Domestic Everyday Life, Manners, and Customs in the Ancient World

1873 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 393-438
Author(s):  
George Harris

History is, of all studies, the most interesting and the most generally followed. By this means we become acquainted with what has taken place during the ages of the world which preceded our own; and vast and valuable indeed are the lessons to be learned from the extended experience thus afforded. Of all the various branches of history, that which relates to the domestic everyday life of our fellow-creatures who have lived before us under very different circumstances from those by which we are surrounded, and who have been influenced by events and causes totally different from any of those by which we can be affected, appears to me to be by far the most useful for us to be acquainted with. An account of the wars which have been waged between different nations, a narrative of the political intrigues which have been carried on in certain states, a description of the various kings and queens who have reigned over particular peoples, possess their peculiar attractions for some tastes; but a relation of what were the modes of life, the daily pursuits, the ōrdinary occupations, and the common resources of the people themselves at these various periods of the world's history, appears to me to be a subject that comes home more nearly to us, and is calculated more warmly to excite our interest than any of the former matters. We shall thus be led to trace out the earliest dawn of civilisation, and shall have an opportunity of watching its course from the period when its light first gleamed above the horizon, to that when its midday splendour served to disperse the darkness of barbarism, and to diffuse knowledge and refinement wherever its rays had penetrated.

2019 ◽  
pp. 512-519
Author(s):  
Teymur Dzhalilov ◽  
Nikita Pivovarov

The published document is a part of the working record of The Secretariat of the CPSU Central Committee on May 5, 1969. The employees of The Common Department of the CPSU Central Committee started writing such working records from the end of 1965. In contrast to the protocols, the working notes include speeches of the secretaries of the Central Committee, that allow to deeper analyze the reactions of the top party leadership, to understand their position regarding the political agenda. The peculiarity of the published document is that the Secretariat of the Central Committee did not deal with the most important foreign policy issues. It was the responsibility of the Politburo. However, it was at a meeting of the Secretariat of the Central Committee when Brezhnev raised the question of inviting G. Husák to Moscow. The latter replaced A. Dubček as the first Secretary of the Communist party of Czechoslovakia in April 1969. As follows from the document, Leonid Brezhnev tried to solve this issue at a meeting of the Politburo, but failed. However, even at the Secretariat of the Central Committee the Leonid Brezhnev’s initiative at the invitation of G. Husák was not supported. The published document reveals to us not only new facets in the mechanisms of decision-making in the CPSU Central Committee, the role of the Secretary General in this process, but also reflects the acute discussions within the Soviet government about the future of the world socialist systems.


Author(s):  
Avtandil kyzy Ya

Abstract: This paper highlights similarities and different features of the category of kinesics “hand gestures”, its frequency usage and acceptance by different individuals in two different cultures. This study shows its similarities, differences and importance of the gestures, for people in both cultures. Consequently, kinesics study was mentioned as a main part of body language. As indicated in the article, the study kinesics was not presented in the Kyrgyz culture well enough, though Kyrgyz people use hand gestures a lot in their everyday life. The research paper begins with the common definition of hand gestures as a part of body language, several handshake categories like: the finger squeeze, the limp fish, the two-handed handshake were explained by several statements in the English and Kyrgyz languages. Furthermore, this article includes definitions and some idioms containing hand, shake, squeeze according to the Oxford and Academic Dictionary to show readers the figurative meanings of these common words. The current study was based on the books of writers Allan and Barbara Pease “The definite book of body language” 2004, Romana Lefevre “Rude hand gestures of the world”2011 etc. Key words: kinesics, body language, gestures, acoustics, applause, paralanguage, non-verbal communication, finger squeeze, perceptions, facial expressions. Аннотация. Бул макалада вербалдык эмес сүйлѳшүүнүн бѳлүгү болуп эсептелген “колдордун жандоо кыймылы”, алардын эки башка маданиятта колдонулушу, айырмачылыгы жана окшош жактары каралган. Макаланын максаты болуп “колдордун жандоо кыймылынын” мааниси, айырмасы жана эки маданиятта колдонулушу эсептелет. Ошону менен бирге, вербалдык эмес сүйлѳшүүнүн бѳлүгү болуп эсептелген “кинесика” илими каралган. Берилген макалада кѳрсѳтүлгѳндѳй, “кинесика” илими кыргыз маданиятында толугу менен изилденген эмес, ошого карабастан “кинесика” илиминин бѳлүгү болуп эсептелген “колдордун жандоо кыймылы” кыргыз элинин маданиятында кѳп колдонулат. Андан тышкары, “колдордун жандоо кыймылынын” бир нече түрү, англис жана кыргыз тилдеринде ма- селен аркылуу берилген.Тѳмѳнкү изилдѳѳ ишин жазууда чет элдик жазуучулардын эмгектери колдонулду. Түйүндүү сѳздѳр: кинесика, жандоо кыймылы, акустика,кол чабуулар, паралингвистика, вербалдык эмес баарлашуу,кол кысуу,кабыл алуу сезими. Аннотация. В данной статье рассматриваются сходства и различия “жестикуляции” и частота ее использования, в американской и кыргызской культурах. Следовательно, здесь было упомянуто понятие “кинесика” как основная часть языка тела. Как указано в статье, “кинесика” не была представлена в кыргызской культуре достаточно хорошо, хотя кыргызский народ часто использует жестикуляцию в повседневной жизни. Исследовательская работа начинается с общего определения “жестикуляции” как части языка тела и несколько категорий жестикуляции, таких как: сжатие пальца, слабое рукопожатие, рукопожатие двумя руками, были объяснены несколькими примерами на английском и кыргызском языках. Кроме того, эта статья включает определения слов “рука”, “рукопожатие”, “сжатие” и некоторые идиомы, содержащие данных слов согласно Оксфордскому и Академическому словарю, чтобы показать читателям их образное значение. Данное исследование было основано на книгах писателей Аллана и Барбары Пиз «Определенная книга языка тела» 2004 года, Романа Лефевра «Грубые жестикуляции мира» 2011 года и т.д. Ключевые слова: кинесика, язык жестов, жесты, акустика, аплодисменты, паралингвистика, невербальная коммуникация, сжатие пальца, чувство восприятия, выражение лиц.


2013 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 155-175 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hou Yuxin

Abstract The Wukan Incident attracted extensive attention both in China and around the world, and has been interpreted from many different perspectives. In both the media and academia, the focus has very much been on the temporal level of the Incident. The political and legal dimensions, as well as the implications of the Incident in terms of human rights have all been pored over. However, what all of these discussions have overlooked is the role played by religious force during the Incident. The village of Wukan has a history of over four hundred years, and is deeply influenced by the religious beliefs of its people. Within both the system of religious beliefs and in everyday life in the village, the divine immortal Zhenxiu Xianweng and the religious rite of casting shengbei have a powerful influence. In times of peace, Xianweng and casting shengbei work to bestow good fortune, wealth and longevity on both the village itself, and the individuals who live there. During the Wukan Incident, they had a harmonizing influence, and helped to unify and protect the people. Looking at the specific roles played by religion throughout the Wukan Incident will not only enable us to develop a more meaningful understanding of the cultural nature and the complexity of the Incident itself, it will also enrich our understanding, on a divine level, of innovations in social management.


1876 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 364-415
Author(s):  
George Harris

Thereis nothing which contributes more fully to throw light on the manners and habits of a people, or more forcibly to exhibit to us the tone of thought which prevailed among them, than the rites and ceremonies that they adopted connected with their religion. And the wilder and more extravagant the superstitions which in such a nation prevailed, the more strikingly do they evince the tone of thought and feeling that animated the people. Potent everywhere, and under whatever phase, as was the influence of these notions, they served in each case to develop the whole mind and character of the nation; as each passion, and emotion, and faculty, were exerted to the very utmost on a subject of such surpassing interest to them all. Imagination here, relieved from all restraint, spread her wings and soared aloft, disporting herself in her wildest mood; and the remoter the period to which the history of any particular country reaches, and the more barbarous the condition in which the people existed, the more striking, and the more extraordinary to us, appear the superstitions by which they were influenced. Human nature is by this means developed to the full, all its energies are exerted to the utmost, and the internal machinery by which its movements are impelled, is stimulated to active operation. We gaze with wonder and with awe upon the spectacle thus exhibited. However involuntarily, we respect a people—misguided and erring as they were—whose eagerness to follow whatever their conscience prompted, urged them to impose such revolting duties on themselves; while we regard, with pity and with horror, those hideous exploits which were the fruit of that misguided zeal.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Danilo T Perez-Rivera ◽  
Christopher Torres Lugo ◽  
Alexis R Santos-Lozada

Between July 13-24, 2019 the people of Puerto Rico took the streets after a series of corruption scandals shocked the political establishment. The social uprising resulted in the ousting of the Governor of Puerto Rico (Dr. Ricardo Rosselló, Ricky), the resignation of the majority of his staff something unprecedented in the history of Puerto Rico; this period has been called El Verano del 19 (Summer of 19). Social media played a crucial role in both the organization and dissemination of the protests, marches, and other activities that occurred within this period. Puerto Ricans in the island and around the world engaged in this social movement through the digital revolution mainly under the hashtag #RickyRenuncia (Ricky Resign), with a small counter movement under the hashtag #RickySeQueda (Ricky will stay). The purpose of this study is to illustrate the magnitude and grass roots nature of the political movement’s social media presence, as well as their characteristics of the population of both movements and their structures. We found that #RickyRenuncia was used approximately one million times in the period of analysis while #RickySeQueda barely reached 6,000 tweets. Particularly, the pervasiveness of cliques in the #RickySeQueda show concentrations of authority dedicated to its propagation, whilst the #RickyRenuncia propagation was much more distributed and decentralized with little to no interaction between significant nodes of authority. Noteworthy was the role of the Puerto Rican diaspora in the United States of America and around the world, contributing close to 40% of all geo-located tweets. Finally, we found that the Twitter followers of the former governor had indicators of being composed of two distinct populations: 1) those active in social media and 2) those who follow the account but who are not active participants of the social network. We discuss the implications of these findings on the interpretation of emergence, structure and dissemination of social activism and countermovement to these activities in the context of Puerto Rico.


2007 ◽  
Vol 35 (104) ◽  
pp. 148-165
Author(s):  
Frederik Tygstrup ◽  
Isak Winkel Holm

Literature and PoliticsLiterature is political by representing the world. The production of literature is a contribution to a general cultural poetics where images of reality are constructed and circulated. At the same time, the practice of literature is institutionalized in such a way that the form and function of the images of reality it produces are conceived and used in a distinctive way. In this article, we suggest distinguishing between a general cultural poetics and a specific literary poetics by using Ernst Cassirer’s neo-Kantian concept of »symbolic forms«. We argue that according to this view, the political significance of literary representational practices resides in the way they activate a common cultural repertoire of historical symbolic forms while at the same time deviating from the common ways of treating these forms.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-81
Author(s):  
Man Kumar Rai

   The objective of this article is to analyze the use of satire in three poems, from Rupesh  Shrestha’s volume of poems Ghintang Ghishi Twank in order to examine use of the suffering of voiceless people. The poems depict absurdities of the society and hypocrisy of the leaders which are the causes of poor people‟s pains. This poems exhibit how follies, vices and absurdities are hurdle in transforming society into prosperous one. The poet has berated them with the aim of bringing positive change in the society and in the lives of the common people. The poet mocks at the political changes which have brought change only in the lives of political leaders, not in the lives of the people who have been ignored by the state for long. Despite many anxieties, they enjoy dancing and playing sticks in their hands on the special occasion of Gaijatra. The poems are collection of sharp words which are used to butt the corrupt politicians. For this, the elements of Juvenalian satire have been used as tools for analysis of the selected poems. This study highlights upon the anxieties of marginalized people; demonstrates the shameful act of politicians; and exposes the absurdities prevailed in the society. It indicates that the political and social absurdities are subject to be poked in order to reform a society.


2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 22-41
Author(s):  
Oszkár Gorcsa

The World War can be justifiably called the great seminal catastrophe of the 20th century, because the war that should have ended every further war, just disseminated the seeds of another cataclysm. From this point of view it is comprehensible why lots of historians deal with the named period. Numerous monographies and articles that deal with the destructing and stimulating eff ect of the Great War have seen the light of day. However, the mentioned works usually have serious defi cenceis, as most of them deal only with the battlefi elds, and a small proportion deals with the question of everyday life and hinterland, and the ordeals of the POWs are superfi cially described. In case of Hungary, the more serious researches related to POWs only started at the time of the centenary. This is why we can still read in some Serbian literatures about the people annihilating endeavors of the „huns” of Austria–Hungary. My choice of subject was therefore justified by the reasons outlined above. In my presentation I expound on briefly introducing the situations in the austro–hungarian POW camps. Furthermore, the presentation depicts in detail the everyday life, the medical and general treatment, clothing supply, the question of the minimal wages and working time of the prisoner labour forces. Lastly, I am depicting the problem of escapes and issues dealing POWs marriage and citizenship requests.


1928 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 698-705
Author(s):  
James K. Pollock

The elections which were held throughout Germany on May 20, 1928, are of considerable interest and importance not only to Germany but also to the rest of the world. These elections, to be sure, did not have the dramatic interest which attended the Reichstag elections of December, 1924. But they deserve attention for a number of reasons: first, because they are the first elections to be held in the Reich under what may be called normal conditions; second, because elections for five Landtags and several city councils were held at the same time; and third, because the elections gave a further test, and supplied additional evidence of the operation, of the German system of proportional representation.Despite the intensive work of the political parties, the people were not aroused to much enthusiasm during the campaign. The old Reichstag was dissolved before Easter, but not until the last week of the campaign could one detect any excitement. Never before had the electors been bombarded with so much printed matter, posters, and, last but not least, loud-speakers and films. All the modern methods of appealing to the voters were tried by the numerous political parties. There were lacking, however, the overpowering issues and the battlecries which were so effective in 1924. Parades, demonstrations, meetings, and all the rest were carried through successfully on the whole, but they were quite dull and uninteresting. Only the two extreme parties, the National Socialists or Hitlerites on the right, and the Communists on the left, could appear enthusiastic. Nevertheless, the lack of what the Germans call a “grosse Parole” and the lack of excitement are not to be deplored; their absence probably indicates progress toward social and political consolidation.


Author(s):  
Christian P. Haines

This chapter examines the relationship between politics and philosophy in Walt Whitman’s 1855 edition of Leaves of Grass. It focuses on Whitman’s articulation of two different concepts of democracy: a vitalist version, based on the organic life of the nation, and a revolutionary version, based on transforming the political culture of the people for the sake of fulfilling the American Revolution. The chapter traces Whitman’s reception as a Spinozist (an inheritor of the radical philosophy of Baruch Spinoza), a pantheist, and a monist. It argues that this philosophical legacy enables Whitman to reimagine the nation as the common property of the people and to reconceive of national belonging in terms other than citizenship. The chapter pays particular attention to Whitman’s commitments to labor politics and the abolition of slavery.


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