Mythscapes: memory,mythology, and national identity

In this paper I seek to challenge the dominant modes of conceiving the relationship between memory and national identity, and in so doing offer analysts of nationalism an improved understanding of the dynamics of national identity formation. The concept of collective memory is invoked regularly in attempts to explain the pervasiveness and power of nationalism. I argue that the concept is misused routinely in this context, and instead I employ a 'social agency' approach to theorizing, whereby memory is conceived in a more limited and cogent manner. I argue that it is important to distinguish clearly between memory and mythology, both of which are essential to understanding national identity, for not only are the two concepts distinct, they can also act in opposition to each other. Following from this I introduce the notion of a 'mythscape', the temporally and spatially extended discursive realm in which the myths of the nation are forged, transmitted, negotiated, and reconstructed constantly. Through employing the idea of a mythscape we can relate memory and mythology to each other in a theoretically profitable way.     

FROM EL CAMPO TO EL BARRIO: MEMORY AND SOCIAL IMAGINARIES IN SANTO DOMINGO

In the social imaginaries of the Dominican Republic, national culture has its origins in el campo, the countryside. Country spaces and country people are viewed as embodying the past in the present, making them authentic contemporary carriers of national culture and moral order. By contrast, the city has long been viewed as the site of a modernity that takes its inspiration from outside of the nation but also as a site of social degeneration. In recent decades, representations of poor barrios as a threat to the city's moral order have intensified in reaction to rising crime rates and a series of economic crises. First generation migrants from the country to the city find that their status as carriers of culture and morality is compromised. They evoke positive memories of their rural pasts to position themselves as moral beings transposed to a corrupt urban milieu. At the same time, they develop urban identities that incorporate aspects of rural life while rejecting others. I argue that migrants' memories of their rural past resist their emplacement while allowing for the transformation of their present structural position.     

Contesting Formosa: Tragic Remembrance,Urban Space,and National Identity in Taipak

Throughout the world, national identities are inscribed on communities through the construction of social space. Although the identity of Taiwan-as Chinese versus Formosan-has been contested for the past fifty years, the struggles over space and memory have become increasingly visible since the lifting of martial law in 1987. This article, a product of five years of field research in Taiwan, is an attempt to read some ways in which so-called Native Taiwanese have begun to inscribe a non-Chinese identity on social space in Taipak and beyond. In particular, I focus on how struggles for control over social memory have played out in the transformation of Taipak's New Park into a memorial for the Massacre of February 28. Although it is only one social field on which the struggle for Taiwanese identity is fought, New Park has become one of the major points of contention between ethnic groups on the island.     

The Harki Identity: A Product of Marginalisation and Resistance to Symbolic Violence?

This paper seeks to demonstrate that since their arrival in France in 1962, the Harkis – the Algerians who fought with rather than for the French side against the Algerian independence movement (1954–1962) – have been the victims of symbolic violence. They have been assigned by the French state to the periphery of French towns, French history and French identity. As, since 25 September 2001 (the first national Harki remembrance day) and 5 December 2002 (when President Chirac inaugurated the Algerian war memorial in Paris), the Harkis ceased to epitomise ‘the archetype of official non memory’ (Rosello, 1998 Rosello, M. 1998. Declining the stereotype- Ethnicity and representations in French cultures, Hanover: University Press of New England.  [Google Scholar], p. 170), this paper ultimately asks whether the end of a certain form of symbolic violence may not result in the ‘delegitimisation’ of the Harkis’ main (historical) claims and, consequently, in the weakening of the Harki identity.     

海外人类学的风景研究综述

直至20世纪末,"风景"才逐渐进入海外人类学研究的视野,成为人类学研究和探讨的话题。海外人类学视野中的风景研究可以从三个脉络进行梳理:脉络一是将风景视为文化的建构及过程;脉络二是对风景、记忆与身份认同的研究;脉络三是对风景与权力关系的考察。海外人类学的风景研究对中国人类学界在该领域的开拓和探索颇具启发性。在中国社会转型过程中,中国的人类学研究者们可以在这个文化巨变的时代经由对风景的探讨,将地域文化的历史与现实、普通人的家园感/恋地情结与国家/市场的权力相勾连,深描一幅时代的图景。     

逻辑记忆法与英语词汇教学

英语词汇逻辑记忆法是以词代替以字母为单位作为突破口,通过研究词本身的内部关系,词与词之间的外在联系,找出记忆的规律和途径,从而启发人们逻辑思维能力的记忆方法。英语词汇教学中运用逻辑记忆这一方法,向学习者提供了一种有效利用原有知识经验,对生词进行加工的方式,帮助学生运用已有的词汇、知识和经验,去熟记和增加英语词汇,强化记忆,防止遗忘,将已形成的关于这一方法的陈述性知识向程序性知识转化,形成相应的智力技能,从而减轻学生对于英语单词结构记忆的负担,提高单词结构记忆的效率。     

Adolescent network positions and memory performance in adulthood: Evidence from sibling fixed effects models with sociometric network data

Although research has explored social factors influencing memory performance during adolescence, the impact of adolescent social network positions remains largely unknown. This study examines whether adolescent network position is associated with memory performance in adulthood, while also considering potential gender differences. The study used a sibling sample from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (N = 2462) and employed sibling fixed effects models to account for unobserved family background factors, such as genetics, parental characteristics, family environment, and childhood neighborhood. Four dimensions of adolescent network position—i.e., popularity, sociality, degree centrality, and closeness centrality—were sociometrically assessed in schools. Memory performance in adulthood was measured using the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test. The sibling fixed effects estimates indicate that sociality, degree centrality, and closeness centrality are significantly associated with increased memory performance in adulthood, even after controlling for unobserved family heterogeneity as well as a set of individual-level covariates. In contrast, controlling for unobserved family heterogeneity attenuated the association for popularity, making it statistically insignificant. This study also provides evidence of gender differences in the association between social network position and memory performance. The associations for popularity, sociality, and degree centrality are more pronounced among men than women. This study’s findings highlight the importance of adolescent network positions as social determinants in shaping cognitive outcomes over the life course. Interventions that encourage positive peer interactions and reduce social isolation during adolescence may help improve cognitive health in the population.