Palestinian conflict: how despair can drive people to violence, even if it puts their lives in danger: During the 20 years I have been involved in research with Palestinians in the occupied territories, accounts of despair and frustration, and at times resignation and hopelessness, have been a constant theme. As other recent articles in The …
How Sylvia Plath’s profound nature poetry elevates her writing beyond tragedy and despair: I cannot stop writing poems! … They come from the vocabulary of woods and animals and earth. From a letter from Sylvia Plath to her mother, 1956 Popular perceptions of Sylvia Plath tend to dwell on a deeply troubled version of the …
Nigeria’s 2023 budget is a plan of despair and won’t change the tempo of the economy: Nigeria's 2023 budget may not address food inflation. Gettyimages/istock Nigeria’s 2023 budget, recently presented by President Muhammadu Buhari to the National Assembly, has generated a furore. There are concerns about the impact on the country’s rising deficits and debt, …
Hope from despair: how young people are taking action to make things better: Hope as a stubborn desire. Onkundi Nyabuto | Unsplash, FAL All too often, hope is equated to a desire for something fleeting: good results on an exam, the win of a favourite team, the wanted present. Quite whether something so insubstantial can …
Book review: Kenyan Christian Queer is a powerful departure from despair: Shutterstock The mark of a great book is often its ability to provoke robust debates and force readers to confront uncomfortable content. Kenyan, Christian, Queer by the academic Adriaan Van Klinken provides a way to imagine a future continent where members of the lesbian, …
Why we welcome poetic justice and despair at poetic injustice: Shutterstock Recently it was reported that a hunter who had shot an elephant was crushed when it fell over dead on top of him. A friend emailed the story to me with one word in the subject line: “Justice!” Additional (and somewhat less contentious) examples …
No need to despair even as the dream of South Africa feels like a nightmare: A protester waves the South African flag during a mass protest demanding President Jacob Zuma step down. EPA/Kim Ludbrook Like many, this Easter I feel that the dream of South Africa feels more like a nightmare. Personal interests, corruption, private …