Books published by University Press of Southern Denmark

Published in 1516, Poul Ræff''s "Iudeorum Secreta", a translation of Johannes Pfefferkorn''s The Confession of the Jews, was a landmark in the development of anti-Jewish polemics in Denmark. For the first time, Danes were presented with descriptions of Jewish ceremonies that aimed to portray these practices as dangerously anti-Christian, superstitious and deviating from ''real'' Biblical Judaism. Contemporary Judaism is described as a rabbinical construction that is worthy of nothing but ridicule and mockery. The book explores this key text that comprises a valuable source for a range of academic disciplines: the history of anti-semitism, the study of Jewish-Christian relations, social history, the history of religious culture, and medieval and early modern Danish language and literature. This book includes an outline of how Jews were portrayed in medieval Danish vernacular literature; a description of Pfefferkorn''s life and works; a discussion of Ræff''s translation and publication of Iudeorum Secreta; a presentation of the language and style of the Danish version, as well as an edition of the text together with the Latin original, an English translation and an extensive commentary.

Circling Marilyn approaches the famous star in a manner that recognizes the impossibility of ever locating the ´real´ Marilyn Monroe. It gets close to the actress by discussing the chameleonic performances of Marilyn as woman, star, and text. Like Elvis, Marilyn lives, because she has become a discourse articulating major issues in the cultures she inhabits, whether in the 1950s or in the 21st century. In circling ´Marilyn country,´ this book discusses Marilyn as text, since those who knew and did not know her—husbands, lovers, fans, writers, directors, co-stars, critics—have written about Marilyn differently, and endlessly. Circling Marilyn also scrutinizes Marilyn as Body, but it locates not just one body, but many—including a disciplined and a communicative body. Other chapters consider the performing Marilyn and Marilyn performed. Marilyn takes on roles as herself, as a white and black woman, as a cowgirl on the Last Frontier, while others play Marilyn by snatching her famous body for their own purposes, at gay parades or in cyberspace. Circling Marilyn aims at readers engaged in American Studies, Media Studies, Cultural Studies, and Literature, as well as the general public, whose appetite for Marilyn Monroe keeps her alive, if eternally elusive.