Cultural policy and revolutionary music during China’s Cultural Revolution: the case of the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra

This paper examines the relation between the cultural policy of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the music of model plays (yangbanxi 样板戏), especially music produced by Western symphony orchestras, during the ten-year Cultural Revolution in China. It takes the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra (SSO) as the focal point of this historical episode. Model plays of the Cultural Revolution promoted communist and revolutionary themes. All aspects of their performance were examined for conformity to Maoist thought. This paper explores how the CCP’s ideology and its cultural policy were embodied in revolutionary music, using one of the model plays, Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy, as an analytical case study. Most of the historical materials cited in this research are held by the SSO Archive. The SSO played a crucial role in creating and performing the music for Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy. The academic value of its archive has long been overlooked. This paper provides a new perspective on the Cultural Revolution, one viewed through policies of a Western symphony orchestra, and it suggests that scholars apply the term ‘cultural policy’ more deliberately in future studies of the Chinese Cultural Revolution.     

元“月明沧海”琴的修复

"月明沧海"琴为上海博物馆藏品,元至正壬辰(公元1352年)制造。琴额部有两处木质缺洞,木质纤维素腐烂,蛀眼19个,额部其它部位漆颜色暗淡,琴左侧面下方、琴额背面均有缺损。对这件古琴制定修复方案,并开展清洁、处理蛀洞、分析灰胎、加固、补配、批灰、涂漆、打磨、做旧等保护修复工艺流程。结果表明,传统修复工艺与现代科学技术检测的结合,使此件文物的修复工作相当成功。     

Do electoral district size and diversity affect legislative behaviour?

This paper analyses how the size and socio-economic diversity of their electorate affect parliamentarians’ legislative behaviour. We study the Australian senate, which wields considerable legislative influence and is marked by large differences in the size and socio-economic makeup of the districts that senators represent. We demonstrate that as the size of their district increases, senators ask more questions and introduce more bills and amendments. By contrast, senators become less active as the diversity of their electoral district increases. The paper thus establishes that size and diversity of electorates have significant effects on legislative behaviour.     

Tamale-making traditions among three ethnic groups in west central Louisiana

The state of Louisiana is widely recognized for the Creole and Cajun cuisines of south Louisiana. Yet several Indo-Spanish foodways have been preserved in northwest Louisiana since the colonial era. In this paper, we explore the tamale-making traditions of three distinct culture groups who reside in the region and how traditions are a source of ethnic identity. Tamales are primarily associated with residents of Indo-Spanish heritage in Sabine Parish, but they are also part of the foodway traditions of the French Creoles and Cane River Creoles of Natchitoches Parish. It is asserted that the tamale-making traditions in these communities resulted from a process of creolization that took place during the eighteenth century with the start of European colonization. We assess the role of tamale-making among contemporary cultural groups to demonstrate how this tradition has survived in the region.     

Cultural diplomacy: India does it differently

Abstract

This article reviews the singularities of Indian doctrine and practice of cultural diplomacy, beginning with the observation that this term and the notions of ‘soft power’ and ‘public diplomacy’ commonly associated with cultural diplomacy elsewhere do not have much purchase in India, where the spirit and letter of ‘international cultural relations’ are the preferred currency. The essay explores the historical grounding for this preference, as well as the attitudes and practice that flow from it. Another singularity is the role and importance of the Indian diaspora: overseas populations of Indian origin have been both a significant segment of the target audience for international cultural relations – as if a certain idea of India had to be projected abroad to a part of itself – and a significant ‘co-producer’ in projecting that image. A third is the emergence of a new avatar of the diasporic Indian, now identified with capitalist entrepreneurship.     

Untangling the different components of Norwegianness*

ABSTRACT. National identity is under scrutiny in Europe. A new non‐ethnic conception of the nation to replace the traditional ethnic one is needed. National identity is therefore undergoing a public reconstruction. This article is based on narratives of “Norwegianness” that emerged in a qualitative interview study of white majority Norwegians who live in multicultural suburbs in Oslo. I respond to an overlooked need to analytically untangle different components of “Norwegianness” as phenomenological knowledge, to decouple its different constituents from each other. In order to analyse qualitative data where notions of “Norwegianness” and “non‐Norwegianness” are at play, their different aspects must be clarified. I identify multiple discursive oppositions that researchers ought to keep apart, and distinguish between civic aspects (citizenship), cultural aspects, and ethnic/racial aspects. I suggest that everyday notions of the national are fruitfully studied as discursive space constituted by a series of overlapping, but sometimes mutually contradicting, oppositions.     

保护、修复、研究领域中文物的价值

对文物价值的认识直接关系到文物保护、修复、研究工作者的工作理念及工作质量。从文物的历史及艺术两大价值着手,分别就文物上历史信息的增减及历史价值与美学价值的关系进行了详细的探讨,提出了增加历史信息可取、减少历史信息不可取以及历史价值第一性、美学价值第二性等观点。     

1966～1976年的上海职业人口

“文化大革命”期间,上海的职工人数增长了127．14万人。这主要是因为20世纪50年代生育高峰期的人口,每年以20万人以上的规模,从非在业状态转向在业状态。上海全民单位的职工主要来源于毕业生(高达72．28％)和复退军人,其他人员皆因“身份羁绊”难有机缘。这一期间,因上海从事第二产业人数及比重持续上升,终于使上海失去了金融、贸易等城市型经济功能,从一个综合型城市转变为生产型城市,并造成城市布局混乱、交通拥挤、工业区与居民区杂处等一系列影响人们生活的社会矛盾和困难。     

透光摄影在古书画修复与研究中的应用

透光摄影由常规可见光摄影发展而来，是针对中国古书画等能被可见光穿透的文物开发的一项无损摄影检测技术。通过实践发现透光摄影在古书画的修复与研究领域具有多项作用：观察书画命纸、背纸拼接等装裱情况；发现前人加固、补缀等修复痕迹；获取画面底稿内容；强化伤况视觉效果以便于分析文物伤况病害。透光摄影能够提供直观可靠的深层视觉信息，辅助修复人员了解文物内部状态，在古书画的修复与研究中发挥重要作用。     

馆藏纸质书画文物上霉菌的分离与鉴定

霉菌污染会影响馆藏纸质书画的保存和展示。对书画污染菌进行分离及鉴定,有助于提高文物霉变防治工作的针对性,进而提高防治效果。本研究利用传统的纯培养法从遭受霉菌污染的馆藏纸质书画表面分离得到8株霉菌,通过形态特征观察和r DNA转录间隔区序列ITS(Internal Transcribed Spacer)测序分析。结果表明:8株霉菌分属于曲霉属(Aspergillus)、根霉属(Rhizopu)和木霉属(Trichoderma)。研究结果可为馆藏纸质书画文物防霉剂的研发和文物霉菌的综合防治提供靶标和依据。