Introduction: New Directions in the History of Missionsin Africa

This short article introduces a selection of papers originally presented at the conference, "Africans Meeting Missionaries: Rethinking Colonial Encounters," held at the University of Minnesota in May 1997. Until quite recently much of the scholarship on missions in Africa tended to reproduce early eighteenth- and nineteenth-century images of the colossal, all-powerful missionary. Whether celebrated as an heroic, civilizing agent in mission accounts or branded as a cultural imperialist in nationalist-era scholarship, the European missionary remained an actor scarcely soiled by the cultural commerce of the people on whom he worked. In short, African religious or political initiatives were seldom taken seriously. The papers which make up this collection give voice to and extend current debates surrounding the contested history (and future) of the missionary enterprise in Africa.     

New Directions in Classic Maya Household Archaeology

Over the past two decades, household studies have coalesced into a recognized subfield within archaeology. Despite this relatively short history, household archaeologists are now taking a leading role in epistemological shifts that are placing people and their practices and differences at the center of archaeological interpretations of the past, rather than subsuming these into the noise of passive and depersonalized depictions of ancient social systems. As Maya archaeologists have played a critical role in the development of household archaeology, examining recent trends in Maya household research provides a perspective on the directions of both Maya studies and household archaeology more generally. This article explores three interrelated trends: (1) understanding ordinary people; (2) understanding social diversity among households; (3) understanding households in articulation with the broder social universe. Through a discussion of these three trends, this review uses Classic Maya household archaeology as a case study to illustrate how household research has led to the development of theoretically rich and empirically substantive understandings of an ancient society, which repeople the past and foreground the active roles of and structural constraints on ancient people.     

Development Reconsidered; New Directions in Development Thinking

This paper offers broad and critical perspectives on current development thinking. A brief summary of different meanings of development and a thumbnail sketch of broad trends over the past twenty to thirty years in relation to major development indicators is followed by a discussion of reasons for the emergence of fundamental critiques of conventional development and developmentalism from perspectives known variously as post-structuralist, post-development and anti-development. Connections are made between these and the literatures on post-modernism, postcolonialism and post-traditionalism. Finally, the implications of these rapid paradigm shifts and changing realities for future research, teaching and action across the South/North divide are considered.     

Household Archaeology in Polynesia: Historical Context and New Directions

This review highlights archaeological investigations of precontact and historic house sites in Polynesia, a region noted for its diversity of chiefdoms in terms of scale and elaboration. Anthropological and historical perceptions of the Polynesian household have shifted over time, influencing the ways in which the household has been defined in archaeology. Early research emphasized houses as a unit of study within settlement pattern archaeology and as a means of delineating formal variability between sites and communities. Current studies stress a more holistic view of the household as a nexus of economic, social, and ritual activities. Diverse theoretical perspectives, such as the analytical concept of house societies, feminist archaeologies, landscape approaches, and agent-based models, have led to new archaeological approaches engaged with both the material and the nonmaterial aspects of the house and, in particular, how social relations structure the household. Current prominent themes include functional identification of house sites, understanding social variability, articulation of the household with the community, and comparative analyses of social complexity.     

历史学的文学之翼:"现代叙史"

当代历史研究中,结构的、分析的、计量的史学大行其道,而叙述的历史学则遭到强烈排斥。这带来了两个严重后果:对科学的盲信和史学研究中人的缺乏。这些更进一步导致了当代史学远离大众,大众对历史学的兴趣急剧降低。“现代叙史”试图纠正这一弊病。它强调历史和文学的同质性,认为历史学应该大胆地借用现代文学手法,恢复历史学对人的关注和其叙事功能,重新赢得读者。     

新清史

本文是对以下著作所作的评论: 1.柯娇燕:<透镜:清帝国意识形态的历史与认同>,(Pamela K.Crossley,A Translucent Mirror:History and Identity in Qing Imperial Ideology.)加利福尼亚大学出版社1999年.     

“整理国故”与郭绍虞《中国文学批评史》

郭绍虞的《中国文学批评史》在思想观念和研究方法上都是"整理国故"思潮的具体实践。郭绍虞"在古人的理论中间,保存古人的面目"的研究范式遵循了"整理国故"的"科学"方法和"求真"精神;他对中国诗学范畴的辨析、对文学批评史学科的史料学建设和诗话研究,与"整理国故"运用新观念、新思想积极改造传统文化的态度也是相一致的。但郭绍虞又超越了一般意义上的"整理国故",注意恢复和发现古人的言外之意,因而显现为一种创造性还原。