Vytautas Magnus UniversityVytauto Didžiojo universitetas

Kaunas, 2012

Religious Experience & Tradition

I nte r n at i o n a l i nte rd i s c i p l i n a r ys c i e nt i f i c co n fe re n ce

M ay 1 1 - 1 2 , 2 0 1 2K a u n a s, L i t h u a n i a

Editor / Sudarytoja Agnė Budriūnaitė (VMU, Dep. of Philosophy, Lithuania )

Editorial board / Redakcinė kolegijaŽivilė Advilonienė (VMU, Faculty of Catholic Theology, Lithuania)Rūta Brūzgienė (MRU, Dep. of Lithuanian Language, Lithuania)Vida Daugirdienė (VMU, Faculty of Catholic Theology, Lithuania)Valdas Mackela (VMU, Faculty of Catholic Theology, Lithuania)Rimantas Viedrynaitis (VMU, Dep. of Philosophy, LithuaniaBenas Ulevičius (VMU, Faculty of Catholic Theology, Lithuania)

Scientific committee / Mokslinis komitetasProf. dr. Algis Mickūnas (chair, Ohio university, USA) F. Jonas Emanuelis Le Taillandier de Gabory, CSJ (Prior of the Monastery of St. John the Theologian in Vilnius)Prof. dr. Romualdas Dulskis (VMU, Faculty of Catholic Theology, Lithuania) Prof. dr. Merab Ghaghanidze (Free University, Tbilisi, Georgia) Prof. dr. Peter Jonkers (Tilburg university, Netherlands)Prof. dr. Rekha Menon (Berkeley College, Boston, USA) Prof. dr. Tomas Sodeika (KUT, Dep. of Philosophy and Cultural Science, Lithuania) Prof. dr. Anita Stasulane (Daugavpils University, Latvia) Assoc prof. dr. Olga Breskaya (University of Brest, Belarus) Assoc. prof. dr. Janis Priede (University of Latvia, Latvia) Dr. István Povedák (Bálint Sándor Institute for the Study of Religion, Hungary)

Organizing committee / Organizacinis komitetasAssoc. prof. dr. Agnė Budriūnaitė (chair, VMU, Dep. of Philosophy, Lithuania) Assoc. prof. dr. Živilė Advilonienė (VMU, Faculty of Catholic Theology, Lithuania)Assoc. prof. dr. Povilas Aleksandravičius (MRU, Dep. of Philosophy, Lithuania) Assoc. prof. dr. Rūta Brūzgienė, (MRU, Dep. of Lithuanian Language, Lithuania)Assoc. prof. dr. Vida Daugirdienė (VMU, Faculty of Catholic Theology, Lithuania)Assoc. prof. dr. Benas Ulevičius (VMU, Faculty of Catholic Theology, Lithuania) Assist. prof. theol. lic. Valdas Mackela (VMU, Faculty of Catholic Theology, Lithuania) Assist. prof. Rimantas Viedrynaitis (VMU, Dep. of Philosophy, Lithuania) Aušra Vasiliauskaitė (s. Gabrielė, VMU, Faculty of Catholic Theology, Lithuania) Audrius Račkauskas (VMU, Dep. of Philosophy, Lithuania) Sandra Kratavičiūtė (“Caritas”, Lithuania)

Publication of this book is sponsored by Japan Foundation.Leidinio rėmėjas – Japonijos fondas.

ISBN 978-9955-12-775-8e-ISBN 978-9955-12-776-5 © Vytautas Magnus University, 2012

Contents / tUrInys

Jean Emmanuel Le Taillandier de Gabory, CSJ, The Monastery of Saint John the Theologian

tradition and religious experience ..................................................................................... 8

traditions et expérience religieuse ...................................................................................... 9

tradicija ir religinis patyrimas ..............................................................................................10

Friday, May 11, 2012

Session IChristo LOMBAARD

the Word or the word? the Divine experience as Mediated or Direct – a Perspective from Biblical spirituality .......................................................11

Peter JONKERStradition, religious experience, and Personal Commitment ...................................12

Session II – AUlrike POPP-BAYER

religious experience as narrative: reflections on the Advantages of a narrative Approach.........................................................................................................13

Timo KOISTINENWittgenstein and religious relativism .............................................................................18

Agnė BUDRIŪNAITĖPresence of Absolute oneness as non-religious non-experience in Plotinus and Zhuangzi ......................................................................................................24

Krzysztof CYRANAnenaiki by Augustyn Bloch (1979) – a Merger of traditions in religious Music ...29

Session II – BSolveiga KRUMINA-KONKOVA

Learning a Foreign experience: the Beginning of yoga Movement in Latvia .......................................................................................................................................36

Alar KILPDetraditionalization of religion and religious symbols of tradition in a Modernized Culture ........................................................................................................41

Istvan POVEDÁKBricolage religious experience ...........................................................................................42

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Regina CHLOPICKAeastern and Western tradition in the Music of Krzysztof Penderecki as sources of Inspiration for the Composer and of Metaphysical religious experience for Contemporary Man ...................................................................................43

Session II – CPar Pahimi PATRICE

Foi, intolérance religieuse et déconstruction sociale dans le nord-Cameroun ...44

Christiane SFEIRLe paysage sacré au Mont-Liban, entre pratiques sociales et mécanismes de sacralisation: les exemples d’Annaya et de Hardine ..............................................57

Krisztina FRAUHAMMERschriftlich formulierte Wünsche und Gebete in realen und virtuellen Wallfahrtstätten ........................................................................................................................63

Živilė ADVILONIENĖthe role of Family tradition in Formation of Personal Faith experience and Practice

Die rolle der traditionen in der Familie bei der Gestaltung persönlicher Glaubenserfahrung- und Praxis .........................................................................................65

Session III – AEmmanuel NATHAN

of Words and Worlds: the Curious Case of saint Paul ................................................71

Satoshi KIKUCHIrepeating Incarnation: Meister eckhart and the Problem of Christ’s Historicity ...............................................................................................................72

Valdas MACKELA seeing and Believing in resurrection narratives .........................................................77

Anna WIECZOREKtradition of the Genre in the Age of Intertextuality. Wojciech Kilar’s “te Deum” ....................................................................................................77

Session III – BOrsolya GYÖNGYÖSSY

Bonds and Memories in the sacred space......................................................................87

Gábor BARNAVia Margaritarum, the revitalized Cult of st. Margaret of Hungary and the spirit of Penance .....................................................................................................87

Hee Sook LEE-NIINIOJAAl-Andalus and Java: still a sanctuary for Interconnecting religions and traditions? ......................................................................................................88

Renata BOROWIECKA “stabat Mater” sequence in the Works of Italian18th-Century Composers .........95

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Session III – CSalomėja JASTRUMSKYTĖ

synaesthetical theology

“sinestezinė teologija” ......................................................................................................... 103

Bronė GUDAITYTĖ“Believe God” or “Believe in God”

„tikėti Dievą“ ar „tikėti į Dievą“ ......................................................................................... 104

Povilas ALEKSANDRAVIČIUSMartin Heidegger: from religious experience to a Hymn to Holiness

Martinas Heideggeris: nuo religinės patirties iki himno šventybei .................... 109

Rimantas VIEDRYNAITISAporia of Verbalization and textualization of religious experience

religinės patirties verbalizavimo ir tekstualizavimo aporija ................................. 110

Poster presentations ........................................................................... 116Tetiana RIAZANTSEVA

the theme of religion in the British Metaphysical Poetry of the 20th Century (Poetry of the new Apocalypse, 1939-1941) ........................ 116

Berel Dov LERNERHow Did the Prophets Know they Had received Divine revelation? ............... 116

Saturday, May 12, 2012

Session IVMarcello NERI

From experience to tradition – the Hard Path Backward ..................................... 124

Olga BRESKAYAreligious experience without religious tradition and vice versa ....................... 125

Session V – ATuija HOVI

An ethnographic Approach to the Psychology of religion – Doing research in the Field of experience and tradition ....................................... 126

Sandra KRATAVIČIŪTĖthe Phenomenon of Christian Conversion in the Prison: Convict’s Convert’s religious experiences ................................................................... 127

Milda ALIŠAUSKIENĖthe Place and role of the religious experience in the Context of Contemporary religiosity in Lithuania ................................................................... 134

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Anita STASULANEFrom religious Participation to Political Participation: the engagement of young People in theosophy ..................................................... 135

Session V – BAgnieszka DRAUS

Music as a religious experience According to Karlheinz stockhausen ............. 136

Vida DAUGIRDIENĖCatechesis of the youth Groups of Liturgical Music ................................................. 141

Kinga POVEDÁK new Music for new (?) religious experiences ............................................................ 142

Danutė KALAVINSKAITĖreligious experience through Music: Contemporary Lithuanian Compositions

religinė patirtis per muziką: šiuolaikinė lietuvių kūryba ........................................ 143

Session V – CAušra KAIRAITYTĖ

expression of religious experiences in Lithuanian Folklore narratives ............ 146

Živilė NEDZINSKAITĖnew Jesuit saints and their Meaning for the religiosity of the 17-18th Century: Context of GLD Poetics and Poetry

nauji Jėzuitų šventieji ir jų reikšmė XVII–XVIII a. religingumui: pagal LDK poetikos ir poezijos kontekstą .................................................................... 151

Ilona ČIUŽAUSKAITĖLiterary expression of the sermons of Vaižgantas .................................................... 159

Vaižganto pamokslų literatūrinė raiška ......................................................................... 160

Elena BALIUTYTĖeduardas Mieželaitis’s Meditative Fragments “Laments and reflections, with the Medieval Anchorite Grigor narekatsi, upon the Fate of Man” and the Poet’s Creative Context

eduardo Mieželaičio meditaciniai fragmentai „raudos, apmąsčius kartu su viduramžių anachoretu Grigoru narekaci žmogaus likimą“ ir poeto kūrybos kontekstas.............................................................................................. 160

Session VI – AStephen M. GARRETT

Hans Urs von Balthasar’s third Way of Love: the spiritual-Corporeal encounter of religious experience ................................ 166

Benas ULEVIČIUS native or Christian: Interaction of traditions in Peyote religion ......................... 166

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Irena Eglė LAUMENSKAITĖConversion as a Personal experience in relation to the Meaning of Life events and religious tradition

Atsivertimas kaip asmeniškas patyrimas gyvenimo įvykių ir tradicijos kontekste (konvertitai skirtingose krikščionių bendruomenėse) ........................ 173

Session VI – BSilvija RAKUTIENĖ

the spread of the Apocalyptic Feelings in the Lithuanian Poetry of the young Generation .................................................................................................... 177

Magdalena CHRENKOFFKrzysztof Penderecki’s Dies Irae – Artistic expression of religious tradition ... 187

Elena SAKALAUSKAITĖreligious experience as expressed in Contemporary Visual rt ............................ 188

Session VI – CRūta BRŪZGIENĖ

religious Poetry of B. Brazdžionis: rhetoric of Form

B. Brazdžionio religinė poezija: formos retorika......................................................... 189

Paulius JEVSEJEVASthe experience of tradition in the “Giesmė apie pasaulio medį” of s. Geda tradicijos išgyvenimas s. Gedos „Giesmėje apie pasaulio medį“ ......................... 193

Virginija CIBARAUSKĖsigitas Parulskis’s Poetry: Deconstruction of Underlying Principles of Being or the return of the Baroque?

sigito Parulskio poezija: pamatinių kategorijų dekonstrukcija ar barokinio pasaulėvaizdžio manifestacija? ............................................................... 199

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Tradition and Religious Experience

Jean Emmanuel Le Taillandier de Gabory, CSJ The Monastery of Saint John the Theologian

The interaction of religious experience and tradition, from which it depends, be-comes a crucial issue today when having doubts about the objectivity of religious experience. Many philosophers simply reduce it to the subjective dimension.

However, religious experience for the faithful relates to the Reality. In or-der to express this experience he refers to Aristotle, who states this on his own experie n ce of reality, which has been based on the judgment that reality does exist (existential decision) and therefore that the First Being which is called God in religious traditions can be contemplated. The philosopher contacts with the First Being only indirectly through his reasoning, arguing from reality while the believer says that by the faith he or she is directly connected with God.

According to Thomas Aquinas, the intellect under the judgment of faith sup-ports that very divine truth, even if the faith does not fully disclose it. The intellect even without seeing God approves him with a firm act of willpower, because it has a perception of entirety obtained or by obvious signs or by analogy. Then the intel-lect, which seeks to know God (we have a natural desire to know and contemplate the universal cause for everything), is led by willpower, which subsequently is at-tracted to everything by God – the Goodness. It is understood that the matters of faith shall be offered to the intellect, and the latter, whether seeing a miracle or because of the compelling activity coming from a human inviting to join the faith, should accept them. It is also required that God in his own grace, should touch the intellect from its inside, because no one can know God without grace, which transcends the inherent limitations of human understanding. Then the believer has a true faith. Because of God’s action this cognition is more real than any other knowledge. However, in order to ensure the objectivity of this knowledge, it has to be tested by tradition (the faith of the Church), and does not conflict with the rational mind (the reason).

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Traditions et expérience religieuse

Jean Emmanuel Le Taillandier de Gabory, CSJ The Monastery of Saint John the Theologian

La question de l’interaction entre l’expérience religieuse et la tradition qui en dépend est cruciale aujourd’hui suite à la remise en cause de l’expérience reli-gieuse comme expérience objective. La plupart des penseurs la réduisent en effet purement et simplement à sa dimension subjective.

Pourtant pour le croyant, l’expérience religieuse porte bien sur le Réel. Pour le dire, il s’appuie sur le Philosophe (Aristote) qui affirme en partant de l’expérience de la réalité, fondée sur le jugement d’existence, par le raisonnement, l’existence d’un Être Premier que les traditions religieuses appellent Dieu et que l’homme peut contempler. Cet Être Premier, le philosophe n’en a qu’une expérience média-te à travers le raisonnement, tandis que le croyant en revendiquera l’immédiateté à travers le jugement de foi qui le met en contact avec Dieu directement.

Pour Saint Thomas, dans le jugement de foi, l’intelligence adhère à la vérité divine elle-même – sans y être pleinement portée par l’objet mais en s’y attachant volontairement avec certitude. Elle ne ‘voit’ pas Dieu avec précision mais en géné-ral, soit à partir de l’évidence des signes soit à partir de quelque chose d’analogue (une proposition persuasive). L’intelligence, cherchant à connaître Dieu (il y a en nous un désir naturel de connaître et de contempler la Cause universelle) est alors mue par la volonté, elle-même attirée par le Bien universel qui est Dieu. Il faut bien sûr que les choses à croire lui soient proposées et qu’elle assentisse soit à la vue d’un miracle soit sous l’action persuasive d’un homme qui exhorte à la foi. Et il faut pour cela que Dieu la meuve de l’intérieur par la grâce. Car nul ne peut connaître Dieu qui dépasse les limites de la connaissance naturelle sans la grâce. Le croyant a alors la certitude de la Foi. Cette connaissance est plus certaine que toute autre connaissance, à cause de Dieu. Cependant, elle doit être comme vérifiée par la tradition (la foi de l’Eglise) pour s’assurer de son objectivité et ne doit pas s’oppo-ser à la raison.

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Tradicija ir religinis patyrimas

Jean Emmanuel Le Taillandier de Gabory, CSJ Šv. Jono Teologo vienuolynas

Religinio patyrimo ir tradicijos, nuo kurios jis priklauso, sąveika, suabejojus religi-nio patyrimo objektyvumu, šiandien tampa esminiu klausimu. Daugelis mąstytojų jį paprasčiausiai susiaurina iki subjektyvaus matmens.

Tačiau tikinčiajam religinis patyrimas yra susijęs su Tikrove. Tam, kad galėtų tą patyrimą išreikšti, jis remiasi Aristoteliu, kuris tvirtina, turėdamas savo tikrovės patyrimą, grindžiamą egzistenciniu sprendimu, jog Pirmoji Būtis, religinėse tradici-jose vadinama Dievu, gali būti kontempliuojama. Filosofas samprotaudamas tik ne-tiesiogiai „prisiliečia“ prie Pirmosios Būties, tuo tarpu tikintysis teigia, jog tikėjimu jis tiesiogiai susisieja su Dievu.

Anot Tomo Akviniečio, intelektas tikėjimo sprendimu pritaria pačiai dieviškajai tiesai, net jei tikėjimo dalykas iki galo jos neatskleidžia. Intelektas, nors ir nematy-damas Dievo, dieviškajai tiesai pritaria tvirtu valios aktu, nes turi visumos pagavą, arba remdamasis akivaizdžiais ženklais, arba analogija. Tuomet intelektą, siekiantį pažinti Dievą (mes turime prigimtinį troškimą pažinti ir kontempliuoti visa ko Priežastį), veda valia, kurią pačią traukia viso ko Gėris – Dievas. Suprantama, kad tikėjimo dalykai intelektui turi būti pasiūlyti, o šis – arba išvydęs tam tikrą stebuklą, arba dėl tikėti raginančio žmogaus įtikinamos veiklos – turėtų jiems pritarti. Tam taip pat reikia, kad Dievas savo malone intelektą „paliestų“ iš vidaus, nes niekas be malonės negali pažinti Dievo, pranokstančio žmogaus prigimtinio pažinimo ribas. Tuomet tikintysis turi tikėjimo tikrumą. Dėl Dievo veikimo šis pažinimas yra tikres-nis už bet kokį kitą pažinimą. Vis dėlto tam, kad būtų užtikrintas pažinimo objekty-vumas, jis turi būti tradicijos (Bažnyčios tikėjimo) patikrintas ir neturi prieštarauti racionaliajam protui (reason).

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Friday, May 11, 2012

Session I

The Word or the Word? The Divine Experience as Mediated or Direct – a Perspective from Biblical Spirituality

Christo LOMBAARD

AbstractIn this paper, a critical analysis is offered of historical and existential paral-lels between the experience of the divine will in ancient Israel and in modern Western(ised) societies. Such a broadly phenomenologically-comparative ap-proach, possible within the theoretical parameters of the discipline of Biblical Spirituality, reveals unexpected correspondencesbetween ancient Israelite, par-ticularly post-exilic, society and Christian experiences in modern and post-modern Western(ised) societies, specifically related to the ways in which the divine will is to be discerned. In post-exilic Israel, namely, contestation is found between the Mosaic law adherents, who would experience the divine will as mediated primarily by holy texts (the Pentateuch), and prophetic-tradition groups, who would under-stand the divine will as mandatedprimarily by the personalrevelatory experience of the founding prophet. Both these groupsexperienced their interaction with the divine as direct, because of the transformational aspect (albeit vested) inherent to their religious practices, yet both were experiences mediated by the tradition to which the respective groups adhered. This dynamic finds unexpected paral-lels in two of the prominent practiceswithin Christian circles in modern and post-modern Western(ised) societiesrelated to the ways in whichthe divine will is to be fathomed. This is namely found in the contestation between the Bible-mediated versus the charismatic experience of the divine. Although both socio-theological groupings regard their respective practices of experiencing the divine will as the most legitimate, they are not without mutual influence, which spring from their spiritual traditions. Not only do these latter-day dynamics parallel the ancient reli-gious practices of experiencing the divine will, but they draw on those too, namely as constituting a foundational and legitimising part of their traditions.

Christo LoMbaard, professor of the Department of Christian Spirituality, University of South Africa. Area of scientific interest: Biblical spirituality, Pentateuch theory, the mass media and spirituality, sexuality and spirituality.

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Tradition, Religious Experience, and Personal Commitment

Peter JONKERS

AbstractIn this paper I want to examine the question if the relationship between tradition, religious experience, and personal commitment is a purely contingent one, based on education, socialization, attractiveness etc. or that it can be substantiated in a more reasonable way. My starting point is the observation that in contemporary society (religious) traditions are becoming more popular, but that the reasons for this popularity risk depriving these traditions from their substance. Nowadays, the commitment of many people to traditions is a rather an instrumental one: people are interested in traditions because they see them as means to generate all kinds of ‘interesting’ religious experiences, as instruments for their individual self-fulfilment, as purely contingent life-styles etc. In the central part of my paper I define the key-concepts of my paper: 1) religious tradition can be understood as a symbolic system (thereby following Lübbe and De Dijn), 2) religious experience can be defined as seeing things through the lens of this tradition (following Vergote), and 3) personal commitment to a tradition is a means of orientating one’s life (thereby using Kant’s insights). Thereafter I will argue that a traditionalist approach to explain the relation between tradition, religious experience and personal com-mitment (as Rorty and Maquard propose) is problematic, because it only is able to explain this relation on psychological grounds, thereby dismissing the impor-tance of reasonable argument and critique. Finally, by defining religious traditions as ‘substantial’ ways of life, I try to give a less contingent and more reasonable explanation and defence of the relation between tradition, religious experience and personal commitment.

Peter JonkErS, professor of the Faculty of Catholic Theology, Tilburg University. Area of scientific interest: philosophy of religion, metaphysics, philosophy of culture, and history of modern philosophy (especially Hegel and his contemporaries).

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Session II – A

Religious Experience as Narrative: Reflections on the Advantages of a Narrative Approach

Ulrike POPP-BAYER

Three authors have significantly shaped the social scientific study of religious ex-periences: William James devised the research agenda for primordial personal reli-gion, Wayne Proudfoot demonstrated the theoretical inadequacy of an unmediat-ed experience and introduced the methodological distinction between descriptive and explanatory reduction, Ann Taves aimed at conceptual tools in order to bridge the gap between the natural sciences and the humanities. Relying on the first-per-son perspective, the adequate conceptual starting point for the study of religious experience is a formal-hermenteutical concept of experience linked to a narrative articulation. This approach may lead to a celebration of pluralism in religious stud-ies without favouring any analytical concept from natural sciences, social sciences or humanities. To demonstrate some (other) advantages of this conceptualization the ongoing debate about the relationship between religious experience and its representation will be reframed and the common core debate concerning mystical experiences will get a hermeneutical solution.

keywords: religious experience, descriptive reduction, explanatory reduction, formal-hermeneutical, narrative

Key Publications in the social scientific study of religious experiences In 2011, the sociologist of religion James Spickard identified three books that have significantly shaped social-scientific study of religious experience: William James, The Varieties of Religious Experience. A Study in Human Nature (1902), Wayne Proud-foot, Religious Experience (1985), and Ann Taves, Religious Experience Reconsidered: A Building Block Approach to the Study of Religion and Other Special Things (2009).

William James devised the research agenda, especially for psychology of reli-gion, based on his famous “narrow” view of what religion shall comprise for the purpose of his study in human nature: “Religion,therefore, as I now ask you arbit-rarily to take it, shall mean for us the feelings, acts, and experiences of individual men in their solitude, so far as they apprehend themselves to stand in relation to whatever they may consider the divine” (James 1902/1982: 31). To James, it was evident that philosophies, theologies and ecclesiastical organizations derived secondarily from this kind of primordial personal religion he wanted to study by analysing personal documents- especially from religious geniuses.

More than 80 years later Wayne Proudfoot offered a critical evaluation of the pos-sibilities and pitfalls of a Jamesian research agenda. Tracing the special interest in reli-gion as experience back to the late eighteenth century, to Friedrich Schleiermacher’s

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On Religion: Speeches to the Cultured Among its Despisers (1799) and its enormous influence on the ongoing debate about adequate conceptualization of the essential elements of religion, Proudfoot (1985) highlighted different notions linked to under-standing religion as a primordial unmediated experience of the individual, e.g. offer-ing a response to cultural pluralism by distinguishing the common immediate and unme diated (“raw”) experience and its different cultural interpretations or prohibiting every kind of (social) scientific or humanistic analysis, because these analyses would violate the essence of the genuine experience and reduce it to “mundane” elements. Although Proudfoot (1982) demonstrates the theoretical inadequacy of this under-standing of religious experience (every kind of religious experience has to be identi-fied as such in a description containing ample references to concepts and beliefs), he nevertheless stresses its descriptive accuracy. And this might be the unsurpassed merit of Proudfoot’s methodological and conceptual contributions to the study of reli-gious experience thus far: he distinguishes descriptive reductionism from explanatory reductionism, suggesting that the former be avoided and the latter accepted. This means that a non-reductive social scientific study of religious experience needs to start by describing religious experience from the subject’s point of view and accepting the reality of the object of an experience for the experiencer. Relying on attribution theory, Proudfoot also makes very clear that this perspective often includes specific explanations of the experience, while excluding others. Researchers need not, how-ever, restrict their scope to this perspective. On the contrary, their task is to offer alter-native (etic) analyses, interpretations and explanations that transcend the perspective of the experiencer. Disregarding whether we want to analyse the experience of God’s guidance, mystical experiences, the experience of demonic possession or that of pro-phetic vision, alien abduction or shamanic otherworld journeys, out-of-body or near-death experiences, we have to start with a description of the respective experience or experiences from the first person perspective of the experiencer. Otherwise we would miss the very “object” we want to study. Then we may analyse, interpret or explain these experiences depending on our preferred analytical concepts or theories which will not offer the only acceptable understanding of the respective experiences but will yield alternative (and reasonably justifiable) analyses, interpretations or explanations of (aspects of) these experiences in a (social) scientific framework.

About 25 years later a scholar aiming to bridge the gap between the humani-ties and the natural sciences in the field of religious studies wisely reconsiders the topic of religious exeperience. In her sophisticated analysis of the two components of “religious experience”, Ann Taves (2009) explicitly seeks conceptual tools that make it possible to combine historical, philological and literary scholarship with insights from psychology, the cognitive sciences and brain research. With her ter-minological shift from “religious experience” to “experiences deemed religious” Taves (2009) starts (like James and Proudfoot before her) with the experiencers’ perspective reminding us explicitly to avoid the conflation of scholars’ definitions of “religion”, “religions”, or “religious” with the understanding the research partners might have of these unstable and contested Western folk concepts which overlap in some cases and compete in others with a variety of other terms including “sacred” “spiritual”, “mystical”, “magical” etc. (cf. Taves 2009: 25). Using them as first-order terms enables Taves to analyse what is “deemed” religious, sacred etc. at individual, interpersonal, group and intergroup levels and to compare things that are deemed

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religious to those that are not, in relation to broader processses of meaning making and valuation in which people deem certain things special (cf. Taves 2009: 12). Con-cerning the concept of experience, Taves acknowledges that this word may be used in different ways. In her book, however, she focusses on experience as a “(rough) synonym for ‘consciousness’”(Taves 2009:57). Consequently, Taves relies on in-sights from consciousness research and neuroscientific research for her analyses of different types of experiences deemd religious and the data potentially available for these analyses. But this conceptual decision is problematic, because it theorizes the analysis of experiences as the analysis of consciousness, implying a hierarchical model of the study of religion that starts with the brain or the mind and ends with the complex composites of religions. Here, rather than building a bridge between the humanities and the natural sciences, Ann Taves is favoring natural sciences as offering the foundations on which the humanities must rely. But this model does not fit our “data” in the first place, neither in the social sciences, nor in the broad field of religious studies. When we address religious experiences (or experiences deemed religious) we are in fact dealing with language in the form of texts or hu-man utterances transformed into texts for further analysis, interpretation or expla-nation. We therefore need a concept of experience which fits this starting point. I would argue that a formal-hermeneutical concept of experience relying on Dilthey, Heidegger, Gadamer and Ricoeur would satisfy these requirements.

A Formal-Hermeneutical Concept of experience

According to Dilthey (1910/1981) experience may be understood as a complex, first-person relationship with the world in which perceiving, thinking, imagining, feeling, wanting, remembering etc. disclose the structure of an event in which “I” am the subject.

Heidegger (1920-21/2004: 7) reminds us that experience (Erfahrung) denotes the experiencing activity, as well as what is experienced through this activity. He suggests using the word in this double sense, because it is essential in “factual life experience” that “the experiencing self and what is experienced are not torn apart.” Heidegger (2004: 8) describes what is experienced as “world”, not as “ob-ject”. Nor does he characterize the “I-self” via consciousness but describes it as a “self-world”. According to Heidegger (2004:10) “I experience myself in factual life . . . in that which I perform, suffer, what I encounter, in my conditions of depression and elevation, and the like. I myself experience not even my ego in separateness, but I am as such always attached to the surrounding world.“ In any experiencing activity, I experience the world and myself as part of this world at the same time.

With regard to the process structure of experiencing, Gadamer (1960) points out that the genuine experience is always negative; it is the disappointment of an expectation. Every experience has active and passive moments. Without ac-tively addressing the world, without expectations, intentions, and actions, I would not have any experiences, but in the process of experiencing something happens to me as well. It is possible to plan activities, but not to plan experiences. And that is why Gadamer (1960) reminds us of the basic structure of the disappoint-ment of an expectation. Related to my expectations, intentions, and actions, my experiences are always something more or something other than the fulfilment of

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my expectations, the satisfaction of my desires, or the enactment of my plans or scripts. Although I am always already part of the world, my “being-in-the-world” (Heidegger) is specifically brought to my attention through these kinds of confron-tations. They are interruptions in the continuous stream of life, sometimes dramat-ic “confrontations-with” the world, which ask for interpretation and reflection. The interpretation and reflection processes are necessary to shape and differentiate the meaningful whole of what is eventually articulated as an experience.

And that is why Ricoeur (1991: 426) maintains that human experiences have a narrative structure: articulating this process of experience requires the plotting structure of stories that will enable the “synthesis of the heterogeneous” by mer-ging multiple possible events into one event, unifying divergent components of human actions and interactions and transforming a mere chronological succession of incidents into the configuration of a meaningful temporal unit.

religious experience as narrative

If we could accept this formal-hermeneutical concept of experience linked to a nar-rative articulation as a basic conceptual tool for the study of religious experiences (or experiences deemed religious), this conceptualization could serve as a common ground for relating theological interpretations, philosophical interpretations, hu-manistic research, social scientific research and natural scientific research to each other.This conceptualization ties in with the methodological principle to avoid de-scriptive reductionism and to allow explanatory reductionism (see above). It requires reconstructing the experiencer’s narratives on the first place (and not the analysis of different types or levels of conciousness or mental processing), but it does not ex-clude the topic from these kind of analyses on a second or a third place. And it does encourage evey kind of literary, historical,sociological, disocurse etc. analysis as well. This approach may perhaps lead not to “a building-block approach to the study of religion” (Taves 2009), but to a celebration of pluralism and multivocality and lively debates in the field of religious studies without privileging any analytical concept from the natural sciences, the social sciences or from the humanities. .

To demonstrate some (other) advantages of this conceptualization, I shall try to reframe the ongoing debate about the relation between religious experience and its representation. The formal-hermeneutical concept of (religious) experience does not enable a clear- cut distinction between a kind of “raw” experience on the one hand and its interpretation on the other hand.The process of experiencing always embodies expectations and intentions necessary for its identification and narrative articulation as a particular experience. But distinguishing the articulation of an expe-rience from its subsequent interpretations is of course possible. To this end, it might be helpful to make an ideal-typical distinction between two formal types of “reli-gious experience”: (1) experiences deriving religious meaning from the religiously structured expectations and intentions of the experiencer; (2) experiences deriving religious meaning from a religious interpretation by the experiencer. The first type has the “experiencing-as” structure John Hick (1969) has described. Many accounts of visions, voices, the sensed presence of God, the answer to a prayer etc. can be un-derstood as examples of this type. Examples fitting the second type can be “special experiences”, for example having been rescued from a dangerous situation that the

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experiencer can articulate in the first place without any reference to religion, and that he/she explicitly interprets religiously, for instance by thinking about that God might have rescued him/her. A special version of the experience/representation de-bate between the so-called perennialists and constructivists, known as the common core debate concerning mystical experiences, can also get a hermeneutical solution. As, for example, Wolfson (2011) has noted , the study of mysticism has to be res-pectful of the contextualist perspective. But in every kind of comparative approach notions of sameness are necessary in order to recognize differences and notions of difference are necessary in order to recognize sameness (cf. Wolfson 2011: 105). Commonalities and particularities are therefore the results of comparisons; it makes no sense to postulate them on the level of the “experiences ” being analysed. But the notion of a common mystical core experience can already belong to the frame of reference of the experiencer and thus structure the very experience to be studied.

Whereas Sharf (1998: 114) concluded that all attempts at conceptualizing inner experience are “well-meaning squirms that get us nowwhere” in religious studies, my impression is that an understanding of religious experience as narrative based on a formal-hermeneutical conceptualization of experience will yield the adequate conceptual tool to deal with some of the most intriguing research questions in the transdisicplinary field of religious studies.

referencesDilthey, W.[1910], 1981. Der Aufbau der geschichtlichen Welt in den Geisteswissenschaften.

Einleitung von Manfred Riedel. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp.Gadamer, H.-G. 1960. Wahrheit und Methode. Grundzüge einer philosophischen

Hermeneutik. Tübingen: J.C.B. Mohr.Heidegger, M. [1920-21], 2004. The Phenomenology of Religious Life. Translated by

Matthias Fritsch and Jennifer Anna Gosetti-Ferencei. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.

Hick, J. 1969. Religious Faith as Experiencing-As. In G.N.A. Vesey (Ed.), Talk of God (pp. 20-35). London: Macmillan.

James, W. [1902], 1985. The Varieties of Religious Experience. A Study in Human Nature. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.

Proudfoot, W. 1985. Religious Experience. Berkeley: University of California Press.Ricoeur, P. 1991. Life: A Story in Search of a Narrator. In M. J. Valdés (Ed.), A Ricoeur Reader:

Reflection and Imagination (pp. 425-437). New York: Harvester/Wheatsheaf. Sharf, R. H. 1998. Experience. In M. C. Taylor (Ed.), Critical Terms for Religious Studies

(pp. 94-116). Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. Taves, A. 2009. Religious Experience Reconsidered: A Building Block Approach to the Study

of Religion and Other Special Things. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Wolfson, E. R. 2011. Teaching Jewish Mysticism: Concealing the Concealment and

Disclosure of Secrets. In W. B. Parsons (Ed.), Teaching Mysticism (pp.103-117). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Ulrike POPP-BaiER, associate professor of Psychology of Religion at the University of Am-sterdam, The Netherlands and Privatdozentin of Psychology at the University of Erlangen-Nürnberg. Area of scientific interest: psychology of religion, method and theory in the social scientific study of religion.

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Wittgenstein and Religious Relativism

timo KOISTINEN

AbstractIt has been often argued that Wittgenstein and his followers hold that religious language has its own norms of intelligibility, and therefore those who are not familiar with the religious language game cannot grasp the meaning of religious beliefs and practices. According to this fideistic interpretation, Wittgensteinian philosophy of religion leads to a radical relativism which claims that outsiders can neither understand nor criticise religious beliefs. In this paper I will deal with Witt-genstein’s own treatment of the nature of religious disagreements in his lectures on religious belief. In the light of these lectures, the fideistic interpretation of Witt-genstein’s view of religion is obviously too simple. However, Wittgenstein is not an easy thinker, and his lectures are difficult to interpret for a number of reasons. I will explore Wittgenstein’s thought by referring to recent studies on these lectures by Cora Diamond and Martin Kusch, who in different ways both provide illuminating perspectives on Wittgenstein’s view of religious disagreements.

keywords: Wittgenstein, belief, faith, disagreement

Wittgenstein’s wrote little about religion. There are fragmentary remarks scattered throughout his own writings and throughout the material based on the conversa-tions he had with his students and friends. However, in 1938 Wittgenstein gave a course on belief in Cambridge, and this course included three lectures on religious belief. These three lectures are published in Lectures and Conversations on Aes-thetics, Psychology and Religious Belief (1966) [Hereafter Lectures].

Recently, two well-known scholars, Cora Diamond (2005) and Martin Kusch (2012), have dealt with these lectures. One central theme in their studies is Witt-genstein’s view on the disagreement between the religious believer and the non-believer. The question concerning the nature of religious disagreements is closely related to the problem of relativism, which has been a prominent theme in the li-terature on the Wittgensteinian philosophy of religion. Critics have often described Wittgenstein’s view of religion in terms of a distinctive religious language game that has its own norms of intelligibility. Diamond’s and Kusch’s interpretations of Witt-genstein’s Lectures call into question this “fideistic” interpretation of Wittgenstein’s thought. Their approaches to the Lectures are somewhat different, but in my view they both succeed in illuminating some key problems in this difficult text.

In the following I will bring together Diamond’s and Kusch’s insights. I will also use a formal model that outlines the conceptual questions in Wittgenstein’s dis-cussion about the nature of religious disagreements.

the model of ordinary disagreement

In the Lectures Wittgenstein contrasts religious disagreements with “ordinary disa-greements”. The formal model of this doxastic situation can be expressed by using tools offered by epistemic (or doxastic) logic.

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The explanation of formal symbols: “B” the epistemic operator “believe” “a” [small font] agent “p” some arbitrary proposition “¬” “not”/ “it is not the case that”“&” “and”

Bap reads “a believes p”Ba¬p reads “a believes that not p” ¬Bap reads “It is not the case that a believes p”Here “belief” is regarded as a propositional attitude. The talk about proposi-

tional attitudes implies that one can have different attitudes, such as believing, hoping, fearing, etc. towards the same proposition. Not all attitudes are epistemic attitudes, and the relation between different kinds of attitudes is a key issue in my presentation, as we shall see. Given these preliminaries, “an ordinary disagreement” over the proposition “There is a Swedish philosopher sitting in the pub” (=p) between two persons Smith (=a) and Jones (=c) has the form:

(1) Bap & Bc¬p (Smith believes that there is a Swedish philosopher sitting in the pub, and Jones believes that there is not a Swedish philosopher sitting in the pub.)

In the case of an ordinary disagreement Smith and Jones share a common language: they both grasp the meaning of proposition p in the same way, but they disagree on its truth value. In this case, we say that Smith’s and Jones’ beliefs contradict each other.

Wittgenstein holds that the ordinary model of disagreement is more or less misleading when we consider the nature of disagreements in religious matters. Examples of the religious belief Wittgenstein often mentions in the Lectures are the belief in the Last Judgement and the belief in life after death. For example, in one place Wittgenstein says:

(2) Suppose that someone believed in the Last Judgement, and I don’t, does this mean that I believe the opposite to him, just that there won’t be such a thing? I would say: “not at all, or not always”.

Suppose I say that the body will rot, and another says “No. Particles will rejoin in a thousand years, and there will be a Resurrection of you”.

If someone said: “Wittgenstein, do you believe in this?” I’d say: “No.” “Do you contradict the man?” I’d say: “No.” (Lectures: 53.)

In the Lectures there are also many other remarks that have to do with the question whether religious and non-religious persons contradict or oppose one another, although it appears that they do. (I have omitted other remarks on ac-count of the sake of limits of this presentation.) These remarks show that Wittgen-stein is obviously puzzled by these kinds of disagreements, and in many places he speaks with caution. It is often difficult to see what he intends to say. I will start from the common fideistic reading of his views.

Fidestic reading

Kai Nielsen was the first to use the label “Wittgensteinian fideism”. In a famous article published in the late 1960’s he argued that followers of Wittgenstein hold

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that religious belief is intelligible only to those who participate in a religious form of life. Religion has its own criteria of intelligibility and rationality, and therefore outsiders cannot criticize religion. Nielsen, who was and is an atheistic critic of re-ligion, regarded the fideistic stance as inadequate. Since then the label fideism (in one form or another) has repeatedly associated with the thought of Wittgenstein and/or his followers like Peter Winch and D. Z. Phillips. (Nielsen incidentally did not direct his critique at Wittgenstein himself. On the themes and the history of the debate, see Nielsen & Phillips 2005.)

If one were to characterize Wittgenstein’s thought in terms of the fideistic in-terpretation, the ordinary model of disagreement in religious matters is in his view misleading, because believers and non-believers play different language games. The religious believer and the non-believer do not understand religious proposi-tions in the same way; they do not “speak the same language” and talk past each other.

Even a cursory look at the Lectures shows that the fideistic reading gives too simple a picture of Wittgenstein’s thought, and both Diamond and Kusch reject the fideistic reading of the text, but they do it for different reasons.

Diamond: variety of distances

Cora Diamond (2005) argues that the Lectures should be seen against a conception of language that is found (in somewhat different forms) in Frege’s thought and in early Wittgenstein. According to this conception, all speakers of language operate in the same “logical space”: when language is seen in that way, there are no dif-ferent kinds of logic, but only one logic. “All thoughts lie in one logically intercon-nected space”, which means that, in principle, every thought can be understood by all speakers of language (Diamond 2005: 101). Controversies and disagreements take place in this common logical space.

According to Diamond, in Lectures Wittgenstein opposes the picture of a com-mon logical space. However, she argues that Wittgenstein does not replace this picture by a “language game approach”, which says that there are many logical spaces, i.e., language games, and which also argues that genuine disagreement between us presupposes that we are in the same game. The language game ap-proach is then closely related to what I have called fideism: it claims that if the believer and the non-believer are not in the same game, they cannot contradict and genuinely disagree with each other.

Diamond shows that in the Lectures Wittgenstein is not committed to the view that there are only these two alternatives: the model of one logical space or the fideistic model. Instead, the Lectures include a much more complicated picture of the ways we can disagree and be distant from the thought of others. She draws attention to three different types of case:

(i) First is the case that I have above described as the ordinary disagreement.(ii) Second is the case where “you say something which I cannot find it in

myself to move with at all” (Diamond 2005: 105). According to Diamond, this is Wittgenstein’s own attitude towards the belief in the Last Judgement. As we have seen in a remark (2) Wittgenstein says that he would say “No” when asked: “Witt-genstein, do you believe in that particles will join, etc.” Nevertheless Wittgenstein

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holds that he does not contradict the believer. In that case “I don’t believe in this” means, by using Wittgenstein’s own words, that “I haven’t got these thoughts or anything that hangs together with them” (Lectures: 55). For Wittgenstein the talk about the Last Judgement is unintelligible (or rather perhaps we should say: he cannot make any use of it) but he does not oppose it or say that the believer is wrong.

(iii) The third case is the difference between an atheist and the assertor of the Last Judgement (Lectures 58). This case reminds us of the second case, for the as-sertor and the atheist “do not share a mode of operating with propositions” (Dia-mond 2005: 105). However, according to Diamond, the atheist mentioned in the Lectures, unlike Wittgenstein, is denying or “naysaying” what the believers says. Another example of this third case is the difference between a Christian and a Jew, who disagree on an understanding of what counts as the fulfilment of Messianic expectation in the Bible. In this case there is a difference in understanding what the Bible says, nevertheless the Christian and Jew may say “You are wrong” to each other (Diamond 2005: 105).

Now, the formal model of ordinary disagreement (1) can be applied only to the first case, in other cases it is more or less misleading. Wittgenstein’s (=d) own attitude could perhaps be expressed by

(3) ¬Bdp & ¬Bd¬p This is to say that Wittgenstein does not believe anything about the matter.

(Note that Wittgenstein’s attitude does not represent epistemological religious scepticism: the reason for the lack of belief-attitude is not that he does not have sufficient evidence for p or ¬p.)

Wittgenstein’s atheist case is more complicated. Because the atheist (=e) is denying (or “naysaying”) p, his attitude looks formally like

(4) Be¬p However, as far as I see, the formal model is inaccurate for Wittgenstein holds

that is not clear whether an atheist understands p in the same way as the believer (see Lectures: 55).

The main point of Diamond’s comments on Wittgenstein’s Lectures is that there is not just these two alternatives: (a) either the believer and the non-be-liever disagree with each other (and speak the same language), or (b) they do not disagree at all (and speak different languages). Instead, differences and distances come in degrees and can take different forms. In some cases the believer and the non-believer pass each other like ships in the night. In other cases they disagree or even contradict each other, although they do not “occupy the same logical space”. Diamond’s lesson to us is that disagreeing, contradicting and believing the oppo-site have several uses.

Kusch: extraordinary beliefs

Martin Kusch’s (2012) discussion on Wittgenstein’s Lectures goes in a somewhat different direction. He starts from the two utterances:

(5) I believe that there will be a Last Judgement. (6) I believe that there won’t be a Last Judgement.According to Kusch, most of us would probably be inclined to think that if I say

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(5) and you say (6) , we have a disagreement about the Last Judgement, and our disagreement is not faultness. Faultness disagreement are, for example, matters of taste. Obviously, all disagreements are not like this. In many areas of life – in science, in mathematics, in politics and in ethics – we do not think that all opinions are as good as each other.

Does Wittgenstein regard religious disagreements as faultness? Kusch says that we can go in two directions in explaining Wittgenstein’s

thought. Firstly, we can explain the religious disagreement in terms of incommen-surability, which is basically the same as what I have called the fideistic reading. However, Kusch argues that the incommensurability thesis cannot be attributed to Wittgenstein. Wittgenstein holds, according to Kusch, that the non-believer can (or can learn to) understand the propositional content of religious belief. Second-ly, it is possible that the reason why Wittgenstein does not speak of a contradic-tion between non-believer and believer is that he does not have the propositional attitude the believer has. This is the direction which Kusch’s explanation takes.

Kusch distinguished between two senses of “belief”: ordinary and extraordi-nary belief. He

he finds both of them in the Lectures. Ordinary beliefs are associated with terms like “opinions” or “hypothesis”. They might be reasonable or unreasonable, they can be based on and supported by the empirical evidence. Extraordinary beliefs do not share these features. Wittgenstein notes that we use words like “dogma” or “faith” in talking about them. They are not confirmed or falsified by evidence. According to Wittgenstein, religious beliefs are firm, unshakable and they regulate and guide people’s life. (Lectures: 56-59.)

We can now introduce a new symbol “F” for the operator “faith”, i.e., extraor-dinary belief. Then, in the light of Kusch’s interpretation the genuine logical form of the disagreement between the believer (=a) and the non-believer (=c) can be expressed by the model:

(7) Fap & ¬Fcp (a has faith that p, and it is not the case that c has faith that p) The use of a new operator stresses the fact that religious disagreements are

independent of ordinary epistemic disagreements. In fact, one could say that they are not epistemic disagreements at all: Wittgenstein says that evidence is irrel-evant in order to accept this attitude (Lectures: 56).

Kusch’s analysis has many interesting consequences: for example, a person’s (=a) attitude towards “There will be a Last Judgement” (=p) may take the form

(8) Fap & ¬Bap (a has faith that p, and it is not the case that a has ordinary belief that p)

This might appear a strange formulation, but, as mentioned, Wittgenstein holds that it is a confusion to treat religious beliefs as ordinary beliefs. Therefore, in (8) I use the form ¬Bap rather than Ba¬p. Wittgenstein seems to think that treat-ing religious faith as a hypothesis ends up with a view of faith as a kind a pseudo-science, superstition or suchlike (Lectures: 57-59). From this it also follows, e.g., that both believer and non-believer may share the same ordinary (epistemic) belief-attitudes.

If faith, then, is not an epistemic attitude at all, religious disagreements are unlike ordinary disagreements. According to Kusch, the disagreement expressed in the form (7) can be called a “non-standard faultless disagreement”. He associates

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it with “a non-standard form of relativism” that takes the form of “the relativism of distance” (Bernard Williams). By that notion Kusch refers to a situation where the view of the other is not a live or real option for me. In this situation, the question of the acceptance of faith does not arise for the non-believer, as only “only a conver-sion, and thus reordering of all real or live options, would take [the non-believer] to the religious stance”.

Kusch’s interpretation coheres well with some parts of the Lectures. However, many questions remain open. In this context, one question of special interest to us is: why is extraordinary belief (faith) a real option for someone and not for some-one else? How could the distance or disagreement between us be described and understood in the light of Kusch’s interpretation of Wittgenstein’s thought? This is a complex question. However, there is some evidence in Wittgenstein’s wri tings that he gives an important role to different personal experiences in religious life. In Culture and Value he writes: “Life can educate one to a belief in God”, and ex-plains that by not referring to “visions and other forms of sense experience” but to experiences such as “sufferings of various sorts” (86c). This suggests that the “rela-tivism of distance” has to do with differences in the lives we have led. These life experiences should not be not be treated as comparable to empirical expe riences. The “laboratory of life” does not always produce the same results.

BibliographyDiamond, C. 2005. Wittgenstein on Religious Belief: The Gulfs Between Us. In D. Z. Phillips

& M. von der Ruhr (Eds.), Religion and Wittgenstein’s Legacy. Aldershot: Ashgate.Nielsen K. & Phillips, D. Z. 2005. Wittgensteinian Fideism? London: SCM Press.Kusch, M. (2012). Disagreement and Picture in Wittgenstein’s “Lectures on Religious

Belief”. Retrieved from http://univie.academia.edu/MartinKusch/Papers/928873/Disagreement_and_Picture_in_Wittgensteins_Lectures_on_Religious_Belief.

Wittgenstein. L. 1966. Lectures and Conversations on Aesthetics, Psychology and Religious Belief . Compiled from Notes taken by Yorick Smythies, Rush Rhees and James Taylor. C. Barrett (Ed.). Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press.

Wittgenstein. L. 1980. Culture and Value. Transl. by Peter Winch. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.

Timo KOistinEn, PhD in Theology, Lecturer in Systematic Theology, Faculty of Theology, University of Helsinki, Finland. Area of scientific interest: philosophy of religion.

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Presence of Absolute Oneness as non-Religious non-Experience in Plotinus and Zhuangzi

Agnė BUDRIŪNAITĖ

The paper analyzes a phenomenon that could be called a ‘presence of absolute One-ness’ from the philosophical point of view. Descriptions of such phenomena may be found in the writings of the mystics of all major religions. The paper focuses on the notion of the Absolute and its presence as it is found in the writings of Plotinus and Zhuangzi. These two philosophers talk about similar state of wakeful though content-less consciousness despite of different intellectual traditions they belong to. It is not an achieved union between the human and the Divine and not a perception of the oneness of the world observable from the outside. The paper raises the question: even though such presence of absolute Oneness is described in terms of a particular religious and/or philosophical tradition, can it be considered a ‘religious experience?’

key words: Oneness, Plotinus, Zhuangzi, mystical experience

One of the longest-lasting discussions among contemporary scholars of mysticism is about the nature of mystical experience. A lot of different opinions were offered after Steven Katz formulated his constructivist theory. According to it, there are no unme-diated experiences (Katz 1983: 4-5); all mystical experiences are a mere ‘product’ of a particular culture and religion (Katz 1978: 56-57). Many scholars of mysticism noted, that the main and common focus of different mystical traditions is the exalta-tion of the state which will be named ‘a presence of Absolute Oneness’ in this paper. Such state is not a simple pre-reflective state of consciousness as a part of everyday empirical experience. It is neither a total disappearance of consciousness. It is called wakeful though contentless consciousness (Forman 1990: 8; Stace : 41-51, 86-90; Wainwright 1981: 1, 5 and many others). According to the constructivist theory, the similarities describing divine absolute One in Upanishadic and Advaita Vedantic Hinduism, Sufism, Hasidic Judaism and Christian mysticism are mere coincidences. There are no mystical experiences; there are just experiences of the mystics. Accor-dingly, the presence of absolute Oneness is impossible. There can be only some kinds of cultural shaped experiences that are interpreted as the ‘presence of Oneness’.

I see two possible preconceived convictions in the constructivist attitude to-wards the pure mystical experience or the pure state of Oneness: 1) negation of the very existence of the Absolute; 2) negation of the possibility and ability of hu-man being to know the Absolute through unmediated experience of Oneness and without considering it as an object.

In this paper I will discuss notion of the Absolute and the state of the presence of absolute Oneness as it is found in the writings of Greek philosopher Plotinus and Chinese sage Zhuangzi, especially in the sixth Ennead ninth tractate named ‘On the Good, or the One’ and in the second chapter of Zhuangzi named ‘On making things equal’ (qí wù lùn). These thinkers lived in different ages, different cultures and had different religious beliefs. Despite of this, we can find similar descriptions of the notion of Oneness, its incommunicable nature and the general steps in the way of

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seeking union with Absolute as well as conception of this union as a non-union. Comparing the texts describing the phenomenon that is called mystical experience now, we probably could find the alternative to the constructivist theory of Steven Katz and his colleagues or at least soften its categorical affirmations.

transcendent and immanent First Principle in Plotinus and Zhuangzi

Precondition of the presence of absolute Oneness is a belief in the ever-existing all-embracing Absolute. For Plotinus this is the One and for Zhuangzi – Dao. For both it is the self-sufficient inexhaustible source of all things that is totally transcendent. At the same time it is immanent through maintaining Being and all its forms.

Talking about the absolute and transcendent One and its immanence, Plotinus outspreads it into hypostases giving them different names. He constantly reminds the listener/reader about the unity of hypostases and their conditional character. There is just the only and absolute One while hypostases and things are eradiation of it (Plotinus VI.8.6). Therefore word ‘One’ seems to him an improper name for the Absolute along with all other names (the Good, the God, the Supreme) be-cause they always suppose opposition (plurality, evil, etc.).

Zhuangzi uses word Dao for the Absolute. This concept is common to all Chinese culture. Its meaning changes strongly according to the context and interpretation. In the writings of Zhuangzi, Dao, as the principle of Oneness, is used at least in three ways: the Great Dao, the Dao of Heaven and the Dao of man. Despite of making a clear difference between these concepts, (Zhuangzi 11) Zhuangzi constantly empha-sizes the oneness of Dao and also states that no name is suitable for it (Zhuangzi 22).

Both authors are concerned with the transcendence of the Absolute. The One or Dao is not an object of our ordinary experience or perception. “The Way has its reality and its signs but is without action or form”, as Zhuangzi says (Zhuangzi 6). That means, there is nothing for our mind or senses to grasp at. Plotinus ‘sustains’ this outlook and eliminates the possibility to even imagine the One: “The Unity is without shape, even shape Intellectual” (Plotinus VI.9.3).

While being totally transcendent and without losing its transcendence, the One/Dao is the source and maintaining principle of all things: “Generative of all, The Unity is none of all; neither thing nor quantity nor quality nor intellect nor soul” (Plotinus VI.9.3). Consequently, we cannot find the One either by simply looking at things or ignoring things as unrelated to the One. As we read in the Zhuangzi, “you must not expect to find the Way in any particular place – there is no thing that escapes its presence!” (Zhuangzi 22).

The relationship between the One and things in Plotinus can be misunder-stood, especially when compared with the Daoist conception, in which the onto-logical hierarchy is not as strongly emphasized. It seems that for Plotinus the One is more ‘real’ than things. The One is Supreme and First, it is ‘full’ of Itself. Accord-ingly, everything else is lower, later, smaller and emptier up to the non-Being. The question of relationship between the One and Nothingness comparing with that between Dao and Emptiness requires a separate discussion that would take much more space than it is intended for a conference paper.

The metaphor of light or sun strengthens this vertical character of relationship. Despite this, the One is always present in all things (Plotinus V.2.1; III.8.10) and

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the One in its Oneness cannot be more or less ‘real’ or ‘unreal’. We can reason-ably state that differences arise according to the perspective from which one or another thought is told. The perspective of Oneness as a whole is different from the perspective of the One as the Supreme source of all Being and different from the perspective of things.

Both philosophers are talking about central character of the Absolute. First of all it is a self-center, “its own source, its own root” (Zhuangzi 6). At the same time it is the center of everything, ‘center of all the centers’ for Plotinus (Plotinus VI.9.8) and ‘Dao shu’ – the hinge of Dao for Zhuangzi (Zhuangzi 2). They both conclude that this ‘centre’ is not related to time or space or hierarchical order, but rather to the equality of all oppositions in respect of oneness and harmony of the whole.

It is obvious that for Plotinus and Zhuangzi the Absolute is the source not only for all things but for all human beings and all processes as well. Such an aspect of Dei-ty we can find in most major religions. Naturally, religious texts emphasize not only absoluteness of God but His attributes, especially if we think about the conception of monotheistic God. Nevertheless, in the texts of Plotinus and Zhuangzi, the words and conceptions are employed for negation of any definition of the Absolute even if they talk about it as the One. The very notion of the Absolute suggests that the expe-rience or knowledge of the Absolute is a non-religious state. Should the constructiv-ists consider the question of Absolute, I suspect they would agree with that.

One could not suppose all constructivists to be irreligious people. Rather, they seem to believe that they can disassociate themselves from their underlying religi-osity and investigate the religious experience of other people avoiding their own subjectivity but preserving the objectivity of the research. The presence of abso-lute Oneness, however, supposes another precondition: the Absolute should be found without mediators, i.e. religious symbols and concepts. Negation of such possibility is the leading argument of Katz (Katz 1983: 51; Katz 1978: 26, 59).

Presence of Absolute oneness

The immanence of the Absolute as it is described in the texts of Plotinus and Zhuangzi creates the possibility for everyone to ‘stand’ in the presence of One-ness, or in other words, to become this Oneness. The presence of Oneness is an ‘aim’ of both, Plotinus and Zhuangzi, though both of them understand that human will and rationality is something to be put aside first and foremost. This is not a real aim that could be achieved through one’s endeavor. The experience authors are talking about is hardly an experience at all because both of them suppose that the ‘experiencer’ has to lose oneself and become this Oneness in order to ‘experience’ it. No subject or object is left in the presence of absolute Oneness. To lose oneself is to lose the subject or the shape of the ‘experiencer’. To become Oneness is to loose all objects or the possible contents of the experience.

According to Plotinus, man in this state loses his self-consciousness, his I-ness and any kind of intentional consciousness: “The man is changed, no longer himself nor self-belonging; he is merged with the Supreme, sunken into it, one with it: centre coincides with centre, for on this higher plane things that touch at all are one” (Plotinus VI.9.10). Zhuanzgi expresses similar thoughts talking about the true man, i.e. somebody who has reached oneness with Dao: “He passes in and out of

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the boundless, and is ageless as the sun. His face and form blend with the Great Unity, the Great Unity which is selfless” (Zhuangzi 11). Accordingly, a man seeking this state has to become selfless, or no-I (wú w�).

Both authors emphasize becoming, not experiencing or understanding: “from many, we must become one; only so do we attain to knowledge of that which is Principle and Unity” (Plotinus VI.9.3); “forget you are a thing among other things, and you may join in Great Unity with the deep and boundless. Undo the mind, slough off spirit, be blank and soulless, and the ten thousand things one by one will return to the root” (Zhuangzi 11). Paradoxically, the losing of one’s I-ness con-cludes in finding one’s true self that is united with the One or Dao. Loosing every thing one gains everything.

Experience of everything is hardly an imaginable ‘thing’. Therefore the ‘with-drawal’ of rational thinking is an essential condition of pursuing the presence of Oneness as well as it is its ‘feature’. As Zhuangzi says: “return to the root and not know why. But if you try to know it, you have already departed from it. Do not ask what its name is, do not try to observe its form” (Zhuangzi 11). The rational thinking divides everything and separates the mind from the world. It is the main obstacle to experience Oneness therefore and “Supreme [...] is to be known only as one with ourselves.” (Plotinus VI.9.10).

I am not one with the Absolute as long as I am the experiencing or perceiving person. Only ‘sunken into it’ and lost there I can ‘achieve’ it. According to Plotinus, “awareness of this Principle comes neither by knowing nor by the Intellection that discovers the Intellectual Beings but by a presence overpassing all knowledge.” (Plotinus VI.9.4). Becoming simple and without diversity brings a kind of experien-tial knowledge. Not even knowledge but the existential and metaphysical steadi-ness that usually is called ‘pure knowing’ (Plotinus VI.9.10) or ‘knowledge that doesn’t know’ (Zhuangzi 4).

The presence of absolute Oneness is not an unnatural state for human being, according to Plotinus and Zhuangzi. They both use similar metaphors of the return-ing to one’s own root and source (eg. Zhuangzi 13; 11; Plotinus IV.8.4; VI.9.9). The man who becomes pure and simple like in the very beginning can see not only himself but also everything and every thing in the true light.

The presence of absolute Oneness does not eliminate the humanity i.e. materia-lity of a man. The man does not become the One fully and finally for he still is a man. After being in the presence of absolute Oneness, he can look at everything from the perspective of the One and also from the new, shifted perspective of things . The Oneness and unmediated contact are indispensable for the state of presence but re-turn back to the rational state of mind and I-ness is indispensable for ‘experiencing’ this state. The ‘experience’ arises only after the disjunction of subject and object.

The presence of absolute Oneness is characterized as fully conscious and even over-conscious state, though both authors agree that it is indescribable like inde-scribable the One or Dao is. Trying to understand this non-experiential state ratio-nally, philosophers create distance from themselves and from the Oneness. They use concepts of their religious and intellectual traditions. Therefore ‘experience’ is always shaped by culture, though culture is neither the source nor the content of the ‘presence’ that goes before the ‘experience’. Appealing to the texts of Plo-tinus and Zhuangzi we can agree with constructivist theory that there are mere

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experiences of the mystics. Equally we can guess, if not affirm, that there is also a presence of absolute Oneness and it is non-religious non-experience, independent of all cultural models that are used trying to realize and convey it.

Concluding remarks

The presence of absolute Oneness cannot be called ‘religious’ phenomena because it is beyond any religious consciousness. It cannot be called even an ‘experience’ or ‘phenomenon’ because in the presence of absolute Oneness there is neither ob-ject, nor subject, neither experiencer, nor intentional consciousness left. This non-experience of the present of absolute Oneness only later becomes an ‘experience’ through self-reflection and reflection of surroundings influenced by culture and religion. No language is capable to express presence of Oneness even looking at this state from a distance and both authors are warning against misunderstanding of their words while talking about the One and Oneness.

Why Plotinus and Zhuangzi are talking about such inexpressible things at all? Neither argumentation nor persuasion is the aim of their writings. These texts are just denotements of the possibility and ability of human being to know the Ab-solute without mediation standing in the presence of absolute Oneness. Plotinus says very clearly: “to those desiring to see, we point the path; our teaching is of the road and the travelling; the seeing must be the very act of one that has made this choice.” (Plotinus VI.9.4).

BibliographyForman, R. K. C. 1990. Mysticism, Constructivism, and Forgetting. In Robert K. C. Forman

(ed.) The Problem of Pure Consciousness. Mysticism and Philosophy (pp. 3-49). New York: Oxford University Press.

Katz, St. 1983. The ‘Conservative’ Character of Mysticism. In St. Katz (ed.), Mysticism and Religious Traditions (pp. 3-60). New York: Oxford University Press.

Katz, St. 1978. Language, Epistemology and Mysticism. In St. Katz (ed.), Mysticism and Philosophical Analysis (pp. 22-74). New York: Oxford University Press.

Moeller, H.-G. 2006. Daoism Explained: from the Dream of the Butterfly to the Fishnet Allegory. Chicago: Open Court.

Plotinus. Enneads. Transl. by St. MacKenna & B. S. Page. Retrieved from http://www.davemckay.co.uk/philosophy/plotinus/

Stace, W. T. 1960. Mysticism and Philosophy. London: MacMillan.Wainwright, W. J. 1981. Mysticism: a study of its nature, cognitive value, and moral

implications. The University of Wisconsin Press. Zhuangzi. Chuang Tzu: Basic Writings. Transl. by B. Watson. New York: Columbia University

Press. 1964. Reprint: 1996. Retrieved from http://terebess.hu/english/chuangtzu.html

agnė BudRiūnaitė, assoc. professor of philosophy at the Vytautas Magnus University, Kaunas, Lithuania. Area of scientific interest: religious experience, Eastern traditions of thought (especially Daoism and Chan Buddhism) and religious existentialism.

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Anenaiki by Augustyn Bloch (1979) – a Merger of Traditions in Religious Music

Krzysztof CYRAN

AbstractAmong dozens of compositions dedicated to John Paul II, Anenaiki by a Polish composer Augustyn Bloch definitely stands out. Its uncompromising modernity of sound, unusual approach to the textual layer and unique setting (16-part non-accompanied mixed choir) make its specific profile. What’s more, despite clear historical context, it carries the message far from obvious.

As for the text, Bloch uses two sentences from Latin and from Old Church Slavic (Orthodox). He also makes a mosaic of a few dozens syllables, connected in many ways: repeating, interfering, being only a sound object or creating words in diffe-rent languages, all of which are fragments of prayers.

The title itself, Anenaiki, is a Slavic word referring to old Greek melismatic chant. However, the composition made out of it - traditional Byzantine modal for-mulas - is considerably rich in harmony, colour and texture. References to Gre-gorian, Byzantine, Orthodox or Synagogal chant are organically immersed into modern twelve-tone language. Fundamental also is the way the text works here, moving from asemantics to allusions and citations to full semantics. Consequently, the Wort-Ton liaisons not only refer to tradition but also create new expressive-semantic qualities. From that point of view, the piece seems to be a good example for a real synthesis, avoiding the danger of eclecticism.

The motto, Renovabis faciem terrae (‘and you will renew the face of the Earth’), draws our attention to a biblical scene of Pentecost. The correspondence with fa-mous John Paul II words: “Let Thy Spirit come and renew the Earth”, is astonishing. It seems obvious to point out the similarity of the piece’s message – a symbolic connection between East and West - to the pope’s ecumenical and universal ap-proach to religion as a phenomenon of human life.

keywords: anenaiki, Bloch, choir, religious, tradition

As the composer himself wrote : “I have entitled my piece Anenaiki for at least two reasons: firstly – I liked the way this word sounds, secondly – the contemplative or even prayerful character of chant suggested by the meaning of this word was spe-cial to me. The composition is based on apparently meaningless syllables excluding words ‘Deum de Deo, lumen de lumine’ taken from a Catholic liturgical Credo, and a few words from Old Church Slavic (Orthodox) liturgy (…). The piece has a contem-plative character, being a kind of a prayer to Universal God” (Bloch 1979).

The title itself provides the clue to understand a musical content of the piece. According to the artist: “Anenaiki is actually a Slavic word referring to old Greek melismatic chant. In numerous texts of liturgic chants used in Byzantium and la-ter in Russia, (…) there were put byzantine intonation formulas, based on sylla-bles such as ‘ananeanes’, ‘neanes’ (…) etc. According to research, similar manner existed in Old Hebrew Synagogoue chant, in religious chant of Manicheism as well as of Tunisian Bedouins” (Bloch 1979).

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text

a) texts indicated by the composer:Deum de Deo, lumen de lumine (Latin) – God of God, Light of LightDnes Dewa rażajete Tworeca wiesiemo – (Old Church Slavic) – Today the Virgin

is bearing the Creator of all creaturesPokazujet zwezda Christa Sołnieca (Old Church Slavic) – The Star shows Christ

the Sunb) single words in the score

Haghia • (Gr.) – saintSela• (Hebr.) – a calling from the Book of Psalms: “with unclear mea ning, probably referring to musical performance” (Biblia Tysiąclecia 2000: 1639)Alla • (Arab.) – God!Misericordia• (Lat.) – mercyMose• (Hebr.) – Moses

All of them regardless of a confession carry a religious meaning.c) The main part of the textual layer is a mosaic of syllables (see Tab.1). See-

mingly meaningless, they are primarily a sound phenomenon. But their real func-tion becomes clear only in cooperation with the musical layer.

Music

Its complexity requires pursuing for main ordering ideas. As detailed analysis shows, these ideas are colour and time, whose musical analogue are sphere of timbre and time organization. From a musical point of view, crucial here are sonic planes undergoing constant internal and external changes. What has been under-lined in purely vocal setting, is also the colour of text articulation – i.e. sonic rich-ness of consonants and vowels.

A full twelve-tone material is used, however undergoing a strict selection in each part of the piece. The beginning of phase B1 (m.111-132) would serve as an example: here are first presented and then overlapping the three types of har-mony carrying a concrete stylistic connotations: the part of Bassi resembles Old Church Russian orthodox chant, that of Tenori – Greek Byzantine chant, and that of female voices – 20th century serialism. Thanks to material selection the composer successfully creates independent sonic layers whose overlapping makes not only strictly musical but also stylistic counterpoint.

Time organization makes only “the scenery” for musical events. Time signature 4/4 has a strictly technical meaning, barlines are only visually ordering symbols. A „neutral” tempo value = 60 is constant throughout the piece, excluding the last minute (7% of duration) where it slows to = 44.

The use of constant rhythmic unit with different rhythmic values without a meter makes pulse barely perceptible but subconsciously present, similarly to Renaissance tactus. As pitch relations are extremely difficult, perception needs another basis. The composer uses a kind of “perception management” presen-ting textures with different grade of legibility, from clear unisoni and homorhyth-mic chord shapes to micropolyphonic mosaics where differences are barely – if at

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all - perceptible. In this situation, it is harmonic saturation1 (Zieliński 2009;19-23) and contrasts of registers what plays a role of road-sign for perception and conse-quently particulates the musical form in an auditive aspect.

relations between music and word

It should be emphasized that three main texts mentioned by the composer: Deum de deo…, Dnes D’ewa…, Pokazujet… (see Tab.1) were set in different techniques. A particular space of word perception has been deliberately designed in solely textual layer - from asemantics to allusions to full semantics. The musical setting obscures its legibility even more and adds another level of allusions and citations (see Tomaszewski 1996). This deliberacy is visible in a deep disproportion between massive bulk of text in the score and bare chances of understanding it by the listener.

When looking perceptively into the score, it becomes clear that the composer saying ”The composition is based on a p p a r e n t l y ( highlighted by KC) mea-ningless syllables” gives a secret clue: a few sequences of syllables seem to carry a hidden meaning as an allusion or citation. This is indicated by the musical setting and/or often repeating of some sequences.

The first case is (or are) eponymous anenaiki (plural), consisting of a psalm tone (echos) melodic basis with fixed syllables to help memorizing (Abijski 2011). “The syllables ane, na, ne, ni and others similar to them (which Russian termed anenaiki) are known in Byzantine liturgical singing to be intonational formulae, whose function was to bring the singers into the tuning of a given mode or Tone. The Greek intonation formulae are as follows:

Tone 1 - ananeanesTone 2 – neeeanesTone 3 – aneeeaneeTone 4 – nanaaaagiaTone 1 (plagal) - aneeaneTone 2 (plagal) - neeaneeTone barys (7)- aaneeTone 4 (plagal) - neagie”(Gardner 1980:283-284)It turns out that many of them serves (although in hidden way) as a melodic

constructional material in the polyphonic coil of Bloch’s piece.The second use of “apparently meaningless syllables” in Greek liturgy was kra-

tima: a charismatic chant derived from hesychasm – an ancient mystical monastic tradtion, called also “chant of angels”. From the musical point of view it was a melisma filled with syllables containing voiced consonants. The beginning of Kyrie eleison could look like this:

Kyrie eee eee nenene nenene tororo tororo re ri rem, te ri rem (Abijski 2011)

1 That is a sonic quality of an interval or a chord, placed on a continuous scale from unison (satu-ration= 0), to euphonic (low saturation) to selective (high saturation). That continuity stands in opposi tion to an old dichotomy: consonant – dissonant, giving more precise insight into physical nature of sound, not forgetting its expressive implications.

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Theological meaning of this technique was to contemplate the word, to stop time. In non-accompanied choir voiced consonants simply imitated instruments – forbidden in Orthodox liturgy (Abijski 2011). In Bloch’s piece the “bell-like” seg-ment (m.65-83) introduced by syllables u-lu-lu refers to kratima. Therefore, all sequences referring to anenaiki or kratima although meaningless, indicate the relation to Greek Byzantine liturgy.

The next allusion is sequence E-U-O-U-A-E, used in medieval Latin antiphonaria books as a shortcut for „saeculorum amen”, being itself a part of a doxology for-mula “Gloria Patri et Filio”. The composer proves familiarity with this abbreviation by using two similar versions E-U-LO-RU-A-ME and E-U-O-U-A-ME.23

Tabela 1. Augustyn Bloch, Anenaiki – a simplified text setup, form, musical setting

Time (approx.)

0’00 3’10 6’10 9’30 12’00

Measu-res

1-40 41-74 75-110 111-138 139-153

Text A, NA, NE, A, NES

A, NA, NE, A, NES,HA-GHIA

A, NA, NE, A, NES,HA-GHIA

A, NA, NE, A, NES,HA-GHIA

U, LU, Y-U-A-Y-AN-ES dnES dEWa RaŻaJEtE TWorECa WiEsiEMO

PokaZUJETEZWEZda CHRista sOŁniECa

A,E,I,O,U, Ä,Ö,Ü, Y dEuM dE dEO, LUMEn dE LU-MinE

WA-HIT-RAS MO-SEMO-HOL-LEL,KUR-NA-NI-BA

ON, AN, SE-LA MI-SE-RI-COR-DIA

E-U-O-U-A-E E-U-LO-RU-A-ME E-U-O-U-A-E, E-U-O-U-A-ME

AL.-LA A-E-U-AForm a b C b1 a1The musical settingof the text

• Asemantic character • Structural „birthplace” of basic sound cells

• Widening of sound: musically: wider am-bitus, new intervals and chords, textually: new phones• Sonic climax2: ono-matopeic „Bell-like” segment built on the syllables on, an.

• Semantic clarity and legibility: two-choir dialogue in chord-stack texture• Semantic cli-max3: Deum de Deo, the only understandable segment in the whole piece

• Climax of both one-text heterophonic as well as different texts’ overlap-ping

• Legibility obs-cured by split-ting into single syllables and heterophony• Integration on the musical level: two twel-ve-tone series: a vertical and a horizontal

A particular code is formed by sequence Y-U-A-Y-AN-ES. Excluding Deum de deo it is the only text set in clear simple chord texture, so one can expect impor-tant message here. In fact, this is a musical citation – a beginning of old Polish Easter song “Chrystus zmartwychwstan jest” (“Christ is risen”), whose vowels cre-ate above sequence. The melody clearly legible in the score is hard to recognize

2 See Tomaszewski 1998: 50-53.3 Ibid.

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auditively in eight-voice semitone harmonization. The musical setting of the text Deum de deo is a stylization of Gregorian-like melody with similar harmonization, putting it also in clear 20th century harmonic context.

One of very rare fortissimo exclamations calls Alla (m.109-111). Although very discreet, this could be a allusion to Islamic chant, perhaps Bedouins?

It can also be guessed that numerous repetitions of sequence A-E-U-A means simply “Hallelujah”.

the message – a reconnaissance4

Augustyn Bloch mentions contemplativeness as a main expressive cathegory of his composition. On a musical level it is witnessed by means such as:

Time flow - long notes without a meter somehow stop time• Lack of caesuras - the segments tend to overlap• Abundance of pedal points (normal, multiple, internal and inverted) and • drones – playing role of local tonal centres

Melic evolution – a meditative “multiple return” to the original thought.On a textual level the crucial factor is asemantics which in Christian under-

standing differs a contemplative prayer from a meditative one. Still, rich theologi-cal content can be found here: three main texts are clearly christocentric, referring to Christ as the Light and the Sun, recollecting His double nature (born of God and of the Virgin).

Besides, there are traces of numerous liturgical traditions;Greek – byzantine modal formulas and graces• Latin – quasi choral melodies, allusion • Saeculorum amenPolish• – a song Chrystus zmartwychwstan jestRussian – polyphonic orthodox chant, the register • basso profondo Hebrew – • Sela Arabic – • Alla

The motto Renovabis faciem terrae forms the next interpretative clue. Its coin-cidence with the famous words of the Pope John Paul II said in June 1979 in War-saw can be explained this way: although the premiere took place a month before, the motto itself appeared only in printed edition, therefore a couple of months later. How much the artist was inspired by the pope is an open question. What is undisputable, the fragment of Pentecost liturgy is by no means added ex post, but it highlights three important semantic fields already present in the piece:

All mentioned traditions and nations in the composer’s commentary cre-• ate an area of ancient universum - the Roman Empire, corresponding with the ‘geography’ of the Pentecost Day. Mediterranean roots remind silently of deep unity between so understood East and West.Huge segments built on sequences of asemantic syllables refer to ancient • Christian charismatic “prayer in languages”5, called glosolalia6.

4 A term by Mieczysław Tomaszewski.5 Nowadays revived in many spiritual Christian groups.6 See 1 Corinthians 12-14 with footnotes. This way of prayer with meaningless syllables was also

called “the prayer of languages” and St.Paul probably refers to it on the beginning of the Hymn of Love calling it “the language of angels” (Biblia Tysiąclecia 2000: 1495-1498).

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Christian Theology of the Pentecost puts an accent to opening the religion • of God of Israel to the whole world, and theology of the Holy Spirit is a Christian approach to the science of universal God, to whom – according to the composer – Anenaiki is a prayer (Bloch 1979).

Conclusion

To read the message in the possible broadest context, necessary is referring to three main levels of meaning:

In a musical sense this is a stylistic synthesis, but absolutely modern: the com-poser cares for stylistic unity of the whole piece, unlike postmodern polistylistic tendencies. References to Gregorian, Byzantine, Orthodox or Synagogal chant are organically immersed into modern twelve-tone language. A contemplative charac-ter, named expressis verbis, is accomplished by adequate musical means.

In a literary sense - text selection and setup expresses a theology of universal God, based on the foundation of Christ and the Holy Spirit – all-renowning Spirit of unity. Here contemplativeness is underlined by the asemantic factor.

A ritual sense means how both musical and textual layers function in social context. Reading the piece in that way, one can find references to “official” liturgy as well as “free”, charismatic prayer. The unity of office and charisma forms a prin-ciple of functioning the Church as a social system.

Just for these reasons, despite the artist places the message of his composition beyond (or above?) a concrete denomination, his oeuvre, still not fitting in any li-turgy, fulfills all requirements of true church music, in which aesthetic values serve theological message and are rooted in an identifiable spiritual tradition. Highligh-ted by the composer himself, contemplativeness and universalism do not melt a cultural identity of the piece. It appears as a beautiful example of “open” religious art, inviting each “man of a good will” to experience sacrum in his personal way, according to individual sensitivity.

Annex: about the piece

Text fragments of the Latin Credo and Old Church Slavic (orthodox) and a few do-zens of syllables from Greek, Latin, Old Church Slavica, Hebrew, Arabic and from beyond any language setting 16-part non-accompanied mixed choir (SSSSAAAATTTTBBBB)Year 1979dedication Renovabis faciem terrae. Joanne Paulo II Summo PontificiPremiere 12.05.1979, Warsaw, a chamber choir „Ars Antiqua”, Maciej Jaśkiewicz (dir.)First edition PWM Edition, Kraków 1980recorded for the Polish Radio, performed by above, CD “Augustyn Bloch”, Inter-sound, Munich 1997 duration 14’(ca)

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BibliographyAbijski, M. 2011. Prawosławny śpiew liturgiczny a muzyka cerkiewna. Rozważania nad

formą muzycznej oprawy liturgii bizantyjskiej [paper presented at a national confer-ence for music school teachers], 3 December, Warsaw

Biblia Tysiąclecia 2000. Pismo św. Starego i Nowego Testamentu w przekładzie z języków oryginalnych. Poznań: Pallottinum.

Bloch, A. 1979. Anenaiki. In Programme book of 23rd Warsaw Autumn Festiwal, WarsawTomaszewski, M. 1996. Muzyka Chopina na nowo odczytana. Studia i interpretacje.

Kraków: Wydawnictwo Akademii MuzycznejTomaszewski, M. 1998. Nad pieśniami Karola Szymanowskiego. Cztery studia. Kraków:

Wydawnictwo Akademii MuzycznejZieliński, T.A. 2009. Podstawy harmoniki nowoczesnej, Kraków, PWM Edition

Krzysztof CYran, PhD student, Academy of Music in Kraków. Area of scientific interest: contemporary music, religious tradition, music and meaning, perception of music.

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Session II – B

Learning a Foreign Experience: the Beginning of Yoga Movement in Latvia

solveiga KRUMINA-KONKOVA

At the turn of 20th – 21st centuries Latvia witnessed the fast development of yoga movement. Near the so-called fitness yoga now the most popular directions of yoga are Hatha yoga with such variations as of Ashtanga (dynamic) and Bikram (hot) yoga, which are formed only in the 20th century; Kriya yoga (focused on the spiritual practices and requires penance), Kundalini yoga (activates one’s inner power, the Western world is familiar with this direction only in the 20th century), Tibetan yoga (practiced in the Buddhist centre in Baltezers), Bhakti yoga (yoga of devotion and sacrifice); Sahaja yoga (for cosmic force to enter in a particular hu-man being), Tantra yoga (the so-called red yoga, mostly focused on the release of sexual energy). Today Latvian yoga groups also are both in Reiki and Sufi centres. Overall, there would be around 100 different yoga centres in Latvia and for such a small country it is quite an impressive number.

The most of them are close to typical client cults described by sociology of religion. All centres are united by the fact that a large part of their offer is paid services for the interested customers. Namely, they form certain social networks offering their services, and the relationship between the centre’s leaders and fol-lowers are similar to the relationship between the doctor and the patient or the seller of certain goods and the buyer. Selecting a particular service, following the specific instructions and expecting certain results clients are often not interested in more information about the teaching of one or another yoga school. More im-portant are evidences that skills of their instructors can ensure the expected re-sults. Thus, compelling personal experience of instructors and good adverti sing of this experience are essential, even vital for the success of one or another particular centre. Because of this narrow practical orientation, contemporary yoga move-ment can hardly be called a philosophical or even more – a religious movement, and this orientation also distinguishes the modern interest in yoga from that inte-rest which appeared in Latvia in the beginning of the 20th century. Although at that time, as this will be seen below, the interest in yoga teachings was largely the result of a personal desire to extend human capabilities and limitations of spiritual experience.

The aim of this paper will be to provide insight into the development of yoga movement in Latvia in the first half of the 20th century. The first data on a variety of yoga and famous yogis appeared in Latvia already at the end of the19th century, mainly in the press publications, as well because of people practicing some yoga techniques, like – Hatha yoga. The broader interest in yoga (at least in Latvian so-ciety) we can notice only in the 1920-ties. So, this paper will focus mainly on the

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archival materials, which reflect the gradual transformation of “The Latvian Socie-ty of Parapsychology”, founded in 1924, into the “Latvian Yoga Society” in 1939.

“The Latvian Society of Parapsychology” was founded in 1924 by Emma Apare, Fricis Gailis, Olga Vanags and another 2 or 3 persons. According to the 1st para-graph of the Statutes of the Latvian Society of Parapsychology, its main purposes were to “investigate and clarify various psychological phenomena and learn, and find out the ancient Eastern metaphysical teachings”1. For this purpose, the So-ciety was able to hold a variety of private and public lectures and readings, to collect a library and establish reading rooms, to publish and distribute books and periodicals, as well as to organize different occult experiments. For example, Fricis Gailis, one of the most active members of the society, organized séances of spiri-tism, which were very popular among other members of society. Emma Apare, who was the first head of the Society, interested in the questions of person’s possible spiritual perfection. She knew the Vedanta and other Indian religious-philosophical teachings, but looked at them mostly from theosophical and an-throposophical point of view. From 1926 up to 1928 Latvian pararapsychologists published “literary-scientific and philosophically-religious” monthly edition “The Bells”, edited by Emma Apare. In the Editorial of the 1st issue of this monthly, she stressed that first and foremost the edition “will deal with Indian philosophy, given special attention to yoga and Vedanta systems which are still little known by general public. “The Bells” will deal with everything that is valuable in science, philosophy and religion, as well as will explore a variety of parapsychological phenomena”.2 In 1928 Emma Apare left the Society, but some years later, in 1930, she together with her husband Aleksandrs Balodis established “The Latvian Socie-ty of Spiritual Sciences” and started also publishing of a new “literary-scientific philosophically-ethical” monthly – “The Crown”. Starting the 1st issue, she poin-ted out that “The Crown” takes place of “The Bells” and that “the Christian eso-tericism and teachings of Indian yogis are the principal names for our ideological concepts, as a clear material of our scientific mind which illuminates all the sites of the Christian doctrine, recently becoming a vanguard of contradictions and cre-ating chaos. Thanks to this light, we can see such values of the Christian doctrine about which human being of our era is not even able to dream of. [--] We will present works of Abhedananda, Ramakrishna, Vivekananda, Ramacharaka and many other famous yogis. We will illuminate them in such a way that the reader could get not just abstract concepts, but would understand their nature and gain the wonderful strength of their power. [--] In other words, it will be the union of religion and science. This, in turn, will create strong, solidary, healthy minded col-lective that will form from itself the core of a new cultural era. The latter is also the mystical mission of our nation”3. However, this edition was not successful and only two issues were published. Gradually interest in yoga was also reduced among the members of “The Latvian Society of Spiritual Sciences”. Emma Atvare-Balodis and Aleksandrs Balodis left the Society in 1933 (they returned in 1935). Emma Apare helped her husband who, in his turn, in 1930-ties actively engaged in

1 Statutes of the Latvian Society of Parapsychology // LSHA, F. 2135, D.1, C. Nr.1. – P. 120. In Latvian.2 Editorial // The Bells. Riga: E. Apare, 1926. Nr. 1. – P.1. In Latvian. 3 Editorial// The Crown. Riga: E. Balode, 1930.Nr.1. – P. 2-3. In Latvian.

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different experiments with aura and read more then 50 lectures mostly in Russian in the meetings of “The Society of Cosmosophy”4.

Turning to a more serious yoga study took place around 1928 when Harijs Dīkmanis (born in 1895), which in later years was sometimes referred to as the only real Latvian yogi, actively involved in the development of “The Latvian Society of Parapsychology”. Dīkmanis, who daily worked as an expert in customs office and had a good knowledge of English, became well known for his consistent interest in yoga, presented in his public lectures and in several serious articles on Hatha yoga in “the Bells”. Dīkmanis already had skills of Sanskrit and started to learn Hindi. A few years later, in 1931, in the letter to S’Rimat Kuvalayananda Dīkmanis wrote: “I have succeeded in rousing on interest in our country to the Yogic philosophy”5. We can find a few records on the popularity of his lectures and their audience also in the protocols of the Society. Here is the illustration: “Particularly encouraging is the fact that among visitors of lectures are people mainly from the intellectuals and not only the youth, the students, but between them we can see even representa-tives of the highest military and police departments, people with higher education and even the most outstanding graduates”6. Such a success could be confirmed also by the fact that in 1934 the Society of Parapsychology was re-registered under the name of “The Centre of Yoga Science in Latvia”.

The new name gave a rise to the need for emphasizing yoga not as a philosophi-cal and religious, but rather as a purely scientific teaching. The changed Statutes of the Society indicated also the new targets:

“1) A harmonious development of body, mind and soul;2) Scientific techniques of the Self-realization,3) To study Indian philosophy, given special attention to Yoga, Vedanta and

Samkhya. 4) To study and interpret a variety of psychological phenomena”7. In the local archives we can find a document, which provides a more compre-

hensive explanation of the Society’s view on yoga. Most obviously, this explanation was written by Harijs Dīkmanis. Here are some more extensive passages, making a clearer picture of what was the real content of previous mentioned targets of “The Centre of Yoga Science in Latvia”:

„In recent centuries, as a result of a long observation and experiments seve-ral yoga disciplines have been developed, which may be used according to hu-man nature and the level of development of every concrete person. Thus, Hatha and Kundalini yoga with a variety of body and breathing exercises are taught how to manage your body, get blooming health and physical force to maintain a long youth. Karma yoga teaches life activity, unselfish actions and the active serving to society and humanity, Bhakti yoga – to love God; Raja yoga is the path of the concentration of mind, which teaches how to manage our senses and mind and develop a strong will and ability of the concentration. Dnjana yoga or yoga of wis-dom, which is based on a philosophical system of Vedanta, teaches people to know

4 The exact name of this society was “The Society for the Promotion of Cosmosophy in Latvia”. It was established in 1933 and was rather popular in German and Russian intellectual circles.

5 S’Rimat Kuvalayananda. Yoga Mimansa. Kessinger Publishing, 2003. – P.258.6 From the Protocol Nr. 5, 15 of May, 1934// LSHA, F. 2135, D.1, C. Nr.2. – P.18. In Latvian. 7 Statutes of the Centre of Yoga Science in Latvia // LSHA, F. 2135, D.1, C. Nr.1. – P.93.

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oneself, that is, our inner “I” and seek a higher truth – a reality on which all the subjective and objective world is based, it is purely a philosophical method. All these methods are interrelated, since all they have one common aim, namely: har-monized and comprehensive development and perfection of human body, mind and abilities of soul.

In recent decades, yoga techniques, especially of Hatha and Raja Yoga, have been scientifically tested in clinics and laboratories in India, Europe and America. [--] To get the correct information and materials, the Centre of Yoga Science in Latvia has established close relations with yoga institutes and other centres in In-dia and America and therefore can provide to its members and the general public the proper yoga exercises and techniques, without any distortions and exaggera-tions, that has been so far done in the lectures organized by the Centre”8.

For “the scientific evidence” of the Centre’s view on yoga well serves also the book “Hatha-Yoga practice. Asanas and pranayama”, published by Dīkmanis in 1934.

In 1934, H. Dīkmanis established closer ties with the Sri Jogendra’s Yoga Institute in Bulsara (India) and a little later, in 1935, the Centre of Yoga Science became a rep-resentative of this Institute in Latvia, but Dīkmanis had been appointed as the only representative of this Institute in Europe. Relations with great yoga teacher Swami Sivananda and his Divine Life Society also were developed at the same time. As a result, Swami Sivananda kindly allowed translating and publishing in Latvian and other languages all his works, without any royalties, and such translations had also been successfully done. Here is a testimony about Dīkmanis and his Centre left by Sivananda himself: “Mr. Harry Dikman, the Director-Founder of the Yoga Centre in Riga, Latvia (Europe) is a good specialist in these Yoga-Asanas, Bandhas and Mudras and his opinion and advice to persons suffering from various kinds of diseases, cu-rable and incurable, are increasingly becoming popular in Europe. I have not heard of another man either in Europe or in America, who takes such a keen and lively interest in this subject and is making researches in the same. You will be surprised to know that Mr. Harry Dikman is essentially a philosopher and a sage”9.

References to the activities of the Centre of Yoga Science in Latvia and, in par-ticular, – to Dīkmanis can be found also in some other books devoted to the move-ment of Sivananda. One of these books point out: “To take a typical case, the book “Kundalini Yoga” so impressed Mr. Harry Dickman, by its inestimable practical worth as a peerless guide to the science of Yoga, that the highly cultured Latvian gentleman has exhibited a miracle of industry and patience in making a complete translation of the entire work with all the diagrams, charts and illustrations faith-fully reproduced. [--] As a devout offering, Mr. Dickman sent two cyclostyle copies of this translation to Swamiji and they now lie in the library at Ananda Kutir, silently testifying to the influence he is wielding in the distant West. It is a salute of the Oc-cident to the Eastern sun. Swamiji takes great pleasure in showing these volumes to all earnest visitors and to tell them what one’s zeal and enthusiasm for a Divine Cause should be.

8 Explanation of the Society’s objectives and activities // LSHA, F. 2135, D..1., C.Nr. 1. – P. 51.9 Sri Swami Sivananda. Practical Lessons in Yoga. 8th edition. India: Yoga-Vedanta Forest Academy

Press, 1997. – P.72.-73.

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Mastering the technique of all the Asanas, Mudras, Bhandhas, Kriyas and Pra-nayama and drinking deep at the fountain of ancient Vedic culture, Mr. Harry Dick-man was working untiringly for the spread of Divine knowledge and Spiritual culture. Arranging classes, instructing seekers and training workers, his activities have come as a glad answering echo from the heart of mammon-ridden West to the stirring call of this dynamic, divine foster-child of the fortunate foot-hills of the Himalayas.

The elite of Latvia animated by a lively and active enthusiasm characteristically occidental, have taken up the ideas of Sadhana and service in right earnest. Inspired by the teachings and the influence of Swamiji’s work, the Yoga Society of Latvia has received a strong impetus towards sustained progress and looked confidently for-ward to vastly enlarged activities in the near future. Coming into contact with Swa-miji’s writings, it has produced a marvellous change for the better in the activities of the aspirants there so much so, that they are determined upon great achievements, in the field of self-culture. So greatly have they felt the influence of Swamiji’s work and its value, that they believe him to have been specially chosen by Providence to enlighten the West on the subject of Yoga and Adhyatmic Sadhana”10.

The reference to the experiments of Dīkmanis, which were mentioned in the previous citation, requires some additional explanation. Some information we can find in the Annual Report of The Divine Life Society of 1937. Thus, there is men-tioned that Dīkmanis “taught effective practical methods for the maintenance of Brahmacharya11. [--] He gave also a demonstration of muscular control – the most interesting was the intercostals control. He was able at his will to inhabit the func-tions of either half of the chest while the other half breathed most forcibly. He did another performance of stopping his heart at his will. In a few minutes he raised his heart-beat to 132 in a minute, and after a few minutes slowed down to 21 beats in a minute. He suspended the action of his heart completely for four minutes”.12

Thinking about the various links of Latvian yoga enthusiasts with outstanding teachers in India and the U.S., question is how this relationship was maintained and strengthened: just by the exchange of letters, or however by the most direct contact, such as journeys to India. In archives only one reference to a possible more direct contact can be found: On April 4, 1940 Robert Legzdinš read a lecture “Three months with Sri Jogendra”. So, perhaps Legzdinš had been sharing in their personal impressions.

In 1939, the Centre was renamed into “The Latvian Yoga Society” and under this name existed till the beginning of Soviet occupation in 1940. In 1939, The Society had 64 full members, but at the beginning of 1940 – 79 full members. There were people of different education and of different social groups. Engineers, civil servants, traders and other professionals, students and housewives – they all together with a true zeal and great success learned sometimes very complicated yoga exercises. Their experience and the fact how high they had been evaluated by the outstanding Indian teachers of yoga is an amazing example of how it is pos-sible to fully learn the experience of other cultures and religions, only by reading

10 Sri Swami Chidananda. Light Fountain. 5th edition. India: The Divine Life Trust Society, 1991. Read in http://www.dlshq.org/download/light.htm, 06.02.2012.

11 Brahmacharya is the term used for the practice of self-imposed celibacy that is generally consid-ered an essential prerequisite for spiritual practice.

12 The Second Annual Report of the Divine Life Society. India: Rishikesh, 1937. – P.24.

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books. Perhaps we just do not know anymore how to read something so carefully. Perhaps yoga movement today simply have not such a charismatic leader as Harijs Dīkmanis was for other enthusiasts of yoga in 1930-ties. The last protocol of the Latvian Yoga Society’s Board was written on September 23rd, 1940. In archives there is no information about what happened to the Socie ty’s members after.

However, the history of the Latvian pre-war yoga movement does not stop with the last record in the Society’s protocol book. At the end of the Second World War Dīkmanis arrived in Germany, spent several years in the DP filtration camp, then moved to England and later – in the beginning of 1970-ties – to the USA, where he became a well-known spiritual teacher in New York area. He is also au-thor of the books “Siva. His Life and Mission”, published around 1947 – 48 and „Yoga Chakravarty: Sri Swami Sivananda”, published in 1958. Remembering the pre-war years, Dīkmanis wrote: Many were cured from ignorance and get faith in the existence of God and Soul. [--] To the intelligentsia was given ample proof of the raison-d’tre of the Science of Yoga”13. Becoming a well-known yoga teacher in the West, Dīkmanis again confirmed the amazing vitality of Latvian yoga move-ment as well as its unique ability to fully learn rather different spiritual experiences in a relatively short time.

solveiga KRuMina-KOnKOva, PhD, leading researcher, Institute of Philosophy and So-ciology, University of Latvia. Area of scientific interest: phenomenology of religion, socio-logy of religion, new religious movements.

Detraditionalization of Religion and Religious Symbols of Tradition in a Modernized Culture

Alar KILP

AbstractTheoretically, the paper follows Robert Bellah, Peter Berger and Thomas Luck-mann, by arguing that modernizing social environment – particularly structural changes in the economic production and means of communication, and the ad-vance of consumer culture and mass society – presents similar set of challenges for all religious traditions. In late modernity the general sense of transcendence tends to shrink and the mundane reality is increasingly perceived as the only social real-ity. The general trends of privatization, individualization and detraditionalization of religion, however, are paralleled by new patterns of cultural homogenization. Con-comitantly, the crucial question is, whether the religious tradition – which itself is modernizing in its social environment - succeeds in maintaining the connection to the political culture, because this connection protects it from the processes of pluralization and commodification, which in other spheres of social life – including the sphere of religion – undermine its social status.

13 Yogiraj Sri Harry Dikman. Siva. His Life and Mission [without the place and year of issue]. – P.19.

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Empirically, the paper focuses on two questions. First, what difference did the experience of Communism make regarding the cultural relevance of religious tradi-tions? Typically, religion in post-communist societies is less detraditionalized, priva-tized and individualized, the identification with religion is more related to historic religious traditions than in Western Europe. Second, the increasing visibility of Or-thodox, Catholic and Lutheran cultural Christianities during two post-communist decades is a novel “ideal-typical” pattern of fusion between nation, state and tradi-tional Christianity. In this “ideal-typical” symbiosis, religious traditions function as a symbol of the community and identity, rituals and norms, which are defined by na-tion, ethnicity and culture. Empirically, Lutheran cultural Christianity conforms most to this ‘ideal type’ and Catholic cultural Christianity the least. In all cases, however, the confessional traditions function as symbols of tradition in a modernized culture.

alar KilP, lecturer in Comparative Politics at the Institute of Government and Politics, Uni-versity of Tartu, Estonia. Area of scientific interest: Church in post-communist countries, relationship between religion and politics.

Bricolage Religious Experience

Istvan POVEDÁK

AbstractDuring the past five years the calendar of Hungarian festivals turned upside down. Along with the well-known rock festivals for the young (e.g. the ’Sziget’) moving hundreds of thousands every summer, a new type of cultural festival is gaining tre-mendous popularity in Hungary. Both the “National Assembly of Hungarians” and the “Kurultaj” are patriotic/nationalist/religious-like, 3-day-long events moving all segments of Hungarian population from teenagers to older generations. Both festivals contain the following significant characters: patriotism, the revitalisation of Hungarian “folk culture”, anti-globalisation, anti-communism, close-to-nature ideo logy, religiosity (certain forms of neopaganism, vernacular Christianity, politi-cal religiosity) and a certain anti-church attitude at once.

My paper will investigate the religious expressions, attitudes, experiences and rituals of these patriotic festivals. Are they really Christian rituals as it is advertised by the organizers and expressed by the participants or these are something more complex and complicated new type of “political or national religiosity”? What is the attitude of Christian Churches towards the festivals? Why participants of the festival organize pilgrimage to the neighbouring Roman Catholic Church and participate in pagan-like rituals at once? Why do they hold themselves to be Christian and rejecting the official Churches (mainly Roman Catholic Church) at once? Is it the re-awakening of traditional Christian values or anti-religiosity what can be experienced during these rituals? How these divergent traditions are elevated into transcendent sphere?

istván POvEdáK, PhD, Bálint Sándor Institute for the Study of Religion, Szeged, Hungary.

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Eastern and Western Tradition in the Music of Krzysztof Penderecki as Sources of Inspiration for the Composer and of Metaphysical Religious Experience for Contemporary Man

regina CHLOPICKA

AbstractIn his works Krzysztof Penderecki has raised grand themes of Christianity for nearly half a century and considered them from the perspective of contemporary man, asking dramatic questions and drawing attention of the audience to the world of universal values.

He started from depicting the history of the passion and death of Christ in the light of two traditions: Latin liturgical tradition of the West (St Luke Passion) and Orthodox tradition of the East (Utrenya part 1: Entombment and part 2: Resurrec-tion). In the cantata-oratorio works that followed the composer drew on Polish religious tradition (Polish Requiem, Credo) as well as on the tradition of German Protestant chorales (Credo, Kadish), and recently on the tradition of Jewish ritual mourning (Kadish). These works bring the message of hope and faith in spiritual values, which are meaningful for every denomination and every nation.

The composer noted: “My art, which has grown from Christian roots, aims at rebuilding the metaphysical space of human being, shattered by the cataclysms of the 20th century. The restoring of the sacred dimension of reality is the only method of saving man.”

In the above-mentioned works a special role is played by the meditative, prayerful movements which refer to another, sacred reality.

The present paper aims at presenting the repertoire of musical means which constitute the basis of musical narration and communication with the audience as well as at specifying individual features of the composer’s music which takes us into the sacred space and time.

Regina CHŁOPiCKa, professor of Musicology in the Academy of Music in Kraków, Poland. Area of scientific interest: music of K. Penderecki, interaction of religion and music.

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Session II – C

Foi, intolérance religieuse et déconstruction sociale dans le Nord-Cameroun

Par Pahimi PATRICE

Introduction

L’expérience de la foi et de la conversion relève du spirituel, donc du transcendant. Cependant, elle est tout ce qui engage l’homme dans toutes ses dimensions, tant il est admis que sommeille en chacun la pensée de l’éternité, la recherche de Dieu. Si depuis près de trois siècles déjà les tenants de la thèse dite de la sécularisation prédi-saient la fin de la religion, jamais cependant les humains n’ont cessé de croire au sur-naturel, donc à ce qui est qualifié à tort ou à raison d’irrationnel. Aussi l’expression religieuse ou l’expérience de la foi n’a été aussi dynamique que ces derniers temps. Car comme l’attestent certaines études, il semblerait même que la religion, mieux les religions, ne cessent de s’adapter aux nouveaux écosystèmes sociaux. Par consé-quent, on parle à juste titre d’une augmentation fulgurante de la théodiversité.

Jour après jour en effet, de nouveaux mouvements religieux se créent, entraî-nant ipso facto des vagues de conversions. Vrai zèle pour Dieu, simples dérives sec-taires ou toute autre raison souterraine, là n’est pas le débat. L’important reste tout de même le rapport entre la ferveur religieuse actuelle et le clash avec certaines orthodoxies ou mouvements religieux classiques. Les conversions aux nouvelles religions sont généralement très mal perçues, et entrainent une sorte de censure ou de désapprobation sociale. Dans cette perspective, conversion et adhésion, sur-tout aux nouvelles églises évangéliques ou pentecôtistes, sont indexées comme étant à la base de la déconstruction sociale, et davantage des ménages, cellules de base de la société par excellence. En effet, beaucoup redoutent la pentécotisation de la société et donc ses effets jugés pervers. La conversion ou l’adhésion d’une personne à ces nouvelles églises qu’on dit mystiques en raison des scènes de priè-res bruyantes et des pleurs intempestives, provoque son rejet, mieux une sorte de désapprobation. Les concernés quant à eux parlent de persécution, d’intolérance religieuse ou de refus de la différence.

De nombreux parents membres des églises classiques (catholique, protestante ou toute autre anciennement établie) acceptent difficilement de voir leurs enfants arrachés par les « loups pentecôtistes ». Leur attitude semble relever de la volonté de protéger leurs progénitures contre ce qu’ils appellent la vague pentecôtiste. Quoiqu’il en soit, la persévérance des nouveaux convertis, leur fermeté finissent par arracher la résignation de leurs contempteurs. Car plus ils sont combattus, plus leur mouvement (le nouvel évangélisme) s’étend, s’amplifie. D’où l’intérêt que nous portons à la dynamique de la foi, de sa pratique et de son emprise sociale dans le Nord-Cameroun. En clair, nous voulons montrer en quoi l’expression de

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la foi religieuse, loin de toujours renforcer l’unité familiale, est plutôt à bien des égards un facteur de déconstruction sociale au nom de l’intolérance ou de la non acceptation de la différence. Pour rendre compte de la complexité du phénomène religieux dans cette partie du pays, nous recueillerons les témoignages des uns et des autres dans une perspective critique et analytique.

I. Le cadre d’étude : hommes et dieux dans le nord-Cameroun

Le milieu, les hommes et la religion

L’espace Nord-camerounais dont il est ici question s’étend entre les 6è et 13è degrés de latitude Nord, soit une superficie globale de 168.144 km² (B. Gonné &Mbring, 2001: .4). Il constitue une zone dont l’uniformité du relief est quelque peu compromise par des blocs ou massifs rocheux qui dans l’Histoire, se sont révé-lées être des sites privilégiés de refuge pour des populations en état de péril face aux « envahisseurs » (Peuls et Européens).

Le milieu physique est de par sa rigueur et son caractère plus ou moins austère, donc une zone de défis surtout en terme de sécurité alimentaire. En dépit de ce défi plutôt majeur, le Nord du Cameroun a été dans l‘histoire un véritable carre-four des peuples et des civilisations. Il est en effet peuplé d’une mosaïque de peu-ples ou groupes ethniques ayant des formes d’organisation sociale, économique et politique souvent divergentes. La diversité humaine est de ce fait un important facteur de disparités. Par ailleurs, il convient d‘indiquer que le Nord-Cameroun connaît un fort ancrage religieux. Les différentes activités humaines sont en effet fortement liées aux pratiques religieuses. On parle notamment des rites agraires, des fêtes de récoltes en célébration des divinités de la fertilité et de la productivité, ou encore des rites initiatiques.

Dans la littérature ethnologique et anthropologique coloniale, il est générale-ment fait mention des peuples africains comme des fétichistes, des païens et des to-témistes. Ce qui à coup sûr aura eu le mérite de dénigrer outre les pratiques cultuel-les, les croyances mêmes de ces peuples, les présentant ni plus ni moins comme des formes sauvages et irréfléchies d‘expression de la foi (Lire J. Benoist., 2009, édition numérique, Les Classiques des Sciences sociales). Cependant, seul l‘animisme sem-ble le mieux traduire la dynamique religieuse dans l‘Afrique ancienne. C‘est de là qu‘intervient la consécration du sacré et de la notion de sacralité, tant pour les afri-cains dits traditionnels, l‘âme de leurs croyances se trouve être les forces de la nature considérées à tort ou à raison comme étant les lieutenants des divinités puissantes, généralement difficiles d‘accès sans intermédiaires (voir J. Lestringant, 1964 : 115).

Notre propos dans ce texte est loin d‘être une apologie des pratiques religieu-ses de “ l‘Afrique traditionnelle“, encore moins un procès contre elles. Il vise plutôt à apprécier la dynamique religieuse en Afrique en générale et au Cameroun en particulier, et ceci à la lumière des interférences étrangères, lesquelles participent du renouveau de la pensée et des pratiques religieuses. Nous nous intéressons davantage aux contacts non pas sur fond de choc, mais surtout d‘une complé-mentarité génératrice des syncrétismes divers, et dans une mesure non moindre, d‘incompréhension, d‘intolérance et de déconstruction sociale.

Comment en effet expliquer l‘infiltration et l‘implantation du christianisme dans un univers nord-camerounais fortement religieux?

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L‘univers religieux nord-camerounais précolonial

La spiritualité, le surnaturel, le mysticisme, le merveilleux et les croyances religieu-ses occupent une place de choix dans l’univers africain en général et nord-came-rounais en particulier. Tous traduisent la volonté humaine de percer le mystère de la vie, de la simplifier, mieux de la dominer. En tant que fait social, la religion fait partie intégrante du patrimoine culturel commun de l’humanité. Les peuples ont tous une idée, mieux une conception de Dieu. Ceci se matérialise par divers rites qui sans aucun doute s’articulaient autour des croyances et autres pratiques cultuelles. Dans l’ensemble du Nord-Cameroun, de populations ont été qualifiées à tort de païennes, sans doute en raison de la différence de leurs croyances et du caractère peu ordinaires de leurs pratiques cultuelles (Lire Lembezat, 1961). Que ce soit chez les peuples de montagne ou de plaine, le sentiment religieux est plus renforcé et matérialisé par la pratique de rituels divers. Si comme l’estiment Émile Durkheim et Rudolf Otto les religions sont l’expérience du sacré et les formes élémentaires de la vie religieuse comme « un système solidaire de croyance et de pratiques relatives à des choses sacrées, c’est-à-dire séparées, interdites » (cité par Douchin, 2009 : 1), il est clair dans le contexte du Nord-Cameroun que l’ancrage spirituel est assez notoire. Il s’exprime dans la diversité des cultes dits ancestraux, des rites parfois jugés barbares et irréfléchis.

Ce sont ces différentes croyances peut-être non uniformes mais riches de leurs diversités qui constituaient néanmoins ce qu’on pourrait à juste titre qualifier de religions africaines. Dans cette mesure, il est impossible de comprendre les po-pulations locales sans au préalable appréhender le domaine religieux qui en fait imprčgne profondément la mentalité des individus (Bigo, 2005 :11). De faēon gé-nérale, tous les aspects de la vie des populations sont réglés par la religion. Cela s’observe ą travers les rites de semailles, les fźtes de récoltes et autres conduits par les prźtres traditionnels connus sous diverses appellations, et ceci d’un peuple ą un autre.

La pénétration chrétienne et la vague expansionniste musulmane du XIXe sičcle n’y changera pas grand-chose. Il est vrai que l’Islam est venu impulser une nouvelle dynamique socio religieuse dans le Nord-Cameroun, mais l’essentiel des popula-tions dites kirdis y opposčrent une réticence quasi légendaire1. C’est par exemple le cas des Moundang de la Plaine du Diamaré, des Toupouri pour qui l’adhésion ou la conversion ą cette religion n’est ni plus ni moins qu’une forme d’assimilation, mieux de perte d’identité (Pahimi, 2010 : 64-66). Et mźme il faut indiquer qu’avec l’avčnement du christianisme, on ne connaītra pas au début une grande efferves-cence quant ą l’adhésion des populations.

Plus tard cependant comme l’indique Réné Bureau, « les différences de tra-ditions de caractères tribaux et surtout la variété des expériences passées de la rencontre avec le Blanc influencèrent la qualité et la forme de la conversion au christianisme. Après le renversement de l‘opinion (toutefois), se déclencha un mouvement quasi automatique d‘adhésion à la Mission », (Bureau, 1964 : 97). Le paļen autrefois taxé de sauvage va ą la faveur des nouvelles recompositions so-ciales et religieuses progressivement intégrer le christianisme dans ses mœurs.

1 Pour une étude plus approfondie du phénomène, lire Kees Schilder, 1994 et Njeuma, Njeuma, M-Z.,1978, Fulany hegemony in Yola (old Adamawa) 1809-1902, Yaoundé, CEPER

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Et pour preuve, on rencontre de nos jours dans nos sociétés, un bel exemple de syncrétisme, lequel est de loin un garant de la tolérance religieuse. La différence est quasi inexistante, ce d’autant plus qu’on retrouve de par et d’autre les éléments du christianisme et des religions traditionnelles africaines.

II. La dynamique religieuse au Cameroun depuis 1990

Contexte social et juridique

Le régime de culte au Cameroun est régi par la loi. Dans un pays multiculturel et aux grandes diversités ethniques comme celui-ci, la réglementation des pratiques religieuses est d’une nécessité impérieuse, tant la diversité peut donner lieu à de graves dérives, voire une profonde déstructuration sociale. Les bases juridico-lé-gales de l’exercice des cultes au Cameroun sont notamment fixées par le décret du 28 mars 1933 et complété par celui du 13 octobre 1937. Ces textes constituent pour ce qui est de la période coloniale, les fondements de la liberté de culte, du moins dans un contexte d’Etat colonial voulu moderne.2 Dans le souci de préserver l’ordre social et la cohésion entre les populations, des dispositions similaires sont prises au lendemain des indépendances par le Président Ahmadou Ahidjo. Il s’agit notamment de la loi n°67/LF/19 du 12 juin 1967. Cette dernière s’inscrit dans une logique de continuité, question de mieux cadrer les pratiques cultuelles.

Quoiqu’il en soit, des pesanteurs sont observées çà et là, car entre le texte et son application il ya un gouffre. Selon les témoignages recueillis auprès de certains chrétiens de la ville de Maroua3, la ville était dans les années 1960 en état de siège, surtout en ce qui concerne l’exercice de la foi chrétienne. Selon ces derniers en effet, le contexte de l’époque était alors marqué par la volonté des fidèles musulmans d’asseoir un régime de prééminence religieuse, et ceci sur fond d’intolérance. L’exercice du culte chrétien était soumis à un état de psychose sociale. Des administrateurs civils musulmans trop zélés, ont souvent versé dans des actes peu recommandables envers les chrétiens. Virtuellement cependant, tout laissait indiquer que les populations ne faisaient l’objet d’aucune contrainte ni restriction dans l’exercice de leur foi ou dans l’expression de leurs croyances au travers des cultes.

Comment alors expliquer le contraste d’une société qui se veut pourtant ouverte et surtout déterminée à relever le défi de l’intégration nationale par une cohésion entre les diverses composantes de la société ? Le cas de la ville de Ma-roua mérite une attention particulière. Dans une large mesure, de nombreux mu-sulmans de l’ère Ahidjo se sentaient en position de force face aux autres groupes religieux, et entendaient bien en jouir, même au mépris des dispositions légales. Beaucoup agissaient ni plus ni moins comme des roitelets en quête d’affirmation et apparemment déterminés à tirer profit soit de la complaisance des autorités étatiques, soit de ce qu’on pourrait qualifier de tolérance administrative.

2 Il faut indiquer que dans le cadre des cultes traditionnels, il n’était pas besoin d’une législation à caractère restrictif. L’exercice du culte, outre le cadre public, est avant tout une affaire de famille. Il est dès lors présidé par le chef de famille qui en assure la pérennité au travers des rites et sacrifices divers.

3 Pour des raisons de protection de nos informateurs, nous avons voulu taire leur identité.

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Même s’il est clair que les textes disposaient d’un cadre pour un libre exer-cice de la liberté d’association et de culte, il ne fait l’ombre d’aucun doute que le contexte socio politique des 1960-1970 a donné lieu à quelque sursaut d’intolé-rance, surtout en ce qui concerne la partie septentrionale du pays où on rencontre une communauté musulmane non négligeable4. C’est sans doute en rapport avec les réminiscences d’un passé plus ou moins tumultueux ou marqué par la préémi-nence musulmane que de nombreux chrétiens virent en l’avènement de Paul Biya (un chrétien originaire du Sud-Cameroun) au pouvoir en 1982, la réalisation d’une prophétie. Cela fut d’ailleurs assimilé à une véritable renaissance chrétienne5, tant il devait marquer un tournant décisif dans la dynamique chrétienne au Nord du Cameroun. Cependant, il a fallu attendre le début des années 1990 pour assister à un réel boom chrétien au Cameroun.

Nouvelle cartographie religieuse depuis 1990

La loi du 19 décembre 1990 portant liberté d’association au Cameroun constitue un tremplin à l’expansion chrétienne, surtout en ce qui concerne les mouvements évangéliques ou pentecôtistes. C’est le lieu de parler en terme de vague pentecô-tiste, mieux de début de pentecôtisation de la société camerounaise. Le contexte des années 1990 mérite une attention particulière. Avec le retour à la démocratie et la restauration des libertés longtemps confisquées, le peuple bascule malheu-reusement dans la licence (Voir P. Pahimi, 2010, pp 219-221). Si pour les pouvoirs publics il était question de créer des conditions d’une meilleure expression des droits et des libertés, pour les populations au contraire, venait de s’ouvrir l’ère de l’impunité, d’absence de réglementation, et donc de célébration du principe du « il est interdit d’interdire ». Dès lors, on assiste même dans le domaine du sacré, au règne de l’anarchie et de mépris des normes régissant l’implantation et le régime des églises au Cameroun.

A titre d’illustration, l’univers chrétien au Cameroun est du point de vue légal une véritable nébuleuse. Il existe certes une kyrielle d’organisations religieuses, allant de ce qu’on peut appeler les églises classiques (les Missions catholique ro-maine, baptiste, presbytérienne, évangélique luthérienne, Fraternelle luthérienne, Adventiste, apostolique, les Témoins de Jéhovah, l’Eglise pentecôtiste chrétienne du Cameroun) aux « nouvelles églises » ou « églises réveillées », mais très peu ont reçu un mandat légal pour exercer au Cameroun. Le titre de l’article publié dans le Journal camerounais La Nouvelle Expression du 08 août 2008, « Ces égli-ses qui défient Marafa6 » est assez évocateur. Selon les révélations de ce Journal, le ministère camerounais de l’administration territoriale et de la décentralisation ne reconnaît que 46 églises à existence légale. Et pourtant, l’article 23 de la Loi N°90/53 du décembre 1990 portant liberté d’association, dispose que « toute as-sociation religieuse doit être autorisée. Il en est de même de tout établissement congrégationniste ».

4 Selon les apparences en effet, il semble que le nombre de fidèles musulmans dépasse de loin celui des dénominations chrétiennes réunies ; ce qui n’est pas vrai, surtout dans le contexte actuel de libération de

5 Entretien avec Hamandjam Samuel, Maroua, 10 Mars 2012.6 Marafa Hamidou Yaya est l’ancien ministre camerounais de l’administration territoriale et de la

décentralisation.

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En dépit de la volonté de réglementation des pratiques cultuelles, le défi ma-jeur demeure l’impossibilité de cerner le phénomène des migrations religieuses qui traduisent toute la dynamique et les profondes mutations religieuses en Afrique subsaharienne en général, et au Cameroun en particulier. La porosité des frontières et la libre circulation des hommes et des idées constituent dans une large mesure un amplificateur de la nébuleuse chrétienne au Cameroun. Les églises de réveil en provenance du Nigéria et dont les méthodes d’évangélisation sont axées sur la promotion de la théologie de la prospérité et le show évangélique, font en effet bonne fortune au Cameroun. C’est fort de l’ampleur du phénomène que Norimtsu onishi a déclaré : « si l’Afrique du sud est le plus gros exportateur africain sur le plan commercial, le Nigéria est son équivalent sur le plan religieux. Ses églises se développent dans toute l’Afrique et jusqu’en Europe et aux Etats-unis » (Norimtsu onishi, 2002: 48).

En clair, comment expliquer le fait que des mouvements religieux censés prê-cher par l’exemple en matière de conformité à la réglementation choisissent plutôt la voie de la clandestinité ? Ceci devrait notamment attirer l’attention sur leurs vé-ritables motivations. Il est cependant avéré que de nombreuses églises d’obédien-ces diverses sont en compétition au Cameroun, et en cela, la partie septentrionale du pays n’y échappe pas. En effet, profitant de la vulnérabilité des populations sur-tout en zone urbaine, les nouveaux mouvements religieux de par leur dynamisme ou leur rapacité, se déploient assez rapidement dans le Nord-Cameroun, et ceci généralement sans existence légale (voir Adjia et Ndé Noutack, 2010 : 63). Elles ont ainsi en deux décennies presque réussi à fragiliser les églises classiques (ca-tholique, protestante en l’occurrence) coupables de statisme ou de mutisme. Les stratégies mises en valeur passent notamment par la disposition des instruments musicaux (une source d’attraction pour les jeunes), la promesse d’une prospérité matérielle, de la guérison, d’un emploi, d’une restauration de la fertilité, bref une guérison totale par le biais de la prière et des miracles. Sous ce rapport, il est pratiquement difficile aux populations en quête d’espérance de se dérober à ce business de la foi.

En dépit de cette menace réelle, les églises classiques, les catholiques et les évangéliques surtout ont opté pour un renforcement de l’encadrement des jeu-nes qui sont d’ailleurs considérés comme une proie facile pour les églises dites réveillées. Aux expériences émouvantes de la foi, l’Eglise catholique semble oppo-ser le mouvement charismatique. Ce dernier peine cependant toujours à gagner l’adhésion même des fidèles catholiques.

Au total, le paysage chrétien nord-camerounais présente quelques Eglises classi-ques qui de par l’importance de leur extension sociale, constituent des poids lourds du mouvement religieux national et régional7. Il s’agit notamment de l’Eglise catho-lique romaine, l’Eglise Evangélique Luthérienne du Cameroun, de l’Eglise Fraternelle Luthérienne, l’Eglise Baptiste du Cameroun, l’Eglise Evangélique du Cameroun, l’Egli-se presbytérienne, l’Eglise apostolique. Ces deux dernières connaissent une faible expansion dans le Nord-Cameroun. Les raisons de cette faible représentativité ne sont malheureusement pas à explorer dans le cadre de cette étude.

7 Ces églises classiques sont en effet de grands propriétaires terriens. Ceci se justifie sans doute par leurs investissements sans les œuvres sociales telles que les écoles et les centres de santé.

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A ces églises classiques, sont venues s’ajouter depuis l’ouverture de l’ère de la liberté d’association, une kyrielle d’églises dites réveillées, encore appelées nou-velles églises. Ce sont notamment la Mission du Plein Evangile, la Vraie Eglise de Dieu, l’Eglise Frontières globales, l’Eglise Evangélique messianique du Cameroun, les Témoins de Jéhovah, l’Association Missionnaire internationale, l’Assemblée de la vérité, la Communauté missionnaire chrétienne internationale, le Centre de Vic-toire Bethesda, l’Eglise Sion pour Christ, l’Eglise Messianique Evangélique de la Foi , la Winner’s Chapel, l’Eglise Christ Embassy, etc (Adjia et Ndé Noutack, 2010 : 70-85). Il faut cependant indiquer avec Seignobos et Iyébi-Mandjek que « la re-présentation cartographique des différentes religions (au Nord-Cameroun) souffre de ne pouvoir réunir les mźmes types de données pour chacune… Les bastions « paļens » originels ont été trčs entamés par le prosélytisme de l’islam puis par l’arrivée des missions protestantes, suivies des catholiques. ». (Seignobos et Iyébi-Mandjek, 2000 : planche 29).

Toutefois, il faudrait relever que les églises chrétiennes, au regard de leur dyna-mique actuelle, ne sauraient źtre qualifiées de petites colonies de chrétiens qui en-tretiennent une infinité de petits temples et de lieux de prédication servis par des évangélistes et des pasteurs locaux. En effet, les zones de plaine autrefois consi-dérées comme des bastions de l’Islam sont de nos jours en pleine reconfiguration. De nombreuses églises tant classiques que nouvelles y gagnent de plus en plus du terrain, quoique le nombre de fidčles n’y croīt pas de faēon exponentielle.

Pour tout dire, au regard du contexte actuel, on a l’impression d’assister dans le Nord-Cameroun à une relecture des phénomènes religieux et de leur repré-sentation sociale et publique de plus en plus accrue. Au delà des clichés et des représentations que l‘on pourrait se faire de la dynamique religieuse au Nord-Ca-meroun, il est cependant impératif de faire une véritable autopsie de la cohabita-tion, mieux de l‘état de la tolérance et de l‘intolérance dans un univers chrétien pluraliste. Il s‘agit en effet de jeter un regard critique sur le processus d‘intégration, de construction ou de déconstruction sociale à la lumière des conversions ou des nouvelles expériences religieuses dans un contexte marqué par la vague pente-côtiste. Comment en effet les gens vivent-ils leur nouvelle foi, leur conversion ou adhésion aux nouvelles églises? Comment sont-ils perçus par leurs parents, amis restés fidèles aux églises classiques?

III. eglises classiques et vague pentecôtiste : entre clash et cohabitation

Vivre sa foi dans un univers religieux pluraliste

L’expérience de la foi et des pratiques religieuses participe au sens global de la dynamique socioculturelle. Cependant, le contexte de pluralisme religieux came-rounais de par sa complexité, exige une lecture nuancée de la question, surtout dans la perspective d’une meilleure appropriation des notions de tolérance et d’in-tolérance religieuses. En effet, contrairement ą la tendance qui voudrait que l’in-tolérance soit caractéristique des rapports entre religions traditionnelles et chris-tianisme au Cameroun en général et au Nord-Cameroun en particulier, on assiste ą une opposition interne et souterraine entre différentes obédiences chrétiennes. Ceci est particuličrement le propre des églises dites classiques ą l’égard des églises

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« réveillées », encore connues sous le nom de nouvelles églises. S’il est admis que l’intolérance est la négation de la tolérance, et que l’excès de celle-ci pourrait être jugé également comme intolérable (Makram, 2005 : 326), dans une région à fort ancrage traditionnel comme le Nord-Cameroun, cette question devrait être des plus vives. Seulement, les églises classiques, en raison de leur ancienne présence sociale, ont fini par s’accommoder voire s’imposer comme des locomotives reli-gieuses, mieux des références incontestables dans un contexte pourtant pluraliste. La consécration du monopole des églises classiques est d’ailleurs confortée par les gardiens mêmes des religions traditionnelles locales.

En effet, des facteurs non négligeables et pouvant rentrer dans la « stratégie di-plomatique » de l’église catholique surtout, ont permis une intégration progressive des croyances chrétiennes dans les mœurs des populations autrefois fondamenta-lement animistes. Et pour cause, les églises classiques dans l’ensemble et l’église catholique en l’occurrence, n’ont marqué aucune volonté brutale de dissolution ou d’extinction des croyances anciennes. Il est vrai que leur introduction dans un uni-vers animiste et visiblement acquis à l’indépendance d’un point de vue doctrinal a été cause de mutations socio culturelles. Mais le fait qu’elles ne constituaient pas une menace directe aura facilité la cohabitation.

Ainsi, il est clair qu’avant l’avènement du christianisme en Afrique, les popula-tions locales pratiquaient des cultes ancestraux, lesquels seront progressivement inféodés par le christianisme (Messina et Jaap, 2005 : 238), mais cette considé-ration est loin de traduire un élan violent de phagocytose. En effet, il faut indi-quer que le phénomène dit de syncrétisme aura sans commune mesure permis la normalisation, mieux l’apaisement des rapports entre religions traditionnelles et christianisme dans le Nord du Cameroun. Beaucoup en effet y vivent leurs croyan-ces chrétiennes avec une forte coloration animiste, et donc une dose surprenante de tolérance. Ceci est sans doute révélateur de la logique paradoxale des religions dites occidentales et de leur adaptabilité aux réalités locales.

Au regard de cette considération, il apparaît clairement que les religions tradi-tionnelles en général semblent plus garantes de la tolérance même dans un cadre pluraliste. Car, le plus beau spectacle d’un mariage douloureux est plutôt celui des relations souvent tendancieuses qu’entretiennent les églises classiques (catholi-que, protestante), titulaires d’une sorte de chaire ou d’un titre foncier inviolable, et les nouvelles églises.

Visiblement satisfaites de leurs prestations, à savoir leur palmarès en matière de ralliement et de réconciliation avec les croyances animistes locales, ces égli-ses anciennes ou classiques ont malheureusement vite plongé dans un sorte de mutisme qui ne devait avoir pour finalité que de les rendre fades. Bien que conti-nuant de charrier le plus grand nombre de fidèles, les églises classiques connais-sent néanmoins une dégringolade somme toute inquiétante du point de vue de leur cotation sur l’échelle de valeur religieuse. Beaucoup leur reprochent en effet leur mutisme, leur orthodoxie sans intérêt, et donc leur réticence à s’adapter aux réalités contemporaines. Aussi, les programmes alléchants, novateurs et porteurs d’espoir que brandissent les nouvelles églises réussissent-elles à captiver le plus grand nombre de fidèles, et surtout les jeunes sans doute abandonnés à eux-mê-mes faute d’affection, d’attention et de valorisation. « Grande campagne de mi-racle », « programme spécial de guérison divine », « soirée de délivrance et de

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prophétie », telles sont les annonces qui continuent d’ébranler un univers religieux africain tenu des mains de maîtres par les églises classiques depuis la période co-loniale. Ce qui sans doute témoigne de la visibilité croissante des manifestations pentecôtistes en Afrique subsaharienne en général, et au Cameroun en particulier (Mayrargue, 2008 : 1-4).

C’est dans ce contexte marqué par la compétition lancée par les nouvelles églises que s’installe une logique conflictuelle qui, à défaut d’être ouverte et of-ficielle, ne suscite pas moins entre les éléments sociaux des tensions ciblées. En effet, dans la plupart des cas, la conversion ou l’adhésion de certaines personnes aux nouvelles églises est perçue par la société comme une marque de trahison, mieux une intolérable hérésie. Dans cette perspective, le principe de « la dignité humaine » et donc de l’autonomie de l’individu, sa liberté de conscience, le res-pect des croyances d’autres groupes ou individus et la revendication du droit à la différence culturelle (Makram, 2005 : 329) tel que souvent invoqué apparaît comme un simple paravent. Dans l’essentiel des cas en effet, ceux qui adhèrent à ce que d’aucuns qualifient de nouvelles croyances subissent une sorte de censure sociale, de désapprobation, même par les membres de leurs familles restés fidèles aux églises classiques.

A l’issu des enquêtes que nous avons menées dans la ville de Maroua et dans d’autres localités du Nord-Cameroun, tout laisse indiquer que les églises classiques, selon leur zone de prédilection, sont véritablement considérées comme étant les seules églises officielles. Même des parents animistes tolèrent mieux que leurs en-fants se convertissent et adhèrent soit à l’église catholique, évangélique luthérien-ne, presbytérienne ou baptiste par exemple. Leur attitude démontre en effet qu’il est mieux de s’allier à de vieilles connaissances que de pactiser avec des inconnus.

Par ailleurs, selon de nombreux témoignages recueillis par Ndongué Yannick auprès des convertis aux tendances du mouvement pentecôtiste, il ressort clai-rement que tout ce qui se nomme nouvelle église ou église réveillée est officieu-sement traqué. De là la matérialisation même de l’intolérance. Si dans les textes légaux la liberté de conscience et la tolérance religieuse sont reconnues, dans la réalité sociale cependant, elle demeure difficile à intégrer. C’est sans doute dans cette mesure que de nombreux nouveaux convertis se virent reniés ou désavoués par leurs familles. Pour ceux encore financièrement dépendants de leurs parents comme les élèves et les étudiants, ils se virent suspendre les vivres, le paiement de leur scolarité. On estimait sans doute que la trahison était grave et ne pouvait avoir pour seule rétribution qu’un tel désaveu. En outre, on crut devoir limiter la vague pentecôtiste par l’application rigoureuse des mesures dissuasives contre tous ceux accusés de prostitution ou d’hérésie spirituelle. Quoiqu’il en soit, chrétiens et non chrétiens continuent de tolérer avec peine la différence religieuse.

Pour justifier cette intolérance qui semble se justifier par l’instinct de survie dans un contexte de pluralisme et de compétition religieuse, on avance l’idée selon laquelle « L’Église ne persécute que par amour, et pour faire du bien; les impies au contraire persécutent par haine, et pour faire du mal; celle-ci pour cor-riger, ceux-là pour pervertir; celle-ci pour retirer de l’erreur, ceux là pour y jeter. » (F.Fuente Alcantara, 1996 : 29-30 ). Tout ceci cependant est loin de dédouaner toute attitude d’intolérance qui ne ferait qu’entretenir la suspicion et donc la dé-construction sociale.

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Vers une déconstruction sociale

Bien que généralement présentée comme un ciment social et un important fac-teur de construction identitaire d’une nation (J.Attali, 2010 :7, 9), la religion est restée dans l’histoire humaine à la base des bouleversements sociaux en termes de construction et de déconstruction. Dans le Nord-Cameroun en effet, le plura-lisme religieux est à la base des jeux de recomposition et de reconfiguration socio culturelles. Cette région du pays est selon la cartographie religieuse locale à forte coloration musulmane, du moins en ce qui concerne le déploiement ou les déve-loppements actuels favorisés par l’infiltration de nouveaux courants islamiques visiblement déterminés à étendre les frontières de l’Islam en Afrique noire en générale, et au Nord-Cameroun en particulier. La vague pentecôtiste qui, à l’ob-servation générale constitue un facteur de révolution religieuse par l’ouverture d’une réelle compétition, est venue modifier les considérations ou la perception du religieux.

Selon de nombreux témoignages recueillis auprès de fidèles d’obédiences pentecôtistes diverses, il peut être clairement établi que depuis déjà deux décen-nies, on assiste à de nouveaux sursauts d’intolérance ou de difficultés à accepter la différence. Les pentecôtistes dans l’ensemble sont perçus comme des « fous de Dieu » dont le zèle et les élans spirituels débordent de vie et d’énergie. Cette nouvelle pratique religieuse qui se veut novatrice, constitue un défi à la survie des églises classiques qui ne tarissent de récriminations à leur égard. Aussi les accuse t-on de nuisance sonore (expression bruyante du culte, chants qualifiés de vérita-bles tintamarres), de perturbation de l’ordre et de la paix sociale (Lindovi Ndjio, 2008). Cette description est relevée par Maud Lasseur et Cédric Mayrargue (2011: 7-8) en ces termes:

Depuis une vingtaine d’années, une présence sonore croissante du religieux semble encore amplifier cette montée en visibilité : liée ą... l’habitude prise par certaines églises pentecōtistes d’installer des baffles sur la rue – usage qui culmine lors des croisades d’évangélisation organisées en plein air, sur des places, des fri-ches urbaines ou dans des stades –, elle contribue ą accroītre la perception d’un religieux omniprésent dans l’espace public.

Au delą de cette considération, l‘omniprésence du religieux dans la sphčre pu-blique n‘est pas que porteuse de mutations positives. De nombreuses familles sont de nos jours en profonde dislocation du fait de l‘expression de la liberté de culte et de conscience dans un contexte laļc et fondamentalement pluriel. Les déclarations bibliques sont en parfaite adéquation avec les réalités du monde chrétien actuel. Dans la préparation de ses disciples aux persécutions ą venir, Jésus-Christ leur a tenu les propos ci-aprčs: « Ne croyez pas que je sois venu apporter la paix sur la terre; je suis pas venu apporter la paix, mais l‘épée. Car je suis venu apporter met-tre la division entre l‘homme et son pčre, entre la fille et sa mčre, entre la belle fille et sa belle-mčre; et l‘homme aura pour ennemis les gens de sa maison »8. Ces pa-roles de haute portée prophétique sont de nos jours en plein accomplissement.

La situation est par ailleurs presque insoutenable dans les familles où le plu-ralisme, loin de garantir le libre choix, est plutôt une cause majeure de discorde

8 La Sainte Bible, (Evangile selon Mathieu, Chapitre 10, versets 34 à 36.

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et d’incompréhension. Dans l’essentiel des cas, les familles les plus menacées de dislocation sont celles où il n’existe aucune uniformité religieuse. Le cas de figu-re ci-après est sans doute évocateur : un père de famille d’obédience fraternelle luthérienne, une mère de famille catholique, un des enfants musulmans. Ce qui en fait devrait être une source de richesse du fait de la complémentarité, n’en est malheureusement pas dans le contexte nord-camerounais. Chacun a en effet pour ennemi les gens de sa famille. A cela s’ajoute la pression sociale, son jugement plus ou moins radical et dénué de toute tolérance.

En effet, il est devenu périlleux pour certains sous peine d‘abandon ou de re-niement, d‘adhérer aux nouvelles églises, quelle que soit la beauté et la pertinence du message évangélique présenté. Pour apprécier la dynamique paradoxale du christianisme et du déploiement redouté des églises pentecōtistes, nous rappor-tons ą titre d‘exemple, un témoignage sans doute révélateur de la santé des rap-ports entre églises classiques et églises réveillées:

Je me nomme Mbraogué. Je suis issu d’une famille de longue tradition catho-lique. Depuis ma tendre enfance, j’ai été enseigné selon les normes et la tradition catholique, baptisé quelques mois après ma naissance puis confirmé par Mgr…, évêque de son état, et au regard de l’église, rempli d’une onction divine. De ce point de vue, j’étais un privilégié, car être baptisé ou confirmé par l’évêque en per-sonne semble conférer un certain prestige spirituel. Cependant, ma vie chrétienne pendant mes vingt premières années ne fut que suivisme, donc sans véritable ex-périence personnelle de vie avec Dieu. J’étais engagé dans ce qu’on appelle généra-lement la foi du charbonnier, laquelle consiste à faire ce qu’on voit les autres faire, juste par conformisme. Quand j’atteignis l’âge de 22 ans et que j’étais en deuxième année de faculté, quelques amis du Deeper Life9 m’invitèrent à une croisade qui allait être un tournant décisif dans mon parcours chrétien. Un jeune pasteur zélé et visiblement pétrie de la connaissance de Dieu et ayant de par sa posture, une réelle passion pour les âmes. Il m’éblouit par son sermon et je m’aperçus pour la première fois que j’avais besoin d’un renouvellement spirituel, d’une reconversion. Je ne savais pas en allant à cette croisade que ma vie allait basculer.

Avec une ferveur jamais vécue auparavant, je m’engageai dans le Deeper life et reçus le baptême par immersion déjà contraire aux pratiques de certaines églises classiques à l’instar de mon église d’origine. J’étais cependant loin d’imaginer les conséquences de ma conversion qui dans ma famille fut perçue comme une marque de défiance. On rapporta à mes parents que leur enfant était entrain de sombrer dans l’hérésie, qu’il avait renié la foi et les principes de la « sainte église catholique romaine ». Désemparés et courroucés, mes parents ne savaient comment braver le jugement de la communauté locale. Pour eux en effet, l’adhésion au Deeper Life était symbole de pacte avec le diable, d’association avec les magiciens, l’église des pleureurs attitrés. Il leur fallait dans cette mesure me désapprouver par une cen-sure sans complaisance. Je fus mis en quarantaine et vis mes subsides suspendus. Pendant les deux années qui suivirent, je ne reçus ni mandat, ni frais de scolarité. En tant que garant de l’intégrité et de l’orthodoxie catholique familiale, mon père me bannis et m’interdit de franchir le seuil du domicile familial, et ce jusqu’à sa mort. Pour moi commençait une longue vie de calvaire, de défis. Je m’aperçus de

9 Eglise biblique de la vie profonde.

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la pertinence des paroles de Jésus-Christ qui affirmait être venu non apporter la paix mais le trouble. Je suis devenu étranger dans ma propre famille, un véritable paria pour mes frères et mes amis qui, du fait de mes nouvelles croyances, eurent dès lors à mon égard que crainte et répugnance. Je venais en fait de réaliser que la tolérance religieuse n’est qu’une réalité dans les textes10.

Ce témoignage sans doute pathétique traduit le contraste d’une société qui se veut laïc. Dans l’ensemble, la lecture qu’on peut faire de la réticence des gens à l’endroit des mouvements pentecôtistes, c’est le sentiment de crainte de l’in-connu. De nombreux parents justifient leur attitude à l’égard de leurs enfants dé-sormais adeptes des églises dites réveillées par un sentiment d’échec. Ils estiment avoir manqué à leur devoir d’encadrement, de préservation, selon que le déclare le Livre des Proverbes au chapitre 22, le verset 6 : « instruis l’enfant selon la voie qu’il doit suivre. Quand il sera grand, il ne s’en détournera pas ». Aussi se laissent-ils aller à une culpabilité dont ils peinent pendant de nombreuses années encore à s’en remettre.

Le constat de nos jours est que de nombreuses églises au niveau local ne réus-sissent plus à capter une masse critique de fidèles suffisante pour leur permettre de poursuivre leur travail de construction communautaire (C.Mayrargue, 2004 : 102). La compétition religieuse semble sous ce rapport renforcer l’instinct de sur-vie des différentes obédiences. La déconstruction sociale semble plus que jamais consacrée au Nord-Cameroun depuis le retour à la démocratie et la restauration des libertés. Ces facteurs qui participent de la dynamique sociale, ont cependant mis en place une atmosphère trouble. Au nom de Dieu, des frères et sœurs s’ex-cluent de la communauté familiale, se combattent. Tout ceci ne tient certainement pas à la pluralité de Dieu, mais bien à la divergence des points doctrinaux.

Conclusion

Le Nord-Cameroun est depuis le XIXe siècle un vaste champ de compétition reli-gieuse. Dans cet univers autrefois profondément animiste et pour certains féti-chiste, on a assisté à l’infiltration dès le XIXe siècle du christianisme et de l’Islam. Ces deux dernières religions essentiellement étrangères, introduisirent sans aucun doute des bouleversements sociaux et culturels importants. Cependant, à défaut de se laisser phagocyter par le christianisme dont il est principalement question dans cette étude, les religions dites traditionnelles ou les croyances locales en in-tégrèrent certaines principes non contradictoires, ou du moins peu nocifs. C’est ce qu’on a appelé le syncrétisme.

La période coloniale sera sans doute un tournant décisif dans l’expansion du christianisme dans cette région du Nord-Cameroun où l’Islam venait de s’implanter à la faveur du jihad ou conquête religieuse. Depuis ces deux dernières décennies cependant, on a assisté à une véritable reconfiguration de l’univers religieux qui désormais intègre de nombreuses obédiences pentecôtistes, lesquelles constituent fondamentalement une menace pour la sphère d’influence, de prestige des églises dites classiques à l’instar de l’Eglise catholique romaine, des églises luthériennes,

10 Ce témoignage a été recueilli par Ndongué Yannick à Maroua au mois de mars 2012. Par mesure de protection de la source de l’information, le nom porté est juste indicatif.

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etc. Ceci a donné lieu à une réelle déconstruction sociale, notamment avec des mésententes sur fond d’intolérance ou de refus de la différence. Le cadre juridico-légal pour une meilleure expression de foi chrétienne est soumise à dure épreuve du fait des élans d’intolérance ou des antagonismes entre fidèles des églises clas-siques et ceux du mouvement pentecôtiste. La société nord-camerounaise est du fait du pluralisme religieux, devenue une zone de déploiement des controverses. Le christianisme, au lieu d’être un ciment social est devenu un important facteur de déconstruction, mieux de perturbation d’un univers religieux autrefois peu agité.

Bibliographie

Ouvrages

Benoist, J., 2009, Kirdi au bord du monde, Classiques des Sciences sociales, édition numérique,

Bigo, S., Un certain regard sur le cheval et sur le monde. L’homme de l’Afrique Noire, 2OO5

Lembezat, B., les populations païennes du Nord Cameroun et de l’Adamaoua, Paris, PUF, 1961

Messina, J-P, et Jaap, S 2005, Histoire du Christianisme au Cameroun des Origines a nos jours ; Approche Oecuménique, Paris, Karthala, p .238.)

Schilder, K., 1994, Schilder, K, 1994, Quest for esteem: State, Islam and Mundang ethnicity in Northern Cameroon, Leiden, ASC.

Njeuma, M-Z.,1978, Fulany hegemony in Yola (old Adamawa) 1809-1902, Yaoundé, CEPER

Articles

Attali, J., 2010, « Religions et géopolitique », in The Paris globalist - VOL. IV N°1.Douchin, E., « Religions, magie, superstitions et sectes », Conférence du 05 février 2009.Fuente Alcantara (éd.), Cultura de la tolerancia, Fundación Pablo VI BAC Madrid -70Lindovi Ndjio, « Ambiance : Nuisance sonore “au nom de Dieu », in La Nouvelle Expression

-du 08 aoūt 2008Makram Abbes, 2005 « La question de la tolérance en Occident ą travers le livre de Yves-

Zarka, C et Fleury, C: difficile tolérance», Astérion, n° 3, (septembre)Maud, L et Mayrargue, C., «Pluralisation religieuse, entre éclatement et concurrence »,

in Politique africaine 123 - octobre 2011Mayrargue, C 2008, Les dynamiques paradoxales du pentecôtisme en Afrique

subsaharienne, in Notes de l’IFRIMayrargue, C., « Trajectoires et enjeux contemporains du pentecôtisme en Afrique de

l’Ouest », in Critique internationale n°22 - janvier 2004

Par Pahimi PatRiCE, PhD, Chargé de Cours, Ecole Normale Supérieure de l’université de Maroua-Cameroun

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Le paysage sacré au Mont-Liban, entre pratiques sociales et mécanismes de sacralisation: les exemples d’Annaya et de Hardine

Christiane SFEIR

AbstractIn over less than a century, five saints from the Maronite community in Lebanon have been recognized by Rome. The events linked to supernatural phenomena are always related to a site, a monastery, or an edifice and they often express themselves further than the site itself. The canonization of a saint has social con-sequences such as the manifestations of individual expressions of faith, divine calls or messages interpreted by believers. The mobilization of pilgrims is then visible, with the occupation of public spaces well beyond the sacred location. These dy-namics affect the site and are the reason put forward for the geographical readap-tation on religious territory. Through a comparative approach between two sites that have reacted differently to the emergence of a saint, we endeavoured to iden-tify the different social practices and the construction of sacred territories in the village of Annaya, which witnessed the emergence of Saint Charbel. As a result to this particular event, the landscape went through a chaotic mode of development created by pilgrimage movements, while in Hardin, remained in oblivion despite the presence of Saint Al-Hardini. These comments pose the question of the role of symbolism in sacred places: What explains the logic of a sacred place and who are the actors responsible for the subsequent development? Religious institutions and political movements are both involved: the Maronite Church, present and active has a leading role and a legitimate power through its organization of special reli-gious events, used to confirm the Christian presence and sense of group solidarity in a perceived threatened environment composed of a Muslim majority. Local ac-tors, in turn, benefit from the event and provide a master plan for a local develop-ment that does not coincide with the spiritual dimension. The geography of the area is reframed and the borders between secular and sacred spaces are erased.

key words: territory, pilgrimage, movements, development, saint.

Introduction

Le 22 juin 2008, Beyrouth s’agite pour la béatification d’une nouvelle figure reli-gieuse - une quatrième - le frère Jacques Haddad, qui s’ajoute à la liste des bien-heureux ou saints libanais Charbel Makhlouf, Rafqa ar-Rayes et Nimatullah Kassab Al-Hardini. En juin 2010, le frère Stéphane Nehmeh est béatifié à son tour et en moins d’un siècle, cinq figures provenant de la communauté maronite sont recon-nues par Rome.

Ces canonisations et béatifications de maronites issus du Mont-Liban induisent des mouvements religieux divers : pèlerinages, évènements organisés par des as-sociations ecclésiastiques, caritatives, des écoles, ou des groupes sociaux. Messes et processions spectaculaires incitent à des déplacements qui engendrent souvent des mutations spatiales. Ainsi, tout phénomène religieux est constamment suivi d’une dynamique qui affecte le lieu concerné, notamment lorsque celui-ci devient

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lieu de pèlerinage. Le comportement des pèlerins dessine alors une nouvelle géog-raphie du fait religieux qui s’exprime par une transformation du territoire.

Généralement, les lieux de pèlerinage sont soit les lieux où a vécu le fondateur de la voie spirituelle des pèlerins, soit ceux où l’un de ses disciples a vécu, soit ceux animés par une présence divine particulière (Deshayes, 2007). Au Liban, les cau-salités propres à un pèlerinage dépassent ces trois critères et il suffit qu’un fidèle fasse part d’une vision surnaturelle pour qu’un déplacement de masse ait lieu. La présence d’un saint provoque également des déplacements soit vers son village natal, soit vers le couvent où il a vécu, soit également vers le lieu où il est décédé.

Or, si certains sites du Mont-Liban sont touchés par des transformations spa-tiales majeures à la suite de l’émergence d’un saint, d’autres le sont beaucoup moins. La métamorphose géographique n’étant en aucune façon uniformément réparties sur les sites, nous nous interrogeons donc sur les modalités de la sacrali-sation, et sur la raison pour laquelle certains sites réagissent à l’installation de lieux saints et d’autres non.

Nous établirons une comparaison entre deux lieux ayant réagi différemment à une canonisation afin de saisir la nuance entre les pratiques sociales et la sac-ralisation d’un territoire. Le village d’Annaya, associé à Saint Charbel, a connu un développement désordonné lorsqu’il est devenu lieu de pèlerinage, tandis qu’un autre village, Hardine, est resté anonyme malgré la présence du saint Nimatullah Kassab Al-Hardini.

Les chrétiens du Liban, une minorité menacée ?

Ces regroupement massifs de croyants prennent une toute autre dimension quand on les rattache aux logiques internes d’une communauté ayant été affectée par une guerre civile confessionnelle. Il s’agit d’expressions individuelles de foi, d’appel, de messages divins interprétés par les croyants qui expliquent en partie ce mouvement collectif vers la foi. Une série de visions, de statues de Vierge qui tournent sur elles-mêmes, de l’huile qui coule d’images de saints, des mains qui saignent… (les exem-ples sont multiples) sont autant de raisons qui peuvent entraîner des déplacements massifs de fidèles. Mais quel est le fil conducteur qui explique ces déplacements de masse ? S’agit-il d’acteurs autonomes dominés par un lien divin vertical et direct vers Dieu ou bien peut-on l’expliquer par un phénomène de masse, une forme de « contagion » se transmettant horizontalement d’un pratiquant à un autre ?

Les maronites sont une des composantes de la société confessionnelle liba-naise, définie par Dubar comme une juxtaposition de plusieurs unités : lignées familiales, régions et confessions (Dubar, 1974). Chrétiens originaires de la Syrie géographique, les maronites ont une histoire ancrée dans la région de l’Antioche du Ve siècle (Méouchy, 2008). Un groupe de fidèles décide à l’époque de suivre le moine Maron (un des Pères de l’Église chrétienne) à un moment doctrinal com-plexe de l’Empire romain d’Orient. Cette petite communauté se forme à partir de l’année 687 ; ses membres élisent alors leur propre patriarche et s’isolent peu à peu de Constantinople à cause de l’occupation toute récente de la Syrie par les musulmans. Persécutés par les Byzantins car accusés de monothéisme, certains maronites fuient dans les montagnes du Mont-Liban, convertissant puis supplant-ant les jacobites et les autres communautés chrétiennes locales. Durant la période

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des Croisades, ils s’allient à Rome, et s’étendent ensuite vers les régions de Kesser-wan et du Chouf, l’une à majorité chiite, et l’autre à majorité druze. Mais leur des-tin prend une direction nouvelle au XIXe siècle, quand cette communauté placée sous la mouvance de l’Église catholique et proche de la France, s’ouvre à l’Occident et commence à avoir une influence dominante sur ce qui deviendra le Liban. Lor-sque ce Liban acquiert, bien plus tard, son indépendance, le « Pacte national » de 1946 garantit une répartition équitable des charges politiques entre les différentes confessions du pays, tout en laissant à chaque communauté sa juridiction propre. À ce titre, la communauté maronite dispose de son propre rite et d’une hiérarchie cléricale autonome sous l’autorité d’un patriarche qui accumule à la fois pouvoirs spirituel et temporel.

La situation critique des maronites au Liban

Mais dans une région aussi instable que le Proche-Orient, traversée par des con-flits politiques à caractère religieux, le Liban est très exposé. Et la minorité chréti-enne est certainement la plus menacée, à cause d’enjeux géopolitiques majeurs. De plus, la prédominance démographique chrétienne a connu une baisse significa-tive après la guerre civile de 1975-1990. Les accords de Taëf (1989) ont réduit la su-prématie politique des maronites, en donnant plus de pouvoir aux communautés chiite et sunnite. À ce fait s’ajoute la forte émigration des chrétiens vers l’Occident ou vers les pays du Golfe. La communauté maronite se dit maintenant en situa-tion de défense et se trouve confrontée à des enjeux régionaux qui répondent mal aux intérêts « historiques » des chrétiens du Proche-Orient. Les structures miliciennes d’auto-défense qui s’étaient constituées pendant la guerre déclinent à partir de 1996 (Messara, 1996)(Messarra 1996), et cèdent la place à deux groupes politiques de natures différentes1. La population maronite est actuellement pro-fondément divisée, et le petit clergé s’oppose souvent à sa hiérarchie, autant de facteurs qui contribuent au désarroi de la communauté.

Annaya : un territoire en mutation

À 54 km de Beyrouth, le village d’Annaya-Kfarbaal auparavant chiite, est dev-enu chrétien au début du XIXe siècle (Heyberger, 2002)(Heyberger 2002). Ce village fait partie de sites associés à un saint qui ont subi des transformations liées à l’éclatement, les déplacements, les pèlerinages, ainsi qu’un fort dével-oppement après une béatification. Ils sont « sacrés » pour ceux qui les visitent. Avec le miracle qui accompagna la mort de saint Charbel, le site devint un lieu de pèlerinage, visité par des croyants et curieux venus des quatre coins du monde. Jusqu’à la fin des années 1980, la hiérarchie écclésiastique a réussi à préserver le caractère spirituel et recueilli du lieu ; mais depuis, ce caractère disparaît progressivement pour céder la place au religieux commercial.

1 Signalons le Hezbollah, (parti de Dieu), à la structuration solide et soutenu par l’Iran, et le parti du Futur, représenté par Saad El Hariri. Les chrétiens sont divisés entre les partisans du général Aoun, alliés au Hezbollah, et les Forces Libanaises, partisans de Samir Geagea, alliées au groupement « Futur ».

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Depuis la béatification en 1965, et pendant la période du procès sur la canoni-sation, le pèlerinage d’Annaya est déjà instauré. Le site dispose de plusieurs édifices religieux répartis à proximité. Tout le confort matériel est assuré aux visiteurs : dis-tribution gratuite d’huile et d’encens, ventes de souvenirs et de livres, restaurants et facilités d’accès au parking. Lentement, ces pèlerinages commencent à prendre une forme plus systématique scandée par des dates régulières (exception faite des dimanches) : chaque 22 du mois, chaque vendredi soir, les trois dates clés, celle de la naissance du saint, la fête de saint Pierre et saint Paul, et les jours de com-mémoration de l’ordination de Charbel. Les prières, encadrées en grande partie par des personnes qui perçoivent des signes et des appels divins, sont célébrées publiquement et l’espace approprié pour le culte dépasse la cour du monastère pour occuper jusqu’àux routes et espaces publics. La dynamique spatiale brouille les limites entre l’espace sacré et l’espace profane2.

Figure 1 : Annaya - Couvent saint Maron (sfeir, 2008)

Hardine: une statique spatiale

Le contre-exemple serait le village de Hardine, qui a connu la canonisation de saint Hardini en mai 1998. Malgré cela, la commune n’a pas connu de développement remarquable, la faute étant imputée à plusieurs facteurs politiques, sociologiques, et économiques.Le Mont-Liban étant découpé en étroits interfluves orientées est-ouest, le relief contribue à l’isolement de Hardine. A l’écart, sur une colline du Nord-Liban, le village avait à l’origine des atouts stratégiques qui lui ont valu d’être la cible des troupes syriennes installées sur une colline adjacente durant la guerre de 1975-1990 . La municipalité n’a pas pu - ou su - instaurer une réelle politique pour profiter de l’irruption du sacré et les investisseurs étaient alors réticents à l’idée de développer des activités touristiques.

2 Le site reçoit chaque année plus de quatre millions de visiteurs avec un million deux cent mille cérémonies de première communion, et neuf cent baptêmes

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Figure 2 : la maison du saint transformée en musée et église (sfeir, 2008)

Une seule tentative individuelle se limita à la construction d’un petit hôtel pour recevoir les pèlerins. La maison où vécu le saint fut transformée en une petite église et un modeste musée exposant des objets antiques trouvés sur le site. De leur côté, les autorités religieuses se sont également désintéressées de ce village abandonné.

Mais plongé pendant longtemps dans l’oubli, Hardine se réveille le 11 mai 1998 lors de la canonisation de saint Neemetallah Kassab el Hardini. Depuis, tous les étés, plus de 70 personnes par jour visitent le lieu de naissance du saint, tandis qu’en fin de semaine, il y a 150 à 200 visiteurs.Ce développement reste très timide en comparaison avec le site de saint Charbel ou de sainte Rafqa.

Curieusement, un peu plus au nord, la vallée de la Quadicha est connue sous le nom de « la vallée sainte », sans qu’on y localise le moindre saint3. Une stratégie visant l’intégration d’une démarche paysagère dans les perspectives de mise en valeur du territoire a pratiquement accrédité le site d’un tourisme religieux. La vallée fait maintenant partie du patrimoine de l’UNESCO. Sans doute faut-il voir ici une sacralisation voulue de l’espace en question, fait à mettre en relation avec l’histoire particulière des différents groupes chrétiens de la montagne.

Le rôle des politiques publiques et privées

Dans le Mont-Liban d’aujourd’hui, c’est la volonté de l’homme politique local et le secteur privé qui activent le retour en force des pratiques religieuses par une véritable frénésie visible de constructions de lieux de culte. D’une part c’est l’Église maronite, présente et active qui s’approprie un pouvoir légitime de hiérarchisation en procédant à l’organisation d’évènements religieux particuliers, et d’autre part les chefs des partis maronites qui à travers leurs discours et positions, associent

3 Des manuscrits maronites du XVIe siècle localisent sainte Marine à proximité du monastère de Quannûbin, siège du patriarcat ( Heyberger, B., 1998, Sainteté et chemins de la perfection chez les chrétiens du Proche-Orient: Revue de l’histoire des religions, v. 215,, p. 117-137.

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religion et politique, afin d’affirmer la présence chrétienne sur l’espace en ques-tion. Quand des évènements surnaturels, des déplacements mystérieux, et la fon-dation spontanée de lieux sacrés sont déclarés conformes à la foi par l’Église, le marquage du territoire a lieu, et la sacralisation répond à des stratégies menées soit par un pouvoir politique, soit par le pouvoir ecclésiastique.

Chez les maronites, la fusion des intérêts du religieux et ceux du politique date de 1904, avant même la création du Grand-Liban, quand, soutenue par la bourgeoisie maronite et de l’Église, la direction spirituelle et politique de la com-munauté tout entière fut confiée au Patriarche. L’intention d’installer un monu-ment religieux au sommet d’un relief qui domine la baie de Jounieh, fut incarnée par l’inauguration de Notre-Dame de Harissa en 1908. Ce lieu de pèlerinage prit rapidement une signification mondiale symbolique d’un courant politique clair. En 1971 une nouvelle basilique, dont la taille dépasse de loin le sanctuaire primitif, renforça cette détermination de marquage territorial. Des messes traditionnelles commémorant les martyrs des Forces libanaises (la milice dominante durant la guerre civile de 1975 à 1990) sont marquées par une participation impression-nante de fidèles et une importante mobilisation populaire. L’évènement est toujo-urs couronné par des discours politiques à idéologies autonomistes, et les images géantes de cadres politiques assassinés placées près de l’autel sont généralement l’occasion de renvoyer des conflits politiques anciens à l’actualité.

Le développement des villages qui ont connu « l’invention » d’un saint, s’avère être lié à un système d’acteurs public-privé, qui justifient la construction d’un « sens sacré ». Le système d’acteurs publics ayant à la base une dimension poli-tique, ce sont les acteurs locaux, les maires, et parfois même des zaims (les hom-mes forts locaux) qui financent les projets instrumentalisant le sentiment religieux à visées économiques, induisant par là la transformation d’un lieu en un site de pèlerinage. La route d’Annaya (Saint Charbel) ou le village de Deir El Ahmar où Say-dat Béchouat (Notre-Dame de Béchouat) sont des lieux qui ont connu de pareilles transformations.

nombre de visiteur (s)/68liEuX dE PÈlERinaGE

Annaya Hardine Harissa Béchouate Kfifane

vis

itEs

Une fois dans sa vie 7 51 1 32 18

Une fois tous les2-3 ans 13 10 2 15 25

Une fois par an 42 7 51 20 20

Deux fois par an 5 0 10 1 5

Plus que deux fois par an 1 0 4 0 0

Conclusion

Tandis que l’identité de l’Église catholique en Occident court un risque d’effacement devant la sécularisation d’un côté, et la montée en puissance de l’islam, des Évangélistes et des sectes de l’autre, une tranche de chrétiens d’Orient, les

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maronites, tentent de marquer géographiquement leur identité et leur confession. Soutenus par Rome, des évènements surnaturels sont officialisés par le pouvoir écclésiastique libanais, mais également par les politiques, et ils sont instrumen-talisés pour étayer une stratégie de développement territorial. On assiste donc à un engagement actif de la part des autorités de l’Église, qui semblent se rallier aux acteurs politiques pour engager des actions de recomposition territoriales com-munes. Cependant, leurs objectifs réciproques sont bien distincts : pour les éc-clésiastiques, l’objectif a clairement un caractère identitaire, tandis que pour les politiques, la dimension économique prime, sans souci réel d’une identité qui tend peu à peu à s’effacer.

Bibliographie Deshayes, L., 2007, Les pèlerinages: Paris, Plon, 125 p.Dubar, C., 1974, Structure confessionnelle et classes sociales au Liban: Revue française de

sociologie, v. Vol. 15, No. 3 p. 301-328.Heyberger, B., 1998, Sainteté et chemins de la perfection chez les chrétiens du Proche-

Orient: Revue de l’histoire des religions, v. 215,, p. 117-137.Heyberger, B., 2002, Saint Charbel Makhlouf ou la consécration de l’identité maronite, in

Mayeur-Jaouen, C., ed., Saints et héros du Moyen-Orient contemporain: Paris, Mai-sonneuve & Larose, p. 139-159.

Méouchy, N., 2008, Les Maronites, de la marginalité au destin historique, Garrigues et sentiers, Dossier Chrétiens en terre d’islam.

Messara, A., 1996, Les partis politiques au Liban: une expérience arabe pionnière et en déclin: Revue du monde musulman et de la Méditerranée, v. 81-82, p. 135-151.

Christiane sFEiR, Architecte-Paysagiste, Coordinatrice Générale des Masters- IBA Univer-sité Libanaise. Sorbonne- Paris4, UMR 8185 Espaces, Nature et Culture, Géographie histo-rique, politique et culturelle.

Schriftlich formulierte Wünsche und Gebete in realen und virtuellen Wallfahrtstätten

Krisztina FRAUHAMMER

Wenn ein Gläubiger einen sakralen Ort oder Wallfahrtstätte aufsucht, leitet ihn in erster Linie die Sehnsucht nach dem Erleben der Transzendenz. Er glaubt daran, dass diese Weihestätten von der Anwesenheit dieser Transzendenz gekennzeich-neten Orte sind, so auch Orte für das Kontakthalten mit ihm sind. Er glaubt daran, dass er fähig ist, sich in das Leben der Menschen und in die Ereignisse der sie umgebenden Natur einzumischen und sucht deshalb die Möglichkeit mit ihm in Kontakt zu treten.

Eine der ältesten, fast in jeder Religion anwesenden Erscheinung dieser Kon-taktaufnahme ist das Gebet. Zahlreiche Forscher haben sich schon aus zahlreichen

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Aspekten mit den Gebeten, hauptsächlich mit den mündlichen oder schriftlichen Formen derer beschäftigt. In den vergangenen Jahren hat aber die immer belieb-ter werdende, vollkommen ungebundene, schriftlich erscheinende Art des Betens das Interesse der Forscher aufgeweckt. Nacheinander erscheinen an unseren Wallfahrtstätten, Besucherbücher, oder manchmal werden sie auch Gästebuch ge-nannt, mit dem Zweck Bitten, Gebete, Danksagungen festhalten und aufbewahren. Die Seiten dieser Bücher sind voll mit individuell formulierten Bitten. Das außer-gewöhnliche an diesen ist aber, dass wir durch sie Zeugen einer ganz besonderen Kommunikations-Situation, der schriftlichen Repräsentation einer ungebundenen, nicht formalisierten mündlichen Offenbarung werden können. Das Schreiben oft objektiviert und ritualisiert sogar diesen speziellen Gebetsakt. Die Gästebücher der Wallfahrtskapellen und der Kirchen bieten für diese außerordentlichen Anläs-se, ein für jeden erreichbares Forum. Eine weitere Besonderheit dieser Bücher ist die enge Verflechtung der sakralen und profanen Schrifttraditionen und der Ver-haltensmuster, was bei dieser modernen Art der schriftlichen Devotion eine sehr dominante Rolle spielt. In meinem Vortrag möchte ich solche – an ungarischen Wallfahrtstätten – gesammelten Gästebücher, bzw. die Konklusionen einer kom-parativen Analyse dieser vorstellen. (Ich untersuchte 5 Wallfahrtstätte und deren Gästebücher mit über 7000 Einträge in dem ung. Sprachgebiet: darunter waren ganz kleine, kaum gekannte Orte, wie: Máriakálnok, und Egyházasbást, die bis heu-te keine kirchliche Anerkennung erworben hat, es wurden natürlich grosse, sehr berühmte W.Orte auch einbezogen: Máriagyűd, Mátraverebély, und Máriapócs, der berühmte grichisch-katholische Wallfahrtsort.)

Diese Bücher können wir, als solches Forum betrachten, welches eine Möglich-keit zur Offenbarung an einem heiligen Ort, zur Kommunikation mit dem Transzen-denz bietet. Diese Offenbarung ist weder aus inhaltlichen, noch aus stilistischem Aspekt formalisiert, dies führt zur einzigartigen Mischung von profanen und sa-kralen Elementen. Diese auf jedem Gebiet erscheinende Ungebundenheit bietet Möglichkeit neben der Glaubensbekenntnis auch weitere Zwecke zu erfüllen und eine viel weitere Verwendung möglich zu machen (Verewigen von Pilgern, Wall-fahrten, Gebetsmanifestation, Ritual, Autokommunikation, Gewinnen von seeli-schen Trost, Erwecken von Gemeinschaftsgefühl). Dieser sehr weit interpretierba-ren Verwendung ist auch zu verdanken, dass der Kreis derer, die mit der in diesen Wallfahrtsorten gebotenen Möglichkeit leben und leben können sehr weit ist.

So ist es heutzutage zu beobachten, dass sich mit der Internet-Verbreitung die realen Grenzen dieser sakralen Kommunikation über sich hinaus wuchsen und man immer öfter mit virtuellen Kultstätten trifft. Am Ende meinem Vortrag möchte ich auch solche virtuellen Kultstätten und die hier auch existierender und immer beliebter modernen Devotionspraktiken unter die Lupe nehmen.

Krisztina FraUhaMMEr, Bálint Sándor Institute for the Study of Religion, Hungary.

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The Role of Family Tradition in Formation of Personal Faith Experience and Practice

Die Rolle der Traditionen in der Familie bei der Gestaltung persönlicher Glaubenserfahrung- und Praxis

Živilė ADVILONIENĖ

AbstractA lot of research has been carried out in Lithuania and foreign countries, analysing faith experience and practice as a long-term, continuous process influenced by dif-ferent socio-cultural, psychological, etc factors. Faith experience is understood as a reality that is subjectively meaningful and significant to a person in a greater or a lesser degree influencing their social life, behaviour, world outlook, and values. It is embodied in their faith practice expressed in one way or another. According to D. Hervieu-Leger, N.Ammerman and others, faith experience and practice become multidimensional and multi-plane realities, involve syncretism of religious beliefs and influence personal way of life, people’s behaviour, relation with surrounding environment, other people and God.

The report presents correlations between previous (formed in parents’ family) and current personal faith experience and practice, analyzes their factors with refe-rence to insights of Lithuanian and foreign researchers. Exclusive attention is paid to the links between family traditions and personally professed faith: formation of faith experience, picked elements of religious practice in female and/or male line, concept of God, etc. It is noted that faith experience and practice acquired in the family may change with rise of other factors, e. g. conversion process, non-ordinary religious experience, deepening of religious awareness, etc. Besides that the report analyses the concept of faith experience and practice, their expression, types and factors as well as response of a person to essential changes in faith experience and practice in their life. Qualitative research (N-30) carried out in Lithuania revealed different types of conveying / formation of faith experience and practice in context of Catholicism, namely: spontaneous pick-up of faith experience and practice when a person simply assimilates religious experience and practice of their parents or other micro-social environment, and rationally, purposefully planned conveying of religious experience and practice when it is reduced to formal religiosity, children preparation to receive sacraments and occasional, irregular practice of professed faith.

key Words: faith experience, faith practice, religious experience, religious practice, tradition in the Family.

einführung

Die pluralistische Gesellschaft bietet den Menschen viele Möglichkeiten, Glück und Sinn im Leben zu finden, als auch eine attraktive Lebensweise zu führen und eine persönliche Weltansicht zu bilden. Allerdings muss jeder selbst herausfinden, was sein Leben sinnvoll macht, was ihm Freude schenkt und eigenen Sinn stif-tet. Viele regionale und internationale Forschungen im sozialen, psychologischen, pastoraltheologischen Bereich zeigen, dass die Menschen Sinn aus verschiedenen

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Dingen bilden. Es kann Geld, Kariere, Glauben, (Volks)kultur, Religion u.a. sein (vgl. Grawe, 2002, 2006; Kaufman, 1997). In diesem Artikel und Vortrag handelt es sich um den Sinn, welchen die Menschen in ihrer Familie der Religion zuwenden. Dies untersucht man durch die Rolle der Traditionen in der Familie bei der Gestaltung persönlicher Glaubenserfahrung und Praxis.

Man muss beachten, daß Spiritualität, Religiosität, Gottesvortsellung und damit verbundene Glaubenserfahrung- und Praxis in Zeit der Postmoderne vielfältige, sub-jektive und in gewisser Weise beliebige Form annehmen kann. In diesem Artikel und Vortrag folgt man der Position, daß die Erfahrung und die Praxis des Glaubens ein lebenslanger Prozess ist, deswegen braucht man verschiedene soziologische Kriteri-en zur Einordnung und Bewertung religiöser Einstellungen und Praktiken. So findet man es bei vielen Autoren und in vielen Forschungen, vor allem bei U.Boos-Nun-ning (1972), J.W.Fowler (1991), Th.Luckmann (1991), P.L.Berger (1994), Ch.Heinrich (2002), K.Frielingsdorf (2003), D.Hervieu-Leger (2003, 2004), A.Paskus (1998, 2002), K.A.Trimakas (1998, 2003, 2005), B.Briliute (2005), H.Kohler-Spiegel (2008) u.a.

Der Einfluss der Traditionen in der Familie bei der Gestaltung der Glaubenser-fahrung- und Praxis, als auch auf verschiedene Aspekte dieses Bereiches, wurde in zahlreichen Studien untersucht. Die Ergebnisse der Studien im Ausland lassen sich aber auf den litauischen Raum nicht zwangsläufig übertragen, da nicht nur heuti-ge, sondern auch weil der frühere soziokulturelle Kontext ganz unterschiedlich war, vor allem wegen der langen sowjetischen Periode. Neue Unterschiede beeinflußt auch der Prozess der Globalisierung. Alle diese Prozesse und Herausforderungen auf der politischen, soziokulturellen und mentaler Ebene haben Einfluss auf den einzelnen Menschen, sein Leben und seine Weltanschauung. Dies führt dazu, dass man den Menschen nicht als isoliertes Einzelwesen begreift, sondern auch seine soziokulturelle Situation berücksichtigt. Gerade dies macht ihn zu dem, wer er ist. D.h. seine individuelle Lebensweise, Weltanschauung, auch Glaubenserfahrung- und Praxis des Menschen ist nicht mehr vom weltweiten Kontext zu trennen. Dies stellt die Frage nach dem Einfluss der verschiedenen Faktoren auf die Glaubenser-fahrung- und Praxis des Kindes, wie auch des erwachsenen Menschen.

Die im Vortrag vorliegende Studie untersucht die Rolle der Traditionen in der Fa-milie im Leben der Befragten, in ihrer Kindheit wie auch heute. Das Ziel des Vortrages ist die Ergebnisse der qualitativen Forschung über Glaubenserfahrung- und Praxis in litauischen katholischen Familien vorzustellen. In dieser Forschung wurde die Rol-le der Familietraditionen bei der Gestaltung persönlicher Glaubenserfahrung- und Praxis der Befragten untersucht. In der Forschung nahmen N-20 Informanten teil. Neben der Frage nach eigener Glaubenserfahrung wurde die Frage über christlichen Traditionen in der Elternfamilie, auch Merkmale der Glaubenspraxis untersucht. Beim Sammeln der Information wurde als Forschungsstrategie Grounded Theory (Straus & Glaser, 1967, 1998), als Forschungsinstrument – narrative Interview ge-wählt. Diese Auswahl beeinflußte die Bestrebung tiefere Information zu erhalten. Die gewählte Forschungstrategie gibt den Befragten eine Möglichkeit aus heutiger Sicht die eigene Glaubensgeschichte zu betrachten, als auch wichtigste Merkmale der Glaubenspraxis in der Kindheit und heute, auch die wichtigste Faktoren, die es beeinflußt haben, zum Ausdruck zu bringen. Während der Forschung wurden Inter-wievs mit N-20 Erwachsenen im Alter zwichen 25 bis 67 Jahre durchgeführt. In der

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Forschung nahmen N-5 Geistliche, N-6 „aktive“ und N-4 „passive“ Katholiken1, N-5 Indifferenten teil, um zu vergleichen, welche Rolle die Lebensweise und Position zur Religion, auch die Traditionen in der Elternfamilie der Befragten gespielt haben. Bei dem Auswahl der Informanten wurde Theoretical Sampling gewählt.

traditionen in der Familie als Faktor der Glaubenserfahrung- und Praxis

Traditionen, die sich in der Elternfamilie entwickeln, ist nur einer von vielen Faktoren persönlicher Glaubenserfahrung- und Praxis. H.Kohler-Spiegel nach, „wenn Erfahrungen des Heiligen und des Unheiligen biografisch sind, dann sind diese Erfahrungen angebunden an unsere Entwicklung. Dann wird bedeutsam, was ich als Kind erlebt habe, wie die nächsten Angehörigen mit mir umgegan-den sind, wie sich Gefühle in mir entwickelt haben, wie ich gelernt habe, eigen-ständig zu sein“ (Kohler-Spiegel 2008: 65). Viele Autoren betonen die Rolle des-sen, was in der Familie geschieht. Man spricht über übernommenes Verhalten, Werte, Weltanschauung, Lebensweise, Gottesvorstellung usw. Wie es H.Kohler-Spiegel sagt, „was Mensch von früher Kindheit an prägt, gibt auch die Basis, „Heiligen“ zu erfassen“ (Kohler-Spiegel 2008: 65). Es geht darum, daß anhand der erlebten Muster die eigene Muster wahrgenommen und verstanden wer-den. Diese sind normalerweise von anderer Menschen im eigenen Umfeld ent-deckt und verstanden. H.Kohler-Spiegel nach, „unsere Art, uns zu binden, gilt im Blick auf andere Menschen, aber natürlich auch im Blick auf Religiöses. Uns mit Religiösen auseinanderzusetzen, uns auch im Religiösen zu binden, geschieht nicht unabhängig von unseren Bindungsmustern“ (Kohler-Spiegel 2008: 68). Man muss hier bemerken, dass es konstruktive, wie auch destruktive Muster sein können. Darüber sprach K.Frielingsdorf (2003). Seiner Meinung nach, kön-nen strenge Eltern dem Kind die Vorstellung eines bösen, strengen, fordernden Gottes geben oder, im Gegenteil, die Kinder verstehen den Gott als sorgfältigen Unterstützer, als liebenden Vater. Andererseits, viele Forschungen begründen die große Rolle der Mutter bei der Gestaltung der Gottesvorstellungen, Glau-benserfahrung- und Praxis (Frielingsdorf, 2003, Adviloniene, 2008). Alle diese Muster betonen eine wichtige Rolle der Traditionen und Beziehungen in der Fa-milie auf das Verhalten, der Glaubenserfahrung und das Gottesverständnis des Kindes. Z.B., nach K.Trimakas (1998, 2003, 2005), B.Grom (1992), K.Frielingsdorf (2003), H.Kohler-Spiegel (2008) u.a. ist ein Zusammenhang zwischen persönli-cher Religiosität, Religionspraxis und Muster in der Familie sehr stark.

Mit der Frage nach der Glaubenspraxis ist eng die Frage nach der Glaubenserfah-rung in der Elternfamilie und der hier gebildeten religiösen Traditionen verbunden. Deswegen war Ziel der vorliegenden qualitativen Studie die Einstellungen der Eltern zur Religion, ihr religiösen Verhalten und persönlichen Sicht nach Glauben als poten-tieller Einfluss auf das Verhalten des Kindes im religiösen Bereich zu untersuchen.

1 Unter aktiven Katholiken sind relativ die gemeint, die aktiv und regelmäßig nicht nur ihren Glau-ben praktizieren, sonder auch an irgendwelcher religiösen Organisation teilnehmen oder aktiv in der Seelsorge der Pfarrei, Freiwilligenarbeit im Bereich der Religion tätig sind. Im Gegenteil, als „passive“ Katholiken wurden in dieser Forschung relativ die Katholiken genannt, die ihren Glauben praktizieren, aber nicht unbedingt regelmäßig, die auch keine Beziehungen mit Aktivitäten in der Pfarrei, religiösen Organisationen usw. haben.

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Dieses Thema kann man in interdisziplinären Zusammenhang analisieren, da in diesem Bereich existiert als immanente, so auch transzendente Ebene, welche wieder in unterschiedliche Dimensionen aufgeteilt werden kann – Rituale, Sym-bole, Akzeptanz des Glaubens an Gott, Gottesvorstellung und Beziehung mit ihm usw. Jede von diesen Dimensionen kann man als getrennt, als auch verbunden be-trachten. Deswegen wurden in früher genanten Studie N-20 Erwachsene befragt, welche christliche und andere Traditionen in ihrer Elternfamilie gebildet wurden, welche von denen einen tieferen Eindruck auf sie gemacht haben und wie viel die-se ihre eigene Glaubenserfahrung- und Praxis beeinflusst haben. Es wurde unter-sucht, welche Faktoren (signifikante Leute, regelmäßige Glaubenspraxis, Beispiel von Eltern, Großeltern, Verwandten usw.) spielten hier die wichtigste Rolle.

Die Ergebnisse der Forschung lassen einige Strategien von Weitergabe des Glau-bens in der Familie durch Traditionen erfassen: 1) natürliche Weitergabe der Glau-benserfahrung- und Praxis. In diesem Fall „lernen“ (übernehmen) die Kinder auto-matisch den Glauben und die religiöse Praxis von ihren Eltern und/oder Großeltern. Sie sehen das Verhalten ihrer Eltern und haben eine Möglichkeit es natürlich zu in-ternalisieren. Es ist bedeutsam, wenn die Eltern oder andere für das Kind wichtige Personen mit ihm über den Glauben, die Werte und über die Weltanschauungen reden. So gesehen ist das Beispiel der Eltern echte religiöse Bildung. D.h., Familie dient als Möglichkeit, sich in eine personale Gemeinschaft zu integrieren, eigene Werte, Glaubenserfahrung und Praxis zu formieren. In solchen Fällen kann man von einer „Inklusion der Vollperson“ (M.N.Ebertz, 2005) sprechen. Die Befragten beton-ten, daß sie gleiche oder ähnliche Strategie auch in eigener Familie benutzen. 2) Die rationale, gezielt geplante Übergabe der religiösen Erfahrung- und Praxis. In diesem Fall geht es die Sprache um formalen Religiosität: die Eltern haben ihre Kinder für Sakramente (Buße, Erstkomunion, Firmung) vorbereitet, Glaubenserfahrung aber war in solchen Familien nicht wichtig, Glaubenspraxis - lässig und unregelmäßig. Die Ergebnisse der Forschung haben gezeigt, daß bei der Formierung des Glaubespraxis in der Kindheit sehr wichtig der Zugang der Familie zur Religion ist.

Neben den genannten Ergebnissen enthüllten sich einige Strategien der Familie-position zur Religion und Praktizieren der religiösen Traditionen. Auf diesem Grund wurde in der Familie auch das Glaubensvertändnis- und die Erfahrung der Befragten geformt. Es wurden solche Modelle enthüllt: indifferentisches, traditionell-kulturel-les, christlichkulturelles und aktivchristliches (kirchliches). Diese Modelle sind ähn-lich wie andere Modelle, die haben einige ausländische Forscher beschrieben (z.B., T.Hipp, 1999; P.M.Zulehner, I.Hager und R.Polak, 20012). In dem indifferentischen Modell nahm die Elternfamilie eine neutrale, gleichgültige Position zur Religion ein. Der Glaube wurde nicht praktiziert, es wurde aber minimalistisch die religiösen Feiertage gefeiert. Es ist zu bemerken, daß religiöse Feiertage in solchen Familien

2 T.Hipp, basierend auf Kriterienien der Kirchenbindung, Kirchgang und formeller Gottesglaube hat solche Gruppen der Gläubigen identifiziert – Kulturkirchliche (sie teilnehmen regelmäßig an Got-tesdienst, aber glauben nicht an Christus, sodern an irgendwelche höhere Macht oder uberhaupt die Egzistenz von Gott in Frage stellen), Christlichen (ihr Gottesverständnis ist christlich, aber in die Kirche gehen sie nur in besoderen Fällen, z.B., im Notfall, Weihnachten, Ostern), Kulturchristlichen (sie glauben an höhere Macht oder Kraft, am christlichen Feiertagen oder im Notfall gehen sie in die Kirche), Unchristliche (sie glauben nicht an Gott, auch nehmen nicht an Gottesdienst teil; Hipp 199: 11). P.M.Zulehner, I.Hager, R.Polak (2001: 325-326) haben solche Gruppen der Gläubigen identifiziert: Kirchliche, Kulturkirchliche, Religiös, Kulturreligiös, Unreligiös (Zulehner, Hager, Polak 2001: 325-326)

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traditionell-kulturellen Inhalt haben. Andererseits, vielen Erwachsenen blieben die religiösen Fragen unbeantwortet, da die Auseinandersetzung mit religiösen The-men kaum je stattgefunden hat oder im Jugendalter abbrach. Dies gilt besonders bei Erfahrungen der Indifferenten. In dem zweiten, traditionell-kulturellen Modell hat die Elternfamilie formal die großen christliche Feiertage (Weihnachten, Ostern) gefeiert, aber ihm wurde traditionell-kultureller Inhalt gegeben. In diesem Modell wurde auch unregelmäßige christliche Glaubenspraxis praktiziert (z.B., am größten christlichen Feiertagen, beim Begräbnis, Taufe, Trauung usw.). Die Kinder wurden minimalistisch christlich erzogen: sie wurden auf die Sakramente vorbereitet, aber das Glauben wurde unregelmäßig oder fast nicht praktiziert. Manchmal wurde das christliches Erziehen ignoriert. Im dritten, christlichkulturellen Modell wurden den Kindern christliche Werte und christliche Weltanschauung formiert. Glaubenspra-xis war in solchen Fallen mehr oder weniger regelmäßig, auch wurden christliche Feiertage gefeiert, die Kinder wurden christlich erzogen und ermutigt das Glauben zu praktizieren. In dem vierten, aktivchristlichen (kirchlichen) Modell wurde Glau-benspraxis regelmäßig praktiziert. Die Familie war aktiv in religiösen Organisationen, Seelsorge der Pfarrei oder in der Freiwilligenarbeit im Bereich der Religion tätig. Das Erziehen der Kinder wurde in diesem Modell tief christlich und kirchlich orientiert, die Eltern formierten ihren Kindern als ethische und kulturelle, so auch gemeischaft-liche und emotionelle Identität mit der Katholischen Kirche.3 Solche Familien waren kirchlich und sozial aktiv, religiös motiviert und regelmäßig praktizierend.

Die Ergebnisse der Forschung zeigen einen Zusammenhang zwischen regelmä-ßiger religiöser Praxis und den kirchlichreligiösen Elementen im Alltagsleben der Elternfamilie. Andererseits, es handelt sich um ein multidimensionales Konstrukt, das emotionale, mentale, soziale, spirituelle und verhaltensbezogene Komponen-ten der Glaubenserfahrung- und Praxis (des Handlungsvermögens) aus der subjek-tiven Sicht der Person beinhaltet.

schlussfolgerungen

Den Einfluss auf Glaubenserfahrung- und Praxis der Befragten machen verschiedene soziokulturelle, psychologische und andere Faktoren. Die Personen, die an der For-schung teilgenommen haben, nannten inhaltlich heterogene Traditionen und El-emente der Glaubenspraxis in der Elternfamilie und konnten ihre Erfahrung und Glaubenspraxis mehr oder weniger eng miteinander verknüpfen. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass Elemente der Traditionen in der Familie verschieden sind. Z.B., es war regelmäßige religiöse Praxis Eltern und/oder Großeltern (z.B., Gebet, Gottesdien-ste am Sonntag oder am Wochentagen usw.), gemeinsame Aktivitäten in Pfarrei, christliches oder traditionellkulturelles Feiern von Feiertagen usw. Auf Grund-lage solcher Erfahrungen hat sich die Gottes- und Religionsvortellung, auch die Glaubenserfahrung- und Praxis der Befragten gebildet.

Aus dem vorliegenden Ergebnissen kann man folgende Schlussfolgerungen ziehen:Die Werte und Glaubenspraxis sind erlernbar, besonders in den Familien, wo

3 Hier kann man Analogie mit D.Hervieu-Leger finden. Sie unterscheidet solche Identitätsebenen (Dimensionen) - communal dimension of religious identification, emotional dimension of religious identification, ethical dimension of religious identification, cultural dimension of religious identifica-tion (D.Hervieu-Leger, 2004).

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Glaubenspraxis intensiv ist. Für die Formierung des Glaubenserfahrung- und Praxis spielt eine große Rolle mütterliche Linie: die Gottesvorstellung und Glaubenspraxis von der Mutter. Die Grundlage, die dem Kind seine Glaubenserfahrung- und Praxis prägt, ist: Traditionen in der Familie, Position der Eltern zur Religion, Muster der Eltern oder anderen Verwandten, regelmäßige Glaubenspraxis. Die Traditionen, die in der Elternfamilie geübt wurden, auch Muster, die gesehen wurden, werden auch in der eigenen Familie weitergegeben.

Die Werte- und Religionorientierte Erziehung des Kindes in der Familie formiert sein Gottesvertändnis und gibt Elemente der Glaubenspraxis weiter.

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katholischer Gemeinden im Ausland. Katholisches Auslandssekretariät der Deutschen Bisc-hofskonferenz. Ausgabe Marz. (p. 11)

Kohler-Spiegel, H. 2008. Erfahrungen des Heiligen. Religion lernen und lehren. München: Kösel-Verlag.

Luckmann, Th. 1991. Die unsichtbare Religion. Frankfurt am Main: SuhrkampPaškus, A. 1998. Tikėjimo ir netikėjimo sąlytis šiandien. Kaunas: Lietuvos katechetikos centrasPaškus, A. 2002. Žvilgsnis į pasaulėžiūrinę aplinką, šventovę, save. Kaunas: Lietuvos Kat-

echetikos centro leidyklaRichter, A. 2003. Der Einfluss von Religion auf Arbeitsfelder amerikanischer „Jugendhilfe“

und seine Charakterisierung. Dissertation zur Erlangung der Würde eines Doktors der Philosophie (Dr. phil.) im Fachbereich Erziehungswissenschaft und Soziologie der Uni-versität Dortmund. Dortmund: Iniversität Dortmund

Trimakas, K.A. 2003. Jaunimas apie tėvą ir motiną. Antroji dalis. Santykiai su tėvais. Kaunas: Marijonų talkininkų centras

Trimakas, K.A. 2005. Motina ir tėvas dukros ir sūnaus patirtyje. Kaunas: Marijonų talkininkų centras

Trimakas, K.A. 1998. Tikint bręsti. Egzistencinio apsisprendimo psichologija. Kaunas: TKKLZulehner, P.M., Hager, I., Polak, R. 2001. Kehrt die Religion wieder? Religion im Leben der

Menschen 1970-2000. Ostfilden: Schwabenverlag

Živilė advilOniEnė, PhD in Social Sciences, assoc. professor at Marijampolė College and Faculty of Catholic Theology at Vytautas Magnus University. Area of scientific interest: sociology of religion and culture, methodology of social research, qualitative research.

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Session III – A

Of Words and Worlds: The Curious Case of Saint Paul

emmanuel NATHAN

Abstract Traditional Pauline scholarship has generally refrained from delving too much into the nature of Paul’s individual religious experience and mostly concerned itself with the various aspects of his theology. This landscape began to change markedly in the latter half of the 20th Century, when Pauline studies began to incorporate insights from the social sciences. Thus it is only of late that the topic of religious ex-perience in early Judaism and Christianity has begun to return to Pauline studies, this time with insights from as far afield as neuro-biology and neuro-psychology.

On the other hand, there is an established trajectory within Pauline studies that examines his use, appropriation, and reconfiguration of existing Jewish tradi-tions in his letters. This line of inquiry has always assumed Paul as a hybrid of at least two worlds, Jewish and Hellenistic, and viewed his use of traditions as a con-sequence of this synthetic existence.

Both lines of inquiry, whether into Paul’s individual religious experience or his use of traditions, wrestle with the dialectic of ‘word’ and ‘world’ – language and experience, the vexing problem of pinpointing the extent to which Paul was cultu-rally conditioned and innovative at the same time. Paul and his writings therefore offer us a welcome opportunity to examine the interaction of both religious expe-rience and tradition.

In this paper I will concentrate especially on 2 Corinthians 3, a chapter that can be viewed from both perspectives: (a) whether Paul is referring to individual religious experience (e.g., the language of glory and transformation); or, (b) relying on traditions (e.g., new covenant and the glorified Moses) to give expression to it. I shall suggest a more down-to-earth alternative. The discussion on sufficiency in ministry in 2 Corinthians 3 was brought on by the conflict situation at Corinth at the time of writing the epistle. This context provided Paul an opportunity to present a new understanding of Moses that was informed by reflections on Paul’s own conversion experience. From this perspective, the Moses in 2 Corinthians 3 has now been turned into a reflection of the ‘pre-Christian’ Paul prior to his own encounter with the Kyrios, an example of a synthesis between religious experience and tradition.

Emmanuel naThan, Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies, Catholic University of Leu-ven. Area of scientific interest: biblical studies, hermeneutics of St. Paul’s writings.

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Repeating Incarnation: Meister Eckhart and the Problem of Christ’s Historicity

satoshi KIKUCHI

AbstractThis paper aims to approach the general theme of the conference ― tradition and experience ― from the particular viewpoint of the theological thought of the Ger-man Dominican Meister Eckhart (ca. 1260-1328). At the later stage of the current of medieval mysticism, Eckhart pronounced the most radical Christology. He says that the incarnation of Christ might be meaningless unless it takes place in each one of us. This existentialistic re-interpretation of Christ’s soteriological role was even-tually judged by the Church authorities as undermining the uniqueness of Christ. However, precisely by his delicate position within the tension between the Church and mysticism, Eckhart seems to suggest that we reconsider the balance between the religious tradition and the direct relationship of individuals with the divine.

keywords: Meister Eckhart, incarnation, human nature, Christology

Background to the topic of the paper

The development of the intense concern for a direct union with God was one of the characteristics of the broad religious enthusiasm in the later Middle Ages. Within three centuries, a number of significant mystical authors appeared who were mani-festing the theme of the mystical union, such as the 12th century Cistercians, Ber-nard of Clairvaux and William of Saint-Thierry; the 13th century Beguines, Hadewijch and Marguerite Porete; the German Dominicans in the 14th century, Meister Eck-hart, John Tauler and Henry Suso; and the Brabantse mystic Jan van Ruusbroec, etc. In the same period, a current of heretical movements was also flourishing. The so-called heresies of Free Spirits and the radical sect of Beguines and Beghards were insisting radically on the possibility of the human person’s deification without any kinds of intermediary agents between God and humans, such as virtuous works, the Church’s doctrine, the Church itself, or even the mediator-ship of Christ.1The Church authorities had to, therefore, repeatedly announce their rigid opinions on such he-retical doctrines through councils, papal bulls and the inquisition.2

The most decisive opinion was announced in 1329, when the papal bull In agro dominico condemned the twenty-eight statements of the mystic ― and also one of the most prominent theologians at that time ― Meister Eckhart.3 As a Dominican,

1 The best document of the doctrines of the heresies left for today is the list of ninety-seven state-ments of the so-called Brothers of Free Spirit made by Albert the Great (see de Guibert 1931: 115-127).

2 The bull Saepe sanctam Ecclesiam (1296) condemns the statements of the Free Spirit, while the bull Ad nostrum qui (1312) condemns the doctrines of radical sects of Beguines and Beghards (see Denzinger & Schönmetzer 1976: n. 866; n. 891-908).

3 Oliver Davies points out that the condemnation of Eckhart’s doctrine was the only case in the histo-ry of Church where the structure of the inquisition was used against Dominicans, which is organized for counter-heresy campaign, moreover, where the doctrine of a first rank theologian like Eckhart was condemned by the papal bull (see Davies, O. 1990: 433).

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his task was initially to preach the ecclesiastical meaning of the union with God to those who claimed a similar idea without sufficient religious education and were thus susceptible to heretical views. Nevertheless, his teaching itself was judged as heretical or suspected of heresy. Unlike the heretical groups, Eckhart never dared to object against the Church’s doctrine, although the condemned article includes, indeed, quite controversial sentences on the deification, such as: “whatever God the Father gave to His only-begotten Son in human nature, He gave all this to me. I exclude nothing, neither union, nor sanctity” or “Whatever holy scripture says of Christ, all that is also true of every good and divine man” (Zimmermann & Sturlese 2006: 598. For English translation, see Colledge & McGinn 1981: 78). In this re-gard, Eckhart was most delicately situated in the midst of the tension between the institution of the Church and the mystical movement.

As a matter of fact, Eckhart’s condemned sentences contain several doctrinal issues. For this conference, we limit our focus to his understanding of the incarna-tion of Christ and its repetition in each human person. In this particular doctrine, the issue of the balance between the historicity of Christ and the experience of individuals is most evidently discussed. In the following, we will examine a number of texts in his original works in German as well as in Latin.

equality between Christ and humans in human nature

We begin our examination by taking a look at the following quote, which contains the aforementioned condemned sentence:

He [a master] says further that in all that the Father ever gave His Son Jesus Christ in human nature, He meant it more for me, and loved me more, and gave it to me rather than to him. How is this? He gave it to him for my sake, for I needed it. Therefore, whatever He gave him, he meant for me and gave it to me as well as to him. I except nothing, neither union nor the holiness of the Godhead nor anything else. All that He ever gave him in human nature is no more alien or distant from me than from him, for God cannot give a little: He must give either everything or nothing (Quint 1958: 77; English translation: Walshe 2009: 104).

This passage declares the perfect equality between Christ and “myself” with regard to human nature. Eckhart even says, more radically than the condemned article, that God “meant it [= what the Father gave to His Son] more for me, and loved me more,” that is, than Christ. This can be interpreted as a strong and yet paradoxical affirmation of God’s will to save human beings who are in need of salvation. Hereby, the understanding of the concept of “human nature” needs to be focused.

The identity of the human nature between Christ and the other human beings has been obviously the most fundamental dogma since early Christianity. At the ecu-menical Council of Chalcedon in 451, the common human nature between Christ and other human beings was officially defined in the creed (See Denzinger & Schönmetzer 1976: n. 301). The Church Fathers, who were playing important roles in creating this formula, strongly claimed, rejecting docetism and monophysitism, that Christ was, as human, perfectly equal to us. What motivated the Church Fathers was primarily the

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soteriological concern for the salvation of the whole of humankind through participa-tion into the unity between the divine and human natures of Christ.

However, when Eckhart says, as shown above, that “I except nothing, neither union nor the holiness of the Godhead,” he seems to step further than the Church doctrine. In the following quote he even says: “human nature became God”:

The masters declare that human nature has nothing to do with time, being wholly unshakable and much more inward and close to a man than he is to himself. That is why God took on human nature and united it with his own Person. Then human nature became God, for he put on bare human nature and not any man. Therefore, if you want to be the same Christ and God, go out of all that which the eternal Word did not assume (Quint 1958: 420; Walshe 2009: 450).

By giving such a high status to human nature, Eckhart seems to suggest that the human being can climb up beyond the creaturely state and come to the same state of Christ through the way that Christ opened up from above.4 Even if the approach is different, one can reach (or one should reach) the same place where Christ is in terms of not only His humanity but also His divinity.

existentialistic understanding of Christ’s incarnation

The background of Eckhart’s radical understanding of human nature is the exis-tentialistic concern for the transformation of each human person into the divinity. This is in stark contrast, for instance, to the words of the Greek Church Father, Cyril of Alexandria: “if He [= Christ] was not consubstantial with human beings, there would be no profit in His coming to them” (Cyril 1863: 1288. See also Dalmais 1957: 1384. English translation is mine). Nine centuries later, Eckhart states in his Latin treatise, the Commentary on John’s Gospel, as follows:

. . . note that the first fruit of the Incarnation of the Word, who is the natural Son of God, is that we should be God’s sons through adoption. It would be of little value for me that “the Word was made flesh” for man in Christ as a person distinct from me unless he was also made flesh in me personally (per-sonaliter) so that I too might be God’s son (Zimmermann & Sturlese 1994: 101-102; Colledge & McGinn 1981: 167).

The incarnation of the Word which took place in Christ cannot be meaningful unless it takes place also in each individual “through adoption,” “personally.” In a rather paradoxical way, Eckhart tries to maintain the significance of Christ’s incarna-tion, which happened once and for all in the history, in its continuous repetition. The following quote reveals such an existentialistic stance of Eckhart more clearly:

People think God only became man there, but that is not true, for God be-came man here as well as there, and the reason why He became man was that He might bear you as His only-begotten Son, no less (Quint 1971: 98; Walshe 2009: 134).

4 S. Ueda points out that what Eckhart says about human nature is similar to what he says about God Himself (see Ueda 1965: 47).

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This passage is again in a stark contrast to the well-known expression of an-other Greek Church Father, Athanasius of Alexandria: “Why He Himself became a man, that is because we may become God” (Athanasius 1973: 458. English transla-tion is mine).5 In Eckhart, the presence of Jesus Christ now and here in each person is emphasized more than Christ’s historical role as incarnated at a certain moment in the past. Remarkably, Eckhart even states here that God became man so that “He might bear you as His only-begotten Son.” It goes without saying that “the only-begotten Son” is the title given to Christ in the divine personhood, in which both the divine nature and human nature consist (See Denzinger & Schönmetzer 1976: n. 302). Although this hypostatic union was traditionally understood as the foundation for all Christian soteriology, this union as such is not said to take place in any human being other than Christ. While not explicitly, Eckhart’s statement on the only-begotten Son seems to imply such a conclusion. In fact, this peculiar un-derstanding of the sonship corresponds to his understanding of the human nature which is said to “become God.”

soteriological role of Christ as “a messenger”

Thus, Eckhart’s claim of the perfect equality to Christ leads to the following state-ment on Christ as “a messenger”:

Now you might ask me, since I have everything in this (human) nature that Christ can perform according to his humanity, why then do we praise and magnify Christ as our Lord and our God? That is because he was a messenger (ein bote) from God to us and has brought our blessedness to us. The blessed-ness he brought us was our own (Quint 1958: 87; Walshe 2009: 108).

This statement does not intend to underestimate Christ’s deity.6 Rather, this should be interpreted as an exemplary understanding of Christ’s soteriological role. Christ’s mediator-ship between God and the human being is indeed meant for communicating the good news to the whole of humankind; yet each individual is expected to respond to His message. Christ’s incarnation is not only the historical event far away from us, but is the living exemplar of our own incarnation. Seen from another perspective, Eckhart’s statement also implies that the form of “religious experience” in individuals is actually shaped by the foregoing history. When one claims to have a direct relationship with God, he or she is in fact following the ex-ample that Christ manifested in the past.7 The religious experience of each human person is not only directed vertically towards God, but also always determined hori-zontally by history, even if one might forget it at the moment of the “experience.”

5 Compare also the statement of Eckhart in his German Sermon 29: “Why did God become man? That I might be born God Himself” (Quint 1971: 84; Walshe 2009, 126). Eckhart clearly bore the word of Athanasius in his mind.

6 To describe Christ’s role as a messenger reminds us of the doctrine of the Gnostic heresies. They be-lieve that Christ is one of the angels who came into the world to save our angelic souls imprisoned in human bodies (Jonas 1992: c. 3). Eckhart’s intention was, however, not to give a position of angel to Christ, since he presents Christ’s status of a messenger as the very reason why we praise Him “as our Lord and our God.”

7 In the Commentary on John’s Gospel, Eckhart states, borrowing words from Beda, that human be-ings should be able to become “the second Christ” (see Zimmermann & Sturlese 1994: 241). “The second Christ” presupposes “the first Christ.”

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Conclusion

A unique feature of Christian faith throughout the centuries’ tradition is that Christians gave the highest possible position to the man Jesus Christ, namely, the only-begotten Son of God. Many other religions also have proper crucial figures in their history (such as Buddha and Mohamed), who all the later generations are supposed to follow as an example. However, unlike other religions, such as Bud-dhism, which admits theoretically the existence of countless Buddha’s, Christian faith claims that the absolute example appeared in Christ once and for all in his-tory. In the period of religious enthusiasm in the later Middle Ages, this Christo-logy seemed to be questioned by those who insisted on the possibility of perfect equality to Christ. In the midst of this tension, Eckhart was in a way trying to find a delicate balance between the historicity of Christ, on the one hand, and the di-rect experience of God, on the other. Although his attempt resulted in the papal condemnation at that time, he offers an interesting point of discussion for us today regarding tradition and experience within the Christian faith, and also regarding how the absolute uniqueness of Christ, which maintains the identity of Christian faith, can find reconciliation with other religions.

Bibliography Athanasius. 1973. Athanase D’Alexandrie : Sur L’Incarnation du Verbe. Sources chrétiennes

199. Paris: Cerf.Cyril. 1863. Cyrillus Alexandrinus: Quod unus sit Christus. In Jacques-Paul Migne (Ed.),

Patrologiae cursus completus. Series Graeca 75: 1254-1362.Colledge, E., & McGinn, B. (Eds.). 1981. Meister Eckhart: the Essential Sermons,

Commentaries, Treatises, and Defense. Mahwah, NJ: Paulist.Dalmais, I-H. 1957. Divinisation: II. Patristique Grecque. Dictionaire de spiritualité 3: 1376-

1389.Davies, O. 1990. Why were Eckhart’s propositions condemned? New Blackfriars

71: 433-445.De Guibert, J. 1931. Documenta Ecclesiastica Christianae Perfectionis Studium Spectantia.

Rome: Pontificia Universitas Gregoriana.Denzinger, H., & Schönmetzer, A. (Eds.). 1976. Enchiridion Symbolorum: Definitionum et

declarationum de rebus fidei et morum. 36th ed. Freiburg: Herder.Jonas, H. 1992. The Gnostic Religion: The Message of the Alien God and the Beginning of

Christianity. 2nd ed. London: Routledge.Quint, J. (Ed.). 1958. Meister Eckhart: die deutschen Werke, Band 1. Stuttgart:

Kohlhammer.Quint, J. (Ed.). 1971. Meister Eckhart: die deutschen Werke, Band 2. Stuttgart:

Kohlhammer.Ueda, S. 1965. Die Gottesgeburt in der Seele und Durchbruch zur Gottheit: Die mystische

Anthropologie Meister Eckharts und ihre Konfrontation mit der Mystik des Zen-Buddhismus. Studien zu Religion, Geschichte und Geisteswissenschaft, Band. 3. Gütersloh: Gerd Mohn.

Walshe, M. O’C. (Ed.). McGinn, B. (Rev.). 2009. The Complete Mystical Works of Meister Eckhart. Crossroad: New York.

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Zimmermann, A., & Sturlese, L. (Eds.). 1994. Meister Eckhart: die lateinischen Werke, Band 3. Stuttgart: Kohlhammer.

Zimmermann, A., & Sturlese, L. (Eds.). 2006. Meister Eckhart: die lateinischen Werke, Band 5. Stuttgart: Kohlhammer.

Satoshi KiKuCHi, Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies, Catholic University of Leu-ven, Belgium. Area of scientific interest: medieval mystical literature.

Seeing and Believing in Resurrection Narratives

Valdas MACKELA

AbstractIn resurrection narratives of New Testament disciples after seeing an empty tomb finally come to belief that Jesus is risen from the dead. Among the resurrection narratives the episode of doubting Thomas in Gospel of John is very characteristic in this aspect. The exceptionality of appearance of the risen Jesus to Thomas lies in the fact that it presents the relation between seeing and believing. More spe-cifically, it shows the significance of believing after, or because of, having seen the risen Christ, and believing without having seen him. But in apocryphal gospel that bears his name, Thomas is presented not as doubting or unbelieving, but the one who understands Jesus and his teaching better than the rest of apostles. Recent theory presents gospels according to Thomas and John as gospels in conflict advo-cating respectively “vision mysticism” and “faith mysticism”. In my paper plan to examine issues of experience and tradition in the way how orthodox tradition of apostolic witness of risen Jesus Christ is related to heterodox tradition of visio dei that comes via esoteric understanding of Jesus teaching.

valdas MaCkELa, lecturer at the Faculty of Catholic Theology, Vytautas Magnus Univer-sity, Lithuania. Area of scientific interest: gnosticism, Church Fathers.

Tradition of the Genre in the Age of Intertextuality. Wojciech Kilar’s “Te Deum”

Anna WIECZOREK

AbstractVarious approaches function in the 20th- and 21st-century music to tradition and to that which is deep-rooted in tradition: genres, types, and assumed patterns. On one hand we witness a return to tradition, whereas on the other – composers distance themselves from everything that was written in history as prescribed in

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advance, genre-specific. Carl Dahlhaus perceives “a decline or weakening of types and genres” (Dahlhaus 2007: XI) in new music; he observes “a process of emanci-pation from type” resulting in a composition which has to “rely on itself”, to some extent, “without a backbone from any pattern that would provide its frames or support” (Dahlhaus 2007: 110). Herman Danuser also presents the phenomenon of “musical genre disintegration”, at the same time noticing a reverse tendency, i.e. “a return to the genre category” (Danuser 1984: 400). In 2008 Wojciech Kilar composed his Te Deum for solo voices, chorus and orchestra to a Latin text of a Medieval hymn Te Deum laudamus. The hymn of Te Deum, as a genre, is a poetic and musical composition intended for group singing, whose primary function is that of a cult, liturgy. Hymns are presumed to have an eulogic and suppliant na-ture; thus its dominant expressive category is solemn, ceremonial, dignified, fes-tive, pompous, beseeching and contemplative tone. Kilar’s composition fulfils the basic objectives of a hymn written in the history of the genre in many respects. The composer refers to tradition numerous times: by using authentic Medieval Latin and cantata-oratory performance cast, by archaizing manipulations and the use of quotes from Polish church songs. However, at the same time the composition may be included most definitely into the circle of intertextual culture, combining many centuries of tradition with the 20th-century composer’s technique and a clear reference to his contemporary composers. Kilar’s Te Deum constitutes a con-temporary example of a return to traditional religious music filled with the spirit of prayer, contemplation and meditation.

keywords: tradition, genre, hymn, Kilar, Te Deum

True tradition is not a testimony to the past. It is a living force which invigorates and shapes the present.

Igor Stravinsky

Igor Stravinsky, a composer who also wrote about music a lot, included in Poetique musicale his own position towards tradition. In his opinion tradition is the result of “a conscious and thought-out acceptance” (Stravinsky 1980: 42). He also writes, that “tradition suggests the reality of what lasts, and is a familiar commodity, a heritage which you receive providing you render it productive (...). Tradition is re-ferred to in order to create something new. Thus we owe tradition for the conti-nuity of art”. Following Stravinsky’s concept “tradition invigorates and shapes the present, at the same time allowing an artist to create something new” (Stravinsky 1980: 43).

1. the genre category

Especially in the music of the 20th and 21st centuries, we witness, on one hand, a return to tradition, whereas on the other – composers distance themselves from everything that was written in history as prescribed in advance, genre-specific. Carl Dahlhaus notices “atrophy or remission of types and genres” (Dahlhaus 2007: XI) in new music; observes “a process of emancipation from type” resulting in a composition which has to “rely on itself”, to some extent, “without a backbone

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from any pattern that would provide its frames or support” (Dahlhaus 2007: 110). Herman Danuser also presents the phenomenon of “musical genre disintegra-tion”, at the same time noticing a reverse tendency, i.e. “a return to the genre category” (Danuser 1984: 400). In Michał Głowiński’s opinion, “the age and tra-ditionalism of genre make it so obvious, and so deeply rooted into out cultural consciousness, that it is enough to accept it, that is acknowledge its existence a priori” (Głowiński 1983: 79). Such an approach allows above all to “correctly clas-sify a composition”, and this in turn guarantees, in Adam Kulawik’s opinion, its “correct understanding” (Kulawik 1997: 156). There is a conviction in the theory of literature that “a genre possesses its own inner memory, which allows it to continuously reform while at the same time maintaining memories of its past” (Głowiński 1983: 105). Mikhail Bakhtin claims that, “a genre continues to regene-rate and restore itself [...] in each individual composition of a given genre.” Fur-ther on he states that “a genre lives in the present but always remembers its past, its beginning” (Głowiński 1983: 105).

2. Kilar’s Te Deum

Te Deum by Wojciech Kilar (born in 1933) for solo voices, choir and orchestra was written in 2008 to a Latin text of a medieval hymn, as a composition dedicated to the composer’s wife, Barbara, who died a year before. The composition is made up of five parts creating a series-reprise form. The sound material is typical for Kilar’s work from his recent years: dominated by diatonics, a material both tonal as well as modal. The general principal of forming sound matter is a concept of repetitive-ness: single tones, motifs, phrases. The composition’s tonal frame constitutes of C-major key. It is maintained in a slow and only slightly moderate tempo and in loud and very loud dynamics (between mf and ff), with a majority of duple met-re. Amongst the expressive marks there are, among others: maestoso, misterioso, dolce e cantabile, dolce e sereno.

The hymn of Te Deum laudamus is firmly and strongly rooted in the tradition of the Christian Church. Its history reaches back to the 14th century. Until this day, the author of this most famous and popular medieval hymn is unknown1. Te Deum laudamus is a breviary hymn for Sunday and holiday Lauds. In time it emancipated from the Liturgy of the Hours and became an independent basis for many monu-mental compositions written for especially grand church and state ceremonies by composers of many epochs (Czajkowski 1998: 30, 31). The hymn of Te Deum, as a genre, is a poetic and musical composition intended for group singing, whose primary function is that of a liturgy. Hymns are presumed to have an eulogic and suppliant nature, they are a solemn praise of God. Thus, its dominant expressive category is solemn, ceremonial, dignified, festive, pompous, beseeching and con-templative tone.

1 Although Saint Ambrose, the Bishop of Milan is considered to be the author of most of the first me-dieval Latin hymns, it is most probable that Saint Nicetas, the Bishop of Remesiana wrote the hymn of Te Deum laudamus (Remesiana is the antique name of the present-day Bela Palanka, Serbian town), and not by Saint Ambrose, as it was thought for centuries. However, this version has not yet been confirmed.

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3. Tradition of the genre in Kilar’s Te Deum

The reference to tradition of Kilar’s Te Deum may be indicated in at least two as-pects: in the sphere of genre references to the characteristic qualities of a medieval hymn, as well as in the area of a widely understood intertextual dependencies.

3.1

One of the most visible and obvious displays of references to tradition in Kilar’s composition is the original, Medieval Latin which the composer used not omit-ting even one word from the 14th-century text of the hymn. Following the many-century tradition, hymns were intended for group singing performed by the whole community. Thus, it is no surprise that the composer used the full sound of a symphonic orchestra, choir and soloists for his 21st-century work. The cantata-oratory cast is characteristic after all for many other compositions of this genre mainly from the 19th and 20th centuries. The composer achieved the solemn, eu-logic nature typical for hymns by, inter alia, using appropriate instruments. The triumphant fanfares of brass instruments and timpani opening the composition introduce an air of unusual celebration initiating a melody which is then repeated by choir sopranos. Kettledrums are the only percussion instruments Kilar applied. They emphasise the solemn mood from the very first bars of Te Deum resounding tremolo at a forte dynamic; whereas in the further course of the composition, they support the correct organisation of musical time.

Example 1. W. Kilar, te Deum, part I, bars 1-8

The work’s eulogic nature is completed by expressive designations entered in the score, such as maestoso (appearing three times in the compositions), miste-rioso (four times), dolce e cantabile or dolce e sereno. These designations point to the most essential qualities of the composition, such as majesty and mystery, melodiousness and sweetness, brightness and radiance. The tonal frames of the composition consisting of the C major key also emphasise the characteristic air of Kilar’s hymn. The author’s application of this key is firmly justified by musical tradi-tion, because the C major key is associated, among others, with grandeur /Hennig

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1897/, religious feelings and innocence /Pauer 1877/, and most of all with power and majesty /Müller 1830/ (Mianowski 2000: 44).

Apart from the eulogic tone – solemn and festive – suppliant and prayerful tones are also typical for a hymn. These are favoured by the positioning of accents on words that are particularly significant in a suppliant prayer, such as for example the invocation of “Christe”. The composer highlights it with melisma – figure which is extremely rare in his work – on one hand paying homage to the divine name, whereas on the other attempting to ensure that the words of his prayer are heard out. It is distinctive that this invocation to God particularly emphasised in the com-position is delegated to the bass solo part, which evokes the liturgical, melodious prayer of a priest.

Example 2. W. Kilar, Te Deum, part II, bars 1-16

The litany-like Miserere from the last part of the composition is a fragment of an exceptionally expressive suppliant nature. A regular pulse in an even metre, the rhythmic ostinato unisono of strings and grand piano and the words of a besee-ching “have mercy upon us” evoke the pace of a funeral procession. Its plead-ing nature is increased by the sounds of a melancholy, “cruel and dark” /Lavignac 1895/ B minor key, although also associated with peaceful anticipation and patient hope /Pauer 1877/ (Mianowski 2000: 44). The semantics of this key clearly adds to the prayer’s sense, while bestowing upon it a tone of deep sorrow, also lending it hope for being heard out, mercy and salvation.

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Example 3. W. Kilar, Te Deum, part V, bars 20-30

The composer touches many times upon tradition also through references to idioms characteristic for the music of other periods applying, among others, ar-chaisations as well as using quotations and alluding to church songs. There are also distinct references to certain qualities of other composers’ styles. The nature of typical archaisation referring to the style of the old epochs is visible in the first part: Te gloriosus apostolorus chorus, which is dominated by the sound of perfect fifths in a six-voice a capella choir texture, associated with medieval organum.

Example 4. W. Kilar, Te Deum, part I, bars 73-79

The beginning of the composition is an example of quoting fragments of other works in Kilar’s Te Deum. The melody which the composer uses comes from the Graduale Simplex collection and constitutes a song of “Halleluiah” popular in the Catholic church and intended for the so-called Ordinary Time. The composer’s de-formation of the melody consists of, in fact, keeping only its incipit, that is the first six notes, while the rhythm and intervals are slightly changed in its further course.

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Example 5. Initial theme of Kilar’s Te Deum

Example 6. Halleluiah from Graduale Simplex (Ordinary Time Mass I, Verse in Mode VIII c)

Using one of the most popular melodies of Halleluiah, in the face of the com-poser’s dedication of the composition and the difficult times in Kilar’s life prece-ding the creation of this work (death of his wife), subtly symbolises faith in resur-rection and the Christian hope for life after death.

Kilar’s Te Deum contains visible references to stylistic qualities of the music of other composers, and most distinctly to Henryk Mikołaj Górecki’s (1933-2010) mu-sic. Kilar seems to refer to Górecki’s specific composer’s technique and the charac-teristic manner of developing sound matter. Górecki’s typical technique of chord manipulation in string quintet parts also appears in Kilar’s Te Deum. It consist of a major second fluctuation of tetrads known if only from Beatus Vir or Symphony no. 3 of Sorrowful Songs.

Example 7. W. Kilar, Te Deum, part III, bars 75-83

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Example 8. H. M. Górecki, Symphony no. 3 of Sorrowful Songs, part III

While discussing Górecki’s music, it is worth pointing out another characteris-tic quality, i.e. a specific role of a grand piano and a harp in his music. For Górecki, both of these instruments, first of all in connection with strings, played a signifi-cant expressive role, for example in Ad Matrem or Symphony no. 3 of Sorrowful Songs. In Teresa Malecka’s opinion, the grand piano in Górecki’s music is of “key significance”, and its sound is “an inseparable element of that music, co-creating its specific sound aura, lending it, one might say, an outright individual brand”

(Malecka 2012: 315). The grand piano and the harp also appear in Kilar’s Te Deum. The grand piano usually doubles the vocal and instrumental sounds, or fills up the timbre space in long freely resounding single sounds and chords.

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Example 9. W. Kilar, Te Deum, part II, bars 1-27

Composers’ purposeful references to fragments of other compositions and in-cluding them into their own works make Kilar’s Te Deum most definitely a part of intertextual culture which combines the many centuries of tradition with the 20th-century composer’s technique. Kilar’s composition fulfils the basic objectives of a hymn written in the history of the genre in many respects, constituting a modern example of returning to the traditions of religious music, full of spirit of prayer, contemplation and meditation. Most definitely, Te Deum is not Wojciech Kilar’s last word on the subject. As the composer admits himself that “there is nothing else that would influence art, especially music and painting, than an inspiration from religion, faith and holy texts. This is the most powerful and most significant area of music. So many trends have passed, so many forms have died, whereas the inspira-tion with holy texts is unfailing” (Dowód na istnienie... 2000).

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BibliographyCzajkowski, S. 1998. Hymn. Od psalmu i hymnu do songu i Liedu. Muzyka i liryka.

Zagadnienia genologiczne: rodzaj – gatunek – utwór. Kraków: Akademia Muzyczna.Dahlhaus, C. 2007. Estetyka muzyki. Warszawa: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu

Warszawskiego.Danuser, H. 1984. Die Musik des 20. Jahrhunderts. Neues Handbuch der Musikwissenschaft.

Vol 7. Ed. Carl Dahlhaus. Laaber: Laaber-Verlag.Dowód na istnienie Boga. O muzyce sakralnej dla “Gościa Niedzielnego” mówi Wojciech

Kilar. 2000. Warszawa: “Gość Niedzielny” no. 47.Głowiński, M. 1983. Gatunek literacki i problemy poetyki historycznej. Genologia polska.

Wybór tekstów. Warszawa: PWN. Kulawik, A. 1997. Poetyka. Wstęp do teorii dzieła literackiego. Kraków: Wydawnictwo

Antykwa.Malecka, T. 2012. On the Peculiar Role of the Piano in the Oevre o Henryk Mikołaj Górecki.

Beethoven (5). Studien und Interpretationen. Natur und Kultur. Kraków: Akademia Muzyczna.

Mianowski, J. 2000. Semantyka tonacji w niemieckich dziełach operowych XVIII-XIX wieku. Toruń: Wydawnictwo Adam Marszałek.

Stravinsky, I. 1980. Poetyka muzyczna. Kraków: PWM.

anna WiECzOREK, PhD student of the Academy of Music in Krakow, Poland. Area of sci-entific interest: contemporary music founded on religious basement.

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Session III – B

Bonds and Memories in the Sacred Space

orsolya GYÖNGYÖSSY

In theological point of view, church (as a building) is a place where Heaven con-nects to the Earth, where the important turning points of lifetime became conse-crated and socially legitimated, where the sacred dynamism of the year denoted on every feast and mass. For art historians, non-believers and tourists’ church is a memento of the bygone past, basically an interesting, mystical spectacle and historical-aesthetical factum. For local communities the „Church of Ours” is the source of collective identity, a place what we are proud of. „Church/Churches of Ours” represents the unbroken chain with the ancestors even for those who are not the member of the church community but living in the same settlement.

I presume that the holy space, the church inside is not homogene in the indi-vidual’s point of view. There are several factors which could shape our subjective bonds to different altars and sculptures in the church we are attending, such as aesthetical reasons, memories, beloved cults, saints and so on. This statement is also valid regarding the seats in the church. Beside these ultra-subjective determi-nants we also have to count with local and family traditions and other objective circumstances (e.g. temperature, acoustic).

In my experimental study I attempt to analyze the cognitive maps of the female members of a Roman Catholic family. This case study emphasizes the more and more fragmented nature of personal religiosity which reduces the common plat-form of family bonds and the viability of narrative heritage.

orsolya GyönGyössy, scientific assistant, museologist, ethnographer; Museum Directo-rate of Veszprém County, Veszprém, Hungary.

Via Margaritarum, the Revitalized Cult of St. Margaret of Hungary and the Spirit of Penance

Gábor BARNA

St. Margaret of Hungary was the 7th child of the Hungarian King Béla IV. During the Mongolian invasion (1241-1242) she was offered up by her parents as penance for the eliberation of the Hungarian Kingdom. She became Dominican none and was living in the Dominican monastery on the Rabit-island of the Danube (today Margaret-island). She died very early and was buried in the chapel of the monas-tery, which is now ruined. In the last century there were archeological excavation here. Her calendar feast is on 18th January.

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She was venerated as Beata (Blessed, 1276) during the centuries. Her canoni-zation process went up very slowly and at least she was sanctified only in 1943, during the WW II as a result of a nationwide spiritual co-operation of the clergy and laic people with the Pope Pius XII. The Soviet occupation and communist polit-ical turn just after the WWII pressed her veneration back. Societies were dissolved, journals were banned which served in the previous decades her veneration and cult. A huge mass movement among Hungarian Catholics rapidly disappeared.

Small sign of the reweakening of her cult is that since 21st of January 1979 there are Holy Masses at the ruins ont he Margaret-island pontificated allways by the archbishop of Esztergom which collect people mostly from Budapest. There are also Holy Masses in other places of the country. Interpreting the pilgrimag-es as tools of penance and atonement, in 2006 a via Margaritarum was opened between two important places of pilgrimage Mátraverebély-Szentkút (official na-tional shrine in Hungary) and Mariazell (Austria which was functioning practically as national shrine of Hungarians till the political turn in 1990). Organizers in this way combine the personal penance of St. Margaret and that of the long distance pilgrimage, comparing the situation in the 13th century with actual everyday life of the country, offering troubles to atonement for mistakes and sins of the contem-porary Hungarian society.

Gábor barna, professor, Department of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology, University of Szeged, Hungary. Area of scientific interest: pilgrimage, religious movements.

Al-Andalus and Java: Still a Sanctuary for Interconnecting Religions and Traditions?

Hee sook LEE-NIINIOJA

Al-Andalus refers to a period (711-1492) between the initiation of Umayyad Go-ver nors and the Catholic Monarch’s victory. Abd al-Rahman I made Cordoba his capital as a crowing achievement of Islam, but Christians and Jews adapted them-selves to the new situation without major problems, due to the Muslim rulers’ tolerance. This continued under the Christian rule after Alfonso VI’s capture of Toledo (1085). Muslim artisans constructed sacred buildings, and vegetal motifs in Santa Maria La Blanca Synagogue (1250) prove how ornamental strategies in Islamic buildings beautified a Jewish temple beyond ideological boundaries. In Java, Islam became the dominant religion (16C), but the basic patterns of ances-tral, mythical belief and Hindu-Buddhism were integrated within Sufi Islam. Sufi precept of ‘universal toleration’ could negotiate with pre-Islamic culture to affirm ‘oneness of God’. Sufis believed mosques to be sacred, thus pre-Islamic ornamen-tation became a means for Islamisation, combining indigenous and Islamic ideas and forms.

keywords: Al-Andalus, Java, Hindu-Buddhism and Islam, Intercultural, Traditions

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Intercultural Communication

The term “intercultural” defines ‘between or among people of different cultures’. Originally referring to comparative studies on statistical compilations of cultural data, this term began to achieve a sense of cultural interactivity: how people from dissimilar cultures, religions, and traditions behave, communicate and perceive the world around them. Intercultural communication was put into practice as old as mankind, initiated to practical contacts between different tribal cultures when they met at the first time. History has full stories of peoples’ willing to learn and understand other languages and cultures through a variety of means such as tra-vel, trade, pilgrimage, colonization, etc. However, it was the latter half of the 20th century that intercultural communication became a field of systematic study, due to recognition of cultural diversity as a decisive factor in communication.

The famous anthropologist Clifford Geertz (1973) claims that culture is “a his-torically transmitted pattern of meaning embodied in symbols, a system of inhe-rited conceptions expressed in symbolic forms by means of which men communi-cate, perpetuate, and develop their knowledge about and attitudes toward life”. Culture can be regarded as a set of social rules, supplying a framework that gives meaning to events, objects, and people. And through these rules, we can make sense of our environments, decreasing uncertainty of the social circumstance. Therefore culture is (1) learned, (2) transmitted to inter-generations, (3) symbolic, (4) dynamic, and (5) ethnocentric. Culture allows us to engage in several forms of social intercourse needed for constructing and conveying culture (Samovar, Porter and McDaniel 2009).

La Convivencia of toledo in Al-Andalus (711-1492)

Toledo is a municipality located in central Spain, 70 km south of Madrid. The city was declared by UNESCO in 1986 a World Heritage Site as a place of coexistence of Christian, Jewish and Moorish cultures. Under the Caliphate of Cordoba, Toledo had a golden age known as La Convivencia (the co-existence of Christians, Jews and Muslims). It was again the capital of the rich Taifa Muslim kingdoms as a strug-gling point between the Muslims and Christians.

Three main religious groups existed: Christians, Muslims and Jews. The Mus-lims, united on the religious level, had several ethnic divisions; the main being the distinction between the Berbers and the Arabs. Mozarabs were Christians who lived under the Muslim rule and adopted some Arabic customs, art and words, keeping their Christian rituals and Romance languages. And due to the tolerance of Muslim rulers, Christians and Jews adapted themselves to the new situation without major problems. Each community inhabited distinct neighbourhoods in the cities, but in the 10th century a massive conversion of Christians took place, thus muladies (Christians who converted to Islam after the arrival of the Moors) comprised the majority of the population of al-Andalus by the century’s end.

In 1085, Alfonso VI of Castile conquered Toledo and set up direct personal con-trol. This was the first concrete Reconquest taken by Christian Leon-Castile kingdoms, and in the 13th century, the city became a major cultural centre under the guidance of Alfonso X, called “El Sabio” (the Wise) for his love of learning. The program of

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translations began under Archbishop Raymond of Toledo and brought vast know-ledge of academic and philosophical works in Arabic into Latin to Europe.

Moreover large communities of Muslims and Jews built their religious monu-ments, such as Santa Maria la Blanca and El Transito synagogues, Cristo de la Luz mosque before their expulsion from Spain in 1492. Privileges were offered to Christians and Jews, but Mudejar architecture was created by Muslim artisans (“mudejar”) who were working for them in this Christian territory. Particularly, at Santa Maria la Blanca, Muslim artisans served a vibrant Jewish community accor-ding to its need for a worship place.

santa Maria la Blanca

Santa Maria La Blanca is originally known as the “Ibn Shushan Synagogue”. As the congregational synagogue of Toledo, it currently serves as museum. Erected in 1180 and rebuilt in 1350 on the side of an earlier structure, it is disputably the oldest, still standing synagogue building in Europe. The interior has a basilical structure with five narrow naves stretching from east to west; the central one being higher than the rest and separated by arcades with large circular horseshoe arches, hinting a Christian Mozarabic influence. The arcade is supported on octagonal columns of brick with a tiled plinth, which is rendered in plaster. It is characteristic of Mudejar building tech-nique, while the ultra-semicircular arcade is another attribute of Mudejar taste.

In fact, the Mudejar style is a symbiosis of techniques and ways of understand-ing architecture resulting from Islamic and Christian cultures living side by side on the Iberian Peninsula in the 12th century. As it reinterpreted of Western cultural styles through Islamic influences, the dominant geometrical character is distinc-tively Islamic.

Islamic Almohad pine motif in santa Maria La Blanca (1180)

Noticeably, the capitals using vegetal ornament of Islamic Almohad pine cones witness how ornamental strategies often seen in Islamic buildings can serve a Jew-ish temple, in order to add beauty without religious conflicts. Adapting Almohad architectural tradition to a non-Muslim context, the synagogue represents Mude-jar architecture, developed out of the complex interaction between the Islamic, Christian, and Jewish cultures. The use of the multi-lobular blind arcade shows how common ornamental elements in Islamic buildings of al-Andalus could be

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incorporated into a Jewish building. The intercultural communications in Toledo is an outstanding example of interconnecting religions and traditions.

A regional Approach to Islamic Culture in Java, Indonesia

During the introduction of Islam into the Malay Peninsular around the 13th cen-tury, Islam not only changed local cultural landscapes, but also created a unique regional heritage with areas which they came into contact, to comply with its re-ligious and philosophical ideas. The expression of faith in art and architecture ar-ticulated the creed of Islam and produced complexity of regional variations. First, living in a spirit of tolerance, flexibility, and openness, the Malay people were able to accept changes through careful selection, reflection, and modification without discarding their wealthy cultural traditions. They witnessed Hindu-Buddhist, Chi-nese, Islamic and western cultures through their lifestyle. Second, the appearance of Islam to the Archipelago coincided with an era of zealous spiritualism in the Islamic world. Appeared in Persia, Sufi mysticism followed the Mongol seizure of Baghdad (1258) and rapidly spread through international trade routes. Local ar-tists drew inspiration from a diverse heritage and selected to transform existing symbolism in accordance with Islam.

Moreover, the close relationship between the rulers and Islam was spatially symbolized by placing king’s palaces adjacent to the grand mosque and the town’s centre. In the case of Java, Islam replaced Hinduism and Buddhism by the end of the 16th century, but the Islamic Mataram kingdom patterned itself after the Hin-du Majapahit, and practised mystic animism, Hindu-Buddhism, European pomp, and Islamic circumstance.

The common heritage in mosques reflects the close political relationship be-tween Muslim rulers in different regions. Until the late 19th century, mosques were constructed in a vernacular style with a Hindu-Buddhist multi-tiered roof, using mostly wood to accommodate local conditions. The persistence of indige-nous buildings had to take into account the local profusion of natural resources and variable climates, resulting in exuberant and diverse architectural styles. Ele-ments associated with Islamic architecture, such as the dome and geometric orna-ment, do not feature in these traditions.

Agung Demak, Demak, Central Java (1479)

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Despite the influence of pre-Islamic beliefs and art forms on the pattern of life, a bond between Islam and local culture has been firm, because existing forms encouraged Javanese to accept the Islamic ideologies. The idea of ‘Godliness’ of their ancestors and the primary aesthetics of cosmological belief in Malay were penetrated into Islamic cosmology in a form of syncretic culture. The three-tiered roof of the mosque symbolizes the mystical paths to God as well.

It is known that the avoidance of figurative representation differentiates Islamic art from Hindu-Buddhist aesthetic style, but here Islamic art needed reconciliation of the ambivalent relationship between the two religions, caused by the ruler’s indigenous belief of the magic in art. Accordingly, the depiction of non-Islamic ima-ges, to name a few, the Hindu deity Ganesha or zoomorphic and anthropomorphic symbols combined by Koranic calligraphy was to be understood in the context of the earlier animism.

Lotus Buds in Javanese Muslims’ Imagination

Islamic poets describe the flower as a book, where one can study the knowledge about God. And Hindu-Buddhist lotus is likely to be the most influential in Islamic buildings. Hindu mythology says that the world consists of atman (the soul) and maya (illusion), and its creation was symbolized by the growth of lotus. As the pri-mordial lotus grew from the waters of eternity, bringing Brahma, god of creation, and all other creations, it became a dominant motif in representing creation and sanctity.

In Hindu-Buddhist temples of Central Java, the lotus in a form of bud or flower was extensively used for wall decoration, signifying ideal beauty and integrating natural forms and supernatural power. The identity of the primeval lotus and Dhar-ma (mystical doctrine) is fundamental in Mahayanist (Great Vehicle) Buddhism. As creator and supporter of the Cosmic Tree, the lotus became the pattern for the abstract notions of Dharma, preached by the Buddha.

Prambanan Hindu temple (8-9C), Kalasan Buddhist temple (9C), Astana Mantingan Mosque (1559), Menar Kp Melayu Mosque (1820)

Of course, Javanese Muslims wished to continue this motif, proved on the gold-en lotus bud at Menar Kp Melayu mosque (1820) which reminds of the sacred gold-en lotus buds in temples. A lotus bud of Hindu Prambanan temple held by a hand

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of a goddess was transferred to an Islamic one at the entrance of Astana Mantingan mosque (1559). The symbolic life of Hindu-Buddhist lotus buds in Javanese mosques displayed the continuity with a variety of influence across time and space.

Why so? Are (1) a tolerant attitude between incoming Islam and Javanese’ acceptance of it, and (2) strong conscience of keeping their tradition among the population?

It is that the ‘sacredness’ of the lotus, rooted deeply in sacred Javanese tem-ples, was extended to mosques by mystic Sufis. As Javanese mosques were sacred (Isnaeni 1996), any motif in ornamentation became sacred and symbolic too. Java-nese Muslims underline the significance of sacred Hindu-Buddhist ornaments, try-ing to connect them with Islam. A symbolic tree from the Garden of Eden, created by God, continued as an Islamic concept, and Javanese Muslims linked this with the Tree of Life of Hindu-Buddhism. Islamic art became an extension, rather than a change from earlier aesthetic traditions, caused by the inspiration of the Javanese, creating a regional Islamic culture and identity.

remarks

Javanese term of ‘Bhinneka Tunggal Ika’ (unity in diversity) stresses the Javanese identity and culture. Java was the centre where animism, Hindu-Buddhism and Is-lam coexisted, moving toward a syncretic Islamic religion. Living in peace, tradition and cultures are the first to be considered than faiths and religions. According to an interview held in 2005 with Tjandrasasmita, a distinguished Indonesian scholar in Islamic archaeology, he claimed that Javanese Islam has a few distinct characte-ristics. Javanese Muslims are greatly conscious of continuity of their cultural heri-tage which was created by the local genius across centuries.

Returning to al-Andalus in the Iberian Peninsular, Menocal (2002) argued that “tolerance was an inherent aspect of Andalusian society”. In her view, the Jewish and Christian believers living under the Caliphate, despite fewer rights than Mus-lims, were better than those in other parts of Christian Europe. Jews (5% of the population) who were emigrated to Al-Andalus were treated with dignity, being a key centre of Jewish life during the early Middle Ages.

We know that for individuals, religious toleration is the condition of accepting or permitting others’ religious beliefs and practices which disagree with one’s own. In this regard, we can link to a comment expressed by the German linguist Karlfried Knapp (1999): “Intercultural communication can...be defined as the interpersonal interaction between members of different groups, which differ from each other in respect of the knowledge shared by their members and in respect of their linguis-tic forms of symbolic behaviour”.

Based on the investigation of al-Andalus and Java as well as all the arguments, the both places were once a sanctuary for interconnecting religions and traditions. A question arises. Is this atmosphere still valid and intact in these areas? Whatever it is, it seems to me that when there appears intercultural communication on cul-tural heritages, the idea of tolerance can take place towards any forms of religions and traditions, either common or uncommon between them, preparing a safe ha-ven for interconnecting them.

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BibliographyBennett, James. 2005. Crescent Moon - Islamic Art and Civilization in Southeast Asia. Art

Gallery of South Australia.Curtis, William. 1985. Regional Architecture. In Robert Powell (Ed.), Regionalism

in Architecture. Singapore: Concept Media.Dodds, Jerrilynn Denise (Ed.). 1992. Al-Andalus, the Art of Islamic Spain. New York: The

Metropolitan Museum of Art.Dodds, Jerrilynn Denise, Maria Rosa Menocal and Abigail Krasner Balbale. 2008. The Arts

of Intimacy: Christians, Jews, and Muslims in the Making of Castilian Culture. New Haven: Yale University Press.

Frishman, M and Hasan Khan (Eds.). 1994. The Mosque: Historical, Architectural Development and Regional Diversity. London: Thames & Hudson.

Geertz, Clifford. 1973. The Interpretation of Cultures. New York: Basic Books.Isnaeni, Hendrajaya. 1996.The Javanese Mosque, a Regional Interpretation of Form and

Mystical Concepts. [PhD thesis], University of Melbourne.Knapp, Karlfried. 1999. Meeting the Intercultural Challenge: Effective Approaches

in Research, Education, Training and Business. Sternenfels: Wissenschaft & Praxis.Koentjaraningrat, R.M.1990. Javanese Culture. Singapore: Oxford University Press..Leur, Jacob Cornelis van. 1960. Indonesian Trade and Society: Essays in Asian Social and

Economic History. The Hague and Bandung: W. van Hoeve Ltd.Menocal, Maria Rosa. 2002. The Ornament of the World: How Muslims, Jews and

Christians Created a Culture of Tolerance in Medieval Spain. Boston: Little, Brown and Company.

Prijotomo, Josef. 1992. Ideas Forms of Javanese Architecture. Yogyakarta: Gadjah Mada University Press.

Rogers, J. M. 2005. The Timeline History of Islamic Art and Architecture. Hertfordshire: Worth Press Ltd.

Samovar, Larry A, Richard E. Porter and Edwin R. McDaniel. 2009. Intercultural Communication, A Reader. Boston: Wadsworth Cengage Learning. Subarna, Abay D. 1982. Contribution a l’Etude de l’Art et de l’Architecture de la Premiere

Periode D’Islamisation en Indonesie. [PhD thesis], University of Paris in Pantheon Sorbonne.

Sudradjat, Iwan. 1991. A Study of Indonesian Architectural History. [PhD thesis], University of Sydney.

Tjahjono, Gunawan. 1998. Architecture: Indonesian Heritage. Singapore: Archipelago Press.Tjandrasasmita, Uka. 1985. Le Role de l’Architecture et des Arts Decoratifs dans

l’Islamisation de l’Indonesie.. Archipel. No 29: 29-35.Yatin, Othman. 2005. Malay Arts: Viewing the Dimensions of Creative Expression. In

James Bennett (Ed.), Crescent Moon - Islamic Art and Civilization in Southeast Asia. Art Gallery of South Australia.

hee Sook lEE-niiniOJa, PhD. As a pioneer student in Scandinavia in 1970s, Dr. Hee Sook Lee-Niinioja is specialized on Text-Image and Hindu-Buddhist/Christian/Islamic architec-tural ornamentation. She studied journalism, visual communication, art and architecture, as well as religion, culture and language across the globe. She volunteered humanitarian work and teaching, hoping to enhance dialogues between religions. She is engaged with ICICH-ICOMOS.

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“Stabat Mater” Sequence in the Works of Italian18th-Century composers

renata BOROWIECKA

AbstractThe Stabat Mater poem grew into the liturgy of the Church as a sequence and a hymn. It has also become one of the universal themes in art. It inspired com-posers of various epochs and creative centres and it was expressed in many nu-merous musical interpretations. From among ca 380 compositions which set the text of the sequence to music, a large proportion are 18th-century works of Italian provenience.

Musical interpretations of Stabat Mater by Italian composers were usually in-tended for liturgical or para-liturgical use, although others may also be found that functioned outside the church liturgy and entered into the mainstream of religious concert music. The composition’s function repeatedly influenced its final shape, although it was not always a determining factor.

The music of the Settecento remained in close dependence from social and cultural life. Popular tastes infiltrated the church walls, the expression of which was, for example, religious music. In the 18th-century sacral works conservative elements were combined with a new musical language which resulted from the role of the church standing at that time particularly close to man and his earthly problems. Thus, it seems interesting to view Italian musical interpretations of Sta-bat Mater from the perspective of their performance purpose and to indicate to what extent it influenced the forces, genre, style or the character of a given work. The analysis of the issue will allow to isolate aspects limiting the subjective inter-pretation of artists and to show their cultural and historical community expressed in references to similar musical solutions and means as well as to emphasise what is personal, idiolectic.

keywords: sequence; Stabat Mater; Italy;18th-century composers; sacrum; profanum

The death of Christ, the very centre of the Christian faith, has been unceasingly revisited in countless transcendental meditations to rediscover the sense of Re-demption. The image of the Saviour dying on the cross has not only shaped the European spirituality for centuries, but has also taken a unique place in art. The mystery of the redemptive suffering of Christ is irrevocably mingled with His Mo-ther, who in the hour of death of Her Only-begotten shared His suffering at the foot of the cross. The worship of Mater dolorosa was particularly vividly expressed in the medieval poem Stabat Mater dolorosa. The text has grown into the liturgy of the Church as a sequence and hymn, and has expressively built into the world of musical arts, giving an incessant inspiration to creativity of composers across various centres and ages.

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1. stabat Mater – the word

The genesis of the text

The text of Stabat Mater originated from the late 18th century in Franciscan cir-cles, and Jacopone da Todi (†1306) is most frequently assumed to be the author. To quote Umberto Eco: “In Middle Ages man lived in a world populated with mea-nings, references, hidden senses, signs from God in things and nature…” (Eco 2006: 75), while by Juan Cirlot the middle ages are considered as one of the epochs, where “a symbol was lived and loved the most and understood the best” (Cirlot 2006: 23). As Johan Huizinga underlines Christ and the cross completely domi-nated the medieval mentality (Huizinga 1967: 30).

References to the Holy Bible are clearly traceable in the poem of Stabat Mater. Words that strongly resonated in the Stabat Mater text can be found in the ac-counts of the two Evangelists, namely Saint Luke and Saint John, who both wrote about Simeon’s prophecy and the scene under the cross. Clearly, references to the symbolism of the Cross as the centre of the world are made there. The quoted Evangelic lines also reveal that Mary will suffer at the side of the dying Saviour, and by Her faithful vigil at Her Son’s cross, she would become a member to the eschatic family of Jesus and the Mother of all people (Adamiak 2003; John Paul II 1995).

It was, however, the Christian cult of Mary as Mater Dolorosa, reflected so distinctively in the spirit of the Franciscan school, that directly contributed to the creation of the text to Stabat Mater. It gained gravity at the end of 11th century, when the presence of Mary at Golgotha tended to be frequently emphasised and Her road of anguish was willingly followed (Siudy 2001, no. 3: 124).

Stabat Mater is also rooted in presentations of passions, performed widely over the 12th and 13th centuries, of which the culminating points were Marian lamentations. The Liturgical drama presenting the suffering of Christ and the an-guish of His Mother under the cross appealed stronger to the recipients due to clearly human emotions.

Undoubtedly, mystical and repentant nature of religious fervour of late me-dieval Europe has contributed greatly to the creation of the text as well as to the degree of its later popularity. Pilgrims wandering in processions sang hymns glori-fying the suffering of Christ and His Mother, and over the years the poem Stabat Mater became the most favourite of texts. Around 1390 it was already well known all over the continent (Sharp 1978: 17).

The function of the text

Stabat Mater served primarily as a rhymed prayer to say at quiet, private services, hence many forms of direct reference in the singular first person, are observed. In the long history of the poem, year 1727 appears to be important, when – as observed by Paul-Gerhard Nohl – the liturgy has met and accepted the massive popularity of the text (Nohl 1997: 97). Numerous sources, available today, which reveal diverse versions of both chorale melodies and verbal variants of the poem, its supplements, and transformations, as well as imitations with the most widely known one of Stabat Mater speciosa (Sharp 1978; Faravelli 1983 no. 1), prove how

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widely popular Stabat Mater has become. Interestingly, even the liturgy of the Lent such as Polish Gorzkie Żale (Gorzkie Żale 2007: 83) bears some resemblance to the poem (texts composed in 1707).

The structure and content

In the long text of Stabat Mater, a few coherent parts may be identified, two of which are most distinct. Namely, the lamentation (stanzas 1-8), which depicts hu-man experiences of Mary – a divine person (such an innovative perception that was popular in Franciscan circles), and the suppliant part (stanzas 9-20), where the prayer of man acquires an almost ecstatic tone.

The key element of the content is compassio – empathising with Mary’s suffe-ring, although another thought is also articulated here that salvation, which came through the Cross, may be shared by the faithful by merging in pain with Christ and Mary. Those who pray, entrust themselves to God selflessly and absolutely.

2. stabat Mater – the music. 18th-century interpretations by Italian composers.

The repertoire of musical interpretations of Stabat Mater is quite abundant. It in-cludes approximately 380 compositions (Blume 1992), with the highest number of works adapting this text (approximately 70) originating from the 18th century Italian circle.

The following interpreters of Stabat Mater must be named as the most impor-tant of the Settecento era: Agostino Steffani (1654–1728), Alessandro Scarlatti (1660–1725), Antonio Caldara (ca 1670–1736), Antonio Maria Bononcini (1677–1726), Anto-nio Vivaldi (1678–1741), Emanuele d’Astorga (1680–1757), Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757), Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (1710–1736), Antonio Ferradini (?1718–1779), Tom-maso Traetta (1727–1779) and Luigi Boccherini (1743–1805). All the selected works have been marked as significant achievements in the history of polyphonic musical in-terpretations of the poem, still it shall be noted that Stabat Mater by Pergolesi, played an extraordinary role; it was famous all over Europe within a few years following the author’s death, and it has enjoyed the reputation of a unique work ever since.

The function of composition

The 18th-century compositions to the text of the sequence were applied mainly in liturgy. It is distinct in the ordered works by Vivaldi, as well as A. Scarlatti and Pergolesi. Interestingly, Vivaldi interpreted only the first 10 stanzas of the text. Michael Talbot reminds that “these stanzas are to be sang as a hymn at vespers during two celebrations to the memory of Our Lady of Sorrows (i.e. on 15th Sep-tember, and on Friday preceding Good Friday)” (Talbot 1988: 184-5). Stabat Mater by Vivaldi was supposedly sung during the vesper liturgy on the Feast of Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows during Lent (in 1712 the feast fell on 18th March).

It could be supposed then that also Stabat Mater by D. Scarlatti functioned as a liturgical work, as it was written when the composer was active in Vatican, and the casting corresponds to Cappella Giulia. It should be noted, however, that religious

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music also rang at the papal court, so the supposition on applications other than liturgical cannot be disregarded.

Another musical interpretation by Caldara with the casting increased by trom-bones, typical for Viennese religious music of requiem nature, belong to the Sta-bat Mater solemne group, performed regularly on Holy Saturday by the emperor’s ensemble.

New tendencies towards the so-called sacral music concerts, immensely popu-lar since the middle of the 18th century especially in transalpine countries, were heralded with Stabat Mater by Steffani. It was composed for a secular institution, i.e. the London Academy of Vocal Music, which was to be known further as the Academy of Ancient Music, that promoted performances outside churches. The interpretations by Boccherini and Ferradini most likely also functioned beyond li-turgy. The first one was ordered by a patron unrelated to church. The second, quite extensive and full of inter-references to the oratory genre, definitely crossed the liturgical boundaries.

Forces, genre and style

The function of specific composition did not always govern the forces, genre or style. On the contrary, with time it remained a secondary matter more often.

Firstly, the choice of both vocals and instruments was determined by the spe-cific centre the composition was ordered for, and thus, by its traditions and forces capabilities. Secondly, tendencies dominant in theatre music, along with the predi-lection to solo casting and clear voice timbre, gained significance.

M. Talbot (Talbot 1995: 73) observed that from the end of 17th century, a “motet” of new type, i.e. for solo voices and a continuo accompaniment or a group of instruments, had become dominant in the religious music, and it could be in fact termed as sacred cantata. Such cantata provenience (cantata spiritu-ale) is typical for the highest number of the discussed Stabat Mater compositions, though some references to the early baroque motet, church concert, or oratorio bearing already some features of opera sacra are made.

Alike, the style of particular Stabat Mater remains widely diversified. To high-light the religious character of their works, the authors reached for the expression typical for the Renaissance or the early Baroque. On the other hand though, fol-lowing the secular spirit of the time, they tend to break the established canons by introducing, frequently quite innovative, opera elements. Thus, one musical work was either dominated by, or diffused with diverse styles.

Main content plots versus nodal points of the works

All the composers of Stabat Mater clearly highlighted the important moments of the scene at the cross. They considered the following to be the nodal points of the compositions:

- exordium as drafting the dramatic scene and introducing the main expressive tone for the musical work (stanza 1);

- the moment Christ dies on the cross (stanza 8) as an emphatic closure to a greater thematic and expressive unit;

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- conclusio (final stanzas) constituting the finale (often of a culminate na-ture), bringing the memory of death, but also expressing hope for the glory of the Paradise.

Many artists, such as d’Astorga, Caldara, Bononcini, Traetta, Ferradini, wrote these parts of their compositions for choirs and with polyphonic structures, such as a linear counterpoint, or a newer type of fugato or fugue, thus remaining within the proclaimed rules for sacral music of those times, that required music to be choral and polyphonic; it is worth remembering here Mattheson’s classification into theatrical, chamber and sacral style.

Interpretations by Vivaldi and Pergolesi present extraordinary opening ges-tures of an illustrative and symbolic nature. The composers referred the musical rhetoric convention, but managed to introduce highly individual solutions within that convention. In Vivaldi’s composition it is the sign of the cross (imaginatio crucis) and a ninth interval (saltus duriusculus) introduced in violin parts, and then transformed in solo vocal parts. In Pergolesi’s work – major second disso-nances filled with excruciating pain in the duet for soprano and alto, and further on – sevenths.

The words describing Christ’s death were usually distinguished with figures such as descensus or suspiratio. Some composers used major chords within the cadence, even as distant as e.g. F sharp major triad in a C minor Stabat Mater by D. Scarlatti (tritone relation!). An original solution was proposed in the work by A. Steffani, where a solo bass, whose melodic line takes deep low registers nearly crossing the voice scale, is accompanied by bright sounding strings providing a spe-cific symbol of holiness of Jesus. The musical progression surmounted with a major chord sounds much like a herald of Resurrection. The closing parts of lamentations in Stabat Mater by composers of Settecento era seem to carry the message, which in the 20th century was expressed by Mircea Eliade: “It is through the Cross (=Cen-tre) that it is possible to establish a connection with heaven and thanks to this the whole World is <redeemed>” (Eliade 2009: 226).

The finales of Stabat Mater are reminiscent of death Quando corpus, but ex-press also hope for the glory of the Paradise - paradisi Gloria. It is here that the idea of chiaro-scuro is expressed to its fullest. The Opposition between death and eternal life is showed either by the contrasting tempos (slow-fast) or struc-ture (homophonic-polyphonic). Musical interpretations by D. Scarlatti and A. Stef-fani provide a fascinating approach towards time and space. The text of quando corpus morietur has been rendered by the same type of melodic and rhythmic movement, by maintaining the narrative within the same registers and gradually expanding or limiting the ambitus of the melody. Such interpretation evokes an impression of frozen time, of being immersed in contemplation, and may as well seem to facilitate the evocation and manifestation of sacrum (compare Stróżewski 1989: 23-37).

It has become traditional to finish musical works with polyphonic forms fol-lowing Amen, and the tradition continued into the following centuries. The finale of D. Scarlatti’s composition presents an unusual combination of the old and new musical language. It should be noted here, that the old style prevails over nearly the entire piece. Nevertheless, stile antico is broken with elements of contempo-rary composer’s technique. D. Scarlatti liberates the melodics from strict linearism.

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He applies a double fugue in the final phase, interlacing extensive figurations in vocal parts, which bring to mind a recital technique or solo-tutti arrangements resembling the concert style or concerti grossi. Such innovative measures, similarly as in works by Pergolesi dated several years later, suggestively implicate associa-tions to secular music. Profanum has trespassed sacrum.

Musical interpretations of Stabat Mater focus also on the sword piercing Mary’s soul (including iambic rhythms, altered narrative – recitative blending into arioso), and on the vision of the final judgment day (iambic rhythms, contrasts, e.g. solo-tutti, tirata).

At last, prayers and pleas are brought forwards, which vary in their emotional intensity and are of an individual nature: from a sorrowful plea (i.e. minor Sicili-ana in Vivaldi’s work), through either gentle or mild, or even serene supplications (as no. 8 – the serenade-like aria in Stabat Mater by Boccherini), to an ecstatic prayer, a fervent, sometimes dramatic cry (Pergolesi – Fac ut portem – by means of all’unisono). It should be stressed that specific imploring emotions are not corre-lated to a specific stanza, but are solely dependable on the composer’s invention, which gives their interpretations a subjective perspective.

Pergolesi case

Stabat Mater by Pergolesi was a piece destined for liturgy. Nevertheless, it contained features typical for secular musical language, such as numerous or-naments, figurations, melismas, lively harmonic progress, or specific rhythmic formulas. Overall, the interpretation is dominated by aria-like narrative, with in-strumental parts gaining significance at places. The manifestations of “earthly”, secular elements in religious music, and specifically liturgical, raised waves of de-light and criticism alike. Selected parts of the composition, like Quae moerebat, Eia Mater, Inflammatus, were even considered as musically inadequate to the content of the stanza. The polemic between the defender of the old religious musical style, Padre Martini and Antonio Eximeno, younger by one generation, raised on the encyclopaedic culture, made history. While the former reproached Pergolesi for turning towards opera, which consequently meant prophanising ecclesiastical music, the latter defended the composer stating that “music does not make choices between subjects [religious or secular] but stirs passions; where subjects are sacral, so is the music; where secular aspects are concerned, the music is secular” (Stefani 1970, no. 3: 479). To quote a 20th-century mono-grapher of the composer, Giuseppe Radiciotti: “Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater cannot be termed as sacral music under the exact definition. It is unrelated to liturgi-cal singing. It is a lamentation of the Virgin, a mother’s cry; thus, it is inspired by a profoundly human emotion” (Radiciotti 1910: 188). Although Eximeno and Radiciotti lived nearly 200 years apart, both focus not so much on the function of the composition, as on the emotions it evokes. Certainly, the Pergolesi case is a perfect illustration of the character of 18th-century ecclesiastical music, and shows how it balances between conventions and individual styles, the religious and the secular.

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Conclusions

Concluding the deliberations on Stabat Mater interpretations by Italian composers of the Settecento era, it seems adequate to point to the causes for such blending of religious music with the atmosphere of secular music. Most certainly, it has originated from the social life of those times. Michael Talbot reminds that in the 18th century liturgical observance became a mandatory part of everyday life, and covered all environments, and a popular taste permeated the church walls (Talbot 1995: 82). Adelmo Damerini wrote: “For Italy it was time, when human soul was unable to immerse in impersonal contemplation, or mystical abstraction, but it felt the desire to express earthly passions in religious feelings” (Damerini 1934 nr 3: 189). The major music trends of the epoch also had their influence. The au-thors of Stabat Mater remained under the sway of Italian and foreign towns such as Venice, Rome, Naples, Vienna, Prague and others, where dynamic development of vocal and instrumental genres and significant stylistic transformations were ob-served. Opera seria was the leading genre, where expressive function dominated the performance. Its dramaturgy principles to follow were: varietà – diversification and contrast of passions, chiaroscuro – alternating indistinct and distinct passions, intreccio – tension generated between passions (Strohm 1976: 242-244). Accor-ding to Johannes Mattheson apart from simplicity, candidness and indulgence (Mattheson 1713), evoking and expressing passions constituted the main value of the music of the time.

Another one of the other major genres was the cantata, which was, as accu-rately observed by Carl Dalhaus (Dahlhaus 1985: 84), an experimental ground for opera and oratorio evolving towards opera and cantata over the 18th century, and thus frequently termed as opera sacra. All of these genres significantly influenced the language of sacral music, thus also the forms of the musical interpretations of Stabat Mater.

To conclude, we need to return to the starting point, to the surprisingly high number of 18th-century musical interpretations of Stabat Mater. The considera-tions have led to the following conclusions. The text of the sequence expressed various shades of sorrows, and in the second part reflected also different prayer-ful emotions. The opera composers noticed this and therefore they willingly ad-dressed Stabat Mater, attempting to transfer an opera-like style of shaping drama-turgy and the manner of expressing emotions onto the foundation of a religious composition. The tendency was especially distinct in Naples, the cradle of a new opera style. Thus, it is not surprising to see that the age of hegemony of the Itali-an opera has resulted in numerous Stabat Mater interpretations in the achieve-ments of composers who cultivated this genre. The centuries-long popularity of the text, the incessant cult of the Cross and Mater dolorosa, strongly expressed in the words of the sequence aspect of human compassion and prophanised reli-giousness, rooted in the spirit of the epoch – all this contributes to the final suc-cess of the text. All of these factors “coexisted” together in one place and time and resulted in so numerous musical interpretations of the medieval poem. All these aspects are so strongly interrelated that any attempt to separate them or name the most critical are deemed vain. Undoubtedly, the conglomerate of all of them has given rise to the 18th-century phenomenon of Stabat Mater.

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Bibliography:Adamiak, E. 2003. Mariologia. Poznań: UAM.Blume, J. 1992. Geschichte der mehrstimmigen Stabat-mater-Vertonungen, München-

Salzburg: Musikverlag Emil Katzbichler.Caldwell, J., & Boyd, M. 2001. Stabat Mater dolorosa. The New Grove Dictionary of Music

and Musicians, (ed.) Sadie S. & Tyrrell J., second ed., vol. 24. London: Macmillan.Cirlot, J. E. 2006. Słownik symboli, (translation) Kania, I. Krakow: Wydawnictwo “Znak”.Damerini, A. 1934. Lo spirito della musica religiosa nel settecento italiano. La Rassegna

Musicale 3: 186-197Die Musik des 18.Jahrhunderts, (hrsg.) Dahlhaus, C. 1985. Laaber: Laaber-Verlag (= Neues

Handbuch der Musikwissenschaft, Bd. 5).Eco, U. 2006. Sztuka i piękno w średniowieczu, (translation) Kimula, M.& Olszewski,

M. Krakow: Wydawnictwo “Znak”.Eliade, M. 2009. Obrazy i symbole, (translation) Rodak M.&P. Warsaw: Wydawnictwo

“Aletheia”.Faravelli, D. 1983. Stabat Mater: poesia e musica. Rivista Internazionale di Musica Sacra

1: 9-43Hugh, T. H., & Masiclat, P.-D. (2003). Stabat Mater dolorosa. The Catholic Encyclopedia.

http://www.newadvent.org.Huizinga, J. 1967. Jesień średniowiecza, (translation) Brzostowski, T. vol. II. Warsaw: PIW.John Paul II. 1995. Redemptoris Mater. Wrocław: Tum.Rev. Kałamarz, W. (ed.) 2007. Gorzkie Żale. Krakow: WTKM.Mattheson, J. 1713. Das Neu-Eröffnete Orchestre. Hamburg.Mearns, J. 81907. Stabat Mater. A Dictionary of Hymnology, (ed.) Julian, J. London.Nohl, P.-G. 1997. Das “Stabat Mater”. Musik und Kirche 67: 97-106.Radiciotti, G. 1910. G.B.Pergolesi. Vita, opere ed influenza su l’arte. Roma: Edizione

Musica.Schlagen, K-H., & Marx-Weber, M. 1998. Stabat Mater. Die Musik in Geschichte und

Gegenwart (hrsg.) Finscher L., Sachteil, vol. 8. Kassel-Stuttgart: Bärenreiter-Metzler.Sharp, A.T. 1978. A Descriptive Catalog of Selected, Published Eighteenth- through

Twentieth-Century Stabat Mater Settings for Mixed Voices with a Discussion of the History of the Text. [Ph.D. Thesis], University of Iowa.

Siudy, T. 2001. Wkład Maryi w ewangelię cierpienia. Salvatoris Mater 3, 121-128.Stefani, G. 1970. Padre Martini e l’Eximeno: bilancio di una celebra polemica sulla musica

di chiesa. Nuova rivista musicale italiana 3.Strohm, R. 1976. Italienische Opernarien des frühen Settecento. Analecta Musicologica

16: 242-244.Stróżewski, W. 1989. O możliwości sacrum w sztuce. (ed.) Cieślińska N. Sacrum i sztuka

(pp. 23-37), Krakow: Wydawnictwo “Znak”.Talbot, M. 1988. Vivaldi, (translation) Dunicz-Niwińska, H. Krakow: PWM.Talbot, M. 1995. The Sacred Vocal Music of Antonio Vivaldi. Firenze: Leo S. Olschki.

renata BOROWiECKa, Academy of Music in Kraków, Poland. Area of scientific interest: secular Italian music of the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries (madrigals); religious Italian music of the 18th century; polish contemporary religious music.

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Session III – C

Synaesthetical Theology

“Sinestezinė teologija”

salomėja JASTRUMSKYTĖ

AbstractSynesthesia phenomenon occupies a special place in cultural history, aesthetics and art processes. However, it should be noted that this phenomenon is one of the most urgent and the most striking manifestations since time immemorial has recorded a transcendent experience in context. Synesthesia, on a very general definition of the currently accepted meaning is that of “the transfer of one senses modalities to the other senses modality”, the phenomenon in the XIX - XX of art on its flow considered as endemic, comes from an unlikely, but historically and phenomenologically real intersection of religion, and medicine. Synesthesia is a physical task, religious practices in one way or the other body systems. The nine-teenth century was widely argued, that synaesthesia is a sensory experience of the highest degree, and so bring it close to the human body and mind to transcen-dence. Surprisingly, however, that the unity of the senses and sensations, which directs the numinosum and we can detect it not only in almost every religious law, prophets, teachers tuition, and visions of saints, but also find it reflected and crystallized out in their texts: scriptures, hermeneutic maze, hagiography, in rigid theological systems and so on. While this report confines ourselves only to a rather abstract model of Christian theology, but the basis upon which it is clear that par-ticipation in religious experience synesthesia is immediate, pervasive, and so in some cases it is necessary and legitimized as defined in the religious world view is. From mortifying the senses (anesthesia) to the synaesthetical vortex which lifts the divine realm - in all these cases there is a unity of the senses, the indivisibility of the sensorium, which in one way or another attempt to settle or tilt in favor of a particular religious practice.

SantraukaSinestezijos fenomenas užimą ypatingą vietą kultūros istorijoje, estetikos ir meno procesuose. Tačiau reikia pastebėti, jog šio fenomeno aktualiausios ir ryškiausios apraiškos jau nuo neatmenamų laikų yra registruojamos transcendentinio paty-rimo plotmėje. Sinestezija, bendriausiu šiuo metu priimtu apibrėžimu reiškianti „vienos juslės modalumo perkėlimą kitai juslei“, į XIX–XX a. meno srautą kaip keistas jos endemas, ateina iš neįtikėtinos, bet istoriškai ir fenomenologiškai apčiuopiamos religijos ir medicinos sankirtos. Sinestezija yra kūno duotis, religinės praktikos vienaip ar kitaip yra kūno režimai. XIX a. tapo plačiai teigiama, jog si-nestezija yra aukščiausias sensorinio patyrimo laipsnis ir todėl jis labiau priartina žmogaus kūną ir sąmonę prie transcendencijos. Tačiau nuostabiausia, kad juslių ir

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pojūčių vienovę, kreipiančią į numinozinę sritį, galime aptikti ne tik kone kiekvie-noje religinėje praktikoje, pranašų, mokytojų ir šventųjų vizijose, bet taip pat rasti ją reflektuotą išsikristalizavusiuose jų tekstuose: šventraščiuose, hermeneutiniuo-se labirintuose, hagiografijoje, griežtose teologinėse sistemose ir kt. Nors šiame pranešime apsiribosime tik gana abstrakčiu krikščioniškosios teologijos pavyzdžiu, tačiau juo remiantis tampa akivaizdu, kad sinestezijos dalyvavimas religiniame pa-tyrime yra betarpiškas, persmelkiantis, ir todėl atskirais atvejais legitimuojamas kaip būtina ir apibrėžta religinės pasaulėžiūros dalis. Nuo juslių marinimo (anestez-ijos) iki jų sinestezinio sūkurio, pakeliančio į dieviškąją plotmę – visais šiais atve-jais susiduriama su juslių vienovės, jų nedalumo problema, kurią vienaip ar kitaip mėginama išspręsti ar palenkti naudai konkrečioje religinėje praktikoje.

salomėja JastRuMsKytė, graduated from the University of Šiauliai, obtained a Master’s (art history) degree. Vilnius Academy of Arts student. She is a junior research fellow at the Culture, Philosophy and Art Institute. Vilnius Academy of Arts lecturer. Lithuanian Artists’ Association. Area of scientific interest: philosophy of art, aesthetics, culturology, visual culture studies, visual anthropology.

“Believe God” or “Believe in God”

„Tikėti Dievą“ ar „tikėti į Dievą“

Bronė GUDAITYTĖ

AbstractA man gives a sense to his earthly existence in various ways with regard to Bud-dhist, Islamic or Christian culture. Each religious system containing a certain char-acteristic ethical and metaphysical structure serves as a common basis for an indi-vidual project of existence designed by a man. It is possible to say, although it is not always a rule, that a man living in Western culture gives a sense to his existence, or at least he should, with regard to the way which is essentially characteristic to this culture, in other words, through the perspective of Christian faith. However, what does the ethical and metaphysical basis of Christian faith perspective consist of and what does it mean to give a sense to existence through faith?

It was hard to answer these questions during the first ages of Christianity and it is not so easy to do nowadays, firstly, with regard to difficulties arising from the complex content of the word “faith”. Western Christian tradition from the first Church Fathers, such as St. Augustine, to the great medieval theologians, such as Thomas Aquinas, has constantly been declaring essential difference between the two forms of faith: “believe God” (credere Deum) and “believe in God” (credere in Deum). Nowadays this relation reveals a specific posture of a believer with regard to God: “believe God (Christ) means to acknowledge the fact of God’s existence; [...] believe in God (Christ) means to turn to God, enter and integrate within Christ, become a member of his mystic Body and completely accept Christian faith. The faith is not only an action of mind since it requires a presence of will as well as

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commitment of the whole creation to God”. When a man believes God (credere Deum), he only theoretically acknowledges God‘s existence while when he be-lieves in God (credere in Deum) he confesses God by his whole life.

A man could know a lot about God and consider himself as a believer. Such believers are likely to be observed by social surveys. However, who could count those who are silent in order to listen to a secret heart vibration which teaches unconditionally trust unseen God who refreshes time of earthly existence by giving generous gifts. From the first ages Western Christian tradition considered this form of “believing in God” (credere in Deum) as a basis when through a secret heart vib-ration a man is able to listen to the word of God and devote his whole life to Him. The secret heart vibration characteristic to this form of faith, referring to Thomas Merton, could be called “primary intuition”. When a man believes in God, he relies on his “primary intuition” which is an initial deeper feeling of Pure and Absolute mystery of being – a basis for human relative and conditional existence. It is not knowing about Absolute being but a thing about its experience.

The aforementioned faith aspects of “believe God” as a theoretical one and “believe in God” as a practical one could be distinguished in the statement of un-belief. On one hand, a faithless man could deny God relying on scientific or philo-sophical arguments, in other words, to solve the question of faith (unbelief) in the plane of knowing and still live as if God exists. On the other hand, a man could theoretically acknowledge God but he could deny Him by his human life, in other words, to solve the question of faith (unbelief) in the plane of life. Contrary to the pathos of rationalism in Modern Times, nowadays, referring to Girnius, the question of faith or unbelief “is not expressed in the form of faith and knowing but rather in the form of conflict between faith and life”. At present unbelief is not expressed through theoretical denial of God dwelling on logical arguments but rather through practical denial of God in life itself.

Jean Paul Sartre (1905-1980) and Albert Camus (1913-1960), who are tradi-tionally considered to be representatives of atheist existentialism, in their literary works (“Nausea’ (1938) and “The Words” (1964) by Sartre, “Stranger” (1942) and “Plague’ (1947) by Camus, etc.) described the statement of unbelief containing bigger or smaller deserts of a human heart. The aforementioned thinkers, refer-ring to Herbert Spiegelberg, expressed a mood of despair in French and the whole European thinking at the time relating their ontological existentialism with phe-nomenological philosophy. The philosophy rejects theoretical speculations and provides a description of meditative relation of consciousness with reality of be-ing. Sartre and Camus showed this in their literary works evolving problematicity of possibility to believe or disbelieve.

Referring to Sartre, it is possible to state as follows: statement of unbelief is an inner disorder accepted by a man who lives in it as if it is a special order. In other words, a faithless man lives in the inner disorder and he considers it to be a real order. Nowadays this special inner disorder provided by the statement of unbelief is considered to be a natural and undisputed norm of life. A man looking for God is considered to be an original or a weirdo who does not fit in a size of a frame.

We live in Western Christian culture. However, the majority of people con-sciously or unconsciously do not relate themselves with Christian tradition. In times of sensualism, scientism, pragmatism, liberalism, etc. Christian values do not play

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a fatal role in personal, public, political or cultural life. These spheres of life have obviously become secular. This phenomenon is called by Girnius as a phenomenon of public “dechristianization”. Referring to the aforementioned philosopher, roots of the phenomenon should not be searched in outer things but rather in human hearts, in other words, in their inner remoteness from Christianity. The inner re-moteness, which is a certain disorder of a heart vibration, determines forms of personal and public life in various ways.

In an objective way reality is the same for a believer and a non-believer. How-ever, a believer and a non-believer differently experience a relationship with reali-ty of the world. It divides the same reality into different worlds, in other words, into a world of meaning and a world of absurdity. Declaring his fiat with love and faith, a Christian accepts the world as a gift, whereas faithless consciousness does not accept the world as a gift. The world remains strange for it and it becomes strange for the world.

All created things reflect their Creator for a believer who attempts to defeat his unreal and false “self” of the consciousness and in such a way to educate the inner order. These things become traces of God testifying God’s passing without showing His Face. This is the sphere of the aforementioned expression “believe in God” (credere in Deum) as life in presence of living God. A man directing his existence towards the sphere encounters God as “now and then” Being. His visible traces (a piece of amber or a face of the loved) do not show but rather hide Him implying eternity. Human conversion and re-orientation of his consciousness from false to true “self” and from inactive habits of thinking about God as a center of united meaning of life happen through this daily reading of God’s traces. Referring to Merton, in this life a believer is not converted once and forever. He “converts” many times and this infinite amount of big and small “conversions” eventually changes him in Christ. In time of absurdity, moral chaos, value relativism, nihilism and cynicism a man who longs to get back the lost ability to believe, referring to Frankl, firstly should attempt “to hear ten thousands of laws encoded in ten thou-sands of situations provided by life”. Then his present life will again become mean-ingful (meaning full of tasks) and he himself will be immunized against conformism and totalitarianism since now only awake consciousness allows resisting and living in faith, hope and love.

SantraukaSavo žemiškąją egzistenciją žmogus įprasmina įvairiais bū dais – vienaip budistinėje, kitaip islamiškoje, dar kitaip krikš čioniškoje kultūroje. Viena ar kita religijos sistema su jai bū dinga etine ir metafizine struktūra yra tas bendras pamatas, ant kurio asmuo kuria savo individualų egzistencijos projek tą. Tad galima sakyti, nors ne visuomet taip ir yra, kad Vaka rų kultūroje gyvenantis žmogus savo egzistenciją įprasmina ar bent turėtų įprasminti šiai kultūrai esmiškai būdingu bū du, t. y. krikščioniško tikėjimo perspektyva. Tačiau kas su daro šios krikščioniškos tikėjimo perspektyvos etinį metafizi nį pagrindą? Ir ką gi reiškia egzistenciją įprasminti tikėjimu?

Kaip ir pirmaisiais krikščionybės amžiais, šiandien atsa kyti į šiuos klausimus nėra lengva. Kaip anuomet, taip ir da bar sunkumų visų pirma kyla dėl žodžio „tikėjimas” turinio sudėtingumo. Vakarų krikščioniškoji tradicija, pradedant pir-maisiais Bažnyčios Tėvais (šv. Augustinu) iki didžiųjų Viduramžių teologų (Tomo

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Akviniečio), nuolat kalba apie esmi nį skirtumą tarp dviejų tikėjimo formų – „tikėti Dievą” (credere Deum) ir „tikėti į Dievą” (credere in Deum). Mūsų dienomis šis santykis atskleidžia konkrečią tikinčiojo laikyseną Dievo atžvilgiu: „tikėti Dievą (Kristų) reiškia pripažinti faktą, jog Dievas yra; [...] tikėti į Dievą (Kristų) reiškia visa būtybe kilti į Dievą, įsijungti į Kristų, tapti jo mistinio Kūno nariu, visa prasme pri-imti krikščioniškąjį tikėjimą. Toksai tikėjimas nėra vien tik proto veiksmas, bet jis reikalauja ir valios įsijungimo, viso žmogaus Dievui atsidavimo”. Tikėdamas Dievą (credere Deum), žmo gus tik teoriškai pripažįsta, kad Dievas yra. O tikėdamas į Die-vą (credere in Deum), visu savo gyvenimu Jį išpažįsta.

Žmogus gali būti daug apie Dievą girdėjęs ir laikyti save tikėjimo žmogumi. Tokius tikinčiuosius, ko gero, ir fiksuoja sociologinės ap klausos. Bet kas ir kaip suskaičiuos tuos, kurie nutilo, idant tyloje klausytųsi slapto širdies virpesio, mokančio besąlygiš-kai pasitikėti neregimuoju Dievu, dosniomis dovanomis gai vinančiu srūvantį žemiškos egzistencijos laiką. Nuo pat pir mųjų amžių Vakarų krikščioniškoji tradicija pamatine laikė šią slaptu širdies virpesiu Dievo Žodį išgirstančią ir visu gyve nimu Jam atsiduodančią „tikėjimo į Dievą” (credere in Deum) formą. Šiai tikėjimo for-mai esmiškai būdingą slaptą širdies virpesį, sekant Thomu Mertonu, galima pa-vadinti „pirmi ne intuicija”. Tikėda mas į Dievą žmogus pasikliauja „pirmine intuic-ija” — pir muoju, gilesniu pajautimu Grynos ir Absoliučios būties slėpinio, kuris ir yra žmogaus santykinės ir sąlygiškos egzis tencijos pagrindas. Tai ne žinojimo apie Absoliučią būtį, o netarpiško jos patyrimo dalykas.

Anksčiau aptartus „tikėti Dievą” kaip teorinį ir „tikėti į Dievą” kaip praktinį tikėjimo aspektus galima skirti ir neti kėjimo nuostatoje. Netikinčiu save laikan-tis žmogus, viena vertus, gali moksliniais ar filosofiniais argumentais neigti Die-vą, t. y. (ne)tikėjimo klausimą spręsti žinojimo plotmėje, bet gyventi taip, lyg Dievas būtų. Kita vertus, žmogus gali te oriškai Dievą pripažinti, bet pačiu gy-venimu Jį neigti, t. y. (ne)tikėjimo klausimą išspręsti gyvenimo plotmėje. Kitaip negu Naujaisiais laikais su jiems būdingo racionalizmo pa tosu, šiandien, Girniaus pastebėjimu, tikėjimo ir netikėjimo klausimas „reiškiasi nebe tikėjimo ir žinojimo, o tikėjimo ir gyvenimo konflikto forma”. Šiandieninis netikėjimas reiškiasi nebe teoriniu Dievo neigimu loginiais argumentais, o prak tiniu Dievo paneigimu pačiame gyvenime.

Būtent Jeanas Paulis Sartre’as (1905–1980) ir Albert’as Camus (1913–1960), tradiciškai įvardijami kaip ateistinio eg zistencializmo atstovai, savo literatūriniuose kūriniuose (Sart re’as romanuose „Šleikštulys” (1938), „Žodžiai” (1964), Camus – „Svetimas” (1942), „Maras” (1947) ir kt.) aprašė netikėjimo nuostatą ir toje nuosta-toje atsivėrusias didesnes ar mažesnes žmogaus širdies dykumas. Minėti mąstytojai, Herberto Spiegelbergo teigimu, išreiškė ne tik to meto prancū zų, bet ir visą europinį mąstymą apėmusias nevilties nuotaikas, savąjį ontologinį egzistencializmą siedami su fenomenologiniu filosofavimu. Šis filosofavimas atmeta teori nes spekuliacijas ir imasi meditatyvaus sąmonės netarpiško ryšio su būtiškąja tikrove aprašymo. Sartre’as ir Camus įtai giai tai daro savo literatūrine kūryba, į joje apmąstomų temų ratą įtraukdami ir galimybės tikėti bei netikėti problemati ką.

Remian tis Sartre’u, galima teigti: netikėjimo nuostata – tai vidinė netvarka, kurią pats asmuo priima ir gyvena kaip ypatingą tvarką. Kitaip sakant, netikėjimo žmogus gyvena ypatingoje vidinėje netvarkoje, kurią mano esant tikra tvarka. Šiandien ši netikėjimo nuostatos ypatinga vidinė netvarka laikoma sa vaime suprantama ir

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nediskutuotina gyvenimo norma. Ir prie šingai: į Dievo ieškantįjį linkstama žiūrėti kaip į gyvenimo rėmus netelpantį originalą ar išsišokėlį.

Gyvename krikščioniškoje Vakarų kul tūroje, tačiau dauguma dabarties žmonių sąmoningai ar ne sąmoningai savęs nebesieja su krikščioniškąja tradicija. Šiais sen-sualizmo, scientizmo, pragmatizmo, liberalizmo ir kt. lai kais krikščioniškos vertybės nebevaidina lemiamo vaidmens asmeniniame, visuomeniniame, politiniame ar kultūriniame gyvenime. Šios gyvenimo sritys yra akivaizdžiai supasaulėju sios. Tai reiškinys, kurį Girnius įvardija kaip visuotiniu tam pantį „dekristianizacijos” reiškinį. Minėto filosofo teigimu, šio reiškinio šaknų pirmiausia reikėtų ieškoti ne kokiuose nors išoriniuose dalykuose, o pačių žmonių širdyse, t. y. vidiniame jų nutolime nuo krikščionybės. Būtent šis vidinis nutolimas – tam tikra širdies virpesių netvarka – įvairiais būdais lemia ir asmeninio, ir viešojo gyvenimo formas.

Ir tikinčiam, ir netikinčiam žmogui objektyviai tikrovė yra ta pati. Tačiau subjek-tyviai tikintis ir netikintis žmogus savo ryšį su pasaulio tikrove išgyvena skirtingai. Tai ir suskaldo tą pačią tikrovę į skirtingus pasaulius – prasmės pasaulį ir ab surdo pasaulį. Tikinčia meile tardamas savąjį fiat, krikščio nis pasaulį priima kaip dovaną. Tuo tarpu netikinti sąmonė pasaulio kaip dovanos nepriima. Pasaulis jai lieka sveti-mas, kaip ir ji – pasauliui.

Tikinčiam žmogui, siekiančiam įveikti netikrą, melagingą savo sąmonės „Aš” ir taip ugdyti vidinę tvarką, visi sukur ti daiktai atspindi savąjį Kūrėją. Jie tampa Dievo pėdsakais, liudijančiais, jog Dievas čia praėjo, bet taip ir neparodė savo jo Veido. Tai jau minėto „tikėjimo į Dievą” (credere in Deum) kaip gyvenimo gyvojo Dievo akivaizdoje sfera. Į šią sferą sa vo egzistenciją projektuojantis žmogus Dievą sutinka kaip „čia ir dabar” Esantįjį. Kaip Tą, kurio regimi pėdsakai (žėru čio gabalėlis, jūros ošimas ar mylimo žmogaus veidas) Jo ne parodo, bet slepia, leisdami nujausti amžinybę. Per šį kas dienį Dievo pėdsakų skaitymą ir vyksta žmogaus atsivertimas, jo sąmonės perorientavimas nuo melagingojo į tikrąjį „Aš”, nuo inertiškų mąstymo įpročių į Dievą kaip vieningos gyve nimo prasmės centrą. Mertono teigimu, šiame gyvenime ti kėjimo žmogus nėra „atsivertęs” kartą ir visam laikui, bet atsiverčia daugybę kartų, ir ši begalinė eilė didelių ir mažų „atsivertimų” galiausiai perkeičia jį Kristuje. Beprasmybės jausmo, moralinio chaoso, vertybinio reliatyvizmo, nihilizmo ir cinizmo epochoje, kurioje gyvename, norėdamas atgauti prarastą sugebėjimą tikėti, žmogus, Franklio pastebėjimu, pirmiausia turėtų siekti „išgirsti dešimtis tūkstančių įsaky mų, užkoduotų dešimtyse tūkstančių situacijų, kurias jam pateikia gyvenimas. Tada ne tik šis jo gyvenimas vėl taps pras mingas (prasmingas –, vadi-nasi kupinas užduočių), bet ir pats žmogus bus imunizuotas prieš konformizmą ir totalitarizmą, nes tik budri sąžinė leidžia žmogui atsispirti ir gyventi tikėjimu, viltimi ir meile jau dabar.

Bronė Gudaitytė, PhD, lecturer in the Departament of Philosophy at the Faculty of Hu-manities, Vytautas Magnus University, Lithuania. Area of scientific interest: philosophy of religion, mysticism, philosophy of music.

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Martin Heidegger: from Religious Experience to a Hymn to Holiness

Martinas Heideggeris: nuo religinės patirties iki himno šventybei

Povilas ALEKSANDRAVIČIUS

AbstractThe development of Martin Heidegger‘s philosophy, in essence, is related to reli-gious experience. This experience, phenomenologically researched by St. Paul, St. Augustine, mystics of the Middle Ages and works of Luther, is at the core of the very first Heidegger‘s lecture, read at the University of Freiburg between 1918-1923. Upon publication of almost all of the works by Heidegger (Gesamtausgabe) in the last three decades, it becomes clear to the reader that these lectures are the key to all of his reasoning. It is precisely there that one discovers what Heidegger calls facticity (Factizität) which somewhat later becomes Dasein – a notion mean-ing not only transformations of human existence in the face of death, but also a mystery with which the philosopher will wrestle for the rest of his life. Such wrest-ling is the question of being, forgotten for centuries and considered only from the perspective of time. However, it is precisely in the lectures mentioned above that we encounter a stunning assertion more than on one occasion: “Christian facticity is time as such”.

The paper aims to reveal the importance of religious experience in the genesis of Heidegger’s thought as well as the reason due to which one of the most promi-nent thinkers of our times will adamantly refuse to talk about religious experience from around 1923. In Being and Time we will not find a slightest hint about the issue of religion or God. The notion of “religious experience” will be forgotten by Heidegger for all times as if, having guided to the question of being, it would be-come inappropriate or even obstructing further journey. Nevertheless, what was already felt in the notion of facticity from 1930s, drawing inspiration from Hölder-lin‘s poetry, will burst open in the philosophy of Heidegger as a “hymn to holiness”, accompanying his quests till his death. Maybe, pondering upon Heidegger’s rea-soning captured as a whole, we can claim today that this experience of holiness is a pure religious experience, cleansed from unreal thoughts and concepts? Maybe.

SantraukaMartino Heideggerio filosofijos raida yra iš esmės susijusi su religine patirtimi. Ši patirtis – fenomenologiškai tiriama švento Pauliaus, švento Augustino, Viduramžių mistikų ar Liuterio darbuose – yra pačioje pirmųjų Heideggerio paskaitų, skaitytų Freiburgo universitete nuo 1918 iki 1923 metų, šerdyje. Per pastaruosius tris dešimtmečius pasirodžius jau beveik visiems Heideggerio tekstams (Gesamtaus-gabe), jų skaitytojui tampa aišku, kad šios paskaitos yra viso jo mąstymo raktas. Būtent jose yra atrandama tai, ką Heideggeris pavadino fakticiškumu (Factizität), kiek vėliau tapusiu Dasein, – sąvoka, reiškianti ne vien laikiškuosius žmogiškojo buvimo virsmus mirties akivaizdoje, bet ir paslaptį, su kuria filosofas galinėsis visą savo gyvenimą. Šios imtynės – tai ilgus šimtmečius pamirštas būties klausimas, svarstomas tik laiko horizonte. O juk būtent minėtose paskaitose ne kartą skaitome stulbinantį tvirtinimą: „Krikščioniškasis fakticiškumas yra laikas kaip toks“.

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Pranešimas sieks atskleisti religinės patirties svarbą Heideggerio minties ge ne-zei, kaip ir priežastį, dėl kurios vienas giliausių mūsų laikų mąstytojų maždaug nuo 1923 metų griežtai atsisakys kalbėti apie religinę patirtį. Būtyje ir laike nerasime nė menkiausios užuominos apie religijos ar Dievo klausimą. „Religinės patirties“ sąvoka Heideggerio bus pamiršta visiems laikams, lyg, privedusi prie būties klausi-mo, ji būtų tapusi netinkama, netgi trukdžiusi keliauti toliau. Vis dėlto tai, kas buvo užčiuopta fakticiškume, jau nuo IV dešimtmečio, Holderlyno poezijai įkvėpiant, Heideggerio filosofijoje prasiverš kaip „himnas šventybei“, lydėjęs jo ieškojimus iki pat mirties. Galbūt, įsigilinę į Heideggerio mąstymą jo visumoje, šiandien mes gali-me teigti, kad būtent ši šventybės patirtis yra gryna, apvalyta nuo netikrų minčių ir konceptų, religinė patirtis? Galbūt.

Povilas alEKsandRavičius, PhD in humanities (philosophy), an associate professor in the department of Philosophy of the Humanities Institute at the Mykolas Romeris University. Area of scientific interest: metaphysics, philosophy of religion, ethics, political philosophy.

Aporia of Verbalization and Textualization of Religious Experience

Religinės patirties verbalizavimo ir tekstualizavimo aporija

rimantas VIEDRYNAITIS

AbstractThe paper discusses the problems that appear when we try to answer the question how can we verbalize and textualize religious experience so that it would remain a meaningful discourse. Although it seems that there is no any essential diffe rence between verbal explication of religious experience and its textualization, the dif-ference appears if we draw our attention to the person of narrator. A religious narrative in an oral tradition cannot be separated from the very narrator, and his religious experience is directly communicated as a witness. It seems that textua-lity release language from its author – the narrator becomes irrelevant. In some respects, religious text is made inpersonal, and it turns it equal to any other kind of texts (advertisements, cooking recipes or scientific articles). Religious philosophy also often manifests itself as a text, which is often close to losing sense (or mea-ning). Despite the fact that a philosophical text is very important for understanding philosophy, it is obvious that a text as such is not a philosophy. The same goes for textualization of religious experience – a text offers a riddle, but the answer to the riddle does not make us any closer to the very religious experience.

Another problem highlighted in this presentation discusses an ambivalence of religious language as a presentation. On the one hand, an informative aspect of reli-gious language is rather weak. Religious language as telling “informs” only to a such extent that a participant of this act of speech can recognize or recollect his own religious experience. On the other hand, religious language tells only that what it tells – only the understanding is needed for its understanding. Even though religious texts manifest lots of instances of a seemingly poetic language, they actually do

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not express anything “poetic” (when observed more carefully). Religious language functions as a non-informative, but performative narrative, which always strives to escape his own narrativeness. Such attempts can be successful in so far as it is pos-sible to restore the lost unity of religious experience, narrator and narration.

keywords: textualization, religious experience, religious language, verbalization.

Ikifilosofinės religinės patirties verbalizacijos praktikos visuomet turėjo gana aiš-kius tikslus: socialinio saito kūrimas ir išsaugojimas, tradicijos, pamatinių ben-druomenės vertybių kristalizavimas ir perdavimas, įvairių draudimų, perspėjimų pagrindimas. Galima tokiu teiginiu suabejoti, nes, iš pirmo žvilgsnio, minėti tikslai ir religinė patirtis atrodo visiškai nebendramačiai – Šventybės „pasirodymas“ vi-suomet yra konkretaus žmogaus gyvenimo įvykis, o socialinių, bendruomeninių interesų sritis dažnai yra anonimiška, neretai priešiška to konkretaus žmogaus autonomijos atžvilgiu. Tačiau taip gali pasirodyti tik tada, kai nepaisome vienos reikšmingos aplinkybės: verbalizacijos procesas iš amorfiškos, bežadės patirties leidžia kilti ir aktualizuotis bendražmogiškai suvokiamai reikšmei. Religinis naraty-vas yra ypač reikšminga, išsaugojimo ir perdavimo kiekvienai ateinančiai žmonių kartai reikalaujanti, pasaulio pagrindo suvokimo struktūra. Svarbu pastebėti ir tai, kad ypač buvo stengiamasi išsaugoti pirminę religinio naratyvo formą, nieko ne-praleisti ir nieko nepridėti „nuo savęs“. Naratyvo audinys ir kiekvienas to audinio elementas (žodis) turėjo kuo tiksliau atlikti savo uždavinį – reikšmingai perduoti tai, kas iš esmės negali būti perduota: pačią religinės patirties esmę, jos „neturi-ningą turinį“.

Religinio naratyvo griežtumas ir stabilumas atrodytų yra akivaizdi opozicija kas-dienės kalbos arbitralumui ir konvencionalumui, bet galbūt šios opozicijos „akivaiz-dumas“ tėra tik pragmatiška konvencija, leidžianti klasifikuoti, atskirti skirtingus naratyvus? Tokiai abejonei prieštarauja religinio naratyvo besąlygiškas reikšmin-gumas, juk kasdienės ištarmės pasirodo ne kaip pačios savaime reikšmingos, bet yra tik tiek reikšmingos, kiek sugeba atlikti komunikacinę funkciją – perduoti infor-matyvų pranešimą komunikacijos partneriams. Religinio naratyvo komunikacinė funkcija yra menkai tesusijusi su informacijos perdavimu, nes religinis naratyvas ne tiek pasakoja, kiek sutelkia – yra pati tikriausia Komunija. Žodžių sakytojai ir žodžių klausytojai, būdami ir „sakančiais“, ir „klausančiais“ tuo pačiu metu, aktyviai daly-vauja tokiame bendrume, kuris pats yra įvykis ne iš praeities ir apie praeitį, bet tik čia ir dabar. Priešingu atveju visi religiniai naratyvai turėtų būti diskvalifikuoti, kaip labiau arba mažiau tikėtinos pasakos.

Vis dėlto, išlieka klausimas, kodėl apskritai reikalinga Šventybės „pasirodymo“ verbalizacija, juk suprasti ir dalyvauti šventame bendrume gali tik tas, kuriam „at-pažįstama“ neverbalinė šio įvykio prigimtis. Trečiame amžiuje gyvenęs filosofas Plotinas, kurio traktatuose koncentravosi Antikos religinė mintis, o Viduramžiais šie traktatai tapo vienu iš svarbiausių šaltinių krikščioniškai filosofijai, gana imperaty-viai kalba apie būtinybę perduoti religinę patirtį: „Vadinasi, palikdama visus išorės dalykus, siela turi visiškai atsigręžti į vidų, nekrypti į jokį išorės dalyką, bet nepa-žįstant nieko, pirma būsenos, o dabar ir pavidalų, nė savęs nebepažįstant, reikia panirti į jo regėjimą ir, su juo suartėjus ir pakankamai tarsi ‚pabendravus‘, ateiti ir kitiems, jeigu pajėgtų, paskelbti apie aną suartėjimą.“ (Plotinas, 2011: 5, p. 65).

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Taigi, pirmiausia religinės patirties sąlyga yra sielos sugebėjimas „nusirengti visus išorybės, pažintinio mąstymo ir refleksijos rūbus“, neįvykdžius šios sąlygos neįmanoma ir pati religinė patirtis, „suartėjimas“ ir „pabendravimas“. Antrasis svarbus momentas pateiktoje citatoje – tai priesakas perduoti patirtį kitiems, ne-bent tas, kuris ją išgyveno, nepajėgia to padaryti. Kitaip tariant, religinės patirties išgyvenimas nėra pakankama sąlyga tam, kad ši patirtis galėtų būti perduota ki-tiems. Tad ką gi reiškia Plotino minimas „pajėgumas“? Ar ši galia perteikti religinę patirtį kitiems yra kalbinės išraiškos galia, ar ji susijusi su retorinio įtaigumo „tech-nikų“ įvaldymu, o gal tai galia, kuri apskritai daro įmanomu patį intersubjektyvios komunikacijos įvykį?

Jeigu tarsime, kad viskas priklauso nuo kalbinės išraiškos arba retorinės galios, tuomet verbalizacijos problema galėtų būti nesunkiai išsprendžiama vien retorikos pratybomis, „psichologiškai paveikios“ kalbos konstrukcijų įsisavinimu. Tačiau, kad ir kaip patraukliai atrodytų toks paaiškinimas, jis kelia abejonių. Kad ir koks įtaigus būtų kalbėjimas, jis greičiau sukuria klausančiojo pasitikėjimą kalbančiuoju, bet nėra supratimo sąlyga, o Plotino minimas pajėgumas ir yra ne kas kita, kaip gebė-jimas „komunikuoti supratimą“, gebėjimas dalintis bendrumu per paties išgyvento religinio bendrumo reaktualizavimą.

Iki šiol buvo kalbama apie verbalinį religinės patirties perdavimą, kai tai, kas perduodama, turi būti nuolatos prisimenama ir kartojama tol, kol tampa sakytojo savastimi. Tik tokiu atveju jis yra visiškai atsakingas už savo pasakytus žodžius ir jau nebėra vien transformatoriaus vaidmenį atliekantis anonimas. Šis persikeitimas yra lemtingas, nes paprastas istorijų pasakotojas persikeičia ir jau nebepasakoja, bet liudija savimi, savąja egzistencija. Toks persikeitimas – tai perėjimas iš kontingenci-jos, arba galimybės, į būtinybės, arba tikrovės sritį.

Kas atsitinka, kai liudijimas virsta tekstu, kai atsiejamas liudytojas nuo liudijimo, kai užrašytas liudijimas pradeda „savarankišką gyvenimą“, palaidojęs savo auto-rių? Tekstas – universali kultūrinės, intelektinės raiškos perdavimo, paties žmogaus kultūrinio buvimo kristalizuota forma. Ši kristalinė forma egzistuoja „suspaustu“ būdu, kaip nuoroda į anapus jos egzistuojančią tikrovę, kaip arbitraliai pasirinkta tikėtina tikrovės reprezentacija. Užrašytame žodyje randame galimos sinonimikos, alternatyvių žodžių koncentratą. Hipertekstinis mokslinių tekstų pobūdis ištisus tekstus suspaudžia į vieno ženklo nuorodą, ir tai parodo paradoksalų pagarbą ke-liančios tekstinės ekstencijos butaforiškumą, bet tuo pačiu galime pastebėti dar vieną, ne mažiau šokiruojantį dalyką: tarę, kad anapus teksto, kaip prasmę nešan-čio audinio, nebėra jokios jį konstituojančios tikrovės, kuri pasirodytų mūsų protui kaip būtinybės sritis, reikėtų tarti, kad tekstas iš tiesų yra ta tikrovė, neišvengiama ir būtina kaip pati „tikriausia tikrovė“. Bet ar nėra taip, kad pačioje tekstualumo prigimtyje atsiskleidžia galėjimas būti, bet ne privalėjimas būti?

Potencialumas visada yra mažų mažiausiai dviprasmiškas: vienu atveju galima manyti, kad iš galėjimo būti aktualizacijos keliu tveriama pati tikrovė, bet, antra vertus (o tai atrodo kur kas labiau tikėtina), tekstinė potencijos aktualizacija su-naikina pačią potenciją, tuo pačiu sukurdama negalėjimo būti aklavietę. Tekstas sukuria kreivų veidrodžių „tikrovę“, kurioje vienintelis „tikrai tikras“ dalykas yra ga-limybė „pažinti iškreiptų formų įvairovę“, kuri, savo ruožtu, taip pat gali būti gana įdomaus „empirinio“ tyrinėjimo objektu. Tačiau akivaizdu, kad toks „empirizmas“ nužudo pačią empiriką, kur pati „filosofija tampa įgūdžiu žaisti arba kažkokia kova

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su šešėliais (shadowboxing)“ (Kaufmann, 1978: 3, p. 34). Kad ir kaip būtų, „kova su šešėliais“ mūsų nepriartina prie religijos supratimo, nepakeičia prasmės ilgesio ir gyvo rūpesčio. „Dar daugiau – tekstas ne tik negali šio rūpesčio išreikšti, bet dargi jį užgožia, pakeisdamas konkretų, autentišką gyvo žmogaus rūpestį tekstinio ego ‚rūpesčio‘ abstrakcija.“ (Sodeika, 2010: 7, p. 174). Paaiškėja, kad tekstas visuomet tik substitutas, neadekvatus pakaitalas, priverčiantis nusigręžti nuo tikrovės, kuri manimi ir per mane srūva prasmės srautu.

Religijos žmogus, buvodamas tame sraute, buvoja jame sąmoningai, visų pirma suvokdamas savo atsakomybę, tačiau pabėgimo pagunda, kurią maitina tikrovės „nesvetingumas“, visada yra didelė, gal net pernelyg didelė, kad būtų galima jai atsispirti. Tokią žmogaus situaciją Albertas Camus nusako kaip radikaliausią pabėgi-mo ar nusigręžimo nuo prasmės formą – savižudybę. Tačiau ji nesprendžiama atsi-traukus nuo savęs paties, galbūt apskritai jos išspręsti neįmanoma, – įmanomas tik veiksmas, neišsitenkantis kasdieninėje praktikoje: „Koks gi yra tas neišmatuojamas jausmas, atimantis proto gyvybei reikalingą miegą? Pasaulis, kurį galima paaiškinti, tegu ir netikusiais argumentais, yra mums įprastas pasaulis. Ir priešingai, pasaulyje, kuriame ūmai išsisklaido iliuzijos ir šviesos blyksniai, žmogus pasijunta svetimas. Toji tremtis – be prieglobsčio, nes joje nėra prarastos tėvynės prisiminimų ar paža-dėtosios žemės vilties. Būtent šita nedarna tarp žmogaus ir jo gyvenimo, tarp ak-toriaus ir jį supančių dekoracijų ir yra absurdo jausmas. Kadangi visi sveiki žmonės kada nors yra galvoję apie savižudybę, galima be tolesnių aiškinimų pripažinti, jog tarp to jausmo ir nebūties siekimo yra tiesioginis ryšys“ (Camus, 1997: 1, p. 11).

Teksto teikiama „prasmė“ visada yra iliuzinė, kaip sapnas, pasirodantis „proto gyvybei reikalingo miego“ metu. Tikėjimas nepriklauso nuo pastangos jį „turėti“, todėl jis persunktas įtampos, tikinčiojo „beprotybės“ malda kreiptis į Dievą taip, kad neliktų nieko anapus šio kreipinio. Kreipinys negali įsitekti tekstualume, net ir tokiame, kuris, atrodytų, ardo įprasto tekstualumo rėmus. Nepriklausomai nuo to, kokį verdiktą religijai ir gyvenimui prieis žmogaus protas, vis tiek jo laikysena išlieka religinė. Apsisprendimas (jeigu tokio apskritai esama) nebūti nėra „nebūties siekimas“, žmogus negali siekti to, ko nėra, bet jis gali siekti nebūti, siekti to, kas yra, nebuvimo. Tačiau neatsitiktinai Camus pasinaudoja aktoriaus ir teatro dekora-cijų metafora, nes tik tada, kai gyvenimas virsta teatru, o pats žmogus – aktoriumi, nebelieka jokios galimybės išsilaikyti nors ir netvarioje, bet prasmingoje, anapus-tekstinėje tikrovėje, tik tada vieninteliu gyvai patiriamu tikrumu lieka absurdas ir jo sunkiai artikuliuojamas brutalumas. Kita vertus, Camus įvardintas „svetimumas pasauliui“ atskleidžia pamatinę religijos žmogaus nesaugumo situaciją, subyrėjus visai tekstualinei, plačiausia prasme, – jo savisaugos gynybinei architektūrai.

Peteris Wustas aptardamas žmogaus akistatą su mirtimi teigia: „galbūt žmogaus insecuritas situacija pasiekia aukščiausią tašką žmogaus mirties valandą todėl, kad mirtis jam kaip religinei būtybei yra ir paskutinė ribinė situacija. Kadangi mirtis, kaip metafizinis religinis reiškinys, žmogaus egzistenciją temdo nuolat, o ne tik tą akimir-ką, kai ji iš tikrųjų prasideda (juk dažnai mirtis užklumpa žmogų netikėtai), tai kaip tik mirties – tos nepaliaujamai prie žmogaus artėjančios metafizinės lemties – rizikos situacija aiškiausiai parodo, kad žmogus būtent kaip religinė būtybė neišvengiamai yra insecuritas dėsningumo aukščiausiame taške“ (Wust, 2000: 9, p. 124).

Atrodytų, kad Wustas kalba apie mirties artėjimą nejausdamas tos egzistencinės įtampos, su kuria į mus prabyla Camus, tačiau galiausiai abu jie užsimena apie tą

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patį sukrečiantį ir mus ištinkantį tikrovės nutikrovinimą, tik Wustas neutralizuoja šią įtampą tekstine „dėsningumo“ figūra. Teisingumo dėlei reikėtų pripažinti, kad para-doksaliai ir Camus „absurdo“ sąvoka atlieka panašią funkciją. Kas gali būti baisiau už absurdą, kas gali labiau sukrėsti žmogišką protą, pripratusį prie racionalios steigties saugumo? Tad religinė kalba, atrodytų, visiškai išsitenka įprasto kalbėjimo rėmuose, net ir žodžiai, kuriais perduodama radikali tikrovės patirtis, niekuo nesiskiria nuo įprasto ženklų rinkinio. Bet ar nėra taip, kad tokį suvokimą mums diktuoja įsisavintas ir įvaldytas menas skaityti tekstą taip, tarsi anapus jo jau nieko nebebūtų?

Nesunku įsitikinti, kad net ir pats „baisiausias“ tekstas yra saugi užuovėja protui, o saugu todėl, kad protas „turi ką veikti“ – gliaudyti grafemų kiaukutuose tūnančias reikšmes. Tačiau tas pats tekstas gali būti perskaitytas visiškai kitaip – pabudus iš „ra-cionalaus sapno“, kurio niekada neprisimename nubudę. Peteris Donovanas, iškėlęs sau tikslą filosofiškai suprasti kaip religinė kalba yra naudojama (Donovan, 1976: 2, p. 1–5), pastebi, kad paprastai ji nėra metaforiška, bet priešingai – ją reikia suprasti pažodžiui kaip „informatyvią ir siekiančią pažadinti (evocative)“ (Donovan, 1976: 2, p. 6–14). Kokią informaciją gali perduoti religinis tekstas? Tik tą, kuri plevena ženklų referencijose. Lemiamas pasikeitimas, kuris nuo tekstinių referencijų mus grąžintų prie religinio teiginio turinio, įvyksta tik per „nubudimą“, arba, Camus žodžiais, „iš-sisklaidžius iliuzijoms“. Tik tuomet gali paaiškėti antroji religinių teiginių – „informa-tyvumo“ – pusė. Religinis tekstas tampa „kažką sakančiu“ tik atitinkamai, adekvačiai save perkeitus.

Platonas mus įspėja apie tuščių kalbų pavojų, pateikdamas poeto pavyzdį: „žo-džiais ir įvairiais posakiais jis perteikia tik vienų ar kitų menų ir amatų atspalvius, nors pats nieko daugiau nemoka, kaip tik pamėgdžioti, o tokiems pat neišmanė-liams žmonėms jo žodžiai sudaro įspūdį, kad tai labai gerai pasakyta – nesvarbu, ar, pasitelkęs metrą, ritmą ir harmoniją, poetas kalbėtų apie batsiuvio amatą, ar apie karo žygius, ar dar apie ką nors: tokį didelį įgimtą žavesį turi visos tos puošmenos. Bet, jeigu iš poetų kūrinių atimsime visas dailiųjų menų spalvas ir paliksime juos be tų puošmenų, aš manau, tu gali įsivaizduoti, kaip jie atrodys, – be abejo, ir pats esi tai pastebėjęs“ (Platonas, 1981: 4, p. 346).

Svarbu atkreipti dėmesį į tai, kad svarbus ne pasakymas, jo forma, ar netgi turinys, svarbus yra tas, kuris kalba. Nėra abejonių, kad neretai religinis tekstas, paliktas vienas, be savo autoriaus, yra pasmerktas būti skaitomas neadekvačiai, bet iš esmės situacijos tai nekeičia, nes tuomet svarbus yra tas kuris skaito, o skai-tydamas taria tuos žodžius. Žinoma, „informatyvumas“, suprastas žinių kaupimo ir jų klasifikacijų papildymu, šiuo atveju, atrodytų kaip nesusipratimas, nes tuomet seniai būtų užaugintas „dieviškas Porfyrijaus medis“, ir visi religijos filosofai galė-tų pakankamai saugiai jaustis susisukę lizdus jo šakose. Kadangi taip nėra, tai jau pakankamas pagrindas manyti, kad turimas galvoje „informatyvumas“ yra visiškai kito pobūdžio. Religiniame kalbėjime šis pobūdis, kaip jau minėta, talpinamas „liu-dijimo“ sąvokoje, kuri kaip sąvoka neišsitenka apibrėžtos konstatacijos rėmuose, bet visuomet nurodo į veiksmą, kitaip tariant, yra performatyvi.

Šis performatyvumas realizuojamas dvejopai: kaip verbalinė išraiška ir kaip anamnetinis liudijimo klausytojo atsigręžimas į ypatingą transcendencijos, arba Šventybės, kitoniškumo išgyvenimą. Taigi, galima teigti, kad religinė kalba kaip sakymas „informuoja“ tik tiek, kiek šios kalbos dalyvis pats sugeba joje atpažinti arba prisiminti. Sakymas arba liudijimas religine prasme visuomet yra dialogiškas,

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realizuojamas asmens asmeniui jo veido akivaizdoje. Tačiau tokiu atveju religijos filosofija lieka „nereikalingo trečio“ situacijoje, iš kurios, atrodytų, nėra jokios po-zityvios išeities, nes stebėjimas, arba kontempliacija, neišvengiamai yra buvimas nuošalėje. Sąvokos, kurias taikome sau ir mus supančiam pasauliui, „gali būti tai-komos Dievui, tačiau gali būti taikomos tik tada, jei jos taikomos kitaip negu daik-tams. Kiekviena Dievui taikoma mūsų sąvoka byloja mums apie Dievą tiek, kiek ji mums ką nors apie Dievą pasako. Tačiau tuo pačiu pasakymu ji mums nurodo ir tai, kas Dievas nėra, – mat kiekvienas mūsų pasakymas Dievą apriboja. Todėl bet koks kalbėjimas apie Dievą yra prieštaringas, jis drauge ir teigia, ir neigia“ (Sodeika, 1997: 6, p. 20). Religinis kalbėjimas ne in-formuoja kalbantį ir jo klausantį, bet grei-čiau iš-formuoja, išlaisvina nuo sąvokos kontingentiškumo.

Religijos filosofijos kalbėjimas, kitaip negu religinis liudijimas, tarsi turėtų virs-ti sau pakankama kalbėjimo forma, nereikalaujančia angažuoto dalyvavimo. Nors filosofinis tekstas pats savaime negali peržengti kalbos gramatikos taisyklių, kurias „galima vadinti ‚arbitraliomis‘, jeigu tuo reikia pasakyti, kad gramatikos tikslas yra ne kas kita, o kalbos tikslas“ (Vitgenšteinas, 1995: 8, p. 286), tačiau esmiškai baig-tinė religinė sąmonė nuolatos stengiasi save peržengti ir kalbiniai prieštaravimai atrodo neišvengiami. Visgi gramatikos taisyklės numato ir kreipinį į kitą kaip kal-bos tikslą, kuris neįmanomas arbitralaus „objektyvių dalykų“ atspindėjimo atveju. Kreipinys perkeičia nesuinteresuotą kalbos savaime pakankamumą suinteresuotu pasižadėjimu atsakyti į kreipinį. Religijos filosofija galima kaip atsakymas į Dievo kreipinį, priešingu atveju, pasilikdama patenkinta savimi, ji vis dar lieka kalbėjimu, tačiau tik kalbėjimu apie nieką.

LiteratūraCamus, A. 1997. Szifo mitas. Vilnius: Baltos lankos.Donovan, P. 1976. Religious Language. New York: Hawthorn Books, INC.Kaufmann, W. 1978. Critique of Religion and Philosophy. Princeton: Princeton University

Press.Platonas, 1981. Valstybė. Vinius: Mintis.Plotinas, 2011. Apie Gėrį arba Vienį. In Plotinas, Apie Gėrį arba Vienį. Apie tai, kas yra blog

air iš kur kyla (pp. 36-83). Vilnius:Aidai.Sodeika, T. 1997. Dievas paliečia sielą tamsoje. In Merton, T. Gyvenimas ir šventumas

(pp. 5-20). Vilnius: Katalikų pasaulis.Sodeika, T. 2010. Filosofija ir tekstas. Kaunas: Technologija.Vitgenšteinas, L. 1995. Filosofiniai tyrinėjimai. In Vitgenšteinas, L. Rinktiniai raštai

(pp. 113-394).Vilnius: Mintis.Wust, P. 2000. Netikrybė ir rizika. Vilnius: Aidai.

rimantas viEdRynaitis, a lecturer at the Department of Philosophy at Vytautas Magnus University. He received BA in Philosophy in 2000, and MA in Practical Philosophy in 2002. He lectures on Philosophical methodology, History of Lithuanian Philosophy, Sources of Ancient and Medieval Philosophy, Sources of Modern Philosophy. Area of scientific in-terest: Russian philosophy, philosophy of religion, Lithuanian philosophy, philosophy of methodology and postmodern philosophy.

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Poster presentations

The Theme of Religion in the British Metaphysical Poetry of the 20th Century (Poetry of the New Apocalypse, 1939-1941)

tetiana RIAZANTSEVA

The paper analyzes the transformation of the themes, poetics and stylistics of meta physical poetry in the works of H. Treece, J. F. Hendry, N. Moore, T. Scott et al. associated with the Apocalyptic Movement in British literature. The mate-rial for the analysis is taken from their second anthology, “The White Horseman”, published in 1941. The poetry of the New Apocalypse is considered in comparison with the works of British and continental metaphysical poets of the 17th, 19th and 20th centuries (R. Crashaw, F. de Quevedo, G. M. Hopkins, et al).

The main focus is on the theme of religion. The paper aims to demonstrate the fractal nature of the theme structure of metaphysical poetry. It explains the new configuration of its traditional key themes (Religion, Death and Time, Love) in the works of the 20th century poets, and shows new details in their interpretation of the relations between God and man. The research concentrates on the develop-ment of certain motifs such as ‘the death of God’ (a motif known since Victorian times), and demonstrates several new accents brought to traditional issues within the theme of religion (e.g. the desolation of human being).

The paper also considers the new developments in the field of traditional po-etics and stylistics of metaphysical poetry. The author analyzes the use of gospel paraphrases, polysemantic words and expressions, examples or wordplay, etc. in the religious poetry of the Apocalyptic Movement.

key words: religion; metaphysical poetry; Apocalyptic Movement; fractal structure.

tetiana M. RiazantsEva, Cand. Sc., Senior Research Associate, Department of Com-parative Literature, T. Shevchenko Institute of Literature, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. Areas of scientific interest: Comparative Literature, European and Ukrainian metaphysical poetry, Hispanic studies.

How Did the Prophets Know They Had Received Divine Revelation?

Berel Dov LERNER

Within the Jewish tradition, someone’s knowing whether or not they had received an authentic divine revelation could be a matter of life and death. Deuteronomy 18:20 states: “But any prophet who presumes to speak in My name an oracle which I did not commanded him to utter, or who speaks in the name of other gods

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- that prophet shall die.”1 In addition, the Torah offers clear criteria for the determi-nation of the authenticity of prophecy: a prophet advocating idolatry is immediate-ly disqualified (Deut. 13:2-6), while one proclaiming more conventional messages is required to correctly predict future events (Deut. 18:22). 2 Given the obvious danger involved in proclaiming prophecy, it is somewhat surprising that the Torah gives no indication of how the prophet himself (or herself - I will use the male singular for convenience sake) is to judge the authenticity of his revelation before subjecting himself to the perils of making it public. How does a prophet gain enough confi-dence to risk announcing predictions which would entail his death if proved false?

If we assume the universality of Jeremiah’s plight: “But [His word] was like a raging fire in my heart, shut up in my bones; I could not hold it in, I was helpless.” (Jeremiah 20:9), the question becomes completely academic. The decision not to proclaim prophecy would be psychologically unviable. Yet the classic Medieval Jewish philosophers did believe that the prophets possessed the means to evalu-ate the validity of their own experience. The study of their views has relevance to modern philosophical discussions of religious experience, and especially to the thought of the great twentieth century philosopher, Ludwig Wittgenstein.

Saadia Gaon (882-942) was the first Jewish philosopher to directly confront the issue under discussion. In his Book of Beliefs and Opinions he writes:

I also considered the question of how the prophet could be sure that the message he had heard came from God before ascribing it to his Lord in the presence of his people, and I arrived at the conclusion that this was effected by means of some sign that would appear to him at the beginning of the colloquy and remain until its termination. This sign could take the form of a pillar of fire or a pillar of cloud or a light that did not emanate from ordinary luminaries. When, then, the prophet saw such a sign, he was certain that the message came from God.3

In order to buttress the reliability of such a sign, Saadia adds that it was often visi ble to others. His description of the people’s reaction to Moses’ prophetic expe-riences transforms the Children of Israel into a nation of empirical meteorologists:

When he would come back to them, therefore, bringing his message, they would say: “Thou hast spoken truly. We noticed how clear the atmosphere was before thy arrival at the scene of the revelation and how the pillar of cloud made its descent at the time of thy arrival there. Also, the time of its sojourn corresponds to the time which it took for thee to hear this communi-cation which thou hast delivered unto us. (Ibid)

1 All biblical quotations are from the New Jewish Publication Society translation. 2 Jeremiah 28:9 seems to restrict this rule to prophecies regarding God’s future benevolence, while

Jeremiah 18:7-10 allows for the overturning of any divine pronouncement in reaction to changes in people’s behavior, for better or worse. Traditional commentaries interpret Part II, Chapter Eight of Maimonides’ Guide of the Perplexed as suggesting the theophany of Ezekiel Chapter I to be astro-nomically inaccurate. This criticism of the Ma’aseh Merkabah (“Work of the Chariot”), one of the two esoteric biblical texts central for Jewish mystical thought, would seem to undermine a criterion of prophetic authenticity requiring the factual truth of prophecy’s discursive content.

3 Saadia Gaon, The Book of Beliefs and Opinions, trans. Samuel Rosenblatt (New Haven:Yale Univer-sity Press,1948), p.151, Treatise III, chapter 5. All further references will be cited in the body of the text according to treatise and chapter.

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Before criticizing Saadia’s account, two points are worth making. Saadia does succeed in describing a mode of prophecy so open and public in nature that even hard-headed skeptics would be convinced of its validity. By radically extending the public nature of prophecy, Saadia essentially dissolves the question he is addres-sing. Often, as in Moses’ case, the prophet need not concern himself about wheth-er his prophecy will pass a later public test of validity. Both the prophet and his audience become simultaneously convinced of the divine origin of his message.

Saadia’s account suffers on two grounds. Firstly, it is difficult to reconcile with Scripture. The bible gives no indication that (outside of Moses’ case) revelation was regularly accompanied by publicly observable divine signs such as pillars of cloud or fire. Secondly, Moses was unique in receiving prophecy while fully awake. Other prophets depended on revelatory dreams. Thus, God tells Aaron and Miriam: “When the Lord speaks through one of you, I make Myself known to him in a vision, I speak with him in a dream.” (Numbers 12:6) If, on the one hand, the pillar of cloud which accompanied such a prophetic experience was a genuine meteorological pheno-menon, how was the sleeping prophet to become aware of it? On the other hand, if the pillar of cloud appeared to the prophet as part of a dream, what was to keep the prophet’s unconscious from inserting its image into non-prophetic dreams? This is precisely the problem raised by Hasdai Crescas (d. 1412) in his philosophical mag-num opus, Or Adonai. There he describes a person who though graced with the oc-cassional prophetic dream still continues to have dreams of the mundane type:

When the prophet receives prophecy through a dream ... how can the pro-phet come to know he is prophesizing? That is, how can he depend on the sign that he is prophesizing, who knows, what is to keep the sign from appea-ring in a [normal] dream?4

As a critic of Saadia, Crescas is much to the point. Given that a prophet contin-ues to have normal dreams, and considering the universal human experience that practically anything can be seen in a dream, what is to keep the prophet from see-ing a pillar of cloud or fire even in a non-revelatory dream? If so, Saadiah’s criterion becomes inapplicable to a wide category of prophetic experience.

Maimonides’ view on our question is the mirror image of Saadia’s. Saadia deva-lues the epistemological value of prophecy relative to that of publicly observable miracles; publicly observable signs convince the prophet of the authenticity of his own, private, prophetic experience. Maimonides, in contrast, holds that the authen-ticity of genuine prophecy is profoundly self-evident to those who experience it. Af-ter all, if Abraham had born the slightest doubt as to the authenticity of his revela-tion, he would never have set off to execute God’s command to sacrifice Isaac:

For if a dream of prophecy had been obscure for the prophets, or if they had doubts or incertitude concerning what they apprehended in a vision of prophecy, they would not have hastened to do that which is repugnant to nature, and [Abraham’s] soul would not have consented to accomplish an act of so great an importance if there had been a doubt about it.

(Guide of the Perplexed III: 24 pp. 501-2)

4 Hasdai Crescas, Or Adonai, Treatise II, Rule IV, Chapter 4, as appears in Dov Rapel’s HaNevuah (Pro-phecy) (Jerusalem: Amana Publishers, 1971), p.144. I have translated from the original Hebrew.

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The remainder of this paper will treat the theory of prophecy expounded by the great poet and philosopher, Judah Halevi (circa 1075-1141).

At first glance it appears that Judah Halevi accepts Saadia’s theory of the vali-dation of prophecy while merely extending the list of dependable signs of true revelation. In Part IV, Section three of his Sefer HaKuzari he writes:

The pick of mankind enters into connection with Him, viewing Him through intermediaries called Glory, Shekhinah, Dominion, fire, cloud, likeness, form, appearance of the rainbow, etc., all proving to them that He had spoken to them.5

Israel Halevi’s (1700 - 1772) Kuzari Commentary Otzar Nehmad relates the above passage directly to the question at hand:

When revelation came to a prophet he might have thought it merely seemed so to him in his imagination.... But since he would actually see one of the aforementioned visions [and since] no proof is greater than seeing, he will know clearly that God speaks with him.6

To properly appreciate the difference between Saadia and Halevi on this point, it is necessary to attend briefly to the different roles played by the prophets in their respective systems. For Saadia prophecy is merely a means of divine communica-tion to mankind. In the chapter of his Book of Beliefs And Opinions dealing with the purpose of prophecy, he states clearly:

I found there was a considerable need for the dispatch of messengers to God’s creatures, not merely in order that they might be informed by them about the revealed [ritual] laws, but also on account of the rational precepts [which could be arrived at independently by human reason]” (III:3).

While agreeing that prophecy was necessary as a means of ascertaining God’s commands,7 Halevi adds to it the notion that prophecy marks the pinnacle of hu-man perfection:

His most perfect creatures on earth, the prophets, whose souls are transpa-rent and susceptible to His light, which penetrates them as sunlight pene-trates crystal and ruby. These souls take their origin from Adam, as has been explained before; his pick and heart are transmitted from generation to gene-ration, from age to age; besides it the large mass of mankind is like husks, leaves, resins, etc. (Kuzari IV:15).

Typically, when Halevi describes the ideal human, he mentions how such a person might achieve “a degree just below that of prophecy” through their own

5 My quotations from the Kuzari are derived from an amalgam combining Heinemann’s incomplete translation appearing in H. Lewy, A. Altman & I. Heinemann, Three Jewish Philosophers (New York: Atheneum, 1976) and H. Slominsky’s inaccurate The Kuzari, (New York: Schocken Books, 1964), with my own minor corrections. Quotations from the Kuzari will be cited in the body of the text accor-ding to the traditional divisions of parts and sections.

6 As appears in the traditional Vilna edition of the Kuzari.7 Kuzari III:53: “The approach to God is only possible through the medium of God’s command, and

there is no road to the knowledge of the commands of God except by way of prophecy, but not by means of speculation and reasoning.”

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efforts (Kuzari III:11). Contrastingly, in the final treatise of Saadia’s Book of Beliefs And Opinions [“Concerning How It Is Most Proper For Man To Conduct Himself In This World”], no mention is made of the achievement of prophecy as an indication of human perfection.

Halevi goes out of his way to stress the unique qualities of the prophet:

…a man who walks into the fire without hurt, or abstains from food for some time without starving, on whose face a light shines which the eye cannot bear, who is never ill, nor ages. (Kuzari I:41)

Saadia, in contrast, states openly that “God did not guarantee to the prophets perpetual health of body or great wealth or posterity” and so on. So too, “did God not nourish them without food and drink” (Saadia III:4). While Halevi sees the superhuman qualities of the prophets as proofs of their authenticity, Saadia is worried that if the prophets were thought to possess exceptional powers, people might attribute the power to perform miracles to the prophets themselves rather than directly to God.

The most important superhuman ability ascribed by Halevi to the prophets involves the “inner eye”. This special faculty allowed the prophets to perceive the essential nature of objects directly, unlike normal people who must deduce the es-sences of things from their external “accidental” appearances. More importantly, it was through the “inner eye” that the prophets experienced the spiritual world. Although Halevi does not describe the spiritual world in detail, it seems to mainly consist of the angels, God’s throne, and other elements appearing in biblical theo-phany. Professor Eliezer Schweid goes so far as to claim that for Halevi, earthly geography follows the “geography” of the spiritual world, each with its own Land of Israel, Jerusalem, etc.8

Prophecy for Halevi consists of the experience of the spiritual world, (including meaningful symbolic displays and divine speech) by way of the special prophe-tic faculty or “inner eye.” For Saadia, who insists on the human normalcy of the prophet, such a doctrine would be unacceptable. Now we can return to Halevi’s statement that

the pick of mankind enters into communication with Him, viewing through intermediaries called `Glory, Shekhinah, Dominion, fire, cloud, likeness, form, appearance of the rainbow ‘, etc., all proving to them that He had spoken to them. (Kuzari IV:3)

Rather than existing solely for the sake of validating prophecy, as do Saadia’s pillars of cloud and fire, the items mentioned in Halevi’s list are simply typical exam ples of objects belonging to the spiritual world which may be perceived only in the state of prophecy.9

The situation of the prophet may be compared to that of a tourist visiting Je-rusalem. For Saadia, the pillar of cloud is like a sign which reads “Welcome to Jerusalem.” The cloud itself is not an integral part of the content of revelation,

8 Eliezer Schweid, Homeland and a Land of Promise (Moledet Ve’Eretz Ye’udah) (Tel Aviv: Am Oved, 1979), p. 62.

9 The discussion in Kuzari IV:3 about the permanence or impermanence of the objects viewed in prophecy would seem to weaken my interpretation, but see my footnote 13.

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which consists only of discursive messages sent from God to humanity. For Halevi, the pillar of cloud is like the Tower of David, a prominent element in the cityscape itself which helps the tourist remember where she is. The cloud is an integral and typical element in the prophetic experience.

By replacing a rather limited set of valid signs of prophecy with a whole spi-ritual world, Halevi manages to avoid the scripturally based criticism made against Saadia. Saadia would be hard pressed to make a scriptural case for the presence of his designated signs of prophecy in even a minority of biblical prophecies. Ha-levi’s theory of prophecy as the perception of the spiritual world turns every expe-rience of prophetic visual imagery into a demonstration of prophetic validity. It also makes more reasonable the claim that such visions accompanied prophecies even when no imagery is mentioned in the biblical account.

One might further ask of Saadia how the prophets come to know of the signs of prophecy and their validity. For Halevi this becomes the question of how the prophets came to recognize valid visions of the spiritual world. Halevi’s answer is included in his argument for the validity of the Israelite prophetic tradition in ge-neral. Dr.Yonah Ben Sasson summarizes Halevi’s position in these words: “There is a history to revelation; revelation is a fact of historical duration whose factual truth cannot be questioned.”10 For Halevi the prophet is not alone in his experience of revelation. Rather, he is part of a vast spiritual enterprise starting with Adam and continuing to the beginning of the Second Temple period. Out of these accumu-lated prophetic experiences (and Halevi assumes the existence of thousands of prophets not mentioned in Scripture),11 a consensus developed regarding the na-ture and description of the spiritual world. For Halevi the very existence of this consensus among the prophets is the supreme proof of their validity:

The best proof of its [the inner eye’s] truth is the harmony prevailing among the whole of this species and those sights. By this I mean the prophets. For they witnessed things which one described to the others as we do with things we have seen. (Ibid)12

Paradoxically, the consensus which validates the tradition of prophecy also de-fines what constitutes prophecy. Not only do all the prophets agree as to the na-ture and description of the spiritual world, but any vision not coinciding with that consensus is by definition not prophetic: “We testify to the sweetness of honey and the bitterness of the coloquinth and if anyone contradicts us we say that he has abandoned normal perception” (Ibid). Similarly, a valid prophecy must be in accord with the description of the spiritual world which is the heritage of the pro-phetic community as a whole.

For Halevi, a prophet’s perplexity over whether he had indeed received pro-phecy would be similar to our tourist asking herself whether she had actually visited

10 Yonah Ben Sasson, “Mishnato HaHistorit Shel RIHaL” (“Judah Halevi’s Historical Doctrine”) in Mish-nato HaHagotit Shel Rabbi Yehuda Halevi (Rabbi Judah Halevi’s Philosophical Doctrine) (Jerusalem: Ministry of Education and Culture, 1978), p. 153.

11 Kuzari I:11: “I believe in the God ... who sent Moses with His law, and subsequently thousands of prophets, who continued His law ...”

12 Halevi’s insistence on the existence of a consensus among the prophets regarding the content of their visions would seem to require that the contents of the spiritual world remain more or less stable.

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Jerusalem. A thousand details of the spiritual world’s “geography” and “populace,” all well known to the prophet from his previous prophecies and from the histori-cal experience of the community of prophets, would validate his expe rience. On the other hand, it may be inferred from Halevi’s theory that anyone living outside such a prophetic community would find the validation of his revelations practically impossible.

We are now almost ready to consider how Halevi could deal with Crescas’ problem, but first we must examine Crescas’ own solution. Crescas replaces Saa-dia’s sign of prophecy with a criterion of vividness. Just as wakeful experience is more vivid than dreamed experience, so too prophetic dreams are qualitatively different from normal dreams. Crescas seems to imply that a principal element of the vividness of a prophetic dream is the clarity of its recollection by the prophet after he awakens.13

Vividness may serve to distinguish between prophetic and normal dreams. However, it cannot be used as a sole criterion of prophecy, since vividness is a quality shared by both normal (wakeful) experience and revelation. The biblical story of the young Samuel (I Samuel: chapt. 3) offers a case in point.

We are told that Samuel lay sleeping in the tabernacle. Each time God called upon him, he would run to the High Priest Eli thinking it was he who had called for him. This story seems to support Crescas. The divine call was in fact so vividly ex-perienced that Samuel mistook it for the physical voice of Eli. While Samuel did not react to the prophetic call as if it were a mere dream, he was unable to distinguish it from an event of normal wakeful experience.

At this point Halevi’s theory helps explains the course of events described. The story of Samuel’s first prophecy begins with the statement: “In those days the word of the Lord was rare; prophecy was not widespread” (Ibid 3:1). The community of prophecy was substantially weakened and the particulars of prophetic experience not widely known. It was only the aged Eli who properly interpreted Samuel’s ex-perience and instructed him in the ways of prophecy.

The ideas of Halevi and Crescas also mesh together well at a deeper level. It will be recalled that Crescas assigned importance to the clarity of a prophetic dream’s recollection as an element of its vividness. Surely the prophet who is able to as-similate his experience in terms of a well established frame of reference (such as Halevi’s spiritual world) will be better equipped to remember his revelation later. It is exactly those experiences which we cannot grasp in terms of cultu rally pre-defined concepts which we tend to find dreamlike, unreal and difficult to remem-ber clearly.

Consider the case of two spectators at a football match. One of them is a European, well acquainted with the rules and strategy of the game, the other a member of a newly discovered Amazonian people, who have never heard of team sports. Who will better recall the course of the day’s play? In a similar fashion, the Israelite prophet, well versed in the ways of the spiritual world, will better recall his prophetic visions. Just as natural dreams are marked by a lack of coherence

13 Symcha Bunem Urbach, Amudei HaMachshava Ha Yisraelit:Mishnato Ha Filosofit Shel Rabbi Has-dai Crescas (Pillars of Jewish Thought:Philosophical Teachings of Rabbi Hasdai Crescas) (Jerusalem: World Zionist Organization, 1961), p. 259 footnote.

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in terms of our experience of the normal wakeful world (noticing that I am fly-ing like a bird, I become aware that I am merely dreaming), normal dreams will be distinguishable from prophetic dreams thanks to their incoherence in terms of the community of prophets’ normative experience of the self-consistent spiritual world. An incoherent normal dream will thus be more difficult to remember than a coherent prophetic dream. While Crescas’ solution might conceivably be adapted to a defense of Saadia’s position, it now appears as a quite natural extension of Ha-levi’s theory of prophecy. Indeed, Halevi’s conceptual framework actually bolsters Crescas’ solution.

In conclusion, I will briefly make good my promise to relate the above dis-cussion to the philosophy of Ludwig Wittgenstein. Two well known doctrines of Wittgenstein’s later philosophy14 insist that both the certainty of our knowledge as well as our ability to use language are rooted in our participation in established social practices. Given language’s intrinsically social nature, the idea of a private language – a language expressing intrinsically personal experiences that can never be understood by other people – becomes impossible for Wittgenstein. Halevi’s claim that a well- established prophetic tradition can determine the validity of pro-phetic experience foreshadows Wittgenstein’s doctrine of certainty. The prophet can be certain of the authenticity of his prophetic experience insofar as it fulfills criteria of authenticity rooted in the social practice of Israelite prophecy. As for the social nature of language, it may be seen to parallel a peculiarity of Israelite prophecy as a religious experience. While many mystics of the world’s religions proclaim their visions to be verbally indescribable,15 the Israelite prophet is never at a loss for words. Even as he relates his most astounding vision (Ezekiel, Chapter 1), the prophet Ezekiel never falters. The communal tradition of Israelite prophecy insures that the words and expressions needed to describe Ezekiel’s vision have already been developed and assimilated into the vocabulary of the prophets. The social practice of prophecy creates a language in which the experience of prophecy may be shared.

berel dov LErnEr studied philosophy and the social sciences at Johns Hopkins and the University of Chicago, and Judaism at Yeshivat Ha-Kibbutz Ha-Dati in Israel. Berel received his PhD in philosophy from Tel Aviv University, and currently teaches philosophy at the Western Galilee Academic College. Area of scientific interest: philosophy of the social and behavioral sciences, philosophy of religion, Jewish thought, and the Hebrew Scriptures.

14 See, especially, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Philosophical Investigations (G.E.M. Anscombe, trans.) (New York: MacMillan, 1968) and On Certainty (G.E.M. Anscombe and D. Paul, trans.) (New York: Harper&Row, 1972).

15 In his essay “Understanding Religious Experience” in Steven Katz’s anthology Mysticism and Philo-sophical Analysis (New York: Oxford University Press, 1978), p. 17 Ninian Smart states: “Frequently, perhaps universally, mystics refer to their experiences as ineffable or, at any rate, to the `object’ of their experiences as ineffable.” His further remarks, however, do not accord with the uniqueness of Jewish prophetic tradition.

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Saturday, May 12, 2012

Session IV

From Experience to Tradition – The Hard Path Backward

Marcello NERI

AbstractI would like to deal with the topic of the conference (religious experience and tra-dition) approaching it under a Christian theological point of view. Behind the com-plex body of Christian Tradition there are a variety of religious experiences – both individual and collective – that have been condensed in different forms (Scripture, dogmatic doctrine, moral teaching, pastoral instructions, and so on) building up what is called tradition. While experience is generally held as subjective, tradition is usually understood as objective and regulative. There is something true in this distinction, but the relationship between experience and tradition in matters of religion is quite more complex than an easy divide like subjective-objective or exis-tential-regulative. Without the uncertainity of experience there wouldn’t be any religious tradition in Christian sense; and without a tradition it wouldn’t be possible both to share our personal experience with other people and to have some criteria of truth as to faith experience. But once tradition has been shaped, then it tends to detach itself from experience asserting its role of faith’s rule without regard to the existential level of the religious experience it is born of. Doing that, tradition runs the risk of drying out losing every actual impact on the faith’s experience it want to discipline. In this sense tradition can be able to exercise its function only if it results into a concrete and personal experience. As Blondel pointed out the actuality of faith’s experience is the only possible implementation of (dogmatic) tradition, but the path backward from tradition to experience is a very difficult one because it has to deal with an innate resistance of tradition to open its certainity towards the pliability of actual existing. In my paper I would like to address deeper some of most sensible issue regarding the relationship of experience and tradition that here I could just outline very shortly.

Marcello nERi, Senior Fellow and Visiting Professor, University of Graz, Austria.

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Religious Experience without Religious Tradition and vice versa

olga BRESKAYA

AbstractFrom the “Varieties” of W. James the theme of personal religion and unique indi-vidual religious experience appeared in the Study of Religion somehow contrasting the issues of organized religious tradition with stable collective forms of worship-ping. The work that came 10 years later by E. Durkheim examined that interaction from the other side. If individual religious experience is not spreading or not “par-taken by many” the very religious tradition is weakening and losing its collective dimension, which supports and enriches the individual experience.

Situation that we observe in modern societies of Western and partly Eastern Europe – individualization of religious life – approves the consequences, described by E. Durkheim: faith as a “warmth and life” for the individual doesn’t exist in a form of personal religion only, but is in need for integration with tradition. Oth-erwise, we found out the individual religious experience without religious tradi-tion in variety of its modern forms which are complicated to transmit, or that the process of coming inside the tradition through the individual religious experience becomes morbid and traumatic.

What happens with the individual who is seeking for the transcendent expe-rience, but has weak relationship with definite religious tradition? Some examples of individual religious experience in correlation to different levels of belonging to the religious tradition will be presented in this report, based on historical docu-ments, literary sources and interviews, conducted by the author. These examples will demonstrate the stages and modes of personal integration/disintegration with religious tradition, and problematize the concept “staying in tradition”.

Olga brESkaYa, assoc. prof. in the Department of Social and Political Sciences, European Humanities University, Vilnius; University of Brest. Area of scientific interest: sociology of religion, parish sociology, education in Religious Studies.

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Session V – A

An Ethnographic Approach to the Psychology of Religion – Doing Research in the Field of Experience and Tradition

tuija HOVI

AbstractThe mainstream of the psychology of religion is characteristically quantitative. The most of the empirical studies are based on questionnaires and established inter-pretative scales using methods that measure quantitative dimensions and correla-tions of selected variables in religiosity. As results, quantitative studies offer gen-eralizations. Alongside with this trend in the psychology of religion, there is also the gradually rising qualitative methodology for the study of religious experience. In addition to the narrative study, the ethnographic approach – widely used in the anthropology – aims at revealing what religion means to people and how it is used for personal purposes. However, ethnography is not a mere implementation of regional fieldwork for “collecting” material. It is also a point of view, a selection of methods and a process for helping to understand the other social reality than that of a researcher’s own by cross-reading a variety of different types of material. Thus, in practice, ethnography functions as cultural contextualization of the narra-tive interview material.

The larger objective of my present research is focused on the forms and func-tions of the global trends of Neo-charismatic Christianity in the Nordic context. Experiential dimensions of religiosity and traditions that emphasise an individual’s personal experience of the transcendence alongside with conservative teaching, such as various forms of Pentecostal-Charismatic Christianity, have aroused in-creasing interest both outside and inside the mainline Evangelical-Lutheran church in Finland. The situation indicates that all Charismatic Christian activities are not organized conventionally as congregations but also as various practices – prayer communities, spiritual coaching services and evangelizing associations. Outside the conventions of the congregational field and within these rather situational practices mentioned above, the borderlines between communities or member-ship rates do not seem to mean as much as personal interpretations of tradition and individualistic pursuit of religious experience in everyday life.

In the proposed paper, I will discuss, in the context of the Healing Rooms prayer service organization as a case, how ethnographic approach benefits the study of post-secular religiosity, the field that is mostly investigated by quanti-tative methods, so far. Nevertheless, the research theme in this study is social-psychological, concerning the relationship between tradition, collective participa-tion and personal religious experience. This relationship is crucially linked to the on-going discussion on the questions of believing, belonging, bonding and practi-cing as manifestations of religiosity. The material for this study is partly compiled

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by ethnographic methods. It includes thematic interviews of the active members of local HR-communities who take care of the prayer service, as well as notes of participant observation. Furthermore, the material includes a questionnaire that was directed to the visitors of the “prayer clinics”, and the Healing Rooms’ and some other Christian websites and magazines. Cross-reading these different types of material gives information about the interaction, interpretation, identity and agency that this particular form of religious practice produces and how it reflects the needs and motivations of those involved.

Tuija HOvi, PhD, post-doctoral researcher, Academy of Finland/Åbo Akademi University, Finland. Area of scientific interest: charismatic movements, psychogy of religion.

The Phenomenon of Christian Conversion in the Prison: Convict’s Convert’s Religious Experiences

sandra KRATAVIČIŪTĖ

Introduction. The phenomenon of religious conversion is one of the most interest-ing object of the humane and social science and, undoubtedly one of the most strongly religious experiences in the human‘s life, especially in the life of impriso-ned person. In this article by using a theoretical literature review method and empirical qualitative research (Participatory Action Research) method there is a focus on phenomenon of Christian conversion in the prison by revealing convict’s convert’s religious experiences.

The objective of this article is to reveal and interpret convict‘s convert‘s reli-gious experiences after the discovery of God and to show the application oppor-tunities of existentialist paradigm in social work with the imprisoned. Moreover, I aim to reveal the significance of conversion and faith to people who are in prison as well as to show the relations of discovered faith in God with imprisoned peo-ple‘s experiences of hope and the meaning of life. Furthermore, I aim to reveal the significance of learning about other people‘s success stories and their witnesses about their personal faith and life for imprisoned people‘s experiences of hope and the meaning of life and their motivation for reintegration into society.

Methodology of research. The research data has been collected by applying partially the interview guide focus group approach. The data has been analyzed by using interpretation phenomenology. The research participants have been chosen applying criterion sampling. There have been seven prisoners who correspond the following criteria: convicted, imprisoned in X prison, in 2009 – 2010 they partici-pated in the social rehabilitation project “Alpha course for prisoners”, organized by Catholic Church, non-government organization LITHUANIA’S CARITAS; convicts who have experienced Christian conversion and found faith in God.

Qualitative research in the penitentiary: convict’s perspective. In this paper ar-ticle there is focus on philosophical nature and scientific meaning of a qualitative research, which is carried out with the convicts in the penitentiary. The qualitative

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research, based on Insider’s View sociological principle (Oyserman, Swim, 2001), reveals the perspective of a convicted person who experiences social stigma (Goff-man, 1963) and allows us to know his subjective experience - personal religious experience. Therefore, such a research, focused on human religious experience re-cognition, is based on social constructionism and theological essentialism ontology and phenomenological episthemology. The research object is convict‘s convert‘s religious experiences after the discovery of God. The research aim is to reveal and interpret convict‘s convert‘s religious experiences after the discovery of God.

In the article it is talking about the logic of Participatory Action Research, its scientific value and practical meaning for the convicts in the penitentiary. Partici-patory Action Research is based on the principles of social involvement, empower-ment and change, when the research participants, the convicts themselves, be-come active characters who solve their own social problems (Kidd, Kral, 2005). Participatory Action Research, increasing the research participants/convicts’ con-sciousness, makes an opportunity for them to generate the ideas of social change in a team and create together the strategy which could improve their situation (Ruškus, Mažeikis, 2007).

In the qualitative research an informant/convict is perceived as an important participant of a research process, expressing subjective meanings of a religious ex-perience and social reality; therefore, he is valued as an investigator of social world phenomena and as the best expert of his own experience and life (Young, 2005). The qualitative research validity in order to guarantee the reliability of the conclu-sions has been achieved by using member checking, i.e. involving informants as ac-tive participants into the analysis of the obtained data and the process of creating research results (Bitinas irk t., 2008).

The results of research:Distinction between non-religious and religious life. Research has found, that

participants of the research before a conversion to Christianity felt an existential anxiety, God’s desire and spiritual thirst, but they didn’t have a personal relationship with God or any religious practice. Participants of the research also indicate a strong qualitative distinction between their life without faith and life with God. Convert’s prisoner’s clearly separate these two periods of their lives – period of non-religious life and period of religious life. Religious life is a absolutely different from non-reli-gious, it’s a new life. Research showed, that discovered faith and theistic approach give prisoner’s a new transcendent or metaphysical perspective of the life.

Prison as an experience of existential crisis and limitary statement of life. An experience of imprisonment participant’s of the research is defined as existential and ontological crisis of life. An imprisonment meant the end of all, what was im-portant for person, what he had and what he loved. In other words, an imprison-ment meant the end of the whole life (Frankl, 2008). Participant’s of the research indicate, that prison is time of crisis, and this crisis is inner crisis – a crisis of hope and the meaning of life.

Moreover, participants of research in prison have experienced much destruc-tive emotions, such a shame, guilt, fear, loneliness (loss of social relationships) and hopelessness. These negative emotions brought a psychological pain (Gilligan, 2007). This spiritual pain is much deeper than physical, therefore in that difficult statement as imprisonment for person could help a closeness to God.

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Relationship between conversion to Christianity and imprisonment. All par-ticipants of the research discovered faith in God, when they got into prison. Until imprisonment participants of the research didn’t have any religious experience or practice and, moreover, they didn’t have any need of God, therefore in prison experienced conversion to Christianity was absolutely radically. For participants of the research, the prison became place of first personally meeting with God. An imprisonment, as experience of existential crisis, prisoner’s motivated to call for God’s help and to open to transcendence. In this sense, we can see that crisis can give a new perspective for human’s life. Crisis of imprisonment can be seen as sig-nificant factor of person’s and his life transformation, because crisis can lead per-son to God (Wagner, 2010). When people experience extreme stress and have dif-ficulty coping, they may undergoing a religious conversion. After traumatic events of life persons become more religious, may feel closer to God or more sure in their faith (Park, 2005).

Research has found, that prisoner’s conversion to Christianity is related to other Christian believer’s witnesses of faith: God is experienced and met while listening to other people’s (ex-prisoner’s, ex-addicted person’s and et al.) success stories and their witnesses about their personal faith. These witnesses of faith are authentic motivation for prisoners personally to accept God’s grace and love in their hearts and lives (Būgaitė, 2004).

Relationship between conversion and penance. Results of the research showed, that penance is the main characteristic of religious conversion. In other words, conversion is related with person’s sincerely penance for his personal sins. When imprisoned person discovers faith and in spiritual way meet God, he clearly realize, that he is a sinner and he needs God’s forgiveness and mercy. An inner penance is a radical reorientation of the whole human’s life. A conversion of heart is real just then, when human turn back on sin and evil (Katalikų Bažnyčio Katekizmas, § 1431, 1996). Therefore, it can’t be conversion without penance for sins.

Prisoner’s senses of faith. The research has found that, in prisoner’s mind faith is perceived as a grace of God and as a costly value. On the other hand, partici-pants of research faith definite not only as metaphysical God’s action or God’s initiative, but also as a free and personal human’s response to God’s grace. From that interaction rise the faith. In other words, convert’s prisoner’s faith is defined as human’s personal relationship with God. This relationship is a very unique and subjective human’s experience (Berger, Luckmann, 1999).

For participants of the research a faith in God is much costly value even than physical freedom, because believed human can feel free in his inside, even if he is in prison. This correlation between faith and inner freedom is a very significant and important, because for prisoners the real freedom is God, who gives a spiritual freedom. This theistic freedom is experienced as a freedom from sin and evil. By talking about prisoners, Haysom (2007) indicates one of the greatest paradoxes of Christian faith: God is able transform human’s experience – a prisoner of criminal justice system can become free in his spirit and, as the apostle Paul stated, to be a prisoner of Christ.

Research has found also a correlation between faith and happiness. A faith in God create an experience of happiness. Faith and relationship with God is a fun-damental condition to be happy. Also, after conversion to Christianity is noticed

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a radical cognitive change in prisoner’s mind. A conversion have a power to change human’s mind - it gives a new direction to human’s thinking. A religious conversion also transforms human’s approach into a many things. A convert perceives newly the reality: he become able to see life, world, people, his own past, relationships between humans in a new perspective, in a religious view. A convert starts to see a world and people positive and he starts to value other things. Research showed, that after conversion to Christianity prisoners started to value spiritual things more than material. Therefore, according Dajczer (2010), a religious conversion firstly is a conversion of the thinking.

Research has found two main senses of the Christian conversion: hope expe-rience and meaning of life experience.

Relationship between faith and hope. Participants of research indicate relation-ship between religious conversion (or Christian faith) and hope. According con-vert’s prisoner’s, hope is the result of the conversion, and it is the most strongly experienced in the context of faith. Without a faith there isn’t hope (Moltmann, 1939). Participants of research talk about religious nature of the hope. Ng & Shek (2001) researches also confirm this correlation between faith and hope: the res-pondents, who were experienced Christian conversion, showed a decrease in depressive symptoms and feelings of hopelessness, whereas upon conversion purpose of life increased; converts became free from depression and discovered meaning and purpose in life.

Research showed, that convert’s prisoner’s hope is based on God, moreover, a resource of hope is God. Also, hope is associated with God’s love, mercy, forgive-ness and faithfulness. Hope is experienced in Jesus, who walks with human even when he is going in the wrong direction (the Emmaus story, Luke 24), even when he go into a far country and squander all (the Prodigal Son story, Luke 15), and even when he arrange to have someone killed (King David, 2 Sam 11). God is God of hope in our countless “even when’s” (Pounder, 2008). Christian message is a message of theistic hope. God in Jesus comes bringing healing and forgiveness to the sinners, welcome to the marginalized, and give freedom for the oppressed, because Jesus died for all people, for our sins (Howard, 2009).

Christian hope can be seen on the cross of Christ. Faith-based hope includes re-demption from sin on the cross of Christ, God’s unconditional love, forgiveness and abiding presence. According convert’s prisoner’s, the cross means, that God comes to me, suffer for me, forgives me, and is with me in my brokenness, guilt, shame, loneliness, and powerlessness. The cross of Christ tells for prisoners of God’s forgive-ness and unconditional love, how they are free from sin and death, and liberated, no matter what their circumstances, including imprisonment. Christian hope, grounded firmly in the incarnation, crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, is a state-ment about God believing humankind is worth dying for (Puonder, 2008).

Research reveled two types of hope: transcendental-eschatological hope and social hope.

Transcendental-eschatological hope. The results of the research reveled, that participants of the research, who have experienced a conversion to Christianity and personally discovered faith in God, hope relate with after-death life and eter-nity. For converts’ prisoner’s a main goal of the life is to be with God after death, it means, to reach the salvation. In this sense, faith provides the hope, that human’s

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life on the earth is not end. Christian message does not end here; Christian hope transcends this reality and invites person to live after the death, to live in the presents of God (Howard, 2009). Hope is related with after-death life, because it opens human’s life to transcendence (Būgaitė, 2005).

According Moltmann’s (1936), hope is an eschatological experience, and it is based on belief of God’s promise, of promise of is eternal life. Moltmann’s Theo-logy of Hope indicates an eschatological perspective of hope and always directs hu-man to the future. Research showed, that participants of the research have hope of the redemption of their souls, because Christ provides forgiveness and salvation for everyone, who believes in him. According Moltmann’s Theology of hope, faith in God, witch gives hope, helps to see the world with a new eyes. Although oppres-sion and imprisonment sadly remain, the situation in no longer hopeless. Seeing the world from the cross of Christ everyone imprisoned person can experience salvation and hope (Moltmann, 1936). Results of the research showed, that until an event of Christian conversion, participants of research diidn’t have this concep-tion of transcendental-eschatological hope.

Social hope. Results of research revealed, that in prison discovered faith in God have strong influence to prisoner’s resocialization and reintegration to the socie-ty. For prisoners faith is like an inner empowerment to feel and to be a part of society.

Research showed, that an experience of inner and personal faith motivate priso ner’s to change a criminal behavior to the social responsible lifestyle. Reli-gious conversion for prisoners is has been found as a strong motive in the future to live a new life according Christian morality. Also, discovered faith those prisoners, who have addictions, motivates from inside and helps to make a decision to don’t use alcohol or drug any more and turn the life to the positive direction . In this sense, research revealed, that faith have a strong motivated power. Theistic hope for prisoners is related with aspirations of the future, and it can be definite as an inner motive and stimulation to live a new and responsible life (Miceli & Caltel-franchi, 2010). Research showed, that the effect of a conversion experience has been found to be positive, bringing about a new direction and helping to motivate prisoners to live socially (Ng, Shek, 2001).

In addition, research also revealed, that convict’s prisoners identify themselves with Christ – arrested, suffering, oppressed, humiliated, tried, convicted and exe-cuted God, who became solidary with everyone, who have such a experiences (Pounder, 2008). Such a social similarity with Christ for prisoners have a possibility to experience, that God is very close to their lives and he really can to understand their situation.

Research revealed, that the experience of imprisonment and subsequent exis-tential crisis can become significant factors, which encourage convicts to religious conversion and motivate them to experience a change in their personal lives, re-fusing delinquent behaviour and deciding for living according to Christian morality. It means, that in prison discovered faith in God generates prisoner’s motivation of reintegration into society.

Relationship between faith and meaning of life. For convert’s prisoner’s the meaning of life and the primary goal in life is to be happy, but happiness, accor-ding participants of research, is founded just in personal relationship with God.

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It means, that meaning comes from God: God is the one meaning of the life and the ultimate purpose of the life. Research has found, that convert’s prisoner’s mea ning of life is based on religious faith. The event of Christian conversion has power to create a human’s experience of the meaning. According Howard (2009), God invites us into life. We respond by faith. God responds to our response. Mean-ing is created from that interaction.

Participants of research indicate, that a conversion and discovered faith in God is related with discovery of purpose of life: convert’s prisoner’s had found purpose of life in relation to religious conversion. This purpose, firstly, is spiritual – always to live in relationship with God, to grow in the faith, to evangelize and to help other people’s to find Jesus (altruistic-missionary aspirations), and, finally, to reach a salvation of the soul – the Kingdom of God. That is the main convert’s prisoner’s purpose of life. According Emmons (2005), spiritual striving refer to goals, that are oriented toward the sacred. They are those personal goals, that are concerned with ultimate purpose, ethics, commitment to God, and a seeking of the divine in daily experience. In other words, spiritual striving are strivings, that reflect a desire to transcendent the self (self-transcendence is one of the main category of life meaning), that reflect an integration of the individual with larger and more complex units and relationship with God. Ng & Shek (2001) indicate, that converts have a higher grade of purpose in life as compared to the non-converts.

Faith - stress and difficulties coping strategy. Results of he research revealed, that convert’s prisoner’s a faith experienced as a resource of a spiritual power and a significant help in psychological and social difficult situations, in this a case, by being in a prison. Research showed, that faith in God helps prisoners to cope with negative emotions. Hollis et al. (2007) also supports this finding of the research. According Hollis et al. (2007), spirituality and faith can help person to cope with destructive emotions. Brink (1993) researches also indicate a strong correlation between spirituality and stress coping. According Brink (1993), religion can to show positive aspects of stressful situations and encourage person don’t lose a hope. Religion has a power to transform the meaning of events. Religious people are able to see the stressful event as the will of a loving God, even if human don’t under-stand this God’s will at this time. Also, religious people are able to see the event as a spiritual opportunity to grow in faith. Religion may be particularly important, when people confront stressful life experiences, for example, imprisonment (Park, 2005). Nedderman et al. (2010) also indicate, that transcendent spiritual belief is significant factor of prisoner’s quality of life. Spirituality is a key resource in helping prisoners cope a negative emotions and find internal strength and hope.

Finally, by talking about results of this research, we can surely to say, that in prison discovered faith prisoner’s brings new life, new identity, new family, God’s grace and forgiveness, and radically transforms their hearts and lives.

BibliographyBerger, P. L., Luckmann, T. (1999). Socialinis tikrovės konstravimas. Žinojimo sociologijos

traktatas. Vilnius: Pradai.Bitinas, B., Rupšienė, L., Žydžiūnaitė, V. (2008). Kokybinių tyrimų metodologija: vadovėlis

vadybos ir administravimo studentams. Klaipėda: S. Jokužio leidykla-spaustuvė.

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Brink, T. L. (1993). Depression and Spiritual Formalion. Studies in Formative Spirituality, 14.Būgaitė, E. (2004). Tikėjimo liudijimas kaip autentiška motyvacija. Soter: Religijos mokslo

žurnalas, 13 (41). Kaunas: Vytauto Didžiojo universitetas.Būgaitė, E. (2005). Viltis – laisvės ženklas. Hermeneutinės fenomenologijos įnašas. Soter:

Religijos mokslo žurnalas, 15 (43). Kaunas: Vytauto Didžiojo universitetas.Dajczer, T. (2010). Tikėjimo įžvalgos: Dvasingumo teologijos klausimai. Vilnius: Katalikų

pasaulio leidiniai.Emmons, R. A. (2005). Striving for the Sacred: Personal Gools, Life Meaning, and Religion.

Journal of Social Issues, 61 (4).Frankl, V. E. (2008). Žmogus ieško prasmės. Vilnius: Katalikų pasaulio leidiniai.Gilligan, J. (2007). Smurtas: Apmąstymai apie nacionalinę epidemiją. Vilnius: Vaga.Goffman, E. (1963). Stigma: Notes on the Management of Spoiled Identity. Englewood

Cliffs, N. J. USA: Prentice-Hall, NNC.Haysom, E. (2007). Prison’s Door to Freedom. Dialog: A Journal of Theology, 46 (2).Hollis, V., Massey, K., Jevne, R. (2007). An Introduction to the Intentional Use of Hope.

Journal of Allied Health, 36.Howard, E. B. (2009). Spiritual Formation and the Meaning of Life. Common Ground

Journal, 7 (1).Young, J. (2005). On Insiders (Emic) and Outsiders (Etic): Views of Self, and Othering.

Systemic Practice and Action Research, 18 (2).Katalikų Bažnyčios Katekizmas. (1996). Kaunas: Tarpdiecezinė katechetikos komisijos

leidykla.Kidd, S. A., Kral, M. J. (2005). Practicing Participatory Action Research. Journal of Counseling

Psychology, 52 (2). American Psychological Association.Miceli, M., Castelfranchi, C. (2010). Hope: The Power of Wish and Possibility. Theory &

Psychology, 20 (2). Sage Publications.Moltmann, J. (1939). Theology of Hope. Philadelphia. Mineapol.Nedderman, A. B., Underwood, L. A., Hardy, V. L. (2010). Spirituality Group With

Female Prisoners: Impacting Hope. Journal of Correctional Health Care, 16 (2). Sage Publications.

Ng, H. Y., Shek, D. T. (2001). Religion and Therapy: Religious Conversion and the Mental Health of Chronic Heroin – Addicted Persons. Journal of Religion and Health, 40 (4).

Oyserman, D., Swim, J. K. (2001). Stigma: An Insider’s View. Journal of Social Issues, 57 (1).

Park, C. L. (2005). Religijon as Meaning – Making Framework in Coping with Life Stress. Journal of Social Issues, 61. (4).

Pounder, S. (2008). Prison Theology: A Theology of Liberation, Hope and Justice. Dialog: A Journal of Theology, 47 (3).

Ruškus, J., Mažeikis, G. (2007). Neįgalumas ir socialinis dalyvavimas. Kritinė patirties ir galimybių Lietuvoje refleksija: monografija. Šiauliai: Šiaulių universitetas.

Wagner, H. (2010). Gyvenimo prasmės paieškos aspektai socialinio darbo kontekste. Acta Paedagogica Vilnensia, 24. Vilnius: Vilniaus universitetas.

Sandra KRatavičiūtė, Lithuanian Caritas, coordinator of rehabilitation project Alpha course for prisoners in Lithuania. Area of scientific interest: Christianity, conversion, so-ciology of religion.

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The Place and Role of the Religious Experience in the Context of Contemporary Religiosity in Lithuania

Milda ALIŠAUSKIENĖ

AbstractSociologists of religion usually prescribe to the phenomenon of religion such as-pects like religious community, religious belief, religious practices and religious ex-perience. Although first three aspects of religion and their manifestation receive much attention by scholars of religion, religious experience remains on the margins of social scientific research of religion. Lithuania is not an exception, thus author of this presentation raise the question what is the place and role of religious ex-perience within contemporary religiosity in Lithuania. The presentation focuses on new religious phenomena and research conducted in various new religious groups like Art of Living, Brahma Kumaris, Sahadza Yoga and among believers in extraordi-nary powers of Merkinė pyramid.

Basing oneself on the data from in-depth interviews with members of contem-porary religious phenomena in Lithuania author of this presentation states that religious experience is the aspect of religion which is also influenced by changes in particular social context. The data allows to state that religious experience within contemporary religious phenomena in Lithuania has particular aspects like the need of informants to explain it by scientific terms which maybe explained as the influence of scientism to religion in our society.

SantraukaReligijos sociologai religijos socialiniam reiškiniui priskiria įvairius aspektus, tokius kaip religinė bendruomenė, religinis tikėjimas, religinės apeigos ir religinė pa-tirtis. Nors pirmieji trys religijos aspektai ir jų raiška sulaukia pakankamai dėmesio iš šiuolaikinių religijos tyrėjų, tačiau religinė patirtis dažnai lieka šių tyrimų pari-biuose. Kokia religinės patirties vieta ir vaidmuo šiuolaikinio relingumo kontekste Lietuvoje?

Pranešime, siekiant atsakyti į iškeltą klausimą pasitelkiami jo autorės empiriniai tyrimai šiuolaikinio religingumo reiškinių ir grupių, tokių kaip Merkinės piramidės sekėjų sąjūdis, Gyvenimo menas, Brahma Kumaris ir kt. Daroma išvada, jog nepai-sant sparčiai kintančio socialinio konteksto, kuris veikia daugelį religijos reiškinio aspektų, religinė patirtis yra mažiausiai paveikus religijos aspektas. Tačiau empi-riniai duomenys leidžia manyti, kad vienas iš religinės patirties sampratos pokyčių šiuolaikinės visuomenės kontekste atsiskleidžia informantų poreikyje šią patirtį pa-aiškinti moksliškai. Tokie duomenys leidžia kalbėti apie kintančią religinės patirties vietą ir vaidmenį šiuolaikinio religingumo kontekste.

Milda ališausKiEnė, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow in the Centre for Oriental Studies at Vil-nius, assoc. prof. in the Department of Sociology, Vytautas Magnus University, Lithuania. Area of scientific interest: sociology of religion, new religious movements.

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From Religious Participation to Political Participation: The Engagement of Young People in Theosophy

Anita STASULANE

The proposed paper examines the engagement of young people in Theosophy, and it is based on the data collected in the EU Seventh Framework Programme research project “Memory, Youth, Political Legacy and Civic Engagement.”

The historical roots of the political activity of contemporary theosophists stretch into the political aspirations of Nicholas Roerich who strived to establish the kingdom of Shambhala on the earth, that would extend from Tibet to South Siberia comprising the territories governed by China, Mongolia, Tibet and the USSR. In Latvia, interference of esotericism and politics became apparent already in the 1930s, when the soviet regime successfully made use of Roerich’s adhe-rents propagating the communist ideology in the independent Republic of Latvia. With the collapse of the soviet regime, Roerich’s followers in Latvia became legal in 1988 when the Latvian Roerich Society was restored which soon split up in three groups: Latvian Roerich Society, Latvian Department of the International Centre of the Roerichs, and Aivars Garda group. Garda who has fused nationalistic ideas with Theosophy focuses specifically on young people who are particularly vulnerable to radical political agendas.

The objective of the presentation is to analyze the interference between reli-gion and politics paying special attention to political participation of young genera-tion theosophists in Latvia. The presentation is aimed (1) at providing an overview of a growing theosophical network extended in Latvia; (2) at discussing the dyna-mics of religious participation in contemporary Theosophical groups in Latvia; (3) at examining political involvement of young generation of theosophists in Latvia.

anita STaSULanE, PhD in Theology, professor of history of religions at Daugavpils Univer-sity, Latvia. Area of scientific interest: history of religions, theosophy.

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Session V – B

Music as a Religious Experience According to Karlheinz Stockhausen

Agnieszka DRAUS

AbstractKarlheinz Stockhausen: a German composer and conductor, a contemporary mo-del of erudition and a philosopher of music, a creator of the most modern musical hybrids, controversial, praised by some and scorned by others – does he deserve the title of spectacular genius or greatest swindler of his times? He is certainly a personality so complex and controversial that it would be difficult to pass him by indifferently. He seems to be undoubtedly the most outstanding modern German composer. He is the author of over 360 compositions: minor and monumental, vocal and instrumental, including all forms and genres. He is mainly associated with the avant-garde of the Darmstadt school as well as with the experiments in organizing musical material, sound, formal continuum, and note writing. Recently, he astonished many by his statements positioning God in the centre, indicating His influence on men, on a composer, on everything around us... In that context the last almost 30-hour long stage masterpiece, Licht, finished in 2004, is a monumen-tal apotheosis of the Creator. Since I was able to think, I have been grateful to God for my life, for His care, my talent, for the example of His nature, the composer admitted in 1997. During his courses in August 2005 he added: I haven’t changed much: I always tried to praise God with my compositions. These words as well as the sacralisation phenomenon of Stockhausen’s life by his own doing inspire to search for the connections of his work with the mysterious sphere of sacrum.

keywords: Stockhausen, sacrum, cosmos, contemporary music, theatre

Karlheinz Stockhausen is undoubtedly the most outstanding modern German com-poser. His achievements include over 360 works, minor and monumental, vocal and instrumental, covering various forms and genres. He is mainly associated with the avant-garde of the Darmstadt School, with the experiments in the field of musical material organization, sound, formal continuum, and notation. However, the most recent works regarding Stockhausen’s output show it from a different perspective. They emphasize the significance of these works’ message, their inspiration deri-ving from outside the music, their religious content, the concept of process ritu-alisation and specific experiences accompanying their performance and reception. Stockhausen himself often defined his work as spiritual music: geistliche musik, sharing it in an exceptional way – by mystically co-celebrating it.

Every year between July and August in Kürten near Cologne Stockhausen Music Summer Courses were organised for composers, theoreticians and performers of his compositions – all in all about 130 participants. Stockhausen always played a role of an

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éminence grise in the community of Kürten, which, during the period of the courses, conformed the life of the town to the ritual of the event. This specific ritual of learn-ing about Stockhausen’s complex personality and work had its strictly defined goal and motto, for example the one from 2005: Lernen am Werk – learning through work, studying the work of art – its notation, composer’s ideas and above all its function. The composer defined this function as follows: “the music of the future, which must be spiritual music, dedicated to God, that will be a perpetual prayer, but only in the form of a Catholic mass but also in other forms of worship from all over our planet, thus inte-grating the religious symbolism of the whole world” (Stockhausen 2005). These words as well as the phenomenon of sacralisation of Stockhausen’s own life inspire to search for connections between his work and the mysterious sphere of sacrum.

Sacrum as a phenomenon and not an ontological entity is most often defined by showing a number of universal qualities of its presence in music; unequivo-cal and equivocal qualities, of which both the former and the latter are present in Stockhausen’s music. The following should be listed among the universal un-equivocal values:

religious texts for compositions: liturgical and Biblical• generally religious subjects in secular texts• the compositions’ reference to various events of religious life• hierophanies, i.e. mystical motifs, symbols and significant objects. (Eliade • 1996)

The bellow should be named among universal equivocal qualities:evoking numinous experiences such as • misterium tremendum et fascino-rum (Otto 1999)affiliation to the category of “otherness” or “strangeness”• compliance of the aesthetics and a level of a given composition’s complexi-• ty with the perceptive capabilities of a listener

Stockhausen’s compositions demonstrating unequivocal qualities of the pre se nce of sacrum are, most generally speaking, of religious subject-matter be-longing to three cultural circles, quite often representing all three simultaneously. These are: Christian culture, Far East culture and the culture of African tribes and both Americas. The composer wrote: “Until 1960, I was a man who related to the cosmos and God through Catholicism, a very particular religion that I chose for myself almost as a way of opposing the post-war Sartrean nihilistic attitudes of the established intellectuals. And then I began to float because I got in touch with many other religions. In Japan I prayed many times to Buddhas just as I’ve prayed to the Christian God before. And then to the gods of the Mayas and the Aztecs in Mexico. I lived for short periods in Bali, Ceylon, and India and felt that the religions were all part of the face of a multifaceted universal spirit, of the total spirit” (Cott 1973). The belief in God of all cultures and religions resulted in compositions re-ferring to ritual forms other than mass and combining the traditions of European forms of worship with the exotic ones.

The cycle of 12 Indian songs written in 1972 in the style of minimal music titled Am Himmel wandre ich... (In the sky I am walking...) is a musical equivalent of Indian tribal situations of both Americas. It contains motifs characteristic for Indian beliefs such as animalism – attributing souls to animals, plants, phenomena as well as to inanimate nature and objects, and most of all shamanism. The cycle seems to refer

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to a shaman’s life story from the moment of his spiritual birth to discovering the final initiation. The next songs, the shaman’s initiation stages, belong to the three spheres distinguished in Indian worship: the sphere of heaven, the sphere of earth and the sphere of the underworld. The shaman, following his destiny, oscillates between the aforementioned spheres. The texts’ authenticity is increased by references to mythical and historical characters of ancient Indian tribes, such as the Aztec god Quetzalcoatl – the god of nature and prosperity but also a protector of artists, sculp-tors and goldsmiths, of the Aztec chief and philosopher Nezahualcoyotl who lived in the years 1403-1473. Apart from poetry, Stockhausen introduces other elements referring to the vibrant tradition of tribal cults. He supplements Indian poems with onomatopoeic sounds of bird song, wind, crying, whispers, with improvised calls and texts of romantic and fairy-tale subject-matter as well as the sound of finger snap-ping, clapping and stomping. In the cycle’s sheet music, Stockhausen also introduces instructions regarding strictly defined postures to be adopted while performing the songs, postures that clearly refer to the authentic prayer postures of ancient peoples. “Every movement is exactly notated – from the rhythm of the eyelids to the ecstat-ic dance”, Stockhausen writes in the introduction to his sheet music (Stockhausen 1992). The texts of poems, improvised additional texts, all kinds of sounds, gestures and a reduction of musical means to a minimum are there to assist the performers to enter the role of a shaman and help the audience to experience his story.

A few years later Stockhausen used the tested idea of combining music, words, acoustic effects and gesture in another composition, a choir opera titled Atmen gibt das Leben (Breathing Gives Life). This three-part composition has 4 types of texts of religious content: texts written by the composer himself, Japanese Haiku poetry, quotes from Socrates and Master Eckhart and a fragment from the apo cryphal Gospel of Thomas. Thus, next to theological motifs there are also plots of Eastern philosophy and cosmology, next to semantic words – phonemic words, a characteristic language created Stockhausen inspired by his dreams of other extraterrestrial civilisations and resembling meditative mantra practices (similar sound effects may be heard in Stim-mung written in 1968, whose text, consisting of names of various deities and gods, becomes a starting point to create sound permutation of particular vowels).

The composer’s two musical prayers are also worth noting here: the exotic Inori (Japanese word for ‘prayer’) from 1974 and the seemingly “European” Litanei from 1997. The former one is written for dancer-mimes and orchestra. The text’s prayer stratum was substituted here by a language of gestures created by Stock-hausen. God is identified with a mysterious sound of HU. In his introduction to the prayer, or the so-called Lecture on HU, the composer writes: „Hu is the most holy of all sounds; Hu is the hidden spirit of all sounds, words, like a soul in a body. Hu does not belong to any language, but every language belongs to it. Hu is the name of the most supreme being, the only true name of God, a name which does not belong to any religion. Inori is a musical prayer to Hu” (Stockhausen 1974).

The uniqueness of the latter prayer, Litanei, is embedded in its text which is not liturgical but comes from the composer and is his artistic Credo. Four lines of the litany is the author’s attempt of auto-presentation and his function in the God-Man relationship. “I do not make my music, we read between the lines of the composition, but only relay the vibrations I receive; that I function like a translator, that I am a radio” (Stockhausen 1999).

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The ritualisation of narration referring to Christian tradition of worship is given to the composition by the choir cast, a specific layout and movement of perfor-mers on the stage and a responsive form of composing subsequent stanzas (the re-lation between cantor and choir). The Eastern tradition element is the introduction of the sound of Japanese rin, signalling the beginning of each phase of the ritual.

Stockhausen’s compositions which possess equivocal qualities of the presence of sacrum are those that include secular motifs but due to the type of the subject-matter interpretation refer to symbolic sphere of sanctity. From the point of view of a topic, two dominant plots may be listed here: a plot of so-called spiritualisa-tion of cosmos, its relation with philosophy and religion and a plot of intuition as the only possible journey, a journey into oneself.

Composing for me is as if discovering a new planet. A musical composition is like a small universe containing the spirit of cosmos, the composer admitted. Astro-logical motif fascinating Stockhausen became the basis of an open-air composition titled Sternklang (Star Sound) from 1971 written for 5 groups of musicians. It is the first of his works manifesting the composer’s dreams and longings for other outer space civilization developing parallel with ours and his faith in the unusual functions and abilities granted to musicians as a result of comic energy radiation. Robin Maco-nie (2005) considered Sternklang as an expression of tribute Stockhausen paid to his master, Igor Stravinsky after his death. A tribute manifesting not in the reference to The Rite of Spring composer’s technique but in a message his name brings:

IGOR STRAVINSKYSTAR VIGOR IN SKY

In this composition Stockhausen once again uses the phonemic language, incor-porating names of individual constellations into it. And thus, star constellations are represented by sound constellations, similarly to the compositions written in the years 1975-77: Sirius – electronic music accompanies by voices and instruments as well as the cycle Tierkreis existing in many casting versions although written for music boxes.

Stockhausen used intuition, on the other hand, as the means to create music in cooperation with performers. “Nothing is written here, the composer wrote, musicians only have the text I provided them with. It does not describe music; its purpose is to propel performers into a state in which they are able to concentrate on a specific number of points. Thus, a certain system of internal infiltrations may arise between performers”(Skowron 1989). This concept of a creative process be-came the basis of many compositions classified as the so-called intuitive music: Alphabet für Liége, Aus dem sieben Tagen, or Für kommende Zeiten.

The above-mentioned examples of Stockhausen’s compositions allow us to dis-tinguish in his work, apart from the universal qualities of the presence of sacrum, also qualities that are individual and idiomatic for the author of Hymnen. These qualities from the perspective of contents will be as follows:

combining religious subjects of various cultural circles• combining the sphere of the highest values with the sphere of the sur-• rounding macrocosm as well as man’s internal microcosmintroducing texts in various languages in order to increase message clarity.•

From the perspective of music, these qualities are the following:vocal casting referring to the ritual practices of singing of all religions and • instrumental casting, often exceeding convention

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next to the traditional production of sound, introducing acoustic sounds, • effects referring to meditation practices and invocation, onomatopoeic sounds, and various noisesusing electronic sounds•

The audible layer of text and music is also supplemented with a visual layer: a system of gestures and stage movements, which may be found in worship manifes-tations of many religions and beliefs.

The 30-hour opera cycle Licht completed after 25 years of work is a great synthesis of all enumerated manifestations of sacrum in Karlheinz Stockhausen’s music. The cy-cle includes 7 parts referring to the 7 days of the week. Every subsequent part has its own characters, its own subject and content as well as individual attributes, symbols and colours. An element integrating the parts are the three main, symbolic heroes ap-pearing in every link of the cycle: Michael, the Archangel des cending to Earth (his mis-sion similar to that of Christ’s), Eve, symbolising a woman, the loved one, the mother or the guardian angel and Lucifer, the incarnation of Evil. The three characters are pre-sented in three strata: instrumental (trumpet, trombone, basset horn), vocal (tenor, bass, soprano) and stage (dancers). There are also allegorical characters present in the cycle: senses, elements, animals, days of the week, fragrances. In his cycle Licht Stockhausen uses a concept of forming musical material out of one primary structure, the so-called super-formula (a combination of three formulas-melodies of the com-position’s three heroes). The composer emphasised many times that he perceives his monumental piece outside any existing genre denominations; as an attempt to com-bine the distant traditions of the West and the East, both in the subject he selected as well as the formal solutions in the theatre. One of the opera’s heroes, Michael speaks characteristic words, which seem to be the author’s introspection:

I became a humanTo see myself and God the FatherAs a human vision To bring celestial music to humansAnd human music to the celestial beingsSo that Man may listen to GodAnd God may hear His children.

Thus, Stockhausen’s last completed masterpiece also has the most significant function: it operates as a medium between man and his God, whereas the com-poser himself would like to pay back his debt to Fate with his service. “From the moment I was able to think, I am thankful to God for my life, His protection, my ta-lent, for the example of His nature”, the composer admitted in 1997 (Stockhausen 2000). During his courses in August that year he added: „I did not change much, I have always tried to praise God with my composition”(Stockhausen 2005).

BibliographyCott J., Stockhausen. Conversations with the Composer. Simon and Schuster, New York

1973.Maconie R., Other planets. The Music of Karlheinz Stockhausen. The Scarecrow Press, Inc.,

Lanham, Maryland, Toronto, Oxford, 2005.

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Otto R., Świętość. Elementy irracjonalne w pojęciu bóstwa i stosunek do elementów racjonalnych. Wydawnictwo KR, Warsaw 1999.

Skowron Z., Teoria i estetyka awangardy muzycznej drugiej połowy XX wieku. Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego, Warsaw 1989.

Stockhausen K., Vortrag über HU, Stockhausen-Verlag Werk Nr .: 38,5, Kürten 1974.Stockhausen K., Am Himmel wandre ich..., Stockhausen-Verlag CD 20, Kürten 1992.Stockhausen K., Litanei 97 für Chor und Dirigent 1997, Stockhausen-Verlag Werk

Nr.: 74, Kürten 1999.Stockhausen K., Litanei 97 Kurzwellen, Stockhausen-Verlag CD 61, Kürten 2000.Stockhausen K., a statement closing the 8th Summer Courses in Kürten 2005.

agnieszka draUS, PhD Academy of Music in Krakow, a member of the Division of Musi-cologists of the Polish Composers’ Union. Area of scientific interest: sacred music, Krzysz-tof Penderecki, Karlheinz Stockhausen.

Catechesis of the Youth Groups of Liturgical Music

Vida DAUGIRDIENĖ

AbstractMusic, which joins material world with human soul, evokes prayer in the heart and helps to participate in Christian liturgy. Thus, such music can be called liturgical music. Liturgical music does not mean a particular musical style, but rather a form of music suitable for liturgy - a form that can influence the content.

Christian folk music, which is most popular with young people, should be un-derstood as new folk singing which fills the gaps in post-Soviet Lithuanian Church music. The rise of this style of songs as well as coinage of the term “a worship group“, characterizing a group of young people singing during the Holy Mass, evi-dence a certain shift that can be described as a quest of new forms to express faith. However, it can also denote unreflecting about an appropriate musical repertoire suitable for the Mystery of the Holy Mass and using genres which make no recko-ning of the meaning of the liturgy, the parts of the rite and the liturgical year. This is why there is an urge of an appropriate liturgical catechesis of young people.

The results of the Survey on the Status of the Youth Groups of Liturgical Mu-sic in Kaunas 1st Deanery maintain that the young people who are singing in the churches of Kaunas dissociate Holy Mass from other moments as they consider their chant to be a moment of prayer at the same time sometimes feeling some need to be silent and quiet. They pay attention to the words of the hymns and their correspondence to the parts of the Holy Mass. It is important for them to be joined by the liturgical assembly, and they like being appraised for their singing. Another significant moment is that they enjoy live music, and they have need of singing hymns in the native language. However, only less than half of the respondents are involved in the catechesis of their parishes; most of those who take an active part in it have already received the holy sacraments or are not preparing for them yet.

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Therefore, even though the liturgical catechesis must be pursued after the initial coming to believe and conversion, young people should receive this catechesis in an appropriate manner.

SantraukaMuzika, jungianti materialų pasaulį su žmogaus siela, gali skatinti maldos nuotaiką ir padėti dalyvauti krikščioniškoje liturgijoje. Pastaruoju atveju ji gali būti vadinama liturgine muzika. Liturginė muzika nereiškia muzikinio stiliaus, o daugiau (tinkamą liturgijai) formą. Tačiau forma gali daryti įtaką turiniui.

Tarp jaunimo labiausiai paplitusi krikščioniška folk muzika suprastina kaip nau-jasis liaudiškasis giedojimas, užpildo posovietinės Lietuvos bažnytinės muzikos paveldo spragas. Šio stiliaus giesmių bei „šlovinimo grupės“ termino tarp šv. Mišiose giedančio jaunimo atsiradimas liudija tam tikrą slinktį, galinčią reikšti tiek naujų tikėjimo išraiškos formų ieškojimą, tiek ir nesusimąstymą apie šv. Mišių slėpiniui deramą muzikinį repertuarą bei naudojimą žanrų, neatsižvelgiančių į liturgijos prasmę, apeigų dalis, liturginius metus. Tinkamos liturginės jaunimo katechezės užduotis – atliepti į šiuos iššūkius.

Apibendrinant atlikto Kauno I dekanato jaunimo liturginės muzikos grupių katechezės būklės tyrimo rezultatus, teigiamu reiškiniu galima laikyti, kad Kauno bažnyčiose giedantis jaunimas atskiria Mišias nuo kitų momentų, kad giedojimą jose patiria kaip maldos momentą, tuo pačiu kartais jausdami poreikį ir nutilti, nurimti. Jiems svarbūs giesmių žodžiai ir jų atitikimas šv. Mišių dalims. Taip pat jiems svarbus ir kitų liturginės asamblėjos narių įsijungimas į giedojimą bei įvertinimas. Vilties teikia jaunimo mėgstamas gyvas muzikavimas bei jaučiamas gimtosios kal-bos poreikis giedant. Tačiau mažiau negu pusė respondentų yra įtraukti į parapijos katechezę, o iš įtrauktųjų dauguma greičiausiai jau priėmę sakramentus arba šiuo metu jiems nesiruošia. Todėl, nors liturginė katechezė turi vykti po pirminio įtikėjimo ir atsivertimo, jaunimui reikia jiems tinkamu būdu pateiktos šios katechezės.

vida dauGiRdiEnė, PhD in Education Sciences, assoc. prof. in the Department of Reli-gious Study, Vytautas Magnus University, Lithuania. Area of scientific interest: Christianity, liturgical music, catechesis.

New Music for New (?) Religious Experiences

Kinga POVEDÁK

AbstractMusic is an important if not the most important form of expression in religious rituals, probably the most expressive and multi-faceted form of artistic expres-sion regarding religious experience. As Gordon Lynch articulates ‘Music has, in the past, been an important cultural resource and practice for religious communities […] music has served a number of functions, such as reinforcing religious identi-ties, establishing a sense of collectivity within religious groups […] and serving as a focus and stimulus of religious experience and sentiment.’

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With time and modernity religions and musical forms go through a significant change as well, consequently changing religious expressions. In late modernity we observe the process of removing centuries old musical traditions and inventing new religious musical genres integrating popular music with religious texts and traditions. There are many connections and interrelations of religion and popular culture, which are all important for the understanding of contemporary religion. The emergence of popular music in traditional churches has not been the subject of much research and it gives a wonderful insight into the changing religious expressions and vernacular religiosity of young believers. Throughout my ethnographic research among young Catholics in Hungary I tried to find implications why traditional religious musical ex-pressions do not seem to be meaningful for them. Is this novel musical language is the plausibility structure for younger generations in the 21st century?

In this paper I will discuss why some find older forms of musical traditions not attractive anymore in their vernacular religiosity. What is the spiritual/religious/psychological need for the formulation of a significantly distinctive musical lan-guage for the expressions of religious experience?

Kinga POvEdaK, assistant research fellow in the Department of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology, University of Szeged, Hungary.

Religious Experience Through Music: Contemporary Lithuanian Compositions

Religinė patirtis per muziką: šiuolaikinė lietuvių kūryba

Danutė KALAVINSKAITĖ

AbstractReligious experience can be expressed (as well as perceived) through art too. The words musica sacra used to name church music specify not only its purpose but also a certain – sacred – quality. Researchers into religious creation try to discover the peculiarities of the principles of composition and impact on the listener that determine this sacredness pri-marily in the early church monody. In the history of Christianity, chant like any other ar-tistic expression has become, with time, part of catechesis as well as the benchmark for spiritual inspiration. This is an important reason why contemporary composers are urged to study Gregorian chant as the liturgical singing characteristic of the Roman Catholic Church. It is not a question of imitating Gregorian chant but rather of ensuring that “new compositions are imbued with the same spirit that inspired and little by little came to shape it” (John Paul II, Chirograph on Sacred Music, 2003, § 12). On the other hand, since old times, theologians have considered beauty as an expression of divinity (Augustine of Hippo, Thomas Aquinas, M. Luther et al.); they also see this evangelical message in secu-lar compositions (e.g., K. Barth, H. U. von Balthasar, H. Küng about Mozart’s music).

After Lithuania regained independence in 1990, artists as part of the nation underwent change in religious experience the first stage of which was the enthu-siasm for faith and search for artistic expression that exceed the Catholic tradition impoverished during the Soviet time. It is impossible to determine by analysing

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musical works alone how much of it arise from the composer’s authentic religious experience and how much of it is the wish to play, stylise, imitate earlier church music or try something new. Therefore the paper discusses the issue of what re-ligious experience, what image or understanding of God (the Kingdom of God) contemporary religious music by professional Lithuanian composers can open (or opens). Firstly the focus is on the genres of church music independently of the purpose of the compositions (liturgical or concert) because by choosing musical genres that developed from the requirements for the liturgy and canonical texts the composers clearly declared that they belong to the Christian tradition.

Famous composers of contemporary religious music assert that their aim is to discover and disclose in their works “the immeasurable magnificence, simplicity, and magisterial beauty and power that emanates from God, Who is the Source of Everything” (J. Tavener, also A. Pärt); to authentically “express the eternal values” through music as an expression of faith (K. Penderecki), to create an unusual space and time through which the “good magic” of music is expressed (O. Messiaen), and so on. “Mystical minimalism” is used, “the collapse of time into the eternity” is at-tempted, or the composition is formed as a maximally authentic ritual event.

Contemporary Lithuanian composers also employ rather suggestively many means of expression that were created in the history of church music (e.g., the texture and for-mation of monody, modes, polyphony, certain euphonies of harmony). Several Lithua-nian composers who testify to religious truths with their works can be mentioned (Jeronimas Kačinskas, Kristina Vasiliauskaitė, Alvidas Remesa, Algirdas Martinaitis). Most often, their musical language does not shock or disturb and can be understood not only by professional musicians. However, in contemporary Lithuanian culture with its language of church music that is still forming successful “musical hierophanies” (that are more impressive than the quiet music) sparkle: the greatness of merciful God in Vidmantas Bartulis’ Te Deum; God’s indescri bable glory and the presence of his holiness (as much at the present moment as on Judgement Day) in Viktoras Miniotas’ Messa da camera; the image of the Lamb of God that exceeds the cosmic greatness of the rocks, flowers, constellations and all saints (i.e., the Triumphant Church) in Onutė Narbutaitė’s “Vėlinių giedojimas” (Chant to All Souls’ Day: Lapides, flores, nomina et sidera); the miracle of the (self-)liberation of the musical hero (the transformation of a hostile attitude to God into tender and trusting) in Feliksas Bajoras’ Missa in musica; the spilling into a smooth flow of an interrupted as though stuck prayer in Vidmantas Bartulis’ “Vėrinys Marijai” (String of Beads for the Virgin Mary), etc.

The composers’ experience or insights expressed through musical structures that are forming the language of contemporary Lithuanian religious music can also be experienced by the audiences as religious revelations.

SantraukaReliginė patirtis gali būti išreiškiama (bei išgyvenama) ir per meną. Bažnytinės muzikos pavadinimas musica sacra nurodo ne tik paskirtį, bet ir tam tikrą „šventą kokybę“ – šį muzikos „šventumą“ lemiančius muzikos darybos principus bei po veikio klausytojams ypatumus religinės kūrybos tyrinėtojai pirmiausia bando atrasti senojoje bažnytinėje monodijoje. Krikščionybės istorijoje giesmė, kaip ir kita meninė raiška, ilgainiui tapo katechezės dalimi ir dvasinio įkvėpimo etalonu. Antai šiuolaikiniai kompozitoriai yra raginami pažinti grigališkąjį choralą kaip Romos katalikų Bažnyčiai būdingą liturginį

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giedojimą ne tam, kad jį pamėgdžiotų, bet kad „naujos kompozicijos būtų įkvėptos tos pačios dvasios, kuri jį įkvėpė ir pamažu su formavo“ (pop. Jono Pauliaus II chi-rografas minint Tra le sollecitudini šimtmetį, 2003, § 12). Kita vertus, teologai nuo seno grožį vertina kaip dieviškumo apraišką (Augustinas, Tomas Akvinietis, Liuteris ir kt.), evangelinę žinią girdi ir pasaulietinėje kūryboje (pvz., K. Barthas, H. U. von Balthasaras, H. Küngas apie Mozarto muziką).

Lietuviams XX a. pabaigoj iškovojus laisvę ir nepriklausomybę, tiek tauta, tiek meno kūrėjai (kaip jos nariai) išgyveno religinių potyrių dinamiką, kurios pirmasis etapas – į sovietmečiu nuskurdintos katalikiškos tradicijos rėmus netelpantys tikėjimo entuziazmas bei meninės išraiškos ieškojimai. Kiek šie ieškojimai kyla iš autentiškos religinės patirties, kiek iš noro žaisti, stilizuoti, mėgdžioti bažnytinę praeities kūrybą ar išbandyti nauja, vien analizuojant kūrinius nustatyti neįmanoma. Todėl pranešime bus gvildenamas klausimas: kokią religinę patirtį, Dievo (Dangaus karalystės) vaizdinį arba sampratą klausytojams gali atverti (atveria) šiuolaikinė religinė lietuvių kompozitorių profesionalų kūryba. Pirmiausia bus remiamasi bažnytiniais žanrais (nepriklausomai nuo kūrinių paskirties – liturginės, koncertinės), kadangi pasirink-dami muzikos žanrus, išaugusius iš liturgijos poreikių, ir kanoninius tekstus, kompozi-toriai nedviprasmiškai deklaravo priklausantys krikščioniškosios tradicijos erdvei.

Žymūs šiuolaikiniai religinės muzikos kūrėjai teigia savo kūryba siekiantys rasti ir atskleisti „neišmatuojamą didingumą, paprastumą, autoritetingą grožį ir galią, kuri sklinda iš Dievo, visa ko Šaltinio“ (J. Taveneras, t. p. A. Pärtas), per muziką kaip tikėjimo išpažinimą autentiškai „išreikšti amžinas vertybes“ (K. Pendereckis), sukurti neįprastą erdvėlaikį, per kurį pasireikštų muzikos „geroji magija“ (O. Messiaenas) ir pan. Kuria-mas „mistinis minimalizmas“, pasiekiamas „laiko kolapsas į amžinybę“ ar kūrinys for-muojamas kaip maksimaliai tikras (autentiškas) ritualinis įvykis. Šiuolaikiniai lietuvių kompozitoriai taip pat daugmaž įtaigiai disponuoja daugeliu bažnytinės muzikos is-torijoje susiklosčiusių muzikos išraiškos priemonių (pvz., monodijos faktūra ir daryba, dermėmis, polifoniškumu, tam tikromis harmonijos eufonijomis). Iš lietuvių autorių galime išskirti kelis kompozitorius, kurie anapusinę tikrovę liudija savo kūrybos vis-uma (Jeronimas Kačinskas, Kristina Vasiliauskaitė, Alvidas Remesa, Algirdas Marti-naitis) – jų raiška dažniausiai rami, nešokiruojanti, suprantama ne vien muzikams profesionalams. Tačiau bažnytinės muzikos kalbą tik formuojančioje kultūroje daug įspūdingiau sublyksi atskiros sėkmingos „muzikinės hierofanijos“, kaip antai gailestingojo Dievo didybė Vidmanto Bartulio „Te Deum“, neapsakoma Dievo šlovė ir Jo šventumo akivaizda (dabarties akimirkoj tiek pat, kiek Paskutiniojo Teismo dieną) Viktoro Minioto „Missa da camera“, kosminę akmenynų, žiedų, žvaigždynų ir visų šventųjų (Triumfuojančios Bažnyčios) didybę pranokstantis Dievo Avinėlio vaizdinys Onutės Narbutaitės „Vėlinių vainike“, muzikos herojaus iš(si)laisvinimo stebuklas (priešiško santykio su Dievu perkeitimas į švelnų, patiklų Felikso Bajoro „Missa in musica“ ar trūkčiojančios, tarsi „įstrigusios“, maldos išsiliejimas sklandžia tėkme Vidmanto Bartulio „Vėrinyje Marijai“) ir kt. Šios per muzikos struktūras įgarsintos kompozitorių patirtys ar įžvalgos, formuojančios šiuolaikinės lietuvių religinės muz-ikos žodyną, gali būti ir klausytojų išgyvenamos kaip religinis įvykis.

danutė KalavinsKaitė, PhD, musicologist and church organist, assoc. prof. in the De-partment of Theory of Music, Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre, Lithuania. Area of scientific interest: works of F. Bajoras, sacred music, contemporary Church music of Lithuanian composers, the role of music in the Catholic Church, liturgical rites and art.

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Session V – C

Expression of Religious Experiences in Lithuanian Folklore Narratives

Aušra KAIRAITYTĖ

AbstractWe are intending to discuss the personal religious experiences, stated in the Lithua-nian folklore narratives. The main question of the discussion is: in what forms reli-gious experiences are most commonly expressed and what are the key-moments of the meeting of the human and transcendence in narratives of folklore? For more detailed analysis narratives that portray the human person and the sacred mee-ting were depicted. In Lithuanian folklore the religious experiences often reveals in dream stories. Human encounters Jesus Christ, Virgin Mary, and many other saints. In dreams person is encouraged to return to the faith and the loyalty to the holy person. The hero of the dream experiences a miraculous cure. Sometimes the places where the Virgin Mary appeared are dreamed. The storytellers perceive the dreams as prophetic. It is pointed out that prophetic and other dreams about holy remain in memory for a lifetime. The content of the dreams in many cases is related to the strengthening and promoting the Catholic faith. If the person carries out the will of Mother of God or other holy person he has a great possibility to prevent the danger, cure illnesses and preserve his own or his family member’s life. Lithua-nian folklore narratives of human encounter with the supernatural world reveal the fundamental religious values. The event of impact of human and Deity radically changes the religious feelings and the religious beliefs: the godless person becomes religious, non-believer begins to believe, and the religiousness of doubting person increases. Religious experiences can be revealed not only in the dream stories, but also in stories of visions and incurred miracles. The experience of visions and mira-cles is mysterious, extraordinary and unusual event. Personal contact with the holy man gives a special status to the personage in the whole community. The oral folk art of dreams, apparitions and miracles is an area of folk piety, which discloses a very individual and personal human dialogue with the Divinity. This kind narrative analysis of religious experience leads us to the better understanding of traditional folk religion as well as its place in contemporary world.

keywords: religious experiences, folklore narratives, dreams, visions, miracles.

Įvadas

Pranešime ketinama aptarti asmens religines patirtis, vaizduojamas liaudies žodi-nėje kūryboje. Tyrimų objektas – lietuvių folkloro naratyvai, kuriose kalbama apie žmogaus ir Dievybės / šventojo asmens susitikimą. Tikslas – aptarti pagrindines reli-ginių patirčių raiškos formas, aptinkamas lietuvių folkloro naratyvuose. Uždaviniai:

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1) nustatyti, kokio pobūdžio patirtys aplanko žmogų susitikime su transcenden-cija; 2) išanalizuoti žmogaus ir Dievybės susitikimo turinį, jo vyksmą; 3) atskleisti pagrindines religines vertybes, išryškėjančias žmogaus bendravime su anapusybe. Metodai: interpretacijos, aprašomasis, analitinis. Tyrimų šaltiniai: tyrimui naudoti publikuoti ir nepublikuoti lietuvių folkloro šaltiniai. Didžiausią dėmesį kreipsime į legendas, religinius ir oneirinės tematikos bei asmens patirties pasakojimus, kitus naratyvus, kuriuose tos patirtys vaizduojamos.

sapno patirtis

Sapnų naratyvuose religinės patirtys atsiskleidžia susitikime su šventuoju asmeniu. Sapnuose gali būti regima Švč. Mergelė Marija, Jėzus Kristus, Dievas, šventieji ar liaudyje šventaisiais laikomi asmenys, kaip Barbora Umiastauskaitė Žagarietė, pa-laimintasis Jurgis Matulaitis ir kiti.

Svarbus sapnų motyvas, kuriuose pasirodo šventieji, siejasi su žmogaus stebuk-lingu pagijimu. Sapne paprastai yra nurodoma, kaip reikėtų elgtis, norint pasveikti: liepiama nuvykti į tam tikrą vietą ir pasimelsti prie Švč. Mergelės Marijos koplytė-lės (Lietuvių literatūros ir tautosakos instituto Lietuvių tautosakos rankraštynas, LTR 850/39); patariama aplankyti konkretų asmenį (Račiūnaitė-Paužuolienė 2008: 151); o nuvykus į tam tikrą vietą – pasižadėti, pavyzdžiui, Švč. Mergelei Marijai (LTR 811/458); uždegti žvakes (Buračas 1996: 114); pastatyti kryžių (Buračas 1930: 485) arba šv. Elžbietos statulą (Buračas 1996: 115). Sapnų, susijusių su žmogaus pagi-jimu, siužete yra labai svarbus rezultatas. Paprastai asmuo, padedamas šventojo ar kito ypatingo asmens, pagyja. Galima pastebėti, kad religinės patirtys, aplan-kančios žmogų sapnuose, yra susijusios su tam tikru religiniu elgesiu, o religinio elgesio perteikimo būdas, šiuo atveju sapnų naratyvai, užtikrina religinės tradicijos tęstinumą.

Sapnai, kuriuose vaizduojamas žmogaus susidūrimas su anapusybe, gali būti suvokiami kaip pranašiški, o sapno turinys kaip ateitį nusakantis įvykis: moteris Aušros Vartų Marijos atvaizdą susapnavusi juodame danguje prieš pat Antrąjį Pasaulinį karą (Vytauto Didžiojo universiteto Etnologijos ir folkloristikos katedros rank raštynas, VDU ER 2070/50); motina, praradusi dukterį, sapne prašo Marijos grąžinti ją. Tačiau Marija atsako, kad to negalinti padaryti, bet vietoje mirusios duk-ters ji duos dar dvi. Taip ir nutinka (VDU ER 2070/55); sapnuose pasirodžiusi nepa-žįstama moteris įspėja apie tykantį pavojų. Žmogus, klausęs nurodymų, lieka gyvas. Tik vėliau paaiškėja, kad sapne galėjo būti pasirodžiusi Marija (VDU ER 2070/51). Pranašiški sapnai aplanko lemtingu gyvenimo momentu tiek moterų, tiek vyrų (Būgienė 2007: 66–67). Žmonės labai įvairiai linkę interpretuoti neva pranašiško sapno turinį. Kartais net kreipiamasi į tam tikrus asmenis, prašant sapną paaiškinti (Ivanauskaitė 2007b: 281). Vitos Ivanauskaitės pastebėjimu, noras pasipasakoti re-gėtus sapnus yra sąlygotas ne vien tik poreikio išsiaiškinti regėtus vaizdinius, bet ir tapdavo svarbiu komunikaciniu momentu tradicinės bendruomenės aplinkoje (Iva-nauskaitė 2007a: 88). Tuo tarpu sapno interpretacija yra laisvas, kūrybinis žmogaus veiksmas (Višinskaitė 2006: 188).

Sapno realybėje patirti išgyvenimai, sapno turinys, susitikimas su šventuoju asme-niu palieka itin ryškius, ilgam įsimenamus prisiminimus sapną sapnavusiam asmeniui. Šį momentą pateikėjai yra linkę akcentuoti (VDU ER 2070/52; 2070/56 ir kt.).

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Religinio turinio sapnai suteikia teigiamų jausmų antplūdį. Moteris, būdama šešiolikos metų, sapnavusi Jėzų Kristų. Didįjį ketvirtadienį suklaupę žmonės ėjo bu-čiuoti Kristui rankos: kai tik žmogus prieina – Kristus pakelia ranką į viršų. Moteris išsigąsta, kad ir jai taip nutiks. Tačiau Kristus leidžia jai pabučiuoti delno vidurį. Moteris tiek sapno metu, tiek pabudusi pasijunta labai laiminga. Pateikėjos, sapna-vusios šį įsimintiną sapną, įsitikinimu, Kristus atleido visas jaunystės nuodėmes ir lydėjo ją visą gyvenimą (Ivanauskaitė 2007b: 279–280).

Neretai sapnas, kuriame asmuo susitiko su sakralaus pasaulio atstovais, pa-daro itin didelį poveikį žmogaus religiniam gyvenimui. Oneiriniuose naratyvuose, kuriuose regima Švč. Mergelė Marija, skatinama grįžti į tikėjimą. Vyras sapnuoja bažnyčioje atgijusį Marijos paveikslą. Marija ištiesia ranką ir kviečią jį dažniau lan-kytis joje: „Tu nebijuok ateiti. Nesi nusidiejės. Tu ateik daugiau, tankiau į bažnyčią. Tau bus geriau“ (Ivanauskaitė 2007b: 281). Pateikėjo komentaras rodo, kad šis sapnas paveikė jo religinio gyvenimo įpročius: „I dabar aš į bažnyčė kad einu, aš visumet einu pri Marijas. Puoterius kalbu“ (Ivanauskaitė 2007b: 281).

Sapnas yra svarbus asmens religinės patirties raiškos būdas. Religinio sapno turinys informuoja kaip reikėtų tinkamai pasielgti norint pasveikti. Tokio pobūdžio sapnai nurodo tam tikras religinio elgesio taisykles. Kitu atveju religinio turinio sapnas regimas kritiniu gyvenimo momentu. Tokie sapnai gali tapti pranašiški, perspėti apie nelaimę. Dievą, Jėzų Kristų, kitus sakralaus pasaulio atstovus susap-navęs žmogus pasijunta ypatingu, iš kitų išsiskiriančiu, kartu formuojama religinė asmens tapatybė. Sapnai, kuriuose vaizduojamas šio ir anapusinio pasaulio su-sidūrimas, atlieka savotišką religijos sklaidos funkciją, kuomet žmogaus religinė patirtis perteikiama kitiems visuomenės nariams, formuojant liaudies religinę pasaulėžiūrą.

regėjimo patirtis

Lietuvių folklore religinės asmens patirtys gali būti perteikiamos ne vien tik onei-rinės tematikos kūriniais, bet ir pasakojimais ar legendomis apie privačius apsi-reiškimus, regėjimus. Lietuvių legendose vaizduojamas žmogaus susidūrimas su ypatingu transcendentinio pasaulio atstovu, šventuoju asmeniu, pasakojami nepa-prasti įvykiai, išgyvenimai. Legendose, pasakojimuose apie regėjimuose pasirodo krikščionių religijos atstovai (Švč. Mergelė Marija, Jėzus Kristus ir kt.). Regėjimuose, panašiai kaip ir sapno metu, pasirodęs šventasis asmuo perteikia tam tikrus nuro-dymus, informaciją kaip reikėtų elgtis. Moteris regi Palaimintąjį Jurgį, kuris pataria: „Mylėk šventą raštą ir vadovaukis juo, ir gyvenk pagal jį, nes tai yra pagrindinė knyga, pagal kurią gyvenime turi vadovautis“ (VDU ER 2070/25). Pasakojimuose apie regėjimus susipina žmogaus religinė patirtis ir anapusinio pasaulio atstovų suteikiama informacija. Regėjimuose, kuriuose pasirodo Švč. Mergelę Mariją, per-teikiamas koks nors prašymas, pavyzdžiui, tam tikroje erdvėje pastatyti kryžių, mal-dos namus, kartu Dievo Motina skatina melstis, skelbti jos žodžius tikintiesiems, palaiminti žmones (žr. Kairaitytė 2008).

Vyrauja įsitikinimas, kad regėti transcendentinio pasaulio atstovus gali tik šven-ti asmenys: „Nenusipelniau da tiek, ka ma pasirodytų. Reikia būt šventam, sako, tik [tada] pasirodo“ (VDU ER 2070/41), o regėjimą mačiusį žmogų liaudis yra linkusi traktuoti kaip šventąjį (LTR 4551/124).

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Lietuvių folkloro naratyvuose žmogaus ir anapusybės susitikimas gali būti api-pintas simboliniais vaizdiniais, pavyzdžiui, viename pasakojime apie nepaprastus regėjimus moteris išvysta link jos skrendantį balandį (VDU ER 2070/16). Balandis krikščionių simbolikoje, pirmiausia religiniame mene, suvokiamas kaip Šventosios Dvasios simbolis (Becker 1995: 33). Lygiai taip ir asmens religinės patirties pasa-kojime balandis suprantamas kaip simbolinis Šventosios Dvasios vaizdinys, kuris suteikia dovanas: religinę išmintį, supratimą, o moteris, patyrusi nekasdieninį įvykį, pajaučia meilę Dievui (VDU ER 2070/16).

stebuklo patirtis

Legendose, pasakojimuose, kituose folkloro naratyvuose galima aptikti įvykių, ku-riuos žmonės traktuoja kaip stebuklus, ar objektų, kuriuos liaudis laiko stebuklin-gais. Stebuklą liaudis suvokia kaip jam nesuprantamą, neįtikėtiną ar nepaaiškina-mą įvykį, kuriam gali būti suteikiama tam tikra religinė prasmė. Religinis stebuklo kontekstas siejamas su Dievu, šventaisiais, kartais su religiniais simboliais ar kitais religiniais vaizdiniais.

Folkloro naratyvuose, kuriuose vaizduojami stebuklingi įvykiai, asmuo tikisi stebuklo. Šiuo atveju yra atliekami tam tikri veiksmai, pavyzdžiui, meldžiama pa-galbos. Balio Buračo pateiktame pasakojime apie žemaičių koplytėles šventojo pagalba, nutikus nelaimei, traktuojama kaip stebuklas: pasibaidžius arkliui, išsigan-dęs raitelis „meldė šv. Roką pagalbos, kad jam gyvybę išgelbėtų. Stebuklas įvyko. Pribėgęs akmenis, arklys suklupo, ir raitelis tuo metu išsilaisvino“ (Buračas 1996: 117–118). Stebuklą patyręs žmogus atsidėkoja: „Iš to didelio džiaugsmo žmogelis padaręs apžadus toje vietoje pastatyti didelį ir gražų mūro kryžių. Tą savo pasiža-dėjimą netrukus ir ištesėjęs“ (Buračas 1996: 118).

Folkloro naratyvuose gali būti tiesiogiai išsakomas noras pamatyti stebuklą. Le-gendoje pasakojama apie moterį, kuri nori pamatyti stebuklą Žagarės bažnyčioje. Pamačiusi stebuklą apsidžiaugia (Lietuvių mokslo draugijos tautosakos rankraščiai Lietuvių literatūros ir tautosakos instituto Lietuvių tautosakos rankraštyne, LMD I 909/8).

Tiek jau minėtuose pasakojimuose apie sapnus, tiek legendose bei religinio po-būdžio pasakojimuose svarbi tema yra žmogaus pagijimas, kuris, liaudies suprati-mu, yra suvokiamas kaip stebuklas. Stebuklingi pagijimai dažniausiai siejami su ste-buklingomis vietomis bei šventaisiais asmenimis. Veiksmingas būdas pasveikti yra pasiaukojimas ar pasižadėjimas prie šventų bei stebuklingais pagijimais garsėjančių Švč. Mergelės Marijos paveikslų, kabančių katalikų bažnyčiose visoje Lietuvoje. Vieni jų yra pripažinti Bažnyčios, kitus – stebuklingais laiko pati liaudis. Vienoje legendoje teigiama, kad moteris, melsdamasi Palaimintosios Mergelės atvaizdui, kabančiam Vilniuje, Jėzuitų kolegijos šv. Jono parapinėje bažnyčioje, prašo išgelbėti mirštantį vaiką. Motinai besimeldžiant, balsas iš švento Dievo Motinos paveikslo pusės pra-neša, jog vaikas nemirs, nes pavojaus ir mirties jau yra išvengęs. Moteris, norėdama parodyti savo dėkingumą, altoriuje pakabina dovaną (Sauka 1997: 241).

Yra siužetų, kuriuose vaizduojamas netinkamas elgesys, o nederamus poelgius tenka taisyti: „Barboros Žagarietės užtarimu įvykusių stebuklų registracijos knygo-je“ 1861 m. gegužės 29 d. užrašytame paliudijime moteris pasiaukoja Palaiminta-jai Barborai Senojoje Žagarėje ir pusę metų kamavęs sutinimas atslūgsta. Tačiau ji

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„norėjusi atsisakyti atlikti įžadą, – tuoj pat ant kojos išaugusi votis“ (Boruta et al. 2000: 457). Kitame liudijime teigiama: „1865 metų gegužės 12 dieną Domicelė To-liušytė iš Karklėnų filijos, Pašilės parapijos, Raseinių apskrities, Kauno gubernijos, kentėjo nepakeliamą dantų skausmą. Davus įžadą Palaimintajai Barborai, skausmai tuoj pat liovėsi. Po to sugalvojo pati įžado neatlikti, bet per kitą asmenį. Vėl pradėjo skaudėti. Atvykusi atlikti dvigubo įžado“ (Boruta et al. 2000: 459–460). Pateikti įra-šai rodo, kad nesilaikant tam tikrų taisyklių galima netekti suteiktos malonės.

Išvados

Religinės patirtys lietuvių folklore aptinkamos pasakojimuose apie sapnus, regėjimus, patirtus stebuklus (ypač apie stebuklingus išgijimus).

Asmens religinės patirties pasakojimuose atsiskleidžia individualios šios pat-irties interpretacijos, jos prasmės ir reikšmės, nekasdieninio religinio įvykio re-fleksijos, o kartu žmogaus religinis identitetas. Religinė patirtis gali tapti svarbia žmogaus religinio gyvenimo dalimi. Asmens patirties pasakojimuose išryškėja religinės vertybės, susijusios su tikėjimo stiprinimu, religinių jausmų raiška.

Religinės patirties pasakojimai yra reikšmingi ne tik individui, bet ir bend-ruomenei, kurioje jis gyvena. Asmuo, patyręs nekasdieniškus religinius įvykius, siekia šia patirtimi pasidalinti, papasakoti kitiems. Viena iš pagrindinių paskirčių, išryškėjančių religiniuose patirčių pasakojimuose, yra susijusi su religinio bei kultūrinio elgesio normomis bei pasaulėžiūra.

LiteratūraBecker, U. 1995. Simbolių žodynas. Vilnius: Vaga.Boruta, J., Katilienė, I., Katilius, A. 2000. Barboros Žagarietės stebuklų knygą suradus.

LKMA metraštis 16: 443–525.Būgienė, L. 2007. Pasakojamoji tautosaka skirtingų kartų žemaičių lūpose: kelios pastabos

apie Viekšnių apylinkių pasakojimus. Tautosakos darbai 33: 56–71.Buračas, B. 1930. Pilies kryžių kalnas. Trimitas 24.Buračas, B. 1996. Pasakojimai ir padavimai. Vilnius: Mintis.Ivanauskaitė, V. 2007a. Žemaičių sapnai: tekstų folkloriškumas ir kontekstų reikšmė. Tau-

tosakos darbai 34: 79–96.Ivanauskaitė, V. 2007b. „Dėdelē graži sapną eso sapnavosi...“. Tautosakos darbai 34:

277–293.Kairaitytė, A. 2008. Mergelės Marijos apsireiškimų traktuotė lietuvių folklore. Soter 28

(56): 155–165.Račiūnaitė-Paužuolienė, R. 2008. Religiniai pasakojimai ir legendos apie Barborą

Umiastauskaitę-Žagarietę. Tautosakos darbai 35: 117–133.Sauka, L. 1997. Lietuviškos legendos. Tautosakos darbai 6–7 (13–14): 238–239.Višinskaitė, A. 2006. Individualumas ir tradicija pasakojimuose apie sapnus. Tautosakos

darbai 31: 183–189.

aušra KaiRaitytė, PhD. Centre for Cultural Studies, Vytautas Magnus University, Lithua-nia. Area of scientific interest: folk religiosity, folk Christianity, the images of Christian saints in the folklore.

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New Jesuit Saints and their Meaning for the Religiosity of the 17-18th Century: Context of GLD Poetics and Poetry

Nauji Jėzuitų šventieji ir jų reikšmė XVII–XVIII a. religingumui: pagal LDK poetikos ir poezijos kontekstą

Živilė NEDZINSKAITĖ

AbstractIn the epoch of baroque there blossomed new forms of piety. One of the reasons is reformation movement in Europe and Association of Jesus, established in 1540 as a balance and opposite to it. The statute of this monkhood declared that its main objective is piety which can be reached and spread in various ways. One of them is education. For this purpose, colleges and universities were established. Thus, in the 17th century, Jesuits created a solid educational system the activity of which was regulated by the set of provisions Ratio studiorum (1599). The important place here was given to rhetoric which then became the basis of education. The section about the duties of the rhetoric professor (Regulae professoris rhetoricae) gives attention to three main things related to the teaching of rhetoric. First, language rules (prae-cepta dicendi) should be stated, then, rhetoric style is assimilated and developed, and finally, knowledge of various natures is provided necessary for revealing a com-prehensive talent of the orator. This knowledge is called eruditiones – facts from his-tory, geography, heraldry, law, psychology, archaeology, politics, ethics, soldiership, biographies, religions, customs, mythology, etc. Later, it was recommended that a student, after choosing any author he/she likes, should try to write something similar to the author’s work. Thus, in teaching of rhetoric, as in all Jesuit educational system, there emerged three main layers: theoretical, practical and expertise.

Especially important in learning rhetoric (in modern terms we could name it as theory and practice of literature) became the work of the Jesuit Anthony Possevin Tractatio de poesi et pictura (About poetry and art), in which it is explained how to connect the image, word and symbol into one allegoric work, how to create Chris-tian poetry by imitating the antique authors. Possevin’s formulated principles were followed in all scholastic institutions of the Jesuits while reading and interpreting the texts of antique authors.

One of the most important things in the rhetoric of the 17th century became the problem of imitation. Although it was interpreted in different ways, most theo-rists agreed (this is demonstrated by many synonyms of the term “imitate” (imi-tare): consider (considerare), observe (observare), perceive (intelligere), evaluate (expendere), restrict (aemulari)), that imitation should be the expression of the main idea of the imitated work, different, more relevant repetition and depiction of the most important things represented in the work. It was emphasized that during the imitation it is necessary to follow two main rules: to understand and analyze the creation of the followed author, and to write something similar to the chosen work not following it blindly, but trying to render the wisdom lying in it.

Following the aforementioned principles, in GDL of the 17-18th century, litera-ture in Latin was created. Interestingly, in the 17th century, one can notice the in-troduction of new Jesuits (Aloysius Gonzaga, Francis Ksaver, Francis Borga, three

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Jesuit monks – Paul Mike, John Got, Jacob Kizaj – martyrs in Japan) into the liter-ary works. For these saints poems were written by well-known poets (Mathew Kazimie ras Sarbievijus), as well as college lecturers and students.

One example, as the epigram of the famous poet, became the imitative exam-ple for the student who wrote about the Japanese martyrs. The parody of the epi-gram of the famous GDL poet, who wrote in Latin, M. K. Sarbievijus “Christ’s on the cross word: I desire“ (Christi in cruce vox: Sitio) was written by the student of the course of rhetoric, Jonas Ważyńskis (Joannes Ważynski, Jan Ważyński, 1633–1661), who later studied theology in Collegium Romanum, worked in Czech province and taught philosophy in Poznanė. The summary presents only Latin texts written by both poets, and these texts will be analyzed in detail in the paper. The last lines of the epigram, written individually by the student, were distinguished.

Epigram of Sarbievijus:Ah! Sitio, clamas, princeps pulcherrime rerum: Non habeo pro te dulcia vina: siti.Tu tamen, Ah, sitio, clamas; dabo pocula, Sponse: Heu mihi! Sed misto pocula felle dabo.Haec, mi Sponse, bibe: quaeris cui forte propines? Ad me pro mundi, Christe, salute bibe.

[Oh! I desire, call, the master of the most beautiful things; / I don’t have any sweet wine: agonize in thirst. / But you call: oh, I desire; I will give the glass, Fiancé: / oh dear! But I will give a glass of drink, dilutes with bile. / This, my Fiancé, drink: do you look for anyone with whom you will drink? / Drink for me for the saviour of the world, Christ]

Epigram of Jan Ważyński:

Ah sitio clamas, Princeps pulcherrime rerum, Non habeo pro te, dulcia vina: siti.Tu tamen ah sitio clamas, sed pocula desunt, Heu mihi quid faciam, quae dabo vina tibi.Sed cur tam tristes gemitus de pectore fundo, Cur longo quaero tempore vina Deo.In Cruce tres botri pendent, hos carpito Christe Transfixi telis, absque labore bibes.

[Oh! I desire, call, the master of the most beautiful things; / I haven’t got any sweet wine for you: agonize in thirst. / But you call: Oh, I desire, but there is no glass, / oh dear, what will I do, what wine will I give you. / But why do pour such sad moans from my chest, / why do I look for wine for God so long. / Three grapes hang on the Cross, stabbed by spears, / take them, Christ, you will drink readily.]

New Jesuit saints in the 17-18th c. became spiritual and moral examples which were recommended to follow for not only the one who chose the way of the priest but also for the one living worldly life.

key words: Jesuits, religiosity of the 17-18th Century, poetry

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Jėzuitų ordino svarba LDK edukacijai

Baroko epochoje (Lietuvoje XVII–XVIII a.) suklestėjo naujos pamaldumo formos. Viena iš jas skatinusių ir inspiravusių priežasčių – reformacijos judėjimas Europoje ir kaip atsvara bei priešinimasis jam 1540 m. Paryžiuje Ignaco Lojolos (Injigo Lopess de Onjass i Lojola, 1491–1556) įkurta Jėzaus Draugija. Šios vienuolijos įstatai skelbė, kad pagrindinis jos tikslas yra pamaldumas, kuris gali būti pasiekiamas ir skleidžiamas įvairiais būdais. Ordino įkūrėjas rašė: „Žmogus sukurtas šlovinti, garbinti ir tarnauti Dievui, mūsų Viešpačiui, ir per tai išgelbėti savo sielą; kiti dalykai sukurti dėl žmogaus, kad jam padėtų siekti tikslo, dėl kurio jis sukurtas. [...] Vadinasi, žmogus tiek jais turi naudotis, kiek jie padeda siekti jo tikslo, ir tiek jų atsisakyti, kiek jie tam trukdo.“1

Vienu ir bene svarbiausiu iš būdų, padedančiu siekti pamaldumo, jėzuitų laiky-ta edukacija, kurios gaires taip pat nužymėjo I. Lojola Konstitucijų (Constitutiones Societatis Iesu: cum earum declarationibus, 1558) IV dalyje. Todėl visoje Europo-je imtos steigti kolegijos ir universitetai. 1548 m. pradėjo veikti kolegija Sicilijos mieste Mesinoje, o 1551 m. Romoje atidaryta svarbiausia Jėzaus Draugijos švieti-mo įstaiga Collegium Romanum, kuri ir tapo pavyzdžiu kitoms jėzuitų mokykloms. Pirmasis šios vienuolijos universitetas taip pat atsirado tuojau po jos įsteigimo – 1544 m. jis buvo atidarytas Gandijoje, Ispanijos Valensijos provincijoje. Labai grei-tai jėzuitų kolegijų ir universitetų tinklas padengė visą Europą, o XVII a. jie jau buvo sukūrę vientisą edukacinę sistemą, kurios pagrindą sudarė humanistinių disciplinų mokymas (t. y. klasikinių kalbų – lotynų, graikų ir iš dalies hebrajų – studijos, po-etika, retorika, vėliau filisofija ir teologija). Visą edukacinės sistemos veiklą regla-mentavo Romoje išleistas nuostatų rinkinys Ratio studiorum (1599 m.), sudarytas ordino generolo Klaudijaus Acquavivos (Claudio Aquaviva, Acquaviva, 1581–1615). Nurodymuose išsamiai aptartos visų klasių magistrų teisės, pareigos ir mokymo metodai, paskaitų tvarka, vadovėliai. Ratio studiorum buvo sudarytas, orientuo-jantis į kelis pagrindinius dalykus. Akcentuota, kad jėzuitų švietimo tikslas yra dva-sinis, padedantis giliau pajusti Dievo meilę ir ugdantis nusiteikimą tarnauti artimui (christianitas et pietas). Perteikiant žinias ir krikščioniškas dorybes pabrėžiama me-todiškumo svarba: siekiama, kad mokiniai pirmiausia įgytų tvirtus pagrindus, tik po to tam tikra tvarka būtų pateikiama vis sudėtingesnė mokymo medžiaga. Taip pat rekomenduota ne tik suteikti žinių, bet ir tobulinti mokinių charakterį, lavinti mąstymo įgūdžius, siekti, kad jie patys aktyviai dalyvautų mokymo procese. Pagei-dauta, kad bendrą mokytojo ir mokinio pastangų rezultatą vainikuotų eloquentia perfecta (tobula iškalba), kuri buvo suprantama kaip kritinio mąstymo ir gebėjimo aiškiai, įtikinamai, laisvai reikšti savo mintis žodžiu ir raštu sintezė.

Todėl labai svarbi vieta čia buvo skirta retorikai. Skyriuje apie retorikos profeso-riaus pareigas (Regulae professoris rhetoricae)2 atkreipiamas dėmesys į tris pagrin-dinius su retorikos mokymu susijusius dalykus. Pirmiausia turėtų būti išdėstomos iškalbos taisyklės (praecepta dicendi), paskui įsisavinamas ir tobulinamas retorinis stilius, kurio geriausias pavyzdys yra Ciceronas (stylus [...] ex uno fere Cicerone su-

1 Ignacas Lojola, Autobiografija. Dvasinės pratybos, iš ispanų k. vertė kun. Lionginas Virbalas SJ, Viln-ius: Aidai, 1998, p. 25.

2 Ratio atque institutio studiorum Societatis Jesu, Turnoni: Apud Claudium Michaelem Typographum Universitatis, 1603, p. 133–142.

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mendus est3), o galiausiai suteikiama įvairaus pobūdžio žinių, reikalingų visapusiam oratoriaus talentui atskleisti. Šios žinios vadinamos eruditiones – faktai iš istorijos, geografijos, heraldikos, teisės, psichologijos, archeologijos, politikos, etikos, kary-bos, biografistikos, religijos, papročių, mitologijos ir pan. Perspėjama, kad tokios ži-nios būtų pasitelkiamos saikingai (eruditio modice usurpetur). Pagrindiniai retorikos mokymo bazę sudarantys šaltiniai buvo garsiausi šios srities Antikos kūriniai: Aristo-telio Ars rhetorica, nežinomo romėnų autoriaus Rhetorica ad Herennium, Cicerono veikalai De inventione, Partitiones oratoriae, De oratore, Brutus, Orator, Kvintiliano Institutio oratoria. Taigi retorikos mokyme, kaip ir visoje jėzuitų edukacijos sistemo-je, išryškėjo trys pagrindiniai sluoksniai: teorinis, praktinis ir erudicinis.

Retorikos mokymą sudarė tarsi dvi dalys: Antikos autorių kūrinių skaitymas bei analizė ir savarankiškas įvairių žanrų kūrinių rašymas imituojant perskaitytus ar pa-sirinktus kūrinius. Ratio studiorum yra pateikta tokia standartinė bet kokio kūrinio analizės schema. Pagal ją, mokytojas pirmiausia turėtų išaiškinti kūrinio prasmę ir pateikti galimus interpretacijos variantus, paskui reikėtų aptarti kūrinio kompozi-ciją ir meninės išraiškos būdus, taip pat pateikti pavyzdžių, kaip kūrė kiti autoriai, vartodami panašias menines priemones. Be to, analizuojamo kūrinio idėjas vertėtų patvirtinti kitų autorių mintimis ir sentencijomis. Paskiausiai rekomenduojama pa-aiškinti kūrinio realijas, susijusias su istorija, mitologija, geografija ar pan., atkreipti dėmesį į atskirų žodžių, posakių savitumą. Vėliau turėtų būti nurodytos praktinės užduotys – parašyti kokio nors žanro kūrinį, imituojant perskaityto autoriaus stilių4. Aukštesnė pakopa, paprastai praktikuota tik retorikos klasėje, buvo savarankiška mokinių literatūrinė kūryba, kuri ne tik parodydavo teorinių žinių įsisavinimą, bet dažnai atskleisdavo ne vieno studento poetinius ar prozinius gabumus.

Jėzuitų kolegijų mokiniams taip pat buvo keliami aukšti reikalavimai. Jie turėdavo ne tik puikiai išmokti taisykles, bet ir pritaikyti jas savo individualioje kūryboje. To-dėl retorikos paskaitose daug dėmesio skirta rašymo įgūdžiams lavinti, parinktam ar pasirinktam Antikos autoriui imituoti, prozos tekstui perrašyti eilėmis ir atvirkščiai, poezijos kūriniams duota tema, nurodyta tam tikro žanro taisyklė. Vyravo nuostata, kad mokinys privalo išmokti parašyti lotyniškai eiliuotą ar prozos tekstą, skirtą bet kuriai progai ir bet kuria tema. XVII a. mokant poetikos ir retorikos taisyklių, LDK kole-gijose jau buvo remiamasi ne tik garsiausiais Antikos autorių kūriniais, bet ir žymiau-siais savo krašto rašytojais. Kaip sektini imitavimo pavyzdžiai mokykliniuose paskaitų konspektuose pateikiami Jono Kochanowskio (Jan Kochanowski, 1530–1584), Mo-tiejaus Kazimiero Sarbievijaus (Mathias Casimirus Sarbievius, 1595–1640), Samuelio Twardowskio (Samuel Twardowski, 1600–1661) ir kitų autorių kūriniai.

A. Possevino veikalo reikšmė jėzuitų mokymo sistemoje

Ypač reikšmingas jėzuitų edukacijos sistemoje buvo milžiniškas (2 tomai, 18 kny-gų) jėzuito Antonijaus Possevino veikalas Bibliotheca selecta de ratione studio-rum (Rinktinė biblioteka apie studijų metodą), kuris buvo perleistas net tris kar-tus (Roma, 1593; Venecija, 1603; Kelnas, 1607). Išskirtinio dėmesio šis veikalas sulaukė todėl, kad būtent jis geriausiai atspindėjo Tridento Bažnyčios Susirinkimo

3 Ibid., p. 133.4 Ibid., p. 141–142.

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(1545–1563) nuostatą dėl antikinės literatūros ir meno alegorinio interpretavimo metodikos. Possevino knyga yra tarsi bibliografinis informatorius ir pagalbininkas po Antikos pasaulį, tačiau kartu joje pateikiami ir aiškiai suformuluoti praktiniai An-tikos autorių alegorinės interpretacijos metodai. Possevino veikalas tapo svarbiu jėzuitų Ratio studiorum nuostatų papildymu, nurodančiu, kaip mokytojas, jų laiky-damasis, vadovaudamasis pamaldumu (pietas) ir atmindamas kontrreformacijos tikslus, turėtų juos pritaikyti praktikoje5.

Mokantis retorikos (dabartiniais terminais ją galėtume įvardyti kaip literatūros teoriją ir praktiką), buvo remiamasi viena iš minėto Possevino veikalo dalių Trac-tatio de poesi et pictura (Apie poeziją ir dailę), kurioje aiškinama, kaip sujungti vaizdą, žodį ir simbolį į vieną alegorinį kūrinį, kaip imituojant antikinius autorius kurti krikščionišką poeziją.

Possevinas tvirtino, kad poezijos ir meno tikslas yra padaryti žmogų religinges-nį, besilaikantį krikščioniškų moralės normų. Remdamasis šia nuostata, visus meno ir poezijos kūrinius jis suskirstė į dvi grupes: į moralės normas atitinkančius ir jų neatitinkančius, vedančius į nuodėmę. Pagal tokią kūrinių skirstymo sistemą beveik visi Antikos autorių veikalai atsidūrė antroje grupėje. Tačiau Possevinas rado išeitį – jis pasiūlė būdą, kaip skaityti tokius Antikos autorius: reikėtų eliminuoti iš kūrinio erotinius fragmentus, vietoje pagoniško romėnų vartojamo dii (dievai) rašyti krikš-čionišką jo atitikmenį Deus (Dievas), o mitologija paremtus kūrinius aiškinti alego-riškai. Be to, publikuojant Antikos kūrinius, prie jų turėtų būti pridedamos religinio turinio įžangos (sanctissima prolegomena) ir komentarai, alegoriškai aiškinantys tekstus. Kai kuriuos Antikos autorių kūrinius Possevinas siūlė skaityti ne ištisus, o paliekant tik geriausius jų fragmentus ar sentencijas. Vis dėlto iš Antikos autorių primygtinai buvo siūloma perimti eilėdaros sistemą, žodyną ir topiką6. Possevino suformuluotų principų buvo laikomasi visose jėzuitų mokymo įstaigose skaitant ir aiškinant Antikos autorių tekstus.

Imitacijos problema reorikos mokyme

Viena svarbiausių XVII a. retorikoje ir ypač susijusi su personaline kūryba tapo imi-tacijos problema. Šis terminas apėmė keletą dalykų: puikų tam tikro žanro istorijos bei raidos išmanymą; darnų kompozicijos elementų perteikimą; sudėtingų poetinių komponentų panaudojimą; temų, idėjų, siužetų perkūrimą ir pritaikymą tų dienų aktualijoms. Žymiausių XVI–XVII a. literatūros teoretikų veikaluose, kurie buvo laiko-mi pagrindiniais studijuojant poetikos ir retorikos mokslus Europos universitetuose, imitacija aiškinta kaip nuolatinis tobulėjimo procesas, besivystantis pakopomis, o tikru poetiniu meistriškumu laikytas ne aklas kokio nors autoriaus stiliaus ar leksikos pamėgdžiojimas, bet idėjos ir kūrinyje atskleistų potyrių originali interpretacija ar gerokai nuo originalo nutolusi, savarankiška to paties motyvo versija.

Dauguma LDK jėzuitų kolegijų dėstytojų imitaciją siejo ne su pažodiniu pasi-rinkto autoriaus frazių įkomponavimu į kūrinį, bet su idėjos, išreikštos mėgstamo

5 Tadeusz Bieńkowski, „Bibliotheca selecta de ratione studiorum Possevina jako teorityczny funda-ment kultury kontrreformacji“, in: Wiek XVII. Kontrreformacja. Barok. Prace z historii kultury (Studia staropolskie, t. XXIX), pod redakcją Janusza Pelca, Wrocław-Warszawa-Kraków: Zakład Narodowy im. Ossolińskich, 1970, p. 291–294.

6 Tadeusz Bieńkowski, op. cit., p. 303–305.

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autoriaus veikale, savita, dažnai nauja interpretacija. Tai rodo ir daugybė termino imituoti (imitari) sinonimų: apgalvoti (considerare), įrodinėti (observare), suvokti (intelligere), įvertinti (expendere), varžytis (aemulari). Nežinomas 1734 m. Kražių kolegijoje poetiką dėstęs profesorius pabrėžė, kad imituoti autorius reiškia „ne visą jų kūrinį tarsi pavogus sau priskirti, pakeitus vos keletą detalių, bet, remiantis pa-vyzdiniu kūriniu, viską savaip pavaizduoti“ (imitari authores non est totum illorum opus furtivo modo sibi adscribere, vix aliquibus mutatis, sed totum proprio Marte ad instar alterius elucubrare)7. Profesorius Juozapas Rimgaila 1684 m. skaitytame retorikos kurse aiškino, kad imituojant būtina atsižvelgti į tris dalykus: imitacija tu-rėtų būti nuosaiki ir protinga (ut moderata sit), imitacijai išsirenkamas tikrai puikus oratorius (ut praestantissimum aliquem nobis oratorem proponamus imitandum), imituotini tik patys geriausi pasirinkto autoriaus kūrinių momentai (ut minutiora quaeque non imitemur, sed tantum selectissima et optima)8.

Kartais retorikos dėstytojai, aiškindami imitacijos esmę, pasitelkdavo vaizdžią analogiją su kita meno sritimi – tapyba. Jie teigė, kad imitacija panaši į nutapytą paveikslą. Mat dailininkas tarsi atkartoja pasirinktą gyvenimo tikrovės ar gamtos momentą, tačiau perteikia jį savais potėpiais ir savomis spalvomis. Todėl jo sukur-tas atvaizdas ar vaizdas, nors ir panašus į originalą, vis dėlto visiškai jo neatkartoja. Panašiai nutinką ir su literatūrine imitacija9.

XVII a. LDK profesorių retorikos paskaitų konspektuose imitacija lyginta ir su tri-mis žmogaus gyvenimo tarpsniais. Imituodamas kokį nors autorių ar kūrinį, poetas taip pat tarsi pereina tris gyvenimo ir kūrybos etapus: vaikystę, jaunystę, brandą. Atitinkamai ir imitacija esanti pažodinė, arba vaikiška (incipiens seu puerilis), turinti savo požiūrį į imituojamus dalykus, arba jaunatviška (crescens), ir tokia, kai išsiren-kama sekti tuo, kas geriausia arba brandu (adulta)10.

Taigi nors imitacija buvo aiškinama skirtingai, dauguma teoretikų sutiko, kad ji turėtų būti imituojamo kūrinio pagrindinės minties išraiška, kitoks, aktualesnis svarbiausių kūrinyje vaizduojamų dalykų pakartojimas ir atvaizdavimas. Pabrėžta, kad imituojant būtina laikytis dviejų pagrindinių taisyklių: suprasti bei išanalizuoti autoriaus, kuriuo norima sekti, kūrybą ir parašyti kažką panašaus į pasirinktą kūrinį aklai nesekant juo, bet bandant perteikti jame glūdinčią išmintį.

Kūriniai naujiems jėzuitų šventiesiems

Laikantis minėtų principų (jėzuitų edukacinės sistemos ugdomi gebėjimai, Posse-vino suformuluoti principai, imitacijos supratimas), XVII–XVIII a. LDK buvo kuria-ma literatūra lotynų kalba. Įdomu, kad XVII a. pastebimas naujų jėzuitų šventųjų (Aloyzas Gonzaga, Pranciškus Ksaveras, Pranciškus Bordža, trys jėzuitų vienuoliai – Paulius Mikis, Jonas Gotas, Jokūbas Kizajas – nukankinti Japonijoje) atsiradimas lotyniškuose literatūros kūriniuose. Šiems šventiesiems eiles kūrė ir pripažinti poetai (Motiejus Kazimieras Sarbievijus), ir kolegijų dėstytojai bei studentai. Tad

7 VUB RS F 3–938, p. 60.8 VUB RS F 3–2076, p. 3.9 VUB RS F 3–938, p. 60; VUB RS F 3–1392, p. 7.10 Eugenija Ulčinaitė, „Sarbiewski w retorykach XVII–XVIII w. na Litwie“, in: Prace historycznoliterackie.

Oświecenie: kultura – myśl, t. 17, pod redakcją Juliana Platta, Gdańsk: Uniwersytet Gdański, 1995, p. 200.

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remdamasi vienu pavyzdžiu parodysiu, kaip pasitelkiant tam tikrą kūrybos modelį, nauji šventieji buvo įvedami į literatūrinę apyvartą.

Mokykliniuose poetikos ir retorikos kursuose išdėstytos imitacijos taisyklės ir būdai neliko vien teoriniai aiškinimai, bet įkvėpė jėzuitų kolegijų mokinius sava-rankiškai kūrybai. Tai rodo rankraščiais likę poezijos rinkiniai, parašyti kokia nors įsimintina proga ar tiesiog liudijantys pastangas, o gal ir ambicijas pritaikyti teorinę medžiagą ir išbandyti savo jėgas Apolono bei mūzų valdomoje srityje.

Šiuo požiūriu įdomus 1651 m. rankraštis11, kurį sudaro studentų poezija – įvai-riais metrais lotynų bei graikų kalbomis Vilniuje ir Nesvyžiuje parašyti kūriniai. Imi-tacijos teoriją puikiai iliustruoja šiame rinkinyje esantys sekimai Sarbievijaus epi-gramomis, vadinami parodijomis12.

Sarbievijaus 110 epigramos „Kristaus ant kryžiaus žodis: trokštu“ (Christi in cruce vox: Sitio) parodiją parašė tuo metu dar tik retorikos kurso studentas Jonas Ważyńs-kis (Joannes Ważynski, Jan Ważyński, 1633–1661), vėliau studijavęs teologiją Romos Collegium Romanum, dirbęs Čekijos provincijoje ir dėstęs filosofiją Poznanėje.

Sarbievijaus epigrama parašyta remiantis Evangelijos pagal Joną pasakojimu apie Jėzaus mirtį:

Postea sciens Iesus, quia iam omnia consummata sunt, ut consummaretur scriptura, dixit: Sitio. Vas ergo positum erat aceto penum. Illi autem spon-giam plenam aceto, hyssop circumponentes, obtulerunt ori eius. Cum ergo accepisset Iesus acetum, dixit: Consummatum est, et inclinator capite tradidit spiritum (Jn 19, 28–30).

[Tada, žinodamas, jog viskas įvykdyta, ir kad išsipildytų Raštas, Jėzus tarė: „Trokštu!“ Tenai stovėjo indas, pilnas perrūgusio vyno. Jie pakėlė ant yzopo vytelės kempinę, pamirkytą vyne, ir prinešė prie jo lūpų. Paragavęs to vyno, Jėzus tarė: „Atlikta!“ Ir nuleidęs galvą atidavė dvasią13.]

Epigramoje šis Šv. Rašto epizodas išplėtojamas ir pateikiama poetinė jo interpretacija:

Ah! Sitio, clamas, princeps pulcherrime rerum: Non habeo pro te dulcia vina: siti.Tu tamen, Ah, sitio, clamas; dabo pocula, Sponse: Heu mihi! Sed misto pocula felle dabo.Haec, mi Sponse, bibe: quaeris cui forte propines? Ad me pro mundi, Christe, salute bibe.

[Ak! Trokštu, šauki, gražiausias dalykų valdove; / neturiu tau saldaus vyno: kan-kinkis iš troškulio. / Tačiau tu šauki: ak, trokštu; duosiu taurę, Sužadėtini: / o varge! Bet duosiu taurę gėrimo, atmiešto tulžimi. / Šitą, mano Sužadėtini, gerk: ieškai, su kuo kartu išgersi? / Į mane už pasaulio išganymą, Kristau, gerk]

11 VUB RS F 3–68.12 Parodija tuo metu neturėjo dabartinės komiškumo ar pajuokimo prasmės, o buvo tiesiog poetinė

parafrazė kito teksto motyvais.13 Cituojama iš: Šventasis raštas. Naujasis Testamentas, iš graikų kalbos vertė kun. Česlovas Kavaliaus-

kas, Vilnius: Vaga, 1992, p. 262.

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Kristaus kančią ant kryžiaus Sarbievijus perteikia pasitelkdamas dialogą. Jis gali būti suprantamas kaip pokalbis tarp Sužadėtinio – Kristaus ir numanomos Suža-dėtinės – epigramos veikiančiojo subjekto, galbūt jėzuito. Kristus prašo atsigerti, bet jo pašnekovas neturi saldaus vyno, kuris numalšintų kenčiančio troškulį. Vynas yra tarsi gyvybės eliksyras, nemirtingumo gėrimas, simbolizuojantis išsigelbėjimą, džiaugsmą ir pilnatvę14. Išgirdęs pakartotinį Kristaus šauksmą: „Trokštu“, antrasis epigramos veikėjas ryžtasi jam duoti taurę gėrimo, atmiešto tulžimi. Paskutinėse epigramos eilutėse pateikiama dialogą apibendrinanti mintis: numalšinti Kristaus troškulį, t. y. išganyti sielas ir išgelbėti pasaulį, galima tik išgėrus kančių taurę, kurią ir simbolizuoja Kristui prieš mirtį paduota vyno, atmiešto tulžimi, taurė. Būtent iš šios taurės po Kristaus pasižada gerti ir epigramos veikiantysis subjektas, taip tarsi norėdamas pasidalyti Kristaus kančią ir prisidėti ne tik prie savosios sielos, bet ir viso pasaulio išgelbėjimo.

Ważyńskis savo epigramą pavadino Apie palaimintuosius Jėzaus Draugijos kan-kinius (De B. Martyribus Soc. Iesu) ir Sarbievijaus tekstą interpretavo savaip:

Ah sitio clamas, Princeps pulcherrime rerum, Non habeo pro te, dulcia vina: siti.Tu tamen ah sitio clamas, sed pocula desunt, Heu mihi quid faciam, quae dabo vina tibi.Sed cur tam tristes gemitus de pectore fundo, Cur longo quaero tempore vina Deo.In Cruce tres botri pendent, hos carpito Christe Transfixi telis, absque labore bibes.

[Ak! Trok tu, šauki, gražiausių dalykų valdove; / neturiu tau saldaus vyno: kan-kinkis iš troškulio. / Tačiau tu šauki: Ak, trokštu, bet nėra taurės, / o varge, ką darysiu, kokio vyno tau duosiu. / Bet kodėl tokias liūdnas dejones iš krūtinės lieju, / kodėl ilgai ieškau vyno Dievui. / Ant Kryžiaus trys vynuogės kabo, per-smeigtos ietimis, / jas imk, Kristau, be vargo išgersi.]

Ważyńskio epigrama – 8 eilučių (Sarbievijaus – 6). Kūrinio užuomazga – tiksliai perrašytos dvi pirmosios Sarbievijaus epigramos eilutės. 3–4 eilutės nedaug nuto-lusios nuo Sarbievijaus eilėraščio, tačiau pakeičiant kelis žodžius kitaip sudėliojami prasminiai pasakojimo akcentai. 3 eilutėje vietoje Sarbievijaus žodžių dabo pocula, Sponse (duosiu taurę, Sužadėtini) Ważyńskis įrašė sed pocula desunt (bet nėra tau-rės). 4 eilutėje po ekspresyvaus sušukimo Heu mihi (o varge) Sarbievijaus žodžius Sed misto pocula felle dabo (bet duosiu taurę gėrimo, atmiešto tulžimi) Ważyńskis pakeitė quid faciam, quae dabo vina tibi (ką darysiu, kokio vyno tau duosiu). 5–6 eilutės pridėtos retorikos studento, o pabaigoje (7–8 eil.) autorius vėl grįžta prie Sarbievijaus epigramoje nuskambėjusio kančių taurės motyvo, šiek tiek jį modi-fikuoja priderindamas prie savo pasirinktos temos ir pabaigia epigramą tuo pačiu kaip Sarbievijus žodžiu (bibe ir bibes).

Ši Ważyńskio epigrama greičiausiai skirta trims jėzuitų misionieriams, kurie po Pranciškaus Ksavero apaštalavimo Japonijoje tęsė jo pradėtą darbą. Tai 33 metų brolis Paulius Mikis, rengęsis tapti kunigu ir daug pamokslavęs savo šalyje, 18-

14 Udo Becker, Simbolių žodynas, Vilnius: Vaga, 1996, p. 306.

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metis Jonas Gotas ir 64 metų brolis Jokūbas Kizajas (Kizayemon). Imperatoriaus įsakymu šie trys vienuoliai buvo suimti Meake ir per žiemą vežiojami po Japonijos miestus. Tačiau ta kelionė tapo ne išniekinimu, bet garbe Kristaus tikėjimui, nes jie vis dar atvertinėjo žmones į krikščionybę. Galiausiai 1597 m. Nagasakyje visi trys jėzuitai buvo nukryžiuoti ir perverti ietimis kartu su 23 pranciškonais15. Popiežius Urbonas VIII paskelbė juos palaimintaisiais, o Pijus IX 1862 m. kanonizavo.

Jaunas jėzuitas tarsi aukoja Kristui savo Draugijos brolių kankinystę, kartu iš-reikšdamas ir pasiryžimą pats tą kankinystę priimti. Epigramos pabaigoje šie kan-kiniai simboliškai vaizduojami kaip trys vynuogės. Kryžius yra tarsi medis, Kristus – aplink jį apsivijęs vynmedis, kurio gyvybingas kamienas palaiko tikinčiuosius – to vynmedžio šakeles. Vadinasi, ir jėzuitų kankiniai yra tarsi to medžio, ant kurio buvo nukryžiuotas Kristus, atšakos, taip prisijungiančios prie jo kančios ir aukos už pa-saulio išgelbėjimą. Kankiniai kaip ir Kristus yra persmeigiami ietimis, o iš jų žaizdų tekantis kraujas tarsi pagirdo ir atgaivina Kristų.

Ważyńskis 110 Sarbievijaus epigramą imituoja gana talentingai. 3–4 eilučių pras-miniai pakeitimai koreliuoja su naujai įkomponuotų 5–6 eilučių retoriniais klausimais. Kūrinio pabaiga išsaugo Sarbievijaus epigramoje perteikiamą krikščionybės žinią ir jė-zuitišką užsidegimą išganymo darbe. Ważyńskio epigramos konceptą – išradingą prie-šybių jungtį (concors discordia) – sudaro paskutinės eilutės, kuriose kankinių kraujas atiduodamas pagirdyti Kristui – per kančią jie prisijungia prie pasaulio išgelbėjimo.

Nauji jėzuitų šventieji XVII–XVIII a. tapo dvasiniais ir moraliniais pavyzdžiais, kuriais buvo rekomenduojama sekti ne tik dvasiniko kelią pasirinkusiam, bet ir pa-saulietuinį gyvenimą gyvenančiam žmogui.

Živilė nEdzinsKaitė, PhD, Institute of Lithuanian Literature and Folklore, Mykolas Rom-eris University. Area of scientific interest: poetics, retorics, Baroque literature.

Literary Expression of the Sermons of Vaižgantas

Vaižganto pamokslų literatūrinė raiška

Ilona ČIUŽAUSKAITĖ

AbstractThus far, mostly the so-called literary or occasional sermons of Vaižgantas, which were read during the burial of any outstanding characters of the Lithuanian culture or during his participation in celebrations, were published. There were not many sermons published in which purely religious topics were examined.

After browsing the sermons of Vaižgantas, kept in Maironis’ Lithuanian Lite-rature Museum and in the Department of Manuscripts of the library of Vilnius University, there are no doubts that they are rather attributed to the so-called thematic sermons, closer to the worldly literature than to homilies.

15 Encyklopedia katolicka, Lublin: Towarzystwo Naukowe KatolickiegoUniversytetu Lubelskiego, 1973–2006.

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Eduardas Mieželaitis’s Meditative Fragments “Laments and Reflections, with the Medieval Anchorite Grigor Narekatsi, upon the Fate of Man” and the Poet’s Creative Context

Eduardo Mieželaičio meditaciniai fragmentai „Raudos, apmąsčius kartu su viduramžių anachoretu Grigoru Narekaci žmogaus likimą“ ir poeto kūrybos kontekstas

elena BALIUTYTĖ

AbstractEduardas Mieželaitis’s series of meditative fragments “Laments and Reflections upon the Fate of Man, Following the Medieval Anchorite Grigor Narekatsi,” pub-lished in his 1971 collection Antakalnis Baroque, offers an antipode to the poet’s atheistic conception as expressed in Man. It is surprising to read such lines in a book by Mieželaitis, the great defender of materialism and optimistic creator of a homocentric system. It is also surprising given that they are fragments of a free translation of the masterpiece of Blessed Grigor Narekatsi, a medieval Armenian Catholic saint.

In the sermons there predominate the topics of morality and politics, ideals of positiveness and sociability of the person’s everyday activity are implemented. The report attempts to take a glance at the literary expression of the unpublished ser-mons of Vaižgantas, to emphasize beginnings of rhetoric which were invoked and followed by Vaižgantas, to reveal the possibilities of classical rhetoric and biblical stylistics (allegorical depiction, parallelism).

SantraukaIki šiol daugiausia buvo skelbta vadinamųjų literatūrinių arba proginių Vaižganto pamokslų, jo sakytų laidojant kurį nors iškilų Lietuvos kultūros veikėją arba jam dalyvaujant iškilminguose minėjimuose. Pamokslų, kuriuose būtų gvildenamos grynai religinės temos, publikuota nedaug.

Pavarčius Maironio lietuvių literatūros muziejuje ir Vilniaus universiteto bib-liotekos Rankraščių skyriuje saugomus Vaižganto pamokslus neabejotina, kad jie veikiau priskiriami vadinamiesiems teminiams pamokslams, artimesniems pasau-lietinei literatūrai nei homilijoms.

Juose vyrauja moralės ir politikos klausimai, diegiami žmogaus kasdienės veik-los pozityvumo ir visuomeniškumo idealai. Pranešime siekiama pažvelgti į nepub-likuotų Vaižganto pamokslų literatūrinę raišką, akcentuoti retorikos ištakas, kurio-mis rėmėsi ir kurias išpažino Vaižgantas, atskleisti klasikinės retorikos ir biblinės stilistikos (alegorinio vaizdavimo, paralelizmo) galimybes.

ilona čiuŽausKaitė, PhD, Institute of Lithuanian Literature and Folklore, Mykolas Rom-eris University, Lithuania. Area of scientific interest: textology, Lituanian literature.

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This review explores why these Christian prayer texts may have appealed to Mieželaitis.

In both their formal affinity and their absolutely contrary content, these trans-lations of Narekatsi’s prayers to God can be read as the poet’s repentance for his creative production, or as a deconstruction of his work Man.

Of course, in presenting the “Laments” in the prose essay “Restless Like a Bach Chorale,” Mieželaitis is cautious. He avoids mentioning God or that these texts are prayers, stressing instead their essayistic, philosophical nature; though the words ”Being,” “Fate,” and “Universe” are capitalized, we can interpret them as para-phrasing “God.”

It is hard to say whether this was an attempt by Mieželaitis to protect himself from possible ideological attacks, or his true position. There would probably be more arguments for the latter, and that makes it all the more surprising to read these fragments of prayer in the context of Mieželaitis’s oeuvre. Today we have Sigitas Geda’s full and excellent 1999 translation of the Book of Lamentations.

keywords: Eduardas Mieželaitis, poetry, essay, Prometheus.

Šio pranešimo pirminis akstinas – nuostaba, aptikus 1971 metais išleistoje Mieže-laičio knygoje Antakalnio barokas tekstą „Raudos, apmąsčius kartu su viduramžių anachoretu Grigoru Narekaci žmogaus likimą“. Šie meditaciniai apmąstymai buvo paskelbti Žmogaus antikomentaro, kurį sudaro šešios knygos, penktoje dalyje ir savo dvasia jie buvo visiškai priešingi Mieželaičio knygos Žmogus koncepcijai1. Le-nino premiją laimėjusį Žmogų (1961) ir „Raudų...“ fragmentus skiria dešimtmetis, per kurį daug kas buvo pakitę ir visuomenės, ir poeto sąmonėje. Tą savimonės pokyčių punktyrą galima nesunkiai pasekti eseistiniuose Mieželaičio tekstuose, bet kad poeto knygoje konservatyviausiu sovietmečiu atsirastų toks tekstas, radikaliai priešingas jo materialistinei, antropocentrinei, gamtinio optimizmo pasaulėžiūrai, lieka beveik nepaaiškinama.

Šio pranešimo tikslas yra, pasitelkus poeto kūrybos kontekstą, bandyti suprasti ir aiškintis šio teksto atsiradimo galimybę ir aplinkybes.

Skeptiškiau (ar kritiškiau) nusiteikęs klausytojas/skaitytojas galėtų, žinoma, kiek sumažinti intrigą primindamas, kad tai yra ne paties Mieželaičio tekstas, o Armėnijos katalikų Palaimintojo Grigoro Narekiečio Viduramžių poezijos šedevro laisvo vertimo fragmentai. Žinoma, taip, bet kad imtųsi jį operatyviai versti, turėjo būti ypač paveiktas, sujaudintas; šiai raudai jo sąmonė jau turėjo būti pasiruošusi. Juk ir teksto antraštė „Raudos, apmąsčius kartu su viduramžių anachoretu Grigoru Narekaci žmogaus likimą“ pabrėžia, kad tai ne tik objektyvus kito teksto vertimas, bet kartu ir jo kūrimas, asmeninis jo autorystės prisiėmimas. Ką apie šio teksto atsiradimą yra rašęs pats poetas? Prieš „Raudas...“ einančioje esė „Neramus tar-si Bacho choralas“ pasakojama susitikimo su šiuo tekstu istorija. Poetui viešint Armėnijoje (tai turėjo būti 1969 metai), vienas skaitytojas padovanojęs jam ne-didelę, kukliai išleistą eilių knygelę. Pradėjęs skaityti, liko be amo. Toji „knyge-lė“ – tai 1969 metais profesoriaus Levono Mkrtčiano iniciatyva publikuoti, Naumo

1 Plačiau apie tai žr.: Rimantas Kmita, „Eduardo Mieželaičio Žmogus kaip politinės religijos tekstas“, Literatūra, 49(1), 2007, p. 39-57.

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Grebniovo išversti į rusų kalbą, penki Grigoro Narekaci „Sielvartingų giedojimų knygos“ skyriai: 1, 23, 30, 55, 80. Mieželaitis iš jos išvertė 23, 30, 55 skyrių frag-mentus (Sigito Gedos vertime jų yra 95). Mieželaitis esė pradeda nuo nuostabos, jį ištikusios paskaičius knygelės tekstus: apie tai jis rašo su būdingu savo stiliui hiperbolizmu, dar patyškintu taikantis prie rytietiškos žodžio ornamentikos. Bet įkarštis, su kuriuo apie tai rašoma, priverčia patikėti, kad tai ne tik retorika. Jis ak-centuoja minties didybę, filosofinį santykio su pasauliu užmojį, asmenybės mastą ir apibendrina:

Tada, žilojo Ararato papėdėje, atrodė tarsi būčiau patekęs į naują, man neži-nomą erdvų ir didelį pasaulį. Į poetinės minties pasaulį, kurio seniai ieškojau ir pa-galiau atradau.[...] Pajutau kovojančią, besiblaškančią, kenčiančią žmogaus sielą. Pajutau dramatišką nerimą, kurį patiria žmogus, norintis aprėpti ir suvokti visą pa-slaptingą Būtį, Likimą, Visatą. (Mieželaitis 1971: 170).

Poetas, lyg užbėgdamas už akių galimiems oficialiosios kritikos priekaištams, argumentuoja, kodėl toji viduramžių poezija turi rūpėti šiandieniniam žmogui:

Mes labai klystume, manydami, jog savikritika, kuklumas ir nusižeminimas prieš Visatos didybę buvo reikalingi viduramžių anachoretui, tamsuoliui, fa-natikui ir tapo nebereikalingu anachronizmu naujam žmogui. Gamta, žinoma, išdavė žmogui stambų vekselį, ir pasaulio statyboje jis gali operuoti stambio-mis sumomis [...]. (Mieželaitis 1971: 171).

Įdomu, kaip šios raudos atrodė tuometiniam skaitytojui? Knygos recenzentai (Vitas Areška, Jūratė Sprindytė) jas išskyrė kaip labiausiai emocionalius ir įtaigius tekstus. Kaip ir autorius minėtoje esė, taip ir abu recenzentai, tarsi numanydami galimus priekaištus, panašiai „teisino“ šių tekstų pesimizmą.

Taigi kodėl šie krikščioniškieji maldų tekstai ateistui Mieželaičiui padarė tokį įspūdį? Pirmiausia, žinoma, jis turėjo būti sukrėstas estetinės jų jėgos. Patetiškajam Mieželaičiui biblinis, monumentalus raudų stilius turėjo būti itin artimas. Įdomu, kad Jonas Aistis, užsistodamas išeivijos spaudoje kritikuojamą Mieželaitį (jo kelio-nės į JAV 1959 metais proga), rašė: „Man keista, kad iki šiol nei vienas nepastebėjo, jog Mieželaitis yra vienas iš ryškiausių ir ištikimiausių Bernardo Brazdžionio moki-nių“ (Aistis 1959.10.31: 3).

Savo ruožtu, kai sovietinėje Lietuvoje buvo pradėta puolimo kampanija prieš Aistį ir Brazdžionį, Mieželaitis užėmė gynėjo poziciją:

Lėkštais straipsniais čia nelaimėsime nieko. […] Poezijoje vienintelė kovos prie-monė – gera poezija. […] Abudu jie didžiai talentingi, tikri poetai. Ir nors ideo-logiją jie išreiškia atsiliekančią nuo dinamiškos dabarties, nuo veržlaus ir toli nuėjusio mūsų amžiaus žmonijos gyvenimo, skaitytojo akyse jie vis dėlto lieka poetais…” (Mieželaitis 1966: 28).

Vis dėlto, manytume, kad ne tik monumentalus raudų stilius prikaustė Mieže-laičio dėmesį: kelčiau hipotezę, kad Dievo atleidimo prašančio viduramžių vienuo-lio maldoje poetas galėjo išvysti savo prometėjiškojo žmogaus dvasinį dvynį – tos pačios vertikalės apverstąjį variantą. Sugretinus abu tekstus (Žmogų ir “Raudas”) stebina raiškos giminingumas ir absoliuti turinio priešybė – ir tai iki tokių atitikme-nų, kad Narekaci maldų į Dievą vertimus skaitai kaip asmenišką poeto atgailą dėl savo kūrybos, arba kaip prometėjiškojo žmogaus dekonstrukciją.

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„Besiskubindamas į priekį – įklimpau dar giliau į pelkę. / Besižvalgydamas didelio – aš praradau mažą. / Beraškydamas žvaigždes – pamiršau žemės pėdą. / Pasikėlęs į Paukščių Taką – nusiritau į bedugnę. / [...]Dabar mane silp-ną visų / Didžių nuodėmių belaisvį, / Gali tik tu išvaduoti. // Meldžiu, padėk mano / Myriop pasmerktai sielai. / Amen.“ (Mieželaitis 1971: 180).

Versdamas raudų tekstus Mieželaitis vartojo savo poezijai būdingus įvaizdžius, frazes, mėgstamą absoliutaus kontrasto poetiką ir tai dar sustiprina abiejų tekstų tiesioginio dialogo įspūdį. Palyginus Mieželaičio vertimus su Gedos tų pačių frag-mentų vertimais, akivaizdu, kad antruoju atveju dialogo įspūdis būtų silpnesnis.

Meditacijose vyrauja kančia ir atgaila dėl žmogaus nuodėmingumo, silpnumo, dėl kankinamos abejonių sielos, kūno aistrų, dėl to, kad jo veiklos rezultatai priešingi ketinimams, tuščiai išpustyti gabumai, plepus liežuvis ir išdiduolės lūpos... Tai tarsi prometėjiškos dvasios žmogaus, turėjusio pretenzijų tapti gamtos ir visatos valdo-vu, didinga, biblinio masto antifrazė. Keletas pastebėjimų apie tai, kuo Mieželaičio prometėjiškasis žmogus skiriasi nuo kitų jo literatūrinių pavidalų. Prometėjo temos kūriniuose vyksta maištingas dialogas su Dievu, ar su Demonu (Aischilo „Prikalta-sis Prometėjas“, Johanno Wolfgango Goethe‘s „Faustas“, odė „Prometėjas“, Adomo Mickevičiaus „Vėlinės“), daroma didinga nuodėmė, suvokiant savo kaltę ir prisiimant atsakomybę už maištingą veiksmą vardan kitų. Mieželaičiui Dievas, kaip dialogo na-rys, neegzistuoja, nors Dievas, kaip moralinė vertybė, jo sąmonėje tebėra - apie tai galima spręsti kad ir iš tokių imperatyvų: “Poezija turi tapti dievu, o rašomasis stalas – altorium […]” (Mieželaitis 1966: 94); kitur jis cituoja Franco Kafkos Dienoraščius, kur šis rašymo procesą yra pavadinęs savotiška „maldos forma“ (Mieželaitis 1966: 148). Mieželaičio maištas yra „vietinės“ reikšmės, nukreiptas prieš konservatyviai mąstančius savo kolegas, prieš biurokratų dogmatizmą, prieš Stalino kultą ir pan. Jis iš esmės ir negalėjo rasti būdo, kaip maištauti prieš Dievą jam pakeitusią „Didžiąją Gamtą“, kurios dalimi buvo pats. Hansas-Georgas Gadameris straipsnyje „Prome-tėjas ir kultūros tragedija“ rašo, kad naujaisiais laikais Prometėjo mitas tapo ne tik žmogaus kūrėjo manifestacija, bet ir priešinimu krikščioniškajai sąmonei. Kaip ryš-kiausias pavyzdys minima Goethe‘s odė „Prometėjas“. Goethe yra vienas dažniau-siai Mieželaičio eseistikoje cituojamų autorių, o jo „Prometėją“, pateikęs originalo kalba, taip komentuoja: „Protestanto pozicija. Jokio absoliuto. Jokio kulto. Viską savo rankomis. Prometėjas – Olimpo demokratas, revoliucionierius, humanistas. Jis prieš sustingusią konservatyvią harmoniją.“ (Mieželaitis 1969: 354).

Prometėjo mite Mieželaitis tradiciškai aktualizuoja žmogaus kūrybiškumo temą. Bet dieviškos kūrybos galios, kurios romantikų buvo priskirtos tik poetams ir kitų sfe-rų menininkams, Mieželaičio suteiktos apskritai žmogui, iškeliant jo kūrybiškumą bet kurioje meno, mokslo, technikos ir t.t sferoje. Taip dingsta individualus, asmeninis herojaus išskirtinumas, aukos grožis ir kančia, nuodėmė – visa, kas sudaro prometė-jizmo šerdį. Mieželaičio žmogus nebeturi veiksmo programos, save jis suvokia kaip medžiagą, materijos tąsą, paklūstančią „mes“ kiekybei, o tai iš principo eliminuoja bet kokį dramatizmą ar dinamizmą. Cikle tą patvirtina ne tik deklaracijos, bet ir žmo-gaus kūno paralelės su neorganine gamta, tapusios ne vieno eilėraščio struktūros pagrindu. Apie knygą Žvaigždžių papėdė (1959), kurioje pirmą kartą buvo paskelbta dauguma būsimo „Žmogaus“ ciklo eilėraščių, rašoma: „Aš pasirinkau eksperimentinį žmogiškosios medžiagos pažinimo būdą. Ieškau naujų tos medžiagos elementų. Man

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rūpi pažinti žmogiškosios medžiagos struktūrą.“ (Mieželaitis 1964: 240). Kaip ir buvo galima tikėtis iš racionaliai sumanyto projekto, ateities žmogus pasirodė primityviai paprastas, aiškus ir nuobodus. Atrodo, poetas pats tai jautė, be to, ir literatūrinė bendruomenė (kritika, kolegos rašytojai, skaitytojai) siuntė aiškius signalus, kad tai tėra ideologinis konstruktas. Pasipylė naujojo žmogaus parodijos, šaržai, kuluariniai komentarai. Iš pradžių Mieželaitis manė tęsiąs savo žmogaus projektą jo gaivinimo, sužmoginimo linkme – apie tai jis daug rašė pirmose dviejose Žmogaus antikomenta-ro knygose (Lyriniuose etiuduose, 1964 ir Naktiniuose drugiuose, 1966):

„[...] ne iš karto ši idėja buvo suprasta. Teko išgirsti net ciniškų pastabų. Aš, tiesa, pasirinkau tokį būdą: suskaldžiau žmogų į atskiras dalis (gal iš tiesų panašiai ir darė kubistai). [...] Dabar reikia žengti tolimesnį žingsnį. Norėtų-si išleisti didesnę, stambesnę knygą apie žmogų, kur būtų ne tik skulptūrinis žmogaus portretas, bet ir vidinis jo portretas, gal ir visa aplinka.“ (Mieželaitis 1966: 184).

Tačiau, kaip galima spręsti iš gausių samprotavimų šia tema, Mieželaitis, atrodo, nelabai žinojo, ką toliau daryti su tuo sukurtuoju apoloniško kūno monstru ir kaip pavaizduoti „vidinį žmogų“. Iš pradžių gynęs „naująjį žmogų“, vėliau poetas rezigna-vo, išsikvėpė, nes keitėsi laiko atmosfera: prometėjiškąją , herojinę savijautą keitė donkichotiškumo savivaizdis. Tarsi paklusdamas aplinkos spaudimui (7-ojo dešim-tmečio lietuvių poezijoje avangardinį stilių keitė „paprastumo“ estetika), Mieželai-tis taip pat bandė vaizduoti kasdienybės žmogų, jo eilėse stiprėjo socialinis kriticiz-mas, atsirado ironijos, satyros tonų, nukreiptų prieš visuomenės miesčionėjimą, vartotojiškas tendencijas, buitiškumą, idealų stoką ir t.t. Bet, kaip galima spręsti iš ciklo „Infliacija“, publikuoto paskutinėje, šeštoje, antikomentaro knygoje Iliuzijos bokštas (1973), romantinei poeto pasaulėjautai, barokiškai ornamentuotam stiliui tai buvo visiškai svetimas kelias. Dabartis prometėjiškųjų nuostatų žmogui iš prin-cipo yra nesvarbi, nes visas jo dėmesys nukreiptas į ateitį, siekiamą idealą. Dėl to Mieželaičiui priimtinesnis atrodo Immanuelio Kanto ar Pierre’o Teilhardo de Char-dino tobulėjančio žmogaus modelis nei marksisto Herberto Marcuse’s sociologinė žmogaus traktuotė (Mieželaitis 1969: 375).

Eseistikoje vis grįždamas prie prometėjiškosios maišto temos ir šiame kon-tekste minėdamas Goethe‘s „Faustą“, Heinricho Heinės satyras, George‘o Byrono „Don Žuaną“, Vladimirą Majakovskį, Mieželaitis jiems priešino savojo laiko poetų miesčionišką konformizmą. “Labai nusibodo lėkštas optimizmas (visur kur laimin-ga išeitis ir baigtis)… Jis pakirto ir išvijo psichologinį dramatizmą, gilesnį tragiškos situacijos pajautimą, herojišką žmogaus kovą su pačiu savim, kovą tarp gėrio ir blogio…” (Mieželaitis: 1969: 32).

Ir štai atsitiktinai poetui į akis pakliūva Viduramžių vienuolio tekstai, savo bibli-niu stiliumi, pasijiniu įsijautimu, filosofiniu minties užmoju turėję jam pasirodyti ar-timi. Tik raiškos turinys visiškai priešingas – kenčiantis, nelaimingas, atgailaujantis, nusižeminęs, Dievo gailestingumo meldžiantis, nuodėmingas žmogus. Mieželaičiui tai galėjo atrodyti kaip apoloniškojo žmogaus papildymas Kaino ir Dioniso dvasia, sujungiant kančią ir kūrybą, maištą ir nusižeminimą. Vėliau, Atgimimo pradžioje, parašytoje poemoje Mitai (1986-1987, išspausdinta 1996), kai Mieželaitis sapne peržiūri visą žmonijos istoriją, jis prieina prie išvados, kad blogis yra neišvengia-mas istorijos variklis. Panašiai kaip jo skaitytas ir cituojamas Friedrichas Nietzsche

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„Tragedijos gimime iš muzikos dvasios“ teigęs, kad dionisiškasis pradas yra pokyčių šaltinis, būtinas apoloniškųjų epochų palydovas. Racionalaus romantiko Mieželai-čio optimistinei pasaulėjautai dramatizmas yra svetimas. Gyvenimo dialektikoje jis pabrėžia konfliktiškų skirčių sintezę. Ar tai galėtų sujungti viduramžių vienuolio maldą su XX a. komunisto beatifikacija? Nebent priešinimo ryšiu.

LiteratūraAistis, Jonas, „Ar ne per daug užsipuolama?“, Draugas, 1959 spalio 31.Mieželaitis, Eduardas, Lyriniai etiudai, Vilnius: Vaga, 1964.Mieželaitis, Eduardas, Naktiniai drugiai, Vilnius: Vaga, 1966.Mieželaitis, Eduardas, Montažai, Vilnius: Vaga, 1969.Mieželaitis, Eduardas, Antakalnio barokas, Vilnius: Vaga, 1971.

Elena Baliutytė, PhD, Institute of Lithuanian Literature and Folklore, Mykolas Ro-meris University. Area of scientific interest: contemporary Lithuanian literature, Soviet lite rature, critique of literature.

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Session VI – A

Hans Urs von Balthasar’s Third Way of Love: The Spiritual-Corporeal Encounter of Religious Experience

stephen M. GARRETT

AbstractContemporary renderings of religious experience tend to comport with William James’s four-fold solipsistic criteria for identifying a “mystical experience” that is congruent across religious traditions. Contrary to such notions, the prominent 20th century Swiss Catholic theologian, Hans Urs von Balthasar, roots his understanding of religious experience in the dialogical, spiritual-corporeal I-Thou-We encounter with “the other,” particularly in loving one’s neighbor. All such creaturely I-Thou-We encounters ultimately, Balthasar maintains, have their basis in the divine I-Thou-We as “the Son interprets the Father through the Holy Spirit as divine love.” This spiritual-corporeal reality, initiated by the triune God, occurs concretely in the communal life of faith. Religious experience is not an isolated individual expe-rience but rather a tradition dependent one located particularly, for the Christian, within the context of the Church. Balthasar, therefore, makes a unique contribu-tion as he inextricably includes a corporeal aspect to religious experience that is mediated through the irreducible spiritual-corporeal encounter found in the inter-locution between self and other.

key Words: Hans Urs von Balthasar, I-Thou-We, corporeal, religious experience, tradition

Stephen M. GaRREtt, PhD, Lecturer/Researcher of Public Theology and the Philosophy of Religion, Social Communications Institute, Lithuania University of Educational Sciences.

Native or Christian: Interaction of Traditions in Peyote Religion

Benas ULEVIČIUS

AbstractNative American Church is an unique religion, in which Native and Christian con-tents and forms are combined, yet various researchers do not agree on the extent and importance of these two doctrinal, ethical and ceremonial layers in Peyote Religion. To some researchers Christian content in Peyote Religion seems superficial and accidental (e.g. W. La Barre). Others are convinced that Christian worldview and ethics can be found at the very core of Peyote Religion, especially in so called

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“Cross Fire” version of Peyotism (e.g. J. S. Slotkin, O. C. Stewart). So how Christian Peyote Religion really is? The answer to this question is complex one. It must be based on the scrutiny of historical facts, social dynamics, and personal testimonies; it must be free of institutionalized anti-Christian trend, which has been influencing anthropology till recently (Hann 2007:384); moreover, we cannot hope to answer this question without consulting the Christian theology, which should be seen as the provider of initial theoretic criteria for evaluation of anything “Christian”. The theological inquiry of early conversion experiences, prayers, songs, and doctrines of peyotists can help us to evaluate the character of interaction of Native and Christian religious traditions that took place at the end of the 19th century in formation of unique ceremonial complex called “the Peyote Religion”.

keywords: Peyote, Christianity, inculturation, Native American Church, religion.

Native American Church (thereinafter – NAC) or “Peyote religion” is a common title for the fastest growing Native American religion in the United States and Canada. The uniqueness of NAC is based on usage of small spineless cactus lophophora williamsii – “peyote” by its adherents. Peyote is ingested as a sacrament during night long ceremonies. Because of its healing and mild hallucinogenic properties it is valued as “teacher” and “medicine” in the broadest sense of the word (Shultes 1938).1 NAC ceremonial complex as it is known today, formed in the United States towards the end of the 19th century. It spread rapidly through the country and reached Canada in the beginning of 20th century.2 For at least 10 000 years peyote was used for different purposes (ceremonial and not) by Natives in territory of Mexico, where most of its natural habitat is found (the rest of peyote growing area is in Southern Texas) (Stewart 1987:17). Today NAC unites a number of officially incorporated religious organizations3, and counts up to 300 000 adherents (Maroukis 2010:5). Use of peyote for ceremonial purposes is allowed for Native Americans by the US legislature. Various studies had shown that ceremonial use of peyote does not form the habit, does not impair physical or mental abilities of peyotists, and is not harmful in any way (Maroukis 2010:6; Halpern et al. 2005).

It is commonly admitted that Native and Christian elements are combined in NAC beliefs and ceremonies, yet various researchers do not agree on the extent and importance of these two doctrinal, ethical and ceremonial layers in Peyote Re-ligion. To some researchers Christian content in Peyote Religion seems superficial and accidental (e.g. W. La Barre). Others are convinced that Christian worldview and ethics can be found at the very core of Peyote Religion, especially in so called Cross Fire version of Peyotism (e.g. J. S. Slotkin, O. C. Stewart). It is undeniable fact that essential elements of NAC ceremony are of Native origin: earthen altar is constructed on the ground; drum, gourd rattles, feathers, eagle bone whistle are used in prayers; smudging of sacred objects is done by throwing cedar needles on hot coals and holding ceremonial objects in the smoke or drawing smoke to the

1 On the chemistry of peyote: Anderson 1996.2 There exist quite few accounts about the spread of Peyote religion (La Barre 1988; Slotkin 1956;

Stewart 1987; Maroukis 2010; Hultkrantz 1997). 3 The largest NAC organizations are: NAC of North America, NAC of Navajoland, NAC of Oklahoma,

NAC of South Dakota (Anderson 1996:48; Maroukis 2010:208).

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objects or people, using feathers; sage is used for purification; in many ceremonies tobacco may be used in prayer; participants sit on the ground; musically hymns are unmistakably Native; number four is important in ceremonial procedures, and so on.4 Yet, while comparing “old Mexican peyote complex” with its later United States development (i.e. NAC), Stewart notices that “the peyote ceremony in Okla-homa was different from earlier Mexican peyote ceremonies. There was no blood-letting; there was almost never any dancing; people sat as in the meeting; there were no drunken stupors. It was an affair of family and friends, with singing and praying, and for all its strangeness to outsiders, to its participants it carried a high moral tone, such as might characterize a mission service. While no Christian sym-bol, with the possible exception of the cross, can be found in early peyote ceremo-nies, they might be said to have had a certain Christian ambience” (Stewart 52).

So how Christian Peyote Religion really is? The answer to this question is complex one. It must be based on the scrutiny of historical facts, social dynamics, and personal testimonies; it must be free of institutionalized anti-Christian trend, which has been influencing anthropology till recently (Hann 2007:384); moreover, we cannot hope to answer this question without consulting the Christian theology, which should be seen as the provider of initial theoretic criteria for evaluation of anything “Christian”. The theological inquiry of early conversion experiences, prayers, songs, and doctrines of peyotists can help us to evaluate the character of interaction of Native and Chris-tian religious traditions that took place at the end of the 19th century in formation of unique ceremonial complex called “the Peyote Religion”. In this article some initial remarks which could be of use to those who deal with above mentioned questions in more detail will be provided. This research is based on the analysis of materials, non-formal interviews, personal correspondence and participant observation.5

It is undeniable fact that many early peyotists were well acquainted with ele-ments of Christian doctrine. With missionaries actively proselytizing on reservations, Christianity being indispensable part of curricula in governmental and missionary schools (also in war camps, where many personal friendships and connections among future peyotists were made), Christian doctrine and visual expressions were well known by Native American population in the second part of the 19th century.6 This applies even more to active proselytizers of peyotism, who in most cases were educated, politically or/and religiously engaged members of their communities. This is definitely the case with two most prominent peyote leaders of the 19th century – Quanah Parker and John Wilson. Both were of mixed native – white ancestry; both crystallized and propagated two different versions of peyote ceremony. Quanah Parker, the great chief of Comanche, was a gifted politician and businessman. Res-pected by tribesmen, white agents and missionaries alike Quanah was attracted by possibilities “white world” had to offer. His view of Christianity was positive, even though having three wives according to the tribal customs was one of the reasons he did not join any of Christian denominations (Stewart 1987:70-72). One of the famous photographs of the great chief shows him at home sitting by the painting of “Sacred

4 Stewart provides the detailed list of ritual elements and their interpretations in different NAC cere-monies (Stewart 1987:339-375)

5 More than dozen NAC ceremonies, conducted by Lakota, Dine, Ponca roadmen were attended in 1999 – 2012 by author of this article.

6 On the importance of boarding schools for the spread of peyotism see: Maroukis 34.

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Heart of Jesus” (Swan 1999:7). It seems that the famous saying of Quanah – “the white man goes into his church and talks about Jesus; the Indian goes into his tipi and talks with Jesus” reveals his conviction about the methodological differences of Churches or possibly spiritual deficiency of white Christian churches, yet it does not play down the importance of Christ or Christianity as such. Similarly John Wilson, re-ligious leader of Caddo tribe, though never involved with worldly politics, was always on the front lines of religious life on the reservation. Member of Catholic church, ac-tive leader of Ghost dance, and prominent peyote leader, Wilson created a version of peyotism. His ceremony was called “Big Moon” because of an altar shape, which was different from Quanah‘s “Little Moon” altar (more often called “Half Moon”). In Big Moon peyotism basic elements of peyote ceremony and modifications introduced by Wilson were interpreted from strong Christocentric perspective. Doctrines of death, resurrection and ascension of Christ to heaven were put at the centre of the ceremonial symbolism (Stewart 1987:86-92). Other most important personalities in the development of Peyote religion were two Winnebago Indians – John Rave and Albert Hensley, who adopted and modified Big Moon ceremony into what was called “Cross Fire” peyotism. Rave and Hensley were well acquainted with Christianity.7 It was Hensley, who introduced regular Bible reading at the ceremonies and added Bible to set of ceremonial paraphernalia.8 John Rave was sympathetic to these ad-ditions. Being illiterate, he exhorted Bible reading by younger educated members at the ceremonies (Radin 1990:373).

Sometimes it is claimed that these and other early peyote leaders used Chris-tianity as a shield against governmental and religious bodies that strived to ban peyotism on reservations. Thus embracing Christianity (or some aspects of it) is seen as political step, lacking sincerity. Such statement has very little historical evidence if at all. Surely “Christianess” of peyotism could be used as a proof to authorities that NAC is just another Christian church. Such policy is possible, yet it may easily coexist together with sincere love of Christian beliefs and imagery (Maroukis 2010:125).9 Numerous examples and testimonies reveal attitude of pe-yotists to Christianity ranging from getting along with to active interest. In the late 19th century Christianity was not new or alien phenomena on reservations. Many peyotists were raised by families who already were practicing Christians. Others, like Quanah Parker, developed friendly relationships with missionaries. The situ-ation of one of the most influential Sioux peyote leader Jim Blue Bird is close to typical. Jim inherited love to Bible from his father who was Episcopal minister. When Jim became peyotist, his father “did not attempt to dissuade him, recogniz-ing that in the Cross Fire church one prayed to Jesus Christ and preached clean living” (Stewart 1987:180). Another famous peyote leader – Jonathan Koshiway of Sac and Fox tribe was “unusually curious about religion”. He went to Bible school, acquainted himself with Jehovah’s witnesses, became missionary for the Church of

7 About Hensley‘s positive experiences at Carlisle boarding school and interactions with Episcopa-lians see: Radin 1990:350.

8 Also there is a possibility that before introducing peyotism to Winnebago, John Rave saw Bible be-ing used at the Oto peyote ceremonies, which he attended in Oklahoma (Maroukis 38).

9 Maroukis provides typical example of such reasoning, even though later he admits sincerety as an important motive for the inclusion of Christian elements into peyote ceremonies (Maroukis 2010:123).

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Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and later became Presbyterian minister (Stewart 1987:167). Active interest in Christian doctrine by many peyotists is well docu-mented. To give just one example, Sioux Indians Sam Kills Crow Indian and Charles Spotted Eagle were friends. They studied mail-order Bible course, read Bible and attended peyote ceremonies together (Stewart 1987:182). Moreover, it was al-ways quite common for peyotists to belong to one or more Christian denomina-tions besides the membership in NAC. There are plenty examples. Some of them are conspicuous. For instance, Sac and Fox George Butler was peyote “roadman” (i. e. ceremonial leader) and Baptist minister at the same time. He would con-duct peyote ceremonies on Saturday night, and then preside over Baptist prayer services on Sunday morning, after which he would return and eat together with peyote community (Stewart 1987:123).10 Alongside these examples there is also a testimony, provided by art, customs and peyote ceremony itself. Decorations of ceremonial objects, church buildings and living places with crucifixes, crosses, images of Jesus and angels, inscriptions with Bible quotes are so abundant in both Half Moon and Big Moon/Cross Fire traditions, that distrust about sincerity of such visual confessions seems untenable. The same stands true when we explore Chris-tian jargon, adopted by Peyote religion (e.g. “Heavenly Father”, “church”, “sacra-ment”, “narrow road”, “everlasting life”, “baptism”, “blessing”, “faith, hope, char-ity” and the like).11 While some researchers tend to stigmatize such borrowings as alien additions, most members of NAC seem to use them with pride.12

It has become routine statement in general descriptions of NAC that Half Moon peyotism is more “native” or “traditional” while Big Moon and/or Cross Fire peyo-tism is “later Christianized version” of Peyote religion. I am convinced that it is mis-leading to call one of aforementioned versions of peyotism “more traditional” than other. Both versions differ significantly from so called “Mexican peyote complex”, and from the phenomenological viewpoint seem more related to each other than to their Mexican predecessor.13 Both versions were born within rather insignificant time interval. Both are considered “traditional” by adherents. More should be said about Half Moon tradition being “less Christianized” version of peyotism. There are definitely native elements in Half Moon peyotism, which are absent from Cross Fire ceremonies, use of tobacco being one of most important. It is also true, that Bible is not used at Half Moon ceremony, and references to it in prayers and expla-nations are relatively fewer than in Cross Fire tradition. Still love for biblical idiom is present in Half Moon tradition and biblical expressions are frequent enough to put aforesaid statement under suspicion. In reality there were always Half Moon communities, where biblical interpretation of ceremony was in the prime. Win-nebago Jese Clay’s explanation of Half Moon ceremony is an exceptional example

10 There are numerous evidences of peyotists who were members of Christian churches and at the same time held leadership positions in traditional tribal religious activities. To mention just one example: “Kills Enemy, a traditional Sioux holy man, was also devout Catholic and a supporter of the Native American Church” (Maroukis 2004:275).

11 Some of these words are used with meanings that not necessarily coincidence with Christian equiv-alents. For instance “to baptize himself” may mean an act of touching head or body with ceremo-nial water or water from ceremonial water drum.

12 For instance, member of Half Moon tradition can explain why he stays with shoes at the home ceremony: “we stay in shoes because this is a Church meeting”.

13 Of course, basic material elements can be traced to Mexican peyote celebrations.

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(Radin 1990:367-371). Abundance of Christian visual expressions present at Half Moon ceremonies was already mentioned. It is also important to notice the fre-quent invocation of Jesus name in songs and prayers, often with additions “Only Savior”, “the Only Way”, “the Only One” and so forth.14 We know that even back in Quanah’s Parker ceremony Jesus was mentioned in prayers and songs (Stewart 1987:77) . It is really hard to believe that all mentioned elements would find their way into the ceremonies if significant part of early members would express any uneasiness about them. Moreover, it seems near to impossible to believe that all these elements were introduced just for being “politically useful” as it is claimed quite often. Even though biblical idioms in Peyote religion do not necessarily prove an orthodox Christian worldview being at work, they reveal attitude of comfortable closeness at least, and loving enthusiasm at most. We also should not ignore the fact that in case of both Half Moon and Cross Fire traditions, peyotism most often was understood as “new” religion, which called for discontinuing tribal believes.15 It is interesting to notice, that despite the sharp opposition to peyotism from both traditional tribal religions and Christianity, it is traditional medicine bundles that were disposed of (Swan 1998; Radin 1990:349; D’Azevedo 2006).16 More positive attitude of peyotists to traditional tribal believes (and vice verse) started gradu-ally gaining the ground in the sixties, as a result of rising interest in tribal religions by white society and promotion of tribal beliefs and traditions. Former suspicions and hostilities are more and more transforming into mutual encouragement and exchange. In this mood of tolerance, values and attitudes mingle and understan-ding of dissimilarities seems to be weakened. Aberlee‘s comparison between the ethics, prayers and spirituality of Navajo traditionalists on one hand, and peyotists on the other, is very enlighting in this respect (Aberlee 1991: 195-198).

These observations are rather concise. Yet they are enough to question state-ments about superficiality of layer of Christianity in Peyote religion, and refute claims about political circumstances being the main and strongest motive for in-cluding Christian elements into peyote ceremonies. Of course, the main obstacle for the task of evaluation to what extent Christian beliefs and ethics were included into Peyote religion remains the absence of strict uniformity in peyote communi-ties. For this reason it is impossible to indicate precise “percentage of Christian in-fluence” in Peyote religion. Yet it seems clear that there exists another problem, often neglected by those who seek answers to aforesaid questions. It is impossible to detect the precise amount of Christian elements in religion, which is transmitted almost exclusively in a way of oral tradition. In such religion views and values don’t live on through carefully articulated concepts but through the transmission of vo-cabularies, attitudes, practices and ethical rules in the ceremonial setting. If Peyote religion is Christian in any way, its peculiar Christianity is not defined by special “NAC catechism” or dogmatic treatise. Christianity of peyote religion (any amount of it) lives in songs, prayers, ceremonies, visual expressions, and ethical attitudes. In

14 This observation is based on more than 100 audio records scrutinized and life meetings observed.15 On the general view that the elements of traditional tribal religions “should not mix” with peyote

see: Stewart 1987:315. 16 Such actions were related with theological and ethical views. For instance, Winnebago “older sha-

mans” were much opposed to Peyote religion, because peyotists denied the doctrine of reincarna-tion (Radin 1990:378).

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the world of “written Christianity”, were doctrines are understood first of all as writ-ten definitions, such form of Christianity is classified as “folk piety”, and is usually seen with slight suspicion. Yet it always exists with its colorful ritual dynamics and lack of conceptual definition. It seems that this distinction between oral and written transmission of religious beliefs and ethics helps us to reveal the true meaning of Quanah’s Parker words: “the white man goes into his church and talks about Jesus; the Indian man goes into his teepee and talks with Jesus”. Peyote religion can be viewed as inculturation of Christianity. Yet this inculturation in itself means new life and adaptation of Christian message.17 It immerses Christian doctrine into different setting and provides it with new methods. Such Christianity appears too undefined (and actually unrecognizable) to Western mind that is accustomed to precise defini-tions which can be written down and explained in conceptual terms.

Bibliography Aberlee, D. F. 1991. The Peyote Religion Among the Navaho. Norman and London: Univer-

sity of Oklahoma Press.Anderson, E. F. 1996. Peyote: the Divine Cactus. Tucson: The University of Arizona Press.D’Azevedo, W. L. 2006. Straight With the Medicine; Narratives of Washoe Followers of the

Tipi Way. Berkeley: Heyday Books. Halpern, J. H., Sherwood, A. R., Hudson, J. I., Todd D. Y., Pope Jr., H. G. 2005. Psychological

and Cognitive Effects of Long-Term peyote Use Among Native Americans. Biol Psych-iatry, 58, pp. 624-631.

Hann, C. 2007. The Anthropology of Christianity per se. European Journal of Sociology, 48/3, pp. 383-410.

Hultkrantz, A. 1997. The Attraction of Peyote: an Inquiry into Basic Conditions for the Diffusion of the Peyote Religion in North America. Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell International.

La Barre, W. 1988. The Peyote Cult. Crescent Moon.Maroukis, T.C. 2004. Peyote and the Yankton Sioux. Norman: University of Oklahoma

Press. Maroukis, T. C. 2010. The Peyote Road: Religious Freedom and the Native American Church.

Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.Radin, P. 1990. The Winnebago Tribe. First Bison Book.Schultes, R. E. 1938. The Appeal of Peyote (Lophophora Williamsii) as a Medicine. Ameri-

can Anthropologist, October-December. New series 40(4/1), pp. 698-715.Stewart, O. C. 1987. Peyote Religion: a History. Norman and London : University of Oklaho-

ma Press.wan, D. 1998. Early Osage Peyotism. Plains Anthropologist, 43 (163), pp. 51-71.Swan, D. C. 1999. Peyote Religious Art: Symbols of Faith and Belief. Jackson: University

Press of Mississippi.

benas ulEvičius, PhD, assoc. professor at Vytautas Magnus University, Lithuania. Area of scientific interest: liturgical anthropology, liturgical theology, systematic theology, Na-tive American Church.

17 Testimonies of NAC members show us, how selective such adaptation can be (D’Azevedo 2006).

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Conversion as a Personal Experience in Relation to the Meaning of Life Events and Religious Tradition

Atsivertimas kaip asmeniškas patyrimas gyvenimo įvykių ir tradicijos kontekste (konvertitai skirtingose krikščionių bendruomenėse)

Irena eglė LAUMENSKAITĖ

abstractConversion is a reality of every religion at all times, but in a period of great social change it becomes a more widespread phenomenon. Converts realize the religious identity not through traditional belonging to a definite religion or denomination, but through a personal religious experience, which transforms one’s system of meaning that has an impact on further life preferences and social activity. What is a conversion as religious experience? What is it as a reality in Christian experience? Does this experience and interpretation correspond to the frame of concrete reli-gious tradition and practice? How the personal conversion as experience did hap-pen and how was it perceived personally and accepted by the others? How was it influenced by the former and the latter social experience? How did the converts’ attitudes, personal and social relations as well social activity change?

The study was based on two different but simultaneously used methods: bio-graphical method (oral history of the religious experience from childhood to the stage after the conversion) and semi-structured questionnaire on social situation, circumstances of conversion and its social consequences. The object of study was young converts in three religious communities – three different Christian denomi-nations (Catholic and two new evangelical Protestant). The study gave the possibi-lity to encompass all four levels of religious experience (J. Paul Williams), including those which usually are not shared with the others. It also allowed to discover in what aspect the reflection and value judgment of personal conversion is intercon-nected with theological interpretation and practice of religious tradition, and in what it is not. The personal narration of deep religious experience in the context of successive life events gave the possibility to reassess the accidentals in the per-sonal course of life, and to look into the phenomenon of conversion from different theoretical perspectives.

key words: conversion, religious experience, Christian experience, interpretation, religious tradition

Atsivertimas laikomas kiekvienos religijos ir kiekvieno laikmečio tikrove, bet vyks-tant radikaliems visuomenės pokyčiams jis tampa platesniu reiškiniu. Atsivertimo atveju religinė tapatybė kristalizuojasi ne perimant tradicinį priklausymą konkrečiai religijai ar denominacijai, bet asmeniško religinio patyrimo kaip gyvenimo įvykio pagrindu. Tai perkeičia asmens vertybines nuostatas ir turi poveikį jo tolesniems gyvenimo orientyrams bei socialiniams sprendimams.

Kas yra atsivertimas kaip religinis patyrimas ir patirtis? Ar krikščioniškasis atsi-vertimas skiriasi nuo kitų? Ar krikščionys atsivertimo patirtimi skiriasi ir tarpusavyje?

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Jei taip, kas tuos skirtumus sąlygoja? Kaip vyksta atsivertimas ir kaip jis susietas su praeities bei tolesnio gyvenimo įvykiais?

Šie klausimai buvo keliami rengiant konvertitų tyrimą tuoj po Nepriklausomy-bės atkūrimo Lietuvoje, kai atsirado laisvė ne tik asmeniškai praktikuoti, bet ir liu-dyti tikėjimą. Kiekybinis ir kokybinis tyrimas 1994 m. vyko VU Religijos studijų ir ty-rimų centro iniciatyva Vilniaus šv. Jono Krikštytojo ir šv. Jono Evangelisto (katalikų) bendruomenėje , Tikėjimo Žodžio (Pilnos evangelijos protestantų) bendruomenėje ir Emanuelio (protestantų nedenominacinėje) bendruomenėje ( dabar – „Vilniaus Vynuogynas“). Kokybiniam tyrimui taikytas biografinis1 metodas leido atskleis-ti patį atsivertimą kaip asmeniškai patirtą įvykį, jį galimai parengusias gyvenimo aplinkybes bei gyvenimo pokyčius, vykusius jau po atsivertimo. Tuo būdu tyrimas įgalino atpažinti visus keturis J. Paul Williams išskirtus religinio patyrimo lygmenis2, tame tarpe ir tuos, kuriais kaip intymiais ir mistiniais išgyvenimais paprastai nėra dalinamasi su kitais. Tyrimo metodas savo ruožtu leido pamatyti atsivertimą ir kaip kompleksinį reiškinį viso gyvenimo kontekste – kaip religinę patirtį, kuri reškiasi ne tiesiogiai, bet per kitus gyvenimo įvykius ir ne religinius patyrimus. Tai atskleidė ir atsivertimo kaip religinio patyrimo, kuris paliečia visą asmenį, dalinių lygmenų (intelektualinio, emocinio, moralinio ir net socialinio-politinio lygmens) sąsajas3.

Religinis atsivertimas gali būti aptariamas jo kaip tikrovės skirtingais aspektais. Anglų kalba visais atvejais vartojamam vienam žodžiui “experience” lietuviškai gali būti naudojami skirtingi trys: potyris, patyrimas ir patirtis. Dėmesys individo potyriams (išgyvenimams), kas jau tapo šiuolaikinės Vakarų kultūros orientyru, iš-ryškėjo XX amžiaus pradžioje su Rudolfo Otto “Šventybės” pasirodymu. Tuo pat metu William James išreiškė domėjimąsi ne religiniais ritualais ir net ne idėjomis, bet paskiro žmogaus jausmais, veiksmais bei potyriais atžvilgiu to, kas vadinama dievišku4. Jo įtakoje Abraham Maslow individo religinius išgyvenimus jau įvardija kaip maksimalius, kulminacinius („peak-experiences“), priskirdamas juos bendra-žmogiškosios egzistencijos psichologiniams reiškiniams.5

Tyrimo metu pagrindinis dėmesys buvo skiriamas atsivertimui kaip svarbiam gyvenimo įvykiui – religiniam patyrimui, kuriam įvardinti reikia atitinkamų sąvo-kų ir konteksto. Tam filosofinė kalba nėra pakankama, nes Dievas sutinkamas kaip čia ir dabar Esantysis – kaip asmeniškai kalbinantis, paliečiantis Jėzus Kristus, arba bent kaip juntamai esanti, veikianti Dievo Dvasia. To susitikimo-įvykio dėka tiria-mieji stipriau ar silpniau išgyveno savęs viso perkeitimą ir atsivėrimą Dievui (Me-tanoia), pirmiausia patirdami tai kaip leidimą Dievui juos atversti, kaip šuolį į tam tikrą nežinią pasitikint Juo. Dalis jų patyrė ir aiškius savo elgesio pokyčius santy-kiuose su kitais, su savimi, atsiradusią laisvę nuo juos varginusios priklausomybės (rūkymo, alkoholio) – tą, kas įvardijama epistrophe, t.y. išoriniais veiksmais regimu atsivertimu. Beveik visais atvejais šis įvykis reiškė ne tik atsigręžimą į Dievą, bet ir atsigręžimą į save (con-versio), kas skleidėsi kaip savižina, Dievo žvilgsnyje priimant save tokį/ tokią koks jis/ ji yra.

1 Kiekvienoje minėtų bendruomenių buvo apklausta po 10 konvertitų; kiekvienas pokalbis truko nuo vienos iki trijų valandų.

2 Žr. J.Paul Williams. 3 Žr. Donald L. Gelpi, Committed Worship: Adult conversion and initiation, Liturgical Press, 1993.4 James, W., The Varieties of Religious Experience. 1902 (V, 31)5 Religions, Values and Peak-Experiences. Penguin Arkana, 1994.

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Buvo aišku, kad konvertitai patyrė ne vien kažkokį ypatingą išgyvenimą, bet susitikimą su Esančiuoju kaip Asmeniu. Būtent tai šį jų patyrimą apibrėžia kaip krikščioniškąjį patyrimą ir atsivertimą. Kaip sako Hans Urs von Balthasar, nėra tokio krikščioniškojo Dievo patyrimo, kuris nebūtų savivalės įveikos ar bent pasiryžimo tokiai įveikai vaisius. Prie tokios savivalės reikėtų priskirti ir visus savavališkus žmo-gaus bandymus savo paties iniciatyva ir savo metodais bei priemonėmis sužadinti religinius patyrimus. Tik atsižadėjus bet kokio dalinio patyrimo mums atsiduoda būties visetas. Akivaizdu, kad to įvykio suvokimui, o juo labiau komunikavimui ir įprasminimui būtina ir tam tikra kalba bei sąvokų visuma.

Nors kiekvienas atsivertimo pasakojimas liudijo to įvykio asmeniškumą ir uni-kalumą, bendra buvo tai, kad tai buvo egzistencinis patyrimas, atsidūrus akivaiz-doje To, kas viršija ne ik mūsų pojūčius, bet, kaip sako J.Ratzingeris, ir mus pačius.6 Didžiausią iššūkį kėlė tai, jog būtina buvo priimti ir nepatirties patyrimą, nes tik jis veda į naują lygmenį. Tačiau šis tyrimas atskleidė ir tai, kad patį atsivertimo kaip patyrimo įvykį skirtingų krikščionių denominacijų konvertitai įvardijo skirtingai. Ir tie skirtumai atitiko atsivertimo bei tikėjimo sampratų skirtumus katalikų ir protes-tantų teologijoje. Jei katalikų požiūriu atsivertimas ontologiškai perkeičia žmogų Dievo malonės dėka, tai protestantai labiau pabrėžia išorinį malonės suteikimą, kuris reiškiasi momentiniu, konvertito emociškai stipriai išgyvenamu Dvasios nu-žengimu. Būtent teologinė atsivertimo samprata galėjo sąlygoti ir atsivertimo kaip patyrimo interpretaciją: protestantiškų bendruomenių nariai pirmiausia pasako-jo apie savo atsivertimą kaip vienkartinį įvykį, o katalikai jį matė labiau kaip kelių etapų procesą, nepabrėždami to įvykio kaip vienintelio. Tačiau vėliau, pasakodami apie atsivertimą viso gyvenimo kontekste (apie gyvenimo patirtis, kurios buvo iki tol ir gyvenimą bei sprendimus po to įsimintino atsivertimo įvykio), protestantiškos bendruomenės konvertitai patys atpažindavo jo tęstinumą, t.y. tai, jog atsivertimas vis tik yra procesas, vidinė viso gyvenimo kelionė. Jos įvykiai, tiesa, nėra vienodai ryškūs ir įsimintini, bet jie vienas kitą sąlygoja ar nukreipia. Kitaip tariant, šiame tyrime atsivertimas buvo atpažintas ir kaip religinė patirtis.

Religinė patirtis yra netiesioginis patyrimas, kuris atsiskleidžia kitose mūsų pa-tirtyse, su jomis ar po jomis. Tai ne vienas iš daugelio mūsų patyrimų, bet pamatinė patirtis, esanti visuose patyrimuose, prasiskverbianti ir valdanti visus kitus. Indivi-dualūs patyrimai, kurių metu mums atsiveria kažkas daugiau (pvz. ,,staiga” tampa skaidri visa mano gyvenimo patirtis) yra vadinami atverties situacijomis. Jos gali būti įvairios, netikėtai ,,akumuliuojančios” ankstesnius patyrimus, kurie vienaip ar kitaip (netiesiogiai, paradoksaliai) ženklino ilgalaikį Dievo vedimą ir globą. Tos pa-matinės patirties subjektu tampa slėpinys, palaikantis šią patirtį. Bet prie Slėpinio žmogus gali ,,prisiliesti” tik tada, jei Slėpinys pats atsiveria ir leidžiasi būti pažintas. Jis turi save apreikšti per ženklus, simbolius, signalus, įvykius.

Tačiau remiantis vien patyrimu, o juo labiau potyriu, negalima suvokti atsiver-timo prasmės, nes galima daugybė vardų ir interpretacijų būdų (nekrikščioniškų, teistinių, panteistinių ir pan.). Religinės patirties, dviprasmiško mysterium patyrimo tikrąją prasmę atveria religinė kalba ir už jos glūdinti religinė tradicija. Religinė pa-tirtis, kaip sako J. Ratzingeris, įprasminama per ją ir joje. Tik taip atsivertimas įpras-mina gyvenimą ir nušviečia visą žmogaus egzistenciją. Žinia, visiems patyrimams

6 Plačiau žr. Ratzinger, J. Tikėjimas ir patyrimas. // Naujasis Židinys.

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įvertinti ir įprasminti krikščionybėje atskaitos tašku ir matu yra Šventasis Raštas ir Bažnyčios Tradicija, su kuo įtikėjęs krikščionis susipažįsta ne iš karto.

Taigi, atsivertimo kaip religinio patyrimo skirtingą interpretaciją katalikų ir pro-testantų bendruomenėse sąlygoja tai, jog ne šiaip religinis, bet krikščioniškasis patyrimas, kaip viso gyvenimo pagal tikėjimą patyrimas, užsimezga ir išsiskleidžia bendruomeninės patirties kasdienybėje, tačiau savo kelyje remiasi istorinio patyri-mo erdve ir patyrimo turtais (Bažnyčios tradicija). Kelias į viršijimą to, kas duota, į savęs viršijimą ir to interpretavimą tampa įmanomas todėl, kad tikėjimo pasaulyje jau yra įvykęs viršijimas. Todėl krikščioniškasis patyrimas tampa realus ir vaisingas tik dalyvaujant Bažnyčios gyvenime, kuriame, kaip pastebi J. Ratzingeris, nuo tikėji-mo „iš antrų rankų“ (nuo pasitikėjimo įtikinama gyvenimo forma) einama į tikėjimą iš ,,pirmų rankų”, t.y. į tikėjimą iš asmeniško susitikimo su Viešpačiu ir to liudijimą kitiems visu savo gyvenimu.

Tačiau savo atsivertimą kaip savęs ir gyvenimo perkeitimą visais lygmenimis (intelektualiniu, emociniu, moraliniu, o kai kuriais atvejais ir socialiniu-politiniu) konvertitai atpažino tik įjungdami į to įvykio visumą ir intymųjį (mistinį) atsivertimo lygmenį – Dievo pneumos patyrimą, kas yra vidinis ir svarbus tikėjimo momentas. Jis įgalina asmenį patikėti Dievui savo gyvenimą, bet nėra prieinamas analitinei refleksijai, todėl dėl savo keisto, „nerealaus“ ir emociškai pernelyg stipraus išgyve-nimo (potyrio) ar reakcijos tas mistinis patyrimas dažniausiai yra nureikšminamas ar „nušalinamas“. Padedant jį į „tolimą stalčių“, būdavo tarsi užmiršti ir to pradinio atsivertimo metu priimti apsisprendimai tam tikroje žmogiškojo patyrimo srityje (dažniausiai moraliniuose sprendimuose, tarpusavio santykiuose) elgtis atsakingai. Ilgesnio pokalbio apie atsivertimo įvykį dėka vėl grąžintas ir tuo pačiu vėl įpras-mintas to patyrimo metu išgyventas mistinis susitikimas tarsi iš naujo nušviesdavo konvertito išgyventą atsiliepimą į išlaisvinančią Dievo tikrovę. Ji siejama su mo-rališkai absoliučiais ir galutiniais reikalavimais, kurie reiškia, jog visas gyvenimas, įskaitant ir atsivertimus, turėtų būti pervertintas tos galutinės tikrovės šviesoje. Pokalbyje sugrįžus prie tarsi užmiršto ar net nuo savęs pačių slepiamo atsivertimo išgyvenimo, visi paskesni konvertitų pasirinkimai, drąsūs apsisprendimai ar gyve-nimo posūkiai, kurie iki tol atrodydavo atsitiktiniai ar net nesuprantami, įgaudavo prasmę ir net „logiką“. Būdavo atpažįstama, jog atsivertimo patyrimo šviesoje visi iki jo ir po jo buvę įvykiai bei sprendimai sudaro prasmingą visumą, kurią galima įvardinti krikščioniškąją patirtimi.

Religinis atsivertimas yra gilus. Kalbant apie jį kaip procesą, būtina skirti pra-dinį atsivertimą nuo tebesitęsiančio – kasdienio. Savo ruožtu atpažįstamas ir kitas atsivertimas – atsivertimas vis iš naujo gilinant krikščionio tikėjimą, kuris vyksta labiau atsiveriant Dievui ir labiau pažįstant bei priimant save Jo akivaizdoje, t.y. per kasdienį Dievo Artumo skaitymą atsiveriant asmens perkeitimui Kristuje ir didesnei gyvenimo pilnatvei.

irena Eglė lauMEnsKaitė, PhD in Sociology, assoc. professor at Vilnius University, Fac-ulty of Philosophy, Lithuania. Area of scientific interests: theological anthropology, chris-tian social teaching, sociology of culture, religious studies, sociology and anthropology of family, gender studies, sociology, anthropology and theology of body.

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Session VI – B

The Spread of the Apocalyptic Feelings in the Lithuanian Poetry of the Young Generation

silvija RAKUTIENĖ

AbstractThis study is the attempt to reveal the specifics of the devotional experience and the spread of the universal truths of the Bible in contemporary Lithuanian litera-ture, researching the texts of the youngest poets’ generation for the symptoms of the apocalyptic feelings in order to reveal the organic (not intellectually designed) religious attitude of the modern man to the world.

Apocalyptic world perception is characterized by the author’s position of a prophet; symbolic numbers and images, taken from the Scriptures; duality of the space and time, containing the negative perception of the Present and perfect vision of the Future.

The young Lithuanian poets processe distinctive apocalyptic images in the light of their experienced historical changes but they do not dare to take the open posi-tion of the prophet, because of a lack of true trust in God. The space and time is more abstract than concrete, the world is stagnated in the endless present. The lack of the meaning of the past and hope for the future makes the people look for the new paths to salvation, search for the new idols for adoration. The poets see the crisis of the values of the humanity, but they do not prophesy cataclysms and avoid an open declaration of faith. Instead of that they manifest the solicitude for the future of the humanity and using the drastic symbols try to awaken it, force it to understand the viciousness of the chosen path.

keywords: Apocalypse, Lithuanian poetry, Scriptural.

significance of the scriptural to Lithuanian literature

The Bible is one of the most well-known and most widely read books in the world. Every reader is free to choose the way to accept it. The Bible can be read as the his-tory of divine revelation, offering hope and approximating human to deity as much as it is possible. It can become a source of spiritual searching, allowing human be-ing to look for at least some answers into the existential questions. The Bible can be accepted as a cultural value, literary work, embodying inside some of the most archaic and universal principles of mankind attitude to the world, as well.

Research on the links of Lithuanian literature and Scripture is one of the most productive opportunities, because Lithuanian poetry externalizes much of the phi-losophical - religious elements. Lithuanian written language began with the spread of Christianity, the demand of religious writings in national language was a major impetus in triggering the formation of the general pattern of Lithuanian written culture, and creation (or at the beginning - just re-creation) of literary works.

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For a long time folk songs have been the pinnacle of national poetry, based on the sounds of harmony because of genre tradition. Translation of the Bible frag-ments into Lithuanian language, which was still “vulgar”, agriculturally concrete and clear, was the best way of teaching to create the literature. Because of the increased need for abstractions the Lithuanian lexicon had to be innovated and expanded. The translation of the religious hymns, anthems and psalms gave rise to the fundamentals of the Lithuanian poetic language. There were many valuable literary translations of religious texts (by Mažvydas B. Vilentas, J. Bretkūnas, M. Daukša, L. Rėza, etc..), based on which Lithuanian poets M. Valančius, A. Strazdas, A. Baranauskas started the tradition of Lithuanian original hymns and psalms in the nineteenth century. Metaphysical feeling bursts in the works of many Lithuanian poets of the first half of the twentieth century (Maironis, M. Gustaitis, M. Vaitkus, V. Mykolaitis-Putinas, P. Vaičaitis, A. Vienažindis, B. Brazdžionis, etc). In their poetry balanced Christian worldview becomes a poetic dimension (Čiočytė 1999).

The twentieth century is marked by the intensifying tendencies of the individu-alism and subjectivism, this leads to the alienation of traditional biblical genres (prophecies, prayers, hymns, psalms...) from the canon. The transcendental fee-lings revealed with the help of artistic imagination and intuition, and realia reflect-ed in the poems - alienation and unity, death and resurrection, Lost and Recovered Paradise - encourages to explore the Christian stratum of semantics of Lithuanian poetry, and to look for answers in the collision points of faith and literature.

Historical periods full of changes always inflame anxiety in the society. These emotions are particularly felt in literature, and especially - in poetry. It reflects the emotional state of not only one direct individual, but of the society as a whole unit as well. The strong flow of frustration, desperation and anxiety about the fu-ture which broke through in the literature of the end of the twentieth-century, even extended in the twenty-first century. In poetry these emotions manifest very strong spread of the apocalyptic feelings, accentuation of the Doomsday signs, the change of the values with blistering speed, constant presence in the desperate state of searching for God, which is often culminated in a new idol-worship.

This study is the attempt to reveal the specifics of the devotional experience and the spread of the universal truths of the Bible in contemporary Lithuanian literature, researching the texts of the youngest poets’ generation for the symptoms of the apocalyptic feelings. The youth poetry, published in three almanacs in 1999-2009, was chosen deliberately, because it was expected, that it will reveal the organic (not intellectually designed) religious attitude of the modern man to the world.

Apocalypse as a religious manifestation, and as a literary genre

“The Apocalypse of John” or „The Book of Revelation“ is the final, culminating book of the Bible, which concentrates as much emotional tension, as it is possible to understand for the human being. There is declared the prophecy, which connects the extreme poles of the opposition: embodies the highest human fear and the hottest hope, describes the completion of God’s intentions in the world. This book summarizes and concludes prophecies of the Old and New Testaments, combines the dimensions of the Past and the Future, embodying in the Present the plan of the God power’s entrenchment to every creature.

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„The Book of Revelation“ was written not only to encourage those, who are already suffering, but also to awaken the complacent Christian, in order to ex-cite their strength for the testimony of God, and to strengthen their hearts facing the possible hardships and persecutions because of the faithful belief (Bauckham

2001). “Apocalypse” was written relating images and symbols to the situation of the first readers, but its relevance to the subsequent text perceivers lies in its uni-versality - heavenly perspective for the future has the power to be associated with each situation in which the perfect world structure, conceived by God, seems to be demolished by Evil forces, perceived and conveyed in different ways. This book of the Bible is the most obscure and the most threatening, a large part of the text per-ceivers focus on the described horrors and forget the aim of all that - the destruc-tion of the old world, using its foundations to build the eternal God’s Kingdom.

In general, „The Apocalypse of John“ was not the only apocalyptic book of that time, but it was the only, which was added to the New Testament. The genre of Jewish apocalypse was quite popular, the apocalypses were written in the heavy times of crisis. The main point of the apocalypses was to look through the evolution of human development in the historical perspective and to compare the real image to the ideal - the end of the world, when the Kingdom of God will bring peace and justice into the world (Alexander P.& Alexander D. 2001). The emotional power emitted by this duality was so powerful that a large number of Western writers of later times were trying to convey it in their works, taking the position of the prophet, and consciously or instinctively trying to repeat the genre of apocalypse. Their texts embodied the apocalyptic perception of the world, and tried to excite the imagination insights, using stylistics of the visions and symbolic imagery.

After the research on different insights about the „The Book of Revelation“ (Al-exander D. & Alexander P., R. Bauckham, Rub ys A.), there were distinguished the features that are characteristic to apocalyptic world perception:

1. the position of the prophet / the visionary, which is held by the author;2. the junction of the concreteness and the abstraction, which unfolds through

the symbolism of the images;3. the symbolism of the numbers;4. the duality of the space-time: on the one hand, it is the author’s local li ving

space and concrete time, but on the other hand – it is the whole world and all human civilization history. The space-time is imparting the following features:

• negative perception of the Present, especially emphasizing the alienation of the modern world from God;

• visions of the Future – they are inspired by the Lord, and reveal the embodying of the magnificent final God’s intention;

• accent of necessity - the collapse of the modern world is logical and necessary, because on these foundations will be built the new per-fect world, the Kingdom of God;

5. the new approach to the fragments of the Scripture, making them nearer to the present.

Of course, it is hard to believe that the Lithuanian poets of the youngest genera-tion will fully disclose the genre of apocalypse genre in their work. It is impossible not only for the reason that the authors have limited intellectual and emotional

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experience (they are very young individuals, the students), but much more due to the fact that these authors did not intend to write an apocalypse, their poems were written in a critical time of the historic turning point, when being in the highly un-stable world consciously and subconsciously forces to take the universal archetypes as a support. Young Lithuanian poets use the same layer of the archetypal images, like the old creators of apocalypses, in addition to that, the culture influences crea-tion / re-creation of the post-modern texts, so some symbols can occur in the texts unwillingly, and can be perceived very differently. The extensive network of inter-pretations emerges during the time, and all points of the perception, belonging to the knowledge, insights and aims of the perceiver, are actualized in it.

the apocalyptic perception of the world in the Lithuanian poetry of the young generation

In the texts of the young Lithuanian poets there are many separate images and motifs, which refer to the stratum of Christian semantics (the thorn; gold, incense and myrrh; fish, the Ark of the Covenant, Saint Grail, forbidden fruit, etc.). Fur-thermore, some of the poets take the separate fragments of the Bible and rewrite them, adapting them to the perception formed by the modern times. There you can read a new understanding of Adam and Eve or world creation story, a new in-terpretation of the innocent conception. This literary courage gives the reason to the researcher to look for the aspects of the Christianity in their poetry.

The young Lithuanian poets in their poems do not dare to take the open posi-tion of the prophet – they look from a distance into the fussing world, but, unlike the biblical prophets, they do not feel calm and ensure about the future because of lack of believing and trust in God, lack of certainty of His faith and care. On the one hand they would like to see the collapse of an alienated, philistine, sinful world, but on the other hand they aware their own mortality and feel the lack of belie-ving in revival. Not God’s revival but revival of Human. This is the strange and ironic situation of the modern Christian, who is thinking and doubting - the word of God is known, however, there is a lack of faith. The poems reflect the idea expressed by Pope Benedict XVI, while he still was a cardinal, that modern man feels as if he is tied to a cross, somehow hanging over the abyss (Ratzinger 1991).

According to the philosopher T. de Boer, the separation between faith and knowledge in Christian culture is rather specific, because the knowledge of the believing is based on revelation, heavenly nature, and therefore faith has always the transcendental specifics (de Boer 2006). That’s why faith has a priority accor-ding to the knowledge in the religious conscious, which should be natural to the Homo credens1. But nowadays the society looks at the believing man a little bit indulgently, faith is understood as the denying of thinking. Trying to avoid a direct intersection with public opinion or a way of life promoted by the media, modern Christians are reluctant to express true faith, so they gradually recede from God. This tendency can be seen in the texts of young Lithuanian poets, where the ima-ges of wings, angels, birds express a longing for sincere faith, but there is often emphasized that they are lost in the mist:

1 (lot.) Believing man

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Vir mano guolio angelo veidas jūros spalvomis krintantys plaukai pro užuolaidas taip prasmingai užsidega cigaretę(jau trečiąkart metąs rūkyti)į miglas įsisupęs angelo veidasnu-bun-dant

(Janušaitė K. „[virš mano guolio...]“, 2: 22)2 .

Above my bedthe face of the angelhair of the color of the seafallingthroughthe curtainsso significantly light up the cigarette (third time quit smoking)the faceof the angelwrapped in the mistbefore-waking-up3

The2modern3lyricists live in the impaired world, which can hardly obey to the divine order. They are extremely sensitive to the unconscious fluids of all humani-ty, so they see people, who are so far away from the divinity, they are loosing their flight, and don’t understand God’s mission any more. These people soak them-selves into the sin of pride, spiritual dirt, their souls are divided, tortured by their own fault perception. The word “sin” is used so often, that it is not dramatized any more, it remains an empty concept without internal content. The young poets are looking for another ways of expression, trying to awake the dozing conscience of the society using expressive symbolic images (e.g.: the fire-eyed Serpent, poiso-ning the water of the whole world):

Galite ketvirčiuoti linčiuoti Užmušti –gyvą užmušti – išsineria jis iš odos ir pasprunka Karalius Žalčių ugninėm akim nuodinga širdimnuodijančia viso pasaulio vandenis – Ir vėl lenkiuosi svaigdama lenkiuos Atsigerti –

(Guobytė E. „[Galite ketvirčiuoti...]“, 2: 27).

You can quarter or lynch himKill him –kill him alive – he sloughs offand mizzlesthe King of the Serpents with the eyes of fireand poisonous heartwhich empoisons the water of the whole world –Once moreI bow downdrunkI bow downTo drink –

Disbelief and distrust in anything (government, society, strangers, loved ones, selves, even God) make people query the idea of humanity itself and search for new definitions of human existence in the world. Human dualism is refuted, but

2 These numbers indicate the number of the source and the page.3 The translations of the Lithuanian poems into English are made by the author of the article.

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not for the reason that postmodern man is able to perceive himself as undivided unity. Conversely, the opposition of body and soul gets additional third dimension. The unity of the human being disintegrates into triad: body - emotions - mind.

Various manifestations of emotions and feelings are monitored, recorded and analyzed in the poems. Pain and suffering are intertwined with each other and, opposing them to insensibility and alienation of the humanity, it becomes the only way to exist. Even a negative emotional experience is better than complete ab-sence of feeling. In some texts the dimension of corporeality is treated as absolute, that it becomes the youthfully arrogant pose, which justifies even the drastic secu-larization of the eternal values

Sninga plunksnomis,Nesusiformavusiais gemalais. Sninga angelų spermatozoidais.

Sninga įstrižai stogų viršūnių, Vertikaliai plieniniams dangčiams.

Užkliūna už pravertų balkonų, Pakimba ant užuolaidų kraštų.

Žmonės myli ir kenčia. Patys nebesugeba daugintis.

(Razumaitė J. „[Sninga plunksnomis...]“, 2: 53).

It is snowing with feathers,With unformed embryos,It is snowing with spermatozoids of the angels. It is snowing sidelong the peaks of the roots,Upright the steel lids.

It scrapes against open balconies,Snags the borders of curtains.

People love and sufferThey are not able to reproduce their kind.

In extreme situations Homo sapiens4 separates from Homo sensibilis5, and the ratio (mind) in cold blood watches the flusters of the body, torn by windstorms of senses and feelings. It becomes difficult to find place in the world for Homo cre-dens and even for Homo humanus6. The young Lithuanian poets offer some solu-tions - individual has to focus on his inner life, to create a world in himself:

Džiazuojantis vėjo ritmas Ir mano trūkčiojantis rimas –diagrama viso pasaulio visų melodijų visų vidurnakčio dūžių – viename –manyje.

(Biliūnaitė A. „[Džiazuojantis...]“, 2: 12)

The jazzing rhythmof the windAnd my discontinuousrhyme –the diagramof allworldof allmelodiesof allstrokes of the midnight –in one –in me.

4 (lot.) Wise man5 (lot.) Sensitive man6 (lot.) Humane man

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Or he has to try to escape from the closed circle of the chaos. The true Christians should prefer the second option because it enables to respond to the voice of God.

According to Scripture scholar A. Rub ys, the only path to the victory is firm loyalty to God, and the aim of the apocalyptic writings is waking those, who are asleep, warning those, who are hesitative, encouraging trust and witnessing true faith (Rub ys 1997). The texts of young Lithuanian poets revealed the deep percep-tion of the crisis and common sense, which stimulate the action – showing the drastic images they are trying to liven up the indifferent, materialistic society.

The modern humanity understands how far it is departed from the original Christian values , so it is struggling to find a substitute for God, because it seems easier not to return to the true way, but to search for new paths to salvation. Into the place of God people put the Apocalypse Beast, who can symbolize very diffe-rent things - it may be a person, organization, tangibles, anything what is deified. The searching for God gets the form of mixing together sacral ideas of various reli-gions, because of the desperate attempt to find an object of adoration:

<...>Saulei aukoti maisto atliekas, Ra ir Perkūnui.

Saulei aukoti lašišos ašakas, Višnui ir Budai.

O Alache,Ko nevalgai lazdelėmis persmeigtosžuvies, pomidorų padažu užpiltos,o Krišna.

Jėzuli Jėzuli, žuvis iš Nidos, tik ištiesk ranką ir pasiimk.

(Pečiulytė L. „Lašišos valgymas I“, 2: 20)

<...>To sacrifice the wastes of the food to the Sun,To Ra and Perkūnas.

To sacrifice the bones of the salmonto the Sun,To Vishnu and Buda.

Oh, Allah,Why don’t you eat the fish,pierced with sticks,Poured with the tomato sauce,Oh, Krishna. Sweet Jesus, sweet Jesus,the fish is from Nidajust reach the handand take it.

Surprised and scared young Lithuanian poets state the fact that there is not a simple change of the values, but real revolution: “Yesterday a terrible idea vi s ited me, / after some time the Spirituality / may become a crime.” (Rastenytė B. „Dienoraštis“, 2: 61). God do not even need to send plagues to the world - degen-erate humanity becomes a penance for itself. The young Lithuanian poets do not prophesy cataclysms, the view of the sinful world is enough to understand - end of the world has already begun.

The texts reveal a confrontation of faith and religion – the church has to give the solace and the people desire not the cold anonymous ritual, but the pure, sin-cere faith, which is embodied by the picture of an old lady, praying in the ultimate stool of the church:

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Ir žvakė virpteli tyloj sučiaupuslūpas senutė pakabinta angelų Viena. Mažutė. Susisukus klūpo

Su džiaugsmo mazgeliu

Sustingusi. Ryški. Sekundė. Mirus Atsikvepia judėjiškuos klavyruos

(Striogaitė E. „Bažnyčioje paprastą valandą“, 2: 17).)

The candle trembles in the silence the thin-lipped old lady hanged by the angelsKnells alone. Small. ShrunkenWith the knot of joy

Benumbed. Bright. Dead. Second Respires in the Judaic clavier.

This painting is created with the kind of indulgent youthful derision, but the admiration and even envy bursts through it - an old man is able to believe without hesitation, without fear, without receiving anything in return. The ability to believe with no questions is accepted as a true beatitude, because it is an ideal of the real, inspired and faithful believer:

todėl diena ir naktis vaivorykštės spalvostodėl balta ir juodanet pilka kai traukinys vakarelekia pro Kulūpėnus todėl rožės raudonos geltonosir tulpėstodėl rudenį Kalniškiuoskrenta lapai todėl sniegas audra šaltis ir karštistodėl Dievas ir velniasŠėtonas todėl tu todėl ir tavo tėvai

todėl kad neklaustum

(Sobeckis D. „Todėl“, 2: 44).

that‘s why day and nightthe colors of the rainbowthat’s why black and whiteeven greywhen the train in the evening is moving through Kulūpėnaithat’s why rosesred yellowand tulipsthat’s why in autumn in Kalniškiaileaves are fallingthat’s why snow, stormfreeze and heatthat’s why God and devilSatanthat’s why youthat’s why your parents

in order younot asking.

“The Apocalypse of John” was written as an invitation to be such a Christian, as an attempt to save the eschatological hope in the soul of the believers, but the modern man is able to see only the medieval “Dies irae”7, because he forgets the joyous anticipation of first Christians’, looking for the world’s refinement.

There are very few poems which show us the view of the harmonious, pure, perfect world. It is interesting, that pessimistic view of the modern times force the young Lithuanian poets to look for the harmony not in the future, as it was done by the writers of the Jewish apocalyptic texts, but in the past. Childhood memories

7 (lot.) Doomsday

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of homeland gets the dimension of the Lost Paradise, love and prayer are named as the harmonizing force that can overcome chaotic collapse of the world which is sometimes perceived rather childish. However, the reality is still not out of a chaos, it’s just the saved memories, helping the person to survive:

Ar girdi, kaip tėvas malkas skaldo? Sesytė krykščia motinos skreite?O tu toks basas, murzinas ir alkanas, Bet ir laimingas – esi savam kieme. Seni žaislai, išsukinėtos lėlių kojos, Gardus kaimyno sodo obuolys Ir tyliai maldą šnabždantis artojas – Tai toks prisiminimų vėrinys...

(Tautkutė I. „[Ar girdi, kaip tėvas malkas skaldo?]“, 1: 20).)

Do you hear your father axing the wood?Your sister crowing in your mothers hands?And you so barefoot, dirty and hungry,But happy – you are in your yard.Old toys, broken legs of the dolls,Tasty apple from the neighbor’s gardenAnd the silently praying ploughman –That’s the collar of my memories.

In “The Apocalypse of John” the crisis of the end of the century is compared to the labor pain – hope and perfect love come to the world through this pain. Apocalypse in the modern world is very painful because of the disappearance of the second component - inveterate doubt makes trust in God difficult for the mo-dern man. He is stuck in the present, unconscious of past lessons and future glory is invisible for him. There is no understanding of the purpose, so the potentially meaningless suffering gets its priority. Probably this is one of the main reasons why the poetry of the young people is full of disorder and desperation - the process is going on, but there is no understanding of its meaning.

The only poem from all studied texts revealed the understanding of necessity:

arke ant suolelio sėdim ir laukiam prometėjo atėjo nuėjo pamestas o gal pasiklydęs saulės spindulys rūsys pilnas prašviesėjusių galvų apdujusiom akim stebi virtualios realybės iracionalią erdvę sklidiną spalvų garsų vizijų parke ant suolelio sėdim ir laukiam papreiškimo rimo nurimo gyvybės tvinksniai

in the park on the benchwe are sittingand waiting for the Prometheus came went offdropped or may be lost sunbeamthe basement is fullof the clear mindsthey watchwith stupefied eyesthe irrational spaceof the virtual reality full of colors soundsvisionsin the park on the bench we sitand wait for therevelationthe pulse of life calmed down

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gysloseprasideda kraujo kūnelių kristalizacija po to ląstelių atrofija degeneracija ir mes parke ant suolelio sėdim ir laukiam susiliejimo su kūrėju

(Juška L. „[parke ant suolelio]“, 2: 55).

in the veinsstarts the kristalisationof the blood cellsand then the atrophy degenerationof the cellsand wein the park on the benchare sittingand waitingfor the reunion with the creator.

The text of a young person send out an absolute certainty, the moment of the world transformation is extremely simple, it even looks like the vision of the drugged person. It was some kind of shock and surprise for the researcher. Per-haps the most dramatic in the text is a symbol of blood, which is so popular in the apocalyptic texts for its dualistic meaning. This symbol combines two opposite ima ges - on the one hand, it is the redeeming, purifying blood of Christ’s cruci-fixion, on the other hand – it’s the blood of His enemies, embodying the meaning of destruction, court and justice. Life and death, triumph and defeat, visions and the reality are taken with the equally meaningful “Let there be”, which can mean the full commitment to the Lord’s will.

Conclusions

The young Lithuanian poets processed distinctive apocalyptic images in the light of their experienced historical changes, the apocalyptic perception of the world emerges in their works as the natural moment caused by intersection of the centuries.

Foreboding of the inexorable approximation of the Apocalypse occurs in the poetry of the young generation with the symbolism of the images – the texts are full of visible and audible signs which, on the one hand, enhance anxiety and a need for any support, but on the other hand – reveals the societies alienation and indifferent approach to everybody and everything. Sometimes the young poets perceive the world’s chaos a bit childish, but the emotional maturity of their po-ems is often equal to the poetry of the senior poets.

The young poets see the crisis of the values of the humanity, but they do not prophesy cataclysms and avoid an open declaration of faith. Instead of that they manifest the solicitude for the future of the humanity and using the drastic sym-bols try to awaken it, force it to understand the viciousness of the chosen path.

The space and time is more abstract than concrete, the world is stagnated in the endless present, in the poems there is the lack of the meaning of the past and hope for the future.

The texts, filled with the details of the post-modern world, create original and fan-cy images, recreate reality many times, and make it a kind of virtual dimension where everything is at the same time realistic and ridiculous, durable and ephemeral.

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sourcesJaunas vėjas: Administravimo fakulteto Jaunųjų žurnalistų klubo narių kūrybos almana-

chas. 1999. Kaunas: Technologija. Ligoninės priimamasis. Lietuvos aukštųjų mokyklų studentų kūrybos almanachas. 2002.

Vilnius: Vilniaus universitetas. Žosmė: Studentų kūrybos almanachas. 2009. Vilnius: Vilniaus pedagoginis universitetas.

LiteratureAlexander, P.& Alexander, D. 2001. Apreiškimas Jonui. In Biblijos žinynas (pp. 763-775).

Vilnius: Alma littera.Bauckham, R. 2001. Kaip suprasti Apreiškimą Jonui. In Biblijos žinynas (pp. 771). Vilnius:

Alma littera. Čiočytė, D. 1999. Biblija lietuvių literatūroje. Vilnius: Lietuvių literatūros ir tautosakos

institutas. de Boer, T. 2006. Filosofų Dievas ir Paskalio Dievas. Vilnius: Aidai.Ratzinger, J. card. 1991. Krikščionybės įvadas. Vilnius: Katalikų pasaulis.Rubšys, A. 1997. Raktas į Naująjį Testamentą. II dalis. Vilnius: Katalikų pasaulis.

Silvija RaKutiEnė, PhD, the Department of Languages and Education, Lithuanian Univer-sity of Health Sciences. Area of scientific interest: the modern Lithuanian literature, the links between Scriptural and literature.

Krzysztof Penderecki’s Dies Irae – Artistic Expression of Religious Tradition

Magdalena CHRENKOFF

AbstractThe “Dies irae” motive appears in many works of Krzysztof Penderecki, but the vision of ultimate doom that the composer evokes is shown from different per-spectives and in different contexts. In Auschwitz oratorio Dies Irae the phrase “Dies irae” (incipit of the sequence text) was used as a significant title. Composer invokes the tradition of missa pro defunctis, somewhat suggesting that the orato-rio can constitute one part of a funeral mass, but neither text nor melody of the sequence can be found in the work. However, the second movement of the work (Apocalypsis) brings an apocalyptical vision of evil: Penderecki applies all possible musical means in order to create a terrifying image of hell - they are used to de-pict chaos and destruction. But finally, in the third movement (Apotheosis), comes hope (“absorbta est mors in Victoria”), what seems to be the most important for the message of the work.

By writing a work intended to be performed during at the unveiling ceremony of the International Monument to the Victims of Fascism in Auschwitz-Bierkenau

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(Dies Irae), the composer attempted an artistic interpretation of the theme of his-torical experience of doom.

As Penderecki said: Art should be a source of difficult hope.

Magdalena ChrEnkoFF, Academy of Music in Kraków, Poland.

Religious Experience as Expressed in Contemporary Visual Art

elena SAKALAUSKAITĖ

AbstractContemporary visual art is filled with various topics, all too often - controversial ones. There hadn’t been any taboos about questioning all, what is happening around, and no boundary in expressing things. Undoubtedly, religion had been one of premiere objects of questioning and decomposition in visual art. Having lost its leading position, religion had become more marginal aspect of society. Therefore my paper aims at researching how religious experience is being shown in contem-porary visual art for Lithuania of recent years. What artists are choosing such topic, how are they dealing with it, what is usually their approach and from what side of the viewer or the believer it’s being shown. How could the viewer percept it, what aspects of religion is being brought to light and what forms its gets into.

Elena saKalausKaitė, University of Vilnius, Lithuania.

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Session VI – C

Religious Poetry of B. Brazdžionis: Rhetoric of Form B. Brazdžionio religinė poezija: formos retorika

rūta BRŪZGIENĖ

AbstractIn poems of a Lithuanian poet Bernardas Brazdžionis (1907-2002) there is plenty of church liturgy and other religious music images, also there are quite many motifs of classical music and musical folklore origin. The poet’s creation is distinguished by a rare musicality, which is usually based on syntactic structures, but also there are some poems of a more free form. Musical experience is one of the most in-ward and at the same time it is the deepest religious experience, opening the sen-sations of the sacral cosmic being through the structures of sound and semantic dynamics. Ontological principles of musical forms, their transformations, suggesti-bility of sound formation, sound structures, influence of rhythmic models, poetic rhetoric, archetypes of musical models and their analogues in poetry are not only one of the most important criteria of aesthetic value of the work, but also one of the depth formants of text sacrality. The aim of the article would be to analyze the nature of musicality of some religious poems of B. Brazdžionis, to grope the most important features of their form, stylistics, aesthetic expression, to empha-size musical peculiarity of religious poems in general contexts of his creation. The concepts of Werner Wolf, Hermann Erpf, Vladimir Karbusitsky, Viktor Bobrowsky, Eero Tarasti, and others, will be used in the article and it will be referred to a com-parative methodology.

key words: Lithuanian poetry, Bernardas Brazdžionis, religion experience, music, form, genre, archetypes

introduction. Bernardas Brazdžionis (1907-2002) – a poet, editor, public character, at the same time one of the brightest creators of the Lithuanian religious poetry. His most important collections are – Amžinas žydas [The Eternal Jew], Krintančios žvaigždės [Shooting Stars], Ženklai ir stebuklai [Signs and Wonders], Kunigaikščių miestas [The Town of The Dukes]. Their topics vary from biblical, liturgical symbo-lism to folklore, landscape or urban motifs. In these collections, one can notice also an authentic relation with being, based on religious experiences, there is also quite much declaration of religious truths; they are also characteristic of the variety of style and structural models. Collections of poems called Šaukiu aš tautą [Calling the Nation], Iš sudužusio laivo [From the shipwreck], published during the World War II, are characteristic of severe experience of the nation’s destiny/survival. Their stylistic structures of melodious dynamics are mostly based on syntactic parallel-ism. Poetics of the post-war verses collections Svetimi kalnai [Alien Mountains],

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Šiaurės pašvaistė [The Northern Lights], Didžioji kryžkelė [The Great Crossroad], Vidudienio sodai [The Midday Gardens], Po aukštaisiais skliautais [Under the High Domes], that were written during the years of emigration, are characterized as being declarative, filled with pathos and pathetics, and focusing on motives of love for the homeland, nostalgia and other feelings. Aiming to highlight the topic of dis-cussion, this paper is based on pre-war poem collections that de monstrate a more explicit form and originality of expressions of religion experience with perceptible models of dynamical - musical structures.

Features of Brazdžionis musical biography. In his childhood he loved to sing and play harmonica, and being a student he played the national Lithuanian musi-cal instrument – Panflute. Living in exile in the USA, he used to go to opera per-formances, cultivated close relationship with the composers Darius Lapinskas, and Bronius Budriūnas, with singers and other artists, and collected Lithuanian music and other musical records. His verses were set to music more often than the verses of any other poet, by both Lithuanian-American composers in emigration, and by composers living in Lithuania (the National Library holds about 180 musical items that used poet’s texts). Songs composed after his verses Šaukiu aš tautą [Calling the Nation], Aš čia – gyva [I’m here – alive] and performed by the famous singer Vytautas Kernagis, became musical anthems of the years of Lithuanian rebirth, which was named as The Singing Revolution (1988-1992). Such a large number of compositions most likely appeared because the poems contained not only syntac-tic structures convenient for singing, but also spacious semantics of words acting as dimensions of sacramental space. According to literature-researcher Juozapas Girdzijauskas, it incorporates everything that ever was, is or may be divine; God reveals himself as the Cosmos, infinite space, and the incessant flow of time, the whole of human history and culture, as well as the blowing of the wind, the blos-som of daisy, and the scent of caraway (Girdzijauskas 2006). Cosmic consciousness created/opened by the sound paths sent by shamans/oracles is one of the corner-stones of Algis Mickūnas philosophical statements (Mickūnas 2010).

Musicality of literary text. In general musicality of literary text based on the concept of intermediality reveals itself in a number of levels (Wolf 1999, 2002; Brūzgienė 2004). The first level is thematization, storytelling, use of musical ima-gery (textual, contextual, paratextual), the second is word music, the third – ana-logues of musical forms and structures (micro and macro forms) – become ana-logues of musical content). However, musicality of the text can be felt as a form and its transformation, as a feeling, which is consciously formed in discourse by linguistic, compositional, structural and other means. In this case a sense of the presence of music in the text is created, which becomes a common or specific designation, a real or imaginary reference.

Thematization. Analysis of Brazdžionis’s poems in musical thematization level reveals that the musical images can be set into several groups (Brazdžionis 1989). One is the nature based folklore images (rauda [lament], aušrinė išgiedojo [the morning star has sung its song], dainuos žvaigždės [stars will sing], piemenėlių dainos [shepherds songs], etc.). Another group is based on classical music or eve-ryday music (madrigalas [madrigal], valsas [waltz], romansas [romance], kantilena [cantilena], stygos [strings], gama [gamut], Strausso muzika [Strauss’ music], rockenrollas, [rock&roll], etc.). The third group will hold the images of Church and

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liturgical music (psalmė [Psalm], Osanna [Hosanna], Gloria, Kyrie Eleison, Dies irae, Sanctus, etc.). Analysis of the works of Brazdžionis shows that the number of mo-tives of church music and folklore can compete between themselves but very few images of classical and everyday music can be found. Such interaction of the mo-tives draws the dominants in poet’s understanding of the world alongside reflect-ing the harmony of the pantheistic worldview of the old agrarian Baltic culture and Christianity so typical of Lithuanian culture.

Word music. So-called word music – phonics, rhythm, and rhyme creates a deeper impression than textual images or a paratextual musical level. A number of researchers mention a special musicality of Brazdžionis. According to Vytautas Ku-bilius his verses continue the tradition of melodic intonation with repeated words and loud rhythmic gradation of sounds, subjected to tension raised by contrasting rhetorical pathos (Kubilius 1995). Juozapas Girdzijauskas, Tomas Venclova empha-sizes repetition, variability of expansion, abundance of internal rhymes, allitera-tion, and organic rhythmics (Girdzijauskas 2006, Venclova 1995). Sometimes it is referred to his melody being monotonous, that sounds like repetitive polyphonic meditation or recurs in the style of rondo. Repetition and variance have been accepted as the basis for his main form creation.

Analogues of form. In this paper it will be discuss the methodological research premises: the interaction between the ontological principles forms of music (ac-cording to Karbusitsky concept) and their analogues in literary text with the arche-typal musical models and describe the principles of various modern forms crea-tion. The interaction among passion, archetypal dynamics and archetypal models is also relevant. Religious musical genres has a long history of common develop-ment (ex.: psalm, hymn), therefore the rhetorical features of their forms should contain certain specific features.

Dynamic nature of archetypes. When speaking about archetypes, narrativity, and text structure, it is important to consider not only their visual symbolic con-tent but rather their dynamic-energetic nature based on intonation and rhythmic archetypical structures. They are perceived as symbols of images, as deep textual energy, as formants of textual dynamics and structure; major types of creators proposed in Carl Gustav Jung’s conception are briefly discussed as the types that influence stylistic strategies of musical composition (Jung 1981). In Jung’s view, the relations between the consciousness and the subconscious are bound up with process relations [my underlining—R.B.] Thus, an archetype is not merely a pas-sive form, but rather a specific energy. The psychodynamics of archetype is the link relating collective and individual subconscious with its musical expression. Jung’s understanding of mental, creative energy, which is treated as value intensity, is especially important and is made relevant in music.

Archetypes and passion. Passion, according to psychoanalysts, is a deep layer of psychic energy related to the presence of life energy, Love (Eros), and its lack, Death (Tanathos). In sacral works, passion is obviously expressed and is related to the most archetypical religious images: the manifestations of God and Demonism. Jung as-sesses the types of artists doubly, as psychological and visionary. The first is restric-ted by the phenomena existing in the surface life understood by consciousness. The visionary type of an artist penetrates through the surface layer of the conscious and touches upon the depths of the collective subconscious. Generally speaking, the tune

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expression of the essential passions in classical European music might be perceived as major and minor, while in a literary work — as pathos, euphoria, and dysphoria. Emotional colors in this type of music are defined by tonality. In a literary text, we could also metaphorically treat emotions as tonalities or moods.

Thus, following Jung’s understanding of the process of creative life (creative in-spiration as fundamental archetypical energy), we can explain the phenomenon of music much more essentially, as well as understand the deep-layered musical move-ments of a literary work and the musical basis of an archetypical (and at the same time, literary) model formed by that movement (rondo, variations, one-part, two-part, three-part, sonata). The school of semiotics divides the passions according to another level, analyzing them from the object aspiration viewpoint; usually this is hu-man emotional level; but sometimes they express the divine level when one breaks the divine laws (e.g., Antanas Vienuolis’s legend_Užkeiktieji vienuoliai [Damned Monks]. Namely, when analyzing the level of existence of passion and emotions in a literary work and their movement, we can perceive the aesthetic value of a work, its sounding-musical form, the religion experience and philosophical depth.

Ontological principles of musical form. The School of Semiotics classifies Pas-sions at a different level, analyzing them according to their strivings for the object; usually it is expressed at the human emotional level, but sometimes they express the divine dimension, when a break of the divine laws happens (ex.: in Antanas Vienuolis Užkeiktieji vienuoliai [Cursed Monks]). Musical semiotic Vladimir Kar-busitsky presents six existential musical modes which correspond to 6 archetypical universal principles of form formation (Karbusitsky 1997). The first one is silence, chaos, shapeless state. The second (I form) is and endless flow of time (variations, repetition and trance are formed); the third (II form) is a tectonic row of sound (imitation, heterophony, canon, fugue, fugato). The fourth principle (III form) is rotation by consistently coming back (moving in a circle; orgiastic dance; a bal-lad and rondo form in a cultural epoch). The basis of the fifth principle (IV form): baseline - mixing - return. This is ABA1 symmetry (thesis – antithesis - synthesis). In cultural epoch, there formed Lied (ABA1 form), sonata form. The sixth principle (V form) is based on mythological quadruple which, according to Jung, is modified on the existential level. The first part expresses the present, the situation is ontolo-gized and projected in dialectic plot. The second part meditates concern, pain, the past. In the third part the powers are given to the struggle with the present, and the last part reveals the beginning of the Utopian end - glowing future. In cultural evolution such structure was called the cycle of sonata.

Thus, the correlations between religious experience and its music expression in creation of Brazdžionis should be analyze in some aspects. First, to musical reli-gious images are mentioned in the poems of Brazdžionis, second, the spectrum of passions, third – reflections of liturgical genres, fourth – peculiarities of archetypi-cal musical models and analogues of other musical forms.

Bibliography Brazdžionis, B. 1989. Poezijos pilnatis. Vilnius: Sietynas. Brūzgienė, R. 2004. Literatūra ir muzika: paralelės ir analogai. Vilnius: Lietuvių literatūros

ir tautosakos institutas.

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Girdzijauskas, J. 2006. Lietuvių literatūros vagoje. Vilnius: Lietuvių literatūros ir tautosakos institutas, p. 582.

Jung, C. G. 1981. The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious. Collected Works. 2nd ed., Vol. 9, Part 1. Princeton, N.Y.: Bollingen.

Kubilius, V. 1995. XX a. lietuvių literatūra. Vilnius: Alma littera, p. 270.Karbusitsky, V. 1997. Antropologinės ir gamtinės universalijos muzikoje. Baltos lankos, Nr. 9.

Vilnius: Baltos lankos. Mickūnas A. 2010. Pasaulio kūryba ir žmogaus kūrybiškumas: tarpdalykiniai aspektai.

Paskaita, skaityta Mykolo Romerio universitete m. 2010 spalio 7 d.Venclova, T. 1995. Bernardas Brazdžionis. In: Lietuvių egzodo literatūra 1945-1990. Vilnius:

Vaga, p. 86.Wolf, W. 1999. The Musicalization of Fiction. A study in Theory and History of Intermediality.

Amsterdam – Atlanta: Rodopi.Wolf, W. 2002. Intermediality. Revisited Reflections on Word and Music Relations in

the Context of General Typology of Intermediality. In: Suzanne M. Lodato, Suzanne Aspden, Walter Bernhard (eds.), Word and Music Studies, Vol. 4: Essays in Honor of Steven Paul Scher and on Cultural Identity and the Musical Stage. 13–34. Amsterdam, New York: Rodopi.

Rūta BRūzGiEnė, PhD, assoc. professor at the Institute of Humanities, Mykolas Ro meris University, Lithuania. Areas of scientific interest: comparative literature, relation between literature and music, theory of literature, religion, rhetoric.

The Experience of Tradition in the “Giesmė apie pasaulio medį” of S. Geda

Tradicijos išgyvenimas S. Gedos „Giesmėje apie pasaulio medį“

Paulius JEVSEJEVAS

AbstractThis paper is an attempt at a semiotic analysis of the poem “Giesmė apie pasaulio medį” (“Hymn of the World Tree”) by the Lithuanian poet Sigitas Geda. As a poet, Geda seems to be an exception to the rule of thumb that contemporary poetry has distanced itself from “traditional” religious experiences and is intended as a “religious language” on it‘s own right. This goes for the poem analysed as well, which, on the surface level, is made evident already by it’s name. The analysis is intended to unravel the general segmentation of the text via uttering-utterance and enuncia tor-enunciatee relations. This is firstly done by analyzing the abundant deixes that are described as certain pivots, regulating the passages between dif-ferent parts and levels of the text. This is supported by further semantic analysis. As a result, a general structure is revealed, that comprises shifts between an introductory narration of a singular experience, a parenthetical account of an-cestral traditional life, a junction of the two via a medium-like conversation with the great cultural representatives of the tradition aspired to, and finally

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a return to the speaking situation with a transition to a cosmologic vision and an incitement of a hopeful reunion of “the people” in themselves and the holy heights. Finally, several points of interrogation are identified: the appearance of religious experience as a singular event establishing a new knowledge; the relation of such events to tradition and transfering of what is traditional; the role of inter-subjectivity in religious experience and tradition; the role of cosmology in convey-ing religious experience, tradition and their relation.

kay words: Sigitas Geda, tradition, expression of tradition, religious experience, intersubjectivity.

Įžanga

Skaitant S. Gedos „Giesmę apie pasaulio medį“, iš pirmo žvilgsnio akivaizdus eilė-raščio ryšys su tuo, kas religiška – tai parodo jau pavadinimas. Giesmė lietuvių kal-bos žodyne (LKŽ 2005) apibrėžiama ir kaip „giedojimas, giedamas dalykas, daina“, „iškilminga daina“, „poezijos kūrinys“, ir kaip esanti „bažnytinio, religinio turinio“ (beje, įdomu pastebėti, kad dabartinės lietuvių kalbos žodyne paskutiniosios api-brėžties nėra – laikantis prielaidos apie kūrinio religiškumą, sociokritiniu požiūriu tokį žodžio parinkimą jau galima laikyti strategišku). Pasaulio medis savo ruožtu yra gerai žinomas mitologinis-religinis įvaizdis: stokodami mitologinių žinių ir vietos, į platesnį jo aptarimą nesileisime, tik priminsime, kad paprastai jis laikomas visatos sandaros provaizdžiu.

Vis dėlto šios apibrėžtys – tai tik akivaizdybės persakymas; tuo tarpu kaip ei-lėraščio pavadinimas „Giesmė apie pasaulio medį“ aprėpia ir įvardija 11 po juo išdėstytų posmų, kurie savo ruožtu laikytini jo išsklaida, t. y. taip pat tam tikra apibrėžtimi. Dar galima pastebėti, kad žodžiai „giesmė“ ir „pasaulio medis“ teks-te daugiau niekur neminimi. Tad kol kas visai neakivaizdu nei koks yra minėtas kūrinio ryšys su religiškumu, nei kaip jame išskleidžiamos pavadinimui parinktos leksemos.

teksto sandara ir deiksės

Pereinant prie paties teksto ir mėginant apibūdinti jį kaip vientisą darinį religinės patirties ir tradicijos santykių atžvilgiu, tinkamiausia atrodo aptarti visuminę jo sandarą. Iš pirmo žvilgsnio giesmė pasirodo kaip sakytojo patirto išgyvenimo at-pasakojimas, pereinantis į pokalbį, aukojimo, regėjimo bei raginimo vaizdinius. Todėl sandaros aptarimo pagrindu šiuo atveju laikytina, kalbant semiotiniais ter-minais, sakytojo-skaitytojo bei sakymo-pasakymo (pastarieji daugmaž atitinka „pasakojimo veiksmą“ ir „pasakojamus įvykius“; plačiau apie vartojamas sąvokas žr. Greimas, Courtés, 1993) santykių raiška. Taip pat iš anksto pažymėsime, kad vienas iš pagrindinių šio santykių konstravimo dėmenų bent šiuo atveju yra deik-tinės nuorodos.

Tokiu pagrindu iš karto galima nuo kitų atskirti pirmąjį posmą, kuriame kalba-ma apie tai, ką galėtume pavadinti „ypatingu įvykiu“, ir kuris tampa įžanga į tolesnę eigą. Tai, kad jis atsiskiria nuo kitų, lemia reikšminė struktūra, nustatanti savitą laiko, erdvės ir juose esančių veikėjų raišką. Pirmasis posmas (o tuo pačiu ir visa

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giesmė) prasideda deiktine nuoroda „Tą vakarą“. Ji laikytina ir atjungimu, ir įjungi-mu (glaustai atjungimą ir įjungimą galima apibūdinti kaip sakytojo projektuojamos plotmės ir jo buvimo plotmės nesutapimą ar sutapimą; plačiau žr. Greimas, Cour-tés, 1993). Kaip atjungimas, ši deiksė įveda atskaitinę laikinę ašį /tada/:

/tas/ vs /šis/ /tada/ vs /dabar/Taigi „tas vakaras“ – tai už sakymo instancijos (pasakotojo) projektuojamas lai-

kas, nesutampantis su pasakojimo laiku. Tačiau šią nuorodą taip pat galima vertinti ir kaip įjungimą. /Tas/ vs /šis/) nuorodo „vakarą“ kaip nutolusį laiko-erdvės atžvilgiu ir yra įjungimas veikėjų plotmėje: nutolimas numato žiūros tašką ir tokiu būdu vei-kia kaip sakymo pėdsakas – „tas“ nurodo ir vakarą, ir rodantįjį, pasakotoją, kuris yra tame pačiame lygmenyje kaip adresatas. Taip giesmė nuo pat pradžių tampa pokal-biu, /dabar/ vykstančiu pasakojimu apie /tada/. Dar galima pastebėti, jog „tas“ turi ir trečią – išskirtinumo semą:

/tas, šis/ vs /bet kuris/ /išskirtinis/ vs /įprastas/,kuri išreiškia vieną iš narių kategorijoje /pertrūkis/ vs /tolydumas/. Taigi jau

pirmąja fraze išreiškiamas pasakojamojo /tada/ ypatingumas, nurodantis pertrūkį įprastos kasdienybės sraute. Visos šios pastabos reikalingos norint nusakyti būdą, kuriuo steigiamas pasakotojo ir pasakojimo santykis. Jei tikėsime A. J. Greimu, tai pasakojimo /dabar/ pavertimas atskaitos ašimi yra subjektyvizavimo priemonė. Tą matome ir čia: projektuodamas įvykių laiką sakytojas nurodo jų nuotolį nuo pasa-kojimo eigos ir taip kuria tarpsubjektinio santykio prasminį efektą. Taip nepasako-jami neutralūs įvykiai, bet dalinamasi asmenine jų patirtimi.

Tą patvirtina ir likusi posmo dalis. Galima sakyti, kad visu šiuo posmu atpasako-jamas patirties įvykis, įsteigiantis kalbantį subjektą kaip to įvykio dalyvį ir taip pa-tvirtinantis jo dvilypumą tarp /dabar/ ir /tada/. Pradžioje subjektas apibūdinamas per /neveikimą/ („besėdint“) ir jo matomas bei girdimas erdvės figūras – kopas, bangas, vėją. Nors gali pasirodyti, kad erdvės figūros yra veikėjai (kopa „slenka“, bangos „siūbuoja“, vėjas „ūkia“), visos šios veiksmažodinės konstrukcijos veikiau apibūdina tam tikrą subjektą apgaubiančios (jis sėdi /ant/ kopos, /po/ vėju, /prie-šais/ marias) erdvės būklę. Ją galima apibūdinti kaip visuminį judėjimą: slinkimas vyksta /tiesiai/, siūbavimas – /į šonus/. Vėjo „ūkimas“ savo ruožtu yra „pratisas garsas“, „aidėjimas“, kurį skleidžia „oro srovė“ (DLKŽ, 2011), taigi jį galima laikyti savotiška figūrine nematomojo erdvės tūrio judėjimo išraiška. Toks erdvės judru-mas – tai išoriškos „daiktų tvarkos“ nepastovumas, vedantis į kognityvinio pažini-mo negalimumą („kažko“) ir – per savą kūną („širdis susopo“) – į proprioceptyvų santykį su pasauliu („pasijutau“). Taip paneigiama kasdienybės tvarka („kaip nie-kad“) ir steigiamas nauju žinojimu apie savo santykį su pasauliu pagrįstas subjek-tas – „žmogus iš Lietuvos“ (toks jo savitumas pabrėžiamas ir padidintais tarpais tarp raidžių). Prieš einant toliau, čia galima iškelti bendrą klausimą, – kiek toks keliais bruožais apmestas „naujo subjekto“ steigimas bendras tam, ką vadiname „religiniu išgyvenimu“ apskritai, ir kiek jis savitas S. Gedos atveju. Taip pat galima prisiminti, kad panašaus pobūdžio, tik daugiau estetinius, „lūžius kasdienybėje“ yra aprašęs Greimas (Greimas, 2004).

Kalbant apie antrą posmą, pradžioje reikia pažymėti, kad juo pradedamas trečio-jo asmens pasakojimas apie „protėvius“, kuris tęsiasi iki aštunto posmo. Paviršinės

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teksto sandaros atžvilgiu šis junginys – tai intarpas, kuriame vystomas sąlyginai au-tonomiškas pasakojimas. Tai, žinoma, atjungimo padarinys. Kaip ir pirmasis, antras posmas pradedamas deiktinine (tik šįkart erdvine) nuoroda – „Čia“. Tačiau, priešin-gai nei ankstesniu atveju, šįkart deiksė liudija sutapimą su atskaitos tašku:

/čia/ vs /ten/ /ten pat/ vs /kitur/ /sutapimas/ vs /skirtumas/,bet jis yra erdvinis ir nepanaikina ankstesniojo atjungimo. Taigi šis atjungimas

yra kitokio pobūdžio. Jei pirmuoju atveju atjungimą galima laikyti loginiu (jis grįstas pasakojimo ir pasakotojo laiko atskyrimu), tai šiuo atveju jis veikiau semantinis. Juo pereinama nuo subjekyvizuotos „žinojimo“ patirties prie objektyvizuojančio jo išplėtimo: „Lietuva“ paverčiama erdviniu įvardijimu, o santykinai abstraktus „žmo-gus“ pakeičiamas įvairiomis veikėjų figūromis. Taip pat įvedamas ir naujas pasakoji-mo laikas – pereinama prie dar vieno, antrinio /tada/, kurį, remdamiesi semantiniu „protėvių“ krūviu, galėtume pavadinti „senove“. Taip steigiamas erdvės, veikėjų ir laiko požiūriu autonomiškas pasakojimas. Vis dėlto „Čia“ taip pat yra ir įjungimas. Kaip minėjome, ši deiktinė nuoroda liudija sutapimą: tik sutampa čia ne pasakoto-jo /dabar/ ir pasakojamų įvykių /tada/, ir ne sakytojo bei adresato padėtis, bet viso autonominio pasakojimo ir pasakotojo erdvė. Taip „senovė“ per erdvės tapatumą perkeliama į sakymo vietą, kuri, kaip matėme, yra ir tarpsubjektinio santykio vieta. Taigi „senovė“, o ne anksčiau aptartas „ypatingas išgyvenimas“, tampa ta tikrąja patirtimi, kuria su adresatu dalinasi sakytojas. Tai savotiškai patvirtina ir paskuti-nė posmo eilutė, kurioje per erdvinę deiksę „Tenai“ parodoma sakytojo priklau-somybė „senovės“ erdvei, o per beveik tapatų pakartojimą „žmogum iš Lietuvos“ semantiškai sutvirtinamas naujo subjekto steigimo kaip formos ir „senovės“ kaip turinio ryšys – taip užbaigiamas perėjimas iš nepastovios pirmo posmo erdvės į pastovų intarpo erdvėlaikį.

Intarpo autonominis pasakojimas, kaip minėjome, plėtojamas iki septintojo posmo. Atsižvelgiant į tai, kas mus čia domina labiausiai, kaip pagrindinius struktū-rinius šio pasakojimo bruožus reikia išskirti dvejopus pakartojimus, kuriuos įvardy-sime semantiniais ir sintaksiniais. Pirmaisiais vadiname savitas semantines struk-tūras – buvimo pasakymus (tokiais vadiname pasakymus, perteikiančius semantinį krūvį, bet ne jo pasikeitimą), išreikštus veikimo figūromis: tai tokie pasakymai kaip „protėviai klajojo“, „žemę arė“, „moterys žiūrėjo“, „kariūnai pilis ant kalno rentė“, „melsdavosi girių gaudimui“, „į jūras plaukė“, „linguodavo keliai“ ir t. t. Pavyzdžiui, pasakymą „protėviai klajojo“, galima perrašyti taip:

Veikėjas (protėviai): Funkcija (klajoti) Funkcija (klajoti): Funkcija (keisti buvimo vietą: V1->V2->Vn)Veikėjas (protėviai) Funkcija (klajoti): Funkcija (keisti buvimo vietą: V1->V2->Vn)

Matyti, kad „klajojimas“ yra ne kokią nors būseną kita pakeičiantis veiksmas, bet tam tikras buvimas, susidarantis iš pakartotinio veikimo. Panašiai yra ir kitų pasakymų atveju, tik dar reikia pažymėti, kad didelėje jų dalyje tokio efekto pa-siekiama derinant vienaskaitos ir daugiskaitos formas (t. y. „jie žemę arė“, „jie iš-jodavo į šventę“, „jie į jūras plaukė“ ir kt.). Visais šiais atvejais daugybinis veikimas sudaro vieną būklę arba atvirkščiai, – tam tikra būklė palaikoma ir sudaroma per pakartotinį veikimą. Toks „buvimas veikime“ bent iš dalies gana aiškiai atitinka tai,

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ką įprasta vadinti „tradicija“, kurią DLKŽ apibrėžia kaip „papročių, apeigų, vaizdinių, idėjų, simbolių išlaikymą“ ir „tai, kas išlaikoma“ (DLKŽ, 2011). Taigi atrodo galima teigti, jog intarpas, kurį įvardijome „senove“, iš tikrųjų skirtas ne tiek istoriškai laike nutolusiems įvykiams, kiek tradicijai kaip „iš kartos į kartą perduodamam“ buvimo būdui.

Kita pakartojimų rūšis – posmų užbaigos (įvairūs pasakymai, pasibaigiantys žodžiu „Lietuvos“). Pirmąjį jų jau glaustai aptarėme, bet kalbant apie jų kartoji-mą įterptiniame pasakojime, taip pat ir už jo ribų, svarbu atkreipti dėmesį į tam tikrus to kartojimo eigoje vykstančius semantinius pokyčius. Pirmuoju pasakymu įtvirtinama sakytojo priklausomybė tam, ką jau įvardijome tradicija, o tolesni pa-sakymai kaito priklausomybės semantiką atitinkamai su pasakojimo eiga. Matyti, kad trečiajame posme priklausomybė per menamąja kalba reiškiamą „žinojimą“ priskiriama „jiems“, „protėviams“; ketvirtajame, jau be menamosios kalbos (ir dar-gi prieš tai paneigus šnekėjimą – „jie nekartojo“), ji per „srūvantį kraują“ perke-liama į kūnišką vidujybę, o šeštajame priklausomybė jau reiškiama tiesiogine „jų“ kalba. Toks perėjimas atrodo stulbinančiai panašus į tai, ką matėme pirmajame posme: nuo išoriško priklausomybės reiškimo per „skaudų“ jos įvidujinimą perei-nama prie kalbėjimo. To atodairoje atrodo galima įvertinti ir tai, jog tokios užbaigos nėra penktajame posme. Šis posmas įterptinio pasakojimo lygmenyje atkartoja to, kas įprasta, griuvimą, nepastovumą, per proprioceptyvinį suvokimą (sakytojo „po-jūtį“ čia, atrodo, atitinka nuo pražūties apsaugančios žemės „turėjimas“) vedantį į naujos kokybės sąmoningumą. Žinoma, toks aprašymas pernelyg skubotas ir neiš-samus, kad būtų galima siūlyti galutines išvadas, bet toks atitikimas atrodo mažų mažiausiai tikėtinas, juolab kad septintajame posme jis savotiškai patvirtinamas aiškiai išreikštu sakytojo ir tradicijos susitikimu.

Šis susitikimas („Ir aš buvau atėjęs“) – tai perėjimas iš neveiklios priklauso-mybės tradicijai (plg. ankstesnį „Tenai esu aš buvęs“) į veiklų santykį. Šiuo atveju veikimas – tai klausymas tų, kuriuos pavadintumėme istorinėmis asmenybėmis (Donelaičiu ir Baranausku). Tačiau „istoriškumas“ čia, galima sakyti, ir neigiamas: Donelaitis ir Baranauskas yra ne istorijos, o tradicijos atstovai. Todėl jie, gyvenę skirtingais šimtmečiais, gali kartu dalyvauti viename pokalbyje, kuriame adresatas yra sakytojas. Tokio efekto pasiekiama sukryžiavimu:

(aš) girdėjau Donelaitį man Baranauskas sakė,kuris atliekamas ir su vardais, ir semantiškai, kai per sakytojo dalyvavimą („aš“,

„man“) apjungiamas aktyvus („girdėjau“) ir pasyvus („man sakė“) audityvumas. Taip sakytojas tampa ne kokio nors vieno ar kito asmens, o tradicijos perdavėjų apskritai adresatu. Dėl to negalima jokiam konkrečiam asmeniui priskirti ir po to einančios tiesioginės kalbos: tai veikiau įtarpinimas, nuo kurio, galima sakyti, ir pra-sideda tikroji giesmė (pažymėtinas ir „progiesmis“, kurio pokalbiškumą, intymumą sutvirtina laipsniškumas, įvedamas dalelyte „vos vos“).

Nuo šio įtarpinimo grįžtama į pradinę tarpsubjektinio santykio situaciją. Nuo tiesioginės kalbos aštuntame posme pereinama prie liepiamosios nuosakos. Tai galima vertinti kaip minėto „visuotinio pokalbio“ pratęsimą bei grįžimo iš įterptinio pasakojimo užbaigimą – pasakojimas tampa kreipimusi, galutinai pasikeičia laikas, erdvė („čia“) ir veikėjai („mes“); sudaromos sąlygos pereiti prie tiesioginio saky-tojo kreipimosi į skaitytoją: pastarasis įtraukiamas į prieš tai pradėtą transistorinį

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daugiaasmeninį pokalbį ir į „aukojimą“, kuris savotiškai jau ir skaitytoją perkelia į pirmajame posme matytą susidūrimą su pasaulio judrumu. Dešimtame posme tas judrumas perkeliamas į išoriškos visatos ir vidujiškų universalijų (dangus ir žemė, viršus ir apačia) plotmę. Taip pasakojimas apie „ypatingą įvykį“ tampa pasakojimu apie visatą, savotišką pasaulio „įvykimą“. Galiausiai pereinama prie „skaidraus“ (kas, atrodo, atitinka anksčiau minėtą naują žinojimą) regėjimo, kuriame pasirodo nauja „daiktų tvarka“ – medis, sujungiantis prieš tai susiliejusius dangų ir žemę. Visa tai tampa geidžiamąja nuosaka išsakomu raginimu „žmonėms“ (kurie apima pradžioje buvusį „žmogų“ ir užbaigiant įterptinį pasakojimą įtvirtintus „mus“) siekti aukštybės. Aiškėja – kas prasidėjo kaip pasakojimas apie nepaprastą įvykį, galiau-siai tampa regėjimu ir kvietimu dalyvauti aistoriniame Lietuvos kaip priklausomy-bės erdvės ir priklausančiųjų bendrijos gyvenime.

Išvados

Akivaizdu, kad tokio glausto aptarimo nepakanka norint patenkinamai išskleisti aptarto kūrinio reikšminę sandarą. Kaip minėjome, šiuo atveju svarbiausiu tos san-daros dėmeniu laikome sakytojo-adresato ir sakymo-pasakymo raišką. Nagrinėjant šias struktūras matyti, kad „Giesmėje apie pasaulio medį“ pirmiausia kalbama apie įprastą pasaulio tvarką griaunantį asmeninį savo priklausomybės tradicijai išgyve-nimą ir tarpasmeninį jos perdavimą, giesmę paverčiant ne „daina“, o kreipimusi, raginimo bei geidimo išraiška. Bendrai kalbant apie religinės patirties ir tradicijos santykį S. Gedos kūryboje ir apskritai, galima išskirti tokius klausimus kaip pastebė-jimus ir gaires tolesniems tyrimams:

Kokiu laipsniu ir kokiu būdu skirtinguose tekstuose religinis išgyvenimas • pasirodo kaip ypatingas įvykis, kuris griauna įprastą „daiktų tvarką“ ir stei-gia naują žinojimą?Kaip toks naujas žinojimas skirtinguose tekstuose siejamas su tradicija, jos • perteikimu, ir kokias tradicijos sampratas išreiškia skirtingas šio santykio vaizdavimas?Koks yra tarpsubjektyvumo vaidmuo religiniame išgyvenime ir tradicijoje?• Koks skirtinguose tekstuose yra kosmologijos vaidmuo perteikiant religinį • išgyvenimą, tradiciją ir jų santykį?

BibliografijaDabartinės lietuvių kalbos žodynas (2011). Žiūrėta 2012 balandžio 25 d., http://dz.lki.lt. Greimas, A. J. 2004. Apie netobulumą. Vilnius: Baltos lankos.Greimas, A.J. ir Courtés, J. 1993. Sémiotique: dictionnaire raisonné de la théorie du

langage. Paris: Hachette.Lietuvių kalbos žodynas (2005). Žiūrėta 2012 balandžio 25 d., www.lkz.lt.

Paulius JEvsEJEvas, PhD student in the a. J. Greimas Centre of Semiotics and Literary Theory, Faculty of Philology, Vilnius University. Area of scientific interest: semiotics, poeti-cs, socio-semiotics, creation of S. Geda.

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Sigitas Parulskis’s Poetry: Deconstruction of Underlying Principles of Being or the Return of the Baroque?

Sigito Parulskio poezija: pamatinių kategorijų dekonstrukcija ar barokinio pasaulėvaizdžio manifestacija?

Virginija CIBARAUSKĖ

AbstractThe aim of my paper is to discuss forms of religious experience in the poetry of a Lithuanian writer Sigitas Parulskis (b. 1965). Parulskis is one of the most promi-nent voices of his generation, acclaimed by both literary critics (National Award, 2004) and readers. Literary critics claim that Parulskis’s poetry marks exhaustion or, according to some, deconstruction of traditional poetical forms and expe-riences. This is achieved by exhibiting controversies, carnivalisation and aesthetics of decay. Another important device is intertextuality, actualized as multiple layers of quotations, allusions to other texts and especially to religious texts such as the Bible, the lives of saints, religious paintings etc.

Religious experience and symbols are manifested in a non-conventional way. The borderline between sacrum and profanum is negated. For example, in the poem “The Process”, which main intertext is “The Sacrifice” by Matthias Grüne-wald, the sacrifice of Christ, that is – of The Son, is compared to slaughtering of a pig, committed by The Father.

Usually these aspects of Parulskis’s poetry are related to postmodernism. I pro-pose to take another point of view. The architectonics of Parulskis’s poems, which consists of intertextuality, contrasts and controversies, carnivalisation, sensualization and aesthetics of decay, mark traces of the tradition of baroque. The relations be-tween baroque and modernism as well as postmodernism have been conceptualized by Michel Foucault, Yuri Lotman, Gilles Deleuze, Gregg Lambert et al. Heinrich Wölfflin was the first to identify baroque as a universal stylistic category that appears in every epoch as a sign of exhaustion and a cry for renewal. According to Lambert (Wölfflin as well), the baroque returns every time when a tradition exhausts its own possibilities.

Yuri Lotman’s concept of cultural memory is based on the idea that the return of baroque (or any other aesthetical dialect related to historical epoch) is purely impossible. Yet, it is possible to reconstruct whatever was located in the cultural memory by the act of translation and interpretation. The need for reconstruction is related to changes in the sociocultural context. In the years of soviet occupation the baroque texts of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (and studies of its history in general) were suspended, but once Lithuania reestablished independence, inte-rest in the texts of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and history rose.

For Parulskis, interpreting the rhetoric of baroque enables the deconstruction of wornout, lifeless symbols and experiences, and transforms them into controversial metaphors. Still, the idea of transcendence remains constant. This leads to nostalgia; living without experiencing the transcendence turns into an endless mundane dying.

key words: Sigitas Parulskis, cultural memory, Baroque, postmodernism, intertextualism.

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Sigitas Parulskis (g. 1965) debiutuoja bei sarbiausius poezijos rinkinius – Mi-rusiųjų (Parulskis 1994) ir Mortui sepulti sint (Parulskis 1998) – parašo XX a. 10 dešimtmečiu.

XX a. pabaiga Lietuvoje neretai vadinama lūžio tašku. Amžiaus pabaiga sutam-pa su konkretaus istorinio periodo – penkiasdešimt metų trukusios sovietų oku-pacijos – pabaiga, Nepriklausomybės atkūrimu ir persitvarkymo suirute. Šie faktai siejami su, pasak vienų, iki tol pamatinemis laikytų vertybių degradacija ar, pasak kitų, neišvengiama revizija – perfrazuojant Vytautą Kubilių, lūžio periodu žmogus, ištrauktas iš istorijos rėmų, stovėjo sumišęs (Kubilius 1997: 236).

XX a. pab. Lietuvoje rašytoje poezijoje pastebima iki tol dominavusių kultūrinių kodų – krikščionybės, mito logika grindžiamos agrarinės pasaulėžiūros bei orien-tacijos į „aukštąjį“ modernistinį meną kaip autentiškos kūrybos galimybę – de-konstrukcija. Parulskis neretai vadinamas vienu pagrindinių jaunesniosios kartos dekonstruktorių. Teigiama, kad Parulskio poezija provokatyvi, santykis su tradicija (vienas pagrindinių jos dėmenų – religinė patirtis) ambivalentiškas, vyrauja pabai-gos, ribos patirtys, „bjaurumo estetika“. Rinkiniuose Mirusiųjų ir Mortui sepulti sint ištrinama (ar suprobleminama) skirtis tarp sacrum ir profanum sferų. Namai, mi-tiniame pasaulėvaizdyje reprezentuojantys pasaulio centrą, tampa išviete; vietoj įprasto lietuvių poezijoje žemės darbų, žemės apskritai sakralizavimo steigiamas antimitas; atgimimo-prisikėlimo paradigmą keičia mirties kaip pasaulį vienijančio veiksnio įtvirtinimas (Speičytė 2003: 185).

Aptariant Parulskio eilėraščių architektoniką svarbus, tačiau menkai tyrinėtas aspektas – intertekstualumas. Prasmė kuriama per tiesiogines arba paslėptas nuo-rodas į kitus (nebūtinai literatūros) tekstus, meninius dialektus. Tarp dažniausiai cituojamų – vėlyvųjų viduramžių stilistikai artimi ar ją imituojantys dailės kūriniai (Hieronymus Boschas, Matthias Grünewaldas, Petras Repšys, Šarūnas Sauka), LDK baroko, antikos literatūra. Pavyzdžiui, sąsajos su vėlyvojo LDK baroko poeto Juo-zapo Bakos poetiniu pasaulėvaizdžiu, kurias galima atpažinti struktūros, motyvų, poetinės sintaksės lygmenyse, yra aktualizuojamos trečiajame rinkinio Mortui se-pulti sint skyriuje (Parulskis 1998: 53–67). Tame pat rinkinyje publikuotas eilėraštis „Išnara“ (Parulskis 1998: 59) yra Motiejaus Kazimiero Sarbievijaus odės „Ilgisi dan-giškosios tėvynės“ antifrazė.

Vyrauja specifinė krikščioniškos simbolikos traktuotė. Poetinė Naujojo Testa-mento citatų, krikščioniškų figūrų (Šv. Šeima, Kristaus auka), ritualų (Šv. Komunijos, Šv. Mišių) interpretacija orientuota į juslinį suvokimą: kalbama natūralistinį atspalvį turinčiais vaizdais, poetiniais paveikslais (ekfrazėmis), o ne abstrakčiomis sąvoko-mis. Eilėraščių veiksmas dažniausiai vyksta kasdienybės plotmėje, atpažįstamos lietuviško kaimo realijos. Kita vertus, čia gausu aliuzijų į sacrum sferą: profaniš-ki darbai (burokų rovimas, malkų pjovimas) struktūruojami pagal religinių ritualų principą, pagrindiniai veikiantieji asmenys (tėvas, motina, sūnus) turi atitikmenis Šv. Trejybės koncepcijoje.

Lietuvių poezijos kontekste tokia strategija – religinę simboliką naudoti vaiz-duojant žemdirbio, kaimo žmogaus kasdienybę – nėra nauja: vyresniosios kartos poetų (Bernardo Brazdžionio, Justino Marcinkevičiaus, Marcelijaus Martinaičio) kūryboje krikščioniškoji ir žemdirbiškoji simbolika neretai sudaro vienį. Parulskis skiriasi tuo, kad akcentuojamas ne vienio, o prieštaros, kontrasto principas, neretai įvedami grotesko elementai.

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Pavyzdžiui, eilėraštyje „Procesas“ (Parulskis 1994: 35–41), savo struktūra pri-menančiame stacijas (eilėraštį sudaro 18 nuoseklia seka išdėstytų poetinių paveiks-lėlių), Kristaus aukos ant kryžiaus etapai pinasi su kiaulės skerdimo, kurį atlieka Tėvas, etapais. Tėvo vaizdinys konstruojamas pasitelkus realistinį ir krikščioniškąjį kodus: tėvas prilyginamas kunigui šv. Mišių metu, Izaoką aukoti besirengiančiam Abraomui, šv. Jurgiui. Tokios traktuotės galimybė legitimuojama nurodant į Grü-newaldo paveikslą „Nukryžiavimas“ (1515), jo specifinę vaizdavimo manierą: pa-veiksle, skirtingai nei įprasta Renesanso dailėje, Nukryžiuotojo kūnas vaizduojamas mirties suniokotas, nagai primena nagas – „Kūnas.../pajuodusiu veidu//...nulau-pyti Grünewaldo/Kristaus nagus“. Eilėraštyje „Žemė švari“ (Parulskis 1994: 13−14) burokų rovimas sinchronizuojamas su šv. Mišių eiga: „pašėręs širmąją palaimino/tėvas, klaupkim//klupom suklupom, burokų/krūvos...//žalias geltonas dega/alto-rius, tirpsta kaip/žvakės burokų krūvos“. Malkų pjovimo scena „Ledo laike“ (Paruls-kis 1994: 50) aprašoma nurodant į Lietuvoje populiarių šventųjų – šv. Antano ir šv. Onos – ikonografiją. Pagrindiniai šv. Antano atributai yra knyga, Kūdikėlis Jėzus ir lelija (Lanzi & Lanzi 2003: 156), su knyga rankose paprastai vaizduojama ir šv. Ona, Mergelės Marijos motina bei mokytoja (Lanzi & Lanzi 2003: 37). „Ledo laike“ dė-dė-šv. Antanas pjauna nugriauto tvarto lentas, kurios metaforiškai virsta knygomis („pjovėme malkas, lentos nugriauto/tvarto, rąstai, storos kaladžių/knygos, lapas po lapo/rievė po rievės, dėdė prie pjūklo/šventas antanas“), mama-šv. Ona šias malkas-knygas renka prakūrom („atėjo mama, šventa ona/iš dangaus nusileido, sakė/paimsiu pagalį kokį, prakūrom“).

Tokią religinių simbolių traktuotę, suponuojančią ribos tarp sacrum ir profanum, šventenybės ir kasdienybės skirčių niveliaciją lietuvių kritika linkusi vadinti postmo-dernėjimo ar postmodernizmo ženklais. Pasirinkus šį žiūros tašką, Parulskio poeti-nis pasaulėvaizdis gali būti nusakomas citata iš paties parašyto eilėraščio – tai bu-vimas „be Apvaizdos“ (Parulskis 1994: 136-137). Kita vertus, egzistencinis nerimas, kančios semantika, (tobulõs formos) ilgesys („kad galėčiau, o kad galėčiau/visa tai, ką patyręs, išlieti į amžinas/formas, nors akimirksnio nušvitimą, kad galėčiau/ne-galiu... (Parulskis 1998: 67)) Parulskio postmodernizmą atitolina nuo „klasikinio“ vakarietiško postmodernizmo, džiugiai postulavusio didžiojo naratyvo mirtį, žaidy-biškumą, nostalgijos nebuvimą. Taigi kyla klausimas: jei lietuviškasis postmoder-nizmas (konkrečiai – Parulskio atvejis) ženkliai skiriasi nuo to, ką postmodernizmu vadina vakariečiai, ar sąvoka šiuo atveju vartojama tikslingai?

Siūlau kitokią Parulskio poetinio pasaulėvaizdžio interpretaciją. Kontrastų pri-sodrinta, „aštri“ Parulskio retorika, kurios centrinės ašys – sensualizmas, šokiruo-janti religinių įvaizdžių traktuotė, polinkis į vizualumą, emblemiškumą, bjaurumo estetika (kūno-pūvančios mėsos, lašinių kalėjimo, kūno-kirmėlių buveinės vaizdi-niai), pranašiškos intonacijos ir lyrizmo jungtis leidžia mąstyti apie sąsajas su ba-rokiniu pasaulėvaizdžiu (ir, be abejo, retorika). Ši interpretacija nėra visiškai nauja: literatūrologė Brigita Speičytė Parulskio eilėraščių architektoniką lygina su Bakos tekstais, teigia, kad Parulskio poezija yra „paskutinis baroko pasaulėjautos prover-žis XX a. antrojoje pusėje“ (Speičytė 2005: 233).

Barokas – paradoksali epocha, žyminti paskutinį mėginimą susigrąžinti praras-tą ar beprarandamą vienovę, sujungti tai, kas nutolę, – kūno ir dvasios plotmes, scientistines nuostatas ir transcendenciją. Barokinė architektonika – kontrastų architektonika, kurioje dera ironija, groteskas, teatrališkumas ir pamaldumas,

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sensualizmas ir intensyvi religinė jausena. Baroko metafora, baroko konceptas − tai ne teksto puošybos ar žaidybos elementai, o žmogaus ir Dievo sąmonės principas, kurio pagrindą sudaro aštrus, sąmojingas mąstymas, besiremiantis nepanašių da-lykų suartinimu, nesujungiamų sujungimu (Lotman 2004: 179).

Menotyrininkas Heinrichas Wölfflinas (XX a. pr.), užbaigdamas ir apibendrinda-mas ne vieną amžių trukusius svarstymus apie baroko kaip savarankiškos epochos (ne)egzistavimą, baroką siūlo traktuoti ne vien kaip konkrečią istorinę epochą, bet ir kaip universalią mąstymo paradigmą, kurios opozicija – klasicizmas (Wölff-lin 2000). Wölfflino liniją tęsia (ir sava linkme kreipia) mąstytojai postmodernistai Gilles’is Deleuze’as, Greggas Lambertas: baroką siūloma suvokti kaip vyraujančios tradicijos išsekimo manifestaciją, t. y. postmodernų reiškinį (Deleuze 1998; Lam-bert 2004). Panašią traktuotę suponuoja ir Dariaus Kuolio siūlymas apmąstyti para-leles tarp baroko ir postmodernių laikų (Dariaus Kuolio knygos... 1995: 12).

Kita vertus, mąstant apie postmodernizmo ir baroko santykį kyla nemažai klau-simų. Visų pirma – baroko ribų klausimas. Nei Deleuze’as, nei Lambertas neatsako į klausimą, kas tiksliai yra ir, svarbiausia, kas tikrai nėra barokas. Baroko-klostės, baro-kinės emblemos konceptai leidžia „barokiškumą“ identifikuoti kone bet kur. Istorinės baroko epochos teoretikų darbuose pagrindinis barokinės retorikos ypatumas – kon-trastų poetika: aštrus stilius, pasak Sarbievijaus, pasižymi tuo, kad iš pažiūros priešin-gi elementai pasirodo turintys bendrą tašką. Tuo tarpu postmoderni architektonika remiasi prieštara: kaip teigia Linda Hutcheon – paradoksalia, visus lygmenis apiman-čia prieštara (Hutcheon 1988: 4), kurią grindžia centro nebuvimo idėja.

Mažiau spekuliatyvi yra Jurijaus Lotmano kultūrinės atminties koncepcija. Ba-rokinės (ar bet kurios kitos) retorikos, o per ją – ir pasaulėvaizdžio, kaip tam tikro istorinio-kultūrinio kodo aktualizavimas reiškia ne ilgą laiką kultūrinėje periferijoje slypėjusių struktūrų „atgimimą“ ar „grįžimą“, o interpretaciją-vertimą, t. y. naujo kodo kūrimą naudojantis senojo (ar – senųjų) artefaktais.

Tokio vertimo galimybė ir poreikis atsiranda, susidarius palankiam sociokultūri-niam kontekstui. XX a. 10 dešimtmečiu – XXI a. pr. itin aktualios tampa savo šaknų, lietuviškojo identiteto paieškos, tad susidomėjimas LDK istorija (barokas – ilgiausiai LDK trukęs periodas) ir literatūra itin išauga. Į lietuvių kalbą verčiami Sarbievijaus, kiek vėliau – Bakos tekstai, jėzuitų dramos, publikuojami kultūrologiniai straipsniai, LDK studijos etc. XX a. pabaigoje Lietuvoje barokiškumas interpretuojamas kaip rezignaciją ir nihilizmą postuluojantis mąstymo (ir rašymo) būdas, išplinta tiek, kad mėnraštyje Metai pasirodo literatūrologo Mindaugo Kvietkausko straipsnis-mani-festas „Nenoriu neobaroko“ (Kvietkauskas 2001: 111−114).

Verta pasvarstyti, ką barokinės retorikos elementai, barokinis religinis pasaulė-vaizdis, kurio interpretacija sudaro Parulskio eilėraščių architektonikos branduolį, suteikia Parulskio poezijai. Visų pirma, tai galimybė įveikti sustabarėjusį, poeti-nėmis klišėmis virtusį neoromantizmą ir sovietmečiu steigtą optimistinį „didžiojo žmogaus“, savo nuožiūra sprendžiančio pasaulio likimą, mitą. Abstraktų, nuo gyvy-bės apnašų apvalytą simbolį keičiant gyva, vidinį prieštaringumą išlaikančia meta-fora, amžinojo atgimimo mitui priešinant subjektyvią individo, kurio individualu-mas atsiskleidžia tik suvokus savo pažeidžiamumą, būtį, siekiama poetinės kalbos ir pasaulėvaizdžio (taip pat ir religinio pasaulėvaizdžio) atnaujinimo.

Devintuoju dešimtmečiu religingumas Lietuvoje įgavo specifinį pobūdį: pas-tebimas krikšto bumas, „kultinių“ kunigų, vienuolynų lankymas fiksuojamas ir

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grožinėje literatūroje. Pavyzdžiui, Jurgos Ivanauskaitės XX a. pab. – XXI a. pr. para-šytuose romanuose „Rojaus sodai“, „Sapnų nublokšti“, „Ragana ir lietus“ ir kt. re-liginė patirtis, šventumas fetišizuojami tikrąja šio žodžio prasme. Šiame kontekste Parulskio poezija gali būti suvokiama kaip reakcija: dekonstruojamos ne pamati-nės kategorijos, o paviršinis religinio pasaulėvaizdžio lygmuo, išardomos mąsty-mo ir rašymo apie religines patirtis klišės. Vienijančio centro idėjos neatsisakoma: transcendencija išlieka siekiamybė, buvimas „be Apvaizdos“ nėra natūrali ir sau pakankama, tuo labiau – žaisminga būtis. Beformiškumas arba formos perteklius, „daugiaformiškumas“, radikalus sensualizmas, ironija postuluojami kaip (poetinė) realybė, tuo tarpu siekiamybė – tik tariamąja nuosaka įmanoma amžinoji forma.

LiteratūraDariaus Kuolio knygos Asmuo, Tauta, Valstybė aptarimas. Baltos lankos 5, 1995. p. 9–32.Delioz, Ž. 1988. Skladka. Leibnitz i baroko. Moskva: Logos.Gregg, L. 2004. The Return of the Baroque in Modern Culture. London: Continuum.Hutcheon, L. 1988. A Poetics of Postmodernism. London/New York: Routledge.Kubilius, V. 1997. Literatūra istorijos lūžyje, Vilnius: Diemedžio leidykla.Kvietkauskas, M. 2001. „Nenoriu neobaroko“, Metai, 2, p. 111–114.Lanzi, F. & Lanzi. G. 2003. Šventieji globėjai ir jų simboliai, Vilnius: Alma littera.Lotman, J. 2004. Kultūros semiotika, Vilnius: Baltos lankos.Parulskis, S. 1994. Mirusiųjų. Vilnius: Baltos lankos. Parulskis, S. 1998. Mortui sepulti sint. Vilnius: Baltos lankos.Speičytė, B. 2003. Žiemos balsai: poetiniai 1988–2002 metų debiutai. In. G. Viliūnas (Ed.),

Naujausioji lietuvių literatūra. Vilnius: Alma littera, p. 181−201.Speičytė, B. 2005. Baroko augintiniai (XIX a. vidurio lietuvių literatūros romantizmas). In

A. Birgerė & D. Čiočytė (Ed.), Sambalsiai. Vilnius: Vilniaus dailės akademijos leidykla, p. 213−233

Wölflin, H. 2000. Pamatinės meno istorijos sąvokos. Vilnius: Pradai.

virginija CiBaRausKė, PhD student in the A. J. Greimas Centre of Semiotics and Literary Theory, Faculty of Philology, Vilnius University. Area of scientific interest: semiotics of cul-ture, sociocritique, intertextuality.

Religious Experience & Tradition. Conference Proceedings. Kaunas: Vytautas Magnus University, 2012, p. 204

ISBN 978-9955-12-775-8e-ISBN 978-9955-12-776-5

This volume presents a collection of articles and materials from international interdisciplinary conference “Religious Experience and Tradition” held on 11-12th of May in 2012. The articles of this volume present the investigations on religion, religious tradition and religious experience in more than thirteen countries of the world and represent a wide variety of disciplines.The publication of this book is sponsored by the Japan Foundation.

Šiame leidinyje pristatoma tarptautinės tarpdalykinės mokslinės konferen-cijos „Religinė patirtis ir tradicija“ medžiaga. Konferencija vyko 2012 metų gegužės 11–12 dienomis Kaune, Vytauto Didžiojo universitete. Straipsniuose ir straipsnių santraukose daugelio skirtingų disciplinų atstovai iš daugiau nei trylikos pasaulio šalių pristato religijos ir religinės patirties tyrinėjimus. Leidinio rėmėjas Japonijas Fondas.

RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE & TRADITION

Conference Proceedings

Lithuanian language editor / Lietuvių kalbos redaktorius Robertas KeturakisLayout designer / Maketuotoja Irena SabaliauskaitėCover designer / Viršelio autorius Audrius Račkauskas

Publisher: Vytauto Didžiojo universiteto leidyklaS. Daukanto g. 27, LT-44246 KaunasPrinter: “Morkūnas ir Ko” Draugystės g. 17, LT-51229 Kaunas2012 05 07. Issuance by Order No. K12-046