Trousson, Raymond / Vercruysse, Jeroom (dir.), Dictionnaire general de Voltaire. (Champion classiques, references et dictionnaires 18) 1272 p. 2020:10 (Champion, FR) <670-9>
ISBN 978-2-38096-016-7 paper ¥7,064.- (税込) EUR 38.00

van Beek, W. E. A. / Ongoiba, Oumarou S. / Saye, Atime D., Dogon Songs of Life and Death: A Performance of the Baja Ni Funeral Cycle in Tireli, Mali. (African Sources for African History 19) 280 pp. 2025:2 (Brill, NE) <744-976>
ISBN 978-90-04-71844-9 paper ¥18,335.- (税込) EUR 79.00

Though the Dogon are well-described, their culture still holds surprises. One of these is the cycle of songs called baja ni, which is at the heart of their funerary rites. Surprisingly, these songs have a historic author, a blind poet/prophet who roamed the area in the 19th century and left a huge heritage of songs and prophecies. This book gives the full text of one performance of this legacy. The lyrics cover a range of topics, from comments on historical events to philosophical musings about life and death, and from remembering the departed to celebrating the joys of being alive.

Wu, Mandy Jui-man / Linduff, Katheryn M., Archaeological Studies on Gender in Early East Asia. (Elements in Ancient East Asia) 86 pp. 2025:1 (Cambridge U. Pr., UK) <744-843>
ISBN 978-1-009-53354-6 hard ¥14,076.- (税込) GB￡ 49.99
ISBN 978-1-108-98739-4 paper ¥4,787.- (税込) GB￡ 17.00

Gendered archaeology in Asia has been studied by archaeologists since the 1990s and scholars have posed questions such as the role and construction of gendered identities in ancient societies. In this Element, the authors review secondary literature, report on to what stage the research has evolved, evaluate methodologies, and use the concept of networking to examine the issues across East Asia, including China, Mongolia, Korea, Japan, and Taiwan. Interestingly, those literatures are not entirely parallel with each other - the authors found, for example, that archaeological investigation was largely bound by national guidelines, by local intellectual traditions, and by changing historiographic interpretations of past events, as well as funding. The complexion of recent studies on gender and archaeology in Asia has often been focused on providing a framework for a grand narrative of each national 'civilization' as the emergence of institutional political structures, including traditional values placed on men and women.

Gauss, Valdis, The Formosan Primary Anthropogenic Myths, Genesis, and the Creation of Man. (Brill Series in Taiwan Studies 4) 224 pp. 2025:7 (Brill, NE) <744-868>
ISBN 978-90-04-73383-1 hard ¥27,852.- (税込) EUR 120.00

In this book, Valdis Gauss anthologizes the Formosan anthropogenic myths from all of Taiwan's Austronesian tribes. Over 250 origin texts, sourced from dozens of linguistic, anthropological, historical, and mythological corpora as well as other publications have been collated and analysed rendering the present literary survey far more comprehensive than any prior study on this subject. Over 100 Formosan myths, many of which were never previously available in English have been translated here for the first time. In the absence of longstanding traditional orthographical records, the Austronesian tribes that inhabit the island of Taiwan have relied on the transmission of oral literatures for the preservation of historical events since the dawn of time. The earliest historical events that are still recited by tribal elders relate to the origins of the gods and first ancestors of mankind. This anthology continues the tradition of collecting and transcribing these myths for everyone interested in the corpus of literature from Taiwan's aboriginal peoples.

Rokkum, Arne, Shamanic Crossovers in the Southern Philippines: Vocal Worlds. (Studies in Death, Materiality and the Origin of Time) 296 pp. 2025:7 (Routledge, UK) <744-897>
ISBN 978-1-032-86898-1 hard ¥40,832.- (税込) GB￡ 145.00

This book offers a close-up study of annual cycle rituals among the southern Tagbanwa of Palawan Island in the Philippines, with a particular focus on shamanic oratory and vocalized performance. Drawing on rich ethnography and extensive fieldwork, it reflects on the interconnectedness of humans, nature, and the spirit world. The chapters shed light on the role of female (babalyan) and male (manlalambay) protagonists and how people, including the deceased, relate to each other through vibrant natural and crafted motifs. The study transports readers into a world of upland shifting cultivators and invites us to delve into animist dialogue in vivo. Offering a valuable contribution to debates on new animism and perspectivism, Shamanic Crossovers in the Southern Philippines will be of particular interest to scholars of anthropology, religion, Southeast Asia, and Indigenous studies.

博物館研究入門
Fyfe, Gordon, Introducing Museum Studies. 248 pp. 2025:4 (Polity Pr., UK) <744-1096>
ISBN 978-0-7456-4212-3 hard ¥15,004.- (税込) US$ 69.95
ISBN 978-0-7456-4213-0 paper ¥6,424.- (税込) US$ 29.95

Introducing Museum Studies is the first introductory textbook for museum studies. Providing a wide-ranging and original overview of museums from a historical and contemporary perspective, it covers key topics such as the history of the museum, the museum as a public space, visitors, and communities. The book shows how museums, far from being neutral collections, exhibit objects which convey powerful symbolic meanings. This "cultural turn" away from the object as a thing in itself has placed museums at the centre of debates about public culture, citizenship, inclusion and repatriation. Museums are becoming increasingly reflexive given the awareness of the social and political role they serve and their ability to reflect the problems of our time. Gordon Fyfe shows how and why this reflexivity creates a need for historical perspective on current practices: on the one hand museums are enmeshed in a changing world and on the other hand they exhibit change. At their best, museums help us to see that everything is on the move and that change is the natural order of things.Accessibly written, this is the go-to introduction for scholars and students of museum studies, arts and cultural management, and heritage studies.

Bortolotto, Chiara, Will Heritage Save Us?: Intangible Cultural Heritage and the Sustainable Development Turn. (Elements in Critical Heritage Studies) 75 pp. 2025:3 (Cambridge U. Pr., UK) <744-1140>
ISBN 978-1-009-50909-1 hard ¥14,076.- (税込) GB￡ 49.99 *
ISBN 978-1-009-50910-7 paper ¥4,787.- (税込) GB￡ 17.00 *

Drawing on extensive ethnographic engagement with the social world of the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, this Element explores the mainstreaming of sustainable development principles in the heritage field. It illustrates how, while deeply entwined in the UN standardizing framework, sustainability narratives are expanding the frontiers of heritage and unsettling conventional understandings of its social and political functions. Ethnographic description of UNESCO administrative practices and case studies explain how the sustainabilization of intangible cultural heritage entails a fundamental shift in perspective: heritage is no longer nostalgically regarded as a fragile relic in need of preservation but as a resource for the future with new purposes and the potential to address broader concerns and anxieties of our times, ranging from water shortages to mental health. This might ultimately mean that the safeguarding endeavor is no longer about us protecting heritage but about heritage protecting us.

Pollard, A. M., Retrospective and Prospective for Scientific Provenance Studies in Archaeology. (Elements in Current Archaeological Tools and Techniques) 84 pp. 2025:2 (Cambridge U. Pr., UK) <744-1143>
ISBN 978-1-009-59219-2 hard ¥14,076.- (税込) GB￡ 49.99
ISBN 978-1-009-59222-2 paper ¥4,787.- (税込) GB￡ 17.00

Provenance has been one of the major scientific applications in archaeology for a hundred years. The 'Golden Age' began in the 1950s, when large programmes were initiated focussing on bronzes, ceramics, and lithics. However, these had varying impact, ranging from wide acceptance to outright rejection. This Element reviews some of these programmes, mainly in Eurasia and North America, focussing on how the complexity of the material, and the effects of human behaviour, can impact on such studies. The conclusion is that provenance studies of lithic materials and obsidian are likely to be reliable, but those on ceramics and metals are increasingly complicated, especially in the light of mixing and recycling. An alternative is suggested, which focusses more on using scientific studies to understand the relationship between human selectivity and processing and the wider resources available, rather than on the simple question of 'where does this object come from'.

Woodard, Jennie, Witchcraft: Gendered Perspectives. (Gendered Perspectives) 156 pp. 2025:8 (Routledge, UK) <744-1147>
ISBN 978-1-032-71724-1 hard ¥40,832.- (税込) GB￡ 145.00
ISBN 978-1-032-71205-5 paper ¥11,260.- (税込) GB￡ 39.99

From fairy tales and fiction to Tiktok, the spectre of the witch has cast a long shadow over women and popular culture. Witchcraft: Gendered Perspectives traces the history of and evolution of the term "witch" across six centuries.Tracing the history of witchcraft from the publication of the Malleus Maleficarum to its contemporary representation and reclamation, this volume takes a gendered and intersectional approach to the cultural and historical shifts which have both demonised and democratised the witch online and in public discourse. Amongst these are:- The witch trials in Scotland, England, and America;- Literary and screen re-imaginings of the witch;- The rise of Wicca as an alternative religion.Witchcraft: Gendered Perspectives is an invaluable resource for graduate and undergraduate students across gender studies, queer history, religious studies, media studies, and European and North American history.

Shibaike, Takumi / Zhao, Bi, Who Tells Your Story?: Women and Indigenous Peoples Advocacy at the UNFCCC. (Organizational Response to Climate Change: Businesses, Governments) 96 pp. 2025:2 (Cambridge U. Pr., UK) <744-1009>
ISBN 978-1-009-47293-7 hard ¥14,076.- (税込) GB￡ 49.99 *
ISBN 978-1-009-47289-0 paper ¥4,787.- (税込) GB￡ 17.00 *

Thousands of civil society organizations (CSOs) attend the Conferences of the Parties (COPs) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) every year. Through their advocacy work, CSOs define and redefine what "climate change" is really about. The Element focuses on climate advocacy for women and Indigenous peoples (IPs), two prominent climate justice frames at the UNFCCC. Which CSOs advocate for women and IPs? How and why do CSOs adopt gender and Indigenous framing? Bridging the literature on framing strategy and organizational ecology, it presents two mechanisms by which CSOs adopt climate justice frames: self-representation and surrogate-representation. The Element demonstrates that, while gender advocacy is developed primarily by women's CSOs, IPs advocacy is developed by a variety of CSOs beyond IPs organizations. It suggests that these different patterns of frame development may have long-term consequences for how we think about climate change in relation to gender and IPs.