Behind the ontological and epistemological separation of the realm of the senses and the realm of Ideas, of sensuousness and reason, of necessity and beauty, stands not only the rejection of a bad historical form of existence, but also its exoneration. – Marcuse[1] Marcuse’s essay on The Affirmative Character of Culture (1937) describes a culture [...]

And yet it is untold, what feelings may unfold after a line is strongly uttered, or a phrase is attentively read. Irrelative of how those words reach your mind, they will keep on echoing there. Over and over, turning and swirling; his words intruding, my thoughts demurring. Everyone meets people who leave imprints in our [...]

A gentle flame sprang to life as Lucille lit the cigarette she held between two perfectly manicured red-nailed fingers. The light outside was cold and bare, casting a ghostly veil over parts of her boudoir which now had wisps of cigarette smoke dangling in the air. Lucille leaned against the foot of her bed and [...]

‘Analysing humour is like dissecting a frog. Few people are interested and the frog dies of it.’ 1 – EB White (quoted in Gale 1996: xi) Don Quixote famously saw furious giants on his travels where the rest of the world saw windmills. Cervantes’ brand of humour here is striking because it exhibits its creation [...]

It is said that the fetal ape looks more human than a mature one, and some have suggested that humanity arose through a process of arrested development.[1] -The Parallel World of Narnia, Chad Walsh. The early twentieth century saw the rise of real and troubling issues, giving Eric Hobsbawm good reason to name the period [...]

It was my first of many visits to the U.K but still remains, to this day, the best. There was never a dull moment and I enjoyed every minute from when I stepped onto that loading bridge at Gatwick airport, to the walks in Edinburgh Park and the festive Military Tattoo. I will never forget [...]

It was Ella’s tenth birthday, although you wouldn’t have known it unless she had told you so herself. There was no princess themed party at her house, no music, and no loud girls and boys. There was only little Ella sitting on a couch in front of the television next to her grandmother, and a [...]