scholarly journals Historical Visuals and Reconstruction of Motion: A Gestalt Perspective on Medieval Fencing Iconography

2020 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 145-164
Author(s):  
Maciej Talaga ◽  
Harrison Ridgeway
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Subject Matter ◽  
Body Parts ◽  
Historical Sources ◽  
Material Source ◽  
Technical Literature ◽  
Functional Aspects ◽  
Material Reality ◽  
Crucial Information ◽  
The Subject

SummarySeveral subdisciplines within historiography, most notably the arms and armour or martial arts studies, are interested in inferring physical qualities of historical material objects from historical sources. Scholars from these fields face serious deficiency of written accounts when it comes to various crucial information regarding their subject matter. Therefore, researchers’ attention is often drawn to iconographical sources, sometimes resulting in certain fascination with the material culture depicted in primary technical literature (Fachliteratur). This tendency seems particularly strong in studies on HEMA which rely heavily on pre-modern combat treatises known as ‘fight books’ (Fechtbücher) and are tempted either to treat the available iconography as a faithful representation of its corresponding material reality or to interpret apparent mismatch between icono-graphical representations and their material source domain as evidence for the inferior skills of the illustrator.We would like to put forward that there is a fundamental oversight in such approach to Fachliteratur in general and fight books in particular, namely the lack of consideration for the artwork as a diagrammatic representation of the functional aspects of depicted embodied technique, where proportional ‘realism’ is of lesser priority. It may be fruitful to develop a more nuanced method of ‘reading’ such images. Our survey of select late-medieval fight books shows that equipment, and even body parts, are regularly distorted in their depictions in the fight books to better communicate the subject matter, especially where textual descriptions would be complicated. Interpreted in Gestalt terms, this phenomenon may serve as an example of historical pragmatic application of the cognitive principle of holism – that the whole is something different than the sum of its parts.

Material Culture

Buddhism ◽  
2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Kieschnick
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Art History ◽  
Religious Studies ◽  
Body Parts ◽  
Buddhist Art ◽  
Culture Studies ◽  
Traditional Art ◽  
Material Culture Studies ◽  
Textual Representations ◽  
The Subject

The study of material culture belongs to a relatively young discipline that examines artifacts as well as ideas about, and practices related to, artifacts, with artifacts defined as material objects created or modified by people. Aspects of research in material culture overlap with art history, archaeology, and anthropology, but studies in material culture approach the subject from a different perspective, focusing on areas not necessarily emphasized in these disciplines. Unlike traditional art history, material culture studies concentrate on the function of objects, devoting little attention to their aesthetic qualities, with more emphasis, for instance, on miracles associated with icons than on the style or iconography of icons; unlike traditional archaeology, material culture studies do not necessarily focus on extant artifacts, giving as much attention to references to objects in texts as to extant objects; and, unlike traditional anthropology, material culture studies often give great emphasis to historical development, often over vast expanses of time. While the field of material culture studies has flourished for decades, religious studies have been slow to recognize the importance of material things. Many areas of religion in which material culture plays a prominent role remain largely unexplored, including the place of objects in ritual, religious emotion, pilgrimage, and doctrine. Readers interested in the material culture of Buddhism will want to consult entries for Buddhist art, archaeology, and anthropology as well; in the entries below, the focus is on areas of material culture not necessarily emphasized in these disciplines as well as on studies within these disciplines that are especially relevant to the study of material culture. The term visual culture overlaps with much of what is considered material culture, but excludes objects associated with other senses, such as taste, smell, and touch, which are covered by the term material culture. The material culture approach is particularly well suited for exploring the qualities of particular classes of objects. What is it about relics as body parts that accounts for their appeal? Why are miracles so often associated with physical representations of holy figures and how do these differ from textual representations? How do clothing and food differ from language as a medium of communication? To highlight this aspect of research in Buddhist material culture, the scholarship listed below is divided according to type of object. At the same time, material culture studies also offer an opportunity to examine attitudes toward the material world as applied to a wide variety of objects normally separated by discipline. The doctrine of merit inspired the creation of a wide variety of different types of objects, and the monastic ideal of renunciation permeates many different areas of Buddhist material culture.

Materi Dalam Filsafat Pendidikan Islam

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 297-312
Author(s):  
Muhammad IWan Abdi
Keyword(s):  
Subject Matter ◽  
Educational Philosophy ◽  
Islamic Education ◽  
Critical Groups ◽  
Historical Source ◽  
Historical Sources ◽  
Basic Principles ◽  
Education Philosophy ◽  
Man And Nature ◽  
The Subject

Islamic education philosophy is an educational philosophy based on Quran and al-Sunnah as a source of Islamic teachings. In addition, Islamic education philosophy also adopts sources from others that are not contrary to Islamic teachings. Thus, the source of guidance for Islamic education philosophy consists of two categories: the source of normative and historical sources. Normative sources are sources derived from the Quran and al-Sunnah (nash); while the historical source is a thought about the philosophy of Islamic education adopted from outside of Islamic teachings. Thus, there are three schools in the philosophy of Islamic education: the liberal, conservative, and critical groups that combine the two earlier groups (sholih li kulli zaman wa makan). This paper will discuss the subject matter of Islamic education philosophy and the sources of the three groups of flow by discussing the elements contained in the teachings of Islam, such as God, man, and nature. The purpose of this paper is to provide an understanding that the basic principles contained therein can be applied in Islamic education

scholarly journals Social economy as a new challenge

2017 ◽  
Vol 20 (8) ◽  
pp. 41-52
Author(s):  
Janina Filek
Keyword(s):  
Subject Matter ◽  
Social Economy ◽  
Special Consideration ◽  
Historical Sources ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Subject

The article discusses the concept of the social economy. In the first part, some essential historical sources of the subject matter are described. The second part deals with the concept of social economy, taking into special consideration its definitional problems, founding values and characteristic principles as well as the dilemmas and difficulties connected with its implementation.

Material Culture in the Amateur Historical Associations of Early Nineteenth-Century Germany

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter N. Miller
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Material Culture ◽  
Subject Matter ◽  
The State ◽  
German History ◽  
Early Nineteenth Century ◽  
Material Sources ◽  
New Thinking ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Regional Associations

This chapter explores the ways amateur historical associations act as incubators of new thinking about how objects could tell stories. It draws from publications of German historical associations produced during the nineteenth century. Beginning in the first decade of the nineteenth century as a patriotic gesture and continuing for another fifty years, a new genre of German history flourished. It was often conducted at the scale of the region or territory, not the state, under the auspices of local historical associations and published in their newly created journals. In these regional associations, what had previously been a means to an end—material sources—became an end in itself: the subject matter of German history.

MATERI DALAM FILSAFAT PENDIDIKAN ISLAM

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 297-312
Author(s):  
Muhammad Iwan Abdi
Keyword(s):  
Subject Matter ◽  
Educational Philosophy ◽  
Islamic Education ◽  
Critical Groups ◽  
Historical Source ◽  
Historical Sources ◽  
Basic Principles ◽  
Education Philosophy ◽  
Man And Nature ◽  
The Subject

Islamic education philosophy is an educational philosophy based on Quran and al-Sunnah as a source of Islamic teachings. In addition, Islamic education philosophy also adopts sources from others that are not contrary to Islamic teachings. Thus, the source of guidance for Islamic education philosophy consists of two categories: the source of normative and historical sources. Normative sources are sources derived from the Quran and al-Sunnah (nash); while the historical source is a thought about the philosophy of Islamic education adopted from outside of Islamic teachings. Thus, there are three schools in the philosophy of Islamic education: the liberal, conservative, and critical groups that combine the two earlier groups (sholih li kulli zaman wa makan). This paper will discuss the subject matter of Islamic education philosophy and the sources of the three groups of flow by discussing the elements contained in the teachings of Islam, such as God, man, and nature. The purpose of this paper is to provide an understanding that the basic principles contained therein can be applied in Islamic education.

Children’s Graffiti in Roman Pompeii and Herculaneum

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine V. Huntley
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Subject Matter ◽  
Unique Type ◽  
Youth Organization ◽  
Roman World ◽  
Public Areas ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Enclosed Space

The realities of childhood in the Roman world have been difficult to access archaeologically, in part because Roman children lacked a distinctive material culture. The remains of Pompeii and Herculaneum have yielded a somewhat unique type of evidence for children’s lives: graffiti. The chapter will explore how the location and subject matter of the graffiti reveal the realities of children’s lives, including the activities they participated in, the things that interested them, and their relationships with caretakers and peers. The chapter will also look at public areas where children’s graffiti turn up, focusing in particular on Pompeii’s Grand Palaestra, an enclosed space associated with the city’s youth organization. Finally, trends in the subject matter of the children’s graffiti attest to some of the things children frequently encountered and that help particular interest for them.

The Criminal Body in Victorian Britain: The Case of The Ring and the Book

1990 ◽  
Vol 18 ◽  
pp. 73-93
Author(s):  
Mary Ellis Gibson
Keyword(s):  
Subject Matter ◽  
The Body ◽  
Historical Sources ◽  
Victorian Culture ◽  
Victorian Britain ◽  
Social Concerns ◽  
The Subject

“For the choice of subject we have nothing but condemnation. It is Mr Browning's luck” (Litzinger 331). Thus the reviewer for Chamber's Journal in 1869 summed up his reaction to the subject matter of Browning's The Ring and the Book. Indeed, this account of Browning's subject has seemed satisfactory to all but the biographically inclined of Browning's critics. Browning's subject—a grisly murder and its attendant trials—can easily enough be explained by reference to his account of discovering his historical sources in Book 1 of The Ring and the Book or by a general discussion of Browning's personal propensity for the criminal or the bizarre. I wish to argue here, however, that Browning's subject was not merely his “luck.” Rather it went to the heart of social concerns and fictional practices in England in the 1860s. I propose, not to offer an exhaustive new reading of the poem, but to show how we can see The Ring and the Book as embedded in Victorian responses to the criminal body. A focus on the body and crime can provide us with a significant new understanding of Browning's poem even as it offers us a new way to view that poem's connections to Victorian culture and to our own.

scholarly journals The Need for More Legal Materials for Better Understanding of Malware and Badware Threats in Malaysia

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 134-138
Author(s):  
Rizal Rahman
Keyword(s):  
Subject Matter ◽  
Practical Approach ◽  
Technical Literature ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Legal Understanding

Abstract This article examines the literature surrounding malware and badware in Malaysia. While there have been numerous technical literature on the subject matter, there is no sufficient materials to cater to the legal understanding. The articles seeks to find the reasons behind this problem and propose a practical approach to it.

Creativity, spirituality and society: a study in preservation of Ikenga and Ọfọ sculptures in contemporary Igbo society

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mathias Chukwudi Isiani ◽  
Ngozika Anthonia Obi-Ani ◽  
Chikelue Chris Akabuike ◽  
Stanley Jachike Onyemechalu ◽  
Sochima P. Okafor ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Material Culture ◽  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
Subject Matter ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Secondary Sources ◽  
The Past ◽  
The World ◽  
The Subject

PurposeThe overall aim of this research is to interpret Ikenga and Ofo creativity as it is revered in Igbo societies. Igbo creativity, especially interpreted through material culture, suffers the threat of extinction resulting from the forces of modernity. Forces of modernisation, which appear in the personae of Christianity, education, urbanisation and industrialisation, denigrated indigenous creativity, brandishing them as devious, fetish and primitive. Ironically, in most cases, the drivers of such narratives keep these “fetish” items in their museums and will give a lot to preserve them.Design/methodology/approachThis study centred mostly on several communities in the Nsukka area of Igboland, Nigeria. It relied on both primary and secondary sources of historical enquiry. This qualitative research discussed the nuances of the subject matter as it relates to Igbo cosmos. These approaches involved visiting the study area and conducting personal interviews.FindingsArchaeologists do often rely on material culture to study, periodise and date past human societies. In this study, it is found that material culture, an expression of indigenous creativity, best interprets how society survived or related with their environment. This paper examined two Igbo sculpted artefacts – Ikenga and Ofo – while unearthing the intricacies in Igbo cosmology as regards creativity, spirituality and society.Originality/valueThe shapes, motifs, patterns and designs depict an imaginary history, the intellectualism of the past and even the present. This serves as an objective alternative to the twisted colonial narrative on Igbo material culture and consequently contribute to ongoing efforts to preserve, protect and promote cultural heritage resources in this part of the world.

scholarly journals Super-Material Culture: Thinking Through a New Discourse of Ruins

eTopia ◽  
2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alysse Kushinski
Keyword(s):  
Built Environment ◽  
Material Culture ◽  
Subject Matter ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Architecture Theory ◽  
A Site ◽  
Material Form ◽  
Looking Back ◽  
The Way

The discourse on ruins, like ruins themselves, is fragmented and dispersed. Representing both decay and what remains, the ruins’ relationship to temporality is complicated—they can be construed as means for both looking back, as well as looking towards the future. The recent resurgence of literature and theory on the subject matter is consolidating existing work and defining new lines of inquiry. This article investigates the current discourse on ruins through three recent texts. Significant to them all is the dialectical nature of the ruin as both the absence of, and endurance of, material form. All three texts consider ruins through the lens of the built environment and problematize classic conceptions of ruination in consideration of the contemporary moment. Looking at ruination through architecture theory provides a contrast to the romantic accounts of ruins that originally defined the discourse. Through these texts we can see certain limitations of the discourse of ruins, but also visible are nuanced approaches that redefine the ruin as more than just a site or object, but also a set of processes that reflect our relationships to material culture and the built environment. To this I assert a necessity to reconfigure the way we de ne ruins in light of the contemporary moment. The discourse of ruins, while still speaking through earlier tropes of a fragmented ruin studies, is no longer just a survey of the subject of the ruin—it is becoming a mode through which we evaluate the changing nature of our relationship to material culture. KEYWORDS: Ruins, Ruination, Architecture, Super-materiality, Waste 

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document