The Imaginary

About: The Imaginary is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 4807 publications have been published within this topic receiving 87663 citations.

Trayectoria y potencial político de la idea de sociedad civil

Abstract: THE AIM OF THIS ESSAY IS TO REFLECT ON THE INTELLECTUAL TRAJECTORY OF THE CONCEPT OF CIVIL SOCIETY (CS) AND TO SPECIFY ITS HEURISTIC VALUE IN RELATION TO POLITICS. THE AUTHOR SHOWS HOW THE CONCEPT HAS BEEN USED BY CERTAIN CLASSICAL AUTHORS AND THEN HOW IT HAS REEMERGED IN MORE RECENT DISCUSSIONS THAT REGARD THE POLITICAL ACTIVATION OF CS AS A CONTINUATION OF THE DEMOCRATIC REVOLUTION. THE ARTICLE ENDS WITH THE SUGGESTION THAT THE IMAGE OF AN ARCHIPELAGO OF CIRCUITS CAN BE USED TO EXTEND POLITICS BEYOND THE TERRITORIAL REPRESENTATION OF THE LIBERAL IMAGINARY.

Mediating global imaginary

Abstract: This article addresses the role of journalism in the construction and mediation of global imaginary. I suggest that the notion of global journalism helps us understand how the image of an interconnected world becomes embedded in the news. The operation of global journalism is illustrated with a qualitative content analysis of the coverage of President Obama's “Address to the Muslim World” in quality British, German and Spanish newspapers. The analysis examines how the newspapers make sense of the President's lecture in Cairo as a transnational news event by evaluating it against the political and historical background of the Middle East conflict and the contentious intercultural relations between “the Muslim world” and “the West”. Based on the analysis, I argue that the Western European newspapers craft a strikingly unified narrative of the Cairo event. The article concludes with a discussion on the implications of transnational news narratives and on the relevance of global imaginary in journalism.

Imaginary Animals: The Monstrous, the Wondrous and the Human

Abstract: Medieval authors placed fantastic creatures in the borders of manuscripts, since they mark the boundaries of our understanding. Tales throughout the world generally place fabulous beasts in marginal locations - deserts, deep woods, remote islands, glaciers, ocean depths, mountain peaks, caves, swamps, heavenly bodies and alternate universes. According to apocalyptic visions of the Bible, they will also proliferate as we approach the end of time. Because they challenge our conceptual powers, fantastic creatures also seem to exist at the limits of language. Legends tell us that imaginary animals belong to a primordial time, before we had encompassed the world in names, categories and elaborate conceptual frameworks. This richly illustrated book shows how, despite their liminal role, griffins, dog-men, mermaids, dragons, unicorns, yetis and many other imaginary creatures are socially constructed through the same complex play of sensuality and imagination as 'real' ones. It traces the history of imaginary animals from Palaeolithic art to the Harry Potter stories and robotic pets. These figures help us psychologically by giving form to our amorphous fears as 'monsters', as well as embodying our hopes as 'wonders'. Nevertheless, their greatest service may be to continually challenge our imaginations, directing us beyond the limitations of our conventional beliefs and expectations.