Model Boats in the Context of Maritime History and Archaeology

Funereal, votive or shipbuilders' model boats and ships have been quite well documented in the past, but little research has been undertaken into other wooden models from north-west Europe. There have been over 160 found during archaeological excavations, dating from the 9th to the 19th centuries. A study of these 'toys' is not just a study of objects among the minor arts, but reflects a far more important aspect—a source for interpreting remains of full-size vessels, the hypothetical reconstruction of hull-forms and exploration of new ways of defining unknown vessel-types.
© 2007 The Author     

环境史中的欧洲特殊道路问题

欧洲为什么率先进行工业革命是一个永恒的问题,从东西方环境史比较的角度可能会对此得出独特的解释。当然,这种比较必须建立在坚实的实地研究的基础上。本文要分析的十个问题是：谨慎对待精神观点,环境史的制度分析,耕地与牧场的平衡与失衡,西欧的婚姻模式,延续、持续性和自给自足,森林和权力,欧洲多中心主义的优势,魏特夫“亚细亚生产方式”的绿色复兴,欧洲殖民主义的环境影响,环境史上是否存在一个“欧洲奇迹”。从这十方面的比较中会对“环境史中的欧洲特殊道路问题”有更清楚的把握,进而揭示出一个辩证的历史逻辑,即“长期的成功恰恰加剧了危机”。这或许就是东方前现代的繁荣昭示给现在西方文明的前景。     

History and Story: Unconventional History in Michael Ondaatje's The English Patient and James A. Michener's Tales of the South Pacific

"Literary history" is a cross between conventional (scientific) history and pure fiction. The resulting hybrid provides access to history that the more conventional sort does not (in particular, a sense of the experiences of the historical actors, and the human meaning of historical events). This claim is demonstrated by an analysis of two novels about World War II, The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje, and Tales of the South Pacific by James Michener. These two very different novels in English are by writers themselves very different from each other, writers from different times, different social and political backgrounds, and different points of view. Their novels examine the effects of the Second World War and the events of 1942 on the human psyche, and suggest how human beings have always searched for the silver lining despite the devastation and devaluation of values. Both novels resist any kind of preaching, and yet the search for peace, balance, and kindness is constantly highlighted. The facts of scientific history are woven into the loom of their unconventional histories. The sense of infirmity created by the formal barriers of traditional history is eased, and new possibilities for historical understanding are unveiled.     

语境、政治与历史：义和团运动评价50年

百年以来,占支配地位的对义和团的评价意见,主要不是来自学术本身,而是源于对中国现状与未来走向的观察与判断。整个20世纪,人们据以言说义和团的语境发生了多次深刻变迁：从五四时期反传统启蒙语境到2040年代的反帝国主义救亡语境,从50-60年代的反西方冷战语境到80年代的反封建新启蒙语境,再至90年代的反激进新保守主义语境,大体可以看作指导义和团评价的语境变迁史。语境不同,义和团这一历史事件的面貌也在不断变动。21世纪初叶,中国仍将处在义和团暴动所提出的问题的覆盖之下,对义和团的研究与评价,仍将难以完全摆脱以民族主义为主要内容的政治的制约。     

From Atomic Fragments to Memories of the Trinity Bomb: A Bridge of Oral History over the Pacific

This paper first introduces the background of the making ofMemories of the Trinity Bomb, a Japanese documentary film basedon the book Atomic Fragments: A Daughter's Questions, authoredby Mary Palevsky. Yoshihiko Muraki, an independent filmmaker,revealed his unique approach in filming the spiritual journeyof Mary, a daughter of the Manhattan Project scientists, inher search of the true meaning of the atomic bomb. While thedocumentary primarily focused on the narratives of Mary Palevskyand several Project scientists, this paper introduces Japaneseperspectives on the film through interviews with Japanese viewersvarying both in generation and background. Through this endeavor,the paper explores the meaning of this trans-media as well astransnational collaboration on the topic of the atomic bomb,which remains at the crossroads of history and personal memories.     

Putting Clinton in Context

Kurtz, Howard. Spin Cycle: How the White House and the Media Manipulate the News. New York: Touchstone Press, 1998. Pp. xxii, 346. $14 softbound.

Morris, Dick. Behind the Oval Office: Getting Reelected Against All Odds. Los Angeles: Renaissance Books, 1999. Pp. xxxii, 646. $16.96 softbound.

Reich, Robert B. Locked in the Cabinet. New York: Vintage Books, 1998. Pp. xv, 348. $13 softbound.

Shogan, Robert. The Double-Edged Sword: How Character Makes and Ruins Presidents, from Washington to Clinton. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1999. Pp. xii, 284. $25 hardbound.