Search

Copyright of Pós: Revista do Programa de POS-Graduacao Em Artes - EBA/UFMG is the property of Pos - Programa de Pos-graduacao em Artes (PPG-Artes) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The spread of modernism to all aspects of human life, as well as its incorporation into the core of reality, has left less room for the transcendental, to the point where no evidence of transcendence can be traced in events. This has squandered the efforts of Islamic philosophers to prioritize the transcendental in all aspects, as well as their endeavors to define the meaning of life based on transcendence. Mulla Sadra's philosophical theories help to resolve this dilemma since his intellectual system is founded on concepts that had previously received less attention as a philosophical framework. Such concepts include the theory of Substantial Motion and the evolution of the inner self (nafs) from the earthly to the heavenly worlds, the theory of Gradation of Existence and the gradational state of the inner self, the status of the world of imagination as a medium between the matter and the intellect, the unity of the inner self with the active intellect, the copulative dependence of phenomena on the independent essence of the Divine, and the principles of knowledge of love. These notions and principles have created a profound influence and a distinct viewpoint on art recognition and the explanation of the process of creating art and artworks and, consequently, have established a distinction between the truth and the vulgar. The achievements of Mulla Sadra's viewpoints include his emphasis on the presence of transcendence at the core of all phenomena, his philosophical explanations for imagination in creating art and its mediating and meaningful status, his interpretation of human identity, his views on resembling God to the human at the level of imagination, his ideas on mutual relations between human love and art, and his perspective on the heavenly nature of authentic art. In this essay, we seek to extract a model based on truth and vulgarity in art, in addition to researching Mulla Sadra's ontological and epistemological principles and their influence on the process of art creation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"The Vulgarity of Caste: Dalits, Sexuality, and Humanity in Modern India" by Shailaja Paik is a well-researched book that explores the history of Tamasha, a theatrical art form practiced mostly by Dalits in Maharashtra, India. The book examines how Dalit performers navigated the violence, exploitation, and disdain associated with Tamasha, and how it was shaped by conflicts over caste, gender, sexuality, and culture. Paik argues that the notions of vulgarity and sexuality in Tamasha contribute to caste hierarchy, class inequality, and Dalit subalternity. The book also highlights the agency and resistance of Dalit women in reclaiming their dignity and challenging societal norms. [Extracted from the article]

Martin Crimp is regarded as a difficult dramatist to categorise since he does not obey standard theatrical and literary rules. Though his playwriting technique has a misty atmosphere, there is one thing that is definite about his theatre. Throughout his career, Crimp has utilized the horrific impacts of violence to awaken people. Highlighting the grotesque vulgarity and relentless savagery of today's society Crimp, as the dramatist of the new millennium, exposes the terrible repercussions of violence, oppression, torture, power struggle, cruelty, fear, and victimisation on fe/male bodies. Crimp nakedly exposes explicit and implicit components of violence in diverse contexts in Cruel and Tender, his adaption of Sophocles's play Trachiniae to the post/modern world. What is remarkable about adapting an ancient play into the contemporary world is to confront people with violence as a never-changing reality of human civilisations. Cruel and Tender is also notable for depicting images of war against terror in its historical circumstances and emotional violence with the purpose of a revolution and justice. The aim of this study is to examine the representation of violence in Cruel and Tender using Žižekian subjective, symbolic, systemic, and divine violence notions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The presence of abusive and vulgar language in social media has become an issue of increasing concern in recent years. However, research pertaining to the prevalence and identification of vulgar language has remained largely unexplored in low-resource languages such as Bengali. In this paper, we provide the first comprehensive analysis on the presence of vulgarity in Bengali social media content. We develop two benchmark corpora consisting of 7,245 reviews collected from YouTube and manually annotate them into vulgar and non-vulgar categories. The manual annotation reveals the ubiquity of vulgar and swear words in Bengali social media content (i.e., in two corpora), ranging from 20% to 34%. To automatically identify vulgarity, we employ various approaches, such as classical machine learning (CML) classifiers, Stochastic Gradient Descent (SGD) optimizer, a deep learning (DL) based architecture, and lexicon-based methods. Although small in size, we find that the swear/vulgar lexicon is effective at identifying the vulgar language due to the high presence of some swear terms in Bengali social media. We observe that the performances of machine leanings (ML) classifiers are affected by the class distribution of the dataset. The DL-based BiLSTM (Bidirectional Long Short Term Memory) model yields the highest recall scores for identifying vulgarity in both datasets (i.e., in both original and class-balanced settings). Besides, the analysis reveals that vulgarity is highly correlated with negative sentiment in social media comments.

In his article, "Vulgarity as Springboard for High Art," Derong CAO compares and contrasts Nabokov and Qian's notions of vulgarity. The two authors have similar understandings of vulgarity. Both identify pretense/ affectation and triteness/ mediocrity as its fundamental characteristics. Moreover, both believe that the quintessential feature of vulgarity lies in its downplay of individual consciousness. The two authors' understandings of vulgarity also differ in major ways. Qian's Fortress Besieged, though showing deep social and moral concerns, did not seem to suspect a direct causal link between vulgarity and cruelty. By contrast, Nabokov believes that vulgarity can lead to severe moral or political consequences. Despite the above difference, both acknowledge the great potential of vulgarity to be transformed into aesthetically pleasing artworks. This essay explores the techniques Nabokov and Qian adopted--among them the most important are defamiliarization and irony--to turn vulgarity into a reservoir of materials for serious literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Starting from a recently published memoir, authored by the British pilot Betrand Whitley, recounting his experiences during World War II, the present paper aims to emphasise the role played by the linguistic transfer of such texts from multiple perspectives. As such, in the case of texts originally written in one language, covering the subject of a different cultural space, the translation that pulls the text back into the language of the depicted space raises several issues. Fidelity is given by the negotiation between the meaning present in both linguistic instances, filtered by the style that encompasses an authorial stance on a foreignness that, through translation, needs to be reflected back into the familiar, as foreign. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The text discusses the loss of elegance and delicacy in Brazilian society, highlighting the vulgarity and incivility that seem to be becoming more common. The author mentions the singing duo Cascatinha and Inhana as examples of natural elegance, emphasizing their rural posture and restrained gestures. The text also refers to Chico Buarque's book "Anos de chumbo" (Years of Lead), praising its simple and confidential writing style, which subtly addresses delicate topics. The author emphasizes the importance of elegance and delicacy, even in difficult times. [Extracted from the article]

This study describes the types of taboo words used by the Acehnese people in Aceh, Indonesia. Ten language informants in the district were interviewed for this qualitative study. The interviews were recorded and then transcribed prior to analysis. The data were then analysed by the procedures of condensation, display, and conclusion drawing. The findings of the research reveal that the most common taboo types used by Acehnese speakers are taboos of vulgarity or obscenity, epithet, and the taboo of disease. This implies that calling people bad names, talk ing about sex, mentioning incurable or 'repulsive' diseases are among the most taboo discussions in Acehnese society. Taboo words related to religion are found the least in the data, which could imply that these words are small in number because the Acehnese people embrace their religion strongly and thus minimise verbal abuse related to it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The number of alien species introduced and undergoing range expansion in novel environments is steadily increasing, with important consequences for native ecosystems. The efficacy of management planning and decision making to limit such invasions can be improved by understanding how interventions will impact the population dynamics of recently introduced species. To do so, here we expand on a typological framework that enables the classification of populations over time into 10 categories of commonness, and apply it to a spatially discrete metapopulation with heterogeneous abundance across spatial units (patches). We use this framework to assess the effect of cross-boundary management on the capacity of a metapopulation with different demographic and dispersal characteristics, including time lags in population growth, to become common. We demonstrate this framework by simulating a simple theoretical metapopulation model capable of exploring a range of environments, species characteristics, and management actions. Management can vary in the efficacy of propagule interception between patches, and in the synchronisation of the implementation of these measures across patches (i.e. if management is implemented simultaneously across patches). Simulations show that poor interception efficacy that only modestly reduces the number of propagules entering a given spatial unit cannot be compensated for by strong management synchronisation between spatial units. Management synchronisation will nonetheless result in a reduction in rates of spread once a critical threshold of interception efficacy has been met. Finally, time lags in population growth that may result in delayed spread are an important aspect to be considered in management as they can amplify the efficacy of management. Our results demonstrate how a typological framework of categories of commonness can be used to provide practical insights for the management of biological invasions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal on Masculinities & Social Change / Masculinidades y Cambio Social is the property of Journal on Masculinities & Social Change / Masculinidades y Cambio Social and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This study aims to give a new perspective on Josef Jiří Kolár's short story Libuše in America (German 1842, Czech 1854), long considered by critics and literary historians as a kind of popular adventure story without ideological or aesthetic ambitions. The study first examines Kolár's prose in the context of a contemporary domestic historical short story that takes liberties with its historical source material. In Libuše in America, however, such liberties are exaggerated to the point of founding an alternate parallel history in opposition to the tragic nature of actual historical events. The next part of the study uses specific examples to show how the effect of this discrepancy between the fantasy and the real world is intensified by the original use of compositional, lexical, grammatical and poetic means (i.e. plot parallels, 'inappropriate' relationships between characters, linguistic exclusivity and expressiveness, contrasting poetics, and vulgarity). The final section shows the mutual reflection of an idealized Czech society in America and the real situation in Bohemia as a manifestation of romantic irony and product of the author's bitter reflections on the decline of the Czech world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This contribution grapples with the question: Is there a relationship between Steve Biko's 'quest for a true humanity' or, differently put, his search for South Africa's 'human face' and Vuyani Vellem's quest for an African spirituality ? Our proposition is that there is such a relationship. This discussion is framed overall by two other questions: What is the relevance of this 'quest' within the present South African context, what is its contribution to the global situation and, fundamentally, what is the contribution black liberation theology can make to these discourses ? In the course of this exploration, we engage the concepts of Africanisation and Afrocentricity, colonisation, coloniality and decoloniality, and we ask whether a true Afro-pluralism is possible without a true African indigeneity. These concepts, we shall argue, are tools of struggle, not only in confronting colonisation and coloniality but also in battling imperialism, in the form I discuss here: the politics of vulgarity. I contend that an African spirituality, Biko's 'gift' from Africa to the world, is the most appropriate vessel for that very gift. Contribution: This article serves as commemoration of the contribution the late Professor Vuyani Vellem made to the qualitative substantiation of black theology liberation in South Africa. It demonstrates the powerful way in which Afro-pluralism enhances the contra-narrative of imperialism and colonialism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Orbis Tertius is the property of Universidad Nacional de La Plata and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The sensation of touch and the need for physical contact are fundamental in the development of human behaviour. As an intimate medium of communication, tactile interactions between men and women can make their social bonds more profound. But there are both "contact" and "no contact" societies that differ in their attitude towards tactile communications. While "contact" cultures are largely touchy-feely communities, "no contact" cultures like India problematise touch between opposite genders due to reasons related to the caste system, fear of sexual vulgarity, subversion of gender roles, and so forth. On close observation we find that all these reasons are interconnected and interdependent. With its prime focus on the "no-touch taboo" among opposite genders in India, this paper explores the underlying role of sexuality, patriarchy and conventional gender roles in perpetuating the established social structure in India. A deeper understanding of these mechanisms reveals that, in India, a touch-averse culture is essential in the preservation of its systems of power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The aim of the study was to review the literature on the influence of gonial angle on mandibular angle fracture. The present systematic review addresses the following focus question: Does the magnitude of gonial angle influence the incidence of mandibular angle fractures? Materials and Methods: Electronic and manual literature searches were conducted on databases: PubMed/MEDLINE, Embase, Science direct, the Cochrane Library, and clinicaltrials.gov for studies published up to August 2019 to collect information about the effect of gonial angle, a skeletal morphological parameter with an incidence of fracture of the angle of the mandibular arch. Systematic literature review was performed to identify studies evaluating the effect of gonial angle in patients suffering from mandible fractures. Large retrospective studies were included and case reports were excluded. Results: Fifteen hundred articles published before August 2019 were identified. One hundred and sixteen articles met the inclusion criteria. Two articles remained when exclusion criteria were applied. As measured in the two included studies containing 280 panoramic radiographs of mandibular fractures, the mean gonial angle of patients in the angle fracture group ranged from 126.8° ± 7.9° to 128.5° ± 5.4°. The mean gonial angle of patients in the nonangle fracture group ranged from 118.5° ± 4.4° to 122.3° ± 4.9°. The mean gonial angle of patients in the angle fracture group displayed a range from 118.9° to 134.7° (confidence interval [CI] 95% 5.89–8.05), whereas the mean gonial angle of patients in nonangle fracture group displayed a range from 114.1° to 127.2° (CI 95% 3.89–4.95). Conclusion: A high gonial angle is an important factor influencing the occurrence of mandibular angle fractures owing to the poorer quality of bone and reduced height at the ramus angle region, all of which necessitate a modification of osteosynthesis techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Based on Q methodology, this study investigated the motivation of orthodontic treatment for patients and their parents. Through investigation, this paper attempts to explore the motivational factors of CLP and NON-CLP children and their parents, which are different or general. Patients and methods: Q methodology involves 4 phases. (1) Interviews of CLP (N=5), NON-CLP (N=5) patients generated 30 statements (Q-set 1) and CLP (N=5), NON-CLP (N=5) patients' parents produced 36 statements (Q-set 2) about different reasons to pursue orthodontic care. (2) P-set: recruitment participants. The sample comprised 40 CLP patients (G1) and 40 NON-CLP patients (G2) aged 9–16 years, 40 CLP patients' parents (G3) and 40 NON-CLP patients' parents (G4) wanting their children to have orthodontic treatment. (3) Q-sort: 4 groups ranked statements in order of comparative significance using enforced distribution grids (G1, G2 ranked Q-set 1; G3, G4 ranked Q-set 2). (4) Analysis: using the PQMehtod 2.35 vision to analyze data. Results: Three factors in each group were identified as representing the most widespread views of the majority of the participants, described as G1: (1) aesthetics, (2) preparation for other oral treatments, (3) timely. G2: (1) admiration of others, aesthetics, (2) oral function, (3) oral hygiene and improvement of smile. G3: (1) worrying about the future of children, parents' responsibilities, children's feelings; (2) mental health, timely; (3) parents' responsibilities, ready for treatment. G4: (1) aesthetics, children's will; (2) future problems, timely; (3) timely, parents' responsibility and no need to worry about physical problems. Conclusion: CLP and NON-CLP patients and parents have different orthodontic treatment motives, yet, they still shared 3 global motivation themes, respectively. Consideration of these motives may help clinicians develop their treatment discussions with patients and parents, which could consequently improve their cooperation and may achieve a more satisfactory outcome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Success of alien plants is often attributed to high competitive ability. However, not all aliens become dominant, and not all natives are vulnerable to competitive exclusion. Here, we quantified competitive outcomes and their determinants, using response‐surface experiments, in 48 pairs of native and naturalised alien annuals that are common or rare in Germany. Overall, aliens were not more competitive than natives. However, common aliens (invasive) were, despite strong limitation by intraspecific competition, more competitive than rare natives. This is because alien species had higher intrinsic growth rates than natives, and common species had higher intrinsic growth rates than rare ones. Strength of interspecific competition was not related to status or commonness. Our work highlights the importance of including commonness in understanding invasion success. It suggests that variation among species in intrinsic growth rates is more important in competitive outcomes than inter‐ or intraspecific competition, and thus contributes to invasion success and rarity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study is to illustrate a peculiar mix that can be found in the poems of the Romanian writer Nora Iuga. The fusion between erotism and religion seems to be labelled as a controversial subject, but it stands as evidence of how the postmodernism was represented in Romanian poetry. Through its ironic and ludic aspect, the expected ”vulgarity” of the subject is tadesaded out. Nora Iuga dived into the most intimate areas of life and created an experimental poetry whose ingenuity and freshness enriched the feminine territory of the Romanian literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article talks about the language of slang used in an informal way, being called vulgar or abusive and categorized to be non-standard language, slang words as nouns, verbs, idioms and analyzing the definitions of slang and jargon. It talks about the prevention of using of slang in literary works, usage of the word jargon for oral form and linked to social group, figurative meanings or symbolic meanings of the word slang, replacing the direct meaning to create humor and give a new meaning.

This article unpacks notions of humour, vulgarity, and allegory in social media discourses during the trial of Oscar Pistorius by analysing the dynamic interactions between South Africa's judicial system and multiple discourses on Facebook and Twitter. It explores whether social media, in this instance, provided a platform for citizen-led conversations on the South African judiciary's legal processes. It proposes that where the "legacy media" were constrained in facilitating case-related public discussions, social media created an alternative sphere for citizens to engage with the South African justice system throughout the trial. The article examines the popular views that were posted on Facebook and Twitter during the trial. Using a Foucauldian approach and Achille Mbembe's interpretation of the postcolony, the article argues that the trial of Oscar Pistorius can be used as a lens to examine the humorous, vulgar and allegoric views of South Africans towards the judicial system in the postapartheid era. This is more so in a context where intersectional contestations of class, race, and gender exist within popular socio-political discourses of "rich white men's justice" versus "poor black men's justice." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ads that are indecent, sexist, sexy, exhibit violence to women or treat them as mere objects present a constant and even growing problem in many countries. Both the law and voluntary guidelines find it difficult to handle such ads because of the heterogeneity and flux of the norms bearing on sex and decency in advertising. Advertising bodies and practitioners are improving their responses to this situation which threatens their autonomy but promises to increase their effectiveness. However, these responses also generate unwelcome implications and consequences for advertising's role and freedom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Bohemistyka is the property of Instytut Filologii Slowianskiej Uniwersytetu im. Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article focuses on challenges surrounding obscenity and free speech in Hong Kong, China. Topics discussed include laws governing obscenity in Hong Kong; U.S. Supreme Court's approach to obscenity; and Ming Pao Newspapers Ltd. v. Obscene Articles Tribunal court case addressing the same. It also mentions about Hong Kong government's approach towards the same.

The article is dedicated to artistic vulgarity as a form of freedom of art manifesto. The author explains that using obscene and drastic language which breaks social taboos (particularly sexual ones), has often been caused by the need for artistic freedom. This phenomenon can be observed especially in the so-called communist era (1944–1989) but most importantly in the period of political system’s transformation after 1989. By the example of literature, film, theatre and broadly defined popular culture the author analyzes this process, paying special attention to various ‘traps’ in the usage of vulgar language and artistic expressions, as well as the ultimate high art’s retreat from that strategy.

This essay provides a broad narrative of how the screens designed by architect and designer George Gilbert Scott and made by metalworker Francis Skidmore for the cathedrals of Hereford, Lichfield, and Salisbury, have been regarded since they were produced. It examines debates surrounding removal, retention and rescue, and the twists and turns in the reception history of the Hereford Screen in particular. The article quotes lesser-known voices who influenced the fate of the Hereford Screen, and draws on new research conducted in the archives of Hereford Cathedral and Lichfield Cathedral. An index describing some of the documentation relating to the history of the Hereford Screen in the cathedral archive is available at the bottom of this article as a downloadable appendix.

Gli Squallor: La risata triste e le pernacchieLa satira sociale e politica nella musica italiana durante la Prima RepubblicaAnche se spesso viene catalogato con il marchio onnicomprensivo di ‘Rock demenziale’, il gruppo musicale italiano degli Squallor rappresenta uno dei fenomeni più incisivi di satira politica e sociale nell’Italia moderna. Ciò appare evidente se si esaminano i numerosi pezzi contenuti nei loro album, che presentano brillanti e corrosive parodie di noti partiti e politici, nonché di tendenze culturali e sociali dominanti. Se consideriamo inoltre il periodo in cui gli Squallor raggiunsero il massimo successo (verso la metà degli anni Ottanta), essi possono anche rappresentare l’importante voce di dissenso che caratterizzò gli ultimi decenni della cosiddetta Prima Repubblica. In questo articolo viene esplorata una selezione dei loro più importanti testi, con lo scopo di analizzare le dinamiche della loro particolarissima satira in relazione alle tendenze culturali, sociali e politiche allora in voga in Italia. Ci si sofferma inizialmente sulle varie allusioni politiche presenti in modo generico in pezzi come Alluvione, per poi passare all’analisi di pezzi che presentano una satira politica più esplicita contro noti partiti (come i Verdi) e politici dell’epoca, quali Gianni De Michelis (con Demiculis) e Umberto Bossi ( in Berta II). Gli Squallor hanno creato parodie di famose canzoni utilizzando il nonsense, un umorismo surreale ed iperbolico e spaziando tra sperimentazioni linguistiche ed un linguaggio osceno. In questo modo, l’articolo sostiene che gli Squallor si sono dedicati alla ‘metasatira’, deridendo con successo l’industria musicale e radiotelevisiva italiana. Alla fine offre una riflessione sulla complessità della loro satira che anche se si è affermata come simbolo emblematico dell’anticonformismo, rimane nel contempo un fenomeno difficilmente catalogabile, perché in continua dissacrazione del canone e, in definitiva, anche di sè stesso.

The article is dedicated to artistic vulgarity as a form of freedom of art manifesto. The author explains that using obscene and drastic language which breaks social taboos (particularly sexual ones), has often been caused by the need for artistic freedom. This phenomenon can be observed especially in the so-called communist era (1944-1989) but most importantly in the period of political system's transformation after 1989. By the example of literature, film, theatre and broadly defined popular culture the author analyzes this process, paying special attention to various 'traps' in the usage of vulgar language and artistic expressions, as well as the ultimate high art's retreat from that strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article is showing the presence of vulgar expressions in song lyrics. This is a clear testimony to the changes in the customs and language of culture of recent decades. The paradox is that the development of negative phenomena can contribute to events naturally valued positively, such as expanding the sphere of freedom together with the birth of “Solidarity" or the abolition of the censorship institution with the transformation after 1989. Vulgarism today, after more than a quarter of a century since the release of language from the “care" of censorship, is intensively present in songs that many Poles find important. This stylistic device helps to express and shapes the expressed emotions, describe reality, and it is a manifestation of the generational fear of the sublime. The text discusses the songs of authors such as: Andrzej Garczarek, Jacek Kaczmarski, Kazik Staszewski, Krzysztof Grabowski (Grabaż), Marcin Świetlicki, Hubert Dobaczewski (Spięty), Paweł Sołtys (Pablopavo). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Xiangsheng 相声 (cross talk), which has been one of the most popular folk art performance genres with the Chinese people since its emergence during the Qing Dynasty, began to lose its popularity at the turn of the 1990s. However, this downward trajectory changed from about 2005, and it once again began to enthuse the public. The catalyst for this change in fortune has been attributed to Guo Degang and his Deyun Club 德云社. The general audience acclaim for Guo Degang’s xiangsheng performance not only turned him into a xiangsheng master and a grassroots cultural hero, it also, somewhat absurdly, evoked criticism from a few critics. The main causes of the negative critiques are the mundane themes and the ubiquitous vulgar baofu 包袱 (comical elements) and rude jokes enlisted in Guo’s xiangsheng performance that revolve around the subjects of ethics, pornography, and prostitution, and which turn Guo into a signifier of vulgarity. However, with the media platform provided via the Weibo 微博 microblog, Guo Degang demonstrates his penchant for refined taste and his talent as an elegant literati. Through an in-depth analysis of both Guo Degang’s xiangsheng performance and his microblog entries, this paper will examine the contrasting features between Guo Degang’s artistic creations and his “private” life. Also, through the opposing contents and reflections of Guo Degang’s xiangsheng works and his microblog writings, an opaque and sometimes diametrically opposed insight into his worldviews is provided, and a glimpse of the dualistic nature of engagement and withdrawal from the world is revealed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Thélème is the property of Universidad Complutense de Madrid and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

One problem with the religious sub-genre of Hagiographic films is that they frequently romanticize, sentimentalize, or idealize the lives of saints. Our purpose is to excavate three major film biopics on the life of Protestant reformer Martin Luther and demonstrate where the use of excremental humor humanizes him. Such coarse embodied humor invites a consubstantial identity of a holy man with his secular audience. Where laughter is present, saints are not elevated to being "more spiritual than God." The use of excremental humor gives weight, or the gravity of earth, to the transcendent, bringing the holy down into the everyday. We argue that it is the comedy in the life of Luther that makes him more authentic, showing how film can communicate the presence of God in earthen vessels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]