Glossary Entries
In this section, ITALIC students define key terms that have been central to the course, “Art Everywhere.”
Carol Duncan, Civilizing Rituals
Liminal space
Entry by Maria Jimenez
Duncan’s term of liminality can be defined as a moment of consciousness in which individuals enter a space separate from that of daily concern and are in a moment of suspended reflection and awareness– able to be achieved through the ritual of the art museum.
Ritual
Entry by Mosope Motunrayo Aina
Ritual — the ways of being and doing prescribed or invoked by a particular place, time, or event.
Ana Lucia Araujo, “Museums as Monuments to White Supremacy”
Looting
Entry by Weston Keller
Looting refers to the senseless plunder of another culture or person’s belongings, properties, or peace without consent, typically enacted during a greater act of violence or attack to cause further suffering.
Repatriation
Entry by Sala des Rosiers
The reclamation and repossession of artifacts by their original cultures via museum programs to return objects stolen without consent.
Cultural heritage
Entry by Ariana Lee
The way in which both the history of certain artifacts and the modern presentation of those artifacts combine to provide information about the history of a culture.
Colonial Violence
Entry by Athena Naylor
A key term of this article is colonial violence, which is violence or harm done through suppression, extraction, and/or colonialism.
From Arielle Smith and composer Arturo O’Farrill, “‘She never felt like the protagonist of her own story.’ Arielle Smith’s new Carmen for SF Ballet”
Self-definition
Entry by Maria Jimenez
The term “self-definition” as it was alluded to by choreographer Smith, can refer to the ways in which an individual can arrive at self-actualization and a stronger sense of identity outside of external individuals, settings, or relationships.
Nexus
Entry by Ariana Lee
A point of connection across global movements.
Changing Score
Entry by Kylan Denney
A key term I would take from these performances is “changing score” as the wordless soundtrack and guide dictating the range of an individual’s influence and expression of their lived experience through art.
Contemporary Adaptation
Entry by Charlotte Kearns
Contemporary Adaptation — A modern reinterpretation of a classic work that updates its context, themes, or character perspectives to resonate with current audiences and societal issues.
Conjunto
Entry by Jay Li
In the video, one term they define is that of conjunto, or small live bands in Cuba that commonly play in many bars and restaurants, and how they gain inspiration from these conjunto bands to incorporate live music into the show as well.
Individual Autonomy
Entry by Sahan Samarakoon
“Individual autonomy” — the idea that individuals have the freedom to shape their own identities independently of external influences.
Pas de Deux
Entry by Andi Taylor
This particular dance from Act I is called a pas de deux, which is a classical ballet term meaning a dance between two people, typically a woman and a man.
From André Leferve “Mother Courage’s Cucumbers: Text, System, and Refraction in a Theory of Literature”
Refraction
Entry by Maya Hausman
Adaptations of literary works for a new, different audience; much like light and sound, words can be refracted through various mediums, and the authorial intent behind a given piece of literature can be shifted.
From Dr. Padma Maitland, Letters of Hope and Fear: Amar Kanwar’s ‘Curriculum of Darkness
Systemic Impunity
Entry by Hailey Ramzan
Systemic impunity — the condition in which individuals or institutions are immune from accountability or punishment for their actions within a larger systemic context, perpetuating injustice and inequality.
Non-Violent Action
Entry by Hansen Tao
A key term in the reading is “nonviolent” which is not to withdraw from conflict but to
actively intervene in hopes of changes.
Darkness
Entry by Weston Keller
Darkness — A relative experience of obscuration, which welcomes only immersion as the path to clarity and understanding.
From Michelle Zauner, Crying in H Mart
Banchan
Entry by Hansen Tao
The word banchan, meaning Korean side dishes, is repeatedly mentioned throughout the book and is used to reflect the diverse people, stories, and memories food could bring together.
Gastronomy
Entry by Austin Kim
The key term for Zauner’s Crying in H Mart is ‘Gastronomy’, the role of food as an expression of culture, or even ‘Assimilation’.
Heritage
Entry by Theresa Jiao
Heritage- features belonging to the culture of a group of people, such as traditions or language, that were created in the past and still have importance.
Cultural Conduit
Entry by Charlotte Kearns
Cultural Conduit — a pathway or link through which cultural heritage and personal identity are accessed, experienced, and transmitted, often through commonplace activities or rituals.
Parachute Kids
Entry by Jay Li
One term that Zauner uses as an example of the people who find themselves in H Mart is that of “parachute kids,” or kids who are studying abroad in a foreign country while their parents and families continue to live in their home country.
From Toni Morrison, Site of Memory
Self-Recollection
Entry by Ariana Lee
The action of 1) remembering the self, 2) remembering what made the self, and 3) gathering the sources that has supported the self
Emotional Memory
Kaiqiao Tang
The key term I identified from the reading is “emotional memory,” which Morrison defines as the personal and sensory remembrances that transcend facts and figures.
Interior Life
Entry by Kylan Denny
A key term from this reading is “interior life” , referring to the perceived presence of a human being’s experience that has permission to exist outside their body and in the mind of loved ones or those who find themselves curious enough to stare at the frame a second longer
Literary Archeology
Entry by Sala des Rosiers
Morrison names her approach “literary archaeology,” piecing together research and imagination and memory to build some attempt towards the truths of Black experience under enslavement.
Ayana Omilade Flewelle, “An Aural Ethnography of Black Breath: Soundscapes at Submerged Heritage Sites of Enslavement”
Black Aurality
Entry by Sahan Samarakoon
Black Aurality — The unique sonic experiences, expressions, and cultural practices of Black people that shape their understanding of the world and their place within it. It encompasses how sound and listening are central to Black identity, history, and resistance.
Aurally Somatic
Entry by Sophia Zheng
An experience that is highly auditory (related to hearing) and somatic (related to bodily sensations); breathing underwater allows us to aurally and somatically connect with the past.
Afrofuturism
Entry by Jay Li
An aesthetic and genre that explores African-diaspora experiences and envisions alternative, often futuristic realities.
From Said, Orientalism
Orientalism
Entry by Hailey Ramzan
Orientalism refers to the Western academic, cultural, and artistic tradition of representing and interpreting the “Oriental”, particularly the Middle East and Asia, through a Eurocentric lens and sense of foreignism. It encompasses a complex system of ideas, stereotypes, and discourses that have historically shaped Western perceptions of the East, involving the exoticization, romanticization, and othering of Eastern cultures, peoples, and landscapes.
Discourse
Entry by Heather Scheater
Discourse, as Said uses the term, references Foucault’s ideas of power-knowledge, which describes how power creates and responds to knowledge, with discourses acting as systems which define their subjects (knowledges).
From Danez Smith, Back Draft: Danez Smith
Homage
Entry by Charlotte Burks
A key term within this article is homage, which means giving proper respect and honor to a topic within the context of one of Smith’s poems.
Frankensteining
Entry by Akira Tran
Smith’s Frankensteining: reinterpreting and recreating one’s old works (also a re-experience of memory)
Daniela Bleichmar, Visions of Imperial Nature: Global White Space, Local Color
Visual Epistemology
Entry by Paul Folco
A key term Bleichmar uses is “visual epistemology,” which refers to how knowledge is produced and understood through visual representations.
Botanical Monarch
Entry by Malvyn Li
The article mentions how Europe was viewed as a “botanical monarch,” receiving floral tribute from every corner of the world.
Imperial Nature
Entry by Athena Naylor
Imperial Nature: Classification and extraction of nature in imperial expeditions or conquests that change the natural world into a commodity using powers of imperialism.
Autochtonous
Entry by Madhav Prakash
A keyword I could identify was Autochthonous, which means belonging to an indigenous population specifically in colonized settings so as to emphasize the difference between descendants of colonizers and native folx.
Extractive Vision
Entry by Yael Trujillo
Extractive Vision — The European approach to representing nature as a collection of decontextualized resources to be classified and exploited.
Erasure
Entry by Justin Wu
One key term Bleichmar used was erasure, which means the removal of writing, recorded material, or data; in the context of Spanish-American art, the erasure of geographical origin played into an imperialist
From Notes on Exile Edward Said
Exile
Entry by Jessica Li
The unhealable rift between a human and a native place or home, a condition of terminal loss, separation, banishment.
Contrapuntal
Entry by Heather Schechter
Contrapuntal according to Said is the awareness of the multiplicity of culture and setting that occurs often when one is exiled.
