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The Lives of Dwarfs: Their Journey from Public Curiosity Toward Social Liberation
Betty M. Adelson Manufacturer: Rutgers University Press ProductGroup: Book Binding: Hardcover Similar Items:
ASIN: 0813535484 |
Book Description
"The Lives of Dwarfs is extraordinary in its range and vision. Beautifully written. Totally absorbing."Ursula Hegi, author of Stones from the River"As a little person, husband, and father of a little person, I dream of the day when dwarfs attain full acceptance in society. The Lives of Dwarfs provides a giant step in that direction."Rick Spiegel, former president of Little People of America
"This important book makes it possible for both average- and short-statured people to challenge our collective understanding of dwarfism as a synonym for diminishment or as an array of cute and evil fairy-tale figures. The libratory work of this book is to invite us all to reimagine dwarfism as a livable experience and tenable way of being in the world."Rosemarie Garland Thomson, author of Extraordinary Bodies: Figuring Physical Disability in American Culture and Literature
"A work of compassionate scholarship. A unique contribution to the literature of physical deformity and social isolation and a gift to the individuals whose personal struggle this is."Linda Hunt, actor
Historically, they have borne the labels "freaks" and "oddities"; they have been collected as pets, displayed as spectacles, and treated as comic relief. Now, for the first time, in this elegant and comprehensive volume, the lives of dwarfs are explored in all their fullness and humanity.
Spanning the centuries from ancient Egypt to the present, this unique social history chronicles the various ways this population has been exploited, describes their strategies for coping, and notes the persistent influence of mythology upon perceptions of them by others. The narrative also highlights the lives of eminent individuals and contains a thought-provoking account of the representation and participation of dwarfs in the arts, enhanced by outstanding color photographs. Betty M. Adelson, the mother of a daughter with dwarfism, brings special insight and sensitivity to the research. She traces the widespread mistreatment of dwarfs over the centuries, engendered by their being viewed as curiosities rather than as human beings capable of the same accomplishments as people of average height, and deserving of the same pleasures. For much of their history, dwarfs have resorted to exhibiting themselves: because of social stigma no other employment was available.
Only in recent years have short-statured individuals begun to challenge their position in society. Medical advances, new economic opportunities, and disability legislation have led to progress, mainly in Western nations. Advocacy groups have also formed in countries as diverse as Chile, South Korea, and Nigeria. Adelson compares what she refers to as the "small revolution" to similar social and cultural awakenings that women, African Americans, gays and lesbians, and persons with disabilities experienced when they identified themselves as a community with shared goals and obstacles.
Written with passion, grace, and the dignity that the subject deserves, The Lives of Dwarfs will not only revolutionize current perceptions about the historically misrepresented dwarf population, but also offer pause for thought on issues of disability, medical treatment, height, beauty, and identity.
Customer Reviews:
Absorbing and completely necessary.......2005-06-22
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The Seven Addictions and Five Professions of Anita Berber: Weimar Berlin's Priestess of Depravity
Mel Gordon Manufacturer: Feral House ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback Similar Items:
ASIN: 1932595120 |
Book Description
The Seven Addictions and Five Professions of Anita Berber is the first contemporary biography of a notorious actor/dancer/poet/playwright who scandalized sex-obsessed Weimar Berlin during the 1920s.
In an era where everything was permitted, Anita Berber's celebrations of "Depravity, Horror and Ecstasy" were condemned and censored. She often haunted Weimar Berlin's hotel lobbies, nightclubs and casinos, radiantly naked except for an elegant sable wrap, a pet monkey hanging from her neck, and a silver brooch packed with cocaine. Multi-talented Anita saw no boundaries between her personal life and her taboo-shattering performances. As such, she was Europe's first postmodern woman.
Among those Anita Berber claimed as members of her vast sexual harem were Marlene Dietrich, Magnus Hirschfeld (the founder of modern sexology and gay liberation), Klaus Mann, Conrad Veidt, Lawrence Durrell, and the King of Yugoslavia. Berber acted in Fritz Lang's Dr. Mabuse: The Gambler and starred in the silent epic, Lucifer. Even Leni Riefenstahl credits Berber for inspiring her controversial career. After sated Berliners finally tired of Anita Berber's libidinous antics, she became a "carrion soul that even the hyenas ignored," dying in 1928 at the age of 29.
The Seven Addictions and Five Professions of Anita Berber chronicles a remarkable career, including over 150 photographs and drawings that recreate Anita's enduring "Repertoire of the Damned."
Customer Reviews:
The career story of actor, dancer, poet, and sex culture icon Anita Berber.......2006-09-12
"She was the most remarkable spirit that I ever met in the weird underworld of human sexuality.".......2006-09-10
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The Berbers of Morocco (Elmtree Africana)
Alan Keohane Manufacturer: Viking Penguin ProductGroup: Book Binding: Hardcover Similar Items: ASIN: 0241129664 |
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Historical Dictionary of the Berbers (Imazighen) (Historical Dictionaries of People and Cultures)
Hsain Ilahiane Manufacturer: The Scarecrow Press, Inc. ProductGroup: Book Binding: Hardcover ASIN: 081085452X |
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Berber Culture On The World Stage: From Village To Video
Jane E. Goodman Manufacturer: Indiana University Press ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback Similar Items:
ASIN: 0253217849 |
Book Description
In this nuanced study of the performance of cultural identity, Jane E. Goodman travels from contemporary Kabyle Berber communities in Algeria and France to the colonial archives, identifying the products, performances, and media through which Berber identity has developed. In the 1990s, with a major Islamist insurgency underway in Algeria, Berber cultural associations created performance forms that challenged Islamist premises while critiquing their own village practices. Goodman describes the phenomenon of new Kabyle song, a form of world music that transformed village songs for global audiences. She follows new songs as they move from their producers to the copyright agency to the Parisian stage, highlighting the networks of circulation and exchange through which Berbers have achieved global visibility.Customer Reviews:
A weindow to the world of Berbers.......2006-03-03
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Amazigh Arts in Morocco: Women Shaping Berber Identity
Cynthia Becker Manufacturer: University of Texas Press ProductGroup: Book Binding: Hardcover Similar Items:
ASIN: 0292712952 |
Book Description
In southeastern Morocco, around the oasis of Tafilalet, the Ait Khabbash people weave brightly colored carpets, embroider indigo head coverings, paint their faces with saffron, and wear ornate jewelry. Their extraordinarily detailed arts are rich in cultural symbolism; they are always breathtakingly beautifuland they are typically made by women. Like other Amazigh (Berber) groups (but in contrast to the Arab societies of North Africa), the Ait Khabbash have entrusted their artistic responsibilities to women. Cynthia Becker spent years in Morocco living among these women and, through family connections and female fellowship, achieved unprecedented access to the artistic rituals of the Ait Khabbash. The result is more than a stunning examination of the arts themselves, it is also an illumination of women's roles in Islamic North Africa and the many ways in which women negotiate complex social and religious issues.
One of the reasons Amazigh women are artists is that the arts are expressions of ethnic identity, and it follows that the guardians of Amazigh identity ought to be those who literally ensure its continuation from generation to generation, the Amazigh women. Not surprisingly, the arts are visual expressions of womanhood, and fertility symbols are prevalent. Controlling the visual symbols of Amazigh identity has given these women power and prestige. Their clothing, tattoos, and jewelry are public identity statements; such public artistic expressions contrast with the stereotype that women in the Islamic world are secluded and veiled. But their role as public identity symbols can also be restrictive, and history (French colonialism, the subsequent rise of an Arab-dominated government in Morocco, and the recent emergence of a transnational Berber movement) has forced Ait Khabbash women to adapt their arts as their people adapt to the contemporary world. By framing Amazigh arts with historical and cultural context, Cynthia Becker allows the reader to see the full measure of these fascinating artworks.
Customer Reviews:
Berber Arts.......2007-01-05
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Mersad Berber (Modern art monographs)
Mersad Berber Manufacturer: Control Data Pub Co ProductGroup: Book Binding: Hardcover ASIN: 0898931126 |
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The Berbers (The Peoples of Africa)
Michael Brett , and Elizabeth Fentress Manufacturer: Blackwell Publishing Limited ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback Similar Items:
ASIN: 0631207678 |
Book Description
The Berbers is the first attempt by English scholars to provide a comprehensive overview of the history of the Berber-speaking peoples. From the first appearance of humans in the Maghreb, through the rise of the formidable Berber kingdoms of Numidia and Mauretania, the book traces the origins of the distinct characteristics of these disparate peoples, regarded as the indigenous inhabitants of North Africa. In examining, too, the responses to external overlords, whether Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Turks, or, most recently, European imperial powers, the authors indicate the importance for the various Berber communities of such factors as language, tradition, social organization and geographical location. The book also covers the role of religion and trade as forces of social change in North Africa.The authors draw on a wide range of sources, from archaeology and history, to anthropology and literature. In showing the Berber-speaking peoples in their immediate social environments, the book explains how they retained a range of traditional systems of organization alongside those of the dominant cultures. The Berbers will thus help the reader to appreciate the Berber past and to understand their present.
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The Berbers and the Islamic State: The Marinid Experience in Pre-Protectorate Morocco
Maya Shatzmiller Manufacturer: Markus Wiener Publishers ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback Similar Items: ASIN: 1558762248 |
Book Description
The Arab conquest of North Africa in the 8th century gave birth to a new political body on the Western Mediterranean shores, a Berber-Islamic state, which continued to evolve throughout the entire medieval period and achieved viability, coherence and stability by implementing Islamic norms of community and statehood, identity and institutions. The process was not a peaceful one, however. The drive to bring the Berber populace into the mainstream of Islamic statehood, through intensified islamization, indoctrination in Islamic theology and expansion of the judicial system, deepened the awareness of Berber particularism, and refined and defined its expression vis-a-vis the Islamic state and its institutions. The story told here is that of the acculturation and alienation of the Berbers to the Islamic state under the Marinids, a confederation of Zanata Berber tribes, ruling a stable, even imperial state in Morocco and parts of eastern North Africa in the 13th-15th centuries. This book studies how the Berbers participated in the process of the state's formation in the medieval Maghreb, while at the same time resisting uniformity and conformity to cultural norms and institutions, through which acculturation was enforced. The sources used here are evidence to challenge the view that no independent Berber intellectual and literary activity existed, and to substantiate expressions of Berber self-awareness in the Arab chronicles.Customer Reviews:
An interesting example of partial assimilation.......2005-05-22
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The Torch of Tangier
Aileen G. Baron Manufacturer: Poisoned Pen Press ProductGroup: Book Binding: Hardcover Similar Items:
ASIN: 1590582217 |
Book Description
War time Tangier, policed by Franco's Guardia Civil, thick with many nationalities including Germans and Allies, bitter with the insults of Colonialism, is a dangerous place. Archaeologist Lily Sampson, recruited from her studies in Chicago by the enigmatic Dr. Drury, finds herself in Morocco digging up Neanderthal artifacts at the Cave of Hercules. And soon, working at the American Legation on an undercover mission linked to Operation Torch. The target date: November 8, 1942. The mission: to control French Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia, squash Rommel, and thrust into Europe's underbelly. Out in the Atlantic, Ike will rely on relayed communications. But Lily's mastery of code is interrupted by murder--not one, but twoÂwhich not only imperils her, but Torch itself.Customer Reviews:
A Low-burning Flame.......2007-06-22
exciting historical thriller .......2006-07-05
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Word Works: Why the Alphabet Is a Kid's Best Friend (Brown Paper School Book)
Cathryn Berber Kaye , and Martha Weston Manufacturer: Little Brown & Co (Juv Pap) ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback Similar Items:
ASIN: 0316483753 |
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