I have had for some time now various ideas which I have attempted to put down in writing on multiple occasions, only to find that what initially seemed like a cohesive structure or line of inquiry contained tangents and digressions which undermined the unity and structural integrity of the piece irrevocably. I think I have finally figured out the right method for approaching the material though, and I would like to share my ideas for how to go about this project with the co-authors of this journal and I suppose the world at large, or that portion of it that is reading this.
My intention is to write a work which consists of three independent essays. These essays will be independent in that they will be completeley intelligible on their own, however they will be thematically intertwined and, informing each other, will hopefully approach a sense of cohesiveness that would not be achieved (at least by me) in a monograph.
Part one would be an essay on the dual influence of neo-platonism and Christian mysticism on visual art and aesthetics from the early christian era through modernity, with emphasis placed on the period of cultural development from the 12th to 18th centuries.
Part two would be a selected and incomplete history of transcendentalism in western literature and philsophy from the Pre-Socratics to Hegel
Part three would be an essay on the aesthetics of rituals of blood and flesh from the eastern mystery cults to the Christian concept of the Eucharist until the 17th century.
The idea is that each of the three pieces contain themes which are present to more or lesser degrees in the others. All of them are intended to analyze a larger phenomenon of which each are component parts.
I would appreciate feedback, suggested sources, criticism, restaurant recommendations etc...
Thursday, April 2, 2009
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I am especially excited about the second two parts. You don't have to sell me on blood rituals...
ReplyDeleteI hate day jobs because I developed a coherent and illuminating response to your ideas but immediately lost it when my coworker came over to show me some new excel spreadsheet thing I have to know. I am on my way to becoming an expert at excel :(
ReplyDeleteI was curious if in the third section you were talking about the middle-eastern mystery cults like the Gnostics and Kabbalists - if so, I'm sure I can get my hands on some good sources for you. I also thought that it might be interesting to consider extending the study into more contemporary times to see what lasting effects the blood/flesh rituals of those early cults have had. I don't really know very much about the subject, but I'd imagine that the same type of aestheticization of bodily harm and mutilation that took place in the context of religious-philosophical traditions still goes on in other forms today. Obviously, Jodorowsky's "The Holy Mountain" began to tie together the mystical tradition, contemporary aesthetic traditions, and interests in the body together. Don't know if you want to go there, but it could be interesting.
I also see how the first and third parts will tie together but the inclusion of the second doesn't seem as obvious. I guess the bottom line question is what is the larger phenomenon that you're interested in exploring in this way?
I didn't know how to read comments, so i just read these.. Thanks for responding, to Elijah: I am definitely interested in including the Gnostics and kabbalists. I have some good quotations from Borges' 'defense of Basilides the false' but I would love other interesting views on the Gnostics, and I'm sure you could point me in the right direction for Kabbalism, since I have no idea what their take on those sorts of rites have been... The majority of that essay is going have to do with the christian Eucharist, but I definitely want to include as much other material as possible.
ReplyDeletefor the second part of your comment Elijah, I'm interested in the phenomenon of the union of subject and object, particularly when the subject takes as the object of it's conscious contemplation its notion of the absolute, the Theos, Divinity, Void, whatever signifier may be used. This phenomenon is what ties together the mysticism of Plotinus and Augustine with the Transcendental idealism/ phenomenology of Hegel and Husserl and the eucharistic notion of blood and flesh transubsantiated into divine materials....
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