The Path of Jihad in the Yacoubian Building

The field of religion and film is growing steadily. Films are the most popular cultural productions in today\u27s global world. In some cases, the Seventh Art is used to further the cause of religiopolitical ideologies. This article analyses the theme of Jihad in the film Yacoubian Building (2006): the most important Egyptian production to date. The film is based on the best-selling novel by Alaa Al-Aswany originally published in Arabic (2002). The film presents the Yacoubian Building (located downtown Cairo) as a moral microcosm of Egyptian society. In substance, the film is a harsh criticism of Egyptian society during Iraq\u27s 1990 invasion of Kuwait. The film describes the life of several tenants of the building among which is Taha El-Shazli. The character personifies how an average Egyptian becomes an Islamic fundamentalist and how he later became a martyr in the spirit of Jihad. Seen from this angle, the film serves the cause of Egyptian Islamic fundamentalist movements; it is a call to raise the people against President Hosni Moubarak\u27s regime in order to establish an Islamic state based on Sharia

Disciplinary Anxieties in the Study of Religion

After remarking on some common worries that trouble the academic study of religion, the article presents an argument for an anthropocentric stance and analytic preference as the directional compass, or an intellectual alignment, in the disciplinary practices of Religious Studies. At the core of this stance is a ‘reductionist’ commitment to a corrigible theoretical monism, which is, however, compatible with plural analytics or methodologies. Keywords: Study of religion, theories of religion, disciplinarit

Constructions of the foreigner as a figure of evil. Travel narratives in the late Middle Ages

Lejos del ideal adamita del buen salvaje, los relatos de viajes (siglos XIV-XV) transmiten un florilegio de la propensión xenófoba a construir una imagen demoníaca del extranjero. De su estudio, destacaremos las constantes de una imaginación abundante a través de la cual el etnocentrismo forja la imagen de un enemigo que proporciona el contrapunto necesario a la identidad occidental. Finalmente, esta figura del extranjero maléfico proporciona un espacio para la reflexión sobre las normas sociales a partir de la narrativa de la inversión de valores y de comportamientos transgresores.Far from the adamite ideal of the good savage, travel narratives (14th-15th centuries) provide a summary of the xenophobic propensity to construct a demonized image of the foreigner. From their study, we will highlight the constants of an abundant imagination, through wich ethnocentrism shapes the image of an enemy providing the necessary counterpoint to Western identity. Finally, this figure of the maleficient foreigner provides a space for reflection on social norms from the narrative of the reversal of values and transgressive behaviors.Loin de l’idéal adamite du bon sauvage, les récits de voyages (14e-15e siècles) livrent un condensé de la propension xénophobe à construire une image diabolisée de l’étranger. A partir de leur étude, on soulignera les constantes d’un imaginaire foisonnant, où l’ethnocentrisme façonne l’image d’un ennemi fournissant le contrepoint nécessaire à l’identité occidentale. Au final, cette figure de l’étranger agent du mal fournit un espace de réflexion sur les normes sociales à partir de la mise en récit de l’inversion des valeurs et de comportements transgressifs

The World-Yard Germanic world-enclosure and its Baltic reflections

Pastaruoju metu autoriaus jau buvo paskelbti keli straipsniai, kuriuose pristatyta ir nagrinėta mitinė kosmogonija aptveriant, t. y. pasaulio 'sutvėrimo tvora' vaizdinys, pateisinantis ir paties žodžio 'sutvėrimas' kosmogoninę reikšmę. Šiuo atveju pasaulis įsivaizduojamas kaip visa apimantis kosminis aptvaras, kurį socialinėje tikrovėje įkūnija kiekviena žmonių gyvenvietė, telkianti savyje daugiau mažiau uždarą bendruomenę (pilis, miestas, 'gardas'). Dabar prie aptartų pavyzdžių ketiname prišlieti germaniškąjį „pasaulio gardo“ įvaizdį (kaip sen. islandų miðgarðr ’pasaulis’ bei kt.) ir panagrinėti kai kurias jo archajines baltiškas sąsajas. Straipsnį sudaro dvi dalys: pirmojoje pristatomas lietuvių žodis 'gardas', jo senoji reikšmė ’miestas’ ir kalbinė aplinka, o antrojoje einama prie antraštinės temos nagrinėjimo. Visi asmenvardžiai straipsnyje rašomi lietuviškai, asmenvardžių rašyba kitomis kalbomis atskiru sąrašu pateikta gale. Esminiai žodžiai: gardas, Midgardas, aptvertas pasaulis, pasaulio sutvėrimas, mitinis pasaulėvaizdis, baltų mitologija.Several articles by the author was already published recently on the mythical image of the world as cosmic enclosure, as fencedaround and created namely by fencing (cf. Lith. 'su-tvėrimas' ’fencing’ and ’creation by fencing, world creation, cosmogony’). On the social level, every settlement (homestead, town, citadel, city) can be conceived as an embodiment of this mythical worldenclosure representing self-contained microcosm. \u9eis time, the Germanic sample (as that of Germanic *'midja-gardaz' ’world’ >Gotic 'midjun-gards', Old Norse 'mið-garðr', Old English 'middan-geard', etc.) is added to the previously examined cases and its immediate Baltic connections are surveyed. On the one hand, the Old Norse 'garðr' ’enclosure, court, yard’ (as well as Gotic 'gards', English 'yard' etc. <Germanic *'gardaz' <Indo-European *'ghor-dhos / *ģhor-dhos') has an etymological equivalent ir Lithuanian 'gardas' ’enclosure, pen’ and ’citadel, town’; on the other, the Old Norse 'miðr' ’middle’ (Gotic 'midjis', English 'middle', etc. <Germanic *'midjas / *medjas' <Indo-European *'medhios') also has an etymological equivalent in Lithuanian, 'medis' or 'medžias', yet its meaning is not the ’middle’ but the ’tree, wood’. \u9ee connection of these same two meanings is con~rmed also by the Germanic and Baltic re¤ections of yet another Indo-European root, as Old Norse 'viðr' ’wood, tree’, Old English 'widu, wudu', English 'wood' (<Germanic *'widuz') and Latvian 'vidus', Lithuanian 'vidurys' ’middle’. It is argued in the article by referring to some authorities and immediate mythological and religious material that the common ground for this connection is to be sought precisely in t Such an enclosure around a tree could be named in Lithuanian as 'medžio gardas' or, by virtual (not attested yet regular) compound, 'mẽdžia-gardis', 'medė-gardis', 'mẽd-gardis' ’fence or yard around a tree’ perfectly equivalent to the Germanic *'midja-gardaz'. Keywords: world-enclosure, Midgard, fenced-around world tree, Germanic and Baltic mythologies

Calcium entry blockade attenuates the acute blood pressure rise induced by cigarette smoking.

The purpose of this study was to assess whether the administration of a calcium entry blocker can prevent the acute blood pressure rise induced by cigarette smoking. Seven male habitual smokers were included. After 45 min of equilibration, they took in randomized single-blind fashion at a 1 week interval either a placebo or nifedipine, 10 mg p.o. Thirty minutes thereafter, the subjects smoked within 10 min two cigarettes containing 1.4 mg of nicotine each. In addition to heart rate and skin blood flow (laser Doppler method), blood pressure of the median left finger was monitored continuously for 100 min using a noninvasive device (Finapres). Nifedipine induced an increase in skin blood flow that was not influenced by smoking. This skin blood flow response was observed although nifedipine had by itself no effect on systemic blood pressure. The calcium antagonist markedly attenuated the blood pressure rise induced by cigarette smoking. However, it tended to accentuate the heart rate acceleration resulting from inhalation of nicotine-containing smoke