In this commentary, Joshua Berman considers Lamentations as a literary work that creates meaning for a community in the wake of tragedy through its repudiation of Zion theology. Drawing from studies in collective trauma, his volume is the first study of Lamentations that systematically accounts for the constructed character of the narrator, a pastoral mentor who engages in a series of dialogues with a second constructed character, daughter Zion, who embodies the traumatized community of survivors. In each chapter, the pastoral mentor speaks to a different religious typology and a different sub-community of post-destruction Judeans, working with daughter Zion to reconsider her errant positions and charting for her a positive way forward to reconnecting with the Lord. Providing a systematic approach to the careful structure of each of its chapters, Berman illuminates how biblical writers offered support to their communities in a way that is still relevant and appealing to a therapy-conscious contemporary society.

"Relating Events in Narrative, Volume 2: Typological and Contextual Perspectives" edited by Sven Stromqvist and Ludo Verhoeven, is the much anticipated follow-up volume to Ruth Berman and Dan Slobin's successful "frog-story studies" book, "Relating Events in Narrative: A Crosslinguistic Developmental Study" (1994).
Working closely with Ruth Berman and Dan Slobin, the new editors have brought together a wide range of scholars who, inspired by the 1994 book, have all used Mercer Mayer's "Frog, Where Are You?" as a basis for their research. The new book, which is divided into two parts, features a broad linguistic and cultural diversity. Contributions focusing on crosslinguistic perspectives make up the first part of the book. This part is concluded by Dan Slobin with an analysis and overview discussion of factors of linguistic typology in frog-story research.
The second part offers a variety of theoretical and methodological perspectives, all dealing with contextual variation of narrative construction in a wide sense: variation across medium/modality (speech, writing, signing), genre variation (the specific frog story narrative compared to other genres), frog story narrations from the perspective of theory of mind, and from the perspective of bilingualism and second language acquisition. Several of the contributions to the new book manuscript also deal with developmental perspectives, but, in distinction to the 1994 book, that is not the only focused issue. The second part is initiated by Ruth Berman with an analysis of the role of context in developing narrative abilities.
The new book represents a rich overview and illustration of recent advances in theoretical and methodological approaches to the crosslinguistic study of narrative discourse. A red thread throughout the book is that crosslinguistic variation is not merely a matter of variation in form, but also in content and aspects of cognition. A recurrent perspective on language and thought is that of Dan Slobin's theory of "thinking for speaking," an approach to cognitive consequences of linguistic diversity. The book ends with an epilogue by Herbert Clark, "Variations on a Ranarian Theme."

This volume represents the culmination of an extensive research project that studied the development of linguistic form/function relations in narrative discourse. It is unique in the extent of data which it analyzes-more than 250 texts from children and adults speaking five different languages-and in its crosslinguistic, typological focus. It is the first book to address the issue of how the structural properties and rhetorical preferences of different native languages-English, German, Spanish, Hebrew, and Turkish-impinge on narrative abilities across different phases of development. The work of Berman and Slobin and their colleagues provides insight into the interplay between shared, possibly universal, patterns in the developing ability to create well-constructed, globally organized narratives among preschoolers Contact Susan Barker at (201) 258-2282 for more information. from three years of age compared with school children and adults, contrasted against the impact of typological and rhetorical features of particular native languages on how speakers express these abilities in the process of "relating events in narrative." This volume also makes a special contribution to the field of language acquisition and development by providing detailed analyses of how linguistic forms come to be used in the service of narrative functions, such as the expression of temporal relations of simultaneity and retrospection, perspective-taking on events, and textual connectivity. To present this information, the authors prepared in-depth analyses of a wide range of linguistic systems, including tense-aspect marking, passive and middle voice, locative and directional predications, connectivity markers,null subjects, and relative clause constructions. In contrast to most work in the field of language acquisition, this book focuses on developments in the use of these early forms in extended discourse-beyond the initial phase of early language development. The book offers a pioneering approach to the interactions between form and function in the development and use of language, from a typological linguistic perspective. The study is based on a large crosslinguistic corpus of narratives, elicited from preschool, school-age, and adult subjects. All of the narratives were elicited by the same picture storybook, Frog, Where Are You?, by Mercer Mayer. (An appendix lists related studies using the same storybook in 50 languages.) The findings illuminate both universal and language-specific patterns of development, providing new insights into questions of language and thought.

In this commentary, Joshua Berman considers Lamentations as a literary work that creates meaning for a community in the wake of tragedy through its repudiation of Zion theology. Drawing from studies in collective trauma, his volume is the first study of Lamentations that systematically accounts for the constructed character of the narrator, a pastoral mentor who engages in a series of dialogues with a second constructed character, daughter Zion, who embodies the traumatized community of survivors. In each chapter, the pastoral mentor speaks to a different religious typology and a different sub-community of post-destruction Judeans, working with daughter Zion to reconsider her errant positions and charting for her a positive way forward to reconnecting with the Lord. Providing a systematic approach to the careful structure of each of its chapters, Berman illuminates how biblical writers offered support to their communities in a way that is still relevant and appealing to a therapy-conscious contemporary society.

The original essays in this collection chronicle the transformation of Arnold Schoenberg's works from music as pure art to music as a vehicle of religious and political ideas, during the first half of the twentieth century. This interdisciplinary volume includes contributions from musicologists, music theorists, and scholars of German literature and of Jewish studies.

This volume represents the culmination of an extensive research project that studied the development of linguistic form/function relations in narrative discourse. It is unique in the extent of data which it analyzes--more than 250 texts from children and adults speaking five different languages--and in its crosslinguistic, typological focus. It is the first book to address the issue of how the structural properties and rhetorical preferences of different native languages--English, German, Spanish, Hebrew, and Turkish--impinge on narrative abilities across different phases of development. The work of Berman and Slobin and their colleagues provides insight into the interplay between shared, possibly universal, patterns in the developing ability to create well-constructed, globally organized narratives among preschoolers from three years of age compared with school children and adults, contrasted against the impact of typological and rhetorical features of particular native languages on how speakers express these abilities in the process of "relating events in narrative." This volume also makes a special contribution to the field of language acquisition and development by providing detailed analyses of how linguistic forms come to be used in the service of narrative functions, such as the expression of temporal relations of simultaneity and retrospection, perspective-taking on events, and textual connectivity. To present this information, the authors prepared in-depth analyses of a wide range of linguistic systems, including tense-aspect marking, passive and middle voice, locative and directional predications, connectivity markers, null subjects, and relative clause constructions. In contrast to most work in the field of language acquisition, this book focuses on developments in the use of these early forms in extended discourse--beyond the initial phase of early language development. The book offers a pioneering approach to the interactions between form and function in the development and use of language, from a typological linguistic perspective. The study is based on a large crosslinguistic corpus of narratives, elicited from preschool, school-age, and adult subjects. All of the narratives were elicited by the same picture storybook,Frog, Where Are You?, by Mercer Mayer. (An appendix lists related studies using the same storybook in 50 languages.) The findings illuminate both universal and language-specific patterns of development, providing new insights into questions of language and thought.

Contents:
Editors' Introduction. Abstract Polyphonies: The Music of Schoenberg's Nietzschean Moment, William Benjamin. Arnold Schoenberg as Poet and Librettist: Dualism, Epiphany, and Die Jakobsleiter, David Schroeder. Androgyny and the Eternal Feminine in Schoenberg's Oratorio Die Jakobsleiter Jennifer Shaw. Von heute auf morgen: Schoenberg as Social Critic,Stephen Davison. Schoenberg in Shirtsleeves: The Male Choruses, Op. 35, Robert Falck. The Prophet and the Pitchman: Dramatic Structure and Its Musical Elucidation in Moses und Aron, Act I, Scene 2, Edward Latham. Schoenberg's Moses und Aron: A Vanishing Biblical Nation, Bluma Goldstein. Schoenberg Rewrites His Will: A Survivor from Warsaw, Op. 46,David Isadore Lieberman. Texts and Contexts of A Survivor from Warsaw, Op. 46, Camille Crittenden. Returning to a Homeland: Religion and Political Context in Schoenberg's Dreimal tausend Jahre, Naomi Andr. Schoenberg's Modern Psalm, Op.50c, and the Unattainable Ending, Mark Risinger

Likened to a second Tsar in Russia and attaining prophet-like status around the globe, Tolstoy made an impact on literature and the arts, religion, philosophy, and politics. His novels and stories both responded to and helped to reshape the European and Russian literary traditions. His non-fiction incensed readers and drew a massive following, making Tolstoy an important religious force as well as a stubborn polemicist in many fields. Through his involvement with Gandhi and the Indian independence movement, his aid in relocating the Doukhobors to Canada, his correspondence with American abolitionists and his polemics with scientists in the periodical press, Tolstoy engaged a vast array of national and international contexts of his time in his life and thought. This volume introduces those contexts and situates Tolstoy-the man and the writer-in the rich and tumultuous period in which his intellectual and creative output came to fruition.

Why would highly skilled, well-trained pilots make errors that lead to accidents when they had safely completed many thousands of previous flights? The majority of all aviation accidents are attributed primarily to human error, but this is often misinterpreted as evidence of lack of skill, vigilance, or conscientiousness of the pilots. The Limits of Expertise is a fresh look at the causes of pilot error and aviation accidents, arguing that accidents can be understood only in the context of how the overall aviation system operates. The authors analyzed in great depth the 19 major U.S. airline accidents from 1991-2000 in which the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) found crew error to be a causal factor. Each accident is reviewed in a separate chapter that examines events and crew actions and explores the cognitive processes in play at each step. The approach is guided by extensive evidence from cognitive psychology that human skill and error are opposite sides of the same coin. The book examines the ways in which competing task demands, ambiguity and organizational pressures interact with cognitive processes to make all experts vulnerable to characteristic forms of error. The final chapter identifies themes cutting across the accidents, discusses the role of chance, criticizes simplistic concepts of causality of accidents, and suggests ways to reduce vulnerability to these catastrophes. The authors' complementary experience allowed a unique approach to the study: accident investigation with the NTSB, cognitive psychology research both in the lab and in the field, enormous first-hand experience of piloting, and application of aviation psychology in both civil and military operations. This combination allowed the authors to examine and explain the domain-specific aspects of aviation operations and to extend advances in basic research in cognition to complex issues of human performance in the real world. Although The Limits of Expertise is directed to aviation operations, the implications are clear for understanding the decision processes, skilled performance and errors of professionals in many domains, including medicine.

This is the HARDBACK version. From 2000 to its final episode in 2007, Gilmore Girls raised the bar for television writing, redefined the dramatic comedy, and cultivated a dedicated fan base not seen since the heights of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. However, unlike Buffy, little has been published about what went on behind-the-scenes of Gilmore Girl. Until now. The Gilmore Girls Companion provides the first detailed account of the creation of this groundbreaking series, based on dozens of exclusive interviews with the actors and behind-the-camera talent who brought Stars Hollow to life. Also check out the blog at http: //gilmoregirlsbook.wordpress.com/ . Over 500 pages

From its tumultuous beginnings in 1977 to its end by firing squad - on screen and off - Soap was as passionate and controversial as the times in which it was made. During its four-year run, it tackled sex, death, depression and infidelity, all with a wit and gentleness never before seen on American television. Throughout that time, a vocal minority hounded the sitcom and parent network ABC over its perceived irreverence toward the mores of a declining generation, even as the real world was convulsed by terrorism, energy crises, and fallout from the Vietnam conflict and governmental malfeasance. For the first time ever, Soap: The Unauthorized Inside Story of the Sitcom that Broke all the Rules takes you behind the scenes, from the producers' battles with network censors over an earlier series, to the creation of enduring story lines such as the death of Peter Campbell, and Burt's abduction by aliens. Based on interviews with nearly 30 members of the cast and crew, this book offers an extensive examination of each episode, and may finally reveal the societal forces that really led to the series' premature demise.

Since September 11, 2001, the attitudes of Europeans toward the United States have grown increasingly more negative. For many in Europe, the terrorist attack on New York City was seen as evidence of how American behavior elicits hostility—and how it would be up to Americans to repent and change their ways. Yet, as this book argues, the deep cultural roots of European anti-Americanism predate contemporary partisan concerns. In this revealing look at the deep divide that has emerged, Russell Berman explores the various dimensions of contemporary European anti-Americanism.The author shows how, as the process of post-cold war European unification has progressed, anti-Americanism has proven a useful ideology for the definition of a new European identity. He examines this emerging identity and shows how it has led to a position hostile to any "regime change" by the United States—no matter how bad the regime may be. And he details the elements—some cultural, some simply irrational—of this disturbing movement and tells why it is likely to remain a feature of relations between the United States and Europe for the foreseeable future. Anti-Americanism in Western Europe is not just a friendly disagreement, but a widening chasm. This book makes a major contribution to understanding this important ideological challenge.

In September 2001, Europeans might have felt comfortable thinking that Al-Qaeda was only a scourge to the United States; some indulged in the unkind speculation that the United States had only itself to blame for 9/11. That innocence is now gone in the wake of attacks in Madrid and London. Since then Europe has oscillated through a range of stances in relation to Islamist terrorism, varying from country to country and across the political spectrum. In Freedom or Terror, Russell A. Berman offers an analysis of Europe's ambivalence toward jihadist terror and the spread of aggressive Islamism, with particular emphasis on the European responses-or lack thereof-to Islamist terrorism.Berman describes how some European countries opt for appeasing and apologizing for terror, whereas others stand up for freedom. In individual chapters he examines the responses of England, France, Germany, and the smaller nations: Belgium, Holland, and Denmark. He also analyzes the dialectic of genocide and terror in Bosnia. Each country addresses the issues in light of its particular institutions and national history. Ultimately, the author argues that the European responses to Islamist terrorism involve the confrontation of contemporary postmodern European culture with the extremist values of jihadist radicals. Whether Europe is truly up to the challenge will only become clear in the struggles of the next decade.

Enlightenment or Empire is a crucial contribution to our understanding of the culture of European colonialism. The book opens with a bold reconsideration of the relationship between the Enlightenment and colonialism, at the heart of which is an examination of two parallel texts-Captain James Cook's and Georg Foster's accounts of Cook's voyage of 1773. Berman then examines geography, religion, gender, and fiction in the writings of nineteenth-century travelers in Africa. He concludes with a discussion of the alternative anti-colonial traditions of Germany and France. Berman's book is a provocative contribution to current debates about the Enlightenment and its political legacy. In opposition to contemporary critics who argue that the Enlightenment is fully implicated in structures of domination, including colonialism, Berman argues for a more subtle, complex understanding of the political and cultural consequences of the Enlightenment. Russell A. Berman is a professor of German studies and comparative literature at Stanford University. He is the author of The Rise of the Modern German Novel: Crisis and Charisma; Modern Culture and Critical Theory: Art, Politics, and the Legacy of the Frankfurt School; and Cultural Studies of Modern Germany: History, Representation, and Nationhood.

This is an in-depth study of a biblical story that excites curiosity while repelling readers with the thought that Abraham was ready to express his obedience to God by sacrificing his own son. The story of the Akedah, Abraham's binding and near sacrifice of his son, Isaac, is one of the most enigmatic passages of the Bible. Not only a story of Abraham's devotion to God, this biblical episode reflects the classic tension between generations. Louis A. Berman uses his training as a psychologist and his personal experience as a father to craft his intensive inquiry into the Akedah. The Akedah: The Binding of Isaac opens with a careful reading of Genesis 22, taking time to discuss crucial words and phrases. However, an understanding of Genesis 22 hinges not only on knowing the episode itself, but on knowing what surrounds it. Therefore, the reader is systematically acquainted with the biblical context of the story, and with significant biblical concepts that give the story its meaning. The binding of Isaac lends itself to countless interpretations, and chapters of The Akedah are devoted to many of them. The interpretations explored? martyrdom, atonement, the test of obedience, response to disaster, and the sanctity of human life are drawn from a broad range of sources. The multitude of interpretations of the Akedah is part of what makes the event so accessible to a diverse number of readers. This is an in-depth study of a biblical story that excites curiosity while repelling readers with the thought that Abraham was ready to express his obedience to God by sacrificing his own son. Louis A. Berman examines the place of the Akedah story in world mythology, in history, in psychology, in Christian and Islamic thought, in art and music, and in the literature of England, America, and Israel.