Early Twentieth Century Research Articles

Features of the representation of architectural space in the painting works of Giorgio de Chirico

This article describes the features of the depiction of architectural space in the paintings of the surrealist artist Giorgio de Chirico. In general terms, surrealism is described as an artistic style of the early twentieth century, its emergence, distinctive features and semantic tasks; The questions in relation to Giorgio de Chirico are examined in more detail: from what architectural objects and constituent elements is the urban space of his paintings formed, what objects are the main semantic parts, the general universal architectural model of the formation of such a space in de Chirico’s compositions is described. The article describes the semiotic structure used by the master, reveals the concept and meaning of the term “metaphysical painting”, ways of reading a surreal work of art, and the playful nature of the interaction between the artist and the viewer. The article analyzes in detail the methods and features of constructing the internal space of the metaphysical works of this master, showing the constituent elements, methods, techniques, and techniques for organizing the composition of the painting. The significance of the image of architectural space in de Chirico’s works on modern man and the use of his artistic experience in our time is described.

A Visit to the Exhibition of All Nations: The Chicago World’s Fair and the United States in Vasily Sidorov’s Travel Writing

The Chicago World’s Fair represented a continuity of the World’s Fairs as key international events of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries which were widely covered, including in travelogues for home readership. The Russian Empire showed considerable interest in participating, especially after Americans organized a relief campaign during its famine a year ago. While the Russian government supervised the exhibits and sent specialists to study the American economy and society, many Russians visited the Fair individually, and some published travel accounts. This article explores the account titled America. Travel Notes and Impressions (1895) written by novelist and botanist Vasily Sidorov. Traveling with a group of European tourists, he admires American nature and praises American technological progress, mobility, and freedoms that could be potentially borrowed but shows uncertainty about major cities and excesses of industrialization and technological development, to a degree repeating what was pointed out by earlier Russian visitors. He evaluated the Fair and most of what he saw through the image of Europe which was also employed to emphasize his sense of cultural superiority.

Pokłosie powstania 1863–1864 r.: nieortodoksyjna refleksja

Today, in Lithuanian, Polish, Belarusian and even Ukrainian society, the January Uprising has become a symbol of the ‚ fight for freedom’. This article attempts to answer the question: did/do Polish, Lithuanian, Belarusian and Jewish societies really have anything to glorify? In other words, from the perspective of nineteenth and early twentieth century nationalisms (and therefore not from an academic perspective), was the uprising in any way useful to them? Or to put it another way, did it do more good or harm? For all non-dominant ethnic groups, the uprising brought new repression and discrimination (although sometimes discrimination against one group objectively benefited another group), and with the exception of the Poles, it is difficult to see the impact of this historical event as a positive image in the process of nationalising the masses until World War One. The fact that such an image was created later is simply an‚ invented tradition’. The fact that a positive image of the uprising was ‚invented’ later in Lithuanian or Belarusian societies does not mean that it did not (or does not now) influence the mobilisation of the masses, but it is not a direct consequence of the uprising, but a narrative constructed by later generations.

Hacia una arqueología de la inmersión visual. Reflexiones sobre la pantalla en el estereoscopio de Wheatstone y el Sensorama de Heilig.

When we refer to the idea of visual immersion, we imagine a displacement towards a virtual space in which we immerse ourselves and with which we interact. Proposals associated with immersion, such as the topic of travel, were already presented in advertising images of the early twentieth century. In this article, we will establish that these notions of immersion have been developed since the middle of the 18th century, specifically with the creation of the lenticular stereoscope in 1851. Using medial archaeology as a methodological approach, we will demonstrate that devices such as the stereoscope (18th century) and the Sensorama (20th century) not only transformed the form of visualization, but also offered immersive experiences that linked the viewer to both physical and virtual spaces.

Wen, Literature, and Belles Lettres: Reconfiguring Chinese Literature in Nineteenth-Century English Sinology

ABSTRACT This article examines the fluid nature of literature as exemplified both semantically and conceptually in the English-language studies of Chinese literature conducted by Western Sinologists in the nineteenth century. If Chinese literary modernization of the early twentieth century is seen as shaped by the contact with foreign literary theories, Sinologists in the nineteenth century had already engaged actively with English literary concepts to reconfigure Chinese literature in their English-language writings. This article contends that, regardless of their impact on Chinese literary modernity, the Sinologists’ conceptions underlined the aesthetic and generic concerns that are fundamental to the modern understanding of literature and thereby fostered a renewed imagination of Chinese literature in the English-speaking world. Examining a wide range of primary materials, including dictionaries and Sinological writings, this article aims to unfold their transcultural naming and legitimizing process that gave rise to the knowledge category of Chinese literature through contingent English and Chinese literary terminology, narrative frameworks, and categorization schemes. This article traces the unnoticed history in comparative literary history to offer a genealogical understanding of the Western conception of Chinese literature. It also provides a new dimension for reviewing and analyzing the dialogue and interplay between Western and Chinese literary ideas within the Sinologists’ writings prior to the overwhelming influence of Western literary ideas during the period of Chinese literary modernity.

Recovering psychological trauma in coal mining communities

ABSTRACT To date, there has been little research on the history of work-related mental health issues among coal workers. Much of the coal extraction industry peaked during the early twentieth century and then began its precipitous decline. Mining has high casualty rates, and the medical field did not understand the long-term effects of psychological trauma on mine workers until recently. Newspaper articles and other historical records provide accounts of accidents and tragedies. Heroism is often emphasized in recalling tragic episodes at the expense of recording the emotional stress suffered by survivors. A diverse set of historical sources provides a context for work-related mental health issues in the coal extraction industry. Probing a set of historic oral histories of coal workers and creating analogies to current studies provide additional clues about the under-told story of these historic actors’ general health and well-being. While incorporating oral histories from other regions, focusing on the anthracite coal industry in northeastern Pennsylvania allows us to identify historical actors and helps us think differently about other working-class communities impacted by industrial capitalism.

Shaping Identities: The Influence of Female Filmmakers on the Portrayal of Women in 21st-Century Chinese Mainstream Cinema

Abstract: This research paper examines the portrayal of women in 21st-century Chinese mainstream cinema, particularly through the lens of female filmmakers in a male-dominated industry. Guided by case studies and comparative analysis of Chinese classical films since the early twentieth century, the paper explores how female filmmakers uplift feminine trends, breaking free from the conventional norm and male gaze to eulogize their realistic female figures in Chinese cinema based on their personal experiences and narratives. In addition, the study unveils that despite their efforts, the influence of the male gaze and deep-seated patriarchal values still confines female filmmakers to traditional and stereotypical portrayals of women. While female filmmakers have succeeded in presenting more authentic, intricate, and empowering representations of women, their impact is still hindered by long-lasting obstacles such as limited funding and fewer opportunities compared to their male counterparts. To eventually actualize justice and equality between women and men, new emerging filmmakers, regardless of gender, should therefore utilize the power of storytelling in film, arousing feminine awareness and reversing the world to be more diversified and embraced.

Analyzing the Circumstances under Which Art Was Born from Italian Neorealism - The Suffering of the Times and the Rise of Art

Abstract: This essay is a unified study of the formation and development of Italian Neorealist cinema in Italy from the pre-World War I period to the post-World War II period as the time of study. Taking Italian Neorealism as an example, it explores the relationship between the suffering of the times and the rise of art. In addition to how Italian Neorealism was born against the backdrop of war and social upheaval, it influenced the subsequent French New Wave cinema and global cinema, and in particular generated far-reaching references in Third World cinema. By analyzing the gradual decline of Italian cinema from its peak in the early twentieth century, which relied on its historical and cultural heritage, through the impact of Hollywood globalization and the economic hardships of World War I, all the way to the suffering of Italian society and the collapse of the economic market during and after World War II, the study demonstrates how Italian Neorealism, through its use of long shot filming, non-professional actors, live-action productions, and documentary narratives, redefined the mission of cinematic art beyond its traditional entertainment function to give voice to the underclass. The article delves further into the influence of Italian Neorealism on the French New Wave and Third World cinema, particularly regarding its influence on social realism and political critique. It is expected to continue inspiring future filmmakers, especially those working in independent and developing country cinema.

Two Pandemics and Workplace Shifts: Generational Considerations: A Multi-Factor Comparison of How Pandemics Impact Young Workers: Insights for Management and Employees©

This paper will compare several business-related factors. There has been relatively little academic research conducted to compare and contrast a breadth of workplace issues and dimensions during the early twentieth century’s Spanish Flu epidemic and the early twenty-first century’s COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. This manuscript analyzes several variables and adds to the literature by examining significant factors that impacted workers and their workplaces during these two significant healthcare incidents. The major factors discussed include the labor force members during both of these pandemics, the demographics of those workforces, the workplace safety, the labor economic data during these two pandemics, the wages & how they fluctuated, the labor unions & evolving perspectives towards unionization, and the dominant industry shifts. Several of the findings regarding Millennials and Generation Z workers are supported by this author’s current research of university students who were employed during the COVID-19 pandemic. The insights provided in this manuscript are instrumental for business managers and human resource management professionals, higher education, and for those who provide corporate training.

Ecstatic Forms: Air and the Apsarā during the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945)

Abstract As a minor deity in Buddhist art, the apsarā (feitian/hiten) is a beloved figure in China and Japan today. Their images adorn bottles of high-end liquor, while their names are bestowed upon moon-bound spacecrafts. Ecstatically tumbling and twirling in the air, the impossible contortion of their acrobatic bodies creates a sense of weightlessness and boundlessness. This essay argues that the apsarā only emerged as an art-historical subject during the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945), when intellectuals, artists and performers, on both sides of the frontlines, became concerned with the intermingling of space and form through the medium of air. Tracing how modern writers and choreographers used the apsarā to adumbrate modernist aspirations of movement, speed, aviation and progress, I show how the apsarā was folded into new international discourses on mood, atmosphere and space in art and dance in the early twentieth century.

Kimono in the Age of Japonisme: From Japanese Merchandising Strategies to Signs of British Women’s Liberty

Abstract In the early twentieth century, one could find kimono-like garments of various kinds in Britain: kimono made originally for Japanese consumers, contemporary robes made in Japan expressly for export, and kimono-inspired clothing made domestically. The present essay probes the merchandising of these new products in Britain, examining both British consumer tendencies and Japanese marketing practices, through analysis of Japanese trade statistics and reports on the international expositions of the day. Ultimately, this paper argues that kimono played a role, both literally and figuratively, in staging increased social justice for British women in the twentieth century, offering at least occasional relief from the debilitating fashions of the period, all of which required a corset, and providing a metaphor for a less restrictive social environment. While other scholars have hinted at such associations, this paper provides evidence, through analysis of contemporaneous journalism and advertising, that the women who wore these garments explicitly made such connections. More than an artistic stimulus of japonisme, the kimono and the fashions it subsequently inspired became symbols of the women’s suffrage movement in early twentieth-century Britain.

‘The Book of My Mother’ as national allegory: subaltern nationalism and political unconscious in early twentieth century Azerbaijani fiction

ABSTRACT This paper analyses Jalil Mammadquluzadeh’s drama, The Book of My Mother (Anamın Kitabı), to understand Azerbaijani nationalism in the early twentieth century. Under the repression of industrialization and colonialism, Azerbaijani national identity found its expression in literary products. Through Fredric Jameson’s concepts of national allegory and political unconscious, we examine The Book of My Mother as a fictional representation of Azerbaijani nationalism during its formative period. Ultimately, this article addresses a gap in the growing literature on Azerbaijani nationalism by applying Jamesonian critical literary theory to encourage further research in subaltern nationalism for other cases, especially within the Central Asian context.

The agency of object: the doppa as a narrator for a dynamic Uyghur identity

ABSTRACT This article explores the Uyghur doppa from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries to understand Uyghur cultural life and identity. It links the doppa to Uyghur history and the evolving sense of ‘Uyghurness’, reflecting its cultural significance today, both in Xinjiang and through the diaspora. The limited scholarly work on the doppa, spanning 150 years, suggests a gender bias in documenting female-associated crafts. Ironically, at a time when the doppa holds increasing importance, especially with the creation of Doppa Day (5 May), this lack of resources opens up space for creative discourse on Uyghur identity. The study also reveals a tendency to adapt through cultural experiences while maintaining a deep connection to the homeland. Ultimately, this research demonstrates how a small cultural object can provide profound insights into community sensibilities and material culture.

Gravity’s eastern voyage: the introduction, transmission, and impact of Newtonian mechanics in late imperial China (1727–1912)

This study traces the intricate journey of Newtonian mechanics in Qing China from 1727 to 1912, elucidating the complex interplay of science, religion and politics in cross-cultural knowledge exchange. Initially introduced by Jesuit missionaries through lunar theory in calendrical reform, followed by cometary and heliocentric concepts, the dissemination of Newtonian mechanics gained momentum after the Opium Wars (1839–1842). Subsequently, Protestant missionaries and Chinese scholars collaborated to translate and propagate Newton’s laws of gravitation and motion, often contextualized within natural theology, through Western texts, popular science literature, and periodicals. This process culminated in the integration of Newtonian principles into national educational curricula in the early twentieth century. Significantly, Newtonian mechanics transcended its scientific realm, infiltrating political discourse as reformist thinkers leveraged mechanical terminology to advocate for sociopolitical change. This historical episode illustrates how the assimilation of Newtonian mechanics was influenced by missionary approaches, indigenous intellectual traditions, pragmatic national interests, and the tumultuous political landscape of Late Qing. By challenging Eurocentric narratives and highlighting Chinese agency in adapting Western knowledge, this study contributes to a more inclusive history of Newtonian science, offering a nuanced perspective on global scientific circulation.

The avant-garde artistic approaches of Russian women writers of the Silver age

The article presents the avant-garde, and thus the work of Russian women writers, poets and publicists of the Silver Age, centred on new forms and bold, often provocative plots. The subject of characterisation is the creative attitudes of those authors who, in the period in question, in accordance with the spirit of the epoch, firstly, revealed their individuality to readers and, secondly, touched upon themes ‘forbidden’ up to that time. The author makes an attempt to present the work of those Russian women writers who, in connection with the multifaceted development of literature at the turn of the century, created works in a new style, centered around such issues as: love (in its various guises), gender attitudes and the involvement of women in various conflicts of the surrounding reality. The exploratory analysis of women’s writing of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries has shown that the new modern era, characterised by a diversity of schools and creative groupings, contributed to the expansion of the boundaries of the themes of women’s literature.

The Tragedy of the confrontation: the religious factor in the Russian Civil War

The article analyzes a collective monograph edited by A. S. Puchenkov and devoted to the consideration of the role and significance of the religious factor during the Civil War in Russia. According to the reviewer, the authors, based on the unique material collected in 22 Russian and foreign archives, were able to show and prove the need to take into account the phenomenon of the religious factor, rightly defining it as «a set of many components affecting the social, socio-political, spiritual, cultural and national life of society, determining the order of functioning of religion and its institutions in the system of relations between the state and society, as well as the influence of religion as a social institution on non-religious forms of public life». According to S. L. Firsov, the authors have made a successful attempt to draw a detailed picture of the state of religious denominations (primarily the Orthodox Russian Church) during the Civil War. In his opinion, the reviewed monograph can be called a kind of encyclopedia of the spiritual life of Russia during the Russian Troubles of the early 20-th century. The authors of the monograph made a worthy contribution to the study of the moral and moral state of Russian society by writing a deep and useful work for all those interested in both the history of the Orthodox Russian Church of the era of Revolution and Civil War, and the history of the Russian Troubles of the early twentieth century as a whole.

Akiga Sai from the perspective of Dutch Reformed Church missionaries:

Akiga Sai (1898-1959) is heralded as one of the few indigenous African anthropologists and historians of the early twentieth century. His work for the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa (DRCSA) as evangelist, teacher, and translator (1915-1945), however, is under-researched. Furthermore, despite the significance of Sai’s life and work, no biography of his life has been published. This article illustrates that it is possible to extract valuable biographical and contextual data regarding Sai from the records of the DRCSA Sudan Mission, demonstrating the collection’s value regarding early documentation of indigenous communities. By compiling a partial biographical profile of the Nigerian Tiv writer, politician, translator, and evangelist Akiga Sai as a case study, this article highlights the importance of the DRCSA’s archival collections, specifically the documentation relating to the Cape Synod’s Sub-Commission for Foreign Missions [Buitelandse Sending Subkommissie]. Part of the DRCSA’s heritage is its archive: the rich and varied sources, available in a wide variety of languages, contains valuable information about aspects of (Southern) African history unavailable elsewhere.

‘I Hid for Days in the Basement’: Moments of ‘Jewish’ Discovery in Pre-Holocaust Germany and Austria

What happens when someone ignorant of their Jewish heritage uncovers the truth in dramatic circumstances? This article focuses on and advocates for further analysis of an unstudied discrete phenomenon: ‘the moment of discovery’ in early twentieth century Germany and Austria. The article's four empirical sections analyse various facets of this moment: the clues which pointed towards the Jewish ancestral secret, missed by many non-Jewish ‘Jews’; the reaction of antisemites to becoming the object of their own hatred complex; the deep despair felt during the moment of discovery; the mitigatory actions which could ameliorate the latter; and the minority who reacted positively to the news. Collectively, the piece displays the terror associated with being ‘Jewish’ at the time, the extent to which non-Jewish ‘Jews’ were truly separated from the Jewish community and, crucially, the radicalisation of moments of discovery under Nazism, when they became more devastating than ever.

Space, Sexuality, and Thornton Wilder’s Villa Rhabani

Abstract Thornton Wilder composed his unfinished play Villa Rhabani—set on the cosmopolitan island of Capri—between 1920 and 1921. This article argues that the play explores the connections between particular spaces and the development of nonnormative sexual identities or practices. It shows how the island setting of Villa Rhabani is crucial to its depiction of queer characters who are associated with both fluid cosmopolitanism and the contestation of sexual binaries. First, Wilder explores how transnational sexual or romantic encounters, cultivated by the shifting cross-cultural exchanges of island life, can produce a flexible attitude to place-based identities. Second, he demonstrates how a mainland–island binary can be used to describe queer identities on the move. His characters’ oscillations between the mainland metropolis of Naples and small-town Capri appear fundamental to the plasticity of their sexual, familial, and national associations. These two dominant modes of portraying character interactions and setting, as well their relation, help reveal the imbricated relationship of space and sexuality. Wilder’s unfinished play, therefore, constitutes a significant contribution to queer transnational literature. The article also contextualizes the play within colonial and Orientalist discourses that have historically linked Southern Italy with same-sex eroticism. While Villa Rhabani draws on a language of exoticization to describe the behaviors of sexually permissive Italian men, it also questions these associations by showing how such practices may be instrumentalized by the economic precarity and desperate social conditions that prevailed in Southern Italy in the early twentieth century.

Death, Burial, and Commemoration in 19th- and Early–20th Century British ‘Lunatic Asylum’ and ‘Mental Hospital’ Cemeteries

Abstract Throughout the nineteenth and early twentieth century, ‘lunatic asylums’ and ‘mental hospitals’ in Britain were legally obliged to provide for the burial of deceased patients whose remains were not reclaimed by relatives or guardians. While burial in local churchyards and cemeteries was idealised in administrative guidance, burial frequently took place in onsite asylum cemeteries instead. Due to their poor historic documentation, these spaces and practices have not been readily foregrounded within existing literature and have received only limited scholarly address. In the present paper, a broad range of documentary and material evidence will be presented, correlated, and thematically arranged, facilitating for the first time a sustained review and interrogation of these spaces and practices. This will contextualise further enquiry into the historic emotional significance of these sites and practices, employing theoretical lenses of ‘remembering’ and ‘forgetting’ in relation to the navigation of grief, memory, and complicated loss. This paper will thereby demonstrate how novel multidisciplinary research methodologies – further to facilitating the reconstruction of understudied spaces and practices in the history of psychiatry – can also be used to gain insight into the emotional histories of marginalised populations of the past, many of whom are under-represented in fragmentary and authoritatively authored historic documentary records.