Vietnam and the Colonial Condition of French Literature
Vietnam and the Colonial Condition of French Literature explores an aspect of modern French literature that has been consistently overlooked in literary histories: the relationship between the colonies—their cultures, languages, and people—and formal shifts in French literary production. Starting from the premise that neither cultural identity nor cultural production can be pure or homogenous, Leslie Barnes initiates a new discourse on the French literary canon by examining the work of three iconic French writers with personal connections to Vietnam: André Malraux, Marguerite Duras, and Linda Lê. In a thorough investigation of the authors’ linguistic, metaphysical, and textual experiences of colonialism, Barnes articulates a new way of reading French literature: not as an inward-looking, homogenous, monolingual tradition, but rather as a tradition of intersecting and interdependent peoples, cultures, and experiences. One of the few books to focus on Vietnam’s position within francophone literary scholarship, Barnes challenges traditional concepts of French cultural identity and offers a new perspective on canonicity and the division between “French” and “francophone” literature.
Grasping Shadows
What's in a shadow? Menace, seduction, or salvation? Immaterial but profound, shadows lurk everywhere in literature and the visual arts, signifying everything from the treachery of appearances to the unfathomable power of God. From Plato to Picasso, from Rembrandt to Welles and Warhol, from Lord of the Rings to the latest video game, shadows act as central players in the drama of Western culture. Yet because they work silently, artistic shadows often slip unnoticed past audiences and critics. Conceived as an accessible introduction to this elusive phenomenon, Grasping Shadows is the first book that offers a general theory of how all shadows function in texts and visual media. Arguing that shadow images take shape within a common cultural field where visual and verbal meanings overlap, William Sharpe ranges widely among classic and modern works, revealing the key motifs that link apparently disparate works such as those by Fra Angelico and James Joyce, Clementina Hawarden and Kara Walker, Charles Dickens and Kumi Yamashita. Showing how real-world shadows have shaped the meanings of shadow imagery, Grasping Shadows guides the reader through the techniques used by writers and artists to represent shadows from the Renaissance onward. The last chapter traces how shadows impact the art of the modern city, from Renoir and Zola to film noir and projection systems that capture the shadows of passers-by on streets around the globe. Extending his analysis to contemporary street art, popular songs, billboards, and shadow-theatre, Sharpe demonstrates a practical way to grasp the "dark side" that looms all around us.
Frame by Frame III
An invaluable compendium for anyone interested in cinema
The Shadow Thief
What if the child you once were met the adult you've become. Would they get along? An entertaining and moving novel about first loves, friendship, and dreams, The Shadow Thief tells the story of a boy who grows up with a special gift: He can steal other people's shadows - and the shadows confide secrets in him. These dark reflections come and go, revealing hidden insights into the person they belong to. As the narrator grows older, he learns to use his gift, helping him navigate schoolyard rivalries, his first love, and his encounters and friendships as a medical student. Through the mistakes he makes trying to improve other people's lives, he comes to realize that it's not too late to seek out his own childhood dreams. "A candid, lively book, one of Marc Levy's most intimate novels to date." - Carrefour Savoirs "Marc Levy is an unrivalled storyteller for adults... Once again, the magic works!" - Le Parisien Author Bio: One of France's bestselling authors, Marc Levy's novels have been translated into 49 languages and over 31 million copies of his books have been sold worldwide.
Capsize
A light-hearted nautical detective story of a seventeen-ton lead keel loaded with six kilos of weapons-grade plutonium (enough for a sizeable nuclear explosion) wandering around the Riviera. Searching for it are its owner, a millionaire who wants to make a killing by selling it to the Middle East's highest bidder, a former racing skipper, his teenage son, and a tall, blonde Swedish policewoman who can dive, punch hard and shoot straight. Mix into this Provençal Bouillabaisse the Corsican Mafia, an underwater hijacking, a pink-painted racing yacht advertising a non-existant beer, and a murderous off-shore shoot-out, and you have the menu for a good weekend read.
