Defining paganism in the Carolingian world

Generations of scholars have looked for evidence of ‘paganism’ in continental sources from the eighth and ninth centuries. This paper surveys some of the key problems in defining and conceptualizing the available literary evidence for such a project. Part one argues for a return to the sources to help escape the intellectual baggage created by discussions of ‘pan‐Germanic paganism’, interpretatio Romana and, more recently, folk practices. From the perspective of the sources’ producers, paganism needs to be understood as a category of difference employed to provide a better definition of Christianity itself. In part two this line of thought is pursued through a brief study of the ways in which classical learning framed not only Carolingian attitudes to paganism, but also related strategies of moralizing.     

Inventing Ancient Greece

Not Out of Africa: How Afrocentrism Became an Excuse to Teach Myth as History. By Mary Lefkowitz.     

Inventing human science

Inventing Human Science: Eighteenth Century Domains. Edited by Christopher Fox, Roy Porter, and Robert Wokler (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1995) $45.00 and £24.00 cloth, xv + 357 pp.     

Inventing truth and building power in Russia

Next year marks a quarter century since the end of the Soviet Union. How has power evolved in the region? What might the future hold? What are the implications for the West? Three important works illuminate these questions from different angles. Henry Hale argues that (except for the Baltic states) post‐Soviet regimes are fundamentally similar to one another in being constituted by informal networks that dominate resources and institutions. They converge around, and compete for, influence with a powerful presidency that imposes selective rewards and punishments. Succession is the key weakness, and an unpopular lame duck leader invariably leads to upheaval. Karen Dawisha charts the rise of Vladimir Putin's network of friends and colleagues, and documents allegations of corruption and illegality. She shows how quickly this network, on gaining presidential power, revived state strength and undermined other networks. Peter Pomerantsev vividly portrays a society of simulations ruled by a deft and disorienting ‘post‐modern authoritarianism’. But as systemic popularity has declined this has given way to a harder, shriller anti‐western course, and ultimately to the annexation of Crimea. The future may see the international context play a greater role in regime evolution than before. The compelling anatomy of power laid bare in these three works points to growing tensions and flaws in patronal rule across the post‐Soviet space.     

Sites,sacredness, and stories: Interactions of archaeology and contemporary paganism

Folklore has, until very recently, been at the fringes of archaeological research. Post-processual archaeology has promoted plurality in interpretation, however, and archaeology more widely is required to make itself relevant to contemporary society; so, contemporary folkloric practices vis-a`-vis archaeological remains are once again receiving attention. In this paper we examine contemporary Pagan understandings of and engagements with “sacred sites” in England. Specifically, we explore how Pagan meanings are inscribed and constituted, how they draw on “traditional” understandings of sites and landscapes, and instances in which they challenge or reify the “preservation ethic” of heritage management. From active interactions with sites, such as votive offerings and instances of fire and graffiti damage, to unconventional (contrasted with academic) interpretations of sites involving wights and spirit beings, Neolithic shamans, or goddesses, there are diverse areas of contest. We argue archaeology must not reject Pagan and other folklores as “fringe,” but, in an era of community archaeology, transparency and collaboration, respond to them, preferably dialogically.     

Decentralized Industrial Policy in Germany. Case Study: Bavaria

Bavaria has achieved a dynamic change in its economic structure since the end of World War II, having evolved in the last four decades from an agricultural to a well-performing modern and service state. A wide variety of R&D-, SME- and infrastructure-oriented industrial policy measures have significantly contributed to the establishment of new small firms and job creation, the modernization of industrial structure as well as the economic and technology development in this German state. Bavarian industrial policy also stresses the subsidiarity principle and the working-together-through-dialogue principle of various groups including government, firms, trade unions, interest groups, etc. This type of loosely defined industrial policy has functioned remarkably well in the Bavarian-specific framework, in which a few large leading firms of international renown, in combination with the strong SME-basis, have played a key role for the rapid development. This study examines some major characteristics of regional industrial policy measures in Germany, taking Bavaria as a successful case.     

The handling and interpretation of dreams and visions in late sixth- to eighth-century Gallic and Anglo-Latin hagiography and histories

Early medieval attitudes to dreams and visions have been seen either as negative, products of an ostensibly repressive theological tradition, or positive, as suggested by the apparent ease with which many narratives treat these phenomena. This article explores the relationship of early medieval views on dreams to those of the church Fathers and suggests that views on the value and handling of dreams vary in accordance with the probable audiences and aims of our sources. Instead of uniform views either repressive or permissive, we see a variety of attitudes and techniques, aiming to satisfy both practical needs and theological concerns.     

The Lance of St Maurice as a component of the early Ottonian campaign against paganism

The so‐called Holy Lance that formed part of the Holy Roman imperial insignia from the middle of the tenth century was for a time believed to be identical with that carried by the early Christian soldier‐martyr, St Maurice. While the earliest documentary evidence for a Maurician identification dates to 1008, I argue that Otto I (936–73) already associated the blade with this saint in the context of his anti‐pagan campaign along the empire's eastern borders, in which the figure of the saint played a significant role. Construed as the lance of St Maurice, this weapon was a potent visual tool of early Ottonian proselytism.     

Inventing Revivalist Millennialism: Edwards and the Scottish Connection

Revivalism and millennialism are important concepts that influence contemporary evangelicalism. However it was in the Great Awakening that Jonathan Edwards and select Scottish ministers first connected revivalism and millennialism together in a new evangelical print culture. Evangelical ministers used publications and personal correspondence to hypothesise that the current Atlantic revivals were signs pointing towards Christ’s millennial kingdom. The 1740s stands as a unique decade where evangelical ministers created an influential synthesis of revivalism, social progress, and millennialism. The revivalist and millennial synthesis was a harbinger of the evangelical future for religious movements in both the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.     

Stones from Bavaria: Iranian Lithography in its Global Contexts

This essay traces the circulation of the industrial commodities of lithographic presses and stones and compares the uses to which these commodities were put in Iran with other regions at the same time. Using Persian travelogues as sources on scientific exchange, the essay compares Iran's access to lithography with its spread through Europe, Russia and South and Southeast Asia. Using lithography as a gauge of Iran's integration into an industrializing global economy, it compares state-led Iranian attempts to access lithographic commodities with attempts by other regional powers to develop local sources for these ‘stones from Bavaria’. After tracing the role of Christian Evangelicalism in the technology's dissemination, the essay finally contextualizes Iranian uses of lithography in global developments in illustrated and newspaper printing.

Since the art of Lithography has risen to considerable celebrity, attempts have been made to discover the same species of stone…

– Aloys Senefelder, 1819

     

Unfinished and Paired Logboats from Bavaria, Germany

Though Bavaria is far inland, at least 20 logboats are known, but only recently have some been properly recorded. This paper deals with two vessels discovered in the early 1990s. The remains at Laufen-Pfaffing represent a semi-manufactured logboat, which was purposely sunk as was the custom in Austria until the mid-20th century. The vessel from Wessobrunn-Blaik is also unfinished and shows several tool-marks. It is too narrow to float on its own: therefore it is part of a paired logboat. There is plenty of archaeological evidence for this kind of craft, but no ethnographic evidence. Apart from use as ferries, other uses are discussed.
© 2005 The Nautical Archaeology Society     

Tourism Lobbying in Bavaria: Between Ignorance,Parochialism and Opportunism

Abstract

The subject of lobbying in the context of destinations is still a largely unstudied research field both in relation to specific destinations and from the perspective of planning. This is all the more remarkable when we consider that—despite its ambivalent public perception—successful lobbying is a crucial success factor in the positioning of destinations on a highly globalized tourism market with its rapidly changing supply and demand structures. In this article, we analyze the current lobbying structures in Bavaria, one of the leading European destinations. Bavarian tourism finds itself in an exceedingly complex situation today caught between diminishing competitiveness, especially considering the persistent investment backlog, and exceedingly ambitious tourism policies. Using semi-structured interviews we investigated how key policy-makers and representatives of the tourism business currently appraise tourism lobbying in Bavaria. From their assessments, we derive recommendations that should help to optimize lobbying structures and processes.