Twentieth Century Research Articles

The Colonial Discourse on the Bengali Middle-Class Meal in the Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries

ABSTRACT This paper brings out the ways in which the British colonizers viewed and characterized the meal of the Bengali middle class in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Through a study of European culinary texts from colonial India, the article will demonstrate the importance of Bengal in colonial discourse. In particular, it will show how and why the Bengali middle-class meal was marked as “filthy,” “unhealthy,” and “innutritious.” The colonial perspective about the meal of the colonized became more nuanced within imperial ideology over time. Especially with the enforcement of racial superiority after the Revolt of 1857, characterizing Bengali meal as “unhealthy” and “enfeebling” highlighted the supposed lack of masculinity among Bengalis.

Creativity of Russian (Soviet) composers as a means of forming patriotic attitudes of the younger generation of musicians (exemplified by educational institutions of the Simbirsk Governorate – the Ulyanovsk region of the XX century)

Introduction. In contemporary conditions in Russia, the issues of education and upbringing of young people and formation of their civic position are a priority for the state, which necessitates the study of the achievements of previous generations in this field and putting them into practice. The purpose of this study is to focus on the approaches to the education of young musicians in educational institutions of the Simbirsk Governorate – the Ulyanovsk region in the XX century as a means of forming their patriotic attitudes. Materials and Methods. The article is based on archival documents. The current state of the historiography of the issue was taken into consideration. During this study, the principle of objectivity was applied, which made it possible to identify both achievements and difficulties in the work of musical and educational institutions on patriotic education of students. The historical-comparative method gave an opportunity to establish differences and similarities in the approaches of educational institutions to the study of the works of domestic composers as a means of forming patriotic attitudes of the younger generation of musicians. Results. The study showed that in the XX century the repertoire plans and curricula in music institutions of the Simbirsk Governorate – the Ulyanovsk region contained Russian and Soviet classics, whose works formed a sense of patriotism, respect for previous generations and the exploits of heroes of the Fatherland, love for the Motherland in students. Considering the creative heritage of M. I. Glinka, P. I. Tchaikovsky, A. P. Borodin, A. N. Skryabin, D. D. Shostakovich, G. V. Sviridov, etc. as part of the study of such disciplines as "History of Music", "Analysis of Musical Works", "Harmony", "Polyphony" and others, learning musical works of Russian and Soviet classics on musical instruments, in choir class, in ensemble and orchestra classes gave an opportunity to bring up a sense of love for the Motherland in several generations of Russian musicians. Conclusion. The analysis of historical experience has demonstrated that musical art is a conductor of patriotic ideas. Many musical compositions of Russian and Soviet classics which were based on real historical events are included in theatre and concert programmes. Composers through musical means of expression described the exploits of the Russian (Soviet) people, called for unity and heroism. Therefore, the consideration and introduction of the achievements of the past into practice can contribute to the improvement of this area in the present and future.

Max Weber and the Re-Enchantment of Charisma.

This article traces the emergence and application of Max Weber's influential concept of charisma in his "Confucianism and Taoism" (1920) and "Politics as a Vocation" (1919), two texts that have not received much attention in the discussion of charisma. Through these texts, we learn to appreciate Weber's engagement with classical Chinese philosophy and the global composition of this key idea in the twentieth century.

THE ALASH MOVEMENT IS A PHENOMENON IN KAZAKH HISTORY

The scientific article will comprehensively study the spiritual heritage of the Alash intelligentsia, who immeasurably went into Kazakh spirituality. The figures of Alash, who appeared on the stage of history with advanced ideas at the beginning of the twentieth century, were able to prove their worth in the political struggle, speaking out against the system established for the freedom and independence of the Kazakh people. Well aware of the viability of their ideas, they sought to educate young people in the national spirit, given that the training of followers of their path is a very important issue.It is necessary to study the valuable historical and spiritual heritage of Alash figures. Among them are works, articles, program positions, comprehensive research and scientific substantiation of the documents that they have implemented, the task of modern scientists. One of the distinctive features of the Alash movement is that it had a massive national character, not limited to a specific region, but encompassing all regions of the Kazakh land, as evidenced by their actions related to these regions. At the same time, such a region of the country as Kyzylzhar played an important role in the fate of Alash figures and made its mark.In this sense, the spiritual heritage of representatives of the Kazakh intelligentsia, who were born in the North Kazakhstan region and actively participated in the Alash movement, working in this region, served as the basis for writing a scientific article

Dutch Boy Strikes Again!: Lead-Based Watercolors in Paint Books for Children

ABSTRACT ‘Dutch Boy White – Lead’ was the trademark of the National Lead Company, the leading manufacturer of lead products in the United States in the early twentieth century. Though there was ample medical literature linking childhood lead poisoning to lead paint, National Lead continued to promote their products to the American public. Dutch Boy produced color-by-paint booklets for children to build generational brand loyalty, reasoning that the ‘children of today are the grown ups of tomorrow.’ The Winterthur Library has seven of these booklets, one of which, the Dutch Boy Conquers Old Man Gloom, required minor conservation treatment. A watercolor palette of the primary colors is in the center of the booklet, and considering the use of lead in house paint, the composition of the watercolors was called into question. Energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and Raman spectroscopy were used to identify the watercolors. Both techniques confirmed the presence of lead (II) chromate in booklets ranging from 1914 to 1929. Atomic absorption spectroscopy was used to quantify the amount of friable lead present, informing the conservation treatment approach. Housings were modified for the health and safety of library staff and researchers.

“We're at the Door of Still Greater Progress”: Historical Narratives, Ethno-racial Conflict, and Place in Gonzales, Texas, at the Turn of the Twentieth Century

Abstract At the turn of the twentieth century, the White business community of Gonzales, a small town in central Texas, envisioned a bright future for the town. It imagined Gonzales as an important town, civilized, progressive, and ethno-racially defined, with the White community—mostly Anglo Texans and German Texans—as protagonists, and African Texans and Mexican Texans as extras. At the time, the region was undergoing major economic, technological, and demographic changes, including the influx of European and Mexican immigrants. Together with a more independent African Texan community, these changes challenged the dominant southern narrative and strengthened both an emerging Progress narrative and several counter-narratives related to historical celebrations such as Decoration Day, Juneteenth, and 16 de septiembre. In this article, I study the White community's efforts to strengthen an ethno-racially defined, business-oriented community. These efforts involved not only specific business initiatives, but also violence against and marginalization of minorities, as well as a substantial rewriting of the narrative that defined Gonzales as a place. Zooming in on Gonzales makes apparent the ways in which the White community had to continuously modify itself and its vision of Gonzales to maintain power. The case study offers insights into broader issues relating to uses of history and place, and how narratives shape, and are shaped by, ethno-racial dynamics.

Introduction. Nineteenth-Century Protest Movements in Britain: A Survey of Historians’ Approaches

This article surveys the historiography of nineteenth and early twentieth century British protest movements and thus provides a broad framework for the contributions to this volume. It begins by providing a portrait of some of the key developments in the field, with a focus on the impact of post-war social history and the emergence of ‘history from below’. It then details some of the ways in which this body of work was built upon, challenged and consolidated in subsequent decades. A discussion of the type of sources exploited by historians working from a ‘bottom-up’ perspective is followed by some thoughts on the current state of protest studies in a British context. The contested ‘Britishness’ of nineteenth-century social and political movements is considered, along with the question of how historians today continue to study ordinary men and women in the past, and the movements they belonged to, in the words of Malcolm Chase, with both ‘empathy’ and ‘authenticity’.

The Settler Colonial Ideal in Nineteenth-Century France: From Revolutionary Shipwreck to Settler Colonial Shores.

This article analyzes the published testimonies of French shipwreck survivors to trace the emergence of a settler colonial ideal in nineteenth-century France. Emerging from the encounters of French survivors with the men of the Anglo-World, this ideal encouraged compassionate, paternalist authority as a solution to the ongoing conflict of paternal despotism and disorderly fraternal freedom in France. The community of sentiment imagined in shipwreck testimonies was gendered and racialized, cultivating white compassion across colonial empires. These transimperial affective ties allowed the settler colonial ideal to persist in the early twentieth century, despite the abandonment of further projects for French settlement.

Protestantism and human capital: Evidence from early 20th century Ireland

Using a large individual-level dataset, we explore the significance of religious affiliation for human capital variation in Ireland at the turn of the twentieth century. We construct a large sample based on the returns of male household heads in the 1901 census and explore variation in literacy across the three principal denominations: Roman Catholicism, Anglicanism and Presbyterianism. Protestantism, particularly Presbyterianism, is associated with higher levels of human capital. This denominational effect is remarkably robust, even when accounting for various control variables and alternative modelling specifications. Supplementary analyses reveal that these literacy disparities existed before the foundation of centralised national schooling in 1831 and were independent of school attendance, as Presbyterians exhibited lower attendance rates than Anglicans. We suggest that denomination mattered because it affected the incentives to accrue literacy ability to fully participate in religious and wider cultural life.

TcESTIME: predicting high-temperature hydrogen-based superconductors.

Superconductivity can be considered among the most exciting discoveries in material science of the 20th century. However, the hard conditions for the synthesis and the difficult characterization, make the statement of new high critical temperature (T c) complex from the experimental viewpoint and have recently led to several hot controversies in the literature. In this panorama, theory has become a trustworthy diagnosis. Nevertheless, this comes at an extremely high computational cost. A faster alternative would be to find cheap footprints of superconductivity from the electronic structure. Some of the authors have recently shown that a correlation exists between T c, the networking value [Nature Communications, 12, 5381 (2021)], and the molecularity index [arXiv:2403.07584v1 (2024)]. The networking value reflects the metallicity of the parent compound as a measure of its electron delocalization channels, by means of the Electron Localization Function topology (its bifurcation trees). Instead, the molecularity index quantifies the presence of H2 molecules within the system. All in all, these two quantities characterize bonding features that are related to high T c: high metallicity and low molecularity boost high T c states. However, the quantification or these bonding characteristics was initially made by a visual approach, which is not scalable for high throughput screening. We have developed a new code, TcESTIME, which allows to determine the networking value for a given hydrogen-based compound. In this contribution, we present such code and the underlying periodic algorithms we have developed. As a reference, the estimation of T c for LaH10 thanks to this new code amounts to 10 CPU minutes in a computer cluster equipped with Intel Xeon 2.4 GHz processor. Given the new potential for screening, we have applied it to a larger set including ternary hydrogen based superconductors, and have proposed new fits to estimate T c, leading to errors of ca. 33 K. We believe that this contribution settles the bases for an automatic high-throughput screening of hydrogen-based superconductors.

A. A. Krasev – an organizer of public education and a scientist-teacher

Introduction. In the second half of the XIX – first quarter of the XX centuries, a significant theoretical and practical contribution to pedagogical science and educational practice was made by a prominent regional figure of education, Russian teacher Alexander Alekseevich Krasev (1844-1921). The purpose of the article is to assess his scientific and practical heritage and contribution to the development of education in the Russian province, using the example of the Simbirsk and Vyatka provinces. Materials and methods. The purpose of the study is achieved through the use of the comparative method and the method of retrospective analysis, regional and axiological methodological approaches, which made it possible to identify the value content in the practical and theoretical work of A. A. Krasev. Results. A. A. Krasev led the preparations in Vyatka province for the World Exhibition in Paris (1900). It ended with the triumph of Vyatka education and the awarding of gold medals to both A. A. Krasev himself and the educational institutions subordinate to him. His scientific and journalistic works became a notable event in Russian pedagogical science at the time. He invariably took democratic positions, adhered to the ideas and views of K. D. Ushinsky and other progressive Russian teachers of the XIX century. During the period of A. A. Krasev's tenure as director of public schools in 1888-1902, the number of students and the number of public schools in the Vyatka province increased significantly. Discussion. In the works of A. A. Krasev, the most important problems of public education are raised and, to a certain extent, resolved. They are revealed by the author in books published in a number of cities (St. Petersburg, Moscow, Vyatka, Simbirsk), and this, in turn, indicates the relevance and significance of their content. Conclusion. A. A. Krasev entered Russian history as a talented theoretical teacher, publicist and prominent organizer of education. His legacy is deep and diverse, and undoubtedly deserves further study by modern historians of education and pedagogy.

Matthew K.Shannon: Mission Manifest: American Evangelicals in Iran in the Twentieth Century. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2024; pp. vii + 322.

Matthew K.Shannon: Mission Manifest: American Evangelicals in Iran in the Twentieth Century. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2024; pp. vii + 322.

The Significant Role of Music and Zen in Education and Culture during the Twentieth Century

The relationship between Chinese and foreign music and philosophy has not been fully explored and studied, but through the exploration of the relationship between the works of Tan Dun and John Cage and Zen Buddhism and philosophy, we can find that it contains profound thinking and cross-cultural communication value. This kind of research helps promote cross-border music cultural exchange and music education, providing new perspectives for international culture and music education. This article takes the works of Tan Dun and John Cage as the research objects, and draws research conclusions through the use of literature research method and comparative research:Tan Dun’s water music is closely related to the water element in Taoism, showcasing the infinite possibilities of water as a musical instrument. John Cage created accidental music through music experiments and Zen philosophy, overturning traditional rules and standards. Musicians from different countries integrate traditional philosophy and culture into their works, promoting cross-cultural communication and understanding, and playing an important role in diverse music education.

Sexual Violence in Toni Morrison’s Beloved and Alice Walker’s The Color Purple

The present research article discusses one of the worst human disasters of the 20th century, which is the persecution of black women in a society considered the first in the world. The work sheds light on the history of the emergence of America as a superpower at the expense of others, including blacks. Blacks are among the most important victims who were subjected to the most heinous forms of injustice, including slavery and abhorrent racial discrimination. It discusses the tragic situation that black women in America suffered from in terms of color, gender, and the patriarchal system in the 20th century through works based on true stories. Despite the intellectual and cultural development that America is experiencing, it is still in the twentieth century adhering to the ideas of the patriarchal system that is unjust to women. The research deals with Toni Morrison’s novel Beloved and sheds light on the true meaning of slavery and sexual exploitation through the protagonist Sethe, as she embodied the suffering of black women in America, especially since it is based on a true story. Comparing it to Alice Walker’s The Color Purple, where the protagonist Celie embodied the injustice of the patriarchal system and sexism and its effects on black women in America. The research explores the symbolic and common themes between both novels: the sadism and hypocrisy in dealing with black women. It highlights the role of the feminist movement in contributing to lifting injustice against women and its effective role in this field as it has been, since its inception, the free voice of women and the defender of their full rights. The two selected works embody this important role, especially since one of the works is from the nineteenth century and the other from the twentieth century.

Climatic variability as a principal driver of primary production in the southernmost subalpine Rocky Mountain lake

ABSTRACT Mountain lakes are sensitive indicators of anthropogenically driven global change, with lake sediment records documenting increased primary production during the twentieth century. Atmospheric nutrient deposition and warming have been attributed to changes in other Western mountain lakes, however, the intensity of these drivers varies. We analyzed a sediment core representing a 270-year record from Santa Fe Lake, New Mexico, to constrain the southern margin of Rocky Mountain lakes and quantify patterns of change in lake biogeochemistry, production, and diatoms since 1750. Lake sediments were dated using 210Pb and analyzed for carbon (C), nitrogen (N), stable isotopes (δ13C, δ15N), diatoms, and phototrophic pigments. The abundance of cyanobacteria, purple sulfur-reducing bacteria, and diatom pigments were elevated during the stable conditions of the Little Ice Age; these phototrophic groups declined in the late 1800s and reached a minimum by 1950. From 1950 to 2020, sediments recorded an increased abundance of cryptophyte, diatom, and chlorophyte groups. The C and N (percentage dry mass) increased after 1950, whereas δ15N and δ13C values declined. Changes since the mid-twentieth century are contemporaneous with warming trends in the Southwest and modest deposition of atmospheric N. Our findings highlight the geographic variability of mountain lake responses to changing environmental conditions.

الأنساق الثقافية في المقامات الأدبية المعاصرة (في النصف الثاني من القرن العشرين)

The research dealt with several axes, including the definition of the Arabic Maqama, its literary status, and studies concerned with studying the cultural systems that accompanied it. Other axes dealt with the historical stages it went through since its inception until the beginning of the twentieth century. I used the historical and cultural method in this research by tracing the cultural contexts accompanying the Maqama in the second half of the twentieth century. The result was that the cultural systems in which the Maqama appeared were formed into three systems. The first is the revivalist system that appeared again to add modern styles and techniques to the form of the Maqama that had not been added to it before, while the second system is exclusionary and confronted attempts to revive the Maqama and marginalize it through several methods. While the third system is a different cultural system, it did not pay attention to both systems and surpassed them, and set out towards the first maqamat in the fourth and fifth centuries AH, and tried to imitate them again and devote care and attention to them, especially since they became a companion to scholars and preachers who showed great interest in the language, to help them in the discussions of the Sharia, and to revive this scientific tradition throughout the ages, this system was formed, and the maqamat of contemporary scholars and preachers were influenced by it, such as the maqamat of Al-Qarni and Al-Harbi, without paying attention to the literary form of the maqamat and caring about its development.

THE EMERGENCE OF POSTMODERN TRENDS IN THE LITERATURE OF SOCIALIST REALIZM (EARLY ANDREY BITOV)

The purpose of the article is to examine the beginning of the emergence of postmodern trends in Russian literature in the 1960s and 1980s and, using the example of Andrei Bitov’s short story “Penelope”, to show how the traditional theme of love underwent a gradual transformation at the end of the twentieth century. The article shows how the theme of love, which previously served as a condition for revealing the moral and ethical potential of the male protagonist in Russian and world literature, began to lose its distinct real features in postmodern prose and turn into love-mirage, love-illusion. The analysis revealed that Andrey Bitov was one of the first Russian postmodern writers in modern prose who identified and demonstrated new components of the love theme.

“Mining” the Film Archive: South Africa’s Mining Industry and Film Production

This paper examines the relationship of film production and the mining industry in the forty years of the Union of South Africa, before the National Party came to power in 1948 and established its system of apartheid. It argues that the mining industry used the new technology of film to promote its exploitative system of African migrant workers, mobilized to extract the maximum natural resources of precious metals at the greatest profit. In South Africa in this period, film production and cinema exhibition were controlled commercially by the African Films Trust through its production company, African Film Productions, and its exhibition arm, African Consolidated Theatres. In the face of the rise of trade unions and collective bargaining, the Chamber of Mines commissioned African Film Productions to make documentaries, including instructional, topical, and propaganda films, from the 1920s until the 1940s. These were intended to counter overseas public criticisms of working conditions, health and safety, and racial segregation of workers on the mines. The Chamber of Mines also commissioned films to recruit African migrant workers through its recruitment agencies, the Witwatersrand Native Labour Association and the Native Recruiting Corporation. These recruitment films were screened using mobile cinemas in villages throughout southern Africa. The film company made other publicity films, often co-produced with various South African government departments, to attract White settler immigration and investment by shareholders, and domestically aimed at allaying settlers’ anxieties about the growth of mass African labor systems. These films were exhibited in cinemas all over South Africa and overseas. Building on existing scholarship on the importance of cinema to the recruitment and regulation of African miners in southern Africa, particularly South Africa, this paper will excavate the intricate imbrication of filmmaking in the consolidation and expansion of mining during the first half of the twentieth century.

Navigating Global Migration: An Analysis of Exit West through Appadurai’s Five Scapes

The rapid surge in global migration today is deeply intertwined with shifts in the political and economic structures of the late twentieth century, characterized by the dominance of globalization and transnational capital. These shifts, while rooted in the historical legacies of colonialism, have assumed new dimensions as globalization reconfigures the movement of people, capital, and ideas. In Exit West, Mohsin Hamid connects the personal experiences of migration with larger global forces, using magical doors to metaphorically illustrate the fluidity and unpredictability of global migration patterns. This paper employs Arjun Appadurai's five "scapes," which are ethnoscapes, technoscapes, financescapes, mediascapes, and ideoscapes, to examine how Exit West reflects and critiques the dynamics of globalization, migration, and identity formation. Hamid highlights how technological advancements facilitate movement while simultaneously revealing the inequalities that persist under the guise of globalization. Through the journeys of Saeed and Nadia, the novel reveals the fragmented nature of global flows and their impact on personal and collective identities.

The Coming Systemic Cycle of Accumulation and China

The article treats the current world economic crisis within the systemic cycles of accumulation framework developed by G. Arrighi. The ‘systemic chaos’ manifests the decline of ‘the long twentieth century’ of American hegemony, with countries struggling for dominance in a coming capital expansion cycle. G. Arrighi assumed that China could be a new global leader. However, his arguments were rather general, while modern economics requires more rigourous evidence. The article suggests explicit technological and institutional criteria to capture signs of a rising economic hegemony already in transitory epochs, which are changes in energy consumption and external economic policies. The approach is theoretically grounded and verified with the historic data on the British and the US capital accumulation cycles, and then is taken towards the modern Chinese economy. The findings suggest that China has been improving opportunities to gain world leadership. However, questions remain open about the possibility of a polycentric world, as well as about key institutional parameters and early indicators of ‘long’ cycles. These issues require further research.