Transforming Talk - The Problem with Gossip in Late Medieval England

In recent decades, scholars have shown an increasing interest in gossips social, psychological, and literary functions. The first book-length study of medieval gossip, Transforming Talk shifts the current debate and argues that gossip functions primarily as a transformative discourse, influencing not only social interactions but also literary and religious practices. Known as jangling in Middle English, gossip was believed to corrupt parishioners, disturb the peace, and cause civil and spiritual unrest.

Creativity and Critique Social and Critical Theory

Glenda Ballantyne, Ph.d. (2001) in Sociology, La Trobe University is Lecturer in Sociology at Swinburne University of Technology, Lilydale. Her research interests include social theory, social movements, multiple modernities, historical sociology, cultural diversity, agency, identity and subjectivity and hermeneutics.

Social Identity in Early Medieval Britain

Social identity is a concept of increasing importance in the social sciences. Here, the concept is applied to the often atheoretical realm of medieval studies. Each contributor focuses on a particular topic of early medieval identity -- ethnicity, national identity, social location, subjectivity/personhood, political organization, kinship, the body, gender, age, proximity/regionality, memory, and ideological systems. The result is a pioneering vision of medieval social identity and a challenge to some of the received general wisdoms about this period.

Contemporary Directions in Psychopathology: Scientific Foundations of the DSM-V and ICD-11

This forward-thinking volume grapples with critical questions surrounding the mechanisms underlying mental disorders and the systems used for classifying them. Edited and written by leading international authorities, many of whom are actively involved with the development of DSM-V and ICD-11, the book integrates biological and psychosocial perspectives. It provides balanced analyses of such issues as the role of social context and culture in psychopathology and the pros and cons of categorical versus dimensional approaches to diagnosis. 

The Mysterious Stranger

The Mysterious Stranger is the final novel attempted by the American author Mark Twain. It was worked on periodically from roughly 1890 up until 1910. The body of work is a serious social commentary by Twain addressing his ideas of the Moral Sense and the "damned human race".