Abstract This essay adopts translation as a method for close reading to analyze the representation of soundscapes in Peter Hessler’s River Town and Country Driving, employing the theoretical framework of intersemiotic translation. Drawing on Roman Jakobson’s concept of translating non-verbal signs into textual form, the study explores how auditory experiences mediate cultural differences and reflect the traveler’s evolving perceptions. By tracing Hessler’s progression from initial estrangement and decontextualized foreignization to contextualized interpretations that emphasize cultural specificity, the essay illustrates the dynamic and multilayered nature of soundscapes in travel writing. The translational lens reveals the selective and constructed nature of travel narratives. Further, it demonstrates the critical potential of translation concepts and theories in close reading practices, particularly in examining cross-cultural text.

ABSTRACT: In River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze, Peter Hessler explored the novelty of being a foreign teacher in Fuling, China, in the mid-nineties. Most of his students were among the first generation in their family to attend college, and they hadn't met an American before. They were enthusiastic about foreign culture and the Chicago Bulls, but also keen to educate Hessler (or He Wei, as he is known in Chinese) about their country's customs. They offered him their friendship, in many cases corresponding with him for decades after he returned to the United States and became a journalist. He encouraged them to talk about the farming roots of their families, their ideas about free speech, and their hopes and dreams, sometimes by introducing the topics in disguise.

Abstract Road infrastructure suffers irreversible damage during service due to periodic or seasonal freeze-thaw (F-T) cycles, resulting in significant economic losses to the nation. However, systematic evaluation parameters for the entire road F-T environment are lacking, and there is insufficient understanding and short-term prediction of the underlying F-T environment changes and distribution. In this study, 13 F-T environmental parameters in three categories were summarized by combining meteorological parameters and multi-field evaluation parameters. Taking Shiquan River Town as an example, the statistical probability of road F-T environmental parameters was clarified by using the generalized extreme value (GEV) distribution. The study also clarified the spatiotemporal characteristics of road F-T environment across regions based on key F-T environmental parameters. The frequency of F-T events in China increases from south to north and from east to west, and F-T processes are influenced by regional altitude and latitude. Meanwhile, the temporal variation of the F-T environment in China shows significant seasonality. The F-T environment transitions from short-duration, high-frequency F-T cycles to longer-duration, low-frequency F-T cycles. The initial moisture condition of the road F-T environment in the northeastern regions increases, but the additional moisture during the F-T process decreases. This study provides critical insights into understanding the underlying mechanisms and short-term prediction of the road F-T environment changes, which can be used as a basis for the planning, construction, and maintenance of road infrastructure in China.

This article investigates the influence of the Peace Corps’ salient ideology in Peter Hessler’s works focusing on modern China. As a volunteer of the third cohort of the Peace Corps in China, Hessler served in Sichuan province from 1996 to 1998. We argue that the ideological overtones of the Peace Corps programme significantly influence his representation of China and use his memoir River Town as an example. Applying the concepts of the cultural unconscious by Ming Dong Gu, as well as decoloniality, colonial matrix of power and border thinking by Walter Mignolo and Catherine Walsh, we show how Hessler’s various actions in the memoir match the mission of the Peace Corps consciously and unconsciously. However, we also show that the narrative emits decoloniality through border thinking as Hessler eventually understands China and its different political culture and proceeds to recognise the shortcomings of American politics. While many enthusiasts of Hessler perceive his writings as challenging the dominant negative view of China in the Western mainstream media, we conclude that, from the perspective of the cultural unconscious, the Peace Corps volunteer’s objective to spread American values far outweighed the Peace Corps’ other mission of achieving a better understanding of other peoples on the part of the Americans.

This is a personal reflection of a rank-and-file activist on 30 years of democracy in South Africa. Whilst it celebrates the achievements of democracy, it seeks to indict us all for the crime of ukuxhaphaza nokunyela abantu baseMzantsi Afrika, (abusing and trampling on the dignity of the people of South Africa). SHEPI MATI explores how the fight for democracy impacted on our emotions, our hearts and our experience of living under formal democracy. This year marks 30 years of democracy in South Africa. April 2024 was 360 months since all South Africans – irrespective of colour, class, gender or creed – cast their votes to choose their public representatives for the first time. If we were to count this in days, it amounts to 10,958 days. I still remember the excitement and the buzz in the long snaking queue to cast our votes on that historic Wednesday at the Salt River Town Hall in Cape Town. I seek to trace my own personal journey as a young person belonging to a generation who, in the words of Franz Fanon, took up the challenge to define their mission and sought to fulfil it.

According to Hofstede's cultural dimensions theory, the Sino-American cultural conflict depicted in American writer Peter Hessler's documentary book River Town focuses on four aspects: Individualism versus Collectivism, Power Distance, Long-term versus Short-term, Indulgence versus Restraint. Hessler experienced inevitable cultural conflicts in physical and mental aspects. Finally good things wear out. He fitted into Chinese life and fell in love with this Chinese town. Through the textual analysis of the cases in the book, the cultural conflicts between China and the United States and the intercultural communication skills used by the cross-boundary communicators can be clarified. Under the background of reform and opening up, Chinese society has undergone great changes, the stereotype of traditional China has been broken in River Town. Thus, it is very important to use intercultural communication skills in different places according to local conditions and times.

The unprecedented pollution of Athi River has negatively impacted the downstream communities who depend on the river's waters. Moreover, the Upper Athi River Catchment has recently experienced an increase in human population coupled with rapid industrialisation, which has led to encroachment of wetlands, riparian areas and forests. The objective of the present study was to investigate the impact of land use/land cover changes (LULCC) on the spatial-temporal distribution of water quality (WQ) in the Upper Athi River Catchment. The research stations were each allocated a GPS position, overlaid onto a 2018 LULCC map of the area. WQ data were analysed using PCA and further subjected to Kruskai-Wallls tests that resulted in six significant WQ parameters at (p < 0.05). The multiple regression model output showed that EC, DO, Zn and Pb, with R 2 values of 0.983, 0.918, 0.938 and 0.961 respectively, were significantly associated with urban area land use (p < 0.009, p < 0.042, p < 0.031 and p < 0.02 respectively). The results of our study suggest that significant land cover degradation is expected to occur in the Upper Athi River Catchment in future if mitigation activities are not undertaken, posing a great threat to biodiversity conservation, and the survival of local communities and urban dwellers in Athi River town.

Ecological security is crucial for regional sustainable development; however, as modern urbanization highlights ecological security challenges, major challenges have arisen. In this paper, we take the ecological region around Taihu Lake, China, as a typical research site, extract important ecological sources and key nodes using morphological spatial pattern analysis (MSPA) and circuit theory, and propose a regulatory framework for the ecological security pattern (ESP) of the ecological region based on the spatial characteristics of sources, corridors, and nodes. We obtained the following results: (1) The ESP includes 20 ecological sources, 37 ecological corridors, 36 critical ecological protection nodes, and 24 key ecological restoration nodes. (2) Most ecological sources are large and concentrated in western Zhejiang and west of Taihu Lake, which are both important ecological sources and ecological resistance surfaces. (3) The ecological corridors spread east, west, and south from Taihu Lake, with high network connectivity. (4) Shanghai serves as the central node, with the Su-Xi-Chang town cluster and the Qiantang River town cluster serving as the extension axes for the ecological resistance hot-spot area. The center of the elliptical ecological resistance surface (standard deviation) lies in Suzhou City, located on the east shore of Taihu Lake. (5) Ecological nodes were mostly located in ecological corridors or junctions. A "four zones and one belt" pattern is suggested in order to make the land around Taihu Lake more connected and stable ecologically. This study can be used as a guide for building and improving an ecological safety network.

Russian Doll, an independently owned and operated small ethnic restaurant serving handcrafted Russian food, opened its doors on January 1, 2015 in a rural river town in Southeast Missouri. The owner, Ana, had mastered many of her home country’s recipes and excelled in the kitchen. Her restaurant focused on introducing American audience to Russian culinary delights and culture, featuring authentic, made-to-order fare and a neighborly atmosphere. Ana had long dreamed of her own restaurant but without prior industry experience or formal training running the business wasn’t easy. In December 2015, after 1 year of operations, Ana found herself wondering how to proceed. Was Russian Doll a feasible entrepreneurial enterprise to begin with? Could Ana’s business be saved or was it time to call it quits and shut down?

ABSTRACT The transnarrated non-fiction should provide a reliable historical narration in terms of ethical, political or socio-cultural considerations. However, restoring a truthful historical context requires beyond the linguistic conversion and aesthetic expression; instead, it involves a myriad of the translatorial somatic attributes. Owing to the translatorial somatic participation, the translated non-fiction is a product co-constructed by writers and translators, and the fusion of their shared memories, feeling and experience become an essential factor for the de/reterritorialisation of the historical context. Thus, re-assembled discursive patterns of transnarrated perspective, focalisation and voice may cause the un/relability of becoming. The book River Town is an autobiographical writing of Peter Hessler's nostalgic transculturation in Fuling, China. Owing to the translatorial somatic familiarity with the story, the local Fuling translator Li Xueshun's version turns out to reconstruct a more vivid and truthful description of the historical context. On the other hand, without an intimate bond of translatorial somatic involvement, Wu Meizhen's version gives rise to an unreliable historical context. This study returns to the discussion of the 'fidelity principle' of translation on the contextual level rather than textual level, so as to reconsolidate the application of postmodernist thought in translation studies.

Finding a New Illinois History: Connecting with the Revival of Midwestern Regional History

Opioid related drug overdose deaths are a leading cause of death and injury in the United States. While research demonstrates that where people live has a major impact on drug use and abuse, most work looks at social dynamics at the county level or under the rubric of the urban/rural divide. Only recently, scholarship has become attuned to the post-industrialized areas located on the fringes of urban cores. Data presented in here are from field research conducted in McKeesport, Pennsylvania, a small river town located east of Pittsburgh. Once a thriving industrial city, it is now deteriorated and has documented high levels of overdose experience. Preliminary results suggest that McKeesport residents, even before the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19), practice social and physical distancing as a way of life; data indicate how the pandemic potentially exacerbates the risk of accidental opioid overdose among a population defined by both geographic and social isolation.

IntroductionAfrican American Migration to Smaller Midwestern Cities Brie Swenson Arnold (bio) In recognition of the centennial of the Great Migration, this special issue of Middle West Review highlights the prevalence and significance of African American migration to smaller midwestern cities during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In focusing on the cities of Beloit, Wisconsin; Parsons, Kansas; Burlington, Iowa; and Saginaw, Michigan, the four central essays in this volume recover experiences of migration and community-building in lesser-known midwestern cities and examine the contours of racial discrimination in the region as a whole. Through these community studies, we explore why Black men and women relocated to the Midwest and how they moved within predominantly White communities while simultaneously building up Black "communities within communities" across the region.1 Like other works in this expanding field, the essays in this volume speak to broader questions about the African diaspora, the many phases of the Great Migration, struggles for Black freedom and civil rights, the importance of place in addition to race, the diversity and multiplicity of midwestern people, places, and experiences, and the development and distinctiveness of the Midwest as a region.2 While the story of post-World War I migration to larger midwestern cities like Chicago, Detroit, and Cleveland is well known, Black settlement, community formation, and activism in the region's smaller cities have been largely overlooked, as have earlier migrations.3 Yet, from the forced relocations of slavery to self-liberations during enslavement to post-emancipation migrations, the Midwest has long been an important destination for Black people. At many points, it was the region to which a majority of African Americans relocated.4 Those migrations and the communities formed by millions of Black men and women across the nineteenth- and twentieth-century Midwest decisively shaped migrants' lives, the midwestern region, [End Page ix] and the nation. African Americans who chose the region—the nation's fastest growing, most influential region between the Civil War and World War I—often saw it as a still-malleable place capable of offering alternatives in education, employment, personal safety, political participation, and other dimensions of their own visions of freedom.5 They established the homes, businesses, churches, clubs, and civic groups that became core to the region's communities. At the same time, Black Midwesterners continually faced racial discrimination, segregation, and economic inequality. They confronted such conditions by pressing their communities to live up to the Midwest's potential to be the nation's most egalitarian, pluralistic, prosperous-for-all region.6 Individually and collectively, the essays in this volume show how Black men and women have been fundamental to the creation, character, and vibrancy of midwestern communities and the entire region for generations, as have the anti-Black hostility, discrimination, and assertions of unbelonging they faced there. In Francis Gourrier's study of Beloit, we see how visions of the Midwest as a "promised land" were tempered by midwestern racism and how influential chain migration and Black women were in combatting segregation and expanding civil rights activism in midwestern places. Bryan Jack then explores migration to rural towns like Parsons and the continuity of Black society and activism, as well as segregation, there from Reconstruction to the present. Dwain Coleman's survey of Burlington takes the story farther back, tracing experiences of Black freedom and unfreedom in that Mississippi River town from the 1830s to 1920s. Michelle S. Johnson continues considerations of freedom struggles by highlighting the enduring ways African Americans in antebellum-era through present-day Saginaw were connected to broader networks of emancipation commemoration. Additionally, in this issue, William Green offers a special essay on anti-Black police violence in nineteenth-century Minnesota that extends reflection on the long history of hostile and contradictory actions toward Black residents of supposedly progressive midwestern places. Such explorations of the presence and influence of Black people and anti-Black racism in the Midwest have taken on renewed salience in the wake of recent events in cities like Minneapolis, Ferguson, Flint, Cleveland, and Kenosha, which have pulled into sharp focus the ways centuries of White supremacy and systemic inequality—as well as Black activism and community building—have shaped...

Complex Heartstrings Lauren Cortese (bio) Bad Ideas Missy Marston ECW Press https://ecwpress.com/products/bad-ideas 224 Pages; Print, $14.36 If you have ever wished you could visit a dilapidated factory town in 1970s Canada to meet a struggling professional daredevil, Missy Marston's Bad Ideas is the book for you. And for those who haven't had such a desire, this book will take you there anyway, and you'll be so glad that it did. Marston's writing fulfills that hope we all have when reading a novel; it took me somewhere I had never been before, a place that I felt lucky to have visited through her writing. Bad Ideas invites us into the home of three women: Claire, our matriarch; her daughter Trudy; an anomaly within their small factory town; and Mercy, the four-year-old left behind by Claire's younger daughter Tammy. Within this home, it's the characters who are present as much as the absence of those that should be there that make up the dynamics of this family unit. Claire misses her old love and the father of her children Darren; Mercy wonders after her long-gone mother; and Trudy longs for a life she doesn't have, never had the chance to experience. Life is stagnant and difficult, but Jules—the Crazy Canuck—a new daredevil (literally) in town shakes things up, gives people something to talk about, gives Trudy something to look forward to. As Jules prepares to make a record-breaking jump across the St. Lawrence river in a "rocket car," the women in our family continue to learn more about themselves, about each other, and what they might get out of this crazy life after all. Marston keeps us wondering, will the Crazy Canuck make the big jump? Will any of our characters? This isn't the only question Marston keeps us asking during her novel. Each chapter title begins with the word "Because," demanding us to ask why things have come to be a certain way. Some of these titles are honest ("Because Never is a Long Time," "Because You Don't Always Want to Hear What Other People Think"), some are funny ("Because it Would Kill Her Mother," "Because There is Always Someone Eager to Deliver Bad News"), and others are simply poetic ("Because the Light at Sunset Can Make Anything Look Golden," "Because There is Another Skin Beneath Your Skin"). These chapters are brief but telling, giving a glimpse of our characters in their most vulnerable, strange, or unhappy moments. These chapters answer our questions and those lingering questions of our characters as they search for something more. Among these characters, one that can't be left out is Preston Mills, the town where Trudy and her family live. Marston brings the dying town to life in her novel, showing us the run-down buildings and petty townspeople who have known each other for too long. This river town was taken apart and put back together during the 1950s to make way for the Seaway, an extension of the St. Lawrence river and a new highway going west across Canada. Preston Mills got a second chance, a new beginning, but its inhabitants seem stuck in their ways. The arrival of Jules and his team to launch a rocket car across the river brings new excitement and skepticism along with a healthy dose of ridicule. In a town of people who have long since given up on dreams, the arrival of a stranger whose dreams appear crazy and mostly reckless—unless, of course, it works—is met with a tepid welcome. The people of Preston Mills are hesitant to the change, to the idea of someone accomplishing something so crazy it just might work. As Marston takes us through this story we get to focus in on each character, learning the details of their struggles and enjoying moments of brevity with them. Perhaps the most interesting perspective we get is from Mercy, our adorable and funny four-year-old. Mercy knows more than she should of the world at her young age and just wishes that she might be recognized for...

Background: Exposure to heavy metals (Pb and Cd) through diet posses a significant risk to human health. Areas of Mlolongo, Athi River and Syokimau are surrounded by industries, which dispose off their waste water to existing rivers and streams. The waste water is further used for irrigation which increases consumption of vegetables contaminated with lead and cadmium by human populations. Sample collection and analysis: samples were collected from markets, supermarkets and open air markets in Mlolongo, Athi river and Syokimau areas. Samples were analyzed for Lead and Cadmium using the AAS method as outlined in the AOAC. Results: Kale from farms around Mlolongo had lead content of 41.10±3.15µg/Kg compared to kale from farms in Syokimau (0.36±0.01µg/Kg). Spinach had lower concentration of lead (14.10±1.05µg/Kg) in farms in Mlolongo and 1.70±0.06µg/Kg in supermarkets in Syokimau. Than spinach. To the contrary cadmium contents were higher in spinach (0.51±0.02µg/Kg in supermarket in Mlolongo) than kale (0.38±0.01µg/Kg supermarkets in Mlolongo and Syokimau). Kale had a higher lead than cadmium content in the firm one in Athi river (14.00±2.10µg/Kg) than 3.80±0.81 µg/Kg) in the second farm which was the lowest. Vegetables from farm one are irrigated using effluent water from close industries. Lead content was highest in the first market (14.00±2.10µg/Kg) than the second market (3.80±0.81µg/Kg) in Athi river town. Cadmium contents were lower than lead but highest in the third market than the second market in the same town (0.20±0.07µg/Kg). Cadmium content was high in kale from supermarket in Athi river at (3.70±0.07 µg/Kg). Concentrations of lead in spinach were highest in the first farm at 5.30±1.10 µg/Kg and least in the spinach in supermarket at 0.30±0.01 µg/Kg. Conclusions: Lead content in vegetables vended in Athi river, Syokima and Mlolongo were above those recommended by the Ministry of Health and WHO. Similarly, cadmium content were high but within normal requirements. Exposure of lead to human populations, especially children is harmful to neurological developments.

Infrasound is not only associated with wind turbines and volcanoes. Low levels of disturbing infrasound that can have long term adverse impact on residents are also associated with sources such as bridges, transportation, barges, mechanical equipment and entertainment sound systems. This paper describes measurements to identify potential infrasound sources impacting a residence in a Mississippi River town in Minnesota. Initial monitoring was performed in a second floor room over a 24 h period with five samples up to 30 min using an Apollo sound analyzer. Supplemented with sound level meter readings, an average peak at 12.5 Hz appears to be associated with a nearby river crossing bridge. Peaks at this frequency peaks can not be attributed to room dimensions. Subsequent readings were taken in several rooms and outside with a micro-barometer system. These data supported earlier readings but showed differences between rooms and indoor and outdoor spectra. Unfortunately there are no standards or guidelines for indoor infrasound levels and only limited solutions for addressing these community infrasound sources. Whether or how infrasound could be incorporated into community noise ordinances that could possibly prevent adverse residential exposure to infrasound will be discussed.

ABSTRACTIn this article, we discuss three cross-cultural memoirs used in three different university courses that introduced students to the complex identities that form both inside and outside of language classrooms. In arguing for the value of using such memoirs as content in university courses, we provide a detailed thematic analysis of Peter Hessler’s River Town; Elaine Mar’s Paper Daughter; and Binyavanga Wainaina’s One Day I Will Write about This Place, and evaluate classroom activities and assignments that drew on these memoirs. Specifically, we highlight how reading them allowed students to understand fundamental themes in language learning and teaching and multiple ideological, institutional, and social levels of influence. Drawing on these frameworks, we make a case for employing cross-cultural memoirs to wrestle with the complexities inherent in teaching and learning English in courses across the curriculum.

Mapping of reed zones including both single-species formations and mixed formations of reeds and cattails has been done to assess methane emissions produced by reed formations growing on the coast and adjacent areas of the Azov Sea. In particular zones full-scale experiments have been carried out in order to measure methane emissions above common reed (Phragmites australis (Cav.) Trin. ex Steud.) and lake reed (Scirpus lacustris L.) areas, which have formed the basis for calculation of methane concentration produced by reed formations of the Azov Sea. Methane fluxes above the common reed and lake reed bushings range respectively from 1.73 to 5.85 mg/m2 h and from 1.14 to 2.34 mg/m2 h and are on average in 12-22 times higher than in open water areas. The total area of the Azov Sea coast and its surroundings with reed formations is 967.4 km2 or 2.5% of the sea area with open water surface. The total amount of methane emissions from these formations is estimated to be 80 thousand m3 per day or 34.5% of the total methane emissions from the open water surface of the sea. At the same time 84% of these data fall on a single system of estuaries and the lakes between the Kuban River and Primorsko-Akhtarsk town.

Water scarcity is currently still a global challenge despite the fact that water sustains life on earth. An understanding of domestic water demand is therefore vital for effective water management. In order to understand and predict future water demand, appropriate mathematical models are needed. The present work used Geographic Information Systems (GIS) based regression models; Geographically weighted regression (GWR) and Ordinary Least Square (OLS) to model domestic water demand in Athi river town. We identified a total of 7 water determinant factors in our study area. From these factors, 4 most significant ones (household size, household income, meter connections and household rooms) were identified using OLS. Further, GWR technique was used to investigate any intrinsic relationship between the factors and water demand occurrence. GWR coefficients values computed were mapped to exhibit the relationship and strength of each explanatory variable to water demand. By comparing OLS and GWR models with both AIC value and R2 value, the results demonstrated GWR model as capable of projecting water demand compared to OLS model. The GWR model was therefore adopted to predict water demand in the year 2022. It revealed domestic water demand in 2017 was estimated at 721,899 m3 compared to 880,769 m3 in 2022, explaining an increase of about 22%. Generally, the results of this study can be used by water resource planners and managers to effectively manage existing water resources and as baseline information for planning a cost-effective and reliable water supply sources to the residents of a town.

The article “Hardship and Healing through the Lens of Cultural Translation in Peter Hessler’s Travel Memoir River Town” looks into the autobiographical dimension of Hessler’s account of his two-year stay as a Peace Corps teacher in Fuling, a remote town in southwestern China. Taking the two senses of cultural translation, one in anthropology and one in cultural studies, as two descriptive aspects, it illustrates the hardship Hessler confronted and his healing strategies. Faced with etiquette and language issues as well as the power relation between China and America and its consequent stereotypes in cross-cultural encounters, Hessler gazed back to his own world and sought for comforting skills as well as reached out to a liminal space and initiated local communication. The case study demonstrates that the term cultural translation could be used flexibly as a descriptive tool to read the life writing perspective of cross-cultural travel writing; and it could also provide important insights to people living in a cross-cultural setting.