Browsing by Author "Ringmar, Erik"

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Audience for a giraffe: European expansionism and the quest for the exotic
(2006-12-01)
Ringmar, Erik
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交大名義發表
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National Chiao Tung University
The two main waves of European expansion-those of the Renaissance and of the nineteenth century-cannot simply be explained in economic terms. The high degree of risk and uncertainty associated with overseas ventures meant that they were less than fully rational. An explanation must begin by considering how the Europeans defined the extra-European world, how they defined the exotic. This article analyzes European reactions to two giraffes-one given to Lorenzo de' Medici of Florence in 1486 and the other to King Charles X of France in 1827. A comparison is made with the Chinese reactions to two giraffes that appeared in Beijing in the early fifteenth century.
Inter-textual relations - The quarrel over the Iraq War as a conflict between narrative types
(2006-12-01)
Ringmar, Erik
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社會與文化所
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Institute of Social Research and Culture Studies
In this article, I analyse the unexpected quarrels and strange new alliances that formed in response to the United States' decision to go to war against Iraq in the spring of 2003. Telling different stories about Iraq, about themselves and about the nature of world politics, decision-makers reached different, conflicting conclusions. As is the case with all stories, these accounts are best analysed with the help of literary theory. Pursuing such an investigation I find that the stories follow closely one or the other of four classical narrative types: romance, tragedy, comedy and satire. I explain the quarrels and strange new alliances as a problem of inter-textuality.
Modernity, boredom, and war: a suggestive essay
(2011-10-01)
Kustermans, Jorg
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Ringmar, Erik
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交大名義發表
;
National Chiao Tung University
The quest for perpetual peace is a modern phenomenon, associated with a progressive view of history which emerged only in the Enlightenment. In addition, boredom - a feeling of ennui associated with a loss of the ability to act - is a fundamental mood of the modern age. Modern societies are thus, simultaneously, becoming more peaceful and their inhabitants are becoming more bored. As a means of overcoming our boredom, we are increasingly fascinated by violence, and war is glorified as a means of restoring our ability to act. Empirical illustrations of this thesis are drawn from World War I and from the Bush administration's 'global War on Terror'.
Modernity, boredom, and war: a suggestive essay
(2011-10-01)
Kustermans, Jorg
;
Ringmar, Erik
;
交大名義發表
;
National Chiao Tung University
The quest for perpetual peace is a modern phenomenon, associated with a progressive view of history which emerged only in the Enlightenment. In addition, boredom - a feeling of ennui associated with a loss of the ability to act - is a fundamental mood of the modern age. Modern societies are thus, simultaneously, becoming more peaceful and their inhabitants are becoming more bored. As a means of overcoming our boredom, we are increasingly fascinated by violence, and war is glorified as a means of restoring our ability to act. Empirical illustrations of this thesis are drawn from World War I and from the Bush administration's 'global War on Terror'.