George Herbert Mead

For George Herbert Mead, thinking amounts to holding an “inner conversation of gestures”. Such a conception does not seem especially original at first glance. What makes it truly original is the “social-behavioral” approach of which it is a part, and, particularly, two ideas. The first is that the conversation in question is a conversation of gestures or attitudes, and the second, that thought and reflexive intelligence arise from the internalization of an external process supported by the social mechanism of communication: that of conduct organization. It imports then to understand what distinguishes such ideas from those of the founder of behavioral psychology, John B. Watson, for whom thinking amounts to nothing other than subvocal speech.     

Emotion,Identity, and Death in the Greek Tradition and Beyond

The article examines emotion and identity in the Greek death cult to clarify certain contemporary political phenomena in the Mediterranean where the cult of the dead is a common cultural pattern. Why is this cult so persistent? What is the death cult and how does it manifest itself? The article delves into its importance in Greece, where the author has had several periods of ?eldwork. To illustrate the persistence of this cultural pattern, its characteristic aspects are discussed. Festivals which are dedicated to deceased persons and domestic death rituals are compared with ancient sources. Based on this, a survey of the relationship between the death cult dedicated to deceased mediators, as it is manifested through laments, burials and the ensuing memorial rituals is made. Modern domestic rituals in? uence of?cial rituals, and vice versa. A study of modern cult practices reveals many parallels with the of?cial cult of the ancients, and suggests ways in which modern rituals can illuminate ancient rituals. The article seeks to demonstrate how new ideologies must be adjusted to older rituals and beliefs and how public and domestic rituals are connected. The article ?nally suggests how these similarities might represent a common way of expression within a larger geographical context.     

Rare Types of Trephination from Hungary Shed New Light on Possible Cross‐cultural Connections in the Carpathian Basin

Symbolic or incomplete trephinations are very common in Hungary in 9^th–11^thcentury AD skeletal series connected to early Hungarians, although they also occur in the preceding Avar Age (6^th–9^th c. AD) material. During the compilation of a database of regional cranial modification data, the authors found rare almond‐shaped symbolic trephinations in both periods, while these had formerly only been reported in Early Hungarian series. In this study, the new almond‐shaped lesions are described along with other symbolic trephinations of 14 newly found skulls from the 8^th–11^thcenturies AD in the Southern Great Plain of Hungary. The authors review the research of the phenomenon. The new findings may strengthen the theory of direct and very close cultural connections of these two ethnic groups, adding a new aspect to the debate over the origin and relationship of Late Avar (late 7^th–early 9^th c. AD) and Early Hungarian (9^th–11^th c. AD) populations. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Identifying with the old or the new state: nation‐building vs. Yugonostalgia in the Yugoslav successor states

The article examines to what degree attachment to a former multinational state which breaks up may complicate national consolidation in new states, as was the case in the Soviet Union and Titoist Yugoslavia. In the former Yugoslavia such attachment is usually referred to as ‘Yugonostalgia’, and various opinions have been expressed about its strength and possible political consequences today. Only in 2011, however, was an attempt made to measure Yugonostalgia quantitatively and analyse this phenomenon comparatively in the various successor states. A large‐scale survey showed that while Yugonostalgics in some countries were less loyal than other citizens towards the new state this was not the case in Serbia. In Croatia, the number of respondents who felt Yugoslav has gone down since independence far more than in any other state; probably a result of a massive public campaign to discredit continued identification with the former state.     

The First ‘Urnfields’ in the Plains of the Danube and the Po

Journal of World Prehistory - Archaeological research is currently redefining how large-scale changes occurred in prehistoric times. In addition to the long-standing theoretical dichotomy between...     

The definition of culture in culture-based urban development strategies: antagonisms in the construction of a culture-based development discourse

Implementing culture-based development strategies is a recent trend in large and small cities all over Europe. The definition of culture and the objectives of cultural strategies are highly contested in the public debate. Analysing the newspaper debates on the establishment of the Cultiva foundation in Kristiansand, Norway, this article discusses how and why the discursive debate on the definition of culture creates different discursive positions in the public debate on culture-based development. In the different discourses on what these strategies should be, there are a number of antagonisms that contribute to defining the relationships and interfaces between the different discursive positions. The main lines of discursive conflict are between urban planners and/or policy-makers who follow a spatial logic that emphasises a comprehensive understanding of territorial planning and cultural workers and/or artists who follow a critical artistic creation logic that emphasises the values that exist in art and the potential of the cultural field for personal development, general education and social criticism.     

Reviews

Hans Christiansson &; Povl Simonsen: Stone Age Finds from Spitsbergen. Acta Borealia B. Humaniora No. 11. Troms?/Oslo/Bergen, Universitetsforlaget, 24 pp., 11 Figs.

Ellen Karine Hougen: Leirkarmaterialet fra Kaupang (The Pottery from Kaupang). Viking XXXIII (1969). 22 pp. 6 Figs. English summary