I think it better at times like these We poets keep our mouths shut, for in truth We have no gift to set a statesman right. . . —William Butler Yeats, 1915 When Yeats responded to Shelley’s famous claim that “Poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world,” one wonders whether they were in fact …
Tag: in english
piotr: to justify the end
The 2010 spring and summer were a hot time in Poland. The April, 10th crash of the governmental airplane, with a death toll of 96, including the President Lech Kaczyński, triggered off not only a political turmoil but also significant social disturbance and various debates. During the days following the disaster, Krakowskie Przedmieście Avenue in …
cerelia: Politics as No-Man’s-Land
The Smoleńsk air tragedy of April 2010 where 96 Polish government representatives, including President Lech Kaczyński, lost their lives on their way to a memorial service of the Katyń massacre, brought Poland to the attention of an international audience. International and Polish media characterised the scenes in Poland of grief and protest in the months …
cerelia & joanna: perspectives from an occupation
On 6th December 2010 a group of students at the University of Bristol occupied Senate House, the administrative nerve-centre of the University. They did this in solidarity with other student occupations happening across the UK which have been protesting the government-proposed education cuts and changes to the University fee-structure. The aim was to open a …
cerelia: securitising suitcases: some critical observations of security-driven politics.
Last holiday season, my parents decided to buy me a new Samsonite suitcase, which would be big, sturdy and easy to handle. This was meant to ease their anxiety about my comfort during my frequent travels from Bristol to home in Nicosia – as well as guarantee that I could fit as many books and …