百年来羌族宗教研究的回顾与反思

宗教现象是民族学者了解羌族文化的一个极重要的方面，对羌族宗教研究作回顾与反思有重要价值。二十世纪初，英国传教士、民族学者陶然士以传播论为依据，认为羌族是希伯来人的子孙后代和一神论者。三十年代，美国学者葛维汉以鲍亚斯的文化相对主义研究羌族宗教信仰，批评陶然士的观点。中国民族学家胡鉴民以功能论来论证羌族原始宗教是羌族文化的本质。从五十年代到现在，中国民族学者结合了欧美以及我国民族学的传统，对羌族宗教信仰进行研究，基本上与前辈一脉相承。不同之点，过去是筚路蓝缕，现在是日渐茁壮。胡鉴民认为宗教是“羌族文化中最可宝贵的一部分”的概念，促成了一种新形态的研究模式，其影响是深远的。学界对白石崇拜信仰研究已逐渐成为羌族研究里的显学。     

Jia’s The Chinese Version

Abstract

The Chinese Character Simplification Programme of 1955–1957 that remains a national standard by force of law in the People’s Republic of China, not only degraded the aesthetic properties of the Chinese written character, but also hindered literacy by means of a haphazard formal reduction of the number of strokes, and by eliminating two-thirds of characters from the lexicon of those allowed for publication. In The Chinese Version painting series by Jia (b.1979), the artist arranges Chinese characters according to formal rather than semantic criteria, in order to generate by means of their juxtaposition, abstract or figurative patterns. Each character may retain its individual meaning, but not its function as a sequential syntagm. This strategy invests the characters with a formal aspect to ‘return’ that which was mutilated by the Simplification Programme. As the Simplification Programme’s formal changes ended characters’ role as image-signs, the artist’s choice to present each work as a painting alludes to their lost image capacity while appearing to imitate the outward aspect of printed characters, thereby implicitly turning against itself the pretext of character simplification for the sake of efficiency.     

Between hagiography and historiography: Chabad,scholars of Hasidism,and the case of the portrait of Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liady

The portrait of Shneur Zalman of Liady is one of the most popular images in modern Jewish iconography. Published at the end of the nineteenth century, the portrait has quickly gained popularity both within and without the Chabad community. However, unlike the religious audience, which reveres the portrait as a faithful representation of the founder of Chabad, the secular, academic audience rejects it as fraudulent, together with all the supporting evidence provided by Chabad. This article revisits the history of the portrait’s creation and publication, paying particular attention to Russian documentation produced by Chabad in the 1930s, which has so far been entirely ignored by the scholarship. It identifies the portrait’s alleged painter and owner as well as other characters mentioned in these documents, with the aim of verifying Chabad’s version of events. Although this article does not answer conclusively whether the portrait is authentic or not, it proffers corroborating evidence for the Chabad point of view, and briefly discusses future research possibilities for the topic. Furthermore, the article considers the ways in which the leadership of Chabad used the history of the portrait to consolidate the movement and discusses the challenges that Chabad partisan historiography poses for the academic study of Hasidism.     

技术语境下的艺术

每一次根本性技术的发明都会改变人类的思维方式和价值体系。艺术变革也具有这种性质，现代艺术以强烈的革命态度表示出与传统价值观的决裂。艺术阐释的重心也从艺术创作和美学转向生产和消费领域。在这种情况下，法兰克福学派关于技术异化的批判，仍然具有警示作用；而艺术作为人类情感的一种表现形式、作为人文关怀的一种方式，在新时代的生态语境中，应该重新获取这些崇高意义。艺术变化与技术发展有直接的联系，除此之外，还与政治、经济、意识形态、精神、观念、艺术家等有着直接或间接的联系。综合考察这些因素，才能够探明艺术变革的真正原因。但未来发展情形仍然不明了，需要科学家和伦理学家共同努力。科技“由谁来控制”和“如何控制”是解决问题的核心所在。     

西方文化和文论中的Image——从比较文化和比较文论的角度看Image(形象/意象/图像)(之一)

Image(形象/图像/意象)是全球化时代文化对话和美学对话中的一个重要主题.从比较文化的角度来看,其在西方主要与三个方面相关:由主客互动而来的影像,主体心理运行的意象,由主体外化而成的艺术形象.这三个方面为image在中国的三种不同译法奠定了基础.     

略论近现代阜阳剪纸艺术的风格特征及成因

传统的阜阳剪纸历史悠久,其依附民俗生存,风格融南北之长,＂既有北方的简练和粗壮有力,又有南方的精巧和秀丽多姿＂。随着社会经济的发展,阜阳剪纸艺术历经岁月的磨练而开始有了复苏气象和一些新的风格特征。试从近现代阜阳剪纸作品分析入手,就其风格特征及其变化进行系统梳理和分析,以期从其发展轨迹中认识其形成的原因。     

In search of African history: the re-appropriation of photographic archives by contemporary visual artists

The digital revolution has fundamentally changed our relationship to archives, by accelerating their “dusting off” and their re-appropriation, particularly in the art world. This article will show the ways in which some contemporary visual artists use new digital technologies to provide new ways of storing, reading and retrieving contemporary African history. Such artists do so by revisiting diverse forms of archives that are mainly photographic, and which were produced during the colonial and independence eras.     

张爱玲与川端康成叙事艺术比较分析

张爱玲与川端康成分别对20世纪的中国和日本文坛产生了重要影响。二者都致力于以女性为中心铺陈故事,以诗意的语言建构起女性中心话语权,在其思想主题、表达技巧、审美追求等方面也具有高度的趋同性。     

Fighting words? Joning as conflict talk and identity performance among African American preadolescents

This study examines how preadolescent African American students in Washington, D.C., used a linguistic practice called ‘joning,’ a style of verbal play similar to ritual insults, in peer interactions. Sociolinguists have focused on how children socialize each other into vernacular styles appropriate for peer group use but often assume that they disalign with social and linguistic norms for classroom behavior. Drawing from a nine‐month ethnographic study that the author conducted in an after‐school program, this article analyzes the structure and function of joning as a vernacular style of African American Vernacular English and its uses in constructing classroom identities. Joning often facilitated student learning, but it was perceived as a socially and physically risky linguistic practice because of its uses as conflict talk in the local community. Focusing on preadolescence as a key stage of language socialization, this article shows how minority students modify peer‐learned linguistic practices to pursue academic success on their own terms.     

China’s modern image – contemporary Chinese art

Abstract

As a worldwide cultural phenomenon, contemporary art in China has not only been used as a diplomatic language but also a reflection of contemporary Chinese culture. Contemporary Chinese art, as an emerging field to display China’s global role, provides an important perspective to study China’s self-position in global relations, China’s diplomacy in exercising its soft power, contemporary Chinese culture, and the reinvention of China’s cultural/national identity in post-Mao China. Using the 2000 Shanghai Biennale and the Chinese pavilion at the 54th Venice Biennale as case studies, this article investigates how the fluid construct of Chineseness is successfully promoted and demonstrated through the government’s support of contemporary Chinese art.