Biographical Sources Research Articles

The Qiṣaṣ al-anbiyā’ of Ibn Muṭarrif al-Ṭarafī (d. 454/1062): Stories of the Prophets from al-Andalus

La obra del andalusí Ibn Muṭarrif al-Ṭarafī, Qiṣaṣ al-anbiyā’ es una colección de relatos sobre los profetas escrita en el siglo V/XI y de la cual sólo se conservan dos manuscritos. Se conoce muy poco sobre su autor, un experto en lecturas coránicas. Ninguna fuente biográfica —ni otras fuentes posteriores— menciona esta colección de qiṣaṣ al-anbiyā’. La obra se inicia con un prefacio en el que se puede apreciar su carácter exegético. La característica más notable del texto es su estrecha dependencia del tafsīr de al-Ṭabarī. Sin embargo, parte de los materiales que al-Ṭarafī incluyó en su obra no carecen de interés, como es el caso de las tradiciones que se refieren a la onomástica, el aspecto físico de los profetas y otros temas.

Administrative tradition and civil jurisdiction of the Cordobán ṣāḥib al-aḥkām (I)

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Retiro y ayuno: algunas prácticas religiosas de las mujeres andalusíes

La literatura biográfica andalusí contiene un corto número de biografías de mujeres devotas (ṣāliḥāt), cuyas características más notables son la dedicación a la lectura del Corán, la limosna, la vida retirada y el ayuno. Gracias a estos y otros textos, puede apreciarse cómo las dos últimas prácticas mencionadas llegaron a conformar un ámbito específico de dedicación religiosa entre las mujeres andalusíes; en particular, el caso del ayuno revela fórmulas de anulación del cuerpo destinadas a trascender las limitaciones impuestas a las mujeres por la ortopraxis islámica.

Šventojo Dominyko ikonografija: asmuo, atvaizdas ir šventumo perteikimo problema

[full article and abstract in Lithuanian; abstract in English] In this article, the issue of the “disappearing” personality of St. Dominic (1170–1221) is analyzed through showing the main aspects of his portrayal and the expression of his holiness in biographical and iconographic sources. In these texts, he is called “holy” with a reference to a conscious imitation of Jesus Christ. In the iconography, the signs of his sanctity became the only signs of his personality, and his figure is used as an example of the adoration of God. If losing a vivid personality is connected with expressing holiness, this problem refers to a concept of the icon formulated by Jean-Luc Marion. It gives us an opportunity to call St. Dominic a typical icon, transferring the adoration and losing his own originality. The 13th century concept of sanctity, expressed in the texts of St. Thomas Aquinas, enables us to understand St. Dominic’s image as a continuation of the saint’s choice to become a reference to God.

Raum um 1900. Raumwahrnehmung in Literatur und Kunst des 19. und 20. Jahrhunderts mit besonderer Berücksichtigung Rainer Maria Rilkes by Steffen Arndal

Reviews 265 conclusions. Sometimes it seems that Vieth considers authentic traumatic experience a requirement for writing about trauma, leading to dubious hypotheses about the correspondence between a literary work and the author’s life. It is, to say the least, a bold assumption that Bachmann may have been sexually abused by her father during childhood based on the incest motive in Malina’s dream chapter, one that overlooks the recurring motif of the protagonist being gassed by the father-figure. In Maron’s case autobiographical writings are treated in the same way as biographical sources, an approach that fails to acknowledge that autobiographies tend to be stylized in favour of their subjects. While author biographies play an important role in the interpretation of Malina and Stille Zeile Sechs, Vieth states that there is too little information on Mora to be taken into account. She further argues that it would be less relevant in any case, since Mora’s protagonist is male and hence less likely to function as a projection screen for female biographic traumatic experience — this seems inconsistent with Vieth’s otherwise gender-sensitive approach. Nevertheless, although the book would have profited from a more carefully developed and nuanced argument, Vieth provides a comprehensive study on an increasingly relevant topic and a good starting point for newcomers to trauma theory, along with some rather daring interpretations. Marlen Mairhofer Universität Salzburg Raum um 1900. Raumwahrnehmung in Literatur und Kunst des 19. und 20. Jahrhunderts mit besonderer Berücksichtigung Rainer Maria Rilkes. By Steffen Arndal. Würzburg: Königshausen & Neumann. 2018. 398 pp. €49. ISBN 978–3-8260–6420–3. In recent scholarship, there has been an increased interest in studies of space and place, including subfields such as geocriticism and ecocriticism. Little attention has been paid, however, to the ways in which spatial perception in literature developed at the intersection of art, science and philosophy. By engaging with scientific developments in monocular and binocular vision, Steffen Arndal’s book fills a gap in studies of space, highlighting perception rather than the role of geographical spaces in literature as well as discussing the ways in which literature and the arts contributed to theorizations of Raumwahrnehmung. Raum um 1900 does not focus on representations of space but on the very act of seeing and perceiving space. Starting with a comprehensive analysis of the history of philosophy and spatial theory from antiquity to the twentieth century, Arndal’s book analyses how Raumwahrnehmung was an object of especial interest in the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century. A reader lacking expertise in philosophy might find the first part of the book hard to digest as it deals extensively with philosophical concepts and discussions that reappear throughout the book. Thus, the title can be misleading as there is a substantial review of pre-nineteenth-century history of ideas, science and art. A wider focus on the long nineteenth century and turn-of-the-century Reviews 266 culture would have resulted in a more concise book, enjoyable for a wider range of readers from literary and history of art backgrounds. It is not clear what the first part of the book adds to the main argument. Only on page 74 does the reader seem to glimpse one of Arndal’s main points of discussion: ‘Die Geschichtlichkeit Sehens bildete um 1900 ein zentrales und verschiedentlich abgewandeltes Problem, das bis heute in Kunsttheorie und Kunstgeschichte umstritten geblieben ist’. But this should have appeared earlier in the book, because as it stands, the reader might feel lost as to what the purpose of the study is. The most promising and original part of Arndal’s work is the analysis of the ways in which science, art and literature engaged deeply with binocular vision in the long nineteenth century. Arndal introduces the history of the science of vision in order to highlight the growing interest in vision and perception from the eighteenth century onward. He continues with a discussion of the experiments taking place in the field of optics and their impact on literature and culture at the turn of the nineteenth century. Noting the importance of optical technology such as the stereoscope, which questioned the difference between...

Foucault, governamentalidade neoliberal e subjetivação

Resumo O artigo visa compreender as posições teórico-políticas de Foucault construídas a partir de 1978, com o estabelecimento das noções de governamentalidade e subjetividade como eixos de suas pesquisas. Discute-se aspectos histórico-institucionais relacionados ao seu deslocamento teórico na direção do tema do governo e seu afastamento da esquerda, fontes biográficas e textos do autor publicados entre 1978 e 1980. Em segundo lugar, analisa-se uma entrevista sobre a crise do sistema de seguridade social, buscando entender seu posicionamento em relação ao tema. Conclui-se que Foucault utilizou tanto de contribuições marxistas, quanto neoliberais, evitando reduzir a política ao enfrentamento entre dois projetos, mas considerando-a um campo complexo de estratégias plurais. A subjetividade coloca-se para Foucault na interface entre a política e a ética.

Katie Luther, First Lady of the Reformation: The Unconventional Life of Katharina von Bora by Ruth A. Tucker

Reviewed by: Katie Luther, First Lady of the Reformation: The Unconventional Life of Katharina von Bora by Ruth A. Tucker Diane V. Bowers Katie Luther, First Lady of the Reformation: The Unconventional Life of Katharina von Bora. By Ruth A. Tucker. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2017. 208 pp. Published in 2017 to coincide with the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, this work offers an imaginative take on the life and significance of Katharina von Bora, Martin Luther’s wife and partner of twenty years. Ruth Tucker makes the spirited argument that Bora, former nun, housewife, mother, nurse, brewer, baker, farmer, business woman, and family breadwinner, was also an outspoken and independent woman in her own right, whose greatest contribution was nothing less than making Luther’s Reformation possible (133–4). Tucker presents Bora’s life chronologically, beginning with her entry at age five into a Benedictine boarding school from which she was funneled into a religious vocation, her escape from the convent along with eleven others in 1523 and arrival in Wittenberg, and her surprise engagement and marriage to Martin Luther in 1525. Tucker divides the years of Bora’s married life in Wittenberg into themes including parenthood, spirituality, and the Luthers’ marital relationship, and concludes with Luther’s death in 1546 and Bora’s in 1552. The challenge of portraying Bora’s life is that she is a person of tremendous significance about whom we have little historical information. Tucker does not provide new information on Bora but instead relies on existing biographical sources. Stories about female church figures past and present (Hildegard of Bingen, Caritas Pirckheimer, Susanna Wesley, Patricia O’Donnel-Gibson, and Tucker herself) are woven throughout; these stories serve as a lens through [End Page 456] which the reader is invited to imagine what Bora’s feelings and motivations might have been. The weakness of this approach is that the comparisons are speculative, and the parallels, especially when separated by centuries, can seem stretched. Tucker’s presentation is much stronger when she relies on scholarly descriptions of contemporary life to help the reader imagine Bora’s life. For example, Tucker’s discussion of daily life in Wittenberg becomes quite compelling when she leaves behind comparisons with farm life in Wisconsin and instead uses sources to describe the stink of life in this “miserable, filthy little town” with its newly founded university and lack of sanitation codes (67). Similarly, her description of the woes of sixteenth-century German innkeeping is fascinating and increases the reader’s appreciation of Bora’s drive and competence in running the Black Cloister as a boardinghouse. Tucker’s most intriguing analysis has to do with the nature of the relationship between Katherine and Martin, which she argues functioned as one of equality (despite Luther’s writing that women should be subservient in marriage) and dependence on the part of Luther. Tucker delves into Luther’s depression and writes that for all his greatness, Luther was “a weak man, both physically and emotionally,” while Bora’s strength was inverse to his weakness (137). Without her ministrations and support, Luther might not have lived beyond his mid-forties, or might have succumbed to mental instability. Tucker wonders why it is that Katharina von Bora was written out of history, not only after her death, but also by Luther’s contemporaries. She concludes that it is not because of gender but rather because of personality and pursuits. As an independent and outspoken woman who focused throughout her life on business and economics, she did not present the ideal image of the gentle and spiritual pastor’s wife. “Brand Bora” did not sell. But without Brand Bora the Reformation would have been altered significantly. This work provides an approachable introduction to Katharina von Bora’s life, appropriate for use in the congregation and introductory classes. [End Page 457] Diane V. Bowers Berkeley, California Copyright © 2019 Johns Hopkins University Press and Lutheran Quarterly, Inc

On One of the Biographical Sources of Pale Fire

The paper focuses on one of the possible biographical sources of Pale Fire. The link between biographical details of some of the members of the well-known Botkin family of Russia and the novel's Botkin/Kinbote is studied. Two of the Botkin family members, like the Botkin of Pale Fire, were creators of a fictitious story of a royal who had supposedly escaped death during the Revolution and became an exile, and one of them wrote a book about it. One of these Botkins was known to Nabokov personally in his Berlin years.

“I could have written my autobiography where I figure as a regime’s victim, a successful careerist, a talent not completely realized, and a mediocrity that fulfilled its potential to the max”. Interview with Igor Kon

This interview is the last in the series of conversations between Dmitri Shalin and Igor Semenovich Kon (1928–2011), recorded between 1990 and 2008. The present conversation took place in Las Vegas, U.S.A., 26–28 May 2008. The text reproduces a portion of the interview where I.S. Kon talks about his career and assesses his contribution to social science. The interview reflects the author’s interest in the biographical sources of sociological imagination and biocritical hermeneutics – a research program articulated in the online projects International Biography Initiative (IBI) and The Erving Goffman Archives (EGA). The conversation sheds new light on Kon’s scholarly activity in the soviet and postsoviet periods, helping us understand this major figure in the Russian social science as he casts critical glance on his professional career, reflects on inevitable compromises he had to make with the authorities, and reveals the impact that the generational shift had on his work and life.

“The Mandarins”: Simone de Beauvoir’s Artistic Method

Simone de Beauvoir is a representative of one of the leading philosophical schools in the middle of the 20th century. The article presents Beauvoir’s artistic method, applied in her novel The Mandarins, and examines the theoretical and biographical sources of the novel. The author demonstrates the place that the novel has in the Beauvoir’s literary and philosophical heritage and reveals the genre features of the work, introducing some special terms such as engaged, modern or philosophical novel and testimonial autobiographical project. The article also analyzes the novel’s literary form and the binary structure of the narrative. The study of the main characters, who are Henri Perron, Anne Dubreuilh and her husband Robert, allows to give a couple of narrative lines. First of them is the inner line that opens the reflective, contemplative and intimate life of one of the main characters – Anne. The second one is the outer line that means that the reader receives the information about characters from the Henry’s actions. Basing on this structure, we draw a conclusion about the modifications in the genre of existential novel in the postwar years. The new themes can be found in the literature. Authors introduce to readers the certain social reality through the inner life of some characters – intellectuals, novelists or philosophers. The thesis about the inner transformation of the genre is proved on Beauvoir’ and Jean-Paul Sartre’s works and on the prewar works of Sartre and Albert Camus. Beauvoir’s new literary methods and plots, which are the logical development of her work, made her novel one of the pioneers in the postwar literature.

ІСТОРІЯ ВИВЧЕННЯ НАУКОВОЇ ДІЯЛЬНОСТІ О. ТЕРЕНОЖКІНА

The article reviews the publications which described and analysed the scientific biography of the prominent scientist Oleksiy Terenozhkin, its outcomes and achievements. His works continue to be in the focus of constant attention, however, the deserving, proper estimation of the high-valuable scientific heritage and contribution of O. Terenozhkin hasn’t been done – based on the previous surveys and considering the recent modern achievements and discoveries in the areas of his scientific interests. The necessity of the special study of the scientist’s heritage is provoked and driven by the insufficient research as well as presentation of this important subject in the domestic historiographic literature. The purpose of the research – to analyze the publications devoted to the different facets of scientific activity of the prominent historian and archeologist Oleksiy Terenozhkin. The scientist is the founder of the scientific school of the explorers of Scythian history in Ukraine, he’s completed the systematic research of the origin, history and culture of the Scythian’s and the nations populated the territory of Ukraine in pre-Scythian period, proved the continual ethnic-cultural succession of the population of the Right-bank forest-steppe region of Ukraine, starting from the Bronze Age up to the Early Slavs cultures including. The methodology of the research is based on the principles of historicism, systematic approach and the fundamentals of «intellectual history». The scientific novelty – the detailed analysis of all the publications related to the biography and researches of O. Terenozhkin has been made for the first time ever. It emphasized the absence of the generalized and integrating studies which thoroughly cover and elucidate the results of archeological and historical heuristic he’s been carrying out for almost sixty years and which provide comprehensive, careful analysis of his findings, discoveries and elaborations in the several areas of ancient history of nations which populated Black Sea costs, Dnieper Ukraine territory, Volga region, territories of East European Plain near Ural Mountains and several regions of Central Asia. Conclusions. The analytical studies aimed at the comprehension of the scientist’s work and its contribution, at the investigation of his intellectual biography could be split at three stages: 1) During the lifetime (from middle of 1920th up to the end of 1970th). 2) «The period of conferences» devoted to the anniversaries of Oleksiy Ivanovich (1980th and 1990th). 3) The period of the start of writing of thematic and detailed summarizing articles with the subject of the scientific biography of O. Terenozhkin, the analysis of his works and surveys in the context of nowadays’ practice of the research in the areas of his professional specialization; of the publishing of biographical sources documents (since 1999 to the present). Thus, as for now we have to a certain extent representative historiography which includes both the biographical articles and the individual articles covering the studies of separate historical periods by O. Terenozhkin, his exploration of specific complexes of sources in the process of research of separate archaeological cultures in question. Nevertheless, the real comprehension and recognition of scientific heritage of the O. Terenozhkin, its impact on the further development of the history science in Ukraine require literally several solid monographic studies.нографічних досліджень.

Publications of the International Astronomical Union as biographical sources

AbstractPublications of the International Astronomical Union (IAU), such as Proceedings of IAU Symposia and Colloquia, contain biographical notes and papers as well as obituaries. Of great value are also the death announcements in the IAU Information Bulletins that contain the only biographical data known for about 200 astronomers. The kind of data given in these announcements varied over time. References to these data can be found in the Biographical Index of Astronomy. Recently the printed announcements were replaced by entries in the on-line IAU membership database.

Ukrainian and Foreign Experience in Applying Biographical Method to Study Prominent Figures in Pedagogy

Abstract The article analyzes the term “biographical method”, which consists in the idea of a biography being one’s life journey. Its essence was disclosed through the views of the leading Ukrainian and foreign scholars. The origins of the biographical method as the main tool for studying prominent figures in pedagogy were specified. The article contains the domain-specific classification of biographical sources including autobiographies, biographies, life stories, personal experience stories, surveys and interviews, public and private archival materials, printed and hand-written heritage of authors, memoirs of their contemporaries, etc. Specific attention is paid to the fact that biographical researches can characterize the course of life of a particular figure in pedagogy, the era in which he/she lived and worked, the process of shaping and developing his/her worldview and pedagogical views. Consequently, one can highlight the main stages in the pedagogue’s life, better understand the essence of his/her cultural, educational activities, grasp his/her unique identity, reveal certain patterns in various facts of his/her biography that have caused the emergence and development of particular educational and pedagogical ideas. Based on theoretical analysis of the works by Ukrainian and foreign scholars, it was concluded that the biographical method could determine the influence of society on the development of the individual, his/her life position, values and ideals, different moments of the society’s life at one time period or another, social contexts, rules and norms. It was found that when studying the biographies of prominent figures in pedagogy one should be able to balance the given material on the pedagogue’s activities, the description of his/her works and theoretical analysis and understanding of the trends in the development of his/her views and a reasonable assessment of his/her contributions.

The Emergence of Early Sufi Piety and Sunni Scholasticism: ‘Abdallāh b. al-Mubārak and the Formation of Sunni Identity in the Second Islamic Century

The Emergence of Early Sufi Piety and Sunni Scholasticism: ‘Abdallāh b. al-Mubārak and the Formation of Sunni Identity in the Second Islamic Century

The Emergence of Early Sufi Piety and Sunni Scholasticism: ‘Abdallāh b. al-Mubārak and the Formation of Sunni Identity in the Second Islamic Century

The Emergence of Early Sufi Piety and Sunni Scholasticism: ‘Abdallāh b. al-Mubārak and the Formation of Sunni Identity in the Second Islamic Century

Origenova »λόγων ἀρχαίων συγγράμματα« od Aleksandrije do Cezareje: grštvo in krščanstvo na polju zapisanega znanja

Preko analize Origenovih biografskih virov pod vidikom knjige, knjižnice in nasploh (zapisanega) znanja se razkriva globlje vprašanje soočenja grške paideie in krščanstva na prelomu iz 2. v 3. stoletje. Prelomni dogodek Origenovega življenja, ko razda svojo knjižnico antične literature, λόγων ἀρχαίων συγγράμματα (HE 6.3.9), postane paradigmatičen za namen interpretacije Svetega pisma. Leta 2012 odkrite Origenove pridige v Codex Monacensis Graecus 314 dodatno osvetljujejo ta razvoj do zrelega Origena. Preko njegovih del in življenja kaže, da krščanska zapisana beseda ni nekaj ezoteričnega in odmaknjenega, temveč se Kristusovo u-telešenje stopnjuje preko u-besedenja v Svetem pismu, zato je krščanski pogled na zapisano besedo, knjige, knjižnice lahko stimulativen.

The Right of the Governed: Foucault’s Theoretical Political Turn

Abstract This paper aims to understand the theoretical-political turn of Foucault constructed from 1978, which led him to a distancing from the Maoist left and to a return to the notion of subjectivity within a perspective of liberty, in the context of his governmentality studies. The historical-institutional aspects relating to his theoretical and political shift will be discussed, with basis on biographical sources and texts by the author published at that time. The conclusion is that Foucault used both Marxist and neoliberal contributions, avoiding reducing the politics to a confrontation between two projects, but considering it a complex field of plural strategies. He also began to theorize about the rights historically known as the ‘right of the governed,’ led by the question: ‘how to become subject without being subjected?’.

A BIOGRAFIA ESCRITA POR REILA GRACIE E AS FONTES JORNALÍSTICAS: REVISANDO A HISTÓRIA HEGEMÔNICA

O objetivo da presente pesquisa consiste em relacionar a narrativa desenvolvida na biografia Carlos Gracie: o criador de uma dinastia, de 2008, e a perspectiva veiculada por alguns periódicos cariocas do início do século XX, no que se refere ao estabelecimento e disseminação do jiu-jítsu e dos combates intermodalidades no Brasil, em especial na cidade do Rio de Janeiro. Para tanto, utilizaram-se os preceitos metodológicos acerca das particularidades das fontes biográficas e jornalísticas. A partir da análise das referidas fontes, pode-se pensar a hipótese de que Reila Gracie tenha lançado mão de uma tradição inventada, por meio da biografia e aproveitando-se da dimensão ficcional peculiar a tal gênero, com sentido de atribuir aos integrantes da família Gracie o pioneirismo do jiu-jítsu e dos combates intermodalidades no Brasil.

Il latino come lingua di comunicazione tra le case monastiche nelle Terre ceche

The present study explores sources which cast light on the usage of Latin in everyday communication within communities of religious orders, observing the particular choice of Latin rather than vernacular languages for certain types of communication. Linked to the currently running research of narrative and biographical sources written in the 17th and 18th century in the Czech Lands, the study briefly maps the language usage in the society and its specific forms in the communities of religious orders, especially with regard to the limited knowledge of Latin among its members. The study outlines the types of texts written for the needs of the communities, which are included in a wide range of chronicles, annals, catalogues, necrologies, collections of rules, and institutional or personal diaries. The last part of the study examines selected sources which reveal details about the features of the common spoken Latin of the time.

Two fictional journeys in the life of Dostoevsky: Typskin’s Summer in Baden–Baden and Coetzee’s The Master of Petersburg

This article explores two literary works based on the life of Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky between the years 1867 and 1869: Лето в Бадене (Summer in Baden-Baden, 1982) by Leonid Tsypkin and The Master of Petersburg (1994) by J. M. Coetzee. Both novels endeavor to understand Dostoevsky. Their approaches are characteristic of late twentieth-century writing: the novelized life and travelogue, in which reality and fiction are interwoven. Both books recreate the life of Dostoevsky and the process by which he wrote The Gambler, The Possessed and The Idiot, based on Dostoevsky’s works and biographical sources. Each novel is framed by a question: Where does Dostoevsky’s writing come from? (Coetzee) and, What can account for this fascination with Dostoevsky? (Tsypkin). The comparative analysis offered here addresses the ways in which such fascination with the life and literary work of Dostoevsky is shaped, and examines the issue of Dostoevsky’s influence on these writers in line with Harold Bloom’s theory in The Anxiety of Influence.