In a well-known scene from the Mahābhārata, the female renunciate Sulabhā engages in a philosophical debate against King Janaka. This chapter will examine Sulabhā’s arguments and methods, while demonstrating that she makes important contributions to philosophical discussions that are going on throughout the text. I will focus on three aspects of her argument: (1) her discussion on good speech; (2) her articulation of the ethics of renunciation; and (3) her characterisation of the highest knowledge as beyond the dualities of gender distinctions. As I will show, Sulabhā makes original contributions to ongoing debates about rhetoric, ethics, and ontology in Indian philosophy. I will also address the thorny question of whether Sulabhā should be understood as a woman philosopher, or as a literary character most likely constructed by male authors. Despite the ultimate unanswerability of this question, Sulabhā articulates an understanding of enlightenment (mokṣa) that is as available for women as for men.

Americans proudly streamed to the 1939 World’s Fair in New York City as World War II flared on the other side of the Atlantic. Not yet part of the conflict, Americans used the opportunity to escape the present and wax utopian. Although the dreams on display took many forms, they were synched together by an invisible hand – more specifically, by a basic assumption – concealed within each of the scenes: bountiful supplies of cheap energy.

Introduction

Lyricism and drama do not sit well together in discussions of Schubert's instrumental music. Today it is widely accepted that the main impulse in his writing is ‘lyrical’ – a term that usually is set in opposition to ‘dramatic’, implying a looser, more relaxed approach to the way the music progresses and a privileging of the self-contained lyrical moment over the broader sweep of the work. Yet Schubert's finest instrumental music is also animated by a compelling dramatic process that seizes the imagination of its listeners from the very first bar of the piece and does not relent until all issues and conflicts have been resolved. By ‘dramatic’ I mean that the music projects the continuity of a coherent chain of events moving irresistibly to a final denouement, much like the unfolding of a well-crafted play. Its hold on the listener depends upon consistency in the music's plan and a progressive development of its material in which the implications of initial actions are realized later in the form. I would thus propose that in such instances, rather than being diametrically opposed, drama and lyricism work together effectively to create a unified and engaging whole. Here the overall disposition and relationship of the parts of the form create a powerful dramatic shape or scenario within which lyricism plays a crucial role.

The principal features of lyricism in Schubert's instrumental music include motivic and melodic repetition, the use of variation as opposed to motivic development, and the presence of ‘closed song forms’ within the overall structure. These features have been cast as a brake on the forward drive of Schubert's music and thus deficient in producing a truly dramatic structure. As shall be demonstrated, however, they are not in themselves impediments to the realization of the music's potential as drama, but instead often contribute effectively to that realization. A prime example of how lyricism works within an essentially dramatic conception of form is provided by the Impromptu in C minor, D. 899/1, which shall be the exclusive focus of the discussion that follows here. Before dealing with it in some depth, though, it is necessary first to examine those attitudes towards lyricism and drama in Schubert's instrumental music that have shaped its critical reception.

Schubert has long been famous for the striking character of his modulations. In fact, they are considered a hallmark of his style, particularly in his sonata-form transitions. Here, the precise moment that the subordinate key enters is often highlighted as an extraordinary event, capable of infusing a new and intense atmosphere into the subordinate theme. To achieve this effect, Schubert uses a variety of schemes. One of the most prominent of these consists of a “deflected-cadence” strategy involving two successive cadential progressions. The first, which occurs in the home key, may either achieve closure or be thwarted by an evaded or deceptive cadence. It is followed immediately by the second cadence, which begins the same way, only to be diverted at the last moment into a perfect authentic cadence (PAC) in the subordinate key. The modulation is thus accomplished exclusively by the second cadence, which both ends the transition and ushers in the subordinate-key region.

Schubert's deflected-cadence strategy constitutes a small, yet significant, departure from the classical transition, which usually targets the dominant, rather than the tonic, of the new key. The use of a concluding PAC and the unusual way it is set up create a new effect that distinguishes this type of transition from those of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven, as well as many of Schubert's own generation. What is more, the scheme itself has serious ramifications for other sections of the form, especially when elevated to a broader structural level, as shall be seen later in this chapter. Thus in this one detail of Schubert's sonata forms we see a subtle transformation of the classical style indicative of a new approach to sonata form and its aesthetics in the early nineteenth century. This situation emerges more clearly in a further comparison of Schubert's deflected-cadence strategy with conventional classical practice.

The Classical Sonata-Form Transition in the Theory of Formal Functions

We will begin with a discussion of the characteristics of the classical transition as defined by William E. Caplin's theory of formal functions. In Caplin's theory, the transition (what concerns us in this case is the modulating type) destabilizes the home key by a modulation that targets the dominant of the new key, either through a half cadence (HC) or a simple dominant arrival (a noncadential move to the new dominant).

ABSTRACT

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION

Variability in precipitation has posed a considerable challenge to the population of the Middle East throughout the Holocene, and continues to be a key issue today. Understanding this variability is crucial for the design and interpretation of climate model experiments that characterise how precipitation has changed in the past and predict how it will change in the future.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION

Understanding the changes in the Mediterranean climate during the Holocene period is a challenging problem, but one that is critical to interpreting long-term change in human settlement. The region at present displays marked seasonality with dry, hot summers and cool, wet winters.