Posts Tagged by The Telegraph
NW by Zadie Smith
| March 1, 2013 | Posted by Oscar Mealia under culture, reviews |
Many rumours seem to arise when discussing Zadie Smith. The first being that her debut novel White Teeth commanded an advance of £250,000 even before completion in 1997. The second being that Smith changed her name from Sadie to Zadie in an attempt to appear more ‘exotic’, (this one I believe to be true). Being a mixed-race Briton with a Jamaican mother and an English father doesn’t stick out anymore, apparently. A thought only illustrated with The Greater London Authority’s prediction that ‘The BAME (Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic) population will grow by 1.05 million between 2006 and 2031”. Perhaps being ‘exotic’ or of ethnicity will be more predominant in the capital sooner rather than later? Her fourth novel NW,… more
On funding for Arts Council England
| June 28, 2012 | Posted by Isabell Kaley under culture |
Recently I read two absorbing articles on funding for the arts: one of them argued that funding should be cut, while the other suggested funding should not be. They were both plausible, and exceedingly persuasive. Here I am going to put forward the pros and cons of the decision, and then will finish with my own conclusions. But first I will give you the background on what has happened with funding for the arts lately. When the Conservatives came to power in 2010 the Department of Culture, Media and Sport announced that it would cut 29.6% of arts funding over the next four years, reducing the amount from £453mn to £350mn. After this announcement Arts Council England (ACE) straight away… more
Floating armchairs, mug shots and IVF: the “fattism” debate
| June 7, 2012 | Posted by Georgie Tindale under lifestyle |
One of the unavoidable obsessions in our politics and culture is weight and obesity. This even extends into the animated films we show our children. The film Wall-E has been dubbed as “fattist” by many self-dubbed “Fat Pride Groups” as a result of its portrayal of future humans as obese, consumerist, gluttonous people confined intentionally to floating armchairs and dependant on robots to heave them back onto their chairs after a spillage. Although many see this merely as a comic satire of our consumerist natures, for campaigners this highlighted the issue of what they see as “fattist” discrimination found in the media and even the medical world. Some campaigners used the examples of doctors who feel unhappy offering medical treatment such… more
