Transcultural Studies

This paper examines the role of the representation of grandparents and great-grandparents in the construction of narrative identity in Hungarian-Jewish autobiographies, autoethnographies and memoirs, namely in Adolf Ágai's memoir Régi naplók (Old Diaries) and József Kiss's narrative poem Legendák a nagyapámról (Legends about My Grandfather). The authors of the same generation tell the story of their origins according to their own conceptions of identity.

Inner peace (An, 安) holds profound significance in Chinese and broader East Asian cultures within the Sinosphere. In Confucianism, peace arises from reducing uncertainty through virtuous hierarchies and the conscientious fulfillment of moral obligations that embody Ren (仁), or human-heartedness. Yet such peace is inherently fragile and unsustainable if human-heartedness deviates from the Dao—the natural order of the universe. In contrast, Zhuangzi’s vision of peace, centered on spontaneity, wu-wei (無為), and the rejection of rigid social norms, offers a pathway to genuine freedom and enlightenment. Employing the Granular Interaction Thinking Theory (GITT), this study provides a scientific elaboration of Zhuangzi’s philosophy of inner peace, as expressed in Free and Easy Wandering (Xiao Yao You, 逍遙遊), and examines how such a state may be achieved through cultivating Nature Quotient (NQ). Ultimately, we propose that Daoist philosophy—especially Zhuangzi’s—can underpin a modern paradigm of inner peace that nurtures harmony within individuals, societies, nations, and the global community.

In terms of states-of-consciousness one could differentiate within Krishnamurti's mystical experiences a spirito-logical sequence. In other words, K went through multiple, discernible phases of spiritual awakening with a step-by-step logic going from low to higher realms. The focus of this paper is to interpret these statements within a Theosophical framework. The primary sources to make the point are 1) K's own statements about his extraordinary experiences and 2) Theosophical glossaries. K started out as a young man with mundane thoughts and desires (Kama-Manas), who then was inspired by a higher principle (Buddhi) to control his lower inclinations. After the start of the painful Process, he would have spiritual visions of meta-empirical realms and beings. The Process purified K to the extent he could be overshadowed by a higher being, Maitreya. More in private he experiences intense moments of mysticism to which he gave the name The Beloved (Atman). Later he would have even deeper and vaster experiences of "Benediction" (Sat-chit-ananda) arguably moving in the realm of Atman-Brahman. Then the whole series is crowned with his experience of the source of all energy (Parabrahm). In conclusion I claim to have shown that, first, K's states of consciousness are different enough that they can be expressed in different concepts, and secondly, that K was aware of these differences and was the first one to suggest non-technical concepts. Thirdly, as skilled Theosophists can do, parallels can be found with Theosophical, Sanskrit-based terminology

The last thing our discipline needs is another self-proclaimed turn. Yet there is no question that the mobilities paradigm developed by social
scientists in the early 2000s has found its way to historiography. A few years ago, a colleague of mine asked me to explain to them what all the
fuss was about. I struggled to come up with a compelling answer. That’s probably because there’s a lot to the ideas behind this so-called
paradigm but the gist of it is actually very simple. It’s an invitation to take movement seriously as an all-encompassing field and perspective: not
just a routine pattern or exceptional choice, but a crucial way to understand how the world worked and how people made sense of it. To put it
another way, it’s a call to adopt movement as a category of analysis in its own right, especially as a complement or even outright replacement for
traditional spatial frameworks, such as nation-states and civilisations. This last proposition is what puts the volume in conversation with the ideas that inspired the series in which it appears, Connected Histories in the
Early Modern World...

The present issue of Historical Interactions of Religious Cultures investigates the manifold ramifications of Christian missions across the early modern world, emphasizing intellectual exchange and cultural transfer. The collected case studies regarding diverse missionary sites in Asia, the Americas, and Europe open a vista onto the mutual creativity and cultural productivity of the missionary encounter between the fifteenth and eighteenth centuries. The exploration of textual, material, and cultural translation turns the spotlight on the complex negotiations of the missionaries’ message and the strategies, re-appropriation, and responses it entailed. This editorial introduction connects the diverse translation practices in the varying contexts of early modern evangelizing attempts, both colonial and internal-European, to the power relations between the missionaries and the missionized. It proposes using translation as an analytical tool to retrieve the Other’s voice by studying missionary translations of a wide variety of texts, images, and religious practices that were produced as part of the quest to make Christianity accessible to the local population, the intended target of the mission.

Since the end of the 14th century on, the central government of the Ming Dynasty has guided and strengthened the sense of belonging and centripetal force of Xizang towards the central dynasty, through output of institutional culture, material culture and ideological concepts to Xizang, and has strengthened its identification with the cultural traditions of the Han region. As results, the artistic practice in Xizang entered a profound “west-to-east” transformation in the mid-to-late 15th century, gradually shift from the South Asian artistic traditions of the Himalayan surrounding regions such as India and Nepal to the Han-Tibetan art trend integrating the Han style. Many famous painting schools and artists with the style of Han-Tibetan integration emerged in the central Xizang by that time.Tibetan art came to the golden age. However, the impact of this new artistic trend of Han-Tibetan was not limited to the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau, but with
the cross-regional political and economic networks of the Himalayas, gradually reversing the early learning posture towards Nepalese art and continuously spreading southward. It then merged with local South Asian
artistic styles to form an internationally distinctive localized adaptation. Han-Tibetan art has always been the focus in academics, but most existing studies focus on domestic regions, and there has been no indepth exploration of issues such as the cross-regional dissemination and cross-cultural development of HanTibetan art. Based on the fieldworks and multilingual literatures, with the achievements in related fields, this paper attempts to outline the historical background and localized development of Han-Tibetan art in the Kathmandu Valley from the 15th to the 19th century, and further reflects on the international development and cross-cultural evolution of Han-Tibetan art.

For Western researchers, the confrontation and understanding of the so-called
non-Western cultural traditions is always linked to the problem of differences
in language, tradition, history, and socialization processes. The interpretation
of various aspects and elements of different cultures is namely always linked to
the geographic, political, and economic positions of the interpreter as well as
the subject of interpretation. A fundamental premise of the present study is that
Western epistemology represents only one of many different models of human comprehension. Therefore, it follows the main methodological principles of
transcultural research, taking into account the incommensurability of diversely
(culturally) conditioned paradigms, or theoretical frameworks deriving from
diversely formed discourses of different cultural and linguistic environments.
In Western research on Chinese philosophy, the non-reflected use of a
scientific analysis, which is a result of specific (Western) historical processes
and the related, typical organizational structure of societies, often proves to be
a dangerous and misleading mechanism. Concepts and categories can namely
not simply be transferred from one sociocultural context into another.

Despite four decades of active presence in society and the country’s colonial history, Islam in Italy is still perceived as an unfamiliar and hostile religion and culture. Utilizing a cultural and socio-historical approach rooted in the sociology of literature, this chapter examines contemporary Italian literature on and by Muslims, aiming to deconstruct stereotypes and reframe the narrative surrounding “Islam in Italy.” Focusing on works such as Rhoda (2004) by Igiaba Scego, Clash of Civilizations Over an Elevator in Piazza Vittorio (2008 [2006]) by Amara Lakhous and Timira (2012) by Wu Ming 2 and Antar Mohamed, the analysis will be situated within two contexts: the securitarian framing of Islam in contemporary Italian politics and society, and the “forgotten” colonial past. These texts shed light on the ongoing negotiation that Muslims in Italy engage in to define their identity, visibility and the construction of “Italian Muslimness.”

Energy healing refers to a globalising market of healing rituals that aim to stimulate the clients' self-healing process. In the context of healing, the term 'energy' has multi-layered meanings and may denote physical, psychological, social, as well as spiritual principles of restoring well-being. This article demonstrates how the idea of energy as a healing agent was embedded within the occult cosmology and anthropology of the British-American post-Theosophist Alice A. Bailey (1880-1949). Applying historical discourse analysis, Bailey's impact on the emergence of energy healing is examined. Her theory of energy is explored against the backdrop of her esoteric grand narrative. It is demonstrated how Bailey's principles of energy formed the basis for her vision of a "medicine of the future". A concluding discussion proves the global influence of Bailey's 'energetic turn' and how it modelled the approach of major holistic actors of the later twentieth century.

This study explores the modern history of kundalini with an emphasis on its scientification. Concepts of kuṇḍalinī originated in South Asian tantra and yoga texts and practices and have undergone significant transformations since the late nineteenth century. Modernisation processes transformed the premodern South Asian views of kuṇḍalinī into modern kundalini concepts, which became a globally discussed topic of late twentieth-century religion. This transformation process can be divided into three chronological periods. The first period involved the initial interest of and interpretations by the Theosophical Society, Hindu reformers, and other South Asian intellectuals during the 1880s and early 1890s. The second period (c. 1896 to 1933) features influential South Asian writers and publication projects, such as Swami Vivekananda, Vasant Rele, and the works published under the name Arthur Avalon, which resulted from the collaboration of several South Asian tantra specialists and John Woodroffe. The third period, the focus of this study, spans from the late 1960s to the mid-1980s, marked by the international prominence of the South Asian author Gopi Krishna (1903–1984), whose book Kundalini: The Evolutionary Energy in Man (1967) catalysed kundalini’s modern heyday. Krishna was also significantly involved in elevating the importance of using empirical scientific methods to research kundalini during this period. This study emphasises the institutionalisation and international collaborations of empirical kundalini research during the third period. Gopi Krishna’s pivotal role in initiating and promoting empirical kundalini research through his international projects and collaborations forms the main case study. In addition to Gopi Krishna, the present study examines the involvement of (mainly) US-based institutes as historical examples of empirical kundalini research, such as the Kundalini Clinic and the Esalen Institute. As a concluding analysis, I assess kundalini’s relevance within the broader social, cultural, and religious processes of the 1970s and 1980s. I argue that kundalini’s significance extends beyond its immediate context, as it uniquely reflects developments in recent religious and cultural history. This study posits that kundalini became so popular because it functioned as a unifying symbol around which different currents of the era converged. The study of kundalini, therefore, facilitates a deeper understanding of the cultural landscape of the time.

Resumen: El Inventario de Depresión Rasgo-Estado (IDERE) fue diseñado para evaluar la depresión como estado y como rasgo. Este trabajo se propuso estudiar su utilidad para identificar casos en los que se estima depresión clínica de acuerdo a los criterios del DSM-IV. La muestra estuvo constituida por 1984 sujetos de cuatro países: 503 españoles, 330 cubanos, 477 colombianos y 674 mexicanos.

joue un rôle très important dans la littérature de la migration au Québec. Emigrée du Liban avec sa famille en 1951, elle a écrit ses premières pièces sur la migration dans les années 80 et ses premiers romans dans les années 90. Elle fait partie des premiers écrivains migrants de la littérature québécoise. Ses oeuvres intitulées Le Bonheur a la peau glissante et Le Fou d'Omar sont des romans où elle exprime le choc de la migration vécu par les immigrés libanais. Au grand soleil cachez vos filles est l'histoire d'une famille libanaise qui retourne au Liban après 15 années passées à Montréal. Le voyage est inversé mais les questionnements restent les mêmes. Le déplacement est vécu par la famille Abdelnour plus comme une nouvelle déchirure que comme un retour au bercail. Il faut s'habituer à une nouvelle façon de vivre et apprendre des codes culturels qui leur sont devenus étrangers. Pour les deux jeunes filles de la famille l'épreuve est très ardue voire insurmontable. Dans ce roman Abla Farhoud utilise la polyphonie et donne la parole aux jeunes de la famille pour narrer les événements. Ikram la fille cadette représente l'autrice elle-même : elle voudrait faire du théâtre. Le début du roman est euphorique : petits et grands sont heureux d'avoir retrouvé le climat chaleureux et lumineux du Liban. Mais, les jours passant, les jeunes filles découvrent que le soleil exacerbe la sexualité des hommes. Les codes sociaux sont très différents du Canada et limitent la vie et les ambitions des femmes. L'aliénation guette même les migrants qui retournent chez eux. Seule leur famille pourvoit un soutien inconditionnel aux déracinés que sont les Libanais qui retournent chez eux. Finalement le Canada pays d'accueil serait-il devenu leur vrai pays ? Mots clés : immigration, Liban, Abla Farhoud, « Au grand soleil cachez vos filles », retour, sexualité, Québec * Gel[ş tar[h[

The article examines the issue of migration in modern society and multiculturalism from a socio-philosophical perspective. The challenges facing modern society are linked to processes that are relevant both globally and in Ukraine. With the intensification of political processes, globalization and wars, the relevance of the phenomenon of migration is not diminishing. The authors consider this topic based on socio-philosophical and theoretical humanitarian methods: sociology, economics, globalization studies, cities and migration processes, referring to the approaches of the author of the term “global city” Saskia Sassen, as well as political science, law, pedagogy and philosophy of Seyla Benhabib.The doctrinal foundations of contemporary multicultural processes allow us to characterize migration processes. Migration in the world is a natural and long-term process, so all attempts to stop it are an interference in the organic processes of society. Today’s attempts by the US administration to diversify migration processes are inhumane and anti-historical.Multicultural or multi-faith education as a strategy for preserving the country’s culture and as a component of the study of the history of religions and cultures should be fundamental. We conceptualize migration as a process of perceiving another culture without losing one’s personal characteristics and traditions, but rather strengthening them and rethinking one’s previous experience – both from the side of migrants and from the side of citizens of the host country. Multiculturalism plays an important role in the struggle for equality, but it must develop a more dynamic interpretation of culture and resist unification in order to prevent gender, economic, political and religious inequality and injustice. Multicultural or policonfessional education is proposed as a basic education for modern society as an embodiment of the strategy for preserving the country’s culture and as a component of mastering the history of religions and cultures.

The book presents the artist's works created over the last 16 years, the vast majority of which refer to scientific issues, mainly mathematical and philosophical. In addition to rich documentation and detailed descriptions of Jernajczyk's works, the book also includes commentaries and theoretical texts on the relationship between art and science, as well as the cognitive role of images, written by specialists representing various fields and scientific disciplines. Zbigniew Rybczyński wrote the foreword to the book.

¿A qué clase de responsabilidades se enfrentan los museos canarios en su relación con el turismo? ¿Cómo es el cruce entre estas instituciones y el fenómeno del turismo en un espacio denominado “ultra-periférico”? ¿Qué implica ocupar estas coordenadas? ¿Y cómo piensan los impactos del turismo, especialmente los imbricados con la naturaleza y la otredad?

In this workshop, we take stock of current postcolonial and decolonial approaches in modern/contemporary art history and visual studies, and in adjacent media studies discourses. We are interested to explore these methodologies—including the rubrics of transculturation and postmigration—from a situated perspective as researchers working in academia and art- and exhibition practice in Germany.
We consider what has been gained with the establishing of postcolonial approaches in art history and visual studies, and media cultural studies. To what extent “are” we “more” international, decolonial, and transcultural today? Have circumstances in fact fundamentally shifted in the academy and museum practice—with the possibilities of arts and cultural funding? And, finally: what roles, alongside art, can digitization play with regard to memory culture and colonial archives? Our workshop discusses these questions with a focus on developments in Germany, while also attending to international comparisons.

Die Arktis ist eine sowohl kolonialisierte als auch heroisiert dargestellte Region, deren politische und ökologische Bedeutung wächst. In Kunst, Aktivismus und Wissenschaft wird häufig das Ästhetische des Erhabenen genutzt, um eine sinnliche Verbundenheit mit dieser entlegenen Landschaft zu evozieren. Diese Heroisierung hat jedoch soziale, ökologische und politische Krisen verschärft, weshalb ein Wandel in der visuellen Kultur dringend geboten ist. Die grönländisch-dänische Künstlerin Pia Arke gilt als Pionierin der künstlerischen Auseinandersetzung mit dem zirkumpolaren Norden. In ihren multimedialen Arbeiten thematisierte sie den skandinavischen Kolonialismus als eine Form fortwirkender Gewalt. Der Vortrag von Dr. Anne Hemkendreis untersucht künstlerische Visualisierungen der Arktis mit Blick auf die Vorstellung leerer Eiswüsten und ihre zweifelhafte Bedeutung für gegenwärtige Debatten.

Der Vortrag thematisiert den nordischen Kolonialismus als Teil europäischer Geschichte und beleuchtet die Verbindungen zwischen Botanik, Rassenideologie und sinnlicher Wahrnehmung. Ausgangspunkt ist die Arbeit Mirabilis L. (2023) der Künstlerin Hannimari Jokinen, die unsichtbare koloniale Strukturen und deren fortwährende Wirkung sichtbar macht. In ihren Installationen verbindet Jokinen wissenschaftliche und ästhetische Wahrnehmungen und fordert die Betrachter:innen auf, sich auch mit ihrer eigenen Positionierung innerhalb kolonialer Machtverhältnisse auseinanderzusetzen.

Images shape the way we perceive the world and its individual regions. The Arctic has traditionally been pictured through the perspective of human heroism. Its medialisation started in the 16th century and had its first peak during the colonial and scientific polar expeditions around 1900. Currently, we find ourselves in a new boom of arctic medialisation, which is, however, less hero- than crisis-oriented. In a time of ecological and social catastrophes – such as climate change – the Arctic is becoming an icon in the critical reflection of the nature-human relationship since colonialism. In particular, indigenous artists of the Circumpolar North, i.e. the Arctic and the sub-Arctic, critically engage with the pictorial tradition of the North; they direct our attention to what has been blanked out in the historiography of polar exploration and national expansionism. In doing so, the link to heroic aesthetics and sublime romanticism highlights the often invisible and persistent violence inherent in the notion of the Arctic as an empty wilderness that expands boundlessly for the gaze of the heroic subject. This article examines the critical debate, but also the persistence of heroic imaginaries in contemporary arctic art. At the core of my argumentation lies an indigenous perspective on the Arctic as a colonised zone, which contrasts with the heroic fantasy of the region as untouched and uninhabited.

Driven by an “urgent linguistic question,” the German Orientalist Heinrich von Maltzan (1826–1874) spent three months in Aden in early 1871, where he conducted philological research among the indigenous population. Maltzan’s studies were later published in the "Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft" (ZDMG). As with most linguistic studies of the time, the ZDMG articles do not reveal how Maltzan acquired the language materials that he presented to his readers. How did Maltzan pursue language studies in Arabia? Who were his “native informants”?  And, what was the nature of their “philological encounters”? With the help of his travelogues and one unpublished diary, this article reconstructs Maltzan’s journey and research methodology as that of a colonial researcher. The article thereby shifts the perspective on 19th century oriental philology from textual practice toward an understanding of philology as an intercultural practice, rooted in the historical and political dynamics of the colonial context.

VENGAN!! Yo acá les espero...
.Instalación Performática Multimedia 2025, por Marisa BUSKER
-Introducción
.La plaza y el banco de la plaza de mi infancia: un bindhu iniciático.
-Sobre la obra: Instalación Performática Multimedia y su construcción.
-Seis cuadros en la obra.
-Palabras clave
Producción general: Laboratorio del Performer

Philippines and India. These nurses come from different cultures, ethnic backgrounds, beliefs and values from those of the Saudi population . The commitment to population health drives nurses to serve in the midst of a variety of population health concerns such as shifts in population aging in developed countries, man-made and environmental-related disasters, economic woes, conflicts and the related migration of peoples to other countries (Hall & Roussel, 2017). Granted, the work of nurses and midwives was to have been limited to the private sphere of home and household. But as women moved into these roles, they not only undermined the Senegalese traditional roles of wives and mothers, but also use their specialized knowledge in ways that created empowering opportunities (D'Antonio, Fairman & Whelan, 2013). Because globalization, whatever form it takes, impacts so many people in so many places, and this impact will influence, if not determine the health and well-being of most, and perhaps all, human populations on the globe, it is worthy of our serious attention (Tschudin & Davis, 2008). With the benefits of globalization come the shortcomings. Health issues emerging from diverse viewpoints about health and illness; geopolitical strife; war, communicable and infectious diseases; poverty; nutrition deficiencies; global spread due to travel; or characteristics of genetic engineering, biotechnology, and environmental pollution all pose serious health concerns that are exacerbated by globalization (Ray, 2010). Now, the big challenge is -how does nursing fit into a globalized Republic of the Philippines CAMARINES SUR POLYTECHNIC COLLEGES Nabua, Camarines Sur GRADUATE SCHOOL 3 world of economic power and privilege and what role should nursing play vis-àvis international and global health (Breda, 2012). Across different countries, poor wage earners in exporting sectors or in sectors with incoming foreign investment gained from trade and investment reforms. Conversely, poverty rates increased in previously protected sectors that were exposed to import competition (Harrison & McMillan, 2010). According to Pryde (2014), although the nurses would be paid less than Western nurses however more than what they would receive in their own country, the nurses had jobs, the Saudi hospitals were staffed; became a win-win situation. However, Western nurses were paid three times as much as the nurses from the Philippines. Wage discrimination did not sit well with some nurses; nevertheless, relative to their living standards, they were paid more than they would receive in their own country as a result they were able to live comfortably and support their families back home. Almutairi (2012), explained that while there are differences between the nationalities through qualifications and experience of recruits, all differ from the Saudi culture and expected norms, which can cause cultural conflicts arising from nurse-patient interaction to the extent that it can threaten the quality of care and patient safety. Almaeena (2015) stated that while Saudi patients' cultural needs are an issue, media reports describe frequent attacks on nurses and violation of their rights such as underpayment and abuse of working conditions. In some cases verbal abuse is followed by physical abuse as well, and Republic of the Philippines CAMARINES SUR POLYTECHNIC COLLEGES Nabua, Camarines Sur GRADUATE SCHOOL 4 unfortunately, those in charge often fail to speak up and defend the right of nurses to be treated with dignity and self-respect. Caring for racially and ethnically diverse populations require the need for cultural competence training and educational programs. A variety of models describing cultural competence's multiple dimensions and instruments to measure it has become a focus of attention over the past several decades (Loftin, Hartin & Branson, 2013). The successful delivery of health care in a multicultural setting is often hampered by a host of factors, including chiefly language and non-verbal communication barriers between carer and patient, lack of respect and/or awareness of cultural traditions and beliefs in the practitionerclient relationship and interpersonal as well as institutional stereotyping and prejudice. Accordingly, several health-care models have been proposed to shift from a somewhat paternalistic health-care model to an approach that engages the patient in decision making and self-care. Such models include cultural competence (CC) and patient-centered care (PCC) models (Renzaho, Romios & Crock, 2013). As a Filipino Nurse who had been working in the (K.S.A.) Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for the past 20 years, the researcher has encountered several occasions where her cultural competence was challenged. The researcher realized that these experiences were essential elements to the success of this undertaking. While it is absolutely true that the Arab world is entirely the opposite of Filipino culture, due to many reasons, yet she decided that this country is still a Republic of the Philippines CAMARINES SUR POLYTECHNIC COLLEGES Nabua, Camarines Sur GRADUATE SCHOOL 5 place to work and live in. Of course, being a Muslim country, there is evidently predominantly use of male power. Saudi males dominate the society, in every aspect, may it be at school, supermarkets, malls, streets and most of all in the hospitals. The females are not allowed to worship and pray in the mosques outside their houses, except in the two Holy Mosques situated in Makkah and Medina. There were numerous accounts that the researcher encountered discrimination from the Saudi patients. One instance was when the Saudi patient screamed at the researcher (who was her nurse during the shift) because as a neophyte, she was not able to understand the language. Another experience was that when one of the researcher's charge nurse ill-fatedly treated her while transferring a patient. These occurrences prompted the researcher to conduct a study on how Filipino nurses can cope up with a diverse population. At this point, the researcher hopes to determine the level of cultural competence of Filipino nurses working with diverse population in one hospital of Riyadh, K.S.A. Since Filipino nurses are bound to interacting with the diverse population of Saudi Arabia, therefore, it is worthwhile for them to be culturally competent and be able to adapt to the diverse culture of their patients and coworkers. The researcher developed a guidebook that will be used as a guide by the Filipino nurses going to the Middle East particularly in K.S.A. The guidebook contains information regarding the process of acquiring cultural competence with the integration of cultural awareness, cultural skills, cultural knowledge, cultural encounters and cultural desire. Republic of the Philippines CAMARINES SUR POLYTECHNIC COLLEGES

Our recent research has used historical accounts of piracy to briefly examine pirate leadership, pirate culture and social organization, feasting activities, and studies of pirate geography to propose an interpretive framework for understanding the migration of the Sea Peoples as, inter alia, pirate tribes who plundered some of the great centers of the Mediterranean at the end of the Bronze Age. We suggest that as Mycenaean control over trade routes collapsed with the destruction and/or eventual abandonment of the Mycenaean palaces, Crete became particularly vulnerable to piracy, because of certain geographical and topographical features that characterized its coastlines. Unless defended, rocky coastlines, natural harbors, promontories, and river valleys were susceptible to piratical activity, as we shall discuss. Historical records indicate that piracy resulted in a desolation of coastlines, as coastal settlements and coastal plains might be attacked at night, with villages burnt a...

This is the editorial for the special issue: "Psychobiography 4.0: about robots, AI and humanoids", published in Issue 7 in the InternatIonal RevIew of PsychIatry, 2025.
The SI includes 11 articles of which several are published open access.

This research proposes recognizing the core of 'Displacement' and its impact on the characters' lives in the South Asian semi-autobiographical novel, Clear Light of Day. Edward Said's postcolonialism and Orientalism theory, the objective can be applied to analyze the concept of Displacement by categorizing the characters' actions into theatrical and non-theatrical contexts. To identify subalterns, this research applies the theory of post-colonialism and Orientalism theory of Edward Said's idea of representation and constructed truth & identity will help to recognize the subalterns in multiple social aspects such as class, caste, religion, nationality, ethnicity, age, gender, etc. This research aim is to find the novel major issue of displacement and its effect on the past through the portrayal of the Das family in post-partition India. The characters in the novel clash with a sense of physical and emotional displacement as they sail the changing landscapes of their lives and the haunting memories of the past. The historical backdrop of the partition of India adds complexity to these themes, punctuating the influence of political and social turmoil on personal identities and relationships. It is qualitative research, contemplative and introspective nature in nature, and will be executed through a closed textual analysis method using the theories and different scholarly journals as research tools.

Cette étude transculturelle et interdisciplinaire porte sur les discours et les pratiques relatifs au goût au XVIIe siècle en France et en Chine. Nous y examinons tout d’abord les questions lexicales liées au goût et aux notions endogènes qui lui sont liées entre le français et le chinois classique : le goût est-il un « intraduisible » ?

Dans un second temps, nous étudions les œuvres du Chevalier de Méré, de Gao Lian 高濂 et de Zhang Dai 張岱 à la lumière de l’esthétique sociale du goût. Nous nous efforçons d’explorer le rapport entre l’esthétique et le social en matière de goût : dans quelle mesure ses effets sensibles peuvent-ils influer sur les rapports sociaux ? Nous nous intéressons enfin à la formation d’une « communauté imaginaire du goût » lors de la transition entre la dynastie Ming et la dynastie Qing en Chine au XVIIe siècle.

Our understanding of time, including the future, is grounded in a universal perception shared across cultures. However, the ways in which this universal perception is comprehended differ significantly, shaped by the linguistic structures of various languages and the broader culturally conditioned frameworks of reference they are part of. These differences in comprehension give rise to diverse models of the future, offering unique insights into alternative perspectives on the metaphysics of time and its relation to the philosophy of action. This paper explores these alternative perspectives through a comparative analysis of the Later Mohist view from ancient Chinese thought and St Augustine's introspective framework, influential in Western philosophy. By employing the method of transcultural comparative sublation, the study uncovers the strengths and limitations of each perspective, showing how diverse approaches to time deepen our understanding of the future as both a realm of possibility and a structural feature of reality. This dialogue encourages critical reflection on human agency, ethics, and the role of time in shaping existence, potentially revealing new perspectives on their interconnections and implications.

The project would never have flourished as well as it did without the KHI's outstanding academic environment, and our work has benefitted greatly from a lively exchange with numerous colleagues who have worked and visited there over the years. The idea for this volume grew out of conversations with Anna Sophia Messner, who was a doctoral fellow in my group, and with Kerstin Schankweiler, who stayed a close academic friend of the project after having spent a short term as a visiting researcher in Florence. Their steady commitment made it possible to continue working on this publication together, even after the sometimes much too fast-paced rhythm of academic commitments had led us to other places. Lea Mönninghoff helped as a student assistant in the first stages of preparation of the manuscript in Florence, Marie Hummel at TU Dresden assisted when we finalized it for submission. An important step along the way was a writing retreat that brought almost all contributors together for several days in the summer of 2017 in Hohenems. Hanno Loewy, the director of the Jewish Museum Hohenems, generously provided us with space to work-and by way of his museum's splendid exhibition he introduced us to his take on objects and their historic agency, which we found very much in tune with ours. Monica Juneja, Russell Ó Ríagáin, and two anonymous peer reviewers provided great encouragement along with valuable critical feed back. They made it possible to turn the manuscript into a splendid book at Heidelberg University Press, where it is most aptly placed within the Heidelberg Studies on Transculturality series. The open access version of this volume was generously supported with a grant from the University Library of Freie Universität Berlin, I thank Robert Ave and the team edocs as well as Kerstin Schankweiler and Tobias Wendl who facilitated this. Last but not least, most heartfelt thanks go out to the authors of this book. They have all been collaborators or fellows of my Max Planck Research Group. Each of them embraced the spirit of "Objects in the Contact Zone" from a different angle. Yet, the keen interest in enhancing and developing our perspectives provided ample common ground and

Nos últimos anos, o contínuo desenvolvimento de plataformas de streaming transnacionais ampliou os canais de disseminação internacional das obras cinematográficas e televisivas chinesas, permitindo que histórias e vozes da China alcancem um palco global mais amplo. A difusão do conteúdo audiovisual chinês no Brasil é um fenômeno relativamente recente e ainda pouco explorado. No entanto, os telespectadores brasileiros têm demonstrado um interesse crescente por produções chinesas, e plataformas de streaming voltadas para conteúdos asiáticos vêm ganhando popularidade no país. Este artigo analisa a disseminação e a recepção das produções seriadas chinesas no Brasil, explorando de que maneira as plataformas transnacionais de streaming e as comunidades de fãs contribuem para a circulação internacional dessas produções.

During the 80s, several black independent film and video workshops gained importance in the United Kingdom. These workshops tried to encapsulate the political and social problems black British communities were facing as well as countering the misrepresentation and stereotypes put forward on black British subjects by British media. One of these workshops, and on which this paper focuses, was Ceddo. Ceddo was a film and video workshop whose productions were characterised by its community orientation and its use of image as a weapon. I concentrate on the films The People's Account (Bryan 1986) and Culture for Freedom (Gordon 1990a). These works use the riots of 1985 in Brixton and Tottenham as a background to expose the marginalisation of black British communities by hegemonic Britain. They mirror each other in content but not in form being Culture for Freedom a continuation to The People's Account and the censorship that it faced.

Modern Kuwait's urban development as it emerged during the second half of the twentieth century has been the outcome of a sustained planning effort. The idea of adopting and implementing master plans prepared by planning specialists was introduced early in 1951 -only a few years after Kuwait became an oil producer. The country's first master/development plan was completed later that year. of the Centre for Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, University of Durham, for his interest and advice. The author is also grateful to Mr. Nicholas Bursey, Associate Director, Colin Buchanan and Partners, for sharing his views on aspects of urbanisation in Kuwait and for providing a number of planning documents.

The resurgence of xenophobia has become a salient issue in contemporary societies, driven by complex interactions between economic, cultural, security, and media-related factors. This study conducts a comparative analysis of the United Kingdom, Australia, Japan, and Thailand to explore the causes, manifestations, and implications of xenophobic attitudes. Using a qualitative, thematic, and country-specific approach, the research examines how economic anxieties, national identity concerns, security perceptions, and media representation shape xenophobic discourse. Findings reveal both global patterns and context-specific dynamics: economic competition and perceived threats to national identity consistently fuel xenophobia, while local histories, political structures, and cultural frameworks influence its intensity and form. The study highlights the role of media in amplifying xenophobic narratives and underscores the institutionalization of exclusionary practices through policy frameworks. Policy and theoretical implications emphasize the need for multi-dimensional interventions that promote social cohesion, equitable migration policies, and responsible media engagement. This research contributes to the broader understanding of xenophobia as a multi-faceted social phenomenon with both universal and localized drivers.

This chapter examines the historical and cultural intersections between the Mediterranean Sea (Mesogeios Thalassa – Dizhonghai 地中海 in Greek-Roman and Chinese sources), particularly the Greek-Hellenistic world and China. Beginning with Herodotus’ depiction of the Mediterranean as an intercultural space and tracing connections through the expansion of Alexander the Great’s dominion, the chapter explores the strategic role of settlements such as Alexandria Eschate in the Ferghana Valley. By analysing Chinese sources, including the Shiji 史記 and Hanshu 漢書, it is possible to highlight the transcontinental networks linking the Mediterranean world to China, emphasising the symbolic and economic importance of trade commodities like silk. Special attention is also given to the toponym Tiaozhi, identified with Characene, and the maritime routes to Da Qin 大秦 (commonly associated with the Roman Empire or its eastern territories). The chapter concludes that Da Qin in Chinese sources provides a sophisticated perspective on the Greek-Hellenistic world, shaped by intercultural exchanges across Central Asia and the Mediterranean world.

This is a book review of The Many Worlds of Anglophone Literature: Transcultural Engagements, Global Frictions (Bloomsbury Academic, 2025), edited by Silvia Anastasijevic, Magdalena Pfalzgraf, and Hanna Teichler. The collection examines how Anglophone literatures negotiate transcultural exchanges and global frictions in the context of shifting political, social, and aesthetic landscapes. Its essays engage diverse regions, genres, and theoretical approaches to trace how themes of migration, identity, and power intersect across literary traditions. By foregrounding tensions between the local and the global, the volume highlights both the challenges and the generative possibilities of transcultural literary encounters. This review assesses the book's contribution to postcolonial, world literary, and cultural studies scholarship.

Al dar cuenta de la manera como algunos personajes populares venezolanos se han relacionado con su entorno, Juan Félix Sánchez (1982), Trato con duendes (1999), Baroni, un viaje (2007) y Memorias de la esperanza (2008) ofrecen ejemplos preciosos y concretos de eso que Heidegger denominó habitar poético del mundo, al tiempo que atesoran algo que Édouard Glissant acertó a catalogar como “oralidad trémula y creativa”. La lectura de esos libros también permite apreciar la inesperada álgebra creativa que ha sido alcanzada cuando algunos poetas, artistas y escritores, como Rafael José Álvarez, José Sánchez Lecuna y Sergio Chejfec, entre otros, han establecido contacto con un pensamiento y una poesía arraigados en la cultura popular de Venezuela.

This paper explores the integration of Islamicate decorative patterns, particularly debased Arabic inscriptions, into Romanesque art in Western Europe, focusing on their symbolic, political, and religious significance. ​ It challenges the notion of one-way cultural appropriation, proposing instead a dynamic process of hybridity and competitive sharing in border zones where Islamic, Byzantine, and Christian cultures intersected.  By tracing the spread of these patterns through pilgrimage routes, monastic networks, and artistic exchanges, the paper highlights their multifaceted meanings. ​ The findings underscore the role of Islamicate decorative patterns in the unification of the Latin West under the Church of Rome during the Gregorian Reform, demonstrating their function as both aesthetic elements and tools of ideological communication. ​

The purpose of this chapter is to review the key issues and reveal the cultural assumptions underlying the issues and intercultural competencies for building sustaining loving relationships between Americans and Japanese in bicultural marriages. Transforming bicultural misunderstandings into trusting relationships in bicultural relationships is the ultimate goal of the authors. There is power in empathy, in building shared goals, in a mutual appreciation for diversity, and in continual efforts toward resolving misunderstandings through utilizing intercultural competencies. Cultural interpretations and intercultural competencies applied to the issues most commonly identified in bicultural marriages can be utilized to strengthen and sustain loving relationships between Japanese and Americans. Educators, counselors, friends, and families who strive to support struggling partners in bicultural marriages may find these thoughts and practices applicable.

As the most widely-used painting manual in China, the Mustard Seed Garden Manual
of Painting ( Jieziyuan huazhuan 芥子園畫傳, hereafter Mustard Seed) has long been
considered to have been a handbook for beginners. This article problematizes this
relatively fixed notion by examining different editions of the manual and argues that
the pedagogical function that most people take for granted is an anachronistic construction. In fact, the woodblock-printed Mustard Seed was regarded as an illegitimate painting manual in the mainstream art scene after its publication because it used woodblock printing to convey painting techniques. The canonization of the manual
started in the late Qing (1862-1911), as a result of the availability of affordable lithographic editions. It soon became a primer for many would-be painters and gradually
entered art schools in the Republican period (1912-1949), changing the traditional
pedagogies of painting education. While highlighting the multivalent social functions of Mustard Seed, this paper will also show how changes in printing technique are
connected to Mustard Seed’s canonization.

When Phantom comics got translated into Bengali, the 'viewders' (a portmanteau of viewers and readers since comics reading is an activity which requires both reading and viewing at the same time) were introduced to a hitherto unseen world of exotic jungles, spandex-clad supernatural superheroes, along with their reintroduction with a form of entertainment that was laced with colonial-hegemonic themes and undercurrents. While neocolonial influences take several forms of re-penetration in the erstwhile colonies (Nkrumah,1965) the most apparently innocent medium might be comics (Sarkar, 2020 p. 120). This paper will analyse selected newspaper strips, Anandabazar Patrika from March 2002 to May 2010 of Phantom comics translated into Bengali to question the re-iteration of pro-colonial perspectives inside them via Post-Colonial critical discourse analysis as established by Dipesh Chakraborty and Stuart Hall among others. The liberalisation push of the 90s provided rich dividends to the Indian markets after their encounters with foreign agencies which provided a context for the burgeoning of translated texts. The implications of the series of events created a market for foreign-produced comics in India. They reinforced the image of the white super-bodied European male saviour in the psyche of the Bengalis.