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The horrific scenes of the Lebanese civil war (1975-1990), which left the country in ruins, had a traumatic effect on the entire nation particularly the Lebanese author, Hanan al-Shaykh who was haunted by the nightmarish war memories until she managed to overcome them by reliving the whole experience through the events of her remarkable novel The Story of Zahra. Disillusioned by the political scene during the war and exasperated with the traditional artistic themes advocated by previous generations of war writers, al-Shaykh rejected the linear development of character, the sense of order and progression integral to the war literature in the Arab world. Instead, she captures the atrocities of war by creating a unique novel, giving the Lebanese tragedy mythic proportions and turning it into more than a historical event. In light of this background and within the context of contemporary war fiction studies, the paper critically examines al-Shaykh’s novel in order to explore the deadly impact of war, which uproots the foundations of a civilized country turning it into a wasteland. The paper argues that the author creates a multi-layered narrative, which reflects the collapse of the moral and political structure of a patriarchal society paralyzed by coercive masculinity and devastated by sectarian violence. Navigating the protagonist’s journey of suffering and pain during the brutal civil conflict, the paper uncovers the underpinnings of war interpreting the novel as a gendered reflection of a divided country. The paper also emphasizes that the author presents a counter-narrative exposing the ugly side of war and revealing how war catastrophically damages the social fabric of the nation.

Palermo during late antiquity and the early Byzantine period is largely unknown. Many reasons contribute to this gap. What remains yet to be uncovered is continuity of life that has not seen any systematic investigation, hampered also by a critical delay in the publishing of previous excavations. Despite these issues, our knowledge of the town in the above period has improved slightly in recent years thanks to chance discoveries. Among them, the excavations conducted inside the former Montevergini monastery where archaeologists have found a complex sequence of archaeological levels from the 3rd century B.C. to the present day. This paper will focus on a single layer that has yielded a rich pottery assemblage comprising late African imports and other presumed locally manufactured objects. These findings enhance our knowledge of the local economy and daily life in one of the major port cities of western Sicily.

Zusammenfassung Die deutsch-kubanische Forschungs- und Digitalisierungsinitiative „Proyecto Humboldt Digital“ (ProHD) hat während ihrer Projektlaufzeit (2019–2023) wichtige Quellen zum Thema „Humboldt und Kuba“ erstmals digital erschlossen. Als Kooperation zwischen der Berlin-Brandenburgischen Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Oficina del Historiador de la Ciudad de La Habana hat ProHD damit wichtige Akzente für die Archivdigitalisierung, die digitale Editionsphilologie und die digitale Wissenschaftskommunikation in Kuba gesetzt. Das Korpus der erschlossenen Bestände wird hier in fünf Schlaglichtern vorgestellt: 1) Quellen zur Humboldt’schen Forschungsreise, 2) Juan Luis de la Cuesta, 3) Materialien zu Kuba aus dem Humboldt-Nachlass, 4) Zensur und Beschlagnahme des Essai politique sur l’île de Cuba, 5) Francisco de Arango y Parreño. Resumen La iniciativa alemana-cubana “Proyecto Humboldt Digital” (ProHD) ha hecho accesibles digitalmente por primera vez importantes fuentes sobre el tema “Humboldt y Cuba” durante el período de su ejecución (2019–2023). Como cooperación entre la Academia de Ciencias y Humanidades de Berlín-Brandeburgo y la Oficina del Historiador de la Ciudad de La Habana, ProHD ha inspirado importantes pautas para la digitalización de archivos, la ecdótica digital y la comunicación científica digital en Cuba. El corpus de los fondos catalogados se presenta aquí en cinco puntos destacados: 1) fuentes en torno al viaje humboldtiano, 2) Juan Luis de la Cuesta, 3) materiales sobre Cuba de la colección Humboldt, 4) Censura y confiscación del Essai politique sur l’île de Cuba, 5) Francisco de Arango y Parreño. Abstract The German-Cuban initiative “Proyecto Humboldt Digital” (ProHD) has made important archival sources on “Humboldt and Cuba” digitally accessible for the first time during the project period (2019–2023). As a cooperation between the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities and the Office of the Historian of the City of Havana, ProHD has inspired key principles for archival digitization, digital scholarly editions and digital scholarly communication in Cuba. The digital corpus is presented in this article along five main strands: 1) documents related to Humboldt’s voyage, 2) Juan Luis de la Cuesta, 3) Documents on Cuba from the Humboldt personal papers, 4) censorship and confiscation of the Essai politique sur l’île de Cuba, 5) Francisco de Arango y Parreño.

This paper discusses the 17th-century Latin translation of Proclus’ Commentary on the First Book of Euclid’s Elements, preserved in Madrid, Biblioteca Nacional de España, MS 9871, produced by the Spaniard Vicente Mariner. The author examines the historical context, sources, and motivations behind Mariner’s translation, his intellectual profile, and the potential reasons for translating a mathematical text given his background in literature. Via a comparison of Mariner’s text with the original Greek, this paper delves into Mariner’s translation choices and linguistic nuances to highlight the challenges he faced while translating it. Transcriptions of the collated passage both from Grynaeus’ 1533 editio princeps of Proclus’ text and Mariner’s manuscript are provided in the Appendix. Overall, this paper attempts to shed light on Mariner’s contribution to the Latin reception of Proclus’ work in the early modern period.

Research on regiolects commonly concentrates on phenomena of traditional dialectology. In his talk at the 6th IGDD congress in September 2018 Michael Elmentaler whatsoever plead to rather focus on characteristics of regiolects by themselves. As a scientific approach he mentioned regional phraseology. The following research project now focuses on the regional distribution of phrasemes and tries to find out whether participants are aware of these and which influence age has. Therefore 26 phrasemes, based on the Rheinisches Mitmachwörterbuch, an interactive online tool of the LVR-Institut für Landeskunde und Regionalgeschichte (ILR), that are not codified or coded „landschaftlich rheinisch/westmitteldeutsch“ in relevant lexicons are presented to participants. They then rated whether they knew and used these phrasemes or whether they were unknown to them. Moreover, participants were able to fill in variants of the idioms in question. First results from the study concerning awareness and age will be presented in this paper.

Language experiments have a long tradition in the field of dialectology to investigate phonological, lexical and syntactic variation. Methodologically, the repertoire ranges from written test procedures to standardized language production tests and interviews whereby different types of tasks (e. g. translation, picture-naming, evaluation tasks) are used. In order to investigate the variation and perception of morpho(phono)logical phenomena (e. g. the variation of the superlative dat schéinst/dat schéinsten/dat schéinstent Meedchen ‘the most beautiful girl’) in Luxembourgish, I developed a new test procedure, which is based on test procedures and tasks already used in other dialectological and variationist projects (e. g. Syntax Hessischer Dialekte (SyHD), cf. Fleischer/Lenz/Weiß 2015, Sprachvariation in Norddeutschland (SiN); cf. Elmentaler et al. 2015)). The development of a new method was indispensable, since firstly, it must be adapted to the analysis of morpho(phono)logical phenomena that are not linked to regional variation and secondly this test aims to analyse salience and pertinence, two relevant concepts within the scope of language perception and evaluation (cf. Purschke 2011), separately. This paper thus presents an experiment that aims to investigate the perception of morpho(phono)logical variation and its variants in Luxembourgish. The individual test procedures, a salience test, a specific form of scale-based test, a translation task and a supplementary questionnaire are described, contextualized and discussed in detail. The focus also lies on the special design of the test, which is able to ascertain the salience and pertinence of certain variants and to correlate them directly with the production of the variants and the self-evaluation of the individual participants.

This paper aims to present observations on the pragmaticalized use as well as the concomitant functions of the demonstrative este in Mexican Spanish. Este seems to serve an additional range of functions in Mexican Spanish in particular, but also in other Hispanic American varieties, as it has turned into a quite productive discourse marker that can be considered, among other things, as a hesitation element, an outline signal, and probably also as an evidentiality marker. The specific functional domains (especially with regard to possible evidential functions) will be illustrated in more detail in the paper using oral language data from the speaker community of the southern Mexican city of Oaxaca de Juárez. The study also includes a sociolinguistically oriented quantitative analysis, the results of which will also be discussed in the context of language ideological attitudes towards este.

Autonomous verbs in Irish are special verb forms incompatible with the surface realization of a subject. Previous studies have suggested to postulate empty categories such as pro, PRO or expletive pro to fill the subject position (cf. Stenson 1989; McCloskey 2007; Bondaruk/ Charzyńska-Wóicjk 2003), thus rejecting the idea that these verbs might be classified as completely subjectless. A series of syntactic tests bear out the hypothesis that, at least for Irish, these verbs behave as actually lacking a subject. I first suggest correlating this state of affairs to the fact that, with autonomous verbs, no argument role to be promoted to subject position is selected at the valency level, although it is “implied” in the unfolding of the event. Secondly, I argue that both valency reduction and syntactic non-realization of an argument role is driven by information structural constraints; notably, the focal nature of autonomous verbs (as advocated elsewhere, cf. Nolan 2012) causes the subject (together with the argument role it is associated with) to be informationally downgraded, thereby leading to its suppression in the sentence. The position held in this paper is that autonomous verbs of the Irish type epitomize an interesting phenomenon of semantic-pragmatic interface, with the pragmatic level of the utterance “mediating” between the semantic and the syntactic level; in such a perspective, the pragmatic (information structural) level of an utterance would determine either the number and type of argument roles a verb can take in a particular discourse context (cf. DuBois 1987; Goldberg 2006) and their syntactic encoding.

This paper presents a comparative study of two widely used EFL textbooks in the 4th year of Compulsory Secondary Education in La Rioja, Spain, examining how their reading activities influence learners' cultural cognitive processes through their vocabulary input. Employing Cultural Linguistics' framework (Sharifian, 2011), the study aims to: (i) identify the activation of cultural conceptualizations in the reading passages, (ii) assess the development of schemas and categories with the inclusion of sub-schemas and instances, and (iii) explore what cultures are enhanced by these cultural conceptualizations. Results indicate the activation of cultural schemas and categories, with schemas being more prevalent, and the inclusion of sub-schemas and instances enriching cultural meaning. The approach to addressing culture in EFL textbooks varies in each book. Our findings show that the presence of sub-schemas and instances may facilitate learners in effectively navigating intercultural encounters.

Abstract: This paper examines the portrayal of trauma and collective memory in The Baghdad Eucharist, a remarkable novel set in Iraq. It argues that our memory often repeats itself when we fail to grasp its true significance. The aftermath of the postwar period in Iraq, particularly after 2003, was characterized by profound psychological traumas experienced both individually and collectively. Youssef and Maha, the main characters, bear the psychological scars of a tragic event deeply rooted in the sensitive aspects of Iraq's history and culture. In his novel, Sinan Antoon focuses on depicting Iraq's transformation and the invasion of sectarian war that engulfs the nation. In The Baghdad Eucharist, he chooses to write about the 2010 bombing of a church, a devastating incident resulting in numerous deaths. Drawing from the theory of trauma, this paper analyzes the presentation of trauma through the lens of Youssef and Maha, two characters profoundly affected by the traumatic memory. Youssef and Maha's experiences reflect the enduring impact of the witnessed event. The paper seeks to unravel the intricate dynamics of collective memory following significant historical events by exploring their psychological wounds and the subsequent manifestations of trauma. By examining the complexities of trauma and collective memory, this analysis of The Baghdad Eucharist contributes to a deeper understanding of the lasting consequences of war and violence on individuals and societies. It sheds light on the interplay between personal trauma and the broader cultural and historical contexts. Ultimately, this paper underscores the significance of acknowledging and comprehending traumatic experiences, as they shape our collective memory and influence our perception of the world. Keywords: The Baghdad Eucharist, Sinan Antoon, Iraq Trauma, Sectarian war, Arab American Literature, violence.

Abstract: This present paper discusses the necessity for English language teachers in Algeria to be aware of the social and cultural aspects that influence the use of English in Algeria. This idea of awareness-raising is believed to help both language teachers and learners alike to be attained by stressing the contribution of sociolinguistics in language elaboration programs beyond determining what kind of language is appropriate in interpersonal interactions to recognizing language as a social institution that influences attitudes and behaviors. Sociolinguistic profiles should be, therefore, conceived as a Socio-cultural framework for distinguishing characteristics of English users and users in the Algerian context. This kind of framework is used to support pragmatically EFL teacher education. Keywords: Algeria, ELT, foreign language education, sociolinguistics.

Abstract: Thanks to stylistics and narratology, this paper examines the aesthetics of jazz music in Jazz before shedding light on the function of this musical genre in Toni Morrison’s novel. From Jazz stylistic devices that invade the novel, the paper sets a parallel between Jazz, the literary text and Jazz, the musical genre. It also shows the role of Jazz music in the lives of the characters by analyzing it as a racial therapy that enables Blacks to heal their American racial disease, which is racism. Jazz music not only enables oppressed characters to protest, resist and transcend their racial oppression, but it also helps them to construct and assert their African American identity. From the similarity between the novel and the musical genre in terms of aesthetics and philosophy, the paper concludes that Morrison’s text can be read and listened to as well as jazz music. Keywords: aesthetics, identity, jazz music, oppression, race.

Abstract: Among the diverse literary dramatic forms, the theatre of the absurd inhabits and characterizes the intellectual European literature since the fifteenth century, starting from Erasmus of Rotterdam’s Praise of Madness (1511). Then, it was the threshold of a period when man trusts his reason more and more to know himself and to know the world, as well as to justify his faith; ironically, a room for the absurd was made, to defuse all tranquil certainties and dogmatisms founded on the logic of appearances. The concept of absurdism judiciously flourished and made an eminent association with abstract symbolism, which starting from the 19th century, takes the form of decadentist - aestheticized despair of an ending world - but then finds its truth in the search for a reality which favors interior sensation, the subjective, the unconscious, ephemeral, and the dream. This paper, then, will try to show how both absurdism and symbolism phenomena are founded and involved in the writing of tragedians namely Edward Albee in “who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf?” the American classic. This genre of plays leaves the audience systematically confused as it echoes on the one hand the absurdity of family society life in all of its banality and darkness and denial of reality. On the other hand, it symbolizes the conflict between reality and illusion. Here, we see the combination of an absurd current and a symbolic / realist one as a species specific postmodern drama. The first is marked by the absurd eccentricity of characters Martha & George. The second takes the integrated symbolic form juxtaposed to realism by revolting against the absurd. Keywords: the absurd, abstract symbolism, realism, illusion, family life.

Abstract: Algeria's public sector has seen a big change. It's gone digital. Now, for different sectors, there are apps and online portals. These tools make it easy to get documents you need. It is simpler to follow official procedures. Better public services in education, job training, and healthcare. This write-up also explores how to tackle social and economic problems. This is done with ideas that boost job creation, investment, tax gathering, and money management. Such methods have hurried along the shift in public utilities. It has also quickened the change from paper to digital in official processes. Keywords: E-Digitization, Effectiveness, Public Service, Algerian Administration

Abstract: This paper explores the multifaceted aspects of digital communication, emphasizing its evolution from analog to digital realms. It delves into the definition, factors shaping digital communication, its constituents, tiers, and advantages. The discussion extends to the roles digital communication plays in various domains such as social interaction, media, and advertising. The paper synthesizes key research findings and theories to provide a holistic view of digital communication's impact on contemporary society, highlighting its advantages over traditional communication methods and its role in bridging cultural and geographical divides. Keywords: Virtual Currency, Digital Money, Media and Communication, Cybersecurity.

Abstract: Native Americans also widely called American Indians are the aboriginals of the whole continent of America. Unlike other minority groups living in the United States of America (USA), they have experienced every phase of European settlements, from the 14th century to the present. Proud of their rich diverse cultures, most Native Americans used to live in tepees, specific conical tents, in wide open spaces surrounded by majestic mountains, rivers and giant trees, and in total harmony with the fauna. When the Europeans started settling permanently in New England (Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island), Native Americans taught them how to raise crops and how to hunt games. However, the number of Native Americans decreased drastically because of imported diseases, war and coercion tools as the Europeans’ civilizing onslaught kept destroying their peaceful ways of life compelling them to live on reservations all across the USA. While exploring the way Native Americans have influenced the American society, this paper aims to demonstrate that the reservations policy is no preferential treatment but just a different way of treatment from a long eradication process. Keywords: Native Americans, reservations, Thanksgiving, USA.

Abstract: In this article, we will attempt a broad exploration of new literary forms in order to gain an overview of how literary work has taken hold of new digital technologies. We will then attempt to identify the problematic relationship between electronic and digital literature and examine the definitional issues that arise. Finally, we present an overview of the different types of digital poetry, highlighting the relationship of continuity or rupture between traditional and digital literary forms. Keywords: Literature, Digital, Electronics, Hypertextuality, Interactivity

Abstract: This research paper calls for a deeper exploration of learner autonomy in the context of writing dissertations in English as a Foreign Language (EFL). Achieving university-level research requires advanced abilities to overcome complex research-related challenges while adhering to strict academic standards and expectations. Consequently, fostering Learner Autonomy (LA) among graduate students becomes crucial. This study investigated the perspectives of EFL Algerian teachers and students on LA, employing four distinct lenses: the understanding and significance of LA, autonomy levels and readiness to engage in research, challenges faced in maintaining autonomy during the dissertation writing process, and strategies for developing LA among student writers/researchers. To this end, a randomly selected sample of 65 respondents from six Algerian universities across diverse regions of the country (north, west, south, and east) participated in an online questionnaire. The data was then analyzed using both quantitative and qualitative methods. The findings allowed for framing LA from the participants’ perspectives and identifying different practices to promote autonomous learning as students progress from mere learners to researchers. Based on the data discussed, this study offered implications for key stakeholders in higher education. Keywords: Learner autonomy, thesis/dissertation writing, research, graduate students, higher education

Abstract: Undoubtedly, the sublime expressiveness in the Quranic discourse has been a strong motivator for researchers to unravel the codes of these living and renewable indications, and to illustrate their evocative images by interrogating the linguistic elements of its verses. Deepening insights into their meanings and implications encourages reflection. Perhaps, the topic of conversational presupposition holds significant importance in comprehending the discourse of Allah Almighty in a scientific and conscious manner, far from the misunderstandings arising from ignorance of the noble Quranic verses' communicative purposes beyond their true meanings. The pragmatic approach holds advantages and positive aspects in the analysis of the Quranic discourse. It assists the recipient (reader and listener), the interpreter, and every student of the noble Quran ‘verses in achieving a profound understanding. This is accomplished by linking syntactic structure and semantics to the communicative function and the performative capacity, utilizing the section on "conversational presupposition." This section involves the study of the semantic requirements of Quranic structures, starting from the logic of dialogue, the intention of the speaker, the understanding of the listener, and the principle of collaboration between them. This paper, in its practical aspect, aims to utilize the principles of conversation to study the implications resulting from the violation of one of the dialogical principles and the semantic value acquired by these specific requirements. The goal is to preserve the conversational process between the interlocutors without compromising the general principle of cooperation. Keywords: Pragmatic approach, Quranic discourse, understanding, violation, rules of conversation, principle of manner.

Abstract: This paper examines the African critic and novelist Chinua Achebe's reworking and recycling W.E.B.DU Bois's short story "Of The Coming Of John"(1903). Achebe's "Dead Men's Path"(1953) represents the return of the protagonist Michael Obi from his academic journey towards his home of origin Nigeria. He goes back to fulfill a mission of ruling a secondary school that suffers backwardness. To some extent, Achebe by doing so, is appropriating and adapting W.E.B.DU Bois's short story "Of The Coming of John" (1903) that exposes the dilemma of double consciousness in USA as well as the issues of race, ethnicity and discrimination. In Du Bois's work there are two characters possessing the same name of John, but they are completely different in term of social class and skin color. Thus, this research is both analytic and comparative; relying on a close reading of the two works to distinguish both the similarities and the differences between them. Also, it aims at shedding lights on how Achebe recreates the American atmosphere and the problem of north-south in the United States and molds it in Nigeria's decolonization mood, as well as, the debate between modernism and tradition. Keywords: African Literature ; Chinua Achebe ; Afro-American Literature ; Appropriation ; W.E.B.DU Bois.

Abstract: This contribution aims to emphasize the travel literature, which constitutes the old types of literature. In fact, it has experienced remarkable changes before arriving to open up on other dimensions, especially in the period that came just after colonialism. This research aims to focus on travel narratives in Arab literature, mostly the topics that were discussed at that time, namely constitutions of self and others, transculturation, nostalgia, language and contact zones. Indeed, we turn in this paper to represent the spiritual and affiliation aspect relating to the travel narratives expressed by the novelist Ahmed Al-Madini, especially in his book: “The Journey to God’s Country, followed by The Journey to Ramallah », in which we will analyze the different characteristics of the travel narratives. Keywords: Travel narratives, postcolonial, Arab literature, Ahmed Al-Madini, spiritual, affiliation dimensions.

Abstract: The paper investigates complex nominal expressions in Tagbana a language spoken in the central-north part of Côte d´Ivoire. Complex nominal or compounds are the relation between two lexical categories, producing another by an implicit relationship between the constituents, Chappell & McGregor (1989) and Guevara & Scalise (2009) and it has been highly attentive in the linguistics literatures but none of them exist on Tagbana. Three kinds of complex nouns are explored in this paper: complex nouns consisting of two or more nominal roots (n +n); compounds consisting of a nominal and a verbal root (n + v) and the third kind consisting of a nominal and an adjectival root (n + a). The question arises as to the nature of the hierarchy of the structure of these complex constituents. It is shown that the rightmost element of a compound, or the final one in case there is more than two, is always the head of the compound and the entire complex noun acquires the class of the last element. If, however, the second element is an adjective, which does not have a class by itself, in this case, the complex noun acquires the class of the leftmost element. I propose an account of how morphological structures interact in these kinds of constructions and I look at the extent to which distributed morphology can account for these complex nominal constructions in Tagbana. Keywords: Complex nominals, Tagbana, Morphology, Distributed Morphology

The paper examines the roles of Crescas and Spinoza in the transition from the medieval to the modern conception of the universe. Crescas is presented as an illustrative example of the tension between Aristotelianism and revealed religion and how the latter brings about the dissolution of the former, thus paving the way for the modern conception of the universe. It is then showed how this modern conception is embodied in Spinoza’s thought, which radicalizes some of its defining traits. This radicalization undermines the traditional conception of the Deus absconditus and leads in Spinoza to the replacement of religion by philosophy as the true divine revelation.

The rapid evolution of Industrial Computed Tomography (CT) continues to raise the bar for high-resolution, accurate, and precise imaging tools. Developing effective micro CT test patterns is key to meeting these expectations. This study presents XRnanotech's advanced MicroCT test target, engineered using micro- and nano-fabrication technologies, including electron beam lithography. There are several variants; one set features various lines and spaces with dimensions as small as 200 nm and a gold contrast height of 1.5 µm for high contrast. Another set features a contrast height of approximately 4 µm, with the smallest feature sizes of 300 nm and 400 nm, respectively. The paper highlights its performance metrics, ultimately demonstrating how this innovation advances the potential of MicroCT testing.

ABSTRACT This paper examines the role that the notion of political obligation has in the thought of the Italian philosopher of politics and law Alessandro Passerin d’Entrèves (1902 - 1985), especially in its relationship with the democratic regime and forms of resistance on the part of citizens. By analyzing the author’s main arguments in this regard, it seeks to demonstrate the flexibility of the author’s concept of State, and the importance of philosophy as a point of intersection between morality and law, constituting itself as an instrument of phenomenological approach to the forms of human association.

ABSTRACT We can often find in the literature (both popular and academic) ascriptions of complex collective duties to extensive unstructured collections of individuals. By ‘complex collective duties’, I mean collective duties that, plausibly, require that the individual members of an extensive unstructured collection should enact different contributory act-types to achieve an end jointly - for example, the alleged universal collective duty to end global poverty. In this paper, I argue that these duties are not action-guiding. The reason is that they do not pass what I call the ‘test of action-guidance’. This test assumes the intuitive belief that a moral duty is action-guiding only if it is clear to the duty-bearer the act-type that she should enact after the ascription of the duty. Complex collective duties ascribed to extensive unstructured collections fail to pass this test because, even though each duty-bearer (that is, each member of the collection) receives guidance on the end that they should achieve jointly, it is not clear to these agents the act-type that each of them should put into practice.

This study systematically investigates the primary issues and obstacles impeding the establishment of a functional and credible judiciary in Kosovo, adopting an international perspective. The research methodology includes a combination of qualitative and empirical analytical approaches to concrete actions based on a review of relevant literature, reports, and legal documents. This paper concludes that Kosovo should be ready to reach compromises, strengthen the independence, pro­fessionalism, transparency and accountability of judges and prosecutors, and increase public confidence in justice, to achieve a successful reform in the judicial system. The paper offers several recommendations for improving the quality and efficiency of justice in Kosovo, such as promoting cooperation and coordination with international factors in this field.

The crimes of armed robbery and robbery with a deadly weapon have always been the most pervasive, harmful crime against property in Hungary and are mostly associated with male perpetrators since. However, there are also female perpetra­tors committing the crimes of armed robbery or robbery committed with a deadly weapon. Despite the availability of the judicial decisions in the public judicial database, the characteristics of these female perpetrators – including their motiva­tions and the judicial procedures – have never been analysed. This paper will look into how female perpetrators mostly act together with male perpetrators and mostly motivated by financial difficulties. The females in question are almost exclusively adults outside of a domestic relationship and are not parents. They typically have a low­level education, and as a result have lower­paying blue­collar jobs.

The paper deals with the role of lexicographic resources in the South Tyrolean (i. e. the Autonomous Province of Bolzano/Bozen, Italy) educational context against the backdrop of legal provisions (Das neue Autonomiestatut 2019/1972) and the relevance of language education on the part of educational institutions (Rahmenrichtlinien DE, Rahmenrichtlinien IT), taking into account both normative requirements and their application in practice. The focus is on two questions that have been little researched so far, not only in the specific context but also internationally (cf. Abel 2022; Nied Curcio 2022): To what extent are lexicographic resources represented in the school framework guidelines? How are they actually used in schools? For the case study presented here, the South Tyrolean framework guidelines provided by the German and the Italian school boards at all levels of education for German and Italian as first (L1) and second (L2) languages, as well as for English as a foreign language (L3) were examined by means of a document analysis. In a second step, a questionnaire survey with language teachers at all school levels (German and Italian as L1/L2, English as L3; number of survey respondents: 644) determined the actual use of lexicographic resources.

The present work aims at showing the didactic potential of the novel Zweinhalb Störche: Roman einer Kindheit in Siebenbürgen, written in 2008 by the German-Romanian author Claudiu M. Florian, for multilingual learning in GFL classes. The paper focuses on the possible use of corpus-based learning tasks and consists of two parts: the first will introduce the main features of multilingual didactics and multilingual competence and the possible teaching approaches of inter- and transcultural literature through the use of corpora; the second will focus on the use of the novel to promote multilingual competence within the GFL classroom. In particular, specific tasks will be suggested to achieve a didactic surplus through the use of corpus compilation and analysis tools such as Sketch Engine.

This article aims to present a proposal for the lemmatisation of Hispanic phraseology in a digital multilingual phraseological dictionary. Indeed, in the current lexicographic panorama, bi- or multilingual electronic dictionaries capable of comprehensively presenting the phraseology of the different diatopic varieties of Spanish are still lacking. For this reason, within the framework of the Digital Multilingual Phraseological Dictionary (DFMD) project, currently being developed at the Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, a preliminary study illustrated in this paper has been carried out. This focuses on the inclusion of Spanish phraseology in a Spanish-Italian/ Italian-Spanish bilingual repertory. In the following chapters, I first outline the state of the art as regards the presence of Hispanic phraseology in existing digital lexicographic works (chapter 2), and then move on to the presentation of the elaborated phraseographic proposal: in particular, I will set out the parameters adopted for the selection of the phraseological corpus under investigation and its subsequent lemmatisation in the Venetian repertory (chapter 3). Subsequently, I will examine some examples of lexicographic entries in which the proposed methodology is applied (chapter 4). Finally, I will offer some points of re-thinking for possible future studies (chapter 5).

Dialect phraseography is, generally speaking, still in its early stage; however, it is booming with some of the first studies in this direction as far as some diatopic varieties of Italy are concerned (additionally to the articles in this special issue, cf. also those contained in Autelli/Konecny/Lusito 2023a). As to Genoese phraseography, it has been living great development thanks to the Genoese-Italian projects GEPHRAS and GEPHRAS2, whose lexicographic entries can be found in one single, freely accessible online dictionary. As the latter project shows some additional innovative features, those will be further investigated in this paper, paying particular attention, within the numerous innovations, to the new sources and metalinguistic information integrated in the dictionary, to the phonetic transcriptions of the phrasemes as well as to the criteria chosen for creating sample sentences containing selected phrasemes.

In the introductory article to this special issue, the two editors first provide a brief insight into how it arose and then give an overview of the contents of the individual papers, all of which are dedicated to phraseography or metaphraseography. These two fields of linguistic research belong to both phraseology and (meta-)lexicography and deal with the inclusion of phrasemes in dictionaries and the corresponding practical and theoretical issues. The articles also have in common that they focus on various diatopic Romance varieties spoken in Italy (Genoese, Trentino, Piedmontese, Tuscan, regional Italian of Rome, Sardinian, Catalan of Alghero), Croatia (Istriot), Spain and Latin America (regional varieties of Spanish). Since the term phraseme is used in a broad sense in this publication, numerous different phraseological categories are discussed in the papers, including, for example, syntagmatic verbs and partially lexically filled constructions, in addition to more classical categories such as idioms, proverbs and collocations. Finally, it will be briefly argued why this special issue, which is inspired by the two research projects GEPHRAS and GEPHRAS2, can be regarded as particularly innovative.

As already shown in a newly published article (Autelli/Caria 2022b), the phraseological studies on the Catalan of Alghero are still in their infancy, and there is an urgent need for documenting more phrasemes in this diatopic variety. One can already find some of them in dictionaries and amatorial collections. The aim of this paper is to give a brief overview of the written sources and dictionaries of Algherese, then to analyse the terminology used in the latter in reference to phrasemes and, most importantly, to find out what kind of phrasemes are provided, trying to pinpoint their main morphosyntactic, semantic and cultural features.

Tourism communication, especially since the digital turn, has registered several attempts to open to new forms of multilingualism. For instance, the traditional multilingual experience offered by guided tours and audio guides has now been enhanced by social networking tools. Recent research points to the need of interdisciplinary work at the crossroads of linguistics, media sciences and museum studies to investigate communication strategies and linguistic devices by means of which an international audience of tourists can be addressed and get involved in museums in the digital age. The present paper illustrates the first findings of the project “Museo poliglotta”, a project run by two universities in the Italian towns of Bergamo and Brescia in cooperation with local museums with the goal of producing digital multilingual contents for international museum visitors. The empirical part of the paper describes a workshop activity in which students developed Instagram reels in Italian, German and English on the figure of the well-known Italian composer Gaetano Donizetti. A number of observations lead to the conclusion that synergies between language research and foreign language teaching on the one hand and museum institutions on the other can bring about important benefits for all parties involved, in particular the possibility to offer professionalising training in the academic world and stimuli to innovate and improve multilingual communication in the museum sector.

In this paper, the treatment of phraseological elements in four bilingual dictionaries of Istriot varieties – Gallesanese, Vallese, and Rovignese – and Italian is analyzed. First, an overview of the sociolinguistic situation of Istriot in the complex linguistic reality of Croatian Istria is provided. This is followed by a concise outline of Istriot lexicography. In the empirical part, after describing the analyzed dictionaries, the research results of the treatment of phraseology in the latter are presented and discussed. Finally, some concluding remarks are made.

The paper aims to propose a reflection on the importance of German varieties in the preparation of interpreters. Like many other languages, German is classified as a pluricentric language, i. e. a language officially spoken in more than one centre or nation. This makes it a very variegated language that boasts a multitude of both standard and non-standard varieties. The task of interpreters who choose German as a foreign language is therefore to be able to understand and translate into another language what is spoken by native speakers of German, many of whom, according to the previous statement, often speak different varieties. To do this, the interpreters’ preparation must consider the inclusion of the different language varieties of both standard and non-standard German, especially at the level of auditory decoding, in order to facilitate the understanding of the message at a receptive level. Starting from the definition of a pluricentric language, this contribution will highlight the main difficulties of interpreters at the level of listening comprehension, most of which are found at the level of auditory decoding, before proposing training aimed at decoding the different varieties of standard and non-standard German realised through the use of new technologies.

Studies on the Linguistic Landscape (LL) have become a particularly prolific object of study and research in the last fifteen years. The most recent research perspective has led to new categorizations for the LL, which not only form the basis for further empirical research, but are also of great use in foreign language teaching (Malinowski/Maxim/Dubreil 2020). Indeed, working with the LL that is also interculturally specific fulfils one of the primary goals of foreign language teaching, as the close relationship between language and culture also promotes intercultural communicative competence. Our paper will examine in particular the great potential of this tool in the context of teaching German as a Foreign Language in Italy, in order to stimulate greater language awareness and linguistic reflection in the processes of learning and teaching German in which learners are involved. By means of the administration of didactic sheets prepared by us, we will consider the possibility of applying to a didactic context data on both the German language and culture, taken from the observation of the LL of Alto Adige/Südtirol and collected on several occasions within a corpus, the LLSÜDTIROL, which will be discussed below.

The paper is devoted to the analysis of partially lexically specified constructions in different diatopic varieties of Italian. These word combinations can be defined as constructions since they are pairings of form and meaning characterized by the presence of fixed and empty positions. The investigation examines examples of partially lexically specified (phrasal and sentence) constructions in Sardinian and in the regional Italian of Rome. The analysis shows that this combinatorial type is widespread within the national language as well as in local varieties. The phenomena which have been considered mainly concern: i) the presence of indigenous constructions in the local variety; ii) the presence of constructions modelled on the roof language; iii) the lexicalisation of forms in the local variety from roof language constructions, which radiate back as fixed sequences into the national language. The analysis also considers the lexicographic perspective and shows that these constructions are generally underrepresented in lexicographic tools, even though their single instantiations are often recorded in the corresponding entries.

This paper deals with several issues of Pius XII’s pastoral concern for the clergy, such as the new canonical framework created under his pontificate in 1947, which allowed the constitution of clerical secular institutes, among them Opus Dei; which clerical sodalities received this juridical form during his pontificate; and what kind of misgivings existed among some canonists and pastors about the associative ties that some priests contracted in supradiocesan secular institutes.

A Storm in Pandemic Times. The Terminological Syntagm ‘Cytokine Storm’ in the Scientific Discourse of Popularisation in Romanian. The object of this contribution is the occurrence of the terminological syntagm cytokine storm (Rom. furtună de citokine) in various excerpts of Romanian scientific discourse of popularisation with reference to the Covid-19 pandemic and/or the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The terminological analysis of the syntagm cytokine storm is limited to a selection of four fragments which have appeared in recent Romanian mass-media discourse. In these fragments, both physicians and journalists specialised in medical science have been asked to explain the cytokine storm anti-inflammatory reaction, which seems to have caused the death of many people during the Covid-19 pandemic. The fragments of popularisation discourse have been selected from interviews broadcast at TV stations or from articles posted on medical websites or in health sections in the online press. As a result of the phenomenon known as the scientific vulgarisation, the corresponding discourse is closely linked to the democratisation of knowledge, in which both mass-media and education play an important part. Moreover, the discourse of popularisation takes into account not only the addresser, but also the addressee of a certain message. In order to make the layman addressee correctly decode the scientific (and terminological) notions, the specialist needs to render the specialised message in a more simplified and easy-to-understand manner. Therefore, the paper aims to highlight the different linguistic means which have been used by various addressers to deliver the necessary explanations for the cytokine storm reaction, so that the non-specialised addressees could understand what the syntagm itself exactly denotes. Furtună în vremea pandemiei. Sintagma terminologică furtună de citokine în discursul de vulgarizare științifică din limba română. Obiectul acestei lucrări este apariția sintagmei terminologice furtună de citokine în diverse fragmente din discursul științific românesc de popularizare, cu referire la pandemia de Covid-19 și/sau la virusul SARS-CoV-2. Analiza terminologică a sintagmei furtună de citokine se limitează la o selecție de patru fragmente apărute în discursul recent al mass-mediei românești. În aceste fragmente, atât medici, cât și jurnaliști specializați în domeniul medical au încercat să explice reacția antiinflamatoare denumită furtună de citokine, care pare să fi cauzat moartea multor persoane în timpul pandemiei de Covid-19. Fragmentele discursive de vulgarizare științifică au fost selectate din interviuri difuzate la posturi de televiziune, precum și din articole postate pe site-uri medicale sau în rubrici de sănătate din presa online. Ca urmare a fenomenului cunoscut sub numele de vulgarizare științifică, discursul corespunzător este strâns legat de democratizarea cunoașterii, în care mass-media, dar și educația joacă un rol important. În plus, discursul de popularizare ia în considerare nu numai emițătorul, ci și destinatarul unui anumit mesaj. Pentru ca destinatarul profan să decodeze corect noțiuni științifice (și terminologice), specialistul trebuie să redea mesajul specializat într-o manieră mai simplificată și mai ușor de înțeles. Prin urmare, lucrarea își propune să evidențieze diferitele mijloace lingvistice care au fost folosite de o serie de emitățori în oferirea de explicații pentru apariția furtunii de citokine, astfel încât destinatarii nespecializați să poată înțelege ce anume denotă sintagma în sine. Cuvinte-cheie: sintagma terminologică „furtună de citokine”, discurs de vulgarizare științifică, cunoștințe medicale, mass-media, mijloace lingvistice de vulgarizare științifică Article history: Received 06 October 2023; Revised 03 January 2024; Accepted 21 January 2024; Available online 27 March 2024; Available print 27 March 2024

Exploring Framework Bias: The Case of Minimalism Vs Parallel Architecture in Studies on Language Evolution. The present paper explores the issue of framework bias through the analysis of two lines of study concerning language evolution, one framed by the Minimalist program and one by the proposal of Parallel Architecture of language. Framework bias, as proposed in this study, raises the question of the degree to which the theoretical framework chosen for a certain line of research will influence the design of an experiment, the selection of data, and therefore the analysis and final results. The studies presented in this paper tackle the same topic (language evolution) using the same parameters for research (gradual versus saltational evolution; continuation versus exaptation; and unique versus shared property) but reach significantly different conclusions because of their respective theoretical framework. O explorare a influenței cadrului teoretic asupra rezultatelor cercetării: Programul Minimalist vs Arhitectura paralelă a limbajului în studii despre evoluția limbajului. Lucrarea de față explorează problema bias-ului creat de cadrul teoretic prin analiza a două linii de cercetare asupra evoluției limbajului, una centrată pe programul minimalist, iar cealaltă pe teoria arhitecturii paralele a limbajului. Bias-ul de cadru teoretic, astfel definit în lucrarea de față, ridică problema măsurii în care cadrul teoretic ales pentru o cercetare influențează design-ul unui experiment, alegerea corpusului de analiză, și implicit analiza în sine și rezultatele aferente. Studiile prezentate în această lucrare abordează aceeași temă (evoluția limbajului) folosind aceiași parametri de cercetare (evoluție graduală vs saltațională; continuare vs exaptare; și proprietate unică sau comună) dar ajung la concluzii semnificativ diferite din cauza cadrului teoretic ales de fiecare studiu în parte. Cuvinte-cheie. bias de cadru teoretic, programul minimalist, arhitectura paralelă, evoluția limbajului Article history: Received 19 January 2024; Revised 08 February 2024; Accepted 08 March 2024; Available online 27 March 2024; Available print 27 March 2024.

Challenging the Palate and the Mind. Introducing Western Baking Vocabulary into Chinese. Starting from the first Western recipe book published in China in 1866, the paper analyzes the attempts to translate Western bakery vocabulary into Chinese. Although the Chinese cuisine was already very rich and refined, with a complex vocabulary, dessert had never been an integral part of a traditional meal, and, in fact, there was no specific word for it. After China’s defeat in the two Opium Wars, in the mid-19th century, the increasing foreign presence on Chinese soil meant both an increase in demand for cooks able to satisfy the dietary needs of the Westerners, and of restaurants serving Western food, especially in cities with foreign concessions, like Shanghai, where dining in such a place had become very “modern”. Zao yang fan shu (Foreign Cookery in Chinese) compiled and translated by Martha Foster Crawford, and published at The American Presbyterian Mission Press, in Shanghai, in 1866, was the first Western recipe book to be translated into Chinese. Out of the 271 recipes, 139 are desserts. Considering the resistance of the Chinese language to loanwords, especially phonetic loans, the paper looks at the solutions employed by Crawford to translate the new vocabulary, find out when were the phonetic loans used and how were they transcribed, if it was possible to identify equivalents in Chinese for the new terms, which terms were translated as semantic loans, and which are still in use today. Provocarea gustului și a minții. Pătrunderea vocabularului de patiserie occidentală în China. Pornind de la prima carte de bucate occidentale publicată în China în 1866, lucrarea de față propune o analiză a transpunerii vocabularului patiseriei occidentale în limba chineză. Deși în momentul publicării cărții, bucătăria chineză era deja extrem de bogată și rafinată, cu un vocabular complex, desertul nu era parte dintr-o masă tradițională și nu exista un termen care să definească acest fel. După înfrângerea Chinei în cele două Războaie ale opiului, prezența tot mai numeroasă a occidentalilor pe teritoriul chinez a făcut ca cererea de bucătari capabili să satisfacă cerințele culinare ale străinilor și numărul restaurantelor care serveau mâncare occidentală să crească, mai ales în orașele cu concesiuni străine, precum Shanghai, unde servitul mesei în restaurante occidentalizate devenise o modă. Prima carte de bucate occidentale în limba chineză, Zao yang fan shu (Rețete occidentale în chineză), a fost tradusă și editată de Martha Foster Crawford, în 1866, publicată la Editura Misiunii Prezbiteriene Americane, din Shanghai. Dintre cele 271 de rețete, 139 sunt deserturi. Luând în considerare rezistența limbii chineze la împrumuturi, mai ales la cele fonetice, lucrarea de față analizează soluțiile folosite de Crawford pentru a reda în chineză vocabularul de patiserie, când și de ce au fost preferate calcurile fonetice, cum au fost ele transcrise, dacă a fost posibilă identificarea unor termeni echivalenți din vocabularul culinar chinez pentru felurile de desert incluse în carte, când s-a folosit calcul semantic și care dintre termenii propuși de autoare mai sunt încă în uz. Cuvinte-cheie: Zao yang fan shu, traducere, carte de bucate, patiserie, împrumuturi fonetice/semantice Article history: Received 22 August 2023; Revised 03 January 2024; Accepted 17 January 2024; Available online 27 March 2024; Available print 27 March 2024

Considerations on Legal, Sworn and Court Translation. This paper departs from the premise that translation represents a type of intercultural communication, reflecting on the different systems of law in order to depict the characteristics of legal language (mainly in Spanish), comparing Common Law and Civil Law. After analyzing the functionality of legal texts and their compared translations into Spanish and Romanian, we deduce that there is a close link between the legal language that derives from each culture and the society from which it originates. Conceptual differences and similarities between legal, sworn and judicial translation are also explored, with the aim of finding elements that can support the interpretation of legal value and wider related areas, which must respect the requirements of form and content. Moreover, we discuss the legal load in the source and target text, in accordance with written, oral and other specific factors to legal language. Some complex translation issues arising from semantic, lexical, syntactic, phraseological, formal and generic difficulties are also touched upon. Last but not least, we aim to highlight some typologies of legal texts, according to their role, mode, tone, genre, effect, which also implies a practical delimitation of legal, sworn and Court translation. Considerații privind traducerea juridică, autorizată și judiciară. Această lucrare pleacă de la premisa că traducerea este o formă de comunicare interculturală, reflectând asupra diferitelor sisteme de drept pentru a ajunge la caracteristicile limbajului juridic (în principiu în limba spaniolă), comparând Common Law și Dreptul Civil. După analiza funcționalității textelor legale și a comparației între traducerilor lor în spaniolă și română, deducem că există o legătură strânsă între limbajul juridic ce caracterizează fiecare cultură și societatea din care provine. De asemenea, se studiază diferențele și asemănările conceptuale între traducerea juridică, autorizată și judiciară, cu scopul de a găsi elemente care pot sprijini interpretarea valorii legale și a altor domenii conexe mai ample, aspecte care trebuie să respecte exigențele legate de formă și de conținut. În același timp, se discută încărcătura juridică din textul sursă și din textul țintă, în concordanță cu factorii nivelului scris, oral și cu alții specifici limbajului juridic. Totodată, se ating unele chestiuni complexe de traducere ce decurg din dificultăți semantice, lexicale, sintactice, frazeologice, formale și generice. În final, ne propunem să evidențiem câteva tipologii ale textelor juridice, în funcție de rolul, modul, tonul, genul, efectul lor, ceea ce implică și o delimitare practică a traducerilor juridice, autorizate și judiciare. Cuvinte-cheie: traducere, comunicare interculturală, traducerea juridică, traducerea autorizată, traducerea judiciară Article history: Received 02 October 2023; Revised 31 December 2023; Accepted 21 January 2024; Available online 27 March 2024; Available print 27 March 2024

Neological Tendencies in the Spanish Gastronomic Terminology. The present paper aims to identify and analyse the neological tendencies in the contemporary Spanish gastronomic terminology, from the angle of term formation. The phenomenon of globalization has privileged the circulation of goods, culinary products, cooking techniques, along with the specific vocabulary related to the gastronomic field. Thus, the gastronomic terminology is being enriched with new items, especially loanwords taken from other languages. Our study is based on a corpus of Spanish newspaper articles on gastronomy topics, in which we have identified a fair amount of neologisms. The second phase of the study consisted of contrasting the identified neologisms with dictionaries and linguistic corpora (CORPES XXI) in order to establish their novelty. In our corpus, apart from the prevailing number of Anglicisms (dumpling), we can also identify a great deal of lexemes borrowed from languages such as Japanese (ramen), Chinese (jiaozi), Korean (kimchi), Arabic (shakshuka), Greek (tzatziki), Turkish (imam bayildi) etc. Also, some of these latter lexemes were borrowed indirectly, via English. The other mechanisms of term formation, namely derivation (comidista), compounding (gastroturista) and resemantization (bikini, 'sandwich'), are less productive and representative, as the number of neologisms formed by these means is significantly lower. Regarding the graphic, phonetic and morpho-syntactic adaptation to the Spanish language, the analysed neologisms present various degrees. The conclusions of this research highlight the adaptability of the Spanish language, its permeability and ability to integrate new lexical items, also demonstrated by the inclusion of many neologisms and foreign words in the academic dictionary of general usage. In addition, our study reveals that a great number of neologisms are not adopted out of designative or semantic necessity, but they rather reflect a linguistic fashion, as well as the need for novelty and stylistic expressiveness. Tendințe neologice în terminologia gastronomică spaniolă. Studiul de față își propune să identifice și să analizeze tendințele neologice care se manifestă în terminologia gastronomică spaniolă actuală, din perspectiva formării termenilor. Fenomenul globalizării a favorizat circulația mărfurilor, a produselor culinare, a tehnicilor de preparare, precum și a vocabularului specific domeniului gastronomic. Astfel, terminologia gastronomică se îmbogățește cu elemente noi, mai ales prin intermediul împrumuturilor din alte limbi. Studiul nostru se bazează pe un corpus format din articole de presă pe teme de gastronomie, din care am selectat un număr semnificativ de neologisme, confruntate, în a doua etapă a studiului, cu o serie de dicționare și corpora de texte (CORPES XXI) cu scopul de a stabili statutul de neologism. În corpusul investigat, în afară de anglicismele prevalente (dumpling), putem întâlni un număr important de împrumuturi din limbi precum japoneza (ramen), chineza (jiaozi), coreeana (kimchi), araba (shakshuka), greaca (tzatziki), turca (imam bayildi) etc. De asemenea, și unele dintre acestea din urmă au fost preluate pe cale indirectă, pe filieră engleză. Celelalte procedee de îmbogățire terminologică, cum ar fi derivarea (comidista), compunerea (gastroturista) și resemantizarea (bikini, ‘sandviș’), sunt mai puțin productive și reprezentative, numărul de neologisme formate prin intermediul lor fiind semnificativ mai redus. Cât privește adaptarea grafică, fonetică și morfo-sintactică la sistemul limbii spaniole, neologismele analizate prezintă diverse grade. Concluziile la care a condus prezenta cercetare pun în evidență adaptabilitatea limbii spaniole, permeabilitatea și capacitatea de a integra elemente lexicale noi, fapt demonstrat și de includerea multor neologisme și xenisme în dicționarul academic de uz general. De asemenea, s-a putut constata că o seamă de neologisme nu sunt adoptate dintr-o necesitate designativă ori semantică, ci reflectă mai degrabă o modă lingvistică, precum și nevoia de noutate și expresivitate stilistică. Cuvinte-cheie: neologie, terminologie gastronomică spaniolă, procedee lexicogenetice, împrumuturi, resemantizare Article history: Received 31 August 2023; Revised 03 January 2024; Accepted 17 January 2024; Available online 27 March 2024; Available print 27 March 2024.

Brian Leftow has argued in significant detail for a timeless conception of God. However, his work has been interacted with less than one might expect, especially given that some have contended that divine timelessness should be put to death and buried. Further, the work that has critically interacted with Leftow does a very poor job at discrediting it, or so I will contend. As we shall see, the main reason for this is either because what is central to Leftow’s view is not affected by the objection, or because Leftow provides another way of getting his theory off the ground. Why, then, do so many objections miss the mark? I suspect it’s because many struggle to understand Leftow’s view and what is central to it. As such, one of the main goals of this paper will be to make Leftow’s account more accessible and to elucidate the main elements of the theory, whilst also providing responses to the main objections raised against his view. The overall result of this, I hope, will be a more fruitful examination of Leftow’s view in the future.

At the beginning of the 20th century, early processes of secularization – especially in working-class families living in large cities – and inadequate teaching methods led to a crisis of Catholic religious education. Teachers and professors highlighted that it was becoming more and more difficult for reli­gious education to reach students and to ensure that they become devoted members of the Church. In this situation, a catechetical movement was established, which was mainly situated in Munich and Vienna, where teachers, catechists, and academics discussed reforms of the commonly used teaching methods in religious education. Conferences and the foundation of journals followed. It is at least from this point that the process of modernization in the field of religious education in the German-speaking context begins. This modernization gained traction after the Second Vatican Council and was also pro­moted by the phenomenon of secularization and pluralization after the 1960s. Against this background, the essay will address the following questions: What led to the modernization of religious education that began around 1900? What role was played by the new openness of catechists and theologians for edu­cation science and the (religious) pluralization of society? To answer this question, the article will focus on developments between 1900 and the 1920s, during the 1970s, and the more or less topical discus­sion about the concept of ‘theology of children’ since the late 1990s. This study will also ask whether this development can be described as the discovery of the child in theology and religious education. Finally, this paper asks what consequences this development has for a denominational religious education in state schools today and in the future.

What Pope Francis describes as “the culture of temporariness” are all the changes taking place in communities and the broad anthropological and cultural context of the Western world. According to the pope, they include new ways of creating and maintaining relations, zapping, consumerism, individual­ism, the culture of rejection, unemployment, and NEET generation. In search for the Church’s response to secularization, the authors decided to explore Pope Francis’ instructions addressed to young people concerning marital and family life in the era of the current culture of temporariness. This is the major research objective of the article. To achieve it, using the method of literature review covering the topic, the authors first present the manifestations of the culture of temporariness among young people. Next, the consequences of the culture of temporariness in catechesis for marriages and families are indicated. In the last part of the paper, Pope Francis’s instructions for young people regarding the threats of the cul­ture of temporariness in their lives and activities of marriages and families are elaborated on.

The dynamic secularisation of Polish young people and the fact that many of them are opt­ing out of religious classes prompts a critical analysis of the current model of Religious Education and the development of proposals that respond to contemporary socio-cultural challenges. In others words this article will seek to outline potential directions for modifying the current Religious Education model intended for secondary school students in Poland. This paper attempts to provide a synthetic answer to the following questions: Why is Religious Education in secondary schools today not leading to the expected results? What elements of it are inadequate for contemporary conditions? What should the model of Religious Education for young people look like in the context of a decline in religiousness? Where and how should catechesis be provided? This paper contributes to the discussion on the shape of Religious Education for young people in a changing society.

This article aims to show the connection between the current crisis of adults and the changes that can be observed in the level of religiosity/spirituality of today’s youth. The Roman Catholic Synod on Young People held in Rome highlighted the need to understand young people and their religiosity. Un­derstanding and interpreting the religiosity, ecclesiasticism, and spirituality of today’s youth is necessary if we wish to answer their religious and spiritual questions properly. Nonetheless, this paper considers only one specific aspect of youth religiosity, that is, the connection between the world of adults, espe­cially the crisis that has affected many of them, and the development of young people—especially of their spirituality/religiosity. The first part provides a basic outline of young people’s religiosity and their rela­tionship to the Roman Catholic Church based on the research. The second part reflects on the crisis of intergenerational transmission of faith, critically evaluating the existing channels used for this purpose. The third part is a critical evaluation of some aspects of the life of adults, especially in light of the crisis that has affected adulthood. The last part, containing results and conclusion, emphasizes the necessity and importance of the formation of adults in the Roman Catholic Church. The research is based on a literature review, analysis of data obtained from research—carried out especially in the Republic of Croatia—as well as directions that come to us from the Roman Catholic Church documents.