Dear Reader,
This Fall, our board of editors enjoyed reading many works of fine historical scholarship written by members of our institution. Choosing which papers to publish is always a difficult process. Every paper is reviewed anonymously, scrutinized to the highest standard, and debated by the board before it is voted upon for selection.
This edition of Tempus contains three papers. Our first paper, “Translation Nation: Nationalism and Literary Translation in Nasserist Egypt,” was written by Jacob Ostfeld ’23. The paper puts the theoretical and empirical in conversation, examining the ways in which the act of translation can be used as both a tool of subversion and of submission to colonizing forces. Ostfeld looks closely at the ways in which English-to-Arabic translation was conducted amidst the socio-cultural “Babel” of post-colonial Egypt, keeping these frameworks in mind.
Our second paper is titled “Crossroads of Education, Nation, and Individual Circumstances: Indians in the Indian Civil Service (ICS), 1863-1913,” written by Sophia Charles ’24. This paper investigates the small group of Indian candidates who were able to successfully pass the ICS Examination. Charles considers both what allowed this group to surmount the structural barriers they faced, as well as the role their successes played in the greater Indian nationalist movement.
Our third paper, “Bunny Behind Bars: Playboy and Obscenity in 1960s America,” was written by Elizabeth Propst ’23. This paper tackles the confusing, sometimes contradictory legal attitudes held towards obscenity in the ‘60s. Propst exposes Playboy’s relatively untroubled relationship with censorship law, casting a light on the ways in which cloaking obscenity in an aura of sophistication could alter its treatment before the law. Our board hopes that this edition serves as a reminder of the extraordinary possibilities of student scholarship and promotes the continued serious study of the humanities among the student body.
Sincerely,
The Editors
Comments