Böcker utgivna av SUNY Press

This book focuses on how and why various cultures have appropriated the story of King Arthur. It is about re-vision, how cultures alter inherited texts and are, in turn, changed by them, and it deals with the ways in which various cultures have empowered the Arthurian legend so that power might be derived from it. The authors suggest that the vitality of the Arthurian legend resides in its ability to be transformed and to transform, in its potential for appropriation and use.Culture and the King deals with issues of literature, history, art, politics, economics, gender study, and popular culture. It crosses the boundaries traditionally erected around these disciplines and addresses emerging critical methodologies concerned with the "poetics of culture."

This book examines the linkage between literacy and linguistic diversity, embedding them in their social and cultural contexts. It illustrates that a more complete understanding of literacy among diverse populations and in multicultural societies requires attention to issues of literacy per se as well as to improving an educational process that has relevance beyond members of majority cultures and linguistic groups.The focus of the book is on the social and cultural contexts in which literacy develops and is enacted, with an emphasis on the North American situation. Educators and researchers are discovering that cognitive approaches, while very valuable, are insufficient by themselves to answer important questions about literacy in heterogeneous societies. By considering the implications of family, school, culture, society, and nation for literary processes, the book answers the following questions. In a multi-ethnic context, what does it mean to be literate? What are the processes involved in becoming and being literate in a second language? In what ways is literacy in a second language similar and in what ways is it different from mother-tongue literacy? What factors must be understood to better describe and facilitate literacy acquisition among members of ethnic and linguistic minorities? What are some current approaches that are being used to accomplish this? These are vital questions for researchers and educators in a world that has a large number of immigrants, a variety of multi-ethnic and multi-lingual societies, and an increasing degree of multinational activity. Beyond addressing applied concerns, attending to these questions can provide new insights into basic aspects of literacy.

This book illuminates play as a universal and culture-specific activity. It provides needed information about the behavior of children in diverse cultural contexts as well as about the play of children in unassimilated cultural or subcultural contexts. It offers readers the opportunity to develop greater sensitivity to and better understanding of the important cultural differences that confront early childhood teachers and teacher educators.

This book provides current information about the many recent contributions of social systems theory. While some sociologists feel that the systems age ended with functionalism, in reality a number of recent developments have occurred within the field. The author makes these developments accessible to sociologists and other non-systems scholars, and begins a synthesis of the burgeoning systems field and mainstream sociological theory. The analysis shows not only that important points of rapprochement exist between systems theory and sociological theory, but also that systems theory has in some cases anticipated developments needed in mainstream theory.

This interdisciplinary study of the religious dimensions of dreams shows how modern dream research supports and enriches our understanding of religiously meaningful dreams.The Wilderness of Dreams does four things that no other work on dreams has done. First, it surveys the whole range of modern dream research-not just the work of depth psychologists and neuroscientists, but also the findings of anthropologists, content analysts, cognitive psychologists, creative artists, and lucid dreaming researchers. Second, it draws upon new advances in hermeneutic philosophy in order to clarify basic questions about how to interpret dreams. Third, it develops a careful, well-grounded notion of religious meaning-the "root metaphor" concept-to show that seeking religious meanings in dreams is not mere superstition. And fourth, the book reflects on the question of why modern Westerners are so interested in affirming, or debunking, the idea that dreams have religious meanings.

Approaches Hasidism as an important stage in Jewish mysticism, rather than as a mere reaction to or result of historical and social forces.

This book is a sequel to Self as Body in Asian Theory and Practice (SUNY, 1992) and anticipates a third book, Self as Image in Asian Theory and Practice. In order to address issues as diverse as the promotion of human rights or the resolution of sexism in ways that avoid inadvertent lapses into cultural chauvinism, alternative cultural perspectives that begin from differing conceptions of self and self-realization must be articulated and respected. This book explores the articulation of personal character within the disparate cultural experiences of Japan, China, and South Asia.

Brockway exposes Western mythic thought from Paleolithic times to the present. Myth and mythic thinking did not cease with the rise of science and philosophy during the Enlightenment, but continue to flourish in modern times. The author shows how mythic themes continue to occur in both high culture and popular arts.

Clark Kerr, one of the nation's foremost educators and commentators on the educational scene, examines emerging problems that he predicts will influence the near future of higher education. These include the quality of undergraduate education; ethics, both as a subject and as practiced by the professoriate; the racial crisis, including the dilemma of how to provide access to underserved minority groups; and competition for recognition and resources among the nation's research universities. Also included is a thought-provoking section on the dominant connection between higher education and the economy that evaluates how well the test of service to the labor market has been met and counters the charge that our educational system is to blame for the nation's decline in economic productivity and lack of international competitiveness.The author outlines contours of the future for American higher education as it settles into a mature system, and offers choices facing the nation and its colleges in the fast-approaching new century: how to stay dynamic in a period of economic statis or decline; and how to handle internal conflicts and improve the educational decision-making process. Finally, Kerr emphasizes the important role of leadership in guiding our choices and actions as we navigate through troubled times and strive to maintain leadership in the intellectual world.

This work reframes sixteenth-century history , incorporating the Ottoman empire more thoroughly into European, Asian and world history. It analyzes the Ottoman Empire's expansion eastward in the contexts of claims to universal sovereignty, Levantine power politics, and the struggle for control of the oriental trade. Challenging the notion that the sixteenth-century Ottoman Empire was merely a reactive economic entity driven by the impulse to territorial conquest, Brummett portrays it as inheritor of Euro-Asian trading networks and participant in the contest for commercial hegemony from Genoa and Venice to the Indian Ocean. Brummett shows that the development of seapower was crucial to this endeavor, enabling the Ottomans to subordinate both Venice and the Mamluk kingdom to dependency relationships and providing the Ottoman ruling class access to commercial investment and wealth.

A ground-breaking book that shows that the prevailing sexual ethic is no longer useful.

Explores the journey beyond union, beyond self and God, into the silent and still regions of the Unknown.

This book examines how the women's movement is affecting traditional religions and civilizations throughout the world. It reviews cases of global impact in Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and Australian aboriginal religion. This volume completes the trilogy devoted to women in world religions, edited by Arvind Sharma. The second book in the series is entitled Religion and Women. The present work surveys the position of women in the religious traditions covered in the first volume of the trilogy, Women in World Religions, placing these traditions in contemporary context.

This is a book on Rumi's life, his poetry, his thought, and his influence. Rumi's work forms one of the pillars of the Sufi orders, particularly the Mevlevi order, better known in the West as the Whirling Dervishes. In this book Rumi emerges not only as a spiritual master, but also as a fully human being grounded firmly in the Koran and in classical Islamic mysticism.The light of the Divine Sun, in its Beauty and Majesty, manifested itself for Rumi through the person of Shams of Tabriz. Transformed by this light, consumed by this fire, Mowlana Rumi saw the world in a new light. Everywhere he perceived God's Grandeur and his Grace.The book also discusses the theological premises upon which Rumi's work rests, his attitude to the problems of free will and predestination, and his analysis of the mystical stages and stations. The book not only gives a very rich analysis of Rumi's language and poetical art, but also a picture of medieval Konya, whose features the mystical poet transforms and transfigures.

This book addresses the cross-cultural variations in the conceptions of face and facework from a multidisciplinary communication perspective. Facework represents one of the most important theoretical concepts available to us in contemporary communication literature as it encompasses a dynamic network of cross-cultural, social cognitive, affective, interpersonal, interactional, and identity issues. The book serves a dual purpose: to raise issues and to extend some of the current ideas in face and facework research in the cross-cultural and interpersonal communication settings, and to illuminate some specific directions for future research into the face and facework management process. Face and facework are presented in conjunction with phenomena such as politeness, request interaction, embarrassment, conflict, business negotiation, and international diplomacy.

Composed in 2 B.C., as "The I Ching revised and enlarged," The Elemental Changes is a divination manual providing a clear method for distinguishing alternative courses of action. Structured in 81 tetragrams ( as opposed to the 64 hexagrams of the I Ching), the book offers much to the modern reader. Today in the West, The Elemental Changes is an essential tool for understanding the Tao as it operates in the Cosmos, in the minds of sages, and in sacred texts. It is also one of the great philosophical poems in world literature, assessing the rival claims on human attention of fame, physical immortality, wealth, and power while it situates human endeavor within the larger framework of cosmic energies.The complete text of The Elemental Changes and its ten autocommentaries are here translated into accessible and, whenever possible, literal English. Following the Chinese tradition, supplementary comments are appended to each tetragram in order to indicate the main lines of interpretation suggested by earlier commentators.

Preface Editor's Introduction Author's Introduction to the Pearl of Mysteries and the Treasure of the Righteous 1. His Noble Lineage, Travels, and Rank Testimony of Ibn Futuh: Alchemy, and Divine Protection Story of the Woodcutter Al-Habibi, First Companion Testimony of al-Ibri: Mount Zaghawan, Birds, and the Spring Intervention of Ibn al-Bara' and Abu Zakariya Narration of Madi Testimony of Abu 'Abd Allah, the Copyist 'Izz al-Din and the Pilgrimage The Shaykh Watches over Madi Madi and al-Shadhili Visit the Tomb of the Prophet Testimony of Jamal al-Din: Worship and Works Drunkenness of the Shaykh's Son Shihab al-Din before the Shaykh Testimony about 'Arifat al-Khayr The Shaykh Settles a Dispute with Berbers Argument with a Group of M'utazila True Asceticism A Litigation Miraculous Multiplication of Sheep and Grain 2. Correspondence with His Companions Letter of Consolation to a Disciple in Quyrawan Letter to Followers in Tunis Exhortation to Certain Judges Letter to 'Ali Ibn Makhluf 3. Supplication, Devotional Recitations, and Prayers of Confrontations The Noble Litany and the Mighty Veil (Hijab), or the Great Litany Blessed Supplication Known as the Litany of the Sea Litany of Light An Anecdote A Devotional Recitation (Dhikr) A Devotional Recitation: Prayer for Happiness A Devotional Recitation: The Veiling A Devotional Recitation: Divine Grace A Devotional Recitation: God's Love All-Sufficient A Devotional Recitation: Contemptibility and Respectability A Devotional Recitation: On Hearing the Call to Prayer A Devotional Recitation: The Worship A Dhikr to Dispel Depression A Devotional Recitation: God the Living and Sole Provider A Devotional Recitation: Thanksgiving for Benefaction In Praise of the Maker A Prayer before the Prophet's Tomb A Prayer for Forgiveness An Invocation: The Great Name A Devotional Recitation: Inner Sight and Providence A Devotional Recitation: Granting of Requests A Devotional Recitation: Compassion 4. His Opinions, Injunctions, Doctrine on Sufism, and Other Sciences Rule of the Religious Retreat ('Uzla) Help-Procuring Sayings on Entering the Religious Retreat Section on Overcoming Satan Perils of the Religious Retreat Fruits of the Religious Retreat Watchfulness On Sainthood Contraction (Qabd) and Expansion (Bast) Loss and Gain The Will Sincerity Religious Science The Elect The Way Understanding Obedience Recitation and a Prayer Miscellaneous Instructions Chapter in Love Scrupulous Peity One of His Devotional Recitations (Adhkar) Anecdotes Verses of the Shaykh, Saint and Mystic Abu al-'Abbas al-Mursi My Observation of His Salutation on the Apostle of God One of His Devotional Recitations A Devotional Recitation A Devotional Recitation A Saying Verses of al-Mazduri Sayings and Anecdotes A Daily Dhikr Trust Intention A Dhikr of the Heart Disobedience Resolutions Seekers Spiritual Communion Satan Conversation Tranquility Enigmas Miscellaneous Teachings Section on the Commonality and the Elect Display of Knowledge Good Breeding Love for God Sin and Pardon Knowledge A Remedy Trustworthiness Worldly Goods Gazelles Religious Acts Realization Sure Pardon Security A Request Anxiety A Petition Divine Management Final Injunction Qualities of the Sincere

Traces the use of powerful gnostic visionary techniques from Hellenistic Gnosticism and Jewish merkabah mysticism, through Muhammad, the Ismaeilis, and theosophical Sufism to medieval neoplatonism, and renaissance alchemy.

This book is the first to provide a summary of the state of knowledge about communication in Japan and the United States. Included is an overview of the major approaches used in the study of communication in these two countries, an overview of the major cultural factors influencing communication, a description of the sociolinguistic differences between English and Japanese, an examination of Japanese-American communication as a function of the cultural values learned from the two cultures, and a summary of research comparing interpersonal research in Japan and the United States, as well as research on intercultural communication between Japanese and North Americans. The book also examines communication in organizational contexts in Japan and the United States and describes differences in mass communication between the two cultures.

This book presents in detail seven contemporary approaches to dream interpretation as they are actually practiced by highly skilled and experienced psychiatrists and psychologists who have worked with dreams for at least a decade. The reader can sample radically different approaches from various schools of interpetation and gain the tools for making meaningful comparisons. The contributors describe their theoretical roots and how they have departed from them when confronted with the real world of real dreamers. Each chapter teaches the reader in practical terms what to do when trying to understand a dream of one's own, or one's friend, colleague, or client. Readers are taken behind the curtain of theory into the consultation room where the work of interpretation takes place.This book provides a variety of contemporary, non-dogmatic, practical ways to work with dreams. Each contributor emphasizes not theory, but interpretive method and practical application of dream interpretation. Contributors to this volume include John E. Beebe, Eric Craig, Gayle Delaney, Loma K. Flowers, Ramon Greenberg, Milton Kramer, Joe Natterson, Chester Arthur Pearlman, Montague Ullman, and Stephen J. Walsh.

Little Big Men is a study of competitive bodybuilders on the West Coast that examines the subculture from the perspective of bodybuilders' everyday activities. It offers fascinating descriptions and insightful analogies of an important and understudied subculture that has risen to widespread popularity in today's mass culture.Alan Klein conducted his field study of bodybuilding in some of the world's best-known gyms. In studying the social and political relations of bodybuilding competitors, Klein explores not only gym dynamics but also the internal and external pressures bodybuilders face. Central to his examination is the critique of masculinity. Through his study of "hustling" among bodybuilders, Klein is able to construct a social-psychological male configuration that includes narcissism, homophobia, hypermasculinity, and fascism. Because they exist as exaggerations, these bodybuilder traits come to represent one end of the continuum of modern masculinity, what Klein terms comic-book masculinity. This study is a rare foray into the critique of contemporary American macho.

Hadewijch, a thirteenth-century woman, describes her relationship with God as a mutual loving in which God and she affect each other personally and profoundly. This book presents in detail the account by Hadewijch of this supreme and most satisfying experience.Presented here are phenomenologically specific traits of the bodily knowing that Hadewijch and other women of her time and place prized in their devotion to Christ and his saints. The opposition to the traditional Western ideal and norm is evident. In prizing embodied mutuality, Hadewijch has learned from Bernard of Clairvaux, but sees much more.

This book probes the origins of the practice of nonviolence in early India and traces its path within the Jaina, Hindu, and Buddhist traditions, including its impact on East Asian Cultures. It then turns to a variety of contemporary issues relating to this topic such as: vegetarianism, animal and environmental protection, and the cultivation of religious tolerance.

What is it in the behavioral makeup of ordinary people, operating in the course of ordinary daily living, that lends itself to participating in horrendous activities - and doing so at times with zeal, at times with joy, at times without duress? Katz demonstrates that we do not need any special behavioral equipment for doing evil. The very same behaviors can take us in both directions for either living humanely and decently or for doing evil. This book demonstrates how some of these processes work, and sensitizes us to the potential for evil in our ongoing daily activities. This knowledge about ordinary behavior can empower us to take charge of our own direction, and help us turn away from beguilings of evil when they come our way.

Buried in Emily Dickinson's letters are many lines that are stunningly beautiful, as beautiful as any to be found in her poems. Lewis Turco has taken some of these lines and written poems from them, on them, and around them. This volume, then, is a collaboration between two writers, one a 19th-century woman whose work became known to most readers only in the 20th century, and the other a post-modernist man of letters-an award-winning poet, critic, and scholar.In addition to the poems collected here, Turco has written an informative introduction and included several essays by feminist critics and other scholars who discuss various aspects of Emily Dickinson's letters.Emily Dickinson, Woman of Letters is therefore at once an addition to the Dickinson canon, a distinguished collection of contemporary poems, an important volume of critical scholarship in American literature, and a fascinating reading experience that will appeal to a wide audience of professionals and non-professionals alike.