Is the pícaro, the roguish hero of early modern Spanish adventure fiction, a "real man"? What position does he hold in the gender hierarchy of his fictional social context? Why is the pícara so nonfem
In modern societies, the functional differentiation of medicine and religion is the predominant paradigm. Contemporary therapeutic practices and concepts in healing systems, such as transpersonal psyc
The creation and justification of knowledge in antiquity and the Middle Ages gives rise to several questions: How is “foreign” knowledge given authority? What are the mechanisms of legitimation? Are t
This first comprehensive study of Norwegian humanities education employs systems theory to analyze its transformation from a form of teacher training to its modern status as research-oriented generali
Francesco Borromini’s San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane (San Carlino) is a curious artifact that continues to inspire hypotheses and geometric analyses attempting to explain its form, meaning, and symbol
Do liminal embodied experiences such as illness, death, and dying affect literary form? In recent years, the concept of embodiment has been theorized from various perspectives. The gender studies have
What exactly is rape? And how is it embedded in society? Hilkje Charlotte Hänel offers a philosophical exploration of the often misrepresented concept of rape in everyday life, systematically mapping
Although practices of editing and mentoring are part of an author’s daily activities, they have previously been largely neglected by literary studies. The bilingual volume therefore assembles players
The Chinese scholar-official Lin Zexu played a crucial role in the First Opium War in the nineteenth century. Since 1978, the myth surrounding the historical figure has been used to legitimize current
While psychiatry and the neurosciences have dismissed the concept of neurosis as too vague for medical purposes, literary studies have in recent years adopted the term by virtue of its abstractness. T
Riding, hunting, fishing, bullfighting: Human-animal relations are diverse. This anthology presents various case studies of situations in which humans and animals come into contact and asks for the an
andererseits is a collaborative project undertaken by students and faculties of universities in the U.S. (Duke and the University of Notre Dame), in Luxembourg (University of Luxembourg), and in Germa
The proliferation of digital technology has changed our visual perception and the way we interpret terms such as “representation,” “immersion,” and “virtuality.” Kresimir Purgar examines some of the t
How does historical reality interrelate with fiction? And how much are readers themselves involved in fictional literature? With innovative interpretations of various well-known texts, Nourit Melcer-P
How is it possible to adequately capture histories of design in Africa, a continent with fifty-four countries? How can one avoid producing just another essentializing master narrative of “African desi
Why do we play games and why do we play them on computers? The contributors of Games and Rules take a closer look at the core of each game and the motivational system that is the game mechanics. Games
Aesthetic practices employ a double-hinged movement in the way they refer to connectivity. On the one hand, it seems as if connectivity in its purely functional orientation toward communicating throug
How have digital technologies affected the truth claims of photography? What has been the artistic response to the technological and societal transformations the digital revolution has brought about?
In the past years, the transiency of European city-making and dwelling has become increasingly hard to disregard. This urban flux calls for a methodological rethinking for professionals, social and na
Between 2014 and 2017, the artistic research project "Transcoding: From 'Highbrow Art' to Participatory Culture" encouraged creative participation in multimedia art via social media. Based on the artw
The Loop: Chicago Architecture and the Social Imaginary discusses the social function of architecture. Through close readings of skyscrapers, opera houses, and urban parks in Chicago, Kai Horstmannsho
Is materialism right to claim that the world of everyday-life experience—the phenomenal world—is nothing but an illusion produced in physical reality, notably in the brain? Or is Merleau-Ponty right w
Due to global processes of transformation and the social challenges posed by demographic change, rural areas increasingly demand attention from politics and the public sphere. The contributions in thi
Unlike previous media-analytic research, Sarah Jurkiewicz’s anthropological study understands blogging as a social field and a domain of practice. This approach underlines the significance of blogging
This collection of essays explores the continuities and disruptions in the perceptions of criminality, its causes, and ways of fighting it in late imperial Russia and the early Soviet Union. It focuse
This book is a rich ethnographic and historical account of the juridification of prior consultation in Brazil. In her case study on the national regulation of ILO Convention 169, Charlotte Schumann cr
In her endeavour to overcome the established methodological, conceptual, and empirical dualism of mobility and migration, Anna Xymena Wieczorek develops a “mobilities perspective” by combining migrati
Humanity is failing at solving complex socioecological problems like global climate change, biodiversity loss, and population growth. The existing sustainable development paradigm and its reliance on
Analyzing recent documentary films dealing with undocumented migration at the Schengen Area’s fringes and against the backdrop of what has been termed the European refugee crisis, Jan Kühnemund invest
The information age has brought about a growing conflict between proponents of a data-driven society, on the one side, and demands for protection of individual freedom, autonomy, and dignity by means
With the advent of the Reformation, concepts of living and dying were profoundly reconfigured. As purgatory disappeared from the spiritual landscape, other paths to the afterlife were rediscovered. Th
Desire indicates phenomena that are implicated in a productive ambiguity. These phenomena associate basic elements of human coexistence while also referencing complex social processes and institutions
“The truth will set you free” is a maxim central to both theories and practices of resistance. Nonetheless, it is a claim that has come under fire from an array of critical perspectives in the second
White trash is a liminal figure that dramatizes the intersection of race and class. Contemporary British novelists like Irvine Welsh, Niall Griffiths, and John King use this originally U.S.-American s
Digital Culture & Society is a refereed international journal, fostering discussion about the ways in which digital technologies, platforms, and applications reconfigure daily lives and practices. It
Transnationalizing Radio Research presents a theoretical and methodological guide for exploring radio's multiple "global ages," from its earliest years through its recent digital transformations. It o
The notion of a human right to health has various facets, such as its normative profile as a universal right, current political and legal conflicts, and contextualized implementation in different heal
After fifteen years of military interventions since 2003, the current situation in Afghanistan is highly ambivalent and partially contradictory—especially regarding the interplay of development, peace
In contrast to the notion of trust, which has become popular as a social phenomenon in the social sciences of late, the notion of mistrust is mostly overlooked. If at all, mistrust is investigated as
The time to come—as well as the exploration thereof—remains elusive for social actors and social scientists alike. The contributors to this volume accept the challenge to depict young men and women's
