Introduction. An American Project

Author(s):  
Paolo Amorosa

The introduction sets the historiographical and political stakes of narrating and analyzing Scott’s campaign for the Spanish origin of international law, drawing on current methodological discussions and the role of the concept of equality in our political discourse. It also explains the relation of the book with previous scholarship on Scott and literature on the rise of international legal networks in the Americas in the early twentieth century. Moreover, it elaborates on the reasons for the primarily descriptive style the text adopts and on certain related choices of language. The introduction ends with an outline of the structure of the book and of the individual chapters.

Author(s):  
Naftali Loewenthal

The focus on rationalism in Habad leads us to consider another aspect of the nature of hasidism: what, if anything, is the role of the individual? The crucial relationship of the hasid with the tsadik immediately presents the contemporary mind with the question of personal freedom and individuality. An early twentieth-century Yiddish song, ‘And when the Rebbe sings, all the hasidim sing’, describes the hasidim as imitating their rebbe. In another stereotype, based on contemporary observable fact, the hasid would not take a job, move to a new home, or decide to get married without first asking the rebbe. These images obviously run counter to a central theme of modernity: the autonomy and independence of the individual. To what extent do hasidic followers see themselves as individuals? How might this question relate to the history of hasidism, and to its context in Western culture?


Author(s):  
Katerina Ishchenko

The purpose of the article is to trace the peculiarities of the phenomenon of "polyphony of consciousness" as one of the main patterns of artistic thinking of the early twentieth century, which became widespread in various arts and reflected artistic and aesthetic trends of such a bright movement of the first avant-garde as constructivism. On the examples of music, literature, theater, cinema, fine art to reveal this phenomenon as an important manifestation of the aesthetics of constructivism. In selected works of art, to identify and consider characteristics of the musical text polyphonic techniques, which in turn have been widely used and reflected the individual stylistic features of representatives of different spheres of creativity of the period. The methodological basis of this study is a comprehensive approach, which contains historical and cultural, stylistic, and holistic methods of analysis. The theoretical method acquires special significance among them, as it is aimed at identifying the principles of writing in various fields of art. The scientific novelty of this work is based on the originality of the generalized study of the phenomenon of "polyphony of consciousness". This phenomenon is being considered as an important manifestation of the aesthetics of constructivism, based on the examples of music, literature, theater, cinema, and fine arts. Such an understanding of the implementation of the polyphonic principles of writing in the context of such an artistic movement as constructivism is undertaken for the first time in Ukrainian musicology. Conclusions. Experiments and searches of the artists of the early twentieth century in the fields of expression, content, composition, and language that "provoked" the development of stylistic pluralism in all spheres of art, strengthened the role of polyphonic principles of writing, and, more broadly, artistic thinking. Polyphonic techniques find their place in the trends of the aesthetics of constructivism, going beyond the musical texture and penetrating into all kinds of art. Polyphony and its principle of combining self-developing lines, voices, and layers, was perhaps the most important means of artistic reflection of the contradictions of the world, as well as the direction of the search in the field of content and means of expression.


Author(s):  
Marius Daraškevičius

The article discusses the causes of emergence and spreading of a still room (Lith. vaistinėlė, Pol. apteczka), the purpose of the room, the location in the house planning structure, relations to other premises, its equipment, as well as the role of a still room in everyday culture. An examination of the case of a single room, the still room, in a noblemen’s home is also aimed at illustrating the changes in home planning in the late eighteenth – early twentieth century: how they adapted to the changing hygiene standards, perception of personal space, involvement of the manor owners in community treatment, and changes in dining and hospitality culture. Keywords: still room, household medicine cabinet, manor house, interior, sczlachta culture, education, dining culture, modernisation, Lithuania.


Author(s):  
Astrid Kjeldgaard-Pedersen

This book scrutinizes the relationship between the concept of international legal personality as a theoretical construct and the position of the individual as a matter of positive international law. By testing four main theoretical conceptions of international legal personality against historical and existing international legal norms that govern individuals, the book argues that the common narrative about the development of the role of the individual in international law is flawed. Contrary to conventional wisdom, international law did not apply to States alone until the Second World War, only to transform during the second half of the twentieth century to include individuals as its subjects. Rather, the answer to the question of individual rights and obligations under international law is—and always was—solely contingent upon the interpretation of international legal norms. It follows, of course, that the entities governed by a particular norm tell us nothing about the legal system to which that norm belongs. Instead, the distinction between international and national legal norms turns exclusively on the nature of their respective sources. Against the background of these insights, the book shows how present-day international lawyers continue to allow an idea, which was never more than a scholarly invention of the nineteenth century, to influence the interpretation and application of contemporary international law. This state of affairs has significant real-world ramifications as international legal rights and obligations of individuals (and other non-State entities) are frequently applied more restrictively than interpretation without presumptions regarding ‘personality’ would merit.


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