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      • Trusted Partner
        Memoirs

        The Self: Between Existence and Creation

        by Bensalem Himmich

        Far more than a straightforward autobiography, celebrated Moroccan writer and former minister of culture Bensalem Himmich diffuses life with literary and intellectual dimensions.   Himmich opens his book with a discussion on autobiographical writing, followed by chapters on the author’s early life, starting with his childhood in Meknes. In Paris, he completes a doctorate degree and there marries a Greek woman, Paneyota. The heroic figures of his “rebellious youth” are Marx and Sartre, and the challenges of these and other radical thinkers, in both Arabic and European languages, find their way into his doctoral thesis, Ideological Patterns in Islam: Ijtihad and History (in Arabic, 1990). Subsequent chapters move into the domain of creation, with four categories reflecting the author’s literary, intellectual, linguistic, and cultural interests. Starting with an epigraph of Italo Calvino, the “literary” chapter focuses on the novel, its history, and its complexities. The chapter on the “intellectual” dimension turns on the author’s lifelong interest in the two pillars of philosophy and history. For Himmich, philosophical thought is “the creative and innovative force through which truths and meanings are sought.” The two-part “linguistic” chapter opens with a discussion of identity as “a constantly developing entity”. In the second part he expresses disapproval of the worldwide prevalence of “Anglo-American English” and the weakening effects that a lack of language authority has on the sense of national identity. The “cultural” chapter includes Himmich’s observations from his career, including the poor state of public education and a decline in reading in Morocco. He also considers his time as the Moroccan Minister of Culture and the inevitable complexities of the political system within which he had to operate. The penultimate chapter entitled “My Polemics” offers four of his own polemical stands: on fundamentalist trends—specifically Islam and “Islamism”; on the prevalence in Moroccan publications of the Latin alphabet; and specific issues with the well-known littérateurs Adonis and Youssef Ziedan. The work closes with the author’s reflection on the emergence of a new and negative kind of cultural “hegemony”, the awareness of which he attributes with gratitude to Edward Said and the latter’s interpretation of the work of Franz Fanon.

      • Trusted Partner
        The Arts
        2015

        No Smooth Way: The Autobiography of Wu Guanzhong

        by Wu Guanzhong

        The book is the special version of the autobiography by the famous artist Wu Guanzhong in memorial of his fifth anniversary of the death of him.

      • Trusted Partner
        Literature & Literary Studies
        October 2017

        The Oral Autobiography of YUAN Longping

        YUAN Longping

        by 袁隆平

        This book is the oral autobiography of YUAN Longping, a famous Chinese agricultural scientist widely known as the Father of Hybrid Rice. By the recall of little-known facts including YUAN’s family background, education experience, and scientific research experience, the book veritably reflects the development of Chinese society in the last hundred years, especially the hybrid rice.

      • Trusted Partner
        Biography & True Stories

        Oral Autobiography of Xuerong CHEN

        by Xuerong CHEN, Hongye FAN

        This book is Mr. CHEN's oral autobiography, which presents his extraordinary scientific life in a panoramic way. It truly and vividly demonstrates the noble character of the scientist who has been engaged in the meteorological cause for 80 years in perseverance. The contents presented in the book are of great significance to the study of Chinese meteorology as well as the history of Chinese meteorology.

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        Biography & True Stories
        August 2014

        My Predestined Love with High Rail: the Oral Autobiography of SHEN Zhiyun

        by SHEN Zhiyun, ZHANG Tianming, etc.

        This book is the oral autobiography of SHEN Zhiyun, the senior fellow member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. By the recall of his science study life on the railway motors, communications and transportations, it veritably reflects the development of the Chinese railway vehicles, especially the high rail.

      • Trusted Partner
        The Arts
        July 2024

        Lifework

        On the autobiographical impulse in contemporary art, writing, and theory

        by Moran Sheleg

        Following the critical scepticism surrounding the notion of the 'self' as a singular entity during the 1960s, many artists and writers sought to test the apparent problem posed by autobiography as both a traditional genre and as a way of working. Considering the consequent emergence of autotheory, Lifework traces this shift in artistic and literary production during the late twentieth century and beyond, examining a set of diverse practices that mine the line between what it is to make art and what it is to live life. The book's chapters connect a variety of artistic strategies that cut across medium, geography and time, uncovering how the historical marginalisation of first-person experience has taken on larger social, cultural and political implications in the contemporary moment and how the work of living might still relate to the work of art.

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        AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A ZEN MONK

        by Taisen Deshimaru

        A story of bravery and false starts, Autobiography of a Zen Monk candidly recounts the author’s development from a highly mischievous Japanese boy into a world-renowned Sensei (Teacher) of Zen. While countless memoirs exist written by Zen students and teachers, few are as engaging and as tantalizing as Taisen Deshimaru’s. Looking back at his early life, growing up in Japan, from the viewpoint of his status as a Zen teacher in Paris, the author reflects on his earliest misadventures—from defacing a valuable painting of Bodhidharma as a child, to turning the “Zen stick” on a young monk during a retreat. Adventures abound with stories about alcohol and women, during his student years, and his activities during World War II in working for the arms industry in Malaysia, where he was sympathetic to the underground freedom movement. This first English-language translation of Taisen Deshimaru’s autobiography will be prized for its clear and honest documentation of this great master’s life. Many people all over the world have been influenced by Deshimaru’s Zen teachings, especially his book on Zen and the martial arts. This memoir fills an important gap in our knowledge of his teacher, Kodo Sawaki’s influence on the world of Zen. The story of how Deshimaru met Sawaki as a boy, even slept in the same room with him, and later received monastic ordination is the story of a lifelong friendship of two extraordinary characters in the history of modern Zen. Deshimaru’s influence extends beyond Zen practitioners, though, especially in those interested in the martial arts, as he touches on his martial arts experience as a young man and offers a look into the master’s early training. Additional interest extends to historians who recount the supposed “scandals” of Zen masters’ participation in the war effort. Although Deshimaru’s viewpoint is decidedly subjective, he was intimately acquainted with priests and generals alike, and approaches the difficult subject with a refreshing lack of judgmental disdain which counterbalances many other more lopsided works. Translator, Richard Collins, a longtime Zen practitioner, and currently the Abbot of the New Orleans Zen Temple, is a literature scholar and author of several books including No Fear Zen, Hohm Press, 2014. His knowledge of the subject matter and his finesse with language combine to make this book a delightful read for those who appreciate wellwritten memoir.

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        Humanities & Social Sciences
        March 2003

        The autobiography of a nation

        The 1951 Festival of Britain

        by Becky E. Conekin, Christopher Breward, Bill Sherman

        The first full-length study on the 1951 Festival of Britain. An examination of how Britain and Britishness were portrayed in the 1951's Festival's exhibitions and events. Covers the Festival's history and historiography, its purpose, its representations of the future and the past, the role of London and the 'local', the British Empire and finally its legacy. ;

      • Trusted Partner
        Fiction
        2022

        Where to, O Poem

        by Ali Jaafar Al Allaq

        This autobiographical work centers on literary creativity. Poet Ali Jaafar Alallaq recollects his academic and professional experiences, as well as their diverse ventures into poetic, literary, critical, and academic writing earlier in his life. The book covers the poet’s upbringing in a humble, impoverished village, his family’s subsequent move to Baghdad in the early 1950s, and his journey up until the present day. ///The biography details a plethora of human, cultural, and poetic events that impacted Alallaq’s perspective on events he witnessed, interacted with, or was involved in. These events range in intensity and scope, spanning from his childhood years in the countryside to navigating significant societal changes in Baghdad, and from his early explorations in writing and literary journalism to pursuing doctoral studies in the United Kingdom. He reflects on enduring two destructive wars that displaced Iraq’s people, leading to a life of exile and reliance on divine providence under the night sky. ///Beginning in 1991, Alallaq began a long period abroad that included six years of teaching at Sanaa University, followed by ten years of work at the United Arab Emirates University from 1997 to 2015. He produced a remarkable body of poetry and critical works during his tenure as a university instructor and his active involvement in cultural and poetic affairs in Sanaa and later in the UAE, which continues to this day. ///In this book, Alallaq takes on several roles, including narrator, contemplator, restorer, and descriptor, and expresses himself using elevated literary language. As a result, the work serves as an aesthetic testament to the purity of language as well as a cohesive account of the ups and downs of daily life. Despite living and working in a prosperous and stable environment for many years, he remains emotionally and imaginatively connected to the events and struggles affecting his country and the Arab world. He continues to document his aesthetic and patriotic testimony of current happenings, as clearly evidenced in his present autobiography.

      • Trusted Partner
        February 2017

        Photokinesis

        Recall of the Spiritual View of Childhood

        by Can Xue

        This is a autobiography-style prose collection. Applying the unique writing technique, Can Xue has revealed the perceivable childhood inward world and all aspects of her childhood. Unlike her obscure novels, this collection attempts to grasp memory fragments through critical thinking and recall the childhood days. As a child, Can Xue is imaginative and obstinate, which has influence on her literary creation later. This spiritual autobiography serves as the key to the artistic world of Can Xue.

      • Trusted Partner
        November 2013

        Die Belagerung der Welt

        Romanjahre

        by Paul Nizon, Martin Simons

        Paul Nizon, der Sprachmagier, hat Zeit seines Schreib-Lebens Journale geführt. In ihnen erzählt er – in einer atemberaubenden Intensität und Unmittelbarkeit – vom Handwerk des Schreibens, von der Verzauberung durch die Liebe, von seiner Sehnsucht nach Neugeburt durch die Metropolen und nicht zuletzt von den Lektionen, die das Schreiben und die Frauen ihm erteilt haben. In dieser »grandios-rigorosen Tagebücherei«, die »frei, wild, zart« ist, begegnen wir einem radikalen Individualisten, dessen Anspruch an die Literatur mindestens so groß ist wie seine Lebensgier. In »Die Belagerung der Welt« versammelt der Herausgeber Martin Simons eine Auswahl aus Paul Nizons fünf publizierten Journalbänden. Diese Notate aus einem halben Jahrhundert verdichten sich hier zu der Autobiographie eines solitären Künstlers – und schenken dem Leser vor Verwunderung leuchtende Augen.

      • Trusted Partner
        The Arts
        May 2009

        Auto/biography and identity

        by Kate Dorney, Maggie B. Gale, Viv Gardner, Maggie B. Gale

        This groundbreaking book shows how female performers - one of the first groups of professional women - used and still use autobiography and performance as both a means of expression and control of their private and public selves, the 'face and the mask'. It looks at how a range of women in the theatre - actors, managers, writers and live artists - have done this on the page and on the stage from the late eighteenth-century to the present day, testing the boundaries between gender, theatre and autobiographical form. This paperback edition facilitates connections - between texts and performances, past and present practitioners, professional and private selves, individuals and communities, all of which have in some way renegotiated identity through autobiography and the creative act. 'Auto/biography and identity' is a landmark in theatre history and performance analysis, in gender and cultural theory, and autobiographical studies. ;

      • Trusted Partner

        In the Footsteps of Enayat Al-Zayyat

        by Iman Mersal

        ‘In the Footsteps of Enayat Al-Zayyat’ is a book that traces the life of an unknown Egyptian writer who died in 1963, four years before the release of her only novel. The book does not follow a traditional style to present the biography of Al-Zayyat, or to restore consideration for a writer who was denied her rights. Mersal refuses to present a single story as if it is the truth and refuses to speak on behalf of the heroine or deal with her as a victim, but rather takes us on a journey to search for the individuality that is often marginalised in Arab societies. The book searches for a young woman whose family burned all her personal documents, including the draft of her second novel, and was completely absent in the collective archives.   The narration derives its uniqueness from its ability to combine different literary genres such as fictional narration, academic research, investigation, readings, interviews, fiction, and fragments of the autobiography of the author of the novel. The book deals with the differences between the individuality of Enayat, who was born into an aristocratic family, graduated from a German school and wrote her narration during the domination of the speeches of the Nasserism period, and that of Mersal, a middle-class woman who formed her consciousness in the 1990s and achieved some of what Enayat dreamed of achieving but remained haunted by her tragedy.   The book deals with important political, social and cultural issues, as we read the history of psychiatry in modern Egypt through the pills that Enayat swallowed to end her life on 3 January 1963, while her divorce summarises the continuing suffering of women with the Personal Status Law. We also see how the disappearance of a small square from her neighbourhood reveals the relationship between modernity and bureaucracy, and how the geography of Cairo changes, obliterated as the result of changes in political regimes. In the library of the German Archaeological Institute, where Enayat worked, we find an unwritten history of World War II and, in her unpublished second novel, we see unknown stories of German scientists fleeing Nazism to Cairo. We also see how Enayat’s neglected tomb reveals the life story of her great-grandfather, Ahmed Rashid Pasha, and the disasters buried in the genealogy tree.

      • Trusted Partner
        Literature & Literary Studies
        November 1998

        Auto/biographical discourses

        Criticism, theory, practice

        by Laura Marcus

        In the forefront of the large and growing interest in life-writings. A comprehensive account of the criticism and theory of autobiography. The book makes complex debates accessible to a wide readership. ;

      • Trusted Partner
        Literature & Literary Studies
        December 1995

        The Auto/biographical

        by Elizabeth Stanley

        This feminist literary study discusses postmodern ideas about the self, particularly about the way in which selves are constructed by biography and autobiography. The author particularly examines the manner in which women write about themselves. ;

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        Biography & True Stories
        February 2017

        Jackie Chan:Never Grow Up, Only Get Older

        by Jackie Chan, Zhu Mo

        This is an autobiography of Chinese Kongfu star Jackie Chan. The book is a true recording of this international superstar’s growth and life experience for the last 50 years. It tells us the legendary actor’s stories, and also reflects a fantastic acting age.

      • Trusted Partner
        True stories
        2018

        History's Carnival

        by Leonid Plyushch

        A memoir and autobiography of Ukrainian mathematician Leonid Pliushch (1939-2015), one of the most famous dissidents of the USSR. It was first published in the West in 1979 in five languages (Russian, French, English, Italian and Ukrainian) and it belongs to the "treasury" of anti-totalitarian resistance literature. Analyzing his life path from his postwar childhood to the Dnipropetrovsk psychiatric prison, where he was thrown with the beginning of repressions in 1972, Leonid Pliushch creates an invaluable panoramic portrait of the generation of "sixties", which was given a chance to free their mind from authoritarianism. The text is presented in the author's edition of 2002 with appendices and foreword by Oksana Zabuzhko.

      • Trusted Partner
        Fiction
        June 2019

        This Man and Music

        By Anthony Burgess

        by Christine Lee Gengaro, Andrew Biswell

        This man and music asks two central questions: what can literature contribute to the art of composition, and how can music influence the writer? Anthony Burgess, famed novelist, journalist, and composer, answers these questions and many more. As a person uniquely qualified to look at the interconnectivity of music and literature from both sides, Burgess provides fascinating insights, drawing on his deep knowledge of both disciplines. The book contains eleven interconnected essays that touch on philosophical conundrums of art and adaptation, questions of meaning, and the author's own personal experience. It is a must-read for fans of Burgess who want to understand how music influenced the author's craft of writing. Part autobiography and part literary and musical analysis, This man and music is a unique artefact in the stunning output of a prolific artist.

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