Hernán Cortés: Virtù vs. Fortuna

En este trabajo analizo algunas de las hazañas del conquistador Hernán Cortés, en base a los conceptos de “virtu” y “fortuna.” Visto desde esta perspectiva, Cortés aparece como un hombre de indiscutible inteligencia y valentía personal cuyos logros políticos en Mesoamérica han sido sobre-estimados.     

The role of observational learning in the development of personal spaceEl rol del aprendizaje por medio de observación en el desarrollo del espacio personal.Le rôle de l'apprentissage observationel dans le développement de l'espace personnel.

Considerable research has been done on personal space, its determinants, methods of measurement, and traits of personality related to it. It is quite certain that personal space aspects are learned, and this accounts for the cultural differences found. This study was an attempt to consider the role of vicarious learning in establishing and changing children's personal space. A second purpose of the experiment was to gather some data on Brazilian boys and girls' personal space dimensions. Subjects: Forty-eight boys and 48 girls attending fifth grade with a mean age of 11 years and five months. Method: Personal space of subjects was measured twice using the Pedersen Personal Space Measure (a simulated pencil and paper measure of personal space). Between the two measurements subjects were submitted to one of the four experimental conditions: Group I saw a model being punished for invasion of personal space; Group II saw the model being rewarded; Group III saw no consequences happen to the model; and Group IV had no exposure to models. Results: The differences between the first and second measurements of personal space revealed that the four groups differed significantly: Group I increased personal space; Group II and group III decreased it; While group IV did not change. The hypothesis that vicarious learning influences the formation and modification of personal space was thus confirmed. As for the exploration on Brazilian children's personal space, it was found that although there were no differences due to sex of the subject, both boys and girls kept significantly smaller distances from girls than from boys, probably revealing social influences.     

Rural women in development: Veil of invisibility,world of workFemmes rurales et le developpement: Voile d'invisibilite,monde de travailLas mujeres rurales en el desarrolo: El velo de las invisibilidad,en mundo del trabajo

Over the last decade, evidence has been accumulating that the process of development has resulted more frequently in greater economic marginalization than benefits for poor rural women in much of the Third World. Yet recent efforts aimed at incorporating these poor non-urban women into development have been hampered by the “veil of invisibility” hiding their past and present conditions and contributions. This article formulates some hypotheses concerning female invisibility as well as productivity, and then contrasts the extant view of rural Third World women as relatively unproductive with (1) evidence drawn from evolutionary history, and (2) data from new micro-level and UN studies. The former indicates that women were the primary producers in most pre-agrarian human groups. The latter indicate that women continue to produce approximately half the world's food, although there is dramatic regional variation. The article concludes with an analysis of the statistical biases and stereotypes that obscure these contributions and briefly indicates the cost of this invisibility to the countries involved as well as to the women themselves.     

Measuring cross-cultural adjustment: The problem of criteriaLa evaluación del ajuste transcultural: El problema de criteriosL'évaluation de l'adaptation inter-culturelle: Le problème des critères

The nature of the adjustment process for individuals crossing cultural boundaries has not been adequately described in past research, and this leads to difficulty in selection and training of personnel for overseas assignments. This article critically reviews research on criterion measures of overseas adaptation, and raises a series of theoretical issues to be considered in future research. In addition, methods for measurement of cross-cultural adjustment are proposed, and it is suggested that practitioners and researchers in this field could benefit from a careful definition of criteria.     

The adaptation of African students to American societyLa adaptación de estudiantes Africanos a la educacion NorteAmericanaL'adaptation d'etudiants Africains a l'education Americaine

This report summarizes the results of a questionnaire study involving 296 sub-Saharan African students from a representative set of nine American campuses. Some of the results suggest that African students in this country in the middle 70s: are predominantly Christian and middle-class in origin. coming mostly from cities of over 10,000; Nigerians vastly outnumber those from any other country; are two-thirds undergraduates and one-third graduate students, with at least a third having started their American education in a community college; are mostly supported by their families or themselves. Their major problems at first are in the areas of climate, communication with Americans, discrimination, homesickness, depression, irritability, and tiredness. Only a minority feel comfortable with the basic elements of American culture, though the vast majority are pleased with the education they arc receiving. It was possible to identify several correlates of adjustment, defined as happiness and freedom from various problems. Students have a more positive attitude toward American values if they are from more prominent families, have attended an orientation to American education, and spend time with Americans rather than other Africans. Contact with the foreign-student office on campus seems to he an effective bridge to American culture and also engenders positive attitudes toward American education.     

Takamine Go: a possible Okinawan cinema 1

Abstract

Despite little improvement in the socio‐political predicament of Okinawa since its reversion to Japan, culturally there has recently been something of an ‘Okinawa boom’ in mainland Japan. This has involved a huge interest in Okinawa and Okinawan cultures in mainland Japan and an increasing ‘consumption’ of Okinawan goods and cultural artefacts. One of the symptoms of this trend has been the growth in the last five years or so, in the number of films set in Okinawa. Many of these films present conventional stereotypical images of Okinawa and, whether wittingly or not, have contributed to the ‘cosmetic operation’ of Japan’s multiculturalism by providing a utopian vision of Okinawanness and erasing Okinawa’s problems from the screen. However, an Okinawan filmmaker, Takamine Go, critically challenges such stereotypes and Japan’s cosmetic multiculturalism. This paper focuses on Takamine’s Untamagirū (1989 Takamine, Go. 1989. Untamagirū  [Google Scholar]) and Tsuru‐Henry (1999). It examines the cinematic strategies mobilised by these films – the use of different languages, allegorical implications, complex montages of image and sound, and the departure from conventional narrative realism. These strategies, it will be suggested, not only enable the films to explore complex forms of public memory and history but also to challenge the notion of a homogeneous Japan and its ‘quasi‐orientalist’ gaze towards Okinawa. The paper then proceeds to argue that Takamine’s films should not simply be regarded as a ‘regional’ variant of Japanese cinema but as a ‘specifically Okinawan cinema’ that both overlaps with and opposes a ‘national’ Japanese cinema.