Milette Gaifman
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199645787
- eISBN:
- 9780191741623
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199645787.001.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Archaeology: Classical, History of Art: pre-history, BCE to 500CE, ancient and classical, Byzantine
This book explores a phenomenon known as aniconism — the absence of figural images of gods in Greek practiced religion and the adoption of aniconic monuments, namely objects such as pillars and ...
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This book explores a phenomenon known as aniconism — the absence of figural images of gods in Greek practiced religion and the adoption of aniconic monuments, namely objects such as pillars and poles, to designate the presence of the divine. Shifting our attention from the well-known territories of Greek anthropomorphism and naturalism, it casts new light on the realm of non-figural objects in Greek religious art. Drawing upon a variety of material and textual evidence dating from the rise of the Greek polis in the eighth century bc to the rise of Christianity in the first centuries ad, this book shows that aniconism was more significant than has often been assumed. Coexisting with the fully figural forms for representing the divine throughout Greek antiquity, aniconic monuments marked an undefined yet fixedly located divine presence. Cults centred on rocks were encountered at crossroads and on the edges of the Greek city. Despite aniconism's liminality, non-figural markers of divine presence became a subject of interest in their own right during a time when mimesis occupied the centre of Greek visual culture. The ancient Greeks saw the worship of stones and poles without images as characteristic of the beginning of their own civilization. Similarly, in the Hellenistic and Roman periods, the existence of aniconism was seen as physical evidence for the continuity of ancient Greek traditions from time immemorial.Less
This book explores a phenomenon known as aniconism — the absence of figural images of gods in Greek practiced religion and the adoption of aniconic monuments, namely objects such as pillars and poles, to designate the presence of the divine. Shifting our attention from the well-known territories of Greek anthropomorphism and naturalism, it casts new light on the realm of non-figural objects in Greek religious art. Drawing upon a variety of material and textual evidence dating from the rise of the Greek polis in the eighth century bc to the rise of Christianity in the first centuries ad, this book shows that aniconism was more significant than has often been assumed. Coexisting with the fully figural forms for representing the divine throughout Greek antiquity, aniconic monuments marked an undefined yet fixedly located divine presence. Cults centred on rocks were encountered at crossroads and on the edges of the Greek city. Despite aniconism's liminality, non-figural markers of divine presence became a subject of interest in their own right during a time when mimesis occupied the centre of Greek visual culture. The ancient Greeks saw the worship of stones and poles without images as characteristic of the beginning of their own civilization. Similarly, in the Hellenistic and Roman periods, the existence of aniconism was seen as physical evidence for the continuity of ancient Greek traditions from time immemorial.
Dell Upton
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780300211757
- eISBN:
- 9780300216615
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300211757.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, African-American History
A study of monuments to the civil rights movement and African American history that have been erected in the U.S. South over the past three decades, this work explores how commemorative structures ...
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A study of monuments to the civil rights movement and African American history that have been erected in the U.S. South over the past three decades, this work explores how commemorative structures have been used to assert the presence of African Americans in contemporary Southern society. The book argues that these public memorials, ranging from the famous to the obscure, have emerged from, and speak directly to, the region's complex racial politics since monument builders have had to contend with widely varied interpretations of the African American past as well as a continuing presence of white supremacist attitudes and monuments.Less
A study of monuments to the civil rights movement and African American history that have been erected in the U.S. South over the past three decades, this work explores how commemorative structures have been used to assert the presence of African Americans in contemporary Southern society. The book argues that these public memorials, ranging from the famous to the obscure, have emerged from, and speak directly to, the region's complex racial politics since monument builders have had to contend with widely varied interpretations of the African American past as well as a continuing presence of white supremacist attitudes and monuments.
Kevin C. Karnes
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195368666
- eISBN:
- 9780199867547
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195368666.003.0007
- Subject:
- Music, History, Western
This chapter considers the nationalist underpinnings of late-century musicology by examining the diverse and even contradictory cultural associations that Adler forged through the medium of his work. ...
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This chapter considers the nationalist underpinnings of late-century musicology by examining the diverse and even contradictory cultural associations that Adler forged through the medium of his work. In his publications on the medieval origins of harmony, Adler distanced himself from attempts to claim exclusively Germanic origins for polyphonic phenomena. But in essays on Bach, Handel, and Mozart, penned in the mid-1880s, he indulged a brand of cultural chauvinism associated with Wagner and his followers. In his work on the Monuments of Music in Austria series of editions, Adler embraced a supranational vision of Austrian cultural identity endorsed by Habsburg officialdom, yet in his 1904 monograph on Wagner he declined to engage the composer's most inflammatory statements on race and identity. Each of these cases illuminates Adler's response to a specific crisis that shook his society, and together they testify to the difficulties of defining the German in the late-century musicological discourse.Less
This chapter considers the nationalist underpinnings of late-century musicology by examining the diverse and even contradictory cultural associations that Adler forged through the medium of his work. In his publications on the medieval origins of harmony, Adler distanced himself from attempts to claim exclusively Germanic origins for polyphonic phenomena. But in essays on Bach, Handel, and Mozart, penned in the mid-1880s, he indulged a brand of cultural chauvinism associated with Wagner and his followers. In his work on the Monuments of Music in Austria series of editions, Adler embraced a supranational vision of Austrian cultural identity endorsed by Habsburg officialdom, yet in his 1904 monograph on Wagner he declined to engage the composer's most inflammatory statements on race and identity. Each of these cases illuminates Adler's response to a specific crisis that shook his society, and together they testify to the difficulties of defining the German in the late-century musicological discourse.
Andy Rotman
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195366150
- eISBN:
- 9780199867882
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195366150.003.0009
- Subject:
- Religion, Buddhism
Chapter 8 reflects further on the role of images in Buddhist worship, and what the sculptures and paintings on Buddhist monuments in South Asia may be able to tell us about the ways of seeing of ...
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Chapter 8 reflects further on the role of images in Buddhist worship, and what the sculptures and paintings on Buddhist monuments in South Asia may be able to tell us about the ways of seeing of premodern Buddhist practitioners. Seeing Buddhist art, it seems, involved quite a bit of listening. The chapter considers more broadly the world of the visual in the Divyāvadāna and offers some suggestions with regard to the social and political transformations that may account for its construction.Less
Chapter 8 reflects further on the role of images in Buddhist worship, and what the sculptures and paintings on Buddhist monuments in South Asia may be able to tell us about the ways of seeing of premodern Buddhist practitioners. Seeing Buddhist art, it seems, involved quite a bit of listening. The chapter considers more broadly the world of the visual in the Divyāvadāna and offers some suggestions with regard to the social and political transformations that may account for its construction.
CHRISTOPH UEHLINGER
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197264010
- eISBN:
- 9780191734946
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197264010.003.0011
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
This chapter explores the potential use of visual sources, together with the methods employed for studying them, such as iconography or iconology, for the history of ‘ancient Israel’. It describes ...
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This chapter explores the potential use of visual sources, together with the methods employed for studying them, such as iconography or iconology, for the history of ‘ancient Israel’. It describes the theoretical and conceptual framework, particularly the notion of ‘eyewitnessing’, and considers the method, particularly iconography. The chapter also presents case examples chosen from monuments which are so well known to historians of ancient Israel that they are well suited to illustrate both the pitfalls of more conventional interpretations and the potential of alternative approaches. Before turning to the sources – namely visual evidence that may be related to the history of ancient Israel and Judah – the chapter discusses the state of the art among fellow historians in neighbouring disciplines, including those belonging to the so-called ‘humanities’ (or arts and letters). It also considers visual art and history, the metaphor of legal investigation, the balancing of testimony, and the particular status of an eyewitness.Less
This chapter explores the potential use of visual sources, together with the methods employed for studying them, such as iconography or iconology, for the history of ‘ancient Israel’. It describes the theoretical and conceptual framework, particularly the notion of ‘eyewitnessing’, and considers the method, particularly iconography. The chapter also presents case examples chosen from monuments which are so well known to historians of ancient Israel that they are well suited to illustrate both the pitfalls of more conventional interpretations and the potential of alternative approaches. Before turning to the sources – namely visual evidence that may be related to the history of ancient Israel and Judah – the chapter discusses the state of the art among fellow historians in neighbouring disciplines, including those belonging to the so-called ‘humanities’ (or arts and letters). It also considers visual art and history, the metaphor of legal investigation, the balancing of testimony, and the particular status of an eyewitness.
Edward William Lane
- Published in print:
- 2000
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9789774245251
- eISBN:
- 9781617970160
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- American University in Cairo Press
- DOI:
- 10.5743/cairo/9789774245251.001.0001
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Middle Eastern Studies
This text here contains a hitherto unpublished work by the great nineteenth-century British traveler Edward William Lane (1801–76), a name known to almost everyone in all the many fields of Middle ...
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This text here contains a hitherto unpublished work by the great nineteenth-century British traveler Edward William Lane (1801–76), a name known to almost everyone in all the many fields of Middle East studies. Lane was the author of a number of highly influential works: An Account of the Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians (1836), his translation of The Thousand and One Nights (1839–41), selections from the Kur-an (1843), and the Arabic–English Lexicon (1863–93). Yet one of his greatest works was never published: after years of labor and despite an enthusiastic reception by the publishing firm of John Murray in 1831, publication of his first book, this book, was delayed and eventually dropped, mainly for financial reasons. The manuscript was sold to the British Library by Lane's widow in 1891, and has only now been salvaged for publication by Dr. Jason Thompson, nearly 170 years after its completion. This enormously important book takes the form of a journey through Egypt from north to south, with descriptions of all the ancient monuments and contemporary life that Lane explored along the way.Less
This text here contains a hitherto unpublished work by the great nineteenth-century British traveler Edward William Lane (1801–76), a name known to almost everyone in all the many fields of Middle East studies. Lane was the author of a number of highly influential works: An Account of the Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians (1836), his translation of The Thousand and One Nights (1839–41), selections from the Kur-an (1843), and the Arabic–English Lexicon (1863–93). Yet one of his greatest works was never published: after years of labor and despite an enthusiastic reception by the publishing firm of John Murray in 1831, publication of his first book, this book, was delayed and eventually dropped, mainly for financial reasons. The manuscript was sold to the British Library by Lane's widow in 1891, and has only now been salvaged for publication by Dr. Jason Thompson, nearly 170 years after its completion. This enormously important book takes the form of a journey through Egypt from north to south, with descriptions of all the ancient monuments and contemporary life that Lane explored along the way.
Rudy Koshar
- Published in print:
- 2000
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520217683
- eISBN:
- 9780520922525
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520217683.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History
This book provides a powerful framework in which to examine the subject of German collective memory, which for more than a half century has been shaped by the experience of Nazism, World War II, and ...
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This book provides a powerful framework in which to examine the subject of German collective memory, which for more than a half century has been shaped by the experience of Nazism, World War II, and the Holocaust. Finding the assumptions of many writers and scholars shortsighted, the author surveys the evidence of postwar German memory in the context of previous traditions. The book follows the evolution of German “memory landscapes” all the way from national unification in 1870–71 through the world wars and political division to reunification in 1990. The memory landscapes of any society may incorporate monuments, historical buildings, memorials and cemeteries, battlefields, streets, or natural environments that foster shared memories of important events or personalities. They may also be designed to divert public attention from embarrassing or traumatic histories. The author argues that in Germany, memory landscapes have taken shape according to four separate paradigms—the national monument, the ruin, the reconstruction, and the trace—which he analyzes in relation to the changing political agendas which have guided them over time. Despite the massive ruptures of Germany's history, we see that significant continuities have served to counterbalance the traumas of the German past.Less
This book provides a powerful framework in which to examine the subject of German collective memory, which for more than a half century has been shaped by the experience of Nazism, World War II, and the Holocaust. Finding the assumptions of many writers and scholars shortsighted, the author surveys the evidence of postwar German memory in the context of previous traditions. The book follows the evolution of German “memory landscapes” all the way from national unification in 1870–71 through the world wars and political division to reunification in 1990. The memory landscapes of any society may incorporate monuments, historical buildings, memorials and cemeteries, battlefields, streets, or natural environments that foster shared memories of important events or personalities. They may also be designed to divert public attention from embarrassing or traumatic histories. The author argues that in Germany, memory landscapes have taken shape according to four separate paradigms—the national monument, the ruin, the reconstruction, and the trace—which he analyzes in relation to the changing political agendas which have guided them over time. Despite the massive ruptures of Germany's history, we see that significant continuities have served to counterbalance the traumas of the German past.
Nigel Saul
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199215980
- eISBN:
- 9780191710001
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199215980.003.0001
- Subject:
- History, History of Religion
This chapter traces the history of the study of church monuments, highlighting the unfortunate effect of the hiving off, in the 19th century, of the study of brasses from the study of monuments more ...
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This chapter traces the history of the study of church monuments, highlighting the unfortunate effect of the hiving off, in the 19th century, of the study of brasses from the study of monuments more generally in leading to fragmentation of the field. By the early 20th century the study of brasses had sunk into antiquarianism, while the study of sculpted monuments had become absorbed into the study of art history. The twin aims of this book are to achieve the reintegration of the subject and to examine the monuments for their social meaning — for what they can tell us about the aspirations and concerns of the commemorated in this world and their hopes for salvation in the next.Less
This chapter traces the history of the study of church monuments, highlighting the unfortunate effect of the hiving off, in the 19th century, of the study of brasses from the study of monuments more generally in leading to fragmentation of the field. By the early 20th century the study of brasses had sunk into antiquarianism, while the study of sculpted monuments had become absorbed into the study of art history. The twin aims of this book are to achieve the reintegration of the subject and to examine the monuments for their social meaning — for what they can tell us about the aspirations and concerns of the commemorated in this world and their hopes for salvation in the next.
Chris Scarre
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197264140
- eISBN:
- 9780191734489
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197264140.003.0013
- Subject:
- Archaeology, Prehistoric Archaeology
The suggestion that monuments were not a feature of the initial Neolithic poses anew the question of the Mesolithic contribution to the earliest Neolithic of Atlantic Europe. Put bluntly, are these ...
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The suggestion that monuments were not a feature of the initial Neolithic poses anew the question of the Mesolithic contribution to the earliest Neolithic of Atlantic Europe. Put bluntly, are these monuments the consequence of contact and acculturation between incoming farmers and indigenous hunter-gatherers, as was envisaged twenty years ago? If so, what was the nature of the Mesolithic contribution? Was it the forms of the monuments themselves, or did it lie more generally in attitudes to materials, places, and landscape? This chapter suggests that the craggy landscapes of Atlantic Europe may have inspired the construction of megalithic monuments. The new monumentality could as well have been the response of incoming farming communities to these landscapes, however, as a transformation in the behaviour of indigenous foraging groups, who may have envisaged these landscapes in entirely different ways. The landscape beliefs of Mesolithic communities might have played a role in the inception of megaliths, but the scarcity of Mesolithic monuments and the presence of a ‘premonument’ Neolithic suggests that it was the advent of farming groups or farming ideologies that laid the crucial foundations.Less
The suggestion that monuments were not a feature of the initial Neolithic poses anew the question of the Mesolithic contribution to the earliest Neolithic of Atlantic Europe. Put bluntly, are these monuments the consequence of contact and acculturation between incoming farmers and indigenous hunter-gatherers, as was envisaged twenty years ago? If so, what was the nature of the Mesolithic contribution? Was it the forms of the monuments themselves, or did it lie more generally in attitudes to materials, places, and landscape? This chapter suggests that the craggy landscapes of Atlantic Europe may have inspired the construction of megalithic monuments. The new monumentality could as well have been the response of incoming farming communities to these landscapes, however, as a transformation in the behaviour of indigenous foraging groups, who may have envisaged these landscapes in entirely different ways. The landscape beliefs of Mesolithic communities might have played a role in the inception of megaliths, but the scarcity of Mesolithic monuments and the presence of a ‘premonument’ Neolithic suggests that it was the advent of farming groups or farming ideologies that laid the crucial foundations.
Graeme Warren
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197264140
- eISBN:
- 9780191734489
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197264140.003.0016
- Subject:
- Archaeology, Prehistoric Archaeology
This chapter highlights important new trends in Mesolithic archaeology by presenting some myths. Put crudely, myths help us to tell stories, or guide other actions. Whilst myths may have their ...
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This chapter highlights important new trends in Mesolithic archaeology by presenting some myths. Put crudely, myths help us to tell stories, or guide other actions. Whilst myths may have their origins in a real event or process, such stories also grow in the telling, and take on a life of their own. And myths, of course, reveal much about the community within which they exist. The chapter explores three myths of the Mesolithic, the first of which explores ‘Mesolithic monuments’. The second relates to analytical scale. Finally, the myth in early Mesolithic Britain is explored.Less
This chapter highlights important new trends in Mesolithic archaeology by presenting some myths. Put crudely, myths help us to tell stories, or guide other actions. Whilst myths may have their origins in a real event or process, such stories also grow in the telling, and take on a life of their own. And myths, of course, reveal much about the community within which they exist. The chapter explores three myths of the Mesolithic, the first of which explores ‘Mesolithic monuments’. The second relates to analytical scale. Finally, the myth in early Mesolithic Britain is explored.
Vicki Cummings
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197264140
- eISBN:
- 9780191734489
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197264140.003.0024
- Subject:
- Archaeology, Prehistoric Archaeology
The transition from the Mesolithic to the Neolithic in Britain and Ireland remains one of the most debated and contested transitions of prehistory. Much more complex than a simple transition from ...
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The transition from the Mesolithic to the Neolithic in Britain and Ireland remains one of the most debated and contested transitions of prehistory. Much more complex than a simple transition from hunting and gathering to farming, the Mesolithic–Neolithic transition in Britain has been discussed not only as an economic and technological transformation, but also as an ideological one. In western Britain in particular, with its wealth of Neolithic monuments, considerable emphasis has been placed on the role of monumentality in the transition process. Over the past decade the author‧s research has concentrated on the early Neolithic monumental traditions of western Britain, a deliberate focus on areas outside the more ‘luminous’ centres of Wessex, the Cotswold–Severn region, and Orkney. This chapter discusses the transition in western Britain, with an emphasis on the monuments of this region. In particular, it discusses the areas around the Irish Sea – west Wales, the Isle of Man, south-west and western Scotland – as well as referring to the sequence on the other side of the Irish Sea, specifically eastern Ireland.Less
The transition from the Mesolithic to the Neolithic in Britain and Ireland remains one of the most debated and contested transitions of prehistory. Much more complex than a simple transition from hunting and gathering to farming, the Mesolithic–Neolithic transition in Britain has been discussed not only as an economic and technological transformation, but also as an ideological one. In western Britain in particular, with its wealth of Neolithic monuments, considerable emphasis has been placed on the role of monumentality in the transition process. Over the past decade the author‧s research has concentrated on the early Neolithic monumental traditions of western Britain, a deliberate focus on areas outside the more ‘luminous’ centres of Wessex, the Cotswold–Severn region, and Orkney. This chapter discusses the transition in western Britain, with an emphasis on the monuments of this region. In particular, it discusses the areas around the Irish Sea – west Wales, the Isle of Man, south-west and western Scotland – as well as referring to the sequence on the other side of the Irish Sea, specifically eastern Ireland.
PAUL ZANKER
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780197262764
- eISBN:
- 9780191753947
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197262764.003.0006
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, European History: BCE to 500CE
A Roman emperor was defined not simply by his own actions, but also by the manner in which he presented himself, the way he appeared in public, and the personal style he adopted in his interaction ...
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A Roman emperor was defined not simply by his own actions, but also by the manner in which he presented himself, the way he appeared in public, and the personal style he adopted in his interaction with the Senate and the people. A major element of that style lay in the manner of his domestic life and, closely related to this, how he handled the rituals associated with the imperial residence, such as the salutation and, above all, the invitations to an imperial convivium. Should the power of the emperor be put on display or concealed? In what kinds of settings should he carry out his duties? How could he simultaneously show off his status and power while playing the princeps in the manner of Augustus? It was evident from the very start that here was a fundamental flaw in the artful construction of Augustus. This is most evident in the honorific statues and other monuments associated with the worship of the emperor, in which Augustus and his Julio-Claudian successors, during their lifetimes, were represented both as civic officials in the toga and as nude figures with bodies modelled on gods and heroes. This chapter tries to understand better the new residence that Domitian built on the Palatine, at vast expense, to the plans of the architect Rabirius (according to Martial 7. 56), as a monument of imperial projection.Less
A Roman emperor was defined not simply by his own actions, but also by the manner in which he presented himself, the way he appeared in public, and the personal style he adopted in his interaction with the Senate and the people. A major element of that style lay in the manner of his domestic life and, closely related to this, how he handled the rituals associated with the imperial residence, such as the salutation and, above all, the invitations to an imperial convivium. Should the power of the emperor be put on display or concealed? In what kinds of settings should he carry out his duties? How could he simultaneously show off his status and power while playing the princeps in the manner of Augustus? It was evident from the very start that here was a fundamental flaw in the artful construction of Augustus. This is most evident in the honorific statues and other monuments associated with the worship of the emperor, in which Augustus and his Julio-Claudian successors, during their lifetimes, were represented both as civic officials in the toga and as nude figures with bodies modelled on gods and heroes. This chapter tries to understand better the new residence that Domitian built on the Palatine, at vast expense, to the plans of the architect Rabirius (according to Martial 7. 56), as a monument of imperial projection.
Charlotte Linde
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195140286
- eISBN:
- 9780199871247
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195140286.003.0003
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Sociolinguistics / Anthropological Linguistics
This chapter discusses occasions for remembering. Occasions are a key issue for understanding how institutions work their past: they allow the study of remembering rather than the study of static ...
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This chapter discusses occasions for remembering. Occasions are a key issue for understanding how institutions work their past: they allow the study of remembering rather than the study of static representations of the past. An institution's narratives may be collected in an archive, but if this collection is rarely used, the narratives have no life of their own. Rather, it is necessary to discover the activities in which such representations are used. For an institution, remembering necessarily is a social event, involving at least two, and perhaps millions of people. Retelling and remembering of this sort require proper occasions. Without its proper occasion, a story rarely or never gets told. This chapter presents a taxonomy of the types of occasions for narrative, including events, places, memorials, and memory artifacts.Less
This chapter discusses occasions for remembering. Occasions are a key issue for understanding how institutions work their past: they allow the study of remembering rather than the study of static representations of the past. An institution's narratives may be collected in an archive, but if this collection is rarely used, the narratives have no life of their own. Rather, it is necessary to discover the activities in which such representations are used. For an institution, remembering necessarily is a social event, involving at least two, and perhaps millions of people. Retelling and remembering of this sort require proper occasions. Without its proper occasion, a story rarely or never gets told. This chapter presents a taxonomy of the types of occasions for narrative, including events, places, memorials, and memory artifacts.
Indra Sengupta
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780197265413
- eISBN:
- 9780191760464
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197265413.003.0008
- Subject:
- History, World Modern History
The principles of conservation spelled out in the first law on preservation for the whole of India — the Ancient Monuments Preservation Act of 1904 — were indicators of the ways in which conservation ...
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The principles of conservation spelled out in the first law on preservation for the whole of India — the Ancient Monuments Preservation Act of 1904 — were indicators of the ways in which conservation policy was made in colonial India: determined by the state, and heavily influenced by principles of preservation derived from Europe, based on a specifically colonial understanding of India's history and heritage, and of the ‘guardianship’ role of the colonial state. Yet attempts to implement pre-colonial religious structures could have unforeseen results, as local, indigenous religious groups began to utilize the opportunities for funding opened up by the new Act and succeeded in using the provisions of the Act in ways that best suited their own interests. This chapter looks closely at the interface between preservation policy and practice in colonial India in the late nineteenth/early twentieth centuries, and calls into question colonial hegemony as an explanatory framework for understanding a complex process of cultural practice.Less
The principles of conservation spelled out in the first law on preservation for the whole of India — the Ancient Monuments Preservation Act of 1904 — were indicators of the ways in which conservation policy was made in colonial India: determined by the state, and heavily influenced by principles of preservation derived from Europe, based on a specifically colonial understanding of India's history and heritage, and of the ‘guardianship’ role of the colonial state. Yet attempts to implement pre-colonial religious structures could have unforeseen results, as local, indigenous religious groups began to utilize the opportunities for funding opened up by the new Act and succeeded in using the provisions of the Act in ways that best suited their own interests. This chapter looks closely at the interface between preservation policy and practice in colonial India in the late nineteenth/early twentieth centuries, and calls into question colonial hegemony as an explanatory framework for understanding a complex process of cultural practice.
Peter Hinds
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197264430
- eISBN:
- 9780191733994
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197264430.003.0011
- Subject:
- Literature, 17th-century and Restoration Literature
This chapter discusses the close association of Catholics with fire and the firing of cities. It looks particularly at the resonant memory of the 1666 Great Fire. The chapter considers the Monument ...
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This chapter discusses the close association of Catholics with fire and the firing of cities. It looks particularly at the resonant memory of the 1666 Great Fire. The chapter considers the Monument that was erected to commemorate this disaster, and also studies the controversial inscriptions that were added to its base by London's Common Council in 1681.Less
This chapter discusses the close association of Catholics with fire and the firing of cities. It looks particularly at the resonant memory of the 1666 Great Fire. The chapter considers the Monument that was erected to commemorate this disaster, and also studies the controversial inscriptions that were added to its base by London's Common Council in 1681.
Giovanna Ceserani
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199212989
- eISBN:
- 9780191594205
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199212989.003.0004
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Prose and Writers: Classical, Early, and Medieval
What is the place of the classical past and its study in Italy, a classical country whose roots reach back to antiquity but which has existed as an independent nation only since 1860? This essay ...
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What is the place of the classical past and its study in Italy, a classical country whose roots reach back to antiquity but which has existed as an independent nation only since 1860? This essay explores this question through analysis of a historical novel set in ancient Greek south Italy and written by a founder of Italian Risorgimento. Aimed explicitly at building Italian national identity, Cuoco's turn to the past shows the investment in classical antiquity balanced between engaging wider European Hellenism and alternative ancient pasts of Italy. Moreover, as Cuoco co‐opted Italian scholarship to bestow authority on his vision, a new relationship between classical scholars and the national past emerged, one of lasting influence. Scholars study, shape and preserve the nation's antiquity, but become at the same time, to an extent, themselves cultural patrimony, while tensions build at the boundary between popular and academic culture.Less
What is the place of the classical past and its study in Italy, a classical country whose roots reach back to antiquity but which has existed as an independent nation only since 1860? This essay explores this question through analysis of a historical novel set in ancient Greek south Italy and written by a founder of Italian Risorgimento. Aimed explicitly at building Italian national identity, Cuoco's turn to the past shows the investment in classical antiquity balanced between engaging wider European Hellenism and alternative ancient pasts of Italy. Moreover, as Cuoco co‐opted Italian scholarship to bestow authority on his vision, a new relationship between classical scholars and the national past emerged, one of lasting influence. Scholars study, shape and preserve the nation's antiquity, but become at the same time, to an extent, themselves cultural patrimony, while tensions build at the boundary between popular and academic culture.
Thomas Corsten
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197264126
- eISBN:
- 9780191734632
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197264126.003.0007
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This chapter examines Thracian personal names in military settlements in the Hellenistic region of Bithynia. It analyses the distribution of Thracian names on monuments and inscriptions in the ...
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This chapter examines Thracian personal names in military settlements in the Hellenistic region of Bithynia. It analyses the distribution of Thracian names on monuments and inscriptions in the vicinity of Nikaia, Prusa, Kios, and Nikomedeia. The findings suggest that, as a kingdom, Bithynia was dominated by an elite of Thracian descent and that these families lived on estates in the countryside. As a result there is no evidence for these families from Bithynian cities.Less
This chapter examines Thracian personal names in military settlements in the Hellenistic region of Bithynia. It analyses the distribution of Thracian names on monuments and inscriptions in the vicinity of Nikaia, Prusa, Kios, and Nikomedeia. The findings suggest that, as a kingdom, Bithynia was dominated by an elite of Thracian descent and that these families lived on estates in the countryside. As a result there is no evidence for these families from Bithynian cities.
TIGRAN MKRTYCHEV
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197263846
- eISBN:
- 9780191734113
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197263846.003.0024
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Asian and Middle Eastern History: BCE to 500CE
This chapter examines Buddhism and the features of the Buddhist art in the Bactria-Tokharistan region of Central Asia. The findings indicate that Buddhism spread to Bactria in the Kushan period ...
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This chapter examines Buddhism and the features of the Buddhist art in the Bactria-Tokharistan region of Central Asia. The findings indicate that Buddhism spread to Bactria in the Kushan period because of the support of the Kushan nobility. During the first to third centuries there was a considerable growth of Buddhist art, mainly that of the monumental variety. Most of the work on the decoration of Buddhist monuments at that time was undertaken by professional artists who did not belong to the Buddhist community.Less
This chapter examines Buddhism and the features of the Buddhist art in the Bactria-Tokharistan region of Central Asia. The findings indicate that Buddhism spread to Bactria in the Kushan period because of the support of the Kushan nobility. During the first to third centuries there was a considerable growth of Buddhist art, mainly that of the monumental variety. Most of the work on the decoration of Buddhist monuments at that time was undertaken by professional artists who did not belong to the Buddhist community.
POLLY LOW and GRAHAM OLIVER
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780197264669
- eISBN:
- 9780191753985
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197264669.003.0001
- Subject:
- History, Cultural History
This introductory chapter surveys recent and current trends in the study of memory and commemoration, and also outlines the themes explored in the rest of the book: the forms of monuments, and the ...
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This introductory chapter surveys recent and current trends in the study of memory and commemoration, and also outlines the themes explored in the rest of the book: the forms of monuments, and the contexts in which monuments were located; the role of ritual; tensions between public and private commemorations; and the relationship between memory and forgetting.Less
This introductory chapter surveys recent and current trends in the study of memory and commemoration, and also outlines the themes explored in the rest of the book: the forms of monuments, and the contexts in which monuments were located; the role of ritual; tensions between public and private commemorations; and the relationship between memory and forgetting.
Frances Tay
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780719097560
- eISBN:
- 9781526104441
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719097560.003.0010
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Anthropology, Global
The violence visited upon British Malaya during the Japanese Occupation of December 1941 to August 1945 has prompted several historians to evoke comparisons with the atrocities that befell Nanjing. ...
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The violence visited upon British Malaya during the Japanese Occupation of December 1941 to August 1945 has prompted several historians to evoke comparisons with the atrocities that befell Nanjing. For the duration of three years and eight months, unknown numbers of civilians were subjected to massacres, summary executions, rape, forced labour, arbitrary detention and torture. This chapter explores several exhumations which have taken place in the territory to interrogate the significance of exhumations in shaping communal collective war memory, a subject which has thus far eluded scholarly study. It argues that these exhumations have not been exercises in recording or recovering historical facts; rather they have obfuscated the past by augmenting popular perceptions of Chinese victimhood and resistance, to the exclusion of all other ethnic groups’ war experiences. As a result, exhumations of mass graves in Malaysia have thus far served as poor examples of forensic investigation; rather these operations highlight how exhumations can emerge as battlegrounds in the contest between war memory and historiography.Less
The violence visited upon British Malaya during the Japanese Occupation of December 1941 to August 1945 has prompted several historians to evoke comparisons with the atrocities that befell Nanjing. For the duration of three years and eight months, unknown numbers of civilians were subjected to massacres, summary executions, rape, forced labour, arbitrary detention and torture. This chapter explores several exhumations which have taken place in the territory to interrogate the significance of exhumations in shaping communal collective war memory, a subject which has thus far eluded scholarly study. It argues that these exhumations have not been exercises in recording or recovering historical facts; rather they have obfuscated the past by augmenting popular perceptions of Chinese victimhood and resistance, to the exclusion of all other ethnic groups’ war experiences. As a result, exhumations of mass graves in Malaysia have thus far served as poor examples of forensic investigation; rather these operations highlight how exhumations can emerge as battlegrounds in the contest between war memory and historiography.
