The indirect of direct influence of the Bible has to be seen as an important aspect of the process of modernization in relation to Chinese literature at the beginning of the twentieth century. The present article discusses one of the earliest fictional narratives in the modern literary vernacular, Lu Xun´s short story "Medicine" (Yao, 1919), as an example of the reception and assimilation of Biblical motifs in a work written by the founder of China´s modern literature. The discussion focuses not only on various biblical motifs and their sources but also on the distinct roles individual motifs play in the semantic structure of the short story under scrutiny. Among other observations, the article suggest that one of the most prominent recurrent elements in Lu Xun´s belletristic work, the motif of the loner and the crowd, has its roots in the passion narratives of the New Testament, Dušan Andrš., and Obsahuje seznam literatury
Czechoslovakia, as a successor state of Austria-Hungary, was forced to deal with the loss of the large protected domestic market that had been provided by membership of the former empire. Several trade missions were organised in the early 1920s in order to seek new areas of activity for Czechoslovak exports and imports, often in hitherto unknown markets. The missions were initiated by the Ministry of Trade or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The paper describes a mission organised by Václav Girsa, which was led by Josef Hříbek. The Hříbek mission was a Czechoslovak legionaries' mission, organised as a by-product of the return of the Legions en route from Vladivostok to Europe. The mission aimed at providing a first hand analysis of the Turkestan area. The route led from Vladivostok, through Bombay, to British Balochistan and then from Eastern Persia to Turkestan. ongoing local conflicts caused a major change in the mission's plans and the group undertook an economic and political study of persia instead., Adéla Jůnová Macková., and Obsahuje bibliografii
The goal of this paper is not only to explain the history of the little known affair of the British citizen William N. Churchill that occurred in the vicinity of Scutari (Üsküdar) in 1836 but also, and in particular, to demonstrate that as part of its course and outcome the European Powers utilized similar not very serious and largely insubstantial abuses of their citizens in other parts of the world in order to justify their own imperailistic conduct, and thus far exceeded the gravity of the alleged abuses through their own actions. To introduce this issue within a wider perspective, the present article links the Churchill Affair with another event from the same epoch, the so-called Fly Wisk Incident of an Algerian Dey in 1827, which enabled the French government to justify its subsequent occupation of Algeria, thus initiating the European conquest of North Africa in the 19th century., Miroslav Šedivý., and Obsahuje seznam literatury
Czech is a typical inflecting language. This brings numerous problems in accommodating foreign names in Czech texts (both written and spoken), Chinese personal names being no exception to the rule. The present article begins with a discussion on the structure of Chinese names, explaining the components xing and mingzi. The names used by the Chinese living abroad (the usage of an inverted order of the components, the usage of Western first names etc.) are addressed as well. The ways in which foreign personal names are accommodated within the context of the Chinese language are also briefly introduced. A substantial part of the article deals with the morphological accommodation of Chinese personal names within the context of the Czech language, namely through the declension of Chinese male names according to Czech nominal paradigms, and the derivation of feminine surnames from masculine surnames adding the suffix -ová, which is partly questionable in the case of Chinese female names. The problem of latinization are discussed (the options being either to utilize the Chinese Pinyin alphabet or the Standard Czech Transcription), as well as the proper reading of names within the context of spoken Czech (the absolute phonetic accuracy is neither possible nor desirable). The article closes with a declension table for Chinese male names (the recommended forms are given both in the Pinyin alphabet and in the Standard Czech Transcription)., Hana Třísková, Zdenka Heřmanová., and Obsahuje seznam literatury
The Czech structuralist Vladimír Skalička belongs to eminent language typologists of the 20th century. His epoch-marking contribution deals primarily with Hungarian, yet in a relatively extensive paper, Skalička investigated typology of Modern Chinese as well, and repeatedly referred to Chinese in his later works considering it a classical example of a polysynthetic language. Such classification deliberately contradicted the both then and now widely accepted view that Chinese is a typical isolating language. Not only that his thesis did not compel specialists in Chinese linguistics – the very attempt of this famous scholar has fallen into oblivion and has, in fact, never been reflected upon by sinologists in any proper way. The present article aims to at least partially compensate for this negligence., Lukáš Zádrapa., and Obsahuje seznam literatury
Dalit literature does not avoid motifs of „the call of nature“ and of removing human excrements. Some Dalit writers also use a very informal language, applying ordinary words, which could appear vulgar in another context. However, large sections of the Dalits have been for centuries and generations connected with ritually as well as physically unclean sorts of work. So Dalit writers write about Dalit life and keep their colloquial language, often expressing anger and a specific social criticism. and Obsahuje seznam literatury
This article deals with the history of the Funj Kingdom in Sudan (1504-1821). At the beginning the most important indigenous and foreign primary sources from this period are outlined. Then follows a brief description of the previous period. The main focus of the article is on political history of the Funj Kingdom which may be periodized into four main phases. The first was the era of unlimited domination of the Funj in the 16th century. The next century was marked by Funj-Abdalláb dualism. In the 18th century two important processes took place - disintegration of the kingdom and a breakdown of Funj institutions. The last phase of the kingdom´s history was the Hamaj regency (1762-1821). The fragmented Funj Kingdom was at the end of this period an easy prey for the Turko-Egyptian invasion led by Muhammad Alí´s son Ismáíl Kámil Pasha in 1820-1823., Emanuel Beška., and Obsahuje seznam literatury a poznámky
This text deals with the issue of the political systém of Botswana in the wider historical context. The paper seeks to describe the main features of Botswanan democracy and attempts to provide an analysis of the political reality in Botswana. The text is divided into three basic parts. The first section provides a discussion on the historical circumstances, identifying the main features of Bechuanaland during the period of colonial rule and focusing on the particular local conditions. The second section focuses on the contemporary political reality, influenced as i tis by the presence of rich natural resources. The final section deals with the limitations of the political systém and its future prospects., Linda Piknerová., and Obsahuje seznam literatury
Ghost and demons of ancient Mesopotamia played a significant role in the daily life of common people where they acted as one of the main causes of illnesses and othe misfortune. Medical texts therefore appear as an important source that gives us insight into these malevolent forces. The article present selected ghosts, demon Lamaštu, demon Lilû/Lilītu/ Ardat-lilî, demon rābisu, demon Šulak and demon gallû from the perspective of medical texts – especially diagnostic and prognostic series SA.GIG and therapeutical texts. It tries to assign particular ghosts and demons to the specific health problems. Although the symptoms often overlap and the whole systém of sorting is not entirely clear, the effort of Mesopotamian physicians is evident: the systematic classification of diseases (and symptoms) according to the type of difficulties using the names of ghosts and demons. The article reflects the conception of ghosts and demons as a cause of diseases as well and presents several remarkable examples of healing rituals for their repulse., Veronika Sobotková., and Obsahuje seznam literatury
The article is based on field research of oral history of Zakhchin, one of the Western Mongolian (or Oriat) small ethnic groups living in Khovd aimag, Mongolia. It brings together orally transmitted stories and other oral historical mentions on Mergen tsorj, a famous monk, who lived inb the beginning of the 20th century in the contemporary Uyench sum. The focus of the article is to show, how a historical person has been transformed into a mythological hero in the oral history of Western Mongolians. Narrators are convinced that deeds of Mergen tsorj had positive influence on his region both in time and after his death. The storytelling about important local religious personalities as a part of the local oral history express the relation of the narrators to their birthplace (nutag). As far as these personalities are only rarely registered in archive sources, this small case study emphaises the importance of the authentic oral history in the Mongolian countryside., Ondřej Srba., and Obsahuje seznam literatury