scholarly journals Aldous Huxley’s Poetry of Silence

2012 ◽  
Vol 21 (26) ◽  
pp. 59-70
Author(s):  
Maxim Shadurski
Keyword(s):  
Technological Progress ◽  
Spiritual Awakening ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Social Reconstruction ◽  
Life And Death ◽  
Cultural Climate ◽  
The World ◽  
Utopian Thought ◽  
Specific Concept ◽  
The Universe

Utopian thought, conventionally seeking to harmonize the world, witnessed an essential revision in the 20th century. This period of grand political and social upheavals, world wars, an arms race, scientific and technological progress, ecological concerns, and globalization radically undermined mankind’s faith in the humanistic potential of utopian projects. However, in Aldous Huxley’s writings, the intention to summon up a utopian experiment superseded any agonies of doubt about programmes of social reconstruction. Huxley turned to utopia when mass distrust in the constructive impulse of the genre had become notable in the socio-cultural climate. In Huxley’s last novel, Island (1962), “the poetry of silence” can be seen to render an optimistic response to the unholy state of the world.This article examines the novel’s lyrical interspersions, which arguably create a specific concept of silence through a series of thematic explorations comprising the ideas of noiselessness, speechlessness, and peace. The idea of noiselessness endorses a form of overcoming the world’s invincible cacophony. This kind of omnipotent dissonance can be diminished only by a supernatural power which integrates man’s disparate relationships with the universe. Like Nature for Wordsworth, Huxley’s image of the noiseless movement of the world unveils an image of unity to those who bring with them “a heart that watches and receives.” The idea of speechlessness surfaces in the lyrical fragments of the novel that touch upon intuition. Intuitive discoveries lie at the heart of a religion unfettered from dogma, and allow access to the perennial wisdom which becomes “suddenly visible” through the act of elevation to the summit of the universe. The idea of peace is placed outside the conventional frame of existential discrepancies. For this reason, the image of Shiva is meant to transcend the opposition of life and death. As long as Shiva dances simultaneously in all the planes of reality, the Palanese can learn from him how to exist in non-attachment. The acceptance of the world’s entropic progression checked by the poetry of silence leads the protagonist to a spiritual awakening and stirs his empathy for the utopian order realized in Pala.The poetry of silence embraces the beauty of the world which comes into existence from what Huxley calls a “pregnant emptiness.” The mystery of this creation cannot be subjected to any scientific, philosophical, or even theological systems of reference. One may only sense this mystery without reasoning. Wisdom converges with the skyin emptiness, dubbed “the womb of love,” and creates a universe from the poetry of silence. In Island, utopian thought, traditionally focusing on the regular patterns of a perfect society and state, attains a mystical profile promoted by the poetry of silence.

scholarly journals East in the Creative Mind of B. Volkov

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 264-280
Author(s):  
E. N. Proskurina ◽  
Keyword(s):  
San Francisco ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Lao Tzu ◽  
Creative Mind ◽  
Life And Death ◽  
The World ◽  
Object Of Study

The article is devoted to the images and motives of the East in the poetry of the author of the Eastern emigration Boris Volkov (1894, Ekaterinburg – 1954, San Francisco). The work of this poet, writer, publicist is still unknown to the domestic reader, although during his lifetime he had a fairly wide publication geography: from Harbin to San Francisco. However, his works were never reprinted, and the manuscript of the novel “The Kingdom of the Golden Buddhas” is considered lost. The analysis involved Volkov’s book of poems “In the dust of foreign roads”, published in Berlin in 1934. Of its four parts, the oriental flavor is especially distinct in the first. Individual works of this part constituted the object of study of this article. The autobiographical substrate of Volkov’s poetry is revealed, the intersection of motives and imagery with the poetic world of Gumilyov is shown. The influence of the Eastern world, its philosophical teachings on the creative worldview of Volkov is investigated. In his poetic thinking, traces of Sufism, Islam, and the philosophy of Lao Tzu are palpable. Exotic images of China and Mongolia weave an intricate pattern in the first cycles of the book, integrating into the depicted biographical circumstances and expanding their semantic palette. “Alien” is trying hard to become “ours” at the level of a philosophical attitude to the world and the fate of the poet himself. He is close to the poetic attitude of the inhabitants of the East to life and death, based on ancient traditions and customs. The poems reflect the confusion of the experiences of the lyrical hero, warrior and wanderer, who has found a place in life as a result of an action-packed duel with fate.

scholarly journals Transitional Rites in Pre-Dynastic and Early Dynastic Egypt

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (11) ◽  
pp. 387-407
Keyword(s):  
Social Status ◽  
World Order ◽  
Marital Relations ◽  
High Position ◽  
Life And Death ◽  
Ancient Egyptian ◽  
Early Dynastic ◽  
The World ◽  
Egyptian Culture ◽  
The Universe

Mythopoetic thinking operates on a binary principle, classifying all the phenomena of the macro- and microcosm. The opposition between cosmos and chaos, in other words, between life and non-being, was fundamental. Spaces assimilated by culture, an ordered world, symbolized by various images: a pillar, a mountain, a temple, a dwelling, was conceived as the center of the universe, which was opposed by chaos that threatened order. These ideas about the world order were actualized in the sphere of ritual, designed to preserve the order created in the first times by the ancestors and gods. The repetition of the original myth in the ritual was supposed to restore, renew the world order in the cyclical movement of time. This applied both to the general Egyptian holidays, such as the New Year, and to the initiations that members of society took place at one stage or another of the development of Ancient Egyptian culture. Transitional rites had two aspects: age and social. When passing the initiation, the members of the collective increased their social status, became initiated, moving from adolescence to marital relations, increasing their status in the collective. A special position was occupied by leaders and kings, who confirmed their high position in society during the holiday sd. Funerals were also considered transitional rites. Transitional rituals united ideas about such opposites as life and death, which was equated with the loss of a person's previous social status. An indispensable attribute of rituals was sacrifice, and not only bloody of animals, but also sacrifice with ancient ritual objects during the construction of temples on the site of ancient sanctuaries. Notable examples have been associated with the kings in charge of the prosperity of Egypt.

Mărul, funcții și valențe simbolice

2017 ◽  
Vol 31 ◽  
pp. 76-92
Author(s):  
Marius Ciprian Pop ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Traditional Culture ◽  
Greek Mythology ◽  
Life And Death ◽  
The World ◽  
The One ◽  
Folk Tradition ◽  
The Universe ◽  
Axis Mundi

In the universal beliefs, there are over twenty species of sacred trees considered as the center of the universe, ‘axis mundi’, and the apple is among the trees of these species. In our traditional culture, the apple has a bivalent symbolism magically and Christian religiously, representing the aspect of interdiction and only of reward. As a reflection of the influence of the Greek mythology, one also could find it as a symbol of love, ecstasy, fertility and abundance. According to the belief that each man has a correspondent in the vegetal world, the apple becomes “tree of destiny” accompanying the terrestrial existence in the following stages: birth, marriage, death. From birth the baby accompanies his life with its planting tree in the farmstead yard, and it will support the good way of his life, the one of passing to the world beyond. The multitude and the diversity of the customs and of the passage rituals clearly support the showed statements. It is also necessary to mention the symbolic, juridical valence that apple has in understanding the ancient mythology found in the dispute on the theme of beauty of the Gods Hera, Aphrodite and Athens, known as ‘the marriage of discord’, which defines this aspect. The complementarity of the apple with the fir tree, which is always seconded, is specific to our folk tradition in the context in which both trees have important roles in the mythology of life and death. The space of carols is often marked by the existence of a cosmic tree, the apple of the fir tree, which sums up much of the spiritual activities of our people. Like the fir tree, which is evergreen, the apple, which is preserved as a fruit over the winter, it becomes a symbol of the eternal longing seen in the wishes of passing between years, and as a symbol of fertility, one can find the apple ‘in the breast’ or in the incantation ‘White Apple Flowers’. Therefore, as a reflection of the solar cult, the apple is a landmark in the millennial existence of our nation.

MISQUOTING SOPHOCLES’ OEDIPVS TYRANNVS. A NEW PROOF OF THE INAUTHENTICITY OF PS.-ARISTOTLE, ON THE COSMOS

2018 ◽  
Vol 68 (2) ◽  
pp. 733-735
Author(s):  
Manuel Galzerano
Keyword(s):  
Capital Punishment ◽  
Latin Translation ◽  
Greek City ◽  
Life And Death ◽  
Perfect Order ◽  
The World ◽  
The Law ◽  
The Stability ◽  
The City ◽  
The Universe

Chapters 6 and 7 of the pseudo-Aristotelian treatise On the Cosmos (Περὶ κόσμου = De mundo) display ‘a series of well-crafted and carefully organized analogies’ in order to represent the power of god pervading the whole universe. The last analogy (400b14–28), which is by far the most important in this section, compares the rule of god over the world to the rule of the law in a Greek city (ὁ τῆς πόλεως νόμος). As shown by the author in the previous analogies, the perfect order of the universe is the result of the continuous creation and dissolution of single things: this process—based upon the harmony of opposites—is the keystone of the eternity and equilibrium of our world. Similarly, the law is the unmoved (ἀκίνητος) mover of every activity and experience in the city: both positive and negative situations involving single citizens contribute to the supreme order and stability of the city. Positive examples include the activity of rulers, officials and members of the assemblies (ἄρχοντες, θεσμοθέται, βουλευταί, ἐκκλησιασταί), whereas negative examples include those who go to trial defending themselves (ὁ δὲ πρὸς τοὺς δικαστὰς ἀπολογησόμενος) and those who are imprisoned and destined to capital punishment (ὁ δὲ εἰς τὸ δεσμωτήριον ἀποθανούμενος). In spite of their difference, all of these actions are due to one single order (κατὰ μίαν πρόσταξιν), that is, the civic law, which ensures the stability of the city. To stress and illustrate this concordia discors, which characterizes both the city and the universe, the author of the treatise closes the passage with a quotation from Sophocles’ Oedipus Tyrannus (lines 4–5):πόλις δ' ὁμοῦ μὲν θυμιαμάτων γέμει,ὁμοῦ δὲ παιάνων τε καὶ στεναγμάτωνThe author reads these verses as a perfect example of a context characterized by opposite situations: in fact, the city is full of paeans (παιάνων), which are interpreted as ‘songs of joy and relief’, and, at the same time, it is also full of laments and mourns (στεναγμάτων). The same interpretation can be found in the Latin translation of the treatise, which gives even more emphasis to the opposition between life and death: uideasque illam ciuitatem pariter spirantem Panchaeis odoribus et graueolentibus caenis, resonantem hymnis et carminibus et canticis, eandem etiam lamentis et ploratibus heiulantem.

scholarly journals INNOVATION, IMITATION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP

2006 ◽  
Vol 51 (02) ◽  
pp. 147-173 ◽  
Author(s):  
GRACE LI ANN YONG ◽  
KONG WENG HO
Keyword(s):  
Technological Progress ◽  
Threshold Level ◽  
Technological Advancement ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Skilled Workers ◽  
Technological Paradigm ◽  
Technological Structure ◽  
The World ◽  
Important Input ◽  
The Brain

This paper analyzes the gradual shift in the technological paradigm of an economy as it approaches the world technology frontier. The model developed in this paper consists of firms which employ skilled workers as an important input in technological advancement, but the novel feature here is the entrepreneur, who is the brain of technological progress. The entrepreneur has to decide to undertake either imitative or innovative activities, of which decision both affects and is affected by the country's distance to frontier. Specifically, the entrepreneur needs to have a minimum ability threshold level in order to carry out innovation. This endogenous threshold level falls as the economy moves closer to the technological frontier, enabling more entrepreneurs to be engaged in an innovation-based strategy, and consequently, moving the economy from a technological structure that is based on imitation of foreign technologies to one where domestic innovation dominates. The transitional dynamics of the model shows that there exists a steady state distance from the world frontier that countries will eventually converge to. We also find that it is possible for countries under certain conditions, to be trapped in a regime carrying out only imitation of world technologies.

scholarly journals SPACE AND TIME RELATIONSHIP IN METAPHYSICAL PAINTINGS OF THE 20TH CENTURY

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (71) ◽  
Keyword(s):  
20Th Century ◽  
Space Time ◽  
Time And Space ◽  
Life And Death ◽  
Making Sense ◽  
Social Events ◽  
Time Space ◽  
The World ◽  
The Universe

Metaphysics, which deals with concepts such as existence, existentialism, space and god in its general content, is a branch of philosophy. It sought answers to questions related to these concepts through methods and perspectives different from science. The reason for all these questions is the effort to define the universe. Metaphysical philosophy has been the search for a solution to helplessness caused by the uncertainties caused throughout the history by life and death. Perspectives developed in parallel with the perception of the period have also shaped the questions and propositions. All these metaphysical approaches do not contain a definition that is independent of time and space. Time and space, as one of the most fundamental problematics of metaphysics, are accepted as the most important elements in placing and making sense of the human into the universe. In this context, metaphysics, which has a transphysical perspective as well as the accepted scientific expansions of real and reality, was mostly visible in the field of art rather than science. The aim of this article is to analyze the role of metaphysical philosophy in the emergence of metaphysical art in the context of the effects of social events, especially the destructions and disappointments caused by the world wars in the 20th century, on the artists and the reflections of the existential inquiries related to this. Furthermore this study includes definitions and processes of metaphysics. The works of Giorgio de Chirico and Carlo Carra have been interpreted in terms of form and content within the scope of metaphysics by considering the concepts of time-space. Keywords: Metaphysics, Space, Time, Metaphysical Art

scholarly journals Fairy tale — myth — logos in the poetics of G. Yakhina`s novel “Children of mine”

2021 ◽  
Vol 59 ◽  
pp. 237-247
Author(s):  
Nadezhda I. Pavlova
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Memory ◽  
Fairy Tale ◽  
Narrative Structure ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Main Character ◽  
Soviet History ◽  
Life And Death ◽  
The Past ◽  
The World ◽  
Different Levels

The article is to study a mythological subtext of the novel “Children of mine” by G. Yakhina, which appeared at different levels: composition, plot, construction of the system of characters ' images. Main character of the novel, Jacob Bach, and his beloved Clara are reunited into a single whole, not only as lovers, but also as representatives of two interrelated and complementary principles of German culture-folklore and literature. The interaction of this pair of heroes should be considered in this symbolic context. Thus, the novel develops a fundamentally significant for its conception motif of prophecy, which implies a subtext about the creation of the world-Logos, which is further developed in the narrative, when the image of the main character fulfills the function of guardian of the cultural memory of the Volga Germans. At the same time, the act of creativity is synonymous with creation, which allows us to grasp in a complex novel whole the repeatability of components of a closed cycle of “myth-life”, fully realized in its narrative structure. Mythological world surrounding Bach is in opposition to the space of Soviet history, embodied in the image of the agitator Hoffmann. There is an inverted picture of the world: historical world as dead and the world of culture as a living world. Thus, in the novel, the poles of life and death exchange places in relation to the present and the past. In view of this conception, one can read a deep intention of the writer representing the word of culture as giving immortality and life in eternity.

scholarly journals Kai hea kai hea te pū o te mate? Reclaiming the power of pūrākau

Te Kaharoa ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Pouwhare
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Oral Traditions ◽  
Body Parts ◽  
Life And Death ◽  
The World ◽  
The Universe

The pūrākau our ancestors told about the universe and our place within it have been bowdlerised through the process of colonisation. These narratives, as they were transmitted over generations, were transformed by the European settlers, missionaries and educators, from ‘myths’ – oral traditions imbued with the power of the sacred – into ‘fables’ and ‘folktales’. As such, they have largely been neutered of their epistemological power, and their role in sustaining our culture has been substantially diminished. For example, in its original iterations, the ancient story of Māui in which his quest for immortality was foiled by the Tīrairaka contained a fundamental lesson: Māui dies in the act of penetrating Hine-nui-te-pō; from the sex act comes both new life and the sure knowledge of mortality; women are a source of power, life and death. In translation, this story was sanitised; in particular, the description of Māui’s fatal entrance as a lizard into Hine-nui-te-pō’s vagina, were euphemised and displaced, shifted to less controversial body parts. In my paper and presentation, I propose strategies for restoring the power of performance of our pūrākau through the reclamation of the act of storytelling in diverse media. In making new platforms for performing these old stories, we can revitalise the Reo and tikanga, and in so doing reconnect ourselves and our young people to the world that our tīpuna created.

scholarly journals RUSSIAN OPINION ON THE KAZAKH ISSUE. WAY OF LIFE AND EXISTENCE IN THE STORY «WHITE CELESTIAL BUTTERFLIES» BY R. OTARBAYEV

2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (80) ◽  
pp. 75-80
Author(s):  
M.A. Dudareva ◽  
◽  
V.V. Nikitina
Keyword(s):  
Literary Work ◽  
Way Of Life ◽  
Life And Death ◽  
National Image ◽  
National Space ◽  
Primary Element ◽  
The World ◽  
Training Courses ◽  
Cis Countries ◽  
The Universe

The research object is the Kazakh national image of the world, namely the Kazakh people’s idea of the life and death. The research subject is the symbolic meaning of the story “White Celestial Butterflies” from the cycle “Gifts from China” by Rakhimzhan Otarbayev. The research material is the artistic legacy of the modern Kazakh writer. The ethos of life and death in the story are hermeneutically reconstructed. Much attention is paid to the folklore and Sufi traditions in the literary work, which were expressed both explicitly and implicitly. The research methodology is reduced to a holistic ontohermeneutic analysis aimed at highlighting the folklore, ethnographic paradigm of the literary text. Much attention is paid to the musical code in the story, since in Kazakh culture, music is the primary element from which the universe, the world tree emerges. Parallels are drawn with the Russian national space, in which one of the leading codes, national constants is also a tree embodying the functions of the world axis. The research results are in identifying the cultural potential of the story by the modern Kazakh writer for further research on the national topic of Kazakhstan. The results can also be used in training courses on the culture and literature of the peoples of Russia and the CIS countries, culturology, philosophy.

scholarly journals GOD APPEARS IN ALL: JULIAN BARNES’ A HISTORY OF THE WORLD IN 10½ CHAPTERS

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-26
Author(s):  
Pradeepa M ◽  
Shobha Ramaswamy
Keyword(s):  
Jesus Christ ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Julian Barnes ◽  
Presence Of God ◽  
The World ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Universe

The creator of nature, the God is the Father of all, the Creator of the Universe and the Supreme Deity.He is also the Father of Jesus Christ and Saviour to His followers. God is seen in many ways, through miacles, such as the appearance of the butterfly when a crew is desperately lost at sea, the rainbow as a covenant toNoah, the actions of the raven and the dove. The present paper focuses on the presence of God in The History of the World in 10½ Chapters by the contemporary British novelist, Julian Patrick Barnes. The novel with ten and a half chapters represents the trust and faith towards the Supreme Power by means of water. Barnesrefers Him directly, indirectly or through the use of metaphor in every story of the novel. The paper draws attention on the actions of the God in the chapters of the novel with regard to nature.

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