The Political Aesthetics Of Isis And Italian Futurism

Through empirical analysis and theoretical reflection, this book shows that the aesthetics and politics of the Islamic State is “futurist.” ISIS overcomes postmodern pessimism and joins the modern, techno-oriented, and optimistic attitude propagated by Italian Futurism in the early twentieth century. The Islamic State does not only excel through the extensive use of high-tech weapons, social media, commercial bot, and automated text systems. By putting forward the presence of speeding cars and tanks, mobile phones, and computers, ISIS presents jihad life as connected to modern urban culture. Futurism praised violence as a means of leaving behind imitations of the past in order to project itself most efficiently into the future. A profound sense of crisis produces in both Futurism and jihadism a nihilistic attitude toward the present state of society that will be overcome through an exaltation of technology. Futurists were opposed to parliamentary democracy and sympathized with nationalism and colonialism. ISIS jihadism suggests a similarly curious combination of modernism and conservative values. The most obvious modern characteristic of this new image of fundamentalism is the highly aestheticized recruiting material.

This book offers a philosophical exploration of lines in art and culture, and traces their history from Antiquity onwards. Lines can be physical phenomena, cognitive responses to observed processes, or both at the same time. Based on this assumption, the book describes the “philosophy of lines” in art, architecture, and science. The book compares Western and Eastern traditions. It examines lines in the works of Paul Klee, Wassily Kandinsky, and Henri Michaux, as well as in Chinese and Japanese art and calligraphy. Lines are not merely a matter of aesthetics but also reflect the psychological states of entire cultures. In the nineteenth century, non-Euclidean geometry sparked the phenomenon of the “self-negating line,” which influenced modern art; it also prepared the ground for virtual reality. Straight lines, distorted lines, blurred lines, hot and cold lines, dynamic lines, lines of force, virtual lines, and on and on, lines narrate the development of human civilization.

What are the predominant aesthetics of the twenty-first century? Thorsten Botz-Bornstein argues that deculturation, embodied by the conspicuous vulgarity of kitsch, is the overriding visual language of our times. Drawing on the work of Islam scholar Olivier Roy, who argued that religious fundamentalism arises when religion is separated from the indigenous cultural values, Botz-Bornstein shows that the production of 'absolute' truths through deculturation also exists in contemporary education. The neoliberal environment has separated learning from culture by emphasizing standardization and quantified learning outcomes. In a globalized environment, the idea of culture is no longer available as a referent; instead we are taught to rely on the culturally neutral term 'excellence'. For Botz-Bornstein, this is an absolute value similar to the 'truth' of religious fundamentalists. Similarly, kitsch is what happens when aesthetic values are separated from cultural contexts. Kitsch is aesthetic fundamentalism. Kitsch aesthetics are an aesthetics of excellence. The consumption of kitsch can be understood as an intrinsically narcissistic impulse, reinforced by social media, individuals recycling their own selves without being confronted with the culture of the “other.” The existence of self-centred “alternative truths”, fake news and conspiracy theories and selfies are linked together in the fundamentalism–neoliberalism–kitsch pattern. Including analysis of the intersections of 'cute', 'excellent', 'sublime', and 'interesting' in contemporary aesthetic culture, this is a journey through philosophy, psychology and cultural theory, redefining a new aesthetics of deculturation.

The Futurist art movement, founded by F.T. Marinetti in 1909, had a worldwide impact and made important contributions to avant-garde movements in many countries and artistic genres. This yearbook is designed to act as a medium of communication amongst a global community of Futurism scholars. It has an interdisciplinary orientation and presents new research on Futurism across national borders in fields such as literature, fine arts, music, theatre, design, etc. Apart from essays and country surveys it contains reports, reviews and an annual bibliography of recent Futurism studies. Vol. 1 (2011): Special Issue, Futurism in Eastern and Central Europe Vol. 2 (2012): Open Issue Vol. 3 (2013): Special Issue, Iberian Futurism Vol. 4 (2014): Open Issue Vol. 5 (2015): Special Issue, Women Futurists Vol. 6 (2016): Open Issue For Vol. 1-3 please see also: http: //www.degruyter.com/view/j/futur

This rich volume is an homage to the significant impact Professor Siegfried Wiessner has had on scholarship and practice in many areas of international and domestic law. Reflecting the depth and breadth of his writings, it is a collection of thought-provoking, original essays, exploring topics as diverse as theory about law, human rights, the rights of indigenous peoples, the rule of law, constitutional law, the rights of migrants, international investment law and arbitration, space law, the use of force, and many more, all integrated by the problem- and policy-oriented framework of what has come to be known as the New Haven School. Its title “Human Flourishing: The End of Law” reflects the conviction that the purpose of law ought to be to allow humans to achieve their full potential - to thrive and develop, both materially and spiritually, under the law. The volume contributes to a vision of the law as a public order in which the common interest is clarified and implemented peacefully, and offers a source of inspiration for scholars and practitioners working towards such an order of human dignity. .

Assembling scholarship on the subject of nationalism from around the world, this Research Handbook brings to the attention of the reader research showcasing the unprecedented expansion of the scholarly field in general and offers a diversity of perspectives on the topic. It highlights the disarray in Western social sciences and the rise in the relative importance of previously independent scholarly traditions of China and post-Soviet societies. Nationalism is the field of study where the mutual relevance of these traditions is both most clearly evident and particularly consequential.

The Muslim world is not commonly associated with science fiction. Religion and repression have often been blamed for a perceived lack of creativity, imagination and future-oriented thought. However, even the most authoritarian Muslim-majority countries have produced highly imaginative accounts on one of the frontiers of knowledge: astrobiology, or the study of life in the universe. This book argues that the Islamic tradition has been generally supportive of conceptions of extra-terrestrial life, and in this engaging account, Jörg Matthias Determann provides a survey of Arabic, Bengali, Malay, Persian, Turkish, and Urdu texts and films, to show how scientists and artists in and from Muslim-majority countries have been at the forefront of the exciting search. Determann takes us to little-known dimensions of Muslim culture and religion, such as wildly popular adaptations of Star Wars and mysterious movements centred on UFOs. Repression is shown to have helped science fiction more than hurt it, with censorship encouraging authors to disguise criticism of contemporary politics by setting plots in future times and on distant planets. The book will be insightful for anyone looking to explore the science, culture and politics of the Muslim world and asks what the discovery of extra-terrestrial life would mean for one of the greatest faiths.