Blackwell Publishing
The Hollywood historical film.
This slim volume examines the making of historical films throughout the history of Hollywood, and how compromises in historical accuracy for entertainment value have had a complex effect on education and knowledge. Burgoyne (English and film, Wayne State U.) examines how historical films often promote the myth over the truth and distort public opinion about events of the past. He also examines recent films, such as Saving Private Ryan and United 93 to emphasize that the trend is continuing, despite advances in technology, research, and filmmakers' promises to deliver the truth. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Homegirls; language and cultural practice among Latina youth gangs.
Mendoza-Denton (anthropology, U. of Arizona) reports findings from a linguistic ethnographic study of the Norteña/Sureña (North/South) girl gangs at a junior high in the suburbs of the San Francisco Bay area. Based on fieldwork conducted in the mid-1990s, the text explores the ways that the girls use speech, bodily practices, and symbolic exchanges to signal their gang affiliations and ideologies as members of either the bilingual, English-speaking and Americanized Norte girl gang or as the Mexican or Latin American- oriented, Spanish-speaking Sur girl gang. The study examines language variation and change, as well as social and cultural practices regarding dress, make-up, and music. For undergraduate students and professionals in the fields of anthropology and linguistics, middle and high school teachers, and general readers interested in gangs, immigration, and language and culture. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
How to do things with Shakespeare.
In this collection of new critical work, experts offer the results of their curiosity, indicating why problems, omissions or dissatisfaction led to their re-thinking or expanding upon themes set by Shakespeare. They consider sources, history, texts, animals and posterity as they address the connections between Montaigne and Shakespeare, Cymbaline in genre and model, the art of misquoting, Henry VIII as Shakespeare's "favorite" play, Catholicism and conversion in Love's Labor's Lost, watching as reading, the art of editorship, self-control and the human/animal, sheepishness, time in the Sonnets, universal culture, and the pitfalls and peaks in performance criticism. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
The idea of English ethnicity.
In recent years the UK has earnestly debated what constitutes Englishness, and given the effects of devolution and immigration, that argument has become ever more intense. Young (English and comparative literature, New York U.) makes the point that the debate did not arise solely from the socio-political situation that came at the end of empire, but as a form of ethnic identity for people who were not English (Americans, Australians, Canadians, New Zealanders and South Africans) but claimed that affiliation. He describes elements of the debate over what constitutes Englishness and closely examines its moral and philosophical anatomy, analyzes Matthew Arnold's critique, and thoroughly reminds us that it is the English global diaspora that largely determines Englishness, a situation that has led to an open structure of inclusion and multiculturalism in England itself. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Introduction to social psychology, 4th ed.
Primarily written by British and German academics, the 15 contributions in this textbook examine personal perception, attitude structure and change, aggressive behavior, affiliation and attraction, social influence, and the psychology of groups. The fourth edition adds three chapters on the history of social psychology, the role of self, and social psychology in action. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Involuntary memory.
Mace (psychology, U. of New Haven) compiles 10 chapters that discuss topics and research in the field of involuntary memory in everyday life, across the life span, and in the laboratory. They review past and new research, in an attempt to provide the first study of the topic. Topics address autobiographical and connected memories, comparisons between younger and older adults, memory cues, neuroimaging techniques, and experimentally induced memories. How they are manifested, such as in voluntary remembering or in syndromes such as posttraumatic stress disorder, are also considered. Contributors work in neurosciences, psychology, and psychiatry in the US and Europe. Separate name and subject indexes are provided. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Invitation to poetry; the pleasures of studying poetry and poetics.
Steinman (English and humanities, Reed College, Oregon) presents a text based on a course she has taught in different forms for the past decade or so. She describes learning to think and talk about poetry as analogous to learning a new language, in which simple forms and ideas are mastered then combined or modified into more complex ones. So her treatment progresses, later discussions drawing on earlier vocabularies, technical terms, and readings of lyric poems. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Irish literature, 1750-1900; an anthology.
In this anthology created specifically for students, editor Wright (European studies, Dalhousie U., Halifax, Canada) has collected the full texts of short plays, fiction and poetry, as well as collaboratively authored works, including selections from the Edgeworths, the Banims, and the Kavanaghs. Special attention has been paid to present the work of women writers, as well as Ulster poets and writers who emigrated to North America. Biographical sketches appear at the head of each author's entry, with references for further reading. Additional features to aid study include a map of Ireland and a chronology of historical events and major literary works of the era. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Issues in heterodox economics.
They are dependent upon a relatively small number of mathematical models and econometric techniques and aware that these models and methods may have little to do with the complexities of today's financial and economic world. As a result, the contributors of these nine extended articles point out, economists must critically analyze mainstream economics and its dependence on mathematical modeling, find new paths and methods, and take an interdisciplinary approach that includes such elements as sociology. Their topics include the future of economic orthodoxy, economists' reliance upon axioms and formalism, variations on conning in mathematical economics, the sociological approach to financial markets, worker-run enterprises, new applications of the knowledge economy, the possibilities of convergent evolutionary and new growth theories, and the role of repetition and financial incentives in economics experiments. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Literary theory; a reintroduction.
Ayers (director, Center for Modern Poetry, University of Kent, UK) introduces the current state of literary theory by placing it in its social, historical, and institutional contexts. Beginning with the 1920s, he looks at the impact of the periods preceding the "theory movement" and reintroduces this movement from a contemporary perspective. He explores how and why popular criticisms developed, and considers their futures. Major influences on the development of modern theory are examined, among them the creation of university English and campus politics, the Cold War, the Anglo-Americanization of French and German theory, and the politics of contemporary historicist scholarship. Key figures, such as F. R. Leavis, Raymond Williams, Jacques Derrida, and Michel Foucault, are also discussed. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Living with theory.
A quick glance at a list of recent theses and dissertations will tell you that theory is central to scholarship, particularly in literary criticism. Such theory has enlightened work on culture, gender, and identity politics, but, according to Leitch (English, U. of Oklahoma), theory has become the victim of postmodern consumer culture. Working from his considerable expertise, Leitch maps out contemporary theory and its relations with literature, defending postmodern theory itself and cultural studies. The result is an accessible treatment of the present and future of theory and its applications to literature, proposals for intellectual alliances within theory, explanations of how Derrida eventually relates to the politics of academic labor in the corporate-style university, analysis of the effects of globalization and multiculturalism, and the overall effects on contemporary poetry and the now-global canon. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Making social worlds; a communication perspective.
Pearce (human and organization development, Fielding Graduate U.) explains the tools and concepts of CMM (Coordinated Management of Meaning) and analyzes samples of speech from everyday life to demonstrate how the tools of CMM offer special insights into social interactions. He describes the crisis points, paradigms and "physics" of social worlds, communication as a means of coordinating action and making or managing meanings, doing things in communications as speech acts, developing understanding of episodes and patterns of communication, understanding that the self is made in processes of communication and that forms of consciousness emerge as processes of communication as well, and knowing how to build relationships and relational minds. He includes a short "guide" to CMM that can serve as a refresher or self-study review. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Market devices.
Market devices, in the words of editors Callon (Centre de Sociologie de l'Innovation, Ecole des Mines de Paris, France), Millo (London School of Economics and Political Science, UK), Muniesa (Centre de Sociologie de l'Innovation), are "the material and discursive assemblages that intervene in the construction of markets." They include a wide array of objects such as analytical techniques, pricing models, purchase settings, merchandising tools, trading protocols, and aggregate indicators. The editors present 13 papers examining market devices as part of the pragmatic turn in the sociological study of markets and economic activities. Of general concern is the part played by market devices in configuring economic calculative capacities and in qualifying market objects. Specific topics include an exploration of the historical practice of financial analysis, a case study of the economic encounters between wholesalers and retailers in Swedish food distribution in the late 1940s, an ethnographic study of choice in supermarkets, analysis of some features of the focus group as an economic research device, examination of the emergence of a market for quotas in Norwegian fisheries, and a study of the economic qualification of products in Swedish markets for subsidized pharmaceuticals. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Modern literary criticism and theory; a history.
In these trying times of culture wars, 9/11, global warming, and the rising price of coffee in the faculty lounge, Habib (English, Kingston U., London) believes it is time for the field of literary criticism to reconnect with its roots and its recent history. He provides a concise overview of the major tendencies and figures of literary and cultural criticism from the early 20th century to the present. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Other Asias.
Indian literary critic and theorist Spivak (comparative literature and society, Columbia U.) presents a collection of six revised versions of essays and one speech previously published/presented between 1994 and 2003, in which the author invites readers to explore a pluralized "Asias" — as opposed to a singularized regional concept — which respects the differences within Asia as imaginatively as possible. Included are essays on Afghanistan, Armenia, India, Bangladesh, a critique of globalism as universalism, and a transcript of an interview with Spivak conducted by Yan Hairong in 2004 at the U. of California, Irvine. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Persuasive messages; the process of influence.
William and Pamela Benoit's (both communication, U. of Missouri- Columbia) textbook offers college students practical advice on refining one's purpose, understanding one's audience, and designing a persuasive message. Coverage includes key concepts, sources, and the relationship between attitudes and behavior; the mechanics of creating persuasive messages; theories of persuasion; and the use of persuasion in two particular contexts, advertising and political campaigns. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Philosophy, methodology, and educational research.
Many critics of education cannot define what would constitute its success. So argue Bridges (U. of East Anglia/St. Edmund's College, Cambridge, UK) and Smith (U. of Durham, UK) in collecting 22 papers that offer insights on philosophical issues underpinning educational/social science research. International thinkers treat such questions as: What assumptions guide research (e.g. that it is scientific, generalizable)? What methods (postmodern, qualitative vs. quantitative) provide what kinds of understandings of education? How can action research inform practical decisions? The majority of articles first appeared in the Journal of Philosophy of Education, v.40, nos.2 & 4. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
The philosophy of motion pictures.
This book, part of the Foundations of the Philosophy of the Arts series, investigates the variety of purposes that moving images may serve. Carroll (humanities, Temple U.) presents a pluralistic review of the field, reflecting the legacy of traditional film theory while proposing a new direction for the theorizing of motion picture. Topics include the film as art, medium specificity, the shot, cinematic sequencing and narration, and affect and the moving image. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
The philosophy of philosophy.
The self-image of philosophy inherited from the 20th century — the naturalism, the linguistic turn, the postmodern irony, and such — seem obviously inadequate to contemporary practice, says Williamson (logic, U. of Oxford), so he offers a fresh one to replace it. His topics include taking philosophical questions at face value, metaphysical and epistemological conceptions of analyticity, and knowledge maximization. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Practical financial optimization; decision making for financial engineers.
Zenios (U. of Cyprus) focuses on the decision-making process for financial engineers, and how financial optimization models have become an important tool for achieving corporate goals. This book begins by comparing the various models, showing how each one is used as a building block for additional applications. The author then presents a series of case studies that illustrate the application of each financial optimization model, and the results that were achieved. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Project finance for construction & infrastructure; principles & case studies.
Written for non-finance students, this textbook introduces the field of transaction costs, examines the financial decisions faced by typical project financed companies, and considers how financial risks originate from the project finance business model. Four case studies discuss the Sydney CrossCity Tunnel, Western Harbour Crossing, Dabhol Power Plant, and London Underground modernization project. References to British institutions reflect the authors' affiliation with the University of Hong Kong. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Property investment appraisal, 3d ed.
Intended as a comprehensive guide to appraising property investments in the United Kingdom, Baum and Crosby (U. of Reading, UK) have written the third edition of this book to reflect drastic fluctuations in the recent real estate market. After stressing fundamental investment and real estate theory, the authors then devote the body of this book to market evaluation models before concluding with basic investment materials for appraisers in the field. Conventional appraising techniques, market growth models, freehold and leasehold market evaluations and investment values are explored in depth. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
