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Showing papers in "Modern Language Review in 2001"


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, N. Katherine Hayles separates hype from fact, investigating the fate of embodiment in an information age, and relates three interwoven stories: how information lost its body, that is, how it came to be conceptualized as an entity separate from the material forms that carry it; the cultural and technological construction of the cyborg; and the dismantling of the liberal humanist subject in cybernetic discourse, along with the emergence of the ''posthuman''.
Abstract: From the Publisher: In this age of DNA computers and artificial intelligence, information is becoming disembodied even as the \"bodies\" that once carried it vanish into virtuality. While some marvel at these changes, envisioning consciousness downloaded into a computer or humans \"beamed\" Star Trek-style, others view them with horror, seeing monsters brooding in the machines. In How We Became Posthuman, N. Katherine Hayles separates hype from fact, investigating the fate of embodiment in an information age. Hayles relates three interwoven stories: how information lost its body, that is, how it came to be conceptualized as an entity separate from the material forms that carry it; the cultural and technological construction of the cyborg; and the dismantling of the liberal humanist \"subject\" in cybernetic discourse, along with the emergence of the \"posthuman.\" Ranging widely across the history of technology, cultural studies, and literary criticism, Hayles shows what had to be erased, forgotten, and elided to conceive of information as a disembodied entity. Thus she moves from the post-World War II Macy Conferences on cybernetics to the 1952 novel Limbo by cybernetics aficionado Bernard Wolfe; from the concept of self-making to Philip K. Dick's literary explorations of hallucination and reality; and from artificial life to postmodern novels exploring the implications of seeing humans as cybernetic systems. Although becoming posthuman can be nightmarish, Hayles shows how it can also be liberating. From the birth of cybernetics to artificial life, How We Became Posthuman provides an indispensable account of how we arrived in our virtual age, and of where we might go from here.

2,603 citations



MonographDOI
TL;DR: The authors show how Peter the Great was not the all-powerful tsar working alone to reform Russia, but that he colluded with powerful and contentious aristocrats in order to achieve his goals.
Abstract: A narrative of the fifty years of political struggles at the Russian court, 1671–1725. This book shows how Peter the Great was not the all-powerful tsar working alone to reform Russia, but that he colluded with powerful and contentious aristocrats in order to achieve his goals. After the early victory of Peter's boyar supporters in the 1690s, Peter turned against them and tried to rule through favourites - an experiment which ended in the establishment of a decentralized 'aristocratic' administration, followed by an equally aristocratic Senate in 1711. The aristocrats' hegemony came to an end in the wake of the affair of Peter's son, Tsarevich Aleksei, in 1718. After that moment Peter ruled through a complex group of favourites, a few aristocrats and appointees promoted through merit, and carried out his most long-lasting reforms. The outcome was a new balance of power at the centre and a new, European, conception of politics.

102 citations



Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, Rzhevsky and Likhachev present a chronology of Russian culture and discuss the relationship between Russian culture, literature, and the arts in terms of cultural identity.
Abstract: Chronology Introduction to Russian culture Nicholas Rzhevsky Part I. Cultural Identity: 1. Language Dean S. Worth and Michael S. Flier 2. Religion Dmitry S. Likhachev and Nicholas Rzhevsky 3. Asia Mark Bassin 4. Boundaries: the West Timothy Westphalen 5. Ideological structures Abbott Gleason 6. Popular culture Catriona Kelly Part II. Literature and the Arts: 7. Literature David M. Bethea 8. Art John E. Bowlt 9. Music Harlow Robinson 10. Theatre Laurence Senelick 11. Film Nikita Lary Further reading Index.

77 citations



Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors consider the origins and influence of Spenser's literary origins, representations and influences on sixteenth-century culture, and his impact on later writers, as well as his long and short poetry and prose.
Abstract: These essays consider Edmund Spenser's literary origins, his representations and influences on sixteenth-century culture, and his impact on later writers. His long and short poetry is considered, as well as his prose.

48 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The Legacy of Boadicea as discussed by the authors explores the construction of personal and national identities in early modern England and highlights the problems and anxieties of national identity in a nation with no native classical past.
Abstract: The Legacy of Boadicea explores the construction of personal and national identities in early modern England. It highlights the problems and anxieties of national identity in a nation with no native classical past. Written in an accessible style, The Legacy of Boadicea: * offers powerful new readings of the ancient British past in Shakespeare's King Lear and Cymbeline * persuasively illuminates a 'Boadicean' heritage in royal iconography, drama, and the social symptoms of religious dissent * articulates parallels between the eventual domestication of Britain's warrior queen in Restoration drama, and the social, political and legal decline in the status of women.

47 citations



Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Spanish studies is changing dramatically under the influence of cultural theory, which challenges accepted ideas of "high", "mass" and "popular" culture as discussed by the authors, taking as its starting point the contradictory process of economic modernization beginning in the 1960s, providing students with a gateway to the key debates and issues involved in contemporary Spanish cultural forms, textualities, identities and processes.
Abstract: Spanish studies is changing dramatically under the influence of cultural theory, which challenges accepted ideas of "high", "mass" and "popular" culture This volume offers approaches, types of work and source materials appropriate to this increasingly interdisciplinary environment, taking as its starting point the contradictory process of economic modernization beginning in the 1960s It provides students with a gateway to the key debates and issues involved in contemporary Spanish cultural forms, textualities, identities and processes

38 citations



Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors propose a framework for framing recusant identity in counter-Reformation England, and discuss morality in the marriage market and gender formation in English apocalyptic writing.
Abstract: Acknowledgments Introduction 1. Resistance, Reformation, and the remaining narratives 2. Framing recusant identity in counter-Reformation England 3. Legislating morality in the marriage market 4. Gender formation in English apocalyptic writing 5. Connections, qualifications, and agendas Notes Bibliography Index.

MonographDOI
TL;DR: In the first half of the Quattrocento period, humanist career patterns were observed as discussed by the authors, during the First Half of 1430s and the early 1450s.
Abstract: List of Illustrations Acknowledgements Abbreviations Introduction PART I. AN ACTIVE LIFE. HUMPHREY, DUKE OF GLOUCESTER AS A LITERARY PATRON AND MAN OF POLITICS 1. Introduction 2. Henry V's Provisions for the Governance of England of 1421/22 and the Establishment of Conciliar Rule in 1422. A Tentative Re-Reading 3. Gloucester's Hainault Campaign, his First Confrontation with Henry Beaufort in 1425, Bedford's Intervention of 1425/6, and Lydgate's Serpent of Division 4. Gloucester's Role in English Politics 1427 to 1432 5. Educating Henry VI. Gloucester's Political Objectives in the Aftermath of his Coup and his Commission of Lydgate's Fall of Princes and Bruni's Translation of Aristotle's Politics 6. Struggling for the King's Confidence. Gloucester's Role in English Politics 1433 to 1437 and his Commission of Frulovisi's Vita Henrici Quinti and the Humfroidos 7. The First Donation to Oxford of 1439, da Monte's De Vitiorum, his Treatment of the Scipio/Caesar Controversy and Gloucester's Final Confrontation with Beaufort in 1440 8. A Period of Transition. Suffolk's Rise During the Late 1430s and the Cobham Trial of 1441 9. Gloucester's Role in English Politics 1441 to 1445 and his Donation to Oxford of 1444 10. Gloucester's Gift to Alfonso of Aragon and the Crisis of July 1445 11. Conclusion PART II. PAWNS OR PLAYERS? ZANONE DA CASTIGLIONE AND PIERO DA MONTE AS MIDDLEMEN BETWEEN HUMPHREY, DUKE OF GLOUCESTER AND THE ITALIAN HUMANIST COMMUNITY 12. Introduction 13. A Family Operation. Zanone da Castiglione, Bishop of Bayeux 1432-1459, and his Role as Mediator of Contacts between Gloucester and Italian Humanists 14. A Study in Failure. Piero da Monte, Papal Collector and Nuncio in England 1435 to 1440, and the Background of his Activity as Middleman between Gloucester and Italian Humanists 15. Conclusion PART III. TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS. THE MOTIVES OF ITALIAN HUMANISTS FOR SEEKING PATRONAGE OR EMPLOYMENT IN ENGLAND 1428 TO 1444 16. Introduction 17. Preliminary Observations on Humanist Career Patterns During the First Half of the Quattrocento 18. The Uses of Foreign Patronage. Pier Candido Decembrio, Lapo da Castiglionchio and Antonio Pacini and the Background for their Contacts with Gloucester or his Middlemen 1437 to 1444 19. Were they Pushed or Did They Jump? The Reasons for Italian Humanists to Seek Employment in England 1418 to 1445. Poggio Bracciolini, Tito Livio Frulovisi and Antonio Beccaria 20. Summary Conclusion Appendices Appendix I. Observations on the Distribution of Responsibilities between Individual Papal Secretaries in the Papal Secretariat during the Pontificates of Martin V and Eugenius IV Appendix II. The Professional Careers of Italian Humanists 1420 to 1450 Bibliography Index


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, MacLeod examines important pedagogic implications of the androgyny ideal for Classical, Romantic, and Realist texts, beginning with Aristophane's narrative of the origin of human sexuality in Plato's Symposium and including the hermaphroditic and rogyny proposed by Winckelmann and the heterosexual complementary model found in Schiller and Schlegel.
Abstract: Embodying Ambiguity traces the shifts in the representation of the androgyny myth in the literature and aesthetics of the late eighteenth century and nineteenth century. Catriona MacLeod examines important pedagogic implications of the androgyny ideal for Classical, Romantic, and Realist texts, beginning with Aristophane's narrative of the origin of human sexuality in Plato's Symposium and including the hermaphroditic androgyny proposed by Winckelmann and the heterosexual complementary model found in Schiller and Schlegel.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The Languages of Europe as mentioned in this paper is a collection of languages of Europe that use conventions and conventional symbols to express languages of the European language family, including French, German, and Dutch.
Abstract: List of Figures. List of Maps. List of Contributors. Preface. Acknowledgements. Phonetic Transcriptions. Conventions and Conventional Symbols. The Languages of Europe.


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The role of female homosexuality in Casanova's memoirs, Chantel Thomas Sadean libertinage and the esthetics of violence, Lucienne Frappier-Mazur what is Libertinage?, Philippe Sollers as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: Part I Dark desire: libertinage and feminism, Nancy Miller libertinage and figurations of desire, Georges Benrekassa libertinage and rationality, Jean-Pierre Dubost the libertine movement, Thomas Kavanagh from the mark to the mask, Carole Martin the immortals, Pierre Saint-Amand. Part II Epiphanies: thoughts for a definition of libertine fiction and pornographic novels, Jean-Marie Goulemot accessories of desire, Bernadette Fort "l'etourdi gynotrope", Philippe Roger the role of female homosexuality in Casanova's memoirs, Chantel Thomas Sadean libertinage and the esthetics of violence, Lucienne Frappier-Mazur what is libertinage?, Philippe Sollers.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: I. BLAKE: THE SON VERSUS THE FATHER II. RAISING THE DEVIL: MARLOWE'S DOCTOR FAUSTUS III. MILTON IV.
Abstract: I. BLAKE: THE SON VERSUS THE FATHER II. RAISING THE DEVIL: MARLOWE'S DOCTOR FAUSTUS III. MILTON IV. BLAKE




Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the influence of the Decameron on the genesis and shape of the Canterbury Tales is examined in light of recurring critical resistance to the idea of the decameron as a text for Chaucer.
Abstract: Leading scholars of Chaucer and Boccaccio offer original, provocative answers to the question of the influence of the Decameron on the genesis and shape of the Canterbury Tales in light of recurring critical resistance to the idea of the Decameron as a text for Chaucer.

BookDOI
TL;DR: The early novellas of Thomas Mann are described in this article, where the personal becomes political: Disorder and Early Sorrow and Mario and the Magician Alan Bance 8. The Confessions of Felix Krull, Confidence Man Frederick Lubich 14.
Abstract: Chronology 1. Mann in history T. J. Reed 2. Mann's intellectual world Paul Bishop 3. Mann's literary techniques Michael Minden 4. Mann's man's world: gender and sexuality Andrew Webber 5. Thomas Mann's early novellas Mark M. Anderson 6. Classicism and its pitfalls: Death in Venice Ritchie Robertson 7. The personal becomes political: Disorder and Early Sorrow and Mario and the Magician Alan Bance 8. Buddenbrooks: between realism and aestheticism Judith Ryan 9. The Magic Mountain Michael Beddow 10. Religion and culture: Joseph and his Brothers Wolf-Daniel Hartwich 11. Doctor Faustus Susan Von Rohr Scaff Lotte in Wiemar Yahya Elsaghe 13. The Confessions of Felix Krull, Confidence Man Frederick Lubich 14. Mann as essayist Hinrich Siefken 15. Mann as diarist T. J. Reed 16. Mann in English Timothy Buck.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The vernacular renaissance "por ce que mielz l'entendent qui ne sunt letree" dynastic histories "de rei en rei e d'eir en eir" contemporary and eyewitness history "a mes dous oils le vi" the historian's credentials as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: The vernacular renaissance "por ce que mielz l'entendent qui ne sunt letree" dynastic histories "de rei en rei e d'eir en eir" contemporary and eyewitness history "a mes dous oils le vi" the historian's credentials "Maistre Wace l'ad translate ki en conte la verite" the historian's audience "si cum nus dit la veire estoire" the rise of prose "nus contes rimes n'est verais". Appendix: the historian's sources - a closer look.



Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A collection of reviews of Stael's Corinne can be found in this paper, along with an updated bibliography and a collection of references to women's domestic role in the post-revolutionary bourgeois society instituted by Napoleon.
Abstract: Feminist critics have recently acclaimed Stael's Corinne as a symbol of feminist resistance to women's domestic role in the postrevolutionary bourgeois society instituted by Napoleon. This collection documents the revival of interest in the novel and provides an updated bibliography.


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present a collection of films by key directors working to a large extent in the art-movie/auteurist field, and aim to strike a balance between representative films, directors and periods.
Abstract: The liveliness and importance of Spanish cinema is increasingly being recognised outside Spain, in film festivals, television exposure, and courses in Institutions of Higher Education To a large extent this is 'auteur' or art-movie cinema Spanish Cinema concentrates upon that tradition, focusing upon the key films in a period stretching from 1952 to the present day The term 'auteur' has lately fallen into disrepute The idea - most actively promoted by Cahiers du Cinema in the late 1950s and early 1960s - that the director is to a film what an author is to a poem, play or novel, has been subjected to much criticism since structuralist and post-structuralist attacks on the author But even in pre-'death of the author' days film raised its own specific problems about authorship Nevertheless, since the initial excitement of French critical theory's provocative assault on conventional notions of authorship, and taking into account specific problems related to the collaborative nature of film-making, attempts have recently been made to reclaim some of the ground lost by the author in these critical and theoretical battles This volume offers lively readings of films by key directors working to a large extent in the art-movie/'auteurist' field, and aims to strike a balance between representative films, directors and periods Each chapter concentrates on a single film, discussing it in accessible critical language that takes account both of the distinctiveness of film as an art form and of the material and socio-historical contexts in which each film was made