Implementing political agreement in Northern Ireland: Planning issues for Irish language policy

This paper examines the place of the Irish language in the context of the political agreement recently reached in Northern Ireland. Language planning issues are seen to turn on critical relationships between the emergent legislative framework and local Irish-speaking communities in the region. A model for community-based language planning initiatives is proposed as a means of ensuring the effective engagement of language policy with Irish-speakers. It is suggested that the issue of language rights is likely to become much more pressing as the new institutions of state seek to reflect the socio-political diversity of the region.     

我国宗教文物保护的特殊性初探

宗教文物作为我国文化遗产的重要组成部分和传统文化的重要载体,近年来引起了业内及社会的广泛关注和讨论.作者在文中就”宗教文物”这一对象,从其特殊性、保存现状和问题、宗教文物的有形与无形价值,等几个方面进行了分析和讨论,强调了宗教文物的独特性,以及相关保护修复工作的特殊意义.     

The Elusive Idea of the Nation: Israel in the Mirror of Modernity

The article begins by analyzing the historical process that brought many Europeans to question the natural framework of their common political existence: the nation and its secular contrivance, the state. The nation appears as the ultimate casualty of European nationalism, and its “crisis of identity” has further deepened in the last few years with the acceleration of European integration. The state appears less and less as the natural locus of political authority, and, in a continent where particularities are tending to diminish, a very different sense of affiliation has been emerging: the inclination to embrace “global humanism” which has no correlation with the conventional framework of representative government. Israel offers an appropriate counterproof to the tribulations of the European fading sense of nationhood. The article considers the distinctive character of Israel among modern nation-states in light of the classical definitions of the nation, in particular with regard to the role of religion and its relation to the political institutions.     

Language and politics in Italy: from Moro to Berlusconi

The article posits the existence of a nexus between some language dimensions on the one hand, and the type of party system and degree of electoral volatility on the other. The first part dissects the old language of Italian politics, these days contemptuously referred to as politichese , and argues that its cryptic character can be properly understood only if seen against both the functional requirements and systemic constraints of the Italian post-war political regime in general, and the functioning of its party system in particular. The second part examines the new language that emerged in the early 1990s, the so-called gentese , and argues that its populist characteristics are linked to the disintegration of old parties which meant that a sizeable portion of the electorate was up for grabs. Other important factors were the emergence of political actors who wished to differentiate themselves from those of the past and their perception that the Italian party system was changing. Il saggio esplora alcuni dei nessi esistenti tra varie dimensioni del linguaggio politico (lessico, complessitÀ sintattica, tono) da un lato, e dimensioni politiche (tipo di sistema di partiti e grado di mobilitÀ elettorale) dall'altro. La prima parte esamina il vecchio linguaggio della politica italiana, oggi sprezzantemente definito politichese , e sostiene che il suo carattere ermetico e complesso è da collegarsi ad alcune caratteristiche del sistema politico della Prima Repubblica e al suo sistema partitico in particolare. La seconda parte esamina il nuovo linguaggio politico italiano (il cosiddetto gentese ) e sostiene che le sue caratteristiche populiste vanno collegate all'aumento della mobilitÀ elettorale registrata all'inizio degli anni 90 (dovuta anche alla disintegrazione dei partiti tradizionali) e alla percezione, largamente errata, dei nuovi attori politici che la riforma della legge elettorale avrebbe condotto necessariamente a un sistema partitico bipolare.     

Signore e signori d'Italia: Una storia delle buone maniere

Abstract

The aim of this article is to analyze the boycott against the Pentecostal presence and proselytism which took place in Italy between 1935 and 1955. The Italian State and the Roman Catholic Church were allied in opposition, worried by the increasing success of Pentecostal proselytism all over Italy and, in particular, in the south. In April 1935, the Fascist government issued a decree (the so-called Circolare Buffarini-Guidi) which banned all religious activities of the Pentecostals, arguing that their religious practises were dangerous for the safety of the population and for the continuity of the ‘Italian race’. This decree, despite the fact that it was clearly illiberal, was active until 1955, eight years after the signing into law of the Republican Constitution, which guaranteed full religious freedom. My article wants to look at how this continuity on such a crucial aspect was possible despite the profound changes that followed the Second World War in Italy.     

Disputing legal privilege: civic relations with the Church in late medieval England

This article explores how provincial town governments sought to bolster civic authority in the period from c.1350 to c.1500. It focuses on royal boroughs, such as York, Chester and Norwich, which had a strong sense of lay civic identity and political pride. In these places, the king was the direct overlord, but the power of civic government was nonetheless frequently challenged by the franchises of local abbeys and convents, cathedral chapters, bishops' palaces, areas of sanctuary and the estates of local nobles. The main case study is urban relations with the Church, in particular disputes with local religious houses and rivalry between the Church and borough courts. How town leaders sought to deal with rival authorities provides an insight into the creation and assertion of lay urban identity in the late medieval period, and illuminates broader themes of how power was legitimised and enforced in post-Black Death society.     

The religious politics of prophecy: Or, Richard Brothers's Revealed Knowledge confuted

The messianic messages delivered to Londoners by the self-styled prophet, Richard Brothers, were regarded by many sceptical observers and pamphleteers as eccentric or, worse still, the embarrassing utterances of someone wishing to reprise the political turmoil of a by-gone era marred by religious ‘fanaticism’. This article shows the extent to which Brothers's messages, as set down in his Revealed Knowledge of the Prophecies and Times (1794–1795), were absolutely central to the religious politics and culture of the 1790s—or what one contemporary critic mockingly referred to as the ‘age of prophecy’. Brothers's prophecies came to the attention of the British government, which culminated in his arrest for treasonable practices in March 1795 when he became a cause célèbre, before being confined to an asylum for eleven years. He was deemed a criminal lunatic but, as this article seeks to demonstrate, his ‘prophetic imagination’ arose out of the same rich theological, political and cultural context that spurred ‘radicals’ like Tom Paine, whilst inspiring poets and artists such as William Blake. If the content of his prophecies were regarded by contemporary sceptics for having no validity, it remains true to say that Richard Brothers, as an educated gentleman and naval officer, dramatically altered 18th-century expectations and perceptions of what prophets were and the nature of prophecy itself.     

丰约显意蕴妙语著华章——文章语言文字问题浅析

意境深邃的文章是以精美的语言为支撑的。作者要写出好的作品,必须具有驾驭语言文字的能力和技巧。语言的丰约质美与绚烂淡雅,决定着文章的意蕴。因此,作者在写作时应根据思想感情表达的需要把握语言的繁缛华美或平淡质朴,以写出妙语连殊和令人赞叹的好文章。     

The cultures of Native North American language documentation and revitalization

The reviewed books comprise an emerging ethnographic literature on endangered language documentation and revitalization in Native North America. Language loss and preservation are pressing concerns for tribal communities, galvanizing activists and researchers to develop classroom curricula and literacy traditions in hopes of producing new speakers. While the reviewed books show that this goal often goes unrealized, we nevertheless read them as grounds for optimism. Even if language revitalization rarely increases the everyday use of particular lexical and grammatical codes, it may succeed in accomplishing another important goal: facilitating indigenous communities’ efforts to create for themselves more meaningful contemporary cultures.     

The peculiar touch of the East: Reading the post-war landscapes of the Finnish Orthodox Church

Before the Second World War the heartland of the Finnish Orthodox Church lay in the country parishes of eastern Finland, where the characteristic churches, small wooden chapels, old cemeteries and monasteries were seen as a part of both the physical and the mental 'borderland' landscape. The war changed the situation permanently. The territories that Finland were forced to cede included this main area of Orthodox culture. The evacuation to the remaining parts of Finland meant the end of the previous religious territorial system and the establishment of a new one. After the war the church had to rebuild the majority of its physical artefacts and administrative systems, and, above all inspire a new sense of continuity, identity and sanctity. This article will discuss how the rebuilding process, both material and spiritual, has manifested itself in the landscape of eastern Finland and how its manifestations and representations have been read and interpreted through the discourses of regional and national identity, heritage tourism and pilgrimage. Avant la deuxième guerre mondiale, le coeur de l'Église orthodoxe finnoise résidait dans les paroisses rurales de l'Ést de la Finlande où les églises typiques, les petites chapelles de bois, les vieux cimetières et les monastères étaient vus comme l'expression physique et mentale d'un paysage limitrophe. La guerre a changé ce paysage de façon permanente. Les territoires que la Finlande fut forcée de céder incluaient cette région-clé de la culture Orthodoxe. L'évacuation vers les parties restantes de la Finlande entraîna la fin de l'ancien système territorial religieux et l'établissement d'un nouveau régime. Après la guerre, l'Église dut rebâtir la majorité de ses systèmes administratifs et lieux physiques et, pardessus tout, inspirer un nouveau sens de sa continuité, identité et caractère sacré. Cet article discute comment le processus de reconstruction, à la fois matériel et spirituel, s'est manifesté dans le paysage de la Finlande de l'Est et comment ces manifestations et représentations ont été interprétées à travers les discours de l'identité régionale et nationale, du tourisme relié au patrimoine et des pèlerinages. Antes de la Segunda Guerra Mundial el corazón de la Iglesia Ortodoxa Finlandesa se encontraba en las parroquías rurales en el este de Finlandia donde las iglesias características, las pequeñas capillas de madera, los antiguos cementarios y monasterios eran considerados parte del paisaje fronterizo, tanto físico como mental. La guerra cambió esta situación para siempre. Los territorios que Finlandia fue obligado a ceder incluían esta área principal de la cultura ortodoxa. La evacuación de lo que quedaba de Finlandia significaba el fin del previo sistema territorio religioso y el establecimiento de un nuevo sistema. Después de la Guerra la iglesia tenía que reconstruir la mayoría de sus artefactos físicos y sistemas de administración y, sobre todo, tenía que inspirar un nuevo sentido de continuidad, identidad y sanctidad. Este papel habla de como el proceso de reconstrucción, tanto material como espiritual, se ha mostrado en el paisaje de Finlandia del este y de como estas manifestaciones y representaciones han sido interpretados por los discursos sobre identidad regional y nacional, el turismo patrimonial y peregrinación.