Roberto J. González-Casanovas Reihenfolge der Bücher (Chronologisch)

Anthropologists have a long tradition of prescient diagnoses of world events. Possessing a knowledge of culture, society, and history not always shared by the media's talking heads, anthropologists have played a crucial role in educating the general reader on the public debates from World War I to the second Gulf War. This anthology collects over fifty commentaries by noted anthropologists such as Margaret Mead, Franz Boas, and Marshall Sahlins who seek to understand and explain the profound repercussions of U.S. involvement in the Middle East, Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Frequently drawing on their own fieldwork, the anthropologists go beyond the headlines to draw connections between indigenous cultures, corporate globalization, and contemporary political and economic crises. Venues range from the op-ed pages of internationally renowned newspapers such as the New York Times and the Washington Post to magazine articles and television interviews. Special sections entitled "Prelude to September 11" and "Anthropological Interpretations of September 11" include articles that provided many Americans with their first substantial introduction to the history of Islam, Central Asia, and the Middle East. Each article includes a brief introduction contextualizing the commentary.

This study examines a masterpiece of medieval religious literature, Blanquerna (1283), written in Catalan by Ramon Llull (1232-1316), Doctor Illuminatus and Apostle to Islam, better known for his theological systems and missionary works. Blanquerna is a popular utopia about reconverting Christians, reforming Rome and all Christendom, and evangelizing infidels and it shows Blanquerna's spiritual journey as he reforms monastery and countryside, cathedral and city, papacy and Church, and then writes a contemplative guide and mystical allegory. This study applies critical theories of historicism, reception, genre, and rhetoric to a detailed analysis of Blanquerna , as fictional hagiography and apostolic utopia, so as to examine cultural contexts, religious narrative, and exemplary textuality. It relates the novel to Llull's autobiography, literary works, and missionary arts; considers parallels in popular preaching, didactic works and reform movements; and compares exemplary typology and narratology in Blanquerna and in the Castilian version of Barlaam .