The Cultural Aesthetic of Virtual Reality

2011 ◽  
pp. 214-231
Author(s):  
Ron Purser
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Middle Ages ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Modern World ◽  
Cultural Significance ◽  
Bourgeois Society ◽  
Walter Ong ◽  
History Of ◽  
Main Factors ◽  
The Way

The cultural significance of Virtual Reality (VR) extends far beyond the fact that it is an innovative technological device. Indeed, VR technology is embedded in, and a byproduct of, a much larger social, cultural, and scientific milieu. Changes in tehcnological devices have paralleled the shifts in the way human cultures have ordered and represented their worlds. Historically, the emergence of new technologies often provides the base for profound changes in the structure of the self, as well as radical alterations in the collective field of perception. Donald Lowe (1982), in his study, The History of Bourgeois Perception, argues that perception is shaped by a collective interplay of factors. Communication media, one of the main factors in Lowe’s theory, acts to frame and filter the way we perceive the world. Basing much of his theory on the work of Walter Ong (1988), Lowe traces shifts in culture that correspond to changes in media: from orality to chirography in the Middle Ages; from chirography to typography in the Renaissance; from typography to photography in bourgeois society; and from photography to cinema and television in the modern world.

The Middle Ages in the Modern World

2017 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Digital Media ◽  
Middle Ages ◽  
Music Videos ◽  
Modern World ◽  
National History ◽  
Medieval Poetry ◽  
History Of ◽  
Nineteenth And Twentieth Centuries ◽  
The Middle Ages ◽  
The Way

The Middle Ages continue to provide an important touchstone for the way the modern West presents itself and its relationship with the rest of the globe. This volume brings together leading scholars of literature and history, together with musicians, novelists, librarians and museum curators in order to present exciting, up-to-date perspectives on how and why the Middle Ages continue to matter in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Presented here, their essays represent a unique dialogue between scholars and practitioners of ‘medievalism’. Framed by an introductory essay on the broad history of the continuing evolution of the idea of ‘The Middle Ages’ from the fourteenth century to the present day, chapters deal with subjects as diverse as: the use of Old Norse sagas by Republican deniers of climate change; the way figures like the Irish hero Cú Chulainn and St Patrick were used to give legitimacy to political affiliations during the Ulster ‘Troubles’; the use of the Middle Ages in films by Pasolini and Tarantino; the adoption of the ‘Green Man’ motif in popular culture; Lady Gaga’s manipulation of medieval iconography in her music videos; the translation of medieval poetry from manuscript to digital media; and the problem of writing national history free from the ‘toxic medievalism’ of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Allegra Iafrate, The Long Life of Magical Objects: A Study in the Solomonic Tradition. The Magic in History Series. University Park, PA: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 2019, xi, 235 pp., 19 b/w images, 2 tables.

Mediaevistik ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 252-254
Author(s):  
Albrecht Classen
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Middle Ages ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
Modern World ◽  
State University ◽  
Eastern Culture ◽  
Historical Objects ◽  
History Of ◽  
Religious Objects ◽  
The Middle Ages

Throughout times, magic and magicians have exerted a tremendous influence, and this even in our (post)modern world (see now the contributions to Magic and Magicians in the Middle Ages and the Early Modern Time, ed. Albrecht Classen, 2017; here not mentioned). Allegra Iafrate here presents a fourth monograph dedicated to magical objects, primarily those associated with the biblical King Solomon, especially the ring, the bottle which holds a demon, knots, and the flying carpet. She is especially interested in the reception history of those symbolic objects, both in antiquity and in the Middle Ages, both in western and in eastern culture, that is, above all, in the Arabic world, and also pursues the afterlife of those objects in the early modern age. Iafrate pursues not only the actual history of King Solomon and those religious objects associated with him, but the metaphorical objects as they made their presence felt throughout time, and this especially in literary texts and in art-historical objects.

Roman History: Imperial, 31 BCE–284 CE

Classics ◽  
2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Potter
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Middle Ages ◽  
Classical Antiquity ◽  
Modern World ◽  
History Of Thought ◽  
Marcus Aurelius ◽  
Multiethnic States ◽  
Rational Thought ◽  
History Of ◽  
Great Relevance

The history of the Roman Empire is the history of one of the largest and most enduring multiethnic states in the history of the world, making it an area of study that continues to have great relevance to the modern world. Principal areas of investigation for those drawn to the study of the Roman Empire include the development of institutions needed to govern such a state, the behavior of those institutions, the dialogue of cultures within the empire (especially issues of assimilation, resistance, and evolution between dominant and subaltern groups), and the relationship between Rome and its neighbors. It is also a period that saw significant developments in art, literature, and the history of thought, shaping the heritage of classical Antiquity that has survived through the Middle Ages to help shape the Western tradition of rational thought. It is also a very colorful period, whose leading figures, ranging from Marcus Aurelius and Jesus of Nazareth to Nero and Commodus, continue to excite great interest for their own sake.

Warfare and Society in the Carolingian Ostmark

1978 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
pp. 3-26
Author(s):  
Charles R. Bowlus
Keyword(s):  
Social Organization ◽  
Middle Ages ◽  
Modern World ◽  
Medieval Europe ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Relationship

The relationship between military and social organization has long been a topic of major concern and debate among scholars specializing in the history of the European middle ages. It is a topic of importance, for, as we who live in the modern world are aware, the ways in which any government organizes its people for warfare have many implications that go well beyond the strategy of a particular campaign or the tactics employed at a decisive battle. The rudimentary nature of the economies and governments in medieval Europe probably made the relationship between military and social organization more direct and, hence, more obvious than it is today. Peasants may have been illiterate, but they were cognizant of their obligation to serve in local levies and to provide food, fodder, and transport facilities for armies on campaign. Magnates who kept a retinue with them at all times and who garrisoned private fortresses were dependent on surpluses produced by the peasantry for the maintenance of these forces.

scholarly journals El nomen sacrum ihs como símbolo de la crucifixión en el Sermón de la Circuncisión del Señor de san Vicente Ferrer

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 ◽  
pp. 16
Author(s):  
María Luz Mandingorra Llavata
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Jesus Christ ◽  
Daily Life ◽  
The Public ◽  
Life Problems ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Middle Ages ◽  
The Way

Resum: El nomen sacrum ihs se hallaba presente en infinidad de manifestaciones artísticas y objetos de la vida cotidiana durante la Edad Media, por lo que era bien conocido por los fieles. El objetivo del presente artículo es mostrar de qué modo san Vicente Ferrer se sirve de esta abreviatura como símbolo de la crucifixión de Jesucristo con el fin de fomentar la devoción al nombre Iesus y erradicar el recurso a adivinos y sortílegos. Para ello, analizaremos el sermón de la Circuncisión del Señor predicado por el maestro dominico y estableceremos la conexión de los elementos integrantes del texto con representaciones coetáneas de la crucifixión.Paraules clau: san Vicente Ferrer, predicación, Nomina Sacra, crucifixión, historia de la cultura escrita Abstract: The nomen sacrum ihs was present in many paintings as well as other artifacts during the Middle Ages, therefore, it was very well known by the public. The aim of this paper is to show the way Saint Vincent Ferrer uses this abbreviation as a symbol of the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ in order to increase the devotion to the Name of Jesus and prevent people from consulting diviners and sorcerers to solve daily life problems. To this end, we analyse the Sermon of the Circumcision of the Lord preached by the Dominican master and establish the relationship between the elements that compose the text and some contemporary images of the Crucifixion.Keywords: Saint Vincent Ferrer, preaching, Nomina Sacra, crucifixion, history of literacy

Guidelines for a Social History of Astronomy

2012 ◽  
Vol 16 (1 and 2) ◽  
pp. 77-87
Author(s):  
V. F. Polcaro ◽  
A. Martocchia
Keyword(s):  
Social History ◽  
Middle Ages ◽  
History Of Astronomy ◽  
Greek Language ◽  
Social Phenomena ◽  
Copernican Revolution ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of ◽  
Main Factors ◽  
Modern Astronomy

An analysis of the basic cultural, historical and social elements which allowed the re-discovery and transfer of astronomical knowledge from the earlier Middle Ages up to the birth of modern astronomy, is presented in the new book Storia sociale dell’Astronomia. The book describes the main factors which played a role in suppressing or re-awakening interest in astronomical observations and events down the centuries. Among such elements we include: the loss of Greek-language-based knowledge as a vector of scientific knowledge; Christian and Islamic conceptions of Astrology; religious practices connected with observations; the birth of universities; the Protestant paradigm and humanism; the evolution of the social figure of the scientist in the West, from monks to aristocrats, and from Renaissance lords to bourgeois entrepreneurs. We focus attention on the social phenomena which caused the development of Astronomy as a science from the Middle Ages to the Copernican revolution, and claim that the ruling class’s attitude towards science is not only a matter for historical studies, but has much to do with the modern impoverishment and stagnation of Astronomy.

Nicolas of Clairvaux and the Twelfth-Century Sequence with Special Reference to Adam of St. Victor

Traditio ◽  
1962 ◽  
Vol 18 ◽  
pp. 149-179 ◽  
Author(s):  
John F. Benton
Keyword(s):  
Special Reference ◽  
Middle Ages ◽  
Twelfth Century ◽  
Early History ◽  
Close Connection ◽  
Modern Drama ◽  
Vast Number ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Middle Ages ◽  
The Way

The vast number and variety of sequences, those liturgical interpolations which in the middle ages commonly followed the repetition of the Alleluia in the Mass, and the freedom of their development, show that they were an outlet for the creative talents of musicians and poets. A sample of sequences from successive periods allows the literary historian to trace the development of rhyme and accentual meter, and a musicologist has described the sequence ‘as the parent of oratorio and the grandparent of modern drama.’ But while a view which encompasses centuries reveals to us variety and change, the compositions of any given time were largely shaped by inherited traditions. Not the least value of studies on the early history of the sequence is their demonstration of the close connection between various Alleluia melodies and their sequences and the way in which appropriate texts were fitted to melodies for specific feasts.

Introduction: The Ottoman Empire and its Frontiers

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. C. S. PEACOCK
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Seventeenth Century ◽  
Fifteenth Century ◽  
Ottoman Empire ◽  
Middle Ages ◽  
Modern World ◽  
Early Twentieth Century ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Middle Ages

Stretching across Europe, Asia and Africa for half a millennium bridging the end of the Middle Ages and the early twentieth century, the Ottoman Empire was one of the major forces that forged the modern world. The chapters in this book focus on four key themes: frontier fortifications, the administration of the frontier, frontier society and relations between rulers and ruled, and the economy of the frontier. Through snapshots of aspects of Ottoman frontier policies in such diverse times and places as fifteenth-century Anatolia, seventeenth-century Hungary, nineteenth-century Iraq or twentieth-century Jordan, the book provides a richer picture than hitherto available of how this complex empire coped with the challenge of administering and defending disparate territories in an age of comparatively primitive communications. By way of introduction, this chapter seeks to provide an overview of these four themes in the history of Ottoman frontiers.

Towards a fire history of European cities (late Middle Ages to late nineteenth century)

Urban History ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 202-224
Author(s):  
DAVID GARRIOCH
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Building Materials ◽  
Fire History ◽  
Late Nineteenth Century ◽  
Late Middle Ages ◽  
The Everyday ◽  
History Of ◽  
And Shifts ◽  
Modern Era ◽  
The Way

ABSTRACT:Fires are often seen as a constant in early modern European towns, changing only in the modern era when inflammable building materials replaced wood. This article argues that the incidence, nature and risk of fire shifted repeatedly over time. Fire danger was determined not only by building materials but also by forms of construction, by the everyday uses people made of flame and by wider factors such as climatic variation and shifts in world trade and consumer demand. It was influenced by urban social and political change, including the way governments and populations responded to the risk. Responses to new fire dangers in turn helped change the way urban government functioned.

New Technologies and Neuropsychological Evaluation of Older Adults

2018 ◽  
pp. 1762-1779
Author(s):  
Stelios Zygouris ◽  
Magda Tsolaki
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Virtual Reality ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Cognitive Testing ◽  
Computerized Testing ◽  
Neuropsychological Evaluation ◽  
Speech Recognition Software ◽  
Emerging Trends ◽  
History Of ◽  
Recognition Software

In this chapter the history of computerized cognitive testing for older adults is reviewed critically, challenges are being highlighted and solutions and emerging trends are discussed. Issues such as lack of validation, insufficiently documented psychometric properties and the high cost of computerized instruments are analyzed. At the same time a discussion concerning the lack of integration of computerized testing in healthcare highlights management issues and the need for a paradigm shift. Possible solutions to the issues presented and new avenues of research are identified. Emerging technologies such as adaptive testing, virtual reality (VR) environments, and reliable speech recognition software are presented and their potential is highlighted. At the same time social and scientific trends such as the shift to early detection and the increasing familiarity of older adults with technology are analyzed. The chapter concludes with an outline of the expected future of computerized testing.

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