Utopia and Political Theology

1.At first the island is just a sign on a yellow board with a drawing of a vessel and the letters saying “Car Ferry,” then it is a grayish silhouette in the blue of the sea, and then, later still, an acquaintance working on the ferry, who just nods briefly in greeting. Jablanac, ferry port, its pleasant lobby, and then, from the upper deck, a giant rock approaching. That is the object of a year-long desire: the moment of stepping off the boat and smelling the rosemary, diesel and sheep droppings, seeing the sharp rocks looking at the Strait of Senj, coarse limestone in sharp opposition to the signs that say: Benvenuti, Welcome, Willkommen!At home, on the terrace, in the shade of the oleander, there’s no wish to eat. Only swimming trunks are put on and then, barefoot, without a towel or sun-tanning lotion, off to the beach.“Why won’t you eat something?” grandma asks.She knows that there’s an exciting world waiting out there, but she knows nothing of the details. All friends went on a bo...

Bilo mi je samo devet godina, ali nikad neću zaboraviti dan kad su dali zeleno svjetlo projektu za izgradnju umjetnog jezera i kad smo postali sigurni da će naša kuća nestati pod vodom. Sva sredstva i sve žalbe bili su iscrpljeni i čekali smo još samo da otac uđe u kuhinju i obavijesti nas da je i zadnja presuda bila u korist umjetnog jezera. Vani je padala obilna kiša i monotono šljapkanje očevih cipela kad je ušao u kuću kao da je poručilo, pripremite se, sve će ovo uskoro preplaviti voda, bit će teško hodati ovuda, promijenit će se boje i teksture, ova se lampa nikad više neće upaliti jer žarulje ne gore pod vodom.Sve nas je to pogodilo. Ali njega, koji je otpočetka bio vrlo uključen u borbu, potpuno je pokosilo. Odnos mojih roditelja sve se više pogoršavao i ishodovati odluku koja bi zaustavila umjetno jezero bilo je jedino što je još moglo spasiti stvari, spriječiti naglu poplavu koja samo što nije potopila našu obitelj. Majka i otac to su znali i bili su svjesni da poraženo šljap...

The words ‘utopia’ and ‘zombie’ are likely to conjure up strong images in the mind of the reader. The first makes one think of perfection, of happiness, of something new and better; the other, of the monstrous, of death and decay. Despite the fact that these images are arguably the most common, one can question their validity: can it be said that utopias are always perfect, and are the undead always monstrous? In this paper, I aim to explore the concepts relating to both utopias and zombies and the possible connections between the two, including a reading of the undead in light of the ultimate utopia: Paradise. In the light of these analyses, I propose a more positive approach to the figure of the zombie, which will be discussed as a counterpoint to the commonly held views of (religious) utopias. Keywords: utopia, dystopia, Christianity, Revelation, Paradise, Second Coming, zombie, post-zombieA man, dressed in an old, torn and dusty suit, is seen in the distance, staggering between the...

Bowie consists of twenty-one short chapters that function as a collection of conceptual fragments. Bowie's artistic work already provides a series of different periods each with its own stock of identities which could easily be comprised into different sections of this book according to, as Critchley calls them, illusions he inhabited, both musically and aesthetically. Although a sense of linearity is present, as the author tends to give an overview of albums and his own fan sensibilities, dividing the book according to Bowie's own artistic eras is avoided. The division into twenty-one chapters is much closer to breaking Bowie's work into conceptual categories that are present throughout his career and are related to questions of identity, sexuality and desire or sometimes even Bowie's own life in the background of it all. Still, as the author notes at the very beginning of the book – it is important not to conflate Bowie as a persona of popular music with his work. It is a popular app...

Preokupacija gotičkog žanra uvijek je bila liminalnost, kako prostora dodira između civilizacije i divljine tako i likova koji titraju između definiranih fizičkih i društvenih okvira. I sam je žanr obilježen svojom liminalnosti u odnosu na "visoku" književnost, književna ga je kritika marginalizirala smatrajući ga formulaičnim i trivijalnim izrazom "nižega" književnog oblika. U bilo kakvu ozbiljnijem prikazu razvojnog procesa američke književne produkcije zauzimanje takve devalorizirajuće pozicije spram žanra koji je uvelike utjecao na formiranje američke književnosti te čiji elementi prožimaju djela kanoniziranih američkih pisaca može se u najmanju ruku smatrati velikim propustom. Knjiga Marka Lukića U sjeni američkog sna: od C. B. Browna do Stephena Kinga upisuje u taj konradovski prazan prostor na hrvatskoj "karti" književne teorije pregled razvojnih etapa gotičkog žanra od trenutka njegova "preseljenja" na novi kontinent. S obzirom na autorov dosadašnji opus, koji obuhvaća teme suv...

The aim of this paper is to show how Atwood’s reformulations of myths contain hidden political messages from ancient and modern history and can be interpreted from Fredric Jameson’s views on ‘symbolic acts,’ discourse and the ideology of form. Several scholars have explored the symbolic relationship between the three major protagonists in The Robber Bride and fragments of the omnipotent image of the Neolithic deity the White Goddess. As the symbolic counterparts of Diana, Venus and Hecate in the novel, Tony, Roz and Charis demonstrate how women’s integrity has been crippled and how the restoration of female principle is just a utopian idea. However, our analysis has revealed that the younger generation of “goddesses” does not bring hope to the female gender in either the present or the future. Augusta, Paula and Erin symbolize oversimplified and parodied versions of the destructive Hecate in an unpromising world and “the not-good place” that resembles a dystopia. Keywords: Margaret Atw...