Search results for ""University of Wales Press""

This book will focus on religious matters in their contemporary context. The volume will be topical, with analysis of such diverse areas as religion and the cinema and the current global increase in fundamentalist religions. The proposed chapters are as follows: What is theology? What is the contemporary role of theology? Semper Reformanda - The nature and purpose of the church today; Worship; The Church in the World; Theology and Politics; Democracy: What does Christianity tell us? God and Evil: How does certitude relate to morality? Christianity amongst other religions; Fundamentalism - history and development; and, The Gospel and Visual Culture.

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Following the events of September 11, 2001, public focus has been on the power of religion. This book addresses the role of religious education in a world where terrorism has impacted on western democracy. Through an analysis and evaluation of the models of religious education, it considers if religion is part of the answer or part of the problem.

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The voyages of Captain Cook are endlessly fascinating to a wide audience, and no aspect of them has been more controversial than Cook's death. This book reprints one of the classic accounts of this episode, the vivid and lively narrative by one of the voyage surgeons, David Samwell. This book not only makes Samwell's "Narrative of the Death of Captain James Cook" readily available for the first time, but presents it with Samwell's previously unpublished letters relating to Cook's third voyage, and his poetry. The introductory essays discuss Samwell's contribution to our understanding of this dramatic period in Pacific and maritime history, and examine the personality and career of Samwell himself.

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Through a discussion of border identities, this book presents a balance-sheet of key developments in modern French society and culture in the context of globalization. It seeks to re-define and re-consider the notion of the border in respect of the identification of a variety of visible and invisible 'border' situations.

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This book analyses the 'waste versus profit' concept (as propounded by the British author Samuel Smiles and which found many supporters in mid-nineteenth century Spain) in the four novels of the "Torquemada series", by Benito Perez Galdos ("Torquemada en la hoguera" [1889], "Torquemada en la cruz" [1893], "Torquemada en el purgatorio" [1894] and "Torquemada y San Pedro" [1895]) within the context of the political economy and contemporary socio-cultural and medical debates. It investigates the extent to which notions of profit, efficiency and utility inform the "Torquemada" series by being juxtaposed with contemporary ideas on economic waste, inefficiency and loss, providing new insights into and a better understanding of the series.

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During Iolo Morganwg's lifetime Britain was obsessed with literary forgery. This book reveals the unexpected connections and hidden influences behind Britain's most successful (and hence, perhaps, least visible) Romantic forger. It explores Iolo's own strongly-held ideas about the Truth-historical, literary and religious.

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This book brings together the most current interpretations of the Wohunge Group from scholars currently working on the fields of medieval spirituality, gender, and the anchoritic tradition, providing literary, theological, linguistic, and cultural context for the works associated with the Wohunge Group (a collection of texts in English written by an unknown author in the late twelfth to early thirteenth centuries). These works are unique in their context - written almost certainly for a group of women living as anchoresses and recluses who were literate in English and were interested in guidance both in spiritual and worldly issues. The book discusses and explains the impact and significance of these works and situates them within the continuum of medieval theological and literary culture.

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Explores the link between logic, ethics and political theory. This book analyses the theoretical origins and application of the concept of intersubjectivity, arguing that post-Kantian philosophy (in Fichte, Schiller and Hegel) extends Kant's critique of Leibniz to yield a different theory of modern freedom, community and mutual recognition.

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Did King Edward I really give his baby son the title he had stolen from Gwynedd's native princes? Or was the truth a little more complex? This up-to-date and concise overview covers the origins of the title, Prince of Wales, and the lives and activities of its twenty-one "official" holders since the Statute of Rhuddlan confirmed Edward's conquest of Wales in 1284. From tragic youths to seasoned warriors, from sickly children to men who held the title into old age, they are all here, in a 700-year panorama of British royalty. The first book on the subject for over twenty years, Deborah Fisher's "Princes of Wales" acts as a useful companion volume to the "Pocket Guide on Princesses of Wales" by the same author. Readers will find that, just as with the princesses, the personalities of the princes, revealed in their public and private lives, are enormously varied, and yet they are bound together by many a common thread.

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Through a study of an 'invented' royal ceremony held in Wales in 1911 and again in 1969, "Investiture: Royal Ceremony and National Identity in Wales 1911-1969" explores the problematic, contested and changing relationship between nationality, ethnicity and the state in the United Kingdom. What happens to the meaning of the British monarchy when it leaves the English centre and crosses into the Celtic periphery? How does royal ceremony become a vehicle for defining and contesting the relationship between ethnicity, nationality and the state when it takes place amongst a problematic group like the Welsh? How are internal social and cultural divisions within the periphery represented, addressed and reconciled in such ceremonial? How do these relationships and the constellations of identity that they form change over time? This study explores the ethnic margins and imperial dimensions of British national identity through the ceremonies of the Investiture of the Prince of Wales and the public reaction to them. Through the vehicle of ascribing meaning to this royal ceremony, competing parties and social groups defined alternative and often conflicting models of Welshness and its relationship to British national identity, the British state and the British Empire.

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This book is the reconstruction of a critical theory of modernity. 'The Theory of Modernity' is divided into four parts: freedom, equality, solidarity and responsibility. The first three follow the basic ideas of the constitutional revolutions of the 18th century.

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The Wales TUC is the national institution representing the organised workers of Wales. Joe England seeks to explain and assess its achievements over the past thirty years of dramatic change: the rundown of the coal and steel industries, the decline in manufacturing jobs, the growth of white-collar employment and unions, the Thatcher and Major years of high unemployment and industrial law reform, and the increasing numbers of low-paid part-time workers, most of them women. Throughout the period the Wales TUC has negotiated with a succession of Secretaries of State of varying persuasions, consistently promoting the case for investment in jobs and fair treatment for workers. A leading campaigner for a Welsh Assembly it now has to adjust to the demands of that body whilst seeking to halt the decline in trade union membership and promote partnership with industry. The result is a book that is relevant not only to the study of recent Welsh political and industrial history and to an understanding of pressure group politics, but also to labour history and industrial relations.

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This volume draws upon academic research to provide an accessible account of the way that the changes introduced by devolved governance are transforming the role of women in contemporary Welsh politics. It sets out current ideas in academic thinking and why political and social scientists are excited about, and interested in, devolution. It is based on original interviews with participants as well as a wide range of secondary sources. It draws upon research in Scotland and Northern Ireland in order to place the events reported on within the wider context of devolution in the UK. The volume begins by examining how women activists used the political opportunities afforded by constitutional reform to further gender equality and women's participation in politics. These actions led to unique, and as yet little known, innovations such as the Welsh Assembly's statutory duty to promote equality of opportunity. This account examines the background to, and effects of affirmative action taken by three political parties such that the new Welsh legislature has the second highest proportion of women elected representatives amongst national government bodies in Europe. It explores the notable development whereby women are in a majority in the Welsh executive's cabinet. Against the background of pro-devolution rhetoric that stated the case for a 'new politics' based on 'inclusiveness', this volume presents a timely assessment of a new phase in Wales's history; one that has redefined women's role in contemporary Welsh politics.

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"A Social History of the Cinema in Wales" offers a perspective on the place of cinema in Welsh popular culture. The 'golden age' of cinema entertainment is now half a century behind us, yet it continues to linger in popular memory.

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Hegel's concept of civil society endorses a market economy and a liberal outlook. But his concept of state culminates in an authoritarian prince who is protector of the constitution. The tensions and contradictions that plague Hegel's liberal society that cannot be resolved by its own civil institutions, motivate his conservative authoritarianism.

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A collection of 15 penetrating analytical studies based on thorough research by renowned scholars on various manuscript sources of medieval Welsh poetry and prose texts, in terms of language, authorship, and the influence of the aural tradition on texts. 13 black-and-white illustrations and 1 map.

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In this ground-breaking and controversial study of the myths surrounding the International Brigades, Robert Stradling argues that the civil war can be seen as the climax of the struggle between the claims of culture and art for autonomy - even for supremacy - and the demands of political commitment. Stradling traces this conflict through the reactions of figures such as W. H. Auden, Stephen Spender, George Orwell, and Benjamin Britten, as well as many lesser-known writers, and in terms of the Brigades' reputation and history in the context of some of the war's key episodes. History and Legend dissents from the orthodox interpretation of the role of artists and intellectuals in the Spanish Civil War, questions the basis of the Republic's claim to spiritual superiority, and analyses the assumptions behind the notion that 'art' and 'the good cause' are necessarily synonymous. It is a major new interpretation of the historical, political and cultural legacy of the International Brigades.

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Kerstin Hensel is one of the most productive and successful young writers in Germany today. From the late 1970s onwards she has published in a wide variety of genres, although she remains best known for her novels, short stories and poetry. Her most important work to date is the story Tanz am Kanal (1994), which has received much acclaim and has been widely discussed. Hensel has won a wide range of literary prizes and scholarships. In accordance with the aims of this series, this book is intended both as an introduction for the general reader and as a resource for the specialist. Through a series of academic articles the volume analyses all aspects of Hensel's writing, including poetry, plays and prose. It brings together the most up-to-date research on her work, from Britain, the United States and Germany. The volume also includes a previously unpublished story by Hensel, and an interview with the author held during her period as writer-in-residence at University of Wales Swansea in September 2000. It concludes with a comprehensive bibliography.

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This work covers issues facing second- and third-generation South Asian young people growing up in Western countries. Drawing on fieldwork from four countries (Great Britain, USA, Canada, and Australia), this work covers topics such as schooling and education, bilingualism, acculturation patterns, cultural conflicts and identity formation, racial prejudice, gender equality and employment opportunities. The text also makes constructive suggestions to improve the education and lifestyles of South Asian young people in the West. It should appeal to academic researchers interested in issues of ethnicity, bilingualism and education as well as to teachers, youth workers and social workers.

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Using an examination of theatrical and musical performance in a small Valleys town as a focus, this work puts forward an argued discussion of contemporary Welsh theatre in its cultural context. The text uses the south Wales valleys as a means of locating and exploring certain key issues: those connected to "coercive" ideas about what "ideal" theatre is; the relationship between politics and performance; the conundrum of community theatre; the role of theatre practice in marginalized regions; and the significance of class to theatre and the problem of a system of arts subsidy which foists inappropriate external theatre product on indigenous audiences.

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This will be the first volume to discuss the development of Plaid Cymru's political ideology from the early days to the party's present position as the chief opposition party in the National Assembly for Wales. The book will give authoritative answers to the many questions asked about the party over the years. The book will be divided into two parts. The first part will have three chapters which, when taken together, will offer a chronological overview of Plaid Cymru's ideological development. This will be done by focusing in particular on the influence of the party's leaders in three different periods: Saunders Lewis, Gwynfor Evans and then the period of the two Dafydds (Wigley and Elis-Thomas). These chapters will also look at the ideological tensions within the party during each period and at other influential political thinkers. The second part will focus on particularly significant aspects of Plaid's ideology-for example, the relationship between the nationalism of Plaid Cymru and previous manifestations of nationalism in Wales; utopianism; fascism; political 'methods'. It will close with a chapter on the role of Plaid Cymru in post-devolution Wales.

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"Theatre in Madrid and Barcelona, 1892-1936" is an account of a period of momentous transformation in Spanish cultural history. It provides detailed analysis of the artistic, political and linguistic contexts of Spanish and Catalan theatre before the Spanish Civil War.

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This work looks at the impact of five "archetypal" figures on literature and culture of the 1790s in Britain. The figures covered are: Tewdrig, the hermit-king; Vortigen, the Dark-Age traitor, the Polish General Kosciusko; Iolo Morganwg; and the Jacobin demagogue John Thelwall.

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Does the market promote its own intrinsic and selfish values, or does it merely reflect the values of society? This collection offers reports from all areas of the business and policy sectors, providing a debate on the supposedly conflicting relationship between the market and spiritual values.

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A fascinating collection of thirteen articles dealing with various aspects of the cultural relationship between Wales and the United States of America in the 20th century, in the fields of literature and architecture, music and art, language and politics, and personal recollections by renowned scholars. 9 black-and-white photographs.

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Language, Self and Love offers a unique insight into the development of the language of interiority in the medieval literature inspired by the Song of Songs and its commentaries. It traces the evolution of a medieval identity in the process of self-fashioning and, in showing the importance of mystical writing for understanding medieval subjectivity, suggests that the 'self' is not the early modern invention it is often claimed to be. Denis Renevey discusses the correspondences between the discourse of love in the Song of Songs and the language of mysticism in the writings of William of St Thierry and Richard Rolle, where the self is described in its attempts at establishing a direct relationship with God. He also shows how the textual strategies offered in mystical writing for the use of female recipients engage with questions of misogyny and the relationship between Latin and vernacular cultures.

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The book will consist of a dozen seminal articles published since Alt-J was first launched in 1993. Each original article will be supplemented by a 500- word update. The book will illustrate how the area of learning technology has developed since the journal was first launched. It will examine to what extent predictions about the use and role of learning technology, have or have not come true. For example the significance and impact of the Internet on learning and teaching could not have been predicted seven years ago. This will be reflected in the introduction, which will justify the choice of articles and provide a context for the work.

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While the Christian faith has played a major part in the history of both Wales and Scotland, there has been little previous work looking at their histories in a comparative manner. In the light of the establishment of the Welsh Assembly and the Scottish Parliament, this issue is of particular contemporary importance. This collection discusses religion in Scotland and Wales from a historical perspective and examines the contribution of religion to the sense of national identity in the period from the Evangelical Revival to the present day. It suggests that the histories of the two nations are only understood when the religious dimension is taken seriously. The various essays collected here offer new perspectives on particular denominations, from the Scottish Covenanters to Welsh Methodism, as well as discussing individual figures such as Howell Harris, Edward Irving and Arthur Price, in order to examine the complex relationship between language, national identity and religion. Religion and National Identity is an original and timely contribution, not only to the religious histories of Wales and Scotland, but also to the collective history of Great Britain in the modern period.

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This work offers a comprehensive look at Michael Walzer - one of the most prominent social critics in North America -, and his entire body of work. The topics dealt with include: war; the distribution of wealth; political power; healthcare; and both the national and international fields of justice.

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In National Winner, the sixth novel in the Land of the Living sequence, Amy Parry appears to have reached a summit of affluence and influence. As Lady Brangor, the widow of her third husband, she plans to create a cultural centre for women at Brangor Hall. These ambitious plans are impeded by the obsession of her youngest son, Peredur, with the mysterious death of his father, John Cilydd More, Amy's first husband, the poet and National Winner of the title. Her devoted stepson, Bedwyr, and her other son Gwydion, each with his own agenda and concerns, are also resistant to Amy's enthusiasms and practised charm. This is a family that has emerged from a tightly knit and recognisable society: each now in his or her own way, in spite of obstacles, seeks a path to fulfilment in a post-war period of unprecedented change.

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This volume deals with the 20th-century literature that is either Anglo-Welsh or that which relates to Wales. The argument of how writers "ground" themselves in their imagined Wales as a means of anchoring themselves against groundlessness in modern civilization, is also examined.

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A comprehensive study of the medieval tale Peredur, comprising six articles in Welsh and one in English by renowned scholars exploring the history of the manuscript, its language and style, together with the social and European context of the text, thus throwing new light on the tales of the Mabinogion in general.

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The 5th in a series, this work conveys the conflicts and passions of a small group of individuals in Wales, weighing them against the turmoil caused by war and its effects on a significantly changing Britain.

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This novel follows Flesh and Blood in the Amy Parry narrative sequence. Amy and Enid go together to university, where the former takes a leading part in the Nationalist campaign against Anglicization. Later Enid pairs off with John Cilydd More, a young solicitor who is also a poet, and Amy with Val Gwyn, an idealistic student leader. But Val dies of tuberculosis and Amy, in the post university world, falls prey to Pen Lewis, Communist and opportunist; Enid also dies. In this section of the narrative Amy loses her way: the props provided by other people's ideals and visions of society (the Communist one proving to be just another exploitation of women) having been removed she is empty of purpose.

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Amy Parry is bereft of her best friend who died in childbirth, unable to marry Val Gwyn who is seriously ill with TB, and determined not to choose poverty and struggle with her former lover Pen Lewis. So she marries John Cilydd More, but her peace is soon shattered by strikes and then Pen returns.

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A collection of five interviews with one of the most versatile and prolific Welsh authors of the 20th century, celebrating his life and work as he reaches his eightieth birthday.

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The author of this volume is acknowledged as one of the most distinguished translators of Welsh into English. In this collection of essays he discusses the process of translation both generally and with reference to specific examples, offering insights into a translator's choices.

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An interesting collection of 7 studies of various aspects of the history of the visual arts in Wales by experts in the field, namely Peter Lord, Donald Moore, Megan Morgan Jones and Robyn Tomos together with the two editors. 11 black-and-white and 10 colour illustrations.

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A critical study of a Welsh translation of Ystorya Gwlat Ieuan Vendigeit, a letter supposedly sent by Prester John to Manuel, emperor of Constantinople about 1165, comprising presentations of two translations of the document, taken from manuscripts Jesus College 119, Peniarth 15, 47 and 267, an appreciation of the text and its significance in Welsh literature, and detailed notes.

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Part of an expanding and academically acclaimed series, this is a genuine trans-denominational work on Nonconformity.

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Emyr Humphreys, poet, novelist, short-story writer and dramatist, is one of the foremost literary figures in Wales. For over 40 years he has interpreted the world of Welsh-speaking Wales, sympathetically but without sentiment.

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This book is intended both as an introduction for the general reader and as a resource for the specialist. It contains a tribute to Jurek Becker specially written for this volume by his friend and colleague Peter Schneider, together with a revealing interview and a tabular biographical outline. The contributions on varying aspects of Becker's work are complemented by the fullest bibliography to date of both primary and secondary works. Jurek Becker was a rare figure in German literature in more than one way. As an Auschwitz survivor of Jewish origins he was one of the few German writers able to take a victim's perspective on the Holocaust, most famously in his first novel Jakob der Lugner, a world-wide success. As a GDR writer who came into conflict with the authorities despite a life-long commitment to socialism he was in the peculiar position of being allowed to live in the West while retaining his GDR visa. His work remains as a landmark of that state, with novels such as Bronsteins Kinder treating the problem of post-war Jewish identity and the legacy of National Socialism within a GDR setting. As a novelist Becker achieved the unusual feat of both critical and commercial success, but it was as a writer of television screenplays that he achieved his greatest fame. Series like Liebling Kreuzberg and Wir sind auch nur ein Volk were not only watched by millions but also, in the latter case, encapsulated the problems Germany faces in reconciling itself to the consequences of unification. Jurek Becker's untimely death in March 1997 deprived German literature of an irreplaceable figure who belongs, as Peter Schneider asserts in this volume, to one of only a small number of German writers of his generation who will be remembered a century hence.

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Within Germany, Carl Schmitt's status as a political thinker is on a par with Machiavelli and Hobbes. With the rise in neo-conservatism and authoritarian liberalism in less developed countries such as Chile and Singapore, Schmitt's theories will become of incredible importance. Carl Schmitt had close links with the Weimar Republic and its successor the Nazi Third Reich. His political theories give a valuable insight into the nature of Conservatism. As with all the titles in the Political Philosophy Now Series, the author takes previous political thought and applies to the modern day and extrapolates possibilities for the future. Renato Christi, in his final chapter, also compares Schmitt's theories with those of Hobbes, Hegel and Hayek.

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This study traces the impact of their social and cultural backgrounds on the lives and work of Anglo-Welsh poets including Gerard Manley Hopkins, R.S. Thomas, David Jones, Dylan Thomas, John Ormond, John Tripp and Raymond Garlick.

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This collection of essays devoted to the Swiss German writer, Peter Bichsel is intended both as an introduction for the general reader and as a resource for the specialist. It contains previously unpublished pieces by Bichsel, together with an interview and a short biography. A bibliography of Bichsel's writing is also included.

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The nature of crime and policing has changed considerably in the 20th century. Using South Wales as a case study, this text places the discussion in its historical context, and contributes to debates on crime, policing and punishment. South Wales has the geography of a county police, and some of the problems of a metropolitan police area. The local police force patrol isolated villages and market streets, old and new industral centres, seaport and seaside towns, and the large cities of Cardiff and Swansea.

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A comprehensive biography of Daniel Owen (1836-95), one of the most talented Welsh writers, especially in the context of characters and dialogue. 13 black-and-white illustrations.

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