A r t i c l e s

Drozdík, Ladislav: Structural and Semantic Limits of Coordination in Korean, p. 113

Šoucová, Jana: The Japanese Honorific Language: Its Past, Present and Future, p. 136

Wong, Dorothy: „At Home Nowhere and Everywhere“: Musings of the Postmodern Hong Kong Citizen, p. 148

Gálik, Marián: Three From the Sino-European Babel: Cherkassky, Malmquist, Kubin and Translation of the Twentieth Century Chinese Poetry in Europe, p. 158

Sorby, Karol R.: The Political Climate in Iraq in the Aftermath of the 1958 Revolution, p. 167

Gažáková, Zuzana: Remarks on Arab Scholarship in the Arabic Popular Sira and the Sirat Sayf Ibn Di Yazan, p. 187

Magdolen, Dušan: The Development of the Sign of the Ancient Egyptian Goddess Seshat down to the End of the Old Kingdom: Analysis and Interpretation. Part Two, p. 196

Bucková, Martina: Millenarian Movements in Polynesia. Their Rise and Spread Immediately after Christianization, p. 228

B o o k R e v i e w s

Berger, Patricia: Empire of Emptiness. Buddhist Art and Political Authority in Qing China. By Martin Slobodník, p. 243

Kindopp, Jason – Hamrin, Carol Lee, eds.: God and Caesar in China. Policy Implications of Church-State Tensions. By Martin Slobodník, p. 245

ABSTRACTS

Structural and Semantic Limits of Coordination in Korean

Ladislav Drozdík
Institute of Oriental and African Studies
Slovak Academy of Sciences, Klemensova 19, 813 64, Bratislava, Slovakia

It is widely known that the rigid two-term system of clause classes, coordinate and subordinate, though in many respects of fundamental importance, does not provide a reliable basis for examining all aspects of clause clustering in multi-clause (compound or complex) sentences and prevents the formulation of cross-linguistically valid statements in this syntactic domain. Notably, it fails to answer the cardinal question of what exactly belongs to any of these two classes with exclusion of the other. This failure is seemingly due to the lack of unambiguous formal criteria that would be able to account for the semantic (functional) side of this basic bipartition. The paper aims at drawing attention to some of the most outstanding problems obscuring the coordinate-subordinate distinction and to point out structural and semantic limits of what might be classified as sentential and phrasal coordination in Korean.

The Japanese honorific language: its past, present and future

Jana ŠOUCOVÁ
Department of the Languages and Cultures of the Countries of East Asia,
Faculty of Arts, Comenius University, 818 01 Bratislava, Slovakia

The article focuses on the sociolinguistic context of the system of polite communication in Japanese. It discusses its roots, development as well as psychological effect on the Japanese verbal behaviour. In the light of comparison with the Korean system of polite language the uniqueness of the Japanese system is presented.

“At Home Nowhere and Everywhere”: Musings of the Postmodern Hong Kong Citizen

Dorothy Wong
Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong

Home connotes a living space that marks a place. The construction of “home” involves not only a spatial arrangement, but also a transformation of the space into a meaningful place where the occupant inscribes his or her values. Subsequently, it becomes a cultural index. It cannot be encapsulated solely by physical architecture. Its formation indexes the relationship between the occupant and home as a concept or as a physical presence of spatial arrangement, a place where people can locate their identities. The article aims at looking into the (re)organization of spaces and the conditions of the prescription of boundaries in contemporary fiction and films to elaborate the relationship between the idea of home and the sense of belonging generated.

Three from the Sino-European Babel: Cherkassky, Malmqvist, Kubin and translation of the twentieth century Chinese poetry in Europe

Marián GÁLIK
Institute of Oriental Studies, Slovak Academy od Sciences,
Klemensova 19, 813 64 Bratislava, Slovakia

Dedicated to Wolfgang Kubin at his sixteeth birthday on December 15, 2005

The translation of modern Chinese literature in Europe started in the 1930s and 1940s, and continued in 1950s and 1960s. After the 1970s even more translations in different, especially Western European countries appeared. Not all translators of the last three decades of the twentieth century will be treated here. Only three, according to my knowledge, the most important, will be briefly analysed: Leonid E. Cherkassky (1925-2003), former Russian Sinologist working in Moscow, and later in Israel, Göran Malmqvist (*1924), Professor Emeritus of Stockholm University and a member of the Swedish Academy, and Wolfgang Kubin (*1945), Director of the Sinological Institute of Bonn University.

The Political Climate in Iraq in the Aftermath of the 1958 Revolution

Karol SORBY
Institute of Oriental Studies, Slovak Academy of Sciences
Klemensova 19, 813 64 Bratislava, Slovakia

The masterly fashion in which the military coup of 14 July 1958 in Iraq, that finally overthrew the monarchy and inaugurated a new era in Iraqi history was carried out, raised high hopes that the new regime would wipe out past injustices and open a new era which would provide freedom, prosperity, and progress. The revolution succeeded more because of luck and audacity than a result of a long planning or extensive organization. The coup was unquestionably a reflection of deep-seated discontent among officers and among civilian politicians with the regime’s foreign policy and its slowness to reform. However, the military men, who were particularly susceptible to slogans from Radio Cairo, gave far more thought to the overthrow of the existing regime than to what would replace it. In order to meet the common expectations the newly formed government under Brigadier cAbdalkarim Qasim made it clear, in official and unofficial statements, that all restrictions on personal liberty were lifted, discriminatory measures abolished, and steps would be taken to repair past errors. The reality that turned out appeared to be quite different.

Remarks on Arab Scholarship in the Arabic Popular Sira and the Sirat Sayf ibn Di Yazan

Zuzana GAŽÁKOVÁ
Department of Arabic Studies
The Faculty of Arts, Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia

The subject, which is going to be discussed here, represents a brief description of the general direction of 20th century research in the field of Arab popular epic and the Sirat Sayf ibn Di Yazan conducted by Arab scholars and literary critics. Despite the fact that some of the studies which are mentioned in the following pages are out of date, discussing them is still profitable because they offer a complex review of the gradual development of scholarly opinion on the Arabic popular sira, which was marked until recently by many misconceptions and methodological confusion.

The Development of the Sign of the Ancient Egyptian Goddess Seshat down to the End of the Old Kingdom: analysis and interpretation.
– Part Two –

Dušan MAGDOLEN
Institute of Oriental Studies, Slovak Academy of Sciences
Klemensova 19, 813 64 Bratislava, Slovakia

In general, the ancient Egyptian deities are distinguished by their names and symbols. In spite of the decipherment of hieroglyphs by J.-F. Champollion in the 1820s and the number of published studies, some of the hieroglyphs and symbols still remain an enigma. The sign of the goddess named Seshat can undoubtedly be included in this category. This paper based on the study of the preserved records presents an attempt to understand the meaning of the hieroglyphic sign and symbol of Seshat, the ancient Egyptian goddess of writing, reckoning and building. The study is divided into three parts. Part One consists of the iconographic records coming approximately from the beginning of the 3rd millenium B.C. down to the end of the Old Kingdom in the 22nd century B.C. This part contains the main information about the sign of Seshat known from the wall reliefs, such as provenance, date, and basic description of each sign etc. Part Two of the study, which will follow in the next volume of the AAS journal, will contain the epigraphic records from the same period including the sign of Seshat with the same characteristics as mentioned above. Part Three intended to be published next year in the first volume of this journal is going to be the final part of the study and will bring the analysis and interpretation of the sign of the goddess Seshat in the context of its development in the Old Kingdom Period.

Millenarian movements in Polynesia. Their rise andspread immediately after Christianization

Martina BUCKOVÁ
Institute of Oriental Studies, Slovak Academy of Sciences,
Klemensova 19, 813 64 Bratislava, Slovakia

Syncretic religions seem to be a universal phenomenon typical of the post-contact period in various parts of the world. They share quite a few typological features (despite their different genesis) since they represent a reaction to very similar if not identical circumstances, inevitably combining features of Christianity with some aspects of local religions. In Polynesia they arose as millenarian movements blending a variety of local motifs and mythological elements with various ideas of Christian provenience and appeared in several archipelagoes in the era of Christianization. The rise of syncretic sects may also be interpreted as a defensive mechanism and occasionally as a rejection of the new religion.