scholarly journals Towards an Ecological Catholicism: Marian Pilgrimage in the Anthropocene

Religions ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (12) ◽  
pp. 416
Author(s):  
Sarah Traylor

This article analyzes how the author and environmental activist Carl Amery draws together the topics of Catholicism and ecological criticism in the pilgrimage novel Die Wallfahrer, or The Pilgrims (1986). The novel depicts the journeys of four pilgrims to the Marian shrine at Tuntenhausen in Bavaria. In their journeys towards the surprising and unorthodox Virgin Mary of Tuntenhausen, the pilgrims anticipate their ultimate journey towards Gaia, the earth goddess in Greek mythology, and the inspiration for the Gaia Hypothesis, which proposes that the Earth evolves as a system in which organisms are an active, fundamental component. This article explores how the novel recasts the pilgrim journey as a journey towards an ecological consciousness of humans’ creatureliness and increasingly detrimental impact on the web of life. Particular focus is placed on the way Amery dramatizes the connection between salvation history and the Gaia theory that has lately received renewed interest in the context of the Anthropocene debate.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Renate C.-Z.-Quehenberger

<p><span>The Gaia hypothesis as an ecological hypothesis is proposing that the biosphere and the physical components of the Earth (atmosphere, cryosphere, hydrosphere and lithosphere) are closely integrated to form a complex interacting system that maintains the climatic and biogeochemical conditions on Earth in a preferred homeostasis. Although successful within the current scientific paradigm the explanation of „planetary sentience, or sensitivity“ becomes extremely difficult. As Hegel said, pure truth about nature is only perceivable by a poetic method.</span></p><p><span>Therefor we are proclaiming Gaia, the Earth as a female artist -- as advocated by 16th century scholar Giordano Bruno. This would imply to include such nonscientific categories as beauty, creativity and cosmic consciousness. Hence a unified Gaia theory would require a new scientific paradigm.</span></p><p><span>Based on a previously proposed higher dimensional spacial model  (Gaia 5.0) as „pattern that connects“ that explains the Earth’ intrinsic dynamics we aim to extend<span>  </span>our concept to the question of cognition and planetary sentience, or sensitivity. </span></p><p><span>Hence we claim that  Gaia theory needs an extension of categories in order to understand the full scope of this spectacular place of livelihood and beauty. </span></p><p><span>Therefor we examine he prevalent relational biology that tries to overcome Newtonian point mechanics by relying on Aristotle’s „formal causes“ of the autopoietic organization and (M,R)-system as conceptualized by R. Rosen who refers to a mathematical structure, e.g. mapping of functions. Distinct to differential geometry we suggest as previously introduced higher dimensional geometrical framework (Gaia 5.0) a hyper-Euclidean geometry that allows to understand complex systems based on group theory providing all kinds of symmetries in nature based on a spacial continuum. </span></p><p><span>As a consequence we must not rely on thermodynamic premisses and life and tornados don’t belong to the same class of naturally complex systems. Instead we refer to Schrödinger’s description of a living cell as 4-dimensional entity. Based on complex number spaces we may seek<span>  </span>for further distinctions of processes and define ordered structures based on number theory.</span></p><p><span>Based on this we try to understand anticipatory systems by assigning Bayesian networks to (hyper-) complex number spaces. -- Hence Gaia is not playing dice but takes a <em>random walk in Monte Carlo</em>.</span></p>


Author(s):  
J.E. Lovelock

I am pleased and honoured to have been asked to give the first of the lectures in memory of Dr Leslie Cooper. I was especially moved by the thought that the invitation was made knowing that I should almost certainly choose Gaia as the topic of my lecture. I know that many of you, especially biologists, think that the Gaia hypothesis is either trivial and untestable or else a mere reiteration of conventional wisdom in poetic terms. Hardly a topic with which to commemorate Leslie Cooper's memory.You will be relieved to know that although Gaia is the theme of my talk, I shall try not to be overly partisan or dogmatic. My objective is to use Gaia theory to illustrate a top-down approach to earth and life science and try to contrast it with the bottom-up approach which is conventional in the earth and life sciences.


Author(s):  
Charles Dickens ◽  
Dennis Walder

Dombey and Son ... Those three words conveyed the one idea of Mr. Dombey's life. The earth was made for Dombey and Son to trade in, and the sun and moon were made to give them light.' The hopes of Mr Dombey for the future of his shipping firm are centred on his delicate son Paul, and Florence, his devoted daughter, is unloved and neglected. When the firm faces ruin, and Dombey's second marriage ends in disaster, only Florence has the strength and humanity to save her father from desolate solitude. This new edition contains Dickens's prefaces, his working plans, and all the original illustrations by ‘Phiz’. The text is that of the definitive Clarendon edition. It has been supplemented by a wide-ranging Introduction, highlighting Dickens's engagement with his times, and the touching exploration of family relationships which give the novel added depth and relevance.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 258-265
Author(s):  
Mohammad Hamad

Water in Arabic literature has literal and symbolic meanings. Water is one of the four elements in Greek mythology; life would be impossible without water and it is a synonym for life; life originated in water. Springs, wells, rain, seas, snow, and swamps are all associated with water. Each form of water may take on a different manifestation of the original from which it comes about. Arabic literature employs the element of water in poetry, the short story, and the novel. We find it in titles of poems: Unshudat al-matar (Hymn of the Rain) and Waj’ al-ma’ (The Pain of Water); and novels: Dhakirat al-ma’ (The Memory of Water); Taht al-matar (Under the Rain); Matar huzayran (June Rain); Al-Bahr khalf al-sata’ir (The Seas Behind the Curtains); Rahil al-bahr (Departure of the Sea); and many others. This study aims to answer the following questions: How does the element of water manifest in Arabic literature? What are the semantics and symbolism of the different forms of water in the literary imaginary? The study refers to six different significations for water in classical and modern Arabic literature: water as synonymous with life, purity and the revelation of truth, separation and death, fertility and sex, land and homeland, and talent and creativity.


Author(s):  
Ekaterina V. Vasiljeva ◽  

The study is devoted to the analysis of methods and techniques of mythologization in the novel The Ground Beneath Her Feet written by the British author of Indian origin S. Rushdie. The paper explores the narrative organization of the novel, in which images and motifs of ancient mythology are used as a special code for artistic interpretation of European culture of the second half of the 20th century. The article examines the artistic reality of the novel, which combines the modern history of rock culture and classical mythology of Ancient Greece. S. Rushdie addresses problems related to the nature of creativity using as the main plot-forming motifs such mythologemes as the love story of Orpheus and Eurydice, the myth of alldevouring Tartarus, twin myths. The study shows that a typical technique for creating expressive threedimensional multivocal images in Rushdie's novel is a combination of real facts from the world of rock culture and mythological allusions, intertwining, overlapping and collision of various motifs and plots of Greek mythology, which, taken all together, generates the original artistic reality. The article analyzes how the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice acquires a cultural dimension in the novel and what techniques are used by the author to activate the extensive cultural memory of the Orphic myth. The concentration and interpretation of iconic images and motifs of ancient mythology are used in the novel for artistic analysis of the state of culture in the second half of the 20th century and of its attempts to counter the catastrophic tendencies of destruction and death of the modern civilization.


2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 138
Author(s):  
Yustria Handika Siregar ◽  
Mardiana Nainggolan

Abstract - Developments in information technology, especially information systems have brought convenience that promises a work efficiency. For example geographic information system is a tool with a computer system that is used to map conditions and events that occur on the face of the earth is a system that is helpful in providing and presenting information needed by users. The development especially in the aspect of environmental needs in order to overcome or reduce the impact of disasters in the Sumatran region, and by improving the performance of the BPBD, it is necessary to have a GIS-based information system that can show BPBD disaster points that already exist in North Sumatra. With the existence of map information, especially in the web system, it is expected to provide fast and accurate information, especially knowing the exact location of the disaster. thus facilitating the work of officers in providing disaster information at the head office. Keywords - Geographic Information Systems, Mapping, Web. 


Author(s):  
Mirzaeva Aziza Shavkatovna ◽  

World literature of XX century has experienced the great influence of postmodermism, which resulted in diversity of styles and refusal of well-known structures and forms. One of the most widely used stylistic devices, characterizing the features of postmodernism, is intertextuality. Appearing only in recent years, intertext become widespread with its own forms, such as allusion, quote and reminiscence. And the novel “Percy Jackson” b y American writer Rick Riordan seems to be an example of the use of intertext-allusion within the work. 12-year-old boy, Percy Jackson, becomes the part of adventeruos, danderous and exciting world of Ancient Greek Gods, legends, myths and heroes. This work tries to study and analyse the importance of allusion to understand the idea of the writer and interpret the used allusions in the first book of Riordan “Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief”.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giovanni Spissu

In the novel The Rings of Saturn (1995), the German writer W. G. Sebald recounts his solitary journey to the town of Suffolk (UK) at the end of his years, while he also reflects on some of the dramatic events that shaped World War II and his personal memories. In this work, he takes on a particular narrative tactic defined by the interaction between the text and images that creates a special type of montage in which he seems to draw from cinematic language. I argue that, drawing on Sebald’s work, we can imagine a form of ethnographic observation that involves the creation of a cinematic map through which to explore the memories and imagination of individuals in relation to places where they live. I explore the day-to-day lived experiences of unemployed people of Sulcis Iglesiente, through their everyday engagement with, and situated perceptions of, their territory. I describe the process that led me to build Moving Lightly over the Earth, a cinematic map of Sulcis Iglesiente through which I explored how women and men in the area who lost their jobs as a result of the process of its deindustrialization give specific meaning to the territory, relating it to memories of their past and hopes and desires for the future.


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