Sirmur Folklore Notes

DEUTSCHES JAHRBUCH FÜR VOLKSKUNDE. Vol. III, Part i. Akademie Verlag, Berlin, 1957. Pp. 343, Plates VIII and text illustrations. Reviewed by E. Ettlinger.

DAS ST. LAMBRECHTER PASSIONSSPIEL VON 1606. Passio Domini AND Dialogus in Epiphania Domini DES JOHANNES GEIGER. Edited by P. OTHMAR WONISCH, O.S.B. Vienna, 1957. Veröffentlichungen des Österreichischen Museums für Volkskunde, Vol. xi. Pp. viii, 96. Reviewed by E. Ettlinger.

THE ROAD TO SANTIAGO. By WALTER STARKIE. John Murray, 1957. Pp.338. 25s. Reviewed by Violet Alford.

JOURNAL OF THE ENGLISH FOLK DANCE AND SONG SOCIETY, Vol. VIII, No. 1. 1956. Reviewed by Michael M. Rix.

MENSA SACRA : THE ROUND TABLE AND THE HOLY GRAIL. By A. A. BARB. Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, XIX, 1–2, 1956. Reviewed by H. R. Ellis Davidson.     

Que Veut Dire Bachelard par « Rationalisme Appliqué »?

Bachelard was concerned with the processes whereby scientific knowledge is acquired, including the activity of knowing subjects. He did not equate reasoning with logic but rather argued that reasoning resulted from the use of mathematics in organizing both thought and experimental practices, which is why he conceived science as applied mathematics. This had material and technical implications, for Bachelard was concerned with the element of reason inherent in technical materialism as well as the concrete reality inherent in applied rationalism.     

Constituting "The People": National Identity Under William H. Taft and Richard M. Nixon

This project is focused on the long-term constitutive elements of presidential discourse; in other words, how rhetoric helps frame and determine national identity. Seemingly innocuous, and appearing in both ceremonial and policy addresses, presidential language concerning national identity helps shape the context, and thus sets the terms for more substantive, issue-laden debates. While one cannot measure the impact of this type of rhetoric in terms of specific issues and time frames, its influence is apparent in a broader and more diffuse perspective. This research compares the public rhetoric of presidents William H. Taft and Richard M. Nixon specifically in terms of their definitions of national identity. Both Republicans, albeit with very different political contexts and time periods, exhibited marked similarities in their strategies for defining the American polity, particularly with respect to their view of the president as the national representative, the idea that the nation is a unified whole, the belief that the nation follows the greatest good for the greatest number, the belief that each citizen occupies a natural place in the hierarchy of American society, and finally, the conviction that liberty is the most important foundational value of the country. The evidence suggests that rhetorical conceptions of national identity are important over time in the United States. Enjoying a broad audience, the president has the ability to shape national debate according to which groups and issues he includes or excludes from the polity.     

“The Miami Sound”: A Contemporary Latin Form of Place-Specific Music

The concept of place-specific music, including its characteristics and formative dynamics, is introduced in this case study of the Miami Sound, a contemporary form of Latin commercial music that emerged in south Florida and has diffused rapidly since the mid-1970s. By analyzing musical components, it is concluded that the Miami Sound is a fusion of Latin, especially Cuban, musical influences with North American popular music formats and elements.