L’enfance comme figure compassionnelle: étude transversale de l’iconographie de la famine aux dix-neuvième et vingtième siècles

Despite the growing interest in the use of child images in humanitarian contexts in the last few years, there has been no transverse study of the iconography of famines in contemporary times. On the contrary, this iconography has been analysed in a scattered way, in disciplinary boundaries that prevent a more global understanding of the birth and use of these images. By comparing the approaches of the history of humanitarianism and childhood, as well as of social photography and media analysis, the purpose of this article is to show that visuals of starving children eventually find their roots at the end of the nineteenth century, at a time when charitable organisations are using photography as a tool to mobilise civil society and governments as well as to internationalise the humanitarian response. This analysis of Western visual strategies and media mobilisations throughout the twentieth century helps to put into perspective the so-called rupture between a first and a second age of humanitarianism. It shows first how young generations have become a privileged form of representation since the nineteenth century, using an aesthetic universe that is morally compelling; then, later, how the depoliticisation of the victim’s figure engages a political message.     

L’Invention du Spectateur au XVIIIe Siècle L’Art Est Usage

18^th century philosophers analyzed art through the aesthetic experience of the audience. By contrast, Adam Smith was interested in the moral judgment that an impartial audience may formulate. How can art and morality, the beautiful and the good, be combined into one analytical framework? Art and morality convey non-transcendental values that are intrinsic to human experience. With the aesthetic experience of the audience, art is used, and ultimately depends on the ways that humans relate to works or art and to the beautiful.     

Religion Civique, Religion Civile, Religion Séculière L’ombre d’un doute

Because of its conceptual plasiticity, the term civic religion is now widely used by historians, particularly historians of the Middle Ages. Yet, as this article suggests, historians would do well to interrogate the relationships (which can be hidden) that this term bears to similar concepts such as Greek Roman civic religion, Enlightenment civil religion or even the secular religion that emerged in the work of 20^th century thinkers.     

Ludovico Geymonat le Problème de L’épistémologie Historique

The study of the various inspirations of Ludovico Geymonat's epistemology (positivism and neopositivism, neorationalism, historicism and dialectical materialism) illustrates the way in which for the Italian philosopher the problem of objectivity of knowledge remains inseparable from the historicity of the sciences. Geymonat's epistemological approach associates scientific progress to its objectivity.     

Les Progrès de la Sériciculture sous les Yuan (XIIIe–XIVe Siècles) D’après le Nongsang Jiyao 農桑輯要

Based on an analysis of Nongsang jiyao (Fundamentals of agriculture and sericulture), the oldest existent work on agriculture published by imperial decree, this article examines how the literati succeeded in obtaining their quality as experts in sericulture by their writings and imperial support. Four aspects will be discussed: a) the historical context of the Yuan period; b) the work of compiling and the careers of the principal authors and editors; c) the diffusion and the influence of the treatise; d) the construction of collective knowledge.     

Une Lecture Matérielle d’un Poète Japonais: Kenji Miyazawa

This article offers an interpretation of Kenji Miyazawa’s fairy tales using the theory of material imagination proposed by Gaston Bachelard. Putting Bachelard’s theoretical framework to the test in a totally different culture, the article focuses on the way Japanese fairy tales make use of the four elements of Empedocles. These four elements in turn help to uncover an unconscious source of creative inspiration for Miyazawa, revealing the predominant role of earth in his work.