“A Zoo of Lusts . . . A Harem of Fondled Hatred”: An Historical Interrogation of Sexual Violence against Women in Film explores the pernicious nature of rape in films from the silent era to the 21st century. Film is an excellent medium through which to hold this discussion, because film, like the body, as Judith Butler, et al. suggest, is fluid and indeterminate, and it is often contemplated as a site for negotiation and resistance. This book addresses three major questions: (1) why does rape persist as a recurring theme in film, (2) how is this subject manifested in film and (3) what does this manifestation say about the act of rape itself, its victims, its perpetrators and our culture? Rape is a sexual manifestation of aggression with the purpose of overpowering, humiliating, and hurting its victims. An examination of media accounts has revealed that before the evolution of feminist film theory and the dismissal of the Production Code, the rape victim in films usually fits into one “neat” set of criteria (e.g., young adult, white, single, middle class, heterosexual). When the victim’s physical makeup deviated from the traditional set of criteria (e.g., a child or a mature person of color, married, poor, homosexual), the rape was portrayed more violently. The research for this book dwells on the portrayal of the latter type of victims because their sexual violations evoke an absorbing commentary on society’s reaction toward those who do not easily fit within the status quo. What is it about the makeup of these victims that makes their violations more horrific?

I write to you through Bassa, of the Niger-Congo family, western Sudanic subgroup and the Kwa branch of Africa. The Bassa are an African people. The central theme of this book is that the Bassa have a form of government, which shows Bassa people can govern themselves, and that they have done so from time immemorial until the interjection of alien leadership philosophy. Non-Africans should be dissuaded from their concept of African inability to govern themselves. Bassa history and leadership shows one aspect of African leadership as well as contributions to human leadership. Presenting the Bassa leadership to the world is a clarion call for all Africans to look to their traditional route to design a form of government that fits their culture.

The first comprehensive study of fantasy's uses of myth, this book offers insights into the genre's popularity and cultural importance. Combining history, folklore, and narrative theory, Attebery's study explores familiar and forgotten fantasies and shows how the genre is also an arena for negotiating new relationships with traditional tales.

A repackaged edition of the revered author’s spiritual memoir, in which he recounts the story of his divine journey and eventual conversion to Christianity. C. S. Lewis—the great British writer, scholar, lay theologian, broadcaster, Christian apologist, and bestselling author of Mere Christianity, The Screwtape Letters, The Great Divorce, The Chronicles of Narnia, and many other beloved classics—takes readers on a spiritual journey through his early life and eventual embrace of the Christian faith. Lewis begins with his childhood in Belfast, surveys his boarding school years and his youthful atheism in England, reflects on his experience in World War I, and ends at Oxford, where he became "the most dejected and reluctant convert in all England." As he recounts his lifelong search for joy, Lewis demonstrates its role in guiding him to find God.

“For thousands of years, the hope of heaven has called to people through miracles. When we stop to consider their stories, God’s voice calls to us as well.” In our age of constant innovation, technological achievement, and the sad tendency to see ourselves as the captains of our fate, we may be tempted to make little time for miracles, or give little credence to them. But to live our lives without a sense of the miraculous is to live impoverished lives. Our word for miracle comes from the Latin word mirari, “to wonder.” And well might we wonder when we consider the nature of miracles and their purpose. It is here that a grand conversation beckons. God has been our help in ages past. He is our hope for years to come. To learn of holy events and people—supremely, to look upon the Savior—is to see the power of God, and how He has always sought to draw us to Himself. He is our eternal home. Miracles point the way there. Look at a night sky, studded with numberless constellations of stars. Each is a celestial shard of glory—bestowing glimpses of the eternal. Miracles in Scripture are like the stars. They, like the heavens, declare the glory of God. In these pages are scenes and lives touched by eternity, settings of almighty declaration, moments marked by deliverance, by mercy, or visionary unfoldings of God’s divine intent. Kevin Belmonte provides learned insight into the profoundly important history of miracles. Miraculous is a richly researched text of wondrous things that have taken place from ancient times to the present.

A powerfully written book to you, a member of the church! As members of the church, Christians are under constant pressure from the world to compromise their convictions. But how can they counter these attacks when even their leaders are drawn away and steeped in worldly affairs? In terms reminiscent of a military battle, Doug McIntosh argues the seriousness of the situation, and helps believers understand the tools at their command for living a victorious life.

Why Jesus? Perhaps you have had the funny feeling that God wants to get your attention. Or maybe you're intrigued with what you've heard about Jesus. Or maybe you're simply looking for meaning and direction in your life. John Stott has spent a lifetime wrestling with questions about Jesus both personally and in dialogue with skeptics and seekers around the globe. Now in Why I Am a Christian he provides a compelling, persuasive case for considering the Christian faith. If you take an honest look at Jesus, you will discover that following him gives you the purpose, identity and freedom you've been searching for--and far more than you have ever imagined.

Most popularly known as the author of the children's classic The Chronicles of Narnia, C. S. Lewis was also a prolific poet, essayist, novelist, and Christian writer. His most famous work, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, while known as a children's book is often read as a Christian allegory and remains to this day one of his best-loved works. But Lewis was prolific in a number of areas, including poetry, Christian writing, literary criticism, letters, memoir, autobiography, sermons and more. This set, written by experts, guides readers to a better understanding and appreciation of this important and influential writer. Clive Staples Lewis was born on November 29, 1898, in Belfast, Northern Ireland. His mother died when he was young, leaving his father to raise him and his older brother Warren. He fought and was wounded in World War I and later became immersed in the spiritual life of Christianity. While he delved into the world of Christian writing, he did not limit himself to one genre and produced a remarkable oeuvre that continues to be widely read, taught, and adored at all levels. As part of the circle known as the Inklings, which consisted of writers and intellectuals, and included J.R.R. Tolkien, Charles Williams, and others, he developed and honed his skills and continued to put out extensive writings. Many different groups now claim him as their own: spanning genres from science fiction to Christian literature, from nonfiction to children's stories, his output remains among the most popular and complex. Here, experts in the field of Lewis studies examine all his works along with the details of his life and the culture in which he lived to give readers the fullest complete picture of the man, the writer, and the husband, alongside his works, his legacy, and his place in English letters.

A Midwestern physician is forced to give up his profession due to the ignorance, corruption, and greed of society.

Dubbed by his fellow Futurists the "King of Time," Velimir Khlebnikov (1885-1922) spent his entire brief life searching for a new poetic language to express his convictions about the rhythm of history, the correspondence between human behavior and the "language of the stars." The result was a vast body of poetry and prose that has been called hermetic, incomprehensible, even deranged. Of all this tragic generation of Russian poets (including Blok, Esenin, and Mayakovsky), Khlebnikov has been perhaps the most praised and the more censured. This first volume of the Collected Works, an edition sponsored by the Dia Art Foundation, will do much to establish the counterimage of Khlebnikov as an honest, serious writer. The 117 letters published here for the first time in English reveal an ebullient, humane, impractical, but deliberate working artist. We read of the continuing involvement with his family throughout his vagabond life (pleas to his smartest sister, Vera, to break out of the mold, pleas to his scholarly father not to condemn and to send a warm overcoat); the naive pleasure he took in being applauded by other artists; his insistence that a young girl's simple verses be included in one of the typically outrageous Futurist publications of the time; his jealous fury at the appearance in Moscow of the Italian Futurist Marinetti; a first draft of his famous zoo poem ("O Garden of Animals!"); his seriocomic but ultimately shattering efforts to be released from army service; his inexhaustibly courageous confrontation with his own disease and excruciating poverty; and always his deadly earnest attempt to make sense of numbers, language, suffering, politics, and the exigencies of publication. The theoretical writings presented here are even more important than the letters to an understanding of Khlebnikov's creative output. In the scientific articles written before 1910, we discern foreshadowings of major patterns of later poetic work. In the pan-Slavic proclamations of 1908-1914, we find explicit connections between cultural roots and linguistic ramifications. In the semantic excursuses beginning in 1915, we can see Khlebnikov's experiments with consonants, nouns, and definitions spelled out in accessible, if arid, form. The essays of 1916-1922 take us into the future of Planet Earth, visions of universal order and accomplishment that no longer seem so farfetched but indeed resonate for modern readers.