representations of the body in middle english biblical drama combines epistemological enquiry, gender theory and foucauldian concepts to investigate the body as a useful site for studying power, knowledge and truth. intertwining the conceptualizations of violence and the performativity of gender identity and roles, estella ciobanu argues that studying violence in drama affords insights into the cultural and social aspects of the later middle ages. the text investigates these biblical plays through the perspective of the devil and offers a unique lens that exposes medieval disquiets about christian teachings and the discourse of power. through detailed primary source analysis and multidisciplinary scholarship, ciobanu constructs a text that interrogates the significance of performance far beyond the stage.

following world war ii, german antifascists and nationalists in buenos aires believed theater was crucial to their highly politicized efforts at community-building, and each population devoted considerable resources to competing against its rival onstage. competing germanies tracks the paths of several stage actors from european theaters to buenos aires and explores how two of argentina's most influential immigrant groups, german nationalists and antifascists (jewish and non-jewish), clashed on the city's stages. covered widely in german- and spanish-language media, theatrical performances articulated strident nazi, antifascist, and zionist platforms. meanwhile, as their thespian representatives grappled onstage for political leverage among emigrants and argentines, behind the curtain, conflicts simmered within partisan institutions and among theatergoers. publicly they projected unity, but offstage nationalist, antifascist, and zionist populations were rife with infighting on issues of political allegiance, cultural identity and, especially, integration with their argentine hosts.

competing germanies reveals interchange and even mimicry between antifascist and nationalist german cultural institutions. furthermore, performances at both theaters also fit into contemporary invocations of diasporas, including taboos and postponements of return to the native country, connections among multiple communities, and forms of longing, memory, and (dis)identification. sharply divergent at first glance, their shared condition as cultural institutions of emigrant populations caused the antifascist free german stage and the nationalist german theater to adopt parallel tactics in community-building, intercultural relationships, and dramatic performance.

its cross-cultural, polyglot blend of german, jewish, and latin american studies gives competing germanies a wide, interdisciplinary academic appeal and offers a novel intervention in exile studies through the lens of theater, in which both victims of nazism and its adherents remain in focus.

over the last 75 years, superheroes have been portrayed most often as male, heterosexual, white, and able-bodied. today, a time when many of these characters are billion-dollar global commodities, there are more female superheroes, more queer superheroes, more superheroes of color, and more disabled superheroes--but not many more.

superwomen investigates how and why female superhero characters have become more numerous but are still not-at-all close to parity with their male counterparts; how and why they have become a flashpoint for struggles over gender, sexuality, race, and disability; what has changed over time and why in terms of how these characters have been written, drawn, marketed, purchased, read, and reacted to; and how and why representations of superheroes matter, particularly to historically underrepresented and stereotyped groups.

specifically, the book explores the production, representations, and receptions of prominent transmedia female superheroes from their creation to the present: wonder woman; batgirl and oracle; ms. marvel and captain marvel; buffy the vampire slayer; star wars' padm amidala, leia organa, jaina solo, and rey; and x-men's jean grey, storm, kitty pryde, rogue, and mystique. it analyzes their changing portrayals in comics, novels, television shows, and films, as well as how cultural narratives of gender have been negotiated through female superheroes by creators, consumers, and parent companies over the last several decades.

these essays by critics, theorists and artists explore the allusive nexus of the dark in contemporary mexican literature and visual culture. they chart the poetics of 'negrura-oscuridad' in creative media during decades of deepening crisis marked by the high-profile staging of atrocities, the re-emergence of an ironic noir aesthetic and the consolidation of forensically inspired art-making.

in the wake of walter benjamin's 'unfinished' thinking structures, this volume operates through contiguous directions, transitions and regressions, incorporating images as part of the discussion of a ruinous visuality. its polycentric mesh covers a wide range of art, writing, photography and film: from ritual uses of the 'darksome' and its legacies in pre-hispanic cultures to colonial religious iconography of penitential blindness; from narco-noir in the novels of roberto bola o and yuri herrera to techno-noir in dystopian border films; from the quotidian taxonomy of horror expurgated in art practice to the haunted 'other darkness' of the photographic blink. it also explores how we can contest the threat of dark ecology and 'horrorism' through sense expansion within new media and by positing fruitful blind spots in text and art.

this is a book of insight and imagination. it is a literary tour de force, where 28 irish plays are examined and their rich cultural context exposed in a way that educates and excites. to read anne o'reilly's analysis leaves one longing to return to theatre and to play. while the text is utterly readable, the ideas shared are profound.

the theme 'journey' is common in every play but it is explored from different angles; we glimpse understandings of the journey in search of soul, of self, of healing, of sacred meaning, of the possible, even of transformation.　

one of the captivating aspects of this book is that, while it's about plays and their stories, it also challenges the reader to rethink and re-imagine his/her own story. it is indeed a literary work of art. -ann louise gilligan