Eternal Flame Research Articles

Genesis and Metamorphoses of the Soviet Ritual Canon of Commemoration of the Dead Participants of the Great Patriotic War (1940s–1960s)

This article examines the emergence and subsequent development of ritual and memorial practices related to the commemoration of the dead participants in the Great Patriotic War in the USSR in the 1940s–1960s. The author demonstrates that the military ceremony that developed in 1941–1945 had a significant impact on the development of postwar commemorational rituals conducted by civilians near memorial buildings (guard of honour, pronouncing an oath, mourning salute). Further, the author considers the memorial innovations of the period of 1957–1968, which he calls “axial age,” when a memorial canon which practically did not change throughout the late Soviet period formed and is still relevant; it included the cult of the Unknown Soldier, the cult of Eternal Flame, and Komsomol-pioneer posts No. 1, etc. Their appearance in Soviet realities and subsequent distribution was due to a combination of many internal and external factors, and the coincidence of the efforts of various actors — from the top officials of the state to ideological lower-level workers and teachers. Individual ritual forms could be borrowed from abroad but transformed and adapted to Soviet memorial culture. Reflecting on the popular concept of “inventing traditions” by E. Hobsbawm and based on the examples he analysed, the author shows that the possibilities of inventing rituals “from scratch” are very limited. In fact, there is a process of creative construction, considering the practices, scenarios, material, and symbolic objects already existing in national or foreign memorial culture. There is also the effect of “ritual synergy” when the spread of some rituals creates conditions for the appearance and development of others.

Agni: The Eternal Flame Guiding Indian Life and Spirituality

This opinion delves into India's profound connection with Agni, exploring its significance as a symbol of divinity, transformation, and guidance. The ancient practice of Yagya, a ritual centered around Agni, has evolved through time, maintaining its relevance in modern India. Agni's teachings are reflected in Vedic mantras and are interwoven into the fabric of daily life through rituals like Balivaishya Yagya. The manuscript discusses Agni's role in 16 Sanskaras, guiding individuals through life's stages while promoting values and virtues. It also explores Agni's metaphysical dimension, manifested as sacred eternal flames or lamps, revered by Yogis and the masses alike. The spiritual essence of Agni is emphasized through practices like Yogagni, Pranagni, and Mantragni. Additionally, Maharshi Aurobindo's perspective unveils Agni's deep symbolism in Vedic hymns as a bridge between humanity and divine realms. Ultimately, the opinion underscores that Agni is not a mere concept, but an integral thread woven into the tapestry of Indian life, continuing to inspire generations to embrace wisdom, virtue, and spiritual growth.

Analisa Kinerja Metode Support Vector Machine untuk Analisa Sentimen Ulasan Pengguna Google Maps

Sentiment Analysis is a subset of data mining that analyzes, understands, processes, and extracts textual data in the form of opinions or reviews about a certain object. The advancement of technology, such as Google Maps, can make it easier to find information on the location of an object. Google Maps also gives an object review. These reviews provide information that can be used to examine the feelings expressed by visitors. A text mining methodology with the Support Vector Machine method is utilized to process customer review text data. This method is part of a classification strategy that recognizes and categorizes data into two portions separated by a hyperplane. The data used in this case study are visitors' reviews that is recorded on Google Maps Review of the Eternal Flame, a tourist attraction obejct located in Sumenep.

The sacralization of the secular in contemporary Russia: the “desecration” of the eternal flame

The article examines more than 100 cases of “desecration” of the Eternal Flame in Russia in the 2010s-2020s. In the context of criminal cases involving blasphemy and desecration of holy places, starting with the “Pussy Riot case”, the cases of the “desecration” of the Eternal Flame allow us to see, first, how the arguments and language used by the media and law enforcement in the legal discussion regarding the secular sacred are shaped; and second, how the shift from the symbolic to the material occurs in relation to symbols of memory in contemporary Russian society. The article shows how and on what grounds perpetrators of such behavior are prosecuted in contemporary Russia, and what penalties are imposed on them. Despite the presence of special norms on such deeds in the Russian criminal law, they are in some cases qualified by law enforcers with their use, in others as vandalism or desecration of the bodies of the dead and their burial places, in still others as administrative offences. Law enforcers in all cases clearly read their meaning (as an attempt on the sacred), but the Russian law lacks a legal definition of “desecration” (if the term itself exists), which apparently leads to the use of different norms to punish those responsible. Since these actions are interpreted by law enforcers as sacrilegious, it seems appropriate for us to propose for them the general term “memorial sacrilege”, by which we mean unconventional actions with memorial complexes and their elements, in particular the Eternal Flames, entailing the use of repression.

From Expellee to Refugee: Absolute Victimhood and the Dokumentationszentrum Flucht, Vertreibung, Versöhnung

The expulsion of millions of people and the loss of Germany's eastern territories at the end of the Second World War have been a part of ongoing public discussions about Vergangenheitsbewältigung, or Germany's “mastering of the past.” These events have deeply shaped personal and family memories in East and West Germany, even if political discourse about them had been marginalized in the German Democratic Republic. In the Federal Republic, the issue of expellees has been especially fraught because it represents the intersection of two discourses of German victimhood: war victims and victims of communism—here specifically the postwar East European governments that organized postwar expropriation and “resettlements.” Memorials range from the eternal flame on Theodor-Heuss-Platz in Berlin to the small plaque affixed to the wall outside of Bayreuth's train station for the almost 40,000 expellees from the Sudeten region who arrived on thirty-three freight trains in 1946. The expulsions have made their way into popular culture as well, as can be seen in the works of artists who had had little or no direct experience in the “German East.” In the 1969 song “Erstes Morgenrot,” for example, Alexandra (born as Doris Treitz in 1942 in today's Lithuania) wistfully looks forward to the dawn that brings greetings from the land where “my cradle once stood.” Heinz Rudolf Kunze, born in 1956, emphasizes his uprootedness and a sense of not belonging in his 1985 song “Vertriebener.”

Семиотические аспекты афганских татуировок

This article presents a semiotic analysis of Afghan tattoos done by Soviet soldiers in memory of their service in Afghanistan, when the Limited Contingent of Soviet Forces was deployed there (1979– 1989). As the material the author used photos of tattoos posted on six thematic websites. These tattoos were compared with similar sailor, prison and foreign military tattoos. The research found an essential difference between Afghan and prison tattoos and a strong influence of Western tattoo art on the former. At the same time, Afghan tattoos have unique forms of visual representation of the Soviet– Afghan War, which consist in using Islamic calendar, Arabic script, images of Soviet military vehicles and numerous Afghan toponyms. Interestingly, Afghan tattoos contain no official Soviet (hammer and sickle) or Eastern Orthodox (cross, angel, church, icon) symbols. Instead, we can see various animalistic images (eagle, tiger, wolf) and regimental identity insignia. Standing out among unofficial Soviet symbols represented in Afghan tattoos is the image of an eternal flame. Additionally, the research identified different modalities of perception of this war in tattoo art and Soviet/Russian cinematography: as a rule, films demonstrate the fatality of the Soviet–Afghan War, while in soldiers’ tattoos we observe a pronounced commemorative aspect and pride in their service in Afghanistan. On the whole, Afghan tattoos are an important cultural projection for understanding Soviet spiritual culture.

“To Live with Honor, or Die”: The Metamorphosis of Place, National Symbols, Masculinities, and Practices under State Terrorism (1973-1990)

This article explores the value of urban history and material culture in the study of memory. More specifically, it offers an examination through a masculine lens of the ways in which urban icons have impacted and shaped individual and national identities. The article focuses on Bulnes Square in Santiago de Chile and the Eternal Flame of Liberty as a key place and symbol of Augusto Pinochet’s “fascism in progress.” I draw on local press archives, advertising, and photographs to further explore the gender metaphor of state and nation as expressions of monolithic nationalism and their perpetuation of a hypermasculine tone, examining their links to place and national memory construction.

The eternal flame: Impressing on stigma against transgender population – A mental health perspective from a Tier 2 Indian City

The eternal flame: Impressing on stigma against transgender population – A mental health perspective from a Tier 2 Indian City

Omicron: An emerging variant of concern

Emerging infectious diseases are now a concern worldwide and can evolve into a global health-care crisis or pandemic. Identification of the Omicron variant (B.1.1.529) of severe acute respiratory syndrome-2 (SARS-CoV-2) which is considered a variant of concern has added fuel to the eternal flame of the global COVID-19 pandemic. There is an apparent sharp rise in cases of the new variant which is setting off alarm bells. The emergence of this new strain of the virus has taken a disproportionate toll in few countries including India. The need of the hour is to track the concerning rise of the new variant of the SARS-COV-2 causing COVID-19 and to prevent the reinfection.

Distribution of the total and dissolved mercury concentrations at the Irkutsk city snow sampling during winter 2021-2022

Abstract. We took 41 samples for a quantitative assessment of the total and dissolved mercury concentrations in the snow of the city of Irkutsk during winter 2021-2022. The maximum concentration of total mercury was recorded near the Eternal Flame memorial (248 ng/dm3); the minimum concentration was 6 ng/dm3 at the Jewish cemetery. The maximum concentration of dissolved mercury was recorded near the Aviation Plant (11.5 ng/dm3), and the minimum near the Maratovskoye traffic circle and Secondary School No. 66 (0.1 ng/dm3). In four samples, we did not detect dissolved mercury. Determining the mass concentration of mercury revealed that the concentrations of mercury compounds in the snow from Irkutsk were much lower than the MPC. Based on the results of the analysed samples, we created a cartographic material.

Феномен позднесоветского мистицизма

This article studies the phenomenon of mysticism in Soviet culture of the 1960s – 1980s. The starting point are the elements of mystical discourse in late Soviet cinematography, which captured both Soviet life and the Afghan War. This is surprising since official Soviet ideology strongly rejected mysticism. The very definition of mysticism in Soviet dictionaries was not entirely correct, since it gravitated towards theistic mysticism, focused on experiencing mystical unity with the Absolute. Meanwhile, starting from 1965, the Soviet Union saw a “mystical renaissance” due to the popularization of mystical literature (W. Messing, M. Bulgakov, D. Andreyev). Special mention must be made of A. Martynov, who outlined the paranormal phenomena of the Soviet period. One of the factors of this “mystical renaissance” was the traumatic experience of World War II, which was channelled into the Great Victory cult. This quasireligious practice included the meditative moment of silence, the eternal flame and monuments to the Motherland. Among other factors can be named a certain acceptance of religion as a form of culture and the New Age movement that came from the West. To a large extent, the revival of mysticism in the Soviet Union was facilitated by the crisis of science: the paradoxes of the vacuum theory and synergetics with its idea of generating order out of chaos. The main form of expression of late Soviet mysticism was the idea of a parallel world as a source of “paranormal phenomena”: for Messing and Martynov it is a mystical field, for Bulgakov, the fifth dimension, while for Andreyev, Shadanakar. In the Soviet Union, mass hypnosis associated with telepathy, as well as telekinesis, teleportation, levitation, and poltergeist were regarded as mystical phenomena. In addition, this article analyses the correlation between the notions of mysticism, spirituality and occultism. Their meanings overlap to a certain degree, since all three imply the existence of another world and the possibility of communicating with it. However, spirituality, which is actively used in world religions, belongs to the light side, while occultism is thought of as the dark side of mystical phenomena.

Meditations on Entropy in the Kitchen

Research Article| May 01 2021 Meditations on Entropy in the Kitchen Sam Browett Sam Browett Sam Browett is a professional chef with a degree in philosophy. After graduating from King’s College London, he began working in Michelin-starred restaurants in Paris and London. A keen eater and traveler, he enjoys writing about the intersection of food, philosophy, and culture around the world. Search for other works by this author on: This Site PubMed Google Scholar Gastronomica (2021) 21 (2): 109–110. https://doi.org/10.1525/gfc.2021.21.2.109 Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Share Icon Share Twitter LinkedIn Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Cite Icon Cite Search Site Citation Sam Browett; Meditations on Entropy in the Kitchen. Gastronomica 1 May 2021; 21 (2): 109–110. doi: https://doi.org/10.1525/gfc.2021.21.2.109 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search nav search search input Search input auto suggest search filter All ContentGastronomica Search I remember as a young child being fascinated by the alchemy that would take place in my home kitchen. My mother would take a few simple ingredients out of the pantry and combine and heat them in a certain way. Then, almost out of nowhere, a warm plate of Anzac biscuits would be sitting on the counter. Once unpalatable and reminiscent of sawdust, some oats and desiccated coconut were transformed into an edible embrace. I ate them just as homesick ANZAC soldiers (the name stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) had in World War I, and just as my mother had growing up in small-town New Zealand in the 1960s. Eating them felt like I was engaging with something persisting and transcendent, like I was witnessing an eternal flame. And yet, even as a child, I would... © 2021 by The Regents of the University of California2021 You do not currently have access to this content.

Remembrance Light At Memorial Sites

Everyone in Russia has been preparing to the 75th anniversary of the victory in World War Two despite the fact that the state-level commemoration events are being impeded by the global disaster which may be compared to a world war: the COVID‑19 pandemic. Like a war, it will eventually end but the memory about the anniversary must and will live on. Therefore, the subject of the article is topical: commemoration light and memory in light of an eternal flame and artistic and sacral illumination (Tribute in Light, like it was in New York in 2001). Numerous issues of architectural lighting of memorial sites and monuments in different Russian cities are under consideration. Positive and negative examples of light design solutions are described. It is also noted that information on contemporary state of this area is extremely insufficient.

CRIMSON QUARTZITE IN THE HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL HERITAGE OF RUSSIA AND THE WORLD

The Shoksha crimson quartzite deposit, known since the 18th century, lies 5 km north of Shoksha, an old Vepsian village in Prionezhsky District, Republic of Karelia (60 km from Petrozavodsk). The crimson quartzite has the following mineral composition: 94–96 % quartz, 2–3 % chalcedony, 0.5–1.0 % sericite, and up to 0.5 % iron oxides. It is called porphyry because of its deep purple colour imparted to it by iron oxides (the Greek word πορφύρεος or porphýreos means purple). As the rock is hard, durable, wear-resistant and ornamental, it is used as facing stone. The beauty of Shoksha porphyry was appraised by great architects, who knew the value of natural stones. The use of porphyry in the tomb of French Emperor and military leader Napoleon I, the mosaic floor of the Kazan Cathedral, the pedestal of the Monument of Nicholas I in St. Petersburg, the crowning section and the name Lenin of the Mausoleum in Moscow, and in other structures has made it famous. The builders and architects of Karelia’s capital have also given porphyry its due. Crimson quartzite was used to pave Pervomaisky Avenue in Petrozavodsk and to make the pedestals of monuments of S. М. Kirov, K. Marx and F. Engels, the rectangular portion of the Memorial Complex known as The Grave of the Unknown Soldier with the Eternal Flame, etc. The porphyry is now used for the production of paving stone, lining in ball mills, ornamental facing and ritual products, and in landscape design. The structures, in which this unique natural stone is used, will remain perpetual monuments to the skills of Russian and foreign architects. The article is a general overview of the history of use of Shoksha quartzite.

Eternal Flame of Victory — resonance of generations

An important event in the artistic life of the Far East in 2020 was the exhibition “Great Victory” in the Primorye State Art Gallery. The article provides an analytical review of this two-part exhibition. The first part is the work of the Honored Artist of the RSFSR, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Arts Kirill Shebeko, who will celebrate his 100th birthday this year. First of all, the Far Eastern paintings of the master, not Primorye, were specially selected from the collection for this exhibition. The second hall shows works of contemporary Primorye artists from Vladivostok, Ussuriysk, Nakhodka, Khabarovsk, Blagoveshchensk, Ulan-Ude, and Yakutsk prepared specifically for the 75th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War. Важным событием в художественной жизни Дальнего Востока в 2020 году стала выставка «Великая Победа» в Приморской государственной картинной галерее. В статье представлен аналитический обзор этой экспозиции, состоящей из двух частей. Первая часть — работы заслуженного художника РСФСР, члена-корреспондента Российской академии художеств Кирилла Ивановича Шебеко, которому в этом году исполняется 100 лет со дня рождения. Для выставки из коллекции специально отобраны прежде всего не приморские, а дальневосточные картины мастера. Во втором зале показаны подготовленные специально к 75-летию Победы произведения современных приморских художников из Владивостока, Уссурийска, Находки, Хабаровска, Благовещенска, Улан-Удэ, Якутска.

Art on Trial. Freedom of Artistic Expression and the European Court of Human Rights

The way that art is judged in courtroom shapes way it is perceived at large and has a direct consequence on how it can be appreciated by society. Surely, not all art is to everybody's liking. Even judges at Strasbourg fall into subjective definitions of artistic merit sometimes, despite their commendable attempts to stay detached and open-minded. In recent Sinkova v. Ukraine case, a divided Fourth Section of European Court of Human Rights ruled that applicant's conviction for an artistic performance featuring applicant frying eggs over Eternal Flame at a war memorial, did not breach her freedom of expression; finally, protecting memory of soldiers from insult, outweighs applicants right to free expression. The artistic nature of applicant's actions is ignored by ECtHR and in absence of an explanatory context, performance is dismissed as a senseless provocation. But how informed are judges in art theory and form and on what grounds do they speculate about artistic merit and motive? This essay will focus on significance ECtHR attaches to protection of artistic expression and ways in which it regulates dynamics between artistic freedom and public morals. A cursory review of relevant case-law (cases which have at their center controversial artworks) will show that, more often than not, when freedom of artistic expression is set against need to protect public morals, or the rights of others, ECtHR favors latter.

The Hall of Remembrance at Yad Vashem: Israel’s Holocaust Commemoration Monument

ABSTRACTThis article discusses the design and construction of the Hall of Remembrance (ohel yizkor), the main memorial monument at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem. It describes years of complex deliberations among the leaders of Yad Vashem and the decisions they made throughout the years. Between 1942, when the idea of establishing a Holocaust memorial monument in Eretz Israel was first raised, and 1961, when the Hall of Remembrance was inaugurated, the initial idea of designing Yad Vahsem as a large-scale site with several memorial structures was replaced with the decision to construct a site of much smaller dimensions, with this impressive yet minimalistic building at its center. The fact that it contains nothing but the names of the concentration and extermination camps, an eternal flame, and a symbolic grave with the ashes of Holocaust victims created an intense experience.The Hall of Remembrance was intentionally built of concrete and basalt, as opposed to the local Jerusalem stone. The building had no features typical of Israeli or Jerusalem architecture. Authenticity was created using sophistication, realizing that Yad Vashem could not offer physical remains or extermination sites, but rather memories alone. As that, the site successfully reflects the connection between Israel and Europe, between the years of devastation and the years in which the institution was established, and between suffering and redemption. Although memory of the Holocaust is not explicit, but rather practically implied, the leaders and architects of Yad Vashem succeeded in transforming the Mount of Remembrance and the Hall of Remembrance at its heart into the most prominent memorial site in the State of Israel.

Military Concepts in the Russian Linguistic World Image (as in the case of " Warrior" Concept)

The article features the cognitive signs of the warrior concept. The main representation of the concept is stylistically marked. The word warrior is often used in elevated style. In Russian culture, the army has always been a special estate that protects the people and the Russian lands. The concept warrior proved to have some structural peculiarities. It includes seven motivating signs in the structure of the concept: (battle) cry, army, conquest, hunting, desire / aspiration, target, dedication. Only four of them transformed with time and moved into the category of conceptual signs: army → warrior / defender / one who is fighting; desire / aspiration + goal + dedication → purposeful (person). The second group of the structure is formed by twenty conceptual signs: military, liberator, fighter, (military) employee, soldier, (experienced) in military affairs, warrior / defender / the one who fights, hero, protector, brave man, winner, squire, courageous / valiant (man), role model / example for imitation, responsible (man), purposeful (person), giving a debt to the country, ready for self-sacrifice / accomplishing a feat, participant in the war, patriot / devotee / loyal (Motherland / Fatherland / people). These cognitive characteristics show a wide range of functional manifestations of modern representations of military occupation. The special group includes figurative stereotypical and gender signs, since a warrior has always been a male hero in Russian linguistic culture. The stereotypes of Russian linguistic culture are connected with the military past of our people, with its heroic epos, tales, and legends. Symbolic signs make up a separate group. The structure of the studied concept includes sixteen symbolic signs, which are also connected with the history of the Russian people with its numerous wars and victories: gods and saints, (fraternal) graves of warriors, war veterans, eternal flame, (military) rituals, (military) units, banner, George the Victorious, coat of arms, hero cities, icons, awards (orders and medals, weapons), monuments (obelisks and columns), songs and marches, field, status Hero-city, temple.

Between dream and reality: The rehabilitation of war-disabled Belgian soldiers, 1914 – 1921

Este artículo pretende contribuir al creciente interés por la historia de la discapacidad, la historia de la educación de personas con discapacidad y la historiografía existente sobre la Gran Guerra. Se centrará en la rehabilitación de los soldados belgas ciegos y físicamente discapacitados. El artículo toma como punto de partida la ceremonia del Soldado Desconocido, que se celebró a principios de los años veinte. Aunque a todo el mundo le resulta familiar la Columna del Congreso de Bruselas y la llama eterna que arde en la tumba del soldado desconocido, pocos son los que conocen que fue un hombre ciego quien jugó un papel importante en la ceremonia fúnebre y que fueron ocho soldados físicamente discapacitados los que llevaron al soldado desconocido a su lugar de descanso final. En esta ceremonia, se creó implícitamente una imagen exitosa de rehabilitación y reeducación que mostraba que los soldados discapacitados podían volver a jugar un papel significativo en la sociedad. Esta imagen será desmenuzada a través de un estudio en detalle de las diversas fuentes que se preservan en los archivos de Flandes y Bruselas, incluidos los Archivos del Estado, los Archivos del Palacio Real, los del Museo Real de la Fuerzas Armadas e Historia Militar, los del Instituto Nacional Belga para los Veteranos y Víctimas de Guerra y los del St. Dunstan’s Institute en Londres. A partir del material fotográfico y los expedientes personales de los soldados discapacitados belgas, se demostrará que la rehabilitación no fue en absoluto un «paseo por el parque» y que para un número de soldados sencillamente no fue posible. Más específicamente, nuestra presentación se centrará en las maneras en que el concepto de rehabilitación tomó forma en los institutos de rehabilitación belgas como el de Boschwoorde para soldados ciegos y la escuela de Port-Villez (Francia) para soldados discapacitados.

An Eternal Flame: The Elemental Governance of Wildfire’s Pasts, Presents and Futures

Views of fire in the contemporary physical sciences arguably accord with Heraclitus’ proposal that ‘all things are an exchange for fire, and fire for all things, as goods for gold and gold for goods.’ Fire is a media, as John Durham Peters has stated, a species of transformative biochemical reactions between the flammable gases found in air, such as oxygen, and those found in fuels, such as plants. Inspired by an ignition source, these materials react and transform themselves and their surrounds into light and heat energy, carbon dioxide, water vapour, char and much else besides. Fire is conjunctural, durational and transformative. Fire is a dialectician, at once consuming living and dead organic matter and providing both the space and ingredients for new and renewed organic life. In this article, we draw upon our experience of combustible contexts—Australia, Canada and the Philippines—to consider the diverse ways in which fire is today framed as a social problem, an ecological process, an ancient tool, a natural disaster, a source of economic wealth and much more. In this way, we seek to explore the value and limits of ‘elemental thinking’ in relation to the planetary predicaments described by ‘the Anthropocene’.