Suchergebnisse

Drawing on rich ethnographic data, this book documents the processes and politics through which local cultures shape the way a market is formed and thereby sheds light on the dynamics through which modern capitalist enterprises diffuse insurance to regions with different cultural traditions.

Issues associated with the phrase "sustainable development" are clarified by careful analysis of the meaning of carrying capacity. In their impressions of carrying capacity's effects, two explanations for the death of a memorable culture (Easter Island) differed fundamentally. One explanation was captive to a premature notion of a carrying capacity ceiling no population growth could ever penetrate. For the other, population was seen as having grown until it did exceed the maximum sustainable load, thus having inflicted environmental damage that reduced carrying capacity. The former view had to imagine a geological catastrophe to account for the culture's death. In the latter view, it was a case of excessive success proving fatal. A proponent of the latter view regarded Easter Island as a "preview in microcosm" of what may be happening globally. As such, the Easter Island experience would have important implications for industrial societies. Comparison of the two autopsies has implications for the social sciences.

My doctoral research concerns the material and visual culture of modern Ireland with particular focus upon the role of exhibition display in commemoration and collective memory. Like many countries, Ireland has a chaotic past which results in challenges for museums in presenting history to satisfy the education and expectation of both national and transnational audiences. The Easter Rising of 1916 is the pivotal event in the creation of the modern Irish state and is widely recognised as a historical event upon which the cultural identity of Ireland is founded and consolidated. My research examines the challenges of displaying death and violence through images and artefacts in 1916 commemorative exhibition displays at three national cultural institutions in Ireland. My analysis to date has indicated that the images and artefacts in my case study commemorative exhibitions are displayed in a way which confronts the tensions and violence of the 1916 Rising which were overlooked in previous exhibitions. This is largely achieved through the display of ordinary objects with visible traces of use such as James Connolly's bloodstained vest which he wore during the rebellion. Such an artefact requires an examination of the actions carried out by the cultural institution in collecting and conserving the object; an analysis of how the visible traces of use authenticates the artefact as a tangible link to a nation's past; and an analysis of the narrative strategies of its display. My research project uses commemorative exhibitions to link together the three disciplines of visual culture, material culture and museology.

"There is a widely held notion that death is not particularly visible in our culture; death is something we do not talk about. The premise for Døden i livet has been to challenge this preconception from a variety of perspectives and disciplines.

The authors argue that death is present in our lives in many ways. We see it and experience it in our physical surroundings, for example in the various arrangements we make to remind ourselves of the dead. We hear or read about it in speeches, poems, music lyrics, psalms, obituaries, biographies, picture books, novels and newspapers. We talk about death in conversations with each other, in characterizing the dead and in clinical language about illness and death. We reveal our understanding of death through visual forms such as newspaper images, illustrations in books and in the imagery and metaphors we employ when we describe it.

Døden i livet is a mult-disciplinary, scientific anthology consisting of 12 peer-reviewed chapters geared towards scholars and students interested in broader appreciation of how death is present in our culture. The chapters are written by researchers working in such diverse fields as health, pedagogics, idea history, religion, literature studies, linguistics and rhetoric." - "Det er en utbredt oppfatning at døden er lite synlig i vår kultur og at vi snakker lite om den. Utgangspunktet for antologien Døden i livet er å utfordre disse forestillingene fra ulike perspektiv og fagfelt.

Forfatterne understreker at døden er til stede i våre liv på mange måter. Vi ser den og opplever den i våre fysiske omgivelser, for eksempel der hvor vi har innrettet oss for å minnes de døde. Vi hører den eller leser om den i taler, dikt, musikalske tekster, salmer, nekrologer, biografier, bildebøker, romaner og avistekster. Vi uttaler oss om død i samtaler med hverandre, i karakteristikker av avdøde og gjennom fagspråk om sykdom og død. Vi viser vår forståelse av døden gjennom visuelle uttrykk som i avisbilder, i bokillustrasjoner og i de språklige bildene og metaforene vi bruker når vi omtaler den.

Døden i livet er en tverrfaglig, vitenskapelig antologi. Boken består av 12 fagfellevurderte kapitler og henvender seg til forskere og studenter som har interesse av å sette seg inn i hvordan døden er til stede i vår kultur. Kapitlene er skrevet av forskere fra ulike fagfelt som helsefag, pedagogikk, idéhistorie, religionsvitenskap, litteraturvitenskap, språkvitenskap og retorikk."