Symbolic Objects Research Articles

The technique of transforming symptom's symbol into emptiness: A mind-body therapy in the Chinese context.

The technique of transforming symptom's symbol into emptiness (TSSE) is a new mind-body treatment method proposed by Tianjun Liu in 2008. It integrates Qigong and concrete object-image thinking rooted in traditional Chinese culture into modern psychotherapy and proposes that mental and physical problems can be alleviated or eliminated in the process of movement. Accordingly, the therapist needs to guide the client with various symptoms to psychological nothingness where the client cannot see or feel these symptoms, and the purpose of healing can be achieved through the experience of emptiness. TSSE is divided into static and dynamic operations and consists of 10 steps. The static operation includes trio relaxation exercises (the body, breath, and mind), identifying the target symptom, visualizing the target symptom as an object-image, visualizing a symbolic carrier, and filling out record sheet A. The dynamic operation includes trio relaxation exercises again, moving the symbolic object into the carrier, moving the carrier with the symbolic object into psychological nothingness, moving back and assessment, and filling out record sheet B. The effectiveness of TSSE can be evaluated by the therapist's judgment based on the client's performance and by the difference between the symptom impact scores recorded in sheets A and B. TSSE has been proven to be an effective psychosomatic treatment solution by some empirical studies conducted in China. Future research can combine other technologies, such as fMRI and fNIRS, to further explore the potential effective mechanisms of TSSE.

This Is the Sacrifice: Language, Ideology and Religious Identity Performance in Erei Personal Names

This paper examines personal names derived from traditional religious beliefs and practices among the Erei people in Biase Local Government Area of Cross River State in South-South, Nigeria while utilising insights from the multidisciplinary inferences of socio-onomastic theory to account for the cultural, social and situational contexts that create the religious content of the names. Data were obtained by means of participant observation and semi-structured interviews during six months of fieldwork involving 40 participants who were the name-givers, name-bearers and name-users. Our findings highlight the socio-onomastic tradition of Erei people in which personal names are bestowed through a conscious application of symbolic linguistic resources to express and perform ideologies and identities that are rooted in the traditional religion’s foundations and sociocultural practices that represent Erei people’s indigenous beliefs system and spiritual worldview. Focused on the ideals of African traditional religion, religious identities are constructed through the use of personal names related to idol worship, the mysteries of death, reincarnation and commemoration, cultural festivals and performances, symbolic objects, familial rankings and other aspects derived from their environment that also bear traditional religious significance. And because this set of personal names is now predominant among the ageing population and is losing contemporaneity due to an increasing subpopulation with a new (Christian) beliefs system, this study serves to preserve a transiting and endangered Erei socio-onomastic practice that represents the people’s traditional cosmology.

Chronotope of an thing or chronotope thing: a thing as a structurizer of space and time

INTRODUCTION. The study is a philosophical and cultural analysis of the “thing” concept as a cultural form that structures the space and time of an individual’s daily existence. The main focus is on the role of things in creating and representing the chronotope, which is a combination of space and time. Things act as structurizers of space and time and occupy two positions in relation to the chronotope: 1) as an internal thing within the chronotopic space, and 2) as an external thing outside the chronotope. This allows things to fully realize their symbolic functions. The aim of the study is to substantiate the argument that things, as carriers of meaning and symbolic objects, play a crucial role in structuring and stabilizing human culture through their chronotopic indicators.MATERIALS AND METHODS. The material obtained as a result of the analysis and synthesis of both philosophical and cultural studies of the thing as an object and phenomenon of culture is presented.RESULTS AND DISCUSSION. Thing is a complex entity and cultural form that interacts with the chronotope bidirectionally, objectifying and subjectivizing it. It can act as an “thing” and as a “phenomenon”, and its symbolic meaning can be deep and multifaceted.CONCLUSION. The material presented in the study is intended to fund applied research on the spatial and temporal structure of human daily life, as well as for socio-cultural design in the field of preservation and actualization of cultural heritage.

Rhetorical use of Sobolo (Hibiscus drink) as Yesu Mogya (Blood of Jesus) for Holistic Healing in Contemporary Ghanaian Christianity: A Critical Analysis from the Perspective of Biblical Theology and Christian Ethics

This article sought to survey the rhetorical use of Sobolo (hibiscus drink) as Yesu Mogya (the blood of Jesus) for holistic healing in contemporary Ghanaian Christianity. From the perspective of Biblical Theology and Christian Ethics, it argued that the phenomenon of using plant products and symbolic objects for miraculous healing is both explicitly and implicitly rooted in the Bible. Contrary to the dispensationalist perspective with its emphasis on the cessation of miraculous healing in some Western contexts and within scholarship, the continuous relevance of miraculous healing in Ghanaian Christianity is not much debated in the ecclesial context. It is, therefore, maintained that the use of symbols such as Sobolo for healing creates opportunities for the wholistic needs of the members of the church to be met. These needs are claimed to be fulfilled by spiritual means. From a Christian ethical perspective, this paper, however, cautions that sobolo as a miraculous drink in the Ghanaian Christian context should not be used as an exclusive means of physical well-being and development of society. It is further argued that the cyclical use of sobolo as a healing juice for all and diverse kinds of miraculous healings needs to be questioned in the light of biblical theology. Keywords: Wholistic Healing, Worldview, Biblical theology, Christian Ethics, Sobolo

New skills in symbolic data analysis for official statistics

The paper draws attention to the use of Symbolic Data Analysis (SDA) in the field of Official Statistics. It is composed of three sections presenting three pilot techniques in the field of SDA. The three contributions range from a technique based on the notion of exactly unified summaries for the creation of symbolic objects, a model-based approach for interval data as an innovative parametric strategy in this context, and measures of similarity defined between a class and a collection of classes based on the frequency of the categories which characterize them. The paper shows the effectiveness of the proposed approaches as prototypes of numerous techniques developed within the SDA framework and opens to possible further developments.

Navigating normalcy: designing personal health visualizations for pediatric kidney transplant recipients and caregivers.

Patients with chronic illnesses, including kidney disease, consider their sense of normalcy when evaluating their health. Although this concept is a key indicator of their self-determined well-being, they struggle to understand if their experience is typical. To address this challenge, we set out to explore how to design personal health visualizations that aid participants in better understanding their experiences post-transplant, identifying barriers to normalcy, and achieving their desired medical outcomes. Pediatric kidney transplant patients and their caregivers participated in three asynchronous design sessions involving sharing experiences, presenting symbolic objects, and providing feedback on visualizations to understand their perceptions of normalcy post-transplant. Data analysis of design session 1 and 2 comprised deductive and inductive analysis. We used affinity diagramming to identify thematic areas about participants' transplant experiences. Comprehension of design session three normalcy visualizations was also evaluated. Participants effectively engaged in the design sessions, revealing diverse perspectives on their experiences. We found there is a significant need for visualizations that depict normalcy to better inform patients and caregivers about their health. Normalcy Visualizations should incorporate three key design principles: personal values, facilitating peer and self-comparison, and seamlessly communicating abstract concepts to help youth kidney transplant recipients comprehend and contextualize if their transplant experience is normal and what normalcy means to them. By incorporating holistic aspects of patients' and caregivers' lives into personal health visualizations, they can be cognizant of their progress to normalcy and empowered to make decisions that help them feel normal.

Contemplación, Mística y Espíritu Carmelitano en la Poesía de Rosa Cruchaga de Walker

A new line of study of Rosa Cruchaga de Walker's poetry is proposed, focusing on the contemplative and mystic component, in accordance with the literary legacy of Discalced Carmelite, from the theology of Saint Teresa of Jesus to the poetry of Saint John of the Cross. The question of this study emerges from the analysis of some poems selected from the book of poems Ramas sin fondo (1967) corresponding to the Hispanic American post-avant-garde period. This book and her work as a whole highlights the use of symbolic objects and the desire of the poetic self to transcend its human condition. Through a daily and biblical symbology, the reader can appreciate the intimate spirituality of the author, which impregnates her verses and generates a unique «overworld» in the Chilean poetry of the XX century.

Obrazy o treściach mariologicznych w kaplicy Grobu Matki Boskiej w zespole Kalwarii Zebrzydowskiej. Z badań nad recepcją grafiki w malarstwie polskim XVII w.

The Chapel of Our Lady's Tomb in Brody, complete with valuable interior furnishing, in terms of history and territory belongs to the architectural landscape concept of the Marian- and Passion-themed compound in Kalwaria Zebrzydowska. In the fields of the late-Renaissance choir parapet and the galleries of the chapel there are a series of paintings showing hitherto unspecified Marian themes. The items have never been referred to in literature on Kalwaria or mentioned in guidebooks or maintenance records. The article analyses, in a broad context, the symbolism of 37 Marian scenes presenting Mary and symbolic objects (e.g. a heart, a building, a garden).

Contested spaces as spectacles

ABSTRACT This article discusses the role of scenographic methodologies in revisiting spaces associated with political conflict and trauma. In doing so, the author presents her artistic research and design process behind the art installation ‘Spectators in a Ghost City’, the exhibition of the Cyprus National participation in the Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design and Space 2023 which places the occupied city of Famagusta, abandoned since 1974, as a contested-space-becoming-spectacle. The author describes how analysing the space through a scenographic lens allows a close examination of the city’s materiality and how this, in turn, becomes the source for artistic creation. Focusing on the scenographic process of scaling down, sculptural maquettes and portable models in walking practices are approached as symbolic objects for communicating issues on displacement, space politics, surveillance and agency. In that sense, scenographic methodologies are discussed as thinking processes, a political act of resistance, and a tool for negotiating artistic practices and real spaces of conflict. This process is defined as ‘scenography reversed’, where a real place becomes a dramatised scene, allowing alternative understandings that expand beyond hegemonic narratives. The article places Famagusta as a paradigm of contested spaces and questions whether scenographic methodologies can be a possible approach to reconciliation and conflict resolution.

Political economy of music in the digital age

This paper seeks to unravel and understand the conditions and ways in which cultural capitalism operates that drive its production, exchange, distribution and consumption in the digital age; as well as understanding the powers that hold it and those it serves, the circuits in which it is heard, the spaces in which it is prohibited, its context and historical transformations. Music as an artistic production and symbolic object has always been linked to its characteristic instruments and technologies of its time. But when the economy catches up with it and it becomes merchandise, other means and channels are put into play for its dissemination, storage and control. It seeks to demonstrate those stealthy operations with which intermediaries operate. An analysis is made regarding the logic of consumption and production of users, on power relations and asymmetries between some actors in the music industry.

앱솔루트보드카 시티시리즈에 나타난 도시정체성 특성 연구

In the era of city competition, value and role of visualized city identity is getting bigger. The study aims to methods for building and visualizing city identities through city series advertisement campaign by Sweden Absolut bodka brand to make premium image. The study is done by literature research and case study. Absolut releases creative advertisements to break up Russian low-graded image of bodka for penetration toward US market. City series ads of Absolut combining unique bottle shape and symbolic images of cities help to build premium brand image and penetrate global market. Images of cities represented on ads can be categorized as landmark. symbolic objects, historical events, representative artists, city culture, national objects, While ads using concrete objects such as architecture and product can be understood easily, ads using history and culture require higher leveled visual metaphor. Absolut ads show the diversity of city identies and importance of visual communication using creative expression. In order to build city identities effectively, collaboration with consumer brand and creative expression are required.

Strategie zarządzania kłopotliwym dziedzictwem kulturowym na Warmii i Mazurach

The article sets out to characterize two main strategies of dealing with the resources of dissonant cultural heritage located in Warmia and Mazury. This type of heritage includes any material or symbolic objects that arouse a sense of dissonance in the social consciousness of representatives of certain social groups. One of the strategies undertaken by regional social actors is described as the strategy of Polonization. The media of memory are filtered so that the story about the past and cultural specificity of the region created by such actors fits the ethnocentrically defined Polishness. The second strategy, called cultural succession, consists in the inclusion of all elements of the existing cultural heritage, regardless of their ethnic or political origin. Those implementing it are striving to create a multi-cultural region. The social actors implementing the above strategies are in conflict because they are playing a game of symbolic domination.

Narratives of Symbolic Objects: Exploring Relational Wellbeing of Young Refugees Living in Scotland, Finland, and Norway

Background: In this study, objects are used as a representation of relational wellbeing to help young refugees living in Norway, Scotland, and Finland to talk about important persons who make them feel well. At the time of this research, there is no known study that uses objects to facilitate narratives of how young refugees and members of their social networks generate relational wellbeing. Methods: Using a qualitative approach, young refugees participated in individual interviews about the objects they brought to art workshops to understand their experiences, feelings, and acts of wellbeing. Results: Treating each object as unique to the owner was powerful in revealing how relational wellbeing is experienced and expressed. There were overlaps in experiences and expressions of wellbeing, hence our themes of discussion: overlaps between old and new social ties; between time and space; and between the three constructs of relational wellbeing. Old ties were not forgotten; instead, they evolved to a different form, supporting young refugees from a distance, while new ties contributed to what is needed in their present and at their current age. Experiences of relational wellbeing transcended time and space between their disrupted places of origin, their experiences on the journey, and settling in their new countries. The constructs of relational wellbeing—feeling good, being connected, and having enough—were inseparable in the participants’ experiences. Conclusions: We conclude that these overlaps have implications for a relational wellbeing approach in theory and practice. The results leave a challenge for both researchers and practitioners to develop complex research and intervention methods that can capture these tapestries of young refugees’ experiences of relational wellbeing.

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

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

“Un maglione ricamato di cervi”. La tessitura del rapporto genitori-figli nell’opera di Rosetta Loy

Rosetta Loy published her debut novel La bicicletta in 1974. This symbolic object of movement makes two brothers and two sisters talk to their father and mother, from adoles-cence to adulthood, sketching conflicts and returns. With-out forgetting the history line that shapes the succession of generations. This article aims to show how the theme es-tablished in La bicicletta will be developed in the following books, from L’estate di Letuchè (1982) to Sogni d’inverno (1992), possibly sublimating itself (perhaps) in the autobio-graphical novel La prima mano (2009).“Un maglione ricamato di cervi”.La tessitura del rapporto genitori-figli nell’opera di Rosetta Loy.

Storynomic Tourism Strategy of Kebo Ketan Ceremonial Art as a Form of Marketing Communication for Eco-Tourism

Storynomic Tourism Strategy of Kebo Ketan Ceremonial Art as a Form of Marketing Communication for Eco-Tourism

Rebooting social reality in the space of quantified symbolic objects: “ontologization of the figure”

Rebooting social reality in the space of quantified symbolic objects: “ontologization of the figure”

Muszle – zawieszki – amulety we wczesnym średniowieczu z terenu Polski na przykładzie znalezisk z Kruszwicy

In this article, the author takes a closer look at the finds of sea shell ornaments in the early Middle Ages, based on artefacts discovered at two sites (Nos. 2 and 4) in Kruszwica. The four pendants in question come from settlement levels dating from the 11th to the 12th centuries. A malacological analysis suggests that the ornaments reached Kruszwica from the Mediterranean area (Acanthocardia tuberculata and Bolinus brandaris), and probably the Red Sea (Monetaria moneta), and from southern Poland (Turritella sp). These objects had been in use for a long time, as evidenced by the microtraces and damage visible on their surface. During the early medieval period, among the various species of shells that were ‘imports’, money cowrie shell ornaments with the most ‘exotic’ origins were the most common in Europe. It is highly probable that during this period of time, they were used in the exchange/trade and their value as a female symbol object and an amulet. Most likely, the shell pendants reached Kruszwica via trade routes that have been previously documented, alongside other artifacts. These ornaments provide additional evidence of long-distance trade.

The role of means of fi lm poetics in everyday life modelling (based on the texts written by I. Rozdobudko and M. Gretkovska)

The aim of the article is to analyze the expressive possibilities of film poetics in the texts of I. Rozdobudko and M. Gretkovska. The study is based on the elements of film poetics that A. Pokulevska points out in the literary work: montage, frame (mise en scene), layout, perspective, rhythm. It is noted that both authors use the means of film poetics, adding expressiveness to their texts. It was found that in order to stop the time and slow down the development of events, writers use various types of montage. Perfectly edited episodes give writers the opportunity to combine reality and unreality without differentiating them, but creating a coherent everyday life. Narrowing the perspective from a general to a close-up allows to point out important, symbolic objects in the everyday life of the characters. Stunning, spectacular images make everyday life vivid and emotional in the texts by I. Rozdobudko and M. Gretkovska.

Dynamic 3D-Cartographic Symbols for VR Geovisualizations

Geovisualizations that use a virtual reality headset can have a more immersive effect on users than when only a desktop application is viewed. However, to have an overview, a VR 3D map is usually viewed from a top-down perspective. On the other hand, the first-person perspective is used when the scenario is visualized as realistically as possible, and the ultimate goal is to feel present inside the 3D city. With the help of dynamic cartographic visualization methods, such as animated symbols appearing or a dynamic change of selected or complete visualization, it is possible to convey targeted information while being inside the 3D. For this purpose, techniques and ideas from cartography and video games were utilized and combined. The combination resulted in dynamically changeable symbol objects, which can be placed automatically using tables or building information, and dynamically changeable post-processing methods. Users can interactively select a predefined set of visualization methods and show/hide dynamic cartographic symbols in the running application via an interface. The study aims to develop cartographic visualization methods that can be technically used within a game engine for VR applications to improve spatial perception.