Symbolism in the Religious Agenda
Shared Religious Symbols amongst Faith Communities of the Subcontinent: A Case Study of the Ismaili Devotional Literature
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Sahista Chawdawala
Religion is often seen as a polarizing factor in dividing the nation due to both the religious nationalism and communalism (Asani, 2002). Yet by studying the religion, one cannot but notice that religious traditions have many commonalities and accommodate several encounters. This idea will be explored by using an example of the Nizari Ismailis (the branch of Shi’i Muslims) which evolved in the Indian-Subcontinent in the thirteenth century and their devotional literature called gināns (devotional hymns). The community narratives talk about the dā‘īs (one who invites people to Islam) being sent to the Subcontinent by the Imams (spiritual leaders) living in Persia. It is believed that dā‘īs (known as pirs) used gināns to propagate their faith amongst the people of Sindh and Gujarat. Pirs adopted the Indic languages, culture, music and built on the Indian Bhakti (love and devotion) tradition to invite locals to their faith, Islam (Khan, 1997). The present paper will look at how ginanic tradition creatively used shared vocabularies and religious symbols to communicate the message of Islam. One such example is "virahini," the word used for a woman longing for her husband. The idea is borrowed from the Bhakti tradition and the symbol of virahini and its related metaphors and imageries are used in the gināns to communicate the notion of separation and spiritual union in Islam. Being a teacher of religion, I will also discuss how this idea allows a practitioner to promote tolerance and pluralism amongst her students using examples of pedagogic practices.
"Oh, Cross! Oh, Nails! Oh, Thorn!": Does the Religous Symbolism of Lorca's Poetry Reflect His Shifting Idea of Faith?
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Erin Sessions
Perhaps Spain's best poet and playwright, Federico Garcia Lorca, was a self-proclaimed "anarchical-Catholic" and "a poet from birth and unable to help it." Adding to our enduring memory of Lorca is the mysterious circumstances of his death, having been assassinated by Nationalist forces at the beginning of the Spanish Civil War. His early "Libro de Poemas" (1921) traverses the themes of religion and isolation. Later, Lorca's affinity for "deep song" provides the context for his "Romancero Gitano" (1928) and "Poema del cante jondo" (1931). Their eroticism and existentialism mirror his own exploration of sexuality and self. His anguish is palpable as his conception of religion and sexuality shift and prove anathema to the Catholic faith of of his youth. By the time he was writing his 'Poeta en Nueva York', Lorca's poetry had abandoned the lyricism of his earlier work and moved to expressions of alienation and dislocation. This paper analyses the religious symbolism of Lorca's poetry and investigates whether his developing use of symbolism over time reflects his changing attitude toward, and philosophy of, religion.
Book of Esther and Symbols of Tree and Cross
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Pawel Plichta
The aim of the article is to analyze the symbol of tree and cross in the Book of Esther. The story of the Jewish queen and her intervention with the king contributed to the salvation of Jews. The enemy of Jews was killed. "So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then was the king's wrath pacified" (Est. 7:10). Interesting interpretations of the biblical motive are found in some works with crucified Haman. This selected topos from the Book of Esther is an example of different interpretation of universal symbols in the context of religious traditions.
Religious Symbols from the Visual Semiotics' Point of View
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Edit Gerencsér Újvári
The paper focuses on the visual symbols of religions. I would like to analyse three religious symbols from viewpoint of how they can be used to express the idea of religious-philosophical, theological theories. The first is a tribal symbol of a shaman drum from Central-Asia, the second is a medieval Christian motif with the main animal symbols of Christianity in a concentric circle-structure and the third is the Chinese Taoist symbol of Bagua with the eight octagonal trigrams and the Yin and Yang motif in its centre. All of them have a central geometrical structure and a complex visual content. Naturally, they have absolutely different cultural-religious background, subject matters, and themes, as we can understand their accurate meanings by their semantic examination. However, when they are submitted to a syntactic analysis, the similar visual logic in their compositions is clearly visible. According to the syntactic analyses. With the help of the theory and method of visual semiotics, we could analyse the common cognitive schemes in different religious symbols.
