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Literature & Literary StudiesApril 2020Interweaving myths in Shakespeare and his contemporaries
by Janice Valls-Russell, Agnès Lafont, Charlotte Coffin
This volume proposes new insights into the uses of classical mythology by Shakespeare and his contemporaries, focusing on interweaving processes in early modern appropriations of myth. Its 11 essays show how early modern writing intertwines diverse myths and plays with variant versions of individual myths that derive from multiple classical sources, as well as medieval, Tudor and early modern retellings and translations. Works discussed include poems and plays by William Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe and others. Essays concentrate on specific plays including The Merchant of Venice and Dido Queen of Carthage, tracing interactions between myths, chronicles, the Bible and contemporary genres. Mythological figures are considered to demonstrate how the weaving together of sources deconstructs gendered representations. New meanings emerge from these readings, which open up methodological perspectives on multi-textuality, artistic appropriation and cultural hybridity.
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2019Conspiracy Myths
How we are deceived by twisted facts
by Holm Gero Hümmler
The twin towers of the World Trade Center were blown up on behalf of the US government. Vapour trails in the sky contain chemicals that cause disease. The moon landing never took place; it was staged in a studio. Many people believe in conspiracy theories: supporting evidence can seem plausible, until you look closely. To refute conspiracy theories often requires scientific and technical knowledge. Dr. Holm Gero Hümmler has precisely this sort of knowledge, and he is able to communicate it clearly for laypeople. In his book “Conspiracy Myths” he provides guidelines on how to deal with questionable facts. He gives valuable tips for personal research and shows how to deconstruct well-known conspiracy theories – from 9-11 to the “earthquake machine” HAARP, to chemtrails and “Nazi UFOs”. Sometimes, refutation is easy: you only need a sand pit and game pieces ...
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October 2020Turning Men into Pigs and Staying Safe from Such Trickery
A Scientific Foray into the World of Ancient Greek Legends
by Monika Niehaus, Michael Wink
The adventures of Odysseus are not just a classic literary epic but also shine a light on intriguing questions for geography, archaeology and biology. Phenomena like the Cyclops and magic potions were only understood in recent decades thanks to phytochemical and pharmacological research that enabled new insights into the effect of plant substances on the mind and body. Monika Niehaus and Michael Wink embark on an enjoyable excursion in their book on a scientific foray for knowledge – from ancient myths to medieval drug excesses and the world of comics.
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Literature & Literary StudiesApril 2024Myth and (mis)information
Constructing the medical professions in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century English literature and culture
by Allan Ingram, Helen Williams, Clark Lawlor
This collection draws together original scholarship from international contributors on a range of aspects of professional and semi-professional medical work and its relations to British culture. It combines a diverse spectrum of scholarly approaches, from medical history to book history, exploring literary and scientific texts, such as satiric poetry, essays, anatomies, advertisements, and the novel, to shed light on the mythologisation and transmission of medical (mis)information through literature and popular culture. It analyses the persuasive and sometimes deceptive means by which myths, as well as information and beliefs, about medicine and the medical professions proliferated in English literary culture of this period, from early eighteenth-century household remedies to the late nineteenth-century concerns with vaccination that are still relevant today.
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Humanities & Social SciencesMarch 2017Popular imperialism and the military, 1850-1950
by John M. MacKenzie
Colonial war played a vital part in transforming the reputation of the military and placing it on a standing equal to that of the navy. The book is concerned with the interactive culture of colonial warfare, with the representation of the military in popular media at home, and how these images affected attitudes towards war itself and wider intellectual and institutional forces. It sets out to relate the changing image of the military to these fundamental facts. For the dominant people they were an atavistic form of war, shorn of guilt by Social Darwinian and racial ideas, and rendered less dangerous by the increasing technological gap between Europe and the world. Attempts to justify and understand war were naturally important to dominant people, for the extension of imperial power was seldom a peaceful process. The entertainment value of war in the British imperial experience does seem to have taken new and more intensive forms from roughly the middle of the nineteenth century. Themes such as the delusive seduction of martial music, the sketch of the music hall song, powerful mythic texts of popular imperialism, and heroic myths of empire are discussed extensively. The first important British war correspondent was William Howard Russell (1820-1907) of The Times, in the Crimea. The 1870s saw a dramatic change in the representation of the officer in British battle painting. Up to that point it was the officer's courage, tactical wisdom and social prestige that were put on display.
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Literature & Literary StudiesOctober 2017Interweaving myths in Shakespeare and his contemporaries
by Charlotte Coffin, Agnès Lafont, Janice Valls-Russell
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Humanities & Social SciencesSeptember 2020Law in popular belief
by Anthony Amatrudo, Regina Rauxloh
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Business, Economics & LawMarch 2017Law in popular belief
Myth and reality
by Edited by Anthony Amatrudo, Regina Rauxloh
In recent years there has been a significant growth in interest of the so-called "law in context" extending legal studies beyond black letter law. This book looks at the relationship between statute law and legal practice. It examines how law is applied in reality and more precisely how law is perceived by the general public in contrast to the legal profession. The authors look at a number of themes that are central to examining ways in which myths about law are formed, and how there is inevitably a constitutive power aspect to this myth making. At the same time they explore to what extent law itself creates and sustains myths. The book will be of general interest to a number of different disciplines such as legal theory, general law, criminology and sociology.
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Children's & YAAugust 2020Cryptos
by Poznanski, Ursula
Where do we go when Nowhere is the only destination left? Kerrybrook is Jana‘s favourite virtual escape. An idyllic fishing village with beautiful nature and, every now and then, a breeze of fresh air from the nearby sea. Jana, is this world‘s designer and person in power, she’s satisfied with her masterpiece. Best job so far. Until one day, a dead body is found, in both, ’Virtual Reality‘ and the real world. In times of climate change, VR is the only safe place for humankind. That‘s why Jana needs to solve the crime, she’s responsible for stopping the destruction. • CliFi Thriller (Climate Fiction): Climate change & virtual reality • For fans of Black Mirror (Netflix) • All age readers • Strong, female protagonist • Highly relevant topic WHITE RAVENS recommendation (2021): "In the not too distant future, the world is an inhospitable place: droughts, storms, floods. That’s why world designers construct »alternative realities«, such as landscapes populated by dinosaurs, life at court in the Middle Ages, and surfing and chilling out on a beach. People can switch between these worlds at will and, when they die there, they are not truly dead; instead, they merely return to the »real world« – same as at night when they sleep. Then they are reunited with their body, which is lying inside a capsule. In »Cryptos«, Ursula Poznanski pulls out all the stops of storytelling: She embeds numerous references to human and intellectual history in an action-packed and extremely suspenseful thriller plot. In the process, she raises central existential and ontological questions that result from the interplay between the real and the virtual worlds. This complex dystopian novel is narrated in such an enjoyable way that readers will hardly notice their brains going into overdrive as they devour it."
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Humanities & Social SciencesMarch 2017
The language of empire
Myths and metaphors of popular imperialism, 1880-1918
by Robert Macdonald
The debate about the Empire dealt in idealism and morality, and both sides employed the language of feeling, and frequently argued their case in dramatic terms. This book opposes two sides of the Empire, first, as it was presented to the public in Britain, and second, as it was experienced or imagined by its subjects abroad. British imperialism was nurtured by such upper middle-class institutions as the public schools, the wardrooms and officers' messes, and the conservative press. The attitudes of 1916 can best be recovered through a reconstruction of a poetics of popular imperialism. The case-study of Rhodesia demonstrates the almost instant application of myth and sign to a contemporary imperial crisis. Rudyard Kipling was acknowledged throughout the English-speaking world not only as a wonderful teller of stories but as the 'singer of Greater Britain', or, as 'the Laureate of Empire'. In the last two decades of the nineteenth century, the Empire gained a beachhead in the classroom, particularly in the coupling of geography and history. The Island Story underlined that stories of heroic soldiers and 'fights for the flag' were easier for teachers to present to children than lessons in morality, or abstractions about liberty and responsible government. The Education Act of 1870 had created a need for standard readers in schools; readers designed to teach boys and girls to be useful citizens. The Indian Mutiny was the supreme test of the imperial conscience, a measure of the morality of the 'master-nation'.
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The ArtsJanuary 2019The cultural politics of contemporary Hollywood film
by Chris Beasley, Heather Brook
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Literature & Literary StudiesApril 2018Water and fire
The myth of the flood in Anglo-Saxon England
by Anke Bernau, Daniel Anlezark
Noah's Flood is one of the Bible's most popular stories, and flood myths survive in many cultures today. This book presents the first comprehensive examination of the incorporation of the Flood myth into the Anglo-Saxon imagination. Focusing on literary representations, it contributes to our understanding of how Christian Anglo-Saxons perceived their place in the cosmos. For them, history unfolded between the primeval Deluge and a future - perhaps imminent - flood of fire, which would destroy the world. This study reveals both an imaginative diversity and shared interpretations of the Flood myth. Anglo-Saxons saw the Flood as a climactic event in God's ongoing war with his more rebellious creatures, but they also perceived the mystery of redemption through baptism. Anlezark studies a range of texts against their historical background, and discusses shifting emphases in the way the Flood was interpreted for diverse audiences. The book concludes with a discussion of Beowulf, relating the epic poem's presentation of the Flood myth to that of other Anglo-Saxon texts.
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March 2022Gone to the Forest!
Through the Undergrowth with a Forestry Expert
by Bastian Kaiser
Germans and their forest! Everyone feels it’s their mission to have their say. Few best-selling authors manage the general sentiment about the forest. Do the facts perhaps sometimes fall by the wayside? Forestry expert Bastian Kaiser clears up myths and misunderstandings and shows the fundamental importance of our forests culturally, economically and for the climate and sustainability debate. On his ramble through the undergrowth, the author gives us an amusing glimpse of his ‘forest-inspired’ life story.
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February 2024Why We Should Care if a Sack of RiceFalls Over in China
The food of the future
by Dr. Malte Rubach
It is time to counter the numerous utopias, myths and established narratives of the future of nutrition with a fact-based scenario. This book shows where the natural limits of what is currently technologically feasible lie and how the global diversity of food cultures will ensure the survival of humanity in the future. It exposes the great promises of meat substitutes from the laboratory as well as vegan renunciation scenarios, and shows a realistic path for the future of global nutrition along the lines of the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
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2022Tabu Subjects
Caught between the duty of confidentiality and the duty to speak
by Almut Roth
Why is a subject regarded as off-limits and how does one handle it? What is better kept to yourself and what is essential that you say to the person affected? Countless people are ashamed of their diseases and do not dare to talk about them in public. But how can you find out what is meant, even though it is not openly stated? This calls for sensitivity and professional expertise! Only if someone has sufficient background knowledge about a disease and its possible treatments can emerging worries and anxieties be confronted, preconceptions dispelled and existing myths refuted. This book sheds clear and concise light on 50 supposedly taboo subjects, as well as providing appropriate phrases for difficult consultations in the pharmacy!
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FictionTHE BOOK OF IMAGINARY ISLANDS
by Lukas Maisel
Almost every Asian culture has a name for this particular creature – Yeren in China, Chemo in Tibet or Orang Pendek on Sumatra. For centuries it has had a place in myths and imaginations. Only the scientific world is not interested in the missing link between man and beast. A Swiss cryptozoologist is determined to change this. He sets off on an expedition to central Papua New Guinea. By his side is a man from the ethnic group of the Bugis; at the helm of the boat is someone who calls himself Jonah. And then there is Blum, in his mid-twenties, faint-hearted, but with a pronounced awareness of proper etiquette. Together they set off on a journey into well-measured uncertainty. With a self-welded cage on the bow…
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Humanities & Social SciencesApril 2020Anarchism, 1914–18
Internationalism, anti-militarism and war
by Ruth Kinna, Matthew S. Adams
Anarchism 1914-18 is the first systematic analysis of anarchist responses to the First World War. It examines the interventionist debate between Peter Kropotkin and Errico Malatesta which split the anarchist movement in 1914 and provides a historical and conceptual analysis of debates conducted in European and American movements about class, nationalism, internationalism, militarism, pacifism and cultural resistance. Contributions discuss the justness of war, non-violence and pacifism, anti-colonialism, pro-feminist perspectives on war and the potency of myths about the war and revolution for the reframing of radical politics in the 1920s and beyond. Divisions about the war and the experience of being caught on the wrong side of the Bolshevik Revolution encouraged anarchists to reaffirm their deeply-held rejection of vanguard socialism and develop new strategies that drew on a plethora of anti-war activities.
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Humanities & Social SciencesFebruary 2024‘Survival Capitalism’ and the Big Bang
Culture, contingency and capital in the making of the 1980s financial revolution
by Emma Barrett
This book about the Thatcher government and the City of London tells the compelling human story of the people and processes that made Britain's 1980s financial revolution. Fusing insider testimony with new archival discoveries, it examines high stakes and networked solutions, and uncovers new objectives that drove reforms. In so doing it demystifies a major shift in capitalism. This has implications for our understandings of government and capitalism, from the way we think about the origins of subsequent financial crises to today's growing inequalities. Survival Capitalism offers new insights into the last major restructuring of the City, disrupts myths surrounding the logics of the market, and pays attention to people and processes at a time when the City of London again faces major change as Britain seeks to find its place outside the European Union in the wake of Brexit.
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October 2023Post-Mortem
Autopsy stories: the unusual experiences of a pathologist
by Roland Sedivy
— True crime stories from the morgue — Famous deaths and autopsy stories resolved, such as Antarctic explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton and the case of Anne Greene, who survived her execution by hanging The post-mortem examination. A glimpse inside the interior of the human being. Many find the idea fascinating; for others it is creepy or even repugnant. There are still numerous myths and horror stories surrounding the autopsy, many of them associated with primal human fears such as that of being buried alive, which have existed since Antiquity. It is precisely for this reason that it is important to carry out the post-mortem examination with the utmost conscientiousness. Pathologist Roland Sedivy provides an exciting insight into his profession. Profound and with tremendous humour, he tells us about the early days of the autopsy, and shares with us some macabre and some mysterious cases.
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Humanities & Social SciencesFebruary 2017European Empires and the People
Popular responses to imperialism in France, Britain, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Italy
by John M. MacKenzie
This is the first book to survey in comparative form the transmission of imperial ideas to the public in six European countries in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The chapters, focusing on France, Britain, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Italy, provide parallel studies of the manner in which colonial ambitions and events in the respective European empires were given wider popular visibility. The international group of contributors, who are all scholars working at the cutting edge of these fields, place their work in the context of governmental policies, the economic bases of imperial expansion, major events such as wars of conquest, the emergence of myths of heroic action in exotic contexts, religious and missionary impulses, as well as the new media which facilitated such popular dissemination. Among these media were the press, international exhibitions, popular literature, educational institutions and methods, ceremonies, church sermons and lectures, monuments, paintings and much else.
