[{"id":874,"title":"Perspectives on coffee culture: Arcimboldo’s bean ","sha":"75b94149941dff70055b492dfa641e93","user_id":null,"state":"published","body":"Insight into the early spread of coffee culture is hampered due to limited sources and uncertainty if they refer to coffea, or another plant.  A playful source for debate in coffeaology (the study of coffea) is Arcimboldo’s 1590 masterpiece: Vertumnus(1).  \r\n\r\nThe earliest ‘western’ depictions of coffee appear to be in 1574 by Charles de l’Ecluse (Clusius), while botantist of Maximilian II (2), and 1592 by Venetian botanist Prospero Alpini(3). Neither is detailed, but accompanying text enables identification of Alpini’s berry-free coffee tree (observed in Cairo); Clusius mentions the ‘furrow’ in his beans (obtained from the Duke of Ferrara’s physician).  \r\n\r\nGuiseppe Arcimboldo, the Habsburg court artist and accomplished natural history painter (who co-served with Clusius(4)) may have provided another. The surprising juxtapositions found in Arcimboldo’s work though humorous, and eccentric, appear to accurately represent flora and fauna4.  Vertumnus (1590) depicts Emperor Rudolf II (son of Maximilian II, and an avid collector, and naturalist) using fruit and vegetables. A sprig of olives is shown; beneath it, at first glance, is an olive pit, yet its histology is problematic(5). \r\n\r\nThe endocarp morphology shows a clear longitudinal groove, and its shape suggests possibly a date, but particularly a coffee bean(6). Did Arcimboldo wink at us by ‘hiding’ a coffee bean?  Rudolf II knew about coffee from Clusius’ works. Was Arcimboldo’s double entendre intended subterfuge to ally contemporary suspicions of coffee.  \r\n","created_at":"2021-07-27T13:44:53.973Z","updated_at":"2021-08-08T06:01:39.935Z","zenodo_id":5168485,"doi":"https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5168485","subject":null,"tags":["#coffee #arcimboldo"],"vote_count":0,"view_count":1,"score":0.1,"deleted":false,"muted":false,"tweeted":true,"attachment_file_name":"Journal_of_Brief_Ideas_200_Words_-_Submission_27_July_2021.pdf","attachment_content_type":"application/pdf","attachment_file_size":533316,"attachment_updated_at":"2021-07-27T13:44:53.961Z"},{"id":875,"title":"Perspectives on coffee culture: Ge’ez conundrums","sha":"8404b2eb081a9771d4c3e76cdc8f617f","user_id":null,"state":"published","body":"Ethiopia is the cradle of coffee culture, yet early evidence for it is scant. Does the Ge’ez word for coffee reveal clues? I propose an etymological link to the Zorastrian Emperor of Persia, Khosrow I (or II), reflecting contemporaneous Aksumite ‘anti-coffee’ sentiments. \r\n \r\nGe’ez, used in Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo liturgy since the fourth century, is traced to the first century emergence of Aksum(1). Ge’ez for coffee is Etse Kusra/Khusra (Etse=plant)(2). Few early manuscripts exist(1). The fifteenth century Dǝrsanä Ṣǝyon probably reflects earlier traditions: coffee is described as ‘a devilish evil tree’; kusra as traded with Moslems but strictly forbidden for Christians(3). \r\n\r\nTadesse(2) links kusra to Asian words, including eunuch. In Persian, kusra can mean ‘the habit of drinking much wine’(4). Semantic shifts from ‘wine’ to ‘coffee’ are noted in other languages. Alternatively, or concomitantly, the origin could be a name. Likely an enemy: kusra shares the Ge’ez consonants of ‘abominable’(3).\r\n\t\t\r\nKhosrow I ‘Anushirvan’ was a powerful enemy in the sixth century, so was his grandson Khosrow II ‘Parviz’ in the seventh. Transliterations of Khosrow include ‘Khusrau’(5) and ‘Khusra’(6).  Furthermore, Anushirvan likely knew of coffee. He ousted Aksum from Yemen, and actively sought out medical knowledge from other cultures(5). \r\n","created_at":"2021-08-14T17:00:25.240Z","updated_at":"2021-11-17T18:20:09.558Z","zenodo_id":5502215,"doi":"https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5502215","subject":null,"tags":["#coffee #ge'ez  #aksum"],"vote_count":1,"view_count":1,"score":1.1,"deleted":false,"muted":false,"tweeted":true,"attachment_file_name":"2._Journal_of_Brief_Ideas_200_Words_-_Submission_August_14_2021.pdf","attachment_content_type":"application/pdf","attachment_file_size":599621,"attachment_updated_at":"2021-08-14T17:16:08.702Z"},{"id":999,"title":"Pragmatic Autoethnography: Thoughts on why it may be needed","sha":"9001ccc74ab6794966873f0a71baeb03","user_id":null,"state":"published","body":"Autoethnography is a reflexive subjective narrative qualitative research method, both a product and a process, whereby the researcher (‘auto’) depicts (‘graphy’) their understanding of their lived experience within an ethnographic (‘ethno’) or socio-cultural context [1]. \r\nAutoethnographic approaches embrace the spirit of first person experiential story-telling from varying perspectives: ‘evocative’ emphasizes feelings/emotions [2], ‘analytic’ emphasizes the theoretical analysis of broader social phenomena [3], ‘critical’ emphasizes critical theory. Personal, relational, cultural, and theoretical reflexivity is essential [4]. \r\nAt the heart of pragmatism is actionable knowledge; inquiry is viewed as an experiential process, with experience, knowing, and acting interconnected [5].  Pragmatism favours multiple methodologies that ‘work best’ to understand specific issues, and generate and apply practical knowledge [6]. \r\nAutoethnography offers pragmatists an important methodology to reflect on their research. Nevertheless the use, or adaptation, of existing autoethnographic approaches may not ‘work best’ and risks ‘method slurring’ [7]. Moreover, while pragmatism is rooted in subjectivity, it differs ontologically and epistemologically from social constructionism.\r\nA discrete ‘pragmatic’ approach is thus suggested to support researcher deliberation on why, how, and to what effect they are investigating, acquiring, and applying knowledge within their research environment. The ‘pragmatic’ emphasizes the experiential process of generating actionable knowledge. \r\n","created_at":"2022-08-31T10:11:56.646Z","updated_at":"2022-09-10T06:00:10.745Z","zenodo_id":7064070,"doi":"https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7064070","subject":null,"tags":["autoethnography   pragmatism"],"vote_count":0,"view_count":1,"score":0.1,"deleted":false,"muted":false,"tweeted":true,"attachment_file_name":"Pragmatic_Autoethnography_-_A_Brief_Idea_August_31_2022.pdf","attachment_content_type":"application/pdf","attachment_file_size":659856,"attachment_updated_at":"2022-08-31T10:11:56.625Z"}]