Disney – This name stands not only for a company that has had global reach from its early days, but also for a successful aesthetic programme and ideological positions that have had great commercial success but at the same time have been frequently criticised. Straddling traditionalism and modernism, Disney productions have proven adaptable to social discourses and technical and media developments throughout its history. This volume brings together scholars from several European countries to explore various dimensions that constitute ‘Disney.’ In line with current media and cultural studies research, the chapters deal with human-human and human-animal relations, gender and diversity, iconic characters and narratives, Disney’s contribution to cultural and visual heritage, and transmedial and transfictional spaces of experience and practices of participation associated with Disney story worlds.
Waterford Whispers News is Ireland's leading online satirical site - Ireland's answer to The Onion. The site shot to notoriety in January 2014 when it ran a spoof story about North Korea sending a rocket to the sun - which went viral and was picked up as genuine by a number of mainstream media outlets. Since then Waterford Whispers News has been unstoppable, and is now a recognised brand worldwide and a rival to major satirical news sites such as The Daily Mash. Following the success of the bestselling Waterford Whispers News: The State of the Nation and Waterford Whispers Takes Over the World, this new book brings together the best of the brilliant and original stories that have run on the site in the last year, including all the latest on Gerry Adams, commemorations, hipsters, Ryanair and Conor McGregor. Look out to for an Election Special, the inside track on The Rose of Tralee and on the European Championship 2016, and a brand new series of WWN reports on Evergreen Ireland.
There are few instances of a contemporary Western European society more firmly welded to religion than Ireland is to Catholicism. For much of the twentieth century, to be considered a good Irish citizen was to be seen as a good and observant Catholic. Today, the opposite may increasingly be the case. The Irish Catholic Church, once a spiritual institution beyond question, is not only losing influence and relevance; in the eyes of many, it has become something utterly desacralized. In this book, Hugh Turpin offers an innovative and in-depth account of the nature and emergence of "ex-Catholicism"—a new model of the good, and secular, Irish person that is being rapidly adopted in Irish society. Using rich quantitative and qualitative research methods, Turpin explains the emergence and character of religious rejection in the Republic. He examines how numerous factors—including economic growth, social liberalization, attenuated domestic religious socialization, the institutional scandals and moral collapse of the Church, and the Church's lingering influence in social institutions and laws—have interacted to produce a rapid growth in ex-Catholicism. By tracing the frictions within and between practicing Catholics, cultural Catholics, and ex-Catholics in a period of profound cultural change and moral reckoning, Turpin shows how deeply the meanings of being religious or non-religious have changed in the country once described as "Holy Catholic Ireland."
Ghosts and other supernatural phenomena are widely represented throughout modern culture. They can be found in any number of entertainment, commercial, and other contexts, but popular media or commodified representations of ghosts can be quite different from the beliefs people hold about them, based on tradition or direct experience. Personal belief and cultural tradition on the one hand, and popular and commercial representation on the other, nevertheless continually feed each other. They frequently share space in how people think about the supernatural. In Haunting Experiences, three well-known folklorists seek to broaden the discussion of ghost lore by examining it from a variety of angles in various modern contexts. Diane E. Goldstein, Sylvia Ann Grider, and Jeannie Banks Thomas take ghosts seriously, as they draw on contemporary scholarship that emphasizes both the basis of belief in experience (rather than mere fantasy) and the usefulness of ghost stories. They look closely at the narrative role of such lore in matters such as socialization and gender. And they unravel the complex mix of mass media, commodification, and popular culture that today puts old spirits into new contexts.
Living in Leopoldville in the Belgian Congo only to be near his lover, an idealistic journalist, novelist James Gillespie becomes caught up in the terror, violence, and corruption that marks that country's slide into civil war in the early 1960s. Reprint.
Whether you want to explore Ireland’s iconic coastal scenery, visit the Cliffs of Moher or the Ring of Kerry, or experience the thriving arts and music scene in Dublin, the local Fodor’s travel experts in Ireland are here to help! Fodor’s Essential Ireland 2021 with Belfast and Northern Ireland guidebook is packed with maps, carefully curated recommendations, and everything else you need to simplify your trip-planning process and make the most of your time. This guide is part of Fodor’s “Essential” guide series, which has been named as the “Best Travel Guide Series of 2019” by Booklist. This new edition is fully-redesigned with an easy-to-read layout, fresh information, and beautiful color photos. Fodor’s Essential Ireland 2021 travel guide includes: AN ILLUSTRATED ULTIMATE EXPERIENCES GUIDE to the top things to see and do MULTIPLE ITINERARIES to effectively organize your days and maximize your time MORE THAN 30 DETAILED MAPS and a FREE PULL-OUT MAP to help you navigate confidently COLOR PHOTOS throughout to spark your wanderlust! HONEST RECOMMENDATIONS FROM LOCALS on the best sights, restaurants, hotels, nightlife, shopping, performing arts, activities, side-trips, and more PHOTO-FILLED “BEST OF” FEATURES on “Ireland’s Top Natural Wonders,” “Ireland’s Top Castles and Manor Houses,” “The Best Historical Sights to Visit in Ireland,” “Top Tours,” “Best Festivals,” and more TRIP-PLANNING TOOLS AND PRACTICAL TIPS including when to go, itineraries to make the most of your time, getting around, beating the crowds, and saving time and money HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL INSIGHTS providing rich context on the local people, politics, art, architecture, cuisine, music, geography, and more SPECIAL FEATURES on “What to Watch and Read Before You Visit,” “What to Eat and Drink,” and “What to Buy.” LOCAL WRITERS to help you find the under-the-radar gems EXPANDED COVERAGE OF Northern Ireland and Belfast to account for its rising popularity with visitors. UP-TO-DATE COVERAGE ON Dublin, Kerry, Clare, Galway, Cork, Belfast, Northern Ireland, the Aran Islands, the Ring of Kerry, The Giants Causeway, the Wild Atlantic Way, Killarney, Connemara, Trinity College, Dublin’s museums, the Book of Kells, Dingle, Donegal, Irish Castles and Monasteries, Irish Design, Irish Festivals and events, and more. Planning on visiting England? Check out Fodor’s Essential England, Fodor’s London, and Fodor’s Essential Great Britain. *Important note for digital editions: The digital edition of this guide does not contain all the images or text included in the physical edition. ABOUT FODOR'S AUTHORS: Each Fodor's Travel Guide is researched and written by local experts. Fodor’s has been offering expert advice for all tastes and budgets for over 80 years. For more travel inspiration, you can sign up for our travel newsletter at fodors.com/newsletter/signup, or follow us @FodorsTravel on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. We invite you to join our friendly community of travel experts at fodors.com/community to ask any other questions and share your experience with us!
This book features selected papers from the International Conference on Soft Computing for Security Applications (ICSCS 2021), held at Dhirajlal Gandhi College of Technology, Tamil Nadu, India, during June 2021. It covers recent advances in the field of soft computing techniques such as fuzzy logic, neural network, support vector machines, evolutionary computation, machine learning and probabilistic reasoning to solve various real-time challenges. The book presents innovative work by leading academics, researchers, and experts from industry.
Waterford Whispers News 2017 is the fourth annual from Ireland's leading online satirical site, featuring the funniest stories of the year, including the latest on Garda scandals, Donald Trump, Brexit, Enda Kenny's departure and Conor McGregor's baby. Follow the diary of a Garda recruit in his first year at Templemore and find out who the five greatest Late Late guests of all time were. Packed with brilliant satire, sharp wit and insightful social commentary, Ireland's answer to The Onion is now a worldwide phenomenon and a must-read in an era when the news has never been more unpredictable.
In One Dance with a Duke—the first novel in Tessa Dare’s delightful new trilogy—secrets and scandals tempt the irresistible rogues of the Stud Club to gamble everything for love. A handsome and reclusive horse breeder, Spencer Dumarque, the fourth Duke of Morland, is a member of the exclusive Stud Club, an organization so select it has only ten members—yet membership is attainable to anyone with luck. And Spencer has plenty of it, along with an obsession with a prize horse, a dark secret, and, now, a reputation as the dashing “Duke of Midnight.” Each evening he selects one lady for a breathtaking midnight waltz. But none of the women catch his interest, and nobody ever bests the duke—until Lady Amelia d’Orsay tries her luck. In a moment of desperation, the unconventional beauty claims the duke’s dance and unwittingly steals his heart. When Amelia demands that Spencer forgive her scapegrace brother’s debts, she never imagines that her game of wits and words will lead to breathless passion and a steamy proposal. Still, Spencer is a man of mystery, perhaps connected to the shocking murder of the Stud Club’s founder. Will Amelia lose her heart in this reckless wager or win everlasting love?
