The dark side of the Mediterranean : expression of fear from the inquisition to the present

Inside the stones of its most famous buildings, Évora keeps mysteries and secrets which constitute the most hidden side of its cultural identity. A World Heritage site, this town seems to preserve, in its medieval walls, a precious knowledge of the most universal and ancient human emotion: fear. Trying to transcend many of its past and future fears, some of its historical monuments in Gothic style were erected against the fear of death, the most terrible of all fears, which the famous inscription, in the Bones Chapel of the Church of São Francisco, insistently reminds us, through the most disturbing words: “Nós ossos que aqui estamos pelos vossos esperamos”. If the first inquisitors worked in central Europe (Germany, northern Italy, eastern France), later the centres of the Inquisition were established in the Mediterranean regions, especially southern France, Italy, Portugal, and Spain. Consequently, the roots of fear in Évora are common to other towns, where the Inquisition developed a culture of fear, through which we can penetrate into the dark side of the Mediterranean, where people were subjected to the same terrifying methods of persecution and torture. This common geographical and historical context was not ignored by one of the most famous masters of American gothic fiction, Edgar Allan Poe. Through the pages of The Pit and the Pendulum, readers get precise images of the fearful instruments of terror that were able to produce the legend that has made the first grand inquisitor, Tomas de Torquemada, a symbol of ultimate cruelty, bigotry, intolerance, and religious fanaticism, which unfortunately are still the source of our present fears in a time when religious beliefs can be used again as a motif of war and destruction. As Krishnamurti once suggested, only a fundamental realization of the root of all fear can free our minds.

Memorias montoneras: metáforas de la guerra en Argentina (Crítica)

La autora lee la novela de Sergio Pollastri desde la perspectiva crítica de las posibilidades e imposibilidades de la reconstrucción de una historia, a partir de este relato testimonial que se mueve en el territorio de la violencia y las armas (la militancia política) y en el de la subjetividad (la poesía, la ficción). Resalta los vínculos entre vida y literatura, que cruzan toda la novela, así, apela a la metáfora para referirse a dos tipos de silencios en las ficciones sobre la violencia revolucionaria: la opción por las armas y la delación bajo tortura. Resalta el rol de la metáfora en este texto que tensa hasta sus límites el género testimonial, y que cobra su mayor fuerza hacia el final: «La revolución es frágil y superficial como una violeta, aquello que la comparación desarrolla es al mismo tiempo lo que amortigua la caída del salto brutal al vacío con el que la novela cierra su enunciación».

Los militares profanadores de la ciudad (Dossier: Literaturas de la integración, el Sur y su diversidad)

Reseña dos novelas publicadas en la década de 1980, que se ambientan en los años en que la dictadura uruguaya invade Minas, una pequeña ciudad de provincias. La balada de Johnny Sosa es la historia de la pérdida de la inocencia del negro Johnny, es también una “parábola sobre la dignidad humana, dando voz a quienes no la tienen, a los desheredados. A quienes, con militares o sin ellos siempre han estado en el fondo de la bolsa”. La misma ciudad de Minas es también el escenario de Las ventanas del silencio, novela en la que hablan diferentes voces, se narra cómo los soldados realizan allanamientos, encarcelan, torturan y matan, imponen el reparto de castigos y de favores. Aquí, en esta ciudad pequeña, en la que la frase “En Uruguay todos se conocen” resulta más evidente, el efecto de la dictadura y de las delaciones que ella propiciaba fue devastador. Ambas novelas narran, en definitiva, lo que ha ocurrido en este país “cuando los militares profanaron la ciudad”.

Dear living person

‘Dear Living Person,’ Chapter included in edited collection incl. texts by Claire Fontaine, Gareth James, Paul Chan and Sam Lewitt. The chapter is written from the perspective of a recently deceased corpse. It examines the claims art makes to moving beyond boundaries and testing limits (of medium, discipline, and category) as a cliché of transcendence. This is described in relation to the operation of the false ‘master’ limit between the living and the dead, with reference to Reza Negarestani’s vivid reenactment of Etruscan torture, and contemporary performances of institutional critique: Fraser, Krebber and Carpenter.

Dear living person

This chapter is written from the perspective of a recently deceased corpse. It examines the claims art makes to moving beyond boundaries and testing limits (of medium, discipline, and category) as a cliché of transcendence. This is described in relation to the operation of the false ‘master’ limit between the living and the dead, with reference to Reza Negarestani’s vivid reenactment of Etruscan torture, and contemporary performances of institutional critique: Fraser, Krebber and Carpenter.

Does terrorism threaten human rights? Evidence from panel data

Using panel data for 111 countries over the period 1982–2002, we employ two indexes that cover a wide range of human rights to empirically analyze whether and to what extent terrorism affects human rights. According to our results,terrorism significantly, but not dramatically, diminishes governments’ respect for basic human rights such as the absence of extrajudicial killings, political imprisonment, and torture. The result is robust to how we measure terrorist attacks, to the method of estimation, and to the choice of countries in our sample. However, we find no effect of terrorism on empowerment rights.

Euphemism: Sweet Talking or Deception?

The aim of this paper is to shed light on euphemism in two different senses: sweet talking and deception. I shall treat euphemism from two different perspectives: the usual use of euphemism, sweet talking, in which it is used to maintain one's face and the orthophemistic sense, deception, where 'torture' is referred to as "enhanced interrogation techniques". I shall analyze examples, taken from religious, cultural, political backgrounds, on each case. Moreover, I shall talk about taboo since it is usually associated with euphemism. I shall talk about the referential (semantic) and expletive (pragmatic) aspects of swearing expressions. In this essay, I shall show that euphemism can be used in two different senses: sweet talking and deception.

Aperfeiçoamento da política pública penal no Brasil : a inserção da audiência de custódia no processo penal

Neste exercício são discutidas formas de empreender mudanças em políticas públicas, focando especialmente no estudo da política prisional brasileira. O que é central no debate proposto é a viabilidade da inserção de audiência a ser realizada imediatamente após a prisão de um indivíduo, a audiência de custódia, que possibilitará o encontro entre a pessoa presa e o juiz. O ator promotor da mudança, o Instituto de Defesa do Direito de Defesa – IDDD apregoa como resultado mecanismos de prevenção e combate à tortura e um efetivo controle judicial da detenção. Subsequente a esse argumento, o Instituto é enquadrado como figura influente no papel de grupo de pressão pela mudança na política pública prisional por meio da defesa da audiência de custódia.

Direitos humanos e dilemas da democracia no Brasil: um estudo sociológico do trabalho policial (1985-2009)

According to the Public National Security Plan, the security is "[ ] a right by democratic excellence legitimately desired by all sectors of society, which is the fundamental right of citizenship, obligation of the constitutional state and responsibility of each one of us." The 1988 Constitution recognized the rights of life, liberty and personal integrity, considered torture and racial discrimination as crimes. The prime directive of the National Security and Citizenship (Law No. 11,707 of June 19, 2008 - PRONASCI-Brazil) expresses the commitment of the Brazilian state with the promotion of human rights. But despite this formal recognition, official violence continues to be used as a means of maintaining social order, consolidating a police action violating human rights (Amnesty International report "They go in shooting" - AI Index: AMR 19/025/2005) . This thesis analyzes the police work combined with the extension of citizenship rights, the spaces of freedom and democracy as a measure for the degree of affirmation or denial of the Human Rights in Brazil, and proposes the construction of a human friendly Police Force (Post - Colonial, Post-Abyss, Intercultural and Democratic)

Medo de dentista em cena: uma análise de produções cinematográficas

The fear related to dental procedures can be acquired through disturbing experiences and/or negative cultural influences related in experiences of previous generations. Such influences may be present in diverse forms of cultural expression: in the cinema, plastic arts, music, literature, and diverse vehicles of printed and visual media. This research aimed investigates the images of fear related to the dental service and dentist in motion pictures. The study has qualitative approach, which used the documentary analysis of movies. The data collection was accomplished through research in the Internet by means of the Google tool (http://www.google.com.br), using the describing words filme and dentista . A total of 44 films were found. Of these, after selective criterion for films with scenes showing interaction between dentist and patient in the execution of clinical procedure, only 24 films were enclosed. Then, these were registered in data base created for this research. After second selective criterion of inclusion (scenes with suggestion of dental anxiety), 15 films remained. As regards cinematographic gender, the films with scenes showing "dental anxiety" varied between comedy (8), horror (3), drama (2), thriller (1) and childish (1). Of these films, scenes with images of situations that suggest fear of the dentist and his job were selected and described. The images were categorized by the identification of negative characteristics that incite "dental anxiety". Then, the classification of the categories was proceeded detaching the most recurrent characteristics in the scenes: situation of fear in the waiting-room; pain; instrument coarse/rudimentary; coarseness of the dentist; torture; and low qualification technique. The waiting-room was observed as a place of great tension, due to the noises coming from the dental attendance. The pain related to the Dentistry was the predominant subject in the majority of films (14), associated to others negative characteristics. The rudimentary aspects of procedures and instruments, and the coarse attitudes of the professional could be observed too. The dentist was characterized as confused, sadist, violent, insensitive, incompetent person and disturbed. Such results suggest that, despite the technological advances of the profession, the image of the dentist and his job is still transmitted in a negative way aspect and reinforces the dental anxiety

Crime, ordem e violência em São Paulo: a percepção do nível de violência urbana no município de Assis

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Brincar no hospital: um encontro possível

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

As normas multilaterais para o combate ao terrorismo: uma análise das políticas dos EUA no pós 11 de setembro e sua recepção nos espaços decisórios da ONU

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

A dor que ressoa nos contos pós-64: aspectos de uma ficcionalização do testemunho

A presente dissertação enfoca as relações entre a literatura e a história, tendo por objetivo identificar e analisar os aspectos recorrentes em contos que ficcionalizam o relato da tortura ligada ao Regime Militar brasileiro de 1964. Para tanto, elegemos como corpus desta pesquisa os textos “Acudiram três cavaleiros”, de Marques Rabelo (1967); “O mar mais longe que vejo”, de Caio Fernando Abreu (1970); “Pedro Ramiro”, de Rodolfo Konder (1977); “O jardim das oliveiras”, de Nélida Piñon (1980); “Saindo de dentro do corpo”, de Flávio Moreira da Costa (1982); “O leite em pó da bondade humana”, de Haroldo Maranhão (1983); “Não passarás o Jordão”, de Luiz Fernando Emediato (1984); e “A mancha”, de Luis Fernando Veríssimo (2003). Tais narrativas apresentam como núcleo narrativo cenas de tortura relacionadas à ditadura civil-militar instalada no Brasil em 1964. Partimos da hipótese de que esses contos se apropriam de aspectos composicionais do testemunho verídico e os reelaboram esteticamente nos textos, muitas vezes, rompendo o que se teoriza sobre o testemunho verídico, na tentativa de se traduzir em palavras as aporias da rememoração do trauma provocado pela tortura. Para dar conta de tais proposições, elegeu-se como percurso a contextualização histórica realizada no primeiro capítulo, com o intuito de pontuar as relações existentes entre as produções e o contexto histórico. Em seguida, no capítulo dois, realizou-se a revisão do referencial teórico que baseia a pesquisa, centrando nas formulações propostas acerca da teoria do testemunho. Por fim, no terceiro capítulo, realizou-se a análise do corpus, com base em três aspectos recorrentes nas narrativas: a composição dos personagens, a organização da narrativa e a seleção vocabular. Para tal análise iremos nos pautar, principalmente, nas formulações de Seligmann-Silva (2003; 2008), Valeria de Marco (2004) e Elcio Loureiro Cornelsen (2011), acerca do testemunho de catástrofes históricas e da dimensão ficcional dessas produções; nas proposições de Maria Rita Kehl (2004) sobre o corpo torturado; e nas considerações de Sigmund Freud (1920), sobre trauma.