Institutionalization,neo-politicization and the politics of defining Sámi research

This article critically examines recent changes in the social terrain of Sámi research in Finland, where the research field is subject to a new wave of academic institutionalization, and where questions regarding “Sáminess” have become particularly prominent. The article argues that in this conjuncture of institutionalization and neo-politicization, definitions of Sámi research which emphasize its political and ethical qualities (“Sámi research” as research done from a “Sámi perspective” or “taking it into account”) appear increasingly problematic and can actually end up doing the opposite of what was originally intended. Instead of bringing questions regarding the politics of perspective, location, representation and power/knowledge to the fore, presenting the research field in these terms might turn attention away from a variety of interests and political desires that currently are projected onto Sámi research, and hence depoliticize understandings of Sámi research and its complex interdependence with the state and society.     

Tradition and critique in Paul Muldoon's “Madoc: A Mystery”

Paul Muldoon's “Madoc: A Mystery” remains his longest poem and most thorough vision of an alternative history. This article argues that Muldoon's poem works to stage not only a visionary history of America but also, via the uneasy relations that develop between its two main characters (semi-fictionalised versions of Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Robert Southey), a dramatisation of the conflict that obtains between competing modes of historical understanding. Muldoon's Coleridge and Southey represent stances that may be usefully regarded as parallel to positions advanced in the famous debate regarding interpretation between Hans-Georg Gadamer and Jürgen Habermas, thinkers whose names appear in the poem itself. To read the poem in light of this connection between its fantastical transatlantic history and the history of critical theory allows a reading of Muldoon's treatment of both literary and political histories as secondary to the work's playful exploration of struggles between modes of historical interpretation.     

Asiatics and Chinamen

This article compares two clusters of polemical language. One is comprised of critical uses of the term “Asiatic” in Russian political discourse from the 1890s to the 1910s. The other is Chinese usage, in the 1920s and 1930s, of the term “Zhina,” a Japanese version of “China” which was perceived as injurious to Chinese national pride. The article traces how, in both cases, political and cultural agents criticized their own country and society by adopting an outsider’s perspective – that of the foreigner, who would classify Russia as an “Asiatic” country and call China “Zhina.” The conclusions are relevant for understanding the sources of nationalist rhetoric in modern Russia and China, with implications reaching beyond these two countries.     

《金史》“篡改开国史”辨北大核心CSSCI

《金史》记载的金朝开国史是信史。“都勃极烈”不是金建国后女真国主的称号,而是生女真进入高级酋邦阶段后大酋长的称号。阿骨打建国之初只求民族自立,并没有灭辽的宏图,宋人文献称阿骨打是接受了杨朴“图霸天下,谋为万乘之国”的建议,才称帝建国的说法,既不符合金建国前后女真人的政治生态,也不符合杨朴的身份,当是宋人的演绎。在金向辽请求册封过程中杨朴的事迹是真实的,《金史》对此并未隐匿。宋晁公迈《历代纪年》成书早于《太祖实录》,明确记载金初存在“收国”年号。《太祖实录》没有虚构和编造金朝建国时间、国号、年号,据此撰写的《金史》没有篡改开国史。     

“变风易俗”:王符对风俗与政治关系的新阐释

面对东汉中后期的各种鄙风陋俗,王符吸收两汉"诸子"的"移风易俗"思想,通过分析民间的风俗事象,剖析政治与风俗之间的关系,打破传统的"以德化俗"思想,将法家思想引入"移风易俗"领域,形成了以"德法兼综"为原则的"变风易俗"思想。该思想包括"以德化俗""以法治俗""选贤易俗""重本抑末以易俗"四个方面,使得风俗秩序与政治秩序达到和谐与补益,对后世产生了深远的影响。但贪婪腐朽的统治者恰恰是这些鄙风陋俗的始作俑者,注定了他们难以践行"变风易俗"思想,要真正改善风俗就只能依靠改朝换代了。     

P.H. Pearse and Thomas MacDonagh: a literary friendship

ABSTRACT

Tracing the relationship between P.H. [Patrick Henry] Pearse (1879–1916) and Thomas MacDonagh (1878–1916), this essay explores the impact their friendship had on their careers as writers and critics. Their work together in St Enda’s, the school for boys founded by Pearse in 1908, provides a significant context for this exploration. There, while working with MacDonagh, Pearse made drama an important part of school life and started writing plays for public performance. Meanwhile, their collaboration in putting together the St. Enda’s school journal, An Macaomh (1909–1913), helped to hone MacDonagh’s skills as a literary critic and to prepare for his later editorial role at the Irish Review (1911–1914). Attention then turns to how MacDonagh’s views on Irish literature and his translations from Old Irish influenced his friend’s development as both a critic and poet. Paticular consideration is paid to “Mise Éire”, one of Pearse’s best-known poems. Finally, similarities are considered between MacDonagh and the hero of The Wandering Hawk (1915–1916), Pearse’s unfinished, English-language, school story for children. Taken together, these various investigations reveal that, despite differing temperaments and at times divergent approaches to Irish writing, Pearse and MacDonagh enjoyed a mutually stimulating friendship that impacted positively on their literary careers.     

Alice Munro,Charles McGrath,and the Shaping of “The Turkey Season”

Using archival evidence of the editorial process behind the publication of the story “The Turkey Season,” this article explores the collaborative literary relationship between Alice Munro and one of her long-time editors at The New Yorker magazine, Charles McGrath. It reveals McGrath’s exceptional contribution to the story—restructuring it by combining the two versions Munro submitted into a composite—and theorizes the composite version’s effects on the epistemological grounding of the story and the narrator’s certainty about her own memory of the events she recounts, both of which are features that are often considered characteristic of Munro’s style in her mature writing.     

Canada-US Relations: No Longer Special or Privileged

ABSTRACT

Canada has benefited more than most countries from the advantage of its geography, but proximity to the United States has created a cocoon of complacency on trade and security that is no longer assured. This makes the key question about the future of Canada-US relations whether the erratic “America First” impulses of Donald Trump will persist after he leaves the White House. If nationalist populism takes root, self-interest will prevail and the special partnership for Canada with the United States will fade. This essay considers the notion of privilege that served Canada well for decades as one that can no longer be taken for granted. Canada must take realistic actions to defend and advance its own interests. This will reflect the confidence and maturity of a nation fully aware of its capabilities and the limitations of its global potential.