Cultural Studies - Page 8

Echoes of the Turkic World and Folklore in the Holy Book Avesta

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Aktoty Nusipalikyzy1, Maulenov Almasbek1, Baigunakov Dosbol2, Toty I. Koshenova3 & Leila A. Mekebaeva1

1Department of Kazakh Literature and Theory of Literature, Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, Almaty, Republic of Kazakhstan

2Department of Archeology, Ethnology and Museology, Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, Almaty, Republic of Kazakhstan

3Department of Kazakh Philology, Akhmet Yassawi International Kazakh-Turkish University, Turkestan, Republic of Kazakhstan

 Volume 12, Number 4, July-September, 2020 I Full Text PDF

DOI: 10.21659/rupkatha.v12n4.28

Abstract

The holy book “Avesta” is one of the magnificent creations of the world, which contains valuable information about religion, literature, culture, geography, history and mythology of the ancient peoples of Central Asia. For several centuries, many scholars of various specialties have been interested in “Avesta”. In numerous comments they discussed the history of the appearance of the book and its hymns, the personality of Zarathustra, his homeland, geographical objects, historical characters and mythological images, the ideological basis of the collection of holy books, etc. Many of the above mentioned questions are still being discussed among specialists, causing and over-colouring certain problems. In their work, the authors tried to find something in common between the “Avesta” and the Kazakh literature, exploring the spiritual relationship of the “Avesta” with the mythology of the people. As practice shows, various phenomena in the folklore of the peoples of the world are experiencing their birth, formation, flourishing, decay and death. Forms are modified, disappear, replaced by others. But sometimes the most ancient layer of folk art is preserved as a relic. Sometimes it is very difficult to see the traces of the most ancient representations in national folklore. Therefore, the authors of the article analyzed the works of Kazakhstani authors who studied some points in the “Avesta” and they made only an attempt to investigate the remains of the Kazakh archetype in this ancient literary monument. This article, without claiming to completely cover the available material, sees the main task in providing a holistic conceptual overview of the Kazakh literature on the above mentioned problem.

Keywords: Zarathustra, folklore, spiritual and moral parallels, zhyrau, spiritual heritage.

 

Review Article: Rewriting Tibet in The Tibetan Suitcase: A Novel (2019) by Tsering Namgyal Khortsa

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Publisher: Blackneck Books, (Under the Imprint: TibetWrites)

The First edition (November, 2019). Language: English. ISBN: 978-93-85578-12-0

Reviewed by

Koushik Goswami

PhD Research Scholar, Department of Comparative Literature, Jadavpur University. Email: koushikgoswami4@gmail.com

 Volume 12, Number 4, July-September, 2020 I Full Text PDF

DOI: 10.21659/rupkatha.v12n4.23

The Chinese invasion and occupation of Tibet in 1950 compelled a sizable number of Tibetans to leave their homeland. They were relocated to India, Nepal, Bhutan and different parts of the world as refugees. These displaced people do not want to forget their own history. Tibetan authors have taken upon themselves the responsibility of keeping alive the memory of the great exodus in which Dalai Lama was a participant and of what happened after that. The flame of patriotism and the desire for a return to the homeland filter through their literary works. These authors writing in English nurture a free Tibet in their national imaginary. As the Tibetans lack political and military power to overwhelm the might of the Chinese colonisers, the works of these writers of Tibetan origin are of paramount importance. Combining the functions of both creative authors and activists, they help sustain the Tibetan struggle for freedom, draw global attention to the plight of Tibetan refugees scattered all over the world and put pressure on the repressive Chinese regime in Tibet. They address issues related not only to their longing for their distant homeland, its culture and the political situation there but also to their own lived experience in the diaspora…Full Text PDF

Book Review: A Primal Issue: Stories of Women by Subrata Basu

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Number of Pages: 144. Publication Year: 2020. Publisher: Orient Blackswan

ISBN: 9789352879045. Price: Rs. 295.00/-

Reviewed by 

Ms. Adishree Vats

Assistant Professor, Department of English Studies, Akal University, Talwandi Sabo, Punjab. Email: vatsadishree8@gmail.com

 Volume 12, Number 4, July-September, 2020 I Full Text PDF

DOI: 10.21659/rupkatha.v12n4.20

The book, “A Primal Issue: Stories of Women”, is a gripping, enthralling anthology of analytical stories, translated by Subrata Basu, and written originally in Bengali by Jagdish Gupta, a “trailblazer” (p. xv) of modernist movement in India. With its epicentric plunge on the word “primal”, the book very meticulously exhibits a valorous investigation of interdictions and anathemas existing in the splendid post-Tagore chapter of Bengali literature. This revelatory compendium stresses on Jagdish Gupta’s seven translated stories, all originally published between 1927 and 1959, with females as chief characters, scrutinizing the intense connotations of life at personal as well as societal levels.  Every chapter is dedicated to one story so as to undrape the aggregation of the dilemmas, quandaries, and predicaments of Bengalis in general and women in particular for whom the repugnance of conservatism continues to exist. The stories unsparingly underscore the barbarous realities of the society, such as polygamy, child-marriage, widow-remarriage, women’s oppression and marginalization..Full Text PDF

Understanding the Gender Biases in Modern and Pre-modern Times through Mricchakatika and Utsav

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Prabha Shankar Dwivedi1 and Priyanka Tripathi2

1Assistant Professor of English, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Tirupati. prabhas.dwivedi@iittp.ac.in

2Associate Professor of English, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Patna. priyankatripathi@iitp.ac.in

 Volume 12, Number 4, July-September, 2020 I Full Text PDF

DOI: 10.21659/rupkatha.v12n4.17c

Abstract

Gender Bias is a phenomenon that strengthens in India as a result of personal values and perception, traditionally assigned roles on the basis of sex and regressive ideologies deeply entrenched in patriarchy. Vasantasen? is the protagonist of the M?cchaka?ika of ??draka, a classical Indian masterpiece written in c. 350 BCE which was later adapted into a Hindi film–Utsav (1985) written and directed by Girish Karnad. Despite being an adaptation, in its filmy avatar, Karnad denies Vasantasen? love and respect due to her profession and resorts to endorsing the conventional whereas in the original text she is a respectable woman. The article offers a comparative study of the treatment given to courtesans in general and reflects upon their complex realities by comparing the treatment of an Indian courtesan of two historically apart periods.

Keywords: Gender Bias; Courtesan; Film Adaptation; Patriarchy; Culture

Manifestations of Place in Al-Raneen Short Story Collection by Amin Oudah: an Analytical Study

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Mohammad Issa Alhourani1, Suad Al-Waely2 & Tar Abdallahi3

1, 2, 3 College of Education, Humanities, and Social Sciences, Al Ain University

Emails: mohammad.al-hourani@aau.ac.ae, suad.alwaely@aau.ac.ae, tar.abdallahi@aau.ac.ae

 Volume 12, Number 4, July-September, 2020 I Full Text PDF

DOI: 10.21659/rupkatha.v12n4.17

 Abstract

This research paper aims at examining the experience of Amin Oudah in his second short story collection, Al-Raneen. In addition to introducing the writer and highlighting his literary contributions, the paper introduces the reader to the short story collection entitled Al-Raneen. It briefly introduces each story and provides a quick comment on it, with the aim of coming up with a overall perception of all the stories in the collection. In addition, we dedicate a section of the paper to the study of Hamdan’s Shoes, one of the short stories in the collection. This case study provides insights into this particular story and highlights the most significant features that all the stories have in common.

Key words: Al-Raneen, Ringing, Amin Oudah, short story, place

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Construction of Modern Ethno-cultural Identity by Symbolic Art Forms as a Condition for Self-development of Culture: on the Example of Yakutia (Siberia, Russia)

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Aleksei G. Pudov1, Maria I. Koryakina2, Evdokia P. Yakovleva3, Liudmila S. Efimova4 & Natalia S. Shkurko5

1,2?ssociate Professor of the Social and Humanitarian Disciplines, Federal State Educational Institution of Higher Professional Education Yakutsk State Agricultural Academy.

Emails: agro_on_line@mail.ru & kormar61@mail.ru

3?ssociate Professor of the Department of Philosophy, Federal State Autonomous Educational Institution of Higher Professional Education North-Eastern Federal University named after M.K. Ammosov. Email: yakov_eva@mail.ru

4Professor, ?ead of the Department of Cultural Studies, Federal State Autonomous Educational Institution of Higher Professional Education North-Eastern Federal University named after M.K. Ammosov. Email: ludmilaxoco@mail.ru

5?ssociate Professor of the Department of Cultural Studies,Federal State Autonomous Educational Institution of Higher Professional Education North-Eastern Federal University named after M.K. Ammosov. Email: nat-shkurko@yandex.ru

 Volume 12, Number 4, July-September, 2020 I Full Text PDF

DOI: 10.21659/rupkatha.v12n4.15

Abstract

The article reveals the heuristic possibilities of introducing a constructivist interpretation of the phenomena of ethnos and ethno-cultural identity, made on the basis of symbolic constructs of consciousness of a mythological and metaphysical sense. Considering these phenomena from this perspective makes it possible to give a qualitative new interpretation of the understanding of modernizing transformations on the basis of a certain ethno-cultural complex, which is able to effectively conquer the achievements of European modernity. The peculiarity of ethno-cultural identity, which becomes a condition for successful modernization, is modeled on the examples of the development of professional art in Yakutia in the ethno-modern paradigm in the national theater, cinema and choreography. The paper presents the first generalized analysis of the possibilities of ethno-cultural modernization in the “multiple modernities” paradigm, which is based on the ontology of symbolic consciousness of representatives of non-modernized ethnic groups.

 Keywords: ethno-cultural identity, ethnos, constructivism, symbol, ethnic symbolism, mythological and metaphysical symbol of consciousness, Yakutia, Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), Russia, modernization, ethnomodern, ethno-cultural modernization. the national theatre, the national cinema.

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Sanctification of Water among the Population of the Khorezm Oasis

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Abidova Zaynab Kadirberganovna

Head of the Department “Social sciences”, Urgench Branch of the Tashkent Medical Academy Urgench, Khorezm, Uzbekistan. ORCID:  0000-0001-5440-4041. Email: zaynab_74_2011@mail.ru

 Volume 12, Number 4, July-September, 2020 I Full Text PDF

DOI: 10.21659/rupkatha.v12n4.11

 Abstract

Water holds a specific place in life of the people of the Khorezm oasis located in the lower reaches of the deep Amu Darya River which are between the Kara-Kum and Kyzyl-Kum Deserts. This article is devoted to a study of natural places of a pilgrimage connected with the water cult elements of Khwarezm. The remnants of ancient religions are studied and analyzed and found that the rites that are connected with water are traced in the Khorezm oasis. Special attention is paid to the history of studying of genesis and evolution of a cult of water of the Khorezm hagiology and their roles in life of inhabitants of the Khorezm oasis. This can be an important step towards the of revival of spiritual and cultural life of the Uzbek people.

Keywords: water, cult, places of a pilgrimage, legend, ceremony, Hubbi, Amu Darya.

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Travel through Remote Terrains: Tibet in Focus

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Kiron Susan Joseph Sebastine

MPhil Research Scholar, Dept. of English and Languages, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham. ORCID: 0000-0002-0621-0303.Email: kiron.susan@gmail.com.

 Volume 12, Number 3, 2020 I Full Text PDF

DOI: 10.21659/rupkatha.v12n3.11

Abstract

As Ramana Maharshi a twentieth century mystic reflects, travel is not just physical journey from one place to another but also subliminal from one thought to another. The outer journey implies meaning only when it is accompanied by an inner journey. Travel writing incorporates everyday explorations along with cultural mappings, musings and meditations on the encounters experienced in the course of the travel. Travelling solo on an impulse; out of the natural curiosity that life brings, is the delight of living the journey. This paper does a comparative analysis of Nabaneeta Dev Sen’s On A Truck Alone, To McMahon (2018) and Vikram Seth’s From Heaven Lake: Travels Through Sinkiang and Tibet (1990). Both the authors journey through remote territories and terrains while maintaining their focus towards the Roof of The World, Tibet. While the aftermath of the Cultural Revolution in China occupies the centre stage in Seth’s travelogue, the soreness of the Indo China War shrouds a permeable veil in Sen’s work. The paper further explores the thin line between pleasure and adventure keeping in mind the gender binaries in travel writing. The human imagination is a no-man’s land that encounters the prickles of political hostilities and the precarious suspicions of the state machinery. The human dimensions of the territorial borders annihilate the joys of travel as an experiment in freedom. Travel acknowledges the constant fluidity of the cognitive entities, the rejection of the familiar and the embrace of the unfamiliar.

Keywords: Travel writing, Subliminal, Cultural mappings, Self-writing, Freedom

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Features of Adolescent Deviant Discourse in Social Networks

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V. V. Gridina1, V. N. Antonova2, I. G. Malanchuk3, A. V. Kipchatova4, O. I. Katlishin5

1 Samara State Technical University, Samara, Russia. ORCID: 0000-0003-3183-0448. Email: samavera@mail.ru,

2 North-Eastern Federal University named after M.K. Ammosov, Yakutsk, Russia. Email:  antegor@mail.ru

3 Independent Non-Profit Organisation Expert Union KONTEXT, Krasnoyarsk, Russia. Email:  cora1@inbox.ru

4 Krasnoyarsk State Pedagogical University named after Viktor Astafyev, Krasnoyarsk, Russia. Email: allakipchatova@mail.ru

5 Perm State Agro-Technological University named after Academician D.N. Pryanishnikov, Perm, Russia, ORCID: 0000-0003-2869-2312. Email: katol81@yandex.ru

 Volume 12, Number 2, April-June, 2020 I Full Text PDF

DOI: 10.21659/rupkatha.v12n2.15

 

Abstract

The flip side of “networking” was the emergence of new types and ways of social interaction between individuals and social groups, characterized, among other things, by socially dangerous manifestations. These manifestations are expressed in the absence of a system of sanctions and control over the dissemination of any type of information on the Internet, difficulties in identifying ideologues and leaders of extremist and separatist associations that also conduct their activities using social networks and much more. The younger generation easily perceived the entire multilateral network world with its ambiguous consequences for the system of its own norms, values and behaviors. It is not necessary to mention once again that the informal, youthful groups of a criminal nature today have changed their internal structure, mission and functional features. It is enough to recall a number of mass protest actions regularly organized using the internet and other social networks, including offline. Recently, quite often mass actions of a destructive nature have occurred with the participation of adolescents of middle and senior school age, whose activities were coordinated through the global Internet and other modern means of communication. At the same time, the scientific and expert community does not yet have reliable data on the mechanisms of such interaction, its trends and patterns. The social network of a teenager with deviant behavior will be interpreted by us as a special type of connection between the social positions of adolescents, the closest social environment, including the school environment and close relatives, which are formed on the basis of social capital resources, goals of interaction between these actors interplay between their positions.

Keywords: adolescents, deviations, social networks, social interaction, communication, age psycholinguistics, discursive behavior.

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Mythical Motifs in the Furniture of Elamite Civilization

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Neshat Madadi,1 Hassan Ali Pourmand2 & Seyyedeh  Motahareh  Mousavi3

1Department of Public, Qazvin Branch, Islamic Azad University, Qazvin, Iran.

2Associate Professor, Faculty of art & architecture, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.

3 Department of Architecture, Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning, Qazvin Branch, Islamic Azad University, Qazvin, Iran. Email: motaharehmousavi@yahoo.com

 Volume 12, Number 2, April-June, 2020 I Full Text PDF

DOI: 10.21659/rupkatha.v12n2.06

Abstract

Elamites the first founders of the kingdom in Iranian territory were the pioneers of the use of animal motifs in the design of Iranian furniture. Since their very inception up to their decline, they made use of such motifs as snake, lion, wild goat and duck in designing their furniture. The current essay aims at the identification of the causes of the application, culmination, and decline of these motifs in designing furniture, particularly ancient Elamite thrones. The present study is fundamental research given its objective and is qualitative and exploratory in view of its essence. Data collection is based on library studies. The results show that in Elamite civilization due to the sacredness of snake, this mythic creature is the most popular motif in designing furniture. Elamites in addition to snake used such alternative motifs as lion, wild goat, and duck which enjoyed religious and social acceptability. Such motifs were used by Elamite gods, kings or officials in religious rituals or ceremonies and the reflection of Elamite ideas in relation to these creatures is visible in the design of their furniture.

Keywords: Iranian Furniture, Motif, Elamite Civilization.

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