L'iconostase comme seuil : lexique, symbolique et significations
The iconostasis as threshold: lexis, symbolics and significations

Author(s): Dumas Felicia
Subject(s): Christian Theology and Religion, Language studies, Cultural history, Semiotics / Semiology, History of ideas, Lexis, Semantics, Cultural Essay, Philology
Published by: Editura Junimea
Keywords: threshold; iconostasis; French language; Orthodoxy; semantical study; contrastive perspective;
Summary/Abstract: This paper proposes a semantical, anthropological and semiological approach to the iconostasis of the Orthodox churches, defined as a threshold between the nave and the sanctuary, between the visible world of the worshippers and the invisible world of the heavenly powers and God. The paper considers a lexical-semantic study of two nouns used in French to refer to this dividing wall, as well as other words (and phrases) which designate other elements of the architectural ensemble which compose the iconostasis; this semantical study will be accompanied by a semiological analysis of the symbolism of the iconostasis (based on the works of liturgical hermeneutics) and of the the liturgical gestures which the iconostasis determines and guides from a semiological point of view, supported by a corpus of notes recorded in France and in Romania (during the liturgical practice) and by a few theological works.

• Details
• Contents