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Das Wort aus Stein by Kurt Rupli is more than science-fiction movie. This medium-length film produced by the german UFA in 1939 is the expression of excessive architectural projects using movie techniques to give reality to the nazi technocratic ideology. Das Wort aus Stein shows the new Germany as it represented itself before it was levelled to the ground by the enemy bombardments which already threaten it at the time of the film-making. An avalanche of stones, omen of the forthcoming disaster, is used as a generic to the post-apocalyptic projects of Hitler. Through the analysis of some movie passages, stills of the shooting, architectural models and articles of this period, this research develops the Apocalypse in which the Nazi plans involve Europe, the Jewish people and finally Germany itself.

Keywords: architecture, cinéma, apocalypse, nazisme, technique et société, architecture, cinema, apocalypse, nazism, technology and society

In Silesia, a zone of cultural contact, ethnomusicology has been a militant science since the nineteenth century. Ethnomusicologists were initially preoccupied with maintaining Polish national identity within Silesia, and later, between the wars, with promoting pronationalist regional unification. During the socialist period, the discipline was highly sought after by the regime, desirous of creating a unified popular culture. This policy, already contested before the end of the regime, has been thoroughly disputed since 1990, as much over its ideological content as over its methodology. The notions of the “happy people” and their “charming folklore” have been challenged. At the same time, there has been a rediscovery of the traditional music of native peoples from the plains and mountains, as well as that of the regions ethnic minorities. Complex on cultural, religious, historic, geographical and economic levels, the case of Silesia can serve as a model for the exploratory analysis of other European regions.

One commonality between France and Quebec is the strong influence of the Catholic Church, in France up to 1789 and in Quebec up to 1960. This makes it legitimate to compare the French Revolution and the Quebec “Quiet” Revolution, despite the distance in time and space of these two political and religious ruptures. This article shows the key and founding moments in the conquest of autonomy of each of these nations, including the assent or even the collaboration of Catholic actors, whether the conquest involved conflict, as in France, or occurred less explicitly, as in Quebec. The analysis, which underlines the distinction between the magisterial and matricial function of the Church, also allows us to understand the strongly differentiated management of the religious effects of the revolutions.

Keywords: France, Québec, Révolution française, Révolution tranquille, analyse comparative, Église catholique, autonomie du politique, sécularisation, France, Quebec, French Revolution, Quiet Revolution, comparative analysis, Catholic Church, political autonomy, secularization

The socio-demographic recomposition of the countryside is affecting local interactions and power relations. Understanding these relationships remains a challenge, as the studies to date are often limited to conflicts between neo-rural populations (newcomers) and long-time country residents over partial issues, without including decision makers. To go beyond this conflictual and fragmentary perspective, our objective is to present an overall picture of both cooperative and oppositional relations between four groups, namely, newcomers, long-time rural residents, leaders of local organizations and municipal officials, in regard to all the issues that concern them. The data are based on interviews with these various actors in two contrasting rural areas of Québec (Canada). After looking at the newcomers' mixed assessment of their participation in community life, we concentrate on areas of collaboration and/or conflict between all the actors regarding demographic, economic, sociocultural, political, environmental and agricultural issues. Three main trends emerge, revealing unexpected ways of interacting, complex power relations and antagonistic conceptions of rural spaces and their future development.

The ubiquity of suffering in the wild raises the question of our obligation to intervene. From a simple duty of assistance in particular situations to large-scale projects aimed at transforming animal living conditions, the defense of interventionism often conflicts with conservationist values, which emphasize the naturalness or autonomy of ecological systems. In this article, we attempt to open a dialogue between interventionist intuitions and the conservationist school of thought. We first expose the interventionist argument and its epistemic limitations. We subsequently mitigate the statement according to which the living conditions of wild animals justify human intervention by replacing the problem of suffering in a broader ecological and evolutionary framework, as well as by insisting on other obligations that we may have towards wild animals, such as the respect of their autonomy and sovereignty. Finally, we defend a pluralistic conception of our relationships to the natural world, in which care for animals has to be balanced with other, eco-centered, values. We conclude by presenting the resources of a compassionate conservation approach, which remains largely unexplored and integrates care for individual animals as well as for ecological entities in its norm for action.

The black power salute is a powerful call to arms for resistance and social change. In South Africa, black power is tied up with the Black Consciousness Movement of the 1970s, aiming to reclaim black identity. Integral to this attempt was the use of cultural and intellectual means, and under its aegis writers' groups started forming in place of political groups (which were suppressed), as a base for mobilisation and collective action. But these writers could not effect social change on their own: they needed a platform—a publisher. Sipho Sepamla, writing in the New Classic in 1976, pointed to the absence of publishers as a hurdle for black writers: ‘A problem that wears us down is lack of publishers and outlets. There is not a single black publisher I know of in this country.' In the context of the competing forces of repression and Black Consciousness, a few black publishers did emerge. Skotaville Press, for instance, aimed ‘to produce black literature that is relevant and contemporary—and to do it under black control from start to finish.' However, it did this in somewhat ambiguous circumstances, relying on foreign funds and white patrons. Using archival records and interviews, this paper will assess the operations and output of these publishers, considering how race and context affects and inflects publishing. Moreover, it will ask why, in contrast to the legacy created by black power publishers in the US, a tradition of viable black‑owned publishing has not continued into the post‑apartheid period.

Keywords: black publishing, political publishing, Skotaville, South Africa, Édition noire, Édition politique, Skotaville, Afrique du Sud

Paul Vidal de la Blache (1845–1918) visited the province of Quebec twice: once in 1904, on his way to the United States and once in 1912, as a member of Mission Champlain. This article analyzes three aspects of this part of Vidal's career. First, the focus is on the trips themselves: motives, circumstances, and sequence of events. Then, we pay attention to the role played by Vidal in the construction of scholarly geography in French Canada. Finally, we examine the writings that Vidal produced for and about his two trips to North America. We focus on three themes: Vidal's point of view on French Canada; on Americanism, which he conceived of as a way of living (genre de vie) specific to the North American continent; and on the economic and political modernization dictated by the geographical dynamics of the time.

Keywords: Paul Vidal de la Blache, relations France-Québec, Comité France-Amérique, Mission Champlain, histoire de la géographie, américanisme, Paul Vidal de la Blache, France-Québec relations, Comité France-Amérique, Mission Champlain, history of geography, Americanism, Paul Vidal de la Blache, relaciones Francia-Quebec, Comité Francia-América, Misión Champlain, historia de la Geografía, americanismo