This article draws on my doctoral research, Reconciliation Rescue: An Original Blak Comedy Series and Aboriginal Cultural Perspectives on Humour, to examine how Aboriginal humour operates as a mode of resistance, truth-telling, and cultural continuity. My thesis consists of two components Reconciliation Rescue, an original scripted Blak comedy series, and an accompanying exegesis that situates the work within broader discussions of Aboriginal sovereignty, identity, and the politics of reconciliation. In this article, I extend that research to demonstrate how Aboriginal voices, when centred in comedic storytelling, challenge colonial paradigms and reframe national narratives. Grounded in my lived experience as an Aboriginal woman and my longstanding creative practice, I explore the ways in which Aboriginal humour addresses intergenerational trauma, racism, and stereotypes. I contrast the collectivist values and relational worldviews of Aboriginal cultures with the individualism of Whitestream society, arguing that humour particularly the oration of humorous storytelling has long served as a powerful tool of healing, resilience, and community cohesion. This distinctive form of ‘Blak Humour’ confronts harmful assumptions, empowers our people, and strengthens cultural identity. By reflecting on the development of Reconciliation Rescue and the principles that shape First Nations comedic expression, this article illustrates how Aboriginal comedy can act as an educational and transformative force. It highlights humour’s potential to foster understanding, unsettle entrenched power structures, and contribute meaningfully to more culturally informed and socially just approaches to reconciliation in Australia.
This paper analyzes the historical genealogy of conspiracy theories about a global supergovernment by focusing on one period of American history in which it attained particular visibility. The formation of the United Nations in 1945 and the onset of the Cold War galvanized speculation on the political margins that a shadowy, malevolent international government was seeking world domination by targeting the United States and its political culture. At the same time, mainstream United States foreign policy was marked by a desire to both reshape international institutions to resist Soviet influence while also avoiding any domestic changes that might result from international engagement. This paper suggests that conspiracy theory functioned as a mechanism resolving the vicious circle occasioned by these competing foreign policy priorities. Through a narrative analysis of conspiratorial sentiments in North Dakota Representative Usher L. Burdick’s warnings about the United Nations as a threat to American liberty and sovereignty, this article highlights the continuities between mainstream American exceptionalism and conspiratorial ideas.
This is a book review of Nidesh Lawtoo's 2022 book titled Homo Mimeticus: A New Theory of Imitation. In the book Latwoo offers a "re-turn" to the concept of mimessis by revisiting the Western philosophical traditions starting from Plato to Baudrillard. His key intervention is the introduction - if not excavation - of new ways of understanding mimesis in a world vastly changed from Plato's time. Some of the key concepts employed and created in this book are 'patho-logy', 'gendered mimesis', postcolonial mimesis' and viral mimesis. This is wide ranging book not only of interest to people within disciplinary boundaries of philosophy and arts, but anyone broadly interested in the history and shape of the human intellectual history.
Marie-Hélène Bourassa, Guillaume Sillon, Shuizi Ding
et al.
Pathogenic variants in <i>ODAD4</i> are an ultra-rare cause of primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD). Previously reported cases display classic disease phenotypes, including chronic oto-sino-pulmonary disease and development of bronchiectasis by adulthood. We report five individuals with PCD harboring biallelic <i>ODAD4</i> variants (median age 14, range 3–41 years). Participants underwent standardized PCD diagnostic evaluations. Three individuals shared the novel homozygous <i>ODAD4</i> genotype [NM_031421.5: c.245delA, p.(Lys82Argfs*29)], and genealogy analysis highly suggests a founder effect in French-Canadians from two regions of Quebec. All five participants had normal pulmonary function values. Two Quebec participants lacked radiographic pneumonias or bronchiectasis (ages 14 and 38 years) despite life-long suppurative respiratory symptoms, low nasal nitric oxide levels, and outer dynein arm defects on electron microscopy. Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction of the c.245delA variant showed abnormal splicing with in-frame skipping of exon 2, allowing expression of a mildly shortened mRNA product. However, functional analysis showed overall static cilia, absence of ODAD4 protein on Western blot, and absence of in vivo mucociliary clearance. The reason for a milder pulmonary phenotype with the c.245delA variant in <i>ODAD4</i> remains unclear, but regional screening for this variant in Quebec may identify more cases and enhance understanding of this mild form of PCD.
This article presents a biographical reconstruction and interpretative analysis of that part of Father Franciszek Blachnicki’s legacy which concerns the moral, spiritual, and social renewal of the Polish nation. Structured to convey the research findings in a clear and accessible manner, the article begins by justifying the choice of topic, outlining a portrayal of Blachnicki as a patriot, and situating his biography in a broader historical and ideological context. It also sets out core methodological assumptions, locating the subject within relevant academic disciplines, and defining the central concepts. The next part clarifies his understanding of the concept of “nation” and of the renewal process itself, including its genealogy. The article then details the initiatives that Blachnicki launched to strengthen national unity and to lead Poland out of the communist system. Further sections describe the socio-political threats that he recognized (such as certain archetypes of rulers and citizens), as well as the kinds of individuals capable of constructively overcoming totalitarian forms of social oppression. The article also includes practical guidance drawn from Blachnicki’s thought, which is particularly relevant to educators and others working with people today, on how to confront contemporary social challenges, cultivate patriotism, nurture a sense of freedom, and build peace. His legacy constitutes an inspiring spiritual study, and it is worth ensuring that the lessons and messages it contains are preserved and passed onto future generations.
In her multifaceted work, Simone Leigh (b. 1967, Chicago) explores the history of the African diaspora, examining topics such as the elusive legacy of enslavement, the indelible effects of colonialism and the forced migration of Black people. In this article, I focus primarily on her ceramic and bronze work which I read as a reimagined genealogy of Black subjectivity. In regards to her approach, Leigh addresses history and exposes quotidian, therefore banalized, “scenes of subjection,” to echo Saidiya Hartman’s eponymous book. After delving into the controversy surrounding her main medium of expression, ceramics, I emphasize in this article the use of the archive both as a source of inspiration and a way to redress history. I also provide an analysis of her installation Last Garment (2022) as a therapeutic showcase or a “critical fabulation.”
History (General) and history of Europe, English language
Marta Dai Pra, Alison Etheridge, Jere Koskela
et al.
We introduce an individual-based model for structured populations undergoing demographic bottlenecks, i.e. drastic reductions in population size that last many generations and can have arbitrary shapes. We first show that the (non-Markovian) allele-frequency process converges to a Markovian diffusion process with jumps in a suitable relaxation of the Skorokhod J1 topology. Backward in time we find that genealogies of samples of individuals are described by multi-type $Ξ$-coalescents presenting multiple simultaneous mergers with simultaneous migrations. These coalescents are also moment-duals of the limiting jump diffusions. We then show through a numerical study that our model is flexible and can predict various shapes for the site frequency spectrum, consistent with real data, using a small number of interpretable parameters.
Women’s marital surname change is important, in part, because it affects how often only husbands’ (fathers’) surnames are passed on to offspring: this, in turn, affects the frequency of these “family” names. Brides-to-be, novelly, from across especially western and central Canada (N = 184), were surveyed as to marital surname hyphenation/retention versus change intention, and attitude towards women’s such choices in general. Among women engaged to men, the hypothesized predictors of income and number of future children desired were positively predictive of marital surname retention/hyphenation under univariate analysis. Under multiple regression analysis using these and other predictors from the literature, previously found to be predictive of this DV under univariate analysis, only some of these other predictors were predictive. Of greatest predictiveness was the bride-to-be’s own mother’s marital surname choice (with brides-to-be, more often than would otherwise be predicted, following their mother’s such choice), thus suggesting a possible shift to a transmitted manner of bilateral descent reckoning, towards greater bilateral such reckoning, among a portion of the population. Reported, general attitude towards women’s marital surname retention was predictive of participant brides-to-be’s own reported (imminent) marital surname retention/hyphenation.
America’s racial history is largely siloed and compartmentalized, separating minority group experiences as if they were neat rows of isolated, discernable categories. Resisting binary narratives, this article reframes history by focusing on the largely unknown lives of the Chinese immigrants and African American communities in the segregated south. An examination of the intimate histories between the two marginalized groups illuminates how structures of the central white power enforced racial projects that pit Asians and African Americans against each other, laying roots to the tensions we see continuing to play out today. Through my documentary film, Blurring the Color Line, which follows my grandmother’s family growing up in a Black neighborhood, I dive into the obscure but illuminating space of in-betweenness to disrupt hegemonic productions of knowledge and to reveal nuanced stories of how cross-pollinating communities moved amongst and against one another in order to survive and thrive. Stories of conformity and co-mingling between two disempowered communities beg us to question how the language of skin informs social placement and how silenced histories speak deeper truths about the processes and consequences of racialization.
За последние 50 лет (1973–2023 гг.) в результате исследований Кольской археологической экспедиции ЛОИА АН СССР/ИИМК РАН (с 1991 г.) ее сотрудниками были открыты в Мурманской области и изучены петроглифы Чальмн-Варрэ, Канозеро и писаницы на полуострове Рыбачий (Пяйва и Майка). Поскольку другие наскальные ансамбли Российского Европейского Севера (Карельские и на реке Вишера) расположены южнее Полярного круга, то только эти Кольские объекты могут быть обоснованно признаны единственными сохранившимися до наших дней памятниками древнего монументального творчества Российской Европейской Арктики. Вполне вероятно, что если сотни небольших петроглифических собраний и все писаницы Фенноскандии являлись «камерными» святилищами для небольших групп древнего населения, то крупные галереи служили тем же целям для больших сообществ, включающих не одно, а может быть и десятки поселений, отстоящих от таких прославленных культовых мест на значительные расстояния. А сами святилища были местом сбора в определённые согласованные периоды для совершения совместных ритуальных действий: празднеств, инициаций и т.д. Реликвии монументального творчества являются сложными и многогранными объектами исследования. Их использование в качестве источника в историко-культурных разработках, истории искусства, эволюции интеллекта и когнитивной психологии, религии и мифологии предполагает тщательный археологический анализ. Для успешной работы над этой темой необходимо в первую очередь тщательное, точное документирование изображений, определение точного возраста, сравнительные характеристики (стиль, техника выбивки/рисования, композиция, ландшафтная среда, микрорельеф) различных мест древнего наскального творчества. В связи с развитием новых технических и естественных методов в последнее время на этих направлениях достигнуты значительные успехи, которые наиболее очевидны при совместной работе специалистов разных стран.
This study examines the lives of marriage migrants, primarily coming from the Philippines to non-highly urbanised areas (i.e., “rural” areas) of South Korea. It looks at how these women negotiate gender norms and expectations in these multicultural families within the context of state-led multiculturalism. Semi-structured interviews with 20 Filipino marriage migrants were conducted from August to September 2023 in selected areas of Chungcheongnam-do (South Chungcheong Province) and Jeollabuk-do (North Jeolla Province). Based on the data gathered, it was found that these women have navigated gendered cultural expectations in the Korean household, thus reproducing gendered norms within the traditional Korean family and playing a significant role in keeping the family intact. However, there are also instances where these gendered expectations were subverted within these families. This study would like to interrogate whether these women are able to re-imagine a different kind of “womanhood” away from traditional family norms, thus challenging existing models of how marriage migrants are expected to perform in the context of what I call “performative multiculturalism” in ethnonationalist states such as South Korea and Japan.
Tracing the ancestral roots of Polish Jews before the introduction of metrical data in 1808 represents a unique and complex challenge for genealogists and historians alike. Indeed, limited official records, shifting geopolitical boundaries, and the absence of standardized documentation practices characterize that early era. Sometimes, however, genealogical sources and records unique to Jews, based on religious daily life and traditions, have subsisted. When available, they open unforeseen avenues into identifiable family histories for which no other record, or personal memories, are available. In other cases, less well-known archival records unexpectedly emerge to elucidate a perplexing genealogical problem. The present article deals with two such instances with a similar starting point, namely, the apparent impossibility of merging two family clusters with the same surname in a given town. The first case deals with two separate KUMEC clusters in the small Polish town of Konskie. Research of this specific case, using limited official records, leads to the discovery of a single-family line dating back to the early 1600s, by means of complementary metrical and rabbinical data. The second case deals with two distinct KRELL clusters in the city of Warsaw, which, after 25 years of extensive but unsuccessful research, finally leads to merging into a cohesive KRELL ancestral line dating back to the early 1700s, by means of a less exploited source of archival records. The present study puts forward guiding principles for searches back to pre-1808 Jewish family history. As such, it should be useful to researchers encountering similar roadblocks in the quest for their Jewish ancestors.
Cristina Valdés-Argüelles, Aquilina Fueyo Gutiérrez, María Verdeja
As video games have evolved, they have emerged as useful tools in areas such as education, tackling global issues through their storylines and mechanics. However, never in the history of video games, not even today, has there been parity in the proportion of women directly employed in the development of video games. This paper is part of a broader research project undertaken in the context of a doctoral thesis within the framework of the R+D+I project ‘Building global citizenship with young people: researching transformative practices with participatory and inclusive methodologies’. It provides a historical perspective on video games and their place in culture and society, and attempts to outline a brief genealogy of the contributions of pioneering women in the video game industry. Recognising the work of women and addressing gender representation in video games is now a matter of great importance. Current trends in the video game industry reflect the impact of the pandemic on video game consumption habits, its expected continued growth in the future and its relationship with the development of virtual and augmented reality. Video games are therefore likely to remain an important part of culture and society in the future, with an ever-increasing role in education. It is therefore imperative to showcase the achievements of women in the video game industry, to highlight inequalities and to provide girls with genuine role models.
Music occupies a unique and multi-faceted role in spatial representation of the Holocaust, both in terms of documenting its horrors and in cultivating legacy. This uniqueness derives from music’s dual temporal and physical essence as it is represented by written scores that serve as a blueprint, as sonic events that fill both time and space, and as musical instruments that operate as conduits for both. String instruments, in particular, have occupied a vital place in Jewish culture and, consequently, during the Holocaust. In the most tragic sense, some of these instruments even became actual containers of genocidal evidence as with violins played outside concentration camp crematoria that filled with the human ash that fell. This article will demonstrate that, when played, these instruments transform into living artifacts and musical witnesses, with voices that can speak for those who have been silenced, and that the resulting music that resonates from the printed page fills a sonic space that serves as a powerful medium for memory and representation. The phrase “bearing witness” often refers to representing the stories of people, places, and experiences through words, either written or spoken. But material culture also has a role to play in representation. While objects, art, and architecture certainly support language-based witness, they also provide their own unique lens and conduit for testimony. This seems especially true for music, which has the ability to exist as and cross between both words and objects. Nevertheless, music as material witness remains a complex and often understudied aspect of historical testimony. As a result, this paper will explore through an interdisciplinary approach the divergent nature of music as an aural form, as a creative art, and as a cultural artifact and will offer examples of how music can enhance, elucidate, and complicate Holocaust representation.
We examine the identity of British Poles born in the UK, whose parents arrived as allied servicemen and their families, seeking asylum following WW2. The two authors are from this community, and here examine their British-Polish identity along with other second-generation Poles in the UK. These individuals grew up in distinct communities exposed to the Polish language and culture but with restricted contact with communist Poland. The themes of response to parents’ trauma experience, Polish identity in childhood and in midlife, Polish language, and visiting family in Poland were explored. Many described parents as secretive about the horrors of war but keen to retain and propagate their Polish identity. Some felt they were not fully Polish, but their identity increased with access to modern Poland as adults. The Polish language was important to identity but linked to feeling inadequacy when not fluent. Visiting family in Poland enhanced identity, was valued, and provided information on family history. European identity was adopted by some to cover both their British and Polish identity. Genealogy and family history are popular and linked to community, and British Poles have a distinct contribution and a voice in showing how identity can emerge out of family trauma.
The article aimed to explore the dynamic of curriculum development of some madrasah diniyahs in Central Java, Indonesia. It focused on the genealogy of Islamic science and the sociocultural context of the curriculum within perspectives of education, sociology, and Islamic studies. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews and documentation techniques and applied model of Miles and Huberman model. It finally found that each survived madrasah diniyah has a specific model for developing and implementing a curriculum based on its Islamic science genealogy and sociocultural background. The curriculum was designed pragmatically and conservatively. However, it was developed adaptively to respond to sociocultural changes in society. The curriculum was designed conservatively by adopting traditional Islamic scholarship developed by most madrasah diniyyah. It was implemented pragmatically by adopting teaching materials from existing printed books, simple works of teachers, and teachers' spontaneous creativity in teaching. The curriculum was developed adaptively by responding to sociocultural changes in society. Reductions and additions were made to learning materials according to student needs, reduced study hours, and some classes were held at night. In principle, the madrasah diniyyah's curriculum provides added value and complements the learning of Islamic Religious Education in formal schools.
Keywords: Curriculum Development, Genealogy, Islamic Scienc, Socio-cultural Changes
Critical family history analyses have generated powerful insights into the history and ongoing workings of colonization by bringing to light forgotten family histories and reframing them as stories of colonialism. Such work unsettles the descendants of early colonizers by compelling them to acknowledge the ways in which they continue to benefit from the colonizing actions of their ancestors. My family were colonizers, and some not-very-distant ancestors were part of the first wave of “settlers” who dispossessed Māori of their land in coastal Taranaki. Where my family differs from the families of many writers in the critical family history field is that they remain almost to this day on the land first taken by our direct ancestors. The question I address is how these settler farmers deal with the fact that the land that is now theirs is only recently so, and only became so through acts of violent dispossession, and that the descendants of the original possessors of that land continue to live on the Coast. I argue that one way that settler-colonizers deal with this uncomfortable history is to erase it. The erasure of this history is accomplished through the simple but effective strategy of not-talking about it, which leads to not-knowing about it. This practice, I suggest is critical for the subjective security of settlers, and it remains a crucial strategy in ongoing practices of quotidian colonization. My analysis emanates from a critically reflexive exploration of my memories, of what I know and what I do not know about the history of the farm I grew up on, and demonstrates that autoethnography as a methodology is particularly useful for interrogating and breaking the silences about colonization that contribute to its perpetuation.
This article will analyse the use of genealogy in the context of race, place, and justice via the concepts of nationality/citizenship and cultural/national identity, including “imagined communities”. Analysis is undertaken through the legal concept of “jus sanguinis” and simultaneous differing interpretations of “citizen”, including the concept of “effective nationality”. The latter incorporates the Nottebohm principle “shared sentiments and interests” and is particularly relevant in “security situations. This article argues that “effective nationality” is indicative of the Anderson’s famous landmark study of nationalism, “Imagined Communities”. The legal concept of jus sanguinis draws upon genealogy: “A line of descent traced continuously from an ancestor”. However, the imagined communities to which someone perceives they belong, through ancestral lineage, or cultural, political or religious affinity are often highly contested cultural notions, not least in times of political unrest. This article will focus on the UK and show how liberal policies and criteria initially aimed at the expansion of citizenship have, in the 21st century, similarly enabled exclusion. However, I argue that the current exclusion process is the simultaneous use of jus sanguinis and cultural interpretations of “effective nationality” when applied to those who supported proscribed groups, for example ISIS in Syria. This paper uses legislation, media comment, and the legal case studies of Nottebohm and Shamima Begum.
The article outlines the reception of the concept of estrangement elaborated by Šklovskij in the poetics of Gianni Celati. The Italian writer resumes this concept in his analyses dedicated to Swift and Stendhal, linked to key themes of his work, starting from the deconstruction of logocentric thinking systems. From the pages of Celati, a dialogue also emerges explicitly. It is a dialogue with the genealogy of estrangement reconstructed by C. Ginzburg. A dialogue that moves from epistemological assumptions different from those of the writer, and comes to a different posture towards the knowledge of the real.
Geography. Anthropology. Recreation, Language. Linguistic theory. Comparative grammar
Nominalized with various names such as Serendib and Ceylon in the past, drawing an analogy of the “Teardrop of India” due to its geographical shape and location, Sri Lanka is a small island state located in the vicinity of southern India. A highly intriguing history and a network of connections is available in terms of Ottoman history within the sociocultural depths of Sri Lanka, ascribed as the “Pearl of Indian Ocean” due to its rich precious stone potential of 25% of its total land. Having a heterogeneous population of various minorities and religions, Sri Lankan Moors have laid at the heart of relations established by the Ottoman State with the island. It is surprising for certain consulates assigned with office in various provinces of Ceylon in the name and on behalf of the Ottoman State appointing local individuals as representatives in Ceylon starting from the mid-19th Century having genealogies alleged to be “Turkic-origin.” This article analyzes the accustoming bond established by Ceylon Muslims with the Ottoman State and Turks within the context of Ottoman-Ceylon relations. In addition, it discusses the issue of Turkic-origin Sri Lankans inhabiting the island to be the first in the literature as currently there is a lack of qualified literature regarding this topic.