Symbolism

Du corps humain s'entend, dont nous renonçons à trouver une définition satisfaisante dans le maquis inextricable des théories qui lui furent consacrées. Celui auquel nous pensons associe le corps-objet, simplement matériel, et le corps-propre ou corps-sujet, spirituel, cognitif.
La réunion de recherches participant de problématiques différentes pourrait s'avérer d'un maigre profit, si elle n'était source d'occurrences surprenantes. Qu'on en juge !
Deux exposés ont pour cadre la Chine et présentent le corps, le premier, d'un défunt qu'on honore par des rites pour lui assurer un au-delà serein ; le second, d'une enfant, qu'on torturepour lui ménager un mariage fortuné ici-bas. L'article suivant rapporte les interdits régissant les contacts des cheveux, des humeurs avec les éléments, leur transgression exposait aux pires tourments. Puis vient une étude sur les corps... tatoués, pour le symbole ou l'esthétique ? Mais déjà il est temps de remonter le temps, huit siècles avant J.-C., à bord d'un vaisseau chargé d'amphores d'huiles parfumées et médicinales, faisant voile vers le Ponant. Le sixième récit nous fait redescendre le cours normal du temps en quête de peignes, objets terriblement protéiformes ! Du Paléolithique, on traverse la Grèce mythique, l'Occident celtique et ses légendes, un Moyen Âge aussi saint que païen, puis après avoir erré de l'Orient russe à son extrême catalan, on échoue chez un barbier drolatique ! Fin de notre studieuse odyssée en multiple splendeur sur le toit de l'Europe, le Grand Nord lapon. Un "noaidi" et son tambour y soulagent les corps souffrants en négociant le pardon de leurs âmes fautives auprès d'esprits puissants.

Este texto procura esclarecer os sentidos de uma noção psicanalítica bastante específica, mas também presente na literatura sobre a teoria do imaginário, a saber, a noção de perlaboração. A fim de apresentar seu significado para além da explanação teórica, ilustraremos o procedimento perlaborativo com uma técnica análoga, vinda da literatura budista. Nossa intenção é demonstrar como uma prática de auto-cultivo, oriunda de uma consolidada tradição religiosa, apresenta dinâmicas psíquicas presentes também em certa tradição científica ocidental – ampliando, com isso, certas abordagens simbólicas de uma antropologia do imaginário com relação a processos de equilibração psíquica. Através dessa comparação, por fim, poderemos evidenciar de maneira mais efetiva alguns procedimentos e efeitos de ambas as tradições.

La culla rappresenta il primo oggetto che l'uomo costruisce per la sua creatura e oltre  a curare l'accoglienza e  la comodità, accompagnandola con il classico dondolio, ne cura anche i motivi estetici incidendo esternamente nel legno segni beneauguranti ...vedremo quali e il loro singolo valore .

Lundi 15 avril 2019, à l’orée de la semaine sainte, la cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris a subi une terrible épreuve du feu. Au-delà des mystères à élucider, notamment de l’incroyable rapidité de développement de l'incendie, ce grave événement a peut-être un sens caché. Notre-Dame de Paris nous invite aujourd’hui à une apocatastase, à l’apokatastasis pantôn, un rétablissement du Tout, une restauration universelle.

Le 15 avril 2019, à l’orée de la semaine sainte,  la cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris a subi une terrible épreuve du feu. Au-delà des mystères à élucider, notamment de l’incroyable rapidité de développement du feu, ce grave événement a peut-être un sens caché. Notre-Dame de Paris nous invite aujourd’hui à une apocatastase, à l’apokatastasis pantôn, un
rétablissement du Tout, une restauration universelle.

A decorated Roman intaglio is one of the few pieces with figurative decoration from the excavation of the city of Magdala (Israel). The intaglio represents a winged triumphant Nike in a biga with the inscription Nikoma(chos). One of the horses turns its head and looks towards the goddess. The symbolism of this detail is a key for its iconographical interpretation and chronological dating. It is proposed a link among the engraved scene, the inscription and Nikomachos the painter.

The paper studies the place of the Areopagitic treatise 'Divine names' (Latin 'De divinis nominibus') in the tradition of Neoplatonic commentaries on Plato’s 'Cratylus' and focuses on the comparison with such a commentary by Proclus. A few arguments may prove that Pseudo-Dionysius could be well acquainted with this Proclus’ commentary, and therefore the Divine names could have been intentionally authored in a vein of imitation or competition with Proclus. The first three chapters of the 'Divine names' expound a set of theoretical propositions in such a detailed manner that allows reconstructing the dialectics used in the following chapters to explain the meanings of particular God’s names. Along with Neoplatonic philosophical language, these propositions inherit Proclus’ dialectics of the whole and parts, of the identity and difference, the ontological hierarchy, the doctrine of causation and participation, some noticeable features of apophaticism. All of them are relevant to the theory of naming and distinguishing types of names. An analysis of these principles makes possible to introduce the classification of names described in the 'Divine names' and the 'Celestial hierarchy' with significant similarities and differences when compared to the analogous classification of Proclus. The results obtained reveal how Proclean dialectics and ontology may be applied to the research of the Areopagitic ‘theolinguistics’ and its localization in the history of late Ancient and early Medieval philosophy.


Ареопагитический трактат «О божественных именах» рассматривается в перспективе традиции неоплатонического комментария на «Кратил» Платона, в котором особое место занимает комментарий Прокла. Предлагаются аргументы в пользу того, что псевдо-Дионисий не только был хорошо знаком с этим комментарием Прокла, но и осознанно выстраивал трактат «О божественных именах» в духе подражания или соперничества с ним. Отмечено преемство у Прокла как в отношении философской терминологии, так и в ряде концепций, включая диалектику целого и частей, тождества и различия, принцип онтологической иерархии, учение о причинности и причастности, некоторые особенности апофатического метода, – все они отражаются в принципах именования и различения видов имён. На основе анализа этих принципов предложена классификация имён, учитывающая основные их типы в трактатах «О божественных именах» и «О небесной иерархии», показаны сходства и различия с аналогичной классификацией у Прокла. Показано, что диалектика и онтология Прокла могут применяться для углубления понимания ареопагитической «теолингвистики» и её локализации в историко-философском контексте.

A conference on the manifold heritage of Viacheslav Ivanov (1866 – 1949), one of the leading figures of European Modernist literature, art and thought and especially of the Russian Symbolist movement is to be held at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
The proposed conference will include presentations on Ivanov's seminal role as one of the leading figures of Russian and European Modernism in poetry and literature, literary criticism, philosophy of culture and religion, theory of theater, music and art. Viacheslav Ivanov's oeuvre encompassed the entire edifice of European humanities. His poetry, plays and essays formed the cornerstone of a new Modernist trend, Russian religious symbolism. A distinguished pupil of Theodor Mommsen and a fervent follower and, at the same time, critic of Friedrich Nietzsche, Ivanov became a trail-blazing historian of ideas. He researched ancient Greek and Roman religious cults and philosophy. His study of the cults of Dionysus (1904 – 1923 – 1936) remains novel and stimulating to this very day. Mikhail Bakhtin's analysis of Dostoevsky, which became seminal for the development of modern theory of literature and culture, was greatly indebted to Viacheslav Ivanov's discoveries concerning Dostoevsky's invention of the genre of novel as a modern form of Dionysian tragedy. The development of philosophy, theater, art and music in the twentieth century was enriched by Ivanov's ideas.
For us in Jerusalem especially important are those ideas of Ivanov that influenced the works of Jewish composers in St. Petersburg and the symbolic language of the celebrated play “The Dybbuk” by S. Ans-ki which was directed by E. Vachtangov in 1922 for the Hebrew theater "Habima". Viacheslav Ivanov’s general attitude to Jewish culture is relevant for the conference. As a poet, philologist and a religious thinker, Ivanov had a special interest in the Hebrew language and in ancient and modern Hebrew culture; e.g., his participation in the translation of Bialik's poetry into Russian. From Ivanov's point of view, the Zionist movement and its focus on the Hebrew language was a symbol of the resurrection of the Jewish nation. At the very beginning of the persecution unleashed by the Soviet regime in 1918 against Zionism, Ivanov defended the Hebrew language and especially the “Habima”. Ivanov's own poetry in the Hebrew translation of Avraham Shlonsky was widely known in Eretz Israel and later in Israel.
The tentative plan of the symposium includes the following topics:
 Ivanov's role in Modernist poetry and literature
 Ivanov's contribution to the philosophy of culture and religion
 Ivanov's theory of theatre: from Meyerhold to the Habima theater
 Wagner, Nietzsche, Skriabin and the artistic quest for form
 Ivanov's role in promoting Hebrew culture
 
The working languages of the conference are English and Russian.
 

‘The Chrysanthemums’ is a short story written by John Steinbeck and published in his collection of short stories, called The Long Valley, in which, the author focuses on the description of symbolic elements such as nature to narrate his stories. Steinbeck excessively uses symbolism in his stories, and ‘The Chrysanthemums,’ a selected story from the collection is falling into the same category. With the combination of realism and imagination, Steinbeck describes social issues and shares an image of society to his audience. ‘The Chrysanthemums’ refers to the male patriarchal society, and the protagonist of the story—a woman called Elisa—cannot show her abilities because of social limitations. This issue is clearly revealed in Elissa’s relationship with her husband and her communication with a stranger who visits the farm. Through the story, the chrysanthemums play a great role and symbolize Elisa’s sexuality or artistic sensibility that are revealed through her communicative manner with her husband and either other members of the society.

En 1887, Alfred Binet nomme une tendance sexuelle : le fétichisme. Devenue le centre d’explorations nombreuses, cette perversion est, dans cet ouvrage, réinscrite dans son contexte d’émergence grâce à l’analyse de textes littéraires, psychologiques, pornographiques ou psychiatriques qui lui sont consacrés pendant la Belle Époque.

Resumen La masonería ofrece una forma muy singular de difundir sus ideas entre los iniciados a dicha organización. Esa epistemología proviene de fuentes diversas, pero en todas ellas el símbolo, aún más, la imagen simbólica, goza de un papel central. Una novedad editorial reciente, Simbolismo masónico, de J.J. García Arranz, lo ha estudiado. En las siguientes páginas se intentará delimitar un poco en qué consiste ese método de comunicación de ideas, sobre todo en su dimensión visual. Además, se profundizará en esta cuestión a partir de la mencionada novedad editorial presentada por García Arranz, así como de la reseña que publicó en REHMLAC+ en el anterior número.
[Abstract Freemasonry has a very unique way of spreading its ideas among the initiated of the organisation. This epistemology comes from various sources, but in all of them, the symbol, even more, the symbolic image, has a key role. A recent editorial novelty, Simbolismo masónico (Masonic symbolism), by J.J. García Arranz, studies it. In the following pages, I will try to delimit what constitutes this method of communicating ideas, especially in its visual dimension. I will elaborate on this matter with the help of this document by García Arranz, as well as the review published in REHMLAC+.]

Marguerite Jellicoe’s evocative description of the start of the annual rains in Singida includes a rare reference to the cultural significance of red velvet mites in Tanzania. I first came across these brightly coloured arachnids (family Trombidiidae) in 1981, at the start of my second wet season in the village of Utengule in Usangu (in what is now Mbarali District). I was away when the rains began on 2nd December, but when I returned to the village two days later these small crimson creatures were everywhere on the newly dampened earth. Sangu-speakers called them inkhadupa, their generic name for ticks and mites, and told me that they were thought to fall down from the sky along with the rain. In this respect they were similar to ground pangolins (Manis temminckii), another creature believed to fall from the heavens, from whence they were sent by the ancestors, amanguluvi.