Holy Foolishness

Holy Foolishness PDF Author: Harriet Murav
Publisher: Stanford University Press
ISBN: 9780804720595
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 244

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Book Description
This book examines the ways in which Dostoevsky's adoption and reinvention of the medieval Russian holy fool - in Russian Orthodoxy, a person who feigned madness or folly as an ascetic feat of self-humiliation - serves as a locus for a critique of his culture's increasing reliance on the scientific paradigms of Claude Bernard's physiology, and as a source of formal narrative innovation in his novels. The author first explores the paradoxical hagiography of the holy fool, whose saintly acts are disguised under the mask of demonic folly. She then traces the rise of medical science in the nineteenth century and the increasing authority of the new scientific models of human behavior, especially the all-important notion of "the normal and the pathological." The book then shifts to close readings of four of Dostoevsky's major novels - Crime and Punishment, The Idiot, The Devils, and The Brothers Karamazov - always keeping the double focus of cultural critique and formal innovation. The author examines how Dostoevsky develops a specific literary procedure that is itself "holy foolishness." That is, his novels in their structure and, in particular, in the voice of their narrators mislead, tempt, and "scandalize" the reader, much like the street theater of the medieval holy fool. This difficult relationship between reader and text is mirrored in what is represented in the text as the interaction between the holy fool and other characters. In its theoretical orientation, the book both builds from and criticizes Bakhtin's work on carnival. The author offers a less optimistic account, showing how in Dostoevsky carnival is more demonic than jubilant, particularly in The Devils, where carnival leads to a frightening chaos.

Holy Foolishness

Holy Foolishness PDF Author: Harriet Murav
Publisher: Stanford University Press
ISBN: 9780804720595
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 244

Get Book Here

Book Description
This book examines the ways in which Dostoevsky's adoption and reinvention of the medieval Russian holy fool - in Russian Orthodoxy, a person who feigned madness or folly as an ascetic feat of self-humiliation - serves as a locus for a critique of his culture's increasing reliance on the scientific paradigms of Claude Bernard's physiology, and as a source of formal narrative innovation in his novels. The author first explores the paradoxical hagiography of the holy fool, whose saintly acts are disguised under the mask of demonic folly. She then traces the rise of medical science in the nineteenth century and the increasing authority of the new scientific models of human behavior, especially the all-important notion of "the normal and the pathological." The book then shifts to close readings of four of Dostoevsky's major novels - Crime and Punishment, The Idiot, The Devils, and The Brothers Karamazov - always keeping the double focus of cultural critique and formal innovation. The author examines how Dostoevsky develops a specific literary procedure that is itself "holy foolishness." That is, his novels in their structure and, in particular, in the voice of their narrators mislead, tempt, and "scandalize" the reader, much like the street theater of the medieval holy fool. This difficult relationship between reader and text is mirrored in what is represented in the text as the interaction between the holy fool and other characters. In its theoretical orientation, the book both builds from and criticizes Bakhtin's work on carnival. The author offers a less optimistic account, showing how in Dostoevsky carnival is more demonic than jubilant, particularly in The Devils, where carnival leads to a frightening chaos.

Praying with Icons

Praying with Icons PDF Author: Jim Forest
Publisher: Orbis Books
ISBN: 160833077X
Category : Icons
Languages : en
Pages : 336

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Book Description


Understanding Russia

Understanding Russia PDF Author: Ewa Majewska Thompson
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 250

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Book Description


Jesus the Holy Fool

Jesus the Holy Fool PDF Author: Elizabeth-Anne Stewart
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 9781580510615
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 300

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Book Description
Richly written, Jesus the Holy Fool combines diverse images from religious traditions, world literature, Jungian archetype, and Scripture. Weaving the best theology and spirituality, Jesus the Holy Fool is a fresh and inviting Christology. The Scriptures tell us that religious leaders thought Jesus was "possessed," and his own family thought he was "crazy." In his open table fellowship, choice of followers, radical passion, and his death and resurrection, Jesus was willing to appear as a fool for the sake of God's reign. His teachings--especially the parables, paradoxes, and the beatitudes--advocate a way of life that is grounded in Holy Foolishness. Through an archetypal examination of the fool motif as it applies to Jesus in the Gospels, Jesus the Holy Fool develops the connections between holiness and folly. Offering new insights into Christology and exploring its practical pastoral ramifications, Jesus the Holy Fool presents Holy Foolishness as a paradigm for the Christian journey and as a new model of what it means for us to be church.

Clowning Glory

Clowning Glory PDF Author: Roly Bain
Publisher: Church House Publishing
ISBN: 9780715148631
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 148

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Book Description
Designed for the youngest tot to the most elderly "totterer", this book contains tips and ideas for theory and practice, traditions and stunts in every aspect of clowning, from facepaints and feather dusters to water wigs and walks.

Belgic Confession

Belgic Confession PDF Author:
Publisher: Fig
ISBN: 1623145422
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 48

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Book Description


Abigail Bible Study

Abigail Bible Study PDF Author: Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781934718681
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 68

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Book Description
Each of us can point to someone who makes life complicated. It could be a coworker, a family member, or even a spouse. Sometimes it's easy to let circumstances like this control our thoughts, words, and actions. We react, rather than act...and find ourselves frustrated -- our ourselves and the situation. But does this have to be the way it is? One woman of the Bible shows us that there is a better way. The way of wisdom. The way of hope. The way of Jesus. In this six-week Bible study, journey along with Abigail as she uses her influence in two men's lives-- with different results. See how the empowerment of the Holy Spirit can help you deal with difficult people...without becoming difficult yourself.

Holy Fools in Byzantium and Beyond

Holy Fools in Byzantium and Beyond PDF Author: Sergeĭ Arkadʹevich Ivanov
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0199272514
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 492

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Book Description
The image of St Basil's Cathedral in Moscow's Red Square is a familar Russian landmark. Yet few people know what made Basil so famous. He was a saint who wandered about naked, bullied passers-by, brawled in the market-place, and once even smashed a revered icon. Saints such as Basil overturn the conventional concept of sainthood - what, we may ask, is saintly about them? This book aims to solve the mystery by exploring the figure of the holy fool in Byzantium and in later Russianhistory.

Holy Fool

Holy Fool PDF Author: Michael Leunig
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
ISBN: 1743435762
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 259

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Book Description
At the heart of Michael Leunig's work lies the idea of the holy fool - a character who does not conform to social norms of behaviour because of a peculiar mental disposition or as a deliberate choice, but is regarded as having a compensating divine blessing or inspiration. It could be said that the holy fool is the protagonist in most of Michael's paintings and cartoons. As wonderful as his cartoons are, in Holy Fool we see so much more of the artistic expression of Michael Leunig - from drawings and paintings to prints and sculpture, collected together for the first time. Holy Fool is a must-have volume for curious art lovers and for the legion of Leunig fans.

Language, Canonization and Holy Foolishness

Language, Canonization and Holy Foolishness PDF Author: Per-Arne Bodin
Publisher:
ISBN: 9789186071301
Category : Christian saints
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
What happens when the Russian Orthodox tradition meets post-Soviet Russia? This is the gemeral question which will be in the focus in this study of the Orthodox discourse in post-Soviet Russian culture. It will be abalyzed both in its own right and as a constituent of memory, a conservative or imperialist political attitude and postmodernism. One issue addressed in the debate over the use of Church Slavonic as the liturgical language. Another invloves the nature of the canonizations that have taken place in the Orthodox Church in recent years and attempts to canonize the soldier Evgenij Rodionov and Stalin. A third topic is jurodstvo, or holy foolishness, for centuries a special and recurring theme in the Orthodox Church that has re-emerged after the fall of the Soviet Union. A chapter is devoted to Ksenija of Petersburg, a peculiar and much beloved holy fool of that city. A final issue concerns the significance of the Orthodox tradition in recent Russian art and poetry.