The Genealogies of Modernity Journal
Amrita Sher-Gil and the Construction of a Global Modernity
Much ink has been spilled on whether Amrita Sher-Gil’s work was “modernist” or “realist,” Eastern or Western, modern or traditional.
Vaishnavi Patil offers a fresh reading of Amrita Sher-Gil
War and Revenge, Obsession and Destruction: A Genealogy of the Golem Myth
War, revenge, and obsession are driven by the perception of control and hopes for victory and utopia, but ultimately result in being drawn into one’s own destruction.
Sarah MacMillen delves into applications of the Golem myth
Genealogies of Modernity Podcast Recap
The entire season of the Genealogies of Modernity podcast is live and available to stream!
Moralism in an Ironic Age: Samuel Johnson and David Foster Wallace
Ten years ago, when I was in college, it was fashionable to perform an ironic attitude toward the world. Millennials were dubbed the ironic generation.
Luke Foster responds to the Genealogies of Modernity podcast
The Moralists: David Foster Wallace & Samuel Johnson
If David Foster Wallace stands athwart postmodernity yelling slow down, so too does Samuel Johnson stand athwart modernity, yelling at least define your terms.
Katy Carl responds to the Genealogies of Modernity podcast
Johnson and Wallace: Acid Attackers or Reconstructive Surgeons?
I surmise that Wallace knew that life could only be an infinite jest if it were either a divine comedy or a nihilist nightmare.
Daniel Zimmerman responds to the Genealogies of Modernity podcast
The Enemy of Morality is Not Modernity, It’s Me
The final episode of the Genealogies of Modernity podcast is live!
Americans, Our Guns, and Catholic Social Teaching
Guns, in these contexts divorced from a practical function, have come to bear a symbolic meaning.
Catherine Yanko responds to the Genealogies of Modernity podcast
What’s a Gun to an American?
[T]o trace a genealogy of American gun violence would seem to require tracing the genealogy of a double-helix: the genealogy of guns and the genealogy of Americans-with-guns.
James DeMasi responds to the Genealogies of Modernity podcast
White Evangelicalism, Gun Control, and Fall Narratives
The emphasis in Western Christianity has been placed upon individual fallenness and the need for a personal conversion, in contrast to the deeply collectivist culture in which Jesus originally spoke.
Jonathan Lyonhart responds to the Genealogies of Modernity podcast
Las Casas and the Primacy of Truth
[T]here is something of enduring significance in the fact that Las Casas’ protest was rooted in his return to the scholastic tradition of Christian reason, and particularly in the work of Thomas Aquinas.
Euan Grant responds to the Genealogies of Modernity podcast
Is Mutualism Possible?
How can we help locally, but in a way that works economically?
An interview with Sara Horowitz
Picturing Race Inside and Outside the Grid
I’m fascinated by the grid’s role in casta paintings in part because grid systems are so closely identified with twentieth century art as to be the hallmark of the modern art movement.
Elise Lonich Ryan responds to the Genealogies of Modernity podcast
Colonial Genealogies and Conceptual Reconstruction in the Americas
What was once an instrument of colonial dominance has become, centuries later, a source of identity for a racial diaspora throughout Latin America and even a source of familial identity.
Nayeli Riano responds to the Genealogies of Modernity podcast
Picturing Race in Colonial Mexico
Episode 2.5 of the Genealogies of Modernity podcast is live!
Ibsen’s A Doll’s House: A Forgotten Christmas Classic
Nevertheless, not all Christmas traditions are comfortable or joyful—sometimes they are painful.
Jacob Martin offers a holiday reading of Ibsen