Njoo Cheong Seng: An Artist in the Fight between Liberalism and Eastern Traditions

As an artist, Njoo Cheong Seng (writer, playwright, film producer, and director) made efforts to respond to colonial discourse through his works and activities from the mid-1920s to the 1940s. His responses manifested in the forms of resistance and counter discourse. This paper seeks to explore the ideas and forms expressed in the counter discourse by Njoo Cheong Seng, an artist of Chinese Indonesian ethnicity. The perspective applied in this research is the postcolonial approach, particularly with regard to the concepts of hybridity and resistance. The deconstructive reading framework interpretation method was applied to determine the opposing relationship between the colonised and the coloniser discourses. The results show that Njoo Cheong Seng supported the movement to restore Chinese characteristics as a form of cultural resistance to the idea of Dutch colonial liberalism. The strategy that he used seemed to support the colonial discourse while simultaneously masking the hybridity that he promoted through ideas such as cultural nationalism. In addition, Njoo Cheong Seng and other similar collective artists developed a strategy that seemed to be of a puritan nature; however, it was, in fact, a simultaneous hybridity that consistently responded to modernity values. Njoo Cheong Seng actually opposed modernity born of liberalism. Essentially, he opposed the concept of the human as the centre of everything, or anthropocentrism.

The Alchemical Body of Carl Jung

This chapter traces the subtle body concept through the work of Carl Jung, who is introduced to the idea by G. R. S. Mead’s theosophical books. After tracing Jung’s early engagement with the Orient, the chapter moves to an analysis of the subtle body concept in his work, specifically in his engagements with Eastern traditions: Daoism, Kundalini Yoga, and Tibetan Bardo Yoga. After examining Jung’s use of the subtle body concept in his translation-commentaries on Eastern texts, the chapter turns to how Jung incorporates the concept into his own psychology of individuation based on the techniques of active imagination and dream analysis. The chapter turns to Jung’s seminars on Nietzsche, where he presents the subtle body concept with a unique dose of critical reflexivity and Kantian rigor. It ends with Jung’s late-life speculation about a future where, following the quantum revolution and spitting of the atom, humans evolve into subtle body–dwelling creatures who occupy a world of psychical substance.

RENAISSANCE RESEARCH ON SIMILE (16TH–18TH CENTURIES)

The article deals with the study of the concepts of simile in the Renaissance during the 16th –18th centuries in both Western and Eastern traditions. It outlines the transition from the classical fundamentals to their renaissance interpretation in the European specialized literature, the original texts of which became the subject of analysis. The correlation of terminology of different epochs is established and the dependence of scientific thought on the historical stage of society development is highlighted. It was found that because simile was regarded as a rhetorical figure, interest in it was limited to specific practical tasks related to the art of eloquence and, to a lesser extent, belles-lettres style. The functions of the described category, which were singled out by leading linguists, are stated as well as the most influential researchers who deepened the development of the basic principles of simile interpretation by classical rhetoricians. The article proves that the content, scope and hierarchy of terms for simile differ depending on the eras and the authors of rhetoric, reflecting the specifics of translation of ancient Greek and Latin texts, the development of linguistic thought and deepening the analysis of ancient Greeks and Romans. It is established that only at the end of the 18th century the English term "simile" was introduced as a descendant of a number of ambiguous, not always specialized terms (homoeosis, icon, paradigm, parabola, similitude, resemblance, comparison), often synonymous with one another.

Monasticism—Then and Now

The monastic tradition has its roots in the New Testament practices of withdrawing into the desert, following a celibate lifestyle and disciplines of fasting. After the empire became Christian in the 4th century these ascetic disciplines evolved into monastic communities. While these took various forms, they developed a shared literature, gained a recognised place in the church, while taking different ways of life in the various settings in the life of the church. Western and Eastern traditions of monastic life developed their own styles of life. However, these should be recognised as being formed by and belonging to the same tradition, and showing how it can adapt to specific social and ecclesiastical conditions. In the modern world, this monastic way of life continues to bring renewal to the church in the ‘new monasticism’ which adapts traditional monastic practices to contemporary life. New monastic communities engage in evangelism, serve and identify with the marginalised, offer hospitality, and commit themselves to follow rules of life and prayer. Their radical forms of discipleship and obedience to the gospel place them clearly within the continuing monastic tradition.

REFLECTION AND RECTIFICATION OF THE SACRAL PALACE CEREMONIAL "PROSKYNESIS" AT THE COURT OF THE ASSYRIAN AND ACHAEMENID RULERS

The palace ceremonial "proskynesis" (gr. – προσκύνησις) – which consisted of a kiss and a bow – was considered and interpreted. A comparison of ancient Eastern traditions at the royal court of Assyrian and Achaemenid rulers is highlighted. The author tries to reconstruct the essence and meaning of proskynesis in the lives of kings and ordinary people. The work uses ancient greek written sources and the eastern source heritage, which is represented by reliefs and obelisks from Assyria and the Achaemenid Empire. The pertinence of the topic is an attempt to interpret part of the palace ceremony – proskynesis, and to highlight the royal cult of the ancient Eastern traditions at the court of Achaemenid empire. The purpose of the project is to determine some points in the ceremonial proskynesis, as a reflection of the sacred status of the ruler or as an element of court etiquette. The tradition of the sacralization of royal power was inherent in virtually all the ancient eastern people, but the concrete forms of this sacralization in different states could differ significantly from one another and not always included the "adorable" of the monarch. This ritual from the Persians borrowed from different countries was meant to mean the king's majesty. With his adoration, the ritual had nothing in common. Kings were considered to be the favorites of the gods, their pious choirs and priests. The range of postures to which proskynesis was applied is diverse, and therefore we have to make out the idea which gesture proskynesis can be consist off and we have to interpret this in several different ways, depending on its context, with possibilities ranging between "sending a kiss forward", kneeling down, prostrating oneself, or just a bow. And at all we need to determine is the proskynesis equal to prostration?

Encomium on the Twenty-four Elders ascribed to Proclus of Cyzicus (М. 591 f. 1r–11v)

The 24 elders are the biblical image that is found only in the Book of Revelation of John the Apostle. They surround the throne of God and are endowed with certain attributes of glory. In the Ancient Church this image was interpreted in different ways. This article presents the first Russian literary translation of Coptic text signed as Encomium in honor of the 24 elders. The translation was carried out from the edition, which was published with the Italian translation in 1977 by Antonella Maresca. The author of Encomium is declared Proclus of Cyzicus, who later became the Patriarch of Constantinople. However, this is a pseudo-attribution, namely, this hierarch did not write this Encomium, and its real author remains unknown. The Italian translator divides the text into 33 paragraphs, and in the preface to Coptic edition highlights the four parts of Encomium. Two of them, dedicated to John Chrysostom and the exegetical interpretation of the first chapter of Genesis, seem to be interpolations. But after analyzing the entire narrative it is possible to say that these parts are embedded in the narrative. Also the features of the Coptic veneration of the 24 elders, which are reflected in Encomium, are discussed in the introduction to Russian translation. In particular, the bodiless nature of the 24 elders. Their unknown origin is emphasized several times in Encomium, the priestly role of these elders in the Kingdom of Heaven is also noted. It can be stated that the author of Encomium in the first two parts acts as a storyteller-historian of the Church, conveying information about John Chrysostom, and in the last two as an exegete. The image of 24 elders in Eastern traditions is a little studied topic and acquaintance with the Coptic tradition thanks to the translation of this Encomium opens up opportunities for comparative studies.

NEW ROME, AS AN IDEAL HIERATOPY, IN THE GALICIAN SACRED ARCHITECTURE OF THE INDEPENDENCE AGE

The aim of the article is to reveal the tendency to use images of the Constantinople capital's architecture in the projects of sacred buildings in Galicia at the beginning of the XXI century. Under the hieratopy of New Rome means the special status of Constantinople - the sacred center of the World Christian (Roman) State. After the fall of Constantinople, the image of New Rome became available for reproduction in previously remote corners of the Byzantine world, including in the construction of the identities of certain modern nations formed in the nineteenth century. It is underlined that the hieratopy of New Rome became an important part of Ukrainian identity searching within the sacred architecture of Galicia. It is determined that in varying degrees, it was characteristic of the search for a national manifestation both in the period of the turn of the XIX - XX centuries, and of the Independence period in the turn of the XX - XXI centuries. It is determined that for this last period, an important factor was the significant improvement of relations between the Western (Latin) and Eastern (Orthodox) churches, the rehabilitation of Eastern traditions in Roman Catholic discourse. Also the article shows examples of a number of buildings, which testify to different variants of architecture work of sacred buildings in Galicia (West Ukraine) with images of hieratopia of New Rome. Furthermore is given a ways in which it fits into the existing stereotypes of architectural manifestation of Ukrainian national identity and symbolism, as well as manifestations of Ukrainian national identity.