Sun Ra’s "Astro Black Mythology". Narrating the Self PDF Download

Author: Anika Meier
Publisher: GRIN Verlag
ISBN: 3656820619
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 42

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Book Description
Seminar paper from the year 2014 in the subject Communications - Miscellaneous, grade: 1,0, University of Potsdam (Institut für Künste und Medien), language: English, abstract: As a ground-breaking pioneer of African-American experimental jazz, bandleader, composer and extraordinary visionary of his time, Sun Ra not only challenged contemporary musical theory, but also created a multi-layered and equally perplexing alternative universe whose mythology and intergalactic narrative navigated between ancient Egypt and outer space. Declaring himself “a brother from another planet” (essay title of John Corbett, 1994) namely from Saturn, not from planet Earth, Sun Ra cheerfully embraced the impossible – announcing in the 1960s that it attracted him because “everything possible has been done and the world did not change” (both cited in Lock 1999, 3) – and spent the rest of his life travelling the space ways, “from planet to planet” not only promoting but enacting a vision of a future utopia: “The impossible is the watchword of the greater space age. The space age cannot be avoided and the space music is the key to understand the meaning of the impossible and every other enigma” (cited in Lock 1999, 26).

Author: Nevin Baidoun
Publisher:
ISBN: 9783346463456
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Author: Jakub Duch
Publisher: GRIN Verlag
ISBN: 3346090574
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 24

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Seminar paper from the year 2015 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 2,0, University of Hamburg, language: English, abstract: This seminar paper explains the historical and biographical background of Lorraine Hansberry's writing "A Raisin in the Sun". The African American intelligentsia has always been torn between assimilating into a society built by and for white people, and the longing for a deeper connection with Africa and its cultures. Hansberry, the most talented African American playwright of the post-war era, tackles this issue by using two male figures as antagonists in her play which is one of the all-time classics of black American literature. Apart from its witty dialogues and the realistic and authentic characters, the many issues the play comments on make it stand out. For an analyst of literature, there are many possibilities of examining it further. One possibility could be the role segregation (and the struggle to overcome it) plays in "A Raisin in the Sun", since Lorraine Hansberry’s father fought in court for his right to move into a predominately white neighborhood. Another way of studying the play could perhaps lay the focus onto Hansberry’s feminism and the representation of gender roles in it, since it features various strong female characters. One could also analyze the play as a comment on capitalist ideology, the American dream and the poor’s desperate quest for material well-being. However, I decided to analyze the actions of two characters that symbolically stand for two different ways African Americans can choose: identification with blackness and Africa and assimilationism are represented by the characters of Asagai and George Murchison, respectively. The stark contrast between the two, the scenario of Beneatha choosing between them, and the way Hansberry employed the literary technique of personification were the reason this aspect of the play appeared the most interesting.

Author: Nadja Litschko
Publisher: GRIN Verlag
ISBN: 3638547809
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 35

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Seminar paper from the year 2006 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 1,3, http://www.uni-jena.de/ (Institut für Anglistik/Amerikanistik), course: Mythology for England, language: English, abstract: Narrator. Storyteller. When thinking about a person who narrates or tells a story, one of the first impressions that usually come to mind is that of a man or a woman, sitting in a well-worn rocking chair, surrounded by children who listen with rapt attention to tales of dragons and princesses. This image, depicting the classical oral storyteller as he has been known since ancient times, may at first glance have little to do with the narrative voice of a written work of literature. However, the oral storyteller and the narrator of a novel have many things in common. They both mediate the story to an audience - either to a real one that is physically present or to an impersonal reader of a book, and, depending on their technique, they are able to recount a story in a number of ways. There are many different approaches to narrating a tale. A narrator can remain mostly in the background and simply relate the story to his readers or listeners, without any commentary of other interruptions, or he can narrate the story through his or her own eyes, using the first person singular and thus creating an intensely personal atmosphere and letting the audience experience the adventures almost first-hand. However, sometimes the narrator can become actively involved into the tale, but without actually being a part of it. He adds his own thoughts and opinions to the story, he speaks to the readers himself and actively guides them through his story. Such a narrator is also present in Tolkien’s novel The Hobbit. So the topic of this paper will be to analyse the narrator of The Hobbit, and to determine his most characteristic features. It will be illustrated on the following pages that the narrator of The Hobbit is an intrusive authorial narrator who frequently comments on and judges the characters as well as the unfolding events, who is acutely aware of himself, his audience and his role as a storyteller, and who addressed his readers in a direct way and actively leads them through his narrative. Furthermore it will be determined whether there are any obvious changes to the narrative voice in the last chapters of the book, which were written over three years after the rest of the novel.

Author: Stevphen Shukaitis
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 266

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Book Description
Nonfiction. Political Science. Criticism and Theory. Art. "IMAGINAL MACHINES explores with humor and wit the condition of art and politics in contemporary capitalism. It reviews the potentials and limits of liberatory art (from surrealism to Tom Waits) while charting the always-resurgent creations of the collective imagination. Shukaitis exhibits a remarkable theoretical breadth, bringing together the work of Castoriadis, the Situationists, and autonomous Marxism to define a new task for militant research: constructing imaginal machines that escape capitalism. IMAGINAL MACHINES is truly a book that makes a path by walking"--Silvia Federici, author of CALIBAN AND THE WITCH: WOMEN, THE BODY, AND PRIMITIVE ACCUMULATION.

Author: Sun Ra
Publisher: BoD – Books on Demand
ISBN: 3833426594
Category : African American philosophers
Languages : en
Pages : 541

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Book Description
A talented pianist and composer in his own right, Sun Ra (1914 - 1993) founded and conducted one of jazz's last great big bands from the 1950s until he left planet Earth. Few only know that he also was a gifted thinker and poet. Sun Ra's poetry leaves everything behind what's called contemporary, and flings out pictures of infinity into the outer space. These poems are for tomorrow. This is the only edition of Sun Ra's complete poetry and prose in one volume. The Contributors James L. Wolf Earned a music degree from Carleton College, and studied ethnomusicology at the University of Washington, Seattle. Now works at the Library of Congress in the Music Division. Active musician in various bands in the DC area. Many contributions to Sun Ra scholarship. Hartmut Geerken Oriental studies, philosophy and comparative religion at the universities of Tübingen and Istanbul. Writer, filmmaker, musician, composer. Since the 1970s, close relationships to Sun Ra and his works, setting up the world's most comprehensive Waitawhile Sun Ra Archive Sigrid Hauff Studied oriental languages and arts, philosophy, and romance studies at the universities of Tübingen and Istanbul. Free lance writer on literary and philosophical subjects. Klaus Detlef Thiel Studied philosophy and history at Trier University, Ph.D. Philosophical author, focussing on theory and history of writing. Brent Hayes Edwards Teaches in the English Department at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ. Author and Co-Editor of works on jazz and literature.

Author: Monique Bre
Publisher: GRIN Verlag
ISBN: 3638427811
Category : Literary Collections
Languages : en
Pages : 20

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Book Description
Seminar paper from the year 2002 in the subject American Studies - Literature, grade: 2,3, Dresden Technical University (Institut Amerikanistik), course: Images of the American Twenties, 5 entries in the bibliography, language: English, abstract: Ernest Hemingway’s novel The Sun Also Rises is set in Europe after World War 1. The effects of the war led to a decline of the traditional value system - to a degeneration of morality, belief in justice, and love. It was a time of despair and disillusionment. People who experienced the war became psychological and morally „lost“. Because of the dissolute lifestyle of this generation Gertrude Stein called them the „Lost Generation“. Life became meaningless for these people because they were no longer able to rely on traditional beliefs. They tried to fill up their empty lives with inconsequential activities like drinking, dancing, and debauchery. These characteristics of this time apply to almost all of the characters in the novel. The Sun Also Rises deals with a desperate group of expatriates, who are all in search of passion and meaning of life. Consequently to the war, all characters are in some way, emotionally, psychologically, or spiritually damaged. Their lifestyle is just a purposeless activity of an aimless life which centers on activities like drinking, dancing, eating, fishing, watching bullfights, or getting haircuts. Jake and his companions are always on the move: from one cafe to another, from Paris to Pamplona. But their excessive lifestyle does not make them happy. The permanent use of alcohol lets them forget their situation and lets them not think about their inner lives or about the war. The partying and drinking, which is a form of escapism, is the only possibility to experience distraction. Under the influence of alcohol the characters think they can escape a life that is empty of true affection and purpose.

Author: Lenka Šerešová
Publisher: GRIN Verlag
ISBN: 3668560595
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 63

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Master's Thesis from the year 2017 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 1,8, University of Leipzig (Institute for Anglistics), language: English, abstract: The Chronicles of Narnia attract not only children, but also readers past the childhood age group. The story that takes place within the seven books possesses something that is explained by Lewis ́s favourite childhood author Robert Louis Stevenson as “nameless longings”. According to him, the stories, apart from containing realities of life, should provide the reader with something that makes them want more even after the book has come to its end. The main aim of the thesis is to give some of the nameless longings a proper name. The first part is dedicated to analysis of the Chronicles on the basis of Joseph Campbell ́s approach to mythology and C.G. Jung ́s analysis of archetypes to demonstrate that Lewis ́s way of combining different views into one story corresponds with Campbell’s theory of Monomyth. The second part addresses Lewis ́s own view on mythology and what makes a good myth in accordance with his checklist in An Experiment in Criticism. Additionally, the second part attempts to clarify that Lewis did not draw from the world ́s mythology only; the story is also based on a collection of Narnia ́s own myths that are passed down throughout its history. The third and the final part of the thesis looks at the Chronicles from the point of view of the Christian myth and the idea that religious myths in general follow a common pattern of a saviour sacrificing himself for the believers in order to save the world from the evil. Furthermore, Lewis ́s own views on religion and its influence on writing the Chronicles are discussed.

Author: Charles Fort
Publisher: Library of Alexandria
ISBN: 1613106424
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 442

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Book Description
"Time travel, UFOs, mysterious planets, stigmata, rock-throwing poltergeists, huge footprints, bizarre rains of fish and frogs-nearly a century after Charles Fort's Book of the Damned was originally published, the strange phenomenon presented in this book remains largely unexplained by modern science. Through painstaking research and a witty, sarcastic style, Fort captures the imagination while exposing the flaws of popular scientific explanations. Virtually all of his material was compiled and documented from reports published in reputable journals, newspapers and periodicals because he was an avid collector. Charles Fort was somewhat of a recluse who spent most of his spare time researching these strange events and collected these reports from publications sent to him from around the globe. This was the first of a series of books he created on unusual and unexplained events and to this day it remains the most popular. If you agree that truth is often stranger than fiction, then this book is for you"--Taken from Good Reads website.

Author: Eric A. HAVELOCK
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674038436
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 343

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Book Description
Plato's frontal attack on poetry has always been a problem for sympathetic students, who have often minimized or avoided it. Beginning with the premise that the attack must be taken seriously, Eric Havelock shows that Plato's hostility is explained by the continued domination of the poetic tradition in contemporary Greek thought. The reason for the dominance of this tradition was technological. In a nonliterate culture, stored experience necessary to cultural stability had to be preserved as poetry in order to be memorized. Plato attacks poets, particularly Homer, as the sole source of Greek moral and technical instruction-Mr. Havelock shows how the Iliad acted as an oral encyclopedia. Under the label of mimesis, Plato condemns the poetic process of emotional identification and the necessity of presenting content as a series of specific images in a continued narrative. The second part of the book discusses the Platonic Forms as an aspect of an increasingly rational culture. Literate Greece demanded, instead of poetic discourse, a vocabulary and a sentence structure both abstract and explicit in which experience could be described normatively and analytically: in short a language of ethics and science.