Stan badań nad kobietami w miastach późnośredniowiecznych na ziemiach polskich

Author(s): Piotr Łozowski / Language(s): Polish Issue: 1/2015

The article contains a review of Polish scientific literature concerning the history of women in the towns in Polish lands in the late Middle Ages. The article fulfils two main objectives: to present the state of development and directions of the analyses, and to outline new research possibilities, especially the ones offered by urban judicial records. The present scientific output of Polish medievalists proves that they are not too much interested in the role of women in the urban communities. In addition to just a few articles that deal with that problem seriously (briefly presenting many spheres of how women functioned in towns), there is a group of studies that treat the subject in a more sophisticated way. At present, the question best analysed is the legal situation of female inhabitants of towns and the problems taking place in the marital relations; the two things are closely related. The question of the professional life of women in the form of their participation in the guilds and retail trade has also been touched on. A lot of space has been devoted to the religious life of townswomen expressed in numerous pilgrimages and donations to ecclesiastical institutions. Undoubtedly, the least investigated sphere is the economic activities of women such as their participation in the credit market, the real estate turnover and commerce.The basic statistical analyses of the material that has been available in the judicial books of Warsaw, Cracow and Wąwolnica has proved their enormous research value. The urban sources (depending on the size of the town in question) offer to researchers hundreds or even thousands of mentions and records that are testimony of women’s participation in various spheres of urban life. Therefore, it is becoming possible to get an insight not only into the women’s activities in credit and real estate markets, but also into the meanders of their family life (inheritance and the like), lawsuits concerning unpaid debts and links with the criminal world. Regrettably, the urban books are still rarely explored and in most cases the quantitative methods are not used.

Opieka nad nieletnimi w rodzinach szlacheckich w Koronie w XVII wieku. Zarys problematyki i perspektywy badawcze

Author(s): Jacek Pielas / Language(s): Polish Issue: 1/2015

The article outlines the problems and research prospects of one of the most common legal institution that was typical of the old-Polish gentry families – the guardianship of minors, which has not been researched in the historical literature so far. The author reminds that in the ancient Polish law there were four ways of establishing the guardianship of minors, which were called: paternal, natural, official and autocratic. Each one of the four might commence only when the previous one had ceased. The author presents the most important findings made by law historians and underlines that they treat with the practical functioning of the guardianship in the reality of the 17th-century gentry of the Crown only superficially. We might familiarise with that practice thanks to other than normative sources, massive in character, namely the old-Polish last wills. In addition to establishing the guardianship, they contain many hints on how to educate and bring up minors.Undoubtedly, the most interesting question is what the guardians were actually doing. And here the essential question is whether their guardianship was good enough, whether they took care of the child (upkeep, upbringing, education) and of the child’s property. One of the objectives of the author of this article will be to present the most common activities undertaken by guardians, that is to say the ‘model’ behaviour of guardians. At the same time – wherever it is possible – it is worth attempting to present the reaction of the children to their guardians’ actions. In this context, there appears a fundamental problem of the scale and kinds of the abuses committed by the guardians, first of all concerning the minors’ land properties, including delaying the people they were in charge of entering into marriage in order to extend the period of their running their land property. An exceptionally important function of the institution of guardianship in the life of the gentry family combined with the research possibilities included in the 17th-century sources offer optimistic prospects for a comprehensive study, which would present the guardianship in gentry families and facilitate a better understanding of how the gentry family functioned in the Crown in the modern times.

DEPRIVATION, CLASS AND IDENTITY ISSUE IN CONTEMPORARY TURKISH CINEMA

Author(s): Neşe Kaplan,Ali Bariş Kaplan / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2015

New economy–politics and globalization have not only been changing the structure of class but the representation of identities as well. New social roles are reproduced and also criticized by the means of cultural production in which media and cinema instruments included. In past, the class structure and attachment to identities were effected by modernization process; in a similar way; in the current state of modernization, the new cultural sphere shaped by global communication networks and global consumption attitudes have been alternating the class structure and attachment to identity. With this context, this study analyzed some contemporary social realistic films (Zerre, Araf, Köksüz, Yozgat Blues) to understand how the position of individual changes within its role with herself and its relation to social institutions through a critical approach towards the dimensions of culture and economy-politics of the change. The aim is to start a discussion over cinema, about the effect of cultural change on class and representation of identity. The theoretic frame enlightening the change of the relation of the individual with her work, family, and society was built with the help of critical works. The economy-politics result of the globalization phenomenon has isolated the individual and detached her from its position, subject of politics. The structure of class has changed, the attachment to identity has weakened. The desperation of individual belonging to nothing, is a subject of cinema as well. The isolation and the deprivation of the new individual emerges as the very “violence” itself in the fantastic world of cinema.

DIGITAL MEDIA PLATFORMS AND EDUCATION: THE USES OF SOCIAL NETWORKING IN THE UAE AND CHINA

Author(s): Badreya Aljenaibi / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2015

Young people today are growing up in a digitalized environment. What challenges do they face in navigating this content-rich, symbolic environment? In this article, the researcher reviews university students' perceptions of media literacy by examining the use of social networking platforms (SN) in academic settings. The researcher distributed 1200 surveys evenly split between Chinese and UAE students and 998 were returned and analyzed. The findings reveal that while many students believe that media literacy should become a priority in modern curricula, this urgency is not felt by the majority of students. The researcher reviews current views and methodologies in the literature related to media literacy and its status in current pedagogy. The study draws from gravitation theory to place the use of SN tools within a broader background of communication. The Uses and Gratification Theory is also invoked to explain how SN was made attractive to campus activists and protesters in the two countries.

A SEMIOTIC READING OF DIGITAL AVATARS AND THEIR ROLE OF UNCERTAINTY REDUCTION IN DIGITAL COMMUNICATION

Author(s): Sercan Şengün / Language(s): English Issue: Special/2014

This study tries to explain the role of digital avatars for communication in two distinct ways. In the first part it debates what kinds of meanings avatars have for their users. To answer this question based on semiotic theories of Saussure and Lacan, a new approach will be proposed. Saussure’s theory of signs and Lacan’s theory of chain of signifiers as an entry for self, will be merged to form a new viewpoint. In the second part, the role of avatars in the digital communication for the receivers will be approached by Berger’s uncertainty reduction theory.

Przedmowa do pierwszego numeru Studiów Krytycznych/Critical Studies

Author(s): Mariusz Baranowski,Sławomir Czapnik / Language(s): Polish Issue: 1/2015

90-letni Zygmunt Bauman: Schopferkraft i jego dwoistość

Author(s): Tony Blackshaw / Language(s): Polish Issue: 2/2016

The Translatability of Cultures

Author(s): Wolf Lepenies / Language(s): English Issue: 04/1992

The present day is not a time for scholars who, like sociologists, are trying to develop theories of the middle range or who, like historians, want to apply the lessons from the recent past to the present. Our age, which has given a new and pathos-ridden meaning to the word “change”, is longing either for eternal truth or for those interview statements that just slip off the tongue, to be forgotten immediately after the commercial break. For once, social scientists and novelists find themselves in the same boat, one too slow to gain the attention of the breathless public. This is a time for prophets and for priests who stick to their faith and for reporters who are not supposed to have any.

Modernleşme sürecinde kimlik bunalimi: iktibas hukuku ile bir analiz

Author(s): Fatih Becer / Language(s): Turkish Issue: 33/2017

Individuals and their communities are constantly innovating and developing. This development is the same whether it is in the political sense, in the form of a reflection of capitalism with a focus on profit and exploitation, or in the context of elements such as science and technology. In this process, the conflict of departure from the essence happens internally in closed social structures that are influenced by innovation but cannot accept the new situation. In brief; under the influence of technology and mass media, the drift and change towards a central identity take place through the birth of a decentralized society structure from a traditional social structure. It is a definition of modernization and the crisis of identity which is formed in this process. Together with modernization, it is also possible that there is a change and identity confusion in the same way in many different societies like Alevi, Sunni, Kurdish, Turkish, Gypsy, Circassian. In this study, it will be focused on definitions from the traditional society towards modern society, which is based on developments and innovations, will be tried to analyze the identity crisis that is the result of the reflections going towards a single identity structure called centralized identity. Besides, an analyze will be realized about the effects of the law on the social structure during the modernization process.

Haci Bektaş-I Veli ve humanizm anlayişi

Author(s): Ahmet Özalp / Language(s): Turkish Issue: 33/2017

It seems like it is an obligation to examine some motifs in order to understand the socio-psychological viewpoint of Anatolian culture. Within this viewpoint, the examination of certain people who has affected Anatolian people sociologically becomes important. Hacı Bektaş-ı Veli is the most important person among this certain people. The examination of this person’s life and thought in terms of humanistic approach will ease to find answers for some questions related to sociology and social structure in Anatolia. The main purpose of this study which examines Hacı Bektaş-ı Veli’s thought structure in terms of humanism traces based on symbolic approach is to study Veli’s life with a socio-psycologic viewpoint.The method of this study is based on literature search of Hacı Bektaş-ı Veli’s humanistic thought traces and the interpretation of these thoughts with symbols. The reason of this study is to show how much importance Hacı Bektaş-ı Veli attaches to human life and individual values.

Ispitivanje povezanosti stadija religioznog razvoja i stavova o rastavi braka

Author(s): Ankica Baković / Language(s): Croatian Issue: 4/2017

The aim was to check the relationship between stages of religious development and attitudes about divorce and the quality of married life among fiancés. The study included 71 respondents of both genders from the area of Livno, Bosnia and Herzegovina. None of them had ever been married (34 women and 37 men, M = 23.5, sd = 2.99). For measuring the stages of religious development, there was used multidimensional Fowler scale of religious attitudes, which measures four stages in the development of faith (2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th) that go from lower to higher. The paper take into account the results of previous research on the basis of which are formulated initial assumptions about the perception of the most common causes of divorce, attitudes regarding the phenomenon of divorce in general, and the insufficient influence of religious consciousness in attitudes toward divorce. Pearson correlation coefficientwas used for the processing of the results. As expected, results indicate a significant connection between the claims of the high value of marriage with higher stages of religious development in respondents. There was no statistically significant negative correlation between the stages of religious development and claim that divorce is something completely normal. Subjects who achieved better results at lower stages of religious development (2 and 3) considered lack of communication between spouses as the most common cause of divorce, and subjects with higher scores on the higher stages (4 and 5) as reasons for divorce cited too late entering into a marriage, the lack of genuine faith and spiritual life, the problem of addiction, the emancipation of women, and the too high expectations from marriage. Common to all respondentsis that they believe the disagreement of spouses in the area of sexuality and lack of willingness to sacrifice is also among the more often reasons for divorce. Based on the results, it is clearly shown that initial assumptions about the attitudes of respondents toward the divorce are independent of the stage of religious development.Also, there is gained insight about the most common causes of divorce, which can be useful to marriage advisors. However, further research should be carried out on the larger and the more age heterogeneous sample.

Disruption and the Changing Concept of Leadership

Author(s): M S S El Namaki / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2017

Leadership is a catch all concept and the subject attracts intensive attention. Yet the concept, as it stands today, is obsolete. The prime parameters of people and tasks have lost content with people performance parameters going through palpable change and the fundamentals of the task seriously disrupted. Those developments are rendering concepts of leadership in their current professional and conceptual framework, blurred. Gamely and fashion prone colourful presentation of “leadership” are taking over. A serious search into the heart and soul of leadership and a formulation of building blocks is, therefore, needed. It should be serious and it should be conceptual and operationally cogent.

Българският преход и пътят на дестабилизация на конституционализма

Author(s): Elka Todorova,Miroslav Popov / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 3/2014

Bulgarian state is in crisis, the main reason for that is the lack of analysis of the actual state of constitutionalism and anti-constitutionalism. Over the past quarter century, a number of state institutions did not meet fully their constitutional obligations towards the citizens and the state as a whole: a) the state abdicated from the defense of a number of constitutionally enshrined rights of citizens; b) a condescending attitude has been imposed to the new constitution, while its fundamental principles are interpreted and developed in the current legislation in a way different from the actual meaning of the constitutional norms; c) fundamental to the modern parliamentary practices issues are problematized; d) main elements of the democratic society are disclaimed. In place of the examination and analytical assessment of the Bulgarian judiciary law-enforcement nihilism takes place. The war against the Bulgarian statehood has many motives, the main being economic interests and incompetence.

Autoteliczność i instrumentalność kapitału społecznego

Author(s): Jacek Schindler / Language(s): Polish Issue: 6/2015

The dominant view among academic and other intellectuals is that the level of social capital in Poland is low and limits the ability of a community to solve its own problems. This claim is based on a number of premises which are discussed in this essay: the possibility of measuring social capital and to measure it by the level of social trust and civic activity. The local character and use of social capital should be seen as more important than its level: to what extent does social capital serve the community that generate it and to what extent is it used instrumentally even against community’s interests.

Sploty

Author(s): Przemysław Czapliński / Language(s): Polish Issue: 1/2017

Czapliński presents new research in the humanities of the last decade, identifying general deficiencies (mostly methodological ones) and general functions (the intertwining of researcher and subject, of the humanities with science, of science with society).

Nowa humanistyka w Polsce: wstępne koniektury i refutacje

Author(s): Ryszard Nycz / Language(s): Polish Issue: 1/2017

Nycz outlines the main trends in the New Humanities in the world – digital humanities, engaged humanities, cognitive humanities, posthumanism, art based research, as well as the main debates and misunderstandings that have emerged in the Polish context over the last decade. The evolution of ways of thinking and research is exemplified in literary-cultural studies, CTL. This acronym stands for various notions from cultural theory of literature to cultural-textual literacy.

Etnografia i eksperymenty artystyczne. O powstawaniu nowych pól poznawczych we współczesnej antropologii

Author(s): Tomasz Rakowski / Language(s): Polish Issue: 1/2017

To what extent is it possible, in the humanities, to frame research in terms of pre-textual and non-textual ways of reading? Following the textual turn, which is mostly associated with semiotics as well as descriptive and interpretive orientations, ethnography is returning to more source-based and immediate endeavours. This is, however, a return to very demanding and uncertain methods, which are only now being examined, unearthed and tested. They emerged against the backdrop of the ontological turn in contemporary anthropology and the practical and action-based turn in the social sciences. In the research team that I direct, we are developing a definition of a creative ethnography that has the potential to create openings; although linked to the anthropology of art, it is also able to propose new languages and ways of grasping cultural facts. Thus I aim to outline a possible path for anthropology, where its unique ‘developmental cycle’ parallels the ontological turn and the action-based turn. A particularly important role in this development falls to the artistic experiment as a way of creating a new field of research and of reaching towards unforeseeable research situations.

Brytyjskie studia kulturowe a polski strach przed polityką

Author(s): Arkadiusz Nyzio / Language(s): Polish Issue: 01/2014

Despite considerable change over recent years, British cultural studies and the work of the Birmingham Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies, the very cradle of this discipline, remain on the peripheries of Polish cultural studies. While the causes of this remain under debate, the author deduces that one of them is of utmost importance: the aversion to politics and politicians, observable in the Polish public discourse since 1989, which has amounted to a politicophobia. This phenomenon makes it difficult to accept “an ‘engaged’ set of disciplines”, as Stuart Hall put it. The author argues that overcoming this barrier is one of the key pieces of the development of cultural studies in Poland.

Przyjemność upodmiotowionych przedmiotów. Dziedzictwo brytyjskich studiów kulturowych, realizm spekulatywny i gry wideo

Author(s): Mateusz Felczak / Language(s): Polish Issue: 01/2014

The article deals with the subject of computer games seen from two perspectives: British cultural studies and speculative realism, represented by Graham Harman and Quentin Meillassoux. The author argues that video games are located in the area of interest between the anti‐anthropocentric approach of object‐oriented ontology, and pop‐cultural approach according to the British cultural studies. The article analyses the status of various objects present in computer games (such as tools to be found in digital environments, protagonists and players themselves) and draws the conclusion that all the relations between them are of equal importance to the status of video games as pop‐cultural artifacts in the modern society.

The Effect of Technology on Language and the Importance of Language Technologies

Author(s): Rafał Uzar / Language(s): English Issue: 04/2013

Back in the 1970s, the celebrated writer, scientist and inventor Arthur C. Clarke envisaged a world in which computers could be accessed in one’s own home and could provide us with information to help with our daily needs. Clarke talked about people being able to access their bank accounts and buy theatre tickets with a console the size of a book. A decade later the science fiction writer William Gibson termed the word ‘cyberspace’ in Burning Chrome, a full seven years before Tim Berners‐Lee invented the world wide web in 1989. Hypertext came soon after and with it the explosion that was the internet and the rise of the machines – personal computers, tablets, smartphones and the suchlike. The internet is essentially a gargantuan repository of language, both written and spoken. Hypertext, can be seen as an elegant metaphor for what the internet is, a dynamically evolving receptacle of linguistic information: hyper text. But technology, the internet and personal computing, has not only helped us compartmentalise and store our linguistic resources, it has also helped to fashion our language. Since the birth of hypertext, the virtual world and PCs, technology has had a profound effect on language. Our power to shape language has grown unexpectedly, our access to linguistic tools has expanded exponentially and our communicative abilities have bloomed beyond our wildest dreams. The paper will detail how ‘going online’ has changed our attitudes to language. Ideas of censorship and readership have dramatically altered over the past twenty five years. Technology has liberated language through the new medium that is the internet allowing for unfettered (and undisciplined?) language use.