This volume suggests a novel treatment of context in the analysis of everyday interaction. On a theoretical level, it advocates a switch of focus from 'context' as a preestablished, monolithic category which constringes co-participants' verbal and nonverbal behaviour, to an active notion of 'contextualization': in order to make oneself understood, participants have to establish and maintain those shared contextual frames which in turn are relevant to the local interpretation of their verbal and nonverbal activities. On an empirical level, the volume contains exemplary analyses that show how participants employ 'contextualization cues' of prosodic (rhythm, intonation, tempo, etc.) or nonverbal (gaze, gesture, etc.) nature in order to 'achieve context'.The volume is also an appraisal of the theory of contextualization developed by John Gumperz. In their contributions, researchers from various schools of research, such as conversation analysis, micro-ethnography, phonetics/phonology and metapragmatics, relate their work to this theory.

The articles in Contextualized Stylistics, written especially to honour the work of Peter Verdonk, one of the leading figures in the field of stylistics over the last twenty years, represent the state of the art in literary linguistics. A wide range of approaches, from traditional stylistic analysis to innovative new directions, is to be found here in literary contexts as varied as the writings of Chaucer, Shakespeare, Donne, Pope, Sterne, Browning, Yeats, Auden, Joyce, British surrealist poetry, urban and political graffiti, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Jane Gardam, contemporary Anglo-Irish fiction, modern comic satire and Flann O'Brien. Among the contributors are some of the foremost theorists and practitioners working in the field today: Walter Nash, Peter Stockwell, Willie van Peer, Keith Green, Tony Bex, Michael Burke, Mick Short, Jonathan Culpeper, Elena Semino, Michael Toolan, Jean-Jacques Weber, Gerard Steen, Henry Widdowson, and Paul Simpson. Olga Fischer and Katie Wales contribute a Foreword, and Ronald Carter an Afterword. A number of Professor Verdonk's colleagues have also contributed articles from a more literary perspective. This book is an essential addition to the personal library of any researcher interested in the interface and connections between language and literature, and it would make an excellent course reader for undergraduate students in both literary and linguistic studies.

Liu Zhi (c.1662-c.1730), a well-known Muslim scholar in China, published in Chinese outstanding theological works, short treatises, and easy-to-memorize short poems on Islam. He encountered various challenges in his interpretation and transmission of Islamic texts. First, traditional Arabic and Persian Islamic texts used Arabic and Persian concepts to explain Islam. This book answers the question, did Liu Zhi communicate difficult Islamic concepts? Second, Islam has insisted on monotheism. This book discusses whether and how Liu Zhi integrated the basic religious living of the Hui Muslims into their pluralistic Chinese culture. Finally, Muslims have settled over hundreds of years in various parts of China. Were Liu Zhi's works able to make a substantial difference in the life and thought of Hui Muslims in China? Liu Zhi's success was due to his method of contextualization, integrating the Muslim way of life into Chinese culture. This book is an in-depth study of Liu Zhi's contextualization of Islam into Chinese culture that argues that his contextualization has not deviated from the basic tenets of Islamic belief.

In the post-Christian world, we find sincere efforts in traditional Christian apologetics repeatedly running into invisible walls. These blocks happen when cultural issues are neglected. With mere rational arguments presented as a defense of Christianity, logical answers alone are not attracting the nonbelievers nor resolving their skepticism. People today have different obstacles in coming to the Christian faith, particularly their own cultural presuppositions. How do we present, defend, and commend Christianity to people whose culture gives them a frame of mind--the one that cares very little about how rational the arguments are? Cultural Contextualization of Apologetics explores the world of the New Testament and the ministry of the apostle Paul to excavate a fresh model for apologetics with cultural engagement to present an answer. Matt W. Lee analyzes the dynamics involved in Paul's cultural connection with his audience and how it relates to their receptivity, uncovering a scheme of apologetics engagement patterned in his apologetics speeches. From the background of Paul's world to the forefront of contemporary apologetics preaching, Cultural Contextualization of Apologetics offers a vision of apologetics communication that is both biblical and practical.

This book examines Winston Churchill’s role in the creation and development of the Anglo–American special relationship. Drawing together world leading and emergent scholars, this volume offers a critical celebration of Churchill’s contribution to establishing the Anglo–American special relationship. Marking the seventieth anniversary of Churchill’s pronouncement in 1946 of that special relationship in his famous Iron Curtain speech, the book provides new insights into old debates by drawing upon approaches and disciplines that have hitherto been marginalised or neglected. The book foregrounds agency, culture, values, ideas and the construction and representation of special Anglo–American relations, past and present. The volume covers two main themes. Firstly, it identifies key influences upon Churchill as he developed his political career, especially processes and patterns of Anglo–American convergence prior to and during World War Two. Second, it provides insights into how Churchill sought to promote a post-war Anglo–American special relationship, how he discursively constructed it and how he has remained central to that narrative to the present day. From this analysis emerges new understanding of the raw material from which Churchill conjured special UK–US relations and of how his conceptualisation of that special relationship has been shaped and re-shaped in the decades after 1946. This book will be of much interest to students of Anglo–American relations, Cold War Studies, foreign policy, international history and IR in general.

Dr. Paul Hardy discusses issues that many people prefer to avoid. This material provides a practical roadmap to dealing with unsettled issues in your life from a biblical perspective.

Contextualization is the art of translating ideas into a particular situation, place or culture. It is fundamental to communication, which makes contextualization essential in missions. This textbook pulls together and maps the variety of evangelical approaches to contextualization. Introductory classes on contextualization and missionary preparation institutes will appreciate this valuable textbook. Contextualization in Missions will guide mission-minded Christians to an informed plan for spreading the gospel effectively. While written with a theoretical perspective, Contextualization in Missions also provides real-world examples to provoke both thought and action.