Author: Gerard Bouchard File Type: pdf Myths are commonly associated with illusions or with deceptive, dangerous discourse, and are often perceived as largely the domain of premodern societies. But even in our post-industrial, technologically driven world, myths Western or Eastern, ancient or modern, religious or scientific are in fact powerful, pervasive forces. In Social Myths and Collective Imaginaries, Gerard Bouchard conceptualizes myths as vessels of sacred values that transcend the division between primitive and modern. Myths represent key elements of collective imaginaries, past and present. In all societies there are values and beliefs that hold sway over most of the population. Whether they come from religion, political institutions, or other sources, they enjoy exalted status and go largely unchallenged. These myths have the power to bring societies together as well as pull them apart. Yet the study of myth has been largely neglected by sociologists and other social scientists. Bouchard navigates this uncharted territory by addressing a number of fundamental questions What is the place of myth in contemporary societies and in the relations between the cultural and the social? How do myths take form? From what do they draw their strength? How do they respond to shifting contexts? Myths matter, Bouchard argues, because of the energy they unleash, energy that enables a population to mobilize and rally around collective goals. At the same time myths work to alleviate collective anxiety and to meet the most pressing challenges facing a society. In this bold analysis, Bouchard challenges common assumptions and awakens us to the transcendent power of myth in our daily lives and in our shared aspirations. **

Author: Henri Peyre File Type: pdf 0false18 pt18 pt00falsefalsefalse!--StartFragment-- This book centers on the revolutionary French symbolist movement of the last part of the 19th century, translated by Emmett Parker. Peyre gets to the heart of the subject, through provocative lines. !--EndFragment--

Author: Ronald Haflidson File Type: pdf Ron Haflidson places the theology of Augustine in conversation with contemporary authors, who warn of the dangers of abandoning solitude for constant (often technological) connection. Haflidson addresses an essential question that has previously been neglected What difference does it make to the practice of solitude if one believes that even in the absence of any human company, God is always intimately present? For Augustine, solitude is a moral necessity he recommends that we regularly retreat from the crowd into the depths of our conscience, where we can dwell alone in the company of God, and enter into dialogue before and with God about who we are and how we love. Throughout this book, Haflidson pairs close readings of Augustine with those of noted cartographers of our inner lives, literary greats including Jane Austen, George Eliot, Marilynne Robinson and George Saunders. This book explores what undiscovered possibilities may lie in solitude.Review Augustine on the subtleties of interior solitude has been very nearly over looked by the modern study of the bishop of Hippo. In this deeply perceptive and rich book, Ron Haflidson has opened a door through which many will want to enter and marvel. MARTIN LAIRD, Villanova University, USA About the Author Ron Haflidson is a Tutor in the great books program at St. Johns College, Annapolis, Maryland, USA.

Author: Tiqqun File Type: pdf