European Cultural Values Research Articles

КУЛЬТУРНОЕ РАЗНООБРАЗИЕ И ГЛОБАЛЬНОСТЬ

The paper is aimed to present a concept of globalization in the of contemporary discourse of cultural diversity. It is argued here that the conditions of contemporary multiethnic and multicultural world do not require any unification in the form of universalistic globalization, but instead the development of modern globalization process in form of cultural diversity. In most recent theoretical debates, depending on the character of the process of globalization (homogeneous or fragmentary), two trends of investigation of this process arise: (i) globalization on the basis of the idea of progress which leads to a homogeneous world (universalism); (ii) globalization on the basis of representation of the world’s real diversity (multiculturalism). Theorists of globalization stress the fact that an economic-homogenization paradigm is becoming powerful in both academic and popular usage. They then focus their attention on the increased integration of the global economy and its homogenizing effects on state policy and culture. As for homogeneous (i.e. universalistic) discussions, the tendency for many issues to assume apposite values –on the segment comprising comparative version of globalization or elite version globalization – arise. Multicultural concepts of globalization, based on the recognition of the world real diversity, are popular because of their non-repressive and tolerant form. Appraisals of multiculturalism as an intellectual trend, which could be evaluated as a core of recent multi-globalization process, are controversial (as for example in the works by J.Searle, R.Rorty, Ch. Taylor) The main problem about the interpretation of contemporary globalization process as multicultural globalization is investigated in this paper by means of the analysis of the change of modern values of European culture and philosophy. Relevant discussions here are centred on the reinterpretation of the classical philosophical paradigm, concerned with reevaluation of the relation of the main philosophical categories; subject and object. Interpretation of the subject has been changed in contemporary philosophical discourse of the following directions: (i) weakness of the opposition of subject and object; (ii) interpretation of the subject in terms of the death of author (term by R.Bart); (iii) interpretation of subject in the context of cultural diversity (in terms of female philosophy, whiteness, blackness, etc). Paper then put into focus change of the main values of European culture and philosophy: rationality, liberalism, individualism. Rationality, liberalism, individualism loose their classical form and replaced by diverse, pluralistic, flexible values. Change of the main values of European culture influence greately on the character of contemporary globalization process, which develops in the direction of the appreciation of the world real diversity. Interpretations of multicultural are based on the multiculturalism as trend of contemporary philosophical and political discourse. Multiculturalism is closely associated with identity politics, the politics of difference and the politics of recognition, all of which share a commitment to revaluing disrespected identities and changing dominant patterns of representation and communication that marginalize certain groups. Multicultural claims include a wide range of claims involving religion, language, ethnicity, nationality and race. Culture is overbroad concept, and all of these categories have been subsumed by the concept of culture. The paper presents the interpretation of multicultural globalization on the base some theoretical ideas of multiculturalism. The main trend of multicultural globalization embrace the concept of cultural diversity. Diverse cultural identities and languages are irreducibly social and cultural goods, which should be presumed to be of the equal worth. The recognition of the equal worth of diverse cultures requires replacing the traditional liberal regime of identical liberties and opportunities for all citizens with a scheme of special rights for minority cultural groups. Culture is to be instrumentally valuable to individuals, for two reasons. First, it enables individual authonomy. Second, culture is instrumentally valuable for individual self-respect. As final remark, we think that within the boundaries of multicultural type of globalization, a new democratic politics permitting a dialogue for distinct cultural and religious groups and the ground for their consensus could be achieved.

Otto Weininger: the Theory Between Genius and Genida

Otto Weininger’s book “Geschlecht und Charakter” (“Gender and Character”, 1903) is not only a monument of the epoch, but also a symptom of an epistemological kind. The transition from positivism and associative psychology to psychoanalysis and phenomenology was made at the personal level of an individual scientist, manifested very painfully through overcoming (not always successful) internal tensions of the creative person materialized in active misogyny and conscious “self-hatred” (anti-Semitism). Such extremes of an ideological and rhetorical kind are themselves paradoxical tools for criticizing traditional patriarchal values of European culture with innate masculine and biologically conditioned superiority. Weininger’s literary-critical experience is an example of unconscious idolatry, where the individual Ego, close to genius, is forced to perform or stage self-deification in the face of existential threats, which inevitably turns into self-exposure and self-abolition.

Contemporary european cultural values in the context of axiology of sustainable development

Contemporary european cultural values in the context of axiology of sustainable development

THE EMBODIMENT OF SOCIAL VALUES IN MYTHOLOGY: THE AXIOLOGICAL CONTEXT OF THE WORKS OF JOHN R.R. TOLKIEN

The article deals with the mythological creativity of G.R.R. Tolkien as a socio-cultural phenomenon associated with the values of European culture. The author proceeds from the hypothesis that the myth is the embodiment of social identity, this function it retains after the loss of its ideological functions. The revival of literary mythology in the XIX-XX centuries there is an attempt to update this feature of the myth. The success of the literary myth is due to the fact that he was able to absorb and Express the basic values of society. Tolkien’s work is one of the successful examples of the literary embodiment of socially significant values, combining both traditional values and value formations characteristic of the modern era. The article shows that Tolkien’s work has organically absorbed the pagan basis, the Christian attitude, and the values characteristic of the XX century. Pagan heroic principle, Christian mercy, the idea of freedom, democracy-all this is organically intertwined in the works of Tolkien, their success is due to the harmony of the whole range of social attitudes represented in the European consciousness of the mid XX century. Currently, the decline in interest in Tolkien is a reflection of the change of value preferences of European culture.

The Life of Klim Samgin. Maxim Gorky’s Last Will and Testament

This article attempts to “decipher” Maxim Gorky’s hidden intentions in his novel The Life of Klim Samgin, which he considered his message to future generations. Samgin is a “mannequin,” a parody of a particular kind of Russian intellectual of the early twentieth-century revolutionary era. This social group was characterized by their desire to “transplant” European cultural ideas and values to Russian soil in the shortest possible time frame. One of such ideas was the principle of individual freedom and independence. Realization of this principle would involve a change of that soil, as well as of all the forms of public consciousness and public institutions. Without these transformations, the “personal principle” degenerated into skeptical individualism and could not serve as the ontological foundation of culture. In addition, “Samginism” represents the inevitable result of destroying two myths: one about the intelligentsia (as the social and cultural leader of the nation) and the other about “the people” (as the bearer of spirituality and moral consciousness). Gorky recognized Samgin as the hero of “the era of the individual,” an era characterized by disillusionment with universal cultural values, viewing them as “fictions.” Gorky’s novel is not a reckoning with the past, but a sad prophecy about the future.

Russian Eyewitnesses of the Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Century Europeanisation and Development of Sofia

In Bulgarian history, the period from the liberation of the country in 1878 to the so-called “wars for national unification” of 1912–1918 was one of progressive development aimed at joining Europe. One of the signs of a “modern” European state was the capital, which would demonstrate that a young Principality / Kingdom shared European cultural values. Using Russian travelogues of the time, this article pieces together a picture of the city during this period. The “European / Asian (Turkish)” dichotomy, equivalent to that of the “light world of the future / dark world of the past”, dominates the descriptions. Among the main features of the European city of the early twentieth century, three were significant: clean and wide streets, tall stone houses, and the usage of technology. At this time, Sofia was only moving towards this ideal, and the transformation did not affect the whole city. The speed of this movement was nevertheless so great that it amazed Russian eyewitnesses. In most cases, they did not see the shortcomings of the urban environment and the outskirts, which retained an Oriental look. The Bulgarians themselves were proud of the new look of Sofia, despite the fact that the subject of this pride was not original. However, it can be concluded that the Bulgarians understood the European cultural values associated with a city. Despite this, urban values did not become one of the foundations of the Bulgarian value system.

Концепт Центральної Європи: історична ретроспектива та політична перспектива.

The article critically examines the concept of Central Europe. An attempt is made to establish the boundaries of this concept and the peculiarities of functioning in different historical periods. The author considers this geographical space as a subject of discourse that has geopolitical and cultural dimensions. The analysis of the content given by different authors to this definition allows us to determine the main characteristics. Originating as a concept of space that falls under the German influence (F. Naumann); transforming into a «zone of small states between East and West» (T. Masaryk); subsequently gaining a clear opposition from the separation from the East (and specifically Russia) and declarations of attachment (Western) to European civilization and cultural values (M. Kundera); the concept of Central Europe became the foundation of modern EuroAtlantic processes. Ukrainian version of socio-political transformations at the end of the 20th century. And the hybrid war, which is being conducted by Russia, is applied to theoretical developments.

F2. CHILDHOOD TRAUMA AND LACK OF CULTURAL IDENTITY AS RISK FACTORS OF ATTENUATED PSYCHOSIS SYMPTOMS AMONG AFRICAN AMERICAN YOUNG ADULTS

BackgroundSchizophrenia spectrum diagnosis is more commonly assigned to African Americans. Failing to understand and appropriately manage cultural differences will have significant mental health consequences for varied racial/ethnic groups in particular (Betancourt, Green, & Carrillo, 2002). The purpose of the present study was to examine risk factors of attenuated psychosis syndrome in a sample of African American young adults, specifically to investigate whether lack of ethnic identity and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) put an individual at a higher risk of developing attenuated psychotic symptoms.Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) as Risk Factor of APS:The Comorbidity Survey (NCS) Part 2 data showed that the effects of neglect and sexual abuse, along with physical abuse similarly put a child at risk for psychosis. People who had suffered childhood adversity were 2.8 times more likely to develop psychosis than those who had not. Studies have also begun to look at gender differences in schizophrenia by way of ACEs.Lack of Ethnic Identity as Risk Factors of APS:The African worldview reflects psychological communal, spiritual, collective survival thrust as opposed to the European worldview of individualism and materialism. Cultural Misorientation (CM) represents that foreign psychological or psychopathological disposition in the African personality, which allows African Americans to unknowingly value and participate in European cultural indoctrination through the practice of European cultural values, rituals, and customs. The purpose of this study was to explore the roles that CM play on the overall presentation of attenuated psychotic symptoms, by way of ACE exposure.MethodsParticipants: Participants included 304 African American college students, 199 (65.46%) women and 105 (34.54%) men from a Historically Black College and University in the southeastern region of the United States. Participants were between 18 and 25 years of age.InstrumentsAdverse Childhood Experiences Scale measures the association of multiple types of abuse with different types of health outcomes. Prodromal Questionnaire- Brief (PQ-B) measures the presence of negative symptoms, perceptual abnormalities such as hallucinations, and unusual thought content like delusional ideas and paranoia. Cultural Misorientation - Short Form assesses the condition of cultural misorientation across 6 subscales-- materialism orientation, individualism orientation, alien-self orientation, anti-self orientation, self-destructive orientation, and integration orientation.ResultsThe Pearson correlation analysis indicated no significant relationship (r = -.073, p = .206) between ACE exposure and APS total scores on PQ-B. However, an unexpected negative significant relationship between childhood abuse exposures and symptom severity was observed (r = -.126*, p = .028), indicating that participants who reported more instances of childhood abuse tended to report less symptom severity. In addition, Cultural Misorientation (CM) was significantly positively correlated to PBQ total scores r = .194**, p = .001) and the severity of those symptoms (r = .171**, p = .003). CM materialism and individualism subscales mediated the relationship between childhood abuse and PQ-B total scores and symptom severity.DiscussionThis study provides support that some aspects of cultural misorientation can be detrimental to African Americans. Helping to reduce material and individualistic desires that have become detrimental should also be a central focus of implemented mental health programs.

Sekuritizacija migracija u strateškim dokumentima Evropske unije

The subject of this article is securitization of migration - presenting migration as a security threat. More specifically, application of Huysmans's approach to securitization of migration aims to examine the existing situation in the European Union's strategic documents related to this phenomenon. Accordingly, the aim of this paper is description of the securitization of migration across the European Union contained in strategic documents in the area of security and migration in the context of three reference objects of Huysmans's approach - internal security and the internal market, European cultural values and the European welfare system. First of all, a methodological framework and a qualitative content analysis as a main research method are presented in this article. In the central part of the article, the focus is on the process of applying Huysmans's approach to the securitization of migration in the analysis of EU strategic documents and the main outcomes of this analysis. The research results pointed out internal security and the internal market as a main reference object that is threatened by migration, followed by concluding observations.

Bilingualism and Biculturalism as Elements of Indigenisation in Selected Nigerian Artists Pop Music

The peculiar linguistic history of Nigeria has rubbed off on language use at the micro level. In the Nigerian music industry today, one can hardly find a single song that feature without using English, Nigerian pidgin or any of the Nigerian indigenous languages. The English language has been viewed as not having enough expressive resources that can match any of the native languages. English is seen as being too formal, complex and foreign to Nigerians and as a result of this complexity, speakers often result to the use of indigenous languages because it tends to make the speakers feel at home without much attention paid to the grammatical formations. This study seeks to find out this assertion by exploring the extent of bilingualism and biculturalisms techniques adopted by the selected Nigerian artists. Cummins Threshold Model of Bilingualism and Text Translation Model were used to interpret the lyrics of the songs - ‘Ojuelegba, Jaiye Jaiye, and Orente’. Bicultural elements were portrayed in the musical videos of artists via their costumes and physical settings. Artists employ dressing techniques that merge bits of European and African cultural values. The data sampled also showed the artists’ high level of cultural consciousness and solidarity with mother tongues as indispensable tools for self-expression and self-actualization. The switches between codes were used for emphasis where necessary.

José Joaquín de Mora in Chile: From Neo‐Europe to the ‘Beocia Americana’

The Spanish jurist, poet and journalist José Joaquín de Mora was probably the first foreign political consultant to be hired by several different South American governments in the period immediately following the wars of independence (mid‐1820–1830s). This paper takes a transnational approach to focus on his activities concerning Chile. It argues that Mora fitted the requirements of regional elites who aspired to have the New World drenched in European cultural values to make it a beacon of rational liberty, particularly for the Old World under the autocratic constrains of the Holy Alliance.

Walking Freely on Firm Ground: Letters to Mary Virginia Foreman 1935–1951 by Artur Schnabel (review)

Walking Freely on Firm Ground: Letters to Mary Virginia Foreman 1935-1951. Bv Artur Schnabel, edited by Werner Grunzweig, Lynn Matheson, and Anicia Timberlake. Hofheim: Wolke, 2014. [370 p. ISBN 9783955931001. 39 [euro].] Illustrations, bibliography, index. There is no doubt that the pianist and composer Artur Schnabel was a man of strong opinions: he made no secret of his preferences in piano manufacturers, the impact of sound recording on artistic creation, and his devotion to the music of Beethoven, Mozart, and Schubert. In this collection of letters, we see another side of his personality, as Schnabel candidly describes his feelings on politics, differences in European and American society and cultural values, and his deep affection for a young woman who was the recipient of more than 400 letters during their friendship. Through these letters to an aspiring pianist and music student, a portrait of Schnabel emerges to show an artist integrally connected to the world around him, both as a musician-composer and as an intellectual. The exact nature of Mary Virginia Foreman Le Garrec's relationship with Schnabel is rather ambiguous. The book's preface gives a recounting of their first meeting as well as some details about Foreman's life after Schnabel's death. Foreman herself wrote two books about Schnabel, and in 2002 donated his letters to her to the Berlin Akademie der Kunste; the letters selected for this anthology are drawn from that archive. Schnabel's first letters to Foreman date from January 1935 and occur somewhat regularly in a biweekly pattern until two months before his death in 1951. This collection provides readers with an in-depth view of the life of a musical virtuoso and composer of the mid-twentieth century. Schnabel describes in great detail the pitfalls of organizing concert series, the less than optimum conditions for recording sessions, and the struggle to integrate the economic necessity of touring with the need for the time and reflection required for musical composition. While these problems may not be unique to Schnabel, his letters (many written during the years of the Second World War), provide a compelling portrait showing how musicians and performing arts are adversely affected by the war and its aftermath. In poignant letters from October 1938, as the conflict drew closer to Italy, Schnabel describes his remorse at leaving his beloved home in Tremezzo, wondering when and if he would ever be permitted to return to a place that brought him not only solace from a hectic performance schedule, but was also the birthplace of much musical productivity. Schnabel laments the slight given to conductor Otto Klemperer who, because of his German background and the political climate, was not given the position of principal conductor at two major U.S. orchestras, pointing out the helplessness of artists within the wider pool of politics. While Schnabel admits to Foreman that he considers himself privileged because of his ability to travel out of Europe, he worries about the uncertainty of his future as he waits to see which country may offer him and his family asylum. Perhaps the most moving letter in the collection dates from July 1946, as Schnabel describes postcards sent to his cousin by his mother, describing her last days in a concentration camp before her death at the hands of the Nazis. That Schnabel lived through these emotionally charged events is tragic; that he was able to continuously work as a performer and composer as well is extraordinary. As primary source documents, these letters give readers a window into the creation of Schnabel's musical compositions and supply a context for the integration of his life and art. Despite his hectic schedule of public performances, recording sessions, master classes, and lectures, Schnabel was a composer of both large and small scale musical works. In his letters, Schnabel outlines his compositional process: a case in point is his Two Movements for Chorus and Orchestra. …

The Vodou Ethic and the Spirit of Communism: The Practical Consciousness of the African People of Haiti by Paul C. Mocombe

The Vodou Ethic and Spirit of Communism: The Practical Consciousness of African People of Haiti. By Paul C. Mocombe. Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 2016. ISBN 978-0-7618-6702-9. 147 pp. $28.99.Review by Ama MazamaThis book, comprising five chapters, presents itself as a structural Marxist analysis of Vodou in Haitian society, with ultimate purpose of applying author's own phenomenological structural sociology (6) to Vodou. Thus, unsurprisingly, and typical of most works couched in European paradigms, The Vodou Ethic and Spirit of Communism is articulated around principal dichotomies. The first one opposes Haitians to African people worldwide, with strange claim that Haiti is only place in world where Africans have rejected European cultural values and held on to African culture. Indeed, according to author, the majority of black people in Africa and African diaspora, contemporarily, internalize and recursively reorganize a European way of life as black (other) agents of Protestant Ethic and spirit of capitalism seeking equality of opportunity, recognition, and distribution with their former white colonizers (32). On contrary, he continues,the majority of Africans on island maintained their African structuring structure [sic], what I am calling here Vodou Ethic and spirit of communism social class language game, which they reified as nature of reality as such via language of Kreyol; ideology of Vodou; its ideological apparatuses, i.e., lakous, peristyles, ounfo, Iwa yo, herbal medicine, songs, dances, and zombification; and modes of production, i.e., komes, husbandry, and subsistence agriculture. (33)The second dichotomy, within Haiti, opposes bourgeoisie to masses. This results in emergence of social systems: one is structured by Catholic/Protestant ethic and its spirit of capitalism and is embraced by bourgeoisie; other revolves around Vodou ethic and its spirit of communism and is sustained by masses. Bois Caiman, we are told, was defining moment when masses decided to hold on to African worldview, including Vodou. The author argues particularly adamantly against any notion of syncretism, creolite, or hybridity in Vodou. The images of white saints with which Vodou iconography is replete were simply, according to Mocombe, a strategy used by ougan-yo and manbo-yo to familiarize and re-Africanize those Haitians who were leaving plantation and who knew very little about Vodou while being well versed in Christianity due to their proximity to Europeans and their subsequent embrace of European culture (91). Those images were to facilitate their transition back into African culture. The conflicts that have marred Haitian history, author affirms, are ultimately caused by clashes between European and African cultures, between Catholicism/ Protestantism and Vodou and agents and worldviews that sustain them.Here, Mocombe is introducing Cheikh Anta Diop's two cradle theory, which argues that an abundant African environment produced a culture of sharing and peacefulness on African continent, while an environment marked by scarcity produced European aggressiveness and individualism-and, ultimately, capitalism. Such a twist is a bit surprising, to say least, coming from a self-professed Marxist. …

Antrosios Lietuvos Respublikos geokultūrinės orientacijos: etninės valstybės propagavimo atvejis

Kultūrinė diplomatija, pasitelkusi tautinius naratyvus, dažnai reprezentuoja politinę galią, atstovaujamą valdžios elito, ir suteikia užsienio politikai veikimo turinį ir kryptį. Šio straipsnio tikslas yra atskleisti Algirdo Brazausko kultūrinio tapatumo sampratą ir jo santykį su kultūrine diplomatija. Straipsnyje analizuojami Brazausko kultūros sampratos idėjiniai kontekstai, jo tautinės savimonės ir pilietiškumo metmenys bei jo formuoto kultūrinės diplomatijos modelio specifika.

EVOLUTION OF NATIONAL SYSTEM OF AESTHETIC EDUCATION

The authors of the article consider the main historical stages of the evolution of national system of artisticaesthetic education with the aim to identify its distinctive features. Historical-pedagogical analysis of this system corresponds to the research of characteristic features of the development of aesthetic culture of Russian people and identification of natural connections and mutual influence of these two processes from ancient times till now. Thus, for example, the authors make the analysis of features characteristic for public consciousness of eastern Slavs in the pagan epoch (associativity, flexibility, polysemy etc.). These features of public consciousness correspond to traditional methods of education based on domination of public interests in the period. The authors analyze cardinal changes of public consciousness of inhabitants of Ancient Russia after they had adopted the orthodox culture: basics of religious outlook have been gradually formed instead of mythological outlook. It leads to the development in Russia of new spheres of creative activities (stone building, monumental and easel painting, book production, literary creativity etc.). From that time it is possible to speak about the origin of national system of aesthetic education (training of professional artists, formation of the first art schools and of methodical system of training painters). At the same time, characteristic feature of our ancestors’ outlook is combination of Christian and pagan elements, what allows to speak about the uniqueness of Ancient Russian culture. The period of revival of Russian culture in the 14 th – 15 th centuries is marked by the appearance of new aesthetics based on the high spirituality and artistic perfection. Since the 16 th century, secular elements have gained strength in Russian culture, especially in the 17 th century when the medieval paradigm of public consciousness definitively collapsed. From the 18 th century the culture of Russia is divided into two streams "secular" based on European cultural values and "Old Russian" (folklore).

EVOLUTION OF NATIONAL SYSTEM OF AESTHETIC EDUCATION

The authors of the article consider the main historical stages of the evolution of national system of artisticaesthetic education with the aim to identify its distinctive features. Historical-pedagogical analysis of this system corresponds to the research of characteristic features of the development of aesthetic culture of Russian people and identification of natural connections and mutual influence of these two processes from ancient times till now. Thus, for example, the authors make the analysis of features characteristic for public consciousness of eastern Slavs in the pagan epoch (associativity, flexibility, polysemy etc.). These features of public consciousness correspond to traditional methods of education based on domination of public interests in the period. The authors analyze cardinal changes of public consciousness of inhabitants of Ancient Russia after they had adopted the orthodox culture: basics of religious outlook have been gradually formed instead of mythological outlook. It leads to the development in Russia of new spheres of creative activities (stone building, monumental and easel painting, book production, literary creativity etc.). From that time it is possible to speak about the origin of national system of aesthetic education (training of professional artists, formation of the first art schools and of methodical system of training painters). At the same time, characteristic feature of our ancestors’ outlook is combination of Christian and pagan elements, what allows to speak about the uniqueness of Ancient Russian culture. The period of revival of Russian culture in the 14 th – 15 th centuries is marked by the appearance of new aesthetics based on the high spirituality and artistic perfection. Since the 16 th century, secular elements have gained strength in Russian culture, especially in the 17 th century when the medieval paradigm of public consciousness definitively collapsed. From the 18 th century the culture of Russia is divided into two streams "secular" based on European cultural values and "Old Russian" (folklore).

Foster, John Burt, Jr. Transnational Tolstoy: Between the West and the World (review)

SEER, 92, 3, JULY 2014 516 other discussions of Ivanov’s image of Skriabin would be helpful (e.g. Pamela Davidson, ‘Viacheslav Ivanov’s Ideal of the Artist as Prophet: From Theory to Practice’, Europa Orientalis, 21, 2002, 1, pp. 157–202). The essay is full of thoughtprovoking material, but it attempts to cover too much ground, suffers from repetition and loses focus as a result (as is the case with several contributions to this volume). In a fresh and invigorating essay — responding to an exhibition of Russian realist art held in Italy in 2007 — Chiara Cantelli discusses the nature of realism, tracing connections from the work of the Peredvizhniki through to Lenin’s Mausoleum and the Moscow metro. The apocalyptic theme surfaces occasionally, but is not the main focus of the study. Andrea Oppo uses Derrida’s concept of différance to analyse the last experimental production of the avantgarde Polish theatre director, Jerzy Grotowski, Apocalpysis cum Figuris (1968, not staged until 1980). The closing essay brings the literary and visual strands of apocalypse to bear on its expression in cinema. Alessio Scarlato links Andrei Tarkovskii’s lecture on the Apocalypse to the symbolic imagery of his last film, The Sacrifice. As in many collections, the contributions are disparate in approach, uneven in quality and do not add up to a coherent account of the subject (only three essays are on Eastern European representations of apocalypse, as opposed to seven on Russian topics). The high proportion of contributions translated from other languages into English (six out of ten essays, as well as the preface and introduction) leads to an opaque, non-native style of English writing, occasionally compounded by errors, such as the surprising reference to ‘the social issue, anticipated by an idealistic humanitarianism in the 1940s and the populistic and nihilistic movements of the 1960s that culminated with the Marxist ideology’ (p. 26), resulting from the mistranslation of the Italian for 1840s and 1860s. Despite these reservations, readers will undoubtedly find unusual materials, novel approaches and stimulating ideas in this volume, which is attractively produced and pleasant to handle. UCL SSEES Pamela Davidson Foster, John Burt, Jr. Transnational Tolstoy: Between the West and the World. Bloomsbury Academic, New York and London, 2013. xiv + 248 pp. Tables. Notes. Bibliography. Index. £17.99: $29.95 (paperback). It is no secret that comparative literature is a discipline in search of itself. If one claims that comparative literature, like the modern novel, is a discipline whose essence is to have no essence, this search takes on a particularly deliquescent irony.Andthisisnoidleirony.Comparativeliteratureisbesetbyaninsuperable REVIEWS 517 tension between a certain universality, the urge to be everywhere at home, and the unavoidable accidence of history, that its objects of investigation are products of particular histories. One of the signal merits of John Burt Foster Jr.’s book is its attempt to address the issue head-on by examining a remarkable case of this tension: the literature of Lev Tolstoi. Indeed, Foster’s approach is refreshing in its eagerness to exploit this tension as the creative basis for comparative literature, its very condition of possibility. Foster does so by emphasizing a conceptual tag that has gained popularity of late: transnationality. The transnational attempts a critique of the nation state and the national narrative as the central form of societal selfexpression without thereby erasing the significance of the nation state in an ostensibly dissolutive cosmopolitanism. To the contrary, the transnational serves to reveal and exploit the dynamic interaction among nation states that the latter seek so often to deny or marginalize. Foster’s book pursues the transnational approach in three parts, each consisting of four chapters. The first part provides a series of case studies that describe specific instances of interaction between Russian and European cultural values developed in Tolstoi’s major novels including traditional cases of influence such as that of Stendhal on Tolstoi. The second part examines the shifting significance of the terms realism and modernism in regard to Tolstoi’s novels as they are interpreted in different national contexts, from Virginia Woolf to the magic realism of Gabriel Garcia Marquez. The third looks to Tolstoi’s anticipation of a broader world literature focusing on...

’We Have Become Niggers!’: Josephine Baker as a Threat to Viennese Culture

Early 1928 Josephine Baker, by that time a famous dancer and singer, came to Vienna to be part of a vaudeville show. Even before her arrival the waves went high – her possible presence in Vienna caused a major uproar there. Various commentators constructed an image of Baker that was based on the assumption that she was seriously attacked on the values of traditional European culture and, furthermore, true Viennese culture.
 In my essay, where I address the Viennese Negerskandal more directly, I explore the various discourses that produced this ‘event’ along the interface of mass culture/avant-garde and high/low culture. It is evident that these events centre on a construction of ‘blackness’ and of ‘black cultural expression’; it goes without saying that racism and sexism play a central role.
 I will, however, try to contextualize the ‘nigger scandal’ in a broader setting: against the background of Vienna in the late 1920s the perceived threat of ‘Americanisation’ will be discussed.

Free Jazz and the French Critic

AbstractFrom the mid-1960s to the early 1970s, free jazz was the subject of considerable public interest in France. The present article examines the conditions that fueled enthusiasm for American avant-garde jazz, focusing on the politicization of discourse surrounding the ‘new thing.’ Critics hostile to the movement felt that it undermined jazz's claim to universality, a cornerstone of postwar attempts to valorize the genre in the French cultural sphere. Yet the tendency to identify free jazz with various forms of African American political radicalism presented no less of a challenge for the movement's advocates. By constructing an image of free jazz that stressed its irremediable difference from the norms and values of European culture, writers were compelled to find alternative ways of relating it to contemporary French concerns. A reading of Philippe Carles and Jean-Louis Comolli's text Free Jazz Black Power shows how the authors' attempt to reinscribe African American cultural nationalism as an expression of transnational anticolonial struggle not only helped bring free jazz closer to the French experience, but also served as a way of working through the unresolved legacies of colonialism.

Chinese psychiatrists views on global features of CCMD-III, ICD-10 and DSM-IV

Objective To survey psychiatrists’ opinions about psychiatric classification in China, and provide information and suggestions for developing a new version of classificatory system. Method The questionnaire about psychiatry classification written by Professor Graham Mellsop, New Zealand, was translated and modified into Chinese. An anonymous field survey of 380 psychiatry professionals was undertaken in Beijing. Results A total of 181 questionnaires were eligible for analysis. The Chinese Classification of Mental Disorders version 3 (CCMD-III) is the most commonly used in China (63.8%), then ICD-10 (28.5%) and DSM-IV (7.7%). Half of the respondents (53.0%) agreed that the most important diagnostic classification is for communication among physicians, and then for communication between physician and patient (21.0%). Most professionals (90.0%) agree that classification should include less than 100 diagnostic options. Disagreement presents on cross-culture application of the ICD-10 and DSM-III: 75.1% professionals agreed that they are “useful and reliable regardless of patient ethnicity and culture”, while 46.8% found “sometimes difficult to apply across cultures”, and 35.8% thought classification is “over-embedded in European cultural concepts and values”. Conclusion There is a strong trend of convergence and unification of China's diagnostic standards with international standards inevitable. A classification that is less complicated and confused, easy-to-communicate and understand and cross-cultural/nation applicable is expected by most Chinese psychiatrists. Such classification should also be reflective of the advances in understanding of aetiology of disorders and helpful in clinical management.