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Books > Humanities > Religion & beliefs > Myths & mythology
Reynard - a subversive, dashing, anarchic, aristocratic, witty fox
from the watery lowlands of medieval East Flanders - is in trouble.
He has been summoned to the court of King Noble the Lion, charged
with all manner of crimes and misdemeanours. How will he pit his
wits against his accusers - greedy Bruin the Bear, pretentious
Courtoys the Hound or dark and dangerous Isengrim the Wolf - to
escape the gallows? Reynard was once the most popular and beloved
character in European folklore, as familiar as Robin Hood, King
Arthur or Cinderella. His character spoke eloquently for the
unvoiced and disenfranchised, but also amused and delighted the
elite, capturing hearts and minds across borders and societal
classes for centuries. Based on William Caxton's bestselling 1481
English translation of the Middle Dutch, but expanded with new
interpretations, innovative language and characterisation, this
edition is an imaginative retelling of the Reynard story. With its
themes of protest, resistance and duplicity fronted by a
personable, anti-heroic Fox making his way in a dangerous and cruel
world, this gripping tale is as relevant and controversial today as
it was in the fifteenth century.
At the height of the blues revival, Marina Bokelman and David
Evans, young graduate students from California, made two trips to
Louisiana and Mississippi and short trips in their home state to do
fieldwork for their studies at UCLA. While there, they made
recordings and interviews and took extensive field notes and
photographs of blues musicians and their families. Going Up the
Country: Adventures in Blues Fieldwork in the 1960s presents their
experiences in vivid detail through the field notes, the
photographs, and the retrospective views of these two passionate
researchers. The book includes historical material as well as
contemporary reflections by Bokelman and Evans on the times and the
people they met during their southern journeys. Their notes and
photographs take the reader into the midst of memorable encounters
with many obscure but no less important musicians, as well as blues
legends, including Robert Pete Williams, Mississippi Fred McDowell,
Al Wilson (cofounder of Canned Heat), Babe Stovall, Reverend Ruben
Lacy, and Jack Owens. This volume is not only an adventure story,
but also a scholarly discussion of fieldwork in folklore and
ethnomusicology. Including retrospective context and commentary,
the field note chapters describe searches for musicians, recording
situations, social and family dynamics of musicians, and race
relations and the racial environment, as well as the practical,
ethical, and logistical problems of doing fieldwork. The book
features over one hundred documentary photographs that depict the
field recording sessions and the activities, lives, and living
conditions of the artists and their families. These photographs
serve as a visual counterpart equivalent to the field notes. The
remaining chapters explain the authors' methodology, planning, and
motivations, as well as their personal backgrounds prior to going
into the field, their careers afterwards, and their thoughts about
fieldwork and folklore research in general. In this enlightening
book, Bokelman and Evans provide an exciting and honest portrayal
of blues field research in the 1960s.
A charming and beautifully illustrated book, first published in
1893, covering all aspects of the weather including: Times and
Seasons, Months, Days of the week, Winter birds and times of their
arrival, Sun, Moon and Stars, Wind, Clouds, Mists, Haze, Dew, Fog,
Sky, Air, Sound, Sea, Tide, Heat, Rain, Rainbow, Frost, Hail, Snow,
Ice, Thunder and Lightning. Measuring instruments include:
Barometer, Thermometer, Hygrometer, Telescope, Spectroscope.
Animals include: Quadrupeds, Birds, Fish, Molluscs, Reptiles,
Insects, Plants etc. This new edition has been completely
redesigned and is fully illustrated with reproductions of woodcuts,
photographs and drawings throughout.
Die tradisie van die pryslied het in die afgelope paar jaar wyd
bekend geraak. Hierdie bundle bevat 'n versameling liedere in
hierdie genre, maar dis eiesoortig in die sin dat dit spesifiek
deur Basotho-trekarbeiders geskep is en deur hulle uitgevoer word.
Dit gee die leser 'n wye blik op die verskeurde wereld van hierdie
swerwer-sangers. Aan die een kant is daar die ervarings van hul
landelike wereld van herkoms. Daar is liriese beskrywings van die
natuur en die vanselfsprekende intergrasie tussen die mens, die
tasbare leefwereld en die magiese sfeer. Wanneer die sanger uit
nood besluit om sy brood om die myne to gaan verdien, lei dit tot
'n ontwortelde swerwerbestaan gekenmerk deur vervreemding en
identiteitsverlies. Die werker-sanger is iemand wat tussen twee
werelde leef en nie werklik aan een van die twee behoort nie. Die
sekerste van die twee, maar ook die ontredderendste, is die van die
mynwerker. Hier word hy in werklikheid gereduseer tot 'n implement
of 'n stuk gereedskap: "Ek is die kruiptrekker van die myn, manne";
en "My identiteit het aan my skopgraaf vasgegroei." Die nuwe
realiteit is die van die ontsetting van mynongelukke, die
verbrokkeling van die huislike sfeer, die verlies van 'n geliefde
weens ontrou.
DID YOU HEAR ABOUT THE KIDS WHO FOUND A FERRARI BURIED IN THEIR
GARDEN? WHAT ABOUT THE MAN WHO SUED SATAN? DO YOU KNOW THE LEGEND
OF THE BUNNY MAN? Strange happenings, unsolved mysteries and
seemingly supernatural events have gripped and shocked us for
centuries, passed from person to person in whispers in classrooms,
tales around the campfire and idle gossip among friends. Whether
they're based on a grain of truth or a complete flight of fancy,
the myths, legends and weird tales contained within this book will
take you on a fascinating journey to the outer limits of
plausibility, and dare you to believe the unbelievable.
In Frankenstein Was a Vegetarian: Essays on Food Choice, Identity,
and Symbolism, Michael Owen Jones tackles topics often overlooked
in foodways. At the outset he notes it was Victor Frankenstein's
"daemon" in Mary Shelley's novel that advocated vegetarianism, not
the scientist whose name has long been attributed to his creature.
Jones explains how we communicate through what we eat, the
connection between food choice and who we are or want to appear to
be, the ways that many of us self-medicate moods with foods, and
the nature of disgust. He presents fascinating case studies of
religious bigotry and political machinations triggered by rumored
bans on pork, the last meal requests of prisoners about to be
executed, and the Utopian vision of Percy Bysshe Shelley, one of
England's greatest poets, that was based on a vegetable diet like
the creature's meals in Frankenstein. Jones also scrutinizes how
food is used and abused on the campaign trail, how gender issues
arise when food meets politics, and how eating preferences reflect
the personalities and values of politicians, one of whom was
elected president and then impeached twice. Throughout the book,
Jones deals with food as symbol as well as analyzes the link
between food choice and multiple identities. Aesthetics, morality,
and politics likewise loom large in his inquiries. In the final two
chapters, Jones applies these concepts to overhauling penal
policies and practices that make food part of the pains of
imprisonment, and looks at transforming the counseling of diabetes
patients, who number in the millions.
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