Description.

A changeling is typically identifiable via a number of traits; in Irish legend, a fairy child may appear sickly and won't grow in size like a normal child, and may have notable physical characteristics such as a beard or long teeth. They may also display intelligence far beyond their apparent years, as well as possess uncanny insight. A common way that a changeling could identify itself is through displaying unusual behaviour when it thinks it's alone, such as jumping about, dancing or playing an instrument — though this last example is found only within Irish and Scottish legend.  "A human child might be taken due to many factors: to act as a servant, the love of a human child, or malice. Most often it was thought that fairies exchanged the children. In rare cases, the very elderly of the fairy people would be exchanged in the place of a human baby, so that the old fairy could live in comfort, being coddled by its human parents. Simple charms such as an inverted coat or open iron scissors left where the child sleeps, were thought to ward them off; other measures included a constant watch over the child."  D. L. Ashliman points out in his essay 'Changelings' that changeling tales illustrate an aspect of family survival in pre-industrial Europe. A peasant family's subsistence frequently depended upon the productive labour of each member, and it was difficult to provide for a person who was a permanent drain on the family's scarce resources. "The fact that the changelings' ravenous appetite is so frequently mentioned indicates that the parents of these unfortunate children saw in their continuing existence a threat to the sustenance of the entire family. Changeling tales support other historical evidence in suggesting that infanticide was frequently the solution selected."

Function.

One belief is that trolls thought that it was more respectable to be raised by humans and that they wanted to give their own children a human upbringing. Some people believed that trolls would take unbaptised children. Once children had been baptized and therefore become part of the Church, the trolls could not take them.  Beauty in human children and young women, particularly traits which evoke brightness or reflectivity, such as blonde hair and blue or silver eyes, are said to attract fairies, as they perhaps find preciousness in these perceived traits.  In Scottish folklore, the children might be replacements for fairy children in the tithe to Hell; this is best known from the ballad of "Tam Lin". According to common Scottish myths, a child born with a caul (part of the amniotic membrane) across their face is a changeling, and will soon die (is "of fey birth").  Other folklore says that human milk is necessary for fairy children to survive. In these cases either the newborn human child would be switched with a fairy baby to be suckled by the human mother, or the human mother would be taken back to the fairy world to breastfeed the fairy babies. It is also thought that human midwives were necessary to bring fairy babies into the world.  Some stories tell of changelings who forget they are not human and proceed to live a human life. Changelings who do not forget, however, in some stories return to their fairy family, possibly leaving the human family without warning. The human child that was taken may often stay with the fairy family forever. Feeling connected to the fate of a changeling, there are families who merely turn their changeling loose to the wilderness.  Some folklorists believe that fairies were memories of inhabitants of various regions in Europe who had been driven into hiding by invaders. They held that changelings had actually occurred; the hiding people would exchange their own sickly children for the healthy children of the occupying invader.

In folklore.

Cornwall.

The Mên-an-Tol stones in Cornwall are said to have a fairy or pixie guardian who can make miraculous cures. In one case, a changeling baby was passed through the stone in order for the mother to have her real child returned to her. Evil pixies had changed her child, and the stones were able to reverse their spell.

Germany.

In Germany, the changeling is known as "Wechselbalg", "Wechselkind", "Kielkropf" or "Dickkopf" (the last both hinting at the huge necks and heads of changelings).  Several methods are known in Germany to identify a changeling and to return the replaced real child:  Sometimes the changeling has to be fed with a woman's milk before replacing the children.  In German folklore, several possible parents are known for changelings. Those are:

Ireland.

In Ireland, looking at a baby with envy – "over looking the baby" – was dangerous, as it endangered the baby, who was then in the fairies' power. So too was admiring or envying a woman or man dangerous, unless the person added a blessing; the able-bodied and beautiful were in particular danger. Women were especially in danger in liminal states: being a new bride, or a new mother.  Putting a changeling in a fire would cause it to jump up the chimney and return the human child, but at least one tale recounts a mother with a changeling finding that a fairy woman came to her home with the human child, saying the other fairies had done the exchange, and she wanted her own baby. The tale of surprising a changeling into speech – by brewing eggshells – is also told in Ireland, as in Wales. Various legends describe other ways to foil a would-be fairy kidnapper. One was to shout ""Gairum augus coisricim thú" " (I bless you) or "God bless you," which would cause the fairy to abandon the child it was trying to steal. Another possible tactic was to insert oneself into an argument over who would keep the child; shouting out "Give it to me" would trick the fairy into releasing the child back to a human.  Changelings, in some instances, were regarded not as substituted fairy children but instead old fairies brought to the human world to die.  Irish legends regarding changelings typically follow the same formula: a tailor is the one who first notices a changeling, the inclusion of a fairy playing bagpipes or some other instrument, and the kidnapping of a human child through a window.  The modern Irish girl's name, Siofra, means an elvish or changeling child, deriving from Síobhra(í) meaning fairy(/fairies). The Aos sí, "siabhra" (commonly anglicised as "sheevra"), may be prone to evil and mischief. However, the Ulster folk song 'The Gartan Mother's Lullaby' also uses "sheevra" simply to mean "spirit" or "fairy".

The Isle of Man.

The Isle of Man had a wide collection of myths and superstitions concerning fairies, and there are numerous folk tales that have been collected concerning supposed changelings. Sophia Morrison, in her "Manx Fairy Tales" (David Nutt, London, 1911) includes the tale of "The Fairy Child of Close ny Lheiy", a tale of a child supposedly swapped by the fairies for a loud and unruly fairy child. The English poet and topographer George Waldron, who lived in the Isle of Man during the early 18th century, cites a tale of a reputed changeling that was shown to him, possibly a child with an inherited genetic disorder:  "Nothing under heaven could have a more beautiful face; but though between five and six years old, and seemingly healthy, he was so far from being able to walk, or stand, that he could not so much as move any one joint; his limbs were vastly long for his age, but smaller than an infant's of six months; his complexion was perfectly delicate, and he had the finest hair in the world; he never spoke, nor cried, ate scarcely anything, and was very seldom seen to smile, but if any one called him a fairy-elf, he would frown and fix his eyes so earnestly on those who said it, as if he would look them through. His mother, or at least his supposed mother, being very poor, frequently went out a-charing, and left him a whole day together. The neighbours, out of curiosity, have often looked in at the window to see how he behaved when alone, which, whenever they did, they were sure to find him laughing and in the utmost delight. This made them judge that he was not without company more pleasing to him than any mortal's could be; and what made this conjecture seem the more reasonable was, that if he were left ever so dirty, the woman at her return saw him with a clean face, and his hair combed with the utmost exactness and nicety."

Lowland Scotland and Northern England.

In the Anglo-Scottish border region it was believed that elves (or fairies) lived in "elf hills" (or "fairy hills"). Along with this belief in supernatural beings was the view that they could spirit away children, and even adults, and take them back to their own world (see Elfhame). Often, it was thought, a baby would be snatched and replaced with a simulation of the baby, usually a male adult elf, to be suckled by the mother. The real baby would be treated well by the elves and would grow up to be one of them, whereas the changeling baby would be discontented and wearisome. Many herbs, salves and seeds could be used for discovering the fairy-folk and ward off their designs. It was also believed that, in order to force a changeling to reveal itself, it must either be surprised into speech or made to laugh.  In one tale a mother suspected that her baby had been taken and replaced with a changeling, a view that was proven to be correct one day when a neighbour ran into the house shouting "Come here and ye'll se a sight! Yonder's the Fairy Hill a' alowe." To this, the elf got up, saying "Waes me! What'll come o' me wife and bairns?" and made his way out of the chimney.  At Byerholm near Newcastleton in Liddesdale sometime during the early 19th century, a dwarf called Robert Elliot or "Little Hobbie o' The Castleton" as he was known, was reputed to be a changeling. When taunted by other boys he would not hesitate to draw his gully (a large knife) and dispatch them, however being that he was woefully short in the legs they usually out-ran him and escaped. He was courageous however and when he heard that his neighbour, the six-foot three-inch () William Scott of Kirndean, a sturdy and strong borderer, had slandered his name, he invited the man to his house, took him up the stairs and challenged him to a duel. Scott beat a hasty retreat.  Child ballad 40, "The Queen of Elfland's Nourice", depicts the abduction of a new mother, drawing on the folklore of the changelings. Although it is fragmentary, it contains the mother's grief and the Queen of Elfland's promise to return her to her own child if she will nurse the queen's child until it can walk.

Poland.

The Mamuna or Boginki is a Slavic spirit that exchanges babies (making them into odmieńce) in the cradle. The changelings left by the Mamuna were said to have a noticeably different appearance; an abnormally large abdomen, unusually small or large head, a hump, thin arms and legs, a hairy body, and long claws. Mamuna changelings would also get their first set of teeth prematurely compared to a human baby.  In order to protect a child from being kidnapped by the Mamuna, the mother would tie a red ribbon around the baby's wrist, put a red hat on its head, and keep it out of the moonlight. Other preventative methods included not washing diapers after sunset and never turning their head away from the baby as it slept. Still, even if a child was taken by the Mamuna, there was a way to have her return the baby. The mother would take the changeling child to a midden, whip it with a birch stick, and pour water from an eggshell over it, all while shouting "Take yours; give mine back." Typically, the Mamuna would feel sorry for its own child and would return the human baby to its mother.

Scandinavia.

In Nordic traditional belief, it was generally believed that it was trolls or beings from the underground that changed children. Since most beings from Scandinavian folklore are said to be afraid of iron, Scandinavian parents often placed an iron item such as a pair of scissors or a knife on top of an un-baptised infant's cradle. It was believed that if a human child was taken in spite of such measures, the parents could force the return of the child by treating the changeling cruelly, using methods such as whipping or even inserting it in a heated oven. In at least one case, a woman was taken to court for having killed her child in an oven. In Sweden, it is believed that a fire must be kept lit in the room housing a child before it is christened, as well as that the water used to bathe the child must not be thrown out, as both of these acts prevent the child from being taken by trolls. In one Swedish tale, the human mother is advised to brutalize the changeling ("bortbyting") so that the trolls will return her son, but she refuses, unable to mistreat an innocent child despite knowing its nature. When her husband demands she abandon the changeling, she refuses, and he leaves her – whereupon he meets their son in the forest, wandering free. The son explains that since his mother had never been cruel to the changeling, so the troll mother had never been cruel to him, and when she sacrificed what was dearest to her, her husband, they had realized they had no power over her and released him.  The tale is notably retold by Swedish children's story author Helena Nyblom as "Bortbytingarna" in the 1913 book "Bland tomtar och troll". (which is depicted by the image), a princess is kidnapped by trolls and replaced with their own offspring against the wishes of the troll mother. The changelings grow up with their new parents, but both find it hard to adapt: the human girl is disgusted by her future bridegroom, a troll prince, whereas the troll girl is bored by her life and by her dull human future groom. Upset with the conditions of their lives, they both go astray in the forest, passing each other without noticing it. The princess comes to the castle whereupon the queen immediately recognizes her, and the troll girl finds a troll woman who is cursing loudly as she works. The troll girl bursts out that the troll woman is much more fun than any other person she has ever seen, and her mother happily sees that her true daughter has returned. Both the human girl and the troll girl marry happily the very same day.

Spain.

In Asturias (Northern Spain), there is a legend about the Xana, a sort of nymph who used to live near rivers, fountains and lakes, sometimes helping travellers on their journeys. The Xanas were conceived as little female fairies with supernatural beauty. They could deliver babies, "xaninos," that were sometimes swapped with human babies– some legends claim this was in order for them to be baptized, while others claim that it is because the Xana cannot produce milk. The legend says that in order to distinguish a "xanino" from a human baby, some pots and egg shells should be put close to the fireplace; a xanino would say: "I was born one hundred years ago, and since then I have not seen so many egg shells near the fire!".

Wales.

In Wales the changeling child ("plentyn cael" (sing.), "plant cael" (pl.)) initially resembles the human it substitutes, but gradually grows uglier in appearance and behaviour: ill-featured, malformed, ill-tempered, given to screaming and biting. It may be of less than usual intelligence, but again is identified by its more than childlike wisdom and cunning.  The common means employed to identify a changeling is to cook a family meal in an eggshell. The child will exclaim, "I have seen the acorn before the oak, but I never saw the likes of this," and vanish, only to be replaced by the original human child. Alternatively, or following this identification, it is supposedly necessary to mistreat the child by placing it in a hot oven, by holding it in a shovel over a hot fire, or by bathing it in a solution of foxglove.

In the historical record.

Children identified as changelings by the superstitious were often abused or murdered.  Two 19th-century cases reflect the belief in changelings. In 1826, Anne Roche bathed Michael Leahy, a four-year-old boy unable to speak or stand, three times in the Flesk; he drowned the third time. She swore that she was merely attempting to drive the fairy out of him, and the jury acquitted her of murder. In 1895, Bridget Cleary was killed by several people, including her husband and cousins, after a short bout of illness (probably pneumonia). Local storyteller Jack Dunne accused Bridget of being a fairy changeling. It is debatable whether her husband Michael actually believed her to be a fairy; many believe that he concocted a "fairy defense" after murdering his wife in a fit of rage. The killers were convicted of manslaughter rather than murder, as even after the death they claimed to be convinced they had killed a changeling, not Bridget Cleary herself.

Outside of Europe.

Africa.

The Igbo people of eastern Nigeria traditionally believed that a woman who lost numerous children, whether stillborn or early in infancy, was being tormented by an "ogbanje", a malicious spirit that reincarnated itself over and over again. One of the most commonly prescribed methods for ridding oneself of an "ogbanje" was to find and destroy its "iyi-uwa", a buried object tying it to the mortal world.  Many scholars now believe that "ogbanje" stories arose as an attempt to explain the loss of children with sickle-cell anemia, a congenital disease endemic to West Africa that afflicts around one-quarter of the population. Even today, infant death is common among children born with severe sickle-cell anemia, especially in areas of Africa lacking adequate medical resources.  The similarity between the European changeling and the Igbo "ogbanje" is striking enough that Igbos themselves often translate the word into English as "changeling." The "abiku" was a rough analogue of the "ogbanje" among the related Yoruba peoples to the west of Igboland.

In the modern world.

The word oaf, meaning a clumsy or stupid person, is derived from the historic English word for a changeling, "auf". This, in turn, is believed to have originated from the Middle English "alven" and "elven", and ultimately from the Old Norse word for elf, "alfr".

Neurological differences.

The reality behind many changeling legends was often the birth of deformed or developmentally disabled children. Among the diseases or disabilities with symptoms that match the description of changelings in various legends are spina bifida, cystic fibrosis, PKU, progeria, Down syndrome, homocystinuria, Williams syndrome, Hurler syndrome, Hunter syndrome, autism spectrum disorder, Prader-Willi Syndrome, and cerebral palsy. The greater incidence of birth defects in boys correlates to the belief that male infants were more likely to be taken. Psychologist Stuart Vyse writes that modern parents have higher expectations of childbirth and when "children don't meet these expectations, parents sometimes find a different demon to blame." A condition known as regressive autism, where children appear to develop normally in their early years and then start to show symptoms of autism, can also be compared to marks of a changeling child.  As noted, it has been hypothesized that the changeling legend may have developed, or at least been used, to explain the peculiarities of children who did not develop normally, probably including all sorts of developmental delays and abnormalities. In particular, it has been suggested that autistic children would be likely to be labeled as changelings or elf-children due to their strange, sometimes inexplicable behavior. For example, this association might explain why fairies are often described as having an obsessive impulse to count things like handfuls of spilled seeds. This has found a place in autistic culture. Some autistic adults have come to identify with changelings (or other replacements, such as aliens) for this reason, as well as their own feelings of being in a world where they do not belong and of practically not being the same species as the other people around them. (Compare the pseudoscientific New Age concept of indigo children.)

In nature.

Several species of birds, fish, and arthropods regularly practice brood parasitism, or non-reciprocal offspring-swapping. Rather than raising their young on their own, they will lay their egg in another's nest, leaving the burden of raising their young on the unsuspecting parents, which are of another species altogether. More often than not, the invading species hatches sooner than its "step-siblings" and grows faster, eventually hogging most nourishment brought in and may actually "evict" the young of the host species by pushing them out of their own nest.

A changeling, also historically referred to as an auf or oaf, is a human-like creature found in folklore and folk religion throughout Europe. A changeling was believed to be a fairy child that had been left in place of a human child stolen by the fairies. The theme of the swapped child is common in medieval literature and reflects concern over infants thought to be afflicted with unexplained diseases, disorders, or developmental disabilities.

调换儿是一种在西欧民俗传说和信仰中的生物。牠们经常被描述为妖精(英语:fairy)、巨怪(英语:troll)、精灵(英语:elf)或其他传说生物的后代,被秘密地以人类婴孩的身份留在人类家庭中;调换儿亦可能由一段被施法的木头幻化而成,但会很快衰弱至死。「调换儿」一词有时亦可用来指被掉包的人类婴孩。「调换儿」这个主题在中世纪文学中很常见,反映了当时的人对于罹患未知疾病或是智能不足孩子的关注。


Early life.

Branagh, the middle of three children, was born in Belfast, the son of working class Protestant parents Frances ("née" Harper) and William Branagh, a plumber and joiner who ran a company that specialised in fitting partitions and suspended ceilings. He lived in the Tigers Bay area of the city and was educated at Grove Primary School.  At the age of nine, he moved with his family to Reading, Berkshire, England, to escape the Troubles. He was educated at Whiteknights Primary School and Meadway School, a local comprehensive in Tilehurst, where he appeared in school productions such as "Toad of Toad Hall" and "Oh, What a Lovely War!". At school, he acquired Received Pronunciation to avoid bullying. On his identity today he has said, "I feel Irish. I don't think you can take Belfast out of the boy", and he attributes his "love of words" to his Irish heritage.  He attended the amateur Reading Cine & Video Society (now called Reading Film & Video Makers) as a member and was a keen member of Progress Theatre of which he is now the patron. After disappointing A-level results in English, History and Sociology, Branagh nonetheless went on to train at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. In 1980 the Principal of RADA, Hugh Cruttwell, asked Branagh to perform a soliloquy from "Hamlet" for Queen Elizabeth II, during one of her visits to the academy.

Career.

Theatre.

Branagh achieved some early measure of success in his native Northern Ireland for his role as Billy, the title character in the BBC's "Play for Today" trilogy known as the "Billy Plays" (1982–84), written by Graham Reid and set in Belfast.  He received acclaim in the UK for his stage performances, first winning the 1982 SWET Award for Best Newcomer, for his role as Judd in Julian Mitchell's "Another Country", after leaving RADA. Branagh was part of the 'new wave' of actors to emerge from the Academy. Others included Jonathan Pryce, Juliet Stevenson, Alan Rickman, Anton Lesser, Bruce Payne and Fiona Shaw. In 1984 he appeared in the Royal Shakespeare Company production of "Henry V", directed by Adrian Noble. The production played to sold-out audiences, especially at the Barbican in the City of London. It was this production that he adapted for the film version of the play in 1989. He and David Parfitt founded the Renaissance Theatre Company in 1987, following success with several productions on the London 'Fringe', including Branagh's full-scale production of "Romeo and Juliet" at the Lyric Studio, co-starring with Samantha Bond. The first major Renaissance production was Branagh's Christmas 1987 staging of "Twelfth Night" at Riverside Studios in Hammersmith, starring Richard Briers as Malvolio and Frances Barber as Viola, and with an original score by actor, musician and composer Patrick Doyle, who two years later was to compose the music for Branagh's film adaptation of "Henry V". This "Twelfth Night" was later adapted for television.  Branagh became a major presence in the media and on the British stage when Renaissance collaborated with Birmingham Rep for a 1988 touring season of three Shakespeare plays under the umbrella title of "Renaissance Shakespeare on the Road", which also played a repertory season at the Phoenix Theatre in London. It featured directorial debuts for Judi Dench with "Much Ado About Nothing" (starring Branagh and Samantha Bond as Benedick and Beatrice), Geraldine McEwan with "As You Like It", and Derek Jacobi directing Branagh in the title role in "Hamlet", with Sophie Thompson as Ophelia. Critic Milton Shulman of the London "Evening Standard" wrote: "On the positive side Branagh has the vitality of Olivier, the passion of Gielgud, the assurance of Guinness, to mention but three famous actors who have essayed the role. On the negative side, he has not got the magnetism of Olivier, nor the mellifluous voice quality of Gielgud nor the intelligence of Guinness."  A year later in 1989 Branagh co-starred with Emma Thompson in the Renaissance revival of "Look Back in Anger". Judi Dench directed both the theatre and television productions, presented first in Belfast then at the London Coliseum and Lyric Theatre.  In 1990, he wrote his autobiography "Beginning", recounting his life and acting career up to that point. In the book's introduction, he admits that the main reason for producing the book was "money" -- "The deal was made, and a handsome advance was paid out. The advance provided the funds to buy accommodation for the Company's offices, this moving Renaissance out of my flast and bringing me a little closer to sanity."  In 2002, Branagh starred at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield as Richard III. In 2003 he starred in the Royal National Theatre's production of David Mamet's "Edmond". Branagh directed "The Play What I Wrote" in England in 2001 and directed a Broadway production in 2003. From September to November 2008, Branagh appeared at Wyndham's Theatre as the title character in the Donmar West End revival of Anton Chekhov's "Ivanov" in a new version by Tom Stoppard. His performance was lauded as the "performance of the year" by several critics. It won him the Critics' Circle Theatre Award for Best Male Performance but did not get him a Laurence Olivier Award nomination, to the surprise of critics.  In July 2013 he co-directed "Macbeth" at Manchester International Festival with Rob Ashford. With Branagh in the title role, Alex Kingston played Lady Macbeth and Ray Fearon featured as Macduff. The final performance of the completely sold-out run, was broadcast to cinemas on 20 July as part of National Theatre Live. He repeated his performance and directorial duties opposite Ashford and Kingston when the production moved to New York City's Park Avenue Armory in June 2014. The production marked his Broadway stage debut.  In April 2015, Branagh announced his formation of the Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company, in which he would appear as actor-manager. With the company, he announced he would present a season of five shows at London's Garrick Theatre from October 2015 – November 2016. The shows were "The Winter's Tale", a double bill of "Harlequinade" and "All On Her Own", "Red Velvet", "The Painkiller", "Romeo and Juliet" and "The Entertainer". Branagh directed all but "The Entertainer", in which he starred. Branagh also starred in "The Winter's Tale", "Harlequinade" and "The Painkiller". Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company also includes Judi Dench ("The Winter's Tale"), Zoë Wanamaker ("Harlequinade/All On Her Own"), Derek Jacobi, Lily James and Richard Madden ("Romeo and Juliet") and Rob Brydon ("The Painkiller"). In September 2015 was announced that "The Winter's Tale", "Romeo and Juliet," and "The Entertainer" would be broadcast in cinemas, in partnership with Picturehouse Entertainment.

Film.

Branagh is known for his film adaptations of William Shakespeare, beginning with "Henry V" (1989), followed by "Much Ado About Nothing" (1993), "Hamlet" (1996), "Love's Labour's Lost" (2000) and "As You Like It" (2006). "As You Like It" premiered in theatres in Europe, but premiered on television in the U.S., where it aired on HBO in August 2007.  Notable non-Shakespeare films in which Branagh has appeared include "Dead Again" (1991) and "Mary Shelley's Frankenstein" (1994), both of which he also directed, "Wild Wild West" (1999), provided the voice of Miguel, a con artist in the DreamWorks Animation film "The Road to El Dorado" (2000), "Rabbit-Proof Fence" (2002) and as Major General Henning von Tresckow in "Valkyrie" (2008). He starred as Gilderoy Lockhart in "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" (2002). He also played the Minister, Dormandy (a parody of PMG Tony Benn), in the film "The Boat That Rocked" (2009).  Although he had a notable uncredited role as SS-Sturmbannführer Knopp in director Thomas Carter's 1993 film "Swing Kids", between 1989 and 1996 Branagh mostly directed his own films, including "Peter's Friends," with a cast including former student friends Emma Thompson, Hugh Laurie, Tony Slattery and Stephen Fry, as well as Imelda Staunton and Rita Rudner; but the commercial and critical failure of "Love's Labour's Lost" ended his directorial career for a time. In 2006, the same year that Branagh's film version of "As You Like It" was released, he also directed a film version of Mozart's opera "The Magic Flute". Branagh has also directed the thriller "Sleuth" (2007), a remake of the 1972 film. At a film promotion for "Valkyrie" in 2008, Branagh confirmed that he would be directing "Thor", a film based on the Marvel superhero. "Thor", Branagh's return to big-budget directing, was released on 6 May 2011. In 2011, Branagh portrayed Laurence Olivier in "My Week with Marilyn", which nabbed him a Best Supporting Actor nomination at the 84th Academy Awards. Branagh directed Disney's live-action adaptation of "Cinderella" (2015). Branagh played a Royal Navy Commander in Christopher Nolan's 2017 action-thriller "Dunkirk", based on the British military evacuation of the French city of Dunkirk in 1940 during World War II.  Branagh directed and starred in a film adaptation of Agatha Christie's detective novel "Murder on the Orient Express" (2017) as Hercule Poirot. Production began in London in November 2016. Like Branagh's "Hamlet" in 1996, it is among the very few to use 65mm film cameras since 1970. In 2018, he directed the film "All Is True", in which he starred as William Shakespeare. Branagh also directed the fantasy adventure film "Artemis Fowl", which was released on Disney+ in June 2020.  In May 2019, Branagh was cast in Christopher Nolan's "Tenet", set for release in July 2020. He is also due to reprise his role as Hercule Poirot in October 2020 in "Death on the Nile", a sequel to "Murder on the Orient Express".  Branagh has frequently reused actors, including Brian Blessed, Judi Dench, Robin Williams, Derek Jacobi, Nonso Anozie, Nicholas Farrell, Richard Briers, Stellan Skarsgård, Helena Bonham Carter, John Gielgud, Josh Gad, Ian Holm, and Emma Thompson. He also works frequently with composer Patrick Doyle.

Television.

Branagh has been involved in several made-for-TV films. Among his most acclaimed portrayals is that of US President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the film "Warm Springs" (2005), for which he received an Emmy Award nomination. The film received 16 Emmy nominations, winning five (including Outstanding Made for Television Movie); Branagh did not win the award for his portrayal. He received an Emmy for his portrayal of SS leader Reinhard Heydrich in the TV film "Conspiracy" (2001), a depiction of the Wannsee Conference, where Nazi officials decided on the Final Solution. In 2002 Branagh starred in the two-part television movie "Shackleton", a dramatisation of the 1914 Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition's battle for survival, for which he was nominated for a BAFTA award and an Emmy. In 1998 he narrated the 24-episode documentary series "Cold War". Branagh also narrated the BBC documentaries "Walking with Dinosaurs", "World War I in Colour", "Walking with Beasts" and "Walking with Monsters", and the BBC miniseries "Great Composers".  Branagh is the star of the English-language "Wallander" television series, adaptations of Henning Mankell's best-selling "Wallander" crime novels. Branagh plays the eponymous Inspector Kurt Wallander and also serves as the executive producer of the series. The first series of three episodes was broadcast on BBC One in November and December 2008. Branagh won the award for best actor at the 35th Broadcasting Press Guild Television and Radio Awards (2009). It was his first major television award win in the UK. He received his first BAFTA TV on 26 April 2009 for the British Academy Television Award for Best Drama Series. For his performance in the episode "One Step Behind", he was nominated in the Outstanding Actor, Miniseries or Movie category of the 61st Primetime Emmy Awards. The role also gained him a nomination for Best Actor at the 2009 Crime Thriller Awards. The second "Wallander" series of three episodes aired initially in January 2010 on the BBC, and the third season aired in July 2012. The fourth and final series was shot from October 2014 to January 2015 and premiered on German TV, dubbed into German, in December 2015; it aired in the UK, with its original English soundtrack, in May and June 2016.

Radio.

Branagh has played the title role in BBC radio broadcasts of "Hamlet" and "Cyrano de Bergerac", and the role of Edmund in King Lear.

Other work.

Branagh has narrated several audiobooks, such as "The Magician's Nephew" by C. S. Lewis and "Heart of Darkness" by Joseph Conrad.  Branagh participated in the 2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony portraying Isambard Kingdom Brunel during the Industrial Revolution segment, "pandemonium" giving the speech from "The Tempest" originally read by the character Caliban.

Personal life.

From 1989 to 1995, Branagh was married to actress Emma Thompson. They appeared together in "Fortunes of War", "Look Back in Anger", "Henry V", "Much Ado About Nothing", "Dead Again", and "Peter's Friends". More recently, they both appeared in "The Boat That Rocked", though with no shared scenes. During their marriage, and while directing and co-starring with Helena Bonham Carter in "Mary Shelley's Frankenstein", he began an affair with Bonham Carter. After Thompson divorced him, he and Bonham Carter were in a well-publicised relationship until 1999. In 2003, he married film art director Lindsay Brunnock, whom he met during the shooting of "Shackleton".  Branagh is a Christian, and noted that he became "much more religious" after listening to Sir Laurence Olivier's dramatic reading of the Bible every morning in preparation for his role as Olivier in "My Week With Marilyn".  He is a fan of English football club Tottenham Hotspur, the Northern Irish football club Linfield, and Scottish football club Rangers.

Honours.

Branagh has been nominated for five Academy Awards, the first man to be nominated for five different categories. His first two nominations were for "Henry V" (one each for directing and acting). He also received similar BAFTA Award nominations for his film work, winning one for his direction. His first BAFTA TV award came in April 2009, for Best Drama Series ("Wallander"). Branagh's two other Academy Award nominations were for the 1992 film short subject "Swan Song" and for his work on the screenplay of "Hamlet" in 1996. His most recent is for his portrayal of Lord Laurence Olivier in "My Week With Marilyn" in 2012.  He is Honorary President of NICVA (the Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action). He received an honorary Doctorate in Literature from Queen's University of Belfast in 1990. He is also a patron for the charity Over The Wall.  Branagh was the youngest actor to receive the Golden Quill (also known as the Gielgud Award) in 2000. In 2001 he was appointed an honorary Doctor of Literature at the Shakespeare Institute of The University of Birmingham; the Shakespeare Institute Library keeps the archive of his Renaissance Theatre Company and Renaissance Films.  On 10 July 2009, Branagh was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the RomaFictionFest.  He was appointed a Knight Bachelor in the 2012 Birthday Honours for services to drama and to the community in Northern Ireland. He received the accolade at Buckingham Palace on 9 November 2012; afterwards, Branagh told a BBC reporter that he was "humble, elated, and incredibly lucky" to be knighted.  In October 2015, it was announced that Branagh would be the new President of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), succeeding the late Lord Attenborough. As the President of RADA and one of the highest profile actors and filmmakers in contemporary British popular culture, Branagh appeared on Debrett's 2017 list of the most influential people in the UK.  In October 2017, it was announced that Branagh would be conferred with the Freedom of the City of Belfast. The honour was officially conferred on him by the Lord Mayor of Belfast, Councillor Nuala McAllister, at a ceremony in the Ulster Hall, Belfast, on 30 January 2018.

Collaborations.

Branagh frequently collaborates with certain actors on multiple films, most notably Brian Blessed, the late Richard Briers, Patrick Doyle, Derek Jacobi, Emma Thompson, and Jimmy Yuill. Although Doyle has composed music for many of Branagh's films, he is listed in the above table for his appearances as an actor. Although Yuill has also composed music for multiple Branagh films, he is listed in the above table for his appearances as an actor.

Sir Kenneth Charles Branagh (; born 10 December 1960) is a Northern Irish actor, director, film producer, and screenwriter. Branagh trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London; in 2015 he succeeded Richard Attenborough as its president. He has both directed and starred in several film adaptations of William Shakespeare's plays, including "Henry V" (1989), for which he was nominated for the Academy Awards for Best Actor and Best Director, "Much Ado About Nothing" (1993), "Othello" (1995), "Hamlet" (1996), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, "Love's Labour's Lost" (2000), and "As You Like It" (2006).

肯尼斯·查尔斯·「肯」·布莱纳爵士(英语:Sir Kenneth Charles "Ken" Branagh,,1960年-12月10日)是一名北爱尔兰出身的英国男演员、导演、监制和编剧。他曾执导或出演过一些改编自威廉·莎士比亚戏剧的电影,如《亨利五世》(1989年)、《都是男人惹的祸》(1993年)、《狂杀情焰》(1995年)、《肯尼斯布莱纳之哈姆雷特》(1996年)、《迷失的爱》(2000年)以及《皆大欢喜》(2006年),并执导过沃夫冈·阿玛迪斯·莫札特和伊曼纽尔·席卡内德所创德语歌剧《魔笛》的同名英语电影。其中,《亨利五世》使他提名了奥斯卡最佳男主角奖和最佳导演奖;而《肯尼斯布莱纳之哈姆雷特》则提名了奥斯卡最佳改编剧本奖。


Etymology.

The word "()" is of uncertain etymology. R. S. P. Beekes has suggested a Pre-Greek origin. Others have connected it to Proto-Indo-European *"neik"- (“to attack, start vehemently”) making it cognate with (, "strife") and ("to attack").

Family.

Nike is the daughter of the Titan Pallas and the goddess Styx, and the sister of Kratos (Strength), Bia (Force), and Zelus (Zeal). Her grandfather is Poseidon.  And Styx the daughter of Ocean was joined to Pallas and bore Zelus (Emulation) and trim-ankled Nike (Victory) in the house. Also she brought forth Kratos (Strength) and Bia (Force), wonderful children.  In other sources, Nike was described as the daughter of Ares, the god of war. Ares... O defender of Olympos, father of warlike Nike (Victory).

Mythology.

Nike and her siblings were close companions of Zeus, the dominant deity of the Greek pantheon. According to classical (later) myth, Styx brought them to Zeus when the god was assembling allies for the Titanomachy against the older deities. Nike assumed the role of the divine charioteer, a role in which she often is portrayed in Classical Greek art. Nike flew around battlefields rewarding the victors with glory and fame, symbolized by a wreath of laurel leaves (bay leaves).

Cult.

Sculptures of Nike were extremely common in Ancient Greece and used both in secular public spaces of many categories as well as in the temples of other gods. She was often seen as a miniature sculpture in the hand of Athena and Zeus. Nike was also depicted with famous athletes, symbolizing their victories. In public places as well as temples, she was depicted in sculpture to commemorate victories in war and competitions.  While Nike was often depicted in sculpture and often included in the cults of other gods, particularly Zeus and Athena, only a few sanctuaries dedicated solely to her is mentioned. Pausanias noted that there was an altar solely to Nike in Olympia close to the altar of Zeus Purifier, and he also noted the temple of Nike in Athens: "On the right of the gateway [of the Akropolis (Acropolis) in Athens] is a temple of Nike Apteron (Wingless)."

Depiction.

Nike is seen with wings in most statues and paintings, with one of the most famous being the "Winged Victory of Samothrace" in the Louvre. Most other winged deities in the Greek pantheon had shed their wings by Classical times. Nike is the goddess of strength, speed, and victory. Nike was a very close acquaintance of Athena, and is thought to have stood in Athena's outstretched hand in the statue of Athena located in the Parthenon. Nike is also one of the most commonly portrayed figures on Greek coins. After victory at the Battle of Marathon, Athenians erected the Nike of Callimachus.  Names stemming from Nike include among others: Nikolaos, Nicholas, Nicola, Nick, Nicolai, Niccolò, Nikolai, Nicolae, Nils, Klaas, Nicole, Ike, Niki, Nikita, Nikitas, Nika, Nieke, Naike, Niketas, Nikki, Nico, and Veronica.

In ancient Greek civilization, Nike (;,, ) was a goddess who personified victory. Her Roman equivalent was Victoria.

尼刻(,,拉丁字母转写:Nike,意为“胜利”),又译尼克、妮琪,是希腊神话的胜利女神,她在罗马神话对应的是维多利亚(Victoria)。根据赫西俄德的《神谱》,她是泰坦神帕拉斯和斯梯克斯的女儿,也是克拉托斯(力量)、比亚(强力)和泽洛斯(热诚)的姊妹,全都是主神宙斯的同伴。尽管出身泰坦族,她在泰坦战争中还是站在奥林匹斯神一边,为他们带来胜利。


History.

Antiquity.

In antiquity, marketplaces and fairs were established to facilitate the exchange of goods and services. People would shop for goods at a regular market in nearby towns. However, the transient nature of stalls and stall-holders meant the consumers needed to make careful inspection of goods prior to purchase. In ancient Greece, the agora served as a marketplace where merchants kept stalls or shops to sell their goods.  Ancient Rome utilized a similar marketplace known as the forum. Rome had two forums; the Forum Romanum and Trajan's Forum. Trajan's Market at Trajan's forum, built around 100-110CE, was a vast expanse, comprising multiple buildings with tabernae that served as retail shops, situated on four levels. The Roman forum was arguably the earliest example of a permanent retail shopfront. In the Roman world, the central market primarily served the local peasantry. Those who lived on the great estates were sufficiently attractive for merchants to call directly at their farm-gates, obviating their need to attend local markets.  Shopping lists are known to have been used by Romans. One such list was discovered near Hadrian's wall dated back to 75–125 CE and written for a soldier.

Middle Ages.

Archaeological evidence suggests that the British engaged in minimal shopping in the early Middle Ages. Instead, they provided for their basic needs through subsistence farming practices and a system of localised personal exchanges. However, by the late Middle Ages, consumers turned to markets for the purchase of fresh produce, meat and fish and the periodic fairs where non-perishables and luxury goods could be obtained. Women were responsible for everyday household purchases, but most of their purchasing was of a mundane nature. For the main part, shopping was seen as a chore rather than a pleasure.  Relatively few permanent shops were to be found outside the most populous cities. Instead customers walked into the tradesman's workshops where they discussed purchasing options directly with tradesmen. Itinerant vendors such as costermongers, hucksters and peddlers operated alongside markets, providing the convenience of home delivery to households, and especially to geographically isolated communities.  In the more populous European cities, a small number of shops were beginning to emerge by the 13th century. Specialist retailers such as mercers and haberdashers were known to exist in London, while grocers sold "miscellaneous small wares as well as spices and medicines." However, these shops were primitive. As late as the 16th century, London's shops were described as little more than "rude booths."  The Medieval shopper's experience was very different from that of the contemporary shopper. Interiors were dark and shoppers had relatively few opportunities to inspect the merchandise prior to consumption. Glazed windows in retail environments, were virtually unknown during the medieval period. Goods were rarely out on display; instead retailers kept the merchandise at the rear of the store and would only bring out items on request. The service counter was virtually unknown and instead, many stores had openings onto the street from which they served customers.  In Britain, medieval attitudes to retailing and shopping were negative. Retailers were no better than hucksters, because they simply resold goods, by buying cheaper and selling dearer, without adding value of national accounts. Added to this were concerns about the self-interest of retailers and some of their more unethical practices. Attitudes to spending on luxury goods also attracted criticism, since it involved importing goods which did little to stimulate national accounts, and interfered with the growth of worthy local manufacturers.

Shopping for pleasure.

The modern phenomenon of shopping for pleasure is closely linked to the emergence of a middle class in the 17th and 18th-century Europe. As standards of living improved in the 17th century, consumers from a broad range of social backgrounds began to purchase goods that were in excess of basic necessities. An emergent middle class or bourgeosie stimulated demand for luxury goods and began to purchase a wider range of luxury goods and imported goods, including: Indian cotton and calico; silk, tea and porcelain from China, spices from India and South-East Asia and tobacco, sugar, rum and coffee from the New World. The act of shopping came to be seen as a pleasurable pass-time or form of entertainment.  By the 17th-century, produce markets gradually gave way to shops and shopping centres; which changed the consumer's shopping experience. The New Exchange, opened in 1609 by Robert Cecil in the Strand was one such example of a planned shopping centre. Shops started to become important as places for Londoners to meet and socialise and became popular destinations alongside the theatre. Restoration London also saw the growth of luxury buildings as advertisements for social position with speculative architects like Nicholas Barbon and Lionel Cranfield.  Much pamphleteering of the time was devoted to justifying conspicuous consumption and private vice for luxury goods for the greater public good. This then scandalous line of thought caused great controversy with the publication of Bernard Mandeville's influential work "Fable of the Bees" in 1714, in which he argued that a country's prosperity ultimately lay in the self-interest of the consumer.  These trends gathered momentum in the 18th century, as rising prosperity and social mobility increased the number of people with disposable income for consumption. Important shifts included the marketing of goods for individuals as opposed to items for the household, and the new status of goods as status symbols, related to changes in fashion and desired for aesthetic appeal, as opposed to just their utility. The pottery inventor and entrepreneur, Josiah Wedgewood, pioneered the use of marketing techniques to influence and manipulate the direction of the prevailing tastes. One of his preferred sales techniques was to stage expansive showcases of wares in this private residences or in a rented hall, to which he invited the upper classes.  As the 18th-century progressed, a wide variety of goods and manufactures were steadily made available for the urban middle and upper classes. This growth in consumption led to the rise of'shopping' - a proliferation of retail shops selling particular goods and the acceptance of shopping as a cultural activity in its own right. Specific streets and districts became devoted to retail, including the Strand and Piccadilly in London.  The rise of window shopping as a recreational activity accompanied the use of glass windows in retail shop-fronts. By the late eighteenth century, grand shopping arcades began to emerge across Britain, Europe and in the Antipodes in what became known as the "arcade era." Typically, these arcades had a roof constructed of glass to allow for natural light and to reduce the need for candles or electric lighting. Inside the arcade, individual stores were fitted with long glass exterior windows which allowed the emerging middle-classes to window shop and indulge in fantasies, even when they may not have been able to afford the high retail prices.  Designed to attract the genteel middle class, retailers sold luxury goods at relatively high prices. However, prices were never a deterrent, as these new arcades came to be the place to shop and to be seen. Arcades offered shoppers the promise of an enclosed space away from the chaos of daily street life; a place shoppers could socialise and spend their leisure time. As thousands of glass covered arcades spread across Europe, they became grander and more ornately decorated. By the mid nineteenth century, promenading in these arcades became a popular pass-time for the emerging middle classes.  In Europe, the Palais-Royal, which opened in 1784, became one of the earliest examples of the new style of shopping arcade, frequented by both the aristocracy and the middle classes. It developed a reputation as being a site of sophisticated conversation, revolving around the salons, cafés, and bookshops, but also became a place frequented by off-duty soldiers and was a favourite haunt of prostitutes, many of whom rented apartments in the building. In London, one of the first to use display windows in shops was retailer, Francis Place, who experimented with this new retailing method at his tailoring establishment in Charing Cross, where he fitted the shop-front with large plate glass windows. Although this was condemned by many, he defended his practice in his memoirs, claiming that he:  Retailers designed attractive shop fronts to entice patronage, using bright lights, advertisements and attractively arranged goods. The goods on offer were in a constant state of change, due to the frenetic change in fashions. A foreign visitor commented that London was "a world of gold and silver plate, then pearls and gems shedding their dazzling lustre, home manufactures of the most exquisite taste, an ocean of rings, watches, chains, bracelets, perfumes, ready-dresses, ribbons, lace, bonnets, and fruits from all the zones of the habitable world".

Evolution of stores: from arcades to department stores.

In the second half of the 19th-century, shops transitioned from'single-function' shops selling one type of good, to the department store where a large variety of goods were sold. As economic growth, fueled by the Industrial Revolution at the turn of the 19th-century, steadily expanded, the affluent bourgeois middle-class grew in size and wealth. This urbanized social group was the catalyst for the emergence of the retail revolution of the period.  The term, "department store," originated in America. In 19th century England, these stores were known as emporia or warehouse shops. A number of major department stores opened across the USA, Britain and Europe from the mid nineteenth century including; Harrod's of London in 1834; Kendall's in Manchester in 1836; Selfridges of London in 1909; Macy's of New York in 1858; Bloomingdale's in 1861; Sak's in 1867; J.C. Penney in 1902; Le Bon Marché of France in 1852 and Galeries Lafayette of France in 1905.  The first reliably dated department store to be established, was Harding, Howell & Co, which opened in 1796 on Pall Mall, London. This venture was described as being a public retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different departments. This pioneering shop was closed down in 1820 when the business partnership was dissolved. Department stores were established on a large scale from the 1840s and 50s, in France, the United Kingdom and the US. French retailer, Le Bon Marche, is an example of a department store that has survived into current times Originally founded in 1838 as a lace and haberdashery store, it was revamped mid-century and opened as a department store in 1852.  Many of the early department stores were more than just a retail emporium; rather they were venues where shoppers could spend their leisure time and be entertained. Some department stores offered reading rooms, art galleries and concerts. Most department stores had tea-rooms or dining rooms and offered treatment areas where ladies could indulge in a manicure. The fashion show, which originated in the US in around 1907, became a staple feature event for many department stores and celebrity appearances were also used to great effect. Themed events featured wares from foreign shores, exposing shoppers to the exotic cultures of the Orient and Middle-East.

Shopping venues.

Shopping hubs.

A larger commercial zone can be found in many cities, more formally called a central business district, but more commonly called "downtown" in the United States, or the "high street" in Britain, and souks in Arabic speaking areas. Shopping hubs, or shopping centers, are collections of stores; that is a grouping of several businesses in a compact geographic area. It consists of a collection of retail, entertainment and service stores designed to serve products and services to the surrounding region.  Typical examples include shopping malls, town squares, flea markets and bazaars.  Traditionally, shopping hubs were called bazaars or marketplaces; an assortment of stalls lining streets selling a large variety of goods.. The modern shopping centre is now different from its antecedents, the stores are commonly in individual buildings or compressed into one large structure (usually called "Mall" in the USA).  The first modern shopping mall in the US was The Country Club Plaza in Kansas City which opened in 1922, from there the first enclosed mall was designed by Victor Gruen and opened in 1956 as Southdale Centre in Edina, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis.  Malls peaked in America in the 1980s-1990s when many larger malls (more than 37,000 sq m in size) were built, attracting consumers from within a 32 km radius with their luxurious department stores.  Different types of malls can be found around the world. "Superregional malls" are very large malls that contain at least five department stores and 300 shops. This type of mall attracts consumers from a broad radius (up to a 160-km). A "regional mall" can contain at least two department stores or "anchor stores".. One of the biggest malls in the world is the one near Miami, called "Sawgrass Mills Mall": it has 2,370,610 square feet (220,237 m2) of retail selling space, with over 329 retail outlets and name brand discounters.  The smaller malls are often called open-air strip centres or mini-marts and are typically attached to a grocery store or supermarket.  The smaller malls are less likely to include the same features of a large mall such as an indoor concourse, but are beginning to evolve to become enclosed to comply with all weather and customer preferences.

Stores.

Stores are divided into multiple categories of stores which sell a selected set of goods or services. Usually they are tiered by target demographics based on the disposable income of the shopper. They can be tiered from cheap to pricey.  Some shops sell secondhand goods. Often the public can also sell goods to such shops. In other cases, especially in the case of a nonprofit shop, the public donates goods to these shops, commonly known as thrift stores in the United States, charity shops in the United Kingdom, or op shops in Australia and New Zealand. In give-away shops goods can be taken for free. In antique shops, the public can find goods that are older and harder to find. Sometimes people are broke and borrow money from a pawn shop using an item of value as collateral. College students are known to resell books back through college textbook bookstores. Old used items are often distributed through surplus stores.  Various types of retail stores that specialize in the selling of goods related to a theme include bookstores, boutiques, candy shops, liquor stores, gift shops, hardware stores, hobby stores, pet stores, pharmacies, sex shops and supermarkets.  Other stores such as big-box stores, hypermarkets, convenience stores, department stores, general stores, dollar stores sell a wider variety of products not horizontally related to each other.

Home shopping.

Home mail delivery systems and modern technology (such as television, telephones, and the Internet), in combination with electronic commerce, allow consumers to shop from home. There are three main types of home shopping: mail or telephone ordering from catalogs; telephone ordering in response to advertisements in print and electronic media (such as periodicals, TV and radio); and online shopping. Online shopping has completely redefined the way people make their buying decisions; the Internet provides access to a lot of information about a particular product, which can be looked at, evaluated, and comparison-priced at any given time. Online shopping allows the buyer to save the time and expense, which would have been spent traveling to the store or mall. According to technology and research firm Forrester, mobile purchases or mcommerce will account for 49% of ecommerce, or $252 billion in sales, by 2020

Neighborhood shopping.

Convenience stores are common in North America, and are often called "bodegas" in Spanish-speaking communities or "dépanneurs" in French-speaking ones. Sometimes peddlers and ice cream trucks pass through neighborhoods offering goods and services. Also, garage sales are a common form of second hand resale.  Neighbourhood shopping areas and retailers give value to a community by providing various social and community services (like a library), and a social place to meet. Neighbourhood retailing differs from other types of retailers such as destination retailers because of the difference in offered products and services, location and popularity. Neighbourhood retailers include stores such as; Food shops/marts, dairies, Pharmacies, Dry cleaners, Hairdressers/barbers, Bottle shops, Cafés and take-away shops. Destination retailers include stores such as; Gift shops, Antique shops, Pet groomers, Engravers, Tattoo parlour, Bicycle shops, Herbal dispensary clinics, Art galleries, Office Supplies and framers. The neighbourhood retailers sell essential goods and services to the residential area they are located in. There can be many groups of neighbourhood retailers in different areas of a region or city, but destination retailers are often part of shopping malls where the numbers of consumers is higher than that of a neighbourhood retail area. The destination retailers are becoming more prevalent as they can provide a community with more than the essentials, they offer an experience, and a wider scope of goods and services.

Party shopping.

The party plan is a method of marketing products by hosting a social event, using the event to display and demonstrate the product or products to those gathered, and then to take orders for the products before the gathering ends.

Shopping activity.

Shopping seasons.

Shopping frenzies are periods of time where a burst of spending occurs, typically near holidays in the United States, with Christmas shopping being the biggest shopping spending season, starting as early as October and continuing until after Christmas.  Some religions regard such spending seasons as being against their faith and dismiss the practice. Many contest the over-commercialization and the response by stores that downplay the shopping season often cited in the War on Christmas.  The National Retail Federation (NRF) also highlights the importance of back-to-school shopping for retailers which comes second behind holiday shopping, when buyers often buy clothing and school supplies for their children. In 2017, Americans spent over $83 billion on back-to-school and back-to-college shopping, according to the NRF annual survey.  Seasonal shopping consists of buying the appropriate clothing for the particular season. In winter people bundle up in warm layers and coats to keep warm, while in summer people wear less clothing to stay cooler in the heat. Seasonal shopping now revolves a lot around holiday sales and buying more for less. Stores need to get rid of all of their previous seasonal clothing to make room for the new trends of the upcoming season. The end-of-season sales usually last a few weeks with prices lowering further towards the closing of the sale. During sales items can be discounted from 10% up to as much as 50%, with the biggest reduction sales occurring at the end of the season. Holiday shopping periods are extending their sales further and further with holidays such as Black Friday becoming a month-long event stretching promotions across November. These days shopping doesn't stop once the mall closes, as people have more access to stores and their sales than ever before with the help of the internet and apps. Today many people research their purchases online to find the cheapest and best deal with one third of all shopping searches on Google happen between 10:00 pm and 4:00 am. Shoppers are now spending more time consulting different sources before making a final purchasing decision. Shoppers once used an average of five sources for information before making a purchase, but numbers have risen to as high as 12 sources in 2014.

Pricing and negotiation.

Historically, prices were established through a system of barter or negotiation. The first retailer to adopt fixed prices is thought to be the retailers operating out of the Palais-Royal complex in the 18th-century. These retailers adopted a system of high price maintenance in order to cultivate images of luxury. For their upper class clientele, fixed prices spared them from hassle of bartering.  The pricing technique used by most retailers is "cost-plus pricing". This involves adding a markup amount (or percentage) to the retailers' cost. Another common technique is "manufacturers suggested list" pricing. This simply involves charging the amount suggested by the manufacturer and usually printed on the product by the manufacturer.  In retail settings, "psychological pricing" or "odd-number pricing" are both widely used. Psychological pricing which refers to a range of tactics, designed to have a positive psychological impact. For example, price tags using the terminal digit "9" (e.g., 9.99, 19.99, or 199.99) can be used to signal price points and bring an item in at just under the consumer's reservation price. However, in Chinese societies, prices are generally either a round number or sometimes some lucky number. This creates price points.  In a fixed-price system, consumers may still use bargaining or "haggling"; a negotiation about the price. Economists see this as determining how the transaction's total economic surplus will be divided between consumers and producers. Neither party has a clear advantage because the threat of no sale exists, in which case the surplus would vanish for both.  When shopping online, it can be more difficult to negotiate price given that you are not directly interacting with a sales person. Some consumers use price comparison services to locate the best price and/or to make a decision about who or where to buy from to save money.

"Window shopping".

"Window shopping" is a term referring to the browsing of goods by a consumer with or without the intent to purchase. Window shopping is often practised by a particular segment, known as the recreation-conscious or hedonistic shopper. Recreational shopping is characterised by the consumer's engagement in the purchase process, and recreational shoppers are those consumers who see the act of shopping as a form of enjoyment. Other consumers use window shopping as part of their planning activity for a later purchase.  Showrooming, the practice of examining merchandise in a traditional retail store without purchasing it, but then shopping online to find a lower price for the same item, has become an increasingly prevalent problem for traditional retailers as a result of online competitors, so much so that some have begun to take measures to combat it.

Utility cycling.

In countries like Denmark, the Netherlands and Germany the high levels of utility cycling also includes shopping trips e.g. 9% of all shopping trips in Germany are by bicycle.

Shopping is an activity in which a customer browses the available goods or services presented by one or more retailers with the potential intent to purchase a suitable selection of them. A typology of shopper types has been developed by scholars which identifies one group of shoppers as recreational shoppers, that is, those who enjoy shopping and view it as a leisure activity.

购物指在零售商拣选和/或购买货品或服务的行为,可视为一种经济和休闲活动。至于疯狂购物、抢购、有发泄倾向的购物,也会用英文shopping的谐音「血拼」来形容。除了血拼的音译一词外,仲有另一叫法为「扫货」。亦有另一以粤语发音为基础的「湿平」音译。澳门实行零关税政策,货品价廉物美,因此被称为“购物天堂”。


Background.

From 999 to 1042 the Normans in Italy, coming first as pilgrims, were mainly mercenaries serving at various times the Byzantines and a number of Lombard nobles. The first of the independent Norman Lords was Rainulf Drengot who established himself in the fortress of Aversa becoming Count of Aversa and Duke of Gaeta. In 1038 there arrived William Iron-Arm and Drogo, the two eldest sons of Tancred of Hauteville, a petty noble of the Cotentin in Normandy. The two joined in the revolt of the Lombards against Byzantine control of Apulia. By 1040 the Byzantines had lost most of that province. In 1042 Melfi was chosen as the Norman capital, and in September of that year the Normans elected as their count William Iron-Arm, who was succeeded in turn by his brothers Drogo, "Comes Normannorum totius Apuliæ e Calabriæ" ("the Count of all Normans in Apulia and Calabria"), and Humphrey, who arrived about 1044.

Early years.

Robert Guiscard was the sixth son of Tancred of Hauteville and eldest by his second wife Fressenda. According to the Byzantine historian Anna Comnena, he left Normandy with only five mounted riders and thirty followers on foot. Upon arriving in Langobardia in 1047, he became the chief of a roving robber-band. Anna Comnena also leaves a physical description of Guiscard: Lands were scarce in Apulia at the time and the roving Guiscard could not expect any grant from Drogo, then reigning, for Humphrey had just received his own county of Lavello. Guiscard soon joined Prince Pandulf IV of Capua in his ceaseless wars with Prince Guaimar IV of Salerno (1048). The next year, however, Guiscard left Pandulf, according to Amatus of Montecassino because Pandulf reneged on a promise of a castle and his daughter's hand. Guiscard returned to his brother Drogo and asked to be granted a fief. Drogo, who had just finished campaigning in Calabria, gave Guiscard command of the fortress of Scribla. Dissatisfied with this position, Guiscard moved to the castle of San Marco Argentano (after which he later named the first Norman castle in Sicily, at the site of ancient Aluntium).  During his time in Calabria, Guiscard married his first wife, Alberada of Buonalbergo. She was the paternal aunt of Girard of Buonalbergo, who agreed to join Robert with 200 knights in exchange for Robert marrying her.  Guiscard soon rose to distinction. The Lombards turned against their erstwhile allies, and Pope Leo IX determined to expel the Norman freebooters. His army was defeated, however, at the Battle of Civitate sul Fortore in 1053 by the Normans, united under Humphrey. Humphrey commanded the centre against the pope's Swabian troops. Early in the battle Count Richard of Aversa, commanding the right van, put the Lombards to flight and chased them down, then returned to help rout the Swabians. Guiscard had come all the way from Calabria to command the left. His troops were held in reserve until, seeing Humphrey's forces ineffectually charging the pope's centre, he called up his father-in-law's reinforcements and joined the fray, distinguishing himself personally, even being dismounted and remounting again three separate times, according to William of Apulia. Honored for his actions at Civitate, Guiscard succeeded Humphrey as count of Apulia in 1057, over his elder half-brother Geoffrey. In company with Roger, his youngest brother, Guiscard carried on the conquest of Apulia and Calabria, while Richard conquered the principality of Capua.

Rule.

Soon after his succession, probably in 1058, Guiscard separated from his wife Alberada because they were related within the prohibited degrees. Shortly after, he married Sichelgaita, the sister of Gisulf II of Salerno, Guaimar's successor. In return for giving him his sister's hand, Gisulf demanded that Guiscard destroy two castles of his brother William, count of the Principate, which had encroached on Gisulf's territory.  The reformist Papacy, at odds with the Holy Roman Emperor (due to the Investiture Controversy) and the Roman nobility itself, resolved to recognize the Normans and secure them as allies. Therefore, at the Council of Melfi, on 23 August 1059, Pope Nicholas II invested Guiscard as duke of Apulia, Calabria, and Sicily. Guiscard, now "by the Grace of God and St Peter duke of Apulia and Calabria and, if either aid me, future lord of Sicily", agreed to hold his titles and lands by annual rent of the Holy See and to maintain its cause. In the next twenty years he undertook a series of conquests, winning his Sicilian dukedom.

Subjugation of Calabria.

At the time of the opening of the Melfitan council in June, Guiscard had been leading an army in Calabria, the first strong attempt to subjugate that Byzantine province since the campaigns of Iron-Arm with Guaimar. After attending the synod for his investiture, Guiscard returned to Calabria, where his army was besieging Cariati. After his arrival, Cariati submitted and, before winter was out, Rossano and Gerace followed. Only Reggio was left in Byzantine hands when Guiscard returned to Apulia. In Apulia, he worked to remove the Byzantine garrisons from Taranto and Brindisi, before, largely in preparation for his planned Sicilian expedition, he returned again to Calabria, where Roger was waiting with siege engines.  The fall of Reggio, after a long and arduous siege, and the subsequent capitulation of Scilla, an island citadel to which the Reggian garrison had fled, opened up the way to Sicily. Roger first led a tiny force to attack Messina but was repulsed easily by the Saracen garrison. The large invading force that could have been expected did not materialise, for Guiscard was recalled by a new Byzantine army, sent by Constantine X Doukas, ravaging Apulia. In January 1061, Melfi itself was under siege, and Roger too was recalled. But the full weight of Guiscard's forces forced the Byzantines to retreat and by May Apulia was calm.

Sicilian campaigns.

Guiscard invaded Sicily with his brother Roger, capturing Messina in 1061 with comparable ease: they landed unsighted during the night and surprised the Saracen army. This success gave them control over the Strait of Messina. Guiscard immediately fortified Messina and allied himself with Ibn at-Timnah, one of the rival emirs of Sicily, against Ibn al-Hawas, another emir. The armies of Guiscard, his brother, and his Moslem friend marched into central Sicily by way of Rometta, which had remained loyal to al-Timnah. They passed through Frazzanò and the "pianura di Maniace", where George Maniakes and the first Hautevilles had distinguished themselves 21 years prior. Guiscard assaulted the town of Centuripe, but resistance was strong, and he moved on. Paternò fell, and Guiscard brought his army to Enna (then Castrogiovanni), a formidable fortress. The Saracens sallied forth and were defeated, but Enna itself did not fall. Guiscard turned back, leaving a fortress at San Marco d'Alunzio, named after his first stronghold in Calabria. He returned to Apulia with Sichelgaita for Christmas.  He returned in 1064, but bypassed Enna making straight for Palermo. His campsite was infested with tarantulas, however, and had to be abandoned. The campaign was unsuccessful, though a later campaign, in 1072, saw Palermo fall, and for the rest of Sicily it was only then a matter of time. As a result of his Sicilian campaign, Guiscard was referred to as "Black Shirt Robert" because throughout the campaign he wore elegant clothing with imported dyes that ran together resulting in black clothing.

Against the Byzantines.

Bari was reduced in April 1071, and Byzantine forces were finally ousted from southern Italy. The territory around Salerno was already held by Guiscard, and in December 1076 he took the city, expelling its Lombard prince Gisulf, whose sister Sichelgaita he had married. The Norman attacks on Benevento, a papal fief, alarmed and angered Pope Gregory VII. Pressured by the emperor, Henry IV, Gregory VII turned again to the Normans, and at Ceprano in June 1080, he reinvested Guiscard, securing him also in the southern Abruzzi, while reserving Salerno.  In his last enterprise, Guiscard mounted an attack on the Byzantine Empire, taking up the cause of Raiktor, a monk pretending to be Michael VII, who had been deposed in 1078 and to whose son Guiscard's daughter had been betrothed. He sailed with 16,000 men, including 1,300 Norman knights, against the empire in May 1081. He defeated Emperor Alexius I Comnenus at the Battle of Dyrrhachium in October 1081, and by February 1082 he had occupied Corfu and Durazzo. He was recalled to the aid of Gregory VII, however, who was besieged in Castel Sant'Angelo by Henry IV, in June 1083. Also in 1083, Guiscard destroyed the town of Cannae, leaving only the cathedral and bishop's residence. Guiscard was ally to kingdom of Duklja and Constantine Bodin. In 1081 he married his vassal's daughter Jaquinta of Bari to Bodin. In May 1084, Guiscard marched north with 36,000 men, entered Rome, and forced Henry to retreat. A rebellion, or seditious tumult ("émeute"), of the citizens led to a three-day sack of the city, after which Guiscard escorted the pope to Rome. Guiscard's son Bohemund, for a time master of Thessaly, had now lost the Byzantine conquests. Guiscard returned with 150 ships to restore them, and he occupied Corfu and Kefalonia with the help of Ragusa and the Dalmatian cities (which were under the rule of Demetrius Zvonimir of Croatia). On 17 July 1085, Guiscard died of fever in Kefalonia, at Atheras, north of Lixouri, along with 500 Norman knights. He was buried in the Hauteville family mausoleum of the Abbey of the Santissima Trinità at Venosa. The town of Fiscardo on Kefalonia is named after him.  Guiscard was succeeded by Roger Borsa, his son by Sichelgaita, as Bohemund, his son by an earlier wife Alberada De Macon (aka Alberada of Buonalbergo), was set aside. Guiscard left two younger sons: Guy of Hauteville and Robert Scalio, neither of whom made any trouble for their elder brothers. At his death Guiscard was duke of Apulia and Calabria, prince of Salerno, and suzerain of Sicily. His successes had been due not only to his great qualities but to the "entente" with the Papal See. He created and enforced a strong ducal power, which was nevertheless met by many baronial revolts, including one in 1078, when he demanded from the Apulian vassals an "aid" on the betrothal of his daughter. In conquering such wide territories he had little time to organize them internally. In the history of the Norman kingdom of Italy, Guiscard remains essentially the hero and founder, though his career ended in "something of a dead end," while his nephew Roger II was the statesman and organizer.

Religion.

Due to his conquest of Calabria and Sicily, Guiscard was instrumental in bringing Latin Christianity to an area that had historically followed the Byzantine rite. Guiscard laid the foundation of the Salerno Cathedral and of a Norman monastery at Sant'Eufemia Lamezia in Calabria. This latter monastery, famous for its choir, began as a community of eleven monks from Saint-Evroul in Normandy under the abbot Robert de Grantmesnil.  Although his relationship with the pope was rocky, Guiscard preferred to be on good terms with the papacy, and he made a gesture of abandoning his first wife in response to church law. While the popes were often fearful of his growing power, they preferred the strong and independent hand of a Catholic Norman to the rule of a Byzantine Greek. Guiscard received his investment with Sicily at the hands of Pope Nicholas II, who feared the opposition of the Holy Roman Emperor to the Papal reforms more. Guiscard supported the reforms, coming to the rescue of a besieged Pope Gregory VII, who had once excommunicated him for encroaching on the territory of the Papal States. After the Great Schism of 1054, the polarized religious atmosphere served to strengthen Guiscard's alliance with papal forces, resulting in a formidable papal-Norman opposition to the Eastern Empire.

In literature.

In the "Divine Comedy", Dante sees Guiscard's spirit in the Heaven of Mars, along with other "warriors of the faith" who exemplify the cardinal virtue of fortitude. In the "Inferno", Dante describes Guiscard's enemies as a field of mutilated shades stretching out to the horizon.  Guiscard was the protagonist of Kleist's verse drama "Robert Guiskard", incomplete at the author's death (1811).  Historical fiction novels covering the early years of the dynasty, from the arrival of the brothers in Italy to the conquest of Sicily, is covered in Jack Ludlow's trilogy "Mercenaries, Warriors" and "Conquest".

Marriage and issue.

Married in 1051 to Alberada of Buonalbergo (1032 – aft. July 1122) and had:  Married in 1058 or 1059 to Sichelgaita and had:

Robert Guiscard (, ; – 17 July 1085) was a Norman adventurer remembered for the conquest of southern Italy and Sicily. Robert was born into the Hauteville family in Normandy, went on to become Count of Apulia and Calabria (1057–1059), and then Duke of Apulia and Calabria and Duke of Sicily (1059–1085), and briefly Prince of Benevento (1078–1081) before returning the title to the Pope.

罗伯特·吉斯卡尔(英语:Robert Guiscard,约1015年-1085年-7月17日),又称狡诈者罗伯特(「吉斯卡尔」在法文意指狡诈的「Tricky」),是一位诺曼人冒险家,因而著名。他从法国的诺曼底来到意大利,跟随较早来闯荡的欧特维尔族人在那不勒斯攻城掠地。他和弟弟鲁杰罗一世 (西西里)从家族基地的普利亚(Apulia)向外扩张,接连攻下卡拉布里亚(Calabria)、巴里和大半的西西里岛,几乎统一意大利南部。他先后担任(1057-1059年)、并兼任(1059-1085年,由教宗授予),曾经在1078-1081年自立为贝内文托亲王,不久又将亲王头衔交还其盟友——教宗。


Biography.

Early years.

Alberto Pincherle (the pen-name "Moravia" was a surname linked to the family) was born in Via Sgambati in Rome, Italy, to a wealthy middle-class family. His Jewish Venetian father, Carlo, was an architect and a painter. His Catholic Anconitan mother, Teresa Iginia de Marsanich, was of Dalmatian origin. His family had interesting twists and developed a complex cultural and political character. The brothers Carlo and Nello Rosselli, founders of the anti-fascist resistance movement Giustizia e Libertà, murdered in France by Benito Mussolini's order in 1937, were paternal cousins and his maternal uncle, Augusto De Marsanich, was an undersecretary in the National Fascist Party cabinet.  Moravia did not finish conventional schooling because, at the age of nine, he contracted tuberculosis of the bone, which confined him to bed for five years. He spent three years at home and two in a sanatorium near Cortina d'Ampezzo, in north-eastern Italy. Moravia was an intelligent boy and devoted himself to reading books and some of his favourite authors were Giosuè Carducci, Giovanni Boccaccio, Fyodor Dostoevsky, James Joyce, Ludovico Ariosto, Carlo Goldoni, William Shakespeare, Molière, Nikolai Gogol and Stéphane Mallarmé. He learned French and German and wrote poems in French and Italian.  In 1925 at the age of 18, he left the sanatorium and moved to Bressanone. During the next three years, partly in Bressanone and partly in Rome, he began to write his first novel, "Gli indifferenti" ("Time of Indifference"), published in 1929. The novel is a realistic analysis of the moral decadence of a middle-class mother and two of her children. In 1927, Moravia met Corrado Alvaro and Massimo Bontempelli and started his career as a journalist with the magazine "900". The journal published his first short stories, including "Cortigiana stanca" ("The Tired Courtesan" in French as "Lassitude de courtisane", 1927), "Delitto al circolo del tennis" ("Crime at the Tennis Club", 1928), "Il ladro curioso" ("The Curious Thief") and "Apparizione" ("Apparition", both 1929).

"Gli indifferenti" and Fascist ostracism.

"Gli indifferenti" was published at his own expense, costing 5,000 Italian lira. Literary critics described the novel as a noteworthy example of contemporary Italian narrative fiction. The next year, Moravia started collaborating with the newspaper "La Stampa", then edited by author Curzio Malaparte. In 1933, together with Mario Pannunzio, he founded the literary review magazines "Caratteri" ("Characters") and "Oggi" ("Today") and started writing for the newspaper "Gazzetta del Popolo". The years leading to World War II were difficult for Moravia as an author; the Fascist regime prohibited reviews of "Le ambizioni sbagliate" (1935), seized his novel "La mascherata" ("Masquerade", 1941) and banned "Agostino" ("Two Adolescents", 1941). In 1935 he traveled to the United States to give a lecture series on Italian literature. "L'imbroglio" ("The Cheat") was published by Bompiani in 1937. To avoid Fascist censorship, Moravia wrote mainly in the surrealist and allegoric styles; among the works is "Il sogno del pigro" ("The Dream of the Lazy"). The Fascist seizure of the second edition of "La mascherata" in 1941, forced him to write under a pseudonym. That same year, he married the novelist Elsa Morante, whom he had met in 1936. They lived in Capri, where he wrote "Agostino". After the Armistice of September 8, 1943, Moravia and Morante took refuge in Fondi, on the border of Ciociaria; the experience inspired "La ciociara" ("The Woman of Ciociara", 1957).

Return to Rome and national popularity.

In May 1944, after the liberation of Rome, Alberto Moravia returned. He began collaborating with Corrado Alvaro, writing for important newspapers such as "Il Mondo" and "Il Corriere della Sera", the latter publishing his writing until his death. After the war, his popularity steadily increased, with works such as "La Romana" ("The Woman of Rome", 1947), "La Disubbidienza" ("Disobedience", 1948), "L'Amore Coniugale e altri racconti" ("Conjugal Love and other stories", 1949) and "Il Conformista" ("The Conformist", 1951). In 1952 he won the Premio Strega for "I Racconti" and his novels began to be translated abroad and "La Provinciale" was adapted to film by Mario Soldati; in 1954 Luigi Zampa directed "La Romana" and in 1955 Gianni Franciolini directed "I Racconti Romani" ("The Roman Stories", 1954) a short collection that won the Marzotto Award. In 1953, Moravia founded the literary magazine "Nuovi Argomenti" ("New Arguments"), which featured Pier Paolo Pasolini among its editors. In the 1950s, he wrote prefaces to works such as Belli's "100 Sonnets", Brancati's "Paolo il Caldo" and Stendhal's "Roman Walks". From 1957, he also reviewed and criticised cinema for the weekly magazines "L'Europeo" and "L'Espresso". His criticism is collected in the volume "Al Cinema" ("At the Cinema", 1975).

"La noia" and later life.

In 1960, Moravia published "La Noia" ("Boredom" or "The Empty Canvas"), the story of the troubled sexual relationship between a young, rich painter striving to find sense in his life and an easygoing girl in Rome. Becoming known as one of his most famous novels, it won the Viareggio Prize. An adaptation was filmed by Damiano Damiani in 1962. Another adaptation of the book is the basis of Cédric Kahn's film "L'ennui" ("The Ennui", 1998). Several films were based on his other novels: in 1960, Vittorio De Sica adapted "La Ciociara", starring Sophia Loren; in 1963 Jean-Luc Godard filmed "Il Disprezzo" ("Contempt") and in 1964, Francesco Maselli filmed "Gli Indifferenti" (1964). In 1962, Moravia and Elsa Morante parted; he went to live with the young writer Dacia Maraini and concentrated on theatre. In 1966, he, Maraini and Enzo Siciliano founded "Il Porcospino", which staged works by Moravia, Maraini, Carlo Emilio Gadda and others.  In 1967 Moravia visited China, Japan and Korea. In 1971 he published the novel "Io e lui" ("I and He" or "The Two of Us") about a screenwriter, his independent penis and the situations to which he thrusts them and the essay "Poesia e romanzo" ("Poetry and Novel"). In 1972 he went to Africa, which inspired his work "A quale tribù appartieni?" ("Which Tribe Do You Belong To?"), published in the same year. His 1982 trip to Japan, including a visit to Hiroshima, inspired a series of articles for "L'Espresso" magazine about the atomic bomb. The same theme is in the novel "L'Uomo che Guarda" ("The Man Who Looks", 1985) and the essay "L'Inverno Nucleare" ("The Nuclear Winter"), including interviews with some contemporary principal scientists and politicians.  The short story collection, "La Cosa e altri racconti" ("The Thing and Other Stories"), was dedicated to Carmen Llera, his new companion (forty-five years his junior), whom he married in 1986. In 1984, Moravia was elected to the European Parliament as member from the Italian Communist Party. His experiences at Strasbourg, which ended in 1988, are recounted in "Il Diario Europeo" ("The European Diary"). In 1985 he won the title of European Personality. Moravia was a perennial contender to the Nobel Prize in Literature, having been nominated 13 times between 1949 and 1965. In September 1990, Alberto Moravia was found dead in the bathroom of his Lungotevere apartment, in Rome. In that year, Bompiani published his autobiography, "Vita di Moravia" ("Life of Moravia").

Themes and literary style.

Moral aridity, the hypocrisy of contemporary life and the inability of people to find happiness in traditional ways such as love and marriage are the regnant themes in the works of Alberto Moravia. Usually, these conditions are pathologically typical of middle-class life; marriage is the target of works such as "Disobedience" and "L'amore coniugale" ("Conjugal Love", 1949). Alienation is the theme in works such as "Il disprezzo" ("Contempt" or "A Ghost at Noon". 1954) and "La noia" ("The Empty Canvas") from the 1950s, despite observation from a rational-realistic perspective. Political themes are often present: an example is "La Romana" ("The Woman of Rome", 1947), the story of a prostitute entangled with the Fascist regime and with a network of conspirators. The extreme sexual realism in "La noia" ("The Empty Canvas", 1960) introduced the psychologically experimental works of the 1970s.  Moravia's writing style was highly regarded for being extremely stark and unadorned, characterised by elementary, common words in an elaborate syntax. A complex mood is established by mixing a proposition constituting the description of a single psychological observation mixed with another such proposition. In the later novels, the inner monologue is prominent.

Alberto Moravia (, ; born Alberto Pincherle ; November 28, 1907 – September 26, 1990) was an Italian novelist and journalist. His novels explored matters of modern sexuality, social alienation and existentialism. Moravia is best known for his debut novel "Gli indifferenti" (1929) and for the anti-fascist novel "Il Conformista" ("The Conformist"), the basis for the film "The Conformist" (1970) directed by Bernardo Bertolucci. Other novels of his adapted for the cinema are "Agostino", filmed with the same title by Mauro Bolognini in 1962; "Il disprezzo" ("A Ghost at Noon" or "Contempt"), filmed by Jean-Luc Godard as "Le Mépris" ("Contempt" 1963); "La Noia" ("Boredom"), filmed with that title by Damiano Damiani in 1963 and released in the US as "The Empty Canvas" in 1964 and "La ciociara", filmed by Vittorio De Sica as "Two Women" (1960). Cédric Kahn's "L'Ennui" (1998) is another version of "La Noia".

阿尔贝托·莫拉维亚(,1907年-11月28日-1990年-9月26日),原名Alberto Pincherle,是20世纪意大利著名小说家。


Geography.

Lipari is the largest of a chain of islands in a volcanic archipelago situated in between Vesuvius and Etna. The island has a surface area of and is from Sicily. Besides the main town, most of the year-round population resides in one of the four main villages: Pianoconte is almost due west across the island, Quattropani in the northwest, Acquacalda along the northern coast, whereas Canneto is on the eastern shore north of Lipari town. The highest point on the island is Monte Chirica at 602 m (1975 ft).

Geology.

Geologists agree on the fact that Lipari was created by a succession of four volcanic movements, the most important of which was the third one, presumably lasting from 20,000 BC to 13,000 BC. A further important phenomenon should have happened around 9000 BC. The last recorded eruptions occurred in the fifth century CE when airborne pumice, together with volcanic ash, covered the Roman villages of the island. The volcanoes are considered active, and steaming fumaroles and hydrothermal activity may still be seen. As a result of its volcanic origin, the island is covered with pumice and obsidian. Pumice mining has become a large industry on Lipari, and the pale pumice from Lipari is shipped worldwide.

History.

Neolithic Period.

In Neolithic times Lipari was, much like Sardinia, one of the few centers of trading in obsidian, a hard black volcanic glass prized by Neolithic peoples for the extremely sharp cutting edges that can be obtained. Lipari's history is rich in incidents as witnessed by the recent retrievals of several necropoli and other archaeological sites. Humans seem to have inhabited the island already in 5000 BC, though a local legend gives the eponymous name "Liparus" to the leader of a people coming from Campania.

Late Bronze Age.

In the Mycenaean Period, Lipari has yielded pottery from LHI to LHIII.

Iron Age.

Lipari's continuous occupation may have been interrupted violently when in the late 9th century an Ausonian civilization site was burned and apparently not rebuilt. Many household objects have been retrieved from the charred site.

Greek Period.

Greek colonists from Knidos arrived at Lipara ~580 BC after their first colonization attempt in Sicily failed and their leader, Pentathlos, was killed. They settled on the site of the village now known as Castello. The colony successfully fought the Etruscans for control of the Tyrrhenian Sea. Carthaginian forces succeeded in holding the site briefly during their struggles with Dionysios I, tyrant of Syracuse in 394, but once they were gone the "polis" entered a three-way alliance which included Dionysios' new colony at Tyndaris. Lipara prospered, but in 304 Agathokles took the town by treachery and is said to have lost all of his pillage from it in a storm at sea. Many objects recovered from old wrecks are now in the Aeolian Museum of Lipari. Lipara became a Carthaginian naval base during the first Punic War, but fell to Roman forces in 252–251 BC. It was occupied by Agrippa in Octavian's campaign against Sextus Pompey during the Sicilian revolt. Under the Roman Empire, it was a place of retreat and exile and was enjoyed because of its baths (the hydrothermal waters are still used as a spa).

From the Middle Ages to present.

Lipari was probably an episcopal see from the 3rd century onward, with the first bishop being St. Agatone, who, according to tradition, had found the sacred remains of St. Bartholomew that had washed ashore, and put the precious relics for veneration in his cathedral. The presence of the relics has been attested since at least 546.  In the 9th century, Sicily was conquered by the Arabs, and soon Saracen pirates began to raid across the Tyrrhenian Sea, with dramatic effects for Lipari. In 839 the Saracens slaughtered much of the population, the relics of St. Bartholomew were moved to Benevento, and Lipari was eventually almost totally abandoned. The Normans conquered the Arabs throughout Sicily between 1060 and 1090, and repopulated the island once their rule was secure. The Lipari episcopal seat was reinstated in 1131.  Though still plagued by pirate raids, the island was continually populated from this time onward. Rule of the island was passed from the Normans to the Hohenstaufen Kings, followed by the Angevins, and then the Aragonese, until Carlos I, the Aragonese King, became the Spanish King, and was then quickly crowned Holy Roman Emperor Charles V.

Franco-Ottoman attack.

In 1544, Hayreddin Barbarossa, together with the French fleet of Captain Polin under a Franco-Ottoman alliance, ransacked Lipari and enslaved the entire population. Jérôme Maurand lamented about the depredation to his Christian fellow men during the campaign at Lipari: "To see so many poor Christians, and especially so many little boys and girls [enslaved] caused a very great pity." He also mentioned "the tears, wailings and cries of these poor Lipariotes, the father regarding his son and the mother her daughter... weeping while leaving their own city in order to be brought into slavery by those dogs who seemed like rapacious wolves amidst timid lambs".  A number of the citizens were ransomed in Messina and eventually returned to the islands.  Charles V then had his Spanish subjects repopulate the island and build the massive city walls atop the walls of the ancient Greek acropolis in 1556.  The walls created a mighty fortress still standing today. The acropolis, high above the main town, was a safe haven for the populace in the event of a raid. While these walls protected the main town, it was not safe to live on the rest of the island until Mediterranean piracy was largely eradicated, which did not occur until the 19th century.

20th century.

During the 1920s–1940s, Lipari Island was used for the confinement of political prisoners including: Emilio Lussu, Curzio Malaparte, Carlo Rosselli, Giuseppe Ghetti and Edda Mussolini.

Lipari (; ; ;, or, "Lipára") is the largest of the Aeolian Islands in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the northern coast of Sicily, southern Italy; it is also the name of the island's main town and "comune", which is administratively part of the Metropolitan City of Messina. Its population is 12,821, but during the May to September tourist season, the total population may reach up to 20,000.

利帕里("")是意大利墨西拿省的一个市镇,位于西西里岛北侧第勒尼安海中的伊奥利亚群岛。这个火山群岛最大的岛屿(介于维苏威火山和埃特纳火山之间,距西西里岛30公里),也是该岛主要城镇的名称。