‘Med Hondo’s Sarraounia: The musical articulation of cultural transformation’

This article examines music in Med Hondo’s Sarraounia, considering how it contributes to the dramatic form of the movie while concurrently articulating narratives regarding cultural transformation through both its extrinsic (cultural) and intrinsic (formal) dimensions. Examining how the use of traditional and contemporary African music politicises diegetic space by referring us to the relationships between indigenous musical forms and their global, culturally hybrid descendents, it then demonstrates the complex manner in which the film uses the formal specificities of African and Western musical idioms to articulate a narrative regarding the cultural transformations that occur when an oral culture (Africa) encounters a literate, modernised culture (the West).

Formation of NH4[Hg-3(NH)(2)](NO3)(3) and transformation to [Hg2N](NO3)

NH4[Hg-3(NH)(2)](NO3)(3) (1) and [Hg2N](NO3) (2) are obtained from cone. aqueous ammonia solutions of Hg(NO3)(2) at ambient temperature and under hydrothermal conditions at 180 degreesC, respectively, as colourless and dark yellow to light brown single crystals. The crystal structures {NH4[Hg-3(NH)(2)](NO3)(3): cubic, P4(I)32, a = 1030.4(2) pm, Z = 4, R-all = 0.028; [Hg2N](NO3): tetragonal, P4(3)2(1)2, a = 1540.4(1), c = 909.8(1) pm, Z = 4, R-all = 0.054} have been determined from single crystal data. Both exhibit network type structures in which [HNHg3] and [NHg4] tetrahedra of the partial structures of 1 and 2 are connected via three and four vertices, respectively. 1 transforms at about 270 degreesC in a straightforward reaction to 2 whereby the decomposition products of NH4NO3 are set free. 2 decomposes at about 380 degreesC forming yellow HgO. Most certainly, I is identical with a mineral previously analyzed as

Amplitude and Phase Controlled Reflectarray Element Based on an Impedance Transformation Unit

An architecture to simultaneously affect both amplitude and phase control from a reflectarray element using an impedance transformation unit is demonstrated. It is shown that a wide range of control is possible from a single element, removing the conventional necessity for variable sized elements across an array in order to form a desired reflectarray far-field pattern. Parallel plate waveguide measurements for a 2.2 GHz prototype element validate the phase and amplitude variation available from the element. It is demonstrated that there is sufficient control of the element's reflection response to allow Dolph-Tschebyscheff weighting coefficients for major-lobe to side-lobe ratios of up to 36 dB to be implemented.

Culture and the Irish Border:Spaces for Conflict Transformation

The Irish border has been described as a ‘natural’ cultural divide between the island's two dominant indigenous ethno-national communities. However, an examination of key resources of ethno-national group culture - religion, sport and language - provides evidence to challenge this representation. Moreover, in the post-1994 period of conflict transformation, evidence is also presented to support the proposition that the Irish border region has developed into a cultural space in which Irish nationalist and Ulster unionist ethno-national communities can explore cultural differences and commonalities through cross-border, cross-community contact and communication in small group encounters. This space underpins the reconfiguration of the border from barrier to political bridge between North and South. European Union (EU) Peace programmes for Ireland, beginning in 1995, provided the support for a cross-border approach to escaping the cage of ethno-national conflict in Northern Ireland. However, post-2004 EU enlargement signalled the beginning of the end for EU Peace funding and severe economic recession has undermined the expectation of British-Irish intergovernmental intervention to support cross-border partnerships and their work. Therefore, the outlook for the sustainability of this cross-border cultural space is gloomy with potentially deleterious consequences for the continued reconfiguration of the border from barrier to bridge.

Confronting the Settler Legacy: Indigenisation and Transformation in South Africa and Zimbabwe

This article examines attempts to negotiate a perceived residual dominance of settler populations in South Africa and Zimbabwe by means of developmental and cultural policies deemed necessary to restore sovereignty to Africans. Indigenisation has become a preferred strategy for reconstructing post-colonial states in Africa: indigenisation of the economy as part of a Third Chimurenga in Zimbabwe and Black Economic Empowerment in the socio-cultural context of Ubuntu in South Africa. These are issues arising from the regional legacy of contested and uneven transitions to majority rule. Identifying how governments frame the ‘settler problem’, and politicise space in doing so, is crucial for understanding post-colonial politics. Indigenisation in Zimbabwe allows the government to maintain a network of patronage and official rhetoric is highly divisive and exclusivist although couched in terms of reclaiming African values and sovereignty. Revival of Ubuntu as a cultural value system in South Africa facilitates a more positive approach to indigenisation, although Black Economic Empowerment displays elitist tendencies and cultural transformation remains controversial and elusive. The perceived need to anchor policy in socially acceptable (i.e., ostensibly indigenous/traditional) contexts has become a prominent feature of post-colonial politics and is indicative of an indigenous turn in Southern African politics.