No Japanese writer was more obsessed with desire than Tanizaki Jun'ichiro (1886–1965). Over a career that spanned half a century, he explored, with both joyful fascination and ruthless insight, the dazzling varieties of sexuality, the complementary attractions of exoticism and nostalgia, the human yearning for mastery over others, and the tense relationship between fantasy and the exterior world. His fiction is filled with portrayals of desire in all its violence, irony, pathos, and comedy. In one of Tanizaki's novels, a young engineer fascinated with the West sets out to transform a Japanese bar girl into his very own version of Mary Pickford. He succeeds to such an extent that the girl, growing tired of his immutable Japaneseness, begins to take foreign lovers. Cuckolded and humiliated though his is, the engineer is unable to leave his fantasy-come-to-life and resigns himself to enslavement. In another novel, a Westernized Japanese finds himself gradually drawn to the past. Specifically, he is attracted to his father-in-law's companion, a young woman who has been trained and costumed to play the part of an old-fashioned mistress. Though this woman is no more a flesh-and-blood embodiment of tradition than a bunraku doll, the protagonist contemplates a life with someone like her, a life defined by the pursuit of abstract, dehumanized cultural ideals. Visions of Desire locates such novels in the shifting discourse on cultural identity and cultural aspiration that permeates Japanese life. Ito argues that Tanizaki's novels do not merely end in the reification and contemplation of cultural ideals but rather problematize the desire behind such ideals. He finds in the writer's fiction a subtle understanding of cultural aspiration as a process riddled with subversions, influenced by patterns of mediation, and circumscribed by the lonely efforts of individual subjectivity. He discovers in Tanizaki's fables about the male effort to transform women into cultural icons a clear awareness of the sexual and class hierarchies that make such transformation possible. Visions of Desire is the first book in English on a writer who is possibly modern Japan's greatest novelist. Ito has written for both the specialist and the general reader, setting his argument in a discussion both of Tanizaki's times and of the life of a writer who believed in living out the fantasies that fueled his fictions.
This book describes a new family of bio-polymer gels made from cytoskeletal proteins - actin, microtubule, and tropomyosin. The importance of the gel state with multi-scale hierarchical structure is emphasized to utilize emergent functions in living organisms. Detailed protocol of gel preparation, specified method of structure investigation, and dynamic studies of self-organization, self-healing, synchronized oscillating, and autonomous motility functions are introduced together with biomimetic functions of synthetic hydrogels.
No Japanese writer was more obsessed with desire than Tanizaki Jun'ichiro (1886–1965). Over a career that spanned half a century, he explored, with both joyful fascination and ruthless insight, the dazzling varieties of sexuality, the complementary attractions of exoticism and nostalgia, the human yearning for mastery over others, and the tense relationship between fantasy and the exterior world. His fiction is filled with portrayals of desire in all its violence, irony, pathos, and comedy. In one of Tanizaki's novels, a young engineer fascinated with the West sets out to transform a Japanese bar girl into his very own version of Mary Pickford. He succeeds to such an extent that the girl, growing tired of his immutable Japaneseness, begins to take foreign lovers. Cuckolded and humiliated though his is, the engineer is unable to leave his fantasy-come-to-life and resigns himself to enslavement. In another novel, a Westernized Japanese finds himself gradually drawn to the past. Specifically, he is attracted to his father-in-law's companion, a young woman who has been trained and costumed to play the part of an old-fashioned mistress. Though this woman is no more a flesh-and-blood embodiment of tradition than a bunraku doll, the protagonist contemplates a life with someone like her, a life defined by the pursuit of abstract, dehumanized cultural ideals. Visions of Desire locates such novels in the shifting discourse on cultural identity and cultural aspiration that permeates Japanese life. Ito argues that Tanizaki's novels do not merely end in the reification and contemplation of cultural ideals but rather problematize the desire behind such ideals. He finds in the writer's fiction a subtle understanding of cultural aspiration as a process riddled with subversions, influenced by patterns of mediation, and circumscribed by the lonely efforts of individual subjectivity. He discovers in Tanizaki's fables about the male effort to transform women into cultural icons a clear awareness of the sexual and class hierarchies that make such transformation possible. Visions of Desire is the first book in English on a writer who is possibly modern Japan's greatest novelist. Ito has written for both the specialist and the general reader, setting his argument in a discussion both of Tanizaki's times and of the life of a writer who believed in living out the fantasies that fueled his fictions.
This book focuses on the systems biomechanics of bone remodeling that provide a multiscale platform for bone adaptation, spanning the cellular, tissue, and organ levels. The mathematical model explained in each section provides concrete examples of in silico approaches for bone adaptation. It will be immensely useful for readers interested in bone morphology and metabolism and will serve as an effective bridge connecting mechanics, cellular and molecular biology, and medical sciences. These in silico approaches towards exploring the mechanisms by which the functioning of dynamic living systems is established and maintained have potential for facilitating the efforts of graduate students and young researchers pioneering new frontiers of biomechanics.
Since the end of the Cold War, developing a better framework to correctly recognize which direction globalization and the transition will take us has been necessary. The transition economies of China and Central Europe, in particular, hold significant implications for East Asian integration and EU enlargement, respectively. This book examines the processes of transition, regional development and globalization, focusing on China and Central Europe, and seeks to identify a new and stable international framework with improved outcomes for all.Divided into three parts, the book first analyzes several key economic issues concerning transition in China and Central Europe; it then examines these issues from the viewpoint of international relations; finally, it considers potential future directions for China, Japan, US and EU. It therefore constitutes an important contribution to our understanding of the ongoing process of globalization and ways to improve Sino?Japanese?EU?American?Central European economic relations.
An essential reference to the highly effective reactions applied to modern organic synthesis Rhodium complexes are one of the most important transition metals for organic synthesis due to their ability to catalyze a variety of useful transformations. Rhodium Catalysis in Organic Synthesis explores the most recent progress and new developments in the field of catalytic cyclization reactions using rhodium(I) complexes and catalytic carbon-hydrogen bond activation reactions using rhodium(II) and rhodium(III) complexes. Edited by a noted expert in the field with contributions from a panel of leading international scientists, Rhodium Catalysis in Organic Synthesis presents the essential information in one comprehensive volume. Designed to be an accessible resource, the book is arranged by different reaction types. All the chapters provide insight into each transformation and include information on the history, selectivity, scope, mechanism, and application. In addition, the chapters offer a summary and outlook of each transformation. This important resource: -Offers a comprehensive review of how rhodium complexes catalyze a variety of highly useful reactions for organic synthesis (e.g. coupling reactions, CH-bond functionalization, hydroformylation, cyclization reactions and others) -Includes information on the most recent developments that contain a range of new, efficient, elegant, reliable and useful reactions -Presents a volume edited by one of the international leading scientists working in the field today -Contains the information that can be applied by researchers in academia and also professionals in pharmaceutical, agrochemical and fine chemical companies Written for academics and synthetic chemists working with organometallics, Rhodium Catalysis in Organic Synthesis contains the most recent information available on the developments and applications in the field of catalytic cyclization reactions using rhodium complexes.
Maximize efficiency and minimize pollution: the breakthrough technology of high temperature air combustion (HiTAC) holds the potential to overcome the limitations of conventional combustion and allow engineers to finally meet this long-standing imperative. Research has shown that HiTAC technology can provide simultaneous reduction of CO2 and nitric
Thank you for visiting our website. Would you like to provide feedback on how we could improve your experience?
This site does not use any third party cookies with one exception — it uses cookies from Google to deliver its services and to analyze traffic.Learn More.