Editing the Jamaica Reader: A Conversation with Professor Diana Paton and Professor Matthew Smith
Professor Diana Paton and Professor Matthew Smith sit down with Retrospect’s EIC, Jamie Gemmell, to discuss their new volume: The Jamaica Reader: History, Culture, Politics.
Masseur, Minister, Showgirl, Spy – Christine Keeler and the Affair That Has It All
Written by Sophie Whitehead. The Profumo scandal has been written about and re-interpreted in dozens of ways throughout the last seventy years, but what do we know about it now? And how can it offer insight into British society in the 1960s?
Emmy Noether’s Breakthrough: Mathematical Symmetries Are Equivalent to Physical Conservation Laws
Written by Kat Jivkova. Emmy Noether’s contributions to mathematics and Einstein’s theory of relativity have been undervalued. What did her work involve? And why has it taken so long to be properly recognised?
Judas and the Black Messiah (2021): Mississippi Burning and the Role of American Government in Films of the Civil Rights Era
Written by Suzanne Elliott. Representations of Civil Rights Era law enforcement in cinema since the 1980s have been generous, emphasising a fight for justice and tolerance. In this review, Suzanne Elliott examines how Judas and the Black Messiah (2021) breaks this trend, and why such a disruption is welcome.
Cinema in the Age of Obama
Written by Jess Womack. Trends within film largely mirror trends within society, mirroring political and social feeling. This can especially be seen within the ‘Obama-era’ and beyond, where historical fiction exploring the racial past of the US became popular.
Review: Sistersong, Lucy Holland (2021)
Written by Melissa Kane. Lucy Holland’s Sistersong is an enchanting piece of historical fantasy that digs into early Anglo-Saxon Britain.
The Epistemic Mystery of the Cathars
Written by Inge Erdal. A Christian sect deemed heretical by the Catholic Church and routinely persecuted, the history of the Cathars is a complicated one. With regional variations and conflicting historiography, approaching this particular moment in religious history requires an understanding of the mutability of the human experience.
In Greek they say ‘daimon’: Dionysus in Anne Carson’s translation of the Bakkhai
Written by Justin Biggi. Euripides’ ‘Bakkhai’ is widely hailed as his most eminent work, with its central protagonist, Dionysus, receiving a great deal of attention in modern academia. Anne Carson’s treatment of the god in her recent translation draws attention to the ‘othering’ that has pervaded centuries of scholarship.
Review: Our Time is Now: Race and Modernity in Postcolonial Guatemala, Julie Gibbings (2020)
Written by Jamie Gemmell. Dr Julie Gibbings’ 2020 work on postcolonial Guatemala offers an ambitiously broad examination of race and modernity, creating a multi-vocal historical narrative which is simultaneously complex and readable.
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About Me
Retrospect Journal is the official History, Classics and Archaeology journal of the University of Edinburgh. We publish weekly features, academic articles, reviews and historical fiction, as well as a print journal twice a year. Make sure you follow us on social media for the latest news and events.
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