22 minute read
Comment les immigrés sont-ils représentés dans Kiffe Kiffe Demain? Est-ce un portrait négatif ou positif ?
En premier lieu, il faudrait rappeler que le roman se déroule dans un endroit défavorisé appelé Livry Gargan à Paris. Là-bas, les immigrés vivent dans la cité du Paradis, nommée ironiquement ainsi. Tout au long du roman, nous pouvons voir le quotidien de Doria, une immigrée vivant en banlieue.
Pour commencer, il n’est pas exagéré de dire que l’endroit où vivent les immigrés n’est certainement pas un lieu de rêve. D’ailleurs Yasmina, la mère du protagoniste du roman, a vomi lorsqu’elle a vu la banlieue parisienne pour la première fois. Tout au long du roman, la cité est décrite comme pauvre, sale, sans rêve, semblable à une prison et marginalisée. Prenons comme exemple Doria, qui voyage en métro, terminus à terminus car il n’y a rien à faire. C’est sa seule manière de fuir
Rose Giffin
Upper Sixth
la réalité. Cela nous montre aussi qu’elle Dès le plus jeune âge, la société marginalise n’a pas de chance dans la vie à cause de les immigrés. Par exemple, nous pouvons l’endroit où elle vit. Il faut noter que Doria nous en apercevoir dans l’extrait où des et Yasmina ne sont petites Françaises ne allées voir la tour Eiffel Dès le plus jeune veulent pas jouer avec qu’une seule fois, ce qui est particulièrement surprenant. En effet, âge, la société marginalise les Doria à cause du henné sur ses mains. Elles pensent que Doria est sale et donc elles vivent à Paris, immigrés. Doria, comme beaucoup à une demi-heure de d’autres, est mise à l’écart la Tour Eiffel depuis et exclue de ce groupe. presque vingt ans. Cela révèle qu’elles De plus, le grand mur entre la cité et la n’ont pas les mêmes moyens financiers Zone Pavillonnaire Rousseau montre que les Parisiens qui vivent en dehors de symboliquement la marginalisation de la la banlieue. En ce qui concerne l’argent, banlieue. il est primordial de mentionner que vivre en banlieue est toujours le seul choix pour En ce qui concerne la sphère familiale, les ceux qui ne peuvent pas joindre les deux interactions sont quelques fois négatives. bouts. Prenons comme exemple Lila et Par exemple, le père de Doria n’est pas un Sarah qui sont venues habiter dans la cité bon modèle à suivre. Il symbolise peut-être après le divorce de Sarah. tous les pères de l’histoire étant donné qu’il
y a peu de figures paternelles présentes Un aspect qui définit principalement une dans ce roman. Le père de Doria est décrit partie des immigrés jeunes dans Kiffe comme égoïste et violent puisqu’il a frappé Kiffe Demain est la criminalité. Hamoudi Doria quand elle était plus jeune. Il quitte Cela met en est décrit par Doria comme un homme également sa famille évidence les effets aimable et gentil mais pour trouver une femme plus féconde, ce qui démontre la dévastateurs de la criminalité il vole de nombreuses voitures et il fume souvent des pétards. Il culture patriarcale dans les banlieues est également renvoyé dans laquelle elles vivent. Donc, le lecteur parisiennes. de son travail car son patron pense qu’il peut déduire que ces est un criminel. Ceci conditions de vie ne sont pas toujours très amène le lecteur à constater que quelques agréables à vivre pour les femmes. parisiens sont racistes et perçoivent les immigrés comme une menace pour la société. Prenons également comme exemple le personnage de Youssef. Lorsqu’il est en prison, nous pouvons constater à quel point sa mère, Tante Zohra, est dévastée. Cela met en évidence les effets dévastateurs de la criminalité dans les banlieues parisiennes. Nous voyons donc les immigrés sous un mauvais jour. Nous pouvons donc observer que certains jeunes de la banlieue peuvent être très dangereux pour la société.
Cependant, il faut regarder au-delà des apparences. La plupart des immigrés présents dans ce livre ne sont pas des criminels et travaillent très dur comme par exemple, Nabil. D’ailleurs, nous pouvons observer la solidarité présente dans ce roman. Nous pouvons voir les petites choses qu’ils font les uns pour les autres : Aziz est très sympa avec Yasmina et Doria, Nabil aide Doria avec ses devoirs, Hamoudi leur donne de l’argent. Il semble également évident que les femmes dans ce roman sont dépeintes comme bienveillantes. Tante Zohra et Yasmina s’entraident beaucoup et semblent toujours être présentes l’une pour l’autre, même dans des situations difficiles comme celle où Youssef est emprisonné et se radicalise. Ceci amène le lecteur à constater que la famille et les relations amicales sont très importantes dans ce roman. Ceci est souligné notamment par le fait que Doria renonce à des vacances dont elle a vraiment besoin car elle ne veut pas abandonner à sa mère. Donc, nul ne pourrait nier que la relation entre les immigrés est démontrée comme très positive.
Pour conclure, la relation bienveillante entre les personnages montrent que les immigrés dans ce roman ont un portrait plus positif que négatif malgré les problèmes qu’ils rencontrent. En ce qui concerne le titre du livre, Kiffe Kiffe Demain, nous pouvons voir à la fin du roman qu’il traduit l’optimisme de Doria.
Tommy Howells Lower Sixth
The term ‘anaesthesia’ can be derived from types: liquid (injected into a vein - two separate Greek words. The Greek ‘an’ intravenous) or gaseous (breathed in meaning ‘without’ and ‘aisthēsis’ meaning through a mask). The effects of general ‘sensation’. They combine to form the anaesthetic work very quickly afterwards. Greek ‘anaisthēsia’, leading to the modern The most commonly used intravenous Latin early 18th century ‘anaesthesia’. These In terms of anaesthetic is propofol. contribute to the overall modern medicine, meaning ‘without (or loss of) sensation’. In terms of modern medicine, anaesthesia remains a Mechanism of general anaesthesia anaesthesia remains fundamental The biochemical a fundamental part of both tests and surgical operations. This is due part of both tests and surgical process of explaining general anaesthetic remains scientifically to the effects of its use, operations. and medically more being able to reduce and of a mystery. It is minimise pain and discomfort in patients. known, however, that general anaesthetic This is able to be further divided into two drugs have multiple sites of action. These broad categories: local anaesthetic and affect the Central Nervous System (CNS) general anaesthetic. However, this article at multiple levels. Common areas of the will focus on general anaesthetic only. central nervous system whose functions The effects of general anaesthesia can anaesthesia include the: be described as a state of ‘controlled unconsciousness’. During its use, the 1. Cerebral cortex – the region of the patient is described as being ‘in a medically brain associated with movement, induced coma’ with the loss of protective speech, memory and intelligence. reflexes. General anaesthetic refers to a range of drugs with a shared overall aim of 2. Thalamus – a small ‘walnut’ sized the following criteria: structure located just above the brain • Unconsciousness (loss of awareness of Its function is to relay signals to the self and environment) the cerebral cortex and regulate • Analgesia (loss of response to pain) consciousness, sleep and alertness. • Amnesia (loss of memory) • Immobility (loss of motor reflexes) 3. Reticular Activating system – refers • Paralysis (muscle relaxation) to a network of nerve pathways The NHS refers to use of general spinal cord and brain. Its function is anaesthesia in surgical procedures where helping maintain the overall level of it would be safer and more comfortable consciousness within the body. for the patient to be unconscious. This is to minimise pain, often associated 4. Spinal cord – The long, thin tubular with historical surgeries, before the use structure running through the vertebrae of general anaesthetic was introduced. to the brain, made up of nervous tissue. Currently, the NHS uses two different are interrupted or changed during general stem with extensive nerve connections. in the brainstem connecting the Current evidence relating to the anaesthetized state identifies neural networks and loops, whose interruption is linked with unconsciousness. This disruption is widely thought to occur in the links between different neurons. This induces an unconscious state within the body as a result of ‘cognitive unbinding’ of the brain in terms of its neuron sub-units.
For the loss of response to pain, potential pharmacologic targets of general anaesthetics are Gamma Aminobutyric Acid (GABA) cells. These are the main inhibitory neurotransmitters in the vertebrate central nervous system. As well as these, voltage-gated ion channels and various receptors are targeted as well. Voltage-gated ion channels are inhibited by anaesthetic agents. Intercellular channels are also affected. These are gap junctions which directly connect the cytoplasm of two cells, allowing molecules, ions and electrical impulses to be moved along. General anaesthesia directly interacts with their protein subunits. Thus, all transport mechanisms that rely on these (such as facilitated diffusion) are disrupted.
It is the combined reduction of neural cell excitability, as well as the reduced transmission of nerve impulses which interferes with the ability of the Central Nervous System to feel pain or discomfort. This is the proposed mechanism of general anaesthesia which allows painful and complicated surgeries not to be felt by a patient.
Other anaesthetic mechanisms have also been linked with the release of endogenous (made within the body) neurotransmitters such as opioid peptides and serotonin. The release of these neurotransmitters is thought to activate descending pain pathways that inhibit pain transmission. This means high pain signals do not reach the brain of the patient.
Propofol remains the most widely used Propofol can be described as a short-acting intravenous anaesthetic within the field medication resulting in a decreased level of medicine. It was initially discovered in of consciousness and a lack of memory. 1977. More recently Thus, it is used in the World Health Propofol remains the induction and Organisation (WHO) included it on their list titled the most widely used intravenous maintenance of general anaesthesia. It takes up to two ‘World Health anaesthetic minutes for the effects Organizations List of Essential Medicines’. This within the field of medicine. to work fully and these normally last between five and ten was due to its minutes. Combined reliable mechanism and minimal side with other drugs, however, propofol will effects. Physically, it appears as a ‘milky’ result in unconsciousness being sustained substance in its intravenous preparation. for a longer period of time. It is further combined with other drugs intravenously in order to ensure the patient remains unconscious and pain-free. These drugs are opioids (such as morphine) which work alongside it.
It therefore comes as no surprise that this drug has been used as a general anaesthetic on over 250 million patients worldwide.
Eleanor Jolliffe Upper Sixth
‘The Swing’
Throughout the history of Western art, paintings have carried with them symbolic weight, whether transparent and accessible, or more inconspicuous. Theme, colour, composition and objects have each in turn been utilised as an instrument by which to convey veiled nuances and disguised messages. Be it in a blatant, bold manner as seen in the work of Frida Kahlo or in a more enigmatic style as seen in the Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci, symbolism remains an undoubtedly critical component of art. Within fashion photography numerous brands have referenced influential works of art with this crucial element. Whilst some fashion photographers have produced direct pastiches of renowned artworks, such as Jean-Paul Goude’s imitation of ‘The Swing’ for Harper’s Bazaar, others have ventured further; combining the symbolic core of classic masterpieces with the identity of various brands, constructing a novel reproduction with more significance than initially meets the eye. Employing the use of semiotics, major photographer Steven Meisel has demonstrated the crux of what the brand Versace embodies, in echoing several pivotal masterpieces in art history. This essay will analyse Leonardo Da Vinci’s ‘Lady with an Ermine’ and the position it plays in encapsulating the brand identity of Versace, through the utilisation of colour, composition, context, symbolism and clothing.
‘Lady with an Ermine’, painted by Da Vinci, exhibits the muse Cecilia Gallerani. Recognised for her beauty and purity, as demonstrated by Bellincioni’s sonnet dedicated to her, it becomes apparent why Meisel has taken such literal inspiration when portraying Versace’s archetypal women.
“Who stirs your wrath? Of whom are you envious,
Nature
Of Vinci, who has portrayed one of your stars;
Cecilia, today so very beautiful, is she
Whose lovely eyes make the sun seem dark shadow. …”
Understood to be the quintessential creation of nature, ‘the unique exemplar of everything beautiful,’ Meisel brings fresh life to this classical masterpiece through his own recreation. Nevertheless, Cecilia’s unassailable beauty is a mere fraction of what marks the significance of the painting. Acclaimed by critics as the ‘first 38 modern portrait,’ the ‘Lady with an Ermine’ symbolises an advance in the way women were perceived. Aside from Cecilia’s conclusive beauty, Da Vinci conveys her intellect by the means of her contrapposto pose and lightly animated facial expressions, a very avant-garde concept at the time. In referencing this powerful image Meisel reinforces the brand identity of Versace as well as their paradigmatic women; stylish and self-assured.
‘Lady with an Ermine’
Meisel has taken evident inspiration from Da Vinci’s ‘Lady with an Ermine’ with respect to the dark almost ominous lighting. In fully utilising and mimicking the chiaroscuro that is prominent throughout Da Vinci’s work a mysterious, mythological image is achieved. Moreover, the lighting utilized by Meisel emphasizes the unconventional beauty of Audrey Marnay, atypical to the bombshell beauties of the ‘Big Five’ that were so prominent at the time (Campbell, Crawford, Evangelista, Turlington and Claudia Schiffer). Donatella’s kickback against the ‘Cool Britannica’ and ‘Casual Chic’ movements of the time, remaining loyal to the sophisticated, high end brand identity of Versace is again accentuated by Meisel’s use of lugubrious lighting, not to mention the abundance of high cultural references. Versace’s logo also echoes the mythological, high-end culture prominent in both this campaign and ‘Lady with an Ermine’. The logo exhibits the head of Medusa, chosen for the mythic connotation’s she holds (she caused people to fall so deeply in love with her that they could not return). The simplicity of the logo, lacking any specific colour scheme, again places emphasis on Versace’s brand identity and the paragon of their ideal, classy women as reflected in Sorrenti’s Fall 1998 campaign.
Da Vinci demonstrates the chastity of his muse Cecilia taking full advantage of symbolism. The ermine ‘a well-known symbol of purity and moderation’ reflects Cecilia’s innocence who ‘was careful to stipulate that [her] marriage had never been consummated: her virginity might be a valuable asset…’ Meisel reworks Da Vinci’s desire to ‘preserve beauty, to halt the march of time’ in his recreation where the symbolic value of the rosary is applied. As well as demonstrating a sense of wealth and status, the rosary embodies purity, which combined with Marnay’s haughty gaze conjures up the impression of superiority and innate confidence in addition to idealizing youthfulness. Marnay epitomizes the poised confident women that was prevalent amongst mainstream media at the time. Whilst Da Vinci and Meisel select contrasting colours regarding the clothing of their muses, the semiotics behind both clearly align. Although in the medieval period blue typified loyalty, chastity and strength, in the 20th century black is symbolic of strength, mystery, power and elegance, hence with the changing role of women we can deduce the qualities that both Da Vinci and Meisel strived to portray.
Aside from the significance of colour, simplicity in both images subconsciously through a monetary lens ‘Lady with an emanates a sense of refinement and Ermine’ boasts vibrant blue, red and gold finesse, giving a high-end aura to Meisel’s dyes, a clear example of Cecilia’s financial campaign. With regards to the composition status as vivid dyes were attainable only to both Meisel and Da Vinci employ the the elite. Cecilia is further adorned with golden triangle, drawing emphasis to the ‘a small expensive cap’ again emphasising ermine in Da Vinci’s case and the rosary her status. Correspondingly Meisel and and rings that Marnay displays. In doing so Donatella select a black dress with a splash Meisel takes advantage of his commercial of white in the headband, the combination expertise as well as his artistic competence exudes sleek sophistication, henceforth by exhibiting Versace’s accessories. showing economic commodity along with effortless suave. In conclusion, the power of fine art in Versace’s transition ‘from skin-bearing undeniably present throughout Versace’s bling to a more refined sexiness’ after 1998 fall campaign. The symbolic value of Donatella took the certain iconic images and reins in 1997 is Meisel reworks movements throughout encapsulated by the Fall 1998 campaign, where elegant Da Vinci’s desire to ‘preserve the history of art have been adopted by fashion photographers, such sophistication remains beauty, to halt as Meisel, and fashion at it’s core. This sentiment is emulated through the use of a the march of time’. brands such as Versace in order to present their own brand identity. Be it like sparse background, Meisel who uses semiotics furthered by Pat McGrath’s minimalistic taking advantage of the existing symbolism approach to hair and make-up. At a brink behind an image or like Goude who in fashion, with celebrity culture on the sought only to replicate Fragonard’s iconic rise, minimalism was markedly distinct masterpiece, photographers have used and certainly an eye-catcher, thereby composition, light, colour, objects, clothing highlighting this campaign as the epitome and symbolism in order to convey such of refined style at the time. Although nuances. Fine art indisputably has immense Meisel selects a desolate landscape as a power in promoting brand identity within backdrop, whilst Da Vinci’s muse Cecilia the fashion sphere. is painted against a plain black screen, the promoting brand identity has proved itself
Transitioning from high carbon to low carbon This was written for the Bank of England blog competition
Ben Cooley Lower Sixth
As the threats of climate change loom ever nearer in today’s world we, as a population, are going to have to change the way in which we go about our daily lives. Our attitude to the generation of electricity, which we rely on so heavily, must change if we are to be able to slow down and prevent climate change. Transitioning to a low carbon economy presents both a significant opportunity and an enormous challenge.
As pressure is put on governments by activists and renowned scientists to act on the growing threat of climate change, there are going to be some major changes in the energy industry of many countries. Countries are grappling with how to meet the 2015 Paris climate deal to limit temperature change to below 2 o C. To achieve this, global emissions should already be declining at around 3% a year. However they are still rising, reaching a record high in 2018 of 411 parts of carbon per million. Governments will be very keen to switch from energy generated from fossil fuels to greener energy sources with a smaller carbon footprint. Lots of money will be invested into researching new renewable energy sources and implementing the current ones in use.
However there will be negative impacts for the high-carbon sector of the economy as a result of this transition to a lower carbon future. Fossil fuels make up a very large
proportion of the economy and account for over 10% of world trade and around 10% of investment; therefore they will be hard to replace.
As coal and oil power plants begin to shut down, many workers will be made redundant and may not have the skill set required to find other employment. The worry is that if these workers cannot find new jobs, damaging dislocation issues and employment mismatch issues may arise.
However, these potential dangers can be avoided. As high carbon jobs are lost, new low carbon jobs are created resulting in emerging renewable sectors in which the demand for their services is shooting up. Training programs will be required to educate workers on the nature of their jobs in this relatively new and expanding sector, and these will also help workers transitioning from high carbon jobs to find potential employment.
There are worries for countries with large investments in fossil fuels as we progress to a low carbon future. As demand drops for fossil fuels the invested capital stops earning a return. This could therefore be very costly for firms and countries which have invested heavily in fossil fuels. However on the plus side the transition to a lower carbon future opens the pathway to investment opportunities in emerging
sectors such as renewable energy which will be required to ensure a relatively smooth transition to becoming reliant on renewable energy.
The potential costs we face as a result of the transition can only be overcome by seizing the fruitful opportunities that a low carbon future holds.
Is validity ever really achievable?
Erin Lewis Upper Sixth
Lawrence Kohlberg
I have come to realise while studying psychology that validity is a grey area and a term that raises many issues. Validity is defined simply by the extent to which an observed effect is a genuine one; as defined by the Oxford Dictionary – this can essentially be summarised to ‘has this piece of research measured what it intended to measure?’ For example; if a researcher conducted an experiment in which they wished to measure people’s levels of happiness, was happiness genuinely measured, or could we have unwillingly measured another variable? While it seems far-fetched to assume that we might miss our target dependent variable measurement, I have come to the conclusion that although it may appear that what we intend to measure successfully has been reached, this is not always true.
Firstly, people lie. It is in our human nature for the good and the bad that we are intrinsically liars – we lie to protect ourselves, but also to protect others around us. The reason that lying would affect validity is that despite thinking we have measured the desired variable, the chances are high that we could’ve been deceived as researchers. This can be seen in Kohlberg’s research (1981) ‘The Philosophy of Moral Development’ in which a series of semistructured interviews are conducted on errors or misinterpretations that may mean children, containing a range of hypothetical validity in a study has not been attained. scenarios, in order to measure their For example, if a researcher wanted to morality and the development of morality. test the hypothesis ‘chocolate increases It seems fair to say that Kohlberg’s happiness’, they may take a sample of conclusions are lacking in internal validity participants and use numbered scales (validity within the research) – the research to ask the participants to record their cannot absolutely conclude that each happiness score out of 10 before and after child was honest in their responses to the receiving chocolate. While this method hypothetical questions – therefore, we does again raise the problems faced by cannot consider Kohlberg’s research to be self-report and social desirability bias, it exactly valid in its conclusions. It could also suffers from inaccuracy of results and be that the children being interviewed methodological problems created by the presented their answers differently to how researcher. While the researcher thinks they truly felt, and it can be said that the that they are recording happiness changes participants were influenced by social as a result of chocolate, it could be that desirability bias (defined as the response the participant’s levels of happiness have bias that is the tendency for participants to changed due to other factors instead – for answer in a manner example; excitement that will be viewed favourably by others). Similar problems at being part of a study, happiness of validity vs. caused by the Similar problems of validity vs. social desirability social desirability bias can be found interaction or study itself. Therefore, true validity is once again bias can be found within a range of unachievable because within a range of different research in psychology. Validity different research in psychology. other variables have affected the researcher’s ability to is particularly establish accurately affected by self-report methodology, or a cause and effect relationship within the interviews, as it is more likely that people study. To overcome problems faced by this, will manipulate their honest answers to we could use brain scans to measure brain something further from the truth, in order activity, in order to see objectively whether to reach what they consider the ‘expected’ chocolate increases happiness. Yet, similar or ‘desired’ response. To overcome this to issues faced by potential lie detector issue as researchers, we could strap every tests, this method of measuring happiness participant up to a lie-detector machine is invasive and to a degree unethical, as we in order to establish that they are being reveal truthfulness which a participant may honest in each experiment, yet this creates intend to mask. obvious further issues of invading privacy, as well as potential psychological harm As demonstrated, validity in psychology by forcing participants to be truthful – presents many red flags, in that we can therefore, it seems equally unachievable to never be absolute in how valid our research explore honesty in depth! is, and whether it genuinely measures what Another reason why it can be argued that escape the problems faced by faulty validity, validity is never truly achievable is that it yet these can be invasive and unethical to is generally a difficult concept to measure. a degree, therefore one might conclude While the participants can affect the that it is better to remain with lower levels validity of a piece of research, conclusions of validity than to venture into areas that made by the researcher themselves can might compromise ethics in order to also contribute to lower levels of validity. achieve higher levels of validity. In short, the experimenter can make small is intended. There are potential methods to
