HETEROTEMPORALITY,THE ISLAMIC TRADITION,AND THE POLITICAL: LAROUI'S CONCEPT OF THE ANTINOMY OF HISTORY1

If tradition has often figured as modernity's other, the Islamic tradition has long played the role of the modern constitutive other par excellence. Modern secularizing practices of timing and spacing feed this grounding of the political beyond the conceptual grip of tradition. The works by the Moroccan historian and philosopher Abdallah Laroui (b. 1933) put forward a concept of heterotemporality that distances itself from secularizing practices of timing and spacing, and, importantly, also from theological ones. His critique enables us to understand each of these practices as viewing heterotemporality through one master temporality, a view that represents temporality as, in Laroui's words, “absolute” time. First, this privileged temporality is the homogeneous time of secular progress, and second, it is the homogeneous time of theological truth. Laroui unsettles both practices of timing and spacing by discussing heterotemporality as governed by what he calls the antinomy of the concept of history. For Laroui, this antinomy refers to a specific temporal dynamic that results from the tension between the fundamental discontinuity and incoherence of history, on the one hand, and the production of continuity and coherence through human observers, on the other. Laroui thus reveals that the claims about continuity and coherence that sustain groundings of the political within homogeneous time—either secular or theological—must always be understood in relation to their position within the temporal dynamic of the antinomy of the concept of history. In revealing the temporal dynamic of this antinomy within the Islamic tradition, Laroui reworks the architecture of difference that keeps the secular modern and the Islamic theological conceptually separated from each other.     

Unified Theory of Cosmogram Decorations on Potteries of the Upper Midwest: Part I. Early Woodland Period

Early Woodland Liverpool (Black Sand variant) pottery decorations consist of belts, rectilinear panels, and/or punctates encircling the vessel. Vertically arranged thematic motifs reflect the structure of the cosmos in its simplest form: Below realm, Earth’s disk, Above realm. This article postulates that the Early Woodland decorative tradition was an enduring symbolic system shared by women making pottery in the upper Midwest. Cosmograms in pottery motifs trace three universal metaphors of the Woodland era belief system: (1) Cooking vessels were feminine spirit-beings; (2) the Woodland culinary vessel shaped like the female form represented her biological destiny as the reproductive vessel for humankind and cooking was a ritual action (“prayer”), a metaphor for the creation of new members of society; (3) the cooking pot was a mandala of cosmograms expressing daily life, ritual practice, and cosmology. These themes carry through subsequent studies on Middle Woodland Havanoid and Late Woodland corded or trailed pottery in an upcoming book.     

Archaeology of 17th‐Century Iberian Shipwrecks: reassessment and comparison of excavated,recorded, and published hull remains

Of 55 17th‐century wrecks located around the world identified as Iberian, 37 have either been destroyed, looted, or salvaged by treasure hunters, and just 11 the subject of archaeological work. Of these, only seven have been published: structural components, planking, fasteners, caulking, and other hull remains are reported to different degrees of detail. This article compares hull components within this small sample to assess the shared traits, or distinctive Iberian shipbuilding tradition, proposed by Oertling (2001; 2005), Castro (2008), and Hormaechea et al. (2018: 64–65). Additional traits are proposed that have been observed in the archaeological record.     

民俗的表演性:表演理论、活态传承与公共文化实践

表演理论是20世纪美国民俗学对于学界的重要贡献,其核心是"表演"和"语境"。在表演理论提出以后,民俗学经历了从关注文本向强调语境的转向,使得以差异性为基础的本真性再次成为学术研究的中心议题。然而,在随后以"语境"为中心的研究实践中,研究者们逐渐开始质疑本真性问题存在的逻辑合理性以及在实际民俗活动中的可操作性,研究重点也由此从辨析民俗事象的真伪,转变为讨论本真性背后的权力关系和文化政治。正是基于对"本真性"的祛魅,在当代非物质文化遗产保护的具体实践中,学术话语所追求的本真性与实际操作中的共享原则之间的矛盾,便因此而消解,这为当代公共民俗学实践提供了去语境化和再语境化的理论支撑和实操可能。在此,以行动认同为旨归的"表演"(形式)在"语境"(意义)的"式微"中重新凸显,实现了民俗传统的实践回归。     

Crouching tigers hidden dragons: on the myth of the two birth signs

Sensational reports on the number of newborn in the years of tiger and dragon have aroused great concerns among certain governments. Substantial social cost will be incurred if any age group diminishes or multiplies out of proportion. This article clarifies the facts concealed underneath those breathtaking anecdotes. The statistics of Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan, where people have strong passion for the birth sign dragon and distaste for tiger, shows that there are neither shrinking tiger nor bulging dragon cohorts for the newborn or the whole population.     

Caught between extremes: the culture and economics of traditional mask art in contemporary Sri Lanka

In contemporary Sri Lanka, the commodification of local mask production resulting from cultural tourism has caught the traditional mask artisan in a tight spot between “tradition” and “modernity”. The impacts of tourism are diversely received and interpreted within the local mask artisan community, with tourism simultaneously resulting in what can be called a “cultural discovery” and “cultural decline”. Within this cultural debate, this paper is an attempt to understand how the traditional mask artisan arrives at a balance between “tradition” and “modernity”, and culture and commerce. Qualitative research conducted in southern Sri Lanka shows that tradition and modernity are shifting conceptions. Negotiating a balance between tradition and modernity is, therefore, largely a matter of meaning and interpretation. When cultural commodification occurs, tradition and modernity are continuously redefined and reinvented by both the traditional mask artisan and cultural consumer to fit their own needs and agendas. Cultural commodification contributes to the survival and revival of Sri Lanka's mask tradition, a strategy that is simultaneously welcomed and contested within the local mask artisan community.     

The Frankish tradition and new perceptions of the monarchy: Louis XV—the new pharamond?

During the last century of the ancien régime in France, perceived notions of history, the rediscovery of the past, and the recourse to tradition were closely linked to each other as well as to political considerations or implications. Notions about the past and interpretations of tradition had relevance and meaning for the political élites, enabling them to explain the origins of the monarchy as well as its nature. The purpose here is to explore these links and to show how, in one particular instance, they came to affect the artistic representation of the monarch himself.     

Judgment,Tradition and Reason: A Response

Abstract

The author of The Desire of the Nations (DN) and The Ways of Judgment (WJ) responds to the criticisms and questions of the eight other contributors, defending his concept of government-as-judgment and exploring questions about international law and contemporary pluralism.     

Jasbir K. Puar,Terrorist Assemblages: Homonationalism in Queer Times

The importance of studying human–animal relationships and animal subjectivity is increasingly recognised by social and cultural geographers, particularly in agricultural pursuits. Little research, however, has been undertaken on animals in sport, resulting in a limited understanding of the perceptions and treatment of animals in society. To address this concern, we interrogate print media coverage of the construction and positioning of horses and humans in the controversial activity of jumps racing (National Hunt) in Australia between February 2008 and December 2009. We highlight the importance of seemingly contradictory human–animal relationships involving close frequent contact of some jumps racing advocates in contrast to the distanced, mediated relationships of jumps racing opponents. This paper highlights how the particular activity of jumps racing generates specific human–animal relationships and emphasises the need to reflect on the attitudes that shape and constrain human–animal relationships in varying contexts, including how these attitudes are mediated and the potential consequences for humans and other animals. These findings form the basis for a suggested research agenda that recognises the importance and articulation of proximity and mediation in human–animal relationships, particularly those focused on activities labelled ‘sport’.