Bøger udgivet af Cambria Press

Reading Blindly attempts to conceive of the possibility of an ethics of reading reading being understood as the relation to an other that occurs prior to any semantic or formal identification, and therefore prior to any attempt at assimilating what is being read to the one who reads. Hence, reading can no longer be understood in the classical tradition of hermeneutics as a deciphering according to an established set of rules as this would only give a minimum of correspondence, or relation, between the reader, and what is read. In fact, reading can no longer be understood as an act, since an act by necessity would impose the rules of the reader upon the structure of what (s)he encounters; in other words the reader would impose herself upon the text. Since it is neither an act nor a rule-governed operation, reading needs to be thought as an event of an encounter with an other and more precisely an other which is not the other as identified by the reader, but heterogeneous in relation to any identifying determination. Being an encounter with an undeterminable other an other who is other than other reading is hence an unconditional relation, a relation therefore to no fixed object of relation. Hence, reading can be claimed to be the ethical relation par excellence. Since reading is a pre-relational relationality, what the reader encounters, however, may only be encountered before any phenomenon: reading is hence a non-phenomenal event or even the event of the undoing of all phenomenality. This is a radical reconstitution of reading positing blindness as that which both allows reading to take place and is also its limit. As there is always an aspect of choice in reading one has to choose to remain open to the possibility of the other Reading Blindly, by extension, is also a rethinking of ethics; constantly keeping in mind the impossibility of articulating an ethics which is not prescriptive. Hence, Reading Blindly is ultimately an attempt at the impossible: to speak of reading as an event. And since this is un-theorizable lest it becomes a prescriptive theory Reading Blindly is the positing of reading as reading, through reading, where texts are read as a test site for reading itself. Ostensibly, Reading Blindly works at the intersections of literature and philosophy; and will interest readers who are concerned with either discipline. However as reading is re-constituted as a pre-relational relationality, it is also a re-thinking of communication itself a rethinking of the space between; the medium in which all communication occurs and by extension, the very possibility of communicating with each other, with another. As such, this work is, in the final gesture, a meditation on the finitude and exteriority in literature, philosophy calling into question the very possibility of correspondence, and relationality and hence knowledge itself. For all that can be posited is that reading first and foremost is an acknowledgement that the text is ultimately unknowable; where reading is positing, and which exposes itself to nothing and is in fidelity to nothing but the possibility of reading.

Winner of Sarasvati Award for the Best Nonfiction Book in Women and Mythology! This book discusses erotic and magical goddesses and heroines in several ancient cultures, from the Near East and Asia, and throughout ancient Europe; in prehistoric and early historic iconography, their magical qualities are often indicated by a magical dance or stance. It is a look at female display figures both cross-culturally and cross-temporally, through texts and iconography, beginning with figures depicted in very early Neolithic Anatolia, early and middle Neolithic southeast Europe Bulgaria, Romania, and Serbia continuing through the late Neolithic in East Asia, and into early historic Greece, India, and Ireland, and elsewhere across the world. These very similar female figures were depicted in Anatolia, Europe, Southern Asia, and East Asia, in a broad chronological sweep, beginning with the pre-pottery Neolithic, ca. 9000 BCE, and existing from the beginning of the second millennium of this era up to the present era. The authors find several new cross-cultural reference points to a group of related female figures. In comparing written descriptions of these female figures, the authors examine texts from the Old Irish tale, The Destruction of Da Derga s Hostel, the text of an erotic Scandinavian story and a text describing the birth of Kali. The iconography of these female figures depicts a similar crouching or bent-knee position. Old Irish and Greek texts describe the act of "e;anasyrma,"e; a woman's lifting up of her skirt to boldly display her genitals, in order to frighten off an enemy. Parallels to these terrifying, yet empowering, figures in Anatolia, Europe, the Middle East, and South Asia are enigmatic Central Asian and East Asian representations of women exposing themselves, some of which go back to as early as the third millennium BCE. One particularly curious aspect of the motif of female sexual exposure is that it can occur both in East Asia and Europe in the context of war, either to frighten the enemy or to embolden one's own troops. This book demonstrates the extraordinary similarities, in a broad geographic range, of depictions and descriptions of magical female figures who give fertility and strength to the peoples of their cultures by means of their magical erotic powers. This book uniquely contains translations of texts which describe these ancient female figures, from a multitude of Indo-European, Near Eastern, and East Asian works, a feat only possible given the authors' formidable combined linguistic expertise in over thirty languages. The book contains many photographs of these geographically different, but functionally and artistically similar, female figures. Many current books (academic and otherwise) explore some of the female figures the authors discuss in their book, but such a wide-ranging cross-cultural and cross-temporal view of this genre of female figures has never been undertaken until now. The sexual display of these female figures reflects the huge numinosity of the prehistoric divine feminine, and of her magical genitalia. The functions of fertility and apotropaia, which count among the functions of the early historic display and dancing figures, grow out of this numinosity and reflect the belief in and honoring of the powers of the ancient divine feminine.

English is now firmly established as an international language around the globe and as such is no longer the preserve of the native speaker and the inner circle of counties. It is estimated that there are three times as many non-native speakers of English as there are native speakers worldwide and that the majority of speech events conducted in English are solely between non-native speakers of the language. The increased use of the English language on a daily basis by non-native speakers is thus worthy of a study and the purpose of this book. For the non-native speaker, the day-to-day demands of casual conversation can often be met through collaboration and negotiation with their interlocutor. However, there is an ever-increasing need for the non-native to participate in specific speech events such as discussions, meetings, interviews, and presentations, where the construction and delivery of extended turns and monologues is paramount. This is particularly true in professional and academic environments where this type of discourse holds significance and value for the speaker, since it is often through this that their proficiency and professionalism is critiqued and measured. This book is a timely study into the nature of extended discourse and the problems that non-native speakers have in constructing this. The book considers a corpus of spoken data taken from the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) speaking test with an international dimension. It specifically focuses on discourse that is multi-propositional, that is, extended turns and monologues, and analyses this for breaks in coherence and comprehensibility brought about by miscues in semantic and pragmatic features at the discourse level. The main thesis of the book is that the construction of extended discourse carries with it an additional burden for the speaker, namely the need to package information without support from the interlocutor in such a way as to make a coherent interpretation possible. For the mother-tongue speaker, the management of this packaging is of second nature, but for the non-native, the removal of collaborative support from the interlocutor in the form of back-channels and negotiation of meaning leads to miscues at the discourse level which impinge on coherence. As these miscues accumulate and interact with each other, the coherence of the discourse is diminished even further and in extreme cases a complete breakdown in communication can be observed. Two key areas where these miscues materialize are in the semantic consistency and pragmatic relevance of the utterances as each one is added to the common ground. Semantic consistency refers to the need to maintain the internal specificity of utterances and the external consistency across utterances, while pragmatic relevance refers to the need to make contributions which are well-contextualized and relevant to the on-going discourse. The book is both a textual and evaluative approach to studying discourse. It contains copious examples of transcribed non-native discourse with commentaries that indicate where miscues arise and how these lead to a lack of coherence. The book also describes in detail a manipulation experiment which looks at the effect of repairing discourse on the perceived coherence, thus evaluating the psycholinguistic reality of the identified miscues. The book also considers the relationship of fluency to coherence and how disfluent performance can impinge on perceived coherence. The book will be of interest to applied linguistics and English-language teaching practitioners around the world as well as academics involved in the testing of spoken English. Aimed at postgraduate level but accessible to undergraduates, it is a must for anyone concerned with the teaching or studying of a second language such as English and researchers working in the field of discourse analysis.

In 21st-century America, one of the goals of the education is to successfully prepare students for their meaningful, sustained, and robust participation in a democratic society. In the context of K 12 science education, this means educating students so that they develop into future adult citizen capable of considering and deciding on conflicting issues and policies influenced by science, technology, and sustainability issues. The challenge for science education is thus to find successful ways to integrate content, pedagogy, and citizenship education. It is important to examine curricular approaches in science classrooms since most of the science education a student receives take place in the context of a formal school science curriculum. Most curricular materials in science education allow students to engage in what is commonly referred to as an inform, verify, practice (IVF) format. Using this format, students gain access to information either through a lecture or a text, attempt to verify the presented information through lab activities, and may practice the mastered information with questions and/or problems. These curricular approaches do not explicitly integrate citizenship education to facilitate students understandings of issues and policies shaped by science, technology, and sustainability issues. In order to bridge this gap, curricula guided by sociocultural perspectives may be a possible answer. Existing literature integrating sociocultural perspectives in the school science curriculum include context-based science, connected science, contextualized science, and/or socioscientific issues (SSI). These curricular approaches are being examined to document their effectiveness by linking social dilemmas with conceptual or technological links to science. This study integrates science education reform documents, blends sociocultural theoretical frameworks, and draws upon empirical data to contribute to the use of sociocultural theory in science education in an urban middle school setting. Current findings indicate that urban children are not experiencing much success when it comes to school science. Traditional paradigms for science education research focus on the learning of science using IVF format with little regard for the sociocultural context. In this book, the author posits that the exploration of urban students engagement with school science using sociocultural perspectives may uncover factors that influence students learning and success in the science classrooms. The author further proposes that using curricula framed around sociocultural perspectives may develop students understandings about the role science and technology plays in their lives, as well as well as in the larger society, thus making science more accessible and relevant for these children in urban settings. There has been no study to date that examines the impact of curricular approaches guided by a sociocultural framework (contextualized curriculum in this study) on the comprehension level and attitudes of students. The study fills that gap and holds implications for the inclusion of alternative curricular framework in urban middle school science classrooms. The author has used a mixed-methods study and draws upon both quantitative and qualitative data sources. The study design allows the reader to appreciate the perspectives of participating students and teachers on the use of contextualized curricular framework versus curricular framework guided by IVF practices in urban middle school science classrooms. This is an important book for collections in education, particularly science and K 12.

Formed in 1985 as a political action committee (PAC) to provide select female Democratic candidates with seed money to run for federal office, today EMILY s List is much more than a women s PAC. Over the past twenty-five years, a political entrepreneur Ellen Malcolm, a cadre of liberal feminist activists, and thousands of liberal feminist women and men have transformed EMILY s List into a multi-pronged influence organization that has changed the face of U.S. Congress and the American political landscape. In 2008 EMILY s List brought in over $34 million from more than 10,000 large donors and an untold number of small donors; for the first time the Center for Responsive Politics placed EMILY s List on their list of heavy hitters. The president and founder of EMILY s List, Ellen Malcolm, is considered one of the top Democratic strategists in the country. But scholars, especially those outside of women and politics, continue to view EMILY s List as simply a women s PAC, albeit an important one. While acknowledging that it has been a force in making women competitive in the early stages of congressional campaigns and its bundling prowess, there has been little if any attempt to place EMILY s List within the broader literature of campaign finance or congressional elections. While bundling may have put ELIST on the map in the late 1980s, in 2008 bundling was but one tool in EMILY s List s arsenal. Over the past quarter of a century, EMILY s List transformed from a women s PAC/donor network to a multi-pronged influence organization that strategically uses its resources to aid pro-choice Democratic women in their quest for public office. EMILY s List has created and maximized on political opportunities in such a way that it now stands as a political powerhouse. Those who have underestimated it as a narrow women s organization, have also largely underestimated the important role EMILY s List played in helping transform the character of the Democratic Party in Congress and helping bring about the Party s dramatic resurgence to power. This study is the first examination of the growth and transformation of EMILY s List from its inception in 1985 through the 2008 election cycle. Relying on interviews with organization staff, founding members, and members of Congress, it illuminates the ways in which the organization s origin and mission are firmly rooted in the goals and activities of the liberal feminist women s movement of the 1970s. The successes and failures of this movement set the stage for the creation of EMILY s List. Using qualitative and quantitative data, the study traces the organization s evolution from its early days as a PAC to its transformation into a multi-pronged influence organization that is a PAC, but also functions as an interest group, a party adjunct, and a campaign organization. The book explores the membership of the organization over time, highlighting EMILY s List s efforts to pull in new members and retain its loyal base. The book also explores how the organization has overcome women s reticence to contribute and how that has helped it become so influential in the political sphere. The last part of the book examines the organization s influence vis- -vis the endorsement process, which highlights the organization s multi-pronged strategy. It ends with a discussion of the organization s endorsement of Hillary Rodham Clinton s presidential bid in 2008, and what the 2008 election meant for the future of EMILY s List. This book would be appropriate for a variety of courses including courses on women and politics, Congress and congressional elections, campaign and elections courses, parties and interest group courses, and campaign finance courses. This book will be accessible and appropriate for undergraduates and graduate students, as well as researchers and practitioners. It combines historical narrative, which makes it accessible to students, with original interviews and empirical analysis, which appeals to faculty wishing to introduce students to cutting edge research efforts in political science.

Inquiry pedagogy was promoted heavily by John Dewey in the early 1900s as he described how students should not only learn about science, but also participate in problem-solving and scientific practices as part of their education. Sixty years later, the National Science Education Standards (NSES) were published (National Research Council, 1996) echoing Dewey s recommendations for educators to teach science less didactically and to include the development of critical thinking in a variety of ways including scientific inquiry. The NSES (pg. 31) stated, Inquiry into authentic questions generated from student experiences is the central strategy for teaching science. Despite emphasis placed upon inquiry teaching practices in the ebb and flow of conversations over the last century, science educators still struggle to move current and future educators to a place where inquiry pedagogy is a regular part of what happens as part of science learning in the classroom. This is a multifaceted issue facing us with factors inhibiting inquiry teaching practices including the lack of prior experiences learning through inquiry, the pressures of high-stakes standardized tests that seemingly do not support inquiry learning, and other school culture issues that exist. Most science majors who are inspired to become teachers of children learning science have experienced very didactic or traditional forms of learning throughout their educational careers. These science majors, a relatively small group of U.S. students, have experienced a type of success in learning about science that is not necessarily paralleled by their peers who were not successful in science classes. This dilemma poses a problem for science educators as we work to include science for all Americans making science accessible to all students -- not only the few who later enter science careers. These same science majors, some of who become preservice science teachers, are often resistant to new types of teaching as they have felt personal success in learning science traditionally through textbook reading and verification labs and are hesitant to teach in any other way than how they were taught. This book examines secondary science preservice teachers as they reflect upon their teaching practices, their educational philosophies, and their student teaching experiences as they attempt to teach using inquiry pedagogy. Little research literature exists that follows preservice teachers through their development in a science education program as they are challenged in learning how to teach using inquiry pedagogy. This book highlights the successes and struggles as told by preservice teachers through their writing and interviews. Additionally, as part of their student teaching, the preservice teachers were asked to submit a video showing evidence of inquiry pedagogy in their classrooms. The lesson plans and video data were analyzed to determine whether or not the preservice teachers were indeed attempting to teach science content through inquiry. The lessons learned include the importance of the influential teacher-mentor, as well as the need for science educators to provide repeated, sustained, and guided inquiry experiences for preservice science teachers. Inquiry Pedagogy and the Preservice Science Teacher is an important book for those who are studying and researching about inquiry pedagogy in science education.

Why a book on a research study using grounded theory, a methodology that is currently celebrating its 50th anniversary? Although the theory has now been in existence for many years, there has never been a book recounting its application through numerous interconnected studies, as it was originally intended to be used. This book represents the first book-length cohesive narrative on how this method was rediscovered by a researcher over the course of a new series of studies, redeveloped in the context of a topic previously undisturbed, applied, poked around, and problems generated (with solutions to these found or not). There has never been a narrative on how a researcher sat down and worked through data over decades in order to evolve his or her own grounded theory and methodology about a specific phenomenon. This study is also a response to the need for a book that mixes the three traditional genres of the literature on methodology many of which are cited and are themselves subjects and also adds to a debate on research about research methods, by developing a case study of what it is like to be the human subject that is called the researcher as well as a pursuant of empirical methodology. The purpose of this book is to break a number of the conventions of research texts by writing an academic text on methodology as a case study of building case studies, one that cites classic works in the field and contains autobiographical considerations throughout its account, one that narrates the conscious process of designing a framework from the range of philosophies that were involved in chronicling this topic. Most importantly, however, this book has developed to be the story of being a human enquirer, one with a research and professional trajectory to work towards. This study also offers a wholly different approach by describing the processes and evolutions that brought the author Simon Hayhoe to develop what he terms a grounded methodology.

Traditionally, freedom of speech has been justified as necessary for democratic government and as an essential individual right. This study departs from traditional legal and philosophical theories and breaks new ground by demonstrating that well-established and contemporary social theory explains the essential role of speech in highly differentiated modern societies. Utilizing some of Emile Durkheim s well-established classical concepts relating to the division of labor in society, the book builds on the consequences of division of labor such as increased individuation and diminution of shared beliefs to demonstrate that as division of labor increases, so does the social requirement of increased freedom of expression. As shared beliefs diminish, economic, social and political decisions cannot be made by a society without increased freedom of expression. As Durkheim focused on division of labor, contemporary sociologist Jurgen Habermas builds on this and specifically recognizes the need for consensus building among individuals in modern highly differentiated societies. Consensus, in turn, is built through freedom of expression listening as well as speaking. By combining the work of Durkheim and Habermas, a comprehensive blueprint and theoretical model for freedom of speech is established independent of existing legal or philosophical theory. Having developed a sociological basis for freedom of expression, Freedom of Speech and Society proceeds to justify use of the theory by presenting empirical evidence that supports the continued relevance of Durkheim s classical theories. Durkheim predicted that as division of labor increased, there would be a trend toward civil as compared to criminal remedies for the same type of offensive conduct. He based this conclusion on the fact that criminal law reflected violation of community values while private remedies were more directed toward conduct that injured the individual as opposed to society as a whole. As division of labor increased, commonly held beliefs would, in turn, diminish and public crimes would more likely be treated as private offenses. Again, breaking new ground, this study demonstrates the validity of this theory in the context of speech law through application of empirical evidence showing the decrease of criminal defamation and growth of private defamation remedies. This chronology tracks the evolution of modern societies and the ever-increasing division of labor. Freedom of expression in the age of the internet communication without borders is a frequent subject of debate both on a political and legal level. However, the theoretical underpinnings have generally been confined to legal and philosophical analysis. These existing theories are not entirely satisfying because they cannot explain freedom of speech beyond the individual. Freedom of Speech and Society presents arguments that freedom of expression in the twenty-first century can be approached as a social phenomenon through the application of sociological theory. Existing approaches are either confined to political communication or focus on individual wellbeing. In this book, sociological arguments for freedom of expression are derived from both Emile Durkheim s classical social theory and the contemporary theories of Jurgen Habermas. Application of these theories demonstrates that freedom of speech is essential from a societal point of view. This book is the first attempt to bring sociological theory into the free speech debate. Almost always viewed as an individual right, this study, using classical sociological theory, argues that freedom of expression is essential as a group right and that without an expansive freedom of expression, modern society simply cannot efficiently operate. Viewed through the lens of sociological theory, freedom of expression is seen to be not only desirable as an individual privilege but also essential as a societal right. To validate the use of classical sociological theory, the author demonstrates that empirical evidence concerning the demise of criminal libel is predicted by Durkheim s theory and that recent archeological evidence supports the continuing vitality of classical sociology. To bring sociological theory into the 21st Century, the contributions of contemporary German sociologist Jurgen Habermas are also employed. This modern theory also validates the classical theory. Once viewed through the lens of social theory, freedom of expression as justified by traditional legal and philosophical is explored and then the two approaches are compared. While sociology and philosophy are not at odds, they are not perfectly congruent because one focuses on societal needs while the other is based on the individual. When combined, a more comprehensive perspective can be constructed and, perhaps, a more accurate need for freedom of expression is established. Freedom of Speech and Society is an important and ground-breaking book for political, media, and legal studies.

Emmanuel Levinas has come to be regarded as one of the most significant figures in twentieth-century European philosophy. Initially seen as an obscure popularizer of phenomenology, Levinas is now widely admired for his original philosophic writings on the encounter with the other, his place in post-Holocaust Jewish philosophy, his influence on Derrida, and his powerful claims about the importance of ethics for philosophy and for human life generally. The past several years have seen an explosion of interest in his thought. Critics have charged, however, that his philosophy is seriously flawed by his failure to convey his understanding of ethical responsibility in a practical ethical theory. Emmanuel Levinas on the Priority of Ethics: Putting Ethics First defends Levinas against this criticism. In doing so, it develops an interpretation that stresses Levinas sensitivity to the urgency of acting to help those who are vulnerable. The book departs from trends in Levinas scholarship. Many scholars emphasize Levinas epistemological claims about the incomprehensibility and inexpressibility of the relation to the other as the foundational theses of his philosophy. By contrast, Emmanuel Levinas on the Priority of Ethics shows how he reaches them based on a subtle analysis of the practical demands involved in recognizing responsibility for others. The book argues that Levinas is best read as pragmatic thinker, one who, above all, is concerned to stress the importance of practical effectiveness in serving the other. Finally, the book shows how his understanding of responsibility can be expressed in practical ethical theories given this pragmatic interpretation. This book is an important work for Levinas scholars, particularly those interested in his relevance for contemporary ethical debates and for social and political philosophy. The book develops an interpretation that avoids jargon, and new readers as well as readers interested in placing Levinas in dialogue with Anglo-American philosophy will find it a useful resource. The book s efforts to situate Levinas in relation to issues in analytic ethics, such as Rawls theory of justice and debates over moral realism, will be of particular interest to the latter.

The acquisition of the English article system has been a subject of inquiry for linguists, psychologists, child language specialists, and second language acquisition researchers. Strong interest in the study of the acquisition and uses of English articles can be attributed to a few main factors. First, it is a known fact that second language (L2) learners of English often have difficulty engaging in the use of articles until the very late stages of acquisition. More often than not, they do not ever attain mastery of using articles at the level of a native English speaker. In fact, the misuse of articles is often a marker of a non-native English speaker s having not reached a native English speaker s level. Second, the acquisition of English articles has proven to be a notoriously difficult process because of semantic features, syntax-morphology interfaces, syntax-pragmatics interfaces, and meaning-form connections. This is especially the case for L2 learners whose native languages do not have an article system or have a different article system. Third, interest in the acquisition of English articles by L2 learners is strong because of the challenges faced by ESL/EFL instructors, who are often at a loss on how to respond to the requests of L2 learners for simple and straightforward rules for the use of English articles, as well as how to address the random use of English articles by L2 learners. There is thus a need to develop effective and efficient pedagogy to facilitate L2 learners acquisition of English articles. Fourth, the study of L2 learners acquisition of English articles also provides insight into the general processes of L2 acquisition and helps bring us closer to answers to important questions on interlanguage grammar, the role of L1 transfer, the metalinguistic knowledge that L2 learners employ in learning a new language, and second language acquisition processes. While there are studies concerning the acquisition of English articles and some identifiable stages that are based on various perspectives and different empiric data, with several acquisition sequences for ESL learners proposed, the universality and applicability of those proposed sequences remain to be tested. There are also no studies at present that address how L2 learners distinguish a from an, identify the acquisition process related with the zero article, or present a systematic description of noun phrases in conjunction with the use of articles. This book which details an in-depth longitudinal study of Chinese ESL learners' acquisition process of English articles endeavors to fill this need. It combines a qualitative approach with quantitative methods to understand the acquisition sequence of English articles, using the case of a beginner Chinese ESL learner in an American context. The longitudinal data collected during the 13-month period are first carefully indexed using a qualitative-oriented computer software program and then statistically analyzed by using SPSS. An in-depth examination of different types of articles, as well as their relations with noun phrases and other types of determinants, was then conducted using the perspectives gained from both the accuracy paradigm and the usage pattern. The analyses of the data reveal the acquisition sequence of English articles for the Chinese ESL learner. The data indicates that the acquisition of different types of articles can be identified and grouped into distinctive developmental stages in terms of semantic functions and variation patterns. While the findings from this study challenge several claims documented in current L2 research literature on one hand, it also casts some much-needed light on the acquisition processes of English articles by Chinese ESL learners. This is an important book for scholars interested in second language acquisition, child language development, language learning and teaching, and Chinese learners of English.

For those wishing to develop their professional voice in theatre, it is common to draw on practical training and experiences as their main foci. Observational undertakings, apprenticeships, and personal endeavours are also customary ways to further this development of their persona as director or performer. There has been little in the way of academic research or study of general principles to open the door to formal discussion of the theatrical processes involved in creating a production. Common approaches are personal (mainly autobiographical or context-specific) assessments that recount individual episodes and milestones within the careers of well-known and respected individuals. Although such methods are informative and often interesting, formal analytical tools to undertake production analyses and intellectual comparisons are still needed. This is the first study that attempts to apply a systematic process to the mysteries of directorial communication within a theatrical setting. Categories created using this methodology make comprehensive breakdown and analysis possible of those elusive interpersonal interactions, the communication flow, during the period of rehearsal leading to a production. As such, the case studies make available some of the inner individual experiences from each company s endeavour, the artistic journey, successes and pitfalls, viewpoints and reflections of those involved, the changing styles of communication, and thus, many important lessons that would be otherwise completely unavailable to a wider audience. Whilst centring specifically on opera as a medium, the examination unpicks general processes of theatrical rehearsal, profiling individuals at work in a systematic way that begins to uncover and identify patterns of behaviour. The study, thus, draws important lessons from observation of that process which can then be applied to future experience, assisting the novice especially, whose previous recourse was mainly limited to trial-and-error approaches within their own personal production experience. Communication in Theatre Directing and Performance is an important addition to the general study of theatrical performance communication and its analysis. The case studies and interviews are especially helpful because the reader will not only be able to read directly the views and experiences of professionals at work but also to unpick and analyse those processes taking place over a period of rehearsal. Its ability to bring into relief the practices of theatrical professionals makes this study an invaluable option for university drama departments, colleges of drama training, as well as for individuals at a more advanced point in their professional existence who are looking to evolve their understanding and artistic style.

This book is a journey deep into the heart of patriotism. It begins with a review of the current body of research, integrating the phenomenon's definitions and sharpening our ability to draw its exact outlines. It does so by extracting the attributes that shape patriotism as well as the components that form it and then analyzing them through worldwide historic examples of patriotic behavior. Once an understanding of the attributes of patriotism and its components is established, the Israeli case study is examined. The Israeli case study offers a scientific opportunity to investigate patriotism in the context of a long historical period of history and through different facets of life. At the same time, however, it is important to point out that this study holds a perspective far beyond the specific times and places upon which the empiric data has been founded. This book is about patriotism in a large spectrum, crossing boundaries of country, nation or era, and its fundamental target is to locate and decode the very basic machinery of how patriotism thrives. One preliminary mission that lays basic foundations for any discussion concerning patriotism is coherently integrating its various descriptions from the assortment of scholarly literature. By doing so, this book adds to the current corpus of research an important layer for any further comprehension of the inquired phenomenon. The major goal of this study is to uncover which social variables are capable of encouraging or discouraging patriotism. In other words, it aims to locate the basics of the social machinery that motivates individuals to set aside their personal well being and sacrifice their resources for the sake of the common good. However, this research also examines the social predictors of patriotism through a quest for the hierarchy of their importance. Following a thorough assessment of each variable, given that in real life none of them act in isolation, the great question is which social factor is dominant and which might practically be counted as ineffective. The book establishes an integrative overview of a relatively understudied social phenomenon. Patriotism has been examined and related to in bibliographical sources to which this study refers; however, this book enables a large overview of the different approaches and integrates a cohesive approach. In addition to the theoretical discussion, the presentation and analyses of empirical date enable a practical evaluation of the concepts that have been developed. Data from large-scale surveys data, together with in-depth interviews, enable a rare opportunity to confirm or to invalidate some existing theories, in particular those focusing on the social conditions for patriotism. All in all, then, this research provides a systematic inquiry of patriotism and its social and political causes. Yet beyond the conclusions stemming from its numerous quantitative and qualitative data, it also presents a holistic point of view and manages to put together the pieces that form one of the most unique social phenomena. Among other findings, the book presents research that invalidates a theoretical concept according to which patriotism is closer to conservatism than to liberalism. Whereas surveys and polls show a tendency of right-wing politicians to be more patriotic than leftists, this book has gone the extra mile of statistically analyzing the data in a multivariate regression; that is, examining how political attitudes affect patriotism in reality, once all the factors act together. This statistical analysis shows clearly how in practice political attitude is very loosely connected to patriotism. In addition to that, the patriotic conservative in-depth interviewees of this study have been inspired to love their country by their political ideologies just like the patriotic liberal interviewees. This finding thus reinforces how the accusations of one political party against another for not being patriotic should be taken with more than a grain of salt. The book will be of interest to specialists and students in the field of the social and political sciences, especially those whose research focus on social behavior in political contexts.

Until the mid 1950s, the Jews of Egypt lived in a multicultural and diverse society, which constituted a model of conviviality and tolerance, using French as its lingua franca. The Jews constituted a respected and well-integrated urban community of about 80 to 100,000, and made an impressive contribution to the socioeconomic modernization of the country. Together with the rise of Arab nationalism and the growth of Islamic fundamentalism, the escalating Arab-Israeli conflict brought about the rapid demise of Egyptian Jewry. Like the other Jewish communities of Arab lands, these people were either expelled or forced into exile in the aftermath of the 1948, 1956, and 1967 Arab-Israeli wars. As a consequence, close to half of the Jewish population of Egypt found refuge in Israel while the rest dispersed throughout the Western world, mainly in France, Brazil, and the United States. This book focuses on a group of about two thousand who settled in Australia, the Edge of the Diaspora. It also examines the migration experience of Egyptian Jews who settled in France, in order to compare and contrast their integration in a non Anglo-Celtic environment. Although the Jews of Egypt, like most refugees, suffered the trauma of dispossession, expulsion, and dislocation, their particular experience did not attract the attention of Australian sociologists or historians. Even within the context of Australian Jewry, their story was largely unknown even though there has been much discussion about the postwar migration of European Jews. The author Racheline Barda believes that it is important to give them a voice, to tell their stories, and delve into their past history, thereby discovering the richness of their cultural heritage which ultimately gave them the tools for a successful integration in Australian society. One of the crucial concerns of this work was the preservation and transmission of the rich and dynamic history of this unique group to successive generations, through the oral testimonies of first-hand witnesses of a vanished world. This book makes an important contribution to the study of contemporary Australian society as well as diaspora studies. It deals with a topic that has rarely been reported on or studied in Australia the migration experience of a small and unique ethnoreligious population such as the Jews of Egypt. It is the first comprehensive research on their immigration and integration into Australian society. Traditionally, sociohistorians have mostly concentrated on the Ashkenazi Jews of Europe or on the long established local Jewish community, which was historically of British and German origin. The Jews of Egypt constitute one of the largest Jewish communities to settle in Australia from outside European societies, in response to the rise of Arab nationalism and hostility to Israel. Based on a series of comprehensive interviews conducted mainly in Australia and France, this study reconstructs the history of a Jewish community and the circumstances of its demise. It takes the innovative approach of systematically analyzing the ethnic, religious, and cultural characteristics of both sample groups, highlighting the diversity that is inherent to the group as a whole. By specifically targeting the issue of identity, it provides an insight into the dynamics of a multilayered identity, which performs as a vehicle of integration and acculturation for a migrant group in any host society. Apart from individuals studying the particular history of Egyptian Jews wherever they settled after their forced emigration from Egypt, the book would be of interest to scholars specializing in diaspora studies, ethnic and immigrant studies, and social history.

Political turbulence was common during the times of dynastic transition in imperial China. Multiple regional regimes frequently rose on the lands of the former unified empire, vying for political and military supremacy until a dominant power emerged and achieved reunification. The period of political fragmentation during the tenth century, known as the Five Dynasties and Ten States (907 979) was typical of such times. From the crumbling of the Tang empire to the next reunification of China proper under the Northern Song dynasty, five short-lived dynasties succeeded one another in the Central Plains, the old political heartland in North China, while about a dozen smaller autonomous regimes occupied though not concurrently the rest of the country (mostly in the south). Lasting more than a half century, the period is thought to have been one of unique political intrigue, during which founding rulers of humble origins engaged in schemes and strategies that increasingly inspire popular interest today. This book is an exploration of the complicated national politics and intricate interstate relations of the early tenth century with a focus on the Former Shu (891 925), one of the Ten States that significantly contributed to the formation of the unique political configuration of the day. From the viewpoint of traditional historiography, the five northern dynasties constituted the central powers of the tenth century that dominated national politics and ultimately led China to the Northern Song reunification. In contrast, southern regimes were usually treated as subordinate or secondary powers, all considered neither legitimate nor capable of ever challenging the north, politically or militarily. This binary grouping and its discriminatory interpretation fundamentally shaped later historians perception of the national politics of Five Dynasties China. Even today, compared to the studies on the political history of the five northern dynasties, the neglect of the southern regimes is obvious in modern scholarship, especially in Western language publications. By focusing on the political history of the Former Shu regime in the south, this book seeks to provide a new understanding of the geopolitics of Five Dynasties China. This book sheds much light on the complicated national politics and intricate interstate relations of the divided tenth-century China. It examines how Wang Jian, a military governor of Tang, rose to power from obscurity in the chaotic late ninth century and founded an empire in what is today s Sichuan province in the early tenth century. Depending on a powerful military, the strategic location, and astute diplomatic tactics in dealing with surrounding powers, the Former Shu under Wang Jian s rule successfully challenged the hegemonies of the most powerful regimes of the day from its base in the south. It was recognized as a political equal and treated as such by the contemporary northern powers, with whom the Former Shu shared the Mandate of Heaven both in rhetoric and in reality. As the achievements of the Former Shu demonstrate, the widely accepted predominance of the northern dynasties over the other states during the Five Dynasties period does not reflect the political reality, at least in the first half of the tenth century, when no single power possessed the capability of destroying other rivals and dominating the entire country. The constructive relationships between the Former Shu and other regimes discussed in this study define a unique political configuration of tenth-century China that was characterized by power balance and pragmatic coexistence among the dynasties and states, which in most cases sensibly chose to share the Mandate and maneuvered to survive by interacting strategically with other powers and thus should be equally treated as regional regimes. This study thus provides a reevaluation of the biased Song interpretation of the Five Dynasties and rethinks national politics, the reality of interstate relations, and the mentality of the contemporary people in perceiving the upheavals and changes of tenth-century China. This book is an important study for scholars and students of medieval China and regional studies. It will also appeal to the general reader interested in political and military history.

J. M. Coetzee was born in South Africa in 1940 and is the author of fourteen works of narrative fiction (some of which masquerade as memoirs) and several books of literary essays. He has won the prestigious Man Booker Prize twice (for Life &Times of Michael K and Disgrace) and he won the Nobel Prize for literature in 2003. As a novelist born in and living most of his life in South Africa, Coetzee has been viewed by many readers and critics through an ideological lens, which he has always resisted to a greater or lesser extent. Much excellent criticism of Coetzee puts his work in context; historical, political, literary and theoretical. J.M. Coetzee and the Power of Narrative differs from that of most commentators in that it does not concentrate mainly on the political or post-colonial aspects of his work, and resists allegorical readings--which so often ignore style, language, point of view, and narrative structure. This book is a consideration of various themes and techniques ranging across Coetzee s whole oeuvre. It aims to discover the how rather than what or why : where does Coetzee s work derive its power? A discussion of themes, influences, and allegorical meanings tends to bleach out the experience of reading; and this experience is surely the only reason for choosing Coetzee s narratives over anyone else s. It examines the type of resistance to be found in his work, a resistance which seems to have little basis in a political belief or a rational philosophy of justice. The book also traces the effects of Coetzee s choice of point of view in each of his books how it interacts with questions of complicity and impressions of realism, as well as how it relates to the subject matter and characters he is dealing with in each case. It is also an exploration of the place of the comic arts in Coetzee s work. This is a subject which has routinely been dismissed by critics who have failed to discern any humor in the novels. The contention is that a sense of the ridiculous and absurd is implicit in much of Coetzee s narrative prose and can be seen in the underlying structure of all his books. This study delves into his use of language and languages: the choice of tenses, the surprising flights of imagery to be found amidst the taut elegance of his narrative style; and also the multilingual sensibilities he shares with many of his characters, not excluding the non-verbal language of music. The subject of sex and desire has attracted less critical attention than various other themes, and, of those critics who have considered it, most seem bent on extracting allegories of sexual politics which are not necessarily warranted by a close examination of the texts. This book disputes some of these readings and suggests considering the subject in other ways. It also looks at another uncomfortable aspect of Coetzee s books: his treatment of the bond between parents and children. J. M. Coetzee and the Power of Narrative will appeal to scholars and general readers who are interested in exploring Coetzee s work without necessarily having an extensive knowledge of literary theory.

Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828 1882) was one of the most complex poets and painters of the Victorian period. In the 128 years since his death, at least 30 biographies and critical studies along with hundred of articles on his life, poetry and art, and separate volumes of his correspondence have appeared. There has been continuous interest in Rossetti, but no true understanding of where he stands in the pantheon of literature; whether he is primarily a painter, a poet, or both; and why his life tends to overshadows his work. This work was prompted in part by Lisa Tinker s statement, Each ages get or makes the Rossetti it desires. It is a meta-biography that examines the central question: who are the Rossettis created by the values, obsessions, desires and anxieties of a period? It asserts that, more important than establishing some particular truth about the poet-painter, such an approach can provide a proper understanding of his life and work, it can place him more clearly and correctly into the ever-evolving interpretive schema, and it can shed some light on why Rossetti s work is most often eclipsed by his life. How are the Rossetti stories and legends represented in the different genres; why have the these genres been chosen; and why is he represented at all? These are the questions of this study. Twentieth- and twenty-first century representations of Rossetti himself as a man and artist or of his work have, to this point, remained unexamined. This omission is significant because, although the representations of Rossetti are plentiful and have continued to be created to the present time, they have continued to draw attention away from his work, and there is as yet little integration of the man with his work as both painter and poet. Moreover, there are several different representations of Rossetti, often in stark contrast to each. Rossetti scholarship has not yet attempted this. This book examines the treatment of Dante Gabriel Rossetti and his work in twentieth and twenty-first century fiction, drama, music, and film, specifically since 1950. The author uses these genres to examine how text, music, performance, and visual images work as a system of representation. In this book, the author strives to clarify the many Dante Gabriel Rossettis, using thirteen of the thirty easily identifiable roles in this system of representation which the author has identified herself roles by which Rossetti is described and portrayed. The identified portrayals of Rossetti fall easily into five groupings: first, the Italian-English man who is a brother and a loyal friend; second, the poet who is a painter and co-founder of an art movement which afforded him the chance to be a mentor; third, the lover, seducer, husband, oppressor; fourth, the murderer; and fifth, the tortured artist and addict who was mentally ill. These are the portrayals are used throughout this work. Several have chronological boundaries and are discrete representations while others reoccur across the time period covered. Using these categories, the author examines seven works of prose fiction, a feature-length film, two television series, a stage play, and the songs and lyrics of a contemporary band. Re-Presentations of Dante Gabriel Rossetti is an important book for all British literature and art collections.

The population in Australia was about seven million in 1945, and it almost doubled in the thirty years from the beginning of the post-war immigration scheme. Of this population increase, more than three million were born overseas. In the two World Wars, Australia experienced threats from other powers and recognized the need to absorb more people to defend its nation, gradually changing its attitude toward the acceptance of non-British immigrants. In the famous speech How Many Australians Tomorrow? addressed by Migration Minister Arthur Calwell in 1945, concerns about population increase and national security were raised. Populate or perish became the dominant theme in nation s development issues. It goes with saying that the foundation of the modern Australian nation is based upon immigration. Migration documentary films played an important role in promoting Australian images to the outside world. Many films were made in this period to fulfill the function of migrant-recruiting and nation-building objectives. In these films, Australia was presented as a progressive and liberal nation seeking to establish her identities. The slogan Australia for the White Man prevailed over the entire period from 1908 to 1961. It was not until 1972 that The White Australia Policy was officially abolished. The historical meanings of these transformations are definitely worth exploring. The relationships among immigration policies, documentary films and the construction of national identities become valuable subjects for examination. This innovative book is the first in the field that comes with a systematic and comprehensive study of migration documentary films in post-war Australia. In the analysis of the sixty-seven films, this book reveals that the project for recruiting migrants to settle in Australia was not a simple matter of overseas campaigns. The terrain for media publicity was never just the emigrant countries and the target audience were both foreigners and local Australians. These migration documentary films are actually propaganda films in nature. However, visual images, narratives, and myths represented in these films were important in the self-depiction of Australian and in the formative discourse of national identity. This book shows how absences and under-representations of film images are important to examine in order to fully understand the particular, utopian visions of the post-war period. This book argues that open-door policies, coastal images, and modernization narratives gradually became a new maritime myth in the quest of a redefined Australian identity, and new Australians , the post-war immigrants, became battlers, echoing the bush legend existing in the Australian narrative. Themes of modernization, industrialization, Anglo-centric identity, the Australian way of life itself, political freedom, and democracy of the overall films were stressed. Yet, the massive immigration scheme initiated by the government in the 1950s had facilitated the metamorphosis of the Australian East coast into a new symbolic centre. The Red Centre, the bush, the wilderness, the country and the land gave way to the major cities and ports for their strategic positions in Australian modernization and industrial development. Looking to the coast with maritime prospects became a new direction of national development and identity formation perhaps pre-dating the seeking the centre clich s of the 1970s. These migration documentary films actually represent the most explicit state initiative to represent an ideal of what Australia was and would be. Scholars and students whose interests include documentary films, immigration, ethnicity, national identity, and propaganda would find this book to be a valuable resource.

The relationship of French national identity to its cinema is a well-established field. Yet so far, most studies have either taken a broad historical approach or focused on a particular director or period. Using various theoretical approaches, this book investigates an area that is as of today either ill or untreated by scholars: what is the relationship of film form to the historical and social reflections of a given work, whether they be overt or hidden? To answer this question, Noah McLaughlin conducts a close formal analysis of ten French war films from across the twentieth century. His subjects range from Abel Gance s 1919 J Accuse to Jean-Pierre Jeunet s 2004 Un long dimanche de fian ailles and his theoretical approaches change to best examine each one. This study builds upon the broader histories of French cinema by Alan Williams (Republic of Images) and Susan Hayward (French National Cinema). Its approaches to the intersection of cinema and history owe a particular debt to Robert Rosentstone (Film on History/History on Film). War films react to moments of crisis for national identity. One can examine works made under the shadow of war as well as movies made at a historical remove from their subject. This duality of temporal distance and social function allows us to look at movies as both documents of social history and as historical reconstructions. The chronological breadth of this project permits the author to suggest an evolution of strategies, ranging from literary appropriation, to allegory, to Barthesean myth and artificial myth and most recently to experiments in history. There are very few book-length studies of French films about war. A close look at French cinematic explorations of war gives us a glimpse at the evolution of French identity over the course of the 20th century. It equally illuminates the story of how that nation's cinema has spent the past hundred years growing up: from its first steps leaning upon the coffee table of older literary conventions to its current adulthood as a means of cultural expression and critical exploration. One significant challenge is that the French war film is quite different from its Anglo-American counterpart. This book works through to a useful definition. It is a kind of cinematic creation that treats through form or content real armed conflicts that have significance in French history. The genre is often hybrid in nature and frequently uses metaphor. Its subjects are most often characterized collectively and in order to understand the past, psychology is emphasized over physical violence. Its plot structure is frequently non-linear and other forms over time have developed to place modernist historiography in doubt. Increasingly sophisticated, it has attained a point where historic meditations are often seamlessly but visibly integrated into both form and content. This is an important book for people interested in film studies and French studies as well as historians and historiographers.

Contemporary interest in spiritual transformation has been growing in fields as diverse as theology, psychology, education, the health sciences and management theory. There is an emerging recognition of the need for a fuller understanding of the nature and dynamics of spiritual growth and its implications for human development and social change. Transformation has also become the subject of scholarly investigation in the Christian tradition, as churches seek to recover their vitality and relevance in a radically secularized and pluralistic culture. The emerging disciplines of practical theology and Christian spirituality have made major contributions to the current discussion of spiritual transformation. James Fowler s groundbreaking studies in faith development, Benedict Groeschel s exploration of spiritual passages, and Evelyn and James Whitehead s investigations of Christian life patterns are representative of the many efforts being made to clarify the nature of transformation in Christian spiritual experience. Even a cursory survey of the different scholarly approaches in theology and Christian spirituality reveals that the notion of transformation remains ambiguous as a theoretical construct. In some contexts it implies a developmental transition or change in beliefs and values. In other contexts focusing on religious conversion it indicates a structural shift in personality and group affiliation. Therapeutic perspectives focus on the dynamics of healing and addiction research views the process through the lens of recovery. Much literature in the study of Christian spirituality continues to focus on transformation largely through the frameworks of classical sources such as the three-fold way of purgation, illumination and union in monastic spirituality, the spiritual exercises of St. Ignatius, or the mystical ascent described in studies of figures such Theresa of Avila and John of the Cross. Very often, the notion of spiritual transformation in these studies is not defined or examined critically. Moreover, most theoretical accounts of transformation, whether theological, psychological or spiritual, tend to remain highly abstract and detached from the relational and communal contexts in which persons actually live. There is also a lack of transdisciplinary perspectives on transformation that integrate theology, psychology and spirituality. In this study, Michael Hryniuk develops a full phenomenological, psychological and theological account of spiritual transformation in the context of L Arche, a federation of Christian communities that welcome persons with learning disabilities. The book begins with a critical examination of current perspectives on spiritual transformation in theology and Christian spirituality and constructs a new, foundational formulation of transformation as a shift in consciousness, identity and behavior. Through extensive analysis of the narratives of the caregiver-assistants who share life with those who are disabled, this case-study reveals an alternative vision of the three-fold way that unfolds through a series of profound awakenings in relationships of mutual care and presence: an awakening to the capacity to love, to bear inner anguish and darkness, and to experience radical human and divine acceptance. The book examines the psychological dimensions of spiritual transformation through the lens of contemporary affect theory and explores how care-givers experience a profound healing of shame in their felt sense of identity and self-worth. It moves finally to a theological investigation of the meaning of transformation in the context of L Arche as a process of synergy with the Holy Spirit in relationships of mutuality with persons who are disabled. By tracing the transformative process in L Arche as one of growth in communion, the book outlines a fully relational ontology of the person, an existential Christology of self-embrace, and a Trinitarian spirituality of community life. This book is an important contribution to the fields of Christian spirituality, practical theology, disability studies, pastoral psychology and religious education.

The disparate poetry of Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost, Wallace Stevens, and Robert Lowell remains loosely connected by the New England region. The original voices in this verse form in part out of historical trends shaping the environment, as speakers confront a landscape informed by its past and transformed by cultural movements from the nineteenth century into the middle of the twentieth century. As the first region in America, New England offers a locus in which to better understand the emergence of poetic voices closely identified with the experience of their surroundings. Tracking these voices in the verse of four seminal poets over the course of roughly one hundred years allows for a thorough survey of common links as to how speakers respond to historical shifts as well as how they view the landscape in the context of a shared literary tradition. Though scholars have explored the relationship between the work of these four poets and the New England region, the primal lyric tension that ultimately defines the voices that readers have come to identify as Dickinson or Lowell warrant closer investigation. No study has yet to use Lacanian psychoanalysis to read the speakers of this verse in the context of historical changes in their surroundings. This post-structural reading allows for arguably the closest consideration as to how voices take shape in the New England region based upon how the various speakers view the landscape they inhabit through a version of Emerson s perspective via his paradoxically transparent eyeball : an invisible presence that remains in the foreground because of rhetoric that describes it. For these speakers, history as well as literary tradition serves as such rhetorical covering , which in part offers a new way of considering how they come to sound like they come from New England by their visual experience of the environment. In connecting what has become rather standard post-structural theory to the practical relevance of local New England history, this book strives to bridge a recurring divide in literary study. Using Lacanian psychoanalysis to look specifically at the poetic speakers in part makes such an interdisciplinary examination possible. To see New Englandly ironically means to be seen by the formative historical effects of New England. Cultural movements shaping the experience of the speakers surroundings thus inform their conscious and unconscious desires as they in turn project such desires onto the land. The paradox of Emersonian vision especially central to the poetry of Wallace Stevens, wherein transparency gets covered with textual awareness, comes to exemplify this regional view taken by the speakers in the verse of the other poets here as well. The connection of Emerson s transparent eyeball in the New England landscape to the Lacanian gaze offers a means to extend a fundamental trope for lyric vision in the region. Such a critical and theoretical link especially in Stevens s verse offers a revision of readings by scholars like Harold Bloom and Richard Poirier who, though recognizing the importance of Emerson s eyeball as a metaphor of visual priority, have refrained from examining its full implications in a collective body of American literature. The insights that follow such an analysis perhaps make the strongest contribution to the existing scholarship of New England poetry by broadening the scope of the region and the reach of the historical effects that define it. The site of the Lacanian b ance defined as the gap between nature and the symbolic which ultimately defines the speakers inherent self-division, consistently charges the poetry with the greatest tension, paradoxically linking speakers to New England by threatening to disrupt their imaginative connection to their surroundings. This recurring gap around which vision and rhetoric move ultimately make the speakers of Stevens and the other three poets more regional than any slight reference to pine trees, barns, or graveyards. New England Landscape History in New England Poetry is an important book for readers interested in American poetry (especially the writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson, Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost, Wallace Stevens, and Robert Lowell), psychoanalysis and literature, deconstructive analyses of modern poetry, and New England regional history.

Challenges and Opportunities: The Future of the Internet, Volume 4 is the fourth volume in a series on the future of communications by the Pew Internet &American Life Project and Elon University. Is Google making us stupid what is the future of intelligence in the age of instant information? This and other important issues were addressed by nearly 900 expert respondents who wrote compelling answers to the 10 questions asked in the Future of the Internet IV survey. Technologists, business leaders, scholars and others shared their views about the Internet and the evolution of: intelligence; reading, writing and the rendering of knowledge; identity and authentication; gadgets, applications and the predictability of innovation; personal and social relationships; industrial-age institutions; cloud computing; the Semantic Web and Linked Data; Generation Y, also known as the Millennials; and the core values of the Internet, such as the end-to-end principle. This book is an extension of and deeper look at the results of six Pew Internet/Imagining the Internet Center reports generated from the survey in 2010. About the series: Technology builders, entrepreneurs, consultants, academicians, and futurists from around the world share their wisdom in The Future of the Internet surveys conducted by the Pew Internet &American Life Project and Elon University. The series of surveys garners smart, detailed assessments of multi-layered issues from a variety of voices, ranging from the scientists and engineers who created the first Internet architecture a decade ago to social commentators to technology leaders in corporations, media, government, and higher education.

Discussion on Pacific literature invariably focuses on anglophone, and sometimes francophone, writing, and efforts to assert local cultures against Western influence. But, the Pacific has also been a site for dramatizing Japanese fears and desires in Japanese writing. These arose from its imperialist expansion and its concern over the activities of other powers in the Pacific region. Japanese colonial, military, economic, and tourist involvement in the Pacific has been a target for criticism on the part of writers from Oceania. Most contemporary Japanese literary texts portray the Pacific Islands as the most backward part of the world. Such Japanese attitudes toward the Pacific Islands are characterized by a lack of dialogue with the islanders and their views of Oceania. This book mainly deals with twentieth-century discourses on postcolonial relationships between Japanese and Pacific Islanders, as have been produced and transformed through the world powers colonial dynamics over the islands and sea. It examines Japanese images or representations of the area, especially Micronesia on which the term Nanyo centered and considers responses from Pacific Island writers in English. Through such comparisons of Japanese and Pacific Islander texts, this book connects postcolonial representations of the Pacific from Japan and the Pacific Islands to examine trans-Pacific cultural movements involved with Japan. In doing so, it brings to light the Pacific as a locale of diverse subjects coming together over imperialist regimes. This book presents the incomplete, unstable, and fluid decolonizations produced from vantage points of the colonizer colonized, diasporic returnees, emigrants, and hybrids. The Pacific reemerges as a palimpsestic communal space concerned with wa: harmony, unity, peace, mildness, pacific, and Japanese. Relating and encompassing imperial and anti-imperial cultures, and drawing their fangs, the wa space produces oceanic decolonization. Nanyo-Orientalism is an important book for Japanese and Pacific studies, comparative literature and culture, and postcolonial studies.

Since the publication of his first novel, Americana, in 1971, Don DeLillo has been regarded as a preeminent figure of American letters. Among the more prominent themes the author considers throughout his oeuvre is that of consumerism, a topic that is equally essential to the works of French social theorist Jean Baudrillard. Although many critics have glossed the affinities between DeLillo and Baudrillard, this is the first book-length study to explore the relationship between the American author and the French theorist. Bringing DeLillo and Baudrillard into dialogue with each other, this timely volume proffers a sophisticated theoretical framework for understanding the works of both figures, investigates the relationship between works of art and acts of terror, and examines the potential for the individual to survive in the face of the dehumanizing, market-driven forces that dominate the postmodern world. This book will be a valuable addition to collections in American literature, sociology, critical theory, politics, and philosophy.

This biographical and historical study traces the evolution of a major Southern city through the lives of men and women who overcame social and economic barriers to create artistic works, found institutions, and obtain leadership positions that enabled them to shape their community. Documenting the accomplishments of Memphians who were born between 1795 and 1972, it contains photographs and biographical sketches of 223 individuals (as well as brief notes on 122 others), such as musicians Isaac Hayes and Aretha Franklin, activists Ida B. Wells and Benjamin L. Hooks, politicians Harold Ford Sr. and Jr., writers Sutton Griggs and Jerome Eric Dickey, and Bishop Charles Mason and Archbishop James Lyke all of whom were born in Memphis or lived in the city for over a decade. Also included are short biographies of barbers, sanitation workers, and postal employees such as Alma Morris, T. O. Jones, and Tom Lee ordinary citizens who made extraordinary contributions to their community. The result of ten years of research in archives and libraries, this study draws upon interviews, private papers, newspaper articles, and photographic collections to illuminate Black achievements in Memphis, Tennessee. Located in a bend of the Mississippi River, in the heart of the Bible Belt, and in the center of a tri-state region that includes Arkansas, Mississippi, and Tennessee, Memphis is the site of a rich African American culture that finds expression in blues and jazz, in poetry and fiction, and in painting and sculpture. Less well known, perhaps, are Black cultural expressions in business, athletics, and medicine: for example, the founding of hospitals and a medical school; the building of a public park/auditorium and the first Black-owned baseball stadium in the country; and the creation of the South s first integrated law firm and first Black savings and loan association. Sons and daughters of the city include city and county mayors, an Olympic medalist, an Oscar-winning actor, and former member of the Federal Communications Commission, CEO of the Regional Medical Center, president of Colorado State University, and professor of orthopedic surgery at Harvard Medical School. The lives of these outstanding Black Memphians provide a context for understanding and interpreting the social, political, and cultural history of a city in the Deep South. Notable Black Memphians is a vital addition to all collections in African American studies and American history.

This new study of American poetry views the poetics of Ezra Pound and his avant-garde followers in an entirely new light. Both Romanticism and Modernism have variously been seen as revolutionary or retrograde, narcissistic or self-abnegating. This interdisciplinary work looks past distinctions between schools and styles to reveal an unexpected link between poets spiritual aspirations, formal experiments, and political convictions. Along the way, it sheds light on the complex relationship between art and society. Beginning with a fresh reading of Emerson s elusive philosophy, the author identifies the tension between Romanticism and Liberalism as a source of Modernist poetics. Critics have dissected the eccentric forms of avant-garde American poetry but have never adequately explained its scrupulous avoidance of abstraction and elimination of the poet from the poem. Drawing extensively on classic and contemporary theory, this book reveals postwar poetics, particularly the epics Paterson and The Maximus Poems, as the fulfillment of a longstanding Romantic social vision, one which seeks to invest Liberal social structures with a transcendental core. This book is a valuable source for scholars with an interest in Emerson and Pound Studies, the intellectual traditions leading to Modernism, and the Objectivist and Black Mountain schools of American poetry.

The problem of language constituted the most contentious subject of the philosophies and human sciences in the twentieth-century and drove what came to be known as the linguistic turn to Western thought. Phenomenology, linguistics, analytic philosophy, speech act theory, anthropology, psychology, poststructuralism, media studies, and ordinary language philosophy all addressed language as the primary vehicle of human thought and communication, and queried whether any accurate linguistic representation of reality were possible. The sound of the human voice lay at the center of the debate. The central question raised by Husserl s phenomenology and de Saussure s linguistics, and discussed throughout the century, concerned whether the sounds of the voice were intrinsic to meaning or were simply relative. In a related phenomenon, vocal experimentation marked the twentieth-century avant garde, which included the nonsense verbal texts of Dada; the electronic mediations of Samuel Beckett and Peter Handke; and the playful, ironic, and confrontational performances of Laurie Anderson, Karen Finley, and the Wooster Group. The experiments mirrored the fixation with voice and language as expressed in the philosophies and sciences. Yet despite the centrality of the voice for the philosophy of language, linguistic study, and performance, no book-length study before now has focused solely on vocal expression. The voice ranks with gesture as one of two media of communication available to every fully able-bodied human being, and yet theatre studies tends to take a visual approach to its objects of critique: the body, the dramatic text, and the mise-en-sc ne. Because the voice registers as a crucial media of expression in the theatre, theatre studies also can provide valuable contributions to the discussion of voice and language undertaken in other disciplines. The theatre as a social and public art form reveals a great deal about what we think and feel in regards to our communications with each other. Dramatic Theories of Voice in the Twentieth Century is the first book of theatre studies to identify and articulate theories of voice as expressed in the philosophies, human sciences, and physical sciences of the twentieth century. It also identifies parallels between the theories and the vocal practices of twentieth-century performances that shared similar concerns with issues of language and mediation. This book adopts as a central premise that the introduction and proliferation of electronic forms of communication stimulated the interest in voice and language in the scholarly discourses of the twentieth century and stimulated as well the fascination with the sounds of the voice as expressed in the twentieth-century avant garde. Dramatic Theories of Voice in the Twentieth Century is the only book of theatre and performance studies to address the sounds of the human voice and as such ranks as an invaluable addition to all theatre, philosophy, performance studies, communications, and cultural studies collections.

Sixteenth-century China experienced an economic transformation which saw the spread of commercialization and a consumerist material culture that pervaded all aspects of life. As society began to respond to the economic transformation, the ideology and culture of patriarchal descent-line ethics, hitherto an urban, literati trend, began to find resonance among up-and-coming literati families within rural communities. By the end of the sixteenth century, Chinese society, especially in the Jiangnan region and along the southeastern coast, had began to make the transition from the lijia system of household registration into corporate groups overtly organized by kinship relations and unified by the common symbols of the ancestral hall, lineage trust estates, compilation of lineage genealogies and in the symbolic performance of ancestral sacrificial rituals. At the same time, the middle decades of the sixteenth century saw the growing incidence of Japanese wokou piracy along the southeastern coast of China. The county of Haining in Zhejiang province was one such victim of the depredations of the wokou. Yet by the end of the century, it had also been transformed from a rural backwater into a prosperous area known for its lineages which enjoyed literary fame and official influence. The process by which groups within the local community of Haining created their identities as lineages is the focus of this study. While there has been much discussion about the wokou crisis, little attention has been paid to the impact of the wokou upon the littoral societies. Along the coast, the limited reach of the Ming empire was given a boost by the appointment of an anti-wokou administration which in turn marked the beginning of a more extensive incorporation of the maritime periphery into the larger administrative structure. The process of incorporation would have presented opportunities for interested parties to gain political legitimacy and social ascendancy through the adoption of patriarchal descent-line ethics and its accompanying rituals and cultural symbols. This book thus examines the appearance of lineage society in Haining against the background of the wokou raids and the problems brought about by the anti-wokou campaign. This is the first study that takes the innovative and unique approach of linking the rise of lineage organization in Haining, Zhejiang province, to wokou activity. By using Haining as the geographical focus of research, this study provides a good comparative study to published works on Chinese lineage organization which had focused largely on Guangdong, Fujian and Anhui provinces. Through the use of previously un-utilized genealogical records of the lineages resident in Haining, the story of how the local groups in Haining responded to the wokou raids through adopting imperially sanctioned ritual practices and cultural symbols to negotiate the transformation of their local communities into the Neo-Confucian model of corporate family organization emerges. The impact of this transitional process within the local community is extrapolated in the case studies of inter-lineage and intra-lineage conflicts. At the same time, the true extent and impact of the wokou crisis, long held by scholars to be of devastating effect on the Ming polity, is also re-examined. Lineage Society on the Southeastern Coast of China is an important book for Asian studies and history collections.

American media interests have expressed profound dismay over the phenomenon of libel tourism whereby American authors and media companies have been successfully sued for defamation in foreign courts where there is little if any connection between the venue and the parties. Media interests view these proceedings as forum shopping of the worst sort because essential American First Amendment rights are being compromised. In response to this concern, federal legislation commonly known as the SPEECH Act (Securing the Protection of Our Enduring and Established Constitutional Heritage Act) became law in August 2010. The SPEECH Act promises to disturb the traditional American practice of extending comity or recognition to foreign judgments except where those judgments are repugnant to American concepts of justice. Foreign defamation judgments are routinely denied recognition under existing law and there would seem to be no reason for specific legislation dealing with defamation. However, in the absence of this legislation, recent developments in the English common law may open a window for greater international cooperation regarding defamation judgments. This book looks at defamation law from the viewpoint of freedom of speech theory as well as doctrinal law and demonstrates that the common law, while presenting a truer match with essential theory, frequently fails in practical application while Supreme Court interpretations of the First Amendment, while less sound theoretically, typically yield more satisfying results. Nevertheless, there are also ongoing changes in both bodies of law and the similarities will soon outweigh differences and recognition of foreign defamation judgments should no longer be routinely rejected. American media interests are quite rightly concerned about defamation actions being commenced against them in countries where freedom of speech is not as well developed or as protected as it is by the First Amendment to the US Constitution. Of late, London has been the forum of convenience for lawsuits which have become known as Libel Tourism litigation because of the flimsy connection of the publication to the venue. As a consequence, media interests have been lobbying for protective legislation and on August 10, 2010, the federal SPEECH Act became law. This book discusses the ostensible reasons for this legislation and examines the law in light of traditional principles of extending recognition to foreign judgments as an essential aspect of comity among nations. In order to properly evaluate the SPEECH Act and its likely implications, this study critically examines the ongoing degradation of First Amendment speech protections in the US and the developing English common law defamation privileges and reaches some startling conclusions. In this first critical study of the SPEECH Act, Harry Melkonian not only examines the specifics and likely application of this legislation as well as the underlying phenomenon of Libel Tourism but also provides a radically new perspective on the incipient convergence of US First Amendment and English common law freedom of speech and defamation principles. Uniquely, the book approaches the concept of convergence from the viewpoint of both doctrinal law and free speech theory and amalgamates the results through application of the traditional law of comity among nations. Defamation, Libel Tourism and the SPEECH Act of 2010 is an essential book for everyone involved with international legal aspects of the media including publishers, broadcasters, as well as legal professionals and academics.

Sustainable agricultural development has become one of the most popular research topics globally in the recent decades. Its primary goal is to develop farming systems that simultaneously promote three key areas (farm profits, agro-ecosystems, and local communities) and to consider trade-offs among them. This alternative perspective has challenged the core values of economic growth as well as the domination of nature in conventional agriculture. As sustainable agricultural development has increasingly become an international trend in recent years, a focus on the analysis and management of its practical dimensions is imperative. This book will examine these dimensions in the context of Chinese ecological agriculture. Seeking out ways to achieve agricultural sustainability is now a focus point for agricultural researchers, government leaders, and policy makers, and it has been given top priority status on the research and policy agendas of most countries. The current ecological agricultural development in China is the result of a long-term planning system and the outcome of a number of market principles that have been introduced in the last three decades. There is an immediate need to carry out an extensive study of the present status of ecological agriculture to sustain its further development, especially the multidisciplinary documentation and diagnosis of the strengths and weaknesses of China s development strategy for ecological agriculture. In the past, analyses were predominantly based on isolated disciplinary approaches. It is now necessary to bridge the areas of biology, ecology, sociology, and economics for a trans-disciplinary ecological economics perspective in order to identify the advantages and disadvantages of ecological agriculture. Ecological agriculture can be regarded as an attempt to realize sustainability in a dynamic agricultural context. In operationalising the concept of sustainable development in agriculture, problems arise because different frameworks of analysis and different methods of assessment are employed in research and practice. In many cases, the sustainability debate has not provided any clear indications about how to modify current agricultural development towards sustainable outcomes. One of the main reasons for the existence of the gap between the rhetoric and the practice of agricultural sustainability is the conflict between the need for implementing long-term research (which is particularly important in an ecological-economic integrated context) and the constraints posed by short-term research funding and methodological difficulties. The current overall perception of the problem is replete with ambiguities and is too constrained by discipline boundaries. This thus calls for a conceptual shift, which recognizes that economic, ecological, and social issues are inextricably linked and therefore must be considered together. In contrast to past research that focused only on better descriptions and analyses, the main task of ecological agricultural research is to further improve its practice as a sustainable system. In other words, it is inevitably faced with the challenge of balancing costs and benefits between contemporary and future generations to justify policy actions toward sustainability, thereby requiring the research to be of a problem-oriented nature. Ecological economics emphasizes the two-way interdependencies between the micro and macro levels. Although the questions about ecological agricultural research arise from the local level, their answers may lie at higher levels within the realm of political economy. Therefore, it requires substantial research not only on the links between local production systems and the larger national economy, political structures, and decision-making processes, but also the role and limitations of the national and local authorities in policy development and implementation. There is also scant research on Chinese ecological agriculture published in English. This book helps fill the void. It employs a trans-disciplinary approach to investigate the connection and discrepancy between knowledge and actions. It presents methodological perspectives and practical suggestions for the comprehensive analysis of ecological agriculture as inputs to improved agricultural policy-making for sustainability practices. In this way, this book illuminates the possibility of bridging the gap between local level implementation and the larger political-economic processes. This book helpfully provides a comprehensive analytical framework within which agricultural sustainability can be better analyzed and understood by articulating ecological economics as a policy science to guarantee transparency and fairness in the decision-making process . It shows the important role that traditional culture can play in promoting ecologically and socially sound development. It further emphasizes the imperative to move the ideology of ecological agriculture into the political realm and promotes a continuous dialogue between researchers, practitioners, and policy makers. It also suggests that local government has a significant role to play in establishing appropriate institutional arrangements and policy settings (e.g., bottom-up policy initiatives) for sustainable ecological agricultural development. By elaborating on the methodological synthesis of ecological economics and system dynamics modeling as a holistic approach to facilitate an improved policy-making process for agricultural sustainability, this book demonstrates the effectiveness of this alternative approach to improve policy making process and facilitate the realization of sustainability through a case study in China. This book will be an important resource not only to those interested in China, but also to scholars and policy makers around the world because of its global relevance in the areas of ecological economics, ecological agriculture, sustainable resource management, political economy, system dynamics thinking and modeling, and participation in the policy-making process.

Folk tales of Burma (now known as Myanmar) have been preserved for centuries as part of a long folk tradition reflecting Burmese humor, romance, and wisdom. This book provides the first in-depth overview of the narrative structures in Burmese folk tales. Earlier studies of Burmese folk tales have focused on the narrative motifs or contents and the ethnic or geographical areas, but have left out the study of the structural patterns that make up the storylines in different types of tales. Much of the literature on tales is based on the narrative motifs or contents of the stories (e.g., animal tales, fairy tales, etc.), and such thematic categorizations, on the basis of a tale s subject matter or content, can lead to some problems due to the inconsistency in the choice of criterion. It can be argued that the theme of an animal tale can be the same as that of a fairy tale, and that animals can be taking the narrative roles in a wonder tale. This study, therefore, focuses on narrative structures and sets out to identify the different structural patterns in the folk tales of Burma. Through a clear analysis and examples of various types of tales, this study shows how the story structure can be an alternative criterion in categorizing tales, as well as a means of gaining insight into the cultural determination of the narrative motifs or contents within possibly transcultural forms. The discussion of the structural study of tales is done with consideration of Vladimir Propp s analysis of Russian folk tales in his book Morphology of the Folk Tale. Propp claimed that all tales had an identical sequence of functions or functional events and the same basic structure, despite their differences in the dramatis personae. In this book, besides identifying the functional events in Burmese folk tales, how these events are linked into various plot structures resulting in different types of tales is examined. The functional events identified in the tales are classified into different models, such as reward/punishment, interdiction/violation, problem/solution, trickster tales, and fairy tales. The degree of linearity in terms of the temporal and/or causal relations between functional events of a tale is also examined. Drawing on the concept of sequential meaning, this study aims to explain how a linear coherent storyline is developed for a well-organized narrative structure, even though the sequence of events in a tale may not be identical to that of the other. In cases where a sequence of events does not follow a familiar trajectory, the analysis in this book explains how special effects, such as humor, are created. The possibilities of using a structural analysis of folk tales as a means of understanding the commonalities as well as the uniqueness in the structural patterns, narrative contents, and social purposes of folk tales from different cultures are also explored in this book. A comparison between the two prominent structural patterns identified in the analysis of Burmese folk tales and those proposed by the studies of folk tales from other cultures shows how tales with similar social purposes (e.g., a didactic moral purpose) contain similar structural patterns (e.g., a contrastive narrative structure). It suggests that certain structural patterns are used commonly (if not universally) by various cultures for similar social purpose of storytelling, while the narrative contents (e.g., elements taking up the narrative roles) will remain culture-specific. This observation points to several interesting issues, such as the (im)possibilities of finding a universal grammar of folk tales and the viability of claims about commonalities among folk tales. This book contributes not only to the appreciation of Burmese folk tales and the Burmese culture, but it also aids in the understanding of the relationship between the form (narrative structure), function (social purpose), and field (narrative content) of folk tales with oral storytelling in general. It also highlights a structural analysis of folk tales as a means, rather than an end, by identifying the areas in which further research can be done. Narrative Structures in Burmese Folk Tales is an important and useful reference for anyone working in the fields of narrative studies, classification of tales, folklore, and oral storytelling.