Cultural metaphors as means to contextualised understanding of child and childhood

The conceptualizations about children and childhoods enrich our understanding of adult–child interactions, educational practice, policy and child-welfare interventions. This study explored 42 cultural metaphors drawn from diverse socio-economic, geographical and linguistic settings to construct Indian childhoods. The paper reports an interpretative analysis of reconstructions leading to a typology of metaphors-in-use. The conceptual-analytical exercise helped unpack nuances and contextual meanings of metaphors. The paper argues for richness and subtlety in theorising childhoods, which is multilayered, situated and intertwined with contextual issues and tensions. The study offers methodological, pedagogical and conceptual insights and proposes possibilities for using cultural tools into inquiring childhoods.     

机器中的幽灵 ——解读文本内外的《宣叙》

莫里森的批评论著《在黑暗中演奏：白色与文学想象》是作家对美国经典文学长期审视和反思的结果。通过分析白人经典作品中的非裔在场,我们可以揭示出“美国性”的本质和美国“文学白色”神话的炮制过程。如果将短篇小说《宣叙》与《演奏》并置,我们可以看到故事中的麦基其实是对后者所评述的美国经典文学中非裔在场的影射。麦基这个人物的再现是反射性的,与美国经典文学对非裔人物的再现如出一辙。二者的不同在于,故事揭示并最终反拨了人物再现的内在机制。《宣叙》对美国经典文学的观照,实质上是以隐晦的手法介入美国文学的经典辩论,传达了作者文化修正的愿望。     

Almost the same stories: narrative patterns in EU treaty referendums

ABSTRACT

The article analyses narratives that favoured or opposed European integration in three referendum debates held during the constitutional process of the 2000s: in France and the Netherlands in 2005 (Constitutional Treaty) as well as the first vote in Ireland on the Lisbon Treaty in 2008. In all debates examined, speakers used similar narratives of European integration. While most narrative patterns have transnational character, however, they are also remarkably country-specific. They depend on the specific cultural context and the social positions of the speakers articulating them.     

The establishment of Macao as a special port city and ensuing debates

澳门是中国最早对外开放的港口城市之一。但它如何在明朝中国的体制下开放 给葡萄牙人，其性质和作用如何，曾经引起朝野内外的争论，也经历了一个漫长的 演变过程，并最终得以发展成为一个商业城市。澳门港口城市早期形成、发展的特 殊政治环境、行政形态和社会生活经验，造就了澳门“和而不同，不同而和”的特 性和传统，承传数百年而生生不灭。

关键词: 澳门、?港口开放、?城市建立、?政治争论、?历史作用

Macao was one of the earliest port cities in China to be opened to foreigners; but how, under the institutions of Ming dynasty China, it should be opened to the Portuguese, and what its character and function should be, were subjects that triggered controversy both at court and among non‐officials. It was only after a lengthy process of evolution that Macao finally developed into a commercial city. The special political environment, administrative patterns and social experiences of early Macao created a unique character and tradition of “harmony amidst difference, and difference amidst harmony” that was maintained for centuries with undiminished vitality.     

New deal public relations: A glimpse into FDR press secretary Stephen Early's work

Long-time confidant and press secretary to US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Stephen Early served throughout FDR's 12-year administration. As such, he was chief White House communicator during the implementation of the president's New Deal policies and throughout World War II. In March 1934, on the first day of his second year as secretary, Early started a diary. He added to it until the end of the decade. This study examines 131 of Early's diary entries over its 6 years to construct a glimpse of his professional and personal life as a high-level government communicator. Compilations of his most common activities are made and compared over time, and a discussion of Early's day-to-day professional work, private time, and contributions within the context of modern public relations practice are included.     

伊朗革命后社会的政治发展探析

1979年以来,伊朗伊斯兰共和国的革命后社会发展经历了霍梅尼和哈梅内伊两个时期。历经10年的制度建设和20年的调整改革,伊朗革命后社会的政治发展正遭遇深刻的路径抉择问题。伊朗政坛的主要政治人物都是体制内的现实主义者,改革派在与保守派的较量中基本处于弱势。总统选举是伊朗的“第二级权力”之争,但却日益成为了伊朗政治斗争的焦点。伊朗第十届总统选举及其选后长时间的政治风波,充分展示了伊朗革命后社会的政治发展成就和允许异见并存的政治空间。内贾德总统的连任具有一定的必然性,反映了伊朗社会延续既往发展轨迹的深厚社会基础和强大制度惯性,但其激进平民主义的施政风格和相关政策却可能对伊朗的长期发展产生负面影响。     

Red states,blue states: How well do the recent national election labels capture state political and policy differences?

The alleged polarization between the so-called red (Republican) and blue (Democratic) states during the presidential elections has been examined using only voter surveys. Focusing on the recent thirteen national elections from 1964 to 2012, we examine social, political, institutional, and policy indicators of the 50 American states to (1) gauge the extent to which national election results reflect significant policy and political differences between the red and blue states and (2) to assess the explanatory power of the dichotomous red–blue label relative to a continuous variable of “redness” or “blueness” by the percentage of votes received. We find substantial political and some moderate social differences between red and blue states but fewer institutional and policy differences than one would expect if there were actually deep divisions between the states. We find that the red–blue state distinction performs well when compared to the explanatory power of the more precise redness or blueness of a state.     

English in contemporary Sweden: Perceptions,policies, and narrated practices

This paper compares trends in Sweden's language planning and language policies, and particularly the rationale underlying recent government legislation, to actual language use at the ‘grass roots’ of society, in order to investigate the extent to which academic and official rationales are confirmed by observed language practices. The passing of the Swedish Language Act of 2009 followed debates in academia and the media which not infrequently characterised English as a major threat to the survival of Swedish. However, despite the strong belief in the utility of English widely held in Sweden, the Swedish language is the preferred language of Swedes as well as immigrants in most domains. These results reveal a contradiction between the arguments put forward by a number of academics, educators and journalists concerning the ‘threat’ of English, and the language practices of ordinary folk in their daily lives.     

《红楼梦》后四十回研究论文述要(1978-2010)

《红楼梦》后四十回一直是红学界的关注焦点。仔细分析1978到2010年《红楼梦》后四十回的研究状况可知,其间出现了两次关于后四十回的作者之争:即1978到1986年的第一次论争和2006到2010年的第二次论争;围绕着三个核心主题:以作者研究为中心,重点向与此密切相关的后四十回的价值评判与文本研究两大主题延伸。鉴于此,《红楼梦》后四十回后续研究要想取得新的突破,还应在回归文本的基础上开拓研究视野,并促使研究成果不断转化。     

Developing the scale of presidential candidate's dialogic communication (PCDC) during the 2017 presidential campaign in South Korea

This study aims to develop and validate a measure of presidential candidates’ dialogic communication (PCDC) in political public relations. We conceptualized the construct of PCDC with two dialogic dimensions, voicing and listening, from the relational perspective. Through the scale development process, we conducted an online survey of 1,195 Korean participants during the Korean presidential campaign in February 2017. The results showed that the proposed two-dimensional PCDC scale with 12 items was statistically reliable and valid. The findings also revealed that voicing and listening were significantly associated with publics’ intention to support or oppose a candidate and their supportive or critical communication behavior regarding the candidate. Theoretical and strategic implications are further discussed.