|
Showing 1 - 25 of
36 matches in All Departments
The popularity of the musical, Hamilton, featuring the death of
Alexander Hamilton in a duel with Aaron Burr, then Vice President
of the United States, has revived interest in duelling, but also
aroused incredulity that such events could ever have occurred.
Where did the custom originate, and why did it spread so quickly
all over Europe and the Americas? Duelling was once commonplace.
Prime ministers and poets, artists and journalists, and even some
ladies went out to the 'field of honour'. Casanova fought with a
Polish nobleman in Warsaw, the Duke of Wellington duelled with an
English earl in Hyde Park and the Russian poet Pushkin died in a
duel in St Petersburg. There were many enigmas associated with the
phenomenon. As well as displaying skills with the sword or the
pistol, a duellist had to silence problems of conscience. Could
duelling be squared with the commandment against killing one's
neighbour? Did the fact that both parties were inspired by a
gentlemanly code of Honour make the duel superior to a vulgar
brawl? The moral justification of duelling intrigued thinkers and
intellectuals. Dr Johnson returned to the issue several times,
while Rousseau was baffled by the question. Duels added drama to
mediocre novels or plays, but featured in the theatre of
Shakespeare and later in the work of such masters as Walter Scott,
Conrad, Chekhov and Pirandello. Duelling has been too long regarded
as an embarrassing sideline in western culture, but for centuries
it was an integral part of history. Joseph Farrell attempts to
clarify what the duel actually was and why men ever behaved that
way. Exploring the social and cultural forces that encouraged what
now seems an extraordinary anachronism, he traces the international
evolution of the duel - and its many representations in literature
and art - from Renaissance Italy to the whole of Europe, including
Britain, and onto the US.
A major new interpretation of Vergil's epic poem as a struggle
between two incompatible versions of the Homeric hero This
compelling book offers an entirely new way of understanding the
Aeneid. Many scholars regard Vergil's poem as an attempt to combine
Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey into a single epic. Joseph Farrell
challenges this view, revealing how the Aeneid stages an epic
contest to determine which kind of story it will tell—and what
kind of hero Aeneas will be. Farrell shows how this contest is
provoked by the transgressive goddess Juno, who challenges Vergil
for the soul of his hero and poem. Her goal is to transform the
poem into an Iliad of continuous Trojan persecution instead of an
Odyssey of successful homecoming. Farrell discusses how ancient
critics considered the flexible Odysseus the model of a good leader
but censured the hero of the Iliad, the intransigent Achilles, as a
bad one. He describes how the battle over which kind of leader
Aeneas will prove to be continues throughout the poem, and explores
how this struggle reflects in very different ways on the ethical
legitimacy of Rome’s emperor, Caesar Augustus. By reframing the
Aeneid in this way, Farrell demonstrates how the purpose of the
poem is to confront the reader with an urgent decision between
incompatible possibilities and provoke uncertainty about whether
the poem is a celebration of Augustus or a melancholy reflection on
the discontents of a troubled age.
In the context of recent challenges to long-standing assumptions
about the nature of Ennius' Annals and the editorial methods
appropriate to the poem's fragmentary remains, this volume seeks to
move Ennian studies forward on three axes. First, a re-evaluation
of the literary and historical precedents for and building blocks
of Ennius' poem in order to revise the history of early Latin
literature. Second, a cross-fertilization of recent critical
approaches to the fields of poetry and historiography. Third,
reflection on the tools and methods that will best serve future
literary and historical research on the Annals and its reception.
Adopting different approaches to these broad topics, the fourteen
papers in this volume illustrate how much can be said about Ennius'
poem and its place in literary history independent of any
commitment to inevitably speculative totalizing interpretations.
With the aim of providing a comprehensive history of Italian drama
from its origins to the time of its publication in 2006, this book
treats theatre in its widest sense, discussing the impact of all
the elements and figures integral to the collaborative process of
theatre-making. The impact of designers, actors, directors and
impresarios as well as of playwrights is subjected to critical
scrutiny, while individual chapters examine the changes in
technology and shifts in the cultural climate which have influenced
theatre. No other approach would be acceptable for Italian theatre,
where from the days of commedia dell'arte, the central figure has
often been the actor rather than the playwright. The important
writers, such as Carlo Goldoni and Luigi Pirandello, receive
detailed critical treatment, as do the 'great actors' of
nineteenth-century theatre or the directors of our own time, but
the focus is always on the bigger picture.
Primo Levi has been identified in the public mind as the supreme
witness to the barbarism that was the Nazi Holocaust but he was
ambivalent about having that role thrust upon him. He also wished
to be judged as a writer who, in addition to the autobiographical
works on his experiences in the death camps, wrote poetry, produced
volumes of sci-fi stories, authored novels and contributed critical
essays to newspapers on a range of topics and writers. No one has
the right to ignore or downplay the 'testimony' Primo Levi offered,
but it is time to examine the wider vision inherent in his work and
to explore the tradition in which he operated. Levi was one of the
great wisdom writers of his age, whose ethical authority, somewhat
to his own embarrassment, was accepted in many fields. Several
contributors to this collection of essays see him as a proponent of
Enlightenment values, or as heir to a longer Humanist tradition.
Even after enduring Auschwitz, he held fast to a notion of the
dignity of the human person, and no man did more to reestablish,
however quizzically, the secular basis for such beliefs. His
overall standing as writer is the subject of this book.
The Latin language is popularly imagined in a number of specific ways: as a masculine language, an imperial language, a classical language, a dead language. This book considers the sources of these metaphors and analyzes their effect on how Latin literature is read. By reading with and more commonly against these metaphors, the book offers a different view of Latin as a language and as a vehicle for cultural practice. The argument ranges over a variety of texts in Latin and texts about Latin from antiquity to the twentieth century.
A major new interpretation of Vergil's epic poem as a struggle
between two incompatible versions of the Homeric hero This
compelling book offers an entirely new way of understanding the
Aeneid. Many scholars regard Vergil's poem as an attempt to combine
Homer's Iliad and Odyssey into a single epic. Joseph Farrell
challenges this view, revealing how the Aeneid stages an epic
contest to determine which kind of story it will tell-and what kind
of hero Aeneas will be. Farrell shows how this contest is provoked
by the transgressive goddess Juno, who challenges Vergil for the
soul of his hero and poem. Her goal is to transform the poem into
an Iliad of continuous Trojan persecution instead of an Odyssey of
successful homecoming. Farrell discusses how ancient critics
considered the flexible Odysseus the model of a good leader but
censured the hero of the Iliad, the intransigent Achilles, as a bad
one. He describes how the battle over which kind of leader Aeneas
will prove to be continues throughout the poem, and explores how
this struggle reflects in very different ways on the ethical
legitimacy of Rome's emperor, Caesar Augustus. By reframing the
Aeneid in this way, Farrell demonstrates how the purpose of the
poem is to confront the reader with an urgent decision between
incompatible possibilities and provoke uncertainty about whether
the poem is a celebration of Augustus or a melancholy reflection on
the discontents of a troubled age.
In the context of recent challenges to long-standing assumptions
about the nature of Ennius' Annals and the editorial methods
appropriate to the poem's fragmentary remains, this volume seeks to
move Ennian studies forward on three axes. First, a re-evaluation
of the literary and historical precedents for and building blocks
of Ennius' poem in order to revise the history of early Latin
literature. Second, a cross-fertilization of recent critical
approaches to the fields of poetry and historiography. Third,
reflection on the tools and methods that will best serve future
literary and historical research on the Annals and its reception.
Adopting different approaches to these broad topics, the fourteen
papers in this volume illustrate how much can be said about Ennius'
poem and its place in literary history independent of any
commitment to inevitably speculative totalizing interpretations.
With the aim of providing a comprehensive history of Italian drama
from its origins to the time of its publication in 2006, this book
treats theatre in its widest sense, discussing the impact of all
the elements and figures integral to the collaborative process of
theatre-making. The impact of designers, actors, directors and
impresarios as well as of playwrights is subjected to critical
scrutiny, while individual chapters examine the changes in
technology and shifts in the cultural climate which have influenced
theatre. No other approach would be acceptable for Italian theatre,
where from the days of commedia dell'arte, the central figure has
often been the actor rather than the playwright. The important
writers, such as Carlo Goldoni and Luigi Pirandello, receive
detailed critical treatment, as do the 'great actors' of
nineteenth-century theatre or the directors of our own time, but
the focus is always on the bigger picture.
The Economics of Information Technology is a concise and accessible
review of some of the important economic factors affecting
information technology industries. These industries are
characterized by high fixed costs and low marginal costs of
production, large switching costs for users, and strong network
effects. These factors combine to produce some unique behavior. The
book consists of two parts. In the first part, Professor Varian
outlines the basic economics of these industries. In the second
part, Professors Farrell and Shapiro describe the impact of these
factors on competition policy. The clarity of the analysis and
exposition makes this an ideal introduction for undergraduate and
graduate students in economics, business strategy, law and related
areas.
The Economics of Information Technology is a concise and accessible
review of some of the important economic factors affecting
information technology industries. These industries are
characterized by high fixed costs and low marginal costs of
production, large switching costs for users, and strong network
effects. These factors combine to produce some unique behavior. The
book consists of two parts. In the first part, Professor Varian
outlines the basic economics of these industries. In the second
part, Professors Farrell and Shapiro describe the impact of these
factors on competition policy. The clarity of the analysis and
exposition makes this an ideal introduction for undergraduate and
graduate students in economics, business strategy, law and related
areas.
Parma. A multiple pile-up occurs on the autostrada into the city. A
truck transporting cattle skids off the road. Dozens of cows and
bulls go on the rampage, injured and crazed. In the chaos, the
burned body of a young woman is found at the side of the road. Her
death has no apparent link to the carnage. Commissario Soneri is
assigned the case. It is a welcome distraction: his mercurial lover
Angela has decided to pursue other options, leaving him even more
morose than usual. The dead woman is identified as Nina Iliescu, a
Romanian immigrant whose beauty had enchanted a string of wealthy
lovers. Temptress, muse, angel - she was all things to all men. Her
murder conceals a crime and a sacrilege, and even in death she has
a surprise waiting for Soneri.
Dario Fo (1926-2016), actor, playwright, theatre director, stage
designer, political activist, artist and author who, having
attained international fame in theatre, produced the first of his
six novels at the age of 88 - was there any limit to his versatile
genius? He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1997, and
works such as Accidental Death of an Anarchist or Can't Pay? Won't
Pay secured his reputation as the outstanding political playwright
of his age. Unlike other writers of a similar mind, Fo's chosen
genre was farce, so his drama is a uniquely engaging mixture of
laughter and anger. In 1954 he married Franca Rame (1929-2013), a
member of a family-company of touring players. The personal and
professional partnership of the two over sixty years was probably
unique in theatre history. Her inherited, instinctive knowledge of
stagecraft was invaluable to him, but although she was always
recognised as an actor of considerable talent, her contribution to
the writing of the plays was long undervalued. With the emergence
of the feminist movement she increasingly asserted herself, notably
with a series of one-woman works she wrote and performed. She
became one of Italy's and Europe's leading feminist campaigners,
and as such a target for right-wing terrorist groups. In 1973, she
was kidnapped and raped by neo-Fascist thugs. Although the subjects
of their plays, with their fearless attacks on corruption and
satire of Popes and politicians, were often taken from the
headlines of the day, their theatre was deeply rooted in theatrical
tradition. The Nobel Prize citation stated that Fo 'emulated the
jesters of the Middle Ages in scourging authority and upholding the
dignity of the downtrodden', but this political campaigning came at
a cost. The couple's militant reputation meant that they were for
many years barred from Italian television and banned from entering
the USA, but their plays were staged from London to Tokyo and they
themselves were acclaimed wherever they toured. Joseph Farrell
translated many of their works and knew Dario and Franca well. His
biography is a complete account of the various activities and
multifaceted lives of two extraordinary individuals.
|
Aeneid 5 (Paperback)
Vergil; Edited by Joseph Farrell, Randall Ganiban
|
R529
R496
Discovery Miles 4 960
Save R33 (6%)
|
Ships in 12 - 17 working days
|
'The quality that makes Fo uniquely powerful ...[is] the ability to
wring wild laughter out of insidious corruption' Guardian 'Simon
Nye's witty translation updates and relocates the play ...suitably
close to contemporary England. Fo is that rare thing, a far-left
playwright with a popular, comic touch. And his stinging attack
upon the black arts of government cover-up, manipulation and
mendacity could not be more timely' Evening Standard In its first
two years of production, Dario Fo's controversial farce, Accidental
Death of an Anarchist, was seen by over half a million people. It
has since been performed all over the world and is widely
recognised as a classic of modern drama. A sharp and hilarious
satire on political corruption, it concerns the case of an
anarchist railway worker who, in 1969, 'fell' to his death from a
police headquarters window. This version of the play was premiered
at the Donmar Warehouse, London, in February 2003. Commentary and
notes by Joseph Farrell.
Augustan Poetry and the Roman Republic explores the liminal status
of the Augustan period, with its inherent tensions between a
rhetoric based on the idea of res publica restituta and the
expression of the need for a radical renewal of the Roman political
system. It attempts to examine some of the ways in which the
Augustan poets dealt with these and other related issues by
discussing the many ways in which individual texts handle the idea
of the Roman Republic. Focusing on the works of the major Augustan
poets, Vergil, Horace, Propertius, and Ovid, the contributions in
this collection look at the under-studied aspect of their poetry,
namely the way in which they constructed and investigated images of
the Roman Republic and the Roman past.
Italy's Maigret returns in another smouldering noir from a master
of the police procedural "A master storyteller" Barry Forshaw,
Independent Parma is blanketed in snow, but this pristine, white
veneer cannot mask the stench of corruption. Its officials are no
longer working for its people - only for themselves - crime is out
of control and resentment festers in every district. Commissario
Soneri remains at heart an idealist, so the state of Parma wounds
him more than most. And now he is presented with three mysteries at
once, each more impenetrable than the last. In a river creek on the
outskirts of the city, tipped off by a local, he finds a mobile
phone that rings through the night but holds no data; an elderly
patient with senile dementia is reported missing from a hospice;
and the mayor of Parma, who was reported as taking a holiday on the
ski slopes, has disappeared off the face of the earth - just when
he seemed certain to be implicated in a seismic corruption scandal
at city hall.
It is 1978. Corrado Dusa is head of Italy's Christian Democrat
Party and the country's Senior Minister. He is also considered to
be the key figure in resolving the crisis of dissent and violence
that permeates political life. But Dusa has been kidnapped and now
his son, Bernardo, a member of a militant extremist group, has
disappeared. The press is aghast while the family sense disaster.
Can Dusa's release be negotiated? Under what conditions? And - most
importantly - with what results? First published in 1981 (The
Bodley Head Press) Massie's stylish and enthralling thriller won a
Scottish Arts Council Award: exploring America's influence on
Europe and the causes of terrorism, The Death of Men is sure to
have an arresting affect on readers today.
Rain falls relentlessly on the Po valley in northern Italy, and the
river is swollen to its limits. A huge barge leaves its moorings,
steering an erratic course downstream and away into the foggy
night. When finally it runs aground hours later, the bargeman is
nowhere to be found. That same evening, Commissario Soneri is
summoned to investigate the apparent suicide of a man in nearby
Parma. He and the bargeman were brothers, and when the detective
discovers that they served together in the fascist militia fifty
years earlier, the incidents seem likely to be linked. Resentments
dating from the savage civil strife between Fascists and Partisans
in the closing years of the war still weigh heavily, and as the
flood waters begin to ebb, the river yields up its secrets: tales
of past brutality, bitter rivalry and revenge. Valerio Varesi is a
penetrating analyst of his country's dark and undigested history.
|
You may like...
Loot
Nadine Gordimer
Paperback
(2)
R383
R318
Discovery Miles 3 180
Loot
Nadine Gordimer
Paperback
(2)
R383
R318
Discovery Miles 3 180
Poor Things
Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo, …
DVD
R343
Discovery Miles 3 430
|