Türbe: The Blessing of the Sacred Sites

In this paper, I will present religious practices related to sacred mausoleums (türbe), while exploring the concepts of blessing (baraka) and the idea of saints in Islam. Türbe is a single-celled construction, mausoleum, tomb, or tombstone building constructed in memory of a holy figure, religious leader, or martyr who died in the war. It is believed that shrines and tombs of holy figures are sacred sites, endowed with baraka – holiness and blessing. According to some Muslim traditions, the blessing of relics and shrines can be transmitted to people who visit sacred sites, especially if devotees interact with the sacred site through various customs and physical contact. This paper aims to describe and analyze the custom of tying ribbons on the window fences of Sheikh Mustafa’s türbe and Damat Ali-Paša's türbe in Belgrade, Serbia. For the purpose of this paper, I will use the theoretical framework of anthropology of religion, as well as qualitative method and field research. While focusing on customs related to the cult of saints and relics, I will consider perspectives of both folk and official Islam.Fifteenth Annual international conference on comparative mythology, June 7-11, 2022, Belgrad

Dragon Quest : El Precursor Olvidado. Origen transmedia del primer JRPG y el borrado de su aroma cultural fuera de Japón

Aquest treball pren com a objecte d'estudi el videojoc japonès Dragon Quest (Enix, 1986) i el seu procés d'adaptació al mercat estatunidenc. Per entendre les decisions preses per modificar l'apartat estètic original del producte per part dels agents de distribució es contextualitzarà l'origen de Dragon Quest a la indústria del videojoc japonès, en el gènere dels videojocs de rol i en com encaixa dins de l'ecosistema de consum dels productes culturals japonesos. Un cop presentat el producte i l'entorn local en què es consumeix s'analitzarà quins elements van modificar la seva figura per tal de disminuir-ne l'aroma cultural. Posteriorment, després d'analitzar l'impacte de Dragon Quest al Japó i als Estats Units, s'investigarà per què fora del Japó gaudeix de menys popularitat que una altra franquícia de videojocs japoneses del mateix gènere anomenada Final Fantasy (Square, Square Enix, 1987-).Este trabajo de investigación toma como objeto de estudio el videojuego japonés Dragon Quest (Enix, 1986) y su proceso de adaptación para el mercado norteamericano. Para entender las decisiones tomadas para modificar el apartado estético original del producto por parte de los agentes de distribución se contextualizará el origen de Dragon Quest en la industria del videojuego japonés, en el género de los videojuegos de rol y en cómo encaja dentro del ecosistema de consumo de productos culturales japoneses. Una vez introducido el producto y el entorno local en el que se consume se analizará qué elementos se modificaron en su figura con tal de disminuir su aroma cultural. Posteriormente, tras analizar el impacto de Dragon Quest en Japón y en Estados Unidos, se investigará por qué fuera de Japón goza de menor popularidad que otra franquicia de videojuegos japoneses del mismo género llamada Final Fantasy (Square, Square Enix, 1987-).This research takes as its object of study the Japanese videogame Dragon Quest (Enix, 1986) and its adaptation process to the US market. To understand the decisions made by the distribution agents in order to modify the original art style of the product, the origin of Dragon Quest in the Japanese videogame industry, and its role in the role-playing videogame genre will be contextualized, as well as the way it fits in the consumption system of Japanese cultural products. After that, the elements that were modified in its figure in order to erase its cultural odor will be analyzed. Subsequently, after analyzing the impact of Dragon Quest in Japan and in the United States, research will be focused on why it is less popular than another Japanese videogame franchise, that belongs to the same genre, which is called Final Fantasy (Square, Square Enix, 1987-)

Mythological aspects of modern cosmology

Contemporary inflationary cosmology, together with the Big Bang theory, is an extraordinary narrative that relies heavily on traditional mythological structures and elements of representation. The intention of the report is to use the modern cosmological narrative present in popular science literature as an opportunity to re-examine the role of mythology in modern society and to point out the cultural aspects of contemporary science. The presentation will rely on the semiotic analysis of A. J. Greimas in the deconstruction of mythical elements in the cosmological narrative. This analysis results with a consideration of the role of science in contemporary philosophy, and thus the role of mythology in the modern-day world. Relying on the mythological elements of popular science, it is possible to see the religious and philosophical issues facing modern man and the society he is creating. The main goal of the presentation is to highlight the semiotic elements of modern cosmology present in popular science literature and television programs. Authors such as Neil DeGrass Tyson, Lawrence Krauss or Brian Green present contemporary cosmology in such a way that these performances act as a close mixture of science, philosophy and mythology, as the foundation of a worldview that aims to establish itself as an important part of viewers and audiences value system. In this context, modern cosmology can be viewed as a hypermodern cosmogonic myth and text that contains a deep philosophical conception of the identity of a humanity. With such an approach, it is possible to open the topic of the role of modern cosmology in the domain of philosophy of mythology.Fifteenth Annual international conference on comparative mythology, June 7-11, 2022, Belgrad

Register analysis in english movie advertisements of www.21-cineplex.com (a sociolinguistics study)

This research is intended to find out the characteristics of register in English movie advertisements. The goals of this research were: first, to characterize linguistics factors, such as diction, language variety and figures of speech; second, to characterize non-linguistic factors (types of movies); and third, to describe how both language variety and figure of speech characterize the register of English movie advertisement. This research used sociolinguistics approach. The descriptive research and a purposive sampling technique were employed in the research. The data of this research were the use of diction, the language variety and the figures of speech in register of written English movie advertisements promoted by www.21-cineplex.com published in Jakarta Post in December 2008 until April 2009. The results of the analysis are as follows. First, linguistic factors have special characteristics in the register of English movie advertisement that can be differentiated from other types of register. It is due to the varieties according to use. Second, non-linguistics factors have characteristics too, among others are shown by the types of films. Those are movies based on story themes, story substances, consumers and performances. The results also give evidences that language varieties consist of formal and informal styles. In terms of sentence structure, the findings reveal that most of movie advertisement text employed the simplex sentence structure. In addition, there were 9 kinds of figures of speech. Those are hyperbole, synecdoche, metonymy, personification, simile, climax, paradox, repetition, and parallelism. The most dominant was hyperbole. This research is expected to be beneficial for the students, the advertisers and the other researchers. It shows a specific example of register namely the register on English movie advertisement. This can be used as an additional reference for studying language and creating advertisements text that is considered to be efficient and effective for attracting and encouraging readers to make use of the company with its products and services. Moreover, the results of this research also can be hopefully used as a reference for those who are interested in analyzing language variety, especially the one in movie advertisement

Semiotics of Allegory: Queerness in Contemporary Taiwan and Hong Kong Novel and Cinema

This project offers the framework of “semiotics of allegory” as an alternative to Fredric Jameson’s national allegory for studying non-Western cultural products by emphasising their plural meanings of signs and the importance of situating their reading in production discourse. Against Confucianism and Buddhism, a study of the semiotics of allegory focuses on the relationship between queer representations and the space, the image, the music, and the myth in four cultural texts. They are Pai Hsien-yung’s 白先勇 novel Niezi (孽子, Crystal Boys, 1983), Chu T’ien-wen’s 朱天文 novel Huangren shouji (荒人手記, Notes of a Desolate Man, 1994), Tsai Ming-liang’s 蔡明亮 film Heliu (河流 The River, 1997), and Wong Kar-wai’s 王家衛 film Ceon gwong zaa sit (春光乍洩 Happy Together, 1997). This project adopts Shih Shu-mei’s framework of Sinophone studies, Chen Kuan-hsing’s inter- Asian studies in Asia as Method, and the theories of Judith Butler, Roland Barthes, and Rebecca Braun. Judith Butler’s notions of queer performativity in Bodies That Matter (1993) and alternative kinship in Antigone’s Claim (2000) and “Is Kinship Always Already Heterosexual?” (2002) are relevant to studying the gays’ and queers’ agency and family relationships. Roland Barthes’ view on the process of writing, reading, and meaning-making as non-binary acts of creativity in Writing Degree Zero (1953), The Neutral (2002), and Empire of Signs (1970) are useful for the re-interpretation of these Sinophone allegories. Also, his thoughts about the excess of meaning in “The Third Meaning” (1970), his five-code module about the structuring or structuration of writerly text in S/Z (1970), his idea of punctum that emphasises affects (emotions) in Camera Lucida (1980), and his neologism of ideology-as-mask in language as “myth” in Mythologies (1957) will also be deployed. Lastly, bringing back the author to life from the Barthesian notion of “Death of the Author” by borrowing the world authorship researcher Rebecca Braun’s Bourdieusian idea of emphasising the “collaboration” and “interaction” between author and other players in the cultural production field, this study calls for the interpretations of non-Western cultures to go beyond literalism, geopolitics, and nationalism

PERANCANGAN KOMUNIKASI VISUAL PUBLIKASI BUKU THE LEGEND OF DRAGON

PERANCANGAN KOMUNIKASI VISUAL PUBLIKASI BUKU THE LEGEND OF DRAGON - Perancangan Komunikasi Visual, Publikasi, Buku, The Legend of Dragon, Ilustras

古代形代馬考

一、序説 / 二、豊前における土馬の新資料 / 三、九州における土馬出土地 / 四、沖ノ島祭祠遺跡の石製馬代 / 五、古代馬骨出土資料とその研究史 / 六、古墳資料にあらわれた馬 / 七、古代祭祠における形代馬The religious faith of ancient Japan produced the custom of dedicating to gods a tiny earthen figure of horse. This custom generally is said to have been in fashion in the 7th and 8th century. I researched in northern Kyushu the remains of those kilns in which the miniature figures of horse were made. The appearance of those kilns can go back to the latter half of the 6th century. I investigated, too, the examples of the figure of horse that were found out in various places of Kyushu. We are researching the religious services of the sea god in Okinoshima, an island of Fukuoka Prefecture. I pointed out that in these religious services many talc figures of horse were dedicated and this dedication was related to the traffic of Japanese envoy to the Tang dynasty. On the other hand, I adjusted the found materials of horse bone since the prehistoric age. I confirmed that the dedication of living horse was not practiced before the dedication of earthen figure of horse. Further I readjusted the materials pertaining to the horse appearing in Japanese culture of ancient tomb. The breeding of horse is the technique imported by naturalized subjects about in the first half of the 5th century. At that time the interest in the horse increased in connection with the dispatch of Japanese troops to Korea. Therewith the legend of dragon horse (竜馬) coming into fashion in ancient China was accepted in Japan. Thus the horse and the gods were connected, and people thought that the horse is the animal for gods to ride, and so the custom of dedicating horse in religious services was produced. At the 7th and 8th century the dedication of living and earthen horses was generalized in religious services of safety traffic, praying for rain and praying for fine weather