The semiotics of British butter in the context of Brexit

Professor Angela Smith has recently given a paper at the 6th FoodKom seminar in Stockholm. She considered the semiotics of butter packaging in the British context, to explore how national identity is represented. Angela argued that since 2016 national identity has become a central theme in the packing of British butter, whether this is a supermarket own brand, or a leading dairy producer.  The absence of cows in this packaging is part of a long-running semiotic practice that seems to relate to the industrialisation of the dairy industry in Britain, but the raising of national symbols seems triggered by the threat to the UK dairy industry that Brexit embodies.  Through the exploration of the changes made to one specific brand, Anchor, Angela showed how both of these strands have lead to the redesigned packaging we find now.

Borges and Old English revisited: The translation of The OE dialogues of Solomon and Saturn

In 1966 the Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges, in collaboration with María Esther Vázquez, published Literaturas germánicas medievales, a study of the origins of Anglo-Saxon, German and Scandinavian literature. Borges included a number of translations, sometimes single sentences, often fragments, of a range of Old English poems alongside a brief discussion of those texts. These works will be the focus of a talk by Dr Miguel Gomes, in a Humanities Research Seminar taking place on Wednesday 27th November at 4pm in RV404.

Miguel will explore Borges’ interest and understanding of the rather unusual Anglo-Saxon texts featuring King Solomon and the pagan Saturn, as well as his translation of certain passages taken from two of the four existing Old English dialogues. Borges’ engagement with these texts, starting with the publication of “Un diálogo anglosajón del siglo XI” in 1961 (La Biblioteca, Revista de la biblioteca nacional, 2° epoca, Tomo IX, N°5) will be discussed alongside the little attention that the dialogues have received from the Spanish speaking academic world.

Jorge Luis Borges in 1984

Sunderland academics contribute to the Being Human festival 2019

Once again, historians at Sunderland are contributing to the nationwide Being Human festival. Click on the links below to find out more:

Sunderland's unsung heroes (Sarah Hellawell)
Coffee and sedition (Delphine Doucet)

As part of the festival, Sunderland is also hosting a talk by the historian Michael Wood on how Wearmouth saved the West.

The photographic historian Caroline McKay will also be presenting A New Vision of the World.