Gaze in Flux

This article examines the aesthetic category of the ‘Instagrammable’ and explores what it means for destinations like Telašćica Nature Park to be seen as Instagram Hot Spots. I begin by addressing issues arising from the spread of social media platforms like Instagram, particularly the role of marketing and the subtle operations of digital algorithms. From there, I explore the shifting notion of “authenticity” in tourist sites like Telašćica, where the Instagrammable aesthetic takes root, redefining what it means for a place to be “seen.” I argue that ‘Instagrammable’ as an aesthetic category resonates with the ‘picturesque,’ which once reflected economic and colonial entanglements; now, the Instagram aesthetic speaks to an era of communicative capitalism (Ngai; Dean). Within this aesthetic framework, Telašćica is confronted with what Jodi Dean calls a ‘whatever subject’ – a subject whose “whatever” signals a form of communication that lacks depth, a hollow connectivity that does not s...

Čitajući prvi hrvatski kriminalistički roman, Kneginja iz Petrinjske ulice Marije Jurić Zagorke, objavljen 1910., pomalo me začudilo to što je zagrebački policajac Šimek, koji u romanu istražuje umorstvo jedne gospođe, bio obožavatelj Sherlocka Holmesa. Jednog od najslavnijih svjetskih književnih detektiva nije teško obožavati pa nije me začudilo to. Začudila me činjenica da je Zagorka već 1910. čitala ili barem čula za Doyleova junaka, koji se u književnoj javnosti, i to u Velikoj Britaniji, pojavio tek dvadesetak godina ranije. Pritom nisam, dakako, sumnjao ni u Zagorkinu natprosječnu obaviještenost o aktualnim književnim fenomenima (i po mnogočemu drugom bila je ispred svih drugih) ni u njezin smisao za prepoznavanje onoga što čitatelji vole. Zanimalo me ustvari je li Zagorka za fikcionalnog britanskog detektiva čula ili je čitala o njemu u Hrvatskoj, ili možda u Mađarskoj ili Austriji, kamo je putovala, ili gdje drugdje. Pokušao sam stoga pronaći podatak jesu li Doyleova djela s Ho...

Kad trešnja ocvate i počne listati kao sada, ja se uvijek toga sjetim – pripovijedala je gospođa. Prije trideset pet godina otac je još bio živ, a u obitelji, ako se to može tako nazvati jer sam majku izgubila još prije sedam godina, kao trinaestogodišnjakinja, bile smo samo još mlađa sestra i ja. Imala sam osamnaest godina, a sestra šesnaest kad smo se preselili u prefekturu Shimane, u gradić od dvadesetak tisuća ljudi uz Japansko more u podnožju starog feudalnog dvorca. Moj je otac tu dobio posao ravnatelja niže srednje škole. Kako u samom gradu nismo našli prikladnu kuću, unajmili smo dvije sobe u hramu na periferiji, prema brdima, i tamo smo živjeli šest godina, sve dok otac nije dobio premještaj u školu u gradu Matsue. Udala sam se po dolasku u Matsue, u jesen svoje dvadesetčetvrte godine, što je za ono vrijeme bilo prilično kasno. Premda sam imala mnoge bračne ponude, do udaje mi nije bilo toliko stalo da bih napustila dom jer sam shvaćala da bi se bez mene obitelj potpuno raspal...

The newspapers were heaped up on a low bench, the kind pupils use in the private classes of eccentric schoolmarms. Damata sat reading placidly and without haste. Engrossed in the news, he didn’t notice the maids singing in the kitchen or the kids playing noisy games of hide-and-seek. Each time he sat forward to grab another paper his deck chair groaned like ship’s rigging. The noise was driving him mad. He was sick of telling Bia to get it seen to and she just retorting: “Man, that chair’s fine, Damata.” Such pig-headedness! They’d lived together for years, had a few kids – yet that stubborn way of hers was still an obstacle to their getting properly married. All the same, no good house in Mindelo closed its doors to her, for Nhô Damata was an upstanding man and had recognised their children.From his waistcoat pocket he removed a silver-edged snuffbox. With a sharp tap, he knocked the contents forward before taking a pinch between thumb and forefinger.Good stuff this. He took his snort...

1984 is a peculiar symbol of a tragic future of the mankind. Orwells intention, more or less all his critics agree on that, was not to predict but to warn and to prevent the destruction of the human personality. Political manipulation of reality through the control of the past and language lies in the centre of Orwell’s nightmare. Orwell’s fictional world and reality in which we live provide an answer to a common central question, the question of human freedom. Human existence and freedom have been inseparable since the beginning. Man is a victim of strong influences, which deepen an individual’s agony and his fear of everyday life in which he feels totally lost and alone like a drop in the ocean. Following the example of the main character Winston Smith it is evident that human nature is influenced by the structure of the modern society, that is the way in which social and political organisations, culture and mass media influence human nature. Therefore the question is how and in whic...

Valter Hugo Mae tim je riječima u romanu opisao početak, zapravo nastavak potrage za smislom, iskazujući istinske emocije ljubavi, privrženosti i požrtvovnosti, baš kako i dolikuje majkama.Bog u tami (Deus na escuridao) posljednji je dio druge tetralogije Valtera Huga Maea, portugalskog književnika novije generacije, jednog od najznačajnijih portugalskih umjetnika 21. stoljeća. Svojom osebujnom poetikom ostavlja važan trag u razdoblju suvremene književnosti, koje istaknuta teoretičarka književnosti Ana Paula Arnault naziva hipersuvremenošću (hipercontemporaneidade).Ovaj četverodijelni ciklus obuhvaća romane svedene pod zajednički naziv „braća, otoci, odsustva”. U spomenutu tetralogiju spadaju romani Dehumanizacija (A Desumanizaçao) iz 2013. godine, zatim Beskrajno poetični ljudi (Homens Imprudentemente poéticos) iz 2015., Bolesti Brazila (As Doenças do Brasil) iz 2021. godine te posljednji o kojem pišemo, Bog u tami (Deus na Escuridao) objavljen 2024. godine.