Through a Glass Darkly: British Representations of the Polish-Lithuanian Union in the Late-16th and 17th Centuries

The article discusses how post-1569 relations between Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania were presented in various written materials produced in Britain in the late-16th and 17th centuries. It analyses both the materials produced by and for the court or professional elites, and widely circulating publications (books and newspapers) which were readily available to the general reading public. It argues that there is strong evidence that British readers were aware of the existence of the Polish-Lithuanian Union, although the union itself was rarely presented either accurately or in any detail. They therefore had a very blurred conception of how it functioned in practice, as can be illustrated, for example, by British authors downplaying or simply denying the fact that after the Union of Lublin Lithuania became a constituent part of the Commonwealth with a status equal to that of Poland. Moreover, few writers and editors considered it necessary to provide readers with a proper explanation of the union’s basic ‘rules of engagement’, or any reflections on how it functioned on an organisational level.

Dynamics of conversations

Chapter 5 analyses the political conversations that Cicero transmitted in direct style from the point of view of conversational analysis, dissecting their dynamics and revealing how they constructed relationships and provided an outlet for self-representation during power struggles. Such conversations allowed the deployment of persuasiveness, tentative questions, sous-entendres, and the circulation of information that written communication could not provide. An analysis of conversational dynamics has revealed that certain elements consistently recur. First, there is the presence of political speculations and predictions about the future. Secondly, we can point to the presence of feelings and impressions, either as a result of the conversation or concerning the other speaker. The chapter argues that such conversations should be considered a constituent part of political culture.

PREDICATES OF COERCION AS A MEANS OF CATEGORICAL EXPRESSION OF WILL IN THE SEMANTIC-SYNTACTIC STRUCTURE OF THE ENGLISH SENTENCE

The article highlights the semantics of coercion predicates as one of the main means of expressing debitive modality (along with the modality of expediency, obligation, necessity, compulsion and inevitability). Predicates of coercion, in our opinion, contain in their structure the modal component of ‘will’, as one of the main modal meanings. Coercion is analyzed as a predetermined need to act contrary to smb’s own will or desire. The main means of expressing coercion semantics is the predicate to force. All coercion predicates denote the forced action of different intensity, that is, there is a semantic differentiation of coercion predicates. They are characterized by a negative connotation, since the action is undesirable, forced for the subject, contrary to their interests, will. The negative component is a constituent part of the semantics of coercion predicates. The predicates of coercion are closely related to predicates of compulsion. Thus, the predicates of coercion to constrain, to compel and to oblige can denote both the situations of coercion and compulsion. In addition, in sentences with causative verbs of coercion like to force, the positional structure differs from the one where the predicate is the modal verbs to have to, to be to. This is due to the fact that in constructions with the objective infinitive, more than one situation is explicated.

BILINGUALISM AND ITS CONSTITUENT PARTS (ON THE EXAMPLE OF CANADA)

The article is devoted to the investigation of bilingualism history and the features of its existence in Canada. The subject is of current interest because bilinguism functioning investigation is the constituent part of any language development. The article deals with the main characteristics of bilingualism, mainly with its types, stages of the development and conditions of functioning. All the above-mentioned gives the reason to investigate bilingualism even more thoroughly, for example, on the basis of the political discourse in Canada and other countries with similar political situation.

A Room with a landscape: Vedute from the Palace of the Privileged Company of Trieste and Rijeka

In the oldest Austro-Hungarian sugar refinement plant opened in mid 18thcentury in Rijeka, today Croatia, a series of “idealized” landscapes pained by unknown artisans include depictions of slaves. The so-called Vedute ideate are a rare depiction of the racialized slave labor in the Austro-Hungarian Empire that points to the invisible labor, which enabled industrial production of sugar and made visible the relation of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, together with the peripheral port town of Rijeka, to the global flow of capital and the history of colonialism. By drawing on Catherine Baker’s recently published “Race in Yugoslavia” we look at how representation of slavery did not receive critical assessment while the resentment for the racialization across ethnic lines, in relation to Europe proper where the inhabitants ex-Yugoslavia are themselves racialized as the European other, perseveres. With the repurposing of the industrial building in the framework of European Capital of Culture project, Rijeka 2020 – Port of Diversity, the Vedute ideate will be publicly displayed as part of the Museum of the City of Rijeka display but it is uncertain whether the museum will recognize colonialism as a constituent part of Rijeka’s industrialization and development.

Plaisirs de lire et de regarder : de la littérature à la peinture. La théorie de la relation esthétique à l’épreuve du cas Dubuffet

Reading activity, which is a constituent part of the literary relationship, is only partially applicable to a painting that offers the eye a confusing pole that cannot be deciphered by the signs of language. Dubuffet’s Logological Cabinet invites visitors to experience this impossible dream : a new logos capable of deciphering the inexpressible. The Paladin and the Paladine depicted on the entrance doors break the continuity of the fresco covering the walls of the room and remind us that literature and art are appreciated in an aesthetic relationship based on otherness and a space socialized by language.

Developmentalism and Territory: Three Transport Infrastructures in Santa Fe (Argentina, 1957-1971) as Case Studies

This study aims to recognize the elements that make up the notion of technological determinism and the power (in a political sense) of technologies in the transformation of a given area. Three major infrastructure projects are addressed, understood as technological artifacts, built in the 1960s, that consolidated the physiognomy of the corridor of National Route 168 —Santa Fe city, Argentina—. The hypothesis that guides the study assumes that infrastructures and their materiality have influenced the transformation of the territory that contains them, specifically in the Santa Fe-Paraná metropolitan area. The cases addressed —two bridges and a subfluvial tunnel— were analyzed through the recognition of their construction systems, architectural aspects —if any— and production conditions. Concrete as the predominant material turns out to be, not only the condition of possibility to experience the territory, but also, a constituent part of it. It is considered that the context of production of the works —developmental model— and the level of appropriation and assessment achieved, are fundamental aspects to understand the notion of technological determinism in these infrastructures.

Монгол аман зохиол дахь гэрийн тотгоны дүрслэл (= Описание притолоки юрты в монгольском фольклоре)

In the written monuments, in the samples of Mongolian folklore (fairytales, epos, riddles, etc.) they often describe yurt lintel. In this article the author attempts to show all the descriptions of lintel that are mentioned in the Mongolian folklore and gives comments on each sign and rite based on the analysis of the examples. The thorough study of each object and detail in setting up a yurt that has become a significant constituent part of the cultural heritage of Mongolian nations will give the new generations the opportunity to learn their meaning and significance.