Search

This article investigates the power and scope of the imagination in Giambattista Vico's philosophy by focusing on the role played by the mind of the giants in their attempts to extricate themselves from the chaotic continuity of liquid and pervious matter and in their endeavour to reconstruct reality in post-diluvian nature. In Vico's account, through the imagination's efforts to mediate self-terror, self-consciousness and self-delusion, the monstrously ungainly and misshapen bodies of the giants, emotionally electrocuted by the lightning bolt of chemically active matter, became the natural laboratory – the corpolentissima fantasia – in which the human mind could test its original attempts at representing reality and avoiding self-deception. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates the start of Florence's approach to Ottoman Constantinople. It analyses the elements that enticed the Florentine Signoria to reconsider its commercial interest in Constantinople by highlighting the political role of the Ottoman sultan. In addition, this study intends to shed light on the difficulties the Florentine establishment faced in its diplomatic effort to successfully establish a profitable state trade route with the former Byzantine capital. The Signoria's diplomatic groundwork has never been extensively studied, but doing so reveals how an apparently routine matter of administration, the negotiations over the safe-conduct with the Kingdom of Naples, became a salient political issue that took nearly three years (1455–1458) to resolve. The article also aims to make an original contribution to the history of the Florentine Mediterranean thanks to material from previously unconsulted sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Spanish romances of chivalry (16th-17th centuries) were one of the most prolific and consumed forms of literature in the Hispanic scene at the dawn of the Modern Age. Heirs of medieval knightly literature, they are crossed by multiple monstrous presences, being the giants the most recurrent of all. These monstrosities play, in narrative terms, the role of obstacles to overcome on the road to knightly glory. But this is not the only purpose they serve. Among many other additional functions, they also operate as strongly pejorative views of religious otherness-to be more specific, of the Islamic-and examples of how a ruler should not be or proceed. In particular, this article compares three of the main features of the gigantic personality-pride, hatred of Christianity and cruelty-with what is said about them in a family of writings that influenced the literary genre in question: the “mirrors for princes”, texts that enlarged the noble libraries, which were part of the princely education and in which the political theory elaborated in the medieval centuries is condensed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

None.

Rüstemnâmes, which are known by researchers in the Turkish world, are the examples of Persian literature. Kitâb-ı Rüstemnâme-i Türkî has been translated into Turkish from these examples. No study was found on the work. It is aimed to determine and explain the original aspects of the work, which is very rich in terms of content. For this reason, a single copy with Arabic letters in the Rare and Manuscripts Department of the Library of the Kazakh Academy of Sciences (Ghilim Ordası) has been studied. The religious beliefs of Turks from past to the present, the religious beliefs of communities they encountered as making their presence felt in a wide geography, and the mythological elements that they blended and revealed from their cultures show themselves in tales, legends and epics. Epics, having an important place among the oral literature products in the period when writing was not yet invented, are long verse or prose works that have gained a mythological feature with their heroes and the extraordinariness of their existence, adorned with cultural elements in which historical and social events are told that have great repercussions in the lives of nations. Turkish mythology is very rich in terms of epics. Shahnameh, one of the most important poetic works of Iranian literature in the wide field of the Turkish world, is an example of an epic based on ancient Iranian legends. Starting from prehistoric times, Ferdowsi's main theme is shaped around heroes and criminals such as Rostam (Rüstem), Esfandiâr and Afrâsiyâb. It is possible to come across other works in Iranian literature that describe the extraordinariness of the heroes mentioned in the Shahnameh. Kitâb-ı Rüstemnâme-i Türkî is one of the examples of this narrative. It takes its name from the legendary hero of Shahnameh, Rüstem, son of Zâl. In the heroic stories told by Nakkal (storytellers-narrators), besides Rüstem's heroism, beings with their extraordinary characteristics also take their place. In this work, as in world mythologies, beings are characterized by contrasts such as good-bad, beautifulugly, strong-weak, known-unknown. Starting with Simurg, who helped Zâl at the birth of Rüstem by plucking a feather from his wing, he started to eat bread and meat right after he grew up quickly and was weaned, he ate more food than many adults, he was very tall despite being very young, he was strong and strong. Many of his miracles, such as his size resembling a wrestler, his fearlessness, his struggle with elephants, and his killing giants all by himself, take their place in Rüstemnâme. Another issue is the babr-e beyân, Rüstem's protective clothing with extraordinary features. It is mentioned as a name of clothing in the Shahnameh, but the story of Rüstem's War with Babr-e Beyân and his making himself armor after his victory is not mentioned. Finally, it is worth dwelling on the subject of the Battle of Kok-e Kuhzad and Rüstem, which is thought to have been added to the manuscripts after Firdevsi by many researchers, who are not included in other copies of the Shahnameh. These issues about the main character Rüstem, which is a research topic in itself, will be discussed in detail in another study. While some of the giants, who are described as bad in terms of their characters, threatening to human beings, large and ugly, are not in the Shahnameh, they are in this Rüstemname. In this study, the reflections of the giant motif, which is frequently encountered in the Turkish epic tradition, in the subject work will be evaluated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

None.

Epics, in which various events such as war, famine, internal political conflicts, and natural disasters, have deep traces in the minds of nations and are conveyed through generations with mythological elements that are not too far from the Dede Korkut Stories. Mythic period traces found in the stories have formed a layered structure equipped with concentrated information. Although chronologically, the first layer is actually the last layer added, it is the most understandable and appealing layer to the general reader. The latter layers are much deeper because its context diverges a little further from the reader. In order to reach the deep structure, as aimed in this study, the method of discourse analysis, which focuses on the archeology of the text, is based on the dominance of the ideology on the text, and the perspectives of linguistic anthropology has been used; since the words and structures they form in the texts come into existence not by chance but by “selection”, These two fields of study are always in an interaction and exchange with each other. According to research, climate plays a very important role in the formation of civilization and interacts with their social, economic, and political elements. Thus, climate changes and their consequences (famine, migration, etc.), wars, important warriors, opinion leaders, and victories throughouth the world can be conveyed through literary texts. When the layered structure in the Tepegoz story is examined, the connection between climate-human interaction is clearly seen. In this context, the story where Basat killed Tepegöz, has been analyzed with the support of data from various disciplines such as environmental history, medicine, climatology, zoology, geology, geography, and toponym, in accordance with the interdisciplinary dimension of discourse analysis; as a result, the Tepegoz-harsh winter link was revealed. As per the concept of Tepegöz; it has been observed that there is reference to the long and harsh winters that prevent access to a healthy metabolism, accommodation, and eating, which are basic human needs. It is possible to assume that “fantastic” beings like Cyclops, which can be found in myths, epics, fairy tales and legends, express a non-human threat that brings human life to an end in various ways.

The notion that the Earth might be hollow or at least cavernous inside and filled with numberless underground worlds (like volcanic and tectonic caves, sea caves, glacier caves, eolian caves, granite and other bedrock shelters, etc.) has fascinated humanity perhaps from times immemorial. The Hollow-Earth model, however, was formulated more clearly only in rather recent times (at best, it is only a few centuries old). John Cleves Symmes, in his science-fictional novel Symzonia: a voyage of discovery (1820), proposed such a model of Hollow Earth as inhabited inside by Symzonians (citizens of inner-Earth Symzonia) and Belzubians (degenerate Symzonians, living as exiles both in the inner-Earth Belzubia and on the outer Earth). The present paper presents a larger context in which Symmes's Symzonia came to life, by tracing a few romantic, alchemical, and philosophical sources (that may have been more or less its foundations) and echoes (that it may have more or less generated). Although generally underrated and neglected, Symmes's novel remains today relevant in science-fiction studies at least because it constitutes the first American SF novel, which saw the light of print only two years after the publication of Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein; or, The modern Prometheus (1818), which is currently widely considered to be the first work of science fiction (see Aldiss & Wingrove 1988). What seems undoubtful is that the Hollow-Earth model of Symzonia deeply influenced E. A. Poe, who is now acknowledged as one of the initiators of the SF genre (see at least Beaver's 1976 edition of Poe's science fiction; and Tresch 2004). Also, it appears Symmes took his science-fiction notion of Hollow Earth to be a true reality, which is why Symzonia (1820) can be seen as a precursor for Willis George Emerson's equally mysterious (and perhaps equally neglected) narrative entitled The Smoky God, or A voyage to the Inner World (1908), which is hereby also briefly presented for comparative purposes as proto-science fiction. Interestingly, the first Superman movie (Superman and the Mole Man, 1951) is a Hollow-Earth narrative. In itself this constitutes yet another element that shows just how perennial and attractive this idea has continued to be. In this context, it becomes plausible to regard Symzonia (1820) as a groundbreaking American proto-SF narrative that initiated in literature a fictionary paradigm, later leading to Poe's mystery science fictions, Emerson's fantastic Hollow-Earth narrative, and the entire SF "school" of Hollow-Earth and underground stories (for an extended list of contributors to this significant SF genre, see Clute & Nicholls 1993). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

None.

In chivalry books some giants and dwarfs break with the paradigm of ugliness in which they are pigeonholed. These characters have a process of physical and moral transformation visible in their clothes, actions and words. It seeks to relate the accessories of the dress with their behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

None.

None.

Copyright of Folklor / Edebiyat is the property of Cyprus International University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Ágora: Estudos Clássicos em Debate is the property of Agora: Estudos Classicos em Debate and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Edad de Oro is the property of Departamento de Filologia Espanola de la Universidad Autonoma de Madrid and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

None.

The monstrous discourse in the Castilian romances of Chivalry, a very popular literary genre in the 16th and 17th centuries, constitutes a real challenge of analysis, for the reason that it is composed of many elements –sources, monster archetypes, monstrification procedures, functions, etc.– which present multiple variations. However, we could take it apart into large units of meaning to lighten its exam. One of these corresponds to giants. Numerous, they also are very complex. They can be primitive, though, as a general rule, they wear armours, ride big horses and fight in a chivalrous manner, as if they were the grotesque reverse of the noble heroes. In addition, they are polytheists –worshiping even Muhammad– and idolaters, without neglecting they hate Christianity, although they convert to this religion sometimes.The aim of this paper is to provide some interpretation keys to facilitate a better understanding of these monstrosities. To achieve it, we will analyze their figurative, behavioral, axiological and religious dimensions.

It is widely understood that the core myth of the descent of the angels in the Enochic Book of the Watchers is the product of engagement with Genesis 6. I address an underlying issue—why the producers of the Book of the Watchers were interested in Genesis 6. It reflects an abiding interest in the antediluvian past. The Hellenistic Age is characterized by a marked interest in the distant past. Intellectuals from various cultures sought to articulate their origins in a by-gone age and the etiologies of various forms of knowledge. Mesopotamian myths locate the origins of forms of knowledge critical for human civilization, such as writing and astronomy, within the cultural context of Mesopotamia, and Egyptian myths likewise promoted the view that these types of knowledge first originated in Egypt. A type of anxiety developed among ancient cultures in the Near East that were taken over by a people perceived as much younger, the Greeks. This cultural context helps explain a desire by intellectuals in various Near Eastern cultures, including the producers of 1 Enoch 6–11, to turn to the distant past, configured as a blank canvas upon which one could write a version of history in which their own culture and textual traditions are valorized. The Hellenistic context can also explain a key element of the exegesis that is evident in the Book of the Watchers—that the sons of the angels which receive minimal description in Genesis 6:4 are presented as monstrous, destructive giants. Berossus likewise presents versions of Mesopotamian myths that, when compared to older articulations of them, heightens the monstrous. In short, during the Hellenistic age the primordial past can become more monstrous. In this paper I suggest that this ‘monsterizing’ Tendenz can be understood as a consequence of the cultural anxiety of the Hellenistic age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Ondina - Ondine is the property of Universidad de Zaragoza and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)