Notebooks

Notebooks are snapshots from our writers, reflecting on current affairs and underappreciated aspects of culture and history.

Gervaise and Coupeau at the Assommoir. Roofer Coupeau's language has proved especially challenging to translators. Credit: Artokoloro / Alamy Stock Photo

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The things gained in translation

Untangling abstract words from one language to another is a subjective task – and translations often reveal as much about their translator as their original text

Eve Webster January 14, 2022

Denethor settles down to eat some delicious cherry tomatoes as his son rides into battle. Credit: AF archive / Alamy Stock Photo

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In defence of Denethor

For all his qualities as a filmmaker, Peter Jackson's representation of Denethor shows how he is unable to fuse the genius of Tolkien and the rich sensibility he brought to bear in..

Alastair Benn January 14, 2022

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On the medicalisation of the mind

Modern attempts to categorise phenomena as varied as mental illness should be reevaluated. Wittgenstein's family resemblance concept points to the folly of labelling any number of ..

Arif Ahmed January 7, 2022

Father Christmas seems lost in this illustration but at least his beard is keeping him warm.

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On beards

Santa Claus is famous for his; today’s hipsters accessorise them – but the fashion for facial hair can be traced all the way back to Ancient Rome.

Daisy Dunn December 22, 2021

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Learning in Italy

The patrician nature of Italian education takes students on a one-way journey of factual regurgitation – but sometimes cracks in the system let a little light in.

Tobias Jones December 21, 2021

A shard of pottery ostracising Themistokles. The piece can be found at the Athens Agora Museum. Credit: Album / Alamy Stock Photo

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On ostracism

In Ancient Athens, ostracism, a mechanism for exiling citizens written into its laws, was thought to play a pivotal role in preserving the health of the city-state. But how did it ..

Edward Thicknesse December 17, 2021

A poster for the Olympic Games in Antwerp in 1920.

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Olympism: magic, myths and mega-events

The forthcoming Winter Games in Beijing are already proving controversial – but from their modern inception, the Olympic Games have always been ambiguous, contradictory, and often ..

Lincoln Allison December 16, 2021

An engraving of Ancient Egyptians hunting birds.

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The ancient Egyptians and birds — history of a fascination

For the ancient Egyptians, among the many thousands of species available for scrutiny, none were so present or as closely watched as birds.

Maria Golia December 3, 2021

Jiang Qing, known as Madame Mao in Western literature, enjoyed a position of indirect power as Chairman Mao's wife. She played a major role in the Cultural Revolution.

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Women in modern China — the odds are heaped against Peng Shuai

The role for women in Chinese politics has not moved on greatly from the Mao era. They are actors not in their own right, but only by association with men.

Kerry Brown December 3, 2021