Author: Ellen Galford
Publisher: Seal Press (CA)
ISBN: 9781580050128
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 248
Book Description
For abandoning her lover, a lesbian is cursed by an evil spirit--her descendants will bear only daughters--but a sage outwits the spirit by trapping it in a tree. Two hundred years later lightning releases the spirit and it goes after the woman's 20th Century descendant, Rainbow Rosenbloom, a taxi driver and film critic.
The Dyke and the Dybbuk
Author: Ellen Galford
Publisher: Seal Press (CA)
ISBN: 9781580050128
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 248
Book Description
For abandoning her lover, a lesbian is cursed by an evil spirit--her descendants will bear only daughters--but a sage outwits the spirit by trapping it in a tree. Two hundred years later lightning releases the spirit and it goes after the woman's 20th Century descendant, Rainbow Rosenbloom, a taxi driver and film critic.
Publisher: Seal Press (CA)
ISBN: 9781580050128
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 248
Book Description
For abandoning her lover, a lesbian is cursed by an evil spirit--her descendants will bear only daughters--but a sage outwits the spirit by trapping it in a tree. Two hundred years later lightning releases the spirit and it goes after the woman's 20th Century descendant, Rainbow Rosenbloom, a taxi driver and film critic.
The Hammer and the Flute
Author: Mary Keller
Publisher: JHU Press
ISBN: 9780801881886
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 312
Book Description
Award for the Best First Book in the History of Religions from the American Academy of Religion Feminist theory and postcolonial theory share an interest in developing theoretical frameworks for describing and evaluating subjectivity comparatively, especially with regard to non-autonomous models of agency. As a historian of religions, Mary Keller uses the figure of the "possessed woman" to analyze a subject that is spoken-through rather than speaking and whose will is the will of the ancestor, deity or spirit that wields her to engage the question of agency in a culturally and historically comparative study that recognizes the prominent role possessed women play in their respective traditions. Drawing from the fields of anthropology and comparative psychology, Keller brings the figure of the possessed woman into the heart of contemporary argument as an exemplary model that challenges many Western and feminist assumptions regarding agency. Proposing a new theoretical framework that re-orients scholarship, Keller argues that the subject who is wielded or played, the hammer or the flute, exercises a paradoxical authority—"instrumental agency"—born of their radical receptivity: their power derives from the communities' assessment that they no longer exist as autonomous agents. For Keller, the possessed woman is at once "hammer" and "flute," paradoxically powerful because she has become an instrument of the overpowering will of an ancestor, deity, or spirit. Keller applies the concept of instrumental agency to case studies, providing a new interpretation of each. She begins with contemporary possessions in Malaysia, where women in manufacturing plants were seized by spirits seeking to resacralize the territory. She next looks to wartime Zimbabwe, where female spirit mediums, the Nehanda mhondoro, declared the ancestors' will to fight against colonialism. Finally she provides an imaginative rereading of the performative power of possession by interpreting two plays, Euripides' Bacchae and S. Y. Ansky's The Dybbuk, which feature possessed women as central characters. This book can serve as an excellent introduction to postcolonial and feminist theory for graduate students, while grounding its theory in the analysis of regionally and historically specific moments of time that will be of interest to specialists. It also provides an argument for the evaluation of religious lives and their struggles for meaning and power in the contemporary landscape of critical theory.
Publisher: JHU Press
ISBN: 9780801881886
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 312
Book Description
Award for the Best First Book in the History of Religions from the American Academy of Religion Feminist theory and postcolonial theory share an interest in developing theoretical frameworks for describing and evaluating subjectivity comparatively, especially with regard to non-autonomous models of agency. As a historian of religions, Mary Keller uses the figure of the "possessed woman" to analyze a subject that is spoken-through rather than speaking and whose will is the will of the ancestor, deity or spirit that wields her to engage the question of agency in a culturally and historically comparative study that recognizes the prominent role possessed women play in their respective traditions. Drawing from the fields of anthropology and comparative psychology, Keller brings the figure of the possessed woman into the heart of contemporary argument as an exemplary model that challenges many Western and feminist assumptions regarding agency. Proposing a new theoretical framework that re-orients scholarship, Keller argues that the subject who is wielded or played, the hammer or the flute, exercises a paradoxical authority—"instrumental agency"—born of their radical receptivity: their power derives from the communities' assessment that they no longer exist as autonomous agents. For Keller, the possessed woman is at once "hammer" and "flute," paradoxically powerful because she has become an instrument of the overpowering will of an ancestor, deity, or spirit. Keller applies the concept of instrumental agency to case studies, providing a new interpretation of each. She begins with contemporary possessions in Malaysia, where women in manufacturing plants were seized by spirits seeking to resacralize the territory. She next looks to wartime Zimbabwe, where female spirit mediums, the Nehanda mhondoro, declared the ancestors' will to fight against colonialism. Finally she provides an imaginative rereading of the performative power of possession by interpreting two plays, Euripides' Bacchae and S. Y. Ansky's The Dybbuk, which feature possessed women as central characters. This book can serve as an excellent introduction to postcolonial and feminist theory for graduate students, while grounding its theory in the analysis of regionally and historically specific moments of time that will be of interest to specialists. It also provides an argument for the evaluation of religious lives and their struggles for meaning and power in the contemporary landscape of critical theory.
Reimagining the Bible
Author: Howard Schwartz
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0195104994
Category : Aggada
Languages : en
Pages : 306
Book Description
A collection of essays from Schwartz's previously published work exploring how each successive phase of Jewish literature has drawn upon and reimagined previous ones and arguing that there is a continuity in Jewish Literature which extends from the biblical era to our own times.
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0195104994
Category : Aggada
Languages : en
Pages : 306
Book Description
A collection of essays from Schwartz's previously published work exploring how each successive phase of Jewish literature has drawn upon and reimagined previous ones and arguing that there is a continuity in Jewish Literature which extends from the biblical era to our own times.
Dramatic Revisions of Myths, Fairy Tales and Legends
Author: Verna A. Foster
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 1476600139
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 259
Book Description
These new essays explore the ways in which contemporary dramatists have retold or otherwise made use of myths, fairy tales and legends from a variety of cultures, including Greek, West African, North American, Japanese, and various parts of Europe. The dramatists discussed range from well-established playwrights such as Tony Kushner, Caryl Churchill, and Timberlake Wertenbaker to new theatrical stars such as Sarah Ruhl and Tarell Alvin McCraney. The book contributes to the current discussion of adaptation theory by examining the different ways, and for what purposes, plays revise mythic stories and characters. The essays contribute to studies of literary uses of myth by focusing on how recent dramatists have used myths, fairy tales and legends to address contemporary concerns, especially changing representations of women and the politics of gender relations but also topics such as damage to the environment and political violence.
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 1476600139
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 259
Book Description
These new essays explore the ways in which contemporary dramatists have retold or otherwise made use of myths, fairy tales and legends from a variety of cultures, including Greek, West African, North American, Japanese, and various parts of Europe. The dramatists discussed range from well-established playwrights such as Tony Kushner, Caryl Churchill, and Timberlake Wertenbaker to new theatrical stars such as Sarah Ruhl and Tarell Alvin McCraney. The book contributes to the current discussion of adaptation theory by examining the different ways, and for what purposes, plays revise mythic stories and characters. The essays contribute to studies of literary uses of myth by focusing on how recent dramatists have used myths, fairy tales and legends to address contemporary concerns, especially changing representations of women and the politics of gender relations but also topics such as damage to the environment and political violence.
American Gothic Literature
Author: Ruth Bienstock Anolik
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 078649851X
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 315
Book Description
American Gothic literature inherited many time-worn tropes from its English Gothic precursor, along with a core preoccupation: anxiety about power and property. Yet the transatlantic journey left its mark on the genre--the English ghostly setting becomes the wilderness haunted by spectral Indians. The aristocratic villain is replaced by the striving, independent young man. The dispossession of Native Americans and African Americans adds urgency to traditional Gothic anxieties about possession. The unchanging role of woman in early Gothic narratives parallels the status of American women, even after the Revolution. Twentieth-century Gothic works offer inclusion to previously silent voices, including immigrant writers with their own cultural traditions. The 21st century unleashes the zombie horde--the latest incarnation of the voracious American.
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 078649851X
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 315
Book Description
American Gothic literature inherited many time-worn tropes from its English Gothic precursor, along with a core preoccupation: anxiety about power and property. Yet the transatlantic journey left its mark on the genre--the English ghostly setting becomes the wilderness haunted by spectral Indians. The aristocratic villain is replaced by the striving, independent young man. The dispossession of Native Americans and African Americans adds urgency to traditional Gothic anxieties about possession. The unchanging role of woman in early Gothic narratives parallels the status of American women, even after the Revolution. Twentieth-century Gothic works offer inclusion to previously silent voices, including immigrant writers with their own cultural traditions. The 21st century unleashes the zombie horde--the latest incarnation of the voracious American.
Re-envisioning Jewish Identities
Author: Efraim Sicher
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004462252
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 250
Book Description
This innovative study combines readings of contemporary literature, art, and performance to explore the diverse and complex directions of contemporary Jewish culture in Israel and the diaspora.
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004462252
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 250
Book Description
This innovative study combines readings of contemporary literature, art, and performance to explore the diverse and complex directions of contemporary Jewish culture in Israel and the diaspora.
He Said, She Says
Author: Mica Howe
Publisher: Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press
ISBN: 9780838639153
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 308
Book Description
The essays in this volume demonstrate the range of revisioning of women's reinterpretations of patriarchal texts. Women's responses are reaching beyond the story and into the primal bases for narrative: the philosophies, theologies, psychology, politics, and archetypal geneses that comprise the origins of narrative itself. 'He Said, She Says' brings together myriad perspectives that cover such primal narratives as the Bible, the Torah, mythology, traditional literary texts, male depictions of female sexuality, patriarchal Marxism, American democracy, and multiculturalism.
Publisher: Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press
ISBN: 9780838639153
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 308
Book Description
The essays in this volume demonstrate the range of revisioning of women's reinterpretations of patriarchal texts. Women's responses are reaching beyond the story and into the primal bases for narrative: the philosophies, theologies, psychology, politics, and archetypal geneses that comprise the origins of narrative itself. 'He Said, She Says' brings together myriad perspectives that cover such primal narratives as the Bible, the Torah, mythology, traditional literary texts, male depictions of female sexuality, patriarchal Marxism, American democracy, and multiculturalism.
Who's Who in Lesbian and Gay Writing
Author: Gabriele Griffin
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134722087
Category : Literary Collections
Languages : en
Pages : 544
Book Description
Who's Who in Lesbian and Gay Writing is a lively and accessible biographical guide to lesbian and gay literary culture, from Sappho to modern pulp fiction. Featuring authors of works with lesbian or gay content as well as known lesbian and gay writers, this volume opens the boundaries of this field to include the writers of popular cultural fiction. It places these alongside the canon of poets, dramatists and novelists, to acknowledge the importance of pop culture to gay and lesbian communities. It includes fascinating entries on authors from W.H. Auden to Alice Walker, James Baldwin to Virginia Woolf. Also included are those such as Judith Butler who have theorised lesbian and gay culture and writing, or have contributed to the uncovering and charting of this vibrant literary history. Fully cross referenced, and with suggestions for further reading, this book offers an invaluable guide to a rich and varied literary culture and is indispensable for anyone with an interest in lesbian and gay writing.
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134722087
Category : Literary Collections
Languages : en
Pages : 544
Book Description
Who's Who in Lesbian and Gay Writing is a lively and accessible biographical guide to lesbian and gay literary culture, from Sappho to modern pulp fiction. Featuring authors of works with lesbian or gay content as well as known lesbian and gay writers, this volume opens the boundaries of this field to include the writers of popular cultural fiction. It places these alongside the canon of poets, dramatists and novelists, to acknowledge the importance of pop culture to gay and lesbian communities. It includes fascinating entries on authors from W.H. Auden to Alice Walker, James Baldwin to Virginia Woolf. Also included are those such as Judith Butler who have theorised lesbian and gay culture and writing, or have contributed to the uncovering and charting of this vibrant literary history. Fully cross referenced, and with suggestions for further reading, this book offers an invaluable guide to a rich and varied literary culture and is indispensable for anyone with an interest in lesbian and gay writing.
The Encyclopedia of the Gothic
Author: William Hughes
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1119210461
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 887
Book Description
THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE GOTHIC “Well written and interesting [it is] a testament to the breadth and depth of knowledge about its central subject among the more than 130 contributing writers, and also among the three editors, each of whom is a significant figure in the field of gothic studies ... A reference work that’s firmly rooted in and actively devoted to expressing the current state of academic scholarship about its area.” New York Journal of Books “A substantial achievement.” Reference Reviews Comprehensive and wide-ranging, The Encyclopedia of the Gothic brings together over 200 newly-commissioned essays by leading scholars writing on all aspects of the Gothic as it is currently taught and researched, along with challenging insights into the development of the genre and its impact on contemporary culture. The A-Z entries provide comprehensive coverage of relevant authors, national traditions, critical developments, and notable texts that continue to define, shape, and inform the genre. The volume’s approach is truly interdisciplinary, with essays by specialist international contributors whose expertise extends beyond Gothic literature to film, music, drama, art, and architecture. From Angels and American Gothic to Wilde and Witchcraft, The Encyclopedia of the Gothic is the definitive reference guide to all aspects of this strange and wondrous genre. The Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Literature is a comprehensive, scholarly, authoritative, and critical overview of literature and theory comprising individual titles covering key literary genres, periods, and sub-disciplines. Available both in print and online, this groundbreaking resource provides students, teachers, and researchers with cutting-edge scholarship in literature and literary studies.
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1119210461
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 887
Book Description
THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE GOTHIC “Well written and interesting [it is] a testament to the breadth and depth of knowledge about its central subject among the more than 130 contributing writers, and also among the three editors, each of whom is a significant figure in the field of gothic studies ... A reference work that’s firmly rooted in and actively devoted to expressing the current state of academic scholarship about its area.” New York Journal of Books “A substantial achievement.” Reference Reviews Comprehensive and wide-ranging, The Encyclopedia of the Gothic brings together over 200 newly-commissioned essays by leading scholars writing on all aspects of the Gothic as it is currently taught and researched, along with challenging insights into the development of the genre and its impact on contemporary culture. The A-Z entries provide comprehensive coverage of relevant authors, national traditions, critical developments, and notable texts that continue to define, shape, and inform the genre. The volume’s approach is truly interdisciplinary, with essays by specialist international contributors whose expertise extends beyond Gothic literature to film, music, drama, art, and architecture. From Angels and American Gothic to Wilde and Witchcraft, The Encyclopedia of the Gothic is the definitive reference guide to all aspects of this strange and wondrous genre. The Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Literature is a comprehensive, scholarly, authoritative, and critical overview of literature and theory comprising individual titles covering key literary genres, periods, and sub-disciplines. Available both in print and online, this groundbreaking resource provides students, teachers, and researchers with cutting-edge scholarship in literature and literary studies.
The Queer Uncanny
Author: Paulina Palmer
Publisher: University of Wales Press
ISBN: 1783164913
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 273
Book Description
The Queer Uncanny: New Perspectives on the Gothic investigates the diverse roles that the uncanny, as defined by Sigmund Freud, Helene Cixous and other theorists, plays in representing lesbian and male gay sexualities and transgender in a selection of contemporary British, American and Caribbean fiction published 1980-2007. Novels by Christopher Bram, Alan Hollinghurst, Randall Kenan, Shani Mootoo, James Purdy, Sarah Schulman, Ali Smith, Sarah Waters, Jeanette Winterson and other writers are discussed in the context of queer theory and gothic critical writing. The notion of the uncanny as ‘tangential and to one side’ and ‘appearing on the fringe of something else’, as defined by Cixous and Rosemary Jackson, appropriately evokes the situation of the queer individual living in a minority sub-culture and existing in oblique relation to hetero- normative society. Motifs with uncanny connotations discussed include secrets that society would prefer to remain hidden but come to light, spectral visitation, the emergence of repressed fears and desires, the double, and the homely/ unhomely house. Writers employ them to explore topics integral to queer existence. These include secrets relating to the closet and AIDS; homosexual panic; lesbian social invisibility; transgender subjectivity; the intersection between sexuality and race; the vilification of the queer subject as ‘monstrous Other’; the domestic life of the gay couple destabilised by homophobic influences from the public world; and the heterosexual family disrupted by homosexual secrets from within. The queer recasting of gothic motifs, such as the haunted house, the uncanny city, the grotesque body, and the breakdown of the family due to paternal incest, receives attention.
Publisher: University of Wales Press
ISBN: 1783164913
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 273
Book Description
The Queer Uncanny: New Perspectives on the Gothic investigates the diverse roles that the uncanny, as defined by Sigmund Freud, Helene Cixous and other theorists, plays in representing lesbian and male gay sexualities and transgender in a selection of contemporary British, American and Caribbean fiction published 1980-2007. Novels by Christopher Bram, Alan Hollinghurst, Randall Kenan, Shani Mootoo, James Purdy, Sarah Schulman, Ali Smith, Sarah Waters, Jeanette Winterson and other writers are discussed in the context of queer theory and gothic critical writing. The notion of the uncanny as ‘tangential and to one side’ and ‘appearing on the fringe of something else’, as defined by Cixous and Rosemary Jackson, appropriately evokes the situation of the queer individual living in a minority sub-culture and existing in oblique relation to hetero- normative society. Motifs with uncanny connotations discussed include secrets that society would prefer to remain hidden but come to light, spectral visitation, the emergence of repressed fears and desires, the double, and the homely/ unhomely house. Writers employ them to explore topics integral to queer existence. These include secrets relating to the closet and AIDS; homosexual panic; lesbian social invisibility; transgender subjectivity; the intersection between sexuality and race; the vilification of the queer subject as ‘monstrous Other’; the domestic life of the gay couple destabilised by homophobic influences from the public world; and the heterosexual family disrupted by homosexual secrets from within. The queer recasting of gothic motifs, such as the haunted house, the uncanny city, the grotesque body, and the breakdown of the family due to paternal incest, receives attention.