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Brethren in Sovereignty: Examining the Semiotics of the Macartney Embassy of 1793
No full textThe failure of the Macartney Embassy in 1793 has traditionally been attributed to George Macartney’s refusal to adhere to the Qing custom of koutou(磕頭), to bow deeply before the emperor. This is often used as an example to reinforce stereotypes of Western modernity and Eastern backwardness, leading to the breakdown of relationships culminating in the breakout of the first Opium War. However, the embassy’s failure goes beyond the simple refusal to bow but is a result of conflicting practices and interests. This paper will examine British and Qing semiotic systems through ritual, gift, and negotiation, and how the conflict between the systems led to thew breakdown of relations. Language barriers and inadequate translations between parties compounded into greater misunderstanding and dissonance in communications between the Qing and the British. The dissonancewas exacerbated by the importance of ritual in the Qing tributary system, and British refusal to be subjugated by it. The exchange of gifts during the embassy displayed power and influence. Ritual and gift laid the foundation for diplomacy, where the conflicting strategies and inability to accommodate the goals of both parties ultimately led to the failure of the Macartney Embassy and the end of peaceful diplomacy
Chamomile (Matricaria chamomillia)
No full textA reflection on the plant Chamomile and its relation to Slavic culture and the Author\u27s personal history
Dublin, Anne. She\u27s a Mensch: Ten Amazing Jewish Women. Toronto: Second Story Press, 2023.
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Gilpin, W. Clark. The Letter from Prison: Literature of Cultural Resistance in Early Modern England
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Sex and the Sailor: Sexual Violence at Sea in the Early Modern British World, c. 1600–c. 1750
No full textA sea voyage in the early modern period came with many inherent risks and often considerable unpleasantness for travellers ranging from storms and shipwreck to seasickness. But not all those who voyaged across water were in the same boat, as it were. Women and young boys faced additional dangers of unwanted sexual attention or rape from predators on their ships or those they encountered, such as pirates or enemy warships. This article examines the experiences and vulnerability of women and young boys as they dealt with the threat of sexual assault when they journeyed by sea.Au début des temps modernes, un voyage en mer présentait de nombreux risques inhérents et s’accompagnait souvent de désagréments considérables pour les voyageurs, qu’il s’agisse de tempêtes, de naufrages ou du mal de mer. Mais tous ceux qui parcouraient les mers n’étaient pas, pour ainsi dire, dans le même bateau. Les femmes et les jeunes garçons couraient un risque accru de viol ou de harcèlement sexuel de la part des prédateurs présents sur leurs navires ou de ceux qu’ils rencontraient en chemin, tels que les pirates ou les navires de guerre ennemis. Cet article examine les expériences et la vulnérabilité des femmes et des jeunes garçons face à la menace d’agression sexuelle lorsqu’ils voyageaient en mer
Rape or Rapaciousness in Jan Cornelisz Vermeyen’s Tunis Tapestries?
No full textCourt artist Jan Cornelisz Vermeyen produced a set of cartoons for the Tunis tapestries commissioned by Mary of Hungary and woven in Brussels in c. 1546–54. Throughout the ten extant cartoons, women are subjected to violence, but they are also presented as economically valuable captives and slaves. In the sole surviving preparatory drawing, Vermeyen recorded more extreme physical depredation, with the corpse of a young, obese woman lying on her side with her garments pulled up to expose her pubic mound and her upper left arm sliced open in two places. The violated woman rendered the rapaciousness of soldiers an inescapable fact. In addition, viewers may have associated the victim with the North African practice of bride fattening. However, this disturbing figure was eliminated from the final tapestries. While we lack direct testimony about that decision, it may have been informed by a combination of sexual, ethnographic, and medical discourses.L’artiste de cour Jan Cornelisz Vermeyen réalisa une série de cartons pour les tapisseries de la bataille de Tunis commandées par Marie de Hongrie et tissées à Bruxelles vers 1546–54. Dans les dix cartons conservés, les femmes sont victimes de violences, mais aussi présentées comme des captives et des esclaves possédant une valeur marchande. Dans le seul dessin préparatoire qui nous soit parvenu, Vermeyen fait état de sévices physiques plus extrêmes avec le cadavre d’une jeune femme obèse couchée sur le côté, ses vêtements relevés pour exposer son pubis, et le haut de son bras gauche tranché en deux endroits. Cette femme violée rendait flagrante la brutalité des soldats. En outre, les spectateurs pouvaient associer la victime à la pratique nord-africaine du gavage des filles. Cette figure troublante a toutefois été éliminée dans les tapisseries finales. Bien qu’il n’y ait pas de témoignage direct à son sujet, cette décision pourrait avoir été guidée par une combinaison de discours sexuels, ethnographiques et médicaux
