Andrew Martin
- Published in print:
- 1990
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198157984
- eISBN:
- 9780191673252
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198157984.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, 19th-century and Victorian Literature
Such novels as Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and Around the World in Eighty Days have made Jules Verne the most widely translated of all French authors. But he has typically been categorised ...
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Such novels as Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and Around the World in Eighty Days have made Jules Verne the most widely translated of all French authors. But he has typically been categorised as the father of science fiction or as a writer of harmless fantasies for children. This book relocates Verne squarely at the centre of the literary map. The author shows that a recurrent narrative (exemplified in short stories by Napoleon Bonaparte and Jorge Luis Borges), relating the strange destiny of a masked prophet who revolts against an empire, runs through Verne's Voyages Extraordinaires. This approach illuminates the paradoxical coalition in Verne of realism and invention, repression and transgression, imperialism and anarchy. In this book Verne emerges not just as a key to the political and literary imagination of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries but as a model for reading fiction in general.Less
Such novels as Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and Around the World in Eighty Days have made Jules Verne the most widely translated of all French authors. But he has typically been categorised as the father of science fiction or as a writer of harmless fantasies for children. This book relocates Verne squarely at the centre of the literary map. The author shows that a recurrent narrative (exemplified in short stories by Napoleon Bonaparte and Jorge Luis Borges), relating the strange destiny of a masked prophet who revolts against an empire, runs through Verne's Voyages Extraordinaires. This approach illuminates the paradoxical coalition in Verne of realism and invention, repression and transgression, imperialism and anarchy. In this book Verne emerges not just as a key to the political and literary imagination of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries but as a model for reading fiction in general.
Bruno Breitmeyer and Haluk Ogmen
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- April 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780198530671
- eISBN:
- 9780191728204
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198530671.001.0001
- Subject:
- Psychology, Cognitive Psychology
Visual information can be processed at pre-conscious as well as conscious levels. Understanding the factors that determine whether or not a stimulus reaches phenomenal awareness and the fate of ...
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Visual information can be processed at pre-conscious as well as conscious levels. Understanding the factors that determine whether or not a stimulus reaches phenomenal awareness and the fate of stimulus information that remains at preconscious levels, poses major challenges to current research in visual cognition and neuroscience. First published in 1984, Visual Masking was a classic text in the field of cognitive psychology. In the years since, considerable advances that have been made in the cognitive neurosciences have been accompanied by a growing interest in the topic of consciousness. The current, 2nd edition takes into account these new findings and research interests. Incorporating much new, and deleting some old materials, this book focuses on visual masking as a technique of making ‘time slices’ on a millisecond scale through conscious and pre-conscious vision. The result is a detailed description of the temporal dynamics that comprise the microgenesis of visual object perception from the time a stimulus is presented on the retinae to the time, several hundreds of milliseconds later, of its registration at pre-conscious, behavioural, and at conscious, perceptual levels. The book takes a highly integrative approach, relating visual masking within a wide compass, not only to the study of conscious perception, but also to related spatio-temporal phenomena of vision such as motion perception, attention, and to a variety of visual deficits.Less
Visual information can be processed at pre-conscious as well as conscious levels. Understanding the factors that determine whether or not a stimulus reaches phenomenal awareness and the fate of stimulus information that remains at preconscious levels, poses major challenges to current research in visual cognition and neuroscience. First published in 1984, Visual Masking was a classic text in the field of cognitive psychology. In the years since, considerable advances that have been made in the cognitive neurosciences have been accompanied by a growing interest in the topic of consciousness. The current, 2nd edition takes into account these new findings and research interests. Incorporating much new, and deleting some old materials, this book focuses on visual masking as a technique of making ‘time slices’ on a millisecond scale through conscious and pre-conscious vision. The result is a detailed description of the temporal dynamics that comprise the microgenesis of visual object perception from the time a stimulus is presented on the retinae to the time, several hundreds of milliseconds later, of its registration at pre-conscious, behavioural, and at conscious, perceptual levels. The book takes a highly integrative approach, relating visual masking within a wide compass, not only to the study of conscious perception, but also to related spatio-temporal phenomena of vision such as motion perception, attention, and to a variety of visual deficits.
Brian C. J. Moore
- Published in print:
- 1995
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780198523307
- eISBN:
- 9780191712456
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198523307.003.0004
- Subject:
- Psychology, Health Psychology
This chapter describes temporal integration, the process whereby the auditory system combines information over time, and temporal resolution, the ability to detect changes in the time pattern of ...
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This chapter describes temporal integration, the process whereby the auditory system combines information over time, and temporal resolution, the ability to detect changes in the time pattern of sounds, considering both normal and impaired hearing. Topics covered include models of temporal processing in the auditory system, and a review of experimental evidence indicating that temporal processing appears normal for some tasks, but is abnormal for others. The results are interpreted using the idea that central mechanisms are unaffected by cochlear loss, but altered peripheral mechanisms (such as abnormal input-output functions) can lead to abnormal temporal processing for some tasks.Less
This chapter describes temporal integration, the process whereby the auditory system combines information over time, and temporal resolution, the ability to detect changes in the time pattern of sounds, considering both normal and impaired hearing. Topics covered include models of temporal processing in the auditory system, and a review of experimental evidence indicating that temporal processing appears normal for some tasks, but is abnormal for others. The results are interpreted using the idea that central mechanisms are unaffected by cochlear loss, but altered peripheral mechanisms (such as abnormal input-output functions) can lead to abnormal temporal processing for some tasks.
Susan R. Grayzel
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- September 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780197266663
- eISBN:
- 9780191905384
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197266663.003.0003
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History
The anticipation and fear of what chemical weapons might do to a civilian population haunted the interwar imaginary in the aftermath of the introduction and widespread use of poison gas on the ...
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The anticipation and fear of what chemical weapons might do to a civilian population haunted the interwar imaginary in the aftermath of the introduction and widespread use of poison gas on the battlefields of the First World War. In no place, perhaps, was this more apparent than France, one of the few nations whose civilian and combatant populations bore direct witness to this innovative weaponry. One object—the gas mask—emerged to mitigate the physical effects of gas warfare. It would come to play a crucial role in the calculated management of the destabilising emotions of anxiety and fear that accompanied the deployment of chemical arms, but its emotional life extended beyond its intended aims. This chapter combines the material and emotional history of total war by using a single object to uncover more fully the dislocation and devastation wrought by modern, industrial war. It does so by analysing key aspects of the life of the civilian gas mask from its first appearance in France during the First World War to its symbolic power in interwar civil defence and war resistance.Less
The anticipation and fear of what chemical weapons might do to a civilian population haunted the interwar imaginary in the aftermath of the introduction and widespread use of poison gas on the battlefields of the First World War. In no place, perhaps, was this more apparent than France, one of the few nations whose civilian and combatant populations bore direct witness to this innovative weaponry. One object—the gas mask—emerged to mitigate the physical effects of gas warfare. It would come to play a crucial role in the calculated management of the destabilising emotions of anxiety and fear that accompanied the deployment of chemical arms, but its emotional life extended beyond its intended aims. This chapter combines the material and emotional history of total war by using a single object to uncover more fully the dislocation and devastation wrought by modern, industrial war. It does so by analysing key aspects of the life of the civilian gas mask from its first appearance in France during the First World War to its symbolic power in interwar civil defence and war resistance.
Thomas McFarland
- Published in print:
- 2000
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198186458
- eISBN:
- 9780191674556
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198186458.003.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, 19th-century Literature and Romanticism
In Byron's poem Childe Harold, we observe how the poem's persona refers to himself as ‘Nothing’. It is made apparent that the soul of this poet accounts for a lot more than merely nothingness, and in ...
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In Byron's poem Childe Harold, we observe how the poem's persona refers to himself as ‘Nothing’. It is made apparent that the soul of this poet accounts for a lot more than merely nothingness, and in fact the opposite — a more intense being. On another note, Milton, who expresses his thoughts regarding how a good book serves as the ‘precious life blood of a master spirit’, somehow asserts how the master spirit only becomes such when a good book is already composed. Although it is not explicitly pointed out in his statement, Milton, like Byron, implies that coming up with some concrete artistic expression masks a poet's nothingness. In this book, we analyse John Keats's two different masks — the Mask of Camelot and the Mask of Hellas.Less
In Byron's poem Childe Harold, we observe how the poem's persona refers to himself as ‘Nothing’. It is made apparent that the soul of this poet accounts for a lot more than merely nothingness, and in fact the opposite — a more intense being. On another note, Milton, who expresses his thoughts regarding how a good book serves as the ‘precious life blood of a master spirit’, somehow asserts how the master spirit only becomes such when a good book is already composed. Although it is not explicitly pointed out in his statement, Milton, like Byron, implies that coming up with some concrete artistic expression masks a poet's nothingness. In this book, we analyse John Keats's two different masks — the Mask of Camelot and the Mask of Hellas.
John R. B. Lighton
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195310610
- eISBN:
- 9780199871414
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195310610.003.0011
- Subject:
- Biology, Animal Biology, Biotechnology
This chapter describes the setup, the plumbing, and the equations for implementing a respirometry system wherein the flow rate of the air leaving the animal chamber is known. Such systems are usually ...
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This chapter describes the setup, the plumbing, and the equations for implementing a respirometry system wherein the flow rate of the air leaving the animal chamber is known. Such systems are usually referred to as pull systems, because the air is usually pulled from a chamber or mask at a known rate, and the concentrations of incurrent and excurrent gases are alternately measured. Such systems are often the only practical way of measuring the metabolic rates of large animals. Setups and equations for oxygen-only, carbon dioxide-only, and combined oxygen and carbon dioxide systems are described. Methods for creating multiple-animal pull-mode respirometry systems, for compensating flow rate, and for the automatic baselining (that is to say, measuring incurrent gas concentrations) of respirometry systems are discussed.Less
This chapter describes the setup, the plumbing, and the equations for implementing a respirometry system wherein the flow rate of the air leaving the animal chamber is known. Such systems are usually referred to as pull systems, because the air is usually pulled from a chamber or mask at a known rate, and the concentrations of incurrent and excurrent gases are alternately measured. Such systems are often the only practical way of measuring the metabolic rates of large animals. Setups and equations for oxygen-only, carbon dioxide-only, and combined oxygen and carbon dioxide systems are described. Methods for creating multiple-animal pull-mode respirometry systems, for compensating flow rate, and for the automatic baselining (that is to say, measuring incurrent gas concentrations) of respirometry systems are discussed.
Edith Hall and Rosie Wyles (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199232536
- eISBN:
- 9780191716003
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199232536.001.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Plays and Playwrights: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This book studies the most important form of theatre in the entire Roman empire—pantomime, the ancient equivalent of ballet dancing. Performed for more than five centuries in hundreds of theatres ...
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This book studies the most important form of theatre in the entire Roman empire—pantomime, the ancient equivalent of ballet dancing. Performed for more than five centuries in hundreds of theatres from Portugal in the West to the Euphrates, Gaul to North Africa, solo male dancing stars—the ancient forerunners of Nijinsky, Nureyev and Baryshnikov—stunned their intercultural and cross‐class audiences with their erotic costumes, gestural delicacy, and dazzling athleticism. In sixteen specially commissioned and complementary studies, the leading world specialists explore the all aspects of the ancient pantomime dancer's performance skills, popularity, and social impact, while paying special attention to the texts that formed the basis of this distinctive art form. The book argues that the core elements that underlay pantomime performances were the presence of a solo male dancer, masked, who used his body rather than speech in an evocation of a mythical story, accompanied by music; however, the venues in which pantomime performances took place, their scale, tone, and selection of additional personnel, could vary enormously. The book pays particular attention to the texts or ‘libretti’ of pantomime, which were sung by accompanying choirs, to the impact of pantomime on ancient aesthetics and rhetoric, and the importance of the medium at the time when modern ballet was invented in the Early Modern period. An appendix of key sources in translation, from Xenophon to Macrobius, assists the reader to identify the most important evidential documents, and includes a translation of A Syriac text on pantomime by Jacob of Sarugh.Less
This book studies the most important form of theatre in the entire Roman empire—pantomime, the ancient equivalent of ballet dancing. Performed for more than five centuries in hundreds of theatres from Portugal in the West to the Euphrates, Gaul to North Africa, solo male dancing stars—the ancient forerunners of Nijinsky, Nureyev and Baryshnikov—stunned their intercultural and cross‐class audiences with their erotic costumes, gestural delicacy, and dazzling athleticism. In sixteen specially commissioned and complementary studies, the leading world specialists explore the all aspects of the ancient pantomime dancer's performance skills, popularity, and social impact, while paying special attention to the texts that formed the basis of this distinctive art form. The book argues that the core elements that underlay pantomime performances were the presence of a solo male dancer, masked, who used his body rather than speech in an evocation of a mythical story, accompanied by music; however, the venues in which pantomime performances took place, their scale, tone, and selection of additional personnel, could vary enormously. The book pays particular attention to the texts or ‘libretti’ of pantomime, which were sung by accompanying choirs, to the impact of pantomime on ancient aesthetics and rhetoric, and the importance of the medium at the time when modern ballet was invented in the Early Modern period. An appendix of key sources in translation, from Xenophon to Macrobius, assists the reader to identify the most important evidential documents, and includes a translation of A Syriac text on pantomime by Jacob of Sarugh.
T. P. WISEMAN
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197264010
- eISBN:
- 9780191734946
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197264010.003.0006
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
This chapter examines the chronological range of Greco-Roman history and the nature of the main narrative sources. The discussion begins about 1200 BCE, with the end of the Bronze Age palace culture, ...
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This chapter examines the chronological range of Greco-Roman history and the nature of the main narrative sources. The discussion begins about 1200 BCE, with the end of the Bronze Age palace culture, conventionally called Mycenaean. The destruction of the palace centres – at Knossos, Mycenae, Pylos, and Thebes – was responsible for preserving the ‘Linear B’ tablets, which form the earliest evidence for the Greek language. By the sixth century, Greek city-states were established widely round the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. This is the time of what is sometimes called ‘the Greek miracle’, the origin of philosophy and science as well as historiography. The chapter draws attention to three archaeological discoveries and the way their evidential value has been assessed: a gold mask, discovered in 1876 in the first of the ‘shaft graves’ at Mycenae, the so-called tomb of Agamemnon; an artefact discovered in 1977 by the Dutch archaeological team excavating the temple of Matuta at the Latin town of Satricum; and a gold bulb, or locket, discovered in 1794.Less
This chapter examines the chronological range of Greco-Roman history and the nature of the main narrative sources. The discussion begins about 1200 BCE, with the end of the Bronze Age palace culture, conventionally called Mycenaean. The destruction of the palace centres – at Knossos, Mycenae, Pylos, and Thebes – was responsible for preserving the ‘Linear B’ tablets, which form the earliest evidence for the Greek language. By the sixth century, Greek city-states were established widely round the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. This is the time of what is sometimes called ‘the Greek miracle’, the origin of philosophy and science as well as historiography. The chapter draws attention to three archaeological discoveries and the way their evidential value has been assessed: a gold mask, discovered in 1876 in the first of the ‘shaft graves’ at Mycenae, the so-called tomb of Agamemnon; an artefact discovered in 1977 by the Dutch archaeological team excavating the temple of Matuta at the Latin town of Satricum; and a gold bulb, or locket, discovered in 1794.
Lawrence Danson
- Published in print:
- 1998
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780198186281
- eISBN:
- 9780191674488
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198186281.003.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, 19th-century and Victorian Literature
This introductory chapter explains the theme of this book, which is about Oscar Wilde's essays on aesthetics contained in his book enentitled Intentions, which was published in London, England in May ...
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This introductory chapter explains the theme of this book, which is about Oscar Wilde's essays on aesthetics contained in his book enentitled Intentions, which was published in London, England in May 1891. These essays include ‘The Decay of Lying’, ‘The Truth of Masks’, and ‘Pen, Pencil, Poison’. This book treats Intentions as a complex of personal attitudes, social affiliations, and cultural effects through which we can locate where Wilde tried to locate himself in the tumultuous world of late Victorian England. It provides facts about the essays' composition, publication, and reception.Less
This introductory chapter explains the theme of this book, which is about Oscar Wilde's essays on aesthetics contained in his book enentitled Intentions, which was published in London, England in May 1891. These essays include ‘The Decay of Lying’, ‘The Truth of Masks’, and ‘Pen, Pencil, Poison’. This book treats Intentions as a complex of personal attitudes, social affiliations, and cultural effects through which we can locate where Wilde tried to locate himself in the tumultuous world of late Victorian England. It provides facts about the essays' composition, publication, and reception.
Lawrence Danson
- Published in print:
- 1998
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780198186281
- eISBN:
- 9780191674488
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198186281.003.0004
- Subject:
- Literature, 19th-century and Victorian Literature
This chapter analyses Oscar Wilde's essay of dramatic theory entitled The Truth of Masks. It discusses a cross-dressed production of As You Like It and a novel about cross-dressing, Mademoiselle de ...
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This chapter analyses Oscar Wilde's essay of dramatic theory entitled The Truth of Masks. It discusses a cross-dressed production of As You Like It and a novel about cross-dressing, Mademoiselle de Maupin, which both affected Wilde's way of thinking about the part of the binary he called Illusion. The chapter attempts to explain the message of this essay and provides commentaries on criticisms of this work.Less
This chapter analyses Oscar Wilde's essay of dramatic theory entitled The Truth of Masks. It discusses a cross-dressed production of As You Like It and a novel about cross-dressing, Mademoiselle de Maupin, which both affected Wilde's way of thinking about the part of the binary he called Illusion. The chapter attempts to explain the message of this essay and provides commentaries on criticisms of this work.
Edith Hall
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199232536
- eISBN:
- 9780191716003
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199232536.003.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Plays and Playwrights: Classical, Early, and Medieval
In a broad contextualization of ancient pantomime within cultural history, the reasons for the importance of research into ancient pantomime are explored: it represents a lost aesthetic of profound ...
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In a broad contextualization of ancient pantomime within cultural history, the reasons for the importance of research into ancient pantomime are explored: it represents a lost aesthetic of profound and widespread influence in ancient imperial culture; it played, quantitatively speaking, a more important role in educating the majority of inhabitants of the Roman empire in mythology than, for example, recitations of poetry; it was the main medium in which the prestigious tradition of classical tragedy was kept alive in the theatres of the Roman empire; it played a seminal role in the emergence of classical ballet, and subsequently, in the twentieth century, of avant‐garde Tanztheater (dance theatre). The theatrical spaces and the musical accompaniments (provided by the chorus and the hydraulis), of pantomime are given detailed attention. The hostile response that aspects of the perfomance: the dancer, his mask and the music, evoked from the Church Fathers and the place of pantomime in their rhetoric of anti‐theatricalism is also briefly explored.Less
In a broad contextualization of ancient pantomime within cultural history, the reasons for the importance of research into ancient pantomime are explored: it represents a lost aesthetic of profound and widespread influence in ancient imperial culture; it played, quantitatively speaking, a more important role in educating the majority of inhabitants of the Roman empire in mythology than, for example, recitations of poetry; it was the main medium in which the prestigious tradition of classical tragedy was kept alive in the theatres of the Roman empire; it played a seminal role in the emergence of classical ballet, and subsequently, in the twentieth century, of avant‐garde Tanztheater (dance theatre). The theatrical spaces and the musical accompaniments (provided by the chorus and the hydraulis), of pantomime are given detailed attention. The hostile response that aspects of the perfomance: the dancer, his mask and the music, evoked from the Church Fathers and the place of pantomime in their rhetoric of anti‐theatricalism is also briefly explored.
Rosie Wyles
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199232536
- eISBN:
- 9780191716003
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199232536.003.0003
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Plays and Playwrights: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This chapter explores the symbolism of costume in ancient pantomime dance and the way in which it operates and is manipulated in the performance in order to communicate with the audience. The chapter ...
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This chapter explores the symbolism of costume in ancient pantomime dance and the way in which it operates and is manipulated in the performance in order to communicate with the audience. The chapter re‐evaluates the ancient evidence for the costumes (including masks) of pantomime from the perspective of theatrical semiotics, thus attempting to unlock the costume's potential to further understanding of both the performance and the aesthetics of the art form. The ancient evidence is used to establish what the pantomime's costume would have looked like and the significance of the costume is then considered from the perspective of the character, dancer, audience and art form. The system of semiotics employed in pantomime is shown to be intrinsically different from that used in fully‐staged performances of Greek tragedy. The chapter concludes with the idea that the silk of the costume could stand as a symbol both for the performer's body and also the art form itself.Less
This chapter explores the symbolism of costume in ancient pantomime dance and the way in which it operates and is manipulated in the performance in order to communicate with the audience. The chapter re‐evaluates the ancient evidence for the costumes (including masks) of pantomime from the perspective of theatrical semiotics, thus attempting to unlock the costume's potential to further understanding of both the performance and the aesthetics of the art form. The ancient evidence is used to establish what the pantomime's costume would have looked like and the significance of the costume is then considered from the perspective of the character, dancer, audience and art form. The system of semiotics employed in pantomime is shown to be intrinsically different from that used in fully‐staged performances of Greek tragedy. The chapter concludes with the idea that the silk of the costume could stand as a symbol both for the performer's body and also the art form itself.
James Johnson
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520267718
- eISBN:
- 9780520948624
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520267718.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History
“The entire town is disguised” declared a French tourist of eighteenth-century Venice. And, indeed, maskers of all ranks—nobles, clergy, imposters, seducers, con men—could be found mixing at every ...
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“The entire town is disguised” declared a French tourist of eighteenth-century Venice. And, indeed, maskers of all ranks—nobles, clergy, imposters, seducers, con men—could be found mixing at every level of Venetian society. Even a pious nun donned a mask and male attire for her liaison with the libertine Casanova. This book offers a spirited analysis of masking in this carnival-loving city. It draws on a wealth of material to explore the world view of maskers, both during and outside of carnival, and reconstructs their logic: covering the face in public was a uniquely Venetian response to one of the most rigid class hierarchies in European history. This vivid account goes beyond common views that masking was about forgetting the past and minding the muse of pleasure to offer fresh insight into the historical construction of identity.Less
“The entire town is disguised” declared a French tourist of eighteenth-century Venice. And, indeed, maskers of all ranks—nobles, clergy, imposters, seducers, con men—could be found mixing at every level of Venetian society. Even a pious nun donned a mask and male attire for her liaison with the libertine Casanova. This book offers a spirited analysis of masking in this carnival-loving city. It draws on a wealth of material to explore the world view of maskers, both during and outside of carnival, and reconstructs their logic: covering the face in public was a uniquely Venetian response to one of the most rigid class hierarchies in European history. This vivid account goes beyond common views that masking was about forgetting the past and minding the muse of pleasure to offer fresh insight into the historical construction of identity.
Thomas McFarland
- Published in print:
- 2000
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198186458
- eISBN:
- 9780191674556
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198186458.003.0002
- Subject:
- Literature, 19th-century Literature and Romanticism
For this chapter, we assume two significant configurations — one is represented by the Mask of Camelot while the other accounts for the various understandings, social agreements, and psychological ...
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For this chapter, we assume two significant configurations — one is represented by the Mask of Camelot while the other accounts for the various understandings, social agreements, and psychological guesses which comprise a figure called John Keats. Because John Keats, in this context, is treated merely as text or as a literary figure, the character can assume a number of different traits, such as the possession of intense sexual passion. Looking, on the other hand, on the Mask of Camelot, we realize that the central male figure in ‘The Eve of St. Agnes’ called Porphyro also has this immense inclination to sexual desires. Porphyro serves as a mask that justifies John Keats's sexual frustrations. It is important to note, however, that both these characters are taken as nothing more than something to intentionally attract a reader's attention, regardless of their contrasting traits.Less
For this chapter, we assume two significant configurations — one is represented by the Mask of Camelot while the other accounts for the various understandings, social agreements, and psychological guesses which comprise a figure called John Keats. Because John Keats, in this context, is treated merely as text or as a literary figure, the character can assume a number of different traits, such as the possession of intense sexual passion. Looking, on the other hand, on the Mask of Camelot, we realize that the central male figure in ‘The Eve of St. Agnes’ called Porphyro also has this immense inclination to sexual desires. Porphyro serves as a mask that justifies John Keats's sexual frustrations. It is important to note, however, that both these characters are taken as nothing more than something to intentionally attract a reader's attention, regardless of their contrasting traits.
Thomas McFarland
- Published in print:
- 2000
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198186458
- eISBN:
- 9780191674556
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198186458.003.0003
- Subject:
- Literature, 19th-century Literature and Romanticism
Making life masks — which represented how something was when it was living — and making death masks — the counterpart that accounts for a being's impressions when they had died, was not an uncommon ...
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Making life masks — which represented how something was when it was living — and making death masks — the counterpart that accounts for a being's impressions when they had died, was not an uncommon practice during the nineteenth century, especially since photography had yet to become a more efficient trend. Because John Keats lived a relatively short life, both his life mask and his death mask look almost exactly alike. It is also important to note that the fact that these masks exist represents the commitment and strength of ‘the Keats circle’ — the support group which played no small part in Keats's intellectual development. Because these two masks possess the same features, these serve as significant figures in accounting for Keats's existence.Less
Making life masks — which represented how something was when it was living — and making death masks — the counterpart that accounts for a being's impressions when they had died, was not an uncommon practice during the nineteenth century, especially since photography had yet to become a more efficient trend. Because John Keats lived a relatively short life, both his life mask and his death mask look almost exactly alike. It is also important to note that the fact that these masks exist represents the commitment and strength of ‘the Keats circle’ — the support group which played no small part in Keats's intellectual development. Because these two masks possess the same features, these serve as significant figures in accounting for Keats's existence.
Brian C. J. Moore
- Published in print:
- 1995
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780198523307
- eISBN:
- 9780191712456
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198523307.003.0006
- Subject:
- Psychology, Health Psychology
The ability to combine and compare the information received at the two ears confers many perceptual advantages relative to listening with only one ear. This chapter reviews the advantages of binaural ...
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The ability to combine and compare the information received at the two ears confers many perceptual advantages relative to listening with only one ear. This chapter reviews the advantages of binaural hearing, and considers how those advantages may be affected by cochlear hearing loss. Topics covered include the role of binaural processing in sound localization and the detection of signals in noise; comparison of binaural processing for normal and impaired hearing; influence of peripheral abnormalities on binaural processing; and the consequences of abnormal binaural processing for the ability to understand speech, especially in background noise.Less
The ability to combine and compare the information received at the two ears confers many perceptual advantages relative to listening with only one ear. This chapter reviews the advantages of binaural hearing, and considers how those advantages may be affected by cochlear hearing loss. Topics covered include the role of binaural processing in sound localization and the detection of signals in noise; comparison of binaural processing for normal and impaired hearing; influence of peripheral abnormalities on binaural processing; and the consequences of abnormal binaural processing for the ability to understand speech, especially in background noise.
B. S. Rosner and J. B. Pickering
- Published in print:
- 1994
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780198521389
- eISBN:
- 9780191706622
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198521389.003.0003
- Subject:
- Psychology, Cognitive Neuroscience
Data on identification and discrimination of vowels lead in to an initial theory of vowel perception. The theory invokes phonetic loudness density patterns, due to auditory excitation patterns ...
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Data on identification and discrimination of vowels lead in to an initial theory of vowel perception. The theory invokes phonetic loudness density patterns, due to auditory excitation patterns modified by masking and suppression. Indicator locations E1 and E2 specify the two lowest peaks in the phonetic loudness density function, reflecting the centre frequencies of the first two formants. Using these indicators, vowel identification is initially modelled on a nearest neighbour basis.Less
Data on identification and discrimination of vowels lead in to an initial theory of vowel perception. The theory invokes phonetic loudness density patterns, due to auditory excitation patterns modified by masking and suppression. Indicator locations E1 and E2 specify the two lowest peaks in the phonetic loudness density function, reflecting the centre frequencies of the first two formants. Using these indicators, vowel identification is initially modelled on a nearest neighbour basis.
Arnold J. Wilkins
- Published in print:
- 1995
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780198521747
- eISBN:
- 9780191706691
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198521747.003.0004
- Subject:
- Psychology, Cognitive Neuroscience
Visual discomfort results from the neural processing of a strong sensory signal. The mechanisms for the pain may resemble those in migraine. In general, the visual stimuli responsible are those that ...
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Visual discomfort results from the neural processing of a strong sensory signal. The mechanisms for the pain may resemble those in migraine. In general, the visual stimuli responsible are those that can be seen most readily at threshold contrast; those that interfere maximally with the visibility of other stimuli; and those that give rise to the greatest physiological and haemodynamic change in the brain.Less
Visual discomfort results from the neural processing of a strong sensory signal. The mechanisms for the pain may resemble those in migraine. In general, the visual stimuli responsible are those that can be seen most readily at threshold contrast; those that interfere maximally with the visibility of other stimuli; and those that give rise to the greatest physiological and haemodynamic change in the brain.
Arnold J. Wilkins
- Published in print:
- 1995
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780198521747
- eISBN:
- 9780191706691
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198521747.003.0009
- Subject:
- Psychology, Cognitive Neuroscience
A new system for precision ophthalmic tinting is described, together with some preliminary findings. A colorimeter is described that illuminates text with coloured light in such a way that the hue, ...
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A new system for precision ophthalmic tinting is described, together with some preliminary findings. A colorimeter is described that illuminates text with coloured light in such a way that the hue, saturation, and brightness can be varied separately. The colorimeter is used to guide the precise dyeing of coloured ophthalmic lenses.Less
A new system for precision ophthalmic tinting is described, together with some preliminary findings. A colorimeter is described that illuminates text with coloured light in such a way that the hue, saturation, and brightness can be varied separately. The colorimeter is used to guide the precise dyeing of coloured ophthalmic lenses.
Christopher B. Balme
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198184447
- eISBN:
- 9780191674266
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198184447.003.0006
- Subject:
- Literature, Drama
The body as a material presence possesses semiotic possibilities which have always been used in theatre. This chapter describes the semiotics of the performing body. It looks at the textuality of the ...
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The body as a material presence possesses semiotic possibilities which have always been used in theatre. This chapter describes the semiotics of the performing body. It looks at the textuality of the body in terms of physical appearance and iconographic display, and analyse the dramaturgical and theatrical strategies that utilize the performer's body as a cultural and artistic test. Three categories are proposed under which syncretic dramatists and directors use the materiality of the body as a theatrical strategy: effacement, resemanticization, and mythologization. This chapter also analyses the use of masks and mask-like costumes in Western syncretic theatre. The use of masks particularly underlines the necessity of viewing masking as part of a semiotics of the performing body.Less
The body as a material presence possesses semiotic possibilities which have always been used in theatre. This chapter describes the semiotics of the performing body. It looks at the textuality of the body in terms of physical appearance and iconographic display, and analyse the dramaturgical and theatrical strategies that utilize the performer's body as a cultural and artistic test. Three categories are proposed under which syncretic dramatists and directors use the materiality of the body as a theatrical strategy: effacement, resemanticization, and mythologization. This chapter also analyses the use of masks and mask-like costumes in Western syncretic theatre. The use of masks particularly underlines the necessity of viewing masking as part of a semiotics of the performing body.
