Abstract This paper is an in-depth examination of the role that La Malinche played in Mexican history and culture. The author gives the reader an historical overview, including the fact that she was an actual person, whose actions caused her to lose favor in society. This is done through the review and analysis of two pieces of works by historians, one male and one female, Casillo and Paz. The author also points out that La Malinche is not a well-known personality outside of Mexican culture, but her history dates back to the mid-sixteenth century. According to the paper, La Malinche's role in history has been revived by feminists who feel that her tainted past is the result of the chauvinistic nature of Mexican society which has begun to evolve over the years. For many Mexican women she is a symbol of independence and endurance of the Mexican people, and she should be accorded respect and proper recognition in history.
From the Paper "These many complications and elaborations of this essential and essentializing dichotomy about the true nature of woman can be seen to come together in the character of La Malinche, a figure not well known outside of Mexico (except to those whose families originally came from Mexico). This paper explores the figure of La Malinche, a figure who representations have over the years become at least in general more positive as Mexicans have regained a sense of themselves as a people worthy of self-respect ? and as Mexican women have refused to see themselves as meriting only the role of a traitor condemned to silence."
Abstract These responses discuss early Japanese-Chinese relations, the influence of Buddhism on Japanese culture, and the role and history of the samurai in Japanese society.
Abstract This paper explores the cultural accomplishments and legacy of the Mayan Empire. The paper demonstrates how their system of higher mathematics and geometry allowed them to build palaces, public buildings, athletic arenas, monuments, pyramids, pottery, jewelry and other various art forms, all without the benefits of modern technology. The paper also examines the archaeological evidence left behind by the Mayan Empire, discussing their creation of whole cities based on stone technology, as well as discovered artifacts that demonstrate the Mayan's culture and cleverness. The paper concludes with a discussion of the legacy of the Mayan Empire and the continuing Mayan cultural presence in Latin America today.
From the Paper "The Mayans kept time with a combination of several cycles that converged and marked the movement of the sun, the moon, and Venus. Archeologists believe the Mayans began to keep track of time on August 31, 3114 BC. The year 3114 BC is called the zero year and is comparable to January 1, 0000 AD. The Mayan calendar records time in 400 year cycles, which means that 13 cycles of 400 years will have passed before the next cycle begins on December 27, 2012 (1-0-0-0-0 in Mayan time). The Mayans realized there were cycles in the Cosmos. From this astronomical realization came instruments for reckoning time and a calendar that accurately measures the solar year to within minutes."
Abstract This paper discusses the greatest challenge to historians in viewing history from the perspective of disempowered people which is the evidence to support the historical events. It explores that as with slavery, there is knowledge of the large event, yet, when the lives of individual people who make up the entire history are concerned there is only fragmented evidence. The author explains that this is because the people who were considered less important in the time often did not have the ability to maintain records, or it was not considered necessary to keep documents about their lives.
From the Paper "The greatest challenge to historians in viewing history from the perspective of disempowered people is the evidence to support the historical events. As with slavery, there is knowledge of the large event, yet, when the lives of individual people who make up the entire history are concerned there is only fragmented evidence. This is because the people who were considered less important in the time often did not have the ability to maintain records, or it was not considered necessary to keep documents about their lives. Therefore, while there may be a significant understanding of the larger historical event, what is often lacking are the fine details that would provide much supporting evidence as to the reasons behind events, or the societies that experienced them. Yet, despite all of the personal inclusion that could be infused into the study of these people, it is evident that their plight in history ..."
Abstract This Master's level paper describes the upheavals in the Jamaican economy due to the IMF loan conditions, and its effects on the country's exchange rate and balance of payments.
Tags: WORLD HISTORY AND CULTURE / CARIBBEAN, jamaica economy upheavals
Abstract The writer of this paper defines the term Orientalism, which comes from the Latin word oriens, as the rising sun, which generally implies, 'the East.' This paper focuses on the culture, religion, art and history of Orientalism. This paper explores the European view of Islam throughout history. The writer explains that during the birth of Christianity and Islam there was a distinct difference between European Christian cultures and those of East and North Africa, which are detailed at length in this paper. During the Middle Ages the European Christians denounced the Islamic people as the enemies of Christendom, due to their lack of knowledge of Eastern culture. This paper discusses how the Enlightenment thinkers of the 18th century viewed the Eastern culture as being superior to that of the Christian west. This paper illustrates that Islamic societies were praised for their religious tolerance when compared with Christian west. This paper also delves into those who opposed the Orientalist culture, such as James Mill, who believed that Eastern civilizations were stagnant and corrupt and Karl Marx who believed that Eastern methods of production were static. Christian evangelists further maligned Eastern traditions as superstitious nonsense. This paper also examines the rich artistic history of the Oriental culture. Depictions of Islamic Moors were found in Medieval and Renaissance art, but it wasn't until the 19th century that Orientalism became recognized in the arts. This paper also details the outspoken views and opinions of political activist and author Edward Said.
Table of Contents:
Definition of Orientalism
History of Orientalism
Orientalism in the Arts
History of Orientalism in the Arts
Edward Said and Orientalism
References
From the Paper "Photography was still in its infancy and did not allow for the capture of the sunlight, the colors and the mood in which a painter could. With the iconoclastic nature of Islam, and the forbidding of the depiction of the prophet Muhammad, there was little representational art in Islam. Most of their artwork was centered on pattern and design. For this reason, the Muslim world had very little visual record of their history, including the people and the cities that existed prior to modern photography. Today, still, the best visual record of exotic cities like Cairo or Damascus, prior to the advent of modern photography, exists in 19th century paintings by Europeans and Americans. In the mid to late 19th century, painters from every country in Europe and from across the oceans in America, came to the East."
Abstract This paper examines the early history of Shinto and its basic philosophy, the advent of Buddhism in Japan and its consolidation, and the significance of the two religions in Japanese history and culture. It focuses on how Shinto and Buddhism have effected history, culture, society and even politics in Japanese society.
Table of Contents:
Shinto
Origin
The Shinto Philosophy
Early Shinto History Buddhism in Japan
Origin and Early Development of Buddhism
Adapting to Local Cultures Introduction of Buddhism in Japan
Consolidation of Buddhism in Japan
Influence of Buddhism and Shinto on Japanese Culture Conclusion
From the Paper "Perhaps the most telling contribution of Buddhism on Japanese society was that it provided an intellectual stimulus to the Japanese people who were forced to think more profoundly about the problems of life. This stimulus also helped to lift Japan's native religion, Shinto, from the level of an animistic cult to a proper religion. For example, it was only in reaction to the sophistication of the Buddhism and its scriptures that the existing Japanese myths and legends were compiled into written record."
Abstract This paper is an examination of the recent field culturalhistory that Robert Darnton used to examine the study of 18th-century France. The author breaks down Darnton's work, "The Great Cat Massacre," by chapter in order to illustrate how his theory was designed to work. Each chapter is discussed in detail, examining both the strengths and weaknesses of the materials discussed. The author looks at methodology, and the inherent flaws that present themselves to the reader. The author looks at the problem of using narration and biography when looking at culturalhistory, which in their view, contradicts the goal that Darnton set out to accomplish. The author feels that this type of approach is best suited to the investigation of past events in history that are not fresh in our minds.
From the Paper \\\"Understanding a narration poses an entirely distinct set of problems to understanding an event; for one thing, it introduces the problem of reader expectations, which are determined by the previous development of the genre in which the narration is embedded. For this reason, Darnton's analysis seems less compelling than the nature of the bizarre events he would have us believe really took place. Strangely enough, though, his anthropological method is most impressively applied in a chapter, which deals with what would seem to be far more ordinary events.\\\"
Abstract The paper discusses how the modern history of Vietnam's society and culture is a complex narrative that covers not only the Vietnamese war against the French and later the Americans, but also deep cultural divisions within Vietnam itself and, more recently, between Vietnamese in Southeast Asia and the many Vietnamese immigrants who have settled abroad. The paper examines how the complexity of this history can be seen in the challenge of answering the fundamental question of Vietnamese identity: "What does it mean to be Vietnamese?". The paper analyzes whether Vietnamese identity is limited to those occupying a geographic space at the southeast portion of the Asian continent, or whether it can be considered a broader social and cultural identity.
Abstract This paper explains that the history of multi-cultural children's literature is inextricably tied to the social history of America. This history is examined and the writer points out that the incorporation of multicultural children's literature into the popular American library has been a story of civil rights, historical trends, and individual agency. Some books examined for their contribution to this trend are Rudyard Kipling's "The Jungle Book", the French "Tin Tin" series by Herge Moulinsart among others.
From the Paper "The history of Hispanic-Americans, though not as brutal as that of the African-Americans, is equally grueling in its disregard for native culture. Enslaved in South and Latin America, this demographic faced the same cultural history that the African-Americans did, but without the same causal cry for acknowledgement and involvement into the common knowledge base as witnessed by African-Americans. Many of these groups also have roots in the Native Americans (First Nations' Peoples) of the United States, and as such, have received a historically inaccurate and unflattering history though children's literature in America as the demographic with whom the brave American settler's battled and, later, the heartless killers who ravaged the west of the idolized American Cowboy."
Abstract This well-researched paper details the cultures and history of two Indian tribes that have historically inhabited the Mohave Desert in California. This paper contains in-depth research into the social organization, economy, customs and religion of the Mohave and Chemehuevi tribes. In 1776 the Chemehuevi Indians began to migrate from Nevada, Utah and Arizona to California due to conflicts with the Yuman Indians, who were living in the area next to theirs. A 1604 expedition in search of silver led New Mexico governor Don Juan Onate through Mohaves territory, but it was not until 1775 that Fray Francisco Garces became the first white man to meet the Mohaves.
Table of Contents:
Introduction
History of the Chemehuevi
History of the Mohave Indians
Social Organizations
Customs
Economy
Religion
Interaction with Other Tribes
Conclusion
References
From the Paper "These reservations are administered by different sovereign tribal governments under two separate legal jurisdictions. These governments were created and recognized by the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, and the tribal-council form of government that was adopted at the time does not separate the functions of the administration, the legislature, and the judiciary. However, both governments operate civil and criminal courts that protect and assert their legal jurisdiction on the reservations over their own members. Mohave tribal identity in both reservation communities remains strong, although the pattern of intermarriage with other tribes that began in the early 1900s and a trend toward intermarriage with other races that began in the 1960s continue to challenge and change individual concepts of identity as well as the community's sense of itself."
Abstract This paper examines how and why Israel's history is being rewritten, especially within the context of the view from democratic states such as Western culture. It also looks at how perceptions of Western culture have done much to retard the economic freedom of the East, and so new historians have persuaded the facts of history and culture to emphasize false facts of Israel.
Outline:
Karsh
Reasons for Rewriting Israeli History Conclusion
From the Paper "Karsh's book "Fabricating Israeli History: The New Historians" is a diatribe of arguments which dictates that the history of Israel is being rewritten and he illuminates the new historian's writing as being 'excessive partisanship, systematic falsifications', 'fabrication' and misrepresentation of archival evidence. Karsh goes on to state that these new historians are echoing the standard anti-Semitic propaganda of the Elders of Zion and that they resemble McCarthyism which seems to be the only democracy in the Middle East. Karsh exemplifies the cohort of self-styled new historians by highlighting the Transfer Committee whose secret recommendations were submitted to Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion in October 1948. Along with these allegations Karsh also emphasizes the Palestinian refugee exodus of 1948: he states that Morris (whom he highlights as exacting the perpetuating idea of anti-Zionism throughout the text) falsifies records and denies that Ben-Gurion had ever supported the idea of compulsory transfer expulsion. Karsh goes on to state that Morris gives credit to the fact that this transfer had no relevance in zealot Zionism and furthermore that the Zionist discussion of this transfer concept was simply a reaction to the British Royal Peel Commission recommendations of July 1937."
Abstract This essay briefly explores three areas of Hong Kong culture and history and includes the unique culture of the Hong Kong people and how it developed. The paper discusses how the efforts to stamp out the mui tsai practice illustrates the problems encountered in attempting to enforce British morality on the Hong Kong population and includes how and why Beijing attempted to influence the course of democratization in post 1997 Hong Kong.
From the Paper "Both Lau Siu-kai and Benjamin Leung agree that the Chinese people of Hong Kong have a unique culture and describe this culture as adventurous, individualistic, self-reliant and less encumbered by traditional inhibitions and having a degree of artificiality. A culture where an individual is free to be upwardly mobile and where personal success is based on economic success. Leung is more critical and to the point and adds that the Hong Kong citizen has a shaky moral status, no sense of cultural or moral mission and is characterized by crass materialism and utilitarianism due to the lack of moralizing elite and dominance of economic elite."
Abstract This paper examines the ethnography of the Japanese Geisha. Additionally, it highlights many subtopics of the Geisha culture such as history and training, customers and skills, fashion, and modern-day and western influences. The paper includes an annotated bibliography with descriptions of sources used.
History of the Geisha Culture Becoming a Geisha
Geisha Talents and Those Who Enjoy Them
Geisha Appearance
Modern-Day Geisha and Western Influence
Conclusion
From the Paper "Geisha hair, Geisha makeup, Geisha grace: Geisha is a pleasing profession envied by women and adored by men. She is a living work of art; a doll adorned in satins and silks. Her entrance anywhere has movie star status and everyone wishes to be a part of her world: the flower and willow world. The Geisha profession is a time-honored tradition that has gradually changed into its own intricate culture. In this essay, I will explore the various complexities and mysteries of the Geisha culture by addressing the following areas: Geisha history, training, talents and customers, traditional dress, and Geisha in the modern world. I will clarify any misconceptions one may have about this beautiful and mysterious culture."
Tags: ancient, culture, ethnographic, ethnography, geisha, japan, japanese
Abstract This paper assesses the issue of political culture and whether its varying nature in different countries affects the establishment and maintenance of democracy. The paper achieves this by first offering a definitional explanation of political culture and how its characteristics alter depending on the country in question. The paper then examines the manner in which democratic processes are affected by national political culture. Two countries ae used as examples in exemplifying the inherent links between the two concepts; Pakistan and Slovakia. The paper contends that political culture is a vital component in the democratic process. Therefore, if a respective political culture fails to either understand or believe in the underlying principles of democratic thought, it becomes very difficult to instil a culture based on democratic principles. The paper further contends that further factors such as; national history; religious beliefs and the role of the military have a large part to play. Indeed, the two example countries provide us with prove of this fact.
From the Paper "Let us look at out first example country, Pakistan. Since independence from Britain in 1947, much of the political culture of Pakistan has been formed on the same theoretical basis as that of the British Raj. When the British left what is know known as Pakistan, the democratic forces they attempted to instil were often contradictory in their nature. On the one hand, democratic representative government was established, but underpinning it lay the same subject based culture that had endured during British rule."
Tags: independence authoritarian, national history, religious beliefs, military role
