The Geography Of Madness

Travel writer Frank Bures investigates the strange phenomenon of 'culture-bound' syndromes across the world: illnesses with a combination of psychiatric and somatic symptoms that are only considered to be a disease within a specific society or culture. They are found across the world within cultures and viewed from outside can seem both mysterious and odd. Bures has travelled worldwide and recounts strange cases such as voodoo death and penis theft. He investigates epidemics that seem like madness to outsiders but all-too-real to those experiencing them.

Why do some men become convinced—despite what doctors tell them—that their penises have, simply, disappeared. Why do people across the world become convinced that they are cursed to die on a particular date—and then do? Why do people in Malaysia suddenly “run amok”? In The Geography of Madness, acclaimed magazine writer Frank Bures investigates these and other “culture-bound” syndromes, tracing each seemingly baffling phenomenon to its source. It’s a fascinating, and at times rollicking, adventure that takes the reader around the world and deep into the oddities of the human psyche. What Bures uncovers along the way is a poignant and stirring story of the persistence of belief, fear, and hope.

Travel writer Frank Bures investigates the strange phenomenon of 'culture-bound' syndromes across the world: illnesses with a combination of psychiatric and somatic symptoms that are only considered to be a disease within a specific society or culture. They are found across the world within cultures and viewed from outside can seem both mysterious and odd. Bures has travelled worldwide and recounts strange cases such as voodoo death and penis theft. He investigates epidemics that seem like madness to outsiders but all-too-real to those experiencing them.

* Our summary is short, simple and pragmatic. It allows you to have the essential ideas of a big book in less than 30 minutes. By reading this summary, you will learn more about culturally specific syndromes, particularly in Africa and Asia. You will also learn : that one third of the Hmong people died during the Vietnam War; that another third emigrated to the United States in 1975; that West Africa was subject to a widespread epidemic of "penis theft" between 1997 and 2003; that "voodoo death" is not exclusive to exotic lands; that in West Africa, certain cultural syndromes affect only students; that Frank Bures is passionate about the differences between cultures. Why, in West Africa, are thousands of men convinced that their penis has disappeared following magical operations, despite what doctors tell them? You will find out by reading the work of Frank Bures, who has lived in many countries in Europe, Asia, Africa and America, and who speaks several languages. This is a "sine qua non" condition for coming into contact with peoples who jealously guard their traditions, including what is less communicable in each culture: the form of madness peculiar to every civilization. *Buy now the summary of this book for the modest price of a cup of coffee!

In Place/Out of Place was first published in 1996. Minnesota Archive Editions uses digital technology to make long-unavailable books once again accessible, and are published unaltered from the original University of Minnesota Press editions. What is the relationship between place and behavior? In this fascinating volume, Tim Cresswell examines this question via "transgressive acts" that are judged as inappropriate not only because they are committed by marginalized groups but also because of where they occur. In Place/Out of Place seeks to illustrate the ways in which the idea of geographical deviance is used as an ideological tool to maintain an established order. Cresswell looks at graffiti in New York City, the attempts by various "hippie" groups to hold a free festival at Stonehenge during the summer solstices of 1984–86, and the Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp in Berkshire, England. In each of the cases described, the groups involved were designated as out of place both by the media and by politicians, whose descriptions included an array of images such as dirt, disease, madness, and foreignness. Cresswell argues that space and place are key factors in the definition of deviance and, conversely, that space and place are used to construct notions of order and propriety. In addition, whereas ideological concepts being expressed about what is good, just, and appropriate often are delineated geographically, the transgression of these delineations reveals the normally hidden relationships between place and ideology-in other words, the "out-of-place" serves to highlight and define the "in-place." By looking at the transgressions of the marginalized, Cresswell argues, we can gain a novel perspective on the "normal" and "taken-for-granted" expectations of everyday life. The book concludes with a consideration of the possibility of a "politics of transgression," arguing for a link between the challenging of spatial boundaries and the possibility of social transformation. Tim Cresswell is currently lecturer in geography at the University of Wales.

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Introduction by China Miéville Long acknowledged as a master of nightmarish visions, H. P. Lovecraft established the genuineness and dignity of his own pioneering fiction in 1931 with his quintessential work of supernatural horror, At the Mountains of Madness. The deliberately told and increasingly chilling recollection of an Antarctic expedition’s uncanny discoveries–and their encounter with untold menace in the ruins of a lost civilization–is a milestone of macabre literature. This exclusive new edition, presents Lovecraft’s masterpiece in fully restored form, and includes his acclaimed scholarly essay “Supernatural Horror in Literature.” This is essential reading for every devotee of classic terror.