This volume follows our critically acclaimed Vilnius 1812 - Ghosts of Napoleon's Grande Armée through their artefacts. Few campaigns in the history of warfare have been impacted by poor logistics, weather and the resulting attrition as much as the ill-fated invasion of Russia by Emperor Napoleon in 1812. His troops and their horses succumbed to extremes of heat and cold, incessant marching, illnesses, warfare at close-quarters and brutal guerrilla tactics. They were physically worn down by lack of nutrition, medical care, and finally psychological trauma. This is their story from the data and artefacts found. It explores areas that are rarely covered by histories of the campaign. Napoleon collected an army of well over half a million men with most of his veterans involved in the Peninsular War. The exact numbers are still impossible to quantify with certainty. The estimates range from 450,000 to 720,000. Chapter 1 looks at the structure and nationality of the Grande Armée. The French lost 13 Eagles captured and 5 burnt. It is uncertain as to the number of French flags that were burnt on Napoleon’s orders at the Berezina but at least 33 eagles survived. The flags were replaced for the 1813 campaign. The Bavarians and Saxons lost the most flags in Russia. Interestingly, the large number of Polish flags and standards in Russian hands were removed from Poland to Razan Cathedral in St Petersburg after the Polish-Russian War of 1830-31 rather than when captured in 1812. [Chapter 2] The nationality and branch of service whether infantry, cavalry or artillery has been grouped together into separate chapters so the proportion and attrition rates can be appreciated. The French only contributed a third of the Army. The majority was concentrated in the Army Headquarters [Chapter 3], the Imperial Guard [Chapter 4-6], French 1er-4e Corps [Chapter 7-8], French 1er-3e Cavalry Corps [Chapter 9], and the French Artillery [Chapter 10]. The Wurttemberg, Swiss, Italian and Bavarian Cavalry contingents of the French 2e-4e Corps are detailed in Chapter 11. The minor foreign contingents were from Illyria, Croatia, Portugal, Spain and the Vistula Legion [Chapter 12]. The French allies provided complete Corps from Bavaria (6e Corps), Polish (5e Corps), Saxony (7e Corps), and Westphalia (8e Corps) [Chapter 13-14]. The second line troops of 9e (Victor) Corps [Chapter 15] were destroyed in a few weeks from when they joined the remnants of the Grande Armée at the Berezina. The Northern flank of 10e (MacDonald) Corps contained the majority of the reluctant allied division of the Prussians [Chapter 16]. Few of the third line troops of 11e (Augereau) Corps entered Russia [Chapter 17]. The Austrian Auxiliary did not penetrate deeply into Russian [Chapter 18]. Chapter 19 gives parallels from history for Agincourt (1415), Afghanistan (1842), the German invasion of Russia in Operation Barbarossa (1941) and the Falklands War (1982). Chapter 20 tells the stories and data upon the sad fate of the huge number of prisoners of war. Those captured would suffer murderous conditions at the hands of the Cossacks and Russian partisans. Chapter 21 attempts to bring together the data on the Corps and officer attrition. In just six months, the Grande Armée had been completely destroyed by strategic mistakes and complete logistic failure. The data has derived from many sources and is not consistent. The returns reproduced by Fabry’s (1903) Campagne de Russie 1812 was an immense undertaking but were not recorded on the same day. The earliest was 25 June and the latest was mid-August 1812. These were later reproduced by Digby Smith (1977 and 2002). The later returns for the December 1812-February 1813 in the main are derived from the two volumes by Frederic Reboul (1910 and 1913). The following have been excluded because they are rarely included in the returns for men under arms. 1. The numbers of officers and men that entered Russia excludes replacements, therefore attrition rates, especially among the men, were even higher. 2. In in a few occurrences, the number of men in hospital. 3. The engineers, sappers, pontoniers and train etc. have been excluded as the numbers are rarely or consistently available and underwent numerous re-organisations. 4. Where possible, the number for the artillerymen is included. Officer casualty tables were derived from Martinien (1899 and 1909) who compiled the battle casualties. Although not perfect data, it gives an insight into the severity of the actions. Martinien did not record deaths from disease. He recorded officer casualties for engagements and some officers have multiple entries.

La logique de l’argumentation ontologique est une logique qui porte sur la manière dont les philosophes construisent leurs arguments pour prouver la nature de l’Être, ou du principe ultime qui préside à toute réalité. Cet écrit visera à établir que l’argumentation ontologique ne peut être réduite ni à la logique formelle ni à l’étude de la matière, qu’elle ne relève ni de l’intelligible ni du sensible, etc. mais vise à articuler ces domaines opposés. Cette logique montrera que l’ontologie est en cela une discipline profondément créatrice, créant des événements dans la pensée qui sont l’assise de l’Être. Cet écrit est étayé de nombreux résumés, schémas, et tableaux qui permettront au lecteur de s’exercer sur cette manière de penser si particulière qui anime l’ontologie mais aussi d’en saisir toute la beauté. https://www.editions-harmattan.fr/livre-la_logique_de_l_argumentation_ontologique_logique_de_l_implicite_fares_chalabi-9782336461090-80357.html#:~:text=Farès%2520Chalabi,-Collection%2520%253A%2520La%2520philosophie&text=La%2520logique%2520de%2520l'argumentation%2520ontologique%2520est%2520une%2520logique%2520qui,qui%2520préside%2520à%2520toute%2520réalité.

31 January 2022

Despite the existence of societies, journals, conferences, and doctoral programs that generate increasing numbers of doctorates and research publications design research is not a coherent intellectual field with a clear boundary of its subject matter, nor an academic discipline founded on a consensual understanding of its purpose, methodology and pedagogical curriculum; subsequently, there is hardly any commonality across doctoral programs and the assessment of a doctoral degree is difficult if not impossible, so criticised the late design historian Victor Margolin. He called to unify and bound design research to solve these problems. While agreeing with his critiques and appreciating his good intentions, I will argue that his call is impractical as well as undesirable due to the social circumstances and the nature of design inquiry and the changing academic research practice which tend towards inter/trans-disciplinarity. Efforts should rather be directed to join fragmented design research in an evolving and inclusive manner to establish a dynamically connected discipline.

Susan Abulhawa’s debut novel Mornings in Jenin (2006) intricately captures the traumatic vicissitudes of the Palestinian refugees against the historical backdrop of the incessant Israel-Palestine political conflict. Delineating the pathetic turmoil of a Palestinian family across four-generations, this novel lays bare nuancedly the brutal histories of the Jewish occupation of the land of Palestine. This paper seeks to study how in portraying the horrific devastations of Israeli forces that led to the uprooting of thousands of Palestinian families since 1948, Abulhawa insightfully uncovers the harrowing experiences of displacement, dispossession and exile that have haunted and paralyzed the Palestinian lives down the decades. Through Amal, the female protagonist, Abulhawa focusses the profound longing for home, belongingness and stability that perpetually distress the refugees. Keeping in view the critical observations made by contemporary writers and thinkers, this paper will analyze how Abulhawa not only brings to foreground the Palestinian people’s problems of homelessness and deprivation but more significantly depicts their interminable desire to return to a homeland of their own, either physically or psychologically. Ironically, Abulhawa portrays that this mourning for the homeland becomes more poignant for the later generations with the loss of territorial/ geographical entity of Palestine. Pertinently, this paper will elucidate how Abulhawa’s novel can thus be regarded as a crucial intervention in the contemporary diaspora studies, serving as a compulsive reminder to the global community to humanely address and alleviate the predicament of Palestinian people who survive rootless and estranged in different corners of the world.

Una dintre cele mai importante probleme pentru societatea românească rămâne adecvarea actelor de educare şi formare a tuturor categoriilor de vârstă la cadrul istoric şi cultural intern. De la această premisă discut despre educaţia adulţilor în contextul modernizării. Întâi, prezint câteva direcţii ale educaţie adulţilor în modernitatea târzie, caracteristică societăţilor occidentale. Apoi analizez educaţia adulţilor în modernitatea românească, definită de mine ca modernitate tendenţială. In continuare, fac o descriere a etapelor vârstei adulte şi a educaţiei adulţilor.