A Call For Cultural Symbiosis

"In a provocative and thoughtful essay, Estonia's preeminent poet and cultural critic, Juri Talvet, investigates the role of culture in the postmodern world. Against the large background of historical values in western and world culture, Talvet inveighs against monologues and grand narratives launched by Western centers, envisaging instead a cultural symbiosis that would create a new and fertile dialogue between the centers, borders, and peripheries of the world, enrich cultural sensibility, and broaden concern for the Other."--BOOK JACKET.

This is the first book describing in vitro cultivation of root organs. The text describes various biological aspects such as the physiology, biochemistry, biodiversity, and life cycles of fungi, as well as the effects of symbiosis on plant growth and development, including large-scale fungus production for biotechnological use. Detailed protocols allow the immediate application of the method to culture mycorrhizal fungi in vitro.

The book offers coherent theoretical treatment of the conceptions of “World Literature” and “Comparative Literature”, in parallel with their practical application to the research of different literary phenomena (Renaissance and Baroque creativity, literary canons, philosophy of translation, etc.), especially, as viewed from the point of view of the “other”—“peripheral” (minor, minority) national(-linguistic) cultures. Envisaging womankind’s historical liberation and a budding “comparative world sensibility” has been seen as one of the greatest merits of European “creative humanists”. To explain the deep sources of creativity and image authenticity, the notions of the (aesthetic) “infra-other” and (philosophical) “transgeniality” have been introduced. The proposed aim would be to transcend monologues of ideological-cultural “centres”, as well as formalistic and sociological trends in cultural and literary research and teaching. The book advocates a plurality of creative dialogues and a mutually enriching symbiotic relationship between “centres” and “peripheries”.

Are we ill-suited for this world? Among Europe's major contemporary poets, Estonia's Jaan Kaplinski offers a rare vision of human advancement and fulfillment: the less we intervene the more we flourish. But how then can we remain involved in what evolves of its own accord? How can we move away from a life forged by human design towards a quietly attentive yet spontaneous responsiveness? In Unforced Flourishing, Thomas Salumets seeks access to Kaplinski's life and work and finds a path to the signature of his thinking. He uncovers a man who craves human closeness that few, if any, can provide, a writer drawn towards wordless communication in a world of words, signs, and symbols, who yearns for the sacred in secular times, and who detects more richness in nature than in the human imagination. Salumets describes Kaplinski as an intellectual attracted to a contrarian sense of self, art, and culture, who searches for his homeland's mystical connections at a time when Estonia firmly aligns with values and modes of thought vastly different from his own. What emerges is a mentality firmly rooted in the belief that the greatest risk to human fulfillment results from human beings themselves. The first major study in English of one of Eastern Europe's most important literary figures, Unforced Flourishing details Kaplinski’s embrace of that which is undifferentiated, intuitive, non-calculative, and natural in the modern world.

In the ever increasing volume of Byzantine Studies in recent years there seems to be one very apparent void, namely, the history and culture of the Byzantine Jewry, its presence and impact on the surrounding convoluted Byzantine world between Late Antiquity until the conquest of Byzantium (1453). With the now classic but dated studies by Joshua Starr and Andrew Sharf, the collective volume at hand is an attempt to somewhat fill in this void. The articles assembled in this volume are penned by leading scholars in the field. They present bird's eye views of the cultural history of the Jewish Byzantine minority, alongside a wide array of surveys and in-depth studies of various topics. These topics pertain to the dialectics of the religious, literary, economic and visual representation world of this alien minority within its surrounding Byzantine hegemonic world.

By bringing the concepts of “identity,” “comparativism,” and “communication” together, this volume invites a reinterpretation of these defining concepts of postmodernism. Composed of contributions from Australia, Azerbaijan, Japan, Romania and the Ukraine, this interdisciplinary and intercultural book investigates the multiple identities activated in broader discursive contexts. This collection of nineteen chapters opens with an introductory overview followed by two parts: the first, focusing on Plural identities and comparativism, contains a series of “case studies” that can be subsumed within imagology and comparativism; the second, Communication and discourse, illustrates two directions of research: literary communication and terminology. In spite of the methodological and thematic polyphony of its contributions, the volume adopts a unified and coherent tone. By integrating the study of contextual and discursive identities, this book will be of interest to all those involved in image and literary studies, in both linguistics and culture.

Surviving the Twentieth Century celebrates the achievements of the renowned sociologist Joseph Maier. A superb teacher and respected scholar of formidable scope, Maier's work encompassed a variety of disciplines, including sociology, philosophy, and political science. He is well known for his comparative research on Latin America as well as Jewish law and tradition. As Judith Marcus observes, Maier helped to establish comparative-historical sociology as an acknowledged field of study. This volume records and pays tribute to his scholarship and significant public service.The volume is divided into parts reflecting the breath of Maier's intellectual interests. Contributors are drawn from a variety of fields and geographical arenas. Part 1 consists of biographical interviews and personal observations on Maier and his work by Herman Berlinski, David Berlinski, Geoffrey Lloyd, Enrique Krauze and Aaron W. Warner. Part 2 includes contributions addressing some of the main themes in Maier's work: the interaction of nationalism, community and personal identity; the impact of politics on social science; culture, politics, and religion. Contributors include Abraham Edel, William Safran, Reinhard Kreckel, Zoltan Tarr, Sandro Segre, Ludwig von Friedberg, Irving Louis Horowitz, Judith Marcus, Editfi Kurzweil, Paul Neurath, Ruth Rubinstein, Andrew P. Lyons and Harriet D. Lyons, Tony Carnes, and Elfriede Uner.Part 3 reflects the impact of Maier's work on other scholars. It includes essays on philosophy, religion, literature and intellectual responsibility. Contributors include Tom Rockmore, Laurent Stern, Edmund Leites, Alfred Schmidt, Norbert Altwicker, Rita Kuczynski, Gerard Raulet, and Peter Gottwald. Part 4 covers the influence of crisis on Jewish intellectual life, and includes contributions by Herbert Strauss, Emanuel Maier, Leon A. Feldman, Hannelore Kunzl, and Johann Maier. The volume concludes, in part 5, with personal tributes to Maier by Curt C. Silberman, C. Alexander Weinstock, and Helen Hacker. The volume includes an illuminating introduction by Judith Marcus, thematic essay by Joseph Maier, and a selected bibliography of his work.Scholars who have been influenced by Maier will welcome this volume. Those who are not familiar with the scope of his contributions will benefit from the experience of seeing how his work has affected the choices of others. This is the 24th volume issued in Transaction's distinguished scholar (festschrift) series.