The City on Screen: Modern Strangers of Cinematic Istanbul

Sertaç Timur Demir, Gümüşhane Üniversitesi, Turkey

ISBN: 978-1-64889-787-0
Availability: Pre-order
$64 £51 €60

‘The City on Screen: Modern Strangers of Cinematic Istanbul’ attempts to analyze how Istanbul is captured through the projector; in other words, the ontological relationship between city and film and how it is elaborated within the context of Istanbul and the sense of strangerhood. This book shifts the axis of Istanbul, typically known as a touristic city, to its underlying details through the strangers in the modern city. Five different films set in this region are analyzed in the text that help to reveal and clarify the socio-urban life of modern Istanbul. The characters and stories in these films tell how Istanbul has socially and architecturally become a city of strangers. The films analyzed include ‘A Touch of Spice’ (2004), ‘Men on the Bridge’ (2009), ‘A Run for Money’ (1999), ‘Distant’ (2002), and ‘10 to 11’ (2009). The theoretical framework of this book is based on the works of Georg Simmel, Zygmunt Bauman and Richard Sennett. These three thinkers have all attempted to look for answers to the sociological question of strangerhood in urban living. This book accomplishes this connection by discussing the similarities and differences between each of their theories regarding the city, cinema and strangerhood.

Transformational Analysis in Practice: Music-analytical studies on composers and musicians from around the world

Edited by Bozhidar Chapkanov

ISBN: 978-1-64889-754-2
Availability: Pre-order
$108 £86 €101

'Transformational Analysis in Practice' is a Must-Have for everyone working in the field or aspiring to develop their music-analytical and theoretical skills in Transformational Theory. This co-authored book puts together a plethora of analytical studies, diverse both in the repertoires covered and the methodologies employed. It is a much-needed anthology in this sub-field of music analysis, which has been developing and growing in recent years, reaching ever wider outlets in English-speaking countries and beyond, from dedicated conference panels to YouTube videos. The book is divided into four parts based on the repertoires under discussion. Part I encompasses four analytical studies on familiar composers from the European Romanticism of the nineteenth century. Part II analyzes the music of less familiar composers from Brazil and Turkey. Part III offers four contrasting ways to adapt the analytical capabilities of Neo-Riemannian Theory to the post-tonal music of the twentieth century. Catering to the interests of jazz performers and researchers, as well as those into popular music production, Part IV offers transformational analytical approaches to both notated and improvised jazz, emphasizing John Coltrane’s performance. Providing an invaluable synthesis of a wide range of analytical studies, this book will be an essential companion for many musicology students, as well as for performers and composers.

Lessons from Regional Responses to Security, Health and Environmental Challenges in Latin America

Edited by Ivo Ganchev, Founder of the Centre for Regional Integration, UK

ISBN: 978-1-64889-773-3
Availability: Pre-order
$95 £80 €88

In our increasingly interconnected world, various governance challenges quickly spill over across borders. The COVID-19 pandemic affected Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) more than any other developing region, drawing attention to the necessity to examine joint responses to collective challenges in the region. Most studies on LAC integration explore economic engagement, analyse particular regional organisations and events, or discuss the process of regionalism at large. However, the reality of politics is shaped by the need to address concrete problems, which are not always economic. In recent years, LAC states have faced numerous challenges in the fields of security, health and environmental protection, prompting three research questions. What is the role of Latin American organisations in maintaining regional security and how are relevant challenges addressed in Central America and the Andes? What was the impact of COVID-19 on Latin American states and how do regional actors respond to public health emergencies? And in what way is environmental policy formulated in different parts of Latin America and what lessons can be drawn for other developing regions? This edited volume addresses these questions through methodologically diverse perspectives, presented in eleven chapters which are authored by 16 authoritative academics. The contributions are thematically organised in three parts and present pragmatic considerations in mind, discussing existing and potential real solutions to pressing issues. Each chapter provides insights which would be of interest to scholars and students of regional governance or politics in Latin America or the Global South at large, as well as to policy advisors and decision-makers who seek to understand the reasons behind the successes and failures of Latin American regional responses to collective challenges as well as their limitations and potential for future improvement.

Dogmas in Literature and Literary Missionary: Text, Reader and Critique

Edited by Önder Çakırtaş, Bingol University, Türkiye

ISBN: 978-1-64889-695-8
Availability: Available 4 weeks
166pp. ¦ $70 £59 €65

Literature does have an aspect that drags the readers, habitually burying them in its pages and blindly attaching them to itself. Blind devotion stems from the factors that are effective in determining the readers' faith. Theories of literature, similarly, might bring about the generation of blind adherence and dogmatic approaches. This book explores the existence of dogma in literature and some cult texts and writers and how dogmas in literature are conveyed to various audiences as a mission by some literary readers, experts, and academics. Generally, dogma is a word related mostly to religion. In this frame, Mathew Arnold's 'Dogma in Religion and Literature' is of great importance as far as religion is concerned. However, there are dogmas in every field, literature being no exception. Virginia Woolf, for instance, wrote stupendous works that turned out to be well-known, and in 1928, she delivered a lecture at Cambridge University, where women were once not allowed, that formed the basis for the celebrated 'A Room of One's Own' (1929). Roland Barthes' 1967 'La mort de l'auteur' ('The Death of the Author') essay might be another text that some of its literary readers have developed a dogmatic commitment to. In addition to revealing how dogma finds its place in literature, this book also discusses how literary writers and readers often unwittingly embrace 'literary missionary.' Focusing on the dogmatic elements of literature and the dogmatized literary theory and criticism through cult works of various authors, the book offers a striking and interesting contribution to literary theory and criticism and literature readings.

The Holy Warrior: Osama Bin Laden and His Jihadi Journey in the Soviet-Afghan War

2nd Edition

Reagan Fancher, Texas Woman’s University

August 2023 / ISBN: 978-1-64889-764-1
Availability: In stock
291pp. ¦ $68 £55 €62

Fought between 1979 and 1989, the Soviet-Afghan War provided vital combat experience for Osama bin Laden and his senior lieutenants in al-Qaeda, allowing them to hone their newly acquired skills in guerrilla warfare to later support Islamist insurgencies worldwide. Yet the ruthless al-Qaeda chief’s success depended on the Soviet leadership’s reluctant prolonging of its military occupation out of fear of leaving Afghanistan in hostile hands. As relative latecomers to the ferocious Afghan frontlines, the inexperienced Arab fighters benefitted militarily from the combat training unwittingly provided by their Soviet foes. After skillfully obtaining this command and battle experience by working within the wartime atmosphere, bin Laden channeled al-Qaeda’s efforts in a global jihadi campaign targeting a second superpower and its allies. While allegations of U.S. support for the Arab jihadis have contributed to a popular image of bin Laden and al-Qaeda as C.I.A. creations, the historical facts appear to demonstrate that the combat opportunities provided by the Soviet occupation forces played a far larger role in transforming them into seasoned guerrilla fighters. In this second edition, Reagan Fancher updates and expands his monograph in an Afterword elaborating on the contemporary U.S.-U.K. perceptions of bin Laden's wartime actions and their results as he applied his battle-honed guerrilla tactics, judo skills, and recruitment capabilities in tactically helping Yemen's anti-communist Salafi guerrillas to emerge victoriously in their country's 1994 Civil War before concluding with an assessment of the founding al-Qaeda leader's impact on history. It offers an opportunity for today's decision-makers to learn from history and avoid creating new generations of Osama bin Ladens.