Globalisation and memory

Abstract

We live in the ‘era of disparition’, in Paul Virilio's words. Globalisation causes our common markers to disappear: time is worldly and instantaneous. Perception of space is modified; everything can be in the same place at the same time; places tend to standardise. Communities are baffled by wars, ethnocide, emigration. In the midst of all this, collective memory fights for existence. The motto of museums could be, as Virilio says, ‘searching for signs rematerialising the world’. To counter the deleterious effects of disparition, museums should stress the importance of territory and history. Ecomuseums in particular can become the archetype of social places for meetings, for common elucidation resulting in exhibitions, for remembering collective memory. The museum must help the community undertake not so much a duty of memory as a work of memory. The function of the museum is awakening consciousness in many dimensions.     

Memorial gardens as dramaturgical space

Abstract

Since the end of the First World War British and Allied military cemeteries and memorial sites have been designed within a carefully controlled Imperial aesthetic. The emotional and historical capital of these sites has made objective judgement difficult; the burden of martial memory has made innovation in design almost impossible. This paper examines how the Dominion forces – notably Canada – achieved a distinct nationalism in their war memorials after the Great War. By focussing on two recent Canadian memorial sites – in London and France – the paper speculates on the ways in which artistic and military precedent informs the construction of monuments of conflict. The study concludes by looking at the recent public enthusiasm for floral and other temporary memorials which have challenged the rhetoric of official mourning.     

Archaeological Explorations of Cultural Identity and Rural Economy in the North of Ireland: Goodland,County Antrim

Renewed examination of an enigmatic settlement site perched atop a cliff above Murlough Bay in Goodland Townland, County Antrim, Northern Ireland calls into question long held ideas about Gaelic rural economy on the eve of the Ulster Plantation by reintroducing the complex cultural and political relationships between the north of Ireland and the Scottish isles. Long interpreted as temporary post-medieval booley huts associated with seasonal transhumance, recent re-evaluation of the site suggests instead that Goodland represents a permanent seventeenth-century Highland Scottish village. Although the medieval linkages between the north of Ireland and the Scottish isles have long been acknowledged, twentieth-century sectarianism has subjugated awareness of the Highland (Roman Catholic) Scots focusing upon the legacy of the in-migration of Protestant Lowland Scots during the Ulster Plantation. Material evidence at Goodland re-introduces the Highland Scot to the contested landscape of contemporary Ulster identity, while also facilitating analysis of continuity, change, and cultural complexity in the rural economy of early modern Ireland.     

唐墓彩绘文物的保护研究

针对唐代墓葬的几件彩陶文物和壁画的特殊要求,选择性能优良的保护材料对彩绘文物进行加固保护。通过X-射线荧光光谱仪和分光光度仪进行彩绘文物颜料成分分析,选用浓度为2%的B72和2%的改性B72加固保护彩绘文物,测试保护后文物的表面颜料粘结性、耐水性、耐酸碱等性能,同时选用分光光度仪和粘接强度仪测试光照老化后文物的颜料颜色和粘接强度的变化。试验结果表明,文物颜料主要成分包括铅丹、铅丹和朱砂混合物、土红以及石绿;加固保护后文物的粘结性、耐水性和耐酸碱度都有所提高,且改性B72的提高程度比B72大;光照老化后改性B72保护的彩绘文物颜料主波长、色纯度和亮度变化均小于B72的变化,改性B72的粘接强度提高指数是B72的3倍之多,粘接性能优于B72。综合对比可以看出,加入紫外线吸收剂的改性B72保护材料很好地起到加固和保护彩绘文物的作用,在彩绘文物加固保护材料的选择上具有借鉴和指导意义。     

春秋时期诸侯国是独立主权国家吗?--与叶自成先生商榷

叶自成先生于近期发表的《中国外交的起源——试论春秋时期周王室和诸侯国的性质》一文提出了春秋时期诸侯国是独立主权国家的理论。本文认为,诸侯国无论对内还是对外都要尊天子、循周礼,因此不拥有主权。对中国这样一个多民族国家来说,不能简单地用中央政权对割据政权制约能力的强弱来确定这些政权是否为国家。统一的政治一文化空间和大一统的国家认同是更重要的因素。     

Public and private: national identities in a Scottish Borders community*

Abstract. This paper is an exploration of national identities among sports people in a community in the Scottish Borders. This group experiences a split in their identities. Publicly, they are ascribed an ambiguous national identity by the surrounding national communities. Privately, and among fellow community members, they unambiguously assert national identity. This paper examines the way this split is managed, arguing that the performance of public ambiguity is expected, but is supported by the private performance of nationality. National identity is analysed specifically as a performance, and sport is the context in which this performance takes place.     

The Gothic and the Gaelic: Exploring the Place of Castles in Ireland’s Celtic Revival

This paper examines the conflict in early nineteenth century Ireland that emerged between the way castles were portrayed in academia on the one hand and romantic literature on the other. Focusing on a key text of the Celtic Revival, Sydney Owensons The Wild Irish Girl, the paper explores how this novel (with its strong gothic influences) established a lens through which Gaelic Ireland could be understood and how this in turn affected the representation of castles. The second part of the paper ties these themes into an analysis of the relationship between architecture, literature and identity in the occupation of Leap Castle, Co. Offaly during the changing political climate of nineteenth and early twentieth century Ireland.     

The necessary indeterminacy of self‐determination: Politics,law and conflict in the Horn of Africa

This article frames a themed collection on Nationalism and Self‐determination in the Horn of Africa. It demonstrates how the praxis of self‐determination in the Horn of Africa has contributed to normative developments. On the basis of case studies of Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia and Sudan/South Sudan this article argues that nationalism and self‐determination have had different meanings in the political cultures across the different countries and have changed over time. We contend that such indeterminacy is unavoidable and should be welcomed. Nationalism is driven by historical circumstances that are contingent and often transitory. Self‐determination claims based on such nationalism are equally contingent and transitory. When the principle of self‐determination gets translated into concrete legal entitlements (for instance, a referendum on independence), it tends to solve one problem only by creating others. Instead, the pursuit and realization of self‐determination require constant political processes.     

华夷衍变与大一统思想框架的构筑——以《史记》有关记述为中心

本文以《史记》五帝、夏、商、周、秦“本纪”与楚、吴、越“世家”、匈奴等“列传”为中心,探索司马迁是如何苦心孤诣地建构“华夷同源、天下一统”的框架。在此基础上,研讨华夷界限的移动、华夷衍变、司马迁对华夏族群的自我认同与他者认同等问题。司马迁通过对夷狄、华夏族群的族源予以“源出于一,纵横叠加”的历史追想,构建了“大一统”思想框架。我们从司马迁所构筑的“华夷共祖”的意境中,可以推想到他已有族群心理的核心是共享血缘的感觉。     

Inconspicuous Consumption: Non-Display Goods and Identity Formation

In the study of ancient material culture, archaeologists have primarily focused on the use of objects for display and communication. This social function of material culture could only have developed on the basis of individual cognitive capacity for the use of goods as materializations of symbolic behavior. To explore the deeply held relationship of identity to material culture, this paper focuses on goods that are utilized away from the gaze of others. Using examples from the ethnographic present such as pharmaceuticals, underwear, and hygiene products, I develop the idea of “reflexive identity” to describe how people use material objects in private to define themselves prior to and independent of their social roles as perceived by others. The act of daily identity creation and affirmation through goods, particularly those that are inexpensive and disposable, indicates the extent to which human cognition and psychological sense of self are inextricably linked to the handling of material culture. The archaeological application of a reflexive identity enables us to understand how ordinary goods are a fundamental component of identity formation prior to and independent of individuals’ engagement with others.