Language and Culture Interconnectedness

Numerous criticism directed at the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis called forth the viewing of the hypothesis through the prism of language and culture interconnection and check to what extent the linguistic determinism is an applicable and useful tool in foreign language studies. For this reason, the present paper carries out a discussion to construct a somewhat modified version of the linguistic determinism idea by adding to the language–culture unit a third element such as expressiveness. To make the proposed here version of linguistic determinism comprehensible, it has been decided to describe and explain the notions of language, culture, and expressiveness to make them clear and digestible for the purpose of the present discussion. In the course of the discussion, strengthened by quotations from the literature, the main stress is put on the language-culture interconnectedness viewed as the key element determining successful language studies, especially in the foreign languages domain. Finally, the attention is directed at the role of creativity and expressiveness as factors responsible for the level of the language user’s competence, which, in turn, is viewed as creative communicative competence.

Vista conoscenza, parola: lo “Schema del contenitore” applicato a un caso di polisemia indoeuropea

"View, Knowledge, Word: The Container Image-Schema Applied to a Case of Proto-Indo-European Polysemy. The present discussion aims at reconsidering the theoretical process of knowledge in some ancient Indo-European languages in the light of the prerequisites offered by cognitive linguistics and prototype theory. Thanks to the dynamic pattern of the Container Image-Schema – which is a primitive mental structure – some historical outcomes of a polysemic Indo-European root will be discussed in order to place them within the continuum of the semantic space in which the container is located. Keywords: Conceptual metaphor; polysemy; Image-Schema; Indo-European; semantics. "

THE BANK’S RIGHT TO CANCEL THE CONTRACT BETWEEN IT AND ITS CUSTOMER UNILATERALLY Bredenkamp v Standard Bank of South Africa Ltd 2010 4 SA 468 (SCA)

Does a bank have the right to cancel the contract between it and its customer unilaterally? This was the crisp question put to the court in the recent decision in Bredenkamp v Standard Bank of South Africa Ltd (2010 4 SA 468 (SCA); 2010 4 All SA 113 (“Bredenkamp: appeal”)). Before this case reached the Supreme Court of Appeal (“SCA”), two lower courts were asked to pronounce on the same question (see Breedenkamp v Standard Bank of South Africa 2009 3 All SA 339 (GSJ); 2009 5 SA 304 (GSJ) (“Bredenkamp: interim application”)); and Breedenkamp v Standard Bank of South Africa Ltd 2009 6 SA 277 (GSJ) (“Bredenkamp: main application”). (In passing it should be mentioned that Bredenkamp’s name was spelt incorrectly in the citation of both the interim and main applications; Bredenkamp’s name was correctly spelt in the citation of the decision of the SCA). The present discussion will refer to all three these decisions.

Athletic Images and the Monumentalization of Victory

The monuments created by the Greeks to celebrate victories were of many kinds, as were the victories celebrated. The focus of the present discussion is monuments associated with success in the major athletic games; these were usually in the form of free-standing statues erected in the sanctuary where the games took place. Some fundamental questions are addressed, not least, what the idea of a monument signified to the Greeks? Who qualified for this extraordinary honour? What form did it typically take and how much did it cost to create? Were the statues erected merely a reward? Or did they also have political value which affected the choice of location? In ancient Greece, as now, athletic monuments stood as markers of glory achieved, but also as statements to the viewer.

An Extension of Chung-ying Cheng’s Onto-Generative Hermeneutics

Chung-ying Cheng’s onto-generative hermeneutical studies of the foundational philosophical texts of China and the Western philosophical traditions expand the horizon of comparative interpretative analyses. The origin of onto-generative hermeneutics is multifaceted, ranging from the Yijing 《易經》(the Book of Changes) and the Neo-Confucian text of Zhang Zai, Ximing《西銘》 (the Western Inscription) to the phenomenology of Husserl and Merleau-Ponty, and to the hermeneutics of Gadamer. Building on Cheng’s examination of the relation between phenomenology, hermeneutics, and the classical texts of Chinese philosophy, the present discussion begins with an exploration of the origin and the continuation of phenomenology and hermeneutics in a comparative frame of reference of Chinese and Greek texts.

A Survey Study of Recent Works on Nasr’s Eco-Religious Thought and Approach (Satu Tinjauan Terhadap Karya-Karya Terbaru Tentang Pemikiran dan Pendekatan Eco-Agama Nasr)

The current paper presents a brief survey study on recent works on Nasr's eco-religious thought and approach. The paper aims to analyse these works critically to focus how and up to what level their discussions can match with Nasr's original understanding. The research methodology is basically literature review with textual analysis. In so doing, the article attempts to enrich the present discussion on Nasr's eco-religious vision. Keywords: Eco-philosophy, Eco-spirituality, Perennial philosophy, Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Sacredness of Nature, Sanctity of life. Abstrak Sebahagian cendiakawan berminat mempelajari pemikiran tradisional Seyyed Hossein Nasr mengenai persekitaran. Karya-karya mereka membantu tersebarnya pemikiran eko-agama Nasr secara penghargaan dan juga kritikan. Artikel ini mengkaji karya-karya terbaru mereka mengenai pemikiran dan pendekatan eko-agama Nasr untuk melihat sejauh mana karya-karya ini dapat disesuaikan dengan pemikirannya yang sebenar. Kaedah yang digunakan adalah menerusi tinjauan kajian-kajian lepas dan analisis teks. Artikel ini menyumbang kepada kepelbagaian karya-karya yang sedia ada mengenai pemikiran eko-agama Nasr. Kata Kunci: Eco-filosofi, eco-spiritual, falsafah abadi, Sayed Hossein Nasr, rahsia alam, kesucian hidup.

Poetry and the Language of Oppression

Poetry and the Language of Oppression is an incursion into the creative process that engages with the experience of oppression and the reclamation of freedom in the context of the Cold War. What is freedom in language and how does the poet who has endured political oppression write himself or herself free? What is literary testimony and how does it reflect one’s artistic values? How do we govern ourselves with language? Oppression, repression, expression, as well as their tools (incarceration, surveillance, exile, gestures in language) have been with us in various forms throughout history; the present discussion represents a particular aspect of these conditions of our humanity as they play out in our time, providing another instance of the communion, and sometimes confrontation, with the language that makes us human.

‘Behold, I tell you a mystery’: Tracing Faust’s Influences on Giorgio Agamben to and from International Law

It is a mystery as to why more is not made of the influence of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s Faust on Italian philosopher Giorgio Agamben’s body of work. After all, as a great philosophical poet, and tremendously concerned with language, Goethe’s work could not have failed to capture Agamben’s attention, especially given his early and sustained interest in poetry. Indeed, Agamben cites Goethe in at least 12 of his works including: The Use of Bodies, Creation and Anarchy, Pilate and Jesus, The Kingdom and the Glory, Homo Sacer, The Signature of All Things, Stanzas, The End of the Poem, Potentialities, Karman, Adventure and Infancy and History. Crucially, the last five reference Goethe’s Faust directly. Thus, this paper seeks to remedy the relative lack of explicit engagement and demonstrate the strong, clear and persistent influence of Goethe’s Faust that underpins Agamben’s signature philological and philosophical approach to literarily explicating law’s foundational riddles. Agamben’s Homo Sacer, project – it must be recalled – quite accidentally began in part as a direct response to the legalistic justifications for the 1990–91 Gulf War. The present discussion seeks to demonstrate that Goethean influence ironically enough through a close examination of both Faust’s and Agamben’s attempts at partially translating a biblical phrase: ‘in the beginning was the word’.

Critical Appraisal of Third Party Funding in India

Third-party funding in International Commercial Arbitration is one of the most contemporaneous and controversial issue in the normative framework in India. The last several years have witnessed increasing involvement of Third Party Funders in International Commercial Arbitration proceedings. Third-party funding has been considered as one of the means of access to justice for those who have a credible claim but no financial means to pursue it. Dispute resolution in India tends to be a cost-heavy proposition for the parties involved. The present discussion highlights critical appraisal regarding TPF (Third Party Funding) from the delivery of procedural and substantive justice as well as suggesting legal and jurisprudential grounds in third party funding governance all across the world.

Bad Mothers and Strange Offspring: Images of Scrubfowl and Sea Turtles in Eastern Indonesia

One way birds communicate knowledge to humans and facilitate communication among humans is through metaphors. A recent book discusses animal metaphors, nearly a third of which employ birds as vehicles, used by the Nage people of Flores Island (eastern Indonesia). As applied to human beings and human behaviors, bird metaphors reveal considerable overlap with other animal metaphors; thus, a full understanding of these requires additional attention to the metaphoric or more generally symbolic value of other sorts of non-human animals. Emphasizing how knowledge of birds is shaped in some degree by an extra-cultural empirical experience of the creatures, the present discussion explores similar representations of a bird, the scrubfowl, and a marine reptile, the sea turtle, among people in several parts of Flores.