Putting Crisis in Perspective

This collected book analyzes the phenomenon of crisis manifested across various historical periods. It offers unique, multifaceted, and interdisciplinary perspectives on the issues of crises and finds numerous applications in the fields of literature, linguistics, advertising, photography, and foreign language teaching. The collection is divided into two parts. The chapters in its first part analyze literature and language: from medieval England to cultural changes in America occurring under the influence of the transformation caused by the propagation of print culture. The incisive commentaries consider the works of culture that span not only literature but also film. They reveal how much we can learn by considering how past generations perceived reality in times of crisis. The second part of the book contains chapters, which examine texts related to contemporary crises expressed in the visual media of advertising and photography, but also in foreign language teaching. As the authors show, both ads and non-commercial, socially engaged photographs can influence the viewer in a swift and impactful manner by conveying messages of great social importance. The authors convincingly that argue both photographs and ads can be used for social benefit by visualizing even the unpleasant or shocking sides of reality. Finally, the notion of crisis experienced by students of English as a foreign language is analyzed and supplemented by research which may prove useful for researchers and practitioners alike.

Artur Skweres Associate Professor at the Department of English Studies, Faculty of Pedagogy and Fine Arts in Kalisz, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznan, Poland. He received his D.Litt. in literary studies from the School of English of Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznan, Poland. He has participated in numerous international conferences and has received Prize of the Rector of Adam Mickiewicz University in 2011 and 2020. His academic interests comprise English and American literature, humor and comedy, media ecology, film adaptations, and film in foreign language teaching. His hobby and passion is studying foreign languages. His recent publications include the monographs: The relationship between oneiric and pragmatic play in Mark Twain's works (Poznan: Adam Mickiewicz University Press, 2019) and McLuhan's Galaxies: Science Fiction Film. Aesthetics in Light of Marshall McLuhan's Thought (2019) published by Springer as a part of Second Language Learning and Teaching. Issues in Literature and Culture series edited by Mirosaw Pawlak.