Language, government and the play on purity and impurity: Arabic, Swahili and the vernaculars in Kenya

2002 ◽  
pp. 239-257
Keyword(s):  
Purity And Impurity

Rangda and the Goddess Durga in Bali

2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 50-77
Author(s):  
Sarah Weiss
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Binary Opposition ◽  
Dynamic Relationship ◽  
The Witch ◽  
Purity And Impurity ◽  
Good And Evil ◽  
Negative Attributes ◽  
The Way

This article examines Rangda and her role as a chthonic and mythological figure in Bali, particularly the way in which Rangda’s identity has intertwined with that of the Hindu goddess Durga— slayer of buffalo demons and other creatures that cannot be bested by Shiva or other male Hindu gods. Images and stories about Durga in Bali are significantly different from those found in Hindu contexts in India. Although she retains the strong-willed independence and decision-making capabilities prominently associated with Durga in India, in Bali the goddess Durga is primarily associated with violent and negative attributes as well as looks and behaviours that are more usually associated with Kali in India. The reconstruction of Durga in Bali, in particular the integration of Durga with the figure of the witch Rangda, reflects the local importance of the dynamic relationship between good and bad, positive and negative forces in Bali. I suggest that Balinese representations of Rangda and Durga reveal a flux and transformation between good and evil, not simply one side of a balanced binary opposition. Transformation—here defined as the persistent movement between ritual purity and impurity—is a key element in the localization of the goddess Durga in Bali.

Purity and Impurity in Judaism. Taboo Foods and the Kashrut Laws

2017 ◽  
Vol 22 ◽  
pp. 137-157
Author(s):  
Ella Stiniguță Laslo ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Purity And Impurity

“What Else Should I Do?” Cultural Influences on the Drug Trade of Migrants in Germany

2007 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 673-697 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandra M. Bucerius
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Influences ◽  
Young Male ◽  
Ethnographic Research ◽  
Drug Trade ◽  
Economic Rationality ◽  
Drug Dealing ◽  
Frankfurt Am Main ◽  
Distinct Concept ◽  
Purity And Impurity ◽  
Over Time

The article is based on ethnographic research in Frankfurt am Main/Germany with young male migrants who are involved in drug dealing. The aim is to give an account of the mechanisms, values, and self-constructions that influence the dealers, e.g., in their choice of substances dealt, their display of violence, how they neutralize contradicting values, etc. Moreover, changes in the studied milieu that have occurred over time will be examined. Most interesting seems the fact that the subjects' cultural background has a greater impact on their business than economic rationality, the “seductions of crime” or the “search of respect.” Their distinct concept of purity and impurity, honor and dishonor, and their morality regarding the choice of substances seem particularly interesting and influence their behavior in the market.

Purity and Danger in Fin-de-Siècle Culture: A Psycho-historical Interpretation of Wagner, Stoker and Zola

Tekstualia ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (63) ◽  
pp. 7-22
Author(s):  
Arnold Labrie
Keyword(s):  
Political Change ◽  
Bram Stoker ◽  
Identity Crisis ◽  
Cultural Reform ◽  
Historical Interpretation ◽  
Mary Douglas ◽  
Religious Meaning ◽  
Purity And Impurity ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Formal Distinction

According to the anthropologist Mary Douglas, the quest for purity is usually accompanied by fears of change, ambiguity and transgression. Translating Douglas’ insights into historical terms, one may assume that sensibilities about what is pure and what is impure grow stronger during times of intense social and political change, as exemplifi ed by the stormy decades around 1900. This period was characterized by a profound identity-crisis and at the same time was marked by a quest for purity. One may think of a deepened concern for hygiene, of the rise of racist movements, but also of an intense longing for cultural reform and regeneration. Notwithstanding their many differences, these phenomena are linked through their concern for the formal distinction between what is pure and what is impure. A study of the work of Wagner, Bram Stoker and Zola gives some insight into the language of purity, serves to show the religious meaning of formal categories of purity and impurity, and makes it clear that the quest for purity in one area is related to the quest for purity in another area.

Purity and Impurity in the Hebrew Bible

Purity ◽  
2017 ◽  
pp. 3-29
Author(s):  
MILA GINSBURSKAYA
Keyword(s):  
Hebrew Bible ◽  
Purity And Impurity

Introduction

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Marion Schmid
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Film History ◽  
Discursive Construction ◽  
New Wave ◽  
Avant Garde ◽  
Medium Specificity ◽  
French New Wave ◽  
Ambivalent Relationship ◽  
Struggle For Recognition ◽  
Purity And Impurity

The introduction contextualises the French New Wave's ambivalent relationship to the older arts with regard to cinema's wider struggle for recognition in the course of the twentieth century. Surveying the debates around medium specificity, cinematic 'purity' and 'impurity' from the classical avant-garde to the Nouvelle Vague, it addresses the French New Wave's complex discursive construction in relation to the more established arts. Reframing traditional studies of the French New Wave, it argues for an intermedial approach to illuminate this seminal movement of film history. The corpus, rationale and approach of the book are also introduced and clarified.

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