Spirits of Place in American Literary Culture

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Gatta
Keyword(s):  
Cultural History ◽  
Cultural Analysis ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
Built Environments ◽  
Ancient Rome ◽  
Personal Reflection ◽  
Place Making ◽  
Intimate Relation

What might it mean, existentially and spiritually, for humans to form an intimate relation with discrete sites or dwelling places on earth? In ancient Rome, the notion of a locale’s genius loci signaled recognition of its enchanted, enspirited identity. But in a digitalized America of unprecedented mobility, can place still matter as seed ground for the soul? Such questions had been broached already by “ecocritics” concerned with how place-inflected experience figures in literature and by theologians concerned with “ecotheology” and “ecospirituality.” Yet this book offers a uniquely integrative perspective, informed by a theological phenomenology of place, that takes fuller account of the spiritualities associated with built environments than ecocriticism typically does. Spirits of Place blends theological and cultural analysis with personal reflection while focusing on the multilayered witness presented by American literary texts. Its interpretive readings range across texts by an array of both canonical and lesser-known writers. Along the way, it addresses themes such as the religious implications of localism versus globalism; the diverse spiritualities associated with long-term residency, resettlement, and pilgrimage; what seems to hallow some sites more than others; and how the creative spirit of Imagination figures in place-identified apprehensions of the numinous. This study grants that, whether in Christian or other religious terms, no discrete place matters absolutely. Yet it demonstrates, above all, how and why hallowed geography and the sacramentality of place have mattered throughout our cultural history. The book concludes with a case study of one collegiate experiment in place-making and contemplative learning.

scholarly journals When Housing and Communities Were Delivered: A Case Study of Post-Wenchuan Earthquake Rural Reconstruction and Recovery

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (14) ◽  
pp. 7629
Author(s):  
Haorui Wu
Keyword(s):  
Built Environment ◽  
Wenchuan Earthquake ◽  
Place Making ◽  
Sustainable Rural Development ◽  
Residential Communities ◽  
Social Settings ◽  
Disaster Survivors ◽  
Two Phases

This study contributes to an in-depth examination of how Wenchuan earthquake disaster survivors utilize intensive built environment reconstruction outcomes (housing and infrastructural systems) to facilitate their long-term social and economic recovery and sustainable rural development. Post-disaster recovery administered via top-down disaster management systems usually consists of two phases: a short-term, government-led reconstruction (STGLR) of the built environment and a long-term, survivor-led recovery (LTSLR) of human and social settings. However, current studies have been inadequate in examining how rural disaster survivors have adapted to their new government-provided housing or how communities conducted their long-term recovery efforts. This qualitative case study invited sixty rural disaster survivors to examine their place-making activities utilizing government-delivered, urban-style residential communities to support their long-term recovery. This study discovered that rural residents’ recovery activities successfully perpetuated their original rural lives and rebuilt social connections and networks both individually and collectively. However, they were only able to manage their agriculture-based livelihood recovery temporarily. This research suggests that engaging rural inhabitants’ place-making expertise and providing opportunities to improve their housing and communities would advance the long-term grassroots recovery of lives and livelihoods, achieving sustainable development.

scholarly journals What is the History of Anger a History of?

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-34
Author(s):  
Thomas Dixon
Keyword(s):  
Cultural History ◽  
Charles Darwin ◽  
Visual Representations ◽  
Interdisciplinary Approach ◽  
English Word ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
History Of Emotions ◽  
Hieronymus Bosch ◽  
History Of

Abstract This essay uses the history of emotions to make two arguments – one destructive and one constructive. It uses examples from intellectual and cultural history to undermine the idea that the modern English term ‘anger’ refers either to a clearly defined mental state or to a coherent emotional concept. At the same time, it also questions the diagnosis of the present as an ‘age of anger’. Constructively, the essay uses the intellectual and cultural ancestries of modern ‘anger’ as a case-study in a distinctive approach to the history of emotions. With reference to works by linguists and anthropologists, to ancient philosophical and literary texts, and to some of the most influential visual representations of the irate body and the furious face, from Hieronymus Bosch to Charles Darwin, the essay explains and defends a pluralist and interdisciplinary approach, arguing that ‘anger’ is a modern English word without a stable transhistorical referent, and proposes the method of genealogical anatomy as a way to avoid the twin dangers of anachronism and essentialism in the history of emotions.

Caregivers' Perceptions of Speech-Language Pathologist Talk About Child Language and Literacy Disorders

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 2049-2067
Author(s):  
Karmen L. Porter ◽  
Janna B. Oetting ◽  
Loretta Pecchioni
Keyword(s):  
Language And Literacy ◽  
Collective Case Study ◽  
Study Approach ◽  
School Aged Children ◽  
Speech Language Pathologist ◽  
Therapy Goals ◽  
Semistructured Interviews ◽  
Types Of Information

Purpose This study examined caregiver perceptions of their child's language and literacy disorder as influenced by communications with their speech-language pathologist. Method The participants were 12 caregivers of 10 school-aged children with language and literacy disorders. Employing qualitative methods, a collective case study approach was utilized in which the caregiver(s) of each child represented one case. The data came from semistructured interviews, codes emerged directly from the caregivers' responses during the interviews, and multiple coding passes using ATLAS.ti software were made until themes were evident. These themes were then further validated by conducting clinical file reviews and follow-up interviews with the caregivers. Results Caregivers' comments focused on the types of information received or not received, as well as the clarity of the information. This included information regarding their child's diagnosis, the long-term consequences of their child's disorder, and the connection between language and reading. Although caregivers were adept at describing their child's difficulties and therapy goals/objectives, their comments indicated that they struggled to understand their child's disorder in a way that was meaningful to them and their child. Conclusions The findings showed the value caregivers place on receiving clear and timely diagnostic information, as well as the complexity associated with caregivers' understanding of language and literacy disorders. The findings are discussed in terms of changes that could be made in clinical practice to better support children with language and literacy disorders and their families.

Lord Dacre and the Politics of the Scottish Enlightenment

2005 ◽  
Vol 84 (2) ◽  
pp. 202-220 ◽  
Author(s):  
Colin Kidd
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
Cultural History ◽  
Economic Transformation ◽  
Scottish Enlightenment ◽  
North East ◽  
The Social ◽  
Romantic Movement ◽  
Scottish History

Hugh Trevor-Roper (Lord Dacre) made several iconoclastic interventions in the field of Scottish history. These earned him a notoriety in Scottish circles which, while not undeserved, has led to the reductive dismissal of Trevor-Roper's ideas, particularly his controversial interpretation of the Scottish Enlightenment, as the product of Scotophobia. In their indignation Scottish historians have missed the wider issues which prompted Trevor-Roper's investigation of the Scottish Enlightenment as a fascinating case study in European cultural history. Notably, Trevor-Roper used the example of Scotland to challenge Weberian-inspired notions of Puritan progressivism, arguing instead that the Arminian culture of north-east Scotland had played a disproportionate role in the rise of the Scottish Enlightenment. Indeed, working on the assumption that the essence of Enlightenment was its assault on clerical bigotry, Trevor-Roper sought the roots of the Scottish Enlightenment in Jacobitism, the counter-cultural alternative to post-1690 Scotland's Calvinist Kirk establishment. Though easily misconstrued as a dogmatic conservative, Trevor-Roper flirted with Marxisant sociology, not least in his account of the social underpinnings of the Scottish Enlightenment. Trevor-Roper argued that it was the rapidity of eighteenth-century Scotland's social and economic transformation which had produced in one generation a remarkable body of political economy conceptualising social change, and in the next a romantic movement whose powers of nostalgic enchantment were felt across the breadth of Europe.

Conservation and Preservation of Nature Reserves, Monuments andSpecial Architectural or Historic Interest in Nigeria: Towards Promotion of Sustainable Cultural Tourism

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 201-218
Author(s):  
Francis Chuma Osefoh
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Tourism ◽  
Nature Reserves ◽  
Communication Link ◽  
Built Environments ◽  
Tourist Attraction ◽  
The Past ◽  
Personal Experiences ◽  
Historical Heritage ◽  
Developed Nations

Some of the renowned world tourism countries have special peculiarities in character in terms of their nature reserves and built environments; that made them stand out for their attractions and visits. These qualities range from conservation and preservation of nature reserves, built environments- epoch architectural supports over the years; historical heritage; political; religious; socio-economic; cultural; and  high technology that enhance culture. The virtues of multi- ethnic groups and multi- cultural nature gave Nigeria a rich cultural heritage, and she is blessed with natural wonders, unique wildlife, and a very favorable climate. More often than not less attention and importance are placed over the nature reserves and built environments to the detriment of tourism in lieu of other sectors. Summarily the country lacks the culture of conservation and preservation of her abundant resources to promote cultural tourism. Case study strategy was applied in the research tours with reports of personal experiences, documentaries and analyses of sites visited in Europe and Nigeria were highlighted with references to their attributes in terms of structures and features that made up the sites as relate to culture and attraction.The task in keeping rural, city landscapes and nature reserves alive stands out as the secret of communication link from the past to present and the future; which tourism developed nations reap as benefits for tourist attraction.

Interrelationships between municipal spatial policy strategy and airport operation and development. Lodz Airport case study

2018 ◽  
Vol 59 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-79
Author(s):  
Katarzyna Nikorowicz-Zatorska
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Urban Planning ◽  
Cultural Development ◽  
The Other ◽  
Local Authorities ◽  
Spatial Management ◽  
The One ◽  
Surrounding Areas

Abstract The present paper focuses on spatial management regulations in order to carry out investment in the field of airport facilities. The construction, upgrades, and maintenance of airports falls within the area of responsibility of local authorities. This task poses a great challenge in terms of organisation and finances. On the one hand, an active airport is a municipal landmark and drives local economic, social and cultural development, and on the other, the scale of investment often exceeds the capabilities of local authorities. The immediate environment of the airport determines its final use and prosperity. The objective of the paper is to review legislation that affects airports and the surrounding communities. The process of urban planning in Lodz and surrounding areas will be presented as a background to the problem of land use management in the vicinity of the airport. This paper seeks to address the following questions: if and how airports have affected urban planning in Lodz, does the land use around the airport prevent the development of Lodz Airport, and how has the situation changed over the time? It can be assumed that as a result of lack of experience, land resources and size of investments on one hand and legislative dissonance and peculiar practices on the other, aviation infrastructure in Lodz is designed to meet temporary needs and is characterised by achieving short-term goals. Cyclical problems are solved in an intermittent manner and involve all the municipal resources, so there’s little left to secure long-term investments.

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