Western Academic Discourse Research Articles

РЕПРЕЗЕНТАЦІЇ ІСТОРІЇ УКРАЇНИ В АНГЛОМОВНОМУ НАУКОВОМУ ДИСКУРСІ

The article highlights the problem of rethinking international communication about Ukrainian history, taking into account the de-imperialization of the historical narrative and overcoming the Russian optics on Ukraine that prevails in Western academic discourse. Sometimes in Western trends, this process is called decolonization, and the corresponding work is called postcolonial studies. While postcolonialism plays a leading role in foreign scholarly visions, it is only gaining momentum in Ukraine. Given the special attention to Ukraine as a country where a new global political architecture is being created today, there is a need to analyze and systematize foreigners’ perceptions of the Ukrainian past, as this will allow for better communication and potentially improve understanding between Ukraine and the Western world in general. Given the total dominance of Russian historiography and its derivative narratives on the entire history of Eastern Europe, this area is extremely relevant and even strategically necessary, as it allows us to study the worldview of both political elites and the electorate of Europe, which is based on a specific vision of the past and directly affects our present and future. This fact actualizes historical imagology as one of the tools for realizing the above. The study is based on the scientific work of foreign historians of non-Ukrainian origin on the history of Ukraine in the English-language discourse. The purpose of the study is to trace the general idea of non-Ukrainian researchers about Ukraine and its historical development, to analyze the state of scientific development of the topic and the source base of the study, and to highlight the main concepts and approaches to the representation of Ukraine’s history. The chronological framework covers the scholarly discourse that began with Ukraine’s independence in 1991 and continues to this day.

Decolonizing bird knowledge: More-than-Western bird–human relations

Abstract Traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) or local ecological knowledge (LEK) has only recently gained traction as “legitimate” science in Western academic discourse. Such approaches to inclusivity continue to face institutional, sociocultural, and equity barriers to being fully accepted in academic discourse in comparison to Western-based frameworks. Postcolonial studies have attempted to rectify this Western-domination in characterizing diverse forms of bird–human relationships. However, the integration of multiple cosmologies (worldviews) and ontologies (realities) in research or management creates challenges that we discuss. We elucidate commonalities and antithetical positions between Western-derived bird knowledge and management with that of TEK or LEK in both local and global contexts. We combine ecological/ornithological studies with key terms, theories, and methods from the social sciences to integrate the approaches and facilitate understanding. For example, we follow a “theory synthesis” approach in this conceptual paper to question epistemological and ontological assumptions of bird knowledge and how we acquire it to question, “how do we move from a decolonial approach (discussions and acknowledgement) to decolonization (action)?” This paper is a product of ongoing discourse among global researchers of an academic ethno-ornithology research lab based in the United Kingdom, who partner with global collaborators. The 3 case studies draw from ongoing research in Southeast Asia, South America, and decolonializing policy efforts in New Zealand. We analyzed these case studies using a postcolonial theoretical lens to provide insights into how Western scientists can embrace TEK and LEK and actively work to decolonize ethno-ornithology and ornithology in theory and practice. Further, we discuss perceived core tenets to equity and inclusion in community-based TEK and LEK conservation projects from the Global South. Diversity, equity, inclusivity, and justice in bird–human relations and knowledge were identified as targets for systemic change within the academic institutions of Western scientists. By recognizing, discussing, and embracing non-Western cosmologies and ontologies, non-Indigenous scientists can help influence the decolonization of ethno-ornithology, ornithology, and bird–human relations through respectful, participatory, equitable, culturally considerate, and “non-extractive” community-based initiatives in partnership with local groups.

ОТРАЖЕНИЕ ВЕЛИКОЙ ОТЕЧЕСТВЕННОЙ ВОЙНЫ В РОССИЙСКИХ УЧЕБНИКАХ ИСТОРИИ В ФОКУСЕ ИСТОРИОГРАФИИ

This article discusses the current state of the study of history textbooks, presents a historiographic review of materials on the coverage of the Great Patriotic War in the history textbooks of Russia in 1992–2020. In the modern world, textbooks, teaching aids and school programs are the key instruments of the state politics of memory. The Great Patriotic War has become one of the central objects of the historical memory of Russian society and one of the pillars of Russian identity, and therefore is actively used in all of the above tools of education and politics of memory. Two main areas of study of textbooks are singled out - as educational and as ideological texts. The ideological views of researchers and their own attitude to the Great Patriotic War and World War II, memory and politics of memory about them are revealed, which can be attributed to “patriotic”, “liberal” and corresponding to Western academic discourse. The assessment by scientists of textbooks of different years is considered, it is established that Russian textbooks received mixed, mostly positive assessments. Evaluation of textbooks depends on the ideological views of the scientist. The obvious insufficiency of studying the new line of domestic textbooks (after 2016) is noted, as well as the methodological limitations of the approaches to the analysis of educational texts existing in the literature. Such a study should combine the methods of narrative analysis and discourse analysis, pay attention to the methods of constructing historical myths and direct falsifications.

Проблематика західної історії преси: критичний історіографічний огляд (1974–2020 рр.)

This review article makes an attempt to accomplish a historiographic overview of the works in problematic of the history of press in the West. The aim of this paper is to make a synthetic overarching historiographic overview of Western studies in Media History, specifically in Press Studies and more specifically – in Press History. The scientific novelty of the research: for the first time in the Communication and Media Studies in Ukraine (the so-called “Theory and history of Journalism) Western perspectives and concepts regarding the research problem of Journalism History are discussed here. We conducted the qualitative analysis of main works in Media History on the basis of influential Western international peer-reviewed journals (American Journalism Review, Communication Quarterly, Media History, Journalism History). Specifically, for the first time, we introduce here in the Ukrainian scholarly discourse a milestone pioneering research essay of world-renowned American scholar, Professor J. W. Carrey The Problem of History of Journalism (Journalism History, 1974). Itsimpact on transformation of conceptual perspectives to studying Media History in Western scholarship has been analyzed. We have elucidated common and different perspectives, interpretations, concepts and methodology of studying history of media, in particular press, in Western academic discourse. It has been argued here the relevance of reconsidering Ukrainian concepts and perspectives towards studying history of journalism, specifically from the mainstream (in the West) interdisciplinary perspective of the Cultural Studies, Behavioral Psychology, Global History and last but not least, – Communication and Media Studies. It has been accentuated in this paper a necessity of selective interpolation of Western perspectives on Media History in the Ukrainian humanities, specifically Journalism History curriculum discipline. The conclusions have been drawn and the perspectives of follow-up historiographical works in Media History (specifically, Press History) in the Ukrainian scholarship have been put forward. Keywords: Journalism History, Media History, histories, historiography, overview, press, Western, American, concept, perspective, сultural рistory; Cultural Studies; Communication and Media Studies.

University Social Mission in the Wartime under Knowledge Society

The article is dedicated to the growing social role of universities under knowledge society and its revision during wartime and post-war revival. This role has not received due attention of Ukrainian scholars and higher education stakeholders; on the contrary, in western academic discourse university third mission (also referred to as social mission) is actively discussed and several studies on university roles during conflict and post-conflict recovery are available. The article aims at conceptualization of university third mission relevant for Ukraine’s higher education of today as the country is striving towards knowledge society, higher education modernization and its alignment with European Higher Education Area, as well as fighting against Russian Federation aggression and planning economic recovery and national revival. Knowledge is a key concept in interpretation and definitions of three university missions: knowledge is generated or produced via research (second mission); it is disseminated and promoted via teaching and learning (first mission); the essence of the third / social mission is to apply knowledge for problem-solving and general societal benefit. Application of knowledge is not limited to technological innovations and know-hows and covers social, humanitarian, cultural, business and entrepreneurship, economic, political and other domains. Knowledge is becoming the major problem-solving tool; and demand for knowledge is growing among different categories of knowledge workers engaged in problem definition, decision-making and implementation in different economic sectors and spheres of life. Problems and challenges incurred by war make them the most serious grievances of today’s Ukraine. Multiple challenges faced by Ukrainian society, economy, territories, industries will require the wisdom of all Ukrainian higher education institutions and knowledge workers and can only be addressed effectively via innovative approaches and mobilization of many partners: local and international, academic and non-academic, private and public, non-profit and commercial. Due to their specific features (multidiscipline expertise, access to international knowledge sharing and good practices exchange, non-profit focus, multiple perspectives and diversity of opinions), universities like no other institutions are well-positioned to establish and run partnerships, project consortia, lead innovation ecosystems, catalyse and contribute to reconstruction and revival processes.

Materializing Difference: Consumer Culture, Politics, and Ethnicity among Romanian Roma

Materializing Difference: Consumer Culture, Politics, and Ethnicity among Romanian Roma

Positionality and self-reflexivity: Backyard qualitative research in Palestine

Conducting qualitative, critical ethnographical research on disability in Palestine requires deep self-reflexivity, exploring positionality while claiming authorship. As a Palestinian conducting backyard research, I explored ways to conceptualize disability in light of language and macro factors related to Israeli occupation practices. While conducting interviews and observing, I learned to appreciate the advantages of being an insider and an outsider, and to be aware of the disadvantages of being both. Positionality and self-reflexivity helped me focus on my participants’ voices. Through exploring disability in Palestinian higher education, I realized I was not only the representative of the collective knowledge, but I was also reflecting on how my research was creating indigenous discourse and decolonizing methodologies that challenged being politically correct. This was especially true when using certain acceptable language and content in Western academic discourse. Positionality and reflection on my own feelings, as an outsider and an insider at the same time, were an essential part of the research, especially when participants were addressing questions on lived experiences, content, language, and concepts to use when describing macro and micro-related factors causing physical disabilities.

Фобия исламофобии как основа «критических мусульманских исследований». Как идеология превратилась в методологию изучения исламских сообществ на Западе

This article aims to deconstruct the research field of “critical Muslim studies” that is emerging within Western academic discourse. It seeks to expose the postcolonial injustices that Muslims are subjected to in the allocation of symbolic resources. Islamophobia is almost the dominant subject of research here, and the line between political activism related to the struggle for minority rights and academic knowledge becomes completely permeable. This article describes the epistemological foundations of critical Muslim studies and its conceptual language, developed by its proponents within the framework of postcolonial theory, related to the notions of racialization, Orientalization (and self-Orientalization), Eurocentrism and Westernization. The institutionalization of this trend is examined through selected European and American examples. Examination of the volume Islamophobia in Muslim Majority Countries demonstrates how left-liberal ideology, included in the production of academic knowledge, turns into a fully-fledged methodology that is desirable to a wide range of researchers.

VISION OF A «NEW SOVIET MAN» IN EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN HISTORIOGRAPHY OF THE SECOND HALF OF THE XX CENTURY

The purpose of the research is to analyze the results of Western, Central European and American historiography discourse analysis regarding the phenomenon of a «new Soviet man» in the second half of the XX century. The methodology of the research is based on the principles of consistency, reliability, historicism, logic. General scientific (analysis, synthesis, generalization) and specifically historical (historically genetic, historically typological, historically system) methods are used in the article. Scientific novelty. The article presents a unique complex historiographic analysis of the scattered publications dedicated to «Homo Soveticus» as highlighted in European studies. Conclusions. Within the frames of Western academic discourse, the concept of the «new man» has been investigated from various points of view, i.e. totalitarian, revisionist, axiological, identity history and history of subjectivity. The Western European researchers have focused primarily on general aspects of USSR citizens’ consciousness transformations under the influence of the Communist ideology, thus shaping out the key methodological approaches to the «new man» phenomenon and coining a specific term, «homo soveticus», to designate it. At the same time, regional versions of the Soviet project aimed at public consciousness transformation, specifically the Ukrainian one, still lack thorough investigation. In the end of 1980-ies, following the transit to democracy and a range of antitotalitarian revolutions, a critical perspective upon the Communist society studies was introduced through the emerging works of Eastern and Central European researchers. A focus upon primarily negative features of «homo soveticus» as a social anomaly induced by totalitarian regime has become a common denominator for the Eastern and Central European research discourse.

The concept of tradition in contemporary western academic discourse

The concept of tradition in contemporary western academic discourse

Odious Caribbean Women and the Palpable Aesthetics of Transgression by Gladys M. Francis

Reviewed by: Odious Caribbean Women and the Palpable Aesthetics of Transgression by Gladys M. Francis Frances J. Santiago Torres Gladys M. Francis. 2017. Odious Caribbean Women and the Palpable Aesthetics of Transgression. Lanham: Lexington Books. 155 pp. ISBN: 9781498543507. Francophone Caribbean women writers and artists have been creating a prolific body of work for a very long time now; yet their work continues to be, in many instances, negated the recognition it very well deserves to have, not only in academia, but also in the daily construction of paradigms that defy those imposed upon the Francophone Caribbean experience (in general) by Eurocentric discourses and perspectives. Although this is not a new issue, it continues to be urgent to put forth the incalculable contribution of Francophone Caribbean women writers throughout the 20th century to this day. Dr. Gladys M. Francis is a Caribbeanist scholar adamant in leading us to explore the body of work that [End Page 216] some of these female authors have created; in an attempt to emphasize and expose the ways in which their creativity separates them from the exoticizing paradigms established when Caribbean literary and visual productions are defined by the Western academic, historical, economic and political mainstream discourse. The author points at how diasporic performances have been denied the significance, and importance, that they have as archival materials in documenting a history that has been consigned to memory. Francis emphasizes the importance of "performance and ekphrases writing as sites of embodied knowledge that avow, as archive, mnemonic transmissions and expressive behaviors" (p. xii). Francis also revisits these important questions: What belongs in the archives? And who is deciding this? She states that: "We must shift away from such factional orthodoxies that perpetuate the invisibility of the myriad of forms through which non-Western societies have created and continue to create knowledge" (p. xii). Francis evidently refers to the ways in which imperialistic frames of reference have continued to keep non-Western knowledge, in general, out of the "official" archives and historical documents. These expressions of knowledge, perpetuated through orality (oraliture), music, dance, art and belief systems, in Caribbean cultures for instance, must be made visible. Furthermore, the author sets her inquisitive queries precisely upon the ways in which these texts challenge and contest the "hegemonic" archival system itself (p. xiii). According to Diane Taylor, quoted by the author in her introduction, performance leads to "cultural belonging and political agency" (p. xiv). Francis thus tells us that she proposes to study this embodied knowledge as it is manifested through storytelling, songs, riddles, cooking and other artistic and cultural texts. All of these expressions and manifestations put forth the invisible, voiceless, silenced and excluded history and memory of the Caribbean experience as a whole. Francis is also intent on putting on the forefront, not only, the contributions of Francophone Caribbean women writers, but she also incorporates visual and performance arts, as texts in her analysis. In the author's view, these cultural texts contribute significantly to our understanding of Caribbean idiosyncrasies, identities, cultural politics, among other aspects of the Caribbean experience; in order to demonstrate this, she navigates through an extensive body of theoretical and aesthetic work to support her arguments. The first chapter of this book focuses on "issues of dis/placements," as well as "imprints of colonization" in terms of the construction or conceptualization of identity in the "sociocultural and political contexts of Guadeloupe and Martinique" (p. xviii). These constructions are conceived "within a multifaceted" combination of factors, which include the African, Creole and European components (p. xviii-xix). This chapter is [End Page 217] mostly devoted to the analysis of literary works by Dambury, Pineau and Kanor. Expounding on the cultural politics of identity, particularly what she calls impossible citizenships. The author studies ekphrases writing, which "deconstructs and re/constructs" the body. This also speaking to the use of the word "odious," in her title and throughout the text, pointing toward what she describes as the "repulsive embodied depictions used in literary texts, visual productions, and performances, that is, the (non-verbal) practices of ritual, cooking, dance, theatre, funerals…" (p. xiv). Taking her analysis beyond the mere "paradigms of content and subject," the author...

Associations and verbal consciousness: an analysis based on four English and one Hungarian translation of Bulgakov’s novel: The Master and Margarita

The typical linguocultural background of Bulgakov’s novel The Master and Margarita, together with its culture-specific vocabulary (lacunas) leaning back to the Soviet times of the 1920s and 1930s, challenges both the readers and even the best translators. In this paper, we examine the verbal consciousness on both the individual and the national level, comparing the Russian original text of the First Chapter with its four English and one Hungarian translation. Leaning on the association method applied both in the Western academic discourse and by the Moscow School of Ethnopsycholinguistics, we demonstrate how the author’s (and the translators’) individual verbal consciousness presumably influenced the creation (and the translation) of the text.

Literary Forms/Techniques & Methods of Study

Literary Forms/Techniques & Methods of Study Christopher T. Begg, William J. Urbrock, CFC Alan J. Moss, and George C. Heider 68. Ehud Ben Zvi, "Introductory Centre/Core Periphery Considerations and the Case of Interplaying of Rigid and Flexible Constructions of Centre and Periphery among the Literati of the Late Persian/Early Hellenistic Period," Centres and Peripheries, 21-41 [see #608]. B. Z.'s opening essay in the above collection serves as a methodological introduction to the volume as a whole and to the C-P (centre-periphery) concept in all its variety. Its main purpose is to provide readers with shared basic background from which to approach the other contributions of the volume. It includes a "theory" section (section "A") and then moves to "practical examples" (sections "B" and "C"). The latter sections are meant to clearly illustrate the existence and usefulness as well as the limitations of C-P cross-cultural/cross-historical patterns and their generative "grammars." To be sure, these general cross-cultural tendencies necessarily lead to unique historical outcomes, due to matters of historical contingency. The examples cited in section "B" mainly deal with: (a) self-constructions of groups that, while they are peripheral in terms of historical and economic capital, are central in terms of their cultural and symbolic capital; and (b) the construction of the "central" city of a group as "peripheral." The latter case serves to show that social-anthropological modes and underlying systematic generative grammars may work for "real" societies and social agents, but also for societies and social agents that existed only in the shared memory and imagination of a group. Section "C" stresses via examples that C-P constructions are often neither linear nor unidirectional and that often the system works through a set of related "axes" rather than a single such axis. In making this case, B. Z. discusses a variety of significant and substantially different cases, which make clear, beyond doubt, that at times, seemingly expected differentiations of what is central and peripheral were negotiated along a multiplicity of axes. [Adapted from published abstract—C.T.B.] 69. [Genesis 12, etc.] Joshua Berman, "Juxtaposed Conflicting Compositions (Gen 1:1–2:4a / 2:4b-25; Exod 14–15; Judg 4–5): A New Kingdom Egyptian Parallel," JNSL 42 (1, 2016) 1-13. The Hebrew Bible records several instances of juxtaposed conflicting accounts (Genesis 1–2; Exodus 14–15; and Judges 4–5). To date, however, no example has been adduced from cognate literature of differing accounts of the same event juxtaposed with each other in this way. In the case of the Kadesh inscriptions of Ramesses II, B. points out here, the pharaoh commissioned two differing accounts of the Battle of Kadesh, and had these carved side by side at several monumental sites. B.'s study examines the discrepancies between the two versions, and how Egyptologists have explained their juxtaposition. On this basis, he then discusses the implications of this extrabiblical example for our understanding of juxtaposed conflicting accounts in the Hebrew Bible. [Adapted from published abstract—C.T.B.] 70. [Jeremiah] Corrine Carvalho, "Whose Gendered Language of God? Contemporary Gender Theory and Divine Gender in the Prophets," CurTM 43 (3, 2016) 12-16. In the Book of Jeremiah, gender-bending takes place in the text on three planes: first, defeat of the nation is depicted through gender-bending metaphors; second, the prophet Jeremiah's own gender is called into question through his interactions with God and the community; third, the picture of restoration also involves gender reversal. Gender distortion [End Page 18] and reversal in the book are part of a larger rhetorical strategy to depict the defeat of the city as a disruption of every social category.—W.J.U. 71. Cynthia Ruth Chapman, "Modern Terms and their Ancient Non-Equivalents. Patrilineality and Gender in the Historical Study of the Bible," HeBAI 5 (2016) 78-93. Modern gender-critical methodological frameworks that have emerged within Western academic discourse can open new windows into ancient texts and worldviews, allowing the researcher to recognize and begin to theorize gendered language and categories. At the same time, however, modern methodologies...

Rediscovering Religion and Secularism A Critique of a Critique

In this paper, I will discuss the academic critique of secularism that is emanating from Western academic discourse and some of its limitations. I will also discuss how this scholarly critique of secularism has been used in Palestine, among other places, to defend symbolic as well as real repressive social norms within Muslim societies, and to defend the call for creating an Islamist state. This discussion is to be taken in the context of the Arab Spring, where political Islamist movements that embody fantasies about a certain past are calling for a return to a “real,” “non-secular,” “Islamic” state. Both such academic and political arguments base their analyses and arguments on false assumptions—epistemological as well as historical. My paper will attempt to discuss these assumptions and propose a possible political future that does not dichotomize secularism, religion, and politics, while drawing evidence from within Islamic knowledge on the rational rather than religious approach to organizing societies and states.

Employer-Employee Relationships in Islam: A Normative View from the Perspective of Orthodox Islamic Scholars

Management researchers have recently started investigating normative teachings of different religions regarding workplace related issues in order to understand the influence of religious beliefs on lives of people. In line with these studies, some researchers have presented normative understanding of Islamic teachings about employment relations in the light of their reading of the <em>Qur’an</em>, sayings of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and writings of earlier Muslim scholars. These scholars have completely ignored the views of orthodox Islamic scholars in the process of understanding the teachings of Islam. This is quite worrisome as orthodox Islamic scholars are considered by majority of Muslims as the authoritative spokesperson of Islam (Zaman, 2002). Furthermore, the neglect of orthodox Islamic scholars strengthen the view put forward by Ul-Haq and Westwood (2012) that Islamic management and organization knowledge is mis-represented and/or under-represented in Western academic discourse. In line with the recommendations given by Ul-Haq and Westwood (2012), this work is an attempt to understand Islamic teachings from Islamic epistemological grounds by giving voice to orthodox Islamic scholars. The findings of the study show that, not only there are some differences in the understanding of orthodox Islamic scholars and Western academic scholars, orthodox Islamic perspective on employer-employee relationships offers a more detailed analysis in terms of explaining conditions associated with permissibility of workplace related issues.

War Songs: the Genre Characteristics, Contexts of Interpretation, and Cultural Memory

The article examines the problems of the cultu ral memory embodied in the genre of war song. Analyzing the book by E. Polyudova “Soviet War Songs in the Con text of Russian Culture”, published in English, the author poses such questions as the perception of the culture of the Other, the translation of cultural texts in a different culture, the specific features of the song genre in the Russian musical culture, the transformation of cultural forms in the mass cul ture, and the problem of cultural memory in the postmodern epoch with its accent on playing and loss of the historic fee l ing. Even though some positions of the book by E. Polyudova might seem disputable and not elaborated enough, the publi cation as a whole receives high evaluation, from both points of view - the introduction of the theme of Russian war song to the Western academic discourse and the importance of this theme for the Russian audience, brought up in the in formation epoch and needing the value orientation based on the rich cultural heritage of our country.

Western academic discourse on the post-Soviet de facto state phenomenon

This article examines how the so-called post-Soviet de facto states are conceptualized and discussed within the wider context of Western English-language social and political sciences, including inter-disciplinary Russian, Slavonic, East European and Eurasian area studies. It outlines the main theoretical models and methodologies utilized in the analysis of this phenomenon, and identifies their respective benefits and shortcomings. The article posits that there is considerable unevenness between various theoretical paradigms in terms of their explanatory clarity and their relationship with empirical reality. I argue that Western academic discourse on the post-Soviet de facto states, and on post-Soviet politics more generally, has been increasingly shaped by mono-theoretical determinist models with heavy reliance on deductive quantitative research methods and secondary sources in English language and non-academic analytical reports. A corollary has been a considerable deterioration in the epistemological quality of the discourse on de facto states, and on occasion its politicization.

Hedging Strategies in Academic Discourse: A Comparative Analysis of Turkish Writers and Native Writers of English

Given the use of appropriate uncertainty, the right strength of claim for the data, politeness and proper positioning oneself, though hedging is an important component of western academic discourse there appears inadequate awareness. The present study aims to reveal the tendency and preferences of Turkish and Anglo-sphere scholars in terms of using hedging strategies, and frequency of hedges and whether any differences exist in their published articles. Data corpus was composed of 100 articles published in English that equally belong to Non-native writers (Turkish) and native writers of English (Anglo-sphere). Three main parts of the articles i.e. Introduction, Discussion, and Conclusion, where hedging devices are commonly used will be analyzed through a concordance program to get the hedge frequencies. The outputs will be categorized according to a framework included 9 hedge types (Adverbs of Frequency, Quantifiers, Modal Auxiliary Verbs, Epistemic Verbs, Adjectives & Adverbs, Nouns, Conversational & Informal, Introductory phrases, Vague References). The categorized outputs will be analyzed by means of MANOVA and Mann-Whitney tests to compare Non-native writers (NNW) and Native writers (NW) in terms of the hedge frequency. Having completed statistical analyses, the function of hedges used in both groups was examined so as to interpret hedging strategies. The results will provide important insights about using tentative language strategies of NNWs and NWs of English. Further, as for nine hedging types, the results will reveal each group's hedging tendencies and differences.

From Toussaint to Tupac: The Black International since the Age of Revolution, edited by Michael O. West, William G. Martin, and Fanon Che Wilkins

in the introduction to From Toussaint to Tupac, editors Michael West and William Martin claim that the “two dominant scholarly traditions, the metanarrative and the national narrative, have intellectually marginalized the black international” from Western academic discourse (1–2). West and Martin assert that generations of scholarship have facilitated a fragmented narrative of the global Black experience by isolating Blacks and their enduring struggles for equality to specific time periods and locales. Thus, From Toussaint to Tupac provides an important scholastic reorientation, a “black internationalist counternarrative” of culture and resistance within the African diaspora that transcends both time and place (2). Beginning with the Age of Revolution and concluding with the rise of hip hop culture, the collection of essays demonstrates that the Atlantic was not a barrier but a conduit for the ideological, cultural, and organizational links that have long sustained traditions of Black political radicalism and racial consciousness. Part 1 of From Toussaint to Tupac, with essays by Sylvia Frey and by Michael West and William Martin, contends that modern Pan-Africanism is rooted in a rich history that stretches back to the Haitian Revolution. According to these scholars, the American and Haitian Revolutions, in conjunction with the Evangelical Revival, produced a revolutionary and revivalist tradition that gave birth to a nascent Pan-African ideology—a loose, though recognizable, worldview that served as the springboard to more formalized institutions like the Universal Negro Improvement Association and the Pan-African Congress. Furthermore, these scholars insist that the Haitian Revolution and the geographically diverse, post-revolutionary diaspora contributed to the con-

Rethinking Gender: Negotiating Future Queer Rights in Thailand

The article aims to present a new aspect of gender research by using the rights-based approach for sexually marginalized groups. The research deals with the experiential aspects of being a transgender sex worker in Thailand, a group of people who lack power, can be vulnerable, and are usually overlooked in the “Gender Mainstreaming” policy. This article challenges the Western academic discourse on Gender Identity Disorder (GID), and the binary biological model on which the diagnosis is based. It is argued that the “gender agenda” needs to go beyond the binary categories of gender—male and female—to explore the identity crisis and marginalization of those between genders as part of broader queer/LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transsexual) rights. The article also attempts to negotiate future queer rights in Thailand, by showing that actions or events in any part of the world have an impact on people elsewhere, and we must together script a new chapter to end violence and discrimination against all people, irrespective of their sexual orientation or gender identity.