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Critical meme reader

"The Sermon on Saint Nobody": A Verse Translation of a Middle Dutch Parodic Sermon

During the medieval and early modern periods, the mock sermon was one of the most widely staged festive rituals. There are records of its performance in most European countries and cultures. But despite its clear popularity in England, few of these texts are extant in English. Fewer still have been translated in their entirety. To remedy this situation, we provide here a translation of the sixteenth century Dutch poem Spotsermoen over Sint Niemand. This piece embodies most of the key features of the mock sermon; the text's rhetorical strategies, its content, and the details it reveals about its performance are all typical of the genre. Thus, the poem is offered as a specimen of the mock sermon's overall conventions and forms.

Transgression in contemporary media culture

This is the introduction to a special issue on media and transgression, one of early cultural studies’ key terms. It inquires into the uses of transgression as a critical concept to query contemporary media culture which is discussed in six case studies: on political satire, Mukbang, cult drama, the policing of film piracy, media scandals, and online trolls. Transgression points to the energy that fuels the media ecology – from content and content production to audience practices and the policing of content ownership. It is the (conscious) overstepping of moral and legal boundaries, that challenges written and unwritten rules. The frisson of rule breaking and the reward of rule re-establishment (whether by powerful parties or everyday gossip) are transgression’s bookends. Together they support the cyclical rhythm of media culture that maintains not just our interest as viewers but our interests and connectedness as citizens, whether in celebration, outrage or condemnation.

Critical meme reader II

The (political) power of memes has moved beyond virtual images. The distinction between the virtual and ‘real life’ no longer applies, or perhaps was never really there. Their effects (or should we say affects?) are moving through digital infrastructures, policy, regulations and bodies. If memes are used as a tool by the alt-right to mobilize people to storm the Capitol and play a substantial role in the Ukrainian war, can they also be used by the left to spark a revolution, as memetic warfare is more immediate and accessible than real-life demonstrations? What kind of labor would that require? What kind of tools and principles would we need? And what if memetic logics of spreading information were applied to spread progressive ideas for a possible future?

Festivals & beleving

Glastonbury, het theaterfestival in Avignon, North Sea Jazz, Sensation White, deDuitse oktoberfeesten, het carnaval in Rio en Venetië of de Mardi Gras in NewOrleans, de lancering van de nieuwste smartphone of gameconsole, de Fiesta inPamplona, plaatselijke talentenjachten, de May Day Cooper’s Hill Cheese Rollingand Wake, waarbij het de bedoeling is om van een steile heuvel achter eenrollende Gloucester kaas aan te rennen… Het kost tegenwoordig aanzienlijkemoeite om op een vrije dag niet ondergedompeld te worden in allerlei festiviteiten en evenementen. Festivals zijn hierin prominent aanwezig. Maar wat is een festival eigenlijk? Deze studie formuleert hier een antwoord op door het rijke landschap van festivals te schetsen en hoe dit te ontleden is in motivaties voor bezoek, de specifieke bouwstenen van een festival, het festivalDNA, en de plek waar het allemaal gebeurt: de festivalscape. Ondanks dat de laatste decennia het onderzoek naar festivals aanzienlijk is toegenomen is de bezoekersbeleving van festivals een onderwerp waar relatief weinig onderzoekers zich diepgaand mee bezig hebben gehouden. In het tweede gedeelte van dit boek staat beleving centraal, waarbij emotietheorieën worden besproken en allerhande belevingsmodellen en meetmethoden de revue zullen passeren om de weg vrij te maken voor een gerichte en onderbouwde analyse van de bezoekersbeleving, zoals de beleving van sfeer.

Lab Amsterdam

Amsterdam as a lab. That is what Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences' three fieldlabs and its many partners have in mind. Functional illiteracy, debts, learning deficiencies or problems caused by extreme precipitation: the city contains plenty of tough issues, demanding novel approaches in which co-creation and participation by residents, social organizations and knowledge institutions are basic principles.In the fieldlabs, people try to change current practices by working with, instead of for or on behalf of those whom it concerns. But how to achieve effective learning environments between parties? How to encourage stakeholder participation in complex issues? And how to build new relations and roles?