We Asked Artificial Intelligence To Analyze A Graphic Novel – And Found Both Limits And New Insights

What can an algorithm find when it reads a book? (Vasilyev Alexandr/Shutterstock.com)

With one spouse studying the evolution of artificial and natural intelligence and the other researching the language, culture and history of Germany, imagine the discussions at our dinner table. We often experience the stereotypical clash in views between the quantifiable, measurement-based approach of natural science and the more qualitative approach of the humanities, where what matters most is how people feel something, or how they experience or interpret it. 

We decided to take a break from that pattern, to see how much each approach could help the other. Specifically, we wanted to see if aspects of artificial intelligence could turn up new ways to interpret a nonfiction graphic novel about the Holocaust. We ended up finding that some AI technologies are not yet advanced and robust enough to deliver useful insights – but simpler methods resulted in quantifiable measurements that showed a new opportunity for interpretation.

Choosing a text

A graphic novel examined by artificial intelligence. (Reinhard Kleist/Self Made Hero)

There is plenty of research available that analyzes large bodies of text, so we chose something more complex for our AI analysis: Reinhard Kleist’s “The Boxer,” a graphic novel based on the true story of how Hertzko “Harry” Haft survived the Nazi death camps. We wanted to identify emotions in the facial expressions of the main character displayed in the book’s illustrations, to find out if that would give us a new lens for understanding the story.

In this black-and-white cartoon, Haft tells his horrific story, in which he and other concentration camp inmates were made to box each other to the death. The story is written from Haft’s perspective; interspersed throughout the narrative are panels of flashbacks depicting Haft’s memories of important personal events.

The humanities approach would be to analyze and contextualize elements of the story, or the tale as a whole. Kleist’s graphic novel is a reinterpretation of a 2009 biographical novel by Haft’s son Allan, based on what Allan knew about his father’s experiences. Analyzing this complex set of authors’ interpretations and understandings might serve only to add another subjective layer on top of the existing ones.

From the perspective of science philosophy, that level of analysis would only make things more complicated. Scholars might have differing interpretations, but even if they all agreed, they would still not know if their insight was objectively true or if everyone suffered from the same illusion. Resolving the dilemma would require an experiment aimed at generating a measurement others could reproduce independently.

Reproducible interpretation of images?
Rather than interpreting the images ourselves, subjecting them to our own biases and preconceptions, we hoped that AI could bring a more objective view. We started by scanning all the panels in the book. Then we ran Google’s vision AI and Microsoft AZURE’s face recognition and emotional character annotation as well.

The algorithms we used to analyze “The Boxer” were previously trained by Google or Microsoft on hundreds of thousands of images already labeled with descriptions of what they depict. In this training phase, the AI systems were asked to identify what the images showed, and those answers were compared with the existing descriptions to see if the system being trained was right or wrong. The training system strengthened the elements of the underlying deep neural networks that produced correct answers, and weakened the parts that contributed to wrong answers. Both the method and the training materials – the images and annotations – are crucial to the system’s performance.

Then, we turned the AI loose on the book’s images. Just like on “Family Feud,” where the show’s producers ask 100 strangers a question and count up how many choose each potential answer, our method asks an AI to determine what emotion a face is showing. This approach adds one key element often missing when subjectively interpreting content: reproducibility. Any researcher who wants to check can run the algorithm again and get the same results we did.

Unfortunately, we found that these AI tools are optimized for digital photographs, not scans of black-and-white drawings. That meant we did not get much reliable data about the emotions in the pictures. We were also disturbed to find that none of the algorithms identified any of the images as relating to the Holocaust or concentration camps – though human viewers would readily identify those themes. Hopefully, that is because the AIs had problems with the black-and-white images themselves, and not because of negligence or bias in their training sets or annotations.

Bias is a well-known phenomenon in machine learning, which can have really offensive results. An analysis of these images based solely on the data we got would not have discussed or acknowledged the Holocaust, an omission that is against the law in Germany, among other countries. These flaws highlight the importance of critically evaluating new technologies before using them more widely.

Finding other reproducible results
Determined to find an alternative way for quantitative approaches to help the humanities, we ended up analyzing the brightness of the pictures, comparing flashback scenes to other moments in Haft’s life. To that end, we quantified the brightness of the scanned images using image analysis software.

We found that throughout the book, emotionally happy and light phases like his prison escape or Haft’s postwar life in the U.S. are shown using bright images. Traumatizing and sad phases, such as his concentration camp experiences, are shown as dark images. This aligns with color psychology identifications of white as a pure and happy tone, and black as symbolizing sadness and grief.

Having established a general understanding of how brightness is used in the book’s images, we looked more closely at the flashback scenes. All of them depicted emotionally intense events, and some of them were dark, such as recollections of cremating other concentration camp inmates and leaving the love of his life.

We were surprised, however, to find that the flashbacks showing Haft about to punch opponents to death were bright and clear – suggesting he is having a positive emotion about the upcoming fatal encounter. That’s the exact opposite of what readers like us probably feel as they follow the story, perhaps seeing Haft’s opponent as weak and realizing that he is about to be killed. When the reader feels pity and empathy, why is Haft feeling positive?

The middle image in this sequence shows an example of a bright flashback. (Reinhard Kleist/Self Made Hero)

This contradiction, found by measuring the brightness of pictures, may reveal a deeper insight into how the Nazi death camps affected Haft emotionally. For us, right now, it is unimaginable how the outlook of beating someone else to death in a boxing match would be positive. But perhaps Haft was in such a desperate situation that he saw hope for survival when facing off against an opponent who was even more starved than he was.

Using AI tools to analyze this piece of literature shed new light on key elements of emotion and memory in the book – but they did not replace the skills of an expert or scholar at interpreting texts or pictures. As a result of our experiment, we think that AI and other computational methods present an interesting opportunity with the potential for more quantifiable, reproducible and maybe objective research in the humanities.

It will be challenging to find ways to use AI appropriately in the humanities – and all the more so because current AI systems are not yet sophisticated enough to work reliably in all contexts. Scholars should also be alert to potential biases in these tools. If the ultimate goal of AI research is to develop machines that rival human cognition, artificial intelligence systems may need not only to behave like people, but understand and interpret feelings like people, too.

About Today's Contributor:
Leonie Hintze, Ph.D. Student in Linguistics & Germanic, Slavic, Asian and African Languages, Michigan State University and Arend Hintze, Assistant Professor of Integrative Biology & Computer Science and Engineering, Michigan State University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. 

CAIR Opposes Nomination of U.N. Ambassador Nominee Heather Nauert

Heather Nauert

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation's largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today called on the Trump administration to withdraw its nomination of Heather Nauert for the position of U.N. ambassador, saying she is "Unqualified and Islamophobic."

Early next year, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee will hold a nomination hearing for Nauert. CAIR is urging the Senate and members of the Foreign Relations Committee to oppose and vote "NO" on Nauert's nomination for the position of U.N. ambassador.

⏩ TAKE ACTION ⏪

Urge the U.S. Senate to Reject Islamophobic' U.N. Ambassador Nominee Heather Nauert

CAIR said Nauert promoted Islamophobic smears while employed as a Fox News anchor.

In 2013, she criticized special swim classes for a group of Somali-American girls, describing the classes as the "minority becoming the majority at one community pool. Sharia law is now changing everything."

In a 2009 Fox special on "stealth jihad," she interviewed Islamophobic panelists, including notorious Islamophobes like Robert Spencer, Frank Gaffney and Nonie Darwish, who claims that "Islam should be feared, and should be fought, and should be conquered, and defeated, and annihilated." Nauert has also defended Trump's anti-Muslim rhetoric.

⏩ SEE: Trump's New State Department Spokesperson Spread Anti-Muslim Hate as Fox News Anchor 

Nauert previously bashed refugee students in Pennsylvania for wanting "an even better" public education and falsely claimed that child migrants from Central America were "an illegal health risk."

Other than her current position as State Department spokesperson, Nauert has no apparent diplomatic or government experience or expertise.

"Heather Nauert does not represent our nation's diversity or its commitment to treating all Americans with equality and respect," said CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad.

"Such an important post should not be occupied by someone who is clearly unqualified and Islamophobic," said CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw. "There are many other individuals who do have the knowledge and background necessary for this post. Ms. Nauert's nomination should be withdrawn."

In June, CAIR applauded the decision by members of the United Nation's International Organization for Migration (IOM) to reject President Trump's nominee for the position of director general to lead the organization, a post held by Americans since 1951.

It was reported that members of the IMO rejected Isaacs's nomination due to his past Islamophobic statements and in response to Trump administration policies such as the Muslim ban and migrant family separations.

⏩ SEE: CAIR Welcomes Rejection of Trump's Islamophobic Nominee for U.N. Migration Post 

CAIR has reported an unprecedented spike in bigotry targeting American Muslims, immigrants and members of other minority groups since the election of Donald Trump as president. The Washington-based civil rights organization has also repeatedly expressed concern about Islamophobic and racist Trump administration policies and appointments.

The Washington-based organization's recently-released 2018 Civil Rights Report, "Targeted," showed a 17 percent increase in bias-motivated incidents against American Muslims from 2016 to 2017, and a 15 percent increase in the number of anti-Muslim hate crimes in that same time period. Preliminary data for 2018 indicate that there have been 927 hate incidents targeting American Muslims.

"Targeted" - CAIR’s 2018 civil rights report (image via LoupDargent.info)

⏩ New CAIR Report: Trump's Muslim Bans Increased Anti-Muslim Discrimination, Violence

SOURCE: Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)

3 Ways Facebook And Other Social Media Companies Could Clean Up Their Acts – If They Wanted To

Mark Zuckerberg - under fire, but not without options. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)

Facebook is in crisis mode, but the company can take major steps to fix itself – and the global community it says it wants to promote. Facebook founder, CEO and majority shareholder Mark Zuckerberg need not wait for governments to impose regulations. If he and other industry leaders wanted to, they could make meaningful changes fairly quickly.

It wouldn’t be painless, but Facebook in particular is in a world of hurt already, facing criticism for contributing to civil unrest and sectarian turmoil around the world, delayed responses to disinformation campaigns, misleading users about data-handling policies, and efforts to discredit critics – not to mention a budding employee revolt.

Facebook, Twitter, Google and other social media companies are causing society-wide damage. But they tend to describe the problems as much smaller, resulting from rogue individuals and groups hijacking their systems for nefarious purposes. Our research into how social media can be exploited by manipulative political operatives, conducted with Joan Donovan at the Data & Society research institute, suggests the real problem is much larger than these companies admit.

We believe the roots lie in their extremely profitable advertising systems, which need a major overhaul. We have identified some key changes that these giant powerhouses could make right away. These moves could reduce opportunities for political manipulation and limit the harm to democratic societies around the world.

Users’ minds in the crosshairs
Facebook, Google, Twitter and other social media companies have built an enormous digital influence machine powered by user tracking, targeting, testing and automated decision-making to make advertising more effective and efficient. While building this supercharged surveillance system, companies have promised users and regulators that targeted advertising is mutually beneficial for both consumers and advertisers.

In this bargain, users are supposed to receive more relevant ads. Facebook, for instance, explains that its “interest-based advertising” serves users who “want to see ads that relate to things they care about.” It’s true that these methods can identify ads that connect with users’ actual interests. But the very same data-driven techniques that tell a surfer about a new board design can also identify strategic points where people are most vulnerable to influence.

In particular, the leading social media advertising systems let political operatives experiment with different ads to see which are the most effective. They can use these tools not only to see if certain issues resonate with particular targets but also test for fears or prejudices that can be invoked to influence political behavior.

This misleading ad impersonated racial justice activists to urge black Americans not to vote for Hillary Clinton.( U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Intelligence – Democrats)

One key way to do this is to make people feel that someone else represents an emotionally charged threat to their identity. In 2016, for instance, Russia-linked operatives bought thousands of Facebook ads targeted to specific audiences suggesting Hillary Clinton had insulted their group’s dignity or threatened their safety. Some ads alleged Clinton espoused disrespect for specific occupations, like coal miners, or racial groups, like African-Americans. Others claimed she would confiscate guns or supported radical political movements seeking to overturn familiar ways of life.

Targeting political ads is not unique to online advertising, but the tools of digital ad systems are vastly more powerful than traditional mass media. Advertisers can try out several versions of an ad simultaneously and receive almost instant feedback on which ones most effectively drive specific audiences to share, like or comment on them. This digital feedback loop helps political operatives refine their tactics, probing for just the right images, words and emotions to influence very specific subgroups of citizens.

Move fast and fix things
Members of Congress and even some key Silicon Valley figures have begun discussing the need for tighter government oversight and greater accountability in digital advertising. Change need not wait for politics.

Based on our analysis, here are some steps companies could take right away – on their own. These moves may hurt the firms’ finances, but would demonstrate serious and lasting commitment to limiting their platforms’ usefulness in political manipulation campaigns.

As their first move, social media companies could stop allowing their ad services to be used as freewheeling experimental laboratories for examining their users’ psyches. Just as marketers and academic researchers must obtain permission from their test subjects, political advertisers that run online ad experiments could get informed consent in advance from every user who is involved. Companies should ask for users’ consent in specific notifications about ad experiments and not penalize users for opting out by limiting their access to services. We suspect many users would opt out of these tests if given the choice, but in any case this policy would help draw public attention to the hidden manipulation tools that platforms offer to their real customers: the political and commercial advertisers who pay the bills.

Make targeted political advertising transparent
To increase transparency and limit the ability of special interests to secretly influence politics, social media companies could refuse to work with so-called dark money groups. All political advertisers should be required to disclose their major donors in a format users can easily access.

A new policy banning dark money ads would respond to evidence that political operatives have used impersonation and manipulative ad tactics to stir in-fighting or sow division among coalitions of their adversaries. Impersonation clearly work best when ad sponsors are able to hide their identities and motives. Anonymous ads are also more likely to violate ethical standards simply because no one fears being held responsible for them.

Make platforms more democratic
A more significant change social media companies could make would be to introduce democratic oversight of how they collect and use people’s data.

Facebook’s Zuckerberg recently took an initial step in this direction, announcing that he will create independent review panels to handle users’ appeals against the company’s removal of content it judges inappropriate. He explained that he wanted to ensure “these decisions are made in the best interests of our community and not for commercial reasons.”

Whatever you think about this plan – and it has been greeted with plenty of skepticism – Zuckerberg’s reasoning acknowledges that because social platforms have become so central to democratic life, their own policies and design decisions require democratic accountability.

A more ambitious vision would let independent ethics panels representing diverse communities of users set enforceable policies for ethical political advertising. Similar sorts of groups are common in medicine and are emerging in artificial intelligence, among other fields. The details of how such committees operate will be critical to their success. If these committees are set up in partnership with nonprofit organizations with proven records of advocating for democratic communication and campaign finance transparency, perhaps they could help social media companies earn greater public trust by prioritizing democracy over maximizing their profits.

About Today's Contributors:
Anthony M. Nadler, Associate Professor of Media and Communication Studies, Ursinus College and Matthew Crain, Assistant Professor of Media, Journalism and Film, Miami University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. 

Related Stories:

• Google, Facebook, and Twitter Release Data on Political Ads (More or Less) 
• Google At 20: How A Search Engine Became A Literal Extension Of Our Mind
• President Donald Trump And Attorney General Sessions Lack Support For Breaking Up Tech, New NetChoice Survey Finds 
• How Facebook, Google And Twitter Sell You [Infographic]

Chinese Mythical Creature Zouwu Appears In Hollywood Fantasy Film

"Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald" - Poster

The following is a news report by China.org.cn on the Chinese mythical creature named Zouwu:

Written by J.K. Rowling, the Hollywood blockbuster "Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald" was recently released worldwide. Compared to the first installment of the franchise, Rowling's 2018 sequel introduces many new fantastic beasts, among which a Chinese mythical creature named Zouwu has captured the hearts of most filmgoers.

Zouwu has a cat face, tiger body, five-colored long tail, sharp claws and teeth, making it irresistible and destructive wherever it goes. However, when the hero, Newt Scamander, appears and waves a fluffy toy, this ferocious beast can immediately be captured to become a cute "big-eyed cat" with a happily-wagging tail.

"Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald" - The Zouwu

This dual character has received rave reviews from fans around the world. An article on the USA Today website claimed Zouwu was "the best new fantastic beast" that made the film so successful.

Zouwu is a creature in ancient Chinese mythology. It first appeared in the Book of Mountains and Seas (Shan Hai Jing), a work of folk geography in ancient China. The book states: "There is a rare creature in Lin's country which is tiger-sized with a five-colored striped body and with the tail longer than the body. Called Zouwu, this creature is capable of travelling 1,000 miles in a day."

In many ancient painters' works, Zouwu was also portrayed as a horse-like animal. However, nowadays, many people believe the most likely realistic prototype of Zouwu is a snow leopard.

It is this ancient Chinese mythology written thousands of years ago that provided fresh inspiration to J.K. Rowling. In her interpretation, Zouwu is a terrifying beast that can be captured by nobody but Newt.

Actually, Zouwu is not the first Chinese mythical creature to appear in Rowling's books. Other such strange beasts populating her world of wizardry include "Chinese Fireball," Abominable Snowman and Fawkes, a pet phoenix of Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts School. These "fantastic beasts" are the embodiment of both human imagination and respect for nature.

Ancient Chinese mythology highly valued moral integrity. For example, in Chinese culture, Zouwu is a beast of kindness, which only eats already dead-animals, never killing them itself. Kylin was said to have the ability to distinguish between good and bad people; and the phoenix was a symbol of peace and order. These mythical creatures reflect Chinese people's emphasis on lofty morality and warnings about human weakness.

With growing cultural exchanges between China and other countries, we hope that Chinese culture can offer more inspiration and that more Chinese "fantastic beasts" can become known by the outside world..

The News Report - Video:

SOURCE: China.org.cn

Related Videos:

Related Stories:

• Warner Bros. Pictures' "Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald" to be Released in ScreenX
• Scholastic Unveils New Covers For J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter Series, In Celebration Of The 20th Anniversary Of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone In The U.S.
• [US] 20 Years of Harry Potter: Pottermore Publishing Offering Unlimited Access to Ebook in Public Libraries

Why The Rise Of Populist Nationalist Leaders Rewrites Global Climate Talks

International climate negotiators need to recognize the motivations that drive populist nationalist leaders. {AP Photo/Alik Keplicz)

The election of Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil not only marks the rise of another populist nationalist leader on the world stage. It’s also a turning point for the global politics of climate change.

When the new president takes office in January 2019, by my estimate at least 30 percent of global emissions will be generated from democracies governed by populist nationalist leaders.

As climate policymakers meet at this week’s UN climate conference in Poland (a country itself governed by a populist nationalist party) people who care about achieving the Paris Agreement goal should push for and develop new strategies for advancing policies to reduce emissions within countries headed by these leaders.

Populism and cutting national emissions
What is populist nationalism? Although both populism and nationalism are contested terms, political scientist Francis Fukuyama, offers this tidy synthesis of the characteristics associated with populist nationalists leaders in democracies.

Firstly, these leaders define “the people” narrowly to refer to a single national identity which is oftentimes anti-elitist. Secondly, they promote policies which are popular among their selected people, or base of support, in the short term but may not be in the long-term economic, social or environmental interests of the country. Thirdly, populist nationalists are expert at capitalizing on their supporters’ cultural fears about a loss of status in society.

Over the past five years there have been several populist electoral victories in countries that are among the highest emitters of greenhouse gases. This includes the U.S., India, Indonesia, Mexico, Poland and the Philippines. While these regimes each represent a different brand of populist nationalism, they exhibit the basic characteristics I’ve just described.

From my perspective as a scholar focused on global energy and climate policies, it’s clear that the political structure of populist nationalism makes introducing policies to reduce, or mitigate, emissions in democracies difficult.

Mitigation policies require leaders to expend short-term political capital for long-term economic and environmental gains. However, populists have shown a particularly strong disinterest for doing so, particularly if those short-term costs would affect their prioritized group of the people.

Perhaps the clearest example of this is President Donald Trump’s unwinding of the Clean Power Plan. It may bring short-term benefits to his base, which includes coal miners and related interests, but it is not aligned with long-term energy market trends in the U.S. toward natural gas, wind and solar for generating electricity and away from coal.

Resistant to global pressure
Secondly, as several country-level case studies have shown, developing policies to reduce national emissions is often a top-down and elite-driven activity. This is particularly true in high-emitting middle-income democracies like Mexico or Indonesia. In these countries, mitigation policies, like carbon taxes, have not emerged by way of large scale social movements but by top-down policy processes supported by international donors and nongovernment actors. In these countries, climate mitigation is at risk of being overridden by policies with more popular appeal.

Indonesia President Joko Widodo, also known as Jokowi, has prioritized economic expansion over spending international funds to stem deforestation.(ahmad syauki, CC BY)

In a forthcoming paper on Mexico, a colleague and I investigate incoming President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s (AMLO’s) mitigation policy. The AMLO administration has publicly committed to reduce emissions through a little-known set of carbon pricing policies, while at the same time responding to a popular demand to reduce fuel prices by increasing domestic oil refining. In the contest between the top-down mitigation policy and the widespread popular demands for low gasoline prices, it is likely that the latter will take priority.

A third issue relates to the international governance of climate mitigation. Under the Paris Agreement, governments are asked to progressively ratchet up their emission reduction goals. This mechanism assumes political leaders will respond to international pressure to increase their ambition. However, populist nationalists have shown that they are not motivated by international reactions to their climate policies.

Take Indonesian President Joko Widodo, for instance, who was elected into office in 2014. As I have described elsewhere, one of his first moves in office was to shut down a US$1 billion mitigation policy program funded by the Norwegian government. This decision to close the agency breached the bilateral agreement between Indonesia and Norway, and points to the disregard shown by some of these leaders to international political pressure.

As these short anecdotes suggest, the mechanism by which populist nationalists hold and retain political power makes it difficult to introduce climate mitigation policies. Their interest is to prioritize short-term programs which favor their select group of the people, rather than longer-term mitigating policies which have widespread economic and environmental benefits. Also, because they don’t comply with traditional norms of international relations, it will not be possible to coerce this group into meeting the Paris Agreement goals.

However, there are some ways countries that want to make reach consensus on global climate policies can better engage these leaders.

Ways to engage
As a starting point, it is important to emphasize the short-term benefits of climate mitigation policy to populists.

I believe policymakers and advocates would be well-served in drawing attention to how clean energy may bring multiple short-term benefits to the people on whose support these leaders rely, including lowering domestic air pollution, low cost energy, improved health outcomes and less reliance on foreign fuel imports. Indeed on some of these points, Bolsonaro, has recently said that he will increase the country’s hydropower and nuclear capacity.

Further, recent research suggests the cultural dimension of populist nationalism is of central importance. Rather than reducing emissions and tackling global climate change, it may be better to frame mitigation as part of a large-scale effort towards modernization; that is, modernizing energy systems, transportation systems and infrastructure. A narrative built around modernization, highlighting the economic and societal benefits for all, may resonate more with the disaffected middle classes who have led the rise of populist nationalism.

At the international level too there may be some approaches to ensuring the international governance regime continues in the face of this current wave of populist nationalism. As scholars David Victor and Bruce Jones have recently argued, it may be useful to form small groups – or clubs – of countries which share similar interests to focus on clean technology and policy innovation. Focusing on shared interests within small clubs may work better than trying to push populist nationalists to comply with broad international agreements.

Populist nationalist leaders, like Bolsonaro, are the consequence of deeply entrenched economic, political and cultural shifts that have occurred in democracies over decades. These leaders, in other words, are likely to be a feature of democratic politics for some time into the future.

To continue to make progress on global climate agreements, I think it’s crucial that negotiating countries meet national populist leaders on their own terms for ongoing attempts to save the climate.

About Today's Contributor:
Arjuna Dibley, Graduate Fellow, Steyer-Taylor Center for Energy Policy and Finance, Stanford University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. 

Empowering the Damsel in Distress: 'New Age Fairy Tales' - A Book by Ariana Gupta

'New Age Fairy Tales'

In its new avatar, fairy tales which have been considered 'women's tales' with a moral lesson in the end on how women should behave to find their 'happily ever after', find a new version within the feminist genre by a young author. 

Ariana Gupta, a 17-year old feminist, has taken the first step in bringing about a thought revolution. Her book 'New Age Fairy Tales' (which she has written and illustrated), holds a powerful message for little girls around the world.

Escaping the damsel in distress plot, in these stories the princesses save themselves. 

The book comprises of five fairy tales: The Little Mermaid, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Beauty and the Beast, and Cinderella. Each story portrays a traditional character but with a contemporary twist addressing current social issues faced by girls in Indian society. 

Ariana, the author, says, "Inspiration behind this book was based on an advertisement campaign, titled Fiery Tales, which served to redefine the ideas of beauty using traditional fairy tale characters who weren't strong role models to look up to. I felt the need to educate young minds with something more meaningful and thus started this experiment of retelling stories with fairy tales."

Ariana added that for someone who grew up reading traditional fairy tales, she didn't have the best of role models. "The princesses were always helpless women waiting to be rescued by their knights in shining armours. Thus, it was always my dream to create fairy tales with strong, independent and realistic characters so that other little girls could have role models that I never had. The purpose of the book is to introduce feminism to children at a young age. Even if I am able to impact one little girl's life who can grow up to be an empowered woman, I know that I would have done something right by my art."

Mrs. Avnita Bir (Director- Principal, R.N. Podar School), on the occasion of the book launch of 'New Age Fairy Tales', said, "The young generation is buzzing with ideas of novelty with a touch of freedom. Times are changing and our stories need to evolve too. Ariana, our school's student is an embodiment of what this generation wants to read and learn."

Ariana Gupta

About Ariana Gupta:

Passionate to pursue a career in the creative field, Ariana Gupta got a 98.4% in her 10th boards and stood first in her school (R.N Podar) and is currently studying PCM in the 12th grade. 

She is a very studious and creative individual. Conversations with her are never not fun. She is outspoken and loves to debate. 

Apart from being extremely helpful and hardworking, she’s a voracious reader and a skillful artist. Nothing brings her more happiness than opening the door to discover the amazon delivery guy standing with her book. Along with a fondness for reading she also loves writing.

Ariana can be described as a multipotentialite. With an eye for photography there’s hardly anything that she can’t do. Her camera takes her to destinations all over the world, to capture sunsets, people and more.

She loves Disney movies and has always dreamt of directing one. But for now, she has decided to stick to freelancing as a graphic designer. Her artwork revolves mainly around ideas of femininity and womanhood.

When it comes to designing, she’s done stuff ranging from book illustrations to logo designs. She also handles communicative design for all of her school events. She recently even designed yearbooks for grade 12th.

When she’s not busy studying you’ll find her sketching in a cozy corner.

⏩ The book is available at Crossword Bookstores, Amazon and Flipkart 

SOURCE: Ariana Gupta