De Gilles Groulx à Jean-Marc Vallée: Transnationalisme,Américanité et Territoire dans le Cinéma Québécois

As a recent phenomenon which strongly resonates with a transnationalism that can be understood as a desire to transcend both physical and cultural borders, the exile of Québécois filmmakers to Hollywood raises issues surrounding the notions of identity and territory that are relevant to Québec politics and cinema. This vast migration of successful filmmakers who are invading Hollywood with their Québécois imprint allows us to revisit the notions of Americanness (américanité) and territory, at a time where globalization and cultural diversification are blooming. In order to better explore those issues, we will retrace the evolution of the notion of Americanness in Québec films produced at various periods of time. Likewise, the study of the more recent works of Québécois director/auteur Jean-Marc Vallée will allow us to discover the director’s diversified representations of contemporary American dreams and landscapes.     

Vichy and the Complexities of Collaborating with Fascist Italy: French Policy and Perceptions between June 1940 and March 1942

This article seeks to explore the complex nature of Vichy France's dealings with Fascist Italy between June 1940 and March 1942. At the heart of the inquiry is a seemingly remarkable volte-face by the two governments. The Italian declaration of war in June 1940 was viewed by many in France as an act of betrayal. By December 1941, however, Vichy and Fascist Italy were engaged in secret military collaboration. The first section focuses upon the period after the outbreak of war, seeking to establish the precise character and parameters of the relationship. The second section examines the reasons for the transformation, analysing Vichy's negotiations with Italy and Germany between May 1941 and March 1942. It suggests that the shift in Vichy's approach was in large part motivated by a belief that the weakness of Italy would compel it to make concessions on a scale that the Nazi government would never even consider. Historians of Vichy have often downplayed the significance of Fascist Italy yet, like Nazi Germany, Italy posed a substantial threat to the integrity and sovereignty of France and its colonial empire. Vichy's policy of collaboration was therefore conceived in trilateral rather than bilateral terms.

Cet article cherche à examiner la nature complexe des relations entre la France de Vichy et l'Italie fasciste de juin 1940 à mars 1942. Au centre de cette enquête se trouve la volte-face apparemment remarquable des deux gouvernements. La déclaration de guerre par l'Italie en juin 1940 fut considérée par un grand nombre de Français comme un acte de trahison. Cependant, en décembre 1941, Vichy et l'Italie fasciste s'engagèrent dans la collaboration militaire secrète. La première partie se concentre sur la période après le début de la guerre, et essaie d'établir quels sont la nature précise et les paramètres des relations entre Vichy et l'Italie. La seconde partie examine les causes de cette transformation en analysant les négociations entre Vichy, l'Italie et l'Allemagne entre mai 1941 et mars 1942. L'auteur suggère que le changement dans l'approche de Vichy était en grande partie motivé par la conviction que la faiblesse de l'Italie la forcerait à faire des concessions d'une ampleur telle que le gouvernement nazi n'aurait jamais même envisagé. Les historiens de Vichy ont souvent minimisé l'importance de l'Italie fasciste, mais contrairement à l'Allemagne nazie, l'Italie constitua une menace importante pour l'intégrité et la souveraineté de la France et de son empire colonial. La politique de collaboration de Vichy était donc conçue en termes trilatéraux et non bilatéraux.     

Paul Tannery et Joseph Needham deux plaidoyers pour une histoire générale des sciences

Whereas, under the influence of Comte's endeavour, they both present global histories of science, in fact, Paul Tannery and Joseph Needham use distinct historiographical frameworks. Tannery grounds his general history on the notion of civilisation, of which science is a component. The methodological tool he uses to highlight the salient features that characterise a given civilisation at a given time as regards science is synthesis. Needham takes modern science as his starting point, and aims at bringing to light that it was constituted by a synthesis of the contributions of different traditions. For him, the shaping of this modern knowledge proceeded from a continuous effort that, in turn, was carried out by the various groups composing mankind. In contrast, Tannery is preoccupied by ruptures and crises, which can cause the disappearance of entire domains of knowledge, but also intense periods of creation. What is conventionally called the «scientific revolution» thus takes a very different meaning for the two historians.     

Surviving in the margins of a genocide case in the making: recognizing the economy of testimony at stake in research on political violence

ABSTRACT

In this article, we aim to draw attention to the hopes, frustrations and disillusions that so-called ‘transitional justice’ projects produce in drastically poor, war-torn, historically marginalized but politicized Indigenous communities. Drawing on extensive ethnographic research we conducted separately between 1982 and 2010 in Guatemala and Mexico, we describe the ways in which the world came to know about Finca San Francisco’s massacre, committed by the Guatemalan army on 17 July 1982, as part of its scorched earth policy. We then look at the various forms of reparations its survivors have been the subject of. In so doing, we focus more specifically on how the Center for Human Rights Legal Action (CALDH), the non-governmental human rights organization that was behind the Ríos Montt genocide case, mobilized Finca San Francisco’s massacre survivors to become participants in the trial. After examining how the survivors of Finca San Francisco responded to CALDH’s mobilization efforts, we reflect on the kind of ‘gift’ these survivors expected in return for their stories of annihilation and destruction. Our goal is to bring to light the ‘economy of testimony’ that human rights activists, journalists or social scientists become entangled in once they ask genocide survivors to testify about the brutal deaths of their loved ones.     

Evidence of amputation as medical treatment in ancient Egypt

The use of surgical techniques in ancient Egyptian medicine has only been suggested indirectly through ancient medical texts and iconography, and there is no evidence of amputation as a means of therapeutic medical treatment. This paper presents four cases of amputation from the archaeological site of Dayr al‐Barshā, Egypt. Two of the cases (dated to the First Intermediate and Middle Kingdom periods, respectively) are from individuals that display bilateral amputations of the feet, one through the metatarso‐phalangeal joints, the other a transmetatarsal amputation. The exact reason for the amputation, perhaps from trauma or disease, is unknown. The particular healing patterns of the distal ends of the amputations suggest these individuals used foot binding or prosthetic devices. Another case represents a healed amputation of the left ulna near the elbow, dated to the Old Kingdom. The final case represents a perimortem amputation of the distal end of the right humerus. The exact date of this individual is unknown, but most likely pertains to the Old Kingdom or First Intermediate period. This individual seems to have suffered a traumatic incident shortly before death, sustaining many fractures, including a butterfly fracture on the right humerus. Several cut marks were identified on top of the butterfly fracture, indicating amputation of the arm at this point. All four cases support the hypothesis that the ancient Egyptians did use amputation as a therapeutic medical treatment for particular diseases or trauma. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A feminist geographer in a strange land: building bridges through informal mentoring in Switzerland

Abstract

This article is a narrative representation of a personal experience as an early career feminist woman in the French-speaking Swiss context. After highlighting the androcentric tradition in Swiss academia, and the still-prevalent glass ceiling for young female scholars, this article aims to explore the survival mechanisms women use among themselves when up against a pervasive old boys’ club. Using a reflexive approach, this article illustrates how informal mechanisms can support early career women academics. Despite the lack of either feminist or gender geography programs and departments in Western Switzerland, this article highlights the presence of feminist practices in the everyday life of academia. Numerous collaborative practices are encountered at different career levels, and in different sites. While the bias of such practice is acknowledged, relying on individuals more than on institutionalised practices, the article aims to understand the workings of female solidarity networks better. It calls for a recognition of their role in women’s career progression and for the implementation of a culture of informal mentoring within academia. Finally, by more fully recognising such practices, it calls for the use of mentoring as a feminist tool to create a more inclusive academia, promoting an ethic of care that aims to challenge the masculinism and elitism of the neoliberal university.