Shifting Discourses

Drawing from two historical examples from Croatia, the author examines Wendy Brown’s thesis about waning sovereignty in the contemporary globalized world. In both cases, the author confirms Brown’s thesis. But in order to further examine the thesis about waning sovereignty in the contemporary world, the author identifies what he calls the contemporary signs of waning sovereignty. Then he calls the reader to find these signs in his/her social environment. Keywords: sovereignty, nation-state, post-Westphalian international order, globalization, state of exception, border zonesSuvremeni globalizirani svijet mjesto je djelovanja dviju naizgled isključujućih tendencija: „logike stvaranja moći u globalnoj mreži i logike udruživanja i zastupanja u specifičnim društvima i kulturama” (Castells 21); nadnacionalnog političkog i ekonomskog univerzalizma, kojeg na različite načine zastupaju liberali i neoliberali, kozmopoliti, humanitarci i politički aktivisti, te partikularnog i lokalnog nacionali...

Knjiga Irska književnost i kultura, 1600.–2000.: Stvaralaštvo na jeziku kolonizatora autora Aidana O'Malleya (Filozofski fakultet u Rijeci, 2021.) vrlo je opsežna i detaljna studija koja proučava odnose irske književnosti (nastale u razdoblju od otprilike 1600. do 2000. godine) i kolonijalnog iskustva unutar šireg okvira političke i kulturne povijesti. Povijest Irske, odnosno irske književnosti, uistinu se ne može promatrati izvan konteksta nerazmrsivih odnosa s Velikom Britanijom, te kako sam autor naglašava, u fokusu knjige činjenica je da je irska književnost na engleskom jeziku duboko uronjena u povijest. Ova studija stoga kronološki, kroz pet poglavlja, analizira ključne književne tekstove (koji podjednako uključuju prozu, poeziju i dramu) na pozadini kolonijalne povijesti i jezične problematike. U svojoj analizi O'Malley u svakome poglavlju vrlo artikulirano i vješto povezuje važne događaje irske povijesti i književnike i književnice, odnosno relevantne tekstove objavljene u nave...

Krah europskih prekomorskih carstava, a s njime ujedno i procesi dekolonizacije, koji su često bili vođeni oružanim sukobima i pobunama, donosio je u Europu tijekom 60-ih, 70-ih i 80-ih godina prošlog stoljeća, kako navodi Calafate de Ribeiro (1), važne tokove stanovništva: povratnike, bivše borce kolonijalnih ratova, bivše kolonizatore, bivše kolonizirane, izbjeglice iz građanskih ratova te imigrante.Knjiga Djaimilie Pereire de Almeide, Luanda, Lisboa, Paraíso (2018.), osvojila je nagradu Oceanos 2019., a njome se u Portugalu reafirmira, prema Margaridi Calafate de Ribeiro (1), književna linija europskog dometa, nasljednik identiteta kolonijalnih procesa – afropean u anglosaksonskoj verziji ovog nasljeđa – ili afropolitan u francuskoj verziji, koji svoj kontinuitet traži u Europi današnjice. Luanda, Lisboa, Paraíso (2018.) opisuje putovanje Angolca Cartole de Souse i njegova sina Aquilesa iz Luande u postkolonijalni Lisabon 80-ih godina kako bi sina podvrgnuli liječenjima zbog njegove...

The paper seeks to analyze how Hariprabha Takeda, a Bengali woman, in the early twentieth century negotiated with the issues of identity, integration, and cultural assimilation in her narrative from the standpoint of an insider in a Japanese household. Through a close textual analysis of her travelogue Bongomohilar Japan Jatra (1915) and other memoirs (translated as The Journey of a Bengali Woman to Japan (1915) & Other Essays by Somdatta Mandal in 2019), the paper attempts to examine how she was influenced by the Japanese culture and blurred the strict demarcations of private and public spaces through interracial marriage. The paper argues that the notion of pan-Asian identity gained prominence due to the active interest of travelers in exploring and developing cultural and political links between colonial Bengal and Japan, which forms the background to Hariprabha’s transnational connections. A critical investigation of her translated narrative opens up various embedded cultural, gend...

This paper focuses on the discursive analysis of the neoliberal coinage of mental health, observing neoliberalism as a modern rational form of governmentality. Inspired by Michel Foucault’s theory of discourse and governmentality (but also by others – Nikolas Rose, Sara Ahmed), in this paper I analyse what meanings and knowledge about mental health are articulated in public policies in Croatia by neoliberal market demands and the logic of self-management. The main thesis of the paper addresses the primary purpose of neoliberalism in the process of economization – the creation of a social reality in which all aspects of human life are reduced to economic problems, including human health itself. Through the analysis of public health projects and campaigns, the paper shows the connection between mental health policy and the constructed entrepreneurial self of citizens. Reading the critical categories of productivity, risk, resources, ability, and personal responsibility, in the paper I pr...

The image of Major Pronin, a fictional counterintelligence operative of the All-Russian Extraordinary Commission for Fighting Counterrevolution and Sabotage has been well known throughout Russia for years. Yet, few could name his author, Lev Ovalov, and even fewer philologists have shown interest in analyzing the stories he originated from. By offering a detailed analysis of Ovalov’s first Pronin story “The Blue Swords” (“Sinie mechi”) this article aims to reveal some of the principal reasons this literary character became a cultural phenomenon. Relying on the comparative mythology theories of scholars such as Joseph Campbell and David Adams Leeming, it proposes that Pronin falls into the category of (Soviet) mythological heroes. More precisely, his traits and actions provide inspiration and guidance for the Soviet people and thus work to reinforce Soviet identity during a difficult time in history. The monomyth structure revealed in the storyline supports this theory, as do the mythol...