scholarly journals The Paradoxical Discourse of Language and Silence in Some Contemporary North-American Texts on the Arctic

Nordlit ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 29
Author(s):  
Fredrik Chr. Brøgger
Keyword(s):  
North American ◽  
Natural Environment ◽  
The Self ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Life World ◽  
Far North ◽  
Indigenous Groups ◽  
Barry Lopez ◽  
Indigenous Voices

The Arctic has often been regarded (its various indigenous groups notwithstanding) as a desolate and silent void to be explored and defined by Euro-westerners, usuallyin terms of a masculine competitive ethos and an ethnocentric rhetoric of WesternEnlightenment and progress. Surprisingly, even many Norwegian arctic expeditionsof our own time tend to embody similar narratives of conquest and athletic prowess.Among contemporary North-American writers, however, this kind of discourse isprofoundly questioned, particularly by focusing on the problematic function oflanguage itself in our constructions of the Arctic. This article focuses on three North-American books in which the issue of the Euro-western linguistic appropriation ofthe Arctic, its natural environment as well as its peoples, is a major concern; they areall reflections on the issues of writing and silence with reference to the far north. Thethree books are: Barry Lopez' Arctic Dreams: Imagination and Desire in a NorthernLandscape (1987), Aritha van Herk's Places Far from Ellesmere (1990), and JohnMoss' Enduring Dreams: An Exploration of Arctic Landscape (1996). Central in allof them is the following issue: how to make the wordless landscape or the alienculture speak from under, as it were, the enormous compilation of centuries of Eurowesterntext. The article discusses four major strategies by which these three booksattempt to counteract and subvert earlier Euro-western ethnocentric and monologicnarratives of the Arctic: by the inclusion of feminine and indigenous voices; by thelegitimation of the sensuous life-world of the Arctic itself; by the self-reflexivesubversion of the authority of the language of their own texts; and by the use of astyle of paradox and contradiction. By way of such techniques, the books above try to create more open, dialogic and pluralistic readings of the Arctic.

scholarly journals Barry Lopez's Relational Arctic // El Ártico relacional de Barry Lopez

2014 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 72-87
Author(s):  
Sigfrid Kjeldaas
Keyword(s):  
North American ◽  
Natural Environment ◽  
Empty Space ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
The North ◽  
Barry Lopez ◽  
North American Arctic ◽  
Von Uexküll

       Arctic Dreams: Imagination and Desire in a Northern Landscape (1986) can be read as American nature writer Barry Lopez’s attempt to evoke a more profound and ecologically sound understanding of the North-American Arctic. This article investigates how Arctic Dreams uses insights from Jacob von Uexküll’s Umwelt theory, in combination with what Tim Ingold describes as a particular form of animism associated with circumpolar indigenous hunter cultures, to portray the Arctic natural environment as a living and lively space. Doreen Massey has described such spaces as recognizing plurality and allowing encounters. By highlighting networks of relationship and trajectories both human (historical) and animal (evolutionary), Arctic Dreams recognizes human and animal cultures that not only exist upon and can lay claim to this land, but that in a fundamental way is the land. In this way the text dismisses previous conceptions of the North-American Arctic as an empty space awaiting colonization and modernization, while on a deeper level it also questions the modern nature/culture dichotomy that allows nature to be perceived as the mere substratum of culture. Resumen El libro Arctic Dreams: Imagination and Desire in a Northern Landscape (1986) puede considerarse un intento por parte del escritor de la naturaleza americano Barry Lopez de evocar un conocimiento más profundo y ecológicamente sensato del Ártico norteamericano. Este artículo analiza cómo Arctic Dreams utiliza la teoría Umwelt  de Jacob von Uexküll, combinada con lo que Tim Ingold describe como una forma particular de animismo asociada con las culturas de los indígenas cazadores circumpolares, para retratar el entorno natural ártico como un lugar vivo y vivaz. Doreen Massey ha descrito dichos lugares como capaces de reconocer la pluralidad y permitir encuentros. Al destacar las redes de relaciones y de trayectorias tanto humanas (históricas) como de animales (evolucionarias), Arctic Dreams reconoce culturas humanas y animales que no sólo existen sobre y puede reclamar esta tierra, sino que también estas culturas son de una manera fundamental la tierra. De esta manera el texto desestima las concepciones previas del Ártico norteamericano como un espacio vacío pendiente de colonización y modernización; mientras que en un nivel más profundo también cuestiona la dicotomía moderna naturaleza/cultura que permite que la naturaleza se perciba como un mero sustrato de la cultura. 

Crop production in the Soviet Arctic

Polar Record ◽  
1951 ◽  
Vol 6 (42) ◽  
pp. 227-236 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. H. Richens
Keyword(s):  
Natural Environment ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Arctic Zone ◽  
Northern Limit ◽  
Arctic Circle ◽  
Far North ◽  
Plant Life ◽  
Growing Conditions ◽  
Economic Considerations

The northern limit of agriculture depends not on physiographical conditions but on economic considerations. This truism is frequently emphasized by Soviet writers, who point out that it is possible to provide the requisite conditions for plant life at any point on the earth's surface. What determines whether or not a crop is to be grown is the extent to which agriculturalists are willing to provide the plant with its appropriate environment. The latter very rarely coincides with the natural environment, and in some cases, as in the far north, may differ greatly from it. The following survey attempts to outline the extent to which Soviet agriculturalists have gone in providing plants with suitable growing conditions north of the arctic circle. The question whether the objective of arctic agriculture, food and fodder for the arctic zone, could not be realized more conveniently by transporting produce from a milder clime, will also be discussed.

scholarly journals Circumpolar Indigeneity in Canada, Russia, and the United States (Alaska): Do Differences Result in Representational Challenges for the Arctic Council?

ARCTIC ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 72 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-81 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evgeniia Sidorova
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Arctic Council ◽  
Far North ◽  
Indigenous Groups ◽  
Indigenous Organizations ◽  
Definition Of

This article investigates differences in circumpolar indigeneities in three major Arctic nations: Russia, Canada, and the United States (Alaska). Russia has different ways of recognizing indigeneity in law, and that definition of indigeneity excludes larger Indigenous groups of the Far North (Sakha, Komi), rather than seeing them as ethnic (titular) minorities. This study reveals that: 1) not all Indigenous peoples are represented in the Arctic Council; 2) there are historical explanations for this underrepresentation; 3) the Arctic Council should include more Indigenous groups as Permanent Participants. The equal representation of Indigenous organizations as Permanent Participants in the Arctic Council is important because all Indigenous groups in the Arctic should be heard.

scholarly journals Implementation of national projects as a factor of providing favorable conditions for self-development of territorial communities of the Far North and the Arctic

2021 ◽  
Vol 24 (4-2021) ◽  
pp. 188-197
Author(s):  
Dmitry L. Kondratovich ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Essential Element ◽  
The Self ◽  
Information Support ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Territorial Development ◽  
Public Authorities ◽  
Far North ◽  
The North ◽  
Self Development ◽  
The Government

The article examines a number of aspects of the implementation of priority national projects in the context of their impact on the self-development of territorial communities of the Far North and the Arctic, as an essential element of systemic spatial regional development. Regional and municipal aspects of self-development of territorial communities of the Far North and the Arctic are largely associated with economic, social, educational, legal, cultural and other features of interaction between the public and public authorities at all levels, including through the implementation of state programs for the development of regions. The paper analyzes the specifics of national projects implemented in the Russian Federation at the level of a number of municipalities belonging to the regions of the North and the Arctic, including: a list of national projects in which the municipality participates; the main problems hindering the implementation of national projects; issues requiring priority attention from municipal authorities; an assessment of the implementation of each national project. The analysis made it possible to determine the prerequisites for the creation of effective mechanisms and tools for interaction between the government and society as a whole, which are based on state priorities related to the implementation of socially oriented development of the territories of the Far North and the Arctic and the achievement of national interests. It is established that the state has a high interest in the self-development of territorial communities, which in particular is implemented through a set of national projects aimed at providing conditions for scientific, technical and socio-economic territorial development, as well as the possibility of self-realization of each person locally and improving the quality of life of the population. It is concluded that, despite the obvious successes in the implementation of priority national projects, there are limitations associated with both objective and subjective reasons — insufficient funding, weak information support, management organization at both local and regional and federal levels.

Nuclear icebreaker fleet and power supply on the basis of floating power units

2018 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 110-113
Author(s):  
V. A. Tupchienko ◽  
H. G. Imanova
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Power Supply ◽  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Arctic Region ◽  
Nuclear Industry ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Far North ◽  
The Arctic Region

The article deals with the problem of the development of the domestic nuclear icebreaker fleet in the context of the implementation of nuclear logistics in the Arctic. The paper analyzes the key achievements of the Russian nuclear industry, highlights the key areas of development of the nuclear sector in the Far North, and identifies aspects of the development of mechanisms to ensure access to energy on the basis of floating nuclear power units. It is found that Russia is currently a leader in the implementation of the nuclear aspect of foreign policy and in providing energy to the Arctic region.

Arctic archaeologies: recent work on Beringia

Antiquity ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 89 (345) ◽  
pp. 740-742 ◽  
Author(s):  
Herbert Maschner
Keyword(s):  
Bering Sea ◽  
North Pacific ◽  
Yukon Territory ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Land Bridge ◽  
Far North ◽  
North East ◽  
Bering Land Bridge ◽  
Last Glaciation ◽  
The Bering Sea

This review considers three books on the archaeology of territories situated around the Bering Sea—a region often referred to as Beringia, adopting the term created for the Late Pleistocene landscape that extended from north-east Asia, across the Bering Land Bridge, to approximately the Yukon Territory of Canada. This region is critical to the archaeology of the Arctic for two fundamental reasons. First, it is the gateway to the Americas, and was certainly the route by which the territory was colonised at the end of the last glaciation. Second, it is the place where the entire Aleut-Eskimo (Unangan, Yupik, Alutiiq, Inupiat and Inuit) phenomenon began, and every coastal culture from the far north Pacific, to Chukotka, to north Alaska, and to arctic Canada and Greenland, has its foundation in the cultural developments that occurred around the Bering Sea.

Chromosome races in Rumex arcticus (Polygonaceae)

1972 ◽  
Vol 50 (2) ◽  
pp. 378-380
Author(s):  
Gerald A. Mulligan ◽  
Clarence Frankton
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
North American ◽  
Bering Sea ◽  
Kamchatka Peninsula ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Chromosome Races ◽  
High Polyploid ◽  
Seward Peninsula ◽  
Northwestern North America ◽  
The Bering Sea

Rumex arcticus Trautv., a species found on the mainland of northwestern North America and in northeastern U.S.S.R., contains tetraploid (2n = 40), dodecaploid (2n = 120), and perhaps 2n = 160 and 2n = 200 chromosome races. Most North American plants are tetraploid and are larger in size and have more compound and contiguous inflorescences than typical R. arcticus. Typical plants of R. arcticus occur in the arctic U.S.S.R., St. Lawrence Island in the Bering Sea, and at the tip of the Seward Peninsula of Alaska, and they all have 120 or more somatic chromosomes. High polyploid plants of R. arcticus that resemble North American tetraploids in appearance apparently occur on the Kamchatka Peninsula. These have been called R. kamtshadalus Komarov or R. arcticus var. kamtshadalus (Kom.) Rech. f. by some authors.

scholarly journals Brazilian norms for the International Affective Picture System (IAPS): comparison of the affective ratings for new stimuli between Brazilian and North-American subjects

2008 ◽  
Vol 57 (4) ◽  
pp. 270-275 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristina Lasaitis ◽  
Rafaela Larsen Ribeiro ◽  
Orlando Francisco Amodeo Bueno
Keyword(s):  
North American ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
International Affective Picture System ◽  
The Self ◽  
Self Assessment ◽  
North Americans ◽  
The North ◽  
Reliable Instrument ◽  
Student’S T ◽  
Normative Ratings

OBJECTIVE: The study presents the Brazilian norms for 240 new stimuli from International Affective Picture System (IAPS), a database of affective images widely used in research, compared to the North-American normative ratings. METHODS: The participants were 448 Brazilian university students from several courses (269 women and 179 men) with mean age of 24.2 (SD = 7.8), that evaluated the IAPS pictures in the valence, arousal and dominance dimensions by the Self-Assessment Manikin (SAM) scales. Data were compared across the populations by Pearson linear correlation and Student's t-tests. RESULTS: Correlations were highly significant for all dimensions; however, Brazilians' averages for arousal were higher than North-Americans'. CONCLUSIONS: The results show stability in relation to the first part of the Brazilian standardization and they are also consistent with the North-American standards, despite minor differences relating to interpretation of the arousal dimension, demonstrating that IAPS is a reliable instrument for experimental studies in the Brazilian population.

scholarly journals Dynamics of the relief and sesmotectonic activity of the modern structures in the delta of the river lena

2019 ◽  
pp. 62-77
Author(s):  
L. P. Imaeva ◽  
G. S. Gusev ◽  
V. S. Imaev
Keyword(s):  
Transition Zone ◽  
North American ◽  
Active Faults ◽  
River Delta ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Main Element ◽  
Dominant Factor ◽  
Lena River ◽  
Lithospheric Plates ◽  
Lena River Delta

This paper presents seismogeodynamic analysis of modern structures located in the Lena river delta. These structures are key elements in the tectonic evolution of the shelf–continent transition zone in the Arctic segment of the boundary between the Eurasian and North American lithospheric plates. The geological structure of the Lena river delta is predetermined by the junction of the ancient Siberian platform and the Mesozoic Laptev Sea plate. These two large geoblocks of the crust, which differ in age, are separated by a fragment of the Kharaulakh segment of the Verkhoyansk fold system. In our study aimed to reveal regularities in seismotectonic destruction of the crust, we analyzed the geological and geophysical data on the crustal structure, active faults, modern structural plan, dynamic characteristics of the modern relief, and hydrological features characterizing of the flow redistribution in the Lena riverbed. A system of active faults identified in the Lena river delta shows a contrasting kinematic plan of the junction zone of the main geostructures. According to the analysis results, shear faulting is a dominant factor of impact on the morphologic features and seismogeodynamic activation of the modern structures. A regional right-lateral strike-slip fault of the sublatitudinal strike is traced as a major structural boundary that cuts the Lena river delta into several geodynamic segments. Seismotectonic destruction of the crust in the segments differs in types (transpression, transtension and compression). The above-mentioned fault is not only the main element of the kinematic plan of the newest structures in the Lena river delta – it controls the general structural pattern and seismotectonic parameters of active fault zones in the entire northern sector of the Verkhoyansk marginal suture. The seismogeodynamic analysis results obtained in our study provide a reliable basis for estimating potential seismic hazard of the modern structures in the Lena river delta and updating the available seismic zoning maps of the shelf–continent transition zone in the Arctic segment of the boundary between the Eurasian and North American lithospheric plates.

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