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First published in 1999. This book examines process of change in African, South African and European countries by analysing the ways in which food is an integral part of ongoing ecological, economic, political and social transformations. It also provides research on dietary changes from direct intervention by people and agencies. The majority of these fascinating case studies are based on original fieldwork, they are quite diverse, as are the nature and scope of changes considered. The authors discuss rural as well as urban modes of food consumption, dietary changes in different societal contexts, and food-based rituals. The cases presented suggest alterative readings of some established models of changing food habits, and contribute to a more comprehensive history of dietary transformations.
Research into material culture has become one of the most important fields in medieval and early modern studies. While past research focused primarily on the objects as such, present interests have moved to humans and their ties to things. This volume concentrates on the perception of medieval and early modern material culture, in particular exceptional objects that can be seen as "favourite things". Contributions lead from theoretical issues to specific groups of objects, their exclusivity and function as social markers. The analyses address both religious and secular space.
What does it mean to write a history of the night? Evening's Empire is a fascinating study of the myriad ways in which early modern people understood, experienced, and transformed the night. Using diaries, letters, and legal records together with representations of the night in early modern religion, literature and art, Craig Koslofsky opens up an entirely new perspective on early modern Europe. He shows how princes, courtiers, burghers and common people 'nocturnalized' political expression, the public sphere and the use of daily time. Fear of the night was now mingled with improved opportunities for labour and leisure: the modern night was beginning to assume its characteristic shape. Evening's Empire takes the evocative history of the night into early modern politics, culture and society, revealing its importance to key themes from witchcraft, piety, and gender to colonization, race, and the Enlightenment.
Communicating Cultures explores contemporary and historical issues. The title may be read in various ways, including cultures as communicative systems; cultures communicating with one another; or, communication about cultures. The contributors to this volume represent different fields within or related to European ethnology, such as anthropology, geography, folklore, linguistics, or area studies. ** "The editors have assembled a rich collection of papers. The questions that they address - migration and diasporas; the invention of traditions; education and language; media and representation - are at the very heart of today's agenda in cultural analysis." - from the Foreword
These essays show that industrialisation and fast economic growth have changed not only the broad material environment, but have also had a very important impact on basic food consumption. The introductory chapter takes a theoretical view and tries to establish the interrelationship between economic forces and social habits. The other contributors analyse how the experience of Europe, Japan and North America fit this general explanation and they demonstrate how cultural and regional differences have shaped the development of consumer behaviour and patterns of consumption over the last two centuries.
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Medicine played an important role in the early secularization and eventual modernization of German Jewish culture. And as both physicians and patients Jews exerted a great influence on the formation of modern medical discourse and practice. This fascinating book investigates the relationship between German Jews and medicine from medieval times until its demise under the Nazis. John Efron examines the rise of the German Jewish physician in the Middle Ages and his emergence as a new kind of secular, Jewish intellectual in the early modern period and beyond. The author shows how nineteenth-century medicine regarded Jews as possessing distinct physical and mental pathologies, which in turn led t...
"This is the book on porcelain we have been waiting for. . . . A remarkable achievement."—Edmund de Waal, author of The Hare with Amber Eyes A sweeping cultural and economic history of porcelain, from the eighteenth century to the present Porcelain was invented in medieval China—but its secret recipe was first reproduced in Europe by an alchemist in the employ of the Saxon king Augustus the Strong. Saxony’s revered Meissen factory could not keep porcelain’s ingredients secret for long, however, and scores of Holy Roman princes quickly founded their own mercantile manufactories, soon to be rivaled by private entrepreneurs, eager to make not art but profits. As porcelain’s uses multi...
The book offers a concise introduction to the history of art, culture and everyday life of cities in the German cultural area between renaissance and revolution. References from sources and illustrations define the text; they are together useful resources for classes at schools and universities.