There Is No Such Thing as Cultural Identity

There Is No Such Thing as Cultural Identity PDF Author: François Jullien
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1509547037
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 49

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Book Description
As people throughout the world react to globalization and revert to nationalism, they are proclaiming distinct cultural identities for themselves. Cultural identity seems to offer a defensive wall against the homogenizing effects of globalization and a framework for nurturing and protecting cultural differences. In this short and provocative book, François Jullien argues that this emphasis on cultural identity is a mistake. Cultures exist in relation to one another and they are constantly mutating and transforming themselves. There is no cultural identity, there are only what Jullien calls ‘resources’. Resources are created in a certain space, they are available to all and belong to no one. They are not exclusive, like the values to which we proclaim loyalty; instead, we deploy them or not, activate them or let them fall by the wayside, and each of us as individuals is responsible for these choices. This conceptual shift requires us to redefine three key terms – the universal, the uniform and the common. Equipped with these concepts, we can rethink the dialogue between cultures in a way that avoids what Jullien sees as the false debate about identity and difference. This powerful critique of the modern shibboleth of cultural identity will appeal to anyone interested in the great social and political questions of our time.

There Is No Such Thing as Cultural Identity

There Is No Such Thing as Cultural Identity PDF Author: François Jullien
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1509547037
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 49

Get Book Here

Book Description
As people throughout the world react to globalization and revert to nationalism, they are proclaiming distinct cultural identities for themselves. Cultural identity seems to offer a defensive wall against the homogenizing effects of globalization and a framework for nurturing and protecting cultural differences. In this short and provocative book, François Jullien argues that this emphasis on cultural identity is a mistake. Cultures exist in relation to one another and they are constantly mutating and transforming themselves. There is no cultural identity, there are only what Jullien calls ‘resources’. Resources are created in a certain space, they are available to all and belong to no one. They are not exclusive, like the values to which we proclaim loyalty; instead, we deploy them or not, activate them or let them fall by the wayside, and each of us as individuals is responsible for these choices. This conceptual shift requires us to redefine three key terms – the universal, the uniform and the common. Equipped with these concepts, we can rethink the dialogue between cultures in a way that avoids what Jullien sees as the false debate about identity and difference. This powerful critique of the modern shibboleth of cultural identity will appeal to anyone interested in the great social and political questions of our time.

The Best We Could Do

The Best We Could Do PDF Author: Thi Bui
Publisher: Abrams
ISBN: 1613129300
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 320

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Book Description
National bestseller 2017 National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) Finalist ABA Indies Introduce Winter / Spring 2017 Selection Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Spring 2017 Selection ALA 2018 Notable Books Selection An intimate and poignant graphic novel portraying one family’s journey from war-torn Vietnam, from debut author Thi Bui. This beautifully illustrated and emotional story is an evocative memoir about the search for a better future and a longing for the past. Exploring the anguish of immigration and the lasting effects that displacement has on a child and her family, Bui documents the story of her family’s daring escape after the fall of South Vietnam in the 1970s, and the difficulties they faced building new lives for themselves. At the heart of Bui’s story is a universal struggle: While adjusting to life as a first-time mother, she ultimately discovers what it means to be a parent—the endless sacrifices, the unnoticed gestures, and the depths of unspoken love. Despite how impossible it seems to take on the simultaneous roles of both parent and child, Bui pushes through. With haunting, poetic writing and breathtaking art, she examines the strength of family, the importance of identity, and the meaning of home. In what Pulitzer Prize–winning novelist Viet Thanh Nguyen calls “a book to break your heart and heal it,” The Best We Could Do brings to life Thi Bui’s journey of understanding, and provides inspiration to all of those who search for a better future while longing for a simpler past.

Cultural Memory and Early Civilization

Cultural Memory and Early Civilization PDF Author: Jan Assmann
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139498487
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 333

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Book Description
Now available to an English-speaking audience, this book presents a groundbreaking theoretical analysis of memory, identity and culture. It investigates how cultures remember, arguing that human memory exists and is communicated in two ways, namely inter-human interaction and in external systems of notation, such as writing, which can span generations. Dr Assmann defines two theoretical concepts of cultural memory, differentiating between the long-term memory of societies, which can span up to 3,000 years, and communicative memory, which is typically restricted to 80 to 100 years. He applies this theoretical framework to case studies of four specific cultures, illustrating the function contexts and specific achievements, including the state, international law, religion and science. Ultimately, his research demonstrates that memory is not simply a means of retaining information, but rather a force that can shape cultural identity and allow cultures to respond creatively to both daily challenges and catastrophic changes.

A New Euro-Mediterranean Cultural Identity

A New Euro-Mediterranean Cultural Identity PDF Author: Stefania Panebianco
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1135772681
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 228

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Book Description
The Euro-Mediterranean Partnership was formed in 1995 in Barcelona. In this volume, concepts of democracy, civil society, human rights and dialogue among civilizations in the Mediterranean region are addressed in the context of the new Euro-Mediterranean Partnership.

Word and Music Studies

Word and Music Studies PDF Author:
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004334068
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 332

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Book Description
The eighteen interdisciplinary essays in this volume were presented in 2001 in Sydney, Australia, at the Third International Conference on Word and Music Studies, which was sponsored by The International Association for Word and Music Studies (WMA). The conference celebrated the sixty-fifth birthday of Steven Paul Scher, arguably the central figure in word and music studies during the last thirty-five years. The first section of this volume comprises ten articles that discuss, or are methodologically based upon, Scher’s many analyses of and critical commentaries on the field, particularly on interrelationships between words and music. The authors cover such topics as semiotics, intermediality, hermeneutics, the de-essentialization of the arts, and the works of a wide range of literary figures and composers that include Baudelaire, Mallarmé, Proust, T. S. Eliot, Goethe, Hölderlin, Mann, Britten, Schubert, Schumann, and Wagner. The second section consists of a second set of papers presented at the conference that are devoted to a different area of word and music studies: cultural identity and the musical stage. Eight scholars investigate – and often problematize – widespread assumptions regarding ‘national’ and ‘cultural’ music, language, plots, and production values in musical stage works. Topics include the National Socialists’ construction of German national identity; reception-based examinations of cultural identity and various “national” opera styles; and the means by which composers, librettists, and lyricists have attempted to establish national or cultural identity through their stage works.

Cultural Identity and Civil Society in Russia and Eastern Europe

Cultural Identity and Civil Society in Russia and Eastern Europe PDF Author: David M. Borgmeyer
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
ISBN: 1443864803
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 230

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Book Description
This volume is dedicated to the memory of Charles E. Timberlake. The contributors include his former colleagues and students. The first section deals with “Liberalism and Civil Society in Russia and Eastern Europe.” Alla Barabtarlo discusses unfinished research conducted by Charles Timberlake on the liberal activist Ivan Petrunkevich. Evgeny Badredinov analyzes research on the Russian village conducted by an important liberal lawyer and sociologist, Maksim Kovalevskii. Andrew Wise examines commentary by Polish liberals and their exiled Russian colleagues published in the Warsaw press from 1920–1923. The second section deals with “Orthodoxy and Cultural Identity in Late Imperial Russia.” Robert Nichols explains the role in Russia’s monastic revival played by Gethsemane skete, a monastic cloister that was founded in 1844. Sally Stocksdale details the motivations of a self-cloistering Russian noblewoman (Praskovia Yazikova) of the nineteenth century. Jesse Murray explores the cultural and religious identities of residents in the Baikal region. David Borgmeyer focuses on the response to the works of Pablo Picasso by one art critic, Sergei Bulgakov. The third section deals with “Civil Society in the Post-Soviet Era.” Byron Scott demonstrates that press freedom has been a contentious issue in these societies. James McCartney analyzes the reforming of the educational system in independent Georgia.

New Trends in Translation and Cultural Identity

New Trends in Translation and Cultural Identity PDF Author: Micaela Muñoz-Calvo
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
ISBN: 144380861X
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 470

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Book Description
New Trends in Translation and Cultural Identity is a collection of thirty enlightening articles that will stimulate deep reflection for those interested in translation and cultural identity and will be an essential resource for scholars, teachers and students working in the field. From a broad range of different theoretical perspectives and frameworks, the authors provide a multicultural reflection on translation issues, fostering intercultural communication, knowledge and understanding, crucial to effective transfer and intercultural exchange within the “global village”.

Pathways of Creativity in Contemporary Newfoundland and Labrador

Pathways of Creativity in Contemporary Newfoundland and Labrador PDF Author: María Jesús Hernáez Lerena
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
ISBN: 1443883336
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 352

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Book Description
The Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador is a mythologized place that resonates with tragic adventure, polar expeditions and Grand Banks fishing; a real and imagined geography with an incredible artistic output that calls for critical discussion. This book examines the diversity of this province’s literature and culture, taking into consideration the expertise of scholars and writers who have first-hand knowledge of its unique context. Chapters on history, travel, fiction, autobiography, poetry, theatre, storytelling, filmmaking, and the visual arts provide an up-to-date survey across a broad range of artistic endeavours, as well as close readings of selected texts. The questions that fill the pages of Pathways of Creativity in Contemporary Newfoundland and Labrador arise from the awareness its contributors have of historically shared experiences, but also of shared delusions, and their essays provoke contemplation beyond the labels local/global, Newfoundlander/Come-From-Away. Aboriginal histories and writing come to the foreground in this panoramic view that balances descriptions of mainstream, vernacular and Indigenous cultural productions. The final chapter is organized as a multi-voiced interview which serves as a supplement to the academic essays. Here, themes are revisited and personalized as several writers express their feelings about what it means to be a Newfoundlander and an artist. As such, this book will encourage dialogue about Newfoundland and Labrador’s literary and artistic achievements within the international community of readers and researchers.

Cultural Anthropology & Human Experience

Cultural Anthropology & Human Experience PDF Author: Katherine A. Dettwyler
Publisher: Waveland Press
ISBN: 1478608536
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 471

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Book Description
Katherine A. Dettwyler, author of the Margaret Mead Awardwinning Dancing Skeletons, has written a compelling and original introductory text. Cultural Anthropology & Human Experience is suitable for use in Cultural and Social Anthropology courses, and its twelve chapters easily fit into quarter or semester terms, while leaving room for additional readings, discussions, or other projects. All the standard topics are covered, but with less emphasis on method and theory and more coverage of a variety of industrial and postindustrial societies. Auxiliary materialsbells and whistleshave been kept to a minimum to reduce distractions and maintain a reasonable price to students. The author has chosen all the photographs with great care to illustrate or amplify important points. The Instructors Manual includes summaries of each chapter, student exercises, and a test bank. Dettwylers upbeat tone inspires students to: develop the ability to think logically, objectively, and critically about different cultural beliefs, practices, and social structures; understand that humans are primates with culture, with a complex overlay of environmental and cultural influences; appreciate how powerful cultural beliefs and practices can be in shaping human perceptions of the world; realize that culture is not the same thing as social constructions of race, ethnic identity, or place of geographic origin; understand why/how cultural practices make sense within the cultures that practice them; articulate how an anthropological perspective helps discern everyday situations and interactions at the local, national, and international levels; understand that anthropology is not just an academic disciplineit is a way of looking at and understanding the world; appreciate the ways cultural beliefs and practices, social structures, and human lifestyles contribute to a meaningful life.

Righteous Gentiles: Religion, Identity, and Myth in John Hagee’s Christians United for Israel

Righteous Gentiles: Religion, Identity, and Myth in John Hagee’s Christians United for Israel PDF Author: Sean Durbin
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004385002
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 274

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Book Description
In Righteous Gentiles: Religion, Identity, and Myth in John Hagee’s Christians United for Israel, Sean Durbin offers a critical analysis of America’s largest Pro-Israel organization, Christians United for Israel, along with its critics and collaborators. Although many observers focus Christian Zionism’s influence on American foreign policy, or whether or not Christian Zionism is ‘truly’ religious, Righteous Gentiles takes a different approach. Through his creative and critical analysis of Christian Zionists’ rhetoric and mythmaking strategies, Durbin demonstrates how they represent their identities and political activities as authentically religious. At the same time, Durbin examines the role that Jews and the state of Israel have as vehicles or empty signifiers through which Christian Zionist truth claims are represented as manifestly real.