The Cult of Nidrā-Kālarātri, Goddess of Sleep, Swoon, Death and the Night (c. 3rd to 5th Century)

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bihani Sarkar
Keyword(s):  
Belief Systems ◽  
Death Time ◽  
Literary Sources ◽  
Magical Power

Assessing early Vaiṣṇava, epic, ritualistic and literary sources and iconographic evidence, this chapter discusses how an archetypical cult of an early Durgā, the form of the goddess prior to her absorption of other identities, acquired prestige from obscure origins between the 3rd and 5th centuries, while empire under the Guptas was in its heyday. Beginning in the 3rd century, the chapter examines the roots of Durgā in the black-hued, yellow-robed, ghost-encircled, liquour-loving, peacock-feather crested Vaiṣṇava goddess of Death, Time and Sleep, Nidrā-Māyā-Kālarātri-Kālī and examines her cult of averting dangers in that period. Within Vaiṣṇava thought, Kālarātri-Nidrā is Viṣṇu's yogic sleep and creative, active magical power (māyā) embodied, the great night of aeonic destruction too, while in her earthly form, she is Kṛṣṇa's savior from Kaṃsa, the intercessory salvific sister Nidrā born on the dark Navamī, who puts beings to sleep and is also responsible for their deaths at the end of their lifetimes. This goddess, who was also worshipped in Cambodia and Indonesia, her belief systems and her ritual worship with buffalo sacrifice on Navamī, the Dark Ninth of Śrāvaṇa, provided the idea-matrix—the classical archetype—for Durgā's later characterizations and ritual modifications.

Coming-of-Age Cinema in New Zealand

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alistair Fox
Keyword(s):  
Coming Of Age ◽  
Belief Systems ◽  
Time Frame ◽  
New Wave ◽  
Art Cinema ◽  
Literary Sources ◽  
French New Wave ◽  
Significant Phenomenon ◽  
The Impact ◽  
New Zealanders

This book investigates the coming-of-age genre as a significant phenomenon in New Zealand’s national cinema, tracing its development from the 1970s to the present day. A preliminary chapter identifies the characteristics of the coming-of-age film as a genre, tracing its evolution and the influence of the French New Wave and European Art Cinema, and speculating on the role of the genre in the output of national cinemas. Through case studies of fifteen significant films, including The God Boy, Sleeping Dogs, The Scarecrow, Vigil, Mauri, An Angel at My Table, Heavenly Creatures, Once Were Warriors, Rain, Whale Rider, In My Father’s Den, 50 Ways of Saying Fabulous, Boy, Mahana, and Hunt for the Wilderpeople, subsequent chapters examine thematic preoccupations of filmmakers such as the impact of repressive belief systems and social codes, the experience of cultural dislocation, the expression of a Māori perspective through an indigenous “Fourth Cinema,” bicultural relationships, and issues of sexual identity, arguing that these films provide a unique insight into the cultural formation of New Zealanders. Given that the majority of films are adaptations of literary sources, the book also explores the dialogue each film conducts with the nation’s literature, showing how the time frame of each film is updated in a way that allows these films to be considered as a register of important cultural shifts that have occurred as New Zealanders have sought to discover their emerging national identity.

The Place of Traditional Artists in the Preservation of Nigerian Art

2018 ◽  
pp. 75-88
Author(s):  
Victoria N Osuagwu
Keyword(s):  
Belief Systems ◽  
Sacred Grove ◽  
Art World ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Open Spaces ◽  
Economic Resource ◽  
The People ◽  
Traditional Artists ◽  
Global Art ◽  
Source Of Information

Human beings have always left signs of their activities behind them. These signs take both tangible and intangible forms, including buildings, sites, sculptural works, antiquities, rock art paintings, belief systems, and traditions. The people of this millennium have recognized the remains of our fore-bears namely archaeological, architectural monuments, sites, and cultural works as an integral part of the cultural heritage of all humanity. They also recognized the fact that heritage is an invaluable source of information about the lives and activities of human beings and their artistic and technical capabilities over the centuries. The Nigerian Ancient Art Tradition which spans eight thousand years is a product of diverse artists from Dufuna, Nok, Igbo-Ukwu, Ife, Owo, Benin, Tada, etc. Also remarkable are the sculptural works created by late Susanne Wenger (an Austrian) and her New Sacred Art Movement in Osun-Osogbo Sacred Grove, which gave meaning to open spaces within the grove. This paper examines the role played by these artworks to project Nigeria to the global art world. The benefits to Nigeria and the global art traditions and recommendations on how to revive this dwindling economic resource will also be examined. The approach used was to study the artworks produced by some of these artists. Some of the findings were that the works were carefully done with suitable materials that have withstood climate change.

Margaret Mahy: An Adlerian Reading

2008 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 187-199
Author(s):  
KATHRYN WALLS
Keyword(s):  
Young Female ◽  
The Other ◽  
Individual Psychology ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Alfred Adler ◽  
Female Protagonists ◽  
Magical Power ◽  
Margaret Mahy ◽  
The Individual

According to the ‘Individual Psychology’ of Alfred Adler (1870–1937), Freud's contemporary and rival, everyone seeks superiority. But only those who can adapt their aspirations to meet the needs of others find fulfilment. Children who are rejected or pampered are so desperate for superiority that they fail to develop social feeling, and endanger themselves and society. This article argues that Mahy's realistic novels invite Adlerian interpretation. It examines the character of Hero, the elective mute who is the narrator-protagonist of The Other Side of Silence (1995) , in terms of her experience of rejection. The novel as a whole, it is suggested, stresses the destructiveness of the neurotically driven quest for superiority. Turning to Mahy's supernatural romances, the article considers novels that might seem to resist the Adlerian template. Focusing, in particular, on the young female protagonists of The Haunting (1982) and The Changeover (1984), it points to the ways in which their magical power is utilised for the sake of others. It concludes with the suggestion that the triumph of Mahy's protagonists lies not so much in their generally celebrated ‘empowerment’, as in their transcendence of the goal of superiority for its own sake.

For Pity's Sake

2011 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 253-270 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan Hodkinson ◽  
Chandrika Devarakonda
Keyword(s):  
Global Education ◽  
Affective Commitment ◽  
Belief Systems ◽  
Teacher Discourse ◽  
Cultural Contexts ◽  
Religious Traditions ◽  
Forensic Examination ◽  
Indian Tradition

This paper offers a critique of transnational aspects of ‘inclusion,’ one of those global education buzzwords that as Slee (2009) puts it, say everything but say nothing. It starts off by trying to compare Indian and English usages and attitudes at the level of teacher discourse, and notes the impossibility of any ‘authentic’ translation, given the very different cultural contexts and histories. In response to these divergences, the authors undertake a much more genealogical and ‘forensic’ examination of values associated with ‘inclusion,’ focussing especially on a key notion of ‘pity.’ The Eurocentric tradition is traced from its Platonic origins through what is claimed to be the ‘industrialization of pity’ and its rejection as a virtue in favour of more apparently egalitarian measures of fairness. The Indian tradition relates rather to religious traditions across a number of different belief systems, most of which centre on some version of a karmic notion of pity. The authors both criticise and reject ‘inclusion’ as a colonisation of the global and call for a new understanding of notions like ‘pity’ as affective commitment rather than ‘fair’ dispensation of equality.

The issue of radioactive contamination in context of ecosystem services development

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 48-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Chobotko ◽  
L. Raychuk ◽  
I. McDonald
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
The State ◽  
Natural Ecosystems ◽  
Type Region ◽  
State Register ◽  
Agrarian Policy ◽  
Literary Sources ◽  
Radiation Contamination ◽  
Logical Research

The aim of the article was to defi ne the role of the radioactive environment contamination in the formation of ecosystem services strategy. Methods. Monographic, systemic and structural, factor analysis, abstract and logical research methods have been used. The data from the State Statistics Service of Ukraine, the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine, the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of Ukraine, materials of scientifi c researches, international materials and reports and other literary sources on the issues investigated have been used as an information base. Results. Retrospective analysis of sources and state of radioactive eco- systems contamination was conducted and the priority steps in developing the concept of ecosystem services in conditions of radiation contamination were found. Conclusions. The current socio-ecological paradigm of the transition from environmental use to environmental management should be refl ected in the relevant envi- ronmental management mechanisms. Currently, when assessing the state of ecosystem services in Ukraine and worldwide one must take into account the changes in food demand of residents of radioactively contaminated areas, the exploitation of radioactively safe ecosystems growth, their overload and degradation. All of this re- quires an inventory of ecosystem services by type, region, consumers, etc. and the formation of a state register of ecosystem services with a clear assignment of area of responsibility for appropriate natural ecosystems. This will help to make the economic evaluation of different ecosystem services and mechanisms of charges for ecosystem services.

Distribution and chromosome number of Sonchus palustris in Slovakia

2020 ◽  
Vol 62 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 7-21
Author(s):  
M. Dudáš ◽  
P. Eliáš jun. ◽  
D. R. Letz ◽  
Z. Bártová ◽  
V. Kolarčik
Keyword(s):  
Chromosome Number ◽  
Red List ◽  
Herbarium Specimens ◽  
Distribution Map ◽  
Literary Sources ◽  
Different Types ◽  
New Localities ◽  
Recent Version

The distribution of Sonchus palustris in Slovakia was studied using herbarium specimens and literary sources. The herbarium studies, supplemented with targeted field search in the years 2015–2018, revealed 61 new localities and confirmed many other older locations. The species has been recorded in 19 phytogeographical districts and sub-districts of Slovakia. Most of the records are concentrated in the Podunajská nížina lowland in SW Slovakia and in the Ipel'sko-rimavská brázda region in southern Slovakia. Our results showed that the species is relatively common in different types of wetlands and its re-evaluation in the recent version of the Slovak red list is not needed. Chromosome number data for two new populations in eastern Slovakia (both 2n = 18) were counted. The distribution map is given.

The Sayan borderlands: Tuva’s ethnocultural landscapes in changing natural and sociocultural environments

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-36
Author(s):  
D. A. Dirin ◽  
Paul Fryer
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Landscapes ◽  
Field Studies ◽  
Social Environments ◽  
Key Factors ◽  
Role Of Government ◽  
Literary Sources ◽  
Population Migrations ◽  
The Republic ◽  
Sociocultural Processes ◽  
First Time

The paper is devoted to ethno-cultural landscapes of the Republic of Tuva. Ethnocultural landscapes (ECLs) are specific socio-environmental systems that developed as a result of the interaction of ethnic groups with their natural and social environments and are in a constant process of transformation. An attempt is made to identify the mechanisms of the formation, functioning and dynamics of ethnocultural landscapes in the specific conditions of the intracontinental cross-border mountain region, as well as to establish the main factors-catalysts of their modern changes. For the first time an attempt is made to delimit and map the ethnocultural landscapes of Tuva. For this, literary sources, statistical data and thematic maps of different times are analyzed using geoinformation methods. The results of 2014-2018 field studies are also used, during which interviews with representatives of different ethno-territorial, gender, age and social groups were taken. It is revealed that the key factors of Tuva’s ethnocultural landscape genesis are the natural isolation of its territory; the features of its landscape structure; the role of government; population migrations from other regions and the cultural diffusion provoked by them. 13 ethnocultural landscapes are identified at the regional level. Their modern transformation is determined by the shift of climatic cycles, aridisation, globalisation of sociocultural processes, changes in economic specialisation and ethnopsychological stereotypes.

Caligula, tyran dérisoire dans le Caligula d’Alexandre Dumas

2020 ◽  
Vol 65 (2) ◽  
pp. 73-95
Author(s):  
Rémy Poignault
Keyword(s):  
Roman Emperor ◽  
Alexandre Dumas ◽  
Literary Sources ◽  
The One

"Tyranny and Derision in Alexandre Dumas’ Caligula. This paper studies the character of Caligula in Alexandre Dumas’ Caligula (1837) in comparison with the image left by the Roman emperor in ancient literary sources. Dumas highlights a tyrannical regime based on denial and flattery, shows the emperor as a tyrannical lover and mocks aspirations to the divinity of the one who takes himself for Jupiter, but is afraid of thunder, who wants to be the master of the destiny of all, but doesn’t master his own, falling under Messalina’s machinations. Keywords: Latin historiography, drama, destiny, machinations, tyranny."

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