The cultural biography of a Western Australian war memorial

In common with other western countries, there is resurgence in war commemoration in Australia indicating a serious pursuit of identity and a national story on a collective and personal level. A widespread academic and popular interest in war memory and material culture such as war memorials has emerged. War memorials often find their way on to heritage registers. This paper advances cultural biography as an approach to determine the significance of war memorials arguing that this may give a deeper understanding of its community meaning than present methods. Emerging in archaeology cultural biography considers the way that social interactions between people and objects over time create meaning. Using the Katanning war memorial statue in Western Australia as a case study, this paper argues that a cultural biographical approach may uncover a deeper cultural significance resulting from a focus on relationships than from the traditional focus on the memorial as object.     

‘Fifty-two doors’: identifying cultural significance through narrative and nostalgia in Lakhnu village

This paper proposes an alternative way of evaluating heritage values in the assessment of an abandoned school building in Lakhnu, a small rural Indian village in the state of Uttar Pradesh. Its aim is to re-think the appropriateness of professionally assessed methodologies, such as the Australian ICOMOS Burra Charter, and find others which are more inclusive and sensitive of community views and aspirations. Villagers claim this building as a key part to their cultural heritage, and view its desertion and disintegration with frustration. As part of a larger scheme to improve village infrastructure and to enable its empowerment, the aim is to assess the significance of this place to the villagers, facilitate its conservation and investigate possible outcomes for its use through community participation. In this context, the concept of narrative is offered as means to establish the community meaning of a place. Narratives are powerful ways in which people understand their environment and structure a view of the world. Using stories told by villagers about their relationship with the building, this paper argues that narrative can offer an alternative method of understanding heritage significance.     

Bioprospecting: from theory to practice (and back again)

This paper critically assesses the theory and practice of biodiversity prospecting in the developing world. Taking the case of perhaps the most famous bioprospecting broker – Costa Rica's National Institute of Biodiversity – rival theoretical discourses on the 'selling nature to save it' approach to environmental conservation are unpacked. This approach, currently de rigueur in mainstream global environmental organizations, is touted by its advocates in the academic and policy world as an effective tool for 'green developmentalism'. For a cohort of university-based left critics, however, bioprospecting is one more troubling example of 'post-modern ecological capital' in action, representing the further commodification of nature for profit purposes. By treating the rival theoretical discourses on bioprospecting produced by differently situated knowledge communities as objects of analysis, the paper asks fundamental questions about the grounds on which evaluations of bioprospecting might be made. It is argued that the radical critique buys its logical and moral power at the expense of its practical relevance, while advocates of selling biodiversity have made their case with only limited empirical persuasiveness. On the basis of a heuristic distinction between immanent and external critique, the paper seeks to put the evaluation of bioprospecting in particular, and green developmentalism more generally, on a new cognitive and normative footing. In so doing it impinges on recent debates over the wider relevance of 'critical' thinking in human geography and cognate fields in the current conjuncture.     

毛泽东奠定立国之本的思想理论基础

四项基本原则作为立国之本,是党在社会主义初级阶段的基本路线的重要组成部分。毛泽东在领导中国革命和建设的过程中,虽然还没有把四项基本原则作为一个完整的科学概念提出来,但他对中国共产党的领导、党的指导思想、社会主义道路和人民民主专政等立国之本的基本原则以及它们之间的相互关系,都做了许多精辟的阐述,为后来四项基本原则的科学概括奠定了思想理论基础。深入研究毛泽东关于立国之本的丰富思想,对于我们在新的历史条件下坚持四项基本原则,仍有重要的理论和实践意义。     

城市旅游综合体:概念建构与理论来源

研究城市旅游综合体概念的基本理论问题是搭建该领域理论平台的基础。按照实证-规范-实证的逻辑思路,通过文献分析和过程还原对城市旅游综合体概念的形成和理论来源进行了研究。结果显示,城市旅游综合体研究尽管涵盖了地理空间、产业组织、服务经济和要素整合四个视角,但"空间"和"产业"两个属性才是其概念建构的基础,快速城市化背景下以追求资源集约化利用水平为目标的"经营城市"理念则是城市旅游综合体形成的理论源泉。文章认为,城市旅游综合体是一种特殊的旅游地域系统形态,从人地相互作用的角度对其进行理解是将后续研究引向深入的必然。     

日本近年《聊斋志异》研究述评

近年,在我国,<聊斋志异>研究在西方新的文学批评方法的影响下形成了研究热.与之相对,在日本,翻译、"翻案"依旧是受容这一文本的不可忽视的一个途径.在学术研究上,在继承日本汉文学研究重视考证、考据的传统的基础上,日本古典、近代文学的比较文学研究也继续成为重要方向.本文在分析日本近年<聊斋志异>研究的现状基础上,着重探讨中日两国对<聊斋志异>意象把握的不同及其原因.探究<聊斋志异>的现代意义.     

中国古代琥珀艺术——商至元

琥珀作为艺术载体在我国的出现,至少可以追溯到距今三千余年前的四川广汉三星堆遗址时期,其使用一直延绵不断。本文主要利用考古出土材料,并结合文献,对自商至元(不包括辽代)历代琥珀制品的题材、造型、工艺、使用及其文化内涵作全面的梳理和探讨。文章认为,琥珀在我国古代是作为与水晶、玛瑙、琉璃、犀、玳瑁、玉石、金等相当的贵重物品进入人们视野的。其使用多限于皇室、贵族和高官,是使用者地位、财富和奢华生活的象征。琥珀主要作为小件饰品使用,其次用作印章。至于琥珀用作杯、盅、盏、枕、碟、盒等实用器皿,虽有记载,但非常罕见。琥珀制品的造型,与同时代其他贵重材质器物的造型相同或相似,其制作以圆雕为主,少量片雕、镂雕,加刻简单的阴线表现细部特征。历代琥珀艺术呈现的面貌各不相同。     

孙中山依法治国思想理论体系初探

孙中山先生依法治国思想体系的形成经历了一个长期的历史过程。这一体系是建立在三民主义的理论基础之上,并且以五权分立为根本措施,以严格立法、执法和司法为基本要求。体现了彻底的旧民主主义精神和时代特色。     

文明与国家起源研究的理论问题

根据对西方和中国文明与国家起源研究的历史回顾,文章探讨了中国考古学和历史学在国家与文明起源研究中的一些问题和现状。文章认为,中国的文明与国家起源研究应当超越以编年为目的的研究范例,将这项课题置于社会科学的整体框架中来进行研究,成为一个多学科交叉的探索领域。     

大科学思维与21世纪旅游学理论革命

本用大科学的思维观念对旅游学的学科地位、学科性质、学科体系、学科方法论、学科研究方法等方面的理论革新进行了探讨。