The present study is an interpretation of the two myths copied in the Old Babylonian period in which the Sumerian mother goddess is one of the main actors. The first myth is commonly called “Enki and Ninḫursaĝa”, and the second “Enki and Ninmaḫ”. The theoretical point of departure is that myths have society as their referents, i.e. they are “talking about” society, and that this is done in an ideological way. This study aims at investigating on the one hand which contexts in the Mesopotamian society each section of the myths refers to, and on the other hand which ideological aspects that the myths express in terms of power relations. The myths are contextualized in relation to their historical and social setting. If the myth for example deals with working men, male work in the area during the relevant period is discussed. The same method of contextualization is used regarding marriage, geographical points of reference and so on. Also constellations of mythical ideas are contextualized, through comparison with similar constellations in other Mesopotamian myths. Besides the method of contextualization, the power relations in the myths are investigated. According to this latter method, the categories at issue, their ranking, as well as their changed ranking, are noted. The topics of the myths are issues important for the kingship and the country, such as irrigation, trade, health and healing, birth, collective work, artisanry and rivalry. All these aspects are used in order to express what the power relations between the goddess Ninḫursaĝa/Ninmaḫ and the god Enki look like. The relations are negotiated and recalibrated, which leads to the goddess getting a lowered status. Part of the negotiations and recalibrations is gender behavior, which is related to historical developments in society. The present work points to the function of these myths as tools of recalibrating not only deities, but also men and women in society.

The present study is an interpretation of the two myths copied in the Old Babylonian period in which the Sumerian mother goddess is one of the main actors. The first myth is commonly called “Enki and Ninḫursaĝa”, and the second “Enki and Ninmaḫ”. The theoretical point of departure is that myths have society as their referents, i.e. they are “talking about” society, and that this is done in an ideological way. This study aims at investigating on the one hand which contexts in the Mesopotamian society each section of the myths refers to, and on the other hand which ideological aspects that the myths express in terms of power relations. The myths are contextualized in relation to their historical and social setting. If the myth for example deals with working men, male work in the area during the relevant period is discussed. The same method of contextualization is used regarding marriage, geographical points of reference and so on. Also constellations of mythical ideas are contextualized, through comparison with similar constellations in other Mesopotamian myths. Besides the method of contextualization, the power relations in the myths are investigated. According to this latter method, the categories at issue, their ranking, as well as their changed ranking, are noted. The topics of the myths is issues important for the kingship and the country, such as irrigation, trade, health and healing, birth, collective work, artisanry and rivalry. All these aspects are used in order to express what the power relations between the goddess Ninḫursaĝa/Ninmaḫ and the god Enki look like. The relations are negotiated and recalibrated, which leads to the goddess getting a lowered status. Part of the negotiations and recalibrations is gender behavior, which is related to historical developments in society. The present work points to the function of these myths as tools of recalibrating not only deities, but also men and women in society.

Jusqu'à présent, plusieurs études ont été consacrées au 'Ayyâri et à ses origines, mais aucune n'a visé le cœur mythique de cette chevalerie qui se nourrie du culte de Mithra. Cette thèse étudie en premier lieu la genèse de la chevalerie iranienne et ses idéaux dans un contexte mythico-religieux où la fonction de l'lzad Mithra est analysée comme celle de la grande Déesse-Mère des sociétés archaïques mèdes et scythes bien avant la réforme religieuse de Zoroastre. En deuxième lieu, puisque la femme est le pivot de tous les événements du récit, la thèse en se basant sur les fonctions et les caractéristiques d'un Mithra féminin, étudie la place et le rôle prépondérant de la femme dans le système religieux mithriaque. L'objectif consiste à dévoiler les raisons socio-religieuses pour lesquelles la femme est considérée, depuis la religion de Zoroastre, comme un être inférieur dans toutes les religions postérieures au caractère monothéiste et dans toutes les sociétés du type patriarcal. / Till today, several studies have been devoted to Ayyâri and its origins, but none of them has pointed to the cuit of Mithra who is the mythical source of this knigtit. This thesis studies, firstly, the origins of lranian chivalry and its ideals in a mythical-religious context in which the function of the lzad Mithra is analyzed as one of the greatest Mother-Goddess of archaic societies of Medes and Scythian; well before the religious reformation of Zoroaster. Secondly, forasmuch as the woman is the axis of all events in the story, this thesis analyzes the status and leading role of women in the Mithraic religious system, based on the functions and features of a female Mithra. The aim is to reveal the socio-religious reasons for which the woman isconsidered, since the religion of Zoroaster, as an inferior in all the subsequent religions with monotheistic character and in all the patriarchal societies.

La pratique du rituel de possession de hầu bóng au Vietnam a connu une période d’interdiction pendant plus de quarante ans (de 1954 au début des années quatre-vingt-dix). Ces travaux, basés sur des études sur le terrain réalisées à la fin de cette période d’interdiction tentent d’abord de faire une description détaillée du rituel et l’état des lieux de ses cung văn «maîtres musiciens» à travers l’étude du répertoire du plus grand maître, Pham Van Kiêm. Ils proposent d’explorer ensuite les questions techniques utilisées par les maîtres musiciens et leur rôle par rapport à la pratique du rituel ainsi que les liaisons entre paroles et musique, entre le répertoire musical et le panthéon des génies. Ce témoignage de cette période cruciale permet, par le biais de la musique, de mettre en perspective une pratique religieuse bien complexe en plein essor à ce jour. / The possession ritual practice in Vietnam has been prohibited during more than forty years (from 1954 to early nineties). The field-works are done during this important period. These studies try to portray an outline of the organisation and development of the rite and its music and musicians, especially the most important master at his time, Pham Van Kiêm. They also try to explore the musical technics used by masters and their role in the ritual practice, the music-language, musical directory-deities pantheon relationships. This crucial account allows to put into a perspective this complex practice, very popular nowadays.

No Abstract Included / Thesis / Master of Arts (MA)

This study is about the artist Monica Sjoo’s (1938-2005) painting God giving birth (1968) that was accused of being blasphemous and obscene in the early 1970s. God giving birth could have had much in common with Niki de Saint-Phalle’s She – a cathedral (1966), both works suggesting a mother goddess image. The main difference however can be found in the fact that Monica Sjoo’s painting had connection to the women’s movement in the 1970s. Monica Sjoo’s artwork responded to other feminist artwork of that period. Among several feminist artists during the period about 1968-1985, an iconography was in use that focused on vulvar imagery, experience of childbirth and goddess images. In particulary the mother goddess was embraced. The female body in art was re-sacred and invested with meaning connected with women’s cycles of birth-death and rebirth and the earth as a mother goddess.