{"product_id":"the-disappearance-of-rituals-a-topology-of-the-present-hardback-9781509542758","title":"The Disappearance of Rituals; A Topology of the Present (Hardback) 9781509542758","description":"\u003cfont face=\"Georgia\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"6\"\u003eThe Disappearance of Rituals\u003c\/font\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\r\n\u003cfont size=\"5\"\u003eA Topology of the Present\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"4\"\u003eByung-Chul Han (Author), Daniel Steuer (Translated by)\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e9781509542758, Polity Press\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003eHardback, published 4 September 2020\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e186 pages\u003cbr\u003e21.6 x 14.5 x 1.3 cm, 0.272 kg\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp align=\"justify\"\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Byung-Chul Han's new book challenges the reader to go far beyond the worn-out critique of neoliberalism. On the one side, there is the progressive replacement of substance through communication, painted as a road to existential perdition; it contrasts, on the other side, with the utopian view of a return towards the security of rituals in their form and appearance. This reversal of long-established thought is expressed in a compressed and energetic language that reads like a manifesto.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eHans Ulrich Gumbrecht, Stanford University\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\"The kind of book … that leads one to rethink our standard narratives of history and to see our society and era in a fresh light.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSteven Mintz, \u003ci\u003eInside Higher Ed\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\"an essential philosopher for anyone wanting to diagnose what plagues the modern person\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Gospel\u003c\/i\u003e \u003ci\u003eCoalition\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"This book is a powerful reminder of the purpose and potential of ritual actions, and what role the arts can serve in our alienated and desacralized times.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eYuval Sharon, \u003ci\u003eThe New Yorker\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e“In a culture obsessed with progress, disruption, and innovation, Han’s conservative defense of ritual feels both radical and necessary. For anyone concerned with the spiritual and social dimensions of modern life, Byung-Chul Han’s \u003ci\u003eThe Disappearance of Rituals\u003c\/i\u003e is worth reading.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eJeremy Bassetti\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e“Han is a joy to read. His writing isn’t quite aphoristic, but it has an Hemingway-esque sinewy strength to it. His pronouncements hit you at a gut level.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eLaw \u0026amp; Liberty\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e“Han’s criticism is welcome, pertinent, and current”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe European Conservative\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e“makes useful and necessary philosophical distinctions that allow the reader to further contemplate man’s place in a chaotic world and possibly change not only the way we perceive the world but also to encourage creation rather than destruction.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eAmerican Essence\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp align=\"justify\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003eUntrammelled neoliberalism and the inexorable force of production have produced a 21st century crisis of community: a narcissistic cult of authenticity and mass turning-inward are among the pathologies engendered by it. We are individuals afloat in an atomised society, where the loss of the symbolic structures inherent in ritual behaviour has led to overdependence on the contingent to steer identity. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAvoiding saccharine nostalgia for the rituals of the past, Han provides a genealogy of their disappearance as a means of diagnosing the pathologies of the present. He juxtaposes a community without communication – where the intensity of togetherness in silent recognition provides structure and meaning – to today’s communication without community, which does away with collective feelings and leaves individuals exposed to exploitation and manipulation by neoliberal psycho-politics. The community that is invoked everywhere today is an atrophied and commoditized community that lacks the symbolic power to bind people together. For Han, it is only the mutual praxis of recognition borne by the ritualistic sharing of the symbolic between members of a community which creates the footholds of objectivity allowing us to make sense of time. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis new book by one of the most creative cultural theorists writing today will be of interest to a wide readership.\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003ePreliminary Remark vi \u003cp\u003e1. The Compulsion of Production 1\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e2. The Compulsion of Authenticity 16\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e3. Rituals of Closure 27\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e4. Festivals and Religion 36\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e5. A Game of Life and Death 47\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e6. The End of History 56\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e7 The Empire of Signs 60\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e8. From Duelling to Drone Wars 69\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e9. From Myth to Dataism 76\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e10. From Seduction to Porn 84\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eNotes 90\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eBibliography 99\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003eSubject Areas: Sociology \u0026amp; anthropology [\u003ca title=\"See our other books on Sociology \u0026amp; anthropology\" href=\"https:\/\/freshlyprintedbooks.co.uk\/search?q=%22Sociology%20\u0026amp;%20anthropology%20%5BJH%5D%22\"\u003eJH\u003c\/a\u003e]\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003c\/font\u003e","brand":"Polity","offers":[{"title":"Brand New","offer_id":52470066118936,"sku":"9781509542758","price":37.95,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0730\/2037\/5320\/files\/9781509542758.jpg?v=1785631016","url":"https:\/\/freshlyprintedbooks.co.uk\/products\/the-disappearance-of-rituals-a-topology-of-the-present-hardback-9781509542758","provider":"Freshly Printed Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}