Δοκίμιο & Πολιτισμός

Conventional wisdom says that all we need to do to stay fit and trim is to exercise regularly and eat a low-fat, whole-food diet. Yet more and more people want to fast, forgoing food altogether. But should we fast? And does fasting speak to something deep and immutable within us? Why are we so well adapted to undertake it? And is there a way we can balance the demands of our busy lives with an ancient ritual that requires taking time to rest and rejuvenate?
This book tackles all these questions and more. It shows that the story of fasting has roots in the most fundamental aspects of the human condition, and is in fact a quest for mastery – over our bodies, our minds, our health, our circumstances and our fate. And the book tells of the hopes, anxieties and convictions that set us upon that journey.

Linda Nochlin's seminal essay on women artists is widely acknowledged as the first real attempt at a feminist history of art. Nochlin refused to handle the question of why there had been no 'great women artists' on its own, corrupted, terms. Instead, she dismantled the very concept of 'greatness', unravelling the basic assumptions that had centred a male-coded 'genius' in the study of art. With unparalleled insight and startling wit, Nochlin laid bare the acceptance of a white male viewpoint in art historical thought as not merely a moral failure, but an intellectual one. Freedom, as she sees it, requires women to risk entirely demolishing the art world's institutions, and rebuilding them anew - in other words, to leap into the unknown. In this stand-alone anniversary edition, Nochlin's essay is published alongside its reappraisal, 'Thirty Years After'. Written in an era of thriving feminist theory, as well as queer theory, race and postcolonial studies, 'Thirty Years After' is a striking reflection on the emergence of a whole new canon. With reference to Joan Mitchell, Louise Bourgeois, Cindy Sherman and many more, Nochlin diagnoses the state of women and art with unmatched precision and verve. 'Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?' has become a slogan and rallying cry that resonates across culture and society; Dior even adopted it in their 2018 collections. In the 2020s, at a time when 'certain patriarchal values are making a comeback', Nochlin's message could not be more urgent: as she herself put it in 2015, 'there is still a long way to go'. With 14 illustrations

William S. Burroughs's fiction and essays are legendary, but his influence on music's counterculture has been less well documented-until now. Examining how one of America's most controversial literary figures altered the destinies of many notable and varied musicians, William S. Burroughs and the Cult of Rock 'n' Roll reveals the transformations in music history that can be traced to Burroughs. A heroin addict and a gay man, Burroughs rose to notoriety outside the conventional literary world; his masterpiece, Naked Lunch, was banned on the grounds of obscenity, but its nonlinear structure was just as daring as its content. Casey Rae brings to life Burroughs's parallel rise to fame among daring musicians of the 1960s, '70s, and '80s, when it became a rite of passage to hang out with the author or to experiment with his cut-up techniques for producing revolutionary lyrics (as the Beatles and Radiohead did). Whether they tell of him exploring the occult with David Bowie, providing Lou Reed with gritty depictions of street life, or counseling Patti Smith about coping with fame, the stories of Burroughs's backstage impact will transform the way you see America's cultural revolution-and the way you hear its music.

Twenty thousand years ago, women were making and wearing clothing created from spun fibres. In Women’s Work, archaeologist-linguist Elizabeth Wayland Barber “weaves the strands of mythology and literature, ethnology and documented history into a rich tapestry” (John Noble Wilford, The New York Times Book Review), illuminating the vital role women held in preindustrial societies. With a distinctive and innovative approach to ancient remains, Barber examines ancient textiles from Stone Age string skirts and ancient Egyptian sleeved tunics to intricate Neolithic Swiss linens and colourfully patterned Minoan dresses, offering us captivating glimpses into the daily lives of women through the cloth they made and wore.

Words of Wisdom from Ancient Greece gathers the best of a thousand years of philosophy, history and literature, in a compilation of writing spanning from 800 BC to 200 AD. With selections from the five major schools of Greek thought -the Platonists, the Aristotelians, the Stoics, the Epicureans, and the Skeptics- this survey of ancient wisdom offers guidance for a life well lived from luminaries of Greece's legendary past.

Why are the best words short and old?Why are full stops a writer's best friend?How can we simplify, then exaggerate?And what exactly are dangling modifiers?We'd all like to write with style. But what does that mean, and what can we learn from The Economist, a publication well known for its clarity and flair?Welcome to Writing with Style, an elegant survey of the principles available for writing better prose. By adopting some tried and tested tools and techniques, you too can learn how to inform, persuade and entertain when you write. Whether you want to know your singulars from your subjunctives, how colons add drama or why the word "comprise" is contaminated, this is the style guide for you.

The first half of the book is devoted to the poetry of Yannis Ritsos and includes several of his longer poems in their entirety. In the second half are selections of mainly shorter by poems by the other five poets, although it includes Gatsos' long poem "Amorgos".

Grab your javelin and your discus - it's time to race in the ancient Greek Olympics!As a young boy in the city-state of Athens, the time has come to prove yourself in ancient Greek society. Following several years in school, your father pushes you to participate in the most famous athletic competition to exist - the Olympics. The training is treacherous, the equipment is excruciating, and the rivalries are rotten. Discover the awe-inspiring origins of the Olympics, what vigorous rules had to be followed, and just how you might go about surviving - or even winning - these ancient games. The You Wouldn't Want to Be series transports readers to the grisliest times and places in history, perfect for reluctant readers. The first-person narrative approach puts children in the shoes of the some of the unluckiest people ever to have lived.

Οι µελέτες του βιβλίου αυτού, οι οποίες εστιάζονται στην ανάγνωση και τους αναγνώστες κατά τη σύγχρονη εποχή, από τα µέσα του 18ου έως τις αρχές του 20ού αιώνα, µαρτυρούν την ανάπτυξη της πολιτισµικής ιστορίας τα τελευταία χρόνια. Πραγµατεύονται την εξάπλωση της έντυπης κουλτούρας στην Ευρώπη µετά το 1760 (εφηµερίδα, µυθιστόρηµα-επιφυλλίδα, σχολικό εγχειρίδιο, λεξικό, εκλαϊκευµένο επιστηµονικό βιβλίο) και ακολουθούν τους δαιδάλους, τα πισωγυρίσµατα και τις εξελίξεις που συνοδεύουν το πέρασµα από µια δραστηριότητα αποκλειστικά για λίγους –για τις ελίτ λόγω καταγωγής ή περιουσίας– σε µια µορφή αναψυχής την οποία µοιράζεται η πλειονότητα των ανθρώπων. Σε αυτή την αργή εµφάνιση της µαζικής κουλτούρας –από το 1850 έως το 1880 για τη Μεγάλη Βρετανία και τη Γαλλία, λίγο αργότερα για τους γείτονές τους– κρύβονται αρκετές από τις µεταµορφώσεις του κόσµου στον οποίο ζούµε σήµερα. «Ο συγγραφέας […] καταφέρνει να συγκροτήσει ένα πανόραµα όλων εκείνων των ιδεών και πρωτοβουλιών που µετουσιώθηκαν σε έντυπο υλικό κάθε είδους και επηρέασαν τις ευρωπαϊκές κοινωνίες. Τα δοκίµια που παρουσιάζονται στην παρούσα έκδοση αλληλεπιδρούν µε δυναµικό και ευέλικτο τρόπο, καθώς, παρόλο που το καθένα από αυτά διαθέτει µια αυτόνοµη συνοχή και αναλύει ένα συγκεκριµένο αντικείµενο, όλα µαζί ταυτόχρονα διατηρούν µια άµεση και ισχυρή σχέση µε το κεντρικό αντικείµενο του βιβλίου: την ανάγνωση και το κοινό της κατά τη σύγχρονη εποχή».

Ο μικρός αυτός οδηγός θέλει να αναδείξει την ομορφιά και τις ιδιαιτερότητες των τριών ορεινών γιγάντων της Ρούμελης: της Γκιώνας, των Βαρδουσίων και του Παρνασσού. Κείμενα και φωτογραφίες για τη βλάστηση, τη χλωρίδα και την πανίδα διαδρομές στους οικισμούς και τα μνημεία και μια ευρεία επιλογή από πεζοπορικές διαδρομές με χάρτες και περιγραφές, καλοκαιρινές και χειμερινές αναρριχήσεις, κάποιες προτάσεις για διαχίσεις με ορειβατικά σκι.