Shifting Conceptions of Oral Tradition in the Nineteenth Century

transversal ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 78-86
Author(s):  
Chanan Gafni
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Oral Tradition ◽  
Jewish Tradition ◽  
Medieval Period ◽  
Modern Times ◽  
Oral Transmission ◽  
Changing Environments ◽  
Jewish Thought ◽  
Jewish Society ◽  
Modern Period

AbstractThe dispute over the nature of the Oral Law in the nineteenth century sheds light on fundamental developments in modern Jewish thought. An attitudinal shift can be discerned in the modern period. If in the medieval period, oral transmission was perceived as preserving the accuracy and authentic meaning of the tradition, in modern times it was described, to the contrary, as a crucial means of adapting Jewish tradition to constantly changing environments and to the demands of each generation. This radical new assumption that the existence of an oral tradition reflected the ability of the halakha to change gave rise to countless arguments: if the writing of a text signifies stagnation, when did Jewish tradition lose its vitality? Who was responsible for thus turning the halakha into a fixed or even, according to some, a lifeless system by writing it down? The article addresses these and similar questions raised by the nineteenth-century Jewish scholars throughout Europe and shows how their answers reflect the governing ideologies of the various camps in Jewish society.

Transmission of Buddhist Media and Texts

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Veidlinger
Keyword(s):  
Oral Tradition ◽  
Common People ◽  
Ancient India ◽  
Modern Times ◽  
Oral Transmission ◽  
Medieval China ◽  
First Millennium ◽  
The Common ◽  
Canonical Texts ◽  
Over Time

Different media have been used to spread the teachings of Buddhism, and they have exerted a significant influence upon the development of Buddhist ideas and institutions over time. An oral tradition was first used in ancient India to record and spread the Buddhist Dharma, and later the Pali canon was written down in the 1st century bce. Writing was also conspicuously used to transmit Mahāyāna texts starting in the first centuries of the first millennium. Printing was developed in medieval China probably in connection with the Buddhist desire to create merit through copying the texts. Efforts to print Buddhist texts in Western languages and scripts began in earnest in the late 19th century, and Western printing methods were later adopted by Asian Buddhists to publish the texts in modern times. It is important to appreciate the intricate relationship between the medium that is used to transmit a text and the form of the text itself, as well as the commensurate effects of the texts and their ideas on the medium and its uses in society. The oral medium has many constraints that forced the early texts to assume certain forms that were amenable to oral transmission, and institutions arose to assist in the preservation of these texts as well. Even once writing came to be used, the common people generally did not read but rather heard the text recited by learned monks. Private reading is for the most part a modern invention and it, too, had a distinct influence on the development of Buddhism, leading to modern reformist movements that demanded less superstition, more meditation, and a closer adherence to the teachings found in the canonical texts. The Internet is also shaping the popular reception of Buddhism, as Buddhist teachings and texts proliferate on thousands of websites in a dizzying array of languages.

Sources of popular song in early nineteenth-century Britain: problems and methods of research

Popular Music ◽  
1982 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 69-89 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony Bennett
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Oral Tradition ◽  
Folk Song ◽  
Popular Song ◽  
Early Nineteenth Century ◽  
Oral Transmission

In urbanised Britain by the nineteenth century, the long symbiosis of the oral tradition with songs transmitted at least in part through printing was turning firmly in favour of the latter. Despite this — and largely because of the welcome rediscovery of industrial folk song — our picture of popular song between 1800 and 1850 is currently dominated by music in the survival of which oral transmission has played the greater part. Even when the music we hear can be shown with any certainty to have been in circulation at that time, a major cirticism of this emphasis arises. The oral tradition is a sifting process; what survives has passed ‘the test of time’, and this can only obscure the picture.

A Rebel against the Past, A Revealer of Secrets

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel B. Schwartz
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Central And Eastern Europe ◽  
Jewish Tradition ◽  
The Past ◽  
Jewish Thought

This chapter traces the migration of Spinoza's Jewish reception eastward into the Hebrew Enlightenment of Central and Eastern Europe, concentrating on the writings of the Galician-born maskil (or Jewish enlightener) Salomon Rubin (1823–1910), the most zealous champion of Spinoza in nineteenth-century Hebrew letters and the first to translate the Ethics (1677) into Hebrew. It shows how, for all his emphasis on the trailblazing nature of Spinoza, Rubin also portrays the heretic as the offspring of an esoteric legacy of speculation embedded within Jewish thought. Rubin's Spinoza reveals tensions between a rebel against Jewish tradition and a revealer of its secrets.

Jewish Philosophy in an Analytic Age

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Analytic Philosophy ◽  
Jewish Tradition ◽  
Classical Period ◽  
Medieval Period ◽  
Modern Period ◽  
Jewish Philosophy ◽  
Anglo American ◽  
Treasure Chest

Since the classical period, Jewish scholars have drawn on developments in philosophy to enrich our understanding of Judaism. This methodology reached its pinnacle in the medieval period with figures like Maimonides and continued into the modern period with the likes of Levinas. The explosion of Anglo-American/analytic philosophy in the twentieth century means that there is now a treasure chest of material, largely unexplored by Jewish philosophy, with which to explore, analyze, and develop the Jewish tradition. This book gathers together a number of analytic philosophers and invites them to turn their training to an investigation of Jewish texts, traditions, and/or thinkers, in order to showcase what Jewish philosophy might look like in an analytic age.

scholarly journals TAFSIR NUSANTARA: Studi kritis terhadap Marah Labid Nawawi al-Bantani

2015 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 176 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ansor Bahary
Keyword(s):  
Medieval Period ◽  
Modern Times ◽  
Modern Period

The interpretation is an effort to understand, to explain the intent, knowing the content of the verses of the Koran. As a result of man's work is different from the Koran, there, the interpretation occurs experiencing developments of classical, medieval to the modern period and even contemporary. Diversity both in the method (manhaj / tariqah), style (nau '), as well as approaches (Alvan) used is unavoidable in a work of interpretation. Although there are also commentaries appear in modern times but its interpretation still follows the pattern of classical and medieval period as confirmed Nawawi al-Bantani in Muqaddimah (<em>Iqtida lil 'bi al-Salaf al-fi Tadwin' ilm</em>) commentary. Therefore, it is no exaggeration when Tafsir Al-Munir or Angry Labid regarded as a bridge between the traditional interpretation to modern times.

Freud and Jewish Dreaming

2001 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 18-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Frosh
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Identity ◽  
Jewish Tradition ◽  
Creative Activity ◽  
Jewish Thought ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Biblical Figures

This paper describes some links between Freud's creative activity in The Interpretation of Dreams and his identification with the biblical figures of Joseph and Moses. In particular, it draws on traditional Jewish thought on the relationship between prophecy and dreaming, and on the characters of Joseph and of Moses. It is argued that The Interpretation of Dreams shows Freud exploring aspects of his gendered and cultural identity and finding a place for himself as a provocative and iconoclastic ‘dreamer’ in the Jewish tradition.

Holiness in Jewish Thought

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Jewish History ◽  
Religious Discourse ◽  
Jewish Tradition ◽  
Jewish Literature ◽  
Religious Thought ◽  
Philosophical Reflection ◽  
Jewish Thought ◽  
History Of ◽  
Ways Of Life

Holiness is a challenge for contemporary Jewish thought. The concept of holiness is crucial to religious discourse in general and to Jewish discourse in particular. “Holiness” seems to express an important feature of religious thought and of religious ways of life. Yet the concept is ill defined. This collection explores what concepts of holiness were operative in different periods of Jewish history and bodies of Jewish literature. It offers preliminary reflections on their theological and philosophical import today. The contributors illumine some of the major episodes concerning holiness in the history of the development of the Jewish tradition. They think about the problems and potential implicit in Judaic concepts of holiness, to make them explicit, and to try to retrieve the concepts for contemporary theological and philosophical reflection. Holiness is elusive but it need not be opaque. This volume makes Jewish concepts of holiness lucid, accessible, and intellectually engaging.

Veiling Esther, Unveiling Her Story

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam J. Silverstein
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Muslim World ◽  
Historical Narratives ◽  
Modern Times ◽  
Religious Background ◽  
Literary Context ◽  
Shed Light ◽  
Selection Of

This book examines the ways in which the biblical book of Esther was read, understood, and used in Muslim lands, from ancient to modern times. It zeroes-in on a selection of case studies, covering works from various periods and regions of the Muslim world, including the Qur’an, premodern historical chronicles and literary works, the writings of a nineteenth-century Shia feminist, a twentieth-century Iranian dictionary, and others. These case studies demonstrate that Muslim sources contain valuable materials on Esther, which shed light both on the Esther story itself and on the Muslim peoples and cultures that received it. The book argues that Muslim sources preserve important, pre-Islamic materials on Esther that have not survived elsewhere, some of which offer answers to ancient questions about Esther, such as the meaning of Haman’s epithet in the Greek versions of the story, the reason why Mordecai refused to prostrate himself before Haman, and the literary context of the “plot of the eunuchs” to kill the Persian king. Furthermore, throughout the book we will see how each author’s cultural and religious background influenced his or her understanding and retelling of the Esther story: In particular, it will be shown that Persian Muslims (and Jews) were often forced to reconcile or choose between the conflicting historical narratives provided by their religious and cultural heritages respectively.

Reading Herem from the Dawn of the Enlightenment until Today

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Hofreiter
Keyword(s):  
Divine Command ◽  
Critical Research ◽  
Modern Times ◽  
The Enlightenment ◽  
Modern Period

This chapter reviews more recent examples of the reception of herem texts and demonstrates that many if not all of the ancient and medieval approaches to reading herem as Christian scripture continue to have their adepts in modern times: largely uncritical readings (K. Barth), devotional–allegorical interpretations, and violent uses. Many of the moral criticisms also continue to be restated (M. Tindal). Responses to these criticisms sometimes follow a traditional, divine command ethics structure (R. Swinburne) or attempts are made to combine a divine command ethics with the concepts of accommodation and progressive revelation (E. Stump). Yet other approaches bring to bear the categories of myth, metaphor and hyperbole (D. Earl, W. Moberly, N. MacDonald, K. Lawson Younger, N. Wolterstorff). Perhaps the most significant innovation of the modern period is the combination of historical–critical research with an attempt to read herem as Christian scripture (E. Seibert, P. Jenkins).

Fyodor Fyodorovich Martens (1845–1909) a humanist of modern times

1996 ◽  
Vol 36 (312) ◽  
pp. 300-314 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vladimir Pustogarov
Keyword(s):  
Oral Tradition ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Mutual Aid ◽  
Modern Times ◽  
Contemporary World ◽  
The Past ◽  
History Of ◽  
Ancient Record ◽  
Peace And War ◽  
The Ideal

In the history of humankind, no matter how far back we look into the past, peaceful relations between people and nations have always been the ideal, and yet this history abounds in wars and bloodshed. The documentary evidence, oral tradition and the mute testimony of archaeological sites tell an incontrovertible tale of man's cruelty and violence against his fellow man. Nevertheless, manifestations of compassion, mercy and mutual aid have a no less ancient record. Peace and war, goodneighbourly attitudes and aggression, brutality and humanity exist side by side in the contemporary world as well.

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