Scholarly Issues Research Articles

Arab American Women: Representation and Refusal

Arab American Women: Representation and Refusal

Israeli art education imagined cartographies

Our paper addresses the stated need for art educators to develop inquiries into the history of non-Western, non-Anglophone art education systems. In response, we look at data taken from the history of Israeli art education and the development of Israeli art curricula in order to offer a historical sketch of the development of school art curricula in Israel. We frame our sketch using the perspectives of multiculturalism and critical theory. In the course of our discussion we reference scholarship from North America and Europe. However, our focus is primarily on shifts in Israeli policy in the direction of acknowledging greater diversity and multiculturalism. We trace these themes, starting with pre-state Israel and concluding with contemporary Israeli concerns with equity and social justice. We note parallel concerns with the same social issues in scholarship from North America and Europe. The main purpose of this comparison is to bring attention to the “blind spots” and “black holes” in Israeli visual arts syllabi where both Arab and Jewish Eastern culture and esthetics have been overlooked. We note parallels between these omissions in the Israeli visual arts curricula and attempts to correct similar lacunae in North American visual arts education.

Identifying and articulating the student experience in the Intercalated Enrichment Year

BackgroundBenefits of intercalation during an undergraduate medical degree are well-recognized. The University of Hong Kong implemented a compulsory Enrichment Year (EY) in its Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery degree programme (MBBS) in 2016. In their third year of study, students could work on an area of interest in any of three programme categories (i) intercalation/ university exchange (IC); (ii) research (RA); (iii) service/ humanitarian work (SH). This study aimed to explore the barriers, enablers, and overall student learning experiences from the first cohort of EY students in order to inform future development of the EY.MethodsAn exploratory sequential mixed-method study in 2019-20. Twenty students were purposively selected to attend three semi-structured focus group interviews. Conventional thematic analysis was employed and results assisted the design of a cross-sectional questionnaire. Sixty-three students completed the questionnaire. ANOVA or chi-square test was used to compare the difference in student’s characteristics, barriers, enablers and perspectives on EY between programme categories. Adjusting student’s characteristics, logistic regressions were conducted to identify the effect of programme categories on the EY experience.ResultsMost students (95% in the questionnaire) agreed that EY was worthwhile and more rewarding than expected. EY was positively regarded for enhancing personal growth and interpersonal relationships. The main barriers were financial difficulties, scholarship issues and insufficient information beforehand. A few students had practical (i.e. accommodation, cultural adaptation) problems. Potential enablers included better financial support, more efficient information exchange and fewer assignments and preparation tasks. Similar barriers were encountered by students across all three categories of EY activities.ConclusionsPersonal growth was the most important benefit of the EY. Barriers were consistent with those identified in the literature except for cultural adaptation, which could be related to Hong Kong’s unique historical context. Financial limitation was the most concerning barrier, as it could result in unequal access to educational opportunities. Better and timely access to scholarships and other funding sources need to be considered.Trial registrationEthics approval was obtained from the local Institutional Review Board of The University of Hong Kong/Hospital Authority Hong Kong West Cluster (UW 19-585).

Construing the scene in Julian of Norwich’s “A Revelation of Love”

Julian of Norwich’s “A Vision Showed to a Devout Woman” and “A Revelation of Love” are texts which present two accounts (short and long, respectively) of her mystical experience. Julian was an anchoress whose work is known for its vivid imagery and bodily resonance it provokes in the reader. New research on Julian’s work has focused scholarly attention on the significance of embodied cognition for the exploration of the mystic’s writing. The present paper identifies a gap in this research in that cognitive-linguistic aspects of the anchoress’s text are still largely ignored. The article discusses the connection between perception and cognition and its potential role in structuring Julian’s longer text, “A Revelation of Love”. The Cognitive Linguistic analysis focuses on selected excerpts from the long version portraying scenes from Julian’s visions, where visualisation is particularly significant for meaning construction. Providing a link between recent findings from cognitive science and current cognitively-oriented studies of Julian’s texts, the paper draws on the concept of construal pertinent to the fact that the language user may conceive and present some conceptual content (an apprehended scene) in alternate ways. The Cognitive Linguistic investigation connects Julian’s work to the visual and material culture of her day, revealing how the mystic transforms the familiar imagery into vivid, dynamically unfolding images. It is concluded that cognitively-informed research is likely to shed new light onto long-standing issues in scholarship on Julian, particularly those that concern the interplay of language, culture and cognition.

The Structure and Activities of Student Representative Bodies in Modern Russian Universities

One of the key objectives in higher education governance today is to establish mechanisms for effective student representation. This paper, based on a study of the practices of 50 leading Russian universities — federal universities, national research universities, Project 5–100 universities, and universities included in the QS World University Rankings as of summer–fall 2020 — reveals and summarizes the key practices of university student representation (often referred to as student self-governance) existing in Russia at the turn of the 2020s. The following origins of institutional arrangements for student representation are identified: academic units, thematic clubs, student unions, dormitories, and personal teams of student leaders. The major types of student representation activities analyzed in the article include participation in shared governance, provision of information to other students and engagement in public interactions with them, and organization of mass cultural events for students. Most often, functions associated with shared university governance are restricted to formal membership in university boards and fulfillment of federal law requirements regarding local regulations and disciplinary action, rather than actual representation of students’ interests in university decision making on educational, social, and scholarship issues. Therefore, the governance agenda of student representatives is shaped much more by universities and their administrators than by students themselves.

INSIGHTS INTO INDEPENDENT ZIMBABWE: SOME HISTORIOGRAPHICAL REFLECTIONS

This article offers some historiographical reflections on independent Zimbabwe. While much has been written on the post-colonial period, some works were strongly informed by scholarly paradigms of the 1960s and 1970s, especially regarding the colonial legacy and inherited political structures, the land issue and the contentious and enduring debate on neocolonialism, although there were some post-modern shifts in the 1990s. Using some of the topical scholarship on the country, I trace the paradigmatic developments and narratives of the trajectory of the country's political, economic and social record. While there is a deliberate focus on three broad aspects of 'nationalist' history and its counternarratives, the historiography of the land as well as accounts of the crisis, I suggest that these have arguably constituted topical issues in scholarship. Although there are important areas on Zimbabwe's academic landscape focusing on labour, gender, health, migration and environmental studies, among others warranting special attention, this article is restricted to insights on the areas identified. It is hoped that such bibliographical reflections can inform some interested students and scholars in sketching out some of the scholarship on Zimbabwe in the areas picked out.

Constructing the Legend: A Study of Du Mu in Anecdotes

This paper investigates a prominent issue in scholarship on one of the best known late Tang poets, Du Mu 杜牧 (803–ca. 852): his traditional image as a libertine, which has been overshadowed the rese...

The Theatrics in Ebedebiri Amau-Aru (War Boat)Performance, Nigeria

War boat is an aquatic performance re-enacted to show heroic deeds and exploits of warriors on how they conquered enemies and became victorious in battles. A study on the relevance of Ebedebiri war boat performance has never been an issue in scholarship; therefore, this study on ‘The Theatrics in Ebedebiri Amau-aru (War Boat) Performance'. This essay discusses the theatrical disposition of Ebedebiri war boat performance and it highlights the performance elements related to African theatre used in it. The study identifies that war boat performance in Ebedebiri community helps to mirror the Ebedebiri society, preserve legends, myths and ridicule weaknesses. This work adopted the qualitative methodology of research. That is, the bulk of work data for this study came from the researcher's participation and observation of the 2012 Ebedebiri War Boat Performance in Ebedebiri Community and that of 2019 taken on tour to Warri Delta. The study concludes that Ebedebiri war boat performance is a tool for positive reconstruction. And it finds out that, the performance can be an avenue to sell the Ebedebiri society to international society. From this finding, it recommends that artistically trained theatre artists are needed to be consulted to be partakers of the performance in Ebedebiri community.

The Operation of International Law in the National Legal System: in search for better understanding

INTRODUCTION. The issue of implementation of international legal norms is extensive and multifaceted, and most importantly, it is always relevant. Despite the long-term development of questions of the operation of international law in national legal systems, the issue remains in the focus of researchers. Russian scholarship is quite rich in research of this area, and the practice of Russian courts is also rich in examples of the use and application of international law. Their presentation at the international level can significantly enrich the basis for analytical comparisons with the practice of other countries and further developments in this area. Nevertheless, the research of Russian authors is not well represented in the international legal discourse: the appearance of works by our compatriots in foreign editions is not so frequent. That is why monographic research papers by Russian authors published in major foreign publishing houses is of great interest to both Russian and foreign readers. At the same time, such publications implicitly set a high bar for expectations from their content.MATERIALS AND METHODS. The article presents a critical understanding of the monograph of Professor S. Marochkin, published in 2019 by one of the world's oldest publishers Brill-Nijhoff (Leiden, the Netherlands) – "the Operation of international law in the Russian legal system. Changing approach". The article highlights key elements of the study. Special attention is paid to the reflections and conclusions of the author of the monograph on the theory of international law. The analysis of the research is based on general and private scientific methods.RESEARCH RESULTS. Th reviewed monograph presents to our attention a wide range of Soviet and Russian general theoretical, discipline-specific and international legal doctrines. The work covers a significant period of theoretical, normative, institutional and practical development of the issue of implementation of international legal norms – more than three decades. This corresponds to the goal set out in the study – to show a changing approach to the issue in scholarship, judicial practice, and rule-making. The monograph consistently exposes the author's idea about the essence of national implementation of the principles and norms of international law, domestic legal and institutional mechanisms for such implementation, assessment and generalization of the practice of Russian courts related to the appeal to international law and the application of international legal norms. At the same time the monograph begs some questions: 1) on the author's understanding of the content of the concerned concepts in the theory of international law; 2) on the methods of law-formation in the national and international legal system; 3) on the constituent elements of the international legal system; 4) on the meaning and nature of self-executing international legal norms; 5) on the problem of international legal personality; 6) on the author's view of the state of modern legal scholarship in Russia.DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS. Russianscholarship, as well as practice in the law-making, law-application and law-enforcement have gone a long way in mastering and ensuring the constitutional provision on the principles and norms of international law and international treaties of the Russian Federation as an integral part of the national legal system. The reviewed book emphasizes the importance of theoretical justification and competent application of theoretical theses on the place and role of norms and sources of international law within national jurisdiction, on the correlation of the legal force of international and domestic norms. Indeed, both legal scholars and public institutions that directly address questions about the operation of international legal norms need to have a complete understanding about the functioning of the regulatory and institutional mechanism for implementation of international legal obligations in the domestic sphere. In this light, it is reasonable to attach particular importance to the role of the judiciary branch in appealing to and applying international law. The research paper consistently demonstrates changes in the practice and approaches to the perception of international law over time with ups and downs in the estimation of its significance and role in the country's legal order. Although the study claims to offer an exhaustive fundamental analysis of all the problems raised, the author still makes some theoretical mistakes that complicate the correct understanding of his analytical work. Thereby the author challenges himself to continue the research of the issue in order to untangle some knots of doctrinal contradictions.

A lone ranger: My journey towards becoming a feminist geographer in Nairobi, Kenya

Very few Kenyan universities offer modules on Gender or Feminism in their courses. Women are largely under-represented and very few hold senior positions. Due to the few numbers of female faculty, mentorship for young female scholars is lacking. Feminist writing by Female Kenyan geographers in professional geography journals is limited. Collective action among female geography faculty is also largely absent. This is largely due to the lack of feminist advocacy and policies in the universities. My journey to becoming a feminist geographer has received little or no support from the university. I have taken personal initiatives to link up with local and transnational gender associations in order to get insights on current feminist scholarship issues. My lived feminist experience and observations of the struggles of ordinary women in everyday livelihood negotiation have been my main motivation for continuing to do feminist work. Thus, my feminist work has concentrated on women in marginal economic informality. This paper presents my journey as a feminist geographer. It begins with a discussion on the state of feminist geography in three universities in Kenya namely, University of Nairobi, Kenyatta University and Egerton University. This is followed by a presentation of my journey toward becoming a feminist geographer in the absence of a supportive infrastructure. My journey has been inspired by my lived experience. The paper concludes with a call for a concerted effort for feminist advocacy in Kenyan Geography departments.

Learning Disabilities: Implications for Policy Regarding Research and Practice: A Report by the National Joint Committee on Learning Disabilities

This is an official document of the National Joint Committee on Learning Disabilities (NJCLD), of which Council for Learning Disabilities is a long-standing, active member. With this position paper, NJCLD addresses points of agreement in the field, common misperceptions, and unresolved issues in scholarship and practice, and makes recommendations for federal and state policy.

Computational Stylometric Approach to the Dead Sea Scrolls

Abstract The question of how to classify the different texts of the Dead Sea Scrolls is a central issue in scholarship. There is little agreement or even little reflection, however, on the methodology with which these classifications should be made. This article argues that recent developments in computational stylometry address these methodological issues and that the approach therefore constitutes a necessary addition to existing scholarship. The first section briefly introduces the recent developments in computational stylometry, while the second tests the feasibility of a stylometric approach for research on the Scrolls. Taking into account the particular challenges of the corpus, an exploratory methodology is described, and its first results are presented. In the third and final section, directions for future research in the field are articulated.

A Digital Voice from the Dust: The Joseph Smith Papers at the Intersection of Public and Digital History1

Like other documentary editing projects, the Joseph Smith Papers—an effort to produce a comprehensive edition of the papers of Joseph Smith, the founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, more commonly known as Mormons—seeks to provide reliable access to “the authentic voice” of its eponymous historical figure in innovative ways. As a digital voice from the dust, the project makes Smith's words, character, and context accessible in the online representation of his papers in ways that forcefully illustrate the convergence of public and digital history. This article uses the Joseph Smith Papers Project (JSPP) as a case study to look at documentary collections at the intersection of digital and public history while exploring issues of scholarship, access, and transparency. The trends described here promise to have implications for the larger fields of digitally presented public history and documentary collections.

Ethics, fan studies and Institutional Review Boards

Abstract This article relates the personal experiences of changes required when a scholar trained in text-based literary studies began engaging in scholarship on fanfiction after a return to active online fandom. The changes required considering ethical issues in scholarship and self-education in the requirements of American Institutional Review Boards. The importance of the work done by the Association of Internet Research (AOIR) and the discussions in fandom are cited as valuable resources in the process.

CATALEPTON 9 AND HELLENISTIC POETRY

The dating of Catalepton 9 has been the central issue of scholarship on that poem. The more particular questions of the poem's authorship, the identity of the addressee, and its chronological relation to other texts, both depend on and contribute to ascertaining the date of composition. The clearest exposition of the problem remains that by Richmond. Evidence provided by Catalepton 9 falls into two categories: literary and historical. Literary evidence encompasses two kinds of data: various formal features of the text and intertextual links with other poetry. While the poem's metre, language and style suggest a relatively early date of composition (before the Eclogues), the close textual parallels with the Eclogues, interpreted as borrowings from rather than sources of Virgil's poetry, point in the opposite direction. Historical indications are likewise ambivalent. On the one hand, it seems likely that the addressee is M. Valerius Messalla Corvinus (cos. 31 b.c.) and, further, that the occasion of composition is his (only) triumph in 27 b.c. (Catalepton 9.3 uictor adest, magni magnum decus ecce triumphi). On the other hand, the allusions to his military achievements (4–5, 41–54) are both too vague and exaggerated, and, if taken literally, do not fit well our Messalla at any particular point of his career (nor any other known member of the family). Richmond, following Birt and followed by Schoonhoven, believed that at least some of the historical references are ‘intended to be prophetic’. More recently, Peirano has attempted to explain this lack of precision by arguing that Catalepton 9 is not a real-life panegyric but a later biographical fiction, the real focus of which ‘is to be found […] in the relationship that the poem constructs between Virgil and his patron’.

Displaying the Ideals of Antiquity: The Petrified Gaze by Johannes Siapkas and Lena Sjögren

390 PHOENIX make up the subject of the book, but also for understanding the importance of the myths displayed so prominently in so many ancient Roman homes and tombs. By approaching the interpretation of the reliefs on the sarcophagi through the eyes of the beholder, Zanker makes it impossible ever again to discuss these images solely as decoration or as a window to the afterlife. The new volume, from the series Oxford Studies in Ancient Culture and Representation, is beautifully produced and illustrated with photos, many in color, of the sarcophagi. Despite its expense, it is a necessary addition to every library collection of books on Roman art. The College of New Jersey Lee Ann Riccardi Displaying the Ideals of Antiquity: The Petrified Gaze. By Johannes Siapkas and Lena SjÈ ogren. New York and London: Routledge. 2014. Pp. xii, 242. Museum exhibits of ancient artefacts are one of the most common ways people, whether members of the public or specialists, encounter the physical remains of antiquity . However, current displays in museums are rarely considered when discussing the development of the discipline of classical art history and archaeology. This book breaks new ground by including museum exhibits as an important element in the historiography of ancient sculpture. The book is organized into four sections. Part I introduces the aims of the book: to examine how academic debates about ancient sculpture, first begun in eighteenthand nineteenth-century scholarship and reformulated in current research, are reflected in contemporary museum displays and the popular perception of ancient art. Part II, “Discursive Settings,” begins with a historiographical consideration of the early development of the closely intertwined disciplines of classical archaeology (Chapter One) and art history (Chapter Two). An excellent overview of several centuries of studies in ancient sculpture follows (Chapter Three), highlighting influential issues in scholarship ranging from Winkelmann’s1 foundational work in the eighteenth century to that of key twentyfirst -century scholars. Chapter Four concludes this section by focusing on the re-use and re-evaluation of these historic ideas in current scholarship through an examination of individual cases: the Parthenon sculptures, archaic korai, and the contextualization of Roman art. While the overview of sculptural studies is handled with assurance, combining key developments with sweeping fashions influenced by contemporary social, political, and scholarly issues, the treatment of current scholarship is less comprehensive. One important omission is the influence of the modern afterlife and collection history of ancient sculpture on the discipline.2 The omission is curious, since this approach closely relates to both the early development of the discipline and to the museum displays that form the focus of Part III. 1 J. J. Winkelmann, Geschichte der Kunst des Altertums (Dresden 1764). 2 For example, V. Coltman, Classical Sculpture and the Culture of Collecting in Britain since 1760 (Oxford 2009; included in the bibliography); I. Bignamini and C. Hornsby, Digging and Dealing in Eighteenth-Century Rome (New Haven 2010); and C. Bilsel, Antiquity on Display: Regimes of the Authentic in Berlin’s Pergamon Museum (Oxford 2012). BOOK REVIEWS/COMPTES RENDUS 391 This final section, Part III, entitled “Museological Frictions,” examines current permanent displays of ancient sculpture in several international museums and considers how they reflect the debates explored in the published scholarship. After a brief introduction to museum concerns, there is an overview of the evolution of museums and of displays of antiquities (Chapter Five, “Genealogies”). This progresses from the earliest stages of private collections of curiosities to the public museums of the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and includes discussion of the use of plaster casts. It is contextualized within the development of the disciplines of art history and classical archaeology already introduced in the opening chapters. The next three chapters use individual examples of museum display as illustrations of the three broad approaches to the study of ancient sculpture already identified. Chapter Six, “Masterpieces,” examines how the concerns of Meisterforschungen and Kopienkritik are carried into exhibits by giving key sculptures preferential treatment (through position, lighting, etc.) as expressions of artistic genius, while divorcing them from other narratives about ancient sculpture. The chapter concludes by considering the popularization of ancient sculpture, exemplified by the Venus de Milo and Nike of Samothrace, which have...

Tibet through the Eyes of a Buryat: Gombojab Tsybikov and his Tibetan relations

Gombojab Tsybikov (1873-1930), an ethnic Buryat from Russia, was a young scholar of oriental studies, when he went on a scholarly expedition to Tibet. Sponsored by the Imperial Russian Geographical Society, Tsybikov spent over a year in Lhasa (1900-1901), gathering materials and taking photographs of the city and environs, and introducing Tibet both academically and visually to the outside world. This paper examines the context of this trip within the larger issues of scholarship, international politics and modernization. In addition, it argues that Tsybikov was an example of a man caught between identities – that of an ethnic Buryat raised as a Buddhist and his Russian citizenship, education and patronage. He was, in a sense, the epitome of modern man.

Introduction for Essays on the State of Accounting Scholarship

I describe the context for the following essays by Sudipta Basu, Chris Chapman, Bill McCarthy, and Don Moser. Their essays are based on presentations they made at the 2011 Strategic Retreat of the Executive Committee (now titled Board of Directors) of the American Accounting Association (AAA). That retreat was held in Orlando, Florida, on May 23–24, 2011.My remarks are organized as follows. I first describe the genesis of the retreat and its focus. I next describe the charge given to the presenters, as well as attendees. I conclude with some brief remarks about subsequent events, and the potential long-term impact of these four essays and the changes they presage.AAA holds an annual retreat every May in order to plan strategy for the President-Elect's year in office, which begins three months later at the AAA Annual Meeting. As incoming President for the 2011–2012 year, I chose the focus for the event in May 2011.My topic was the level of innovation in accounting scholarship. Specifically, my view was that accounting research is stagnant and rarely introduces new ideas and ways of looking at the issues we study. The specific description I provided to attendees two months before the retreat was as follows:What I sought at the retreat was to have a discussion about the broad issue of innovation in accounting scholarship, which included alternative perspectives on what we do, why we do it, how effective we are, and what, if anything, could be done to change the status quo.My belief that accounting scholarship is overly narrow and lacks innovation stems from several conversations with both senior and junior scholars new to our discipline. These conversations parallel concerns recently expressed by others, such as Demski (2007), Fellingham (2007), Hopwood (2007), Kaplan (2011), and Sunder (2011). My own views on these issues are also articulated in a separate essay (Waymire 2012).The presenters and attendees at the retreat were asked to consider the following:In terms of presenters, I sought a variety of scholarly perspectives within the accounting academy. I ended up asking the four scholars whose essays follow to speak for 30 minutes on the assertion and questions given above. These scholars represent different areas of accounting research and employ different methodologies in their research. They also are thoughtful people who consider issues of scholarship from long histories of personal experience at different types of universities for their current positions and their doctoral education.Attendees at the retreat also included members of the Executive Committee. In addition, incoming co-chairs of the Annual Meeting (Anil Arya and Rick Young), Doctoral Consortium (Sudipta Basu and Ilia Dichev), and New Faculty Consortium (Kristy Towry and Mohan Venkatachalam) Committees of AAA were invited to attend.The primary purpose of the May retreat was “idea generation.” That is, what can we do together as scholars to increase the long-run viability of our discipline? My view was that the retreat and the specific comments by the presenters would provide a basis for a longer-term conversation about the future of accounting scholarship and the role of AAA within that future.Several subsequent events have provided opportunities to continue the conversation about scholarly innovation in accounting. First, I spoke at the AAA Annual Meeting in Denver, August 2011, to update the membership about the initiative now titled “Seeds of Innovation in Accounting Scholarship.” That presentation and the related slides can now be found on AAA Commons (http://commons.aaahq.org/hives/a3d1bee423/summary, or simply www.seedsofinnovation.org). Second, I have written up my own views on these issues and integrated them with the preliminary suggestions developed at the May 2011 retreat (Waymire 2012). Third, further discussion has taken place in the AAA Board and, more importantly, in the new AAA Council. The Council discussion will be ongoing this year, and I expect to form a task force that will consist of Council members and others to develop more specific proposals in January 2012. My hope is that these proposals will cover a broad range of areas that involve AAA publications, consortia, and meetings, and help guide AAA over the next several years as we seek to improve the quality of the accounting discipline.

The Unbearable Heaviness of Being in Eighteenth-Century Studies

The Unbearable Heaviness of Being in Eighteenth-Century Studies Daniel Gordon Julia V. Douthwaite and Mary Vidal , eds., The Interdisciplinary Century: Tensions and Convergences in Eighteenth-Century Art, History and Literature (Oxford: Voltaire Foundation, 2005). Pp. xxxiv, 312. $125.00. Thomas M. Kavanagh , Dice, Cards, Wheels: A Different History of French Culture (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2005). Pp. vii, 264. $45.00. John C. O'Neal , Changing Minds: The Shifting Perception of Culture in Eighteenth Century France (Newark: University of Delaware Press, 2002). Pp. 273. $49.50. Jay Smith , Nobility Reimagined: The Patriotic Nation in Eighteenth-Century France (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2005). Pp. xiii, 307. $49.95. As a cross-section of recent scholarship, these four books make it possible to appraise not only the individual authors' arguments but also the state of academic discourse. Things do not look bright. To make clear the principles of judgment in this review, let me first explain the three qualities I am looking for in a humanistic book. 1) Style. One can dispute what constitutes an optimal style. But certain things always make a text unwieldy. Obscurity—when words are wrenched from their conventional meanings, and the reader has to guess which possible sense the author intended. Prolixity—when extremely long sentences force one, like a Latin student, to scan far ahead in order to figure out where the sentence is going. These and other writing flaws will make a text unbearable to read. 2) Coherence. The overall plan of a book must be evident to the reader. An introduction should define issues comprehensively, at a high level of abstraction that subsumes all the specifics revealed in subsequent chapters. Historians who have spent years in the archives must resist the temptation to reproduce evidence for its own sake. Literary scholars must resist the inclination to announce every clever paradox that comes to mind. Each bit of evidence, each theoretical formulation, must fit into a whole. 3) Significance. A work must not only cohere internally, it must reverberate outwardly. We live in a democratic society, and so we have a vigorous public sphere filled with intense debates about major ethical issues. Today, every thinking person is engaged by problems such as the following. Is it legitimate to use torture to draw information from suspected terrorists? Do gays have a right to marry? What is the proper relationship between Church and State? It's not self-evident that any of these questions hinge on our understanding of the eighteenth century. Specialists of the eighteenth century, then, have to work particularly hard to convince thoughtful citizens that their writing is worth the detour away from the vital problems of the present. One could argue that, aside from contemporary political issues, there are perennial scholarly ones. But all the longstanding issues in scholarship, such as "How to explain the origins of the French Revolution," once had a vital connection to contemporary problems. When an issue becomes canonized, it can quickly lose its existential point because the outside world is in flux. Scholars riveted by an old academic debate often fail to realize that the universe is no longer made up of the entities about which they are talking. Each generation of scholars working upon a classic problem must define the problem anew, must revitalize it in relationship to the present. About five years ago, I changed my primary field of study. Instead of the French Enlightenment, I now concentrate on American and European constitutional law since World War II. I remain convinced that a knowledge of earlier centuries is indispensable for understanding the present era. But I do not keep abreast of all the developments in eighteenth-century studies. Since I no longer research the eighteenth century for its own sake, I am perhaps no longer the proper person to review these books. However, it is rare to have an insider who is also an outsider—someone who has both an appreciation for eighteenth-century studies and detachment enough to recognize when the enterprise has become dubious. I hope I have not erred too far on the critical side in the following discussion, and that some readers will be tempted to cut themselves loose from...

Prophecy and Prophets: The Diversity of Contemporary Issues in Scholarship. Yehoshua Gitay

Previous articleNext article No AccessBook ReviewsProphecy and Prophets: The Diversity of Contemporary Issues in Scholarship. Yehoshua Gitay Dennis PardeeDennis Pardee Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Journal of Near Eastern Studies Volume 59, Number 3Jul., 2000 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/468853 Views: 1Total views on this site Copyright 2000 The University of ChicagoPDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.