Category: Academic
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The Mercy of Forests
Written by Megan Crutchley. What has the role of forest been in folklore? Megan Crutchley examines it as a place of mercy and magic in relation to Greek and German myths and folktales.
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Intellectual History and Post-Modernism: The Philosophy of History, The Cult of Rationalism and Approaches to Contemporary Political Thought
Written by Georgia Smith. The intriguing relationship between the philosophy and practice of history is in need of much deciphering. In this case, Georgia Smith discerns the effects of the traditional methodology of intellectual history on political thought.
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An Analysis of Michel de Montaigne’s ‘On the Cannibals’
Written by Megan Sickmueller. The life and works of Michel de Montaigne are largely remembered for his ‘Essays,’ popularising the literary genre and asserting his own scepticism in the process. Megan Sickmueller discusses one of his more controversial essays – ‘On the Cannibals’ in this article.
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The Voice of Stephen Hawking: Dennis Klatt’s Developments in Speech Synthesis
Written by Kat Jivkova. While a fundamental part of the legacy of the late physicist Stephen Hawking was the speech synthesis that allowed him to partly triumph over his disability, the creator and background the Computer Speech Synthesis has been neglected. Kat Jivkova aims to rectify this by shedding much delayed light on the work of Dennis Klatt.
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How press censorship fostered the neglect of the Nigerian Asaba massacre
Written by Claudia Efemini. What role did British and federal Nigerian press play during the Nigerian Civil War? Claudia Efemini discusses the troubling role much of the press, influenced by neo-colonial considerations, played in enabling massacres like at Asaba and in increasing the severity of the conflict.
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Norns and Moirai: The Fates of Norse and Greek Mythology
Written by Fiona Macrae. The idea of the ‘fates’ is one repeated throughout mythology, three goddesses who spin the thread of life. Fiona Macrae examines the Fates of Norse and Greek mythology, comparing their depiction and asking why the similarities are important.
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The Last Wolf in the UK
Written by Megan Crutchley. The lore of the wolf has always had an integral connection to British folklore and mythology, but where did these ideas and connections arise?
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Elena Ferrante and the History of the Italian Language
Written by Ruth Cullen. What is the significance of using either the local dialect or the school-taught standard? Using the account of Neopolitan bilingualism from Elena Ferrante’s acclaimed novel ‘My Brilliant Friend’ as a starting point, Ruth Cullen discusses the history of the formation of modern standard Italian and its complex social relationship with the enduring local languages and dialects of the country.
Retrospect Journal 