The Wasteland Takahashi, Takako; Dean, Britten
2019, 2019-05-31
eBook
The Wasteland explores the psychology of the modern Japanese woman and her urge to realize an inner self of latent sexuality, long suppressed in Japan's male-dominated society. Nobe Michiko, the ...novel's narcissistic protagonist, leaves ruined lives in her wake as she pursues her lustful goals. The author, Takahashi Takako (1932–2013) earned bachelor's and master's degrees in French literature at prestigious Kyoto University, a remarkable achievement for a woman in the 1950s. There, she was influenced by the decadent poetry of Charles Baudelaire (1821–1867) and the writings of novelist and Catholic apologist François Mauriac (1885–1970). Christianity and depravity characterize both The Wasteland and many of Takahashi's other works. The novel was first published in 1980 at a time of explosive Japanese economic growth, which, in Takahashi's view, had created in Tokyo a wasteland of immorality and inhumanity. Yet it is a Christian novel, for the author was a devout Roman Catholic (indeed a one-time nun), and the title page epigraph from the Old Testament book of Hosea unmistakably mantles the narrative in a religious message: God is here to help if the wayward would but listen. But, do they listen?
What is gender justice in disasters? Connell, Raewyn
Australian journal of emergency management,
01/2022, Letnik:
37, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
To think constructively about gender in disasters, we need some clarity about gender. The most common ideas are that gender is simply a biological dichotomy between male and female; or that gender is ...an individual and very personal identity.
What happens when men and women feel powerful in intimate relationships? When does power corrupt and when does it lead to positive consequences, such as increased sensitivity to others' needs, ...personal growth, and social responsibility? This book offers anyone interested in such questions a clear and accessible depiction of the effects of social power, based on cutting-edge theory and research. The book starts with a general discussion on the ways power influences individuals. The role of one's personality, goals, and culture seem to play a decisive role in whether power leads to benevolent or malevolent consequences. Some effects of power are more intuitively understood (eg: taking from or contributing to a common resource, or aggressive responses in parents who feel powerless), while other effects regard much more surprising phenomena (eg: self-fulfilling prophecies, stopping an annoying fan, or forgiveness for a transgression). Following the description of this social-psychological mechanism, this book discusses the cultural and developmental circumstances in which power is experienced. Culturally acquired gender-roles, experiencing racism, egoistic vs. altruistic motivations, and defensive tendencies -- all influence what men and women want in intimate relationships, and the way power can motivate them to attain their goals. These circumstances may explain the gender differences found in the results of three experiments, described in Chapter 4. In these experiments, men and women in long-term, intimate relationships reacted differently to a temporary sense of power, in terms of their tendency to self-focus, take the perspective of others, and objectify their relationship partners. The last section discusses the seemingly contradictory beliefs of professionals and laymen alike, that power corrupts, but that the empowerment processes yields positive results. In this section, the role of power and empowerment processes is discussed, mainly in macro-level interventions, in intimate partner violence (for both victims and perpetrators), overcoming addiction, and in policy practice (eg: in court verdicts regarding cases of post-divorce relocation of custodial parents).
Therese Raquin Zola, Emile; Vizetelly, Ernest Alfred
2018
eBook
The story of a girl trapped in an unhappy marriage to her first cousin so captivated the French writer Emile Zola that he explored it in multiple works, producing both a novel and a play based on the ...same core set of characters. The protagonist, Camille, becomes desperate and takes matters into her own hands, committing what may be the perfect crime in order to build a new life for herself. Will she get away with it, or will her paralyzing guilt give her away?.
A Couple of Soles is a classic comedic romance by the seventeenth-century playwright Li Yu. Tan Chuyu, a poor young scholar, falls in love with the beautiful actress Liu Miaogu. He joins her family's ...acting troupe, and, in plays within the play, romance ensues. After Liu's family attempts to marry her off to a local country squire, she performs a famous scene in which a heroine drowns herself-and then jumps off the stage into a river, followed by Tan. The local river deity rescues the lovers from death by transforming them into a pair of soles. Li balances their romance with the adventures of a retired upright official involving banditry, bribery, and mistaken identity-and who nets and shelters the two fish when they regain human form. Written at a time when China was beginning to recover from the cataclysmic Ming-Qing dynastic transition,A Couple of Soles displays Li's biting wit as well as his reflections on the concerns of his age, including the dangers of administrative service and the role of theater in society. The play combines witty wordplay and caustic satire with a strong emphasis on traditional moral values. The first major comedy from late imperial China to appear in English translation,A Couple of Soles provides an unparalleled view of the theater in seventeenth-century China. A general introduction and a detailed appendix shed further light on the play and its context.
Contrary to approaching work and family as conflictual roles, a shift towards acknowledgement of the positive interaction between work and family has been detected. This research investigated whether ...married/cohabiting and divorced/separated parents differ in terms of work-family enrichment, considering their gender and relationship status after separation. Data from 3993 married/cohabiting and 1455 divorced/separated parents from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC) database were analysed using regression analysis. The results revealed a complex interplay of relationship status and gender. Single mothers experience more work-family enrichment after a break-up than do mothers with a partner. No differences were found for fathers.
COVID-19 is a pathology caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. TheWorld Health Organization (WHO) has reported more than 225 million cases and 4.5 million deaths worldwide. Objective: To describe the ...seropositivity, spatial distribution, and clinical and sociodemographic variables of SARS-CoV-2 in a community of the Colombian Amazon region. Methods. In December 2020, a cross-sectional observational study was carried out in a population located in the Colombian Amazon in the municipality of Mitu. Sociodemographic and clinical data were taken. Besides, 589 blood samples were taken, and an antibody detection was carried out with an ELISA and a recombinant protein N antigen of SARS-CoV-2. Results. A seropositivity of 57.6% was observed. The highest proportion of the infection is located in inter-municipal transport zones. The bivariate analysis did not show differences in the SARS-CoV-2 infection rate concerning the variables sex, age range, and the presence of comorbidities (p > 0.05). The bivariate and multivariate analysis showed that being symptomatic and presenting neurological manifestations of the upper respiratory tract are clinical variables associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection (p < 0.05). One of the causes of this virus's high spread in this community could be that 53.3% of the people were asymptomatic. Conclusions. Our data showed a high burden and transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in the indigenous community. This could be linked to cultural behaviors and the high infection rate in asymptomatic patients.
