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Apocalyptic Discourse in Contemporary Culture: Post-Millennial Perspectives on the End of the World (Routledge Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Literature)
by Aris Mousoutzanis Monica GermanàThis interdisciplinary collection of essays focuses on critical and theoretical responses to the apocalypse of the late twentieth- and early twenty-first-century cultural production. Examining the ways in which apocalyptic discourses have had an impact on how we read the world’s globalised space, the traumatic burden of history, and the mutual relationship between language and eschatological belief, fifteen original essays by a group of internationally established and emerging critics reflect on the apocalypse, its past tradition, pervasive present and future legacy. The collection seeks to offer a new reading of the apocalypse, understood as a complex – and, frequently, paradoxical – paradigm of (contemporary) Western culture. The majority of published collections on the subject have been published prior to the year 2000 and, in their majority of cases, locate the apocalypse in the future and envision it as something imminent. This collection offers a post-millennial perspective that perceives "the end" as immanent and, simultaneously, rooted in the past tradition.
Apocalyptic Ecologies: From Creation to Doom in Middle English Literature
by Shannon GaykA meditative reflection on what medieval disaster writing can teach us about how to respond to the climate emergency. When a series of ecological disasters swept medieval England, writers turned to religious storytelling for precedents. Their depictions of biblical floods, fires, storms, droughts, and plagues reveal an unsettled relationship to the natural world, at once unchanging and bafflingly unpredictable. In Apocalyptic Ecologies, Shannon Gayk traces representations of environmental calamities through medieval plays, sermons, and poetry such as Cleanness and Piers Plowman. In premodern disaster writing, she recovers a vision of environmental flourishing that could inspire new forms of ecological care today: a truly apocalyptic sensibility capable of seeing in every ending, every emergency a new beginning waiting to emerge.
Apocalyptic Futures: Marked Bodies and the Violence of the Text in Kafka, Conrad, and Coetzee
by Russell SamolskyIn this book, the author argues that certain modern literary texts have apocalyptic futures. Rather than claim that great writers have clairvoyant powers, he examines the ways in which a text incorporates an apocalyptic event into its future reception. He is thus concerned with the way in which apocalyptic works solicit their future receptions.Apocalyptic Futures also sets out to articulate a new theory and textual practice of the relation between literary reception and embodiment. Deploying the double register of “marks” to show how a text both codes and targets mutilated bodies, the author focuses on how these bodies are incorporated into texts by Kafka, Conrad, Coetzee, and Spiegelman.Situating “In the Penal Colony” in relation to the Holocaust, Heart of Darkness to the Rwandan genocide, and Waiting for the Barbarians to the revelations of torture in apartheid South Africa and contemporary Iraq, the author argues for the ethical and political importance of reading these literary works’ “apocalyptic futures” in our own urgent and perilous situations. The book concludes with a reading of Spiegelman's Maus that offers a messianic counter-time to the law of apocalyptic incorporation.
Apocalyptic Geographies: Religion, Media, and the American Landscape
by Jerome TharaudHow nineteenth-century Protestant evangelicals used print and visual media to shape American cultureIn nineteenth-century America, "apocalypse" referred not to the end of the world but to sacred revelation, and "geography" meant both the physical landscape and its representation in printed maps, atlases, and pictures. In Apocalyptic Geographies, Jerome Tharaud explores how white Protestant evangelicals used print and visual media to present the antebellum landscape as a “sacred space” of spiritual pilgrimage, and how devotional literature influenced secular society in important and surprising ways.Reading across genres and media—including religious tracts and landscape paintings, domestic fiction and missionary memoirs, slave narratives and moving panoramas—Apocalyptic Geographies illuminates intersections of popular culture, the physical spaces of an expanding and urbanizing nation, and the spiritual narratives that ordinary Americans used to orient their lives. Placing works of literature and visual art—from Thomas Cole’s The Oxbow to Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin and Henry David Thoreau’s Walden—into new contexts, Tharaud traces the rise of evangelical media, the controversy and backlash it engendered, and the role it played in shaping American modernity.
Apocalyptic Literature in the New Testament (Core Biblical Studies)
by Greg CareyEvery significant layer of the New Testament features the distinctiveconcerns of apocalyptic literature, including the expectation of amessiah, hope for a resurrection, expectation of a final judgment, and aspiritual world that includes angels and demons. Yet many contemporaryreaders shy away from things apocalyptic, especially the book ofRevelation. This introduction considers the influence ofapocalyptic literature throughout the Gospels and Acts, Paul’s letters,and Revelation. It argues that early Christian authors drew uponapocalyptic topics to address an impressive array of situations andconcerns, and it demonstrates—example after example—how apocalypticdiscourse contributed to their ongoing work of contextual theology.
Apocalyptic Movements in Contemporary Politics
by Carlo AldrovandiThis book explores Israeli Religious Zionism and US Christian Zionism by focusing on the Messianic and Millenarian drives at the basis of their political mobilization towards a 'Jewish colonization' of the occupied territories.
Apocalyptic Narratives: Science, Risk and Prophecy (Routledge Studies in Science, Technology and Society)
by Hauke RieschLinking literature from the sociological study of the apocalyptic with the sociology and philosophy of science, Apocalyptic Narratives explores how the apocalyptic narrative frames and provides meaning to contemporary, secular and scientific crises focussing on nuclear war, general environmental crisis and climate change in both English- and German-speaking cultural contexts. In particular, the book will use social identity and representation theories, the sociologies of risk and Lakatos’ philosophy of science to trace how our cultural background and apocalyptic tradition shape our wider interpretation, communication and response to contemporary global crisis. The set of environmental and other challenges that the world is facing is often framed in terms of apocalyptic or existential crisis. Yet apocalyptic fears about the near future are nothing new. This book looks at the narrative connections between our current sense of crisis and the apocalyptic. The book will be of interest to readers interested in environmental crisis and communication, the sociology and philosophy of science, and existential risk, but also to readers interested in the apocalyptic and its contemporary relevance.
Apocalyptic Organ Grinder: A Dystopian Novella
by William Todd RoseWilliam Todd Rose reinvents the zombie story with a thrilling novella of a post-apocalyptic America where saviors are heroes . . . and heroes are killers. A fatal virus--a biowarfare experiment unleashed on an unsuspecting world--has reduced the once-mighty United States to a smattering of tribes dueling for survival in the lawless wilderness. The disease-free folk known as Settlers barricade themselves in small villages, determined to keep out the highly contagious Spewers--infected humans who cannot die from the virus but spread the seeds of death from the festering blisters that cover their bodies. Tanner Kline is a trained Sweeper, sworn to exterminate Spewers roaming the no-man's-land surrounding his frightened community. As all Settlers do, Tanner dismisses them as little more than savages--until he meets his match in Spewer protector Lila. But when hunter and hunted clash, their bloody tango ignites a firestorm of fear and hatred. Now, no one is safe from the juggernaut of terror that rages unchecked, and the fate of humanity hangs on questions with no answers: Who's right, who's wrong . . . and who's going to care if everyone's dead?Advance praise for Apocalyptic Organ Grinder "With strong echoes of Richard Matheson's I Am Legend, William Todd Rose's Apocalyptic Organ Grinder delivers on all fronts. The action is brutal and the blurring of man and monster intelligently and inventively handled. Rose has written a smart thriller with a ton of heart."--Joe McKinney, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of The Savage Dead and Inheritance
Apocalyptic Planet
by Craig ChildsThe earth has died many times, and it always comes back looking different. In an exhilarating, surprising exploration of our planet, Craig Childs takes readers on a firsthand journey through apocalypse, touching the truth behind the speculation. Apocalyptic Planet is a combination of science and adventure that reveals the ways in which our world is constantly moving toward its end and how we can change our place within the cycles and episodes that rule it. In this riveting narrative, Childs makes clear that ours is not a stable planet, that it is prone to sudden, violent natural disasters and extremes of climate. Alternate futures, many not so pretty, are constantly waiting in the wings. Childs refutes the idea of an apocalyptic end to the earth and finds clues to its more inevitable end in some of the most physically challenging places on the globe. He travels from the deserts of Chile, the driest in the world, to the genetic wasteland of central Iowa to the site of the drowned land bridge of the Bering Sea, uncovering the micro-cataclysms that predict the macro: forthcoming ice ages, super-volcanoes, and the conclusion of planetary life cycles. Childs delivers a sensual feast in his descriptions of the natural world and a bounty of unequivocal science that provides us with an unprecedented understanding of our future.
Apocalyptic Realm
by Dilip HiroThis hard-hitting and timely book explores the roots of militant Islam in South Asia and how it has grown to become a source of profound global alarm. By meticulously tracking the rise of the jihadist movement from its initial violence in Afghanistan in 1980 to the present day, Dilip Hiro challenges conventional narratives of the roles of Afghanistan, Pakistan, the Soviet Union, the United States, and India. He warns that the Line of Control in Kashmir, where jihadists seek to incite war between nuclear-armed Pakistan and India, is today the most dangerous border in the world. Drawing on evidence from a wide variety of sources including newly released Kremlin archives and classified U. S. Embassy documents published by WikiLeaks, the author compiles the first complete and accurate history of Islamist terrorism in South Asia. He chronicles historic links between Pakistan, Afghanistan, and India and their varying degrees of destabilization at the hands of the jihadists. He also sheds unprecedented light on the close military and intelligence links that have developed between India and Israel. Finally, he outlines the ambitions of Pakistani, Afghan, and Al Qaeda jihadists to establish an "apocalyptic realm" covering South, Central, and Western Asia. Compact, comprehensive, and fast paced, this book lays bare the causes of today's escalating terrorist threat, sets the historical record straight, and offers fresh strategies for defeating jihadist extremism.
Apocalyptic Rebirth: Volume 1 (Volume 1 #1)
by Liu ShuiwuhuaOne was her fiance, the other was her most beloved younger sister. When the apocalypse arrived, Lin Lin fell into a group of zombies and smiled at the two of them. His heart gradually turned cold as he clenched his teeth and swore. They had to pay any price to be at the top, at the happiest moment. Falling from heaven to hell!
Apocalyptic Territories: Setting and Revelation in Contemporary American Fiction (Routledge Studies in Contemporary Literature)
by Anna HellénResearch on the relationship between the apocalyptic tradition and the literary imagination has typically espoused a temporal approach which in one way or another revolves around the order of events that precedes the end of history and the ensuing establishment of a new world. This study, by contrast, explores the spatial dimensions of apocalypse, more precisely the way in which the settings of the Book of Revelation are taken up by contemporary American writers and related to more general but also more contested concerns of territorial integrity and national identity. Influenced by Lefebvre’s theories, the study understands territory not simply as the container of certain structures and practices but also as the result of them, just as bird song is not framed by but rather constructive of territorial borders. It is the equivalent of such ‘songs’ that this book seeks to listen in on, i.e. the apocalyptic narratives that have been passed on through the centuries to define and sustain territory on a local, regional, and national level, and the way in which seven novels by Rick Moody, Toni Morrison, Jesmyn Ward, Cormac McCarthy, and Michael Chabon respond to them.
Apocalypticism in the Dead Sea Scrolls (The Literature of the Dead Sea Scrolls)
by John J. CollinsSince the photographs of the Dead Sea Scrolls were released in 1992, there has been an explosion of interest in them. This volume explores the issue of apocalypticism in the Scrolls; how the notions of the 'end', Messianic expectation and eternal life affected the Dead Sea sect, influenced Judaism and filtered into Christianity. Collins' volume provides a valuable and accessible introduction to the interpretation of the Scrolls, which is an informative addition to the series examining the major themes of the Scroll texts.
Apocarotenoids of Crocus sativus L: From biosynthesis to pharmacology (SpringerBriefs in Plant Science)
by Shoib Ahmad Baba Nasheeman AshrafThis book is a product of years of research on saffron biology. It intends to give a broad but concise overview of the various aspects of apocarotenoid biosynthesis in Crocus sativus, its regulation and pharmacology . Crocus sativus L. of family Iridaceae is an important medicinal plant. The dried stigma of C. sativus flower is considered as the world's costliest spice. Saffron is the sources of unique carotenoid derived molecules called apocarotenoids which include crocin, crocetin, picrocrocin and safranal. These molecules are synthesized in the tissue and developmental stage specific manner. Besides providing colour, aroma and flavour to the spice, these molecules have tremendous medicinal importance. The book uncovers major concepts of apocarotenoids biosynthesis and provides deeper and more complete understanding about their biotechnological and pharmacological applications. The book is divided into three sections - The first section provides a general introduction of C. sativus, its apocarotenoids, their biosynthesis, regulation and transport. Second section provides information about the carotenoid cleavage dioxygenases (CCDs) which are the key players in apocarotenoid biosynthesis. The classification of plant CCDs, their structure, reaction mechanism, biotechnological application are thoroughly discussed. The final section deals with the major pharmacological properties of C. sativus apocarotenoids, ranging from their role as anticancer to their utility as neuroprotective molecules. This is a one of its kind book on Crocus sativus. It will be useful for the researchers working on Crocus sativus, students and also practitioners involved in extraction and bio-synthesis of the useful medical components.
Apocrypha (Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture #15)
by Sever J. VoicuThis last volume of the Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture offers commentary from the early church fathers on the deuterocanonical books of the Bible, with insights that will be of great benefit to preachers and teachers alike. Readers will find some ancient authors translated into English here for the first time. Throughout they will gain insight and encouragement in the life of faith as seen through ancient pastoral eyes.
Apocrypha for Beginners: A Guide to Understanding and Exploring Scriptures Beyond the Bible
by Brandon W. HawkGo beyond the Bible with this simple introduction to apocryphaWhether they were lost, cut, or censored, the various apocryphal stories offer unique opportunities to learn about the histories of Judaism and Christianity while broadening spiritual understanding. But exploring this vast canon of texts alone can be daunting. Apocrypha for Beginners makes it simple by offering a guided experience, helping explain each piece's importance and contextualize its place in history.This standout among religious books includes:More than 50 apocrypha—Delve into a variety of apocrypha from different eras and cultures, like the Book of Enoch, the Gospel of Judas, and more.In-depth commentary—Better understand each text with a brief summary of its origin, meaning, and cultural significance.Easy-to-follow info—Explore the history of Judaism and Christianity with the help of a detailed timeline, canon comparison chart, and index of important individuals.Take your Bible study to the next level with Apocrypha for Beginners.
Apocynaceae Plants: Ethnobotany, Phytochemistry, Bioactivity and Biotechnological Advances
by Ravindra H. Patil Vijay L. Maheshwari Mohini P. PatilThis book provides a concise overview of the Apocynaceae plant family, focusing on its morphology, diversity, ethnopharmacology, phytochemistry, and biological activities. It explores biotechnological advances in large-scale production of therapeutic bioactive compounds and conservation efforts using plant tissue culture. The family Apocynaceae is one of the largest and important families in angiosperm, with several members having medicinal properties used to treat various ailments. Most of them are consumed as food by tribal people, while a few plants are used as a source of poison, insecticides, gum, and many other important products. Members of this family are rich in alkaloids, terpenoids, steroids, flavonoids, glycosides, simple phenols, lactones and hydrocarbons. Other compounds such as sterols, lignans, and sugars have also been systematically studied. Extracts and isolated compounds from Apocynaceae members exhibit antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and cytotoxic activities. Notable plants like Holarrhena antidysenterica, Rauvolfia serpentina, Carissa carandas, and Tabernaemontana divaricata have been extensively researched. The family presents a diverse range of bioactive compounds with medicinal and pharmacological properties, holding promise for future applications. The book also covers endophytic microorganisms with their diversity, biological activities in Apocynaceae plants. It also highlights the role of endophytes in conservation of Apocynaceae plants. By identifying existing knowledge gaps, it aims to inspire further research in the field, making it a valuable resource for students and researchers in Life Sciences, agriculture, medicine, and pharmaceutical sciences.
Apogee of Empire: Spain and New Spain in the Age of Charles III, 1759–1789
by Stanley J. Stein Barbara H. SteinOnce Europe's supreme maritime power, Spain by the mid-eighteenth century was facing fierce competition from England and France. England, in particular, had successfully mustered the financial resources necessary to confront its Atlantic rivals by mobilizing both aristocracy and merchant bourgeoisie in support of its imperial ambitions. Spain, meanwhile, remained overly dependent on the profits of its New World silver mines to finance both metropolitan and colonial imperatives, and England's naval superiority constantly threatened the vital flow of specie.When Charles III ascended the Spanish throne in 1759, then, after a quarter-century as ruler of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, Spain and its colonial empire were seriously imperiled. Two hundred years of Hapsburg rule, followed by a half-century of ineffectual Bourbon "reforms," had done little to modernize Spain's increasingly antiquated political, social, economic, and intellectual institutions. Charles III, recognizing the pressing need to renovate these institutions, set his Italian staff—notably the Marqués de Esquilache, who became Secretary of the Consejo de Hacienda (the Exchequer)—to this formidable task.In Apogee of Empire, Stanley J. Stein and Barbara H. Stein trace the attempt, initially under Esquilache's direction, to reform the Spanish establishment and, later, to modify and modernize the relationship between the metropole and its colonies. Within Spain, Charles and his architects of reform had to be mindful of determining what adjustments could be made that would help Spain confront its enemies without also radically altering the Hapsburg inheritance. As described in impressive detail by the authors, the bitter, seven-year conflict that ensued between reformers and traditionalists ended in a coup in 1766 that forced Charles to send Esquilache back to Italy. After this setback at home, Charles still hoped to effect constructive change in Spain's imperial system, primarily through the incremental implementation of a policy of comercio libre (free-trade). These reforms, made half-heartedly at best, failed as well, and by 1789 Spain would find itself ill prepared for the coming decades of upheaval in Europe and America.An in-depth study of incremental response by an old imperial order to challenges at home and abroad, Apogee of Empire is also a sweeping account of the personalities, places, and policies that helped to shape the modern Atlantic world.
Apoha: Buddhist Nominalism and Human Cognition
by Mark Tom Tillemans Arindam Chakrabarti Eds. SideritsWhen we understand that something is a pot, is it because of one property that all pots share? This seems unlikely, but without this common essence, it is difficult to see how we could teach someone to use the word "pot" or to see something as a pot. The Buddhist apoha theory tries to resolve this dilemma, first, by rejecting properties such as "potness" and, then, by claiming that the element uniting all pots is their very difference from all non-pots. In other words, when we seek out a pot, we select an object that is not a non-pot, and we repeat this practice with all other items and expressions.Writing from the vantage points of history, philosophy, and cognitive science, the contributors to this volume clarify the nominalist apoha theory and explore the relationship between apoha and the scientific study of human cognition. <P><P>They engage throughout in a lively debate over the theory's legitimacy. Classical Indian philosophers challenged the apoha theory's legitimacy, believing instead in the existence of enduring essences. Seeking to settle this controversy, essays explore whether apoha offers new and workable solutions to problems in the scientific study of human cognition. They show that the work of generations of Indian philosophers can add much toward the resolution of persistent conundrums in analytic philosophy and cognitive science.
Apolipoprotein Mimetics in the Management of Human Disease
by G. M. Anantharamaiah Dennis GoldbergThis comprehensive book provides not only the stages in the development of this unique and specialized field but also updates on the current state of research and development of apolipoprotein mimetics as therapeutic modalities for various lipid-mediated disorders. The book consists of 11 chapters all written by leading scientists from well-reputed laboratories in the USA. After an introduction by Dr. Godfrey Getz, Professor of Medicine at the University of Chicago and the Associate Editor of the Journal Lipid Research, the book presents a narration of how a theory can lead to the discovery of treatment modalities to several devastating diseases such as diabetes, Alzheimer's disease, arthritis; asthma; atherosclerosis, chronic rejection of transplanted hearts and cancer. Present therapies for most of these diseases are not adequate. Using the models of two long anti-atherogenic and anti-inflammatory proteins (apolipoprotein A-I and apolipoprotein E with 243 and 299 amino acids, respectively) short mimetic peptides of 18 to 28 amino acid residues in length, which can be produced either synthetically or genetically in edible fruits and vegetables, have been shown to exert profound biological effects in a large number of animal models of diseases. The book also presents novel ideas, highly unexpected mechanisms of action in animal models and even in initial clinical studies in humans, which can lead to additional improvements in basic and clinical research in biological science. All the chapters are written by experts in their respective fields who have contributed immensely to the literature. This is the first compendium of this growing field presented in the form of a book.
Apollinaire in the Great War (1914-18)
by David HunterA major literary figure in pre-war Paris, Guillaume Apollinaire volunteered for war in 1914, trained as an artilleryman and was posted in April 1915 to the Champagne front in northern France, participating in the bloody but little-known offensive that September and then moving into the front line as an infantry officer, before being wounded in March 1916 and invalided out of active service. Back in Paris, Apollinaire plunged back into the activities of the capital's artistic avant-garde, meanwhile publishing poetry, prose and plays that were deeply influenced by his involvement in the conflict. He died on 9 November 1918, two days before the Armistice, a victim of the influenza pandemic, but with a literary reputation secured, as well as a certain fame for coining the term 'Surrealism'. This book draws heavily on Apollinaire's writings to tell the story of his war years, within the wider context of the French experience of the Great War. In this period, Apollinaire also wrote hundreds of letters, the bulk of them to two women: Louise de Coligny, a flighty socialite of aristocratic origin, and Madeleine Pagès, a young schoolteacher. In these letters he poured out his passionate feelings for both in often highly erotic poetry and prose, as well as giving detailed descriptions of his life as a front-line soldier.
Apollo (Gods and Heroes of the Ancient World)
by Fritz GrafFritz Graf here presents a survey of a god once thought of as the most powerful of gods, and capable of great wrath should he be crossed: Apollo the sun god. From his first attestations in Homer, through the complex question of pre-Homeric Apollo, to the opposition between Apollo and Dionysos in nineteenth and twentieth-century thinking, Graf examines Greek religion and myth to provide a full account of Apollo in the ancient world. For students of Greek religion and culture, of myth and legend, and in the fields of art and literature, Apollo will provide an informative and enlightening introduction to this powerful figure from the past.
Apollo 11 Q&A: 175+ Fascinating Facts for Kids (History Q&A)
by Kelly Milner Halls175+ fascinating facts that teach kids ages 8 to 12 how we got to the moon From cube-shaped astronaut foods to the famous moon walk, there are so many incredible things for kids to learn about the Apollo 11 mission. This engaging guide introduces kids to the legacy of Apollo 11 through short, fun Q&As. They'll see how awesome learning can be as they read about spaceships, astronauts, space suits, and more—one easy-to-understand answer at a time. Go beyond other Apollo 11 books for kids with: New ways to learn—Launch kids into the history of the Apollo 11 mission with Q&As, true or false questions, and fun facts. Shareable history—This book is packed full of bite-sized bits of history that are both memorable and exciting for kids to tell their friends and family. A complete overview—From the start of the space race to the ways the Apollo 11 mission still affects modern space travel, kids will get a comprehensive look at America's space program. Spark a lifelong love of history in young astronauts with this top choice in space books for kids.
Apollo 11: The Eagle Has Landed
by Leigh AndersonHave you ever looked into the night sky and wished that you could walk on the Moon? Find about what it is like from the astronauts that were first to do it! Learn about how Neil Armstrong, Edwin Aldrin, and Michael Collins traveled into space and created history in 1969, and what it was like to take those famous first steps that made “one giant leap for mankind."
Apollo 11: The Moon Landing in Real Time
by Ian PassinghamA day-by-day account of the 1969 Apollo 11 Moon landing—from launch prep to the crews&’ return to Earth—by the author of 66: The World Cup In Real Time. Half a century has passed since arguably the greatest feat of the twentieth century: when Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon. Apollo 11: The Moon Landing In Real Time brings the mission back to life as never before in a thrilling day-by-day account, exploring everything from the historic flight itself to how the $24-billion space program divided a nation. Journey back in time and feel the excitement build in the days before launch, and then experience the tension of the dramatic lunar landing and the relief of the crew&’s safe return to Earth. This engaging account mixes easily understandable explanations of the groundbreaking technology behind Apollo 11 with entertainment, excitement, and humor in equal measure. Set against a backdrop of the Cold War, race riots, and the Vietnam War, the mission polarized opinion worldwide. Alongside these issues, read long-forgotten tales including how a Chilean lawyer claimed he was the legal owner of the Moon, thousands of people signed up for proposed commercial Moon flights, Hilton revealed plans for a lunar hotel, &“flat Earth&” believers claimed the mission was a hoax, and some scientists feared the astronauts would bring back deadly germs from space which would devastate mankind. &“A most enjoyable read.&” —Quest: The History of Spaceflight Quarterly