Author: Jonathan M. Hess File Type: epub Before Fiddler on the Roof, before The Jazz Singer, there was Deborah, a tear-jerking melodrama about a Jewish woman forsaken by her non-Jewish lover. Within a few years of its 1849 debut in Hamburg, the play was seen on stages across Germany and Austria, as well as throughout Europe, the British Empire, and North America. The German-Jewish elite complained that the playwright, Jewish writer S. H. Mosenthal, had written a drama bearing little authentic Jewish content, while literary critics protested that the play lacked the formal coherence of great tragedy. Yet despite its lackluster critical reception, Deborah became a blockbuster, giving millions of theatergoers the pleasures of sympathizing with an exotic Jewish woman. It spawned adaptations with titles from Leah, the Forsaken to Naomi, the Deserted, burlesques, poems, operas in Italian and Czech, musical selections for voice and piano, a British novel fraudulently marketed in the United States as the original basis for the play, three American silent films, and thousands of souvenir photographs of leading actresses from Adelaide Ristori to Sarah Bernhardt in character as Mosenthals forsaken Jewess. For a sixty-year period, Deborah and its many offshoots provided audiences with the ultimate feel-good experience of tearful sympathy and liberal universalism. With Deborah and Her Sisters, Jonathan M. Hess offers the first comprehensive history of this transnational phenomenon, focusing on its unique ability to bring Jews and non-Jews together during a period of increasing antisemitism. Paying careful attention to local performances and the dynamics of transnational exchange, Hess asks that we take seriously the feelings this commercially successful drama provoked as it drove its diverse audiences to tears. Following a vast paper trail in theater archives and in the press, Deborah and Her Sisters reconstructs the allure that Jewishness held in nineteenth-century popular culture and explores how the Deborah sensation generated a liberal culture of compassion with Jewish suffering that extended beyond the theater walls. **

Author: Ken Jeremiah File Type: epub Eternal Remains World Mummification and the Beliefs that make it Necessary provides an overview of mummification, but it concentrates on the reasons behind the act. It investigates the justification for preserving dead bodies, and in so doing, probes the true nature of both life and death. Many think of these as two distinct concepts, like day and night, but they are not distinct. Day fades into night, and night then returns to day. There are realms in which night and day merge, such as dusk and dawn. Perhaps the relationship between life and death is similar. After explaining the natural processes of decay and how they are halted, various mummies in different parts of the world are introduced. In the Americas, these include snow- and ice-preserved bodies in Montana and Alaska, and some controversial finds in other states. The Guanajuato mummies in Mexico and the strangely-preserved bodies in San Bernardo, Columbia are also introduced, alongside new translations of modern reactions to such bodies. The mummification techniques of cultures in Central and South America are also delineated, including Incan sacrificial ceremonies and the preservation of Incan kings. Unusual preservations in South America include the Chancay practice of turning the deceased into drums, which were played during special ceremonies, and the Jivaro method of shrinking heads. In addition, Eternal Remains introduces to the English-speaking world the recently discovered worlds smallest mummy, Ichiknuna. Chapters about European mummies cover the so-called Frankenstein mummies of Cladh Hallan and fantastically preserved bog bodies, which provide evidence of ancient murders and superstitious customs. The mummies in Ferentillo, a small town north of Rome in the region of Umbria, were strangely preserved by the soils chemical composition. Eternal Remains contains many pictures of these mummies, which have not been previously published. It also provides new information about what happened to King Tutankhamens body after it had been embalmed and placed into a sarcophagus, and it explains the amazing discovery of cocaine, nicotine, and hashish in nine different 7,000-year-old Egyptian mummies. Since mainstream historical understanding holds that these substances only existed in the Americas at the time, the discovery is forcing some scholars to consider the possibility of cross-oceanic trade, which would force a historical rewrite. Other controversial finds are likewise presented in this text, including the discovery of advanced, ancient Caucasian bodies in China. This book is one of few in English to cover Buddhist mummification in Tibet and China, and the amazingly self-mummified monks in Japan. Newly translated information about some of these monks, never before published in English, is included in this book, alongside pictures of the monks who engaged in this suicidal practice. Eternal Remains also explains modern methods of conservation. The reasons behind the worldwide desire to mummify are similar, and by investigating the techniques and the underlying beliefs that necessitated the practice, one can more clearly see just what makes us human. This study forces readers to reflect upon the true nature of life and death, and connections are made between the spiritual portion of each individual and other natural phenomena. They are led to ponder the ultimate significance of it all. The final conclusions formed are sure to inspire all, providing a new way to consider death and its relationship to life. Eternal Remains combines a study of mummification with comparative religions, and an analysis of worldwide beliefs about the nature of death. It will open ones eyes to new possibilities concerning human advancement, anomalous archaeological discoveries, and the greatest mysteries of both life and death. **

Author: William Ransome File Type: pdf This exploration of virtue ethics offers an original theory in moral philosophy, identifying a moral reflection as a virtue that has not yet been considered properly by philosophers. The author argues that taking our moral lives seriously must involve some reflection on our moral past.About the AuthorWILLIAM RANSOME is a Research Fellow and Programme Director at the Key Centre for Ethics, Law, Justice and Governance at Griffith University, Australia.

Author: Douglas Lemke File Type: pdf Douglas Lemke inquires as to whether the factors that lead to war among great powers also apply to other countries, considering different regional circumstances and historical experiences. The book examines Africa, the Far East, the Middle East and South America, and argues that the causes of war are similar across these regions, but that there are differences based on varying patterns of development. This book will interest students and scholars of international relations, peace studies, comparative politics and area studies.ReviewThis detailed structural theory work extends the international hierarchy of power concept on which power transition theory is based to include regional and local constellations of power.... Recommended. Choice...Lemke has demonstrated substantial empirical support for his important theoretical extension of power and transition theory. In doing so, he provides a superb model for rigorous and systematic quantitative empirical research in the face of some very difficult methodological problems. Political Science Quarterly Book DescriptionDouglas Lemkes book asks whether the factors said to lead to war among great powers also apply to other countries, given different regional circumstances and historical experiences. The book examines Africa, the Far East, the Middle East and South America, and argues that the causes of war are similar across these regions, but that there are differences based on different patterns of development. This book will interest students and scholars of international relations, peace studies, comparative politics and area studies.