史官与官史--韩、柳的史官辩

韩愈和柳宗元关于史官问题的辩论,发生于九世纪初唐宪宗元和年间。韩、柳辩论的问题,表面看来是史官可不可作?可不可有作为?如可为,应怎么作?其实涉及史官的职责、史官的命运、史馆的建置以及史学与政治的关系等等,可谓中世纪前期近千年以编纂当代史为重心的文化体制的一次总结和回顾。正因如此,就成了中国史学的历史进程中的一道难以回避的论题。     

汉语史研究基本理论范畴问题

汉语史研究的事实发掘成果卓著,令人目不暇接,但理论滞后于实际的状况却愈显突出,主要症结在于汉语史研究的基本理论范畴还没有确立起来,所以导致我们连汉语史研究的基本理论框架的认识都十分模糊。范畴的概括化与系统化是一门学科成熟程度的标志。确立科学的汉语史研究理论范畴当遵循下面的一些原则:以汉语史研究科学体系为构建框架,突出汉语史科学范畴体系的特点,按相对稳定的定型化思维样式来表述。无论是从汉语史研究范畴属性、汉语史研究范畴认识类型,还是从汉语史研究范畴视野来看,汉语史研究的基本理论范畴包括基本概念、分期理论、史料科学、理论模型、方法论、学术视野、学术评价、学术演化、学术关系、学术价值等。     

革命史体系与现代文学史写作的逻辑缺失

一切历史都是个人史,在历史的共名之下,可以包含有无数的个别理解。中国现代文学史写作面临着一个根本性的任务,就是在历史与逻辑的关系辨析中,对学科的学科本体的重新确认和方法论的进一步总结,将文学史写作纳入到人类思想史的分析之中,在一般思维逻辑上确立一种历史哲学观念,从而把文学史学上升为文学史哲学。革命史的合理性和合法性,并不一定能成为文学史和学术史的全部法则,应该在政治的合理性和合法性之内去寻找和确立人类性与个人性的尺度,以丰富人们对于中国现当代文学特别是战争文学的理解。     

Female fertility history and mid-late-life health: Findings from China

China’s middle-aged and older women suffer from poorer health than men. Using national baseline data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS), a survey conducted from 2011 to 2012, this article applies logistic models to investigate the association between female fertility history (parity, early childbearing, late childbearing) and middle-aged and late-life health. We find that parity is related to the mid-late-life health of women. Women with four children or more are more likely to suffer from activities of daily living (ADL) impairment and poorer self-rated health than those with one to three children. Early childbearing is associated with ADL impairment; however, the correlation is mediated by socioeconomic status. Early childbearing is related to self-rated health in later life by an indirect-only mediation effect via educational attainment and personal income.     

人类命运共同体的价值底蕴､文化范式与历史逻辑

推动构建人类命运共同体是新时代坚持和发展中国特色社会主义的基本方略之一,是对全球治理理念和模式的一种革新,是对人类社会发展理念的全新探索。党的十九大提出要“倡导构建人类命运共同体,促进全球治理体系变革”,这既是为全球治理贡献中国智慧与中国方案,也有利于构建具有中国特色的国际话语传播体系,有助于推动建立公正合理的国际新秩序。人类命运共同体的提出致力于全人类参与的共建、共享、共赢的价值导向,以包容互鉴的态度尊重不同文化之间的多样性与差异性,是对人类命运的历史思考,也是对当前全球化深入发展的现实回应。人类命运共同体思想承载着对人类命运的历史思辨,体现了人类对美好生活的向往与追求,成为推动人类文明进步与发展的价值引领。     

Elite women in the Ukrainian Hetmanate

The history of the Ukrainian Hetmanate has been studied from the perspective of war, political struggle, and diplomacy. This article studies various aspects of women’s lives in Cossack society: their legal status, economic rights, role in society, relations with husbands and sons, the tradition of women’s presence at formal receptions, and their interference in political life. It is also about “women in politics,” “witches,” sex and premarital relations, kidnappings, and love affairs. The general argument is that the position of Ukrainian women was closer to that of women in Catholic Poland than in Muscovy.     

Unravelling Memories of Family Separation Among Sri Lankan Tamils Resettled in Australia, 1983–2000

Abstract

Using life story interviews with 10 Sri Lankan Tamil refugees resettled in Australia, this article shows how family separation in experiences of civil war and resettlement produce long-lasting and emotional memories of fear and determination. The findings explore how young Tamil people gave meaning to family when they interacted with key individuals and negotiated cultural practices in different spaces. Moreover, intergenerational family narratives emerged as a key practice through which Tamils preserved the family identity. The analysis demonstrates how and when family separation can manifest in personal memories to reveal stories of agency and resilience. A critical engagement of the past can help to better understand concepts of childhood in relation to family and family separation in war affected diaspora communities.     

Israel's military public diplomacy evolution: Historical and conceptual dimensions

This study provides an historical overview of the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit (ISU) from the early years of the State of Israel until 2009. Analyzing five periods during which the ISU played a key role in Israel's public diplomacy, this research sheds light on the challenges the ISU faced in different periods and circumstances and examines how the ISU tried to modify its methods and actions in response to geopolitical changes and media development, albeit not always successfully. The study suggests better understanding the adaptation process by applying a three-layer framework for analysis: the tactical layer, the strategic layer and the perceptional layer. The findings of this work demonstrate that in adapting to new circumstances, the ISU focused mainly on the tactical response level, with the result that it did not undertake any review or debate over the need for deeper perceptional changes in ISU policies.     

The Relevance of Modernity to Contemporary East Asia: An Outline

This article offers a framework for exploring the relevance of modernity to contemporary East Asia. I first examine different conceptualizations of modernity, paying special attention to Eisenstadt's influential concept of multiple modernities. Second, I point out the limitations and flaws of Eisenstadt's theory by drawing on nationalist politics in East Asia as an illustrative case. In particular, I examine the so-called “history perception problem,” which has been created by war and shaped by the legacies of war, to demonstrate the peculiar features of modernity in East Asia. Third, I use the works by three scholars as examples to show how intellectuals in China, South Korea, and Taiwan respond to the tensions between universalism and particularism, which, as a whole, reflect what can be called “East Asian modernity.” And finally, I try to respond to the controversial but fashionable question that is peculiar to East Asia: can modernity be overcome? It is argued that East Asia can be understood through the lens of modernity, and vice versa. Nowadays, modernity has become a global condition in both geographical and topological senses. It is not something to be overcome, but a condition that we all live in and should learn to live with, here and now.     

Modelling period fertility: Schooling and intervals following a birth in Eastern Africa

We describe a regression-based approach to the modelling of age-, order-, and duration-specific period fertility, using retrospective survey data. The approach produces results that are free of selection biases and can be used to study differential fertility. It is applied to Demographic and Health Survey data for Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe to investigate differential trends in fertility by education. Parity progression fell and the intervals following each birth lengthened between the 1970s and 2000s in all four countries. Fertility fell most among women with secondary education. In contrast to other world regions, postponement of successive births for extended periods accounted for much of the initial drop in fertility in these African countries. However, family size limitation by women with secondary education in Ethiopia and Kenya and longer birth spacing in Zimbabwe also played significant roles. Thus, birth control is being adopted in Eastern Africa in response to diverse changes in fertility preferences.