Metropolitan Scurvy in the Shadow of the Cook Voyages

Recent scholarship on scurvy in 18th-century Britain has focused on the disease in the context of voyages of exploration, especially those bound for the Pacific Ocean. Using materials from quack physicians, print culture and popular song, this essay contends that the problem of scurvy was just as acute in metropolitan London and elsewhere in Britain. By studying representations of the disease and its markets at home in Britain, it aims to shed new light on the treatment and perception of the disease at sea, particularly during the voyages of James Cook (1768?79).     

Performing Palestine in Contemporary France: Mohamed Rouabhi's Transcolonial Banlieue

Franco-Maghrebi reactions to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict have received much attention in the French media in recent years, particularly since the Second Intifada began more than a decade ago. Less well known is the longer genealogy of Franco-Maghrebi involvement with Palestine, starting with the comités Palestine formed by Maghrebi immigrants and the Gauche prolétarienne in the aftermath of May '68. This article begins to excavate the genealogy of Franco-Maghrebi representations of Palestine through a close reading of Mohamed Rouabhi's unpublished play El menfi (L'Exilé), which crosses the memory of 17 October 1961 and the question of Palestine. The author argues that Rouabhi's play mobilises Palestine in order to rearticulate the vexed relationship between the French Republic and its (post)colonial citizens, displacing the memory of colonisation through transcolonial identification with Palestine.     

郑和下西洋与东南亚华侨华人

根据笔者实地考察,东南亚至少有15个郑和寺庙和近30个有关郑和的传说。它们反映了早期南洋中国移民的生活状况、他们与当地妇女的通婚、华侨宗教信仰的特点以及华侨华人在中外文化交流中所发挥的重要的桥梁作用。东南亚华人纪念郑和活动的特点是“四个结合”,即将纪念郑和与继承中华传统文化、吸收定居国文化相结合,与宣扬祖籍国和定居国的友好关系相结合,与发扬华人创业精神相结合以及与争取华族正当权益、促进族群和睦、繁荣当地经济相结合。虽然郑和在东南亚影响很大,但海外对郑和的了解仍十分有限,因此,在海外全面、深入地介绍郑和任重而道远。     

中国早期的地球观对明朝远洋航行的影响

今年是郑和南海首航600周年纪念日。1405年由明成祖发起,由太监提升为将领的郑和开发了新的远洋航行。这一创举,比哥伦布发现美洲大陆几乎早了一个世纪。郑和的航海船队,由62艘海船和37000官兵及海员组成。他们最远到过非洲东部海岸,沿途走访了亚洲南部沿海三十多个国家,其中不少国家同意向明朝进贡。在以后的28年里,郑和曾六次下西洋。然而,正如其突如其来的开始一样,航海探险活动也嘎然而止了。如何解释拥有优越航海技术的海上霸主,竟不能像后来的西方列强一样,去寻找更远的新大陆呢?本文并非对大多数传统解释提出挑战,旨在说明中国古代天圆地方的观念阻碍了其所有更具雄心的海上探险。