Efraín Jara Hidrovo: la eufonía y el sentido en la poesía (Entrevista)

El 4 de octubre de 2012, la profesora Cecilia Mafla Bustamante entrevistó al conocido poeta cuencano Efraín Jara Idrovo. En este diálogo el escritor narra su trayectoria poética, su ideología política y sus influencias literarias nacionales e internacionales. También hace reflexiones, conjuntamente con su hijo Johnny Jara, sobre el poema Sollozo por Pedro Jara, considerado su mejor obra. Además, examina la estructura semiótica del signo lingüístico y su carácter biplano que mira hacia el sentido y hacia la materialidad del signo, según la teoría de Jan Mukařovský. Profundiza su pensamiento existencial en el concepto “el mundo es la configuración de la conciencia”, y finalmente medita sobre el proceso de la escritura y la producción poética en el Ecuador.

David Ledesma Vázquez: la conciencia de ser abyecto (Crítica)

Este ensayo examina la obra poética del ecuatoriano David Ledesma Vázquez desde algunos conceptos teóricos propuestos por Kristeva y Butler, que permiten entender cómo se va consolidando una conciencia de ser abyecto ante el otro, y cómo desde ahí, y a partir de un muy cuidado manejo de la palabra poética y de ciertos recursos tipográficos, se construye un universo amatorio que se opone al aparato heteronormativo y se enfoca en los afectos. También se destaca, en esta misma línea de resistencia, cómo en la poesía de Ledesma Vázquez se erige un cuestionamiento a la violencia uniformadora de la vida moderna y al impulso teleológico del capitalismo, en particular, al contraponer la hostilidad de la ciudad real –dibujada en varios textos– con la armonía de Sodoma.

José Carlos Mariátegui: el mensaje de Oriente. Aproximaciones al caso de India (Estudios)

A partir de los escritos de José Carlos Mariátegui sobre Oriente, este artículo aborda el análisis del pensador peruano sobre la importancia de los movimientos independentistas de las colonias orientales de Asia y África posteriores a la Primera Guerra Mundial, y su interés en el caso de India. Se resalta la mirada crítica de Mariátegui respecto a la hegemonía de Occidente y el valor de las luchas por la independencia, vistas como la posibilidad de un cambio de orden político y social y, con ello, del surgimiento de una nueva conciencia.

Beyond Belief: Harry Potter in text and film

Despite the fact that the Harry Potter books have won a place in the cultural consciousness and have had enjoyed immense commercial success, they were not accepted within many faith groups at the outset. Using the term ‘religion’ to refers to any system of belief that may be recognised by symbols , I look extracts from three of the novels, alongside their subsequent cinematic adaptations, in order to consider the construction of representations of religion in the films and the contribution made by the films to this debate.

Inverse effectiveness, multisensory integration, and the bodily self: some statistical considerations

A recent report in Consciousness and Cognition provided evidence from a study of the rubber hand illusion (RHI) that supports the multisensory principle of inverse effectiveness (PoIE). I describe two methods of assessing the principle of inverse effectiveness ('a priori' and 'post-hoc'), and discuss how the post-hoc method is affected by the statistical artefact of,regression towards the mean'. I identify several cases where this artefact may have affected particular conclusions about the PoIE, and relate these to the historical origins of 'regression towards the mean'. Although the conclusions of the recent report may not have been grossly affected, some of the inferential statistics were almost certainly biased by the methods used. I conclude that, unless such artefacts are fully dealt with in the future, and unless the statistical methods for assessing the PoIE evolve, strong evidence in support of the PoIE will remain lacking. (C) 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Implications and consequences of robots with biological brains

In this paper a look is taken at the relatively new area of culturing neural tissue and embodying it in a mobile robot platform—essentially giving a robot a biological brain. Present technology and practice is discussed. New trends and the potential effects of and in this area are also indicated. This has a potential major impact with regard to society and ethical issues and hence some initial observations are made. Some initial issues are also considered with regard to the potential consciousness of such a brain.

Remembering and imagining: the role of the self

This study investigated whether temporal clustering of autobiographical memories (AMs) around periods of self-development ( [Rathbone et al., 2008] and [Rathbone et al., 2009]) would also occur when imagining future events associated with the self. Participants completed an AM task and future thinking task. In both tasks, memories and future events were cued using participant-generated identity statements (e.g., I am a student; I will be a mother). Participants then dated their memories and future events, and finally gave an age at which each identity statement was judged to emerge. Dates of memories and future events were recoded as temporal distance from the identity statement used to cue them. AMs and future events both clustered robustly around periods of self-development, indicating the powerful organisational effect of the self. We suggest that life narrative structures are used to organise future events as well as memories.

Last charge of the knights? Iraq, Afghanistan and the special relationship

At the heart of the ‘special relationship’ ideology, there is supposed to be a grand bargain. In exchange for paying the ‘blood price’ as America's ally, Britain will be rewarded with exceptional influence over American foreign policy and its strategic behaviour. Soldiers and statesman continue to articulate this idea. Since 9/11, the notion of Britain playing ‘Greece’ to America's ‘Rome’ gained new life thanks to Anglophiles on both sides of the Atlantic. One potent version of this ideology was that the more seasoned British would teach Americans how to fight ‘small wars’ in Iraq and Afghanistan, thereby bolstering their role as tutor to the superpower. Britain does derive benefits from the Anglo-American alliance and has made momentous contributions to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Yet British solidarity and sacrifices have not purchased special influence in Washington. This is partly due to Atlanticist ideology, which sets Britain unrealistic standards by which it is judged, and partly because the notion of ‘special influence’ is misleading as it loses sight of the complexities of American policy-making. The overall result of expeditionary wars has been to strain British credibility in American eyes and to display its lack of consistent influence both over high policy and the design and execution of US military campaigns. While there may be good arguments in favour of the UK continuing its efforts in Afghanistan, the notion that the war fortifies Britain's vicarious world status is a dangerous illusion that leads to repeated overstretch and disappointment. Now that Britain is in the foothills of a strategic defence review, it is important that the British abandon this false consciousness.