“Crye Fredome”? Medievalism and Twenty-First-Century Scottish National Identity

It is a well-documented fact that the Middle Ages have had a long history of instrumentalisation by nationalisms. 19th-century Eu¬rope in particular witnessed an origins craze during the process of nation-building. In the post-Shoah, post-modern West, on the other hand, we might expect this kind of medievalist master nar¬rative to have been consigned to the dustbin of history. And yet, as nationalism surges again in Europe, negotiations of national identi¬ties in medieval dress seem to have become fashionable once more. In order to come to terms with the fragmented and often contradictory presence of the Middle Ages in these discourses of national identity, I propose we consider medievalism a utilitarian product of the cultural memory. Rather than representing any ‘real’ Middle Ages, then, medievalism tailors available knowledge of the medieval past to the diverse social needs and ideologies of the present. This paper looks at a selection of Scottish examples of present-day medievalism in an attempt to investigate, in particular, the place of the medieval Wars of Scottish Independence in contemporary negotiations of ‘Scottishness’. Both the relationships envisioned between self and other and the role played by ‘the land’ in these cultural, social and political instances of national introspection offer starting points for critical inquiry. Moreover, the analysis of a scholarly intervention in the run-up to the 2014 Scottish independence referendum indicates an intriguing dialogue of academic and non-academic voices in the context of Scottish medievalist cultural memory. We thus find a wide array of uses of the Scottish Middle Ages, some of which feed into the burgeoning nationalism of recent years, while others offer more pensive and ambivalent answers to the question of what it means to be Scottish in the 21st century.

Las dos caras de la Fedra dannunziana

Desde Eurípides y Séneca, sin olvidar a Racine y Garnier, el mito de Fedra ejerció una especial atracción sobre el arte, y su vigencia se ha visto renovada periódicamente. La poética de grandes sectores artísticos de finales del siglo XIX, articulada por la remisión al código clasicista y por el apartamiento de toda forma de arte vulgar o burgués, produjo una de las últimas versiones de la tragedia: la Fedra (1909) de Gabriele d’Annunzio. En este trabajo, voy a detenerme en algunas claves culturales del texto del dramaturgo italiano. En ellas se refleja una lectura del mito antiguo en clave nietzscheana, en virtud de la inclusión de dos personajes agregados por D’Annunzio al repertorio clásico.

España: evolutionism & religion, Century XIX

From the Englightenment to the middle of the 19th century, geological time and the antiquity of human beings received ever growing attention. This was caused by a series of events, such as: *the beginnings of experimentation in Geology (Buffon, 1778) *the development of the transformism (Lamarck, 1809) *the recognition and description of extinct animals (Cuvier, 1812) *as well as the studies made in alluvial deposits, caves and gravel beds, with brought to light artefacts, human rest and bone of extinguished animals (from John Frere, 1797, to Albert Gaudry, 1859). The development towards evolutionism (Darwin, 1859) came gradually. In Spain, all these currents found their echo: Spain, e.g. was the third country where the Palaeolithic remains were discovered (Verneuil and Lartet, 1863). Also the Darwin ideas were introduced forcefully, right from the beginning. But the change in worldview, which was prerequisite to these ideas, lead to polemic controversies in the political and religious realm. The most significant evidence was the official prohibition of the teaching Darwinism in public educational centres (1875). At theological level, thanks to the advance of the geologic knowledge, went leaving the literal interpretations of Biblical texts was eventually discontinued and replaced by more liberal interpretation. In some case, the process was difficult because some political, religious and scientific authors and researchers didn’t understand the new scientific ideas.

Twentieth century climate change: Evidence from small glaciers

The relation between changes in modern glaciers, not including the ice sheets of Greenland and Antarctica, and their climatic environment is investigated to shed light on paleoglacier evidence of past climate change and for projecting the effects of future climate warming on cold regions of the world. Loss of glacier volume has been more or less continuous since the 19th century, but it is not a simple adjustment to the end of an “anomalous” Little Ice Age. We address the 1961–1997 period, which provides the most observational data on volume changes. These data show trends that are highly variable with time as well as within and between regions; trends in the Arctic are consistent with global averages but are quantitatively smaller. The averaged annual volume loss is 147 mm⋅yr−1 in water equivalent, totaling 3.7 × 103 km3 over 37 yr. The time series shows a shift during the mid-1970s, followed by more rapid loss of ice volume and further acceleration in the last decade; this is consistent with climatologic data. Perhaps most significant is an increase in annual accumulation along with an increase in melting; these produce a marked increase in the annual turnover or amplitude. The rise in air temperature suggested by the temperature sensitivities of glaciers in cold regions is somewhat greater than the global average temperature rise derived largely from low altitude gauges, and the warming is accelerating.

O Guesa em New York: republicanismo e americanismo em Sousândrade

Esta tese analisa a poesia de Joaquim de Sousa Andrade (1832-1902), ou Sousândrade, e tem por objetivo discutir o imaginário político republicano como elo de ligação entre os poemas O Guesa, especialmente o Canto Décimo (1877), Novo Éden: Poemeto da adolescência, 1888-1889 (1893), Harpa de Ouro (189?) e a continuação O Guesa, o Zac (1902). A cronologia dessas obras indica que é a partir dos anos vividos por Sousândrade nos Estados Unidos que as figurações da República passam a permear os seus escritos. No Canto Décimo, gestado em Nova York, Sousândrade traça um panorama da sociedade estadunidense na década de 1870 e, embora haja críticas à certas práticas econômicas nesse canto, conforme discutiremos com vagar, destaca-se a emulação do poeta em exaltar aquele modelo sociopolítico. Essa atitude do escritor maranhense afinava-se com a visão de brasileiros imigrados nos Estados Unidos naquele mesmo período, os quais formavam uma rede de pensadores liberais comprometidos com a modernização do Brasil. Esse diálogo transatlântico que começa a ser traçado entre Estados Unidos e Brasil caracteriza uma alternativa ao modelo de civilização europeu até então em voga, tema ainda pouco explorado pela historiografia literária. De volta a pátria, Sousândrade dá prosseguimento ao seu fazer poético e, além do seu engajamento na nova conjuntura política do país, dedica-se à construção do mito fundador da República brasileira nos poemas concebidos desde 1893. A trajetória do poeta republicano foi marcada pelo seu anseio de progresso e modernização do Brasil, tarefa na qual ele empenhou-se política e literariamente.

Academie to atelier : the artistic education of American women in nineteenth-century Paris

This paper puts forth an alternate reading of the artistic climate in late nineteenth-century Paris than that which has traditionally been suggested. I propose that the expansion of creative opportunity during this time reveals a climate of communal support, consent, and progressive reform for women artists, rather than a struggle to undermine central (masculine) control, as many scholars have claimed. Specifically, I explore the work of American expatriates living in Paris, including but not limited to Cecilia Beaux, Anna Klumpke, Alice Kellogg, and Ellen Day Hale. The birth of the private academy in Paris offered women the chance to develop their artistic ability and assert their independence. The Académie Julian in particular provided a comparatively accepting and progressive environment where American women studying abroad could study from the nude model, receive proper training, and explore their full creative potential. Through an examination of a) these women’s self-portraits, and b) depictions of them painted by their contemporaries – both male and female – I further investigate the artistic education of American women in the highly-gendered cultural milieu of late nineteenth-century France.

Sites of Chemistry in the Nineteenth Century

The three articles in this special issue of Ambix were among the twenty-one papers presented at the conference “Sites of Chemistry in the Nineteenth Century,” held in Valencia at the Institute for the History of Medicine and Science ‘López Piñero’ in July 2012. This meeting was the second of the series of conferences organised as part of the project Sites of Chemistry, 1600–2000, the aim of which was to investigate the wide and diverse range of physical spaces and places where chemistry has been practised from the early modern period to the twentieth century.

Valedictory poem delivered in the Chapel of Harvard University on the 21 June 1796: in the presence of the President Proffers & Tutors & the four classes of understudents at the request of the class who completed their college studies on that day

Handwritten draft of the Charles P. Sumner’s valedictory poem to the Harvard class of 1796, in a 19th century hardcover binding beginning “The youth by adverse fortune forced to roam…”. The poem mentions John Russell, a member of the Class of 1796 who died in November 1795. The copy includes edits and struck-out words.

Miss Rebecca Story's book : manuscript, 1796-[ca. 1803]

Commonplace book of poetry some by Porter; with a list of names of female students at Mr. Woodbridge Academy, 1796. Also includes a poem by Porter concerning the death of her brother, Isaac Story (A. B. 1793).

Netâicü'l-fünûn / li-Nev'î Efendi : manuscript, undated

Concise encyclopedia on twelve sciences: 1. history; 2. philosophy; 3. astronomy; 4. theology; 5. principles of law; 6. controverted points; 7. exegesis; 8. mysticism; 9. interpretation of dreams; 10. magic, charm, and medecine; 11. agriculture; 12. astrology and divination.

Rasāʼil mufīdah fī bayān mawḍūʻ ʻilm al-tafsīr wa-taʻrīfihi wa-istimdādihi wa-ghāyatihi / lil-Imām al-ʻĀlim al-ʻAllāmah mufīd al-ṭālibīn Muḥammad ibn Khalīfah ibn Ṣadr al-mudarrisīn al-Shaykh Saʻd al-Dīn al-Marḥūmī al-Shawbarī : manuscript, undated

Written in one column, 21 lines per page, in black and red.

Particulars of the trial and execution of George Partridge, aged 21: who was executed at Bury-St.-Edmund's, on Monday last, for the wilful murder of George Ansell, aged 9 years, within a few miles of Polstead, the late scene of Maria Martin's murder. Also, the prisoner's confession

Date of imprint from execution date, April 13, 1829 -- Capital Punishment UK site via WWW, viewed December 14, 2007.

The shepheardes calender : conteining twelue aeglogues proportionable to the twelue monethes : Entitled to the noble and vertuous gentleman most worthie of all titles, both of learning and chiualry, Maister Philip Sidney.

Label inside front board.

La rapinéide, ou, L'atelier : poème burlesco-comico-tragique en 7 chants /

Advertisements: 2 unnumbered pages at end.