罗兰·巴特文学文化批评中的“神话学”方法

罗兰·巴特文学、文化批评中的"神话学"方法是结构主义符号学与意识形态批评的奇妙结合,有其自身的内在逻辑,有助于分析文学、文化文本生产文化意义与意识形态观念的内在运作机制。作为一种方法论,巴特的"神话学"还具有自身的理论基础和理论假设,对当代文学、文化批评与研究具有重要的启示意义。

消费社会语境中的“广告神话学”

"消费社会"已成为学界描述和揭示当代社会现象和进行大众文化研究的一项重要理论资源和工具,在消费社会的语境中,构建一种"广告神话学"的阅读模式,不啻是对罗兰·巴特《神话》一书的延伸细读,并且确能通过这种模式发现消费社会的内在逻辑是经由符号性的操作而实现的,而广告的"神话"本质就是"去政治化"。

符号学原理与广告传播机制

传统的观念都是将巴特的"神话学"研究视为一种文化批判的符号学,但是如果我们把巴特的符号学原理及"神话学"理论运用到广告传播机制的研究中,围绕符号意义生成和运作逻辑,则可从学理上将符号在广告传播机制中的运用归纳为以下3点:符号的意义化机制、符号的自然化机制和符号的等值化机制。

Petersburg＇s religious myths in Dostoevsky＇s Crime and punishment

Many Russian scholars have expounded Dostoevsky＇s religious outlooks, which are embodied in Petersburg＇s religious myths. Dostoevsky describes the fantasy of Petersburg in the hands of the devil, and he also adds a lot of mythological colors in his diction. This article expounds the above idea from the angles of both mythological atmosnhere and mythological poetics.

符号分析视角下的“奥尔夫热”

奥尔夫教育在工具理性下被市场贴上的“优秀教育”标签,实际上是对与奥尔夫教育有关的丰富内涵的异化。表现在正当化了奥尔夫教育在我国发展的局限性;形式化了奥尔夫的教学实践以及在老师的特殊期望下形成的对奥尔夫教育的工具化诉求。而这都使“奥尔夫热”被异化成神话,而我们要做的,就是回归初心,平和真诚地看待与奥尔夫教育有关的一切。

Myths About Rock Art

Rather than addressing the myths or cosmologies supposedly expressed in rock art, this paper explores some of the myths that have been and are still being created about rock art. We know from the study of the last rock art-producing peoples in the world that outsiders of their cultures cannot interpret their rock art correctly, or even understand their cosmologies adequately. This is not surprising, in view of the neuroscientific understanding of the underlying differences. In a sound hermeneutical system, the normative nature of interpretation must be recognized and accounted for. The record shows that little hermeneutical restraint has been exercised in rock art research, and that the discipline＇s credibility demands the expulsion of the extensive myths that have been created by it. Some of the most prominent of these falsities are presented to illustrate the point.

The Grammars of Mystical Experience in Christian Theological Dialogue

The philosophical horizon of this essay is theoretically comparative and hermeneutically dialogic. Its main philosophical and theological tonality expresses, in first person and through three discursive moments, the differentiated fusion of horizons between phenomenological and grammatical description and understanding of experience. After a philosophical overture-outlining the ethos of the dialogic problematic and situating it within the contemporary diverse and dialogic dynamic of phenomenology-I will expose the consistent, possible modalities of convergence between Husserlian phenomenology and Wittgensteinian grammar of the mystical shapes of experience. The tense, responsorial dialogue among Husserl, Heidegger, Levinas, and Wittgenstein＇s styles of thinking, far from being anymore limited to the debates between the analytical and phenomenological, will be considered from the crossed categorial spaces of Austrian philosophy and German culture in general. In a second section, I will show how the styles of phenomenology today are advancing into a cautious micro-logical grammar of comparative inquiry. This thematization will first consider some precise semantic clarifications： Experience, the mystical, extasis, evidence, and truth; in a second section, the theoretical levels of grammar and phenomenology of mystical experience are heralded in the context of the Christian theological dialogue, where I emphasize the rebirth of French theological thinking and dialogic transcendence, beginning with Maritain and de Chardin to Marcel, de Lubac, Levinas, and Marion. Finally, I consider the aesthetic expressions of mystical experience, both from the visual and musical dimensions. I will conclude this talk by highlighting theological perspectives drawn from my research in musico-philosophical problematics, through an awakening to the resonance of Being and the Divine in sonic and musical life. Through a theology of the musical λογοζ, the grammar of mystical experience reveals the sacramentality of music and the mystery of silence

Eros and Thanatos in Theo Angelopoulos＇ Trilogy： The Weeping Meadow （2004） and Dust of Time （2008）

Eros and Thanatos are the forces of life and death. The Ancient Greek Philosophers never showed the two gods together. Nevertheless, in the main myths related to the netherworld such as those of Orpheus or Persephone, the two gods are in a continuous fight which has determined the human condition until nowadays. The author wishes in this paper to examine how the Orpheus＇ myth related to the duality Eros and Thanatos is treated in Theo Angelopoulos＇ world and especially how it appears in Ulysses＇ Gaze （1995） and Trilogy： The Weeping Meadow （2004） and Dust of Time （2008）. In this last Angelopoulos＇ Trilogy, we will search the unfolds of the love story of two young people started in Odessa in 1918 and finished by the death of the woman at the end of the century, under the lens of the duality Eros and Thanatos as literal and metaphorical qualities. The historical and personal adventures of the two characters represent a daedal itinerary from East to West, which offers multiple levels of reading of the filmic texts. A comparative approach with myth, literature, and historical research will demonstrate the richness of artistic expression and a profound relationship of Angelopoulos＇ thought with the formulaic myths he introduces in his filmic work.

Japanese Mythology From Ethnological Perspectives

Comparative studies of Japanese mythology have developed since the 1920s above all through eftbrts of Japanese ethnologists. They have paid attention to the possible ethno-cultural complexes that brought mythological motifs into the archipelago. In the present paper the theories set forth by Nobuhiro Matsumoto, Akihide Mishina, and Masao Oka are examined in terms of retrospect. The result shows that they shared the view that at least three different complexes, based in ancient Yamato, Izumo, and Kyushu respectively, contributed to the formation of Japanese mythology compiled in the 8th century CE （Common Era）. Their assumptions were synthesized by Taryo Obayashi in 1961, the hypothesis which has survived until today. In future we should cooperate with other disciplines and address the formation process of Japanese mythology.

The Continuum of Grief. From Scandinavian Mythology to Zen Buddhism： Janet Frame＇s Intertextual Strategies in Snowman, Snowman

In the wake of Richards Benton＇s ＂Keats and Zen＂ （published in Philosophy East and West （1966））, this paper sets out to examine Janet Frame＇s appropriation of Buddhist philosophy in Snowman, Snowman （1962）. The novella＇s allusions to a Buddhist-like epistemology, together with its subtle references to Scandinavian myths, however, have so far remained uncovered and are therefore best approached in the light of what has been called ＂the suppressed intertextuality in post-colonial writing＂. The author＇s intention in this paper is twofold： On the one hand, the author will suggest that post-colonial writers do not necessarily write against the Western canon and that maintaining the contrary amounts to vindicating the centrality of imperial texts in the contemporary literary scene--an endeavour which is hardly post-colonial. On the other hand, the author will go some way towards shifting eastward the core of Frame＇s ontology by suggesting that her poetics is anchored not only in Western thinking, but also, perhaps more importantly so, in Eastern philosophy. The author＇s primary impulse, however, in examining the interplay between canonical and peripheral intertextualities, is to illuminate in fundamental fashion the haunting beauty of the writer＇s universe and the lyricism of Snowman, Snowman.

Some Remarks on the Role of Tamil Literary Tradition in Siva Satakam of Narayana Guru

The paper presents an analysis of the selected stanzas of Siva Satakam （One Hundred Verses on Siva）--the most important hymn devoted to Siva composed in Malayalam by Narayana Guru. The analysis shows that there is a tendency in the hymn to emphasise the equal status of Sanskrit and Dravidian literary tradition. Several stanzas are constructed on the basis of Sanskrit stories or myths; however, this ＂classical＂ scheme is filled with Tamil or Malayalam concepts, ideas, and key words. What is more, Narayana Guru employs so called twilight language used by authors of Tamil philosophical works in order to provide a receiver of the poem with the opportunity to interpret some stanzas in accordance with Sanskrit as well as Dravidian tradition. The introduction of a person belonging to lower caste of South India as the one who is able to attain liberation, as well as presentation of the welt-known philosophical concepts as equal or even subordinated to the Dravidian ideas could become a significant contribution to the social activity of Guru comprising among others the concern for spiritual and social uplift of the lower caste people of Kerala.

LI Bai＇s Eight Poems About XI Shi

The study traces Chinese poet LI Bai＇s eight poems about why none of these eight poems gets anthologized in Tang the mythical figure XI Shi and investigates the reasons Shi San Bai Shou （ 《唐诗三百首》）, the most popular poetry of Tang Dynasty anthology. Observations focus on the poems＇ departure from writing conventions, the poems＇ genre of huai gu （怀古）, the general assumption that may block our understandings and evaluations of these literary works such as LI Po is clumsy at describing feelings and he shows signs of hasty composition and his risky experiments with the tonal effects.

Social Myths： A New Approach

Nowadays, the study of myths is rather neglected as a field of research in sociology. There is a void that this paper would like to contribute to filling. It outlines a theoretical and empirical sociological approach to social myths as a major component of collective imaginaries and a universal sociological mechanism through time and space. The article recalls the major functions performed by myths in every society （modem as well as ＂primitive＂）, introduces new concepts, and sets forth an analytical framework designed to account for the emergence, the reproduction, and the decline of myths, as sacralised collective representations.

1944-1949 in the North East of Latvia： Soviet Myths and Reality

The scientific work on collecting and studying life stories started in Latvia in late 1980s, and mainly was devoted to creation of a multi-voiced counteraction to Soviet-era history. In this article, a life story and associated discourse units illustrate not only a point about the speaker, but also about the facts and notions that are common to the post-war Latvia. Post-Soviet society still use to give different accounts of the same facts and of the reasons why they happened. Studying multiform social memories that are forming Latvian collective memory is a way to perceive the processes by which these common-sense notions are constructed. The article demonstrates how to use the life story as a source for local history research and at the same time for people self-awareness research. This article is devoted to the analysis of eye-witnesses＇ （materials gathered from 12 neighboring farmer families） narratives about the post-war reality, comparing the main presumptions of Soviet ideology, existing in Latvia and all other Baltic states, to real life. Provided those presumptions being myths--the term being understood in political science as deceit as a falsifying construct, the author analyses true life stories to show the real danger of intention to exist in some irrational, mythical sphere.

Shepherding Public Discourse Practices： Homiletic Form Aligned to the Logic Operative in Racial Rhetoric and Public Theological Discourse for Secular Liberal Democracies

Given that preaching is the primary mode of public theological discourse for most Christian ministers, an intellectual virtue of verbal restraint is required when practicing public theology and it is wise to address the ways that homilies can shepherd public discourse practices. A theology of rhetoric includes the homilist＇s moral purpose. Homilies either enhance public discourse or pervert it. This essay sketches a pattern of sermon movement that respects the logic operative in public theology, given the social context of America. Homilies can help cultivate the pastoral care of public rhetoric by modeling discourse that nurtures the politics of accountability. While many call for a public ethos where divergent moral voices engage each other in highly contested arenas, a precondition to practicing effective public theology requires that one exercises discourse in a way that respects the social limits on the free exercise of religion. It is important that a public theology of rhetoric clarifies the original social agreement for acceptable religious discourse in the public arena. Homiletics, as a dimension of practical theology, can teach preachers methods of pastoral care for public discourse. The social agreement in liberal democracies to contain the combative nature of religious discourse assumes a logic that is circumscribed by commitments to （1） religious pluralism, （2） theological agnosticism, and （3） epistemological pragmatism. Here we propose that a sermon＇s form, which implicitly touches upon these commitments, can tap into the basic modes of persuasion in secular liberal societies. This respects the moral purposes previously agreed upon and expected of partisans during highly contestable times. This calls for incarnational humility on the part of the Christian public theologian and it guides her/his practice.

Myth and Origins： Men Want to Know

Starting with a personal definition of ＂myth＂, this paper seeks to substantiate the claim that every myth is essentially etiological, in the sense that myths somehow express a cosmogony or an eschatology, whether particular or universal. In order to do that, this study reassesses Classical and Judeo-Christian mythologies to revisit and contrast the narratives of origin--of the cosmos, of the gods and of men--found in ancient polytheism and in Judeo-Christian monotheism. Taking into consideration how these general and particular cosmogonies convey a specific understanding of the passage of time, this article does not merely recount the cosmogonies, theogonies, and anthropogonies found in the Bible and in the works of authors from Classical Antiquity, but it also incorporates a critical commentary on pieces of art and literature that have reinterpreted such mythical tales in more recent times The result of the research is the disclosure of a sort of universal etiology that may be found in mythology which, as argued, explains the origins of the world, of the gods, and of men so as to satisfy humankind＇s ambition to unveil the mysteries of the cosmos. Myth thus functions in these cases as a vehicle that makes it possible for man to return the fullness of a primordial age, abandoning the fleeting time that entraps him and entering a time still absolute

Contemporary myth and its aesthetic consciousness

Pragmatic rationality and scientific and technological developments in modem society have jointly put an end to classical myth and consigned it to the historical museum of the spiritual culture. However, mythical thinking and consciousness are synchronically hidden in our psychological structures and still exert an important influence on civilizations and cultures. In the modem and postmodem historical and cultural context, myth hides in our spiritual and cultural activities in various altered forms. Having evolved into a mythic form in the contemporary sense, it continues to play a powerful psychological role and to act as a midwife of conscious activities and forms. Contemporary myth typically comprises science myth, consumption myth and hero myth. It has inherited the symbols and structures of traditional myth, but with some developments and variations; in particular, by means of science and technology, it has acquired broader and richer social ingredients and swift and intensive modes of transmission, producing a widespread and far-reaching influence on various aspects of society.

The Discourse Myth in China＇s News on Economy and Real Estate

There exists great room for ＂rational imaginary＂ in the discourse of news narration, the myth formed and enhanced therein becoming widely accepted as commonsense. The discourse in economic news through systematic and disciplinebound ＂objective＂ description disguises the power of the capital as the natural result of scientific laws. FoUowing the same logic, the news on real estate implicates the myth of development and investment. A critical reflection on such myth is of great necessity for us to better understand the discourse system in news production.