Lexicon Gregorianum : Woerterbuch zu den Schriften Gregors von Nyssa. Editors in chief: Wolf-Dieter Hauschild and Friedhelm Mann. Leiden & New York : Brill, 1998-

Location: Olin ++BR65.G76 M36x 1998.

The first of a projected seven volumes of a comprehensive Greek-German dictionary of the language of Gregory of Nyssa (ca. 331-395), one of the most important early Greek Church Fathers. More than simply a word list, it documents Gergory's complete vocabulary, taking account of the syntax, meaning and connotations of every occurrence of every key word. Since this detailed analysis is done using one of the largest bodies of writings preserved from late antiquity, it will become an indispensable tool for the study of late Classical Greek, in addition for its obvious importance for scholarly research on any aspect of Gregory, the Church Fathers and early Christianity generally.
(Yoram Szekely, ybs1@cornell.edu)

David, Abraham. To Come to the Land: immigration and settlement insixteenth century Eretz-Israel. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 1999. (Judaic Studies Series).

Location: Olin DS 124.D3813x 1999

This carefully researched monograph stands out from among the many new titles published annually in Jewish history in that it illuminates the little known fact that Jewish settlement of the Land of Israel in modern times had begun well before the pioneer movements propelled by Zionism around the turn of this century. It describes in detail one such earlier settlement, that of Sephardic Jews either expelled from Spain and Portugal or having left there because of forced conversions. Since the Ottoman Turks who conquered Syria, Palestine and Egypt in 1516 encouraged Jewish settlement as part of their plan for economic development of the region, a significant Sephardic community soon flourished. The book offers a comprehensive account of its social, economic and intellectual life, with special attention to Jerusalem and Safed, where cabala mysticism was born during this period.
(Yoram Szekely, ybs1@cornell.edu)

Pérez, Emma. The Decolonial Imaginary, writing Chicanas into History. Bloomington and Indianapolis: University of Indiana Press, 1999. (Theories of Representation and Difference)

Location: Olin, E 184 .M5 P418x 1999

September is Hispanic Heritage month, and these two titles represent the variety of approaches currently used to measure the US Latino experience.

Emma Pérez brings critical theory to this work which ranges widely over time and distance. She examines figures from La Malinche, compañera of Cortez, to Selena, the much-mourned pop icon, and geography from the Yucatán to California. Along the way, Pérez uncovers what she calls a "third space feminism" and give voice to it.
(David Block, db10@cornell.edu)

Nuevos senderos, reflections on Hispanics and philanthropy. ed. Diana Campoamor and William A. Díaz. Houston: Arte Público Press, 1999.

Location: Olin, HV 91 N84 1999

Nuevos senderos examines Latino philanthropy. It brings together nine essays, written by contributors who include academics, administrators, health professionals and journalists, that survey the US Latino population and identify trends in self help/volunteerism, traditional philanthropy and non-profit organizations. The work also includes companion pieces examining similar trends in Latin America.

Readers may also be interested to note that the Arte Público imprint-- which has as its purpose the preservation of Latino heritage-- is added comprehensively by Olin Library.
(David Block, db10@cornell.edu)

Verdery, Katherine. The Political Lives of Dead Bodies: reburial and postsocialist change. New York: Columbia University Press, 1999.

Location: Olin, GT 3242 .V47x 1999

The political life of dead bodies has been recorded throughout history. Postmodern adventures of some famous corpses (St. Francis of Assisi, Dante, Thomas Becket, Napoleon, Eva Peron) are sometimes as fascinating as their lives. Katherine Vederey, the renowned anthropologist, observed an unusual pattern emerging in Eastern European since the fall of communism. In each country of the former Soviet Bloc, scores of bodies have been exhumed, often repatriated, to be ceremonially reburied in new locations. The book examines this phenomenon, its effects for the living, and differences between this contemporary dead-body politics and examples from other times and places. As eastern Europe undergoes political transformation, its peoples have to redefine themselves and reassess and rewrite their history. The dead, whose words and deeds can be interpreted and reinscribed upon them, serve as powerful and eloquent tools in the process of creating and retrieving collective "memory. The fascinating stories of the recent reburials of Czar Nicholas II, Lenin, Prince Lazar of Serbia, former Bulgarian Tsar Boris, Hungarian leader Imure Nagy, composer Bela Bartok, Polish King Stanislaw Poniatowski, Romanian Bishop Inochente Micu, among others, are presented in this incisive exploration of the dead as bell weather of political change of the whole region of Eastern Europe. This imaginative study helps us understand the deeply symbolic nature of politics and also politics as a fundamentally cultural process.
(Wanda Wawro, wtw3@cornell.edu)