Category: HSSpeak
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HSSpeak #9 | Subaltern
Read more: HSSpeak #9 | Subaltern—Yatin Satish ‘Subaltern’ is yet another term you will hear being used as a buzzword by HS boffins fresh out of class – all off their rockers on Sociology. Rather well-known, it is used in every context imaginable – and is also the subject of the worst pun I have ever heard in my life.…
3–5 minutes
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HSSpeak #8 | Existentialism
Read more: HSSpeak #8 | Existentialism“Existential attitude begins with a disoriented individual facing a confused world that he cannot accept”. When human beings recognise this condition – that they are actually on their own without any absolute law backing them up – it creates what is known as anguish or anxiety. This can be understood by the feeling that we…
4–6 minutes
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HSSpeak #7 | Hegemony
Read more: HSSpeak #7 | HegemonyGramscian cultural hegemony refers to the power asserted by ‘fundamental groups’ on the general population, manipulating them into consenting to idealize one form of culture or values.
4–6 minutes
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HSSpeak #6 | Cultural Capital
Read more: HSSpeak #6 | Cultural CapitalThe cultural capital theory is a vital contribution to social thought by Pierre Bourdieu. It focuses on the importance of culture in attaining educational credentials and extending material wealth.
2–3 minutes
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HSSpeak #5 | Nihilism
Read more: HSSpeak #5 | NihilismNihilism is one of those philosophical beliefs that most students will end up believing in temporarily at some point or the other – like when one has an exam to study for, or a deadline to meet. (If you haven’t done so till now, good. Stay away, it’s not fun.) It refers to the philosophical…
2–3 minutes
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HSSpeak #4 | Absurdism
Read more: HSSpeak #4 | AbsurdismLiterature has always offered a platform for the human mind to run wild – an outlet to express its best thoughts, its worst concerns and even its most nonsensical perspectives. The concept of the ‘absurd’ is one such perspective that a group of philosophers and writers (especially dramatists) began to embrace in the 20th century.…
3–4 minutes
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HSSpeak #3 | Soft Power
Read more: HSSpeak #3 | Soft PowerSoft Power. One might have encountered this term used with an air of nonchalance in lectures, newspaper articles or even while walking by in the department corridors. Seemingly oxymoronic, this concept is one that rose to mercurial popularity during the 1980s. It is an important concept in International Relations that shaped many an academic debate…
3–4 minutes
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HSSpeak #2 | Post-Modernism
Read more: HSSpeak #2 | Post-ModernismAmong the many terms any student in the department comes across, the one term that successfully baffles juniors and seniors alike is ‘postmodernism’. Even though the term evades definition and has its own connotations across multiple domains like literature, philosophy, art and architecture, among many others, we shall try to understand some of the central…
2–4 minutes
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HSSpeak #1 | Structuralism
Read more: HSSpeak #1 | StructuralismAny HS student, who has spent enough money on coffee at the erstwhile Usha Café, would have come across the term ‘structuralism’ in at least one form or the other. Jargon can be a daunting monster to slay, especially when you’re fresh out of school. Let us break this term down into semi-comprehensible pieces. What…
3–4 minutes
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