Houses,Objects, and the Politics of Inheritance in Josep Maria de Sagarra's Vida privada

Josep Maria de Sagarra's novel Vida privada (1932) portrays an upper-class Catalan family, the Lloberolas, as unable to adapt to the new economic and political situation taking place in the city of Barcelona at the end of Primo de Rivera's dictatorship and at the beginning of the Second Republic in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Through a close reading of this family's houses, furniture, and personal belongings, I argue that material elements in this novel are central to the narrator's ethical critique and moral judgment of Barcelona's elite. The Lloberolas treat humans as objects and objects as humans, and I contend that, in an ironic emulation, the narrator also objectifies the Lloberolas and equates them with their objects. This comparison elucidates the family's superficiality and corrupted morals. Objects are also essential in destabilizing public and private boundaries because they often transcend the private domain and expose—to the readers and to the other inhabitants of Barcelona—the protagonists’ personality. Moreover, in Vida privada, houses, furniture, and surnames are understood as an inheritance that transfers very specific ideals of social status from parents to children. By presenting this material heritage with the exemplifying case of the Lloberola family, Sagarra offers a sharp critique of the Catalan upper classes and their superficial values. Their necessity to cling to an inherited world centered on material possessions finally results in their loss of power and evidences their economic and moral decline.     

The Witches' Flying and the Spanish Inquisitors,or How to Explain (Away) the Impossible [1]

The first part of this paper presents four old Spanish explanations of the witches' flying: (1) that (with the Devil's help) they actually did fly; (2) that the experience of flying was the result of narcotic stimulation; (3) that their flying was pure imagination—methodologically demonstrated in the investigations of the Spanish inquisitor Alonso de Salazar Frías; and (4) that they fly by means of the soul. The latter, although strongly rejected by the Church, remained the most popular opinion. The second part discusses the flying of the Sicilian donni di fori [“women from outside”] of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. These were cunning women who served as mediators between the local community and the fairy world. On their nightly excursions “in spirit” they would enter the houses with the fairies, who bestowed their blessing on the homes. Or they would join the fairies in a sort of “white sabbath” where everything was reflective of beauty and delight. In the last part, the author describes his encounter with a contemporary Sicilian “night-goer” who claimed to be able to travel “in spirit.” In the concluding discussion, the author asserts that none of the rationalistic approaches used so far leads to a full understanding of the phenomenon. In his reconstruction of the Sicilian fairy cult, the author leaves open the possibility of out-of-the-body experiences and collective dreaming (rêve a deux) being potential explanations for the phenomenon.     

Review

In the course of the seventeenth century, ideas concerning the beliefs of Canadian Indians underwent a slow process of modification. Chroniclers at the beginning of the century, influenced by those who, the century before, had flatly declared a number of Indian nations to be “faithless, kingless and lawless,”; continued to describe them pejoratively. However, as they gradually came to see that the Indians were not irreligious, their declarations grew increasingly contradictory. An attentive reading of documents left by missionaries and explorers reveals that towards the middle of the seventeenth century — at a time when, in Europe, conceptions of witchcraft and religion were changing — the observation of American facts became more nuanced. The discovery of a “false religion”; launched the debate as to whether or not the Indians had preserved a secret sentiment of God.

Were the Indians monotheistic or polytheistic? At the beginning of the twentienth century, Paul Radinwasto take up the question and propose a tertium quid — namely that the Indians had practised monolatry or henotheism.     

Sect and House in Syria: History,Architecture, and Bayt Amongst the Druze in Jaramana

This paper explores the connections between the architecture and materiality of houses and the social idiom of bayt (house, family). The ethnographic exploration is located in the Druze village of Jaramana, on the outskirts of the Syrian capital Damascus. It traces the histories, genealogies, and politics of two families, bayt Abud-Haddad and bayt Ouward, through their houses. By exploring the two families and the architecture of their houses, this paper provides a detailed ethnographic account of historical change in modern Syria, internal diversity, and stratification within the intimate social fabric of the Druze neighbourhood at a time of war, and contributes a relational approach to the anthropological understanding of houses.     

Sociability,Perfectibility and the Intellectual Legacy of Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Abstract

In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the concept of sociability was used mainly to refer to the putative range of primary human qualities or capabilities that preceded—or existed independently of—the formation of political societies. This article is an examination of the impact of Rousseau's thought on this then standard usage. Its initial focus is on Rousseau's concept of perfectibility and its bearing on the thought of Marie-Jean-Antoine-Nicolas de Caritat, marquis de Condorcet, and Friedrich Schlegel. Its broader aim is to show how their respective responses to Rousseau were part of a more deep-seated transformation of the concept of sociability itself.     

White and Coloured Marbles of the Roman Town of Urbs Salvia (Urbisaglia,Macerata, Marche,Italy)

The results of an archaeometric study concerning the coloured stones and 14 white marble sculptures found in the ancient city of Urbs Salvia (Urbisaglia, Macerata) – one of the main Roman archaeological sites of the Marche region (east central Italy) – are presented here. Data show the presence of the most important decorative stones used by the Romans, originating in all of the Mediterranean provinces, from Egypt and North Africa to Asia Minor, Greece, Gallia, Iberia and Italy. Thirty‐one different coloured lithotypes have been identified, including red and green porphyries as well as marmor phrygium and numidicum, namely the four most expensive stones cited in Diocletian's edict. Crustae of marmor chium, taenarium, chalcidicum, scyreticum, lucullaeum and sagarium also feature. Another significant presence is that of coloured stones that are generally rare, even in Rome and Ostia, such as cipollino mandolato (which is very abundant at Urbs Salvia, more than anywhere outside Gallia), broccatello di Spagna, alabastro a pecorella, lapis ophytes, brecciated facies of marmor iassene and cottanello antico. Worthy of mention, too, is the abundant presence of so‐called Roman breccia from Lez (Upper Garonne valley, French Pyrenees), a stone never reported outside Gallia. The 14 marble sculptures analysed come from public and private buildings of the Roman city and are now exhibited at the Archaeological Museum of Urbisaglia. Our petrographic and isotopic analyses show that they are made of Lunense (five), Pentelic (three), Parian lychnites (three), Thasian (three) and Proconnesian (one Corinthian capital) marbles. The quality of the coloured stones identified, together with the presence of sculptures made of precious imported white marble varieties, reveals an opulent town and a local patronage wishing to decorate public buildings and rich houses with the most sought‐after marbles of Rome.     

An Account of Some Monumental and Wayside Crosses,Still Remaining in the West of Cornwall

The building history of Colchester Castle is reconsidered in the light of previously unpublished evidence from excavations, 1931 to 1977. The Norman castle is seen as a development from a late Saxon villa regalis, constructed in two phases, the first beginning c. 1074 × 1076 (by the crown) and the second c. 1101 (by Eudo Dapifer). It was strengthened in the mid-thirteenth century and maintained into the early fourteenth but thereafter declined, its main function being as a prison. The upper storey of the keep and the southern bailey defences were demolished late in the seventeenth century.     

Noah’s Grandson and St. James: Rewriting the Past in Eighteenth-Century Spain

ABSTRACT

In the late seventeenth century, when Spain gradually emerged from the general crisis that had afflicted the country, several members of the cultural elite became acquainted with the new sophisticated theories and methods of modern science. This newly acquired knowledge inspired these novatores (innovators) to examine Spain’s history and historiography. They intended in the first place to integrate and align Spain with European culture at large, since the religious and ideological obstacles of the past were supposedly no longer in force. Their second purpose was to establish a scientifically based historical discourse focused on the genuine achievements of Spain over the centuries and its contribution to European civilization. They were thus willing to confront the long-standing distortions arising from propaganda, either from the outside—such as the “black legend” forged by the enemies of Spain—or from inside—such as the “fake glories” forged by earlier historians. Diverse circumstances, however, limited their enlightened endeavour, and whoever was eager to resume it in the eighteenth century came up against the restrictions imposed on modern culture by Enlightened despotism.     

Palaces,Feiras and Prazos: An Historical Archaeological Perspective of African–Portuguese Contact in Northern Zimbabwe

The consequences of the contact between Africans and Europeans during the early Atlantic Age are examined with a specific focus on the Mutapa State in northern Zimbabwe to the middle of the seventeenth century. The dynamics of contact are presented in terms of three categories of archaeological evidence, namely royal palaces (zimbabwe), trading markets (feiras) and fortifications. It is argued that some royal palaces assumed new identities as they adjusted to the new contact situations presented by the commerce with the Portuguese. The site reported in Portuguese documents as Massapa was one such palace initially, before becoming a fully fledged trading centre. With the intensification of market trade, the fortified stonewalled settlements found in the areas between the Mazowe and Ruya rivers attest to evidence for the conflict between the Mutapa state and the Portuguese, as presented in the written records, and environmental deterioration triggered by intensified exploitation of gold.     

Rethinking the Dawn of History: The Schedule,Signature, and Agency of European Goods in Protohistoric Illinois

Abstract

Interpretations of the archaeological record of the seventeenth century Illinois Country have been temporally compressed, and the richly stratified archival, ethnographic, and material records from that era have not been applied to the archaeological information at hand. A muddied view of the remarkable changes that occurred within the cultural landscape of Illinois is the result. European goods first appear in the region between 1580 and 1630 and the pottery of the Illinois Indians—the Danner series—is present in each early Illinois sample that includes these imports. A reexamination of the Zimmerman, Palos, and Oak Forest sites suggests that temporal changes in trade good assemblages can be better understood in the context of historically documented trade schedules. Further, it is argued that the Illinois Indians actively positioned themselves in the political and economic landscape of the fur trade many decades prior to the arrival of the French in the Illinois Country, serving as the principal agents of the great changes that are associated with protohistory in Illinois.     

Werra Ware in Britain,Ireland and North America

Abstract

Werra slipware is a high-quality tableware, made in the Werra valley of northern Germany during the period c. 1570–1630. The history of the study of this ware is described. Its occurrence on 175 sites in Britain and Ireland, and 13 in North America, is documented and discussed. The market for this ware was very largely coastal and urban. In some instances its use may be related to communities of Strangers. The dating, vessel forms and decoration of this ware are also considered.     

The Hopi,the katsinam,and the French courts: looking outside the law in the repatriation of Indigenous cultural heritage

Katsinam (plural of katsina) are effigies central to the religion of the Hopi people of northern Arizona in the United States. Since 2013 the Hopi have sought the return of katsinam being sold in French auction houses. The Hopi have employed a series of legal actions to stop the auctions. All such actions, however, have been consistently denied by French courts. This paper uses social science analysis to understand why the legal actions of the Hopi failed. This paper treats the case of the katsinam as a cautionary lesson in cultural heritage studies, with the goal of drawing insights that can inform other situations involving the repatriation of Indigenous cultural heritage.     

Lower Devonian ischnacanthid fish (Gnathostomata: Acanthodii) from the Taemas Limestone,Lake Burrinjuck,New South Wales

Dentigerous jawbones of ischnacanthid acanthodians from the Lower Devonian Currajong Limestone Member and the lower part of the Bloomfield Limestone Member of the Taemas Limestone (Murrumbidgee Group: early Emsian) in the Murrumbidgee valley at Good Hope, Taemas district, and the Goodradigbee valley at Wee Jasper are described. Three taxa of Taemasacanthus are recognized: T. sp. cf. erroli Long, 1986; T. narrengullenensis sp. nov. and T. cooradigbeensis sp. nov. Fragmentary fin spine remains and scales are also described.     

Tom's Tambu House: Spacing,Status and Sacredness in South Malakula,Vanuatu

This paper is based on video footage I filmed in South Malakula in April 1996. It explores the case of Tom Moses, a man who claims to speak with God. He has constructed a house on the outskirts of Milip village which he has declared tambu, or taboo/sacred. Around it he envisions a new living space, following directions given to him from God. I argue that Tom's enterprise can be understood in terms of a spacing—status—sacredness nexus. This nexus is grounded in a pre-Christian Malakulan sociality revolving around men's houses, ancestral worship and grade-taking rituals. This takes place with a lived Christianity which in many contexts is expressed as a departure from kastom. As such, I argue that this ‘spatial’ analysis can help us understand dimensions of local human relationships which purely discursive analyses sometimes eclipse.     

THE (DIS)CONTINUOUS HISTORY OF THE POLITICAL

The political is not given. Understood as the space in which collectives think about how they should live together, the political has existed only since the seventeenth century—according to the thesis of Elías José Palti's Archaeology of the Political. Since then, a central problem of the political, namely how transcendence can be founded on immanence, has been posed in a completely new way. Palti follows this development from the seventeenth to the twentieth century, illustrated by a few individual examples. His reading of the problem is a possible one. But aren't the political questions arising from the combination of transcendence and immanence much older? Can the political really be reduced to the period so often referred to as “modernity”? In contrast to Palti, I would like to emphasize more strongly the continuities in the field of the political—continuities that can be attached to a void, to the search for a foundation that cannot be justified. But even if one may and should argue about the thesis of the book, it proves to be above all a stimulating study and an important contribution to the understanding of the political.     

Buildings in the City of London after the Great Fire of 1666

International Journal of Historical Archaeology - This paper describes features of secular buildings, mostly houses, shops, and warehouses, standing in the City of London in the late seventeenth...     

Chronicle of an early demise,surname extinction in the fifteenth and the seventeenth centuries

It has been amply demonstrated that individuals' reproductive capability is the key explanatory phenomenon for understanding onomastic disappearance during the early modern period. This article analyzes the evolution and consequences of surname extinction in a specific population: Catalonia in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. In this article two aspects are examined. First, the observed disappearance of surnames is estimated through historical data collected in the Llibres d'Esposalles (Marriage Books) from 1481 to 1600 at Barcelona Cathedral. Second, the estimated natural extinction of those surnames registered in 1481 is forecast by applying a statistical branching process.     

Fathers and sons: preparing noble youths to be lords in twelfth-century Germany

The most prominent noble lineages of the twelfth-century German empire drew much of their authority from scattered collections of heritable rights and properties, a state of affairs that led each family to exercise its lordship in a unique manner. As a result, it was important for the success of a lineage that heirs understood the diverse administrative, political, diplomatic and military foundations of their family's power before they came into their inheritance. This article argues on the basis of evidence from several leading noble houses — including the Staufen, Welf, Zähringen, Wittelsbach, Andechs and Wettin — that fathers played an essential role in the training of their sons to succeed and inherit. For the noble heirs of twelfth-century Germany, therefore, the period in life known as youth was principally a time of instruction and preparation. Models of youth that emphasise the adventurousness and rebelliousness of noble sons during the central middle ages are therefore insufficient for explaining father-son relationships within the imperial nobility.