America in denial

The recent publication of State of denial, by veteran Washington journalist Bob Woodward, created firestorm of controversy over its central claim that the Bush administration is in denial over the severity of the unfolding crisis in Iraq. But one of the most revealing aspects of the book is its portrayal of the American policymaking process as dysfunctional, incompetent and beset by personal rivalries and ambitions. Woodward's account of the Bush administration's handling of Iraq reveals that bureaucratic necrosis, cronyism and internecine warfare between the Pentagon and the State Department are now the signature features of the American government. Thus an alternative reading of Woodward's book suggests that American people are no longer in denial about Iraq, but have yet to reckon with the deeper problem: the deterioration of their foreign policy establishment.     

凉州民俗禁忌

凉州地区自古以来是一个多种文化交融汇聚的地方,不同的风土人情、生活习惯,形成了独特的民俗文化景观。本文就凉州一带的特殊民间禁忌加以分析,以此认识凉州民俗的特殊性。     

Taboos Unique to Tibetans in Qinghai

InthevastareahuggingthebeautifulQinghaiLakelivenumerousTibetanfarmersandherders.Giventhearea'scomn1icatednaturalenvironmeninconvenienttransportlinks,thesepeopIehavesinceancienttimesdevelopedhabitsandtaboosuniquetothemselves.TheTibetanslivinginthispartofth…     

土族的禁忌文化

“禁忌”是民俗学、人类学和宗教学中研究的一种风俗文化,世界上所有的民族几乎都有自己民族的禁忌文化,土族作为一个古老的民族,自然也不例外。本文通过解读土族的禁忌风俗,探讨某些禁忌风俗的起源和社会历史背景。     

Taboos of Tibetan Nomadic Tribes

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本手：禁忌主题的开创性研究——《解读禁忌》读解

新世纪第一个春光明媚的5月,我与万建中教授幸会于五岳之尊的泰山。捧读着万先生新赐的大著《解读禁忌——中国神话、传说和故事中的禁忌主题》,我感觉到万先生像登上了泰山之巅一样,也攀上了一座学术的高峰。     

Electioneering 1974 and labor in government

Laurie Oakes and David Solomon, Grab for Power: Election ‘74, Cheshire, Melbourne, 1974, pp. 557, paperbound, $7.95.

Peter Blazey and Andrew Campbell, The Political Dice Men, Outback Press, Melbourne, 1974, pp. 254, paperbound, $3.50.

C. J. Lloyd and G. S. Reid, Out of the Wilderness: The Return of Labor, Cassell Australia, Melbourne, 1974, pp. 447, paperbound, $6.95.     

Tree Totems and the Tamarind People: Implications of Clan Plant Taboos in Central Flores

ABSTRACT Among the Nage of eastern Indonesia, a sizeable minority of clans maintain totemic attitudes towards trees and other plants whose names they share. Tree totemism is mostly expressed in taboos on burning the wood and using the timber in construction. In addition, there is the idea that all Nage people should not burn wood of the Tamarind (Nage) tree. Comparative evidence and local historical narrative locate the source of phytonymic clan names in an earlier use of such names as toponyms and settlement names. Insofar as this is their origin, Nage plant totemism can thus be understood as a residue of a naming practice relating to places rather than to people, either human ancestors or groups. As the use of ‘Nage’ as the formal name of an inclusive ethnic, socio‐political, and territorial entity is relatively recent, and indeed largely a function of a colonial administration introduced barely a century ago, this case further demonstrates how taboos and totemic relations can develop rapidly in contexts of major social change.     

Literacy and the law in Lombard government

This article examines the Lombard law code as evidence for literate practices in government and society in seventh- and eighth-century Italy. The effectiveness of the code as an instrument of government is testified by the charter evidence, in which the precepts of the code are implicitly acknowledged or cited directly. Although largely the result of a necessary appropriation of late Roman property law, Lombard legislation and notarial practice applied further literate methods to document, and hence to validate, a range of transactions. The use of written law was not merely limited to male landowners, but affected Italo-Lombard society more widely, as is revealed by the evidence for women's property rights and manumission. The charter evidence and references within the code itself suggest that various uses of writing for governmental administration extended beyond the royal and ducal levels into local society.