Literature, Modernity, and the Practice of Resistance

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The Astrolabe

An ancient instrument for solving problems of location and distance, as well as time

Astrolábon órganon is the word used in Ptolemaeus Syntaxis 5.1 to describe a form of armillary sphere consisting of both fixed and rotating rings for determining the ecliptic co-ordinates of stars. Also called astrolabe were two-dimensional representations of the celestial sphere: over fixed disks with a representation of the horizon of the earth (in each case for a specific geographic latitude) and its parallels up to the zenith lies a rotating representation of the heavens (called ‘spider’ or ‘net’) with zodiac and indicators for some of the brightest stars. On the back is an indicator (‘alidade’) with visor plates for calculating the height of the stars. The astrolabe allows its user to determine the hours of day and night, the positions of stars, and the height and depth of objects on earth (mountains, buildings, wells). The oldest extant descriptions of the flat, planispheric astrolabe come from Iohannes Philoponus, 6th century AD, and (in Syrian) from Severus Sebokht, c. 660 AD. Indirect references may date back as early as Theon (4th cent.). Between the 8th and the 9th centuries the Arabs appropriated the knowledge of the astrolabe. At the end of the 10th century and again in the 12th century, they passed it on to Western Europe, where astrolabes were constructed up until the 17th cent. Today, one Byzantine astrolabe (from 1062) is extant, as are some 750 Arabic-Islamic astrolabes and approximately the same number of European astrolabes.

This information is abstracted from Brill's New Pauly, the English edition of the authoritative Der Neue Pauly, Encyclopaedia of the Ancient World. The encyclopaedic coverage and high academic standard of the work, the interdisciplinary and contemporary approach and clear and accessible presentation have made the New Pauly the unrivalled modern reference work for the ancient world. For more information see www.brillsnewpauly.com or visit our website catalog: www.brill.nl/bnp
Brill’s New Pauly and the complete original Der Neue Pauly, the recognized standard reference works for students and scholars of the ancient world are also available online. This dual-language edition offers basic and advanced search facilities and is fully browsable. New English translations are added as they become available. See www.paulyonline.brill.nl for more information and a demo version.

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Publications & Services> Books> Book Series> Literature, Modernity, and the Practice of Resistance

Literature, Modernity, and the Practice of Resistance

Japanese and Taiwanese Fiction, 1960-1990

Margaret Hillenbrand

Books

Available
Publication year: 2007


Series:	China Studies, 11
ISBN-13 (i)The ISBN (International Standard Book Number) has been changed from 10 to 13 digits on 1 January 2007:	978 90 04 15478 0
ISBN-10:	90 04 15478 7

Cover:	Hardback
Number of pages:	xiv, 362 pp.

List price:	€ 104.00 / US$ 154.00

Reviews

'a book that represents the first of its kind dealing with “interregional” relations in East Asian
literature. Hillenbrand has made a major contribution to her field.'
David Der-wei Wang, Harvard University
Journal of Japanese Studies 34:2 (2008)

'...Margaret Hillenbrand has given us here a very important book that indeed is path breaking in its comparison of Taiwan and Japanese literary practice. In allowing us to examine the works of each tradition in conjunction with those of the other, it offers insights unavailable to us when we are solely immersed in one of those traditions. Her mastery of the material is impressive and her conclusions are enriching.'
Christopher Lupke, Washington State University
Taiwan in Comparative Perspective, Vol. 2 (2008)

“Literature, Modernity, and the Practice of Resistance will likely become a benchmark in East Asian Studies for its rigor, breadth, and clarion call for an intraregional approach to East Asian literary studies.”
Bert Scruggs, University of California, Irvine
MCLC Research Center To see the entire review visit the website http://mclc.osu.edu/rc/pubs/reviews/scruggs.htm

'...the book is lucid, eloquent, and convincing....This is a must read for those who are interested in the cultural/literary interface between Japan and Taiwan, but can be read profitably by all interested in East Asian literature or the comparative enterprise. It is an important and a totally enjoyable contribution.'
Faye Yuan Kleeman, University of Colorado
Journal of the American Oriental Society 128.3 (2008)

Readership

The book will be required reading for all those interested in contemporary Chinese/Taiwanese and Japanese literature, comparative literature more widely, and East Asian cultural studies.

About the author(s)

Margaret Hillenbrand, D.Phil. (2003), University of Oxford, is Lecturer in Chinese Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies. She has published articles on East Asian literature and culture in a range of scholarly journals.

This book is a cross-cultural, interdisciplinary study which compares responses to modernity in the literary cultures of Japan and Taiwan, 1960-1990. Moving beyond the East-West framework that has traditionally dominated comparative enquiry, the volume sets out to explore contemporary East Asian literature on its own terms. As such, it belongs to the newly emerging area of inter-Asian cultural studies, but is the first full-length monograph to explore this field through the prism of literature. The book combines close readings of paradigmatic texts with in-depth analysis of the historical, social, and ideological contexts in which these works are situated, and explores the form and function of literary practice within the “miracle” societies of industrialized East Asia.

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