Sunday, February 16Royal Holloway's offical student publication, est. 1986

Culture

Saltburn, Underconsumption, and Trad Wives: A Dramatic Reenactment of Working Class Life
Culture

Saltburn, Underconsumption, and Trad Wives: A Dramatic Reenactment of Working Class Life

Photo Credit: Samantha Gades via Unsplash By: Kiera Garcia - Associate Culture Editor Over the past few years there has been an emergence in media, both traditional and non-traditional, to tell a story about someone or to be someone who lives a life portraying themselves to be of a different, typically lower, socio-economic background than they are.  One of the pieces of traditional media that really brought this discussion to light was Saltburn, Emerald Fennell’s film of the summer from last year. The movie follows Oliver Quick, an Oxford student who claims to be from a humble background, who quickly attaches to the wealthy Felix Catton, eventually securing an invite to his large family estate for the summer. The movie itself deals with many nuances of socio-economic differ...
What Have We Here?: Imperial Vanity on trial at the British Museum
Culture

What Have We Here?: Imperial Vanity on trial at the British Museum

By Ruby Day -- Senior Culture Editor The British Museum might just be my favourite place in the world. It’s a transformative building, with a bewilderingly huge collection that can take the visitor anywhere from Anglo-Saxon England to prehistoric Japan. It’s possible to spend a whole day within its walls, and only see half of what’s on display. Even then, the public only has access to an estimated 1% of the museum’s full collection. To view and interact with so much world history, so easily, is an immense privilege; a privilege that comes at a very heavy cost. However awe-inspiring or endlessly fascinating, the British Museum’s size and scope is owed to centuries of colonisation, theft, and imperial vanity. Considered by some to be ‘an active crime scene’, the collection of roughly ...
Vain Film Characters: Why Do We Need Them?
Culture

Vain Film Characters: Why Do We Need Them?

We have all encountered someone vain. Perhaps someone we know personally, a celebrity we’ve come across, or a fictional character. More often than not, they get under our skin. Film characters are no exception to this idea of vanity. These are the characters that make you want to throw your popcorn in the air or your remote at the TV. We might love to hate them, or just simply hate them, but they add a certain undeniable quality to a film; the quality of being human. Whilst we might never admit, or openly embrace it, we are all a little vain. That’s what makes us human. Yet, do we really need these vain film characters? What do they add to a film? Let’s take a look.Starting off strong with a classic vain character: Gaston, the arrogant antagonist of the 1991 animated Disney film 'Beauty a...
The Eternal Transience of Modernity
Culture

The Eternal Transience of Modernity

By Matthew Gibbons Modernity is subjective, relative, and paradoxical - it both encompasses everything, yet ultimately amounts to nothing.  By definition, ‘modernity’ denotes all that is ‘modern’, the attributes of recent and current culture, society, politics - everything that uniquely exists in the present and recent past. So what is unique to our time? One might think of computers, the internet, social media, bluetooth, virtual & augmented reality, deepfakes and generative AI…in other words, the newest technology. The period of History we are currently experiencing is sometimes referred to as ‘The Digital Age’ or ‘The Age Of Information’ because of the prominence of technological development - but is an era only defined by its scientific progress, or is technological...
Yikes, did I just ruin the greatest love story of all time?
Culture

Yikes, did I just ruin the greatest love story of all time?

By Habiba Khalil A mere 407 years ago, our truly beloved Shakespeare died, but not in vain, for he thankfully set the standard of a true love story for us all before departing. Romeo and Juliet is argued as one of the greatest love stories to ever exist, but would they have lasted in a modern world? A 2024 love story would no doubt have sent Shakespeare crawling into his grave again. I mean, can you imagine explaining a situationship to him? Therefore, it is obviously my job to introduce Romeo and Juliet to the twenty-first Century and hope and pray that I stay off William’s haunting list. Let me set a quick scene for you. The play ends not with a dramatic death scene but instead Romeo and Juliet stumbling across a time machine, right as they are about to die in the name of eternal ...
An Interview with Nadia El-Fassi 
Culture, Literature

An Interview with Nadia El-Fassi 

By Lena Zeller Imagine yourself walking into a cafe, the cold seeping from your limbs, the air smelling like treats that will not just revive you, but grant you just a little bit more luck. And perhaps you will run into the love of your life… Best Hex Ever comes as close to real magic as it gets, second only to being tolerated by a really grumpy cat. It transports you into a hidden, magical corner of London filled with love, warmth and a journey towards self-acceptance. Perfect not just for romance lovers, but for anyone looking to escape into a cosier, yet spooky reality. I had the pleasure of interviewing the wonderful Nadia El-Fassi, a Royal Holloway alumnus of the Creative Writing Poetry master’s program. Her recent debut novel Best Hex Ever is the ideal book to curl up in t...
A Love Letter for ‘Grace’: Jeff Buckley’s Masterpiece Turns 30
Culture

A Love Letter for ‘Grace’: Jeff Buckley’s Masterpiece Turns 30

By Ruby Day -- Senior Culture Editor Last August marked the 30th anniversary of Jeff Buckley’s Grace. Defined by haunting vocals of unfiltered yearning and timeless instrumentation, the album has captivated the hearts and souls of most that have ever come across it. Since his debut at Sin-é in 1993, Jeff Buckley himself has become a mythological figure in the music industry. In large part because of Grace, the indisputable work of art precursing a stellar career that never was. Throughout the 1990s and beyond, certified music legends have had nothing but praise for Grace. David Bowie credited the album as one that would keep him company on a desert island. Leonard Cohen admired Buckley for reimbuing his track Hallelujah with melancholic vitality. Bob Dylan and Jimmy Page both consid...
Yellowface: the Parasitical Nature of ‘Wokeness’
Culture, Culture & Literature, Literature

Yellowface: the Parasitical Nature of ‘Wokeness’

By: Kiera Garcia - Associate Culture Editor R.F. Kuang’s Yellowface tells a striking tale of the commodification of diverse stories in the media and the negative effects they have. These tend to be on both communities they claim to represent as well as on the authors who aim to fulfil this voyeuristic exchange. Her novel follows June Hayward, a floundering novelist who witnesses the death of her friend Athena Liu, a much more successful author. In Athena’s death, June snatches a manuscript from her desk, ultimately choosing to ‘rework it’ and publish it under her own name.  June becomes Juniper Song, changing her name and taking new author pictures in the aim to appear more ‘racially ambiguous’, enshrining herself as a writer whose new release, a World War II epic following the...
Are Tote Bags Still Cool?
Culture, Culture & Literature, Literature, Visual Arts

Are Tote Bags Still Cool?

By Daniel Pepin A cloth sack with straps and a print. That’s all a tote bag is. And yet, it is so much more. Getting across campus without seeing at least one tote bag is impossible. A bold Brick Lane Bookshop tote here and a sleek London Review of Books one there; a rare sighting of the coveted Shakespeare and Co. bag straight from Kilometre Zero Paris – they tend to permeate our surroundings. Each tote comes equipped with its own prestige stamped on the front or hiding in the small pocket stitched into pricier models. At once, it is a fashion and intellectual statement. But are they still cool? You would be hard-pressed to find an established independent bookshop without a tote bag of their very own, which is their genius. Picture a trip to your favourite bookstore - a hidden gem may...
Words from the Wild: The Nature of Poetry – An Interview with Briony Hughes
Culture, Culture & Literature, Literature, Visual Arts

Words from the Wild: The Nature of Poetry – An Interview with Briony Hughes

By Charisse Hau Words from the Wild: The Nature of Poetry is an exhibition exploring different forms of poetry in response to the natural world. The exhibition has been curated by Royal Holloway and TECHNE researchers Caroline Harris, Briony Hughes, and Gareth Hughes, in collaboration with the Royal Holloway Culture Team. In exploring the interplays between materiality and ecopoetry, I had the chance to talk to one of the curators, Briony Hughes, who is also a visiting tutor in English and Creative Writing, and PhD candidate. There are so many intersections between material, and poetry. Why and how is that used in this exhibition? “All of the poets in the space agree that a shift in climate necessitates a shift in how we approach poetic writing, and in particular, a shift in p...