Elements Of Cult Research Articles

Реалии корейской традиционной культуры и художественный перевод (на примере перевода романа Пак Гённи "Дочери аптекаря Кима")

Famous South Korean writer Park Kyongni’s novel «Daughters of Pharmacist Kim» covers the period from the end of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century which was tragic for Korean people and their social norms because of the Japanese occupation. It depicts particularly the religious beliefs of Korean people, the relationships in the society and the family, the role of the woman, and the daily life of people of different social groups (aristocrats, the wealthy, servants). The objective of this article is to critically analyze the translation of the novel that touches upon many phenomena exotic for most Russian readers, such as the national identity of Korean culture or the material and spiritual life of Korean society. The comparison of the Korean and the Russian texts shows that the translation of some ethnographic realia does not quite match the original. For example, some words related to the following phenomena are translated incorrectly: Korean traditional underfloor heating (ondol), superstitions, Koreans’ religious beliefs and their perception of ancestors’ spirits, supernatural forces, mourning ceremonies, and attire worn to a funeral. In addition to believing in ancestors’ spirits, Koreans also believed in prophecies. For example, children of someone who died of arsenic poisoning were believed to be destined to leave no male offspring. This prophecy comes true in the novel: Pharmacist Kim’s first son dies in childhood and six daughters are born afterwards. Koreans paid special attention to shamans and believed in their supernatural essence. To this day, Koreans’ religious beliefs dating back to ancient times and various folk beliefs peacefully coexist with other world religions. In modern South Korea, people still observe customs and traditions related to funeral rites and wakes, they fear and revere the spirits of the dead, and perform «feeding ancestors’ spirits» ceremonies twice a year on certain days chosen according to the lunar calendar. In addition to the shortcomings of the Russian translation described above, some dialectal items of the Southern province Kyungsan-do are translated incorrectly, and so are occasionally rendered the rules of the traditional verbal etiquette. It may be considered as a gross error because the latter are anchored in the very essence of Korean language and make up an important part of Korean mentality. Conclusion. So, this analysis of conveying background information through Korean realia in the novel «Daughters of Pharmacist Kim» confirms the theorists’ conclusion that the translator must know background cultural information of the source text. Errors and flaws found in the translation of some ethnographic realia show that those errors and flaws are not likely to affect significantly the novel’s content or its artistic value. At the same time, the fictional quality of the novel is affected by the lack of translator’s knowledge of its dialectal peculiarities and some facts of non-material culture related to customs, elements of cult and public relations among Koreans. All of the above leads to the incorrect perception of some cultural realia of Korea described in the novel of Korean classic writer Park Kyongni.

Christians reacted differently to non-Christian cults

Christians were confronted with many other religions during the expansion of Christianity. What was their attitude towards these other religions? Apparently Christians reacted very differently. Earlier I argued that the Christians in Philippi adopted some elements of the cult of Euephenes, an initiate in the Kabeiric cult of Samothrace. The Kabeiric cult was very much present in Thessalonica as well. In this article I argued that, here too, Christians took over some elements of the Kabeiric cult. In some other cities non-Christian cults were eliminated. These different reactions towards other religions and cults seemed to stem from the local situation. In particular, local religious customs seem to have been adopted and to have taken precedence over well-known national or even international religions. Apparently, it was very difficult for people to abandon strong local rituals.In 1997, Andries van Aarde and Sanrie van Zijl published a very interesting article in which they drew attention to the pagan Hellenistic background that may have played a role in the development of Christology. Though more aspects should be taken into consideration it is self-evident to me that the entire history of the Christian church can be understood only against the background of the whole contemporary world. For example, Christians reacted very differently to non-Christian cults after they had assumed power in the Roman Empire. Sometimes temples and shrines were devastated, sometimes they were reused as churches. And sometimes elements of other cults were adopted in a more or less Christianised form. Recently I argued that in Philippi the cult of Euephenes, an initiate in the cult of the Kabeiroi on Samothrace, was succeeded by the veneration of Paul.In the present article, however, I focused on the cult of Kabeiros in Thessalonica and its impact on the cult of Demetrios that was already thriving there, whereby the latter cult began to incorporate elements of the former. I concluded the article with short remark about the way Christians elsewhere adopted or rejected other cults, touching on the question why, in some cases, an older cult was integrated into the Christian cult and why it was terminated in other cases.

Aperçu sur la trinité et la pensée triadique chez les Fang au Gabon

ABSTRACTThe study of the notion of the trinity as an ethno-religious problem and of the triadic thought as a universal phenomenon revealing man's tendency to classify the manifestations of life shows in the Fang people results that are coherent and significant. These results are the marks of socio-historical and cultural changes that the Fang have undergone in their migrations from Cameroon towards Gabon, coming into contact with the autochton people of Gabon, the Mpongwe and especially the Mitsogho and the Apindji.Relying on their own mythology and adding new cultural elements, the Fang have created a new religious form. It has syncretic characteristics as a result of the mixing of beliefs taken from the Fang, the Mitsogho and Christianism. Among many other elements of cult and faith, the syncretic sects have developed the ancient notion of the Fang trinity and have broadened the function of each of its persons. Thus, Nzame Mebeghe has the powers of the Father, Mebeghe is compared to Jesus-Christ and Gni...