Signs Taken for Wonders

Signs Taken for Wonders PDF Author: Franco Moretti
Publisher: Verso
ISBN: 9781844670567
Category : Literary Collections
Languages : en
Pages : 292

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Book Description
A compelling analysis of the relations between high and mass culture, from tragedy and horror to detective fiction and classical realism.

Signs Taken for Wonders

Signs Taken for Wonders PDF Author: Franco Moretti
Publisher: Verso
ISBN: 9781844670567
Category : Literary Collections
Languages : en
Pages : 292

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Book Description
A compelling analysis of the relations between high and mass culture, from tragedy and horror to detective fiction and classical realism.

Signs Taken for Wonder

Signs Taken for Wonder PDF Author: Mark Citret
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Photography, Artistic
Languages : en
Pages : 24

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Book Description


Signs of the Signs

Signs of the Signs PDF Author: William Brevda
Publisher: Bucknell University Press
ISBN: 1611480434
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 435

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Book Description
This book is a study of signs in American literature and culture. It is mainly about electric signs, but also deals with non-electric signs and related phenomena, such as movie sets. The 'sign' is considered in both the architectural and semiotic senses of the word. It is argued that the drama and spectacle of the electric sign called attention to the semiotic implications of the 'sign.' In fiction, poetry, and commentary, the electric SIGN became a 'sign' of manifold meanings that this book explores: a sign of the city, a sign of America, a sign of the twentieth century, a sign of modernism, a sign of postmodernism, a sign of noir, a sign of naturalism, a sign of the beats, a sign of signs systems (the Bible to Broadway), a sign of tropes (the Great White way to the neon jungle), a sign of the writers themselves, a sign of the sign itself. If Moby Dick is the great American novel, then it is also the great American novel about signs, as the prologue maintains. The chapters that follow demonstrate that the sign is indeed a 'sign' of American literature. After the electric sign was invented, it influenced Stephen Crane to become a nightlight impressionist and Theodore Dreiser to make the 'fire sign' his metaphor for the city. An actual Broadway sign might have inspired F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. In Manhattan Transfer and U.S.A., John Dos Passos portrayed America as just a spectacular sign. William Faulkner's electric signs are full of sound and fury signifying modernity. The Last Tycoon was a sign of Fitzgerald's decline. The signs of noir can be traced to Poe's 'The Man of the Crowd.' Absence flickers in the neons of Raymond Chandler's Los Angeles. The death of God haunts the neon wilderness of Nelson Algren. Hitler's 'empire' was an non-intentional parody of Nathanael West's California. The beats reinvented Times Square in their own image. Jack Kerouac's search for the center of Saturday night was a quest for transcendence. This book will interest readers who want to learn more about the city, the history of advertising, electric lighting, nightlife, architecture, and semiotics. In contrast to other cultural studies, however, Signs of the Signs is primarily a work of literary criticism. Lovers of literary light will appreciate this book the most.

A Reader's Guide to T. S. Eliot

A Reader's Guide to T. S. Eliot PDF Author: George Williamson
Publisher: Syracuse University Press
ISBN: 9780815605003
Category : Poetry
Languages : en
Pages : 252

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Book Description
George Williamson treats his subject with great precision. Documenting his analyses with ample quotes from the poems and essays, he elucidates the structure and meaning of Eliot’s masterpieces. To make this guide more accessible, the poems are arranged in chronological order, as they appeared in The Complete Poems and Plays.

The Location of Culture

The Location of Culture PDF Author: Homi K. Bhabha
Publisher: Psychology Press
ISBN: 9780415016353
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 285

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Book Description
In Location of Culture, Homi Bhabha sets out the conceptual imperative and political consistency of the post-colonial intellectual project. In a provocative series of essays, Bhabha explains why the post-colonial critique has altered forever the landscape of postmodern discourse. Location of Cultureexamines the displacement of the colonist's ligitimizing cultural authority; the margins of Western "civility" put under colonial stress; the complex cultural and political boundaries which exist between the spheres of gender, race, class, and sexuality; the place of language, psychic affect, and narrative discourse in the construction of social authority and cultural identity. Bhabha investigates a diverse range of texts in a bold attempt to specify the moment and the place of both colonial and post-colonial perspectives. He discusses writers such as Toni Morrison, Nadine Gordimer, and Salman Rushdie; historical documents such as those on the Indian Mutiny and by missionaries; race riots and nationhood; and he builds on the work of important cultural theorists such as Frantz Fanon and Edward Said.

The Vast Wonder of World

The Vast Wonder of World PDF Author: Mélina Mangal
Publisher: Millbrook Press ™
ISBN: 1541537955
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 41

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Book Description
"A must-purchase picture book biography of a figure sure to inspire awe and admiration among readers."—School Library Journal (starred review) Extraordinary illustrations and lyrical text present pioneering African American scientist Ernest Everett Just. Ernest Everett Just was not like other scientists of his time. He saw the whole, where others saw only parts. He noticed details others failed to see. He persisted in his research despite the discrimination and limitations imposed on him as an African American. His keen observations of sea creatures revealed new insights about egg cells and the origins of life. Through stunning illustrations and lyrical prose, this picture book presents the life and accomplishments of this long overlooked scientific pioneer.

The Supervillain Reader

The Supervillain Reader PDF Author: Robert Moses Peaslee
Publisher: Univ. Press of Mississippi
ISBN: 1496826507
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 432

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Book Description
Contributions by Jerold J. Abrams, José Alaniz, John Carey, Maurice Charney, Peter Coogan, Joe Cruz, Phillip Lamarr Cunningham, Stefan Danter, Adam Davidson-Harden, Randy Duncan, Richard Hall, Richard Heldenfels, Alberto Hermida, Víctor Hernández-Santaolalla, A. G. Holdier, Tiffany Hong, Stephen Graham Jones, Siegfried Kracauer, Naja Later, Ryan Litsey, Tara Lomax, Tony Magistrale, Matthew McEniry, Cait Mongrain, Grant Morrison, Robert Moses Peaslee, David D. Perlmutter, W. D. Phillips, Jared Poon, Duncan Prettyman, Vladimir Propp, Noriko T. Reider, Robin S. Rosenberg, Hannah Ryan, Lennart Soberon, J. Richard Stevens, Lars Stoltzfus-Brown, John N. Thompson, Dan Vena, and Robert G. Weiner The Supervillain Reader, featuring both reprinted and original essays, reveals why we are so fascinated with the villain. The obsession with the villain is not a new phenomenon, and, in fact, one finds villains who are “super” going as far back as ancient religious and mythological texts. This innovative collection brings together essays, book excerpts, and original content from a wide variety of scholars and writers, weaving a rich tapestry of thought regarding villains in all their manifestations, including film, literature, television, games, and, of course, comics and sequential art. While The Supervillain Reader focuses on the latter, it moves beyond comics to show how the vital concept of the supervillain is part of our larger consciousness. Editors Robert Moses Peaslee and Robert G. Weiner collect pieces that explore how the villain is a complex part of narratives regardless of the original source. The Joker, Lex Luthor, Harley Quinn, Darth Vader, and Magneto must be compelling, stimulating, and proactive, whereas the superhero (or protagonist) is most often reactive. Indeed, whether in comics, films, novels, religious tomes, or video games, the eternal struggle between villain and hero keeps us coming back to these stories over and over again.

Shielding Humanity

Shielding Humanity PDF Author: Charles Chernor Jalloh
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004293132
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 820

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Book Description
On the contemporary international law scene, there are not many jurists who match the eminence and stature of Abdul G. Koroma. A distinguished lawyer, diplomat and member of the International Law Commission for many years, he has been a key figure in the elaboration, codification and negotiation of important multilateral treaties in diverse areas of international law. He subsequently served, for 18 years, on the bench of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) where he participated in deciding many of the Court’s leading cases during the busiest periods of its history. These outstanding essays, written by renowned judges, scholars and practitioners of international law in honour of Judge Koroma, discuss both classical and contemporary topics of significant relevance to the current and future of international law. The volume will appeal to anyone interested in the ICJ, peaceful settlement of inter-state disputes, law of the sea, international criminal law, international humanitarian law, regional integration and Africa’s contributions to international law. Contributors are: Avitus A Agbor, Babefemi Akinrinade, Adejoké Babington-Ashaye, Laurence Boisson de Chazournes, Tamara Cummings-John, John Dugard, Olufemi Elias, Sir Christopher Greenwood, Chikeziri Igwe, Osman Keh Kamara, Charles Manga Fombad, Madeline Choe-Amusimo Fombad, Charles Chernor Jalloh, Kenneth Keith, Tommy Koh, Tiyanjana Maluwa, Konstantinos D. Magliveras, Brian McGarry, Andrew Morgan, Gino J. Naldi, Lydia A. Nkansah, Vincent O. Nmehielle, Karin Oellers-Frahm, Olajumoke O. Oduwole, Obiora Chinedu Okafor, Phoebe Okowa, Adetola Onayemi, Pemmaraju Sreenivasa Rao, Bernardo Sepúlveda-Amor, Surya P. Subedi, Mia Swart, Abdul Tejan-Cole, Manuel J. Ventura, Sienho Yee, and Abdulqawi A. Yusuf.

The Art of Alibi

The Art of Alibi PDF Author: Jonathan H. Grossman
Publisher: JHU Press
ISBN: 0801877873
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 217

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Book Description
In The Art of Alibi, Jonathan Grossman reconstructs the relation of the novel to nineteenth-century law courts. During the Romantic era, courthouses and trial scenes frequently found their way into the plots of English novels. As Grossman states, "by the Victorian period, these scenes represented a powerful intersection of narrative form with a complementary and competing structure for storytelling." He argues that the courts, newly fashioned as a site in which to orchestrate voices and reconstruct stories, arose as a cultural presence influencing the shape of the English novel. Weaving examinations of novels such as William Godwin's Caleb Williams, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, and Charles Dickens's The Pickwick Papers and Oliver Twist, along with a reading of the new Royal Courts of Justice, Grossman charts the exciting changes occurring within the novel, especially crime fiction, that preceded and led to the invention of the detective mystery in the 1840s.

I Am a Monument

I Am a Monument PDF Author: Aron Vinegar
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 0262220822
Category : Architectural writing
Languages : en
Pages : 249

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Book Description
"Learning from Las Vegas, originally published by the MIT Press in 1972, was one of the most influential and controversial architectural books of its era. Thirty-five years later, it remains a perennial bestseller and a definitive theoretical text. Its authorsاarchitects Robert Venturi, Denise Scott Brown, and Steven Izenourاfamously used the Las Vegas Strip to argue the virtues of the "ordinary and ugly" above the "heroic and original" qualities of architectural modernism. Learning from Las Vegas not only moved architecture to the center of cultural debates, it changed our ideas about what architecture was and could be. In this provocative rereading of an iconic text, Aron Vinegar argues that Learning from Las Vegas is not only of historical interest but of absolute relevance to current critical debates in architectural and visual culture. Vinegar argues that to read Learning from Las Vegas only as an exemplary postmodernist textاto understand it, for example, as a call for pastiche or as ironic provocationاis to underestimate its deeper critical and ethical meaning, and to miss the underlying dialectic between skepticism and the ordinary, expression and the deadpan, that runs through the text. Vinegar's close attention to the graphic design of Learning from Las Vegas, and his fresh interpretations of now canonical images from the book such as the Duck, the Decorated Shed, and the "recommendation for a monument," make his book unique. Perhaps most revealing is his close analysis of the differences between the first 1972 edition, designed for the MIT Press by Muriel Cooper, and the "revised" edition of 1977, which was radically stripped down and largely redesigned by Denise Scott Brown. The dialogue between the two editions continues with this book, where for the first time the two versions of Learning from Las Vegas are read comparatively."--Publisher's website.