The Humanism of André Malraux

In this essay, I explore the influence of Byzantine literature in the New World from a transatlantic perspective. Specifically, I examine the Scala paradisi of Juan Clímaco (570–649) as it is found in the Peregrinación de Bartolomé Lorenzo (1586) by the Jesuit José de Acosta (1539–1600), a text from the colonial period. Surprisingly, this text has received almost no critical attention. I focus on the study of the text (and the context in which it was produced and received), basing my analysis on a comparison of Acosta's text with other similar works. By using a comparative method, I explore the ideological and aesthetic tensions that underlie Acosta's work. Moreover, this analysis makes manifest the cultural and literary continuities (or traditions) and ruptures which, coming as much from the East as from the West of Europe, arrived in the Vice-regency of Peru in the second half of the sixteenth century.     

A Review of “Remaking the Presidency: Roosevelt,Taft, and Wilson, 1901–1916”

Binder, Sarah A., and Steven S. Smith. Politics or Principle: Filibustering in the United States Senate. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution, 1996. Pp. xvi, 247. $38.95 hardbound, $16.95 softbound.

DeGregorio, Christina A. Network of Champions: Leadership, Access, and Advocacy in the U.S. House of Representatives. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press, 1997. Pp. xii, 185. $39.50 hardbound.

Frantzich, Stephen and John Sullivan. The C-SPAN Revolution. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1996. Pp. xiv, 433. $24.95 hardbound.

Rozell, Mark J. In Contempt of Congress: Postwar Press Coverage on Capitol Hill. Westport, CT: Praeger, 1996. Pp. ix, 144. $49.95 hardbound.

Gerhardt, Michael J. The Federal Impeachment Process: A Constitutional and Historical Analysis. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1996. Pp. xiii, 233. $29.95 hardbound.

Glaser, James M. Race, Campaign Politics, and the Realignment in the South. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1996. Pp. xv, 229. $39.95 hardbound, $19.95 soft bound.

Hall, Richard L. Participation in Congress. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1996. Pp. xiv, 293. $37.50 hardbound.

Maltzman, Forrest. Competing Principals: Committees, Parties and the Organization of Congress. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1997. Pp. xvi, 197. $39.50 hardbound.

Poole, Keith T. and Howard Rosenthal. Congress: A Political-Economic History of Roll Call Voting. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997. Pp. xi, 297. $85.00 hardbound.

Rom, Mark Carl. Public Spirit in the Thrift Tragedy. Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1996. Pp. ix, 326. $49.95 hardcover, $22.95 softcover.

Sinclair, Barbara. Unorthodox Lawmaking: New Legislative Processes in the U.S. Congress. Washington, DC: CQ Press, 1997. Pp. xiv, 257. $39.95 hardbound, $19.95 softbound.     

The Rise of the Francophone Postcolonial Intellectual: The Emergence of a Tradition

Although discussions of the French intellectual often address engagement with anti-colonialism and the decolonisation process more generally, most notably in relation to the Algerian War of Independence, critical attention is rarely directed at the existence of a wider yet related intellectual culture that may connect the disparate parts of the French-speaking world. This article explores the rise of the postcolonial intellectual in this politico-cultural and linguistic space, and asks whether such a figure may be seen as part of a coherent tradition. Foregrounding the interdependency and regular overlap of ‘French’ and ‘Francophone’ intellectual cultures, the study creates connections between thinkers in metropolitan France and its former colonies, placed here in a dialectical, conjunctive rather than in a binary, disjunctive relationship. The article explores three case studies – those of Victor Segalen (central to the work of such key postcolonial thinkers as Edouard Glissant and Abdelkebir Khatibi), Léopold Sédar Senghor and Frantz Fanon – in order to underline the complex genealogies of the emergent tradition it identifies. It concludes with a consideration of the definitive role of the postcolonial intellectual in debates regarding the legacy of colonialism in contemporary France.     

An Indecent Proposal: The Theological Core of the Book of Ruth

ABSTRACT

Traditionally, biblical commentators either tone down the sex-ual tension within Ruth 3 or celebrate it with sensationalistic exuberance. However, theologians have not attempted to integrate the provocative nature of the passage into a theological understanding of the book or the character of Ruth. This essay outlines the reasons why Naomi's plan is rightly interpreted as an attempt at sexual entrapment. Ruth follows this plan until the very last minute when she reveals herself and her intentions to Boaz. Both of these ac-tions―showing fidelity to both Naomi and Boaz―exposed Ruth to potential harm and as such serves as a picture what ?esed entails.     

Pollution Monitoring for Sea Salt Aerosols and Other Anionic Species at Hagar Qim Temples,Malta: A Pilot Study

The damaging effects of sea salt aerosols on Globigerina Limestone are well known, and various professionals have studied and reported on the often complex underlying deterioration mechanisms. Following a preventive conservation project, undertaken to shelter and protect the UNESCO World Heritage Neolithic temple sites of Hagar Qim and Mnajdra, the Preventive Conservation Unit within the Diagnostic Science Laboratory at Heritage Malta embarked on a pilot study to identify whether sea salt aerosol deposition patterns within the site alter significantly post sheltering. The results from this short pilot study, by identifying the presence of salts using ion chromatography, have shown that there is a consistent pattern that when directly linked to the intrinsic shape of the temple interior as well as to the micro-environmental factors that are changing as a direct result to the sheltering, point to the trends of greater pollutant accumulation, particularly dust.     

The Dynamics and Volatility of Commercial and Residential Property Prices: Theory and Evidence*

Abstract. This article investigates the dynamics of property prices and their interaction with output growth in a general equilibrium model. Closed form solutions and testable hypotheses are derived from a mildly restricted version of the model. The testable hypotheses are broadly supported empirically. In particular, (1) the volatility of commercial property prices is higher than that of residential property prices, (2) each of the lagged, contemporary, and forward commercial property prices is positively correlated with residential property prices, (3) the contemporaneous covariance between the two property prices is larger than the lagged covariance, and (4) output growth is positively correlated with both property prices. These results are consistent with simulations results that are based on a more general specification of the model.