Navel of the Moon

Navel of the Moon
Author: Mary Helen Lagasse
Publisher: Northwestern University Press
Total Pages: 282
Release: 2015-06-20
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0810131056

Navel of the Moon is a coming-of-age tale centering on Vicenta “Vicky” Lumiere, a resident of the Irish Channel neighborhood of New Orleans. By closely observing her neighbors and friends, often with a critical eye and a naïve interpretation, Vicky learns that the world fails to fall into discrete categories of good and evil, and that any attempt to assert authority over chaos is ultimately impossible. The characters that structure Vicky's world are intriguing, beginning with her Mexican grandmother, Mimy, whose claim to be from the "navel of the moon" baffles Vicky. Over the course of one summer, the heroine's attempts to understand the illusive nature of friendship captures the sorrow, the happiness, and the ordinary of one's humanity.

In the Navel of the Moon

In the Navel of the Moon
Author: Paul H. St. Pierre
Publisher: Groundwood Books Ltd
Total Pages: 128
Release: 1993
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1550540548

This story takes place in San Sebastian de Hidalgo, a Mexican village with a name longer than its main street. It is a story of death and flowers, love, good fun, pride and poverty, all of it set to music in a country that is more grand opera than a nation.

Guadalupe

Guadalupe
Author:
Publisher: ibukku
Total Pages: 259
Release: 2017-07-06
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1640860150

Nationalist Myths and Ethnic Identities

Nationalist Myths and Ethnic Identities
Author: Natividad Gutierrez
Publisher: U of Nebraska Press
Total Pages: 391
Release: 2015-11
Genre: History
ISBN: 0803288603

This timely study examines the processes by which modern states are created within multiethnic societies. How are national identities forged from countries made up of peoples with different and often conflicting cultures, languages, and histories? How successful is this process? What is lost and gained from the emergence of national identities? Natividad Gutiérrez examines the development of the modern Mexican state to address these difficult questions. She describes how Mexican national identity has been and is being created and evaluates the effectiveness of that process of state-building. Her investigation is distinguished by a critical consideration of cross-cultural theories of nationalism and the illuminating use of a broad range of data from Mexican culture and history, including interviews with contemporary indigenous intellectuals and students, an analysis of public-school textbooks, and information gathered from indigenous organizations. Gutiérrez argues that the modern Mexican state is buttressed by pervasive nationalist myths of foundation, descent, and heroism. These myths--expressed and reinforced through the manipulation of symbols, public education, and political discourse--downplay separate ethnic identities and work together to articulate an overriding nationalist ideology. The ideology girding the Mexican state has not been entirely successful, however. This study reveals that indigenous intellectuals and students are troubled by the relationship between their nationalist and ethnic identities and are increasingly questioning official policies of integration.

City Fictions

City Fictions
Author: Amanda Holmes
Publisher: Bucknell University Press
Total Pages: 226
Release: 2007
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 9780838756737

Using concepts from urban and cultural studies, City Fictions examines the representation of the city in the works of five important late-twentieth-century Spanish American authors, Octavio Paz, Julio Cortazar, Christina Peri Rossi, Diamela Eltit, and Carlos Monsavais. While each of these authors is influenced at least partially by a specific Spanish American city, be it Mexico City, Buenos Aires, Montevideo, or Santiago, the element that brings them together is the way in which the city is fictionalized in their work: they all equate both language and the body with urban space. In these metaphors, language breaks down and the body disintegrates, creating a disturbing picture of violent decline. The poetry of Paz associates the urban surroundings with dissolving sentences and desensitized, fingertips; for Cortazar, characters walking through cities are seen as both creating and unraveling written texts;

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon (Newbery Honor Book)

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon (Newbery Honor Book)
Author: Grace Lin
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Total Pages: 221
Release: 2009-07-01
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 0316052604

A Time Magazine 100 Best Fantasy Books of All Time selection!​ A Reader’s Digest Best Children’s Book of All Time​! This stunning fantasy inspired by Chinese folklore is a companion novel to Starry River of the Sky and the New York Times bestselling and National Book Award finalist When the Sea Turned to Silver In the valley of Fruitless mountain, a young girl named Minli lives in a ramshackle hut with her parents. In the evenings, her father regales her with old folktales of the Jade Dragon and the Old Man on the Moon, who knows the answers to all of life's questions. Inspired by these stories, Minli sets off on an extraordinary journey to find the Old Man on the Moon to ask him how she can change her family's fortune. She encounters an assorted cast of characters and magical creatures along the way, including a dragon who accompanies her on her quest for the ultimate answer. Grace Lin, author of the beloved Year of the Dog and Year of the Rat returns with a wondrous story of adventure, faith, and friendship. A fantasy crossed with Chinese folklore, Where the Mountain Meets the Moon is a timeless story reminiscent of The Wizard of Oz and Kelly Barnhill's The Girl Who Drank the Moon. Her beautiful illustrations, printed in full-color, accompany the text throughout. Once again, she has created a charming, engaging book for young readers.

The Blazing Inner Fire of Bliss and Emptiness

The Blazing Inner Fire of Bliss and Emptiness
Author:
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 197
Release: 2024-05-28
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1614295441

A set of commentaries that present some of the most rarefied and secret teachings within Tibetan Buddhism from the perspective of the Dalai Lama’s Gelug school. The Blazing Inner Fire of Bliss and Emptiness presents lucid translations of a pair of detailed commentaries by the famed Tibetan tantric master Ngulchu Dharmabhadra (1772–1851), illuminating a set of extremely secret and restricted tantric practices of highest yoga tantra. The first of these commentaries details the practices of the Six Yogas of Naropa, one of the most celebrated and revered systems of completion-stage practice in Tibet. Dharmabhadra presents the Six Yogas by elaborating upon Lama Tsongkhapa’s (1357–1419) masterpiece on the subject entitled Endowed with the Three Inspirations, which served as the basis for nearly all subsequent commentaries on the Six Yogas within the Gelug tradition. Ngulchu Dharmabhadra’s commentary is unique in that it presents the Six Yogas within the context of Vajrayogini practice, making this book a perfect companion piece to The Extremely Secret Dakini of Naropa (Wisdom Publications, 2020). Also contained in this book is Ngulchu Dharmabhadra’s lucid and concise commentary on the First Panchen Lama’s (1570–1662) famous Supplication for Liberation from [Fear of] the Perilous Journey of the Intermediate State. The prayer—a beautiful literary contribution from the First Panchen Lama in its own right—invokes the immediacy of death and the potential to use the process of dying as an opportunity for liberation. The prayer extols the efficacy of the “nine mixings” of the completion stage as direct means of transforming our ordinary death process by using advanced yogas presented in the first commentary on the Six Yogas. Together, these works present the reader with a vast and profound vision of spiritual transformation—one in which every aspect of human experience can be used as an opportunity for transcendence and spiritual liberation.

The Way of Lovers: The Oxford Anonymous Commentary on the Song of Songs (Bodleian Library, MS Opp. 625)

The Way of Lovers: The Oxford Anonymous Commentary on the Song of Songs (Bodleian Library, MS Opp. 625)
Author: Sara Japhet
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 288
Release: 2017-06-12
Genre: History
ISBN: 9004345434

This extraordinary commentary by a late twelfth-century anonymous northern French exegete interprets the Song of Songs solely according to its plain meaning as a story of two young lovers and their developing relationship. The exegete pays attention to every detail of the text, offering many enlightening insights into its meaning, all the while expanding upon the “way of lovers” – the ways that young people in love go about their lovemaking. The French background of the exegete is made clear by numerous references to knights, coats of arms, weapons, chivalry, and of course, wine drinking. The edition is accompanied by an English translation and extensive introduction which analyzes the various linguistic, literary, and exegetical features of the text.

Ignite: A Decolonial Approach to Higher Education Through Space, Place and Culture

Ignite: A Decolonial Approach to Higher Education Through Space, Place and Culture
Author: Laura M. Pipe
Publisher: Vernon Press
Total Pages: 291
Release: 2023-05-09
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1648896685

Social justice frameworks and pedagogical practice have become popular concepts within educational settings. However, these approaches stop short of the direct action required for true social change and often overlook the impacts and importance of space, place, and culture in the learning process. Through an exploration of justice-forward approaches that call for a blend of equity and culturally-responsive pedagogies with experiential approaches to learning, this edited book will examine the process of unlinking colonizing structures from teaching and learning through honoring the context of space, place, and culture in the learning process. Framed by the Toward a Liberated Learning Spirit (TALLS) Model for Developing Critical Consciousness, this book will be of interest to students, scholars, and researchers in higher education as well as critical and cultural studies, apart from program administrators and educators. 'Ignite: a Decolonial Approach to Higher Education Through Space, Place and Culture' will carry the reader through a learning process beginning with academic detachment and moving through a process of unlearning toward embodied liberation.