Memories Cast In Stone

How does the past matter in the present? How is a feeling of ‘ownership' of the past expressed in people's everyday lives? Should continuity with the distant past be seen as simply a nationalist fiction or is it transformed by local historical imagination? While recent anthropological studies have focused on reconstructing disputed histories, this book examines the multiple ways in which the past is used by people as a critical resource for interpreting the meanings of a changing present. It poses the issue of the felt relevance of the past in constructing present day identities. The Greek island of Kalymnos is a barren and seemingly bucolic setting of tourist imagination. But its history has been one of almost continuous occupation by foreign powers and of often fierce resistance. This has made Kalymnians particularly sensitive to seeing their island in a much wider context and to understanding the ‘games played by the powerful'. In examining changing gender relations, European integration, and local perceptions of the war in the former Yugoslavia, this book brings together local, national and international perspectives in a unified field. Controversial contemporary practices of dynamite throwing and dowry giving serve as tropes through which Kalymnians explore alternative ways of living in a changing world. Further, the author argues persuasively for the crucial importance of situated fieldwork in ‘peripheral'places in understanding the issues and conflicts of a transnational world. This book serves as an highly readable case study of the complex connections between local and global discourses and practices, and how they are shaped by their relationship to the past.

How does the past matter in the present? How is a feeling of 'ownership' of the past expressed in people's everyday lives? Should continuity with the distant past be seen as simply a nationalist fiction or is it transformed by local historical imagination?While recent anthropological studies have focused on reconstructing disputed histories, this book examines the multiple ways in which the past is used by people as a critical resource for interpreting the meanings of a changing present. It poses the issue of the felt relevance of the past in constructing present day identities. The Greek island of Kalymnos is a barren and seemingly bucolic setting of tourist imagination. But its history has been one of almost continuous occupation by foreign powers and of often fierce resistance. This has made Kalymnians particularly sensitive to seeing their island in a much wider context and to understanding the 'games played by the powerful'. In examining changing gender relations, European integration, and local perceptions of the war in the former Yugoslavia, this book brings together local, national and international perspectives in a unified field. Controversial contemporary practices of dynamite throwing and dowry giving serve as tropes through which Kalymnians explore alternative ways of living in a changing world. Further, the author argues persuasively for the crucial importance of situated fieldwork in 'peripheral'places in understanding the issues and conflicts of a transnational world. This book serves as an highly readable case study of the complex connections between local and global discourses and practices, and how they are shaped by their relationship to the past.

The Memory of the People is a major study of popular memory in the early modern period.

Cosmopolitan Memory in Europe’s ‘Backwaters’ reconsiders the definitional relationships of ‘national character’ and ‘national heritage’ in the context of Western industrial modernity. Taking as a case study the Greek islands of Skiathos and Skopelos which served as cinematic locations for the blockbuster Mamma Mia! (2008), the book explores how national identity - once shaped by political, cultural and religious practices - can now be reduced to little more than an ideal, created and sold globally by Western industries such as tourism and film. Tzanelli argues how the film encouraged the development of regional competitions that further enhanced the emotive potential of a Greek nationalist discourse that projects the blame for regional favouritism onto Western agents and the nation-state itself. It also takes into consideration the historical background of this controversy, which finds roots in the religious heritage of the South-eastern Mediterranean region – in particular, the notions of Byzantine Christianity which the Greeks used to set against the Islamic traditions of their Ottoman colonisers to affirm their European civility.

Would you risk your afterlife to get back to those you love? Karl expected the afterlife to be better than swinging a pickaxe at nuggets for a tyrant. Not much better, but definitely slightly better. He misses his home, his friends, and seawater that doesn't burn his skin. He could stick around and spend eternity at the mercy of the deluded narcissist, Zianfer, or he could escape into the unknown and see if it's better. But it's not so straightforward. Others are caught up in his escape and he learns of a horrific maze that leads to a portal back to the Land of the Living. Back home. Unfortunately, Zianfer wants to control that portal so she can rule the realms of the living and the dead. So another perilous adventure begins for Karl. With a half dragon, half giant who needs to get back to stop a war, a vengeful warrior with anger management issues, a friendly face he never expected to meet and others, Karl searches for the maze that will either give him a second chance at the life he sacrificed for others, or be his final quest. Join Karl and his friends in the final book in the comedy fantasy series, full of heart, laughs, strange creatures, and more. If you like epic fantasy with a touch of humour, you'll love this!

Islam, Memory, and Morality in Yemen tells a story of a Yemeni hereditary elite which was overthrown in the 1962 revolution in North Yemen. For over a millennium, they had enjoyed exclusive rights to the leadership of the Imamate, the religiously sanctioned state. Following the violent removal from power of King Faysal of Iraq in 1958, the overthrow of the Yemeni Imamate - the longest lasting Hashimite rule in the Middle East - confirmed the decline of Hashimite power (held by ruling generations claiming descent from the Prophet Muhammad). However, rather than concentrating on recent political history, Islam, Memory, and Morality in Yemen highlights the personal predicament of those targeted by the revolution, in which they served as the foil for the new regime's moral and political ascendancy. Focusing on the cultural politics of memory, the book explores how members of the elite remember in the process of making sense of their current lives and formulating responses to adversity.

Examining the role of Athenian social memory in understanding the political climate in fourth-century Athens

This book is about how human societies form collective, i.e. shared, memories, with implications for how nations, ancient and modern, are built. Understanding how nations manipulate the collective memory making process is key to explaining the behaviors of various state and non-state actors, such as the Islamic State.