Cultural Bridge Research Articles

Audiovisual analysis of exploring microbiology through the cultural lens

The cultural bridge in the use of toothpastes with fluoride and xylitol in the reduction of Streptococcus mutans and the prevention of cavities is not clear. The antibacterial effect of pediatric toothpastes on Streptococcus mutans was compared. Each toothpaste was dissolved in different concentrations, and placed in Petri dishes with Streptococcus mutans ATCC 25175 and observed at 24 and 48 hours. The results show that there is variability in sensitivity depending on the concentration and exposure time. The toothpaste that had the greatest inhibitory effect on Streptococcus mutans was the one that had fluoride and xylitol.

“Savoring the Past, Nourishing the Present”: Uncovering the Essence of Multicultural Mealtime Experiences in Senior Living Facilities

ABSTRACT Mealtimes are crucial markers of daily schedules and hold significant meaning for older adults in senior living facilities worldwide, extending beyond the food served. Utilizing Moustakas’ transcendental phenomenological approach, this study explores the lived experiences and multifaceted meanings of mealtimes for older adults from multicultural backgrounds in senior living facilities in Malaysia. In six urban senior living facilities, 28 older adults from Malaysia’s three major ethnic groups, namely Bumiputera Malays, Chinese, and Indians were interviewed through semi-structured one-on-one interviews. Five discernible themes beyond tangible aspects emerged: mealtimes as cultural bridges, memories and palate, emotional bonds through food, quality control and consumption, and comfort through personalized dining experience. This study raises awareness among senior-living facilitators, family caregivers, academics, and policymakers to acknowledge the evident complexities of mealtimes for older adults living away from the comfort of familiarity. Future research should consider the active involvement of all stakeholders in co-creating and implementing interventions that enhance older adults’ mealtime experiences in senior-friendly establishments.

On Chinese Aesthetics of Abstract Expressionism Art

In the development trend of modern and contemporary art, abstract expressionism has occupied a decisive position in the history of art since its birth. As a representative art school in the 20th century in the West, it unexpectedly has a very distinctive artistic characteristic of China. In terms of objective environment, the artistic dialogue between China and the West in the 20th century was promoted to the field of metaphysical philosophy. Western artists' interest in oriental art surpassed their superficial understanding of their unique brushwork, and abstract art became the best cultural bridge to communicate between the East and the West. This paper compares the characteristics of Chinese and western artistic thoughts and the characteristics of abstract expressionism art, and explains how it has oriental artistic thoughts on the basis of world outlook.

Culture — the brdge that could not be blown up

Not so long ago one of the main and traditional problems of Russia has been that culture was not considered to be a subject of political life. Before the bill "About Culture” each region in the country used to live in different cultural context and to understand aspects of culture in different manners. At the edges of 20th–21st cc. the understanding of the problems of Russia-Caucasian social and cultural communication actualized. North Caucasian region is a complicated system of very many cultures. It was a contact zone and at the same time a kind of a barrier among civilizations and empires in The Mediteranian region, South-Western Asia and Eastern Europe. The today culture of North Caucasian region has been formed as a result of the dialogue among Caucasian mountain, Islam and Russian civilizations and cultures, and also the processes of modernization during 20th-21-st centuries. The problem of preserving of cultural traditions is a central one in "ases of state culturally politics" (2014). Cultural bridges among the peoples and countries should be kept even in times of war conflicts and military actions.

West as home in Ruba Nadda’s films

ABSTRACT In this essay, I draw on the concepts of accented/transnational cinemas to discuss four feature films directed by Canadian Syrian filmmaker and TV director Ruba Nadda. Through Sabah (2005); Cairo Time (2009); Inescapable (2012); and October Gale (2014), the viewers witness the reconstruction of the West as home from the standpoint of a Canadian-born Toronto-based woman filmmaker of Arab descent. Despite Nadda’s constant yearning to her Arab origins, one can claim that borders between Arab and non-Arab are not always blurred in her films. Instead, cultural bridges are built across borders to transcend the traditional poetics of exile/immigration and to overcome politics of cultural despair triggered by binaries such as East and West, homeland and hostland, national and transnational belonging, etc. By focusing on issues of homeness, integration, religious difference, and cultural recognition, on the one hand, and questions of home-returning and home-reconstruction, on the other hand, I argue that no matter where Nadda’s characters dwell, they belong to the Western set of values, and they represent each a facet of her multiple identities, chief among them Western individuality. I also investigate the filmmaker’s gender-based approach to mainstream cinematic genres such as romantic comedy and thriller and her interest in these genres as a TV director as well.

Reforms of Religious and Secular Education among the Turks of the Osman Empire and Russia in the late ХІХ – early ХХ centuries

The article examines the reformist tendencies in the education system of the Ottoman Empire and the Turkestan region during the period of royal power in the late 19th – early 20th centuries and conducts a comparative analysis. The scientific work studies the reforms and innovative directions of the Turkish and Russian Turks in the field of education in the specified period. The role of the ideology of pan-Islamism was very high in the development of religious education in the Ottoman Empire and the Russian Turks, in the formation of similarities and originality between them. Religious education is considered not only a cultural bridge between peoples, but also a unifying force of the Turkic peoples. At first, pan-Islamism was a concept based on religious culture and politics, where the unification of views and positions between states was allowed, then its content changed, and it acquired an educational character, promoting religious knowledge. At first, pan-Islamism was a concept based on religious culture and politics, where the unification of views and positions between states was allowed, then its content changed, and it acquired an educational character, promoting religious knowledge. Although pan-Islamism arose from the policy of unification of Muslim peoples, it was distinguished by a high level of relations between the Turkic peoples based on religious culture and education. The difference in religious education between the Ottoman Empire and the Russian Turks was small. All followed the same religion and religious direction and received education based on it. The promotion and instillation of religious knowledge by the Ottoman Empire to the Turks of Central Asia and the strengthening of the education of Russian Turks in the religious schools of the Ottoman Empire was one of the new reform movements.

CULTURAL AND COGNITIVE CHARACTER OF HEALTH RELATED PROVERBS IN KAZAKH AND TURKISH

Proverbs and sayings are a cultural bridge that connects the past and the present of people, allowing us to learn about the way of history and life experience of a certain people. We can see that there are proverbs and sayings that are common among related peoples, but also have their own variants. In the present article, the promotion of a healthy lifestyle by Kazakh and Turkish proverbs and sayings related to health and illness ​​is comparatively considered in the cultural context. We can see that the past and the present are connected, no matter how distant the two related peoples are from each other due to historical reasons. This is the cumulative function of proverbs and saying continuing the past of the people from generation to generation. The proverbs and sayings presented in our article were collected from the 65th volume of the book "Babalar sozi (Words of Wisdom of Ancestors)" in the Kazakh language, from the book "Khalyk Danaligi (Words of Wisdom of People)" by Abdulali Kaidar, and the proverbs in the Turkish language were taken from the electronic version of the dictionary "Atasozder and Fraseologi (Words of Wisdom of Ancestors and Phraseology)" of the Turkish Language Organization (TDK Türk Dil Kurumu Atasözler ve deyimler sözlüğü https ://sozluk.gov.tr) and Uğur Gürsu's (Uğur Gürsu https://tez.yok.gov.tr) doctoral dissertation. Proverbs in the Kazakh and Turkish languages ​​were considered and grouped by themes and their meanings were revealed. The considered proverbs were analyzed using the descriptive, comparative methods. Proverbs related to health and illness were divided into the following thematic groups: - proverbs and sayings similar in meaning and composition-structure - proverbs and sayings with a slight variation in their components despite with similar content - proverbs of different structure, composition, but similar content in both peoples -proverbs and sayings that have characteristic features of both peoples

Structural Capacity Assessment of Cultural Bridges Key Study Dragoti Bridge

Structural Capacity Assessment of Cultural Bridges Key Study Dragoti Bridge

TRACES OF THE PROPHET PHENOMENON IN LEGENDS

Oral culture products have an important place in the field of folk literature of Turkish culture. In this context, legends from anonymous folk narratives are cultural traces of the nation's memory. Folk imagination reflects the feelings, thoughts, lifestyles, traditions and customs of the Turkish nation in this genre. Legends, in a sense, are types that are shaped around the beliefs and rituals of individuals. In this study, the factor that is effective in choosing the type of legend and mentioning the trace of the phenomenon of the prophet is that this genre contains religious features and is based on belief. It has been determined in the texts that the stories told by the prophets in the emergence of this belief are similar to the miracles performed by the saints. In addition, legends undertake this functionality as a cultural bridge in transferring values and concepts to future generations. For these reasons, it will be focused on how the stories of the prophets in the Qur'an and their miracles are reflected in the legendary texts. However, the forms of reflection will be explained in a certain order under sub-headings. Examples will be given from the chapters in the legend texts about the situations of the prophets. The texts were selected by sampling method from the legend studies carried out in Anatolian-Turkish geography. In the studied study, eight prophets are emphasized. In the conclusion part; A general evaluation of the sections mentioned in the previous headings will be made.

“In Honorable Remembrance to All Generations”: Commemoration and the Making of Mormon Battalion Memory, 1921–2021

“In Honorable Remembrance to All Generations”: Commemoration and the Making of Mormon Battalion Memory, 1921–2021

Traduction des recettes diététiques germano-européennes comme transfert culturel vers l'Afrique dans Fatburner-Die 100 besten ALDI-Rezepte de Wolfgang Elsner

Translation of German-European dietary recipes as a cultural transfer to Africa in Fatburner-Die 100 besten ALDI-Rezepte by Wolfgang Elsner
 (Inter-) cultural transfer is a phenomenon, which has been minimally studied in the field of translation of dietetics in particular and culinary arts in general. That is the reason why translation and Culinary art for dietetics are the main objectives of the present work, which takes a look at the translation of cooking recipes through the cultural transfer theory of Michel Espagne in particular. Through the commented translation of the recipe book Fatburner-Die 100 besten ALDI-Rezepte by the German writer called Wolfgang Elsner, this chunk of research shows how translation ensures the intercultural transfer from Europe (Germany) to Africa (French speaking countries) and vice-versa with the help of some translation techniques, strategies and methods. This research is structured in four main parts. It firstly shows the culinary art context and the feeding ways of the European-German world. Secondly, it portrays the significant transferable cultural aspects of culinary art which can be helpful to the African culture, while relaying on translation difficulties of receipts titles, ingredients, measurements and utensils. Thirdly, it exhibits the cultural transfer techniques or mechanisms that can be used by translators in order to adequately translate from one culture to the other in the culinary art or gastronomy from Europe to Africa. That means, this research shows the different strategies, mechanisms and translation´s astuteness which are appropriate for intercultural transfer during translation´s activities such as domestication (borrowings, transposition, explanation, Explizierung, etc.), and foreignisation (transposition, adaptation, equivalence, etc., which are two different translation´s strategies, that linguistically and culturally guide the translation, influence the ideological and cultural factors of translation and impact the reader of the translated text. Elsewhere, in this third part, this research proposes some little astuteness to the translators (who develop a specific interest to the culinary arts), such as: avoiding automatic translation´s programs, partially and completely replacing certain measurements for adequateness, cooperating with specialists-translators in the domain of culinary art (gastronomy) and having the passion for cooking. Fourthly, this chunk of research questions the reasons of intercultural transfer from one anthropologic culture to the other and specifically from European-German world to the African-French-speaking countries. That is, this part presents the significance of cultural transfer in African countries. This cultural transferability are therefore a prior, because it helps in solving cultural and linguistic problems faced by translators and chefs in restaurants, hotels and foreign-cuisines in touristic sites in Africa; in having information about culinary trends and menus in welcoming areas in African countries; in learning and transferring the German-European culture to the African culture, which internationalises and globalises African and Cameroonian hotels and restaurants while developing the touristic sector in Africa; in having and developing intercultural competence not only for the translator, but also at the national scale and particularly for chefs in touristic sites, restaurants and hotels; and solving some health problems in Africa, where many people are also suffering from diseases such as obesity, hypertensions, diabetes and other sickness related to fats and oil. This final aspect of the cultural transfer is very important for tourism in Africa, because the dietetics dimension of culinary art in hotels and restaurants can make advertisement and create more attractions for tourists from all over the world to the African continent. Finally, one of the major direct positive consequences of (inter)cultural transfer of culinary art from European-German to African-Cameroonian is the development of tourism and moreover, it helps to make the selection amongst the helpful European-German culture, which sustains African tourism and create the cultural bridge between the two culturally very different continents, whose relationship has always been full of tensions because of colonial chocks and intercultural misunderstandings during that passed period and even now.

Optimal UAV Image Overlap for Photogrammetric 3D Reconstruction of Bridges

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and photogrammetry have been widely used to reconstruct a photo-realistic 3D model of physical bridges for documentation of cultural bridges or remote bridge inspection. However, the optimal image overlap for photogrammetric bridge reconstruction that can trade off the model quality and overall mission time has not yet been studied. In this paper, a comparative experiment was conducted on a real girder bridge with three typical overlap configurations being implemented to capture corresponding UAV image sets, based on which bridge models were reconstructed using a commercial photogrammetry software package. Time consumption and the quality of reconstructed bridge models of these three experimental cases were compared and analysed. The results showed that the configuration of 66.7% forward overlap and 50% side overlap is the optimal overlap configuration for the reconstruction of a variety of bridge components, which can result in the minimum number of images while saving the overall mission time for image acquisition and processing. The overlap recommendation may also be applicable to the 3D reconstruction of other types of bridges and buildings with similar structural components.

Wagar and Motley “Archaic” Vestiges: A Postmodernist Reading of Contemporary Somali Fiction

The advent of the modernist dream resulted in the universalisation of culture, which entails deliberate effort to abandon traditional ways of life that foster difference and instead embracing national cultures to bring different communities together. Colonialism in the Horn of Africa, for instance, brought different Cushitic communities under single political entities and most of them adopted Islam to find a common ground. Other communities in East Africa had to convert to Christianity to find a universal cultural bridge. This has resulted in the assumption that most African peoples are homogeneous given that past traditions that elevated difference have been eradicated by unifying factors such as modern states and conventional religions such as Islam and Christianity. A critical reading of some literary texts, however, demonstrates that such claims are partly unfounded because there exist aspects of pre-Islamic Somali religion along with the fundamental beliefs of Islam, which bolster difference. This article is a postmodernist reading of selected contemporary Somali fiction to investigate the influence of pre-Islamic Somali religion on contemporary Somali culture. Using the ideas of Jacques Derrida and Joseph Campbell, the study demonstrates the impact of myth and the ancient traditions on migration and contemporary culture in Nadifa Mohamed’s Black Mamba Boy and Nuruddin Farah’s Secrets.

Building Cultural Bridges through Dance

Building Cultural Bridges through Dance

Reconciliation of Cross cultural Tension in Chinua Achebe’s Marriage is a Private Affair

Cross cultural tension is one of the major themes in Chinua’s Achebe’s novels and short stories. The writer projects the same theme in his story - Marriage is a Private Affair in the context of Nigerian, African culture and tradition. This paper explores the generation gap between old and new owing to the effect of globalization, and its subsequent resolution and reconciliation. Cultural tension or conflict arises in a family or a society when new generation ruptures the old prevalent traditions. This article centers on how the Main Protagonist of the story Nnemeka, being influenced with modern culture, establishes the cultural bridge through inter-caste or inter-racial marriage, thereby challenging the old Nigerian, African tradition. Marriage is a social custom and it often occurs on the conventions of society in which people are brought up. When a person breaks the convention, it generates the conflict or tension in family and society. However, reconciliation is inevitable in the ultimate state as there is no way out. The paper conceptualizes the theoretical concept of cultural studies adopted by Stuart Hall in the light of fictional dramatization. His theory of Cultural construction refers to the elements of social and cultural characteristics as mere constructs invented by society This research attempts to answer: how does the growing globalization affect cultural taboos and rituals on Nigerian, African marital culture? The growing trend of globalization even interferes marriage custom as depicted in the Story- Marriage is a Private Affair.

Research on the Design of Community Museums Based on the Fuzzy Comprehensive Evaluation Method

The new museum movement of the twentieth century has driven the development of the form and function of museums around the world. Museums began to be actively open to the public, and some new concepts of museums, such as eco-museums and community museums, emerged. The aim of these museums is to build a cultural bridge between people and the city and to promote the harmonious development of society, economy, and culture. The visitors, as the service targets of the museum, will directly influence the popularity of the museum among the masses by their evaluation of the museum experience; however, at present, there is a clear gap between the design of many museums and the feedback of subsequent visitors’ experiences. Only by understanding visitors’ feelings and preferences can subsequent museum design be improved; this paper will focus on demonstrating the application of the mathematical idea of the fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method to community museums; it establishes a community museum quality evaluation system based on human-centered design principles from the perspective of urban community museums and constructs a fuzzy comprehensive evaluation model of a community museum experience. Finally, the design of a community museum in Nottingham, UK, is used as an example to make a comprehensive evaluation of its quality. According to the analysis, the fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method has practical value in scientifically evaluating the quality of urban community museums through data on the visitor experience.

Revisiting Whiteness Pedagogy: Examining the Discursive Practices of Diverse Students in an Intercultural Communication and Conflict Course

ABSTRACT Our study explores discourses of whiteness amongst a diverse group of undergraduate students within the context of critical intercultural communication pedagogy. Through a qualitative analysis of two sets of student essays, we look across discourses of students who primarily identify as white and students with nondominant identities to identify convergences and divergences. We found that many white-identifying students used strategic rhetorics to maintain the invisibility of their whiteness and/or enact white privilege even while expressing awareness of it. Many students with nondominant identities expressed tensions in defining those identities within the liminal spaces constructed by whiteness. Some challenged the constraints of whiteness by drawing from complex histories, highlighting the potential of hybridized identities as cultural bridges, and using their privilege towards deeper learning.

Library and Bookstore of Sergei A. Polevoy in Beijing

The article reveals previously unknown facts about the sinologist Sergei Alexandrovich Polevoy (1886—1971), who became famous due to his scientific, pedagogical and social activities in China. Being a native of dynasty that gave the world talented literary critics, writers and journalists, Polevoy from his youth was passionate about literature and collecting books alongside learning about China. His first academic work, prepared as a graduation paper at the Oriental Institute (Vladivostok), was devoted to periodicals in China; and his unique library composed of literature in many languages originated from the books on Oriental studies and linguistics. Living in China since 1917, Polevoy was a professor at Nankai University in Tianjin (since 1918) and then Peking University (since 1921), where he taught Chinese students the Russian language and literature. Using the introduction to Russian culture and literature as a new method of teaching, he brought up some famous Chinese writers and translators. His bookstore, opened in Beijing and having contacts with the International Book Company in Moscow, became a cultural bridge between Russia and China. Using the bookstore, Polevoy supplied Chinese students with textbooks and Russian classical literature, replenished the department of Slavic literature at the Beijing National Library, distributed Marxist literature and helped Chinese communist leaders establish contacts with the USSR. The authors also report the facts on the biography of Polevoyʼs son, Leonid, thanks to whom the Oriental Institute of the Far Eastern Federal University (Vladivostok) received the manuscript of S. Polevoy’s English-Chinese dictionary and his other materials on oriental studies. Leonid also presented his father’s book collection to Irkutsk, and these books served as the basis of the Humanitarian Centre — Library named after the Polevoys’ family. The article is based on materials from the Polevoys’ family archives and other private collections abroad.

Acculturation in the Integration Course for Immigrants in Germany: A Study from the Cultural Bridge Approach

Acculturation processes as inclusive cultural interactions may or may not be motivated by educational contexts. This paper studies the acculturation process in the integration course that the German government offers to hundreds of thousands of immigrants. The framework is the Cultural Bridge (CB) that happens when individuals or communities participate in diverse cultures while preserving their own culture. The method is the content analysis of semi-structured interviews. Six immigrants provide information about their experience in the integration course. The results show approaches to and limitations for cultural inclusion. Finally, the discussion interprets the findings from the CB, compares this study with other results and presents some implications. In conclusion, the integration course leads to partially inclusive acculturation processes.

Cultural bridges: Traditional Chinese orchestras in Canada

Cultural bridges: Traditional Chinese orchestras in Canada