Digging Holes in Popular Culture: Archaeology and Science Fiction Miles Russell (ed.) with a Prgace by Douglas Adams

Abstract

The heritage management policy in the UK is to delegate management and protection of scheduled ancient monuments to quasi-autonomous heritage agencies. These agencies are an improvement on what preceded them: the dry, conservative and underfunded Ministry of Works. However, by analysing the way in which Cadw: Welsh Historic Monuments manages the castles in North Wales one can see that the current system has many inherent failings. Underfunding, a lack of commitment to education and preservation and the artificial division of responsibility along modern pseudo-national boundaries are evidence that the current policy has run its course and now needs to be re-thought. Furthermore, there must be more effort made to present a more inclusive heritage by accepting that the heritage sites in Wales exist within a multicultural Britain and a world of shared human experience. Emerging as a model for future heritage management is Denbigh Castle in North Wales. The site was abandoned in 1998 after Cadw decreed that it did not generate enough income. Subsequently rescued by the local council, it is now thriving. Denbigh stands as an example of how a heritage site can be integrated with the local community that has lived in its shadow for hundreds of years.     

佛教东传与中国的狮子文化

在中国文化史上有一个颇有意思的现象,就是在中国境内不产狮子动物,但关于狮子的文化艺术却源远流长、丰富多彩。这种产自异国他乡的动物之所以受到中国民众的青睐,与它在佛教中的地位,以及佛教在中国的传播有直接的关系。     

文化、权力与世界历史—兼评埃里克·沃尔夫《欧洲与没有历史的人民》

本文以埃里克·沃尔夫的《欧洲与没有历史的人民》为切入点,探讨了世界历史研究中的文化、权力等问题。文章以唯物史观为理论指导,首先批评了将文化理解为固定的、单一的和以自我为中心的错误观念,指出只有将文化视为开放和互动的系统,才能真正认识世界历史中复杂的联系。同时,文章也分析了世界历史编纂中"欧洲中心主义"背后所体现的知识与权力的纠结,以及欧洲是怎样运用它在知识上的这一权力去书写以自我为中心的世界历史的。在此基础上,文章提出世界历史研究应注意地区性历史与全球性历史的结合,既要看到全球性力量所带来的巨变,也要关注各种地区性力量在这一过程中起到的作用。唯如此,才能理解世界历史中统一性与多样性的联系,而不会将之看成是"欧洲中心"的力量在其中起主导作用的过程。