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Wittgenstein and Modernist Fiction: The Language of Acknowledgment shows how early twentieth-century economic and social upheaval prompted new ways of conceptualizing the purposes and powers of language. Scholars have long held that formally experimental novels written in the early twentieth century reflect how the period's material crises-from world wars to the spread of industrial capitalism-call into question the capacity of language to picture the world accurately. This book argues that this standard scholarly narrative tells only a partial story. Even as signal modernist works by Virginia Woolf, Nella Larsen, William Faulkner, and others move away from a view of language as a means of gaining knowledge, they also underscore its capacity to grant acknowledgment. They show how language might matter less as a medium for representing reality than as a tool for recognizing others. The book develops this claim by engaging with the philosophy of Ludwig Wittgenstein. Writing in 1945, in the preface to Philosophical Investigations, Wittgenstein laments, "e;It is not impossible that it should fall to the lot of this work, in its poverty and in the darkness of this time, to bring light into one brain or another-but, of course, it is not likely."e; Worrying that "e;the darkness"e; of this historical moment renders his words unintelligible, Wittgenstein echoes the linguistic skepticism that scholars have found in literary modernism. But the Investigations ultimately pushes back against such skeptical doubts by offering a vision of language as a set of shared human practices. Even when it comes to a word like "e;pain,"e; which seemingly gestures toward something absolutely private and individual, Wittgenstein indicates that we learn what "e;pain"e; means by familiarizing ourselves with the contexts in which people use the term. In his pioneering reading of the Investigations as a "e;modernist"e; work, Stanley Cavell argues that Wittgenstein's distinctive response to the problem of skepticism consists in the view that "e;other minds [are] not to be known, but acknowledged."e;The book argues that this concept of acknowledgment, as articulated implicitly by Wittgenstein and explicitly by Cavell, enables a broader reconceptualization of modernist fiction's stance toward the referential capacities of language, and it bears out this claim by reading a series of modernist novels through the lens of Wittgenstein's philosophy. From the residence halls of Cambridge to the farmsteads of rural Mississippians, the early decades of the twentieth century sowed serious doubts about the ability of individuals to find shared criteria for the meanings of words: the greater convenience of travel led to increased cross-cultural misunderstandings; technological developments facilitated new modes of race-, class-, and gender-based oppression, and two world wars irrevocably shattered an earlier generation's optimism about the inevitability of political and moral progress. In this light, Wittgenstein and Modernist Fiction contends that modernist representations of consciousness strive to capture the inner lives of socially marginalized figures, seeking to facilitate new forms of intimacy and community amongst those who have survived crushing losses and been subject to deeply isolating social forces.
While the alt right and post-truth attitudes render democracy fragile, so does professional journalism when it reports on the most vulnerable subjects in society but rarely addresses them as the imagined audience. A dialogical critique of divisions in news media, politics, and contemporary sociological theory can provide an alternative way forward.
The book presents the first integrated study of the relationship between official Islamic leadership (muftiship), non-official Islamic authorities, grassroots Muslim communities and the state in post-Communist Eurasia, encompassing Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, the Volga-Urals, Crimea, the North Caucasus, Azerbaijan and ex-Soviet Central Asia. Its analysis is positioned within the current secularism/de-secularisation debate. The book is based on a wide range of primary and secondary sources, including the author's interviews with Islamic official and popular leaders and authorities, which she conducted over two decades in various parts of Eurasia. The book employs a history-based perspective and compares the nature and role of official Islamic leadership and the state-Muslim relations across Eurasia with those in both the Middle East and Western Europe. It argues that in most of the post-Soviet lands, the official Islamic leadership and its relations with the state have largely retained their particular national and broader Eurasian character, which distinguishes them from what prevails in the Middle East and Western Europe. At the same time, the increasing political 'Europeanisation' of Lithuania and Ukraine since 2014 and, to some extent, Belarus, has accounted for their divergence towards the Western model of state-Muslim relations. In conclusion, it analyses the impact of globalisation and the advance of global Salafism, in particular, on Islamic leadership and state-Muslim relations across post-Soviet Eurasia.
Violence exploding in public spaces, corruption by political figures and economic elites, the will of the people thwarted in both elections and votes in the senate, military misadventures abroad, and rampant economic inequality at home diminishing a shared sense of the common good - in sum, a republic in disarray. These descriptions are not only familiar from ancient Roman political and social life but are also recognizable to any United States citizen who follows the news and American civic life. On the Republic proceeds chronologically through the fall of the Roman Republic beginning in 133 BCE and continuing down to around 14 CE, providing a continuous narrative of the fall of the Roman Republic juxtaposed with the contemporary political landscape of the United States.On the Republic focuses on four constellations of lessons that represent the most significant things which the fall of the Roman Republic has to teach us at this time: the dangers of political violence, the inability of individuals and institutions to save us, the finality of the loss of freedom, and lastly the importance of civic virtue. In 20 short chapters, On the Republic explores how the United States now faces many of the same challenges that toppled the Roman Republic - political divisions, economic inequality, and creeping authoritarianism. How we respond to these challenges today will determine the future of American democracy.On the Republic is not a book about the fall of ancient Rome to so-called barbarians overrunning the border. It addresses the fall of a democratic society (the Roman Republic) into an autocracy (the Roman empire). This is not a book about sexual debauchery and gluttony, but a serious reading of political events that had serious consequences. On the Republic offers modern readers lessons that, while sobering, can also empower them to participate in political life in new ways. History is a means not to predict the future, but rather to stir the civic imagination of its readers.
Emerging Thoughts in Disability and Humanness examines the role of embodied disablement in providing an important but often circumvented analysis of the explicit and implicit nature of the legitimate human body, its symbolism, and responses that such bodies elicit from diverse local through global social and cultural entities. The various sections of the book introduce the theoretical and historical foundations for analyzing humanness, and the role of the atypical body in determining membership, meaning and worth; examine embodied criteria of "e;humanness"e; and offending corporeal characteristics; describe and analyze how offenders are identified and depicted in diverse contexts; delve into how these bodies are met with praxis and axiological responses from revision through exclusion; and invoke contemporary post-postmodernist marriages of varied disciplines as frameworks for returning creative substance into rethinking disability within the textured fabric of humanness.
The book is a story about three characters who go on a road trip and experience technology, organizations, and work life in 2030. Through their journey, the reader will encounter a new job entrant, one in the middle of his career, and another who is contemplating on what to do to finish strong. They all will think through key questions and resolve issues individually, from other people or situations encountered along the way. There are exciting learning opportunities relating to how the characters approach, think, and decide on what to do to get ahead in the Corporate America of the future. The book centers around the authors' individual passions around AI, future trends, and the changing nature of work. The simple story offers unique insights on what scenarios exist, how to manage the challenges, and capitalize on opportunities to achieve career success. The book hopes the story will get readers to think about what needs to be done to prepare for future careers. The featured lessons will help readers make the appropriate right steps towards a developmental journey and pathway towards a happy, healthy, and productive life ahead.
Artificial intelligence and robotics have defined and redefined work environments worldwide. Utilizing stories, news events, and academic research, the book highlights the new realities of business and leadership in the world of AI and provides meaningful insights to help executives and corporations manage and succeed.The business and academic communities would find the book insights useful in understanding the basic notion of artificial intelligence and its impact on an organization's success. The book discusses strategies that executives can use to best manage business in an AI environment. Written with an equally educational and fun approach, the book covers practical business strategies that will help managers succeed in an AI world.
The book explores the Gothic tradition in Swedish literature - including Swedish-language literature by Finland-Swedish writers. It aims to give an overview of the development of Swedish Gothic from the Romantic age until today, and to highlight the characteristic features of the Swedish tradition of Gothic in relation to transnational developments, in particular in relation to the Anglo-American tradition. By using a contextualising comparative perspective, it highlights the most prevalent and prominent feature of Swedish Gothic, the significance of the Nordic landscape, the wilderness and local folklore. In Swedish fiction, the Gothic castle is replaced by the wilderness, and the monster is representative of untamed nature and a barbaric past. The terror is not pointing to the medieval period but is located in pre-Christian, pagan times. Especially in today's Gothic narratives, the presence of mythical creatures and nature beings, such as trolls, tomtes, or vittras, enhances the Gothic atmosphere. Another domestic trend since the mid-nineteenth century, which has become increasingly popular in the last decade, is Gothic crime stories, where the formula of a modern detective story is combined with a Gothic mystery plot. In these stories, supernatural creatures and the interference of paranormal powers constantly obstruct the modern crime investigation. Another predominant feature of Swedish Gothic that will be expanded on is its use of gendered and female monsters. In these kinds of narratives, Swedish writers and filmmakers manipulated the established Gothic conventions of female Gothic in order to make societal anxieties and gender issues visible.Drawing on a theoretical framework of gender theory and intersectionality, mainly theories on gender, race and eco-criticism, in combination with a transnational perspective used in today's comparative literature, the book explores the characteristics of Swedish Gothic. It analyses and contextualises a selection of individual narratives to explore in what way representative Swedish writers modify, transform and domesticize the established Gothic conventions. One chapter is devoted to the significance of the Nordic wilderness and the use of local folklore. Next chapter explores the dominance of gendered female monsters and in what way female and male writers adapt the Gothic elements and aesthetics to a Swedish context. The last chapter on Gothic crime expands on the use of Gothic modes and aesthetics to explore the working of the human mind in relation to crime, repressed collective memories, and cultural taboos.
This book engages with decolonial social and cultural analyses of global entangled inequalities by focusing on their local articulations globally and, in particular, in Germany, Trinidad and Tobago and the United Kingdom.
With its catalogue of hit songs, iconic characters, memorable quotes and familiar scenes, ''Grease'' is truly a behemoth of US and global popular culture. From the stage show''s debut in 1971, to the Hollywood film of 1978, to the numerous rereleases and anniversary celebrations of the twenty-first century, it has enjoyed, and continues to enjoy, success across a range of media. ''Grease''''s extended run on Broadway through the 1970s ensured it a prominent place within broader debates on the musical, 1950s nostalgia and American youth. Numerous stage revivals have followed, with theatres across the world revisiting Rydell High in front of sell-out audiences. Hollywood has time and again sought to recreate ''Grease'' the movie''s phenomenal box-office success with a procession of similarly themed rock and roll youth musicals (''Footloose'', ''Dirty Dancing'', the ''High School Musical'' franchise, to name a few). However, even as these productions enjoy their own renown, in terms of sheer longevity, prominence and popularity, ''Grease'' was, is and will remain ''the word'' when it comes to musical blockbusters. Bringing together a group of international scholars from diverse academic backgrounds, ''Grease Is the Word'' provides a series of fresh and detailed analyses of the cultural phenomenon ''Grease''. From the stage show''s first appearance in 1971 to twenty-first century responses to the ''Grease Megamix'', ''Grease Is the Word'' reflects on the musical''s impact and enduring legacy. With essays covering everything from production history, political representations, industrial impact, music, stars and reception, the book shines a spotlight on one of Broadway''s and Hollywood''s biggest commercial successes. By adopting a range of perspectives, and drawing on various visual, textual and archival sources, the contributors maintain a vibrant dialogue throughout, offering a timely reappraisal of a musical that continues to resonate with fans and commentators the world over. Written in an engaging, accessible manner, the book will appeal to students, academics, and anyone interested in American popular culture.
The gothic is a dark mirror of the fears and taboos of a culture. This collection brings together a dozen chilling tales of the nineteenth-century American South with non-fiction texts that illuminate them and ground them in their historical context. The tales are from writers with enduring, world-wide reputations (Edgar Allan Poe), and others whose work will be unknown to most readers. Indeed, one of the stories has not been reprinted for nearly a hundred years, and little is known about its author, E. Levi Brown.Similarly, the historical selections are from a range of authors, some canonical, others not, ranging from Thomas Jefferson and the great historian and sociologist W. E. B. DuBois to the relatively obscure Leona Sansay. Some of these readings are themselves as disturbingly gothic as any of the tales. Indeed, the boundaries between fiction and non-fiction are tenuous in the gothic South. It is our contention that southern gothic fiction is in many ways realistic fiction, and, even at its most grotesque and haunting, is closely linked to the realities of southern life.In America, and in the American South especially, the great fears, taboos, and boundaries often concern race. Even in stories where black people are not present, as in Poe''s "The Fall of the House of Usher" and "The System of Professor Tarr and Dr. Fether," slavery hangs in the background as a ghostly metaphor. Our background readings place the fiction in the context of the South and the Caribbean: the revolution in Haiti, Nat Turner''s rebellion, the realities of slavery and the myths spun by its apologists, the aftermath of the Civil War, and the brutalities of Jim Crow laws.The twelve Gothic tales of this collection span the nineteenth-century South and are from some of the most famous writers of the age, such as Edgar Allan Poe, to more recently rediscovered and now celebrated writers such as Kate Chopin and Charles Chesnutt, to the completely and unfairly obscure E. Levi Brown. Companion readings-some themselves quite chilling-are by celebrated writers and well-known historical figures, such as Thomas Jefferson, Charles Brockden Brown, Jacques Dessalines, and W. E. B DuBois. These readings place the fiction in the context of the South and the Caribbean: the revolution in Haiti, Nat Turner''s rebellion, the realities of slavery and the myths spun by its apologists, the aftermath of the Civil War, and the brutalities of Jim Crow laws.
Max Nettlaüs Utopian Vision provides a historically grounded presentation of the entire literature of utopianism. Nettlau shows an encyclopaedic knowledge of the subject.
Travel Writing in an Age of Global Quarantine is an anthology of travel accounts, by a diverse range of writers and academics. Challenging conventional academic ''authority'', each contributor writes, from memory during the Covid-19 lockdown, about a place they have previously visited, ''accompanied'' by an historical traveller who published an account of the same place. As immobility is forced upon us, at least for the immediate future, we have the chance to reflect. Travel Writing in an Age of Global Quarantine presents opportunities to approach a text as a scholar differently. We break with the traditional academic ''rules'' by inserting ourselves into the narrative and foregrounding the personal, subjective elements of literary scholarship. Each contributor critiques an historical description of a place about which, simultaneously, they write a personal account. The travel writer, Philip Marsden, posits a fundamental difference between traditional ''academic'' writing and travel writing in that travel narratives do not, or ought not anyway, begin by assuming a scholarly authoritative understanding of the places they describe. Instead, they attempt to say what they found and how they felt about it. The very good point we think Marsden makes, and the one this book tries to demonstrate, is that, as a matter of form, the first-person narrative has the ability to expose the research process: to allow the reader to see when and how a scholarly transformation takes place; to give the scholar the opportunity to openly foreground their own subjectivity and say ''this is the personal journey that led me to my conclusions''; to problematize the unchallenged authority of the scholar. Travel Writing in an Age of Global Quarantine challenges the idea of scholarly authority by embracing the subjective nature of research and the first-person element. We address a problematic distance between travel writing practice and travel writing scholarship, in which the latter talks about the former without ever really talking to it. Defining travel writing as a genre has often proved more difficult than it might seem, but Peter Hulme has suggested that it is ethically necessary for the writer to have visited the place described. Hulme asserts that ''travel writing is certainly literature, but it is never fiction''. If this seems obvious, Travel Writing in an Age of Global Quarantine asks the reader to consider the idea that if visiting the place described is necessary for the writer to claim they have produced a travel account, might it also be necessary, or at least advantageous and valuable, for the writer of a scholarly critique of that account to have done the same.
Trade unions are central to Australian social, economic and political life. They are the largest voluntary organisations in the country, are a significant presence in political life, and, as workplace organisations, are often the only effective vehicle to give voice to working people. Their role is nevertheless under serious challenge, with low and declining union density and shrinking coverage of collective bargaining. Controversies surrounding several union officials have called into the question the legitimacy of trade unions. And for some governments, trade unions are not social partners but rather targets of restrictive legislation. Despite these tensions, there has yet to be a broad and systematic scholarly engagement with the challenge to the centrality of trade unions in Australian social, economic and political life. Existing literature tends either to examine trade unionism from an historical perspective or to focus upon the regulation of the role of unions in the workplace. This book aims to fill this gap by bringing together leading scholars in industrial relations, law, political science and political philosophy to critically assess the role of Australian trade unions. In doing so, it is organised according to two themes. First, the book examines the democratic role of trade unions as representatives of working people and addresses issues such as economic democracy and the rule of law in the workplace, political funding and trade agreements. Second, the book examines the social justice role of trade unions in providing a countervailing force to employer power including in relation to precarious work, the ''gig'' economy, labour migration and the pressing global challenge of climate change. The concluding contribution weaves these two themes of democracy and social justice together in proposing a democratic socialist vision of trade unions and labour law.
The diverse essays in this book reflect Jonathan Steinberg''s methodological pluralism and insatiable curiosity for historical questions which cross disciplinary and geographical boundaries. Animating students, colleagues, friends and wider audiences with his enthusiasm for ''thinking about the past'' was his vocation, one that he pursued with unmatched enthusiasm. Through this collection of essays, the book hopes to convey something of the intellectual range, analytical purchase and moral purpose of his historical writing and teaching. One feature of Steinberg''s inspiring and charismatic lectures was his unique ability to combine an analysis - always fresh, never pre-cooked - of big historical structures and trends with an acute awareness of the importance of individual personalities. Jonathan Steinberg also believed in contingency, the importance of chance, and was keen to reject any form of historical determinism. The third salient feature of his work was his sense of moral purpose. He understood history as a hermeneutic science and was appropriately cautious about the epistemological status of historical claims, but he nevertheless saw the correctness of historical arguments and the probity of historical claims to be moral as well as empirical questions. His ethical sensibilities, his openness to interdisciplinary work and the humane and nuanced understanding of human motivation equipped him to tackle some of the most difficult subjects of nineteenth- and twentieth-century European history.
The second of two volumes on dignity, Law and Religious Liberty focuses on the connection between human dignity and positive law, oriented around the central question, ¿What role should dignity play in the development of legislation and the adjudication of disputes involving religious freedom?¿
The second of two volumes on dignity, Law and Religious Liberty focuses on the connection between human dignity and positive law, oriented around the central question, "What role should dignity play in the development of legislation and the adjudication of disputes involving religious freedom?"
Creativity and The Paris Review Interviews: A Discourse Analysis of Famous Writers' Composing Practices centers around a thematic discourse analysis of a 2000-page corpus of Paris Review interviews, focusing on the creative processes of some of the world's most famous fiction-writers and poets. The discourse analysis traces elements of the paradigmatic creative-process model--first insight, preparation, incubation, insight, verification--through the focal artists' descriptions of their composing practices as embedded in the interview transcripts. That analysis also reveals multiple and significantemergent themes germane to fiction and poetry writing. The ultimate goal of this analysis is to identify patterns relevant to the aforementioned creative-process elements and themes that are suggestive of specific strategies writers can employ to facilitate their own composing acts--whether fictional, poetic, or expository. Such findings will also benefit teachers seeking to facilitate student success in the composition classroom. Applications to expository writing are bolstered by a thorough treatment of scholarship on intersections between creativity theory and composition theory. This book is informed by four critical premises, each of which is explicitly addressed: All writers can learn valuable creative and composing practices from studying and experimenting with the creative and composing practices of other writers; The collection of Paris Review interviews is a respected and uniquely illuminating repository of specifically documented creative practices and experiences of the world's most accomplished writers; Systematic, empirical analysis of these interviews reveals distinct patterns in the creative practices and experiences that the authors credit as being relevant or crucial to their success; These patterns of practice and experience point to potentially fruitful strategies for facilitating successful composing acts in established and developing writers. In examining and supporting these premises, author Ronda Leathers Dively employs various scholarly lenses from a number of disciplines--most significantly rhetoric and composition, psychology, and education. The findings of the analysis are supported by raw quantitative data (in the form of total "hits" establishing the strength of given themes) and illustrative qualitative data (in the form of direct quotes and paraphrases exemplifying these themes). In addition to the sheer pleasure and fascination derived from reading about famous authors' reflections on the creation of their masterworks, this book provides a catalog of specific environmental conditions, behavioral routines, and cognitive practices that can productively expand the repertoires of writers and writing teachers alike. Individual writers might tap these techniques in the quest to invigorate their own writing production while writing teachers might tap them for fresh approaches to sparking their students' excitement about writing and confidence in their composing abilities.
This book studies Bob Dylan's album Time Out of Mind as a series of dreams. These dreams work on three distinct levels: as murder ballads about a killer awaiting execution, as religious allegory about a protagonist torn between salvation and damnation, and as meditation on race and music in America.
The Anthem Companion to Philip Selznick is a collection of essays by renowned authors on the preeminent sociologist.
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