This book provides an overview of the history, culture, and society of Namibia, a country on which little information in English exists. Namibia is a sizeable and significant country in southern Africa that is little known to the outside world. A vast country of startling beauty with a storied history, including one of the world's worst genocides and a war of independence that lasted nearly a quarter century, this "land between two deserts" is a fascinating result of its African, German, and English influences. Culture and Customs of Namibia is one of very few English language works written about Namibia's history, culture, and society. The book reveals details about Namibian daily life, gender relations, modern youth culture, and the influence of traditional cultures that allow readers to appreciate this country's unique character. A section on tourism explains how Namibia-an extremely arid country with an immense number and diversity of wildlife-is on the cutting edge of ecotourism. Provides a chronology of key events in the history of Namibia Includes photographs of natural Namibian settings, such as the desert, colonial architecture, unique plant and animal life, and Namibia's cultural life An interdisciplinary bibliography-drawn from history, politics, gender, law and other relevant fields-provides suggestions for further reading A glossary contains terms used commonly in contemporary Namibia

A captivating, magical and haunting debut novel of breathtaking imagination, from the winner of the 2014 Costa Short Story Award

LONGLISTED FOR THE 2019 INTERNATIONAL DYLAN THOMAS PRIZE

'That rare thing: genuinely unique' OBSERVER

'Will win you over ... Magical' THE TIMES

'Absolutely stunning. I loved it' MADELINE MILLER, AUTHOR OF CIRCE

On the remote island of Neverness, the villagers' lives are entwined with nature: its enchantments, seductions and dangers. There is May, the young fiddler who seeks her musical spirit; Madden Lightfoot, who flies with red kites; and Verlyn Webbe, born with a wing for an arm. Over the course of a generation, their desires, gossip and heartbreak interweave to create a staggeringly original world, crackling with echoes of ancient folklore.

After enjoying years as a popular journalist and poet, intellectual and freethinker Gerald Massey turned his vast studies in the field of Egyptology into A Book of the Beginnings, a bold statement that the origin of all civilization lays in ancient Egypt. His assertions, radical at the time-indeed, almost a century before the discovery of three-million-year-old human remains in Africa-resonate loudly today, when molecular biology is making corresponding discoveries alongside the still-raging creation-versus-evolution controversy. In Volume II, Massey intelligently argues an Egyptian origin for Biblical symbology, lexicography, and mythology. Here, he not only asks if the oldest Jewish and Christian axioms were really born on the banks of the Nile, he offers a stalwart and profound "Yes " British author GERALD MASSEY (1828-1907) published works of poetry, spiritualism, Shakespearean criticism, and theology, but his best-known works are in the realm of Egyptology, including The Natural Genesis and Ancient Egypt: The Light of the World.

The volume was developed to address conceptual, relational and formational questions around the phenomena of creativity and spirituality from a multidisciplinary perspective. We acknowledge the complexity of each phenomenon, and the need for multiple perspectives, in a number of ways. First, different chapters are written from psychological, theological or philosophical perspectives. Second, multiple research perspectives are considered across empirical and phenomenological methods of inquiry. Finally, multiple associations between creativity and spirituality are evaluated. From such multiple perspectives the theme of this volume emerges. Both creativity and spirituality are important for individual and societal flourishing but we know little about fostering both in the 21st century. Some ways of fostering them are psychologically harmful and need to be avoided. New ways of protecting people as they engage in creative and spiritual endeavours are needed. In particular, formal training in both creativity and spirituality within the sphere of higher education should be developed in the light of current research. However, new research that integrates multiple perspectives and examines creativity and spirituality together is needed for training that avoids harm and promotes individual and social flourishing. The book will be valuable for educators in all disciplines of higher education because it justifies and explicates training in creativity and spirituality within all areas of higher education. Further, it discusses how such training might best be included within andragogical practice. The book will be useful for researchers of creativity and spirituality because it gives an overview of contemporary research issues and findings, and proposes a new philosophical? theological perspective for integrative research in these areas. Students in fields of creativity, theology and spirituality will use the book as a synthesis of contemporary theories and research relating to both creativity and spirituality and for direction in post?graduate research. More broadly, Christians and others who appreciate the creative and performing arts will find much to challenge their thinking and deepen their awareness of spirituality within human creativity.

After enjoying years as a popular journalist and poet, intellectual and freethinker Gerald Massey turned his vast studies in the field of Egyptology into A Book of the Beginnings, a bold statement that the origin of all civilization lays in ancient Egypt. His assertions, radical at the time-indeed, almost a century before the discovery of three-million-year-old human remains in Africa-resonate loudly today, when molecular biology is making corresponding discoveries alongside the still-raging creation-versus-evolution controversy. In Volume I, Massey lays the foundation of the Egypt-centric position through a scholarly comparative analysis of language, names, and mythology-delving not only into our most basic actions of naming and communicating, but also man's beloved, universal myths of death, awakenings, and love. British author GERALD MASSEY (1828-1907) published works of poetry, spiritualism, Shakespearean criticism, and theology, but his best-known works are in the realm of Egyptology, including The Natural Genesis and Ancient Egypt: The Light of the World.

Exploring a prominent digital mythology, this book proposes a new way of viewing both online narratives and the online communities which tell them. The Slender Man - a monster known for making children disappear and causing violent deaths to the adults who seek to know more about him - is used as an extended case study to explore the role of digital communities, as well as the question of the existence of a broader "digital culture". Structural anthropological mythic analysis and ethnographic details demonstrate how the Slender Man mythology is structured, and how its everlasting nature in the online communities demonstrates an importance of the mythos.

Dress and fashion are powerful visual means of communicating ideology, whether political, social or religious. From the communist values of equality, simplicity and solidarity exemplified in the Mao suit to the myriad of fashion protests of feminists such as French revolutionary women's demand to wear trousers, dress can symbolize ideological orthodoxy as well as revolt. With contributions from a wide range of international scholars, this book presents the first scholarly analysis of dress and ideology through accessible case studies. Chapters are organized thematically and explore dress in relation to topics including nation, identity, religion, politics and utopias, across an impressive chronological reach from antiquity to the present day. Dress & Ideology will appeal to students and scholars of fashion, history, sociology, cultural studies, politics and gender studies.

Written on the Body surveys the history of the tattoo in Europe and North America from Antiquity to the present. While the subject of tattooing has previously been approached from the viewpoints of anthropology, sociology and cultural studies, this is the first book to set the practice into a historical perspective. This is partly because there was no obvious context for writing a serious history of it prior to the emergence of scholarship on the cultural history of the body. The tattoo emerges as a haunting presence on Europe's margins, figuring as something alien and uncanny. It seems to hover for much of its history in a space between the cosmetic and the punitive, frequently indicative of and complicated by the practice of penal violations of bodily integrity. It is this fluidity of the tattoo's meaning, rather than its marginality, that is the focus of Written on the Body.

Examining the dynamics between subject, photographer and viewer, Fashioning Brazil analyses how Brazilians have appropriated and reinterpreted clothing influences from local and global cultures. Exploring the various ways in which Brazil has been fashioned by the pioneering scientific and educational magazine, National Geographic, the book encourages us to look beyond simplistic representations of exotic difference. Instead, it brings to light an extensive history of self-fashioning within Brazil, which has emerged through cross-cultural contact, slavery, and immigration. Providing an in-depth examination of Brazilian dress and fashion practices as represented by the quasi-ethnographic gaze of National Geographic and National Geographic Brazil (the Portuguese language edition of the magazine, established in 2000), the book unpacks a series of case studies. Taking us from body paint to Lycra, via loincloths and bikinis, Kutesko frames her analysis within the historical, cultural, and political context of Latin American interactions with the United States. Exploring how dress can be used to manipulate identity and disrupt expectations, Fashioning Brazil examines readers' sensory engagements with an iconic magazine, and sheds new light on key debates concerning global dress and fashion.

Drawing upon the traditions of their native lands, Asian Americans have developed an extensive cultural tradition. At the heart of that tradition are some of the world's most colorful folktales. These reflect the traditional beliefs of the East, as they have been passed down among generations of Asian Americans. But they also reflect the struggles, successes, and experiences of Asian immigrants in the New World. Written expressly for students and general readers, this book is a fascinating introduction to Asian American folktales.This book gathers together a selection of more than 30 Asian American folktales and groups them in thematic sections on origins; heroes, heroines, villains, and fools; society and conflict; and the supernatural. These tales reflect the traditional beliefs of the East as well as the new experiences of Asians in America.

Each tale is accompanied by a headnote, and the book closes with a selected, general bibliography. Students studying literature and language will learn much about these tales, while students in social studies and history courses will gain greater insight into the experiences and traditional beliefs of Asian Americans. The volume includes a healthy sampling of tales grouped in topical sections on origins; heroes, heroines, villains, and fools; society and conflict; and the supernatural.

In Rituals and Symbolic Communication in Medieval Hungary under the Arpad Dynasty (1000 - 1301) Dusan Zupka examines rituals as means of political and symbolic communication in medieval Central Europe, with a special emphasis on the rulers of the Arpad dynasty in the Kingdom of Hungary. Particular attention is paid to symbolic acts such as festive coronations, liturgical praises, welcoming of rulers (adventus regis), ritualised settlement of disputes, and symbolic rites during encounters between rulers. The power and meaning of rituals were understandable to contemporary protagonists and to their chroniclers. These rituals therefore played an essential role in medieval political culture. The book concludes with an outline of ritual communication as a coherent system.

A beautiful new collection of 36 French fairy tales translated into English by renowned writer and authority on fairy tales, Jack Zipes. Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, Sleepy Beauty, Puss In Boots, Bluebeard, and Little Red Riding Hood are some of the classic fairy tales in this amazing book. There are many stories here by Charles Perrault, the most famous author of French conte de fees. Features a new introduction by editor Jack Zipes. Includes a generous number of exquisite illustrations from fairy tale collections."