Christian Imagery Research Articles

The “Miracle” of the Russian Revolution: The Mystery Play in Early Soviet Culture

Some of the very first theatre productions following the Russian Revolution of 1917 were built around Christian imagery and dramatic forms, a surprising choice given that atheism was a key tenet of the new Soviet nation. The first Soviet play, Vladimir Mayakovsky’s Mystery Bouffe, is modelled after the medieval mystery play and depicts workers coming to revolutionary consciousness after encountering a Christ-like figure. Subsequently, several of the earliest Soviet mass spectacles, a vibrant form of state-sponsored propaganda, also drew comparisons to mystery plays. This article examines the interdependence of theatricality and spirituality in these early Soviet mysteries (approx. 1918–21), referencing the context of church practice, the mystery play genre, and Russian symbolism’s earlier fascination with the mystery play. I argue that these Soviet variants on this medieval dramatic form struggle self-consciously with the ironies and the possibilities of borrowing from the mystery in the newly Soviet theatre. Their triumphant messages about socialism and the revolution are nuanced by the essentially religious nature of the genre even as they attempt to replace mystery with theatrical spectacle to create a new model of theatre. By revealing spiritual dimensions of socialist avant-garde aesthetics, these Soviet mysteries can enrich our understanding of both the place of religion in modernism and the consistency of modernist values.

Christian Iconography on Ming and Qing Chinese Porcelain: Religious Influence and Artistic Hybridization

Since the arrival of Christian missionaries in China through maritime trade networks, missionary activities have been changing from the 16th century to the 18th century. Christian missionaries faced numerous challenges stemming from cultural context and religious policies in China. Throughout history, various religious strategies have been employed to address these challenges. The use of Chinese porcelain to depict Christian imagery holds significant importance. The present study is focused on four representative Chinese porcelains dating from the Ming to Qing dynasties, each associated with specific phases of Christianity in China. Examining the connections between the Christian mission in China and Christian iconography on Chinese porcelain leads to the conclusion that the visual culture associated with the Christian mission in China is influenced by and reflects intercultural or interreligious dialogue with mutual understanding. In the meantime, it signifies an intricate process of interaction, appropriation, hybridization, and adaptation, through which Christian iconography gained new significance on Chinese porcelain.

Postmodernism in Lord Of The Lost’s Judas: The apocryphal The Gospel of Judas, William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, and the role of the stars

Lord Of The Lost’s Judas (2021) is a thematic concept album exploring different aspects of the Judas reception without a straightforward narrative or interpretation, but covering varying viewpoints on betrayal and salvation. It hereby pushes the boundaries of heavy metal as a genre by combining different texts. The band explicitly points out their first source of inspiration, the apocryphal The Gospel of Judas (~100–80 ad), and adds that the album also features the literary theme of impossible (here: brotherly) love. I argue that the album references a specific text implementing this theme, namely William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet (1597), most prominently implied by ‘star-crossed’. These two texts are as different as they could be, contrasting, e.g. religious enlightenment and entertainment. Still, they have one thing in common: they both rely heavily on Christian astrology. By investigating how the album makes use of this shared motif to create its own version of star-induced fate, I show how both texts overlap and intermingle on the album. The result is a kaleidoscope that is a prime example of postmodernism. By refusing a fixed depiction of Christian imagery and even adding another text, Judas demonstrates that art does not have to be linear or limiting, and opens heavy metal to new, postmodern ways.

Milton’s use of pastoral as a means of institutional criticism in Lycidas

John Milton’s Lycidas is a pastoral elegy written in 1637 after the death of an idealized man of religion, Edward King. Reflecting the lament of the persona for the loss of a sound man intended for the Church, Lycidas is rooted in the classical tradition and embodies all the qualities of the pastoral. Incorporated into the pastoral qualities of the poem is a part where St Peter gives voice to the follies of the contemporary clergy, which turns the poem into a means of criticism. The poem emphasises that while a great man of religion like Lycidas dies, the failing ones survive despite all their material interests and ignorance of society. Accordingly, the aim of this article is to analyse Milton’s Lycidas as an example of pastoral where Milton brings together the classical tradition with institutional criticism. This article will analyse the poem in context, and reminding the ideas of Archbishop Laud, it will argue that the use of the shepherd image as a pastor-poet, as in the case of the classical pastoral tradition, provides Milton with the means to delve into the use of the image of the shepherd in the Christian imagery. This, in turn, enables him to discuss the conditions of the poet and of poetry in the seventeenth century.

The Violent Shepherd: Constructing Legitimate Violence in Pre-Nicene Christianity

Summary In the present article, I analyze Greek and Latin sources of pre-Nicene Christianity and argue that violence, although generally overlooked, constitutes an intrinsic and significant aspect of the early Christian model of pastoral rule. I premise my argument on an understanding of violence that rejects so-called ‘legitimist’ definitions, which subordinate the judgment on violence to a judgment on legitimacy and reserve the label of violence for illegitimate actions alone. Congenitally embedded in a network of conflictual relations, the shepherd of early Christian imagery is primarily tasked with the salvation of the sheep from enemies whose ambiguous identity, I argue, often betrays their provenance from within the flock. The shepherd is also engaged in disciplining his animals through measures that include severe physical punishments and exclusion from the herd. To conclude, I argue that the pastoral metaphor is itself an especially powerful instrument in the discursive construction of legitimate violence. For a relevant strand of ancient thought, to frame a particular institution in terms of the shepherd-flock relationship is, I argue, to conceive of it as replicative of the natural and normative order of reality, while also making certain acts of violence appear as the preferable course of action to be sought in the government of the community.

GOD IS BEAUTIFUL, UGLY, DEAD: NAVID KERMANI, FERIDUN ZAIMOGLU AND (MORE THAN) CHRISTIAN ART

AbstractNavid Kermani's and Feridun Zaimoglu's engagements as Muslims with Christian art reveal the possibilities and limitations of aesthetic experiences of the divine beyond all doctrinal divides. Although Kermani's own research into the aesthetic dimension of Islam highlights the potential for art to offer spiritual insight, his rejection of some Christian imagery, especially of the crucifix, in his book Ungläubiges Staunen: Über das Christentum (2015), suggests this potential has limits which are not only matters of subjective taste but also epistemological barriers that are difficult to overcome. However, some of Kermani's interpretations lead to a syncretic understanding of Christian and Islamic ideas and aesthetics, pointing towards new notions of the divine. Similarly, Zaimoglu's series of contemporary icons featuring Jesus and other Biblical figures opens up spiritual possibilities beyond religious divides through their ambiguous links to Christianity and Islam. This distinction between an experience of the divine across religious boundaries and its failure can be theorised through Jean‐Luc Marion's understanding of the ‘icon’ and the ‘idol’ respectively, whereby the former returns the viewer's gaze and unleashes a destabilising openness to the sacred, whereas the latter involves the dominant gaze of the viewer and reinforces what they already know.

Christian images in the operas by the European composers of the nineteenth century

Statement of the problem. Undoubtedly, the operas by G. Rossini, G. Verdi, F. Halévy, and G. Meyerbeer, which appeared in the Romantic era, belong to secular culture. However, all of them, in one way or another, used plots and motifs from the religious experience of people, delineating the image of a man of faith (Homo Credens) as a cross-cutting theme of art, the “crossing point” of the secular and religious worlds. Therefore, researchers and performers of opera music face the problem of understanding the religious and spiritual component of the opera genre through the assimilation of the imagery and plot specificity and genre symbolism of the musical language, which goes back to Christian services. The identification of Christian influences helps to understand the depth of the spiritual content of the opera work, through musical symbolism to feel the religious and ethical “resonances” of the existence of a new European person who makes sense of his history, which is inseparable from Christian culture. This makes it possible to reproduce both the objective factors of the Christian worldview embedded in the plot, as well as the hidden meanings of the spiritual content of the opera work, its musical and linguistic resources. Objectives, methods, and novelty of the research. The purpose of the article is to trace the connections between the vocal and stage images of romantic opera with Christian religious themes, the interpretation of which is often a performance problem for modern artists-vocalists. The performance aspect of the problem of the presence of Christian content in opera works has not yet come under the “focus” of the researchers of this topic. The attempt to reveal Christian influences on the vocal and scenic images of opera works in this article is carried out on the platform of spiritual-semantic analysis (Aleksandrova, 2018) of genre and stylistic specificity of the operas by G. Rossini, G. Verdi, F. Halévy, and G. Meyerbeer. Results and conclusion. The opera works of Western European composers of the 19th century demonstrate the constant presence of images related to the Christian religious tradition, in particular biblical ones. This is the introducing of characters that are connected to Church life, or plot lines and motifs that unfold against the background of Christian history. In G. Rossini’s opera “Moses in Egypt” we meet the case of the most complete approximation of the libretto to the story from the Old Testament. A sign of the presence of Christian imagery in the semantic range of a secular opera work is the prayer genre represented by arias or choruses. Observations on the embodiment of religious themes (plot motifs that go back to Christian history, characters of personages related to church life, ideas and symbols of Christianity, genre semantics, interpretation of iconic figures by famous singers F. Furlanetto and R. Raimondi) in the operas of the Romantic era led us to certain conclusions about the specifics of vocal-stage reproduction of figurativeness of the Christian tradition. ● Vocal intonation is derived from the way of thinking and worldview. Therefore, due attention to the performer’s understanding of Christian imagery and plot is important for the correct use of vocal and stage techniques that contribute to an adequate interpretation of the image and the work as a whole. ● If the artist’s interpretation of the vocal and stage image corresponds to the spiritual and religious content of the work, then in this case it embodies and presents to the viewer certain aspects of the spiritual ideal – the Christian image of a person, Homo Credens. Therefore, revealing the connections between opera as a secular genre and the Christian value system on the basis of the spiritual-semantic analysis of the opera image contributes to the self-improvement of performers, the growth of their spiritual maturity, general erudition and culture.

Biblical motives in the modern Ukrainian literature

The subject of the study is the representation of Christian vision in the Ukrainian literature of independence. The problem is considered in the dichotomy of conservative Christian views against multicultural and atheistic education. The purpose of this study is to discuss theses in T. Trokhymenko’s 2022 article ‘The modern Ukrainian Literature and Christianity’, published in the journal ‘Patriarchy: the Uniate analytical periodical’. The structural elements of the work repeat the confutable source. The author uses the methods of slow reading, componential analysis, as well as typological and comparative. The novelty of the study is determined by the transformation of receptions of religious motifs in Ukrainian literature and the change of the religious space of Ukraine, which prompts us to understand the mechanisms of such transformations in the modern historical context. As a result of the study, it was established that the worldview paradigm of Christianity has undergone significant distortion due to Soviet policy and the influence of other religions - both Ukrainian and foreign. At the same time, it is ascertained that author's expressions of ideas and images promote Christian ideas, but do not portray canonical ecclesiastical texts. As a result of it the vision of Christian ideas becomes broader, but the distinctions between primary sources and author's interpretations become obliterated. Based on the analysis of modern Ukrainian literature, two trends have been traced: 1) the reception of biblical motifs in the context of the postmodern ironic tradition, which is characterized by skeptical-ironic interpretation of religious motifs and images, outrageousness and carnivalesqueness (inherent in the early works of V. Neborak and the early lyrics of S. Zhadan); 2) the reception of biblical motifs in the context of the existential-philosophical and cultural tradition, the central idea of ​​such a reception is the idea of ​​the importance of faith, humanity in the apocalyptic world of modern reality (in works by S. Zhadan, Yu. Vynnychuk, H. Marchuk). The perspective of the research can be seen in the study of the work of other Ukrainian writers (in particular, O. Zabuzhko, H. Pahutyak, M. Matios, K. Kalytko, etc.). The research is not exhausted but will be continued within the framework of other publications, which will highlight the peculiarities of Christian imagery in the creative practices of Ukrainian writers of the late 20th and early 21st centuries.

РЕЛІГІЙНІ ОБРАЗИ У ВІЗУАЛЬНОМУ ПОЛІ ВІЙНИ: НОВІ РЕФЕРЕНЦІЇ ДО ТРАДИЦІЇ

The paper looks at the works of modern Ukrainian graphics (both printed and digital), which dealt with the events of the war in Ukraine from 2022 onwards. It focuses on the artworks, which use Christian symbolism and iconography and looks at how these symbols were reinterpreted in the context of modern visual culture and the current expectations of Ukrainian society. The study is structured around the categories of cultural memory and representation, in particular the visual and narrative strategies when dealing with the wartime events. It, too, is informed by approaches of visual studies, developed in the works of W.T.J. Mitchell, D. Freedberg, and T. Wright, which helped to determine the primary message of the artworks, secondary elements, and to treat them as a very specific visual message. To systematise the graphic material collected after the full scale invasion 2022, a topical approach was chosen, which means that the focus was not on the chronology of the war, but on the crucial categories in the subject matter of the religious imagery: images of the Mother of God, holy warriors, motifs of the Passions, martyrology, etc. The artworks in question demonstrated a shift from conventional patterns of religious iconography to updated ones. For example, the theme of Christ’s Passion and the tools for torture was altered to become an image of Ukraine's suffering in the course of history with all the struggles and losses of political independence and constant resistance through these centuries. Obviously, the photos and videos from the war omnipresent in the mass and social media became an important visual basis for most graphic works. The article reveals the process of transforming the local war narrative into a universal one, by virtue of the mental imagery fixed in the Ukrainian public consciousness. Analysing the graphic artists’ responses and their use Christian imagery demonstrated how the war stimulated the creation of a new mythology, a new pantheon of heroes, designed to motivate, resist and , ultimately, lead to victory. The images of Christian saints, whose iconography was reinterpreted in several graphic works, gained particular importance for forming this new mythology.

The Flag and the Cross: White Christian Nationalism and the Threat to American Democracy by Philip S. Gorski and Samuel L. Perry

Reviewed by: The Flag and the Cross: White Christian Nationalism and the Threat to American Democracy by Philip S. Gorski and Samuel L. Perry David M. Krueger Philip S. Gorski and Samuel L. Perry, The Flag and the Cross: White Christian Nationalism and the Threat to American Democracy. Oxford, U.K.: Oxford University Press, 2022. Pp. 176. $21.95. The concept of Christian nationalism has long been used by scholars to analyze the intersection of religion and politics, but, in the last few years, the term has surged in public use. In 2022, some U.S. politicians such as Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green openly declared themselves to be Christian nationalists. In their book, Gorski and Perry argue that Christian nationalism was largely invisible both to conservative Christians because it was simply “in the air they breathe” and to secular progressives because they viewed the beliefs to be fringe. The Capitol insurrection of January 6, 2021, and its distinct Christian imagery are what brought Christian nationalism into mainstream consciousness. There has been a flood of scholarship on the topic in recent years. Gorski and Perry’s book has synthesized this material in a compelling and succinct manner, while also illuminating the grave threats that Christian nationalism poses to a religiously and racially diverse democracy. The authors offer their book as “a primer on white Christian nationalism,” with its chapters organized around the questions of what it is, when it emerged, how it works, and where it is headed. At its core, white Christian nationalism is framed by a “deep story” asserting that the United States was founded by white [End Page 131] Christian men guided by Christian principles, who saw the nation as chosen by God for a special purpose, but ever at risk due to “un-American influences both inside and outside our borders.” Drawing on their own sociological research, Gorski and Perry identify “seven indicators of Christian nationalism,” such as believing the nation’s founding documents were divinely inspired and that the federal government should advocate Christian values, allow prayer in public schools, and mandate a strict separation between church and state. While many white and Black Christians score high on their assessment, the data show that the higher the level of adherence to Christian nationalism, the higher the tendency for whites to claim they are discriminated against, to mistrust experts and mainstream media outlets, to support the use of violence to maintain order, and to uphold personal liberty and economic prosperity—even if the vulnerable in society suffer. The same correlations were not present for Black respondents. Many academic and popular treatments of Christian nationalism do not include “white” as an adjective, but the authors craft a persuasive genealogy that centers on race. Gorski and Perry craft a historical narrative to demonstrate that white Christian nationalism is not new but is “one of the oldest and most powerful currents in American politics.” The authors begin their genealogy, not in 1619 with the arrival of the first enslaved Africans in Virginia, but in 1690 when religion and nationalism became fused with the concepts of whiteness and order. They identify other key inflection points such as the nation’s turn toward empire in 1898 and the embrace of libertarianism as a subtler way to encode race in social policies. Along the way, the authors emphasize the contingencies of each moment and the ways that various actors exerted their agency. The final chapter offers a warning that the January 6th insurrection was not an isolated incident but was the product of “subterranean forces that had been building for some time.” As such, the event ought to be seen as a harbinger of a potentially larger and more violent event that could imperil the future of American democracy. The authors offer a dire warning about what the future may hold, asserting that a “Trumpist America” would not necessarily become “Hitler’s Germany” but could share a resemblance to “Putin’s Russia.” This is an entirely fair claim and perhaps a wake-up call for some readers, but the book’s brief three pages on “what can be done” is insufficient to meet the challenge. In summary, Gorski and Perry call on the...

The Hebrew Orient: Palestine in Jewish American Visual Culture, 1901–1938 by Jessica L. Carr

Reviewed by: The Hebrew Orient: Palestine in Jewish American Visual Culture, 1901–1938 by Jessica L. Carr Zohar Segev Jessica L. Carr. The Hebrew Orient: Palestine in Jewish American Visual Culture, 1901–1938. Albany: SUNY Press, 2020. 299 pp. The evolution of the Zionist movement under Herzl's leadership coincided with the mass migration of eastern European Jews to the United States that lasted from 1881 until the de facto closure of the United States borders to Jewish immigrants in 1924. American Zionist leaders worked out a unique interpretation of Zionism centered on the quest to legitimize Jewish life in the United States within the bounds of Zionism. They tried to build a Zionist movement that would provide the political, public, and ideological means for improving and bolstering the status of Jews in American immigrant society. Initially, American Zionism was an underfunded minority movement, but subsequently, most markedly following Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis's Zionist activity during World War I and the Balfour Declaration, it became one of the most dominant public forces among American Jews and played a major role in the dramatic events experienced by the Jewish people in the 1930s and 1940s. The founding fathers of American Zionism invested considerable intellectual effort into formulating an ideological amalgam that would reconcile Herzl's philosophy with the American version of Zionism. American Zionism did indeed travel a different path from that of its European counterpart. American Zionists generally did not stress migration to Palestine as a fundamental tenet of their ideology and practice, preferring instead to cultivate Zionism as a central component in the fabric of their lives within American society rather than as a means to promote migration to the Land of Israel. Jessica L. Carr's valuable and absorbing book provides a unique and fascinating contribution toward understanding the course of the development of American Zionism and toward illuminating the complex network of relationships that existed between the Zionist movement and the Jewish Yishuv in Palestine, [End Page 458] and between the State of Israel and the American Jewish community. Orientalism and the way in which it is reflected in a wide variety of pictures and images provides the framework for the book's argument. Carr's book begins with a comprehensive discussion of its theoretical background, focusing mainly on the general concept of Orientalism while highlighting its specifically American manifestations. The use of Orientalism as a central organizing theme defining the collection of pictures presented in the book enables the author to discuss the fundamental questions concerning the place of Zionism among American Jews in general and during the first half of the twentieth century in particular. Each chapter of the book is devoted to a discussion of images connected to an organization, event, or publication, such as The Zionist Organization of America, The National Federation of Temple Sisterhoods, The Jewish Encyclopedia, The Jewish Exhibit and Jewish Day at the 1933 World's Fair, and maternalism in Hadassah's "Propaganda." We learn from the book that Orientalism was harnessed by American Jewish opinion shapers as a means to mitigate the tension between the opposition of American Jews in general and the Reform movement in particular to the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine, and the Zionist movement, which aimed to do exactly that. The use of oriental rather than national elements was an indispensable tool in this process. Orientalism served to forge an affinity with the Land of Israel while eschewing nationalist imagery. The author correctly notes that Orientalism was also a crucial component of Christian imagery relating to the Land of Israel, and that this facilitated the use of these images in a Jewish context as well. Naturally, after the Balfour Declaration in 1917 and as the crisis of European Jewry deepened until its tragic culmination in the Holocaust, the Zionist and national elements in the pictures presented in the book came more to the fore, testifying to the growing importance of Zionism among American Jews. Throughout the book, Carr emphasizes the fact that Mizrahi Jews and Arab inhabitants of Palestine were excluded from the pictures published in the United States. Insofar as they did appear, they were portrayed as passive bystanders who...

РОСЛИННА ОБРАЗНІСТЬ В ЕСТЕТИЦІ КУЛЬТОВИХ ПРАКТИК ВІРМЕНСЬКОЇ АПОСТОЛЬСЬКОЇ ЦЕРКВИ

The article is devoted to the study of plant imagery as an important aesthetic-semantic component of the cult practices of the Armenian Apostolic Church. The Armenian Apostolic Church is not only a unique, ancient institution among the circle of Christian churches, but also represents an original cultural world, manifested in a cult rich in its theological content and artistic form, that's why it deserves to be present in the religious studies, aesthetic, cultural, historical research discourses. Using textological, semiotic and phenomenological methods, the authors analyze the implicit content of individual plant images of the cult space of the church. Various elements of the Armenian sacred art were used to reveal the foundations of the dogma, which ensured the formation of an original the-aesthetics. Armenian sacral art formed the aesthetic world of imagery of the Christian religion. The organic inclusion of plant imagery in the general Christian picture of the world, reflected in the artistic representations of the art of sacral sculpture and church poetry, the inspiration of which was the biblical and early Christian imagery, which symbolic interpretations deepened the understanding of the evangelical truths and constituted the original aesthetic world of the Armenian national culture was proved. In the article, the authors pay attention to the study of plant imagery in cult practices, in particular with the example of monumental khachkars, liturgical texts of the shakarans dedicated to the Holy Virgin and the Christian saints, which are especially popular among the Armenian people, first of all St. Gregory the Illuminator. Thus, the plant imagery occupies an important place in the temple cult practices of the Armenian Apostolic Church, as well as in the aesthetic sphere of the Armenian national culture and ethno-consciousness.

Близнечный миф в памятниках восточнохристианской письменности

The article reveals a layer of archaic images and representations associated with the mythological motif of twinning in the East Christian post-Canonical manuscripts. The Christian interpretation of the mythologem of twinning is investigated based on the analysis of the semantic structure of Eastern Christian texts, in the first place - the texts devoted to the hagiography of St. Thomas, and other Old Russian manuscripts. А number of the sources under consideration have the status of liturgical texts. Such mythopoetic paradigms as similarity in the biography of twins, bodily markers of twinhood, the motif of the confrontation of twins: the hero and the trickster, the female hypostasis of the twin, the mythopoetic of the name and numerical symbolism are revealed. The Eucharistic symbolism of the touch gesture, which has become key in Eastern Christian imagery, is considered.

Performance and Religion: Dancing Bodies in Macedonian Orthodox Fresco Painting

Although dance as a topic has been explored through various theoretical and thematic discourse, little attention has been paid to the presence of dance motifs in Christian imagery. An examination of Orthodox Macedonian medieval fresco painting provides a fascinating point of entry into this overlooked subject. Analysis reveals the presence of two dominant approaches, conditioned primarily by the position of dancing in the philosophical-ethical discourse present in the Bible and other late antique and medieval theological texts. Some frescoes and icons show the body as a channel through which the Lord is glorified. Others show it as an instrument and reflection of immorality instigated by demonic powers. As in each approach, the bodies have differing semantic qualities, valuable information can be obtained about the performing practices present in this historical period.

The Motif of the Angel(s) of Death in Islamic Foundational Sources as an Element of Cultural Diffusion

The article harks back to the publication entitled “The Motif of the Angel(s) of Death in Islamic Foundational Sources” (VV 38/2 [2020]), which was devoted to the analysis of the eponymous theme in the foundational sources of Islam: the Quran and the sunna of the Prophet Muhammad. The purpose of this paper is to examine whether the motif of angel(s) may have been borrowed from two monotheistic traditions that came before. The verification of the thesis that the motif of the angel(s) of death underwent diffusion was carried out in several steps. First, the motif was identified in the textual traditions of Judaism and early Christianity (i.e. sets of texts that were known and, in all likelihood, widespread in the Middle East during the formative period of Islam). As a result of the analysis, most of the themes recognised in the foundational texts of Islam were found. The next step was to identify possible routes of their transmission and percolation into the Islamic tradition and to determine the “ideological demand” for the motif of the angel(s) of death in the burgeoning Islam. Although Jewish and Christian imagery and beliefs about angels are an important (if not the primary) source of influence on Muslim angelology, there was most likely a two-way interaction between the monotheistic traditions, albeit to a limited extent.

The figure of the martyr in Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o’s short fiction

Abstract In many ways, Ngũgĩ‘s collection Secret Lives and Other Stories (1975) foreshadows his latternovels and their thematic preoccupations as it portrays colonial encounters and social and political upheavals in (post)colonial Kenya. The paper focuses primarily on selected stories included in the second section of the collection which revolve around the theme of fighters and martyrs. Ngũgĩ‘s adoption of Christian imagery, on which he relies quite heavily in his novels as well, enables him to articulate the ambivalent position and conflicts of his characters, both African and European. The motif of martyrdom is associated both with the clashing worlds of Christianity and the Gikuyu religion (addressing primarily the subject of conversion), and the Mau Mau revolt which inevitably required communal sacrifices. The paper ponders on the various modifications of the motif and its potential functions.

A Hidden Agenda of Imperial Appropriation and Power Play? Iconological Considerations Concerning Apse Images and Their Role in the Iconoclast Controversy

Abstract According to the written sources, the Iconoclast controversy was all about the veneration of icons. It started in the late seventh century, after most iconodule provinces had been lost to Byzantine rule, and lasted until the turn of the millennium or so, when icon veneration became generally established in the remaining parts of the Byzantine Empire. However, as far as material evidence and actual images are concerned, the Iconoclast controversy centred on apse images and other, equally large and monumental representations, none of which were ever venerated. Prior to Iconoclasm, such images had not been customary at Constantinople, where the early Christian tradition had been largely aniconic and focused on the symbol of the cross. Thus, the introduction of monumental Christian imagery to Constantinople appears to have been a major aspect of the Iconoclast controversy. This paper asks why and finds that the images in question, whilst not for veneration and therefore not essential to the theological debate, stood out for imperial propaganda. They led to close visual integration of the emperor and the church that had previously been kept apart, because aniconic traditions used to limit imperial presence inside Constantinopolitan church buildings. It seems, then, that the Iconoclast controversy, although conducted in religious terms, was partly driven by a hidden agenda of imperial appropriation and power play.

Strategies of Representing Christian Imagery And Motives in the Art of Kharkiv in the Late Soviet Period

The aim of the study is to define the multiplicity and specificity of the approaches of the Kharkiv artists of the 1960s — 1980s to the visualization of Christian imagery and motives.
 Research methodology is based on the combination of general scientific methods of systematization, classification, synthesis, and specialized ones, related to the field of art history, namely formal and comparative, iconological and compositional analysis.
 Results. The paper is focused on the specificity of functioning of the religious theme in the fine art of Kharkiv of the 1960s — 1980s. It’s emphasized that, due to the trajectory of political discourse of that time, Christian imagery in the Ukrainian late Soviet art was largely marginalized and existed mainly in the veiled, latent form. A significant number of easel paintings, graphic and photographic works by Kharkiv artists, who belong to the circles of unofficial and “allowed” art, was analyzed. The historical context of the creation of those works is outlined. Its development was defined by a vast presence of the state control. It is shown that the authors’ perception of the given problematics was characterized by the inclination towards reflecting social reality through irony and deconstruction of the familiar sacred images and iconographic schemes (Crucifixion, Madonna, Pieta, eschatological motives). It is emphasized that such approach was often realized through the methods of collage and citation, which amplify the split between the mundanity and the Sublime.
 Novelty. The study attempts to give a comprehensive overview of the development of the religious motives and characters in the Ukrainian late Soviet art.
 The practical significance. The key points of the paper can be used both for further study of the representation of the category of sacred and transformation of its role in the Ukrainian culture in the second half of the XX — beginning of the XXI century, and its practical application in the educational and exhibition projects.

Japanese Concepts of Angels: Analyzing Depictions of Celestial Beings in the shōjo Manga Kamikaze Kaitō Jeanne


 White wings, long hair, 'pure' faces: the appearance of angels frequently follows similar aesthetics connected to Christian imagery. Angels and Christian religion also are popular themes in manga, Japanese comics, often intermingled with Buddhist or Shinto notions. Since imagery in popular culture resonates and shapes vernacular and cultural perspectives, manga like Kamikaze Kaitō Jeanne (KKJ) provide an important insight into the conceptualization of angels in Japan. This article therefore analyzes the contrary role of angels in KKJ as the Other, the mysterious, serene one, while simultaneously angels are depicted as part of the circle of life every creature undergoes in Buddhist cosmology. Based on a visual hermeneutic approach, this article demonstrates how the intermix of both visual and religious traditions in Japan shape the depiction of angels in Japanese popcultural media.

Сакральний аспект образу дитини у польському та західноукраїнському живописі початку 20-го століття: соціально-історичний контекст та регіональна специфіка

he late 19th and early 20th centuries marked significant changes in the social perception of children and childhood in Europe and the US. The phenomenon was vividly reflected in works of art, including painting. Images of children and childhood acquired new positive connotations. A rather ambiguous notion of “innocence” became one of the most important characteristics of childhood. The category was associated with children’s ability to receive more profound and intense religious experiences in comparison to those of adults. Poetry, philosophy, and art of that time emphasized this aspect of idealised childhood. In this research, we examine and compare works of easel and monumental painting on religious subjects by American and Western European as well as Polish and Ukrainian artists which depict children and childhood. We address both works intended for sacred spaces and secular paintings containing symbols and allusions borrowed from Christian imagery. The article looks into the genesis of the sacralised image of children and childhood in Western cultures, its specific features and ways of its representation in painting, including local traditions. The study focuses on the portrayal of peasant children in paintings by Polish and Ukrainian artists (Jacek Malczewski, Kazimierz Sichulski, Wlastimil Hofman, Oleksa Novakivskyi, Yulian Butsmaniuk) on religious subjects. The sacralisation of village children in Central and Eastern European art constitutes a peculiar artistic phenomenon closely associated with the social structure as well as political situation in the region. In the course of the research we employed a range of methods—formal, iconographical, iconological analysis, content analysis and semiological analysis.