The research about Jewish colonization of South East Asia have been causing a lot of controversies. However the fact that in the Middle Kingdom begun the history of Jews living in the Far East seems to be unquestionable. The over-the-centuries presence of Jews in Eastern Asia didn’t result in building emigrant’s settlements in other countries of the region or in Japan. The Land of the Rising Sun was an unknown land for the Jewish merchants and travelers. According to the official statements this situation remained unchanged up to the second half of the 19th century. In relation to the historical sources about 50 Jewish families came to Yokohama in the late 70-ties of the 19th century. The emigrants came mostly from England, Germany, France, Russia and former Poland which was annexed by Russia and Austria. In the next years a lot of Jewish scientists and specialists were invited by the Japan government to China in order to rebuild and modernize this country. Meanwhile there were taken efforts to prove the presence of the Jews in the South Eastern Asia, who settled there after escape from Assyrian persecution in 771 B.C. and in the end conquered some primitive tribes and gave rise to the ancient civilizations. This research let the speculation that the ancient Jewish settlers were founders of the Japan imperial dynasty and created the warrior and aristocracy class. In the early 20-ties of the 20th century people were interested in discovering the Jewish origin of the Japanese society. In 1921-1922 the weekly paper “Israel’s Messenger” in Shanghai published several articles of Jewish and Japanese authors. They announced another discoveries and hypothesis about Jewish ancestors of Japanese society. These conceptions enjoyed people’s attention mainly at the turn of the 19th and 20th century. Nowadays we can also find some publications and discourses which rise this question. There are a lot of people who agree with the thesis of the common Jewish-Japanese roots: not only Joseph Eidelberg and others mentioned previously but also representatives of different Japanese Neo-Christian sects and members of American sect Back Hebrews. All this causes that the myth of Japanese being lost Israeli tribe stays alive.
The essay starts with a short presentation of the critical 'school', its representatives and main principles. The article concentrates on three essays by Albert Beguin, Jean-Pierre Richard and Georges Poulet. The critics situate Hugo's work in a large context: from primitive myths to modern poetry and philosophy. They analyze two texts in particular, 'Dieu' and 'La Fin de Satan', and point out the principle of polarity, the prevailing image of chaos and some other motives like metamorphosis, confusion or fog. They compare Hugo's work not only to the myths but also to the dream, and try to sketch his unique concept of the status of the poet, which is similar to God and to the whole universe.
The author, quoting various opinions and drawing on very personal experiences, polemicizes with the thesis that the Warsaw Uprising was admirable. He shares the view held by those who - appreciating the heroism of the insurgents - all the same noticed the tragedy of the situation: even though the insurgents were excellent, selfless and brave fighters, the uprising as such cannot be called excellent. The Uprising claimed an unimaginable toll of unnecessary victims, brought terrible suffering to all the inhabitants of the city, ruined the cultural heritage of several centuries and ended with an atrocious destruction of Warsaw. The Warsaw Uprising is overgrown with myths, but in the recent history of the Polish nation it was a particularly tragic event.
In the tabloid press a significant role is played by established and functioning celebrities’ images. The purpose of this analysis was to attempt to discover the mechanisms of the construction, processing and communication of these images by the tabloids existing in the Polish media. In the ideal situation the image should be the same as the identity. The confrontation between the celebrities’ image and identity was important as well. Based on the analysis of articles about Doda within a period of two months (from 1 March 2009 to 30 April 2009) a scheme of her image in tabloids was created, which consisted of myths created by the specific lexemes often repeated in the same contexts. Thus arose the myths: “Doda ― the queen,” “Doda ordinary and Polish,” “Doda ― the fashion designer,” “Doda quarrelsome” and “Doda ― the singer.” Doda has not appeared in tabloids beyond such broadly constructed categories. Doda’s image, which can be read on this basis, however, is not entirely coherent. Despite the fact that it slightly deviates from the celebrity’s identity. As a source of knowledge about the celebrity’s identity her official website (www.doda.net.pl) was used. Conclusions drawn on the basis of the analysis of articles about Doda can be extended to the whole area of the functioning of all celebrities in Polish tabloids. The most important mechanism is very simple ― it is based on the repetition of the same ordinary lexemes and phrases defining a celebrity. Celebrities’ images arise from taking into account the needs of customers whose demands are not clear. Tabloids’ readers at the same time expect rumors of rich, ideal life of stars and confirmation that celebrities are as ordinary as they are. Polish tabloid press acts as a stabilizer. It is conservative and uncontested to maintain society and bring it relief (emotional discharge). It is not a news medium, but entertaining. Therefore, in the tabloid press there may lawfully function even seemingly conflicting celebrities’ images.
Switzerland, perceived as the last European haven of freedom and an Alpine country with ideal natural conditions making it possible to present its image in accordance with the Arcadian convention and the bucolic tradition closely related to it, occupies a separate place in the Kościuszko legend. The very fact that the Commander spent the last years of his life in the land of the famous Tell and that he died there could be a basis for the authors of the Kościuszko myth to attach special significance to this area. In this context, both the history, politics, society and the landscape of Helvetia acquired symbolic status. The pastoral myth, which was the basis of Swiss democratic aspirations, the legends of Tell and Winkelried, as emblems of the confederation system, as well as the monumental nature of the high mountain landscape, created a good context for giving Kościuszko’s image heroic stature, because they corresponded ideally to his personality. Other important elements of the Kościuszko legend included Solothurn and Xavier Zeltner. As early as the first half of the 19th century both the image of the city and Zeltner’s generosity became a permanent part of the Kościuszko tradition. Its Swiss Alpine aspect is thus one of the most important components that determine the transborder and solidarity-related nature of this myth.
Even if not as intensive as a hundred years ago, or during the “ethnic revival” of the seventies, but again growing with the internet, there is a competition in North America between ethnicities for attention, recognition, respect, and sympathy. There are various players, the leadership in clubs and in organizing festivals and parades, musical events, producers of websites, the foreign-language press, the relevant university departments, even, indirectly, foreign governments. And, of course, there is grass-roots prejudice that is meant to be cultivated. Historical legends are, of course, not the only means to boost ethnic ego and prestige. The essay deals with the ethnic legends about the Civil War period that have been present in German-American historiography.
The article Mythical consciousness as a philosophical problem is an at- tempt to analyze the subjective reflection of a myth that is concentrated on such notions as: “mythical consciousness”, “mythical imagination”, “mythical thought” or “logic of myth”. The analysis shows the main theses and pro- blems of subjective reflection of the myth, based on philosophical theories (E. Cassirer, L. Kołakowski) and also on the concepts which developed in the area of the cultural anthropology (B. Malinowski, L. L´evy-Bruhl, J.G. Frazer, C. L´evi-Strauss).
The relationship between the myth and the avant-garde (in European historical tradition) may appear as contradictory at the first sight, yet their coexistence and overlapping position are obvious. The function of myth was to help to resolve the contradictory concepts and ideas at the turn of the 20th century. The impact of its forms, its contradictory and syncretic nature can be detected in the avant-garde movements as well, although there were some transformations and shifts in emphasis in the second half of the 20th century. The myth is also a basic element of postmodern, anti-colonial, ecologic, spiritual alternative and other differentiating movements. The heritage of geographical discoveries and world exploration has also played an important part, especially its geographical and chronological aspects, as well as the acquired consciousness of the segmentation of time and space. In this sense, the paper offers several interpretations of French, Slovak and Rumanian works of literary fiction from the stream of literary realism, showing the construction of myths in these works in the light of modern literary techniques.
The paper is the outcome of search for various forms of primitivism tendency in 20th century fine art in Slovakia. The development period of art called postmodernity is at the same time strong actualisation of the culture primitivism. It occurs not only as a type of “new wildness” painting in style level, but also as a sign or sign group which refers to “pre-cultural” or “counter-civilisation” ways of life in semantic sphere. Specific feature of Slovak postmodern primitivism is an artistic evocation of the Paradise and utopia images. From the primitivism point of view, there are presented contextually connected motifs of Arcadia, utopic lands, “lost Paradise” and “lost childhood”.
The aim of this paper is to present the archetypal interpretation of Orpheus as a representative of the classical musical myth. The text tracks the relationship between myth and music as well as explores possible melancholic features of the mythological character. The methodological basis is primarily the theory of archetype by Carl Gustav Jung. The mythological image of Orpheus in ancient literature is confronted with the former understanding of melancholy, taking account of the broader archetypal symbolization. Orpheus is incorporated into the mythological framework of Apollo and Orphism. The basic motifs of the myth include musical expression of the character (playing the lyre, singing), his journey to the underworld to retrieve Eurydice and his tragic death. There is an archetypal manifestation of the hero, the Self, the anima, the animus, the wise old man. The central motif is that of Orpheus turning around to look at Eurydice on the way from the underworld, it is an expression of unintegrated mental contents of individuation and the death of anima. The consequence of the described phenomenon is the death of the character by ripping his body to pieces by the women. The melancholy elements of myth show by moving towards the death based on the deficit of anima, on the next level the melancholy is initiated by the underworld experience and connection with music. The ancient view of Orpheus´s melancholy is connected to exceptional artistic abilities. By combining the archetypal approach to the myth and the interpretation analysis of melancholy, the amplified image of Orpheus has been created, which can be applied to interpretations of works of art.
Three paintings from Toyen's late period - 'At a Given Moment' (1963), 'A Secret Room without a Lock' (1966) and 'At Silling Castle' (1969) - stand out due to a conspicuous trait they share: pasted into each is a black-and-white reproduction of a Baroque or ancient statue with a mythological motif. This article explores the methods Toyen used to appropriate instances from the art of old; it deals with her selection of mythical female figures and contemplates the significance of depicting sculpture in paintings. Toyen was most radical with the original she selected for the painting 'At a Given Moment', in which she intervened in the primordial mythological story embodied in Bernini's 'Apollo and Daphne', appropriating the spectre of the fleeing woman and rotating the cut-out ninety degrees. She was thus alluding to subjects which Salvador Dali had drawn attention to in 'The Phenomenon of Ecstasy' (1933), a collage in which he included a photograph of a 'hysterical or ecstatic statue'. In the other two paintings, Toyen left the reproduced image in its original form and simply inserted it into a set of relationships intertwined with her own pressing themes, whether that meant her desire to eroticize the world in case of Amor and Psyche, excavated at Ostia (see A Secret Room without a Lock), or the tightly interwoven relationship between woman and dangerous natural forces, as portrayed in the Melian relief of Peleus and Thetis (see At Silling Castle). The question regarding the function of the borrowed motifs in Toyen's imaginary world and why she decided to bring them into the present using black-and-white reproductions of sculptures from bygone centuries recalls Warburg's 'Pathosformen' (pathos formulas). Certain precedents relating to Toyen's approach may be seen in the interpretation that the use of the grisaille technique to shape the antique subjects in Renaissance painting was meant to maintain antiquity at a typological distance. At the same time, however, Warburg was captivated by the Utopian dimension of grisaille. It seems that Toyen had similar aims, although she pursued them intuitively, using modern collage techniques.
The text focuses on the current myths and rumours as a current genre in the present-day society. The author sees these narratives as texts which can be studied and analysed at several levels depending on the context of narration, and she assumes that the social context influences the content and the form of these narratives. The main aim of the text is to highlight the theoretical and methodological specificities of the ethnographic research of present-day myths and rumours within the OZ (Civic Organisation) Proti Prúdu and the influences of this specific context on these narratives in the context of the daily life of sellers of the Nota Bene magazine – clients of the OZ Proti Prúdu organisation. Through several examples of narratives, the context of which depends on the given environment, the author seeks to point out in what way individuals can indirectly react to daily life within their particular environment.
The paper is an attempt at showing the context of important changes, which took place in the course of the 16th century, in the process of shaping the identity of German-speaking elites of the Western Pomerania and Silesia. At the time, the fledgling humanist historiography looked for arguments supporting the primary political independence, or ethnic distinctiveness, of the tribes inhabiting these territories vis a vis their neighbours, firstly in ancient authors (Tacitus), or neighbours (Albert Krantz, Johannes Dlugossius, Jost Ludwig Dietz). It was initially a successful venture, when the works of Johann Bugenhagen, Thomas Kantzow and Joachim Cureus put forward the theses on the ethnogenetical distinctiveness of the Pomeranians (as Vandals-Veneti-Wends) and Silesians (as Elysians) from Poland and Poles. In the mid-16th century, among others under the infl uence of the triumph of the “German religion” (influenced by the historical ideas of Melanchthon), the historiography of these “former Piast” territories rejected both the newly acquired individual perspective of depicting its earliest past and the “sarmatian” version documented by Martin Cromer. The decisive factor here was the, then dominant in the Reich, identifi cation of theearliest historic inhabitants of Pomerania and Silesia with German tribes inhabiting these lands, which was based on the works of Tacitus. According to this identification, the local historians, disregarding the effects of the migration of peoples, demonstrated the “precedence” of their own, Germanancestors in these territories. Slavs, in turn, were depicted as immigrants (“late” Kantzow and Klempzen) or invaders (Cureus).
Ideology represents symbolic system providing socially cultural stabilization, or establishing of concrete socially political status quo, in wider socially cultural environment of the society. The category “myth” understanding as a “social charter” represents one of the possible theoretical approaches to the problem of ideological system. The special function of myth – social charter, lies in the legitimization towards relations of dominance and inferiority in the society. From this viewpoint, myth – social charter represents purely ideological construction. This analytical category enables investigation of internal structure of ideology through the schematization mechanisms, which are both anthropologically and culturally determined.
The work of Albania’s best-known writer, Ismail Kadare, is focused on his native country’s culture, history and traditions, but has been paralleled by his equal concern with world literature. This has provided him not only with a cultural framework for comparison and analysis, but also with an effective means to render historical processes throughout artistic expression. The collection translated into English as Essays on World Literature: Aeschylus, Dante, Shakespeare (2018) mediates the readers’ imaginary voyage to ancient Greece, Renaissance Italy, Elizabethan England and communist Albania. Using a theoretical approach inspired by The Coming Community (1993) by philosopher Giorgio Agamben (with whom Kadare received the 2018 Nonino Prize), this article discusses Kadare’s essays focusing on Albania’s European identity, supported by the inextricable links between myth, literature and history.
The paper is an attempt to clarify the social background of the joke as well as its cultural role. After pointing out some of the main features of the phenomenon of humour the author proceed to define the joke as a cultural form and then compare it to the myth in terms of Roland Barthes' semiotic theory. The consequent view of the joke as a semantic inversion of the myth is supported by the further analysis of several selected series of jokes being told in Poland.
The article is an attempt to view the work of Joseph Beuys from the perspective of the phenomenon of memory. Tracing the dimension of memory in the actions of the German artist, the author refers to the modern paradigm of memory, created by Sigmund Freud. Memory treated as dynamic structure, embedded in the psyche, encompassing the process of memorizing, forgetting, repression of memories, coding, decoding etc. Another trail in the article is the concept of memory after Mircea Eliade, seen as the power of returning to the origins, placing the human experience in a world beyond history, as knowledge par excellence. The paper focuses on the mutual relations between the biographic and collective memory, between memory, symbol and myth, examines the 'Lebenslauf/Werklauf' of Joseph Beuys through Eliade's concept of Image. The author interprets the actions and the texts of Beuys seen as an attempt of the evaluation of myth. It is in the process of anamnesis triggered by the myth and symbol in the biography, in recollection which is simultaneously the 'recognition of the myth' that the author seeks for another way in interpreting the works of Joseph Beuys.
R. Murray Schafer's teaching and research activities are the primary sources of soundscape studies and the acoustic ecology movement. In his interdisciplinary writings Schafer utilises, among other approaches, a social perspective, using numerous cultural comparisons of soundscapes and acoustic societies partaking in those environments. In the main part of my article I suggest that in these comparisons, as well as in other parts of his writings, Schafer discovers in Western culture 'deep' aspects (approaching an anthropological universalism) which liken it to traditional cultures of other parts of the world and historically distant or pre-historical times. This thesis is illustrated by six examples from Schafer's writings: 1. The relating of cosmogenic myths of other cultures to Western everyday life; 2. The continued existence of 'sacred noise' through its transmutation into specific noises of contemporary civilisation; 3. The widespread existence of certain categories of acoustic signals on the globe (such as centrifugal/centripetal); 4. The universal existence of sound sentiments and phobias; 5. The similarity of sources and inspirations of music in different cultures (inspiration by the soundscape); and 6. The recent trend in the West toward the acoustic space model of communication found in other cultures (as evidenced by Marshall McLuhan).
The article is an attempt to analyze a cultural image of a historical event as a modern form of the mythical imagination. On the example of the famous defense of Ordon's Redoubt, immortalized by the poem of Adam Mickiewicz, the author shows complicated relations between the facts and the fiction. The very term 'myth' is used here in a rather broad sense, including not only the narration heroic itself, but also rituals, forms of commemorations, and – first of all – the changing topography of the city.
In this project Jochemczyk's essay stand in constant dialogue with individual consideration about home place. He leads attentive reader across historical levels of his genius loci. Author describes issue using by Jastrzebski's quotation - I leave in strange place, or more - weird home. Sometimes, I hear voices of phantoms roomers, who were settled these walls during the times of communist's prosperity. Author has mentioned about relation, which come from Jastrzebski's memories - people, who lived in this building presented the lowest category of people ever and Silesian (because they constituted neighborhood) if they had chosen to settled down here - they passed for social degenerates. Moreover, nobody does not remember about old residents of the house. Some of them fell into oblivion, some of them still are survives of folklore anecdotes. Above all, every single wake of their human being existence, which was printed on the wall, this curious house lost its pulse. Classical look of unusual building shows softly and sloping underlined roof, marked flat ridges of window nest, which constitute the idea of intimate, sentimental residences (la maison nobiliaire). This vision presents specific combination of dream and java, myth and real existence has modeled anxious route of my herded - days and nights. Regular thumps of hammer, which has forged steel located near the Batory's ironworks. Even in the first years of the twenty century, in the south area of the present Graniczna street were located numerous shafts, there lived the poorest class of residents. What is left - it is a lament, which has deadened pulse of creepy urban building. That is why, its reverberation sounds out in the scores of faded photographs. Author has assured, perhaps my today's house described as house of sand and fog creates in the invariable way - building full of disturbs moments.
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