Cruel Pessimism and Waiting for Belonging: Towards a Global Political Economy of Affect

Recent theorizations of affect have focused largely on Western historical, political and aesthetic contexts to distinguish between affect and emotion. Notably, these interventions offer new imaginaries to reinvigorate analysis of politics in the face of shrinking possibilities. However, much of this literature views affect as autonomous from emotion, while overlooking the political history of development and the differentiated relation to affect under colonial capitalism in other historical contexts. This paper studies subaltern engagement in activist performance in India to address these issues. It thinks through Lauren Berlant's account of the aesthetic genre and affective structure of cruel optimism, and her focus on historical contexts where people have recently lost the vision of a good life. By contrast, focusing on the historical present of those born into a pervasive and intractable sense of marginality and insecurity, I ask: what is the subject's relation to affect and activism in contexts where the loss of vision of a good life is not new under neoliberalism, but rather, reworks long-standing violence and inclusion/exclusion of colonial capitalism and nation-state histories. I argue that it is useful to understand Berlant's ‘materialist context for affect theory’ in light of uneven global histories of colonialism, development and neoliberalism. The affective experience of time is different across different spaces. As such, this paper contributes a global materialist context for affect theory, by focusing on activist theatre by a tribe called Chhara, designated ‘born criminals’ by British colonial law – a status legally denotified in 1952, but that is practically still effective in postcolonial India. Competing affective structures – sentimental optimism, cruel pessimism, betrayal and ordinary regard – shape and are shaped by Chhara negotiations with branded criminality. Ultimately, for the postcolonial subject, surviving in the neoliberal present involves vacillating among competing affective structures, only some of which generate sustained political critique.     

文化产业化背景下电视剧《胡杨女人》的商品消费性特征解析

《胡杨女人》是文化产业化背景下生产的蒙古族题材电视剧。该剧得以在央视1套和8套连续4次反复播出,与其在创作方面的创新性探索不无关联,尤其突出表现为剧作的商品消费性特征明显,即注重讲故事、民俗文化参与叙事、自然景观的奇异化。该剧的成功为文化产业化时代蒙古族题材电视剧的创作提供了可供借鉴的范式。     

贯彻《通用规范汉字表》需要澄清误解——以朱大可《汉字革命和文化断裂》为例

教育部、国家语委《通用规范汉字表》是中国今后一个时期在“通用”领域使用汉字必须遵守的规范。贯彻该《字表》必须澄清前一时期文化界对简化字的种种误解。朱大可所持简化字是“字母共产主义化”、“毛体字”，造成“文化断裂”的观点，以及他对某些字形的解说，对推行规范汉字有阻力作用。建议文化名人了解语言文字知识和汉字改革历史。     

也谈简体字

在政治更迭、文化变迁的大叙事中，小小的文字变化最能体现大时代的风貌。古有始皇帝威权下的“书同文”，今有上世纪五十年代初旨在“汉字拉丁化”的“文字简化运动”。简化字与繁体字争议的背后，是政治激进主义与文化保守主义的思想交锋，或者说是中华历史文化断裂与传承的别一选择。周清泉先生关于“汉字简化方案”实施中的管见，因于当时话语权被肆意剥夺而无处表达，本刊编发该文，一是提供关于汉字简化的反思与总结，二是彰显学人发表独立见解的历史进步。     

《说文解字》关于太阳循环记载的研究

我国古代盛行着太阳崇拜,对太阳循环有着自己独特的认识。因此,作为"先秦历史文化总汇"的《说文解字》对此颇多反映。同时,文字的产生往往有其文化背景,《说文解字》中就有许多以古人太阳循环观念为背景而产生的文字。本文从这两方面入手对此所作的探讨,说明了文字与文化的关系密不可分。     

"以德治国”的理性思考

以江泽民同志为核心的第三代领导集体,在总结吸取历史上几千年治国实践经验的基础上,从建设有中国特色社会主义总目标出发,第-次提出了"以德治国”的思想,并将以德治国和依法治国结合起来,作为治国方略.这是对马列主义、毛泽东思想、邓小平理论的丰富和发展,对有中国特色社会主义的伟大实践具有重要的指导意义.高校担负着培养和造就社会主义事业建设者和接班人的重要使命,重视对大学生进行道德观念教育,以德治国的思想才能真正深入人心,国民的素质才能真正得到提高.     

异体字("重文")漫议

<说文>的异体字("重文")和现代异体字有着错综复杂的对应关系.就现代异体字情况看,它与繁简字、古今字、通假字、分化字、错讹字、新旧字形等多种文字现象有关涉.异体字是有历史层次的,应从历史发展的观点看待异体字.从研读古籍和文字使用方面看,应分清全同异体字和部分异体字.从整理异体字角度看,<说文>是历史上第一次对异体字进行了大规模的整理,开创了历史的先例,给我们很多有益的启示.     

产品包装品牌形象文字的拟态化书写

书法是设计商品品牌形象文字常见的文化元素。品牌形象文字要在简洁明快易读易记的基础上充分体现包装内容物的商品属性,但是传统书体的形态与商品的属性之间并不存在着确切的同构关系,所以要通过某种方式对传统的书法进行重构,文字的拟态化书写就是其中的一种方式。     

Catholicism, Job Security Regulations and Female Employment: A Micro-level Analysis of Esping-Andersen's Social Catholicism Thesis

This article explores the religious roots of job security regulations in Western democracies by putting Esping-Andersen's famous social Catholicism thesis to the test. Esping-Andersen argues that due to religious socialization, Catholics exhibit more conservative family values, i.e. they tend to support the male breadwinner model. To sustain this model of family organization, Catholics are expected to support job security regulations. These regulations have been described in the literature as important determinants of gender-segregated labour markets and low female employment rates. Data from this article show that while Catholics indeed support more conservative family models, so do Reformed Protestants and religious persons in general. Furthermore, no relationship between religious denomination and preferences for job security regulations can be observed. The analysis thus refutes Esping-Andersen's social Catholicism thesis.     

关于《规范汉字表》的几个认识问题

汉字在理据和效率的矛盾统一中，效率始终占据矛盾的主要方面；《规范汉字表》是为全社会绝大多数人和绝大多数场合的文字应用而研制的；汉争的稳定是相对的，变化发展是绝对的，不能以稳定为借口排斥发展；研制《规范汉字表》需要在纷繁复杂的矛盾中寻找最佳平衡点；方案正式颁布、实施之前，有必要在社会各界广泛征求意见。