Notre approche du théâtre panique d’Arrabal a été dirigée par la perception d’une esthétique paradoxale, d’une dimension éthique et cathartique au cœur d’une théâtralité qui restitue sur scène la confusion de la vie et l’humain dans sa totalité. Cette thèse s’interroge sur les moyens par lesquels Arrabal a créé l’univers panique ainsi que sur les piliers d’une esthétique a priori fondée sur la dérision et l’altération de la réalité, dans une perpétuelle oscillation entre l’outrancier et le fascinant. Il s’agit de comprendre le fonctionnement du dispositif de la cruauté, à la fois dramaturgique et dramatique, et comment se révèle cette tension dialectique entre abject et sublime, à travers une pensée qui se prétend insaisissable. Notre travail cherche donc à situer tout d’abord la naissance de la pensée panique, à questionner la dimension contestataire et subversive de l’œuvre d’Arrabal, et à en envisager les variations et les permanences. La forme brute et primitive de ce théâtre en fait un spectacle qui nous touche et provoque un choc émotionnel qui stimule la pensée. A travers l’exploration de la cruauté enfantine, de la manifestation du cauchemar, du bouleversement des valeurs, de la violence et du blasphème, nous verrons que l’espoir et la quête de soi éloignent ce théâtre du tragique pur et du nihilisme. La merveille de l’enfance, les songes, l’humour, l’érotisme apparaissent alors comme autant de moyens d’une révolte poétique qui permet de tenir tête à une réalité oppressante et d’affronter la condition humaine sans tomber dans le désespoir. Cette polarisation entre le haut et le bas, entre l’espoir et la chute, dans une ritualisation de l’espace scénique, fait du théâtre d’Arrabal un théâtre libertaire et fondamentalement humain, qui devient un moyen d’accéder à la connaissance de soi. / Our approach of Arrabal’s panic theater was led by the perception of a paradoxical aesthetic, an ethic and cathartic dimension at the heart of a theatricality bringing to the stage the confusion of life and human condition. This Ph.D thesis questions the means by which Arrabal created the panic paradigm and the foundations of an aesthetic first of all based on mockery and distortion of reality, perpetually oscillating between outrage and fascination. Our aim is to understand how cruelty is expressed, both dramatically and theatrically, and how the dialectical tension between abject and sublime is revealed through a vision often considered evasive. We first seek to understand when the panic concept was born, to question the subversive and protesting side of Arrabal’s work and to point out what changes and what remains the same through his productions. The crude and primitive nature of this theater makes it a performance that brings out an emotional shock and stimulates the audience’s mind. By exploring the themes of children’s cruelty, nightmare, abrupt change of values, violence and blasphemy, we will see that hope and the ontological quest keep this theater from pure tragic and nihilism. Childhood, dreams, humor, and eroticism appear as forces which feed a poetic revolt, to stand up against an oppressive reality and fight against human condition without falling into despair. This polarization between the high and the low, the hope and the fall, by a ritualization of the scenic area, makes Arrabal’s theater libertarian, fundamentally human, and therefore a means to know oneself.

The purpose of this study is to examine the way in which the earliest followers of Jesus experienced the rites of baptism and the Eucharist, which in turn could aid us to comprehend what kind of value baptism and the Eucharist might add to our lives today. My point of entry reflects that of current research which indicates that baptism and the Eucharist can be perceived as symbolic rites. Rites consist of rituals and ceremonies, and in this case baptism can be described as an initiation and status transformation ritual, while the Eucharist can be seen as a ceremony of integration and participation. As with other symbols, the earliest baptism and Eucharist carried meaning because they were performed for a reason and they added value to people’s lives. Extensive research has already been carried out on the origins of baptism and the Eucharist. However, it has not been investigated whether this ritual of initiation and ceremony of participation could be understood anew if one takes the contemporary knowledge of alternate states of consciousness into consideration. As a result of cross-cultural anthropological investigations we know that only ten percent of people all over the world today do not experience common alternate states of consciousness, while the rest of humanity do. The premodern mythical world of the biblical period displays continuity with this finding – people who lived in the first-century Mediterranean world experienced alternate states of consciousness as an ordinary part of life. Only in the Eurocentric world have we – the ten percent exception to the rule – attempted to interpret baptism and the Eucharist as cognitive dogmatic constructs. The hypothesis of this study aims to demonstrate that the initiation and participation ritually expressed by the two “sacraments” can be “better” explained against the background of alternate states of consciousness. However, a model is necessary to verify or falsify the legitimacy of this hypothesis. Research into alternate states of consciousness creates a theoretical problem because, even though these states can be experienced simultaneously by more than one person in a group, experiences of alternate states of consciousness represent individual mental and psychological states. Each experience is unique and in the first instance a personal experience. In other words, without empirical evidence of what an individual has really experienced during an alternate state of consciousness, some research findings may be jeopardized, because of the impossibility of ascertaining the religious meaning and value attributed to a specific alternate state of consciousness experience. Yet, we do have access to texts as well as archeological and paleontological findings which show that there is a correlation between alternate states of consciousness and certain rites. The study illustrates that these alternate states of consciousness were verbalized in “anti-language”, which is the model I employ. “Anti-language” constitutes the language that is used by an anti-society, which in turn can be described as a conscious alternative to another society. The earliest Jesus-followers formed such an anti-society, into which they were initiated by means of baptism and in which they participated by means of the Eucharist. Consequently, the purpose of the study is to indicate that the ritual initiation and ceremonial participation of the earliest Jesus-followers were the result of alternate states of consciousness as expressed in anti-language. The study aims at redirecting extant research concerning the origins of the “Christian” baptism and the Eucharist by means of a multidisciplinary methodological approach. One of the import and relevant issues addressed in this study can be found in the enhancement of social inclusivity as an ideal in the present day. / Thesis (DD (New Testament Studies))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / New Testament Studies / unrestricted

This dissertation examines the portraits of the Ottoman sultan Mahmud II (r. 1808–1839) as part of a campaign launched by the ruler and his propagandists to support sweeping reform efforts in military and civil spheres. The paintings and prints at the center of this study – to which I refer collectively as the “portraiture campaign” – are bound together by their shared use of the sultan’s idealized visage, direct gaze, and modern military uniform. I use the campaign as an acutely focused lens through which to view larger questions of shifting Ottoman imperial identity, legitimation ideology, and the role of visual diplomacy within the dynamic politics of the early nineteenth century. Chapter 1 approaches the campaign through its formal continuities with the established conventions of sultans’ portraiture. In it, I argue that it was in part the coexistence of various forms of Mahmud II’s image – dispersed through readily transportable and reproducible media on paper support – that facilitated the successful adaptation of foreign portrait conventions into the service of the Ottoman court. Chapter 2 discusses the bestowal ceremonies of the taṣvīr-i hümāyūn nişānı, a small-scale, medallion-format imperial portrait awarded in the style of a military decoration. I show how this portrait-object functioned in a manner new to the Ottoman context by evoking the memory of the sultan’s physical and spiritual presence across spectrums of viewing practice, ranging from the prescribed, semi-public setting of the bestowal ceremony itself to more intimate forms of viewing. Chapter 3 examines common programmatic elements and hierarchical protocol frequently repeated in the elaborate portrait-inauguration ceremonies held for the display of the large-format, wall-hanging taṣvīr-i hümāyūn (imperial portrait) in barracks, schools, and government offices. Chapter 4 considers a group of Ottoman-Balkan princely portraits in which the sitters wear the taṣvīr-i hümāyūn nişānı, framing it as an embedded object with the power to associate local, semi-autonomous provincial actors at the courts of Belgrade, Bucharest, and Iași with the sovereign power of the sultan in Istanbul. This dissertation provides the first examination of the component parts of Mahmud II’s portraiture campaign – the medallion-format, large-scale, and printed taṣvīr-i hümāyūn – with attention to their individual material and functional differences. It draws a significant connection between these works and related Ottoman-Balkan princely portraits, which have never before been considered within the context of the centralized campaign. By scrutinizing the archival records of new ceremonial forms in which the sultan’s portrait was bestowed or inaugurated, I show that these portraits were understood by contemporary audiences in their role as imperial propaganda supporting the sultan’s reform program. My methodology integrates the examination of ideologies of power and kingship tied to the Persianate and Ottoman-Islamic courtly traditions with art historical theories of vision popularized in the Western-European context in order to gain greater insight into how different strategies for the reception and use of portraiture were appropriated, adapted, and deployed. This new approach, which considers both established Ottoman and newly-integrated models of the visual representation of power, mirrors the blended strategies used by the sultan and his propagandists in their attempts to recentralize imperial control.

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Death is an ever-present fact in human life and it affects its life course. Stable form of funeral ritual is developed from the need for reconciliation with one's own mortality and loss of loved ones. Traditional funeral ceremony based on combination of lore and Christian ritual had changed due to changes in political and social life during the 20th century. Probably the biggest effect had the administration of communist party which lasted for 40 years and which used funeral ceremony as propaganda of its regime. The struggle with traditional Christian funeral was connected with an open fight with church as such and was caused by communist effort to dominate social life. Instead of traditional Christian funeral communism proclaimed cremation as an anticlerical burial option. Effects of communism then developed new funeral rituals. This text is motivated by the effort to identify perception of death and its changes in Czech republic in the second half of the 20th century, using literary and oral sources. It searches for an answer to the question of whether communist regime changed funeral ritual and tries to identify it in taped oral sources.

Sweden and its relationship with the former state church Church of Sweden and religion, is complicated. The country has been described as one of the most secular countries in the world, and yet one of the longer recurring public debates has been on the topic of whether schools’ end of year ceremonies should take place in local churches or not. The peak of this debate coincides with newly defined regulations from the Swedish National Agency for Education regarding what is considered appropriate and inappropriate religious features in school and its ceremonies. The aim of this study is to investigate how Swedish citizens contribute to this debate and to illuminate what different intents and purposes they associate with the end of year ceremony in church. The research questions asked were: What themes occur in the opinion pieces written by Swedish citizens in the years 2010–2012? What or which purposes do they ascribe to the end of year ceremony in church within these themes? In what ways can these intents and purposes be seen and understood through Grace Davie’s” Vicarious religion” and religion as a public utility? The study was conducted by performing a qualitative content analysis on 28 articles published in public debate or opinion pieces in Swedish regional press through the years 2010–2012. The result was then analyzed with Grace Davie’s theory” Vicarious religion” and the notion of religion as a public utility within that theory. The results and analysis showed that the citizens had different understandings of the political decisions that concerned the end of year ceremony, which in turn led to different opinions on the purpose of the ceremony taking place in church. The differences in opinion showed that the Swedish people considered religious features and locales as either going against the school’s non-confessional policies and the freedom of religion, or as a necessity to fulfill a culturally traditional or educational role. The citizens who want the end of year ceremonies to take place in church and potentially include religious aspects can be understood as participating in vicarious religion in the sense that they defend continued access to religious locales and features as part of education and tradition, and by consequence, religion as a useful public utility.

This is a study of Leslie Marmon Silko's Ceremony analyzing the process of renewal and the use of stories as guides. Silko's work deals with problems faced by all who experience the death and destruction of war, a problem complicated by a Native American heritage. Tayo's struggle to complete his ceremony and find renewal is intertwined with his interaction with the medicine man Betonie and the mysterious woman Ts'eh. By the end of the novel, Silko shows that only through a respect for the world can mankind achieve completeness and harmony.

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This study explores the development of women's tea ceremony from the Edo (1603-1868) to the Meiji period (1868-1912) onward, focusing on its connection to the "good wife, wise mother" ideology in the Meiji period. Many girls' schools, led by Atomi school, adopted the tea ceremony around the time of establishing the “good wife, wise mother.” During the Edo period, the population of women practitioners increased significantly. This was not limited to just women from samurai families; it extended to commoners as well. The women’s tea ceremony during the Edo period was greatly influenced by Confucianism and its expectations for women. However, when the Meiji period (1868-1912) arrived, Westernization started to have a major impact. This led to a decline in Confucian education and Edo cultural practices, including the tea ceremony. During the mid-Meiji period, the tea ceremony was reevaluated and integrated into girls' education in response to the resistance against Westernization and the surge of nationalism. Alongside the expansion of girls' schools, the practice of the tea ceremony spread throughout the country. Atomi Kakei, educated in Confucianism during the Edo period, is considered the first educator to have included women’s learnings of the Edo period, such as the tea ceremony, in the school curriculum from its inception. Nevertheless, the presence of inconsistencies in the remaining documents has raised doubts about the introduction of tea ceremony during the early Meiji period. Furthermore, in her autobiography, Oriori-gusa (1915), certain descriptions interweave the early and mid-Meiji periods, suggesting that she adjusted her actions and behaviors to align with the respective times. This study highlights that the ideology of "good wife, wise mother" played a pivotal role in the spread of the women's tea ceremony. In addition, careful observation of the operation of the Atomi Kakei’s school reveals that the tea ceremony was modernized in a short period of time, in line with the changing policies of the Meiji government.