Feminist Queries for Ruth and Joshua: Complex Characterization,Gapping, and the Possibility of Dissent

Abstract

This essay positions reflections on Ruth and Joshua at the nexus of literary analysis and feminist inquiry. Building on the contributions of Robert Alter and Meir Sternberg, the arguments here explore the characterization of Ruth and the force of gapping in Josh 5,13-15. Nothing Foucault’s configuring of discourse as a space of multiple dissensions, this essay argues that the complexity of characterization of Ruth the Moabite and aporetic narrativity in the story of Joshua’s encounter with the commander of YHWH’s army constitute resource for feminist dissent. Readings of Ruth and Joshua may use these texts to destabilize ideologies of subjugation, move beyond essentialism in the identity formation of individuals and communities gathered around Scripture, and facilitate work for justice and shalom.     

Beautiful Geography: The Pictorial Maps of Ruth Taylor White

This paper explores the career of Ruth Taylor White, an American cartographic illustrator who published a significant number of pictorial maps from the 1920s into the 1940s. Taylor White’s ‘cartographs’ (as she called them) were characterized by her signature bobble-headed cartoon characters who romped through colourful, attractive landscapes. These visually rich and highly narrative maps simultaneously strove for accuracy and engaged in profound stereotyping with regard to culture, race, gender and class. They reveal not only the aesthetic and conceptual preferences of their maker but also the cultural biases of their middle-class, white American audience.     

The conundrum of castration in the archaeological record: An interpretation of Roman cattle horn-cores from Chelmsford,Essex

Current methods of sexing archaeological cattle bones, in particular the metapodials, are based upon past research into contemporary breeds and this work embraces a limited sample size, spread across a vast geographical area. Although the separation of cows and bulls is not in question, there appears a great deal of subjectivity in the literature concerning the identification of castrated beasts. Living bone is in a dynamic state of equilibrium with the rest of the body and responds to increased loading, that is, an increase in weight of the beast or stress/strain through strenuous movement, by remodelling. If cows and oxen are performing the same work, as for example in ploughing, then loading on the bones will be similar. These bones will thus respond by remodelling in corresponding fashion, and hence any morphological and metrical distinctions will be clouded. Horn-cores are less subject to these constraints, although in some cultures there may be loading on these bones, for example through attaching the harness to the horns for ploughing. The Chelmsford cattle horn-cores constitute waste from some industrial activity and it is argued in the text that horn-working is the most likely candidate, together with possibly tanning. Sexing of the bones strongly indicated male animals, with few females being present. A procedure for detecting castrated cattle (oxen) is presented, the results of which suggest an equivalent ratio of oxen to bulls.     

《晋安帝纪》与东晋安帝朝史书关系研究

黄爽《晋安帝纪》辑本材料出处名称多达六种。经笔者考订，《隋志》所著录王韶之《晋纪》与两《唐志》所著录《崇安记》及《宋书》所载《晋安帝阳秋》皆为《晋安帝纪》之异名，而黄爽辑本中之《续晋安帝纪》与《晋安帝纪》非一书，乃作者误辑。     

南宋进书仪探析——以圣政为例

南宋时,圣政修纂完毕后,须进呈皇帝和太上皇。在进呈过程中,宋廷制定了一套庄严肃穆而又极其烦琐的仪式。进呈皇帝之仪在皇帝和大臣处理日常政务的垂拱殿中完成。进呈给太上皇帝之仪在太上皇帝居所完成。在迎奉圣政和皇帝赴太上皇帝居所的环节中,秘书省道山堂和祥曦殿成为与进呈仪式紧密相关的空间。圣政的进呈仪式是由太上皇帝、皇帝、臣僚面向公众共同完成的两场表演,这种可视化表演具有浓厚的象征意义:对皇帝而言,是向天下臣民宣示自己总结和继承先朝的政治遗产,开启本朝的治道,并且以自身的实践教化臣民,传递"孝"的理念,倡导"孝";对臣僚而言,通过仪式表演,表达了他们致君"贤能"的愿望。圣政这种史籍的进书仪式为我们考察南宋官修史籍进书仪式提供了一个典型案例。     

简论中日诗歌特质的差异性--以《诗经》与《万叶集》为中心

中日文学特质的差异是灼然显在的,本文追本溯源,通过对《诗经》和《万叶集》的分析比较,探讨了中日文学在诗歌的社会道德功能、咏歌爱情与自然等方面所表现的差异性及其所自。     

The Role of Non-Human Creatures in the Book of Jonah: The Implications for Eco-Justice

Previous studies on the Book of Jonah often concentrated on God, Jonah, and the people of Nineveh. This article takes a different approach by focusing on the roles of all “non-human creatures” in the Book of Jonah—the great Storm, the great fish, the animals of Nineveh, the worm, the land and the kikayon plant. This approach reveals something new about the role of non-human creatures in the book and the implications thereof for the amelioration of today’s ecological crisis. It highlights the beauty of all elements of nature working together with humanity for the good of all: a clear indication of the ecological vision implicitly proposed by the Book of Jonah. In this regard, YHWH’s attitude to every creature in the book is exemplary, to him every creature is in itself valuable and fulfills a particular important role in nature and existence.     

The global,the ethnic and the gendered war: women and rape in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo

The purpose of this study was to illuminate the perspectives of women who experienced sexual violence perpetrated in the warscapes of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Civilians are targeted for rape, loot and pillage yielding deleterious effects on the social fabric and the sustenance the community provides. The article is based on 11 qualitative semistructured interviews and 4 written narratives from women of reproductive age, recruited from organizations providing support post-sexual violation. The study departs from a larger ethnographic project investigating the phenomenon of war-rape. Thematic analysis guided the analysis through the theoretical lenses of structural violence and intersectionality. The women expressed total insecurity and a multitude of losses from bodily integrity, health, loss of family, life course possibilities, livelihoods and a sense of place; a profound dispossession of identity and marginalization. Pregnancies resulting from rape reinforced stigma and burdened the survivor with raising a stigmatized child on the margins of society. Perpetrators of rape were mostly identified as Interhamwe (Rwandan Hutus rebels) who entered Congo after the Rwandan genocide in 1994. Their goal, according to the women, was to spread HIV and impregnate Congolese women, thereby destroying families, communities and society. The women survivors of war-rape described experiences of profound loss in this conflict which has global, ethnic and gendered dimensions. Congo's conflict thus requires critical reflection on how local wars and subsequent human suffering are situated in a matrix of globalization processes, enabled by transnational actors and embedded in structural violence.     

Playing Politics with Sex Offender Laws: An Event History Analysis of the Initial Community Notification Laws across American States

Despite a decline in crime rates, the 1990s witnessed extensive media coverage of several high‐profile stranger abductions and murders of children. State legislators' swift response to the public's growing fear of sex offenders with the adoption of sex offender registration and notification (SORN) laws raises questions about the role of politics. Punctuated equilibrium theory and the diffusion of innovation jointly provide a context to conduct an event history analysis to assess the extent to which politics enhanced legislative responsiveness to public opinion in SORN policymaking. Contrary to the commonly held belief that attributes legislative interest in SORN to salient crimes against children, the results suggest that factors such as the percentage of a conservative population, district‐level competition, and state innovativeness accelerated the diffusion of innovation of the laws.     

一部评述十一届三中全会的信史——简评朱佳木新作《我所知道的十一届三中全会》

在纪念中共十一届三中全会召开30周年的日子里,读到朱佳木的专著《我所知道的十一届三中全会》,获益良多。笔者以为,这是一部叙述和评价中共十一届三中全会的信史,是林林总总同一题材著作中的上乘之作。这本书最显著的特点是回忆与研究的结合,这是作者独具而别人难以企及的优长之处。中     

The recognition of multiple spatial patterns: a case study from the French upper paleolithic

A pattern recognition approach to spatial analysis is applied to artifact distributions from the Magdalenian site of Pincevent, Section 36. Patterning is investigated using a κ-means cluster analysis that permits iterative mapping of artifact distributions at several scales of spatial complexity. Multiple scales of patterning are recognized in the Pincevent distributions. These patterns are assessed in terms of those discovered by the excavators through intensive visual inspection of the materials. Basic concordance is seen between these two approaches. Finally, the analysis detects more detailed patterning. A relationship between artifact abundance and location seems to hold constant throughout the site.     

考古学研究玉器起源的一部力作——评《玉器起源探索——兴隆洼文化玉器研究及图录》

The book Research on the Origin of Jades:A Study and Album of XinglongwaCulture Jades jointly compiled and published by the Institute of Archaeology,CASS,and the Center forChinese Archaeology and Art,the Chinese University of Hong Kong,describes all the jades round 8000BP unearthed from the Xinglongwa site and expounds comprehensively the results of their studies.Itmakes a multi-angle discussion on related problems,such as the origin and diffusion,the use and usingmanner and the making technology of jad...     

中西文化的一次对话:清初传教士与《易经》研究

By the early 18^th Century, the “Rites Controversy” among the missionaries themselves has evolved into a culture conflict between the Qing Empire and Europe. To make the European missionaries in China follow the rites of Matteo Ricci, Emperor Kangxi had French Jesuit missionaries Joachim Bouvet and Jean Francoise Foucquet study the Book of Changes in his royal palace and had further conversions with the European missionaries based on their researches. Not only did this cultural conversation reveal the Figurist’s tendencies, as represented by Bouvet, and the interior conflict among the missionaries themselves after the “Rites controversy,” but also showed Kangxi’s policies towards the missionaries, as well as his attitude towards Western culture and religion. __________ Translated from Lishi Yanjiu 历史研究 (Historical Research), 2006, (3): 74–85     

北宋中期越窑瓷业技术传播及相关问题研究——兼论核心区越窑瓷业衰落原因

北宋中期,以浙江慈溪上林湖为中心的越窑瓷业核心区窑址数量急剧减少,窑场规模缩小。与之相对,浙江其他地区却发现了大量这一时期的窑业遗存。研究显示,限于多方面因素的制约,北宋中期以上林湖为中心的越窑核心产区不再适宜大规模的瓷业生产,而这直接迫使制瓷工匠作出选择,或许其中一部分工匠开始另辟他地继续从事窑业生产,从而在浙江范围内出现了众多这一时期的窑址。此外,在瓷业技术的传入过程中,制瓷工匠也结合当地的自然和社会环境,在继承的基础上进行了自我创新。     

Akhalkalaki: The Taphonomy of An Early Pleistocene Locality in the Republic of Georgia

As part of our investigations into the potential of the Republic of Georgia for providing information on early hominin occupation of Eurasia, we report here on Akhalkalaki, a large late Early Pleistocene locality located along the lower slopes of a Miocene andesitic cone. Originally excavated in the 1950s as a palaeontological site, it was re-opened in the 1990s and stone tools were found associated with the fauna, suggesting that it is also an archaeological occurrence. Excavations in the 1950s and 1990s uncovered thousands of bones of an early Galerian fauna, including the remains of new species of Hippopotamus,Equus , and Canis (Vekua, 1962, 1987) and dominated by the remains of Equus süssenbornensis. We present the stratigraphy of the site, which together with faunal correlations and reversed paleomagnetics indicates an age most likely in the late Matuyama Chron, probably between 980,000 and 780,000 years ago. Taphonomic analysis suggests that the fauna was deposited and buried over a short time period, and was heavily modified by carnivores, but we cannot demonstrate involvement by hominins. Based on evidence of abundant krotovina (animal burrows filled with sediment) and the lack of definitive evidence for hominin modification to the bones, the stone tools at the site may have been mixed in with the older fauna. The taphonomic characteristics of the Akhalkalaki bone assemblage are not readily explained with reference to assemblage formation processes developed with actualistic studies that have been mostly conducted in Africa, including carnivore dens, predator arenas, human hunting and scavenging, mass deaths, or attritional bone deposition. Because of extreme anthropogenic modification of the present environments, the temperate setting, and the presence of mainly extinct taxa, local models based on actualistic studies cannot approximate the mammalian ecology reflected in the Akhalkalaki bone assemblage. A few comparisons are made with preliminary taphonomic observations from Dmanisi, an Early Pleistocene Homo ergaster site not far away.     

The Movement and Exchange of Dogs in the Prehistoric Caribbean: An Isotopic Investigation

This study explores the feasibility of using strontium isotope (⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr) analyses of enamel from domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) to investigate networks of exchange in the prehistoric Circum‐Caribbean. Dog teeth were obtained from burial and domestic contexts from two prehistoric sites (Anse à la Gourde and Morel) on Grande‐Terre, Guadeloupe (Lesser Antilles). Strontium isotope results were compared with local biosphere ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr data at the scale of the site, island and archipelago. The isotope results indicate both local and nonlocal origins with three dogs (30%) identified as nonlocal (one from Anse à la Gourde and two from Morel). The variance in ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios of the nonlocal dog teeth is consistent with diverse multiple origins external to the island of Grande‐Terre but consistent with origins from other islands of the Lesser Antilles. The diverse origins of the nonlocal dog samples indicate that the prehistoric circulation of dogs occurred at multiple scales from regional to long distance. Significantly, the ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios of some of the dog teeth are comparable with values of nonlocal humans at Anse à la Gourde determined in previous studies. It is possible that these comparable ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios result from similar natal origins, for example if individuals were migrating to Guadeloupe with dogs. The results of this study contribute to an ongoing regional investigation of the economic, social and political roles of animals and animal remains and the multiscalar networks of prehistoric mobility and exchange in the Circum‐Caribbean region. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The evolution of sociopolitical complexity in prehistoric Hawaii: An assessment of the archaeological evidence

The sociopolitical system of late prehistoric Hawaii was among the most complex of any Oceanic chiefdom, as indexed by such characteristics as scale, rate of energy extraction, degree of functional specialization, and political hierarchy. Various anthropologists and archaeologists have advanced models of how this complex sociopolitical system developed out of an earlier Ancestral Polynesian society. Recent advances in Hawaiian archaeology have now begun to provide a wealth of data on the course of prehistoric change in the archipelago over some 1500 years and, thus, provide evidence which can be used to test alternative models of the evolution of sociopolitical complexity. This paper reviews the major alternative models that have been put forward and provides a synopsis of the archaeological evidence relevant to their testing.     

An archaeological signature of multi-level social systems: The case of the Irish Bronze Age

Recent research suggests that contemporary human social groups are structured according to principles of fission and fusion that are also observed in some of our primate relatives, raising the possibility that such social systems have been a feature of hominin society throughout prehistory. The current paper examines the possibility of identifying archaeological signatures of multi-level social structures through the examination of site size distributions. Data on the sizes of Irish Bronze Age stone circles and predictions for the size of aggregations they could accommodate are compared with simulations parameterized using data on modern human groups. The results suggest that the presence of hierarchically inclusive, multi-level social structures provides a better explanation for the data than more traditional archaeological accounts based on the rank-size rule and related inferences concerning the emergence of political elites.     

The Politics of Sources Meets the Practices of the Librarian: An Interview with Esther Chen**

[I] want to single out one phenomenon that could be called the ‘politics of sources’. It points to the extent to which the histories that both scientists and historians can write are artifacts of the available sources. The Rockefeller Foundation not only opened its archives very early on for historical work but also invested a lot in making the archives readily available for historical exploration. During the 1980s, many young historians took advantage of this opportunity. Thus, in a relatively early phase of the professional historiography of molecular biology, one could have gained the impression that the development of the new biology as a whole was a bio-politically directed enterprise of the Rockefeller Foundation sustained by the vision that social processes could ultimately be controlled by biological processes.     

The Transformation of Retail Markets in Lisbon: An Analysis through the Lens of Retail Gentrification

The relationship between cities and retail is strong and historical. This article focuses on the analysis of traditional retail markets, a retail concept that has lost its relevance in previous decades. However, more recently there has been a reversal of this trend following increased interest in the rehabilitation of these markets. This reinvestment follows the divestment stage and is characterised by the active role that private interests play in the management and operation of these retail precincts. This evolutionary process challenges the capacity of traditional retailers to continue their operations in these markets and the ability of disadvantaged customers to continue shopping there. Furthermore, this development may be indicative of retail gentrification. In this article, the ongoing process of market rehabilitation in Lisbon is analysed to determine whether evidence of retail gentrification has occurred. The use of case studies forms a significant part of the methodology. In addition, eleven retailers were interviewed in three traditional retail markets in Lisbon. The article concludes that direct displacement did not occur in the markets studies. However, because of the divestment in these retail precincts, indirect displacement did affect several retailers.