The Vatican and Mussolini’s Italy

This essay reviews a new history by Lucia Ceci of Italo-Vatican relations during the Fascist period, and evaluates its contribution to the vast but often polemical literature on the subject of Church–state relations in modern Italy. Ceci offers a detailed, sophisticated analysis that focuses specifically on leadership and decision-making in the Fascist regime and the Vatican respectively. Her argument that the Vatican’s relations with Fascist Italy were conditioned by a strategic choice to maintain diplomatic relations in exchange for autonomy in the state and civil society, while compelling, makes some contradictory and unconvincing claims. Ultimately, what is needed is a conceptual framework that can account for the complex reality of a relationship characterized by points of mutual interest and complementarity but also fundamental disagreement and open conflict.     

The Romance of Grime’s Graves

Abstract

The sculptures of the chapter house at York Minster are important examples of medieval art which hitherto have received little attention from scholars. Two problems posed by the sculptures are examined: the extent of restoration, and the iconography.

Some of the chapter house sculptures were mutilated and later restored; medieval and modern work contrast in stone preservation and in methods of attachment to the canopy. Fortunately the figures, which are full-length sculptures rather than heads, for the most part escaped destruction or later attempts at improvement.

The sculptures probably symbolise moral virtues and vices. Individual sculptors differed in their portrayal of allegorical subjects to illustrate this theme. A progressive group chose ordinary animals and attempted a realistic depiction. A conventional group opted for the more stylised, fantastical monsters of an archaic tradition.

Finally, Dr Eric Gee's identification of ‘toothache’ figures is reconsidered.     

The Poor Man’s Goldmine?

This article analyses the career paths of Swedish and Finnish sailors from the mid-19th to the mid-20th century. The article shows that, for the most of the men, the seaman’s occupation was just a passing phase before taking up a job on shore, but many of them also created a long-lasting and advancing career by going to sea. There was not necessarily, however, a clear distinction between job opportunities at sea and those on shore in those days: men worked both at sea and on shore. We therefore argue that an individual’s advancement in a maritime career was a context-specific socio-economic phenomenon. In Scandinavia, work on board ships was dependent on features that characterized the division of labour in a predominantly agricultural domestic economy on land and emerging industrialization during the turn of the century. Here we present an analysis of the career paths of almost 60,000 men recruited to serve on Swedish and Finnish merchant vessels from the 1840s to late 1940s.     

The date of Marvell’s Hortus

A post-Restoration dating of Marvell’s poem The Garden and its Latin companion piece “Hortus” to around 1668 has been generally accepted in recent criticism, despite some counter-arguments from those who defend the traditional dating to Marvell’s period at Nun Appleton (1650–2). None of these analyses, however, have attempted to date the Latin rather than the English poem. This article offers a new dating of “Hortus” to around 1654, during Marvell’s time at Eton as tutor to John Dutton. The argument is based on a series of parallels and allusions to Latin poetry either dating from, or demonstrably particularly fashionable in, the period between 1646 and 1654, as well as close attention to the political resonance and contemporary understanding of the poem’s classical sources. As such, it is also a case study in the dating of neo-Latin verse, of which many thousands of examples survive from seventeenth-century England.     

The ‘Prentice’s Bracket’ at Gloucester Cathedral

The 14th-century ‘Prentice’s bracket’ in the south transept of Gloucester cathedral has usually been thought to represent the fatal plunge of a young mason, watched by an older colleague. The implicit parallel is with Icarus and Daedalus, which suggests a moral lesson about the risks of Pride for artisans who worked at dangerous heights. However, this reading of the imagery may not be correct. In light of what is actually shown — the younger man is clearly attached to a vault — it seems more likely to represent a rescue through supernatural intervention. Numerous parallels for such rescues exist in medieval sources, particularly in the praise literature dedicated to the Virgin Mary.     

The ‘Rebalancing’ of New Caledonia’s Economy

This article assesses the impact of ‘rebalancing’ (ré-équilibrage) policies implemented in New Caledonia following the Noumea Accord in 1998. These policies were designed to redress the disadvantages of the Indigenous Kanak population (both at the political and at the socio-economic level) and to foster Kanak support for a post-Noumea Accord deal with the non-Indigenous population. It outlines the institutional framework of the Noumea Accord and its impact on development policy, exploring the structural dynamics of the New Caledonian economy and the extent of achievements in reducing inequalities. Conventional indicators demonstrate some accomplishments as regards reducing provincial inequalities but this article argues that the goals of rebalancing remain far from achieved and it explores the reasons for those shortcomings. I argue that most difficulties stem from the lack of structural reforms and absence of a shared vision of development. Nevertheless, scope does exist in New Caledonia for fostering balanced development that is environmentally and socially sustainable and better adapted to local specificities.     

Conserving Hong Kong’s Heritage: The Case of Queen’s Pier

The case of Queen’s Pier in Hong Kong provides the context for a discussion of conceptions of heritage, the purposes it serves and the dilemmas surrounding conservation in modern Asian societies committed to economic growth. Efforts to save the historic pier from destruction are recounted and the perspectives of those with an interest are examined. Built heritage is shown to have socio‐cultural, political and economic functions and its contribution to defining identity is especially important in times of change and uncertainty. Circumstances in Hong Kong reflect its unique history and current status, but the issues emerging from the analysis have a wider relevance. The fundamental tension between development and conservation is highlighted, together with the challenges of reconciling these two forces in a satisfactory manner.     

The Analysis of Lin Yutang’s Humor

Lin Yutang is called the master humorist in China.He advocates humor and spiritual literature in his magazine Lun Yu(Analects)which attracts essays and readership.His informal but polished style in both Chinese and English makes him one of the most influential writers of his generation,and his compilations and translations of classic Chinese texts into English are bestsellers in the West.Humor is a distinctive feature in his works.In his book,he uses humor as he sees appropriate,and through humor he criticizes social realities,depicts characters and introduces original expressions,etc.His humor can be related to some aspects in his life.In this paper,I will briefly analysis Lin’s sense of humor and how Lin’applies humor in his works.     

The Politics of Hella Wuolijoki’s Autobiography

This article approaches the Finnish-Estonian Jill-of-all-trades, Hella Wuolijoki (1886–1954), through her autobiographical writings. She was active in business, politics, science and culture during a turbulent time in Finnish history, and her radical political stance and unorthodox methods made her a controversial person. The article revisits the concept of persona, as it has been used in history of science, in order to analyse how Wuolijoki used her autobiographical writings to expand the field of acceptable actions for women, and to justify her own life choices.