Ernest Hartmann
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199751778
- eISBN:
- 9780199863419
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199751778.001.0001
- Subject:
- Psychology, Cognitive Psychology, Clinical Psychology
This book presents a theory of dreaming based on many years of psychological and biological research. Critical to this theory is the concept of a Central Image; this book describes his repeated ...
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This book presents a theory of dreaming based on many years of psychological and biological research. Critical to this theory is the concept of a Central Image; this book describes his repeated finding that dreams of being swept away by a tidal wave are common among people who have recently experienced a trauma of some kind—a fire, an attack, or a rape. Dreams with these Central Images are not dreams of the traumatic experience itself, but rather the Central Image reveals the emotional response to the experience. Dreams with a potent Central Image, like the tidal wave, vary in intensity along with the severity of the trauma; this pattern was shown quite powerfully in a systematic study of dreams occurring before and after the September 11 attacks in New York. This book's theory comprises three fundamental elements: dreaming is simply one form of mental functioning, occurring along a continuum from focused waking thought to reverie, daydreaming, and fantasy. Second, dreaming is hyperconnective, linking material more fluidly and making connections that aren't made as readily in waking thought. Finally, the connections that are made are not random, but rather are guided by the dreamer's emotions or emotional concerns—and the more powerful the emotion, the more intense the Central Image.Less
This book presents a theory of dreaming based on many years of psychological and biological research. Critical to this theory is the concept of a Central Image; this book describes his repeated finding that dreams of being swept away by a tidal wave are common among people who have recently experienced a trauma of some kind—a fire, an attack, or a rape. Dreams with these Central Images are not dreams of the traumatic experience itself, but rather the Central Image reveals the emotional response to the experience. Dreams with a potent Central Image, like the tidal wave, vary in intensity along with the severity of the trauma; this pattern was shown quite powerfully in a systematic study of dreams occurring before and after the September 11 attacks in New York. This book's theory comprises three fundamental elements: dreaming is simply one form of mental functioning, occurring along a continuum from focused waking thought to reverie, daydreaming, and fantasy. Second, dreaming is hyperconnective, linking material more fluidly and making connections that aren't made as readily in waking thought. Finally, the connections that are made are not random, but rather are guided by the dreamer's emotions or emotional concerns—and the more powerful the emotion, the more intense the Central Image.
Gregory Currie and Ian Ravenscroft
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198238089
- eISBN:
- 9780191679568
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198238089.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Mind, Aesthetics
This book develops a philosophical theory of imagination that draws upon recent theories and results in psychology. Ideas about how we read the minds of others have put the concept of imagination ...
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This book develops a philosophical theory of imagination that draws upon recent theories and results in psychology. Ideas about how we read the minds of others have put the concept of imagination firmly back on the agenda for philosophy and psychology. The authors present a theory of what they call imaginative projection; they show how it fits into a philosophically-motivated picture of the mind and of mental states, and how it illuminates and is illuminated by recent developments in cognitive psychology. They argue that we need to recognize a category of desire-in-imagination, and that supposition and fantasy should be classed as forms of imagination. They accommodate some of the peculiarities of perceptual forms of imagining such as visual and motor imagery, and suggest that they are important for mind-reading. They argue for a novel view about the relations between imagination and pretence, and suggest that imagining can be, but need not be, the cause of pretending. They show how the theory accommodates but goes beyond the idea of mental simulation, and argue that the contrast between simulation and theory is neither exclusive nor exhaustive. They argue that we can understand certain developmental and psychiatric disorders as arising from faulty imagination. Throughout, they link their discussion to the uses of imagination in our encounters with art, and they conclude with a chapter on responses to tragedy. The final chapter also offers a theory of emotions that suggests that these states have much in common with perceptual states.Less
This book develops a philosophical theory of imagination that draws upon recent theories and results in psychology. Ideas about how we read the minds of others have put the concept of imagination firmly back on the agenda for philosophy and psychology. The authors present a theory of what they call imaginative projection; they show how it fits into a philosophically-motivated picture of the mind and of mental states, and how it illuminates and is illuminated by recent developments in cognitive psychology. They argue that we need to recognize a category of desire-in-imagination, and that supposition and fantasy should be classed as forms of imagination. They accommodate some of the peculiarities of perceptual forms of imagining such as visual and motor imagery, and suggest that they are important for mind-reading. They argue for a novel view about the relations between imagination and pretence, and suggest that imagining can be, but need not be, the cause of pretending. They show how the theory accommodates but goes beyond the idea of mental simulation, and argue that the contrast between simulation and theory is neither exclusive nor exhaustive. They argue that we can understand certain developmental and psychiatric disorders as arising from faulty imagination. Throughout, they link their discussion to the uses of imagination in our encounters with art, and they conclude with a chapter on responses to tragedy. The final chapter also offers a theory of emotions that suggests that these states have much in common with perceptual states.
Deborah Chester
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9781784992880
- eISBN:
- 9781526104199
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9781784992880.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, Criticism/Theory
There’s more to writing a successful fantasy story than building a unique world or inventing a new type of magic. From the writing of strong, action-packed scenes to the creation of dynamic, ...
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There’s more to writing a successful fantasy story than building a unique world or inventing a new type of magic. From the writing of strong, action-packed scenes to the creation of dynamic, multi-dimensional characters, fantasy author Deborah Chester guides novices and intermediate writers through a step-by-step process of story construction. Whether offering tips on how to test a plot premise or survive what she calls the dark dismal middle, Chester shares the techniques she uses in writing her own novels. Examples drawn from both traditional and urban fantasy illustrate her nuts-and-bolts approach to elemental story design. With an introduction by Jim Butcher, who studied writing in Chester’s classes at the University of Oklahoma, The fantasy fiction formula delivers a practical, proven approach to writing fantasy like a pro.Less
There’s more to writing a successful fantasy story than building a unique world or inventing a new type of magic. From the writing of strong, action-packed scenes to the creation of dynamic, multi-dimensional characters, fantasy author Deborah Chester guides novices and intermediate writers through a step-by-step process of story construction. Whether offering tips on how to test a plot premise or survive what she calls the dark dismal middle, Chester shares the techniques she uses in writing her own novels. Examples drawn from both traditional and urban fantasy illustrate her nuts-and-bolts approach to elemental story design. With an introduction by Jim Butcher, who studied writing in Chester’s classes at the University of Oklahoma, The fantasy fiction formula delivers a practical, proven approach to writing fantasy like a pro.
Iris Marion Young
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- September 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780195161922
- eISBN:
- 9780199786664
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195161920.003.0005
- Subject:
- Philosophy, General
This essay contends that one of the privileges of femininity in rationalized instrumental culture is an aesthetic freedom — the freedom to play with shape and color on the body, don various styles ...
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This essay contends that one of the privileges of femininity in rationalized instrumental culture is an aesthetic freedom — the freedom to play with shape and color on the body, don various styles and looks — and through them exhibit and imagine unreal possibilities. Such female imagination has liberating possibilities because it subverts and unsettles the order of respectable, functional rationality in a world where that rationality supports domination. In the context of patriarchal consumer capitalism, however, such liberating aspects of clothing fantasy are intertwined with oppressing moments. This essay asks how women’s pleasure in clothes can be described. It adopts a method derived from Luce Irigaray in an attempt to extricate the liberating and valuable in women’s experience of clothes from the exploitative and oppressive.Less
This essay contends that one of the privileges of femininity in rationalized instrumental culture is an aesthetic freedom — the freedom to play with shape and color on the body, don various styles and looks — and through them exhibit and imagine unreal possibilities. Such female imagination has liberating possibilities because it subverts and unsettles the order of respectable, functional rationality in a world where that rationality supports domination. In the context of patriarchal consumer capitalism, however, such liberating aspects of clothing fantasy are intertwined with oppressing moments. This essay asks how women’s pleasure in clothes can be described. It adopts a method derived from Luce Irigaray in an attempt to extricate the liberating and valuable in women’s experience of clothes from the exploitative and oppressive.
Daniel M. Ogilvie
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- April 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195157468
- eISBN:
- 9780199894024
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195157468.003.0019
- Subject:
- Psychology, Cognitive Psychology
This chapter continues the author's habit of illustrating a set of ideas by applying them to a story: a modern fairy tale called Dumbo, the Flying Elephant. The notations on some of the main elements ...
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This chapter continues the author's habit of illustrating a set of ideas by applying them to a story: a modern fairy tale called Dumbo, the Flying Elephant. The notations on some of the main elements in this well-known story reiterate observations made earlier about the coincidence of imaginary flight and maternal separation. This analysis of the story is not offered as “proof” of anything that has been said. Instead, is should be regarded as an exercise, a way to consolidate some gains, or as a vehicle of transition from the realm of theory to the realm of application.Less
This chapter continues the author's habit of illustrating a set of ideas by applying them to a story: a modern fairy tale called Dumbo, the Flying Elephant. The notations on some of the main elements in this well-known story reiterate observations made earlier about the coincidence of imaginary flight and maternal separation. This analysis of the story is not offered as “proof” of anything that has been said. Instead, is should be regarded as an exercise, a way to consolidate some gains, or as a vehicle of transition from the realm of theory to the realm of application.
Daniel M. Ogilvie
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- April 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195157468
- eISBN:
- 9780199894024
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195157468.003.0003
- Subject:
- Psychology, Cognitive Psychology
This chapter describes how flying fantasies first captured the author's interest upon reading “The American Icarus” by Henry Murray, published in 1955 as a chapter in a book that contained several ...
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This chapter describes how flying fantasies first captured the author's interest upon reading “The American Icarus” by Henry Murray, published in 1955 as a chapter in a book that contained several case studies by various authors. Grope was the name Murray gave to the subject of his investigation. Grope was a reclusive undergraduate student at the time he was studied, a person whose presence on campus was barely noticed. There was nothing at all about his inconspicuous outward appearance to indicate that his private life was filled with spectacular imaginary shows of personal heroism. Murray described Grope as “unsurpassed” in that regard. A recurring theme in his imaginary exploits was flying. Such images were periodically accompanied by images of fire, water, and falling through space. The occasional interweaving of these images reminded Murray of the legend of Icarus.Less
This chapter describes how flying fantasies first captured the author's interest upon reading “The American Icarus” by Henry Murray, published in 1955 as a chapter in a book that contained several case studies by various authors. Grope was the name Murray gave to the subject of his investigation. Grope was a reclusive undergraduate student at the time he was studied, a person whose presence on campus was barely noticed. There was nothing at all about his inconspicuous outward appearance to indicate that his private life was filled with spectacular imaginary shows of personal heroism. Murray described Grope as “unsurpassed” in that regard. A recurring theme in his imaginary exploits was flying. Such images were periodically accompanied by images of fire, water, and falling through space. The occasional interweaving of these images reminded Murray of the legend of Icarus.
Parvis Ghassem-Fachandi
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691151762
- eISBN:
- 9781400842599
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691151762.003.0002
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Social and Cultural Anthropology
This chapter demonstrates how the Godhra incident became the occasion to declare a bandh (general strike) that was supported by all the main institutions of civil society and by political parties. ...
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This chapter demonstrates how the Godhra incident became the occasion to declare a bandh (general strike) that was supported by all the main institutions of civil society and by political parties. The bandh call allowed a large part of a poor and despondent city population, who work as daily wage earners and cannot afford to skip income, to engage in street activities. Some of the themes present in these interactions include: a carnivalesque atmosphere of fun on the street in relation to a purported sense of anger, a cultivated and aloof distancing from the unfolding events by the middle class, the abdication of civic order and the visible passivity of the state police, invocations of sacrifice as idiom for killing, the discernment of an uncanny presence in sensitive city space, and imaginative material that mainly concerned sexual fantasies about women.Less
This chapter demonstrates how the Godhra incident became the occasion to declare a bandh (general strike) that was supported by all the main institutions of civil society and by political parties. The bandh call allowed a large part of a poor and despondent city population, who work as daily wage earners and cannot afford to skip income, to engage in street activities. Some of the themes present in these interactions include: a carnivalesque atmosphere of fun on the street in relation to a purported sense of anger, a cultivated and aloof distancing from the unfolding events by the middle class, the abdication of civic order and the visible passivity of the state police, invocations of sacrifice as idiom for killing, the discernment of an uncanny presence in sensitive city space, and imaginative material that mainly concerned sexual fantasies about women.
C. L. Barber
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691149523
- eISBN:
- 9781400839858
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691149523.003.0006
- Subject:
- Literature, Criticism/Theory
This chapter examines Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. It argues that the whole night's action is presented as a release of shaping fantasy which brings clarification about the tricks of ...
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This chapter examines Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. It argues that the whole night's action is presented as a release of shaping fantasy which brings clarification about the tricks of strong imagination. We watch a dream; but we are awake, thanks to pervasive humor about the tendency to take fantasy literally, whether in love, in superstition, or in Bottom's mechanical dramatics. As in Love's Labour's Lost, the folly of wit becomes the generalized comic subject in the course of an astonishing release of witty invention, so here in the course of a more inclusive release of imagination, the folly of fantasy becomes the general subject, echoed back and forth between the strains of the play's imitative counterpoint.Less
This chapter examines Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. It argues that the whole night's action is presented as a release of shaping fantasy which brings clarification about the tricks of strong imagination. We watch a dream; but we are awake, thanks to pervasive humor about the tendency to take fantasy literally, whether in love, in superstition, or in Bottom's mechanical dramatics. As in Love's Labour's Lost, the folly of wit becomes the generalized comic subject in the course of an astonishing release of witty invention, so here in the course of a more inclusive release of imagination, the folly of fantasy becomes the general subject, echoed back and forth between the strains of the play's imitative counterpoint.
Kenneth Routon
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780813034836
- eISBN:
- 9780813038858
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University Press of Florida
- DOI:
- 10.5744/florida/9780813034836.001.0001
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Latin American Studies
Despite its hard-nosed emphasis on the demystifying realism of Marxist–Leninist ideology, the political imagery of the Cuban revolution—and the state that followed—conjures up its own magical ...
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Despite its hard-nosed emphasis on the demystifying realism of Marxist–Leninist ideology, the political imagery of the Cuban revolution—and the state that followed—conjures up its own magical seductions and fantasies of power. This book shows how magic practices and political culture are entangled in Cuba in unusual and intimate ways. He describes not only how the monumentality of the state arouses magical sensibilities and popular images of its hidden powers, but also the ways in which revolutionary officialdom has, in recent years, tacitly embraced and harnessed vernacular fantasies of power to the national agenda. In this analysis, popular culture and the state are deeply entangled within a promiscuous field of power, taking turns siphoning the magic of the other in order to embellish their own fantasies of authority, control, and transformation. This study brings anthropology and history together by examining the relationship between ritual and state power in revolutionary Cuba, paying particular attention to the roles of memory and history in the construction and contestation of shared political imaginaries.Less
Despite its hard-nosed emphasis on the demystifying realism of Marxist–Leninist ideology, the political imagery of the Cuban revolution—and the state that followed—conjures up its own magical seductions and fantasies of power. This book shows how magic practices and political culture are entangled in Cuba in unusual and intimate ways. He describes not only how the monumentality of the state arouses magical sensibilities and popular images of its hidden powers, but also the ways in which revolutionary officialdom has, in recent years, tacitly embraced and harnessed vernacular fantasies of power to the national agenda. In this analysis, popular culture and the state are deeply entangled within a promiscuous field of power, taking turns siphoning the magic of the other in order to embellish their own fantasies of authority, control, and transformation. This study brings anthropology and history together by examining the relationship between ritual and state power in revolutionary Cuba, paying particular attention to the roles of memory and history in the construction and contestation of shared political imaginaries.
Eric Rath
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520262270
- eISBN:
- 9780520947658
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520262270.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Asian History
How did one dine with a shogun? Or make solid gold soup, sculpt with a fish, or turn seaweed into a symbol of happiness? This look at Japanese culinary history delves into the writings of medieval ...
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How did one dine with a shogun? Or make solid gold soup, sculpt with a fish, or turn seaweed into a symbol of happiness? This look at Japanese culinary history delves into the writings of medieval and early modern Japanese chefs to answer these and other questions, and to trace the development of Japanese cuisine from 1400 to 1868. The book shows how medieval “fantasy food” rituals—where food was revered as symbol rather than consumed—were continued by early modern writers. It offers the first extensive introduction to Japanese cookbooks, recipe collections, and gastronomic writings of the period and traces the origins of dishes such as tempura, sushi, and sashimi while documenting Japanese cooking styles and dining customs.Less
How did one dine with a shogun? Or make solid gold soup, sculpt with a fish, or turn seaweed into a symbol of happiness? This look at Japanese culinary history delves into the writings of medieval and early modern Japanese chefs to answer these and other questions, and to trace the development of Japanese cuisine from 1400 to 1868. The book shows how medieval “fantasy food” rituals—where food was revered as symbol rather than consumed—were continued by early modern writers. It offers the first extensive introduction to Japanese cookbooks, recipe collections, and gastronomic writings of the period and traces the origins of dishes such as tempura, sushi, and sashimi while documenting Japanese cooking styles and dining customs.
Ned Schantz
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195335910
- eISBN:
- 9780199868902
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195335910.003.0004
- Subject:
- Literature, Film, Media, and Cultural Studies, Women's Literature
This chapter considers how long-distance female networks emerge out of gothic claustrophobia to flourish in the fantasy space of epistolary suspension. As it reads Clarissa for its powerful ...
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This chapter considers how long-distance female networks emerge out of gothic claustrophobia to flourish in the fantasy space of epistolary suspension. As it reads Clarissa for its powerful commitment to speculation, alternatives emerge to the dominant story of female virtue as lethal singularity. That Richardson refused these alternatives becomes the key to a reading of Evelina in the shadow of Clarissa. Here epistolarity goes underground as an agoraphobic heroine seeks shelter from uninhabitable female standards.Less
This chapter considers how long-distance female networks emerge out of gothic claustrophobia to flourish in the fantasy space of epistolary suspension. As it reads Clarissa for its powerful commitment to speculation, alternatives emerge to the dominant story of female virtue as lethal singularity. That Richardson refused these alternatives becomes the key to a reading of Evelina in the shadow of Clarissa. Here epistolarity goes underground as an agoraphobic heroine seeks shelter from uninhabitable female standards.
Jerome Neu
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195314311
- eISBN:
- 9780199871780
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195314311.003.0004
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Language
The issues of domination and submission central to insult have an often hidden, often not (“Up yours!”), sexual significance. Central are anal erotism and phallic aggression, which are written large ...
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The issues of domination and submission central to insult have an often hidden, often not (“Up yours!”), sexual significance. Central are anal erotism and phallic aggression, which are written large in insult rituals and cultural practices in Turkey and other Mediterranean cultures, Mexico, Ancient Greece, modern prisons, and elsewhere. Anxieties over gender, masculinity‐femininity, and activity‐passivity play out in the language and customs of insult. The psychoanalysis of sado‐masochistic fantasy and the “narcissism of minor differences” can help us understand the power play and the issues of identity at work in insult.Less
The issues of domination and submission central to insult have an often hidden, often not (“Up yours!”), sexual significance. Central are anal erotism and phallic aggression, which are written large in insult rituals and cultural practices in Turkey and other Mediterranean cultures, Mexico, Ancient Greece, modern prisons, and elsewhere. Anxieties over gender, masculinity‐femininity, and activity‐passivity play out in the language and customs of insult. The psychoanalysis of sado‐masochistic fantasy and the “narcissism of minor differences” can help us understand the power play and the issues of identity at work in insult.
Monica Germana
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748637645
- eISBN:
- 9780748652259
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748637645.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, Women's Literature
This book considers four thematic areas of the supernatural – quests, dangerous women, doubles and ghosts – each explored in one of the four main chapters. Bringing together contemporary women's ...
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This book considers four thematic areas of the supernatural – quests, dangerous women, doubles and ghosts – each explored in one of the four main chapters. Bringing together contemporary women's writing and the Scottish fantasy tradition, it investigates in-depth some previously neglected texts such as Ali Smith's Hotel World, Alice Thompson's Justine, Margaret Elphinstone's longer fiction, as well as offering readings of more popular texts including A.L. Kennedy's So I am glad, and Emma Tennant's The Bad Sister and Two Women of London. Underlying the broad scope of this survey are the links – both explicit and implicit – established between the examined texts and the Scottish supernatural tradition. Having established a connection with a distinctively Scottish canon, the author points to the ways in which the selected texts simultaneously break from past traditions and reveal points of departure through their exploration of otherness, as well as their engagement with feminist and postmodernist discourses in relation to the questions of identity and the interrogation of the real.Less
This book considers four thematic areas of the supernatural – quests, dangerous women, doubles and ghosts – each explored in one of the four main chapters. Bringing together contemporary women's writing and the Scottish fantasy tradition, it investigates in-depth some previously neglected texts such as Ali Smith's Hotel World, Alice Thompson's Justine, Margaret Elphinstone's longer fiction, as well as offering readings of more popular texts including A.L. Kennedy's So I am glad, and Emma Tennant's The Bad Sister and Two Women of London. Underlying the broad scope of this survey are the links – both explicit and implicit – established between the examined texts and the Scottish supernatural tradition. Having established a connection with a distinctively Scottish canon, the author points to the ways in which the selected texts simultaneously break from past traditions and reveal points of departure through their exploration of otherness, as well as their engagement with feminist and postmodernist discourses in relation to the questions of identity and the interrogation of the real.
Eugene Subbotsky
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195393873
- eISBN:
- 9780199776979
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195393873.003.0008
- Subject:
- Psychology, Cognitive Psychology, Developmental Psychology
In Chapter 8 (“Magical Thinking and Imagination”), the issue of how magical thinking works in the domain of nonphysical (imagined) reality is analyzed. The chapter begins with an overview of studies ...
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In Chapter 8 (“Magical Thinking and Imagination”), the issue of how magical thinking works in the domain of nonphysical (imagined) reality is analyzed. The chapter begins with an overview of studies on children's understanding the difference between physical and mental objects, and then continues with experiments on children's and adults' preparedness to accept that real or imagined objects could be changed by a magic spell. The most interesting result of these experiments was that, unlike children, adults reported that magical manipulations had little effect on both real and their imagined physical objects, but had a strong effect on their imagined fantastical objects. Further experiments showed that participants' personally significant imagined (PERSIM) objects, such as their images of their future lives, were particularly strongly affected by the experimenter's magical manipulations. This result fits within the domain of “mind-over-mind” type of magic.Less
In Chapter 8 (“Magical Thinking and Imagination”), the issue of how magical thinking works in the domain of nonphysical (imagined) reality is analyzed. The chapter begins with an overview of studies on children's understanding the difference between physical and mental objects, and then continues with experiments on children's and adults' preparedness to accept that real or imagined objects could be changed by a magic spell. The most interesting result of these experiments was that, unlike children, adults reported that magical manipulations had little effect on both real and their imagined physical objects, but had a strong effect on their imagined fantastical objects. Further experiments showed that participants' personally significant imagined (PERSIM) objects, such as their images of their future lives, were particularly strongly affected by the experimenter's magical manipulations. This result fits within the domain of “mind-over-mind” type of magic.
Keith Chapin and Lawrence Kramer (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- March 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780823230099
- eISBN:
- 9780823235445
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fso/9780823230099.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Aesthetics
Musical understanding has evolved dramatically in recent years, principally through a heightened appreciation of musical meaning in its social, cultural, and philosophical dimensions. This book ...
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Musical understanding has evolved dramatically in recent years, principally through a heightened appreciation of musical meaning in its social, cultural, and philosophical dimensions. This book addresses an aspect of meaning that has not yet received its due: the relation of meaning in this broad humanistic sense to the shaping of fundamental values. The book examines the open and active circle between the values and valuations placed on music by both individuals and societies, and the discovery, through music, of what to value and how to value it. With a combination of cultural criticism and close readings of musical works, the chapters demonstrate repeatedly that to make music is also to make value, in every sense. They give particular attention to values that have historically enabled music to assume a formative role in human societies: to foster practices of contemplation, fantasy, and irony; to explore sexuality, subjectivity, and the uncanny; and to articulate longings for unity with nature and for moral certainty. Each chapter shows, in its own way, how music may provoke transformative reflection in its listeners and thus help guide humanity to its own essential embodiment in the world.Less
Musical understanding has evolved dramatically in recent years, principally through a heightened appreciation of musical meaning in its social, cultural, and philosophical dimensions. This book addresses an aspect of meaning that has not yet received its due: the relation of meaning in this broad humanistic sense to the shaping of fundamental values. The book examines the open and active circle between the values and valuations placed on music by both individuals and societies, and the discovery, through music, of what to value and how to value it. With a combination of cultural criticism and close readings of musical works, the chapters demonstrate repeatedly that to make music is also to make value, in every sense. They give particular attention to values that have historically enabled music to assume a formative role in human societies: to foster practices of contemplation, fantasy, and irony; to explore sexuality, subjectivity, and the uncanny; and to articulate longings for unity with nature and for moral certainty. Each chapter shows, in its own way, how music may provoke transformative reflection in its listeners and thus help guide humanity to its own essential embodiment in the world.
MARILYN SHATZ
- Published in print:
- 1995
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780195099232
- eISBN:
- 9780199846863
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195099232.003.0014
- Subject:
- Psychology, Developmental Psychology
This chapter discusses the ongoing childhood development of Ricky. During his toddlerhood, Ricky had much to adjust to, including the birth of his younger brother a month after his birthday, and the ...
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This chapter discusses the ongoing childhood development of Ricky. During his toddlerhood, Ricky had much to adjust to, including the birth of his younger brother a month after his birthday, and the transfer of residence and school. At age four, he continued to display his thoughts about language, mind, and reality with much openness. He became more in touch with reality and the wider world. However, despite his attention to truth, he still easily engaged in fantasy.Less
This chapter discusses the ongoing childhood development of Ricky. During his toddlerhood, Ricky had much to adjust to, including the birth of his younger brother a month after his birthday, and the transfer of residence and school. At age four, he continued to display his thoughts about language, mind, and reality with much openness. He became more in touch with reality and the wider world. However, despite his attention to truth, he still easily engaged in fantasy.
Rachel Falconer
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748617630
- eISBN:
- 9780748651733
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748617630.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, 20th-century and Contemporary Literature
What does it mean when people use the word ‘Hell’ to convey the horror of an actual, personal or historical experience? This book explores the idea that modern, Western secular cultures have retained ...
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What does it mean when people use the word ‘Hell’ to convey the horror of an actual, personal or historical experience? This book explores the idea that modern, Western secular cultures have retained a belief in the concept of Hell as an event or experience of endless or unjust suffering. In the contemporary period, the descent to Hell has come to represent the means of recovering – or discovering – selfhood. In exploring these ideas, the book discusses descent journeys in Holocaust testimony and fiction, memoirs of mental illness, and feminist, postmodern and postcolonial narratives written after 1945. A wide range of texts are discussed, including writing by Primo Levi, W.G. Sebald, Anne Michaels, Alasdair Gray and Salman Rushdie, and films such as Coppola's Apocalypse Now and the Matrix trilogy. Drawing on theoretical writing by Bakhtin, Levinas, Derrida, Judith Butler, David Harvey and Paul Ricoeur, the book addresses such broader theoretical issues as: narration and identity; the ethics of the subject; trauma and memory; descent as sexual or political dissent; the interrelation of realism and fantasy; and Occidentalism and Orientalism.Less
What does it mean when people use the word ‘Hell’ to convey the horror of an actual, personal or historical experience? This book explores the idea that modern, Western secular cultures have retained a belief in the concept of Hell as an event or experience of endless or unjust suffering. In the contemporary period, the descent to Hell has come to represent the means of recovering – or discovering – selfhood. In exploring these ideas, the book discusses descent journeys in Holocaust testimony and fiction, memoirs of mental illness, and feminist, postmodern and postcolonial narratives written after 1945. A wide range of texts are discussed, including writing by Primo Levi, W.G. Sebald, Anne Michaels, Alasdair Gray and Salman Rushdie, and films such as Coppola's Apocalypse Now and the Matrix trilogy. Drawing on theoretical writing by Bakhtin, Levinas, Derrida, Judith Butler, David Harvey and Paul Ricoeur, the book addresses such broader theoretical issues as: narration and identity; the ethics of the subject; trauma and memory; descent as sexual or political dissent; the interrelation of realism and fantasy; and Occidentalism and Orientalism.
Jerome Neu
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199862986
- eISBN:
- 9780199949762
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199862986.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Moral Philosophy
This book explores moral questions that go beyond the issues commonly considered in the ethics of action. Can there be an ethics of emotion or an ethics of fantasy? If what we feel and what we think ...
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This book explores moral questions that go beyond the issues commonly considered in the ethics of action. Can there be an ethics of emotion or an ethics of fantasy? If what we feel and what we think are beyond the direct control of our will, does it make sense to set norms or standards for us to aim at in those spheres, or does anything go? What are the limits of our freedom? And what are the sources of our standards? Are they themselves a matter of arbitrary feeling or do there exist authorities we might turn to in order to find our way? We are told that authenticity is valuable, that we must be true to ourselves. Is the self and what it wants the ultimate source of value? (Even the nastier parts of our natures?) How are we to determine which aspects of ourselves are essential and demand and deserve expression? Are there competing and conflicting sources of value? The claims of Plato, Freud, Sartre, and other important thinkers are considered, criticized, and brought into play in the service of greater self-understanding and understanding of what matters and what is up to us. Throughout, the insights and approaches of law, psychoanalysis, anthropology, and other disciplines in addition to philosophy are put to use. The chapters in this collection draw on and develop earlier work on emotions and moral identity in the Spinozist hope that greater self-understanding, because of the special features of reflexive-knowledge, can lead to greater freedom, making us better able to live with others and with ourselves.Less
This book explores moral questions that go beyond the issues commonly considered in the ethics of action. Can there be an ethics of emotion or an ethics of fantasy? If what we feel and what we think are beyond the direct control of our will, does it make sense to set norms or standards for us to aim at in those spheres, or does anything go? What are the limits of our freedom? And what are the sources of our standards? Are they themselves a matter of arbitrary feeling or do there exist authorities we might turn to in order to find our way? We are told that authenticity is valuable, that we must be true to ourselves. Is the self and what it wants the ultimate source of value? (Even the nastier parts of our natures?) How are we to determine which aspects of ourselves are essential and demand and deserve expression? Are there competing and conflicting sources of value? The claims of Plato, Freud, Sartre, and other important thinkers are considered, criticized, and brought into play in the service of greater self-understanding and understanding of what matters and what is up to us. Throughout, the insights and approaches of law, psychoanalysis, anthropology, and other disciplines in addition to philosophy are put to use. The chapters in this collection draw on and develop earlier work on emotions and moral identity in the Spinozist hope that greater self-understanding, because of the special features of reflexive-knowledge, can lead to greater freedom, making us better able to live with others and with ourselves.
Billy Ehn and Orvar Löfgren
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520262614
- eISBN:
- 9780520945708
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520262614.003.0004
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Anthropology, Global
This chapter draws attention to a nine-year-old boy, Bramwell Brontë, and his three sisters, and their daydreaming adventures that later turned into the writing of plays and texts in miniature books. ...
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This chapter draws attention to a nine-year-old boy, Bramwell Brontë, and his three sisters, and their daydreaming adventures that later turned into the writing of plays and texts in miniature books. Daydreaming was not, however, an unproblematic activity. There has been an intense debate on the dangers, especially for young women of good standing, of getting trapped in a fantasy world produced by the perilous state of doing nothing. Idleness and boredom were seen as platforms for unhealthy flights of fantasy. This chapter also introduces six other more or less famous daydreamers from different times. Later, it discusses the kinds of arenas and situations that are productive for daydreaming, and how they are organized. It also discusses how daydreaming activates both mind and body and how fantasizing moves between being stuck in a special place and leaving that place and temporarily attaining a feeling of freedom. Finally it highlights daydreaming as an ideological battlefield, a moral terrain with heated disputes about merits and dangers.Less
This chapter draws attention to a nine-year-old boy, Bramwell Brontë, and his three sisters, and their daydreaming adventures that later turned into the writing of plays and texts in miniature books. Daydreaming was not, however, an unproblematic activity. There has been an intense debate on the dangers, especially for young women of good standing, of getting trapped in a fantasy world produced by the perilous state of doing nothing. Idleness and boredom were seen as platforms for unhealthy flights of fantasy. This chapter also introduces six other more or less famous daydreamers from different times. Later, it discusses the kinds of arenas and situations that are productive for daydreaming, and how they are organized. It also discusses how daydreaming activates both mind and body and how fantasizing moves between being stuck in a special place and leaving that place and temporarily attaining a feeling of freedom. Finally it highlights daydreaming as an ideological battlefield, a moral terrain with heated disputes about merits and dangers.
Alan H. Sommerstein
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199554195
- eISBN:
- 9780191720604
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199554195.003.0011
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Plays and Playwrights: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This chapter argues that Aristophanes' plays present, at least by implication, a twofold model of an alternative political system. One is an alternative democracy, envisaged as a practical ...
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This chapter argues that Aristophanes' plays present, at least by implication, a twofold model of an alternative political system. One is an alternative democracy, envisaged as a practical possibility, in which the Demos escapes from the influence of self-interested demagogues. It will abolish or drastically curtail public pay, except for the army and navy; it will rigorously repress sykophancy; it will reject leaders of low social status in favour of the well-born and well-educated; and it will seek peace with Sparta—all in reality key planks of an anti-democratic programme. The other is a fantasy alternative to democracy, in which the comic hero(ine) becomes an absolute monarch—but this never involves a male Athenian lording it over other male Athenians.Less
This chapter argues that Aristophanes' plays present, at least by implication, a twofold model of an alternative political system. One is an alternative democracy, envisaged as a practical possibility, in which the Demos escapes from the influence of self-interested demagogues. It will abolish or drastically curtail public pay, except for the army and navy; it will rigorously repress sykophancy; it will reject leaders of low social status in favour of the well-born and well-educated; and it will seek peace with Sparta—all in reality key planks of an anti-democratic programme. The other is a fantasy alternative to democracy, in which the comic hero(ine) becomes an absolute monarch—but this never involves a male Athenian lording it over other male Athenians.
