Songs Of Praise Research Articles

Metaphor as an Ideological-Conveying Process in Panegyrics: The Ifẹ̀ and Ò̩yó̩ Ethnic Groups of Yorùbá in Perspective

Panegyrics, as a genre of oral literature, play a significant role in the social, historical and political systems of the Yorùbá people. Through the recitation of praise songs, panegyric reciters often seek to create awareness about the hegemonic status of the individuals or entities being praised. However, the ideologies expressed through the use of metaphor in these panegyrics are usually subtle and covert, thereby enabling the subtle manipulation of the praised individual(s). To uncover the subtle ways metaphors are constructed in panegyrics to serve various purposes, including the maintenance of unequal power relations, this paper examines the use of metaphor as a strategic linguistic device for conveying ideological messages in the panegyrics of the Ifẹ̀ and Ò̩yó̩ ethnic groups within the broader Yorùbá cultural context. It therefore evaluates how metaphor is employed in Yorùbá panegyrics to communicate ideological content in Ifẹ̀ and Ò̩yó̩ panegyrics. By shedding light on the covert ways metaphors are constructed in the panegyrics, the paper offers insights into how language can be strategically employed to maintain and perpetuate unequal power structures within a society. It also highlights the versatility of metaphor as a rhetorical device, capable of conveying complex ideological messages in a subtle and aesthetically pleasing manner, as evident in the Yorùbá panegyric genre. Keywords: Metaphor, Discourse, Critical Discourse Analysis, Ideology and Panegyrics

Nilai Moderasi Beragama Pada Tradisi Upacara Kremasi Jenazah Di Desa Rama Agung

The aim of this service is to strengthen the attitude of religious moderation by understanding and practicing the value of moderation in Rama Agung Village. It is hoped that this can make a positive contribution to the development of attitudes of tolerance and harmony in society. This research describes a series of procedures from the beginning to the end of cremation in Lama Agung village. Apart from that, this research also examines how the value of religious moderation is applied in a very harmonious and mutually supportive society. This research aims to provide a deeper understanding of the application of facilitation in the context of community diversity and harmony in the village by explaining the details of the cremation process and social interactions that occurred while I was here. The qualitative approach of this research is to collect primary data through interviews with Hindu traditional leaders who are directly involved in the implementation of the Ngaben ceremony. This method helps us to understand more comprehensively the aspects of ritual and religious facilitation in Rama Agung village. The results of this research show that the cremation death ritual includes several stages, namely preparation of offerings and equipment, handover of the body, implementation of the cremation ceremony, and reading of praise songs. Collection and disposal of ashes, closing of the event and evening prayer at Mentebengan.

The Significance and Musical Features of Modern Korean Buddhist Hymns through Baek Yong-sung’s Buddhist Hymns

Chan-bul-ga (찬불가, 讚佛歌), which in English means ‘songs in praise of the Buddha’, refers to a style of Korean Buddhist hymn that emerged during the modernization of Korean Buddhism. Buddhist hymns—which can be considered to be based on Christian hymns—are characterized by the fact that they can be easily learned by the general public so that they can easily participate in Buddhist rituals together, unlike the existing Korean Buddhist musical styles of ‘Beom-pae (범패, 梵唄)’ and ‘Hwa-cheong (화청, 和請)’. The monk Baek Yong-sung (1864–1940), who embraced the function and effectiveness of these new religious music styles as one of his methods of propagation, participated in the independence movement after the 1910 Korea–Japan Annexation Treaty, and he led both the public enlightenment movement and the spread of Buddhism by creating Buddhist hymns. The present study seeks to examine Baek Yong-sung’s social activities and the context in which modern Buddhist hymns emerged. This study also explores the religious, social, and musical meanings of Buddhist hymns while focusing on his works ‘Wang-seng-ga (왕생가)’ and ‘Se-gye-gi-si-ga (세계기시가)’.

Analysis on the Changes in Playing Techniques of Erhu under the Impact of Westernization——Taking the Erhu Concerto the Praise Song for Chu

With the constant social development and cultural exchange, it’s inevitable for Chinese traditional music to be affected by the western music. Among the traditional music of China, Erhu, as one of the representative traditional instruments, has also encountered a series of changes. The westernization of Erhu is not only an inevitable tendency but also a product of cultural exchange and integration. This paper aims at studying the westernization of Erhu in Chinese traditional music, probing into the impacts and changes of modern music on the traditional music, and interpreting the new vitality and charm of Erhu in the modern music through learning from the changes in Erhu’s playing techniques and the Erhu concerto The Praise Song for Chu. The main part of this paper is divided into two sections. The first section reviews the development process of Erhu within the historical context, and presents the evolution of Erhu playing techniques. The second section analyzes the playing techniques of Erhu in The Praise Song for Chu, comparing with three classic Erhu compositions, thus demonstrating the changes and characteristics of westernization of the Erhu in the contemporary context.

Hear Me Now: The Black Potters of Old Edgefield, South Carolina ed. by Adrienne Spinozzi, and: Praise Songs for Dave the Potter: Art and Poetry for David Drake ed. by P. Gabrielle Foreman (review)

Hear Me Now: The Black Potters of Old Edgefield, South Carolina ed. by Adrienne Spinozzi, and: Praise Songs for Dave the Potter: Art and Poetry for David Drake ed. by P. Gabrielle Foreman (review)

The Aesthetics of Oka Akoko Praise Poetry

Praise poetry as widely known is one of the artistic weapons for the propagation of African cultural values. This study was carried out with the aim of presenting, elaborately, the aesthetics of the Praise poetry (Oriki) of Oka Akoko in terms of its thematic preoccupation and stylistic features. The dialectal version of the praise songs were collected and recorded on tape for easy interpretation and analysis. The study focuses on the form and content of the poems in relation to their stylistic presentation. The analysis of the poems reveals that Oka dialect as a variation of Yoruba language has a sophisticated level of diction in the use of linguistic devices. The study has helped to further emphasize the aesthetics of Yoruba culture as well as a major function of praise poetry as a source of information about our cultural heritage.

Uhuru Torch Images in Selected Sukuma Praise Songs

This article examines Uhuru (Independence)Torch images in selected Sukuma praise songs, highlighting their significance and the images they embody. The analysis of these songs attempted to capture the Sukuma imagination of the Torch—an independence symbol—in terms of sociocultural, political and economic dimensions. The purposively selected Sukuma praise songs contain Uhuru Torch attributes reinforced through the evocation of praise tones. The Torch is the focal point of these songs since the praising they imbue significantly extrapolate its significance to the society. The qualitative study explored in-depth the Sukuma sociocultural, political and economic practices embedded in the images of these Sukuma praise songs to assess their significance in capturing the Uhuru essence and what it represents. It analyses the Uhuru Torch images in Sukuma praise songs from two angles: the angle of bodily/physical sensation (images of fire and smoke of Uhuru Torch) and the association/comparison perspective (Uhuru Torch in the image of man and the mythological images of the Torch). At the centre of analysis of selected Sukuma praise songs are images interpreted in partnership with Uhuru Torch observable in diverse artistic contexts and perceptions of the Sukuma lore. The study found that these images are primarily a product of the human mind, which is machinery for digesting images for consumption and awareness of the society.

Analisis Nyanyian Pujian Daud Dan Relevansinya Bagi Pemuda Masa Kini ( 1 Tawarikh 29:10-19)

"The song of praise holds high religious value, as earnest singing is considered equivalent to praying twice. A song of praise holds its own significance within the order of Christian worship, even within the liturgy of Christian services. The literary detective method used by the author aims to review theological studies on the analysis of David's song of praise and its relevance to the youth of today (1 Chronicles 29:10-19). This research yields the attitude that a Christian youth should possess in viewing songs of praise, and how the creed of Christian youth influences the praising and worshiping of the name of the Lord."

Neujahrsgeschenk mit Gesang

Abstract At the turn of the year 1623/24, Martin Opitz published the Song of praise about the joyous birthday of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ in German Alexandrine verse. Being a gift for the New Year the work combines high erudition with a very personal stance. The poem concludes with a Latin Sapphic ode which derives its full meaning from the intended well-known melody. Amazingly many poets copied Opitz in writing epic-dramatic poems including song(s) as New Year’s dedication; they imitated his motifs and even his title by way of aemulatio. When Opitz’ tendency towards dramatic representation and visualisation is enhanced, the work comes close to another musical epic-dramatic genre, the actus. We encounter this in several academic communities, its finest example being a musical composition by Johann Rosenmüller to words by Johann Ziegler.

Per Capita Income – Based on Sangam Era

Porunar, Pulavar, Panar, Koudhar, Patini, Varaviyar are known as Iravalars (beggers). They are called as Iravalars because they earn their living by singing. In their songs, they praise the rich people and as gift, they get gifts, money and so on. The rich people also go in search of Iravalars, because they love to hear their songs in praise of them. Sangha literary texts speaks abundantly and extensively about the people living as Iravalars and how they earn their income by singing praise of others.

A Narration of the Battlefield in Jayamkondar’s Kalingattuparani

Among the Parani texts studied in ancient times, the first one that comes to us is Jayamkondar’s Kalingattuparani. This book is a song in praise of Karunakara Tondaiman, the minister of Mudugalothungan, who went to war against Kalinga Vendan Anantavarman and defeated him. In the last part of the thirteen parts of the book, "Of the heroic deeds on the battlefield," the author has shown heroism while referring to the scenes of the battlefield in order to give pleasure to the readers and stimulate the imagination. The way such and such multi-flavored songs are sung together is an ominous reference to ghosts who may be in the field cooking gruel and adorning themselves with the bodies of fallen soldiers, elephants, and horses. The manner in which the events of the story have been described in many categories, such as location, scene, performance, character appearance, and nature, is admirable. The strategy employed by the author plays an important role in crafting a piece of literature in a refined manner. In this way, the purpose of this article is to explore the expressiveness of Kalingattupparani, which has been used by Jayamkondar to bring together various flavours and portray the events of the story.

Un poema inédito de Joan Sist en honor de Blanca de Sicilia

This article introduces and edits a previously unpublished poem by Joan Sist –a priest from València– copied in a 16th-century manuscript by the Majorcan humanist Joan Binimelis. The extant text is incomplete and rather corrupted, but it has great interest from the point of view of literary history for several reasons: firstly, it is the only witness to Sist's literary activity, which was known despite the fact that no piece seemed to have survived. Secondly, it is the first composition dedicated to Blanca, queen consort of Sicily and later queen of Navarre. The author's identification and the rubric allows me to propose a specific event as the ocasion that originated this song: the royal entry into the city of València of the monarch Martí I of Aragon, queen Maria de Luna and their new daughter-in-law, Blanca of Navarre, on 30 th March 1402. For this evento, the first public presentation of the queen of Sicily, second wife of Martí el Jove, Joan Sist composed a conventional song of praise, borrowing from the song also intended for the queen of Sicily, probably her predecessor on the trone Maria, by Andreu Febrer.

“Blessed Is the One Whose Bowels Can Move: An Essay in Praise of Lament” in Contemporary Worship

The CCLI charts may not reflect it, yet one thing many Christian churches discovered as the pandemic raged across the world (and violence at home and abroad) was the need for songs of sacred lament. Unfortunately, many churchgoers, especially those who identify as practitioners of contemporary Christian worship, have cultivated a gap between the biblical give and take of praise and lament revealed most poignantly in the book of Psalms. This chasm between praise and lament is a problem, as a liturgical discourse about disastrous events is weakened. Churches sing congregational songs of praise in the church, the chorus of ‘what ought to be’. Meanwhile, outside the church, artists in genres as diverse as folk and rap sing the chorus of what frankly ‘is’. For the church to be transformative, it must be grounded in what is (lament) and aiming toward what ought to be (praise). This is the value of the cycle of praise and lament in the church’s liturgy. This article explores the impact of CCM (contemporary Christian music) and praise and worship culture as it laments the loss of lament in Christian worship. The essay articulates the missing sense of ‘Truth’ in contemporary congregational music, as defined by Don Saliers’ Worship Come to Its Senses. The article closes by amplifying emerging Christian songwriters reintroducing lament to contemporary worship.

Das Zylinder-Fragment Nr. 1+6, Gudeas Zylinder X und Ninĝirsus Heldentaten im Gebirge

AbstractThis paper investigates the Lagash II cylinder fragment Nr. 1+6, whose physical join can be confirmed. A new edition of the joined fragment provides a more comprehensive understanding. Furthermore, the question is raised of whether this fragment might have belonged to the hypothesized Gudea Cylinder X. If this question could be answered in the affirmative, the fragment would point to the existence of a three-partite praise song (za₃-mim) addressing Ninĝirsu. However, also without such a connection the fragment allows for a more comprehensive understanding of Ninĝirsu’s adventures in the mountain lands.

An Arab Indonesian Singing Preacher, an Islamic Mass Concert, and the Historic Capture of a Public Space in Malaysia

ABSTRACT Habib Syech bin Abdul Qodir Assegaf, a well-known Arab Indonesian singing preacher, transposed to Malaysia a model of performing selawat (praise songs) in Islamic mass concerts that captured public spaces in Indonesia. By ‘capture’, this article suggests both the sanctification of a physical space and the promotion of a heightened Islamic religiosity within that space. In 2014, Habib Syech performed in a mass concert held in Putrajaya, the administrative capital of Malaysia. This article explores this concert as a form of religious mediation that was facilitated by the transposition to Malaysia of the highly visible public role of descendants of the Prophet in Indonesia as well as Malaysia’s political leadership and state agencies. The concert had two historic outcomes. First, it heightened the status of descendants of the Prophet in Malaysia before a massive audience gathered at the location and others watching the live broadcast in distant places. Second, it captured Putrajaya through a mix of selawat, enchantment, charismatic performance, and prayer.

“The Robe of Righteousness”: Exilic and Post-Exilic Isaiah in The Book of Mormon

“The Robe of Righteousness”: Exilic and Post-Exilic Isaiah in <i>The Book of Mormon</i>

Introduction: Socialist World Literature

Introduction:Socialist World Literature Yanli He (bio) and Daniel W. Pratt (bio) This special issue of The Journal of Narrative Theory, "Socialist World Literature," opens a window onto World Literature from the socialist perspective, through a focus on Socialist Realism broadly considered.1 Socialist Realism as a genre has largely been pilloried in Western scholarship, with a few notable exceptions, such as in the work of Katerina Clark and Evgeny Dobrenko. Clark herself describes the reaction when she would tell someone that her research was "on the Soviet Soviet novel, on those hundreds of unreadable texts that serve as examples of Socialist Realism": there would be a "dreadful pause," presumably of disbelief that such works could be seriously studied (Clark ix). Clark describes Socialist Realism as a taboo topic in Western scholarship (ix), and this situation is still true to a certain degree to this day. However, such a dismissive approach to Socialist Realism belies the power that it had throughout the twentieth century, and not just as the official genre of Soviet literature from 1933 to 1988. Socialist Realism, along with the Soviet project more generally, represented an alternative to Western European cultural hegemony for much of the world. If Russia had been "belated," as it was so often described, then the Bolshevik Revolution and the new Proletarian art transformed it into a leader on the world-historical stage. Socialist Realism went hand in hand with anti-colonial movements, liberation struggles, and the voices of ignored and oppressed literati all over the world. This led to a construction of World Literature centered on Moscow instead of the West, with Socialist Realism being the foundational form radiating from the new center. [End Page 267] In the Socialist countries, reimagining World Literature started in the 1930s, as a method of battling rising nationalism and fascist movements. During the First Soviet Writers' Congress of 1934 in Moscow, the German/Soviet critic and Socialist activist Karl Radek delivered a lengthy address, "Contemporary World Literature and the Tasks of Proletarian Art." According to Radek, there were three important historical events in the twentieth century that formed the criteria of how to evaluate the progress of World Literature: "the World War, the October Revolution and the fascists' advent to power in a number of countries" (74). Radek criticized the content of World Literature during World War I because it "sang songs in praise of war," with only a few exceptions, such as Maxim Gorky and Martin Andersen Nexø, but he claimed that the February Revolutions started to "turn world literature against the wars" of imperialism and colonial oppression (78). Radek specifically announced a new line of Socialist World Literature in his speech. According to him, the October Revolution began to change the landscape of World Literature, at first only in the negative way, because bourgeois literature became "an object of libel" for treating the October Revolution as "a mutiny of slaves engineered by scoundrels" and "the progeny of hell" (86). The development of an alternative to the hegemonic culture, according to Radek, "disturbed the minds of the more reflective representatives of world literature far more than did the events of October 1917" (91). The rise of the Soviet Union contributed to the "split in world literature" into two forms: "the literature of decaying capitalism, inevitably evolving towards fascism, [and] the new proletarian literature" with Moscow at its center (94). Bourgeois literature lost its "monopoly in world literature," and "proletarian literature was beginning to spring up in all countries" (95). Writers from all over the world were turning to Moscow for inspiration, and not just any authors, but already world-famous writers, such as Theodore Dreiser, Nobel laureate Romain Rolland, future Nobel laureate André Gide, and others. Radek understood Socialist World Literature and Socialist Realism in particular as part of the battle against fascism. Anyone who had remained with bourgeois literature was now forced to "side with [fascists]," and "write from the viewpoint of [fascist] philosophy" or join the proletariat (109). Thus, only one month after German fascists came to power on January 30, 1933, they lit a bonfire of German and World Literature near the [End Page 268] square of the University of Berlin. The...

The Apocalypse of Wisdom: Louis Bouyer's Theological Recovery of the Cosmos by Keith Lemna

Reviewed by: The Apocalypse of Wisdom: Louis Bouyer's Theological Recovery of the Cosmos by Keith Lemna Aaron Williams The Apocalypse of Wisdom: Louis Bouyer's Theological Recovery of the Cosmos by Keith Lemna (Brooklyn, NY: Angelico, 2019), xxx + 488 pp. Keith Lemna has done the theological world a great service. In The Apocalypse of Wisdom: Louis Bouyer's Theological Recovery of the Cosmos, he offers the English-speaking world for the first time a monograph on the thought of the Oratorian Louis Bouyer. Bouyer is undoubtedly one of the theological giants of the twentieth century. Born in Paris in 1913, he was ordained a Lutheran pastor in 1936. After only three years as a Lutheran clergyman, he was received into the Catholic Church at the Benedictine Abbey of Saint Wandrille. Then ordained as an Oratorian priest in 1944, he taught from 1946 to 1962 at the Institut Catholique de Paris and abroad for the three decades following.1 He is most well-known for his work on the liturgy both before and after the Second Vatican Council. With fifty books to his name, including a nine-part synthesis on Christian doctrine, the breadth of his theological vision and work is astounding. In France he is considered one of the four preeminent theologians of the post-World War II era, and his theological contemporaries in Europe, such as Hans Urs von Balthasar and Joseph Ratzinger / Benedict XVI, always held the Oratorian in high regard.2 Yet, in the English-speaking world, much of his work has gone without comment.3 Thankfully, into the void steps this excellent work by Lemna. [End Page 1353] Anyone familiar with the Bouyerian corpus knows the challenge of approaching it. With its vast array of subject matter, ranging from biblical to liturgical to historical to spiritual to speculative theology, one wonders whether there is any one thread woven throughout the varied strands, a single theme around which the whole sprawling corpus can be understood. In fact, there is, and Lemna has deftly identified it. For Bouyer, the fundamental question of theology is the world's relation to God.4 The structure of the first six books of his nine-part treatise on systematic theology attest to the priority of the question with the first three works addressing the question of the world, or the economy of creation and salvation, and the latter three works addressing the question of God, or theology properly speaking: the doctrine of the Trinitarian God. Interestingly, though Bouyer's work on theological cosmology, Cosmos, is the third book in the series, it was, in fact, the last of the six to be written. In this sense, as Lemna points out, "Cosmos is a capstone monograph . . . summarizing in important ways the decisive first six volumes" (xiv). Theological cosmology fully illuminates the God–world relation as Bouyer sees it, and since this relation sits at the heart of his thought, Cosmos is for Bouyer both his "most personal, as well as most speculative work" and indeed, "opens up the meaning of his other writings" beyond the dogmatic sphere (25). One could, then, scarcely choose a better entry point into the wide theological world of this "mind with a very special character," as Joseph Ratzinger saw him.5 The Apocalypse of Wisdom is an expansive commentary on Bouyer's cosmology at the heart of which is a liturgical, even nuptial, vision of the whole of creation known and loved in the mind of God from all eternity, as the uncreated Wisdom of God. In creation God freely gives existence to the world ex nihilo, so that it might return to him in a liturgical song of praise and thanksgiving, as the Bride of his eternal Son, the eschatological and cosmic Church, created wisdom now made glorious and radiant through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. As Lemna puts it, "Bouyer shows that cosmology should be a pursuit of wisdom, but that Wisdom is ultimately a gift revealed or uncovered by means of apokalypsis in the re-creative interventions of the divine Word and Holy Spirit in history" (xvii). The wisdom of man seeking a unified vision of the whole of reality [End...

Literature and Sustainable Ecosystem: An Investigation of Selected African Literary Texts

The fact that African literary works have gained considerable patronage in scholarly writings and debates. Most previous studies concern themselves with writers’ styles and themes whereas inadequate attention has been paid to the ecological functionality of the texts. This study, therefore, interrogates the issue of climate change and its effects on human race around the world. Adopting eco-criticism as theoretical framework, a close reading of five purposively selected African literary texts was carried out, with content analysis applied as our methodology. The study reveals that there is a break away from the old tradition of praise songs for Africa, as a continent, and a blind attack on the colonial imperialists. In the selected texts, the writers demonstrate the environmental realities of the modern society by depicting the indices of climate change and its adverse effects on man. It is observed that climate is the topmost factor which affects agriculture (crop and livestock production). Drought, flooding and desertification often cause displacement of people and other living organisms and only a safe environment can guarantee a sustainable national development. The study concludes that the world needs to come together in the fight against environmental degradation for sustainable development.

Praise Song that Refuses to Play Favorites, and: A Litany Travels, and: Solidarity, (For)ever

Praise Song that Refuses to Play Favorites, and: A Litany Travels, and: Solidarity, (For)ever