The Inventors Of Tradition

This book explores examples of this process of invention and addresses the complex interaction of past and present in a fascinating study of ritual and symbolism.

At the intersection between art, design and social history, The Inventors of Tradition is a subjective study of the history of the Scottish textiles industry since the 1930s.It brings together samples of world-class design, the archive material of individuals and companies, and documentation in the form of film and interviews.In response to this material the artist Lucy McKenzie and designer Beca Lipscombe, from Atelier, have produced a series of new works including clothing, furniture and accessories in collaborative partnership with Caerlee Mills, Begg Scotland, Hawick Cashmere, Laura Lees, Jannette Murray, Mackintosh, Muehlbauer and Steven Purvis.This book features an introduction by Atelier (Beca Lipscombe, Lucy McKenzie) and Panel (Catriona Duffy, Lucy McEachan), and texts by Lucy McKenzie, Mairi MacKenzie, Nicholas Oddy, Jonathan Murray and Linda Watson.

Many of the traditions which we think of as very ancient in their origins were not in fact sanctioned by long usage over the centuries, but were invented comparatively recently. This book explores examples of this process of invention - the creation of Welsh and Scottish 'national culture'; the elaboration of British royal rituals in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries; the origins of imperial rituals in British India and Africa; and the attempts by radical movements to develop counter-traditions of their own. It addresses the complex interaction of past and present, bringing together historians and anthropologists in a fascinating study of ritual and symbolism which poses new questions for the understanding of our history.

STAR - Studies in Theology and Religion, 3 This book contains the contributions to the first international conference organised by the Netherlands School for Advanced Studies in Theology and Religion (NOSTER), held in the Netherlands in January 1999. The conference theme was inspired by Eric Hobsbawm and Terence Ranger’s influentual volume, The Invention of Tradition. Their work provided a starting point for discussing formations and changes of religious traditions on the one hand, and the interaction of religious identities and the transformation of traditions on the other. After an introductory section discussing Hobsbawm’s definitions and his theoretical framework, and offering several critical applications of his framework to Christian traditions, the main part of this volume consists of three thematic sections: the theme of the Exodus, the earliest traditions about the Lord’s supper, and the modern “myth of Fundamentalism”. This volume will be of interest to all those engaged in the study of religious traditions and identities, and the way in which these interact. From the Contents The Invention of Religious Traditions Counterfactuals and the Invention of Religious Traditions - Marcel Sarot The Creation of Tradition: Rereading and Reading beyond Hobsbawm - Paul Post Early Christianity between Divine Promise and Earthly Politics - Willemien Otten Challenging the Tradition of the Bodiless God: A Way to Inclusive Monotheism? - Kune E. Biezeveld Invention of Tradition? Trinity as Test - Herwi Rikhof Inventing and Re-inventing the Exodus The Exodus as Charter Myth - Karel van der Toorn Exodus: Liberation History against Charter Myth - Rainer Albertz The Development of the Exodus Tradition - John Collins History-oriented Foundation Myths in Israel and its Environment - Hans-Peter Müller The Exodus Motif in the Theologies of Liberation: Changes of Perspective - Georges De Schrijver Exodus in the African-American Experience - Theo Witvliet The Invention of the Eucharist and its Aftermath The Early History of the Lord’s Supper - Henk Jan de Jonge The Early History of the Lord’s Supper: Response to Henk Jan de Jonge - Dietrich-Alex Koch The Lord’s Supper and the Holy Communion in the Middle Ages: Sources, Significance, Remains and Confusion - Charles Caspers Meal and Sacrament: How Do We Encounter the Lord at the Table - Gerrit Immink Religious Fundamentalism: Facts and Fiction The Borderline between Muslim Fundamentalism and Muslim Modernism: An Indonesian Example - Herman Beck The Roaring Lion Strikes Again: Modernity vs. Dutch Orthodox Protestantism - Hijme Stoffels Fundamentalism: The Possibilities and Limitations of a Social-Psychological Approach - Jacques Janssen, Jan van der Lans and Mark Dechesne

This book argues that while Anglo-Saxon culture has given rise to virtually no myths at all, myth has played a central role in the historical development of Scottish identity. Hugh Trevor-Roper explores three myths across 400 years of Scottish history: the political myth of the "ancient constitution" of Scotland; the literary myth, including Walter Scott as well as Ossian and ancient poetry; and the sartorial myth of tartan and the kilt, invented--ironically, by Englishmen--in quite modern times. Trevor-Roper reveals myth as an often deliberate cultural construction used to enshrine a people's identity. While his treatment of Scottish myth is highly critical, indeed debunking, he shows how the ritualization and domestication of Scotland's myths as local color diverted the Scottish intelligentsia from the path that led German intellectuals to a dangerous myth of racial supremacy. This compelling manuscript was left unpublished on Trevor-Roper's death in 2003 and is now made available for the first time. Written with characteristic elegance, lucidity, and wit, and containing defiant and challenging opinions, it will absorb and provoke Scottish readers while intriguing many others. "I believe that the whole history of Scotland has been coloured by myth; and that myth, in Scotland, is never driven out by reality, or by reason, but lingers on until another myth has been discovered, or elaborated, to replace it."-Hugh Trevor-Roper

From its earliest years, the United States was a nation of tinkerers: men and women who looked at the world around them and were able to create something genuinely new from what they saw. Guided by their innate curiosity, a desire to know how things work, and a belief that anything can be improved, amateurs and professionals from Benjamin Franklin to Thomas Edison came up with the inventions that laid the foundations for America's economic dominance. Recently, Americans have come to question whether our tinkering spirit has survived the pressures of ruthless corporate organization and bottom-line driven caution. But as Alec Foege shows in The Tinkerers, reports of tinkering's death have been greatly exaggerated. Through the stories of great tinkerers and inventions past and present, Foege documents how Franklin and Edison's modern-day heirs do not allow our cultural obsessions with efficiency and conformity to interfere with their passion and creativity. Tinkering has been the guiding force behind both major corporate-sponsored innovations such as the personal computer and Ethernet, and smaller scale inventions with great potential, such as a machine that can make low-cost eyeglass lenses for people in impoverished countries and a device that uses lasers to shoot malarial mosquitoes out of the sky. Some tinkerers attended the finest engineering schools in the world; some had no formal training in their chosen fields. Some see themselves as solo artists; others emphasize the importance of working in teams. What binds them together is an ability to subvert the old order, to see fresh potential in existing technologies, and to apply technical know-how to the problems of their day. As anyone who has feared voiding a warranty knows, the complexity of modern systems can be needlessly intimidating. Despite this, tinkerers can -- and do -- come from anywhere, whether it's the R&D lab of a major corporation, a hobbyist's garage, or a summer camp for budding engineers. Through a lively retelling of recent history and captivating interviews with today's most creative innovators, Foege reveals how the tinkering tradition remains, in new and unexpected forms, at the heart of American society and culture.

Seminar paper from the year 2005 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Culture and Applied Geography, grade: 2, University of Hannover, course: Peripheries in British 19th-Century History: Scotland and Ireland, 12 entries in the bibliography, language: English, abstract: If people around the globe are asked what they associate with Scotland or the Scots, tartan kilts, bagpipes, clans and the Highlands are the most common answers. Especially tourist interest concentrates on these landmarks of Scotland, which are said to be insignias of Scottish tradition, glory and identity, and which dominate the image of Scotland. But are these landmarks really linked to a tradition from times immemorial? Do they really represent a link to Scotland's Gaelic roots? This paper will investigate this question by introducing Eric Hobsbawm s term of "invented tradition" to denote and to outline the process of creation of these Scottish symbols. The following portrait of the historical background will show the social, political and economic developments in the 18th and 19th century which led to the invention of tradition as part of the creation of a Highland myth as a result of and as reaction to Scotland's union with England in 1707. Furthermore, the worldwide spreading of the Highland myth, which has determined the image of whole Scotland ever since, will be described. The paper will finish by showing contemporary parallels to the historic developments and trends, and suggesting further topics of investigation.

BOX SET WITH BOOK AND LT GIRL ELF DOLL