scholarly journals Man as Rescuer and Monster in Steven Spielberg's Film Text "Schindler's List"

2008 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 63
Author(s):  
José Díaz-Cuesta Galián

This journal article addresses the confrontation between two extreme representations of man in Steven Spielberg’s Schindler’s List (1993): the rescuer and the monster. It is my contention that these representations simplify two of the moral options –good versus evil– from which men can freely choose according to both Judaism and Catholicism, which are the two religious cults the film alludes to. This article has a three-fold structure. The first part focuses on the godlike representation of Oskar Schindler2 and his relation to key episodes in the Bible. The second one deals with Amon Goeth, Schindler’s mirror image and the incarnation of evil in the film. The third part surveys Spielberg’s blending of religious traditions in some films prior to Schindler’s List. As a conclusion it is proposed that the godlike man who rescues his people is not only Oskar Schindler, but also Steven Spielberg.

2020 ◽  
pp. 49-81
Author(s):  
Bruno Van der Maat

The current pandemic has seen some adverse reactions from the most diverse religious groups all over the world to government regulations. After having described some of their manifestations, this contribution analyzes what the Bible and some post biblical (patristic and Talmudic) traditions say about illness and pandemics. As it is ascertained that these sources contain very limited material on these subjects, the third part of this article proposes some ethical reflections regarding the official response to the pandemic as well as some pastoral implications. Key Words: Pandemic, Religion, Bible, Talmud, Pastoral Care.


Author(s):  
Aleksenko S.F.

The purpose of the article is to outline intertextual links in the English cinematic discourse by establishing the types of allusions functioning in the cinematic discourse of “The Matrix”.Methods. The research has been carried out by dint of descriptive method while surveying and outlining the scientific approaches to the category of intertextuality, the method of contextual analysis for singling out from the film text of the film discourse in question the relevant contexts with intertext, the method of intertextual analysis for determining types of allusions according to their relation with the source text.Results. It has been determined that a cinematic discourse as a semiotically complex dynamic process of interaction between a multiple addressor and a film recipient is characterized, alongside verbal-visual unity, coherence, completeness and contextual meaning, by intertextuality, the latter being revealed in the film text – an integral part of the cinematic discourse. It has been found out that the means of creating textual reminiscence which shapes the intertextuality of the film text of “The Matrix” is allusion. The philosophical meaning encased in the cinematic discourse of the film under analysis is connected with the ideas of the belief in being the chosen one, of one’s mission, the struggle of two worlds – the good and the evil, loyalty and betrayal. Those are ideas which permeate the Sacred Writ, so it is the Bible – the most recognizable and significant for the American culture precedent text – that serves as a source text providing ground for associative referential hints within the framework of the film in question. According to the form of presentation in the film text there have been picked semantic and structural allusions, according to the placing in the text relative allusions (allusions of local impact) have been identified. Semantic allusions preserve the initial semantic content of the source and impart occasional connotation to the objects of allusive evaluation. Structural allusions bring about associative links with certain qualities of allusive denotata. Relative allusions are realized in the film text through non-verbal indexical signs. The latter, in the vivid form of number plates, refer the viewer to definite Biblical lines, thus coming up with some additional characteristic of the objects of allusive reference.Conclusions. Textual Biblical allusions in the cinematic discourse of “The Matrix” semantically, structurally or as allusions of local impact create intertextual links, transferring the attributes of Biblical characters and events to those highlighted in the cinematic discourse analyzed. Allusions, being references to the source text as to the index of the situation, come forth as a means of identification of certain characteristics of film personages, places, actions.Key words: film text, the category of intertextuality, textual reminiscence, precedent text, semantic content of the source. Метою статті є визначення інтертекстуальних зв’язків в англомовному кінематографічному дискурсі через з’ясування типів алюзій у кінодискурсі фільму «Матриця».Методи. Дослідження здійснено за допомогою описового методу для осмислення та опису наукових підходів до кате-горії інтертекстуальності, методу контекстуального аналізу у разі виокремлення з кінотексту досліджуваного кінодискурсу релевантних контекстів з інтертекстом, методу інтертекстуального аналізу для визначення типу алюзій за їх зв’язком з тек-стом-джерелом.Результати. Виявлено, що кінодискурс як семіотично складний динамічний процес взаємодії множинного адресанта та кінореципієнта поряд з вербально-візуальною єдністю, зв’язністю, завершеністю та контекстуальністю значення харак-теризується інтертекстуальністю, причому остання проявляється в кінотексті – невід’ємній частині кінодискурсу. З’ясовано, що прийомом створення текстової ремінісценції, через який реалізується інтертекстуальність кінотексту фільму «Матриця», є алюзія. Філософський смисл, закладений у кінодискурсі аналізованого фільму, пов’язаний з ідеями віри в обраність, місій-ності, боротьби двох світів – добра і зла, відданості та зради – ідеями, якими пронизане Святе Письмо, а отже, Біблія як найбільш впізнаваний та ціннісно значимий прецедентний текст для американської культури і слугує текстом-джерелом для асоціативних натяків-відсилок – алюзій у такому кінотексті. За формою представленості в кінотексті було виявлено семан-тичні та структурні алюзії, за положенням у тексті ідентифіковано алюзії релятивні (алюзії локальної дії). Семантичні алюзії зберігають вихідну семантичну наповненість джерела та надають об’єктам алюзивної оцінки оказіональної конотації. Струк-турні алюзії викликають асоціативні зв’язки з певними якостями алюзивних денотатів. Релятивні алюзії реалізуються через невербальні індексальні знаки – в кінотексті фільму написи на транспортних засобах наочно відсилають глядача до конкрет-них рядків у Біблії, щоб надати додаткову характеристику об’єктам алюзивної відсилки.Висновки. Текстові біблійні алюзії у кінодискурсі фільму «Матриця» семантично, структурно чи релятивно (як алюзії локальної дії) створюють міжтекстові зв’язки, переносячи ознаки біблійних персонажів та подій на ті, про які йдеться в ана-лізованому кінодискурсі. Алюзії, слугуючи відсилками до тексту-джерела як знаку ситуації, функціонують як засоби для ототожнення певних характеристик персонажів, місць, дій, які відбуваються у кінотворі.Ключові слова: кінотекст, категорія інтертекстуальності, текстова ремінісценція, прецедентний текст, семантична напо-вненість джерела.


1945 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 142-155
Author(s):  
Oscar Halecki

In 1798, three years after the third partition of Poland, George Washington wrote to a friend of Thaddeus Kosciuszko: “That your country is not as happy as her efforts were patriotic and noble, is a misfortune which all the lovers of sensible liberty and rights of men deeply deplore; and were my prayers during that hard struggle of any good, you would be now under your own vine and fig tree, to quote the Bible, as happy in the enjoyments of these desirable blessings as the people of these United States enjoy theirs.” These words of the first President of the United States are the best possible introduction to this article written in 1945, on Washington's birthday.


2018 ◽  
Vol 89 (3) ◽  
pp. 195-208
Author(s):  
Craig Ott

One of the primary tasks of local theology is to address questions and challenges that are context-specific but not explicitly addressed in the Bible. How can biblical authority be retained while attempting to answer questions, whereby the theologian is compelled to go beyond explicit biblical teaching? Ways of resolving the seeming tension between local theologizing and the normative authority of Scripture are addressed by examining three somewhat novel approaches to conceptualizing the theological process. The first is Paul G. Hiebert’s idea of critical realism and the analogy of maps. The second is Kevin J. Vanhoozer’s idea of theodrama and improvisation. The third is my own concept of game logic and strategy. Each of these three conceptualizations will be briefly described with particular attention to the task of local theologizing and biblical authority.


Author(s):  
Paul Bullock

‘Constellations: Jurassic Park’ explores how Steven Spielberg used the film to investigate several key themes that have been important to him across his career. These themes are: nature and humankind’s relationship with it, the importance of cinematic fantasy and how it shapes our view of the world, and the impact of toxic masculinity on both men and women. The book also looks at how Spielberg blends genres across his career as a whole and Jurassic Park specifically. This is particularly true of the science fiction and horror genres, which are used in Jurassic Park to create a film that is both cathartically scary and thematically satisfying. These points are contextualised within the wider scope of Spielberg’s life and career to understand how Jurassic Park acted as bridging point between the light entertainments he had been known for up to that point (Close Encounters of the Third Kind and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, for example) and the more serious filmmaking he focused on after its release (Saving Private Ryan and Lincoln).


2006 ◽  
Author(s):  
William H. C. Propp

The long-awaited conclusion of William H. C. Propp’s masterful study of Exodus, this informative, clearly written commentary provides a new perspective on Israelite culture and on the role of ritual, law, and covenant in biblical religion. Exodus 19–40 sets a new standard in biblical scholarship. Thorough and up-to-date, it is the first commentary on Exodus to include critical textual evidence from the recently edited Dead Sea Scrolls. Informed by Propp’s deep understanding of ancient cultural mores and religious traditions, it casts new light on the Israelites’ arrival at Sinai, their entry into a covenant with God, their reception of the Law, their worship of the golden calf, and their reconciliation to God. The incisive commentary on the building of the Holy Tabernacle–God’s wilderness abode–is supplemented by numerous illustrations that clarify the biblical text. Propp extends the scope and relevance of this major work in five appendices that discuss the literary formation of the Torah, the historicity of the Exodus tradition, the origins of Israelite monotheism, the Exodus theme in the Bible, and the future of Old Testament scholarship. By taking an anthropological rather than strictly theological approach, Propp places familiar stories within a fresh context. The result is a fully accessible guide to one of the most important and best known books of the Bible.


The three texts of this section deal with translation, a field where Meschonnic is of particular influence and importance. Meschonnic’s own experience of translating the Bible, and a very particular understanding of meaning-making procedures in biblical Hebrew, establishes in fact the basis for his theory. The exposure to the semantic accent system of biblical Hebrew allowed Meschonnic to develop a theory of language which saw meaning as residing not only in linguistic reference but in what he called a ‘serial semantics’: motivated forms of verbal patterning, chains of signifiers, prosodic contours, distributions of and connections between speech sounds and motifs across a longer text. He posits that, more than what a text says, it is what a text does that is to be translated: its force. The third text on translation then offers a demonstration of how Meschonnic applies the continuous of his theory of language to a text.


2020 ◽  
pp. 162-172
Author(s):  
Clémence Boulouque

Chapter 14 focuses on the meaning and loci of religious encounters in the Bible and in the Jewish tradition, and analyzes the concept of “iron crucible,” the metaphor Benamozegh used for the complexity of religious assimilation. This metaphor, which refers to the Israelites’ sojourn in Egypt, designates a place where identities intermingled and where the Jewish religion was refined through its contact with paganism—but also where, paradoxically, this blending did not preclude a sense of hierarchy in this assimilation process. This concept is a crucial aspect of Benamozegh’s system, whereby the greater the proximity, the greater the tension across religious traditions.


Theology ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 105 (825) ◽  
pp. 214-215
Author(s):  
Andrew Wingate

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