In their ambitious book Empires of Food, authors Evan D.G. Fraser and Andrew Rimas take on a huge topic: the cause-and-effect relationship between food systems, societies and governments or, as they phrase it in the book’s subtitle, “feast, famine and the rise and fall of civilizations.”
Smart people see elements of imperial narratives in novels like Robinson Crusoe and Lord of the Flies. The same elements can be identified in contemporary stories movies like Avatar. As empires change, so do the stories we tell to make sense of the machineries and processes that support them
Language is a powerful shaping force of civilization, and each of the world’s languages is changing constantly. The way we speak has a profound effect on – and is itself profoundly affected by – other vectors of empire. Here, a master historian looks at how a “mother” tongue was ended (but not really) by powerful forces that, at first glance, seem to have
In many cases, we can see a clear link between architecture and the cycles of empire. There can be little question that the great 17th century Ottoman architect Sinan is an imperial architect, a rising-empire artist whose work seems to exist to glorify
It is easy to forget what a cultural sensation technology can produce – and perhaps no instance was greater than that of the Gatling gun.
With the 1897 publication of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, the English were exposed to a terrifying Gothic novel that expressed the fears of the age: Questions of invasion, identity, and war were entangled in a dramatic story about vampires feeding on women and
A brief comparison of the work of two authors who lived almost a century apart reveals two literatures driven by a common concern with the processes and consequence of empire. A review of their lives shows that
The Gothic, Postcolonialism and Otherness
Of the many concepts I throw at my tired students in my ongoing attempt to jolt them into critical thinking and writing, “the Other” is always popular. ...
It benefits us now more than ever to understand the origins, conventions and messages of science fiction. We need to understand the nuts and bolts of this generation’s narratives. What makes good science fiction?... ...
ALTERNATE ROUTES TO SUCCESS Mavericks of War The Unconventional, Unorthodox Innovators and Thinkers, Scholars, and Outsiders Who Mastered the Art of War… ...
A CASE STUDY IN EMPIRE AND NARRATIVE John D. Weaver and the Exoneration of the 25th Infantry Editor’s Introduction At a family gathering in 1967, a journeyman writer named John D. Weaver pointed to... ...
We all tend to see what we want to see -- in ourselves, in our friends, in our culture, and in other cultures. In his dissertation, Jens-Uwe Guettel takes a penetrating look at how Germany viewed ...
Dracula as a Foretelling of WWI
With the 1897 publication of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, the English were exposed to a terrifying Gothic novel that expressed the fears of the age: Questions of invasion, identity, and war were entangled in a dramatic story about vampires feeding on women and ...
The unintended consequences of war—both good and bad—are fascinating to my students. My cadets always engage with lesson plans on the technology that came out of World War II, for example, or the packs of wild dogs in Vietnam which are the descendants of U.S. canine corps from the late 1960’s, or the marine ...
The current generation of food writers has taken this topic and turned it into an entire field of study. Talented writers have discovered a treasure of fascinating people and powerful themes in the products so familiar to ...
Learning to Eat Soup with a Knife
Feb 14, 2014
Oct 25, 2011
Dracula as a Foretelling of WWI
Mar 11, 2011
Aug 18, 2013
