Back to Gondwanaland: can ancient vicariance explain (some) Indian Ocean disjunct plant distributions?

Oceans, or other wide expanses of inhospitable environment, interrupt present day distributions of many plant groups. Using molecular dating techniques, generally incorporating fossil evidence, we can estimate when such distributions originated. Numerous dating analyses have recently precipitated a paradigm shift in the general explanations for the phenomenon, away from older geological causes, such as continental drift, in favour of more recent, long-distance dispersal (LDD). For example, the 'Gondwanan vicariance' scenario has been dismissed in various studies of Indian Ocean disjunct distributions. We used the gentian tribe Exaceae to reassess this scenario using molecular dating with minimum (fossil), maximum (geological), secondary (from wider analyses) and hypothesis-driven age constraints. Our results indicate that ancient vicariance cannot be ruled out as an explanation for the early origins of Exaceae across Africa, Madagascar and the Indian subcontinent unless a strong assumption is made about the maximum age of Gentianales. However, both the Gondwanan scenario and the available evidence suggest that there were also several, more recent, intercontinental dispersals during the diversification of the group.

Attachment, psychopathology, and religion: Introduction to this special section of Mental Health, Religion, & Culture

An international conference of psychology of religion, organised at the University of Lausanne (Switzerland) on 16 May 2012, took up the theme: "Attachment, psychopathology, and religion". Four speakers were invited: Pehr Granvist, Andrew Gumley, Isabelle Rieben, and Pascal Roman. Their reworked contributions are gathered in this special section of Mental Health, Religion, & Culture. The goal of this special section is to re-examine the whole of this subject of the bond between attachment and religion and/or spirituality in the cases of those persons suffering from mental health disorders.

The Figure of Radha in Miniature Paintings: From the Pastoral to the Courtly, from Text to Visuality, from Polyphony to Normativity

This article analyses how Radha was depicted in miniature paintings between the 16th and 19th century in North India. Interrogating the link between text and image, contrasting poetry, style and historical settings with the visual representations of this central figure, my reflections focus on the changing nature of Radha. Through various examples from miniature paintings of different periods and schools, this article analyses the way the rich personality of Radha was transposed into images. In order to stress the changes brought to this female figure, I compare her to Krishna, the masculine figure who is always at her side. The main goal of the article is to show the normative power of images on the figure of Radha, with normativity being understood as the simplification, iconisation, aestheticisation and stereotypification of a figure with polysemous references.

Bibliographie catholique : revue critique des ouvrages de religion, de philosophie, d'histoire, de littérature, d'éducation...

1845/03 (A4,N9).

Bibliographie catholique : revue critique des ouvrages de religion, de philosophie, d'histoire, de littérature, d'éducation...

1847/10 (A7,N4).

Bibliographie catholique : revue critique des ouvrages de religion, de philosophie, d'histoire, de littérature, d'éducation...

1848/02 (A7,N8).

Bibliographie catholique : revue critique des ouvrages de religion, de philosophie, d'histoire, de littérature, d'éducation...

1848/06 (A7,N12).

Bibliographie catholique : revue critique des ouvrages de religion, de philosophie, d'histoire, de littérature, d'éducation...

1844/12 (A4,N6).

Bibliographie catholique : revue critique des ouvrages de religion, de philosophie, d'histoire, de littérature, d'éducation...

1845/01 (A4,N7).