A pandemonium of Borges

Dr Miguel A. Gomes Gargamala has written the introduction to the latest edition of the Old English Newsletter (August 2021). The topic of the journal is Borges the medievalist, and Miguel's essay can be read here.  

Butter packaging and national identity

Professor Angela Smith has co-written an article with Helen Andersson (Örebro University, Sweden) on the topic of butter packaging. Researchers have shown that it is common to use nationalist appeals when marketing food products. Research has also shown that geographical places play an important role in creating feelings of national identity and national belonging. To a much lesser extent, research has shown how these “places” are represented and reproduced in the packaging of food products in specific national environments and to an even lesser extent, compared these representations and reproductions. In their article, Angela Smith and Helen Andersson use multimodal critical discourse analysis to examine how butter packaging in Sweden and the UK represents nature in ways that create associations that are linked to the national identity that exists in each country. They argue that commercial interests, through their choice of packaging design, not only exploit cultural and political ideas and values but also reinforce them by connecting to prevailing national sentiments. In times of political and social change, this can be used to strengthen national affiliation and thus ally with political interests.

Andersson, H. and Smith, A. 2021. Flags and fields: a comparative analysis of national identity in butter packaging in Sweden and the UK. Social Semiotics.

Un diálogo anglosajón del siglo XI

J. L. Borges’s interest in and understanding of the Old English dialogues featuring King Solomon and the pagan Saturn have hitherto received little academic attention. A recent article by Miguel Gomes explores Borges’s engagement with these texts and in doing so contributes to recent scholarship concerning the author’s lifetime fascination with the medieval literatures of northern Europe. Miguel pays particular attention to Borges’s annotated translation of one of the Solomonic dialogues published in the journal of the National Library of Argentina in 1961, La Biblioteca, under the title “Un diálogo anglosajón del siglo XI”. Borges’s reasons for selecting the text as well as the Old English sources used in this translation are explored alongside his passion towards the subject of the translated passage.

Gomes, M. (2020) Borges, Solomon and Saturn: “Un diálogo anglosajón del siglo XI” (1961) SELIM. Journal of the Spanish Society for Medieval English Language and Literature 25(1).

The survival of traditional dialect lexis

Bairn, canny, spuggies, lass, bonny, spelk, plodge ... If you're from the North East or have spent any time here you'll have heard some of these words - you might even use them yourself. They are examples of what we might call 'traditional' dialect lexis, in the sense that they can all be traced back to at least the nineteenth-century (and in many cases much earlier). Dr Mike Pearce has published an article which examines the extent to which words such as these - many of which were attested in the Survey of English Dialects - can be found in a contemporary online context virtually located in the North East of England (which, as we know, is one of the most dialectally distinct parts of the country). His findings suggest that the rate of survival is perhaps higher than might be imagined, given the conclusions of previous research on lexical attrition in regional varieties of English in the UK. The article also shows the affordances of corpus-based dialect study, illustrating how access to the discursive contexts in which these words occur can offer insights into meaning and usage, and give access to the metalinguistic reflections of dialect users.

Pearce, M. 2020. The Survival of Traditional Dialect Lexis on the Participatory Web. English Studies.

You can read more about Mike's research on the language and culture of North East England here.

North east pronouns

English dialects demonstrate considerable variation in their pronominal systems, and pronouns in North East England often contrast with those found in Standard English. As this anecdote published in the Monthly Chronicle of North-Country Lore and Legend in 1887 illustrates, the pronominal idiosyncrasies of the region's English have long been the subject of comment, and Dr Mike Pearce gives us his take on the subject in the form of an article published in English Today, which explores how the North East pronoun system manifests itself in a large, naturalistic corpus of online writing (other aspects of the morphology and syntax of North East English are explored on Mike's research website).

Pearce, Michael. 2020. The Participatory Vernacular Web and Regional Dialect Grammar: A New Account of Pronouns in North East England. English Today.

The sexy dad and caring father

Professor Angela Smith has contributed an entry on male stereotypes to the International Encyclopedia of Gender, Media, and Communication. It explores how fatherhood can be articulated as both an opportunity for men to demonstrate their caring, nurturing side, while also being a site for sexual desirability, popularly referred to as the “DILF.” Angela shows how the “new man” masculinity that emerged in the 1990s came to be linked with the popularizing of female‐directed pornography around the same time, finally merging in the 21st century as the “sexy dad.” By drawing on various media texts relating to fatherhood, she shows how there is a self‐presentation of fatherhood that is largely in line with the caring, emotional “new man,” but at times wittily espousing a playful form of macho masculinity linked with gym culture. This is contrasted with the media interpretation of such fatherhood that seeks to sexualize the male body in the popular press. The discussion finds that the act of carrying or holding a child becomes a site for these two discourses to meet, both in the visual images used to illustrate stories and in the associated text.

Smith, A. 2020. Male Stereotypes: The Sexy Dad and Caring Father. In Ross, K. et al. (eds) The International Encyclopedia of Gender, Media, and Communication. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.

Trump's tweets

Angela Smith has co-written an article with Michael Higgins (Strathclyde University) which looks at discourses of masculinity in the social media performance of US President Donald Trump. The authors discuss the implications of these for the normalisation of regressive forms of masculinity in public discourse, where normalisation is the process of co-opting otherwise deviant behaviours by integrating them into institutional practice. The article begins by exploring ways in which Trump’s social media performance exhibits the characteristics of “hypermasculinity”. The analysis then turns to the everyday expression of traditionally macho masculinity by Trump by conducting a search for tokens of the masculine gendered nouns “man” and “guy”, and using critical discourse analysis to reveal the use of these in exercising gendered forms of judgement. Of particular importance is the informal “guy”, through which Trump defines challengers within power-based masculine oppositions. Overall, the authors find that while the concept of hypermasculinity is useful in describing provocative displays of “bad behaviour” oriented-towards a populist style of leadership, Trump routinely produces more banal types of masculine performance that objectify allies and opponents within a gendered hierarchy, and may be said to normalise regressive forms of masculinity within the prevailing political culture.

Smith, A. and Higgins, M. 2020. Tough guys and little rocket men: @Realdonaldtrump’s Twitter feed and the normalisation of banal masculinity. Social Semiotics.

Clean eating

Angela Smith has published an article about 'clean eating'. The clean eating dietary fad has grown in popularity in the last decade. Angela's research explores how it has come to be associated with certain ingredients and a general discourse of well-being. Whilst being largely discredited as pseudo-science, many of these ingredients have found their way into recipes in the cookery books of those who declare a clear opposition to clean eating. In particular, Angela explores the cookery books of Nigella Lawson, as she states a preference for new ingredients that are typically associated with clean eating.

Smith, A. (2020) 'Clean eating’s surprising normalisation: The case of Nigella Lawson'. Discourse, Context & Media 35.

Rebuilding the universities after the Great War

Dr Sarah Hellawell, with Dr Georgina Brewis (UCL) and Dr Daniel Laqua (Northumbria), has published an article in The Journal of the Historical Association which examines a transformative moment in the history of British higher education. After the First World War, student numbers were boosted by the arrival of large numbers of ex‐servicemen. Their access to university was facilitated by the government‐funded Scheme for the Higher Education of Ex‐Service Students, which provided grants to nearly 28,000 students between 1918 and 1923. The article offers the first sustained historical analysis of the workings and impact of this programme, which constituted a major development in state support for individual students. The research upon which the article is based was funded by the AHRC World War One Engagement Centre at the University of Hertfordshire. In the wider project the authors also worked with community partners, Mike Day (National Union of Students) and Jude Murphy (Workers’ Educational Association).

Brewis, G., S. Hellawell and D. Laqua. 2020. 'Rebuilding the Universities after the Great War: Ex‐Service Students, Scholarships and the Reconstruction of Student Life in England'. History: The Journal of the Historical Association.  

Just call me Dave

In a special edition of the Journal of Language and Politics which she guest-edited, Professor Angela Smith has published an article which shows how male politicians can draw on performances of masculinity to appeal to voters. Angela uses former UK Prime Minister David Cameron as an example of how performances of masculinity interact with the opportunistic use of populist forms of political engagement. She argues that while Cameron’s performances of populism are often situated in compatible policy initiatives such as the “big society”, we can also identify a more sustained deployment of masculine discourse in “performances” of alignment with the people. Angela shows how these gendered performances of political leaders mirror changes in society, while exploring how they can also be politically hazardous.

'Just call me Dave': David Cameron’s perilous populist status.' Journal of Language and Politics (Published online: 15 Jan 2020), 1–20.

Naked dating shows

Professor Angela Smith has published an article about the Channel 4 show Naked Attraction. This programme involves clothed participants viewing and commenting on six potential 'dates' as they stand naked in plastic pods designed to gradually reveal their bodies from the feet upwards. Angela explores how the shock of graphic nudity is ameliorated by the linguistic strategies of positive politeness with which all participants seem to collude and engage. Such amelioration, she argues, would appear to be a defence against accusations of voyeuristic and pornographic content on mainstream TV.

Smith, A. 2019. ‘How the hell did this get on tv?’: Naked dating shows as the final taboo on mainstream TV. European Journal of Cultural Studies. 

The changing presentation of execution in Newcastle

PhD candidate Patrick Low has published an article on the changing presentation of punishment, in particular execution. This topic has been at the heart of much criminal historiography. However, little work has been done to examine the transition outside of London. Newcastle offers a fascinating perspective on any national picture of capital punishment, as it adopted changes far later than most, including close neighbours like Durham. In this article - which appears in Law, Crime & History - Patrick questions why so late a transition occurred and what the motivating factors were. Focusing on executions between 1844 and 1863 it shows that far from being led by London, the decisions were largely reactive to immediate crises, chief amongst them an unruly crowd, and not underpinned by any ideological bent. In short, it will argue for caution in speaking of a unified national change in punishment when even to speak of a regional one is problematic.

 

Read 'The changing presentation of execution in Newcastle Upon Tyne 1844-1863' here.

Listening to the Neanderthals

Dr Susan Mandala has published an article in the journal Discourse, Context & Media. In ''Listening' to the Neanderthals in William Golding’s The Inheritors: A sociopragmatic approach to fictional dialogue', Susan employs theory of mind and intentionality as analytical tools in order to ‘listen’ more closely to the Neanderthals in Golding’s 1955 novel. Paying particular attention to these characters as they express their religious beliefs, engage in storytelling, and work through interpersonal conflicts, she argues that readers are invited to infer that the Neanderthal characters are themselves inferring beings, and further demonstrate that this interpretation has implications not only for how individuals approach the novel, but for the way The Inheritors as a cultural text can be understood to participate in discursively mediating our relationship with the figure of the Neanderthal.

The sexualisation of fatherhood

In an article published in Social Semiotics, Professor Angela Smith explores recent developments in masculinity, focusing on the sexualisation of fatherhood in Anglophone media. As it becomes socially acceptable for men to engage with “hands-on” fatherhood roles that had previously been primarily associated with motherhood, the appeal lies not just in this shift in gendered performance, but the representation of this as an opportunity for men to reveal a desirable body image. Where previously the hands-on fatherhood role had been glossed as “nappy changing duties,” this more recent development focuses on men’s bodies and in particular the act of carrying a young child which affords the chance for biceps to be flexed in juxtaposition with the gentle act of holding a child. Colloquially, this has led to the emergence of the “DILF,” particularly on social media where sites are devoted to photos of such men.

Smith, A. 2017. Bulging biceps and tender kisses: the sexualisation of fatherhood. Social Semiotics.

Timing of menarche in girls adopted from China

Politics senior lecturer Dr Peter Hayes has co-written an article for the journal Child: Care, Health and Development. The authors show how girls adopted internationally from some states have been found to have high rates of early puberty, including early menarche. Explanations for the link between international adoption and early puberty include post-adoption catch-up growth triggering puberty, and under-recorded age.

Hayes, P. and Tan, T.X. (2016) Timing of menarche in girls adopted from China: a cohort study. Child: care, health and development. 42(6): 859-862.

Gender in the Newgate Novels

A West View of Newgate by George Shepherd (1784-1862)

PhD student Philippa Abbott has had an article published in the journal Nineteenth-Century Gender Studies. In it, she explores the representation of female criminals in 'the Newgate Novels' - a genre of sensationalist fiction popular between the 1820s and 1840s. You can read the article here.

Flirtation, desire and cut-glass biscuit barrels

Dr Angela Smith has co-written an article with Michael Higgins which looks at the development of broadcast talk in those reality TV genres associated with shopping and negotiation, focusing on Antiques Road Trip. In a context in which reality TV has become associated with judgement and rancour, Angela is concerned with the balance between expertise and ordinariness, and exploring the place of conversational and interactional styles we have come to associate with “sociability” and the maintenance of “face”, both in terms of pleasure and spectacle and providing a tactical basis for on-screen negotiation. Angela argues that these performances differ from conventional discourses of expertise as arbiters of specialist insight and market value, and offer new performances of expertise, based on a tactical mix of professional capital and sociability.

Smith, A. and Higgins, M. (2016) Flirtation, desire and cut-glass biscuit barrels: Forms of expertise in Antiques Road Trip. Discourse, Context & Media. Vol. 14.

Male anti-authoritarianism and anti-environmentalism

Dr Angela Smith has co-written an article with Professor Philip Drake (Edge Hill University) which considers the format and cultural politics of the hugely successful UK television program Top Gear (BBC 2002–2015). 'Belligerent broadcasting, male anti-authoritarianism and anti-environmentalism: the case of Top Gear' analyzes how—through its presenting team—it constructed an informal address predicated around anti-authoritarian or contrarian banter and protest masculinity. Regular targets for Top Gear presenter’s protest—curtailed by broadcast guidelines in terms of gender and ethnicity—are deflected onto the “soft” targets of government legislation on environmental issues or various forms of regulation “red tape. Repeated references to speed cameras, central London congestion charges and “excessive” signage are all anti-authoritarian, libertarian discourses delivered through a comedic form of performance address. Thus, the BBC’s primary response to complaints made about this program was to defend the program’s political views as being part of the humour. The article draws on critical discourse analysis and conversation analysis to consider how the program licensed a particular form of engagement that helped it to deflect criticisms, and considers the limits to such discursive positioning. The article concludes by examining the controversies that finally led, in 2015, to the removal of the main presenter, Jeremy Clarkson, and the ending of this version of the program through the departure of the team to an on-demand online television service.

A terrible beauty is bought

The journal Irish Studies Review is shortly to publish a special commemorative 1916 edition entitled ‘Commemorating Connolly’. Amongst the seven invited papers for the issue is an article by Dr Alison Younger entitled 'A terrible beauty is bought: 1916, commemoration and commodification'. Mindful of Benedict Anderson’s emphasis in Imagined Communities on the power of print culture – and print-capitalism – to shape and share national ideas and identities, her article offers a comparative analysis of the commemorations in Ireland of 1798 and 1916 by looking at commemorative ephemera: kitschy memorabilia, themed merchandise, newspaper cuttings and advertisements, handbills and inventively branded commodities, as important cultural texts which purveyed ideological values and meanings at the time of their production. It suggests that the consumer sphere allows us to shed light on the commemorative discourses these ephemeral objects produce, retelling and retailing the risings in question. Texts often regarded as throwaway or lowbrow vied for their share in the ideological marketplace to form part of the heritage of 1798 and 1916, the centenary of the one feeding into the ferment of the other. The reception and representation of the pivotal figures of Wolfe Tone and James Connolly is discussed through the prism of Thomas Richards’ conception of commodity culture, and attention is paid to counter-commemorative strands as well as positive rhetorics of remembrance.

Postmodernism and Islam

Dr Geoff Nash's article 'Postmodernism' is an entry in Gale's newly published Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World (ed. Richard C. Martin, Gale 2016). It outlines how Islam was viewed by a postmodern philosopher such as Foucault, what Muslim intellectuals like Ziauddin Sardar, Salman Sayyid and Anouar Majid have written about postmodernism, and how Muslim writers and film-makers have responded creatively to the postmodern period.