In its first two years of production in Italy, Dario Fo's notorious Accidental Death of an Anarchist was seen by over half a million people. It has since been performed all over the world, and become a classic of twentieth-century drama. A sharp and hilarious satire on police corruption, it concerns the case of an anarchist railway worker who, in 1969, 'fell' to his death from a police headquarters window. 'I ought to warn you that the author of this sick little play, Dario Fo, has the traditional, irrational hatred of the police common to all narrowminded left-wingers and so I shall, no doubt, be the unwilling butt of endless anti-authoritarian jibes.' (Inspector Bertozzo, Central Italian Police HQ) 'A marvellous concept: a zany political farce.' (Michael Billington) This edition has been adapted by Gavin Richards from Gillian Hanna's translation and features an introduction by Stuart Hood and a preface by Dario Fo.

This edition of the Pocket Oxford Latin Dictionary offers essential coverage of Latin words and grammar, as well as extra information on Roman history and culture. It takes account of the latest research into Latin, and is designed specifically to fit the needs of today's student. It covers over 45,000 words and phrases, including additions from the writings of Plautus and Terence, and from the study of Silver Latin. Common irregular verb parts are given as headwords for greater clarity, and boxed notes provide help with language usage, and with difficult words and constructions. There are appendices on historical, mythological, and geographical names; money, dates, times, weights and measures; plus poetic metre and medieval Latin. With a timeline of important dates, and biographies on Roman writers, this edition is packed with interesting and essential information on Roman history and culture. Also with pronunciation help and a guide to Latin grammar, this compact and affordable dictionary is a necessity for all students and adult learners of Latin.

Read the seminal bestselling novel that changed the face of British fiction and inspired Danny Boyle's film. 'The best book ever written by man or woman... Deserves to sell more copies than the Bible' Rebel Inc Choose us. Choose life. Choose mortgage payments; choose washing machines; choose cars; choose sitting oan a couch watching mind-numbing and spirit-crushing game shows, stuffing fuckin junk food intae yir mooth. Choose rotting away, pishing and shiteing yersel in a home, a total fuckin embarrassment tae the selfish, fucked-up brats ye've produced. Choose life. 'Welsh writes with a skill, wit and compassion that amounts to genius.' Sunday Times

First published over fifty years ago, A GLOSSARY OF LITERARY TERMS remains an essential resource for all serious students of literature. Now fully updated to reflect the latest scholarship on recent and rapidly evolving critical theories, the new contains a complete glossary of essential literary terms presented as a series of engaging, beautifully crafted, essays that explore the terms, place them in context, and suggest related entries and additional reading. This indispensable, authoritative, and highly affordable reference covers terms useful in discussing literature and literary history, theory, and criticism. Perfect as a core text for introductory literary theory or as a supplement to any literature course, this classic work is an invaluable reference that you can use throughout your academic and professional careers.

A masterly story of myth, rebellion, love, friendship and betrayal from one of Africa's great writers, Ngugi wa Thiong'o's A Grain of Wheat includes an introduction by Abdulrazak Gurnah, author of By the Sea, in Penguin Modern Classics. It is 1963 and Kenya is on the verge of Uhuru - Independence Day. The mighty british government has been toppled, and in the lull between the fighting and the new world, colonized and colonizer alike reflect on what they have gained and lost. In the village of Thabai, the men and women who live there have been transformed irrevocably by the uprising. Kihika, legendary rebel leader, was fatally betrayed to the whiteman. Gikonyo's marriage to the beautiful Mumbi was destroyed when he was imprisoned, while her life has been shattered in other ways. And Mugo, brave survivor of the camps and now a village hero, harbours a terrible secret. As events unfold, compromises are forced, friendships are betrayed and loves are tested. Kenyan novelist and playwright Ngugi wa Thiong'o is the author of Weep Not Child (1964), The River Between (1965), and Petals of Blood (1977). Ngugi was chair of the Department of Literature at the University of Nairobi from 1972 to 1977. He left Kenya in 1982 and taught at various universities in the United States before he became professor of comparative literature and performance studies at New York University in 1992. If you enjoyed A Grain of Wheat, you might like Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart, also available in Penguin Modern Classics. 'With Ngugi history is a living tissue ... this book adds cubits to his already considerable stature' Guardian

Investigating English provides a framework for the study of English language. It is aimed at South African tertiary students, and encompasses a year’s course.

Basing the book upon the premise that language is a complex system of signs for human communication, both aural and written, Glenda Heinemann explores the nature of language, considering such issues as the inseparable link between form and meaning, the relationship between language and thought, and how words determine the way we conceptualise the world ans relate to other people.”

In the wild night hours, or during the heat of the day - whenever man's thoughts whirl feverishly - then truth and fantasy, the past and the future, life and death are indiscriminately mingled on Toorberg, home of the Moolman family. So the magistrate is to learn as he investigates the strange circumstances of the death of little Noah, child of grief, who was not entirely of this world. Every day the case becomes more complex, until it challenges the very foundations of the law. It seems as if the magistrate will have to judge an entire dynasty, both the living and the dead. Everyone's guilt has to be affirmed, or denied, and this means he will have to rip open the lives of all. The Moolmans are a tribe who have long since learned how to deal with their own. Parents cut children out of their lives, shunt them aside to live as stepchildren, scrag-ends of the clan, or as city-dwellers whose names are never uttered. The Moolmans cannot forgive; not when their tribal blood is betrayed.

From the new celebrity culture that has emerged from reality television and the Internet, to the paparazzi-filled endgame of Princess Diana and the bizarre trials and tribulations of Michael Jackson, The Celebrity Culture Reader documents the significant role that celebrities occupy in contemporary culture.

Combining classic essays and contemporary writings, The Celebrity Culture Reader investigates the cultural implications of this complex contemporary phenomenon.

Loeloeraai, wat oorspronklik in 1923 uitgegee is, is heel moontlik die eerste Afrikaanse verhaal in die wetenskapsfiksie-genre. Die meeste van die kleurvolle karakters in die boek is ou bekendes uit Langenhoven se ander verhale, soos Kerneels, Vroutjie, hul dogter Engela, oom Stoffel, swaer Watwo, Herrie, Kerneels se mak olifant en Jakhals, Kerneels se hond. Die ander hoofkarakter is Loeloeraai, 'n onverwagse besoeker van Venus wat een aand met sy ruimtetuig op Kerneels se werf land. Eers is Kerneels-hulle baie agterdogtig oor die wyse vreemdeling vanuit die buitenste ruim, maar gaandeweg leer hulle dat hy in vrede gekom het. Maar ander mense leer gou-gou van Loeloeraai se bestaan en die gereg wil hom in die tronk stop omdat hy die land onwettig binnegekom het... Buiten Langenhoven se humor wat die verhaal kenmerk, kan ons sien watter kennis van die wetenskap en die buitenste ruim reeds in daardie tyd bestaan het en kan ons ook agterkom watter kennis tekortgeskiet het. Loeloeraai se besoek is om meer van die aarde te leer en ook leer hy die mensheid meer van homself en hoe kenmerke soos gierigheid, selfsug en wreedheid die mens se vooruitgang belemmer.

Written as a letter from a Zimbabwean mother to her daughter, a student at Harvard, J. Nozipo Maraire evokes the moving story of a mother reaching out to her daughter to share the lessons life has taught her and bring the two closer than ever before. Interweaving history and memories, disappointments and dreams, Zenzele tells the tales of Zimbabwe's struggle for independence and the men and women who shaped it: Zenzele's father, an outspoken activist lawyer; her aunt, a schoolteacher by day and secret guerrilla fighter by night; and her cousin, a maid and a spy.

Rich with insight, history, and philosophy, Zenzele is a powerful and compelling story that is both revolutionary and revelatory--the story of one life that poignantly speaks of all lives.

Sentraal in hierdie spanningsroman is 'n klomp dolfyne wat gedurende die Koue Oorlog deur Rusland gebruik is om sabotasiewerk te doen. 'n Suid-Afrikaanse dieresielkundige, ene Anton Dreyer, word, in die huidige klimaat van demokrasie en diereregte, gehuur om hierdie dolfyne te deprogrammeer - hulle mag nie van kant gemaak word nie, hulle moet hul nare streke afleer. Hy werk saam met 'n pragtige Russiese dolfynafrigter, Sasja. Daar is uit die staanspoor ‘n erotiese spanning tussen hulle en dit word weldra 'n vuurwarm verhouding. Die paar kom egter te staan teen 'n misterieuse booswig, ene Edelweiss, wat van die dolfyne steel om aan vermaaksentra wereldwyd te verkoop. Edelweiss se boot is die Jan Wandelaar, 'n moderne variant op die Vliegende Hollander, die vervloekte spookskip wat glo storms om die Kaap veroorsaak. Hy lei Anton en Sasja onder meer deur allerhande letterkundige leidrade in 'n doolhof van gevaar, waansin en uiteindelike ondergang. Dit is 'n apokaliptiese roman waarin elke teer moment besmet is met iets dreigends. Selfs Anton se aangetrokkenheid tot Sasja het wesenslik iets te make met sy onbewuste doodsverlange, sy sluimerende behoefte om saam met die dolfyne weg te sink in die oneindige vegetelheid van die diepsee, om hom oor te gee aan die begin en einde van alles, aan die oermoment toe alles nog water was.

Reflections on the Rwandan Genocide

Along with nine other African Writers, Veronique Tadjo was invited to visit Rwanda to bear witness to the genocide that took place in 1994 - wiping out one million Tutsis and moderate Hutus during a hundred days of barbaric violence. A poet and a storyteller, the author consistently achieves the right tone that challenges our preconceptions. From the unexpurgated story of a young woman reliving the horrors of the massacre to dialogues between strangers meeting across the past, and finally to her own reflections. Her prose alternates between raw and poetic, but always remains discreet, respectful and dignified. The one thing that comes through her narrative voice is a ray of hope. The translator Veronique Wakerley lectures in French at the University of Zimbabwe and is particularly interested in the literature of the first part of the twentieth century.

Three contentious and enduring plays about the clash of the individual and society

Fire Raisers (1958) tells the tale of a respectable bourgeois whose house is one day visited by three strangers. It "is successful on every level; the story is as gripping as an adventure story; each line is fraught with several meanings: as an allegory it is unique" (Edna O'Brien); Andorra is based on the author's own experience of anti-semitism in Switzerland and is about Andri, a young man who is believed to be a Jew and who is persecuted by his community as a result; Triptych is a portrait of a writer grappling with his own mortality. The flexible and contemporary translations by Michael Bullock (The Fire Raisers, Andorra) and Geoffrey Skelton (Triptych) are here complemented by an introduction by Peter Loeffler.

The new edition is more learner-centred and has a greater multi-disciplinary approach. It uses literary analysis and literary studies as a platform to engage students in thinking about literature in the context of themselves as significant parts of the process of interpreting. Students are introduced to a range of contemporary arguments, theories and positions about self-representation, characterization, gender, and culture. Each chapter works from a simple accessible position towards more complex ideas and culminates in a creative writing exercise in which the student explores the ideas raised in that chapter. The textbook explores philosophical concepts and literary theories around identity and how identity is communicated through and created in language. Each chapter deals with a different aspect of representation together with a different genre of writing from autobiography to poetry to colonial and postcolonial novels. The book focuses on the needs of southern African readers by drawing on current social and ethical issues. The new edition has been updated to have a more contemporary focus and there is a greater emphasis on the writing process. The section on gender is more complex and includes discussion on masculinity. Students have the opportunity to apply their knowledge by means of discussion questions and creative writing exercises at the end of each chapter.

English is the collective work of millions of people throughout the ages. It is democratic, ever-changing and ingenious in its assimilation of other cultures. English runs through the heart of world finance, medicine and the Internet, and it is understood by around two thousand million people across the world. Yet it was very nearly wiped out in its early years. In this book Melvyn Bragg shows us the remarkable story of the English language; from its beginnings as a minor guttural Germanic dialect to its position today as a truly established global language. The Adventure of English is not only an enthralling story of power, religion and trade, but also the story of people, and how their day-to-day lives shaped and continue to change the extraordinary language that is English.

Vir Paul van Zyl is sy standerdvyfjaar 'n grootwordjaar. Hy leer dat mens die verlede nie kan terugroep nie. Dat dit wat verby is, onherroeplik en vir ewig verby is. Dat dit wat gedoen is, ewe onherroeplik gedaan is. Hy leer om afskeid te neem, en om verantwoordelikheid te neem vir wat hy gedoen het. Maar bowenal leer hy aanvaarding.

One of a series of readers for African students which aims to help them to develop an awareness and a love of language, and consists of stories from all over Africa. In this story Tikrit shows courage and determination in adversity when he goes in search of a fireball from the sky.

Whether we grow up with one, two, or several languages during our early years of life, many of us will learn a second, foreign, or heritage language in later years. The field of Second language acquisition (SLA, for short) investigates the human capacity to learn additional languages in late childhood, adolescence, or adulthood, after the first language --in the case of monolinguals-- or languages --in the case of bilinguals-- have already been acquired. Understanding Second Language Acquisition offers a wide-encompassing survey of this burgeoning field, its accumulated findings and proposed theories, its developed research paradigms, and its pending questions for the future. The book zooms in and out of universal, individual, and social forces, in each case evaluating the research findings that have been generated across diverse naturalistic and formal contexts for second language acquisition. It assumes no background in SLA and provides helpful chapter-by-chapter summaries and suggestions for further reading. Ideal as a textbook for students of applied linguistics, foreign language education, TESOL, and education, it is also recommended for students of linguistics, developmental psycholinguistics, psychology, and cognitive science. Supporting resources for tutors are available free at www.routledge.com/ortega.

A systematic survey of archaic Greek society and culture which introduces the reader to a wide range of new approaches to the period.The first comprehensive and accessible survey of developments in the study of archaic GreecePlaces Greek society of c.750-480 BCE in its chronological and geographical contextGives equal emphasis to established topics such as tyranny and political reform and newer subjects like gender and ethnicityCombines accounts of historical developments with regional surveys of archaeological evidence and in-depth treatments of selected themesExplores the impact of Eastern and other non-Greek cultures in the development of GreeceUses archaeological and literary evidence to reconstruct broad patterns of social and cultural development

"Since its first appearance in 1854 and through many revisions this dictionary has remained constant in its appeal to scholars. This new and revised Latin Dictionary is among the best of its kind, being reliable, compact and adequate for the needs of all save the specialist. He has produced what is in effect a new book, typographically easy to consult and combining elegance with utility." -The Times Literary Supplement This edition: --Incorporates modern English idiom and current Latin spelling. --Includes general classical information where appropriate. --Shows long and short vowels where not immediately apparent. --Indicates irregular plural forms. --Cites and quotes ancient classical authors. --Suggests paraphrases to express modern English in classical Latin form

The six great Romantic poets represented in this concise collection - Blake, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Byron, Shelley and Keats - are those considered essential reading for anyone with an interest in the verse of the period.
An essential selection of poetry by the six great Romantic poets.
Ideal for general readers or for students taking short courses in Romanticism.
Includes the whole of Blake's "Songs of Innocence and Experience."
Gives readers a concise overview of Romantic poetry.

This up-to-date edition makes Euripides' most famous and influential play accessible to students of Greek reading their first tragedy as well as to more advanced students. The introduction analyzes Medea as a revenge-plot, evaluates the strands of motivation that lead to her tragic insistence on killing her own children, and assesses the potential sympathy of a Greek audience for a character triply marked as other (barbarian, witch, woman). A unique feature of this book is the introduction to tragic language and style. The text, revised for this edition, is accompanied by an abbreviated critical apparatus. The commentary provides morphological and syntactic help for inexperienced students and more advanced observations on vocabulary, rhetoric, dramatic techniques, stage action, and details of interpretation, from the famous debate of Medea and Jason to the 'unmotivated' entrance of Aegeus and the controversial monologue of Medea.

"This play, by the winner of a Nobel Prize for Literature, asks: 'On the authority of what gods' the white aliens rupture the world. It puts exciting political theatre back on the agenda...a masterpiece of 20th century drama" (Guardian) Elesin Oba, the King's Horseman, has a single destiny. When the King dies, he must commit ritual suicide and lead his King's favourite horse and dog through the passage to the world of the ancestors. A British Colonial Officer, Pilkings, intervenes to prevent the death and arrests Elesin. The play is a set text for NEAB GCSE, NEAB A Level and NEAB A/S Level. "A transfixing work of modern world drama" (Independent); "clearly a masterpiece...he achieves the full impact of Greek tragedy" (Irving Wardle, Independent on Sunday); "the action of the play is as inevitable and eloquent as in Antigone: a clash of values and cultures so fundamental that tragedy issues: a tragedy for each individual, each tribe" (Michael Schmidt, Daily Telegraph)

This anthology is the companion volume to The Appreciation of Modern French Poetry, the aim of which was to give detailed preliminary help with the problems of poetic appreciation. The fourteen poets represented here provide a varied and exciting introduction to what is probably the richest century of French poetry, from 1850 to 1950. Hugo, the colossus of the nineteenth century, whose work gives new resonance and vitality to imaginative vision, opens the anthology, and Michaux, the most individual and 'modern' of twentieth-century poets in that he bridges the gap between poetry and contemporary science, closes it. Almost all the major poets of the period are included: Nerval, Baudelaire, Mallarme, Verlaine, Rimbaud and Laforgue from the second half of the nineteenth century; Valery, Apollinaire, Supervielle and Eluard in the twentieth. The lesser known Cros and Desnos, fresh and spontaneous poets with an immediate appeal, invite a new look at the lyric traditions of french verse and offer an attractive new avenue for study. The choice of poems, dictated above all by their individual poetic value, reflects also the trends of recent criticism and the tastes of present-day readers. The texts are all accompanied by full notes, which not only explain local difficulties of vocabulary, syntax and expression, but lead the reader directly into the heart of the richness of theme, style and interpretation. These will prove of value not only to the student who is grappling with the basics of french verse, or is anxious to give depth to his familiarity, but to the general reader seeking to rekindle his enjoyment of French poetry. In addition, there are introductions to each poet summarizing the essence of his art, useful suggestions for further reading, and groups of dicussion topics to stimulate comparative insights and a wider responsiveness.