Author: Gregory Currie File Type: pdf Narratives are artefacts of a special kind they are intentionally crafted devices which fulfil their story-telling function by manifesting the intentions of their makers. But narrative itself is too inclusive a category for much more to be said about it than this we should focus attention instead on the vaguely defined but interesting category of things rich in narrative structure. Such devices offer significant possibilities, not merely for the representation of stories, but for the expression of point of view they have also played an important role in the evolution of reliable communication. Narratives and narrators argues that much of the pleasure of narrative communication depends on deep-seated and early developing tendencies in human beings to imitation and to joint attention, and imitation turns out to be the key to understanding such important literary techniques as free indirect discourse and character-focused narration. The book also examines irony in narrative, with an emphasis on the idea of the expression of ironic points of view. It looks closely at the idea of character, or robust, situation-independent ways of acting and thinking, as it is represented in narrative. It asks whether scepticism about the notion of character should have us reassess the dramatic and literary tradition which places such emphasis on character.Reviewa rich study. Adriana Boneta, Years Work in Critical and Cultural Theory abounds in analyses and arguments as Currie identifies and interrogates (generally successfully) strong counter-theses that challenge his own Daniel D. Hutto, Times Literary Supplement I expect Gregory Curries new book, Narratives and Narrators, to attain the same importance and influence in philosophical thinking about narrative that his earlier books The Nature of Fiction and Image and Mind have had in the philosophy of fiction and film, respectively. It is an ambitious, careful, and philosophically rich work containing a number of novel and important arguments... The book has many virtues, and the greatest of them might be that it opens up new areas for exploration in the philosophic study of narrative. James Harold, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews The book is ambitious in its topics and contains fresh approaches to various traditional problems ... full of thought-provoking arguments and intriguing proposals. Jukka Mikkonen, Mind This fairly short book does a lot of work ... consistently challenging Raphael Lyne, Cambridge Quarterly About the AuthorGregory Currie is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Nottingham.

Author: Bee Wilson File Type: pdf Bad food has a history. Swindled tells it. Through a fascinating mixture of cultural and scientific history, food politics, and culinary detective work, Bee Wilson uncovers the many ways swindlers have cheapened, falsified, and even poisoned our food throughout history. In the hands of people and corporations who have prized profits above the health of consumers, food and drink have been tampered with in often horrifying ways--padded, diluted, contaminated, substituted, mislabeled, misnamed, or otherwise faked. Swindled gives a panoramic view of this history, from the leaded wine of the ancient Romans to todays food frauds--such as fake organics and the scandal of Chinese babies being fed bogus milk powder.Wilson pays special attention to nineteenth- and twentieth-century America and England and their roles in developing both industrial-scale food adulteration and the scientific ability to combat it. As Swindled reveals, modern science has both helped and hindered food fraudsters--increasing the sophistication of scams but also the means to detect them. The big breakthrough came in Victorian England when a scientist first put food under the microscope and found that much of what was sold as genuine coffee was anything but--and that you couldnt buy pure mustard in all of London.Arguing that industrialization, laissez-faire politics, and globalization have all hurt the quality of food, but also that food swindlers have always been helped by consumer ignorance, Swindled ultimately calls for both governments and individuals to be more vigilant. In fact, Wilson suggests, one of our best protections is simply to reeducate ourselves about the joys of food and cooking.**From Publishers WeeklyStarred Review. Columnist and food writer Wilson takes readers to the beginning of the 19th century to document the history of food adulteration--at heart two very simple principles poisoning and cheating. concentrating on Britain and the U.S. (other countries, especially France, navigated food supply industrialization with wiser government policy), Wilson finds the first food crusader in Frederick Accum, a German immigrant who used chemistry to expose the dishonesty of London food purveyors in his treatise on adulterations of food and culinary poisons she finds the first ineffective government response in Parliaments commitment to laissez faire economic policies over citizen safety. In the U.S., New Yorks 1850s swill milk epidemic and Chicagos meat packing industry would eventually lead to the 1906 Pure Food and Drug act--which probably wouldnt have passed without the popularity of Upton Sinclairs meat packing expose The Jungle, and couldnt stop the most nefarious and prevalent of food frauds, the development of fake foods margarine, baby formula and thousands more. Wilson follows the economic, cultural and political threads skillfully, reporting on developments as recent as the China baby formula scandal. Prescribing more awareness and regulation, Wilson contends that consumers and governments must recognize the continuous pressure on companies to make money by substituting nutritious, genuine ingredients with adulterants. Timely, witty and purposeful, this thorough history should open a lot of eyes, and close some mouths. Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. From The New Yorker With the revelations in recent months of tainted foodsalmonella-infected jalapeos, melamine-laced milkWilsons latest treatise, on contaminated, adulterated, and fake foods in the modern era, feels almost prophetic. If theres a whiff of pedantry to the enterprise, Wilson overwhelms it with sheer detail the flavor of lead salts, so delicious that they were used to sweeten wine the fad for mock food in wartime Britain (mock chops made of flour, potato, and onion) the fact that Campbells concealed marbles in the soup photographed for advertisements, to make it look thicker Donald Rumsfelds role as a champion of aspartame. No government intervention can solve the problem, Wilson concludes, without consumer reducation in how real food tastes. Buy food fresh, in whole form, she writes. Cook it yourself and familiarize yourself with the ingredients that go into proper food, so that when you are served a fake you will know the difference, and have the confidence to complain. 2008 Click here to subscribe to The New Yorker

Author: Judith Butler File Type: pdf The Power of Religion in the Public Sphere represents a rare opportunity to experience a diverse group of preeminent philosophers confronting one pervasive contemporary concern what role doesor shouldreligion play in our public lives? Reflecting on her recent work concerning state violence in Israel-Palestine, Judith Butler explores the potential of religious perspectives for renewing cultural and political criticism, while Jurgen Habermas, best known for his seminal conception of the public sphere, thinks through the ambiguous legacy of the concept of the political in contemporary theory. Charles Taylor argues for a radical redefinition of secularism, and Cornel West defends civil disobedience and emancipatory theology. Eduardo Mendieta and Jonathan VanAntwerpen detail the immense contribution of these philosophers to contemporary social and political theory, and an afterword by Craig Calhoun places these attempts to reconceive the significance of both religion and the secular in the context of contemporary national and international politics.

Author: Christine Alexander File Type: pdf In their collaborative early writings, the Brontes created and peopled the most extraordinary fantasy worlds, whose geography and history they elaborated in numerous stories, poems, and plays. Together they invented characters based on heroes and writers such as Wellington, Napoleon, Scott, and Byron, whose feuds, alliances, and love affairs weave an intricate web of social and political intrigue in imaginary colonial lands in Africa and the Pacific Ocean. The writings of Glass Town, Angria, and Gondal are youthful experiments in imitation and parody, wild romance and realistic recording--a playful literary world that they would draw upon for their early and later work. In this generous selection, the early writings of the Brontes are presented together for the first time. Christine Alexanders Introduction explores the rich imaginative lives of the Brontes, and the tension between their maturing authorship and creative freedom. The edition includes Charlotte Brontes Roe Head Journal, and Emily and Annes Diary Papers. The edition also has a key to characters and place, detailed notes, and a map of Glass Town and Angria.About the Series For over 100 years Oxford Worlds Classics has made available the broadest spectrum of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxfords commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, voluminous notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.ReviewIn short, no student of the Bronte s and indeed Victorian literature should be without Christine Alexanders edition. William Baker, Years Work in English Studies Extraordinary... Christine Alexanders imaginative and meticulous editing makes the juvenilia accessible for the first time. Samantha Ellis, Times Literary Supplement A fascinating piece of juvenilia. Colin Waters, Sunday Herald About the AuthorChristine Alexander is co-author (with Margaret Smith) of The Oxford Companion to the Brontes (2003). Her critical study on The Early Writings of Charlotte Bronte (1983) won the British Academy Rose Mary Crawshay Prize and she has edited a multi-volume Edition of the Early Writings of Charlotte Bronte (1987, 1991, vol. 3 forthcoming).