideology in <em>The Last of Us</em> Anything, Anytime, Anywhere: Semiotic Landscapes, Labour, and Ideology in <em>The Last of Us</em> Spowage, Kate Due to advancements in technology, capital-intensive videogames now often include rich semiotic detail in their simulated spaces. In The Last of Us, specifically, much of the playable space is stylised as dilapidated capitalist cities. In this article, I argue that the semiotic constitution of these spaces creates opportunities to reflect critically on contemporary life. It also reveals the ideological complexity of the videogame, challenging assumptions that videogames have singular, authorised meanings, and that mainstream studios produce games that uphold dominant values. By focalising the politics of abundance and the economics of capitalism, I demonstrate that the semiotic landscapes of The Last of Us unravel a parallel set of ideological assertions to those expressed in the dialogic mode – simply, that while dialogue exhorts us to count our blessings in late capitalist society, the semiotic construction of space raises the spectre of the exploited, underpaid worker for whom ‘apocalypse’ may not be such a terrible thing. My reading draws the actual conflicts between workers and capitalist in the videogame industry into the interpretation of the game itself, and raises the question as to why there is, as yet, no interdisciplinary work at the intersection of linguistic landscapes, ideology critique, and game studies. It aims to break ground for such projects in the future, and to show the transformative value of examining videogames from the perspective of their semiotic landscapes. 2026-04-14T03:40:00Z info:eu-repo/semantics/article 12 1 Open Library of Humanities Open Library of Humanities 10.16995/olh.25607 https://doi.org/10.16995/olh.25607 https://olh.openlibhums.org/article/id/25607/ 2056-6700 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 1

oai:olh:id:28296 2026-04-01T01:00:00Z

Translingual premodern literature in the digital age: The case of <em>The Seven Sages of Rome/Book of Sindbad</em> Translingual premodern literature in the digital age: The case of <em>The Seven Sages of Rome/Book of Sindbad</em> Bildhauer, Bettina Bonsall, Jane This introduction lays out the rationale for this special collection: rethinking premodern literary studies on the basis of recent digital opportunities, translingual theories and collaborative methods. It also gives a brief overview over the complex transmission of The Seven Sages of Rome/Book of Sindbad story matter. 2026-04-01T01:00:00Z info:eu-repo/semantics/article 12 1 Open Library of Humanities Open Library of Humanities 10.16995/olh.28296 https://doi.org/10.16995/olh.28296 https://olh.openlibhums.org/article/id/28296/ 2056-6700 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 1

oai:olh:id:25999 2026-03-25T06:50:00Z

<em>Real maravilloso</em>, Simulakren und untote Körper. Zu Funktionen des Puppenspiels im erweiterten Kontext des hispanischen Diktatorenromans (Valle-Inclán, Asturias, Borges, Eloy Martínez) <em>Real maravilloso</em>, Simulakren und untote Körper. Zu Funktionen des Puppenspiels im erweiterten Kontext des hispanischen Diktatorenromans (Valle-Inclán, Asturias, Borges, Eloy Martínez) Cuntz, Michael Im Kontext der hispanischen Variante der Gattung Diktatorenroman hat sich eine antirealistische Ästhetik herausgebildet, die in direkter Auseinandersetzung mit dem Figurentheater entsteht und sich auch in der Folge mit Referenz auf Figurentheater und Puppen weiterentwickelt. Dies geschieht in Reaktion auf eine politisch-soziale Wirklichkeit, die ihrerseits Züge des Grotesken und Irrealen trägt. Diese Ästhetik wird zunächst innerhalb des von Carpentier entwickelten Konzepts des real maravilloso situiert. Anschließend werden an zentralen Texten von Valle-Inclán, Asturias, Borges, García Márquez und Eloy Martínez zentrale Funktionen von Figurentheater und Puppen wie die Problematisierung der Grenzen zwischen lebendig/unbelebt/tot, die Theatralität der Wirklichkeit (Diktatur als Farce) und eine Ordnung der Simulakren nachgezeichnet. 2026-03-25T06:50:00Z info:eu-repo/semantics/article 12 1 Open Library of Humanities Open Library of Humanities 10.16995/olh.25999 https://doi.org/10.16995/olh.25999 https://olh.openlibhums.org/article/id/25999/ 2056-6700 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 1

oai:olh:id:23765 2026-03-25T01:50:00Z

‚Zugleich unter den Bezauberten und Zauberern‘. Funktionen erzählten Figurentheaters von Goethe bis Hettche ‚Zugleich unter den Bezauberten und Zauberern‘. Funktionen erzählten Figurentheaters von Goethe bis Hettche Ort, Claus-Michael Der Beitrag untersucht Figurentheater als Sujet deutschsprachiger erzählender Literatur vom späten 18. bis zum 21. Jahrhundert. Dabei verfolgt er zwei Ziele. Erstens wird an einer Reihe von Beispielen gezeigt, wie literarische backstage-Narrationen des Figurentheaters Puppentheater und Puppenspiel als Kunstform thematisieren, dabei die Produktion, Rezeption und Wirkung von Figurentheater reflektieren und daraus poetologischen Mehrwert gewinnen. Innerhalb der referierten literarischen Texte kann das Strukturmerkmal ‚Figurentheater‘ eher fremdreferentielle (Figurentheater dient als allegorisches Vehikel für theaterfremde Themen) oder eher selbstreferentielle Funktionen erfüllen (Figurentheater wird als Figurentheater reflektiert). Insgesamt zeigt sich, dass das Puppenspiel dem Schreiben und der Literatur ähnelt: Schreibende sind wie Puppenspieler, da sie beide durch ihre Handbewegungen Zeichen erzeugen und dies gleichzeitig beobachten können; Selbstbeobachtung wird als Fremdbeobachtung vollziehbar. Zweitens verdichtet der dritte Teil den in diesem Beitrag erstmalig gebotenen Überblick über deutschsprachiges erzähltes Figurentheater anhand der Figur des Kasperle. An den Kasperle-Rezeptionen von Theodor Storm (Pole Poppenspäler) und Thomas Hettche (Herzfaden) kann gezeigt werden, wie die poetologischen Reflexionen im Falle des Kasperle zu einer Schädigung der Figur (Storm) bzw. ihrer Verbannung aus dem Figureninventar eines künstlerisch ambitionierten Puppentheaters (Hettche) führen. Während der Verlust des Kasperle bei Storm noch sentimental verklärt wird, wird die Figur bei Hettche in einem zeitgeschichtlich motivierten und unversöhnlichen, selbsttherapeutischen Akt des erzählerischen Exorzismus getilgt, den der Roman selbst zu wenig reflektiert. 2026-03-25T01:50:00Z info:eu-repo/semantics/article 12 1 Open Library of Humanities Open Library of Humanities 10.16995/olh.23765 https://doi.org/10.16995/olh.23765 https://olh.openlibhums.org/article/id/23765/ 2056-6700 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 1

oai:olh:id:25023 2026-03-17T03:45:00Z

The Zoharic Proverb: A One-Line Dialogue The Zoharic Proverb: A One-Line Dialogue Feuerstein, Hillel The zoharic proverb is a distinctive four-word aphoristic form embedded in the Zohar, a thirteenth-century mystical corpus. Drawing on Mikhail Bakhtin’s theory of polyphony, the article considers how proverbs function as ‘external agents’ in the text—formally integrated yet marked by an autonomous, quasi-oral voice. Characterized by a formulaic structure, dense alliteration, and archaic or newly coined vocabulary, the proverb combines the resonance of oral utterance with the precision of the writer’s craft. Two principal contexts are analyzed: in homiletic passages, the proverb condenses theosophical ideas into concise, gnomic statements; in narrative dialogues, especially physiognomic (face reading) episodes, it punctuates speech as a diagnostic punchline that reorients perception. Attention to its syntax, rhythm, and distribution shows how the proverb shapes the flow of the zoharic text while remaining set apart from it. By bringing paremiological methods into dialogue with zoharic philology, the study argues that the proverb constitutes a distinct poetic device rather than a stylistic curiosity. Its role in bridging oral and textual registers illuminates the polyphonic dynamics of the Zohar and contributes to broader discussions of textuality. 2026-03-17T03:45:00Z info:eu-repo/semantics/article 12 1 Open Library of Humanities Open Library of Humanities 10.16995/olh.25023 https://doi.org/10.16995/olh.25023 https://olh.openlibhums.org/article/id/25023/ 2056-6700 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 1

oai:olh:id:28045 2026-03-02T02:10:00Z

Poetry off the Page: Intersecting Practices and Traditions in British Poetry Performance Poetry off the Page: Intersecting Practices and Traditions in British Poetry Performance Thomas, Helen Brady, Andrea Howarth, Peter The introduction to Poetry off the Page: Intersecting Practices and Traditions in British Poetry Performance collection. 2026-03-02T02:10:00Z info:eu-repo/semantics/article 12 1 Open Library of Humanities Open Library of Humanities 10.16995/olh.28045 https://doi.org/10.16995/olh.28045 https://olh.openlibhums.org/article/id/28045/ 2056-6700 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 1

oai:olh:id:24386 2026-02-06T02:50:00Z

A Manifesto That Reads Itself: Towards a palimpsest method for 'reading' site-specific works of art A Manifesto That Reads Itself: Towards a palimpsest method for 'reading' site-specific works of art Ben Alon, Dori A method is proposed for reading video works as a palimpsest: examining the source texts (the original manifestos), the visual text, and, perhaps most importantly, the spatial context, and then adding an often-overlooked layer: the location and its history as a third ‘text.’ Relying on the notion of the linguistic turn, this method ‘reads’ different constructs as ‘texts’; relying on the notion of the spatial turn, it views space as an essential context on which the entire interpretation of the text is based. The article focuses on one video segment from Manifesto, a thirteen-channel video installation created by the German artist Julian Rosefeldt in 2015. In this work, Rosefeldt offers a broad perspective on the corpus of twentieth-century art manifestos; but instead of using them as guides he turns them into material for his work. The chosen segment, ‘Dadaism,’ is based on excerpts from manifestos and texts written by members of that movement. It is set in a graveyard, where a widower reads a eulogy. 2026-02-06T02:50:00Z info:eu-repo/semantics/article 12 1 Open Library of Humanities Open Library of Humanities 10.16995/olh.24386 https://doi.org/10.16995/olh.24386 https://olh.openlibhums.org/article/id/24386/ 2056-6700 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 1

oai:olh:id:25294 2026-01-30T06:40:00Z

Online Visual Reconceptualisation of Humorous Stereotypes: The Case of Catalonia Online Visual Reconceptualisation of Humorous Stereotypes: The Case of Catalonia Castañar-Rubio, Guillem Zhimeng, Bai Catalan people have traditionally been one of the targets of ethnic joking in Spanish humour. In canned jokes, Catalans are the butts of slurs that depict them as thrifty, stingy and business-oriented (Davies, 2009). Over the last few decades, digital communication has brought changes to this type of humour worldwide (Boxman-Shabtai and Shifman, 2015; Laineste and Fiadotava, 2017), and jokes about Catalans are not an exception. Traditional canned jokes have been replaced by multimodal items that include images or video. Moreover, ethnic humour is also affected by social reality. The Catalan pro-independence movement, which gained momentum from 2009 and has since then caused upheaval in Spanish society and its political arena, has also generated lots of online ethnic humour about Catalans (Griale Observa, 2017). On some occasions, old joke scripts of canniness and stinginess are reused for this purpose. Nevertheless, humorous attacks on other aspects of the Catalan identity have also appeared in the form of new ethnic scripts. This paper undertakes a qualitative analysis of 102 memes. The goal is to determine how Catalans have been humorously visualised online during the Catalan self-determination process. It is argued that the new digital humour combines ethnic scripts attached traditionally to Catalan people with new ethnic scripts created ad hoc during the independence process. 2026-01-30T06:40:00Z info:eu-repo/semantics/article 12 1 Open Library of Humanities Open Library of Humanities 10.16995/olh.25294 https://doi.org/10.16995/olh.25294 https://olh.openlibhums.org/article/id/25294/ 2056-6700 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 1

oai:olh:id:25329 2026-01-30T01:15:00Z

Stereotypical Poles and Their Funny Beaver (Bober)  Stereotypical Poles and Their Funny Beaver (Bober)  Chlopicki, Wladyslaw Brzozowska, Dorota The aim of the paper is to analyse the viral presence of the beaver in the contemporary Polish digital sphere to identify the features of a specific text that make it popular, recognised, and disseminated in certain cultural circles. Our focus is to specify the factors creating its humorous potential and highlight its role in creating and maintaining stereotypes. The material we use as an example is a short video that had apparently not been intended to be humorous but was received as such. Our hypothesis is that one of the reasons why it gained popularity was its maker’s exaggerated emotional reaction to the encounter with the actual beaver, and the language he used to reflect it. In addition, the video invoked the recreation of traditional, pre-digital stereotypes of a primitive and emotional Pole, and became viral, disseminating the ‘bober trope’. The video became popular across Slavdom, making the relation between a Pole and an animal iconic, recognisable and recontextualisable to produce further humour. The fluid transition from the video to other genres, especially memes and songs, was treated as a way of spreading the image of the stock Polish character and Polish language stereotype via an easily recognisable Polish profanity. The basic image played a vital role in constructing more elaborate narratives that reflect societal attitudes and beliefs across Slavdom. Following the early insights of iconology of movements and critical iconology, we explore the intricate relationship between the visual form of a stereotype and its corresponding symbolic meanings in order to embed images within a wider cultural context. We bring the approach up to date by drawing on the analysis of internet humour, looking at its mechanisms, such as variation, selection, emotional contagion or the need for social validation, and its increasingly transgressive character. This study points out the dynamic nature of dialogue which serves to interpret and reinterpret stereotypes across cultures and examines the qualities of the beaver video example, specifically the attitudes of the meme beaver to Poles and the reverse, the beaver impersonating a Pole, and the beaver being presented on the symbolic plane. 2026-01-30T01:15:00Z info:eu-repo/semantics/article 12 1 Open Library of Humanities Open Library of Humanities 10.16995/olh.25329 https://doi.org/10.16995/olh.25329 https://olh.openlibhums.org/article/id/25329/ 2056-6700 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 1

oai:olh:id:24119 2026-01-26T06:46:00Z

Mothers, Stepmothers, and Stepmotherlands: Jacob Maarssen and the Yiddish Tradition of Translating the <em>Seven Sages</em> Mothers, Stepmothers, and Stepmotherlands: Jacob Maarssen and the Yiddish Tradition of Translating the <em>Seven Sages</em> von Bernuth, Ruth Schmid, Achim This article offers a gendered and intersectional reading of Zibn vayzn mansters fun Roym (1676/77), Jacob ben Meir Maarssen’s Yiddish edition of The Seven Sages of Rome.  While most scholarship has focused on the story cycle’s complex transmission history across languages and cultures, this study shifts the focus to representations of motherhood, stepmotherhood, and maternal authority. It argues that the Yiddish Seven Sages serves not only as a didactic text for early modern Jewish readers but also encodes allegorical meanings in which the condition of exile (goles) is mirrored in disrupted family dynamics. Drawing on the binary opposition between ‘good’ birth mothers and ‘evil’ stepmothers, the article closely analyzes the frame narrative and embedded tale ‘Tentamina’ to highlight how figures of maternal care, absence, and manipulation engage with broader concerns of gender, age, class, and communal displacement. In doing so, it repositions Maarssen’s translation within the corpus of early modern Yiddish print culture and offers new insights into the symbolic functions of family relations in Jewish literary responses to exile and social instability. 2026-01-26T06:46:00Z info:eu-repo/semantics/article 12 1 Open Library of Humanities Open Library of Humanities 10.16995/olh.24119 https://doi.org/10.16995/olh.24119 https://olh.openlibhums.org/article/id/24119/ 2056-6700 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 1

oai:olh:id:18519 2026-01-12T03:15:00Z

Racialized Contagion and Defensive Biopolitics in <em>The Last of Us</em> Racialized Contagion and Defensive Biopolitics in <em>The Last of Us</em> Yeates, Robert In the opening moments of the video game The Last of Us Part I, players are introduced to an emerging pandemic via Austin’s Texas Herald newspaper. Below a headline warning of mass hospitalizations from a 'mysterious infection', players read of a recall of imported crops 'potentially tainted with mold': 'Initial lists distributed to vendors nationwide warned against crops imported from South America. However now the scope has extended to include Central America and Mexico'. This scene immediately suggests the racialization of the franchise’s Cordyceps brain infection (CBI), with thecontagion germinating in the global South, invading the US via its southern border, and spreading fastest in the nation’s diverse urban centres. By highlighting tainted crops as the vector of dispersal in the US, however, rather than infected humans, the franchise resists making this a simple invasion-scare narrative and instead suggests that the spread of the infection is in part a result of the capitalist exploitation of cheap land and labour in the global South. Despite its inconsistent record on racial representation and the near-absence of discussion of race across the franchise, the structures reflecting the racialization of contagion and the perpetuation of racialized hierarchies through defensive biopolitics remain present. Drawing connections with the discourse around immigration and the southern border and contemporary pandemics and epidemics, this article makes the case for reading the franchise in terms of racialized contagion and defensive biopolitics, a reading that highlights how the games and their television adaptation reflect urgent contemporary issues around race in America. 2026-01-12T03:15:00Z info:eu-repo/semantics/article 12 1 Open Library of Humanities Open Library of Humanities 10.16995/olh.18519 https://doi.org/10.16995/olh.18519 https://olh.openlibhums.org/article/id/18519/ 2056-6700 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 1

oai:olh:id:24115 2026-01-09T03:20:00Z

Suspense and Reversal: The Curfew Law in <em>The Seven Sages</em> Suspense and Reversal: The Curfew Law in <em>The Seven Sages</em> Skinner, Jordan Kenneth This essay examines the medieval curfew law through its earliest literary appearance in the ‘Puteus’ fabliau, part of the Seven Sages of Rome frame narrative. Both tale and frame reveal how the curfew operated through twin mechanisms of suspense and reversal that functioned both as narrative techniques and juridical principles. The fabliau’s strategic repetitions and syntactic inversions formalize the law’s formal logic: the medieval curfew generated compliance through anticipatory suspense rather than through force alone, while its authority began in a single transformative moment when the curfew bell reversed legal status instantaneously from authorized to forbidden. The ‘Puteus’ tale exposes what legal archives omit—that the curfew transformed domestic space into obligatory domains of confinement, producing domestic order through nightly interdiction. The Seven Sages frame extends the curfew’s configuration across seven days, where storytelling becomes a technique of juridical deferral. Each day’s narrative concludes with the ritual closing of gates and windows, aligning the frame’s structure with the curfew’s temporal rhythm. 2026-01-09T03:20:00Z info:eu-repo/semantics/article 12 1 Open Library of Humanities Open Library of Humanities 10.16995/olh.24115 https://doi.org/10.16995/olh.24115 https://olh.openlibhums.org/article/id/24115/ 2056-6700 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 1

oai:olh:id:10853 2026-01-07T00:45:00Z

Margins of Ecocriticism: The Annotated Library of Luis Oyarzún (1920–1972) Margins of Ecocriticism: The Annotated Library of Luis Oyarzún (1920–1972) Donoso, Arnaldo This article concerns the discovery of annotated volumes within the personal book collection of Chilean intellectual Luis Oyarzún (1920–1972). Beyond contextualizing the finding, it examines a corpus of Oyarzún’s handwritten annotations in botanical and environmental works through the lenses of literary theory, archival studies, and ecocriticism. The analysis argues that marginalia constitute a legitimate object of study for ecocritical and environmental humanities inquiry. The article posits that focused attention on peripheral textualities can expand the methodological scope of these fields, fostering deeper textual archaeologies of environmental thought and cultural discourse. 2026-01-07T00:45:00Z info:eu-repo/semantics/article 12 1 Open Library of Humanities Open Library of Humanities 10.16995/olh.10853 https://doi.org/10.16995/olh.10853 https://olh.openlibhums.org/article/id/10853/ 2056-6700 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 1

oai:olh:id:25303 2026-01-05T06:30:00Z

Between Horror and Humor: Depicting Countries as Beasts in Early 20th-Century Russian Cartoons Between Horror and Humor: Depicting Countries as Beasts in Early 20th-Century Russian Cartoons Rezvukhina, Anna This study examines the interplay between the elements of funny and frightening in early 20th century Russian satirical magazines (1890–1905), focusing on zoomorphic caricatures that depict rival nations to the Russian Empire, namely the British Empire, China, and Japan. In these caricatures, rival countries are portrayed as predatory or monstrous animals—an embodiment of fear and otherness—before being ridiculed through visual tools, thereby neutralizing their threat to readers. Drawing on primary sources from journals such as Shut [The Jester], Budil’nik [The Alarm Clock], and Strekoza [The Dragonfly], this research identifies key techniques used to construct the zoomorphic image of a country as a beast. The process of animalization not only dehumanized the depicted nation but also reinforced narratives of enmity and alienation. The choice of beast reflected varying levels of hostility, emphasizing foreignness and danger. While horror elements intensified the perception of threat, caricatural tools—such as exaggeration and absurd juxtapositions—simultaneously trivialized the enemy, converting fear into ridicule. By analyzing these strategies, this study reveals the dual function of horror and humor in shaping public perception of foreign powers. It also contributes to understanding early 20th-century Russian visual propaganda, demonstrating how zoomorphic caricatures served as tools for ideological positioning. 2026-01-05T06:30:00Z info:eu-repo/semantics/article 12 1 Open Library of Humanities Open Library of Humanities 10.16995/olh.25303 https://doi.org/10.16995/olh.25303 https://olh.openlibhums.org/article/id/25303/ 2056-6700 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 1

oai:olh:id:23780 2026-01-05T05:05:00Z

Towards a theory of ‘poet-voice’ Towards a theory of ‘poet-voice’ Steel, Conrad Why do people reading poetry aloud stereotypically sound so sad? The term 'poet-voice' has recently gained currency to describe this vocal style, which is often cited - correctly - as a key characteristic of the spread of performance poetry in the 21st century. But this article shows that the roots of this style go back much further, and that to understand the contemporary aesthetics of poet-voice it is necessary to situate them in a genealogy that begins three centuries ago. I combine recent empirical analysis with insights from behavioural psychology on the one hand and critical theory on the other, in order to examine the affective stance that poet-voice projects and the historical structure behind it. That stance, I argue, is fundamentally one of uncontrol, and has to be understood as giving voice to a determinate set of hopes and anxieties concerning the control systems by which our contemporary moment has been shaped. The formation of poet-voice in its current technologically-mediated version is then explored via two case studies: first, the transitional instance of a BBC radio broadcast made by Yeats in 1931, and second, a YouTube video by Kae Tempest from 2011, showing how specific concerns around mediation, affect, and control have given the long-repeated cadences of poet-voice a new lease of life in the contemporary moment. 2026-01-05T05:05:00Z info:eu-repo/semantics/article 12 1 Open Library of Humanities Open Library of Humanities 10.16995/olh.23780 https://doi.org/10.16995/olh.23780 https://olh.openlibhums.org/article/id/23780/ 2056-6700 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 1

oai:olh:id:17684 2026-01-05T04:35:00Z

Women in Transit, Transient Women: Interpreting Ephemeral Materiality and Experience in Edith Wharton’s <em>The House of Mirth</em> and <em>The Glimpses of the Moon</em> Women in Transit, Transient Women: Interpreting Ephemeral Materiality and Experience in Edith Wharton’s <em>The House of Mirth</em> and <em>The Glimpses of the Moon</em> Ridge, Emily Edith Wharton shows a sustained preoccupation with the material and gendered dimensions of transience in her fiction.  Following an initial discussion of the formative influence of Theodore Dreiser’s Sister Carrie (1900), this essay focuses on the characters of Lily Bart in The House of Mirth (1905) and Susy Lansing in The Glimpses of the Moon (1922). It argues that the packed cases of these female protagonists are posited as mobile archives of ephemeral experience, something I characterise as a type of non-domestic experience that foregrounds impermanent forms of attachment and is subject to social judgement and envy in turn. The various ephemeral objects that form part of the luggage of Lily and Susy stand in for more enduring forms of material investment.  Yet their understanding of the implications of such objects differs greatly and has a bearing on narrative outcome for each character. As the essay argues, the respective fates of Lily and Susy depend on whether they conceptualise the condition of transience and accompanying material manifestations of ephemerality in terms of social marginalisation or dynamic opportunity. 2026-01-05T04:35:00Z info:eu-repo/semantics/article 12 1 Open Library of Humanities Open Library of Humanities 10.16995/olh.17684 https://doi.org/10.16995/olh.17684 https://olh.openlibhums.org/article/id/17684/ 2056-6700 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 1

oai:olh:id:24096 2025-12-23T03:45:00Z

From the Evil Queen to the Saracen Princess: the Making of Heterosexual Love in the <em>Roman de Cassidorus</em> (Third French Prose Continuation of the <em>Roman des Sept Sages de Rome</em>) From the Evil Queen to the Saracen Princess: the Making of Heterosexual Love in the <em>Roman de Cassidorus</em> (Third French Prose Continuation of the <em>Roman des Sept Sages de Rome</em>) Foehr-Janssens, Yasmina In the narrative tradition of The Seven Sages of Rome, the stereotype of the powerful woman threatening a boy, as previously articulated in the biblical story of Joseph, is complemented by strong homosocial bonds among the numerous male characters. This narrative configuration establishes a gender pattern that seems hostile to any heterosexual love plot. As the French prose continuations of The Seven Sages emerge in the 13th century, they face a dual challenge: new characters must conform to the cycle’s characteristic misogamy, yet the heroes are simultaneously encouraged to marry, in keeping with the conventions of chivalric romance and the genealogical logic of the cycle. This paper examines the opening episode of the third continuation, the Roman de Cassidorus, in which the young emperor Cassidorus encounters his future wife, the princess Helcana. This narrative sequence evokes a range of popular motifs found in both chansons de geste and contemporary romances. Set in the Holy Land, the plot engages with issues of cultural and religious difference. The resolution of this love affair draws upon an apocryphal episode from the story of Joseph – the legend of the marriage between Joseph and Aseneth – which, like the Seven Sages tradition, possesses a distinctly translinguistic and transcultural dimension. This episode makes the construction of heterosexual love visible, and also the constructedness of courtly love. 2025-12-23T03:45:00Z info:eu-repo/semantics/article 11 2 Open Library of Humanities Open Library of Humanities 10.16995/olh.24096 https://doi.org/10.16995/olh.24096 https://olh.openlibhums.org/article/id/24096/ 2056-6700 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 1

oai:olh:id:24108 2025-12-23T03:15:00Z

Self-Injury and Truth in Hebrew and Latin Versions of the <em>Seven Sages of Rome</em> Self-Injury and Truth in Hebrew and Latin Versions of the <em>Seven Sages of Rome</em> Doherty-Harrison, Hope This article compares three medieval versions of the ‘Seven Sages of Rome’ narrative: the Latin Dolopathos (1184–1212) and Historia septem sapientum (1300–1342) and the Hebrew Mishle Sendebar (1100–1295). Highlighting the ways in which portrayals of the deceptive female figure at the centre of the story diverge between the three versions, the article especially examines their differing responses to her self-injury and suicidality. Arguing that self-injury implicates the far broader issues of law and textual authority, spoken communication, and the (mis)use of biblical language, the article demonstrates that the Mishle Sendebar depicts the king, sages and wider society choosing to forgive the prince’s accuser based on the Talmudic Golden Rule, whereas the Latin versions view only punishment by death as the acceptable outcome for her. The article suggests that the latter depictions are due to surrounding Christian contexts relating to supersessionism and the personified constructs of Ecclesia and Synagoga. 2025-12-23T03:15:00Z info:eu-repo/semantics/article 11 2 Open Library of Humanities Open Library of Humanities 10.16995/olh.24108 https://doi.org/10.16995/olh.24108 https://olh.openlibhums.org/article/id/24108/ 2056-6700 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 1

oai:olh:id:24109 2025-12-19T01:35:00Z

‘Jeust twa folk ken’: Adapting and Performing <em>The Seven Sages of Scotland</em> ‘Jeust twa folk ken’: Adapting and Performing <em>The Seven Sages of Scotland</em> Bonsall, Jane Elizabeth Black, Daisy This paper reflects upon the research and development of two performances of The Seven Sages of Scotland, based on the late medieval Scottish Buke of the Sevyne Sagis, to consider the process, impact, and outcome of creative adaptations of medieval material. These performances took place in the Scottish Storytelling Centre in Edinburgh in July 2023, and in the Byre Theatre in St Andrews in September 2024. Each performer adapted a discrete portion of the text: either the frame story of the empress who falsely accuses her stepson of attempted rape, or the embedded tales of the storytelling contest that ensues to determine the prince’s guilt or innocence. The resulting performances utilised a range of narrative styles, Scots dialects, and interpretive strategies – all while encouraging reflection and critical assessment in the audience about questions of bias and hearsay. By thinking through critical adaptation theory and reflecting on the methodologies employed by Daisy Black’s storytelling workshops as part of the adaptive development process, this article explores how medieval narratives with misogynist, violent or discriminatory elements – like The Seven Sages – may be responsibly retold. Drawing upon audience response surveys and follow-up interviews with the performers, we then consider the impact of such adaptations upon general audiences, upon medievalists, and upon performance artists and storytellers. What performances like The Seven Sages of Scotland ultimately reveal is the important role creative-critical medievalism may play in both the public-facing aspect of medieval studies, as well as in our understanding of the affective nuances and contemporary resonances of medieval narratives. 2025-12-19T01:35:00Z info:eu-repo/semantics/article 11 2 Open Library of Humanities Open Library of Humanities 10.16995/olh.24109 https://doi.org/10.16995/olh.24109 https://olh.openlibhums.org/article/id/24109/ 2056-6700 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 1

oai:olh:id:24113 2025-12-09T04:15:00Z

Good trans kids and bad trans lovers as expressions of trans misogyny in the <em>Seven Sages/Sindbad</em> story matter and the <em>Roman de Silence</em> Good trans kids and bad trans lovers as expressions of trans misogyny in the <em>Seven Sages/Sindbad</em> story matter and the <em>Roman de Silence</em> Bildhauer, Bettina Pepe, Moss This article takes the theoretical framework of trans misogyny to two versions of the Seven Sages/Sindbad story matter – the Hebrew Mishle Sendebar and the Latin Historia septem sapientum– as well as to the French Seven Sages continuation Marques de Rome and to the Roman de Silence. These texts, which were all produced in the North-East of French-speaking lands between c. 1175 and 1350, contain two strikingly consistent character types: the trans lover and the trans kid. In this article, we suggest that violent trans misogynistic force is brought to bear on the figure of the trans lover, whose body is figured as a site of guilt. The trans kids, on the other hand, who are often but not exclusively trans masculine characters, evade lethal forms of punishment, and are typically infantilised in these same texts. These contrasting depictions are not only related to one another but also reinforce wider systems of misogyny.  2025-12-09T04:15:00Z info:eu-repo/semantics/article 11 2 Open Library of Humanities Open Library of Humanities 10.16995/olh.24113 https://doi.org/10.16995/olh.24113 https://olh.openlibhums.org/article/id/24113/ 2056-6700 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 1

oai:olh:id:24111 2025-12-05T04:25:00Z

The <em>Forty Veziers</em> as Part of the Global Narrative of The <em>Seven Sages of Rome</em> The <em>Forty Veziers</em> as Part of the Global Narrative of The <em>Seven Sages of Rome</em> Eming, Jutta Using the Ottoman Forty Viziers as a starting point, this article discusses the basic structure of the Seven Sages of Rome narrative and its extensive flexibility that has not yet been fully appreciated and explored. Research has been dominated by a distinction between ‘Eastern’ and ‘Western’ versions, and differentiating between such versions has been the basic approach to the Seven Sages material. In this respect, the transmission of the Seven Sages needs to be re-evaluated from the ground up, specifically through its varieties. I consider this is an especially promising approach to the question as to how global literature might best be understood—not universal and identical, but entangled and variable. 2025-12-05T04:25:00Z info:eu-repo/semantics/article 11 2 Open Library of Humanities Open Library of Humanities 10.16995/olh.24111 https://doi.org/10.16995/olh.24111 https://olh.openlibhums.org/article/id/24111/ 2056-6700 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 1

oai:olh:id:18059 2025-11-28T02:30:00Z

Pluralising globality: Afropolitanism as epistemic self-assertion in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s <em>Americanah</em> Pluralising globality: Afropolitanism as epistemic self-assertion in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s <em>Americanah</em> ũa Waya, Chalo In From Bomba to Hip-Hop (2000: 193), the Afro-Latino American writer Juan Flores discusses the nature of community—comunidad in the Spanish. He says that it is both a phenomenon existing in something akin to a state of nature and as the result of deliberate human interventions. The comun part of comunidad is the element that does not require human intervention. The unidad part is where various forces in society use their situatedness and power to negotiate the nature and shape of the community. Differently situated groups in society have different capacities to shape the nature of the community in which they are co-existing. Their place in a continuum ranging from epistemic and sociopolitical agents to mere states of affairs determines their discursive capacity to shape their world. In this article, I will argue that Afropolitanism should be seen as an attempt by African and Afrodescendant writers to stake a claim in the unidad processes and practices through which a becoming-one-again global oecumene is making and remaking itself. I will argue that Afropolitanism is a crucial effort at pluralising the ways of knowing, being and relating. Based on an analysis of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Americanah (2013), I will show how African and Afrodescendant writers are playing an important role in dismantling colonial and postcolonial epistemic genealogies and their conceptions of globality. I will demonstrate Afropolitanism’s potential to challenge the epistemic, sociopolitical, economic and physical immobilisation of the African and Afrodescendant subjects—narratively and discursively bringing into view these stigmatised and silenced subjects. 2025-11-28T02:30:00Z info:eu-repo/semantics/article 11 2 Open Library of Humanities Open Library of Humanities 10.16995/olh.18059 https://doi.org/10.16995/olh.18059 https://olh.openlibhums.org/article/id/18059/ 2056-6700 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 1

oai:olh:id:17945 2025-11-28T01:25:00Z

La querelle des mendiants dans les synodes provinciaux et diocésains du bas Moyen Âge. Approches préliminaires La querelle des mendiants dans les synodes provinciaux et diocésains du bas Moyen Âge. Approches préliminaires Woelki, Thomas La querelle des mendiants occupait une place importante en tant que matière récurrente dans les statuts synodaux du haut et du bas Moyen Âge publiés en série dans toute l’Europe1. Elle occupait les synodes de la fin du Moyen Âge dans toute l’Europe latine, de l’Écosse à la Sicile, de l’Espagne à la Suède. Les statuts synodaux ne peuvent toutefois guère être utilisés comme un sismographe qui indiquerait avec précision les régions et les périodes où la querelle des mendiants éclata de manière aiguë. Le caractère fondamentalement conservateur du genre, où les chemins tortueux de la réception peuvent mener loin des contextes concrets, est trop important. La plupart du temps, la querelle des mendiants n’était pas le but premier du synode, mais elle était mise à l’ordre du jour à cette occasion, surtout par le clergé paroissial. Elle a été régulièrement reprise dans les statuts des synodes provinciaux, mais plus rarement dans ceux diocésains. On observe en outre à plusieurs reprises que des évêques ont transmis les plaintes de leurs sujets à un synode provincial. Les statuts synodaux ne présentent pas un reflet de la réalité juridique locale, mais offrent des accès à des lignes de compromis consensuelles. Dans l’ensemble, les synodes semblent avoir été un forum de dialogue pacifique et de rétablissement de l’ordre plutôt qu’une caisse de résonance pour des attaques polémiques qui auraient alimenté davantage la querelle des mendiants. Au plus tard vers 1300, lorsque le conflit permanent entre les mendiants et le clergé séculier est devenu endémique, les synodes ont constitué un élément important de la résilience de l’Église. Les débordements locaux et les crises aiguës ont pu être gérés de cette manière. La synodalité était un élément essentiel du système immunitaire de l’Église. 2025-11-28T01:25:00Z info:eu-repo/semantics/article 11 2 Open Library of Humanities Open Library of Humanities 10.16995/olh.17945 https://doi.org/10.16995/olh.17945 https://olh.openlibhums.org/article/id/17945/ 2056-6700 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 1

oai:olh:id:25162 2025-11-28T00:40:00Z

Visual Rhetoric in Mediating Impartial Humor: Political Cartoons on the Russo-Ukrainian War Visual Rhetoric in Mediating Impartial Humor: Political Cartoons on the Russo-Ukrainian War Semotiuk, Orest This study investigates the intersection of visual rhetoric and impartial humor in political cartoons portraying the Russo-Ukrainian War. Drawing on foundational works on visual rhetoric, the paper situates political cartoons within the broader context of political discourse. The data set includes 16 political cartoons from Australia, the USA, Algeria, Morocco, Argentina, Brazil, Italy, Greece, Taiwan, Qatar, Iran, Ukraine, and Russia. The paper examines how cartoonists employ visual rhetorical devices to craft impartial humor. The analysis is based on the corresponding parameters of political cartoons (goal-target, frame of reference-focus, and means-presentation) supplemented by two criteria: a) the author’s attitude toward the conflict parties and b) the author’s position towards the war and its consequences in general. Methodologically, it is supported by quantitative and qualitative content analysis using MAXQDA (2024). The author concludes that even if political cartoonists do not take a clear stance on the conflict parties, their work still reflects a vision of war as a global evil without borders. 2025-11-28T00:40:00Z info:eu-repo/semantics/article 11 2 Open Library of Humanities Open Library of Humanities 10.16995/olh.25162 https://doi.org/10.16995/olh.25162 https://olh.openlibhums.org/article/id/25162/ 2056-6700 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 1

oai:olh:id:25991 2025-11-24T04:30:00Z

Who ate the baby? ‘Canis’’ adaptation history visualized Who ate the baby? ‘Canis’’ adaptation history visualized Hölzlhammer, Lilli The Sanskrit tale of the hasty father who kills the one who tried to protect his baby travels through medieval languages and cultures. While the narrative stays the same, the killed character changes from mongoose to weasel to dog to wife. The question this creative response asks is how a visualization of these three versions can highlight the transformation of the killed character, and the misogyny in the 11th century Greek translation. The visualization of the character change in three commented comics starring a mongoose, a dog, and the wife each, is a more effective option of addressing the difference in these versions. This is especially the case for the wife character and the underlying misogyny that has never been questioned by any translator of the Greek text even today. 2025-11-24T04:30:00Z info:eu-repo/semantics/article 11 2 Open Library of Humanities Open Library of Humanities 10.16995/olh.25991 https://doi.org/10.16995/olh.25991 https://olh.openlibhums.org/article/id/25991/ 2056-6700 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 1 page%3D2