From Equilibrium to Change: The Development of Dragons in Ursula K. Le Guin’s The Earthsea Cycle

[[abstract]]Ursula K. Le Guin has spanned over three decades to create her classic fantasy The Earthsea Cycle, and in each new Earthsea book, she keeps rewriting the structure she designates for the previous one. Among all the changes, her depiction for the Earthsea dragons especially subverts the draconian archetype in the Western conventional narratives, enabling her dragons to be humanized step by step. In the process of de-demonizing and de-animalizing the Earthsea dragons, Le Guin also escapes the confines set by the traditional Western heroism, which often acclaims the human conquering over Nature. The Earthsea dragons, characteristic of the awakening feminism, correspond to Jacques Derrida’s animal discourse and the Daoist thinking of softness and femininity. In this way, the Earthsea dragons serve as the integral figure to structure the triangle relation between humans, animals and Nature. By presenting the gradual development of the Earthsea dragons, through their different stages, Le Guin also reveals her viewpoint about the term “Change,” which mirrors the ubiquitous concept “Equilibrium” in Earthsea and also helps to explain why she keeps deconstructing the old order of Earthsea. Therefore, the thesis aims to observe the change and development of the dragons, in an attempt to discuss the self-deconstruction of Earthsea and also provides a new perspective to delve into the issue of animality and humanity in a context that brings Eastern and Western cultures together.

Ideias Fundamentais Sobre a Natureza na China e no Japão

Here are presented some fundamental ideas about “Nature” in the thought from China and Japan. The traditional attitude, in both the most rational speculation and the most existential reflection in these natural and historical regions, is usually characterized by a deep respect and by the impression of a relationship of filiation or unity, and not of superiority or contrariety, in relation to Nature - which is never represented as foreign or completely external to man -, reaching the perception that “Heaven/Nature and humanity are united through the Dao/Tao (Dõ) [Path]” (å¤©äººä¸€é“ Tianren yidao/T’ien-jen i-tao [Chinese]; Tenjin ichidõ [Japanese]), or the idea of the existence of ”‹”‹an “unity between Heaven/Nature (Cosmos) and humanity” (天人åˆä¸€ Tianren heyi/T’ien-jen ho-i [Chinese]; Tenjin gõitsu [Japanese]). This attitude resembles the understanding of the world by “shaman poets” and vates ”‹”‹of all times, and also has affinities with the physiología (a kind of “philosophy of nature”) of the pre-Socratic thinkers. Idealized as they may be, these conceptions radically differ from those that present a view of nature as objectfiable (that can be taken as an object) , objectionable, “wild”, uncontrolled, and hence subject to distancing, confrontation, “domestication”, and domination.São apresentadas aqui algumas ideias fundamentais sobre a “Natureza” no pensamento da China e do Japão. A atitude tradicional tanto na especulação mais racional quanto na reflexão mais existencial dessas regiões naturais e históricas caracteriza-se usualmente por um respeito profundo e pela impressão de uma relação de filiação ou unidade, e não de superioridade ou contrariedade, em relação à Natureza - que jamais é representada como algo estranho ou completamente externo ao homem -, chegando-se à percepção de que “o Céu/a Natureza e a humanidade estão unidos através do Dao/Tao (Dõ) [Caminho]” (天人一é“Tianren yidao/T’ien-jen i-tao [chinês]; Tenjin ichidõ [japonês]) ou à ideia da existência de  uma “unidade entre o Céu/Natureza (Cosmos) e a humanidade” (天人åˆä¸€Tianren heyi/T’ien-jen ho-i [chinês]; Tenjin gõitsu [japonês]). Essa atitude assemelha-se ao entendimento de mundo dos “poetas-xamãs” e dos vates de todos os tempos, e também guarda afinidades com a physiología (espécie de “filosofia da natureza”) mais antiga dos pensadores pré-socráticos. Idealizadas como possam ser, essas concepções diferem radicalmente daquelas que propõem uma visão da natureza como objetivável (passível de ser tomada como objeto), objetável, “selvagem”, descontrolada, e daí sujeita a distanciamento, confronto, “domesticação” e dominação

The Cavern-Mystery Transmission: A Taoist Ordination Rite of A.D. 711

Humanities Open Book Program, a joint initiative of the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Andrew W. Mellon FoundationVery little scholarly research has been done on the institutional structure of Taoism in medieval times. With this study of investiture, Benn attempts to fill that void. He describes the mechanism by which the Taoist priesthood ordered and perpetuated itself, as revealed in a rare account of an ordination rite for two T'ang princesses. He examines the lives of the participants, the hierarchy of the clergy, the liturgy, and the significance of the altar and its furnishings, and discusses other works of Chang Wan-fu, who authored this account

Lucky Charms

This paper details the writing process and performance of my autobiographical one-person play, Lucky Charms. The play presents my decision to leave the Jesuit novitiate while in the midst of a crisis of faith. Through the recollection of various experiences from childhood and adolescence, the narrator attempts to discover what it means to truly have a “spiritual experience.” Along with my own perspective, the piece also incorporates various other characters from the author’s past. In this document I have detailed the challenges and difficulties of writing and performing this piece, examined the theoretical and practical implications of its major themes, and have included a written copy of the script