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Through the eyes of William, one of Abelard's acolytes and companions, Farewell, My Only One tells the story of Peter Abelard, the most famous philosopher and theologian of 12th-century Europe, and his passionate, but ultimately doomed, love affair with the gifted and beautiful Heloise, niece of the canon of Notre Dame in Paris, who extracts horrifying vengeance on his ward's lover. One of the great romances of all times, Antoine Audouard has based his narrative on Abelard's and Heloise's celebrated correspondence and contemporary texts, immersing the reader in the lives of a hero and heroine whose love will never die.
DIVFocuses on perpetrators of human rights crimes, investigating confessions by human rights violators in contexts of transitional justice in South America and South Africa./div
Contemporary forms of tension and conflict among nations cannot be described in terms familiar to twentieth century history, but neither can they be reduced to a 'clash of civilizations'. The world today is not divided between an enlightened West and the dark forces of Islam. To avoid the negative impact of these Manichean images we need a much more nuanced view. In this new book Tzvetan Todorov offers an original analysis of the new landscape of fear and resentment that characterizes our world today. He starts by redefining the notions of barbarism and civilization as universal moral categories and explains how they apply to the plurality of cultures; and he distinguishes carefully between ...
Spiritually engaged readers commonly look toward fiction to better understand the depth of a faithful life, and Christians are no exception. Many followers of Jesus value beautifully written, deftly characterized and pulse-quickening literary art that seems more satisfying than dry, tedious doctrinal textbooks. This book surveys 12 pieces of historical fiction that feature notable Christian thinkers. They include an illustrated children's book about St. Irenaeus of Lyons, a novel about Martin Luther's Reformation, a screenplay focusing on Dietrich Bonhoeffer and even a story about Pope Francis narrated in popular manga style. Rather than arcane literary analyses, this book provides thoughtful and sometimes painful interviews with the authors of the covered works. Most interviewees are little known or emerging writers. Some have published their work with a church or denominational press, others with a major publishing empire or popular print-on-demand platforms. Storytellers reflect on their literary choices and the contexts of their writing, sharing what modern Christians can learn from historical religious fiction.
Euthanasia is highly controversial. Is it a crime or an ultimate form of care? Can one person help another to die? And what about palliative care? What criteria should govern decisions to terminate or prolong life? Does euthanasia violate the European Convention on Human Rights? This publication contains 13 essays by various authors, looking at euthanasia from the point of view of ethics, and of religion (Buddhism, Catholicism, etc.).
In 1971, Francois Bizot was kept prisoner for three months in the Cambodian jungle, accused of being a CIA spy. His Khmer Rouge captor, Comrade Duch, eventually had him freed and it took Bizot decades to realize he owed his life to a man who, later in the Killing Fields regime, was to become one of Pol Pot's most infamous henchmen. As the head of the Tuol Sleng S-21 jail, Duch personally oversaw the detention, systematic torture and execution of more than 16,000 detainees. Duch's trial as a war criminal ended in July 2010 amid a blaze of publicity. He was sentenced to a controversial 35 years imprisonment. In the tradition of Gitta Sereny, who sat with Speer in the Nuremberg trials, Bizot at...
Intended as a reminder of Europe for soldiers and clerks of the empire, the city of Dalat, located in the hills of Southern Vietnam, was built by the French in an alpine locale that reminded them of home. This book uncovers the strange 100-year history of a colonial city that was conceived as a center of power and has now become a kitsch tourist destination famed for its colonial villas, flower beds, pristine lakes, and pastoral landscapes. Eric T. Jennings finds that from its very beginning, Dalat embodied the paradoxes of colonialism—it was a city of leisure built on the backs of thousands of coolies, a supposed paragon of hygiene that offered only questionable protection from disease, and a new venture into ethnic relations that ultimately backfired. Jennings’ fascinating history opens a new window onto virtually all aspects of French Indochina, from architecture and urban planning to violence, labor, métissage, health and medicine, gender and ethic relations, schooling, religion, comportments, anxieties, and more.
Abgrall, a practicing psychiatrist and professional criminologist who won a case against the Scientologists in Europe, has spent 15 years researching cult phenomena. Well organized and readable. This book is recommended for public and academic libraries.
In this first ever book-length treatment, 11 scholars with a variety of backgrounds in medieval studies, film studies, and medievalism discuss how historical and fictional medieval women have been portrayed on film and their connections to the feminist movements of the 20th and 21st centuries. From detailed studies of the portrayal of female desire and sexuality, to explorations of how and when these women gain agency, these essays look at the different ways these women reinforce, defy, and complicate traditional gender roles. Individual essays discuss the complex and sometimes conflicting cinematic treatments of Guinevere, Morgan Le Fay, Isolde, Maid Marian, Lady Godiva, Heloise, Eleanor of Aquitaine, and Joan of Arc. Additional essays discuss the women in Fritz Lang's The Nibelungen, Liv Ullmann's Kristin Lavransdatter, and Bertrand Tavernier's La Passion Beatrice.
The Migrant Canon in Twenty-First-Century France explains the causes of twenty-first-century global migrations and their impact on French literature and the French literary establishment. A marginal genre in 1980s France, since the turn of the century “migrant literature” has become central to criticism and publishing. Oana Sabo addresses previously unanswered questions about the proliferation of contemporary migrant texts and their shifting themes and forms, mechanisms of literary legitimation, and notions of critical and commercial achievement. Through close readings of novels (by Mathias Énard, Milan Kundera, Dany Laferrière, Henri Lopès, Andreï Makine, Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt, Ali...