Fascism in Italy Essay Example for Free

Fascism in Italy Essay A revolutionary system which totally transformed the political, economic, and social structure of the country. To what extent would you agree with this assessment of Fascism in Italy? In 1932, Giovanni Gentile aided Benito Mussolini in writing a definition of Fascism, to be entered in the Italian Encyclopaedia. They claimed that the Fascist State organises the nation, but leaves a sufficient margin of liberty to the individual; the latter is deprived of all useless and possibly harmful freedom, but retains what is essential; the deciding power in this question cannot be the individual, but the State alone. [1] Certainly this could seemingly be a definition of a revolutionary system when compared to the liberalism of the coalition government, but to decide whether or not Fascism succeeded in being so, or merely showing an outward appearance, as Mussolini appeared content with on many issues, one must look separately at the politics, economy, and society of Italy, before, during and after the Fascist regime. Before October 1922, when Mussolini became Prime Minister, Italy had been administered by a series of coalition governments, due to the introduction of proportional representation after the unification of 1870. The weak and indecisive king, Victor Emmanuel III, had felt that Mussolini and the Fascist Party posed no threat to him or the country, as they, at that time, held only 35 of the 535 seats in the Italian Chamber of Deputies. There was no sudden change in the system of government and state institutions; Mussolini was merely the Prime Minister of a coalition cabinet in which only four out of twelve ministers were fascists and he had to move cautiously. [2] However, in July 1923 the Acerbo Law was passed, allowing the party with the majority of votes1 to attain 2/3 of the parliamentary seats. By a mixture of violence and intimidation, and aided by hopeless divisions amongst his opponents[4] Mussolini achieved a majority in the April 1924 elections, thereby securing his position. Not long after the elections, the Matteotti crisis2 led to widespread disaffection and left Mussolini vulnerable, having been forced to dismiss numerous members of his entourage. [5] The Aventine Secession saw the opposition parties set up a rival parliament in the hope that the king would dismiss Mussolini from office, however, Victor Emmanuel feared that this would leave the way open for Communism to overthrow him, and so he allowed the Fascists to continue in power. With all opposition gone, Mussolini had no problems in securing the power to rule by decree as to a growing number of left and right-wing critics, democratic politics was a rotten game divorced from Italys real needs.[6] But his dreams of a completely totalitarian state could not truly come to fruition, as he stated himself, the Fascist Revolution halted at the throne. And so it would appear that it was a catalogue of misdeeds by the government and the king that gave Mussolini his one party state, rather than the might of Fascism. Although that one-party state was certainly a revolutionary ideal when put in comparison to the previous method of coalition government, by April 1943 the Italian Cab inet, under Badoglio, included Liberals, Christian Democrats, Socialists, Communists and others.[24] After the Second World War, Italy reverted to a true republic, in that Victor Emmanuel abdicated in May 1946, and his son, Umbertos reign lasted only 1 month before the monarchy was abolished. This could not be attributed, however, to Fascism as much as to Victor Emmanuels mishandling of the parliamentary system and the fact that his career demonstrates that he never really came to terms with democracy and that in his few moments of meaningful political choice he preferred to deal with the representatives of savage reaction rather than concede an inch to the demands of the people.[7] The after effects of World War I had left Italy, as just about everywhere else, in a state of poverty. But, the Fascist Administration promised a better future for the Italian people. An impressive public works programme was designed, among other things, to reduce unemployment.[8] However, although the cost of living was falling because of the depression, wages fell more than prices, so that workers suffered a fall in real wages. Particularly galling for the industrial workers was that they had no means of protesting since strikes were illegal and the unions weak.[9] Therefore the workers were just as disgruntled as they had ever been. Economic self-sufficiency (autarky) was vitally important in developing the greatness of the state; the government must therefore direct the economic life of the country. [11] To this end Mussolini encouraged the farmers in the Battle for wheat.3 Unfortunately, this merely meant that agriculture remained inefficient and farm labourers the poorest class in the state. The attempt at self-sufficiency was a dismal failure. [12] Industry was greatly encouraged with government subsidies, ensuring the appearance of a Corporate State, which helped to increase iron and steel production by 100% by 1930 and to double the production of hydro-electric power by 1937, but more could have been done as Belgium had increased to a much higher level. Also, little had been done to remedy her basic shortages of raw materials coal and oil.[10] At the same time, another of Mussolinis ploys to show a strong Italy to the world, was to value the Lira too high on the world markets. 90 Lira could be purchased for à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½1 in 1926, although a rate of 150 to the pound would have been more advisable for Italys failing economy. The outcome was that exports became too expensive and therefore orders dwindled, especially in the textile industry, and so many factories were forced into a three day working week. Even when The Wall Street Crash caused further hardships, Mussolini still refused to devalue the Lira until 1936. Further harm to the economy was caused by the Fascists love of war. As Mussolini said, peace is absurd: fascism does not believe in it.[13] The Corfu Incident4 of 1923, the War in Abyssinia in 1935-365 and Italys intervention in the Spanish Civil War were all an unnecessary drain on the Italian purse. Indeed, Mussolini said of the latter, they were bled white. Of course the lives of the Italian people were effected by more than just the countrys economy. Adults who opposed Mussolini were dealt with harshly. However, the children were the Fascists of the future and Mussolini took a keen interest in the states education system and the youth organisations that existed in Italy.[17] New school text books were written to glorify the Fascist system[18] with emphasis on the fact that Mussolini was the only man who could lead Italy back to greatness. [19] The boys were encouraged to join after school organisations: Sons of the She Wolf for ages 4-8, Balilla for ages 8-14, and Avantguardista for 14-18 year olds. Whilst taking part in these clubs they were taught that fighting for them was a natural extension of the normal male lifestyle[20] By the time they were old enough for the Balilla, these children were being groomed for the army with military-style exercises and imitation guns. Mussolini said of these groups: I am preparing the young to a fight for life, but also for the nation.[21] Yet it seems that, as between 30 and 40% of the youths never joined these organisations, they were not a success in bringing the children of Italy into the Fascist fold. By the same token, Mussolini knew that to have a great army in the future Italian women must be encouraged to have more children. Therefore in 1927 he launched the Battle for Births. Unmarried men were penalised with higher taxes and families were encouraged to be of five children or more with tax benefits. Mussolini wanted Italy to have a population of 60 million by 1950. In 1920, it stood at 37 million so his target was a tall order. However, the Battle for Births was a failure. Though the population grew as people were living longer due to better medical care, the birth rate actually went down between 1927 and 1934.[22] The Wall Street Crash causing the depression in America also meant that less Italians were emigrating so the figures, most likely, looked much better than they really were. But, probably the most lasting and worthwhile achievement[16] of Mussolinis rule was the Lateran Treaty with Pope Pius XI6 in which the Church and the State were reunited after years of hostility. To refer to Fascism as a revolutionary system is probably too strong a definition, but to argue that it transformed Italy in any way, in anything other than the short term, would have to be judged as false. Mussolini was certainly guilty of using the ambiguity of the term to his best advantage at all times. But many of the successes and failures of the Italian economical, social and political arenas could be said to be because of the previous governments, the king, the wars or the overall state of Europe at the time. Certainly, in Italy, after World War II, Fascism disappeared and most of its work along with it; the only achievements remaining at the end of the war were the agreement with the church and the public works, and even they, as Elizabeth Wiskemann suggests, could just as well have been achieved by a democratic government.[23] word count = 1529 1 Provided that the party held at least 25% of the votes.[3] 2 Giacomo Matteotti, head of the Italian Socialist Party, was found murdered after speaking out against Mussolini in the parliament. Amerigo Dumini, a member of Mussolinis special force (Ceka)was found guilty of the murder, but the killing was believed, whether correctly or not, to have been at the order of Mussolini himself. 3 Battle for Wheat = by 1935 wheat imports had been cut by 75% 4 Diplomatic Emergency in 1923. Greece and Albania quarrelled over boundaries and the League of Nations set up a commission to make a determination. At this time 4 Italians, including General Tellini, were killed on the Greek side of the border. Mussolini sent an ultimatum to Greeces government to pay 50 million Lira in compensation and to execute the assassins. As the assassins could not be identified, Greece could not comply and so Italian forces bombarded and occupied the Greek island of Corfu in August 1923. Greece was forced to pay reparations and apologise, by the Conference of Ambassadors and Italy left Corfu on 27th September 1923.[14] 5 An armed conflict that resulted in Ethiopias subjection to Italian rule [15] 6 The Papacy had been hostile to the Italian Government ever since losing sovereignty over the Vatican City in the 1870 unification. Mussolini recognised the Vatican City as a sovereign state, paid compensation to the church and made the Roman Catholic faith the official state religion with compulsory religious education in schools.

Efficiency Rise in PCDTBT:PC70BM Organic Solar Cell

Efficiency Rise in PCDTBT:PC70BM Organic Solar Cell Efficiency Rise in PCDTBT:PC70BM Organic Solar Cell Using Interface Additive Rashmi Swami, Rajesh Awasthi, Sanjay Tiwari Abstract Solar cell can be designed with photoactive layer of organic and inorganic materials. Organic materials, particularly polymers, are a promising alternative to traditional semiconductors as the active material for solar cell because of their low cost, low temperature energy processing, low material requirement, can be used on flexible substrate, can be shaped to suit architectural application. Low efficiency is one of the biggest problem with organic solar cell. In order to increase the efficiency of bulk hetero-junction organic solar cell we are using interface surfactant additive poly(oxyethylene tridecyl ether) (PTE) with blend photoactive layer. Here we are reporting on the enhanced photovoltaic (PV) effects by means of a polymer bulk-hetero-junction (BHJ) layer having PCDTBT which is poly(N-9-heptadecanyl-2,7-carbazole-alt-5,5-(4,7-di-2-thienyl-2,1,3†²-benzothiadiazole)) as a low-band gap e’ donor/HTL polymer and PC70BM which is [6,6]-phenyl C70 butyric acid methyl e ster as an acceptor/ETL, doped with poly(oxyethylene tridecyl ether) (PTE) which is an interface surfactant additive. For PCDTBT:PC70BM organic solar cell , we recorded 0.886 V open-circuit voltage (VOC), 11.7 mA/cm2 short-circuit current density (JSC), and 47.3% fill factor (FF) and PCE of 4.9%. For PCDTBT:PCBM70:PTE organic solar cell, we recorded VOC of 0.904 V, higher values of JSC of 13.8 mA/cm2, FF of 48.2% and improved PCE of 6.0% for a PTE concentration of ca. 0.164 wt%. Power conversion efficiency (PCE) reaches to 6.0%, by the addition of PTE to a PCDTBT:PC70BM system which is much higher than a reference device not including the additive (4.9%). Increase in efficiency is because of the increase in lifetime of charge carrier, which is due to the existence of PTE molecules at the interfaces sandwiched between the BHJ photovoltaic active layer and the anode and cathode, in addition to the phase-separated BHJ domains interfaces. Keywords – Organic Solar Cell, PCDTBT, PCBM, PTE, IPCE, Bulk hetero-junction. Introduction The global rising demand for low-priced electricity has triggered deep research on solar cells comprising organic semiconductors. Organic solar cell (OSC) technology has received significant attention over the past decade due to the simple, flexible nature of polymer photovoltaics and the potential to develop a clean, cost-efficient renewable energy source. The key development of organic solar cells has been made with the pioneering concept of ‘‘bulk hetero-junction (BHJ)’’ photoactive layers [1-2].The bulk hetero-junction (BHJ) PSC [1][3] is of particular interest, due to the efficient photo-induced generation of charge in its blended photovoltaic (PV) layer, that is consisted of interpenetrating, channel-like domains of separated fullerene and polymer. Following the annealing of the BHJ structure at elevated temperatures, PSCs with PV layers of P3HT which is poly(3-hexylthiophene) and PCBM60 which is phenyl C61-butyric acid methyl ester have shown high pow er conversion efficiencies (PCEs) of 3-5%. Efficiency of P3HT:PCBM organic solar cell is upto 5% because of the limitations of conventional P3HT, whose bandgap lies at around 1.9 eV, which limits absorbance to wavelengths below 650 nm [4]. To improve the efficiency of PSC we need new active materials having lower bandgap to harvest more solar photons. More recently, a PCE of 5-6% was reported for a BHJ PSC that used a blend of PCBM70 and PCDTBT having a bandgap of 1.88 eV [5,6]. Using ‘processing additives’ PCE of organic solar cell can be increased [7-9]. To increase carrier lifetimes (reduce recombination loss) we modify the BHJ interfaces between the phase-separated domains of the donor-conjugated polymer and the acceptor fullerene, and added a non-ionic surfactant poly(oxyethylene tridecyl ether) (PTE) as an additive to the PV layer. In this paper we investigated J-V characteristic and IPCE spectra of PCDTBT:PC70BM organic solar cell with and without PTE. 1.1 Donor molecule Next generation HTL/donor material for organic photovoltaics is Poly[[9-(1-octylnonyl)-9H-carbazole-2.7-diyl]-2.5-thiophenediyl-2.1.3 benzothiadiazole-4.7-diyl-2.5-thiophenediyl] (PCDTBT) shown in Fig. (1) which can produce better efficiencies and lifetimes. The main qualities of PCDTBT are lower HOMO and LUMO levels narrow band gap Increased open circuit voltage Longer wavelength absorption Lower concentration and material usage Improved stability under ambient conditions High electron and hole generation rate and high mobility of electron and hole. Fig. 1. Molecular structure of PCDTBT. 1.2 Acceptor molecule Extremely symmetrical cage-shaped molecules of carbon atoms is Fullerenes as shown in Fig. (2). For the separation of photoexcited exciton into free charge carriers blending of conjugated polymers (electron donor) with fullerenes (electron acceptors), is extremely efficient way. Fig. 2. Molecular structure of PC70BM. 1.3 PTE additive Poly(oxyethylene tridecyl ether) (PTE) shown in Fig. (3) as an additive have low (- 8.1 eV) highest- occupied-molecular-orbital (HOMO) and high (à ¯Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ­2.1 eV) lowest-unoccupied-molecular- orbital (LUMO) [10–12]. Fig. 3. Molecular structure of PTE. Experimental Details The sample BHJ PSCs were fabricated in a sandwich structure with an anode of indium tin oxide (ITO) and an Al:Li/Al cathode. Patterned 80-nm-thick ITO glass was cleaned by sequential ultrasonic treatment in detergent, deionized water, acetone, and isopropanol, and then treated in an ultraviolet-ozone chamber for 15 min. Then, a ca. 40-nm-thick hole-collecting PEDOT:PSS buffer layer was spin-coated onto the ITO electrode. On the top of the PEDOT:PSS layer spin coat the blended solution of PCDTBT (0.456 wt%), PCBM70 (1.824 wt%), and PTE additive in dichlorobenzene. The PV layer was about 85 nm thick. Finally, for the cathode, a ca. 1-nmthick Al:Li alloy (Li: 0.1 wt%) layer and a pure Al (ca. 50-nm-thick) layer were created on the photovoliaic layer through thermal deposition (0.5 nm/s), at a foundation pressure below 2Ãâ€"10-4 Pa. The sample device structure studied was therefore [ITO/PEDOT:PSS/PCDTBT:PC70BM:PTE/Al:Li/Al] as shown in Fig. (4). The active area of the fabricated device was 3Ãâ€"3 mm2. For comparison, a reference PSC was fabricated with the structure [ITO/PEDOT:PSS/PCDTBT:PC70BM/Al:Li/Al] as shown in Fig. (5). In 100 mW/cm2 illumination intensity produced by an AM 1.5G light resource, the performance of the PSCs was measured,. With the help of a source meter (Keithley 2400) the photocurrent-versus-voltage (J-V) characteristics were measured. The IPCE (incident photon-to-current collection efficiency) spectrum were measured for the PSCs studied using an IPCE measurement system. Fig. 4. ITO/PEDOT:PSS/ PCDTBT:PC70BM:PTE /Al:Li/Al Organic Solar Cell. Fig. 5. ITO/PEDOT:PSS/ PCDTBT:PC70BM /Al:Li/Al Organic Solar Cell. Results And Discussion As shown in Fig. (6) for PCDTBT:PC70BM organic solar cell , under an illumination of AM 1.5G and 100 mW/cm2, we recorded 0.886 V open-circuit voltage (VOC), 11.7 mA/cm2 short-circuit current density (JSC) and 47.3% of fill factor (FF) and PCE of 4.9% a value comparable with those reported by others [6]. For PCDTBT:PC70BM:PTE organic solar cell, we recorded VOC of 0.904 V, higher values of JSC of 13.8 mA/cm2, FF of 48.2% and improved PCE of 6.0% for a PTE concentration of ca. 0.164 wt%. These increased values resulted in an improved efficiency of 6.0%, which led to a PCE that was up to 22% higher than that of PCDTBT:PC70BM based organic solar cell. Fig. 6. The current-voltage characteristics of BHJ OSCs with and without the PTE additive. We further investigated the PV performance of the OSCs that incorporated the PTE additive by studying the IPCE spectra. Fig. (7) shows the observed IPCE spectrum of the PSC devices. It can be seen that the IPCE values are consistent with the variations in JSC for the OSCs with and without the PTE additive. The maximum IPCE was 73.0% at 470 nm for the sample device with the PTE additive, which corresponded to the highest JSC (13.8 mA/cm2 ), while the IPCE value was about 60.9% for the reference device without the additive, which had the lowest JSC (11.7 mA/cm2 ). Fig. 7. IPCE spectra of PCDTBT:PC70 BM OSCs with and without the PTE additive. Conclusions In conclusion, we have reported on the use of a low-bandgap PCDTBT:PC70BM-based PV layer that incorporates a PTE surfactant, which was used to the BHJ interfaces in OSCs. We have shown that BHJ OSCs that contain the interface PTE additive are more efficient than conventional OSCs. A high PCE (6.0%) was obtained for our PCDTBT:PC70BM (1:4 w/w) OSC device using 0.164 wt% of the PTE additive, which yielded improvements in PCE of up to 22%. This improvement may be attributed to the increased selective flow of dissociated charge carriers, not only at the interfaces of the PV layer and the electrodes, but also at the BHJ interfaces between the PCDTBT and PC70BM domains. Our findings show that a combination of PTE interface additives and high-performance low-band gap PV materials holds great potential for the development of a new generation of highly efficient OSCs. References [1] G. Yu, J. Gao, J.C. Hummelen, F. Wudl, A.J. Heeger. Polymer Photovoltaic Cells:Enhanced Efficiencies via a Network of Internal Donor-Acceptor Heterojunctions. Science, New Series, 1995, 270(5243): 1789-1791. [2] J.J.M. Halls, C.A. Walsh, N.C. Greenham, E.A. Marseglia, R.H. Friend, S.C. Moratti, A.B. Holmes. Efficient photodiodes from interpenetrating polymer networks. Nature, 1995, 376: 498–500. [3] C. J. Brabec, N. S. Sariciftci, and J. C. Hummelen. Plastic solar cells. Adv. Funct. Mater. 2001, 11(1): 15–26. [4] K. M. Coakley and M. D. McGehee. Conjugated polymer photovoltaic cells. Chem. Mater., 2004, 16(23): 4533–4542. [5] S. H. Park, A. Roy, S. Beauprà ©, S. Cho, N. Coates, J. S. Moon, D. Moses, M. Leclerc, K. Lee, and A. J. Heeger. Bulk heterojunction solar cells with internal quantum efficiency approaching 100%. Nat. Photonics, 2009, 3(5): 297–302. [6] J. Zhou, X. Wan, Y. Liu, F. Wang, G. Long, C. Li, and Y. Chen. Synthesis and photovoltaic properties of a poly(2,7-carbazole) derivative based on dithienosilole and benzothiadiazole. Macromol. Chem. Phys., 2011, 212(11): 1109–1114. [7] J. Peet, J. Y. Kim, N. E. Coates, W. L. Ma, D. Moses, A. J. Heeger, and G. C. Bazan. Efficiency enhancement in low-bandgap polymer solar cells by processing with alkane dithiols. Nat. Mater., 2007, 6(7): 497–500. [8] G. Garcia-Belmonte and J. Bisquert. Open-circuit voltage limit caused by recombination through tail states in bulk heterojuction polymer-fullerene solar cells. Appl. Phys. Lett., 2010, 96(11): 113301. [9] Y. Liang, Z. Xu, J. Xia, S.-T. Tsai, Y. Wu, G. Li, C. Ray, and L. Yu. For the bright future-bulk heterojunction polymer solar cells with power conversion efficiency of 7.4%. Adv. Mater. (Deerfield Beach Fla.), 2010, 22(20): E135–E138. [10] Y. I. Lee, M. Kim, Y. Ho Huh, J. S. Lim, S. Cheol Yoon, and B. Park. Improved photovoltaic effect of polymer solar cells with nanoscale interfacial layers. Sol. Energy Mater. Sol. Cells, 2010, 94(6): 1152–1156. [11] B. Park, Y. H. Huh, and M. Kim. Surfactant additives for improved photovoltaic effect of polymer solar cells. J. Mater. Chem., 2010, 20(48): 10862–10868. [12] J. H. Park, S. S. Oh, S. W. Kim, E. H. Choi, B. H. Hong, Y. H. Seo, G. S. Cho, B. Park, J. Lim, S. C. Yoon, and C. Lee. Double interfacial layers for highly efficient organic light-emitting devices. Appl. Phys. Lett., 2007, 90(15): 153508.

Comparing Two Advertisements :: Adverts, Compare and Contrast

Comparing Advertisements For this comparison I have chosen to compare two car adverts. The first advert I chose was from the car magazine "Autocar" and this is an advert for a Chrysler PT Cruiser. The second advert I chose was from the "Sunday Times" and this is for a Fiat Ulysse. I chose these two adverts because I feel that they will be good compare as they have similarities and differences so there are many things I can comment about. There is a big difference in the sale tactics of the 2 adverts. The Fiat is a soft sell advert because there is no reference to the price of the car or any statistics about the car where as the Chrysler advert displays the price in big numbers at the top of the advert and it also refers to the fuel consumption of the car. This shows that the 2 adverts use different tactics to advertise and sell the car. I think that the target audience for these cars are the same; both of these cars are family cars. Both of the cars are designed to be comfortable and safe, they are not advertised to be fast sports cars or stylish city cars; they are advertised as normal cars. In both of the adverts there is no real reference towards the performance of the car apart from in the Chrysler where there is a reference to the fuel consumption of the car but this backs up the point that the Chrysler is a car for a sensible family person because that is the kind of person who would show interest in the economics of the car. Both of the adverts have main points that they want you to focus on as soon as you look at them, on the Chrysler advert the first thing they want you to focus on is the name of the car and the price which are both in bold font at the top of the page, the Fiat wants you to focus on the name of the car which is written in huge letters diagonally

The Rise and Subsequent Fall of the Third Reich Essays -- Weimar Repub

The Rise and Subsequent Fall of the Third Reich Living in the crumbled remains of Germany, or the Weimar Republic, in the 1920’s was a dismal existence. Hyperinflation was rampant and the national debt skyrocketed as a result of the punishing features of the Treaty of Versailles. During the depression, however, a mysterious Austrian emerged from the depths of the German penal system and gave the desperate German people a glimpse of hope in very dark times. He called for a return to â€Å"Fatherland† principles where greater Germany was seen as the center of their universe with zealous pride. Under Hitler’s leadership, Nazi Germany rapidly grew and expanded, continually approaching the goal of world domination and the â€Å"Thousand-Year Reich† that Hitler promised the German people. Only a few years later, Nazi Wehrmacht soldiers could be seen marching the streets from Paris to Leningrad (St. Petersburg, Russia). The German Empire, however, like all other expansive empires, had its limits and int egral components such as resources, manpower, and industrial capacity began to fall in short supply further crippling the Nazi war machine. Basically, by 1944, â€Å"Nazi Germany’s fundamental problem was that she has conquered more territory than she could defend† (Ambrose, 27). Hitler conquered a vast area and vowed to defend every single inch of his empire with every last drop of blood at his disposal. As Frederick the Great warned, â€Å"He who defends everything, defends nothing† (Ambrose, 33). It is interesting to study any empire’s rise and fall because similarities are always present, even with some nations today promising to fight the evil, when it reality, it might be becoming what it vows to fight. The story of the rise of the Thi... ... in is destined for some sort of collapse. Nobody in this world would like to compare their own nation to fascist Germany or any other fallen empire but numerous similarities can be found. There is increasing resistance to the government and its actions which are facilitated by the fact that our Constitution allows us to do so freely. Our social security system is going to collapse in the near future if not efficiently revised as those receiving it continue to grow. Military forces are continually being depleted to maintain order in our occupied territories of Afghanistan and Iraq. Where does the expansion end? The United States can not keep tying up its most vital resources abroad. It is an increasing economic cost that has little hope of decreasing anytime soon. Expansion has proved fatal for all nations throughout history. Are we next? I sure hope not.

Essay --

Resurrecting the Avant-Gardes: Applying Ranciere to Burger To integrate art in the praxis of everyday life—the avant-garde credo, as defined by Burger in his Theory of the Avant-garde—was a manifesto which he declared inherently suicidal, an obituary more than a proclamation of the future. The prevailing narrative of the avant-garde has since been one of decline, ceding defeat to its institutionalization. The avant-gardes may shattered the forms of autonomous art, but those dispersed contents could not ultimately mark a path toward the liberation they promised. Claiming that the avant-gardes were ultimately a failed project, Burger proposes that Capitalism fulfilled their dream on its own terms, art losing its autonomy in the general anesthetization and commodification of life. Burger writes, â€Å"†¦the culture industry has brought about the false elimination of the distance between art and life, and this also allows one to recognize the contradictoriness of the avant-gardiste undertaking: the result is that the Avant-garde, for all its talk of purging art of affirmation with forces of production consumption, became an accomplice in the total subsumption of Art under capitalism.† For this reason, any discussion of the avant-gardes risk appearing belated, gesturing back to the problematic contradiction outlined by Burger above. However, this assumes that the end of autonomy brought about by Capitalism takes the same form as that which the Avant-garde sought to achieve. While Burger does not explicitly equate the two, he nevertheless fails to distinguish them, and this ambiguity itself merits a reconsideration of the avant-garde’s relationship with contemporary art practice. For if Burger’s genealogy of the avant-garde is in fa... ... performance pieces from becoming materialized via their documentation, one still finds many discreetly taken photographs and videos of his pieces circulating the web. Likewise, the reception of Yoko Ono’s 2003 reprisal of Cut Piece (1964) as captured by CBSnews.com’s article, â€Å"Crowd Cuts Yoko Ono’s Clothing Off† is typical of the sensationalized reception which characterizes the market consumption of avant-garde practices . So Burger was right in saying the culture industry consumes the most radical of gestures, for no one is completely outside the market, the circuit of exchange. On the other hand, no one is completely inside of it—there remain parts of humanity to which the market can stake no claim, Following this, we can perhaps write this addendum to the avant-garde demand: to integrate art within life-praxis, and make visible what is absent from both .

The History of Volleyball

In 1895, a man named William Morgan wanted to create a new game requiring less physical contact than basketball. He decided to blend elements of basketball, tennis, handball, and baseball resulting in the game of Volleyball (at the time called mintonette). Morgan took a tennis net and raised it 6 ? feet; he required the players to hit the ball back and forth over it, keeping it from hitting the ground. During a demonstration, someone stated that the players seemed to be volleying the ball back and forth over the net, and the new name â€Å"volleyball† was born. The first game of volleyball was played at Springfield College in 1896. Four years later, in 1900, a special ball was designed for the sport. Volleyball was presented, in 1907, at the Playground of America convention as one of the most popular sports. In 1916, an offensive style of passing the ball was introduced; one player passes the ball high in the air to be struck by another teammate as it comes back down which is now known as â€Å"set† and â€Å"spike†. In 1920, the rule only allowing the ball to be hit three times per side was set into place. The first YMCA national championships were held in Brooklyn, NY in 1922. It was clear that tournaments and rules were needed, so USA Volleyball was formed. Over the next 27 years, volleyball became a worldwide sport and was introduced to the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 1964. The U. S. won their first Olympic medals in 1984 in Los Angeles, the women won Silver, and the men won Gold. Two-person beach volleyball was introduced as an Olympic Sport in 1996. In 2001, Kerri Walsh and Misty May became a team. Together, these two women competed in the Olympics 3 times. They won 3 Olympic gold metals, winning all 21 Olympic matches, only losing one set. They became known as the worlds greatest women’s beach volleyball team, holding the world record for consecutive match wins; 90 victories. The sport of volleyball has been around for 118 years, with little changes to rules and regulations. It is a young sport, but has become one of the most popular sports played all around the world.

Canova’s “Perseus with Head of Medusa” Essay

This piece, made to replicate the Greek classical style, stands tall above entrance to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This sculpture, created by Antonio Canova in marble, was done in the early 19th century. Historically, the tale of Perseus and how he killed the beast-woman, Medusa, is from eons before, however, the artist chose to recreate this scene from Greek mythology. In addition, Canova uses many techniques that were used by Greek sculptors, he use of detailed anatomy, a combination of stoicism and portrayals of anguish, stiff posture, contrapposto and the draping of the fabric around Perseus’ arms. Perseus stands rigidly, looking at the head of Medusa. His expression is unchanged. One leg bends toward her head, but it does so in a rigid, uncomfortable manner. He holds his sword out on his right, and her head on his left. Fabric is draped unnaturally off his left arm and it falls to the floor behind him. He has the ideal body, with perfectly sculpted and toned muscles. Perseus is naked, save a pair of very decorative and ornate sandals. His body is in a curve, with his spine. He appears to be a warrior, and he is triumphant in his defeat of Medusa. A feeling of pride overwhelms one when they look at him, however, it is hard to relate to him, because he does not feel real. He is humanized, but does not appear natural or normal. Medusa, or rather her head, is held by its hair in Perseus’ left hand. He holds it out from him, in disgust. Her face is writhing in pain, as she has been decapitated. Her snake-hair is very representational, and doesn’t look like real snakes. Still, however, her face does not illustrate the true anguish or pain that she must have felt. It is not naturalistic. She actually appears to be somewhat idealized. This piece evokes feelings of strength, power and pride, however, I do not feel it evokes emotion or sympathy towards either character. Neither feels very â€Å"real† or natural, and thus it is difficult to relate to the sculpture.