Orphaned Landscapes

Orphaned Landscapes
Author: Patricia Spyer
Publisher: Fordham University Press
Total Pages: 337
Release: 2021-11-02
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0823298701

Less than a year after the end of authoritarian rule in 1998, huge images of Jesus Christ and other Christian scenes proliferated on walls and billboards around a provincial town in eastern Indonesia where conflict had arisen between Muslims and Christians. A manifestation of the extreme perception that emerged amid uncertainty and the challenge to seeing brought on by urban warfare, the street paintings erected by Protestant motorbike-taxi drivers signaled a radical departure from the aniconic tradition of the old colonial church, a desire to be seen and recognized by political authorities from Jakarta to the UN and European Union, an aim to reinstate the Christian look of a city in the face of the country’s widespread islamicization, and an opening to a more intimate relationship to the divine through the bringing-into-vision of the Christian god. Stridently assertive, these affectively charged mediations of religion, masculinity, Christian privilege and subjectivity are among the myriad ephemera of war, from rumors, graffiti, incendiary pamphlets, and Video CDs, to Peace Provocateur text-messages and children’s reconciliation drawings. Orphaned Landscapes theorizes the production of monumental street art and other visual media as part of a wider work on appearance in which ordinary people, wittingly or unwittingly, refigure the aesthetic forms and sensory environment of their urban surroundings. The book offers a rich, nuanced account of a place in crisis, while also showing how the work on appearance, far from epiphenomenal, is inherent to sociopolitical change. Whether considering the emergence and disappearance of street art or the atmospherics and fog of war, Spyer demonstrates the importance of an attunement to elusive, ephemeral phenomena for their palpable and varying effects in the world. Orphaned Landscapes: Violence, Visuality, and Appearance in Indonesia is available from the publisher on an open-access basis.

The Communicative Linguistic Landscape

The Communicative Linguistic Landscape
Author: Lionel Wee
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 275
Release: 2021-03-01
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 1000343073

How exactly do linguistic landscapes communicate and what theoretical significance might follow from such an inquiry? This book addresses these questions by taking as its starting point the insight that the individual or organisation that is responsible for the production of a sign may not be physically present at the landscape itself. The information to be conveyed is typically designed as a piece of signage to be emplaced at the site. Drawing on Goffman’s notion of a production format, the book argues that the constructed piece of sign and its intended placement within the landscape combine to constitute an animator complex. This raises the possibility of a disruption to the sign and its placement in the landscape. The book describes various ways in which the integrity of the animator complex can be disrupted (e.g. the sign may be moved out of place through vandalism or acts of nature, or the organisation that the sign represents may no longer be in business), identifi es different types of animators, and expands on the implications for phenomena such as affect, multivocality, footing and the materiality of language. In doing so, the book also demonstrates the value of bringing in Bakhtin’s work on heteroglossia and the dialogicity of communication, integrating the ideas of Bakhtin with those of Goffman.

Magic: A History

Magic: A History
Author: Chris Gosden
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Total Pages: 512
Release: 2020-11-10
Genre: History
ISBN: 0374717907

An Oxford professor of archaeology explores the unique history of magic—the oldest and most neglected strand of human behavior and its resurgence today Three great strands of belief run through human history: Religion is the relationship with one god or many gods, masters of our lives and destinies. Science distances us from the world, turning us into observers and collectors of knowledge. And magic is direct human participation in the universe: we have influence on the world around us, and the world has influence on us. Over the last few centuries, magic has developed a bad reputation—thanks to the unsavory tactics of shady practitioners, and to a successful propaganda campaign on the part of religion and science, which denigrated magic as backward, irrational, and "primitive." In Magic, however, the Oxford professor of archaeology Chris Gosden restores magic to its essential place in the history of the world—revealing it to be an enduring element of human behavior that plays an important role for individuals and cultures. From the curses and charms of ancient Greek, Roman, and Jewish magic, to the shamanistic traditions of Eurasia, indigenous America, and Africa; from the alchemy of the Renaissance to the condemnation of magic in the colonial period and the mysteries of modern quantum physics—Gosden's startling, fun, and colorful history supplies a missing chapter of the story of our civilization. Drawing on decades of research around the world—touching on the first known horoscope, a statue ordered into exile, and the mystical power of tattoos—Gosden shows what magic can offer us today, and how we might use it to rethink our relationship with the world. Magic is an original, singular, and sweeping work of scholarship, and its revelations will leave a spell on the reader.

Localism, Landscape, and the Ambiguities of Place

Localism, Landscape, and the Ambiguities of Place
Author: Coolidge Professor of History and Director of Graduate Studies in History David Blackbourn
Publisher: University of Toronto Press
Total Pages: 289
Release: 2007-01-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 0802093183

What makes a person call a particular place 'home'? Does it follow simply from being born there? Is it the result of a language shared with neighbours or attachment to a familiar landscape? Perhaps it is a piece of music, or a painting, or even a travelogue that captures the essence of home. And what about the sense of belonging that inspires nationalist or local autonomy movements? Each of these can be a marker of identity, but all are ambiguous. Where you were born has a different meaning if, like so many modern Germans, you have moved on and now live elsewhere. Representing the 'national interest' in parliament becomes more difficult when voters demand attention to local and regional issues or when ethnic tensions erupt. In all these situations the landscape of 'home' takes on a more elusive meaning. Localism, Landscape, and the Ambiguities of Place is about the German nation state and the German-speaking lands beyond it, from the 1860s to the 1930s. The authors explore a wide range of subjects: music and art, elections and political festivities, local landscape and nature conservation, tourism and language struggles in the family and the school. Yet they share an interest in the ambiguities of German identity in an age of extraordinarily rapid socio-economic change. These essays do not assume the primacy of national allegiance. Instead, by using the 'sense of place' as a prism to look at German identity in new ways, they examine a sense of 'Germanness' that was neither self-evident nor unchanging.

Rare Diseases and Orphan Products

Rare Diseases and Orphan Products
Author: Institute of Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 442
Release: 2011-04-03
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 0309158060

Rare diseases collectively affect millions of Americans of all ages, but developing drugs and medical devices to prevent, diagnose, and treat these conditions is challenging. The Institute of Medicine (IOM) recommends implementing an integrated national strategy to promote rare diseases research and product development.

Arts and Aesthetics in a Globalizing World

Arts and Aesthetics in a Globalizing World
Author: Raminder Kaur
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 310
Release: 2015-01-29
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0857857592

This is an investigation of arts and aesthetics in their widest senses and experiences, presenting a variety of perspectives which range from the metaphysical to the political. Moving beyond art as an expression of the inner mind and invention of the individual self, the volume bridges the gap between changing perceptions of contemporary art and aesthetics, and maps globalizing currents in a number of contexts and regions. The volume includes an impressive variety of case studies offered by established leaders in the field and original and emerging scholarly talent covering areas in India, Nepal, Indonesia, Iran, Russia, Rwanda, and Germany, as well as providing transnational or diasporic perspectives. From the contradictory demands made on successful artists from the south in the global art world such as Anish Kapoor, to images of war and puppetry created by female political prisoners, the volume compels creative and political interpretations of the ever-changing and globalizing terrain of arts and aesthetics.

Orphan Moon

Orphan Moon
Author: Rick Cox
Publisher: Dorrance Publishing
Total Pages: 282
Release: 2013
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1434935272

Thought-provoking and fun to read, Orphan Moon confirms humility as both attainable and revelatory while pride, humility¿s antagonist, breeds ignorance. The book allows bloodlines and family traits spanning six generations to touch in the persons of Joseph Beaumont and Willie Earl Jeffers. Joseph is a self- described Texan, keeper of treasures, and reader of books. He has a rare listening ear and quiet wisdom and becomes a mentor of sorts to the inquisitive adolescent. The awakening of the boy¿s consciousness of heritage while remaining unsure of its relevance or worth provides the backdrop to challenges and adventures of the 1960¿s family clan. Willie Earl is to learn that life, legacy, and spirituality blend together nicely in accord, even as his unlikely Texas tutor, the eccentric Joseph, realizes his own healing.

Landscapes of (Un)Belonging: Reflections of Strangeness and Self

Landscapes of (Un)Belonging: Reflections of Strangeness and Self
Author:
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 176
Release: 2020-05-06
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1848881096

This volume stems from the Third Global Conference on Strangers, Aliens and Foreigners, 2011, and is a unique collection of differing perspectives on the notion of Strangeness. Within fourteen chapters the authors, coming from all over the world, reach over the boundaries of academic disciplines to unveil and explore.

The Humane Gardener

The Humane Gardener
Author: Nancy Lawson
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Total Pages: 226
Release: 2017-04-18
Genre:
ISBN: 1616896175

In this eloquent plea for compassion and respect for all species, journalist and gardener Nancy Lawson describes why and how to welcome wildlife to our backyards. Through engaging anecdotes and inspired advice, profiles of home gardeners throughout the country, and interviews with scientists and horticulturalists, Lawson applies the broader lessons of ecology to our own outdoor spaces. Detailed chapters address planting for wildlife by choosing native species; providing habitats that shelter baby animals, as well as birds, bees, and butterflies; creating safe zones in the garden; cohabiting with creatures often regarded as pests; letting nature be your garden designer; and encouraging natural processes and evolution in the garden. The Humane Gardener fills a unique niche in describing simple principles for both attracting wildlife and peacefully resolving conflicts with all the creatures that share our world.

Handbook of Landscape Archaeology

Handbook of Landscape Archaeology
Author: Bruno David
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 720
Release: 2016-06-03
Genre: History
ISBN: 1315427729

Over 80 archaeologists from four continents create a benchmark volume of the ideas and practices of landscape archaeology, covering the theoretical and the practical, the research and conservation, and encasing the term in a global framework.