Documents found
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1431.
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1436.More information
The narrative of a national culture often begins with a "foundational myth," a story that, as Stuart Hall writes, "locates the origin of the nation, the people, and their national character so early that they are lost in the mists of, not 'real,' but 'mythic' time." For postcolonial nation, such origin myths are useful for constructing an identity that preceded, and therefore exists in defiance of, "the ruptures of colonization," and that unifies many cultures and societies into "one people." But what about invader-settler colonies? While motivated by the same desire to create a national identity that stands against the imperial motherland, these states cannot construct their origins so easily, for the "narrative of the nation" must begin with the troublesome moment of colonial invasion. In his 1996 novel Gaff Topsails, Patrick Kavanagh creates a myth for the "primordial" national identity of Newfoundland. Kavanagh's myth reconfigures the colonial moment as a myth of indigenous birth. His work is an attempt to write a national narrative of Newfoundland that serves to distance Newfoundlanders both from colonial exploiters and from Canadian identity.
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1437.More information
What is the connection between the law of a society at a given moment and its social and political history? Are they the same, or do they present significant distinctions? While acknowledging the link between the two, this article underlines their different nature: social and political history has a goal of objectivity, whereas the law is based upon a purely intellectual construction. Because of this, elements of the law often differ from historical data. A case in point is the notion of legal fiction, a proposition recognized by law as the truth, even though its does not conform to the factual situation. After reviewing the role of fictions in law, this article examines the main fictions of English constitutional law, because this is where the gap between law and history is most pronounced. Can this gap be reduced, even to the point it no longer exists? The question is answered by examining the power of judges to modify existing law, more particularly the common law which is of judicial origins. We see that this power is not absolute: judges cannot modify fictions when they also constitute fundamental principles of the existing legal order. The writer concludes that even the authority of legislators in this matter is not without limit.
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1439.
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1440.More information
Th. Noonan, When and how dirhams first reached Russia.This article constitutes the initial part of a larger study of the historical significance of the thousands of Islamic silver coins or dirhams found in medieval European Russia and adjoining areas. In this first part, it is argued that the flow of dirhams into European Russia began around 800 A.D., as was established by Richard Fasmer (Vasmer) in the 1920's and 1930's. The bulk of the article, however, attempts to demonstrate that the earliest dirhams to reach Russia came from the Near East and were transported to Eastern Europe via the Caucasus/Caspian route. There is no numismatic evidence that dirhams came to Russia from or through Central Asia at this time.