Qu'est-ce que la mélodie ? Si cette question délicate a animé de nombreux débats esthétiques du XVIIe siècle au début du XXe siècle, peu de spécialistes se sont aujourd'hui risqués à une étude de la mélodie, appliquée au répertoire contemporain. Parfois considérée comme illégitime, voire archaïque après 1945, la mélodie n'a pourtant que provisoirement disparu de l'espace musical et non sans laisser quelques scories riches de sens. Ce travail tente justement d'éclairer les enjeux et les différentes mutations de la mélodie, synthétisées à travers trois directions poursuivies par les compositeurs : premièrement, les résistances, illustrant la promotion d'un mélos généreux et prépondérant, qu'il soit ou non marqué par le néoclassicisme ; deuxièmement, les ruptures, nourries par le pointillisme sériel, puis par la dissolution du degré dans la masse sonore et par la recherche d'une fusion entre harmonie et timbre, d'où la mélodie ne subsiste que par bribes éparses ; troisièmement, les résurgences, caractérisées après 1960 par un dépassement de la modernité radicale et de ses prescriptions anti-mélodiques, allant parfois jusqu'à la citation ou recherchant une forme de communication nouvelle, pouvant être en lien avec l'expression du sacré. / What is melody? Despite the fact that this subtle question was largely debated upon from 17th to early 20th century from an aesthetic viewpoint, few specialists nowadays dare to study melody in contemporary repertoire. Sometimes regarded as illegitimate or even archaic after 1945, melody has only temporarily vanished from the musical scene, leaving some meaningful residues. This study aims at highlighting what is at stake in the diverse mutations of melody along three directions followed by composers : firstly, resistances exemplifying the promotion of a generous melos, whether it be marked by neoclassicism or not ; secondly, breaks nourished by punctual music, and then by the dissolution of degree in the sound mass and by the quest for a fusion between harmony and timbre, from which melody only survives through scattered fragments ; thirdly, resurgences characterized, after 1960, by an overcoming of radical modernity and its anti-melodic prescriptions, and sometimes taking the form of a quotation or looking for a new way of communication, which can be related to the expression of the sacred.

The work introduces the reader into the etic definition of magic and into the Mandaean emic definition. Author chronologically and phenomenologically systematizes history of Western scholarship of Mandaic magical texts and then he deals with them phenomenologically, philologically and according to religious studies. He refers to the methods which should be used during the examination of these findings and he points out the phenomena, which are to be noted. In some cases, he reffers to non-Mandaic magical texts and he also seeks for their possible influence on the Mandaic texts. Author uses the primary texts in Mandaic and secondary literature especially in English and German.

Renato Zero rappresenta un mito contemporaneo in quanto nell'artista, molte persone vivono un'esperienza di senso, di comunità e di sacro. Il mito è una dimensione sacrale, con una forte valenza sia religiosa, sia sociale. L'arte musicale di Renato Zero offre l'accesso ad un mondo di speranza e di valori (amore, amicizia, solidarietà, coraggio, fede), un mondo che reincanta e unisce chi si stringe intorno a lui: i suoi fan, detti sorcini o zerofolli. Il fandom zerofolle costituisce una comunità reale e on line, in quanto il web appare centrale nella costruzione di un'identità sorcina; una comunità nella quale si condivide una cultura zeroista. Il legame tra Zero e i sorcini è interpretato alla luce della teoria del carisma di Weber. Infine, il punto d'appoggio per una concezione laica di sacro, in cui sacro consiste in un'esperienza di senso, è fornito dalla sociologia della religione di Durkheim. / In the actual society there are different shapes of sacred, and the myth is one of this forms. Myth has more means, and celebrity is a part of this means. Especially, the religion of celebrity is an important social phenomenon, and d our analysis?object is a star: the singer Renato Zero. Around the star there is a fandom, interesting social movement, in which people of fan build sense of belonging and identity. The fan club represents a form of fandom and is a passion community, with her order, space, communication, rite or ceremony, and mythology. The name of Zero?s fandom is sorcini o zerofolli; they are a sort of charismatic aristocracy around own prophet; in fact, the weberian theory of charisma represents a principal interpretation of this fandom (perhaps of fandom generally). Sorcini has worths and a collective conscience: in this case we found our interpretation on Émile Durkheim sociology and, in particular, on theory of rite as celebration on community. Sorcini has a liturgy and sacred in the myth of Renato Zero, in fact, sorcini are different to simple fan, because sorcini mean an identity and sense of group or membership.

Islamic ritual bowls are one of the most overlooked phenomena of Islamic metalwork. Their design is comprised of a mixture of textual, geometric and mystical patterns and symbols. The main goal of this thesis is to examine, describe and interpret these elements to the highest extent possible. This work is based on the collection of National Museum - Náprstek Museum of Asian, African and American Cultures that is the owner of a collection of fourteen bowls whose origin is ranging from 13th to 20th century. Thirteen of them are being examined in this thesis.