Folklore and Basque Nationalism: Language,Myth, Reality

Abstract. This article establishes a precise relationship between folklore and ethno-nationalism. In particular, it argues that the discursive elements of folklore have been used, as political narrative, within the history of Basque nationalism. The Basque nationalist movement, throughout its history, has been especially adept at harnessing the rhetorical power of language, history, myth and memory in its articulation of a Basque, as opposed to a Spanish, identity. The article concentrates on the specific information selected for transmission by the ideology of Basque nationalism. It is this articulation which establishes links between past and present, myth and ideology, and the relationship between culture and identity in the human experience. These are the bonds which are perhaps most pertinent to the general cause of ethno-nationalism, and the Basque case in particular.     

Ad horatii sat. I 4 et I 9

The traditional interpretation of lines 75–6 is supported both by the immediate context and by the novel presentation of the Laudamia myth. Lines 73–8 show a balanced pattern of thought which demands that hnes 75–6 should refer to a neglect of sacrifice. Throughout the myth there is a strong connection between passion and disaster, while Protesilaus himself appears as a sacrificial victim. This new approach makes sense only if lines 75–6 refer to ceremonial negligence by Laudamia and Protesilaus.     

MYTH,TOTEMISM AND THE CREATION OF CLANS

This paper considers the relationship between two component types or categories of myth from the Yirrkala region of north-eastern Arnhem Land, which I define respectively as those of inheritance and creation. I argue that the existence of the two components of myth reflects conceptual problems associated with the transfer of power from the ancestral past to the present, in these clan-based societies in which the structure of the clan system is believed to be ancestrally preordained, yet the creation of clans is part of a continuing political process. The paper places Yolngu totemism in the context of the politics of group relations, and focuses on the tension between autonomy and exchange which provides much of the underlying dynamic to Yolngu social organisation. The totemic/mythological system has the flexibility to enable ancestral precedence to apparently underlie group organisation despite the latter's inherently imminent and contextual nature. The structure of the mythological system, and the particular way in which it articulates with the politics of group organisation, enables the network of ancestral tracks associated with the myths of creation to be perpetuated in a way that makes them both distal and protected from the disorderly changes of the present, yet an integral part of the process of social reproduction.     

Hannah Arendt's Mythology: The Political Nature of History and Its Tales of Antiheroes

Current scholarship has focused on analyzing how Arendt's storytelling corresponds to her political arguments. In following up this discussion, I offer a closer examination of the unusual myth Arendt uses to explain the condition of the modern age, a myth she refers to as the “political nature of history.” I employ literary terms along with the standard vocabulary of political theory in shaping this reading of Arendt. Following Robert C. Pirro, I also consider Arendt's story as a tragedy, but in the broadest sense, that of a collision of two goods, freedom and security. By describing Arendt's thought in this manner, I hope to reveal another way in which Arendt represents the call to action that she believes so crucial to humanity, as a summons to we flawed antiheroes through the device of a heroic myth.     

MYTH IN HISTORY,PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY AS MYTH: ON THE AMBIVALENCE OF HANS BLUMENBERG'S INTERPRETATION OF ERNST CASSIRER'S THEORY OF MYTH

This essay explores the different interpretations proposed by Ernst Cassirer and Hans Blumenberg of the relation between Platonic philosophy and myth as a means of bringing to light a fundamental divergence in their respective conceptions of what precisely myth is. It attempts to show that their conceptions of myth are closely related to their respective assumptions concerning the historical significance of myth and regarding the sense of history more generally. Their divergent conceptions of myth and of history, I argue, are at the same time not simply matters of abstract speculation, but spring from fundamental presuppositions concerning myth's political significance. The present elucidation aims not only to set in relief one or another of the ways in which Cassirer or Blumenberg understood myth, nor even to present Blumenberg's critical reception of Cassirer's theories, but above all to contribute to the interpretation of the political implications of myth and of its historical potency in our contemporary epoch.     

On Female Presences and Absences in Heavenly Places

James (Oceania 1991) criticizes some of my interpretive proposals on the political ideology of ancient Tonga, claiming that my emphasis on predominantly male relationships in the titular system reduces ‘Polynesian truths’ to ‘Freudian dogma‘. James sees Tonga as a ‘markedly bilateral’ rather than ‘patrilineal’ society, manifesting symptoms of Malinowski's ‘matrilineal complex’, particularly an incestuous fixation on the sister rather than the mother, correlated with the importance of the brother/sister relationship in social structure, and the alleged transmission of rank through females only. James attempts to find evidence for her claims in the origin myth of the titular system. I show that — contrary to her interpretation — no brother/sister incest can be found in this myth, where, moreover, the female presence is subdued and desexualized. My rejoinder raises issues of general anthropological interest in the realms of symbolism, gender, the analysis of political myth, and of the interrelationship of psychological and cultural processes.     

Howard's War on Terror: A Conceivable,Communicable and Coercive Foreign Policy Discourse

This article explores the relationship between language and political possibility. It is argued that John Howard's language from 11 September 2001 to mid 2003 helped to enable the ‘War on Terror’ in an Australian context in three principal ways. Firstly, through contingent and contestable constructions of Australia, the world and their relationship, Howard's language made interventionism conceivable. Secondly, emphasising shared values, mateship and mutual sacrifice in war, Howard embedded his foreign policy discourse in the cultural terrain of ‘mainstream Australia’, specifically framing a foreign policy discourse that was communicable to ‘battlers’ and disillusioned ‘Hansonites’. Thirdly, positioning alternatives as ‘un-Australian’, Howard's language was particularly coercive, silencing potential oppositional voices.     

地方传奇、集体记忆与国家认同——以黄埔军校旧址及其参观者为中心的研究

文章在探讨地方、地方传奇、集体记忆、国家认同等概念的基础上,梳理了西方学者从地理学视角对国家认同的相关研究。用参与式观察、文本分析等方法,以黄埔军校旧址及其游客为研究对象,探讨了地方、地方传奇与游客的集体记忆与国家认同的关系,研究表明,地方及地方传奇唤起了游客的集体记忆,增强了爱国情感。而这种爱国情感正是国家认同的一部分。研究尝试把地方传奇(placemyth)作为概念引入记忆地理研究领域,作为对该领域"传奇"(myth)这一概念的拓展,以期对人文地理学研究内容的丰富、文化地理研究的发展有所裨益。     

Civil Religion Reconsidered: The Saliency of a Venerable Concept

This essay reexamines civil theology, a venerable concept in the field of political science and how it is symbolized in contemporary political practice. Civil theology provides the foundation of politics for a community and is reflected in its myths and how the community interpretes itself within the greater structure of reality. It is during periods of crises, however, when this myth structure and society's understanding of itself come into question that civil theology presents itself as a salient topic for theoretical analysis and speculation. This article considers a contemporary response to the crisis of our time, one associated with the breakdown of the “traditional” American civil theology and the impact this has had on political thought and policy debates. From an understanding of this response may come a broader knowledge of the problems confronting the policy process as well as potential resolutions.     

Competing Narratives about Sacrifice: Three Readings of the 11 September 1973 Coup in Chile and their Conflicting Constitutional Projections

This article argues that different narratives involving sacrifice compete to ascribe meaning to the 11 September 1973 coup against Socialist President Salvador Allende, and as a result, structure contemporary Chilean constitutional politics. From that event, it is contended, three competing narratives emerged, each seeking to make sense of political sacrifice, and each providing a basis for the constitutional projects of the Left, the Right, and the Center.     

Is planning still political? The politicization of high-speed rail in Spain (1986–2016)

Post-political debate has stimulated a vigorous research agenda about the role of politics in regional and urban planning. It warns of a depoliticization process leading to the emergence of a consensual social order and the retreat of the properly political as disruptive and transformative practice. We propose a reframing of post-political debate through an empirically grounded conceptualization of the political sequence (politicization, depoliticization, and re-politicization) and by incorporating consensus as part of the political, thereby refusing the existence of a differentiated properly political moment. We develop this conceptualization by analyzing the politicization process of high-speed rail in Spain, which resulted in the implementation of one of the most extensive networks in the world. Based on a foundational political myth constructed around the first project implemented, a consensual politicization process has progressively taken place around high-speed rail in Spain. This political consensus contrasts with opposition to the high-speed rail project in the Basque Country. In both cases, high-speed rail is eminently political. The politicization of high-speed rail in Spain shows that, far from becoming a depoliticized practice, regional and urban planning remains eminently political, involving both consensus and conflict.     

Nationalism and nostalgia: the case of radical Basque nationalism*

Abstract. This article argues that the myth of the Golden Age is a key mobilising element within radical Basque nationalism. By using an ethno‐symbolist approach, this article argues that nostalgia, a catchword for looking back, usually relates to an idealised past. It then proceeds to explain how ETA in particular has domesticated the past to justify its political violence which is currently exalted as a means of honouring the fighting spirit of their ancestors. From this perspective, violence is presented as a redemptive act that can stop the decay of the Basque nation and bring a new political future in which the inspiring ancient virtues will be rediscovered. This nostalgic gaze upon the past continually ‘reminds’ radical Basque nationalists of an imaginary, yet familiar, past which can only be regained by using revolutionary violence.     

La France n'accepte pas de payer le prix de ses ambitions

This article takes as its starting point the massive changes in French political, economic and social life since the 1960s, as part of a process of internationalisation involving world trade and the commitments of European integration. In particular, the myth of the all-powerful state and old ideological quarrels have been laid to rest. However, the state itself has been slow to reform and has often used international commitments as an excuse for inaction. Most importantly, the gap between elite and public has slowed down modernisation and fuelled fear of the future. More imaginative solutions to public policy and more rigorous policy evaluation are needed.     

欧美学界对公民投票制度的研究

欧美学界关于公民投票制度的研究围绕以下问题展开:人民主权与国家主权关系理论、公民投票对各国政治生活的影响、公民投票制度与代议制和民意表达及个人政治权力的关系等。这些研究大都从政治学与法学的视角出发,比较关注实证性问题,甚至仅仅服务于现实的政治目的。本文认为,从历史学角度研究公民投票制度,无论在欧美学界还是在我国都应得到加强。     

Enlightenment in the second nuclear age

The debate on nuclear proliferation has become increasingly polarized. While there is widespread agreement on the perilous state of the traditional non‐proliferation regime, the analyses of the causes differ widely. The liberal arms control community has sought to salvage the eroding non‐proliferation regime both by overplaying its importance (nuclear enlightenment') as well as by blaming the policies of the nuclear weapons states, notably the United States. However, this view rests on several assumptions that have been increasingly revealed as myths: the myth of a universal non‐proliferation norm generated largely by the Non‐proliferation Treaty; the myth of a direct relationship between nuclear reductions and proliferation; and the myth of US policy being a cause of, rather than a reaction to, the non‐proliferation crisis. Clinging to these myths is counterproductive, as it seeks to perpetuate old policies at the expense of new approaches. However, new approaches to non‐proliferation are bound to gain in importance, even if they run counter to established arms control dogmas.     

20世纪九十年代以来《庄子》神话研究综述简

《庄子》中存在着大量的神话材料,自王国维开启以神话眼光看《庄子》的先河后,鲁迅、郎擎霄、闻一多、茅盾、顾颉刚等许多学者开始关注《庄子》与神话的关系,并取得了一定的成绩。进入新时期后,对《庄子》神话的研究进入了一个更深更全面的阶段,鉴于此,有必要对研究成果进行一番梳理,有利于推动《庄子》神话研究的发展。《庄子》神话研究成果主要集中在神话与寓言研究、神话原型和意象研究、神话思维研究、神仙思想研究。     

Vagantibus Graeciae fabulis: the North African wanderings of Antaios and Herakles

The myth of Antaios and Herakles emerged from the encounter between the northern and southern shores of the Mediterranean. This article explores two parallel courses of the myth's progressive development. One is geographical, with the myth travelling from east to west (from Kyrenaika, through Tunisia, to Tangier). The other unfolds within the plot itself: at first Herakles stands for the Greeks (and later the Romans), while Antaios embodies the indigenous Libyans. However, shifting political circumstances also allow for the (conjectural) identification of Greeks with the figure of Antaios, and a (certain) equation of Libyans with Herakles. On the whole, the history of the myth from the seventh to the first centuries BCE reflects the development of a politically and culturally coherent Mediterranean over the same period, from the first Greek settlers in Libya to the Mediterranean empire of Augustus.     

The Power and Limits of Cultural Myths in Portugal's Search for a Post-Imperial Role

The central role in Portuguese political culture of the identification of Portugal as a colonizing power legitimized a massive mobilization and violent response to the perceived existential threat of decolonization in the shape of prolonged wars in its main African colonies (1961–1974). If, however, this cultural myth of a Greater Portugal overseas was so powerful, how was decolonization eventually possible? The accumulated human and economic cost of facing three simultaneous, protracted anti-colonial insurgencies eroded this overseas creed and made Catholic and Marxist strands of anti-colonialism increasingly attractive to younger, more internationally connected, Portuguese elites. What also happened, however, this article will argue, was a refashioning of the powerful cultural myth of a special connection between Portugal and tropical Africa. A colonial myth was turned into a post-colonial myth legitimizing decolonization as a mutual and fraternal liberation from the same oppressive regime without a loss of strong ‘natural’ cultural bonds. More widely, the article aims to show that we cannot ignore the importance of cultural factors in international history. Our approach in this article is pluralist and this means that while arguing strongly for taking culture seriously and focusing on it, it does consider other, including more material, dimensions of power.     

3. CARL SCHMITT'S CONTRIBUTION TO A THEORY OF POLITICAL MYTH

My goal in this essay is to show that myths have played a larger role than we might think in politics and in political theory and that myths are essential to politics. For this purpose I will use Schmitt's theory of myth, since he elaborated his theory with strong interpretations of two different myths: Hobbes's Leviathan and Shakespeare's Hamlet. I will compare Schmitt's interpretations of Hamlet with my own, as doing so will provide a critical view of Schmitt's conclusions, and it will enable me to develop my own conception of myth and its relations to political theory and history.     

(de)Constructing Place-Myth: Pitcairn Island and the “Bounty” Story

Abstract

This paper is concerned with the relationship between literature and the construction of place-myth relating to the story Mutiny on the Bounty. In 1790, nine British mutineers together with their Tahitian companions settled on Pitcairn Island where they remained hidden for nearly 20 years. The story of the mutiny is not myth but has served to mythologize Pitcairn through the various tropes of literature written about the Bounty saga. As literary place Pitcairn represented the image of a ‘utopian paradise’. This discussion, through qualitative literary analysis and the process of textualization, evokes the idea of mapping, naming, and imagining islands. It identifies how the utopia/paradise place-myth of Pitcairn has persisted through time and become ultimately inseparable from its textual topography. But conversely, discussion exposes the paradoxical problem between myth and reality of islands and their representations. It highlights complex internal and external boundaries of identification that arise in the host visitor experience. Literary place-myth is rendered as powerful, persistent, mutable, and historically-rooted.