Myself And My Aims

Kurt Schwitters was a major protagonist in the histories of modern art and literature, whose response to the contradictions of modern life rivals that of Marcel Duchamp in its importance for artists working today. His celebrated Merz pictures—collaged and assembled from the scrap materials of popular culture and the debris of the studio, such as newspaper clippings, wood, cardboard, fabric, and paint—reflect a lifelong interest in collection, fragmentation, and abstraction, techniques he also applied to language and graphic design. As the first anthology in English of the critical and theoretical writings of this influential artist, Myself and My Aims makes the case for Schwitters as one of the most creative thinkers of his generation. Including material that has never before been published, this volume presents the full range of his prolific writing on the art and attitudes of his time, joining existing translations of his children’s stories, poetry, and fiction to give new readers unprecedented access to his literary imagination. With an accessible introduction by Megan R. Luke and elegant English translations by Timothy Grundy, this book will prove an exceptional resource for artists, scholars, and enthusiasts of his art.

"The story of my life is simple. So simple and moving like the ones of any other Italian immigrant. But the great desire and will to outdo oneself is what makes the difference between one and other, and I feel I have the satisfaction of having achieved my aims. Neither because I have had some public recognition nor because I got over my fellows, but because I overcame myself. I will feel actually satisfied if I can make people understand that I overcame myself because this is how I feel like every morning and every night. And I still go on trying to do so day after day" (Miguel Bornaschella). "I met Miguel twenty years ago and he has always been good at re-telling anecdotes and stories. Most of them have been written here. Then I have pictured, no doubt, a very moving story. And as time went by, he trusted me to carry out this historical and personal account. He also gave me the chance to ask him again and once more, he gave me the necessary space to intrude on his privacy, his feelings and know much more than what was needed but all that my curiosity required to get a comprehensive view. Thanks to all this I have been able to picture before my eyes a story so moving that I am not sure my pen will be able to provide an accurate description" (Alberto Miramontes).

The conquest of Serbia was only one of the goals of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the First World War; beyond this lay the desire to control much of South-East Europe. Employing previously unseen sources, Marvin Fried provides the first complete analysis of the Monarchy's war aims in the Balkans and tells the story of its imperialist ambitions.

George Orwell set out ‘to make political writing into an art’, and to a wide extent this aim shaped the future of English literature – his descriptions of authoritarian regimes helped to form a new vocabulary that is fundamental to understanding totalitarianism. While 1984 and Animal Farm are amongst the most popular classic novels in the English language, this new series of Orwell’s essays seeks to bring a wider selection of his writing on politics and literature to a new readership. In Why I Write, the first in the Orwell’s Essays series, Orwell describes his journey to becoming a writer, and his movement from writing poems to short stories to the essays, fiction and non-fiction we remember him for. He also discusses what he sees as the ‘four great motives for writing’ – ‘sheer egoism’, ‘aesthetic enthusiasm’, ‘historical impulse’ and ‘political purpose’ – and considers the importance of keeping these in balance. Why I Write is a unique opportunity to look into Orwell’s mind, and it grants the reader an entirely different vantage point from which to consider the rest of the great writer’s oeuvre. 'A writer who can – and must – be rediscovered with every age.' — Irish Times

Here international philosophers of education explore and question diverse strains of the liberal tradition, discussing not only autonomy but other key issues such as: * social justice * national identity * curriculum * critical thinking * social practices. The contributors write from a variety of standpoints, offering many interpretations of what liberalism might mean in educational terms.

'The Youth of the Great Elector' is a semi-fictional retelling of the life of George William, Elector of Brandenburg. He was Margrave and Elector of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia from 1619 until his death. His reign was marked by ineffective governance during the Thirty Years' War. He was the father of Frederick William, the "Great Elector".