Strange Writing

Strange Writing PDF Author: Robert Ford Campany
Publisher: State University of New York Press
ISBN: 0791498417
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 540

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Book Description
Between the Han dynasty, founded in 206 B.C.E., and the Sui, which ended in 618 C.E., Chinese authors wrote many thousands of short textual items, each of which narrated or described some phenomenon deemed "strange." Most items told of encounters between humans and various denizens of the spirit-world, or of the miraculous feats of masters of esoteric arts; some described the wonders of exotic lands, or transmitted fragments of ancient mythology. This genre of writing came to be known as zhiguai ("accounts of anomalies"). Who were the authors of these books, and why did they write of these "strange" matters? Why was such writing seen as a compelling thing to do? In this book, the first comprehensive study in a Western language of the zhiguai genre in its formative period, Campany sets forth a new view of the nature of the genre and the reasons for its emergence. He shows that contemporaries portrayed it as an extension of old royal and imperial traditions in which strange reports from the periphery were collected in the capital as a way of ordering the world. He illuminates how authors writing from most of the religious and cultural perspectives of the times—including Daoists, Buddhists, Confucians, and others—used the genre differently for their own persuasive purposes, in the process fundamentally altering the old traditions of anomaly-collecting. Analyzing the "accounts of anomalies" both in the context of Chinese religious and cultural history and as examples of a cross-culturally attested type of discourse, Campany combines in-depth Sinological research with broad-ranging comparative thinking in his approach to these puzzling, rich texts.

Strange Writing

Strange Writing PDF Author: Robert Ford Campany
Publisher: State University of New York Press
ISBN: 0791498417
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 540

Get Book Here

Book Description
Between the Han dynasty, founded in 206 B.C.E., and the Sui, which ended in 618 C.E., Chinese authors wrote many thousands of short textual items, each of which narrated or described some phenomenon deemed "strange." Most items told of encounters between humans and various denizens of the spirit-world, or of the miraculous feats of masters of esoteric arts; some described the wonders of exotic lands, or transmitted fragments of ancient mythology. This genre of writing came to be known as zhiguai ("accounts of anomalies"). Who were the authors of these books, and why did they write of these "strange" matters? Why was such writing seen as a compelling thing to do? In this book, the first comprehensive study in a Western language of the zhiguai genre in its formative period, Campany sets forth a new view of the nature of the genre and the reasons for its emergence. He shows that contemporaries portrayed it as an extension of old royal and imperial traditions in which strange reports from the periphery were collected in the capital as a way of ordering the world. He illuminates how authors writing from most of the religious and cultural perspectives of the times—including Daoists, Buddhists, Confucians, and others—used the genre differently for their own persuasive purposes, in the process fundamentally altering the old traditions of anomaly-collecting. Analyzing the "accounts of anomalies" both in the context of Chinese religious and cultural history and as examples of a cross-culturally attested type of discourse, Campany combines in-depth Sinological research with broad-ranging comparative thinking in his approach to these puzzling, rich texts.

Strange Natures

Strange Natures PDF Author: Kent H. Redford
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300230974
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 296

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Book Description
A groundbreaking examination of the implications of synthetic biology for biodiversity conservation Nature almost everywhere survives on human terms. The distinction between what is natural and what is human-made, which has informed conservation for centuries, has become blurred. When scientists can reshape genes more or less at will, what does it mean to conserve nature? The tools of synthetic biology are changing the way we answer that question. Gene editing technology is already transforming the agriculture and biotechnology industries. What happens if synthetic biology is also used in conservation to control invasive species, fight wildlife disease, or even bring extinct species back from the dead? Conservation scientist Kent Redford and geographer Bill Adams turn to synthetic biology, ecological restoration, political ecology, and de-extinction studies and propose a thoroughly innovative vision for protecting nature.

Strange Writing

Strange Writing PDF Author: Robert Ford Campany
Publisher: SUNY Press
ISBN: 9780791426609
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 540

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Book Description
This is the first comprehensive, Western-language study of the important Chinese genre of writing known as "accounts of the anomalies" (zhiguai) in its formative period. The book sets forth a new view of the nature and origins of the genre.

Sisters of the Lost Marsh

Sisters of the Lost Marsh PDF Author: Lucy Strange
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
ISBN: 1338686488
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 211

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Book Description
From award winning author Lucy Strange comes a thrilling story of six sisters who must fight against circumstance and fate, gorgeously told and steeped in history and legend. On a poor farm surrounded by marshlands, six sisters -- Grace, Willa, Freya, and triplets Deedee, Darcy, and Dolly -- live in fear of their father and the superstition that haunts him: The Curse of the Six Daughters. Their beloved grandmother tries to protect them, but the future seems bleak. When the Full Moon Fayre makes a rare visit to Hollow-in-the-Marsh, the girls slip out to see the famous Shadow Man, an enigmatic puppeteer. Afterwards, oldest sister Grace is missing. Following the Full Moor Fayre and into the Lost Marsh, Willa will have to battle her inner doubts and the legends that have haunted her family. Can she save her sister from one fate, and yet outrun her own? The thrilling new novel from acclaimed author Lucy Strange, author of The Secret of Nightingale Wood, The Ghost of Midnight Lake and the Waterstones Prize-shortlisted Our Castle by the Sea.

Strange Details

Strange Details PDF Author: Mike Cadwell
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 212

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Book Description
Looks at the work of four canonical architects who "made strange" with the most resistant aspect of architecture - construction. This title explores the strangeness in the material menagerie of Scarpa's Querini Stampalia, the wood light frame construction of Wright's Jacobs House, the welded steel frame of Mies' Farnsworth House, and more.

Like Nothing Amazing Ever Happened

Like Nothing Amazing Ever Happened PDF Author: Emily Blejwas
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
ISBN: 1984848488
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 226

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Book Description
In small-town Wicapi, Minnesota, in 1991, twelve-year-old Justin struggles to pick up the pieces of his life after the unexpected death of his father.

Shelter from the Machine

Shelter from the Machine PDF Author: Jason G. Strange
Publisher: University of Illinois Press
ISBN: 0252051890
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 410

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Book Description
”You’re either buried with your crystals or your shotgun.” That laconic comment captures the hippies-versus-hicks conflict that divides, and in some ways defines, modern-day homesteaders. It also reveals that back to-the-landers, though they may seek lives off the grid, remain connected to the most pressing questions confronting the United States today. Jason Strange shows where homesteaders fit, and don't fit, within contemporary America. Blending history with personal stories, Strange visits pig roasts and bohemian work parties to find people engaged in a lifestyle that offers challenge and fulfillment for those in search of virtues like self-employment, frugality, contact with nature, and escape from the mainstream. He also lays bare the vast differences in education and opportunity that leave some homesteaders dispossessed while charting the tensions that arise when people seek refuge from the ills of modern society—only to find themselves indelibly marked by the system they dreamed of escaping.

Jennifer Strange

Jennifer Strange PDF Author: Cat Scully
Publisher: Yap Books
ISBN: 9781949140057
Category : Young Adult Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 320

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Book Description
Savannah, Georgia is one of the most haunted places in the United States, a fact Jennifer Strange has become all too aware of since moving there to live with her sister after their father's disappearance. Ghosts love her. They haunt her and everyone around her. Now they seem to want her to do something for them. Just what she's not sure but she better figure it out before they force her to join them. Cat's amazing illustrations bring the ghosts and demons of her fictional world to eerie and beautiful life, harkening back to the style of SCARY STORIES TO TELL IN THE DARK. With the success of Madeleine Roux's ASYLUM and Ransom Riggs' MISS PEREGRINE'S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN, it seems a perfect time to do an illustrated YA horror novel.

Our Secret Life in the Movies

Our Secret Life in the Movies PDF Author: Michael McGriff
Publisher: Deep Vellum Publishing
ISBN: 1941920993
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 90

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Book Description
A whip-smart fiction debut, Our Secret Life in the Movies riffs on classic and cult cinema. Inspired by films from silent-era documentaries to music videos, the authors unfold a dual narrative about two boys growing up in the 1980s. Coming of age during the last days of the Cold War, these boys dream of space exploration and nuclear winter, Reaganomics and Dungeons & Dragons, Blade Runner and Red Dawn. Haunting, cinematic, and full of life, Our Secret Life makes it clear that we are in the movies and the movies are in us.

The Mermaid in the Millpond

The Mermaid in the Millpond PDF Author: Lucy Strange
Publisher: HarperCollins UK
ISBN: 1800901119
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 60

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Book Description
When Bess tries to escape her harsh life at the cotton mill, can she also free the mermaid trapped in the millpond? History and myth entwine in this atmospheric tale of freedom and friendship from bestselling author Lucy Strange and acclaimed illustrator Pam Smy.