You may have to Search all our reviewed books and magazines, click the sign up button below to create a free account.
First Published in 1999. The majority of the contributions to this volume have their origin in a symposium which was held in Stockholm on 27–29 September 1996 under the Swedish title of Nordisk Centralasienforskning: språk – kultur – samhälle, i.e. 'Nordic Central Asia Research: Language – Culture – Society'. The main purpose of this meeting was to obtain a general view of current research activities and study programmes in this field and to help establish contact between Central Asia researchers in the Nordic countries.
The contribution of this collection of articles is to construct an updated picture of languages and language policy in and around Afghanistan, and give potential language learners a clearer picture of what kinds of resources exist, and what is still needed. The book was co-edited by Brian Spooner, Professor of Anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania.
In our globalised world, literature is less and less confined to national spaces. Europe-centred frameworks for literary studies have become insufficient; academics are increasingly called upon to address matters of cultural difference. In this unique volume, leading scholars discuss the critical and methodical challenges that these developments pose to the writing of literary history. What is the object of literary history? What is the meaning of the term “world literature”? How do we compare different cultural systems of genres? How do we account theoretically for literary transculturation? What are the implications of postcolonial studies for the discipline of comparative literature? Ranging in focus from the Persian epic of Majnun Layla and Zulu praise poetry to South Korean novels and Brazilian antropofagismo, the essays offer a concise overview of these and related questions. Their aim is not to reach a consensus on these matters. They show instead what is at stake in the emergent field of global comparatism.
Central Asia has become the battleground for the major struggles of the 21st century: radical Islam versus secularism, authoritarianism versus identity politics, Eastern versus Western control of resources, and the American 'War on Terror'. Nowhere are these conflicts more starkly illustrated than in the case of Tajikistan. Embedded in the oil-rich Central Asian region, and bordering war-torn Afghanistan, Tajikistan occupies a geo-strategically pivotal position. It is also a major transit hub for the smuggling of opium, which eventually ends up in the hands of heroin dealers in Western cities. In this timely book, Lena Jonson examines Tajikistan's search for a foreign policy in the post 9/11...
Mistä kyykkä on peräisin? Ketkä sitä pelaavat? Mitä ihmettä ovat akka, pappi ja kona? Ja eikö tämä nyt olekaan sitä mölkkyä? Kyykänlyönnin koko 70-vuotias kilpailuhistoria löytyy nyt yksien kansien sisältä. Ennätyksille ja SM-mitaleille löytyvät nyt kasvot, nippelitietoa säästämättä. Lajin ensimmäinen tietokirja iskeytyy adrenaliinipiikin lailla suomalaisen kyykän sydämeen ja tuo eloa unohdettuun kansanpeliin numeroin, kuvin ja tarinoin.
Greater Magadha, roughly the eastern part of the Gangetic plain of northern India, has so far been looked upon as deeply indebted to Brahmanical culture. Religions such as Buddhism and Jainism are thought of as derived, in one way or another, from Vedic religion. This belief is defective in various respects. The book argues for the importance and independence of Greater Magadha as a cultural area until a date close to the beginning of the Common Era. In order to correct the incorrect notions, two types of questions are dealt with: questions pertaining to cultural and religious dependencies, and questions relating to chronology. As a result a modified picture arises that also has a bearing on...
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The startling true history of how one extraordinary man from a remote corner of the world created an empire that led the world into the modern age—by the author featured in Echoes of the Empire: Beyond Genghis Khan. The Mongol army led by Genghis Khan subjugated more lands and people in twenty-five years than the Romans did in four hundred. In nearly every country the Mongols conquered, they brought an unprecedented rise in cultural communication, expanded trade, and a blossoming of civilization. Vastly more progressive than his European or Asian counterparts, Genghis Khan abolished torture, granted universal religious freedom, and smashed feudal systems of aristocratic privilege. From the story of his rise through the tribal culture to the explosion of civilization that the Mongol Empire unleashed, this brilliant work of revisionist history is nothing less than the epic story of how the modern world was made.
Although the title of this volume is Aldous Huxley between East and West, the order of the articles found within goes from West to East, which naturally imitates Huxley's own progress, especially since he went to the trouble of stepping out as far West as possible before starting for the East. Indeed one could argue that he was already on his way there before he left for California, a continuous journey, perhaps, since from the Californian shores of the Pacific the East is the further West. After the Introduction which places Huxley between East and West, the book starts with a consideration of Huxley's family connections, then goes onto his earliest fictions, his interest in science and the...
This is the first book to explore color history in Asia. Color is a natural phenomenon and a fundamental element of the universe, and offers a medium to communicate with others globally. It is a language of signals, such as traffic lights, signs or symbols, and an essential part of society. Color attracts people’s attention and transmits important information. As such, color language denotes all of the activities of human history, and has been associated with changes in society, economic development, and dynasties replacing the old with the new. The book brings together many elements of Chinese history with reference to the topic of ‘color’ and has evolved from the authors’ respectiv...