Cunning Histories: Privileging Narratives in the Present

Examining contemporary British witchcraft necessitates representing its historical context, currently a highly contested arena. Both magical practitioners and scholars have heavily critiqued the “orthodox” histories of unbroken lines of tradition reaching back to the distant past that were prevalent in the early to mid‐twentieth century. However, continuities of knowledge and skills based on the practices of rural cunning folk and folk magic continue to be mobilized by some practitioners as a way of connecting to ideas about the past, a narrative that is also critiqued by others. What is at stake is not only the conflicting foundational histories for contemporary witchcraft, but the ways in which the same textual and material evidence is deployed to substantiate competing accounts: they hinge on the ways evidence is contextualized. Interrogating “context” is not limited to the histories we aim to represent, but is embedded within anthropological writing and knowledge.     

近30年来的汉代民间信仰研究

民间信仰是近年来学术界比较热门的研究课题,但关于汉代民间信仰的研究成果却相对较少,这其中既有史料匮乏的原因,更与理论指导的缺位有关。近30年来文史学界在此领域的研究涉及民间信仰的主要对象、西王母信仰、伏羲女娲信仰、巫信仰、神仙信仰、民间佛教信仰和道教信仰等问题。以往的研究固然取得了一定成绩,但亦存在不足。今后要加强对汉代民间信仰的综合性与系统性研究,尤其要深化对地域性神灵及其文化功能的研究,也要合理借鉴多学科的相关理论与方法,使得我们对汉代民间信仰的研究不仅要知其然,更要在深度分析的基础上知其所以然。     

闽中民俗艺术奇葩──莆田民间版画采风纪实

文章在民间采风的基础上,对大量莆田民间版画作了初步的归纳,指出莆田民间版画虽内容多封建色彩,但在制作、印刷、用色等诸多方面对当今的版画创作仍具有借鉴和参考价值。     

日本民间故事中“猫”的形象

在日本猫与人有关联的民间故事,通过分析可找到三种类型,而产生这三种类型民间故事的原因与家猫的作用、作为食肉野猫的本性和家猫身上残留的野性及“猫又”传说有很大关系。在日本民间故事中,猫还有一个特性,就是常常与女性相关联。     

浅论道教音乐的源流与特点

道教音乐滥觞于南北朝时期。道教音乐在发展过程中,始终与民间音乐息息相关。道教音乐既是宗教音乐,又具有多样化、地区化和世俗化的特点。     

略论河湟曲艺在青海民间的繁荣与发展

戏剧自元代以来,三起三落,每一次衰落的主要原因都是它从“俗”走向“雅”的过程中形成的“贵族”气息,致使戏剧脱离了趣味凡俗的大众。但在牡丹凋谢的时候,民间的苔花却在遍地开放。在青海民间,“此花落彼花开”的艺术规律也非常明显,秦腔大戏在青海退潮之后,河湟曲艺欣欣向荣。     

近年来民间信仰问题研究的回顾与思考:社会史角度的考察

民间信仰问题是当前社会史研究中的一个重要领域,其研究取得一定的成绩,使得民间信仰成为了深入理解中国传统社会的一个很好的突破口。当然,研究中也存在诸多不足,最主要的问题是概念运用的随意性太大。在研究方法上,一方面受到了包括社会人类学、社会学、民俗学等诸多学科的影响,另一方面传统的史学研究方法也应得到重视。     

晚清中国商业行会对洋商的“停交”抵制活动——基于经济和法律的视角

晚清时期,在中西商贸领域,频频出现由华商商业行会倡导的对洋商的"停交"抵制活动.该种抵制活动,通常源于洋商破坏商事惯例及交易则例、赖欠货款、欺行霸市等损坏华商利益的行为,有时也因华洋商人分割市场、侵夺商利的市场竞争而起.它其实是一种扩大化的华洋商事纠纷形态,在特定历史背景下也成为华洋商事纠纷的一种独特解决路径.而其在中西商务交往过程中的实践和运作,从经济层面来看,是当时中国被强行融入资本主义世界经济体系过程中华洋市场仇恨的一种表征;从法律层面来看,则是中国商人藉本土商事习惯法与洋商进行斗争的一种自救行为.     

从陶瓷观音造像看观音信仰的中国化

从历代陶瓷观音造像题材、样式与风格的变迁中不难看出,观音信仰自传入中国起便不可避免的开始经历本土化的调整与适应,杂糅了儒、道两种信仰,混合了多种世俗文化因素,最终形成独具特色的中国观音信仰体系。本文通过梳理宋元明清的陶瓷观音造像及相关问题,研究观音信仰在中国的传播过程及发展脉络。     

CLASSIFYING PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES: THE CASE OF MANINKA FARMERS IN SOUTHWESTERN MALI

This article argues that understanding how people classify physical geographic features is necessary for identifying fundamental, cross‐cultural geographic concepts that are required for successful communication of geographic knowledge. Academic geographers have not given sufficient attention to systems of local geographic knowledge, even though promising theoretical frameworks exist, particularly in the field of ethnoecology. However, the research approach that has characterized ethnoecology is insufficient to develop ethnogeography as a field of inquiry, because ethnoecologists have overemphasized limited aspects of local knowledge systems, such as soils, which has often led researchers to incompletely sample local knowledge systems. Using ethnographic methods, this article analyses the content and structure of physical geographic knowledge in the Maninka language as spoken in southwestern Mali, and compares Maninka knowledge to that of other cultural groups. The results suggest that broad physical geographic concepts may be shared pan‐environmentally, but that most physical geographic knowledge is contained in culturally specific classifications embedded within a broad cross‐cultural framework. Academic geographers should expect only broad correspondence between their categories of physical geographic variation and those of people who classify biophysical features according to local knowledge systems. Finally, this article also shows that ethnoecological research will be advanced if geographic theories of place are given more prominence in ethnoecological studies.