Caroline Rody
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195377361
- eISBN:
- 9780199869558
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195377361.003.0006
- Subject:
- Literature, 20th-century and Contemporary Literature, American, 19th Century Literature
This chapter observes Tropic of Orange complicating Asian American fictional interethnicity on a transnational scale. Set in a region that extends from the Tropic of Cancer across the U.S.‐Mexico ...
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This chapter observes Tropic of Orange complicating Asian American fictional interethnicity on a transnational scale. Set in a region that extends from the Tropic of Cancer across the U.S.‐Mexico border to Los Angeles, the novel is a magical allegory of the mass migration of peoples of the Southern Hemisphere to the North. In a plot that brings a cast of thousands into comic and disastrous cross‐national and interethnic encounter, the arrival of Spanish‐speaking, magic‐tinged characters from the South wreaks havoc on notions of identity and even geographical stability for a range of U.S. ethnic characters in L.A. Ultimately, Yamashita offers an ethical politics derived from a vision of human subsumption in a wider, natural ecology that transcends national borders. In this vision, the “natural” convergence of peoples creates a collective imagination that is itself a kind of organism, the growth of which is both grotesque and sublime. In her L.A. disaster plot, this media‐age popular imagination plays itself out in multiple, simultaneous, gargantuan, and tragicomic mass events, in the aftermath of which, Yamashita's closing attention to a precious, vulnerable transnational family unit honors “natural” human community, on a global scale.Less
This chapter observes Tropic of Orange complicating Asian American fictional interethnicity on a transnational scale. Set in a region that extends from the Tropic of Cancer across the U.S.‐Mexico border to Los Angeles, the novel is a magical allegory of the mass migration of peoples of the Southern Hemisphere to the North. In a plot that brings a cast of thousands into comic and disastrous cross‐national and interethnic encounter, the arrival of Spanish‐speaking, magic‐tinged characters from the South wreaks havoc on notions of identity and even geographical stability for a range of U.S. ethnic characters in L.A. Ultimately, Yamashita offers an ethical politics derived from a vision of human subsumption in a wider, natural ecology that transcends national borders. In this vision, the “natural” convergence of peoples creates a collective imagination that is itself a kind of organism, the growth of which is both grotesque and sublime. In her L.A. disaster plot, this media‐age popular imagination plays itself out in multiple, simultaneous, gargantuan, and tragicomic mass events, in the aftermath of which, Yamashita's closing attention to a precious, vulnerable transnational family unit honors “natural” human community, on a global scale.
Lee Clarke
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- February 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226108599
- eISBN:
- 9780226108605
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226108605.001.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Culture
Al Qaeda detonates a nuclear weapon in Times Square during rush hour, wiping out half of Manhattan and killing 500,000 people. A virulent strain of bird flu jumps to humans in Thailand, sweeps across ...
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Al Qaeda detonates a nuclear weapon in Times Square during rush hour, wiping out half of Manhattan and killing 500,000 people. A virulent strain of bird flu jumps to humans in Thailand, sweeps across Asia, and claims more than fifty million lives. A single freight car of chlorine derails on the outskirts of Los Angeles, spilling its contents and killing seven million. An asteroid ten kilometers wide slams into the Atlantic Ocean, unleashing a tsunami that renders life on the planet as we know it extinct. We consider the few who live in fear of such scenarios to be alarmist or even paranoid. But this book shows that such individuals—like Cassandra foreseeing the fall of Troy—are more reasonable and prescient than you might think. This book surveys the full range of possible catastrophes that animate and dominate the popular imagination, from toxic spills and terrorism to plane crashes and pandemics. Along the way, it explores how the ubiquity of worst cases in everyday life has rendered them ordinary and mundane: very real threats like a killer flu or an American Hiroshima have become so common that they have lost their ability to shock us. Fear and dread, the book argues, have actually become too rare: only when the public has more substantial information and more credible warnings will it take worst cases as seriously as it should.Less
Al Qaeda detonates a nuclear weapon in Times Square during rush hour, wiping out half of Manhattan and killing 500,000 people. A virulent strain of bird flu jumps to humans in Thailand, sweeps across Asia, and claims more than fifty million lives. A single freight car of chlorine derails on the outskirts of Los Angeles, spilling its contents and killing seven million. An asteroid ten kilometers wide slams into the Atlantic Ocean, unleashing a tsunami that renders life on the planet as we know it extinct. We consider the few who live in fear of such scenarios to be alarmist or even paranoid. But this book shows that such individuals—like Cassandra foreseeing the fall of Troy—are more reasonable and prescient than you might think. This book surveys the full range of possible catastrophes that animate and dominate the popular imagination, from toxic spills and terrorism to plane crashes and pandemics. Along the way, it explores how the ubiquity of worst cases in everyday life has rendered them ordinary and mundane: very real threats like a killer flu or an American Hiroshima have become so common that they have lost their ability to shock us. Fear and dread, the book argues, have actually become too rare: only when the public has more substantial information and more credible warnings will it take worst cases as seriously as it should.
Ronald Hutton
- Published in print:
- 1989
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198229117
- eISBN:
- 9780191678851
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198229117.003.0016
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Early Modern History
This chapter gives a personal portrait of the man that was King Charles II. The description made in this chapter states that King Charles II became a legendary figure by his ability to endear himself ...
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This chapter gives a personal portrait of the man that was King Charles II. The description made in this chapter states that King Charles II became a legendary figure by his ability to endear himself to the popular imagination, compared to other monarchs who inspired respect, and that he possessed an unmistakable charm even during his childhood.Less
This chapter gives a personal portrait of the man that was King Charles II. The description made in this chapter states that King Charles II became a legendary figure by his ability to endear himself to the popular imagination, compared to other monarchs who inspired respect, and that he possessed an unmistakable charm even during his childhood.
Emma Widdis
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- October 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780300092912
- eISBN:
- 9780300127584
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300092912.001.0001
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Media Studies
In 1917 the Bolsheviks proclaimed a world remade. The task of the new regime, and of the media that served it, was to reshape the old world in revolutionary form, to transform the vast, ungraspable ...
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In 1917 the Bolsheviks proclaimed a world remade. The task of the new regime, and of the media that served it, was to reshape the old world in revolutionary form, to transform the vast, ungraspable space of the Russian Empire into the mapped territory of the Soviet Union. This text shows how Soviet cinema encouraged popular support for state initiatives in the years between the Revolution and World War II, helping to create a new Russian identity and territory—an imaginary geography of Sovietness. The book offers a cultural history of the early Soviet period. In particular, it shows how films projected the new Soviet map on to the great shared screen of the popular imagination.Less
In 1917 the Bolsheviks proclaimed a world remade. The task of the new regime, and of the media that served it, was to reshape the old world in revolutionary form, to transform the vast, ungraspable space of the Russian Empire into the mapped territory of the Soviet Union. This text shows how Soviet cinema encouraged popular support for state initiatives in the years between the Revolution and World War II, helping to create a new Russian identity and territory—an imaginary geography of Sovietness. The book offers a cultural history of the early Soviet period. In particular, it shows how films projected the new Soviet map on to the great shared screen of the popular imagination.
Hernán Comastri
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- September 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781683401483
- eISBN:
- 9781683402152
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Florida
- DOI:
- 10.5744/florida/9781683401483.003.0010
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Latin American Studies
This chapter examines the dialogue initiated by the Argentine government of Juan Domingo Perón with the popular technical imagination, at a time when both state policies and a nascent mass culture ...
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This chapter examines the dialogue initiated by the Argentine government of Juan Domingo Perón with the popular technical imagination, at a time when both state policies and a nascent mass culture sought to adapt to the novelties and scientific and technological challenges of the second postwar period. Far from offering a passive reception to developments originating in local and foreign scientific centers, members of the popular classes (workers, students, retirees, hobbyists, inventors and self-taught thinkers) developed their own projects and sought to express them through an exchange of letters with Perón. This created a file of more than five hundred letters with inventions, projects and recommendations of a scientific-technological nature, which offer the historian a privileged opportunity to analyze ways of thinking, representing and experimenting with “the scientific” that characterized a social sector that cannot be considered alien to the problems they were attempting to solve.Less
This chapter examines the dialogue initiated by the Argentine government of Juan Domingo Perón with the popular technical imagination, at a time when both state policies and a nascent mass culture sought to adapt to the novelties and scientific and technological challenges of the second postwar period. Far from offering a passive reception to developments originating in local and foreign scientific centers, members of the popular classes (workers, students, retirees, hobbyists, inventors and self-taught thinkers) developed their own projects and sought to express them through an exchange of letters with Perón. This created a file of more than five hundred letters with inventions, projects and recommendations of a scientific-technological nature, which offer the historian a privileged opportunity to analyze ways of thinking, representing and experimenting with “the scientific” that characterized a social sector that cannot be considered alien to the problems they were attempting to solve.
Peter Mayo
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- January 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781526140920
- eISBN:
- 9781526146700
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7765/9781526140937
- Subject:
- Sociology, Education
In this broad sweep, Mayo explores dominant European discourses of Higher education, in the contexts of different globalisations and Neoliberalism, and examines its extension to a specific region. It ...
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In this broad sweep, Mayo explores dominant European discourses of Higher education, in the contexts of different globalisations and Neoliberalism, and examines its extension to a specific region. It explores alternatives in thinking and practice including those at the grassroots, also providing a situationally-grounded project of university-community engagement. Signposts for further directions for Higher Education LLL, with a social justice purpose, are provided.Less
In this broad sweep, Mayo explores dominant European discourses of Higher education, in the contexts of different globalisations and Neoliberalism, and examines its extension to a specific region. It explores alternatives in thinking and practice including those at the grassroots, also providing a situationally-grounded project of university-community engagement. Signposts for further directions for Higher Education LLL, with a social justice purpose, are provided.
John M. Coward
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- April 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780252040269
- eISBN:
- 9780252098529
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5406/illinois/9780252040269.003.0001
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Native American Studies
This introductory chapter argues that Indian illustrations in the pictorial press were part of the social and cultural machinery that produced and reinforced an enduring set of Indian stereotypes and ...
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This introductory chapter argues that Indian illustrations in the pictorial press were part of the social and cultural machinery that produced and reinforced an enduring set of Indian stereotypes and visual tropes in the American popular imagination, reinforcing the ways that white Americans understood Native Americans and their place in U.S. society. Such pictures were a significant part of this meaning-making process because they frequently depicted Indians and Indian life in popular but narrowly conceived ways. By describing and analyzing the various themes and visual tropes across the years of the illustrated press, this book provides a deeper understanding of the racial codes and visual signs that white Americans used to represent Native Americans in an era of western expansion and manifest destiny.Less
This introductory chapter argues that Indian illustrations in the pictorial press were part of the social and cultural machinery that produced and reinforced an enduring set of Indian stereotypes and visual tropes in the American popular imagination, reinforcing the ways that white Americans understood Native Americans and their place in U.S. society. Such pictures were a significant part of this meaning-making process because they frequently depicted Indians and Indian life in popular but narrowly conceived ways. By describing and analyzing the various themes and visual tropes across the years of the illustrated press, this book provides a deeper understanding of the racial codes and visual signs that white Americans used to represent Native Americans in an era of western expansion and manifest destiny.
Joseph Luzzi
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- October 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780300123555
- eISBN:
- 9780300151787
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300123555.003.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, European Literature
This book examines the metaphors, facts, and fictions about Italy that were born in the Romantic age and that continue to haunt the Western literary imagination. An initial investigation of Italy in ...
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This book examines the metaphors, facts, and fictions about Italy that were born in the Romantic age and that continue to haunt the Western literary imagination. An initial investigation of Italy in nineteenth-century Europe raised a host of questions that have sustained this study. In addressing such questions, the book aims to provide the first work in English that considers Italian Romanticism and, more broadly, the modern myth of Italy in a comparative European context. In both popular imagination and historical fact, cliches about Italy continue simultaneously to attract us to the Peninsula and to thwart us from an informed understanding of it. This oscillation between seduction and misunderstanding defines the reception of Italy's contentious Romantic movement.Less
This book examines the metaphors, facts, and fictions about Italy that were born in the Romantic age and that continue to haunt the Western literary imagination. An initial investigation of Italy in nineteenth-century Europe raised a host of questions that have sustained this study. In addressing such questions, the book aims to provide the first work in English that considers Italian Romanticism and, more broadly, the modern myth of Italy in a comparative European context. In both popular imagination and historical fact, cliches about Italy continue simultaneously to attract us to the Peninsula and to thwart us from an informed understanding of it. This oscillation between seduction and misunderstanding defines the reception of Italy's contentious Romantic movement.
Andrew Wallace-Hadrill
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- April 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780199569366
- eISBN:
- 9780191808265
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:osobl/9780199569366.003.0025
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This chapter addresses the question of why Herculaneum failed to capture popular imagination. It suggests that the reasons are not merely to do with the relatively small size of the site, but go back ...
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This chapter addresses the question of why Herculaneum failed to capture popular imagination. It suggests that the reasons are not merely to do with the relatively small size of the site, but go back to the roots of tourism in the eighteenth century. The submergence of Herculaneum in the popular imagination is due to a series of interconnected factors, as part of a paradigm shift that took place in the 1760s: that it was connected with the departure of Charles Bourbon to take up the throne of Spain, and the accession of his son Ferdinand IV in 1759; that it was linked to the public relations disaster of Winckelmann's Sendschreiben of 1762 and its French translation in 1764; to the death of Karl Weber in 1764, and to the arrival of Sir William Hamilton in Naples in the same year; and that it involved a major rethinking by the Bourbon regime of the purpose of excavation, which grasped the popular appeal of the Temple of Isis at Pompeii, excavated in 1765, and exploited the new wave of Grand Tourism made possible by the peace of Paris of 1763.Less
This chapter addresses the question of why Herculaneum failed to capture popular imagination. It suggests that the reasons are not merely to do with the relatively small size of the site, but go back to the roots of tourism in the eighteenth century. The submergence of Herculaneum in the popular imagination is due to a series of interconnected factors, as part of a paradigm shift that took place in the 1760s: that it was connected with the departure of Charles Bourbon to take up the throne of Spain, and the accession of his son Ferdinand IV in 1759; that it was linked to the public relations disaster of Winckelmann's Sendschreiben of 1762 and its French translation in 1764; to the death of Karl Weber in 1764, and to the arrival of Sir William Hamilton in Naples in the same year; and that it involved a major rethinking by the Bourbon regime of the purpose of excavation, which grasped the popular appeal of the Temple of Isis at Pompeii, excavated in 1765, and exploited the new wave of Grand Tourism made possible by the peace of Paris of 1763.
Molly Andrews
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- April 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199812394
- eISBN:
- 9780199388554
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199812394.003.0002
- Subject:
- Psychology, Cognitive Psychology, Social Psychology
Chapter 2 locates the inquiry within a research context, specifically the ‘narrative imagination’ that is required from researchers as we embark on journeys exploring the different worldviews of ...
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Chapter 2 locates the inquiry within a research context, specifically the ‘narrative imagination’ that is required from researchers as we embark on journeys exploring the different worldviews of others. Using the metaphor of the performance of magic, the chapter reflects on those moments when we knowingly suspend disbelief, and let ourselves travel to implausible, impossible places. As researchers, how do we balance the tension between our willingness to believe others—no matter how distant their experiences might be from our own—and critical detachment, even scepticism? Are there limits to how far we should be willing to travel into the worlds of others? This chapter concludes with a discussion of the role of imagination in scholarship.Less
Chapter 2 locates the inquiry within a research context, specifically the ‘narrative imagination’ that is required from researchers as we embark on journeys exploring the different worldviews of others. Using the metaphor of the performance of magic, the chapter reflects on those moments when we knowingly suspend disbelief, and let ourselves travel to implausible, impossible places. As researchers, how do we balance the tension between our willingness to believe others—no matter how distant their experiences might be from our own—and critical detachment, even scepticism? Are there limits to how far we should be willing to travel into the worlds of others? This chapter concludes with a discussion of the role of imagination in scholarship.
Teishan A. Latner
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- September 2018
- ISBN:
- 9781469635460
- eISBN:
- 9781469635484
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/northcarolina/9781469635460.003.0004
- Subject:
- History, African-American History
Chapter Three explores Cuba’s image within the U.S. radical imaginary through the surge of airplane hijackings that occurred from the U.S. to Cuba between 1968 and 1973. Seeking political asylum, ...
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Chapter Three explores Cuba’s image within the U.S. radical imaginary through the surge of airplane hijackings that occurred from the U.S. to Cuba between 1968 and 1973. Seeking political asylum, sanctuary from criminal charges, contact with Third World revolutionary movements, and apolitical adventure, Americans who hijacked airplanes to Cuba often framed air piracy as an act of political protest. Cuban immigration officials were not always convinced, however, viewing many hijackers as criminals, not revolutionaries. Making ninety attempts to reach Cuba in commandeered aircraft, American air pirates ultimately forced the U.S. and Cuban governments into unprecedented high-level negotiations despite the nations’ lack of diplomatic relations. Viewing hijacking as a liability, the Cuban government moved to counter its outlaw mystique in the American popular imagination, with the two governments signing a bilateral agreement to curb hijacking in 1973.Less
Chapter Three explores Cuba’s image within the U.S. radical imaginary through the surge of airplane hijackings that occurred from the U.S. to Cuba between 1968 and 1973. Seeking political asylum, sanctuary from criminal charges, contact with Third World revolutionary movements, and apolitical adventure, Americans who hijacked airplanes to Cuba often framed air piracy as an act of political protest. Cuban immigration officials were not always convinced, however, viewing many hijackers as criminals, not revolutionaries. Making ninety attempts to reach Cuba in commandeered aircraft, American air pirates ultimately forced the U.S. and Cuban governments into unprecedented high-level negotiations despite the nations’ lack of diplomatic relations. Viewing hijacking as a liability, the Cuban government moved to counter its outlaw mystique in the American popular imagination, with the two governments signing a bilateral agreement to curb hijacking in 1973.
Jennifer Stevens
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- June 2013
- ISBN:
- 9781846314704
- eISBN:
- 9781846316159
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5949/UPO9781846316159
- Subject:
- Literature, Criticism/Theory
Fictional reconstructions of the Gospels continue to find a place in contemporary literature and the popular imagination. Present-day writers of New Testament-based fiction are considered to be part ...
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Fictional reconstructions of the Gospels continue to find a place in contemporary literature and the popular imagination. Present-day writers of New Testament-based fiction are considered to be part of a tradition formed in the mid-to-late twentieth century, yet the foundations were laid earlier still by writers such as Oscar Wilde, George Moore and Marie Corelli, who, in turn, drew influence from other works of biblical scholarship. This book paints a picture of the relationship between nineteenth-century biblical scholarship and literary works that raises questions for scholars working at the intersection of literature and theology.Less
Fictional reconstructions of the Gospels continue to find a place in contemporary literature and the popular imagination. Present-day writers of New Testament-based fiction are considered to be part of a tradition formed in the mid-to-late twentieth century, yet the foundations were laid earlier still by writers such as Oscar Wilde, George Moore and Marie Corelli, who, in turn, drew influence from other works of biblical scholarship. This book paints a picture of the relationship between nineteenth-century biblical scholarship and literary works that raises questions for scholars working at the intersection of literature and theology.
Ted Merwin
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- February 2021
- ISBN:
- 9781904113454
- eISBN:
- 9781800340336
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3828/liverpool/9781904113454.003.0009
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
This chapter focuses on the Jewish delicatessen, a recognizable symbol of American Jewish culture. Today, the deli has become so identified with Jews that it has become a symbol for Jewish life in ...
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This chapter focuses on the Jewish delicatessen, a recognizable symbol of American Jewish culture. Today, the deli has become so identified with Jews that it has become a symbol for Jewish life in general. Jews and delis are inextricably linked in the American popular imagination. Moreover, Jewish food lies at the heart of contemporary ‘secular’ Jewish identity. Drawing on historical research, images, and representations of the deli in pop culture, as well as postmodern theory, the chapter demonstrates the functional relations between the deli as a central ritual space of secular Jewishness and the ways in which deli food is both commodified and nostalgicized to make the deli a Jewish cultural signpost. Indeed, this symbolic role is increasing as actual delis close, at least in the New York area, where they once were a central feature of the urban landscape and a crucial repository of Jewish culture.Less
This chapter focuses on the Jewish delicatessen, a recognizable symbol of American Jewish culture. Today, the deli has become so identified with Jews that it has become a symbol for Jewish life in general. Jews and delis are inextricably linked in the American popular imagination. Moreover, Jewish food lies at the heart of contemporary ‘secular’ Jewish identity. Drawing on historical research, images, and representations of the deli in pop culture, as well as postmodern theory, the chapter demonstrates the functional relations between the deli as a central ritual space of secular Jewishness and the ways in which deli food is both commodified and nostalgicized to make the deli a Jewish cultural signpost. Indeed, this symbolic role is increasing as actual delis close, at least in the New York area, where they once were a central feature of the urban landscape and a crucial repository of Jewish culture.
Cele C. Otnes and Pauline Maclaran
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- September 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780520273658
- eISBN:
- 9780520962149
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520273658.003.0002
- Subject:
- Anthropology, European Cultural Anthropology
This chapter traces the pervasiveness of the royal family as a cultural and global phenomenon, looking at its past and present embeddedness in the popular imagination. With the increasing ...
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This chapter traces the pervasiveness of the royal family as a cultural and global phenomenon, looking at its past and present embeddedness in the popular imagination. With the increasing democratization of the monarchy, royal consumers can make a vast array of choices in the marketplace, and the types of engagement range from the mainstream to the downright eccentric. This chapter also presents a conceptualization of the royal family as a composite of five types of brands: global, human, family, heritage, and luxury. Referring to this entity as the Royal Family Brand Complex (RFBC), the authors argue these various components are key to understanding the continuing fascination with the royal family.Less
This chapter traces the pervasiveness of the royal family as a cultural and global phenomenon, looking at its past and present embeddedness in the popular imagination. With the increasing democratization of the monarchy, royal consumers can make a vast array of choices in the marketplace, and the types of engagement range from the mainstream to the downright eccentric. This chapter also presents a conceptualization of the royal family as a composite of five types of brands: global, human, family, heritage, and luxury. Referring to this entity as the Royal Family Brand Complex (RFBC), the authors argue these various components are key to understanding the continuing fascination with the royal family.
Andrea Lindmayr-Brandl
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- September 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780190200107
- eISBN:
- 9780190200138
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190200107.003.0007
- Subject:
- Music, History, Western, Theory, Analysis, Composition
Schubert’s ‘Unfinished’ Symphony has fascinated the musical world not only by its beauty but also through its rediscovery in the 1860s and the myths that have evolved around its composition. Firstly ...
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Schubert’s ‘Unfinished’ Symphony has fascinated the musical world not only by its beauty but also through its rediscovery in the 1860s and the myths that have evolved around its composition. Firstly there is the rumour of a ‘hidden’ symphony—an accusation that goes back to Kreißle von Hellborn, who blamed the Hüttenbrenner brothers of holding back the most precious ‘perls’ of Schubert’s oeuvre. Secondly, there is a mystical relation to Beethoven which recurred in popular literature on Schubert, culminating in a scene of the film Das Dreimäderlhaus (1958) in which we see Schubert abandoning the composition of the symphony at the same time Beethoven was considered definitely to be deaf. Finally, the ‘Unfinished’ retains the nimbus of being a Sterbefragment—a work that was not finished because the composer died while working on it. Collectively, these myths form an important part of its reception history and contributed to its fame.Less
Schubert’s ‘Unfinished’ Symphony has fascinated the musical world not only by its beauty but also through its rediscovery in the 1860s and the myths that have evolved around its composition. Firstly there is the rumour of a ‘hidden’ symphony—an accusation that goes back to Kreißle von Hellborn, who blamed the Hüttenbrenner brothers of holding back the most precious ‘perls’ of Schubert’s oeuvre. Secondly, there is a mystical relation to Beethoven which recurred in popular literature on Schubert, culminating in a scene of the film Das Dreimäderlhaus (1958) in which we see Schubert abandoning the composition of the symphony at the same time Beethoven was considered definitely to be deaf. Finally, the ‘Unfinished’ retains the nimbus of being a Sterbefragment—a work that was not finished because the composer died while working on it. Collectively, these myths form an important part of its reception history and contributed to its fame.
