Architektura podziałów. Przestrzeń walki klas w filmach Bonga Joon-ho Snowpiercer: Arka przyszłości i Parasite

Tekst jest próbą analizy filmów Snowpiercer: Arka przyszłości i Parasite koreańskiego reżysera Bonga Joon-ho w ujęciu socjologicznym. Teoretycznego zaplecza dostarczają pojęcia klasy społecznej i walki klas opisane przez Karola Marksa, następnie skorygowane przez Maxa Webera i dalej reinterpretowane przez Pierre’a Bourdieu. Posłużono się również koncepcją Aparatów Państwa autorstwa Louisa Althussera. Pojęcia te tworzą szkielet teoretyczny, w który wpisana została kwestia przestrzeni architektonicznej w analizowanych filmach. Bong Joon-ho umieszcza bohaterów w zamkniętych wnętrzach i stawia ich w sytuacji konfliktu klasowego, w którym muszą walczyć o przetrwanie lub awans społeczny. Stosując kategorie opisu przestrzeni, jak powierzchnia, zatłoczenie, uporządkowanie czy dostęp do światła słonecznego, twórca definiuje sytuację życiową bohaterów oraz ich motywację. Architecture of Divisions. The Space of Class Struggle in Films by Bong Joon-ho: Snowpiercer and Parasite Abstract The article presents a sociological analysis of two films by Korean director Bong Joon-ho: Snowpiercer(2013) and Parasite(2019). The theoretical background is founded on two terms: social class and class struggle by Karl Marx, redefined by Max Weber and reinterpreted by Pierre Bourdieu. Also the terms of Ideological State Apparatuses and Repressive State Apparatuses by Louis Althusser are applied. All those terms form a theoretical frame within which the architectural space of Bong’s films reside. The director situates the protagonists within closed spaces and class struggle, where they have to fight for survival or social advancement. By applying means of spacial description, such as density, area, orderliness, and daylight access, the director defines the protagonists’ social position and their motivation.

Ideological Counter-Narrative as a Response to Fundamentalist Ideology in Europe and South Asia. An Analysis of Selected Cases in Their Cultural Context and an Outline of Recommended Activities

The article discusses the issues of religious radicalisation and de-radicalisation in contemporary Islam. Its authors present complex phenomena of ideological, historical, cultural and political contexts of radicalisation processes, investigate the distribution of radical propagandist materials among various Muslim communities around the world and analyse the consequences of ideological transformation of Islamic fundamentalism in selected European countries. The authors conclude that radicalisation propaganda has a global appeal due to the fact it has adopted a carefully selected group of globally recognised ideologues (Ibn Abd al-Wahhab, Abul A’la Maududi, Sayyid Qutb), but the recommended de-radicalisation processes should be rooted locally or regionally. The article proposes a constructive theoretical framework, a working hypothesis that should be constantly revised and modified in the changing socio-political environment.

A War of Times in the Mahabharata?

Scientific articles often start with the phrase: “The purpose of this article is to examine facts related to…” The content of this paper does not stem from an attempt to render afresh freely available, irrefutable data. Its purpose is to present a new interpretation of specific motifs present in the Indian epic tradition – based mainly on data obtained from reconstructions or facts in potentia. The following paragraphs delineate the unfolding of work undertaken long ago, started but not yet finished.

“Six Things Are Said Concerning Demons” (Hagigah 16a). The System of Topic Tags Used in the Elyonim veTachtonim Inventory to Describe the Features of Supernatural Entities and Their Relationships with Humans

This paper has two main purposes: to outline the methodology underlying the tag ontology utilised in the Elyonim veTachtonim inventory and to demonstrate the system of topic tags used to designate recurring subjects recognised in the accounts involving supernatural entities.

Avalokiteśvara in Tibetan Buddhist Art of the Later Spread (Tib. phyi dar) of the Dharma. Image Classification Proposal, Part 2

According to traditional Buddhist narratives and popular beliefs, Tibetans are a people chosen by Avalokiteśvara. Therefore, his worship and multitude, as well as diversity of his images, are quite common both in temples and public areas. Unlike the widespread analyses where the Bodhisattva has been treated as a peaceful tutelary deity, and classifications of its images have been based on morphological features, or artistic styles and techniques, this paper proposes another approach by grounding images in Tantric Buddhism models used locally, e.g. outer, inner and secret forms of the Three Jewels or the Three Refuges, popular in Tantric Buddhism. The second part of this paper focuses on images of Avalokiteśvara as a meditational deity and a Dharma protector, which corresponds to the last two out of the three inner aspects of the Three Jewels. Using the method developed by Erwin Panofsky and the analysis of primary Tibetan text are partly used as convenient tools for the description and exegesis of images.

Charakterystyki krainy Sukhāvatī w kontekście przemian buddyjskiej kosmologii i soteriologii. Część pierwsza

Tekst podejmuje analizę Sukhāvatī – świata („pola buddy”) Amitabhy, określanego również jako Czysta Kraina. Pewne jej cechy – przynajmniej na pozór – odbiegają od standardowych wyobrażeń na temat buddyzmu. Skłaniało to niektórych badaczy do poszukiwań bezpośrednich zapożyczeń z innych religii i kultur, co miało wyjaśnić źródło nazwy, położenie i cechy tej krainy. Charakterystyki te można jednak bardziej przekonująco wyjaśnić, analizując proces ewolucji samego buddyzmu, co stanowi główne zadanie tej pracy. Tekst podzielony został na dwie części. W części pierwszej przedstawione jest założenie o wewnątrzbuddyjskich źródłach pochodzenia Sukhāvatī wraz z uzasadnieniem tego wyboru. Następnie omówiona zostanie ewolucja buddyjskiej wizji kosmologicznej, która ostatecznie doprowadziła do koncepcji pól buddów, w tym Sukhāvatī. Część druga poświęcona zostanie analizie charakterystyk tej krainy w świetle Krótkiej i Długiejsutry Sukhāvatīvyūha, w kontekście innych tekstów buddyjskich, aby wykazać, że Sukhāvatī skupia w sobie następujące buddyjskie wątki: (a) w warstwie wizualnej przedstawienie raju, (b) w wymiarze niematerialnym aktywność nirwany, (c) w aspekcie ścieżki łatwe praktyki charakteryzujące warunki odrodzenia dla niższych niebios. Characteristics of The Land of Sukhāvatī in The Context of Changes in Buddhist Cosmology and Soteriology. Part One The text analyses Sukhāvatī – Amitābha’s purified buddha field, also known as the Pure Land. The vision of Sukhāvatī became immensely popular in Indian Mahāyāna Buddhism, and in East Asia it started a new Buddhist tradition. Some of its features – at least on the surface – differ from standard ideas about what Buddhism is. The descriptions of the activity of the Buddha Amitābha, who brings salvation to all beings, by enabling them to be reborn and live a blissful and virtually endless existence in his paradise land of Sukhāvatī, where achieving the ultimate goal of Buddhist practice is quick and easy, led to attempts at showing the structural similarities of this tradition with, for example, Christianity. There were also attempts at proving direct borrowings from other religions and cultures, which was supposed to explain the source of the name, location and characteristics of this land. These characteristics, however, can be more convincingly explained by analysing the process of evolution of Buddhism itself, which is the main focus of this work. Due to its volume, the text is divided in two parts. The first part defends the assumption about the intra-Buddhist origins of Sukhāvatī and the justification for this choice in the context of various other theories about the origin of that land. Then the evolution of the Buddhist cosmological vision that eventually led to the concept of purified buddha fields, including Sukhāvatī, will be discussed. The second part will be devoted to an analysis of the characteristics of this land in the light of the Shortand Long Sukhāvatīvyūhasutras, and in the context of other Buddhist texts, to show that Sukhāvatī combines the following Buddhist themes: (a) in the visual layer, the presentation of a paradise, an ideal land that lacks any existential ills, (b) in the non-material aspect, the activity of nirvāṇa, (c) in the dimension of the Buddhist path, the easy practices that characterise the conditions of rebirth for the lower heavens.