Of Poets and Barbarians: Challenging Linguistic Hierarchies in Cervantes’s Los trabajos de Persiles y Sigismunda
Is style an ornamental feature of writing separate from the content or can it be a vehicle of political and ethical expression? This essay takes as point of departure the incipit of Miguel de Cervantes’s posthumously published epic novel, Los trabajos de Persiles y Sigismunda (1617) to argue for a richer understanding of style. More specifically, it shows how through the use of a high epic style in the Persiles Cervantes questions central humanist tenets and assumptions about the relation of language to humanity, of individual speakers and linguistic communities, as well as the expectations of a linguistic chain of being that would unflinchingly equate clarity of speech with civilization. By focusing on the representation of barbarian speech, this essay examines the ways in which Cervantes’s work offers a more ethical alternative to classical and Renaissance epic models that would either deny speech to barbarians or limit barbarian speech to the enabling curse that will get the heroic adventures going. By making the barbarian’s words intelligible through translation and more daringly, by making that very act of translation effect a change in the very texture of the receiving language itself, barbarolalia in Persiles emerges as poetry’s twin.
Escandinavia y el Persiles : de la Geografía a la Historia
Following from the many discussions of the Nordic setting of Persiles , this article considers Cervantes’s choice of the Northern European backdrop and the Scandinavian nationality of the main characters, in a time when the New World and the Mediterranean appeared as the obvious locations for Byzantine novels. This article examines firstly the negative portrayal of the English in Persiles , as well as in La espanola inglesa , compared to that of Arnaldo, crown prince of Denmark. It then considers the political relations between Spain and Denmark-Norway, including the marriage of Isabel de Austria to Christian II and the treaty of Speyer, in order to explain the idealisation of Arnaldo, Persiles and Sigismunda. The “danaos” are here identified as the people of Jutland who revolted against Christian II, and Arnaldo is presented as partly a fictionalised Christian II. In sum, Cervantes chose Scandinavia as the setting for Persiles and the land of its main characters because he acknowledged Denmark-Norway as Spain’s ally in Protestant Europe.
services in China of health workers in urban community health medicines system : a cross-sectional survey Perceived impacts of the national essential and
Objectives This study aimed to investigate the perceptions of primary care workers about the impacts of the national essential medicines policy (NEMP). Setting A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was undertaken in 42 urban community health centres randomly selected from four provinces in China. Participants 791 primary care workers rated the impacts of the NEMP on a 5-point Likert scale. Outcome measures An average score for the impacts of the NEMP on four aspects (the practice of health workers, interactions of patients with health workers, operations of health centres and provision of medicines) was calculated, each ranging from 0 to 100. A higher score indicates a more positive rating. Linear regression models were established to determine the sociodemographic characteristics (region, age, gender, profession, training, income) that were associated with the ratings. Results The respondents gave an average rating score of 65.61±11.76, 63.17±13.62, 66.35±13.02 and 67.26±11.60 for the impacts of the NEMP on health workers, patients, health centres and provision of medicines, respectively. Respondents from the central region rated the NEMP higher than those from the eastern and western regions. The pharmacists (β=5.457~7.558, p<0.001) and nurses (β=2.612~3.107, p<0.05) gave a more positive rating on the NEMP than their physician counterparts. A higher income was found to be associated with a decrease in the NEMP ratings. Repetitive training was a predictor of higher ratings. Conclusions The NEMP has significant impacts (as perceived by the health workers) on health services delivery in primary care settings. However, the impacts of the NEMP vary by region, professional practice and the income level of health workers. It is important to maintain support from physicians through income subsidies (to compensate for potential loss) and training. Background Poor accessibility to quality medicines is a worldwide concern. In 1977, the WHO introduced the concept of essential medicines, which was defined as ‘of utmost importance, basic, indispensable and necessary for the health and needs of the population’. To support its member countries to establish their own national essential medicines policy (NEMP), the WHO developed a model list of essential medicines and published it as a reference for national essential medicines lists (EML). This is seen as a critical measure, especially for low-income/middle-income nations, to ensure their citizens have equal access to quality medicines. The WHO EML is updated every 2 years in a transparent manner. The selection of medicines in the EML considers the global health needs of the majority of the population. Perceived impacts of the national essential medicines system: a crosssectional survey of health workers in urban community health services in China Tao Zhang, Chaojie Liu, Jianping Ren, Sheng Wang, Xianhong Huang, Qing Guo To cite: Zhang T, Liu C, Ren J, et al. Perceived impacts of the national essential medicines system: a cross-sectional survey of health workers in urban community health services in China. BMJ Open 2017;7:e014621. doi:10.1136/ bmjopen-2016-014621 ► Prepublication history for this paper is available online. To view these files please visit the journal online (http:// dx. doi. org/ 10. 1136/ bmjopen2016014621). TZ and CL contributed equally. Received 13 October 2016 Revised 5 May 2017 Accepted 11 May 2017 School of Medicine, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, China School of Management, Hubei University of Chinese Medicine, Wuhan, China School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia School of Management, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, China Correspondence to Jianping Ren; 18768429445@ 163. com Research Strengths and limitations of this study ► A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was conducted on a large sample of primary care workers, investigating their views on the impacts of the national essential medicines policy  (NEMP). There is paucity in the literature documenting the views of primary care workers on the impacts of the NEMP. ► Multivariate linear regression models were established, identifying key factors associated with the perceived impacts of the NEMP on the practice of health workers, and subsequently on the patients, the primary care institutions and the provision of medicines. ► Although this study was conducted in China, it offers some lessons to the low-income/middleincome countries that are implementing the NEMP. ► This is a cross-sectional study and no causal relationships can be drawn from the findings. ► The study involved only four provinces in China despite a random sampling approach for health facilities. Caution needs to be taken when generalising the findings. group.bmj.com on August 6, 2017 Published by http://bmjopen.bmj.com/ Downloaded from