By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
Spanish poems – not just poems written by poets born or raised in Spain, but poems written in the Spanish language – are among some of the greatest love poems in world literature.
Literature
The Meaning of Matthew 5:13: ‘Ye Are the Salt of the Earth’
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
The phrase ‘salt of the earth’ has entered common speech (and writing), and many people who use the phrase now may be unaware of its religious origins. Indeed, even those who suspect the phrase originates in biblical scripture may not be familiar with the specific passage in which the expression first appears.
12 of the Best Songs about the Colour Yellow
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
Yellow is a curious colour. It carries some interesting symbolism: although it’s a ‘warm’ colour associated with brightness and joy and hope, it can also carry connotations of sickness and pallor: having a ‘sallow’ complexion isn’t usually a good sign, and sallowness denotes a pale yellowish hue.
A Summary and Analysis of J. G. Ballard’s ‘The Watch-Towers’
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
‘The Watch-Towers’ is one of the finest of J. G. Ballard’s early stories. Published in 1962, the story concerns a town whose skyline is dominated by the tall observation-towers which provide the story with its title. Ballard’s story follows Renthall, a man who is trying to figure out just how much interest the watch-towers are taking in him and his fellow townsfolk.
The Meaning (and Curious Origin) of the Word ‘Homophobia’
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
When the word ‘homophobia’ was first invented, it didn’t mean what it means now. Instead, it had a different meaning. To discover the origins of the term ‘homophobia’, we have to delve into the etymology of the word, examine a small amount of Latin and less Greek, and discover how the word was, in effect, coined twice: the first being a false start, the second representing a change in attitude in wider society.