Selina Schuster – författare

This volume is the first in a new series of editions of Coptic-language "magical" manuscripts from Egypt, written on papyrus, ostraca, parchment, and paper, and dating to between the fourth and twelfth centuries CE. Their texts attest to non-institutional rituals intended to bring about changes in the lives of those who used them – heal disease, curse enemies, bring about love or hatred, or see into the future. These manuscripts represent rich sources of information on daily life and lived religion of Egypt in the last centuries of Roman rule and the first centuries after the Arab conquest, giving us glimpses of the hopes and fears of people of this time, their conflicts and problems, and their vision of the human and superhuman worlds. This volume presents 37 new editions and descriptions of manuscripts, focusing on formularies or "handbooks", those texts containing instructions for the performance of rituals. Each of these is accompanied by a history of its acquisition, a material description, and presented with facing text and translations, tracings of accompanying images, and explanatory notes to aid in understanding the text.

Seminar paper from the year 2012 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Culture and Applied Geography, grade: 1,3, University of Paderborn (Institut fur Anglistik/Amerikanistik), course: Hauptseminar 'Humour', language: English, abstract: Fawlty Towers, a British television series from the 1970's, written by John Cleese and Connie Booth is famous for its eccentric characters, farcical humour and unintentionally funny moments. The life of Basil Fawlty, the choleric and perpetually overworked owner of a slightly run-down sea front hotel, his constantly nagging wife Sybil and their good-hearted but maltreated employees, the maid Polly and the Spanish waiter Manuel, is depicted throughout the series. All of them try to keep the hotel running and the guests satisfied despite several incidents and self-made catastrophes. Due to the fact that the series focuses on a hotel, plenty of different guests visit the hotel Fawlty Towers during the 12 episode run of the series. Almost every visit leads to copious amounts of awkward situations and there s always something Basil Fawlty dislikes about his clientele - may it be their outer appearance, personal taste, social class or their cultural background. Bearing that in mind this homework will take a closer look at the portrayal of foreign characters throughout the series and their interactions with the British hotel staff. After a short introduction to the series and its main protagonists I m going to point out how foreigners and people of different cultural backgrounds are portrayed in the series and which aspects of their behaviour or cultural peculiarities are made fun of. Furthermore, I will take a closer look at the English characters of the series as well. How do they interact with the foreign characters? Which stereotypes, prejudices or cliches towards the different nationalities do exists in the minds of British people and how does the series Fawlty Towers make fun of them?

Seminar paper from the year 2012 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 2,0, University of Paderborn (Institut fur Anglistik/Amerikanistik), course: Hauptseminar: The Bachelor in British and American Literature and Culture, language: English, abstract: 'But love is an emotional thing, and whatever is emotional is opposed to that true cold reason which I place above all things. I should never marry myself, lest I bias my judgement.' With these words Sherlock Holmes comments rather derogatorily on the marriage plans of his close friend and fellow bachelor Dr. John Watson when the latter reveals his engagement to Mary Morstan to him. While Watson s existence as a bachelor is about to end after the novel The Sign of the Four , Sherlock Holmes never had any intention to change his lifestyle from being a bachelor to become a husband and father. He never was married or engaged in any form and obviously didn t miss it. It is due to that attitude that the character of Sherlock Holmes became one of the most famous and best known examples of the bachelor in Victorian literature. But what exactly is a bachelor and how was this term defined during the time when the Sherlock Holmes stories were written?In this term paper I will point out how the life of unmarried men was depicted in Victorian literature and which images and stereotypes arose when it came to the term bachelor in general. In order to do this it is essential to take a closer look at the society during the time the fictional characters of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson were invented the end of the 19th century. Which characteristics were typical for a bachelor of that time except for being an unwed male? In order to show how the bachelors stood out and differed from their married fellows it is necessary to examine the role of Victorian men in general. Which moral values were associated with the life of a bachelor and did they differ from the generally accepted values of the time? What was their status in society? After this quite general examination I shall take a closer look at the two bachelors invented by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Were Sherlock and Watson typical bachelors of their time? What were their reasons for being unmarried and how were their attitudes and interactions towards women? Did they simply had no luck with the ladies or were there other reasons for them to be unwed? I will try to answer these questions on the basis of the Sherlock Holmes novels A Study in Scarlet , The Sign of the Four and the short story A Scandal in Bohemia .

Essay from the year 2012 in the subject Didactics for the subject English - Literature, Works, grade: 2,3, University of Paderborn (Institut fur Anglistik/Amerikanistik), course: ClC Advanced Essay-writing, language: English, abstract: All mighty wizards we encounter in literature usually possess one feature that immediately indicates their status as powerful sorcerers to the reader: a long, mostly white (occasionally grey) beard. A wizard simply can't be that powerful if he isn't depicted as an old man - very old to be precise - with a beard so enormous that he can effortlessly tuck its end into his belt. This cliche of the wise old man with magical abilities derives to a large extent from the depiction of Gandalf the Grey in J.R.R. Tolkien s fantasy novel The Hobbit and it s even more famous successor The Lord of the Rings. The character of Gandalf became not only the iconic prototype for the description of wizards in literature but it influenced a whole genre, making Gandalf the uber-father of all wizards, on whose typical features many authors still rely on. This also counts for the famous headmaster of a certain school for witchcraft and wizardry. Invented more than half a century after The Hobbit, J.K. Rowling s Albus Dumbledore from the Harry Potter-series heavily relies on the well-known image of how a versed magician has to act and look like.

Seminar paper from the year 2011 in the subject American Studies - Literature, grade: 2,0, University of Paderborn (Institut fur Anglistik/Amerikanistik), course: Proseminar American Gothic, language: English, abstract: "e;And much of Madness and more of Sin And Horror the Soul to the Plot."e; This line taken from Edgar Allan Poe's poem 'The Conquerer Worm' perfectly describes theessential elements featured in many of Poe s poems and stories, on which I am about to writein particular. Madness and horror, sins and the Imp of the Perverse - The Evil, which lieswithin all of us - are popular and frequently recurring motives in Poe s literary works andthereby create a mood and atmosphere quite dark and nightmarish. The reader is offered adeep glance into the abyss of the human mind and psyche. In this term paper I m going to draw a comparison between two of Poe s short stories, whichboth deal with the above mentioned concepts and images and therefore, are counted to theGothic Genre - The Black Cat and The Tell-Tale Heart. The main focus of my work willlie on the similarities of the storytelling structures and the speech Poe uses to convey thiscertain feeling of suspense, horror and thrill. I will examine which further motives and imagesPoe uses in this two stories and which function they fulfil. I m going to carry out my researches primarily with the help of the books: Poe by WalterLenning, Poe A Biography by Frank T. Zumbach, The Cambridge Companion to GothicFiction by Jerrod Hogle and The Fall of the House of Usher and Other Writings by EdgarAllan Poe.

Seminar paper from the year 2010 in the subject American Studies - Culture and Applied Geography, grade: 2,0, University of Paderborn (Institut fur Anglistik/Amerikanistik), course: Pro-Seminar 'The American Frontier', language: English, abstract: In this term paper I'm going to answer the question if the Western Myth and the idea of anAmerican Frontier are still current topics in modern day America. The glorified myth of a frontier moving faster and faster into the unknown is deeply rooted inthe heads of the American people, since the first settlers moved westwards, over hundred-fiftyyears ago. It had an enormous impact on America s history and on its national identity. But can this ideaof a frontier still be found today, or is it just a historically important, but today mostlyunappealing episode in recent history books?Furthermore, I will try to find an answer where hints and connections to the myth of the OldWest - with its cowboys, lonesome riders and sheriffs - can be found in modern Americanculture. Are those images of the wild, deserted West still topical and influential, and if so,where. In which parts of life and culture can they be found, or are the Old West and theWestern Myth just outdated?I m going to carry out my researches about this topic with the help of the books TheAmerican frontier Go West, young man by Prof. Dr. Michael Porsche, The frontier in American History by Frederick Jackson Turner, The Wild West: Myth andHistory by Alexander Emmerich and several internet sources to illustrate and prove mytheses. At the end of this term paper I hope to be able to point out, in which parts of everyday life inmodern America references to the myth of the Wild West and the American Frontier can befound and which significance they have.