Renaissance Culture Research Articles

A Gladdening Vision of a Dancing Christ: Findings of a Ritual Ethnography of Intercultural Icons

The cultural renaissance in 20th-century India has fostered an aesthetic integration of contemplative mysticism with popular religious practices, influencing various artistic and theological movements. This paper examines Christian artist Joy Elamkunnapuzha’s use of Indian classical and mythical elements in his religious artworks, particularly in two North Indian churches. These intercultural icons, which incorporate symbols from Hindu traditions like mandalas and mudras, have been central to the worship practices of local Catholic communities for over three decades. Through ritual ethnography, the study reveals how these visual representations mediate ritual affectivity and communal imagination, impacting identity formation and spiritual engagement in a multi-religious context. Respondents—including worshippers, ministers, and religious students—attest to the transformative impact of these images, as they negotiate between Christian metaphors and Hindu aesthetic traditions. The research is grounded in practical theology, liturgical theology, and ritual studies, contributing to the works of Indian Christian cultural activists like Jyoti Sahi. By exploring the creative dynamics of visual approach, visual appeal, and visual affinity within worship spaces, the study elucidates the complex processes of meaning making through symbolic mediation in interreligious environments.

Ani – Yerevan: The topic of succession on the canvases by Martiros Saryan

The exhibition at the Martiros Saryan House-Museum in Yerevan dedicated to the portraits of architects in the oeuvre of this artist prompted reflections on the personalities who laid the foundations for studying the Armenian architectural heritage, on the one hand, and the construction of a new Yerevan, on the other. The article analyzes the parallel drawn by Saryan between the construction of the medieval capital of Armenia, Ani, and the creation of the capital of Soviet Armenia during the renaissance of national culture. It also emphasizes the importance of the Ani architecture and the study of the heritage of Ani for the formation of both a new scientific school and a new style in the creativity of architects of the 20th century.

Nationalism and the Ottoman-Arab Dynamic: From Cultural Renaissance to Political Revolt

This paper delves into the intricate relationship between the Ottoman Empire and its Arab Muslim subjects amidst the backdrop of rising nationalist sentiments during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It traces the historical evolution of Arab nationalism, examining its cultural origins and political dimensions, while also dissecting the Ottoman administration's response to nationalist aspirations. Through an analysis of historical documents, scholarly works, and contemporary accounts, the study illuminates how nationalist movements reshaped the political, social, and cultural dynamics within the empire, leading to increased tensions between the central government and Arab nationalists. The paper highlights key events such as the Tanzimat reforms and the Young Turk Revolution, which exacerbated these tensions, culminating in the Arab Revolt of 1916 supported by the British. It also explores the impact of World War I on Ottoman-Arab relations and the subsequent dissolution of the empire, as reflected in treaties like the Treaty of Sèvres and the Treaty of Lausanne, which paved the way for the establishment of modern Arab states under European mandates. Through a comprehensive examination of historical sources and scholarly literature, the paper elucidates the multifaceted nature of nationalism's influence on the Ottoman Empire's relationship with its Arab Muslim subjects, underscoring its profound and enduring significance in shaping the modern Middle East.

Black Informational Past: History, Data, and Archives of Chicago's ‘New Negro’ Wonder books

ABSTRACTIn 1927, an organized group of Black college and graduate students from the Washington Intercollegiate Club of Chicago compiled a rich informational reference text reflecting the mosaic of Black life in Chicago, IL, USA. This effort resulted in the publication of two editions of the Intercollegian Wonder Book in 1927 and 1929. These books are reflective of the New Negro movement and cultural renaissance of the Black urban population in the early 20th Century. Our project examines the influence of the Wonder Books through methods that express the layered informational context of a Black community. The poster reflects the iterative development of a phased descriptive, archival, data and visual analysis of an historic Black Community. such as citation tracking, genealogical research of individual members, and analysis of data usage by the club's active students.

Literary Tourism in Saudi Arabia (Poetic Tourism in Najd)

This research aims to identify the potential of literary/poetic tourism in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia - specifically Najd region, due to its richness with poetic heritage. The study also sought to define this type of tourism, and explain its connection to poetry, and the importance of place to the poet. It also attempts to reveal the importance of literary/poetic tourism, by associating Arabic heritage poetry to certain locations that deserves to be recognized as a tourist attraction, and be prepared to become a tourist attraction equipped with the best facilities to attract tourists of all kinds. In addition to the psychological effect these places has on the visitors and the role of poetry in the country’s cultural renaissance. Our main motivation for this study is to prove that the Arabian peninsula has a historical and unique literary/poetic treasure, as poetry is one of the most important subjects that must be introduced to tourism to maintain its sustainability and celebrate the poetic heritage. One of the most important goals sought by this research is to pin out these places and encourage the Kingdom to care and preserve them. Such initiative will open up great economic and cultural resources, in accordance with the Vision 2030, and the Ministry of Culture in its initiative of making 2023 the Year of Arabic Poetry.

PROTECTION OF INDIVIDUAL PROPERTY IN DUBAI REAL ESTATE EXPROPRIATION LAW OF 2022 IN LIGHT OF NARROWING THE CONCEPT OF PUBLIC BENEFIT

In light of the rapid urban and cultural renaissance in Dubai and the need to expropriate real estate owned by individuals, this paper discusses the protection of individual property in the Emirate of Dubai Real Estate Expropriation Law of 2022. It has sought to examine and investigate the process of expropriation of individual property under the Emirate of Dubai Expropriation Law No. (2) of 2022 and to show that the Dubai legislature has narrowed the concept of public benefit and defined the conditions and mechanism of expropriation, the body responsible for issuing expropriation decisions, and what procedures should be followed. This study is of great importance as it shows that property rights are protected under the UAE Federal Constitution of 1971 and the Emirate of Dubai Real Estate Expropriation Law of 2022. It contributes to illuminating the way for the expropriation committee to take the necessary measures that help determine the fair compensation that should be paid to the owner of the expropriated property. It has concluded that expropriation is one of the most dangerous interferences with property rights and this interference is restricted to exercise in the public benefit and exchange for fair compensation. Our findings, however, emphasise the need to set controls and standards for the concept of public benefit and introduce a right to appeal the expropriation committee's decision before the court. In this research, we adopt a mix of descriptive, analytical, and inductive approaches to thoroughly evaluate and link the legislative texts and judicial rulings.

Hybrid Intelligent Model for Estimating the Cost of Huizhou Replica Traditional Vernacular Dwellings

Amidst the backdrop of rural revitalization and cultural renaissance, there is a surge in the construction demand for replica traditional vernacular dwellings. Traditional cost estimation methods struggle to meet the need for rapid and precise estimation due to the complexity inherent in their construction. To address this challenge, this study aims to enhance the accuracy and efficiency of cost estimation by innovatively developing an Adaptive Self-Explanatory Convolutional Neural Network (ASCNN) model, tailored to meet the specific cost estimation needs of replica traditional vernacular dwellings in the Huizhou region. The ASCNN model employs a Random Forest model to filter key features, inputs these into the CNN for cost estimation, and utilizes Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) to optimize parameters, thereby improving predictive accuracy. The decision-making process of the model is thoroughly interpreted through SHAP value analysis, ensuring credibility and transparency. During the construction of the ASCNN model, this study collected and analyzed bidding control price data from 98 replica traditional vernacular dwellings. The empirical results demonstrate that the ASCNN model exhibits outstanding predictive performance on the test set, with a Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) of 9828.06 yuan, a Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE) of 0.6%, and a Coefficient of Determination (R2) as high as 0.989, confirming the model’s high predictive accuracy and strong generalization capability. Through SHAP value analysis, this study further identifies key factors such as floor plan layout, roof area, and column material coefficient that are central to cost prediction. The ASCNN model proposed in this study not only significantly improves the accuracy of cost estimation for Huizhou replica traditional vernacular dwellings, but also enhances its transparency and credibility through model interpretation methods, providing a reliable basis for related investment decisions. The findings of this study also offer valuable references and insights for rapid and precise cost estimation of replica buildings in other regions worldwide.

Renaissance culture, emblems, and interdisciplinary research: the reception of Alciato in Coimbra☆

AbstractBearing in mind that emblem books were a manifestation of humanistic culture and its natural interdisciplinary, this paper discusses how the early reception of Alciato's Emblemata in Coimbra (Portugal) had an impact on artists, literary authors, jurists, and Jesuit teachers. This emblem book attracted readers from diverse fields of knowledge, and in this essay, special attention is drawn to the role played by Sebastian Stockhamer's commentaries on the Emblemata, published by the Lyonnaise printer, Jean de Tournes, in 1556. From the analysis of textual evidence, this contribution aims to demonstrate that Stockhamer's work was built upon an interdisciplinary method. His example provides a very strong argument for considering Coimbra as pioneering in the early history of the reception of Alciato's work across Europe. This study case embraces therefore a wider range of engagement, involving cultural studies, literature, arts, legal history, educational science, philosophy, and classical culture, among others.

Влияние философии Просвещения на динамику секуляризации русской культуры в XVIII в.

The article scrutinizes the problem of the influence of Enlightenment philosophy on the dynamics of secularization of Russian culture in the XVIII century. The necessity of analyzing the selected time period is substantiated in view of the renaissance of Orthodox culture in modern Russia. The work defines the fundamental difference between Orthodox culture and secular (secular-minded) culture, presents the main philosophical ideas disseminated in the Russian state in the XVIII century, identifies and characterizes the factors associated with the influence of Enlightenment philosophy on the isolation of church consciousness during the reign of Peter the Great, Empress Elizabeth and Catherine II. It is revealed that the dissemination of the ideas of Enlightenment philosophers, contributing to the development of secularization processes in Russian culture, in the XVIII century had a progressive character, being closely related to the person who stood at the head of the state. Based on the results obtained it is established that the quantitative-qualitative gap caused by the influence of Enlightenment philosophy occurred in Russian culture during the reign of Catherine II.

Renaissance as an Aesthetic Mechanism: the Renaissance and the Russian Silver Age

The object of this study is the phenomenon of renaissance in culture, the subject area is the causes and mechanism of the deployment of Renaissance processes. The problems we are starting from are the blurring of the term "renaissance" in humanitarian studies and the lack of its conceptualization from the point of view of aesthetic sensuality. One of the well – established perspectives of the Renaissance phenomenon is its generalization as a universal phenomenon. Understanding the "renaissance" as a recurring event and a feature of culture raises the question of the foundations and characteristics of the "Renaissance". The article identifies such signs from the standpoint of philosophical aesthetics, referring to the changes in the spatial-temporal concepts of the European Renaissance and the Russian Silver Age, as well as the productive consequences of this recoding. The originality of the author's approach lies in the fact that the approach to the topic is carried out through the study of historical transformations of sensuality and sensitivity, which have not yet received a detailed understanding of aesthetics. To describe cultural revivals as aesthetic processes, the concept of the "aesthetic mechanism" of the Renaissance is proposed, based on the idea of changing chronotopes. The main conclusions are that the re-symbolization of space and time, defined by I. Kant as a priori forms of sensuality, causes a change in the phenomena organized by them, and the result of changing the worldview and the existential position of the subject is the intensification of culture, which constitutes the Renaissance.

A Kingdom of Possibility

A Kingdom of Possibility

Markers of social status in Polish printers' signatures (1501-1545)

The article raises the problem of status representation in the signatures of book printers of the Kingdom of Poland. First of all, the study concerns the identified features in the publications of I. Vietor and J. Haller; to a lesser extent - S. Giber, K. Hochfeder, F. Ungler and M. Scharfenberg. Although the publisher's signature form did not undergo significant changes during the 1st half of the 16th century, we find specific markers of social status among the listed printers. These markers are not characteristic of previous and subsequent Polish book publishers, but are characteristic, firstly, of a certain circle of printers outside the Kingdom of Poland, and secondly, of the social environment that existed at that time, in which certain epithets conveyed information about a person’s place in the hierarchy. The focus on the readership demand of intellectuals and connections with the University of Krakow were also reflected in the publishing signatures: printers classified their activities in the field of sciences and arts ("ars"), and also presented themselves in terms accepted in the scientific community ("egregius vir", "spectabilis vir dominus"). This part of the self-representation of entrepreneurs once again testifies to their involvement in the structure of European humanist printers, who, like their Polish colleagues, sought to declare in their signatures their connections with the scientific community and Renaissance culture. At the same time, the appearance of the epithets identified in the structure of the publisher's signature has not only a linguistic connection, but also a chronological one: the concepts under study disappear in the middle of the 16th century from Polish publications and is reduced to a minimum in publications of other European lands.

Traditional Chinese Culture and Everyday Life

Culture and life, these two concepts always stick together. The renaissance of the traditional culture and classics in this new century could be said as an inevitable process of the Chinese history. Represented by Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism, the traditional culture and thoughts are ubiquitous in every aspect of the Chinese people’s life. Sometimes it is difficult to distinguish the influence resulting from a particular thought.This article explores the fact that the Chinese people’s life is the result of the common interaction of these three thoughts from three aspects.

Global China and the ‘commons’: rosewood governance in rural Ghana

The rise of Global China or the rapid expansion of Chinese influence abroad has had a commensurate impact on transnational trade and related commercial pressure in the governance of natural resources in Africa. Rosewood with its direct link to China's cultural renaissance has had a boost in extractivism in tropical regions. Taking inspiration from common property theory and based on empirical research conducted in Ghana in 2022, we analyze the effect of the Ghana-China rosewood trade on the governance of rosewood as a ‘common-pool’ resource in rural Ghana. Our research broadly responds to the question of how the Ghana-China rosewood trade changes formal and informal governance arrangements in rural Ghana. In a constructive light, the study demonstrates how one community created rules to access rosewood on community lands. The results also show that more challenging influences of rosewood trade on land boundary disputes resulting from violent protests of existing rules and norms, including customary rights, contestation of rural authorities, rural leadership manoeuvrings, and corruption are increasingly prevalent since the boom in the rosewood trade at the local level. This study contributes to the debate on common-pool resources, demonstrating that with the right information and communication network, rural people can self-govern common-pool resources to their advantage despite the alarming influences that external factors pose. From a China-Africa relations perspective, this work contributes to the politics of natural resources in the context of the increasing global influence of China in Africa.

African Traditional Arts and Ornamentation in the Architecture of the Cultural Centre Ibadan

Art and architecture have been intertwined throughout history. Art in its various forms has played a vital role in the lives of African people as evident in their architecture. The paper reviewed the African visual culture with respect to ornamentation in the built environment as well as the variations of cultural heritage in the anthropogenic sense. The study adopted a qualitative approach using the case study method with the selection of the Cultural Centre Ibadan. The 1977 Second World Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture (FESTAC 77) held in Lagos, Nigeria inspired the architecture of the National Theatre in Lagos, and other cultural centres in other cities in Nigeria including the Cultural Centre, Ibadan which exemplified African arts and ornamentation in its façade and spaces. The Cultural Centre Ibadan is a significant masterpiece adorned with African traditional arts and ornamentation. It embodies a bold fusion of art and architecture evident in the intricate sculptural reliefs that beautify its walls, the wooden and metal ornamentation embellishing its halls and lobbies, the luscious blend of geometrical forms and shapes in its façade, its harmony with the undulating landscape and the concrete anthropomorphic sculptural pieces that welcome guests into the entrance quadrangle. The themes of the arts and ornamentation of the Cultural Centre Ibadan reflect traditional Yoruba cultural festivals, philosophical and religious motifs that has transformed the building into a cultural heritage. Artfully embellished architecture with symbolic meanings like the Cultural Centre Ibadan affords the dividends of cultural emancipation, cultural renaissance and cultural preservation. The interweaving of art and architecture in public buildings should be promoted.

Performing Plasticity: On Recycling, Prosthetic Memories, and the Precarious Working-Class Renaissance

This paper examines the representation of post-industrial malaise in post-socialist China through a case study of the plastic characters of the 2019 hit song Disco Alaskan Wolves (野狼disco). Gem Dong, the singer/composer from Northeastern China, inflects Cantonese with accented Mandarin, utilizing a "disco" motif to express his generation's traumatic transition to the market economy in a laid-off worker's family. Taking a threefold connotation of “plasticity” as references to the materiality of media affordance, the kitschy aesthetic form, and a mode reflective of neoliberalist flexible corporeal politics, I claim that lyrics, singing, and derivative amateur dancing videos of the song all demonstrate “plasticity” as a performing tactic that undermines the glorification of post-socialist economic reform through a paradoxical self-exploitation of underclass bodies. I argue that the song’s parody of Cantonese and stunt performances manifests prosthetic memories formed with spectatorial experiences of "plastic media waste" — cut-out disco CDs and pirate Hong Kong films. They simultaneously unsettle the neoliberalist aesthetic of flexibility through plastic clumsiness. Controversies around the copyright of choreography, however, reveal an uneven distribution of cultural capital in the global capitalist structure that may continuously mutate and ironize the social undertone. Plasticity thus embodies and delivers sensory knowledge of desire, trauma, and precariousness for the post-socialist working class and asks for an ecological understanding of the working-class cultural renaissance.

The Quest for Cultural Renaissance in Wole Soyinka’s <i>Childe Internationale and Alápatá Àpáta</i>

Critics of Wole Soyinka’s works have always identified the cultural impulses of his Yoruba origin in his dramaturgy. This engagement can be segmented into slants that seek a renaissance of his culture through his use of its tropes to intervene in the social malaises mirrored in his works and through a commitment that seeks the survival of his culture in the postcolonial milieus. This paper focuses on Soyinka’s engagement with the subject of cultural renaissance through a postcolonial reading of Childe Internationale and Alápatá Àpáta. While underscoring Soyinka’s commitment to the survival of his culture in the hybridised contexts presented in the plays, the paper points out that Soyinka’s dominant discussions on cultural renaissance have been primarily associated with his ‘Children plays’. The paper exhibits some of the critical aspects of culture that the playwright has isolated to validate his quest for a cultural renaissance. The paper’s conclusion gives accreditation to the playwright’s concerns about the dwindling fortunes of his Yoruba culture and language but doubts if there is any remedy in sight on account of some other overwhelming adverse social conditions in the plays.

Perfection as a value-regulatory principle of ethics of humanism and Renaissance culture of the 14th-16th centuries

The article presents and systematizes the fundamental concepts of a philosophical approach to the human perfection in the European spiritual culture of the 14th-16th centuries, namely, in the philosophical pursuits during the period of the Italian Renaissance and the establishment of civic humanism. The research is focused on the basic trends in the inception of the idea of human perfection as well as on its characteristics. Under the analysis are the essential traits of the philosophy of man in the treatises of a number of distinguished thinkers of the period of European Renaissance of the 14th-16th centuries. The article argues that the issues of the free will, natural structure, harmony as well as individual and social dialectics are indicative of a broad spectrum of the Philosophy of Man in the spiritual culture of the 14th-16th centuries. These issues point to the emergence and moulding of a social person, a citizen and a legal entity.
 A special emphasis in the research is laid on the importance and the need to seek the standards and ideals of human life and to provide a philosophical and ethical search for the implementation of the principles of human life and the revival of the standards of human perfection in its universal ascension to the ultimate truths.
 The author offers his own assessment of the formation and development of the issues related to a perfectly wise human being. The concusions are drawn pertaining to the evolution of the philosophy of man in the spiritual culture of the 14th-16th centuries.
 The author comes to the conclusion that, in general, the divine in human nature and man in the divine continuum in all the beauty of self-expression and harmony is one of the main elements of philosophical reflections on perfection as a valuable universe of humanistic ethics. Perfection as an invariant function of a person’s self-regulation in a degree comparison received much less development next to the ethical-aesthetic and spiritual foundations of the formation, development and regeneration of the Renaissance man.
 As a spiritual-intellectual, aesthetic, psychological complex, humanism was characteristic of the worldview and worldview of certain strata of society, in which the principle of perfection was a practical-humanistic regulatory-value principle. The function of theoretical internalization of the person in the philosophy of humanism undoubtedly had a place. The problems of free will, natural organization, harmony, the dialectic of the individual and the social testify to a wide range of intra-subjective philosophical analysis in the systems of the 11th and 11th centuries, and, at the same time, philosophical and ethical searches were aimed at realizing the principles of human life, on the revival of standards of human perfection in his universal ascent to higher truths.

PETRARCH’S «TRIUMPHS» IN ITALIAN ILLUMINATED BOOK OF QUATTROCENTO: FROM THE TRIUMPHAL THEMES OF ANCIENT ROME TO THE RENAISSANCE SYNTHESIS

In Renaissance culture, the theme of triumph, dating back to the traditions of ancient Rome, gained special popularity and acquired a new meaning, combined with the idea of Christian virtues. Many painters, miniaturists, masters of engraving, cassone’s and deschi da parto addressed this topic. The famous Petrarch’s «Triumphs» was one of the most beloved and widely illustrated books. The iconography of its miniatures was based on images of chariot processions, which were part of ancient Roman rituals that epitomized victory. The article examines the evolution of illustrations of Petrarch’s triumphs in the art of the illuminated book of the 15th century, the most common iconographic schemes, as well as the connection of these illustrations with painting of the early Renaissance and the heritage of antiquity. Particular attention is paid to the appearance in the miniature of the ХV century a new approach, which united the text and all the elements of page decoration (miniature, border, initials) into one pictorial structure with the design of a page based on the principle of creating a unified pictorial space, but not decorating its individual parts. This space was established on a new visual model of the Quattrocento painting, generating a live synthesis of the ancient heritage, transformed images of the Middle Ages and new Renaissance artistic practice.

Sumpa Khenpo Yeshe Peljor (1704–1788): Life and work of the Orate Buddhist scholar

The article analyzes life and work of a famous Oirat Buddhist scholar Sumpa-kenpo Yeshe Peljor (1704–1788). He was born in 1704 in Amdo, south of Lake Kokonor, in a family of Oirat Mongols. At the age of 7, he was recognized as a reincarnation of the abbot of Gonglung Monastery. In 1723 he went to study in Central Tibet at the Gomang-datsan of the Drepung Monastery. While studying in the dastan, he urged monks of the Lhasa monasteries not to join the army during the civil war of 1727-1728 between the provinces of U and Tsang. In gratitude for the service, the ruler of Tibet, Polhane, appointed him the abbot (khenpo) of the Dreyu Kyitse monastery, after which he became known as Sumpa-kenpo. In 1731, at the age of 28, he returned in Amdo. In 1735, he went to Beijing, the capital of the Qing Empire, at the invitation of Emperor Qianlong. The collection of works of Sumpa-kenpo comprose eight volumes and 68 compositions. The most among then are the “Pagsam-Jonsang” (Wish-fullfilling tree) and the “History of Kokonor”. His work alsos include numerous texts on philosophy, the art of making statues and thangka, medicine, astrology, poetics, correspondence, etc. From 1771, Sumpa-kenpo began to visit Mongolia. Sumpa-kenpo Yeshe Peljor became a key figure in the cultural renaissance of Amdo in the 18th century and the spread of Buddhism in Inner Mongolia. In 1788, Sumpa-kenpo Yeshe-Peljor died at the age of 85, leaving behind a rich sholarly and spiritual legacy.