Mediterranean studies flourish in literary and cultural studies, but concepts of the Mediterranean and the theories and methods they use are very disparate. This is because the Mediterranean is not a simple geographical or historical unity, but a multiplicity, a network of highly interconnected elements, each of which is different and individual. Talking about Mediterranean literature raises th…
The ebook edition of this title is Open Access and freely available to read online. As digital technologies have become ever more ingrained in society, Media Use in Digital Everyday Life asks how our relationship with media has changed. After the proliferation of smartphones, social media and ubiquitous connectivity, what has happened to the ways we navigate across social domains and structure …
This open access book compares Chinese and Western civilizations from multiple perspectives, and it mainly consists of three parts that respectively compare the Warring States and ancient Greece, the Qin and Han dynasties and ancient Rome, and the Central Plains of China and the Western Roman Empire in the face of incursions from neighboring ethnic groups. It explores the inner logic behind the…
Museums and Digital Confidence explores the evolving nature of digital practices in museums. It interrogates the skills, literacies, and mindsets that can support the use of digital technologies within these institutions. It also reflects on why digital adoption has faltered (at times), why digital continues to matter, and how the digital museum may flourish into the future. Underscored by nati…
This open access book offers an overview of the relations between comics and religion from the perspective of cultural sociology. How do comics function in religions and how does religion appear in comics? And how do graphic narratives inform us about contemporary society and the changing role of religion? Contributing scholars use international examples to explore the diversity of religions, s…
What is happening to perceptions of time, durability and reality in the 21th century? This anthology explores a diversity of uncommon insights about time, as seen from our historical and geographical standpoint. It sheds new light on how construction, perception and regulation of time influences a person’s whole being in the world, collectively and individually, in the short and long run, fro…
Museums for Peace: In Search of History, Memory and Change highlights the inspiring as well as conflicting representations and purposes of diverse museums for peace around the world. Coming from various cultural and professional backgrounds, the authors explore “what are museums for peace and what do they mean?” Some chapters introduce alternative histories of peace, conflict, and memoriali…
This open access book identifies various forms of heritage destruction and analyses their causes. It proposes strategies for avoiding and solving conflicts, based on integrating heritage into the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. It reflects on the identity-building role of heritage, on multidimensional conflicts and the destruction of heritage, and considers conflict-solving strategies …
Debates about the possibility of an open culture – or indeed about the possibility of an open debate about the openness of culture – often turn on questions of standards. But since no benchmark can be absolute, judgement is a proliferation of comparisons. Through a series of case studies in everyday and academic comparison (literature, history, politics, philosophy), Haun Saussy calls out t…
A World You Do Not Know explores the wilful ignorance demonstrated by North America’s settlers in establishing their societies on lands already occupied by indigenous nations. Using the Innu of Labrador-Quebec as one powerful contemporary example, Colin Samson shows how the processes of displacement and assimilation today resemble those of the 19th century as the state and corporations scramb…