Academic literature on the topic 'Tragic lamentation'

The King’s Two Bodies is, as has long been recognized, a genealogy of modern state power. But it is also something else less clearly recognized. The King’s Two Bodies is a lamentation. In Kantorowicz’s poignant eulogy, the sovereign that medieval lawyers had made in the imago dei, was revealed at last to be an idol. Profound reverence for the rule of law crumbled into absent-minded legality. The lawful sovereign became diabolical power, forever deciding exceptions but incapable of justice or grace. In The King’s Two Bodies, Kantorowicz mournfully shows how the death and tragic afterlife of a particular medieval concept of sovereignty helped to make possible the horrors of modern political absolutism and state idolatry.

AbstractThe idea of the ‘unity of opposites’ allows one to see important connections between phenomena normally treated separately: verbal style, ritual, tragic action and cosmology. The stylistic figure of Satzparallelismus in lamentation and mystic ritual expresses the unity of opposites (particularly of life and death) as oxymora. Both rituals were factors in the genesis of tragedy, and continued to influence the style and action of mature tragedy. The author advances new readings of various passages of the Oresteia, which is seen to advocate the replacement of a Herakleitean model of the unity of opposites with a Pythagorean model of their reconciliation.

This article provides a literary analysis of how references to spectacle and stage-craft function in Philo’s In Flaccum, which is a valuable text for understanding Philo’s complex and seemingly contradictory attitudes toward the theater, stage-craft, and drama. After marching Jews into the theater of Alexandria for punishment during the pogrom, Flaccus becomes a spectacle himself when Philo portrays Flaccus’s deportation to exile as a procession. By staging an elaborate textual spectacle starring the deposed Flaccus, Philo exploits the well-attested punitive dimension of spectacles. Through exhibition he is able to maximize justice, comfort the Jewish victims, and issue a deterrent to future powerholders over Jews. Philo, moreover, imbues the narrative of Flaccus’s demise with an overriding sense of tragedy by eliciting several of tragedy’s motifs and moods, including reversal, revenge, recognition, lamentation, and emotionalism. This elicits sympathy for Flaccus, which reinforces the warning that his plight could be the plight of any Roman ruler, each of whom must decide how like or unlike Flaccus he will govern. Philo thus shows himself to be deeply acculturated in the communicative dynamics of the spectacles and, through these references, is able to craft his own complex textual display. He thus participates in spectacle-creation himself, and this allows him to comfort and defend his people and speak powerfully back to leading power holders.

The article deals with some issues related to psychologism The Long March in section of The Epic of Manas. In this section of The Epic of Manas there are often monologues, speeches of characters, dialogues, psychological descriptions, which are considered as actively used artistic means of expressing psychologism. In addition, such types of monologues as dying instruction and lamentation are noted. Examples of the description of the psychological states of the characters were also given. In particular, a separate fragment was considered and analyzed in connection with the issues of psychologism, where Manas mourned his best knights who fell in battle. Also, to illustrate the tragedy, drama, psychologism, excerpts from the episodes describing the death of Manas are given, and other excerpts from the monologues that are found in this section of the epic are analyzed. Among them, special importance was attached to the monologue of Almanbet, which is considered a tragic image in The Epic of Manas.

Claiming our share in discursive positions, ideas and assessments of Russian aggression in Ukraine, reflections on it, we investigate this tragic event through heuristic value and "social relevance", influences on internal determinants — "life of mind" and spirit of man and communities, the formation of which is determined by the course of the war. Hegel's work "Phenomenology of the Spirit" was used to operationalize his position on the gestalts of the spirit, the appeal to which was stimulated by Slavoj Žižek's analysis and evaluation of the Russian aggression against Ukraine, in which he appealed to the Hegelian understanding of freedom, "for which Ukrainians are fighting today" (Žižek). In the analysis of the eventtragedy as the external world of human existence, emphasis is placed on the scientific content of the concept of the Event in the philosophical explorations of A. Badiou, S. Žižek, the heuristic fruitfulness of which is that they act as meaninggenerating factors in the configuration of the external and internal world of human life in a war situation. Regarding the latter, reflection is carried out through the prism of the psychoanalytic method, represented by the psychoanalytic model of thinking of Wilfred Bion and through the existential analysis of being by Karl Jaspers and Paul Tillich. The substantiation of the cognitive function of the life of the mind, which generates gestalts of the spirit and needs emotional coloring, required additional work by Hannah Arendt. The Deleuzian version of the event was used as a source for the formation of the concept of immediate existence for decision-making in the situation of a tragic event. It is noted that such searches are a significant part of the life of the mind and spirit, anxiety and resistance. Fichte's Ukrainian lamentation, his "Speech to the German Nation" during the time of Napoleon's invasions, is accompanied by references to M. Espany's theory of cultural transfer. Using the work of V. Frankl. P. Tillich, K. Jaspers in relation to Real Death allows us to apply Real Death as a marker of war to the conditions of modern philosophy.

The article is to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Fedor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky; it concerns a musical version of his novel, «The Idiot». The Russian writer’s work has attracted attention of many composers. In 1986 Mieczysław Weinberg completed the eponymous opera. The librettist Aleksandr Medvedev follows the logic of the original story and constructs the musical drama preserving the specific features and versatility of each character, which is also reflected in the music. The image of Parfen Rogozhin reveals the development of his contradictory nature. The character is represented with ensemble and solo scenes. Parfen’s Song from Scene Nine stands out among the solos. The song «Akh, talan li moi, talan» (Oh My Bad Luck) is quoted as its source. The lyrics of the song were first published together with its tune in 1790, in a book edited by N. A. Lvov and I. G. Prach, «Collection of Russian Folk Songs with Their Tunes» (Lvov-Prach Collection). The study has found that there are different versions of the text in the oral tradition. Their variety can be reduced to two types: the bridal song and the jailhouse ballad with its steady archetype of «beauty and the rogue». Each type has a semantic correlation in the context of the opera. The quotation obviously changes in the opera. The librettist has introduced his own lines enhancing the tragic focus of the song. The composer renders them in the tune emphasizing the intonation intrinsic to the genre of lamentation

The creation of national histories is considered to be a characteristic feature of modernity, associated with the processes of creating national states. These narratives intend to trace the origins of the nation to mythologized antiquity and legitimize the existence of the nation-state. Meanwhile, “History of Armenia” by Movses Khorenatsi shows that similar narrative practices could have arisen even in the early Middle Ages. It is assumed that in addition to the historical context, the principles of historical narration and semantization apply, which give meaning to the events described. Historical memory represents the past by some semiotic tools: narratives, symbols, myths, etc. Thus, the first systematic history of Armenia is intended to reveal the genesis of the Armenian people and to create a narrative that makes it possible to trace the history of Armenian kings and princes and compare them with the data of the Old Testament, up to the Tower of Babel. Due to the lack of written sources, the historiographer relies on myths and legends. Metatexts (arguments about the reliability of sources, the goals of writing history, the historiographer's priorities in the selection of events) allow us to identify the principles of discourse construction. The historical context of the work (the times of the decline of the Armenian kingdom) predetermines the metanarrative pattern (“paradise lost”) and the tragic pathos of the narrative. The “History” ends with “Lamentation,” and the end of the narrative marks the end of the History.

Считается, что в традиции раввинов перевод еврейской Библии на греческий язык расценивался как трагическое событие с роковыми для Израиля последствиями. В память об этом ошибочном начинании даже был установлен специальный день для поста и сетований, а сам перевод сравнивался с созданием золотого тельца. На основании некоторых раввинистических свидетельств в европейской науке возникло представление о свершившемся на рубеже I и II веков н. э. отказе иудеев от использования Септуагинты. Новейшие исследования свидетельствуют о полной неадекватности этой концепции по отношению к исторической реальности. Иудеи, жившие в пределах Римской, а затем Византийской империи активно использовали греческий перевод. Септуагинта была Библией иудаизма диаспоры в течение многих веков. Фактически, в самой литературе раввинов можно найти множество позитивных оценок LXX. В статье будет показано, как трансформировалась легенда о «Торе для царя Талмая (Птолемея)» в контексте литературы раввинов (II–IX веков н. э.). It is believed that in rabbinic tradition, the translation of the Hebrew Bible into Greek was regarded as a tragic event with fatal consequences for Israel. To commemorate this misguided undertaking, a special day of fasting and lamentation was even established, and the translation itself was compared to the creation of the golden calf. Based on some rabbinic testimonies, European scholarship has developed the notion that the Jews abandoned the Septuagint at the turn of the first and second centuries AD. The latest research shows the complete inadequacy of this concept in relation to historical reality. The Jews who lived within the Roman and later Byzantine empires made extensive use of the Greek translation. The Septuagint was the Bible of Diaspora Judaism for many centuries. In fact, there are many positive evaluations of the LXX in the rabbinic literature itself. This article will show how the legend of «Torah for King Tolmai (Ptolemy)» was transformed in the context of rabbinic literature (2nd–9th centuries CE).

Introduction. The article deals with the theme of potatoes in the Siberian exile of Kalmyks (1943­–1957) and focuses on representative poems by Kalmyk poets of different generations written in the native and Russian languages. The texts were created by authors who survived the Siberian exile (i.e. were born during or after the latter) to convey personal and collective memories of the twentieth-century tragedy of the ethnos. Goals. The paper seeks to reveal the genre originality of such poems from the late twentieth through the early twenty first centuries, consider syntheses of genres, articulate some transformations of the folklore tradition in the genres of anthem, word, lamentation, etc. Methods. The comparative, comparative-typological, and historical-functional methods prove instrumental in examining the mentioned theme in the aspect of somewhat ‘delayed’ poetry of the last century and in the context of present-day literary processes. In general, the theme remains understudied in terms of the history of Kalmyk Deportation and has never been viewed through the prism of poems by selected authors. Results. Potatoes and Siberian exile in representative poems by Kalmyk poets of different generations shape a special discourse of personal and collective memories about the dramatic pages of twentieth-century history. The struggle for survival and absence of usual food did transform the traditional eating patterns of special settlers. The motif of frozen potatoes starts prevailing in the works to become a marker of starvation, cold, poverty, rightlessness. In Kalmyk poems about the exile, the genre originality of texts created as anthems, words, laments, and messages was manifested in transformed patterns of the folklore tradition. The inclusions of elements inherent to well-wishes (Kalm. yӧräl), anthems (chastr), words (üg), laments (enslɣn), teachings (surgaal), and dreams (züüdn) also attest to syntheses of genres characteristic of Mongolic folklores and literatures. Monologic and storyline forms determine the content-related aspect of the poems addressed to contemporaries and descendants — directly or else insisting that the tragic past of the people never be forgotten.

Особое место стихотворной молитвы в системе жанров духовной поэзии XVII века объясняется ее эмоциональным пафосом и возможностью личного переосмысления библейского текста. Молитвенное слово не теряет для авторов сакральной силы и произрастает из особого языка, называемого М. Гардзанити церковной книжной коллективной памятью, сформированного в большей степени в литургии. Данный способ исследования библейских цитат лежит в основе интерпретации замысла «Молитвы Господу Богу», написанной русской женщиной-автором XVII века Евфимией Смоленской, чье произведение из-за малоизученности условно отнесено исследователями В. К. Былининым и А. А. Илюшиным к приказной поэтической школе. В исследовании использовался историко-генетический метод литературоведения как инструмент выявления конкретных источников произведения, а также мифопоэтический метод для описания преломления библейских образов в «Молитве». В ходе анализа элементов библейского текста раскрываются их функции в произведении. Помимо традиционных для древнерусской литературы молитвенных вступлений и славословий, яркие образы Псалтири являются способом демонстрации эволюции эмоционального состояния автора. Душевные искания Евфимии организованы в логические цепочки, основанные на новозаветных сюжетах. Все это помогает автору предугадать собственную судьбу в сложных жизненных обстоятельствах и согласуется с ее религиозной картиной мира. Разнообразные способы использования библейских цитат в «Молитве Господу Богу» становятся предметом данной статьи, а выявление их функций и влияния на замысел произведения — целью. Результатом исследования можно считать выделение ряда мотивов, в которых фигурируют цитаты из Священного Писания: близкой гибели, чудесного исцеления и покровительства Бога младенцам. Трагическому настроению народного плача в начале противостоит полная душевной ясности молитва в конце, из чего можно сделать вывод, что один из замыслов произведения — обретение душевного равновесия и твердой веры в покровительство Бога. Исследование может быть использовано в курсе истории русской литературы XVII века. The special place of poetic prayer in the system of genres of spiritual poetry of the 17th century is due to its emotional pathos and the possibility of personal rethinking of the biblical text. The prayer word does not lose sacred power for the authors and grows from a special language that M. Gardzaniti calls churchbook collective memory, formed to a greater extent in the liturgy. This method of studying biblical quotations underlies the interpretation of the concept of the Prayer to the Lord God, written by the Russian woman author of the 17th century, Euphemia of Smolensk, whose work, due to insufficient study, is conventionally described as belonging to the official (prikaznaya) poetic school (researchers V. K. Bylinin and A. A. Ilyushin). The present study uses the historical-genetic method of literary criticism as a tool for identifying specific sources of the work, as well as the mythopoetic method to describe the refraction of biblical images in the Prayer. In the course of analyzing the elements of the biblical text, their functions in the work are revealed. In addition to prayerful introductions and doxologies traditional for ancient Russian literature, the vivid images of the Psalter demonstrate the evolution of the author’s emotional state. Euphemia's spiritual quest is organized into logical sequences based on New Testament stories. All this helps the author predict her own fate in hard life circumstances and is consistent with her religious worldview. Various ways of using biblical quotations in the Prayer to the Lord God form the subject of this article, identifying their functions and influence on the design of the work. The result of the study can be considered the identification of a number of motives in which quotations from the Holy Scriptures appear: imminent death, miraculous healing and God’s protection of children. The tragic mood of the collective lamentation at the beginning is contrasted with the prayer at the end, full of spiritual clarity, from which we can conclude that one of the intentions of the work is to gain mental balance and firm faith in the protection of God. The study can be used in a course on Russian literary history in the 17th century.

La lamentation poétique dans le contexte d'une tragédie antique a impliqué la recherche scientifique de différentes manières. Dans le cadre de cette thèse, les aspects qui promeuvent la dimension politique de la lamentation seront étudiés : c'est-à-dire les lamentations théâtrales de la Grèce antique et la manière dont la dimension politique qui y est souvent contenue influence par le théâtre la réalité politique du Ve siècle. À travers une analyse de vocabulaire et une analyse structurelle des lamentations choisies, on tentera de montrer comment le deuil, un outil rituel, peut critiquer les plus importants comportements historiques, politiques et sociaux de son époque. Ainsi, en analysant le développement des lamentations politiques dans les tragédies d'Eschyle, de Sophocle et d'Euripide, nous allons tout d'abord nous familiariser avec un aspect très important du deuil, encore inexploré, et en même temps montrer, sous un angle différent, la relation entre la tragédie et la politique à l'époque classique. La deuxième partie de la thèse concerne la reprise de la tragédie antique en Grèce du XXe et XXIe siècle . Avec l'étude des traductions et des performances novatrices pour l'époque, nous clarifierons le rôle de l'élément lamentable dans les événements qui ont choqué le XXe et XXIe siècle et dans la création de nouveaux mouvements et idées théâtraux
The poetic lamentation of a tragedy provides the science with different kinds of research. As part of this thesis, the aspects that promote the political dimension of lamentation will be studied; that is, the theatrical lamentations of ancient Greece and the way the political dimension, that is often contained, influence the political reality of the 5th century through the theatrical plays. Through the vocabulary and the structural analysis of a certain choice of lamentations we will try to show how grieve, a ritual tool can caracterize the most essential historical, political and social aspects. Thus, by analyzing the development of political lamentations in the tragedies of Eschyle, Sophocles and Euripides, we will become familiar with a very important aspect of grieve, still unexplored, and at the same time, from a different point of view, with the relation between tragedy and politics during the classical era. The second part of the thesis is about the reception of the ancient greek tragedy in Greece during the XXth and XXIst century. The study of modern translations and pioneer theatrical plays shed the light on the role of the lamentation's element in the events that shocked the XXth and XXIst century and on the development of new theatrical mouvements and ideas

Abstract In the tragic dramas of fifth-century b.c.e. Athens, men dressed up as women and sang laments put into the mouths of legendary heroines and female choruses. Why did Athenian men engage in such behavior? Although ethnographic studies of modern folk lament have been instrumental in advancing our understanding of ancient Greek lament, it is also important to set the practices of first-millennium b.c.e. Greece in the larger context of the ancient Mediterranean world and the preceding second millennium.1 In this chapter I use material from the second-millennium Near East to argue that because lamentation was used not only to mourn the dead and to appease them but also to focus the attention of the gods on human suffering and persuade them to relieve it, lamentation was considered useful in encouraging the fertility of the land and the prosperity of humans. For this reason, lament was used to effect the return of disappeared vegetation gods, and tragic lamentation was necessary to the state. The practice of male transvestism and men taking on other aspects of female behavior was not only a carnivalesque overturning of norms; it was essential to the efficacy of tragic performances.

This chapter argues that the Christian “tragical conscience,” as described in the preceding chapter, was a conscience that demanded its own “cleansing” (catharsis) and clarified moral vision, which further relied on the cultivation, psychologically and existentially, of a whole panoply of tragical emotions that enriched Christian response to real-life tragedies. The assessment here of the development of a Christian “tragical pathos” draws from Martha Nussbaum’s work on the “moral intelligence” of emotions in Hellenistic philosophy and from Robert Kaster’s identification of “emotional scripts” in Greco-Roman moral philosophy and ethics. The bulk of this chapter is devoted to early Christian reworking or “re-scripting” of the classic (Aristotelian) tragical emotions of fear and pity, fear being relativized and recontextualized in relation to the superior fear of God, and pity reframed as empathetic mercy. Christian moralists, moreover, expanded the repertoire of “tragical” emotions beyond fear and pity, especially by encouraging a whole gamut of emotions of grief (lamentation, compunction, etc.) that were pivotal in Christian response to the tragic realities of sin, suffering, loss, and death.