Vivienne Westbrook

This book is the most thorough exploration to date of the many ways in which a wild creature has been absorbed, reimagined and represented across the ages in all of the major art forms. The authors consider not only how the identity of sharks in the natural environment became incorporated into a cultural environment but also how sharks came to be considered the most feared creatures in the open oceans as a consequence of this incorporation. Yet sharks are especially important in helping to maintain a balance that is essential to the health of the oceans. The book begins with a treatment of the three sharks at the top of global shark-attack files from scientific, economic and environmental perspectives. Subsequent chapters engage with cultural representations of sharks in poetry, drama, art, novels, screenplay adaptations and films. Through an exploration of the ways in which sharks have been represented in human culture through the centuries, this book alerts the global community to the importance of sharks as a common cultural heritage. It aims to change perceptions of sharks so that they can become more revered than feared. The authors of this book argue that an increased understanding of sharks should lead to the development of better strategies for shark and human interactions.This book will be of great interest to researchers and students of the Environmental Humanities, Cultural History and the Arts. It is also excellent supplementary reading for courses in Zoology and Marine Science.

This book is the most thorough exploration to date of the many ways in which a wild creature has been absorbed, reimagined and represented across the ages in all of the major art forms. The authors consider not only how the identity of sharks in the natural environment became incorporated into a cultural environment but also how sharks came to be considered the most feared creatures in the open oceans as a consequence of this incorporation. Yet sharks are especially important in helping to maintain a balance that is essential to the health of the oceans. The book begins with a treatment of the three sharks at the top of global shark-attack files from scientific, economic and environmental perspectives. Subsequent chapters engage with cultural representations of sharks in poetry, drama, art, novels, screenplay adaptations and films. Through an exploration of the ways in which sharks have been represented in human culture through the centuries, this book alerts the global community to the importance of sharks as a common cultural heritage. It aims to change perceptions of sharks so that they can become more revered than feared. The authors of this book argue that an increased understanding of sharks should lead to the development of better strategies for shark and human interactions.This book will be of great interest to researchers and students of the Environmental Humanities, Cultural History and the Arts. It is also excellent supplementary reading for courses in Zoology and Marine Science.

Some of England's most fascinating Renaissance texts have been forgotten by historians, literary critics and theologians alike. The earliest printed Bibles in the English language provide an astonishingly rich resource for interdisciplinary studies in the 21st century. Long Travail and Great Paynes is a close textual analysis of seven texts that for a wide range of reasons, but no good ones, have been reduced to paratextual entries in general histories of the English Bible. Through extensive collations of her own, Westbrook uncovers the work of seven Renaissance Bible translator-revisers and argues forcefully for a new agenda to replace the outmoded and inappropriate one of evaluating Renaissance Bibles according to the extent of their influence on the 1611 King James Authorised Version. Every sixteenth-century text reflects something of the historical dynamic in which it was created, and English Renaissance Bibles, with their ever-changing text and paratext, have their own unique stories to tell.

Some of England's most fascinating Renaissance texts have been forgotten by historians, literary critics and theologians alike. The earliest printed Bibles in the English language provide an astonishingly rich resource for interdisciplinary studies in the 21st century. Long Travail and Great Paynes is a close textual analysis of seven texts that for a wide range of reasons, but no good ones, have been reduced to paratextual entries in general histories of the English Bible. Through extensive collations of her own, Westbrook uncovers the work of seven Renaissance Bible translator-revisers and argues forcefully for a new agenda to replace the outmoded and inappropriate one of evaluating Renaissance Bibles according to the extent of their influence on the 1611 King James Authorised Version. Every sixteenth-century text reflects something of the historical dynamic in which it was created, and English Renaissance Bibles, with their ever-changing text and paratext, have their own unique stories to tell.