Predynastic Egyptian representations of animals: The journey from nature to art and beyond

This paper will argue that human-animal relationships in the Predynastic period of Egypt might be understood through the analysis of zoomorphic artefacts. Supplied with this paper is a database containing 617 three-dimensional zoomorphic objects excavated from Predynastic Egyptian sites. The analysis of the database, as well as critical discussions of forms leads to several conclusions. This paper details how artefacts may have related to the nature of cosmology and how animal-spirits represented aspects of place, identity and ancestors. Certain animals are appropriate for specific artefact types, such as fish being the most common animal depicted on palettes. The use of anthropological thought and ethnographic studies also aid in the interpretation of certain practices and beliefs related to animals and humans. The rise of elite powers seems to have affected how animals were used in artwork and iconography. Forms such as the ‘bull’s head’ amulet appear more frequently towards the Early Dynastic period, but also the nature of late Predynastic ceremonial artefacts seems to have altered how humans related with animals in artwork. This paper shows how the elite appropriation of forms affected animal images in relation to official writing, but also how some aspects of hieroglyphic writing may have been anticipated on zoomorphic artefacts in the Predynastic period

Our Mythical Hope

Classical Antiquity is a particularly important field in terms of “Hope studies” […]. For centuries, the ancient tradition, and classical mythology in particular, has been a common reference point for whole hosts of creators of culture, across many parts of the world, and with the new media and globalization only increasing its impact. Thus, in our research at this stage, we have decided to study how the authors of literary and audiovisual texts for youth make use of the ancient myths to support their young protagonists (and readers or viewers) in crucial moments of their existence, on their road into adulthood, and in those dark hours when it seems that life is about to shatter and fade away. However, if Hope is summoned in time, the crisis can be overcome and the protagonist grows stronger, with a powerful uplifting message for the public. […] Owing to this, we get a chance to remain true to our ideas, to keep faith in our dreams, and, when the decisive moment comes, to choose not hatred but love, not darkness but light. Katarzyna Marciniak, University of Warsaw, From the introductory chapte

Our Mythical Hope

Classical Antiquity is a particularly important field in terms of “Hope studies” […]. For centuries, the ancient tradition, and classical mythology in particular, has been a common reference point for whole hosts of creators of culture, across many parts of the world, and with the new media and globalization only increasing its impact. Thus, in our research at this stage, we have decided to study how the authors of literary and audiovisual texts for youth make use of the ancient myths to support their young protagonists (and readers or viewers) in crucial moments of their existence, on their road into adulthood, and in those dark hours when it seems that life is about to shatter and fade away. However, if Hope is summoned in time, the crisis can be overcome and the protagonist grows stronger, with a powerful uplifting message for the public. […] Owing to this, we get a chance to remain true to our ideas, to keep faith in our dreams, and, when the decisive moment comes, to choose not hatred but love, not darkness but light. Katarzyna Marciniak, University of Warsaw, From the introductory chapte

Alternative Power: The Politics of Denmark\u27s Renewable Energy Transition

Global climate change is one of the defining political challenges and opportunities of the current era. Experts widely agree that technical means already exist for making the necessary transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy; the obstacles to doing so are primarily political. Careful observers also recognize that this period of transition creates an opening for political innovation and development. How can the political will be generated to take action to prevent climate catastrophe? And what will the process of transitioning mean for the political systems that have been built on cheap and abundant oil? Political scientists have largely ignored technological development as a lever for political development, or feared that technology could only be a force of domination. Yet renewable energy enthusiasts have often seen democratizing potential in these technologies. What can be accomplished politically by building a wind turbine? As countries like Denmark accumulate decades of experience with renewable energy, it is becoming possible to give such questions close empirical consideration. Denmark generates more of its electricity from renewable sources, and has been doing so longer, than any other industrialized nation, making it a uniquely valuable case for studying an advanced renewable energy transition in progress. This dissertation draws on novel qualitative and quantitative data to present the first comprehensive history of Denmark’s energy transition from its roots in the 1970s until the present, aiming to explain how this tiny nation emerged as the world’s leading wind power producer, and assess whether this process has yielded any democratic dividends. The multi-method analysis sheds new light on internal dynamics of Denmark’s energy transition, and, more generally, on late-stage evolutionary processes in mature technological systems. Many studies have shown an interest in the Danish case, which is usually presented as a relatively unqualified success story, but few have provided the empirical resolution to identify these complicating factors. This dissertation employs an explanatory strategy adapted from the ecological sciences to construct a more holistic and integrative portrait, resulting in a more thorough and accurate account of how Denmark jumped out to such a significant lead in the energy transition, and why that momentum might be flagging today, with implications for other countries hoping to chart a path toward a sustainable future

NATIONAL THEATER OR PUBLIC THEATER: THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE THEATRICAL GEOGRAPHY OF WASHINGTON, D.C., CIRCA 1970 - 1990

NATIONAL THEATER OR PUBLIC THEATER: THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE THEATRICAL GEOGRAPHY OF WASHINGTON, D.C., CIRCA 1970-1990 explores the changes in the theatrical landscape of the nation's capital. Using a paradigm of Theater of Commerce, Theater of Community, and Theater of the Public, the study examines the growth of theaters that began in the 1970s. The study combines theoretical approaches--Henri Lefebvre's The Production of Space, Jean Baudrillard's Simulacra and Simulation, Jürgen Habermas' The Transformation of the Public Sphere, and others--to explore the meaning of theater generated by interactions among theaters, social spaces, publics, and media representations and simulations. The study begins prior to the opening of the Kennedy Center when Theaters of Commerce and Community dominated the landscape. Washington's National Theater struggled in a declining downtown while amateur theaters boomed. Although Washington supported two regional theaters, they existed as anomalies within the larger framework. The founding of the Kennedy Center and the establishment of the National Endowment for the Arts signaled the beginning of government's support for theater. For two decades, Theaters of the Public struggled to redefine theater's significance. Using identity politics and the aesthetics of intimacy they developed unique publics. Media coped with this variety, acknowledging that theater's purpose was as varied as its audiences were. In the 1980s, the Center initiated the American National Theater and area theaters inaugurated the Helen Hayes Awards. These developments signaled the reemergence of a unified view of theater. The two projects suffered different fates, however. ANT failed in its bid to generate a national theater-going public, collapsing in less than two years. The awards just completed their twentieth year, significantly altering the meaning of the theater community. As the media's simulation of the theater-going public shifted from a diverse set of communities to one community--a community of sophisticated cultural consumers--the city's theaters faced growing pressure to compromise, replacing their own concerns with those of their national sponsors. Although Washington's theater artists continue to resist those demands, the socio-aesthetic implications of their work rarely is heard in the public sphere

Maritime expressions:a corpus based exploration of maritime metaphors

This study uses a purpose-built corpus to explore the linguistic legacy of Britain’s maritime history found in the form of hundreds of specialised ‘Maritime Expressions’ (MEs), such as TAKEN ABACK, ANCHOR and ALOOF, that permeate modern English. Selecting just those expressions commencing with ’A’, it analyses 61 MEs in detail and describes the processes by which these technical expressions, from a highly specialised occupational discourse community, have made their way into modern English. The Maritime Text Corpus (MTC) comprises 8.8 million words, encompassing a range of text types and registers, selected to provide a cross-section of ‘maritime’ writing. It is analysed using WordSmith analytical software (Scott, 2010), with the 100 million-word British National Corpus (BNC) as a reference corpus. Using the MTC, a list of keywords of specific salience within the maritime discourse has been compiled and, using frequency data, concordances and collocations, these MEs are described in detail and their use and form in the MTC and the BNC is compared. The study examines the transformation from ME to figurative use in the general discourse, in terms of form and metaphoricity. MEs are classified according to their metaphorical strength and their transference from maritime usage into new registers and domains such as those of business, politics, sports and reportage etc. A revised model of metaphoricity is developed and a new category of figurative expression, the ‘resonator’, is proposed. Additionally, developing the work of Lakov and Johnson, Kovesces and others on Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT), a number of Maritime Conceptual Metaphors are identified and their cultural significance is discussed

The Music Sound

A guide for music: compositions, events, forms, genres, groups, history, industry, instruments, language, live music, musicians, songs, musicology, techniques, terminology , theory, music video. Music is a human activity which involves structured and audible sounds, which is used for artistic or aesthetic, entertainment, or ceremonial purposes. The traditional or classical European aspects of music often listed are those elements given primacy in European-influenced classical music: melody, harmony, rhythm, tone color/timbre, and form. A more comprehensive list is given by stating the aspects of sound: pitch, timbre, loudness, and duration. Common terms used to discuss particular pieces include melody, which is a succession of notes heard as some sort of unit; chord, which is a simultaneity of notes heard as some sort of unit; chord progression, which is a succession of chords (simultaneity succession); harmony, which is the relationship between two or more pitches; counterpoint, which is the simultaneity and organization of different melodies; and rhythm, which is the organization of the durational aspects of music