Cultural History Research Articles

MEDIA COVERAGE OF NOWRUZ RITUALS AND REFLECTIONS: SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES ACROSS THE TURKIC WORLD

This research looks at the celebration of Nowruz, a holiday that represents plenty, growth, togetherness, revival, and new beginnings, in seven Independent Turkish States. Nowruz happens on March 21 and the days around it. Nowruz has special traditions like egg tapping, fire jumping, and iron shaping, showing both similar and different cultural customs among these states. Though there are differences, the fundamental essence of Nowruz, based on a shared historical culture, shows the enduring link between past and future traditions. Using content analysis with Maxqda 2020, this study examined news reports from 2015-2020 in three newspapers from each of Turkey, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan. Results show a focus on events rather than rituals, with usual practices like fire jumping and egg tapping next to special local traditions and games, showing the cultural importance of Nowruz as a cherished and ongoing celebration.

THE ORIGINS OF GANCH COMPOSITIONS WITH OYNAVAND-O’UMA IN THE INTERIORS OF UZBEKISTAN AND GEORGIA

Ganch (fired clay ceramics with gypsum) has long been an integral part of the interior and exterior decoration for appropriate buildings to make them stand out. First of all, these are classy palaces, Buddhist traditional harem-type buildings in Western and Central Asia and other mosques, madrasas, mausoleums and minarets in some Oriental cultures associated with Islam. In particular, in the territories of Khorasan (now a part of modern Uzbekistan, was Iran, referred to as some kingdoms sort of the Bukhara emirate). The goal is to establish the origins of oynavand-o’uma, (stucco network decorations made of alumina with coloured powders and shiny pearl or mirror elements), which are genetically related to monuments in Uzbekistan and Georgia of the 5th/7th–19th centuries. The following methods were used in this study: analysis, generalisation and systematisation. The study highlighted that in the pre-Arabic period of the Iranian-speaking tribes of the Eftalites and Bukharhudates, who were simultaneously influenced by Buddhist and Greco-Byzantine cultures, the phenomenon of a local plastic canon was formed, which laid the foundation for the development of carved alabaster and plaster, which further developed without a figurative component during the Muslim era and spread to Asian lands until the time of the Turkic-Persian Qajar dynasty, reaching not only Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, but also Georgia. The study also discussed the specific features of art education in the context of preserving and developing the cultural heritage of the regions. The findings of this study can be used by specialists in the field of studying the evolution of the plastic canon of monumental and decorative art of certain Eastern countries, experts in the scientific restoration and reconstruction of oriental visions of the synthesis of painting with ganch and mirrors, as well as teachers of the history of oriental culture.

Troubles and satisfactions of a valiant librarian: new documentation about Guerriera Guerrieri from her personal archival file preserved at the Central State Archive

Guerriera Guerrieri is a protagonist of the Italian cultural history of the last century, remembered for the intensity of her work and for the multiplicity of initiatives and actions that characterized her professional activity as a librarian and which still allow us today to remember her as a figure of absolute importance in Italy; among these, the development of cataloging rules, the cataloging of periodicals and the diffusion of books and reading, activities which he carried out with an awareness not only about librarianship, but also about cultural and bibliographical aspects. Guerrieri's professional and personal life, however, was not simply dotted with satisfactions and successes, but the war, some family deaths, the instability of a residence, and envy and slander exacerbated by the fact that she was a capable and esteemed woman in her own environment, forced her to resist tenaciously until she was discharged from service. To the analysis and contextualization of the information already known, this essay adds the critical presentation of others documents from the numerous documents contained in his personal file preserved in Rome at the Central State Archive.

Exploring the Relationship between Tourist Expenditures and Cultural Heritage Site Visits

The connection between cultural heritage site visits and expenditures usually shows that improved visits to cultural sites lead to higher tourist spending, as these sites regularly appeal to extra prosperous or culturally engaged traffic. Additionally, properly preserved and promoted cultural history sites can enhance local economies by way of illustrating more travelers who spend on diverse services like accommodation, food, and entry fees. Therefore, investment in cultural heritage maintenance and merchandising can drastically enhance tourism revenues.In this paper, it used data from 138 visitors to analyze the connection between their tourist expenditures and visits to cultural heritage sites. 40 questions were distributed to the visitors to collect their experience and data, including age, gender, and income level. Then evaluate the factors and their willingness to visit using the Pearson correlation, descriptive analysis, and ANOVA test. Additionally, we assessed the main reasons for unwillingness and detailed total expenditures. As a result, we found that visitors had a high willingness to spend more on expenditures.

Evolution and Innovation of Guangxi Yao Mountain Residential Architecture Space from the Perspective of Cultural Heritage

Enhancing national cultural self-confidence involves promoting and strengthening the protection and utilisation of traditional national villages. Studying how to protect and inherit the resources of these villages, as well as utilising existing resources in a sustainable manner, poses a challenging issue. Further research is needed to investigate the influence of regional culture on residential buildings in the mountainous areas of the Yao people in Guangxi, and to explore how traditional architectural elements can preserve their cultural essence using modern artistic language. The project aims to: 1. Examine how regional culture influences Yao ethnic minority houses in Guangxi's mountains; 2. Evaluate existing challenges and implement contemporary design for improvement; 3. Create sustainable and culturally significant Yao mountain dwellings. The research collected qualitative data from six towns using a combination of semi-structured interviews, participant observation, and reviewing internet and print news sources. The residential structures in Yaochi Mountain District, Guangxi exhibit unique regional cultural traits, although they also have deficiencies in several areas. This study find that the beauty of the natural environment remains constant but the architectural vestiges and cultural history show remarkable variance, both of which greatly contribute to sustainable development. This study found that traditional villages in Guangxi share a number of characteristics, including a severe deficiency in clean energy and a poor rate of carbon utilisation, during our investigation of the sustainable development of the spatial dimension of the ecological legacy of these communities. According to a weight analysis performed at the sub-index factor level, the variety of building uses is the most important indicator of the spatial sustainability of traditional villages in Guangxi. The outcomes of this study provided a valuable empirical evidence and practical suggestions for areas and nations involved in the preservation of cultural heritage and the investigation of sustainable rural development.

God-Talk: an Introduction

Abstract God-talk consists of God speaking to humans in revelation, and humans speaking to God in prayer. They are the two forms of the covenantal language spoken between God and humans in general, and specifically between God and the Jewish people. God-talk is an essential component of the languages of all historic cultures. Yet there have been attempts to dismiss God-talk from public discourse, either epistemologically by claiming it is nonsense, or psychologically by claiming it is an invented illusion. Conversely, it is argued here that Jewish God-talk (by no means uniquely) has a logic that regulates how it may and may not be intelligently spoken by its speakers; hence it is not nonsense. And it is argued here that God-talk has always been spoken in human history, that it would be unintelligible in any language whose speakers did not already intend a real referent by the name “God”; hence it is not an invented illusion. This essay is an attempt to retrieve God-talk so that it can be conducted in public discourse, even in secular space.

Digital threads of architectural heritage: navigating tourism destination image through social media reviews and machine learning insights

ABSTRACT While emphasizing sustainable development goals for cultural heritage preservation, tourism destination image based on the predefined traditional survey often fails to meet the dynamic tourist demands. Taking the Nanjing Museum of Modern History in China as a case study, this paper innovatively combined the Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) and Importance-Performance Analysis (IPA) to quantitatively extract and assess the destination image from the social media data. The results demonstrated that the tourists mainly focused on 12 topics from individual, environmental, and social backgrounds, mostly on architectural style, transportation, and location. Tourists perceived most positive sentiments in historical culture (84.94%), and architectural style (70.54%), but most negative sentiments in ticket purchasing experience (27.60%), living and service facilities (14.09%). The IPA results reveal that historical culture is the strength, yet there is an overemphasis on historical events. This research marked a methodological advancement by combining LDA and IPA, enabling a detailed analysis of vast online reviews and providing critical insights for improving the tourism destination image in architectural heritage studies.

The poverty of postmodernist constructivism: And a case for naturalism out of Hume, Darwin, and Wittgenstein

AbstractThis essay develops a naturalist framework based on Hume, Darwin, and Wittgenstein against postmodernist constructivism. That framework claims universal features of human biology, cognition, and behavior to explain our cultural histories, running contrary to two core constructivist doctrines of postmodernist scholarship: mutual opacity and epistemic violence. Mutual opacity posits the incommensurability of systems rooted in differing contexts, cultures, and group identities, while epistemic violence morally impugns the extension of the knowledge claims of any such system beyond its strictly localized boundaries. This is the extension that universalist approaches, like naturalism, are recriminated against owing to their claims to discover encompassing standpoint‐independent and transcultural features of human constitution and modes of life. Comparative evaluation of these approaches exposes the failure of postmodernist constructivism to explain parallel practices, conventions, and institutions across human cultural histories, which universalist naturalism succeeds at, while moreover revealing how this failure undermines its agendas of social justice.

INCLUSÃO DE ESTUDANTES COM DEFICIÊNCIA NOS JOGOS ESCOLARES DO RIO GRANDE DO SUL

The Jogos Escolares do Rio Grande do Sul (JERGS) are a school sporting event that has been part of the cultural itinerary of the state of Rio Grande do Sul since 1970, when it was created at the Secretaria da Educação e Cultura do Rio Grande do Sul (SEC). Currently, the event is aimed at students from the state's public network, at the municipal, state and federal levels. For many years, students with disabilities did not have an effective space in this school event, which, at times, greatly valued the participation of students with the “athlete” profile. Therefore, the research aims to understand the process of insertion and participation of students with disabilities in JERGS. To achieve this, we determined Cultural History as a theoretical and methodological matrix for research. To access the past about the historical conformations of JERGS, information was collected through documentary sources and digital sources. The collected sources were subjected to the document analysis technique, based on the recording, classification, analysis and cross-referencing procedures. After analyzing and interpreting the collected materials, we found that the JERGS began to include children and adolescents with disabilities in an effective and duly regulated manner from the 2017 edition onwards, the year following the Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. The holding of this mega sporting event in brazilian territory may have encouraged the JERGS organizing committee to include sports adapted for students with disabilities in the event's modalities, almost 50 years since its creation in the state. Received: 2024/04/04 Reformulated: 2024/06/03 Accepted: 2024/08/04

Financial speculation meets cultural heritage in China's wildlife markets.

Environmental regulations restricting the use of a natural resource or species often have unintended consequences. One example is prohibitions on the international trade in culturally important endangered wildlife. Trade restrictions may artificially increase scarcity and, consequently, value. In China, international trade restrictions may trigger bouts of speculative investment that have the opposite effect of the restrictions' intent. We examined how China's speculative economy and cultural history have together led to unintended consequences when regulating wildlife trade. In China, wildlife markets occupy a legal gray area that can make regulations ineffectual or even counterproductive. In extreme cases, prohibiting trade can provoke market booms. Further unintended consequences include potential cultural backlash. In China and across the Global South, international trade restrictions are sometimes considered a continuation of a longstanding history of Western intervention and thus may not be enforced as strongly or may generate resentment. This pushback has contributed to rising calls to decolonialize conservation and may lead to growing alliances between China and other Global South countries when negotiating international wildlife trade restrictions in the future.

Techniques and Philosophy Steps of Ampek Sasaran Junguik Sati: In the Context of Minangkabau Culture

This research aims to investigate the technique and philosophy behind Step Ampek Sasaran Junguik Sati in the context of Minangkabau culture. Langkah Ampek is a traditional movement in Minangkabau martial arts that has been passed down from generation to generation. This research uses a qualitative approach by collecting data through direct observation, interviews with skilled practitioners, and analysis of related cultural texts. The results showed that Langkah Ampek is not only a series of physical movements, but also reflects philosophical values in Minangkabau culture. The philosophy includes spiritual, moral, and social aspects, which are reflected in each step of the movement. The techniques used in the Langkah Ampek Sasaran Junguik Sati are closely related to natural conditions, daily life, and the history of Minangkabau culture. This research also identified that Sasaran Junguik Sati plays an important role in maintaining Minangkabau cultural identity and strengthening the sense of solidarity among community members. The practical implication of this research is the importance of maintaining and developing traditional cultural heritage as an integral part of cultural sustainability and community development in Minangkabau.

Calorie Restriction Decreases Competitive Fitness in Saccharomyces cerevisiae Following Heat Stress.

Experiments exposing Saccharomyces cerevisiae to glucose limitation (calorie restriction) are widely used to determine impacts on cell health as a model for aging. Using growth on plates and in liquid culture, we demonstrated that calorie restriction reduces fitness in subsequent nutrient-limited environments. Yeast grown in a calorie-restricted environment took longer to emerge from the lag phase, had an extended doubling time and had a lower percentage of culturability. Cells grown under moderate calorie restriction were able to withstand a gradual heat stress in a similar manner to cells grown without calorie restriction but fared less well with a sudden heat shock. Yeast grown under extreme calorie restriction were less fit when exposed to gradual heating or heat shock. Using RNAseq analysis, we provide novel insight into the mechanisms underlying this response, showing that in the absence of calorie restriction, genes whose products are involved in energy metabolism (glycolysis/gluconeogenesis and the citrate cycle) are predominantly overexpressed when yeasts were exposed to gradual heating, whereas this was not the case when they were exposed to shock. We show that both the culture history and the current environment must be considered when assaying physiological responses, and this has wider implications when developing strategies for the propagation, preservation or destruction of microbial cells.

From Transformation to Consolidation of the State: Challenges of the Rule of Law in the Western Balkans

Democratic societies must adhere to the Rule of Law to ensure that every individual—including the government—responsible to the law. This research looks at the obstacles the Western Balkans encountered in defending the rule of law as they integrated into the European Union, concentrating on the discrepancy between the EU's high standards and the institutional capabilities of the area. This study examines the theoretical underpinnings of the Rule of Law as they relate to Western culture and European history, employing qualitative research methodologies. It also examines the integration processes and changes that have taken place in the Western Balkans. The qualitative analysis concludes that although the Western Balkans need the Rule of Law, existing EU policies might risk being ineffective. It recommends implementing more adaptable and encouraging systems to create the fundamentals of the Rule of Law in these countries, promoting steady advancement towards EU integration. This article offers a critical evaluation of the EU's strategy, highlighting the necessity of customized, situation-specific tactics.

Symbolic Interpretations of Mah Meri Visual Art: A Conceptual Approach Using Peirce’s Semiotic Theory

This study examines the visual art heritage of the Mah Meri tribe through a semiotic analysis. Utilizing Charles Sanders Peirce's Semiotic Theory as the foundational framework, the research decodes the symbolism embedded in Mah Meri's artistic expressions. The aim is to understand and document the deep meanings behind these symbols and their impact on the cultural identity and historical narratives of the Mah Meri tribe. An ethnographic approach is employed for data collection, including field observations, photographic and videographic documentation, and qualitative interviews with community members. The findings reveal that Mah Meri's art is rich in symbolic meanings that reflect the tribe's cultural identity and history. The study also highlights the negative effects of modernization on traditional art forms, necessitating urgent preservation efforts. This research makes significant contributions to the field of visual anthropology by emphasizing the importance of semiotic analysis in understanding and preserving indigenous art. It calls for increased efforts in documenting and protecting the visual heritage of the Mah Meri tribe to ensure its transmission to future generations.

KYRILLOMETHODIKON – an Innovative Research Environment for Shared Access to Scientific Content

The Cyrillo-Methodian heritage is a common phenomenon of European value, promoting religious tolerance, cultural equality, and understanding of European cultural history and identity. The virtual cluster KYRILLOMETHODIKON developed at the Cyrillo-Methodian Research Centre (CMRC) at BAS is part of the Centre of Excellence "Heritage BG" (BG05M2OP001-1.001-0001 Project), aiming to provide structured knowledge on this phenomenon and its manifestations. The digital repository offers resources for research on the first stage of Slavic Christian culture with an accent on its Old Bulgarian part, reflecting the multidisciplinary research paradigm of the Centre: studies in medieval literature, linguistics, history, theology, art history, and anthropology. To ensure the educational socialisation of the research in these disciplines, a Scientific and Educational Interdisciplinary Centre for Cyrillo-Methodian studies was created within the framework of KYRILLOMETHODIKON, sharing educational tools for a wide range of audiences, including children, school students, undergraduates, and doctoral candidates.

Refusing bilingualism, appropriating languages

This paper analyses a trial held in 2020 in the court known as ‘Audiencia Nacional’ (Madrid), against 12 Galician pro-independence activists accused of ‘glorification of terrorism’. Through the linguistic strategies of the different actors, and the bilingual interaction produced in that space, we can identify the ideologisation processes and political opposition movements existing in the (cross)examination. While previous research has especially focused on community bilingualism and bilingual interaction in institutional contexts such as the courtroom from a perspective of feedback effect, I explore the refusal to switch languages by bilingual speakers (the accused) against the monolingual counterpart (the court). This struggle over language appropriateness is discursively constructed along in-the-moment uses of linguistic difference and cultural history. Finally, since this trial was live-streamed for the media and society, I consider the interdiscursive hybridity triggered by this ‘third party’ in which juridical and political messages are being exchanged.

“This Musical Peace is Worse than War:” Cultural History, Musical Banality and Political Context in the Ballet Excelsior

AbstractFrom 1847, the head of the Budapest ballet was Federico Campilli (1820–1889), an individual of Italian origin. He regarded Viennese taste as authoritative in designing the program, thereby building on the international ballet repertoire. This repertoire included romantic pieces from Western Europe, along with Campilli's own choreographies. Campilli concluded his forty-year tenure in Budapest in 1887, and Cesare Smeraldi (1845–1924) assumed his position. The imperial city served as the model for shaping the ballet program, commencing its operations with the staging of Manzotti's spectacular Excelsior, which had premiered in Vienna two years earlier. This sensational performance, focused on the rise of human civilization and the development of technology, involved hundreds of actors and was destined for success throughout Europe. It ran for 29 years in Vienna and nine years in Budapest. In this study, an exploration of the driving forces behind this ballet success story with unconventional themes is undertaken. Various aspects are examined, such as the discourse of dance and the articulation of otherness in local and global spaces. The study delves into what technophile ballet entails, how cultural history, abstract concepts, discoveries, and inventions can be narrated through ballet. The thesis also highlights the debatable aspects of the ballet's music, utilizing music reviews from Budapest and Viennese newspapers. Through these reviews, an attempt is made to map the reception history of the ballet in Vienna and Budapest. The significance of Excelsior in the political power field within Hungarian conditions is also emphasized.

Preservation of Historical Buildings through the Lens of International Law

Historical buildings deserve preservation not only for their aesthetic features but also as guardians of cultural and spiritual values. This is now acknowledged by several international law norms. Nonetheless, the legal discourse about their preservation carries a set of problematic implications because it is hard to adopt regulations that combine protection, promotion and valorisation with economic investments and market strategies and with everyday urban life. This is particularly evident with regard to immovables located within historical cities or towns whose economy depends on marketing the cultural identity, authenticity and history of the place to outsiders. This paper highlights the approach adopted by the most relevant international legal instruments which focus on the protection of what belongs to the historical city’s cultural heritage as being of crucial significance for individuals and communities in relation to their cultural identity. In this perspective, the safeguard of historical buildings can be linked to the right of access to and enjoyment of cultural heritage: a specific human right recognized under international law. The issue at stake is how to comply with principles and rules of international law while at the same time respond to the needs of modern life and economy. This paper identifies the rules and principles of international law that have gained legal relevance and can provide valid tools to states and local administrations to implement and fulfil protectionist policies for historical buildings.

Pengaruh Perencanaan Pembelajaran dan Kreativitas Guru terhadap Hasil Belajar Mata Pelajaran SKI Siswa Kelas VIII MTs.Yasiba Kota Bogor

This research aims to test and find out empirical data regarding the influence of learning planning and teacher creativity on the learning outcomes of Islamic culture history subjects. In this study, the authors used a quantitative approach. The sample of this study was 81 respondents from class VIII MTs Yasiba students. The population in this study was all MTs students. Yasiba, which has 812 students in the even semester of the 2023-2024 academic year. Data collection is carried out using observation techniques, documentation and questionnaires. The data analysis technique in this research uses simple regression and multiple regression data analysis techniques with the help of SPSS version 17 software.Based on field data and analysis, this study found : (1) There was an influence of learning planning on SKI learning outcomes, obtaining an R square score of 0.331 or 33.1%. This means that the learning planning variable influences SKI learning outcomes by 33.1% and the remaining 66.9% is determined by other factors outside the regression model. (2) There is an influence of teacher creativity on SKI learning outcomes. In this determination test, an R square value of 0.379 or 37.9% was obtained%. This means that the variable teacher creativity in students' SKI learning outcomes is 37.9% and the remaining 62.1% is determined by other factors outside the regression model. (3) There are results from the determination test, a correlation value (R) of 0.673 is obtained. This shows that there is a correlation between learning planning and teacher creativity together in SKI learning outcomes of 0.673.

THE POETICS OF UTOPIA IN THE WORKS OF A. V. CHAYANOV

The futurological model presented in “My brother Alexei’s Journey to the Land of Peasant Utopia” by A. V. Chayanov (under the name of Iv. Kremnev) is focused on preserving and reviving the traditions of the times past, which are harmoniously integrated into a new way of life. The utopian worldview is very eclectic: along with manual agricultural labor, there are the latest inventions: meteorophores and aircraft, atmospheric precipitation is controlled. Art as a philosophical imperative defines all aspects of society. The leaders of the state, rely on the achievements of eugenics, striving to maximize the realization of each person’s talent, education is based on the principles of harmonious personal development: utopia’s residents not only master a specialty, but must know the history of art, play sports, which should also serve to reveal their abilities. The ideal is formed by both the ancient culture and manor pastime, where a person works in close contact with nature, spending leisure time in literary or musical pursuits. Knowledge of history and art is considered fundamental here: even cooking and entertainment are focused on preserving the memory of the past. Many of the ideas on which utopia is based are Chayanov’s ideas about the proper structure of education, its cultural and art history components, pedagogical and methodological principles, and the formation of a versatile and multifaceted scientist. But in a way, it is also an answer to the disputes of the late 19th — early 20th centuries about the role of man as a theurgist, the limits of his capabilities and power.