Mythmaking Across Boundaries

This volume explores the dynamics of myths throughout time and space, along with the mythmaking processes in various cultures, literatures and languages, in a wide range of fields, ranging from cultural studies to the history of art. The papers brought together here are motivated by two basic questions: How are myths made in diverse cultures and literatures? And, do all different cultures have different myths to be told in their artistic pursuits? To examine these questions, the book offers a wide array of articles by contributors from various cultures which focus on theory, history, space/ place, philosophy, literature, language, gender, and storytelling. Mythmaking across Boundaries not only brings together classical myths, but also contemporary constructions and reconstructions through different cultural perspectives by transcending boundaries. Using a wide spectrum of perspectives, this volume, instead of emphasising the different modes of the mythmaking process, connects numerous perceptions of mythmaking and investigates diversities among cultures, languages and literatures, viewing them as a unified whole. As the essays reflect on both academic and popular texts, the book will be useful to scholars and students, as well as the general reader.

While most studies on the history of architectural theory have been concerned with what has been said and written, this book is concerned with how architecture theory has been created and transmitted. Architecture Thinking across Boundaries looks at architectural theory through the lens of intellectual history. Eleven original essays explore a variety of themes and contexts, each examining how architectural knowledge has been transferred across social, spatial and disciplinary boundaries - whether through the international circulation of ideas, transdisciplinary exchanges, or transfers from design practice to theory and back again. Dissecting the frictions, transformations and resistances that mark these journeys, the essays in this book reflect upon the myriad routes that architectural knowledge has taken while developing into architectural theory. They critically enquire the interstices – geographical, temporal and epistemological – that lie beyond fixed narratives. They show how unstable, vital and eminently mobile the processes of thinking about architecture have been.

Using the socio-political discourse of Kwame Nkrumah, a pioneering Pan-Africanist and Ghana’s independence leader, Nartey investigates the notion of political myth-making in a context underexplored in the literature. He examines Nkrumah’s construction of a myth described in the book as the Unite or Perish myth (i.e., the idea of a ‘United States of Africa’ being a prerequisite for the survival of Africa in the post-independence period), exploring the rhetorical resources he deployed, categorizing and analyzing key tropes and metaphors, and setting out the myth’s basic components. This book focuses on three areas: an investigation of political myth-making as a social and discursive practice in order to identify particular semiotic practices and linguistic patterns deployed in the construction of mythic discourse; the unpacking of the discursive manifestation, representation, features, and functions of political mythic themes; and finally to propose and implement an integrated discourse analytical framework to account for the complexities of mythic discourse and political narratives in general. It analyzes how Nkrumah deployed his discourse to concurrently construct heroes and villains, protagonists and antagonists, as part of an ideological mechanism aimed at galvanizing support for and instigating action on the part of the masses towards his lifelong African dream. Nartey’s book steps out from the conventional domain of critical discourse studies to focus on myth as a form of populist performance. It will be of interest to postgraduate students and academics in (critical) discourse studies, rhetorical discourse analysis, African and Diaspora studies, and African history, as well as non-academics such as journalists, political commentators, and people who consider themselves to be Nkrumaists and Pan-Africanists.

Contributions by Lanette Cadle, Züleyha Çetiner-Öktem, Renata Lucena Dalmaso, Andrew Eichel, Kyle Eveleth, Anna Katrina Gutierrez, Darren Harris-Fain, Krystal Howard, Christopher D. Kilgore, Kristine Larsen, Thayse Madella, Erica McCrystal, Tara Prescott-Johnson, Danielle Russell, Joe Sutliff Sanders, Joseph Michael Sommers, and Justin Wigard Neil Gaiman (b. 1960) reigns as one of the most critically decorated and popular authors of the last fifty years. Perhaps best known as the writer of the Harvey, Eisner, and World Fantasy Award–winning series The Sandman, Gaiman quickly became equally renowned in literary circles for Neverwhere, Coraline, and the award-winning American Gods, as well as the Newbery and Carnegie Medal–winning The Graveyard Book. For adults, children, comics readers, and viewers of the BBC’s Doctor Who, Gaiman’s writing has crossed the borders of virtually all media, making him a celebrity around the world. Despite Gaiman’s incredible contributions to comics, his work remains underrepresented in sustained fashion in comics studies. In this book, the thirteen essays and two interviews with Gaiman and his frequent collaborator, artist P. Craig Russell, examine the work of Gaiman and his many illustrators. The essays discuss Gaiman’s oeuvre regarding the qualities that make his work unique in his eschewing of typical categories, his proclamations to “make good art,” and his own constant efforts to do so however the genres and audiences may slip into one another. The Artistry of Neil Gaiman forms a complicated picture of a man who has always seemed fully assembled virtually from the start of his career, but only came to feel comfortable in his own voice far later in life.

This unique volume initiates a dialogue between bio-medicine and alternative therapeutics. Undertaking a multidisciplinary exploration of the science and spirituality of healing and wellness, it offers varied perspectives from doctors, medical researchers, Ayurvedic practitioners, philosophers, psychologists, sociologists, and cultural critics. It expands the horizons of health sciences in engaging with diverse traditions — bio-medicine, Ayurveda, Siddha, and Jaina bio-ethics. The book will interest scholars and researchers in social and community medicine, biological sciences, sociology and social anthropology, as well as cultural studies.

Journalistic activity crosses national borders in creative and sometimes unexpected ways. Drawing on many interviews and newsroom observation, this book addresses an overlooked but important aspect of international journalism by examining how journalists carry out their daily work at the transnational and regional transborder level.

Across Cultures/Across Borders is a collection of new critical essays, interviews, and other writings by twenty-five established and emerging Canadian Aboriginal and Native American scholars and creative writers across Turtle Island. Together, these original works illustrate diverse but interconnecting knowledges and offer powerfully relevant observations on Native literature and culture.

Choice Outstanding Academic Title "State-of-the-art yet accessible analyses that significantly expand understanding of the role of anarchism in Latin America. . . . Will long be a standard text that provides [an] important reference for scholars and students of labor and social movement history."--Choice "A vivid picture of the transnational nature of the anarcho-syndicalist/anarchist movement."--Anarcho-Syndicalist Review "A pioneering collection of essays on the world of anarchists, anarcho-syndicalists and libertarian thinkers in Latin America."--Barry Carr, coeditor of The New Latin American Left: Cracks in the Empire "An important contribution to a recent trend which sees anarchism not as derived from a European center but as a genuine Latin American phenomenon."--Bert Altena, coeditor of Reassessing the Transnational Turn: Scales of Analysis in Anarchist and Syndicalist Studies "Thoughtful, well-researched, and well-written. As a collection, this goes a long way to furthering our understanding not just of anarchism in Latin America, but of anarchism more generally."--Mark Leier, author of Bakunin: The Creative Passion. In this groundbreaking collection of essays, anarchism in Latin America becomes much more than a prelude to populist and socialist movements. The contributors illustrate a much more vast, differentiated, and active anarchist presence in the region that evolved on simultaneous--transnational, national, regional, and local--fronts. Representing a new wave of transnational scholarship, these essays examine urban and rural movements, indigenous resistance, race, gender, sexuality, and social and educational experimentation. They offer a variety of perspectives on anarchism’s role in shaping ideas about nationalism, identity, organized labor, and counterculture across a wide swath of Latin America.