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This study aspires to place thirteenth-century Iceland more fully within the historiographical debate on the individual in the Middle Ages, which has tended to focus on continental Western Europe. It interrogates the perception that the ancient Icelanders had of themselves in relation to the notion of individualism. In turn, it seeks to identify the sustained relationship with the collective, to determine if the Icelanders could conceive and define themselves beyond group structures or membership. Analysis of the content of the sagas of Icelanders (Íslendingasögur), a literary genre specific to Iceland, makes it possible to formulate a history of mentalité for this purpose. The notion of honor, a central theme in the texts, serves to evaluate the degree of individuality accorded the ancient Icelanders. The various dimensions of honor as expressed in the sagas are then dessected to answer this question. Honor is first considered in its relation to reputation. The importance of the idea of reputation as well as the process by which it is established is then observed. Analysis of how honor and its pursuit are motivating themes in the sagas are then considered. Finally, honor is perceived under the theme of the perception of oneʼs dignity and its social implications.

Maintenant is a French Canadian catholic paper created by the Dominican Order and published from 1962 to 1974. Its authors are proponents of Emmanuel Mounier’s personalism. According to this philosophy, the true catholic faith calls for believers to positively transform profane society following evangelical lines. Maintenant’s writers postulate that Québec’s numerous catholic institutions are an obstacle to this ideal : rather than encourage believers to reshape their environment, these institutions seek to isolate them from society in order to shield them from nefarious beliefs and temptations. This « system », la chrétienté, is relentlessly criticized and painted as the main cause behind the observed religious decline. Indeed, the monthly publication argues that these institutions are indissociable from an authoritarian stance that breeds conformism and religious ignorance. From 1965 onward, secularism in Québec dramatically reduces the Catholic Church’s institutional presence. The Liberals’ « Bill 60 », for example, makes the government the primary actor in matters of public education. In turn, the intellectuals of Maintenant gradually shift their focus from la chrétienté to secularism’s impact on religious belief and practice. Convinced that Catholicism and the rising secular mentality can coexist, they put forward ideas of pastoral, liturgical and ecclesiological reform aimed at reconciling the two. These propositions are deeply influenced by the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) during which a majority of the clergy is won over by personalist ideals. The paper’s authors are nonetheless disappointed by the reforms emanating from the works of the Council as they are deemed unambitious and badly implemented.

Between the second half of the10th century and the beginning of the 11th century, the Old English poem Judith was written in one of the great monastic centers of the Anglo-Saxon world. This poem, based on the biblical text of the Book of Judith, is the result of the meeting of traditional biblical material and the heroic Anglo-Saxon poetic tradition. From this encounter emerges a work celebrating biblical history and the moral teachings it carries, as well as the values of Anglo-Saxon aristocratic culture and heroism. The poem Judith is therefore a strong example of cultural adaptation of biblical material. This thesis is concerned with this question of cultural adaptation, but even more with that of the coexistence of different traditions and cultural references within the Old English poem Judith. Throughout this thesis, it will be a question of determining the nature of this coexistence, namely how is it articulated? Does the poem present a case of hierarchization between these different cultural references? Or would it be fairer to speak of cultural pluralism and parallelism? Finally, how important is the historical context of the 10th and 11th centuries in the development of this poem? Following our analysis of the poem and its historical context we will demonstrate that Judith is a work of cultural parallelism where each cultural reference is presented without the need for hierarchy. In addition, we will demonstrate that the Judith is the result of changes in Anglo-Saxon society between the 9th and 11th centuries and the political and military instability caused by conflicts between Anglo-Saxons and Scandinavians.

As Jules Ferry’s Laws (1881-1882) rendered French primary education secular, mandatory and free, most republican pedagogues designed educational lessons developed on the principle of emulation. By promoting national historical figures and heroes, they mostly sought to provide moral and patriotic models, embodying republican values, to all young boys and girls. Many examples offered in classrooms illustrated and perpetuated a vision of French society based on the sexual division of labor: masculine icons expressed public, military, and political roles while feminine icons revealed private, domestic, and maternal attributes or responsibilities. Previous academic studies on the subject explored almost exclusively the content of primary official textbooks. Meanwhile, feminine models presented in children’s literature, especially within popular collective biographies, have not yet been the object of extensive historical research. Although this literary genre was consumed in great numbers by the public in fin-de-siècle France, it has until recently always been sidelined in academic studies. However, it can be argued that collective biographies showed a significant diversity of role models to French youth. Thereby, this Master’s thesis proposes an analysis of moral, civic, and patriotic icons, which schoolgirls were meant to emulate, included in three collective feminine biographies published during the years following Ferry’s school system reforms (between 1886 and 1893). This study attempts to define the « feminine » and « French » identity shaped by the authors of these books, which recommended less conventional and alternative models, different from traditional examples usually seen in official textbooks of the period.

Le 「ma」 est, depuis quelques décennies, un concept dont il est assez souvent question dans les textes portant sur le Japon. Tel le kanji qui le représente, soit un pictogramme qui montre le soleil qui perce entre les deux battants d’une porte, le 「ma」 exprime un entre-deux dynamique et porteur de sens. Après un premier chapitre qui explore les liens entre langue et culture au Japon, quatre chapitres sont consacrés au 「ma」, un premier qui présente un état des lieux, un second qui explore ses précurseurs ainsi que ses formes disciplinaires, sauf en musique et en architecture, traités au chapitre suivant, alors que le dernier chapitre tente de cerner et de définir le 「ma」, et qu’une annexe survole ce qu’il en est en Occident. Le sixième chapitre de la thèse présente la dichotomie 「内・外 uchi-soto」, marqueur premier de l’appartenance à tout groupe au Japon, incluant la nation. Suit un chapitre portant sur la frontière entre le uchi et le soto de la nation japonaise, puis un autre qui explore les formes que prend l’identité nationale japonaise. Le dernier chapitre offre une synthèse. Il en ressort que : - le 「ma」 est un concept associé à un terme importé au début de l’âge classique, mais ce n’est qu’à la transition entre le 戦国 sengoku (mi 15e à fin 16e) et l’ère 江戸時代 Edo (1600-1868) que les conditions seront réunies pour permettre la naissance du concept. Celui-ci restera toutefois presque purement disciplinaire jusqu’à 昭和 Shōwa (1926-1989), après quoi il prendra des formes qu’on peut qualifier d’identitaires, d’abord en opposition à l’Occident au début Shōwa, puis comme ambassadeur d’une identité japonaise consolidée à partir des années 1960.

George Sand, born Aurore Dupin (1804-1876), was one of the most prolific writers of the July Monarchy (1830-1848). Her monumental work focuses on a myriad of subjects, which are often studied from the perspective of the ideal. Among other things, Sand was interested in the notion of the poet-artist, which refers to an ideal artist. This notion, specific to this period, is distinguished from the other poet, which is a writer. While the meaning of the notion of poet-writer is well determined, that of poet-artist is subject to a vague and subjective definition. For her part, Sand considers that the poet-artist designates both an artist and a philosopher. This proposition, which is clearly stated, constitutes a central axis to all the artistic thought that she develops. This is what is explored in the present work, through three themes of George Sand's artistic thought. Each chapter is devoted to one of these themes, with an attempt to organize the artistic thought of Sand. The theme of the brotherhood of the arts will be studied first. This typically romantic theme, omnipresent in Sand's writings, perceives the different disciplines as forming a whole. Then, the hierarchy of arts will be reviewed: George Sand considers that music is the superior discipline, compared to some of her contemporaries who believe that poetry is the superior discipline. Finally, George Sand perceives a figure of genius in her writings, which comes close to the ideal artist. All these themes are studied in close relation to the usual visions found under the July Monarchy.

This master's thesis analyses the institutional transformations of the Institut d'études médiévales of the Université de Montréal between 1942 and 1968. To do so, we focus on the effects of the Quiet Revolution on the Institut d'études médiévales, an institution of higher learning founded by the Dominican Order in 1930. Inspired by the Nouvelle Théologie outlined by Marie-Dominique Chenu, the Institute embraces a doctrinal raison d'être and uses scientific know-how to achieve it. By adapting the historical-critical method to infer the teaching of Thomism, the Institute represents an interesting religious-scientific amalgam to understand the effects of the secularization of the Université de Montreal on its structures, its culture, and its institutions. We describe the journey of this institution through La Grande Noirceur, the Quiet Revolution, and the secularization of the university’s Charter. Through the analysis of the archives of the Université de Montreal and the Canadian Province of the Dominican Order, we describe the institutional history of the Institut d'études médiévales according to the evolution of its hopes and of its functions at the university. Through the analysis of its mission statements, we describe how the Institute adapts to keep pace with the structural and cultural evolution within Quebec’s Quiet Revolution.

Editor’s note: This is the second post in our theme for January 2022, Urban Environmentalism. Additional entries can be seen at the end of this article. By Clarence Hatton Throughout the twen…

This paper utilizes the stable carbon and nitrogen isotopic composition of bulk animal bone collagen to better understand animal management practices in Archaic and Classical period Argilos in northern Greece. The results from Argilos are compared with data from other sites in northern Greece to provide new insights into herd management in the region over time. Our results reveal some changes in cattle and pig diets at Argilos between the Archaic and Classical periods. Throughout both periods cattle and caprines exhibit evidence of having consumed C4 vegetation, likely obtained from the nearby salt marshes in the Strymon river delta. This dietary regime is similar to that observed at other north Aegean sites dating back to the Neolithic, suggesting that the long tradition of animal herding in the marshes was an environmentally specific practice in the region.

In tandem with the colonization of Saguenay and the North Shore, the health of Indigenous populations deteriorated during the second half of the nineteenth century. Faced with the devastation caused by a proliferation of epidemics, the Department of Indian Affairs extended its vaccination program against smallpox to the Innu. Department officials considered this an affordable, humanitarian measure. At the same time, medical practitioners on the ground saw the initiative as a means of subsidizing healthcare for the broader population. Drawing on hygienic principles concerned with the prevention of disease, in the 1870s, many of these professionals argued the overcrowded dwellings on reserves, the irresponsible nature of the Indigenous Peoples, and their nomadic tendencies rendered them dangerous threats to public health. With the support of local elected officials and the Indian agent, the State was encouraged to open an ‘Indian Hospital’ in Pointe-Bleue (1876-1894). The institution was designed to help Indigenous Peoples, often perceived as negligent, manage their own health. Yet, the presence of Innu nurses, who provided care to members of their own community, reveals a more complicated set of relations at play and allows us to question to what extent the hospital was just another colonial tool to control Indigenous bodies.

Cet ouvrage porte sur la mise en oeuvre par l'OMS, des politiques internationales de développement sanitaire en Afrique centrale entre 1956 et 2000. Il retrace l'histoire de cette organisation internationale en Afrique et surtout, celle de la création de son bureau africain à Brazzaville (AFRO). Ce livre montre aussi comment cette trajectoire institutionnelle croise l'histoire politique de la (dé)colonisation, l'histoire de la santé publique et celle de l'humanitaire. Située au croisement de ces trois historiographies, cette réflexion tente de faire la lumière sur le rôle essentiel joué par l'OMS dans la situation sanitaire des pays de la sousrégion méso africaine, en étudiant les politiques d'hygiène, de formation des personnels de santé et l'organisation des campagnes d'éradication des maladies. En renouvelant le regard sur les politiques sanitaires internationales mises en oeuvre dans le continent africain, depuis au moins la fin de la Première Guerre mondiale, l'auteur met en valeur les ressorts d'une collaboration transnationale, non exempte de présupposés colonialistes. Cet ouvrage apparaît, dès lors, comme une référence indispensable pour réfléchir aux politiques internationales de développement sanitaire en Afrique dans leur contexte historique et politique. Simplice Ayangma Bonoho est enseignant d'histoire de l'Université de Yaoundé 1 (Cameroun) et chercheur postdoctoral Banting au Bishop's University (Canada). Il est, par ailleurs, lauréat 2022 du Prix Lombard Odier du Forum Suisse de Politique Internationale, pour l'excellence de son travail de thèse portant sur les enjeux du multilatéralisme et les nouvelles thématiques de la diplomatie multilatérale

This article examines the role of local, female propagandists utilized by the German army on the Eastern Front during WWII. Although the work they undertook aligned with postwar notions of collaboration, the propagandists’ experiences at the hands of the Wehrmacht, in a context of a violent war and repressive occupation, constitutes coerced labour in multiple forms. Regardless of the women’s motivations for working for the Wehrmacht, they entered a relationship of domination and dependence with the occupation force. While female propagandists numbered far fewer than their male counterparts, they held a particular importance for German high command who believed that their “feminine” traits, such as empathy and charm, helped the Wehrmacht influence and control the largely female civilian population. At the same time, their work on the frontlines encouraging Red Army soldiers to defect crossed traditional gender boundaries. In this task too, the women were valued for their gender with German authorities believing that Soviet soldiers, largely deprived of female contact, would be particularly receptive to the charm of a woman’s voice. Such coerced labor on behalf of the Wehrmacht rendered these women vulnerable not only to German violence, but also to Soviet accusations of collaboration and its associated reprisals.

This article uses memoirs, newspapers, and archival documents to analyse how four German women journalists became entangled in ideological conflict between Nazism, communism, and liberal democracy from the 1930s to the 1950s. Using the concept of a ‘long’ Cold War, it demonstrates how from the Third Reich to the Federal Republic of West Germany, the experiences and autobiographical writing of German women journalists who had been arrested and imprisoned by the Soviets contributed to Germany’s national identity as both a victim and a bulwark of (potential) Soviet aggression. Publishing their experiences provided these female journalists with a unique and historically specific political agency: their words echoed contemporary discourses about the supposed communist threat and how women and ideas about women were inherent in such rhetoric.

Découlant des retombées de notre thèse de doctorat et à travers l’analyse de deux entretiens oraux (issus d’un corpus plus ample de 47 entretiens réalisés entre 2018 et 2021 avec des Haïtiens installés au Québec), nous voulons ici réfléchir à la manière dont les expériences des femmes sous les Duvalier furent appréhendées par les participants à notre étude, notamment en ce qui concerne l’enjeu des violences sexualisées et des rôles de genre. S’il reste encore à écrire sur la complexité des expériences des femmes pendant cette période, notre propre ébauche démontre comment ce silence presque institutionnalisé sur la dictature et le tabou relatif à toutes discussions sur les violences sexualisées nuisent à une appréciation plus complète et raffinée de l’ampleur même de la violence duvaliériste.