Creative Writing

A diferencia del siglo XX, en el presente nuestras legislaciones están avanzando en el tema de los derechos animales tomando como cierto un dato sumamente cuestionable: el maltrato a los animales humanos es un indicador temprano de personalidad criminal y peligrosidad social; 36% de los asesinos seriales empezaron en la adolescencia atormentando mascotas. Con herramientas de investigación cualitativa, propia de la antropología social y la etnografía, esta presunta conexión se muestra como un instrumento construido por perfiladores del FBI en los años setentas, el cual, divulgado, cuenta con mucho poder de convencimiento, pero no está soportado en investigaciones longitudinales que den evidencia conclusiva de dicha "conexión". Desde luego, la propuesta no es promover la desconsideración moral y política de los animales no humanos, sino la buena ciencia que nos ayude a lograr políticas institucionales y prácticas socialmente responsables, no sólo a darle a policías mal pagados poder para extorsionar a quien no les pase "mordida" o castigando la pobreza.

In contrast to the philosophers who can be associated with the classical tradition that goes back to Plato and Aristotle, Schopenhauer rejected the view that human actions could be subject to the direction of a controlling and dispassionate intellect, capable of molding our character. He regarded human beings as embodiments of will. For him, the will was “the substance of man, the intellect the accident”. Like Thomas Hobbes, he affirmed the priority of passions, of will, over reason.

"This text reflects on my video poem ‘read these roads’ (https://vimeo.com/23771241), inspired by the groundbreaking work of the South African interdisciplinary water systems scholar Caron von Zeil on the water heritage of the City of Cape Town, and her proposal to restructure the city according to environmental principles.  I contextualise it by drawing on the concepts of biocentrism (Deep Ecology) and trans-subjectivity (Matrixial theory).

CATALOGUE
MetroMusings.  University of Pretoria.

Elfriede Dreyer - Curatorial preface
Berco Wilsenach - Joernaal vir die blinde reisiger
Carla Crafford - Ghosts / Flap, flutterElsa van der Klashorst & Celia De Villiers  - Pretoria: past, present, precarious
Diane Victor - Fountains Circle guardians
Elfriede Dreyer - Ship of fools
Frikkie Eksteen - The likeness in the landscape
Guy Du Toit - Staattekens 1 tot 6
Joao Ladeira - Migrants in the city
Kai Lossgott - Read these roads
Leana van der Merwe - Urban ontologies
Loraine Beaton - Prompt: performance & video
Magdel van Rooyen - Concrete identities
Pieter Swanepoel - Notes on content/context: Erasure
Sakie Seoka - The artist & artwork
Sikho Siyotula - The matrix of entanglement"

"This book validates the prolific contribution of Dr. Vera John-Steiner to the social sciences and extends her scholarship, teaching, and mentoring to a new generation of thinkers. Compiled as a companion volume to her Selected Works, the text highlights this scholar’s gifts to psychology,education, linguistics, and the arts through a collection of letters composed by students, colleagues, collaborators, and mentees. In keeping
with Dr. John-Steiner’s collaborative and innovative approach, the epistolary genre invites readers into a larger thought community through personal connections, biographical vignettes, and academic expansions of her work. In sharing her commitment to social justice, readers will find themselves compelled to join the collective initiatives established by this notable scholar during the past fifty years to achieve an equitable, enriched education for all."

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