Political Vicissitudes Research Articles

Lines, cuts and engrams: comparing contemporary partition narratives from (Northern) Ireland and Upper Silesia

ABSTRACT This essay offers a comparative perspective on several narrative representations of two partitions that were established in Europe in the 1920s. Partitions of Ireland and of Upper Silesia had markedly different consequences and political vicissitudes but there are also significant parallels when it comes to selected bordering practices as well as patterns and modes of remembering partition that have been exploited in contemporary writings from either region/country. The principal focus of the essay is on how partition narratives and other representations of bordering have reflected and perpetuated tropes and images connected with social and political divisions in either society. Of particular significance is the persistence of geopolitical lines that may have disappeared from maps and territories and yet they have continued to inspire contemporary identity projects that are informed by stories and memories of the past in borderland areas. The two borders – and their narrative representations – are discussed with reference to Anna Bernard’s concept of ‘partition literature’, Tim Ingold’s ‘ghostly lines’ as well as Astrid Erll’s notion of ‘travelling memory’ and its effects on the nexus of territory and identity in recent writings from Northern Ireland and Upper Silesia.

The political crisis of autumn-winter 1993 on the pages of the newspaper "Muromsky Krai"

The article is devoted to the reflection of the political crisis of the end of 1993 in the provincial periodical of Murom, Vladimir region. The author refers to the journalistic articles of the local newspaper "Muromsky Krai" from September 23, when the first information about the events in Moscow was published, to December 23, when the results of the December 12 vote were published in the newspaper. Information about the situation on the ground in conditions of severe crisis and political instability, brought to the peak of tension in the autumn of 1993, is able to tell the mood in society and the position of municipal authorities, as well as reveal the role of the media and journalists, in particular, in localizing and resolving conflicts of interest both within the government and between the government and society at the local level. The research is based on the principles of objectivity and historicism. In addition, historical, systematic and chronological methods allowed us to reveal the question posed to the author about the reflection of the political crisis of the end of 1993 in the Murom newspaper. The source base of the study was the issues of the local socio-political newspaper "Muromsky Krai". To solve the scientific problem, the author applied to the municipal archive of Murom and the local library. The journalists of the local newspaper paid great attention to the political vicissitudes and the participation of citizens in resolving the political confrontation. The author of the study studied this layer of materials in detail and came to the conclusion that urban journalists, with their very peaceful position, contributed to maintaining calm among the Muromites during an extremely difficult period of Russian history. At the same time, citizens, having shown awareness, preferred another way of interacting with the authorities to strikes and mass rallies – participation in the elections on December 12, the results of which showed dissatisfaction with the policy of the central authorities.

SPACE-TIME CONTINUUM OF PRZEMYSLAW LIS-MARKIEWICZ’S NOVELS

The work outlines the artistic space-time as an author's model of the world, its main features and functioning in the works of the contemporary Polish writer Przemysław Lis‑Markiewicz. The paradigm of space-time discourse is studied on the basis of the novels "Confession of the Spirit" and "Moskal". The article indicates that the plot of novels by Przemysław Lis‑Markiewicz, which also depict Ukrainian history, unfolds in a linear perspective, each chapter is marked with dates according to the calendar time. The works synthesize calendar, event and perceptual time. The spatial picture of the works is built on open and closed models of the world, macro- and microcosm. The study of the implementation specifics for the concepts of time and space made it possible to point out the relationship between the historical / character chronotope, the role of retrospection and prospection in the novels of the Polish artist. The chronotope of novels is determined by the narrative strategy, the author's intention, and the genre structure. "Confession of the Spirit" is perceived as the author's attempt to understand the formation of personality in the complex period of social and political events of the late 19th – 20th centuries and is defined as a novel-biography. The novel "Moskal" is considered as a synthesis of documentary and psychological, which testified the author's attention to social and political, spiritual problems of a person in a border situation, a historical and political novel. The article traces peculiarities of the artistic interpretation of Ukrainian geographical and cultural spaces, realized in artistic works. The space-time in the author's novels reflects the essence of the spiritual and material world of the inhabitants of the Ukrainian-Polish border, acts as a marker of the identity of the inhabitants of the region, which appears as a certain palimpsest construction, signifying the memory of Ukrainians and Poles, their narratives. In his novels, Przemysław Lis-Markiewicz unfolds the space of Ukraine in the days of wars or political vicissitudes, emphasizing the tragic pages of history.

History on the combination of the development of the sport of shaking in Mykolaiv

The development of the sport of chess in Mykolaiv begins with the legendary game between the Swedish king Karl XII and the Ukrainian hetman Ivan Mazepa on the banks of the Southern Bug on a rest stop on their route after the defeat in the Battle of Poltava in 1709 (modern yacht club). Mykolaiv was formed as a center of shipbuilding, where the Main Headquarters of the Black Sea Fleet and the ports of the Russian Empire were located, and its residents became shipbuilding engineers, naval officers, scientists, industrialists, diplomats, who were the first to introduce the game of chess among the townspeople. The very first public chess battles took place in the summer Maritime Meeting, and later in the constructed buildings of the "House of Flagships and Captains" (since 1824), Mykolaiv Maritime Astronomical Observatory (since 1829), yacht club (since 1887). On June 28, 1887, the "Chess Society" was founded in Mykolaiv, which did not last long, but was revived in December 1901. The members of the Society held chess games among themselves, for the fi rst time held a city-wide chess tournament in 1902, took part in European chess tournaments and won. The society held competitions of chess problems, collected literature and materials, published endgames of famous chess players and its own materials in local, metropolitan and European chess periodicals. Historical and political vicissitudes of the beginning of the 20th century with wars and revolutions that led to economic ruin, the death of people, the emigration of a significant part of the intelligentsia, did not contribute to the development and spread of chess sports in Mykolaiv during this historical period.

Testators and the Visigothic State: A “from the Ground Up” Approach to Inheritance Law

ABSTRACT Property structures, demographic patterns and political vicissitudes encouraged testators in the Visigothic kingdom to follow a wide range of testation strategies to bequeath their property. Testation law offered the propertied classes various possibilities for fine-tuning bequests to secure their economic strategies and class reproduction in the long run. Yet in the mid-seventh century, King Chindaswinth introduced new inheritance laws that limited the power of testation for those who had descendants. While Chindaswinth’s law was intended to secure military service, it collided with the landowning classes’ economic strategies for patrimony reproduction. The law created a new discussion over inheritance practices, which eventually led to a reform in the late seventh century to restore much, though not all, of the propertied classes’ testation powers. This article therefore provides a view of the law “from the ground up” that considers class interests and their collusion and collision with state demands.

Narrative inquiry of translators' identities: A study of meaning-making in narrating knowledge.

Translators have generated retrospective accounts of their working experience, which contribute to an expansive corpus of knowledge on translation. A plethora of research has explored how this knowledge could enrich our perception of varied questions concerning translation process, strategies, norms, and other social and political respects within conflictual settings in which translation has engaged. In contrast, few attempts have been made to gain a translator-centered understanding of what this knowledge could mean for its narrators. In line with narrative inquiry, this article proposes a human-centered approach to translator's knowledge narrating and a shift from positivistic to post-positivistic investigation into specific questions about how translators make sense of who they are as well as the meaning of their lives by structuring their experiences into a sequential and meaningful narrative. The general question is what strategies are employed to construct what types of identities. A holistic and structured analysis of five narratives by senior Chinese translators involves macro and micro dimensions. With a view to methods employed by scholars in different fields, the study identifies four types of narratives, namely, personal, public, conceptual/disciplinary, and metanarrative, which are used throughout our cases. Micro-analysis of narrative structure demonstrates that life events are often arranged in a chronological sequence, among which critical events are favored to indicate a turning point or crisis for transformation. Storytellers tend to adopt strategies of personalizing, exemplifying, polarizing, and evaluating to construct their identities and what translation experience means to them. This article concludes that apart from communicating translation knowledge, translators make sense of what translation experience means to them as a professional translator and more importantly as a real person living through social-cultural-political vicissitudes, thus contributing to a more translator-centered vision of translation knowledge.

СТРАТИГ-АВТОКРАТОР ТИБЕРІЙ У ВІЙНІ З АВАРАМИ 568–570 рр.

Among Justinian the Great’s (527–565) successors, the personality and career of Byzantine warlord and politician Tiberius stand out. Despite the lack of statements about Tiberius’ early life, there were enough facts about the circumstances that led to his rise in the hierarchy of late Roman society. Emperor Justin II (565–578) trusted him personally, and he also participated in diplomatic negotiations with barbarians, where he represented Roman interests. Along with the weak health of Justin, these circumstances contributed to the following adoption of a future warlord by the Emperor’s Family. Relationship with Avar Khanate had already been in priority for Tiberius before he was elected Justin’s co-ruler in 576. Taking part in talks with nomads, Tiberius focused on the necessity of renewing alliances with the Avars and directing military power toward the tribes that posed a constant threat to the Empire. In perspective, Tiberius’ course of appeasement with the nomads brought an end to the war in 568–570. His actions provided the Empire with the possibility of strengthening political and military might in the Danube limes in the next few years and also politically neutralized the Avars through permanent military conflicts with their closest neighbors. In practice, the Nomad noble, being enriched with money from Constantinople, made peace with Romeis. The Avars increased their military strength by focusing their efforts on conquering Slavs. This circumstance in one way let the nomads to start their foreign policy pressure on Empire again. Political vicissitudes of the last quarter of the VI cent. were accompanied by the exchange of ambassadorial missions, the provision of gifts, as a means of influencing third parties to a specific political course in the early Middle Ages.

寒暄堂 金宏弼, 그리고 道東書院을 기억하는 방법

This paper was written to examine descendents’ views and memories on Han Hwondang Kim Goengpil and Do-dong Seowon in Hyeonpung, Daegu, which has enshrined him, by referencing to others’ Chinese poems collected in anthologies. There remains no Kim Goengpil’s anthologies, so only Gyeonghyeonrok(景賢錄) may seem to be selected as a reference for him, but there are, however, few writings of him, and therefore, it is difficult to investigate his scholarly career and guarantee the objectivity of the contents collected in them, as there are a lot of literature regarding the post-evaluation for Chujeung(追贈) and Gajeung(加贈). Hence, the Chinese poems collected in others’ anthologies were examined to show that the birth and death dates of authors from the contemporary figures who directly interacted with Kim Goengpil to Myeon-u Gwak Jongseok who lived in the 20th century are evenly distributed, and that the subjects of Chinese poems recited primarily include the text of ‘Sohak(小學)’ on which he concentrated his efforts for a life; Hapcheon and Geochang, in which he often stayed when he was young; Huicheon and Suncheon, in which he stayed twice due to Sahwa(史禍); and Hyeonpung in which Do-dong Seowon is placed. Main places recited in the Chinese poems include Sohakdang(小學堂) and Jidongam(志同巖), the spaces used for the lectures conducted together with Jeong Yeochang in Hapcheon; Supodae(水瀑臺) in which he strolled about together with his sister’s husbands, Choi Sukryang and Jeong Yeochang and Mohyeongjeong(慕賢亭) which Choi Sukryang’s decendents constructed to celebrate the meeting of them in Geochang; and the site in which an old house is located and Do-dong Seowon in Hyeonpung. In the process, the contemporary poetry and prose about Kim Goengpil were created by concentrating on grief and reverence for him who suffered from political vicissitudes, but shifted the authors’ focus to the space of Do-dong Seowon, generation after generation, probably implying that the descendents regard Kim Goengpil as a past figure, but view Do-dong Seowon as an existent space before their eyes. Although the title board for Do-dong Seonwon was bestowed in the first half of the 17th century, Jeyeongsi(題詠詩) about it primarily consist of works created by literary men who lived in the 18th-19th century, which may be associated with the situation in which the contemporary intellectuals suffered from serious chaos caused by foreign countries’ reckless invasion. Do-dong Seowon was memorized by intellectuals who faced the modern transition period, not only as the space for reverence for Kim Goeingpil and for junior scholars’ lectures. The intellectuals, who might be more concerned about the role of Confucianism than ever, thus attempted to memorize Do-dong Seowon as the space for wishing the recovery of the national destiny, the revival of Confucianism and the succession of Confucian philosophy.

Summer election campaign for the city duma in Siberia in 1917

The article is devoted to the electoral process in the city Duma of Siberia, which took place in the summer of 1917. The author notes that the fall of autocracy and the transition of power to bourgeois democracy led to the search for new forms of organization of public administration. The revolutionary events of 1917-1918 had a noticeable impact on the existence and functioning of municipal self-government bodies in Russia. After the February Revolution of 1917, the role of the Institute of urban self-government increased markedly. Dumas in many Siberian cities have become not only the center of the association of public organizations, but also the support of the central government on the ground. Under the influence of socio-political processes, city authorities in 1917 increasingly went beyond the narrow scope of economic functions. The paper presents the desire of political forces to accumulate the socio-political interests of their urban electorate, since in the revolutionary events, the city Duma, as a self-governing body, on the one hand, and on the other the administrative authorities, found themselves in the center of events, and took the position of liberal reformism. Thus, the de facto powers of the city self-government bodies were expanded, but de jure they remained unchanged. In reality, their influence has increased, including on the formation of public opinion. The author, relying on the legislative acts of the Provisional Government, minutes of meetings of city dumas and administrations, conducted his research and tried to recreate a concrete historical picture of the political life of Siberian cities in the inter-revolutionary period. In this regard, the politicization of city self-government bodies is traced, which reached its maximum in 1917, expressed in the election of vowels on party lists and in the identification of city dumas as a public support of the new government. The author characterizes the changes that occurred in the legal status of Siberian municipalities during the revolutionary transformations of 1917, which vividly manifested the process of transformation of the institution of central government and city self-government. The new government, represented by the Provisional Government, saw its support in the democratized system of public self-government of cities and zemstvos, and the self-government bodies, in turn, expected the Provisional Government to expand its legal framework. As the Provisional Government suggested, it was the democratized city Duma that was to become the basis of civil society. The author, analyzing the process of development of the institution of urban self-government, notes the transformation of city bodies into local state authorities, the creation of a support for a new democratic government in their person. However, in 1917, the city Duma in its renewed composition, in which many vowels had no experience of city work and were bound by party discipline, completely lost continuity with the former city government and largely turned into a political platform for party speakers. The article examines the causes, course and results of the election campaign to the city Duma in Siberia in the inter-revolutionary period. The pre-election platforms and tactical positions of political forces are analyzed, which reflect the political vicissitudes of the development of the revolutionary process in the country and the regional peculiarities of their perception by various party and social forces. It was determined that first of all on the agenda were pressing issues that had accumulated during the First World War. At the same time, the issues of a political nature caused by the events that took place in the European part of Russia were of little interest to the inhabitants of Siberian cities, which testified to the relative apolitical nature of the main part of Siberian society and a more calm, measured life in the city than in the central regions during this period.

Supral poems in Literature (Byron, Al. Chavchavadze) and in Music ( Metkhoveni, Verdi)

Drinking verse songs in the literature (Byron, Aleksander Chavchavadze) and in the music (Beethoven, Verdi).The origins of Drinking verse songs date back to the ancient era, which meant experiencing drinking and a joyful song. A prominent Greek lyric poet Alcaeus was the first figure who composed “Drinking Songs” (“Scolions”); he tried to seek the way how to alleviate grief of being defeated in the political arena; taking wine was the only way to feel a sense of relief from despair. Drinking songs were popular in Europe before the spread of Christianity, when drunkenness and its apology were considered morally deficient.  Revolutions and complicated socio-political events in Europe and strive for alcoholism of the mid-eighteenth century encouraged the   establishment of the “Société des observateurs de l’homme“in Paris at the end of the 18th century.  At that period, the drinking verse songs appeared.The theme of Scottish folk songs developed with famous English poets and European composers. This one became especially popular after the release of Ludwig van Beethoven's collection of Scottish poems (published in 1818 in Edinburgh and in 1822 in Germany). The collection was intended for musical works. It also included a few drinking songs. One of the works is Beethoven's "Music, Love and Wine" (lyrics by William Smith), which was translated into many languages ​​and became one of the most popular songs in Europe. Probably that is why Verdi's opera "La Traviata" appeared on the stage of the ball-masquerade as well. One verse written by the English Romantic poet George Gordon Byron (1788-1824), “Oh, Had My Fate Been Join’d With Thine " was added to the same collection, in which the poet expressed his feelings for being away from his girlfriend, and the feelings were compared to alcohol addiction. Wine enables us to perceive the environment differently. At this time, a person forgets everything and all around him looks better. Because of the political vicissitudes that Byron suffered severely and what became the excuse for his subsequent departure from England forever; both   a feeling of utter despair and betrayal of his beloved and friends were kept in the poet’s soul and the only relief the poet found was wine to ease. In addition, Byron also wrote the “Drinking song” named " Fill The Goblet Again” in 1809.Scottish verse songs formed the basis of a collection of Scottish songs by the great German composer Ludwig van Beethoven in Edinburgh (1818), which included Scottish drinking songs, one of which formed the basis of popular musical works in Europe.A- 19th- century verse by Aleksander Chavchavadze (1786-1846) named “Mukhambazi Lataiuri”, which again belongs to the type of drinking song, has been the subject of research by literary critics for almost a century. The present article is dedicated to the popularity of drinking songs in Europe including its origins and an attempt to study its actualization.

Stylistic transformation of biological terminology in modern mass media

This article examines how biological terminology functions in contemporary mass media language. Additionally, it identifies the major thematic groups in biological terminology and traces their semantic changes in the language of mass media. The primary function of mass media is to highlight current problems of society and to inform ordinary people, so it is natural that scientific language is actively incorporated into journalistic narratives. Usually, the most relevant terms for society enter mass media. Everyday attention of the mass media is largely focused on issues of health, food, conservation and genetic inheritance, which inevitably activates the involvement of the terminology of the biological sciences in the attributes of this style. In the language of mass media, biological terms can function in a direct sense, performing a directly informative function and indirectly an epistemological function, popularizing new knowledge for readers, and in a figurative sense, performing stylistic and expressive functions. Terminology, used in a figurative sense, not only helps to figuratively and eloquently characterize socio-political processes, specific public figures, reproduce complex political vicissitudes, but it also becomes a tool of linguistic influence on the recipient. Among the biological terms that have undergone semantic transformations in the language of mass media, it is possible to outline separate thematic groups: names of sciences; terms for different types of organisms or groups of organisms; terms for parts of organisms; terms for biological processes, states and phenomena; terms for genetic concepts. When taken outside of its natural domain, the biological vocabulary can give journalism novelty and freshness, accuracy and effectiveness. With frequent use, the terminology becomes clear to readers and becomes part of their active vocabulary.

The Politics of Recruiting Dr. R Lee Clark Jr. as the First Permanent Director of The University of Texas MD Anderson Hospital for Cancer Research : Part II: The Process and Politics of Recruiting Lt. Colonel R. Lee Clark Jr. to The University of Texas MD Anderson Hospital.

Dr. R. Lee Clark Jr. was a man of bold and extraordinary vision. He was truly a surgical oncology leader of the twentieth century. His leadership had a significant impact on the cancer community nationally and internationally. Historically, it is intriguing that Dr. Clark almost did not become President of the UT MD Anderson Cancer Center, since five other candidates were first offered the position and turned it down, and then Clark himself almost withdrew during the search process because of the political stalemate among the UT Regents to select a candidate. The saga began in 1945, when the Acting Director of MD Anderson Hospital for Cancer Research, Dr. Ernst Bertner, pressed the UT Regents to recruit a permanent Director, since he had just been appointed as the first President of the Texas Medical Center. Bertner was a major figure in recruiting Dr. R. Lee Clark, who was then a Lt. Colonel in the Army Air Force. Dr. Clark's vision for this unique cancer facility was firstdrafted onRandolph Army Airfield stationary in February 1946. An interesting twist to the story is that Dr. Clark almost did not get the job because of an alternative candidate, and because of the political vicissitudes among the University of Texas Board of Regents. Many of these political barriers were eventually overcome, and Dr. Clark was unanimouslyapproved as the first permanent Director on 13 July 1946, and his leadership over the next 32 years changed the course of history.

The planning and machinations of the Tullamarine Airport rail link: a historical outline and plans for the future

ABSTRACT Airports are city-shaping facilities and ground access to them is an important element of their city shaping effect. While many airports globally were treated as monofunctional transport facilities without the need for rail access, Melbourne's Tullamarine Airport was planned as the world's first ‘Airport City’, with direct access by rail as part of the concept. However, the construction of the link has been hampered by political vicissitudes. As recently as 2017, Infrastructure Victoria advised that rail access would not be needed before 2035 but by 2018, it was possible that Tullamarine could have rail access sooner. After almost 50 years in operation as a transport and commercial hub, the rail aspect of the ‘airport city’ concept now is set to materialise by 2029. This paper traces the history of rail access to Melbourne Airport within an international context, and discusses the current proposals against broader strategic transport and land use planning issues for the city.

Political Islam in South Asia: A critical appraisal of the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami

The Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami (BJI) is the largest Islamist Party in Bangladesh. It was founded in 1941 in British-India, by Maulana Mawdudi, a prominent South Asian Islamist leader. The BJI has undergone political vicissitudes during its eight-decade-long political history. The most notable political success of the Party was to have a couple of cabinet positions as a coalition partner in the Nationalist–Islamist Government between 2001 and 2006. Since the beginning of the 2010s, the Party has been in severe crisis: most of its national leaders were convicted of war crimes and put to death in the period 2011–2016. This article aims to examine the BJI’s growth and development and role in political Islam in Bangladesh. It also explores the challenges to, and responses of, the Party and their sociopolitical implications for the future of political Islam in Bangladesh. The methodology of the article is a critical analysis based on an exhaustive review of published secondary literature about the Party. The author argues that the BJI has generated a massive Islamic movement and made an enormous contribution to political Islam in Bangladesh. Yet it has failed to reform its almost-century-old organizational structure and modus operandi and effectively respond to the changed social and political contexts of Bangladesh, which has affected its organizational mobility and success.

Comprehensive School and Vocational Training in Spain. A Longitudinal Approach from the Transition from Lower to Upper Secondary Education

Fitting vocational training into the Spanish education system has been challenging and problematic because two objectives are trying to be fulfilled; the first to supply skills for the productive system and the second to be an alternative option for the young people who do not follow the academic track. Moreover, the political vicissitudes of recent decades have added to the difficulties involved in balancing these requirements. In Spain, both the economic agents and the education system itself with its academic inertia have relegated vocational training to a subordinate position, able to attract mainly young people with lower academic achievement and largely rejected by families with a higher educational level. The assumption was that the introduction of a comprehensive secondary education in the 1990s would provide parity between the academic and the vocational tracks. However, the comprehensive nature of this system was not fully applied, with students in many schools separated by ability levels, and in fact having little impact on the social bias of the students choosing vocational training. The empirical contribution of this study is based on a survey carried out among 2056 students from Barcelona in their last year of compulsory secondary education in 2013–14 and who continued in full-time education, be it baccalaureate or vocational training. The main result shows that comprehensive education improves school success and decreases the vocational orientation of students from low social backgrounds.

ОЦІНКА ФІНАНСОВОГО СТАНУ ПРОМИСЛОВИХ ПІДПРИЄМСТВ ТА ПЕРЕДУМОВИ ЗДІЙСНЕННЯ АНТИКРИЗОВОГО УПРАВЛІННЯ

The creation and further operation of any enterprise is aimed at making a profit, which in a market economy is not without the influence of a number of factors. In practice, these factors can be extremely diverse, ranging from market competition and, consequently, the constant need to modernize production, and ending with the political vicissitudes of the country, which often entails a change in the vector of industrial development as a whole. Maintaining the efficiency of financial activities, in conditions of constant external and internal factors of influence, is a necessary condition for the existence of each individual enterprise. Therefore, the analysis of factors and reasons for reducing the efficiency of financial activities of industrial enterprises is important for further decision-making on the implementation of anti-crisis management measures. The article analyzes the main trends of fluctuations in the financial activities of industrial enterprises of Ukraine on the example of PJSC "Zaporizhzhya Electric Locomotive Repair Plant". The key factors and reasons for changing the financial performance of the enterprise are identified. The influence of external factors on the reduction of financial efficiency is characterized. The analysis of a particular enterprise reflects the overall situation in the engineering industry of Ukraine, because each company is equally exposed to external factors on the financial condition, although it does not determine the methods of responding to external threats. The essence of the financial activity of the enterprise, the factors that determine it and the reasons for the impact of internal risks on the financial activities of economic entities are considered. The analysis of financial activity of the enterprise is carried out through a prism of indicators of profitability, liquidity, a condition of property, relative indicators of an estimation of financial stability and business activity. The necessity and expediency of anti-crisis management at an industrial enterprise have been established. The author identifies the main directions of improving the financial situation.

Elsa Barraine’s Political Entanglements (1940/1944/1949)

As a powerful voice of the French Resistance, the Jewish-French composer Elsa Barraine played a pivotal role during the occupation of France by Nazi Germany. She articulated her opinions exclusively in writings, published in relevant organs, and in 1940 she went so far as to quit composing altogether as a reaction to the political vicissitudes of her time. This demonstrative political engagement is partially responsible for the fact that the music world, after 1945, sought to discredit her. The essay’s discussion of social, aesthetic, economic, and structural implications, on the other hand, reveals historical contexts that point far beyond the political and ideological dimensions that shaped the reputation of the composer within the historiography of music in Vichy-France.

Neopicaresque, Jewish Humor and Denunciation of Cosmopolitanism in Franz Kafka’s Amerika and Saul Bellow’s The Adventures of Augie March

The neopicaresque novel is a nascent genre that was invigorated in the aftermath of World Wars I and II in Britain and the United States. Contemporary studies of neopicaresque depict the image of the picaro as the “alienated”, “the outcast” and the “rebellious” character. This study is an attempt to redefine the Jewish neopicaresque novel and proposes that Jewish humor and denunciation of cosmopolitanism are indispensable aspects that need further investigation. It endeavors through these two aspects to comment on the Jewish exilic experience in cosmopolitan America. Further, the study proposes that Jewish humor and denunciation of cosmopolitism unearth the inability of the ghetto-minded Jewish immigrant to fathom the traumatic and rapid social and political vicissitudes that lead him to escape this chaotic life. These propositions are expounded through a close reading of Franz Kafka’s Amerika: The Man who Disappeared (1914) and Saul Bellow’s The Adventures of Augie March (1953). These Jewish travel narratives are discussed as Jewish neopicaresque novels that demonstrate the exodus of Eastern Jewish immigrants to America in the aftermath of WWI and II. The study draws on Freudian psychoanalytic theory of Jewish “self-critical “and “self-deprecating” humor. Considerations of the cultural dilemma of the Jewish ghetto immigrant and his negative depictions as “the wanderer Jew” and the “displaced-person” are addressed from the critical perspective of contemporary cosmopolitan discourses of Cathy S. Gelbin and Sander L. Gilman and Ulrich Beck. Keywords: Jewish neopicaresque novel, Jewish humor, cosmopolitanism, Kafka’s Amerika, Soul Bellow’s The Adventures of Augie March.

Informal vendors and food systems planning in an emerging African city

Rapid urban growth is straining infrastructures, economies, and food security of cities in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Amid competing issues of sanitation, housing, and unemployment, planning for urban food security receives less attention. Despite the proliferation of supermarkets in SSA, informal food vendors remain crucial sources of food for the majority of households. However, as cities grow and planners try to adapt, these informal vendors are generally left out of planning considerations, marginalized by policies that do not support this business model, or subjected to political vicissitudes. This paper analyzes how vendors in emerging cities are economically, socially, and spatially integrated within the urban food system, highlighting the assets these vendors represent and the ways they might support growth in cities. We map vendors’ networks of food suppliers, and describe sources of operating capital and labor assets to show the range of services vendors utilize and the types of institutions, businesses, and individuals that vendors use to support their work. We spatially analyze the relationship between vendors and suppliers, and between vendors and households, to demonstrate how enmeshed these vendors are in the broader food system and the links they create between consumers and suppliers. We demonstrate that due to spatial differences and vendors’ and consumers’ needs in emerging cities, a one-size-fits-all approach for integration of informal vendors in the food system is less likely to be successful in terms of either economic development or household food security.

Historical Notes on the Development of Geographic Science in Bulgarian Academy of Sciences

The article traces the development of geographic research in Bulgarian Academy of Sciences since the creation of the Bulgarian Literary Society until today. The purpose of this study is to show that from the time of historical and political vicissitudes in Bulgaria after the Liberation, the Bulgarian geographic science has always been at the height of the public needs and its achievements was highly valued by world geographical community and the Bulgarian state. The development of geographic science after the establishment of the Institute of Geography at Bulgarian Academy of Sciences was traced in three conditional periods of development, which shows the strong influence of the socio-political changes in the country on the priorities and objectives of the geographical research.