Meaning-Change Through the Mistaken Mirror: On the Indeterminacy of “Wundt” and “Piaget” in Translation

What does a name mean in translation? Quine argued, famously, that the meaning of gavagai is indeterminate until you learn the language that uses that word to refer to its object. The case is similar with scientific texts, especially if they are older; historical. Because the meanings of terms can drift over time, so too can the meanings that inform experiments and theory. As can a life’s body of work and its contributions. Surely, these are also the meanings of a name; shortcuts to descriptions of the author who produced them, or of their thought (or maybe their collaborations). We are then led to wonder whether the names of scientists may also mean different things in different languages. Or even in the same language. This problem is examined here by leveraging the insights of historians of psychology who found that the meaning of “Wundt” changed in translation: his experimentalism was retained, and his Völkerpsychologie lost, so that what Wundt meant was altered even as his work—and his name—informed the disciplining of Modern Psychology as an experimental science. Those insights are then turned here into a general argument, regarding meaning-change in translation, but using a quantitative examination of the translations of Piaget’s books from French into English and German. It is therefore Piaget who has the focus here, evidentially, but the goal is broader: understanding and theorizing “the mistaken mirror” that reflects only what you can think to see (with implications for replication and institutional memory).

The Link Between Climate Change and Digitization of Archives in South Africa

This chapter assesses the link between climate change and digitisation of archives in South Africa. The study found linkage between flooding, fire, and digitization of archives in the sense that records required long-term preservation to be accessible. The chapter focuses on converting paper-based records into digital platforms as a strategic role to prevent records from damage. Heritage institution such as the National Archives of South Africa is in the forefront of the preservation of archives in South Africa. It is their national mandate to preserve archival materials and make them accessible to various stakeholders. The success of digitization is dependent on the organisation strategy. This means that partnership, privacy, copyright need to be considered. The research found that most of the heritage institutions in South Africa lack digitization strategy, which led to loss of institutional memory.

‘Comrade Master’, or Cramp – 17. The World Revolution, ‘russian boys’ and Lenin as a literary mask

The article analyzes the influence of Lenin’s literary mask on the establishment of the Soviet regime. It is shown that Marxism as a bulwark of institutional memory of Soviet modernization, allows to interpret the Soviet heritage in the context of Ukrainian transition to democracy.

The dead archive: governance and institutional memory in independent Mozambique

Translated from the Portuguese expression arquivo morto, the dead archive is a site where files that have lost their procedural validity are stored for a determined number of years before they are destroyed or are sent to permanent archives. In Mozambique, where awareness and institutional capacity for proper archival procedures are still being developed, a common feature of the dead archive is the way in which files are untidily piled up with old typewriters, furniture, spare parts and other material debris of bureaucratic work and administration. In these archives, more than forty years of institutional and public memory lie ignored in leaky, damp basements across the country and in serious danger of irreparable damage. Drawing from various stints of historical and anthropological field research conducted between 2009 and 2016 in Maputo, Niassa and Inhambane provinces, this article examines the dead archive in order to explore the relationship between institutional memory and governance during the long period of austerity in Mozambique. Based on our investigation of the multiple layers of the dead archive, we argue that the Mozambican post-socialist government has sought to control institutional memory as a way to keep the ruling party in power in the context of multiparty politics. While the public sector has experienced conditions of austerity since independence, we show how, during the socialist period (1975–90) of single-party rule, the state's relationship with institutional memory was more progressive, with transparent and communicative archival practices. In contrast, despite the combination of public sector reforms and progressive legislation regarding the right to information, the multiparty democratic period (1990 to the present) has seen an exacerbation of administrative secrecy leading to less transparent and communicative archival practices.

COLEÇÕES BIBLIOGRÁFICAS ESPECIAIS E HISTÓRICAS EM BIBLIOTECA UNIVERSITÁRIA: relato de experiência = SPECIAL AND HISTORICAL BIBLIOGRAPHIC COLLECTIONS IN UNIVERSITY LIBRARY: experience report

Relato de experiência a partir de projeto de extensão realizado na Biblioteca Setorial do Centro de Ciências Agrárias da Universidade Federal da Paraíba. Compreende a prática extensionista a partir da organização de coleções especiais e históricas abrigadas na Biblioteca Setorial Francisco Tancredo Torres. Além dos livros, o acervo conta com jornais, fotografias e cartas. O relato parte das experiências do profissional bibliotecário e do aluno graduando em ciências biológicas. As coleções abrigam a memória e história da instituição, bem como, da cidade e estado, assim, uma vez organizadas, essas coleções instigarão a memória institucional e da cidade de Areia. As atividades desenvolvidas foram: seleção, higienização, organização e construção de inventário. Como resultado foi notada a necessidade de documentos que padronizem as práticas de preservação e conservação, bem como a definição de critérios de obras raras para a Biblioteca para que possam orientar os serviços e padronizar os cuidados de organização, preservação e conservação das coleções. ABSTRACTExperience report from an extension project carried out at the Sectorial Library of the Agricultural Sciences Center of the Federal University of Paraíba. Understands the extension practice from the organization of special and historical collections housed in the Sectoral Library Francisco Tancredo Torres. In addition to books, the collection includes newspapers, photographs and letters. The report starts from the experiences of the professional librarian and of the student graduating in biological sciences. The collections hold the memory and history of the institution, as well as the city and state, so, once organized, these collections will instigate institutional memory and the city of Areia. The activities developed were: selection, cleaning, organization and construction of inventory. As a result, it was noted the need for documents that standardize the preservation and conservation practices, as well as the definition of rare works criteria for the library so that they can guide the services and standardize the care of organization, preservation and conservation of the collections.

Light at the end of the tunnel

It is not hard to list some of the profound effects COVID-19 has had on the specialty of plastic surgery. World-wide many of our colleagues have suffered serious illness and many have died. Even in countries like Australia and New Zealand, relatively spared from the ravages of the disease, we have all had significant disruptions to our lives and practicesLimitations on elective surgery during lockdown, reduced rates of screening for breast cancer and melanoma (Figure 1), consulting with masks—all affect our ability to provide a safe and effective service for our patients. Eminent plastic surgeons choosing to take early retirement is a great loss of institutional memory. Opportunistic governments and administrators taking advantage and using COVID-19 as an excuse to push through ‘urgent’ changes challenge our ability to provide a safe and effective service

METALINGUAGEM NO MUSEU AFRO BRASIL: PONTES ENTRE CURADORIA E O FAZER ARTÍSTICO

I propound that the collection exhibition of Afro Brasil Museum located in São Paulo, Brazil, features characteristics that well represent intersections between art creation and curatorial work, besides its dealt with institutional memory through less conventional exhibit designs. Thus, I seek a reflection about the interchange between curatorial work, art making and metalanguage arrangements within this museum. I introduce this exhibition as an institutional memorial – based on conversations and interviews with the museum staff, “absent dialogues” with its curator-director-artist and by the analysis of bibliographic material, so as the collection itself – due to my understanding of the exhibition as an imagery formed by composite images set by Emanoel Araújo. In order to communicate the singularity of this exhibition I bring a perspective of the objects exhibited, by means of the registers of fieldnotes and on, undertaking a dialogue with scholars from arts and humanities about curatorial work, the polysemy of image and the role of scenography. I discuss the art making of curatorial work and Emanoel Araújo’s métier as curator artist, supported by his concept A Mão Afro-Brasileira (The Afro-Brazilian Hand). In conclusion, I stress the relation textimage-public in order to communicate the singular aspects of its exhibition. Whilst the absence of consensus toward creativity and art agency while designing exhibitions, I assert that Araújo and his team strain the usual expectations on curatorial practice hence the limits of topographic arrangements and scenography schemes as a sensorial tool are extrapolated.