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The origins of Beowulf : from Vergil to Wiglaf
This book suggests that the Old English poem Beowulf was composed between the reigns of Kings Beornwulf (823-6) and Wiglaf (827-9 and 830-39) of Mercia, in the winter of 826-7, in the monastery of Breedon on the Hill in NW Leicestershire, by Abbot Eanmund (ruled 814x816-c.848). The premise seems clear enough in the Beowulf–Wiglaf sequence in the last fifth of Beowulf. With Old Norse analogues, Beowulf's kinship with Hygelac, friendship with Hrothgar, interest in Freawaru, later role as king and kinship with ‘Wiglaf’ are all argued to be the poet's invention, one fashioned partly on the model of Vergil's Aeneid, while the sequence of big names in the Geatish part of Beowulf, Offa of Angeln – Hygelac – Beowulf – Wiglaf, is taken to be a reference to leaders of Mercia: Offa – Cenwulf – Beornwulf – Wiglaf. Three tales from Viking mythology are presented as sources for morally defining moments in the poem. Beowulf's death and Wiglaf's uncrowned status at the end are used to date Beowulf to between 826, when Beornwulf died in battle, and 827, when the historical Wiglaf took over from an intermediary named Ludeca. It is concluded that Beowulf was Wiglaf's propaganda for succession, a requiem for Beornwulf from the man who wished to rule after him; that Wiglaf cast himself as his own ancestor; and that, in the words Eanmundes laf (‘Eanmund's legacy’, line 2611), nine lines after introducing Wiglaf (line 2602, head of Fitt XXXVI), the poet leaves us his signature.
eBook
Introduction to Molecular Motion in Polymers
This book explains how molecular movement is determined by chemical structure, then how motion controls the physical and technological properties of polymer materials. Readers are introduced to the concepts of molecular movement in polymers and the connections with causative chemical structure on the one hand and resulting bulk physical and technological behavior on the other. The approach is non-mathematical, but is molecularly based and allows readers to understand the detailed chemical and rigorous mathematical discussions of more advanced texts.
eBook
RADICALIZING IMPRESSIONISM
Art and Politics in Paris The art historian T. J. Clark found his subject in the mid-1960's, when ''there were not a whole lot of models for studying the connection between political change and art history.'' In a telephone interview from Paris, he noted that the revolution of 1848 was his starting point, as the titles of two earlier books, ''The Absolute Bourgeois: Artists and Politics in France, 1848-51'' and ''Image of the People: Gustave Courbet and the 1848 Revolution'' make clear. The merging of politics and art ''was peculiar to Paris, where we witnessed the dream of modernity and a waking up from that dream.'' For Mr. [Clark], ''some of the basic points of that constellation still stand - the city, for example, and the social order, which is that of the petite bourgeoisie. '' Marxism, together with the question of historical analysis, is central to his thought, despite the influence of recent French intellectual trends. He doesn't see a cause-and-effect relation between politics and art, or vice versa. ''Impressionism didn't develop out of political radicalism,'' he says, and adds: ''[Manet] and his followers were on the cutting edge of the distinction between reality and representation. That's what I value most - that tension.'' He is currently working on Cubism, which he calls ''a leap forward in avant-garde art in Paris over the 10 years before World War I.'' After a period of retreat in the 1890's and the first years of the 20th century, painters began once again to tackle the subject matter of modern life, but with a twist that Mr. Clark sees earlier only in the neo- Impressionism of the 1880's: ''The Cubists were willing to sacrifice their little individuality for the sake of collective or group action,'' he says. ''A radical new painterly language was a central issue for them, but this did not necessarily hinge on the pursuit of a distinctive personal style. They were after a dialect to be shared.'' On a Guggenheim Fellowship for the current academic year, Mr. Clark will return to teaching at Harvard in the fall.
Newspaper Article
18th-century fashion in detail
This book reveals the decorative seams, refined stitching, voluptuous drapery, strict corseting, slashing, and stamping that make up some of the garments in the Victoria and Albert Museum's superlative fashion collection. With an authoritative text, exquisite color photography of garment details, and line drawings showing the complete construction of each piece, the reader has the unique opportunity to examine up close historical clothing that is often too fragile to be on
Book
Culture matters in Russia - and everywhere
This book pulls together experts in the fields of economics and Russian culture, all participants in the Samuel P. Huntington Memorial Symposium on Culture, Cultural Change and Economic Development, a follow-up to the 1999 Cultural Values and Human Progress Symposium at Harvard University. As the sequel to the 2001 volume Culture Matters, it discusses modernization, democratization, economic, and political reforms in Russia and asserts that these reforms can happen through the reframing of cultural values, attitudes, and institutions.
(Cover design by Katie Makrie.)
eBook
NICE WORDS AND DANGEROUS FALSITIES
People are often amused at the use of decorous language to clothe crude facts--a tactic the textbooks call \"euphemism\" (literally, nice talk). Ed Norton, the sewer worker of \"The Honeymooners,\" always gets a laugh in passing himself off as a \"sanitation engineer.\" When supermarket clerks are glorified as \"scanning professionals,\" smiles usually widen, or when used cars become \"pre-owned\" or \"experienced\" autos. Press agents, being masters of verbal enhancement, can refer to their trade as \"corporate communications\" or to themselves as \"public relations consultants.\" All this tickles anyone with a flair for puncturing human vanity.
Newspaper Article