The Fate of a Materialistic Buddhist: A Cultural Editioin of "Jikininki" by Lafcadio Hearn

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 77-92
Author(s):  
Natali Cavanagh ◽  
Sarah James ◽  
Shannon Walter

Lafcadio Hearn has written and adapted many Japanese folktales that explore religious and cultural traditions of the civilization. "Jikininki" tells the tale of a Buddhist priest who encounters a cursed, corpse-eating ghost. The authors examine the depiction of this corpse-devouring moster, its relation to teh cultural forces in rural Japan, and the representation of a fear of losing both the global Zen Buddhist and rural traditions through selfish mistreament and material desires.

1997 ◽  
pp. 33-36
Author(s):  
Anatoliy Moskovchuk

Ukraine is the motherland of not only Ukrainians but also of many national minorities with different cultures and traditions. Ukraine is a Christian country in general, with non-Christian and non-Christian religions and confessional currents, along with traditional churches - Orthodox, Catholic, Protestant - rooted and actively developing non-traditional Ukrainian culture and spirituality. In Ukraine there is a complex process of spiritual revival, especially in the intellectual environment. Many are written and talk about the preservation of cultural heritage. Everywhere, monuments of architecture, art, which testify to the generally recognized historical contribution of Christianity to the development of spirituality and morality of the Ukrainian people, are restored. In our eyes, there are changes in social and religious relations.


2008 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 23-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Todd Lawson

This article highlights two features of Qur'anic style and content: duality/opposition and typological figuration, which can be seen as providing a continuous and consistent ‘narrative stream’ through the Qur'an. It is of some interest that both of these features have been singled out as distinctive of apocalypse as a genre in the study of numerous religious and cultural traditions. As debate on whether or not the Qur'an is a bona fide example of apocalyptic literature quietly continues, the interplay of conceptual and substantive oppositions and dualities is discussed in order to highlight the importance of this prominent feature to both the form and contents of the Book. It is suggested that its function is profoundly related to the typological figuration indispensable to the Qur'anic depiction of, for example, the character of the prophets and therefore prophethood. Whether or not this represents a genuine instance of apocalyptic literature, it nonetheless remains that the prominence of the motif renders the Qur'an susceptible of a reading expressive of something called an apocalyptic imagination. It is hoped that this article succeeds in demonstrating that in fact these apparently familiar subjects are stimulated to new life by considering them as defining, interlocking, structural elements of a distinctive Islamic apocalypse.


2004 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 198-221 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ala Al-Hamarneh

At least 50 per cent of the population of Jordan is of Palestinian origin. Some 20 per cent of the registered refugees live in ten internationally organized camps, and another 20 per cent in four locally organized camps and numerous informal camps. The camps organized by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) play a major role in keeping Palestinian identity alive. That identity reflects the refugees' rich cultural traditions, political activities, as well as their collective memory, and the distinct character of each camp. Over the past two decades integration of the refugees within Jordanian society has increased. This paper analyses the transformation of the identity of the camp dwellers, as well as their spatial integration in Jordan, and other historical and contemporary factors contributing to this transformation.


Author(s):  
Aleksey E. Shishkin

Relevance. The market-imposed system of consumerism overstepped the boundaries of bifurcation and entered into “legitimate rights” to abolish the living traditional world, thereby disturbing the balance in society and thereby signed the death sentence to itself. The problem of research. Exploring the possibilities of social reloading from consumerism to communitarianism to restore the balance of power in society. Scientific novelty and research results. Our novelty of research lies in the application of scientific tools to analyze a possible reload. We used the complementarity principle of N. Bohr, the principle of spontaneous emergence of I. Prigogine, the principle of incompatibility L. Zade, the principle of managing uncertainties, the principle of ignorance of individual opinions and collective ideas, the principle of conformity, the principle of diversity of development of a complex system, the principle of unity and mutual transitions, the principle oscillatory (pulsating) evolution – showed instability in the management of society by mondialist-compradors and a possible countdown of the transition from the sensual age to the ideation nnuyu, and in our case – from consumerism to communitarianism. The main purpose of the work. From the apparent modern triumph of consumerism over communitarianism, we are not interested in a fact-problem, but in the idea of transforming reality that can stop the process of obscuration. Discussion and Conclusion. In the Middle Ages, during the construction of the project “Holy Russia”, communities were created according to the principle of “big”. Around the devotee of piety, voluntary monastic settlements were created, which grew into suburbs. Of these, the ascetic-hesychast stood out, who went into the forest and chopped down a new temple. To the righteous people flocked, yearning for a just life. This is how a new community was created. There was a new prayer book and then the big man blessed him to organize other settlements. The state should be interested in finding new forms of solutions for educational, economic, technical, cultural and food programs, therefore the initiative of communitarianists should not be punished, but supported. Today, foreign investors are becoming owners of not only factories, but even entire branches of domestic industry and are able to significantly influence domestic politics in our country. The growing number of immigrants as a destabilizing factor is becoming increasingly important. In such a situation, the fate of the country depends on the ability of the people to a new unification. It is necessary to unite on the basis of religious and cultural traditions on the principle of professional fraternities; if only there would be more centers of spiritual culture, but not by the principle of quantity, as is always the case with officials, but by the qualitative qualification of the “big man” as a center of creative and integrative power. From the foregoing, the idea of building ideational (communitarian) cohorts is born, which, through their ascetic life and creative work, should set a new vector for historical development (“salt”) consumer society.


Author(s):  
Sergei M. Mironov ◽  
Vladimir B. Rushailo ◽  
Andrei E. Busygin

The International research conference “Rumyantsev readings–2009” held on April 21-23, 2009 in the Russian state library was attended by over 290 people from various cities and regions of Russia and from the state-participants CIS. The theme of Conference of this year was “Historical and cultural traditions and innovative transformations of Russia. Educational responsibility of libraries”. The conference presented a unique book project on the occasion of the 300th anniversary of M.V. Lomonosov – “Lomonosovskaya Library”.


Author(s):  
Valery P. Leonov ◽  
Tamara M. Gudima ◽  
Tamara I. Vilegzhanina

The International research conference “Rumyantsev readings— 2009” held on April 21—23, 2009 in the Russian State Library was attended by over 290 people from various cities and regions of Russia and from the state-participants CIS. The theme of Conference of this year was “Historical and cultural traditions and innovative transformations of Russia. Educational responsibility of libraries”. In the proceeding publication of materials of the Conference are presented the following themes: “On studying the connection between printed and digital books”, “The cultural potential of modern society and the possibility of its realization”, “Public Library of Ukraine in the information space”


Author(s):  
Roman S. Motulsky

Peculiarities of Belarus libraries' development in the context of political, religious and cultural traditions of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth are considered. It is told about history of monastic libraries, and also about private collections and libraries of educational institutions.


1991 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 307-316
Author(s):  
R. Hrair Dekmejian

Most of the world’s Muslims reside in countries where they are numericallypredominant. As such, these Muslims possess a majoritarian outlook in sharpcontrast to the perspective of minority Muslims living in India, China, theUSSR, and some Western countries. In recent years, Muslim minorities havefound themselves at the confluence of diverse social forces and politicaldevelopments which have heightened their sense of communal identity andapprehension vish-vis non-Muslim majorities. This has been particularlytrue of the crisis besetting the Indian Muslims in 1990-91 as well as the newlyformed Muslim communities in Western Europe.The foregoing circumstances have highlighted the need for serious researchon Muslim minorities within a comparative framework. What follows is apreliminary outline of a research framework for a comparative study of Muslimminorities using the Indian Muslims as an illustrative case.The Salience of TraditionOne of the most significant transnational phenomena in the four decadessince mid-century has been the revival of communal consciousness amongminorities in a large number of countries throughout the world. This tendencytoward cultural regeneration has been noted among such diverse ethnic groupsas Afro-Americans, French Canadians, Palestinian Arabs, the Scots of GreatBritain, Soviet minorities, and native Americans. A common tendency amongthese groups is to reach back to their cultural traditions and to explore thoseroots which have served as the historical anchors of their present communalexistence. Significantly, this quest for tradition has had a salutary impactupon the lives of these communities, for it has reinforced their collectiveand individual identities and has enabled them to confront the multipledifficulties of modem life more effectively. By according its members a sense ...


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