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Description
How have our social and cultural perceptions of solitude changed across different cultures over the centuries?
In a work that spans 2,500 years these ambitious questions are addressed by around 60 experts, each contributing their overview of a theme applied to a period in history. They illustrate broad trends and nuances of the social and cultural nature of solitude globally from antiquity to the present, covering a whole range of forms of 'aloneness', both positive and negative, chosen and imposed. These include the experience of healthy solitude and the suffering of loneliness, splendid isolation and alienation, exile and incarceration, meditative silence and oppressive silencing. Individual people grow and learn through both connection and separation, togetherness and individuation, so too do communities. The work is divided into six chronological volumes that share a consistent thematic structure. Readers can dive deep into a specific historical period, or track the evolution of a theme across the centuries.
Volume Editors
1. Antiquity (800 BC – 500 CE): Aaron J Kachuck, Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium
2. Middle Ages (500 – 1450): Bronwen Neil, Macquarie University, Australia, and Catherine Rosbrook, Ghent University, Belgium
3. Early Modern Age (1450 – 1700): Andrew Mattison, University of Toledo, USA
4. Eighteenth Century (1700 – 1800): Giovanni Tarantino, University of Florence, Italy
5. Nineteenth Century (1800 – 1900): Catherine Samiei, York St John University, UK, and Julian Stern, Bishop Grosseteste University, UK
6. Modern Age (1900 – present): Peter Scharff Smith, Oslo University, Norway.
The six volumes cover: 1 – Antiquity (500 BCE to 500 CE); 2 – Middle Ages (500 to 1450); 3 – Early Modern Age (1450 to 1700); 4 – Eighteenth Century (1700 to 1800); 5 – Nineteenth Century (1800 to 1900); 6 – Modern Age (1900 to the present).
Themes (and chapter titles) are: creative arts and solitude; religion and solitude; health and solitude; nature, the environment and solitude; work, play and solitude; travel, migration and solitude; punishment and solitude; and emotions and solitude.
The page extent for the pack is approximately 2,112pp. Each volume opens with Notes on Contributors and an Introduction and concludes with Notes, Bibliography, and an Index.
The Cultural Histories Series
A Cultural History of Solitude is part of the Cultural Histories Series. Titles are available as hardcover sets for libraries needing just one subject or preferring a one-off purchase and tangible reference for their shelves. Works are also part of a fully-searchable digital research library available to institutions by annual subscription or on perpetual access. Search for the Bloomsbury History digital hub to learn more.
Table of Contents
Edited by Aaron J Kachuck
General Editor Preface, Julian Stern
Introduction, Aaron J Kachuck
1. Creative Arts and Solitude: The Case of Mesopotamia, Anne-Caroline Rendu Loisel
2. Religion and Solitude: Meditation and Yogic Philosophy of Mind, Jessica Frazier
3. Health and Solitude: Isolation in Classical Greek and Early Hellenist Medicine, Nadine Metzger
4. Nature, the Environment and Solitude: Gardens and Villas in the Roman World, Nicole G. Brown
5. Work, Play and Solitude: Solitary but Not Alone, Marco Vespa
6. Travel, Migration and Solitude: The Lonely Traveler in the Mirror of Rabbinic Storytelling, Reuven Kiperwasser
7. Punishment and Solitude: An Ancient History of the Present?, Spencer J. Weinreich
8. Emotions and Solitude: A Late Antique Scriptural Romance, Mark Vessey
Notes
Bibliography
Notes on Contributors
Index
Volume 2. A Cultural History of Solitude in the Middle Ages
Edited by Catherine Rosbrook and Bronwen Neil
General Editor Preface, Julian Stern
Introduction: The Many Faces of Solitude in the Middle Ages, Catherine Rosbrook and Bronwen Neil
1. Creative Arts and Solitude: Its Practice and Literary Representation in Medieval India, Alex Watt
2. Religion and Solitude: Disengagement in Pursuit of the Divine in Medieval Europe, Catherine Rosbrook
3. Health and Solitude: Dynamics of Psychological Processes in the Medieval Mediterranean, Youval Rotman
4. Nature, the Environment and Solitude: The Poetics of Solitude in Medieval Japan, Meredith McKinney
5. Work, Play and Solitude: Together and Apart in Medieval Europe, Valerie L. Garver
6. Travel, Migration and Solitude: Sacred and secular movements across the Byzantine Empire, Peter Edwell, Sybil Wong, and Bronwen Neil
7. Punishment and Solitude: Gender, Confinement and Aloneness in Latin Hagiographies of the European High Middle Ages, Megan Cassidy-Welch
8. Emotions and Solitude: Representations of Aloneness in Byzantine Art, Mati Meyer
Notes
Bibliography
Notes on Contributors
Index
Volume 3. A Cultural History of Solitude in the Early Modern Age
Edited by Andrew Mattison
General Editor Preface, Julian Stern
Introduction, Andrew Mattison
1. Creative Arts and Solitude, Melinda Latour
2. Religion and Solitude, Naomi Pullin
3. Health and Solitude, Rosemary Moore
4. Nature, the Environment and Solitude, Carla Benzan
5. Work, Play and Solitude, Margo Kolenda-Mason
6. Travel, Migration and Solitude, Amrita Sen
7. Punishment and Solitude, Neil Tarrant
8. Emotions and Solitude, Felipe Valencia
Notes
Bibliography
Notes on Contributors
Index
Volume 4. A Cultural History of Solitude in the Eighteenth Century
Edited by Katie Barclay and Giovanni Tarantino
General Editor Preface, Julian Stern
Introduction, Katie Barclay and Giovanni Tarantino
1. Creative Arts and Solitude, Diana G. Barnes
2. Religion and Solitude, Giovanni Tarantino
3. Health and Solitude, Andreas Rydberg
4. Nature, the Environment and Solitude, John Morgan
5. Work, Play and Solitude, Deborah Simonton
6. Travel, Migration and Solitude, Elisa Frei
7. Punishment and Solitude, Katie Barclay
8. Emotions and Solitude, Nadezhda Alexandrova
Notes
Bibliography
Notes on Contributors
Index
Volume 5. A Cultural History of Solitude in the Nineteenth Century
Edited by Catherine Samiei and Julian Stern
General Editor Preface, Julian Stern
Introduction: From the 'Bliss Edited by Catherine Samiei and Julian Stern
1. Creative Arts and Solitude, Claudia Capancioni
2. Religion and Solitude: The Carthusian Ring-Doughnut, Randolph Ellis
3. Health and Solitude: Dostoevsky and the Trials of the Soul, Neža Zajc
4. Nature, the Environment and Solitude: The Brontë sisters' 'vision from another world', Sophie Claire Ward
5. Work, Play and Solitude: Dangerous influence or mildly pleasing?, David Weir
6. Travel, Migration and Solitude, Yoshiaki Furui
7. Punishment and Solitude: The Rise of the Modern Penitentiary in the 19th Century, Peter Scharff Smith and Jeppe Ildved
8. Emotions and Solitude: Non-Obvious Relationships, Piotr Domeracki
Notes
Bibliography
Notes on Contributors
Index
Volume 6. A Cultural History of Solitude in the Modern Age
Edited by Peter Scharff Smith
General Editor Preface, Julian Stern
Introduction, Peter Scharff Smith
1. Creative Arts and Solitude, Maeve Louise Heaney
2. Religion and Solitude: Since the twentieth century, Terry Biddington
3. Health and Solitude: Loneliness and Health in a Changing Social Context, Louise Hawkley and Theo G. van Tilburg
4. Nature, the Environment and Solitude, Eline Kieft
5. Work, Play and Solitude, Julian Stern
6. Travel, Migration and Solitude: Through the Forest, Aedín Ní Loingsigh
7. Punishment and Solitude: Solitary Confinement and the Legacy of the Modern Penitentiary, Peter Scharff Smith
8. Emotions and Solitude, Virginia Thomas
Notes
Bibliography
Notes on Contributors
Index
Product details
| Published | Feb 18 2027 |
|---|---|
| Format | Hardback - Pack |
| Edition | 1st |
| ISBN | 9781350352346 |
| Imprint | Bloomsbury Academic |
| Dimensions | Not specified |
| Series | The Cultural Histories Series |
| Publisher | Bloomsbury Publishing |
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