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International audience ; What can literary studies bring to our experience? The fact that many scholars, on both sides of the Atlantic, have recently felt the need to address this question is usually interpreted as a symptom of a " crisis " in the literary profession. Less students, less jobs, less attractiveness, less impact, less prestige: the study of literature seems bound to follow the path taken by the study of theology during the 19 th century. Against this background feeling of gloom and doom, the steady flow of manifestoes in favor of literary studies often sounds overblown by wishful thinking. Literary interpretations, as performed in the classroom, are supposed to ground, shape and expand our moral consciousness, set the foundations for an alternative to the suicidal logics of global capitalism, and/or provide an affordable gymnastics training us to become successful among the young sharks of the creative class… Such contradictory and overambitious goals have provided an understandable backlash among more realistic, cautious or cynical colleagues.Phil Watts never indulged in theoretical or programmatic gesturing. As a teacher, as a scholar, as a member of faculty committees, as a departmental chair, he was well aware of the challenges faced by our profession. As a reader and as a thinker, he eagerly followed the debates about the constant reconfiguration of our discipline—and his interest in Jacques Rancière and Roland Barthes bears witness to his profound engagement with literary theory, in its connection with intellectual history and political philosophy. But, to my knowledge, he never attempted directly, openly and frontally to intervene in the theoretical discussions about the evolution and the future of our profession.This may be due to his profound humility: there is an inherent arrogance in the theoretical mode of discourse, which went against the grain of his self-effacing persona. But I believe it is also due to a deeper form of wisdom and intelligence. Phil understood that the best way to defend the study of literature was to actually perform it, rather than merely to preach it. As a teacher, as a scholar, as a family man and as a community member, he taught by example, rather than by admonition or reproach. The best thing we can do to defend, improve and expand our practice of literature is to follow his example.

Una década antes de que fuera construido el Muro Atlántico fue ejecutado un sistema de defensas a lo largo de la costa del Mediterráneo español (1936-39). La recuperación de estas construcciones (de sus documentos gráficos) y su puesta en valor pueden ayudar a consolidar una memoria propia del siglo XX. Este trabajo consiste en inventariar, medir y dibujar los planos de estas arquitecturas a fin de fijar la memoria que se diluye por la erosión del tiempo. Estas defensas militares se sitúan en muchas fronteras: ¿son propiamente arquitectura o piezas industriales? ¿Son arquitectura moderna? Estas transitan entre dos mundos: uno que proyecta arquitecturas ligeras, flexibles y con caducidad frente a otro que construye obras compactas, rígidas y eternas. También se mueven por dos épocas: una que perpetúa las hazañas épicas frente a otras que muestra los desastres. Espacio, tiempo y materia. Son las ruinas de hormigón más modernas de nuestra historia que se encuentran camufladas en la topografía: templos y tumbas a la vez. En esta reconstrucción de la memoria, resulta crucial la restitución gráfica que es donde comienza el conocimiento. ; A decade before there was getting up the Atlantic Wall, there was executed a system of defenses along the Mediterranean coast in Spain (1936-39). The recovery of the same constructions (both of his graphical documents) and his putting in value it can help to consolidate an own memory of the 20th century. This work considers to inventory, to measure and to draw the planes of these architectures to fix the memory that is diluted by the erosion of the time. These military defenses place in many borders: are these defenses properly architecture or are these industrial pieces? Are these a modern architecture? These are walking between two worlds: the one that designs lightweight, flexible and outdated and another that builds heavy, rigid and eternal works. These are walking between two epochs too: the one that perpetuates the epic acts in opposite to the one that shows the disasters. Space, time and matter. They are the most modern ruins of our history built with concrete and disguised in the topography: temples and tombs at the same time. In this reconstruction of the memory, there turns out to be crucial the graphical restitution which is the home of knowledge.

For almost two centuries substantial research in Sociology, Political Science, History and Anthropology has focused on the state, the nation, nationalism, and national identity. Despite a very remarkable amount of knowledge and intelligent theorizing a number of questions need revisiting and more encompassing comparative work is needed. Here, I offer an argument that involves three areas seldom, if ever, compared: Western Europe, South America, and North America (particularly the United States). The period spans from the sixteenth century to the 1930s but I specially focus on the epoch that starts in the 1750s. The length of the period under scrutiny allows testing correlations among variables over long periods of time. First, I revisit the concept of 'nation' and stress that nations are intellectual constructs as much as they are cultural and imagined ones. Second, I emphasize the state's conceptualizing of the nation as a key independent variable connected to the construction of national identity. Third, I bring some findings of the philosophy of language to bear upon the ways states conceptualize nations and construct their public discourse in relation to national identity. Fourth, I argue that rather than other important factors such as the cultural, ethnic, and linguistic characteristics of the national community, the construction of national identity depends upon the modernization of bureaucracies (in Max Weber's sense) and the characteristics of the civil service. I am particularly interested in the way modern bureaucracies institutionalize meaning. Finally, I suggest that the terms nation-state and national-state have contributed more to a theory of the state than to a theory of the connections between states and nations. I therefore redefine these terms and add a third concept ('state-nation') in order to better capture the relations between states and nations in the regions compared. I identify the relation between states and nations as one of codependency and I claim that different types of codependency are connected to the consolidation of different types of political regimes. During the last two and a half centuries codependency between states and nations has progressively augmented, despite the ups and downs of globalization, different types of international conflict, and changes in the global economic cycle.

Context
The primary selective forces responsible for shaping life-history traits come from the physical and biological environment in which a species resides. Consequently, the limits of a species range may provide a useful measure of adaptive potential to environmental change. The proximity of foraging grounds to terrestrial nursing habitat constrains central-place foragers such as otariid seals in selecting breeding locations. The Australian sea lion (Neophoca cinerea) is an endangered otariid endemic to Australia, whose northern-range extent occurs at a temperate–tropical transition zone on the western coast of Western Australia (WA).

Aims
Currently, there is a complete absence of data on the foraging ecology of Australian sea lions in WA. We sought to address this critical knowledge gap and provide data on the foraging ecology of adult female Australian sea lions at three isolated breeding colonies in western WA.

Methods
We used stable-isotope ratios of carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) in the whiskers of pups as proxies to characterise feeding behaviour of 10–28% of all adult female Australian sea lions at each colony. We then compared these geographic data to (1) conspecifics at similar latitude in South Australia (SA) and (2) isotopic data collated from other studies on seabirds that inhabit the region, to place foraging behaviour of adult female Australian sea lions into context.

Key results
At the southernmost colonies in WA, individual animals were members of one of two distinct isotopic clusters that could be described by differences in δ15N and δ13C values. Individuals at the northernmost colony displayed δ15N values similar to those of seabirds in the same region. Across the study, isotope ratios of adult female Australian sea lions in western WA were between 3‰ and 5‰ lower than those observed at a colony at similar latitude in SA.

Conclusions
Gross differences in the physical oceanography between WA and SA may in part explain the differences in isotope ratios of individuals between the regions, with lower δ15N and δ13C values in WA probably reflecting the relatively depauperate conditions of the Leeuwin Current.

Implications
Potential regional differences in trophic structure should be considered when developing appropriate management plans for Australian sea lions and regional variation in the diet of Australian sea lion warrants further investigation.

Marques, I. da Costa (2012)."Teste de realidade" e limites do relativismo: o caso do programa alimentar Multimistura. Redes: Revista de estudios sociales de la ciencia, 18 (34), 143-170. ; Este artigo descreve um quadro analítico das relações entre ciência e poder até o ano de 2008 a respeito do programa alimentar Multimistura, em prática no Brasil desde os anos 1970. Eu apresento três ontologias, histórias ou versões de realidade. Em cada uma as relações entre os conhecimentos científicos sobre a nutrição (institucionalizados nos laboratórios acadêmicos e no Conselho Federal de Nutricionistas) e o programa Multimistura são transformados. Estabeleço uma hierarquia entre as três versões de realidade no que diz respeito às suas capacidades dialógicas. A primeira é a versão de realidade determinada pela análise bioquímica dos componentes da Multimistura. A segunda é a versão de realidade de uma mistura estabilizada de ciência e cultura, natureza e sociedade, técnica e política; é um tipo de versão de realidade posta em cena por numerosos estudos no campo cts (Ciência-Tecnologia-Sociedade). A terceira é a versão de realidade de uma história antropologicamente esclarecida que escape da prisão delimitada pelo "teste de realidade" dominante na cultura ocidental. ; This paper shows an analytical frame of the relationships among science and power –until 2008– regarding the Multimistura Feed Program, which is implemented in Brazil since the 1970 decade. Three ontologies are presented, either stories or versions of reality. The relationships among the Multimistura Program and the scientific knowledge on nutrition (which is institutionalized at the academy laboratories and the Conselho Federal de Nutricionistas) are transformed within each story. A hierarchy is established among the three versions of reality, on the basis of their abilities to dialogue. The first version of reality is determined by the biochemical analysis of Multimistura's components. The second is the version of reality linked to a stabilized mix of science and culture, nature and society, techniques and policy; a kind of version of reality which is drawn upon several works from sts field (Science and Technology Studies). The third is the version of reality that belongs to an anthropologically aware History which can escape from the prison framed by the "reality testing" that rules the western culture.

ABSTRACTThe Shores of US Empire:Islands and Geographies of Historical Struggle in the Literary ImaginationEmily ScheeseThis dissertation gathers together 19th and 20th century texts produced along the shores of US geo-political expansion across land and sea. Engaging with the fields of transnational American cultural studies and postcolonial studies, this study articulates a transnational reading practice useful for addressing the writers and regions of the American West, the Pacific and the Caribbean in a transnational nexus called the Shores of US Empire. Methodologically inspired by Chinese American author Maxine Hong Kingston and Trinidadian born C.L.R James, the project outlines a practice of reading and writing transnationally that considers US literatures of travel in conversation with contemporary Pacific and Caribbean authors. Chapter one addresses literatures of travel by American authors such as Richard Henry Dana, Jr. and Twain, whose texts, rather than simply being documentary or apologists of US imperial expansion, reflect contact zones of the contested cultural, political and geographical processes of expansion. Chapter two focuses upon the creative literary imagination, looking for other possibilities and alternative epistemologies gleaned from Caribbean and Pacific authors. Drawing from the diverse political, creative and theoretical body of authors of the Spanish and French Caribbean like Martí, Retamar, Cabrera Infante and Carpentier, and Cesaire, Fanon, and Glissant as well as poetic authors from the Anglo-Caribbean like Derek Walcott, John Agard, and novelist Michelle Cliff, Chapter Two of this dissertation proffers a method of poetic historiography attentive to challenging western models of materialist history; the works of these authors provide an alternative historiography at sea in the Caribbean. These texts also critique the production of anthropological knowledge in the Caribbean and Pacific contexts. Chapter three shifts back to the Pacific to look at the military legacy left by US imperial expansion and the social and cultural movements that have emerged to contest the US presence on Pacific shores. I address the contexts of Hawai'i and Bikini Atoll, considering texts by Rodney Morales and Kingston. Overall I argue that Pacific and Caribbean authors bring island geographies to the center of world historical events, challenging the overarching Euro-American myth of island isolation.

The work al-Dhakhīra al-saniyya fī ta'rīkh al-dawla al-marīniyya records the history of the Marīnid dynasty, including a number of references to other Islamic regions like Egypt, Syria and al-Andalus. The authorship of this chronicle has not yet been solved. The aim of this paper is to provide the most relevant information on the issue. Alongside with other type of information concerning al-Andalus, this paper focuses on that which concerns the territory conquered by the Kingdom of Castile throughout the 13th century, and which so far has been mostly disregarded. It undoubtedly contributes to improve our knowledge of the period, especially as regards both the destiny of the conquered Muslim populations and the chronology of the conquest. We will also focus here on the political leaders of al-Andalus and Maghreb, their reactions towards the Christian conquests, ranging from utter resistance to conversion, and the importance this group attached to fighting the Christians, as a key factor of the political legitimacy of the Banū Marīn to guide the Islamic community, a point that greatly concerns the author of the present chronicle. ; La obra al-Ḏajīra al-saniyya fī ta'rīj aldawla al-marīniyya, que aborda la historia de los Banū Marīn, incluye una serie de noticias referentes a otras tierras de la Dār al-Islam, como Egipto, Siria o al-Andalus. La autoría de la misma no ha sido determinada, por lo que señalaremos las noticias más destacadas sobre este asunto. De la información que ofrece esta obra acerca de al-Andalus, este artículo se centra en el análisis de los fragmentos relativos a los territorios conquistados por Castilla durante el s. XIII, que no había sido aprovechada hasta el momento, y que contribuye a ampliar nuestro conocimiento acerca de este período histórico, muy especialmente por lo que respecta a la suerte que corrieron las poblaciones musulmanas y a la cronología de la conquista. Abordamos las actitudes adoptadas por los dirigentes políticos de al-Andalus y el Magreb, ante el avance de los cristianos, desde la resistencia hasta la conversión, y la importancia que este grupo concedió a las luchas contra los cristianos, que fueron un elemento de legitimación del poder político de los Banū Marīn, objetivo destacado del autor de la obra.

La obra al-Ḏajīra al-saniyya fī ta'rīj aldawla al-marīniyya, que aborda la historia de los Banū Marīn, incluye una serie de noticias referentes a otras tierras de la Dār al-Islam, como Egipto, Siria o al-Andalus. La autoría de la misma no ha sido determinada, por lo que señalaremos las noticias más destacadas sobre este asunto. De la información que ofrece esta obra acerca de al-Andalus, este artículo se centra en el análisis de los fragmentos relativos a los territorios conquistados por Castilla durante el s. xiii, que no había sido aprovechada hasta el momento, y que contribuye a ampliar nuestro conocimiento acerca de este período histórico, muy especialmente por lo que respecta a la suerte que corrieron las poblaciones musulmanas y a la cronología de la conquista. Abordamos las actitudes adoptadas por los dirigentes políticos de al-Andalus y el Magreb, ante el avance de los cristianos, desde la resistencia hasta la conversión, y la importancia que este grupo concedió a las luchas contra los cristianos, que fueron un elemento de legitimación del poder político de los Banū Marīn, objetivo destacado del autor de la obra. ; The work al-Dhakhīra al-saniyya fī ta'rīkh al-dawla al-marīniyya records the history of the Marīnid dynasty, including a number of references to other Islamic regions like Egypt, Syria and al-Andalus. The authorship of this chronicle has not yet been solved. The aim of this paper is to provide the most relevant information on the issue. Alongside with other type of information concerning al-Andalus, this paper focuses on that which concerns the territory conquered by the Kingdom of Castile throughout the 13th century, and which so far has been mostly disregarded. It undoubtedly contributes to improve our knowledge of the period, especially as regards both the destiny of the conquered Muslim populations and the chronology of the conquest. We will also focus here on the political leaders of al-Andalus and Maghreb, their reactions towards the Christian conquests, ranging from utter resistance to conversion, and the importance this group attached to fighting the Christians, as a key factor of the political legitimacy of the Banū Marīn to guide the Islamic community, a point that greatly concerns the author of the present chronicle

KurzzusammenfassungDas umfangreichste Kapitel ist das erste, das einen systematischen Streifzug durch die Philosophiegeschichte darstellt und aufzeigt, wie aktuelle Lebensfragen schon immer die Menschheit beschäftigten. Im Zuge dessen kommen Philosophen von der Antike bis ins 20.Jhdt. kurz zu Wort, bzw. werden ob ihrer Leistung bezüglich des Themas kurz beleuchtet. Jeder einzelne Philosoph, jede einzelne philosophische Strömung kann nur gestreift, bzw. überblicksartig dargestellt werden, und doch versuche ich, weit über die geschichtliche Analyse Schmids hinauszugehen. In den kleineren Kapiteln zwei bis sieben werde ich mich, wenn auch in aller Kürze, relativ eng an Schmids Grundlegungen anlehnen, da hier Vieles meinen eigenen Intentionen entspricht. Mit einigen Ergänzungen meinerseits kann, glaube ich eine gute Diskussionsbasis entstehen. Das zweite Kapitel widmet sich der grundlegenden Bedeutung der Philosophie für die Lebenskunst; es werden viele Möglichkeiten angeführt, die Lebenskunst aus den verschiedensten Blickwinkeln zu beleuchten. Im dritten Kapitel wird erörtert, inwiefern das Leben zum Kunstwerk werden kann.Dass die Beschäftigung mit dem Menschen und dessen Verhältnissen in der Welt zu einer Anthropologie führt und im Weiteren dann zur Lebenskunst, erklärt das vierte Kapitel. Mit der Freiheit und der daraus resultierenden die Möglichkeit der Wahl beschäftigt sich das fünfte Kapitel. Wie sich das Subjekt in der Welt und im Bezug auf die Außenwelt verhält, hat das sechste Kapitel zum Inhalt. Wissen und das Verstehen von Zusammenhängen als Basis für die Kunst zu leben legt das siebente Kapitel dar. In Form von Essays beleuchtet das letzte Kapitel einige wichtige Facetten der Lebenspraxis, die zu einer kunstvollen Lebensgestaltung führen sollen. ; AbstractIn this paper, I try to show, how philosophical thinking and the practice of life melt into one another. This theme was always interesting for me, so it gave me moreover the impulse to study Philosophy. The book ?Philosophie der Lebenskunst?, written by Wilhelm Schmidt, impressed me a lot, and it attended me trough my work.The paper is not a strong analytical work, it should rather take a general view on the subject; important ranges couldn`t be treat of, such as religion, ethics, politics, Eastern Philosophy, ?.The first chapter makes an excursion through the history of philosophy, from the Antiquity up to the 20.century. The focus in the second chapter is the basic importance of the philosophy for the art of living. How the life can grow to a work of art describes the third chapter. Anthropology in connection with the art of living illustrates the fourth chapter. Liberty and the possibility of option are engaged in the fifth chapter, the individual and his position in the world shows the sixth chapter. Knowledge of the relations in the life contents the seventh chapter. The eighth and likewise the last chapter gives important facets of experience formed in essays, introduced with a convenient quotation. ; vorgelegt von Sabine Allmer ; Abweichender Titel laut Übersetzung der Verfasserin/des Verfassers ; Zsfassung in engl. Sprache ; Graz, Univ., Dipl.-Arb., 2011 ; (VLID)213590

The idea to carry out a research on the history of professional associations, specifically on legal bar, originates from a research project presented some years ago by Consiglio Nazionale Forense (General Council of Lawyers of Italy) – assisted by lawyers and lecturers – who expressed their ambition to develop an historical overview on the origins and development of legal bar in Italy. The present work is not intended to carry out a detailed historical survey on each and every Piedmontese professional association. It is the object of the present research to describe the role of a lawyer in the 19th century society, to understand the way the profession changes constantly, the way legal bar is arranged and how it interacts with the surrounding political and social environment. Focusing on North Piedmont, the research on the documentation preserved at Courts produced completely different results according to the place in point. Certainly, most of the documentation is preserved in Turin, where trial records of the Consiglio dell'Ordine (General Council of the Lawyers) since the first meeting after the legislative decree in 1874 were found: such material is in good preservation status, probably because Turin professional association has always taken special care of such documentation. As far as Ivrea is concerned instead, differently from Turin – where papers are found in volumes – there is not an inventory and the documentation mainly consists of scattered papers, which allowed to reconstruct the activities of the association and the relationships between lawyers during the time in point. The analysis of these papers allowed to draw a picture of some lawyers, to understand legal bar and their relationships with colleagues, authorities and judiciary. In Biella and Novara no evidence of the association could be found. Thus, surveys on single professionals were carried out based on private inventories (Fondo Pampuri in Novara and Fondo Versano in Biella). In conclusion, not only should the present work be considered from an historical point of view, but also with reference to the current debate on the future of legal bar in the 21st century, taking into account that the knowledge of past lawyers can be an important step forward to understand (and discover) the identity of the contemporary lawyer.

This is an inquiry into Southern cultures, Black traditions, and Black women with a focus on the life of one Black woman educator. Drawing upon the works of Nobel Prize and Pulitzer Prize-winning African American woman, novelist, and master storyteller, Toni Morrison (1970, 1973, 1976, 1987, 1988, 1993, 2003, & 2008); activist and Black feminist protest thinker and writer, bell hooks (1981, 1984, 1995, & 2000); the Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist, activist, and womanist, Alice Walker (1983); the Black feminist thinker and writer, Patricia Hills Collins (1998, 2000), and the critical race theorist and the first tenured African-American professor of Law at Harvard University, Derrick Bell (1992, 1995); I create a composite (He, 2003) main character, Marie Sincerely Lucky, an ordinary farm girl from a rural Southern community. I utilize Marie as a persona to tell key life events and experiences using fiction (which is not widely accepted in academia as a methodology) and the seasonal metaphor (literal and Biblical) which becomes the titles of chapters and sections throughout my dissertation. The novellas section begins with an introduction and background of the main character. Each novella begins with a prelude that introduces time, place, and setting and ends with an interlude that summarizes and theorizes the novella. This study is intended to serve as an account of one woman's journey through oppression (racial, sexual, class, 2 and cultural) to womanhood. Marie's life is broken down into specific seasons: early childhood (with stepdad and after stepdad), the teen years, and adulthood (relationships, teaching career, military, and doctoral candidate). Because teachers are farmers who plant kernels of knowledge in hopes that they grow into some greater understanding, it is my intention to challenge some stereotypes about Southern Blacks, reveal beliefs and culture, history, and experiences that many Black females encounter on a daily basis to provide these teachers with an understanding of who they may be teaching. Although my inquiry is regional (Black rural Southern community), the issues addressed are universal. I hope to also assist all stakeholders in understanding some deep-seated issues and to shed light on Southern traditions, Black cultures, Black women, and Black children.

The literature of travellers represents a key foundation upon which geography was built as a social construct. It depicts the territorial reality on a personal level. The literature of travellers has been at the origin of popular geographical knowledge. In 1941 the great British novelist Rebecca West (1892-1983) published a chronicle of her travels through Yugoslavia from 1936 to 1938: Black Lamb and Grey Falcon. Her book is a good example and a relevant test of the literature of travellers as a source of political geography. Actually, Black Lamb and Grey Falcon is West's political response to the Balkans rather than an account of her journey through Yugoslavia. Through her writing, West has contributed to the shape of a different public opinion about Yugoslavia and its peoples which continues to live on. Moreover, her book strongly influenced the Anglo-Saxon policy makers on their comprehension of Yugoslavia. West significantly depicted Montenegro in its history, people, traditions and politics by means of pictures regarding Boka Kotorska, Budva, Cetinje, Kolasin, Mount Lovcen, Plav, and Skadar Lake. On the basis of the chapter devoted to Montenegro in West's book, the paper will focus on its features of political geography through an analysis of significant geosymbols. ; Putopisna literatura ključni je temelj na kojem je geografija nastala kao društvena pojava. Ona opisuje prostornu realnost iz perspektive pojedinca. Putopisna literatura je izvor popularnoga geografskog znanja. Godine 1941. poznata britanska spisateljica Rebecca West (1892.-1983.) objavila je kroniku svojih putovanja kroz Jugoslaviju u razdoblju od 1936. do 1938. pod naslovom Black Lamb and Grey Falcon. Njezina knjiga je odličan primjer putopisne literature kao izvora podataka u političkoj geografiji. U stvari, Black Lamb and Grey Falcon je politički odgovor Rebecce West na Balkan, a ne prikaz njezina putovanja kroz Jugoslaviju. Svojim zapažanjima West je pridonijela oblikovanju javnog mišljenja o Jugoslaviji i narodima koji u njoj žive, a koje je i danas prisutno. Nadalje, njezina knjiga imala je snažan utjecaj na razmišljanja anglosaksonskih političara o Jugoslaviji. West je izuzetno opisala Crnu Goru, njezinu povijest, ljude, tradiciju i politiku kroz opise Boke kotorske, Budve, Cetinja, Kolašina, Lovćena, Plava i Skadarskog jezera. Analizirajući odlomak iz knjige vezan uz Crnu Goru, ovaj rad se fokusira na obilježja političke geografije kroz analizu značajnih geosimbola.

Even if reading in itself isn't necessarily a better practice than other "minor" cultural activities (as watching a movie, listening to music etc.), it is common knowledge that the habit of reading helps us to better understand the world that surrounds us. That's why the low Italian reading rates must be considered a critical factor. The Associazione Forum made an ambitious and challenging proposal inviting all the parties somehow interested in the promotion of reading – publishers' and libraries' associations, local government representatives, school operators etc. – to work together in order to discuss a new law, proposed by popular initiative, on the promotion of books and reading. For this purpose an open telematic platform was created – the wiki – where all the stakeholders are working out the law proposal. The first goal achieved by this initiative was the VIII Book Forum "Passaparola" that was held last October in Basilicata: discussing about the future of reading in the region placed last in all the Italian statistics about reading, seemed to be a good way to celebrate the 150th anniversary of national history. ; Pur senza considerare la lettura superiore ad altre pratiche culturali, non si può negare che la consuetudine con la lettura ci mette in condizione di vivere in modo più consapevole la realtà in cui siamo immersi, ed è per questo che è lecito preoccuparsi del debole tasso di lettura che da sempre caratterizza il nostro paese. L'Associazione Forum ha avanzato la proposta ambiziosa di invitare tutti i soggetti in qualche modo interessati ai temi della promozione della lettura (AIE, AIB, ALI, Centro per il libro, ANCI e Regioni, esponenti del mondo dell'editoria, della scuola, ecc.) a partecipare a un grande dibattito pubblico per discutere insieme i contenuti di una legge di iniziativa popolare sulla promozione del libro e della lettura. A questo scopo è stato anche creato il wiki , una piattaforma di lavoro sulla quale si sta elaborando in modo aperto la proposta. Un primo momento di approdo dell'iniziativa è stato raggiunto lo scorso ottobre con l'VIII Forum del libro "Passaparola" che si è tenuto in Basilicata: parlare del futuro della lettura nella regione italiana in cui, secondo le statistiche, si legge meno è sembrato un modo per dare un senso alle celebrazioni per il 150° anniversario dell'unificazione nazionale.

Abstract Native American1 literature in North America has been in a self-declared state of renaissance since 1969. This rebirth is perhaps more aptly described as an attempt to recover traditions, beliefs, and even languages that were lost, suppressed, or marginalized during a centuries-long history of conquest that ended near the close of the nineteenth century, at least in military terms. The object of this recovery is to rediscover and revivify an identity uniquely Indian in its cultural and traditional affiliations (for example, Owens 1992:3-16). Native American writers such as Simon J. Ortiz and Leslie Marmon Silko have been at the forefront of this recovery, and both authors have been instrumental in suggesting how Native American oral traditions can be extended into the realm of a comparatively young literature.2 Aside from the great inherent differences between oral traditional and literary modes of expression, this undertaking is rendered problematic by the fact that the majority of Native American literature is written in English. Since students of Native oral traditions have focused much of their effort on delineating an ethnopoetics of those traditions,3 it appears at first blush that scholars of the traditions and the Native American writers who are seeking to extend those traditions may not have much in common even though the traditions are of central concern to both. Certainly their priorities are different. Also, it is clear that a literary tradition, by its very nature, must utilize oral tradition in ways that are convenient to its individualized ends, resulting in an abundance of divergent approaches even within the work of a single writer. Studies in Native American literature are in a creative ferment; the field is very diffuse, and much of the scholarship is exploratory and tentative in nature, as we shall see. ; Issue title: Festschrift for John Miles Foley. This article belongs to a special issue of Oral Tradition published in honor of John Miles Foley's 65th birthday and 2011 retirement. The surprise Festschrift, guest-edited by Lori and Scott Garner entirely without his knowledge, celebrates John's tremendous impact on studies in oral tradition through a series of essays contributed by his students from the University of Missouri-Columbia (1979-present) and from NEH Summer Seminars that he has directed (1987-1996).

Context Nest predation is a major factor influencing life history and population dynamics of ground-nesting birds. The transitions between the northern boreal mountain birch forests and the low-alpine tundra are important habitats for the willow ptarmigan, Lagopus lagopus (Linnaeus, 1758). During the past decades, these landscapes have been extensively developed with cabin resorts in southern Norway, which has led to an increased number of roads and foot paths in relatively undisturbed habitats. Aims The aim of the present study was to investigate relative nest-predation rates in elevation gradients (ecotones) spanning from northern boreal mountain birch forests to low-alpine tundra in three locations with contrasting willow ptarmigan densities. Methods We conducted an artificial nest study by using baited track boards (n = 108). Track boards were placed along transects (200 m) in the following three habitat types: birch forest, edge habitat and low-alpine tundra. Predator prevalence was analysed in relation to study-design variables (location, habitat, study period) and the load of human infrastructure (i.e. distance to foot paths and roads), using generalised linear mixed-effect models assuming binomial distribution for the response variable. Key results Prevalence of avian predators was consistently high (range 38.2–85.3%), in contrast to much lower prevalence of mammalian predators (range 2.8–22.9%). Raven (Corvus corax) was the dominant nest predator, followed by hooded crow (C. cornix) and pine marten (Martes martes). Location, as contrasted by differences in willow ptarmigan density, was not significantly related to total relative predation rates. Species-specific predator prevalence was habitat specific and related to human infrastructure, but with opposite relative predation patterns between pine marten and raven. Hooded crow predation was similar across the ecotone and not related to human infrastructure. Conclusions Predator prevalence was habitat specific and affected by human infrastructure (distance to human foot paths). Our study confirmed that human activity might alter the predation rates by generalist species in these low-alpine environments. Implications We recommend that attractive willow ptarmigan habitat should be avoided when planning human infrastructure in alpine ecosystems. To reduce predation pressure in this ecosystem, it appears that generalist predators should be considered for management actions. Further research is needed to explain the underlying mechanism driving expansion of generalist species into alpine habitats. Such knowledge is also important in developing alternative management actions with focus other than predator control.