Sexuality and Gender in the Classical World

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Sexuality and Gender in the Classical World: Readings and Sources (Interpreting Ancient History)

by Laura K. McClure (Editor)

This book explores the fascinating world of sex and gender roles in the classical period. It provides readers with essays that represent a range of perspectives on women, gender and sexuality in the ancient world. They are accessible to general readers whilst also challenging them to confront problems of evidence and interpretation, new theories and methodologies, and contemporary assumptions about gender and sexuality.
The essays cover a broad spectrum of scholarly perspectives, and trace the debates and themes of the field from the late 1960s to the late 1990s. They also address a range of literary and non-literary genres, including some non-canonical sources such as medical writings and inscriptions, to elucidate ancient ideas about sexuality and the discourses that shaped these ideas. The book also provides translations of primary sources to enable readers to confront the evidence for themselves and assess the methodology used by historians. It includes Greek literature and society, Roman culture and the legacy of classical myth for modern feminist scholars. It includes and examines not only women in antiquity but also masculinity and sexuality to provide a comprehensive account of this fascinating topic.

Sexuality in Greek and Roman Literature and Society

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Sexuality in Greek and Roman Literature and Society: A Sourcebook

by Marguer Johnson

This volume contains numerous original translations of ancient poetry, inscriptions, and documents, all of which illuminate the multifaceted nature of sexuality in antiquity.The detailed introduction provides full social and historical context for the sources, and guides students on how to use the material most effectively. Themes such as marriage, prostitution, and same-sex attraction are presented comparatively, with material from the Greek and Roman worlds shown side by side. This approach allows readers to interpret the written records with a full awareness of the different context of these separate but related societies. Commentaries are provided throughout, focusing on vocabulary and social and historical context.This is the first major sourcebook on ancient sexuality; it will be of particular use on related courses in classics/ancient history and gender studies.

The Media City

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The Media City: Media, Architecture and Urban Space

by Dr Scott McQuire

Review'If only more new media commentators had this level of historical-critical reference, engaging, good stories, and a degree of wonder at what media and windows bring to the city, to life...' - John Hutnyk, Academic Director, Centre for Cultural Studies, Goldsmiths University of London
'Just when you thought the last word had been said about cities and media, along comes Scott McQuire to breathe new life into the debate. When revisiting existing pathways, his always ingenious eyes produce startling and original insights. When striking out into new territory, he opens up before us inspiring new vistas. I love this book' - James Donald, Professor of Film Studies, University of New South Wales
'A book that contains sometimes audacious segues, that crams into a single chapter more insights and illustrations than seems feasible, yet which ties all threads together through a consistent, theoretically rich analysis of the interplay of media and city... Writing with effusiveness uncharacteristic of back-cover blurbs on academic tomes, James Donald says "I love this book". But I will end by echoing his praise, and make a promise to readers: you will love The Media City, too' - European Journal of Communication
'Compared to the urban studies literature of say David Harvey or Ed Soja, McQuire writes with a much greater architectural sensibility. His argument is that we move from a rather centred space of the classical renaissance city to a 'relational space' where past and future are juxtaposed not in simple Newtonian chronology but in complex relation to present. Such a transformed urbanism and media (compared with say Renaissance and Beaux Arts perspective) moves from what might be seen as the panoptic to a serial succession of photographic shots, of film frames, of movements along vistas at speed.
At stake is a city that is continually redefined by the media and understood along the lines of McQuire's quite novel media theory. At stake is a vision of media, which are too ubiquitous in the multiplication of screens, surveillance and other devices/interfaces in private and public space to primarily function any more as representations. Media in this (McQuire's) context are no longer primarily a set of representations, but constitute the very substance and fabric of urban public and private space' - Scott Lash, Goldsmiths, University of London
'…refreshingly clear, getting to grips with some of the key concepts of urban sociology in a way that moves beyond the wistful evocation and splatter of undigested terms that characterises so much academic writing on culture and cities… a clear historical and theoretically informed look at the city over the last 200 years… give us one of the most cogent accounts we have had for some time' - Media, Culture & Society

The Cultures of Globalization

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The Cultures of Globalization (Post-Contemporary Interventions)

by Fredric Jameson, Ioan Davies, Subramani, Barbara Trent, Sherif Hetata, Joan Martinez-Alier, Noam Chomsky

A pervasive force, globalization has come to represent the export and import of culture, the speed and intensity of which has increased to unprecedented levels in recent years. Here an international panel of intellectuals consider the process of globalization and how the global character of technology, communication networks, consumer culture, intellectual discourse, the arts, and mass entertainment have all been affected by recent worldwide trends.

Edward W. Said - presentations of the Intellectual: The 1993 Reith Lectures

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presentations of the Intellectual: The 1993 Reith Lectures

by Edward W. Said

Celebrated humanist, teacher, and scholar, Edward W. Said here examines the ever-changing role of the intellectual today. In these six stunning essays - delivered on the BBC as the prestigious Reith Lectures - Said addresses the ways in which the intellectual can best serve society in the light of a heavily compromised media and of special interest groups who are protected at the cost of larger community concerns. Said suggests a recasting of the intellectual's vision to resist the lures of power, money, and specialization. in these powerful pieces, Said eloquently illustrates his arguments by drawing on such writers as Antonio Gramsci, Jean-Paul Sartre, Regis Debray, Julien Benda, and Adorno, and by discussing current events and celebrated figures in the world of science and politics: Robert Oppenheimer, Henry Kissinger, Dan Quayle, Vietnam, and the Gulf War. Said sees the modern intellectual as an editor, journalist, academic, or political adviser - in other words, a highly specialized professional - who has moved from a position of independence to an alliance with powerful institutional organizations. He concludes that it is the exile-immigrant, the expatriate, and the amateur who must uphold the traditional role of the intellectual as the voice of integrity and courage, able to speak out against those in power.

World Press Encyclopedia

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World Press Encyclopedia: A Survey of Press Systems Worldwide ( TWO VOL. SET )

by Amanda C. Quick

Twenty-one years after publication of the first edition, this completely revised work contains articles on the press and media in 232 countries and territories. Arranged alphabetically by country, entries generally cover the history of the Fourth Estate, press laws, economic framework, censorship, attitudes toward foreign media, a chronology of significant recent events, and a bibliography. Several entries are illustrated with black-and-white graphs depicting Internet use, top-circulation newspapers, and the number of personal computers; basic country data are also included. Three appendixes provide comparative statistical rankings (newspaper circulation, television stations, radio sets, etc.); annotated listing of news associations and organizations; and a collection of regional maps. A unified author-subject index provides easy access to the contents of both volumes.Compiled by 80 contributors, the individual essays vary greatly in quality and length (200-30,000 words). For some smaller and less developed nations, such as Belize and Benin, the essays are quite short. Essays for countries where the press is strictly regulated, such as Cambodia, can also be skimpy. Two additional appendixes would have been helpful: a listing of the Web sites for major newspapers and a general bibliography listing guides, directories, and handbooks to the world press.World Press Encyclopedia is an excellent reference source providing concise information for material currently dispersed in numerous print and Web sources. Especially valuable is the bibliography at the end of each entry. The Ghana essay, for example, cites a wide variety of sources from American media publications to Ghanaian newspapers. Useful for students, scholars, and those seeking quick information, this unique source is recommended for public and academic libraries.

Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man

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Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man

by Marshall McLuhan

with a new introduction by Lewis H. Lapham This reissue of Understanding Media marks the thirtieth anniversary (1964-1994) of Marshall McLuhan's classic expose on the state of the then emerging phenomenon of mass media. Terms and phrases such as "the global village" and "the medium is the message" are now part of the lexicon, and McLuhan's theories continue to challenge our sensibilities and our assumptions about how and what we communicate. There has been a notable resurgence of interest in McLuhan's work in the last few years, fueled by the recent and continuing conjunctions between the cable companies and the regional phone companies, the appearance of magazines such as WiRed, and the development of new media models and information ecologies, many of which were spawned from MIT's Media Lab. In effect, media now begs to be redefined. In a new introduction to this edition of Understanding Media, Harper's editor Lewis Lapham reevaluates McLuhan's work in the light of the technological as well as the political and social changes that have occurred in the last part of this century.

Household and Family Religion in Antiquity

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Household and Family Religion in Antiquity (Ancient World: Comparative Histories)

by John Bodel, Saul M. Olyan (EditorS)

Traditional scholarship on religion in antiquity has favoured the study of national, regional, or municipal worship, overlooking the significant day-to-day rituals and beliefs that existed beyond the contexts of state-sponsored or civic temple cults. Household and Family Religion in Antiquity: Contextual and Comparative Perspectives is the first book to explore the religious dimensions of the family and the household in ancient Mediterranean and West Asian antiquity.
With an approach that is both contextual and comparative, essays examine domestic and familial religious practices in Egypt, Greece, Rome, Israel, Mesopotamia, Ugarit, Emar, and Philistia. Taking in a range of religious expression, from supplication of a household’s patron deities to contact with dead ancestors, Household and Family Religion in Antiquity advances our understanding of a distinct and widespread ancient religious phenomenon.

Greek and Roman Dress from A to Z

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Greek and Roman Dress from A to Z (The Ancient World from a to Z)

by Liza Cleland

Who dressed as a woman in an attempt to commit adultery with Julius Caesar’s wife? How did the ancient Greeks make blusher from seaweed? Just how does one wear a toga?
If, as many claim, the importance of clothes lies in their detail, then this a book that no sartorially savvy Classicist should be without. Greek and Roman Dress from A to Z is an alphabetized compendium of styles and accessories that form the well-known classical image: a reference source of stitches, drapery, hairstyles, colours, fabrics and jewellery, and an analysis of the intricate system of social meanings that they comprise.
The entries range in length from a few lines to a few pages and cover individual aspects of dress alongside surveys of wider topics and illuminating socio-cultural analysis, drawn from ancient art, literature and archaeology. For those who want to take their reading further, there are references to both primary sources and modern scholarship.
This book will be fascinating for anyone delving into it with an interest in style and dress, and an invaluable companion for any classicist.

Indo-European Poetry and Myth

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Indo-European Poetry and Myth

by M. L. West

The Indo-Europeans, speakers of the prehistoric parent language from which most European and some Asiatic languages are descended, most probably lived on the Eurasian steppes some five or six thousand years ago. Martin West investigates their traditional mythologies, religions, and poetries, and points to elements of common heritage. In The East Face of Helicon (1997), West showed the extent to which Homeric and other early Greek poetry was influenced by Near Eastern traditions, mainly non-Indo-European. His new book presents a foil to that work by identifying elements of more ancient, Indo-European heritage in the Greek material. Topics covered include the status of poets and poetry in Indo-European societies; meter, style, and diction; gods and other supernatural beings, from Father Sky and Mother Earth to the Sun-god and his beautiful daughter, the Thunder-god and other elemental deities, and earthly orders such as Nymphs and Elves; the forms of hymns, prayers, and incantations; conceptions about the world, its origin, mankind, death, and fate; the ideology of fame and of immortalization through poetry; the typology of the king and the hero; the hero as warrior, and the conventions of battle narrative.

The Social Roots of Basque Nationalism

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The Social Roots of Basque Nationalism (The Basque Series)

by Alfonso Pérez-Agote

The Basque people have preserved their ethnic identity and sense of themselves as a separate community despite centuries of repression, diaspora, and economic and social upheaval—one of the most remarkable achievements in the history of that phenomenon we call nationalism. In The Social Roots of Basque Nationalism, sociologist Alfonso Pérez-Agote addresses the social mechanisms that Basques employed to sustain their ethnic identity under the Franco Regime and demonstrates how persecution actually encouraged the extension of Basque nationalist consciousness. He also reveals how state political pressure radicalized one element of the Basque-nationalist movement, resulting in the formation of eta ,an armed terrorist wing that itself became a mechanism for extending nationalist consciousness. Finally, he examines the subsequent changes in Basque nationalism following Franco's death and the extension of democracy in Spain, which resulted in the institutionalization of the movement into an autonomous political power. This work is based in part on a wide range of interviews and polls with informants in the Basque Country and abroad, eliciting such data as the role that family, education, social contacts, and religious environment play in the evolution of political attitudes; the place of violence in the Basque world view and contemporary political culture; regional variations in Basque nationalism; and the factors that contributed to the resilience of Basque nationalism in adapting to new historical conditions. The result is a sophisticated discussion of the various ways in which Basque social reality is constituted and how this reality helps to create political culture. Because Pérez-Agote situates his discussion within the broader frameworks of ethnic identity, group dynamics, and the nature of nationalism, the book makes a significant contribution not only to our understanding of the Basques but to the broader study of the evolution of nationalism and the nation-state, political violence, and the complicated transition of any society from dictatorship to democracy.

Encyclopedia of Society and Culture in the Ancient World

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Encyclopedia of Society and Culture in the Ancient World (Encyclopedia of Society & Culture in the Ancient World)

by Peter I. Bogucki (Editor)

The four-volume "Encyclopedia of Society and Culture in the Ancient World" offers comprehensive coverage of the ancient world, from prehistory to the fall of Rome, including Western and non-Western cultures and civilizations. An introduction outlines the key milestones in the development of human society, from the peoples of the Ice Age whose way of life was so vastly different from ours to the citizens of Greece and Rome whom we easily recognize from history books. The 69 signed entries - including 14 on "major" topics with more in-depth coverage - provide readers with an overview of the various ways in which people lived in the past.Each entry explores a specific topic across the entire world, beginning with an introduction that outlines the major developments in chronological sequence, followed by subsections on the following centers of civilization: Africa, Egypt, the Middle East, Asia and the Pacific, Europe, Greece, Rome, and the Americas. Each entry concludes with a list of "see also" references to related entries, followed by a further reading list of books, articles, and Web sites on the topic. Primary source documents, sidebars, and more than 250 black-and-white photographs and maps supplement the text. A glossary, general bibliography, chronology by region, and comprehensive index make this set an easy-to-use and essential reference for high school and college students, researchers, and general readers alike.

Cultural Theory: The Key Concepts

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Cultural Theory: The Key Concepts (Routledge Key Guides)

ow in its second edition, Cultural Theory: The Key Concepts is an up-to-date and comprehensive survey of over 350 of the key terms central to cultural theory today.This second edition includes new entries on:* colonialism* cybercultur* globalisation* terrorism* visual studies.Providing clear and succinct introductions to a wide range of subjects, from feminism to postmodernism, Cultural Theory: The Key Concepts continues to be an essential resource for students of literature, sociology, philosophy and media and anyone wrestling with contemporary cultural theory.

Social and Cultural Anthropology: The Key Concepts

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Social and Cultural Anthropology: The Key Concepts

Social and Cultural Anthropology: The Key Concepts is the ideal introduction to this discipline, defining and discussing its central terms with clarity and authority. Among the concepts explored are: cybernetics, ecriture, the feminine, gossip, human Rights, moralities, stereotypes, thick description, and violence. Each entry is accompanied by extensive cross-referencing and an invaluable list of suggestions for further reading.

Arete: Greek Sports from Ancient Sources

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Arete: Greek Sports from Ancient Sources

by Stephen G. Miller

From the informal games of Homer's time to the highly organized contests of the Roman world, Miller has compileda trove of ancient sources: Plutarch on boxing, Aristotle on the pentathlon, Philostratos on the buying and selling of victories, Vitruvius on literary competitions, and Xenophon on female body building. With nearly 50 percent more texts than the highly successful second edition, this new version of Arete offers readers an absorbing lesson in the culture of Greek athletics from the greatest of teachers, the ancients themselves, and demonstrates that the concepts of virtue, skill, pride, valor, and nobility embedded in the word arete are only part of the story from antiquity. Illustrations: 15 line illustrations

The Myth of Sacred Prostitution in Antiquity

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The Myth of Sacred Prostitution in Antiquity

by Stephanie Lynn Budin

In this study, Stephanie Budin demonstrates that sacred prostitution, the sale of a person's body for sex in which some or all of the money earned was devoted to a deity or a temple, did not exist in the ancient world. Reconsidering the evidence from the ancient Near East, the Greco-Roman texts, and the Early Christian authors, Budin shows that the majority of sources that have traditionally been understood as pertaining to sacred prostitution actually have nothing to do with this institution. The few texts that are usually invoked on this subject are, moreover, terribly misunderstood. Furthermore, contrary to many current hypotheses, the creation of the myth of sacred prostitution has nothing to do with notions of accusation or the construction of a decadent, Oriental "Other." Instead, the myth has come into being as a result of more than 2,000 years of misinterpretations, false assumptions, and faulty methodology. The study of sacred prostitution is, effectively, a historiographical reckoning.

Media Culture

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Media Culture: Cultural Studies, Identity and Politics Between the Modern and the Postmodern

by Douglas Kellner

Media Culture develops methods and analyses of contemporary film, television, music and other artifacts to discern their nature and effects, argueing that media culture is the dominant form of culture which socializes us and provides materials for identity, social reproduction and change. Through studies of Reagan and Rambo, horror films and youth films, rap music and African American culture, Madonna, fashion, television news and entertainment, MTV, Beavis and Butt-Head, the Gulf-War as cultural text, cyberpunk fiction and postmodern theory, Kellner provides a series of lively studies that both illuminate contemporary culture and provide methods of analysis and critique.
Many people today talk about cultural studies, but Kellner actually does it, carrying through a unique mixture of theoretical analyses and concrete discussions of some of the most popular and influential forms of contemporary media culture. Criticizing social context, political struggle, and the system of cultural production, Kellner develops a multi-dimensional approach to cultural studies that broadens the field and opens it to a variety of disiplines. He also provides approaches to the vexed question of the effects of culture and provides perspectives for cultural studies.

The Court and Court Society in Ancient Monarchies

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The Court and Court Society in Ancient Monarchies
by A. J. S. Spawforth

Monarchy was widespread as a political system in the ancient world. This volume offers the first substantial discussion of ancient monarchies from the viewpoint of the ruler's court. The monarchies treated are Achaemenid and Sassanian Persia, the empire of Alexander, Rome under both the early and later Caesars, the Han rulers of China and Egypt's Eighteenth Dynasty. A comparative approach is adopted to major aspects of ancient courts, including their organisation and physical setting, their role as a vehicle for display, and their place in monarchial structures of power and control. This approach is broadly inspired by work on courts in later periods of history, especially early-modern France. The case studies confirm that ancient monarchies created the conditions for the emergence of a court and court society. The culturally-specific conditions in which these monarchies functioned meant variety in the character of the ruler's court from one society to another.

The History of Money

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The History of Money

by Jack Weatherford

From primitive man's cowrie shells to the electronic cash card, from the markets of Timbuktu to the New York Stock Exchange, "The History of Money" explores how money and the myriad forms of exchange have affected humanity, and how they will continue to shape all aspects of our lives--economic, political, and personal National publicity .

In his most widely appealing book yet, one of today's leading authors of popular anthropology looks at the intriguing history and peculiar nature of money, tracing our relationship with it from the time when primitive men exchanged cowrie shells to the imminent arrival of the all-purpose electronic cash card. 320 pp. Author tour. National radio publicity. 25,000 print. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Greek Laughter

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Greek Laughter: A Study of Cultural Psychology from Homer to Early Christianity

by Stephen Halliwell

Product DescriptionThe first book to offer an integrated reading of ancient Greek attitudes to laughter. Taking material from various genres and contexts, the book analyses both the theory and the practice of laughter as a revealing expression of Greek values and mentalities. Greek society developed distinctive institutions for the celebration of laughter as a capacity which could bridge the gap between humans and gods; but it also feared laughter for its power to expose individuals and groups to shame and even violence. Caught between ideas of pleasure and pain, friendship and enmity, laughter became a theme of recurrent interest in various contexts. Employing a sophisticated model of cultural history, Stephen Halliwell traces elaborations of the theme in a series of important texts: ranging far beyond modern accounts of 'humour', he shows how perceptions of laughter helped to shape Greek conceptions of the body, the mind and the meaning of life. Book DescriptionThe first attempt to provide an integrated account of the bodily and psychological workings of laughter in ancient Greece. Adopting a wide chronological perspective and dealing with numerous aspects of cultural history, Halliwell shows how the theme of laughter can shed light on Greek ethical values and attitudes to life. About the AuthorStephen Halliwell is Professor of Greek at the University of St Andrews. His most recent book, The Aesthetics of Mimesis: Ancient Texts and Modern Problems (2002), has been awarded an international prize, the 'Premio Europeo d'Estetica' for 2008.