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1 – 10 of over 13000More than 20 songs by Spanish and non-Spanish bands about the Castilian lord and epic hero Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, El Cid, account for the topicality of the Hispanic Middle Ages in…
Abstract
More than 20 songs by Spanish and non-Spanish bands about the Castilian lord and epic hero Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, El Cid, account for the topicality of the Hispanic Middle Ages in heavy metal. This chapter explores how diversely El Cid is addressed in 10 of these songs, in particular, from the perspectives of reception theory and both the cultural background of the band (Spanish or non-Spanish) and the language in which the lyrics are written (Spanish or English). Through detailed textual analysis and contextualisation, I will examine how, for Spanish (and Spanish-American) bands, El Cid serves the purpose of naturalising the stereotypical heavy-metal medieval knight, thereby functioning as a vindication of Hispanic cultural heritage within what is perceived to be an Anglo-American (and Germanic-Nordic) dominated musical scene. By contrast, non-Spanish bands resort primarily to El Cid to refresh the overused motif of the medieval knight, but sometimes in a more connoted manner as well, in which his iconic value as a Moor-slayer and a defender of the Western white Christian principles is highlighted. Moreover, I will discuss the appropriation and re-appropriation of El Cid by, respectively, non-Spanish and Spanish heavy metal bands, from the point of view of cultural appreciation and appropriation, and Islamophobia.
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Zengfu Xi, Yunhong Xu, Baoguo Ma and Shuji Wang
This paper aims to investigate the contents of heavy metals Cd, Cr, Ni, Cu, Pb and Zn in the soil of vegetable production bases in the Yongnian County of Hebei Province by random…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate the contents of heavy metals Cd, Cr, Ni, Cu, Pb and Zn in the soil of vegetable production bases in the Yongnian County of Hebei Province by random sampling.
Design/methodology/approach
The environmental quality conditions of these heavy metals were evaluated by both the single quality index and comprehensive quality index methods.
Findings
It was concluded that the average heavy metal contents in the soil of protected vegetable fields in the Yongnian County are all under the limit values prescribed by the environmental quality evaluation standard for farmland of greenhouse vegetables production (2007), so the soil’s environmental quality is classified as first class regarding cleanliness. It is fit for the plantation of non-polluted vegetables. It is shown that there is a cumulative trend of heavy metal contents in the soil with age after analysis of a correlation coefficient between heavy metal contents and age in Yongnian’s protected fields and excessive application of fertilizers or organic fertilizers, which is the main factor leading to an increase in heavy metal contents in the soil.
Originality/value
It is suggested that the amount of fertilizer should be properly reduced to prevent the soil’s environmental deterioration, the vegetable planting structure should be improved and the vegetables grown in areas with weaker accumulation of heavy metals should be cultivated.
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This chapter serves as the introduction to the edited collection, calling into focus the diverse ways in which ‘Australia’ is asserted in the spaces, scenes and practices of…
Abstract
This chapter serves as the introduction to the edited collection, calling into focus the diverse ways in which ‘Australia’ is asserted in the spaces, scenes and practices of Australian heavy metal. This chapter responds to earlier quandaries in the sparse research on Australian metal which question if there is anything definitively ‘Australian’ about the characteristics, themes and narratives demonstrated within Australian heavy metal scenes. In response to this challenge, the author uses this chapter to establish critical foundations for addressing how Australianness has been represented ‘Downunderground’ (Phillipov, 2008, p. 215) – historically, musically and geographically, as work in this collection affirms. This introduction foregrounds the concerns of the edited collection at large, which addresses how national identity has been imagined and constructed in ways which can at once celebrate problematic patriarchal nationalist symbolism, yet also call into focus the resistant and subversive ways in which metal scenes have deconstructed, critiqued and renegotiated the parameters of what it means to be ‘Australian’. This chapter asserts that any interrogation of the ‘Australianness’ of Australian metal must problematise the notion of a singularly ‘Australian’ identity in the first instance. Here the author argues that ‘Australian metal’ as a consolidated signifier must be problematised to instead come to an understanding of the multisited ways in which ‘Australianness’ is experienced within scenes. In doing so the author establishes the critical trajectories for the edited collection at large – to track the genealogies of Australian metal as a component in a wider global scene, and consider the plurality of its contemporary manifestations.
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Kamaruzzaman Yunus, M.A. Zuraidah and Akbar John
This study aims to examine the metal pollution in coastal sediment in the Peninsular Malaysia.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine the metal pollution in coastal sediment in the Peninsular Malaysia.
Design/methodology/approach
Approximately 141 published studies were screened from 1,285 documents and reviewed to determine the existing pollution status in the coastal areas of Peninsular Malaysia and the metals under review were Pb, Hg, Cd, Ar, Cu, Zn, Cr and Ni. Sources of pollutants and their effect on biological systems, marine organisms and human health were addressed in this review as well as recommendation of heavy metal removal or remedies in short. Emphasis is placed on marine pollution, particularly on the toxic metal accumulation in biota.
Findings
This study has revealed the different concentrations of pollutants, low, moderately, and chronically contaminated areas from heavy metals and the consequences to aquatic ecosystem and indirectly to human health, since an increasing in the coastal developments in Peninsular Malaysia.
Originality/value
This study has revealed the different concentrations of pollutants, low, moderately, and chronically contaminated areas from heavy metals and the consequences to aquatic ecosystem and indirectly to human health, since an increasing in the coastal developments in Peninsular Malaysia.
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Pravina Jeevanaraj, Aliah Ahmad Foat, Halimah Tholib and Nurul Izzah Ahmad
Malaysians are the highest seafood consumers in the region; be it fresh or processed. Environmental pollution has put the safety of seafood at stake, heavy metals among others…
Abstract
Purpose
Malaysians are the highest seafood consumers in the region; be it fresh or processed. Environmental pollution has put the safety of seafood at stake, heavy metals among others. This study was done to assess the health risk associated with selected heavy metals ingestion from processed seafood.
Design/methodology/approach
The most preferred processed seafood type and the intake rates were determined from a cross-sectional survey among communities in Shah Alam, Selangor (n = 90). The processed seafood were then purchased from local traders (n = 81), underwent homogenization, acid digestion (0.5 g) in Multiwave 3,000 and heavy metal quantitation (Hg, Pb, Cd, As) using ICP-MS. Estimated weekly ingestion (EWI), hazard quotient (HQ), hazard index (HI), lifetime cancer risk (LCR), and target risk (TR) were used to estimate the risk associated with processed seafood consumption.
Findings
Arsenic was the highest metal detected, acetes topping the list (10.05 ± 0.02 mg/kg). Mercury was detected at significantly higher level in salted fourfinger threadfin (0.88 ± 0.09 mg/kg) while Pb and Cd in toli shad (2.67 ± 0.16 mg/kg; 0.32 ± 0.22 mg/kg). Non-cancer risk was estimated for consumption of dried/salted food types with hazard index (HI) anchoives (5.2) > salted fourfinger threadfin (1.8) > toli shad (1.7). Besides, an unacceptable cancer risk was estimated for all food types for continuous consumption (Total risk (TR) > 10–4), except the dried acetes.
Research limitations/implications
This study implies that although the concentration of most heavy metals were well below the permitted value, significant amount of risk present for consumption of several species. In addition, for selected heavy metals such as Hg and As, speciation analysis followed by risk assessment would provide a clearer picture.
Practical implications
There is a need to refer back to the local permissible level of heavy metals in processed seafood and formulate safe consumption guide.
Social implications
The food types are advised to be consumed with caution especially by the sensitive group.
Originality/value
This study estimated the risk of cancer and other non-cancer disease from processed seafood consumption among Malaysian women.
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Flavio M. Cecchini, Greta H. Franzini and Marco C. Passarotti
The presence of Latin in heavy metal music ranges from full texts, intros, song and album titles to band names, pseudonyms, and literary quotations. This chapter sheds light on…
Abstract
The presence of Latin in heavy metal music ranges from full texts, intros, song and album titles to band names, pseudonyms, and literary quotations. This chapter sheds light on heavy metal's fascination with the history and ‘arcane’ sound of Latin, and investigates its patterns of use in lyrics with the help of Natural Language Processing tools and digitally-available linguistic resources. First, the authors collected a corpus of lyrics containing differing amounts of Latin and enhanced it with descriptive metadata. Next, the authors calculated the richness of the vocabulary and the distribution of content words. The authors processed the corpus with a morphological analyser and performed both a manual and a computational search for intertextuality, including allusions, paraphrase and verbatim quotations of literary sources. The authors show that, despite it being a dead language, Latin is very frequently used in metal. Its historical status appears to fascinate bands and lends itself well to those religious, epic and mysterious themes so characteristic of the heavy metal world. The widespread use of Latin in metal lyrics, however, sees many bands simply reusing Latin texts – mostly from the Bible – or even misspelling literary quotations.
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Comedy and parody in rock and metal music have been around since the genre's inception. The Italian comedic music genre known as rock demenziale employs the use of nonsense and…
Abstract
Comedy and parody in rock and metal music have been around since the genre's inception. The Italian comedic music genre known as rock demenziale employs the use of nonsense and surrealism which turns conventions upside down. The demenziale has also attracted a slew of bands that employ this humour within the heavy metal genre, most famous of which is the Roman band Nanowar of Steel. With their jabs at Manowar and power metal bands, they place mundane activities and characters into the grandiose medievalist and fantasy worlds commonly used by those bands to the point of absurdity. However, with humour being deeply culture-specific, jokes that draw from a country's pop culture and makes extensive use of puns may be lost to an audience not familiar with that culture. Nanowar of Steel's unique position of having songs written in seven languages, primarily English and Italian, allows us to take a deeper look at how language and humour interfaces with the local and global metal scenes.
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Fayza A. Nasr and Hussein I. Abdel Shafy
Investigates the fate and toxicity of continuous feeding withincreasing dosage of heavy metal ions – Cu, Pb, Zn, Cr(VI) –on biogas production from anaerobic digestion of sewage…
Abstract
Investigates the fate and toxicity of continuous feeding with increasing dosage of heavy metal ions – Cu, Pb, Zn, Cr(VI) – on biogas production from anaerobic digestion of sewage sludge. The efficiency of the system (as measured by biogas production and volatile organic matter removal rate) was reduced for about 35 days before returning to a steady state with the toxicity ranking Cu > Cr (VI) > Pb >Zn. Also looks at the effect of two “pulse” doses of the metals.
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The two concepts of metal music and identity are often linked to each other, from the bands' and their audience's perspectives as well as in the academic field of metal studies …
Abstract
The two concepts of metal music and identity are often linked to each other, from the bands' and their audience's perspectives as well as in the academic field of metal studies (von Helden, 2017; Kärki, 2015; Moberg, 2009a; Mustamo, 2016). One significant example of the interaction between metal and identity can be found in the Nordic scene. North-related themes and Nordic languages are used by metal bands in their music, visual representations, or narratives as components of their identity. Despite the increasing number of studies about Nordic metal scene and identity, the case of Nordic minorities seems to remain in the shade of major Nordic cultures. Willing to draw the attention on this shortcoming, this chapter will study the case of Finland's Swedish-speaking population. After a presentation of the groups analysed, the paper examines how the culture and language of Swedish-speaking Finns is represented through their works. This textual analysis will further discuss the particularity of being situated at the crossroads of Scandinavian and Finnish cultures and languages.
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