At the frontier of imperial history: revisiting Edward Gait’s A History of Assam

Edward Gait’s A History of Assam was first published in 1906, later revised in 1926. The book has remained one of the most popular ‘textbooks’ in Assam, especially as the first modern historiography on the subject. This article looks at two broad issues in this regard. First, it looks at the contradictions that Gait was faced with in terms of his imperial ideology and interpreting the historical sources of an imperial frontier. Second, it tries to situate the relevance of the above point vis-à-vis some of the contemporary attempts at re-framing the region as an international borderland. In conclusion, the article looks at the reception of Gait and his appropriation into different discourses within Assam. A point explored is whether despite its contradictions, was Gait’s A History of Assam part of a wider, dynamic context of early twentieth century Assam, which made the book an important academic and political intervention of its times.     

美国在日韩邦交正常化谈判中的作用（1951-1965）

日韩邦交正常化谈判(1951-1965)历时长达14年之久,不可避免地受到国际环境的影响,尤其受到美国东北亚战略的影响。反之,日韩会谈也从一个侧面反映了东北亚冷战格局的演变。探讨美国在日韩邦交正常化谈判中的作用,可以分析美国为什么“搭台”以及如何“搭台”的。     

试论地缘政治因素对东北亚安全机制构建的影响

本文从地缘政治角度介绍了东北亚地区安全态势,分析了东北亚地区地缘政治的复杂性,详细阐述了美、日、俄、中等大国在东北亚地区的地缘政治利益和安全外交战略及其对构建东北亚地区安全合作机制的影响,提出了在东北亚地区建立安全合作机制的目标,展望了在东北亚建立多边主义的安全合作机制的前景.     

"流亡"文学群体的民族意识与生命意识——论"东北作家群"的乡土小说

“东北作家群”是出现在现代民族战争中的“流亡”文学群体,其乡土小说叙事话语的精神指向是多重的,“抗日话语”及其强烈的民族意识是其显性层面;“阶级话语”成其为“左翼”标识,但并没有成为乡土叙事的重心;其社会批判、文化批判与自由而雄强的生命意识的张扬融合在一起,更多地承续了五四启蒙思想命题,而又与关内的中原文化格调有着明显的区别。所有这些共同点,都蕴含在具有浓郁东北地域文化色彩的“风景画”、“风俗画”和“风情画”的描绘中。     

Books reviewed

The Government's now-defunct plans for elected regional assemblies in England were principally economic and administrative in focus, and therefore paid little attention to perceptions of regional culture or identity and therefore to questions over regional boundaries. A comparison of two regions of England-Cornwall and the North-East-indicates that regional identity played some role in each. In Cornwall, which is not a standard region, regional campaigners began with an almost ethnonationalist perspective and refocused their campaign on economic and administrative issues. In the North-East, shared economic history and experience characterised the early campaigns, and less successful attempts were made to extrapolate regional identity from this. This relates to historical Labour Party uneasiness about territorial identity, a factor that is far less present in Cornwall.     

The question of India’s North-East identity and solidarity

The question of India’s North-East identity and solidarity has been a subject of debate among scholars, academicians and others. Apologia to a collective North-East believes in the existence of North-East identity and solidarity. Against the apologia’s stands are the critique who rather brushed aside North-East collectivity and questioned the clubbing together of the region as one entity. This article highlights some of the contrasting views of understanding India’s North-East, and takes the issue further by proposing to call these contending paradigms as the ‘apologists’ and the ‘sceptics’. We further argue that despite their apparent ‘antithesis’, both paradigms are related.     

东北民间故事特征浅论

东北民间故事是世世代代生活在东北大地上的东北人民,在长期开发建设东北的过程中,在长期的繁衍生息中,所创造的独具特色的传统民族文化也是东北民间文学的重要门类之一。它构成了东北各民族民间故事的深厚基础和广阔背景,积淀着东北广大民众的思想感情和价值观念。东北民间故事和其他民间文学形式一样,有着自己作为客观存在的渊源深厚、集体创作、口头传承、流动变异的重要特征。