Translational Nation: Politics and Re-presentation at the Independence Hall of Korea

This article develops a theory of nation form as translational, referring to the praxis of re-presenting and thus rendering sensible the nation through an examination of the Tongnip Kinyŏmkwan (Independence Hall of Korea), a national museum designed to commemorate Korea’s anticolonial resistance efforts and its independence from the Japanese Empire in 1945. Translation in the context of this article alludes to the praxis of re-presenting and thus reconstituting the nation through what Rancière calls “the distribution of the sensible.” The Hall, in other words, suggests that the nation does not matter unto itself but rather that it is in such moments of articulation and sensibility that the nation is hailed into existence. This article makes the argument that the interactional outcomes between visitors and the Independence Hall direct us toward an interpretation of the Hall as a space of enactment of the translational nation, which refers to a re-formation of nation through translation across interrelated matrices including text, trauma, and time. This translational praxis, understood in the context of the interplay between state-sponsored zeal and popular anemia, centers on the translation of communicative text into theatrical text, somber tragedy into diluted play, and discrete historical events into a posthistorical genealogy.

Sites of Violence, Sites of Peace, Sites of Justice: Transforming the Relational Landscape of Yogyakarta

The collaborative “Sites of Violence, Sites of Peace” project seeks to transform the relational landscape of Yogyakarta by enabling new intergenerational conversations about the 1965 politicide in Indonesia and further injustices with other marginalized communities. This community-engaged project developed walking tours of (largely unacknowledged) sites of historic violence: a colonial fort turned national museum, a derelict office building, a refurbished bank. Through these tours, sites of past suffering are activated by unheard survivor testimonies, making visible historical injustice and its contemporary and enduring significance. Unsettling the dominant spatial arrangement of Yogyakarta, the tours rewrite the city as a space where injustice and persecution are experienced. Crucially, the tour is also a relational encounter, facilitating intergenerational conversations that challenge social and political exclusionary norms. It, thereby, enables a form of relational justice, which requires active involvement from fellow citizens, not solely redress from the state.

Tiger beetles of Romania (Coleoptera: Carabidae: Cicindelinae) in the Collections of “Grigore Antipa” National Museum of Natural History, Bucharest

The paper deals with eleven species and subspecies of tiger beetles of Romania. The specimens preserved in the collections of “Grigore Antipa” National Museum of Natural History were revised. Distribution maps based on the examined material are presented for each species.

Typification of the genus Zizyphoides Seward et Conway (Magnoliophyta, Trochodendraceae)

Type material of Paliurus colombii Heer, Populus arctica Heer, Hakea arctica Heer, and Hedera macclurii Heer from the Atanikerdluk locality (Paleocene, Greenland) was restudied based on the original collection, stored in the National Museum of Ireland, Dublin. All these species were joined under the name Zizyphoides colombii (Heer) Seward et Conway, type species of the genus Zizyphoides Seward et Conway. A lectotype of Zizyphoides colombii is designated and the diagnosis of this species is emended. An emended diagnosis of the genus Zizyphoides is also presented.

The history of the keyboard instrument MNP I 49 from the Museum of Musical Instruments in Poznań. the state of research

The keyboard instrument MNP I 49 from the Museum of Musical Instruments in Poznań has not been a subject of detailed academic studies yet, but there have been mentions of it in various types of publications throughout the years. The item is currently placed in the exhibition hall devoted to the art of the Baroque era in the Museum of Applied Arts in Poznań. It is a unique historical item in the Polish collection due to a very scarce number of harpsichords preserved in Poland. This situation is mainly a result of two world wars in the 20th century. Due to not enough available sources, the exact time of the creation of the instrument and the name of its builder were impossible to determine. The aim of the present article was to compile and arrange previous knowledge about the historical item MNP I 49. The work lists source materials and publications in which the instrument was mentioned, such as documents from the National Archive in Poznań, Raczyński Library in Poznań and National Museum Archive in Poznań. Based on the available source materials, the author was able to determine that the harpsichord appeared at the Skórzewski family’s palace in Czerniejewo before 1855.

Second Copy of Suma Evangelijų from the First Edition of Knygos Nobažnystės (1653)

It has long been thought that the only known 1653 copy of the first edition of the Knygos Nobažnystės is preserved in Sweden. The sammelband consists of a hymnal without a separate title page, the postil “Suma Evangelijų”, and the prayer book “Maldos krikščioniškos” with the catechism Katekizmas arba trumpas pamokslas. One part (the postil “Suma Evangelijų”) of the Knygos nobažnystės is preserved in the library of the Emeryk Hutten-Czapski National Museum in Kraków. It has hitherto been classified by bibliographers as a counterfeit edition, but a comparative analysis leaves no doubt that it is the second known copy of the first edition of the Knygos Nobažnystės postil “Suma Evangelijų”.