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When speaking about Rome and India, one is tempted to think of an enormous gap separating these two countries, a gap which becomes more obvious not only when having a brief look at any world map, but also when analyzing the belief systems specific to each of the two cultures. However, these two peoples have been in contact with each other from the earliest strata of recorded history, as many ancient written accounts prove. The present paper focuses on such a tangential point, revealing on the one hand a reputed literary work produced in one of the oldest tongues of India, which also holds the status of being a ‘classical language’, and, on the other hand, the acknowledgement of that literary product by a famous Father of the Catholic Church, the Jesuit Missionary Constantinus Josephus Beschi. The above-mentioned work is the renowned Tirukkuṟaḷ whose author, Tiruvaḷḷuvar, wrote it in literary Tamiḻ. This ancient masterpiece has caught the learned men’s attention; thus many translations of it have been published across the centuries in many parts of the world. A very famous one – one that is truly representative for the European region – is Father Beschi’s Latin translation, which appeared in 1730 and which is the first translation of the Tirukkuṟaḷ in a language of the European continent. As little is known in our country about the ancient Tamiḻ literature, the development of the main topic will be preceded by a short presentation of the Tamils’ earliest works. Therefore, it is only after having shortly dived into the beauty of the classical past that the reader will be introduced to the main ideas of this compilation of ancient wisdom that the Tirukkuṟaḷ is. Of course, fragments taken both from the original work and from its first Latin translation will be added and given a Romanian meaning.
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The goal of our study is to present and analyse the programme of Christian education conceived by Saint Jerome for two of his disciples, Paula and Pacatula. More precisely, our approach aims to highlight the content of intellectual education, its factors, as well as the pedagogical methods employed by Saint Jerome to teach his two disciples. The education used by Jerome for little Paula is of a dominant ascetic type. He is talking to a future nun. In essence, the education of Paula and Pacatula is based on the study of the Holy Scripture and of the works of some of the Church Fathers. The study of the Scripture must be associated with that of the Book of Psalms, personal reading (lectio) and prayer (oratio). Jerome leaves literature and the profane arts out of little Paula’s education. The programme of elementary teaching conceived by Jerome for his disciple Paula is generally in agreement with the principles of the Greek and especially Roman pedagogy. Paula’s education must go from the basics to what is more complex, from the element to the composite. It is imperative that Paula learn to read first the letters, then the syllables, isolated words, sentences; only then can she move to continuous texts. Jerome uses a less brutal pedagogy, associating the learning of the letters with a simple game; the programme of study must be adapted, from the point of view of quantity and content, to Paula’s very young age so that she might not grow to hate learning.
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The study explores the identity practices in the border areas of Central Europe, in which multiculturality has unique particularities, emerging from the specific tensions between the local and the global context. Some of the discursive strategies through which the local communities adapt to the geopolitical and economic reality, in an ongoing process of identity building, are displayed. The conclusions are based on observations and documents accumulated during anthropological field research, extended to a period of eight years, between 2007 and 2015, in four of the villages inhabited by Romanian historical populations existing in the Transcarpathia region/ Zakarpats’ka oblast. The ensuing text integrates recent analyses and interpretations dedicated to the social changes in the post-socialist countries with studies focused on the Transcarpathia region/ Zakarpats’ka oblast and documents produced during my own research – autobiographical narratives, oral histories, fragments extracted from complex discursive practices. From a grassroots perspective on the tangible and intangible cultural heritages, which are the basis of the identity building process of a Romanian community, always situated outside the borders of the Romanian state, the investigation is carried out with qualitative research methods, using concepts that have been revised and adapted to the real society. The case study, which offers a local perspective provided by a group researched through direct contact and participant observation, is complementary to a larger perspective offered by the recent scientific literature dedicated to the interpretations of cultures, sociolinguistic studies, cultural identities and contemporary theories on states, nations and nationalisms.
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The aim of this study is to examine a few characters that are found in the ceremonial texts (carols, Christmas carols) which belong to the carolling customs from Almăj Valley, Caraş-Severin County, practised during the winter holidays. We will not refer to the biblical characters encountered in the lyrical creation, which are specific to the custom we have mentioned, but to a few characters belonging either to the ecclesiastical space, like Saint Basil (the Great) – also known in this area under the name of Holy New Year –, or to the Romanian tradition: old Claus (Santa Claus), the host / the hosts (“the squires”, the vigorous, Nicholas, George – prototype of host-son). Due to the fact that these lyrical creations are part of the oral culture, and, therefore, they have been transmitted from generation to generation verbally, the names of the characters are various (for example, Micolaie, Ghiorgh(i)e, Taica Crăciun, Sfântu Anu-nou). Also noteworthy is the fact that, through their involvement both in the specific practices of this period and in the action presented in ceremonial texts, they undergo a series of adaptations to the local area (for example, they eat together during holidays and on feasts); at the same time, they appear alongside some of the biblical figures, although they obviously belong to different historical periods or are related to certain well-known legends. All the above-mentioned aspects are worth discussing, especially given the fact that the involvement of the characters in the action of the texts or in the specified manifestations does not have a predominantly Christian connotation, but rather a secular traditional one.
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The article looks at the two important features of pension systems: retirement age and insurance period. It begins with explaining major terms of social insurance law. Next, the changes regarding retirement age and insurance period in EU member states’ pension systems are described. Special attention is given to the changes regarding those issues in Poland in the wider EU context.
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The article presents the principles for exempting students from physical education classes in schools in Poland and selected European countries. It provides a concise information on the mandatory content of physical education, the number of hours of physical education in curricula, the number of students in a group and the procedures for assessment of students in physical education in Poland, France, Greece, Spain, Ireland, Iceland, Latvia, Malta, Germany, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden and the UK.
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