“Northern Girls”: Cultural Politics of Agency and South China’s Migrant Literature

Abstract:

This paper is concerned with the cultural politics of agency, and explores the relationship between cultural form, migrant experience and social change. It traces the emergence of a range of literary forms in south China and how these new cultural forms provide hitherto unavailable space to contest the state- and market-driven narratives, which tend to link dagongmei’s (rural migrant women’s) sexuality with inexperience and vulnerability on the one hand, and criminality, immorality and incivility on the other. The paper suggests that these newly emerging cultural forms present alternative perspectives on the practical circumstances, moral rationalities and emotional consequences that condition and shape migrant women’s sexual experience, and for this reason, they constitute important points of intervention.     

Red Aesthetics,Intermediality and the Use of Posters in Chinese Cinema after 1949

Abstract

This article focuses on the aesthetic and affective techniques of saturation through which posters legitimated the Party-State in Mao’s China by closing the gap between everyday experience and political ideology. Propaganda posters were designed to put into practice the principle of unity, as conceptualised by Mao Zedong. The argument posits that while the “poster” is normally a printed edition of a painting or design intended for mass distribution in this way, the term may fairly be deployed to capture other cultural objects that function as “posters”, in that they provide public, political information that expresses or constructs a political self in aesthetic form. This approach requires a metonymic understanding of a visual field in which cultural objects are interrelated and mutually reinforcing. The essay draws on recent in-depth interviews with poster artists of the 1960s and 1970s.     

Cultural impact of modernization and tourism on Dai villages in Xishuangbanna,China

The development of tourism can have a considerable sociocultural impact on ethnic communities, but few studies have attempted to separate the unique impact of ethnic tourism from the overall impact of modernization and describe its mechanism clearly. This paper describes a quasi-natural experiment performed in three typical Dai villages in different stages of tourism development. A crosswise and longitudinal comparative study was performed on Dai village culture. The study indicates the following: (1) spiritual culture has been transmitted relatively unchanged across generations in three Dai villages, but material culture has undergone various degrees of change. (2) The changes in material culture and some parts of institutional culture have been caused primarily by the pressure of overall social modernization. (3) Currently, the overall thrust of modernization in mainstream Chinese society has driven some ethnic cultural practices out of use, while the endogenous driving force of tourism development in ethnic communities has pulled them back into use. (4) Under the influence of modernization, the issue of whether ethnic tourism communities can be developed in a sustainable way depends on both bottom-up and top-down factors: the leading role played by community elites internally, developing useful parts of ethnic culture and discarding useless parts during repeated games in the tourism field, and government policy and guidance facilitating planning.     

Eco‐urbanism and the Eco‐city,or, Denying the Right to the City?

This paper critically analyses the construction of eco‐cities as technological fixes to concerns over climate change, Peak Oil, and other scenarios in the transition towards “green capitalism”. It argues for a critical engagement with new‐build eco‐city projects, first by highlighting the inequalities which mean that eco‐cities will not benefit those who will be most impacted by climate change: the citizens of the world's least wealthy states. Second, the paper investigates the foundation of eco‐city projects on notions of crisis and scarcity. Third, there is a need to critically interrogate the mechanisms through which new eco‐cities are built, including the land market, reclamation, dispossession and “green grabbing”. Lastly, a sustained focus is needed on the multiplication of workers’ geographies in and around these “emerald cities”, especially the ordinary urban spaces and lives of the temporary settlements housing the millions of workers who move from one new project to another.     

民国时期华文教育本土化探析——以国语文教材的编写为视角

论文以民国时期大陆学人与东南亚学人所编东南亚华校国语教材为视角,探讨华文教育本土化问题。认为大陆学人所编东南亚华校国语教材的本土化倾向包括选材符合国外实际、稳妥处理敏感话题、教给儿童规范汉语及配以实用方便的教学法;东南亚学人所编东南亚华校国语教材的本土化倾向包括突出第二语言教学的特性、使用外语进行解释及强调国语文的特点。     

Tricky business: Swiss perceptions of informal imperialism in China in the 1920s

This article analyzes the role that commercial interests played in Swiss perceptions of informal imperialism in China during the 1920s. Commercial interests were the driving force behind the establishment of Swiss relations with China in 1918 and Swiss rejections of Chinese demands to abolish extraterritoriality in the 1920s. Swiss commercial relations with China were deeply rooted in the social, economic, and political institutions and processes developed by informal imperialism in China. During the Chinese antiforeign agitation in the 1920s, the Swiss press criticized the unequal treaties as an example of imperialism in China but ignored Switzerland’s participation in it. This discrepancy between the official and media perceptions of Swiss commercial interests in China was caused by the fact that Switzerland’s dependence on privileges connected to the unequal treaties clashed with Swiss national mythology, which was based on neutrality and anti-imperial narratives. Moreover, the negligible importance attributed to Swiss trade with China and the increasing focus on the nationality of foreign companies in China allowed the Swiss media to ignore Swiss commercial interests in China. As a result, Swiss complicity in informal imperialism was downplayed by the Swiss press, which ignored the importance of Swiss commerce to Sino–Swiss relations.     

关于中日"自治传统"的比较分析

近代中日两国在实行地方自治前,都存在着一定的“自治传统。”这种传统在日本日村落共同体,在中国日宗族自治、乡绅自治。但是虽然同为“自治”,实际上有着很大差别。这种差别也可谓是导致两国实行近代地方自治成败的重要原因之一。本文通过对中日“自治传统”在地方公选议会、地方公共财政的运营和地方公共团体法人化的过程中所起的不同作用进行比较分析,从而总结出中日“自治传统”具有的不同的特质。     

中国与环南海国家(地区)贸易竞争性和互补性格局

环南海因其重要的地缘战略意义,对中国国家安全和对外合作发展具有重要意义.本文在产品层次,揭示了中国与环南海国家(地区)的贸易竞争性和互补性格局,有助于加深理解中国与该区域的地缘经济竞合关系.结果表明:①中国大陆与环南海国家(地区)的贸易规模不断增大.中国大陆与香港、台湾、越南、菲律宾、新加坡、泰国的出口相似度较高,在世...     

Stable isotopic analysis of human bones from Jiahu site,Henan, China: implications for the transition to agriculture

We have investigated change in subsistence during the transition to agriculture in the site of Jiahu, Henan Province, China, using stable isotopic analysis of collagen and apatite in human bones. Millet agriculture is well documented at drier high latitudes of the Yellow River Valley, while rice agriculture predominated at wetter lower latitudes of the Yangtze Valley region. The early Neolithic site of Jiahu lies near the boundary between the drier north and wetter south. Archaeobotanical evidence shows that rice was a significant component of diet at Jiahu, but its δ¹³C value is similar to that of other foods, and therefore cannot be conclusively identified by carbon isotope analysis. Foxtail and broomcorn millets are the only C₄ crops known for the Chinese Neolithic. Because of their high δ¹³C values, their consumption can be evaluated by stable carbon isotope analysis of human bone. Collagen reflects mainly the δ¹³C value of dietary protein, and apatite accurately records that of the whole diet. Isotopic analysis of 15 well-preserved samples from three periods shows that collagen δ¹³C values were very low for almost all individuals, suggesting C₃-based foods dominated their diets. However, apatite carbonate δ¹³C values and δ¹³C spacing between collagen and apatite (Δ¹³C_ap-co) indicate that millet may have been a minor component of the diet in this region. Individuals, who consumed the smallest amounts of animal protein, as indicated by low δ¹⁵N, generally had the highest apatite δ¹³C values. Archaeobotanical evidence for millet at Jiahu is needed to support this interpretation.     

历史语境中的王朝中国疆域概念辨析--以天下、四海、中国、疆域、版图为例

作为国家理念的体现,疆域概念产生于具体的历史语境。由于古今中国国家性质不同,王朝中国的疆域概念与现代中国主权、领土不能用简单的继承或对接来解释。在王权泛化或王权至上观念的影响下,王朝中国的疆域话语尽管受到地理知识限制,但仍坚持认为在可知范围内,王朝中国天子有权实行统治。这种深受王朝国家理念影响的疆域话语对古代疆域概念产生了很大影响。以常见的5个古代中国疆域概念为例,“天下”有广狭二义,一是普天之下,一是华夏诸国;“四海”即四方,有时包括四夷,有时不包括;“中国”概念迭加变化整合,各朝“中国”范围不尽相同;“疆域”是一国统治范围的宣示;“版图”则是王朝国家行政地区。本文通过追溯原本词义,认为上述概念原意与后世借用,因语境变化,语义发生差异;进而提出,学术用语与习惯说法应有区别,这不仅是运用概念准确与否的问题,而且也涉及研究价值的取向。