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

a groundbreaking work on how the topic of scale provides an entirely new understanding of inca material culture

although questions of form and style are fundamental to art history, the issue of scale has been surprisingly neglected. yet, scale and scaled relationships are essential to the visual cultures of many societies from around the world, especially in the andes. in scale and the incas, andrew hamilton presents a groundbreaking theoretical framework for analyzing scale, and then applies this approach to inca art, architecture, and belief systems.

the incas were one of humanity's great civilizations, but their lack of a written language has prevented widespread appreciation of their sophisticated intellectual tradition. expansive in scope, this book examines many famous works of inca art including machu picchu and the dumbarton oaks tunic, more enigmatic artifacts like the sayhuite stone and capacocha offerings, and a range of relatively unknown objects in diverse media including fiber, wood, feathers, stone, and metalwork. ultimately, hamilton demonstrates how the incas used scale as an effective mode of expression in their vast multilingual and multiethnic empire.

lavishly illustrated with stunning color plates created by the author, the book's pages depict artifacts alongside scale markers and silhouettes of hands and bodies, allowing readers to gauge scale in multiple ways. the pioneering visual and theoretical arguments of scale andthe incas not only rewrite understandings of inca art, but also provide a benchmark for future studies of scale in art from other cultures.

reimagining how we understand and write about the indigenous listening experience?

hungry listening is the first book to consider listening from both indigenous and settler colonial perspectives. a critical response to what has been called the “whiteness of sound studies,” dylan robinson evaluates how decolonial practices of listening emerge from increasing awareness of our listening positionality. this, he argues, involves identifying habits of settler colonial perception and contending with settler colonialism’s “tin ear” that renders silent the epistemic foundations of indigenous song as history, law, and medicine. 

with case studies on indigenous participation in classical music, musicals, and popular music, hungry listening examines structures of inclusion that reinforce western musical values. alongside this inquiry on the unmarked terms of inclusion in performing arts organizations and compositional practice, hungry listening offers examples of “doing sovereignty” in indigenous performance art, museum exhibition, and gatherings that support an indigenous listening resurgence.

throughout the book, robinson shows how decolonial and resurgent forms of listening might be affirmed by writing otherwise about musical experience. through event scores, dialogic improvisation, and forms of poetic response and refusal, he demands a reorientation toward the act of reading as a way of listening. indigenous relationships to the life of song are here sustained in writing that finds resonance in the intersubjective experience between listener, sound, and space. 

free-roaming killer drones stalk the battlespace looking for organic targets. human combatants are programmed to feel no pain. highpower microwave beams detonate munitions, jam communications, and cook internal organs.

is this vision of future war possible, or even inevitable? in this timely new book, everett carl dolman examines the relationship between science and war. historically, science has played an important role in ending wars - think of the part played by tanks in breaching trench warfare in the first world war, or atom bombs in hastening the japanese surrender in the second world war - but to date this has only increased the danger and destructiveness of future conflicts. could science ever create the con-ditions of a permanent peace, either by making wars impossible to win, or so horrific that no one would ever fight? ultimately, dolman argues that science cannot, on its own, end war without also ending what it means to be human.

in the centennial cure, the second volume in the studies in atlantic canada history series, meaghan elizabeth beaton critically examines the intersection of state policy, cultural development, and commemoration in nova scotia during canada's centennial celebrations.

beaton's engaging and insightful analysis of four case studies-- the establishment of the cape breton miners' museum, the construction of halifax's centennial swimming pool, the community improvement program, and the 1967 nova scotia highland games and folk festival--reveals the province's attempts to reimagine and renew public spaces. through these case studies beaton illuminates the myriad ways in which nova scotians saw themselves, in the context of modernity and ethnic identity, during the post-war years. the successes and failures of these infrastructure and cultural projects, intended to foster and develop cultural capital, reflected the socio-economic realities and dreams of local communities. the centennial cure shifts our focus away from the dominant studies on expo'67 to provide a nuanced and tension filled account of how canada's 1967 centennial celebrations were experienced in other parts of canada.

in his prose fiction, memoirs, poetry, and drama, thomas bernhard (1931-1989)-one of the twentieth century's most uniquely gifted writers-created a new and radical style, seemingly out of thin air. his books never "tell a story" in the received sense. instead, he rages on the page, he rants and spews vitriol about the moral failures of his homeland, austria, in the long amnesiac aftermath of the second world war.

yet this furious prose, seemingly shapeless but composed with unparalleled musicality, and taxing by conventional standards, has been powerfully echoed in many writers since bernhard's death in 1989. these explorers have found in bernhard's singular accomplishment new paths for the expression of life and truth.

thomas bernhard's afterlives examines the international mobilization of bernhard's style. writers in italian, german, spanish, hungarian, english, and french have succeeded in making bernhard's austrian vision an international vision. this book tells that story.

in the nineteenth century, the french lyric poets imposed their diction on the theatrical genre and thus illuminated the essence of both poetry and theatre. ten plays by victor hugo, the standard-bearer of the french romantic theatre, and alfred de musset, the romantic playwright most frequently performed in france today, are analyzed by charles affron to answer the question, "can the dialetic form of the theatre accommodate the solitary elan of the lyric poet?"

as a functional point of departure, he considers those characteristics of lyric poetry--time, voice, and metaphor--which bring us closest to the singular attitudes of hugo and musset. then, examining the texts of hernani, les burgraves, torquemada, fantasio, and lorenzaccio as well as several lesser known plays, mr. affron discusses such topics as poetic time, the scope of analogy, theatrical and poetic rhetoric, the guises of the poet-hero, and the manner of sounding the poet's voice upon the stage.

originally published in 1971.

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