Intellectual Circles Research Articles

BETWEEN PRESTIGE AND DEPRAVITY: OBSERVATIONS ON THE EARLY RECEPTION OF DANTE AND BOCCACCHIO IN BULGARIA (1878 – 1918)

The current study focuses on the presence of the Italian classic authors Dante, Petrarch and Boccaccio in the period from the National Liberation to the end of World War I. The reception scope after the National Liberation is actually hard to trace and some surprising findings might appear on the horizon, especially regarding the scattered in periodicals texts. The published translated books are not indicative of the reception range during the analyzed period and they constitute only a small part of it. A large number of works by the most popular authors reached the Bulgarian audience through translations published in periodicals, textbooks and anthologies. Moreover, a lot of translated works did not appear in specialized philological publications, but in the literary sections and serials of daily newspapers. As early as the first decade after the Liberation, the classics missing from the Revival catalogue of translated literature started to appear. The Bulgarian reader became acquainted with the sporadic works of authors studied at school like Dante, Petrarch, Boccaccio, Torquato Tasso, Ludovico Ariosto, Carlo Goldoni, Vittorio Alfieri, Giacomo Leopardi and Ugo Foscolo. In the defined period, the classic authors were not among the most influential translated Italian writers for the Bulgarian audience during the epoch. This is evidenced by the limited distribution of Konstantin Velichkov’s translation of Inferno, which managed to attract the interest of only a small circle of intellectuals. A main reception factor is the taste of the reading audience, which predominantly in the postliberation conditions still lacked structured esthetic criteria and preferred more common and comprehensible literature.

Pattern of Aging Transition in Nepal: A New Sociological Perspective

Aging has been a key social phenomenon based on demographic transition, which is powered by the decrease of birth and death rates, and an increase of life expectancy at birth. It in the recent times has been highly successful in drawing more serious attention of an intellectual circle across the world. Society often considers aging as a problem that creates serious imbalances in a social system, but the condition of aging people and the impact of aging differs depending on the countries. Thus, the situation of aging people in Nepal drastically differs from aging people in other industrialized countries. Notwithstanding ageism a serious social problem, this paper describes only the transition in the structure and pattern of aging people that has taken place in the last seven decades in Nepal. It further makes an advocacy of different sociological perspectives to study aging in Nepalese context. Aging people in Nepal are living at risk, but the risks they have faced are far less compared to the aging people in real world-scenario.

The Role of the Debates on the Definition of the Italian Oral Language and on the Means of Its Propagation after the Italian State Declaration

The article examines the role of debates on the definition of a national oral language in Italy, where the divergence between the written, literary language and oral dialects has historically been very significant. The decisive contribution to the definition of the oral language, by choosing the Florentine language as the model of the oral Italian language was made by Alessandro Manzoni along with Graziadio Isaiah Ascoli, who suggested that the adoption of the Florentine language would lead to a formal cult of “popular purity” instead of the ideal of “classical purity”, and that the linguistic would be the result of a deeper action with the aim of spreading culture and bridging the gap, separating a small circle of intellectuals from the rest of the population. In conclusion, the author considers that the convergence of written and spoken Italian has led to the fact that, today, the proficiency in written language among Italians is lower than the average in European countries, and Italians still perceive the spoken language as an unnatural language.

Humanitarian Intervention in Syria: A Critical Analysis

In academic and intellectual circles, Humanitarian Intervention (HI) and the duty to protect have historically been seen as morally and ethically right because of its contentious practices have been at the forefront of international relations discourse in recent years. Having failed to come up with a consensus set of rules, parameters and principles to justify intervention, the Just War logic of Humanitarian Intervention falls flat on the face of the sovereign rights of the states. In this milieu, this article critically examines the rationale of humanitarian intervention in Syria and evaluates the concept of just war to claim that it is outdated and its application in the name of humanitarian intervention needs to be assessed. This study adopts the theory of social constructivism to decode the liberal perspective of Humanitarian Invention as a just war or socially constructed to manipulate world public opinion and address the inherent national interests of involved countries or the diplomatic failure of the United Nations Organization.

BOOK REVIEW: Nick Miller, The Nonconformists. Culture, Politics, and Nationalism in a Serbian Intellectual Circle, 1944–1991

BOOK REVIEW: Nick Miller, The Nonconformists. Culture, Politics, and Nationalism in a Serbian Intellectual Circle, 1944–1991

19. Yüzyılda Azerbaycan ve Osmanlı Türk Aydınları Arasındaki Etkileşim

The 19th century in the history of the Ottoman Empire and Azerbaijan was marked by a number of political events that led to a change in the direction of the socio-cultural development of the Turkic societies in both countries. The reforms of the first half of the 19th century in the field of education and culture with their development of new socio-political programs, the emergence of new socio-cultural phenomena, new genres of literature, ideological and political trends gave rise to a new social stratum - the intelligentsia. This stratum, as the main bearer of the advanced ideas of the time, will play a significant role in the enlightenment of their own peoples. And the interaction between representatives of both intellectual circles will contribute to the spread of new knowledge and ideas throughout the region. The present article deals with the interrelations between the Azerbaijani and Ottoman intelligentsia in the 19th century. The interpretation and analysis of historical context via structural-diachronic methods help us better understand the nature of these relations and the effect they had on the events of the early 20th century.

Kültürel Sermaye Kavramına Bir Katkı: Memlük Entelektüel Çevrelerinde Muhtasarın Yeniden Üretimi

In recent years, Pierre Bourdieu’s views on social structure and order, consisting of reproduction, competition, and struggle in education and various cultural fields, attracted the attention of modern researchers in understanding the socio-intellectual life of the Mamluks. Bourdieu’s methodology, which usually involved criticisms of existing assumptions, was based on investigating each subject in its context. His explanations for determining the social order among complex social relations played an essential role in understanding the data in the Mamluk texts. This paper benefits from Bourdieu’s concepts of cultural capital and reproduction to understand the production of knowledge in the socio-intellectual life of the Mamluk and tries to base the textual reproduction in the intellectual circles of the Mamluk on the mukhtasar. The study proposes a quadruple categorization of the mukhtasar, which are claimed to be the primary texts of the cultural activities in the Mamluk period. Accordingly, the effect of mukhtasars produced by the Mamluk ulama concerning the transfer and transformation of knowledge are among the most significant matters emphasized. Firstly, the study discusses the significance of the commentaries written by the Mamluk cultural elite on mukhtasars in the transfer of knowledge. Secondly, the contribution of the summarizations performed on mukhtasars to reproducing knowledge is examined. Thirdly, mukhtasars introduced by the ulama belonging to four madhhabs in Mamluk intellectual circles because of their search for a shared methodology are reviewed. Finally, independent mukhtasars produced during the Mamluk period are discussed within the historical process. It should be noted that this paper, which is conducted to determine the significance of mukhtasars during the Mamluk period, recognizes the characteristics of higher education in the period within itself.

Migration Depicted in Cartoons

This paper examines the depiction of migrations from Kosovo and Metohija during the 1980s in cartoons published in Yugoslavia’s most prominent satirical newspaper – Jež (Hedgehog). During that time, readers were consistently exposed to emotionally charged drawings illustrating the departure of emigrants. What was significant in these illustrations was the wearing of the Serbian national hat, šajkača. Previously, this hat symbolized social status, representing the rural population and peasants. However, during the crisis, its significance shifted, becoming a symbol of Serbian nationality. In public life, particularly among intellectual circles, this era saw the resurgence of neo-traditionalist narratives glorifying Serbia’s past. The visual representation of these narratives can be observed in cartoons, notably from 1986 onward, coinciding with the proliferation of cartoons featuring emigrants. These constructed neo-traditionalist narratives were appropriated and utilized by Slobodan Milošević’s populist machinery as a means to maintain power. The cartoons, as a direct product of the burgeoning Serbian nationalist policy at that time, played a role in propaganda and mobilization.

MUSICAL ACTIVITY OF CHRISTIAN MISSIONARIES AT THE COURT OF THE QING EMPERORS OF THE 17TH–18TH CENTURIES

The article raises the problem of the significance of European missionaries’ musical activities at the court of the Qing emperors during the Golden Age and attempts to integrate Western art into palace musical life. A critical review of existing Russian-language sources leads the author to the conclusion that there is a lack of information on the topic of the article as well as some freedom in the interpretation of known historical facts in scientific articles. The author sees the possibility of filling gaps in this area of musicology in a detailed study of documents of the era, primarily diaries, letters, reports and other missionaries’ correspondence. Primary scholarly sources include Father Ripa's Diary, Father Du Halde's Description of the Chinese Empire, compiled from the correspondence of French Jesuits, and Father Amiot's work on the history of Chinese music. The author considers these books to be significant; however, they are not, of course, the only documents that help shed light on the scale and depth of the functioning of European music, theory and practice in the space of Chinese musical culture, which is closed, self-sufficient and by its nature not related to Europe. Works on music theory, created by order of and jointly with the Kangxi Emperor, are proof of a considerable interest in the West. In the palaces, the presence of a large number of European instruments, with which a Western-style ensemble could be formed, as well as attention to European clothing and wigs in which the emperor dressed his musicians, is indicative. In conclusion, the author finds that the musical activities of Christian missionaries produced certain results. On the one hand, organic interaction with European music and its deep understanding did not happen at the end of the 18th century. On the other hand, regardless of the subjective attitude of one or another emperor towards the Jesuits, the idea of ​​introducing musical theoretical ideas and practices of European music-making into everyday life gradually became a reality only owing to their persistent, regular and purposeful promotion. At the same time, a reverse process was underway - the missionaries’ research instinct led to the creation of memoirs and books on the history and acoustics of Chinese music, and contributed to its active promotion in European intellectual circles.

Ze sztuki wysokiej pod strzechy. Temat „Czuwający Emmanuel” w XIX-wiecznym ukraińskim malarstwie ikonowym

“The Unsleeping Eye” is one of the frequent themes of Ukrainian domestic icons in the 19th century. The little Jesus is resting on the cross lying on the ground, and next to him there are the instruments of the Passion. His closed eyes indicate sleep (death?) after the crucifixion, and the arma passionis emphasize the Passion contents. A late medieval Byzantine theme with deep and complex symbolism, called in Greek άναπεσών (Anapeson) constitutes the origin of this representation. The main idea of this picture grows from the parallel of the lion – Christ, described in the fourth‑century Greek Physiologist. The article shows how the theme, which arose within Byzantine intellectual circles, in gradually changing its form, content and purpose, settled down in the art of the common people.

Friedrich Schleiermachers Monologen und der Athenaeums-Kreis Wirkungsabsicht und Wirkungswandel einer frühromantischen Schrift

Abstract Schleiermacher’s anonymous Soliloquies of 1800 were written as a Supplement to his likewise anonymous book On Religion, Speeches to its Cultured Despisers of 1799. They are addressed to the circle of intellectuals around the early Romantic periodical Athenaeum, to the „Holy family“ (Friedrich Schlegel), and moreover to the despisers of Transcendental philosophy whose state of discussion is reflected. Thus they belong to the history of modern individual thought. The form of the book follows the contemporary imitation of classical poetic form (Hölderlin) which was prevalent among the Athenaeum Circle as well. Schleiermacher discusses the separation of philosophy and life (Fichte), the forming one’s self and the forming of artistic works (Goethe), i. e. the dichotomy of individuality and artistry. He confesses himself not to be an artist. Schleiermacher’s intention in Soliloquies was to give philosophical idealism a personal depth beyond intellectual speculation. Looking back in 1803 he realizes, in the draft of a poem, that he had idealized his empirical self in his literary self. Except for a few remarks by Schlegel, who at first did not umask the author‘s anonymity, there was no reaction whatever from the Athenaeum Circle. Soliloquies later became a popular Protestant book for spiritual edification.

슬라브주의와 서구주의의 논쟁

This paper is a study on Slavicism in the debate between Slavophilism and Westernism, which was an ideological debate that engulfed Russian intellectual circles in the early and mid-19th century. The development history of Russian written language, starting with славянский (Slavicism) in the 9th century and moving toward славянорусский (Slavyanorossiysky) in the mid-18th century, is a journey of weakening the position of славянский and increasing the status of русский.
 The superiority of the former over the latter was maintained for several centuries, but cracks in the relationship between the two languages began to appear during the reign of Peter the Great in the late-17th and early-18th centuries. From the mid-18th century, they fused into one national literary language, namely славянорусский. Slavicism, which started out as a category in origin, transitioned into a stylistic category from this period and functioned as a stylistic component within the stylistic system of Russian literary language. This study examines the characteristics of Slavicism from the mid-18th century to the early-to-mid-19th century by classifying it in terms of form and function. After introducing the conflicting views of Slavophilism and Westernism on Slavicism, as well as a compromise view of these two views, the paper expresses the following views: The debate between Slavophilism and Westernism only ended in different interpretations of the linguistic reality of Russia at the time and had no effect on the linguistic reality. Slavicism, which had undergone continuous changes for several centuries, was following its own path of change, regardless of the ideologies and ideals of intellectuals regarding language, especially in the 19th century.

Interetnické vzťahy v prostredí Rusínov a Slovákov (na Slovensku a na Dolnej zemi) v 19. storočí

Rusyns and Slovaks, members of two culturally close ethnic groups, had lived for centuries in one state unit and in immediate neighbour contact. Complex socio-economic situation of the Rusyn settlement area in Slovakia had conditioned the poor development of both cultural and national needs. Rusyn intelligentsia from Greek-Catholic church circles had tended towards Hungarian culture or a broader Slavic consciousness. From the beginning of the 19th century and during the spread of pan-Slavism with the development of national movements and the formation of modern nations, Rusyns became the object of interest in Slovak intellectual circles. The Rusyn elite, inspired by Slavic and nonSlavic national movements, revived nationally in the revolutionary period of the 1840s. It was also the merit of Slovaks who supported the national awakening of Rusyns as their closest allies in the Kingdom of Hungary during the peak period of the Slovak national revival movement (1836–1848). The mutuality of RusynSlovak political cooperation had been manifested in the revolutionary years of 1948–1949 in the Habsburg Monarchy. Even though the revolution in the Kingdom of Hungary had failed, it had brought some significant changes in the sphere of social development, civil principles and the weakening of the influence of the state and the church. These new conditions had enabled the emergence and development of Rusyn national revival movement and the so-calledrevivalistic generation of Rusyns. Mutual contacts between the two national movements, especially in the post-revolutionary period, had symbolized social, political and literary activities of several nationalities. Even in the second half of the 19th century, Slovak elites had a positive influence on the development of the Rusyn national movement. Slovak environment had an inspiring effect on Rusyns. Of course, this relationship had not only worked from the side of Slovaks to Rusyns, but also in the opposite direction (in a lesser extent), i.e. from Rusyns to Slovaks. Finally, during the period of dualism (1867–1918), the reflection of Rusyn issue in Slovak literature was not as intense as before the revolution, which was related to strong national oppression of minorities by the Hungarian governments. The national movements of Rusyns and Slovaks had to cope with a very complicated political and social reality, so there was much less scope for wider cooperation and mutual reflection than before. Complex socio-economic situation of northern and northeastern Kingdom of Hungary at the end of the 19th century together with the rapidly increasing Slovak and Rusyn emigration had a significant influence on this.

Caucasian Albania: an International Handbook, edited by Jost Gippert and Jasmine Dum-Tragut. Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter Mouton, 2023. xi, 735 pp. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110794687.

The international handbook is devoted to a detailed analysis of Caucasian Albania, focusing on an intricate analysis of Caucasian Albania. The investigation is particularly attuned to the extent of activation of Azerbaijani revisionist tendencies subsequent to the Second Karabakh War in 2020 concerning the historical narrative, cultural nuances, and cultural heritage of the Caucasus region. Within the expanse of this handbook’s discourse, a meticulous examination is undertaken of the various pivotal junctures characterizing the phenomenon of historical revisionism surrounding the relatively lesser known “Caucasian Albania” and its populace, the “Caucasian Albanians,” both within the purview of academic scholarship and public discourse. Comprising sixteen in-depth chapters, this scholarly compendium rigorously scrutinizes and elucidates the primary factors underpinning the process of “Albanianization” as espoused by the Azerbaijani government and affiliated scholars, particularly regarding the Armenian civilizational heritage entrenched within Nagorno-Karabakh. The conceptual underpinnings of historical revisionism are methodically substantiated within this handbook. The post-Second Karabakh War landscape is delineated as a fertile ground where the Azerbaijani state apparatus and associated intellectual circles fervently advocated the “Albanianization” theory. This theory seeks to interconnect the historical trajectories of Azerbaijanis and Albanians, thereby positioning the Azerbaijani nation-state upon a shared historical bedrock alongside Armenia and Georgia. Against this backdrop, the conceptual framework of “Albanization” or the so-called “Albanian myth” emerges as a salient paradigm during and subsequent to the First and Second Karabakh Wars. This paradigm functions as a strategic instrument for discrediting the Armenian historical lineage vis-à-vis the disputed Karabakh territory.

The Truth is out There (and also in Here): Taḥqīq as an Investigative Modality in Mughal Culture and Scholarship

Abstract This article offers a brief examination of various uses and senses of the term taḥqīq (ascertaining the truth; investigation; verification) in Mughal intellectual circles in the sixteenth-eighteenth centuries. Often contrasted with another term, taqlīd (copying; imitation), taḥqīq could signify different kinds of epistemological commitments – and therefore different kinds of truth-claims – depending on the context in which it was being deployed. Here we examine the ways in which the notion of taḥqīq figured prominently in Mughal debates about religious toleration, in Mughal scholarly culture, and even in Mughal notions of kingship, justice, and statecraft. Along the way, we will also use Mughal ideas about taḥqīq as an opportunity to intervene in larger debates about the nature of global early modernity.

Gender and the Conceptualization of Religion and Islam

The critique of power asymmetries reproduced by Eurocentric and essentialist conceptualizations of generic terms and analytical concepts is well-established in religious studies and gender studies, especially when investigating Islam. Yet each discipline is in danger of omitting the most critical discussions of the other. Discussions about conceptualizations of religion and Islam, even those adapting theoretically sophisticated global history approaches, largely ignore gender. Scholars of gender studies, in turn, have barely queried or nuanced “religion” and “Islam” as categories. Thus, they fail to take into account how conceptualizations of religion and Islam as generic terms have affected the power relations under scrutiny. This article aims to address this momentous mutual exclusion by examining a tract published in 1940 in the context of Anglophone Southeast and South Asian Muslim intellectual circles. Drawing on Judith Butler’s critical engagement with Luce Irigaray and on Butler’s notion of subversion by thoroughgoing appropriation and redeployment and situating this case study within the mentioned mutual exclusion, I argue that studying the relation between concepts of femininity and masculinity and concepts of religion and Islam poses important questions regarding colonial, androcentric, and phallogocentric epistemologies underlying contemporary religious studies and gender studies. I contend that religion-making and gender-making should not be investigated apart from each other.

National Literacy Movement Policy and the Role of Literacy Communities in Human Development: Evidence from Lombok

The tourism industry on the island of Lombok has influenced aspects of local culture, including the shifting of cultural values to commodity values. The literacy community then grows because of the concern of intellectual circles about the lack of literacy. This study uses a literature review approach. Primary data comes from observations, while secondary data is collected through journals, books, and articles. Data analysis was performed by connecting the data systematically and reflecting during the study. The validity of the data is measured by an external audit. The results showed that the interaction of the literacy community formed a variant of strategies for adaptation.

Кирик Новгородец и космологические загадки по-древнерусски

The text of the “Teaching on Numbers” by the monk and mathematician Kirik the Novgorodian (the first half of the 12th century) was introduced into scientific circulation in the 1820s. Initially, this text was assessed as exclusively mathematical-calendar content. As the research unfolded, questions of a textual, historical-mathematical, philosophical, cultural and socio-psychological nature arose. Compared with similar writings of Kirik’s era, his calculations are recognized as accurate, and in methods of calculation on the abacus, he was 400 years ahead of his time. In addition to the “Teaching on Numbers”, the theological treatise penned by Kirik, “The Questions of Kirik”, has come down to our times, written in the form of a dialogue between a pastor and a bishop about the vital problems of service practice. Despite numerous articles and solid monographs on Kirik’s legacy, some postulates of the “Teaching”, as well as vocabulary features, remain undisclosed and mysterious. The first riddle concerns the scientific research and peculiarities of the reconstruction of the lists of Kirik’s treatises, which have come down to us only from the 16th century. A mere mystery concerns the fragment about circuits in the renewal of the elements, which, at first glance, has a natural philosophical content. The question arises: could Kirik, as a thoughtful scientist, simply rewrite these calculations from the prototype text familiar to him, the so-called “seven-thousanders”? Hypotheses are put forward of Platonic, Pythagorean, Gnostic influences on the essence of the fragment, but no supporting texts have been found. The article presents arguments in favor of the hypothesis of the influence of the mathematical teachings of the Pythagoreans on the prototype of the fragment about the renewal of the elements. The Pythagorean thesis about the structure of the corporeal cosmos according to the laws of beauty and harmony, which are based on the principle of commensurability, is clearly reflected in the mathematical calculations of the fragment. Kirik addressed his “Teaching” to lovers of numbers and he himself belonged to the circle of intellectuals. Modern studies of the Pythagorean tradition confirm the intercultural nature of the influence of the Pythagorean tradition on other ideological directions of thought. In Old Rus the tradition was supported by chroniclers and chronologists.

To be a Muslim in the Penitentiary System of the Russian Empire: Evidence from Tatar Ego-documents of the Early 20th Century

The article sheds light on the experience of being an inorodets (a non-Russian, non-Christian subjects of the Russian Empire) in the imperial penitentiary system. The Tatar intellectual elite of the early 20th century pondered over the “prison experience” of this period in a number of texts, and the most significant of them are ego-documents written by a new generation of the Tatar elite that reflect new trends in the public discourse of the Muslim community of late imperial Russia. The present publication is based on the texts of private origin (autobiographies, memoirs, diaries) of a number of Muslim prisoners who had a difficult relationship with the authorities as well as with the officially recognized Muslim clergy. The article analyzes three works representing different views of Muslim authors on their prison experience. The prison reality at the turn of the 1870-1880s is depicted in the autobiography of Gabdrashid Ibragimov, who described it from the position of a young Muslim believer. He experienced feelings of shame during in time imprisoned; and at the same he realized that the prison had become for him a “school of life.” The other two writings are the famous work “Prison [Tiur’ma]” by Gaiaz Iskhaqyi and “Prison Reminiscences [Tiuremnye vospominaniia]” by Iusuf Akchura. They were published in 1907 and describe the prison experience of a Muslim in a Tsarist prison from an alternative perspective. We see that the emerging Tatar intellectual circle was quite seriously incorporated into the political context of the late Russian Empire. Therefore, religious aspects of prison reality occupy a rather modest place in the works of the Tatar political activists, and the personal experience of religious feelings is marginal. This corresponds to the circumstance that personal religious experience did not dominate the general worldview of the authors. At the same time the description of prison experience in the form of a more or less developed literary work reflected the level of the various authors’ “personality as well as cognitive and human maturity.”

Praise in Verses: Constantinople Patriarchal Academy Professors on Constantine Brâncoveanu

Abstract The Constantinople Academy professors and Patriarchate lay dignitaries, Antonios Spandones, Iakovos Argeios, Antonios Byzantios and his brother Chourmouzios composed elegant epigrams in poetic dialect to praise the ruler of Wallachia Constantine Brâncoveanu (1654‒1714) during his reign (1688‒1714). The aim of this study is to present and analyze this specific group of epigrams found so far, either in print or in manuscripts, since their existence or content, was only partially known to earlier scholars. In particular, their authors, their transmission and content, as well as the characteristics they attribute to the ruler, and also the motives behind their composition are elucidated. The writing of epigrams indicates the close connection existed between him and the Patriarchal Academy: The Wallachian ruler sought to create a circle of Greek intellectuals in Constantinople, who praised him as the Maecenas of Letters, the defender of the Orthodox Church, and the successor of the Byzantine emperors.