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Astrid Nordang

Nortdang is a regular literature reviewer in MODERN TIMES. Is a translator and author.

Vox humana

PHILOSOPHY: Giorgio Agamben is over eighty years old, but still very productive. In this newly translated essay, we recognize thoughts from the main work Homo Sacer (1998), but instead of discussing biopower and the naked life, he here deals with the voice. A big plus then is that translator Gisle Selnes has written a complementary foreword that contextualises Agamben's thoughts then and now.
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The cursed woman's language

SEXISM: When she died of cancer last year, aged 51, Michela Murgia had become a feminist icon in Italy. As a writer and playwright, she won high-profile awards in the 00s before she began to see writing as an instrument for activism. As a journalist and feminist, she truly understood the power of the symbiosis of sound and writing. Words matter, they can divide, and they can infect.
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Femicide as a fairy tale

VIOLENCE: If 'feminicide' has not yet established itself as a term in Norway, it is on its way into our language. It simply means femicide, but is often linked to the spouse, partner or a family member. Last year, 90 women were victims of femminicide in Italy, which places the country in third place in Europe.
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Italian whining?

ENERGY: When it comes to the energy shortage we are facing, could a possible answer be to let the state rule with a harder hand? And as for the war, are sanctions even an effective weapon? Federico Rampini's answer is no.
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A threshold practice for queers

FEMINISM: In the attempt to align identity politics with the teachings of the Catholic Church, the Italian writer and feminist Michele Murgia envisions an opportunity for renewal – for the church. Here, The Holy Spirit opens for something different and non-gendered, for queerness.
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Agamben: A burning house

PHILOSOPHY: Italian Giorgio Agamben describes and envisions different courses for our thinking than today's more technologically nihilistic will-driven production paradigm. Two books delve into other possibilities than the 'fire' he believes we find ourselves in. In this essay, Astrid Nordang tries to bring out some of this complicated material.
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The victims of the Sicilian mafia

FALCON: A few days after Italy marked the 30th anniversary of the massacres of Judge Giovanni Falcone and his entourage and Assistant Judge Paolo Borsellino, Italian author Roberto Saviano presents a novel about the case.
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Rich full-format MODERN TIMES including the supplement Orientering and Modern Times Review comes out quarterly in early March, June, September and December) with international book reviews (non-fiction) and comments / essays. According to the physical newspaper (and PDF), the articles are published regularly online (see the newsletters).

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