The arts of refusal: tragic unreconciliation,pariah humour,and haunting laughter

ABSTRACT

This paper investigates Hannah Arendt’s writings on tragic unreconciliation and pariah humour as offering creative strategies for confronting the deadening of emotion that enables people to become reconciled to what they should refuse or resist. She offers a distinctive contribution to debates on reconciliation and justice, I suggest, by articulating a tragic approach to unreconciliation. Yet Arendt recognised that tragic accounts of violence can reinforce denial and resignation. In writings on the ‘hidden tradition’ of the ‘Jew as pariah,’ Arendt suggests that humour can be an important response to tragic accounts of political violence and a strategy for awakening an emotional response in those who cannot perceive tragedies to which they have become reconciled. As arts of refusal, tragic unreconciliation and pariah humour invoke and subvert the tragic imagination to reveal possibilities for solidarity, responsibility, and transformation that challenge problematic forms of reconciliation – reconciliation to one’s role as a participant in, or bystander to abuse, reconciliation as self-abnegating assimilation, and reconciliation as compromise, scapegoating, or denial.     

家兔死后玻璃体液离子浓度检测的微量重复取样法

目的探讨微量重复取样法对兔玻璃体液样本离子浓度或元素含量检测的可行性。方法28只家兔分为3组:Ⅰ组:死后12h一次取出所有玻璃体液;Ⅱ组:死后12h微量取样50μl,连续取15次;Ⅲ组:死后120h微量取样50μl,连续取15次。分别检测样本中Ca2+、C l-、K+、Na+和磷元素的含量,并对所得数据进行统计分析。结果Ⅰ、Ⅱ、Ⅲ组左、右眼的Ca2+均数分别为1.956和2.068,1.942和1.948,2.071和2.045;C l-为111.520和121.240,116.744和117.022,106.322和106.767;K+为13.016和13.900,11.230和11.144,35.411和34.828;Na+为127.200和141.880,133.872和134.566,111.511和110.647;磷元素为0.556和0.744,0.284和0.280,5.585和5.597。3组双眼上述5种成分含量经配对t检验,其P值范围分别为0.2753~1.2365,0.1627~1.6596,0.1520~1.3446,0.2386~1.0892和0.0575~0.8195;Ⅱ、Ⅲ组的重复取样检测经方差分析,其P值为0.9433和0.8638,两组总体重复取样检测的方差分析,P值为0.8772。结论微量重复取样法对兔玻璃体液样本离子或元素含量的检测无实际影响。     

家兔玻璃体液间隔多次微量取样方法研究

目的探讨间隔多次微量取样玻璃体液是否可用于死亡时间推断。方法99只家兔分为2大组(I)大组45只,再分为A、B、C、D、E五个小组(每组9只),右眼(实验眼)于死后间隔12h多次取样直至24h(A组)、48h(B组)、72h(C组)、96h(D组)和120h(E组);各小组左眼(对照眼)仅分别于死后24h、48h、72h、96h和120h取样一次。检测Ca2+、Cl-、K+、Na+和P含量,同一取样时间的双眼做配对t检验。(II)大组54只,再分为2小组F组9只,每隔12h双眼交替多次取样直至120h;G组45只,每隔12h一次取样10眼(动物左右眼均编号后随机抽取每次10眼),直至120h;检测Ca2+、K+和Na+,两组差值做t检验及PMI回归方程比较。结果E组K+有差异(P<0.05),其余A~E组双眼物质含量配对t检验均无差异(P>0.05)。F与G组物质含量差值t检验无差异(P>0.05);K+、Na+的PMI线性回归方程的斜率、截距无差异(P>0.05),Ca2+与PMI无相关性。结论控制间隔时间和取样次数,多次微量取样对死后玻璃体液元素含量的规律性变化无显著影响,可以替代传统方法进行死亡时间研究。     

References for determining the time of death by potassium in vitreous humor

The different statements concerning the slope and intercept of the regression line and the 95% limits of confidence are the reason that potassium in vitreous humor is not used (at least in Germany) as an aid in estimating the time of death. The relationship between the concentration of potassium and the time of death is mainly influenced by antemortem electrolyte imbalances caused by disease and/or duration of terminal episode. The influence of terminal episode is best identified by its duration (Adelson et al., J. Forensic Sci., 8 (1963) 503–514). In order to have a method suitable for every case and to be as precise as possible we looked therefore for parameters in vitreous humor which were stable postmortem and indicating antemortem electrolyte imbalance. Urea is such a parameter, being stable postmortem (Coe, Am. J. Clin. Pathol., 51 (1969) 741–750) and useful as a marker of antemortem electrolyte imbalance. Our investigations on potassium in vitreous humor, including sudden and hospital deaths after chronic lingering disease, revealed 95% limits of confidence of ±34 h up to 120 h postmortem. Reviewing only cases with urea less than 100 mg/dl the 95% limits of confidence could be reduced to ±22 h. Considering the duration of terminal episode (<6 h) the precision was ±20 h. In this way our modified procedure is suitable for every case with the resulting precision of estimation being determined only by the duration of the terminal episode and urea concentration.     

Ridicule,gender hegemony,and the disciplinary function of mainstream gender humour

ABSTRACT

This paper foregrounds the disciplinary power of ridicule, as a form or aspect of humour, vis-à-vis gender norms. While much theoretical and empirical research in gender studies recognizes the punitive function of gendered humour and/or ridicule, this function is given no theoretical significance. To resolve this tension, I integrate social psychologist Michael Billig's theory of ridicule as a universal reinforcer of the social order, along with the notion of gender order (as a particular type of social order) as outlined in masculinities theorist Raewyn Connell's gender hierarchy model. I contend that as a form of mainstream gender humour, ridicule serves as a tool for policing the gender order and creating self-regulating gendered subjects. The argument enables a rereading of mainstream gender humour, especially when it deploys ridicule to target non-hegemonic gendered subjectivities, practices, and performances. Such apparently banal humour, as I illustrate with examples of contemporary Anglo-American mainstream gender humour, speaks to and protects the fundamental elements of the gender order of the society and culture in which the humour circulates. The paper concludes with a brief discussion of the implications of the main argument for pro-gender democracy research and activism.     

The clown's carnival in the hospital: a semiotic analysis of the medical clown's performance

The medical clown's multimodal performance in the hospital takes place within its rigid space. A clown in a hospital is a paradox. “Medical clowning” is a metaphor taken from two seemingly unrelated fields of meaning, juxtaposing what is medical, scientific, serious and logical with clowning, emotions, carnival spirit and humour. The clown addresses barriers erected by illness, pain, alienation and distress with a continuous flexible performance of humour and fantasy tailored to changing conditions and circumstances. A clown, by definition, threatens the public order and seemingly has no place in the hospital paradigm. The current article compares medical clowns to carnival clowns, examines the medical clown's flexible performance, illustrates it with case studies, presents a semiotic analysis of the clown's journey through the hospital and examines the significance of the performance on the ideological level.     

Estimation of the post-mortem interval: Effect of storage conditions on the determination of vitreous humour [K+]

Obtaining a reliable estimate of the post-mortem interval (PMI) has been a long-running challenge in forensic medicine. Several more or less successful techniques for making such estimates have been developed, but in recent years important advances have been made thanks to the detailed study of the relationship between the PMI and the analytes - in particular K⁺ - of the vitreous humour (VH). The extraction and pre-treatment of VH samples has been standardized, the influence of certain environmental factors on analytical results has been quantified, and some of the circumstances under which techniques become unreliable have been identified. The present work examines how the conditions to which VH samples are subject in routine practice may alter the results of their analysis. Exposure to light and ambient temperature was found to alter the values returned in determinations of VH [K⁺], [Na⁺] and [Cl^-], while exposure to several freezing/thawing cycles (even with final heating) led to no significant modifications in determinations of VH [K⁺] and [Na⁺]. It is recommended that if analysis has to be delayed, VH should be frozen for storage in a refrigerator before bringing to room temperature for processing. It is also recommended that samples not be exposed to ambient light and temperature.     

‘Let them entertain themselves’: the fall of the Mubarak regime seen through Egyptian political cartoons

This article examines the issues underlying the downfall of the Mubarak regime from the perspective of Egyptian cartoonists. A total of 2734 political cartoons published in five leading newspapers between January 2010 and February 2011 are analyzed. Because they form a significant part of the cultural context within which these cartoons are created, popular political jokes are also referenced. The study identifies political stagnation, domestic issues and corruption as the three most significant issues that paved the road to the fall of Mubarak.     

家兔玻璃体液微量取样与一次取样的比较

目的比较微量取样与一次取样的优劣。方法36只家兔分为4组(每组9只),于死后12h取样:I组于一次取出所有VH;II组微量取样50μl,连续取15次;III组左眼一次取样。右眼微量重复取样。IV组双眼第1次微量取样,剩余一次取出。检测Ca2 、Cl-、K 、Na 和P等含量,数据统计分析。结果III组左右眼、(IV)组先后两次取样配对t检验无差异(P>0.05),各组微量取样样本的变异系数、双眼差较小。结论微量取样的操作影响较小、稳定性和重复性好,更适合法医学研究和应用。     

家兔玻璃体液2种酶活性变化与死亡时间的相关性

目的探讨死后家兔玻璃体液胆碱脂酶(CHE)和谷草转氨酶(GOT)活性与死后经过时间(PM I)的相关性。方法应用光度法检测在25~30℃和10~15℃下死后即刻至54h之间玻璃体液CHE和GOT活性。结果死后即刻至54h之间,ChE、GOT活性分别由约850U/L、220U/L逐步降解趋于零。死后6h内,两种酶活性降解存在平台期。统计分析,得出相应的单元和多元回归方程,相关系数或决定系数均在0.896以上,P<0.01。结论两种酶活性的降解规律可作为较为客观的推断PM I的参考指标。