Humanist Tradition Research Articles

Bathsua Makin and Mary More with a Reply to More by Robert Whitehall: Educating English Daughters: Late Seventeenth-Century Debates ed. by Frances Teague and Margaret J. M. Ezell

Reviewed by: Bathsua Makin and Mary More with a Reply to More by Robert Whitehall: Educating English Daughters: Late Seventeenth-Century Debates ed. by Frances Teague and Margaret J. M. Ezell Elizabeth Ann Mackay Bathsua Makin and Mary More with a Reply to More by Robert Whitehall: Educating English Daughters: Late Seventeenth-Century Debates, ed. Frances Teague and Margaret J. M. Ezell. The Other Voice in Early Modern Europe: The Toronto Series, 44. Medieval and Renaissance Texts and Studies. Vol. 491. Toronto: Iter Academic, 2016. Pp. xvi + 201. $34.95. The three early modern documents in this collection present some available options for the education of early modern women—going to school, learning at home from one’s mother, teaching the self through reading and writing. The collection also demonstrates a few ways early modern English women and men thought about and responded to women’s education and its consequences. The collection’s tight focus, together with its neatly edited, accessible primary texts, makes this a worthwhile collection, one best suited for novice readers of early modern texts, upper-level undergraduates, and graduate students in the disciplines of history, literature, education, and/or women’s studies. Two of the texts in this collection—Bathsua Makin’s published treatise, An Essay to Revive the Ancient Education of Gentlewomen (1673), and Mary More’s manuscript pamphlet, The Woman’s Right (c. 1674)—have appeared in previous anthologies, usually in excerpts. Educating English Daughters is especially valuable because it presents both women’s texts in their entirety; both texts are also newly revised by Mss. Teague and Ezell (who have previously edited these texts). The collection also introduces readers to Robert Whitehall’s manuscript response to More, The Woman’s Right Proved False (c. 1674). In the engaging, informative general introduction to the collection, readers will profit from ways that the editors contextualize early modern women’s reading and writing with details about the traditional humanist education designed for boys and men. At times they challenge current critical discussions about women’s education. For instance, they question historical notions of “literacy” that have been used to discount women’s learning and intellectual productions. They also include details about several other women educators who were not members of the royal family or the elite class but “ordinary” women such as Elizabeth Jocelin, Susannah Perwich, Mary Ward, and Mary Astell. The introduction also shows that not all men in this period were opposed to women’s learning, a [End Page 69] point often forgotten. However, the introduction tends to ignore more nuanced readings of early modern gender, gendered education, and women’s writing produced by historians and critics such as Katharine Gillespie, Patricia Pender, Eve Rachele Sanders, and Wendy Wall. Mss. Teague and Ezell have shaped some of the most instrumental, influential scholarship in early modern women, women’s roles, and women’s education, but here they do not seek to intervene in more recent and ongoing conversations. Even as they bring some attention to “voices that attempt to change what a culture believes about education, about rights, and about gender,” the editors have restated much of their earlier work, presented here as standard, basic information about women’s education and women’s writing. Ultimately, the greatest strength of the general introduction is how it encourages readers to make connections between early modern and twentieth- and twenty-first-century texts and artifacts, while also arguing that issues of a gendered education are still relevant and complicated sites of contest today. For instance, readers are reminded that we live “in a century when many girls are still denied education for political, religious, or economic reasons.” Mss. Teague and Ezell take note of Malala Yousafzai, a Pakistani children’s and women’s rights activist and the youngest Nobel Prize recipient, who was “shot for boarding a school bus” when she defied the Taliban to attend school. This general introduction, then, lends itself to our instruction of students: it offers instructors concrete ideas about the kinds of texts or artifacts that we can put into conversation with early modern texts, whether we choose to use its suggestions (such as Woolf’s Room of One’s Own, Joanna Russ...

Resurfacing the Disappeared: The Author in Fish-Hair Woman by Merlinda Bobis

The subject of my paper is the author. I aim to explore how the self-conscious author functions in Fish-Hair Woman (2012), a metafictional novel by Merlinda Bobis. I begin with a brief discussion of how the author is constructed, first, in Philippine literary criticism, and second, in light of the collapse of the humanist tradition of valorizing the writer, which prompted the proclamation of the author’s “death” and rendered her irrelevant to the text and to criticism. But does the author stay dead? In metafiction, in particular, the author manages to “write” herself into the text using self-consciousness. I find that, while it is impossible to overlook the author’s decentered status, it is equally untenable to ignore how an overt “manifestation” of the author functions within the text. Through my reading of Fish-Hair Woman, I attempt to examine how the author’s self-consciousness results in two seemingly contradicting implications. On the one hand, the author’s constant references to herself allows her to “live” through the text, reinforcing the Barthesian notion that the author limits the text and its possible interpretations. On the other hand, the author’s constant references to herself as a subject exposes the author’s own limitations. This, in turn, “re-opens” the text, by giving room to questions about other perspectives that are not or cannot be represented in the text.

Filosofia e História em Thomas Hobbes: uma leitura de An Historical Narration Concerning Heresy

Este artigo discute a função da história no pensamento do filósofo inglês Thomas Hobbes. A primeira parte do artigo trata da crítica de Hobbes à importância conferida à experiência e à história pela tradição clássico-humanista e de sua defesa da superioridade epistêmica da razão e da filosofia. A segunda parte concentra-se em sua obra postumamente publicada, An Historical Narration Concerning Heresy (1680), buscando interpretá-la à luz das convenções do gênero da história eclesiástica e dos debates político-religiosos do período da Restauração inglesa. Argumenta-se, finalmente, que essa obra é um tipo de história teoricamente informada, concebida para se constituir como uma intervenção retoricamente efetiva em um debate contemporâneo acerca da heresia e de sua punição e da jurisdição eclesiástica

HUMANISM AND THE ENDS OF EMPIRE, 1945–1960

This article situates francophone anticolonial thinkers—including Aimé Césaire, Léopold Sédar Senghor, and Frantz Fanon—within the “humanism debate” in postwar French thought. Drawing on their poetry, prose, speeches, and interviews, this article reconstructs their critique of the humanist tradition that had identified the capacity for reason as the essence of “man.” It then traces their dialogue with approaches to this critique, including existentialism, phenomenology, and surrealism, that circulated in the metropole. The particular ways in which anticolonial thinkers built upon such approaches merit our attention because they force us to revise our understanding of the politics motivating the turn to so-called “antihumanism” in the 1960s. Drawing on recent studies that have highlighted proposals for federalist alternatives to empire entertained prior to national independence, this article suggests that the “federalist imagination” helped to inspire the distinctive mode of criticism developed by certain anticolonial thinkers and taken up by later scholars.

Осмысление сущности феномена «право» в гуманистической традиции

Осмысление сущности феномена «право» в гуманистической традиции

薬としてのロゴス : 西洋教養史におけるレトリック・ヒューマニズム的伝統の再考(報告論文,レトリックから解釈学へ,Forum 2)

薬としてのロゴス : 西洋教養史におけるレトリック・ヒューマニズム的伝統の再考(報告論文,レトリックから解釈学へ,Forum 2)

教養のレトリック・ヒューマニズム的伝統における公共性・言語・知(コメント論文,レトリックから解釈学へ,Forum 2)

教養のレトリック・ヒューマニズム的伝統における公共性・言語・知(コメント論文,レトリックから解釈学へ,Forum 2)

El centro EICU y su relación con la Paz (un proyecto educativo de los años sesenta)

This article presents a study of a college for university students founded by Javier Galindo in 1960s Granada. It begins with an introduction and the historical context to avoid the historical anachronism. There is an explanation of the methodology used, which is not only analytical but also general, with the idea of showing the comprehensive historical environment given that the formal history of a determined fact is completed and enriched by other nuances –economic, social and cultural, among others– that accompany it. Furthermore, a chapter is dedicated to the biography of the founder and the motives which led him to undertake such an enterprise. An account is then given of the consolidation of the project, and the organisation and students of the college and underline the ideological connections with the European humanist tradition and with progressive education are highlighted, demonstrating that it was a centre that dared to offer an education different to the type that predominated in the society in conflict in. Finally, the discourse develops from the vision of Peace. The founder’s vision, based on his knowledge and experience, took integral education as its reference point although there was no recognised common theoretical field for the investigation of each of the multiple spaces and areas that pursued peace. Both the educational and the axiological and social values on which the ideology was based were of universal nature. They concerned the securing of peace and boasted of the individual, social and public capacity to change the situation. Thus, it may be concluded that the pedagogy and organisation of this centre ‘came very close to the pedagogical movements which from the 1950s addressed a more democratic type of education and training and, it is thought, provided the first steps in Peace Research ,’ as can be deduced from the studies made by Francisco Munoz in La paz imperfecta ante un universe en conflicto (Imperfect peace faced with a universe in conflict).

Poesía amorosa de una erudita del XVII: traducción y creación en <em>El Pastor Fido</em> de Isabel Correa

Este trabajo pretende insertar en el contexto humanista de su tiempo la escritura poética de Isabel Rebeca Correa, erudita portuguesa del siglo XVII que residió en Ámsterdam. Aunque no se conserva buena parte de su obra, podemos conocer el estilo de la autora a través de su traducción al español de El pastor Fido, tragicomedia pastoril de Guarini. Se incluye por primera vez una transcripción completa y modernizada de los fragmentos de dicha versión que, según la traductora, proceden de su propia inventiva. Por medio de esta amplificación de la obra del italiano, Isabel Correa legitima y justifica su propia escritura, y logra publicar algunos versos de temática amorosa, en cuyos motivos se detienen estas páginas.

Novel Values

Novel Values

Distinction and the Ethics of Violence: On the Legal Construction of Liminal Subjects and Spaces

AbstractThis paper interrogates the relationship among visibility, distinction, international humanitarian law and ethics in contemporary theatres of violence. After introducing the notions of “civilianization of armed conflict” and “battlespaces”, we briefly discuss the evisceration of one of international humanitarian law's axiomatic figures: the civilian. We show how liberal militaries have created an apparatus of distinction that expands that which is perceptible by subjecting big data to algorithmic analysis, combining the traditional humanist lens with a post‐humanist one. The apparatus functions before, during, and after the fray not only as an operational technology that directs the fighting or as a discursive mechanism responsible for producing the legal and ethical interpretation of hostilities, but also as a force that produces liminal subjects. Focusing on two legal figures—“enemies killed in action” and “human shields”—we show how the apparatus helps justify killing civilians and targeting civilian spaces during war.

Denis Sauvage, the 16th-Century Editor of French Historical Texts

르네상스 시대 유럽에서 편집자는 상업적인 인쇄 출판의 발전과 더불어 출판업계의 중요한 인물로 부상했다. 르네상스기의 편집자는 주로 휴머니스트로서 라틴어와 그리스어 텍스트 및 전문 서적들을 검토, 수정, 편집하는 일을 담당했다. 그런데 고전 텍스트의 경우와는 달리 프랑스어 인쇄본에서는 편집자가 대부분 익명으로 출판업에 종사했다. 이들의 이름과 작업 내용은 16세기 중엽부터 책의 속표지에서 자세하게 소개되기 시작했다. 16세기의 필리프 드 코민의 󰡔회고록󰡕 출 판의 역사에서 보이는 것처럼, 책의 속표지라는 물질적인 차원에서 나타나는 이러한 변화는 프랑스어 텍스트 편집자의 위상 제고라는 시대적인 변화를 단적으로보여준다. 드니 소바주는 16세기 중엽에 두드러지게 부상한 전문 편집자들 중 하나인데, 특히 그는 중세의 역사 텍스트를 편집해서 출판했다는 점에서 독특한 위치를 차지하고 있다. 소바주의 역사 텍스트 편집은 르네상스기 프랑스 편집자들의 작업 내용과 방식을 잘 보여준다. 편집자는 텍스트를 단지 배열하고 교정을 보아 인쇄하도록 하는 작업만을 하는 것이 아니라, 장과 절을 나누면서 각 장의 제목을 붙이거나 내용을 요약하고, 방주와 후주를 통해 관련 사료를 제시하면서 저자의 원 문에 대한 의견을 제시하며 때로는 저자가 저지른 오류를 지적하고 수정하기도했다. 필사본 원전으로의 회귀를 추구했던 드니 소바주의 프랑스 역사 텍스트 편집 작업은 기존의 주장처럼 프로테스탄티즘에서 영향으로 간주하기 보다는, 고전텍스트를 출판하면서 원전 연구에 몰두했던 전통적인 이탈리아 휴머니즘의 영향을 받은 것으로 보는 것이 더 적절할 것이다.In Renaissance Europe, editors have emerged along with the development of commercial printed book market. The editors were mainly humanists who examined and made corrections on Greek and Latin texts, as well as scientific texts. Unlike the editors of classical texts, most editors of the French books worked in the publishing industry anonymously. It was only from the mid-16th century that the French books began to print the names of editors on their title pages and even went on to present their editorial works in detail, ultimately alluding to the elevation of the stature of the French texts’ editors. The 16th-century editions of the Mémoires of Philippe de Commynes, including those of Denis Sauvage well exemplifies this change. The case of Sauvage also presents the editing method of medieval history books by a Renaissance French editor. He not only arranged the text for printing, but also divided it into chapters and sections by titling each chapter, and at the same time summarized the contents. Furthermore, he annotated the text in order to add suggesting comments, occasionally pointing out and correcting errors committed by the author. In fact, his editorial works in pursuit of the original manuscript source seems to have been influenced not by the Protestant belief, but by the classical humanist tradition.

Feral Rhetoric: Common Sense Animals and Metaphorical Beasts

The humanist tradition of rhetoric has historically emphasized differences rather than similarities between humans and nonhuman animals. Attending to similarities between humans and other species is considered anthropomorphic; however, avoiding similarities is anthropocentric. Using case studies of feral children, this essay attends to the way similarities may be constituted across differences, particularly in cases where wolves domesticate human children. Domestication is the constitution of common sense. Aristotle theorizes common sense as an interspecies capacity, while Cicero contends it is innately human. The humanist tradition has favored Cicero’s rendering. This essay works through the consequences of this adoption and concludes by speculating on Aristotle’s notion of common sense as zoomorphism, a form of animal troping.

Reconstructing the Past as a Means of Rationalizing the Present: A Study of Kazuo Ishiguro’s The Remains of The Day (1989)

The postwar world period was riddled with rapid changes at the different levels. Many people felt they were not able to come to terms with such ongoing changes and had to find a way to coexist with the status-quo. Postmodernism looks upon man as a social being that should learn how to adapt himself to whatever situation by whatever means available. Ishiguro’s novels are written in an expanded humanistic tradition. They are stories dealing with human relationship. They are narratives centering on the working of consciousness and the unconsciousness of the human mind. Ishiguro is concerned with reworking of the past from a late twentieth century perspective. The purpose of this study is to trace the postmodern aspects in The Remains of The Day through the life and character of Stevens and his relationships with the people that he has lived with. Stevens struggles to come to term with his present through telling stories and anecdotes of his past life. The novel depicts the role that memories can play in reconstructing the past events so that the present can be meaningful in some way from a postmodern standpoint. As a postwar British individual, the protagonist of the novel tries to practice suppression over his emotions at the personal level as well as the professional level to construct a new identity. Stevens appears torn between memories of the past and the representation of the present. He is suffering from an identity crisis and striving to create a meaningful present for himself. As a postmodern man, Stevens has to struggle at different levels. He is leading a life riddled with inconsistencies and contradictions. He can’t feel at home with the surrounding world as he is always busy trying to achieve some perfection that is not attainable in a world riddled with conflicts and struggle.

Language and politics in the philosophy of Adam Small: some personal reflections

Small’s philosophy draws its inspiration from the humanistic tradition of Western philosophical thinking. His appropriation of this tradition is especially evident in his reformulation of the western legacy of “philosophy-as-dialogue”. From this perspective, Small proceeds by way of a linguistic turn, in which Kaaps (the language of “ordinary”, “simple” so-called “coloured people”) is presented as a worthy conduit of human reason in the pursuit of dialogue and justice in apartheid South Africa, in spite of numerous attempts over the years by racist-inspired scholarship to reduce the language to the level of ridicule and caricature. This article seeks to evaluate the philosophical merits of Small’s linguistic turn, in which the “will-to-dialogue” is postulated as the normative context for exploring the question of the possibility of being-human in apartheid South Africa.

Zużyta kategoria uczestnictwa? Między polską tradycją humanistyczną a perspektywą performatywną

A Worn-out Category of Participation? Between Polish Humanistic Tradition and a Performative PerspectiveIn the field of Polish humanist studies, the category of “participation in culture” has been broadly examined. Nowadays there are more frequent voices announcing “the end of participation culture”, and that it is ahighly exploited research category. Instead, the academics underline the dynamic character of changes in modern culture and the necessity to attract attention to its “active” aspect, underlining the self-agency of subjects. Thus in the area of culture studies, we observe an interest in performative perspective.In Polish humanist studies Isearch for such participation concepts, which go beyond the field related to arts establishing relation work of art — recipient and activist engagement indicating f.i. resistance, or social movements. Iam particularly interested in theoretical proposals, related to the category of everyday life, social and cultural practices, or even the category of praxis. While recalling this category Iinquire, whether performative perspective can be inspiring and helpful for redefining and modernizing the category of participation in culture.

Conditional Regard, Self-Concept, and Relational Authenticity: Revisiting Some Key Rogerian Concepts Cross-Culturally, Through Multilevel Modeling

The present cross-cultural study utilized contemporary statistical techniques to explore the associations among conditional regard, ideal and actual self-concept, and relational authenticity, constructs with deep roots in the Rogerian and humanistic traditions. In three countries (China, Russia, and the United States), the experience of conditional regard in past and present relationships predicted larger discrepancies between ideal and actual self-concept, and lower feelings of authenticity within relationships. Implications for the study of self-concept and the development of self, as well as for practice, are discussed.

Richard Yeo. Notebooks, English Virtuosi, and Early Modern Science. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2014. Pp. xviii+398. $48.00 (cloth).

Richard Yeo. <i>Notebooks, English Virtuosi, and Early Modern Science</i>. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2014. Pp. xviii+398. $48.00 (cloth).

Humanism, Islamic Education, and Confucian Education

This article explores and compares the salient characteristics and educational influences of humanism in both Islam and Confucianism. It is argued that the humanist tradition in both belief systems upholds the development and transforming ability of human beings. A common aim of education is to nurture God/Way-conscious and virtuous individuals who fulfill their calling on earth by achieving perfection. Rather than advocating textual transmission, didacticism, and rote-memorization, the humanist tradition in both Islam and Confucianism supports a broad-based curriculum and promotes active learning pedagogies.

Chinese Communication Studies: Three Paths Converging

This contribution presents the possibilities for anthropological and neo-Marxist media within the hugely expanding sector of Chinese communication studies. China has sourced mostly from the American positivist tradition but is increasingly ­taking on board European critical thinking but it also needs to absorb some of the depth and diversity of indigenous scholarship existing in Chinese.Jia, Lu, and Heisey (2002) presented an influential meta-analysis of every ­example of communication studies in China at that time. The book chapter which talks about the rise of the discipline and scholarship of Chinese communication as an academic discipline (Jia et al., 2014) summarises some of Chinese language scholarship in Chinese and called for the creation of a humanistic tradition of Chinese and East Asia communication studies informed by indigenous perspectives and China’s rich repertoire and vocabulary of concepts– face, guanxi or relations, goutong, harmony, and personhood etc.Concluding that there is a need for all parties to do research on journalism and ­communication/ media in Asia, (particularly in China) from an anthropological ­perspective, this contribution argues that Asian scholars have a responsibility to create Asian approaches to communication and media studies. The effects of global neoliberalism is now being followed by a government response in China ­characterised in part by anti-corruption campaigns and a revival in Marxist approaches. A version of media studies that takes on board all the three elements would find fertile ground in the long run, supporting a more egalitarian and just China.