Before 1936, musical practices in Palestine relied heavily on colloquial poetry, especially in rural communities, which constituted most of the population. During the first half of the twentieth... Show moreBefore 1936, musical practices in Palestine relied heavily on colloquial poetry, especially in rural communities, which constituted most of the population. During the first half of the twentieth century, Palestinian music evolved as a reflection of the social, cultural, and political evolution of Palestinians. Palestinian music-making evolved exponentially resulting in the expansion of various folk tunes into shaʿbī songs, the creation of the Palestinian qaṣīda song genre, new compositions of instrumental music for traditional and Western music formations, the establishment of choirs and children music programing, and active engagement in composing in the styles of the dominant Egyptian genres of the time as well as muwashshaḥāt.In 1948, the vast majority of Palestinians were displaced, and musicians found themselves at the frontier of implementing new political and cultural visions in the countries of Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq. Therefore, the continuation of the musical narrative in the West Bank did not seem attainable. By the early 1950s, Palestinian musicians and intellectuals developed a vocabulary that reflected the topography, scenery, culture, dialects, and history of al-Mashriq, one that is independent of Egypt’s. Their input, intuition, experience, and convictions of various Palestinian musicians helped to make the music scene in Lebanon, Iraq, and Jordan what they are today. Show less
Nationalism, as an ideology coupling self-conscious peoples to fixed territories, is often seen as emerging from European historical developments, also in postcolonial countries outside Europe.... Show moreNationalism, as an ideology coupling self-conscious peoples to fixed territories, is often seen as emerging from European historical developments, also in postcolonial countries outside Europe. André van Dokkum’s Nationalism and Territoriality in Barue and Mozambique shows that this view is not universally true. The precolonial Kingdom of Barue in what is now Mozambique showed characteristics generally associated with nationalism, giving the country great resilience against colonial encroachment. Postcolonial Mozambique, on the other hand, has so far not succeeded in creating national coherence. The former anti-colonial organization and now party in power Frelimo has always stressed national unity, but only under its own guidance, paradoxically producing disunity. Show less
Search engines play a vital role in positioning, organizing, and disseminating knowledge in China. Although there is a growing interest in China’s search engines, relatively few researches... Show moreSearch engines play a vital role in positioning, organizing, and disseminating knowledge in China. Although there is a growing interest in China’s search engines, relatively few researches systematically examine their role involving nationalism. In order to address the research gap, this article compares the top thirty search results,from Baidu, 360 Search, Sogou Search, and Google regarding the “Meng Wanzhou Incident” while focusing on the overlap, ranking, and bias patterns. Furthermore, this study also analyses the differences between Wikipedia and China’s online encyclopedias concerning the “Meng Wanzhou Incident” in terms of content, structure, sources, and their main arguments. This article finds: 1) Chinese search engines favor their own services, thereby offering a unique and selective content bias; 2) Chinese search engines and online encyclopedias only provide Chinese sources that provide national biased knowledge, which raises search bias concerns; and 3) Chinese online encyclopedias offer a strong one-sided argument that is positive to China. Overall, this study finds that China’s search engines service the Chinese government’s self-interest by rendering overly biased social realities; moreover, they produce a logic of “imagined communities” to promote and stimulate feelings of nationalism. Show less
