87 research outputs found
Lilith jako prefigura femme fatale
No full textThe aim of the article is to describe the myth of femme fatale. Starting from popular culture and ending with the representatives of archaic cultures, the author tries to indicate the women who are described in patriarchal narratives as those who bring men to defeat and ruin. An important figure for the whole argument is Lilith, who, according to Jewish legends, was the first wife of Adam. Lilith was erased from the biblical tradition because she opposed her partner and turned away from God. She has become the female archetype of sin, the symbol of sexual vampirism and the rejection of motherhood. All these features make up the femme fatale syndrome
Unbalancing Binaries: Re-thinking Lilith and Eve in Samuel Taylor Coleridge's "Christabel," Christina Rossetti's "Goblin Market," and George MacDonald's "Lilith".
No full textIn the nineteenth century, religion, or rather, religious figures played an important role in determining appropriate societal roles for women. Two particular religious figurations - Lilith and Eve - began to emerge more frequently in Victorian literary works as a way to illustrate, discuss, and critique the binary formulation of the angel in the house and the fallen woman. This thesis examines three works that utilize the symbolic representations of these religious female figures in order comment on the fallen woman and angel in the house binary, as well as the place of women within the beginning, middle, and end of the nineteenth century. I argue that by incorporating the Lilith and Eve typology, Samuel Taylor Coleridge's Christabel,' (1816), Christina Rossetti's Goblin Market,' (1862), and George MacDonald's Lilith (1895), exemplify and discuss the tensions surrounding the formulation of set female roles within Victorian society. Thus, it is though problematizing the rigid binaries of the angel in the house and fallen woman within these three texts that I illuminate the cracks within the dichotomy. --P. ii.The original print copy of this thesis may be available here: http://wizard.unbc.ca/record=b173788
Lilith: a tool for constraining new physics from Higgs measurements
No full textThe properties of the observed Higgs boson with mass around 125 GeV can be affected in a variety of ways by new physics beyond the Standard Model (SM). The wealth of experimental results, targeting the different combinations for the production and decay of a Higgs boson, makes it a non-trivial task to assess the patibility of a non-SM-like Higgs boson with all available results. In this paper we present Lilith, a new public tool for constraining new physics from signal strength measurements performed at the LHC and the Tevatron. Lilith is a Python library that can also be used in C and C++/ROOT programs. The Higgs likelihood is based on experimental results stored in an easily extensible XML database, and is evaluated from the user input, given in XML format in terms of reduced couplings or signal strengths.The results of Lilith can be used to constrain a wide class of new physics scenarios. © The Author(s) 2015.171511Nsciescopu
2B: Lilith in Dawn
No full textPart one of Octavia E. Butler’s Xenogenesis trilogy, Dawn, explores complex ideas surrounding family structure, and confronts issues such as sexism, racism, and colonialism in a post-apocalyptic setting and model of the human body. Scholars consistently analyze these issues as dysfunctions in society, but personal accounts from Butler lead one to believe that part of the critical theory surrounding her work is less than representative of her initial intentions. In an interview with Stephen W. Potts, Butler remarks on the agitation surrounding critics who “attempt to interpret [her] subconscious”. She further emphasizes the role of being an African American woman and by what means these parts of herself “influence the theme and approach” of her writing. Close examination of Butler’s intentions in Dawn and the portrayal of Lilith’s character highlight the period in history, as an African American female author, experienced by Butler. A similar reflection of history and experience can be found in the depiction of Lilith and her relationship with the Oankali, before and after the humans are awakened. This essay will highlight Butler’s interpreted view of human interactions, and it will establish a significant connection between the infliction of shame and its hindrance of Lilith and women, specifically women of color, historically and presently
The Image of Lilith in the Modern Russian Literature as the Representation of the Femme Fatale
No full textMaģistra darbs ir veltīts Lilita tēlas pētījumam kā fatālas sievietes reprezentācija mūsdienu krievu literatūrā. Darbs sastāv no trīm nodaļām. Pirmajā nodaļā ir aplūkota fatālas sievietes tēla koncepcija zinātniskajā literatūrā. Otrajā nodaļā ir aplūkota fatālas Lilitas tēls daiļliteratūrā un mūsdienu literatūrā. Trešajā nodaļā ir aplukota Lilita tēls ka fatālas sievietes reprezentācija uz piecpadsmit mūsdienu krievu literatūras darba piemēriem, kas ir publicēti literatūras interneta projektā “Žurnāles zāle”. Autors pievērš īpašu uzmanību mūsdienu raksturīgajām īpašībām attēlojumam Lilitias fatālas tēlā. Pētījums var ieinteresēt filologus un kulturologus, kas nodarbojas ar attīstības tendences pētījumu fatālas Lilitas tēlam mūsdienu krievu literatūrā, kā arī pētniekus genderas problemātikas sfērā.This Master thesis is dedicated to the study of the Lilith image as a representation of the femme fatale in modern Russian literature. The following study consists of three chapters. The first chapter deals with the concept of the image of a femme fatale in scientific literature. The second chapter examines the image of the Lilith as femme fatale in scientific and contemporary literature. The third chapter considers the image of Lilith as a representation of the femme fatale on the example of fifteen works of Russian modern literature, taken from the literary Internet project “The Journal Hall”. The author pays special attention to the characteristics of the modern representation of the fateful Lilith. The study may be interesting to philologists and culturologists who are studying the trends in the development of the image of the fatal Lilith in Russian modern literature, as well as researchers in the field of gender issues
Lilith between profanity and parody: a reading by Saramago's Cain
No full textThe author José Saramago presents, in his works, questions about the parameters imposed by a religious system that he considered contradictory, considering that many barbarities were committed in the name of God. The author uses literary tools such as parody to deconstruct the sacred scriptures, causing us to reflect on: the position of women in the social context, the discussion on the position of the marginalized in society and the various faces of God postulated by the Old Testament. All these themes will serve as raw material for the study of parody and desecration in the work Caim (2009). The focus is on the profane transfigurations of the Jewish mythical figure Lilith, present in the work. In this fiction, we find traces of the medieval parody theorized by Mikhail Bakhtin (1987), and also of the modern one, argued by Linda Hutcheon (1985) and Affonso Romano de Sant’Anna (1988). Based on the theories of Mircea Eliade (2001), Giorgio Agamben (2007) and Paul Ricoeur (2013), we will develop the analysis regarding the way the profane is linked to the text so that some religious questions are evidenced. Lilith is a figure traditionally known to carry a negative aspect due to her unsubmitted character, however, some concepts about her, free from the dogmas of religion, will be re-signified by Saramago in Cain.Dissertação (Mestrado)O autor José Saramago apresenta, em suas obras, questionamentos sobre os parâmetros impostos por um sistema religioso que ele considerava contraditório, tendo em vista que muitas barbáries foram cometidas em nome de Deus. O autor se utiliza de ferramentas literárias como a paródia para desconstruir as escrituras sagradas, provocando-nos reflexões sobre a posição da mulher no contexto social, a discussão sobre a posição dos marginalizados na sociedade e as várias faces do Deus postulado pelo Antigo Testamento. Essas três temáticas servirão como matéria-prima para o estudo sobre paródia e profanação na obra Caim (2009). O foco é dirigido para as transfigurações profanas da figura mítica judaica Lilith, presentes na obra. Nessa ficção, encontramos traços da paródia medieval, teorizada por Mikhail Bakhtin (1987), e também da moderna, argumentada por Linda Hutcheon (1985) e Affonso Romano de Sant’Anna (1988). Embasados nas teorias de Mircea Eliade (2001), Giorgio Agamben (2007) e Paul Ricoeur (2013), desenvolveremos a análise a respeito do modo como o profano se vincula ao texto para que alguns questionamentos religiosos sejam evidenciados. Lilith é uma figura tradicionalmente conhecida por carregar um aspecto negativo devido ao seu caráter insubmisso, porém alguns conceitos sobre ela, livres dos dogmas da religião, são ressignificados por Saramago na obra Caim
Uncanny universalism : Gothic imagery in George MacDonald’s <em>Lilith </em>(1895)
No full textAs scholars studying George MacDonald (1824–1905) have paid an increasing amount of attention to genre questions, a discussion of the author’s relation to Gothic literature has emerged. MacDonald is often held to be an author who does not properly belong to the Gothic tradition: although prone to employ its motifs and themes in his work, this is frequently understood as a means to further a benign worldview, ultimately at odds with the bleakness and despair often understood to be characteristic of the genre (cf. Scott McLaren, 2006, Susan Ang, 2008). This paper seeks to problematize this notion in a discussion of MacDonald’s late text Lilith (1895). MacDonald’s son Greville has suggested that Lilith was partly written as a reproach to “increasingly easy tendencies in universalists”, who, believing in universal Salvation, had ceased to seriously consider the need for repentance. The protagonist mister Vane stumbles into an alternative reality, possibly a purgatory of sorts, and learns just how dearly redemption is bought. This is a remarkably uncanny universalism, expressed in imagery familiar from the fin de siècle Gothic. Bearing in mind Nicholas Royle’s definition of the uncanny as that which “is destined to elude mastery, […] what cannot be pinned down or controlled”, however, this paper examines the possibility that the uncanny motifs do not merely serve to convey or to contain a benign message, but also undermines any assurances given to us by the text, thus creating an ambiguous and deeply unsettling text. A universal uncanniness, as it were.</p
Die Verschmelzung traditionaler und Swedenborgianischer Denkstrukturen in MacDonalds 'Lilith'
No full textThe Sleep of the Soul
David Lindsay, author of Voyage to Arcturus, claimed to be mainly influenced by George MacDonald. As Lindsay’s view of the world is the pessimistic gnosticism often to be seen in works of art of the late 19th and early 20th century, a connection to MacDonald, usually seen as a propagator of orthodox Christianity, does not seem obvious at first sight. Closer scrutiny, though, reveals the connection as well founded. Both MacDonald’s Lilith and his entire late work stand in a long tradition and form a link between modem gnosticism and the Neoplatonic and Hermetic school.
MacDonald as a writer saw himself as an interpreter of Novalis. It is Novalis’s great pattem of the romantic philosophy of history that is taken over into Lilith: the slow change of the “Long Night” into the darker, then brighter, sides of Dawn until the break of the “Eternal Day” which is taken over by MacDonald. Lindsay’s Nightspore, representing the soul, is engaged in the universal process of suffering, being forced into the chain of birth and rebirth, after finally consenting to its fate, that being might be extinguished by a universal will to nothingness.
MacDonald’s Vane clearly has a similar significance: Vane is a sufferer in the realm of the world’s “Long Night”, but with the final aim of a universal redemption and elevation of the whole being.
As a symbolistic work of art, Lilith is a parable, and as such shows, in a hermetic way, the destiny of the world and especially of the soul. Both, the parable-structure and the central message, are founded - and this in many layers - on Swedenborgianism. The many elements of Platonic tradition, direct allusions to Plato, Plotinus, Proclos, Paracelsus, Böhme, Thomas Taylor, and Blake; again to Novalis, Coleridge and Schelling, are amalgamized by a Swedenborgian view, as may be seen in the very images and terms used, in the very manner of speech.
The centre of the story is the image of incorporation, represented by the house of Adam and Eve, the cemetery in the world-cave; the sleep of the soul is earthly life, its awakening earthly death. The course of action before the consent of the soul to sleep must be understood then, of course, as taking place in the realms of the soul’s pre-existence, beginning with ist isolation (Plotinus) and going on with the stages of “descending” (tradition of the Mysteries). But the final stage, incorporation, is not, in the Platonic sense, the evil, but the beginning of resurrection, which however is not completely realised. Here, the Swedenborgian idea of the universal growing of the spiritual seed (“Keim” in Schelling) within the earthly body, connected with the idea of the cave’s “hallow’d ground” (Blake) of the Platonic tradition expresses a dynamism, interpreting the “Long Night” as an element of motion to a new and higher level of existence. “Adam’s Return to Paradise”, “The New Age”, “The New Jerusalem”, though, are experienced as the northern light of vision, while the aspiring soul is still enclosed by “the forests of the Night”
De-demonising the Old Testament : an investigation of Azazel, Lilith, Deber, Qeteb and Reshef in the Hebrew Bible
No full textThe subject of demons and demonology has fascinated scholars and non-scholars, ancient and modern alike; it is not surprising that much work has been done on the topic by biblical scholars too. Chapter 1 places the present study within the existing scholarship showing that the early works on ‘OT demonology’ were influenced by comparative religion, anthropology, and an increasing interest in Mesopotamian and Canaanite parallels as well as a concern to seek and find vestiges of ancient religious beliefs in the Old Testament. The consensus of early 20th century scholars regarding what constitutes a ‘demon’ in the Old Testament has not been challenged by modern scholarship. Chapter 2 shows that biblical scholars still commonly turn to the ancient Near Eastern religions and cultures to explain difficult passages in the Hebrew Bible, to find parallels or the ‘original’ of difficult terms and concepts. Since it is generally accepted without challenge that azazel, lilith, deber, qeteb and reshef are the personal names of ‘demons’ appearing in the Hebrew Bible, the necessity arises to return to the texts in order to examine each term in its context. The present study seeks to answer the question whether these five terms are names of ‘demons’ in the Hebrew texts as we have them today. To accomplish its goal the present study will provide an exegesis based on Close Reading of all the relevant biblical passages in which the terms azazel (chapter 3), lilith (chapter 4), deber (chapter 5), qeteb (chapter 6), and reshef (chapter 7) appear. Attention is paid to the linguistic, semantic, and structural levels of the texts. The emphasis is on a close examination of the immediate context in order to determine the function (and if possible the meaning) of each term. The reading focuses on determining how the various signals within the text can guide towards meaning, noting how the (implied) poet/author uses the various poetical/rhetorical devices, especially personification, but also parallelism, similes, irony, and mythological elements. The present study shows that contrary to former and current scholarship there is nothing in the texts to support the view that azazel, lilith, deber, qeteb and reshef are the names of ‘demons’. Azazel appears as the personification of the forces of chaos that threaten the order of creation; his role is to stand in contrast to Yahweh. The context requires that lilith is regarded as a bird, a night bird being the most plausible explanation of the term. Deber, qeteb and reshef are personifications of destructive forces and appear as agents of Yahweh, members of his ’Angels of Evil’ who bring punishment (death) on the people of Israel for disobedience. There is no evidence to suggest that there are mythological figures behind azazel, lilith or the personifications of deber and qeteb. In case of reshef there is a possible connection to the Semitic deity Reshef. However, the mythological motifs are used merely as a poetic device.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo
Lilith: um monstro feminino em Jorge Luis Borges, Dante Gabriel Rossetti e Primo Levi
No full textThe study of monstrosity belongs to many fields of knowledge, as well as to various periods of analysis. Since the Ancient Times, philosophers, writers, jurists and other studious have been questioning the constitution of the monstrous figure and also its connection to Evil. Currently, many studies of classificatory content have been developed, towards establishing lists that divide the monsters, based on specific criteria and parameters. On the other hand, the basis of this work is the theory developed by Jeffrey Jerome Cohen in his article a cultura dos monstros: sete teses. The author proposes a different way to analyze the monster, one that allows us to bring him closer to the culture in which he has been created, through intrinsic links between both. Therefore, it becomes possible to develop a critical analysis of the monster, that has from this point on a strong reason to be, that could be social, cultural, among others. The chosen figure for this study is Lilith, described in the Jewish literature as Adam´s first wife. The main goal, in this paper, is that to analyze her in the legendary scope and also in the chosen artistic developments, both the literary and plastic ones. She will be analyzed in the work of Jorge Luis Borges, Primo Levi and Dante Gabriel Rossetti, according to Cohen´s theory. It is aimed to determine if Lilith, in the chosen works and under the applied analysis focus, affirms herself as a monster.O estudo da monstruosidade faz parte de vários campos do conhecimento, além de compreender diversos períodos de análise. Desde a Antiguidade, filósofos, literatos, juristas e outros estudiosos questionavam a constituição da figura monstruosa, assim como a sua relação com o Mal. Na Modernidade, vários estudos de teor classificatório foram desenvolvidos com o intuito de estabelecer listas que dividissem os monstros, tendo por base determinados critérios e parâmetros. Neste trabalho, por sua vez, o fundamento para o estudo da monstruosidade é a teoria desenvolvida por Jeffrey Jerome Cohen no artigo a cultura dos monstros: sete teses. Nele, Cohen propõe uma leitura do monstro que permite aproximá-lo da cultura em que foi criado, a partir de relações intrínsecas entre ambos. Dessa forma, torna-se possível a análise crítica do monstro, que passa a ter uma razão de ser, que pode ser social, cultural, entre outras. Nesse sentido, a figura escolhida para análise sob essa ótica foi Lilith, definida na mitologia judaica como a primeira mulher de Adão. O objetivo principal, então, é o de analisá-la no âmbito lendário, além de desdobramentos literários e plásticos dos quais ela faz parte. O recorte escolhido para esse estudo faz parte das obras de Jorge Luis Borges, Primo Levi e Dante Gabriel Rossetti, lidos de acordo com a teoria de Cohen. Intentase determinar se Lilith, nas obras escolhidas e sob esse foco de análise, afirma-se como um monstro
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