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Na rozdíl od sonetů se s ekfrázemi studenti našeho semináře většinou dosud nesetkali; respektive nesetkali se s identifikací a pojmenováním tohoto žánru či postupu. Nicméně po několika názorných ukázkách – ze světové literatury, protože česká tradice je na ekfráze chudá, chudičká – si osvojí principy její realizace a vybaví si její příklady či alespoň náznaky ekfrastického postupu z vlastní čtenářské zkušenosti. S analýzou vývoje ekfráze jako deskriptivního textového typu s narativním potenciálem a jejího vlivu na literární zobrazení se studenti mohou seznámit v několika kapitolách naší spoluautorské monografie Viditelné popisy (2016); s jejím významným postavením v dějinách intermediálního myšlení pak v kapitole „Teorie intermediality. Zjevnost vztahů, unikavost média“ kolektivní publikace Za obrysy média (2020).
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The mystical experience is not something reducible simply to the private experience sphere. The force of the Mystery that is revealed in the subject opens up to the need to understand and communicate that experience. This helps us to perceive the levels inherent to the mystical experience until it transforms into communication. And so, we speak of two ways of language linked to the mystical experience: written language, with its peculiarities and creative connotations, and anthropological language, communicable through the experienced transformation and the way of life of the subject.
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In this paper, I focus on imagination in 14th century English mysticism and modern approaches of Richard Rolle’s, Walter Hilton’s, and the unknown author of the Cloud of Unknowing’s concept of imagination. There are several inconsistencies within contemporary approaches to the imagination, affectivity, and bodily metaphors, implying a contradictory appreciation of the three English authors. In this paper, I will discuss criticism of imagination in the mysticism of these three English authors. Moreover, some possible responses will be highlighted.
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The Czech Catholic writer Jan Čep (1902–1974) belonged to the group of authors who built their work on spiritual-religious motifs. Literary critic František Xaver Šalda stated in the bookmark of Čep’s novel The Border of a Shadow (1935) that he is a “poet of death”, namely “a very special, possessing a very special, unusual view of things of life and death”. The language and imagery of his artistic work are based on philosophical-reflexive and meditative lyricism, often with a contemplative overlap. We consider the image of a double home to be one of the key images of Čep’s poetics. Its development can be traced from the author’s juvenile prose work to the latest texts, which are mainly essay-like. In addition to this image, however, in Čep’s work, reflecting on the phenomenon of life and death also appears to be the mainstay, while it is obvious that these entities are very closely related to the image of a double home. In this context, it will be important to observe how the phenomenon of death is depicted in Čep’s only novel The Border of a Shadow.
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Mysticism and poetry make up an inseparable pairing and, in these times of absence, they reveal the deep desire of man to go beyond the immediate, the existential, the superficial. The Argentine poet Hugo Mujica opens, from his poetic saying, a door towards the abyss and the desert, towards the limit of language and silence. We can glimpse in his poetry Heidegger’s legacy and, together with the philosopher, the Master Eckhart is also dragged from his going to God without god. From the interdisciplinary dialogue between philosophy, theology and poetry, we will approach to decipher this influence that transforms the saying of the poet-philosopher and updates his word in the desert and plunges us into the mystery of the unspeakable.
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The article concerns the last phase of poetic production of father David Maria Turoldo, notably the last collection published when he was still alive – the Final Chants. In his very long work or religious poet, liturgist, and essayist, he treated a number of topics, incl. social themes and current affairs. In his last phase of his poetic, he doesn’t speak to the society, to the poor, and to marginalised people like in the past, but he addresses God directly – by forming an intense dialogue with the Absolute. In this poetical and mystical dialogue, he interrogates God about the most impenetrable mysteries for human understanding. These mysteries overwhelmed theologians and mystics of all times. Here, we shall focus notably on the topic of God being far from His creation – which is manifested through the divine silence. God seems not to hear the invocations of the faithful; it looks as though He doesn’t care about the problem of suffering (especially of the weakest persons) that remains apparently unrelieved by divine intervention. We shall present some meaningful short examples of such deep and complex issues, in order to introduce the reader to the knowledge of the peculiar Turoldian approach, by providing a possible interpretative key.
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Mystical experience is connected with ineffability. This paper proves it in works by various authors. It mentions some common phenomena associated with mysticism, such as stigma, levitation, appearance of light, religious anorexia, etc. Some of them are observed in late works by Julius Zeyer, a Czech novelist and poet, which represent the core of the analysis. Christine the Miraculous and The Three Memoirs of Vít Choráz both reflect mystical experience experienced by the main characters. The paper refers to accompanying aspects of the behaviour of the characters related to ineffable.
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The article deals with the issue of silence in the thinking and work of the contemporary French author Sylvie Germain. The starting point for deliberation is the author’s essay Acte de silence (2011), in which silence is conceived both as a manifestation of God’s discreet appearance and as an act of humility and patience of man. The presence of silence seems to be a necessary condition for mystical experience. Silence understood in this way is the subject of the analysis in a selected passage from Germain’s novel L’Enfant Méduse (1991), which suggests some specific features of the author’s poetics of the transcendent, also present in her later novel work.
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This paper focuses on the figurativeness of the language of mystical experience in the context of Jung’s theory of collective unconsciousness. It analyses the autobiographical work of St. Teresa of Ávila and tries to identify images that mirror the archetype of the whole, or the Jungian Self (das Selbst). The main objective of the paper is to reveal the life-giving potential and spontaneous nature of symbols created by the unconscious and to highlight their scope and importance in human life.
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The paper focuses on the life and written work of the Colombian Catholic mystic St. Laura Montoya y Upegui (1874–1949), known also as Mother Laura. The life of this mystic was marked by a mystical experience from her early childhood. In the work she left us, especially in her autobiography entitled History of the Mercies of God in a Soul [Historia de las misericordias de Dios en un alma], she tries to talk about her unique experience, although this task is not easy. She tends to speak about her mystical experience with God mainly through specific images of her own inner world. The aim of this study is to bring these images closer to the reader, analyse them and reconcile them with the aesthetic qualities of the narration, which helps to form more complete and complex image not only of the mystical experience, but also of the work by St. Laura.
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In the middle of the Fifth century, a relatively mysterious Christian poet, Sedulius, wrote his epic composition named Paschal Song. In terms of contents, it is notably a description of Christ’s miracles according to the four Gospels. The poet is facing the reality of something that transcends the common human experience – according to what was defined by the Council of Ephesus and Chalcedon regarding the real divine and human nature of Christ. For such reason, even his poetical language is adapted, in order to describe something that contravenes common reality. A useful and suitable means for reaching this purpose is the frequently employed paradox. The reader/listener can get closer to the indescribable, unprecedented, and inexpressible mysterious nature of Christ. In this way, the author creates a very specific and elegant mystic – and his epic composition becomes a meditative text.
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This paper explores the figurativeness of the language of the mystical experiences in the texts of Angela of Foligno. For this purpose, the prism of literary interpretation and analysis is utilised. The aim of this article is to define the main signs and specificities of Angela’s narration. The reflection on this theme also includes the research of possible similarities with other Christian mystical witnesses (Catherine of Siena, Teresa of Ávila, John of the Cross).
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The Slovak Romantic Messianism is perceived by us as a phenomenon growing from a specific current epochal situation relating to a relatively rich tradition, which existed in the Slovak cultural context already in previous historical periods. By considering the characteristic features of production, its existence was often relativised. Nevertheless, it represents an important testimony of a concrete epoch. Its artistic implementation (perhaps today more than in the past) is being well appreciated, thanks to its interesting form and to its expressive and narrative strength or value. By focusing our attention on its expressive and thematic means, it is possible to prove that the authors tried to mediate a mystical experience to the readers. As mystagogues, they introduced and initiated the readers to the mysteries of God’s plans aiming at transformation of this world. In this sense, through their literary production, they invoked and prayed God to give them a chance to live a direct mystic experience in the reality. By pursuing this purpose, they filled their poetry with curious archaisms and neologisms (the so-called self-creation of language). They gave way to a speculative etymologism and poetical forms. Generally, they were syncretically stylying poetical shapes. And they often exploited experiments or complex strophic structures.
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Because of the Holocaust, World War II is the focal point for capturing spiritual experience in the 20th-century literature. How did the transformation of French spiritual literature from the poet Marie Noël in the 1st half of the century to the novelist Sylvie Germain at its end come about? Using examples from their work, this paper shows both authors’ sources of inspiration and highlights the means of expressing spirituality of a person going through an inner struggle. Although the authors describe a dark night, both of them they have a desire to overcome it, to reconcile with God, with the world and with themselves.
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One of the key poets of Slovak post-November poetry was shaped in the Komúna dissent group headed by philosopher and artist M. Strýko during the communist regime. Operating in dissent supported the radicality of his poetic gesture and lifestyle, the image of an active, evolving individual freed from the senselessness of civilization, and also the idea that it is possible to integrate evil into a higher good. These ideas also form branches to the sanjuanist motifs and intellectual solutions that are close to Groch. The article seeks these penetrating places with special attention on the symbol of the journey and pilgrimage, and at the same time points to Groch’s creative updates of one of the most famous spiritual teachings of the West.
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Opiniile potrivit cărora postmodernismul ar fi o invazie a culturii de masă și a alianței celei mai josnice cu kitsch-ul (Clement Greenberg) ori un produs printre altele, soporifice, ale societății de consum (Fredric Jameson) au fost de mult abandonate și glosate în chip de curiozități în muzeul istoriei conceptului. La fel, confuziile incipiente între postmodernism și avangardă, bazate pe o continuitate a dialecticii noului ce înlocuiește vechiul prin opoziție și subminare, au fost reparate chiar de cei care inițial le afirmaseră (Ihab Hassan și Leslie Fielder de pildă)12. Ideea redescoperirii plăcerii lecturii, a reînnoirii pactului cu cititorul, bazat pe seducție și dorința de a se lăsa sedus, propagată de primii scriitori-teoreticieni autodeclarați postmoderni (John Barth și Umberto Eco printre alții)3, a rămas însă extrem de vie și de fertilă, cel puțin într-o abordare mai simplificatoare, dar nu și simplistă, a caracteristicilor noului eon cultural. Să fie oare seducția una dintre mărcile pe care postmodernismul și le adjudecă, delimitându-se în acest fel de modernitatea adesea orgolios elitistă? Reîntoarcerea la narațiune și abandonarea jocurilor abstracte și livrești pe care și le propune ar pleda pentru un răspuns afirmativ. însă operele dificile ale atâtor scriitori postmoderni (sau integrați, unii poate fără voia lor, acestei orientări) pun sub semnul întrebării un asemenea deziderat. Reacțiile scriitorilor în fața datoriei de a-și subjuga, sub povara imensei lor atractivități, cititorii, pot fi multiple.
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E deja primăvară, prin mai. El are aproape 27 de ani și își începe jurnalul intrând în „pădurea întunecoasă”. Poate fără să vrea, o parafrază la Dante : „în pădurea întunecoasă, cu pământul pătruns de umezeală, nu mă orientam decât după albul gulerului său” Fără nimic simbolic și, mai ales, fără făgăduința paradisului. O intrare în labirint, în infernul vieții de zi cu zi, singur, exilat încă de la început în propriul corp. „Sigur e că scriu asta din deznădejdea pe care mi-o inspiră trupul meu și viitorul acestui trup”. E chiar a doua frază din jurnal, iar mai încolo va consemna că îi e teamă, oroare, milă, scârbă de „acest trup”. îl disprețuiește și îl reneagă ; îl refuză ; iar corpului îi e teamă, oroare, milă de el, de Franz Kafka; îl disprețuiește și îl refuză; îl reneagă la rându-i. „Cu un asemenea trup ca al meu nu poți izbuti nimic în viață.” într-adevăr, în viața reală, Franz Kafka și propriul corp sunt doi străini, față în față, despărțiți de o pavăză : „o clipă m-am simțit învăluit de o platoșă. Cât de departe îmi sunt, de pildă, mușchii brațelor”. S-ar părea că se simte protejat, apărat, izolat de lume, dar de fapt, platoșa s-a așezat între el și propriul său corp, din al cărui prizonierat ar vrea, clipă de clipă, să scape. De aici, obsesia conturului ferm, a limitării brutale prin care „jalnicele trupuri omenești” sunt izolate, fără putința unei comunicări reale; de aici, obsesia camerelor etanșe, a ușilor care se închid mereu, dar nici una care să te protejeze, să-ți dea sentimentul de „acasă”. Unde e casa, unde-i acasă, „locșorul acela curat pe pământ, peste care uneori să strălucească soarele, ca să te poți încălzi și tu nițel”? Niciunde. Sunt, toți, și el, Franz, și Gregor, și Georg, și Joseph K., și Karl, bărbați în toată firea, dar nu au o casă a lor : stau cu părinții, în gazdă, în chirie, prin hanuri, pensiuni, hoteluri, „flotanți”, suspendați mereu în interval.
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In 2021, the State Publishing Institute (Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy) published a new edition of The Stranger translated by Marek Bieńczyk. This is the second translation officially published in Poland, the previous was created by Maria Zenowicz in 1958. The article analyses these two Polish translations of The Stranger. The author compares some parts of the text and shows differences between Polish versions trying to find out how a new translation has changed a perception of the novel among Polish readers.
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The article presents a corpus analysis of media messages about immigrants from Ukraine in Warsaw. The aim of the research was to compare headlines and texts and to identify keywords, words with the highest frequency and the most popular collocations. The korpusomat web application was used for the study. The results confirm that the image of Ukrainians is built on the basis of the opposition between locals and foreigners. The quantitative data for the headlines and for the texts were similar. The topics concerned mainly the work of immigrants. An important role in the media news was played by lemmas locating the places of events and the nationality of their participants.
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