Magnificent entrances and undignified exits: chronicling the symbolism of castle space in Normandy

Recent years have seen an increase in the number of studies on the symbolism of the castle, particularly in relation to lordship. Such studies are interdisciplinary in nature and often employ the language of the use of space in order to determine how castles functioned and how they were perceived. This article considers what the chroniclers of eleventh- and twelfth-century Normandy meant by castle space. This analysis can help us to determine how space was used, its connection to ideas about social relationships, including gender, and the chroniclers' purpose in including the events they described in their narratives. Many of the episodes described by the chroniclers relate to ideas about the authority and legitimacy of both men and women. As such the spatial setting of the castle is a means of holding up good examples of how authority should be exercised as well as illustrations of what happens when people either fail to uphold that authority or appropriate it in an illegitimate manner.     

Magnificent entrances and undignified exits: chronicling the symbolism of castle space in Normandy

Recent years have seen an increase in the number of studies on the symbolism of the castle, particularly in relation to lordship. Such studies are interdisciplinary in nature and often employ the language of the use of space in order to determine how castles functioned and how they were perceived. This article considers what the chroniclers of eleventh- and twelfth-century Normandy meant by castle space. This analysis can help us to determine how space was used, its connection to ideas about social relationships, including gender, and the chroniclers' purpose in including the events they described in their narratives. Many of the episodes described by the chroniclers relate to ideas about the authority and legitimacy of both men and women. As such the spatial setting of the castle is a means of holding up good examples of how authority should be exercised as well as illustrations of what happens when people either fail to uphold that authority or appropriate it in an illegitimate manner.     

Forging a nation: the Ethiopian millennium celebration and the multiethnic state

Due to a different calendric system, Ethiopia celebrated the turn of the millennium in September 2007. This paper investigates how Ethiopia's coalition government, associated by many Ethiopians with minority rule, set up and mobilised a year‐long millennium project to propose new idioms of nationhood redefining Ethiopia's identity to deal with the challenges of ethnic federalism and to accommodate its multiethnic society. I argue that the millennium celebration sought to find a solution to the divisive effects of the politics of ‘difference’ derived from a policy of ethnic federalism, and to the existing outdated metaphors of nationhood rooted in Semitic culture and Orthodox Christianity. It proposed more suitable idioms of common identity based on the idea of ‘unity in diversity’. This paper contributes to our better understanding of the role of symbolism, commemorative events and appropriation of the ‘sites of memory’ in the complex process of the transition of multiethnic societies into nation states.     

The symbolism of the Arab flag in modern Arab states: between commonality and uniqueness*

ABSTRACT. The national flag, anthem and emblem are the three symbols through which an independent country proclaims its identity and sovereignty. Although each state has its distinctive flag, there are similarities in the flags of certain countries, such as in Scandinavia (the cross) and Africa (colours). These symbolise certain propinquity in terms of ideology, culture and history. Similarity is also to be found in the flags of the Arab countries: out of the twenty‐two current members of the Arab League, ten share the same colours on their flags (green, white, black and red), while a certain Islamic symbol (eagle, star) in some flags represents the uniqueness of that country. Of the other twelve countries, most rely on one colour of the four (usually red or green) while nine use Islamic symbols (stars, crescent and sword) on their flags. In spite of the importance of this national symbol, the study of the modern Arab flag is almost non‐existent. This article explores the modern evolution of the Arab flag and the reasons for the similarities in many Arab flags. In particular, it will deal with the pan‐Arab flags of the Hashemites Kingdom of the Hijaz (1916–26), Jordan, Iraq, Palestine, Syria and Egypt.     

The dregs of trembling, the draught of salvation: the dual symbolism of the cup in medieval literature

This article examines the symbolism of the cup in Old English poetry and Old French romance. It argues that the dual symbolism of the cup in the Bible, both the cask of divine wrath and the vessel of mercy, invested the image with a particular dichotomy that was inherited by its metaphoric social functions in the literature of the middle ages. In Old English literature, the cup became a metonym for the contract for lord and thane, the conviviality and treasure exchange that united the mead-hall community. But never far beneath the surface is the fact that this contract requires the thane to die, and this unspoken yet unavoidable truth is writ large in the contagious imagery and vocabulary of the cup. In Old French romance, dichotomy crystallises into binary. The association of the cup of the Last Supper with Joseph of Arimathea, and the development of the Grail legend, made the service of the cup an exclusive loyalty, at the expense of social obligation, and its exigencies are made absolute and immediate. This article offers parallel readings of the same biblical metaphor in different literary cultures and a detailed analysis of a symbol that stands simultaneously for the positive image and its reversal, opposites that are mutually contingent: the community’s desire for unity and preservation and its concomitant fear of disintegration and death.     

敦煌《付法藏传》与禅宗祖师信仰

在敦煌文献中,题名为《付法藏因缘传》的经卷不仅数量众多,而且内容与中原地区流传的互异,其中不仅仅有禅宗历代祖师师资传承的内容,还夹杂进了敦煌地区高僧信仰的内容.     

知识经济与图书馆工作创新

知识经济时代的全球化和网络化特征,引发了人类社会的一场深刻变革,这极大地改变了人类社会的生活内容和生活方式,同时也为图书馆工作的发展指明了方向。本文以观念创新、知识创新、机制创新为切入点,认为创新不仅是知识经济的灵魂,也是推进图书馆事业不断发展的根本。     

两汉时代神灵信仰世界中的西王母

起源于中国西部信仰系统中的西王母在西汉中后期开始成为全国性崇拜的最高神灵,其受崇奉程度甚至超过了原先产生于关东特别是楚地并影响于关中地区的太一神。通过考察文献和出土代表性文物可知,西王母超越太一神,这一信仰变革与两汉时代中国西部地区在经济文化上的崛起有着十分密切的关系。     

妈祖信仰在河北省及京津地区的传播

河北及京津地区的妈祖信仰 ,随着漕粮北运自东南沿海传播而来。代表妈祖信仰存在的第一座天妃宫在元泰定三年出现以后 ,至清代 ,天妃或天后宫庙的数量已达 35处之多。这些宫庙绝大部分为元、明两代所建。根据这些宫庙的形成时间及分布情况推测 ,元代的妈祖信仰是沿海河、北运河及天津以北渤海沿岸地区传播的。到明代 ,沿海继续向北推进到山海关 ,沿滦河向内地推进到长城南侧 ,并由天津向南沿南运河两侧扩展。妈祖信仰在河北及京津地区分布的时空特征 ,是由于当时全国经济中心和政治中心的分离 ,需要东南大批漕粮北运而形成的。元、明海、河运输路线的差异 ,以及两朝国都所在地区军事形势和军事力量布置上的差异 ,使明代妈祖信仰分布的范围与元代有所不同 ,并比元代有所扩大