Elizabeth von Arnim’s The Pastor’s Wife: A Reassessment

Abstract

The Pastor’s Wife (1914) may seem at first reading simply another depiction of a woman struggling for liberation in the decades following the work of Thomas Hardy and Henrik Ibsen, being the story of how Ingeborg Bullivant escapes from an English patriarchal home, only to find herself trapped in another one in Germany. The novel, however, marks a turning point in Elizabeth von Arnim’s career; it is a novel that looks back to previous themes while anticipating those to come. It demonstrates, with comedy and bitterness, themes of alienation and exile; satirizes German codes and class; and provides a lyrical Romantic vision of the natural world. It also presents the married woman as a prisoner in a way that anticipates Vera (1921). The novel can also stand alone as an underrated classic that plays an important part in the history of English literature. Published at the beginning of high modernism, it shows, unlike the work of some canonized writers of the time, a fusion of realism and modernism. This essay argues that the novel is a proto-feminist work that is radical in its portrayal of women’s experience and influenced by literary naturalism in its childbirth scenes, but pessimistic about possibilities for change. The essay shows how the novel is modernist in its depiction of the alienated experience of the city; uses nineteenth-century realism in its narrative structure and comedy; and yet is forward-looking in its use of endings. A book that begins as a comedy but ends as a tragedy, The Pastor’s Wife deserves equal recognition with the work of H. G. Wells and E. M. Forster, writers with whom von Arnim was connected and by whom she was influenced.     

唐代和亲政策述论

和亲政策最早始于汉代,是统治阶级的一种外交工具,是国家间在敌强我弱的特殊情况下采取的权宜之计,以有限的牺牲来换取整顿内政、休养生息、发展经济、积蓄力量的时间.到了唐朝,和亲政策进一步发展,成了广泛运用的安边政策,唐王朝与突厥、吐谷浑、吐蕃、奚、契丹、宁远、回纥、南诏8个族(国)共计和亲28次(其中有一次未获成功),为唐朝的稳定和繁荣起了较大的作用.     

民事伴侣关系法律认可的现状及其立法模式

在人类历史的长河中,民事伴侣的地位在不同的时代及不同的文化背景中虽有所不同,但总体而言是被禁止、被压制或被忽视的.然而,自20世纪末至今的短短不到20年的时间里,民事伴侣关系已在5个国家获得完全法律认可,在16个国家的全国范围内及6个国家的部分地区获得承认,民事伴侣平权运动取得了前所未有的进展.在5个法律认可民事伴侣关系的国家中,荷兰、比利时、西班牙及加拿大采用了婚姻式立法模式,即承认民事伴侣关系为婚姻关系,并适用婚姻法的相应规定.而英国则采用了伴侣式立法模式,即制定<民事伴侣关系法>以规制民事伴侣关系,从而创设了一种在形式上不同于异性配偶身份的新的民事伴侣法律身份.     

伊斯兰世界U型认同与恐怖组织类型关联性研究

自“阿拉伯之春”以降,伊斯兰极端主义日益成为全球非传统安全研究领域的主要议题。以往的研究已经注意到极端宗教思想对“一失败,即溃散”的弥散型恐怖主义之影响,但对于弥散型恐怖主义生成根源、传播路径与扩散范围却没有形成系统性的区分与探讨。基于对伊斯兰文明圈核心区域、半边缘区域和边缘区域在宗教地位、部族影响、民族国家认同与区域权力结构四种因素的区分,在伊斯兰文明核心区域容易形成向外围单向辐射的跨国弥散型恐怖主义;而在伊斯兰文明边缘区域容易接受来自文明核心区域的影响并成为伊斯兰极端主义扩张工具与动员手段。半边缘区域因地缘上的过渡性和宗教上的亚文明特征而介于两者之间。“一带一路”倡议途径广大的伊斯兰国家,为确保中国海外投资安全,在伊斯兰文明核心区和半边缘区域应该注重发展同当地部族关系,而在边缘区则需要强化政府间官方合作。     

日本内缘婚制度研究

日本内缘婚又被称为事实婚姻,产生于19世纪后期日本民法典颁布之后,并随着日本社会的发展而处于不断的演变之中。从内缘保护的法的形成、内缘关系成立的要件及内缘婚的法律效果三个方面来看,中日两国的事实婚姻制度既具有相同之处,也有不同的地方。     

复合身份政治:西亚大国参与阿富汗安全事务的三重维度

“阿拉伯之春”爆发以来,西亚伊斯兰大国土耳其、伊朗和沙特阿拉伯(简称“沙特”)形成了复合身份。教派争端导致三国在西亚地区的战略博弈阵营化;阿富汗弱政府、强社会的权力结构使三国的战略博弈代理人化。作者提出“复合身份政治”概念,认为土耳其、伊朗和沙特以三重身份参与阿富汗安全事务。从族群和教派身份看,土耳其与阿富汗北部乌兹别克人和土库曼人等突厥语族群形成特殊关系;伊朗与中部哈扎拉人和塔吉克人形成特殊关系;沙特与南部普什图人形成特殊关系。从区域身份看,土耳其借助突厥语国家委员会,伊朗借助经济合作组织,沙特借助伊斯兰反恐联盟,三国在“向东看”过程中分别将阿富汗纳入各自主导的多边机制,形成了制度均势。从全球身份看,土耳其以北约的名义参与在阿富汗的军事行动,伊朗加入上海合作组织,沙特利用伊斯兰合作组织,三国与世界大国形成了议题联系。复合身份政治使土耳其、伊朗和沙特构筑相互交错的次体系,稀释了世界大国主导的阿富汗问题安全倡议,阿富汗安全格局由“多极”走向“多中心”。     

从无奈到忍耐——浅谈池莉小说婚恋观及成因

池莉以伤感的情调描绘了社会转型期中国家庭的危机、婚娴的缺憾、爱情的无奈.她写出了普通人婚姻的真谛:无奈与忍耐,粗糙中温情洋溢.     

农村青年婚事畸形消费状况透析

当前,农村青年办婚事花销越来越大,大大超过了结婚青年自身和家庭的实际收入,形成了农村“红色消费”的畸形状况,制约了农民生活质量的提高和农村经济的可持续发展。因此,分析婚事畸形消费背后的原因并提出一定的遏制措施,对转变农村不良风气、推动社会主义新农村建设具有重要的意义。     

当代土家族婚姻的变迁

本文在田野调查资料的基础上,并利用人口普查资料,主要从定量的角度对土家族传统婚姻文化在当代的变迁进行研究。认为,当代土家族婚姻发生了重大变化,表现为族际通婚和通婚的空间范围有所扩大,近亲婚配在逐步减少;未婚比例大幅度下降,而有配偶率则大幅度上升;早婚有下降的趋势,初婚年龄则呈上升趋势;离婚比例有所增长;择偶标准和方式更加多样化和具时代特征;婚姻仪式简约化;等等。土家族婚姻的变迁带来了家庭的一系列变化,但并未动摇传统家庭的基本结构,传统家庭的相对稳定是土家族社会在当代保持稳定的一个基础。     

A mathematical model of the persistence of conflict

A differential equation model is proposed to explain how a persistent level of conflict might be maintained by a nation. The basic driving force in the model is the assumption that there are two interacting forces within the nation. One group benefits from high levels of conflict and as the level of conflict drops attempts to drive it upwards again. The other group benefits from the absence of conflict and as the level of conflict becomes high attempts to drive it down. These assumptions lead to a model which has the following characteristics:

1. If the initial level of conflict is positive the stable level is positive and intermediate between the desired positions of the nationalists and internationalists.

2. If the initial value is negative the behavior is unstable and infinite negative conflict results.

   Introduction of a lag in the response to policy can produce the following additional behaviors:

3. Oscillating return to the equilibrium point.

4. Oscillating patterns which are virtually constant over time.

5. Rapid increases in conflict for short periods of time interspersed with long period of virtually no conflict.

   These different patterns can be obtained with the change of a single parameter in the model.