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"The Origin of Language remains as completely original and unprecedented (and intellectually demanding and satisfying) today as when it was originally published, so much so as to constitute a kind of intellectual scandal"--
This book demonstrates the indispensability of the "scenic imagination" to human self-understanding by examining hypothetical scenes of origin in the writings of two dozen thinkers from Hobbes to the present day.
Gans demonstrates that human representation—language, ritual, art—could only have originated as an event taking place on a scene present to the consciousness of its participants. This volume lays the foundation for an important revision of our understanding of cultural achievement.
At a time when there is an evident socio-economic, political and cultural structural shift in the processes and practices associated with contemporary manifestations of antisemitism globally, it is important to explore its origins and examine whether the circumstances of its genesis can shed light on its longevity and adaptability. Few scholars are more qualified to undertake such a task than the authors of this volume, who have done so much to develop and advance the discipline of generative anthropology. In this study their groundbreaking hypothesis on the singular event that gave rise to human language and by extension human culture finds a fascinating parallel in the Jewish people's discovery/invention of monotheism, giving rise to historical resentments and hostility. The volume will be of interest to scholars working in the field of anti-discrimination and antisemtitism, as well as human rights scholars and cultural historians in general.
Starting from the minimal principle of generative anthropology--that human culture originates as "the deferral of violence through representation"--the author proposes a new understanding of the fundamental concepts of metaphysics and an explanation of the historical problematic that underlies the postmodern "end of culture." Part I begins with the paradoxical emergence of the "vertical" sign from the "horizontal" world of appetite. Two persons reaching for the same object are a minimal model of this emergence; their "pragmatic paradox" can be resolved only by substituting the representation of the object for its appropriation. The nature of paradox and the related notion of irony, as well a...
Despite appearing in twenty-eight movies in little over a decade, Carole Landis (1919-1948) never quite became the major Hollywood star her onscreen presence should have afforded her. Although she acted in such enduring films as A Scandal in Paris and Moon over Miami, she was most often relegated to supporting roles. Even when she played the major role in a feature, as she did in The Powers Girl and the film noir Wake Up Screaming!, she was billed second or third behind other actors. This biography traces Landis's life, chronicling her beginnings as a dance hall entertainer in San Francisco, her career in Hollywood and abroad, her USO performances, and ultimately her suicide. Using interview...
This volume contains a selection of essays based on papers presented at a conference organized at Yale University and hosted by the Yale Initiative for the Interdisciplinary Study of Antisemitism (YIISA) and the International Association for the Study of Antisemitism (IASA), entitled “Global Antisemitism: A Crisis of Modernity.” The essays are written by scholars from a wide array of disciplines, intellectual backgrounds, and perspectives, and address the conference’s two inter-related areas of focus: global antisemitism and the crisis of modernity currently affecting the core elements of Western society and civilization. Rather than treating antisemitism merely as an historical phenomenon, the authors place it squarely in the contemporary context. As a result, this volume also provides important insights into the ideologies, processes, and developments that give rise to prejudice in the contemporary global context. This thought-provoking collection will be of interest to students and scholars of antisemitism and discrimination, as well as to scholars and readers from other fields.
Establishes the body's undeniable presence and strangeness as the material out of which human beings are made
Science and Faith explores the phenomenon of religious revelation in the light of the originary hypothesis, which postulates the origin of human language and culture in a unique event. It is the third in a series of works by the author, including The Origin of Language (1981) and The End of Culture (1985), that develop a generative anthropology founded on this hypothesis. After an introductory presentation of the hypothesis and its cultural consequences, the book discusses the two most significant instances of revelation in the Judeo-Christian tradition: Moses' discovery of God's name on Mount Sinai, the inauguration of Hebrew monotheism, and Paul's vision on the road to Damascus, the founding event of Pauline Christianity. Moses' experience marks the inception, and Paul's the end, of revelation as the central Judeo-Christian discovery-procedure. The analysis of Christianity concludes with a discussion of the anthropological content of the doctrine of the Trinity.