Ute Husken and Frank Neubert
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199812295
- eISBN:
- 9780199919390
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199812295.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
Ritual is often seen as an undisputed and indisputable part of all sorts of traditions, religious and secular. However, a close look at ritual actions and texts points toward the fact that rituals ...
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Ritual is often seen as an undisputed and indisputable part of all sorts of traditions, religious and secular. However, a close look at ritual actions and texts points toward the fact that rituals not only are frequently disputed, but that they also constitute a field in which vital and sometimes even violent negotiations take place. This insight opens up fruitful new perspectives on ritual procedures, on the interactions that constitute these procedures, and on their contexts. The rituals or ritualized behavior investigated in this volume represent a broad spectrum, such as worship in a Tibetan Buddhist tradition practiced in Canada, animist mortuary rituals in northern India, a New Year’s festival in Swahili society, atonement rituals in ancient Indian texts, rituals of Tibetan “Treasure Revealers”, initiation rituals in Tibetan Buddhism and in Wiccan religion in the U.S.A., Jewish same-sex wedding rituals in the U.S.A. and Canada, rites connected to imperial power in eleventh-century China, festivities commemorating Martin Luther in the former East Germany, “hook-swinging” ritual as viewed by colonial, Brahmanic and subaltern actors in South India, the historical development of the interpretation of Indian Tantric rites, and scholarly discourse on ritual. Not only are the actions and corresponding discourses diverse, but also the materials that form the basis of the individual case studies: some contributors use texts, some analyze ritual performance; others use both, textual analysis and qualitative field study. This book shows that negotiations are ubiquitous in ritual contexts, either in relation to the ritual itself, or in relation to the realm beyond any given ritual performance. In fact, ritual’s embeddedness in negotiation processes is one of its central features.Less
Ritual is often seen as an undisputed and indisputable part of all sorts of traditions, religious and secular. However, a close look at ritual actions and texts points toward the fact that rituals not only are frequently disputed, but that they also constitute a field in which vital and sometimes even violent negotiations take place. This insight opens up fruitful new perspectives on ritual procedures, on the interactions that constitute these procedures, and on their contexts. The rituals or ritualized behavior investigated in this volume represent a broad spectrum, such as worship in a Tibetan Buddhist tradition practiced in Canada, animist mortuary rituals in northern India, a New Year’s festival in Swahili society, atonement rituals in ancient Indian texts, rituals of Tibetan “Treasure Revealers”, initiation rituals in Tibetan Buddhism and in Wiccan religion in the U.S.A., Jewish same-sex wedding rituals in the U.S.A. and Canada, rites connected to imperial power in eleventh-century China, festivities commemorating Martin Luther in the former East Germany, “hook-swinging” ritual as viewed by colonial, Brahmanic and subaltern actors in South India, the historical development of the interpretation of Indian Tantric rites, and scholarly discourse on ritual. Not only are the actions and corresponding discourses diverse, but also the materials that form the basis of the individual case studies: some contributors use texts, some analyze ritual performance; others use both, textual analysis and qualitative field study. This book shows that negotiations are ubiquitous in ritual contexts, either in relation to the ritual itself, or in relation to the realm beyond any given ritual performance. In fact, ritual’s embeddedness in negotiation processes is one of its central features.
Cheryl Schonhardt-Bailey
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- May 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780262019576
- eISBN:
- 9780262314725
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262019576.001.0001
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Macro- and Monetary Economics
American monetary policy is formulated by the Federal Reserve and overseen by Congress. Both policy making and oversight are deliberative processes, although the effect of this deliberation has been ...
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American monetary policy is formulated by the Federal Reserve and overseen by Congress. Both policy making and oversight are deliberative processes, although the effect of this deliberation has been difficult to quantify. This book provides a systematic examination of deliberation on monetary policy from 1976 to 2008 by the Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee (FOMC) and House and Senate banking committees. The innovative account employs automated textual analysis software to study the verbatim transcripts of FOMC meetings and congressional hearings; these empirical data are supplemented and supported by in-depth interviews with participants in these deliberations. The automated textual analysis measures the characteristic words, phrases, and arguments of committee members; the interviews offer a way to gauge the extent to which the empirical findings accord with the participants’ personal experiences. Decade after decade, Fed chairman after Fed chairman, one feature is evident in the discourse between central bankers and US legislators: Fed chairmen tend to talk about the technicalities of monetary policy while senators and representatives talk about other things, such as jobs, fiscal policy, energy policy, education, and so on. All too often they simply talk past one another. Analyzing why and under what conditions deliberation matters for monetary policy in the FOMC, the book identifies several strategies of persuasion used by committee members, including Paul Volcker’s emphasis on policy credibility and efforts to influence economic expectations.Less
American monetary policy is formulated by the Federal Reserve and overseen by Congress. Both policy making and oversight are deliberative processes, although the effect of this deliberation has been difficult to quantify. This book provides a systematic examination of deliberation on monetary policy from 1976 to 2008 by the Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee (FOMC) and House and Senate banking committees. The innovative account employs automated textual analysis software to study the verbatim transcripts of FOMC meetings and congressional hearings; these empirical data are supplemented and supported by in-depth interviews with participants in these deliberations. The automated textual analysis measures the characteristic words, phrases, and arguments of committee members; the interviews offer a way to gauge the extent to which the empirical findings accord with the participants’ personal experiences. Decade after decade, Fed chairman after Fed chairman, one feature is evident in the discourse between central bankers and US legislators: Fed chairmen tend to talk about the technicalities of monetary policy while senators and representatives talk about other things, such as jobs, fiscal policy, energy policy, education, and so on. All too often they simply talk past one another. Analyzing why and under what conditions deliberation matters for monetary policy in the FOMC, the book identifies several strategies of persuasion used by committee members, including Paul Volcker’s emphasis on policy credibility and efforts to influence economic expectations.
John Borneman and Abdellah Hammoudi (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520257757
- eISBN:
- 9780520943438
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520257757.001.0001
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Anthropology, Theory and Practice
Challenges to ethnographic authority and to the ethics of representation have led many contemporary anthropologists to abandon fieldwork in favor of strategies of theoretical puppeteering, textual ...
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Challenges to ethnographic authority and to the ethics of representation have led many contemporary anthropologists to abandon fieldwork in favor of strategies of theoretical puppeteering, textual analysis, and surrogate ethnography. This book argues that ethnographies based on these strategies elide important insights. To demonstrate the power and knowledge attained through the fieldwork experience, this book includes chapters by anthropologists working in Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tanzania, the Canadian Arctic, India, Germany, and Russia that shift attention back to the subtle dynamics of the ethnographic encounter. From an Inuit village to the foothills of Kilimanjaro, each account illustrates how, despite its challenges, fieldwork yields important insights outside the reach of textual analysis.Less
Challenges to ethnographic authority and to the ethics of representation have led many contemporary anthropologists to abandon fieldwork in favor of strategies of theoretical puppeteering, textual analysis, and surrogate ethnography. This book argues that ethnographies based on these strategies elide important insights. To demonstrate the power and knowledge attained through the fieldwork experience, this book includes chapters by anthropologists working in Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tanzania, the Canadian Arctic, India, Germany, and Russia that shift attention back to the subtle dynamics of the ethnographic encounter. From an Inuit village to the foothills of Kilimanjaro, each account illustrates how, despite its challenges, fieldwork yields important insights outside the reach of textual analysis.
H. G. M. Williamson
- Published in print:
- 1994
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198263609
- eISBN:
- 9780191600821
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198263600.003.0006
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
Examines the evidence as to whether or not Deutero‐Isaiah made any editorial contribution to the original Proto‐Isaiah text that he was continuing, focusing on a textual analysis of Chs. 2–12 and ...
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Examines the evidence as to whether or not Deutero‐Isaiah made any editorial contribution to the original Proto‐Isaiah text that he was continuing, focusing on a textual analysis of Chs. 2–12 and parallel elements in Chs. 40–55, and concludes from a comparison of theme and vocabulary that Deutero‐Isaiah could have written specific sections of Proto‐Isaiah as part of his post‐exilic redaction of the book.Less
Examines the evidence as to whether or not Deutero‐Isaiah made any editorial contribution to the original Proto‐Isaiah text that he was continuing, focusing on a textual analysis of Chs. 2–12 and parallel elements in Chs. 40–55, and concludes from a comparison of theme and vocabulary that Deutero‐Isaiah could have written specific sections of Proto‐Isaiah as part of his post‐exilic redaction of the book.
Bruce A. Arrigo, Heather Y. Bersot, and Brian G. Sellers
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195372212
- eISBN:
- 9780199897247
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195372212.003.0002
- Subject:
- Psychology, Forensic Psychology
This chapter examines prevailing ethical theory, including: (1) ethical formalism and deontological prima facie duties; (2) consequentialism (consisting of ethical egoism, contractualism, and ...
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This chapter examines prevailing ethical theory, including: (1) ethical formalism and deontological prima facie duties; (2) consequentialism (consisting of ethical egoism, contractualism, and utilitarianism); and (3) Aristotelian virtue philosophy (featuring feminist care ethics). The limits of each ethical school of thought and its variants are presented. The relevance of turning to moral philosophy for the purpose of psychological jurisprudential theorizing and law-psychology-crime research is described. This includes commentary on how existing strategies (restorative justice, therapeutic jurisprudence, and commonsense justice) collectively represent an integrative type of ethic that is consistent with the humanizing intentions of psychological jurisprudence. Several important observations on methodological details (i.e., textual legal analysis) conclude the chapter.Less
This chapter examines prevailing ethical theory, including: (1) ethical formalism and deontological prima facie duties; (2) consequentialism (consisting of ethical egoism, contractualism, and utilitarianism); and (3) Aristotelian virtue philosophy (featuring feminist care ethics). The limits of each ethical school of thought and its variants are presented. The relevance of turning to moral philosophy for the purpose of psychological jurisprudential theorizing and law-psychology-crime research is described. This includes commentary on how existing strategies (restorative justice, therapeutic jurisprudence, and commonsense justice) collectively represent an integrative type of ethic that is consistent with the humanizing intentions of psychological jurisprudence. Several important observations on methodological details (i.e., textual legal analysis) conclude the chapter.
J. A. Emerton
- Published in print:
- 2000
- Published Online:
- April 2004
- ISBN:
- 9780198263913
- eISBN:
- 9780191601187
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198263910.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
This is the second of five chapters on the text of the Old Testament. It summarizes some developments in the study of the Hebrew language of the biblical period that have taken place since the years ...
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This is the second of five chapters on the text of the Old Testament. It summarizes some developments in the study of the Hebrew language of the biblical period that have taken place since the years surveyed in Tradition and Interpretation (an earlier volume of essays by members of the Society for Old Testament Study, which was published in 1979). Here, attention is focused especially on the history of the development of the Hebrew language, which is important both in itself and because of its bearing on the composition and dating of the books of the Old Testament. Hence, the main section of the chapter is entitled ‘The history of the Hebrew language and its development’. The other, smaller, sections are: Grammar, syntax, and linguistics; The Hebrew verbal system; and Lexicography.Less
This is the second of five chapters on the text of the Old Testament. It summarizes some developments in the study of the Hebrew language of the biblical period that have taken place since the years surveyed in Tradition and Interpretation (an earlier volume of essays by members of the Society for Old Testament Study, which was published in 1979). Here, attention is focused especially on the history of the development of the Hebrew language, which is important both in itself and because of its bearing on the composition and dating of the books of the Old Testament. Hence, the main section of the chapter is entitled ‘The history of the Hebrew language and its development’. The other, smaller, sections are: Grammar, syntax, and linguistics; The Hebrew verbal system; and Lexicography.
Andrew Smith
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- July 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780719074462
- eISBN:
- 9781781700006
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719074462.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, 19th-century and Victorian Literature
This book examines the British ghost story within the political contexts of the long nineteenth century. By relating the ghost story to economic, national, colonial and gendered contexts it provides ...
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This book examines the British ghost story within the political contexts of the long nineteenth century. By relating the ghost story to economic, national, colonial and gendered contexts it provides a critical re-evaluation of the period. The conjuring of a political discourse of spectrality during the nineteenth century enables a culturally sensitive reconsideration of the work of writers including Dickens, Collins, Charlotte Riddell, Vernon Lee, May Sinclair, Kipling, Le Fanu, Henry James and M.R. James. Additionally, a chapter on the interpretation of spirit messages reveals how issues relating to textual analysis were implicated within a language of the spectral.Less
This book examines the British ghost story within the political contexts of the long nineteenth century. By relating the ghost story to economic, national, colonial and gendered contexts it provides a critical re-evaluation of the period. The conjuring of a political discourse of spectrality during the nineteenth century enables a culturally sensitive reconsideration of the work of writers including Dickens, Collins, Charlotte Riddell, Vernon Lee, May Sinclair, Kipling, Le Fanu, Henry James and M.R. James. Additionally, a chapter on the interpretation of spirit messages reveals how issues relating to textual analysis were implicated within a language of the spectral.
Brent Wolff, Frank Mahoney, Anna Leena Lohiniva, and Melissa Corkum
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- August 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780190933692
- eISBN:
- 9780190624279
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190933692.003.0010
- Subject:
- Public Health and Epidemiology, Epidemiology
Qualitative research provides an adaptable, open-ended, rigorous method to explore local perceptions of an issue. Qualitative approaches are effective at revealing the subjective logic motivating ...
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Qualitative research provides an adaptable, open-ended, rigorous method to explore local perceptions of an issue. Qualitative approaches are effective at revealing the subjective logic motivating behavior. They are particularly appropriate for research questions that are exploratory in nature or involve issues of meaning rather than magnitude or frequency. Key advantages of qualitative approaches include speed, flexibility and high internal validity resulting from emphasis on rapport building and ability to probe beneath the surface of initial responses. Given the time-intensive nature of qualitative analysis, samples tend to be small and purposively selected to assure every interview counts. Qualitative studies can be done independently or embedded in mixed-method designs. Qualitative data analysis depends on rigorous reading and rereading texts ideally with more than one analyst to confirm interpretations. Computer software is useful for analyzing large data sets but manual coding is often sufficient for rapid assessments in field settings..Less
Qualitative research provides an adaptable, open-ended, rigorous method to explore local perceptions of an issue. Qualitative approaches are effective at revealing the subjective logic motivating behavior. They are particularly appropriate for research questions that are exploratory in nature or involve issues of meaning rather than magnitude or frequency. Key advantages of qualitative approaches include speed, flexibility and high internal validity resulting from emphasis on rapport building and ability to probe beneath the surface of initial responses. Given the time-intensive nature of qualitative analysis, samples tend to be small and purposively selected to assure every interview counts. Qualitative studies can be done independently or embedded in mixed-method designs. Qualitative data analysis depends on rigorous reading and rereading texts ideally with more than one analyst to confirm interpretations. Computer software is useful for analyzing large data sets but manual coding is often sufficient for rapid assessments in field settings..
Edward Slingerland
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- January 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780190842307
- eISBN:
- 9780190922955
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190842307.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, Religious Studies
This chapter argues that, now that we have the texts of our traditions in fully searchable, digitized form, we can begin to read them in new ways. Basic quantitative textual analysis methods are ...
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This chapter argues that, now that we have the texts of our traditions in fully searchable, digitized form, we can begin to read them in new ways. Basic quantitative textual analysis methods are introduced, as well as more sophisticated methods such as word collocation, hierarchical cluster analysis, and topic modeling. The use of online databases to share scholarly knowledge is also explored. Although digital humanities techniques have thus far been of only marginal use, their potential is huge, and they can provide entirely new and important perspectives on our corpora. Quantitative textual analysis of the early Chinese corpus confirms and deepens the conclusion from qualitative analysis that the early Chinese were mind-body dualists.Less
This chapter argues that, now that we have the texts of our traditions in fully searchable, digitized form, we can begin to read them in new ways. Basic quantitative textual analysis methods are introduced, as well as more sophisticated methods such as word collocation, hierarchical cluster analysis, and topic modeling. The use of online databases to share scholarly knowledge is also explored. Although digital humanities techniques have thus far been of only marginal use, their potential is huge, and they can provide entirely new and important perspectives on our corpora. Quantitative textual analysis of the early Chinese corpus confirms and deepens the conclusion from qualitative analysis that the early Chinese were mind-body dualists.
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- March 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226099064
- eISBN:
- 9780226099088
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226099088.003.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Science
The rhetoric of science is a growing area of research, devoted mainly to the study of how scientists persuade each other. Scholars in this field have done their best during the past two decades to ...
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The rhetoric of science is a growing area of research, devoted mainly to the study of how scientists persuade each other. Scholars in this field have done their best during the past two decades to prove the “hard case” that the prototypical scientific text, the research report that seeks to establish a scientific truth claim, is amenable to rhetorical scrutiny. Rhetoricians engage in a variety of approaches to analyzing texts. The “method” of analysis adopted in the case studies to reveal how individual texts achieved their persuasive influence is a new approach to rhetorical criticism called “close textual-intertextual analysis.” The purpose of this modified approach is to explain how texts work by connecting rhetorical strategies to their effects on historical audiences. Rhetoricians engaging in close textual analysis tend to focus on a single text at a time. This new approach to rhetorical criticism, a “close textual-intertextual analysis,” provides a more reliable connection between internal form and external function.Less
The rhetoric of science is a growing area of research, devoted mainly to the study of how scientists persuade each other. Scholars in this field have done their best during the past two decades to prove the “hard case” that the prototypical scientific text, the research report that seeks to establish a scientific truth claim, is amenable to rhetorical scrutiny. Rhetoricians engage in a variety of approaches to analyzing texts. The “method” of analysis adopted in the case studies to reveal how individual texts achieved their persuasive influence is a new approach to rhetorical criticism called “close textual-intertextual analysis.” The purpose of this modified approach is to explain how texts work by connecting rhetorical strategies to their effects on historical audiences. Rhetoricians engaging in close textual analysis tend to focus on a single text at a time. This new approach to rhetorical criticism, a “close textual-intertextual analysis,” provides a more reliable connection between internal form and external function.
William H. Lawson
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9781496816351
- eISBN:
- 9781496816399
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Mississippi
- DOI:
- 10.14325/mississippi/9781496816351.003.0004
- Subject:
- History, Political History
Chapter Three explores the organizing, recruiting, and canvassing of the Freedom Vote and covers the months of August, September, and October of 1963, when the campaign evolved from an idea to a ...
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Chapter Three explores the organizing, recruiting, and canvassing of the Freedom Vote and covers the months of August, September, and October of 1963, when the campaign evolved from an idea to a tactical engagement: from the drawing board out into the field. The textual artifacts analyzed become more frequent and include news articles, internal memos, and press releases. The chapter delves into the competing representations produced by news media and the campaign itself. Local, regional, and even a few national news sources produced and ran stories covering the campaign. These texts reveal the different perceptions of the campaign circulating in the news media, creating an interesting inside/outside thematic dichotomy.Less
Chapter Three explores the organizing, recruiting, and canvassing of the Freedom Vote and covers the months of August, September, and October of 1963, when the campaign evolved from an idea to a tactical engagement: from the drawing board out into the field. The textual artifacts analyzed become more frequent and include news articles, internal memos, and press releases. The chapter delves into the competing representations produced by news media and the campaign itself. Local, regional, and even a few national news sources produced and ran stories covering the campaign. These texts reveal the different perceptions of the campaign circulating in the news media, creating an interesting inside/outside thematic dichotomy.
Yasir Suleiman and Ibrahim Muhawi
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748620739
- eISBN:
- 9780748653102
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748620739.001.0001
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Middle Eastern Studies
This study presents an original look at how ‘the nation’ is represented in the literature of the Middle East. It includes chapters on Egypt, Sudan, Lebanon, Iraq, Palestine and Israel, drawing on the ...
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This study presents an original look at how ‘the nation’ is represented in the literature of the Middle East. It includes chapters on Egypt, Sudan, Lebanon, Iraq, Palestine and Israel, drawing on the expertise of literary scholars, historians, political scientists and cultural theorists, and offers a synthesising contribution to knowledge, placing Arab literature within the context of emergent or conflicting nationalist projects in the area. Topics addressed include: the roles of literature and interpretation in defining national identity; exile; conflicting nationalisms; and conflict resolution. The approaches taken by the authors range from textual and rhetorical analysis to historical accounts of the role of literature in contributing to national identity, and political analysis of the use of literature as a tool in conflict resolution. Genres covered include fiction (the novel), poetry and verbal duelling. The book includes chapters from a broad range of American, European and Middle Eastern contributors, providing a synthesising perspective on the Middle East, and is an exploration of the connection between literature and national identity in the Middle East, set against the background of conflict.Less
This study presents an original look at how ‘the nation’ is represented in the literature of the Middle East. It includes chapters on Egypt, Sudan, Lebanon, Iraq, Palestine and Israel, drawing on the expertise of literary scholars, historians, political scientists and cultural theorists, and offers a synthesising contribution to knowledge, placing Arab literature within the context of emergent or conflicting nationalist projects in the area. Topics addressed include: the roles of literature and interpretation in defining national identity; exile; conflicting nationalisms; and conflict resolution. The approaches taken by the authors range from textual and rhetorical analysis to historical accounts of the role of literature in contributing to national identity, and political analysis of the use of literature as a tool in conflict resolution. Genres covered include fiction (the novel), poetry and verbal duelling. The book includes chapters from a broad range of American, European and Middle Eastern contributors, providing a synthesising perspective on the Middle East, and is an exploration of the connection between literature and national identity in the Middle East, set against the background of conflict.
Victoria L. Evans
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- January 2018
- ISBN:
- 9781474409391
- eISBN:
- 9781474434737
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9781474409391.001.0001
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
The first truly interdisciplinary analysis to link Douglas Sirk’s striking visual aesthetic to key movements in twentieth century art and architecture, this book reveals how the exaggerated artifice ...
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The first truly interdisciplinary analysis to link Douglas Sirk’s striking visual aesthetic to key movements in twentieth century art and architecture, this book reveals how the exaggerated artifice of Sirk's formal style emerged from his detailed understanding of the artistic debates that raged in 1920s Europe and the post-war United States.
By providing an extensive analysis of nine of this director's most pivotal works, including lengthy case studies of Final Chord (1936), Magnificent Obsession (1953), All That Heaven Allows (1954), The Tarnished Angels (1957) and Imitation of Life (1959), Victoria L. Evans demonstrates how Sirk attempted to dissolve the boundaries of the cinema by assimilating elements of avant-garde art, architecture and design into the colour, composition and settings of many of his most well-known films. Treating Sirk’s oeuvre as a continuum between his German and American periods, Evans argues that this influential director's non-naturalistic mise-en-scène was the result of an interdisciplinary, transnational dialogue, and she illuminates the broader cultural context in which his films appeared by establishing connections with archival documents, Modernist manifestos and the philosophical writings of his peers.Less
The first truly interdisciplinary analysis to link Douglas Sirk’s striking visual aesthetic to key movements in twentieth century art and architecture, this book reveals how the exaggerated artifice of Sirk's formal style emerged from his detailed understanding of the artistic debates that raged in 1920s Europe and the post-war United States.
By providing an extensive analysis of nine of this director's most pivotal works, including lengthy case studies of Final Chord (1936), Magnificent Obsession (1953), All That Heaven Allows (1954), The Tarnished Angels (1957) and Imitation of Life (1959), Victoria L. Evans demonstrates how Sirk attempted to dissolve the boundaries of the cinema by assimilating elements of avant-garde art, architecture and design into the colour, composition and settings of many of his most well-known films. Treating Sirk’s oeuvre as a continuum between his German and American periods, Evans argues that this influential director's non-naturalistic mise-en-scène was the result of an interdisciplinary, transnational dialogue, and she illuminates the broader cultural context in which his films appeared by establishing connections with archival documents, Modernist manifestos and the philosophical writings of his peers.
Catherine Constable
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- January 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780231174558
- eISBN:
- 9780231850834
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231174558.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, Film, Media, and Cultural Studies
This volume focuses on postmodern film aesthetics, thinking through ways in which it challenges the aesthetic paradigms currently dominating analyses of Hollywood cinema. The first chapter explores ...
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This volume focuses on postmodern film aesthetics, thinking through ways in which it challenges the aesthetic paradigms currently dominating analyses of Hollywood cinema. The first chapter explores conceptions of the classical, modernist, post-classical/new Hollywood, and their construction as a linear history of style in which postmodernism forms a debatable final act. This history is challenged by using Jean-François Lyotard’s non-linear conception of postmodernism in order to view postmodern aesthetics as a paradigm that can occur across the history of Hollywood. Chapter 2 explores famous 'nihilistic' theorists of the postmodern, Jean Baudrillard and Frederic Jameson, addressing the ways in which their work impacts on reading Hollywood films. Within Film Studies, writing on postmodernism and Hollywood cinema has drawn on the more negative aspects of Jameson’s work. Postmodern films are seen as expressions of the logic of late capitalism, and thus incapable of offering political critique, while their relentless utilisation of past styles is reflective of aesthetic bankruptcy. In contrast, the final chapter argues in favor of taking up the work of 'affirmative' postmodern theorists, notably Linda Hutcheon, in order to set up nuanced and positive variants of postmodern film aesthetics. For Hutcheon, postmodern art is characterized by paradox, due to its simultaneous re-inscription and deconstruction of past art forms. This doubled movement of both evoking and dismantling convention underpins its political potential, namely the de-naturalisation of a history of representation. The range, diversity and critical potential of postmodern aesthetic strategies are demonstrated by detailed readings of four film texts.Less
This volume focuses on postmodern film aesthetics, thinking through ways in which it challenges the aesthetic paradigms currently dominating analyses of Hollywood cinema. The first chapter explores conceptions of the classical, modernist, post-classical/new Hollywood, and their construction as a linear history of style in which postmodernism forms a debatable final act. This history is challenged by using Jean-François Lyotard’s non-linear conception of postmodernism in order to view postmodern aesthetics as a paradigm that can occur across the history of Hollywood. Chapter 2 explores famous 'nihilistic' theorists of the postmodern, Jean Baudrillard and Frederic Jameson, addressing the ways in which their work impacts on reading Hollywood films. Within Film Studies, writing on postmodernism and Hollywood cinema has drawn on the more negative aspects of Jameson’s work. Postmodern films are seen as expressions of the logic of late capitalism, and thus incapable of offering political critique, while their relentless utilisation of past styles is reflective of aesthetic bankruptcy. In contrast, the final chapter argues in favor of taking up the work of 'affirmative' postmodern theorists, notably Linda Hutcheon, in order to set up nuanced and positive variants of postmodern film aesthetics. For Hutcheon, postmodern art is characterized by paradox, due to its simultaneous re-inscription and deconstruction of past art forms. This doubled movement of both evoking and dismantling convention underpins its political potential, namely the de-naturalisation of a history of representation. The range, diversity and critical potential of postmodern aesthetic strategies are demonstrated by detailed readings of four film texts.
Wai-Tat Fu, Mingkun Gao, and Hyo Jin Do
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- March 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780198799603
- eISBN:
- 9780191839832
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198799603.003.0016
- Subject:
- Mathematics, Logic / Computer Science / Mathematical Philosophy
From the Arab Spring to presidential elections, various forms of online social media, forums, and networking platforms have been playing increasing significant roles in our societies. These emerging ...
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From the Arab Spring to presidential elections, various forms of online social media, forums, and networking platforms have been playing increasing significant roles in our societies. These emerging socio-computer interactions demand new methods of understanding how various design features of online tools may moderate the percolation of information and gradually shape social opinions, influence social choices, and moderate collective action. This chapter starts with a review of the literature on the different ways technologies impact social phenomena, with a special focus on theories that characterize how social processes are moderated by various design features of user interfaces. It then reviews different theory-based computational methods derived from these theories to study socio-computer interaction at various levels. Specific examples of computational techniques are reviewed to illustrate how they can be useful for influencing social processes for various purposes. The chapter ends with how future technologies should be designed to improve socio-computer interaction.Less
From the Arab Spring to presidential elections, various forms of online social media, forums, and networking platforms have been playing increasing significant roles in our societies. These emerging socio-computer interactions demand new methods of understanding how various design features of online tools may moderate the percolation of information and gradually shape social opinions, influence social choices, and moderate collective action. This chapter starts with a review of the literature on the different ways technologies impact social phenomena, with a special focus on theories that characterize how social processes are moderated by various design features of user interfaces. It then reviews different theory-based computational methods derived from these theories to study socio-computer interaction at various levels. Specific examples of computational techniques are reviewed to illustrate how they can be useful for influencing social processes for various purposes. The chapter ends with how future technologies should be designed to improve socio-computer interaction.
Philip Goff
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- November 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780231140201
- eISBN:
- 9780231530781
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231140201.003.0016
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
This chapter explores the relationship between religion and popular culture in America. More specifically, it considers how various schools of thought direct their inquiries at popular culture and ...
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This chapter explores the relationship between religion and popular culture in America. More specifically, it considers how various schools of thought direct their inquiries at popular culture and how, in recent years, those who study religion in America have seized on those models to help us better understand the nature of American religious life. For much of the twentieth century, popular culture was understood to be anything between high culture and folk culture. While nearly all the terms are debatable, specialists generally regarded high culture as unique, difficult to create, and highly individual. The creations of elite culture aspire to break the boundaries of tradition, challenge common beliefs, and validate the experience of the individual. Its formation is an aesthetic act; that is, it seeks truth and beauty. Generally, there are three ways scholars approach the study of popular culture: textual analysis, audience analysis, and production analysis. This chapter also discusses typologies of religion and popular culture and concludes by assessing popular religion and religious culture in American history.Less
This chapter explores the relationship between religion and popular culture in America. More specifically, it considers how various schools of thought direct their inquiries at popular culture and how, in recent years, those who study religion in America have seized on those models to help us better understand the nature of American religious life. For much of the twentieth century, popular culture was understood to be anything between high culture and folk culture. While nearly all the terms are debatable, specialists generally regarded high culture as unique, difficult to create, and highly individual. The creations of elite culture aspire to break the boundaries of tradition, challenge common beliefs, and validate the experience of the individual. Its formation is an aesthetic act; that is, it seeks truth and beauty. Generally, there are three ways scholars approach the study of popular culture: textual analysis, audience analysis, and production analysis. This chapter also discusses typologies of religion and popular culture and concludes by assessing popular religion and religious culture in American history.
Lee Spinks
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748638352
- eISBN:
- 9780748671632
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748638352.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, 20th-century and Contemporary Literature
This book presents a full and comprehensive account of the major writing of the modernist novelist James Joyce. Ranging right across Joyce's literary corpus from his earliest artistic beginnings to ...
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This book presents a full and comprehensive account of the major writing of the modernist novelist James Joyce. Ranging right across Joyce's literary corpus from his earliest artistic beginnings to his mature prose masterpieces Ulysses and Finnegans Wake, it provides detailed textual analysis of each of his major works. The book also provides an extended discussion of the biographical, historical, political and social contexts that inform Joyce's writing and a wide-ranging discussion of the multiple strands of Joyce criticism that have established themselves over the last eighty years.Less
This book presents a full and comprehensive account of the major writing of the modernist novelist James Joyce. Ranging right across Joyce's literary corpus from his earliest artistic beginnings to his mature prose masterpieces Ulysses and Finnegans Wake, it provides detailed textual analysis of each of his major works. The book also provides an extended discussion of the biographical, historical, political and social contexts that inform Joyce's writing and a wide-ranging discussion of the multiple strands of Joyce criticism that have established themselves over the last eighty years.
John Tulloch and Belinda Middleweek
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780190244606
- eISBN:
- 9780190244644
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190244606.003.0006
- Subject:
- Literature, Film, Media, and Cultural Studies, 20th-century and Contemporary Literature
Part 2 of chapter 4 contributes to the dialogue of part 1 by combining an industry-based textual analysis with the findings of the authors’ social audience study of Blue Is the Warmest Colour. This ...
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Part 2 of chapter 4 contributes to the dialogue of part 1 by combining an industry-based textual analysis with the findings of the authors’ social audience study of Blue Is the Warmest Colour. This part puts into interdisciplinary dialogue the mutually constructed meanings of “risk,” “desire,” and “intimacy” presented by this real sex film, as read by the macro discourses of film reviewing, risk sociology, and feminist-psychoanalytical film studies outlined in the first three chapters. In doing this it also introduces analytical themes that are explored extensively in later chapters of the book: real sex versus simulated sex, multiple and performed authorship, and the pleasures of the gazes of scopophilia and ego-identity in one disciplinary paradigm, and of voluntary risk-taking and addiction in another.Less
Part 2 of chapter 4 contributes to the dialogue of part 1 by combining an industry-based textual analysis with the findings of the authors’ social audience study of Blue Is the Warmest Colour. This part puts into interdisciplinary dialogue the mutually constructed meanings of “risk,” “desire,” and “intimacy” presented by this real sex film, as read by the macro discourses of film reviewing, risk sociology, and feminist-psychoanalytical film studies outlined in the first three chapters. In doing this it also introduces analytical themes that are explored extensively in later chapters of the book: real sex versus simulated sex, multiple and performed authorship, and the pleasures of the gazes of scopophilia and ego-identity in one disciplinary paradigm, and of voluntary risk-taking and addiction in another.
Henk Nellen
Dirk van Miert, Piet Steenbakkers, and Jetze Touber (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- November 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780198806837
- eISBN:
- 9780191844379
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198806837.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
Did innovative textual analysis reshape the relations between Christian believers and their churches in early modern confessional states? This volume explores the hypothesis that in the long ...
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Did innovative textual analysis reshape the relations between Christian believers and their churches in early modern confessional states? This volume explores the hypothesis that in the long seventeenth century humanist-inspired biblical criticism contributed significantly to the decline of ecclesiastical truth claims. Historiography pictures this era as one in which the dominant position of religion and church began to show signs of erosion under the influence of vehement debates on the sacrosanct status of the Bible. Until quite recently, this gradual but decisive shift has been attributed to the rise of the sciences, in particular astronomy and physics. This book looks at biblical criticism as, on the one hand, an innovative force and, on the other, the outcome of developments in philology that had started much earlier than scientific experimentalism or the New Philosophy. Scholars began to situate the Bible in its historical context. The seventeen chapters show that even in the hands of pious, orthodox scholars philological research not only failed to solve all the textual problems that had surfaced, but even brought to light countless new incongruities. This supplied those who sought to play down the authority of the Bible with ammunition. The conviction that God’s Word had been preserved as a pure and sacred source gave way to an awareness of a complicated transmission in a plurality of divergent, ambiguous, historically determined and heavily corrupted texts. This shift took place primarily in the Dutch Protestant world of the seventeenth century.Less
Did innovative textual analysis reshape the relations between Christian believers and their churches in early modern confessional states? This volume explores the hypothesis that in the long seventeenth century humanist-inspired biblical criticism contributed significantly to the decline of ecclesiastical truth claims. Historiography pictures this era as one in which the dominant position of religion and church began to show signs of erosion under the influence of vehement debates on the sacrosanct status of the Bible. Until quite recently, this gradual but decisive shift has been attributed to the rise of the sciences, in particular astronomy and physics. This book looks at biblical criticism as, on the one hand, an innovative force and, on the other, the outcome of developments in philology that had started much earlier than scientific experimentalism or the New Philosophy. Scholars began to situate the Bible in its historical context. The seventeen chapters show that even in the hands of pious, orthodox scholars philological research not only failed to solve all the textual problems that had surfaced, but even brought to light countless new incongruities. This supplied those who sought to play down the authority of the Bible with ammunition. The conviction that God’s Word had been preserved as a pure and sacred source gave way to an awareness of a complicated transmission in a plurality of divergent, ambiguous, historically determined and heavily corrupted texts. This shift took place primarily in the Dutch Protestant world of the seventeenth century.
Timotheus Vermeulen
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- January 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780748691661
- eISBN:
- 9781474400909
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748691661.001.0001
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
Suburbia. Say the word and a stream of images pass before your eyes: white picket fence, neatly mowed lawns, winding roads nicely lined with trees, pastel tinted bungalows, bored housewives, ...
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Suburbia. Say the word and a stream of images pass before your eyes: white picket fence, neatly mowed lawns, winding roads nicely lined with trees, pastel tinted bungalows, bored housewives, conspicuous consumption. We all know what the suburbs are about. Or do we? This book looks again at the filmic and televised spaces we think we know so well. How are these spaces built up? What is it that makes us recognize them as suburbs? How do they function? Exploring the hometowns of amongst others Desperate Housewives, The Simpsons, Pleasantville and Brick, Scenes from the Suburbs examines what it means to be suburban today.Less
Suburbia. Say the word and a stream of images pass before your eyes: white picket fence, neatly mowed lawns, winding roads nicely lined with trees, pastel tinted bungalows, bored housewives, conspicuous consumption. We all know what the suburbs are about. Or do we? This book looks again at the filmic and televised spaces we think we know so well. How are these spaces built up? What is it that makes us recognize them as suburbs? How do they function? Exploring the hometowns of amongst others Desperate Housewives, The Simpsons, Pleasantville and Brick, Scenes from the Suburbs examines what it means to be suburban today.
