Dec 02
ChRIS CLÉiRIGhannouncements
Title: Oxford Dictionary of Reference and Allusion
Subtitle: Third Edition
Publication Year: 2012
Publisher: Oxford University Press
http://www.oup.com/us
Book URL: http://www.oup.com/us/catalog/general/subject/Reference/?view=usa&ci=9780199567461
Author: Andrew Delahunty
Author: Sheila Dignen
Paperback: ISBN: 9780199567461 Pages: 416 Price: U.S. $ 18.95
Abstract:
Allusions are a marvelous literary shorthand. A miser is a Scrooge, a strong
man a Samson, a beautiful woman a modern-day Helen of Troy. From classical
mythology to modern movies and TV shows, this revised and updated third
edition explains the meanings of more than 2,000 allusions in use in modern
English, from Abaddon to Zorro, Tartarus to Tarzan, and Rambo to Rubens. Based
on an extensive reading program that has identified the most commonly used
allusions, this fascinating volume includes numerous quotations to illustrate
usage, drawn from sources ranging from Thomas Hardy and Charles Dickens to
Bridget Jones’s Diary. In addition, the dictionary includes a useful thematic
index, so that readers not only can look up Medea to find out how her name is
used as an allusion, but also can look up the theme of “Revenge” and find,
alongside Medea, entries for other figures used to allude to revenge, such as
The Furies or The Count of Monte Cristo.
Hailed by Library Journal as “wonderfully conceived and extraordinarily
useful,” this superb reference–now available in paperback–will appeal to
anyone who enjoys language in all its variety. It is especially useful for
students and writers.
Dec 02
ChRIS CLÉiRIGhannouncements
Title: Music, Language, and Human Evolution
Publication Year: 2012
Publisher: Oxford University Press
http://www.oup.com/us
Book URL: http://www.oup.com/us/catalog/general/subject/Philosophy/Aesthetics/?view=usa&ci=9780199227341
Editor: Nicholas Bannan
Hardback: ISBN: 9780199227341 Pages: 400 Price: U.S. $ 150
Abstract:
Why do human beings make music? No human society has ever existed without
music, and people all around the world commit considerable resources,
including time, effort, and ingenuity, to musical participation and
consumption. Yet until recently archaeology has had little to say about the
possible role of music in human evolution. This book examines the potential
role of musicality in human evolution and its consequences for human culture.
Drawing on a growing body of research in archaeology, anthropology,
psychology, and musicology, it illustrates the inter-disciplinary necessity of
accounting for the phenomenon of human music-making.
Through twelve articles, the contributors to his volume build on Charles
Darwin’s speculation that human language may have had its origins in forms of
vocal communication closer to the condition of music. Music and language are
both acquired by individuals, and thus transmitted over the generations as a
consequence of an evolved biology specially adapted for these purposes. The
authors of this book seek to illuminate the debate surrounding the precedence
of musicality over language in research influenced by Darwin’s proposal,
critically examining the controversial philosophical, developmental, and
inter-cultural issues implied.
The accompanying CD provides some glimpses of the practice of music in a
variety of cultures and illustrates ways of listening to the human voice that
reveal its intrinsic musicality.
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