Character

Character PDF Author: Marjorie Garber
Publisher: Macmillan + ORM
ISBN: 0374709378
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 337

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Book Description
What is “character”? Since at least Aristotle’s time, philosophers, theologians, moralists, artists, and scientists have pondered the enigma of human character. In its oldest usage, “character” derives from a word for engraving or stamping, yet over time, it has come to mean a moral idea, a type, a literary persona, and a physical or physiological manifestation observable in works of art and scientific experiments. It is an essential term in drama and the focus of self-help books. In Character: The History of a Cultural Obsession, Marjorie Garber points out that character seems more relevant than ever today, omnipresent in discussions of politics, ethics, gender, morality, and the psyche. References to character flaws, character issues, and character assassination and allegations of “bad” and “good” character are inescapable in the media and in contemporary political debates. What connection does “character” in this moral or ethical sense have with the concept of a character in a novel or a play? Do our notions about fictional characters catalyze our ideas about moral character? Can character be “formed” or taught in schools, in scouting, in the home? From Plutarch to John Stuart Mill, from Shakespeare to Darwin, from Theophrastus to Freud, from nineteenth-century phrenology to twenty-first-century brain scans, the search for the sources and components of human character still preoccupies us. Today, with the meaning and the value of this term in question, no issue is more important, and no topic more vital, surprising, and fascinating. With her distinctive verve, humor, and vast erudition, Marjorie Garber explores the stakes of these conflations, confusions, and heritages, from ancient Greece to the present day.

Character

Character PDF Author: Marjorie Garber
Publisher: Macmillan + ORM
ISBN: 0374709378
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 337

Get Book Here

Book Description
What is “character”? Since at least Aristotle’s time, philosophers, theologians, moralists, artists, and scientists have pondered the enigma of human character. In its oldest usage, “character” derives from a word for engraving or stamping, yet over time, it has come to mean a moral idea, a type, a literary persona, and a physical or physiological manifestation observable in works of art and scientific experiments. It is an essential term in drama and the focus of self-help books. In Character: The History of a Cultural Obsession, Marjorie Garber points out that character seems more relevant than ever today, omnipresent in discussions of politics, ethics, gender, morality, and the psyche. References to character flaws, character issues, and character assassination and allegations of “bad” and “good” character are inescapable in the media and in contemporary political debates. What connection does “character” in this moral or ethical sense have with the concept of a character in a novel or a play? Do our notions about fictional characters catalyze our ideas about moral character? Can character be “formed” or taught in schools, in scouting, in the home? From Plutarch to John Stuart Mill, from Shakespeare to Darwin, from Theophrastus to Freud, from nineteenth-century phrenology to twenty-first-century brain scans, the search for the sources and components of human character still preoccupies us. Today, with the meaning and the value of this term in question, no issue is more important, and no topic more vital, surprising, and fascinating. With her distinctive verve, humor, and vast erudition, Marjorie Garber explores the stakes of these conflations, confusions, and heritages, from ancient Greece to the present day.

Obsession and Culture

Obsession and Culture PDF Author: Andrew Brink
Publisher: Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press
ISBN: 9780838635964
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 258

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Book Description
Many twentieth-century novelists speak for a male psycho-class needing imaginative externalization of obsessive sexual fantasies of control of women. Attraction, avoidance, and guilt are powerful motivators for writers and readers alike, and the moral ambiguity of serial monogamy, as well as other forms of exploitative sexuality, prompt certain writers to construct symbolic expiation and repair in fiction.

Obsession

Obsession PDF Author: Lennard J. Davis
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226137791
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 298

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Book Description
We live in an age of obsession. Not only are we hopelessly devoted to our work, strangely addicted to our favorite television shows, and desperately impassioned about our cars, we admire obsession in others: we demand that lovers be infatuated with one another in films, we respond to the passion of single-minded musicians, we cheer on driven athletes. To be obsessive is to be American; to be obsessive is to be modern. But obsession is not only a phenomenon of modern existence: it is a medical category—both a pathology and a goal. Behind this paradox lies a fascinating history, which Lennard J. Davis tells in Obsession. Beginning with the roots of the disease in demonic possession and its secular successors, Davis traces the evolution of obsessive behavior from a social and religious fact of life into a medical and psychiatric problem. From obsessive aspects of professional specialization to obsessive compulsive disorder and nymphomania, no variety of obsession eludes Davis’s graceful analysis.

Selfie

Selfie PDF Author: Will Storr
Publisher: Abrams
ISBN: 1468315900
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 296

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Book Description
“An intriguing odyssey” though the history of the self and the rise of narcissism (The New York Times). Self-absorption, perfectionism, personal branding—it wasn’t always like this, but it’s always been a part of us. Why is the urge to look at ourselves so powerful? Is there any way to break its spell—especially since it doesn’t necessarily make us better or happier people? Full of unexpected connections among history, psychology, economics, neuroscience, and more, Selfie is a “terrific” book that makes sense of who we have become (NPR’s On Point). Award-winning journalist Will Storr takes us from ancient Greece, through the Christian Middle Ages, to the self-esteem evangelists of 1980s California, the rise of the “selfie generation,” and the era of hyper-individualism in which we live now, telling the epic tale of the person we all know so intimately—because it’s us. “It’s easy to look at Instagram and selfie-sticks and shake our heads at millennial narcissism. But Will Storr takes a longer view. He ignores the easy targets and instead tells the amazing 2,500-year story of how we’ve come to think about our selves. A top-notch journalist, historian, essayist, and sleuth, Storr has written an essential book for understanding, and coping with, the 21st century.” —Nathan Hill, New York Times-bestselling author of The Nix “This fascinating psychological and social history . . . reveals how biology and culture conspire to keep us striving for perfection, and the devastating toll that can take.”—The Washington Post “Ably synthesizes centuries of attitudes and beliefs about selfhood, from Aristotle, John Calvin, and Freud to Sartre, Ayn Rand, and Steve Jobs.” —USA Today “Eminently suitable for readers of both Yuval Noah Harari and Daniel Kahneman, Selfie also has shades of Jon Ronson in its subversive humor and investigative spirit.” —Bookseller “Storr is an electrifying analyst of Internet culture.” —Financial Times “Continually delivers rich insights . . . captivating.” —Kirkus Reviews

Beauty Sick

Beauty Sick PDF Author: Renee Engeln, PhD
Publisher: HarperCollins
ISBN: 0062469797
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 357

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Book Description
“[Beauty Sick] will blow the top off the body image movement…provocative and necessary.” — Rebellious Magazine An award-winning psychology professor reveals how the cultural obsession with women's appearance is an epidemic that harms women's ability to get ahead and to live happy, meaningful lives, in this powerful, eye-opening work in the vein of Peggy Orenstein and Sheryl Sandberg. Today’s young women face a bewildering set of contradictions when it comes to beauty. They don’t want to be Barbie dolls but, like generations of women before them, are told they must look like them. They’re angry about the media’s treatment of women but hungrily consume the outlets that belittle them. They mock modern culture’s absurd beauty ideal and make videos exposing Photoshopping tricks, but feel pressured to emulate the same images they criticize by posing with a "skinny arm." They understand that what they see isn’t real but still download apps to airbrush their selfies. Yet these same young women are fierce fighters for the issues they care about. They are ready to fight back against their beauty-sick culture and create a different world for themselves, but they need a way forward. In Beauty Sick, Dr. Renee Engeln, whose TEDx talk on beauty sickness has received more than 250,000 views, reveals the shocking consequences of our obsession with girls’ appearance on their emotional and physical health and their wallets and ambitions, including depression, eating disorders, disruptions in cognitive processing, and lost money and time. Combining scientific studies with the voices of real women of all ages, she makes clear that to truly fulfill their potential, we must break free from cultural forces that feed destructive desires, attitudes, and words—from fat-shaming to denigrating commentary about other women. She provides inspiration and workable solutions to help girls and women overcome negative attitudes and embrace their whole selves, to transform their lives, claim the futures they deserve, and, ultimately, change their world.

The Man Who Couldn't Stop

The Man Who Couldn't Stop PDF Author: David Adam
Publisher: Macmillan
ISBN: 0374223955
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 337

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Book Description
Our siege mentality -- Bad thoughts -- The mademoiselle and the rat man -- An emerging obsession -- The OCD family -- Cruel to be kind -- The God obsession -- Animals and other relatives -- Man hands on misery to man -- The runaway brain -- Daddy's little helper -- The helicopter view -- Long live lobotomy -- Politics and prejudice -- A new dimension -- Final thoughts.

Celebrity and Entertainment Obsession

Celebrity and Entertainment Obsession PDF Author: Michael S. Levy
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1442243139
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 251

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Book Description
Celebrity culture surrounds us. We are inundated with information about actors and actresses, athletes, musicians, and others who have become famous or infamous. Although we never will likely meet or get to know them, our interest in them seems boundless. We are literally obsessed with being entertained as well as with the people who entertain us. Who our celebrities are has also shifted; in the past, celebrity status was bestowed on men and women of great accomplishment, those who had given the world something to be proud of and to celebrate. Conversely, today’s celebrities are generally people involved in entertainment—from TV newscasters to people who appear on reality television programs, as well as some who are simply famous for being famous. What remains an enigma is why we, as a society, are so infatuated with being entertained, as well as with those who entertain us and appear in the media. This book makes sense of this spectacle by explaining the reasons for this obsession from a psychological, social, and historical perspective. It suggests that we have become addicted in much the same way that a person becomes addicted to drugs or alcohol. Finally, the author offers his observations on how to free our minds from this captivation. Anyone interested in understanding more about our need to live vicariously through the rich and famous will find answers in this book.

Textbook of Cultural Psychiatry

Textbook of Cultural Psychiatry PDF Author: Dinesh Bhugra
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1316628507
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 685

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Book Description
The textbook offers comprehensive understanding of the impact of cultural factors and differences on mental illness and its treatment.

Understand K-pop

Understand K-pop PDF Author: Arushi Raj
Publisher: Arushi Raj
ISBN:
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 188

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Book Description
Though K-pop has spread globally, a lot of English language discussion about it is dominated by American media. This led me to write this book to add the South Asian perspective in the discourse on this global music phenomenon. What’s in the book? 1. Delineation of all kinds of K-pop fans; from the creative ones to the crazies. 2. Analysis of K-pop Stan culture vis-a-vis Korean Idol industries' marketing strategies. Who can read it? 1. People who have stumbled upon K-pop and are completely lost right now. 2. Those who are veterans of the mess that’s K-pop Stan’s life and want to take a step back to critically look at the politics and dynamics of K-pop fandom. You can expect constant bouts of introspection and 20/20 hindsight. 3. All the lucky human beings who haven’t been infected by K-pop madness, yet. You have heard about it and are now curious. Come, my dear friends! Take this either as a warning or a road map to becoming one of us. *Crazy chants in the distance.* “One of us!” “One of us!” “One of us!” What to do once you are done reading? 1. Wait for some time. I will be back with another blogbook soon. As you are reading this, I am holed up in my room working on it, making sure you all don’t have to wait for too long. 2. While you are waiting, please leave a review. All of your feedback and encouragements will help me write a better book.

An American Obsession

An American Obsession PDF Author: Jennifer Terry
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 9780226793665
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 560

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Book Description
Jennifer Terry has written a nuanced and textured history of how the century-old obsession with homosexuality is deeply tied to changing American anxieties about social and sexual order in the modern age.