What does it mean to live in the Communication Age? What has happened
to culture in the Communication Age? What is the nature of culture
today? Culture in the Communication Age
brings together some of the world's leading thinkers from a range of
academic disciplines to discuss what 'culture' means in the modern era.
They describe key features of cultural life in the 'communication age',
and consider the cultural implications of the rise of global
communication, mass media, information technology, and popular culture.
Individual chapters consider:
* Cultures of the mind *
Rethinking culture in a global context * Re-thinking Culture, from
'ways of life' to 'lifestyle' * Gender and Culture * Popular Culture
and Media Spectacles * Visual Culture * Star Culture * Computers, the
Internet and Virtual Cultures * Superculture in the Communication Age
The work consists of three parts--Humanity, Culture, and Social Life--and 40 major contributions. Part One emphasizes human beings as members of a species, how that species differs from others, how it has evolved, and how human populations have adapted to and in turn transformed their environments. Part Two deals with the origin and structure of human culture, and on the role of culture in action, perception, and cognition. Part Three examines the various aspects of the relationships and processes that are carried on by persons and groups in the course of social life.
Useful features such as cross-references within the text, full biographical references, suggestions for further reading and carefully illustrated line drawings make this an indispensable resource for all students of anthropology or sociology.
Ireland and Scotland: Literature and Culture, State and Nation, 1966-2000 (Oxford English Monographs)
By Ray Ryan
While political connections between Ireland and Scotland have been vigorously promoted in recent years, Ray Ryan presents the first sustained, comparative study of literature and culture from both sites. Ryan's focus is on the Irish state and the Scottish nation. How does literature from the Republic create the cultural shape and personality of the Irish state? Through comparison with Scotland, a stateless nation, Ryan argues that crucial themes in Irish culture emerge with new force and clarity: themes such as Republicanism and colonialism, the city and rural divide, and the partition of the island into separate 'southern' and 'northern' spheres. Analysing a broad range of Irish and Scottish literary texts, Ryan shifts attention from the traditionally defined canon of Irish culture, and establishes the relevance of Scotland for any future discussion of Irish cultural contexts. Offering a radical intervention across a range of disciplines, this book is essential reading for all those working on Ireland, on Scotland, and on contemporary English and British culture.
Is the universe around us a figment of our imagination? Or are our minds figments of reality?
In this refreshing new look at the evolution of mind and culture, bestselling authors Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen eloquently argue that our minds necessarily evolved in an inextricable link with culture and language. They go beyond conventional reductionist ideas to look at how the mind is the response of an evolving brain trying to grapple with a complex environment. Along the way they develop new and intriguing insights into the nature of evolution, science and humanity.
