Paradise

В статье предлагаются новые подходы к творчеству Владимира Сорокина. Анализируется знаменитый рассказ «Месяц в Дахау» и демонстрируется близость его поэтики к принципам метарелятивизма, сочетающим в заведомо противоречивом единстве релятивистское начало и «завершающие», аукториальные интенции. Выявлены генезис и основные возможности метарелятивистской поэтики. Показано, что традиционная постмодернистская оптика, при помощи которой обычно рассматривают творчество Сорокина, выводит за рамки рассмотрения множество важных аспектов в художественных текстах писателя. Метарелятивизм рассматривается как элемент метамодернистской поэтики Сорокина, сохраняющей связь с постмодернизмом, но при этом снимающей множество постмодернистских теоретических запретов и ограничений. По-новому осмысливается и соотношение бинарных и тернарных этических оппозиций. В рассказе «Месяц в Дахау» выявлена зеркальная трансформация классического топоса путешествия
из ада сквозь чистилище в рай: в этом произведении ад и рай функционально меняются местами, а роль чистилища выполняют камеры нацистского концлагеря Дахау, используемые для подготовки героя к будущему сверхчеловеческому преображению. Детально рассмотрено изображение метафорического людоедства, которое в рассказе осмысливается как инструмент для радикального преобразования человеческой природы и
приобщения к нацистской античеловеческой (сверхчеловеческой) системе мышления и мировосприятия. Подробно проанализирован трагический финал рассказа, в котором прослеживается выход за рамки тернарности, связанный с самоубийственным, но неизбежным для героя разрывом с прежде желанным для него нечеловеческим раем. Показано как метарелятивистская свобода позволяет ощутить парадоксальную глубину и трагический смысл изображаемого.

Christos Merantzas, From Demonic Noise to Paradisial Melody: Healing in Byzantium, στο: B. Pitarakis & Gülru Tanman (επιμ.), Life Is Short, Art Long: The Art of Healing in Byzantium — New Perspectives, Istanbul Research Institute 38, Pera Museum, Istanbul (2018), 65-74.

Adnan Oktar (Harun Yahya)

The plants, animals, seas, mountains, and people we see when we look around, and everything else in the micro universe – living or non-living – which we cannot see, are all obvious evidence of a superior wisdom which has brought them into being. Similarly, the equilibrium, order, and perfect creation present in the entire universe also prove the existence of a supreme possessor of knowledge who has brought them into being perfectly. The possessor of this wisdom and knowledge is Allah.

We realize the existence of Allah from the perfect systems He created and the awesome qualities of living or non-living entities. This perfection is highlighted in the Qur'an:

He created the seven heavens one above the other. You will not find any flaw in the creation of the All-Merciful. Look again–do you see any gaps? Then look again and again. Your eyes will become dazzled and exhausted!  (Surat al-Mulk, 3-4)

Adnan Oktar (Harun Yahya)

What do you want most out of life? A nice house, expensive clothes, money, wealth, opulence? What if you were told about a place where you could get everything you wanted and keep it forever? What would you say? Of course you would be very excited and want to see this perfect place right away. Surely no one would ever object to living in such a wonderful place.

Now just think. Has anyone ever talked to you about a place filled with a countless array of blessings, where beauty is spread out at your feet? Surely someone must have done so, telling you and all other people about the existence of a life – the life of Paradise – where everything that you want will be prepared for you. Everyone knows that after death there is an endless Paradise. Everyone judged worthy to enter it will find everything they desire there; they will receive their rewards and blessings, and live in a perfect place surrounded by beauty forever. To those faithful servants who pass the test of this earthly life, Allah has promised an unprecedented land. The limited time one spends in this world, on the other hand, is an opportunity to attain these beauties.

So what keeps people from being overcome with joy at the good news of Paradise? What stops them from longing for it, from expending every effort to attain it? Why do people, knowing that they will receive these blessings as a divine reward, not prepare for Paradise? Surely the most important reason is that some people do not have an assured faith that it exists; others are not convinced. There may be other reasons why people do not believe in or have doubts about it. But the basic thing that we must consider is that this doubt sometimes arises from a lack of knowledge.

The only remedy for this lack of knowledge is the Qur'an.

In the Qur'an, Allah describes a wonderful life of perfect and endless beauty in Paradise. Someone who does not know this beauty's extent or how the Qur'an describes it may have difficulty envisioning Paradise and the kind of life there.

From the time that Islam came to Iran, Iranian through Islamic centuries until now a garden is a kind of paradise in people opinion. Surely the reason that caused such belief is dryness of Iran plateau. In the ancient pieces found in Iran, one can see the validity of the gardens, in form of initial stage of time from the mountains and long periods big Iranian plateau, they cultivate their forms, sketch different aspect of their life and their opinion on the earthenware. On some of these pieces, trees surround the river, and some others show the river in four parts. This kind of crossing designation that has an axis longer than another one, this form of design called Chahar Bagh. This type of design is common in Sassanid period (642-224). Respect to water and even worshiping flowing water and river basin, is common in this period. In Sassanid period rulers' selected particular place to sketch their religious view and descriptions about their victory in huge stones, in each place a river basin that was overflowed by spring is created at the foot of stone. A little more than a millennium, one of Qajar king in 19th century 13th Hijra selected such place in south of Tehran called ray and ordered to create a portray of him carved in stone while he sat on his throne. Because the water is a fundamental factor for the creation a garden, so its source has a vital importance.

Individuals operating within the scientific paradigm presume that the world is made of matter. Although the perspective engendered by this presupposition is very powerful, it excludes value and subjective experience from its fundamental ontology. In addition, it provides very little guidance with regards to the fundamentals of ethical action. Individuals within the religious paradigm, by contrast, presume that the world is made out of what matters. From such a perspective, the phenomenon of meaning is the primary reality. Th is meaning is revealed both subjectively and objectively, and serves—under the appropriate conditions—as an unerring guide to ethical action. Th e ancient stories of Genesis cannot be properly understood without viewing them from within the religious paradigm. Genesis describes the primary categories of the world of meaning, as well as the eternal interactions of those categories. Order arises out of Chaos, through the creative interme-diation of Logos, and man is manifested, in turn. Man, a constrained Logos, exists within a bounded state of being, Eden. Eden is a place where order and chaos, nature and culture, find their optimal state of balance. Because Eden is a walled garden, however—a bounded state of being—something is inevitably excluded. Unfortunately, what is excluded does not simply cease to exist. Every bounded paradise thus contains something forbidden and unknown. Man's curiosity inevitably drives him to investigate what has been excluded. Th e knowledge thus generated perpetually destroys the presup-positions and boundaries that allow his temporary Edens to exist. Th us, man is eternally fallen. Th e existential pain generated by this endlessly fallen state can undermine man's belief in the moral justifiability of being—and may turn him, like Cain, against brother and God.

In de geschiedenis van de filosofie doemt regelmatig de gedachte op dat het huidige aardse bestaan geen optimale condities voor lichamelijk menselijk welbevinden zou bieden. Pas onder radicaal gewijzigde omstandigheden zou de eigenlijke gaafheid en waardigheid van het mensenlichaam tot zijn recht komen. Het Paradijs is een droomwereld die ruimte biedt voor gedachtenexperimenten. Door de hoedanigheid van het lichaam onder optimale condities te reconstrueren, kan het actuele tekort zichtbaar worden gemaakt. Elke filosofische auteur die zich eraan waagt, blijkt het Paradijsverhaal echter van geheel eigen accenten te voorzien. Het Paradijs kortom als Rorschachtest.

Professor Dr. Katharina Waldner, Professor Dr. Sabine Schmolinsky, Matthias Rekow M.A. (alle Universität Erfurt)
Moderation: Professor Dr. Susanne Rau (Universität Erfurt)

Religiöse Gruppen haben im Grunde die ersten kollektiven Reflexionen über die Zukunft menschlicher Existenz angestellt. Genesis-Mythen reichen in die Vergangenheit zurück und ergründen, woher der Mensch kommt, während Vorstellungen über Paradies, Erlösung, Apokalypsen und jüngste Gerichte die individuelle wie kollektive Zukunft der Gläubigen ausmalen. Auf dem Podium werden Zukunftsvorstellungen von religiösen Gruppen aus allen geschichtlichen Epochen diskutiert.

Multiple connections between the Damascus mosque and the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem; implications of the size of the surface area covered in mosaic; links with classical, early Christian, Byzantine and other Umayyad mosaics, and with the art of pre-Islamic Arabia; the meaning and iconography of the Damascus mosaics; originality of the Damascus mosque; problems and pitfalls in the interpretation of the Damascus mosaics; their originality and their place in late antique art; Qur'anic inscriptions on high buildings, gardens and rivers; the theme of paradise; the uses of colour in the Damascus mosaics; the karma.

Resumo:
Este artigo trata da viagem imaginária de um leigo chamado Amaro e seu percurso em busca do Paraíso Terrestre. A obra anônima é de origem portuguesa e foi produzida no Mosteiro de Alcobaça (códice 266) entre fins do século XIV e início do século XV. O texto guarda pontos de contato com a Navigatio Sancti Brendani Abbatis, relato sobre São Brandão e com narrativas irlandesas, como The Voyage of Bran (Imram Brain Maic Feibal). Uma das diferenças entre Amaro e Brandão é que na narrativa sobre Amaro, o papel feminino é fundamental tanto na proteção do eleito durante a viagem, quanto na sua condução ao Paraíso terreal, o que leva a aproximações com os relatos célticos.
Palavras-chave: Conto de Amaro, viagem imaginária, Portugal, feminino, Paraíso Terreal.


Abstract:
This paper deals with an imaginary voyage from a laic called Amaro and his journey in search of terrestrial Paradise. The anonymous work is from Portuguese origin and was produced in the Monastery of Alcabaça (codex 266) between the end of 14th century and the beginning of 15 th century. The text has connections with Navigatio Sancti Brendani Abbatis, narrative about Saint Brendan and with irish narratives, such as The Voyage of Bran (Imram Brain Maic Feibal). One of the differences between Amaro and Brendan is that in the manuscript about Amaro, the feminine role is fundamental both in the protection of the elected one during the voyage and in is his conduction to the terrestrial Paradise, which leads to approximations with the celtic voyage stories.
Keywords: Tale of Amaro (Conto de Amaro), imaginary journey, Portugal, feminine, Terrestrial Paradise

Le travail présenté ici porte sur l’eschatologie rabbinique et tente de déterminer si elle a connu des modifications majeures ou du moins des évolutions significatives entre l’époque de la Mishna et celle de la rédaction des derniers midrashim classiques. Il insiste sur l’existence de deux mondes, celui de l’au-delà et celui de la résurrection et s'efforce de situer les principales traditions eschatologiques des rabbins dans l’un de ces deux mondes, tâche qui n’est pas toujours aisée et qui a demandé la constitution d’une méthode. Le monde de la résurrection est central dans le corpus. Les rabbins prouvent par l’Ecriture la réalité de la résurrection future et ils décrivent les circonstances diverses de son déroulement. Le monde de l’au-delà est marqué par un grand nombre de conceptions qui sont loin de se réduire au couple enfer/paradis. L’étude des deux mondes eschatologiques a enfin été replacée dans des cadres théoriques plus vastes : ceux de l’anthropologie (courants dualistes et monistes) et de la cosmologie (place de l’enfer et du paradis dans l’ordre cosmique).