Дорога в тысячу миль завершается одним шагом или Пост для поздравлений
Трамвай для привлечения внимания (Ретротрамвай в парке Умекохидзи, Киото)
Хотел было к своему ДР написать большой пост в стиле «поток сознания о жизни, продвижении в направлении к выбранной цели, дальнейших планах и все такое», но нет - рановато пока. Думаю, что писать прогрессе нужно писать в момент достижения очередного этапа, а о планах… Если уж и писать, то тогда, когда будут сделаны первые конкретные шаги по их осуществлению : )
Что касается моего основного проекта на данный момент, то есть диссертации, то могу сказать так: «Дорога в тысячу миль завершается одним шагом». Увы, проект затянулся почти на год. Но сейчас это уже вопрос недель. Вот потом подробно и напишу.
Что касается планов на будущее, то они, скажем так, претерпели некоторые изменения, но сохранили общее направление. Писать о них, думаю, будет смысл тогда, когда они обретут некую конкретику. «После диссертации, все после диссертации».
Этот пост предназначен для поздравлений в первую очередь : )
В качестве бонуса привожу пару фрагментов диссертации, которые были исключены из окончательной версии.
Symbolic representation of the Association
As will be discussed further in the paragraph on trade and international promotion, the Association actively participated in many expositions, including World Fairs. Hereby, the collective identity of the Belgian glass industry as well as, mutatis mutandis, the Association itself, was often expressed through the organisation of collective expositions. The usage of expressions such as collectivité verrière are telling in this respect. As already mentioned, the ideological positions of the Association, such as liberalism and freedom of trade, was also expressed on such occasions.
Unsurprisingly, national events were used by the Association as a means for self-representation and promotion as well. For instance, the Association decided to organise a procession of labourers and musicians at the opening ceremony of the National Exposition of 1880, an exposition held in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Belgian independence on the premises of the present-day Parc du Cinquantenaire in Brussels. The Association decided to provide a subsidy of one thousand Belgian francs to the three music bands from Jumet-Coupe, Lodelinsart and Mariemont that would represent the glass industry at the ceremony. Not coincidentally, these were the most important locations of the window-glass industry. Moreover, these were actually ‘corporate bands’, composed of workers of the Verreries de Jumet-Coupe, Verreries de Lodelinsart and Verreries de Mariemont respectively, as the proceedings literally mentioned them as ‘company musics’ (musiques d’établissement).
There is nothing unusual about this kind of ‘company bands’, as 19th-century Belgium possessed a flourishing culture of amateurs music bands of all kinds, such as local bands that were to be found in almost every city, town and village, bands related to labour unions and other types of voluntarily societies, political parties and so forth. Many enterprises had their own ‘corporate bands’ as well, consisting of their own workers. They had a double function. On one hand, business owners employed their own ‘corporate bands’ as a means towards increasing of their prestige. On the other hand, they allowed the business owners to strengthen control over their labourers’ conduct even during their free time. In our case, the representative role of ‘company bands’ was literally uplifted up to the highest level, as they represented the entire window-glass industry on the national level.
While the ‘corporate bands’ received an already significant subsidy of 1000 Belgian francs, the total representation costs at the National Exposition were much higher. Various manufacturers had contributed 6500 Belgian francs for the ‘historic procession’, that included the representation of the glass industry. The Association decided to add 500 Belgian francs to this sum. Hence, the total representation costs, borne by individual manufacturers personally as well as by the Association collectively, amounted to a very impressive sum of eight thousands Belgian francs (to put matters in context, in 1891 a day wage of 7 or 8 Belgian francs was regarded as exceptionally high, while woolen weaver, for instance, earned a day wage of 3 Belgian francs ). The subsidies of 1000 (for the ‘company bands’) and 450 (for the ‘historical procession’) Belgian francs were confirmed by the Association’s accounts for the year 1880. To put the matter in perspective, it can be noticed that the Association’s total expenses for that year amounted to 6395,95 Belgian francs. Some other expense items included subsidy for the industrial schools (600 Belgian francs) and for the Chamber of Commerce (420 Belgian francs). Quite clearly, representation mattered.
International humanitarian activities
Last but not the least, the Association even engaged in humanitarian activities. At the session of 13 November 1879, the Association had discussed relief actions for the ‘victims of Murcia’, which most probably referred to the flood known as the Riada de Santa Teresa, that occurred on 15 October, caused 761 deadly victims in Murcia and heavily damaged a large part of the city. The Association encouraged its members, especially those who had business contacts with Spain, to contribute to the subscription for the victims. L. de Dorlodot proposed to donate a few caisses of glass by each manufacturer for the reconstruction of damaged houses. This proposition was approved. However, somewhat later, it was decided to replace the assistance in kind by financial help, sending 500 Belgian francs to the victims. At the session of 5 February 1880, a letter from Spain confirming the reception of five hundred Belgian francs was read.
On other occasion, the Association contributed a sum of five hundred Belgian franc for the victims of an earthquake in Greece in 1886 following the call of the Belgian consul in Athens. Possibly, business contacts of some members with counterparts in Greece had stimulated this humanitarian effort just as had been the case in Spain. No explicit mentions in this sense were recorded, however.
It is impossible to say with certainty whether these instances had been motivated by genuine humanitarian concern, or as a means of representation (or even promotion) as well.
Ассоциация, о которой идет речь - «Ассоциация бельгийских стекольных мастеров» - профессиональный союз стеклопромышленников Бельгии. Основан в 1848 году, ликвидирован в 1932 году. Самое интересное, что мне удалось найти архивы этой Ассоциации. При этом не где-нибудь… а у непосредственного потомка последнего председателя Ассоциации! Этому потомку (назовем его просто дедушкой) 93 года (1930 года рождения). Дедушка живет в Шарлеруа - бывшем «стекольной столице» Бельгии, и до сих пор хранит архивы Ассоциации - под десяток толстенных гроссбухов со стенограммами заседаний Ассоциации за все время ее существования. При этом дедушка не только разрешил мне использовать этот уникальный источник, но и разрешил взять их домой! Так и сказал - «Пользуйтесь, пока вам нужно. А если я за это время умру, передайте в государственный архив в Монсе, пожалуйста. Я там уже обо всем договорился». Чувства у меня при этом были смешанными, конечно. К счастью, за то время, пока я работал с документами Ассоциации, дедушка не умер, и я вернул их ему лично. Потом еще долго с ним беседовал (старые люди, они часто бывают разговорчивыми на почве одиночества). Понятно, что из дома он уже не выходит… Но разум светлый. А в углу комнаты стоял ящик с детскими игрушками. Значит, внуки и правнуки не забывают, и бывают в гостях. Надеюсь, что он счастлив, насколько это возможно в таком возрасте.