The Mediated Myth of Lin Zexu - Social and Cultural Textures of Chinese Society (Culture & Theory)
The Chinese scholar-official Lin Zexu played a crucial role in the First Opium War in the 19th century. Since 1978, the myth surrounding the historical figure is used to legitimise current rulers' political power, to celebrate dominant values, and to promote a certain associated way of life. By analysing Chinese media representations of the myth of Lin Zexu, Angelo Maria Cimino identifies the social and cultural significance of a mediated historical knowledge. He examines cultural products such...
Reading the iPod as an Anthropological Artifact (Routledge Series for Creative Teaching and Learning in Anthropology)
by Lane DeNicola
"The Anthropology of Stuff" is part of a new Series dedicated to innovative, unconventional ways to connect undergraduate students and their lived concerns about our social world to the power of social science ideas and evidence. Our goal with the project is to help spark social science imaginations and in doing so, new avenues for meaningful thought and action. Each "Stuff" title is a short (100 page) "mini text" illuminating for students the network of people and activities that create their...
Musicologist Tawna presents a portrait of how various strata of Americans encountered, performed, and enjoyed music from the dawn of the 19th century to the Civil War. Relying on letters, memoirs, interviews, and other primary sources, he explores settings from the opera house to the saloon and disc
Listening for the Secret (Studies in the Grateful Dead, #1)
by Ulf Olsson
Listening for the Secret is a critical assessment of the Grateful Dead and the distinct culture that grew out of the group's music, politics, and performance. With roots in popular music traditions, improvisation, and the avant-garde, the Grateful Dead provides a unique lens through which we can better understand the meaning and creation of the counterculture community. Marshaling the critical and aesthetic theories of Adorno, Benjamin, Foucault and others, Ulf Olsson places the music group with...
From the author of YES YOU CAN, a fun collection of art and advice culled from government and school citizenship publications from the 1950s-'60s. Brief introduction explaining the Good Citizen concept (that by obeying even minor laws and social conventions we're better people, living in a better country, in a better world) and then the art/advice, divided into chapters starting with Citizenship Starts with You and then The Good Citizen. At Home, In the Family, At Work and School, In the Neighbo...
Wa(h)Re Archaologie: Die Medialisierung Archaologischen Wissens Im Spannungsfeld Von Wissenschaft Und Offentlichkeit
by Marco Kircher
A Kirkus Reviews Best Nonfiction Book of the YearWhen Duncan Wall visited his first nouveau cirque as a college student in Paris, everything about it—the monochromatic costumes, the acrobats singing Simon and Garfunkel, the juggler reciting Proust—hooked him. Soon he was attending circuses two or three nights a week, and soon after that, he entered the intensively competitive training program at France’s École Nationale des Arts du Cirque. The Ordinary Acrobat is a magical, funny, sometimes scar...
Digitale Korper, Geschlechtlicher Raum: Das Medizinisch Imaginare Des -Visible Human Project-
by Claudia Reiche
Almost half of the developed population has an internet-based addiction. In some ways this is not surprising, as our world is filled with addictive experiences: from social media and messaging, to rolling news and video streaming. Attention spans are decreasing as our time spent glued to our screens are increasing, negatively affecting our ability to relax, sleep, develop relationships and achieve meaningful goals. Psychologist Adam Alter provides insight into why explains the science behind why...
On the Authorship Controversy is about how a historical deception has survived as a tradition for nearly 400 years, despite numerous challenges - this is, of course, referring to the `tradition' that the works attributed to William Shakespeare of Stratford-on-Avon were actually written by him, despite no evidence of schooling or access to libraries, lack of recognition by other playwrights when he died, and much more. The editors of the definitive decennial edition of his works, together with vi...
Zwischen nationalem Pop und World Music. Zur Entwicklung von Son in der Musiklandschaft der Dominikanischen Republik
by Karoline Morales
In the beginning was the word, and...you know the rest. Not like this you don't. In a new twist on a classic tale, Tom Carver re-imagines the Old Testament without the leading character. The Newer, More English Version takes an erudite look at the supporting players of the Pentateuch, with no Jehovah to steal the show. What's left is a varied cast of egomaniacs, revolutionaries, war criminals, genii and perverts: Joseph, smug careerist and part-time psychoanalyst; Moses, a revolutionary firebran...
Pop Culture Arab World! (Popular Culture in the Contemporary World)
by Andrew Hammond
The first book to explore how Arab pop culture has succeeded in helping forge a pan-Arab identity, where Arab nationalism has failed.Pop Culture Arab World! is the first volume to explore the full scope of Arab cultural life since World War II. The book reveals a homogeneous yet richly diverse culture across the Arab nations.In-depth chapters feature radio/TV (particularly the satellite revolution, which has fostered a shared Arab identity), the press (vibrant and controversial), cinema (once th...