百般风情中国

盘扣或称盘钮,是传统中国服装使用的一种纽扣,用来固定衣襟或作为装饰。盘扣虽小,却包含了中华民族的独特的文化内涵。近几年,盘扣作为一种传统的服饰手段又风靡一时,依然以极强的生命力丰富和美化着人们的生活。     

穿一件中式小袄

有衬里的中式上衣被称之为祆。传统的棉袄加罩衣的穿着方式正逐步消失,在中年以下的穿着者身上已很少见,取而代之的是具有时装外形、休闲舒适的外套型棉袄。然而这些对襟盘扣的中式小袄却成为T台上一些时尚大牌的新宠。     

REREADING THE PASSING OF TRADITIONAL SOCIETY

This paper employs a proposed alterity discourse analysis (ADA) framework to argue that The Passing of Traditional Society – the bible of the modernization paradigm of development communication research – exemplifies far less a discourse on the relationship between empathy and development, as it does on the political/ideological imperatives governing the construction of the Other (i.e. the Middle East) by the Self (i.e. the US). To substantiate this claim, the paper debunks the book's claim to social scientific objectivity by pinpointing the methodological shortcomings of the empathy model and of the Middle East project from which the model was derived, and highlights the paradigm's dogma by revealing the religious metaphors with which the book's narrative is infused.     

REVISITING THE SOUTHERN CULTURE OF VIOLENCE

This analysis revisits the Southern culture of violence thesis. Several limitations of prior research are addressed by probing for a cultural influence on situation- and race-specific rates of homicide in both rural and urban communities. Negative binomial regression analyses of county-level homicide and census data indicate that the density of Southern-born whites is positively associated with white argument-based homicide rates in rural areas. When this relationship is examined outside of the spatial boundaries of the South—a critical test for a regionally based cultural influence on violence—the results are identical. We interpret these findings as suggestive of a cultural influence and situate them in a discussion of the broader theoretical state of research on regional variations in violence.     

ON THE AMBIGUITIES OF A SOCIOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF THE CULTURE OF NARCISSISM

This article is devoted to an analysis of three sets of ambiguities underlying sociological analyses of the new culture of narcissism. The first set concerns the differential importance of childhood experiences and the contradictory cultural norms that regulate the placement of the adult self in time and space. The second set concerns the problem of whether these contradictions result from the structural characteristics of post-industrial societies or, alternatively, from the transition from a system of stratification based on production skills to one based on consumption patterns. Because we argue that narcissism is produced by such a transition and by concomitant anomic processes, the third set concerns the universal, unintentional and invarant properties attributed to sociopsychological responses to anomie. Examination of these ambiguities enables us to specify the additional analyses needed for a sociological understanding of narcissism, as well as the methodologies that such analyses require.     

THE SOUTHERN CULTURE OF HONOR AND VIOLENT ATTITUDES

ABSTRACT

Research on subcultures of violence has mostly focused on the existence of a Southern subculture of violence or a black subculture of violence. Recent theorizing on this topic has addressed many of the deficiencies in this literature and has reframed the issue by developing the notion of a Culture of Honor. Specifically, this perspective argues that if there is a subculture of violence in the U.S., it is most prevalent among Southern white males from rural areas. This study is designed to partially explore the veracity of these claims. Our analysis of GSS data reveals that Southern white males from rural areas are more approving of violence only under certain conditions, some of which may be construed as defensive in nature, and all of which have moderate to low approval ratings to begin with. In other words, when given scenarios in which the overall approval rate from the American public is high, this group is indistinguishable. But when given scenarios where overall approval is moderate to low, this group is more inclined to approve of the use of violence—a finding which we interpret as partially supportive of a subcultural explanation.     

FOLK MODELS OF DYADIC MALE BONDS IN ISRAELI CULTURE

This article explores the phenomenology of dyadic male bonds in Israeli culture, based on a secondary analysis of friendship narratives derived from a sample of Israeli-Jewish men. Two folk models of male friendships are delineated, situated in local images of hegemonic masculinity in Zionist ideology. The first model is the hevreman style of relatedness, underscoring sociability and adventure seeking. It endorses "cool" sharing involving nonverbal modes of communication and physical support. The countermodel is "intellectual" relatedness, stressing the exchange of ideas and "soul talk." It endorses psychologistic support and the verbal articulation of emotions. These tropes are discussed in comparative context. Against the dominant psychological-feminist paradigm of "being" versus "doing," it is argued that experiences of male intimacy are richer than overriding stereotypes of male inexpressivity suggest. The article calls for an attentive use of folk models in the sociology of emotions, taking into account the effect of hegemonic meaning systems. Rather than viewing emotional behavior, gender stereotypes, and ideology as separate features in the study of emotions, it underscores how emotional experience is dependent on cultural-interpretative processes nested in local and global social norms, collective history, and gendered ideology.     

MEN, WOMEN, AND THE CULTURE OF ENGINEERING

This study focuses on women's position in engineering. A conflict model that emphasizes the interplay of structural and interactional resources is developed to explain the occupational positions of women engineers. A central feature of this model is the "culture of engineering"—the socially defined standard of behavior and interaction among engineers. This model is used to explain the occupational experiences of a cohort of male and female engineers. Males and females with virtually identical qualifications and occupational attitudes show dissimilar current job status. It is argued that the culture of engineering, strongly identified with the male gender role, works against women. Where that culture is strongest, women do most poorly in occupational status and mobility.     

EMPIRICAL VALUES AND THE CULTURE OF FAMILY THERAPY*

The research-clinical practice connection is weak in family therapy. Some have argued, in an inordinate ideological and political tone, that traditional research methods are inappropriate for family therapy. This position mischaracterizes modern day clinical researchers and research. In presenting 10 key dimensions of the research-clinical practice issue in family therapy, this paper addresses some of these misrepresentations. If research and practice are to interact more productively, a major commitment, the scope and implications of which have not yet been realized, will need to be made. Actualizing the research-practice link is a training problem and a fundamental professional issue. Progress in this realm would change the particulars of clinical practice as we know it. These processes will involve nothing less than remaking the culture of family therapy.     

谈谈中国书画的“气”

“气韵生动”经晋代谢赫提出,为“六法”品评画艺的标准之首,历代至今也成为书画家创作与欣赏的品评标准之首。笔者认为,其中“气”应泛指书画作品中笔迹、形态所产生的气势、气场、气息、气脉等感觉;“韵”应泛指笔迹、形态所产生的节奏、对比、变化、过渡、平衡、和谐等感觉;“生动”应泛指笔迹、形态所产生的生命感、流淌感、艺术真实感等感觉。书画工作者在实践中是会体会到这些感受的。     

SPECTACLES OF ETHNICITY: FESTIVALS AND THE COMMODIFICATION OF ETHNIC CULTURE AMONG LOUISIANA CAJUNS

Drawing on the example of the Louisiana Cajuns, an ethnic group that has been enjoying a wave of popular revival in recent years, this study suggests that changes in the perception of an ethnic identity are related to socioeconomic transformation. We identify the festival as a key aspect of the Cajun revival since the 1960s. An examination of the history, activities, and contemporary spatiotemporal organization of festivals reveals similarities to other aspects of a society of mass consumption. Niche marketing , the structuring of recreation around the modern work week, and the establishment of personal identity through the purchase of symbolically rich commodities are all embodied in present - day Cajun festivals. At the same time, the consumption of ethnic commodities is linked by the consumers with a sense of tradition and descent from a mythic past. The festivals of southwestern Louisiana are, in this sense, invented traditions and, paradoxically, a measure of the assimilation of this particular ethnic group into American culture.     

THE CULTURE OF CORRUPTION,TAX EVASION,AND ECONOMIC GROWTH

This study uses a dynamic general equilibrium model to quantify the effects of corruption and tax evasion on fiscal policy and economic growth. The model is calibrated to match estimates of tax evasion in developing countries. The calibrated model is able to generate reasonable predictions for net tax rates, the corruption associated with public investment projects, and the negative correlation between corruption and tax revenue. The presence of corruption and evasion is shown to have significant, but not large, negative effects on economic growth. The relatively moderate effects help explain the absence of a robust negative correlation between growth and corruption in cross‐country data. The model also implies that cracking down on tax evasion before addressing corruption can be a bad idea and that higher wages for public officials can improve welfare. (JEL H3, O4)     

POSTMODERN CONSUMER CULTURE WITHOUT POSTMODERNITY: COPYING THE CRISIS OF SIGNIFICATION

The purpose of this study was to interpret the meaning of the postmodern discourse produced by Korean television advertisements, by categorizing postmodern television advertisements and describing their representations and images of reality in detail. Considering the production process of Korean postmodern advertisements, the study raised a question: How can we interpret the phenomena of imitating and assimilating the style of advertisements from the reservoir of postmodern signifiers, while not taking into account the values, ideas and ways of thinking implicit in such advertisements?

There are two ways of interpretation. First, it would be an effect of structural dependence, in which postmodern consumer cultural forms are replicated and replace local products with mass-produced goods. The narratives of postmodern advertisements serve as the catalyst to introduce these advertisements and to teach the grammar of international advertising. Second, the assimilation of postmodern advertisements in Korean television means a newly emergent hybrid culture. Because the target of postmodern advertisements is the young consumer, the producers adopt postmodern tastes and styles, inserting and translating their roots into local forms. The study concluded that it may be more appropriate not to choose one of these interpretations as a single correct theory; it is better to look at the articulation of different forces and processes within a field of interconnections among mediascape, financescape and technoscape.     

AUSTRIFYING EUROPE: ULTRARIGHT POPULISM AND THE NEW CULTURE OF RESISTANCE

The article investigates the political and cultural causes of the emergence of right-wing coalitions throughout the European Union, taking Austria as a symptomatic case of this return of political antagonism within a culture of consensus. It is argued that, methodologically and theoretically, a valid analysis of the phenomenon of xenophobic populism can only be achieved with the combined effort of both political and cultural theory,respectively of both political discourse analysis and cultural studies. Two axes of analysis have to be taken into account: the first being the relation between culture (or the popular) and politics (or the ‘people’), and the second concerning the even more fundamental relation or difference between politics and the political.     

PROTECTION OF FACE AND AVOIDANCE OF RESPONSIBILITY: CHINESE MEN'S ACCOUNT OF VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

This study of the accounts of Chinese male abusers identified three categories of narrative strategy: protection of face, avoidance of responsibility and the privatization of violence against women. The extent of the use of narrative strategies is a function of the interaction between the audience and the abuser, or the therapist and the client in the clinical context. Our findings underscore the need to obtain information on intervention, so that abusers might take full responsibility for halting their violence, unlearning their habitually violent behaviour, and moving toward finding previously unappreciated, constructive forms of conflict resolution.     

中国国内企业艺术收藏调研报告

1939年,美国的IBM集团开始以企业的名义收藏艺术品。20世纪50年代末,战后经济的复苏促进了企业艺术收藏的发展。1959年,摩根大通购买了20件艺术品用于装饰其在公园大道的办公室,开启了它的艺术收藏之路。可以说是这两家公司开了企业艺术收藏的先河。之后有越来越多的公司认识到,当它们收藏了高质量的艺术品时,自己也就成为了“高质量”公司的代表。这个理念促使更多的企业将艺术品收藏纳入到企业的运营规划之中。20世纪70年代,全球企业艺术品收藏的总数增加了80%,在1980至1987年间又增加了50%,企业收藏进入高速发展期。企业艺术品收藏的发展与艺术品市场的全球化发展密切相关,企业的艺术收藏是全球艺术品市场在20世纪80年代末期高速增长的重要推动力之一。企业收藏的实践也从欧美企业扩展到亚洲企业。20世纪90年代末至21世纪初,艺术品市场进入调整的长周期,虽使企业艺术品收藏热情降低,但企业艺术品收藏却更趋于理性化、系统化、专业化、成熟化。     

RECLAIMING HERITAGE: COLOURIZATION,CULTURE WARS AND THE POLITICS OF NOSTALGIA

This article considers the discursive continuities between a specifically liberal defence of cultural patrimony, evident in the debate over film colourization, and the culture war critique associated with neo-conservatism. It examines how a rhetoric of nostalgia, linked to particular ideas of authenticity, canonicity and tradition, has been mobilized by the right and the left in attempts to stabilize the configuration and perceived transmission of American cultural identity. While different in scale, colourization and multiculturalism were seen to create respective (postmodern) barbarisms against which defenders of culture, heritage and good taste could unite. I argue that in its defence of the ‘classic’ work of art, together with principles of aesthetic distinction and the value of cultural inheritance, the anti-colourization lobby helped enrich and legitimize a discourse of tradition that, at the end of the 1980s, was beginning to reverberate powerfully in the conservative challenge to a ‘crisis’ within higher education and the humanities. This article attempts to complicate the contemporary politics of nostalgia, showing how a defence of cultural patrimony has distinguished major and minor culture wars, engaging left and right quite differently but with similar presuppositions.