Aesthetics of disaster as decolonial aesthetics: making sense of the effects of Hurricane María through Puerto Rican contemporary art

ABSTRACT

On 20 September 2017, Hurricane María made landfall on Puerto Rico causing unprecedented disaster. From that day onwards, the Puerto Rican multi-layered colonial, social and political context was further complicated by the traumatic acceleration of a human disaster via this natural disaster. This crystalized the urgency of using art as vehicle for (social) catharsis, a practice that continues to be used by individual artists, collectives, community organizations, art projects, and other art institutions on the island and abroad, through mural art, community paintings, art exhibitions, literature, music, and many other aesthetic expressions. This article examines, from a decolonial and critical cultural studies perspective, post-Hurricane María artistic expressions in contemporary art as decolonial aesthetics through the cathartic use of the frame of an aesthetics of disaster. It is argued that, an aesthetics of disaster aims to re-assert an artistic form that is able to accelerate the discursive nullification of a deeply rooted colonial, social and cultural problem by way of art as catharsis inspired by the way that Hurricane María unveiled these problems. The piece briefly contextualizes Puerto Rico, and it examines the idea of Puerto Rican contemporary art as catharsis. Then, it describes how Puerto Rican contemporary art exhibitions and associated aesthetic production are processing urgent post-hurricane issues through three illustrative pieces in exhibitions in PR and abroad in the United States (US). Lastly, decolonial aesthetics is reexamined and re-understood, informed by Édouard Glissant's view expressed in Poetics of Relation which aids to the conclusion that Puerto Rican contemporary art using the frame of an aesthetics of disaster functions as a powerful form of decolonial aesthetics.     

Filling the ‘empty space’: Site-specific dance in a techno club

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竖屏短视频中的身体呈现与身体消费

随着应用平台的不断完善和用户习惯的逐渐养成，竖屏短视频俨然成为身体视觉形象荷载和身体审美的绝佳场域，用户也在表演与欣赏的过程中实现自身表达，获得价值认同。不仅如此，竖屏短视频还利用单手竖持、影像竖制及大数据反馈实现身体在场和人机交互的升级，进一步收割用户注意力并成为新一轮互联网商业模式演进新入口。值得注意的是，当前在改变用户消费观念和方式的同时，竖屏短视频也被消费主义裹挟，一度陷入媒介伦理失范、传播生态失衡的发展阵痛之中。     

德智体美劳全面培养的教育体系蕴含的理念探析

德智体美劳全面培养的教育体系是我党一以贯之的根本遵循,是为实现“两个一百年奋斗目标”和中华民族伟大复兴夯实人才基础及青少年个体成长成才的时代命题。揭示德智体美劳全面培养的教育体系的内在逻辑和其中蕴含的全面性理念、整体性理念和实践性理念,是新时代形成更高水平的人才培养体系应有之意。     

基于接受美学的葡萄酒名称的汉译及其意义

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The self as the locus of morality: A comparison between Charles Taylor and George Herbert Mead's theories of the moral constitution of the self

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孔子政法观念之再认识

作为儒家创始人的孔子,其法律思想带有一定的保守主义色彩。参照现代法学理论,形式意义上的"法",在孔子的政法观念中就是"刑";实质意义上的"法",在孔子的政法观念中则是德礼、政刑的规范体系。孔子所理解的"法"基本被限制在"刑"的范围内,而"礼"则部分承担了"法"的"规范"职能,这也是"仁政""德教"与"和谐"等孔子政法观念核心价值的立论基础。然而,当"法"不只是"刑"的时候,"仁政""德教"与"和谐"等核心价值则需要被重新审视。     

走出对道德与经济基础关系认识的误区

学术界对经济基础概念的理解存在着误区，把经济基础看作经济水平、经济条件即生产力，认为生产力直接决定道德，不理解生产力对道德的影响是间接的而不是直接的，从而无法说明人的私有观念的产生和发展，无法说明道德的阶级性，看不到政治思想、政治制度对道德的影响，夸大了道德的相对独立性。     

微公益凸显的伦理问题及对策探析

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新乡土世界的美学建构——新世纪河南女作家乡土小说分析

新世纪以来,一批河南籍女性作家开始崭露头角,并取得了引人注目的成绩。面对急剧转型的时代,传统乡土叙事经验已经无法涵盖已经发生巨变的乡土社会,河南籍女作家以一种更加开放的姿态面对新的乡土世界,她们的创作把日常生活经验转化成一种叙事伦理,从而以独特的乡土感知,细致的文字表述拓宽了传统乡土小说的表现领域,更新补充了乡土小说的叙事内涵,为河南乡土文学注入了新质。