The First two Language Academies in Spanish America

Abstract

Jeffrey Mehlman. Genealogies of the Text: Literature, Psychoanalysis, and Politics in Modern France. Cambridge University Press, 1995. 262 pp.

Lewis C. Seifert. Fairy Tales, Sexuality and Gender in France, 1690-1715: Nostalgic Utopias. (Cambridge Studies in French 55). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996. xii + 276 pp.

“Cher, très cher, admirable et charmant ami …” Correspondance Georges Perec &; Jacques Lederer. Jacques Lederer, preface. Paris: Flammarion, 1997. 617 pp.

Timothy Unwin, ed. The Cambridge Companion to the French Novel: From 1800 to the Present. Cambridge University Press, 1997. xxiii + 281 pp. $59.95.

Sarah Kay. The Chansons de geste in the Age of Romance: Political Fictions. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1995. 273 pp. $65.

Carrol F. Coates, ed. Repression and Expression: Literary and Social Coding in Nineteenth-Century France. New York: Peter Lang, 1996. xv + 342 pp.

Charlotte Stern. The Medieval Theater in Castile. Binghamton, New York: Medieval and Renaissance Texts and Studies, vol. 156, 1996. 321 pp.

José Belmonte Serrano, Origen y proceso de la narrativa de José Luis Castillo-Puche. Murcia: Publicaciones de la Universidad de Murcia, 1997. 247 pp.

Brad Epps. Significant Violence. Oppression and Resistance in the Narratives of Juan Goytisolo, 1970-1990. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1996. xii + 513 pp. $82.00.

Francisco Javier, Díez de Revenga, and Mariano de Paco, eds. En círculos de lumbre. Estudios sobre Gerardo Diego. Murcia: CajaMurcia, Obra Cultural, 1997. 509 pp.

Charles F. Fraker. The Scope of History: Studies in the Historiography of Alfonso el Sabio. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1996. ix + 235 pp.

John A. Scott. Dante's Political Purgatory. University of Pennsylvania Press, 1996. 295 pp.

Amoldo Carlos Vento. La Generación Hijo Pródigo: Renovación y Modernidad. Lanham: University Press of America, 1996. 301 pp.     

The changing nature of the peri‐urban zone in Africa: Evidence from Dar‐es‐Salaam,Tanzania

Research on the peri‐urban zones of African cities since the mid‐1980s has focused around three main themes, these being peri‐urban agriculture as a survival strategy, debates about the relative efficiencies of peri‐urban agriculture, and the question of production priorities. Drawing on recent evidence from Dar‐es‐Salaam in Tanzania, this paper suggests that a combination of structural adjustment measures and the eased economic crisis in Tanzania has changed conditions, the result of which has been the increasing commodification of land in the peri‐urban zone during the 1990s. This has turned the peri‐urban zone more into a zone of investment and economic opportunity, rather than a zone of survival, with the result that the poorer urban groups are being increasingly excluded. A further complication concerns confusion arising out of current Tanzanian land law, and particularly the tensions between customary and statutory law.     

Tectonic evolution of a Paleozoic thrust fault influences the hydrogeology of a fractured rock aquifer,northeastern Appalachian foreland

In polyorogenic regions, the superposition of structures during a protracted tectonic history produces complex fractured bedrock aquifers. Thrust‐faulted regions, in particular, have complicated permeability patterns that affect groundwater flow paths, quantity, and quality. In the Appalachian foreland of northwestern Vermont, numerous bedrock wells that are spatially related to the Paleozoic Hinesburg thrust have elevated naturally occurring radioactivity and/or low yields. The association of groundwater quality and quantity issues with this thrust was a unique opportunity to investigate its structural and hydrogeologic framework. The Hinesburg thrust juxtaposed metamorphic rocks of the hanging wall with sedimentary rocks of the footwall during the Ordovician. It was then deformed by two orthogonal Devonian fold sets and was fractured during the Cretaceous. Median well yields in the hanging wall aquifer are significantly lower than those of the footwall aquifer, consistent with the respective permeability contrast between metamorphic and carbonate rocks. For wells drilled through the Hinesburg thrust, those completed closest (vertically) to the thrust have the highest median yields, whereas others completed farther below have yields in the footwall range. The geochemical signature of the hanging wall and footwall aquifers correlates with their whole‐rock geochemistry. The hanging wall aquifer is enriched in alpha radiation, Na+K‐Cl, Ba, and Sr, whereas the footwall aquifer is enriched in Ca‐Mg‐HCO₃ and alkalinity. Wells that penetrated the Hinesburg thrust generally have hanging wall geochemical signatures. A simple hydrogeologic model for the permeability evolution of the Hinesburg thrust involves the ductile emplacement of a low‐K hanging wall onto a high‐K footwall, with subsequent modification by fractures.     

The Western River Steamboat Heroine, 1832–1838, Oklahoma,USA: excavations,summary of finds,and history

This paper describes the excavation, discoveries relating to the hull, machinery, and artefacts, and the history of an early steamboat wreck discovered in the Red River between Oklahoma and Texas. The wreck has been identified as the side‐wheel steamer Heroine, a vessel in service on the Mississippi, Ohio, and other western rivers of North America during the 1830s. It is the earliest example of this famous type of vessel yet studied.     

Hydrogeological Modelling of Water-Level Changes in an Area of Archaeological Significance: A Case Study from Flag Fen,Cambridgeshire, UK

Concern exists regarding the long-term viability of the internationally important archaeological remains of the Flag Fen site near Peterborough. This paper describes a hydrogeological numerical groundwater model which has been used to understand the groundwater situation with regard to the archaeology, including drainage impacts, and also to explore future scenarios. Observed and modelled groundwater levels have been interpreted using three zones: the ‘dry’ zone 1 above the seasonal maximum water table; zone 2 of seasonal water table fluctuation; and a deeper zone 3 of permanent saturation. Archaeological wood is best preserved in Zone 3. Much of the Bronze Age wooden structure is located within Zone 2 or above. The hydrological conditions are therefore not ideal for the long-term in situ preservation of the material. Groundwater modelling indicates that the main factor controlling groundwater levels in the area is artificial drainage. The approach would be applicable to other wet-preserved archaeological sites.     

Ecomuseum Evaluation: Experiences in Piemonte and Liguria,Italy

The term ecomuseum has been applied to a wide range of projects that seek to conserve and interpret aspects of tangible and intangible heritage of a defined geographical territory. Ecomuseum theorists have assigned a number of characteristics to these organisations, including in situ conservation, fragmented site interpretation and a democratic, community‐based approach. However, there has been a tendency for the term to be applied casually—sometimes simply as a marketing device—with scant regard to ecomuseum philosophies. To date, little critical evaluation of ecomuseums has been carried out that compares practices at individual sites to the demands of ecomuseum theory. This research examines five ecomuseums in Piemonte and Liguria, northern Italy, to try to discover how far they achieve the tenets of ecomuseum philosophy. Although four of the five sites appear to meet most criteria, the results confirm that a wide variation in ecomuseum practices is inevitable due to local circumstances. Consequently, the ability of any ecomuseum to be a truly democratic organisation and meet all ecomuseum principles is compromised.     

Hereditary emblems: Material culture in the context of social change

Emblematic artifacts, which signify personal or social identity, are potentially valuable sources of information about social organization. To date, however, there has been little comparative study of the social contexts that give rise to use of different kinds of emblems, nor of the ways in which the social significance of emblematic artifacts may change over time. This paper is specifically concerned with the emergence and changing use of hereditary emblems in stratified societies. The histories of lineage devices in western Europe and Japan exhibit a number of similarities which suggest that, in complex societies, hereditary emblems are likely to appear in the presence of unstable systems of social rank. Once introduced, such emblems may acquire additional, nonhereditary, significance without undergoing noticeable iconographic change. The cases examined here suggest a series of general propositions about evolutionary relationships between hereditary emblem use and socioeconomic factors. Although we currently lack a well-developed methodology for identifying hereditary emblems archaeologically, it is clear that the key to their identification lies not in stylistic analysis, but rather in their contexts of use and patterns of association with other items of material culture. Hypotheses derived from consideration of the evolution of lineage emblems in western Europe and Japan are applied to the interpretation of shield decorations of the Archaic and Classical periods in Attic Greece.