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Book SynopsisThe evolving image of the Black in the history of Jewish culture is being traced here in the conceptual framework of recent post-modern theories of the ''other''. The study focuses on the mechanisms by which an ethno-religious minority group considered by the dominant majority to be the inferior ''other'' identifies its own inferior other. While until recently most scholarly attention has been devoted to the attitudes towards the Jews as ''other'', this is the first comprehensive discussion of the attitudes of the Jews to their own ''others''.Table of ContentsAcknowledgements, Note on the translated quotations, Introduction, 1 Dream and interpretation: ‘Two blacks, hideous to see’, 2 Sources of the symbol: ‘I am black but comely’, 3 In the Bible: ‘The children of Cush’, 4 In the literature of the Sages: ‘Ugly and black’, 5 In the cultural world of Islam: ‘Speech in its least developed form’, 6 In the Latin–Christian cultural world: ‘Beasts in all their ways’, 7 In the wake of exploration: ‘Naked and awash in lust’, Afterword, Notes, Bibliography, Index of sources, Subject index

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Book SynopsisSmart Mobs takes us on a journey around the world for a preview of the next techno-cultural shift. The coming wave, says Rheingold, is the result of super-efficient mobile communications-cellular phones, wireless-paging, and Internet-access devices-that will allow us to connect with anyone, anytime, anywhere.Rheingold offers a penetrating perspective on the new convergence of pop culture, cutting-edge technology, and social activism. He also reminds us that the real impact of mobile communications will come not from the technology itself but from how people use it, resist it, and adapt to it.

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Book SynopsisIn 1817, the first British envoy to meet the king of the Asante of West Africa was dazzled by his reception. A group of 5,000 Asante soldiers, many wearing immense caps topped with three foot eagle feathers and gold ram''s horns, engulfed him with a zeal bordering on phrensy, shooting muskets into the air. The envoy was escorted, as no fewer than 100 bands played, to the Asante king''s palace and greeted by a tremendous throng of 30,000 noblemen and soldiers, bedecked with so much gold that his party had to avert their eyes to avoid the blinding glare. Some Asante elders wore gold ornaments so massive they had to be supported by attendants. But a criminal being lead to his execution - hands tied, ears severed, knives thrust through his cheeks and shoulder blades - was also paraded before them as a warning of what would befall malefactors. This first encounter set the stage for one of the longest and fiercest wars in all the European conquest of Africa. At its height, the Asante empire, on the Gold Coast of Africa in present-day Ghana, comprised three million people and had its own highly sophisticated social, political, and military institutions. Armed with European firearms, the tenacious and disciplined Asante army inflicted heavy casualties on advancing British troops, in some cases defeating them. They won the respect and admiration of British commanders, and displayed a unique willingness to adapt their traditional military tactics to counter superior British technology. Even well after a British fort had been established in Kumase, the Asante capital, the indigenous culture stubbornly resisted Europeanization, as long as the golden stool, the sacred repository of royal power, remained in Asante hands. It was only after an entire century of fighting that resistance ultimately ceased.

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Trade Review"This is both a true story and a little known but extremely important event in the social history of the fringe movements that swept America during the 1990s." -- Paul Davids, Executive Producer for Showtime's RoswellTable of ContentsContentsChapter 1 KirtlandChapter 2 Close Encounters and Dead CowsChapter 3 Blue LightChapter 4 The ImplantChapter 5 Pictures of PicturesChapter 6 The MeetingChapter 7 DisinformationChapter 8 The MaverickChapter 9 Silver SkiesChapter 10 True AdventureChapter 11 Mystery ManChapter 12 Riders of the Radioactive SageChapter 13 The Saucers SpeakChapter 14 The Shadow BaseChapter 15 Flushing MolesChapter 16 The Age of AquariusChapter 17 Techie PlaygroundChapter 18 A Serious ProblemChapter 19 Project BetaChapter 20 The ShitChapter 21 The CraftChapter 22 RevelationsChapter 23 More LiesChapter 24 FalloutChapter 25 Out of ControlChapter 26 Las VegasChapter 27 The Enigma of BeliefEpilogue Where Are They Now?Appendix PROJECT BETA: THE REPORTBibliographyAcknowledgmentsIndex

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Book SynopsisIn the first half of the twentieth century, Theodor Adorno wrote about the 'culture industry'. For Adorno, culture too along with the products of factory labour was increasingly becoming a commodity. Now, in what they call the 'global culture industry', Scott Lash and Celia Lury argue that Adorno's worst nightmares have come true.Trade Review“A fascinating set of accounts of the changing role and meaning of selected ‘cultural objects’.” Area “Their empirical work is thorough and detailed, with each chapter providing a rich description of the history, life, and geography of the cultural object in question.” British Journal of Sociology “Scott Lash and Celia Lury reconceptualize our understanding of cultural industries in the context of globalization. By analysing and documenting the shift from representation to objects in contemporary production of meaning, they open new avenues for research on communication and culture: things materialize our imaginary, we communicate through objects. This pathbreaking study will stimulate the intellectual debate for years to come.” Manuel Castells, University of Southern California, Los Angeles “Scott Lash and Celia Lury throw down the gauntlet to liberal and Marxist economic and cultural theory. They discover meaning-making at the centre of both production and consumption. Totems rule the marketplace, and popular culture generates, displaces and energizes iconic brands. The circulation of economic value has become a conversation between symbolic things. Deeply researched and theoretically sophisticated, Global Culture Industry is an important book.” Jeffrey Alexander, Yale University “By tracing the lives of a series of cultural objects, Lash and Lury analyse with great insight how, in our age of globalization, culture comes to play an ever more central and intense role in economic production. In the process, they revise powerfully our traditional notions of the culture industry.” Michael Hardt, co-author of Empire and MultitudeTable of Contents1. Introduction: Global Culture Industry. 2. Method: Ontology, Movement, Mapping. 3. The Biography of Euro 96: Branding the Event. 4. Art as Concept/Art as Media/Art as Life. 5. The Thingification of the Media: Animism and Animation. 6. The Mediation of Things: In Medias Res. 7. Flow: The Practices and Properties of Circulation. 8. Image, Markets and Display in Brazil. 9. Conclusion: Virtual Objects and the Social Imaginary.

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Book Synopsis“We are made of star stuff.”—Carl Sagan Give someone you know a pat on the back. A special thank-you. A big thumbs-up! In dozens of inspiring, uplifting quotes rendered as beautiful hand-lettered art by more than 30 popular graphic designers and artists, this little book of great thoughts is motivation and affirmation made timeless. Plus there are playlists, book and movie recommendations, upbeat activities—even recipes for sweet pick-me-ups.

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Book SynopsisTrade Review'Culture in Action' crystallizes an under-acknowledged tension among conversation analysts?This is a far more sophisticated and though-provoking collection than a scan of the index might suggest. -- Andrew Carlin, University College of Dublin, Ireland * Discourse Studies *'Culture in Action' crystallizes an under-acknowledged tension among conversation analysts…This is a far more sophisticated and though-provoking collection than a scan of the index might suggest. -- Andrew Carlin, University College of Dublin, Ireland * Discourse Studies *Table of ContentsChapter 1 Membership Categorization Analysis: An Introduction Chapter 2 The Reflexive Constitution of Category, Predicate and Context in Two Settings Chapter 3 Some General Reflections on 'Categorization' and 'Sequence' in the Analysis of Conversation Chapter 4 Ticketing Rules: Categorization and Moral Ordering in a School Staff Meeting Chapter 5 Lies, Recollections and Categorical Judgments in Testimony Chapter 6 Narrative Intelligibility and Membership Categorization in a Television Commercial Chapter 7 Conclusion: Membership Categorization Analysis and Sociology

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Book SynopsisCrazy Culture is a series of broadsides against many widely held misconceptions in both academe and the general public, who is often seen clustering under the politically correct banner of multiculturalism. Heinegg confronts the notion that all cultureespecially that of non-westerners and oppressed minoritiesis somehow good in itself and that outsiders have no right to criticize or condemn any cultures except their own. He also challenges the view that the term culture applies primarily to a handful of masterpieces, as opposed to the great bulk of artistic products and folkways, and that the proper attitude toward the vast spectrum of culture, past and present, is sentimental admiration. Surveying both the history and ideology of cultural realms such as our treatment of animals, religion, sexual norms, politics, economics, urban life, the arts, and athletics, Heinegg deftly identifies and explains ubiquitous traces of cultural sins by humanity.Table of ContentsPrelude Introduction I. The Primal Sin II. The Sexist Sins III. The Religious Sins IV. The Urban Sins V. The Sins of Technology VI. The Economic Sins VII. The Political Sins VIII. The Narcissistic Sins IX. The Artistic Sins X. The Ludic Sins Conclusion

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Book SynopsisIn Sting and The Police: Walking in Their Footsteps, Aaron J. West explores the cultural and musical impact of Stewart Copeland, Andy Summers, and Sting. West details the distinctive hybrid character of The Police’s musical output, which would also characterize Sting’s post-Police development as a musician.Trade ReviewHistorian and musician West’s book is an excellent look at how the Police accomplished success by synthesizing disparate influences into 'marketable, mainstream music, which has remained viable for generations.' The band combined Stewart Copeland’s reggae-influenced drumming, Andy Summer’s progressive rock–style rhythm guitar, and the punk-inspired bass and literary pretensions of primary songwriter Sting. West’s musical biography consists of a series of essays that examine Sting and the Police within larger cultural and musical contexts, from early songs such as 'Bring on the Night' ('a colorful mosaic of musical styles like dub, classical guitar, ska, and even psychedelic rock') to Sting’s later solo work. West is especially good at examining how the band used the nascent MTV to define themselves through videos filmed at exotic locations around the world: 'The image of the Police as international travelers certainly reinforced their equally multicultural music.' He also insightfully analyses how Sting’s musical mission to have a global appeal dovetailed perfectly with various activist movements, observing that 'the cultural gravitas of Band Aid set the stage for his more mature persona.' * Publishers Weekly *Aaron J. West’s Sting and The Police: Walking in Their Footsteps isn’t concerned with how often Sting bickered and brawled with drummer Stewart Copeland, or what choice insults guitarist Andy Summers had for the Police bassist. Instead, West worries over the trio’s aesthetic impetus, stylistic genesis, and enduring cultural influence some thirty decades removed from their disintegration as a creative unit. . . .So who were The Police, and where did they get their sound? Which band members wrote what songs? Why did the band pack it in at the height of success rather than ride celebrity’s lucrative wave? Was 'Roxanne' a real person? What did Sting mean by being 'Caught between the Scylla and Charybdis?' Who was 'the old man in that book by Nabokov?' Was there a real 'Englishman in New York?' A fan since procuring Every Breath You Take: The Singles on cassette in the mid ‘80s, West sifts his Police survey into seven easy-to-digest theses, with each musing over a different topic. * Examiner.com *[Sting and The Police: Walking in Their Footsteps] is the perfect book for you . . . if you want to know how their music grew up, as author West thoroughly delves into how the band's songs were constructed from style mosaics. * antiMusic *If you’re looking for thoughtful analysis of the band’s music and career Sting and the Police: Walking in Their Footsteps delivers. * My Big Honkin Blog *Table of ContentsSeries Editor Foreword Timeline Acknowledgments Introduction Chapter 1: The Police and the Progressive Rock, Punk, and Reggae Styles Chapter 2: The Police and the Style Mosaic Chapter 3: Sting and the Album Mosaic Chapter 4: Selling The Police and Sting to the World Chapter 5: Sting in the Age of Global Activism Chapter 6: The Police and the Rock Trio Chapter 7: The Music After The Police For Further Reading For Further Listening Index About the Author

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Book SynopsisWith a career in music and film that has spanned over forty years, Kristofferson began as a singer-songwriter. In this book, Mary G. Hurd surveys the life and works of this highly respected American songwriter, exploring the uncommon depth and lyricism of his work.Trade ReviewSinger-songwriter Kris Kristofferson first became known in 1970, when he was awarded the Country Music Award for his song 'Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down,' as sung by Johnny Cash. Hurd provides the first detailed look at the 'arc of Kristofferson’s creative output', starting with his first LP in 1970, which featured his classic 'Me and Bobby McGee'; through his best songs combining country and folk-rock in the 1970s, such as 'Loving Her Was Easier' and 'Why Me'; to his work with Cash and Willie Nelson in the country supergroup the Highwaymen; and finally to his critically acclaimed 2006 album 'This Old Road,' recorded at the age of 70. Hurd is excellent at showing how all of Kristofferson’s work and life—including refusing to follow his family’s long tradition of serving in the military, and his stint in England as a Rhodes Scholar—are connected by one theme: 'His mandate to live an artist’s life as he thought it should be lived hinged on the concept of personal freedom.' This solid overview makes it clear just how important Kristofferson’s work has been to the history of country and rock music. * Publishers Weekly *Kris Kristofferson: Country Highwayman succeeds in contextualizing the career of an unlikely country music icon: an educated liberal whose imperfect voice, organic songwriting, sophisticated lyricism, and introverted nature emerged during Nashville’s slick and commercially oriented countrypolitan period. . . . Hurd, a retired professor of English, accomplishes the difficult task of using songs to summarize Kristofferson’s turbulent forty-year-plus career. . . . Characteristically adept is her examination of Kristofferson’s award-winning song, 'Sunday Morning Coming Down' (1970). She peers beneath the surface depiction of a miserable hangover: 'Aching with loneliness and alienation, the speaker renders a powerful evocation of alcoholism and the loss of traditional values (family, home, and faith)—not unlike Kristofferson’s own situation—and the burden of freedom that follows that loss' (p. 35). . . . [T]he book might inspire casual readers to listen more intently—or perhaps for the first time—to Kristofferson’s songs. What this book does best is illustrate the intimate link between songwriter and song, and the complex layers such a link can entail. * Thinking On Music *Hurd’s study of one of our greatest singer-songwriters offers biographical information, but more essentially, a detailed study of his work. . . .Now’s the time to fully examine and appreciate an astonishing body of work by a timeless artist. Fans of Kristofferson or anyone who admires the art of songwriting will find the book fascinating fare. * Pop Culture Classics *Table of ContentsIntroduction Chapter 1: Beginnings and Influences: “Pick up that guitar, Go break a heart” Chapter 2: “Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose”: 1965-1970 Chapter 3: “Had to try to tame a thirst he couldn’t name”: 1971-1975 Chapter 4: “The going up was worth the coming down”: 1977-1984 Chapter 5: Rebels, Outlaws, Highwaymen, 1985-1995 Chapter 6: “I don’t believe that no one wants to know,” 1985-1991 Chapter 7: “Ain’t you come a long way down this old road”: 1995-2014 Chapter 8 Conclusion Further Reading Further Listening Further Watching About the Author

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Book SynopsisThe situation comedy ""Bewitched"" chronicled the everyday lives of Samantha, a witch, and her mortal husband, dramatizing the often-humorous troubles caused by their ""mixed marriage."" Considering the ""Bewitched"" series as a whole, this book demonstrates that the show can look very different depending upon which of its episodes are being examined.

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Book SynopsisOne of the most successful series of its time, Have Gun-Will Travel became a cultural phenomenon in the late 1950s and made its star, Richard Boone, a nationwide celebrity. Film scholar Gaylyn Studlar draws on a remarkably wide range of episodes from the series' six seasons to show its sophisticated experimentation with many established conventions of the Western.

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Book SynopsisAiring fourteen seasons, Knots Landing was a spinoff of Dalla , but ultimately ran longer and took a very different tone. In the first scholarly study of Knots Landing, Nick Salvato situates the series in its economic and industrial contexts, addresses its progressive relationship to the American politics of its period, and unpacks the pleasures of the programme's sensuous surfaces.

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Book SynopsisOffers a theoretical rumination on the question asked in countless blogs and opinion pieces of the last decade: Why are we so obsessed with true crime? Tanya Horeck examines a range of audiovisual true crime texts, and considers the extent to which the genre has come to epitomize participatory media culture.

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Book SynopsisExamines how Tom Cruise's star image moves across genres and forms as a type of commercial product that offers viewers certain pleasures and expectations. Cruise reads as an action hero and romantic lead yet finds himself in homoerotic and homosocial relationships that unsettle and undermine these heterosexual scripts.

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Book SynopsisFocusing on a selection of internationally known Latin American films, this title is organized around national categories, grounding the readings not only in the context of social and political conditions, but also in those of each national film industry.Trade ReviewTitle mention in the British Bulletin of Publications, October 2005 - October 2006"This book is multifaceted...[T]he films in this study are important not only in national and transnational terms, but also to domestic and international audiences who may find their subject matter of interest and relevant to the human condition. This book is recommended to students of theater and art as well as to the discerning moviegoer." -The Colonial Latin American Historical Review * Blurb from reviewer *"This clearly organized and readable volume provides critical-analytical readings of ten important Latin American feature films...Frequently and productively drawing on feminist perspectives, Shaw is an astute critics who excels at providing socioeconomic, historical, and political contexts in order to better understand the films under consideration." -Choice * Blurb from reviewer *Table of ContentsIntroduction 1. Cuba: From Memories of Underdevelopment to Strawberry and Chocolate 2. Mexico: Like Water for Chocolate and Amores Perros 3. Chile: Searching the Past for the Future in Amnesia and The Frontier 4. Argentina: The Voyage and I the Worst of All 5. Brazil: National Identity and the Family in Pixote and Central Station Conclusion Filmography Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisAlthough Bresson is widely regarded as one of the greatest directors of the 20th century, his films are rarely shown in the English-speaking world. This book introduces his movies to a broader audience and assesses 13 of his most significant films in the context of detailed plot summaires, vivid character descriptions and settings.Trade Review"Bresson is to French film what Dostoevsky is to the Russian novel and Mozart to German music."--Jean-Luc Godard"Bresson stands as an ideal of simplicity.... I find him very close to the oriental concept of Zen: depth within narrowly defined limits."--Andrei Tarkovsky"With tightly-written, jargon-free prose and an abundance of critical insights, film critic Cunneen reivews Bresson's oeuvre, finding meaning in his subject's view that life can be demanding or tragic but is ultimately redeemed by our common vulnerability and humanity....this is a worthy effort to make the work of an uncompromising artist accessible to general audiences and a new generation of film students. Recommended for large public and academic film collections."--Steven Rees, Library Journal, April 15, 2003"Anyone who cherishes the connection between faith and film needs to revisit Bresson and take Cunneen along as a spiritual companion. Cunneen's Catholic sensibility and previous studies...show him to be a trustworthy and knowledgeable guide. And because watching Bresson's films unaccompanied can be difficult and at times confusing, Cunneen's book is just what the serious film student needs for the journey."--James M. Wall, Christian Century, July 26, 2003"Cunneen clearly nails the spiritual effect of his subject's style. Though Bresson won't promise happy endings, 'his austere, clear-eyed cinematography fosters a deep understanding of the grandeur and pain of our common humanity.' Recommended." -M. Yaco

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Book SynopsisExamines the construction of sex and gender in the four science-fiction films comprising the Alien saga (starring Sigourney Weaver). This book focuses on how the writers and directors have re-written Ripley and how each revision informs our understanding of women in science fiction.Trade Review"'...[a] look between the lines and behind the scenes to dissect Ripley and her place in movie history.' Minnesota Daily 'Doing a trans-textual analysis of the films, the authors place the films firmly within the cultural landscape that produced them....Gallardo and Smith do a good job analyzing the films, especially the alter ones, and setting them squarely and intelligently within their historical context.' Post Script '...a serious contribution to academia, for it is well-researched and conscientiously documented, but its strength is that it is highly accessible to the average fan...written with clarity, with a diverse audience in mind' The Review of Horror Fiction"Table of ContentsIntroduction: Can't Live with Them, Can't Kill Them; Chapter 1: Men, Women, and Alien Baby; Chapter 2: Ripley Gets her Gun: Aliens and the Reagan Era Hero. Chapter 3: "The Bitch Is Back": The Iconoclastic Body in Alien; Chapter 4: "Who Are You?" Alien Resurrection and the Posthuman Subject; Afterword: Alien Woman; Selected Bibliography; Notes; Index.

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Book SynopsisA biography of jazz trumpeter and singer, Henry "Red" Allen, long regarded as Louis Armstrong's chief rival. As a close friend of Allen's, John Chilton brings to light various aspects of Allen's personality, as well as analyzing his recordings and detailing his life.Trade Review"The book is enlivened by the author's piquant and most readable style....This is definitely a jazz volume that belongs in your personal library."--The Mississippi Rag, February 2001"[An] absorbing study...Chilton is not only a fine biographer...bur also a fine trumpet player, and provides helpful commentary on Red's many recordings....this is a first-rate jazz biography, scrupulously researched and gracefully written." -Jersey Jazz"this excellent book...includes nearly 20 fine photos, a selected discography by Brian Peerless and an index." - International Association of Jazz Record Collectors Journal -- Russ ChaseTable of ContentsNew Orleans joys; a trip to the north; riverboat days; a musical furnace; star soloist; the blueprints of swing; the great understudy; bold bandleader; super showman; metropole magic; European debut; four's company; triumphant tours; a Valian farewell.

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