Search results for ""author nina g""

Armenian mediaeval historians, who have concentrated primarily on political high points, have tended to dismiss the more than four centuries dividing the two royal epochs of the Arsacids (ending, A.D. 428) and the Bagratids (inaugurated with the coronation of Ashot I, A.D. 884), as a 'Dark Age'. The intention of the present study, on the contrary, is to attempt the examination of a portion of the 'Interregnum' (600-750) as a period of religious synthesis and social renewal, as well as of intellectual and particularly artistic effervescence. In such an interpretation, the 'Interregnum', despite the unfavourable nature of its exterior and interior political setting, becomes the hypothetical locus during which, the identity of Armenia seems to have been forged, as that of a nation existing outside the framework of a political state. Consequently, the purpose of the present investigation is to eschew a political approach, which has proved at best episodic and fragmentary, in order to seek, in a period devoid of a centralized state, a different explanation for the continuous survival of 'Armenia', in spite of the numerous vicissitudes of its tumultuous history.

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Cette etude de developpement historique de l'Eglise armenienne durant la periode pre-islamique des grandes controverses christologiques s'adresse particulierement a ses relations avec la Perse sassanide dont l'importance n'a pas ete suffisamment appreciee jusqu'a present dans les analyses de l'etendue de sa propre evolution et des circonstances et causes de sa rupture eventuelle avec les Eglises de Byzance et de Georgie. Cet examen a ete base en large partie sur les documents officiels contemporains qui ont ete traduits in extenso dans son appendice.

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Living Color is the first book to investigate the social history of skin color from prehistory to the present, showing how our body's most visible feature influences our social interactions in profound and complex ways. Nina Jablonski begins this fascinating and wide-ranging work with an explanation of the biology and evolution of skin pigmentation, tracing how skin color changed as humans moved around the globe, exploring the relationship between melanin and sunlight, and examining the consequences of mismatches between our skin color and our environment due to rapid migrations, vacations, and other life-style choices. Aided by plentiful illustrations, this book also explains why skin color has become a biological trait with great social meaning - a product of evolution perceived differently by different cultures. It considers how we form impressions of others, how we create and use stereotypes, and how prejudices about dark skin developed and have played out through history - including as justification for the transatlantic slave trade. Offering examples of how attitudes toward skin color differ in the United States, Brazil, India, and South Africa, Jablonski suggests that a knowledge of the evolution and social importance of skin color can help eliminate color-based discrimination and racism.

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The late fifth-century anonymous Epic Histories, formerly known as the History of Armenia attributed to another unknown P‘awstos (Faustos) Buzand, form the earliest historical work written in Armenian. They are the main source for our knowledge of social structure, beliefs and customs of early Christian Armenia, and especially of the profound and lasting influence of Zoroastrian Persia on the recently converted country. This influence is evident in the very composition of the work, which owes as much to the lost oral tradition of the Iranian epic as to more familiar Classical and early Christian models.Hence, it is unmatched for the reconstruction of the ambivalent world of the Near East in Late Antiquity at the cross roads between Classical and Iranian civilizations. Since no scholarly translation of this work into any Western language has been attempted for more than a century, much of its contribution has remained beyond the reach of most scholars. The aim of the present publication is to fill this lacuna by complementing the translation of the original Armenian text with a Commentary and Appendices that are intended to serve not only Armenian scholars but Classicists and Iranians alike.

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This book explores how political democracy, economic mobility (and lack thereof), cultural and demographic shifts have affected the making of racial identities in South Africa over the past two decades of freedom. To what extent do South Africans hold on to inherited racial identities; are they embracing newer identities; do they move back and forth without making clear-cut choices about one racial identity or the other? The binary division between colour consciousness and colour blindness does not capture the contradictions of multiple belonging and association that a freer society brings about. The contributors in this volume discuss how identity shifts or lack thereof play themselves out in institutions of government, the economy, civil society; and the extent to which public policy has facilitated or impeded the emergence of a more integrated, equitable society.

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We expose it, cover it, paint it, tattoo it, scar it, and pierce it. Our intimate connection with the world, skin protects us while advertising our health, our identity, and our individuality. This dazzling synthetic overview is a complete guidebook to the pliable covering that makes us who we are. "Skin: A Natural History" celebrates the evolution of three unique attributes of human skin: its naked sweatiness, its distinctive sepia rainbow of colors, and its remarkable range of decorations. Jablonski places the rich cultural canvas of skin within its broader biological context for the first time, and the result is a tremendously engaging look at us.

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