Feminine Principle Research Articles

Gendering visions of the postcolonial modernist state through names: a literary onomastic analysis of Nii Ayikwei Parkes’s Tail of the Blue Bird (2009)

African literature is a crucial arena for deconstructing norms, and imagining communities or alternative modes of sociality and being. In many postcolonial African literary works, particularly those grappling with the legacy of European colonisation and the challenges of nation-building, the modernist state is frequently depicted as an entity emblematic of violence and dispossession inflicted upon the populace. However, it is also sometimes portrayed as offering a degree of hope and possibility amidst the turmoil. Drawing on literary onomastics and insights from Rights and Feminist theories, the article examines Parkes’ strategic use of names to articulate ethicality in Tail of the Blue Bird. Parkes argues for a true decolonisation by radically replacing and reassessing the patriarchal ideology that creates violence and trauma in postcolonial societies. This should happen by embracing the feminine principles represented by the main female characters in the novel. The article shows that the semiotics and character roles of Esi Mensisi and Yaa Somu as women constitute crucial sites for Parkes’ rumination on human flourishing and ethicality in the postcolonial modernist state. The article has implications for studies on literary onomastics, characterisation, and how African writers attempt to reimagine postcolonial politics and sociality.

JAHON SIVILIZATSIYASI VA MADANIYATI TARIXIDA AYOL-MA’BUDALAR

The article makes an attempt to analyze the place of female goddesses in the history of civilization, to reveal the meaning of the feminine principle and the genesis of the female cult in ancient cultures, to explore female symbolism in the rituals and traditions of ancient and modern times.

SIMBOLI U OPECI: ZNAČENjE APSIDE CRKVE SV. DIMITRIJA (MARKOV MANASTIR) U MARKOVOJ SUŠICI KOD SKOPLjA

The apse of St. Demetrios Church in Markova Sušica stands as a profound testament to the intricate interplay of symbolism within the 14th century Serbian architecture. The analysis delves into the specific brickwork patterns, decoding their symbolic meaning. Drawing from the Christian symbolism and theological insights from St. Gregory of Nyssa and St. Basil the Great, the article explores the use of geometric patterns to elevate the mind toward divine contemplation. The article also integrates these symbols into the broader theological context,referencing the Еconomy of Salvation and iconographic representations within the apse. Thus, it is concluded that the apse of St. Demetrios Church emerges as a powerful embodiment of the divine principle, intricately connected to the sacred landscape of Matka. Its rounded form, reminiscent of a womb, symbolizes the nurturing embrace of the Mother of God. The interplay of colors and symbols invites the faithful on a spiritual journey guided by the divine feminine principle, providing a comprehensive exploration of the architectural and symbolic aspects of this medieval Serbian masterpiece.

Vietnam Cult of the Mother Goddess and its Influence on Confucian Ethics in Vietnam

Vietnam is a country with many spiritual beliefs that reflect the values of its inhabitants, being an important component of their traditional culture. A special place is occupied by faith in the Mother Goddess. This kind of beliefs, which is completely unique for Vietnam, has a long history and emphasizes the feminine principle through the image of a woman with the power and ability to create, enrich and develop everything that exists. Faith in the Mother Goddess reflects the values and high human qualities of the Vietnamese, and it has been recognized by UNESCO as an object of representative intangible cultural heritage of humanity. Confucian ethics was adopted in Vietnam, but it was influenced by the Vietnamese belief in the Mother Goddess. The cult of the Mother Goddess also had a great influence on the ideas about the role of women in society. The study analyzes the origins, features and values of this cult and indicates its influence on the Vietnamese Confucian ethics. It is established that the activities of the worship of the Mother Goddess contribute to strengthening the sense of community of the Vietnamese nation. In connection with the development of Confucian ethics within the framework of Vietnamese culture, the attitude towards women has changed to a more humane and open one. In modern times, the cult of mother worship has acquired secular features and can be seen as a sign of gender equality.

IMAGES OF THE FIRST PRIMAL FOREFATHERS OF THE HUNNO-BULGARS AND THEIR ETHNOGENETIC TRADITIONS

The purpose of the study is to trace the evolutionary path of the images of the primal forefathers of the Hunno-Bulgars and their descendants.
 
 Materials and methods. Ethnographic data from ancient and later sources were used, an ethnolinguistic and comparative approach to the study was applied. The etymological works of modern linguists-Turkologists are considered.
 
 Results. In this article, the word “primal forefather” refers to the “natural-ancestral divine essence” of Eastern (primarily Chinese) antiquity. The most ancient images of the Hunno-Bulgars’ primal forefathers were formed in the pre-Altai era. They reflected the surrounding world of ancient hunters, primarily the world of wild animals. People concluded an agreement on mutual donation with the ancestral primal forefather *taŋgïrï (“oath”, “deity”). In the era of contacts with the ancestors of the Chinese, the Huns (Xiongnu) began to represent their primal forefather as a celestial inhabitant, setting the world in motion by shifting the masculine and feminine principles. In different epochs of interrelations with the tribes of Eastern Iranians, the culture of the ancestors of the Bulgaro-Chuvash experienced the beneficial effect of their “animal style”. In the early Middle Ages, various narrative texts about the primal forefathers-giants and epic heroes-bogatyrs began to appear in their folk art. The ethnogenetic legends of the Chuvash eventually transformed into legends about the origin of their settlements.
 
 Conclusions. A comparative analysis of the images of the primal forefathers of the ancient ancestors of the Hunno-Bulgars and their descendants showed that these images were constantly evolving, gaining new features. At first they appeared to people in the guise of a sacred animal; a little later, instead of the leading animal, the primal forefather-hunter appears who finds new lands; then the Bulgarian plot of the ethnogenetic legend gradually turns into a narrative about an extraordinary giant hero, surprising with his physique and strength. The Turkic–speaking peoples of the Volga region and the Urals called such a hero Ulap/Alp, and the meadow Mari and the Udmurts – Onar and Alangasar.

Tagore Creates Nation through Purusha and Prakriti Synthesis

The present paper is an essay in miniature proposing to illuminate on the debate about the cultural identity of India, the place of religion, caste, class and gender in it, initiated by Rabindranath Tagore in his novel ‘Gora’ (1909) at the beginning of the twentieth century. Situated within the larger conflict between modernisation and the Hindu tradition – inevitable in a British-occupied India further complicated the question of freedom, gender’s role in nation-building and selfhood. The author here goes on to explode the fallacy of the supposedly inclusive western ideals which alienate a few from the millions of Indians as also the negative social consequences of accepting uncritically a monolithic Hindu tradition. Thus Gora as a novel attacks the absurdity of looking at cultural options with characters possessing contesting ideologies and aims not at individual, static utterances, but at dialogic negotiations in understanding the creation of a new revived nation free of confronting socio-political ideologies and the role of gender in it. That the main protagonist Gora recognizes the intellectual woman and thinking human being in Sucharita is indicative of accepting prakriti– the feminine principle of creation as well. Thus prakriti, the feminine principle of creation in Sucharita affects Gora’s ideology of defensive orthodoxy, subtly and indirectly, propelling him towards sympathy and understanding of Bharatvarsha, the gendered way.

The Cuckoo Image in the Buryats Traditional Concepts and Rituals

Purpose. The study is devoted to identifying the image of the cuckoo in the Buryats mythological ideas and traditional rituals.Results. In the first part of the work, a general description of the cuckoo image is given based on the vocabulary and small genres of the buryat folklore. It was found that the Buryats particularly noted the voice and physical dexterity of this bird from its other biological features. It was also associated with such a negative trait of a person as idle talk.The second part of the study examines the Buryats mythological ideas about the cuckoo. It was found out that the cuckoo appears in the Buryat epic as a sacred bird, a conductor of the celestials will. It has a feminine origin: women are believed to turn into this bird after death as a punishment for easy virtue and committing suicide. The cuckoo image is also associated with the motif of werewolf, ideas about the evergreen needles acquisition by larch trees and the milk wine invention. In the Buryat epic, this bird often acts as a bearer of knowledge about the past and a wealth giver. The dual nature of the magical effect of the cuckoo’s voice was revealed: on the one hand, it can be beneficial for man and nature, on the other hand, it can destroy a person. The negative features of the cuckoo image are associated with the symbolism of death, which is reflected in folk signs, in particular in the superstition about the cuckoo ability to predict a person’s life expectancy.The third part of the article highlights the cuckoo image in the Buryats shamanic ritual. It has been established that it was localized in the shamanic rite of the Aghin Buryats, probably being a relic of totemism.Conclusion. The study shows that the cuckoo image in the mythological ideas of the Buryats is very ambiguous. This bird was revered as a sacred feathered. It personified the feminine principle. The cuckoo was characterized by solar and celestial symbolism, in addition it acted as a fertility symbol, which was manifested in the correlation of the image with nature rhythms and renewal. This bird was associated with sacred trees (the shamanic Mother Tree and the World Tree). At the same time, the image of the cuckoo also had negative characteristics, primarily because it was closely associated with ideas about death.The study shows that some traditional ideas of the Buryats about this bird find parallels with the mythological concepts of other peoples of Eurasia, which is explained by their universality or typological identity and, probably, intercultural contacts that took place in the past.

Foregrounding the Feminine Principle in Pushpa Kumari’s Contemporary Mithila Painting

This paper explores artist Pushpa Kumari’s female-centered perspectives in Mithila Paintings that foreground the grace of Shakti, goddess Kali, in all females. Moreover, it examines the agency of women as a source of fertility and energy centralizing on how the bi-union of Prakriti and Purusha, the cosmicized versions of the earthly phenomenal male and female, reflects one integrated form, an indivisible whole. Basically, the paper is based on Kumari’s preference for tantrism, which accepts fundamental dualism, through which an individual encounters universal phenomena. Thus, this paper will provide a new insight on females’ subjectivity—how in tantric rituals every woman, a counterpart of feminine principle, as a microcosmic version of feminine power shakti becomes a reincarnation of cosmic energy symbolizing the ultimate essence of reality.

Восток и Запад в оперных нарративах ХХ века: от столкновений к зеркальным отражениям

The article is devoted to the evolution of the perception and implementation of the culture of the Far East in the narratives of Western operas of the twentieth century. As material, the author turns to "Madama Butterfly" and "Turandot" by Giacomo Puccini, "Curlew River" by Benjamin Britten, "A Night at the Chinese Opera" by Judith Weir. A holistic view of the evolution of the perception and interpretation of the East in the opera of the twentieth century has not yet been undertaken. Operas by Puccini and Britten were not considered from the perspective of the specifics of narrative, Weir’s "A Night at the Chinese Opera" is practically unexplored. The article traces the path of transformation of the perception of China and Japan in European opera narratives of the twentieth century from the confrontation of worlds to their interpenetration and awareness of deep identity. There are two main stages in the evolution of the oriental theme in the twentieth century, the line between which was drawn by the events of the Second World War. In the operatic narratives of the first stage, there is a connection with the romantic tradition of personifying the West and the East as masculine and feminine principles with the invariable victory of the West. The opera narratives of the second, pivotal stage demonstrate the disappearance of the conflict between East and West. As tools for the dialogue of cultures, the author notes Britten’s and Weirs’ reflection of plots from one culture in the narrative of another, as well as the comparison of theatrical systems: European and Far Eastern.

М. ПРИШВИН И А. ХЕЙДОК: ДИАЛОГ О МАНЬЧЖУРИИ, ЧЕЛОВЕКЕ И ИСТИНЕ («ЖЕНЬ-ШЕНЬ» И «ЗВЕЗДЫ МАНЬЧЖУРИИ»)

The article is devoted to the consideration of the phenomenon of literary «synchrony» – contemporaneous appearance of the phenomenon of philosophical and poetical identity in the texts of authors who never crossed with each other in the living space. A comparative analysis of the famous novel by M. Prishvin “ Ginseng “ and the little-known collection of short stories by A. Haydock “The Stars of Manchuria” suggests that the creative searches of the authors developed in the same way. Through the comprehension of eastern nature and Eastern philosophy, writers come to the idea of the unity of all living things and the interconnectedness of everything with this in a single stream of Being. Paintings of neo-romantic nature, motives of escape from reality, music, the search for the ideal feminine principle, the “keys of happiness” and the truth of human existence play an equally significant role in both texts. All this allows us to understand in a new way not only the Prishvin creativity, but also the literary process of the 1930s in the unity of two branches – the metropolis and the eastern line of the «first wave» of Russian emigration.

A View From India on Women Achievers, Knowledge Systems, Psychology, and Psi

In the millennia old cultural moorings of the Indian sub-continent, the feminine principle, Shakti (prakrti, primordial cosmic energy, nature), is a core principle. Shakti is venerated in her benign and malevolent forms across the country. Despite the uncertainties of life, human nature, and society, women have played a significant role in the survival and progress of this ancient civilizattion. Indian women, in the formal and informal sectors, have contributed to the knowledge systems and the scientific enterprise. In the first part of this paper, I present a brief historical background on the status of women, and few recent examples of Indian women achievers. As a psi theorist, my interest rests in understanding the phenomena, for which understanding core concepts becomes a necessity. India is home to a diversity of philosophical schools and a vast body of literature that cover the body-mind-consciousness complex, with several scholars from the past to the present, contributing their views. Based in the Indian knowledge systems, Indian psychology has much to contribute the theoretical issues in psi. In the context of this special issue, an inter- and intra-school discussion becomes too vast. Thus, in this paper I take the approach of presenting a consolidated view without fidelity to any specific school of thought. In the first section relevant core concepts are briefly described. This is followed by briefly describing the views on psi perceptions, both in agreement and disagreement, as noted by scholars from the various schools of thought.

The Material Cultures of the Iranian Home: Cultural Reading

This study aims to identify the main components of the material cultures of Iranian homes. Accordingly, based on the grounded theory, content analyses of plans, diagrams, interviews, and field observations are done. An expert sampling as a type of purposive sampling is used for choosing Iranian traditional houses. The results show core concepts of the material cultures of the Iranian home are confidentiality (Hijab), collaboration, purification, contentment, obedience and submission, and humility. In the form of division of paths (porch), defined communications of spaces, use of different door knockers at the entrance, observance of hierarchy, and access from public to private spaces are defined confidentiality. The second important cultural concept of these homes is the obedience and submission that are induced by religious signs and abstract decorations in the interior space. Humility is also emphasized by avoiding showing off and ostentation and aligning the body and facade of houses with the environment. It seems that the material cultures of the Iranian home have the capability to be the architectural patterns of houses, but when are combined with privacy values and feminine principles.

Jasmine: Feminine healing qualities related to the wisdom of salt-With a focus on sandplay therapy-

This study examined the symbolism of Jasmine, a character in Disney’s Aladdin films, whose archetype emerged as a compensation for what was lacking in a child’s consciousness through sandplay therapy. To understand the symbolism of Jasmine, this study was conducted regarding Jasmine’s origin and background by watching two films and reading related stories before analyzing the client’s sandpictures. A 7-year-old girl with symptoms of separation anxiety was the client in this study. The symbol of Jasmine, or the feminine healing qualities that help form a relationship through the wisdom of salt, emerged in the client’s sandpictures as the possibility of growth, light of consciousness, healing power, harmony with masculine energy, and a new image of family. The feminine principles that engage in relationships through the wisdom of salt is a value, encompssing all of us, that penetrates the times. The wisdom is discovered as an outcome of the pain that lead to growth. The sandplay process healed the client’s psychological difficulties while the Jasmine symbol gave her the strength and courage that she needed to form a relationship with the world through a new wisdom of life.

Logique et dialectique du masculin/féminin dans l’imaginaire cosmogonique peul et bambara

"This article explores the imaginary of the masculine and the feminine in the Fulani and Bambara cosmogony. We try to show that there is not absolute masculine or feminine in these two cultural universes, insofar as the feminine always implies a masculine principle and the masculine a feminine principle. And this dialectical principle that covers each of the two categories aims to relativize the power of this category in relation to the other. Moreover, in these two cultures, the attributes of the feminine are often more valuable than those of the masculine."

Semantic-pragmatic analysis of female and male ways of communication

This article provides a semantic-porophymatic analysis of female and male ways of communication. The object of the study is gender-sensitive statements that reflect modern ideas about the masculine and feminine principles. In fact, the linguistic mechanisms of constructing the masculine and feminine principles, namely, lexical-grammatical and semantic-syntactic means, are being studied.

GENDER AND ARCHETYPE AS COMPONENTS OF THE CHARACTER ANALYSIS IN “DEMIAN” AND “NARCISSUS AND GOLDMUND” BY HERMANN HESSE

The article is devoted to the study of gender in the works of the German writer Hermann Hesse, in particular the gender roles and archetypes of anima and animus traced in characters of his novels. During the research, the role of the androgynous personality in society has been clarified. The anima and animus as the most important definitions in gender studies are singled out from the general system of archetypes by Carl Gustav Jung. Features and ways of synthesis of masculine and feminine principles in the human psyche are characterized. The analysis of the works of Hermann Hesse includes the novels “Demian” (1919) and “Narcissus and Goldmund” (1930). With the definition of the concepts, the presence of elements of the psychoanalysis theory and gender studies in the works of Hermann Hesse has been proved. The characters of the novel have been analyzed and characterized in terms of masculinity and femininity. Due to this research, we have been able to clearly define the system of images from the perspective of gender, which makes it possible to use literary works in gender issues more confidently and to characterize the writing activity in a more structured way against the background of gender studies.

The Power of Story Telling: Michaela Kopp-Marx in Conversation with Author Patrick Roth

This interview addresses the need to bring back into view the archetypal background in the life of the individual. German-American writer Patrick Roth explains that our seemingly trivial and thus meaningless quotidian life is imbued with mythic dimensions that we commonly overlook. Roth?s most recent book, Starlite Terrace, set in the city of movies, Los Angeles, confronts the spiritually depleted world of today with the mysteriously deep imagery of dreams. It demonstrates how numinous forces are at work in the lives of individuals, which trace a hidden pattern providing coherence and orientation. The conversation revolves around the bringing together of opposites as a central task for the modern individual. A new relationship to the feminine principle, feeling, would be helpful in this context. Patrick Roth lets us know what he has learned from depth psychology—both for his personal individuation process and for his work as a writer. He vividly explains what the objective psyche means to him. With his background as a filmmaker, it is no coincidence that classic Hollywood cinema finds its way into his storytelling, as well as images from his own archetypal dreams. And thus every book Patrick Roth works on becomes a vessel for his own consciousness raising.

Female images of God in the works of Church Fathers and other Christian writers before the XIX century

There is a common misconception among some Christians that the idea of God as a feminine principle is strongly influenced by liberal theology and queer studies of the 20th and 21st centuries. In part, this is true: attention to women’s legal awareness in modern Europe raises the question of the relationship between the sexes. However, carefully studying earlier periods of the history of church creativity, we find that saints and heroes of faith of different denominations came to the conviction that God is the Mother and has traditionally female characteristics, not at all in connection with the struggle of the fair sex for their rights, but thanks to personal mystical experience and perception of the Trinity as a prototype of the earthly human family. The article is devoted to the study of the topic of the femininity of God in general and the Holy Spirit in particular. The author suggests looking at the Holy Trinity through the prism of the outstanding writers of the Christian world from the 1st to the 19th centuries, showing that the modern theology of femininity has a long and rich prehistory, rooted in Christian antiquity and closely connected with family archetypes.

Проблема конструирования женского субъекта в творчестве З. Гиппиус в контексте гендерной теории Вейнингера

The paper deals with the issue of interrelation of the feminine and masculine in human nature in the aspect of possibility of constructing of the feminine creative subjectivity in literature and art — one of the key issues in Zinaida Gippius studies. The main principles of her gender theory are formulated by Gippius in the context of critical analysis of the Otto Weininger's book “Gender and character”. The authors analyse the reflection of those principles in Gippius' critical article “Zverebog” and in her other articles on gender and love and some of her poems, establishing the relation of them with Gippius and Merezhkovskiy's religious ideas. The study shows that while Gippius shares with Weininger his concept of bisexuality and androgynity of human nature, she also critically reconsiders the meaning and role of feminine principle as strictly objective (even in the form of divine principle of eternal femininity) and comes to an altogether different understanding: the feminine principle is the basis of feminine subjectivity that is in essence equal to masculine and is ultimately realized in divine nature. The paper addresses several poems to illustrate this point: “She” (1), “She” (2), “Non-existent”, “Eternally feminine”. The authors also dwells upon views of Gippius on Berdiaev and Soloviev's gender ideas as well as her reception of Ibsen's literary heroines.

«Нетварная твердь»: Вяч. Иванов и С. Булгаков (об одном стихотворении)

Russian symbolist Vyacheslav Ivanov and religious philosopher Sergius Bulgakov were connected by formal relations and friendship in 1905–1918. In 1914 Ivanov published the poem “Mother” (“Te glyby chto nezhno zasypali grob...”), with a dedication to Bulgakov. The article discusses this poem and its draft version, which allows to trace the movement of the poet’s creative thought. The biographical context is the death of Bulgakov’s mother — he described his intimate experience in the “Unfading Light” (“Svet Nevecherniy”). Special attention is paid to the symbols and motifs typical to Ivanov’s poetics: the firmament, the sun-heart and the motive of transparency. An idea, common both for Ivanov and Bulgakov, is that of some preworld feminine principle that appears in their texts under different names: as Sophia, the Soul of the World, Great Mother, Mother Earth. They are also united by the special attitude towards death which is understood in a Christian way — as a birth into a new life and just a step on the path of resurrection. The intertextual connections of the poem with the philosophical and theological works by Bulgakov may be considered as a result of mutual influence and their reliance on common sources.