Loriliai Biernacki
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195327823
- eISBN:
- 9780199785520
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195327823.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
This chapter addresses women's roles and attitudes toward women in the Tantric rite of sexual union. This chapter also addresses the problem of the relation between sex represented in a text and the ...
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This chapter addresses women's roles and attitudes toward women in the Tantric rite of sexual union. This chapter also addresses the problem of the relation between sex represented in a text and the question of whether “anyone ever really did this.” What does it mean to portray a rite involving sex in a textual source? This chapter explores the discourse around women's bodies and how identity is enacted through sex and language—and language about sex. Key in this version of the rite is that it rejects a notion of ascetic mastery over the body and women. This is coded in the rite gesturally, in the ways that bodies act in relation to one another, and iterated conceptually in the philosophical “secret” behind the Tantric rite of sexual union—that, contrary to normative understanding of the feminine as matter, the Tantric “secret” is that the feminine principle is spirit, soul and essence.Less
This chapter addresses women's roles and attitudes toward women in the Tantric rite of sexual union. This chapter also addresses the problem of the relation between sex represented in a text and the question of whether “anyone ever really did this.” What does it mean to portray a rite involving sex in a textual source? This chapter explores the discourse around women's bodies and how identity is enacted through sex and language—and language about sex. Key in this version of the rite is that it rejects a notion of ascetic mastery over the body and women. This is coded in the rite gesturally, in the ways that bodies act in relation to one another, and iterated conceptually in the philosophical “secret” behind the Tantric rite of sexual union—that, contrary to normative understanding of the feminine as matter, the Tantric “secret” is that the feminine principle is spirit, soul and essence.
Susan Jones
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198184485
- eISBN:
- 9780191674273
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198184485.003.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, European Literature, 20th-century Literature and Modernism
Joseph Conrad is widely recognised as a writer of sea stories with predominantly masculine themes. This book argues that despite this established reputation, Conrad did not neglect women's themes in ...
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Joseph Conrad is widely recognised as a writer of sea stories with predominantly masculine themes. This book argues that despite this established reputation, Conrad did not neglect women's themes in all his works. The evidence of his biography, correspondence, and fiction indicates a complex and intriguing relationship between Conrad, the women in his life, his female characters, and readers of his work. He began in the Malay fiction by producing prominent female figures whose position offered an important critique of imperialism, a role that women continued to fulfill in the political works of the middle years, such as Nostromo, The Secret Agent, and Under Western Eyes. He increasingly turned to the issue of gender, female identity, and in relation to romance, how women are invited to conform to its conventionalised gestures and plots.Less
Joseph Conrad is widely recognised as a writer of sea stories with predominantly masculine themes. This book argues that despite this established reputation, Conrad did not neglect women's themes in all his works. The evidence of his biography, correspondence, and fiction indicates a complex and intriguing relationship between Conrad, the women in his life, his female characters, and readers of his work. He began in the Malay fiction by producing prominent female figures whose position offered an important critique of imperialism, a role that women continued to fulfill in the political works of the middle years, such as Nostromo, The Secret Agent, and Under Western Eyes. He increasingly turned to the issue of gender, female identity, and in relation to romance, how women are invited to conform to its conventionalised gestures and plots.
Jonathan A. Fox
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199208852
- eISBN:
- 9780191709005
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199208852.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Democratization
How can the seeds of accountability ever grow in authoritarian environments? Embedding accountability into the state is an inherently uneven, partial, and contested process. Campaigns for public ...
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How can the seeds of accountability ever grow in authoritarian environments? Embedding accountability into the state is an inherently uneven, partial, and contested process. Campaigns for public accountability often win limited concessions at best, but they can leave cracks in the system that serve as handholds for subsequent efforts to open up the state to public scrutiny. This book explores how civil society ‘thickens’ by comparing two decades of rural citizens' struggles to hold the Mexican state accountable, exploring both change and continuity before, during, and after national electoral turning points. The book addresses how much power-sharing really happens in policy innovations that include participatory social and environmental councils, citizen oversight of elections and the secret ballot, decentralized social investment funds, participation reforms in World Bank projects, community-managed food programs, as well as new social oversight and public information access reforms. Meanwhile, efforts to exercise voice unfold at the same time as rural citizens consider their exit options, as millions migrate to the US, where many have since come together in a new migrant civil society. This book concludes that new analytical frameworks are needed to understand ‘transitions to accountability’. This involves unpacking the interaction between participation, transparency, and accountability.Less
How can the seeds of accountability ever grow in authoritarian environments? Embedding accountability into the state is an inherently uneven, partial, and contested process. Campaigns for public accountability often win limited concessions at best, but they can leave cracks in the system that serve as handholds for subsequent efforts to open up the state to public scrutiny. This book explores how civil society ‘thickens’ by comparing two decades of rural citizens' struggles to hold the Mexican state accountable, exploring both change and continuity before, during, and after national electoral turning points. The book addresses how much power-sharing really happens in policy innovations that include participatory social and environmental councils, citizen oversight of elections and the secret ballot, decentralized social investment funds, participation reforms in World Bank projects, community-managed food programs, as well as new social oversight and public information access reforms. Meanwhile, efforts to exercise voice unfold at the same time as rural citizens consider their exit options, as millions migrate to the US, where many have since come together in a new migrant civil society. This book concludes that new analytical frameworks are needed to understand ‘transitions to accountability’. This involves unpacking the interaction between participation, transparency, and accountability.
Linda L. Fowler
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691151618
- eISBN:
- 9781400866465
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691151618.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, American Politics
An essential responsibility of the U.S. Congress is holding the president accountable for the conduct of foreign policy. This book evaluates how the legislature's most visible and important watchdogs ...
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An essential responsibility of the U.S. Congress is holding the president accountable for the conduct of foreign policy. This book evaluates how the legislature's most visible and important watchdogs performed from the mid-twentieth century to the present. The book finds a noticeable reduction in public and secret hearings since the mid-1990s and establishes that U.S. foreign policy frequently violated basic conditions for democratic accountability. Committee scrutiny of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the book notes, fell below levels of oversight in prior major conflicts. It attributes the drop in watchdog activity to growing disinterest among senators in committee work, biases among members who join the Senate Armed Services and Foreign Relations committees, and motives that shield presidents, particularly Republicans, from public inquiry. The book's detailed case studies of the Truman Doctrine, Vietnam War, Panama Canal Treaty, humanitarian mission in Somalia, and Iraq War illustrate the importance of oversight in generating the information citizens need to judge the president's national security policies. It argues for a reassessment of congressional war powers and proposes reforms to encourage Senate watchdogs to improve public deliberation about decisions of war and peace. It investigates America's oversight of national security and its critical place in the review of congressional and presidential powers in foreign policy.Less
An essential responsibility of the U.S. Congress is holding the president accountable for the conduct of foreign policy. This book evaluates how the legislature's most visible and important watchdogs performed from the mid-twentieth century to the present. The book finds a noticeable reduction in public and secret hearings since the mid-1990s and establishes that U.S. foreign policy frequently violated basic conditions for democratic accountability. Committee scrutiny of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the book notes, fell below levels of oversight in prior major conflicts. It attributes the drop in watchdog activity to growing disinterest among senators in committee work, biases among members who join the Senate Armed Services and Foreign Relations committees, and motives that shield presidents, particularly Republicans, from public inquiry. The book's detailed case studies of the Truman Doctrine, Vietnam War, Panama Canal Treaty, humanitarian mission in Somalia, and Iraq War illustrate the importance of oversight in generating the information citizens need to judge the president's national security policies. It argues for a reassessment of congressional war powers and proposes reforms to encourage Senate watchdogs to improve public deliberation about decisions of war and peace. It investigates America's oversight of national security and its critical place in the review of congressional and presidential powers in foreign policy.
Jonathan Fox
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199208852
- eISBN:
- 9780191709005
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199208852.003.0005
- Subject:
- Political Science, Democratization
This chapter analyzes persistent exclusionary electoral practices, using quantitative indicators of access to the secret ballot in Mexico's 1994 presidential election in rural areas. While the ...
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This chapter analyzes persistent exclusionary electoral practices, using quantitative indicators of access to the secret ballot in Mexico's 1994 presidential election in rural areas. While the opposition expected a re-run of the repertoire of fraud and manipulation that characterized the 1988 race, instead the state effectively deployed a range of levers of intervention in rural economic and social life that, in combination with the systematic lack of access to the secret ballot, reduced the ruling party's need to resort to fraud by inducing a widespread ‘fear vote’. This study draws on two previously unstudied data sets to estimate the degree of rural voter access to the secret ballot in the 1994 presidential elections, including a focus on opposition party oversight in indigenous municipalities in the states of Oaxaca, Veracruz, and Chiapas.Less
This chapter analyzes persistent exclusionary electoral practices, using quantitative indicators of access to the secret ballot in Mexico's 1994 presidential election in rural areas. While the opposition expected a re-run of the repertoire of fraud and manipulation that characterized the 1988 race, instead the state effectively deployed a range of levers of intervention in rural economic and social life that, in combination with the systematic lack of access to the secret ballot, reduced the ruling party's need to resort to fraud by inducing a widespread ‘fear vote’. This study draws on two previously unstudied data sets to estimate the degree of rural voter access to the secret ballot in the 1994 presidential elections, including a focus on opposition party oversight in indigenous municipalities in the states of Oaxaca, Veracruz, and Chiapas.
Michael Bell
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199208098
- eISBN:
- 9780191709227
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199208098.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, World Literature, European Literature
This book reflects on humanistic education by examining the limits of the teachable in this domain. The Goethean motif of the open secret is not a mystery revealed but an utterance not understood, ...
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This book reflects on humanistic education by examining the limits of the teachable in this domain. The Goethean motif of the open secret is not a mystery revealed but an utterance not understood, the likely fate of all instruction based purely on authority. This study reviews the pedagogical relationship in the European Bildungsroman from the point of view of the mentor rather than that of the young hero, but it also extends beyond the novel to encompass works in which the category of fiction has a crucial and constitutive function, for a growing awareness of limited authority on the part of the mentor figures is closely related to fictive self-consciousness in the texts. Rousseau's semi-novelised treatise, Emile, is relatively unaware of the fictive nature of its own authority; whereas in Sterne, Wieland, Goethe, and Nietzsche, the situation is reversed, culminating in the conscious impasse of authority in Thus Spoke Zarathustra. While all these latter writers achieve their impact despite, indeed because of their internal scepticism, in the three subsequent writers, Lawrence, Leavis, and Coetzee, the impasse becomes more literal as the authority of Bildung is eroded in the wider culture. Yet in all cases, awareness of pedagogical authority as a species of fiction, to be exercised in an aesthetic spirit, is a significant prophylactic against the perennial pressure of reductive conceptions of education as instructional ‘production’.Less
This book reflects on humanistic education by examining the limits of the teachable in this domain. The Goethean motif of the open secret is not a mystery revealed but an utterance not understood, the likely fate of all instruction based purely on authority. This study reviews the pedagogical relationship in the European Bildungsroman from the point of view of the mentor rather than that of the young hero, but it also extends beyond the novel to encompass works in which the category of fiction has a crucial and constitutive function, for a growing awareness of limited authority on the part of the mentor figures is closely related to fictive self-consciousness in the texts. Rousseau's semi-novelised treatise, Emile, is relatively unaware of the fictive nature of its own authority; whereas in Sterne, Wieland, Goethe, and Nietzsche, the situation is reversed, culminating in the conscious impasse of authority in Thus Spoke Zarathustra. While all these latter writers achieve their impact despite, indeed because of their internal scepticism, in the three subsequent writers, Lawrence, Leavis, and Coetzee, the impasse becomes more literal as the authority of Bildung is eroded in the wider culture. Yet in all cases, awareness of pedagogical authority as a species of fiction, to be exercised in an aesthetic spirit, is a significant prophylactic against the perennial pressure of reductive conceptions of education as instructional ‘production’.
Anne Storch
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199768974
- eISBN:
- 9780199914425
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199768974.001.0001
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Sociolinguistics / Anthropological Linguistics
This book deals with a specific form of language change: deliberate manipulations of a language by its speakers. These manipulations are based and depending on cultural and social contexts, they are ...
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This book deals with a specific form of language change: deliberate manipulations of a language by its speakers. These manipulations are based and depending on cultural and social contexts, they are often—if not always—considered to be secret, and are at the same time expressions of difference and power. The central thesis on which the explorations of manipulated language in this book are based is that language here—deliberately diverging from the norm—is central to the construction of social norms, and that exactly by manipulation and alteration identity may be explored and defined. Manipulated language and deliberate linguistic change are thus seen as the creation of a medium through which speakers attempt to preserve certain structures. The complexity and diversity of linguistic manipulation and how it is linked to the structure of society are dealt with in this book by referring to secrecy, mimesis, sacrilege, and ambiguity as leading concepts of power. This study concentrates on case studies from the Jukun-speaking areas of Nigeria, as well as Nilotic and Bantu-speaking parts of Uganda (and to a lesser extent Sudan), but also presents data on manipulated languages from many other parts and speaker communities of the continent, as well as examples from the African diaspora.Less
This book deals with a specific form of language change: deliberate manipulations of a language by its speakers. These manipulations are based and depending on cultural and social contexts, they are often—if not always—considered to be secret, and are at the same time expressions of difference and power. The central thesis on which the explorations of manipulated language in this book are based is that language here—deliberately diverging from the norm—is central to the construction of social norms, and that exactly by manipulation and alteration identity may be explored and defined. Manipulated language and deliberate linguistic change are thus seen as the creation of a medium through which speakers attempt to preserve certain structures. The complexity and diversity of linguistic manipulation and how it is linked to the structure of society are dealt with in this book by referring to secrecy, mimesis, sacrilege, and ambiguity as leading concepts of power. This study concentrates on case studies from the Jukun-speaking areas of Nigeria, as well as Nilotic and Bantu-speaking parts of Uganda (and to a lesser extent Sudan), but also presents data on manipulated languages from many other parts and speaker communities of the continent, as well as examples from the African diaspora.
Adrian Guelke
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780197265901
- eISBN:
- 9780191772047
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197265901.003.0006
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
The response of Western governments to the threat posed by mass-casualty terrorism has resulted in a widening gulf between their theory and practice of counter-terrorism and their proclaimed ...
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The response of Western governments to the threat posed by mass-casualty terrorism has resulted in a widening gulf between their theory and practice of counter-terrorism and their proclaimed commitment to the maintenance of fundamental human rights. A shocking picture has emerged of wrongdoing perpetrated under the broad terms of counter-terrorist measures adopted since 9/11. This chapter seeks to explain this outcome, especially in the light of the episodic and limited nature of attacks by jihadis on Western societies since 2001. It also examines how President Barack Obama has grappled with the argument that some of the measures designed to protect the public from terrorism pose a threat to constitutional government and to the rule of law. It notes that his readiness to accept that such dangers do indeed exist has been exceptional among Western political leaders and that reliance on secrecy, misinformation, and denial has been the norm.Less
The response of Western governments to the threat posed by mass-casualty terrorism has resulted in a widening gulf between their theory and practice of counter-terrorism and their proclaimed commitment to the maintenance of fundamental human rights. A shocking picture has emerged of wrongdoing perpetrated under the broad terms of counter-terrorist measures adopted since 9/11. This chapter seeks to explain this outcome, especially in the light of the episodic and limited nature of attacks by jihadis on Western societies since 2001. It also examines how President Barack Obama has grappled with the argument that some of the measures designed to protect the public from terrorism pose a threat to constitutional government and to the rule of law. It notes that his readiness to accept that such dangers do indeed exist has been exceptional among Western political leaders and that reliance on secrecy, misinformation, and denial has been the norm.
Austin Carson
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780691181769
- eISBN:
- 9780691184241
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691181769.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
This is the first book to systematically analyze the ways that powerful states covertly participate in foreign wars, showing a recurring pattern of such behavior stretching from World War I to ...
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This is the first book to systematically analyze the ways that powerful states covertly participate in foreign wars, showing a recurring pattern of such behavior stretching from World War I to U.S.-occupied Iraq. Investigating what governments keep secret during wars and why, the book argues that leaders maintain the secrecy of state involvement as a response to the persistent concern of limiting war. Keeping interventions “backstage” helps control escalation dynamics, insulating leaders from domestic pressures while communicating their interest in keeping a war contained. It shows that covert interventions can help control escalation, but they are almost always detected by other major powers. However, the shared value of limiting war can lead adversaries to keep secret the interventions they detect, as when American leaders concealed clashes with Soviet pilots during the Korean War. Escalation concerns can also cause leaders to ignore covert interventions that have become an open secret. From Nazi Germany's role in the Spanish Civil War to American covert operations during the Vietnam War, the book presents new insights about some of the most influential conflicts of the twentieth century. Parting the curtain on the secret side of modern war, the book provides important lessons about how rival state powers collude and compete, and the ways in which they avoid outright military confrontations.Less
This is the first book to systematically analyze the ways that powerful states covertly participate in foreign wars, showing a recurring pattern of such behavior stretching from World War I to U.S.-occupied Iraq. Investigating what governments keep secret during wars and why, the book argues that leaders maintain the secrecy of state involvement as a response to the persistent concern of limiting war. Keeping interventions “backstage” helps control escalation dynamics, insulating leaders from domestic pressures while communicating their interest in keeping a war contained. It shows that covert interventions can help control escalation, but they are almost always detected by other major powers. However, the shared value of limiting war can lead adversaries to keep secret the interventions they detect, as when American leaders concealed clashes with Soviet pilots during the Korean War. Escalation concerns can also cause leaders to ignore covert interventions that have become an open secret. From Nazi Germany's role in the Spanish Civil War to American covert operations during the Vietnam War, the book presents new insights about some of the most influential conflicts of the twentieth century. Parting the curtain on the secret side of modern war, the book provides important lessons about how rival state powers collude and compete, and the ways in which they avoid outright military confrontations.
William Bain
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- April 2004
- ISBN:
- 9780199260263
- eISBN:
- 9780191600975
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199260265.003.0004
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
Starts by pointing out that if the Berlin and Brussels Acts and the experience of the Congo Free State (as discussed in the last chapter) are understood as representing the internationalization of ...
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Starts by pointing out that if the Berlin and Brussels Acts and the experience of the Congo Free State (as discussed in the last chapter) are understood as representing the internationalization of the idea of trusteeship, then the League of Nations mandates system might be understood as representing its institutionalization in international society. Examines the current of ideas from which the institutionalization of trusteeship arose out of the debates concerning the disposal of German colonies conquered during the First World War, and the subsequent compromise that resulted in the creation of the mandates system, which stands as a response to the problem of ordering relations of Europeans and non‐Europeans by reconciling the obligations of trusteeship and the search for national security in a single institutional arrangement. The victorious Allied powers divided Germany's colonial possessions amongst themselves, in no small part for reasons of national security, but in assuming administrative responsibility for these territories they also accepted the oversight of ‘international machinery’ to ensure that the work of civilization was being done. The seven sections of the chapter are: War and the Old Diplomacy; Trusteeship or Annexation?; From the New World—the effect of the Russian revolution and the entry into the First World War of the US on the French and British annexation policy and Woodrow Wilson's ideas for peace; The Mandates System—the birth of the League of Nations; Impasse at Versailles—the Paris Peace Conference of 1919 and the Versailles Peace Treaty; Trusteeship or Deception—the obligations and defects of the League of Nations Covenant; and Novelty and Tradition—the compromise of the League of Nations system.Less
Starts by pointing out that if the Berlin and Brussels Acts and the experience of the Congo Free State (as discussed in the last chapter) are understood as representing the internationalization of the idea of trusteeship, then the League of Nations mandates system might be understood as representing its institutionalization in international society. Examines the current of ideas from which the institutionalization of trusteeship arose out of the debates concerning the disposal of German colonies conquered during the First World War, and the subsequent compromise that resulted in the creation of the mandates system, which stands as a response to the problem of ordering relations of Europeans and non‐Europeans by reconciling the obligations of trusteeship and the search for national security in a single institutional arrangement. The victorious Allied powers divided Germany's colonial possessions amongst themselves, in no small part for reasons of national security, but in assuming administrative responsibility for these territories they also accepted the oversight of ‘international machinery’ to ensure that the work of civilization was being done. The seven sections of the chapter are: War and the Old Diplomacy; Trusteeship or Annexation?; From the New World—the effect of the Russian revolution and the entry into the First World War of the US on the French and British annexation policy and Woodrow Wilson's ideas for peace; The Mandates System—the birth of the League of Nations; Impasse at Versailles—the Paris Peace Conference of 1919 and the Versailles Peace Treaty; Trusteeship or Deception—the obligations and defects of the League of Nations Covenant; and Novelty and Tradition—the compromise of the League of Nations system.
Michael Ward
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195313871
- eISBN:
- 9780199871964
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195313871.003.0011
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Literature
The problem of reception, which has already been partly solved by addressing the problems of occasion and composition, is further solved by a consideration of how the fairy‐tale genre builds a bridge ...
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The problem of reception, which has already been partly solved by addressing the problems of occasion and composition, is further solved by a consideration of how the fairy‐tale genre builds a bridge between the conscious and the unconscious mind and by the fact that the two things which the Narniad implicitly conveys (the argument from Miracles and the planetary archetypes) are themselves best understood through Enjoyment, not Contemplation. Objections considered, such as ‘Are the Chronicles properly understood as allegory rather than as symbol?’ and ‘Does not disclosure of this secret frustrate Lewis's imaginative purposes?’ His abiding interest in models of the universe and the myths that follow in the wake of scientific advances.Less
The problem of reception, which has already been partly solved by addressing the problems of occasion and composition, is further solved by a consideration of how the fairy‐tale genre builds a bridge between the conscious and the unconscious mind and by the fact that the two things which the Narniad implicitly conveys (the argument from Miracles and the planetary archetypes) are themselves best understood through Enjoyment, not Contemplation. Objections considered, such as ‘Are the Chronicles properly understood as allegory rather than as symbol?’ and ‘Does not disclosure of this secret frustrate Lewis's imaginative purposes?’ His abiding interest in models of the universe and the myths that follow in the wake of scientific advances.
Michael Ward
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195313871
- eISBN:
- 9780199871964
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195313871.003.0012
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Literature
Reasons why Lewis's critics were not looking for a secret layer of meaning. Reasons why Lewis's critics were not interested in astrology. The extent to which Lewis knew about astronomy. The extent to ...
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Reasons why Lewis's critics were not looking for a secret layer of meaning. Reasons why Lewis's critics were not interested in astrology. The extent to which Lewis knew about astronomy. The extent to which he believed in astrology. The circumstances in which the donegalitarian discovery was made.Less
Reasons why Lewis's critics were not looking for a secret layer of meaning. Reasons why Lewis's critics were not interested in astrology. The extent to which Lewis knew about astronomy. The extent to which he believed in astrology. The circumstances in which the donegalitarian discovery was made.
Francis Cairns
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199558681
- eISBN:
- 9780191720888
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199558681.003.0015
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, European History: BCE to 500CE
The ‘secret name of Rome’ and the identity of the alleged secret protector deity of Rome have long excited scholarly interest. This chapter reconsiders critically the ancient evidence about these ...
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The ‘secret name of Rome’ and the identity of the alleged secret protector deity of Rome have long excited scholarly interest. This chapter reconsiders critically the ancient evidence about these topics and reaches conclusions different from those of most modern scholarship: although the ‘secret name of Rome’ was a matter of speculation at least from Varro on, and the notion of a protector deity current at least by the first century AD, the relevant ancient texts contain errors and inconsistencies that undermine the historical reality of the secret name and protector deity.Less
The ‘secret name of Rome’ and the identity of the alleged secret protector deity of Rome have long excited scholarly interest. This chapter reconsiders critically the ancient evidence about these topics and reaches conclusions different from those of most modern scholarship: although the ‘secret name of Rome’ was a matter of speculation at least from Varro on, and the notion of a protector deity current at least by the first century AD, the relevant ancient texts contain errors and inconsistencies that undermine the historical reality of the secret name and protector deity.
Eyal Ben-Eliyahu, Yehudah Cohn, and Fergus Millar
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780197265222
- eISBN:
- 9780191771873
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197265222.003.0008
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This chapter describes the following apocalyptic texts: Reuyot Yeṭezqel; Sefer Eliyahu; Sefer Zerubavel; and The Secrets of Rabbi Shimon bar Yoṭai (Rashbi). For each of these texts, details on the ...
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This chapter describes the following apocalyptic texts: Reuyot Yeṭezqel; Sefer Eliyahu; Sefer Zerubavel; and The Secrets of Rabbi Shimon bar Yoṭai (Rashbi). For each of these texts, details on the contents, dating, language, printed editions, translations, commentaries, bibliography, electronic resources and manuscripts are provided.Less
This chapter describes the following apocalyptic texts: Reuyot Yeṭezqel; Sefer Eliyahu; Sefer Zerubavel; and The Secrets of Rabbi Shimon bar Yoṭai (Rashbi). For each of these texts, details on the contents, dating, language, printed editions, translations, commentaries, bibliography, electronic resources and manuscripts are provided.
Yaacob Dweck
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691145082
- eISBN:
- 9781400840007
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691145082.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
This chapter examines Modena's attempt to reclaim Maimonides from his kabbalistic critics and admirers. It argues that Modena's reading of Maimonides' Guide of the Perplexed informed most of his ...
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This chapter examines Modena's attempt to reclaim Maimonides from his kabbalistic critics and admirers. It argues that Modena's reading of Maimonides' Guide of the Perplexed informed most of his important positions in Ari Nohem—his understanding of tradition, his rejection of kabbalistic theology, and his attack on kabbalistic hermeneutics. Indeed, Modena quoted, paraphrased, defended, or alluded to Maimonides on nearly every page of Ari Nohem. He mentioned Maimonides explicitly on more than forty occasions in a treatise that consisted of thirty chapters; in addition, he often cited Maimonides without mentioning his name and engaged Maimonides' critics at great length. The chapter then connects Modena's discussion of two crucial issues in his criticism of Kabbalah to his reading of Maimonides: the history of esoteric secrets and the distinction between Kabbalah and philosophic knowledge.Less
This chapter examines Modena's attempt to reclaim Maimonides from his kabbalistic critics and admirers. It argues that Modena's reading of Maimonides' Guide of the Perplexed informed most of his important positions in Ari Nohem—his understanding of tradition, his rejection of kabbalistic theology, and his attack on kabbalistic hermeneutics. Indeed, Modena quoted, paraphrased, defended, or alluded to Maimonides on nearly every page of Ari Nohem. He mentioned Maimonides explicitly on more than forty occasions in a treatise that consisted of thirty chapters; in addition, he often cited Maimonides without mentioning his name and engaged Maimonides' critics at great length. The chapter then connects Modena's discussion of two crucial issues in his criticism of Kabbalah to his reading of Maimonides: the history of esoteric secrets and the distinction between Kabbalah and philosophic knowledge.
Eviatar Zerubavel
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780195187175
- eISBN:
- 9780199943371
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195187175.001.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Culture
The fable of the Emperor's New Clothes is a classic example of a conspiracy of silence, a situation where everyone refuses to acknowledge an obvious truth. But the denial of social realities—whether ...
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The fable of the Emperor's New Clothes is a classic example of a conspiracy of silence, a situation where everyone refuses to acknowledge an obvious truth. But the denial of social realities—whether incest, alcoholism, corruption, or even genocide—is no fairy tale. This book sheds light on the social and political underpinnings of silence and denial—the keeping of “open secrets.” The author shows that conspiracies of silence exist at every level of society, ranging from small groups to large corporations, from personal friendships to politics. He also shows how such conspiracies evolve, illuminating the social pressures that cause people to deny what is right before their eyes. We see how each conspirator's denial is symbiotically complemented by the others', and learn that silence is usually more intense when there are more people conspiring—and especially when there are significant power differences among them. The author concludes by showing that the longer we ignore “elephants,” the larger they loom in our minds, as each avoidance triggers an even greater spiral of denial. Drawing on examples from newspapers and comedy shows to novels, children's stories, and film, the book travels back and forth across different levels of social life, and from everyday moments to large-scale historical events. At its core, it helps us understand why we ignore truths that are known to all of us.Less
The fable of the Emperor's New Clothes is a classic example of a conspiracy of silence, a situation where everyone refuses to acknowledge an obvious truth. But the denial of social realities—whether incest, alcoholism, corruption, or even genocide—is no fairy tale. This book sheds light on the social and political underpinnings of silence and denial—the keeping of “open secrets.” The author shows that conspiracies of silence exist at every level of society, ranging from small groups to large corporations, from personal friendships to politics. He also shows how such conspiracies evolve, illuminating the social pressures that cause people to deny what is right before their eyes. We see how each conspirator's denial is symbiotically complemented by the others', and learn that silence is usually more intense when there are more people conspiring—and especially when there are significant power differences among them. The author concludes by showing that the longer we ignore “elephants,” the larger they loom in our minds, as each avoidance triggers an even greater spiral of denial. Drawing on examples from newspapers and comedy shows to novels, children's stories, and film, the book travels back and forth across different levels of social life, and from everyday moments to large-scale historical events. At its core, it helps us understand why we ignore truths that are known to all of us.
RODOLFO CERRÓN-PALOMINO
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780197265031
- eISBN:
- 9780191754142
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197265031.003.0011
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, American History: pre-Columbian BCE to 500CE
Sixteenth- and seventeenth-century chroniclers call attention to the Incas having had a ‘particular language’, used exclusively by members of the court. The sparse linguistic material attributed to ...
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Sixteenth- and seventeenth-century chroniclers call attention to the Incas having had a ‘particular language’, used exclusively by members of the court. The sparse linguistic material attributed to it consists of barely a dozen proper names which ‘El Inca’ Garcilaso de la Vega, unable to explain through his Quechua mother tongue, assumed must belong to the purported secret language. On closer inspection most of these words do turn out to be explicable in terms of either a Quechua or an Aymara origin. Nevertheless, a small amount of extant onomastic material — mostly Inca institutional names — cannot be traced back to either, and points to a third language instead. This chapter makes the case that this could have been Puquina, once a major language of the Titicaca Basin, whence the mythical Incas set out on their journey to Cuzco. Linguistic, mythohistorical, and archaeological evidence are offered support of this hypothesis.Less
Sixteenth- and seventeenth-century chroniclers call attention to the Incas having had a ‘particular language’, used exclusively by members of the court. The sparse linguistic material attributed to it consists of barely a dozen proper names which ‘El Inca’ Garcilaso de la Vega, unable to explain through his Quechua mother tongue, assumed must belong to the purported secret language. On closer inspection most of these words do turn out to be explicable in terms of either a Quechua or an Aymara origin. Nevertheless, a small amount of extant onomastic material — mostly Inca institutional names — cannot be traced back to either, and points to a third language instead. This chapter makes the case that this could have been Puquina, once a major language of the Titicaca Basin, whence the mythical Incas set out on their journey to Cuzco. Linguistic, mythohistorical, and archaeological evidence are offered support of this hypothesis.
Tony Whitehead
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- July 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780719072369
- eISBN:
- 9781781703298
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719072369.001.0001
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
Mike Leigh may well be Britain's greatest living film director; his worldview has permeated our national consciousness. This book gives detailed readings of the nine feature films he has made for the ...
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Mike Leigh may well be Britain's greatest living film director; his worldview has permeated our national consciousness. This book gives detailed readings of the nine feature films he has made for the cinema, as well as an overview of his work for television. Written with the co-operation of Leigh himself, it challenges the critical privileging of realism in histories of British cinema, placing the emphasis instead on the importance of comedy and humour: of jokes and their functions; of laughter as a survival mechanism; and of characterisations and situations that disrupt our preconceptions of ‘realism’. Striving for the all-important quality of truth in everything he does, Leigh has consistently shown how ordinary lives are too complex to fit snugly into the conventions of narrative art. From the bittersweet observation of Life is Sweet or Secrets and Lies, to the blistering satire of Naked and the manifest compassion of Vera Drake, he has demonstrated a matchless ability to perceive life's funny side as well as its tragedies.Less
Mike Leigh may well be Britain's greatest living film director; his worldview has permeated our national consciousness. This book gives detailed readings of the nine feature films he has made for the cinema, as well as an overview of his work for television. Written with the co-operation of Leigh himself, it challenges the critical privileging of realism in histories of British cinema, placing the emphasis instead on the importance of comedy and humour: of jokes and their functions; of laughter as a survival mechanism; and of characterisations and situations that disrupt our preconceptions of ‘realism’. Striving for the all-important quality of truth in everything he does, Leigh has consistently shown how ordinary lives are too complex to fit snugly into the conventions of narrative art. From the bittersweet observation of Life is Sweet or Secrets and Lies, to the blistering satire of Naked and the manifest compassion of Vera Drake, he has demonstrated a matchless ability to perceive life's funny side as well as its tragedies.
Paul Davis
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199297832
- eISBN:
- 9780191711572
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199297832.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, 17th-century and Restoration Literature, 18th-century Literature
Between the Civil War and the early decades of the 18th century, English poets of the first rank devoted more of their time and creative energies to translating than they had ever done before or have ...
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Between the Civil War and the early decades of the 18th century, English poets of the first rank devoted more of their time and creative energies to translating than they had ever done before or have ever done since. This book studies this golden age of poetic translation in England, and has as its organising principle and object of inquiry the significances of translating itself as a distinctive mode of imaginative conduct. The book is composed of case studies of the five principal poet-translators of the period: John Denham, Henry Vaughan, Abraham Cowley, John Dryden, and Alexander Pope. Its argumentative method is metaphorical. Each chapter traces the influence on the theory and practice of the poet at issue exerted by a metaphor or group of metaphors broadly current in contemporary translation discourse: in particular, figurations of the translator as an exile, as a child, as a disseminator of secrets, and as a slave; and comparisons of translation to friendship, sexual congress, metamorphosis, and trade. These figurations challenged Denham, Vaughan, Cowley, Dryden, and Pope to find new answers to questions integral to their understandings of themselves and the standing of the poet in their culture: questions about vocation and career, fame and happiness, responsibility and freedom. Translating changed the direction of the lives of five of the major poets of the period in English literary history which witnessed the transition between early-modern and modern estimations of ‘the poet's life’.Less
Between the Civil War and the early decades of the 18th century, English poets of the first rank devoted more of their time and creative energies to translating than they had ever done before or have ever done since. This book studies this golden age of poetic translation in England, and has as its organising principle and object of inquiry the significances of translating itself as a distinctive mode of imaginative conduct. The book is composed of case studies of the five principal poet-translators of the period: John Denham, Henry Vaughan, Abraham Cowley, John Dryden, and Alexander Pope. Its argumentative method is metaphorical. Each chapter traces the influence on the theory and practice of the poet at issue exerted by a metaphor or group of metaphors broadly current in contemporary translation discourse: in particular, figurations of the translator as an exile, as a child, as a disseminator of secrets, and as a slave; and comparisons of translation to friendship, sexual congress, metamorphosis, and trade. These figurations challenged Denham, Vaughan, Cowley, Dryden, and Pope to find new answers to questions integral to their understandings of themselves and the standing of the poet in their culture: questions about vocation and career, fame and happiness, responsibility and freedom. Translating changed the direction of the lives of five of the major poets of the period in English literary history which witnessed the transition between early-modern and modern estimations of ‘the poet's life’.
Susan Tiefenbrun
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195385779
- eISBN:
- 9780199776061
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195385779.003.003
- Subject:
- Law, Public International Law
This chapter proposes a definition of terrorism based on semiotic principles. It uncovers five basic elements of the crime of terrorism that are deeply embedded in each of the many definitions ...
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This chapter proposes a definition of terrorism based on semiotic principles. It uncovers five basic elements of the crime of terrorism that are deeply embedded in each of the many definitions proposed by the United States in its laws, and by many other nations, scholars, and international organizations such as the United Nations. It shows that under certain circumstances requiring the presence of the basic five elements of the crime, terrorism can be included in other specifically defined international crimes such as war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide. It also looks comparatively at the U.S., English, French, European, and Canadian definitions of terrorism as well as the U.N.'s attempt to define terrorism in its seventeen multilateral conventions. The chapter examines different definitions proposed by leading scholars in the field of international law and the law of terrorism. Finally, it looks at two different literary and cinematographic representations of terrorism: Joseph Conrad's novel The Secret Agent (1907) and the more recent movie Hotel Rwanda. Applying semiotic analysis to these literary texts teases out their hidden legal issues in order to shed light on the complex problem of terrorism.Less
This chapter proposes a definition of terrorism based on semiotic principles. It uncovers five basic elements of the crime of terrorism that are deeply embedded in each of the many definitions proposed by the United States in its laws, and by many other nations, scholars, and international organizations such as the United Nations. It shows that under certain circumstances requiring the presence of the basic five elements of the crime, terrorism can be included in other specifically defined international crimes such as war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide. It also looks comparatively at the U.S., English, French, European, and Canadian definitions of terrorism as well as the U.N.'s attempt to define terrorism in its seventeen multilateral conventions. The chapter examines different definitions proposed by leading scholars in the field of international law and the law of terrorism. Finally, it looks at two different literary and cinematographic representations of terrorism: Joseph Conrad's novel The Secret Agent (1907) and the more recent movie Hotel Rwanda. Applying semiotic analysis to these literary texts teases out their hidden legal issues in order to shed light on the complex problem of terrorism.
