Lu Xun at Home

正LU Xun(1881-1936)is widely considered as China’s greatest modern writer.Although he was a prolific essayist and translator,it is for his intense and often disturbing short stories that he is best known.In criticizing repressive social norms,he aimed for nothing less than the eradication of the nation’s spiritual ills.In the decades since his death editions of his works,translations and critical studies have surged,making Lu Xun an accessible writer in most major languages.But he can also be remembered through the homes in which he lived and worked.     

A marriage made in heaven: the functioning of patriarchy and nostalgia in Boer soek ’n vrou

This article explores the functioning of patriarchy and nostalgia in a South African reality television series, Boer soek ’n vrou. A hermeneutical analysis is used to unpack visual and verbal narratives that depict romantic relationships and an idealised future. Concepts such as nostalgic appropriation, benevolent patriarchy and the courtship narrative are explored to illustrate the latent patriarchal agenda which is conveyed to the audience. Interactions between the two genders not only naturalise but also reaffirm gender stereotypes. Throughout the series, female contestants are relegated to the sphere of domesticity whereas male farmers are shown as active social agents. Footage that sentimentalises the farmers’ feelings is also used to regenerate Afrikaner masculinity, arguably as a direct result of the perceived loss of male authority. This ‘renegotiated’ image of a white, heterosexual man is indistinguishable from the historical, patriarchal portrayal of men. In the series, patriarchy and nostalgia collaborate to create a cultural product that can be commercially marketed. The colonial gaze is employed to depict farms as picturesque spaces where benevolent patriarchal power relations are enforced. selective erasure, however, distorts reality and exploitative power relations remain hidden from the audience.     

'I'm Making a TV Programme Here!': Reality TV'S Banged Up and Public Criminology

Abstract: This article examines the TV series Banged Up and media reactions to it. In doing so it seeks to argue that it served a wider public service purpose, or public criminology, than simply entertainment. A number of other 'experiments' and the crossover between those and reality TV are also explored. The series was not universally admired and no attempt is made to hide this. In addition to engaging with theoretical matters the experience of one of the authors of being part of the programme is set out.     

Cyberspace,simulation, artificial intelligence,affectionate machines and being human

Abstract

This article focuses on the question whether the technologically enabled advent of ‘virtual reality’ or ‘cyberspace’ has a significant impact on human experience of the world. Gilbert Germain's work on Virilio and Baudrillard gives greater insight in this regard, specifically regarding cyberspace as the new ‘frontier’, and focuses on the alienating effects of cyberspace regarding the human life-world. Turkle's recent work regarding robotics similarly points to a fundamental shift in human attitudes towards ‘embodied’ artificial intelligence, especially concerning its capacity for affectivity, which further marks a turning away from the complexity of human relationships in favour of supposedly uncomplicated ‘machine relationships’. Derrida enables one to better understand the changing relation between humans and machines in terms of the reconfiguration of human subjectivity. Together with Turkle's work in this domain, it points to a surprising ‘reconfiguration’ of conceptions regarding being human. Finally, Feenberg's retrospective on the fraught relations between humans and technology, as reflected in various fictional and theoretical works, as well as social developments, provides a suitable conclusion, given his affirmative remarks on the prospects of human autonomy in relation to the Internet.     

关于东北老工业基地振兴目标体系的现实论证

东北地区作为新中国工业摇篮和粮食主产区,曾经在计划经济年代为社会主义建设事业起到了奠基性作用,并为新时期改革开放大业的战略推进创造了前提条件。但是,随着社会主义市场经济体制的逐步确立,东北地区的工业经济逐渐滞后,出现了特有的“东北现象”。与此同时,东北粮食主产区也陷入了以“农民卖粮难”为主要特征的发展困境。面对这一综合性的经济危机,党中央及时调整发展策略,在党的十六大上首次做出了振兴东北老工业基地的战略决策,随后又采取了加快体制创新和产业结构调整的有效措施,大力推动老工业基地质变为新型工业基地,裂变为现代装备基地,提升为科技产业基地,成长为生态农业基地,发展为农畜产品出口加工基地,从而形成东北老工业基地振兴的目标体系,并将进一步拉动和规范区域经济协调发展的现实进程。     

Effects of collaborative recall: Denying true information is as powerful as suggesting misinformation

We tested whether someone's ability to tell a good story, in terms of the Reality Monitoring (RM) tool, affects the way s/he judges the stories told by others. Forty participants (undergraduate students) wrote down two statements – one about activities they did 30 minutes ago, and the other about a past event. Subsequently, they rated the quality of a target statement written by someone else. We found that the tendency to provide a not so detailed or a very detailed statement was stable across the two statements the participants wrote. Furthermore, this tendency affected how they judged the target statements: The richer a participant's statements were compared to the target statement, the more critical the participant was in judging the target statement. These findings imply that RM is subject to biases which are related to individual differences. We discuss the implications of these findings for applying the RM lie detection tool in the field.     

探究民营银行发展之路

民营银行之争由来已久。中国的银行业不缺数量,缺的是结构,缺草根金融。该文回顾了民营银行艰难的探索历程,指出应科学界定民营银行经营范围和服务对象,消除制度障碍和现实阻碍,秉承先试点,后推广,循序渐进的发展思路,不断完善顶层设计,提升自身实力,让民营银行逐渐成长为金融体系中一支审要的力量。     

Exploring contextual influences on the architectural structure of South African television news programmes This article is partly based on a paper presented at the International Broadcasting Content Regulation Conference,Johannesburg, 27–29 May 2005

Abstract

This article uses a qualitative textual analysis of in-depth interviews with senior news processors as a methodology to explore the unique contextual dimensions that may influence the architectural structure of South African television news programmes. The discussion rests on the basic assumption that news will always present a mediated and constructed version of reality. Six communicative frames categories have been selected to investigate operational processes and issues organising the production process of news: short, straight-forward, ‘objective’ news reports; single-sourced news items based on one major voice or main perspective; investigative news reports; marketable news chosen for financial potential; news items based on community and cultural events; and mythic tales. The findings indicate that the interface between contextual factors and journalistic practices contributes to the unique challenges facing the industry in South Africa. The article concludes with an appeal to news processors to reflect on the consequences and effects their programmes have on audiences’ perception of reality, and proposes recommendations to enable audiences to become more empowered and engaged viewers.     

邓小平党风廉政建设思想论要——理论思考、实践探索和现实启迪

邓小平以对党和人民高度负责的品质,在继承前人、基于现实的基础上,科学分析了党风廉政建设的重要意义,提出了党风廉政建设的基本手段,确立了党风廉政建设的基本方针,形成了邓小平党风廉政建设的科学理论体系。在邓小平诞辰110周年之际,重温邓小平的党风廉政建设和反腐败斗争理论,对于推进现阶段正在大力开展的反腐倡廉工作,具有重大的理论和现实指导意义。