Bilingualism and geographical knowledge: A case study of students at the University of Wales,Aberystwyth

This paper explores the role of languages in the constitution of geographical knowledge. We argue that the fact that people speak different languages is significant to the ways in which they engage with geography as a subject. We unpack some of the processes through which languages make a difference to geography through an empirical project based on students at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth, where geography is taught bilingually through Welsh and English. Student geography is a particularly interesting arena to further this theme, because of students' mediating role in translating professional geography into the popular sphere, which in the case of students at Aberystwyth is also a different linguistic sphere. Our empirical work suggests that the use of Welsh creates a particular linguistic culture of geography, because of the shared experience of specific practices and politics in bilingual education. This makes a difference to the kinds of geography consumed and produced by bilingual students. Through a discussion of the linguistic identity of Welsh geography, we address some of the implications and limitations of this social formation. We conclude by arguing that a focus on language has the potential to open up new ways of talking about geography.     

Publications Received

A system for classifying Scottish peatlands based on a primary threefold division into confined, partly confined and unconfined mires is presented and discussed. The system brings together the different approaches to peatland classification employed, and its inherent flexibility accommodates geographical variations and specific user requirements.     

Index for volume 20

This article investigates the minimum level of religious observance expected of lay Christians by church authorities, and the degree to which legislation and procedures attempted to enforce these standards.1 1?The questions behind this essay were first raised in a lecture by Norman Tanner to the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies in Toronto in 1991. An early consideration, ‘How compulsory was Christianity in the middle ages?’, appeared translated into Japanese by Keiji Notani, in Journal of Cross-Cultural Studies, 11 (Kobe University, Japan, 1999), 53-101. Subsequent rewriting, revision and updating was undertaken by Sethina Watson. Once baptized, a person entered the community of the faithful; and the medieval church was as much accountable for the health and salvation of the ignorant, the ambivalent, the disobedient or distracted as they were of the devout. From the twelfth century, theologians, clerical authorities and the laity turned with concerted enthusiasm to the question of lay observance, advancing high ideals for lay commitment and expanding opportunities for lay participation. Yet while acting to elucidate and advance these qualities, the church was nevertheless mindful of the number of Christians who might fail to reach even basic standards. The resulting balance of the ideal and the possible, and the degree to which it reached and was enforced upon the less-enthusiastic laity is explored here through expectations for knowledge, observance of sacraments, and participation in regular duties such as church attendance, tithe-paying and fasting. The result was a complex ideal of lay observance that was balanced by a tolerance of laxity and even failure, and a system which increasingly exhorted specific expectations but was hesitant to define contumacy or disobedience in many but the most obdurate or scandalous cases.     

The British Isles and Great Moravia in the early middle ages

The work of the Irish or Iro-Scottish missioneries on the continent of Europe in the sixth to eighth centuries is well known. An attempt is made here to show how the characteristic design of early Celtic churches found its way partly via Bavaria, where for example the Irishman Virgil became bishop of Salzburg in the mid-eight century, into Moravia, along with other Iro-Scottish cultural influences, a century or so before the well-known Christianizing mission launched into that area from Byzantium by the two brothers SS Cyril and Methodius, in 863.     

高句丽族语言微识录

本文用比较对照的方法 ,从《三国史记·地理四》中解读了高句丽语言中的 2 0个词语 ,并且还发现有 10个高句丽语词语的读音与日本语的读音几乎完全一致。本文以含有高句丽语词语的资料为依据 ,初步判明高句丽族居民既讲高句丽本族语言 ,同时又能讲汉语 ;高句丽族使用的文字是汉字 ,而且是在两种情况下使用 ,即一方面按原意使用汉字汉文 ,另一方面使用汉字标记高句丽语的语音 ,将汉字作为一种标音符号 ,从而进一步论证高句丽文化是古代中华文化的一个重要组成部分     

向达先生与馆藏西文书刊

向达先生是原中央博物院筹备处的创始人之一,在上世纪40年代他就注重图书馆西文书刊的藏书,经他选购的备类西文学术书刊计700多册,为南京博物院图书馆采编工作作出了突出贡献。     

Least of the laity: the minimum requirements for a medieval Christian

This article investigates the minimum level of religious observance expected of lay Christians by church authorities, and the degree to which legislation and procedures attempted to enforce these standards.¹ Once baptized, a person entered the community of the faithful; and the medieval church was as much accountable for the health and salvation of the ignorant, the ambivalent, the disobedient or distracted as they were of the devout. From the twelfth century, theologians, clerical authorities and the laity turned with concerted enthusiasm to the question of lay observance, advancing high ideals for lay commitment and expanding opportunities for lay participation. Yet while acting to elucidate and advance these qualities, the church was nevertheless mindful of the number of Christians who might fail to reach even basic standards. The resulting balance of the ideal and the possible, and the degree to which it reached and was enforced upon the less-enthusiastic laity is explored here through expectations for knowledge, observance of sacraments, and participation in regular duties such as church attendance, tithe-paying and fasting. The result was a complex ideal of lay observance that was balanced by a tolerance of laxity and even failure, and a system which increasingly exhorted specific expectations but was hesitant to define contumacy or disobedience in many but the most obdurate or scandalous cases.     

Ritual performances and collective violence in divided cities – The riots in Belfast (1886) and Jerusalem (1929)

This article explores the interrelation of violence, space, and public rituals in Belfast and Jerusalem. With the image of being cities of violence, contested by two groups that compete for political and spatial hegemony, Belfast and Jerusalem are also characterised as divided, both on a material and symbolic level. The roots of this division can be traced back to the era of the British Empire, especially to the riots in Belfast in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and the uprisings in Jerusalem during the British Mandate of Palestine. In the wider context of British imperial policies of differentiation along religious lines and urban separation, communal identities were strengthened, and processes of residential segregation were accelerated, thereby creating urban frontiers. On the basis of historical sources, particularly reports by Royal Commissions of Inquiry that were set up to investigate the riots in Belfast and Jerusalem, this paper analyses how violent urban geographies were created in both cities in different but also remarkably similar ways. Down to the present day, public religious and political rituals, often combined with nationalist and militarist elements, are a crucial part of periodic manifestations of collective violence in these cities. Practices of appropriation of space and a temporary redrawing of borders and boundaries are dominant features of these rituals. Religious ceremonies, street parades, funeral processions or political demonstrations take place at contested sites or are led through areas “belonging” to the “other” group. The analysis shows that these ritual practices contributed greatly in transforming parts of the cities into urban spaces characterised by exclusion and imbued with memories of violence. This paper concludes that ritual performances in public space have a strong impact on the production and shaping of collective violence during riots.     

Language Attitudes towards Gender Differences in Communication Style

This paper examines if behaviors that deviate from gender stereotypes during initial,dyadic,mixed-gender interaction produce less positive perceptions of a target than does behavior conforming to gender stereotypes.     

论埃及托勒密王朝王权与神权的关系

托勒密王朝是古代埃及史上一个重要历史时期。法老埃及的王权与神权之间从来就不是和谐统一的,始终存在矛盾和斗争。但是,在托勒密王朝,二者的关系发生了重大变化,王权有效地控制了神权。这主要是因为托勒密王朝的国王借鉴了法老埃及的经验,采取了有利于王权的政治、经济政策,等级和阶级关系决定了宗教祭司集团不可能干涉世俗政权,文化背景也使托勒密国王从意识深处拒绝给予宗教和祭司各种权力。托勒密王朝王权与神权之间是赤裸裸的利用与被利用的关系,这也正是托勒密王朝逐渐失去本土埃及人支持的重要原因之一。