 | In his book "The Meanings of Social Life: A Cultural Sociology," Professor Jeffrey C. Alexander contends that only by exposing the unconscious myths and narratives that drive our actions and institutions can humans come to understand and transform the darker aspects of our culture, such as violence and degradation. |
The following is a list of books recently or soon-to-be published by members of the Yale community. Descriptions are based on material provided by the publishers.
To submit information about books for this column, send e-mail to opa@yale.edu.
In this examination of the poetry of Chaucer and his unknown contemporary, the poet who wrote "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" and "Pearl," Marie Borroff offers new interpretations of a number of Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales" as well as a new theory about the identity of the Green Knight. She also shows how, in "Pearl," variations in genre and style play against the single line of the dramatic action to give the poem its intricacy and power. Borroff analyzes Chaucer's characteristically English way of rhyming and the functions of clusters of key-words linked by sound in "Beowulf" and "Sir Gawain," and she reveals a series of double meanings in one of Hamlet's last speeches.
In his new book, James Whitman examines why criminals in America are punished more harshly than their counterparts in Europe. He claims the answer for this difference lies in the disparity between European and American political and cultural roots, arguing that America's embrace of a non-hierarchical social system and distrust of state power have contributed to a law of punishment that is more willing to degrade criminal offenders. In contrast, he says, Europeans historically punished their criminals differently depending on their racial and economic status. Over the past two centuries, and especially in the last 25 years, Whitman says, countries like France and Germany began to treat nearly all criminals in the dignified manner it once reserved for upper-class criminals and political prisoners, resulting in milder forms of punishment and treatment.
In "Food Fight," Kelly Brownell warns that today's children might be the first generation in modern history to live shorter lives than their parents because of poor diet. He highlights the factors leading to obesity, and makes recommendations about how to correct the problem, including ridding schools of soft drinks, snack and fast foods; prohibiting food advertising aimed at children or giving equal time for the promotion of healthy eating and activity; and altering national programs such as food stamps, Head Start and the National School Lunch Program to help fight obesity and poor diet. Furthermore, he argues, a tax on unhealthy foods should be considered; this tax could then be used to subsidize the sale of healthy foods.
Jennifer Klein analyzes the symbiosis that developed in the United States between private industry and public welfare over the course of the 20th century in "For All These Rights." She traces the nexus of influence between private, commercial insurance and state-based social welfare programs to the turn of the last century, as the conflict between industry and labor grew more highly charged and the plight of the poor gained public prominence. Klein argues that it was largely to head off the labor-friendly and socially progressive legislation demanded by workers and political reformers that private industry developed a system of employment-based social benefits, and she highlights how the private insurance industry benefited directly from New Deal state welfare programs. Today, as government increasingly relinquishes its power to private interests, Klein argues, business has not been filling in the gaps, and hence, she says, "Public and private security are unraveling together."
This memoir by Kang-i Sun Chang describes her life following the imprisonment of her father, Paul Sun, by Chiang Kai-shek in Taiwan 50 years ago during what was known as the "White Terror." Chang was six years old at the time of her father's arrest and was 16 when he was finally released from prison and had his name cleared of any wrongdoing. After his release, Chang and her family immigrated to the United States in 1978 with the assistance of a former New Jersey senator. In her book, she reflects on her life during the years of her father's imprisonment and describes the experiences of her mother and other family members in this same period. She also offers her thoughts about her life in the United States and how she succeeded in overcoming childhood fears and anxieties brought on by her father's imprisonment and the family's separation. The book has been published in Taiwanese and Chinese; the Chinese Mainland edition is titled "Striding Through Half a Century" (Shanghai Joint Publishing Co.). An English version is forthcoming.
This is a new paperback edition of Wendell Bell's book, which is acknowledged as being the fundamental work on the subject of futures studies. This new field of inquiry aims to demystify the future, make possibilities for the future more known to people and increase human control over the future. Bell describes the history of the futures movement, the purposes of futures studies, a theory of knowledge for studying the as-yet-nonexistent future, and the methods and major exemplars in the field. In a new preface, the sociologist describes the most recent developments in the spread of futures thinking.
Inspired by Louisa May Alcott's classic novel "Little Women," Katharine Weber has written a contemporary story, this time about three adolescent sisters, who are named after Alcott's characters Meg, Jo and Amy. In this novel, the sisters are shocked when they discover their mother has had an affair, and are devastated by their father's easy forgiveness of her. Shattered by the rupturing of all the family seemed to stand for, Jo and Amy decide to "divorce" their parents, leaving their home in New York City's West Side to move to New Haven to be with Meg, who is a Yale junior. Written in the form of an autobiographical novel by Joanna, the middle sister, the pages of "The Little Women" are punctuated by comments from the "real" Meg and Amy, whose notes and replies to Jo's writing form a second narrative as the girls argue about the "truth" of the novel.
In her unconventional biography, Gretchen Craft Rubin offers 40 contrasting views of Winston Churchill: he was an alcoholic, he was not; he was an anachronism, he was a visionary; he was a racist, he was a humanitarian, etc. In so doing, she attempts to present a rounded view as she investigates the accomplishments, contradictions and complexities of the British leader. In writing her biography, Rubin is also credited with actually deconstructing the genre. After presenting the various contradictory views of Churchill, based on the writings of others, she offers her own judgement of the larger-than-life political figure.
This book features eight plays by Israeli playwright and director Hanoch Levin, considered one of the most original and innovative writers of his generation. Translated by Barbara Harshav, the plays included represent Levin's wide-ranging styles throughout his long career. The playwright died from cancer in 1999 at the age of 56. A generation of Israeli theater audiences grew up on Levin's performances, which frequently criticized Israeli society and its mainstream ideologies while simultaneously confronting the basic human and existential issues of life and death. Harshav's translation from Hebrew brings the playwright's work to a wider audience.
In this work, Jeffrey Alexander argues for a cultural sociology that will bring unconscious cultural structures -- perceptions about life that rest on ideas and feelings, not just rational necessity -- into the broad light of day. Exposing humankind's everyday myths and narratives in a series of empirical studies that range from Watergate to the Holocaust, he shows how these unseen cultural structures translate into concrete actions and institutions. He argues that only when these deep patterns of meaning are revealed can we understand such aspects of life as violence and degradation, but also the steady persistence of hope. By understanding the darker structures that restrict imagination, Alexander says, individuals can seek to transform them.
T H I S
Yale Books in Brief
Traditions and Renewals: Chaucer, the Gawain-Poet & Beyond
Marie Borroff, Sterling Professor Emeritus of English
(Yale University Press)
Harsh Justice: Criminal Punishment and the Widening Divide Between America and Europe
James Q. Whitman, the Ford Foundation Professor of Comparative and Foreign Law
(Oxford University Press)
Food Fight: The Inside Story of the Food Industry, America's Obesity Crisis and What We Can Do About It
Kelly Brownell, professor and chair of psychology and director of the Yale Center for Eating and Weight Disorders
(McGraw Hill)
For All These Rights: Business, Labor, and the Shaping of America's Public-Private Welfare State
Jennifer Klein, assistant professor of history
(Princeton University Press)
Farewell to the White Terror
Kang-i Sun Chang, professor and director of graduate studies in East Asian languages and literatures
(Asian Culture Co., Taipei)
Foundations of Futures Studies: Volume One, "History, Purposes, and Knowledge"
Wendell Bell, professor emeritus of sociology and senior research scientist, Yale Center for Comparative Research
(Transaction Publishers)
The Little Women
Katharine Weber, lecturer in creative writing, English department
(Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
Forty Ways to Look at Winston Churchill: A Brief Account of a Long Life
Gretchen Craft Rubin, visiting lecturer, Law School and School of Management
(Ballantine Books)
The Labor of Life: Selected Plays
Hanoch Levin, translated by Barbara Harshav, lecturer in comparative literature
(Stanford University Press)
The Meanings of Social Life: A Cultural Sociology
Jeffrey C. Alexander, professor and chair of sociology and director of the Center for Cultural Sociology
(Oxford University Press)
W E E K ' SS T O R I E S
Historian Winroth wins MacArthur Fellowship
YB&C launches new online Calendar
Exhibits, symposium explore culture of colonial India
Study shows even obesity experts have anti-fat bias
Annual festival celebrates local artists' creativity
Play based on a real-life murder is Yale Rep's first offering
Gallery appoints its first curator of African art
A welcome 'Jeopardy!'
Researchers examine asthma-related health issuesEvents explore the 'values and perspectives' of South Asia
SOM survey shows consumer confidence in stock market . . .
School to host third 'Yale M.B.A. Women's Summit'
Exhibit of coins and medals traces history of imperial Russia
YCIAS expands its support of career and alumni services
Museum expands its Student Guide Program
Yale's California Campus
Memorial Service For Patricia Goldman-Rakic
Employees can change benefit options . . .
Yale Books in Brief
Campus Notes
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