Civilizational mnemonics and the longue durée: The Bulgarian case

Constructivist assumptions have dominated the field of memory studies, producing an avalanche of case studies focusing on the instrumental and expedient factors shaping memory politics. However, this constructivist bias has also yielded new blind spots. For one, it tends to privilege “events” and “contingencies” over the longue durée of a particular memory configuration. Two, it remains caught in a binary juxtaposition with some states adopting globally circulating mnemonic scripts, signaling universal aspirations, while other states pursue nation-centric approaches. To overcome these blind spots (and binaries), we propose two interrelated conceptual moves: first, we are taking the importance of enduring memory figurations into consideration. Second, we expand the nation-state focus by introducing the notion of “civilizational mnemonics,” which does not replace national memories, but frequently underwrites them. Bulgarian memory politics, our test case, is part of a complex nexus of imperial legacies and post-colonial discourses. Bulgaria has been a middle ground, accommodating competing imperial projects—Ottoman, Russian, and Western. These intersections allow us to draw general inferences about mnemonic tropes and their enduring salience.

Whose Heritage Counts? Narratives of Coptic People’s Heritage

This paper examines whose voices narrate official Coptic heritage, what the in-built biases in representations of Coptic heritage are and why, and some of the implications of omissions in narratives of Coptic heritage. It argues that the primary narrator of official Coptic heritage during the twentieth century was the leadership of the Coptic Orthodox Church. The Coptic Orthodox Church is the body that holds authority over the sources of heritage, such as church buildings and manuscripts, and also has the resources with which to preserve and disseminate heritage. The Church hierarchy’s leadership was not entirely uncontested, however, a middle ground was continually negotiated to enable lay Copts to play various roles and contribute to the articulation of Coptic heritage. Ultimately, though, alternative voices must operate within the limits set by the Church leadership and also negotiate the layers of exclusion set by society and state.

Generating Predictable and Adaptive Dialog Policies in Single- and Multi-domain Goal-oriented Dialog Systems

Most existing commercial goal-oriented chatbots are diagram-based; i.e. they follow a rigid dialog flow to fill the slot values needed to achieve a user’s goal. Diagram-based chatbots are predictable, thus their adoption in commercial settings; however, their lack of flexibility may cause many users to leave the conversation before achieving their goal. On the other hand, state-of-the-art research chatbots use Reinforcement Learning (RL) to generate flexible dialog policies. However, such chatbots can be unpredictable, may violate the intended business constraints, and require large training datasets to produce a mature policy. We propose a framework that achieves a middle ground between the diagram-based and RL-based chatbots: we constrain the space of possible chatbot responses using a novel structure, the chatbot dependency graph, and use RL to dynamically select the best valid responses. Dependency graphs are directed graphs that conveniently express a chatbot’s logic by defining the dependencies among slots: all valid dialog flows are encapsulated in one dependency graph. Our experiments in both single-domain and multi-domain settings show that our framework quickly adapts to user characteristics and achieves up to 23.77% improved success rate compared to a state-of-the-art RL model.

The Collateral Directive and Financial Collateral: Ownership of, or entitlement to, collateral?

It is controversial if incorporeal moveables (or choses in action) can be the object of property rights. The Collateral Directive arguably attempts to take the middle-ground in this debate. It acknowledges that a person may have either ‘full ownership of’, or 'full entitlement' to, financial collateral, which are conceptualised as intangibles. The approach adopted by the Directive throws up some questions: Is there a difference between owning or being entitled to collateral? If there is a difference, does this matter? The article first highlights the underlying controversy between these two concepts: which arises because of the different conceptions of real rights, or right in rem, and the need to protect the boundary between real and personal rights. The article then argues that although ‘owning’ and ‘entitlement’ are different concepts, there are also functional similarities between both concepts which arguably the Directive extends further than necessary.

‘True Ownership’

The third chapter focuses on the work of Edward Carpenter, the socialist poet, cultural critic, and early queer activist. Seeking to keeping open a middle ground for people who could accept some role for the state while regarding full centralization askance, Carpenter’s thinking about the ends of state-action in the 1880s and 1890s crystallized around the question of land reform. Key to his reformist vision was the attempt to re-signify the language of capitalist society by advocating an ethos of proprietary care and concern (what Carpenter calls ‘true ownership’), a form of custodial attention that is supported by the state but that cannot be reduced to purely legal entitlements. The chapter explores Carpenter’s writing as well as his experience of rural living in Derbyshire. Carpenter, I argue, hoped to turn poetry itself into the ground where a collective desire for comprehensive, non-revolutionary social change might take root.

KLASIFIKASI MODEL PEMIKIRAN ORIENTALIS HADIS PERSPEKTIF HERBERT BEERG

The orientalist debate about the authenticity of the hadith was highlighted by Herbert Berg who he specifically described in his work entitled The Development of Exegesis in Early Islam. In the book, Berg made a classification of orientalist thinking models on hadith. Based on this, this article aims to discuss the classification and mention Berg's reasons for placing the orientalists and also explain the implications of Berg's classification in the study of hadith. In this article, the researcher uses descriptive-analytical method by obtaining the following findings: First, there are four models of orientalist thought in Herbert Berg's hadith perspective, namely Early Western Scepticism, Reaction Against Scepticism, Middle Ground, and Renewed Scepticism. Although, as the finding of the research, it was found that from the four models, there are only two models that are relevant to the facts, namely the skeptical and non-skeptic groups. Second, Berg divides the model of thought based on the attitude of the orienalists to hadith. Third, Berg's classification has at least two implications, namely as a method of reading orientalist thinking models on hadith and the creation of a new method in determining the authenticity of hadith, namely the Sanguine Approach and the Skeptical Approach by Berg.. Key Words : Hetbert Berg, Hadith Orientalist, Authenticity of Hadith. Abstrak: Perdebatan para orientalis tentang keotentikan hadis ternyata disorot oleh Herbert Berg yang secara khusus ia gambarkan pada karyanya yang berjudul The Development of Exegesis in Early Islam. Pada buku tersebut, Berg membuat klasifikasi model pemikiran orientalis terhadap hadis. Berdasarkan hal itu, artikel ini bertujuan untuk membahas klasifikasi tersebut serta menyebutkan alasan Berg dalam menempatkan para orientalis tersebut dan juga menjelaskan implikasi klasifikasi Berg dalam kajian hadis. Artikel ini dalam pembahasannya menggunakan metode deskriptif-analitis dengan mendapatkan temuan, sebagai berikut: Pertama, terdapat empat model pemikiran orientalis hadis perspektif Herbert Berg, yaitu Early Western Scepticism, Reaction Against Scepticism, Middle Ground, dan Renewed Scepticism. Meskipun, setelah diteliti ternyatadari keempat model tersebut, hanya ada dua model yang relevan dengan fakta di lapangan, yaitu kelompok skeptis dan non skeptis. Kedua, Berg membagi model pemikiran tersebut berdasarkan sikap ara orientalis terhadap hadis. Ketiga, klasifikasi yang dilakukan Berg setidaknya memiliki dua implikasi, yaitu sebagai metode dalam membaca model pemikiran orientalis terhadap hadis dan terciptanya metode baru dalam menentukan keotentikan hadis, yaitu Sanguine Approach dan Skeptikal Approach oleh Berg. Kata Kunci : Hetbert Berg, Orientalis Hadis, Keotentikan Hadis.

Nautical Symbolism in Christian Maori Architecture

<p><b>It is well known that many Maori cultural traditions and cosmological beliefs are anchored in a sea of knowledge associated with seafaring, navigation and the oceanic environment. Despite the loss of deep-sea voyaging, this thesis explores how nautical reflexes were still very influential on various modes of expression in Christian Maori architecture of three distinct Maori religious movements from the colonial and post-colonial periods. During this investigation, this thesis also identifies a relationship that can be found between the appropriation of nautical symbolism in Christian and Maori architecture.</b></p> <p>This relationship is examined on two levels: One, in terms of how Christian and Maori iconography has latent nautical meaning and secondly, how nautical symbolism in Christian Maori architecture is more signal than sculptural. The latter identifies the more powerful, metaphysical symbols in Maori architecture and spirituality which make Christian Maori architecture uniquely different from European Christian architecture. This thesis links these qualities in symbolic Christian maori architecture to the psychic and symbolic territories known to the navigator. In doing so, this thesis discovers how nautical symbols occupy a middle ground, an in-between area bridging the known with the unknown and examines their role as mediators between the present and the past; the individual and the collective.</p> <p>This thesis finally presents an architectural design which explores specific aspects of research. In doing so, the use of nautical symbolism and water-based pragmatism through architecture explores how such methods and expressions can influence and transform Western notions of knowledge or conventional notions of contemporary (terrestrial) architecture in New Zealand. To achieve this, nautical concepts from case study material are applied to a contemporary design project in order to open up architecture to its metaphysical dimension rather than focussing on the object (sculptural) that is frozen in time. As a result, this design also celebrates and revives the nautical instinct of Maori in terms of how it can offer new and meaningful ways to design architecture in oceania and New Zealand.</p>

Nautical Symbolism in Christian Maori Architecture

<p><b>It is well known that many Maori cultural traditions and cosmological beliefs are anchored in a sea of knowledge associated with seafaring, navigation and the oceanic environment. Despite the loss of deep-sea voyaging, this thesis explores how nautical reflexes were still very influential on various modes of expression in Christian Maori architecture of three distinct Maori religious movements from the colonial and post-colonial periods. During this investigation, this thesis also identifies a relationship that can be found between the appropriation of nautical symbolism in Christian and Maori architecture.</b></p> <p>This relationship is examined on two levels: One, in terms of how Christian and Maori iconography has latent nautical meaning and secondly, how nautical symbolism in Christian Maori architecture is more signal than sculptural. The latter identifies the more powerful, metaphysical symbols in Maori architecture and spirituality which make Christian Maori architecture uniquely different from European Christian architecture. This thesis links these qualities in symbolic Christian maori architecture to the psychic and symbolic territories known to the navigator. In doing so, this thesis discovers how nautical symbols occupy a middle ground, an in-between area bridging the known with the unknown and examines their role as mediators between the present and the past; the individual and the collective.</p> <p>This thesis finally presents an architectural design which explores specific aspects of research. In doing so, the use of nautical symbolism and water-based pragmatism through architecture explores how such methods and expressions can influence and transform Western notions of knowledge or conventional notions of contemporary (terrestrial) architecture in New Zealand. To achieve this, nautical concepts from case study material are applied to a contemporary design project in order to open up architecture to its metaphysical dimension rather than focussing on the object (sculptural) that is frozen in time. As a result, this design also celebrates and revives the nautical instinct of Maori in terms of how it can offer new and meaningful ways to design architecture in oceania and New Zealand.</p>