Journal of Matters Relating to Felines - Autumn 2021

The Journal of Matters Relating to Felines is a society producing a magazine, affiliated with the University of Aberdeen. It is composed by students from different degrees, with diverse interests and opinions. Cats are the ribbon tying it all together. It features written pieces of various genres. From professional articles to short stories, our writers have the freedom to express themselves through any shape or form.

Page 1 -Introductory page

Pages 2-3 -The (Mis)Fortune of Black Cats by Rosie Guy: After encountering a black cat, we discover whether the following (un)fortunate situation is indeed due to the sighting of the ambiguous black cat, or simply a splash of life.

Pages 3-6 -The King’s Enemies by Thea Mainprize: A brief introduction to the weird and wonderful hyenas, with an emphasis on their evolutionary history and relationships. This article also examines the ranges, fascinatingly unique behaviours and conservation issues for each species in an attempt to combat the negative depiction hyenas often face.

Pages 7-8 -Cat Colours by Giulia Pipolo: Why are tortoise cats always females and why do some cats have beautiful multi-coloured eyes? The biological science behind these things is quite easily explained for anyone to understand.

Pages 8-10 -The End of the Line by Luke Litvinov: A discussion of COVID vaccine mandates, seen from the eyes of the sceptic.

Page 11 -Communist Cats by Fi Hennicken: Not just cats occupy spaces they’re not supposed to be in. This article highlights the connection between cats, occupying empty houses and anti-capitalist activism.

Page 12 -‘Puss Puss’, ‘Familiar’ and ‘Fallen’ by Willow Daymond: A selection of original poetry focusing on how mysterious cats are and the beauty of nature.

Page 13 -Enemies to Lovers by Cecile Fardoux: Discusses one of the most common tropes found in a variety of medias in popular culture, how to recognize it and some of the most famous examples of it. P

ages 14-16 -The Cannes International Film Festival by Déborah Lazreug: A history and celebration of the Cannes international film festival as a concept and experience, from its anti-fascist birth in 1946 to its postpandemic edition in summer 2021. In bonus, you will find little critics of this year’s selection, including for Wes Anderson’s awaited The French Dispatch and Julia Ducorneau’s scandaleous Titane.

Page 17 -Imago by Déborah Lazreug: the Latin word for ‘image’, a recurrent column analysing paintings, photographs, sculptures or movie stills depicting cats. In Latin, the word ‘imago’ was used for anything froze in representation, from artistic representations to ghosts and memories of one’s head. For this autumnal issue, we will look at the Cat figure in the animated version of the dark children’s novel, Coraline and a painting full of dramatic tension by the Barocco Italian painter Annibale Carracci.

Page 18 -Conclusion