Family tombs and tomb cult in ancient Athens: tradition or traditionalism?

1980 ◽  
Vol 100 ◽  
pp. 96-126 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. C. Humphreys

Fustel de Coulanges' thesis that ancient society was founded upon the cult of ancestral tombs has had, for a thoroughly self-contradictory argument, a remarkably successful career. Neither Fustel himself nor the many subsequent scholars who have quoted his views with approval faced clearly the difficulty of deriving a social structure dominated by corporate descent groups from the veneration of tombs placed in individually owned landed property. On the whole, historians have tended to play down Fustel's insistence on the relation between ancestor-cult and property and to exaggerate the role of the corporate kin group. This tendency, which assimilates Fustel to Sir Henry Maine and other lawyers interested in the reconstruction of Indo-European institutions (e.g. Bonfante) has in my view considerably impeded understanding of the role of kinship in early Greek society; it also obscures one of the most individual aspects of Fustel's work which, thanks to the researches of Philippe Ariès (II) on the development of the modern tomb-cult in the nineteenth century, can now be placed in its historical context.

This book addresses the sounds of the Crimean War, along with the many ways nineteenth-century wartime is aurally constructed. It examines wide-ranging experiences of listeners in Britain, France, Turkey, Russia, Italy, Poland, Latvia, Daghestan, Chechnya, and Crimea, illustrating the close interplay between nineteenth-century geographies of empire and the modes by which wartime sound was archived and heard. This book covers topics including music in and around war zones, the mediation of wartime sound, the relationship between sound and violence, and the historiography of listening. Individual chapters concern sound in Leo Tolstoy’s wartime writings, and his place within cosmopolitan sensibilities; the role of the telegraph in constructing sonic imaginations in London and the Black Sea region; the absence of archives for the sounds of particular ethnic groups, and how songs preserve memories for both Crimean Tatars and Polish nationalists; the ways in which perceptions of voice rearranged the mental geographies of Baltic Russia, and undermined aspirations to national unity in Italy; Italian opera as a means of conditioning elite perceptions of Crimean battlefields; and historical frames through which to understand the diffusion of violent sounds amid everyday life. The volume engages the academic fields of musicology, ethnomusicology, history, literary studies, sound studies, and the history of the senses.


Author(s):  
Nannaji Saka

The many seminal contributions made by Professor Nam P. Suh to the theories of wear, such as the delamination wear and the solution wear, are well known. The contributions made by him and his associates to the theories of friction, however, are less known; but they are equally significant. In this article, I first briefly survey, to provide an historical context, the laws and theories of sliding friction as proposed over the past centuries and decades. Then the contributions of Prof. Suh and his associates in recent decades are reviewed. Specifically, the role of wear particles in the frictional phenomena of dry and boundary-lubricated sliding is examined. A novel concept of undulating, or patterned, surfaces has been advanced to minimize friction in both dry and boundary-lubricated sliding. The undulating surfaces trap wear debris and thus minimize plowing friction in dry sliding, above the transition temperature in boundary-lubricated sliding, and even in hydrodynamic bearings during start/stop operations. The concept is especially appropriate for heavily loaded tribological systems with tighter clearances in which the likelihood of seizure is imminent.


2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 31-45
Author(s):  
Claus Frederik Sørensen

Abstract From the 4th – 7th of July 2016, the annual International Medieval Congress was held in Leeds, England. Among the many different sessions two specifically addressed historical European martial arts. The first session discussed and commented upon modern practices and interpretations of historical European martial arts, each paper being based on good practice and the proper criteria for academic research. The second session, in which this paper was presented, went more “behind the scenes”, discussing the importance of thorough analysis of the historical context which remains essential to forming a foundation for solid hypotheses and interpretations. This article discusses and sheds light upon Danish historical martial art during the reign of the Danish King Christian IV (r.1588 to 1648). At this point in time Europe consisted of many small principalities in addition to a few larger states and kingdoms. Thoughts and ideas could spread as quickly as ripples in water but also be bound by political and religious alliances or enmities, plague, famine and not to mention the role also played by topographical and cultural differences. Thus, at times, vast cultural differences could be seen from region to region. To this should be added a wide range of social factors, such as the role of relationships and mentalities, and the obeying of unspoken norms and codes which can also affect modern researchers’ interpretations of what is shown or described. Therefore, the aim of this article is to provide a series of “behind the scenes” examples which all have the potential to affect hypotheses, interpretations, and overall understandings of the context of historical European martial arts.


Author(s):  
Anderson Claytron Tavares

 O presente artigo mostra que existiu uma sólida estrutura religiosa financiadora da empreitada maçônica nos diversos locais que a mesma teve acesso e que o êxito desse empreendimento só foi possível pela alta carga de capital religioso presente na estrutura da maçonaria; a constituição Maçônica de 1723, os ritos de passagem e as muitas cosmogonias presentes nas antigas obrigações maçônicas, ajudaram no desenvolvimento da ordem elevando a mesma a uma missão de caráter transcendental. Em 1865 quando se tentou laicizar a maçonaria retirando do ritual a invocação do Grande Arquiteto do Universo, verificou-se através da mudança do rito moderno francês que a base religiosa brasileira era muito mais forte e se impôs à Ordem.  O estatuto maçônico através de sua herança religiosa dialogou profundamente com os preceitos da estrutura social que lhe deu aporte no século XIX, fornecendo uma forte base que serviu de alicerce para fundamentação de suas convicções. The present article shows that there was a solid religious structure that financed the Masonic enterprise in the various places that it had access and that the success of this enterprise was only possible due to the high load of religious capital present in the structure of Freemasonry; the Masonic constitution of 1723, the rites of passage and the many cosmogonies present in the old Masonic obligations, helped in the development of the order, elevating it to a mission of transcendental character. In 1865, when it was tried to lay Freemasonry by removing from the ritual the invocation of the Great Architect of the Universe, it was verified through the change of the modern French rite that the Brazilian religious base was very strong imposing itself before the Order. The Masonic statute through its religious inheritance deeply dialogue with the precepts of the social structure that gave him support in the nineteenth century, providing a strong foundation that served as a foundation for the foundation of his convictions..


Inner Asia ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-45 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anya Bernstein

AbstractThis article looks at the pre-Revolutionary history of Buryats' engagement with greater Eurasia, drawing on the legacies of the long underappreciated Russian Buddhological school and exploring the intellectual and political context of its emergence in the late nineteenth century. Exploring the role of Russian Orientalists and political figures such as the Orientalists V.P. Vasil'ev and Prince E.E. Ukhtomskii, and taking a close look at the fieldwork of the first Russian-trained indigenous Buryat Buddhologists G.Ts. Tsybikov and B.B. Baradiin, I demonstrate that this ultimately Eurasianist school of Buddhology was borne out of conflicting sentiments towards Russia's cosmopolitanism, statehood, and imperial destiny in Asia, as well as representations of indigenous peoples of southern Siberia. As a conclusion, I map the emergent forms of what I call 'Asian Eurasianism', linking it to contemporary cultural debates in Buryatia. I suggest that the term offers us a better way to understand the many ways by which many non-Russians position themselves in relation to the vast Eurasian continent.


2010 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 71-86
Author(s):  
Katarzyna Gmerek ◽  

In this piece on the Polish Romantic travellers confronted with Celtic cultures and countries, I have tried to show the way they reacted and how their imaginations worked. Probably some of their reactions were not different to those of all other Celtophiles. The special role of the Czartoryskis’ cultural patronage needs to be highlighted. In the nineteenth century Poland, nobody ever attempted to gather so many books about Celtic history and culture again, even after the emergence of Celtic Studies as an academic discipline later in the nineteenth century. The predictable result was that, with time, knowledge of Celtic cultures diminished among the Polish writers. The literary revival in early twentieth century Ireland, associated with Yeats and his contemporaries, did not elicit widespread reaction from Polish librarians and academics. This failure to respond to new developments in Ireland is probably to be explained in terms of the economic and socio-political conditions in the divided Poland of that time. One of the many negative results of the partitions at the end of the eighteenth century was that a large number of important Polish writers moved abroad, as well as that their relations and impressions were affected by this emigration. Being a political émigré was not always helpful in so far as the exploration of new cultures was concerned, both from the point of view of the psychological trauma of being away from home and of various everyday constraints. Generally, it was personal interests and earlier studies, and not finances or place of living that influenced some Polish authors’ choice to write on Celtic themes.


2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 91-104
Author(s):  
Jim Rooney ◽  
Vijaya Murthy

AbstractOrthodox economic theorising on ancient societies emphasises the absence of market institutions, in contrast to advanced contemporary economies. However, this may downplay the influence of non-economic interests in the generation of wealth. Consequently, this paper examines an ancient civilisation identified as economically successful namely, the Mauryan Empire (322 to 85 BCE) centred on the Indo-Gangetic plains. Drawing on translations of books collectively known as the Arthasastra (lit. the science of wealth) as well as contemporaneous Greek and Roman texts, this paper examines the role of institutions in generating wealth within societal norms of income distribution and the preservation of social order. Given the importance of trade to this society, comparisons are made with medieval European institutions in terms of market coordination and the maintenance of generalised trust in trading markets. As a consequence, the role of institutions in addressing social and economic uncertainty affecting an ancient society is highlighted.


PMLA ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 128 (1) ◽  
pp. 142-148
Author(s):  
Volker Langbehn

Almost anyone who reads ferdinand oyono's une vie de boy (1956) in any language will conclude that the novel focuses on French colonialism. But is it only about colonialism by the French? An analysis of the many German resonances throughout the text—as well as an engagement with the German translation of Une vie de boy—suggests that it is about much more. Oyono's Une vie de boy enables the reader to reflect on Europan colonialism more broadly beyond the role of France. The novel offers a lens onto Germany's colonial history because Cameroon was a former colonial “protectorate” of the German empire. This historical context, therefore, places Une vie de boy in both national and transnational contexts. While my reading addresses possible connections or similarities between French and German colonialism, the publication in German itself adds an important layer to the understanding of Une vie de boy in Germany. In consideration of the political activism of the novel's German publisher, Johann (Hans) Fladung (1898-1982), the publication of Oyono's novel can be read as a criticism of German historiography in the 1950s, which frequently avoided Germany's colonial history, a history that has been linked with the crimes of the Holocaust (Zimmerer).


2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 234-269
Author(s):  
Reijiro Aoyama

Abstract Drawing on Chinese-Japanese transnational and transcultural interaction in the mid-nineteenth century, this article illustrates how Sinitic brushtalk functioned as an effective modality of communication between Chinese and Japanese literati who did not have a shared spoken language. The illustrations are adapted from personal diary-like travelogues of Japanese travelers to Shanghai on board the Senzaimaru in 1862 and participants in the Japanese mission to the United States in 1860. The recollection of the brushtalkers with their Chinese interlocutors whom they met on the way, including those during their return journey from the US while calling at trading ports like Batavia and Hong Kong, provides elaborate details on how writing-mediated improvisation using brush, ink, and paper allowed Japanese travelers with literacy in Sinitic to engage in “silent conversation” with their literate Chinese counterparts. A third historical context where Sinitic brushtalk was put to meaningful use was US–Japanese negotiations during Commodore Perry’s naval expedition to Edo Bay in 1854, where Luo Sen, bilingual in Chinese (spoken Cantonese) and English, was hired to perform the role of secretary. Throughout the negotiations, Luo was able to perform his duties admirably in part by impressing the Japanese side with his fine brushtalk improvisations. While misunderstanding and miscommunication could not be entirely avoided, the article concludes that until the early 1900s writing-mediated interaction through Sinitic brushtalk in face-to-face encounters functioned adequately and effectively as a scripta franca between literate Japanese and their Chinese “silent conversation” partners both within and beyond Sinographic East Asia. Such a unique modality of communication remained vibrant until the advent of nationalism and the vernacularization of East Asian national languages at the turn of the century.


Author(s):  
Graeme J. Milne

This essay focuses on business networks in the North of England in the nineteenth century, with particular attention paid to shipowning interests. Graeme J. Milne looks at both regional and national economies to understand the role of the shipowner, and explores the web of interconnect relationships between shipowners, merchants, and other economic figures. He determines the impact of shipowning business culture on wider commercial decision-making. He concludes by affirming that shipping in a historical context can be better understood by studying interconnections in related fields, rather than as an isolated industry.


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