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        Films, cinema
        August 2017

        Decentring France

        Multilingualism and power in contemporary French cinema

        by Gemma King

        In a world defined by the flow of people, goods and cultures, many contemporary French films explore the multicultural nature of today's France through language. From rival lingua francas such as English to socio-politically marginalised languages such as Arabic or Kurdish, multilingual characters in these films exploit their knowledge of multiple languages, and offer counter-perspectives to dominant ideologies of the role of linguistic diversity in society. Decentring France is the first substantial study of multilingual film in France. Unpacking the power dynamics at play in the dialogue of eight emblematic films,this book argues that many contemporary French films take a new approach to language and power, showing how even the most historically-maligned languages can empower their speakers. Through studies on social power combined with close film analysis, this book offers a unique insight to academics and students alike, into the place of language and power in French cinema today.

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        History of art & design styles: from c 1900 -
        December 2016

        Almost nothing

        Observations on precarious practices in contemporary art

        by Series edited by Amelia Jones, Marsha Meskimmon, Anna Dezeuze

        What does an assemblage made out of crumpled newspaper have in common with an empty room in which the lights go on and off every five seconds? This book argues that they are both examples of a 'precarious' art that flourished from the late 1950s to the first decade of the twenty-first century, in light of a growing awareness of the individual's fragile existence in capitalist society. Focusing on comparative case studies drawn from European, North and South American practices, this study maps out a network of similar concerns and practices, while outlining its evolution from the 1960s to the beginning of the twenty-first century. This book will provide students and amateurs of contemporary art and culture with new insights into contemporary art practices and the critical issues that they raise concerning the material status of the art object, the role of the artist in society, and the relation between art and everyday life.

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        History of Art / Art & Design Styles
        October 2016

        Fleshing out surfaces

        Skin in French art and medicine, 1650–1850

        by Series edited by Amelia Jones, Mechthild Fend, Marsha Meskimmon

        Fleshing out surfaces is the first English-language book on skin and flesh tones in art. It considers flesh and skin in art theory, image making and medical discourse in seventeenth to nineteenth-century France. Describing a gradual shift between the early modern and the modern period, it argues that what artists made when imitating human nakedness was not always the same. Initially understood in terms of the body's substance, of flesh tones and body colour, it became increasingly a matter of skin, skin colour and surfaces. Each chapter is dedicated to a different notion of skin and its colour, from flesh tones via a membrane imbued with nervous energy to hermetic borderline. Looking in particular at works by Fragonard, David, Girodet, Benoist and Ingres, the focus is on portraits, as facial skin is a special arena for testing painterly skills and a site where the body and the image become equally expressive.

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        History of Art / Art & Design Styles
        October 2016

        Fleshing out surfaces

        Skin in French art and medicine, 1650–1850

        by Series edited by Amelia Jones, Mechthild Fend, Marsha Meskimmon

        Fleshing out surfaces is the first English-language book on skin and flesh tones in art. It considers flesh and skin in art theory, image making and medical discourse in seventeenth to nineteenth-century France. Describing a gradual shift between the early modern and the modern period, it argues that what artists made when imitating human nakedness was not always the same. Initially understood in terms of the body's substance, of flesh tones and body colour, it became increasingly a matter of skin, skin colour and surfaces. Each chapter is dedicated to a different notion of skin and its colour, from flesh tones via a membrane imbued with nervous energy to hermetic borderline. Looking in particular at works by Fragonard, David, Girodet, Benoist and Ingres, the focus is on portraits, as facial skin is a special arena for testing painterly skills and a site where the body and the image become equally expressive.

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        The Arts
        September 2015

        Film modernism

        by Sam Rohdie

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        The Arts
        September 2015

        Film modernism

        by Sam Rohdie

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        The Arts
        July 1997

        Films and British national identity

        From Dickens to Dad'

        by Jeffrey Richards

        Jeffrey Richards is a regular radio and television commentator on popular culture. Covers the period from Ealing Studios to Dad's Army. A great read. ;

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        The Arts
        September 2016

        Watching the red dawn

        The American avant-garde and the Soviet Union

        by Barnaby Haran

        This book offers the first sustained examination of the cultural relations of the American and Soviet avant-gardes in a period of major transformation. From the formation of the USSR in 1922 until its recognition by the American government, American avant-garde artists, writers and designers watched the 'Red Dawn' with fascination, enthusiastically reporting on its post-revolutionary cultural developments in articles and books, and brought these works to an American audience in ground-breaking exhibitions. Americans also emulated and adapted aspects of Soviet culture, as in the case of the New Playwrights Theatre, a group that mixed Russian avant-garde theatrical techniques with jazz, vaudeville and slapstick comedy in plays about strikes and racial injustice. Figures discussed include Louis Lozowick, Jane Heap, Frederick Kiesler, Ralph Steiner, John dos Passos, Margaret Bourke-White and Langston Hughes. Watching the red dawn takes an innovative interdisciplinary approach, considering these developments in architecture, theatre, film, photography and literature, and will be invaluable for students and specialists in these subject areas. It provides a new perspective on American avant-garde culture of the inter-war years. ;

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        The Arts
        December 2015

        Classical Hollywood cinema

        Point of view and communication

        by James Zborowski

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        The Arts
        May 2016

        Capital and popular cinema

        The dollars are coming!

        by Valentina Vitali

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        The Arts
        December 2015

        Classical Hollywood cinema

        Point of view and communication

        by James Zborowski

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        The Arts
        October 2008

        The encompassing city

        Streetscapes in early modern art and culture

        by Stuart Blumin

        The streetscape - the closely observed, faithfully rendered view of the city's streets, squares, canals, buildings and people - was a new artistic genre of the early modern era, a period in which the city itself was assuming new forms and taking on new roles in Europe and America. This unique book reopens the window of the early city view makers by tracing earlier forms of urban representation in European art into the sudden coalescence of the new genre in Italy and the Low Countries during the middle years of the seventeenth century. It explores the rapid expansion and diffusion of the genre through the eighteenth century, its appeal to such artists as Canaletto, Bernardo Bellotto, Francesco Guardi, and Giovanni Battista Piranesi, and its embrace of a culture of secular improvement more commonly understood through the writings of Enlightenment philosophes. To examine the long history of the genre is to learn much about the early modern city, and to rediscover many beautiful and long-forgotten works of art. ;

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        Film theory & criticism
        February 2014

        The Encyclopedia of British Film

        Fourth edition

        by Edited by Brian McFarlane

        With well over 6,300 articles, including over 500 new entries, this fourth edition of The Encyclopedia of British Film is a fully updated invaluable reference guide to the British film industry. It is the most authoritative volume yet, stretching from the inception of the industry to the present day, with detailed listings of the producers, directors, actors and studios behind a century or so of great British cinema. Brian McFarlane's meticulously researched guide is the definitive companion for anyone interested in the world of film. Previous editions have sold many thousands of copies and this fourth edition will be an essential work of reference for enthusiasts interested in the history of British cinema, and for universities and libraries.

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        Theory of architecture
        November 2014

        The extended self

        Architecture, memes and minds

        by Chris Abel

        In his wide-ranging study of architecture and cultural evolution, Chris Abel argues that, despite progress in sustainable development and design, resistance to changing personal and social identities shaped by a technology-based and energy-hungry culture is impeding efforts to avert drastic climate change. The book traces the roots of that culture to the coevolution of Homo sapiens and technology, from the first use of tools as artificial extensions to the human body, to the motorized cities spreading around the world, whose uncontrolled effects are changing the planet itself. Advancing a new concept of the meme, called the 'technical meme,' as the primary agent of cognitive extension and technical embodiment, Abel proposes a theory of the 'extended self' encompassing material and spatial as well as psychological and social elements. Drawing upon research from philosophy, psychology and the neurosciences, the book presents a new approach to environmental and cultural studies that will appeal to a broad readership searching for insights into the origins of the crisis.

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        Folk & traditional music
        July 2013

        The BBC and national identity in Britain, 1922–53

        by Thomas Hajkowski

        Examining the ways in which the BBC constructed and disseminated British national identity during the second quarter of the twentieth century, this book is the first study that focuses in a comprehensive way on how the BBC, through its radio programs, tried to represent what it meant to be British. The BBC and national identity in Britain offers a revision of histories of regional broadcasting in Britain that interpret it as a form of cultural imperialism. The regional organization of the BBC, and the news and creative programming designed specifically for regional listeners, reinforced the cultural and historical distinctiveness of Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. The BBC anticipated, and perhaps encouraged, the development of the hybrid "dual identities" characteristic of contemporary Britain. This book will be of interest to scholars and students of nationalism and national identity, British imperialism, mass media and media history, and the "four nations" approach to British history.

      • Trusted Partner
        Folk & traditional music
        July 2013

        The BBC and national identity in Britain, 1922–53

        by Thomas Hajkowski

        Examining the ways in which the BBC constructed and disseminated British national identity during the second quarter of the twentieth century, this book is the first study that focuses in a comprehensive way on how the BBC, through its radio programs, tried to represent what it meant to be British. The BBC and national identity in Britain offers a revision of histories of regional broadcasting in Britain that interpret it as a form of cultural imperialism. The regional organization of the BBC, and the news and creative programming designed specifically for regional listeners, reinforced the cultural and historical distinctiveness of Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. The BBC anticipated, and perhaps encouraged, the development of the hybrid "dual identities" characteristic of contemporary Britain. This book will be of interest to scholars and students of nationalism and national identity, British imperialism, mass media and media history, and the "four nations" approach to British history.

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