Our Old Monsters
Our Old Monsters

Author: Brenda S. Gardenour Walter

Publisher: McFarland

Published: 2015-07-22

Total Pages: 251

ISBN-13: 078647680X

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The witch, the vampire and the werewolf endure in modern horror. These "old monsters" have their origins in Aristotle as studied in the universities of medieval Europe, where Christian scholars reconciled works of natural philosophy and medicine with theological precepts. They codified divine perfection as warm, light, male and associated with the ethereal world beyond the moon, while evil imperfection was cold, dark, female and bound to the corrupt world below the moon. All who did not conform to divine goodness--including un-holy women and Jews--were considered evil and ascribed a melancholic, blood hungry and demonic physiology. This construct was the basis for anti-woman and anti-Jewish discourse that has persisted through modern Western culture. Nowhere is this more evident than in horror films, where the witch, the vampire and the werewolf represent our fear of the inverted other.

Disability in Antiquity
Disability in Antiquity

Author: Christian Laes

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2016-10-04

Total Pages: 660

ISBN-13: 1317231538

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This volume is a major contribution to the field of disability history in the ancient world. Contributions from leading international scholars examine deformity and disability from a variety of historical, sociological and theoretical perspectives, as represented in various media. The volume is not confined to a narrow view of ‘antiquity’ but includes a large number of pieces on ancient western Asia that provide a broad and comparative view of the topic and enable scholars to see this important topic in the round. Disability in Antiquity is the first multidisciplinary volume to truly map out and explore the topic of disability in the ancient world and create new avenues of thought and research.

Marks of Distinctions
Marks of Distinctions

Author: Irven M. Resnick

Publisher: CUA Press

Published: 2012-06

Total Pages: 410

ISBN-13: 0813219698

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Through the use of several illustrations from illuminated manuscripts and other media, Resnick engages readers in a discussion of the later medieval notion of Jewish difference.

Food and Religious Identities in Spain, 1400-1600
Food and Religious Identities in Spain, 1400-1600

Author: Jillian Williams

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2017-03-16

Total Pages: 207

ISBN-13: 1351817051

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In the late fourteenth century, the Iberian Peninsula was home to three major religions which coexisted in relative peace. Over the next two centuries, various political and social factors changed the face of Iberia dramatically. This book examines this period of dynamic change in Iberian history through the lens of food and its relationship to religious identity. It also provides a basis for further study of the connection between food and identities of all types. This study explores the role of food as an expression of religious identity made evident in things like fasting, feasting, ingredient choices, preparation methods and commensal relations. It considers the role of food in the formation and redefinition of religious identities throughout this period and its significance in the maintenance of ideological and physical boundaries between faiths. This is an insightful and unique look into inter-religious dynamics. It will therefore be of great interest to scholars of religious studies, early modern European history and food studies.

An Illustrated History of Health and Fitness, from Pre-History to our Post-Modern World
An Illustrated History of Health and Fitness, from Pre-History to our Post-Modern World

Author: Roy J. Shephard

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2014-11-27

Total Pages: 1095

ISBN-13: 3319116711

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This book examines the health/fitness interaction in an historical context. Beginning in primitive hunter-gatherer communities, where survival required adequate physical activity, it goes on to consider changes in health and physical activity at subsequent stages in the evolution of “civilization.” It focuses on the health impacts of a growing understanding of medicine and physiology, and the emergence of a middle-class with the time and money to choose between active and passive leisure pursuits. The book reflects on urbanization and industrialization in relation to the need for public health measures, and the ever-diminishing physical demands of the work-place. It then evaluates the attitudes of prelates, politicians, philosophers and teachers at each stage of the process. Finally, the book explores professional and governmental initiatives to increase public involvement in active leisure through various school, worksite, recreational and sports programmes.