Journal articles: 'True love and lasting marriage' – Grafiati (2024)

Abstract:

In the article, the contemporary human being’s search for values is primarily linked to the folkloristic reflection of Lithuanian cultural landscape. Following the framework of hermeneutics and based on the folkloristic symbolism of landscape in Lithuanian folklore (mainly in the oldest layer of folk songs), the manifestations of a long-lasting solidarity between community and nature are discussed. The focus has been placed on the small community – the family and its immediate relationship with the surrounding nature. In the introductory part of the article, the notion of ritualism is discussed which is based on the universally acknowledged concept of the rites of passage (les rites de passage). Within the context of this concept, the depiction of the public events of family life (the rituals of marriage and death) constituted a solid premise for the investigation of the so-called common places (loci communes) in Lithuanian folk poetry, which in this regard are usually represented by landscape-related narrative segments and symbolism. Folkloristic interpretations of the prominent elements of Lithuanian landscape (trees, water, stones) have been selected for the investigation. The introduction also reveals the importance of a family over an individual in the exploration of a human being’s relationship with the surrounding nature. The first part of the article ‘The Reflections of Anthropomorphic Reception of Trees’ asserts that in the folk songs marked by archaic stylistics, the poetic narrative of trees contains abundant mythopoetic allusions to the constant identification of a human being (usually, a family member) with a tree, as well as other metamorphoses and motifs which attest their mutual dependence. This poetic tradition influences the poetry created by individual authors to this day. The article briefly introduces the meaning of a tree in the world of ancient Lithuanian beliefs and customs and notices the major changes in the purpose of the image of a tree in the late tradition of romances. The second part of the article analyses the long-term trajectories of mythopoetic depiction of water and stones in folklore. It is well known that any traditional culture has accumulated a wide range of meanings which pertain to different forms of water and connote rebirth, renewal, as well as fertility and life. Therefore when the article emphasizes the tropes of being near water, drowning in watery depths, which through the lens of myth and ritual embody the act of love (marriage) in Lithuanian singing folklore, it should be noted that this variation of meaning found in Lithuanian folklore constitutes an organic part of the whole of international aquatic symbolism. The mythicised story of a live stone as reflected in folklore could be partially associated with the folkloristic reception of trees and water. Animation of a stone is revealed through the attribution of the qualities of a live being to a stone (in the legends, they move, communicate with each other, live in families). Contrarily, the lifelessness (immobile state) of a stone is mythicised in cases where people who deviate from moral laws are turned into stones. The mythologem of a stone as the landmark signifying the boundary between this and the other world, as well as the association of stones with sacrality and sacred places visited by deities, is widespread. It is ascertained that the narrative of the sacrality of stones did not cease in the period of Christianity.Therefore, the landscape approach applied in this study provided a possibility to observe how, in folklore, the meanings of different components of landscape organically combine into a cohesive union which operates on the principles of synergy. A conclusion may be drawn that folklore unequivocally asserts the idea of a continuous coexistence of a human being and nature and exalts the perception of nature as an essential spiritual value.

Abstract:

This study extended prior research on attitudes about the importance of love as a basis for marriage. With data from a sample of 4,245 college students, obtained over a 16-year period, we found that both men and women, but women to a slightly greater degree than men, rated love as important for entering marriage. Over the 16-year period of the study, the importance of love as a prerequisite for marriage decreased slightly for men. Other individual difference variables (beyond gender) that were found to be associated positively with viewing love as an important basis for marriage included being White (vs. Black), high self-esteem, restrictedness in sociosexuality (true for women only), and a secure attachment style. Participants were more undecided or ambivalent about whether love is necessary to maintain a marriage. The importance of love for maintaining marriage was rated slightly higher by women (than by men), less religious participants, those whose parents had divorced, and those who were unrestricted in their sociosexuality; this belief was not found to change over time.

Abstract:

I examine the impact of the Great Depression on marriage outcomes and find that marriage rates and local economic conditions are positively correlated. Specifically, poor labor market opportunities for men negatively impact marriage. Conversely, there is some evidence that poor female labor markets actually increase marriage in the period. While the Great Depression did lower marriage rates, the effect was not long lasting: marriages were delayed, not denied. The primary long-run effect of the downturn on marriage was stability: Marriages formed in tough economic times were more likely to survive compared to matches made in more prosperous time periods.

Abstract:

John Chrysostom, bishop of Constantinople, in his works as one of the first Church Fathers, spoke a lot about marriage. First of all, Christian matrimony, according to his teaching, was the unity of the bodies from whom the commu­nion of two person – man and woman – follows. The unity and uniqueness were the essential features of the matrimony. Only true love, which comes from God, can build true unity of husband and wife. That’s why Chrysostom calls matri­mony „sacrament (mysterion) of love”. Greek word „mysterion” has in John Chrystosom’s works two meanings: mystery of marriage and mysterious activity of God. Because Holy God is the creator of matrimony it can be called holy and sacred.

Abstract:

Abstract The guidelines on family life published by the EKD (Evangelical Church in Germany) has triggered an intensive debate, especially regarding the understanding of marriage. The author demonstrates that the objections against same-sex marriage are not substantial. Instead the church should rather have an interest in opening up marriage because it highly values the concept of lasting love. On the other hand, the author points to the fact that, despite high divorce rates, the integrative force of marriage as an institution should not be underestimated. She discusses from a sociological, juridical and theological perspective how marriage provides stability, relief, confirmation, and strength. The essay concludes with a plea for marriage - of hetero- and hom*osexuals alike.

Abstract:

This article tries to demonstrate the power of spiritual love in Chetan Bhagat’s autobiographical novel 2 States: The Story of My Life. Love is universal. It is a force for making the unity among people. The eternal power of love assimilates different cultures, castes, classes and traditions, and creates a harmony among them. This novel recounts the experiences and emotions of people in different states of India. This is a story about a girl and a boy from different states with the different cultures and caste system. They fall in love but have to face hardships in convincing their parents to support their marriage. In Indian culture, they cannot defy their parents' consent. A boy and a girl named Krish and Ananya want to change their love into marriage but it is as a Herculean task for them because of the cultural differences between two societies. Finally, they get success to change their dream into reality only through the true love, as it is the facilitator of interpersonal relationships. Indeed, love keeps human beings together against threats, breaks the barriers and harmonizes their dissimilarities. Based on this line, this article discusses Bhagat’s 2 States and proves the love as a boundary breaker of dissimilar cultures.

Abstract:

This article discusses how performing masculinity in intimate relationships is related to the material dimensions of love. Drawing upon ethnographic fieldwork among middle-class young men and women in the Jordanian capital of Amman, I argue that to understand the continuing significance of the material aspects of marriage, it is important to pay attention to local notions of practical and transactional forms of love. Contributing to emerging scholarship on “caring” Arab masculinities, this article shows how material forms of care are integral to local relationship dynamics. Yet, in the context of the current economic situation in Jordan, the resources of many young men are limited, and they find themselves in a difficult position, both as compassionate partners and as manly men. Hence, they negotiate the entanglements of love and money by associating “true love” with their female partner’s willingness to compromise on the material requirements of marriage.

Abstract:

ABSTRACTThe strange circ*mstances of the hasty clandestine wedding of Thomas Thynne and Maria Audley in 1594 raise questions about possible motives for it. He was the teenage heir to a rich Wiltshire gentleman, and she was a young attendant of Queen Elizabeth, but their families were divided by political faction. Private correspondence afterwards and contentious court of Arches proceedings lasting to 1601 reveal the tactics adopted on the one hand by her family to try to prove consent of both bride and groom to marriage, on the other the countering tactics of the Thynnes to disprove it. The parents exploited ecclesiastical court procedure, and attempted to influence witnesses and judge. This case shows attitudes to marriage making, beliefs about rituals and tokens, and conceptions of the law of marriage in Elizabethan England.

Abstract:

Abstract“If it passes, then it was not true love.” On two Remarks by Wittgenstein about Love. Wittgenstein’s Nachlass does not contain many philosophical remarks on love. Yet, the ones it does contain can be made fruitful for the long-lasting philosophical debate on love’s nature. This text, however, focuses on just two of these remarks, preparing their discussion extensively by sketching part of the philosophical background against which their points become visible.

Abstract:

Jane Austen is an excellent female writer in the United Kingdom. Many of her works appeal to generation after generation of readers. She wrote and published six novels in total. Sense and Sensibility was one of her popular novels and first named as Elinor and Marianne. Elder sister Elinor is a rational girl who can control her temper appropriately. She loves Edward very much. However, the younger sister Marianne is very emotional. She pursues romantic love and fails to control her temper after the lovelorn. After experiencing many setbacks, Marianne understands many principles and corrects her childish viewpoints. Luckily, both of them get their true love finally.By researching original book and other literatures as well as analyzing the shift of Marianne’s behaviors and views on marriage from sensibility to sense, we can understand wise attitudes towards marriage. That is to say, when a woman chooses her Mr. Right, she should be more rational in love. This paper has great guiding importance for current women to seek their guidance in love. The paper will lead us to find what the rational views on marriage are and what we should do in marriage.

Abstract:

Objective – This paper describes the process of cooperation between the Marketing and Assessment Teams at the University of Haifa in Israel, from initial apprehension about working together to the successful marketing of a suite of user studies. Methods – The first step was a formal meeting in which the leader of the assessment team explained the aims of assessment. For each assessment activity, the assessment team submitted a formal request for assistance to the marketing team, conducted team meetings on how to market each assessment, and met with the marketing team to explain the survey and receive their input on how it should be marketed. Over a 3-year period, 5 joint activities were undertaken: a 1-day, in-library use survey; a wayfinding study, in which 10 new students were filmed as they searched for 3 items in the library; 5 focus group sessions regarding upcoming library renovations; a LibQUAL+® survey measuring perceptions of service quality among the entire campus population; and an online survey of non-users of the library. The success of the assessment/marketing projects was measured by the response rates, the representativeness of the results, and the number of free-text comments with rectifiable issues. Results – Although the response rates were not very high in any of the surveys, they were very representative of the university population. With over 40% or respondents filling in free-text comments, the information received was used and applied in making service changes, including the creation and marketing of additional group study rooms, improved signage, and the launch of a “quiet” campaign. In addition, a “You said – We did” document was compiled that outlines all of the changes that were implemented since the first four surveys were conducted; this document was published on the library’s blog, Facebook page, and website. Conclusion – The number of issues that appear in the first “You said – We did” document is a testament to the close and ongoing collaboration between the two teams, from the planning stages of each survey until publication of results and notification of the changes that were implemented.

Abstract:

This article investigates how marriage migration management practices in the United Kingdom (UK) have entered the realm of security policy by relying on a moral political economy of suspicion that notably mobilizes what I call ‘technologies of love.’ The latter refers to conceptions of ‘true love’ and its manifestations that infuse the regulation of belonging through immigration controls. I argue that this economy of suspicion builds on and partakes in a governmental regulation that result in a stratification of rights. After outlining how Western romantic love has a history that cannot be uncoupled from state concerns about race and citizenship, I detail how Didier Fassin’s notion of moral economy of suspicion relates to technologies of love in the governmentality of marriage migration. Finally, I examine recent legislation and policing practices in the UK to illustrate how technologies of love can become part of judgment formation in evaluating possibly suspicious couples, notably European citizens marrying non-European citizens.

Abstract:

The Russian revolutionaries who made up the Chaikovskii circle in the early 1870s sought to implement their socialist ideals in their everyday lives. This proved nowhere more problematic than in the sphere of romantic relations. Romance was widely viewed as incompatible with true devotion to the revolutionary cause—as being, in effect, a crime—by the Chaikovskii circle radicals themselves, as well as by some later socialists. By examining the cases of particular members of the circle, I argue that romance and marriage, while highly problematic, could for some radicals not only be reconciled with revolutionary activity, but could become intimately intertwined with their devotion to the cause of revolution.

Abstract:

Theorists of globalization as well as activists' writing from a range of positions have argued that intimate practices are taking centre stage and becoming part of global discourses in the process. This holds true for the institution of marriage and the associated ideas about appropriate family forms, but also more generally for the ways in which ideas about ‘modern selves’ are realized in relationships based on reflexivity and self-knowledge through engagement with an intimate other.

Abstract:

Abstract The Mystery of Marriage has always been understood by the Eastern Orthodox as a divinely mandated holy act, in which the grace of the Holy Spirit is communicated to the affianced man and woman, whose natural bond of love becomes thus elevated to the state of representation of the all-encompassing spiritual union between Christ and His Church. According to the patristic tradition, the service of the Mystery of Marriage invariably took place during the Liturgy and within the Eucharistic context. It was through the blessing of the bishop that the espousal love merged with the love of Christ–the true source and power of all human affection, and only then could the two become one single being, one single “flesh”, the body of Christ. The intent of the present article is by no means to cover all aspects of the marriage ritual in the Orthodox Church, as this is a vast topic that begs for further theological research and ample multi-angled analysis, but rather to examine the patristic view on the Mystery of Marriage and on its evolution, and to revisit the exegesis of its liturgical expression.

Abstract:

ABSTRACTScholars have long known of the proposed marriage in 1630 of John Dryden, grandson of Sir Erasmus Dryden, and Elizabeth Isham, eldest child of Sir John Isham. All knowledge of this proposed marriage came from correspondence revealing that, having reached a financial impasse, the two families aborted the proposed match. At first glance, such a case seems rather unremarkable, since similar stories abound of other contemporary families and in more detail. The Dryden–Isham match, however, takes on increased importance with the recent discovery of Elizabeth Isham's 60,000-word spiritual autobiography. Unlike the correspondence that mainly deals with the economic aspects of the match, Elizabeth's autobiography provides a more personal and emotional account, revealing the importance that familial love and honour played in the arrangement. In addition, the autobiography shows that the failed match caused Elizabeth to have a religious aversion to marriage, leading her to choose singlehood for the remainder of her life. Her experience forces scholars to recognize the significance that familial love, honour, and personal piety could have on marriage formation in the seventeenth century, and it illustrates the lasting impact that a failed match could have on a woman in early modern England.

Abstract:

In this article, we examine the love–death dialectic through a mosaic of story and song. Layering personal narrative and musical chronicles about love, life, and death—from the heroic to the tedious, the passionate to the mundane, the tragic to the contented, the transgressive to the faithful, and fantasy to reality—we consider the marriage of love and loss in narratives where multiple instantiations of the truth mix and mingle. We use these disparate creations to evocatively dramatize the magnetic allure of endless, inexhaustible love in light of our inevitable extinction. The love impulse, says Becker, is the antithesis to the fearful losses that mark our long descent to the grave. Following Becker’s lead, we take the measure of idealized passion in enduring relationships and assert the catalytic dynamism of heroic transcendence in everyday intercourse. From the storybook tales we author with family, lovers, and other close conspirators, sagas of romance, lasting companionship, marriage, hearth and home, birth and death; to the songbook—with a focus on splatter platters—the trite songs of teenage tragedy and mayhem produced in the last half of the 20th century and still popular into the 21st—juxtaposed with German Romantic opera, we examine how celebrated artists, Brill Building songsmiths, and everyday dreamers aestheticize love, life, and death. In pillow talk, in conversational idylls, and in song, what we say about love tells us what it means to live, to desire, and to die.

Abstract:

The article considers Leo Tolstoy's views on marriage in the evolutionary aspect. For young Leo Tolstoy, marriage and family is one of the main values. He understands them as a sphere saving a person from disharmony, despondency, sin, helping to find the meaning of life. The family is interpreted by Leo Tolstoy as the main purpose of person's life. In his early works, he builds a family model. Marriage and family for young Leo Tolstoy are considered to be the main condition for happiness. Love for the spouse is understood as a sense of respect for parents of their children. Over the years, Leo Tolstoy’s views on marriage have changed significantly. This is due to the change in Leo Tolstoy's attitude to the Church and to Church religion (by his definition), the writer's complete denial of private property, the complication of relations with his wife and children. Leo Tolstoy explains his point of view on marriage by following the true Christian teaching. Leo Tolstoy motivates the denial of marriage in the Christian way by the fact that the main purpose of a Christian is to serve God; marriage makes people serve themselves. Leo Tolstoy identifies justification by the church of the marriage with the excuse of "physical love". Leo Tolstoy considers marriage as a veiled form of fornication. However, he denied divorce because he believed that a woman left without a husband or a man without a wife would be exposed to moral decline. The author finds contradictory Leo Tolstoy's assessments of the marriage in the later work.

Abstract:

The current study was aimed at investigating the struggle of Charley Pride through his song lyric entitled “This Bed’s Not Big Enough” employing a mixed approach of literary and systemic-functional perspectives to save his marriage in an alternative. The marital problem may go even worst when the memories linger in bed, calling his or her ex’s name on sexual encounters. This really hurts, and may or may not end in a divorce depending on the wife's decision. Upon completion of systemic functional linguistic analysis to construe the meaning of the song, it turns out that the song lyric managed to create a discursive practice that most people would experience when encountered in the same situational context. The solution varies from one individual to another pertinent to one's social and educational background. Therefore, to further confirm the research findings, a supplementary survey to twenty male colleagues (husbands) was conducted to reveal their attitude- moral values and judgments on both implicit and explicit intentions of the song, to extrinsically relate them to a social and religious domain (value). The findings show that alternative solutions differ from one individual to another depending on social, educational and religious backgrounds.

Abstract:

In a world that desperately needs peace more than ever, the principle of Satyagraha becomes not only important, but essential to achieve true and lasting peace. True peace, which is perfect, according to Thomas Aquinas, “cannot be achieved except where the appetite is directed to what is truly good”. This is the goal of humanity; however, this goal is elusive when justice is separated from peace. It is harmful when truth is sidelined in the pursuit of peace and even worse, when love is not made central in this goal. One philosophy of peacebuilding that reverses this anomaly is found embedded in Satyagraha. This paper aims to appraise and analyze this practical philosophy as the unfailing principle of peacemaking and peacebuilding.

Abstract:

The article explores the influence of Vl. Solovyov's philosophy of love on A. Kuprin’s and M. Prishvin's creativity. It is noted that the theme of love is one of the main themes in the culture of the Silver Age. It was widely reflected not only in Russian literature, but also in philosophy, theology. It is indicated that the problems of love and sex, family and marriage, the emancipation of women have become the subject of attention of philosophers of the turn of the XIX – XXth centuries: V.S. Solovyov, N.F. Fedorov, V.V. Rozanov, N.A. Berdyaev, P.A. Florensky, S.L. Frank. It is emphasized that in coverage of these problems the absolute priority belongs to Vl. Solovyov, since the main provisions of his philosophy of love influenced the work of both modernists and neorealists. Attention is drawn to the fact that the problem of the influence of Vl. Solovyov's "metaphysics of love" on the work of neorealist writers is not fully explored. The author of the article reveals presence of the basic ideas of Vl. Solovyov's "metaphysics of love" in Kuprin's works and Prishvin's diaries. It is emphasized that the ideas of Vl. Solovyov about the transforming power of love, about the restoration in man of the image of God are turned out to be the most significant for writers. It is noted that in Kuprin's works the main emphasis is laid on the following provisions of Vl. Solovyov's "metaphysics of love": the power of love that can withstand death, and its "uniqueness". From this point of view, the novels “Garnet Bracelet” and “Loneliness” are analyzed. Special attention is paid to Prishvin's diaries, in which the problem of love, sex, marriage is interpreted in line with the philosophical ideas of Vl. Solovyov. The similarity of views of Vl. Solovyov and M. Prishvin on the essence of love as a bodily-spiritual unity, "the embodiment of true ideal humanity" are revealed. It is concluded that, in understanding the ontological essence of love, views of A. Kuprin and M. Prishvin are close to the philosophy of love by Vl. Solovyov.

Abstract:

Flexible-delivery marriage education (ME) has many advantages over traditional alternatives in reaching couples during the time of COVID-19 lockdown or other national emergencies. In an effort to add to the research of flexible-delivery ME, this exploratory study evaluated an online class adapted from an empirically-validated, marriage curriculum (Four Gifts of Love Class, [FGL]) under home lockdown conditions lasting over 2 months caused by COVID-19 government restrictions. Using a concurrent multiple-baseline single-case experimental design, three distressed couples residing in the Philippines completed seven online lessons over 7 weeks while experiencing home lockdown. Visual analysis of the data suggested that all three couples responded positively to the intervention. The Tau-U and SMDall analyses for each couple ranged from a small to large effect size on measures of marital adjustment (weighted average Tau-U = .50, p < .05; BC-SMD = 0.34) and romantic love (weighted average Tau-U = .52, p < .01; BC-SMD = 0.31), with increases reaching clinical and statistical significance for one couple out of the three. In addition, there was no attrition. The promising results from this preliminary study suggested that the online adaptation of FGL as a flexible-delivery ME could mitigate marital decline, especially during times of calamity when traditional-delivery ME is unavailable and marital decline is predicted. Further study of this program and other online ME programs are recommended to expand the limited research in this area of flexible-delivery ME.

Abstract:

Chick Lit usually focus on how the main character finally finds her true love after several times meeting the wrong guy. However, through the issues of marriage that I make, I am stressing more on their psychological emotional maturity before they decide to get married. The story talks about a woman who has a boyfriend but not ready to marry him. She captured in her own insecurities about being a wife. Her situation gets worse when she rejected the proposal and her family found out. The story will revolve around the emotional journey of the problem and slowly reveals the changing behavior and her ways of thinking. Hopefully this work will remind people to look the idea of how important it is to see that marriage is not about age. To understand how psychological emotional maturity works, six levels of maturity are used as the main theory in this work.

Abstract:

This article tries to construct an ethical framework to address the issue of infertility through a creative use of Thomas Aquinas’ thought. Involuntary childlessness is one of the forgotten issues among Christian communities in West and Central Africa. Starting with the scientific definition of infertility, the article shows the gender differences and biases in the perception of childlessness in that region. Although infertility equally affects men and women, the latter, most of the time, are blamed for it. Although Scripture contains some ambivalent elements concerning infertility, on the whole it offers valuable insights by presenting childlessness as a type of life also blessed by God. Likewise, the language of the church since Vatican II has done away with the hierarchical view of the ends of marriage (or the idea that procreation is the primary goal of marriage over and against the unity of the spouses). Aquinas teaches us about the true nature of marriage and the value of childlessness. In addition, Aquinas’ understanding of love helps articulate areas that could guide infertile individuals and childless couples, on the one hand, and Christian communities, on the other hand, who have to deal with childless members.

Abstract:

This paper aims to show, on the one hand, that the humility mentioned in book 7 of the Confessions would become the prelude for Augustine to the humility that constitutes the true conversion, and, on the other hand, that the context in which this humility presented itself is continentia. In a passage of linguistic beauty (conf. 8, 27), Augustine describes the struggle that occurred between allegorical persons: those who pulled him back with the chain of the past, and those who urged him forward towards the decision to embrace continentia. The enjoyment of love not only requires the truth that remains forever, but also the steadfastness of all the emotions that come together in the lasting unity of the will. According to the author, Augustine in his Confessions has Christianised the Roman uirtus of continentia.

Abstract:

Abstract: This article identifies the nature of love and some of its conscientious and political implications. It is a question to the thinker, 'What is love?'Many problems arise. Love is an ideational noun. That is, for some people, it is a word that is not connected to reality or sensibly. For others, it shows our existence, ourselves and the world, is irreversibly affected after we "refer to love". Some are trying to analyse it, others prefer to leave it as an inefficient area But it is undeniable that love plays a huge and inevitable role in our different cultures. We see it discussed with humour and seriousness in songs, films and novels. It is a constant theme of maturity in life and a vibrant theme for young people. Philosophically, the nature of love has been at the heart of philosophy since ancient Greece, from the materialistic concept of love as a purely physical phenomenon (the animal or genetic motif that governs our behaviour) to theory. That moment Love as an intense spiritual entity, to the highest degree, allows us to come into contact with divinity. Historically, in the Western tradition, Plato's Feast presents the original text to provide us with a very influential and compelling idea that love is characterized by several levels. To love. This is also overcome by what can be explained by the theological view of love the research sends sexual attraction and reciprocity. Since then, there have been various alternative theories, including Plato’s critics and advocates of love, Plato's disciple Aristotle, and his more mundane theory of true love. It reflects what he described as "two bodies and one soul". The philosophical treatment of love covers a variety of disciplines, including epistemology, metaphysics, religion, humanity, politics and ethics. Often, for example, statements or discussions about love, its nature and, its role in human life refer to one or all of the central theories of philosophy and are compared or considered in the context of philosophical sex. And not just sex, but the body as well. It is intentional. The mission of the philosophy of love is to present relevant issues in a targeted way, based on relevant theories such as human nature, desire and morality. The research concludes that biological, mind and ideology stand significant for the analysis of love. Nonetheless, additional study is preferred for differentiating that what actually is and how this knowledge can be applied in everyday life. With the divorce rate on the rise and the idea of a changing marriage during present time community, significance for researching a theory in affection can’t be ignored. In this study, as a community, we can understand its importance for human love and survival. Keywords: Physical, Mental, affection, intercourse, divorce, serotonin, oxytocin, Oedipus complex, Electra complex, ideology, soul mate, neurotransmitter, dopamine, odour, psychosexual

Abstract:

In the ruling man is created unable to live alone, the law is human created to live both and add to his descendants and successors. This leads to a bond of marriage between men and women, whose purpose is to create happy families and homes, harmoniously with the virtue of the one true deity. The marriage is held with the Customs and culture of each party, because basically the two human beings are backed by different customs and cultures. Indonesia's state with a forward minded society wants to make its life more improved, both in the field of work and home, not infrequently in the Indonesian economic system has established relationships with foreign nationals as Investors to improve the economic system in Indonesia. It is not uncommon for Indonesian citizen to have a relationship with foreigners to work, do business, and be friends and friendly, because humans are created to require each other, profitable, and adjoining. The relationship between WNI and WNI is not uncommon in marital relationship, namely mixed marriage between citizens and foreigners who occur on the basis of affection and love and want to live a life together. The marriage itself has been governed in the marriage act, i.e. the marriage has been recognized by the State, and against the marriage of the mix has also been recognized by the state because it has been demonstrated and regulated in the marriage act as well. Through life, in it for future survival, sought and acquired wealth that can be a common treasure or can also be a split. The common treasures are the treasures obtained throughout the marriage, without the agreement of marriage. The Covenant of marriage is made with the purpose of the separation of the property of each party, meaning there is no mixing of possessions in the family, and with this each party has each responsibility. In this journal is conducted empirical research because it is to be able to discuss issues raised as to how the role of notary in protecting the status of property rights on land resulting from mixed marriages and how the status of ownership On the ground when a divorce occurs, it must be research directly with the source of space. Implemented using the fact approach, and the collection of secondary data and primary data, so as to discuss the role of notary in protecting the property rights on land is to make a marriage agreement before or after the marriage In progress, by providing legal certainty against the separation of the property that has occurred and the status of ownership of the land when divorce occurs can remain the property of Indonesian citizens, or the status is given to children born of marriage The

Abstract:

In the Comedy for Four Women (1542), Marguerite de Navarre presents a dialogue among five female protagonists who express the delights and the torments that stem from the love of their suitors or husbands. This is true for all except the First Girl, who does not want to have anything to do with love or marriage. This article examines the special status of the character of the First Girl, an apparent forerunner of a new way of life for women. Specifically, it explores the potential for a sixteenth-century young woman to live a life without a suitor and, moreover, to proclaim that wilful celibacy is a source of genuine happiness rather than of the humiliating feeling of failure attached traditionally to a life outside of wedlock or religion. Moreover, in this play, Marguerite de Navarre makes a significant contribution to the idea of the dignity and happiness of wilful celibacy, while taking part in the Querelle des amies debate. Finally, this article gathers data on the historical and fictional characters that emerged before and after Marguerite’s Comedy, leading to the development of a positive view of the unmarried woman, which culminated in Gabrielle Suchon’s manifesto, Du célibat volontaire, in 1700. The data reflect a growing demographic trend, as well as a shift in the hierarchy of female values: chastity is no longer an end in itself, the supreme feminine virtue, but a means to the end of freedom and felicity.

Abstract:

Maslow’s concept of self-actualization has been a bulwark of humanistic psychology for more than 50 years, and has increasingly gained international appeal beyond its original nexus within the United States. His description of the high achieving characteristics of self-actualizing men and women has influenced theorists and practitioners in such fields as counseling, education, health care, management, and organizational psychology. Through these same decades, Maslow’s formulation has also been criticized as promoting a hyperindividualistic, even narcissistic, orientation to personality growth. Because Maslow by temperament and intellectual style expressed himself in an ever-evolving set of speeches and writings that were seldom explicit about interpersonal relations, his actual outlook on the social world of self-actualizers has remained elusive. The focus of this article, therefore, is how Maslow depicted self-actualizing people with regard to five major interpersonal dimensions of life: friendship, romantic love, marriage and lasting intimacy, parenthood, and communal service. By pulling together Maslow’s comments primarily in his published works, and secondarily in his unpublished works-in-progress, it is possible to explicate his tacit viewpoint. Doing so will not only help dispel the misconception that Maslow depicted self-actualizers as loners or even hermits but also guide future theory and research on personality growth.

Abstract:

The aim of this study is to bring forth the meaning of the common world as it appears in perioperative nursing care. We employed the epistemological standpoints of preunderstanding, the hermeneutic spiral and fusion of horizons grounded in Gadamer’s hermeneutic philosophy as well as Eriksson’s Theory of Caritative Caring based on the ontology of caring science, where caritas is the basic motive and ethos of caring. Four hermeneutic spiral activities were performed, consisting of a mimetic presentation bearing the ontological depth of the common world, its distinctive features, the universal and lasting and finally, the truth inherent in the common world. The inherent truth of the common world is the prevalence of harmony, wholeness and the idea of love, mercy and reverence for human dignity. The common world brings ethics to existence, achieved by the word of honour, which in its true being makes visible the universal and ontological horizons of a common reality. The common world is the creation of a hermeneutic movement inside each suffering human being, where the boundless life-giving time represents the inhabited movement of time, like coming home.

Abstract:

Mass media reports about two males figure who have the power and wealth associated with the case in love relationship. It is not only seen as an “accident" for the women, it needs to be reviewed as further education. The purpose of research is to answer how the district regent of Garut case and the phenomenon of Ahmad Fathanah be a lesson for family communication. The method used is limited to library study, but it is also possible to continue in next research that is exploratory or explanatory research. Through this literature review, the researcher logic is a mainstay of the validity of research results. The results showed that the concept of true marriage must begin with the family, not only limited to verbal communication but also nonverbal. With the right family communication, stigma about women who just want male treasures is disallowed and can be positive thing for the women themselves. Recommendation is mass media help to achieve it through the selection of wise and polite language in framing the news about the women who seem to be "victims" of the power and wealth of men in the study case.

Abstract:

This paper examines how Arab British novelist Jamal Mahjoub appropriates and interpolates Shakespeare’s Othello. Specifically, this paper argues that Mahjoub’s historical novel The Carrier (1998) re-writes Shakespeare’s Othello in a way that enables the novelist to comment on some of the themes that remain unexplored in Shakespeare’s masterpiece. Mahjoub appropriates tropes, motifs and episodes from Shakespeare’s play which include places like Cyprus and Aleppo, Othello’s identity, abusive/foul language, animalistic imagery, and motifs like the eye, sorcery/witchcraft, the storm and adventurous travels. Unlike Othello’s fabled and mythical travels and adventures, Mahjoub renders Rashid al-Kenzy’s as realistic and true to life in a way that highlights his vulnerability. In addition, the ill-fated marriage between Othello and Desdemona is adapted in Mahjoub’s novel in the form of a Platonic love that is founded on a scientific dialogue between Rashid al-Kenzy and Sigrid Heinesen, a poet and philosopher woman from Jutland. In this way, Desdemona’s claim that she sees Othello’s visage in his mind, a claim that is strongly undermined by Othello’s irrationality, jealousy and belief in superstitions during the course of the play, is emphasized and foregrounded in Mahjoub’s novel.

Abstract:

The marriage bond that is conducted aims to form a happy prosperous household, eternal and lasting under the protection of God Almighty, with the aim, automatically the family should be fostered as well as possible, mutual love and affectionate love between husband and wife and children . Each couple wishes for a harmonious married life, but not forever the condition of the household between husband and wife good and peaceful, because sometimes there are quarrels and bickering, which often leads to the occurrence of violence in the household that eventually happened to a percerarian. The legal policy issued by the Government of the Republic of Indonesia to anticipate violence especially domestic violence is Law Number 23 Year 2004 on the Elimination of Domestic Violence (PKDRT). This law is expected to reveal the various violations in the household and the protection of the rights of victims of violence without exception, therefore the question to be answered in this study is, How to protect the law against women victims of domestic violence in the criminal justice system in the City Jambi. This research uses empirical juridical type, and as its analysis knife the researcher uses legal protection theory, that is preventive law protection and repressive law protection. The emphasis of the analysis on the fact that repressive legal protection in the criminal justice system is reflected from the case reporting process until the case is decided by the judge in court. In addition to a brief overview of the process of domestic violence in the criminal justice system, there are also some judges' decisions on cases with free decisions and verdicts stating that the case was revoked. That the repressive legal protection of victims of domestic violence through the decision of a court of a criminal verdict has shown the comparison of law, although it is still far from the legal certainty.Keywords: Legal Protection Against Women, Domestic Violence Victims, Criminal Justice System

Abstract:

‘Jason…chosen leader because his superior declines the honour, subordinate to his comrades, except once, in every trial of strength, skill, or courage, a great warrior only with the help of magical charms, jealous of honour but incapable of asserting it, passive in the face of crisis, timid and confused before trouble, tearful at insult, easily despondent, gracefully treacherous in his dealings with the love-sick Medea but cowering before her later threats and curses, coldly efficient in the time-serving murder of an unsuspecting child (sic), reluctant even in marriage.’ So Carspecken put the case against Jason's heroism. In the face of such an indictment, Lawall's plea in mitigation, ‘it must be admitted that [Jason] often reveals the qualities of a true gentleman’, seems somehow inadequate. Criticism since Carspecken has found various overlapping categories for Jason which both take account of the earlier negative judgements and preserve the centrality of his ‘personality’ and character in the poem: Jason is the quiet diplomat who works through consensus rather than force, his is a heroism of sex-appeal, he is an anti-hero, the embodiment of Sceptic ‘suspension of judgement’, or, alternatively, he is ‘one of us’, credible and lifelike. Carspecken himself tried a different tack: the poem is concerned not with individual heroism but with the heroism of the group (cf. 1.1, 4.1773–81).

Abstract:

The sub‐district of Danau Seberang Kota Jambi is located in Kota Jambi, the province of Jambi. This area is wellknown with its’s people who are religious and respect the local culture. There is a saying here “Adat bersendi Sara’, Sara’ bersendi Kitabullah, Sara’ mengato adat memakai, Sara’ mendaki adat menurun”. This research is aimed at investigating on how to build a good family in the people of Danau Teluk Seberang Kota Jambi. The writer would like to know whether the citizens of Danau Teluk Seberang Kota Jambi is categorized into fair family, good family 1, good family 2, good family 3 or good family 3 plus/ 4. Besides that, the writer wants to study particularly the applications of Islamic principles, especially to the citizens of Ulu Gedong dan Olak Kemang in sub‐district Danau Teluk Seberang Kota Jambi. The result of the research shows that people already implement the Islamic principles in building a good family, for example by doing the five‐time‐a‐day praying, praying together, remembering God, and praying in happy and sorrow condition, and others. The efforts to build a good family between husband and wife through: accepting the reality, adapt each other, foster the love, and so forth. The people of sub‐district Danau Teluk Seberang Kota Jambi is categorized into “good family I” which is: a family that build based on legal marriage, affection, do five‐timesa‐day praying, do fasting, pay the obligatory‐donation, learn the basic of religion, and there is place to live. The quality of marriage increases when the household applies religion principles. The religion will be the foundation for good activities and prevent from bad habits or actions. If husband and wife always do what Islam asks to do, as the effect, every problem in a family can be solved. Thus, the real quality of a good family will come true

Abstract:

The subject of the study is the system of reticence techniques in the women’s autobiography of O.Ivanenko, the Ukrainian writer of the 20th century. Western theorists of women’s autobiography (M.Mason, E.Jelinek) considered relativity, fragmentation, nonlinearity as qualities that define it. However, the concept of L. Gilmore, who considers autobiography as a writing strategy that constructs its object, allows us to raise the question of the potential functions of constructive techniques in this text. These and many other studies analyze the autobiographies of women in the Western world, leaving aside the writings of Eastern Europeans, however, the works of those who had to live in Soviet conditions are of particular interest for various reasons. The aim of the proposed study is to show the peculiarities of the creation and functioning of the women’s autobiographics in ideological societies on the example of Oksana Ivanenko’s memoirs Always in Life. The research methodology is based on women’s studies and discursive analysis. As a result of the study, it was found that in Ivanenko’s memoirs the theme of creative self-realization and literature as a whole pushes aside the narrative that Western theorists consider to be the main one for women's biography: comprehending their own female experience (first of all, love, marriage, motherhood). The relativity, embodied in the genre of the essay, allowed the author to talk about oneself, when she wanted it, and at the right moment to return to the pseudo-object. The non-linearity of the narrative helps to emphasize advantageous moments and to avoid forced chronology. But fragmentation and heterogeneity allow the woman writer not to build a holistic narrative about oneself, but to offer «flickering» content to readers. Thus, feeling ideological pressure, the author escaped memories not only of the difficult period in Ukrainian history, but also of important events in her life, ignoring her true experience. This means that an autobiographical work may be called upon not to record a true experience but to create a socially acceptable version of the writer.

Abstract:

RESUMO: O presente artigo tem como escopo analisar as frequências e incidências do pensamento ético teológico do grande doutor dominicano, Santo Tomás de Aquino, na exortação pós-sinodal Amoris Laetitia (AL). As dezenove (19) citações no texto conclusivo sugere-nos que no seu pensamento se encontra um resgate sólido, sábio, prudente e sereno de uma tradição a ser revisitada sempre e que nos propicia pensar em uma verdadeira antropologia teológica da alegria. O objetivo é o de repropor uma teologia do matrimônio que encontra seu enraizamento em uma visão do amor fecundo, mais que em uma concepção jurídico canônica. A reflexão discorrerá em dois momentos. No primeiro, se apresentará a moral matrimonial presente em Amoris Laetitia (AL) com as implicações próprias. No segundo, propõe­-se a analisar cada número citado do pensamento de Santo Tomás na exortação de Francisco, mostrando as mudanças de posturas morais propostas por este ma­gistério. Enfim, na conclusão sintetizaremos as ideias mais relevantes do artigo. O resultado a ser obtido é o de demonstrar que a exortação pós-sinodal não apenas avança em uma postura moral, mas também repropõe a antropologia teológica de Santo Tomás como referencial para o debate teológico, abrindo a possibilidade de uma nova forma de acompanhar pastoralmente os casais e as famílias a partir da experiência do amor humano e suas possíveis variações ao longo da vida.ABSTRACT: The purpose of this article is to analyze the frequency and occur­rences of the theological ethical thinking of the great Dominican doctor, St. Thomas Aquinas, in the post-synodal exhortation Amoris Laetitia (AL). The nineteen (19) quotations in the concluding text suggest that, in his thinking, there is a solid, wise, prudent and serene tradition, always to be revisited, that allows us to think of a true theological anthropology of joy. The purpose is to re-examine a theology of marriage that finds its roots in a vision of fruitful love, rather than in a canonical juridical conception. The reflection will be presented in two moments. In the first, the marital morality present in Amoris Laetitia (AL) will be discussed with its own implications. In the second, we propose to analyze each number quoted from the thought of St. Thomas in the exhortation of Francis, showing the changes of moral postures proposed by this magisterium. Finally, in the conclusion, we will synthe­size the most relevant ideas of the article. The result sought is to demonstrate that the post-synodal exhortation not only shows progress in terms of moral posture, but also re-proposes the theological anthropology of St. Thomas as a reference for the theological debate. This opens the possibility of a new way of accompanying couples and families pastorally, based on the experience of human love and its possible variations throughout life.

Abstract:

RESUMO: O presente artigo tem como escopo analisar as frequências e incidências do pensamento ético teológico do grande doutor dominicano, Santo Tomás de Aquino, na exortação pós-sinodal Amoris Laetitia (AL). As dezenove (19) citações no texto conclusivo sugere-nos que no seu pensamento se encontra um resgate sólido, sábio, prudente e sereno de uma tradição a ser revisitada sempre e que nos propicia pensar em uma verdadeira antropologia teológica da alegria. O objetivo é o de repropor uma teologia do matrimônio que encontra seu enraizamento em uma visão do amor fecundo, mais que em uma concepção jurídico canônica. A reflexão discorrerá em dois momentos. No primeiro, se apresentará a moral matrimonial presente em Amoris Laetitia (AL) com as implicações próprias. No segundo, propõe­-se a analisar cada número citado do pensamento de Santo Tomás na exortação de Francisco, mostrando as mudanças de posturas morais propostas por este ma­gistério. Enfim, na conclusão sintetizaremos as ideias mais relevantes do artigo. O resultado a ser obtido é o de demonstrar que a exortação pós-sinodal não apenas avança em uma postura moral, mas também repropõe a antropologia teológica de Santo Tomás como referencial para o debate teológico, abrindo a possibilidade de uma nova forma de acompanhar pastoralmente os casais e as famílias a partir da experiência do amor humano e suas possíveis variações ao longo da vida.ABSTRACT: The purpose of this article is to analyze the frequency and occur­rences of the theological ethical thinking of the great Dominican doctor, St. Thomas Aquinas, in the post-synodal exhortation Amoris Laetitia (AL). The nineteen (19) quotations in the concluding text suggest that, in his thinking, there is a solid, wise, prudent and serene tradition, always to be revisited, that allows us to think of a true theological anthropology of joy. The purpose is to re-examine a theology of marriage that finds its roots in a vision of fruitful love, rather than in a canonical juridical conception. The reflection will be presented in two moments. In the first, the marital morality present in Amoris Laetitia (AL) will be discussed with its own implications. In the second, we propose to analyze each number quoted from the thought of St. Thomas in the exhortation of Francis, showing the changes of moral postures proposed by this magisterium. Finally, in the conclusion, we will synthe­size the most relevant ideas of the article. The result sought is to demonstrate that the post-synodal exhortation not only shows progress in terms of moral posture, but also re-proposes the theological anthropology of St. Thomas as a reference for the theological debate. This opens the possibility of a new way of accompanying couples and families pastorally, based on the experience of human love and its possible variations throughout life.

Abstract:

Contemporary society has discovered—or in some cases been forced to discover—the worth of women. Historians have provided valuable insights into the social, cultural, and legal status of women in an effort to highlight the roots of attitudes that have excluded women from positions of power in the western world. Much of this research has focused upon new ways of viewing history, and the fine series of monographs Women in Culture and Society being published by the University of Chicago Press provides a prime example of the new awareness of the distaff side of history. Yet, little attention has been paid to some of the most basic assumptions of past generations of medieval historians about women and society. The claim that male chauvinist attitudes are founded in the primative Germanic concept of a warrior fraternity from which women were physiologically excluded from membership was already hoary when Fritz Kern published his classic account of medieval law and society in 1914. The comitatus band of Tacitus has been seen as a central component of the leitmotiv that produced chivalry. The chivalric love ethic has, of course, received great attention from women's historians, but the chivalric orders into which such views were distilled have been largely ignored.The traditional view of the chivalric orders as fossilized parodies of the values they espoused so eloquently advocated by Johan Huizinga's The Waning of the Middle Ages still holds the field. Only in the last year have the chivalric orders been rehabilitated as genuine expressions of the human values of their age. The position of women within the tradition of the chivalric orders is worth a look for the intrinsic interest of the subject and for the insights that the investigation provides into the shifts in attitudes toward females over the centuries. The chivalric orders, and the Arthurian legends that inspired them, placed a high value on women, much higher than the earlier chansons de geste. While it is true that this tradition tended to place the lady upon a pedestal from which her daughters have fought to climb down, the greatest and longest lasting of these late-medieval chivalric fraternities, the Order of the Garter, also gave women a role in its celebrations.

Abstract:

Visuotiniame pasaulyje kinta kultūrinis žemėlapis. Greita ekonomikos plėtra skatina kinų kultūros pokyčius. Jaunimui būdingas individualumas, silpni giminystės ryšiai, meilės, sekso ir vedybų politikos pokyčiai. Dėl gimimų skaičiaus ribojimo Kinijoje vaikai ir jaunimas labiau linkę būti individualistai nei kolektyviški, tai skatinama ir per filmus ar televizijos serialus. Dažniau jie galvoja apie save nei apie Jus ar Juos. Giminystės ryšiai Kinijoje taip pat silpni, todėl šiame darbe daroma prielaida, kad būtent dėl tokių priežasčių 2006 m. labai padaugėjo santuokų su užsieniečiais. Taip pat tai atsiliepia ir vertinant požiūrį į partnerį. Kaip teigia pranešimo autorius, tai turi įtakos ir santuokai, seksualiniams santykiams.Chinese changing identities in globalised worldRobert Paul Smith (Xu, Ke Shu) SummaryThe cultural map is changing in the globalised world. The quickly developing economy changes the identities of Chinese quietly. Typically, the young generation is more individualistic, the traditional kinship weakens, and the ideology on love, sex and marriage changes. Because of Chinese birth control policy, the children and young people who grow up as the only child in her or his family respect individualism more than collectivism influenced by movies of Hollywood and Western TV soap plays. What they think most is in terms of “I”, not “you” or “they”. Kinship in China is now much weaker in Mainland China than it was in the past. In fact, there are many empty-nest families, in which children have left home to seek success in metropolis in China and cities in Foreign Countries, and their old, sick parents are suffering in loneliness. In the Chinese countryside, a lot of young couples refuse to support their old parents. Some old parents are even driven out and suffer from hunger. Now in China, DINK marriages and sexless marriages are common in the cities. More than 400,000 Chinese people have married foreigners till 2006. In 2005, more than 70,000 Japanese men and 41,000 Korean men have married Chinese women. Rich men change girlfriends or sex partners frequently. Some even keep special, private houses where their girlfriends live apart from their wives. Thousands of workers, drawn from farms to jobs in the cities, are sexually hungry and visit illegal striptease shows frequently. The new generation of Chinese people does not even value virginity very highly. There are too many quick marriages in China now. This was especially true in the lucky wedding year of 2006. Some married quickly and divorced very soon.Key words: change, identities, individualization, kinship, loven>

Abstract:

<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:OfficeDocumentSettings> <o:AllowPNG /> <o:PixelsPerInch>72</o:PixelsPerInch> <o:TargetScreenSize>1024x768</o:TargetScreenSize> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: -38.9pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: &quot;Book Antiqua&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;;" lang="ES-TRAD">La revista <em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Fantasía</em> (1945-1946), editada por la Delegación Nacional de Prensa, publicó poemas, novelas y relatos, obras teatrales, guiones cinematográficos, tanto de escritores de larga experiencia pertenecientes a distintas generaciones, como de jóvenes noveles. Dio cabida también a un amplio grupo de autoras que centraron sus colaboraciones en la novela corta y el relato, narraciones de carácter amoroso, sentimental, con el objetivo de afianzar los valores tradicionales. Entre ellas hay algunas propuestas evasivas, con leves notas de humor y dosificada emoción, y otras que tímidamente presentan la desigualdad institucionalizada a la que la mujer se enfrenta especialmente en las relaciones matrimoniales. La mayor parte de estas narraciones quedaron para siempre entre las páginas de la revista.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: &quot;Book Antiqua&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;" lang="EN-US">Abstract</span></p> <span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: &quot;Book Antiqua&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;MS Mincho&quot;; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;" lang="EN-US">The <em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Fantasía </em>magazine (1945-1946), published by the National Press Delegation, published poems, novels and short stories, plays, and<span style="color: red;"> </span>screenplays, written both by highly experienced writers belonging to different generations, and young beginners. A large group of woman authors who wrote love, sentimental narrations or stories that strengthened traditional values were also included. These were not women writers’ only topics as others deal with illusive subjects with slight touches of humor and restrained emotions, and a third group gingerly presents institutionalized inequality that women face particularly in marriage. Most of these stories remained forever only in the pages of the magazine</span><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves /> <w:TrackFormatting /> <w:HyphenationZone>21</w:HyphenationZone> <w:PunctuationKerning /> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas /> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:DoNotPromoteQF /> <w:LidThemeOther>ES</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables /> <w:SnapToGridInCell /> <w:WrapTextWithPunct /> <w:UseAsianBreakRules /> <w:DontGrowAutofit /> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark /> <w:DontVertAlignCellWithSp /> <w:DontBreakConstrainedForcedTables /> <w:DontVertAlignInTxbx /> <w:Word11KerningPairs /> <w:CachedColBalance /> <w:UseFELayout /> </w:Compatibility> <w:DoNotOptimizeForBrowser /> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math" /> <m:brkBin m:val="before" /> <m:brkBinSub m:val="&#45;-" /> <m:smallFrac m:val="off" /> <m:dispDef /> <m:lMargin m:val="0" /> <m:rMargin m:val="0" /> <m:defJc m:val="centerGroup" /> <m:wrapIndent m:val="1440" /> <m:intLim m:val="subSup" /> <m:naryLim m:val="undOvr" /> </m:mathPr></w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true" DefSemiHidden="true" DefQFormat="false" DefPriority="99" LatentStyleCount="267"> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="0" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Normal" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="heading 1" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 2" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 3" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 4" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 5" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 6" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 7" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 8" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 9" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 1" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 2" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 3" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 4" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 5" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 6" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 7" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 8" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 9" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="35" QFormat="true" Name="caption" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Title" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="0" Name="Default Paragraph Font" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Strong" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="59" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Table Grid" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Placeholder Text" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 1" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 1" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 1" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Revision" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="List Paragraph" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Quote" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Quote" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 1" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 1" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 2" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 2" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 2" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 2" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 2" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 3" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 3" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 3" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 3" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 3" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 4" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 4" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 4" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 4" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 4" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 5" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 5" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 5" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 5" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 5" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 6" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 6" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 6" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 6" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 6" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Emphasis" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Emphasis" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Reference" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Reference" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" Name="Bibliography" /> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading" /> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <mce:style><! /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Tabla normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} --> <!--[endif] -->

Abstract:

Since September 11, American Muslim identities, political views, sensi- bilities, and even private lives have been studied by academics, pollsters, government agencies, and think tank researchers. This renewed interest on the nexus of religious and national identity has produced a vast volume of publications, cross-cutting each social science discipline and thematic re- search area. Some are even available online, such as #islamophobiaisracism syllabus, #BlackIslamSyllabus and ISPU’s Muslim American Experience Bibliography page. What is often lost in this conversation, however, are the nuances that influence everyday lives of American Muslims and their practice of Islam. Situated within religious studies and Islamic studies scholarship and speak- ing to a broad disciplinary array, the edited volume The Practice of Islam in America: An Introduction is a much-needed contribution to the scholarship on Islam and American Muslims. The book’s editor, prolific and prominent scholar and historian of Is- lam in America, Edward Curtis IV, explains the goals of the book in this sentence: “This book is driven by the desire to provide clear answers to es- sential, and basic, questions about how observant Muslim Americans prac- tice Islam…” (2). Importantly, the book delivers on its promise to provide a lived religion perspective (3). While the twelve chapters in The Practice of Islam in America examine distinct practices and themes, the chapters synergize in giving voice to a lived religion perspective on American Muslims’ practices. This approach helps the reader to achieve a healthy distance from the significant but often overly dominant political context that influences discourse on American Muslim life. The book opens with an introductory chapter by Curtis, explaining the rationale and background to the project. The chapter is a good prelude to this rich volume, reflecting Curtis’ years of experience working on Muslim American history and experience. For the non-specialist audience, the in- troductory chapter also provides a broad historical overview of American Muslim history, starting from the slave trade and stretching into contem- porary Islamophobia while covering debates within the diverse American Muslim community. The volume is organized across four thematic parts. Each part includes three chapters, producing a rich, twelve-chapter account. Part I examines prayer and pilgrimage and includes chapters on ṣalāt, dhikr, and ḥajj. Part II explores holidays; individual chapters cover Ramadan and Eid celebra- tions, Ashura, and Milad/Mawlid celebrations. Part III takes the reader into the realm of life cycle rituals with chapters on birth, wedding, and funeral/ death rituals. The concluding Part IV touches on Islamic ethics and reli- gious culture. It examines philanthropy, food practices and engagements with the Qur’an with reference to everyday practices of American Muslims. Curtis explains in his introduction that the volume is intentional in de- veloping a lived religion focus. Moreover, almost all authors give examples for how these practices vary in different branches of Islam (Sunni, Twelver and Isma‘ili/Bohra Shi‘i communities) as well as for multiple ethno-racial demographic groups that make up the deeply pluralistic Muslim American fabric. Contributors should be applauded for producing chapters that are ethnographically rich, thematically diverse, and attentive to multiple sites and dynamics. Chapter 1 moves through multiple vignettes that involve ṣalāt, the Muslim ritual prayer. Rose Aslan’s vivid descriptions of the lives of Ameri- can Muslims and her ability to walk the reader along not only the basics of the prayer but also the nuances among individuals with diverse ethno-racial and socioeconomic backgrounds and the post-September 11 securitization of ṣalāt is refreshing. Rosemary R. Corbett’s chapter on dhikr—“medita- tive and sometimes joyous religious litanies,” to use the definition offered by Curtis in the introductory chapter (6)—is a comparative study of three related groups, each springing from the Turkish Halveti Cerrahi order. The historical account around the creation of these groups is helpful especially because one of these figures, Tosun Bayrak of the Spring Valley Halveti Cerrahi order, recently passed away. In the next chapter, Hussein Rashid skillfully walks the reader through the meaning, rites, and politico-eco- nomic realities surrounding ḥajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudia Arabia. His chapter helps to familiarize the readers with complexities of ḥajj. Part II of the book begins with Jackleen Salem’s nuanced and vivid account of Ramadan, Eid al-Fitr, and Eid al-Adha. In testament to the volume’s attention to inclusivity, Michael Muhammad Knight’s chapter on Ashura is a vivid and informative account of this most popular Shi‘i commemoration. This chapter is less ethnographically driven than other chapters preceding it, perhaps to the advantage of the common reader who learns a great deal about early Muslim history and the background to the Sunni-Shi‘i split. The same is true also for Marcia Hermansen’s chapter on Milad/Mawlid celebrations recognizing Prophet Muhammad’s birth. The chapter strikes a balance between academic information on the subject and a thick description of these ceremonies. She provides a superb account of major debates and disagreements within the Muslim community sur- rounding these celebrations for the benefit of the uninitiated reader. In the first chapter of Part III, Maria Curtis explores birth rituals ranging from baby-showers to naming a child to postpartum complexities faced by moms within the American Muslim community. Her chapter is noteworthy in producing a much-needed addition to these underexplored topics. Juliane Hammer’s chapter on weddings is an exploration of not only ceremonial aspects of marriage but also legal approaches to marriage in America through a rich ethnographic account of three distinct weddings. She gives due attention to textual and Qur’anic interpretations on love and mercy by American Muslims. Her chapter is among those that provide the common reader with a nuanced view of the scholarship on the theme that is under exploration. The same is true for Amir Hussain’s chapter on Muslim funerals. Speaking from within a few funeral processions in southern Cali- fornia, as well as a brief description of the funeral ceremony of Muhammad Ali, Hussain explores the rites of death and burial in the American Muslim landscape.The first chapter of Part IV, by Danielle Witman Abraham, examines philanthropy and social giving in the American Muslim community. The chapter explains the norms in Sunii and Shi‘i communities, including concerns about domestic vs. international giving. Chapter 11, by Magfirat Dahlan, delves into American Muslims’ food consumption choices. She explores the fluid categories of permissible and impermissible food as well as ethical vs. non-ethical food as perceived by her respondents. The final chapter of the book is by Mona Ali and focuses on the Qur’an and how American Muslims engage with Islam’s holy book. Her approach provides a concise and effective summary of the Qur’an’s role in life cycles, identity formation and internal conversations among American Muslims. While the individual chapters’ focus on specific contexts and ethno- graphic accounts is very helpful, some chapters leave the reader with a sense of incompleteness due to the brief attempt to cram information on the broader context in the last two pages of each chapter. For example, in Chapter 1, Rose Aslan invokes the American Muslim debate around cre- ating gender equity in mosques and the third space wave but cannot do justice to the multifaceted conversations and developments around this issue. Chapter 4 by Jackleen Salem also suffers from trying to deliver too much. Salem’s concluding section, “Eid as an American Holiday,” fails to mention the heated debates that defined the “White House Iftar” dinners during President Obama’s presidency. These kinds of omissions create a kind of wedge between the complexities that arise in the everyday practice of Islam and the volume’s broader reflections. Chapter 9, by Amir Hussain, details Muhammad Ali’s funeral but does not fully engage with the debates and choices that marked the funeral. One wonders too if inclusion of other dhikr practices adapted by American Muslim followers of the Tijaniyya or the Ba‘Alawi sufi networks could have been helpful to give voice to dhikr practice in Chapter 2, out- side the Halveti Jerrahi context. Another theme that is neglected lies in the chapter on philanthropy, which does not mention what are often heated debates within American Muslim communities on the jurisprudence (fiqh) of giving to non-Muslims as well as whether certain service organizations (such as those serving students or social justice needs) are zakāt-eligible.There are practices that are left out as well. Du‘a Kumayl, practiced by Shi‘i Muslims on Thursday evenings similar to mawlid ceremonies, is not mentioned in the text. It would have been enriching to include this practice of reading a prayer that is traced to Prophet Muhammad’s cousin and one of the four great caliphs, Imam Ali. Finally, the choice to not cite online resources with their full web ad- dresses seems like an odd choice for a volume this rich in content. The lack of a full pathway in many instances makes it difficult for researchers to access information. These slight omissions notwithstanding, The Practice of Islam in Amer- ica: An Introduction is a great resource for instructors to use in introducto- ry courses in religious studies and American Muslim studies programs, as well as a good supplementary text for anyone teaching Islam in interfaith contexts. It delivers on its promise to provide rich narratives on what Is- lam looks like as a lived religion in America. It is highly relevant for those teaching not only on Islam but also on religion generally. The editor as well as the authors deserve recognition for producing a nuanced and insightful volume. Ahmet Selim TekeliogluAli Vural Ak Center for Global Islamic StudiesGeorge Mason University

Abstract:

AbstractBishop Stephen Neill's name elicits polarized perspectives. On the one hand he was one of the great Christian scholars of the twentieth century; on the other hand, his personal life was an enigma. This paper intends to explore some of the various responses to Bishop Neill's legacy since his death in 1984, giving special attention to the case study of how he lost his bishopric in India in 1945. It was a devastating event for Neill; he was forced to leave against his wishes. India was his true love, and the loss was tremendous for him. How could a bishop the stature of Stephen Neill have been forced from his see? After his death in 1984 a flurry of articles appeared in various publications. Some of these praised him, essentially arguing that whatever failings Neill may have had, his reputation should not be soiled by a few indiscretions in his younger years. Others, however, questioned how a clergyman, a bishop no less, could essentially get away with bizarre habits that created lasting wounds in some of the people in his care. Neill was never publicly chastised for what he did; he was quietly moved into a new role in the Anglican Church and eventually moved to Geneva where he worked with the World Council of Churches. Why Neill lost the prestigious see of Tinnevelly in South India was a matter of intense questioning until recently. This article uncovers what happened in South India in 1944 and 1945 that led to such drastic action. Neill did manage to recover, becoming one of the great historians of the world Christian movement. Today, his legacy is profound, evinced in the dozens of fine books he published. However, there are others who are still pained by him. This was an enigmatic man, deeply committed to his Christian faith, yet deeply flawed. Le nom de l'évêque Stephen Neill évoque des controverses. D'un côté, il fut l'un des grands penseurs chrétiens du vingtième siècle; de l'autre, sa vie personnelle fut une énigme. Cet article tente d'explorer quelques traces de son œuvre depuis sa mort en 1984, en portant une attention spéciale à la façon dont il perdit sa charge épiscopale en Inde, en 1945. Ce fut un événement accablant pour Neill; il fut forcé de partir à son corps défendant. L'Inde était son véritable amour et la perte fut pour lui considérable. Comment un évêque de la stature de Stephen Neill a-t-il pu être expulsé de son siège? Après sa mort en 1984, toute une série d'articles parurent dans des publications diverses. Quelques-uns louangeurs, arguant que, quelles que soient ses fautes, sa réputation ne devrait pas être ternie par quelques indiscrétions sur ses années de jeunesse. D'autres, cependant, se demandaient comment un homme d'Eglise, et qui plus est un évêque, pouvait s'accommoder d'habitudes bizarres qui avaient occasionné des blessures durables chez certains de ses fidèles. Neill ne fut jamais châtié publiquement pour ce qu'il avait fait. On lui donna discrètement un nouveau poste dans l'Eglise anglicane puis un poste à Genève, au Conseil œcuménique des Eglises. La raison pour laquelle il perdit le prestigieux siège de Tinnevelly en Inde du Sud a posé encore récemment beaucoup de questions. Cet article dévoile ce qui s'est passé en Inde du Sud en 1944 et 1945 et qui entraîna une mesure aussi radicale. Neill réussit à reprendre le dessus, devenant l'un des grands historiens du mouvement chrétien oecuménique. Aujourd'hui son héritage est marquant, en témoigne la douzaine de très bons livres qu'il a publiés. Pourtant d'autres personnes restent en souffrance à cause de lui. Il a été un homme énigmatique, profondément engagé dans sa foi chrétienne, mais avec une faille profonde. Der Name Bischof Stephen Neill ruft gegensätzliche Perspektiven hervor. Einerseits war er einer der großen christlichen Gelehrten des 20. Jahrhunderts; andererseits war sein persönliches Leben ein Rätsel. Dieser Artikel möchte einige der verschiedenen Antworten auf das Vermächtnis Bischof Neills seit seinem Tod 1984 untersuchen und spezielle Aufmerksamkeit auf den Fall richten, wie er 1945 sein Bischofsamt in Indien verlor. Das war für Neill ein furchtbares Ereignis; er musste gegen seinen Willen gehen. Indien war seine wahre Liebe und der Verlust war für ihn schrecklich. Wie konnte ein Bischof von der Größe Stephen Neills gezwungen werden, seinen Bischofssitz aufzugeben? Nach seinem Tod erschien eine Reihe von Artikeln in verschiedenen Veröffentlichungen. Einige lobten ihn und argumentierten im Wesentlichen, dass trotz aller Fehler, die Neill vielleicht hatte, man seinen Ruf nicht durch einige Indiskretionen aus seinen jüngeren Jahren schädigen sollte. Andere fragten an, wie ein Kleriker, und besonders ein Bischof, mit bizarren Gewohnheiten eigentlich durchkommen konnte, die einigen Menschen in seiner Obhut bleibende Wunden verursachten. Niell wurde nie öffentlich für seine Taten bestraft; er wurde in Stille zu einer neuen Aufgabe in der Anglikanischen Kirche befördert und übersiedelte bei Gelegenheit nach Genf, wo er mit dem Weltkirchenrat arbeitete. Warum Neill seinen angesehenen Sitz von Tinnevelly in Südindien verlor, war eine Angelegenheit intensiven Nachfragens bis vor kurzem. Dieser Artikel enthüllt, was in Südindien 1944 und 1945 geschah und zu so einer drastischen Aktion führte. Neill schaffte es sich zu erholen und wurde einer der größten Historiker der christlichen Weltbewegung. Heute ist sein Erbe groß und liegt in einem Dutzend hervorragender Bücher zutage, die er veröffentliche. Allerdings gibt es immer noch Menschen, die auch heute noch unter ihm leiden. Er war ein rätselhafter Mann, seinem christlichen Glauben tief hingegeben, allerdings auch mit großen Defekten. El nombre del obispo Stephen Neill provoca opiniones polarizadas. Por un lado, fue uno de los grandes eruditos cristianos del siglo XX, y por el otro, su vida personal fue un enigma. Este trabajo se propone explorar algunas de las diversas respuestas al legado del obispo Neill luego de su muerte en 1984; se prestará especial atención al hecho de cómo perdió su obispado en la India en 1945. Fue un acontecimiento devastador para Neill, ya que se vio obligado a salir en contra de su voluntad. India fue su verdadero amor, y la pérdida fue enorme para él. ¿Cómo pudo un obispo de la talla de Stephen Neill haber sido expulsados de su sede? Luego de su muerte en 1984 una serie de artículos aparecieron en diversas publicaciones. Algunos de estos lo elogiaron, alegando fundamentalmente que cualquier falta que Neill pudo haber cometido, no debería manchar su reputación por indiscreciones cometidas en su juventud. Otros, sin embargo, cuestionaban cómo un sacerdote, nada menos que un obispo, pudo tener conductas extrañas que dejaron marcas profundas en algunas de las personas bajo su cuidado. Neill nunca fue reprendido públicamente por lo que hizo, silenciosamente fue trasladado a un nuevo cargo dentro de la Iglesia Anglicana y eventualmente fue enviado a Ginebra, donde trabajó con el Consejo Mundial de Iglesias. El porqué Neill perdió la prestigiosa sede de Tinnevelly en el sur de la India fue una cuestión de intenso debate hasta recientemente. Este artículo describe lo que pasó en el sur de la India en 1944 y 1945 que dio lugar a medidas tan drásticas. Neill logró recuperarse, convirtiéndose en uno de los grandes historiadores del movimiento cristiano en el mundo. Hoy en día su gran legado se manifiesta en decenas de excelentes obras publicadas. Sin embargo, hay otros que aún se siente dolidos por sus acciones. Este fue un hombre enigmático, genuinamente comprometido con su fe cristiana, pero aún así genuinamente imperfecto.

Abstract:

Introduction Such symptoms as hard, complex, bodily or mental feelings, that turn our everyday life into a hell, at first, lead us to a doctor, and then - to a psychotherapist. A sick man is keen to get rid of a symptom. A doctor prescribes medication, that is ought to eliminate a symptom. A psychotherapist searches for a reason of the problem that needs to be removed. There is such an idea that a neurotic symptom, in particular, an anxiety - is a pathological (spare or extra) response of a body. It is generally believed that such anxiety doesn’t have some real, objective reasons and that it is the result of a nervous system disorder, or some disruption of a cognitive sphere etc. Meanwhile, it is known that in the majority of cases, medical examinations of anxious people show that they don’t have any organic damages, including nervous system. It often happens that patients even wish doctors have found at least any pathology and have begun its treatment. And yet - there is no pathology. All examinations indicate a high level of functionality of a body and great performance of the brain's work. Doctors throw their hands up, as they can't cure healthy people. One of my clients told me her story of such medical examinations (which I’ll tell you with her permission). She said that it was more than 10 years ago. So, when she told her doctor all of her symptoms - he seemed very interested in it. He placed a helmet with electrodes on her head and wore some special glasses, when, according to her words, he created some kind of stressful situation for her brain, as she was seeing some flashings of bright pictures in her eyes. She said that he had been bothered with her for quite a long time, and at the end of it he had told her that her brain had been performing the best results in all respects. He noted that he’d rarely got patients with such great health indicators. My client asked the doctor how rare that was. And he answered: “one client in two or three months.” At that moment my client didn’t know whether to be relieved, flattered or sad. But since then, when someone told her that anxiety was a certain sign of mental problems, or problems with the nervous system, or with a body in general, she answered that people who had anxiety usually had already got all the required medical examinations sufficiently, and gave them the advice to go through medical screening by themselves before saying something like that. Therefore, we see a paradoxical situation, when some experts point to a neurotic anxiety as if it is a kind of pathology, in other words - some result of a nervous system disorder. Other specialists in the same situation talk about cognitive impairments. And some, after all the examinations, are ready to send such patients into space Main text I don’t agree with the statement that any neurotic anxiety that happens is excessive and unfounded. It often happens that there is objective, specific and real causes for appearance of anxiety conditions. And these causes require solutions. And it’s not about some organic damages of the brain or nervous system. The precondition that may give a rise to anxiety disorder is the development of such a life story that at some stage becomes too toxic - when, on the one hand, a person interacts with the outside world in a way that destroys his or her personality, and, on the other hand, this person uses repression and accepts such situation as common and normal. Repression - is an essential condition for the development of a neurotic symptom. Sigmund Freud was the first who pointed this out. Repression is such a defense mechanism that helps people separate themselves from some unpleasant feelings of discomfort (pain) while having (external or internal) irritations. It is the situation when, despite the presence of irritations and painful feelings, a person, however, doesn't feel any of it and is not aware of them in his or her conscious mind. Repression creates the situation of so-called emotional anesthesia. As a result, a displacement takes place, so a body starts to signal about the existing toxic life situation via a symptom. Anxiety disorder is usually an appropriate response (symptom) of a healthy body to an unhealthy life situation, which is seen by a person as normal. And it’s common when such a person is surrounded by others (close people), who tend to benefit from such situation, and so they actively maintain this state of affairs, whether it is conscious for them or not. At the beginning of a psychotherapy almost all clients insist that everything is good in their lives, even great, as it is like in everyone else’s life. They say that they have only one problem, which is that goddamn symptom. So they focus all of their attention on that symptom. They are not interested in all the other aspects of their life, and they show their irritation when it comes to talking about it. People want to get rid of it, whatever it takes, but they often tend to keep their lives the way that it was. In such cases a psychotherapist is dealing with the resistance of clients, trying to turn their attention from a symptom to their everyday situation that includes their way of thinking, interactions with themselves and with others and with the external world in order to have the opportunity to see the real problem, to live it through, to rethink and to change the story of their lives. For better understanding about how it works I want to tell you three allegorical tales. The name of the first tale is “A frog in boiling water”. There is one scientific anecdote and an assumption (however, it is noted that such experiments were held in 19 century), that if we put a frog in a pot with warm water and start to slowly heat the water, then this frog get used to the temperature rise and stays in a hot water, the frog doesn’t fight the situation, slowly begins to lose its energy and at the last moment it couldn’t find enough strength and energy to get out of that pot. But if we throw a frog abruptly in hot water - it jumps out very quickly. It is likely that a frog, that is seating in boiling water, will have some responses of the body (symptoms). For example, the temperature of its body will rise, the same as the color of it, etc., that is an absolutely normal body response to the existing situation. But let us keep fantasizing further. Imagine a cartoon where such a frog is the magical cartoon hero, that comes to some magical cartoon doctor, shows its skin, that has changed the color, to the doctor, and asks to change the situation by removing this unpleasant symptom. So the doctor prescribes some medication to return the natural green color of the frog’s skin back. The frog gets back in its hot water. For some period of time this medication helps. But then, after a while, the frog’s body gets over the situation, and the redness of the frog's skin gets back. And the magical cartoon doctor states that the resistance of the body to this medication has increased, and each time prescribes some more and more strong drugs. In this example with the frog it is perfectly clear that the true solution of the problem requires the reduction of the water temperature in that pot. We could propose that magical cartoon frog to think and try to realize that: 1) the water in that pot is hot, and that is the reason why the skin is red; 2) the frog got used to this situation and that is why it is so unnoticeably for this frog; 3) if the temperature of the water in the pot still stay so hot, without any temperature drop, then all the medication works only temporarily; 4) if we lower the temperature in that pot - the redness disappears on its own, automatically and without any medication. Also this cartoon frog, that will go after the doctor to some cartoon physiotherapist, will face the necessity to give itself some answers for such questions as: 1) What is going on? Who has put this frog in that pot? Who is raising the temperature progressively? Who needs it? And what is the purpose or benefit for this person in that? Who benefits? 2) Why did the frog get into the pot? What are the benefits in it for the frog? Or why did the frog agree to that? 3) What does the frog lose when it gets out of this pot? What are the consequences of it for the frog? What does the frog have to face? What are the possible difficulties on the way? Who would be against the changes? With whom the frog may confront? 4) Is the frog ready to take control over its own pot in its own hands and start to regulate the temperature of the water by itself, so to make this temperature comfortable for itself? Is this frog ready to influence by itself on its own living space, to take the responsibility for it to itself? The example “A frog in boiling water” is often used as a metaphorical portrayal of the inability of people to respond (or fight back) to significant changes that slowly happen in their lives. Also this tale shows that a body, while trying to adjust to unfavorable living conditions, will react with a symptom. And it is very important to understand this symptom. Symptom - is the response of a body, it’s a way a body adjusts to some unfriendly environment. Symptom, on the one hand, informs about the existence of a problem, and from the other hand - tries to regulate this problem, at least in some way (like, to remove or reduce), at the level on which it can do it. The process is similar to those when, for example, in a body, while it suffers from some infectious disease, the temperature rises. Thus, on the one hand, the temperature informs about the existence of some infection. On the other hand, the temperature increase creates in a body the situation that is damaging for the infection. So, it would be good to think about in what way does an anxiety symptom help a body that is surrounded by some toxic life situation. And this is a good topic for another article. Here I want to emphasize that all the attempts to remove a symptom without a removal of a problem, without changing the everyday life story, may lead to strengthening of the symptom in the body. Even though the removal of a symptom without elimination of its cause has shown success, it only means that the situation was changed into the condition of asymptomatic existence of a problem. And it is, in its essence, a worse situation. For example, it can cause an occurrence of cancer. The tale “A frog in boiling water” is about the tendency of people to treat a symptom, instead of seeing their real problems, as its cause, and trying to solve it. People don’t want to see their problems, but it doesn’t mean that the problem doesn’t exist. The problem does exist and it continues to destroy a person, unnoticeably for him or her. A person with panic disorder could show us anxiety that is out of control (fear, panic), which, by its essence, seems to exist without any logical reason. Meanwhile the body of such a person could be in such processes that are similar to those that occur in the conditions of some real dangers, when the instinct for self-preservation is triggered and an automatic response of a body to fight or flight implements for its full potential. We can see or feel signs of this response, for example, in cases when some person tries to avoid some real or imaginary danger via attempts to escape (the feeling of fear), or tries to handle the situation by some attempts to fight (the feeling of anger). As I mentioned before, many doctors believe that such fear is pathological, as there is no real reason for such intense anxiety. They may see the cause of the problem in worrisome temper, so they try to remove specifically anxiety rather than help such patients to understand specific reason of their anxiety, they use special psychotherapeutic methods that are designed to help clients to develop logical thinking, so it must help them to realize the groundlessness of their anxiety. In my point of view, such anxiety often has specific, real reasons, when this response of a body, fight or flight, is absolutely appropriate, but not excessive or pathological. Inadequacy, in fact, is in the unconsciousness, but not in the reactions of a body. For a better understanding of the role of anxiety in some toxic environment, that isn’t realized, I want to tell you another allegorical tale called “The wolf and the hare”. Let us imagine that two cages were brought together in one room. The wolf was inside one cage and the hare was in another. The cages were divided by some kind of curtain that makes it impossible for them to see each other. At this point a question arises whether the animals react to each other in some way in such a situation, or not? I think that yes, they will. Since there are a lot of other receptors that participate in the receiving and processing of the sensory information. As well as sight and hearing, we have of course a range of other senses. For example, animals have a strong sense of smell. It is well known that people, along with verbal methods of communicating information, like language and speaking, also have other means of transmitting information - non-verbal, such as tone of voice, intonation, look, gestures, body language, facial expressions etc., that gives us the opportunity to receive additional information from each other. The lie detector works by using this principle: due to detecting non-verbal signals, it distinguishes the level of the accuracy of information that is transmitted. It is assumed, that about 30% of information, that we receive from the environment, comes through words, vision, hearing, touches etc. This is the information that we are aware of in our consciousness, so we could consciously (logically) use it to be guided by. And approximately 70% of everyday information about the reality around us we receive non-verbally, and this information in the majority of cases could remain in us without any recognition. It is the situation when we’ve already known something, and we even have already started to respond to it via our body, but we still don’t know logically and consciously that we know it. We can observe the responses of our own body without understanding what are the reasons for such responses. We can recognize this unconscious information through certain pictures, associations, dreams, or with the help of psychoanalysis. Psychoanalysis is a great tool that can help to recognize the information from the unconscious mind, so that it can be logically processed further on, in other words, a person then receives the opportunity to indicate the real problems and to make right decisions. But let us return to the tale where the hare and the wolf stay in one room and don’t see each other, and, maybe, don’t hear, though - feel. These feelings (in other words - non-verbal information that the hare receives) activate a certain response in the hare’s body. And it reacts properly and adequately to the situation, for instance, the body starts to produce adrenaline and runs the response “fight or flight”. So the hare starts to behave accordingly and we could see the following symptoms: the hare is running around his cage, fussing, having some tremor and an increased heart rate, etc.. And now let us imagine this tale in some cartoon. The hare stays in its house, and the wolf wanders about this house. But the hare doesn’t see the wolf. Though the body of the hare gives some appropriate responses. And then that cartoon hare goes to a cartoon doctor and asks that doctor to give it some pill from its tremor and the increased heart rate. And in general asks to treat in some way this incomprehensible, confusing, totally unreasonable severe anxiety. If we try to replace the situation from this fairy-tale to a life story, we could see that it fits well to the script of interdependent relationships, where there are a couple “a victim and an aggressor”, and where such common for our traditional families’ occurrences as a domestic family violence, psychological and physical abuse take place. Only in 2019 a law was passed that follows the European norms and gives a legislative definition of such concepts as psychological domestic abuse, sexual abuse, physical abuse, bullying, that criminalizes all of these occurrences, establishes the punishment and directly points to people that could be a potential abuser. Among them are: a husband towards his wife, parents towards their children, a wife towards her husband, a superior towards a subordinate, a teacher towards his or her students, children towards each other etc.. When it comes to recognition of something as unacceptable, it seems more easy to put to that category such occurrences as physical and sexual abuse, as we could see here some obvious events. For example, beating or sexual harassment. Our society is ready to respond to these incidents in more or less adequate way, and to recognize them as a crime. But it is harder to deal with the recognition of psychological abuse as an offence. Psychological abuse in our families is common. Psychological abuse occurs through such situations, when one person, while using different psychological manipulations, such as violation of psychological borders, imposition of feeling of guilty or shame, etc., force another person to give up his or her needs and desires, and so in such a way make this person live another’s life. Such actions have an extremely negative effect on the mental health of these people, just as much as physical abuse. It can destroy a person from the inside, ruin self-esteem and a feeling of self-worth, create the situation of absolute dependence such victim from an abuser, including financial dependence etc.. It often happens that psychological abuse takes place against the backdrop of demonstrations of care and love. So you've got this story about the wolf and the hare, that are right next to each other, and the shield between two of them is a repression - a psychological defense mechanism, when a person turns a blind eye to such offences, that take place in his or her own life and towards him or her. And this person considers this as normal, doesn't realize, doesn't have a resource to realize, that it is a crime. Most importantly - doesn’t feel anything, as a repression takes place. But a body responds in a right way - from a certain point of the existence of such a toxic situation the response “fight or flight” is launched in a body at full, in other words - the fear and anxiety with the associated symptoms. The third allegorical tale I called “Defective suit”, which I read in the book of Clarissa Pinkola Estés with the name “Running With the Wolves". “Once one man came to a tailor and started to try on a suit. When he was standing in front of a mirror, he saw that the costume had uneven edges. - Don’t worry, - said the tailor. - If you hold the short edge of the suit by your left hand - nobody notices it. But then the man saw that a lapel of a jacket folded up a little bit. - It's nothing. You only need to turn your head and to nail it by your chin. The customer obeyed, but when he put on trousers, he saw that they were pulling. - All right, so just hold your trousers like this by your right hand - and everything will be fine, - the tailor comforts him. The client agreed with him and took the suit. The next day he put on his new suit and went for a walk, while doing everything exactly in the way that the tailor told him to. He waddled in a park, while holding the lapel by his chin, and holding the short edge of the suit by his left hand, and holding his trousers by his right hand. Two old men, who were playing checkers, left the game and started to watch him. - Oh, God! - said one of them. - Look at that poor cripple. - Oh, yes - the limp - is a disaster. But I'm wondering, where did he get such a nice suit?” Clarissa wrote: “The commentary of the second old man reflects the common response of the society to a woman, who built a great reputation for herself, but turned into a cripple, while trying to save it. “Yes, she is a cripple, but look how great her life is and how lovely she looks.” When the “skin” that we put on ourselves towards society is small, we become cripples, but try to hide it. While fading away, we try to waddle perky, so everyone could see that we are doing really well, everything is great, everything is fine”. As for me, this tale is also about the process of forming a symptom in a situation when one person tries very hard to match to another one, whether it is a husband, a wife or parents. It’s about a situation when such a person always tries to support the other one, while giving up his or her own needs and causing oneself harm in such a way by feeling a tension every day, that becomes an inner normality. And so this person doesn’t give oneself a possibility to relax, to be herself (or himself), to be spontaneous, free. As a result, in this situation the person, who was supported, looks perfect from the outside, but those who tried to match, arises some visible defect, like a limp - a symptom. And so this person lives like a cripple, under everyday stress and tension, trying to handle it, while sacrificing herself (or himself) and trying to maintain this situation, so not to lose the general picture of a beautiful family and to avoid shame. The tailor, who made this defective suit and tells how to wear the suit properly, in order to keep things going as they are going, often is a mother who raised a problematic child and then tells another person how to deal with her child in the right way. It is the situation when a mother-in-law tells her daughter-in-law how to treat her son properly. In other words, how to support him, when to keep silent, to handle, how to fit in, so that her problematic son and this relationship in general looks perfect. Or vice versa, when a mother-in-law tells her son-in-law how to support her problematic daughter, how to fit in etc.. When, for example, a woman acts like this in her marriage and with her husband, with these excessive efforts to fit in - then after a while everybody will talk like: “Look at this lovely man: he lives with his sick wife, and their family seems perfect!”. But when such a woman becomes brave enough to relax and to just let the whole thing go, everybody will see that the relationship in her marriage isn’t perfect, and it is the other one who has problems. Each time when someone tries excessively to match up to another one, while turning oneself in some kind of a cripple, - he or she, on the one hand, supports the comfort of that person, to whom he or she tries to match up, and on the other hand - such a situation always arises in that person such conditions as a continuous tension, anxiety, fear to act spontaneously. A symptom - is like a visible defect, that shows itself through the body (and may look like some kind of injury). It is the result of a hidden inner prison. As a result of evolution, a pain tells us about a problem that is needed to be solved. When we repress our pain we can’t see our needs and our problems at full. And then a body starts to talk to us via a symptom. Psychotherapy aims for providing a movement from a symptom to a resumption of sensitivity to feelings, a resumption of the ability to feel your psychological pain, so you can realize your own toxic story. In this perspective another fairy-tale looks interesting to analyze - it is Andersen's fairytale “Princess and the Pea”. In the tale a prince wanted to find a princess to marry. There was one requirement for women candidates, so the prince could select her among commoner - high level of sensitivity, as the real princess would feel a pea through the mountain of mattresses, and so she could have the ability to feel discomfort, to be in a good contact with her body, to tell about her discomfort without such feeling as shame and guilt, and to refuse that discomfort, so to have the readiness to solve her problems and to demand from others the respect for her needs. It is common for our culture that the expression “a princess on a pea” very often uses for a negative meaning. So people who are in good contact with their body and who can demand comfort for themselves are often called capricious. At the same time the heroes who are ready to suffer and to tolerate their pain, who are able to repress (stop to feel) their pain represents a good example to be followed in our society. So, we may see the next algorithm in cases of various anxiety disorders: the existence of some toxic situation that brings some danger to a person. And we need not to be confused: a danger exists not for a body, but for a personality. A toxic live situation as well as having a panic attack is not a threat for the health of a body (that is what medical examinations show), and vice versa - it’s like every day intensive sport training, that could be good for your health only to some degree. A toxic situation destroys a person as a personality, who longs for one self’s expression; the existence of such a defense mechanism as repression - it’s a life with closed eyes, in pink glasses, when there is inability (or the absence of the desire) to see its own toxic story; 3.the presence of a symptom - a healthy response of a body “fight or flight” to some toxic situation; displacement - it’s replacement of the attention from the situation to a symptom, when a person starts to see and search for the problem in some other place, not where it really is. A symptom takes as some spare, pathological reaction that we need to get rid of. The readiness to fight the symptom arises, and that is the goal of such methods of therapy as pharmacological therapy, CBT and many others; the absence of adequate actions that are directed towards the change of a toxic situation itself. The absence of the readiness to show aggression when it comes to protect its space. All of it is a mechanism of formation of primary anxiety and preparation for launch of secondary anxiety. A complete anxiety disorder is the interaction between a primary and a secondary anxiety.

Abstract:

Conflict is a situation frequently occurs in people’s lives. The source of conflict is usually originated from a personal and interpersonal misunderstanding in a relationship and poor communication. As a part of human’s creativity, literary work sometimes reflects people problematic life. One of those is internal and external conflict faced by the main character of the novel Love the One You’re With by Emily Giffin. This paper aims at investigating the conflicts faced by the main character of the novel and the strategy used to resolve those. The result of the study shows that the main character of the novel faced both internal and external conflicts. The internal is the conflict of Ellen and her own mind when she run into her true love and her real life as a wife. It becomes a conflict as she trapped and started to hesitate her own self whether go along with her emotional love or go back to her husband. The external conflicts occur between Ellen and all the characters of the novel. Thus, the main character of the novel had a complicated struggle to save her marriage live.

Abstract:

Promising freedom and individualism, mountain bike magazines are an important source of narrative and visual pleasure. The dominant themes built in are technophilic desire, communion with nature and technical progress. While offering such pleasures, the illusion of technological determinism is maintained. Here mountain bike magazines are seen as independent variables in social change, existing within a "culture of no culture" (Haraway), a space in which events, races and so on can be objectively described and evaluated. However, when looking a little closer, it becomes clear that this is not the case. Rather, magazines such as Australian Mountain Bike (AMB) and Mountain Bike are shaped by, and implicated in guiding the use of the mountain bike and the variety of possible social arrangements this makes im/possible. With this in mind I want to make clear some of the ways magazines have an important role in negotiating the boundaries between the 'inside' and 'outside' of mountain biking practices, specifically in relation to riders' sex. Drawing on the work of Donna Haraway, I argue that these magazines construct what sex can be, or not be a mountain biker. Magazines are particular technical objects which do more than simply describe events in mountain biking. For Haraway, humans and nonhumans (in this case magazines) must be seen as "socially ... active partners" (8). That is, magazines are not only technical objects, but are also socially active at the level of discourse. Thus they are at the same time material and semiotic actors that are productive of gendered social relations. They function to tell a particular story about how the world is, and how it is understood. They can be seen to operate within a paradigmatic field which both shapes and bounds im/possible worlds. They also serve to inform 'us' about who we are as human subjects. Mountain biking magazines construct what it is, or not, to be a mountain biker through the process of interpellation. Interpellation is the process through which subjects are re/constituted through ideology through mis/recognising oneself in the address of a discourse (Haraway 50). Readers are invited to self-identify with a range of narratives that make up each magazine. This self-identification process operates through the hailing of the subject. Readers are hailed as mountain biking subjects when they can self-identify or recognise themselves within mountain biking magazine narratives. For example, in photographs of mountain bikers riding in 'nature', the viewer may be positioned in such a way that s/he can see things from the perspective of the rider. The subject's position is one where the viewer can understand the experience of mountain biking as the rider does. It is through the process of interpellation that a particular type of reader is hailed by these magazines: an individual, particularly a male individual, who exists within the mountain biking community. This community is discursively produced through shared values, beliefs and assumptions. For example, in a letter to the editor, Peter writes asking the questions: "Why is my wife so upset with me whenever my latest copy of AMB arrives? Could it be that I interrupt our marriage for the latest instalment of mountain biking news and stories?" To this, the editors respond "Maybe she gets mad because you never let her in on what you're on about. In the end, though, we're guys just like you, man ... -- what was that, darling? Yes, I'm listening..." (Peter 10). "We're guys just like you, man" constitutes mountain biking as a collective male activity. Such narratives are productive of a particular type of readership. On average, men make up 95% of the readership. Readers and riders represented in these magazines are predominantly male, white, heterosexual, middle class, and in the United States, urban. Readers are assumed to be technically literate, understanding the differences between different braking and suspension systems for example. Men also dominate in terms of narrative and visual representation. Most articles and photos are by men, designed for a male audience. For example, in race reviews, there are full page and half page photos of male riders while women, if pictured at all, might take up quarter of a page. Magazines also construct mountain biking as a collective masculine activity through normalising women's absence. According to the following review, the lack of women riding has to do with the problematic mix of bike saddle and women's genitalia, rather than with a range of practices which are constituted in women's absence. The reviewer comments: Forget mountain biking's ruffty-tuffty image and male domination, what actually stops most women from riding more is simple: most saddles put lots of pressure on the female genitalia, right where it's least welcome. The resulting abrasion and bruising is more than a bit of a turn-off... (Anonymous 24) It is in these types of accounts that the lack of women riding mountain bikes is constructed in such a way so that women's absence is seen as part of the "normal" operation of gender relations. That is, it is seen to be a sport in which mainly men participate because that's "what men do", while women continue to sit on the sidelines for fear of discomfort. Forget about wider social, political and economic considerations. Wives and female partners, while generally marked as absent, are simultaneously constituted metonymically, standing for all the limits men experience in being able to follow their 'true' desires. Women, simply put, disrupt men's complicit and illicit relations with their mountain bikes. Men's pleasure of riding, of engaging with mountain bikes on multiple levels is largely constituted as natural. Many narratives take on a confessional quality. As one writer notes "I did it. I cheated on my wife. I felt so dirty, so impure. Behind her back I went out and bought a full suspension bike ... . When she discovered my treachery, she had the right to be angry" (Hamelman 20). The bike becomes the sole object of desire with the wife remaining nameless in the background. Understanding magazines as material-semiotic actors in the production of social relations enables a questioning of dominant gendered narratives in mountain biking magazines. In utilising theorists such as Haraway, the political project becomes an interrogation of discourses which produce social relations of inclusion and exclusion. This shifts the focus from examining how mountain biking magazines simply maintain male technical relations to how material-semiotic actors are implicated in their shaping more broadly. References Anonymous. "Stuff." Australian Mountain Bike Aug./Sep. 1996: 22-9. Hamelman, Steve. "Soar Spot." Bike 4.7 (1996): 20. Haraway, Donna. Modest_Witness@Second_Millennium.FemaleMan©_Meets_OncoMouseTM: Feminism and Technoscience. New York: Routledge, 1997. Peter. "Marital Bliss." Australian Mountain Bike Mar. 1999: 10. Citation reference for this article MLA style: Sophie Taysom. "True Love Is a Trued Wheel: Technopleasures in Mountain Biking." M/C: A Journal of Media and Culture 2.6 (1999). [your date of access] <http://www.uq.edu.au/mc/9909/bikes.php>. Chicago style: Sophie Taysom, "True Love Is a Trued Wheel: Technopleasures in Mountain Biking," M/C: A Journal of Media and Culture 2, no. 6 (1999), <http://www.uq.edu.au/mc/9909/bikes.php> ([your date of access]). APA style: Sophie Taysom. (1999) True love is a trued wheel: technopleasures in mountain biking. M/C: A Journal of Media and Culture 2(6). <http://www.uq.edu.au/mc/9909/bikes.php> ([your date of access]).