Monday, November 09, 2009
Sunday, November 08, 2009
Anarchist Commune presents herself for a new human rights movement
Hi
INFO ACTUAL 1
I'm a permanent absolute beginner and l o o s e r.
An peaceful anarchist adult with a childish psyche.
But why am I a "looser"? Because I'm e n g a g e d. And this in a time in which only
two questions seem to be important:
1. Do you have money?,
2. Are you sexy?
And why? Because people don't get time and opportunity to engage D I F F E R E NT themselves. So if you are such a l o o s e r like me or you like to support my losers project, lets come together. Ive already fought with some success. I need you. And you. And you. And perhaps you.
INFO ACTUAL 2
who likes to visit me over the Christmas time or longer?
Doesn't matter, if you are thick or thin,old or young.
Everybody is invited
I'm living near the sea. In midst of a big forest.
I offer calmness, one or two glasses gloggs (mullet wine)
deep snow (?)
Cozy (cuddly) warm stove, 4 dogs,
5 cats, exciting discussions,
I need
Help, by surviving here.
One wish for Christmas
You should be fit, to saw wood
or to sort books
I'm a kind of hermit
Not quite, but a little
I'm living from books
INFO ACTUAL 2
I try to build up a group of people
who want to coordinate themselves
to initiate a human - right- movement
which concerns all those people,
who are heavy discriminated because of
their age,
their origin,
their outfit
their colour,
their thinking,
their spiritual attitude,
their way of living,
their sexuality
If this should interest you
it is the right place por you here
Yours Michael
contact:
beinundklein@web.de
INFO ACTUAL 1
I'm a permanent absolute beginner and l o o s e r.
An peaceful anarchist adult with a childish psyche.
But why am I a "looser"? Because I'm e n g a g e d. And this in a time in which only
two questions seem to be important:
1. Do you have money?,
2. Are you sexy?
And why? Because people don't get time and opportunity to engage D I F F E R E NT themselves. So if you are such a l o o s e r like me or you like to support my losers project, lets come together. Ive already fought with some success. I need you. And you. And you. And perhaps you.
INFO ACTUAL 2
who likes to visit me over the Christmas time or longer?
Doesn't matter, if you are thick or thin,old or young.
Everybody is invited
I'm living near the sea. In midst of a big forest.
I offer calmness, one or two glasses gloggs (mullet wine)
deep snow (?)
Cozy (cuddly) warm stove, 4 dogs,
5 cats, exciting discussions,
I need
Help, by surviving here.
One wish for Christmas
You should be fit, to saw wood
or to sort books
I'm a kind of hermit
Not quite, but a little
I'm living from books
INFO ACTUAL 2
I try to build up a group of people
who want to coordinate themselves
to initiate a human - right- movement
which concerns all those people,
who are heavy discriminated because of
their age,
their origin,
their outfit
their colour,
their thinking,
their spiritual attitude,
their way of living,
their sexuality
If this should interest you
it is the right place por you here
Yours Michael
contact:
beinundklein@web.de
Saturday, November 07, 2009
To be continued
To be continued
Do I stand alone again in my endless search for freedom?
Challenging their might, defeated?
Falling helplessly away
Crawling from the wreckage, their destiny is my future?
I feel the coldness as I step out into their darkness
So I stand alone the same in my hopeless chase for freedom
Clawing, I call, I call out, but again,
I'm never answered
You stand there in your lonely world,
in your careless search for freedom
While we struggle on, you turn hopelessly away
Destroyed and recreated, our destiny is the future
Now I feel the warmth, as the eclipse is forced away
By Conflict
Do I stand alone again in my endless search for freedom?
Challenging their might, defeated?
Falling helplessly away
Crawling from the wreckage, their destiny is my future?
I feel the coldness as I step out into their darkness
So I stand alone the same in my hopeless chase for freedom
Clawing, I call, I call out, but again,
I'm never answered
You stand there in your lonely world,
in your careless search for freedom
While we struggle on, you turn hopelessly away
Destroyed and recreated, our destiny is the future
Now I feel the warmth, as the eclipse is forced away
By Conflict
Friday, November 06, 2009
POLICIA COBARDE PERMITE AOS DROGADOS DE CAMPOLIDE A VENDA FATAL DO CONCEITO MODERNO DE VAZIO PSIQUICO
POLICIA TEM MEDO DOS TRAFICANTES DE DROGA DE CAMPOLIDE, QUE MATAM E ROUBAM SEJA QUEM FOR..
Thursday, November 05, 2009
My ideas in place as a response to the cruel and indiscrete human irracional fear
The modern concept of social approach by radicals like me, have a response from reality in a cruel and indiscrete irracional fear, turned into a dangerous string action in their senses reported in my self predictions as fluctuations of a primordial fear, that is birth. The observable aggressions, lead me to ask in a distinctive form, why in the general behaving by the kick in the eye, introduced as a source of a modern boredom and this triggers the beginning of new rising measures beyond orgasms and the relations with the Universe, while people contract themselves in miscellaneous singularities and I point the generous soul that lives in a cosmic sense and hidden from external observers, according to normal life paths. My horizon is infinite and my spirit follows converging areas in the body and mind, to the mechanism of the chained energy done in a peaceful system.
Text made based on a lecture by Stephen Hawking
Eduardo Alexandre Pinto
Text made based on a lecture by Stephen Hawking
Eduardo Alexandre Pinto
Sentimentalism
Sentimentalism (literally, appealing to the sentiments, also called maudlinism), as a literary and political discourse, has occurred much in the literary traditions of all regions in the world, and is central to the traditions of Indian literature, Chinese literature, and Vietnamese literature (such as Ho Xuan Huong).
The term sentimentalism is used in two senses: (1) An overindulgence in emotion, especially the conscious effort to induce emotion in order to enjoy it. (2) An optimistic overemphasis of the goodness of humanity (sensibility), representing in part a reaction against Calvinism, which regarded human nature as depraved. The novel of sensibility was developed from this 18th century notion, manifested in the Sentimental novel.
In reference to the historical movement of Sentimentalism within the United States of America during the 18th century, Sentimentalism is a European idea that emphasized feelings and emotions, a physical appreciation of God, nature, and other people, rather than logic and reason. The impact on the American people was that love became as important in marriage as financial considerations.
European sentimentalism arose during the Age of Enlightenment, at the same time as sentimentalism in philosophy. It lasted from around 1720 until the time of the French Revolution, arising in France and England as early as 1700.
Contents [hide]
1 European literary sentimentalism
1.1 Origins
1.2 Characteristics
1.3 In Germany
1.4 Results
2 See also
3 Notes
4 Further reading
[edit] European literary sentimentalism
It is difficult to separate sentimentalism in literature from sentimentalism as philosophy. The sentimentalist literary landscape largely mirrors the philosophical debate by realizing it into actual practice through the fictional narrative and characters. As a result however, attempting to provide an account of literary sentimentalism will naturally embark us on a philosophical debate. And it is from this perspective that we may observe the two (typically separate) studies blur under our microscopic inquiry.
Sentimentalism in literature can also be used as a medium that the author uses to promote their own agendas.....imploring the reader to empathize with the problem they are dealing with in the book.
Philosophically, sensibility is a seeming antonym of its rival rationalism. While rationalism pervades the analytic mind, sentimentalism hinges truth upon an intrinsic human capacity to feel. For the sentimentalist this capacity is perhaps most important in morality. They contend that where the rationalists believe they can create a morality based upon logical principles (i.e. Immanuel Kant's "Categorical Imperative") these principles all differ. Thus we are left without a sound morality. However, by developing the intrinsic moral sensibility and fine tuning this capacity to feel, we may access a universal morality underscoring our very nature as humans.
For example, in Laurence Sterne's novel, A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy, the narrator is using the sentimental character Yorick as a device to critique the obligation of morality, whether it is sentimental or rational. There is a particular scene where Yorick meets a monk early in the novel and refuses "to give him a single sous [a penny]," he feels discontent is by disregarding what he senses he ought to do. He appears to obey "better reason" (4). Rationally, he disregards his sentimental obligation because "there is no regular reasoning upon the ebbs and flows of our humours" (6) [i.e. our emotions]. While he argues against the authority of sense, ultimately this sense creates discontent in his conscience. After the monk leaves empty handed, it is Yorick's "heart" that "smote [him] the moment [the monk] shut the door" (7). Accordingly, Yorick has "behaved very ill" (7). He complies with his rational maxim, the justified action of his "great claims" argument (6). Yet, he senses from the conscience of his sentimental nature that he has done wrong.
There are plenty of similar literary examples throughout the sentimentalist movement in Europe in the early to mid eighteenth century. Even still we cannot be unimpressed by the title of one nineteenth century novel called Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen. Tugging at the driving forces of the Eighteenth Century, Austen again calls to light the tension between rationalism in the senses and sentimentalism in the human's sensibility.
[edit] Origins
Sentimentalism came with the end of French rationalism with the death of Louis XIV and turned against the strictly reason-orientated way of life which had been used to discipline and civilise society under absolutism. The German "age of enlightenment" first began when the French "age of reason" was supplemented or questioned by social-criticism and emancipatory tendencies. It therefore collapsed approximately with the "epoch of empfindsamkeit" or the Rococo.
The origin of sentimentalism was chiefly religious, with the emotionally-coloured texts for the oratorios of Johann Sebastian Bach stream being typical examples. Empfindsamkeit is also known as secularized pietism because it frequently came with moralizing content that had increasingly broken free of church and religious ties. An important theorist of the movement was Jean Baptiste Dubos.
[edit] Characteristics
Sentimentalism asserted that over-shown feeling was not a weakness but rather showed one to be a moral person, and privileged the private life (as opposed to Absolutism's privileging the public life). Arising from religiously-motivated empathy, it expanded to the other perceptions - for example, sensual love was no longer understood as a destructive passion (Vanitas) but rather as a basis of social institutions, as it was for Antoine Houdar de la Motte. Requited love was, as in serious opera (the Tragédie en musique or Opera seria), a symbol for a successful alliance between nations. Also the "Lesesucht" re-evaluated what was permitted literature, and the novel as a type of literature as versus drama.
Around the middle of the century, sentimentalism set "untouched" nature against (courtly) civilization, as in the works of Jean Jacques Rousseau. Also Samuel Richardson's sentimental epistolary novel "Pamela or Virtue Rewarded" (1740) had great literary influence, with its socio-critical tendencies.
[edit] In Germany
The musician and publisher Johann Christoph Bode translated Laurence Sterne s novel A sentimental Journey Through France and Italy into German in 1768 under the title Yoriks empfindsame Reise - the translation was a great success. His word "empfindsam" or "sensitive" was a neologism that then became attached to Gotthold Ephraim Lessing and the whole literary period.
German poets who verged on sentimentalism were Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock (1724–1803), Christian Fürchtegott Gellert (1715–1769) and Sophie de La Roche (1730–1807, the author of the first epistolary novel in German) and its influence may also be seen in Goethe's early work Die Leiden des jungen Werthers (1774), a high-point of Sturm und Drang.
[edit] Results
Religious sentimentalism was one of the inspirations for François-René de Chateaubriand and his creation of Romanticism. In popular literature, empfindsamkeit played a role until long into the 19th century, continuing in serialised novels in periodicals such as Gartenlaube. In the theatre, empfindsamkeit was succeeded by rührstück or melodrama.
[edit] See also
Sentimental poetry
Sentiment
Francis Hutcheson, Essay on the Nature and Conduct of the Passions and Affections and Illustrations upon the Moral Sense
[edit] Notes
Sterne, Laurence. A Sentimental Journey. New York :Oxford University Press, 2003.
[edit] Further reading
Renate Krüger: Das Zeitalter der Empfindsamkeit. Koehler & Amelang, Leipzig 1972
Nikolaus Wegmann: Diskurse der Empfindsamkeit. Zur Geschichte eines Gefühls in der Literatur des 18. Jahrhunderts. Metzler, Stuttgart 1988, ISBN 3476006379
Brissenden, R.F. Virtue in Distress: Studies in the Novel of Sentiment from Richardson to Sade. London: Macmillan, 1974.
McGann, Jerome. The Poetics of Sensibility: a Revolution in Literary Style. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1996.
Mullan, John. Sentiment and Sociability: The Language of Feeling in the Eighteenth Century. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1988.
Nagle, Christopher. Sexuality and the Culture of Sensibility in the British Romantic Era. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007.
Todd, Janet. Sensibility: an Introduction. London: Methuen, 1986.
Tompkins, Jane. Sensational Designs: The Cultural Work of American Fiction, 1790-1860. New York: Oxford UP, 1986.
The term sentimentalism is used in two senses: (1) An overindulgence in emotion, especially the conscious effort to induce emotion in order to enjoy it. (2) An optimistic overemphasis of the goodness of humanity (sensibility), representing in part a reaction against Calvinism, which regarded human nature as depraved. The novel of sensibility was developed from this 18th century notion, manifested in the Sentimental novel.
In reference to the historical movement of Sentimentalism within the United States of America during the 18th century, Sentimentalism is a European idea that emphasized feelings and emotions, a physical appreciation of God, nature, and other people, rather than logic and reason. The impact on the American people was that love became as important in marriage as financial considerations.
European sentimentalism arose during the Age of Enlightenment, at the same time as sentimentalism in philosophy. It lasted from around 1720 until the time of the French Revolution, arising in France and England as early as 1700.
Contents [hide]
1 European literary sentimentalism
1.1 Origins
1.2 Characteristics
1.3 In Germany
1.4 Results
2 See also
3 Notes
4 Further reading
[edit] European literary sentimentalism
It is difficult to separate sentimentalism in literature from sentimentalism as philosophy. The sentimentalist literary landscape largely mirrors the philosophical debate by realizing it into actual practice through the fictional narrative and characters. As a result however, attempting to provide an account of literary sentimentalism will naturally embark us on a philosophical debate. And it is from this perspective that we may observe the two (typically separate) studies blur under our microscopic inquiry.
Sentimentalism in literature can also be used as a medium that the author uses to promote their own agendas.....imploring the reader to empathize with the problem they are dealing with in the book.
Philosophically, sensibility is a seeming antonym of its rival rationalism. While rationalism pervades the analytic mind, sentimentalism hinges truth upon an intrinsic human capacity to feel. For the sentimentalist this capacity is perhaps most important in morality. They contend that where the rationalists believe they can create a morality based upon logical principles (i.e. Immanuel Kant's "Categorical Imperative") these principles all differ. Thus we are left without a sound morality. However, by developing the intrinsic moral sensibility and fine tuning this capacity to feel, we may access a universal morality underscoring our very nature as humans.
For example, in Laurence Sterne's novel, A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy, the narrator is using the sentimental character Yorick as a device to critique the obligation of morality, whether it is sentimental or rational. There is a particular scene where Yorick meets a monk early in the novel and refuses "to give him a single sous [a penny]," he feels discontent is by disregarding what he senses he ought to do. He appears to obey "better reason" (4). Rationally, he disregards his sentimental obligation because "there is no regular reasoning upon the ebbs and flows of our humours" (6) [i.e. our emotions]. While he argues against the authority of sense, ultimately this sense creates discontent in his conscience. After the monk leaves empty handed, it is Yorick's "heart" that "smote [him] the moment [the monk] shut the door" (7). Accordingly, Yorick has "behaved very ill" (7). He complies with his rational maxim, the justified action of his "great claims" argument (6). Yet, he senses from the conscience of his sentimental nature that he has done wrong.
There are plenty of similar literary examples throughout the sentimentalist movement in Europe in the early to mid eighteenth century. Even still we cannot be unimpressed by the title of one nineteenth century novel called Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen. Tugging at the driving forces of the Eighteenth Century, Austen again calls to light the tension between rationalism in the senses and sentimentalism in the human's sensibility.
[edit] Origins
Sentimentalism came with the end of French rationalism with the death of Louis XIV and turned against the strictly reason-orientated way of life which had been used to discipline and civilise society under absolutism. The German "age of enlightenment" first began when the French "age of reason" was supplemented or questioned by social-criticism and emancipatory tendencies. It therefore collapsed approximately with the "epoch of empfindsamkeit" or the Rococo.
The origin of sentimentalism was chiefly religious, with the emotionally-coloured texts for the oratorios of Johann Sebastian Bach stream being typical examples. Empfindsamkeit is also known as secularized pietism because it frequently came with moralizing content that had increasingly broken free of church and religious ties. An important theorist of the movement was Jean Baptiste Dubos.
[edit] Characteristics
Sentimentalism asserted that over-shown feeling was not a weakness but rather showed one to be a moral person, and privileged the private life (as opposed to Absolutism's privileging the public life). Arising from religiously-motivated empathy, it expanded to the other perceptions - for example, sensual love was no longer understood as a destructive passion (Vanitas) but rather as a basis of social institutions, as it was for Antoine Houdar de la Motte. Requited love was, as in serious opera (the Tragédie en musique or Opera seria), a symbol for a successful alliance between nations. Also the "Lesesucht" re-evaluated what was permitted literature, and the novel as a type of literature as versus drama.
Around the middle of the century, sentimentalism set "untouched" nature against (courtly) civilization, as in the works of Jean Jacques Rousseau. Also Samuel Richardson's sentimental epistolary novel "Pamela or Virtue Rewarded" (1740) had great literary influence, with its socio-critical tendencies.
[edit] In Germany
The musician and publisher Johann Christoph Bode translated Laurence Sterne s novel A sentimental Journey Through France and Italy into German in 1768 under the title Yoriks empfindsame Reise - the translation was a great success. His word "empfindsam" or "sensitive" was a neologism that then became attached to Gotthold Ephraim Lessing and the whole literary period.
German poets who verged on sentimentalism were Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock (1724–1803), Christian Fürchtegott Gellert (1715–1769) and Sophie de La Roche (1730–1807, the author of the first epistolary novel in German) and its influence may also be seen in Goethe's early work Die Leiden des jungen Werthers (1774), a high-point of Sturm und Drang.
[edit] Results
Religious sentimentalism was one of the inspirations for François-René de Chateaubriand and his creation of Romanticism. In popular literature, empfindsamkeit played a role until long into the 19th century, continuing in serialised novels in periodicals such as Gartenlaube. In the theatre, empfindsamkeit was succeeded by rührstück or melodrama.
[edit] See also
Sentimental poetry
Sentiment
Francis Hutcheson, Essay on the Nature and Conduct of the Passions and Affections and Illustrations upon the Moral Sense
[edit] Notes
Sterne, Laurence. A Sentimental Journey. New York :Oxford University Press, 2003.
[edit] Further reading
Renate Krüger: Das Zeitalter der Empfindsamkeit. Koehler & Amelang, Leipzig 1972
Nikolaus Wegmann: Diskurse der Empfindsamkeit. Zur Geschichte eines Gefühls in der Literatur des 18. Jahrhunderts. Metzler, Stuttgart 1988, ISBN 3476006379
Brissenden, R.F. Virtue in Distress: Studies in the Novel of Sentiment from Richardson to Sade. London: Macmillan, 1974.
McGann, Jerome. The Poetics of Sensibility: a Revolution in Literary Style. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1996.
Mullan, John. Sentiment and Sociability: The Language of Feeling in the Eighteenth Century. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1988.
Nagle, Christopher. Sexuality and the Culture of Sensibility in the British Romantic Era. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007.
Todd, Janet. Sensibility: an Introduction. London: Methuen, 1986.
Tompkins, Jane. Sensational Designs: The Cultural Work of American Fiction, 1790-1860. New York: Oxford UP, 1986.
Spirit and Body
The fear of the so called split between spirit and body exists because people should know that he lives with infinite energy in invisible ways. It’s truth that fear from splitting can motivate people in their desire in discovering what they haven’t felt, they had thought about it and thoughts have a psychic energy. Spirit lives with thoughts, shy or not, they are a free kind of nature. Body and Spirit are united by the grace of inspiration and away from every kind of ethos.
Eduardo Alexandre Pinto
Eduardo Alexandre Pinto
Wednesday, November 04, 2009
Henri-Louis Bergson
.Henri-Louis Bergson (French pronunciation: [bɛʁkˈsɔ̃]; 18 October 1859–4 January 1941) was a major French philosopher, influential especially in the first half of the 20th century.
Contents [hide]
1 Biography
1.1 Overview
1.2 Education and career
1.3 Relationship with James and Pragmatism
1.4 The lectures on Change
1.5 Later life
2 Philosophy
2.1 Duration
2.2 Intuition
2.3 Élan Vital
2.4 Laughter
3 Criticisms and reception
4 See also
5 Notes
6 Bibliography
7 External links
7.1 Works online
[edit] Biography
[edit] Overview
Bergson was born in the Rue Lamartine in Paris, not far from the Palais Garnier (the old Paris opera house) in 1859 (the year of the publication of Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species). His father, the musician Michał Bergson had a Polish Jewish family background (originally bearing the name Bereksohn). His mother, Katherine Levison, daughter of a Yorkshire doctor, was from an English and Irish Jewish background. The Bereksohns were a famous Jewish entrepreneurial family of Polish descent. Henri Bergson's great-great-grandfather, Szmul Jakubowicz Sonnenberg, called Zbytkower, was a prominent banker and King Stanisław August Poniatowski's protégé[1][2]. His family lived in London for a few years after his birth, and he obtained an early familiarity with the English language from his mother. Before he was nine, his parents crossed the English Channel and settled in France, Henri becoming a naturalized citizen of the Republic.
Henri Bergson married Louise Neuberger, a cousin of Marcel Proust, in 1891. They had a daughter, Jeanne, born deaf in 1896.
Bergson's sister, Mina Bergson (also known as Moina Mathers), married the English occult author Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers, a leader of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, and the couple later relocated to Paris as well.
Bergson lived the quiet life of a French professor, marked by the publication of his four principal works: in 1889, Time and Free Will (Essai sur les données immédiates de la conscience); in 1896, Matter and Memory (Matière et mémoire); in 1907, Creative Evolution (L'Evolution créatrice); and in 1932, The Two Sources of Morality and Religion (Les deux sources de la morale et de la religion).
In 1900 the College of France selected Bergson to a Chair of Greek and Latin Philosophy, which he held until 1904. He then replaced Gabriel Tarde in the Chair of Modern Philosophy, which he held until 1920. His courses were attended by a large public.
[edit] Education and career
Bergson attended the Lycée Fontaine (now known as the Lycée Condorcet) in Paris from 1868 to 1878. Having received a Jewish religious education[citation needed], he of course read the Bible, including the Genesis. Between 14 and 16, however, he lost his faith. According to Hude (1990), this moral crisis is tied to his discovery of the theory of evolution, according to which humanity shares common ancestry with modern primates and was not necessarily created by a God.[3][verification needed]
While at the lycée he won a prize for his scientific work and another, in 1877 when he was eighteen, for the solution of a mathematical problem. His solution was published the following year in Annales de Mathématiques. It was his first published work. After some hesitation as to whether his career should lie in the sphere of the sciences or that of the humanities, he decided in favour of the latter, to the dismay of his teachers.[4] When he was nineteen, he entered the famous École Normale Supérieure. During this period, he read Herbert Spencer.[4] He obtained there the degree of Licence-ès-Lettres, and this was followed by that of Agrégation de philosophie in 1881.
The same year he received a teaching appointment at the lycée in Angers, the ancient capital of Anjou. Two years later he settled at the Lycée Blaise-Pascal in Clermont-Ferrand, capital of the Puy-de-Dôme département.
The year after his arrival at Clermont-Ferrand Bergson displayed his ability in the humanities by the publication of an edition of extracts from Lucretius, with a critical study of the text and of the materialist cosmology of the poet (1884), a work whose repeated editions are sufficient evidence of its useful place in the promotion of classical study among the youth of France. While teaching and lecturing in this part of his country (the Auvergne region), Bergson found time for private study and original work. He crafted his dissertation Time and Free Will, which was submitted, along with a short Latin thesis on Aristotle (L'idée de lieu chez Aristotle), for his doctoral degree which was awarded by the University of Paris in 1889. The work was published in the same year by Félix Alcan. He also gave courses in Clermont-Ferrand on the Pre-Socratics, in particular on Heraclitus.[4]
Bergson dedicated Time and Free Will to Jules Lachelier, then public education minister, a disciple of Félix Ravaisson and the author of a philosophical work On the Founding of Induction (Du fondement de l'induction, 1871). Lachelier endeavoured "to substitute everywhere force for inertia, life for death, and liberty for fatalism." (Lachelier was born in 1832, Ravaisson in 1813. Bergson owed much to both of these teachers of the École Normale Supérieure. Cf. his memorial address on Ravaisson, who died in 1900.)
Bergson settled again in Paris, and after teaching for some months at the municipal college, known as the College Rollin, he received an appointment at the Lycée Henri-Quatre, where he remained for eight years. There, he read Charles Darwin and gave a course on him [4]. Although Bergson had previously endorsed Lamarckism and its theory of the heritability of acquired characteristics, he came to prefer Darwin's hypothesis of gradual variations, which were more compatible with his continuist vision of life [4].
In 1896 he published his second major work, entitled Matter and Memory. This rather difficult, but brilliant, work investigates the function of the brain, undertakes an analysis of perception and memory, leading up to a careful consideration of the problems of the relation of body and mind. Bergson had spent years of research in preparation for each of his three large works. This is especially obvious in Matter and Memory, where he showed a thorough acquaintance with the extensive pathological investigations which had been carried out during the period.
In 1898 Bergson became Maître de conférences at his Alma Mater, L'Ecole Normale Supérieure, and was later promoted to a Professorship. The year 1900 saw him installed as Professor at the Collège de France, where he accepted the Chair of Greek and Latin Philosophy in succession to Charles L'Eveque.
At the First International Congress of Philosophy, held in Paris during the first five days of August, 1900, Bergson read a short, but important, paper, "Psychological Origins of the Belief in the Law of Causality" (Sur les origines psychologiques de notre croyance à la loi de causalité). In 1900 Felix Alcan published a work which had previously appeared in the Revue de Paris, entitled Laughter (Le rire), one of the most important of Bergson's minor productions. This essay on the meaning of comedy was based on a lecture which he had given in his early days in the Auvergne. The study of it is essential to an understanding of Bergson's views of life, and its passages dealing with the place of the artistic in life are valuable. The main thesis of the work is that laughter is a corrective evolved to make social life possible for human beings. We laugh at people who fail to adapt to the demands of society, if it seems their failure is akin to an inflexible mechanism. Comic authors have exploited this human tendency to laugh in various ways, and what is common to them is the idea that the comic consists in there being "something mechanical encrusted on the living".[5][6]
In 1901 the Académie des sciences morales et politiques elected Bergson as a member, and he became a member of the Institute. In 1903 he contributed to the Revue de métaphysique et de morale a very important essay entitled Introduction to Metaphysics (Introduction à la metaphysique), which is useful as a preface to the study of his three large books. He detailed in this essay his philosophical program, realized in the Creative Evolution [4].
On the death of Gabriel Tarde, the eminent sociologist, in 1904, Bergson succeeded him in the Chair of Modern Philosophy. From 4 to 8 September of that year he was at Geneva attending the Second International Congress of Philosophy, when he lectured on The Mind and Thought: A Philosophical Illusion (Le cerveau et la pensée: une illusion philosophique). An illness prevented his visiting Germany to attend the Third Congress held at Heidelberg.
His third major work, Creative Evolution, appeared in 1907, and is undoubtedly the most widely known and most discussed of his books. It constitutes one of the most profound and original contributions to the philosophical consideration of the theory of evolution. Imbart de la Tour remarked that Creative Evolution was a milestone of new direction in thought. By 1918, Alcan, the publisher, had issued twenty-one editions, making an average of two editions per annum for ten years. Following the appearance of this book, Bergson's popularity increased enormously, not only in academic circles, but among the general reading public.
At that time, Bergson had already made an extensive study of biology, being aware of the theory of fecundation (as shown by the first chapter of the Creative Evolution), which had only recently emerged, in the 1885s — which was no small feat for a philosopher specialized in history of philosophy, in particular Greek and Latin philosophy [4]. He also most certainly had read, apart of Darwin, Haeckel, from whom he retained his idea of a unity of life and of the ecological solidarity between all living beings [4], as well as Hugo de Vries, whom he quoted his mutation theory of evolution (which he opposed, preferring Darwin's gradualism) [4]. He also quoted Charles-Édouard Brown-Séquard, the successor of Claude Bernard at the Chair of Experimental Medicine in the College of France, etc.
[edit] Relationship with James and Pragmatism
Bergson came to London in 1908 and met there with William James, the Harvard philosopher who was Bergson's senior by seventeen years, and who was instrumental in calling the attention of the Anglo-American public to the work of the French professor. The two became great friends. James's impression of Bergson is given in his Letters under date of 4 October 1908:
"So modest and unpretending a man but such a genius intellectually! I have the strongest suspicions that the tendency which he has brought to a focus, will end by prevailing, and that the present epoch will be a sort of turning point in the history of philosophy."
As early as 1880 James had contributed an article in French to the periodical La Critique philosophique, of Renouvier and Pillon, entitled Le Sentiment de l'Effort. Four years later a couple of articles by him appeared in the journal Mind: "What is an Emotion?" and "On some Omissions of Introspective Psychology". Of these articles the first two were quoted by Bergson in his 1889 work, Time and Free Will. In the following years 1890-91 appeared the two volumes of James's monumental work, The Principles of Psychology, in which he refers to a pathological phenomenon observed by Bergson. Some writers, taking merely these dates into consideration and overlooking the fact that James's investigations had been proceeding since 1870 (registered from time to time by various articles which culminated in "The Principles"), have mistakenly dated Bergson's ideas as earlier than James's.
It has been suggested[by whom?] that Bergson owes the root ideas of his first book to the 1884 article by James, "On Some Omissions of Introspective Psychology," which he neither refers to nor quotes. This article deals with the conception of thought as a stream of consciousness, which intellect distorts by framing into concepts. Bergson replied to this insinuation by denying that he had any knowledge of the article by James when he wrote Les données immédiates de la conscience.[citation needed] The two thinkers appear to have developed independently until almost the close of the century. They are further apart in their intellectual position than is frequently supposed. Both have succeeded in appealing to audiences far beyond the purely academic sphere, but only in their mutual rejection of "intellectualism" as final is their real unanimity. Although James was slightly ahead in the development and enunciation of his ideas, he confessed that he was baffled by many of Bergson's notions. James certainly neglected many of the deeper metaphysical aspects of Bergson's thought, which did not harmonize with his own, and are even in direct contradiction. In addition to this, Bergson can hardly be considered a pragmatist. For him, "utility," far from being a test of truth, was in fact the reverse: a synonym for error.
Nevertheless, William James hailed Bergson as an ally. Early in the century (1903) he wrote:
"I have been re-reading Bergson's books, and nothing that I have read since years has so excited and stimulated my thoughts. I am sure that that philosophy has a great future, it breaks through old cadres and brings things into a solution from which new crystals can be got."
[cite this quote] The most noteworthy tributes paid by him to Bergson were those made in the Hibbert Lectures (A Pluralistic Universe), which James gave at Manchester College, Oxford, shortly after meeting Bergson in London. He remarks on the encouragement he has received from Bergson's thought, and refers to the confidence he has in being "able to lean on Bergson's authority." (Also see James's reservations about Bergson below).
The influence of Bergson had led James "to renounce the intellectualist method and the current notion that logic is an adequate measure of what can or cannot be." It had induced him, he continued, "to give up logic, squarely and irrevocably" as a method, for he found that "reality, life, experience, concreteness, immediacy, use what word you will, exceeds our logic, overflows, and surrounds it."
These remarks, which appeared in James's book A Pluralistic Universe in 1909, compelled many English and American readers to an investigation of Bergson's philosophy for themselves, but no English translations of Bergson's major work had yet appeared. James, however, encouraged and assisted Dr. Arthur Mitchell in his preparation of the English translation of Creative Evolution. In August 1910 James died. It was his intention, had he lived to see the completion of the translation, to introduce it to the English reading public by a prefatory note of appreciation. In the following year the translation was completed and still greater interest in Bergson and his work was the result. By a coincidence, in that same year (1911), Bergson penned a preface of sixteen pages entitled Truth and Reality for the French translation of James's book, "Pragmatism". In it he expressed sympathetic appreciation of James's work, coupled with certain important reservations.
In April (5th to 11th) Bergson attended the Fourth International Congress of Philosophy held at Bologna, in Italy, where he gave an address on "Philosophical Intuition". In response to invitations he visited England in May of that year, and on several subsequent occasions. These visits were well received[by whom?]. His speeches offered new perspectives and elucidated many passages in his three major works: Time and Free Will, Matter and Memory, and Creative Evolution. Although necessarily brief statements, they developed and enriched the ideas in his books and clarified for English audiences the fundamental principles of his philosophy.
[edit] The lectures on Change
Bergson visited the University of Oxford, where he delivered two lectures entitled The Perception of Change (La perception du changement), which the Clarendon Press published in French in the same year . As he had a delightful gift of lucid and brief exposition, when the occasion demands such treatment, these lectures on Change formed a most valuable synopsis or brief survey of the fundamental principles of his thought, and served the student or general reader alike as an excellent introduction to the study of the larger volumes. Oxford honoured its distinguished visitor by conferring upon him the degree of Doctor of Science.
Two days later he delivered the Huxley Lecture at the University of Birmingham, taking for his subject Life and Consciousness. This subsequently appeared in The Hibbert Journal (October, 1911), and since revised, forms the first essay in the collected volume Mind-Energy (L'Energie spirituelle). In October he was again in England, where he had an enthusiastic reception, and delivered at University College London four lectures on La Nature de l'Âme.
In 1913 Bergson visited the United States of America, at the invitation of Columbia University, New York, and lectured in several American cities, where he was welcomed by very large audiences. In February, at Columbia University, he lectured both in French and English, taking as his subjects: Spirituality and Freedom and The Method of Philosophy. Being again in England in May of the same year, he accepted the Presidency of the British Society for Psychical Research, and delivered to the Society an impressive address: Phantoms of Life and Psychic Research (Fantômes des vivants et recherche psychique).
Meanwhile, his popularity increased, and translations of his works began to appear in a number of languages: English, German, Italian, Danish, Swedish, Hungarian, Polish and Russian. In 1914 Bergson's fellow-countrymen honoured him by his election as a member of the Académie française. He was also made President of the Académie des Sciences morales et politiques, and in addition he became Officier de la Légion d'honneur, and Officier de l'Instruction publique.
Bergson found disciples of many varied types, and in France movements such as Neo-Catholicism or Modernism on the one hand and Syndicalism on the other, endeavoured to absorb and to appropriate for their own immediate use and propaganda some of the central ideas of his teaching. That important continental organ of socialist and syndicalist theory, Le Mouvement socialiste, suggested that the realism of Karl Marx and Pierre-Joseph Proudhon is hostile to all forms of intellectualism, and that, therefore, supporters of Marxian socialism should welcome a philosophy such as that of Bergson.[citation needed] Other writers, in their eagerness, asserted the collaboration of the Chair of Philosophy at the College de France with the aims of the Confédération Générale du Travail and the Industrial Workers of the World. It was claimed that there is harmony between the flute of personal philosophical meditation and the trumpet of social revolution.
While social revolutionaries endeavoured to make the most out of Bergson, many leaders of religious thought, particularly the more liberal-minded theologians of all creeds, e.g., the Modernists and Neo-Catholic Party in his own country, showed a keen interest in his writings, and many of them endeavoured to find encouragement and stimulus in his work. The Roman Catholic Church, however, which still believed that finality was reached in philosophy with the work of Thomas Aquinas in the thirteenth century, and consequently had made that mediaeval philosophy her official, orthodox, and dogmatic view, took the step of banning Bergson's three books, accused of pantheism (that is, of conceiving of God as immanent to his Creation and of being himself created in the process of the Creation [4]) by placing them upon the Index of prohibited books (Decree of 1 June 1914).
[edit] Later life
In 1914, the Scottish universities arranged for Bergson to deliver the famous Gifford Lectures, and one course was planned for the spring and another for the autumn. The first course, consisting of eleven lectures, under the title of The Problem of Personality, was delivered at the University of Edinburgh in the Spring of that year. The course of lectures planned for the autumn months had to be abandoned because of the outbreak of war. Bergson was not, however, silent during the conflict, and he gave some inspiring addresses. As early as 4 November, 1914, he wrote an article entitled Wearing and Nonwearing forces (La force qui s'use et celle qui ne s'use pas), which appeared in that unique and interesting periodical of the poilus, Le Bulletin des Armées de la République Française. A presidential address, The Meaning of the War, was delivered in December, 1914, to the Académie des sciences morales et politiques.
Bergson contributed also to the publication arranged by The Daily Telegraph in honour of the King of the Belgians, King Albert's Book (Christmas, 1914). In 1915 he was succeeded in the office of President of the Académie des Sciences morales et politiques by Alexandre Ribot, and then delivered a discourse on "The Evolution of German Imperialism". Meanwhile he found time to issue at the request of the Minister of Public Instruction a brief summary of French Philosophy. Bergson did a large amount of travelling and lecturing in America during the war. He participated to the negotiations which led to the entry of the United States in the war. He was there when the French Mission under René Viviani paid a visit in April and May 1917, following upon America's entry into the conflict. Viviani's book La Mission française en Amérique (1917), contains a preface by Bergson.
Early in 1918 the Académie française received Bergson officially when he took his seat among "The Select Forty" as successor to Emile Ollivier (the author of the historical work L'Empire libéral). A session was held in January in his honour at which he delivered an address on Ollivier. In the war, Bergson saw the conflict of Mind and Matter, or rather of Life and Mechanism; and thus he shows us the central idea of his own philosophy in action. To no other philosopher has it fallen, during his lifetime, to have his philosophical principles so vividly and so terribly tested.
Bergson in 1927.
He was awarded the
1927 Nobel Prize in LiteratureAs many of Bergson's contributions to French periodicals remained relatively inaccessible, he agreed to the request of his friends that these should be collected and published in two volumes. The first of these was being planned when war broke out. The conclusion of strife was marked by the appearance of a delayed volume in 1919 . It bears the title Spiritual Energy: Essays and Lectures (L'Energie spirituelle: essais et conférences). The advocate of Bergson's philosophy in England, Dr. Wildon Carr, prepared an English translation under the title Mind-Energy. The volume opens with the Huxley Memorial Lecture of 1911, "Life and Consciousness", in a revised and developed form under the title "Consciousness and Life". Signs of Bergson's growing interest in social ethics and in the idea of a future life of personal survival are manifested. The lecture before the Society for Psychical Research is included, as is also the one given in France, L'Âme et le Corps, which contains the substance of the four London lectures on the Soul. The seventh and last article is a reprint of Bergson's famous lecture to the Congress of Philosophy at Geneva in 1904, The Psycho-Physiological Paralogism (Le paralogisme psycho-physiologique), which now appears as Le cerveau et la pensée: une illusion philosophique. Other articles are on the False Recognition, on Dreams, and Intellectual Effort. The volume is a most welcome production and serves to bring together what Bergson wrote on the concept of mental force, and on his view of "tension" and "detension" as applied to the relation of matter and mind.
In June 1920, the University of Cambridge honoured him with the degree of Doctor of Letters. In order that he might be able to devote his full time to the great new work he was preparing on ethics, religion, and sociology, the Collège de France relieved Bergson of the duties attached to the Chair of Modern Philosophy there. He retained the chair, but no longer delivered lectures, his place being taken by his disciple, the mathematician and philosopher Edouard Le Roy, who supported a conventionalist stance on the foundations of mathematics, which was adopted by Bergson [7]. Le Roy, who also succeeded to Bergson at the Académie française and was a fervent Catholic, extended to revealed truth his conventionalism, leading him to privilege faith, heart and sentiment to dogmas, speculative theology and abstract reasonings. Like Bergson's, his writings were placed on the Index by the Vatican.
Bergson then published Duration and Simultaneity: Bergson and the Einsteinian Universe (Durée et simultanéité), a book on physics which he followed with a polemical conversation with Albert Einstein at the French Society of Philosophy [4]. The latter book has been often considered as one of his worst, many alleging that his knowledge of physics was very insufficient, and that the book did not follow up contemporary developments on physics [4]. It was not published in the 1951 Edition du Centenaire in French, which contained all of his other works, and was only published later in a work gathering different essays, titled Mélanges. Duration and simultaneity took advantage of Bergson's experience at the League of Nations, where he presided starting in 1920 the International Commission on Intellectual Cooperation (the ancestor of the UNESCO, which included Einstein, Marie Curie, etc.) [4].
Living with his wife and daughter in a modest house in a quiet street near the Porte d'Auteuil in Paris, Bergson won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1927 for having written The Creative Evolution. Because of serious rheumatics ailments, he could not travel to Stockholm, and sent instead a text which has been published in La Pensée et le mouvant [4].
After his retirement from the Collège, Bergson began to fade into obscurity: he suffered from a degenerative illness (rheumatics, which left him half paralyzed [4]). He completed his new work, The Two Sources of Morality and Religion, which extended his philosophical theories to the realms of morality, religion and art, in 1935. It was respectfully received by the public and the philosophical community, but all by that time realized that Bergson's days as a philosophical luminary were past. He was, however, able to reiterate his core beliefs near the end of his life, by renouncing all of the posts and honours previously awarded him, rather than accept exemption from the antisemitic laws imposed by the Vichy government.
Bergson inclined to convert to Catholicism, writing on February 7, 1937: My thinking has always brought me nearer to Catholicism, in which I saw the perfect complement to Judaism.[8] Though wanting to convert to Catholicism he held off instead and showed solidarity with his fellow Jews by signing the registry books.[9] A Roman Catholic priest said prayers at his funeral per his request. Henri Bergson is buried in the Cimetière de Garches, Hauts-de-Seine.
[edit] Philosophy
One of Bergson's main problems[citation needed] is to think novelty as pure creation, instead of as the unraveling of a predetermined program[original research?]. His is a philosophy of pure mobility, unforeseeable novelty, creativity and freedom, which can thus be characterized as a process philosophy. It touches upon such topics as time and identity, free will, perception, change, memory, consciousness, language, the foundation of mathematics and the limits of reason.[10]
Criticizing Kant's theory of knowledge exposed in the Critique of Pure Reason and his conception of truth — which he compares to Plato's conception of truth as its symmetrical inversion (order of nature/order of thought) — Bergson attempted to redefine the relations between science and metaphysics, intelligence and intuition, and insisted on the necessity of increasing thought's possibility through the use of intuition, which would be, according to him, the only way of approaching a knowledge of the absolute and of real life, understood as pure duration. Because of his (relative) criticism of intelligence, he makes a frequent use of images and metaphors in his writings in order to avoid the use of concepts, which he considers fail to touch the whole of reality, being only a sort of abstract net thrown on things. For instance, he says in The Creative Evolution (chap.III) that thought in itself would never have thought it possible for the human being to swim, as it cannot deduce swimming from walking. For swimming to be possible, man must throw itself in water, and only then can thought consider swimming as possible. Intelligence, for Bergson, is a practical faculty rather than a pure speculative faculty, a product of evolution used by man to survive. If metaphysics is to avoid "false problems", it should not extend to pure speculation the abstract concepts of intelligence, but rather use intuition [11].
The Creative Evolution in particular attempted to think through the continuous creation of life, which explicitly pitted itself against Herbert Spencer's evolutionary philosophy — Spencer had attempted to transpose Charles Darwin's theory of evolution in philosophy and to construct a cosmology based on this theory; he was also the inventor of the expression "survival of the fittest." Although Spencer is considered as an important influence of Bergson, some have downplayed it, as it seems that Bergson would have very early criticized him [4]. Henri Bergson’s Lebensphilosophie (Philosophy of Life) can be seen as a response to the mechanistic philosophies of his time [12], but also to the failure of finalism [4]. Indeed, he considers that finalism is unable to explain "duration" and the "continuous creation of life", as it only explains life as the progressive development of an initially determined program — a notion which remains, for example, in the expression of a "genetic program" [4]; such a description of finalism was adopted, for instance, by Leibniz [4]. Bergson thought that it was impossible to plan beforehand the future, as time itself unraveled unforeseen possibilities. Indeed, a historical event could always be explained retrospectively by its conditions of possibility. But, in the introduction to the Pensée et le mouvant, he explains that such an event created retrospectively its causes, taking the example of the creation of a work of art, for example a symphony: it was impossible to predict what would be the symphony of the future, as if the musician knew what symphony would be the best for his time, he would realize it. In his words, the effect created its cause. Henceforth, he attempted to find a third way between mechanism and finalism, through the notion of an original impulse, the élan vital, in life, which dispersed itself through evolution into contradictory tendencies (he substituted to the finalist notion of a teleological aim a notion of an original impulse).
[edit] Duration
See also: Duration (Bergson)
The foundation of Henri Bergson’s philosophy is his theory of Duration, which he discovered when trying to improve the inadequacies of Herbert Spencer’s philosophy.[12] Bergson introduced Duration as a theory of time and consciousness in his doctoral thesis Time and Free Will: An Essay on the Immediate Data of Consciousness as a response to another of his influences: Immanuel Kant.[13]
Kant believed that free will could only exist outside of time and space, that we could therefore not know whether or not it exists, and that it is nothing but a pragmatic faith.[13] Bergson’s response was to show that Kant, along with many other philosophers, had confused time with its spatial representation.[14] In reality, the Duration is unextended yet heterogeneous, and so its parts cannot be juxtaposed as a succession of distinct parts, with one causing the other. This made determinism an impossibility and freewill pure mobility, which is what Bergson identified as being the Duration.[15]
[edit] Intuition
See also: Intuition (Bergson)
The Duration then is a unity and a multiplicity, but, being mobile, it cannot be grasped through immobile concepts. Hence the only way to grasp it is through Bergson’s method of intuition. Two images from Henri Bergson’s An Introduction to Metaphysics may help us grasp intuition, the limits of concepts, and the ability of intuition to grasp the absolute. The first is that of a city. Analysis, or the creation of concepts through the divisions of points of view, can only ever give us a model of the city through a construction of photographs taken from every possible point of view, yet it can never give us the dimensional value of walking in the city itself. One can only grasp this through intuition; likewise the experience of reading a line of Homer. One may translate the line and pile commentary upon commentary, but this commentary too shall never grasp the simple dimensional value of experiencing the poem in its originality itself. The method of intuition, then, is that of getting back to the things themselves.[16]
[edit] Élan Vital
See also: Élan vital
The third essential concept of Bergson’s, after Duration and intuition, is the Élan vital. An idea with the goal of explaining evolution, the Élan vital first appeared in 1907’s Creative Evolution. Bergson portrays Élan vital as a kind of vital impetus which explains evolution in a less mechanical and more lively manner, as well as the creative impulse of mankind. This concept led Bergson to be characterized by several authors as a supporter of vitalism—although he criticized it explicitly in The Creative Evolution, as he thought, against Driesch and Johannes Reinke (whom he cited) that there is neither "purely internal finality nor clearly cut individuality in nature"[17]:
Hereby lies the stumbling block of vitalist theories (...) It is thus in vain that one pretends to reduce finality to the individuality of the living being. If there is finality in the world of life, it encompasses the whole of life in one indivisible embrace.[18]
[edit] Laughter
In the idiosyncratic Laughter: An Essay on the Meaning of the Comic, Bergson develops a theory not of laughter, but of how laughter can be provoked (see his objection to Delage, published on the 23rd edition of the essay).[4] He describes the process of laughter (refusing to give a conceptual definition which would not approach its reality[4]), used in particular by comics and clowns, as the caricature of the mechanism nature of humans (habits, automatic acts, etc.), one of the two tendencies of life (degradation towards inert matter and mechanism, and continual creation of new forms).[4] However, Bergson warns us that laughter’s criterion of what should be laughed at is not a moral criterion and that it can in fact cause serious damage to a person’s self-esteem.[19] This essay made his opposition to the Cartesian theory of the animal-machine obvious.[4]
[edit] Criticisms and reception
From his first publications, Bergson's philosophy attracted strong criticism from different angles, although he also became very popular and durably influenced French philosophy — the epistemologist Gaston Bachelard, for example, explicitly alluded to him in the last pages of his 1938 book (The Formation of the Scientific Mind). The mathematician Edouard Le Roy was Bergson's main disciple. Others influenced by Bergson include Vladimir Jankélévitch, who wrote a book on him (Henri Bergson) in 1931, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin and Gilles Deleuze who wrote Le bergsonisme in 1966 (transl. 1988). Bergson is also often classified as an influence upon the process philosophy of (beside Deleuze) Alfred North Whitehead, as well as the phenomenology of Merleau-Ponty (although he had enormous reservations about his philosophy, see the volume "The Incarnate Subject") and Emmanuel Lévinas.[20] The Greek author Nikos Kazantzakis studied under Bergson in Paris and his writing and philosophy were profoundly influenced as a result.[21]
Many writers of the early 20th century criticized Bergson's intuitionism, indeterminism, psychologism and interpretation of the scientific impulse. Among those who explicitly criticized Bergson (either in published articles or letters) were Bertrand Russell (see his short book on the subject), George Santayana (see his study on the author in "Winds of Doctrine"), G. E. Moore, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Julien Benda (see his two books on the subject), T. S. Eliot, Paul Valéry (despite some recent claims otherwise), Andre Gide (see below), Jean Piaget (see his book Insights and Illusions of Philosophy 1972), Marxists philosophers such as Theodor W. Adorno (see "Against Epistemology"), Lucio Colletti (see "Hegel and Marxism"), , Jean-Paul Sartre (see his early book Imagination — although Sartre also appropriated himself Bergsonian thesis on novelty as pure creation - see Situations I, Gallimard 1947, p. 314) and Georges Politzer (see the latter's two books on the subject: Le Bergsonisme, une Mystification Philosophique and La fin d'une parade philosophique: le Bergsonisme both of which had a tremendous effect on French existential phenomenology), as well as (the non-Marxist) Maurice Blanchot (see Bergson and Symbolism), American philosophers such as Irving Babbitt, Arthur Lovejoy, Josiah Royce, The New Realists (Ralph B. Perry, E. B. Holt, and William P. Montague), The Critical Realists (Durant Drake, Roy W. Sellars, C. A. Strong, and A. K. Rogers), Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler, Roger Fry (see his letters), Julian Huxley (in Evolution: The Modern Synthesis) and Virginia Woolf (for the latter, see Ann Banfield, The Phantom Table).
The Vatican accused Bergson of pantheism, while free-thinkers[who?] (who formed a large part of the teachers and professors of the French Third Republic) accused him of spiritualism. Still others have characterized his philosophy as a materialist emergentism — Samuel Alexander and C. Lloyd Morgan explicitly claimed Bergson as their forebear [4]. According to Henri Hude (1990, II, p. 142), who supports himself on the whole of Bergson's works as well as his now published courses, accusing him of pantheism is a "counter-sense". Hude alleges that a mystical experience, roughly outlined at the end of Les Deux sources de la morale et de la religion, is the inner principle of his whole philosophy, although this has been contested by other commentators.
Charles Sanders Peirce took strong exception to those who associated him with Bergson. In response to a letter comparing his work with that of Bergson he wrote, “a man who seeks to further science can hardly commit a greater sin than to use the terms of his science without anxious care to use them with strict accuracy; it is not very gratifying to my feelings to be classed along with a Bergson who seems to be doing his utmost to muddle all distinctions.” William James’s students resisted the assimilation of his work to that of Bergson’s. See, for example, Horace Kallen’s book on the subject James and Bergson. As Jean Wahl described the “ultimate disagreement” between James and Bergson in his System of Metaphysics: “for James, the consideration of action is necessary for the definition of truth, according to Bergson, action...must be kept from our mind if we want to see the truth.” Gide even went so far as to say that future historians will over-estimate Bergson’s influence on art and philosophy just because he was the self-appointed spokesman for “the spirit of the age.” As early as the 1890s, Santayana attacked certain key concepts in Bergson’s philosophy, above all his view of the New and the indeterminate:
the possibility of a new and unaccountable fact appearing at any time,” he writes in his book on Lotze, “does not practically affect the method of investigation;...the only thing given up is the hope that these hypotheses may ever be adequate to the reality and cover the process of nature without leaving a remainder. This is no great renunciation; for that consummation of science...is by no one really expected.
According to Santayana and Russell, Bergson projected false claims onto the aspirations of scientific method, which Bergson needed to make in order to justify his prior moral commitment to freedom. Russell takes particular exception to Bergson’s understanding of number in chapter two of Time and Free-will. According to Russell, Bergson uses an outmoded spatial metaphor (“extended images”) to describe the nature of mathematics as well as logic in general. “Bergson only succeeds in making his theory of number possible by confusing a particular collection with the number of its terms, and this again with number in general”, writes Russell (see The Philosophy of Bergson and A History of Western Philosophy).
Furthermore, the élan vital was seen by several writers --Russell, Wittgenstein, and James, for instance—as a projection of subjectivity onto the world. The external world, according to certain theories of probability, provides less and less indeterminism with further refinement of scientific method. In brief, the moral, psychological, subjective demand for the new, the underivable and the unexplained should not be confused with the universe. There is a difference between one's subjective sense of duration and the (non-human) world, which, according to the ancient materialist Lucretius should not be characterized as either one of becoming or being, creation or destruction (De Rerum Natura).
[edit] See also
Duration
Intuition
Élan vital
Philosophy of biology
Process philosophy
Alfred North Whitehead
William James
Gilles Deleuze
Charles Peguy
[edit] Notes
1.^ http://www.wprost.pl/ar/140524/Z-ziemi-polskiej-do-Nobla/?O=140524&pg=2 PL
2.^ http://dziedzictwo.polska.pl/katalog/skarb,Testament_starozakonnego_Berka_Szmula_Sonnenberga_z_1818_roku,gid,261356,cid,3312.htm?body=descPL
3.^ Henri Hude, Bergson, Paris, Editions universitaires, 1990, 2 volumes, quoted by Anne Fagot-Largeau in her 21 December 2006 course at the College of France
4.^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x Anne Fagot-Largeau, 21 December 2006 course at the College of France (audio file of the course)
5.^ p.39
6.^ Seth Benedict Graham A CULTURAL ANALYSIS OF THE RUSSO-SOVIET ANEKDOT 2003 p.2
7.^ See Chapter III of The Creative Evolution
8.^ Quoted in: Zolli, Eugenio (2008) [1954] Before the Dawn (reprint ed.)Ignatius Pressp. 89ISBN 9781586172879 http://books.google.com/books?id=bq_Qp53ksMAC&pg=PA81&lr=&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=4#v=onepage&q=Bergson&f=false
9.^ http://www.egs.edu/resources/bergson.html
10.^ The topics can be found explored in Henri Bergson's Time and Free Will: An Essay on the Immediate Data of Consciousness, Matter and Memory, Creative Evolution, and The Creative Mind: An Introduction to Metaphysics.
11.^ Elie Duhring, « Fantômes de problèmes », published by the Centre International d'Etudes de la Philosophie Française Contemporaine (short version first published in Le magazine littéraire, n°386, April 2000 (issue dedicated to Bergson)
12.^ a b Henri Bergson, The Creative Mind: An Introduction to Metaphysics, pages 11 to 13.
13.^ a b The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy Time and Free Will has to be seen as an attack on Kant, for whom freedom belongs to a realm outside of space and time.
14.^ Henri Bergson, Time and Free Will: An Essay on the Immediate Data of Consciousness, Author's Preface.
15.^ The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy For Bergson — and perhaps this is his greatest insight — freedom is mobility.
16.^ Henri Bergson, The Creative Mind: An Introduction to Metaphysics, pages 160 to 161.
17.^ L'Evolution créatrice, pp. 42-44; pp. 226-227
18.^ L'Evolution créatrice, pp. 42-43
19.^ Henri Bergson's theory of laughter. A brief summary.
20.^ Dermot Moran, Introduction to Phenomenology, pages 322 and 393.
21.^ Peter Bien, Three Generations of Greek Writers, Published by Efstathiadis Group, Athens, 1983
[edit] Bibliography
Time and Free Will: An Essay on the Immediate Data of Consciousness 1910. (Essai sur les données immédiates de la conscience 1889) Dover Publications 2001: ISBN 0-486-41767-0 – Bergson's doctoral dissertation
Matter and Memory 1911. (Matière et mémoire 1896) Zone Books 1990: ISBN 0-942299-05-1, Dover Publications 2004: ISBN 0-486-43415-X
Laughter: An Essay on the Meaning of the Comic 1900. (Le rire) Green Integer 1998: ISBN 1-892295-02-4, Dover Publications 2005: ISBN 0-486-44380-9
Creative Evolution 1910. (L'Evolution créatrice 1907) University Press of America 1983: ISBN 0-8191-3553-4, Dover Publications 1998: ISBN 0-486-40036-0, Kessinger Publishing 2003: ISBN 0-7661-4732-0, Cosimo 2005: ISBN 1-59605-309-7
Mind-energy 1920. (L'Energie spirituelle 1919) McMillan. – a collection of essays and lectures
Duration and Simultaneity: Bergson and the Einsteinian Universe 1922. Clinamen Press Ltd. ISBN 1-903083-01-X
The Two Sources of Morality and Religion 1932. (Les Deux Sources de la Morale et de la Religion) University of Notre Dame Press 1977: ISBN 0-268-01835-9
The Creative Mind: An Introduction to Metaphysics 1946. (La Pensée et le mouvant 1934) Citadel Press 2002: ISBN 0-8065-2326-3 – essay collection, sequel to Mind-Energy, including 1903's "An Introduction to Metaphysics"
Contents [hide]
1 Biography
1.1 Overview
1.2 Education and career
1.3 Relationship with James and Pragmatism
1.4 The lectures on Change
1.5 Later life
2 Philosophy
2.1 Duration
2.2 Intuition
2.3 Élan Vital
2.4 Laughter
3 Criticisms and reception
4 See also
5 Notes
6 Bibliography
7 External links
7.1 Works online
[edit] Biography
[edit] Overview
Bergson was born in the Rue Lamartine in Paris, not far from the Palais Garnier (the old Paris opera house) in 1859 (the year of the publication of Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species). His father, the musician Michał Bergson had a Polish Jewish family background (originally bearing the name Bereksohn). His mother, Katherine Levison, daughter of a Yorkshire doctor, was from an English and Irish Jewish background. The Bereksohns were a famous Jewish entrepreneurial family of Polish descent. Henri Bergson's great-great-grandfather, Szmul Jakubowicz Sonnenberg, called Zbytkower, was a prominent banker and King Stanisław August Poniatowski's protégé[1][2]. His family lived in London for a few years after his birth, and he obtained an early familiarity with the English language from his mother. Before he was nine, his parents crossed the English Channel and settled in France, Henri becoming a naturalized citizen of the Republic.
Henri Bergson married Louise Neuberger, a cousin of Marcel Proust, in 1891. They had a daughter, Jeanne, born deaf in 1896.
Bergson's sister, Mina Bergson (also known as Moina Mathers), married the English occult author Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers, a leader of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, and the couple later relocated to Paris as well.
Bergson lived the quiet life of a French professor, marked by the publication of his four principal works: in 1889, Time and Free Will (Essai sur les données immédiates de la conscience); in 1896, Matter and Memory (Matière et mémoire); in 1907, Creative Evolution (L'Evolution créatrice); and in 1932, The Two Sources of Morality and Religion (Les deux sources de la morale et de la religion).
In 1900 the College of France selected Bergson to a Chair of Greek and Latin Philosophy, which he held until 1904. He then replaced Gabriel Tarde in the Chair of Modern Philosophy, which he held until 1920. His courses were attended by a large public.
[edit] Education and career
Bergson attended the Lycée Fontaine (now known as the Lycée Condorcet) in Paris from 1868 to 1878. Having received a Jewish religious education[citation needed], he of course read the Bible, including the Genesis. Between 14 and 16, however, he lost his faith. According to Hude (1990), this moral crisis is tied to his discovery of the theory of evolution, according to which humanity shares common ancestry with modern primates and was not necessarily created by a God.[3][verification needed]
While at the lycée he won a prize for his scientific work and another, in 1877 when he was eighteen, for the solution of a mathematical problem. His solution was published the following year in Annales de Mathématiques. It was his first published work. After some hesitation as to whether his career should lie in the sphere of the sciences or that of the humanities, he decided in favour of the latter, to the dismay of his teachers.[4] When he was nineteen, he entered the famous École Normale Supérieure. During this period, he read Herbert Spencer.[4] He obtained there the degree of Licence-ès-Lettres, and this was followed by that of Agrégation de philosophie in 1881.
The same year he received a teaching appointment at the lycée in Angers, the ancient capital of Anjou. Two years later he settled at the Lycée Blaise-Pascal in Clermont-Ferrand, capital of the Puy-de-Dôme département.
The year after his arrival at Clermont-Ferrand Bergson displayed his ability in the humanities by the publication of an edition of extracts from Lucretius, with a critical study of the text and of the materialist cosmology of the poet (1884), a work whose repeated editions are sufficient evidence of its useful place in the promotion of classical study among the youth of France. While teaching and lecturing in this part of his country (the Auvergne region), Bergson found time for private study and original work. He crafted his dissertation Time and Free Will, which was submitted, along with a short Latin thesis on Aristotle (L'idée de lieu chez Aristotle), for his doctoral degree which was awarded by the University of Paris in 1889. The work was published in the same year by Félix Alcan. He also gave courses in Clermont-Ferrand on the Pre-Socratics, in particular on Heraclitus.[4]
Bergson dedicated Time and Free Will to Jules Lachelier, then public education minister, a disciple of Félix Ravaisson and the author of a philosophical work On the Founding of Induction (Du fondement de l'induction, 1871). Lachelier endeavoured "to substitute everywhere force for inertia, life for death, and liberty for fatalism." (Lachelier was born in 1832, Ravaisson in 1813. Bergson owed much to both of these teachers of the École Normale Supérieure. Cf. his memorial address on Ravaisson, who died in 1900.)
Bergson settled again in Paris, and after teaching for some months at the municipal college, known as the College Rollin, he received an appointment at the Lycée Henri-Quatre, where he remained for eight years. There, he read Charles Darwin and gave a course on him [4]. Although Bergson had previously endorsed Lamarckism and its theory of the heritability of acquired characteristics, he came to prefer Darwin's hypothesis of gradual variations, which were more compatible with his continuist vision of life [4].
In 1896 he published his second major work, entitled Matter and Memory. This rather difficult, but brilliant, work investigates the function of the brain, undertakes an analysis of perception and memory, leading up to a careful consideration of the problems of the relation of body and mind. Bergson had spent years of research in preparation for each of his three large works. This is especially obvious in Matter and Memory, where he showed a thorough acquaintance with the extensive pathological investigations which had been carried out during the period.
In 1898 Bergson became Maître de conférences at his Alma Mater, L'Ecole Normale Supérieure, and was later promoted to a Professorship. The year 1900 saw him installed as Professor at the Collège de France, where he accepted the Chair of Greek and Latin Philosophy in succession to Charles L'Eveque.
At the First International Congress of Philosophy, held in Paris during the first five days of August, 1900, Bergson read a short, but important, paper, "Psychological Origins of the Belief in the Law of Causality" (Sur les origines psychologiques de notre croyance à la loi de causalité). In 1900 Felix Alcan published a work which had previously appeared in the Revue de Paris, entitled Laughter (Le rire), one of the most important of Bergson's minor productions. This essay on the meaning of comedy was based on a lecture which he had given in his early days in the Auvergne. The study of it is essential to an understanding of Bergson's views of life, and its passages dealing with the place of the artistic in life are valuable. The main thesis of the work is that laughter is a corrective evolved to make social life possible for human beings. We laugh at people who fail to adapt to the demands of society, if it seems their failure is akin to an inflexible mechanism. Comic authors have exploited this human tendency to laugh in various ways, and what is common to them is the idea that the comic consists in there being "something mechanical encrusted on the living".[5][6]
In 1901 the Académie des sciences morales et politiques elected Bergson as a member, and he became a member of the Institute. In 1903 he contributed to the Revue de métaphysique et de morale a very important essay entitled Introduction to Metaphysics (Introduction à la metaphysique), which is useful as a preface to the study of his three large books. He detailed in this essay his philosophical program, realized in the Creative Evolution [4].
On the death of Gabriel Tarde, the eminent sociologist, in 1904, Bergson succeeded him in the Chair of Modern Philosophy. From 4 to 8 September of that year he was at Geneva attending the Second International Congress of Philosophy, when he lectured on The Mind and Thought: A Philosophical Illusion (Le cerveau et la pensée: une illusion philosophique). An illness prevented his visiting Germany to attend the Third Congress held at Heidelberg.
His third major work, Creative Evolution, appeared in 1907, and is undoubtedly the most widely known and most discussed of his books. It constitutes one of the most profound and original contributions to the philosophical consideration of the theory of evolution. Imbart de la Tour remarked that Creative Evolution was a milestone of new direction in thought. By 1918, Alcan, the publisher, had issued twenty-one editions, making an average of two editions per annum for ten years. Following the appearance of this book, Bergson's popularity increased enormously, not only in academic circles, but among the general reading public.
At that time, Bergson had already made an extensive study of biology, being aware of the theory of fecundation (as shown by the first chapter of the Creative Evolution), which had only recently emerged, in the 1885s — which was no small feat for a philosopher specialized in history of philosophy, in particular Greek and Latin philosophy [4]. He also most certainly had read, apart of Darwin, Haeckel, from whom he retained his idea of a unity of life and of the ecological solidarity between all living beings [4], as well as Hugo de Vries, whom he quoted his mutation theory of evolution (which he opposed, preferring Darwin's gradualism) [4]. He also quoted Charles-Édouard Brown-Séquard, the successor of Claude Bernard at the Chair of Experimental Medicine in the College of France, etc.
[edit] Relationship with James and Pragmatism
Bergson came to London in 1908 and met there with William James, the Harvard philosopher who was Bergson's senior by seventeen years, and who was instrumental in calling the attention of the Anglo-American public to the work of the French professor. The two became great friends. James's impression of Bergson is given in his Letters under date of 4 October 1908:
"So modest and unpretending a man but such a genius intellectually! I have the strongest suspicions that the tendency which he has brought to a focus, will end by prevailing, and that the present epoch will be a sort of turning point in the history of philosophy."
As early as 1880 James had contributed an article in French to the periodical La Critique philosophique, of Renouvier and Pillon, entitled Le Sentiment de l'Effort. Four years later a couple of articles by him appeared in the journal Mind: "What is an Emotion?" and "On some Omissions of Introspective Psychology". Of these articles the first two were quoted by Bergson in his 1889 work, Time and Free Will. In the following years 1890-91 appeared the two volumes of James's monumental work, The Principles of Psychology, in which he refers to a pathological phenomenon observed by Bergson. Some writers, taking merely these dates into consideration and overlooking the fact that James's investigations had been proceeding since 1870 (registered from time to time by various articles which culminated in "The Principles"), have mistakenly dated Bergson's ideas as earlier than James's.
It has been suggested[by whom?] that Bergson owes the root ideas of his first book to the 1884 article by James, "On Some Omissions of Introspective Psychology," which he neither refers to nor quotes. This article deals with the conception of thought as a stream of consciousness, which intellect distorts by framing into concepts. Bergson replied to this insinuation by denying that he had any knowledge of the article by James when he wrote Les données immédiates de la conscience.[citation needed] The two thinkers appear to have developed independently until almost the close of the century. They are further apart in their intellectual position than is frequently supposed. Both have succeeded in appealing to audiences far beyond the purely academic sphere, but only in their mutual rejection of "intellectualism" as final is their real unanimity. Although James was slightly ahead in the development and enunciation of his ideas, he confessed that he was baffled by many of Bergson's notions. James certainly neglected many of the deeper metaphysical aspects of Bergson's thought, which did not harmonize with his own, and are even in direct contradiction. In addition to this, Bergson can hardly be considered a pragmatist. For him, "utility," far from being a test of truth, was in fact the reverse: a synonym for error.
Nevertheless, William James hailed Bergson as an ally. Early in the century (1903) he wrote:
"I have been re-reading Bergson's books, and nothing that I have read since years has so excited and stimulated my thoughts. I am sure that that philosophy has a great future, it breaks through old cadres and brings things into a solution from which new crystals can be got."
[cite this quote] The most noteworthy tributes paid by him to Bergson were those made in the Hibbert Lectures (A Pluralistic Universe), which James gave at Manchester College, Oxford, shortly after meeting Bergson in London. He remarks on the encouragement he has received from Bergson's thought, and refers to the confidence he has in being "able to lean on Bergson's authority." (Also see James's reservations about Bergson below).
The influence of Bergson had led James "to renounce the intellectualist method and the current notion that logic is an adequate measure of what can or cannot be." It had induced him, he continued, "to give up logic, squarely and irrevocably" as a method, for he found that "reality, life, experience, concreteness, immediacy, use what word you will, exceeds our logic, overflows, and surrounds it."
These remarks, which appeared in James's book A Pluralistic Universe in 1909, compelled many English and American readers to an investigation of Bergson's philosophy for themselves, but no English translations of Bergson's major work had yet appeared. James, however, encouraged and assisted Dr. Arthur Mitchell in his preparation of the English translation of Creative Evolution. In August 1910 James died. It was his intention, had he lived to see the completion of the translation, to introduce it to the English reading public by a prefatory note of appreciation. In the following year the translation was completed and still greater interest in Bergson and his work was the result. By a coincidence, in that same year (1911), Bergson penned a preface of sixteen pages entitled Truth and Reality for the French translation of James's book, "Pragmatism". In it he expressed sympathetic appreciation of James's work, coupled with certain important reservations.
In April (5th to 11th) Bergson attended the Fourth International Congress of Philosophy held at Bologna, in Italy, where he gave an address on "Philosophical Intuition". In response to invitations he visited England in May of that year, and on several subsequent occasions. These visits were well received[by whom?]. His speeches offered new perspectives and elucidated many passages in his three major works: Time and Free Will, Matter and Memory, and Creative Evolution. Although necessarily brief statements, they developed and enriched the ideas in his books and clarified for English audiences the fundamental principles of his philosophy.
[edit] The lectures on Change
Bergson visited the University of Oxford, where he delivered two lectures entitled The Perception of Change (La perception du changement), which the Clarendon Press published in French in the same year . As he had a delightful gift of lucid and brief exposition, when the occasion demands such treatment, these lectures on Change formed a most valuable synopsis or brief survey of the fundamental principles of his thought, and served the student or general reader alike as an excellent introduction to the study of the larger volumes. Oxford honoured its distinguished visitor by conferring upon him the degree of Doctor of Science.
Two days later he delivered the Huxley Lecture at the University of Birmingham, taking for his subject Life and Consciousness. This subsequently appeared in The Hibbert Journal (October, 1911), and since revised, forms the first essay in the collected volume Mind-Energy (L'Energie spirituelle). In October he was again in England, where he had an enthusiastic reception, and delivered at University College London four lectures on La Nature de l'Âme.
In 1913 Bergson visited the United States of America, at the invitation of Columbia University, New York, and lectured in several American cities, where he was welcomed by very large audiences. In February, at Columbia University, he lectured both in French and English, taking as his subjects: Spirituality and Freedom and The Method of Philosophy. Being again in England in May of the same year, he accepted the Presidency of the British Society for Psychical Research, and delivered to the Society an impressive address: Phantoms of Life and Psychic Research (Fantômes des vivants et recherche psychique).
Meanwhile, his popularity increased, and translations of his works began to appear in a number of languages: English, German, Italian, Danish, Swedish, Hungarian, Polish and Russian. In 1914 Bergson's fellow-countrymen honoured him by his election as a member of the Académie française. He was also made President of the Académie des Sciences morales et politiques, and in addition he became Officier de la Légion d'honneur, and Officier de l'Instruction publique.
Bergson found disciples of many varied types, and in France movements such as Neo-Catholicism or Modernism on the one hand and Syndicalism on the other, endeavoured to absorb and to appropriate for their own immediate use and propaganda some of the central ideas of his teaching. That important continental organ of socialist and syndicalist theory, Le Mouvement socialiste, suggested that the realism of Karl Marx and Pierre-Joseph Proudhon is hostile to all forms of intellectualism, and that, therefore, supporters of Marxian socialism should welcome a philosophy such as that of Bergson.[citation needed] Other writers, in their eagerness, asserted the collaboration of the Chair of Philosophy at the College de France with the aims of the Confédération Générale du Travail and the Industrial Workers of the World. It was claimed that there is harmony between the flute of personal philosophical meditation and the trumpet of social revolution.
While social revolutionaries endeavoured to make the most out of Bergson, many leaders of religious thought, particularly the more liberal-minded theologians of all creeds, e.g., the Modernists and Neo-Catholic Party in his own country, showed a keen interest in his writings, and many of them endeavoured to find encouragement and stimulus in his work. The Roman Catholic Church, however, which still believed that finality was reached in philosophy with the work of Thomas Aquinas in the thirteenth century, and consequently had made that mediaeval philosophy her official, orthodox, and dogmatic view, took the step of banning Bergson's three books, accused of pantheism (that is, of conceiving of God as immanent to his Creation and of being himself created in the process of the Creation [4]) by placing them upon the Index of prohibited books (Decree of 1 June 1914).
[edit] Later life
In 1914, the Scottish universities arranged for Bergson to deliver the famous Gifford Lectures, and one course was planned for the spring and another for the autumn. The first course, consisting of eleven lectures, under the title of The Problem of Personality, was delivered at the University of Edinburgh in the Spring of that year. The course of lectures planned for the autumn months had to be abandoned because of the outbreak of war. Bergson was not, however, silent during the conflict, and he gave some inspiring addresses. As early as 4 November, 1914, he wrote an article entitled Wearing and Nonwearing forces (La force qui s'use et celle qui ne s'use pas), which appeared in that unique and interesting periodical of the poilus, Le Bulletin des Armées de la République Française. A presidential address, The Meaning of the War, was delivered in December, 1914, to the Académie des sciences morales et politiques.
Bergson contributed also to the publication arranged by The Daily Telegraph in honour of the King of the Belgians, King Albert's Book (Christmas, 1914). In 1915 he was succeeded in the office of President of the Académie des Sciences morales et politiques by Alexandre Ribot, and then delivered a discourse on "The Evolution of German Imperialism". Meanwhile he found time to issue at the request of the Minister of Public Instruction a brief summary of French Philosophy. Bergson did a large amount of travelling and lecturing in America during the war. He participated to the negotiations which led to the entry of the United States in the war. He was there when the French Mission under René Viviani paid a visit in April and May 1917, following upon America's entry into the conflict. Viviani's book La Mission française en Amérique (1917), contains a preface by Bergson.
Early in 1918 the Académie française received Bergson officially when he took his seat among "The Select Forty" as successor to Emile Ollivier (the author of the historical work L'Empire libéral). A session was held in January in his honour at which he delivered an address on Ollivier. In the war, Bergson saw the conflict of Mind and Matter, or rather of Life and Mechanism; and thus he shows us the central idea of his own philosophy in action. To no other philosopher has it fallen, during his lifetime, to have his philosophical principles so vividly and so terribly tested.
Bergson in 1927.
He was awarded the
1927 Nobel Prize in LiteratureAs many of Bergson's contributions to French periodicals remained relatively inaccessible, he agreed to the request of his friends that these should be collected and published in two volumes. The first of these was being planned when war broke out. The conclusion of strife was marked by the appearance of a delayed volume in 1919 . It bears the title Spiritual Energy: Essays and Lectures (L'Energie spirituelle: essais et conférences). The advocate of Bergson's philosophy in England, Dr. Wildon Carr, prepared an English translation under the title Mind-Energy. The volume opens with the Huxley Memorial Lecture of 1911, "Life and Consciousness", in a revised and developed form under the title "Consciousness and Life". Signs of Bergson's growing interest in social ethics and in the idea of a future life of personal survival are manifested. The lecture before the Society for Psychical Research is included, as is also the one given in France, L'Âme et le Corps, which contains the substance of the four London lectures on the Soul. The seventh and last article is a reprint of Bergson's famous lecture to the Congress of Philosophy at Geneva in 1904, The Psycho-Physiological Paralogism (Le paralogisme psycho-physiologique), which now appears as Le cerveau et la pensée: une illusion philosophique. Other articles are on the False Recognition, on Dreams, and Intellectual Effort. The volume is a most welcome production and serves to bring together what Bergson wrote on the concept of mental force, and on his view of "tension" and "detension" as applied to the relation of matter and mind.
In June 1920, the University of Cambridge honoured him with the degree of Doctor of Letters. In order that he might be able to devote his full time to the great new work he was preparing on ethics, religion, and sociology, the Collège de France relieved Bergson of the duties attached to the Chair of Modern Philosophy there. He retained the chair, but no longer delivered lectures, his place being taken by his disciple, the mathematician and philosopher Edouard Le Roy, who supported a conventionalist stance on the foundations of mathematics, which was adopted by Bergson [7]. Le Roy, who also succeeded to Bergson at the Académie française and was a fervent Catholic, extended to revealed truth his conventionalism, leading him to privilege faith, heart and sentiment to dogmas, speculative theology and abstract reasonings. Like Bergson's, his writings were placed on the Index by the Vatican.
Bergson then published Duration and Simultaneity: Bergson and the Einsteinian Universe (Durée et simultanéité), a book on physics which he followed with a polemical conversation with Albert Einstein at the French Society of Philosophy [4]. The latter book has been often considered as one of his worst, many alleging that his knowledge of physics was very insufficient, and that the book did not follow up contemporary developments on physics [4]. It was not published in the 1951 Edition du Centenaire in French, which contained all of his other works, and was only published later in a work gathering different essays, titled Mélanges. Duration and simultaneity took advantage of Bergson's experience at the League of Nations, where he presided starting in 1920 the International Commission on Intellectual Cooperation (the ancestor of the UNESCO, which included Einstein, Marie Curie, etc.) [4].
Living with his wife and daughter in a modest house in a quiet street near the Porte d'Auteuil in Paris, Bergson won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1927 for having written The Creative Evolution. Because of serious rheumatics ailments, he could not travel to Stockholm, and sent instead a text which has been published in La Pensée et le mouvant [4].
After his retirement from the Collège, Bergson began to fade into obscurity: he suffered from a degenerative illness (rheumatics, which left him half paralyzed [4]). He completed his new work, The Two Sources of Morality and Religion, which extended his philosophical theories to the realms of morality, religion and art, in 1935. It was respectfully received by the public and the philosophical community, but all by that time realized that Bergson's days as a philosophical luminary were past. He was, however, able to reiterate his core beliefs near the end of his life, by renouncing all of the posts and honours previously awarded him, rather than accept exemption from the antisemitic laws imposed by the Vichy government.
Bergson inclined to convert to Catholicism, writing on February 7, 1937: My thinking has always brought me nearer to Catholicism, in which I saw the perfect complement to Judaism.[8] Though wanting to convert to Catholicism he held off instead and showed solidarity with his fellow Jews by signing the registry books.[9] A Roman Catholic priest said prayers at his funeral per his request. Henri Bergson is buried in the Cimetière de Garches, Hauts-de-Seine.
[edit] Philosophy
One of Bergson's main problems[citation needed] is to think novelty as pure creation, instead of as the unraveling of a predetermined program[original research?]. His is a philosophy of pure mobility, unforeseeable novelty, creativity and freedom, which can thus be characterized as a process philosophy. It touches upon such topics as time and identity, free will, perception, change, memory, consciousness, language, the foundation of mathematics and the limits of reason.[10]
Criticizing Kant's theory of knowledge exposed in the Critique of Pure Reason and his conception of truth — which he compares to Plato's conception of truth as its symmetrical inversion (order of nature/order of thought) — Bergson attempted to redefine the relations between science and metaphysics, intelligence and intuition, and insisted on the necessity of increasing thought's possibility through the use of intuition, which would be, according to him, the only way of approaching a knowledge of the absolute and of real life, understood as pure duration. Because of his (relative) criticism of intelligence, he makes a frequent use of images and metaphors in his writings in order to avoid the use of concepts, which he considers fail to touch the whole of reality, being only a sort of abstract net thrown on things. For instance, he says in The Creative Evolution (chap.III) that thought in itself would never have thought it possible for the human being to swim, as it cannot deduce swimming from walking. For swimming to be possible, man must throw itself in water, and only then can thought consider swimming as possible. Intelligence, for Bergson, is a practical faculty rather than a pure speculative faculty, a product of evolution used by man to survive. If metaphysics is to avoid "false problems", it should not extend to pure speculation the abstract concepts of intelligence, but rather use intuition [11].
The Creative Evolution in particular attempted to think through the continuous creation of life, which explicitly pitted itself against Herbert Spencer's evolutionary philosophy — Spencer had attempted to transpose Charles Darwin's theory of evolution in philosophy and to construct a cosmology based on this theory; he was also the inventor of the expression "survival of the fittest." Although Spencer is considered as an important influence of Bergson, some have downplayed it, as it seems that Bergson would have very early criticized him [4]. Henri Bergson’s Lebensphilosophie (Philosophy of Life) can be seen as a response to the mechanistic philosophies of his time [12], but also to the failure of finalism [4]. Indeed, he considers that finalism is unable to explain "duration" and the "continuous creation of life", as it only explains life as the progressive development of an initially determined program — a notion which remains, for example, in the expression of a "genetic program" [4]; such a description of finalism was adopted, for instance, by Leibniz [4]. Bergson thought that it was impossible to plan beforehand the future, as time itself unraveled unforeseen possibilities. Indeed, a historical event could always be explained retrospectively by its conditions of possibility. But, in the introduction to the Pensée et le mouvant, he explains that such an event created retrospectively its causes, taking the example of the creation of a work of art, for example a symphony: it was impossible to predict what would be the symphony of the future, as if the musician knew what symphony would be the best for his time, he would realize it. In his words, the effect created its cause. Henceforth, he attempted to find a third way between mechanism and finalism, through the notion of an original impulse, the élan vital, in life, which dispersed itself through evolution into contradictory tendencies (he substituted to the finalist notion of a teleological aim a notion of an original impulse).
[edit] Duration
See also: Duration (Bergson)
The foundation of Henri Bergson’s philosophy is his theory of Duration, which he discovered when trying to improve the inadequacies of Herbert Spencer’s philosophy.[12] Bergson introduced Duration as a theory of time and consciousness in his doctoral thesis Time and Free Will: An Essay on the Immediate Data of Consciousness as a response to another of his influences: Immanuel Kant.[13]
Kant believed that free will could only exist outside of time and space, that we could therefore not know whether or not it exists, and that it is nothing but a pragmatic faith.[13] Bergson’s response was to show that Kant, along with many other philosophers, had confused time with its spatial representation.[14] In reality, the Duration is unextended yet heterogeneous, and so its parts cannot be juxtaposed as a succession of distinct parts, with one causing the other. This made determinism an impossibility and freewill pure mobility, which is what Bergson identified as being the Duration.[15]
[edit] Intuition
See also: Intuition (Bergson)
The Duration then is a unity and a multiplicity, but, being mobile, it cannot be grasped through immobile concepts. Hence the only way to grasp it is through Bergson’s method of intuition. Two images from Henri Bergson’s An Introduction to Metaphysics may help us grasp intuition, the limits of concepts, and the ability of intuition to grasp the absolute. The first is that of a city. Analysis, or the creation of concepts through the divisions of points of view, can only ever give us a model of the city through a construction of photographs taken from every possible point of view, yet it can never give us the dimensional value of walking in the city itself. One can only grasp this through intuition; likewise the experience of reading a line of Homer. One may translate the line and pile commentary upon commentary, but this commentary too shall never grasp the simple dimensional value of experiencing the poem in its originality itself. The method of intuition, then, is that of getting back to the things themselves.[16]
[edit] Élan Vital
See also: Élan vital
The third essential concept of Bergson’s, after Duration and intuition, is the Élan vital. An idea with the goal of explaining evolution, the Élan vital first appeared in 1907’s Creative Evolution. Bergson portrays Élan vital as a kind of vital impetus which explains evolution in a less mechanical and more lively manner, as well as the creative impulse of mankind. This concept led Bergson to be characterized by several authors as a supporter of vitalism—although he criticized it explicitly in The Creative Evolution, as he thought, against Driesch and Johannes Reinke (whom he cited) that there is neither "purely internal finality nor clearly cut individuality in nature"[17]:
Hereby lies the stumbling block of vitalist theories (...) It is thus in vain that one pretends to reduce finality to the individuality of the living being. If there is finality in the world of life, it encompasses the whole of life in one indivisible embrace.[18]
[edit] Laughter
In the idiosyncratic Laughter: An Essay on the Meaning of the Comic, Bergson develops a theory not of laughter, but of how laughter can be provoked (see his objection to Delage, published on the 23rd edition of the essay).[4] He describes the process of laughter (refusing to give a conceptual definition which would not approach its reality[4]), used in particular by comics and clowns, as the caricature of the mechanism nature of humans (habits, automatic acts, etc.), one of the two tendencies of life (degradation towards inert matter and mechanism, and continual creation of new forms).[4] However, Bergson warns us that laughter’s criterion of what should be laughed at is not a moral criterion and that it can in fact cause serious damage to a person’s self-esteem.[19] This essay made his opposition to the Cartesian theory of the animal-machine obvious.[4]
[edit] Criticisms and reception
From his first publications, Bergson's philosophy attracted strong criticism from different angles, although he also became very popular and durably influenced French philosophy — the epistemologist Gaston Bachelard, for example, explicitly alluded to him in the last pages of his 1938 book (The Formation of the Scientific Mind). The mathematician Edouard Le Roy was Bergson's main disciple. Others influenced by Bergson include Vladimir Jankélévitch, who wrote a book on him (Henri Bergson) in 1931, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin and Gilles Deleuze who wrote Le bergsonisme in 1966 (transl. 1988). Bergson is also often classified as an influence upon the process philosophy of (beside Deleuze) Alfred North Whitehead, as well as the phenomenology of Merleau-Ponty (although he had enormous reservations about his philosophy, see the volume "The Incarnate Subject") and Emmanuel Lévinas.[20] The Greek author Nikos Kazantzakis studied under Bergson in Paris and his writing and philosophy were profoundly influenced as a result.[21]
Many writers of the early 20th century criticized Bergson's intuitionism, indeterminism, psychologism and interpretation of the scientific impulse. Among those who explicitly criticized Bergson (either in published articles or letters) were Bertrand Russell (see his short book on the subject), George Santayana (see his study on the author in "Winds of Doctrine"), G. E. Moore, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Julien Benda (see his two books on the subject), T. S. Eliot, Paul Valéry (despite some recent claims otherwise), Andre Gide (see below), Jean Piaget (see his book Insights and Illusions of Philosophy 1972), Marxists philosophers such as Theodor W. Adorno (see "Against Epistemology"), Lucio Colletti (see "Hegel and Marxism"), , Jean-Paul Sartre (see his early book Imagination — although Sartre also appropriated himself Bergsonian thesis on novelty as pure creation - see Situations I, Gallimard 1947, p. 314) and Georges Politzer (see the latter's two books on the subject: Le Bergsonisme, une Mystification Philosophique and La fin d'une parade philosophique: le Bergsonisme both of which had a tremendous effect on French existential phenomenology), as well as (the non-Marxist) Maurice Blanchot (see Bergson and Symbolism), American philosophers such as Irving Babbitt, Arthur Lovejoy, Josiah Royce, The New Realists (Ralph B. Perry, E. B. Holt, and William P. Montague), The Critical Realists (Durant Drake, Roy W. Sellars, C. A. Strong, and A. K. Rogers), Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler, Roger Fry (see his letters), Julian Huxley (in Evolution: The Modern Synthesis) and Virginia Woolf (for the latter, see Ann Banfield, The Phantom Table).
The Vatican accused Bergson of pantheism, while free-thinkers[who?] (who formed a large part of the teachers and professors of the French Third Republic) accused him of spiritualism. Still others have characterized his philosophy as a materialist emergentism — Samuel Alexander and C. Lloyd Morgan explicitly claimed Bergson as their forebear [4]. According to Henri Hude (1990, II, p. 142), who supports himself on the whole of Bergson's works as well as his now published courses, accusing him of pantheism is a "counter-sense". Hude alleges that a mystical experience, roughly outlined at the end of Les Deux sources de la morale et de la religion, is the inner principle of his whole philosophy, although this has been contested by other commentators.
Charles Sanders Peirce took strong exception to those who associated him with Bergson. In response to a letter comparing his work with that of Bergson he wrote, “a man who seeks to further science can hardly commit a greater sin than to use the terms of his science without anxious care to use them with strict accuracy; it is not very gratifying to my feelings to be classed along with a Bergson who seems to be doing his utmost to muddle all distinctions.” William James’s students resisted the assimilation of his work to that of Bergson’s. See, for example, Horace Kallen’s book on the subject James and Bergson. As Jean Wahl described the “ultimate disagreement” between James and Bergson in his System of Metaphysics: “for James, the consideration of action is necessary for the definition of truth, according to Bergson, action...must be kept from our mind if we want to see the truth.” Gide even went so far as to say that future historians will over-estimate Bergson’s influence on art and philosophy just because he was the self-appointed spokesman for “the spirit of the age.” As early as the 1890s, Santayana attacked certain key concepts in Bergson’s philosophy, above all his view of the New and the indeterminate:
the possibility of a new and unaccountable fact appearing at any time,” he writes in his book on Lotze, “does not practically affect the method of investigation;...the only thing given up is the hope that these hypotheses may ever be adequate to the reality and cover the process of nature without leaving a remainder. This is no great renunciation; for that consummation of science...is by no one really expected.
According to Santayana and Russell, Bergson projected false claims onto the aspirations of scientific method, which Bergson needed to make in order to justify his prior moral commitment to freedom. Russell takes particular exception to Bergson’s understanding of number in chapter two of Time and Free-will. According to Russell, Bergson uses an outmoded spatial metaphor (“extended images”) to describe the nature of mathematics as well as logic in general. “Bergson only succeeds in making his theory of number possible by confusing a particular collection with the number of its terms, and this again with number in general”, writes Russell (see The Philosophy of Bergson and A History of Western Philosophy).
Furthermore, the élan vital was seen by several writers --Russell, Wittgenstein, and James, for instance—as a projection of subjectivity onto the world. The external world, according to certain theories of probability, provides less and less indeterminism with further refinement of scientific method. In brief, the moral, psychological, subjective demand for the new, the underivable and the unexplained should not be confused with the universe. There is a difference between one's subjective sense of duration and the (non-human) world, which, according to the ancient materialist Lucretius should not be characterized as either one of becoming or being, creation or destruction (De Rerum Natura).
[edit] See also
Duration
Intuition
Élan vital
Philosophy of biology
Process philosophy
Alfred North Whitehead
William James
Gilles Deleuze
Charles Peguy
[edit] Notes
1.^ http://www.wprost.pl/ar/140524/Z-ziemi-polskiej-do-Nobla/?O=140524&pg=2 PL
2.^ http://dziedzictwo.polska.pl/katalog/skarb,Testament_starozakonnego_Berka_Szmula_Sonnenberga_z_1818_roku,gid,261356,cid,3312.htm?body=descPL
3.^ Henri Hude, Bergson, Paris, Editions universitaires, 1990, 2 volumes, quoted by Anne Fagot-Largeau in her 21 December 2006 course at the College of France
4.^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x Anne Fagot-Largeau, 21 December 2006 course at the College of France (audio file of the course)
5.^ p.39
6.^ Seth Benedict Graham A CULTURAL ANALYSIS OF THE RUSSO-SOVIET ANEKDOT 2003 p.2
7.^ See Chapter III of The Creative Evolution
8.^ Quoted in: Zolli, Eugenio (2008) [1954] Before the Dawn (reprint ed.)Ignatius Pressp. 89ISBN 9781586172879 http://books.google.com/books?id=bq_Qp53ksMAC&pg=PA81&lr=&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=4#v=onepage&q=Bergson&f=false
9.^ http://www.egs.edu/resources/bergson.html
10.^ The topics can be found explored in Henri Bergson's Time and Free Will: An Essay on the Immediate Data of Consciousness, Matter and Memory, Creative Evolution, and The Creative Mind: An Introduction to Metaphysics.
11.^ Elie Duhring, « Fantômes de problèmes », published by the Centre International d'Etudes de la Philosophie Française Contemporaine (short version first published in Le magazine littéraire, n°386, April 2000 (issue dedicated to Bergson)
12.^ a b Henri Bergson, The Creative Mind: An Introduction to Metaphysics, pages 11 to 13.
13.^ a b The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy Time and Free Will has to be seen as an attack on Kant, for whom freedom belongs to a realm outside of space and time.
14.^ Henri Bergson, Time and Free Will: An Essay on the Immediate Data of Consciousness, Author's Preface.
15.^ The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy For Bergson — and perhaps this is his greatest insight — freedom is mobility.
16.^ Henri Bergson, The Creative Mind: An Introduction to Metaphysics, pages 160 to 161.
17.^ L'Evolution créatrice, pp. 42-44; pp. 226-227
18.^ L'Evolution créatrice, pp. 42-43
19.^ Henri Bergson's theory of laughter. A brief summary.
20.^ Dermot Moran, Introduction to Phenomenology, pages 322 and 393.
21.^ Peter Bien, Three Generations of Greek Writers, Published by Efstathiadis Group, Athens, 1983
[edit] Bibliography
Time and Free Will: An Essay on the Immediate Data of Consciousness 1910. (Essai sur les données immédiates de la conscience 1889) Dover Publications 2001: ISBN 0-486-41767-0 – Bergson's doctoral dissertation
Matter and Memory 1911. (Matière et mémoire 1896) Zone Books 1990: ISBN 0-942299-05-1, Dover Publications 2004: ISBN 0-486-43415-X
Laughter: An Essay on the Meaning of the Comic 1900. (Le rire) Green Integer 1998: ISBN 1-892295-02-4, Dover Publications 2005: ISBN 0-486-44380-9
Creative Evolution 1910. (L'Evolution créatrice 1907) University Press of America 1983: ISBN 0-8191-3553-4, Dover Publications 1998: ISBN 0-486-40036-0, Kessinger Publishing 2003: ISBN 0-7661-4732-0, Cosimo 2005: ISBN 1-59605-309-7
Mind-energy 1920. (L'Energie spirituelle 1919) McMillan. – a collection of essays and lectures
Duration and Simultaneity: Bergson and the Einsteinian Universe 1922. Clinamen Press Ltd. ISBN 1-903083-01-X
The Two Sources of Morality and Religion 1932. (Les Deux Sources de la Morale et de la Religion) University of Notre Dame Press 1977: ISBN 0-268-01835-9
The Creative Mind: An Introduction to Metaphysics 1946. (La Pensée et le mouvant 1934) Citadel Press 2002: ISBN 0-8065-2326-3 – essay collection, sequel to Mind-Energy, including 1903's "An Introduction to Metaphysics"
Siddhartha
Siddhārtha Gautama (Sanskrit: सिद्धार्थ गौतम; Pali: Siddhattha Gotama) was a spiritual teacher in the north eastern region of the Indian subcontinent who founded Buddhism.[1] In most Buddhist traditions, he is regarded as the Supreme Buddha (Sammāsambuddha) of our age, "Buddha" meaning "awakened one." The time of his birth and death are uncertain: most early 20th-century historians dated his lifetime as c. 563 BCE to 483 BCE; more recently, however, at a specialist symposium on this question,[2] the majority of those scholars who presented definite opinions gave dates within 20 years either side of 400 BCE for the Buddha's death, with others supporting earlier or later dates.[3]
Gautama, also known as Śākyamuni or Shakyamuni ("sage of the Shakyas"), is the key figure in Buddhism, and accounts of his life, discourses, and monastic rules are believed by Buddhists to have been summarized after his death and memorized by his followers. Various collections of teachings attributed to Gautama were passed down by oral tradition, and first committed to writing about 400 years later. Early Western scholarship tended to accept the biography of the Buddha presented in the Buddhist scriptures as largely historical, but currently "scholars are increasingly reluctant to make unqualified claims about the historical facts of the Buddha's life and teachings."[4]
Contents [hide]
1 Life
1.1 Conception and birth
1.2 Early life and marriage
1.3 Departure and Ascetic Life
1.4 Enlightenment
1.5 Formation of the sangha
1.6 Travels and teaching
1.7 Death / Mahaparinirvana
2 Physical characteristics
3 Teachings
4 See also
5 References
6 Further reading
7 External links
Life
The primary sources of information regarding Siddhārtha Gautama's life are the Buddhist texts. The Buddha and his monks spent four months each year discussing and rehearsing his teachings, and after his death his monks set about preserving them. A council was held shortly after his death, and another was held a century later. At these councils the monks attempted to establish and authenticate the extant accounts of the life and teachings of the Buddha following systematic rules. They divided the teachings into distinct but overlapping bodies of material, and assigned specific monks to preserve each one.[5] In some cases, essential aspects of the Buddha's teaching were incorporated into stories and chants in order to preserve them accurately.[6]
From then on, the teachings were transmitted orally. From internal evidence it seems clear that the oldest texts crystallized into their current form by the time of the second council or shortly after it. The scriptures were not written down until three or four hundred years after the Buddha's death. By this point, the monks had added or altered some material themselves, in particular magnifying the figure of the Buddha.[7]
The ancient Indians were generally not concerned with chronologies, being far more focused on philosophy. The Buddhist texts reflect this tendency, providing a clearer picture of what Shakyamuni may have taught than of the dates of the events in his life. These texts contain descriptions of the culture and daily life of ancient India which can be corroborated from the Jain scriptures, and make the Buddha's time the earliest period in Indian history for which substantial accounts exist.[8] According to Michael Carrithers, there are good reasons to doubt the traditional account, though the outline of "birth, maturity, renunciation, search, awakening and liberation, teaching, death" must be true.[9]
Conception and birth
Maya Devi Temple in Lumbini, Nepal.
Birth of Buddha at Lumbini. Picture of a painting in a Laotian Temple.Siddhartha was born in Lumbini[10] and raised in the small kingdom or principality of Kapilvastu, both of which are in modern day Nepal. At the time of the Buddha's birth, the area was at or beyond the boundary of Vedic civilization, the dominant culture of northern India at the time; it is even possible that his mother tongue was not an Indo-Aryan language.[11] At the time, a multitude of small city-states existed in ancient India, called janapadas. Republics and chiefdoms with diffused political power and limited social stratification, were not uncommon amongst them, and were referred to as gana-sanghas.[12] The Buddha's community does not seem to have had a caste system, and their society was not structured according to Brahminical theory. It was not a monarchy, and seems to have been structured either as an oligarchy, or as a form of republic.[13] The more egalitarian gana-sangha form of government, as a political alternative to the strongly hierarchical kingdoms, may have influenced the development of the Shramana type Jain and Buddhist sanghas, where monarchies tended toward Vedic Brahmanism.[14]
According to the traditional biography, his father was King Suddhodana, the leader of Shakya clan, whose capital was Kapilavastu, and who were later annexed by the growing Kingdom of Kosala during the Buddha's lifetime; Gautama was the family name. His mother, Queen Maha Maya (Māyādevī) and Suddhodana's wife, was a Koliyan princess. On the night Siddhartha was conceived, Queen Maya dreamt that a white elephant with six white tusks entered her right side[15], and ten months later Siddhartha was born. As was the Shakya tradition, when his mother Queen Maya became pregnant, she left Kapilvastu for her father's kingdom to give birth. However, she gave birth on the way, at Lumbini, in a garden beneath a sal tree.
The day of the Buddha's birth is widely celebrated in Theravada countries as Vesak.[16] Various sources hold that the Buddha's mother died at his birth, a few days or seven days later. The infant was given the name Siddhartha (Pāli: Siddhatta), meaning "he who achieves his aim". During the birth celebrations, the hermit seer Asita journeyed from his mountain abode and announced that the child would either become a great king (chakravartin) or a great holy man.[17] This occurred after Siddhartha placed his feet in Asita's hair and Asita examined the birthmarks. Suddhodana held a naming ceremony on the fifth day, and invited eight brahmin scholars to read the future. All gave a dual prediction that the baby would either become a great king or a great holy man.[17] Kaundinya (Pali: Kondanna), the youngest, and later to be the first arahant, was the only one who unequivocally predicted that Siddhartha would become a Buddha.[18]
While later tradition and legend characterized Śuddhodana as a hereditary monarch, the descendant of the Solar Dynasty of Ikṣvāku (Pāli: Okkāka), many scholars believe that Śuddhodana was the elected chief of a tribal confederacy.
Early life and marriage
Siddhartha, destined to a luxurious life as a prince, had three palaces (for seasonal occupation) especially built for him. His father, King Śuddhodana, wishing for Siddhartha to be a great king, shielded his son from religious teachings or knowledge of human suffering. Siddhartha was brought up by his mother's younger sister, Maha Pajapati.[19]
As the boy reached the age of 16, his father arranged his marriage to Yaśodharā (Pāli: Yasodharā), a cousin of the same age. According to the traditional account, in time, she gave birth to a son, Rahula. Siddhartha spent 29 years as a Prince in Kapilavastu. Although his father ensured that Siddhartha was provided with everything he could want or need, Siddhartha felt that material wealth was not the ultimate goal of life.[19]
Departure and Ascetic Life
The Buddha travelled the plain of the Ganges river, where his philosophy attracted followers.
The Great Departure. Gandhara, 2nd century.
Prince Siddharta shaves his hair and become an ascetic. Borobudur, 8th century.At the age of 29, Siddhartha left his palace in order to meet his subjects. Despite his father's effort to remove the sick, aged and suffering from the public view, Siddhartha was said to have seen an old man. Disturbed by this, when told that all people would eventually grow old by his charioteer Channa, the prince went on further trips where he encountered, variously, a diseased man, a decaying corpse, and an ascetic. Deeply depressed by these sights, he sought to overcome old age, illness, and death by living the life of an ascetic.
Siddhartha escaped his palace, accompanied by Channa aboard his horse Kanthaka, leaving behind this royal life to become a mendicant. It is said that, "the horse's hooves were muffled by the gods"[20] to prevent guards from knowing the Bodhisatta's departure. This event is traditionally called "The Great Departure". Siddhartha initially went to Rajagaha and began his ascetic life by begging for alms in the street. Having been recognised by the men of King Bimbisara, Bimbisara offered him the throne after hearing of Siddhartha's quest. Siddhartha rejected the offer, but promised to visit his kingdom of Magadha first, upon attaining enlightenment.
Siddhartha left Rajagaha and practised under two hermit teachers. After mastering the teachings of Alara Kalama (Skr. Ārāḍa Kālāma), Siddhartha was asked by Kalama to succeed him, but moved on after being unsatisfied with his practices. He then became a student of Udaka Ramaputta (Skr. Udraka Rāmaputra), but although he achieved high levels of meditative consciousness and was asked to succeed Ramaputta, he was still not satisfied with his path, and moved on.[21]
Gandhara Buddha. 1st–2nd century CE, Tokyo National Museum.Siddhartha and a group of five companions led by Kaundinya then set out to take their austerities even further. They tried to find enlightenment through near total deprivation of worldly goods, including food, practising self-mortification. After nearly starving himself to death by restricting his food intake to around a leaf or nut per day, he collapsed in a river while bathing and almost drowned. Siddhartha began to reconsider his path. Then, he remembered a moment in childhood in which he had been watching his father start the season's plowing, and he had fallen into a naturally concentrated and focused state that was blissful and refreshing, the jhana.
Enlightenment
Prince Siddhartha Gautama, Musée Guimet, ParisAfter asceticism and concentrating on meditation and Anapana-sati (awareness of breathing in and out), Siddhartha is said to have discovered what Buddhists call the Middle Way—a path of moderation away from the extremes of self-indulgence and self-mortification. He accepted a little milk and rice pudding from a village girl named Sujata, who wrongly believed him to be the spirit that had granted her a wish, such was his emaciated appearance. Then, sitting under a pipal tree, now known as the Bodhi tree in Bodh Gaya, India, he vowed never to arise until he had found the Truth. Kaundinya and the other four companions, believing that he had abandoned his search and become undisciplined, left. After 49 days meditating, at the age of 35, he attained Enlightenment; according to some traditions, this occurred approximately in the fifth lunar month, and according to others in the twelfth. Gautama, from then on, was known as the Buddha or "Awakened One." Buddha is also sometimes translated as "The Enlightened One." Often, he is referred to in Buddhism as Shakyamuni Buddha or "The Awakened One of the Shakya Clan."
At this point, he is believed to have realized complete awakening and insight into the nature and cause of human suffering which was ignorance, along with steps necessary to eliminate it. This was then categorized into 'Four Noble Truths'; the state of supreme liberation—possible for any being—was called Nirvana. He then allegedly came to possess the Nine Characteristics, which are said to belong to every Buddha.
According to one of the stories in the Āyācana Sutta (Samyutta Nikaya VI.1), a scripture found in the Pāli and other canons, immediately after his Enlightenment, the Buddha was wondering whether or not he should teach the Dharma to human beings. He was concerned that, as human beings were overpowered by greed, hatred and delusion, they would not be able to see the true dharma, which was subtle, deep and hard to understand. However, Brahmā Sahampati, interceded and asked that he teach the dharma to the world, as "there will be those who will understand the Dharma". With his great compassion to all beings in the universe, the Buddha agreed to become a teacher.
Formation of the sangha
Painting of the first sermon depicted at Wat Chedi Liem in Thailand.After becoming enlightened, two merchants whom the Buddha met, named Tapussa and Bhallika became the first lay disciples. They are given some hairs from the Buddha's head, which are believed to now be enshrined in the Shwe Dagon Temple in Rangoon, Burma. The Buddha intended to visit Asita, and his former teachers, Alara Kalama and Uddaka Ramaputta to explain his findings, but they had already died.
The Buddha thus journeyed to Deer Park near Vārāṇasī (Benares) in northern India, he set in motion the Wheel of Dharma by delivering his first sermon to the group of five companions with whom he had previously sought enlightenment. They, together with the Buddha, formed the first saṅgha, the company of Buddhist monks, and hence, the first formation of Triple Gem (Buddha, Dharma and Sangha) was completed, with Kaundinya becoming the first stream-enterer. All five soon become arahants, and with the conversion of Yasa and fifty four of his friends, the number of arahants swelled to 60 within the first two months. The conversion of the three Kassapa brothers and their 200, 300 and 500 disciples swelled the sangha over 1000, and they were dispatched to explain the dharma to the populace.
It is unknown what the Buddha's mother tongue was, and no conclusive documentation has been made at this point. It is likely that he preached and his teachings were originally preserved in a variety of closely related Middle Indo-Aryan dialects, of which Pali may be a standardization.
Travels and teaching
Buddha with his protector Vajrapani, Gandhara, 2nd century CE, Ostasiatische Kunst MuseumFor the remaining 45 years of his life, the Buddha is said to have traveled in the Gangetic Plain, in what is now Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and southern Nepal, teaching his doctrine and discipline to an extremely diverse range of people— from nobles to outcaste street sweepers, mass murderers such as Angulimala and cannibals such as Alavaka. This extended to many adherents of rival philosophies and religions. The Buddha founded the community of Buddhist monks and nuns (the Sangha) to continue the dispensation after his Parinirvāna (Pāli: Parinibbāna) or "complete Nirvāna", and made thousands of converts. His religion was open to all races and classes and had no caste structure. He was also subject to attack from opposition religious groups, including attempted murders and framings.
A Tang Dynasty (618–907 AD) Chinese silk landscape painting depicting the young Sakyamuni shaving his head. This is one of the earliest visual presentations of the Gautama Buddha in the history of paintingThe sangha travelled from place to place in India, expounding the dharma. This occurred throughout the year, except during the four months of the vassana rainy season. Due to the heavy amount of flooding, travelling was difficult, and ascetics of all religions in that time did not travel, since it was more difficult to do so without stepping on submerged animal life, unwittingly killing them. During this period, the sangha would retreat to a monastery, public park or a forest and people would come to them.
The first vassana was spent at Varanasi when the sangha was first formed. After this, he travelled to Rajagaha, the capital of Magadha to visit King Bimbisara, in accordance with his promise after enlightenment. It was during this visit that Sariputta and Mahamoggallana were converted by Assaji, one of the first five disciples; they were to become the Buddha's two foremost disciples. The Buddha then spent the next three seasons at Veluvana Bamboo Grove monastery in Rajagaha, the capital of Magadha. The monastery, which was of a moderate distance from the city centre was donated by Bimbisara.
Upon hearing of the enlightenment, Suddhodana dispatched royal delegations to ask the Buddha to return to Kapilavastu. Nine delegations were sent in all, but the delegates joined the sangha and became arahants. Neglecting worldly matters, they did not convey their message. The tenth delegation, led by Kaludayi, a childhood friend, resulted in the message being successfully conveyed as well as becoming an arahant. Since it was not the vassana, the Buddha agreed, and two years after his enlightenment, took a two month journey to Kapilavastu by foot, preaching the dharma along the way. Upon his return, the royal palace had prepared the midday meal, but since no specific invitation had come, the sangha went for an alms round in Kapilavastu. Hearing this, Suddhodana hastened to approach the Buddha, stating "Ours is the warrior lineage of Mahamassata, and not a single warrior has gone seeking alms", to which the Buddha replied
That is not the custom of your royal lineage. But it is the custom of my Buddha lineage. Several thousands of Buddhas have gone by seeking alms
Suddhodana invited the sangha back to the royal palace for the meal, followed by a dharma talk, after which he became a sotapanna. During the visit, many members of the royal family joined the sangha. His cousins Ananda and Anuruddha were to become two of his five chief disciples. His son Rahula also joined the sangha at the age of seven, and was one of the ten chief disciples. His half-brother Nanda also joined the sangha and became an arahant. Another cousin Devadatta also became a monk although he later became an enemy and tried to kill the Buddha on multiple occasions.
Of his disciples, Sariputta, Mahamoggallana, Mahakasyapa, Ananda and Anuruddha comprised the five chief disciples. His ten foremost disciples were completed by the quintet of Upali, Subhoti, Rahula, Mahakaccana and Punna.
In the fifth vassana, the Buddha was staying at Mahavana near Vesali. Hearing of the impending death of Suddhodana, the Buddha went to his father and preached the dharma, and Suddhodana became an arahant prior to death. The death and cremation led to the creation of the order of nuns. Buddhist texts record that he was reluctant to ordain women as nuns. His foster mother Maha Pajapati approached him asking to join the sangha, but the Buddha refused, and began the journey from Kapilavastu back to Rajagaha. Maha Pajapati was so intent on renouncing the world that she led a group of royal Sakyan and Koliyan ladies, following the sangha to Rajagaha. The Buddha eventually accepted them five years after the formation of the Sangha on the grounds that their capacity for enlightenment was equal to that of men, but he gave them certain additional rules (Vinaya) to follow. This occurred after Ananda interceded on their behalf. Yasodhara also became a nun, with both becoming arahants.
Devadatta tries to attack the Buddha. Picture of a wallpainting in a Laotian monastery.During his ministry, Devadatta (who was not an arahant) frequently tried to undermine the Buddha. At one point Devadatta asked the Buddha to stand aside to let him lead the sangha. The Buddha declined, and stated that Devadatta's actions did not reflect on the Triple Gem, but on him alone. Devadatta conspired with Prince Ajatasattu, son of Bimbisara, so that they would kill and usurp the Buddha and Bimbisara respectively. Devadatta attempted three times to kill the Buddha. The first attempt involved the hiring of a group of archers, whom upon meeting the Buddha became disciples. A second attempt followed when Devadatta attempted to roll a large boulder down a hill. It hit another rock and splintered, only grazing the Buddha in the foot. A final attempt by plying an elephant with alcohol and setting it loose again failed. Failing this, Devadatta attempted to cause a schism in the sangha, by proposing extra restrictions on the vinaya. When the Buddha declined, Devadatta started a breakaway order, criticising the Buddha's laxity. At first, he managed to convert some of the bhikkhus, but Sariputta and Mahamoggallana expounded the dharma to them and succeeded in winning them back.
When the Buddha reached the age of 55, he made Ananda his chief attendant.
Death / Mahaparinirvana
An artist`s portrayal of Buddha's entry into Parinirvana.According to the Mahaparinibbana Sutta of the Pali canon, at the age of 80, the Buddha announced that he would soon reach Parinirvana or the final deathless state abandoning the earthly body. After this, the Buddha ate his last meal, which he had received as an offering from a blacksmith named Cunda. Falling violently ill, Buddha instructed his attendant Ānanda to convince Cunda that the meal eaten at his place had nothing to do with his passing and that his meal would be a source of the greatest merit as it provided the last meal for a Buddha.[22] Mettanando and von Hinüber argue that the Buddha died of mesenteric infarction, a symptom of old age, rather than food poisoning.[23] The precise contents of the Buddha's final meal are not clear, due to variant scriptural traditions and ambiguity over the translation of certain significant terms; the Theravada tradition generally believes that the Buddha was offered some kind of pork, while the Mahayana tradition believes that the Buddha consumed some sort of truffle or other mushroom.
The sharing of the relics of the Buddha, Zenyōmitsu-Temple Museum, Tokyo
Buddha relics from Kanishka's stupa in Peshawar, Pakistan, now in Mandalay, Burma. Teresa Merrigan, 2005The Mahayana Vimalakirti Sutra claims, in Chapter 3, that the Buddha doesn't really become ill or old but purposely presents such an appearance only to teach those born into samsara about the impermanence and pain of defiled worlds and to encourage them to strive for Nirvana.
"Reverend Ánanda, the Tathágatas have the body of the Dharma—not a body that is sustained by material food. The Tathágatas have a transcendental body that has transcended all mundane qualities. There is no injury to the body of a Tathágata, as it is rid of all defilements. The body of a Tathágata is uncompounded and free of all formative activity. Reverend Ánanda, to believe there can be illness in such a body is irrational and unseemly!' Nevertheless, since the Buddha has appeared during the time of the five corruptions, he disciplines living beings by acting lowly and humble."[14]
Ananda protested Buddha's decision to enter Parinirvana in the abandoned jungles of Kuśināra (present-day Kushinagar, India) of the Malla kingdom. Buddha, however, reminded Ananda how Kushinara was a land once ruled by a righteous wheel-turning king that resounded with joy:
44. Kusavati, Ananda, resounded unceasingly day and night with ten sounds—the trumpeting of elephants, the neighing of horses, the rattling of chariots, the beating of drums and tabours, music and song, cheers, the clapping of hands, and cries of "Eat, drink, and be merry!"
Buddha then asked all the attendant Bhikshus to clarify any doubts or questions they had. They had none. He then finally entered Parinirvana. The Buddha's final words were, "All composite things pass away. Strive for your own liberation with diligence." The Buddha's body was cremated and the relics were placed in monuments or stupas, some of which are believed to have survived until the present. For example, The Temple of the Tooth or "Dalada Maligawa" in Sri Lanka is the place where the relic of the right tooth of Buddha is kept at present.
According to the Pāli historical chronicles of Sri Lanka, the Dīpavaṃsa and Mahāvaṃsa, the coronation of Aśoka (Pāli: Asoka) is 218 years after the death of Buddha. According to one Mahayana record in Chinese (十八部論 and 部執異論), the coronation of Aśoka is 116 years after the death of Buddha. Therefore, the time of Buddha's passing is either 486 BCE according to Theravāda record or 383 BCE according to Mahayana record. However, the actual date traditionally accepted as the date of the Buddha's death in Theravāda countries is 544 or 543 BCE, because the reign of Aśoka was traditionally reckoned to be about 60 years earlier than current estimates.
At his death, the Buddha told his disciples to follow no leader, but to follow his teachings (dharma). However, at the First Buddhist Council, Mahakasyapa was held by the sangha as their leader, with the two chief disciples Mahamoggallana and Sariputta having died before the Buddha.
Physical characteristics
Main article: Physical characteristics of the Buddha
Buddha is perhaps one of the few sages for whom we have mention of his rather impressive physical characteristics. A kshatriya by birth, he had military training in his upbringing, and by Shakyan tradition was required to pass tests to demonstrate his worthiness as a warrior in order to marry. He had a strong enough body to be noticed by one of the kings and was asked to join his army as a general. He is also believed by Buddhists to have "the 32 Signs of the Great Man".
The Brahmin Sonadanda described him as "handsome, good-looking, and pleasing to the eye, with a most beautiful complexion. He has a godlike form and countenance, he is by no means unattractive."(D,I:115).
"It is wonderful, truly marvellous, how serene is the good Gotama's appearance, how clear and radiant his complexion, just as the golden jujube in autumn is clear and radiant, just as a palm-tree fruit just loosened from the stalk is clear and radiant, just as an adornment of red gold wrought in a crucible by a skilled goldsmith, deftly beaten and laid on a yellow-cloth shines, blazes and glitters, even so, the good Gotama's senses are calmed, his complexion is clear and radiant." (A,I:181)
A disciple named Vakkali, who later became an Arahant, was so obsessed by Buddha's physical presence that Buddha had to tell him to stop and reminded Vakkali to know Buddha through the Dhamma and not physical appearances.
Although the Buddha was not represented in human form until around the 1st century CE (see Buddhist art), the physical characteristics of fully-enlightened Buddhas are described by the Buddha in the Digha Nikaya's Lakkhaṇa Sutta (D,I:142).[24] In addition, the Buddha's physical appearance is described by Yasodhara to their son Rahula upon the Buddha's first post-Enlightenment return to his former princely palace in the non-canonical Pali devotional hymn, Narasīha Gāthā ("The Lion of Men").[25]
Many Westerners associate the name "Buddha" with figurine depictions of a certain fat, bald, smiling person. This is inaccurate, as the person in these figurines is not Buddha at all, but Budai, a Chinese Buddhist monk who lived in the 10th century CE.
Teachings
Main article: Buddhist philosophy
Seated Buddha, Gandhara, 2nd century CE.Some scholars believe that some portions of the Pali Canon and the Agamas could contain the actual substance of the historical teachings (and possibly even the words) of the Buddha.[26][27] This is not the case for the later Mahayana sutras.[28] The scriptural works of Early Buddhism precede the Mahayana works chronologically, and are treated by many Western scholars as the main credible source for information regarding the actual historical teachings of Gautama Buddha.
Some of the fundamentals of the teachings of Gautama Buddha are:
The Four Noble Truths: that suffering is an inherent part of existence; that the origin of suffering is ignorance and the main symptoms of that ignorance are attachment and craving; that attachment and craving can be ceased; and that following the Noble Eightfold Path will lead to the cessation of attachment and craving and therefore suffering.
The Noble Eightfold Path: right understanding, right thought, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration.
Dependent origination: that any phenomenon 'exists' only because of the ‘existence’ of other phenomena in a complex web of cause and effect covering time past, present and future. Because all things are thus conditioned and transient (anicca), they have no real independent identity (anatta).
Rejection of the infallibility of accepted scripture: Teachings should not be accepted unless they are borne out by our experience and are praised by the wise. See the Kalama Sutta for details.
Anicca (Sanskrit: anitya): That all things are impermanent.
Dukkha (Sanskrit: duḥkha): That all beings suffer from all situations due to unclear mind.
Anatta (Sanskrit: anātman): That the perception of a constant "self" is an illusion.
However, in some Mahayana schools, these points have come to be regarded as more or less subsidiary. There is some disagreement amongst various schools of Buddhism over more esoteric aspects of Buddha's teachings, and also over some of the disciplinary rules for monks.
According to tradition, the Buddha emphasized ethics and correct understanding. He questioned the average person's notions of divinity and salvation. He stated that there is no intermediary between mankind and the divine; distant gods are subjected to karma themselves in decaying heavens; and the Buddha is solely a guide and teacher for the sentient beings who must tread the path of Nirvāṇa (Pāli: Nibbāna) themselves to attain the spiritual awakening called bodhi and see truth and reality as it is. The Buddhist system of insight and meditation practice is not believed to have been revealed divinely, but by the understanding of the true nature of the mind, which must be discovered by personally treading a spiritual path guided by the Buddha's teachings.
See also
Iconography of the Buddha
Buddha as an Avatar of Vishnu
Buddha as viewed in other religions
Buddhahood
List of the 28 Buddhas
Maitreya Buddha (Future Buddha)
History of Buddhism
The Light of Asia
References
1.^ The Buddha
2.^ L. S. Cousins (1996), "The dating of the historical Buddha: a review article", Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society (3)6(1): 57–63.
3.^ "As is now almost universally accepted by informed Indological scholarship, a re-examination of early Buddhist historical material, ..., necessitates a redating of the Buddha's death to between 411 and 400 BCE." Paul Dundas, The Jains, 2nd edition, (Routledge, 2001), p. 24.
4.^ Lopez (1995). Buddhism in Practice. Princeton University Press. pp. 16.
5.^ Michael Carrithers, The Buddha, 1983, pages 13, 14. Found in Founders of Faith, Oxford University Press, 1986.
6.^ Sue Hamilton, Identity and Experience. LUZAC Oriental, 1996, pages 110-111.
7.^ Michael Carrithers, The Buddha, 1983, pages 13, 14. Found in Founders of Faith, Oxford University Press, 1986.
8.^ Carrithers, page 15.
9.^ Carrithers, page 10.
10.^ http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/buddhistworld/lumbini.htm
11.^ Richard Gombrich, Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benares to Modern Colombo. Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1988, page 49.
12.^ Romila Thapar, The Penguin History of Early India: From Origins to AD 1300. Penguin Books, 2002, page 137.
13.^ Richard Gombrich, Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benares to Modern Colombo. Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1988, pages 49-50.
14.^ Romila Thapar, The Penguin History of Early India: From Origins to AD 1300. Penguin Books, 2002, page 146.
15.^ http://www.sacred-texts.com/bud/lob/lob04.htm
16.^ Turpie, D. 2001. Wesak And The Re-Creation of Buddhist Tradition. Master's Thesis. Montreal, Quebec: McGill University. (p. 3). Available from: http://www.mrsp.mcgill.ca/reports/pdfs/Wesak.pdf. Accessed 17 November 2006.
17.^ a b Narada (1992). A Manual of Buddhism. Buddha Educational Foundation. p. 9–12. ISBN 967-9920-58-5.
18.^ Narada (1992), p11-12
19.^ a b Narada (1992), p14
20.^ Narada (1992), pp15-16
21.^ Narada (1992), pp19-20
22.^ Maha-parinibbana Sutta (DN 16), verse 56
23.^ Mettanando Bhikkhu and Oskar von Hinueber, "The Cause of the Buddha's Death"; Vol. XXVI of the Journal of the Pali Text Society, 2000. See also this article by Mettanando saying the same thing: [1].
24.^ Maurice Walshe, The Long Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Dīgha Nikāya, 1995, Boston: Wisdom Publications, "[DN] 30: Lakkhaṇa Sutta: The Marks of a Great Man," pp. 441-60.
25.^ Ven. Elgiriye Indaratana Maha Thera, Vandana: The Album of Pali Devotional Chanting and Hymns, 2002, pp. 49-52, retrieved 2007-11-08 from "BuddhaNet" at http://www.buddhanet.net/pdf_file/vandana02.pdf.
26.^ It is therefore possible that much of what is found in the Suttapitaka is earlier than c.250 B.C., perhaps even more than 100 years older than this. If some of the material is so old, it might be possible to establish what texts go back to the very beginning of Buddhism, texts which perhaps include the substance of the Buddha’s teaching, and in some cases, maybe even his words. How old is the Suttapitaka? Alexander Wynne, St John’s College, 2003, p.22 (this article is available on the website of the Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies: [www.ocbs.org/research/Wynne.pdf]
27.^ It would be hypocritical to assert that nothing can be said about the doctrine of earliest Buddhism ... the basic ideas of Buddhism found in the canonical writings could very well have been proclaimed by him [the Buddha], transmitted and developed by his disciples and, finally, codified in fixed formulas. J.W. De Jong, 1993: The Beginnings of Buddhism, in The Eastern Buddhist, vol. 26, no. 2, p. 25
28.^ The Mahayana movement claims to have been founded by the Buddha himself. The consensus of the evidence, however, is that it originated in South India in the 1st century CE–Indian Buddhism, AK Warder, 3rd edition, 1999, p. 335
Gautama, also known as Śākyamuni or Shakyamuni ("sage of the Shakyas"), is the key figure in Buddhism, and accounts of his life, discourses, and monastic rules are believed by Buddhists to have been summarized after his death and memorized by his followers. Various collections of teachings attributed to Gautama were passed down by oral tradition, and first committed to writing about 400 years later. Early Western scholarship tended to accept the biography of the Buddha presented in the Buddhist scriptures as largely historical, but currently "scholars are increasingly reluctant to make unqualified claims about the historical facts of the Buddha's life and teachings."[4]
Contents [hide]
1 Life
1.1 Conception and birth
1.2 Early life and marriage
1.3 Departure and Ascetic Life
1.4 Enlightenment
1.5 Formation of the sangha
1.6 Travels and teaching
1.7 Death / Mahaparinirvana
2 Physical characteristics
3 Teachings
4 See also
5 References
6 Further reading
7 External links
Life
The primary sources of information regarding Siddhārtha Gautama's life are the Buddhist texts. The Buddha and his monks spent four months each year discussing and rehearsing his teachings, and after his death his monks set about preserving them. A council was held shortly after his death, and another was held a century later. At these councils the monks attempted to establish and authenticate the extant accounts of the life and teachings of the Buddha following systematic rules. They divided the teachings into distinct but overlapping bodies of material, and assigned specific monks to preserve each one.[5] In some cases, essential aspects of the Buddha's teaching were incorporated into stories and chants in order to preserve them accurately.[6]
From then on, the teachings were transmitted orally. From internal evidence it seems clear that the oldest texts crystallized into their current form by the time of the second council or shortly after it. The scriptures were not written down until three or four hundred years after the Buddha's death. By this point, the monks had added or altered some material themselves, in particular magnifying the figure of the Buddha.[7]
The ancient Indians were generally not concerned with chronologies, being far more focused on philosophy. The Buddhist texts reflect this tendency, providing a clearer picture of what Shakyamuni may have taught than of the dates of the events in his life. These texts contain descriptions of the culture and daily life of ancient India which can be corroborated from the Jain scriptures, and make the Buddha's time the earliest period in Indian history for which substantial accounts exist.[8] According to Michael Carrithers, there are good reasons to doubt the traditional account, though the outline of "birth, maturity, renunciation, search, awakening and liberation, teaching, death" must be true.[9]
Conception and birth
Maya Devi Temple in Lumbini, Nepal.
Birth of Buddha at Lumbini. Picture of a painting in a Laotian Temple.Siddhartha was born in Lumbini[10] and raised in the small kingdom or principality of Kapilvastu, both of which are in modern day Nepal. At the time of the Buddha's birth, the area was at or beyond the boundary of Vedic civilization, the dominant culture of northern India at the time; it is even possible that his mother tongue was not an Indo-Aryan language.[11] At the time, a multitude of small city-states existed in ancient India, called janapadas. Republics and chiefdoms with diffused political power and limited social stratification, were not uncommon amongst them, and were referred to as gana-sanghas.[12] The Buddha's community does not seem to have had a caste system, and their society was not structured according to Brahminical theory. It was not a monarchy, and seems to have been structured either as an oligarchy, or as a form of republic.[13] The more egalitarian gana-sangha form of government, as a political alternative to the strongly hierarchical kingdoms, may have influenced the development of the Shramana type Jain and Buddhist sanghas, where monarchies tended toward Vedic Brahmanism.[14]
According to the traditional biography, his father was King Suddhodana, the leader of Shakya clan, whose capital was Kapilavastu, and who were later annexed by the growing Kingdom of Kosala during the Buddha's lifetime; Gautama was the family name. His mother, Queen Maha Maya (Māyādevī) and Suddhodana's wife, was a Koliyan princess. On the night Siddhartha was conceived, Queen Maya dreamt that a white elephant with six white tusks entered her right side[15], and ten months later Siddhartha was born. As was the Shakya tradition, when his mother Queen Maya became pregnant, she left Kapilvastu for her father's kingdom to give birth. However, she gave birth on the way, at Lumbini, in a garden beneath a sal tree.
The day of the Buddha's birth is widely celebrated in Theravada countries as Vesak.[16] Various sources hold that the Buddha's mother died at his birth, a few days or seven days later. The infant was given the name Siddhartha (Pāli: Siddhatta), meaning "he who achieves his aim". During the birth celebrations, the hermit seer Asita journeyed from his mountain abode and announced that the child would either become a great king (chakravartin) or a great holy man.[17] This occurred after Siddhartha placed his feet in Asita's hair and Asita examined the birthmarks. Suddhodana held a naming ceremony on the fifth day, and invited eight brahmin scholars to read the future. All gave a dual prediction that the baby would either become a great king or a great holy man.[17] Kaundinya (Pali: Kondanna), the youngest, and later to be the first arahant, was the only one who unequivocally predicted that Siddhartha would become a Buddha.[18]
While later tradition and legend characterized Śuddhodana as a hereditary monarch, the descendant of the Solar Dynasty of Ikṣvāku (Pāli: Okkāka), many scholars believe that Śuddhodana was the elected chief of a tribal confederacy.
Early life and marriage
Siddhartha, destined to a luxurious life as a prince, had three palaces (for seasonal occupation) especially built for him. His father, King Śuddhodana, wishing for Siddhartha to be a great king, shielded his son from religious teachings or knowledge of human suffering. Siddhartha was brought up by his mother's younger sister, Maha Pajapati.[19]
As the boy reached the age of 16, his father arranged his marriage to Yaśodharā (Pāli: Yasodharā), a cousin of the same age. According to the traditional account, in time, she gave birth to a son, Rahula. Siddhartha spent 29 years as a Prince in Kapilavastu. Although his father ensured that Siddhartha was provided with everything he could want or need, Siddhartha felt that material wealth was not the ultimate goal of life.[19]
Departure and Ascetic Life
The Buddha travelled the plain of the Ganges river, where his philosophy attracted followers.
The Great Departure. Gandhara, 2nd century.
Prince Siddharta shaves his hair and become an ascetic. Borobudur, 8th century.At the age of 29, Siddhartha left his palace in order to meet his subjects. Despite his father's effort to remove the sick, aged and suffering from the public view, Siddhartha was said to have seen an old man. Disturbed by this, when told that all people would eventually grow old by his charioteer Channa, the prince went on further trips where he encountered, variously, a diseased man, a decaying corpse, and an ascetic. Deeply depressed by these sights, he sought to overcome old age, illness, and death by living the life of an ascetic.
Siddhartha escaped his palace, accompanied by Channa aboard his horse Kanthaka, leaving behind this royal life to become a mendicant. It is said that, "the horse's hooves were muffled by the gods"[20] to prevent guards from knowing the Bodhisatta's departure. This event is traditionally called "The Great Departure". Siddhartha initially went to Rajagaha and began his ascetic life by begging for alms in the street. Having been recognised by the men of King Bimbisara, Bimbisara offered him the throne after hearing of Siddhartha's quest. Siddhartha rejected the offer, but promised to visit his kingdom of Magadha first, upon attaining enlightenment.
Siddhartha left Rajagaha and practised under two hermit teachers. After mastering the teachings of Alara Kalama (Skr. Ārāḍa Kālāma), Siddhartha was asked by Kalama to succeed him, but moved on after being unsatisfied with his practices. He then became a student of Udaka Ramaputta (Skr. Udraka Rāmaputra), but although he achieved high levels of meditative consciousness and was asked to succeed Ramaputta, he was still not satisfied with his path, and moved on.[21]
Gandhara Buddha. 1st–2nd century CE, Tokyo National Museum.Siddhartha and a group of five companions led by Kaundinya then set out to take their austerities even further. They tried to find enlightenment through near total deprivation of worldly goods, including food, practising self-mortification. After nearly starving himself to death by restricting his food intake to around a leaf or nut per day, he collapsed in a river while bathing and almost drowned. Siddhartha began to reconsider his path. Then, he remembered a moment in childhood in which he had been watching his father start the season's plowing, and he had fallen into a naturally concentrated and focused state that was blissful and refreshing, the jhana.
Enlightenment
Prince Siddhartha Gautama, Musée Guimet, ParisAfter asceticism and concentrating on meditation and Anapana-sati (awareness of breathing in and out), Siddhartha is said to have discovered what Buddhists call the Middle Way—a path of moderation away from the extremes of self-indulgence and self-mortification. He accepted a little milk and rice pudding from a village girl named Sujata, who wrongly believed him to be the spirit that had granted her a wish, such was his emaciated appearance. Then, sitting under a pipal tree, now known as the Bodhi tree in Bodh Gaya, India, he vowed never to arise until he had found the Truth. Kaundinya and the other four companions, believing that he had abandoned his search and become undisciplined, left. After 49 days meditating, at the age of 35, he attained Enlightenment; according to some traditions, this occurred approximately in the fifth lunar month, and according to others in the twelfth. Gautama, from then on, was known as the Buddha or "Awakened One." Buddha is also sometimes translated as "The Enlightened One." Often, he is referred to in Buddhism as Shakyamuni Buddha or "The Awakened One of the Shakya Clan."
At this point, he is believed to have realized complete awakening and insight into the nature and cause of human suffering which was ignorance, along with steps necessary to eliminate it. This was then categorized into 'Four Noble Truths'; the state of supreme liberation—possible for any being—was called Nirvana. He then allegedly came to possess the Nine Characteristics, which are said to belong to every Buddha.
According to one of the stories in the Āyācana Sutta (Samyutta Nikaya VI.1), a scripture found in the Pāli and other canons, immediately after his Enlightenment, the Buddha was wondering whether or not he should teach the Dharma to human beings. He was concerned that, as human beings were overpowered by greed, hatred and delusion, they would not be able to see the true dharma, which was subtle, deep and hard to understand. However, Brahmā Sahampati, interceded and asked that he teach the dharma to the world, as "there will be those who will understand the Dharma". With his great compassion to all beings in the universe, the Buddha agreed to become a teacher.
Formation of the sangha
Painting of the first sermon depicted at Wat Chedi Liem in Thailand.After becoming enlightened, two merchants whom the Buddha met, named Tapussa and Bhallika became the first lay disciples. They are given some hairs from the Buddha's head, which are believed to now be enshrined in the Shwe Dagon Temple in Rangoon, Burma. The Buddha intended to visit Asita, and his former teachers, Alara Kalama and Uddaka Ramaputta to explain his findings, but they had already died.
The Buddha thus journeyed to Deer Park near Vārāṇasī (Benares) in northern India, he set in motion the Wheel of Dharma by delivering his first sermon to the group of five companions with whom he had previously sought enlightenment. They, together with the Buddha, formed the first saṅgha, the company of Buddhist monks, and hence, the first formation of Triple Gem (Buddha, Dharma and Sangha) was completed, with Kaundinya becoming the first stream-enterer. All five soon become arahants, and with the conversion of Yasa and fifty four of his friends, the number of arahants swelled to 60 within the first two months. The conversion of the three Kassapa brothers and their 200, 300 and 500 disciples swelled the sangha over 1000, and they were dispatched to explain the dharma to the populace.
It is unknown what the Buddha's mother tongue was, and no conclusive documentation has been made at this point. It is likely that he preached and his teachings were originally preserved in a variety of closely related Middle Indo-Aryan dialects, of which Pali may be a standardization.
Travels and teaching
Buddha with his protector Vajrapani, Gandhara, 2nd century CE, Ostasiatische Kunst MuseumFor the remaining 45 years of his life, the Buddha is said to have traveled in the Gangetic Plain, in what is now Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and southern Nepal, teaching his doctrine and discipline to an extremely diverse range of people— from nobles to outcaste street sweepers, mass murderers such as Angulimala and cannibals such as Alavaka. This extended to many adherents of rival philosophies and religions. The Buddha founded the community of Buddhist monks and nuns (the Sangha) to continue the dispensation after his Parinirvāna (Pāli: Parinibbāna) or "complete Nirvāna", and made thousands of converts. His religion was open to all races and classes and had no caste structure. He was also subject to attack from opposition religious groups, including attempted murders and framings.
A Tang Dynasty (618–907 AD) Chinese silk landscape painting depicting the young Sakyamuni shaving his head. This is one of the earliest visual presentations of the Gautama Buddha in the history of paintingThe sangha travelled from place to place in India, expounding the dharma. This occurred throughout the year, except during the four months of the vassana rainy season. Due to the heavy amount of flooding, travelling was difficult, and ascetics of all religions in that time did not travel, since it was more difficult to do so without stepping on submerged animal life, unwittingly killing them. During this period, the sangha would retreat to a monastery, public park or a forest and people would come to them.
The first vassana was spent at Varanasi when the sangha was first formed. After this, he travelled to Rajagaha, the capital of Magadha to visit King Bimbisara, in accordance with his promise after enlightenment. It was during this visit that Sariputta and Mahamoggallana were converted by Assaji, one of the first five disciples; they were to become the Buddha's two foremost disciples. The Buddha then spent the next three seasons at Veluvana Bamboo Grove monastery in Rajagaha, the capital of Magadha. The monastery, which was of a moderate distance from the city centre was donated by Bimbisara.
Upon hearing of the enlightenment, Suddhodana dispatched royal delegations to ask the Buddha to return to Kapilavastu. Nine delegations were sent in all, but the delegates joined the sangha and became arahants. Neglecting worldly matters, they did not convey their message. The tenth delegation, led by Kaludayi, a childhood friend, resulted in the message being successfully conveyed as well as becoming an arahant. Since it was not the vassana, the Buddha agreed, and two years after his enlightenment, took a two month journey to Kapilavastu by foot, preaching the dharma along the way. Upon his return, the royal palace had prepared the midday meal, but since no specific invitation had come, the sangha went for an alms round in Kapilavastu. Hearing this, Suddhodana hastened to approach the Buddha, stating "Ours is the warrior lineage of Mahamassata, and not a single warrior has gone seeking alms", to which the Buddha replied
That is not the custom of your royal lineage. But it is the custom of my Buddha lineage. Several thousands of Buddhas have gone by seeking alms
Suddhodana invited the sangha back to the royal palace for the meal, followed by a dharma talk, after which he became a sotapanna. During the visit, many members of the royal family joined the sangha. His cousins Ananda and Anuruddha were to become two of his five chief disciples. His son Rahula also joined the sangha at the age of seven, and was one of the ten chief disciples. His half-brother Nanda also joined the sangha and became an arahant. Another cousin Devadatta also became a monk although he later became an enemy and tried to kill the Buddha on multiple occasions.
Of his disciples, Sariputta, Mahamoggallana, Mahakasyapa, Ananda and Anuruddha comprised the five chief disciples. His ten foremost disciples were completed by the quintet of Upali, Subhoti, Rahula, Mahakaccana and Punna.
In the fifth vassana, the Buddha was staying at Mahavana near Vesali. Hearing of the impending death of Suddhodana, the Buddha went to his father and preached the dharma, and Suddhodana became an arahant prior to death. The death and cremation led to the creation of the order of nuns. Buddhist texts record that he was reluctant to ordain women as nuns. His foster mother Maha Pajapati approached him asking to join the sangha, but the Buddha refused, and began the journey from Kapilavastu back to Rajagaha. Maha Pajapati was so intent on renouncing the world that she led a group of royal Sakyan and Koliyan ladies, following the sangha to Rajagaha. The Buddha eventually accepted them five years after the formation of the Sangha on the grounds that their capacity for enlightenment was equal to that of men, but he gave them certain additional rules (Vinaya) to follow. This occurred after Ananda interceded on their behalf. Yasodhara also became a nun, with both becoming arahants.
Devadatta tries to attack the Buddha. Picture of a wallpainting in a Laotian monastery.During his ministry, Devadatta (who was not an arahant) frequently tried to undermine the Buddha. At one point Devadatta asked the Buddha to stand aside to let him lead the sangha. The Buddha declined, and stated that Devadatta's actions did not reflect on the Triple Gem, but on him alone. Devadatta conspired with Prince Ajatasattu, son of Bimbisara, so that they would kill and usurp the Buddha and Bimbisara respectively. Devadatta attempted three times to kill the Buddha. The first attempt involved the hiring of a group of archers, whom upon meeting the Buddha became disciples. A second attempt followed when Devadatta attempted to roll a large boulder down a hill. It hit another rock and splintered, only grazing the Buddha in the foot. A final attempt by plying an elephant with alcohol and setting it loose again failed. Failing this, Devadatta attempted to cause a schism in the sangha, by proposing extra restrictions on the vinaya. When the Buddha declined, Devadatta started a breakaway order, criticising the Buddha's laxity. At first, he managed to convert some of the bhikkhus, but Sariputta and Mahamoggallana expounded the dharma to them and succeeded in winning them back.
When the Buddha reached the age of 55, he made Ananda his chief attendant.
Death / Mahaparinirvana
An artist`s portrayal of Buddha's entry into Parinirvana.According to the Mahaparinibbana Sutta of the Pali canon, at the age of 80, the Buddha announced that he would soon reach Parinirvana or the final deathless state abandoning the earthly body. After this, the Buddha ate his last meal, which he had received as an offering from a blacksmith named Cunda. Falling violently ill, Buddha instructed his attendant Ānanda to convince Cunda that the meal eaten at his place had nothing to do with his passing and that his meal would be a source of the greatest merit as it provided the last meal for a Buddha.[22] Mettanando and von Hinüber argue that the Buddha died of mesenteric infarction, a symptom of old age, rather than food poisoning.[23] The precise contents of the Buddha's final meal are not clear, due to variant scriptural traditions and ambiguity over the translation of certain significant terms; the Theravada tradition generally believes that the Buddha was offered some kind of pork, while the Mahayana tradition believes that the Buddha consumed some sort of truffle or other mushroom.
The sharing of the relics of the Buddha, Zenyōmitsu-Temple Museum, Tokyo
Buddha relics from Kanishka's stupa in Peshawar, Pakistan, now in Mandalay, Burma. Teresa Merrigan, 2005The Mahayana Vimalakirti Sutra claims, in Chapter 3, that the Buddha doesn't really become ill or old but purposely presents such an appearance only to teach those born into samsara about the impermanence and pain of defiled worlds and to encourage them to strive for Nirvana.
"Reverend Ánanda, the Tathágatas have the body of the Dharma—not a body that is sustained by material food. The Tathágatas have a transcendental body that has transcended all mundane qualities. There is no injury to the body of a Tathágata, as it is rid of all defilements. The body of a Tathágata is uncompounded and free of all formative activity. Reverend Ánanda, to believe there can be illness in such a body is irrational and unseemly!' Nevertheless, since the Buddha has appeared during the time of the five corruptions, he disciplines living beings by acting lowly and humble."[14]
Ananda protested Buddha's decision to enter Parinirvana in the abandoned jungles of Kuśināra (present-day Kushinagar, India) of the Malla kingdom. Buddha, however, reminded Ananda how Kushinara was a land once ruled by a righteous wheel-turning king that resounded with joy:
44. Kusavati, Ananda, resounded unceasingly day and night with ten sounds—the trumpeting of elephants, the neighing of horses, the rattling of chariots, the beating of drums and tabours, music and song, cheers, the clapping of hands, and cries of "Eat, drink, and be merry!"
Buddha then asked all the attendant Bhikshus to clarify any doubts or questions they had. They had none. He then finally entered Parinirvana. The Buddha's final words were, "All composite things pass away. Strive for your own liberation with diligence." The Buddha's body was cremated and the relics were placed in monuments or stupas, some of which are believed to have survived until the present. For example, The Temple of the Tooth or "Dalada Maligawa" in Sri Lanka is the place where the relic of the right tooth of Buddha is kept at present.
According to the Pāli historical chronicles of Sri Lanka, the Dīpavaṃsa and Mahāvaṃsa, the coronation of Aśoka (Pāli: Asoka) is 218 years after the death of Buddha. According to one Mahayana record in Chinese (十八部論 and 部執異論), the coronation of Aśoka is 116 years after the death of Buddha. Therefore, the time of Buddha's passing is either 486 BCE according to Theravāda record or 383 BCE according to Mahayana record. However, the actual date traditionally accepted as the date of the Buddha's death in Theravāda countries is 544 or 543 BCE, because the reign of Aśoka was traditionally reckoned to be about 60 years earlier than current estimates.
At his death, the Buddha told his disciples to follow no leader, but to follow his teachings (dharma). However, at the First Buddhist Council, Mahakasyapa was held by the sangha as their leader, with the two chief disciples Mahamoggallana and Sariputta having died before the Buddha.
Physical characteristics
Main article: Physical characteristics of the Buddha
Buddha is perhaps one of the few sages for whom we have mention of his rather impressive physical characteristics. A kshatriya by birth, he had military training in his upbringing, and by Shakyan tradition was required to pass tests to demonstrate his worthiness as a warrior in order to marry. He had a strong enough body to be noticed by one of the kings and was asked to join his army as a general. He is also believed by Buddhists to have "the 32 Signs of the Great Man".
The Brahmin Sonadanda described him as "handsome, good-looking, and pleasing to the eye, with a most beautiful complexion. He has a godlike form and countenance, he is by no means unattractive."(D,I:115).
"It is wonderful, truly marvellous, how serene is the good Gotama's appearance, how clear and radiant his complexion, just as the golden jujube in autumn is clear and radiant, just as a palm-tree fruit just loosened from the stalk is clear and radiant, just as an adornment of red gold wrought in a crucible by a skilled goldsmith, deftly beaten and laid on a yellow-cloth shines, blazes and glitters, even so, the good Gotama's senses are calmed, his complexion is clear and radiant." (A,I:181)
A disciple named Vakkali, who later became an Arahant, was so obsessed by Buddha's physical presence that Buddha had to tell him to stop and reminded Vakkali to know Buddha through the Dhamma and not physical appearances.
Although the Buddha was not represented in human form until around the 1st century CE (see Buddhist art), the physical characteristics of fully-enlightened Buddhas are described by the Buddha in the Digha Nikaya's Lakkhaṇa Sutta (D,I:142).[24] In addition, the Buddha's physical appearance is described by Yasodhara to their son Rahula upon the Buddha's first post-Enlightenment return to his former princely palace in the non-canonical Pali devotional hymn, Narasīha Gāthā ("The Lion of Men").[25]
Many Westerners associate the name "Buddha" with figurine depictions of a certain fat, bald, smiling person. This is inaccurate, as the person in these figurines is not Buddha at all, but Budai, a Chinese Buddhist monk who lived in the 10th century CE.
Teachings
Main article: Buddhist philosophy
Seated Buddha, Gandhara, 2nd century CE.Some scholars believe that some portions of the Pali Canon and the Agamas could contain the actual substance of the historical teachings (and possibly even the words) of the Buddha.[26][27] This is not the case for the later Mahayana sutras.[28] The scriptural works of Early Buddhism precede the Mahayana works chronologically, and are treated by many Western scholars as the main credible source for information regarding the actual historical teachings of Gautama Buddha.
Some of the fundamentals of the teachings of Gautama Buddha are:
The Four Noble Truths: that suffering is an inherent part of existence; that the origin of suffering is ignorance and the main symptoms of that ignorance are attachment and craving; that attachment and craving can be ceased; and that following the Noble Eightfold Path will lead to the cessation of attachment and craving and therefore suffering.
The Noble Eightfold Path: right understanding, right thought, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration.
Dependent origination: that any phenomenon 'exists' only because of the ‘existence’ of other phenomena in a complex web of cause and effect covering time past, present and future. Because all things are thus conditioned and transient (anicca), they have no real independent identity (anatta).
Rejection of the infallibility of accepted scripture: Teachings should not be accepted unless they are borne out by our experience and are praised by the wise. See the Kalama Sutta for details.
Anicca (Sanskrit: anitya): That all things are impermanent.
Dukkha (Sanskrit: duḥkha): That all beings suffer from all situations due to unclear mind.
Anatta (Sanskrit: anātman): That the perception of a constant "self" is an illusion.
However, in some Mahayana schools, these points have come to be regarded as more or less subsidiary. There is some disagreement amongst various schools of Buddhism over more esoteric aspects of Buddha's teachings, and also over some of the disciplinary rules for monks.
According to tradition, the Buddha emphasized ethics and correct understanding. He questioned the average person's notions of divinity and salvation. He stated that there is no intermediary between mankind and the divine; distant gods are subjected to karma themselves in decaying heavens; and the Buddha is solely a guide and teacher for the sentient beings who must tread the path of Nirvāṇa (Pāli: Nibbāna) themselves to attain the spiritual awakening called bodhi and see truth and reality as it is. The Buddhist system of insight and meditation practice is not believed to have been revealed divinely, but by the understanding of the true nature of the mind, which must be discovered by personally treading a spiritual path guided by the Buddha's teachings.
See also
Iconography of the Buddha
Buddha as an Avatar of Vishnu
Buddha as viewed in other religions
Buddhahood
List of the 28 Buddhas
Maitreya Buddha (Future Buddha)
History of Buddhism
The Light of Asia
References
1.^ The Buddha
2.^ L. S. Cousins (1996), "The dating of the historical Buddha: a review article", Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society (3)6(1): 57–63.
3.^ "As is now almost universally accepted by informed Indological scholarship, a re-examination of early Buddhist historical material, ..., necessitates a redating of the Buddha's death to between 411 and 400 BCE." Paul Dundas, The Jains, 2nd edition, (Routledge, 2001), p. 24.
4.^ Lopez (1995). Buddhism in Practice. Princeton University Press. pp. 16.
5.^ Michael Carrithers, The Buddha, 1983, pages 13, 14. Found in Founders of Faith, Oxford University Press, 1986.
6.^ Sue Hamilton, Identity and Experience. LUZAC Oriental, 1996, pages 110-111.
7.^ Michael Carrithers, The Buddha, 1983, pages 13, 14. Found in Founders of Faith, Oxford University Press, 1986.
8.^ Carrithers, page 15.
9.^ Carrithers, page 10.
10.^ http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/buddhistworld/lumbini.htm
11.^ Richard Gombrich, Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benares to Modern Colombo. Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1988, page 49.
12.^ Romila Thapar, The Penguin History of Early India: From Origins to AD 1300. Penguin Books, 2002, page 137.
13.^ Richard Gombrich, Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benares to Modern Colombo. Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1988, pages 49-50.
14.^ Romila Thapar, The Penguin History of Early India: From Origins to AD 1300. Penguin Books, 2002, page 146.
15.^ http://www.sacred-texts.com/bud/lob/lob04.htm
16.^ Turpie, D. 2001. Wesak And The Re-Creation of Buddhist Tradition. Master's Thesis. Montreal, Quebec: McGill University. (p. 3). Available from: http://www.mrsp.mcgill.ca/reports/pdfs/Wesak.pdf. Accessed 17 November 2006.
17.^ a b Narada (1992). A Manual of Buddhism. Buddha Educational Foundation. p. 9–12. ISBN 967-9920-58-5.
18.^ Narada (1992), p11-12
19.^ a b Narada (1992), p14
20.^ Narada (1992), pp15-16
21.^ Narada (1992), pp19-20
22.^ Maha-parinibbana Sutta (DN 16), verse 56
23.^ Mettanando Bhikkhu and Oskar von Hinueber, "The Cause of the Buddha's Death"; Vol. XXVI of the Journal of the Pali Text Society, 2000. See also this article by Mettanando saying the same thing: [1].
24.^ Maurice Walshe, The Long Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Dīgha Nikāya, 1995, Boston: Wisdom Publications, "[DN] 30: Lakkhaṇa Sutta: The Marks of a Great Man," pp. 441-60.
25.^ Ven. Elgiriye Indaratana Maha Thera, Vandana: The Album of Pali Devotional Chanting and Hymns, 2002, pp. 49-52, retrieved 2007-11-08 from "BuddhaNet" at http://www.buddhanet.net/pdf_file/vandana02.pdf.
26.^ It is therefore possible that much of what is found in the Suttapitaka is earlier than c.250 B.C., perhaps even more than 100 years older than this. If some of the material is so old, it might be possible to establish what texts go back to the very beginning of Buddhism, texts which perhaps include the substance of the Buddha’s teaching, and in some cases, maybe even his words. How old is the Suttapitaka? Alexander Wynne, St John’s College, 2003, p.22 (this article is available on the website of the Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies: [www.ocbs.org/research/Wynne.pdf]
27.^ It would be hypocritical to assert that nothing can be said about the doctrine of earliest Buddhism ... the basic ideas of Buddhism found in the canonical writings could very well have been proclaimed by him [the Buddha], transmitted and developed by his disciples and, finally, codified in fixed formulas. J.W. De Jong, 1993: The Beginnings of Buddhism, in The Eastern Buddhist, vol. 26, no. 2, p. 25
28.^ The Mahayana movement claims to have been founded by the Buddha himself. The consensus of the evidence, however, is that it originated in South India in the 1st century CE–Indian Buddhism, AK Warder, 3rd edition, 1999, p. 335
Tuesday, November 03, 2009
Matter
The term matter traditionally refers to the substance that all objects are made of.[1][2] One common way to identify this "substance" is through its physical properties; a common definition of matter is anything that has mass and occupies a volume.[3] However, this definition has to be revised in light of quantum mechanics, where the concept of "having mass", and "occupying space" are not as well-defined as in everyday life. A more general view is that bodies are made of several substances, and the properties of matter (among them, mass and volume) are determined not only by the substances themselves, but by how they interact. In other words, matter is made up of interacting "building blocks",[4][5] the so-called particulate theory of matter.[6]
The concept of matter has been refined many times in history, in light of the improvement in knowledge of just what the basic building blocks are, and in how they interact. For example, in the early 18th century, Isaac Newton viewed matter as "solid, massy, hard, impenetrable, movable particles", which were "even so very hard as never to wear or break in pieces"[7] The "primary" properties of matter were amenable to mathematical description, unlike "secondary" qualities such as color or taste.[7] In the 19th century, following the development of the periodic table, and of atomic theory, atoms were seen as the being the fundamental constituents of matter; atoms formed molecules and compounds.[8]
In the late 19th century with the discovery of the electron, and in the early 20th century, with the discovery of the atomic nucleus, and the birth of particle physics, matter was seen as made up of electrons, protons and neutrons interacting to form atoms. Today, we know that even protons and neutrons are not indivisible, they can be divided into quarks, while electrons are part of a particle family called leptons. Both quarks and leptons are elementary particles, and are currently seen as being more fundamental constituents of matter.[9]
These quarks and leptons interact through four fundamental forces: gravity, electromagnetism, weak interactions, and strong interactions. The Standard Model of particle physics is currently the best explanation for all of physics, but despite decades of efforts, gravity cannot yet be accounted for at the quantum-level; it is only described by classical physics (see quantum gravity and graviton).[10] Interactions between quarks and leptons are the result of an exchange of force-carrying particles (such as photons) between quarks and leptons.[11] The force-carrying particles are not themselves building blocks. As one consequence, mass and energy cannot always be related to matter. For example, the carriers of the electric force (photons) possess energy (see Planck relation) and the carriers of the weak force (W bosons) are massive, but neither are considered matter either.[12] However, while these particles are not considered matter, they do contribute to the total mass of atoms or subatomic particles.[13][14]
Matter is commonly said to exist in four states (or phases): solid, liquid, gas and plasma. However, advances in experimental technique have realized other phases, previously only theoretical constructs, such as Bose–Einstein condensates and Fermionic condensates. A focus on an elementary-particle view of matter also leads to new phases of matter, such as the quark-gluon plasma.[15]
In physics and chemistry, matter exhibits both wave-like and particle-like properties, the so-called wave-particle duality.[16][17][18]
In the realm of cosmology, extensions of the term matter are invoked to include dark matter and dark energy, concepts introduced to explain some odd phenomena of the observable universe, such as the galactic rotation curve. These exotic forms of "matter" do not refer to matter as "building blocks", but rather to currently poorly-understood forms of mass and energy.[19]
Contents [hide]
1 Definitions
1.1 Common definition
1.2 Amount of substance
1.3 Atoms and molecules definition
1.4 Protons, neutrons and electrons definition
1.5 Quarks and leptons definition
1.6 Smaller building blocks?
1.7 Discussion and background
2 Phases of ordinary matter
2.1 Solid
2.2 Liquid
2.3 Gas
2.4 Plasma
2.5 Bose–Einstein condensate
2.6 Fermionic condensate
2.7 Core of a neutron star
2.8 Quark-gluon plasma
2.9 Transparent Aluminum
3 Structure of ordinary matter
3.1 Quarks
3.1.1 Baryonic matter
3.1.2 Degenerate matter
3.1.3 Strange matter
3.1.3.1 Two meanings of the term "strange matter"
3.2 Leptons
4 Antimatter
5 Other types of matter
5.1 Dark matter
5.2 Dark energy
5.3 Exotic matter
6 References
7 Further reading
8 External links
9 See also
[edit] Definitions
[edit] Common definition
The DNA molecule is an example of matter under the "atoms and molecules" definition. Hydrogen bonds are shown as dotted lines.The common definition of matter is anything that has both mass and volume (occupies space).[20][21] For example, a car would be said to be made of matter, as it occupies space, and has mass.
The observation that matter occupies space goes back to antiquity. However, an explanation for why matter occupies space is recent, and is argued to be a result of the Pauli exclusion principle.[22][23] Two particular examples where the exclusion principle clearly relates matter to the occupation of space are white dwarf stars and neutron stars, discussed further below.
[edit] Amount of substance
The international standards organization Bureau International des Poids et Mesures (BIPM) uses the terminology "amount of substance", rather than "matter". To quote the SI brochure:[24]
"Amount of substance is defined to be proportional to the number of specified elementary entities in a sample, the proportionality constant being a universal constant which is the same for all samples. The unit of amount of substance is called the mole, symbol mol, and the mole is defined by specifying the mass of carbon 12 that constitutes one mole of carbon 12 atoms. By international agreement this was fixed at 0.012 kg, i.e. 12 g.
1. The mole is the amount of substance of a system which contains as many elementary entities as there are atoms in 0.012 kilogram of carbon 12; its symbol is "mol".
2. When the mole is used, the elementary entities must be specified and may be atoms, molecules, ions, electrons, other particles, or specified groups of such particles."
[edit] Atoms and molecules definition
A definition of "matter" that is based upon its physical and chemical structure is: matter is made up of atoms and molecules. This definition is consistent with the BIPM definition of "amount of substance" above, but is more specific about the constituents of matter (and unconcerned about the unit mole). Further discussion appears below in the discussion section and in the description of the quarks and leptons definition. As an example of matter under this definition, genetic information is carried by a long molecule called DNA, which is copied and inherited across generations. It is matter under this definition because it is made of atoms, not by virtue of having mass or occupying space. This definition can be extended to include charged atoms and molecules, so as to include plasmas (gases of ions) and electrolytes (ionic solutions), which are not obviously included in the atoms and molecules definition. Alternatively, one can adopt the protons, neutrons and electrons definition below.
[edit] Protons, neutrons and electrons definition
A definition of "matter" more fine-scale than the atoms and molecules definition is: matter is made up of what atoms and molecules are made of, meaning anything made of protons, neutrons, and electrons.[25] This definition goes beyond atoms and molecules, however, to include substances made from these building blocks that are not simply atoms or molecules, for example white dwarf matter — typically, carbon and oxygen nuclei in a sea of degenerate electrons. At a microscopic level, the constituent "particles" of matter such as protons, neutrons and electrons obey the laws of quantum mechanics and exhibit wave-particle duality. At an even deeper level, protons and neutrons are made up of quarks and the force fields (gluons) that bind them together (see Quarks and leptons definition below).
[edit] Quarks and leptons definition
Under the "quarks and leptons" definition, the elementary and composite particles made of the quarks (in purple) and leptons (in green) would be "matter"; while the gauge bosons (in red) would not be "matter". However, interaction energy inherent to composite particles (for example, gluons involved in neutrons and protons) contribute to the mass of ordinary matter.As may be seen from the above discussion, many early definitions of what can be called ordinary matter were based upon its structure or "building blocks". On the scale of elementary particles, a definition that follows this tradition can be stated as: ordinary matter is everything that is composed of elementary fermions, namely quarks and leptons.[26][27] The connection between these formulations follows.
Leptons (the most famous being the electron), and quarks (of which baryons, such as protons and neutrons, are made) combine to form atoms, which in turn form molecules. Because atoms and molecules are said to be matter, it is natural to phrase the definition as: ordinary matter is anything that is made of the same things that atoms and molecules are made of. (However, notice that one also can make from these building blocks matter that is not atoms or molecules.) Then, because electrons are leptons, and protons and neutrons are made of quarks, this definition in turn leads to the definition of matter as being "quarks and leptons", which are the two types of elementary fermions. Carithers and Grannis state: Ordinary matter is composed entirely of first-generation particles, namely the u [up] and d [down] quarks, plus the electron and its neutrino.[28] (By "first-generation" is meant the stable quarks and leptons. Higher "generations" decay into "first-generation" particles.[29])
This definition of ordinary matter is more subtle than it first appears. There are two groups of particles. All the particles that make up matter, such as electrons, protons and neutrinos, are fermions. All the force carriers are bosons.[30] See the tabulation in the figure. The W and Z bosons that mediate the weak force are not made of quarks and leptons, and so are not ordinary matter, but do have mass.[31] In other words, mass is not something that is exclusive to ordinary matter.
The quark-lepton definition of ordinary matter, however, identifies not only the elementary building blocks of matter, but also includes composites made from the constituents (atoms and molecules, for example). Such composites contain an interaction energy that holds the constituents together, and may constitute the bulk of the mass of the composite. As an example, to a great extent, the mass of an atom is simply the sum of the masses of its constituent protons, neutrons and electrons. However, digging deeper, the protons and neutrons are made up of quarks bound together by gluon fields (see QCD).[32] Basically, much of the mass of hadrons is the interaction energy of bound quarks. Thus, most of what composes the "mass" of ordinary matter is interquark interaction energy.[33] For example, "the gluonic forces binding three quarks (total mass 12.5 MeV) to make a nucleon contribute most of its mass of 938 MeV".[29][34] In a similar vein, the quark gluon plasma is considered to be a state of matter, and obviously includes the gluons. The bottom line here is: in a complex such as an atom or a hadron, the matter in the complex is generally not the most significant source of the mass belonging to the complex.
[edit] Smaller building blocks?
“In the past, the search for building blocks of matter has led us to more and more 'elementary' entities – from the molecule to the atom, to the nucleus and electrons, to the nucleons, and eventually to the quarks. Have we completed this 'onion peeling' process ... ?”[35] The Standard Model groups matter particles into three generations, where each generation consists of two quarks and two leptons. The first generation is the up and down quarks, the electron and the electron neutrino; the second includes the charm and strange quarks, the muon and the muon neutrino; the third generation consists of the top and bottom quarks and the tau and tau neutrino. [36] “... the most natural explanation to the existence of higher generations of quarks and leptons is that they correspond to excited states of the first generation, and experience suggests that excited systems must be composite.”[35]
[edit] Discussion and background
The common definition in terms of occupying space and having mass is in contrast with most physical and chemical definitions of matter, which rely instead upon its structure and upon attributes not necessarily related to volume and mass. James Clerk Maxwell discussed matter in his work Matter and Motion.[37] He carefully separates "matter" from space and time, and defines it in terms of the object referred to in Newton's first law of motion. In the 19th century, the term "matter" was actively discussed by a host of scientists and philosophers, and a brief outline can be found in Levere.[38] A textbook discussion from 1870 suggests matter is what is made up of atoms:[39]
Three divisions of matter are recognized in science: masses, molecules and atoms.
A Mass of matter is any portion of matter appreciable by the senses.
A Molecule is the smallest particle of matter into which a body can be divided without losing its identity.
An Atom is a still smaller particle produced by division of a molecule.
Rather than simply having the attributes of mass and occupying space, matter was held to have chemical and electrical properties. The famous physicist J. J. Thomson wrote about the "constitution of matter" and was concerned with the possible connection between matter and electrical charge.[40] There is an entire literature concerning the "structure of matter", ranging from the "electrical structure" in the early 20th century,[41] to the more recent "quark structure of matter", introduced today with the remark: Understanding the quark structure of matter has been one of the most important advances in contemporary physics.[42] In this connection, physicists speak of matter fields, and speak of particles as "quantum excitations of a mode of the matter field".[16][17] And here is a quote from De Sabbata and Gasperini: "With the word "matter" we denote, in this context, the sources of the interactions, that is spinor fields (like quarks and leptons), which are believed to be the fundamental components of matter, or scalar fields, like the Higgs particles, which are used to introduced mass in a gauge theory (and which, however, could be composed of more fundamental fermion fields)."[43]
The term "matter" is used throughout physics in a bewildering variety of contexts: for example, one refers to "condensed matter physics",[44] "elementary matter",[45] "partonic" matter, "dark" matter, "anti"-matter, "strange" matter, and "nuclear" matter. In discussions of matter and antimatter, normal matter has been referred to by Alfvén as koinomatter.[46] It is fair to say that in physics, there is no broad consensus as to an exact definition of matter, and the term "matter" usually is used in conjunction with some modifier.
[edit] Phases of ordinary matter
A solid metal cup containing liquid nitrogen slowly evaporating into gaseous nitrogen. Evaporation is the phase transition from a liquid state to a gas state.
Phase diagram for a typical substance at a fixed volume. Vertical axis is Pressure, horizontal axis is Temperature. The green line marks the freezing point (above the green line is solid, below it is liquid) and the blue line the boiling point (above it is liquid and below it is gas). So, for example, at higher T, a higher P is necessary to maintain the substance in liquid phase. At the triple point the three phases; liquid, gas and solid; can coexist. Above the critical point there is no detectable difference between the phases. The dotted line shows the anomalous behavior of water: ice melts at constant temperature with increasing pressure.[47]Main article: Phase (matter)
See also: Phase diagram and State of matter
In bulk, matter can exist in several different forms, or states of aggregation, known as phases,[48] depending on ambient pressure, temperature and volume.[49] A phase is a form of matter that has a relatively uniform chemical composition and physical properties (such as density, specific heat, refractive index, and so forth). These phases include the three familiar ones (solids, liquids, and gases), as well as more exotic states of matter ( such as plasmas, superfluids, supersolids, Bose-Einstein condensates, ...). A fluid may be a liquid, gas or plasma. There are also paramagnetic and ferromagnetic phases of magnetic materials. As conditions change, matter may change from one phase into another. These phenomena are called phase transitions, and are studied in the field of thermodynamics. In nanomaterials, the vastly increased ratio of surface area to volume results in matter that can exhibit properties entirely different from those of bulk material, and not well described by any bulk phase (see nanomaterials for more details).
Phases are sometimes called states of matter, but this term can lead to confusion with thermodynamic states. For example, two gases maintained at different pressures are in different thermodynamic states (different pressures), but in the same phase (both are gases).
[edit] Solid
Main article: Solid
Solids are characterized by a tendency to retain their structural integrity; if left on their own, they will not spread in the same way gas or liquids would. Many solids, like rocks and concrete, have very high hardness and rigidity and will tend to break or shatter when subject to various forms of stress, but others like steel and paper are more flexible and will bend. Solids are often composed of crystals, glasses, or long chain molecules (e.g. rubber and paper). Some solids are amorphous such as glass. A common example of a solid is the solid form of water, ice.
[edit] Liquid
Main article: Liquid
In a liquid, the constituents frequently are touching, but able to move around each other. So unlike a gas, it has cohesion and viscosity. Compared to a solid, the forces holding constituents together are weaker, and it is not rigid, but adapts a shape decided by its container. Liquids are hard to compress. A common example is water.
[edit] Gas
Main article: Gas
A gas is a state of aggregation without cohesion; a vapor. Thus a gas has no resistance to changing shape (beyond the inertia of its constituents, which have to be knocked aside). The distance between constituent particles is flexible, determined, for example, by the size of a container and the number of particles, not by internal forces. A common example is the vapor form of water, steam.
[edit] Plasma
Main articles: Plasma (physics) and Astrophysical plasma
Plasma is a fourth state of matter consisting of an overall charge-neutral mix of electrons, ions and neutral atoms.[50] The plasma exhibits behavior peculiar to long range Coulomb forces in which the particles move in electromagnetic fields generated by and self-consistent with their own motions. The sun and stars are plasmas, as is the Earth's ionosphere, and plasmas occur in neon signs. Plasmas of deuterium and tritium ions are used in fusion reactions.[51] The term plasma was applied for the first time by Tonks and Langmuir in 1929, to the inner regions of a glowing ionized gas produced by electric discharge in a tube.[52]
[edit] Bose–Einstein condensate
Main article: Bose–Einstein condensate
This state of matter was first discovered by Satyendra Nath Bose, who sent his work on statistics of photons to Albert Einstein for comment. Following publication of Bose's paper, Einstein extended his treatment to massive particles fixed in number, and predicted this fifth state of matter in 1925. Bose–Einstein condensates were first realized experimentally by several different scientific groups in 1995 for rubidium, sodium, and lithium, using a combination of laser and evaporative cooling.[53] Bose–Einstein condensation for atomic hydrogen was achieved in 1998.[54]
The Bose–Einstein condensate is a liquid-like superfluid that occurs at low temperatures in which all atoms occupy the same quantum state. In low-density systems, it occurs at or below 10−5 K.[54]
[edit] Fermionic condensate
Main article: Fermionic condensate
See also: Superconductor and BCS theory
A fermonic condensate is a superfluid phase formed by fermionic particles at low temperatures. It is closely related to the Bose-Einstein condensate under similar conditions. Unlike the Bose-Einstein condensates, fermionic condensates are formed using fermions instead of bosons. The earliest recognized fermionic condensate described the state of electrons in a superconductor; the physics of other examples including recent work with fermionic atoms is analogous. The first atomic fermionic condensate was created by Deborah S. Jin in 2003.[55] These atomic fermionic condensates are studied at temperatures in the vicinity of 50-350 nK.[56]
A hypothetical fermionic condensate that appears in theories of massless fermions with chiral symmetry breaking is the chiral condensate or the quark condensate.[57]
A model of a neutron star's internal structure. (Other models exist.[58]) At a depth of about 10 km the core becomes a superfluid liquid primarily of neutrons. The section at the left shows density vs. radius. Data from Luminet et al.[59][edit] Core of a neutron star
Main articles: Neutron star and Pulsar
See also: Magnetar
Because of its extreme density, the core of a neutron star falls under no other state of matter. While a white dwarf is about as massive as the sun (up to 1.4 solar masses, the Chandrasekhar limit), the Pauli exclusion principle prevents its collapse to smaller radius, and it becomes an example of degenerate matter. In contrast, neutron stars are between 1.5 and 3 solar masses, and achieve such density that the protons and electrons are crushed to become neutrons. Neutrons are fermions, so further collapse is prevented by the exclusion principle, forming so-called neutron degenerate matter.[60][61]
Phases of nuclear matter; Compare with Siemens & Jensen.[62]
Relativistic gold ions collide to make a hadronic fireball; frame from animation by Brookhaven National Laboratory[edit] Quark-gluon plasma
Main articles: Quark-gluon plasma and QCD matter
See also: Gluon and Hadron
Gluons are elementary particles that cause quarks to interact, and are indirectly responsible for the binding of protons and neutrons together in atomic nuclei. The quark-gluon plasma is a hypothetical phase of matter, a phase of matter as yet not observed, supposed to exist in the early universe and to have evolved into a hadronic-gas phase.[63] At extremely high energy the strong force is anticipated to become so weak that the atomic nuclei break down into a bunch of loose quarks, which distinguishes the quark-gluon phase from normal plasma. In collisions of relativistic heavy ions, a phase transition occurs from the nuclear, hadronic phase to a matter phase consisting of quarks and gluons. So far, experimental results have shown that instead of a weakly interacting plasma, an almost ideal liquid is produced.[15][64] An animation is found at Gold ion collision @ RHIC.
[edit] Transparent Aluminum
Main article: Transparent aluminium
In 2009, scientists from Oxford University led an international team in using the FLASH laser synchrotron in Hamburg, Germany to create a new state of matter, transparent aluminum. Using a short pulse from the FLASH laser, they removed a core electron from each aluminium atom, but did not destroy or disrupt the metal’s crystalline structure. What resulted was an aluminum that was almost invisible to ultraviolet radiation. Scientists involved in the discovery suggest that this will aid in further research concerning planetary science and nuclear fusion. The effect on the aluminum lasted for 40 femtoseconds.[65]
A concept of transparent aluminum was seen in Star Trek IV.
[edit] Structure of ordinary matter
In particle physics, fermions are particles which obey Fermi–Dirac statistics. Fermions can be elementary, like the electron, or composite, like the proton and the neutron. In the Standard Model there are two types of elementary fermions: quarks and leptons, which are discussed next.
[edit] Quarks
Main article: Quark
Quarks are a particles of spin-1⁄2, implying that they are fermions. They carry an electric charge of −1⁄3 e (down-type quarks) or +2⁄3 e (up-type quarks). For comparison, an electron has a charge of −1 e. They also carry colour charge, which is the equivalent of the electric charge for the strong interaction. Quarks also undergo radioactive decay, meaning that they are subject to the weak interaction. Quarks are massive particles, and therefore are also subject to gravity.
Quark properties[66] Name Symbol Spin Electric charge
(e) Mass
(MeV/c2) Mass comparable to Antiparticle Antiparticle
symbol
Up-type quarks
Up u 1⁄2 +2⁄3 1.5 to 3.3 ~ 5 electrons Antiup u
Charm c 1⁄2 +2⁄3 1160 to 1340 ~ 1 proton Anticharm c
Top t 1⁄2 +2⁄3 169,100 to 173,300 ~ 180 protons or
~ 1 tungsten atom Antitop t
Down-type quarks
Down d 1⁄2 −1⁄3 3.5 to 6.0 ~ 10 electrons Antidown d
Strange s 1⁄2 −1⁄3 70 to 130 ~ 200 electrons Antistrange s
Bottom b 1⁄2 −1⁄3 4130 to 4370 ~ 5 protons Antibottom b
Quark structure of a proton: 2 up quarks and 1 down quark.[edit] Baryonic matter
Main article: Baryon
Baryons are strongly interacting fermions, and so are subject to Fermi-Dirac statistics. Amongst the baryons are the protons and neutrons, which occur in atomic nuclei, but many other unstable baryons exist as well. The term baryon is usually used to refer to triquarks — particles made of three quarks. "Exotic" baryons made of four quarks and one antiquark are known as the pentaquarks, but their existence is not generally accepted.
Baryonic matter is the part of the universe that is made of baryons (including all atoms). This part of the universe does not include dark energy, dark matter, black holes or various forms of degenerate matter, such as compose white dwarf stars and neutron stars. Microwave light seen by Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP), suggests that only about 4.6% of that part of the universe within range of the best telescopes (that is, matter that may be visible because light could reach us from it), is made of baryionic matter. About 23% is dark matter, and about 72% is dark energy.[67]
A comparison between the white dwarf IK Pegasi B (center), its A-class companion IK Pegasi A (left) and the Sun (right). This white dwarf has a surface temperature of 35,500 K.[edit] Degenerate matter
Main article: Degenerate matter
In physics, degenerate matter refers to the ground state of a gas of fermions at a temperature near absolute zero.[68] The Pauli exclusion principle requires that only two fermions can occupy a quantum state, one spin-up and the other spin-down. Hence, at zero temperature, the fermions fill up sufficient levels to accommodate all the available fermions, and for the case of many fermions the maximum kinetic energy called the Fermi energy and the pressure of the gas becomes very large and dependent upon the number of fermions rather than the temperature, unlike normal states of matter.
Degenerate matter is thought to occur during the evolution of heavy stars.[69] The demonstration by Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar that white dwarf stars have a maximum allowed mass because of the exclusion principle caused a revolution in the theory of star evolution.[70]
Degenerate matter includes the part of the universe that is made up of neutron stars and white dwarfs.
[edit] Strange matter
Main article: Strange matter
Strange matter is a particular form of quark matter, usually thought of as a 'liquid' of up, down, and strange quarks. It is to be contrasted with nuclear matter, which is a liquid of neutrons and protons (which themselves are built out of up and down quarks), and with non-strange quark matter, which is a quark liquid containing only up and down quarks. At high enough density, strange matter is expected to be color superconducting. Strange matter is hypothesized to occur in the core of neutron stars, or, more speculatively, as isolated droplets that may vary in size from femtometers (strangelets) to kilometers (quark stars).
[edit] Two meanings of the term "strange matter"
In particle physics and astrophysics, the term is used in two ways, one broader and the other more specific.
1.The broader meaning is just quark matter that contains three flavors of quarks: up, down, and strange. In this definition, there is a critical pressure and an associated critical density, and when nuclear matter (made of protons and neutrons) is compressed beyond this density, the protons and neutrons dissociate into quarks, yielding quark matter (probably strange matter).
2.The narrower meaning is quark matter that is more stable than nuclear matter. The idea that this could happen is the "strange matter hypothesis" of Bodmer [71] and Witten [72]. In this definition, the critical pressure is zero: the true ground state of matter is always quark matter. The nuclei that we see in the matter around us, which are droplets of nuclear matter, are actually metastable, and given enough time (or the right external stimulus) would decay into droplets of strange matter, i.e. strangelets.
[edit] Leptons
Main article: Lepton
Leptons are a particles of spin-1⁄2, meaning that they are fermions. They carry an electric charge of −1 e (electron-like leptons) or 0 e (neutrinos). Unlike quarks, leptons do not carry colour charge, meaning that they do not experience the strong interaction. Leptons also undergo radioactive decay, meaning that they are subject to the weak interaction. Leptons are massive particles, therefore are subject to gravity.
Lepton properties Name Symbol Spin Electric charge
(e) Mass
(MeV/c2) Mass comparable to Antiparticle Antiparticle
symbol
Charged leptons[73]
Electron e− 1⁄2 −1 0.5110 1 electron Antielectron
(positron) e+
Muon μ− 1⁄2 −1 105.7 ~ 200 electrons Antimuon μ+
Tauon τ− 1⁄2 −1 1,777 ~ 2 protons Antitauon τ+
Neutrinos[74]
Electron neutrino νe 1⁄2 0 < 0.000460 Less than a thousandth of an electron Electron antineutrino νe
Muon neutrino νμ 1⁄2 0 < 0.19 Less than half of an electron Muon antineutrino νμ
Tauon neutrino
(or tau neutrino) ντ 1⁄2 0 < 18.2 Less than ~ 40 electrons Tauon antineutrino
(or tau antineutrino) ντ
[edit] Antimatter
Main article: Antimatter
Unsolved problems in physics: Baryon asymmetry. Why is there far more matter than antimatter in the observable universe?In particle physics and quantum chemistry, antimatter is matter that is composed of the antiparticles of those that constitute ordinary matter. If a particle and its antiparticle come into contact with each other, the two annihilate; that is, they may both be converted into other particles with equal energy in accordance with Einstein's equation E = mc2. These new particles may be high-energy photons (gamma rays) or other particle–antiparticle pairs. The resulting particles are endowed with an amount of kinetic energy equal to the difference between the rest mass of the products of the annihilation and the rest mass of the original particle-antiparticle pair, which is often quite large.
Antimatter is not found naturally on Earth, except very briefly and in vanishingly small quantities (as the result of radioactive decay or cosmic rays). This is because antimatter which came to exist on Earth outside the confines of a suitable physics laboratory would almost instantly meet the ordinary matter that Earth is made of, and be annihilated. Antiparticles and some stable antimatter (such as antihydrogen) can be made in tiny amounts, but not in enough quantity to do more than test a few of its theoretical properties.
There is considerable speculation both in science and science fiction as to why the observable universe is apparently almost entirely matter, and whether other places are almost entirely antimatter instead. In the early universe, it is thought that matter and antimatter were equally represented, and the disappearance of antimatter requires an asymmetry in physical laws called the charge parity (or CP symmetry) violation. CP symmetry violation can be obtained from the Standard Model,[75] but at this time the apparent asymmetry of matter and antimatter in the visible universe is one of the great unsolved problems in physics. Possible processes by which it came about are explored in more detail under baryogenesis.
[edit] Other types of matter
Pie chart showing the fractions of energy in the universe contributed by different sources. Ordinary matter is divided into luminous matter (the stars and luminous gases and 0.005% radiation) and nonluminous matter (intergalactic gas and about 0.1% neutrinos and 0.04% supermassive black holes). Ordinary matter is uncommon. Modeled after Ostriker and Steinhardt.[76] For more information, see NASA.Ordinary matter, in the quarks and leptons definition, constitutes about 4% of the energy of the observable universe. The remaining energy is theorized to be due to exotic forms, of which 23% is dark matter[77][78] and 73% is dark energy.[79][80]
Galaxy rotation curve for the Milky Way. Vertical axis is speed of rotation about the galactic center. Horizontal axis is distance from the galactic center. The sun is marked with a yellow ball. The observed curve of speed of rotation is blue. The predicted curve based upon stellar mass and gas in the Milky Way is red. The difference is due to dark matter or perhaps a modification of the law of gravity.[81][82][83] Scatter in observations is indicated roughly by gray bars.[edit] Dark matter
Main articles: Dark matter, Lambda-CDM model, and WIMPs
See also: Galaxy formation and evolution and Dark matter halo
In astrophysics and cosmology, dark matter is matter of unknown composition that does not emit or reflect enough electromagnetic radiation to be observed directly, but whose presence can be inferred from gravitational effects on visible matter.[19][84] Observational evidence of the early universe and the big bang theory require that this matter have energy and mass, but is not composed of either elementary fermions (as above) OR gauge bosons. The commonly accepted view is that most of the dark-matter is non-baryonic in nature.[19] As such, it is composed of particles as yet unobserved in the laboratory. Perhaps they are supersymmetric particles,[85] which are not Standard Model particles, but relics formed at very high energies in the early phase of the universe and still floating about.[19]
[edit] Dark energy
Main article: Dark energy
See also: Big bang#Dark energy
In cosmology, dark energy is the name given to the antigravitating influence that is accelerating the rate of expansion of the universe. It is known not to be composed of known particles like protons, neutrons or electrons, nor of the particles of dark matter, because these all gravitate.[86][87]
Fully 70% of the matter density in the universe appears to be in the form of dark energy. Twenty-six percent is dark matter. Only 4% is ordinary matter. So less than 1 part in 20 is made out of matter we have observed experimentally or described in the standard model of particle physics. Of the other 96%, apart from the properties just mentioned, we know absolutely nothing.
– Lee Smolin: The Trouble with Physics, p. 16
[edit] Exotic matter
Main article: Exotic matter
Exotic matter is a hypothetical concept of particle physics. It covers any material which violates one or more classical conditions or is not made of known baryonic particles. Such materials would possess qualities like negative mass or being repelled rather than attracted by gravity.
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54.^ a b C. Pethick, H. Smith (2002). "Introduction". Bose–Einstein Condensation in Dilute Gases. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521665809. http://books.google.com/books?id=K_KPhpTTmkEC&printsec=frontcover&dq=%22Bose-Einstein+condensate%22&lr=&as_brr=0#PPA1,M1.
55.^ Markus Greiner; Regal, Cindy A.; Jin, Deborah S. (2003). "A molecular Bose-Einstein condensate emerges from a Fermi sea". arΧiv: cond-mat/0311172v1 [cond-mat.stat-mech].
56.^ Zwierlein, Martin W.; Schunck; Andre Schirotzek; Wolfgang Ketterle (2006). "Direct Observation of the Superfluid Phase Transition in Ultracold Fermi Gases". arΧiv: cond-mat/0605258v1 [cond-mat.supr-con].
57.^ E.V. Shuryak (2004). The QCD Vacuum, Hadrons and Superdense Matter. World Scientific. p. 159. ISBN 9812385746. http://books.google.com/books?id=rbcQMK6a6ekC&pg=PA182&dq=%22chiral+condensate%22&lr=&as_brr=0&as_pt=ALLTYPES#PPA159,M1.
58.^ P. Haensel, A.Y. Potekhin, A.Û. Potehin, D.G. Yakovlev (2007). Neutron Stars. Springer. p. 11. ISBN 0387335439. http://books.google.com/books?id=iIrj9nfHnesC&pg=PA52&dq=neutron+star+crystalline+mantle&lr=&as_brr=0#PPA11,M1.
59.^ J.-P. Luminet, A. Bullough, A. King (1992). Black Holes. Cambridge University Press. p. 111, Figure 25. ISBN 0521409063. http://books.google.com/books?id=WRexJODPq5AC&pg=PA55&dq=isbn=0521409063&lr=&as_brr=0#PPA111,M1.
60.^ D.R. Danielson (2001). The Book of the Cosmos. Da Capo Press. p. 455. ISBN 0738204986. http://books.google.com/books?id=zwIN_-rqrL4C&pg=PA453&dq=exclusion+principle+%22neutron+star%22&lr=&as_brr=0#PPA455,M1.
61.^ M.A. Strain (2004). Cosmic Entity. iUniverse (self-published). p. 50. ISBN 0595301258. http://books.google.com/books?id=Ic7YLrm0xvAC&pg=PA50&dq=matter+%22exclusion+principle%22&lr=&as_brr=0.
62.^ Phillip John Siemens, Aksel S. Jensen (1994). Elements Of Nuclei: Many-body Physics With The Strong Interaction. Westview Press. ISBN 0201627310. http://books.google.com/books?id=z-8vuyAqT9MC&pg=PA347.
63.^ Jean Letessier, Johann Rafelski (2002). Hadrons and quark-gluon plasma. Cambridge University Press. p. xi. ISBN 0521385369. http://books.google.com/books?id=vSnFPyQaSTsC&printsec=frontcover#PPR11,M1.
64.^ WA Zajc (2008). "The fluid nature of quark-gluon plasma". Nuclear Physics A 805: 283c-294c. doi:10.1016/j.nuclphysa.2008.02.285. http://arxiv.org/PS_cache/arxiv/pdf/0802/0802.3552v1.pdf.
65.^ "Transparent Aluminum Is ‘New State Of Matter’". http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090727130814.htm. Retrieved 2009-07-30.
66.^ C. Amsler et al. (Particle Data Group) (2008). Physics Letters 'B667': 1.
67.^ "Five Year Results on the Oldest Light in the Universe". NASA. 2008. http://map.gsfc.nasa.gov/m_mm.html. Retrieved 2 May 2008.
68.^ H.S. Goldberg, M.D. Scadron (1987). Physics of stellar evolution and cosmology. Taylor & Francis. p. 202. ISBN 0677055404. http://books.google.com/books?id=NowVde8kzIoC&pg=PA207&dq=matter+%22exclusion+principle%22&lr=&as_brr=0#PPA202,M1.
69.^ H.S. Goldberg, M.D. Scadron (1987). op. cit.. New York: Gordon and Breach. p. 233. ISBN 0677055404. http://books.google.com/books?id=NowVde8kzIoC&pg=PA207&dq=matter+%22exclusion+principle%22&lr=&as_brr=0#PPA233,M1.
70.^ J.-P. Luminet, A. Bullough, A. King (1992). Black Holes. Cambridge University Press. p. 75. ISBN 0521409063. http://books.google.com/books?id=WRexJODPq5AC&pg=PA72&dq=matter+%22exclusion+principle%22&lr=&as_brr=0#PPA75,M1.
71.^ A. Bodmer "Collapsed Nuclei" Phys. Rev. D4, 1601 (1971)
72.^ E. Witten, "Cosmic Separation Of Phases" Phys. Rev. D30, 272 (1984)
73.^ C. Amsler et al. (Particle Data Group) (2008). Physics Letters 'B667': 1.
74.^ C. Amsler et al. (Particle Data Group) (2008). Physics Letters 'B667': 1.
75.^ National Research Council (U.S.) (2006). Revealing the hidden nature of space and time. National Academies Press. p. 46. ISBN 0309101948. http://books.google.com/books?id=oTedc3rTDr4C&pg=PA46.
76.^ Ostriker, Jeremiah P.; Steinhardt (2003). "New Light on Dark Matter". arΧiv: astro-ph/0306402 [astro-ph].
77.^ K. Pretzl (2004). "Dark Matter, Massive Neutrinos and Susy Particles". Structure and Dynamics of Elementary Matter. Walter Greiner. p. 289. ISBN 1402024460. http://books.google.com/books?id=lokz2n-9gX0C&pg=PA289&dq=matter+%22massive+particles%22&lr=&as_brr=0.
78.^ K. Freeman, G. McNamara (2006). "What can the matter be?". In Search of Dark Matter. Birkhäuser. p. 105. ISBN 0387276165. http://books.google.com/books?id=C2OS1kmQ8JIC&pg=PA45&dq=isbn=0387276165#PPA105,M1.
79.^ J.C. Wheeler (2007). Cosmic Catastrophes: Exploding Stars, Black Holes, and Mapping the Universe. Cambridge University Press. p. 282. ISBN 0521857147. http://books.google.com/books?id=j1ej8d0F8jAC&pg=PA282&dq=%22dark+energy%22+date:2002-2009&lr=&as_brr=0.
80.^ J. Gribbin (2007). The Origins of the Future: Ten Questions for the Next Ten Years. Yale University Press. p. 151. ISBN 0300125968. http://books.google.com/books?id=f6AYrZYGig8C&pg=PA151&dq=%22dark+energy%22+date:2002-2009&lr=&as_brr=0.
81.^ P. Schneider (2006). Extragalactic Astronomy and Cosmology. Springer. p. 4, Figure 1.4. ISBN 3540331743. http://books.google.com/books?id=uP1Hz-6sHaMC&pg=PA100&dq=rotation+Milky+way&lr=&as_brr=0&as_pt=ALLTYPES#PPA5,M1.
82.^ T. Koupelis, K.F. Kuhn (2007). In Quest of the Universe. Jones & Bartlett Publishers. p. 492; Figure 16-13. ISBN 0763743879. http://books.google.com/books?id=6rTttN4ZdyoC&pg=PA491&dq=Milky+Way+%22rotation+curve%22&lr=&as_brr=0&as_pt=ALLTYPES#PPA492,M1.
83.^ M.H. Jones, R.J. Lambourne, D.J. Adams (2004). An Introduction to Galaxies and Cosmology. Cambridge University Press. p. 21; Figure 1.13. ISBN 0521546230. http://books.google.com/books?id=36K1PfetZegC&pg=PA20&dq=Milky+Way+%22rotation+curve%22&lr=&as_brr=0&as_pt=ALLTYPES#PPA21,M1.
84.^ Keith A Olive (2003). "Theoretical Advanced Study Institute lectures on dark matter". ArXive preprint. http://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0301505.
85.^ Keith A Olive (2009). "Colliders and Cosmology". Eur Phys J C59: 269–295. http://arxiv.org/abs/0806.1208v1.
86.^ J.C. Wheeler (2007). Cosmic Catastrophes. Cambridge University Press. p. 282. ISBN 0521857147. http://books.google.com/books?id=j1ej8d0F8jAC&pg=PA282&dq=%22dark+energy%22&lr=&as_brr=0.
87.^ L. Smolin (2007). op. cit.. Boston: Mariner Books. p. 16. ISBN 061891868X. http://books.google.com/books?id=z5rxrnlcp3sC&pg=PA67&dq=%22all+the+particles+that+make+up+matter%22&lr=&as_brr=0#PPA16,M1.
[edit] Further reading
Lillian Hoddeson, Michael Riordan, ed (1997). The Rise of the Standard Model. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521578167. http://books.google.com/books?id=klLUs2XUmOkC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_summary_r&cad=0#PPR5,M1.
Timothy Paul Smith (2004). "The search for quarks in ordinary matter". Hidden Worlds. Princeton University Press. p. 1. ISBN 0691057737. http://books.google.com/books?id=Pc1A0qJio88C&pg=PA1.
Harald Fritzsch (2005). Elementary Particles: Building blocks of matter. World Scientific. p. 1. ISBN 9812561412. http://books.google.com/books?id=KFodZ8oHz2sC&pg=PA1.
Bertrand Russell (1992). "The philosophy of matter". A Critical Exposition of the Philosophy of Leibniz (Reprint of 1937 2nd ed.). Routledge. p. 88. ISBN 041508296X
The concept of matter has been refined many times in history, in light of the improvement in knowledge of just what the basic building blocks are, and in how they interact. For example, in the early 18th century, Isaac Newton viewed matter as "solid, massy, hard, impenetrable, movable particles", which were "even so very hard as never to wear or break in pieces"[7] The "primary" properties of matter were amenable to mathematical description, unlike "secondary" qualities such as color or taste.[7] In the 19th century, following the development of the periodic table, and of atomic theory, atoms were seen as the being the fundamental constituents of matter; atoms formed molecules and compounds.[8]
In the late 19th century with the discovery of the electron, and in the early 20th century, with the discovery of the atomic nucleus, and the birth of particle physics, matter was seen as made up of electrons, protons and neutrons interacting to form atoms. Today, we know that even protons and neutrons are not indivisible, they can be divided into quarks, while electrons are part of a particle family called leptons. Both quarks and leptons are elementary particles, and are currently seen as being more fundamental constituents of matter.[9]
These quarks and leptons interact through four fundamental forces: gravity, electromagnetism, weak interactions, and strong interactions. The Standard Model of particle physics is currently the best explanation for all of physics, but despite decades of efforts, gravity cannot yet be accounted for at the quantum-level; it is only described by classical physics (see quantum gravity and graviton).[10] Interactions between quarks and leptons are the result of an exchange of force-carrying particles (such as photons) between quarks and leptons.[11] The force-carrying particles are not themselves building blocks. As one consequence, mass and energy cannot always be related to matter. For example, the carriers of the electric force (photons) possess energy (see Planck relation) and the carriers of the weak force (W bosons) are massive, but neither are considered matter either.[12] However, while these particles are not considered matter, they do contribute to the total mass of atoms or subatomic particles.[13][14]
Matter is commonly said to exist in four states (or phases): solid, liquid, gas and plasma. However, advances in experimental technique have realized other phases, previously only theoretical constructs, such as Bose–Einstein condensates and Fermionic condensates. A focus on an elementary-particle view of matter also leads to new phases of matter, such as the quark-gluon plasma.[15]
In physics and chemistry, matter exhibits both wave-like and particle-like properties, the so-called wave-particle duality.[16][17][18]
In the realm of cosmology, extensions of the term matter are invoked to include dark matter and dark energy, concepts introduced to explain some odd phenomena of the observable universe, such as the galactic rotation curve. These exotic forms of "matter" do not refer to matter as "building blocks", but rather to currently poorly-understood forms of mass and energy.[19]
Contents [hide]
1 Definitions
1.1 Common definition
1.2 Amount of substance
1.3 Atoms and molecules definition
1.4 Protons, neutrons and electrons definition
1.5 Quarks and leptons definition
1.6 Smaller building blocks?
1.7 Discussion and background
2 Phases of ordinary matter
2.1 Solid
2.2 Liquid
2.3 Gas
2.4 Plasma
2.5 Bose–Einstein condensate
2.6 Fermionic condensate
2.7 Core of a neutron star
2.8 Quark-gluon plasma
2.9 Transparent Aluminum
3 Structure of ordinary matter
3.1 Quarks
3.1.1 Baryonic matter
3.1.2 Degenerate matter
3.1.3 Strange matter
3.1.3.1 Two meanings of the term "strange matter"
3.2 Leptons
4 Antimatter
5 Other types of matter
5.1 Dark matter
5.2 Dark energy
5.3 Exotic matter
6 References
7 Further reading
8 External links
9 See also
[edit] Definitions
[edit] Common definition
The DNA molecule is an example of matter under the "atoms and molecules" definition. Hydrogen bonds are shown as dotted lines.The common definition of matter is anything that has both mass and volume (occupies space).[20][21] For example, a car would be said to be made of matter, as it occupies space, and has mass.
The observation that matter occupies space goes back to antiquity. However, an explanation for why matter occupies space is recent, and is argued to be a result of the Pauli exclusion principle.[22][23] Two particular examples where the exclusion principle clearly relates matter to the occupation of space are white dwarf stars and neutron stars, discussed further below.
[edit] Amount of substance
The international standards organization Bureau International des Poids et Mesures (BIPM) uses the terminology "amount of substance", rather than "matter". To quote the SI brochure:[24]
"Amount of substance is defined to be proportional to the number of specified elementary entities in a sample, the proportionality constant being a universal constant which is the same for all samples. The unit of amount of substance is called the mole, symbol mol, and the mole is defined by specifying the mass of carbon 12 that constitutes one mole of carbon 12 atoms. By international agreement this was fixed at 0.012 kg, i.e. 12 g.
1. The mole is the amount of substance of a system which contains as many elementary entities as there are atoms in 0.012 kilogram of carbon 12; its symbol is "mol".
2. When the mole is used, the elementary entities must be specified and may be atoms, molecules, ions, electrons, other particles, or specified groups of such particles."
[edit] Atoms and molecules definition
A definition of "matter" that is based upon its physical and chemical structure is: matter is made up of atoms and molecules. This definition is consistent with the BIPM definition of "amount of substance" above, but is more specific about the constituents of matter (and unconcerned about the unit mole). Further discussion appears below in the discussion section and in the description of the quarks and leptons definition. As an example of matter under this definition, genetic information is carried by a long molecule called DNA, which is copied and inherited across generations. It is matter under this definition because it is made of atoms, not by virtue of having mass or occupying space. This definition can be extended to include charged atoms and molecules, so as to include plasmas (gases of ions) and electrolytes (ionic solutions), which are not obviously included in the atoms and molecules definition. Alternatively, one can adopt the protons, neutrons and electrons definition below.
[edit] Protons, neutrons and electrons definition
A definition of "matter" more fine-scale than the atoms and molecules definition is: matter is made up of what atoms and molecules are made of, meaning anything made of protons, neutrons, and electrons.[25] This definition goes beyond atoms and molecules, however, to include substances made from these building blocks that are not simply atoms or molecules, for example white dwarf matter — typically, carbon and oxygen nuclei in a sea of degenerate electrons. At a microscopic level, the constituent "particles" of matter such as protons, neutrons and electrons obey the laws of quantum mechanics and exhibit wave-particle duality. At an even deeper level, protons and neutrons are made up of quarks and the force fields (gluons) that bind them together (see Quarks and leptons definition below).
[edit] Quarks and leptons definition
Under the "quarks and leptons" definition, the elementary and composite particles made of the quarks (in purple) and leptons (in green) would be "matter"; while the gauge bosons (in red) would not be "matter". However, interaction energy inherent to composite particles (for example, gluons involved in neutrons and protons) contribute to the mass of ordinary matter.As may be seen from the above discussion, many early definitions of what can be called ordinary matter were based upon its structure or "building blocks". On the scale of elementary particles, a definition that follows this tradition can be stated as: ordinary matter is everything that is composed of elementary fermions, namely quarks and leptons.[26][27] The connection between these formulations follows.
Leptons (the most famous being the electron), and quarks (of which baryons, such as protons and neutrons, are made) combine to form atoms, which in turn form molecules. Because atoms and molecules are said to be matter, it is natural to phrase the definition as: ordinary matter is anything that is made of the same things that atoms and molecules are made of. (However, notice that one also can make from these building blocks matter that is not atoms or molecules.) Then, because electrons are leptons, and protons and neutrons are made of quarks, this definition in turn leads to the definition of matter as being "quarks and leptons", which are the two types of elementary fermions. Carithers and Grannis state: Ordinary matter is composed entirely of first-generation particles, namely the u [up] and d [down] quarks, plus the electron and its neutrino.[28] (By "first-generation" is meant the stable quarks and leptons. Higher "generations" decay into "first-generation" particles.[29])
This definition of ordinary matter is more subtle than it first appears. There are two groups of particles. All the particles that make up matter, such as electrons, protons and neutrinos, are fermions. All the force carriers are bosons.[30] See the tabulation in the figure. The W and Z bosons that mediate the weak force are not made of quarks and leptons, and so are not ordinary matter, but do have mass.[31] In other words, mass is not something that is exclusive to ordinary matter.
The quark-lepton definition of ordinary matter, however, identifies not only the elementary building blocks of matter, but also includes composites made from the constituents (atoms and molecules, for example). Such composites contain an interaction energy that holds the constituents together, and may constitute the bulk of the mass of the composite. As an example, to a great extent, the mass of an atom is simply the sum of the masses of its constituent protons, neutrons and electrons. However, digging deeper, the protons and neutrons are made up of quarks bound together by gluon fields (see QCD).[32] Basically, much of the mass of hadrons is the interaction energy of bound quarks. Thus, most of what composes the "mass" of ordinary matter is interquark interaction energy.[33] For example, "the gluonic forces binding three quarks (total mass 12.5 MeV) to make a nucleon contribute most of its mass of 938 MeV".[29][34] In a similar vein, the quark gluon plasma is considered to be a state of matter, and obviously includes the gluons. The bottom line here is: in a complex such as an atom or a hadron, the matter in the complex is generally not the most significant source of the mass belonging to the complex.
[edit] Smaller building blocks?
“In the past, the search for building blocks of matter has led us to more and more 'elementary' entities – from the molecule to the atom, to the nucleus and electrons, to the nucleons, and eventually to the quarks. Have we completed this 'onion peeling' process ... ?”[35] The Standard Model groups matter particles into three generations, where each generation consists of two quarks and two leptons. The first generation is the up and down quarks, the electron and the electron neutrino; the second includes the charm and strange quarks, the muon and the muon neutrino; the third generation consists of the top and bottom quarks and the tau and tau neutrino. [36] “... the most natural explanation to the existence of higher generations of quarks and leptons is that they correspond to excited states of the first generation, and experience suggests that excited systems must be composite.”[35]
[edit] Discussion and background
The common definition in terms of occupying space and having mass is in contrast with most physical and chemical definitions of matter, which rely instead upon its structure and upon attributes not necessarily related to volume and mass. James Clerk Maxwell discussed matter in his work Matter and Motion.[37] He carefully separates "matter" from space and time, and defines it in terms of the object referred to in Newton's first law of motion. In the 19th century, the term "matter" was actively discussed by a host of scientists and philosophers, and a brief outline can be found in Levere.[38] A textbook discussion from 1870 suggests matter is what is made up of atoms:[39]
Three divisions of matter are recognized in science: masses, molecules and atoms.
A Mass of matter is any portion of matter appreciable by the senses.
A Molecule is the smallest particle of matter into which a body can be divided without losing its identity.
An Atom is a still smaller particle produced by division of a molecule.
Rather than simply having the attributes of mass and occupying space, matter was held to have chemical and electrical properties. The famous physicist J. J. Thomson wrote about the "constitution of matter" and was concerned with the possible connection between matter and electrical charge.[40] There is an entire literature concerning the "structure of matter", ranging from the "electrical structure" in the early 20th century,[41] to the more recent "quark structure of matter", introduced today with the remark: Understanding the quark structure of matter has been one of the most important advances in contemporary physics.[42] In this connection, physicists speak of matter fields, and speak of particles as "quantum excitations of a mode of the matter field".[16][17] And here is a quote from De Sabbata and Gasperini: "With the word "matter" we denote, in this context, the sources of the interactions, that is spinor fields (like quarks and leptons), which are believed to be the fundamental components of matter, or scalar fields, like the Higgs particles, which are used to introduced mass in a gauge theory (and which, however, could be composed of more fundamental fermion fields)."[43]
The term "matter" is used throughout physics in a bewildering variety of contexts: for example, one refers to "condensed matter physics",[44] "elementary matter",[45] "partonic" matter, "dark" matter, "anti"-matter, "strange" matter, and "nuclear" matter. In discussions of matter and antimatter, normal matter has been referred to by Alfvén as koinomatter.[46] It is fair to say that in physics, there is no broad consensus as to an exact definition of matter, and the term "matter" usually is used in conjunction with some modifier.
[edit] Phases of ordinary matter
A solid metal cup containing liquid nitrogen slowly evaporating into gaseous nitrogen. Evaporation is the phase transition from a liquid state to a gas state.
Phase diagram for a typical substance at a fixed volume. Vertical axis is Pressure, horizontal axis is Temperature. The green line marks the freezing point (above the green line is solid, below it is liquid) and the blue line the boiling point (above it is liquid and below it is gas). So, for example, at higher T, a higher P is necessary to maintain the substance in liquid phase. At the triple point the three phases; liquid, gas and solid; can coexist. Above the critical point there is no detectable difference between the phases. The dotted line shows the anomalous behavior of water: ice melts at constant temperature with increasing pressure.[47]Main article: Phase (matter)
See also: Phase diagram and State of matter
In bulk, matter can exist in several different forms, or states of aggregation, known as phases,[48] depending on ambient pressure, temperature and volume.[49] A phase is a form of matter that has a relatively uniform chemical composition and physical properties (such as density, specific heat, refractive index, and so forth). These phases include the three familiar ones (solids, liquids, and gases), as well as more exotic states of matter ( such as plasmas, superfluids, supersolids, Bose-Einstein condensates, ...). A fluid may be a liquid, gas or plasma. There are also paramagnetic and ferromagnetic phases of magnetic materials. As conditions change, matter may change from one phase into another. These phenomena are called phase transitions, and are studied in the field of thermodynamics. In nanomaterials, the vastly increased ratio of surface area to volume results in matter that can exhibit properties entirely different from those of bulk material, and not well described by any bulk phase (see nanomaterials for more details).
Phases are sometimes called states of matter, but this term can lead to confusion with thermodynamic states. For example, two gases maintained at different pressures are in different thermodynamic states (different pressures), but in the same phase (both are gases).
[edit] Solid
Main article: Solid
Solids are characterized by a tendency to retain their structural integrity; if left on their own, they will not spread in the same way gas or liquids would. Many solids, like rocks and concrete, have very high hardness and rigidity and will tend to break or shatter when subject to various forms of stress, but others like steel and paper are more flexible and will bend. Solids are often composed of crystals, glasses, or long chain molecules (e.g. rubber and paper). Some solids are amorphous such as glass. A common example of a solid is the solid form of water, ice.
[edit] Liquid
Main article: Liquid
In a liquid, the constituents frequently are touching, but able to move around each other. So unlike a gas, it has cohesion and viscosity. Compared to a solid, the forces holding constituents together are weaker, and it is not rigid, but adapts a shape decided by its container. Liquids are hard to compress. A common example is water.
[edit] Gas
Main article: Gas
A gas is a state of aggregation without cohesion; a vapor. Thus a gas has no resistance to changing shape (beyond the inertia of its constituents, which have to be knocked aside). The distance between constituent particles is flexible, determined, for example, by the size of a container and the number of particles, not by internal forces. A common example is the vapor form of water, steam.
[edit] Plasma
Main articles: Plasma (physics) and Astrophysical plasma
Plasma is a fourth state of matter consisting of an overall charge-neutral mix of electrons, ions and neutral atoms.[50] The plasma exhibits behavior peculiar to long range Coulomb forces in which the particles move in electromagnetic fields generated by and self-consistent with their own motions. The sun and stars are plasmas, as is the Earth's ionosphere, and plasmas occur in neon signs. Plasmas of deuterium and tritium ions are used in fusion reactions.[51] The term plasma was applied for the first time by Tonks and Langmuir in 1929, to the inner regions of a glowing ionized gas produced by electric discharge in a tube.[52]
[edit] Bose–Einstein condensate
Main article: Bose–Einstein condensate
This state of matter was first discovered by Satyendra Nath Bose, who sent his work on statistics of photons to Albert Einstein for comment. Following publication of Bose's paper, Einstein extended his treatment to massive particles fixed in number, and predicted this fifth state of matter in 1925. Bose–Einstein condensates were first realized experimentally by several different scientific groups in 1995 for rubidium, sodium, and lithium, using a combination of laser and evaporative cooling.[53] Bose–Einstein condensation for atomic hydrogen was achieved in 1998.[54]
The Bose–Einstein condensate is a liquid-like superfluid that occurs at low temperatures in which all atoms occupy the same quantum state. In low-density systems, it occurs at or below 10−5 K.[54]
[edit] Fermionic condensate
Main article: Fermionic condensate
See also: Superconductor and BCS theory
A fermonic condensate is a superfluid phase formed by fermionic particles at low temperatures. It is closely related to the Bose-Einstein condensate under similar conditions. Unlike the Bose-Einstein condensates, fermionic condensates are formed using fermions instead of bosons. The earliest recognized fermionic condensate described the state of electrons in a superconductor; the physics of other examples including recent work with fermionic atoms is analogous. The first atomic fermionic condensate was created by Deborah S. Jin in 2003.[55] These atomic fermionic condensates are studied at temperatures in the vicinity of 50-350 nK.[56]
A hypothetical fermionic condensate that appears in theories of massless fermions with chiral symmetry breaking is the chiral condensate or the quark condensate.[57]
A model of a neutron star's internal structure. (Other models exist.[58]) At a depth of about 10 km the core becomes a superfluid liquid primarily of neutrons. The section at the left shows density vs. radius. Data from Luminet et al.[59][edit] Core of a neutron star
Main articles: Neutron star and Pulsar
See also: Magnetar
Because of its extreme density, the core of a neutron star falls under no other state of matter. While a white dwarf is about as massive as the sun (up to 1.4 solar masses, the Chandrasekhar limit), the Pauli exclusion principle prevents its collapse to smaller radius, and it becomes an example of degenerate matter. In contrast, neutron stars are between 1.5 and 3 solar masses, and achieve such density that the protons and electrons are crushed to become neutrons. Neutrons are fermions, so further collapse is prevented by the exclusion principle, forming so-called neutron degenerate matter.[60][61]
Phases of nuclear matter; Compare with Siemens & Jensen.[62]
Relativistic gold ions collide to make a hadronic fireball; frame from animation by Brookhaven National Laboratory[edit] Quark-gluon plasma
Main articles: Quark-gluon plasma and QCD matter
See also: Gluon and Hadron
Gluons are elementary particles that cause quarks to interact, and are indirectly responsible for the binding of protons and neutrons together in atomic nuclei. The quark-gluon plasma is a hypothetical phase of matter, a phase of matter as yet not observed, supposed to exist in the early universe and to have evolved into a hadronic-gas phase.[63] At extremely high energy the strong force is anticipated to become so weak that the atomic nuclei break down into a bunch of loose quarks, which distinguishes the quark-gluon phase from normal plasma. In collisions of relativistic heavy ions, a phase transition occurs from the nuclear, hadronic phase to a matter phase consisting of quarks and gluons. So far, experimental results have shown that instead of a weakly interacting plasma, an almost ideal liquid is produced.[15][64] An animation is found at Gold ion collision @ RHIC.
[edit] Transparent Aluminum
Main article: Transparent aluminium
In 2009, scientists from Oxford University led an international team in using the FLASH laser synchrotron in Hamburg, Germany to create a new state of matter, transparent aluminum. Using a short pulse from the FLASH laser, they removed a core electron from each aluminium atom, but did not destroy or disrupt the metal’s crystalline structure. What resulted was an aluminum that was almost invisible to ultraviolet radiation. Scientists involved in the discovery suggest that this will aid in further research concerning planetary science and nuclear fusion. The effect on the aluminum lasted for 40 femtoseconds.[65]
A concept of transparent aluminum was seen in Star Trek IV.
[edit] Structure of ordinary matter
In particle physics, fermions are particles which obey Fermi–Dirac statistics. Fermions can be elementary, like the electron, or composite, like the proton and the neutron. In the Standard Model there are two types of elementary fermions: quarks and leptons, which are discussed next.
[edit] Quarks
Main article: Quark
Quarks are a particles of spin-1⁄2, implying that they are fermions. They carry an electric charge of −1⁄3 e (down-type quarks) or +2⁄3 e (up-type quarks). For comparison, an electron has a charge of −1 e. They also carry colour charge, which is the equivalent of the electric charge for the strong interaction. Quarks also undergo radioactive decay, meaning that they are subject to the weak interaction. Quarks are massive particles, and therefore are also subject to gravity.
Quark properties[66] Name Symbol Spin Electric charge
(e) Mass
(MeV/c2) Mass comparable to Antiparticle Antiparticle
symbol
Up-type quarks
Up u 1⁄2 +2⁄3 1.5 to 3.3 ~ 5 electrons Antiup u
Charm c 1⁄2 +2⁄3 1160 to 1340 ~ 1 proton Anticharm c
Top t 1⁄2 +2⁄3 169,100 to 173,300 ~ 180 protons or
~ 1 tungsten atom Antitop t
Down-type quarks
Down d 1⁄2 −1⁄3 3.5 to 6.0 ~ 10 electrons Antidown d
Strange s 1⁄2 −1⁄3 70 to 130 ~ 200 electrons Antistrange s
Bottom b 1⁄2 −1⁄3 4130 to 4370 ~ 5 protons Antibottom b
Quark structure of a proton: 2 up quarks and 1 down quark.[edit] Baryonic matter
Main article: Baryon
Baryons are strongly interacting fermions, and so are subject to Fermi-Dirac statistics. Amongst the baryons are the protons and neutrons, which occur in atomic nuclei, but many other unstable baryons exist as well. The term baryon is usually used to refer to triquarks — particles made of three quarks. "Exotic" baryons made of four quarks and one antiquark are known as the pentaquarks, but their existence is not generally accepted.
Baryonic matter is the part of the universe that is made of baryons (including all atoms). This part of the universe does not include dark energy, dark matter, black holes or various forms of degenerate matter, such as compose white dwarf stars and neutron stars. Microwave light seen by Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP), suggests that only about 4.6% of that part of the universe within range of the best telescopes (that is, matter that may be visible because light could reach us from it), is made of baryionic matter. About 23% is dark matter, and about 72% is dark energy.[67]
A comparison between the white dwarf IK Pegasi B (center), its A-class companion IK Pegasi A (left) and the Sun (right). This white dwarf has a surface temperature of 35,500 K.[edit] Degenerate matter
Main article: Degenerate matter
In physics, degenerate matter refers to the ground state of a gas of fermions at a temperature near absolute zero.[68] The Pauli exclusion principle requires that only two fermions can occupy a quantum state, one spin-up and the other spin-down. Hence, at zero temperature, the fermions fill up sufficient levels to accommodate all the available fermions, and for the case of many fermions the maximum kinetic energy called the Fermi energy and the pressure of the gas becomes very large and dependent upon the number of fermions rather than the temperature, unlike normal states of matter.
Degenerate matter is thought to occur during the evolution of heavy stars.[69] The demonstration by Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar that white dwarf stars have a maximum allowed mass because of the exclusion principle caused a revolution in the theory of star evolution.[70]
Degenerate matter includes the part of the universe that is made up of neutron stars and white dwarfs.
[edit] Strange matter
Main article: Strange matter
Strange matter is a particular form of quark matter, usually thought of as a 'liquid' of up, down, and strange quarks. It is to be contrasted with nuclear matter, which is a liquid of neutrons and protons (which themselves are built out of up and down quarks), and with non-strange quark matter, which is a quark liquid containing only up and down quarks. At high enough density, strange matter is expected to be color superconducting. Strange matter is hypothesized to occur in the core of neutron stars, or, more speculatively, as isolated droplets that may vary in size from femtometers (strangelets) to kilometers (quark stars).
[edit] Two meanings of the term "strange matter"
In particle physics and astrophysics, the term is used in two ways, one broader and the other more specific.
1.The broader meaning is just quark matter that contains three flavors of quarks: up, down, and strange. In this definition, there is a critical pressure and an associated critical density, and when nuclear matter (made of protons and neutrons) is compressed beyond this density, the protons and neutrons dissociate into quarks, yielding quark matter (probably strange matter).
2.The narrower meaning is quark matter that is more stable than nuclear matter. The idea that this could happen is the "strange matter hypothesis" of Bodmer [71] and Witten [72]. In this definition, the critical pressure is zero: the true ground state of matter is always quark matter. The nuclei that we see in the matter around us, which are droplets of nuclear matter, are actually metastable, and given enough time (or the right external stimulus) would decay into droplets of strange matter, i.e. strangelets.
[edit] Leptons
Main article: Lepton
Leptons are a particles of spin-1⁄2, meaning that they are fermions. They carry an electric charge of −1 e (electron-like leptons) or 0 e (neutrinos). Unlike quarks, leptons do not carry colour charge, meaning that they do not experience the strong interaction. Leptons also undergo radioactive decay, meaning that they are subject to the weak interaction. Leptons are massive particles, therefore are subject to gravity.
Lepton properties Name Symbol Spin Electric charge
(e) Mass
(MeV/c2) Mass comparable to Antiparticle Antiparticle
symbol
Charged leptons[73]
Electron e− 1⁄2 −1 0.5110 1 electron Antielectron
(positron) e+
Muon μ− 1⁄2 −1 105.7 ~ 200 electrons Antimuon μ+
Tauon τ− 1⁄2 −1 1,777 ~ 2 protons Antitauon τ+
Neutrinos[74]
Electron neutrino νe 1⁄2 0 < 0.000460 Less than a thousandth of an electron Electron antineutrino νe
Muon neutrino νμ 1⁄2 0 < 0.19 Less than half of an electron Muon antineutrino νμ
Tauon neutrino
(or tau neutrino) ντ 1⁄2 0 < 18.2 Less than ~ 40 electrons Tauon antineutrino
(or tau antineutrino) ντ
[edit] Antimatter
Main article: Antimatter
Unsolved problems in physics: Baryon asymmetry. Why is there far more matter than antimatter in the observable universe?In particle physics and quantum chemistry, antimatter is matter that is composed of the antiparticles of those that constitute ordinary matter. If a particle and its antiparticle come into contact with each other, the two annihilate; that is, they may both be converted into other particles with equal energy in accordance with Einstein's equation E = mc2. These new particles may be high-energy photons (gamma rays) or other particle–antiparticle pairs. The resulting particles are endowed with an amount of kinetic energy equal to the difference between the rest mass of the products of the annihilation and the rest mass of the original particle-antiparticle pair, which is often quite large.
Antimatter is not found naturally on Earth, except very briefly and in vanishingly small quantities (as the result of radioactive decay or cosmic rays). This is because antimatter which came to exist on Earth outside the confines of a suitable physics laboratory would almost instantly meet the ordinary matter that Earth is made of, and be annihilated. Antiparticles and some stable antimatter (such as antihydrogen) can be made in tiny amounts, but not in enough quantity to do more than test a few of its theoretical properties.
There is considerable speculation both in science and science fiction as to why the observable universe is apparently almost entirely matter, and whether other places are almost entirely antimatter instead. In the early universe, it is thought that matter and antimatter were equally represented, and the disappearance of antimatter requires an asymmetry in physical laws called the charge parity (or CP symmetry) violation. CP symmetry violation can be obtained from the Standard Model,[75] but at this time the apparent asymmetry of matter and antimatter in the visible universe is one of the great unsolved problems in physics. Possible processes by which it came about are explored in more detail under baryogenesis.
[edit] Other types of matter
Pie chart showing the fractions of energy in the universe contributed by different sources. Ordinary matter is divided into luminous matter (the stars and luminous gases and 0.005% radiation) and nonluminous matter (intergalactic gas and about 0.1% neutrinos and 0.04% supermassive black holes). Ordinary matter is uncommon. Modeled after Ostriker and Steinhardt.[76] For more information, see NASA.Ordinary matter, in the quarks and leptons definition, constitutes about 4% of the energy of the observable universe. The remaining energy is theorized to be due to exotic forms, of which 23% is dark matter[77][78] and 73% is dark energy.[79][80]
Galaxy rotation curve for the Milky Way. Vertical axis is speed of rotation about the galactic center. Horizontal axis is distance from the galactic center. The sun is marked with a yellow ball. The observed curve of speed of rotation is blue. The predicted curve based upon stellar mass and gas in the Milky Way is red. The difference is due to dark matter or perhaps a modification of the law of gravity.[81][82][83] Scatter in observations is indicated roughly by gray bars.[edit] Dark matter
Main articles: Dark matter, Lambda-CDM model, and WIMPs
See also: Galaxy formation and evolution and Dark matter halo
In astrophysics and cosmology, dark matter is matter of unknown composition that does not emit or reflect enough electromagnetic radiation to be observed directly, but whose presence can be inferred from gravitational effects on visible matter.[19][84] Observational evidence of the early universe and the big bang theory require that this matter have energy and mass, but is not composed of either elementary fermions (as above) OR gauge bosons. The commonly accepted view is that most of the dark-matter is non-baryonic in nature.[19] As such, it is composed of particles as yet unobserved in the laboratory. Perhaps they are supersymmetric particles,[85] which are not Standard Model particles, but relics formed at very high energies in the early phase of the universe and still floating about.[19]
[edit] Dark energy
Main article: Dark energy
See also: Big bang#Dark energy
In cosmology, dark energy is the name given to the antigravitating influence that is accelerating the rate of expansion of the universe. It is known not to be composed of known particles like protons, neutrons or electrons, nor of the particles of dark matter, because these all gravitate.[86][87]
Fully 70% of the matter density in the universe appears to be in the form of dark energy. Twenty-six percent is dark matter. Only 4% is ordinary matter. So less than 1 part in 20 is made out of matter we have observed experimentally or described in the standard model of particle physics. Of the other 96%, apart from the properties just mentioned, we know absolutely nothing.
– Lee Smolin: The Trouble with Physics, p. 16
[edit] Exotic matter
Main article: Exotic matter
Exotic matter is a hypothetical concept of particle physics. It covers any material which violates one or more classical conditions or is not made of known baryonic particles. Such materials would possess qualities like negative mass or being repelled rather than attracted by gravity.
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59.^ J.-P. Luminet, A. Bullough, A. King (1992). Black Holes. Cambridge University Press. p. 111, Figure 25. ISBN 0521409063. http://books.google.com/books?id=WRexJODPq5AC&pg=PA55&dq=isbn=0521409063&lr=&as_brr=0#PPA111,M1.
60.^ D.R. Danielson (2001). The Book of the Cosmos. Da Capo Press. p. 455. ISBN 0738204986. http://books.google.com/books?id=zwIN_-rqrL4C&pg=PA453&dq=exclusion+principle+%22neutron+star%22&lr=&as_brr=0#PPA455,M1.
61.^ M.A. Strain (2004). Cosmic Entity. iUniverse (self-published). p. 50. ISBN 0595301258. http://books.google.com/books?id=Ic7YLrm0xvAC&pg=PA50&dq=matter+%22exclusion+principle%22&lr=&as_brr=0.
62.^ Phillip John Siemens, Aksel S. Jensen (1994). Elements Of Nuclei: Many-body Physics With The Strong Interaction. Westview Press. ISBN 0201627310. http://books.google.com/books?id=z-8vuyAqT9MC&pg=PA347.
63.^ Jean Letessier, Johann Rafelski (2002). Hadrons and quark-gluon plasma. Cambridge University Press. p. xi. ISBN 0521385369. http://books.google.com/books?id=vSnFPyQaSTsC&printsec=frontcover#PPR11,M1.
64.^ WA Zajc (2008). "The fluid nature of quark-gluon plasma". Nuclear Physics A 805: 283c-294c. doi:10.1016/j.nuclphysa.2008.02.285. http://arxiv.org/PS_cache/arxiv/pdf/0802/0802.3552v1.pdf.
65.^ "Transparent Aluminum Is ‘New State Of Matter’". http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090727130814.htm. Retrieved 2009-07-30.
66.^ C. Amsler et al. (Particle Data Group) (2008). Physics Letters 'B667': 1.
67.^ "Five Year Results on the Oldest Light in the Universe". NASA. 2008. http://map.gsfc.nasa.gov/m_mm.html. Retrieved 2 May 2008.
68.^ H.S. Goldberg, M.D. Scadron (1987). Physics of stellar evolution and cosmology. Taylor & Francis. p. 202. ISBN 0677055404. http://books.google.com/books?id=NowVde8kzIoC&pg=PA207&dq=matter+%22exclusion+principle%22&lr=&as_brr=0#PPA202,M1.
69.^ H.S. Goldberg, M.D. Scadron (1987). op. cit.. New York: Gordon and Breach. p. 233. ISBN 0677055404. http://books.google.com/books?id=NowVde8kzIoC&pg=PA207&dq=matter+%22exclusion+principle%22&lr=&as_brr=0#PPA233,M1.
70.^ J.-P. Luminet, A. Bullough, A. King (1992). Black Holes. Cambridge University Press. p. 75. ISBN 0521409063. http://books.google.com/books?id=WRexJODPq5AC&pg=PA72&dq=matter+%22exclusion+principle%22&lr=&as_brr=0#PPA75,M1.
71.^ A. Bodmer "Collapsed Nuclei" Phys. Rev. D4, 1601 (1971)
72.^ E. Witten, "Cosmic Separation Of Phases" Phys. Rev. D30, 272 (1984)
73.^ C. Amsler et al. (Particle Data Group) (2008). Physics Letters 'B667': 1.
74.^ C. Amsler et al. (Particle Data Group) (2008). Physics Letters 'B667': 1.
75.^ National Research Council (U.S.) (2006). Revealing the hidden nature of space and time. National Academies Press. p. 46. ISBN 0309101948. http://books.google.com/books?id=oTedc3rTDr4C&pg=PA46.
76.^ Ostriker, Jeremiah P.; Steinhardt (2003). "New Light on Dark Matter". arΧiv: astro-ph/0306402 [astro-ph].
77.^ K. Pretzl (2004). "Dark Matter, Massive Neutrinos and Susy Particles". Structure and Dynamics of Elementary Matter. Walter Greiner. p. 289. ISBN 1402024460. http://books.google.com/books?id=lokz2n-9gX0C&pg=PA289&dq=matter+%22massive+particles%22&lr=&as_brr=0.
78.^ K. Freeman, G. McNamara (2006). "What can the matter be?". In Search of Dark Matter. Birkhäuser. p. 105. ISBN 0387276165. http://books.google.com/books?id=C2OS1kmQ8JIC&pg=PA45&dq=isbn=0387276165#PPA105,M1.
79.^ J.C. Wheeler (2007). Cosmic Catastrophes: Exploding Stars, Black Holes, and Mapping the Universe. Cambridge University Press. p. 282. ISBN 0521857147. http://books.google.com/books?id=j1ej8d0F8jAC&pg=PA282&dq=%22dark+energy%22+date:2002-2009&lr=&as_brr=0.
80.^ J. Gribbin (2007). The Origins of the Future: Ten Questions for the Next Ten Years. Yale University Press. p. 151. ISBN 0300125968. http://books.google.com/books?id=f6AYrZYGig8C&pg=PA151&dq=%22dark+energy%22+date:2002-2009&lr=&as_brr=0.
81.^ P. Schneider (2006). Extragalactic Astronomy and Cosmology. Springer. p. 4, Figure 1.4. ISBN 3540331743. http://books.google.com/books?id=uP1Hz-6sHaMC&pg=PA100&dq=rotation+Milky+way&lr=&as_brr=0&as_pt=ALLTYPES#PPA5,M1.
82.^ T. Koupelis, K.F. Kuhn (2007). In Quest of the Universe. Jones & Bartlett Publishers. p. 492; Figure 16-13. ISBN 0763743879. http://books.google.com/books?id=6rTttN4ZdyoC&pg=PA491&dq=Milky+Way+%22rotation+curve%22&lr=&as_brr=0&as_pt=ALLTYPES#PPA492,M1.
83.^ M.H. Jones, R.J. Lambourne, D.J. Adams (2004). An Introduction to Galaxies and Cosmology. Cambridge University Press. p. 21; Figure 1.13. ISBN 0521546230. http://books.google.com/books?id=36K1PfetZegC&pg=PA20&dq=Milky+Way+%22rotation+curve%22&lr=&as_brr=0&as_pt=ALLTYPES#PPA21,M1.
84.^ Keith A Olive (2003). "Theoretical Advanced Study Institute lectures on dark matter". ArXive preprint. http://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0301505.
85.^ Keith A Olive (2009). "Colliders and Cosmology". Eur Phys J C59: 269–295. http://arxiv.org/abs/0806.1208v1.
86.^ J.C. Wheeler (2007). Cosmic Catastrophes. Cambridge University Press. p. 282. ISBN 0521857147. http://books.google.com/books?id=j1ej8d0F8jAC&pg=PA282&dq=%22dark+energy%22&lr=&as_brr=0.
87.^ L. Smolin (2007). op. cit.. Boston: Mariner Books. p. 16. ISBN 061891868X. http://books.google.com/books?id=z5rxrnlcp3sC&pg=PA67&dq=%22all+the+particles+that+make+up+matter%22&lr=&as_brr=0#PPA16,M1.
[edit] Further reading
Lillian Hoddeson, Michael Riordan, ed (1997). The Rise of the Standard Model. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521578167. http://books.google.com/books?id=klLUs2XUmOkC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_summary_r&cad=0#PPR5,M1.
Timothy Paul Smith (2004). "The search for quarks in ordinary matter". Hidden Worlds. Princeton University Press. p. 1. ISBN 0691057737. http://books.google.com/books?id=Pc1A0qJio88C&pg=PA1.
Harald Fritzsch (2005). Elementary Particles: Building blocks of matter. World Scientific. p. 1. ISBN 9812561412. http://books.google.com/books?id=KFodZ8oHz2sC&pg=PA1.
Bertrand Russell (1992). "The philosophy of matter". A Critical Exposition of the Philosophy of Leibniz (Reprint of 1937 2nd ed.). Routledge. p. 88. ISBN 041508296X
Indefinite and fictitious numbers
The English language has a number of words for indefinite and fictitious numbers — inexact terms of indefinite size, used for comic effect, for exaggeration, as placeholder names, or when precision is unnecessary or undesirable.
Contents [hide]
1 General placeholder names
2 Umpteen
3 -illion
4 At-least numbers
5 See also
6 References
[edit] General placeholder names
a few (typically held to mean three, though not exclusively)
a couple (although this generally has the specific value two, it is also used less precisely)
couple-few, coupla-few or couple three
some-odd
bunch, as in "a whole bunch of...". Generally confined to American English use[citation needed].
several
many
n-something. Used especially to indicate someone's age within a decade, e.g., twentysomething.
eleventy-; e.g., "eleventy-four". Occasionally used to mean 110.
lots
plenty
scads
heaps
buckets
a grip (Generally confined to urban American English use)
loads (also truckloads, busloads, etc.)
oodles
tons (occasionally refers to multiples of 2000)
expletive-load or expletive-ton, e.g. "shit-load". Sometimes prefixed with "metric".
mumblety, especially done, often tongue-in-cheek, to conceal an exact value, as in "I shall be mumblety-two this year"
[edit] Umpteen
Umpteen is a term for an unspecified but reasonably large number, used in a humorous fashion or to imply that it is not worth the effort to pin down the actual figure. Despite the -teen ending, which would seem to indicate that it lies between 12 and 20, umpteen can be used in ways implying it is much larger than that—if it ever could be pinned down.
According to one dictionary, the word is derived from the slang ump(ty), a dash in Morse code (of imitative origin), plus -teen.[1]
[edit] -illion
Words ending in the sound "-illion", such as zillion,[2] jillion,[3] and gazillion,[4] are often used as fictitious names for an unspecified, large number by analogy to names of large numbers such as million, billion and trillion. Their size is dependent upon the context, but can typically be considered large enough to be unfathomable.
These terms are often used as hyperbole or for comic effect, or in loose, unconfined conversation to present an un-guessably large number. Since these are undefined, they have no mathematical validity and no accepted order, since none is necessarily larger or smaller than any of the others.
Many similar words are used, such as ananillion,[5] bajillion,[6] bazillion,[7] dillion,[8] gadzillion,[9] gagillion,[10] gajillion,[11] godzillion,[12] gonillion,[13] grillion,[14] hojillion,[15] julillion,[16] kabillion,[17] kajillion,[18] katrillion,[19] killion,[8] robillion,[20] skillion,[21] squillion,[2] and umptillion.[22] Fantillion.[23]
The "-illion" concept is so well established that it is the basis of a joke, in which a speaker misunderstands the word Brazilian (being from the nation of Brazil) as an enormous number "brazillion".[24]
These words can be transformed into ordinal numbers or fractions by the usual pattern of appending the suffix -th, e.g., "I asked her for the zillionth time."
[edit] At-least numbers
These terms refer to any of a set of numbers, where only the smallest is defined. The list is ordered numerically by this minimum:
Hyperfinite numbers: Numbers larger than 10150. In the intelligent design concept of specified complexity, a probability of the multiplicative inverse of it was proposed as the limit where events were possible in our universe.[25]
[edit] See also
List of unusual units of measurement
List of humorous units of measurement
Powers of Ten
[edit] References
1.^ American Heritage Dictionary, 4th edn.
2.^ a b Pratchett, Terry (2002). Witches Abroad. HarperCollins. ISBN 0-06-102061-3 0-06-102061-3. p. 146: "And you owe me a million billion trillion zillion squillion dollars."
3.^ p. 1103, The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, vol. 2, edited by Eric Partridge, Tom Dalzell, and Terry Victor, Taylor & Francis, 2006, ISBN 041525938X.
4.^ Included in the standard dictionary included with Microsoft Word word-processing software.
5.^ Williams, Michael A. (1994). Fruit on the Crow's Mind. The Times. ISBN 0-368-55763-0. p. 148: "I hate swimming an ananillion times more than I hate bananas."
6.^ Bates, Karen G. (2005). Plain Brown Wrapper. HarperCollins. ISBN 0-380-80891-9. p. 86: "Well, yes, it was, and the rumor that there were seventy bajillion women to every man just wouldn't die..."
7.^ Harrison, Colin (2001). Afterburn. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-97870-7. p. 278: "I wouldn't sleep with him in a bazillion years, but I'm not scared of him."
8.^ a b Resop, Jay (1 April 2004). "Neglected Character Deathmatch: Zadok vs Birdo vs Geno". Neglected Mario Characters. SMBHQ. http://www.smbhq.com/nc/death19.html. Retrieved 23 May 2008. "Duh nah timez a billion million zillion trillion killion dillion!"
9.^ Cooke, Kaz (2003). Bun in the Oven. Ten Speed Press. ISBN 1-58008-531-8. p. 3: "...and then the editor asked a gadzillion questions..."
10.^ Lawrence, Martha C. (1996). Murder in Scorpio. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-95984-2. p. 114: "The brochures basically told the same story Stan had given me: Pacific Properties owned a gagillion places that generated a gagillion dollars."
11.^ Southworth, Samuel A. (2004). U.S. Armed Forces Arsenal: A Guide to Modern Combat Hardware. Da Capo Press. ISBN 0-306-81318-1. p. 98: "The expectation was that the Soviets would roll a gajillion of their ever-improving but still basic tanks across the landscape..."
12.^ Franzen, Jonathan (2001). Strong Motion. Picador. ISBN 0-312-42051-X. p. 395: "She believes there's a zillion gallons of oil and a godzillion cubic meters of natural gas inside the earth, beginning at a depth of about four miles, and no anvil-headed senior research chemist with a crew cut and stinky breath is going to tell her it isn't so."
13.^ Goldberg, Steve (1986). Truth and Love. Random House. ISBN 0-380-80632-0. p. 302: "The curtains had a gonillion dust particles on them, like grandmother's dentures."
14.^ Kelley, Brent (2001). The Pastime in Turbulence: Interviews with Baseball Players of the 1940s. McFarland and Company. ISBN 0-7864-0975-4. p. 8: "After that, even expansion and grillion-dollar salaries could not harm it."
15.^ Holkins, Jerry; Krahulik, Mike (2001-06-22). "Magic: It's What's For Dinner!". Penny Arcade. http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2001/06/22.
16.^ Himmelstein, Sandra (1997). The Lampost Next Door. Picador. ISBN 0-678-73773-2. p. 67 "Make a wish, on any one of the julillion stars."
17.^ Hodgman, Ann (1999). Beat That!. Houghton Mifflin Cookbooks. ISBN 0-395-97178-0. p. 115: "That's about all I remember, except for this salad and the ninety kabillion manicotti someone else brought."
18.^ Steven Schragis and Rick Frishman (2006). 10 Clowns Don't Make a Circus. Adams Media. ISBN 1-59337-555-7. p. 122: "You are not going to sell a kajillion of anything just because it's the coolest little gizmo you ever saw or because your Uncle Ernie said you would."
19.^ Howe, James (2003). Tales From the House of Bunnicula #4: Screaming Mummies of the Pharaoh's Tomb II. Atheneum Books for Young Readers. ISBN 0-689-83954-5 p.2 "He [Uncle Harold] has been writing for a katrillion years and his books have sold a katrillion copies, even if he has gotten some stinko reviews."
20.^ Hanneman, George (1988). The Creeping Game. The Times. ISBN 0-233-83992-X. p. 19 "It was the robillionth time they had done it, but it was as fun as ever before."
21.^ Kean, Rob (2000). The Pledge. Warner Books. ISBN 0-446-60848-3. p. 429: "Sure enough, I found a skillion articles from about a dozen years ago, accounts of the events and aftermath of Cherry Plain."
22.^ Anthony, Piers (2002). How Precious Was That While. Tor/Forge. ISBN 0-8125-7543-1. p. 121: "Your best place, geographically, to bridge across the river is surrounded by Hell's Bells Bog, so deep it would take fifteen umptillion tons of special fill to stabilize it, putting you over your budget."
23.^ Any, Ziers (1502). What soda Was That While. Tor/Forge. ISBN 0-5655-7543-1. p. 791: "The taste danced across his tongue with the force of Fantillion concentrated sunbeams."
24.^ Christensen, Chris (2008). "How Many is a Brazillion?". http://chris2x.com/2005/09/23/how-many-is-abrazillion/.
25.^ ISCID Encyclopedia of Science and Philosophy – Hyperfinite Number
Contents [hide]
1 General placeholder names
2 Umpteen
3 -illion
4 At-least numbers
5 See also
6 References
[edit] General placeholder names
a few (typically held to mean three, though not exclusively)
a couple (although this generally has the specific value two, it is also used less precisely)
couple-few, coupla-few or couple three
some-odd
bunch, as in "a whole bunch of...". Generally confined to American English use[citation needed].
several
many
n-something. Used especially to indicate someone's age within a decade, e.g., twentysomething.
eleventy-; e.g., "eleventy-four". Occasionally used to mean 110.
lots
plenty
scads
heaps
buckets
a grip (Generally confined to urban American English use)
loads (also truckloads, busloads, etc.)
oodles
tons (occasionally refers to multiples of 2000)
expletive-load or expletive-ton, e.g. "shit-load". Sometimes prefixed with "metric".
mumblety, especially done, often tongue-in-cheek, to conceal an exact value, as in "I shall be mumblety-two this year"
[edit] Umpteen
Umpteen is a term for an unspecified but reasonably large number, used in a humorous fashion or to imply that it is not worth the effort to pin down the actual figure. Despite the -teen ending, which would seem to indicate that it lies between 12 and 20, umpteen can be used in ways implying it is much larger than that—if it ever could be pinned down.
According to one dictionary, the word is derived from the slang ump(ty), a dash in Morse code (of imitative origin), plus -teen.[1]
[edit] -illion
Words ending in the sound "-illion", such as zillion,[2] jillion,[3] and gazillion,[4] are often used as fictitious names for an unspecified, large number by analogy to names of large numbers such as million, billion and trillion. Their size is dependent upon the context, but can typically be considered large enough to be unfathomable.
These terms are often used as hyperbole or for comic effect, or in loose, unconfined conversation to present an un-guessably large number. Since these are undefined, they have no mathematical validity and no accepted order, since none is necessarily larger or smaller than any of the others.
Many similar words are used, such as ananillion,[5] bajillion,[6] bazillion,[7] dillion,[8] gadzillion,[9] gagillion,[10] gajillion,[11] godzillion,[12] gonillion,[13] grillion,[14] hojillion,[15] julillion,[16] kabillion,[17] kajillion,[18] katrillion,[19] killion,[8] robillion,[20] skillion,[21] squillion,[2] and umptillion.[22] Fantillion.[23]
The "-illion" concept is so well established that it is the basis of a joke, in which a speaker misunderstands the word Brazilian (being from the nation of Brazil) as an enormous number "brazillion".[24]
These words can be transformed into ordinal numbers or fractions by the usual pattern of appending the suffix -th, e.g., "I asked her for the zillionth time."
[edit] At-least numbers
These terms refer to any of a set of numbers, where only the smallest is defined. The list is ordered numerically by this minimum:
Hyperfinite numbers: Numbers larger than 10150. In the intelligent design concept of specified complexity, a probability of the multiplicative inverse of it was proposed as the limit where events were possible in our universe.[25]
[edit] See also
List of unusual units of measurement
List of humorous units of measurement
Powers of Ten
[edit] References
1.^ American Heritage Dictionary, 4th edn.
2.^ a b Pratchett, Terry (2002). Witches Abroad. HarperCollins. ISBN 0-06-102061-3 0-06-102061-3. p. 146: "And you owe me a million billion trillion zillion squillion dollars."
3.^ p. 1103, The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, vol. 2, edited by Eric Partridge, Tom Dalzell, and Terry Victor, Taylor & Francis, 2006, ISBN 041525938X.
4.^ Included in the standard dictionary included with Microsoft Word word-processing software.
5.^ Williams, Michael A. (1994). Fruit on the Crow's Mind. The Times. ISBN 0-368-55763-0. p. 148: "I hate swimming an ananillion times more than I hate bananas."
6.^ Bates, Karen G. (2005). Plain Brown Wrapper. HarperCollins. ISBN 0-380-80891-9. p. 86: "Well, yes, it was, and the rumor that there were seventy bajillion women to every man just wouldn't die..."
7.^ Harrison, Colin (2001). Afterburn. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-97870-7. p. 278: "I wouldn't sleep with him in a bazillion years, but I'm not scared of him."
8.^ a b Resop, Jay (1 April 2004). "Neglected Character Deathmatch: Zadok vs Birdo vs Geno". Neglected Mario Characters. SMBHQ. http://www.smbhq.com/nc/death19.html. Retrieved 23 May 2008. "Duh nah timez a billion million zillion trillion killion dillion!"
9.^ Cooke, Kaz (2003). Bun in the Oven. Ten Speed Press. ISBN 1-58008-531-8. p. 3: "...and then the editor asked a gadzillion questions..."
10.^ Lawrence, Martha C. (1996). Murder in Scorpio. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-95984-2. p. 114: "The brochures basically told the same story Stan had given me: Pacific Properties owned a gagillion places that generated a gagillion dollars."
11.^ Southworth, Samuel A. (2004). U.S. Armed Forces Arsenal: A Guide to Modern Combat Hardware. Da Capo Press. ISBN 0-306-81318-1. p. 98: "The expectation was that the Soviets would roll a gajillion of their ever-improving but still basic tanks across the landscape..."
12.^ Franzen, Jonathan (2001). Strong Motion. Picador. ISBN 0-312-42051-X. p. 395: "She believes there's a zillion gallons of oil and a godzillion cubic meters of natural gas inside the earth, beginning at a depth of about four miles, and no anvil-headed senior research chemist with a crew cut and stinky breath is going to tell her it isn't so."
13.^ Goldberg, Steve (1986). Truth and Love. Random House. ISBN 0-380-80632-0. p. 302: "The curtains had a gonillion dust particles on them, like grandmother's dentures."
14.^ Kelley, Brent (2001). The Pastime in Turbulence: Interviews with Baseball Players of the 1940s. McFarland and Company. ISBN 0-7864-0975-4. p. 8: "After that, even expansion and grillion-dollar salaries could not harm it."
15.^ Holkins, Jerry; Krahulik, Mike (2001-06-22). "Magic: It's What's For Dinner!". Penny Arcade. http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2001/06/22.
16.^ Himmelstein, Sandra (1997). The Lampost Next Door. Picador. ISBN 0-678-73773-2. p. 67 "Make a wish, on any one of the julillion stars."
17.^ Hodgman, Ann (1999). Beat That!. Houghton Mifflin Cookbooks. ISBN 0-395-97178-0. p. 115: "That's about all I remember, except for this salad and the ninety kabillion manicotti someone else brought."
18.^ Steven Schragis and Rick Frishman (2006). 10 Clowns Don't Make a Circus. Adams Media. ISBN 1-59337-555-7. p. 122: "You are not going to sell a kajillion of anything just because it's the coolest little gizmo you ever saw or because your Uncle Ernie said you would."
19.^ Howe, James (2003). Tales From the House of Bunnicula #4: Screaming Mummies of the Pharaoh's Tomb II. Atheneum Books for Young Readers. ISBN 0-689-83954-5 p.2 "He [Uncle Harold] has been writing for a katrillion years and his books have sold a katrillion copies, even if he has gotten some stinko reviews."
20.^ Hanneman, George (1988). The Creeping Game. The Times. ISBN 0-233-83992-X. p. 19 "It was the robillionth time they had done it, but it was as fun as ever before."
21.^ Kean, Rob (2000). The Pledge. Warner Books. ISBN 0-446-60848-3. p. 429: "Sure enough, I found a skillion articles from about a dozen years ago, accounts of the events and aftermath of Cherry Plain."
22.^ Anthony, Piers (2002). How Precious Was That While. Tor/Forge. ISBN 0-8125-7543-1. p. 121: "Your best place, geographically, to bridge across the river is surrounded by Hell's Bells Bog, so deep it would take fifteen umptillion tons of special fill to stabilize it, putting you over your budget."
23.^ Any, Ziers (1502). What soda Was That While. Tor/Forge. ISBN 0-5655-7543-1. p. 791: "The taste danced across his tongue with the force of Fantillion concentrated sunbeams."
24.^ Christensen, Chris (2008). "How Many is a Brazillion?". http://chris2x.com/2005/09/23/how-many-is-abrazillion/.
25.^ ISCID Encyclopedia of Science and Philosophy – Hyperfinite Number
Monday, November 02, 2009
Arithmetic
Arithmetic or arithmetics (from the Greek word αριθμός = number) is the oldest and most elementary branch of mathematics, used by almost everyone, for tasks ranging from simple day-to-day counting to advanced science and business calculations, such as addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. In common usage, the word refers to a branch of (or the forerunner of) mathematics which records elementary properties of certain operations on numbers. Professional mathematicians sometimes use the term (higher) arithmetic[1] when referring to number theory, but this should not be confused with elementary arithmetic.
Contents [hide]
1 History
2 Decimal arithmetic
3 Arithmetic operations
3.1 Addition (+)
3.2 Subtraction (−)
3.3 Multiplication (×, ·, or *)
3.4 Division (÷ or /)
3.5 Examples
3.5.1 Multiplication table
4 Number theory
5 Arithmetic in education
6 See also
6.1 Lists
6.2 Related topics
7 Footnotes
8 References
9 External links
[edit] History
The prehistory of arithmetic is limited to a very small number of small artifacts indicating a clear conception of addition and subtraction, the best-known being the Ishango bone from central Africa, dating from somewhere between 20,000 and 18,000 BC.
It is clear that the Babylonians had solid knowledge of almost all aspects of elementary arithmetic by 1800 BC, although historians can only guess at the methods utilized to generate the arithmetical results - as shown, for instance, in the clay tablet Plimpton 322, which appears to be a list of Pythagorean triples, but with no workings to show how the list was originally produced. Likewise, the Egyptian Rhind Mathematical Papyrus (dating from c. 1650 BC, though evidently a copy of an older text from c. 1850 BC) shows evidence of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division being used within a unit fraction system.
Nicomachus (c. AD 60 - c. AD 120) summarised the philosophical Pythagorean approach to numbers, and their relationships to each other, in his Introduction to Arithmetic. At this time, basic arithmetical operations were highly complicated affairs; it was the method known as the "Method of the Indians" (Latin Modus Indorum) that became the arithmetic that we know today. Indian arithmetic was much simpler than Greek arithmetic due to the simplicity of the Indian number system, which had a zero and place-value notation. The 7th century Syriac bishop Severus Sebokht mentioned this method with admiration, stating however that the Method of the Indians was beyond description. The Arabs learned this new method and called it hesab. Fibonacci (also known as Leonardo of Pisa) introduced the "Method of the Indians" to Europe in 1202. In his book Liber Abaci, Fibonacci says that, compared with this new method, all other methods had been mistakes. In the Middle Ages, arithmetic was one of the seven liberal arts taught in universities.
Modern algorithms for arithmetic (both for hand and electronic computation) were made possible by the introduction of Arabic numerals and decimal place notation for numbers. Arabic numeral based arithmetic was developed by the great Indian mathematicians Aryabhatta, Brahmagupta and Bhāskara I. Aryabhatta tried different place value notations and Brahmagupta added zero to the Indian number system. Brahmagupta developed modern multiplication, division, addition and subtraction based on Arabic numerals. Although it is now considered elementary, its simplicity is the culmination of thousands of years of mathematical development. By contrast, the ancient mathematician Archimedes devoted an entire work, The Sand Reckoner, to devising a notation for a certain large integer. The flourishing of algebra in the medieval Islamic world and in Renaissance Europe was an outgrowth of the enormous simplification of computation through decimal notation.
[edit] Decimal arithmetic
Decimal notation constructs all real numbers from the basic digits, the first ten non-negative integers 0,1,2,...,9. A decimal numeral consists of a sequence of these basic digits, with the "denomination" of each digit depending on its position with respect to the decimal point: for example, 507.36 denotes 5 hundreds (102), plus 0 tens (101), plus 7 units (100), plus 3 tenths (10-1) plus 6 hundredths (10-2). An essential part of this notation (and a major stumbling block in achieving it) was conceiving of zero as a number comparable to the other basic digits.
Algorism comprises all of the rules of performing arithmetic computations using a decimal system for representing numbers in which numbers written using ten symbols having the values 0 through 9 are combined using a place-value system (positional notation), where each symbol has ten times the weight of the one to its right. This notation allows the addition of arbitrary numbers by adding the digits in each place, which is accomplished with a 10 x 10 addition table. (A sum of digits which exceeds 9 must have its 10-digit carried to the next place leftward.) One can make a similar algorithm for multiplying arbitrary numbers because the set of denominations {...,10²,10,1,10-1,...} is closed under multiplication. Subtraction and division are achieved by similar, though more complicated algorithms.
[edit] Arithmetic operations
The traditional arithmetic operations are addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, although more advanced operations (such as manipulations of percentages, square root, exponentiation, and logarithmic functions) are also sometimes included in this subject. Arithmetic is performed according to an order of operations. Any set of objects upon which all four operations of arithmetic can be performed (except division by zero), and wherein these four operations obey the usual laws, is called a field.
[edit] Addition (+)
Main article: Addition
Addition is the basic operation of arithmetic. In its simplest form, addition combines two numbers, the addends or terms, into a single number, the sum of the numbers.
Adding more than two numbers can be viewed as repeated addition; this procedure is known as summation and includes ways to add infinitely many numbers in an infinite series; repeated addition of the number one is the most basic form of counting.
Addition is commutative and associative so the order in which the terms are added does not matter. The identity element of addition (the additive identity) is 0, that is, adding zero to any number will yield that same number. Also, the inverse element of addition (the additive inverse) is the opposite of any number, that is, adding the opposite of any number to the number itself will yield the additive identity, 0. For example, the opposite of 7 is -7, so 7 + (-7) = 0.
Addition can be given geometrically as follows:
If a and b are the lengths of two sticks, then if we place the sticks one after the other, the length of the stick thus formed will be a + b.
[edit] Subtraction (−)
Main article: Subtraction
Subtraction is the opposite of addition. Subtraction finds the difference between two numbers, the minuend minus the subtrahend. If the minuend is larger than the subtrahend, the difference will be positive; if the minuend is smaller than the subtrahend, the difference will be negative; and if they are equal, the difference will be zero.
Subtraction is neither commutative nor associative. For that reason, it is often helpful to look at subtraction as addition of the minuend and the opposite of the subtrahend, that is a − b = a + (−b). When written as a sum, all the properties of addition hold.
[edit] Multiplication (×, ·, or *)
Main article: Multiplication
Multiplication is the second basic operation of arithmetic. Multiplication also combines two numbers into a single number, the product. The two original numbers are called the multiplier and the multiplicand, sometimes both simply called factors.
Multiplication is best viewed as a scaling operation. If the real numbers are imagined as lying in a line, multiplication by a number, say x, greater than 1 is the same as stretching everything away from zero uniformly, in such a way that the number 1 itself is stretched to where x was. Similarly, multiplying by a number less than 1 can be imagined as squeezing towards zero. (Again, in such a way that 1 goes to the multiplicand.)
Multiplication is commutative and associative; further it is distributive over addition and subtraction. The multiplicative identity is 1, that is, multiplying any number by 1 will yield that same number. Also, the multiplicative inverse is the reciprocal of any number (except zero; zero is the only number without a multiplicative inverse), that is, multiplying the reciprocal of any number by the number itself will yield the multiplicative identity.
[edit] Division (÷ or /)
Main article: Division (mathematics)
Division is essentially the opposite of multiplication. Division finds the quotient of two numbers, the dividend divided by the divisor. Any dividend divided by zero is undefined. For positive numbers, if the dividend is larger than the divisor, the quotient will be greater than one, otherwise it will be less than one (a similar rule applies for negative numbers). The quotient multiplied by the divisor always yields the dividend.
Division is neither commutative nor associative. As it is helpful to look at subtraction as addition, it is helpful to look at division as multiplication of the dividend times the reciprocal of the divisor, that is a ÷ b = a × 1⁄b. When written as a product, it will obey all the properties of multiplication.
[edit] Examples
[edit] Multiplication table
× 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
2 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 38 40 42 44 46 48 50
3 3 6 9 12 15 18 21 24 27 30 33 36 39 42 45 48 51 54 57 60 63 66 69 72 75
4 4 8 12 16 20 24 28 32 36 40 44 48 52 56 60 64 68 72 76 80 84 88 92 96 100
5 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95 100 105 110 115 120 125
6 6 12 18 24 30 36 42 48 54 60 66 72 78 84 90 96 102 108 114 120 126 132 138 144 150
7 7 14 21 28 35 42 49 56 63 70 77 84 91 98 105 112 119 126 133 140 147 154 161 168 175
8 8 16 24 32 40 48 56 64 72 80 88 96 104 112 120 128 136 144 152 160 168 176 184 192 200
9 9 18 27 36 45 54 63 72 81 90 99 108 117 126 135 144 153 162 171 180 189 198 207 216 225
10 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 130 140 150 160 170 180 190 200 210 220 230 240 250
11 11 22 33 44 55 66 77 88 99 110 121 132 143 154 165 176 187 198 209 220 231 242 253 264 275
12 12 24 36 48 60 72 84 96 108 120 132 144 156 168 180 192 204 216 228 240 252 264 276 288 300
13 13 26 39 52 65 78 91 104 117 130 143 156 169 182 195 208 221 234 247 260 273 286 299 312 325
14 14 28 42 56 70 84 98 112 126 140 154 168 182 196 210 224 238 252 266 280 294 308 322 336 350
15 15 30 45 60 75 90 105 120 135 150 165 180 195 210 225 240 255 270 285 300 315 330 345 360 375
16 16 32 48 64 80 96 112 128 144 160 176 192 208 224 240 256 272 288 304 320 336 352 368 384 400
17 17 34 51 68 85 102 119 136 153 170 187 204 221 238 255 272 289 306 323 340 357 374 391 408 425
18 18 36 54 72 90 108 126 144 162 180 198 216 234 252 270 288 306 324 342 360 378 396 414 432 450
19 19 38 57 76 95 114 133 152 171 190 209 228 247 266 285 304 323 342 361 380 399 418 437 456 475
20 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200 220 240 260 280 300 320 340 360 380 400 420 440 460 480 500
21 21 42 63 84 105 126 147 168 189 210 231 252 273 294 315 336 357 378 399 420 441 462 483 504 525
22 22 44 66 88 110 132 154 176 198 220 242 264 286 308 330 352 374 396 418 440 462 484 506 528 550
23 23 46 69 92 115 138 161 184 207 230 253 276 299 322 345 368 391 414 437 460 483 506 529 552 575
24 24 48 72 96 120 144 168 192 216 240 264 288 312 336 360 384 408 432 456 480 504 528 552 576 600
25 25 50 75 100 125 150 175 200 225 250 275 300 325 350 375 400 425 450 475 500 525 550 575 600 625
[edit] Number theory
Main article: Number theory
The term arithmetic is also used to refer to number theory. This includes the properties of integers related to primality, divisibility, and the solution of equations by integers, as well as modern research which is an outgrowth of this study. It is in this context that one runs across the fundamental theorem of arithmetic and arithmetic functions. A Course in Arithmetic by Jean-Pierre Serre reflects this usage, as do such phrases as first order arithmetic or arithmetical algebraic geometry. Number theory is also referred to as the higher arithmetic, as in the title of Harold Davenport's book on the subject.
[edit] Arithmetic in education
Primary education in mathematics often places a strong focus on algorithms for the arithmetic of natural numbers, integers, rational numbers (vulgar fractions), and real numbers (using the decimal place-value system). This study is sometimes known as algorism.
The difficulty and unmotivated appearance of these algorithms has long led educators to question this curriculum, advocating the early teaching of more central and intuitive mathematical ideas. One notable movement in this direction was the New Math of the 1960s and 1970s, which attempted to teach arithmetic in the spirit of axiomatic development from set theory, an echo of the prevailing trend in higher mathematics.[2]
Since the introduction of the electronic calculator, which can perform the algorithms far more efficiently than humans, an influential school of educators has argued that mechanical mastery of the standard arithmetic algorithms is no longer necessary. In their view, the first years of school mathematics could be more profitably spent on understanding higher-level ideas about what numbers are used for and relationships among number, quantity, measurement, and so on. However, most research mathematicians still consider mastery of the manual algorithms to be a necessary foundation for the study of algebra and computer science. This controversy was central to the "math wars" over California's primary school curriculum in the 1990s, and continues today.[3]
Many mathematics texts for K–12 instruction were developed, funded by grants from the United States National Science Foundation based on standards created by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics and given high ratings by United States Department of Education, though condemned by many mathematicians. Some widely adopted texts such as Investigations in Number, Data, and Space, developed by the education research organization TERC, were based on the spirit of research papers which found that instruction of basic arithmetic was harmful to mathematical understanding. Rather than teaching any traditional method of arithmetic, teachers are instructed instead to guide students to invent their own (some critics claim inefficient) methods, using for example such techniques as skip counting, and the heavy use of manipulatives, scissors and paste, and even singing, rather than multiplication tables or long division. Although such texts were designed to be complete curricula, in the face of intense protest and criticism, many school districts have chosen to circumvent the intent of such radical approaches by supplementing with traditional texts. Other districts have since adopted traditional mathematics texts, and discarded such reform-based approaches as misguided failures.
[edit] See also
Main article: Outline of arithmetic
[edit] Lists
Lists of mathematics topics
[edit] Related topics
Addition of natural numbers
Additive inverse
Arithmetic coding
Arithmetic mean
Arithmetic progression
Associativity
Commutativity
Distributivity
Elementary arithmetic
Finite field arithmetic
List of important publications in mathematics
Number line
[edit] Footnotes
1.^ Davenport, Harold, The Higher Arithmetic: An Introduction to the Theory of Numbers (7th ed.), Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 1999, ISBN 0-521-63446-6
2.^ Mathematically Correct: Glossary of Terms
3.^ Education World - Curriculum: MATH WARS!
[edit] References
Cunnington, Susan, The Story of Arithmetic: A Short History of Its Origin and Development, Swan Sonnenschein, London, 1904
Dickson, Leonard Eugene, History of the Theory of Numbers (3 volumes), reprints: Carnegie Institute of Washington, Washington, 1932; Chelsea, New York, 1952, 1966
Euler, Leonhard, Elements of Algebra, Tarquin Press, 2007
Fine, Henry Burchard (1858–1928), The Number System of Algebra Treated Theoretically and Historically, Leach, Shewell & Sanborn, Boston, 1891
Karpinski, Louis Charles (1878–1956), The History of Arithmetic, Rand McNally, Chicago, 1925; reprint: Russell & Russell, New York, 1965
Ore, Øystein, Number Theory and Its History, McGraw-Hill, New York, 1948
Weil, André, Number Theory: An Approach through History, Birkhauser, Boston, 1984; reviewed: Mathematical Reviews 85c:01004
Source: Wikipedia
Contents [hide]
1 History
2 Decimal arithmetic
3 Arithmetic operations
3.1 Addition (+)
3.2 Subtraction (−)
3.3 Multiplication (×, ·, or *)
3.4 Division (÷ or /)
3.5 Examples
3.5.1 Multiplication table
4 Number theory
5 Arithmetic in education
6 See also
6.1 Lists
6.2 Related topics
7 Footnotes
8 References
9 External links
[edit] History
The prehistory of arithmetic is limited to a very small number of small artifacts indicating a clear conception of addition and subtraction, the best-known being the Ishango bone from central Africa, dating from somewhere between 20,000 and 18,000 BC.
It is clear that the Babylonians had solid knowledge of almost all aspects of elementary arithmetic by 1800 BC, although historians can only guess at the methods utilized to generate the arithmetical results - as shown, for instance, in the clay tablet Plimpton 322, which appears to be a list of Pythagorean triples, but with no workings to show how the list was originally produced. Likewise, the Egyptian Rhind Mathematical Papyrus (dating from c. 1650 BC, though evidently a copy of an older text from c. 1850 BC) shows evidence of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division being used within a unit fraction system.
Nicomachus (c. AD 60 - c. AD 120) summarised the philosophical Pythagorean approach to numbers, and their relationships to each other, in his Introduction to Arithmetic. At this time, basic arithmetical operations were highly complicated affairs; it was the method known as the "Method of the Indians" (Latin Modus Indorum) that became the arithmetic that we know today. Indian arithmetic was much simpler than Greek arithmetic due to the simplicity of the Indian number system, which had a zero and place-value notation. The 7th century Syriac bishop Severus Sebokht mentioned this method with admiration, stating however that the Method of the Indians was beyond description. The Arabs learned this new method and called it hesab. Fibonacci (also known as Leonardo of Pisa) introduced the "Method of the Indians" to Europe in 1202. In his book Liber Abaci, Fibonacci says that, compared with this new method, all other methods had been mistakes. In the Middle Ages, arithmetic was one of the seven liberal arts taught in universities.
Modern algorithms for arithmetic (both for hand and electronic computation) were made possible by the introduction of Arabic numerals and decimal place notation for numbers. Arabic numeral based arithmetic was developed by the great Indian mathematicians Aryabhatta, Brahmagupta and Bhāskara I. Aryabhatta tried different place value notations and Brahmagupta added zero to the Indian number system. Brahmagupta developed modern multiplication, division, addition and subtraction based on Arabic numerals. Although it is now considered elementary, its simplicity is the culmination of thousands of years of mathematical development. By contrast, the ancient mathematician Archimedes devoted an entire work, The Sand Reckoner, to devising a notation for a certain large integer. The flourishing of algebra in the medieval Islamic world and in Renaissance Europe was an outgrowth of the enormous simplification of computation through decimal notation.
[edit] Decimal arithmetic
Decimal notation constructs all real numbers from the basic digits, the first ten non-negative integers 0,1,2,...,9. A decimal numeral consists of a sequence of these basic digits, with the "denomination" of each digit depending on its position with respect to the decimal point: for example, 507.36 denotes 5 hundreds (102), plus 0 tens (101), plus 7 units (100), plus 3 tenths (10-1) plus 6 hundredths (10-2). An essential part of this notation (and a major stumbling block in achieving it) was conceiving of zero as a number comparable to the other basic digits.
Algorism comprises all of the rules of performing arithmetic computations using a decimal system for representing numbers in which numbers written using ten symbols having the values 0 through 9 are combined using a place-value system (positional notation), where each symbol has ten times the weight of the one to its right. This notation allows the addition of arbitrary numbers by adding the digits in each place, which is accomplished with a 10 x 10 addition table. (A sum of digits which exceeds 9 must have its 10-digit carried to the next place leftward.) One can make a similar algorithm for multiplying arbitrary numbers because the set of denominations {...,10²,10,1,10-1,...} is closed under multiplication. Subtraction and division are achieved by similar, though more complicated algorithms.
[edit] Arithmetic operations
The traditional arithmetic operations are addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, although more advanced operations (such as manipulations of percentages, square root, exponentiation, and logarithmic functions) are also sometimes included in this subject. Arithmetic is performed according to an order of operations. Any set of objects upon which all four operations of arithmetic can be performed (except division by zero), and wherein these four operations obey the usual laws, is called a field.
[edit] Addition (+)
Main article: Addition
Addition is the basic operation of arithmetic. In its simplest form, addition combines two numbers, the addends or terms, into a single number, the sum of the numbers.
Adding more than two numbers can be viewed as repeated addition; this procedure is known as summation and includes ways to add infinitely many numbers in an infinite series; repeated addition of the number one is the most basic form of counting.
Addition is commutative and associative so the order in which the terms are added does not matter. The identity element of addition (the additive identity) is 0, that is, adding zero to any number will yield that same number. Also, the inverse element of addition (the additive inverse) is the opposite of any number, that is, adding the opposite of any number to the number itself will yield the additive identity, 0. For example, the opposite of 7 is -7, so 7 + (-7) = 0.
Addition can be given geometrically as follows:
If a and b are the lengths of two sticks, then if we place the sticks one after the other, the length of the stick thus formed will be a + b.
[edit] Subtraction (−)
Main article: Subtraction
Subtraction is the opposite of addition. Subtraction finds the difference between two numbers, the minuend minus the subtrahend. If the minuend is larger than the subtrahend, the difference will be positive; if the minuend is smaller than the subtrahend, the difference will be negative; and if they are equal, the difference will be zero.
Subtraction is neither commutative nor associative. For that reason, it is often helpful to look at subtraction as addition of the minuend and the opposite of the subtrahend, that is a − b = a + (−b). When written as a sum, all the properties of addition hold.
[edit] Multiplication (×, ·, or *)
Main article: Multiplication
Multiplication is the second basic operation of arithmetic. Multiplication also combines two numbers into a single number, the product. The two original numbers are called the multiplier and the multiplicand, sometimes both simply called factors.
Multiplication is best viewed as a scaling operation. If the real numbers are imagined as lying in a line, multiplication by a number, say x, greater than 1 is the same as stretching everything away from zero uniformly, in such a way that the number 1 itself is stretched to where x was. Similarly, multiplying by a number less than 1 can be imagined as squeezing towards zero. (Again, in such a way that 1 goes to the multiplicand.)
Multiplication is commutative and associative; further it is distributive over addition and subtraction. The multiplicative identity is 1, that is, multiplying any number by 1 will yield that same number. Also, the multiplicative inverse is the reciprocal of any number (except zero; zero is the only number without a multiplicative inverse), that is, multiplying the reciprocal of any number by the number itself will yield the multiplicative identity.
[edit] Division (÷ or /)
Main article: Division (mathematics)
Division is essentially the opposite of multiplication. Division finds the quotient of two numbers, the dividend divided by the divisor. Any dividend divided by zero is undefined. For positive numbers, if the dividend is larger than the divisor, the quotient will be greater than one, otherwise it will be less than one (a similar rule applies for negative numbers). The quotient multiplied by the divisor always yields the dividend.
Division is neither commutative nor associative. As it is helpful to look at subtraction as addition, it is helpful to look at division as multiplication of the dividend times the reciprocal of the divisor, that is a ÷ b = a × 1⁄b. When written as a product, it will obey all the properties of multiplication.
[edit] Examples
[edit] Multiplication table
× 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
2 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 38 40 42 44 46 48 50
3 3 6 9 12 15 18 21 24 27 30 33 36 39 42 45 48 51 54 57 60 63 66 69 72 75
4 4 8 12 16 20 24 28 32 36 40 44 48 52 56 60 64 68 72 76 80 84 88 92 96 100
5 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95 100 105 110 115 120 125
6 6 12 18 24 30 36 42 48 54 60 66 72 78 84 90 96 102 108 114 120 126 132 138 144 150
7 7 14 21 28 35 42 49 56 63 70 77 84 91 98 105 112 119 126 133 140 147 154 161 168 175
8 8 16 24 32 40 48 56 64 72 80 88 96 104 112 120 128 136 144 152 160 168 176 184 192 200
9 9 18 27 36 45 54 63 72 81 90 99 108 117 126 135 144 153 162 171 180 189 198 207 216 225
10 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 130 140 150 160 170 180 190 200 210 220 230 240 250
11 11 22 33 44 55 66 77 88 99 110 121 132 143 154 165 176 187 198 209 220 231 242 253 264 275
12 12 24 36 48 60 72 84 96 108 120 132 144 156 168 180 192 204 216 228 240 252 264 276 288 300
13 13 26 39 52 65 78 91 104 117 130 143 156 169 182 195 208 221 234 247 260 273 286 299 312 325
14 14 28 42 56 70 84 98 112 126 140 154 168 182 196 210 224 238 252 266 280 294 308 322 336 350
15 15 30 45 60 75 90 105 120 135 150 165 180 195 210 225 240 255 270 285 300 315 330 345 360 375
16 16 32 48 64 80 96 112 128 144 160 176 192 208 224 240 256 272 288 304 320 336 352 368 384 400
17 17 34 51 68 85 102 119 136 153 170 187 204 221 238 255 272 289 306 323 340 357 374 391 408 425
18 18 36 54 72 90 108 126 144 162 180 198 216 234 252 270 288 306 324 342 360 378 396 414 432 450
19 19 38 57 76 95 114 133 152 171 190 209 228 247 266 285 304 323 342 361 380 399 418 437 456 475
20 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200 220 240 260 280 300 320 340 360 380 400 420 440 460 480 500
21 21 42 63 84 105 126 147 168 189 210 231 252 273 294 315 336 357 378 399 420 441 462 483 504 525
22 22 44 66 88 110 132 154 176 198 220 242 264 286 308 330 352 374 396 418 440 462 484 506 528 550
23 23 46 69 92 115 138 161 184 207 230 253 276 299 322 345 368 391 414 437 460 483 506 529 552 575
24 24 48 72 96 120 144 168 192 216 240 264 288 312 336 360 384 408 432 456 480 504 528 552 576 600
25 25 50 75 100 125 150 175 200 225 250 275 300 325 350 375 400 425 450 475 500 525 550 575 600 625
[edit] Number theory
Main article: Number theory
The term arithmetic is also used to refer to number theory. This includes the properties of integers related to primality, divisibility, and the solution of equations by integers, as well as modern research which is an outgrowth of this study. It is in this context that one runs across the fundamental theorem of arithmetic and arithmetic functions. A Course in Arithmetic by Jean-Pierre Serre reflects this usage, as do such phrases as first order arithmetic or arithmetical algebraic geometry. Number theory is also referred to as the higher arithmetic, as in the title of Harold Davenport's book on the subject.
[edit] Arithmetic in education
Primary education in mathematics often places a strong focus on algorithms for the arithmetic of natural numbers, integers, rational numbers (vulgar fractions), and real numbers (using the decimal place-value system). This study is sometimes known as algorism.
The difficulty and unmotivated appearance of these algorithms has long led educators to question this curriculum, advocating the early teaching of more central and intuitive mathematical ideas. One notable movement in this direction was the New Math of the 1960s and 1970s, which attempted to teach arithmetic in the spirit of axiomatic development from set theory, an echo of the prevailing trend in higher mathematics.[2]
Since the introduction of the electronic calculator, which can perform the algorithms far more efficiently than humans, an influential school of educators has argued that mechanical mastery of the standard arithmetic algorithms is no longer necessary. In their view, the first years of school mathematics could be more profitably spent on understanding higher-level ideas about what numbers are used for and relationships among number, quantity, measurement, and so on. However, most research mathematicians still consider mastery of the manual algorithms to be a necessary foundation for the study of algebra and computer science. This controversy was central to the "math wars" over California's primary school curriculum in the 1990s, and continues today.[3]
Many mathematics texts for K–12 instruction were developed, funded by grants from the United States National Science Foundation based on standards created by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics and given high ratings by United States Department of Education, though condemned by many mathematicians. Some widely adopted texts such as Investigations in Number, Data, and Space, developed by the education research organization TERC, were based on the spirit of research papers which found that instruction of basic arithmetic was harmful to mathematical understanding. Rather than teaching any traditional method of arithmetic, teachers are instructed instead to guide students to invent their own (some critics claim inefficient) methods, using for example such techniques as skip counting, and the heavy use of manipulatives, scissors and paste, and even singing, rather than multiplication tables or long division. Although such texts were designed to be complete curricula, in the face of intense protest and criticism, many school districts have chosen to circumvent the intent of such radical approaches by supplementing with traditional texts. Other districts have since adopted traditional mathematics texts, and discarded such reform-based approaches as misguided failures.
[edit] See also
Main article: Outline of arithmetic
[edit] Lists
Lists of mathematics topics
[edit] Related topics
Addition of natural numbers
Additive inverse
Arithmetic coding
Arithmetic mean
Arithmetic progression
Associativity
Commutativity
Distributivity
Elementary arithmetic
Finite field arithmetic
List of important publications in mathematics
Number line
[edit] Footnotes
1.^ Davenport, Harold, The Higher Arithmetic: An Introduction to the Theory of Numbers (7th ed.), Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 1999, ISBN 0-521-63446-6
2.^ Mathematically Correct: Glossary of Terms
3.^ Education World - Curriculum: MATH WARS!
[edit] References
Cunnington, Susan, The Story of Arithmetic: A Short History of Its Origin and Development, Swan Sonnenschein, London, 1904
Dickson, Leonard Eugene, History of the Theory of Numbers (3 volumes), reprints: Carnegie Institute of Washington, Washington, 1932; Chelsea, New York, 1952, 1966
Euler, Leonhard, Elements of Algebra, Tarquin Press, 2007
Fine, Henry Burchard (1858–1928), The Number System of Algebra Treated Theoretically and Historically, Leach, Shewell & Sanborn, Boston, 1891
Karpinski, Louis Charles (1878–1956), The History of Arithmetic, Rand McNally, Chicago, 1925; reprint: Russell & Russell, New York, 1965
Ore, Øystein, Number Theory and Its History, McGraw-Hill, New York, 1948
Weil, André, Number Theory: An Approach through History, Birkhauser, Boston, 1984; reviewed: Mathematical Reviews 85c:01004
Source: Wikipedia
Friday, October 30, 2009
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Novalis
Novalis (German pronunciation: [noˈvaːlɪs]) was the pseudonym of Georg Philipp Friedrich Freiherr von Hardenberg (May 2, 1772 – March 25, 1801), an author and philosopher of early German Romanticism.
Contents [hide]
1 Biography
2 Writing
2.1 Poetry
2.2 Prose
2.3 Influence
3 Novalis in print
4 Historical-Critical Edition of Novalis's Works
5 Novalis in English
6 Notes
7 External links
8 Secondary literature
[edit] Biography
Georg Philipp Friedrich von Hardenberg was born in 1772 at Oberwiederstedt manor, in the Harz mountains (in present-day Saxony-Anhalt). The family seat was a manorial estate, not simply a stately home. Novalis descended from ancient, Low German nobility. Different lines of the family include such important, influential magistrates and ministry officials as the Prussian chancellor Karl August von Hardenberg (1750–1822). An oil painting and a christening cap commonly assigned to Novalis are his only possessions now extant. In the church in Wiederstedt, he was christened Georg Philipp Friedrich. He spent his childhood on the family estate and used it as the starting point for his travels into the Harz mountains.
Novalis’s father, the estate owner and salt-mine manager Heinrich Ulrich Erasmus Freiherr von Hardenberg (1738–1814), was a strictly pietistic man who had become a member of the Moravian (Herrnhuter) Church. His second marriage was to Auguste Bernhardine von Hardenberg, née Bölzig (1749–1818), who gave birth to eleven children: their second child was Georg Philipp Friedrich, who later named himself Novalis.
At first, Novalis was taught by private tutors. He attended the Lutheran grammar school in Eisleben, where he acquired skills in rhetoric and ancient literature, common parts of the education of this time. From his twelfth year, he was in the charge of his uncle Friedrich Wilhelm Freiherr von Hardenberg at his stately home in Lucklum.
Novalis studied law from 1790 to 1794 at Jena, Leipzig, and Wittenberg. He passed his exams with distinction. During his studies, he attended Schiller’s lectures on history and befriended Schiller during his illness. Novalis also met Goethe, Herder, and Jean Paul and befriended Ludwig Tieck, Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling, and the brothers Friedrich and August Wilhelm Schlegel.
In October of 1794, Novalis worked as actuary for August Coelestin Just, who was not only his superior but also his friend and, later, his biographer. During this time, Novalis met the 12-year-old Sophie von Kühn (1782–1797). On March 15, 1795, when Sophie was 13 years old, the two became engaged to marry. The following January, Novalis was appointed auditor to the salt works at Weißenfels.
In the period 1795–1796, Novalis concerned himself with the scientific doctrine of Johann Gottlieb Fichte, which greatly influenced his world view. He not only read Fichte’s philosophies but also developed Fichte's concepts further, transforming Fichte’s Nicht-Ich (German "not I") to a Du ("you"), an equal subject to the Ich ("I"). This was the starting point for Novalis's Liebesreligion ("religion of love").
The cruelly early death of Sophie in March, 1797, affected Novalis deeply. She was only 15 years old, and the two had not married yet. Novalis was in a state of mourning and suffering for a period of time after her death.
That same year, Novalis entered the Mining Academy of Freiberg in Saxony, a leading academy of science, to study geology under Professor Abraham Gottlob Werner (1750–1817), who befriended him. During Novalis's studies in Freiberg, he immersed himself in a wide range of studies, including mining, mathematics, chemistry, biology, history, and, not least, philosophy. It was here that he collected materials for his famous encyclopaedia project.
Novalis's first fragments were published in 1798 in the Athenäum, a magazine edited by the brothers Schlegel, who were also part of the early Romantic movement. Novalis’s first publication was entitled Blüthenstaub (Pollen) and saw the first appearance of his pseudonym, "Novalis". In July of 1799, he became acquainted with Ludwig Tieck, and that autumn he met other authors of so-called "Jena Romanticism".
Novalis became engaged for the second time in December of 1798. His fiancée was Julie von Charpentier (1788–1811), a daughter of Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Toussaint von Charpentier, a professor in Freiberg.
From Pentecost 1799, Novalis again worked in the management of salt mines. That December, he became an assessor of the salt mines and a director. On the December 6, 1800, the twenty-eight-year-old Hardenberg was appointed "Supernumerar-Amtshauptmann" for the district of Thuringia, a position comparable to that of a present-day magistrate. But from August onward, Hardenberg suffered from tuberculosis, and on March 25, 1801, he died in Weißenfels. His body was buried in the old cemetery there.
Novalis lived long enough to see the publication only of Pollen, Faith and Love or the King and the Queen, and Hymns to the Night. His unfinished novels Heinrich von Ofterdingen and The Novices at Sais, his political speech Christendom or Europa, and numerous other notes and fragments were published posthumously by his friends Ludwig Tieck and Friedrich Schlegel.
[edit] Writing
Novalis, who had great knowledge in science, law, philosophy, politics and political economy, started writing quite early. He left an astonishing abundance of notes on these fields of knowledge and his early work shows that he was very educated and well read. His later works are closely connected to his studies and his profession. Novalis collected everything that he had learned, reflected upon it and drew connections in the sense of an encyclopaedic overview on art, religion and science. These notes from the years 1798 and 1799 are called Das allgemeine Brouillon, and are now available in English under the title Notes for a Romantic Encyclopaedia.
Together with Friedrich Schlegel, Novalis developed the fragment as a literary form of art. The core of Hardenberg’s literary works is the quest for the connection of science and poetry, and the result was supposed to be a "progressive universal poesy” (fragment no. 116 of the Athenaum journal). Novalis was convinced that philosophy and the higher-ranking poetry have to be continually related to each other.
The fact that the romantic fragment is an appropriate form for a depiction of "progressive universal poesy”, can be seen especially from the success of this new genre in its later reception.
Novalis’ whole works are based upon an idea of education: "We are on a mission: we are called upon to educate the earth." It has to be made clear that everything is in a continual process. It is the same with humanity, which forever strives towards and tries to recreate a new Golden Age – a paradisical Age of harmony between man and nature that was assumed to have existed in earlier times. This Age was recounted by Plato, Plotinus, and Franz Hemsterhuis – the latter being an extremely important figure for the German Romantics.
This idea of a romantic universal poesy can be seen clearly in the romantic triad. This theoretical structure always shows its recipient that the described moment is exactly the moment (kairos) in which the future is decided. These frequently mentioned critical points correspond with the artist’s feeling for the present, which Novalis shares with many other contemporaries of his time. Thus a triadic structure can be found in most of his works. This means that there are three corresponding structural elements which are written differently concerning the content and the form.
Hardenberg’s intensive study of the works of Jakob Böhme, since 1800, had a clear influence on his own writing.
A mystical world view, a high standard of education, and the frequently perceptible pietistic influences are combined in Novalis' attempt to reach a new concept of Christianity, faith, and God. He forever endeavours to align these with his own view of transcendental philosophy, which acquired the mysterious name "Magical idealism". Magical idealism draws heavily from the critical or transcendental idealism of Kant and Fichte, and incorporates the artistic element central to Early German Romanticism. The subject must strive to conform the external, natural world to its own will and genius; hence the term "magical".[1] David Krell calls magical idealism "thaumaturgic idealism."[2] This view can even be discerned in more religious works such as the Spiritual Songs (published 1802), which soon became incorporated into Lutheran hymn-books.
Novalis influenced, among others, the novelist and theologian George MacDonald, who translated his Hymns to the Night in 1897. More recently, Novalis, as well as the Early Romantic (Frühromantik) movement as a whole, has been recognized as constituting a separate philosophical school, as opposed to simply a literary movement. Recognition of the distinctness of Fruhromantik philosophy is owed in large part, in the English speaking world at least, to the writer Frederick Beiser.
[edit] Poetry
In August 1800, eight months after completion, the revised edition of the Hymnen an die Nacht was published in the Athenaeum. They are often considered to be the climax of Novalis’ lyrical works and the most important poetry of the German early Romanticism.
The six hymns contain many elements which can be understood as autobiographical. Even though a lyrical "I", rather than Novalis himself, is the speaker, there are many relationships between the hymns and Hardenberg’s experiences from 1797 to 1800.
The topic is the romantic interpretation of life and death, the threshold of which is symbolised by the night. Life and death are – according to Novalis – developed into entwined concepts. So in the end, death is the romantic principle of life.
Influences from the literature of that time can be seen. The metaphors of the hymns are closely connected to the books Novalis had read at about the time of his writing of the hymns. These are prominently Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet (in the translation by A.W. Schlegel, 1797) and Jean Paul’s Unsichtbare Loge (1793).
The Hymns to the Night display a universal religion with an intermediary. This concept is based on the idea that there is always a third party between a human and God. This intermediary can either be Jesus – as in Christian lore – or the dead beloved as in the hymns. These works consist of three times two hymns. These three components are each structured in this way: the first hymn shows, with the help of the Romantic triad, the development from an assumed happy life on earth through a painful era of alienation to salvation in the eternal night; the following hymn tells of the awakening from this vision and the longing for a return to it. With each pair of hymns, a higher level of experience and knowledge is shown.
[edit] Prose
The novel fragments Heinrich von Ofterdingen and Die Lehrlinge zu Sais (The Novices of Sais) reflect the idea of describing a universal world harmony with the help of poetry. The novel 'Heinrich von Ofterdingen' contains the "blue flower", a symbol that became an emblem for the whole of German Romanticism. Originally the novel was supposed to be an answer to Goethe’s Wilhelm Meister, a work that Novalis had read with enthusiasm but later on judged as being highly unpoetical. He disliked the victory of the economical over the poetic.
The speech called Die Christenheit oder Europa was written in 1799, but was first published in 1826. It is a poetical, cultural-historical speech with a focus on a political utopia with regard to the Middle Ages. In this text Novalis tries to develop a new Europe which is based on a new poetical Christendom which shall lead to unity and freedom. He got the inspiration for this text from Schleiermacher’s Über die Religion (1799). The work was also a response to the French Enlightenment and Revolution, both of which Novalis saw as catastrophic and irreligious. It anticipated, then, the growing German and Romantic theme of anti-Enlightenment visions of European spirituality and order.
[edit] Influence
Walter Pater includes Novalis's quote, "Philosophirn ist delphlegmatisiren, vivificiren" (to philosophize is to throw off apathy, to become revived)[3] in his conclusion to Studies in the History of the Renaissance. Novalis' poetry and writings were also an influence on Hermann Hesse.
Novalis was also a huge influence on Mihai Eminescu, on George MacDonald, and so indirectly on C. S. Lewis, the Inklings, and the whole modern fantasy genre. Borges refers often to Novalis in his work.
Novelist Penelope Fitzgerald's last work, "The Blue Flower," is an historical fiction about Novalis, his education, his philosophical and poetic development, and his romance with Sophie.
[edit] Novalis in print
Novalis' works were originally issued in two volumes by his friends Ludwig Tieck and Friedrich Schlegel (2 vols. 1802; a third volume was added in 1846). Editions of Novalis' collected works have since been compiled by C. Meisner and Bruno Wille (1898), by E. Heilborn (3 vols., 1901), and by J. Minor (3 vols., 1907). Heinrich von Ofterdingen was published separately by J. Schmidt in 1876.
Novalis's Correspondence was edited by J. M. Raich in 1880. See R. Haym Die romantische Schule (Berlin, 1870); A. Schubart, Novalis' Leben, Dichten und Denken (1887); C. Busse, Novalis' Lyrik (1898); J. Bing, Friedrich von Hardenberg (Hamburg, 1899), E. Heilborn, Friedrich von Hardenberg (Berlin, 1901).
[edit] Historical-Critical Edition of Novalis's Works
The most comprehensive and reliable edition of Novalis's works in German is the so-called 'Historische-Kritische Ausgabe' (commonly abbreviated as HKA): Novalis Schriften, six volumes, edited by Richard Samuel, Hans-Joachim Mähl and Gerhard Schulz, Stuttgart, Verlag W. Kohlhammer, 1960–2006.
[edit] Novalis in English
Several of Novalis's notebooks and philosophical works have been recently translated into English.
Novalis: Notes for a Romantic Encyclopaedia (Das Allgemeine Brouillon), trans. and ed. David W. Wood, State University of New York Press, 2007. First English translation of Novalis's unfinished project for a universal science, it contains his most developed thoughts on philosophy, the arts, religion, literature and poetry, and his theory of 'Magical Idealism'. The Appendix also contains substantial extracts from Novalis's Freiberg Natural Scientific Studies 1798/1799.
The Birth of Novalis: Friedrich von Hardenberg's Journal of 1797, With Selected Letters and Documents, trans. and ed. Bruce Donehower, State University of New York Press, 2007.
Novalis: Philosophical Writings, trans. and ed. Margaret Mahoney Stoljar, State University of New York Press, 1997. This volume contains several of Novalis' works, including Pollen or Miscellaneous Observations, one of the few complete works published in his lifetime (though it was altered for publication by Friedrich Schlegel); Logological Fragments I and II; Monologue, a long fragment on language; Faith and Love or The King and Queen, a collection of political fragments also published during his lifetime; On Goethe; extracts from Das allgemeine Broullion or General Draft; and his essay Christendom or Europe. Some of the translator's notes betray a lack of objectivity.
Fichte Studies, trans. Jane Kneller, Cambridge University Press: 2003. This translation is part of the Cambridge Texts in the History of Philosophy Series.
Classic and Romantic German Aesthetics, ed. Jay Bernstein, Cambridge University Press, 2003. This book is in the same series, the Fichte-Studies and contains a very good selection of fragments, plus it includes Novalis' Dialogues. Also in this collection are fragments by Schlegel and Hölderlin.
Henry von Ofterdingen, trans. Palmer Hilty, Waveland Press: 1990.
The Novices of Sais, trans. by Ralph Manheim, Archipelago Books: 2005. This translation was originally published in 1949. This edition includes illustrations by Paul Klee. The Novices of Sais contains the fairy tale "Hyacinth and Rose Petal."
Hymns to the Night, trans. by Dick Higgins, McPherson & Company: 1988. This modern translation includes the German text (with variants) en face
Source: Wikipedia
Contents [hide]
1 Biography
2 Writing
2.1 Poetry
2.2 Prose
2.3 Influence
3 Novalis in print
4 Historical-Critical Edition of Novalis's Works
5 Novalis in English
6 Notes
7 External links
8 Secondary literature
[edit] Biography
Georg Philipp Friedrich von Hardenberg was born in 1772 at Oberwiederstedt manor, in the Harz mountains (in present-day Saxony-Anhalt). The family seat was a manorial estate, not simply a stately home. Novalis descended from ancient, Low German nobility. Different lines of the family include such important, influential magistrates and ministry officials as the Prussian chancellor Karl August von Hardenberg (1750–1822). An oil painting and a christening cap commonly assigned to Novalis are his only possessions now extant. In the church in Wiederstedt, he was christened Georg Philipp Friedrich. He spent his childhood on the family estate and used it as the starting point for his travels into the Harz mountains.
Novalis’s father, the estate owner and salt-mine manager Heinrich Ulrich Erasmus Freiherr von Hardenberg (1738–1814), was a strictly pietistic man who had become a member of the Moravian (Herrnhuter) Church. His second marriage was to Auguste Bernhardine von Hardenberg, née Bölzig (1749–1818), who gave birth to eleven children: their second child was Georg Philipp Friedrich, who later named himself Novalis.
At first, Novalis was taught by private tutors. He attended the Lutheran grammar school in Eisleben, where he acquired skills in rhetoric and ancient literature, common parts of the education of this time. From his twelfth year, he was in the charge of his uncle Friedrich Wilhelm Freiherr von Hardenberg at his stately home in Lucklum.
Novalis studied law from 1790 to 1794 at Jena, Leipzig, and Wittenberg. He passed his exams with distinction. During his studies, he attended Schiller’s lectures on history and befriended Schiller during his illness. Novalis also met Goethe, Herder, and Jean Paul and befriended Ludwig Tieck, Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling, and the brothers Friedrich and August Wilhelm Schlegel.
In October of 1794, Novalis worked as actuary for August Coelestin Just, who was not only his superior but also his friend and, later, his biographer. During this time, Novalis met the 12-year-old Sophie von Kühn (1782–1797). On March 15, 1795, when Sophie was 13 years old, the two became engaged to marry. The following January, Novalis was appointed auditor to the salt works at Weißenfels.
In the period 1795–1796, Novalis concerned himself with the scientific doctrine of Johann Gottlieb Fichte, which greatly influenced his world view. He not only read Fichte’s philosophies but also developed Fichte's concepts further, transforming Fichte’s Nicht-Ich (German "not I") to a Du ("you"), an equal subject to the Ich ("I"). This was the starting point for Novalis's Liebesreligion ("religion of love").
The cruelly early death of Sophie in March, 1797, affected Novalis deeply. She was only 15 years old, and the two had not married yet. Novalis was in a state of mourning and suffering for a period of time after her death.
That same year, Novalis entered the Mining Academy of Freiberg in Saxony, a leading academy of science, to study geology under Professor Abraham Gottlob Werner (1750–1817), who befriended him. During Novalis's studies in Freiberg, he immersed himself in a wide range of studies, including mining, mathematics, chemistry, biology, history, and, not least, philosophy. It was here that he collected materials for his famous encyclopaedia project.
Novalis's first fragments were published in 1798 in the Athenäum, a magazine edited by the brothers Schlegel, who were also part of the early Romantic movement. Novalis’s first publication was entitled Blüthenstaub (Pollen) and saw the first appearance of his pseudonym, "Novalis". In July of 1799, he became acquainted with Ludwig Tieck, and that autumn he met other authors of so-called "Jena Romanticism".
Novalis became engaged for the second time in December of 1798. His fiancée was Julie von Charpentier (1788–1811), a daughter of Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Toussaint von Charpentier, a professor in Freiberg.
From Pentecost 1799, Novalis again worked in the management of salt mines. That December, he became an assessor of the salt mines and a director. On the December 6, 1800, the twenty-eight-year-old Hardenberg was appointed "Supernumerar-Amtshauptmann" for the district of Thuringia, a position comparable to that of a present-day magistrate. But from August onward, Hardenberg suffered from tuberculosis, and on March 25, 1801, he died in Weißenfels. His body was buried in the old cemetery there.
Novalis lived long enough to see the publication only of Pollen, Faith and Love or the King and the Queen, and Hymns to the Night. His unfinished novels Heinrich von Ofterdingen and The Novices at Sais, his political speech Christendom or Europa, and numerous other notes and fragments were published posthumously by his friends Ludwig Tieck and Friedrich Schlegel.
[edit] Writing
Novalis, who had great knowledge in science, law, philosophy, politics and political economy, started writing quite early. He left an astonishing abundance of notes on these fields of knowledge and his early work shows that he was very educated and well read. His later works are closely connected to his studies and his profession. Novalis collected everything that he had learned, reflected upon it and drew connections in the sense of an encyclopaedic overview on art, religion and science. These notes from the years 1798 and 1799 are called Das allgemeine Brouillon, and are now available in English under the title Notes for a Romantic Encyclopaedia.
Together with Friedrich Schlegel, Novalis developed the fragment as a literary form of art. The core of Hardenberg’s literary works is the quest for the connection of science and poetry, and the result was supposed to be a "progressive universal poesy” (fragment no. 116 of the Athenaum journal). Novalis was convinced that philosophy and the higher-ranking poetry have to be continually related to each other.
The fact that the romantic fragment is an appropriate form for a depiction of "progressive universal poesy”, can be seen especially from the success of this new genre in its later reception.
Novalis’ whole works are based upon an idea of education: "We are on a mission: we are called upon to educate the earth." It has to be made clear that everything is in a continual process. It is the same with humanity, which forever strives towards and tries to recreate a new Golden Age – a paradisical Age of harmony between man and nature that was assumed to have existed in earlier times. This Age was recounted by Plato, Plotinus, and Franz Hemsterhuis – the latter being an extremely important figure for the German Romantics.
This idea of a romantic universal poesy can be seen clearly in the romantic triad. This theoretical structure always shows its recipient that the described moment is exactly the moment (kairos) in which the future is decided. These frequently mentioned critical points correspond with the artist’s feeling for the present, which Novalis shares with many other contemporaries of his time. Thus a triadic structure can be found in most of his works. This means that there are three corresponding structural elements which are written differently concerning the content and the form.
Hardenberg’s intensive study of the works of Jakob Böhme, since 1800, had a clear influence on his own writing.
A mystical world view, a high standard of education, and the frequently perceptible pietistic influences are combined in Novalis' attempt to reach a new concept of Christianity, faith, and God. He forever endeavours to align these with his own view of transcendental philosophy, which acquired the mysterious name "Magical idealism". Magical idealism draws heavily from the critical or transcendental idealism of Kant and Fichte, and incorporates the artistic element central to Early German Romanticism. The subject must strive to conform the external, natural world to its own will and genius; hence the term "magical".[1] David Krell calls magical idealism "thaumaturgic idealism."[2] This view can even be discerned in more religious works such as the Spiritual Songs (published 1802), which soon became incorporated into Lutheran hymn-books.
Novalis influenced, among others, the novelist and theologian George MacDonald, who translated his Hymns to the Night in 1897. More recently, Novalis, as well as the Early Romantic (Frühromantik) movement as a whole, has been recognized as constituting a separate philosophical school, as opposed to simply a literary movement. Recognition of the distinctness of Fruhromantik philosophy is owed in large part, in the English speaking world at least, to the writer Frederick Beiser.
[edit] Poetry
In August 1800, eight months after completion, the revised edition of the Hymnen an die Nacht was published in the Athenaeum. They are often considered to be the climax of Novalis’ lyrical works and the most important poetry of the German early Romanticism.
The six hymns contain many elements which can be understood as autobiographical. Even though a lyrical "I", rather than Novalis himself, is the speaker, there are many relationships between the hymns and Hardenberg’s experiences from 1797 to 1800.
The topic is the romantic interpretation of life and death, the threshold of which is symbolised by the night. Life and death are – according to Novalis – developed into entwined concepts. So in the end, death is the romantic principle of life.
Influences from the literature of that time can be seen. The metaphors of the hymns are closely connected to the books Novalis had read at about the time of his writing of the hymns. These are prominently Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet (in the translation by A.W. Schlegel, 1797) and Jean Paul’s Unsichtbare Loge (1793).
The Hymns to the Night display a universal religion with an intermediary. This concept is based on the idea that there is always a third party between a human and God. This intermediary can either be Jesus – as in Christian lore – or the dead beloved as in the hymns. These works consist of three times two hymns. These three components are each structured in this way: the first hymn shows, with the help of the Romantic triad, the development from an assumed happy life on earth through a painful era of alienation to salvation in the eternal night; the following hymn tells of the awakening from this vision and the longing for a return to it. With each pair of hymns, a higher level of experience and knowledge is shown.
[edit] Prose
The novel fragments Heinrich von Ofterdingen and Die Lehrlinge zu Sais (The Novices of Sais) reflect the idea of describing a universal world harmony with the help of poetry. The novel 'Heinrich von Ofterdingen' contains the "blue flower", a symbol that became an emblem for the whole of German Romanticism. Originally the novel was supposed to be an answer to Goethe’s Wilhelm Meister, a work that Novalis had read with enthusiasm but later on judged as being highly unpoetical. He disliked the victory of the economical over the poetic.
The speech called Die Christenheit oder Europa was written in 1799, but was first published in 1826. It is a poetical, cultural-historical speech with a focus on a political utopia with regard to the Middle Ages. In this text Novalis tries to develop a new Europe which is based on a new poetical Christendom which shall lead to unity and freedom. He got the inspiration for this text from Schleiermacher’s Über die Religion (1799). The work was also a response to the French Enlightenment and Revolution, both of which Novalis saw as catastrophic and irreligious. It anticipated, then, the growing German and Romantic theme of anti-Enlightenment visions of European spirituality and order.
[edit] Influence
Walter Pater includes Novalis's quote, "Philosophirn ist delphlegmatisiren, vivificiren" (to philosophize is to throw off apathy, to become revived)[3] in his conclusion to Studies in the History of the Renaissance. Novalis' poetry and writings were also an influence on Hermann Hesse.
Novalis was also a huge influence on Mihai Eminescu, on George MacDonald, and so indirectly on C. S. Lewis, the Inklings, and the whole modern fantasy genre. Borges refers often to Novalis in his work.
Novelist Penelope Fitzgerald's last work, "The Blue Flower," is an historical fiction about Novalis, his education, his philosophical and poetic development, and his romance with Sophie.
[edit] Novalis in print
Novalis' works were originally issued in two volumes by his friends Ludwig Tieck and Friedrich Schlegel (2 vols. 1802; a third volume was added in 1846). Editions of Novalis' collected works have since been compiled by C. Meisner and Bruno Wille (1898), by E. Heilborn (3 vols., 1901), and by J. Minor (3 vols., 1907). Heinrich von Ofterdingen was published separately by J. Schmidt in 1876.
Novalis's Correspondence was edited by J. M. Raich in 1880. See R. Haym Die romantische Schule (Berlin, 1870); A. Schubart, Novalis' Leben, Dichten und Denken (1887); C. Busse, Novalis' Lyrik (1898); J. Bing, Friedrich von Hardenberg (Hamburg, 1899), E. Heilborn, Friedrich von Hardenberg (Berlin, 1901).
[edit] Historical-Critical Edition of Novalis's Works
The most comprehensive and reliable edition of Novalis's works in German is the so-called 'Historische-Kritische Ausgabe' (commonly abbreviated as HKA): Novalis Schriften, six volumes, edited by Richard Samuel, Hans-Joachim Mähl and Gerhard Schulz, Stuttgart, Verlag W. Kohlhammer, 1960–2006.
[edit] Novalis in English
Several of Novalis's notebooks and philosophical works have been recently translated into English.
Novalis: Notes for a Romantic Encyclopaedia (Das Allgemeine Brouillon), trans. and ed. David W. Wood, State University of New York Press, 2007. First English translation of Novalis's unfinished project for a universal science, it contains his most developed thoughts on philosophy, the arts, religion, literature and poetry, and his theory of 'Magical Idealism'. The Appendix also contains substantial extracts from Novalis's Freiberg Natural Scientific Studies 1798/1799.
The Birth of Novalis: Friedrich von Hardenberg's Journal of 1797, With Selected Letters and Documents, trans. and ed. Bruce Donehower, State University of New York Press, 2007.
Novalis: Philosophical Writings, trans. and ed. Margaret Mahoney Stoljar, State University of New York Press, 1997. This volume contains several of Novalis' works, including Pollen or Miscellaneous Observations, one of the few complete works published in his lifetime (though it was altered for publication by Friedrich Schlegel); Logological Fragments I and II; Monologue, a long fragment on language; Faith and Love or The King and Queen, a collection of political fragments also published during his lifetime; On Goethe; extracts from Das allgemeine Broullion or General Draft; and his essay Christendom or Europe. Some of the translator's notes betray a lack of objectivity.
Fichte Studies, trans. Jane Kneller, Cambridge University Press: 2003. This translation is part of the Cambridge Texts in the History of Philosophy Series.
Classic and Romantic German Aesthetics, ed. Jay Bernstein, Cambridge University Press, 2003. This book is in the same series, the Fichte-Studies and contains a very good selection of fragments, plus it includes Novalis' Dialogues. Also in this collection are fragments by Schlegel and Hölderlin.
Henry von Ofterdingen, trans. Palmer Hilty, Waveland Press: 1990.
The Novices of Sais, trans. by Ralph Manheim, Archipelago Books: 2005. This translation was originally published in 1949. This edition includes illustrations by Paul Klee. The Novices of Sais contains the fairy tale "Hyacinth and Rose Petal."
Hymns to the Night, trans. by Dick Higgins, McPherson & Company: 1988. This modern translation includes the German text (with variants) en face
Source: Wikipedia
TRADUÇÕES E RETROVERSÕES> INGLÊS, FRANCÊS, ESPANHOL
Faço traduções e retroversões nos idiomas acima mencionados> Inglês, Francês, Espanhol, juntamente com o Português, em todas as áreas do conhecimento.
Traduzo desde 1989 e oficialmente desde 1994.
Experiência nas áreas de Direito, Economia, Ciências Sociais, Literatura, Biologia, Medicina, Marketing, Web Sites, Curriculum Vitae, Informática, entre outros.
Visto encontrar-me actualmente na Polónia, todos os documentos, conforme o orçamento estimado, serão enviados após a recepção na minha conta bancária.
Contacto Directo: Eduardo Alexandre Pinto
E-Mail: alex.lisbon@gmail.com
Telefone: +48 61 65 25 091
Telemóvel: +48 667 775 443
Eduardo Alexandre Pinto
Traduzo desde 1989 e oficialmente desde 1994.
Experiência nas áreas de Direito, Economia, Ciências Sociais, Literatura, Biologia, Medicina, Marketing, Web Sites, Curriculum Vitae, Informática, entre outros.
Visto encontrar-me actualmente na Polónia, todos os documentos, conforme o orçamento estimado, serão enviados após a recepção na minha conta bancária.
Contacto Directo: Eduardo Alexandre Pinto
E-Mail: alex.lisbon@gmail.com
Telefone: +48 61 65 25 091
Telemóvel: +48 667 775 443
Eduardo Alexandre Pinto
The feeding of the spirit by Eduardo Alexandre Pinto
The human condition should be filled over limits, over normality, to go ahead in everything so much more, in prudence, braveness and to take the best from the negative things turning them into a positive life value for us,for everybody, for nature, the infinite cosmos...
Monday, October 26, 2009
Existential speech for a new life impulse by Eduardo Alexandre Pinto
Existential speech for a new life impulse based on my personal experience with other people and recorded inside a car while I was nervous by thinking of the irracional behavior of people and some reflexions for people and people's society with an enthusiastic and happy end of recording when my fiancee came so alive!
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Highly sensitive person
A highly sensitive person (HSP) is a person having the innate trait of high sensitivity (or innate sensitiveness as Carl Jung originally coined it). According to Elaine N. Aron and colleagues as well as other researchers, highly sensitive people, who comprise about a fifth of the population, process sensory data much more deeply and thoroughly due to a biological difference in their nervous systems.[1] This is a specific trait with key consequences that in the past has often been confused with innate shyness, inhibitedness, innate fearfulness, introversion, and so on.[2] The existence of the trait of innate sensitivity was demonstrated using a test that was shown to have both internal and external validity.[3] Although the term is primarily used to describe humans, the trait is present in nearly all higher animals.
The term "highly sensitive person" was coined by Dr. Elaine N. Aron in 1996, and the name is gaining popularity because it presents the trait in a positive light. It posits that shyness, inhibition, and fearfulness may or may not be acquired by highly sensitive people and animals, depending on environmental challenges. Other names used to describe the trait in literature include "introverted emotional temperament", "chronic cortical/cortisol arousal", "hypervigilance", and "innate shyness".
A number of books have been written on the topic, for example "Help Is On Its Way" by Jenna Forrest, which is endorsed by Psychologist Elaine Aron and Author, Coach Eva Gregory and "The Highly Sensitive Person's Survival Guide" with forward by Elaine Aron and "The Highly Sensitive Person's Companion" by Ted Zeff, PhD which is in English, French, Dutch, Japanese, Polish and Danish.
Dr. Aron describes the opposite end of the spectrum, "the opposite of a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP) is a person who takes many risks, that is, acts without reflecting very much. An HSP who is an HSS (High Sensation Seeker) also will find ways to have lots of new experiences, but won't take a lot of unreflected-upon risks."[4] She also cites studies involving other animals ranging from mammals to houseflies and goldfish.[5]
Contents [hide]
1 Epistemological considerations
2 Research
3 Attributes and characteristics
4 Contrast with Dabrowski's over-excitability
5 Criticism
6 See also
7 Sources and notes
8 Further reading
[edit] Epistemological considerations
The approach adopted by Aron and colleagues questions the role of notions such as "shyness" in explaining basic differences in behaviour that are encountered in many species, including humans. As opposed to shyness, which is constructed both as a negative trait and a genetic weakness that can be worsened by circumstances, the trait of high sensitivity is considered a basic, evolutionarily conserved trait with survival advantages in itself. Zoologists observed the existence of a shy-bold continuum in animal species:[6][7]
... in sunfish a "shy-bold continuum" has been identified, in which "bold" individuals differ from "shy" ones in their propensity to approach novel objects (including minnow traps), eat certain food items, and acclimate to laboratory environments. The "shy-bold continuum" has also been observed in humans and several other mammals.[8]
Zoologists are aware that notions of shyness and boldness are anthropomorphic (as exemplified by the use of quotation marks, above; "personality" is another term used with quotation marks). Some animals and even insects were shown to get survival advantages (avoidance of dangers) and even, as a consequence, reproductive advantages (availability for "exuberant" courtship behaviours) from being "shy".[8] Faced with this apparent misnaming of a basic survival strategy, Aron and colleagues developed the notion of high sensitivity, expanding on Jung's suggestion of the trait of innate sensitiveness, which he distinguished from his own notion of introversion. In support of this distinction, Aron showed that the Highly Sensitive Person Scale identified a sizable proportion of extroverted sensitive persons (30%). In addition, Aron provides evidence supporting that highly sensitive persons can also be highly sensitive to favourable social cues and respond with traits of extroversion.[9]
[edit] Research
The research on sensory-processing sensitivity, however, builds on Eysenck's views on introversion and arousal and Gray's work on the inhibition system. This research in turn builds on Pavlov's work on sensory response to both physical and mental over-stimulation, and work by Jung and his contemporaries differentiating extroverted and introverted cognitive sensitivity types.[9] This research shows that about 15-20% of humans and higher animals have a nervous system that is more sensitive to subtleties. This means that regular sensory information is processed and analyzed to a greater extent, which contributes to creativity, intuition, sensing implications and attention to detail, but which may also cause quick over-stimulation and over-arousal.[5]
This temperament may also have some correlation with continuously high cortisol levels, which may cause hypervigilance and susceptibility to trauma, or the same traumas may encourage hypervigilance, which in turn may contribute to high cortisol. Being highly sensitive may amplify or create psychological issues when over-arousal occurs. The ability to unconsciously or semi-consciously process environmental subtleties often contributes to an HSP seeming "gifted" or possessing a "sixth sense". Sensitivity is often confused with shyness, but 30% of HSPs have extroverted personalities. Another common misconception is that only females can be HSPs; there are roughly the same number of male HSPs as female. The percentage appears to hold true for all animals possessing this trait.[3][5]
[edit] Attributes and characteristics
HSP students work differently from others. They pick up on the subtle things, learning better this way than when overaroused. If an HSP student is not contributing much to a discussion, it does not necessarily mean they do not understand or are too shy. HSPs often process things better in their heads or they may be over-aroused. This can be the reason for their not contributing. HSPs are usually very conscientious but underperform when being watched. This also applies to work situations; HSPs can be great employees—good with details, thoughtful and loyal, but they do tend to work best when conditions are quiet and calm. Because HSPs perform less well when being watched, they may be overlooked for a promotion. HSPs tend to socialize less with others, often preferring to process experiences quietly by themselves.[5][10]
[edit] Contrast with Dabrowski's over-excitability
Readers interested in HSP may want to compare and contrast Aron's approach with Dabrowski's concept of over-excitability in his theory of Positive Disintegration.
[edit] Criticism
As explained above, many writers on HSP propose a positive, accepting attitude towards [being an] HSP. However, this is not the general consensus in the professional psychological community. For instance, Jeffrey E. Young, founder of the increasingly applied Schema Therapy, although never having been critical of HSP writers or writings, links high sensitivity, or as he calls it, the "highly empathic temperament" with the Self Sacrifice Schema (Young, 2003, pp. 246-251), which in turn is almost always related to the Emotional Deprivation Schema. In his opinion, these persons (patients) need to learn to focus on themselves instead of others and to learn to get their own needs met, needs they typically are not aware of. As such, HSP can be seen not as a positive personality trait, but as a psychopathological condition that can be treated with experiential, cognitive, behavioral, and limited-reparenting strategies.
[edit] See also
Psychology portal
Psychology
Latent inhibition
[edit] Sources and notes
1.^ Ketay, S., Hedden, T., Aron, A., Aron, E., Markus, H., & Gabrieli, G. (2007, January). The personality/temperament trait of high sensitivity: fMRI evidence for independence of cultural context in attentional processing. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Memphis, TN. Summary by Aron (2006): "A functional study comparing brain activation in Asians recently arrived in the United States to European-Americans found that in the nonsensitive, different areas were activated according to culture during a difficult discrimination task known to be affected by culture, but culture had no impact on the activated areas for highly sensitive subjects, as if they were able to view the stimuli without cultural influence."
2.^ Brodt, S., Zimbardo, P. "Modifying Shyness-Related Social Behavior Through Symptom Misattribution" Journal of Personality and Society Psychology 41 (1981): 437-49.
3.^ a b Aron, E.N. The Clinical Implications of Jungs Concept of Sensitiveness , Journal of Jungian Theory and Practice, 8, 2006, 11-43.
4.^ WebMD Live Events Transcript The Highly Sensitive Person In Love with Elaine Aron
5.^ a b c d
Aron, Elaine. 1996. The Highly Sensitive Person. ISBN 0-553-06218-2.
Aron, Elaine and Aron, Arthur. 1997. Sensory-Processing Sensitivity and its Relation to Introversion and Emotionality, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Aug. 1997 Vol. 73, No. 2, pp. 345-368.
6.^ Kagan, J. 1994 Galen’s prophecy. New York: Basic Books.
7.^ Wilson, DS; Clark, AB; Coleman, K; Dearstyne, T. (1994) "Shyness and boldness in humans and other animals." Trends in Ecology & Evolution Vol. 9, no. 11, pp. 442-446.
8.^ a b Hedrick AV (2000). "Crickets with extravagant mating songs compensate for predation risk with extra caution". Proc. Biol. Sci. 267 (1444): 671–5. doi:10.1098/rspb.2000.1054. PMID 10821611.
9.^ a b Aron, E. N. (2004). "Revisiting Jung's Concept of Innate Sensitiveness." Journal of Analytical Psychology, 49, 337-367.
10.^ sensitiveperson.com Attributes and Characteristics of Being Highly Sensitive by Thomas Eldridge
Source: Wikipedia
The term "highly sensitive person" was coined by Dr. Elaine N. Aron in 1996, and the name is gaining popularity because it presents the trait in a positive light. It posits that shyness, inhibition, and fearfulness may or may not be acquired by highly sensitive people and animals, depending on environmental challenges. Other names used to describe the trait in literature include "introverted emotional temperament", "chronic cortical/cortisol arousal", "hypervigilance", and "innate shyness".
A number of books have been written on the topic, for example "Help Is On Its Way" by Jenna Forrest, which is endorsed by Psychologist Elaine Aron and Author, Coach Eva Gregory and "The Highly Sensitive Person's Survival Guide" with forward by Elaine Aron and "The Highly Sensitive Person's Companion" by Ted Zeff, PhD which is in English, French, Dutch, Japanese, Polish and Danish.
Dr. Aron describes the opposite end of the spectrum, "the opposite of a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP) is a person who takes many risks, that is, acts without reflecting very much. An HSP who is an HSS (High Sensation Seeker) also will find ways to have lots of new experiences, but won't take a lot of unreflected-upon risks."[4] She also cites studies involving other animals ranging from mammals to houseflies and goldfish.[5]
Contents [hide]
1 Epistemological considerations
2 Research
3 Attributes and characteristics
4 Contrast with Dabrowski's over-excitability
5 Criticism
6 See also
7 Sources and notes
8 Further reading
[edit] Epistemological considerations
The approach adopted by Aron and colleagues questions the role of notions such as "shyness" in explaining basic differences in behaviour that are encountered in many species, including humans. As opposed to shyness, which is constructed both as a negative trait and a genetic weakness that can be worsened by circumstances, the trait of high sensitivity is considered a basic, evolutionarily conserved trait with survival advantages in itself. Zoologists observed the existence of a shy-bold continuum in animal species:[6][7]
... in sunfish a "shy-bold continuum" has been identified, in which "bold" individuals differ from "shy" ones in their propensity to approach novel objects (including minnow traps), eat certain food items, and acclimate to laboratory environments. The "shy-bold continuum" has also been observed in humans and several other mammals.[8]
Zoologists are aware that notions of shyness and boldness are anthropomorphic (as exemplified by the use of quotation marks, above; "personality" is another term used with quotation marks). Some animals and even insects were shown to get survival advantages (avoidance of dangers) and even, as a consequence, reproductive advantages (availability for "exuberant" courtship behaviours) from being "shy".[8] Faced with this apparent misnaming of a basic survival strategy, Aron and colleagues developed the notion of high sensitivity, expanding on Jung's suggestion of the trait of innate sensitiveness, which he distinguished from his own notion of introversion. In support of this distinction, Aron showed that the Highly Sensitive Person Scale identified a sizable proportion of extroverted sensitive persons (30%). In addition, Aron provides evidence supporting that highly sensitive persons can also be highly sensitive to favourable social cues and respond with traits of extroversion.[9]
[edit] Research
The research on sensory-processing sensitivity, however, builds on Eysenck's views on introversion and arousal and Gray's work on the inhibition system. This research in turn builds on Pavlov's work on sensory response to both physical and mental over-stimulation, and work by Jung and his contemporaries differentiating extroverted and introverted cognitive sensitivity types.[9] This research shows that about 15-20% of humans and higher animals have a nervous system that is more sensitive to subtleties. This means that regular sensory information is processed and analyzed to a greater extent, which contributes to creativity, intuition, sensing implications and attention to detail, but which may also cause quick over-stimulation and over-arousal.[5]
This temperament may also have some correlation with continuously high cortisol levels, which may cause hypervigilance and susceptibility to trauma, or the same traumas may encourage hypervigilance, which in turn may contribute to high cortisol. Being highly sensitive may amplify or create psychological issues when over-arousal occurs. The ability to unconsciously or semi-consciously process environmental subtleties often contributes to an HSP seeming "gifted" or possessing a "sixth sense". Sensitivity is often confused with shyness, but 30% of HSPs have extroverted personalities. Another common misconception is that only females can be HSPs; there are roughly the same number of male HSPs as female. The percentage appears to hold true for all animals possessing this trait.[3][5]
[edit] Attributes and characteristics
HSP students work differently from others. They pick up on the subtle things, learning better this way than when overaroused. If an HSP student is not contributing much to a discussion, it does not necessarily mean they do not understand or are too shy. HSPs often process things better in their heads or they may be over-aroused. This can be the reason for their not contributing. HSPs are usually very conscientious but underperform when being watched. This also applies to work situations; HSPs can be great employees—good with details, thoughtful and loyal, but they do tend to work best when conditions are quiet and calm. Because HSPs perform less well when being watched, they may be overlooked for a promotion. HSPs tend to socialize less with others, often preferring to process experiences quietly by themselves.[5][10]
[edit] Contrast with Dabrowski's over-excitability
Readers interested in HSP may want to compare and contrast Aron's approach with Dabrowski's concept of over-excitability in his theory of Positive Disintegration.
[edit] Criticism
As explained above, many writers on HSP propose a positive, accepting attitude towards [being an] HSP. However, this is not the general consensus in the professional psychological community. For instance, Jeffrey E. Young, founder of the increasingly applied Schema Therapy, although never having been critical of HSP writers or writings, links high sensitivity, or as he calls it, the "highly empathic temperament" with the Self Sacrifice Schema (Young, 2003, pp. 246-251), which in turn is almost always related to the Emotional Deprivation Schema. In his opinion, these persons (patients) need to learn to focus on themselves instead of others and to learn to get their own needs met, needs they typically are not aware of. As such, HSP can be seen not as a positive personality trait, but as a psychopathological condition that can be treated with experiential, cognitive, behavioral, and limited-reparenting strategies.
[edit] See also
Psychology portal
Psychology
Latent inhibition
[edit] Sources and notes
1.^ Ketay, S., Hedden, T., Aron, A., Aron, E., Markus, H., & Gabrieli, G. (2007, January). The personality/temperament trait of high sensitivity: fMRI evidence for independence of cultural context in attentional processing. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Memphis, TN. Summary by Aron (2006): "A functional study comparing brain activation in Asians recently arrived in the United States to European-Americans found that in the nonsensitive, different areas were activated according to culture during a difficult discrimination task known to be affected by culture, but culture had no impact on the activated areas for highly sensitive subjects, as if they were able to view the stimuli without cultural influence."
2.^ Brodt, S., Zimbardo, P. "Modifying Shyness-Related Social Behavior Through Symptom Misattribution" Journal of Personality and Society Psychology 41 (1981): 437-49.
3.^ a b Aron, E.N. The Clinical Implications of Jungs Concept of Sensitiveness , Journal of Jungian Theory and Practice, 8, 2006, 11-43.
4.^ WebMD Live Events Transcript The Highly Sensitive Person In Love with Elaine Aron
5.^ a b c d
Aron, Elaine. 1996. The Highly Sensitive Person. ISBN 0-553-06218-2.
Aron, Elaine and Aron, Arthur. 1997. Sensory-Processing Sensitivity and its Relation to Introversion and Emotionality, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Aug. 1997 Vol. 73, No. 2, pp. 345-368.
6.^ Kagan, J. 1994 Galen’s prophecy. New York: Basic Books.
7.^ Wilson, DS; Clark, AB; Coleman, K; Dearstyne, T. (1994) "Shyness and boldness in humans and other animals." Trends in Ecology & Evolution Vol. 9, no. 11, pp. 442-446.
8.^ a b Hedrick AV (2000). "Crickets with extravagant mating songs compensate for predation risk with extra caution". Proc. Biol. Sci. 267 (1444): 671–5. doi:10.1098/rspb.2000.1054. PMID 10821611.
9.^ a b Aron, E. N. (2004). "Revisiting Jung's Concept of Innate Sensitiveness." Journal of Analytical Psychology, 49, 337-367.
10.^ sensitiveperson.com Attributes and Characteristics of Being Highly Sensitive by Thomas Eldridge
Source: Wikipedia
tschüss
It has historically been more common in Northern Germany, though it has gained country-wide acceptance and also commonly used in Bavaria, Austria, Trentino-Alto Adige in Italy, Prague in the Czech Republic and Switzerland. However, in Southern Germany it is more common for the informal farewell ciao (sometimes spelt as tschau) or adieu to be used. The farewell auf Wiedersehen is considered appropriate in more formal settings.
Friday, October 23, 2009
Fractal
A fractal is "a rough or fragmented geometric shape that can be split into parts, each of which is (at least approximately) a reduced-size copy of the whole,"[1] a property called self-similarity. Roots of mathematical interest in fractals can be traced back to the late 19th Century; however, the term "fractal" was coined by Benoît Mandelbrot in 1975 and was derived from the Latin fractus meaning "broken" or "fractured." A mathematical fractal is based on an equation that undergoes iteration, a form of feedback based on recursion.
It has a fine structure at arbitrarily small scales.
It is too irregular to be easily described in traditional Euclidean geometric language.
It is self-similar (at least approximately or stochastically).
It has a Hausdorff dimension which is greater than its topological dimension (although this requirement is not met by space-filling curves such as the Hilbert curve).[4]
It has a simple and recursive definition.
Because they appear similar at all levels of magnification, fractals are often considered to be infinitely complex (in informal terms). Natural objects that approximate fractals to a degree include clouds, mountain ranges, lightning bolts, coastlines, snow flakes, various vegetables (cauliflower and broccoli), and animal coloration patterns. However, not all self-similar objects are fractals—for example, the real line (a straight Euclidean line) is formally self-similar but fails to have other fractal characteristics; for instance, it is regular enough to be described in Euclidean terms.
Images of fractals can be created using fractal-generating software. Images produced by such software are normally referred to as being fractals even if they do not have the above characteristics, as it is possible to zoom into a region of the image that does not exhibit any fractal properties.
Contents [hide]
1 History
2 Examples
3 Generating fractals
4 Classification
5 In nature
6 In creative works
7 Applications
8 See also
9 References
10 Further reading
11 External links
[edit] History
Animated construction of a Sierpiński Triangle, only going nine generations of infinite—click for larger image.
To create a Koch snowflake, one begins with an equilateral triangle and then replaces the middle third of every line segment with a pair of line segments that form an equilateral "bump." One then performs the same replacement on every line segment of the resulting shape, ad infinitum. With every iteration, the perimeter of this shape increases by one third of the previous length. The Koch snowflake is the result of an infinite number of these iterations, and has an infinite length, while its area remains finite. For this reason, the Koch snowflake and similar constructions were sometimes called "monster curves."The mathematics behind fractals began to take shape in the 17th century when mathematician and philosopher Leibniz considered recursive self-similarity (although he made the mistake of thinking that only the straight line was self-similar in this sense).
It took until 1872 before a function appeared whose graph would today be considered fractal, when Karl Weierstrass gave an example of a function with the non-intuitive property of being everywhere continuous but nowhere differentiable. In 1904, Helge von Koch, dissatisfied with Weierstrass's very abstract and analytic definition, gave a more geometric definition of a similar function, which is now called the Koch curve. (The image at right is three Koch curves put together to form what is commonly called the Koch snowflake.) Waclaw Sierpinski constructed his triangle in 1915 and, one year later, his carpet. Originally these geometric fractals were described as curves rather than the 2D shapes that they are known as in their modern constructions. In 1918, Bertrand Russell recognized a "supreme beauty" within the emerging mathematics of fractals.[2] The idea of self-similar curves was taken further by Paul Pierre Lévy, who, in his 1938 paper Plane or Space Curves and Surfaces Consisting of Parts Similar to the Whole described a new fractal curve, the Lévy C curve. Georg Cantor also gave examples of subsets of the real line with unusual properties—these Cantor sets are also now recognized as fractals.
Iterated functions in the complex plane were investigated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by Henri Poincaré, Felix Klein, Pierre Fatou and Gaston Julia. Without the aid of modern computer graphics, however, they lacked the means to visualize the beauty of many of the objects that they had discovered.
In the 1960s, Benoît Mandelbrot started investigating self-similarity in papers such as How Long Is the Coast of Britain? Statistical Self-Similarity and Fractional Dimension, which built on earlier work by Lewis Fry Richardson. Finally, in 1975 Mandelbrot coined the word "fractal" to denote an object whose Hausdorff–Besicovitch dimension is greater than its topological dimension. He illustrated this mathematical definition with striking computer-constructed visualizations. These images captured the popular imagination; many of them were based on recursion, leading to the popular meaning of the term "fractal".
[edit] Examples
A Julia set, a fractal related to the Mandelbrot setA class of examples is given by the Cantor sets, Sierpinski triangle and carpet, Menger sponge, dragon curve, space-filling curve, and Koch curve. Additional examples of fractals include the Lyapunov fractal and the limit sets of Kleinian groups. Fractals can be deterministic (all the above) or stochastic (that is, non-deterministic). For example, the trajectories of the Brownian motion in the plane have a Hausdorff dimension of 2.
Chaotic dynamical systems are sometimes associated with fractals. Objects in the phase space of a dynamical system can be fractals (see attractor). Objects in the parameter space for a family of systems may be fractal as well. An interesting example is the Mandelbrot set. This set contains whole discs, so it has a Hausdorff dimension equal to its topological dimension of 2—but what is truly surprising is that the boundary of the Mandelbrot set also has a Hausdorff dimension of 2 (while the topological dimension of 1), a result proved by Mitsuhiro Shishikura in 1991. A closely related fractal is the Julia set.
[edit] Generating fractals
Even 2000 times magnification of the Mandelbrot set uncovers fine detail resembling the full set.
Four common techniques for generating fractals are:
Escape-time fractals – (also known as "orbits" fractals) These are defined by a formula or recurrence relation at each point in a space (such as the complex plane). Examples of this type are the Mandelbrot set, Julia set, the Burning Ship fractal, the Nova fractal and the Lyapunov fractal. The 2d vector fields that are generated by one or two iterations of escape-time formulae also give rise to a fractal form when points (or pixel data) are passed through this field repeatedly.
Iterated function systems – These have a fixed geometric replacement rule. Cantor set, Sierpinski carpet, Sierpinski gasket, Peano curve, Koch snowflake, Harter-Highway dragon curve, T-Square, Menger sponge, are some examples of such fractals.
Random fractals – Generated by stochastic rather than deterministic processes, for example, trajectories of the Brownian motion, Lévy flight, fractal landscapes and the Brownian tree. The latter yields so-called mass- or dendritic fractals, for example, diffusion-limited aggregation or reaction-limited aggregation clusters.
Strange attractors – Generated by iteration of a map or the solution of a system of initial-value differential equations that exhibit chaos.
[edit] Classification
Fractals can also be classified according to their self-similarity. There are three types of self-similarity found in fractals:
Exact self-similarity – This is the strongest type of self-similarity; the fractal appears identical at different scales. Fractals defined by iterated function systems often display exact self-similarity.
Quasi-self-similarity – This is a loose form of self-similarity; the fractal appears approximately (but not exactly) identical at different scales. Quasi-self-similar fractals contain small copies of the entire fractal in distorted and degenerate forms. Fractals defined by recurrence relations are usually quasi-self-similar but not exactly self-similar.
Statistical self-similarity – This is the weakest type of self-similarity; the fractal has numerical or statistical measures which are preserved across scales. Most reasonable definitions of "fractal" trivially imply some form of statistical self-similarity. (Fractal dimension itself is a numerical measure which is preserved across scales.) Random fractals are examples of fractals which are statistically self-similar, but neither exactly nor quasi-self-similar.
[edit] In nature
Approximate fractals are easily found in nature. These objects display self-similar structure over an extended, but finite, scale range. Examples include clouds, snow flakes, crystals, mountain ranges, lightning, river networks, cauliflower or broccoli, and systems of blood vessels and pulmonary vessels. Coastlines may be loosely considered fractal in nature.
Trees and ferns are fractal in nature and can be modeled on a computer by using a recursive algorithm. This recursive nature is obvious in these examples—a branch from a tree or a frond from a fern is a miniature replica of the whole: not identical, but similar in nature. The connection between fractals and leaves are currently being used to determine how much carbon is contained in trees. This connection is hoped to help determine and solve the alleged environmental issue of carbon emission and control.[5]
In 1999, certain self similar fractal shapes were shown to have a property of "frequency invariance"—the same electromagnetic properties no matter what the frequency—from Maxwell's equations (see fractal antenna).[6]
Source: Wikipedia
It has a fine structure at arbitrarily small scales.
It is too irregular to be easily described in traditional Euclidean geometric language.
It is self-similar (at least approximately or stochastically).
It has a Hausdorff dimension which is greater than its topological dimension (although this requirement is not met by space-filling curves such as the Hilbert curve).[4]
It has a simple and recursive definition.
Because they appear similar at all levels of magnification, fractals are often considered to be infinitely complex (in informal terms). Natural objects that approximate fractals to a degree include clouds, mountain ranges, lightning bolts, coastlines, snow flakes, various vegetables (cauliflower and broccoli), and animal coloration patterns. However, not all self-similar objects are fractals—for example, the real line (a straight Euclidean line) is formally self-similar but fails to have other fractal characteristics; for instance, it is regular enough to be described in Euclidean terms.
Images of fractals can be created using fractal-generating software. Images produced by such software are normally referred to as being fractals even if they do not have the above characteristics, as it is possible to zoom into a region of the image that does not exhibit any fractal properties.
Contents [hide]
1 History
2 Examples
3 Generating fractals
4 Classification
5 In nature
6 In creative works
7 Applications
8 See also
9 References
10 Further reading
11 External links
[edit] History
Animated construction of a Sierpiński Triangle, only going nine generations of infinite—click for larger image.
To create a Koch snowflake, one begins with an equilateral triangle and then replaces the middle third of every line segment with a pair of line segments that form an equilateral "bump." One then performs the same replacement on every line segment of the resulting shape, ad infinitum. With every iteration, the perimeter of this shape increases by one third of the previous length. The Koch snowflake is the result of an infinite number of these iterations, and has an infinite length, while its area remains finite. For this reason, the Koch snowflake and similar constructions were sometimes called "monster curves."The mathematics behind fractals began to take shape in the 17th century when mathematician and philosopher Leibniz considered recursive self-similarity (although he made the mistake of thinking that only the straight line was self-similar in this sense).
It took until 1872 before a function appeared whose graph would today be considered fractal, when Karl Weierstrass gave an example of a function with the non-intuitive property of being everywhere continuous but nowhere differentiable. In 1904, Helge von Koch, dissatisfied with Weierstrass's very abstract and analytic definition, gave a more geometric definition of a similar function, which is now called the Koch curve. (The image at right is three Koch curves put together to form what is commonly called the Koch snowflake.) Waclaw Sierpinski constructed his triangle in 1915 and, one year later, his carpet. Originally these geometric fractals were described as curves rather than the 2D shapes that they are known as in their modern constructions. In 1918, Bertrand Russell recognized a "supreme beauty" within the emerging mathematics of fractals.[2] The idea of self-similar curves was taken further by Paul Pierre Lévy, who, in his 1938 paper Plane or Space Curves and Surfaces Consisting of Parts Similar to the Whole described a new fractal curve, the Lévy C curve. Georg Cantor also gave examples of subsets of the real line with unusual properties—these Cantor sets are also now recognized as fractals.
Iterated functions in the complex plane were investigated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by Henri Poincaré, Felix Klein, Pierre Fatou and Gaston Julia. Without the aid of modern computer graphics, however, they lacked the means to visualize the beauty of many of the objects that they had discovered.
In the 1960s, Benoît Mandelbrot started investigating self-similarity in papers such as How Long Is the Coast of Britain? Statistical Self-Similarity and Fractional Dimension, which built on earlier work by Lewis Fry Richardson. Finally, in 1975 Mandelbrot coined the word "fractal" to denote an object whose Hausdorff–Besicovitch dimension is greater than its topological dimension. He illustrated this mathematical definition with striking computer-constructed visualizations. These images captured the popular imagination; many of them were based on recursion, leading to the popular meaning of the term "fractal".
[edit] Examples
A Julia set, a fractal related to the Mandelbrot setA class of examples is given by the Cantor sets, Sierpinski triangle and carpet, Menger sponge, dragon curve, space-filling curve, and Koch curve. Additional examples of fractals include the Lyapunov fractal and the limit sets of Kleinian groups. Fractals can be deterministic (all the above) or stochastic (that is, non-deterministic). For example, the trajectories of the Brownian motion in the plane have a Hausdorff dimension of 2.
Chaotic dynamical systems are sometimes associated with fractals. Objects in the phase space of a dynamical system can be fractals (see attractor). Objects in the parameter space for a family of systems may be fractal as well. An interesting example is the Mandelbrot set. This set contains whole discs, so it has a Hausdorff dimension equal to its topological dimension of 2—but what is truly surprising is that the boundary of the Mandelbrot set also has a Hausdorff dimension of 2 (while the topological dimension of 1), a result proved by Mitsuhiro Shishikura in 1991. A closely related fractal is the Julia set.
[edit] Generating fractals
Even 2000 times magnification of the Mandelbrot set uncovers fine detail resembling the full set.
Four common techniques for generating fractals are:
Escape-time fractals – (also known as "orbits" fractals) These are defined by a formula or recurrence relation at each point in a space (such as the complex plane). Examples of this type are the Mandelbrot set, Julia set, the Burning Ship fractal, the Nova fractal and the Lyapunov fractal. The 2d vector fields that are generated by one or two iterations of escape-time formulae also give rise to a fractal form when points (or pixel data) are passed through this field repeatedly.
Iterated function systems – These have a fixed geometric replacement rule. Cantor set, Sierpinski carpet, Sierpinski gasket, Peano curve, Koch snowflake, Harter-Highway dragon curve, T-Square, Menger sponge, are some examples of such fractals.
Random fractals – Generated by stochastic rather than deterministic processes, for example, trajectories of the Brownian motion, Lévy flight, fractal landscapes and the Brownian tree. The latter yields so-called mass- or dendritic fractals, for example, diffusion-limited aggregation or reaction-limited aggregation clusters.
Strange attractors – Generated by iteration of a map or the solution of a system of initial-value differential equations that exhibit chaos.
[edit] Classification
Fractals can also be classified according to their self-similarity. There are three types of self-similarity found in fractals:
Exact self-similarity – This is the strongest type of self-similarity; the fractal appears identical at different scales. Fractals defined by iterated function systems often display exact self-similarity.
Quasi-self-similarity – This is a loose form of self-similarity; the fractal appears approximately (but not exactly) identical at different scales. Quasi-self-similar fractals contain small copies of the entire fractal in distorted and degenerate forms. Fractals defined by recurrence relations are usually quasi-self-similar but not exactly self-similar.
Statistical self-similarity – This is the weakest type of self-similarity; the fractal has numerical or statistical measures which are preserved across scales. Most reasonable definitions of "fractal" trivially imply some form of statistical self-similarity. (Fractal dimension itself is a numerical measure which is preserved across scales.) Random fractals are examples of fractals which are statistically self-similar, but neither exactly nor quasi-self-similar.
[edit] In nature
Approximate fractals are easily found in nature. These objects display self-similar structure over an extended, but finite, scale range. Examples include clouds, snow flakes, crystals, mountain ranges, lightning, river networks, cauliflower or broccoli, and systems of blood vessels and pulmonary vessels. Coastlines may be loosely considered fractal in nature.
Trees and ferns are fractal in nature and can be modeled on a computer by using a recursive algorithm. This recursive nature is obvious in these examples—a branch from a tree or a frond from a fern is a miniature replica of the whole: not identical, but similar in nature. The connection between fractals and leaves are currently being used to determine how much carbon is contained in trees. This connection is hoped to help determine and solve the alleged environmental issue of carbon emission and control.[5]
In 1999, certain self similar fractal shapes were shown to have a property of "frequency invariance"—the same electromagnetic properties no matter what the frequency—from Maxwell's equations (see fractal antenna).[6]
Source: Wikipedia
Pío Baroja
Pío Baroja y Nessi (December 28, 1872 – October 30, 1956) was a Spanish Basque writer, one of the key novelists of the Generation of '98. He was a member of an illustrious family, one of his relatives was a painter and engraver, and his nephew Julio Caro Baroja was a well known anthropologist.
He was born in San Sebastian, Spain. Although educated as a physician, Baroja only practised this trade briefly. As a matter of fact, he would use his student's memories - some of them he would consider terrible - as the raw material for his novel "The Tree of Knowledge". He also managed the family bakery for a short time and ran unsuccessfully on two occasions for a seat at the Cortes (Spanish parliament) as a Radical Republican. Baroja's true calling, however, was always writing, which he began seriously at the age of 13.
His first novel --La casa de Aizgorri (The House of Aizgorri, 1900)-- is part of a trilogy called La Tierra Vasca (The Basque Country, 1900–1909). This trilogy also includes El Mayorazgo de Labraz (The Lord of Labraz, 1903) which became one of his most popular novels in Spain.
However, he is best known internationally by another trilogy entitled La lucha por la vida (The Struggle for Life, 1922–1924) which offers a vivid depiction of life in Madrid's slums. John Dos Passos greatly admired these works and wrote about them.
Another major work --Memorias de un Hombre de Acción (Memories of a Man of Action, 1913–1931)-- offers a depiction of one of his ancestors who lived in the Basque region during the Carlist uprising in the 19th century.
Another of his trilogies is called La mar (The sea) and comprises La estrella del capitán Tximista, Los Pilotos de altura, and Los mercaderes de esclavos. Baroja also wrote the biography of Juan Manuel Antonio Julian Van Halen, a mariner who lived in the late 18th century.
However, some believe his masterpiece to be El árbol de la ciencia (1911) (translated as The Tree of Knowledge), a pessimistic Bildungsroman that depicts the futility of the pursuit of knowledge and of life in general. The title is ironically symbolic: The more the chief protagonist Andres Hurtado learns about and experiences life, the more pessimistic he feels and the more futile his life seems.
In keeping with Spanish literary tradition, Baroja often wrote in a pessimistic, picaresque style. His deft portrayal of the characters and settings brought the Basque region to life much as Benito Pérez Galdós' works offered an insight into Madrid. Baroja's works were often lively, but could be lacking in plot and are written in an abrupt, vivid, yet impersonal style. Sometimes he is even accused of grammatical errors, which he never denied.
Baroja as a young man believed loosely in anarchistic ideals, as other members of the '98 Generation. However, later he would derive into simple admiration of men of action, somehow similar to Nietzsche's superman. His vitalistic vision of life -although pessimistic- led his novels, his ideas and his figure to be considered somehow a precursor of a kind of Spanish fascism. In any case, he was not loved by Catholic and traditionalist ideologists and his life was at risk during the Spanish Civil War (1936-39).
Ernest Hemingway was greatly influenced by Baroja, although this is not fully appreciated by English-speaking critics.[citation needed]
[edit] Works available in English
The Tree of Knowledge (1974). Howard Fertig: ISBN 0865273162
Caesar or Nothing (1976). Howard Fertig: ISBN 0865272247
Zalacain the Adventurer (1998). Lost Coast Press: ISBN 1882897137
Youth And Egolatry (2004). Kessinger Publishing: ISBN 1419195409
Source: Wikipedia
He was born in San Sebastian, Spain. Although educated as a physician, Baroja only practised this trade briefly. As a matter of fact, he would use his student's memories - some of them he would consider terrible - as the raw material for his novel "The Tree of Knowledge". He also managed the family bakery for a short time and ran unsuccessfully on two occasions for a seat at the Cortes (Spanish parliament) as a Radical Republican. Baroja's true calling, however, was always writing, which he began seriously at the age of 13.
His first novel --La casa de Aizgorri (The House of Aizgorri, 1900)-- is part of a trilogy called La Tierra Vasca (The Basque Country, 1900–1909). This trilogy also includes El Mayorazgo de Labraz (The Lord of Labraz, 1903) which became one of his most popular novels in Spain.
However, he is best known internationally by another trilogy entitled La lucha por la vida (The Struggle for Life, 1922–1924) which offers a vivid depiction of life in Madrid's slums. John Dos Passos greatly admired these works and wrote about them.
Another major work --Memorias de un Hombre de Acción (Memories of a Man of Action, 1913–1931)-- offers a depiction of one of his ancestors who lived in the Basque region during the Carlist uprising in the 19th century.
Another of his trilogies is called La mar (The sea) and comprises La estrella del capitán Tximista, Los Pilotos de altura, and Los mercaderes de esclavos. Baroja also wrote the biography of Juan Manuel Antonio Julian Van Halen, a mariner who lived in the late 18th century.
However, some believe his masterpiece to be El árbol de la ciencia (1911) (translated as The Tree of Knowledge), a pessimistic Bildungsroman that depicts the futility of the pursuit of knowledge and of life in general. The title is ironically symbolic: The more the chief protagonist Andres Hurtado learns about and experiences life, the more pessimistic he feels and the more futile his life seems.
In keeping with Spanish literary tradition, Baroja often wrote in a pessimistic, picaresque style. His deft portrayal of the characters and settings brought the Basque region to life much as Benito Pérez Galdós' works offered an insight into Madrid. Baroja's works were often lively, but could be lacking in plot and are written in an abrupt, vivid, yet impersonal style. Sometimes he is even accused of grammatical errors, which he never denied.
Baroja as a young man believed loosely in anarchistic ideals, as other members of the '98 Generation. However, later he would derive into simple admiration of men of action, somehow similar to Nietzsche's superman. His vitalistic vision of life -although pessimistic- led his novels, his ideas and his figure to be considered somehow a precursor of a kind of Spanish fascism. In any case, he was not loved by Catholic and traditionalist ideologists and his life was at risk during the Spanish Civil War (1936-39).
Ernest Hemingway was greatly influenced by Baroja, although this is not fully appreciated by English-speaking critics.[citation needed]
[edit] Works available in English
The Tree of Knowledge (1974). Howard Fertig: ISBN 0865273162
Caesar or Nothing (1976). Howard Fertig: ISBN 0865272247
Zalacain the Adventurer (1998). Lost Coast Press: ISBN 1882897137
Youth And Egolatry (2004). Kessinger Publishing: ISBN 1419195409
Source: Wikipedia
Thursday, October 22, 2009
The Racistic Attack I have suffered in Poland
I was going in calm, to Bank Zachodni, at Przez Mierowo, Rinkowa, 75C in the city of Poznan, taking with me a paper explaining in the Polish language, that I wanted to open an bank account, because they don’t speak English in this country and the functionary refused to talk with me, her colleagues laughed and then came a fat man and attacked me.
I called Polish Police and it came the Special Polish Police full of letal equipment thinking that I was a robber.
Against Polish racistic acts, my great sorrow for what they are living as a catholic country and all the fake morality inside their traumatic society, my great anger but my road is solid and I will refuse to accept these twisted minds into my peaceful and human world by keep gloing on my work as an Independent Thinker, Anarchist, Writer, Poet, Translator, Human.
I must say that often I am followed by people in their cars, I have counted 3 so far, since I am here and that is July the 2th.
Eduardo Alexandre Miranda Pinto, Poznan, October 22th of 2009
I called Polish Police and it came the Special Polish Police full of letal equipment thinking that I was a robber.
Against Polish racistic acts, my great sorrow for what they are living as a catholic country and all the fake morality inside their traumatic society, my great anger but my road is solid and I will refuse to accept these twisted minds into my peaceful and human world by keep gloing on my work as an Independent Thinker, Anarchist, Writer, Poet, Translator, Human.
I must say that often I am followed by people in their cars, I have counted 3 so far, since I am here and that is July the 2th.
Eduardo Alexandre Miranda Pinto, Poznan, October 22th of 2009
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Rainer Maria Rilke
Rainer Maria Rilke (also Rainer Maria von Rilke) (4 December 1875 – 29 December 1926) is considered one of the German language's greatest 20th-century poets. His haunting images focus on the difficulty of communion with the ineffable in an age of disbelief, solitude, and profound anxiety: themes that tend to position him as a transitional figure between the traditional and the modernist poets.
He wrote in both verse and a highly lyrical prose. His two most famous verse sequences are the Sonnets to Orpheus and the Duino Elegies; his two most famous prose works are the Letters to a Young Poet and the semi-autobiographical The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge. He also wrote more than 400 poems in French, dedicated to his homeland of choice, the canton of Valais in Switzerland.
Contents [hide]
1 Life
1.1 1875-1896
1.2 1897-1902
1.3 1902-1910
1.4 1910-1919
1.5 1919-1926
2 Rilke's literary style
3 Rilke's influence
3.1 Literature
3.2 Film
3.3 Music
3.4 Art
3.5 Religion
3.6 Other
4 Selection of works
4.1 Complete works
4.2 Volumes of poetry
4.3 Prose
4.4 Letters
4.4.1 Collected letters
4.4.2 Other volumes of letters
4.5 Translations
4.5.1 Selections
4.5.2 Duino Elegies
4.5.3 Sonnets to Orpheus
4.5.4 Other works
4.6 Books on Rilke
4.6.1 Biographies
4.6.2 Studies
5 See also
6 References
7 External links
[edit] Life
[edit] 1875-1896
He was born René Karl Wilhelm Johann Josef Maria Rilke in Prague, Bohemia (then within Austria-Hungary, now the Czech Republic). His childhood and youth in Prague were sorrowful. His father, Josef Rilke (1838-1906), became a railway official after an unsuccessful military career. His mother, Sophie ("Phia") Entz (1851-1931), came from a well-to-do Prague family, the Entz-Kinzelbergers, who lived in a palace on the Herrengasse (Panská) 8, where René also spent much of his early years.
The relationship between Phia and her only son was encumbered by her prolonged mourning for her elder daughter who was lost after only a week of life. In fact, during Rilke's early years Phia acted as if she sought to recover the lost girl through the boy by dressing him in girl's clothing when he was young and making him act like a girl.[1] The parents' marriage fell apart in 1884.
His parents pressured the poetically and artistically gifted youth into entering a military academy, which he attended from 1886 until 1891, when he left due to illness. From 1892 to 1895 he was tutored for the university entrance exam, which he passed in 1895. In 1895 and 1896, he studied literature, art history, and philosophy in Prague and Munich.
[edit] 1897-1902
In 1897 in Munich, Rainer Maria Rilke met and fell in love with the widely traveled intellectual and lady of letters Lou Andreas-Salomé (1861-1937). (Rilke changed his first name from "René" to the more masculine Rainer at Lou's urging.) His relationship with this married woman, with whom he undertook two extensive trips to Russia, lasted until 1900. But even after their separation, Lou continued to be Rilke's most important confidante until the end of his life. Having trained from 1912 to 1913 as a psychoanalyst with Sigmund Freud, she shared her knowledge of psychoanalysis with Rilke.
In 1898, Rilke undertook a journey lasting several weeks to Italy. In 1899, he traveled with Lou and her husband, Friedrich Andreas, to Moscow where he met the novelist Leo Tolstoy. Between May and August 1900, a second journey to Russia, accompanied only by Lou, again took him to Moscow and Saint Petersburg, where he met the family of Boris Pasternak and Spiridon Drozhzhin, a peasant poet. Later, "Rilke called two places his home: Bohemia and Russia".[2]
In autumn 1900, Rilke stayed at the artists' colony at Worpswede, where his portrait was painted by the proto-expressionist Paula Modersohn-Becker (illus. above). It was here that he got to know the sculptress Clara Westhoff (1878-1954), whom he married the following spring. Their daughter Ruth (1901-1972) was born in December 1901. However, Rilke was not one for a middle-class family life; in the summer of 1902, Rilke left home and traveled to Paris to write a monograph on the sculptor Auguste Rodin (1840-1917). Still, the relationship between Rilke and Clara Westhoff continued for the rest of his life.
[edit] 1902-1910
At first, Rilke had a difficult time in Paris, an experience that he called on in the first part of his only novel, The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge. At the same time, his encounter with modernism was very stimulating: Rilke became deeply involved in the sculpture of Rodin, and then with the work of Paul Cézanne. For a time he acted as Rodin's amanuensis, eventually writing a long essay on Rodin and his work. Rodin taught him the value of objective observation, which effected the transformation of Rilke's poetic style that is manifested most pertinently in the Neue Gedichte, and the preoccupation contained therein with poetically recreating the 'Kunstdingen' that he learned to see with his rejuvenated artistic vision. The poems of the Neue Gedichte and Der Neuen Gedichte Anderer Teil can be said to be Kunstdingen in themselves. During these years, Paris increasingly became the writer's main residence.
The most important works of the Paris period were Neue Gedichte (New Poems) (1907), Der Neuen Gedichte Anderer Teil (Another Part of the New Poems) (1908), the two "Requiem" poems (1909), and the novel The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge, started in 1904 and completed in January 1910.
[edit] 1910-1919
Between October 1911 and May 1912, Rilke stayed at the Castle Duino, near Trieste, home of Countess Marie of Thurn and Taxis. There, in 1912, he began the poem cycle called the Duino Elegies, which would remain unfinished for a decade due to a long-lasting creativity crisis.
The outbreak of World War I surprised Rilke during a stay in Germany. He was unable to return to Paris, where his property was confiscated and auctioned. He spent the greater part of the war in Munich. From 1914 to 1916 he had a turbulent affair with the painter Lou Albert-Lasard.
Rilke was called up at the beginning of 1916, and he had to undertake basic training in Vienna. Influential friends interceded on his behalf, and he was transferred to the War Records Office and discharged from the military on 9 June 1916. He spent the subsequent time once again in Munich, interrupted by a stay on Hertha Koenig's Gut Bockel in Westphalia. The traumatic experience of military service, a reminder of the horrors of the military academy, almost completely silenced him as a poet.
[edit] 1919-1926
On 11 June 1919, Rilke traveled from Munich to Switzerland. The outward motive was an invitation to lecture in Zürich, but the real reason was the wish to escape the post-war chaos and take up once again his work on the Duino Elegies. The search for a suitable and affordable place to live proved to be very difficult. Among other places, Rilke lived in Soglio, Locarno, and Berg am Irchel. Only in the summer of 1921 was he able to find a permanent residence in the Chateau de Muzot in the commune of Veyras, close to Sierre in Valais. In an intense creative period, Rilke completed the Duino Elegies within several weeks in February 1922. In May 1922, after considerable renovation, Rilke's patron Werner Reinhart bought Muzot so that Rilke could live there rent-free.[3] Before and after, he wrote both parts of the poem cycle Sonnets to Orpheus containing 55 entire sonnets. Both works together constitute the high points of Rilke's work.
During this time, Reinhart introduced Rilke to his protégé, the Australian violinist Alma Moodie.[4] Rilke was so impressed with her playing that he wrote in a letter: What a sound, what richness, what determination. That and the "Sonnets to Orpheus", those were two strings of the same voice. And she plays mostly Bach! Muzot has received its musical christening....[5][6][7]
From 1923 on, Rilke increasingly had to struggle with health problems that necessitated many long stays at a sanatorium in Territet, near Montreux, on Lake Geneva. His long stay in Paris between January and August 1925 was an attempt to escape his illness through a change in location and living conditions. Despite this, numerous important individual poems appeared in the years 1923-1926 (including Gong and Mausoleum), as well as a comprehensive lyrical work in French.
Only shortly before his death was Rilke's illness diagnosed as leukemia. The poet died on 29 December 1926 in the Valmont Sanatorium in Switzerland, and was buried on 2 January 1927 in the Raron cemetery to the west of Visp.
Rilke's graveRilke had believed that his death would be from blood poisoning as the result of having been pricked by a rose thorn. He chose his own epitaph as:
Rose, oh reiner Widerspruch, Lust,
Niemandes Schlaf zu sein unter soviel
Lidern.
Rose, oh pure contradiction, desire
of being No-one's sleep, under so
many lids.
[edit] Rilke's literary style
Rilke's work was highly influenced by his education and knowledge of classic authors. Ancient gods Apollo, Hermes and hero Orpheus can often be found as motifs in his poems and are depicted in new ways and original interpretations (e. g. story of Eurydice, apathetic and dazed by death, not even recognising her lover Orpheus, who descended to hell for her, in the poem Orpheus. Eurydice. Hermes). Other characteristic figures in Rilke's poems are angels, roses and a character of a poet and his creative work.
Rilke often worked with metaphors, metonymy and contradictions (e. g. as in his epitaph, rose is represented as a symbol of sleep - rose petals remind of closed eye lids, and of awakened senses - colour, scent and fragility of a rose).
Rilke's 1898 poem, "Visions of Christ" depicted Mary Magdalene as the mother to Jesus' child.[8][9]
Quoting Susan Haskins:
It was Rilke's explicit belief that Christ was not divine, was entirely human, and deified only on Calvary, expressed in an unpublished poem of 1893, and referred to in other poems of the same period, which allowed him to portray Christ's love for Mary Magdalene, though remarkable, as entirely human.[10]
[edit] Rilke's influence
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German philosopher Martin Heidegger cites Rilke as an example of the highest form of thinker in his essay "What Are Poets For?" The essay's theme is largely explored through the examination of an "improvised verse" (short poem) Rilke wrote in 1924. Heidegger ranks Rilke in the German poetic tradition as second only to Friedrich Hölderlin.
The Rilke Project involves contemporary pop artists and actors (including Xavier Naidoo, BAP, Jürgen Prochnow, and Katja Riemann) interpreting Rilke's texts to make Rilke accessible to new generations.
The Rainer Maria Rilke Foundation in Sierre was established in 1986 to promote the work of the poet.
[edit] Literature
Rilke has also been celebrated in Thomas Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow, William Gaddis' voluminous novel The Recognitions, and William H. Gass' epic, controversial novel The Tunnel, in which the main character makes repeated reference to his interest in Rilke's poetry. Rilke is also referred to in Julia Alvarez's novel How the García Girls Lost Their Accents.[citation needed]
J.D. Salinger alludes to Rilke in various works, including the novel Franny and Zooey and the short story A Perfect Day for Bananafish.
Audrey Niffenegger mentions and quotes from Rilke frequently in The Time Traveler's Wife.
Douglas Coupland quotes Rilke's Letters to a Young Poet in Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture.
A Rilke translation inspired Lost in Translation, a celebrated 1974 poem by James Merrill.
Colin Wilson mentions Rilke's work numerous times in The Outsider.
Jo Shapcott's collection of poems, Tender Taxes, is based on a series of Rilke's poems written in French.
Rilke's poetry highly influenced the life and writings of Etty Hillesum.[citation needed]
Rilke's "Sonnets to Orpheus" was inspiration for W. H. Auden's "Journey to a War," published in 1939.
The relationship of Rilke and Clara Westhoff and her early death is the subject Adrienne Rich's poem "Paula Becker to Clara Westhoff".[citation needed]
The title of Riding with Rilke: Reflections on Motorcycles and Books by Canadian author and academic Ted Bishop is in reference to Rilke, who is mentioned briefly in the book.
Jane Fonda quotes Rilke numerous times in her autobiography My Life So Far.
In Milan Kundera's novel Immortality Rilke is called to the Eternal Trial of Goethe, relating to Goethe's treatment of Bettina, and Kundera quotes a passage from The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge as Rilke's testimony.
The novel Lost Son by M. Allen Cunningham (2007) tells the story of Rilke's life from birth to age 42.
"A Rose for Ecclesiastes", a 1963 story by Roger Zelazny, features the main character quoting Rilke's poem "Spanish Dancer."
The Triestine main character in Susanna Tamaro's Anima Mundi (1997, English translation 2007) refers to the fundamental influence of The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge and The Duino Elegies in his life.
In Amitav Ghosh's The Hungry Tide, a major character (Nirmal) is a fan of Rilke's verses, and excerpts feature prominently in the text.
Philip Roth's 1972 novella The Breast concludes with Rilke's poem "Archaic Torso of Apollo." The main character, an English professor, believes that his story will "illuminate these great lines for those of you new to the poem."
[edit] Film
Wim Wenders cites Rilke as the inspiration behind his angels in Wings of Desire.[citation needed]
Rilke's poem The Panther is quoted in the 1990 film Awakenings (based on the 1973 book of the same name by neurologist and author Oliver Sacks), expressing the emotional undertone of the story.
In the 1993 movie Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit, actress Whoopi Goldberg refers to Rilke's Letters to a Young Poet.
Rilke is quoted in Kissing Jessica Stein by a woman looking for a woman in a personal ad, which prompts the main character, Jessica, to answer the ad.
Rilke's poem "Archaic Torso of Apollo" is quoted by Miriam, played by Gena Rowlands, in Woody Allen's 1988 film Another Woman.
Rilke's poem You Who Never Arrived is quoted by Faith, played by Marisa Tomei, in Norman Jewison's 1994 film Only You.
Rilke is referenced pejoratively in the film Igby Goes Down when Igby, played by Kieran Culkin says, "Every Christmas, some asshole gives me this copy of Young Poet with this patronizing note on the flap about how it's supposed to change my life."
"Rain", the Juliette Lewis character in Woody Allen's Husbands and Wives is named after Rilke.
Rilke's quote "For one human being to love another: that is perhaps the most difficult of all our tasks, [...] the work for which all other work is but preparation" is quoted before the end credits in the 2006 film Loving Annabelle. Rilke's poem "Buddha in Glory" is read in one scene.
In the 2008 film Synecdoche, New York, Caden awakens on the first day of fall to a full reading of Stephen Mitchell's English translation of Rilke's "Autumn Day" on his clock radio.
[edit] Music
The indie rock band Rainer Maria takes its name from Rilke, and at least some of their merchandise bears the poet's image.
The Cocteau Twins's song "Rilkean Heart", on the 1996 album Milk and Kisses, is an homage to Jeff Buckley who was a lifelong lover of Rilke's work.
The Swiss composer Frank Martin (1890-1974) set Rilke's prose "Die Weise von Liebe und Tod des Cornets Christoph Rilke" (The lay of the love and death of Cornet Christopher Rilke) to an orchestral song cycle, premiered in February 1945. Viktor Ullmann, an Austrian composer, also set this prose to music.
The British composer Oliver Knussen (b.1952) has set texts of Rainer Maria Rilke to music in his unaccompanied Rilke songs and in Requiem: Songs for Sue.
The Trieste-based British composer Baron Raffaello de Banfield Tripcovich (1922-2008) set several poems of Rilke for soprano and large orchestra, including 'Serale' and 'Liebeslied' (1968), 'Der Tod des Geliebten' and 'Der Sturm' (1972), and 'Four Rilke songs' (1986).
The Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975) set several of Rilke's poems to music in his Symphony No. 14.
The American contemporary composer Morten Lauridsen (b. 1943) set five of Rilke's French-language "Rose" poems to music in a choral piece titled Les Chansons des Roses.
The contemporary Danish composer Per Nørgård (b. 1932) has set the Rilke sonnet to Orpheus "Singe die Gärten" as the second and final movement of his 3rd symphony.
The contemporary Norwegian composer Arne Nordheim (b.1931) has set Rilke's "Todeserfahrung" in his Wirklicher Wald.
In 2006, Pianist Brad Mehldau wrote a cycle of art songs for soprano and piano based on seven poems from Rilke's The Book of Hours: Love Poems to God. Mehldau premiered the work with Renée Fleming at Carnegie Hall in 2006, which was recorded and released on the album Love Sublime.
The German composer Paul Hindemith (1895-1963) set Six Chansons, 6 pieces for a cappella choir, of the French poetry by Rilke (1939), as well as the imposing German language song cycle Das Marienleben (1922, revised 1948).
Composer Sofia Gubaidulina (b.1931), a great admirer of Rilke's work, includes the beginning of "Vom Tode Mariä I" (Derselbe große Engel, welcher einst) at the end of her piece Stufen.
Robert Hunter, best known for his work with The Grateful Dead, translated The Duino Elegies[11] and Sonnets to Orpheus.[12] The Sonnets translation is a rhymed translation. He also recorded readings of his translations, the Duino Elegies recording was made with keyboardist Tom Constanten.
Indie rock group CocoRosie's song Terrible Angels mentions Rilke.
Contemporary rock group Sixpence None the Richer's song entitled "Still Burning" was influenced by Rilke's imagery of the heart as a hand.
Chicago jazz vocalist Kurt Elling combined a Rilke poem with a melody from the Dave Brubeck Quartet to form his song "Those Clouds Are Heavy, You Dig?"
The American country music songwriter and vocalist, Ray Wylie Hubbard, quotes Rilke in his song "The Messenger."
Band Eyeless in Gaza singer Martyn Bates worked with Anne Clark set poems by Rilke to music on the album "Just After Sunset" in 2002.
The composer Harrison Birtwistle (b. 1934) has set some of the Sonnets to Orpheus in his piece 'Orpheus Elegies' for Oboe, Harp and Counter-tenor.
The German composer Bertold Hummel wrote 1980 a song for voice and piano after the famous poem Autumn Day by Rilke. [3]
The Danish composer Paul von Klenau (1883-1946) composed a song cycle on "Die Weise von Liebe und Tod des Cornets Christoph Rilke" (The lay of the love and death of cornet Christopher Rilke) for baritone and orchestra, during the years 1918-1919.
Lady Gaga cited Rilke as an inspiration, and she got a tattoo of Rilke's quote "In the deepest hour of the night, confess to yourself that you would die if you were forbidden to write. And look deep into your heart where it spreads its roots, the answer, and ask yourself, must I write?" in a German script.
Austrian composer Anton Webern's Op. 8 (1910), Zwei Lieder nach Gedichten von Rainer Maria Rilke, sets two poems by Rilke for soprano and chamber ensemble: "Du, der ich's nicht sage" ("You, whom I am not telling") and "Du machst mich allein" ("You make me alone").
The Austrian composer Alban Berg (1885-1935) set several of Rilke's poems, including "Traumgekrönt" (Das war der Tag der weißen Chrysanthemen) ("Crowned in a dream"), the fourth of Berg's Seven Early Songs.
Austrian composer Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951) set a number of Rilke's poems, including three of the Four Lieder for Voice and Orchestra, Op.22 (1913/16): "Alle, welche dich suchen" (from Das Stundenbuch - Das Buch von der Pilgerschaft), "Mach mich zum Wächter deiner Weiten" (from Das Stundenbuch - Das Buch von der Armut und dem Tode), and "Vorgefühl" (from Das Buch der Bilder).
[edit] Art
Fragments of Rilke's poetry are inscribed in certain paintings by Cy Twombly.
In 1968, American artist Ben Shahn illustrated a set of verses from Rilke's The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge called For the Sake of a Single Verse...
Lady Gaga pop singer showed off her newest body art. The curling script on her left arm is a souvenir that comes from the poet Rainer Maria Rilke, whom she described as her "favorite philosopher." “It says ‘In the deepest hour of the night, confess to yourself that you would die if you were forbidden to write. And look deep into your heart where it spreads its roots, the answer, and ask yourself, must I write?’”
[edit] Religion
Rilke's poem "You, Neighbour God" is included in the most commonly used edition of Liturgy of the Hours.
[edit] Other
Rilke's "At present you need to live the question" was used as an extended essay prompt option on the University of Chicago's supplement to the Common Application in 2008.
[edit] Selection of works
[edit] Complete works
Rainer Maria Rilke, Sämtliche Werke in 12 Bänden (Complete Works in 12 Volumes), published by Rilke Archive in association with Ruth Sieber-Rilke, supplied by Ernst Zinn. Frankfurt am Main (1976)
Rainer Maria Rilke, Werke (Works). Edition in four volumes with commentary and supplementary volume, published by Manfred Engel, Ulrich Fülleborn, Dorothea Lauterbach, Horst Nalewski and August Stahl. Frankfurt am Main and Leipzig (1996 and 2003)
[edit] Volumes of poetry
Leben und Lieder (Life and Songs) (1894)
Larenopfer (Lares' Sacrifice) (1895)
Traumgekrönt (Dream-Crowned) (1897)
Advent (Advent) (1898)
Mir zur Feier (To me Only Celebration) (1909)
Das Stunden-Buch (The Book of Hours)
Das Buch vom mönchischen Leben (The Book of Monastic Life) (1899)
Das Buch von der Pilgerschaft (The Book of Pilgrimage) (1901)
Das Buch von der Armut und vom Tode (The Book of Poverty and Death) (1903)
Das Buch der Bilder (The Book of Images) (4 Parts, 1902-1906)
Neue Gedichte (New Poems) (1907)
[edit] Prose
Geschichten vom Lieben Gott (Stories of God) (Collection of narrations, 1900)
Auguste Rodin (1903)
Die Weise von Liebe und Tod des Cornets Christoph Rilke (The Lay of the Love and Death of Cornet Christoph Rilke) (Lyric narration, 1906)
Die Aufzeichnungen des Malte Laurids Brigge (The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge) (Novel, 1910)
[edit] Letters
[edit] Collected letters
Gesammelte Briefe in sechs Bänden (Collected Letters in Six Volumes), published by Ruth Sieber-Rilke and Carl Sieber. Leipzig (1936-1939)
Briefe (Letters), published by the Rilke Archive in Weimar. Two volumes, Wiesbaden (1950, reprinted 1987 in single volume).
Briefe in Zwei Bänden (Letters in Two Volumes) (Horst Nalewski, Frankfurt and Leipzig, 1991)
[edit] Other volumes of letters
Briefe an Auguste Rodin (Insel Verlag, 1928)
Briefwechsel mit Marie von Thurn und Taxis, two volumes, edited by Ernst Zinn with a forward by Rudolf Kassner (Editions Max Niehans, 1954)
Briefwechsel mit Thankmar von Münchhausen 1913 bis 1925 (Suhrkamp Insel Verlag, 2004)
Briefwechsel mit Rolf von Ungern-Sternberg und weitere Dokumente zur Übertragung der Stances von Jean Moréas (Suhrkamp Insel Verlag, 2002)
[edit] Translations
[edit] Selections
Rainer Maria Rilke, Duino Elegies and The Sonnets To Orpheus translated by A. Poulin, Jr. (Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1975) ISBN 0-395-25058-7
The Selected Poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke, ed. and trans. Stephen Mitchell, Introduction by Robert Hass (Vintage; Reissue edition 13 March 1989)
Selected Poems of Rainer Maria Rilke, ed. and trans. Robert Bly New York, 1981)
The Unknown Rilke, trans. Franz Wright (Oberlin College Press, expanded ed. 1990) ISBN 0-932440-56-8
The Book of Fresh Beginnings: Selected Poems, trans. David Young (Oberlin College Press, 1994) ISBN 0-932440-68-1
The Essential Rilke, ed. and trans. Galway Kinnell and Hannah Liebmann (Hopewell, NJ, 1999)
Uncollected Poems, trans. Edward Snow (North Point Press, New York, 1966)
Two Prague Stories, trans. Isabel Cole (Vitalis, Český Těšín, 2002)
Pictures of God: Rilke's Religious Poetry, ed. and trans. Annemarie S. Kidder (Livonia, MI 2005)
Duino Elegies, Sonnets to Orpheus, Letters to a young poet: Box set, ed. and trans. Stephen Mitchell
[edit] Duino Elegies
Duineser Elegien: Elegies from the Castle of Duino, trans. V. Sackville-West (Hogarth Press, London, 1931)
Duino Elegies, trans. J.B. Leishman and Stephen Spender (W. W. Norton, New York, 1939)
Duino Elegies, trans. Jessie Lemont (Fine Editions Press, New York, 1945)
Duineser Elegien: The Elegies of Duino, trans. Nora Wydenbruck (Amandus, Vienna, 1948
Duinesian Elegies, trans. Elaine E. Boney (University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, 1975)
Duino Elegies, trans. David Young (W. W. Norton, New York, 1978) ISBN 0-393-30931-2
Duino Elegies, trans. Gary Miranda (Azul Editions, Falls Church, VA, 1996) ISBN 885214-07-3
Duino Elegies, trans. Robert Hunter w/ block prints by Mareen Hunter (Hulogosi Press, 1989)][13]
Duino-Elegieë trans. H.J. Pieterse from German to Afrikaans (Protea, Pretoria, 2007) ISBN 978-1-86919-151-1
[edit] Sonnets to Orpheus
Sonnets to Orpheus, trans. with notes and commentary J.B. Leishman (Hogarth Press, London, 1936)
Sonnets to Orpheus, trans. C. F. MacIntyre, (U.C. Berkeley Press, 1961)
Sonnets to Orpheus, trans. M.D. Herder Norton (W. W. Norton, New York, 1962)
Sonnets to Orpheus, trans. Jessie Lemont (Fine Editions PRess, New York, 1945)
Sonnets to Orpheus, trans. with notes Stephen Mitchell (Simon and Schuster, New York, 1985)
Sonnets to Orpheus, trans. with notes and commentary Edward Snow (North Point Press, New York, 2004)ISBN: [ 0865477213 0865477213]
Sonnets to Orpheus, trans. Willis Barnstone (Shambhala Publications, Boston, 2004)
Sonnets to Orpheus, trans. Leslie Norris and Alan Keele (ed. Lucien Jenkins) (Camden House, Inc 1989)
Sonnets to Orpheus, trans. Robert Hunter[14]
Orpheus, trans. Don Paterson (Faber, 2006)
[edit] Other works
Stories of God, trans. M.D. Herter Norton (W. W. Norton, New York, 1932) ISBN 0-393-30882-0
Stories of God, trans. Michael H. Kohn (Shambhala, Boston, 2003) ISBN 978-1-59030-038-1
Stories of God, trans. Various, edited by Jack Beacham (Aventure Works, Hudson, Ohio, 2009) ISBN 1-4392-2561-3
Letters to a Young Poet, trans. M.D. Herter Norton (W.W. Norton, New York, 1934) ISBN 0-393-31039-6
Poems from The Book of Hours trans. Babette Deutsch (New Directions, New York, 1941)
The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge, trans. M.D. Herter Norton (W.W. Norton, New York, 1949) ISBN 0-393-30881-2
The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge, trans. Stephen Mitchell (New York, 1983)
The Lay of the Love and Death of Cornet Christophe Rilke, trans. Stephen Mitchell (Graywolf Press, 1985) ISBN 0-915308-77-0
The Book of Hours: Prayers to a Lowly God, trans. Annemarie S. Kidder (Evanston, 2001)
Larenopfer, trans. and commentary by Alfred de Zayas, with drawings by Martin Andrysek (Red Hen Press, Los Angeles, 2005, 2nd revised and enlarged edition with a preface by Ralph Freedman, 2008)
Rainer Maria Rilke's The Book of Hours: A New Translation with Commentary, trans. Susan Ranson, edited with an introduction and notes by Ben Hutchinson (Camden House, New York/Boydell & Brewer Ltd, Woodbridge, UK, 2008) ISBN 978-1-57113-380-9
Rilke's Book of Hours: Love Poems to God; translated by Anita Barrows and Joanna Macy; New York: Riverhead Books(1996); ISBN 1-59448-156-3
[edit] Books on Rilke
[edit] Biographies
Ralph Freedman, Life of a Poet: Rainer Maria Rilke, New York 1996.
Donald Prater, A Ringing Glass: The Life of Rainer Maria Rilke, Oxford University Press, 1994
Paul Torgersen, Dear Friend: Rainer Maria Rilke and Paula Modersohn-Becker, Northwestern University Press, 1998.
[edit] Studies
A Companion to the Works of Rainer Maria Rilke, ed. Erika A and Michael M. Metzger, Rochester 2001.
Rilke Handbuch: Leben - Werk - Wirkung, ed. Manfred Engel and Dorothea Lauterbach, Stuttgart and Weimar 2004.
Goldsmith, Ulrich, ed. (1980). Rainer Maria Rilke, a verse concordance to his complete lyrical poetry. Leeds: W.S. Maney.
Mood, John J. L. Rilke on Love and Other Difficulties. (New York: W. W. Norton 1975, reissue 2004) ISBN 0-393-31098-1.
Mood, John. Rilke on Death and Other Oddities. Philadelphia: Xlibris, 2006. ISBN 1-4257-2818-9.
Schwarz, Egon. Poetry and politics in the works of Rainer Maria Rilke. Frederick Ungar, 1981. ISBN 9780804428118.
Mood, John. 'A New Reading of Rilke's "Elegies": Affirming the Unity of "life-AND-death"'. Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press, 2009 ISBN 978-0-7734-3864-4.
He wrote in both verse and a highly lyrical prose. His two most famous verse sequences are the Sonnets to Orpheus and the Duino Elegies; his two most famous prose works are the Letters to a Young Poet and the semi-autobiographical The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge. He also wrote more than 400 poems in French, dedicated to his homeland of choice, the canton of Valais in Switzerland.
Contents [hide]
1 Life
1.1 1875-1896
1.2 1897-1902
1.3 1902-1910
1.4 1910-1919
1.5 1919-1926
2 Rilke's literary style
3 Rilke's influence
3.1 Literature
3.2 Film
3.3 Music
3.4 Art
3.5 Religion
3.6 Other
4 Selection of works
4.1 Complete works
4.2 Volumes of poetry
4.3 Prose
4.4 Letters
4.4.1 Collected letters
4.4.2 Other volumes of letters
4.5 Translations
4.5.1 Selections
4.5.2 Duino Elegies
4.5.3 Sonnets to Orpheus
4.5.4 Other works
4.6 Books on Rilke
4.6.1 Biographies
4.6.2 Studies
5 See also
6 References
7 External links
[edit] Life
[edit] 1875-1896
He was born René Karl Wilhelm Johann Josef Maria Rilke in Prague, Bohemia (then within Austria-Hungary, now the Czech Republic). His childhood and youth in Prague were sorrowful. His father, Josef Rilke (1838-1906), became a railway official after an unsuccessful military career. His mother, Sophie ("Phia") Entz (1851-1931), came from a well-to-do Prague family, the Entz-Kinzelbergers, who lived in a palace on the Herrengasse (Panská) 8, where René also spent much of his early years.
The relationship between Phia and her only son was encumbered by her prolonged mourning for her elder daughter who was lost after only a week of life. In fact, during Rilke's early years Phia acted as if she sought to recover the lost girl through the boy by dressing him in girl's clothing when he was young and making him act like a girl.[1] The parents' marriage fell apart in 1884.
His parents pressured the poetically and artistically gifted youth into entering a military academy, which he attended from 1886 until 1891, when he left due to illness. From 1892 to 1895 he was tutored for the university entrance exam, which he passed in 1895. In 1895 and 1896, he studied literature, art history, and philosophy in Prague and Munich.
[edit] 1897-1902
In 1897 in Munich, Rainer Maria Rilke met and fell in love with the widely traveled intellectual and lady of letters Lou Andreas-Salomé (1861-1937). (Rilke changed his first name from "René" to the more masculine Rainer at Lou's urging.) His relationship with this married woman, with whom he undertook two extensive trips to Russia, lasted until 1900. But even after their separation, Lou continued to be Rilke's most important confidante until the end of his life. Having trained from 1912 to 1913 as a psychoanalyst with Sigmund Freud, she shared her knowledge of psychoanalysis with Rilke.
In 1898, Rilke undertook a journey lasting several weeks to Italy. In 1899, he traveled with Lou and her husband, Friedrich Andreas, to Moscow where he met the novelist Leo Tolstoy. Between May and August 1900, a second journey to Russia, accompanied only by Lou, again took him to Moscow and Saint Petersburg, where he met the family of Boris Pasternak and Spiridon Drozhzhin, a peasant poet. Later, "Rilke called two places his home: Bohemia and Russia".[2]
In autumn 1900, Rilke stayed at the artists' colony at Worpswede, where his portrait was painted by the proto-expressionist Paula Modersohn-Becker (illus. above). It was here that he got to know the sculptress Clara Westhoff (1878-1954), whom he married the following spring. Their daughter Ruth (1901-1972) was born in December 1901. However, Rilke was not one for a middle-class family life; in the summer of 1902, Rilke left home and traveled to Paris to write a monograph on the sculptor Auguste Rodin (1840-1917). Still, the relationship between Rilke and Clara Westhoff continued for the rest of his life.
[edit] 1902-1910
At first, Rilke had a difficult time in Paris, an experience that he called on in the first part of his only novel, The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge. At the same time, his encounter with modernism was very stimulating: Rilke became deeply involved in the sculpture of Rodin, and then with the work of Paul Cézanne. For a time he acted as Rodin's amanuensis, eventually writing a long essay on Rodin and his work. Rodin taught him the value of objective observation, which effected the transformation of Rilke's poetic style that is manifested most pertinently in the Neue Gedichte, and the preoccupation contained therein with poetically recreating the 'Kunstdingen' that he learned to see with his rejuvenated artistic vision. The poems of the Neue Gedichte and Der Neuen Gedichte Anderer Teil can be said to be Kunstdingen in themselves. During these years, Paris increasingly became the writer's main residence.
The most important works of the Paris period were Neue Gedichte (New Poems) (1907), Der Neuen Gedichte Anderer Teil (Another Part of the New Poems) (1908), the two "Requiem" poems (1909), and the novel The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge, started in 1904 and completed in January 1910.
[edit] 1910-1919
Between October 1911 and May 1912, Rilke stayed at the Castle Duino, near Trieste, home of Countess Marie of Thurn and Taxis. There, in 1912, he began the poem cycle called the Duino Elegies, which would remain unfinished for a decade due to a long-lasting creativity crisis.
The outbreak of World War I surprised Rilke during a stay in Germany. He was unable to return to Paris, where his property was confiscated and auctioned. He spent the greater part of the war in Munich. From 1914 to 1916 he had a turbulent affair with the painter Lou Albert-Lasard.
Rilke was called up at the beginning of 1916, and he had to undertake basic training in Vienna. Influential friends interceded on his behalf, and he was transferred to the War Records Office and discharged from the military on 9 June 1916. He spent the subsequent time once again in Munich, interrupted by a stay on Hertha Koenig's Gut Bockel in Westphalia. The traumatic experience of military service, a reminder of the horrors of the military academy, almost completely silenced him as a poet.
[edit] 1919-1926
On 11 June 1919, Rilke traveled from Munich to Switzerland. The outward motive was an invitation to lecture in Zürich, but the real reason was the wish to escape the post-war chaos and take up once again his work on the Duino Elegies. The search for a suitable and affordable place to live proved to be very difficult. Among other places, Rilke lived in Soglio, Locarno, and Berg am Irchel. Only in the summer of 1921 was he able to find a permanent residence in the Chateau de Muzot in the commune of Veyras, close to Sierre in Valais. In an intense creative period, Rilke completed the Duino Elegies within several weeks in February 1922. In May 1922, after considerable renovation, Rilke's patron Werner Reinhart bought Muzot so that Rilke could live there rent-free.[3] Before and after, he wrote both parts of the poem cycle Sonnets to Orpheus containing 55 entire sonnets. Both works together constitute the high points of Rilke's work.
During this time, Reinhart introduced Rilke to his protégé, the Australian violinist Alma Moodie.[4] Rilke was so impressed with her playing that he wrote in a letter: What a sound, what richness, what determination. That and the "Sonnets to Orpheus", those were two strings of the same voice. And she plays mostly Bach! Muzot has received its musical christening....[5][6][7]
From 1923 on, Rilke increasingly had to struggle with health problems that necessitated many long stays at a sanatorium in Territet, near Montreux, on Lake Geneva. His long stay in Paris between January and August 1925 was an attempt to escape his illness through a change in location and living conditions. Despite this, numerous important individual poems appeared in the years 1923-1926 (including Gong and Mausoleum), as well as a comprehensive lyrical work in French.
Only shortly before his death was Rilke's illness diagnosed as leukemia. The poet died on 29 December 1926 in the Valmont Sanatorium in Switzerland, and was buried on 2 January 1927 in the Raron cemetery to the west of Visp.
Rilke's graveRilke had believed that his death would be from blood poisoning as the result of having been pricked by a rose thorn. He chose his own epitaph as:
Rose, oh reiner Widerspruch, Lust,
Niemandes Schlaf zu sein unter soviel
Lidern.
Rose, oh pure contradiction, desire
of being No-one's sleep, under so
many lids.
[edit] Rilke's literary style
Rilke's work was highly influenced by his education and knowledge of classic authors. Ancient gods Apollo, Hermes and hero Orpheus can often be found as motifs in his poems and are depicted in new ways and original interpretations (e. g. story of Eurydice, apathetic and dazed by death, not even recognising her lover Orpheus, who descended to hell for her, in the poem Orpheus. Eurydice. Hermes). Other characteristic figures in Rilke's poems are angels, roses and a character of a poet and his creative work.
Rilke often worked with metaphors, metonymy and contradictions (e. g. as in his epitaph, rose is represented as a symbol of sleep - rose petals remind of closed eye lids, and of awakened senses - colour, scent and fragility of a rose).
Rilke's 1898 poem, "Visions of Christ" depicted Mary Magdalene as the mother to Jesus' child.[8][9]
Quoting Susan Haskins:
It was Rilke's explicit belief that Christ was not divine, was entirely human, and deified only on Calvary, expressed in an unpublished poem of 1893, and referred to in other poems of the same period, which allowed him to portray Christ's love for Mary Magdalene, though remarkable, as entirely human.[10]
[edit] Rilke's influence
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German philosopher Martin Heidegger cites Rilke as an example of the highest form of thinker in his essay "What Are Poets For?" The essay's theme is largely explored through the examination of an "improvised verse" (short poem) Rilke wrote in 1924. Heidegger ranks Rilke in the German poetic tradition as second only to Friedrich Hölderlin.
The Rilke Project involves contemporary pop artists and actors (including Xavier Naidoo, BAP, Jürgen Prochnow, and Katja Riemann) interpreting Rilke's texts to make Rilke accessible to new generations.
The Rainer Maria Rilke Foundation in Sierre was established in 1986 to promote the work of the poet.
[edit] Literature
Rilke has also been celebrated in Thomas Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow, William Gaddis' voluminous novel The Recognitions, and William H. Gass' epic, controversial novel The Tunnel, in which the main character makes repeated reference to his interest in Rilke's poetry. Rilke is also referred to in Julia Alvarez's novel How the García Girls Lost Their Accents.[citation needed]
J.D. Salinger alludes to Rilke in various works, including the novel Franny and Zooey and the short story A Perfect Day for Bananafish.
Audrey Niffenegger mentions and quotes from Rilke frequently in The Time Traveler's Wife.
Douglas Coupland quotes Rilke's Letters to a Young Poet in Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture.
A Rilke translation inspired Lost in Translation, a celebrated 1974 poem by James Merrill.
Colin Wilson mentions Rilke's work numerous times in The Outsider.
Jo Shapcott's collection of poems, Tender Taxes, is based on a series of Rilke's poems written in French.
Rilke's poetry highly influenced the life and writings of Etty Hillesum.[citation needed]
Rilke's "Sonnets to Orpheus" was inspiration for W. H. Auden's "Journey to a War," published in 1939.
The relationship of Rilke and Clara Westhoff and her early death is the subject Adrienne Rich's poem "Paula Becker to Clara Westhoff".[citation needed]
The title of Riding with Rilke: Reflections on Motorcycles and Books by Canadian author and academic Ted Bishop is in reference to Rilke, who is mentioned briefly in the book.
Jane Fonda quotes Rilke numerous times in her autobiography My Life So Far.
In Milan Kundera's novel Immortality Rilke is called to the Eternal Trial of Goethe, relating to Goethe's treatment of Bettina, and Kundera quotes a passage from The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge as Rilke's testimony.
The novel Lost Son by M. Allen Cunningham (2007) tells the story of Rilke's life from birth to age 42.
"A Rose for Ecclesiastes", a 1963 story by Roger Zelazny, features the main character quoting Rilke's poem "Spanish Dancer."
The Triestine main character in Susanna Tamaro's Anima Mundi (1997, English translation 2007) refers to the fundamental influence of The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge and The Duino Elegies in his life.
In Amitav Ghosh's The Hungry Tide, a major character (Nirmal) is a fan of Rilke's verses, and excerpts feature prominently in the text.
Philip Roth's 1972 novella The Breast concludes with Rilke's poem "Archaic Torso of Apollo." The main character, an English professor, believes that his story will "illuminate these great lines for those of you new to the poem."
[edit] Film
Wim Wenders cites Rilke as the inspiration behind his angels in Wings of Desire.[citation needed]
Rilke's poem The Panther is quoted in the 1990 film Awakenings (based on the 1973 book of the same name by neurologist and author Oliver Sacks), expressing the emotional undertone of the story.
In the 1993 movie Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit, actress Whoopi Goldberg refers to Rilke's Letters to a Young Poet.
Rilke is quoted in Kissing Jessica Stein by a woman looking for a woman in a personal ad, which prompts the main character, Jessica, to answer the ad.
Rilke's poem "Archaic Torso of Apollo" is quoted by Miriam, played by Gena Rowlands, in Woody Allen's 1988 film Another Woman.
Rilke's poem You Who Never Arrived is quoted by Faith, played by Marisa Tomei, in Norman Jewison's 1994 film Only You.
Rilke is referenced pejoratively in the film Igby Goes Down when Igby, played by Kieran Culkin says, "Every Christmas, some asshole gives me this copy of Young Poet with this patronizing note on the flap about how it's supposed to change my life."
"Rain", the Juliette Lewis character in Woody Allen's Husbands and Wives is named after Rilke.
Rilke's quote "For one human being to love another: that is perhaps the most difficult of all our tasks, [...] the work for which all other work is but preparation" is quoted before the end credits in the 2006 film Loving Annabelle. Rilke's poem "Buddha in Glory" is read in one scene.
In the 2008 film Synecdoche, New York, Caden awakens on the first day of fall to a full reading of Stephen Mitchell's English translation of Rilke's "Autumn Day" on his clock radio.
[edit] Music
The indie rock band Rainer Maria takes its name from Rilke, and at least some of their merchandise bears the poet's image.
The Cocteau Twins's song "Rilkean Heart", on the 1996 album Milk and Kisses, is an homage to Jeff Buckley who was a lifelong lover of Rilke's work.
The Swiss composer Frank Martin (1890-1974) set Rilke's prose "Die Weise von Liebe und Tod des Cornets Christoph Rilke" (The lay of the love and death of Cornet Christopher Rilke) to an orchestral song cycle, premiered in February 1945. Viktor Ullmann, an Austrian composer, also set this prose to music.
The British composer Oliver Knussen (b.1952) has set texts of Rainer Maria Rilke to music in his unaccompanied Rilke songs and in Requiem: Songs for Sue.
The Trieste-based British composer Baron Raffaello de Banfield Tripcovich (1922-2008) set several poems of Rilke for soprano and large orchestra, including 'Serale' and 'Liebeslied' (1968), 'Der Tod des Geliebten' and 'Der Sturm' (1972), and 'Four Rilke songs' (1986).
The Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975) set several of Rilke's poems to music in his Symphony No. 14.
The American contemporary composer Morten Lauridsen (b. 1943) set five of Rilke's French-language "Rose" poems to music in a choral piece titled Les Chansons des Roses.
The contemporary Danish composer Per Nørgård (b. 1932) has set the Rilke sonnet to Orpheus "Singe die Gärten" as the second and final movement of his 3rd symphony.
The contemporary Norwegian composer Arne Nordheim (b.1931) has set Rilke's "Todeserfahrung" in his Wirklicher Wald.
In 2006, Pianist Brad Mehldau wrote a cycle of art songs for soprano and piano based on seven poems from Rilke's The Book of Hours: Love Poems to God. Mehldau premiered the work with Renée Fleming at Carnegie Hall in 2006, which was recorded and released on the album Love Sublime.
The German composer Paul Hindemith (1895-1963) set Six Chansons, 6 pieces for a cappella choir, of the French poetry by Rilke (1939), as well as the imposing German language song cycle Das Marienleben (1922, revised 1948).
Composer Sofia Gubaidulina (b.1931), a great admirer of Rilke's work, includes the beginning of "Vom Tode Mariä I" (Derselbe große Engel, welcher einst) at the end of her piece Stufen.
Robert Hunter, best known for his work with The Grateful Dead, translated The Duino Elegies[11] and Sonnets to Orpheus.[12] The Sonnets translation is a rhymed translation. He also recorded readings of his translations, the Duino Elegies recording was made with keyboardist Tom Constanten.
Indie rock group CocoRosie's song Terrible Angels mentions Rilke.
Contemporary rock group Sixpence None the Richer's song entitled "Still Burning" was influenced by Rilke's imagery of the heart as a hand.
Chicago jazz vocalist Kurt Elling combined a Rilke poem with a melody from the Dave Brubeck Quartet to form his song "Those Clouds Are Heavy, You Dig?"
The American country music songwriter and vocalist, Ray Wylie Hubbard, quotes Rilke in his song "The Messenger."
Band Eyeless in Gaza singer Martyn Bates worked with Anne Clark set poems by Rilke to music on the album "Just After Sunset" in 2002.
The composer Harrison Birtwistle (b. 1934) has set some of the Sonnets to Orpheus in his piece 'Orpheus Elegies' for Oboe, Harp and Counter-tenor.
The German composer Bertold Hummel wrote 1980 a song for voice and piano after the famous poem Autumn Day by Rilke. [3]
The Danish composer Paul von Klenau (1883-1946) composed a song cycle on "Die Weise von Liebe und Tod des Cornets Christoph Rilke" (The lay of the love and death of cornet Christopher Rilke) for baritone and orchestra, during the years 1918-1919.
Lady Gaga cited Rilke as an inspiration, and she got a tattoo of Rilke's quote "In the deepest hour of the night, confess to yourself that you would die if you were forbidden to write. And look deep into your heart where it spreads its roots, the answer, and ask yourself, must I write?" in a German script.
Austrian composer Anton Webern's Op. 8 (1910), Zwei Lieder nach Gedichten von Rainer Maria Rilke, sets two poems by Rilke for soprano and chamber ensemble: "Du, der ich's nicht sage" ("You, whom I am not telling") and "Du machst mich allein" ("You make me alone").
The Austrian composer Alban Berg (1885-1935) set several of Rilke's poems, including "Traumgekrönt" (Das war der Tag der weißen Chrysanthemen) ("Crowned in a dream"), the fourth of Berg's Seven Early Songs.
Austrian composer Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951) set a number of Rilke's poems, including three of the Four Lieder for Voice and Orchestra, Op.22 (1913/16): "Alle, welche dich suchen" (from Das Stundenbuch - Das Buch von der Pilgerschaft), "Mach mich zum Wächter deiner Weiten" (from Das Stundenbuch - Das Buch von der Armut und dem Tode), and "Vorgefühl" (from Das Buch der Bilder).
[edit] Art
Fragments of Rilke's poetry are inscribed in certain paintings by Cy Twombly.
In 1968, American artist Ben Shahn illustrated a set of verses from Rilke's The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge called For the Sake of a Single Verse...
Lady Gaga pop singer showed off her newest body art. The curling script on her left arm is a souvenir that comes from the poet Rainer Maria Rilke, whom she described as her "favorite philosopher." “It says ‘In the deepest hour of the night, confess to yourself that you would die if you were forbidden to write. And look deep into your heart where it spreads its roots, the answer, and ask yourself, must I write?’”
[edit] Religion
Rilke's poem "You, Neighbour God" is included in the most commonly used edition of Liturgy of the Hours.
[edit] Other
Rilke's "At present you need to live the question" was used as an extended essay prompt option on the University of Chicago's supplement to the Common Application in 2008.
[edit] Selection of works
[edit] Complete works
Rainer Maria Rilke, Sämtliche Werke in 12 Bänden (Complete Works in 12 Volumes), published by Rilke Archive in association with Ruth Sieber-Rilke, supplied by Ernst Zinn. Frankfurt am Main (1976)
Rainer Maria Rilke, Werke (Works). Edition in four volumes with commentary and supplementary volume, published by Manfred Engel, Ulrich Fülleborn, Dorothea Lauterbach, Horst Nalewski and August Stahl. Frankfurt am Main and Leipzig (1996 and 2003)
[edit] Volumes of poetry
Leben und Lieder (Life and Songs) (1894)
Larenopfer (Lares' Sacrifice) (1895)
Traumgekrönt (Dream-Crowned) (1897)
Advent (Advent) (1898)
Mir zur Feier (To me Only Celebration) (1909)
Das Stunden-Buch (The Book of Hours)
Das Buch vom mönchischen Leben (The Book of Monastic Life) (1899)
Das Buch von der Pilgerschaft (The Book of Pilgrimage) (1901)
Das Buch von der Armut und vom Tode (The Book of Poverty and Death) (1903)
Das Buch der Bilder (The Book of Images) (4 Parts, 1902-1906)
Neue Gedichte (New Poems) (1907)
[edit] Prose
Geschichten vom Lieben Gott (Stories of God) (Collection of narrations, 1900)
Auguste Rodin (1903)
Die Weise von Liebe und Tod des Cornets Christoph Rilke (The Lay of the Love and Death of Cornet Christoph Rilke) (Lyric narration, 1906)
Die Aufzeichnungen des Malte Laurids Brigge (The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge) (Novel, 1910)
[edit] Letters
[edit] Collected letters
Gesammelte Briefe in sechs Bänden (Collected Letters in Six Volumes), published by Ruth Sieber-Rilke and Carl Sieber. Leipzig (1936-1939)
Briefe (Letters), published by the Rilke Archive in Weimar. Two volumes, Wiesbaden (1950, reprinted 1987 in single volume).
Briefe in Zwei Bänden (Letters in Two Volumes) (Horst Nalewski, Frankfurt and Leipzig, 1991)
[edit] Other volumes of letters
Briefe an Auguste Rodin (Insel Verlag, 1928)
Briefwechsel mit Marie von Thurn und Taxis, two volumes, edited by Ernst Zinn with a forward by Rudolf Kassner (Editions Max Niehans, 1954)
Briefwechsel mit Thankmar von Münchhausen 1913 bis 1925 (Suhrkamp Insel Verlag, 2004)
Briefwechsel mit Rolf von Ungern-Sternberg und weitere Dokumente zur Übertragung der Stances von Jean Moréas (Suhrkamp Insel Verlag, 2002)
[edit] Translations
[edit] Selections
Rainer Maria Rilke, Duino Elegies and The Sonnets To Orpheus translated by A. Poulin, Jr. (Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1975) ISBN 0-395-25058-7
The Selected Poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke, ed. and trans. Stephen Mitchell, Introduction by Robert Hass (Vintage; Reissue edition 13 March 1989)
Selected Poems of Rainer Maria Rilke, ed. and trans. Robert Bly New York, 1981)
The Unknown Rilke, trans. Franz Wright (Oberlin College Press, expanded ed. 1990) ISBN 0-932440-56-8
The Book of Fresh Beginnings: Selected Poems, trans. David Young (Oberlin College Press, 1994) ISBN 0-932440-68-1
The Essential Rilke, ed. and trans. Galway Kinnell and Hannah Liebmann (Hopewell, NJ, 1999)
Uncollected Poems, trans. Edward Snow (North Point Press, New York, 1966)
Two Prague Stories, trans. Isabel Cole (Vitalis, Český Těšín, 2002)
Pictures of God: Rilke's Religious Poetry, ed. and trans. Annemarie S. Kidder (Livonia, MI 2005)
Duino Elegies, Sonnets to Orpheus, Letters to a young poet: Box set, ed. and trans. Stephen Mitchell
[edit] Duino Elegies
Duineser Elegien: Elegies from the Castle of Duino, trans. V. Sackville-West (Hogarth Press, London, 1931)
Duino Elegies, trans. J.B. Leishman and Stephen Spender (W. W. Norton, New York, 1939)
Duino Elegies, trans. Jessie Lemont (Fine Editions Press, New York, 1945)
Duineser Elegien: The Elegies of Duino, trans. Nora Wydenbruck (Amandus, Vienna, 1948
Duinesian Elegies, trans. Elaine E. Boney (University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, 1975)
Duino Elegies, trans. David Young (W. W. Norton, New York, 1978) ISBN 0-393-30931-2
Duino Elegies, trans. Gary Miranda (Azul Editions, Falls Church, VA, 1996) ISBN 885214-07-3
Duino Elegies, trans. Robert Hunter w/ block prints by Mareen Hunter (Hulogosi Press, 1989)][13]
Duino-Elegieë trans. H.J. Pieterse from German to Afrikaans (Protea, Pretoria, 2007) ISBN 978-1-86919-151-1
[edit] Sonnets to Orpheus
Sonnets to Orpheus, trans. with notes and commentary J.B. Leishman (Hogarth Press, London, 1936)
Sonnets to Orpheus, trans. C. F. MacIntyre, (U.C. Berkeley Press, 1961)
Sonnets to Orpheus, trans. M.D. Herder Norton (W. W. Norton, New York, 1962)
Sonnets to Orpheus, trans. Jessie Lemont (Fine Editions PRess, New York, 1945)
Sonnets to Orpheus, trans. with notes Stephen Mitchell (Simon and Schuster, New York, 1985)
Sonnets to Orpheus, trans. with notes and commentary Edward Snow (North Point Press, New York, 2004)ISBN: [ 0865477213 0865477213]
Sonnets to Orpheus, trans. Willis Barnstone (Shambhala Publications, Boston, 2004)
Sonnets to Orpheus, trans. Leslie Norris and Alan Keele (ed. Lucien Jenkins) (Camden House, Inc 1989)
Sonnets to Orpheus, trans. Robert Hunter[14]
Orpheus, trans. Don Paterson (Faber, 2006)
[edit] Other works
Stories of God, trans. M.D. Herter Norton (W. W. Norton, New York, 1932) ISBN 0-393-30882-0
Stories of God, trans. Michael H. Kohn (Shambhala, Boston, 2003) ISBN 978-1-59030-038-1
Stories of God, trans. Various, edited by Jack Beacham (Aventure Works, Hudson, Ohio, 2009) ISBN 1-4392-2561-3
Letters to a Young Poet, trans. M.D. Herter Norton (W.W. Norton, New York, 1934) ISBN 0-393-31039-6
Poems from The Book of Hours trans. Babette Deutsch (New Directions, New York, 1941)
The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge, trans. M.D. Herter Norton (W.W. Norton, New York, 1949) ISBN 0-393-30881-2
The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge, trans. Stephen Mitchell (New York, 1983)
The Lay of the Love and Death of Cornet Christophe Rilke, trans. Stephen Mitchell (Graywolf Press, 1985) ISBN 0-915308-77-0
The Book of Hours: Prayers to a Lowly God, trans. Annemarie S. Kidder (Evanston, 2001)
Larenopfer, trans. and commentary by Alfred de Zayas, with drawings by Martin Andrysek (Red Hen Press, Los Angeles, 2005, 2nd revised and enlarged edition with a preface by Ralph Freedman, 2008)
Rainer Maria Rilke's The Book of Hours: A New Translation with Commentary, trans. Susan Ranson, edited with an introduction and notes by Ben Hutchinson (Camden House, New York/Boydell & Brewer Ltd, Woodbridge, UK, 2008) ISBN 978-1-57113-380-9
Rilke's Book of Hours: Love Poems to God; translated by Anita Barrows and Joanna Macy; New York: Riverhead Books(1996); ISBN 1-59448-156-3
[edit] Books on Rilke
[edit] Biographies
Ralph Freedman, Life of a Poet: Rainer Maria Rilke, New York 1996.
Donald Prater, A Ringing Glass: The Life of Rainer Maria Rilke, Oxford University Press, 1994
Paul Torgersen, Dear Friend: Rainer Maria Rilke and Paula Modersohn-Becker, Northwestern University Press, 1998.
[edit] Studies
A Companion to the Works of Rainer Maria Rilke, ed. Erika A and Michael M. Metzger, Rochester 2001.
Rilke Handbuch: Leben - Werk - Wirkung, ed. Manfred Engel and Dorothea Lauterbach, Stuttgart and Weimar 2004.
Goldsmith, Ulrich, ed. (1980). Rainer Maria Rilke, a verse concordance to his complete lyrical poetry. Leeds: W.S. Maney.
Mood, John J. L. Rilke on Love and Other Difficulties. (New York: W. W. Norton 1975, reissue 2004) ISBN 0-393-31098-1.
Mood, John. Rilke on Death and Other Oddities. Philadelphia: Xlibris, 2006. ISBN 1-4257-2818-9.
Schwarz, Egon. Poetry and politics in the works of Rainer Maria Rilke. Frederick Ungar, 1981. ISBN 9780804428118.
Mood, John. 'A New Reading of Rilke's "Elegies": Affirming the Unity of "life-AND-death"'. Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press, 2009 ISBN 978-0-7734-3864-4.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Silkenvoice: Neurotic Suffering (September 30, 2006)
A Silkenvoice podcast regarding Carl Jung's thoughts on neurotic suffering, and the role it plays in our lives.
Juliusz Słowacki
Juliusz Słowacki (Polish pronunciation: [ˈjuljuʂ swɔˈvatski]; 4 September 1809 – 3 April 1849) was a Polish Romantic poet, considered to be one of the "Three Bards" of Polish literature. His works often feature elements of Slavic pagan traditions, mysticism and Orientalism.
[edit] Life
Słowacki was born at Kremenets (Krzemieniec), Volhynia, Russian Empire, now in the Ukraine.
Influenced largely by Byron and Shakespeare, Słowacki's early work was often historical in nature, combining exotic locales (as in Arab) and tragedy (as in Maria Stuart). His work took on a more patriotic tone following the failed November Insurrection of 1830 - 1831. Like many of his countrymen, he decided to emigrate to France as a political refugee. Ironically, the first collections of poems he produced in France were unpopular in his native Poland, as they failed to capture the sentiment of the people living under Russian occupation. It was the French authorities which deemed them too nationalist; following a trip to Geneva in 1832, he was denied the right to return to France as part of a larger program to rid the country of the potentially subversive Polish exiles who had settled there. A third volume of his works, produced in Geneva, was far more nationalist in tone, and he began to win recognition in his homeland.
In 1836, Słowacki embarked on a journey throughout Italy, Greece, Egypt and Palestine, which he described in his epic poem "Podróż do Ziemi Świętej z Neapolu" (Travel from Holy Land to Naples). In 1844, he wrote Genezis z Ducha (Genesis from the Spirit), an exposition of his philosophical ideas (genesic idea) according to which the material world is an expression of an ever-improving spirit capable of progression into constantly newer forms.
It was at this time that he attached himself to a group of likeminded young exiles, determined to return to Poland and win its independence. One of his friends was the pianist and composer Frédéric Chopin.[1] The group travelled to Poznań, then under Prussian control. He participated in the Wielkopolska Uprising of 1848, addressing the National Committee (Komitet Narodowy) in Poznań on 27 April. "I tell you," he declared as the rebels faced military confrontation with the Prussian Army, "that the new age has dawned, the age of holy anarchy." But by 9 May, the revolt was crushed.
Arrested by the Prussian police, Słowacki was sent back to Paris. On his way there, he passed through Wrocław, where he was reunited with his mother, whom he had not seen for almost twenty years. He died in Paris the following year, and was buried in the Montmartre. In 1927, some eight years after Poland regained her independence, the Polish government requested that Słowacki's remains be moved to Wawel castle in Krakow. He was reinterred near his old rival, Adam Mickiewicz.
[edit] Work and influence
Long after his death, Słowacki acquired the reputation of national prophet. He is now considered to be one of the "Three Bards" of Polish literature. His works often feature elements of Slavic pagan traditions, mysticism, and Orientalism.
His poem "Papież Słowiański" (The Slavic Pope), published in 1848, was believed to foretell the ascension, in 1978, of Karol Wojtyła to the throne of St. Peter as Pope John Paul II.
In 2009 Faye Dunaway starred in film The Bait by Polish film director and producer Dariusz Zawislak. The Bait is a contemporary version of a drama Balladyna.
[edit] Works
[edit] Dramas
Maria Stuart
Kordian (1834, performed 1899)
Balladyna (1835, published 1839, performed 1862
Horsztyński (1835, published 1866)
Mazepa (1840, performed in Hungarian 1847, performed in Polish 1851)
Lilla Weneda (1840, performed 1863)
Fantazy (1841, published 1866, performed 1867)
Sen srebny Salomei ("The Silver Dream of Salomea", 1844, performed 1900)
Książę Niezłomny (1844, performed 1874)
Samuel Zborowski (1845, published 1903, performed 1911)
[edit] Poetry
W Szwajcarii ("In Switzerland", 1839)
Król-Duch ("The Spirit King", published partially in 1847 & in full in 1925)
Podróż do ziemi świętej ("Voyage to the Holy Land", 1866)
Source: Wikipedia
[edit] Life
Słowacki was born at Kremenets (Krzemieniec), Volhynia, Russian Empire, now in the Ukraine.
Influenced largely by Byron and Shakespeare, Słowacki's early work was often historical in nature, combining exotic locales (as in Arab) and tragedy (as in Maria Stuart). His work took on a more patriotic tone following the failed November Insurrection of 1830 - 1831. Like many of his countrymen, he decided to emigrate to France as a political refugee. Ironically, the first collections of poems he produced in France were unpopular in his native Poland, as they failed to capture the sentiment of the people living under Russian occupation. It was the French authorities which deemed them too nationalist; following a trip to Geneva in 1832, he was denied the right to return to France as part of a larger program to rid the country of the potentially subversive Polish exiles who had settled there. A third volume of his works, produced in Geneva, was far more nationalist in tone, and he began to win recognition in his homeland.
In 1836, Słowacki embarked on a journey throughout Italy, Greece, Egypt and Palestine, which he described in his epic poem "Podróż do Ziemi Świętej z Neapolu" (Travel from Holy Land to Naples). In 1844, he wrote Genezis z Ducha (Genesis from the Spirit), an exposition of his philosophical ideas (genesic idea) according to which the material world is an expression of an ever-improving spirit capable of progression into constantly newer forms.
It was at this time that he attached himself to a group of likeminded young exiles, determined to return to Poland and win its independence. One of his friends was the pianist and composer Frédéric Chopin.[1] The group travelled to Poznań, then under Prussian control. He participated in the Wielkopolska Uprising of 1848, addressing the National Committee (Komitet Narodowy) in Poznań on 27 April. "I tell you," he declared as the rebels faced military confrontation with the Prussian Army, "that the new age has dawned, the age of holy anarchy." But by 9 May, the revolt was crushed.
Arrested by the Prussian police, Słowacki was sent back to Paris. On his way there, he passed through Wrocław, where he was reunited with his mother, whom he had not seen for almost twenty years. He died in Paris the following year, and was buried in the Montmartre. In 1927, some eight years after Poland regained her independence, the Polish government requested that Słowacki's remains be moved to Wawel castle in Krakow. He was reinterred near his old rival, Adam Mickiewicz.
[edit] Work and influence
Long after his death, Słowacki acquired the reputation of national prophet. He is now considered to be one of the "Three Bards" of Polish literature. His works often feature elements of Slavic pagan traditions, mysticism, and Orientalism.
His poem "Papież Słowiański" (The Slavic Pope), published in 1848, was believed to foretell the ascension, in 1978, of Karol Wojtyła to the throne of St. Peter as Pope John Paul II.
In 2009 Faye Dunaway starred in film The Bait by Polish film director and producer Dariusz Zawislak. The Bait is a contemporary version of a drama Balladyna.
[edit] Works
[edit] Dramas
Maria Stuart
Kordian (1834, performed 1899)
Balladyna (1835, published 1839, performed 1862
Horsztyński (1835, published 1866)
Mazepa (1840, performed in Hungarian 1847, performed in Polish 1851)
Lilla Weneda (1840, performed 1863)
Fantazy (1841, published 1866, performed 1867)
Sen srebny Salomei ("The Silver Dream of Salomea", 1844, performed 1900)
Książę Niezłomny (1844, performed 1874)
Samuel Zborowski (1845, published 1903, performed 1911)
[edit] Poetry
W Szwajcarii ("In Switzerland", 1839)
Król-Duch ("The Spirit King", published partially in 1847 & in full in 1925)
Podróż do ziemi świętej ("Voyage to the Holy Land", 1866)
Source: Wikipedia
Professor Malcolm Miles Speech
Malcolm Miles and Herbert Marcuse's idea of society as a work of art. Malcolm Miles is Professor of Cultural Theory at the University of Plymouth.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Adrienne Cecile Rich
Adrienne Cecile Rich is an American poet, essayist and feminist. She has been called "one of the most widely read and influential poets of the second half of the [20th] century."[1]
Contents [hide]
1 Biography
1.1 Early life
1.2 Family life
1.3 Later life and sexuality
1.4 Activism
2 Awards
3 Present day
4 Works
4.1 Nonfiction
4.2 Poetry
5 See also
6 References
7 External links
[edit] Biography
[edit] Early life
Adrienne Rich was born in Baltimore, Maryland on May 16, 1929. Her father, Arnold Rice Rich, was a professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins Medical School. Her mother, Helen Jones Rich, studied musical composition and was a concert pianist but after becoming a wife and mother, she focused her life entirely on her husband and two daughters. Adrienne Rich's early poetic influence stemmed from her father who encouraged her to not only read but also to write her own poetry. Her interest in literature was sparked within her father's library where she read the work of writers such as Matthew Arnold, William Blake, Thomas Carlyle, John Keats, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, and Alfred, Lord Tennyson. Adrienne Rich and her younger sister were home schooled by their mother until Adrienne began public education in the fourth grade.
Rich attended Radcliffe College. During her college education she focused primarily on poetry, which was taught to her by male professors. In 1951, her last year at Radcliffe College, Rich's first collection of poetry, A Change of World, was selected by W.H. Auden for the Yale Series of Younger Poets Award. The contest judge for that year, poet W. H. Auden, wrote an introduction to this volume. Her collection was highly influenced by the works of male poets whom she studied. Adrienne Rich was well respected as a rising poet and acknowledged for her modesty and respect of elders. Following her graduation, Rich received the Guggenheim, which allowed her to travel across Europe, including England between 1952-1953.
[edit] Family life
In 1953 at age twenty-four, Adrienne Rich married Alfred Haskell Conrad, an economics professor at Harvard University. Three years later, she published her second volume, The Diamond Cutters. Yet, it was not until her third volume, Snapshots of a Daughter-in-Law, which appeared in 1963, that she gained national prominence.[citation needed] Rich and her husband lived in Cambridge, Massachusetts from 1953 to 1966, and had three sons together. David, their first son was born in 1955, followed by Pablo in 1957, and Jacob in 1959. With three young children and a husband, Rich poured her energy into the role of wife and mother leading her writing to become less of a priority. These conflicting roles and ambitions left her unfulfilled, which she expressed later in her works. Adrienne Rich's travels continued during 1961-1962 in the Netherlands on behalf of a second Guggenheim Fellowship.
In 1966, Rich moved with her family, which then included three sons, to New York City and became increasingly involved in the sociopolitical activism of the day. Her husband took a teaching position at City College of New York where, in 1968, she joined the staff as a writing instructor with the pre-baccalaureate program SEEK.[citation needed] Here, Rich also began her work with disadvantaged students. During these years Rich held positions of lecturer and adjunct professor at both Swarthmore College and Columbia University School of the Arts.[citation needed] Trouble began arising in Adrienne and Alfred's marriage during the early 1960's causing them to separate. Soon following their separation, Alfred Conrad committed suicide in 1970.
[edit] Later life and sexuality
In 1963, Rich chose to write and publish a much more personal work entitled Snapshots of a Daughter-in-Law. Throughout this piece she began to examine her female identity. Rich's feminist position crystallized in her self-declaration as a lesbian in 1976, the year she published her controversial volume Of Woman Born: Motherhood as Experience and Institution. The pamphlet Twenty-One Love Poems (1977), which was incorporated into the following year's Dream of a Common Language (1978), marked the first direct treatment of lesbian desire and sexuality in her work. A Wild Patience Has Taken Me This Far (1981) and some of her late poems in The Fact of a Doorframe (2001) represent the capstone of this philosophical and political position.[original research?] During this period, Rich also wrote a number of important essays, including "Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence," some of which were republished in On Lies, Secrets and Silence: Selected Prose, 1966-1978 (1979). Rich embraced her sexuality and took an active role in political issues of sexual equality.
Adrienne Rich taught at City College as well as Rutgers University until 1979. She moved to Western Massachusetts with her partner, Michelle Cliff, in the early 1980s. Ultimately, they moved to Northern California, where Rich continued her career as a professor, lecturer, poet, and essayist. Rich taught and lectured at Scripps College, San Jose State University, and Stanford University during the 1980s and 1990s.
[edit] Activism
Adrienne Rich's activism began in the 1960s with involvement in the student and anti-war movements. In the 1960s and 1970s, her commitment to the women's movement grew and was demonstrated through her poetry and writings. In 1964, Rich joined the New Left, which spurred a period of both political and personal growth. After Rich moved to New York, she became a civil rights and anti-war activist, as well as a radical feminist active in the women's rights movement.
Rich's works which included, Necessities of Life (1966), Leaflets (1969), and Will to Change (1971), reflect an evolving, expanding sense of poetic form and social engagement.[citation needed] Rich became active in the women's liberation movement from this point forward. In 1974, her collection Diving Into the Wreck received the National Book Award for Poetry; Rich, however, refused the award individually, instead joining with two other female poets (Alice Walker and Audre Lorde) to accept it on behalf of all silenced women[citation needed].
Rich's poetry of the 1980s and 1990s cast a broader net, once again exploring the themes of the late 1960s and early 1970s, but with greater acuteness and range.[original research?] The award-winning volume An Atlas of the Difficult World (1991) and Dark Fields of the Republic (1995) in particular map out discursive spaces engaging private and public histories. During the 1990’s Rich became an active member of numerous advisory boards such as the Boston Woman’s Fund, National Writers Union, Sisterhood in Support of Sisters in South Africa, and New Jewish Agenda.
[edit] Awards
Adrienne Rich has received numerous awards including two Guggenheim Fellowships, the inaugural Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize (1986), the Brandeis Creative Arts Medal, the Common Wealth Award, the William Whitehead Award for Lifetime Achievement, and the National Poetry Association Award for Distinguished Service to the Art of Poetry. She has also been awarded a MacArthur Fellowship (1994), an Academy of American Poets Fellowship, a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Lannan Foundation (1999), the Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize (1992), the National Institute of Arts and Letters Award, the Shelley Memorial Award (1970), the National Book Award for Poetry (1974) for Diving into the Wreck, the Wallace Stevens Award (1996), the Poets' Prize (1992) for Atlas of the Difficult World, and the Frost Medal (1992).
In 1997, Adrienne Rich refused the National Medal of Arts, stating that "I could not accept such an award from President Clinton or this White House because the very meaning of art, as I understand it, is incompatible with the cynical politics of this administration."[2] Another quote from the same speech outlines her view of poetry: "[Art] means nothing if it simply decorates the dinner table of the power which holds it hostage."
[edit] Present day
Adrienne Rich lives in Santa Cruz, California, with her partner, novelist, poet and academic Michelle Cliff. They have been together since 1976.[3]
[edit] Works
[edit] Nonfiction
Of Woman Born: Motherhood as Experience and Institution. Norton. 1976. ISBN 9780393312843.
On Lies, Secrets, and Silence: Selected Prose, 1966-1978, 1979
Blood, Bread, and Poetry: Selected Prose, 1979-1985, 1986 (Includes the noted essay: Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence)
What Is Found There: Notebooks on Poetry and Politics, 1993
Arts of the Possible: Essays and Conversations. W.W. Norton. 2001. ISBN 9780393050455.
Poetry and Commitment: An Essay, 2007
A Human Eye: Essays on Art in Society, 1997-2008, 2009
[edit] Poetry
A Change of World. Yale University Press. 1951.
The Diamond Cutters, and Other Poems. Harper. 1955.
Snapshots of a daughter-in-law: poems, 1954-1962. Harper & Row. 1983.
Necessities of life: poems, 1962-1965. W.W. Norton. 1966.
Selected Poems. Chatto & Hogarth P Windus. 1967.
Leaflets. W.W. Norton. 1969. ISBN 9780039304195.
The Will to Change: Poems 1968-1970. Norton. 1971.
Diving into the Wreck. W.W. Norton. 1973.
Poems: Selected and New, 1950-1974. Norton. 1975. ISBN 9780393043921.
Twenty-one Love Poems. Effie's Press. 1976.
The Dream of a Common Language. Norton. 1978. ISBN 9780393045024.
A Wild Patience Has Taken Me this Far: Poems 1978-1981. 1982. ISBN 9780393310375. (reprint 1993)
Sources. Heyeck Press. 1983.
The Fact of a Doorframe: Poems Selected and New, 1950-1984. W. W. Norton & Company, Incorporated. 1984. ISBN 9780393310757.
Your Native Land, Your Life: Poems. Norton. 1986. ISBN 9780393023183.
Time’s Power: Poems, 1985-1988. Norton. 1989. ISBN 9780393026771.
An Atlas of the Difficult World: Poems 1988-1991. Norton. 1991. ISBN 9780393030693.
Collected Early Poems, 1950-1970. W. W. Norton & Company, Incorporated. 1993. ISBN 9780393313857.
Dark Fields of the Republic: Poems, 1991-1995. W.W. Norton. 1995. ISBN 9780393038682.
Selected poems, 1950-1995. Salmon Pub.. 1996. ISBN 9781897648780.
Midnight Salvage: Poems, 1995-1998. Norton. 1999. ISBN 9780393046823.
Fox: Poems 1998-2000. W W Norton & Co Inc. 2001. ISBN 9780393323771. (reprint 2003}
The School Among the Ruins: Poems, 2000-2004. W. W. Norton & Co.. 2004. ISBN 9780393327557.
Telephone Ringing in the Labyrinth: Poems 2004–2006. 9780393065657.
Contents [hide]
1 Biography
1.1 Early life
1.2 Family life
1.3 Later life and sexuality
1.4 Activism
2 Awards
3 Present day
4 Works
4.1 Nonfiction
4.2 Poetry
5 See also
6 References
7 External links
[edit] Biography
[edit] Early life
Adrienne Rich was born in Baltimore, Maryland on May 16, 1929. Her father, Arnold Rice Rich, was a professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins Medical School. Her mother, Helen Jones Rich, studied musical composition and was a concert pianist but after becoming a wife and mother, she focused her life entirely on her husband and two daughters. Adrienne Rich's early poetic influence stemmed from her father who encouraged her to not only read but also to write her own poetry. Her interest in literature was sparked within her father's library where she read the work of writers such as Matthew Arnold, William Blake, Thomas Carlyle, John Keats, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, and Alfred, Lord Tennyson. Adrienne Rich and her younger sister were home schooled by their mother until Adrienne began public education in the fourth grade.
Rich attended Radcliffe College. During her college education she focused primarily on poetry, which was taught to her by male professors. In 1951, her last year at Radcliffe College, Rich's first collection of poetry, A Change of World, was selected by W.H. Auden for the Yale Series of Younger Poets Award. The contest judge for that year, poet W. H. Auden, wrote an introduction to this volume. Her collection was highly influenced by the works of male poets whom she studied. Adrienne Rich was well respected as a rising poet and acknowledged for her modesty and respect of elders. Following her graduation, Rich received the Guggenheim, which allowed her to travel across Europe, including England between 1952-1953.
[edit] Family life
In 1953 at age twenty-four, Adrienne Rich married Alfred Haskell Conrad, an economics professor at Harvard University. Three years later, she published her second volume, The Diamond Cutters. Yet, it was not until her third volume, Snapshots of a Daughter-in-Law, which appeared in 1963, that she gained national prominence.[citation needed] Rich and her husband lived in Cambridge, Massachusetts from 1953 to 1966, and had three sons together. David, their first son was born in 1955, followed by Pablo in 1957, and Jacob in 1959. With three young children and a husband, Rich poured her energy into the role of wife and mother leading her writing to become less of a priority. These conflicting roles and ambitions left her unfulfilled, which she expressed later in her works. Adrienne Rich's travels continued during 1961-1962 in the Netherlands on behalf of a second Guggenheim Fellowship.
In 1966, Rich moved with her family, which then included three sons, to New York City and became increasingly involved in the sociopolitical activism of the day. Her husband took a teaching position at City College of New York where, in 1968, she joined the staff as a writing instructor with the pre-baccalaureate program SEEK.[citation needed] Here, Rich also began her work with disadvantaged students. During these years Rich held positions of lecturer and adjunct professor at both Swarthmore College and Columbia University School of the Arts.[citation needed] Trouble began arising in Adrienne and Alfred's marriage during the early 1960's causing them to separate. Soon following their separation, Alfred Conrad committed suicide in 1970.
[edit] Later life and sexuality
In 1963, Rich chose to write and publish a much more personal work entitled Snapshots of a Daughter-in-Law. Throughout this piece she began to examine her female identity. Rich's feminist position crystallized in her self-declaration as a lesbian in 1976, the year she published her controversial volume Of Woman Born: Motherhood as Experience and Institution. The pamphlet Twenty-One Love Poems (1977), which was incorporated into the following year's Dream of a Common Language (1978), marked the first direct treatment of lesbian desire and sexuality in her work. A Wild Patience Has Taken Me This Far (1981) and some of her late poems in The Fact of a Doorframe (2001) represent the capstone of this philosophical and political position.[original research?] During this period, Rich also wrote a number of important essays, including "Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence," some of which were republished in On Lies, Secrets and Silence: Selected Prose, 1966-1978 (1979). Rich embraced her sexuality and took an active role in political issues of sexual equality.
Adrienne Rich taught at City College as well as Rutgers University until 1979. She moved to Western Massachusetts with her partner, Michelle Cliff, in the early 1980s. Ultimately, they moved to Northern California, where Rich continued her career as a professor, lecturer, poet, and essayist. Rich taught and lectured at Scripps College, San Jose State University, and Stanford University during the 1980s and 1990s.
[edit] Activism
Adrienne Rich's activism began in the 1960s with involvement in the student and anti-war movements. In the 1960s and 1970s, her commitment to the women's movement grew and was demonstrated through her poetry and writings. In 1964, Rich joined the New Left, which spurred a period of both political and personal growth. After Rich moved to New York, she became a civil rights and anti-war activist, as well as a radical feminist active in the women's rights movement.
Rich's works which included, Necessities of Life (1966), Leaflets (1969), and Will to Change (1971), reflect an evolving, expanding sense of poetic form and social engagement.[citation needed] Rich became active in the women's liberation movement from this point forward. In 1974, her collection Diving Into the Wreck received the National Book Award for Poetry; Rich, however, refused the award individually, instead joining with two other female poets (Alice Walker and Audre Lorde) to accept it on behalf of all silenced women[citation needed].
Rich's poetry of the 1980s and 1990s cast a broader net, once again exploring the themes of the late 1960s and early 1970s, but with greater acuteness and range.[original research?] The award-winning volume An Atlas of the Difficult World (1991) and Dark Fields of the Republic (1995) in particular map out discursive spaces engaging private and public histories. During the 1990’s Rich became an active member of numerous advisory boards such as the Boston Woman’s Fund, National Writers Union, Sisterhood in Support of Sisters in South Africa, and New Jewish Agenda.
[edit] Awards
Adrienne Rich has received numerous awards including two Guggenheim Fellowships, the inaugural Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize (1986), the Brandeis Creative Arts Medal, the Common Wealth Award, the William Whitehead Award for Lifetime Achievement, and the National Poetry Association Award for Distinguished Service to the Art of Poetry. She has also been awarded a MacArthur Fellowship (1994), an Academy of American Poets Fellowship, a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Lannan Foundation (1999), the Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize (1992), the National Institute of Arts and Letters Award, the Shelley Memorial Award (1970), the National Book Award for Poetry (1974) for Diving into the Wreck, the Wallace Stevens Award (1996), the Poets' Prize (1992) for Atlas of the Difficult World, and the Frost Medal (1992).
In 1997, Adrienne Rich refused the National Medal of Arts, stating that "I could not accept such an award from President Clinton or this White House because the very meaning of art, as I understand it, is incompatible with the cynical politics of this administration."[2] Another quote from the same speech outlines her view of poetry: "[Art] means nothing if it simply decorates the dinner table of the power which holds it hostage."
[edit] Present day
Adrienne Rich lives in Santa Cruz, California, with her partner, novelist, poet and academic Michelle Cliff. They have been together since 1976.[3]
[edit] Works
[edit] Nonfiction
Of Woman Born: Motherhood as Experience and Institution. Norton. 1976. ISBN 9780393312843.
On Lies, Secrets, and Silence: Selected Prose, 1966-1978, 1979
Blood, Bread, and Poetry: Selected Prose, 1979-1985, 1986 (Includes the noted essay: Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence)
What Is Found There: Notebooks on Poetry and Politics, 1993
Arts of the Possible: Essays and Conversations. W.W. Norton. 2001. ISBN 9780393050455.
Poetry and Commitment: An Essay, 2007
A Human Eye: Essays on Art in Society, 1997-2008, 2009
[edit] Poetry
A Change of World. Yale University Press. 1951.
The Diamond Cutters, and Other Poems. Harper. 1955.
Snapshots of a daughter-in-law: poems, 1954-1962. Harper & Row. 1983.
Necessities of life: poems, 1962-1965. W.W. Norton. 1966.
Selected Poems. Chatto & Hogarth P Windus. 1967.
Leaflets. W.W. Norton. 1969. ISBN 9780039304195.
The Will to Change: Poems 1968-1970. Norton. 1971.
Diving into the Wreck. W.W. Norton. 1973.
Poems: Selected and New, 1950-1974. Norton. 1975. ISBN 9780393043921.
Twenty-one Love Poems. Effie's Press. 1976.
The Dream of a Common Language. Norton. 1978. ISBN 9780393045024.
A Wild Patience Has Taken Me this Far: Poems 1978-1981. 1982. ISBN 9780393310375. (reprint 1993)
Sources. Heyeck Press. 1983.
The Fact of a Doorframe: Poems Selected and New, 1950-1984. W. W. Norton & Company, Incorporated. 1984. ISBN 9780393310757.
Your Native Land, Your Life: Poems. Norton. 1986. ISBN 9780393023183.
Time’s Power: Poems, 1985-1988. Norton. 1989. ISBN 9780393026771.
An Atlas of the Difficult World: Poems 1988-1991. Norton. 1991. ISBN 9780393030693.
Collected Early Poems, 1950-1970. W. W. Norton & Company, Incorporated. 1993. ISBN 9780393313857.
Dark Fields of the Republic: Poems, 1991-1995. W.W. Norton. 1995. ISBN 9780393038682.
Selected poems, 1950-1995. Salmon Pub.. 1996. ISBN 9781897648780.
Midnight Salvage: Poems, 1995-1998. Norton. 1999. ISBN 9780393046823.
Fox: Poems 1998-2000. W W Norton & Co Inc. 2001. ISBN 9780393323771. (reprint 2003}
The School Among the Ruins: Poems, 2000-2004. W. W. Norton & Co.. 2004. ISBN 9780393327557.
Telephone Ringing in the Labyrinth: Poems 2004–2006. 9780393065657.
Monday, October 12, 2009
Private Classes of Philosophy of the Thinking for all ages (in english) — Poznań
Private Classes of Philosophy of the Thinking for all ages (in english) — Poznań
I give Private Classes of Philosophy of the Thinking in English for all ages in Poznan, by a Logical and Spontaneous method, tracing the mind echoes in the present time of each student and following the free associations inside dreams, words, ideas, speech, doubts, enigmas, so that each student can create an autonomous ego and chose his/her own life itinerary with these classes.
Mobile: 667 775 443
Email: alex.lisbon@gmail.com
Official Web Site: http://www.eduardoalexandrepinto.com/
I give Private Classes of Philosophy of the Thinking in English for all ages in Poznan, by a Logical and Spontaneous method, tracing the mind echoes in the present time of each student and following the free associations inside dreams, words, ideas, speech, doubts, enigmas, so that each student can create an autonomous ego and chose his/her own life itinerary with these classes.
Mobile: 667 775 443
Email: alex.lisbon@gmail.com
Official Web Site: http://www.eduardoalexandrepinto.com/
Aulas Particulares de Português em Poznan
Aulas Particulares de Português em Poznan
Nativo de Lisboa, Portugal, 38 anos, Eduardo Alexandre Pinto, dá aulas particulares de Português em Poznań.
Consulte o meu site Oficial de trabalhos literarios da minha autoria na língua Portuguesa:/ zapraszam na moja strone internetową: http://www.eduardoalexandrepinto.com/
Contacto:
nr telefonu: 667 775 443
Email: alex.lisbon@gmail.com
Nativo de Lisboa, Portugal, 38 anos, Eduardo Alexandre Pinto, dá aulas particulares de Português em Poznań.
Consulte o meu site Oficial de trabalhos literarios da minha autoria na língua Portuguesa:/ zapraszam na moja strone internetową: http://www.eduardoalexandrepinto.com/
Contacto:
nr telefonu: 667 775 443
Email: alex.lisbon@gmail.com
Higher star
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Herta Müller
Herta Müller (born 17 August 1953) is a Romanian-born German novelist, poet and essayist noted for her works depicting the harsh conditions of life in Communist Romania under the repressive Nicolae Ceauşescu regime, the history of the Germans in the Banat, and the persecution of Romanian ethnic Germans by Stalinist Soviet occupying forces in Romania. On 8 October 2009 it was announced she would be awarded the 2009 Nobel Prize in Literature.
Contents [hide]
1 Life and career
2 Works
3 Editor
4 Awards
5 Further reading
6 See also
7 References
8 External links
[edit] Life and career
Müller was born in Niţchidorf (German: Nitzkydorf), a historically German-speaking town in the Romanian Banat in western Romania. The daughter of Banat Swabian farmers, her family was part of Romania's German minority; her father had served in the Waffen SS[1] and her mother survived five years (1944-1949) in a slave labour camp in Ukraine in the Soviet Union during and after World War II.[2] Her grandfather had been a wealthy farmer and merchant. She studied German studies and Romanian literature at the Timişoara University.
In 1976, Müller began working as a translator for an engineering factory, but was dismissed in 1979 for her refusal to cooperate with the Securitate, the Communist regime's secret police. After her dismissal she initially earned a living by teaching kindergarten and giving private German lessons. Her first book was published in Romania (in German) in 1982, in a state censored version, as with most publications in communist Romania. Literary censorship at that time was less harsh than under other communist regimes. However, Müller was a member of Aktionsgruppe Banat, a group of German-speaking writers who supported freedom of speech over the censorship they faced under Ceauşescu's government, and her works, including The Land of the Green Plums, deal with the issues faced by the writers and their relationship with the government censorship of their works.[3][4]
Müller left for West Berlin with her husband, novelist Richard Wagner, in 1987, under pressure from the Romanian government. Over the following years she accepted lectureships at universities in Germany and abroad. She currently lives in Berlin. Müller received membership of the German Academy for Writing and Poetry in 1995, and other positions followed. In 1997 she withdrew from the PEN centre of Germany in protest of its merger with the former German Democratic Republic branch. In July 2008, Müller sent a critical open letter to Horia-Roman Patapievici, president of the Romanian Cultural Institute in reaction to the support given by the institute to a Romanian-German Summer School involving two former informants of the Securitate.[5]
In 2009, her novel Atemschaukel was nominated for the German Book Prize (Deutscher Buchpreis) and is now among the six finalists. In this book Müller describes the journey of a young man to a Gulag concentration camp in the Soviet Union as an example for the fate of the German population in Transylvania after World War II. It was inspired by the experience of Oskar Pastior, whose oral memories she had made notes of, but also by what happened to her own mother.
The Swedish Academy awarded the 2009 Nobel Prize in Literature to Müller "who, with the concentration of poetry and the frankness of prose, depicts the landscape of the dispossessed."[1] Although critically acclaimed in Germany since her first work was smuggled out of Romania for publication in West Germany, prior to her 2009 award, Mueller was little-known outside Germany, and the award has re-ignited criticism that the award committee has a Eurocentric bias.[6]
[edit] Works
Müller signing one of her books in September 2009Niederungen, short stories, censored version published in Bucharest, 1982. Uncensored version published in Germany 1984. Published in English as Nadirs in 1999 by the University of Nebraska Press.[7]
Drückender Tango ("Oppressive Tango"), stories, Bucharest, 1984
Der Mensch ist ein großer Fasan auf der Welt, Berlin, 1986. Published in English as The Passport, Serpent's Tail, 1989 ISBN 9781852421397
Barfüßiger Februar ("Barefoot February"), Berlin, 1987
The Absolute Wasteman novella, Berlin, 1987
Reisende auf einem Bein, Berlin, 1989. Published in English as Traveling on One Leg, Hydra Books/Northwestern University Press, 1992.[8]
Wie Wahrnehmung sich erfindet ("How Perception Invents Itself"), Paderborn, 1990
Der Teufel sitzt im Spiegel ("The Devil is Sitting in the Mirror"), Berlin, 1991
Der Fuchs war damals schon der Jäger ("Even Back Then, the Fox Was the Hunter"), Reinbek bei Hamburg, 1992
Eine warme Kartoffel ist ein warmes Bett ("A Warm Potato Is a Warm Bed"), Hamburg, 1992
Der Wächter nimmt seinen Kamm ("The Guard Takes His Comb"), Reinbek bei Hamburg, 1993
Angekommen wie nicht da ("Arrived As If Not There"), Lichtenfels, 1994
Herztier, Reinbek bei Hamburg, 1994. Published in an English translation by Michael Hofmann as The Land of Green Plums, Metropolitan Books/Henry Holt & Company, New York, 1996[9]
Hunger und Seide ("Hunger and Silk"), essays, Reinbek bei Hamburg, 1995
In der Falle ("In a Trap"), Göttingen 1996
Heute wär ich mir lieber nicht begegnet, Reinbek bei Hamburg, 1997. Published in English as The Appointment, Metropolitan Books/Picador, New York/London, 2001
Der fremde Blick oder das Leben ist ein Furz in der Laterne ("The Foreign View, or Life Is a Fart in a Lantern"), Göttingen, 1999
Im Haarknoten wohnt eine Dame ("A Lady Lives in the Hair Knot"), poetry, Reinbek bei Hamburg, 2000
Heimat ist das, was gesprochen wird ("Home Is What Is Spoken There"), Blieskastel, 2001
A good person is worth as much as a piece of bread, foreword published in Kent Klich's Children of Ceausescu by Journal, 2001 and Umbrage Editions, 2001. Published in Swedish as En god människa är lika mycket värd som ett stycke bröd in Kent Klich's Ceausescu's barn by Journal, 2001
Der König verneigt sich und tötet ("The King Bows and Kills"), essays, Munich (and elsewhere), 2003
Die blassen Herren mit den Mokkatassen ("The Pale Gentlemen with their Espresso Cups"), Munich (and elsewhere), 2005
Atemschaukel, Munich, 2009. Published in English as Everything I Possess I Carry With Me, Granta/ Metropolitan Books, 2009.[10]
[edit] Editor
Theodor Kramer: Die Wahrheit ist, man hat mir nichts getan ("The Truth Is No One Did Anything to Me"), Vienna 1999
Die Handtasche ("The Purse"), Künzelsau 2001
Wenn die Katze ein Pferd wäre, könnte man durch die Bäume reiten ("If the Cat Were a Horse, You Could Ride Through the Trees"), Künzelsau 2001
[edit] Awards
1981 Adam-Müller-Guttenbrunn Sponsored Prize the Temeswar Literature Circle
1984 Aspekte Literature Prize
1985 Rauris Literature Prize
1985 Encouragement Prize of the Literature Award of Bremen
1987 Ricarda-Huch Prize of Darmstadt
1989 Marieluise-Fleißer Prize of Ingolstadt
1989 German Language Prize, together with Gerhardt Csejka, Helmuth Frauendorfer, Klaus Hensel, Johann Lippet, Werner Söllner, William Totok, Richard Wagner
1990 Roswitha Medal of Knowledge of Bad Gandersheim
1991 Kranichsteiner Literature Prize
1993 Critical Prize for Literature
1994 Kleist Prize
1995 Aristeion Prize
1995/96 City-writer of Frankfurt-Bergen-Enkheim
1997 Literature Prize of Graz
1998 Ida-Dehmel Literature Prize and the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award for Herztier / The Land of Green Plums
2001 Cicero Speaker Prize
2002 Carl-Zuckmayer-Medaille of Rhineland-Palatinate
2003 Joseph-Breitbach Prize (together with Christoph Meckel and Harald Weinrich)
2004 Literature Prize of Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung
2005 Berlin Literature Prize
2006 Würth Prize for European Literature und Walter-Hasenclever Literature Prize
2009 Nobel Prize in Literature
[edit] Further reading
Norbert Otto Eke (Ed.): Die erfundene Wahrnehmung ("The Invented Perception"), Paderborn 1991
Herta Müller, Berlin 1992
Herta Haupt-Cucuiu: Eine Poesie der Sinne ("A Poetry of the Senses"), Paderborn 1996
Ralph Köhnen (Ed.): Der Druck der Erfahrung treibt die Sprache in die Dichtung ("The Pressure of Experience Forces Language Into Poetry"), Frankfurt am Main [u.a.] 1997
Brigid Haines (ed.): Herta Müller, Cardiff 1998
Grazziella Predoiu: Faszination und Provokation bei Herta Müller ("Fascination and Provocation in Herta Müller's Work"), Frankfurt am Main (and elsewhere) 2000
Nina Brodbeck: Schreckensbilder ("Terrifying Images"), Marburg 2000
Herta Müller, Munich 2002
Carmen Wagner: Sprache und Identität ("Language and Identity"), Oldenburg 2002
Martin A. Hainz: Den eigenen Augen blind vertrauen? Über Rumänien. ("Do You Trust Your Eyes Blindly? On Romania") From: Der Hammer – Die Zeitung der Alten Schmiede, Nr. 2, Nov. 2004, S.5-6
Thomas Daum (Ed.): Herta Müller, Frankfurt am Main 2003
[edit] See also
List of female Nobel laureates
[edit] References
^ a b "The Nobel Prize in Literature 2009". Nobelprize.org. http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/2009/. Retrieved 2009-10-08.
^ Mueller wins Nobel literary prize. BBC News. 8 October 2009.
^ Nagorski, Andrew (2001), "Nightmare or Reality?(Review)", Newsweek International
^ "The Land of the Green Plums."", Quadrant 43 (6): 83, June 1999
^ EVZ.ro - Scandal românesc cu securişti, svastică şi sex, la Berlin şi New York
^ Jordan, Mary. Author's Nobel Stirs Shock-and-'Bah'. Washington Post. Friday, October 9, 2009.
^ Google Books Retrieved on 7 October 2009
^ On Google Books Retrieved on 7 October 2009
^ Review Retrieved on 7 October 2009
^ Everything I Possess I Carry With Me, (New books in German).
This article incorporates information from the revision as of July 28, 2006 of the equivalent article on the German Wikipedia.
[edit] External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Herta Müller
Herta Müller, short biography by Professor of German Beverley Driver Eddy at Dickinson College
Herta Müller: Bio, excerpts, interviews and articles in the archives of the Prague Writers' Festival
Herta Müller, at complete review
Herta Müller, profile by International Literature Festival Berlin. Retrieved on 7 October 2009
Herta Müller interview by Radio Romania International on Aug 17, 2007. Retrieved on 7 October 2009
"Securitate in all but name", by Herta Müller. About her ongoing fight with the Securitate, August 2009
"Everything I Own I Carry with Me", excerpt from the novel. September 2009
Source: Wikipedia
Contents [hide]
1 Life and career
2 Works
3 Editor
4 Awards
5 Further reading
6 See also
7 References
8 External links
[edit] Life and career
Müller was born in Niţchidorf (German: Nitzkydorf), a historically German-speaking town in the Romanian Banat in western Romania. The daughter of Banat Swabian farmers, her family was part of Romania's German minority; her father had served in the Waffen SS[1] and her mother survived five years (1944-1949) in a slave labour camp in Ukraine in the Soviet Union during and after World War II.[2] Her grandfather had been a wealthy farmer and merchant. She studied German studies and Romanian literature at the Timişoara University.
In 1976, Müller began working as a translator for an engineering factory, but was dismissed in 1979 for her refusal to cooperate with the Securitate, the Communist regime's secret police. After her dismissal she initially earned a living by teaching kindergarten and giving private German lessons. Her first book was published in Romania (in German) in 1982, in a state censored version, as with most publications in communist Romania. Literary censorship at that time was less harsh than under other communist regimes. However, Müller was a member of Aktionsgruppe Banat, a group of German-speaking writers who supported freedom of speech over the censorship they faced under Ceauşescu's government, and her works, including The Land of the Green Plums, deal with the issues faced by the writers and their relationship with the government censorship of their works.[3][4]
Müller left for West Berlin with her husband, novelist Richard Wagner, in 1987, under pressure from the Romanian government. Over the following years she accepted lectureships at universities in Germany and abroad. She currently lives in Berlin. Müller received membership of the German Academy for Writing and Poetry in 1995, and other positions followed. In 1997 she withdrew from the PEN centre of Germany in protest of its merger with the former German Democratic Republic branch. In July 2008, Müller sent a critical open letter to Horia-Roman Patapievici, president of the Romanian Cultural Institute in reaction to the support given by the institute to a Romanian-German Summer School involving two former informants of the Securitate.[5]
In 2009, her novel Atemschaukel was nominated for the German Book Prize (Deutscher Buchpreis) and is now among the six finalists. In this book Müller describes the journey of a young man to a Gulag concentration camp in the Soviet Union as an example for the fate of the German population in Transylvania after World War II. It was inspired by the experience of Oskar Pastior, whose oral memories she had made notes of, but also by what happened to her own mother.
The Swedish Academy awarded the 2009 Nobel Prize in Literature to Müller "who, with the concentration of poetry and the frankness of prose, depicts the landscape of the dispossessed."[1] Although critically acclaimed in Germany since her first work was smuggled out of Romania for publication in West Germany, prior to her 2009 award, Mueller was little-known outside Germany, and the award has re-ignited criticism that the award committee has a Eurocentric bias.[6]
[edit] Works
Müller signing one of her books in September 2009Niederungen, short stories, censored version published in Bucharest, 1982. Uncensored version published in Germany 1984. Published in English as Nadirs in 1999 by the University of Nebraska Press.[7]
Drückender Tango ("Oppressive Tango"), stories, Bucharest, 1984
Der Mensch ist ein großer Fasan auf der Welt, Berlin, 1986. Published in English as The Passport, Serpent's Tail, 1989 ISBN 9781852421397
Barfüßiger Februar ("Barefoot February"), Berlin, 1987
The Absolute Wasteman novella, Berlin, 1987
Reisende auf einem Bein, Berlin, 1989. Published in English as Traveling on One Leg, Hydra Books/Northwestern University Press, 1992.[8]
Wie Wahrnehmung sich erfindet ("How Perception Invents Itself"), Paderborn, 1990
Der Teufel sitzt im Spiegel ("The Devil is Sitting in the Mirror"), Berlin, 1991
Der Fuchs war damals schon der Jäger ("Even Back Then, the Fox Was the Hunter"), Reinbek bei Hamburg, 1992
Eine warme Kartoffel ist ein warmes Bett ("A Warm Potato Is a Warm Bed"), Hamburg, 1992
Der Wächter nimmt seinen Kamm ("The Guard Takes His Comb"), Reinbek bei Hamburg, 1993
Angekommen wie nicht da ("Arrived As If Not There"), Lichtenfels, 1994
Herztier, Reinbek bei Hamburg, 1994. Published in an English translation by Michael Hofmann as The Land of Green Plums, Metropolitan Books/Henry Holt & Company, New York, 1996[9]
Hunger und Seide ("Hunger and Silk"), essays, Reinbek bei Hamburg, 1995
In der Falle ("In a Trap"), Göttingen 1996
Heute wär ich mir lieber nicht begegnet, Reinbek bei Hamburg, 1997. Published in English as The Appointment, Metropolitan Books/Picador, New York/London, 2001
Der fremde Blick oder das Leben ist ein Furz in der Laterne ("The Foreign View, or Life Is a Fart in a Lantern"), Göttingen, 1999
Im Haarknoten wohnt eine Dame ("A Lady Lives in the Hair Knot"), poetry, Reinbek bei Hamburg, 2000
Heimat ist das, was gesprochen wird ("Home Is What Is Spoken There"), Blieskastel, 2001
A good person is worth as much as a piece of bread, foreword published in Kent Klich's Children of Ceausescu by Journal, 2001 and Umbrage Editions, 2001. Published in Swedish as En god människa är lika mycket värd som ett stycke bröd in Kent Klich's Ceausescu's barn by Journal, 2001
Der König verneigt sich und tötet ("The King Bows and Kills"), essays, Munich (and elsewhere), 2003
Die blassen Herren mit den Mokkatassen ("The Pale Gentlemen with their Espresso Cups"), Munich (and elsewhere), 2005
Atemschaukel, Munich, 2009. Published in English as Everything I Possess I Carry With Me, Granta/ Metropolitan Books, 2009.[10]
[edit] Editor
Theodor Kramer: Die Wahrheit ist, man hat mir nichts getan ("The Truth Is No One Did Anything to Me"), Vienna 1999
Die Handtasche ("The Purse"), Künzelsau 2001
Wenn die Katze ein Pferd wäre, könnte man durch die Bäume reiten ("If the Cat Were a Horse, You Could Ride Through the Trees"), Künzelsau 2001
[edit] Awards
1981 Adam-Müller-Guttenbrunn Sponsored Prize the Temeswar Literature Circle
1984 Aspekte Literature Prize
1985 Rauris Literature Prize
1985 Encouragement Prize of the Literature Award of Bremen
1987 Ricarda-Huch Prize of Darmstadt
1989 Marieluise-Fleißer Prize of Ingolstadt
1989 German Language Prize, together with Gerhardt Csejka, Helmuth Frauendorfer, Klaus Hensel, Johann Lippet, Werner Söllner, William Totok, Richard Wagner
1990 Roswitha Medal of Knowledge of Bad Gandersheim
1991 Kranichsteiner Literature Prize
1993 Critical Prize for Literature
1994 Kleist Prize
1995 Aristeion Prize
1995/96 City-writer of Frankfurt-Bergen-Enkheim
1997 Literature Prize of Graz
1998 Ida-Dehmel Literature Prize and the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award for Herztier / The Land of Green Plums
2001 Cicero Speaker Prize
2002 Carl-Zuckmayer-Medaille of Rhineland-Palatinate
2003 Joseph-Breitbach Prize (together with Christoph Meckel and Harald Weinrich)
2004 Literature Prize of Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung
2005 Berlin Literature Prize
2006 Würth Prize for European Literature und Walter-Hasenclever Literature Prize
2009 Nobel Prize in Literature
[edit] Further reading
Norbert Otto Eke (Ed.): Die erfundene Wahrnehmung ("The Invented Perception"), Paderborn 1991
Herta Müller, Berlin 1992
Herta Haupt-Cucuiu: Eine Poesie der Sinne ("A Poetry of the Senses"), Paderborn 1996
Ralph Köhnen (Ed.): Der Druck der Erfahrung treibt die Sprache in die Dichtung ("The Pressure of Experience Forces Language Into Poetry"), Frankfurt am Main [u.a.] 1997
Brigid Haines (ed.): Herta Müller, Cardiff 1998
Grazziella Predoiu: Faszination und Provokation bei Herta Müller ("Fascination and Provocation in Herta Müller's Work"), Frankfurt am Main (and elsewhere) 2000
Nina Brodbeck: Schreckensbilder ("Terrifying Images"), Marburg 2000
Herta Müller, Munich 2002
Carmen Wagner: Sprache und Identität ("Language and Identity"), Oldenburg 2002
Martin A. Hainz: Den eigenen Augen blind vertrauen? Über Rumänien. ("Do You Trust Your Eyes Blindly? On Romania") From: Der Hammer – Die Zeitung der Alten Schmiede, Nr. 2, Nov. 2004, S.5-6
Thomas Daum (Ed.): Herta Müller, Frankfurt am Main 2003
[edit] See also
List of female Nobel laureates
[edit] References
^ a b "The Nobel Prize in Literature 2009". Nobelprize.org. http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/2009/. Retrieved 2009-10-08.
^ Mueller wins Nobel literary prize. BBC News. 8 October 2009.
^ Nagorski, Andrew (2001), "Nightmare or Reality?(Review)", Newsweek International
^ "The Land of the Green Plums."", Quadrant 43 (6): 83, June 1999
^ EVZ.ro - Scandal românesc cu securişti, svastică şi sex, la Berlin şi New York
^ Jordan, Mary. Author's Nobel Stirs Shock-and-'Bah'. Washington Post. Friday, October 9, 2009.
^ Google Books Retrieved on 7 October 2009
^ On Google Books Retrieved on 7 October 2009
^ Review Retrieved on 7 October 2009
^ Everything I Possess I Carry With Me, (New books in German).
This article incorporates information from the revision as of July 28, 2006 of the equivalent article on the German Wikipedia.
[edit] External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Herta Müller
Herta Müller, short biography by Professor of German Beverley Driver Eddy at Dickinson College
Herta Müller: Bio, excerpts, interviews and articles in the archives of the Prague Writers' Festival
Herta Müller, at complete review
Herta Müller, profile by International Literature Festival Berlin. Retrieved on 7 October 2009
Herta Müller interview by Radio Romania International on Aug 17, 2007. Retrieved on 7 October 2009
"Securitate in all but name", by Herta Müller. About her ongoing fight with the Securitate, August 2009
"Everything I Own I Carry with Me", excerpt from the novel. September 2009
Source: Wikipedia
Friday, October 09, 2009
Nikita Sergeyevich Mikhalkov
Nikita Sergeyevich Mikhalkov (Russian: Ники́та Серге́евич Михалко́в; born October 21, 1945, Moscow) is an Academy Award winning Soviet and Russian filmmaker and actor.
Contents [hide]
1 The Mikhalkov family
2 Biography
2.1 Early acting career
2.2 Begins directing
2.3 Gains international reputation
2.4 International success
2.5 Recent career
2.6 Personal life
3 Political Views
4 Filmography
4.1 Director
4.2 Actor (selected)
5 References
6 External links
[edit] The Mikhalkov family
Mikhalkov was born into the distinguished, artistic Mikhalkov family. His great grandfather was the imperial governor of Yaroslavl, whose mother was a Galitzine princess. Nikita's father, Sergei Mikhalkov, is best known as writer of children's literature, although he also wrote lyrics to his country's national anthem on three different occasions spanning nearly 60 years—two different sets of lyrics used for the Soviet national anthem, and the current lyrics of the Russian national anthem. Nikita's mother, the poetess Natalia Konchalovskaya, was the daughter of the avant-garde artist Pyotr Konchalovsky and granddaughter of another outstanding painter, Vasily Surikov. Nikita's older brother is the filmmaker Andrei Konchalovsky, primarily known for his collaboration with Andrei Tarkovsky and his own Hollywood action films, such as Runaway Train.
[edit] Biography
[edit] Early acting career
Nikita Mikhalkov on the 1964 film poster for I Step Through Moscow.Mikhalkov studied acting at the children's studio of the Moscow Art Theatre and later at the Schukin School of the Vakhtangov Theatre. While still a student, he appeared in Georgi Daneliya's film I Step Through Moscow (1964) and his brother Andrei Konchalovsky's film Home of the Gentry (1969). He was soon on his way to becoming a star of the Soviet stage and cinema.
[edit] Begins directing
While continuing to pursue his acting career, he entered VGIK, the state film school in Moscow, where he studied directing under filmmaker Mikhail Romm, teacher to his brother and Andrei Tarkovsky. He directed his first short film in 1968, I'm Coming Home, and another for his graduation, A Quiet Day at the End of the War in 1970. Mikhalkov had appeared in over twenty films, including his brother's Uncle Vanya (1972), before he co-wrote, directed and starred in his first feature, At Home Among Strangers in 1974, a Red Western set just after the 1920s civil war in Russia.
[edit] Gains international reputation
Still from the Ostern At Home Among Strangers, showing the actor/director Nikita Mikhalkov as the bandit ShurikMikhalkov established an international reputation with his second feature, A Slave of Love (1976). Set in 1917, it followed the efforts of a film crew to make a silent melodrama in a resort town while the Revolution rages around them. The film, based upon the last days of Vera Kholodnaya, was highly acclaimed upon its release in the U.S.
Mikhalkov's next film, An Unfinished Piece for Player Piano (1977) was adapted by Mikhalkov from Chekhov's early play, Platonov, and won the first prize at the San Sebastian Film Festival. In 1978, while starring in his brother's epic film Siberiade, Mikhalkov made Five Evenings, a love story about a couple separated by World War II, who meet again after eighteen years. Mikhalkov's next film, Oblomov (1980), with Oleg Tabakov in the title role, is based on Ivan Goncharov's classic novel about a lazy young nobleman who refuses to leave his bed. Family Relations (1981) is a comedy about a provincial woman in Moscow dealing with the tangled relationships of her relatives. Without Witnesses (1983) tracks a long night's conversation between a woman (Irina Kupchenko) and her ex-husband (Mikhail Ulyanov) when they are accidentally locked in a room.
In the early 1980s, Mikhalkov resumed his acting career, appearing in Eldar Ryazanov's immensely popular Station for Two (1982) and A Cruel Romance (1984). At that period, he also played Henry Baskerville in the Soviet screen version of The Hound of the Baskervilles. He also starred in many of his own films, including At Home Among Strangers, A Slave of Love, An Unfinished Piece for Player Piano and Burnt by the Sun.
[edit] International success
Nikita Mikhalkov as Tsar Alexander III in the film The Barber of Siberia (1998).Incorporating several short stories by Chekhov, Dark Eyes (1987) stars Marcello Mastroianni as an old man who tells a story of a romance he had when he was younger, a woman he has never been able to forget. The film was highly praised, and Mastroianni received the Best Actor Prize at the 1987 Cannes Film Festival[1] and an Academy Award nomination for his performance.
Mikhalkov's next film, Urga (1992, a.k.a. Close to Eden), set in the little known world of the Mongols, received the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Mikhalkov's Anna: 6-18 (1993) documents his daughter Anna as she grows from childhood to maturity.
Mikhalkov's most famous production to date, Burnt by the Sun (1994), was steeped in the paranoid atmosphere of Joseph Stalin's Great Terror. The film received the Grand Prize at Cannes[2] and the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, among many other honours. To date, Burnt by the Sun remains the highest grossing film to come out of the former Soviet Union and filming for a sequel is under way.
[edit] Recent career
Mikhalkov used the critical and financial triumph of Burnt by the Sun to raise $25,000,000 for his most epic venture to date, The Barber of Siberia (1998). The film, which opened the 1998 Cannes Film Festival, was designed as a patriotic extravaganza for domestic consumption. It featured Julia Ormond and Oleg Menshikov, who regularly appears in Mikhalkov's films, in the leading roles. The director himself appeared as Tsar Alexander III of Russia.
The film received the Russia State Prize and spawned rumours about Mikhalkov's presidential ambitions. The director, however, chose to administrate the Russian cinema industry. Despite much opposition from rival directors, he was elected the President of the Russian Society of Cinematographists and has managed the Moscow Film Festival since 2000. He also set the Russian Academy Golden Eagle Award in opposition to the traditional Nika Award.
In 2005, Mikhalkov resumed his acting career, starring in three brand-new movies - The Councillor of State, a Fandorin mystery film which broke the Russian box-office records, Zhmurki, a noir-drenched comedy about the Russian Mafia and Krzysztof Zanussi's Persona non grata.
As of October 2006, Mikhalkov is in Serbia, giving moral and ethical support to Serbia's sovereignty over Kosovo[citation needed], its southern province under UN administration whose ethnic Albanian population seeks independence.
On September 8, 2007, Mikhalkov’s film 12, a modern adaptation of Sidney Lumet's court drama Twelve Angry Men, received a special Golden Lion for the “consistent brilliance” of its work and was praised by many critics at the Venice Film Festival. Recently he took on a role of the executive producer of an epic film 1612.
On January 22, 2008, Mikhalkov's film 12 was named as a nominee for the 2008 Academy Awards. Commenting on the nomination, Mikhalkov said, "I am overjoyed that the movie has been noticed in the United States and, what's more, was included in the shortlist of five nominees. This is a significant event for me."
[edit] Personal life
Mikhalkov's first wife was a renowned Russian actress Anastasiya Vertinskaya, whom he married on March 6, 1967. They had a son, Stepan Mikhalkov, born in September 1966.
With his second wife, former model Tatyana, he had son Artem (born December 8, 1975) and daughters Anna (born 1974) and Nadya (born September 27, 1987).
[edit] Political Views
Mikhalkov is actively involved in Russian politics. He is known for his at times extreme Russian nationalist and Slavophile views. In March 2008 he visited Serbia to support Tomislav Nikolic who was running as the ultra-nationalist candidate for the Serb presidency at the time. Mikhalkov took part in a meeting of "Nomocanon", a Serb youth organization which denies war crimes committed by Serbs in the 1992-99 Yugoslav wars. In a speech given to the organization, Mikhalkov spoke about a "war against Orthodoxy" wherein he cited Orthodox Christianity as "the main force which opposes cultural and intellectual McDonald's". In response to his statement, a journalist asked Mikhalkov: "Which is better, McDonald's or Stalinism?" Mikhalkov answered: "That depends on the person". [3]
Mikhalkov has been a strong supporter of Russian president Vladimir Putin. In October 2007, Mikhalkov, who produced a television program for Putin's 55th birthday, cosigned an open letter asking Putin not to step down after the expiry of his term in office.[4]
[edit] Filmography
[edit] Director
Devochka i veshchi (1967) (short film)
And I Go Home (1968) (short film)
A Quiet Day During the End of War (1970) (short film)
At Home Among Strangers (1974)
A Slave of Love (1976)
An Unfinished Piece for a Player Piano (1977)
Five Evenings (1978)
Oblomov (1980)
Family Relations (1981)
Without Witness (1983)
Dark Eyes (1987)
Hitch-hiking (1990)
Close to Eden (1992) (aka Urga)
Remembering Chekhov (1993)
Anna: 6 - 18 (1993)
Burnt by the Sun (1994)
The Barber of Siberia (1998)
12 (2007)
[edit] Actor (selected)
I Step Through Moscow (1964) - Georgi Daneliya
A Nest of Gentry (1965) - A. Konchalovsky
The Red and the White (1967)
The Red Tent (1969) - Mikhail Kalatozov
The Postmaster (1972) - Sergey Soloviev
At Home Among Strangers (1974) - Nikita Mikhalkov
A Slave of Love (1975) - Nikita Mikhalkov
An Unfinished Piece for a Player Piano (1976) - Nikita Mikhalkov
Siberiade (1978) - A. Konchalovsky
The Hound of the Baskervilles (1980) - Igor Maslennikov
Portrait of the Artist's Wife (1982) - A. Pankratov-Biely
Station for Two (1983) - Eldar Ryazanov
A Cruel Romance (1984) - Eldar Ryazanov
Humiliation and offense (1991) - A. Echpai
Burnt by the Sun (1994) - Nikita Mikhalkov
Gogol's The Government Inspector (1996) - S. Gazanov
The Barber of Siberia (1998) - Nikita Mikhalkov
The State Counsellor (2005) - Filipp Yankovsky
Zhmurki (2005) - Aleksei Balabanov
Persona Non Grata (2005) - Krzysztof Zanussi
12 (2007) - Nikita Mikhalkov
[edit] References
^ "Festival de Cannes: Dark Eyes". festival-cannes.com. http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/425/year/1987.html. Retrieved 2009-07-19.
^ "Festival de Cannes: Burnt by the Sun". festival-cannes.com. http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/2977/year/1994.html. Retrieved 2009-08-30.
^ Ragozin, Leonid (21-27 January 2008). "Точка невозврата". Russian Newsweek 4 (178). http://www.runewsweek.ru/globus/8662/. Retrieved May 14, 2009. "Михалков прищурился еще хитрее и нанес главный риторический удар: «Потому что православие - это основная сила, противостоящая культурному и интеллектуальному макдоналдсу»...Вдруг из зала раздался провокационный вопрос: «А что лучше - макдоналдс или сталинизм?» - «Ну это кому как», - ответил сын лауреата Сталинской премии.".
^ Bayer, Alexei (March 24, 2008). "Sympathy for the devil". The Moscow Times. http://www.moscowtimes.ru/stories/2008/03/24/007.html. Retrieved March 24, 2008.
Larsen, Susan (Autumn 2003). "National Identity, Cultural Authority, and the Post-Soviet Blockbuster: Nikita Mikhalkov and Aleksei Balabanov". Slavic Review 62 (3): 491-511.
[1]
Contents [hide]
1 The Mikhalkov family
2 Biography
2.1 Early acting career
2.2 Begins directing
2.3 Gains international reputation
2.4 International success
2.5 Recent career
2.6 Personal life
3 Political Views
4 Filmography
4.1 Director
4.2 Actor (selected)
5 References
6 External links
[edit] The Mikhalkov family
Mikhalkov was born into the distinguished, artistic Mikhalkov family. His great grandfather was the imperial governor of Yaroslavl, whose mother was a Galitzine princess. Nikita's father, Sergei Mikhalkov, is best known as writer of children's literature, although he also wrote lyrics to his country's national anthem on three different occasions spanning nearly 60 years—two different sets of lyrics used for the Soviet national anthem, and the current lyrics of the Russian national anthem. Nikita's mother, the poetess Natalia Konchalovskaya, was the daughter of the avant-garde artist Pyotr Konchalovsky and granddaughter of another outstanding painter, Vasily Surikov. Nikita's older brother is the filmmaker Andrei Konchalovsky, primarily known for his collaboration with Andrei Tarkovsky and his own Hollywood action films, such as Runaway Train.
[edit] Biography
[edit] Early acting career
Nikita Mikhalkov on the 1964 film poster for I Step Through Moscow.Mikhalkov studied acting at the children's studio of the Moscow Art Theatre and later at the Schukin School of the Vakhtangov Theatre. While still a student, he appeared in Georgi Daneliya's film I Step Through Moscow (1964) and his brother Andrei Konchalovsky's film Home of the Gentry (1969). He was soon on his way to becoming a star of the Soviet stage and cinema.
[edit] Begins directing
While continuing to pursue his acting career, he entered VGIK, the state film school in Moscow, where he studied directing under filmmaker Mikhail Romm, teacher to his brother and Andrei Tarkovsky. He directed his first short film in 1968, I'm Coming Home, and another for his graduation, A Quiet Day at the End of the War in 1970. Mikhalkov had appeared in over twenty films, including his brother's Uncle Vanya (1972), before he co-wrote, directed and starred in his first feature, At Home Among Strangers in 1974, a Red Western set just after the 1920s civil war in Russia.
[edit] Gains international reputation
Still from the Ostern At Home Among Strangers, showing the actor/director Nikita Mikhalkov as the bandit ShurikMikhalkov established an international reputation with his second feature, A Slave of Love (1976). Set in 1917, it followed the efforts of a film crew to make a silent melodrama in a resort town while the Revolution rages around them. The film, based upon the last days of Vera Kholodnaya, was highly acclaimed upon its release in the U.S.
Mikhalkov's next film, An Unfinished Piece for Player Piano (1977) was adapted by Mikhalkov from Chekhov's early play, Platonov, and won the first prize at the San Sebastian Film Festival. In 1978, while starring in his brother's epic film Siberiade, Mikhalkov made Five Evenings, a love story about a couple separated by World War II, who meet again after eighteen years. Mikhalkov's next film, Oblomov (1980), with Oleg Tabakov in the title role, is based on Ivan Goncharov's classic novel about a lazy young nobleman who refuses to leave his bed. Family Relations (1981) is a comedy about a provincial woman in Moscow dealing with the tangled relationships of her relatives. Without Witnesses (1983) tracks a long night's conversation between a woman (Irina Kupchenko) and her ex-husband (Mikhail Ulyanov) when they are accidentally locked in a room.
In the early 1980s, Mikhalkov resumed his acting career, appearing in Eldar Ryazanov's immensely popular Station for Two (1982) and A Cruel Romance (1984). At that period, he also played Henry Baskerville in the Soviet screen version of The Hound of the Baskervilles. He also starred in many of his own films, including At Home Among Strangers, A Slave of Love, An Unfinished Piece for Player Piano and Burnt by the Sun.
[edit] International success
Nikita Mikhalkov as Tsar Alexander III in the film The Barber of Siberia (1998).Incorporating several short stories by Chekhov, Dark Eyes (1987) stars Marcello Mastroianni as an old man who tells a story of a romance he had when he was younger, a woman he has never been able to forget. The film was highly praised, and Mastroianni received the Best Actor Prize at the 1987 Cannes Film Festival[1] and an Academy Award nomination for his performance.
Mikhalkov's next film, Urga (1992, a.k.a. Close to Eden), set in the little known world of the Mongols, received the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Mikhalkov's Anna: 6-18 (1993) documents his daughter Anna as she grows from childhood to maturity.
Mikhalkov's most famous production to date, Burnt by the Sun (1994), was steeped in the paranoid atmosphere of Joseph Stalin's Great Terror. The film received the Grand Prize at Cannes[2] and the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, among many other honours. To date, Burnt by the Sun remains the highest grossing film to come out of the former Soviet Union and filming for a sequel is under way.
[edit] Recent career
Mikhalkov used the critical and financial triumph of Burnt by the Sun to raise $25,000,000 for his most epic venture to date, The Barber of Siberia (1998). The film, which opened the 1998 Cannes Film Festival, was designed as a patriotic extravaganza for domestic consumption. It featured Julia Ormond and Oleg Menshikov, who regularly appears in Mikhalkov's films, in the leading roles. The director himself appeared as Tsar Alexander III of Russia.
The film received the Russia State Prize and spawned rumours about Mikhalkov's presidential ambitions. The director, however, chose to administrate the Russian cinema industry. Despite much opposition from rival directors, he was elected the President of the Russian Society of Cinematographists and has managed the Moscow Film Festival since 2000. He also set the Russian Academy Golden Eagle Award in opposition to the traditional Nika Award.
In 2005, Mikhalkov resumed his acting career, starring in three brand-new movies - The Councillor of State, a Fandorin mystery film which broke the Russian box-office records, Zhmurki, a noir-drenched comedy about the Russian Mafia and Krzysztof Zanussi's Persona non grata.
As of October 2006, Mikhalkov is in Serbia, giving moral and ethical support to Serbia's sovereignty over Kosovo[citation needed], its southern province under UN administration whose ethnic Albanian population seeks independence.
On September 8, 2007, Mikhalkov’s film 12, a modern adaptation of Sidney Lumet's court drama Twelve Angry Men, received a special Golden Lion for the “consistent brilliance” of its work and was praised by many critics at the Venice Film Festival. Recently he took on a role of the executive producer of an epic film 1612.
On January 22, 2008, Mikhalkov's film 12 was named as a nominee for the 2008 Academy Awards. Commenting on the nomination, Mikhalkov said, "I am overjoyed that the movie has been noticed in the United States and, what's more, was included in the shortlist of five nominees. This is a significant event for me."
[edit] Personal life
Mikhalkov's first wife was a renowned Russian actress Anastasiya Vertinskaya, whom he married on March 6, 1967. They had a son, Stepan Mikhalkov, born in September 1966.
With his second wife, former model Tatyana, he had son Artem (born December 8, 1975) and daughters Anna (born 1974) and Nadya (born September 27, 1987).
[edit] Political Views
Mikhalkov is actively involved in Russian politics. He is known for his at times extreme Russian nationalist and Slavophile views. In March 2008 he visited Serbia to support Tomislav Nikolic who was running as the ultra-nationalist candidate for the Serb presidency at the time. Mikhalkov took part in a meeting of "Nomocanon", a Serb youth organization which denies war crimes committed by Serbs in the 1992-99 Yugoslav wars. In a speech given to the organization, Mikhalkov spoke about a "war against Orthodoxy" wherein he cited Orthodox Christianity as "the main force which opposes cultural and intellectual McDonald's". In response to his statement, a journalist asked Mikhalkov: "Which is better, McDonald's or Stalinism?" Mikhalkov answered: "That depends on the person". [3]
Mikhalkov has been a strong supporter of Russian president Vladimir Putin. In October 2007, Mikhalkov, who produced a television program for Putin's 55th birthday, cosigned an open letter asking Putin not to step down after the expiry of his term in office.[4]
[edit] Filmography
[edit] Director
Devochka i veshchi (1967) (short film)
And I Go Home (1968) (short film)
A Quiet Day During the End of War (1970) (short film)
At Home Among Strangers (1974)
A Slave of Love (1976)
An Unfinished Piece for a Player Piano (1977)
Five Evenings (1978)
Oblomov (1980)
Family Relations (1981)
Without Witness (1983)
Dark Eyes (1987)
Hitch-hiking (1990)
Close to Eden (1992) (aka Urga)
Remembering Chekhov (1993)
Anna: 6 - 18 (1993)
Burnt by the Sun (1994)
The Barber of Siberia (1998)
12 (2007)
[edit] Actor (selected)
I Step Through Moscow (1964) - Georgi Daneliya
A Nest of Gentry (1965) - A. Konchalovsky
The Red and the White (1967)
The Red Tent (1969) - Mikhail Kalatozov
The Postmaster (1972) - Sergey Soloviev
At Home Among Strangers (1974) - Nikita Mikhalkov
A Slave of Love (1975) - Nikita Mikhalkov
An Unfinished Piece for a Player Piano (1976) - Nikita Mikhalkov
Siberiade (1978) - A. Konchalovsky
The Hound of the Baskervilles (1980) - Igor Maslennikov
Portrait of the Artist's Wife (1982) - A. Pankratov-Biely
Station for Two (1983) - Eldar Ryazanov
A Cruel Romance (1984) - Eldar Ryazanov
Humiliation and offense (1991) - A. Echpai
Burnt by the Sun (1994) - Nikita Mikhalkov
Gogol's The Government Inspector (1996) - S. Gazanov
The Barber of Siberia (1998) - Nikita Mikhalkov
The State Counsellor (2005) - Filipp Yankovsky
Zhmurki (2005) - Aleksei Balabanov
Persona Non Grata (2005) - Krzysztof Zanussi
12 (2007) - Nikita Mikhalkov
[edit] References
^ "Festival de Cannes: Dark Eyes". festival-cannes.com. http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/425/year/1987.html. Retrieved 2009-07-19.
^ "Festival de Cannes: Burnt by the Sun". festival-cannes.com. http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/2977/year/1994.html. Retrieved 2009-08-30.
^ Ragozin, Leonid (21-27 January 2008). "Точка невозврата". Russian Newsweek 4 (178). http://www.runewsweek.ru/globus/8662/. Retrieved May 14, 2009. "Михалков прищурился еще хитрее и нанес главный риторический удар: «Потому что православие - это основная сила, противостоящая культурному и интеллектуальному макдоналдсу»...Вдруг из зала раздался провокационный вопрос: «А что лучше - макдоналдс или сталинизм?» - «Ну это кому как», - ответил сын лауреата Сталинской премии.".
^ Bayer, Alexei (March 24, 2008). "Sympathy for the devil". The Moscow Times. http://www.moscowtimes.ru/stories/2008/03/24/007.html. Retrieved March 24, 2008.
Larsen, Susan (Autumn 2003). "National Identity, Cultural Authority, and the Post-Soviet Blockbuster: Nikita Mikhalkov and Aleksei Balabanov". Slavic Review 62 (3): 491-511.
[1]
Monday, October 05, 2009
Anarchist Commune seeks new members (text translated into French/Spanish/Portuguese)
Anarchist Commune seeks new members
A little commune in the North of Germany near the sea and the forest, seeks for new members.
Issues: Bicycles, Books, Children-Rights, Anti-Psychiatry, Supporting Escapers,
Fighting back the institutions, who officially steal children and old people with psychologically and psychiatric harassments.
Write to Jugendselbsthilfe@web.de
Phone number: 0049+911 266 786
Commune Anarchiste recherche des membres
Une petite commune dans le Nord de L’Allemagne près de la mer et de la forêt, recherche des membres.
Thèmes: les Vélos, les Livres, les Droits des Enfants, anti- psichiatrie, Soutenant des Evadés, Combattant aux institutions, qui volent officiellement des enfants, et les vieux gens avec harcèlements psychologiques et psychiatriques.
Écrire a : Jugendselbsthilfe@web.de
Téléphone : 0049+911 266 786
Comuna Anarquista busca miembros
Una pequeña comuna en el norte de Alemania cerca del mar y del bosque, búsca miembros.
Los asuntos: Las bicicletas, los Libros, los Derechos de los Niños, Anti-psiquiatria, Apoyando fugitivos, defendiéndose a las instituciones, que roban
oficialmente a niños, y los ancianos con acosos psicológicos y psiquiátricos
Escribir a Jugendselbsthilfe@web.de
Telefono: 0049+ 911 266 786
Comuna Anarquista procura membros
Uma pequena comuna no Norte da Alemanha junto do Mar Báltico e da floresta, procura membros.
Temas: Bicicletas, Livros, Direitos das Crianças, Anti-Psiquiatria, Apoiando fugitivos, Combatendo as instituições que oficialmente roubam crianças e
pessoas idosas alvo de assédios psicológicos e psiquiátricos.
Escrever para: Jugendselbsthilfe@web.de
Telefone: 0049+ 911 266 786
http://www.akkak.de/
A little commune in the North of Germany near the sea and the forest, seeks for new members.
Issues: Bicycles, Books, Children-Rights, Anti-Psychiatry, Supporting Escapers,
Fighting back the institutions, who officially steal children and old people with psychologically and psychiatric harassments.
Write to Jugendselbsthilfe@web.de
Phone number: 0049+911 266 786
Commune Anarchiste recherche des membres
Une petite commune dans le Nord de L’Allemagne près de la mer et de la forêt, recherche des membres.
Thèmes: les Vélos, les Livres, les Droits des Enfants, anti- psichiatrie, Soutenant des Evadés, Combattant aux institutions, qui volent officiellement des enfants, et les vieux gens avec harcèlements psychologiques et psychiatriques.
Écrire a : Jugendselbsthilfe@web.de
Téléphone : 0049+911 266 786
Comuna Anarquista busca miembros
Una pequeña comuna en el norte de Alemania cerca del mar y del bosque, búsca miembros.
Los asuntos: Las bicicletas, los Libros, los Derechos de los Niños, Anti-psiquiatria, Apoyando fugitivos, defendiéndose a las instituciones, que roban
oficialmente a niños, y los ancianos con acosos psicológicos y psiquiátricos
Escribir a Jugendselbsthilfe@web.de
Telefono: 0049+ 911 266 786
Comuna Anarquista procura membros
Uma pequena comuna no Norte da Alemanha junto do Mar Báltico e da floresta, procura membros.
Temas: Bicicletas, Livros, Direitos das Crianças, Anti-Psiquiatria, Apoiando fugitivos, Combatendo as instituições que oficialmente roubam crianças e
pessoas idosas alvo de assédios psicológicos e psiquiátricos.
Escrever para: Jugendselbsthilfe@web.de
Telefone: 0049+ 911 266 786
http://www.akkak.de/
.jpg)
Peer Gynt
Peer Gynt (Norwegian pronunciation: [ˈpeːr ˈɡʏnt]; English: /ˈpɪər ˈɡɪnt/[citation needed]) is a five-act play in verse by the Norwegian dramatist Henrik Ibsen, loosely based on the fairy tale Per Gynt. Interpreted in its day as a satire on the Norwegian personality, Peer Gynt is the story of a life based on avoidance.[1] A first edition of 1,250 copies was published on 14 November 1867 in Copenhagen.[2] Despite having swiftly sold out, a re-print of 2,000 copies, which followed after 14 days, did not sell well and was not exhausted until 1874.[3]
While Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson admired the play's "satire in Norwegian egotism, narrowness, and self-sufficiency" and described it as "magnificent", Hans Christian Andersen, Georg Brandes and Clemens Petersen all joined a widespread hostility.[4] Enraged by Petersen's criticisms in particular, Ibsen defended his work by arguing that it "is poetry; and if it isn't, it will become such. The conception of poetry in our country, in Norway, shall shape itself according to this book."[5] Despite this defense of his poetic achievement in Peer Gynt, the play was his last to employ verse; from The League of Youth (1869) onwards, Ibsen was to write drama only in prose.[6]
Ibsen wrote Peer Gynt in deliberate, liberating disregard of the limitations that the conventional stagecraft of the 19th century imposed on drama.[7] Its 40 scenes move uninhibitedly in time and space and between consciousness and the unconscious, blending folkloric fantasy and unsentimental realism.[8]
Raymond Williams compares Peer Gynt with August Strindberg's early drama Lucky Peter's Travels (1882) and argues that both evidence a new kind of dramatic action that was beyond the capacities of the theatre of the day; both created "a sequence of images in language and visual composition" that "became technically possible only in film."[9] Peer Gynt was first performed in Christiania (now Oslo) on 24 February 1876, with incidental music by the composer Edvard Grieg. It was published in a German translation in 1881, in English in 1892, and in French in 1896.[10]
Contents [hide]
1 Characters
2 Plot synopsis
2.1 Act I
2.2 Act II
2.3 Act III
2.4 Act IV
2.5 Act V
3 Writing process
4 Grieg's music
5 Notable productions
6 Adaptations
7 Notes
8 Sources
9 External links
[edit] Characters
Åse, a peasant’s widow
Peer Gynt, her son
Two old women with corn–sacks
Aslak, a blacksmith
Wedding guests
A master cook
A fiddler
A man and a wife, newcomers to the district
Solveig and little Helga, their daughters
The farmer at Hægstad
Ingrid, his daughter
The bridegroom and his parents
Three alpine dairymaids
A green-clad woman, a troll princess
The Old Man of the Mountains, a troll king
Multiple troll-courtiers, troll-maidens and troll-urchins
A couple of witches
Brownies, nixies, gnomes, etc.
An ugly brat
The Bøyg, a voice in the darkness
Kari, a cottar’s wife
Master Cotton.
Monsieur Ballon
Mr. von Eberkopf
Mr. Trumpeterstrale
Gentlemen on their travels
A thief
A receiver
Anitra, daughter of a Bedouin chief
Arabs
Female slaves
Dancing girls
The Memnon statue
The Sphinx at Giza
Dr. Begriffenfeldt, director of the madhouse at Cairo
Huhu, a language–reformer from the coast of Malabar
Hussein, an eastern Minister
A fellow with a royal mother
Several madmen and their keepers
A Norwegian skipper
His crew
A strange passenger
A pastor
A funeral party
A parish-officer
A button-moulder
A lean person
[edit] Plot synopsis
[edit] Act I
Peer Gynt is the son of the once highly-regarded Jon Gynt. Jon Gynt spent all his father's money on feasting and living lavishly, until there was nothing left; thus, Jon had to go from his farm as a wandering salesman, leaving his wife and son behind in debt. Åse, the mother, wished to raise her son to wield and restore the lost fortune of his father, but Peer is soon to be considered useless for practical tasks, somewhat of a poet and a braggart, not unlike the Norwegian youngest son from the fairy tales, the "Ash Lad", with whom he shares some characteristics.
As the play opens, Peer gives an account of a reindeer hunt that went awry, a famous theatrical scene generally known as "the Buckride". His mother scorns him for his vivid imagination, and taunts him because he spoiled his chances with Ingrid, the daughter of the richest farmer. Peer responds, and goes straight to the wedding, scheduled the following day, because he may get a chance with the bride anyway. His mother follows quickly to stop him from shaming himself completely.
Peer Gynt, as drawn by Peter Nicolai ArboAt the wedding, Peer is taunted and laughed at by the other guests, especially the local smith, Aslak, who holds a grudge after a brawl somewhat earlier on. But in the same wedding, Peer meets a family of newcomers, from another valley, followers of Hans Nielsen Hauge. He instantly notices the daughter, Solveig, and wants her for a dance. She refuses because of her mother, and even more when she learns who he is. His reputation has preceded him. She leaves him, and Peer starts drinking. When he hears that the bride has locked herself up, he acts on the news and runs away with the bride, and spends the night with her in the mountains.
[edit] Act II
This action has repercussions, and Peer is banished. As he wanders the mountains, his mother, Solveig and her father search for him. Meanwhile, Peer strays alone in the mountains. During his flight he meets three amorous dairy-maids who are waiting to be courted by trolls (really a folklore-motif from Gudbrandsdalen). He becomes highly intoxicated with them and spends the next day alone suffering from a hangover. He runs his head into a rock and swoons, and the rest of the second act takes place in Peer's dreams. He comes across a woman clad in green who turns out to be the daughter of the troll mountain king. Together they ride into the mountain hall, and the troll king gives Peer the choice of becoming a troll if Peer is to marry his daughter. Peer agrees to a number of issues, but withdraws in the end. He is then confronted with the fact that the green-clad woman is with child. Peer denies this; he hasn't even touched her, he claims, but the wise troll-king replies that he begot the child in his head as he desired his daughter. That is the troll-human way. Crucial for the plot and understanding of the play is the question asked by the troll-king: What is the difference between troll and man?
The answer given by the Old Man of the Mountain is: "Out there, where sky shines, humans say: 'To thyself be true.' In here, trolls say: 'Be true to yourself-ish.'" Egoism is a typical troll-trait in this play. From then on, Peer has this as his motto, claiming as time passes to be himself, whatever that is. One of the most interesting characters is the Bøyg; a creature who has no real description. On the question "who are you?" The Bøyg answers: "myself". In time, Peer also takes the Bøyg's leading line as a motto: "Go around". The rest of his life, he "beats around the bush" instead of facing himself, or the truth.
When waking up, he is confronted by Helga, the sister of Solveig, who gives him food and regards from her sister. Peer replies by giving the girl a silver button for Solveig to keep, and asks that she will not forget him.
[edit] Act III
As an outlaw, Peer struggles to build his own cottage in the hills, and while he's doing this, Solveig turns up, insisting on living with him. She has made her choice, she says, and there is no returning for her. Peer delights and welcomes her, but as she enters the cabin, an elderly woman in a green dress appears with a limping boy at her side. This is the green-clad woman from the mountain hall. She has in a way cursed him, and he has to remember her, and all his previous sins, when facing Solveig. This Peer can't handle, and decides to leave, with the excuse: "I have got something heavy to fetch". He returns in time for his mother's death, and then sets off overseas.
[edit] Act IV
Peer is away for many years, taking part in various occupations and playing various roles including that of a businessman engaged in enterprises on the coast of Morocco. Here, he explains his view of life, and we learn that he is a businessman with dirty money on his hands. He has been a missionary, a slave-trader, and many other things. His friends rob him, and leave him alone on the shore. Then he finds some stolen bedouin gear, and in these clothes, he is hailed as a prophet by a local tribe. He tries to seduce Anitra, the chieftain's daughter, but she gets away, and leaves him. Then he decides to become a historian, and travels to Egypt. He wanders through the desert, passes the Memnon and the Sphinx. As he addresses the Sphinx, believing her to be the Bøyg, he encounters the keeper of the local madhouse, himself out of his marbles, who regards Peer as the bringer of supreme wisdom. Peer comes to the madhouse, and understands that all of the patients live in their own worlds, being themselves to a degree that no one cares for anyone else. In his youth, Peer had dreamt of becoming an emperor. In this place, he's finally hailed as one - the emperor of the "self" . Peer despairs and calls for the "Keeper of all fools", i.e. God.
[edit] Act V
Finally, on his way home as an old man, he is shipwrecked. Among those on board, he meets the Strange Passenger, considered by some scholars to be the ghost of Lord Byron. The Strange Passenger wants to make use of Peer's corpse to find out where dreams have their seat. This passenger scares Peer out of his wits. He lands on shore bereft of all of his possessions, a pitiful and grumpy old man. Back home in Norway, Peer Gynt attends a peasant funeral, and an auction, where he offers for sale everything from his earlier life. The auction takes place at the very farm where the wedding once was held. Peer stumbles along, and is confronted with all that he didn't do, his unsung songs, his unmade works, his unwept tears, and his questions that were never asked. His mother comes back and claims that her deathbed went awry. He didn't lead her to heaven with his ramblings. Peer escapes and is confronted with the Button-moulder, who maintains that Peer's soul must be melted down with other faulty goods unless he can explain when and where in life he has been "himself". Peer protests. He has been only that, and nothing else. Then he meets the troll king, who states that he has been a troll, not a man, most of his life. The moulder comes along and says that he has to come up with something if he is not to be melted down. Peer looks for a priest to confess his sins, and a character named the Lean One (who is probably the Devil), turns up. He believes Peer cannot be accounted a real sinner who can be sent to hell. He has not done anything serious. Peer despairs in the end, understanding that his life is forfeit. He understands he is nothing. But at the same moment, Solveig starts to sing - the cabin he himself built, is close at hand, but he dares not enter. The Bøyg in him tells him "around". The moulder shows up and demands a list of sins, but Peer has none to give, unless Solveig can vouch for him. Then he breaks through to her, asking her for his sins. But she answers: "You have not sinned at all, my dearest boy". Peer does not understand - he believes himself lost. Then he asks her: "Where has Peer Gynt been since we last met? Where was I as the one I should have been, whole and true, with the mark of God on my brow?" She answers; "In my faith, in my hope, in my love". Peer screams and calls her mother, and hides himself in her lap. Solveig sings her lullaby for him, and we might presume he dies in this last scene of the play, although there are no stage directions or dialogue to indicate that he actually does.
Behind the corner, the button-moulder, who is sent by God, still waits, with the words: "Peer, we shall meet at the last cross-roads, and then we shall see if. .. I'll say no more".
[edit] Writing process
On 5 January 1867 Ibsen wrote to Frederik Hegel, his publisher, with his plan for the play: it would be "a long dramatic poem, having as its principal a part-legendary, part-fictional character from Norwegian folklore during recent times. It will bear no resemblance to Brand, and will contain no direct polemics or anything of that kind."[11] He began to write Peer Gynt on 14 January, employing a far greater variety of metres in its rhymed verse than he had used in his previous verse plays Brand (written 1865) or Love's Comedy (written 1862).[12] The first two acts were completed in Rome and the third in Casamicciola on the north of the island of Ischia.[13] During this time Ibsen told Vilhelm Bergsøe that "I don't think the play's for acting" when they discussed the possibility of staging the play's image of a casting-ladle "big enough to re-cast human beings in."[14] Ibsen sent the three acts to his publisher on 8 August, with a letter that explains that "Peer Gynt was a real person who lived in Gudbrandsdal, probably around the end of the last century or the beginning of this. His name is still famous among the people up there, but not much more is known about his life than what is to be found in Asbjørnsen's Norwegian Folktales (in the section entitled 'Stories from the Mountain')."[15] In those stories, "Per Gynt" rescues the three dairy-maids from the trolls and shoots the Bøyg, who was originally a gigantic, worm-shaped troll-being. Per was known to tell tall tales of his own achievements, a trait Peer in the play inherited. The "buck-ride" story, which Peer tells his mother in the play's first scene, is also from this source, but, as Åse points out, it was originally Gudbrand Glesne from Vågå who did the tour with the reindeer stag and finally shot it. Following an earthquake on the island on 14 August, Ibsen left for Sorrento, where he completed the final two acts; he finished the play on 14 October.[16] It was published in a first edition of 1,250 copies a month later in Copenhagen.[2]
[edit] Grieg's music
See also: Peer Gynt Suites
Ibsen asked Edvard Grieg to compose incidental music for the play. Grieg composed a score that plays approximately ninety minutes. Grieg extracted two suites of four pieces each from the incidental music (Opus 46 and Opus 55), which became very popular as concert music. Two of the sung parts of the incidental music ended up in these suites (the famous In the Hall of the Mountain King in the 1st suite with the vocal parts omitted, and the last part of 2nd suite, Solveig's Song, the solo part now played by violin rather than sung, though the vocal version is sometimes substituted). (Originally, the second suite had a fifth number, The Dance of the Mountain King's Daughter, but Grieg withdrew it.) Grieg himself declared that it was easier to make music "out of his own head" than strictly following suggestions made by Ibsen. For instance, Ibsen wanted music that would characterize the "international" friends in the fourth act, by melding the said national anthems (Norwegian, Swedish, German, French and English). Reportedly, Grieg was not in the right mood for this task.
The music of these suites, especially Morning Mood starting the first suite, In the Hall of the Mountain King, and the string lament Åse's Death later reappeared in numerous arrangements, soundtracks, etc.
[edit] Notable productions
The first US production of Peer Gynt, in 1907 starred the noted actor Richard Mansfield, in one of his very last roles before his untimely death. In 1923, Joseph Schildkraut played the role on Broadway, in a Theatre Guild production, featuring Selena Royle, Helen Westley, Dudley Digges, and, before he entered films, Edward G. Robinson. In 1944, at the Old Vic, Ralph Richardson played the role, surrounded by some of the greatest British actors of the time in supporting or bit roles, among them Sybil Thorndike as Aase, and Laurence Olivier as the Button Moulder. In 1951, John Garfield fulfilled his wish to star in a Broadway production, featuring Mildred Dunnock as Aase. Sadly, this production was not a success, and is said by some to have contributed to Garfield's death at age 39.
On film, the seventeen-year-old Charlton Heston starred as Peer in a silent, student-made, low budget film version of the play made in 1941. Peer Gynt, however, has never been given a full-blown treatment as a sound film in English on the motion picture screen, although there have been several television productions, and a sound film was produced in German in 1934.
In 1957, Ingmar Bergman produced a five-hour stage version[17] of Peer Gynt, at Sweden's Malmö City Theatre, with Max Von Sydow as Peer Gynt. Bergman produced the play again, 34 years later[18], in 1991, at Sweden's Royal Dramatic Theatre, this time with Börje Ahlstedt in the title role. Bergman chose not to use Grieg's music, nor the more modern Harald Sæverud composition, but rather traditional Norwegian folk music, and little of that either.
In 1993, Christopher Plummer starred in his own concert version of the play,[19] with the Hartford Symphony Orchestra in Hartford, Connecticut. This was a new performing version and a collaboration of Plummer and Hartford Symphony Orchestra Music Director Michael Lankester. Plummer had long dreamed of starring in a fully-staged production of the play, but had been unable to. The 1993 production was not a fully-staged version, but rather a drastically condensed concert version, narrated by Plummer, who also played the title role, and accompanied by Edvard Grieg's complete incidental music for the play. This version included a choir and vocal parts for soprano and mezzo-soprano. Plummer performed the concert version again in 1995 with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra with Lankester conducting. The 1995 production was broadcast on Canadian radio. It has never been presented on television. It has also never been released on compact disc. In the 1990s Plummer and Lankester also collaborated on and performed similarly staged concert versions of A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare (with music by Mendelssohn) and Ivan the Terrible (an arrangement of a Prokofiev film score with script for narrator). Among the three aforementioned Plummer/Lankester collaborations, all received live concert presentations and live radio broadcasts, but only Ivan the Terrible was released on CD.
In 2006, Robert Wilson staged a co-production revival with both the National Theater of Bergen and the Norwegian Theatre of Oslo, Norway. Ann-Christin Rommen directed the actors in Norwegian (with English subtitles). This acclaimed production mixed both Wilson's minimalist (yet constantly moving) stage designs with fantastic technological effects to bring out the play's expansive potential. Furthermore they utilized state-of-the-art microphones, sound systems, and recorded acoustic and electronic music to bring clarity to the complex and shifting action and dialogue. From April 11 through the 16th, they performed at the Brooklyn Academy of Music's Howard Gilman Opera House.
In 2006, as part of the Norwegian Ibsen anniversary festival, "Peer Gynt" was set at the foot of the Great Sphinx of Giza near Cairo, Egypt (an important location in the original play). The director was Bentein Baardson. The performance was the centre of some controversy, with some critics seeing it as a display of colonialist attitudes.
In January 2008 the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis debuted a new translation of Peer Gynt by the acclaimed poet Robert Bly. Bly learned Norwegian from his grandparents while growing up in rural Minnesota, and later during several years of travel in Norway. This production stages Ibsen's text rather abstractly, tying it loosely into a modern birthday party for a 50 year old man. It also significantly cuts the length of the play. (An earlier production of the full-length play at the Guthrie required the audience to return a second night to see the second half of the play.)
In 2009, Dundee Rep with the National Theatre of Scotland toured an inventive production which was critically acclaimed on its first outing in 2007. This raucous and radical interpretation, with much of the dialogue in modern Scots, was hailed by The Scotsman newspaper as "A piece of world class popular theatre for our time". The cast included Gerry Mulgrew as the older Peer. Directed by Dominic Hill.
[edit] Adaptations
In the 1930s German composer Werner Egk wrote an opera based on the story.
In 1948, the composer Harald Sæverud made a new score for the nynorsk-production at "the Norwegian Theatre" (Det Norske Teatret) in Oslo. Sæverud's music is considered anti-romantic, humorous, and rough. Sæverud, unlike Grieg, successfully incorporated the national music of each of the friends in the fourth act, as per Ibsen's request.
In 1951, North Carolinian playwright Paul Green published an American version of the Norwegian play.
In 1969, Broadway impresario Jacques Levy (who had previously directed the first version of Oh! Calcutta!) commissioned The Byrds' Roger McGuinn to write the music for a pop (or country-rock) version of Peer Gynt, to be titled Gene Tryp. The play was apparently never completed, although McGuinn is currently (as of 2006) preparing a version for release. Several songs from the abortive show appeared on the Byrds' albums of 1970 and 1971.
In 1985–1987 John Neumeier wrote a ballet "freely based on Ibsen's play", for which Alfred Schnittke composed the score.
In 1998, the Trinity Repertory Company of Providence, Rhode Island commissioned David Henry Hwang and Swiss director Stephan Muller to do an adaptation of Peer Gynt.
In 1998, playwright Romulus Linney directed his adaptation of the play, entitled Gint, at the Theatre for the New City in New York. This adaptation moved the play's action to 20th-century Appalachia and California.
In 2007, St. John's Prep of Danvers, Massachusetts won the MHSDG Festival with their production starring Bo Burnham.
In 2008, Theater in the Open in Newburyport, MA, produced a production of Peer Gynt adapted and directed by Paul Wann and the Company. Scott Smith, whose great, great grandfather (Ole Bull) was one of the insperations for the character, was cast as Gynt.
[edit] Notes
^ Brockett and Hildy (2003, 391) and Meyer (1974, 284).
^ a b Meyer (1974, 284).
^ Meyer (1974, 288).
^ Meyer (1974, 284-286). Meyer describes Clemens Petersen as "the most influential critic in Scandinavia" (1974, 285). He reviewed Peer Gynt in the 30 November 1867 edition of the newspaper Faedrelandet. He wrote that the play "is not poetry, because in the transmutation of reality into art it fails to meet the demands of either art or reality."
^ Letter to Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson on 9 December 1867; quoted by Meyer (1974, 287).
^ Watts (1966, 10-11).
^ Meyer (1974, 288-289).
^ Brockett and Hildy (2003, 391) and Meyer (1974, 288-289).
^ Williams (1993, 76).
^ Farquharson Sharp (1936, 9).
^ Quoted by Meyer (1974, 276).
^ Peer Gynt employs octosyllabics and decasyllabics, iambic, trochaic, dactylic, anapaestic, as well as amphibrachs. See Meyer (1974, 277).
^ Meyer (1974, 277-279).
^ Quoted by Meyer (1974, 279).
^ See Meyer (1974, 282).
^ Meyer (1974, 282). Meyer points out that Ibsen's fear of subsequent earthquakes in the town, which motivated his swift departure from the island, were not groundless, since it was destroyed by one 16 years later.
^ Ingmar Bergman produces Peer Gynt at Malmö City Theatre, 1957
^ Ingmar Bergman produces Peer Gynt at Royal Dramatic Theatre, 1991
^ Christopher-Plummer.com
Source: Wikipedia
While Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson admired the play's "satire in Norwegian egotism, narrowness, and self-sufficiency" and described it as "magnificent", Hans Christian Andersen, Georg Brandes and Clemens Petersen all joined a widespread hostility.[4] Enraged by Petersen's criticisms in particular, Ibsen defended his work by arguing that it "is poetry; and if it isn't, it will become such. The conception of poetry in our country, in Norway, shall shape itself according to this book."[5] Despite this defense of his poetic achievement in Peer Gynt, the play was his last to employ verse; from The League of Youth (1869) onwards, Ibsen was to write drama only in prose.[6]
Ibsen wrote Peer Gynt in deliberate, liberating disregard of the limitations that the conventional stagecraft of the 19th century imposed on drama.[7] Its 40 scenes move uninhibitedly in time and space and between consciousness and the unconscious, blending folkloric fantasy and unsentimental realism.[8]
Raymond Williams compares Peer Gynt with August Strindberg's early drama Lucky Peter's Travels (1882) and argues that both evidence a new kind of dramatic action that was beyond the capacities of the theatre of the day; both created "a sequence of images in language and visual composition" that "became technically possible only in film."[9] Peer Gynt was first performed in Christiania (now Oslo) on 24 February 1876, with incidental music by the composer Edvard Grieg. It was published in a German translation in 1881, in English in 1892, and in French in 1896.[10]
Contents [hide]
1 Characters
2 Plot synopsis
2.1 Act I
2.2 Act II
2.3 Act III
2.4 Act IV
2.5 Act V
3 Writing process
4 Grieg's music
5 Notable productions
6 Adaptations
7 Notes
8 Sources
9 External links
[edit] Characters
Åse, a peasant’s widow
Peer Gynt, her son
Two old women with corn–sacks
Aslak, a blacksmith
Wedding guests
A master cook
A fiddler
A man and a wife, newcomers to the district
Solveig and little Helga, their daughters
The farmer at Hægstad
Ingrid, his daughter
The bridegroom and his parents
Three alpine dairymaids
A green-clad woman, a troll princess
The Old Man of the Mountains, a troll king
Multiple troll-courtiers, troll-maidens and troll-urchins
A couple of witches
Brownies, nixies, gnomes, etc.
An ugly brat
The Bøyg, a voice in the darkness
Kari, a cottar’s wife
Master Cotton.
Monsieur Ballon
Mr. von Eberkopf
Mr. Trumpeterstrale
Gentlemen on their travels
A thief
A receiver
Anitra, daughter of a Bedouin chief
Arabs
Female slaves
Dancing girls
The Memnon statue
The Sphinx at Giza
Dr. Begriffenfeldt, director of the madhouse at Cairo
Huhu, a language–reformer from the coast of Malabar
Hussein, an eastern Minister
A fellow with a royal mother
Several madmen and their keepers
A Norwegian skipper
His crew
A strange passenger
A pastor
A funeral party
A parish-officer
A button-moulder
A lean person
[edit] Plot synopsis
[edit] Act I
Peer Gynt is the son of the once highly-regarded Jon Gynt. Jon Gynt spent all his father's money on feasting and living lavishly, until there was nothing left; thus, Jon had to go from his farm as a wandering salesman, leaving his wife and son behind in debt. Åse, the mother, wished to raise her son to wield and restore the lost fortune of his father, but Peer is soon to be considered useless for practical tasks, somewhat of a poet and a braggart, not unlike the Norwegian youngest son from the fairy tales, the "Ash Lad", with whom he shares some characteristics.
As the play opens, Peer gives an account of a reindeer hunt that went awry, a famous theatrical scene generally known as "the Buckride". His mother scorns him for his vivid imagination, and taunts him because he spoiled his chances with Ingrid, the daughter of the richest farmer. Peer responds, and goes straight to the wedding, scheduled the following day, because he may get a chance with the bride anyway. His mother follows quickly to stop him from shaming himself completely.
Peer Gynt, as drawn by Peter Nicolai ArboAt the wedding, Peer is taunted and laughed at by the other guests, especially the local smith, Aslak, who holds a grudge after a brawl somewhat earlier on. But in the same wedding, Peer meets a family of newcomers, from another valley, followers of Hans Nielsen Hauge. He instantly notices the daughter, Solveig, and wants her for a dance. She refuses because of her mother, and even more when she learns who he is. His reputation has preceded him. She leaves him, and Peer starts drinking. When he hears that the bride has locked herself up, he acts on the news and runs away with the bride, and spends the night with her in the mountains.
[edit] Act II
This action has repercussions, and Peer is banished. As he wanders the mountains, his mother, Solveig and her father search for him. Meanwhile, Peer strays alone in the mountains. During his flight he meets three amorous dairy-maids who are waiting to be courted by trolls (really a folklore-motif from Gudbrandsdalen). He becomes highly intoxicated with them and spends the next day alone suffering from a hangover. He runs his head into a rock and swoons, and the rest of the second act takes place in Peer's dreams. He comes across a woman clad in green who turns out to be the daughter of the troll mountain king. Together they ride into the mountain hall, and the troll king gives Peer the choice of becoming a troll if Peer is to marry his daughter. Peer agrees to a number of issues, but withdraws in the end. He is then confronted with the fact that the green-clad woman is with child. Peer denies this; he hasn't even touched her, he claims, but the wise troll-king replies that he begot the child in his head as he desired his daughter. That is the troll-human way. Crucial for the plot and understanding of the play is the question asked by the troll-king: What is the difference between troll and man?
The answer given by the Old Man of the Mountain is: "Out there, where sky shines, humans say: 'To thyself be true.' In here, trolls say: 'Be true to yourself-ish.'" Egoism is a typical troll-trait in this play. From then on, Peer has this as his motto, claiming as time passes to be himself, whatever that is. One of the most interesting characters is the Bøyg; a creature who has no real description. On the question "who are you?" The Bøyg answers: "myself". In time, Peer also takes the Bøyg's leading line as a motto: "Go around". The rest of his life, he "beats around the bush" instead of facing himself, or the truth.
When waking up, he is confronted by Helga, the sister of Solveig, who gives him food and regards from her sister. Peer replies by giving the girl a silver button for Solveig to keep, and asks that she will not forget him.
[edit] Act III
As an outlaw, Peer struggles to build his own cottage in the hills, and while he's doing this, Solveig turns up, insisting on living with him. She has made her choice, she says, and there is no returning for her. Peer delights and welcomes her, but as she enters the cabin, an elderly woman in a green dress appears with a limping boy at her side. This is the green-clad woman from the mountain hall. She has in a way cursed him, and he has to remember her, and all his previous sins, when facing Solveig. This Peer can't handle, and decides to leave, with the excuse: "I have got something heavy to fetch". He returns in time for his mother's death, and then sets off overseas.
[edit] Act IV
Peer is away for many years, taking part in various occupations and playing various roles including that of a businessman engaged in enterprises on the coast of Morocco. Here, he explains his view of life, and we learn that he is a businessman with dirty money on his hands. He has been a missionary, a slave-trader, and many other things. His friends rob him, and leave him alone on the shore. Then he finds some stolen bedouin gear, and in these clothes, he is hailed as a prophet by a local tribe. He tries to seduce Anitra, the chieftain's daughter, but she gets away, and leaves him. Then he decides to become a historian, and travels to Egypt. He wanders through the desert, passes the Memnon and the Sphinx. As he addresses the Sphinx, believing her to be the Bøyg, he encounters the keeper of the local madhouse, himself out of his marbles, who regards Peer as the bringer of supreme wisdom. Peer comes to the madhouse, and understands that all of the patients live in their own worlds, being themselves to a degree that no one cares for anyone else. In his youth, Peer had dreamt of becoming an emperor. In this place, he's finally hailed as one - the emperor of the "self" . Peer despairs and calls for the "Keeper of all fools", i.e. God.
[edit] Act V
Finally, on his way home as an old man, he is shipwrecked. Among those on board, he meets the Strange Passenger, considered by some scholars to be the ghost of Lord Byron. The Strange Passenger wants to make use of Peer's corpse to find out where dreams have their seat. This passenger scares Peer out of his wits. He lands on shore bereft of all of his possessions, a pitiful and grumpy old man. Back home in Norway, Peer Gynt attends a peasant funeral, and an auction, where he offers for sale everything from his earlier life. The auction takes place at the very farm where the wedding once was held. Peer stumbles along, and is confronted with all that he didn't do, his unsung songs, his unmade works, his unwept tears, and his questions that were never asked. His mother comes back and claims that her deathbed went awry. He didn't lead her to heaven with his ramblings. Peer escapes and is confronted with the Button-moulder, who maintains that Peer's soul must be melted down with other faulty goods unless he can explain when and where in life he has been "himself". Peer protests. He has been only that, and nothing else. Then he meets the troll king, who states that he has been a troll, not a man, most of his life. The moulder comes along and says that he has to come up with something if he is not to be melted down. Peer looks for a priest to confess his sins, and a character named the Lean One (who is probably the Devil), turns up. He believes Peer cannot be accounted a real sinner who can be sent to hell. He has not done anything serious. Peer despairs in the end, understanding that his life is forfeit. He understands he is nothing. But at the same moment, Solveig starts to sing - the cabin he himself built, is close at hand, but he dares not enter. The Bøyg in him tells him "around". The moulder shows up and demands a list of sins, but Peer has none to give, unless Solveig can vouch for him. Then he breaks through to her, asking her for his sins. But she answers: "You have not sinned at all, my dearest boy". Peer does not understand - he believes himself lost. Then he asks her: "Where has Peer Gynt been since we last met? Where was I as the one I should have been, whole and true, with the mark of God on my brow?" She answers; "In my faith, in my hope, in my love". Peer screams and calls her mother, and hides himself in her lap. Solveig sings her lullaby for him, and we might presume he dies in this last scene of the play, although there are no stage directions or dialogue to indicate that he actually does.
Behind the corner, the button-moulder, who is sent by God, still waits, with the words: "Peer, we shall meet at the last cross-roads, and then we shall see if. .. I'll say no more".
[edit] Writing process
On 5 January 1867 Ibsen wrote to Frederik Hegel, his publisher, with his plan for the play: it would be "a long dramatic poem, having as its principal a part-legendary, part-fictional character from Norwegian folklore during recent times. It will bear no resemblance to Brand, and will contain no direct polemics or anything of that kind."[11] He began to write Peer Gynt on 14 January, employing a far greater variety of metres in its rhymed verse than he had used in his previous verse plays Brand (written 1865) or Love's Comedy (written 1862).[12] The first two acts were completed in Rome and the third in Casamicciola on the north of the island of Ischia.[13] During this time Ibsen told Vilhelm Bergsøe that "I don't think the play's for acting" when they discussed the possibility of staging the play's image of a casting-ladle "big enough to re-cast human beings in."[14] Ibsen sent the three acts to his publisher on 8 August, with a letter that explains that "Peer Gynt was a real person who lived in Gudbrandsdal, probably around the end of the last century or the beginning of this. His name is still famous among the people up there, but not much more is known about his life than what is to be found in Asbjørnsen's Norwegian Folktales (in the section entitled 'Stories from the Mountain')."[15] In those stories, "Per Gynt" rescues the three dairy-maids from the trolls and shoots the Bøyg, who was originally a gigantic, worm-shaped troll-being. Per was known to tell tall tales of his own achievements, a trait Peer in the play inherited. The "buck-ride" story, which Peer tells his mother in the play's first scene, is also from this source, but, as Åse points out, it was originally Gudbrand Glesne from Vågå who did the tour with the reindeer stag and finally shot it. Following an earthquake on the island on 14 August, Ibsen left for Sorrento, where he completed the final two acts; he finished the play on 14 October.[16] It was published in a first edition of 1,250 copies a month later in Copenhagen.[2]
[edit] Grieg's music
See also: Peer Gynt Suites
Ibsen asked Edvard Grieg to compose incidental music for the play. Grieg composed a score that plays approximately ninety minutes. Grieg extracted two suites of four pieces each from the incidental music (Opus 46 and Opus 55), which became very popular as concert music. Two of the sung parts of the incidental music ended up in these suites (the famous In the Hall of the Mountain King in the 1st suite with the vocal parts omitted, and the last part of 2nd suite, Solveig's Song, the solo part now played by violin rather than sung, though the vocal version is sometimes substituted). (Originally, the second suite had a fifth number, The Dance of the Mountain King's Daughter, but Grieg withdrew it.) Grieg himself declared that it was easier to make music "out of his own head" than strictly following suggestions made by Ibsen. For instance, Ibsen wanted music that would characterize the "international" friends in the fourth act, by melding the said national anthems (Norwegian, Swedish, German, French and English). Reportedly, Grieg was not in the right mood for this task.
The music of these suites, especially Morning Mood starting the first suite, In the Hall of the Mountain King, and the string lament Åse's Death later reappeared in numerous arrangements, soundtracks, etc.
[edit] Notable productions
The first US production of Peer Gynt, in 1907 starred the noted actor Richard Mansfield, in one of his very last roles before his untimely death. In 1923, Joseph Schildkraut played the role on Broadway, in a Theatre Guild production, featuring Selena Royle, Helen Westley, Dudley Digges, and, before he entered films, Edward G. Robinson. In 1944, at the Old Vic, Ralph Richardson played the role, surrounded by some of the greatest British actors of the time in supporting or bit roles, among them Sybil Thorndike as Aase, and Laurence Olivier as the Button Moulder. In 1951, John Garfield fulfilled his wish to star in a Broadway production, featuring Mildred Dunnock as Aase. Sadly, this production was not a success, and is said by some to have contributed to Garfield's death at age 39.
On film, the seventeen-year-old Charlton Heston starred as Peer in a silent, student-made, low budget film version of the play made in 1941. Peer Gynt, however, has never been given a full-blown treatment as a sound film in English on the motion picture screen, although there have been several television productions, and a sound film was produced in German in 1934.
In 1957, Ingmar Bergman produced a five-hour stage version[17] of Peer Gynt, at Sweden's Malmö City Theatre, with Max Von Sydow as Peer Gynt. Bergman produced the play again, 34 years later[18], in 1991, at Sweden's Royal Dramatic Theatre, this time with Börje Ahlstedt in the title role. Bergman chose not to use Grieg's music, nor the more modern Harald Sæverud composition, but rather traditional Norwegian folk music, and little of that either.
In 1993, Christopher Plummer starred in his own concert version of the play,[19] with the Hartford Symphony Orchestra in Hartford, Connecticut. This was a new performing version and a collaboration of Plummer and Hartford Symphony Orchestra Music Director Michael Lankester. Plummer had long dreamed of starring in a fully-staged production of the play, but had been unable to. The 1993 production was not a fully-staged version, but rather a drastically condensed concert version, narrated by Plummer, who also played the title role, and accompanied by Edvard Grieg's complete incidental music for the play. This version included a choir and vocal parts for soprano and mezzo-soprano. Plummer performed the concert version again in 1995 with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra with Lankester conducting. The 1995 production was broadcast on Canadian radio. It has never been presented on television. It has also never been released on compact disc. In the 1990s Plummer and Lankester also collaborated on and performed similarly staged concert versions of A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare (with music by Mendelssohn) and Ivan the Terrible (an arrangement of a Prokofiev film score with script for narrator). Among the three aforementioned Plummer/Lankester collaborations, all received live concert presentations and live radio broadcasts, but only Ivan the Terrible was released on CD.
In 2006, Robert Wilson staged a co-production revival with both the National Theater of Bergen and the Norwegian Theatre of Oslo, Norway. Ann-Christin Rommen directed the actors in Norwegian (with English subtitles). This acclaimed production mixed both Wilson's minimalist (yet constantly moving) stage designs with fantastic technological effects to bring out the play's expansive potential. Furthermore they utilized state-of-the-art microphones, sound systems, and recorded acoustic and electronic music to bring clarity to the complex and shifting action and dialogue. From April 11 through the 16th, they performed at the Brooklyn Academy of Music's Howard Gilman Opera House.
In 2006, as part of the Norwegian Ibsen anniversary festival, "Peer Gynt" was set at the foot of the Great Sphinx of Giza near Cairo, Egypt (an important location in the original play). The director was Bentein Baardson. The performance was the centre of some controversy, with some critics seeing it as a display of colonialist attitudes.
In January 2008 the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis debuted a new translation of Peer Gynt by the acclaimed poet Robert Bly. Bly learned Norwegian from his grandparents while growing up in rural Minnesota, and later during several years of travel in Norway. This production stages Ibsen's text rather abstractly, tying it loosely into a modern birthday party for a 50 year old man. It also significantly cuts the length of the play. (An earlier production of the full-length play at the Guthrie required the audience to return a second night to see the second half of the play.)
In 2009, Dundee Rep with the National Theatre of Scotland toured an inventive production which was critically acclaimed on its first outing in 2007. This raucous and radical interpretation, with much of the dialogue in modern Scots, was hailed by The Scotsman newspaper as "A piece of world class popular theatre for our time". The cast included Gerry Mulgrew as the older Peer. Directed by Dominic Hill.
[edit] Adaptations
In the 1930s German composer Werner Egk wrote an opera based on the story.
In 1948, the composer Harald Sæverud made a new score for the nynorsk-production at "the Norwegian Theatre" (Det Norske Teatret) in Oslo. Sæverud's music is considered anti-romantic, humorous, and rough. Sæverud, unlike Grieg, successfully incorporated the national music of each of the friends in the fourth act, as per Ibsen's request.
In 1951, North Carolinian playwright Paul Green published an American version of the Norwegian play.
In 1969, Broadway impresario Jacques Levy (who had previously directed the first version of Oh! Calcutta!) commissioned The Byrds' Roger McGuinn to write the music for a pop (or country-rock) version of Peer Gynt, to be titled Gene Tryp. The play was apparently never completed, although McGuinn is currently (as of 2006) preparing a version for release. Several songs from the abortive show appeared on the Byrds' albums of 1970 and 1971.
In 1985–1987 John Neumeier wrote a ballet "freely based on Ibsen's play", for which Alfred Schnittke composed the score.
In 1998, the Trinity Repertory Company of Providence, Rhode Island commissioned David Henry Hwang and Swiss director Stephan Muller to do an adaptation of Peer Gynt.
In 1998, playwright Romulus Linney directed his adaptation of the play, entitled Gint, at the Theatre for the New City in New York. This adaptation moved the play's action to 20th-century Appalachia and California.
In 2007, St. John's Prep of Danvers, Massachusetts won the MHSDG Festival with their production starring Bo Burnham.
In 2008, Theater in the Open in Newburyport, MA, produced a production of Peer Gynt adapted and directed by Paul Wann and the Company. Scott Smith, whose great, great grandfather (Ole Bull) was one of the insperations for the character, was cast as Gynt.
[edit] Notes
^ Brockett and Hildy (2003, 391) and Meyer (1974, 284).
^ a b Meyer (1974, 284).
^ Meyer (1974, 288).
^ Meyer (1974, 284-286). Meyer describes Clemens Petersen as "the most influential critic in Scandinavia" (1974, 285). He reviewed Peer Gynt in the 30 November 1867 edition of the newspaper Faedrelandet. He wrote that the play "is not poetry, because in the transmutation of reality into art it fails to meet the demands of either art or reality."
^ Letter to Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson on 9 December 1867; quoted by Meyer (1974, 287).
^ Watts (1966, 10-11).
^ Meyer (1974, 288-289).
^ Brockett and Hildy (2003, 391) and Meyer (1974, 288-289).
^ Williams (1993, 76).
^ Farquharson Sharp (1936, 9).
^ Quoted by Meyer (1974, 276).
^ Peer Gynt employs octosyllabics and decasyllabics, iambic, trochaic, dactylic, anapaestic, as well as amphibrachs. See Meyer (1974, 277).
^ Meyer (1974, 277-279).
^ Quoted by Meyer (1974, 279).
^ See Meyer (1974, 282).
^ Meyer (1974, 282). Meyer points out that Ibsen's fear of subsequent earthquakes in the town, which motivated his swift departure from the island, were not groundless, since it was destroyed by one 16 years later.
^ Ingmar Bergman produces Peer Gynt at Malmö City Theatre, 1957
^ Ingmar Bergman produces Peer Gynt at Royal Dramatic Theatre, 1991
^ Christopher-Plummer.com
Source: Wikipedia
A infância da memória.
O antagonismo quer-se e ele em vantagem à forma, eleva-se em ascese do que sabia ser, um outro lugar a conhecer. E a notoriedade da sombra, quando se aproxima do passeio por entre os muros, e já em cisma desse conseguir que tem a circunstância de realce ao que é lugar de sonho, a infância da memória.
Saturday, October 03, 2009
A Casa do Monte, Conto de Eduardo Alexandre Pinto
A Casa do Monte
Na recta da estrada, um homem caminha, carregando um sinal de proibido nas costas e o esforço de permanecer interdito, eram os passos que dava até desaparecer na primeira curva… Depois de partir para lá do conhecimento, tratou de indicar a si o que seria a sua casa. Seria a estadia mais prolongada que até aí poderia travar consigo, propôs-se sem lamento à causa.
Agradavam-lhe os dias serenos e chilreantes dos habitantes do céu, pelo tempo quente e das noites gélidas da invernia, do halo fresco saindo de sua boca, fazendo danças de ar visível. Dias com cartas que chegavam de quando em quando, vinham de longe e eram o seu contacto com o resto, nos seus olhos profundos, de mansa voz e de afabilidade com os habitantes da aldeia, próxima da sua Casa do Monte, que herdara. Aí nem Cristo, nem D’El Rei alguma vez passaram, o que para ele lhe era indiferente, pois estava seguro do seu reencontro com a sua natureza atípica em relação ao comum das coisas estabelecidas.
Aos poucos a aldeia, sua vizinha, crescia e deu-se conta que não era um maciço, mas segundo soube havia 141 pessoas recenseadas. Quem lhe contava as notícias era o taberneiro, onde comprava pão de centeio e outros víveres de pequena conta, pago à vista. E soube que das eleições legislativas, houve um empate de 70 para 70, com uma abstenção. Na segunda volta, conseguiu a antiga facção do regime local, os 71 votos e metade da aldeia deixou de falar com a outra metade, devido ao empate e ao misterioso voto em branco da primeira volta.
Para si comentou que teria de se exigir a uma vontade de aproximação e até porque havia umas raparigas ainda solteiras e de simpatias à solta.
Albano, seu nome, disse num dos seus papéis, que o vento sobre os carvalhos da mata, que via da Casa do Monte, era sobrevoado por gralhas e que os espantalhos estavam bem adornados, para prever futuras debicadas aos frutos das árvores. Albano não possuía armas, tinha os talheres de refeição e um canivete para descascar a fruta, que andava consigo no bolso. Tinha o hábito de se recrear com a vista dos eucaliptos que via na direcção do portão e quem poderia abri-lo, pintado que estava a vermelho. A caixa de correio, ficava no portão de baixo, junto a uma nogueira. Havia alguns gatos e cães que se passeavam em busca de comida e de água, que escasseava por ali, mas que de uma fonte próxima da casa, ainda gotejava qualquer coisa no verão.
A Casa do Monte, foi remodelada. Dos três quartos de cima mais a sala ficou por um quarto e uma sala maiores e uma casa de banho. Depois na sala de estar do trabalho do campo que era o local de vigia e a cozinha, algumas obras. Pelo verão, a porta de casa estava sempre aberta. Albano organizou os seus cadernos, correspondência, ligações ao exterior, via telefone fixo e móvel e uma ligação à Internet, assim como um fax, enfim tinha passado umas semanas a colocar as coisas no seu lugar e de maneira a movimentar-se como desejava.
Encostei-me ao cariz da serenidade e eu, Albano, fui falar comigo pela sesta revezada, numa escolha bem coberta de descobertas e de pequenas histórias, para despertar em mais um olhar a iniciar a sua função ao pensar que seriam horas disso mesmo, uma vez mais… Depois fiz o truque da moral, pois era perito e o facto é que superei a memória do abandono a que fui sujeito, desde cedo e sempre até determinada altura, em que tive de parar por força maior a mim. Tive o condão na condição de cárcere, da paciência e ouvia muita gente e não me fazia sentir, como dantes, mas soprava do meu corpo presente, algo de redentor, que afinava as sensibilidades.
Vou deitar a recordação da minha voz no amplo mover das quatro estações, seguindo como analogia, a existência dos dias retidos no reino da retina. Eu quero crer que, como possibilidade é certo, eu ter entrado em seus corpos. E tinha sido, por estar a afirmar, sabendo das feições internas, do acto íntimo de pensar com o corpo, a moças de Lisboa e elas seguravam-me assim, por dentro.
Ó meu Portugal, terra de boa gente, das conquistas do passado às misérias do presente… E lembrar como cheguei numa quinta-feira de Janeiro, como anjo em cio, sorrindo do frio e fiquei… Muitos pereceram pela ronda dos quatro caminhos, pois tinham menos endurance nos rounds mais apertados. Eu sempre fui um estratega, que passei a fazer sorrir moças no café, que desabafam disto e daquilo comigo. E sorriam mais quando a nuca era acariciada ou os braços e ombros, com o recado de uma alegria que vai de mão em mão e era aí que chegavam as cartas, não o truque da moral… Eu tinha sido muito físico, mesmo vivendo com o porte mais bolachudo, longe das subidas efusivas, eléctricas por onde sobe o Elevador da Glória e ainda tinha tempo para uma luta de facas e desafiar a juventude popular (ex. juventude centrista), mais concretamente em 1997, o candidato Ferreira do Amaral à Câmara de Lisboa, num jantar com militantes, em Campolide, na Valenciana, onde lhe chamei de fascista e me caíram em cima uns 10 tipos, sem que eu tivesse medo ou sentido dor. Incluindo um jogo de predador nas ruelas do Bairro Alto, onde veloz me dirigia às moças dali e que iam chegando. Tempo para falar com música no cabelo… Porque o punk é a minha maior coerência no que diz respeito à coragem e à honestidade. Não há que ter medo do amor nem da polícia!
Pois chegavam-me notícias de longe, enquanto o meu tempo diurno, era de meditação sob uma macieira carregada, junto da casa, como de calmas caminhadas ou olhando o vale, de certos e vários trabalhos no campo. Cartas de moças que me tinham conhecido, outras não, mas que estavam cheias de ternura e nos meus cabelos brancos ganhos em Lisboa, regozijava este perfume de vida distante do olhar e claro próximo do coração.
Veio o sol científico em parelha com uma ignorância, que o sistema patrocinava e a sociedade de humanos, viveu sempre num Entrudo inconsequente. E agora dos bons velhos tempos do rock n’ roll, pouco ficara no legado musical, pensando na atitude que marcou pontos desde a década de 50 até à de 80, marcou pessoas, movimentou multidões e tal a fonte do meu tanque, tinha secado sem a clareza de um acto no ponto V. O vê central no corpo das fantasias que tinha executado, quando ainda se podia jogar à bola no meio da estrada. E acordar cedo era um exercício de quem quer brincar mais tempo, entre o que a liberdade ressona tardiamente e se deixarmos nos ficar a olhar as unhas quando falamos, mais tarde na rua, como a questão da compra do bikini. Por isso me revelava moldado por uma aprendizagem que se manteve erecta, mesmo que melancólica, daí a doçura da comédia, como origem própria de quem leu o dia como extensa corrente de espelhos a que recorria, só para me certificar de quem era quem. A tal história do relevo cru onde o truque da moral, chegava sempre que o tema era o dinheiro, aí via toda a nudez de uma pessoa.
Na boa macieira, a sombra pregava-se ao corpo de Albano, que sem risos nem choro, sentia pardamente seu vulto preparado a novidades e sem um adeus regular. O seu tentar afeiçoava-se, levando com a firmeza do cajado, o seu passo ao entendimento da satisfação, cujo leme era detonado pelo palpitar sensível dos corações e da paz à sua volta.
A Casa do Monte ganhava vida com a presença de Albano. Sim, eu andei por lá a propagar-me, logo após que a minha sombra se dissipasse e me chegasse às coisas pequenas da terra, com o cuidado de proteger as mãos, para que pudesse mostrar que nunca tinha tido um emprego, esta era a sua oportunidade de gozo. E num manso repente, entrou mansinho uma brisa que me conduziu a um caderninho situado nos meus arquivos. Albano andara a remexer no passado, desta feita era o seu em questão, num rumo de silêncio, pausado e tenaz, que corria forte no seu sangue de flor de montanha.
Dias reais, uma ou outra ponte para o divertimento. Tentou-se pois ao que era um hábito de prazer, no passeio da voz, no germinar do riso, entre um ou dois amigos e as amiguinhas lá do bairro. Havendo falácia no comportamento nos demais, um pouco por aqui e ali e Albano sempre predisposto a proteger as virtudes de cada alma sôfrega. Albano dirigira-se por directivas pacientes, tal como agora no seu espaço e atento às urgências do mundo. Dissera para si, que estaria uma vez mais, construindo histórias com as pessoas e ali, não seria excepção, ora deu-se a revisitar uma imensidão de experiências e de semblante limpo na face, pôs-se a elaborar o que aí viria, vindo por sua iniciativa. Se fosse por vontade a si dirigida, ele desconfiaria, pois todo o seu manancial de histórias, tinham partido da sua vivacidade com que coloria a vida dos outros. E em oposição a este facto, tudo o mais tinham sido interesses de todo e variado género e grau de maldade. E por acreditar em si, valia-se para uma regular e imperiosa dedicação à vida. E igualmente crendo no que era a mais real verdade, que tudo é um momento activo diante da vida. Contemplar, era pensar da memória para uma acção segura. E seguramente e sem forçar o que a brisa centra em redor do cérebro, sou um complemento à solidão, pairando sobre mim mesmo, quando a inspiração vem e vai com a sua certeza e no confiar, conferindo meu método de andar por entre gentes, que nada explica. Pois cá dentro é se inteiro, por fora um pouco desfragmentado, pela via da presença ora calma, nervosa, ora vivaz. Das duas uma, ou o movimento de um baloiço, sente-me melhor ou estou na recta que interdita o sossego e abre foros de muito pensar. Que o conhecimento, apenas ele, é insuficiente sem um pedaço do amor, a colar ao fragmento e estimulá-lo com os gestos que se gostam nesta ou naquela, com que se sonha. Se houver pesadelo, é sinal que o sonho é pouco seguro, daí desejar esta Casa do Monte. Porque na anterior casa, modelo de uma soberba vida, existira outrora actos contínuos de amor, edificados com perícia e lembro-os com a mesma saudade que os devolvia à primeira casa e que agora experimento, com a distância de uma pele que respira por completo, adivinhando que o que pretendo está por ora na mesma medida que a saudade. Uma chuva cai e recolho-me, esqueço ao que vim, preocupado com as voltas de uma nova casa. O calor é abrasivo, tento um duche e uma nudez por sobre a cama e arrefeço a cabeça, percebendo a essência substancial da intuição sobre o quotidiano, tantas vezes se escondem de ambos, que espero o querer de mais um olhar sobre mim, visto por outra e depois por mim. Sempre vivi assim, talvez por saber que desta forma, tenho as costuras dos fragmentos mais preparadas ao sorriso, à simpatia e à generosidade.
Depois da chuva, o regresso ao terreno e observar o que encaixara a água de fundura na terra necessitada. Salvas por um dia as árvores. Nos outros de pouca dura, sou eu que levo baldes de água, numa andança de oliveirinhas a pessegueiros, macieiras e cerejeiras, entre outras, como na horta, de onde vinham as saladas e as sopas e se mais água houvesse, talvez plantasse uns morangos.
Sofrer de monotonia, pode ser resolvido com uma mudança no trajecto diário a caminho dos afazeres de cada profissão. Quanto ao tédio, é deixar que a cabeça se resolva durante esse processo involuntário.
Grave seria se me acossasse de uma rapariga sem memória e quando isso aconteceu, a sensação de estar a falar para nenhures. Também em casos de falta de percepção cognitiva, o mesmo sucede e visto do céu, é dramático, mesmo que seja bela, a cor azul de um poema chamado planeta Terra.
Ter em conta o fim, saber de nós assim, com coisas sem agrado, para que sirvam de contra-feitiço, detonada uma tristeza ou depressão. Serve também como receita para jogos de sorte e apostas pessoais nisto e naquilo que não entendemos, ainda.
Albano tinha a boca seca, tinha travado largo autismo falante consigo mesmo e como tinha um frigorífico, refrescou-se com água fresca, para voltar à conversa, que parecia estar de bom gosto. Em que pensaria ele? Teríamos de o escutar quando ele falasse, sobretudo das coisas que ele gostava, para que se não metesse de novo consigo. É consigo, Albano…
Ah sim?
Sim!
E então?
O nosso presidente disse que vai haver reformas na educação, reformas a sério!
A minha cor favorita é o Outono…
Bom, volto depois Albano, já vi que está ocupado.
Divertia-se com os forasteiros e sacripantas do sistema com a sua operacionalidade completamente incapacitada. O problema do isolamento sem amor, derivava disto e as variantes de equilíbrio provinham de contactos sadios, e em momentos em que recordava a sua criança inocente, bondosa. Lembrara um cego, muito alto e magro, muito pobre, Albano dava-lhe sempre uma moeda e o senhor agradecia e um dia Albano conseguiu dar-lhe uma moeda de 25 escudos, ficou feliz, mas sempre com pena do destino do senhor sempre muito humilde e educado. Dava-se melhor com pessoas humildes, pois era de natureza igual. Tanta pobreza na arrogância, como um casal de comunistas que traficavam droga para sustentar o vício e assumiram que esse vício era superior à moral da ideologia de esquerda. Essas coisas de igualdade, liberdade e fraternidade… oh mais ça c’est super! Albano fez desaparecer esses carrascos da sua vida, com subtileza, porque tinha o canto da alma, mais afinado que a voz do canário.
Na recta da estrada, um homem caminha, carregando um sinal de proibido nas costas e o esforço de permanecer interdito, eram os passos que dava até desaparecer na primeira curva… Depois de partir para lá do conhecimento, tratou de indicar a si o que seria a sua casa. Seria a estadia mais prolongada que até aí poderia travar consigo, propôs-se sem lamento à causa.
Agradavam-lhe os dias serenos e chilreantes dos habitantes do céu, pelo tempo quente e das noites gélidas da invernia, do halo fresco saindo de sua boca, fazendo danças de ar visível. Dias com cartas que chegavam de quando em quando, vinham de longe e eram o seu contacto com o resto, nos seus olhos profundos, de mansa voz e de afabilidade com os habitantes da aldeia, próxima da sua Casa do Monte, que herdara. Aí nem Cristo, nem D’El Rei alguma vez passaram, o que para ele lhe era indiferente, pois estava seguro do seu reencontro com a sua natureza atípica em relação ao comum das coisas estabelecidas.
Aos poucos a aldeia, sua vizinha, crescia e deu-se conta que não era um maciço, mas segundo soube havia 141 pessoas recenseadas. Quem lhe contava as notícias era o taberneiro, onde comprava pão de centeio e outros víveres de pequena conta, pago à vista. E soube que das eleições legislativas, houve um empate de 70 para 70, com uma abstenção. Na segunda volta, conseguiu a antiga facção do regime local, os 71 votos e metade da aldeia deixou de falar com a outra metade, devido ao empate e ao misterioso voto em branco da primeira volta.
Para si comentou que teria de se exigir a uma vontade de aproximação e até porque havia umas raparigas ainda solteiras e de simpatias à solta.
Albano, seu nome, disse num dos seus papéis, que o vento sobre os carvalhos da mata, que via da Casa do Monte, era sobrevoado por gralhas e que os espantalhos estavam bem adornados, para prever futuras debicadas aos frutos das árvores. Albano não possuía armas, tinha os talheres de refeição e um canivete para descascar a fruta, que andava consigo no bolso. Tinha o hábito de se recrear com a vista dos eucaliptos que via na direcção do portão e quem poderia abri-lo, pintado que estava a vermelho. A caixa de correio, ficava no portão de baixo, junto a uma nogueira. Havia alguns gatos e cães que se passeavam em busca de comida e de água, que escasseava por ali, mas que de uma fonte próxima da casa, ainda gotejava qualquer coisa no verão.
A Casa do Monte, foi remodelada. Dos três quartos de cima mais a sala ficou por um quarto e uma sala maiores e uma casa de banho. Depois na sala de estar do trabalho do campo que era o local de vigia e a cozinha, algumas obras. Pelo verão, a porta de casa estava sempre aberta. Albano organizou os seus cadernos, correspondência, ligações ao exterior, via telefone fixo e móvel e uma ligação à Internet, assim como um fax, enfim tinha passado umas semanas a colocar as coisas no seu lugar e de maneira a movimentar-se como desejava.
Encostei-me ao cariz da serenidade e eu, Albano, fui falar comigo pela sesta revezada, numa escolha bem coberta de descobertas e de pequenas histórias, para despertar em mais um olhar a iniciar a sua função ao pensar que seriam horas disso mesmo, uma vez mais… Depois fiz o truque da moral, pois era perito e o facto é que superei a memória do abandono a que fui sujeito, desde cedo e sempre até determinada altura, em que tive de parar por força maior a mim. Tive o condão na condição de cárcere, da paciência e ouvia muita gente e não me fazia sentir, como dantes, mas soprava do meu corpo presente, algo de redentor, que afinava as sensibilidades.
Vou deitar a recordação da minha voz no amplo mover das quatro estações, seguindo como analogia, a existência dos dias retidos no reino da retina. Eu quero crer que, como possibilidade é certo, eu ter entrado em seus corpos. E tinha sido, por estar a afirmar, sabendo das feições internas, do acto íntimo de pensar com o corpo, a moças de Lisboa e elas seguravam-me assim, por dentro.
Ó meu Portugal, terra de boa gente, das conquistas do passado às misérias do presente… E lembrar como cheguei numa quinta-feira de Janeiro, como anjo em cio, sorrindo do frio e fiquei… Muitos pereceram pela ronda dos quatro caminhos, pois tinham menos endurance nos rounds mais apertados. Eu sempre fui um estratega, que passei a fazer sorrir moças no café, que desabafam disto e daquilo comigo. E sorriam mais quando a nuca era acariciada ou os braços e ombros, com o recado de uma alegria que vai de mão em mão e era aí que chegavam as cartas, não o truque da moral… Eu tinha sido muito físico, mesmo vivendo com o porte mais bolachudo, longe das subidas efusivas, eléctricas por onde sobe o Elevador da Glória e ainda tinha tempo para uma luta de facas e desafiar a juventude popular (ex. juventude centrista), mais concretamente em 1997, o candidato Ferreira do Amaral à Câmara de Lisboa, num jantar com militantes, em Campolide, na Valenciana, onde lhe chamei de fascista e me caíram em cima uns 10 tipos, sem que eu tivesse medo ou sentido dor. Incluindo um jogo de predador nas ruelas do Bairro Alto, onde veloz me dirigia às moças dali e que iam chegando. Tempo para falar com música no cabelo… Porque o punk é a minha maior coerência no que diz respeito à coragem e à honestidade. Não há que ter medo do amor nem da polícia!
Pois chegavam-me notícias de longe, enquanto o meu tempo diurno, era de meditação sob uma macieira carregada, junto da casa, como de calmas caminhadas ou olhando o vale, de certos e vários trabalhos no campo. Cartas de moças que me tinham conhecido, outras não, mas que estavam cheias de ternura e nos meus cabelos brancos ganhos em Lisboa, regozijava este perfume de vida distante do olhar e claro próximo do coração.
Veio o sol científico em parelha com uma ignorância, que o sistema patrocinava e a sociedade de humanos, viveu sempre num Entrudo inconsequente. E agora dos bons velhos tempos do rock n’ roll, pouco ficara no legado musical, pensando na atitude que marcou pontos desde a década de 50 até à de 80, marcou pessoas, movimentou multidões e tal a fonte do meu tanque, tinha secado sem a clareza de um acto no ponto V. O vê central no corpo das fantasias que tinha executado, quando ainda se podia jogar à bola no meio da estrada. E acordar cedo era um exercício de quem quer brincar mais tempo, entre o que a liberdade ressona tardiamente e se deixarmos nos ficar a olhar as unhas quando falamos, mais tarde na rua, como a questão da compra do bikini. Por isso me revelava moldado por uma aprendizagem que se manteve erecta, mesmo que melancólica, daí a doçura da comédia, como origem própria de quem leu o dia como extensa corrente de espelhos a que recorria, só para me certificar de quem era quem. A tal história do relevo cru onde o truque da moral, chegava sempre que o tema era o dinheiro, aí via toda a nudez de uma pessoa.
Na boa macieira, a sombra pregava-se ao corpo de Albano, que sem risos nem choro, sentia pardamente seu vulto preparado a novidades e sem um adeus regular. O seu tentar afeiçoava-se, levando com a firmeza do cajado, o seu passo ao entendimento da satisfação, cujo leme era detonado pelo palpitar sensível dos corações e da paz à sua volta.
A Casa do Monte ganhava vida com a presença de Albano. Sim, eu andei por lá a propagar-me, logo após que a minha sombra se dissipasse e me chegasse às coisas pequenas da terra, com o cuidado de proteger as mãos, para que pudesse mostrar que nunca tinha tido um emprego, esta era a sua oportunidade de gozo. E num manso repente, entrou mansinho uma brisa que me conduziu a um caderninho situado nos meus arquivos. Albano andara a remexer no passado, desta feita era o seu em questão, num rumo de silêncio, pausado e tenaz, que corria forte no seu sangue de flor de montanha.
Dias reais, uma ou outra ponte para o divertimento. Tentou-se pois ao que era um hábito de prazer, no passeio da voz, no germinar do riso, entre um ou dois amigos e as amiguinhas lá do bairro. Havendo falácia no comportamento nos demais, um pouco por aqui e ali e Albano sempre predisposto a proteger as virtudes de cada alma sôfrega. Albano dirigira-se por directivas pacientes, tal como agora no seu espaço e atento às urgências do mundo. Dissera para si, que estaria uma vez mais, construindo histórias com as pessoas e ali, não seria excepção, ora deu-se a revisitar uma imensidão de experiências e de semblante limpo na face, pôs-se a elaborar o que aí viria, vindo por sua iniciativa. Se fosse por vontade a si dirigida, ele desconfiaria, pois todo o seu manancial de histórias, tinham partido da sua vivacidade com que coloria a vida dos outros. E em oposição a este facto, tudo o mais tinham sido interesses de todo e variado género e grau de maldade. E por acreditar em si, valia-se para uma regular e imperiosa dedicação à vida. E igualmente crendo no que era a mais real verdade, que tudo é um momento activo diante da vida. Contemplar, era pensar da memória para uma acção segura. E seguramente e sem forçar o que a brisa centra em redor do cérebro, sou um complemento à solidão, pairando sobre mim mesmo, quando a inspiração vem e vai com a sua certeza e no confiar, conferindo meu método de andar por entre gentes, que nada explica. Pois cá dentro é se inteiro, por fora um pouco desfragmentado, pela via da presença ora calma, nervosa, ora vivaz. Das duas uma, ou o movimento de um baloiço, sente-me melhor ou estou na recta que interdita o sossego e abre foros de muito pensar. Que o conhecimento, apenas ele, é insuficiente sem um pedaço do amor, a colar ao fragmento e estimulá-lo com os gestos que se gostam nesta ou naquela, com que se sonha. Se houver pesadelo, é sinal que o sonho é pouco seguro, daí desejar esta Casa do Monte. Porque na anterior casa, modelo de uma soberba vida, existira outrora actos contínuos de amor, edificados com perícia e lembro-os com a mesma saudade que os devolvia à primeira casa e que agora experimento, com a distância de uma pele que respira por completo, adivinhando que o que pretendo está por ora na mesma medida que a saudade. Uma chuva cai e recolho-me, esqueço ao que vim, preocupado com as voltas de uma nova casa. O calor é abrasivo, tento um duche e uma nudez por sobre a cama e arrefeço a cabeça, percebendo a essência substancial da intuição sobre o quotidiano, tantas vezes se escondem de ambos, que espero o querer de mais um olhar sobre mim, visto por outra e depois por mim. Sempre vivi assim, talvez por saber que desta forma, tenho as costuras dos fragmentos mais preparadas ao sorriso, à simpatia e à generosidade.
Depois da chuva, o regresso ao terreno e observar o que encaixara a água de fundura na terra necessitada. Salvas por um dia as árvores. Nos outros de pouca dura, sou eu que levo baldes de água, numa andança de oliveirinhas a pessegueiros, macieiras e cerejeiras, entre outras, como na horta, de onde vinham as saladas e as sopas e se mais água houvesse, talvez plantasse uns morangos.
Sofrer de monotonia, pode ser resolvido com uma mudança no trajecto diário a caminho dos afazeres de cada profissão. Quanto ao tédio, é deixar que a cabeça se resolva durante esse processo involuntário.
Grave seria se me acossasse de uma rapariga sem memória e quando isso aconteceu, a sensação de estar a falar para nenhures. Também em casos de falta de percepção cognitiva, o mesmo sucede e visto do céu, é dramático, mesmo que seja bela, a cor azul de um poema chamado planeta Terra.
Ter em conta o fim, saber de nós assim, com coisas sem agrado, para que sirvam de contra-feitiço, detonada uma tristeza ou depressão. Serve também como receita para jogos de sorte e apostas pessoais nisto e naquilo que não entendemos, ainda.
Albano tinha a boca seca, tinha travado largo autismo falante consigo mesmo e como tinha um frigorífico, refrescou-se com água fresca, para voltar à conversa, que parecia estar de bom gosto. Em que pensaria ele? Teríamos de o escutar quando ele falasse, sobretudo das coisas que ele gostava, para que se não metesse de novo consigo. É consigo, Albano…
Ah sim?
Sim!
E então?
O nosso presidente disse que vai haver reformas na educação, reformas a sério!
A minha cor favorita é o Outono…
Bom, volto depois Albano, já vi que está ocupado.
Divertia-se com os forasteiros e sacripantas do sistema com a sua operacionalidade completamente incapacitada. O problema do isolamento sem amor, derivava disto e as variantes de equilíbrio provinham de contactos sadios, e em momentos em que recordava a sua criança inocente, bondosa. Lembrara um cego, muito alto e magro, muito pobre, Albano dava-lhe sempre uma moeda e o senhor agradecia e um dia Albano conseguiu dar-lhe uma moeda de 25 escudos, ficou feliz, mas sempre com pena do destino do senhor sempre muito humilde e educado. Dava-se melhor com pessoas humildes, pois era de natureza igual. Tanta pobreza na arrogância, como um casal de comunistas que traficavam droga para sustentar o vício e assumiram que esse vício era superior à moral da ideologia de esquerda. Essas coisas de igualdade, liberdade e fraternidade… oh mais ça c’est super! Albano fez desaparecer esses carrascos da sua vida, com subtileza, porque tinha o canto da alma, mais afinado que a voz do canário.
Friday, October 02, 2009
http://www.democracynow.org/2009/9/24/after_20_years_of_filmmaking_on
Michael Moore, Academy Award-winning documentary filmmaker. His latest film, Capitalism: A Love Story, opened in New York and Los Angeles yesterday. It opens nationwide on October 2nd.
JUAN GONZALEZ: It was a year ago today when President George W. Bush gave a primetime address urging Americans to support the $700 billion bailout of Wall Street. Bush spoke just days after the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the fall of AIG.
PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: Financial assets related to home mortgages have lost value during the housing decline, and the banks holding these assets have restricted credit. As a result, our entire economy is in danger. So I propose that the federal government reduce the risk posed by these troubled assets and supply urgently needed money so banks and other financial institutions can avoid collapse and resume lending.
JUAN GONZALEZ: Despite public opposition, Congress eventually approved the bailout package. Our next guest went to Wall Street to try to get the bailout money back.
MICHAEL MOORE: This is Michael Moore. I am here to make a citizen’s arrest of the board of directors of AIG.
NARRATOR: From Michael Moore…
MICHAEL MOORE: We’re actually here to make a citizen’s arrest.
SECURITY GUARD: Speak to my supervisor.
MICHAEL MOORE: In the white shirt?
SECURITY GUARD: Yep.
MICHAEL MOORE: Blue tie?
SECURITY GUARD: That’s him.
MICHAEL MOORE: Receding hairline?
NARRATOR: …the guy who brought you Bowling for Columbine, Fahrenheit 9/11 and Sicko…
MICHAEL MOORE: Who else do you want to leave the building?
SECURITY SUPERVISOR: Your cameraman and your crew.
MICHAEL MOORE: Oh.
SECURITY SUPERVISOR: Come on out, sir.
MICHAEL MOORE: They don’t speak English. Donde.
NARRATOR: …this fall, the most feared filmmaker in America…
MICHAEL MOORE: Can I talk to you, sir, for a second? Can you tell me what a credit default swap is? Can you explain a derivative to me?
NARRATOR: …will reveal what happens when Wall Street tanks…
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Stock markets crash.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: Bankruptcies.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Foreclosures.
PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: A global meltdown.
NARRATOR: …and the government bails.
MICHAEL MOORE: By spending just a few million dollars to buy Congress, Wall Street was given billions.
REP. ELLEN TAUSCHER: The motion is adopted.
REP. BARON HILL: You know who Michael Moore is, don’t you, Betty? The film director? He’s filming me right now.
MICHAEL MOORE: How did this collapse happen?
REP. BARON HILL: I got home on a Friday. Everything was just fine. I call back after my plane landed in Indiana, and all of a sudden we’ve got this crisis on our hands.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: There’s got to be some kind of a rebellion between the people that have nothing and the people that’s got it all.
REP. MARCY KAPTUR: Everything was being handled by the Treasury Secretary from Goldman Sachs. They had Congress right where they wanted them. This was almost like an intelligence operation.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: This is straight-up capitalism. Tch-tchik, boom!
MICHAEL MOORE: Where’s our money?
ELIZABETH WARREN: I don’t know.
REP. MARCY KAPTUR: The people here really aren’t in charge.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: I guess you win.
MICHAEL MOORE: We want our money back.
PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: Capitalism offers people the freedom to choose where they work.
PAT ANDREWS: There isn’t anything in here. I’m not going to be a gentlemen’s club hire dancer.
MICHAEL MOORE: We’re here to get the money back for the American people. I got more bags. Ten billion probably won’t fit in here.
AMY GOODMAN: Yes, Michael Moore is back, with his new film Capitalism: A Love Story. It opened in New York and Los Angeles yesterday. It opens nationwide October 2nd. The Academy Award-winning filmmaker Michael Moore joins us in the firehouse studio for the rest of this hour.
Michael, I went to the 10:40 showing last night on debut here in New York. Why Capitalism: A Love Story?
MICHAEL MOORE: Well, I’ve been making movies for about twenty years now. Actually, it’s twenty years ago this week Roger & Me was at the New York Film Festival. And the films I’ve done, from that one all the way through Sicko, always seem to come back to this central core concern, which is the economic system we have is unfair, it’s unjust, it’s not democratic, it seems to lack any sort of ethical center to it. And I guess I can keep making movies for another twenty years about the next General Motors or the next healthcare issue or whatever, but I thought I’d just kind of cut to the chase and propose that we deal with this economic system and try to restructure it in a way that benefits people and not the richest one percent.
This is the way it is now in this country. The wealthiest one percent right have more financial wealth than the bottom 95 percent combined. When you have a situation like that, where the one percent essentially not only own all the wealth, but own Congress, call the shots, are we really telling the truth when we call this a democracy? I know we get to vote every two or four years. Is that it? Just because we get to vote every now and then, we can call this a democracy, when the economy is anything but? You and I have no say in it. The people watching this, listening to us today have no say in how this economy is run. There’s not democracy in the workplace. I mean, through most of our daily lives, the idea of democracy is fairly nonexistent. And I think things work better when the people who have to work with whatever it is we’re working with have a say in how it’s working.
So I made this movie to do a number of things. One, to just go head on at this system. I’m not a reformer. I’m not looking for Congress to pass a few new regulations, which, by the way, it’s been a year since the crash, and they haven’t passed one of these things, which is what they said they were going to do right away, right? “All we need is a few rules. Don’t get rid of capitalism, just a few rules, and we’ll get everything back in shape.” Of course, they have no intention of doing that, and the banking industry has lobbied them successfully over the last year to leave them alone so that they can keep doing their crazy schemes. That’s one reason.
The second reason is, I wanted to present a filmed explanation of just what exactly did happen a year ago, what led up to it. I think a lot people, including myself—you know, we’re not economists. We don’t—we hear these terms, we don’t understand what they mean—derivatives, credit default swaps and all this stuff. And I thought, you know, I’ll bet you there’s a way to tell this story so that anybody will instantly get exactly what the looting was that took place a year ago this time. So I wanted to do that.
And then I guess I’m—I guess I’m doing what I’m always trying to do and what I think what all filmmakers try to do, is that I’m—I recognize that I’m asking you to leave the house on a Friday or Saturday night, get a babysitter, drive to the theater, spend money, spend outrageous amounts of money on popcorn and soda, and sit in the dark with 200 other strangers. I really want you, at the end of those two hours, to walk out of the theater saying to whoever you’re there with, “That was really—that was a good way to spend two hours. I learned something. I laughed my ass off. I cried.”
And I think this movie provides a range of not just emotions, but also really solid information and a number of exposés of things that have not been discussed in the media, or if they have been, they get brought up quickly and then are rejected, and nobody talks about them again. So I show you a number of things in the film. I think, you know, early audiences I’ve seen it with are fairly shocked at some of the stories that I presented.
AMY GOODMAN: We’re talking to Michael Moore, the Academy Award-winning documentary filmmaker, and he’s back with his latest film. It’s called Capitalism: A Love Story. We’ll be back with Michael Moore in a minute.
[break]
AMY GOODMAN: Our guest for the hour, Michael Moore. He’s just released his latest film—this is the anniversary of—twentieth anniversary of the release of his films—Capitalism: A Love Story. Juan?
JUAN GONZALEZ: Well, Michael, you started making this film actually before Lehman Brothers collapsed, before the AIG collapse or huge bailout. Two questions, I have. One, did you, when you started and as you saw this unraveling, expect that it would get as bad as it did? And two, were you shocked by the fact that a lot of the same people that—I know you mention, you allude to this in the film—a lot of the same people that got us into this mess are now working in the Obama administration supposedly to resolve the crisis?
MICHAEL MOORE: Mm-hmm. Yes, I did start making this movie about six months before the crash. And, I mean, I was like, I think, a number of other people who felt that what was going on on Wall Street was really a house of cards that had been constructed to create this illusion of wealth for the investor class, which they like to now—which they say, you know, Americans are all invested now in the stock market because of pension funds and whatever. And I just felt that we weren’t that far away from something happening. I didn’t know what was going to happen, but I thought this would probably an excellent time to begin this film.
Before the crash, something happened in August. You know, in America, we don’t, in daily discourse, use the words “capitalism” or “socialism.” They’ve been kind of nonexistent words, I would say, amongst the general public. And then in August of ’08, Obama is walking down a suburban street near Toledo, runs into this guy, Joe—we’ll call him Joe—and he says to him that he, Obama, believes it’s good to spread the wealth around, which, of course, is the basic tenet of socialism. And immediately, the Republicans not being that stupid, picked right up on that and started calling him a socialist, and we heard this word every day, “socialist, socialist, socialist, socialist.” I’m like, wow, I’ve not heard the word used that much in quite some time. It was, you know, partially amusing.
But barely a month later, the crash happens. And what does President Bush do? He goes on TV, a number of times. He starts making speeches at the Manhattan Institute and other places about capitalism. Today’s topic is capitalism. You know, and I’m thinking, now, when in my lifetime have I seen a president of the United States use the word—or make it the topic of a speech, where everything is about capitalism, capitalism, capitalism? I’m going, wow, now this word’s being used.
And I thought, well, we should probably take advantage of this moment, that now—now these words are OK to say amongst the general public. They’re not, you know, scary words, or they’re not necessarily loaded with whatever that was before—I can’t really put my finger on it, but, you know, say, if I were on the Today Show or, you know, something like that, and I just started talking about capitalism, you know, two, three, four, five years ago, they would have looked at me like, you know, why are you doing this? Are you nuts? And so, it allowed, in a strange way, for me, this film, and all of us really, now to have this discussion.
And I think that this economic system that we have is an evil system. I truly believe that it is essentially designed to cause harm to people. It’s not an accident that this happens, because capitalism is, in its own way, its own Ponzi scheme. You know, we talk a lot about Bernie Madoff, and I guess he became a nice poster boy and a distraction from the real subject, but, in fact, capitalism, especially capitalism now as we know it, is a pyramid scheme, and it’s set up so that, again, the richest one percent sit on top of the pyramid. Their job is to convince everybody under them in the pyramid, all the worker ants, that they, too, could be at the top of the pyramid someday, when, of course, they know only a few people can sit on top of that pyramid. “If you just sell enough Amway, you can be up here with us.” No, that’s really not how it works. But it has worked for a long time, because a lot of everyday average Americans started believing this, this ruse that they, too, could be rich someday.
And so, I just—I just felt like it was time to just go after this and name it and not be afraid to name it and realize, OK, I know all the names I’m going to be called and, you know, this, that or whatever, and, you know, what I’m going to, you know, be dragged through, but I just—I just am tired—it really is—I am tired of having to dance around this or deal with this symptom of the problem or that calamity caused by capitalism. I mean, I could keep doing this ’til the end of my life, and I don’t think anything is really going to change that much. And I’d like to see change in my lifetime. And so, I made this film to just kind of, you know, go for it and start a discussion and stop these people, who are just blocks from us, who right now are planning today’s moves to make life miserable for millions of Americans and people around the world.
JUAN GONZALEZ: And the issue of the people who are now dealing with the crisis?
MICHAEL MOORE: Well, you know, the day that President Obama named Timothy Geithner as Treasury Secretary, and actually before that, when he brought Robert Rubin in on the campaign, former head of Citigroup and Goldman Sachs, and also Larry Summers—if you don’t know who that is, he’s a very famous feminist from Harvard University. When Obama did this, I thought, OK, you know, instantly, in order just—I do this all the time. In order to sort of prevent myself from sinking into a deep pit of despair, I start, you know, spinning it in my head.
Well, OK, maybe Obama is like me and everybody else: you know, he doesn’t understand derivatives and credit default swaps. So he’s going to the people who helped, you know, create this system. And then I thought, and maybe he’s like my dad. Maybe he’s like, you know, OK, you made this mess, come in here and clean it up. And so, who better to go to than these guys? You know, the large banks, they hire bank robbers, former bank robbers, to advise them on how to prevent bank robberies. And really, again, who better to do that than a bank robber? Well, who better to help fix this mess than the people who helped to create it?
Now, that’s my hope. But as I point out in the film, President Obama received an enormous amount of money from financial institutions, employees of those institutions. And the employees of Goldman Sachs were his number one private contributor, donating almost a million dollars to his campaign.
AMY GOODMAN: Michael Moore, I wanted to turn to an interview that you did in Capitalism: A Love Story with the former bank regulator Bill Black about Timothy Geithner, President Obama’s Treasury Secretary and the former president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
BILL BLACK: …pretty much everything he’s done in life. Most of the institutions that destroyed the economy were under his direct regulatory authority.
MICHAEL MOORE: How did he get the job as Treasury Secretary?
BILL BLACK: By completely screwing up his job as president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
MICHAEL MOORE: That makes no sense.
BILL BLACK: Of course it makes perfect sense. This is not new to Washington. People who will give you the wrong answer, but the answer you want, are invaluable, and they often get promoted precisely because they’re willing to say and do absurd things. These are the people that promised us that financial deregulation would make all of us rich, and these are the people who were personally made rich.
AMY GOODMAN: Timothy Geithner and then Bill Black, who he is?
MICHAEL MOORE: Mm-hmm. Bill Black is a former bank regulator for the federal government, and he was one of the people who helped to uncover the savings and loan scandal back in the ’80s, and he went after them. And he’s quite well known and beloved by people who pay attention to this sort of thing. And he’s been very vocal about this crash and this bailout. And he plays an important role in this film in terms of helping to explain, in very simple language, how the American people have had this money stolen from them and how he doesn’t think things are going to change a whole lot with the foxes now guarding the henhouse.
JUAN GONZALEZ: Well, and Michael, of course, one of the issues that created or helped to spur the financial crisis was the tidal wave of home refinancing and subprime loans. And let’s go to an excerpt from Capitalism: A Love Story that deals with the foreclosure crisis.
MICHAEL MOORE: The scam to swindle people out of the homes they already owned was masterful. Here’s how it worked. First, tell these homeowners that they own a bank, and that bank is your home. So if your home is worth $250,000, that makes you a quarter-millionaire. You’re sitting on a gold mine! You own your own bank: the Bank of You. And you can use your bank to get more money. Just refinance. Everyone’s doing it! Of course, hidden in the dozens or hundreds of pages of fine print are tricky clauses that allow the bank to raise your interest rate to a number you didn’t know about, perhaps so high that you won’t be able to repay your loan. But that’s OK. If you can’t repay it, we’ll just take your house.
AMY GOODMAN: An excerpt of Capitalism: A Love Story. It’s debuting in New York and Los Angeles, then opening around the country in the beginning of October. Make your home a bank, Michael Moore.
MICHAEL MOORE: Yep, that’s what Alan Greenspan said and told people, and they went after—if people remember this, they went after elderly people who already owned their home. The home’s paid off. And they figured, geez, you know, these people are sitting on these homes; we could get them to think that their home is a bank and borrow against it. And that’s how it started. And the first wave of people who started to lose their homes were senior citizens who had taken out loans that they didn’t quite understand, that had a lot of funny language. These contracts are sometimes fifty to a hundred pages long, with these balloon payments. And, you know, it’s not unusual that people would try to take advantage of old people, but to have it be done by the federal government, people that we pay, people that are supposed to be there representing us, this was tragic.
And after they got away with it with the elderly people, they figured, “Well, what’s the next group we can go to? You know, how about—how about the poor and the working class? Because, you know, they’re probably desperate to own their own home, because we don’t actually let them own their own homes with the way, you know, our economic situation here is set up.” So, they go after—they go after people with low incomes or people who may have bad credit because they have low incomes.
But as Bill Black points out in my movie, this—I mean, I tell you, it was disturbing, the week or so after the crash, where the instant explanation, if you remember this, from the media was that this crash was caused by all those people—“those people” referring to, often, people of color—who took out loans they shouldn’t have had. They shouldn’t have been—you know, they couldn’t afford a house, and why were they doing this? Do you remember this? It was really—it was disturbing, and it was—parts of it were racist, I thought. And—
JUAN GONZALEZ: Well, even beforehand, I recall that in early 2007, when I did a series of columns in the New York Daily News about the subprime crisis as it was spreading—
MICHAEL MOORE: Mm-hmm, yes.
JUAN GONZALEZ: —and I had the people in our business section of my newspaper and others saying, “Oh, that’s just a few minority people who took out bad loans, and the subprime crisis is not going to affect the general economy. It’s only a small portion of the overall mortgage economy.” So this was being spread for a couple of years.
MICHAEL MOORE: Yeah, yeah.
AMY GOODMAN: You begin Capitalism: A Love Story with one of these families—actually, not a family of color, a white family—in North Carolina. They are filming their own eviction.
MICHAEL MOORE: Yes, one day, a videotape arrived in the mail, and I didn’t know what it was. And I popped it in, and there unfolds—it appears that—I mean, all of a sudden, this house is being, you know, surrounded by seven police cars and all these sheriffs. And it’s kind of harrowing when you first watch it, because you don’t quite know what’s going to happen here or if there’s going to be violence or whatever. But they film their own eviction. You see it really for the first time from the point of view of the person being thrown out of the house, as opposed to, say, my camera on the outside filming what the police are doing from the outside and then going in the house. And it’s—you know, first of all, I’m happy they sent it to me. But I get this stuff a lot. I mean, I get a lot of things in the mail or through email or whatever from people who are hoping that I can give voice to their condition.
I just want to point out one more thing, Juan, on what you were saying, and thank you for those early columns. I’m sure, you know, business writers and people would look at you and say, “Oh, well, what do you know about this, you know? Where’s your economics degree? You know, this is—get with the program here.” But now the FBI has said that this mortgage fraud, that 80 percent of it—80 percent of it—was caused by the banks and the lending—other lending institutions, mortgage companies, etc., not the people. Eighty percent of it.
And the number one reason, it turns out, that people lose their homes is because of medical bills. It’s the number one cause of foreclosure and the number one cause of bankruptcies in this country. And we’re at a point right now where one in eight homes are either in delinquency or foreclosure, homes with mortgages, and there’s a foreclosure filing in this country once every seven-and-a-half seconds. Every seven-and-a-half seconds there’s a foreclosure filing in this country. I mean, this is a crisis.
You know, I can’t stand the nightly news with that Dow Jones average they always show to report how well the wealthy are doing on Wall Street and how it’s climbing every day, etc., etc., and there’s never any indicators about what’s happening to people in their daily lives, the bulk of the people in this country, the 14,000 yesterday who lost their health insurance and the 14,000 who will lose their health insurance today and tomorrow and the day after that. Where’s that index? Wouldn’t that be great to see that on the nightly news each night, where before cutting to commercial break we list the number of people who lost their homes today, lost their jobs today, lost their health insurance today, people who died today because they didn’t have health insurance? You know, these statistics are readily available, so this isn’t just rhetoric. I mean, these are actually proven facts. And they could report that every night.
But instead, they—you know, they’re there to report on what benefits those in power, and they go to places of power to cover that, but what they consider power. But the actual power, the way this country’s set up, is you and me, everyone listening and watching, everybody else who’s not listening and watching. The power is supposed to be with us, but we rarely, rarely, rarely hear our stories being covered by the media, other than in your column, on your show here, and a few other places.
AMY GOODMAN: Well, let’s go back to Capitalism: A Love Story. In this scene, Michael Moore takes, well, an armored truck to Wall Street.
MICHAEL MOORE: We’re here to get the money back for the American people.
GOLDMAN SACHS SECURITY: I understand, sir, but you can’t come in here.
MICHAEL MOORE: Can you just take the bag?
GOLDMAN SACHS SECURITY: No.
MICHAEL MOORE: Take it up there?
GOLDMAN SACHS SECURITY: Absolutely not.
MICHAEL MOORE: Fill it up? I got more bags. Ten billion probably won’t fit in here.
We want our money back!
I went to all the banks.
You’ve seen this guy?
MORGAN STANLEY SECURITY: Yeah, yeah.
MICHAEL MOORE: OK, we’re here to make a citizen’s arrest, actually.
And just drop it from the windows.
And everywhere I went…
I’m going to take it back to the US Treasury right in this car. It’s safe. You can trust me.
AMY GOODMAN: Michael Moore, as you’re going through that revolving door, you can’t push it. Was it locked?
MICHAEL MOORE: No, no. There’s a guy you can see—you’ll see it on the big screen. There’s a guy on the other side pushing the other way, so it’s like a tug-of-war. That was at AIG headquarters. So at least they’re good for that, I guess.
AMY GOODMAN: So the whole area is a crime scene?
MICHAEL MOORE: As far as I’m concerned, it is. I want to know where the investigation is on this. How did this happen? How did Goldman Sachs end up as king of the hill and their competitors in the dust? How much did the fact that there were almost a dozen or so former Goldman people inside the Bush administration concocting this bailout? I think these are legitimate questions to ask, and I hope that the Obama Justice Department will conduct some sort of criminal investigation.
There’s the larger crime, though, of course, of how the pie is divided in this country. And the fact that one guy can come to the table and take nine slices of that pie and leave one slice for everyone else at the table to fight over, that is criminal. That is offensive on so many levels. If we say we believe in democracy, it’s offensive on that level. If you have any kind of moral or ethical code that you live by, whether it’s because of your religion or your own spirituality or just because you know right from wrong, anyone, anyone over seven years old, maybe even a few five- and six-year-olds, know that if one guy takes nine slices of the pie and leaves one slice for everybody else, that’s just inherently wrong. And we allow that to happen.
AMY GOODMAN: We’re talking to the Academy Award-winning filmmaker Michael Moore. His latest film is just coming out. It’s called Capitalism: A Love Story. Stay with us.
[break]
AMY GOODMAN: Our guest for the hour is Michael Moore. Juan?
JUAN GONZALEZ: Well, Michael, as you mentioned earlier, Capitalism: A Love Story comes twenty years after your classic debut film Roger & Me that examined how Michael’s home town of Flint, Michigan was devastated by plant closings at General Motors. While Moore was filming his new film, GM filed for bankruptcy.
MICHAEL MOORE: For twenty years I tried to warn GM and others that this day was coming, but to no avail. Maybe now they’d listen. So I went down to the headquarters of General Motors one last time to share some of my ideas.
GM SECURITY GUARD 1: Hey guys, if you don’t have—if you don’t have permission, you can’t film here.
MICHAEL MOORE: Huh?
GM SECURITY GUARD 1: If you don’t have permission from General Motors, you can’t film here.
MICHAEL MOORE: I’m just going up to see the chairman.
GM SECURITY GUARD 1: No, sir. No, sir.
MICHAEL MOORE: You know, I’ve been doing this for like twenty years.
GM SECURITY GUARD 1: I understand, sir.
MICHAEL MOORE: And I have not been let into this building for twenty years.
GM SECURITY GUARD 1: Four [inaudible] and a seven, six bravo, or alpha.
GM SECURITY: [over walkie-talkie] Go ahead.
GM SECURITY GUARD 1: Yeah, it’s Michael Moore here to see the chairman.
GM SECURITY GUARD 2: Gentlemen?
MICHAEL MOORE: Yes.
GM SECURITY GUARD 2: You need to get prior permission. You cannot film here, OK?
MICHAEL MOORE: But if I can’t go in and get permission, what am I supposed to do?
I guess they’re right: Breaking up is hard to do.
GM SECURITY GUARD 2: Stop that. Don’t do that.
AMY GOODMAN: Michael Moore in Capitalism: A Love Story. You’re back at GM.
MICHAEL MOORE: Well, for one last visit, I guess. I really—you know, I thought, honestly, I thought they would call my bluff this time and invite me in, considering how I’m now one of the owners of GM, as you are and everyone now listening. And I was ready. I mean, I brought along some things I was going to talk to them about, about how General Motors could be building things that we need for transportation for the twenty-first century. Not the internal combustion engine, I think that’s caused enough damage to the planet, but there’s another way to go. And our industrial infrastructure could help provide these things that we need, whether it’s transportation or alternative energy systems or whatever that is that would help advance our society, would help make us a better people, a better world. There’s a lot of good that the old, or I should say now “the new,” General Motors could do, especially as long as it’s in receivership.
As long as it’s pretty much still in our hands, we can really tell them what to do. And I wish that President Obama would exercise his authority as the de facto chairman of the board of this company, and of Chrysler, to tell them, “I’m sorry, this is the way it is from now on. This is how we’re going to do things, because, you know, the polar icecaps are melting, because we need to have jobs, real jobs, that pay real wages that people can raise a family on, and here’s how we’re going to do it.”
I mean, listen, I live in Michigan. The state is in desperate shape. The official unemployment rate is approaching 20 percent. Where I live, the county and the area that I live, it’s—in some areas it’s 22, 23 percent. So, you know, I see this every day, and it’s pretty devastating to witness.
JUAN GONZALEZ: Michael, General Motors may be under new management, but it has a long institutional memory. I understand you were like banned from a showing of your film in Detroit because—at a GM-owned theater?
MICHAEL MOORE: There’s only one movie theater in the entire city of Detroit. The entire city has one open movie theater, and it is in the—it is in the General Motors headquarters complex. And so, we were able to rent the theater for the Detroit premiere of the film. And after we did that, I think somebody upstairs figured out what was going on, and so they—when I showed up for the premiere, they tried to stop me from going in there. And in fact, they did, and they—finally, the compromise was I could come in, but there could be no press or cameras or anything around, because they didn’t want that shot of me actually being inside the belly of the beast for the first time in twenty years. So the press had to stay outside, and I was allowed to—you know, to go in.
JUAN GONZALEZ: Inside the belly of the crippled beast.
MICHAEL MOORE: The crippled these. The poor crippled beast that has crippled tens of thousands of families in my state and elsewhere.
AMY GOODMAN: There is a section of your film on religion that is very important, I think will speak to a lot of people, “Christianity and Capitalism,” and the film that you use to illustrate this, Jesus of Nazareth.
MICHAEL MOORE: Well, you know, this is the first I’ve ever really talked about this in any of my films, because I’m kind of loath to talk about religion. I think it’s a private matter, and I’m sick of hearing everybody discuss it or shove it down our throats. I’m not a proselytizer. I was raised Catholic. I am a Catholic. I have a lot of problems with the institution known as the Catholic Church, all the obvious ones that we don’t need to go into right now.
But the lessons that I was taught as a child, I’ve always felt were very good lessons, that we would be judged by how we treat the least among us; that the first shall be last, the last shall be first; that the rich man is going to have a very hard time getting into heaven. And one day, when someone asked Jesus, like, what’s the password to get in through the pearly gates, and JC said, “Well, actually, I’ll give it to you,” and he said, “This is what you’ve got to do. We’re going to ask you a series of questions when you get up there, and these are the questions. When I was hungry, did you feed me? When I was homeless, did you give me shelter? When I was sick, did you provide aid and comfort? When I was in prison, did you come visit me? If you did any of these things for the people who are the least among us, who have the least, then that means you did it for me, and you can now enter. But if you are thinking that you’re going to—if you’re going to live your life making as much money as you can and then using that money for your own purposes, for your own pleasure and enjoyment, and not share it with others, not help others, then, I’m sorry, that’s not going to—that’s not going to work.”
Now, I’m being a little facetious here, because, you know, the whole issue of the afterlife, I think, has always been used by those in power to get us just thinking about the reward that’s some place off in the distant future, like when we’re dead, so for right now just go ahead and, you know, suffer through whatever it is you’re suffering through.
But I believe—I’m just, you know, so tired of hearing this term, this idea that Christianity is somehow—or this is a Christian nation or whatever, and it’s like—well, first of all, there shouldn’t be any kind of a religious nation. But it’s also a lie, too, because what part of what Jesus said relates to what we’re doing now? I mean, I can’t see this guy, if he was here, you know, being part of a hedge fund. I can’t see, you know, Jesus trying to claw his way into the one percent so he can punk on the rest of the people. You know, I just—these people say they believe in him; I wish they actually would, frankly, because we’d be living in a kinder and gentler society.
So, in the film, I appropriate a piece of film from Franco Zeffirelli’s Jesus of Nazareth, and I imagine if they actually think that Jesus would approve of what they’re doing, what would Jesus sound like if he were a capitalist? And so, I—you know, our editor, actually, dubbed in his voice into Jesus’ mouth, and he goes around preaching the capitalist bible. Yes, it gets a lot of laughs, and it’s also—I’m waiting for the onslaught of believers who are not going to appreciate what I’m doing here.
But, you know, I go to see the priest who married my wife and I, and I go to see the priest who married my sister and her husband. And every priest I go to—and those are just the first two I start with, people I know. I didn’t go looking for, you know, socialist priests. And they both just rail against capitalism as a sin. It’s evil, it’s destructive, it’s contrary to what’s in the Bible. It’s contrary to all the major religions, not just Christianity, but Judaism, Buddhism, Islam, the church of Bill Maher. Whatever you believe in or don’t believe in, it’s just contrary to what—to what we know right and wrong is.
JUAN GONZALEZ: Michael, you have obviously amassed a lot in terms of the indictment of capitalism as a system, but some would say the film doesn’t offer much in terms of the alternative. Where in the film do you see your offering of what alternative would be like?
MICHAEL MOORE: Well, I’m very clear in the film that, you know, I’m not an economist. But the alternative, the economic order that we need to create for the twenty-first century—and that’s what we really need to do. We need to quit having the argument about the economic system that was invented in the sixteenth century versus the one that was invented in the nineteenth century. We need to—come on, we’re smart people. We’re in the twenty-first century. We have a whole new set of issues and problems that we face. Can’t we come up with an economic order that has these two basic underpinnings: that it is run democratically and that it is run with a sense of ethics and morality? So, whatever we construct, for me, personally, it has to have those two things in its foundation.
I do show in the film some very specific examples of workplace democracy, where a number of companies have decided to go down the road of having the company actually owned by the workers. And when I say “owned,” I’m not talking about some ding-dong stock options that make you feel like you’re an owner, when you’re nowhere near that. But I mean these companies really own it. And I’m not talking about, you know, the hippy-dippy food co-op, and I don’t mean that with any disrespect to the food co-ops who are listening or any hippies that are listening. But I go to an engineering firm in Madison, Wisconsin. These guys look like a bunch of Republicans. I mean, I didn’t ask them how they vote, but they didn’t necessarily look like they were from, you know, my side of the political fence. And here they all are equal owners of this company. The company does $15 million worth of business each year.
I go to this bakery. It’s not a bakery really; it’s a bread factory out in northern California, Alvarado Street Bakery. And they’re all paid. They all share the profits the same. They’re all shared equally, including the CEO. And they vote. They elect, you know, who’s going to be running this and how this is going to function. The average factory worker in this bread factory makes $65,000 to $70,000 a year, which, I point out, is about three times the starting pay of a pilot who works for American Eagle or Delta Connection. And that’s another harrowing scene in the movie, where I interview pilots who are on food stamps—pilots who are on food stamps because of how little they’re paid. So—
AMY GOODMAN: Finally, Michael, before you go, your film before Capitalism: A Love Story was Sicko, and now you see this whole debate. We only—well, we have less than a minute, but your thoughts on the healthcare crisis and debate and where it’s going here?
MICHAEL MOORE: President Obama, the reason why this is failing is because you took a half measure. He only went halfway, this public option. That’s why the base isn’t excited. That’s why there aren’t millions of people out in the streets supporting him. Had he done what he said he was going to do in 2003, when he first started thinking of running for Senate, that we need a single-payer system, like every other Western democracy, you know, I think all of us, everybody, would be out there massively. And it would make the town hall meetings and the teabag stuff look like the Disney Channel. You know, that’s what he would have had. But he can’t get anybody excited with this. He started out with a compromised position. You don’t start out compromising. You may have to compromise somewhere along the line, but you don’t start out that way.
So I hope he goes back and he rethinks this, now that he realizes that all his olive branch, bipartisan thing rea
JUAN GONZALEZ: It was a year ago today when President George W. Bush gave a primetime address urging Americans to support the $700 billion bailout of Wall Street. Bush spoke just days after the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the fall of AIG.
PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: Financial assets related to home mortgages have lost value during the housing decline, and the banks holding these assets have restricted credit. As a result, our entire economy is in danger. So I propose that the federal government reduce the risk posed by these troubled assets and supply urgently needed money so banks and other financial institutions can avoid collapse and resume lending.
JUAN GONZALEZ: Despite public opposition, Congress eventually approved the bailout package. Our next guest went to Wall Street to try to get the bailout money back.
MICHAEL MOORE: This is Michael Moore. I am here to make a citizen’s arrest of the board of directors of AIG.
NARRATOR: From Michael Moore…
MICHAEL MOORE: We’re actually here to make a citizen’s arrest.
SECURITY GUARD: Speak to my supervisor.
MICHAEL MOORE: In the white shirt?
SECURITY GUARD: Yep.
MICHAEL MOORE: Blue tie?
SECURITY GUARD: That’s him.
MICHAEL MOORE: Receding hairline?
NARRATOR: …the guy who brought you Bowling for Columbine, Fahrenheit 9/11 and Sicko…
MICHAEL MOORE: Who else do you want to leave the building?
SECURITY SUPERVISOR: Your cameraman and your crew.
MICHAEL MOORE: Oh.
SECURITY SUPERVISOR: Come on out, sir.
MICHAEL MOORE: They don’t speak English. Donde.
NARRATOR: …this fall, the most feared filmmaker in America…
MICHAEL MOORE: Can I talk to you, sir, for a second? Can you tell me what a credit default swap is? Can you explain a derivative to me?
NARRATOR: …will reveal what happens when Wall Street tanks…
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Stock markets crash.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: Bankruptcies.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Foreclosures.
PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: A global meltdown.
NARRATOR: …and the government bails.
MICHAEL MOORE: By spending just a few million dollars to buy Congress, Wall Street was given billions.
REP. ELLEN TAUSCHER: The motion is adopted.
REP. BARON HILL: You know who Michael Moore is, don’t you, Betty? The film director? He’s filming me right now.
MICHAEL MOORE: How did this collapse happen?
REP. BARON HILL: I got home on a Friday. Everything was just fine. I call back after my plane landed in Indiana, and all of a sudden we’ve got this crisis on our hands.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: There’s got to be some kind of a rebellion between the people that have nothing and the people that’s got it all.
REP. MARCY KAPTUR: Everything was being handled by the Treasury Secretary from Goldman Sachs. They had Congress right where they wanted them. This was almost like an intelligence operation.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: This is straight-up capitalism. Tch-tchik, boom!
MICHAEL MOORE: Where’s our money?
ELIZABETH WARREN: I don’t know.
REP. MARCY KAPTUR: The people here really aren’t in charge.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: I guess you win.
MICHAEL MOORE: We want our money back.
PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: Capitalism offers people the freedom to choose where they work.
PAT ANDREWS: There isn’t anything in here. I’m not going to be a gentlemen’s club hire dancer.
MICHAEL MOORE: We’re here to get the money back for the American people. I got more bags. Ten billion probably won’t fit in here.
AMY GOODMAN: Yes, Michael Moore is back, with his new film Capitalism: A Love Story. It opened in New York and Los Angeles yesterday. It opens nationwide October 2nd. The Academy Award-winning filmmaker Michael Moore joins us in the firehouse studio for the rest of this hour.
Michael, I went to the 10:40 showing last night on debut here in New York. Why Capitalism: A Love Story?
MICHAEL MOORE: Well, I’ve been making movies for about twenty years now. Actually, it’s twenty years ago this week Roger & Me was at the New York Film Festival. And the films I’ve done, from that one all the way through Sicko, always seem to come back to this central core concern, which is the economic system we have is unfair, it’s unjust, it’s not democratic, it seems to lack any sort of ethical center to it. And I guess I can keep making movies for another twenty years about the next General Motors or the next healthcare issue or whatever, but I thought I’d just kind of cut to the chase and propose that we deal with this economic system and try to restructure it in a way that benefits people and not the richest one percent.
This is the way it is now in this country. The wealthiest one percent right have more financial wealth than the bottom 95 percent combined. When you have a situation like that, where the one percent essentially not only own all the wealth, but own Congress, call the shots, are we really telling the truth when we call this a democracy? I know we get to vote every two or four years. Is that it? Just because we get to vote every now and then, we can call this a democracy, when the economy is anything but? You and I have no say in it. The people watching this, listening to us today have no say in how this economy is run. There’s not democracy in the workplace. I mean, through most of our daily lives, the idea of democracy is fairly nonexistent. And I think things work better when the people who have to work with whatever it is we’re working with have a say in how it’s working.
So I made this movie to do a number of things. One, to just go head on at this system. I’m not a reformer. I’m not looking for Congress to pass a few new regulations, which, by the way, it’s been a year since the crash, and they haven’t passed one of these things, which is what they said they were going to do right away, right? “All we need is a few rules. Don’t get rid of capitalism, just a few rules, and we’ll get everything back in shape.” Of course, they have no intention of doing that, and the banking industry has lobbied them successfully over the last year to leave them alone so that they can keep doing their crazy schemes. That’s one reason.
The second reason is, I wanted to present a filmed explanation of just what exactly did happen a year ago, what led up to it. I think a lot people, including myself—you know, we’re not economists. We don’t—we hear these terms, we don’t understand what they mean—derivatives, credit default swaps and all this stuff. And I thought, you know, I’ll bet you there’s a way to tell this story so that anybody will instantly get exactly what the looting was that took place a year ago this time. So I wanted to do that.
And then I guess I’m—I guess I’m doing what I’m always trying to do and what I think what all filmmakers try to do, is that I’m—I recognize that I’m asking you to leave the house on a Friday or Saturday night, get a babysitter, drive to the theater, spend money, spend outrageous amounts of money on popcorn and soda, and sit in the dark with 200 other strangers. I really want you, at the end of those two hours, to walk out of the theater saying to whoever you’re there with, “That was really—that was a good way to spend two hours. I learned something. I laughed my ass off. I cried.”
And I think this movie provides a range of not just emotions, but also really solid information and a number of exposés of things that have not been discussed in the media, or if they have been, they get brought up quickly and then are rejected, and nobody talks about them again. So I show you a number of things in the film. I think, you know, early audiences I’ve seen it with are fairly shocked at some of the stories that I presented.
AMY GOODMAN: We’re talking to Michael Moore, the Academy Award-winning documentary filmmaker, and he’s back with his latest film. It’s called Capitalism: A Love Story. We’ll be back with Michael Moore in a minute.
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AMY GOODMAN: Our guest for the hour, Michael Moore. He’s just released his latest film—this is the anniversary of—twentieth anniversary of the release of his films—Capitalism: A Love Story. Juan?
JUAN GONZALEZ: Well, Michael, you started making this film actually before Lehman Brothers collapsed, before the AIG collapse or huge bailout. Two questions, I have. One, did you, when you started and as you saw this unraveling, expect that it would get as bad as it did? And two, were you shocked by the fact that a lot of the same people that—I know you mention, you allude to this in the film—a lot of the same people that got us into this mess are now working in the Obama administration supposedly to resolve the crisis?
MICHAEL MOORE: Mm-hmm. Yes, I did start making this movie about six months before the crash. And, I mean, I was like, I think, a number of other people who felt that what was going on on Wall Street was really a house of cards that had been constructed to create this illusion of wealth for the investor class, which they like to now—which they say, you know, Americans are all invested now in the stock market because of pension funds and whatever. And I just felt that we weren’t that far away from something happening. I didn’t know what was going to happen, but I thought this would probably an excellent time to begin this film.
Before the crash, something happened in August. You know, in America, we don’t, in daily discourse, use the words “capitalism” or “socialism.” They’ve been kind of nonexistent words, I would say, amongst the general public. And then in August of ’08, Obama is walking down a suburban street near Toledo, runs into this guy, Joe—we’ll call him Joe—and he says to him that he, Obama, believes it’s good to spread the wealth around, which, of course, is the basic tenet of socialism. And immediately, the Republicans not being that stupid, picked right up on that and started calling him a socialist, and we heard this word every day, “socialist, socialist, socialist, socialist.” I’m like, wow, I’ve not heard the word used that much in quite some time. It was, you know, partially amusing.
But barely a month later, the crash happens. And what does President Bush do? He goes on TV, a number of times. He starts making speeches at the Manhattan Institute and other places about capitalism. Today’s topic is capitalism. You know, and I’m thinking, now, when in my lifetime have I seen a president of the United States use the word—or make it the topic of a speech, where everything is about capitalism, capitalism, capitalism? I’m going, wow, now this word’s being used.
And I thought, well, we should probably take advantage of this moment, that now—now these words are OK to say amongst the general public. They’re not, you know, scary words, or they’re not necessarily loaded with whatever that was before—I can’t really put my finger on it, but, you know, say, if I were on the Today Show or, you know, something like that, and I just started talking about capitalism, you know, two, three, four, five years ago, they would have looked at me like, you know, why are you doing this? Are you nuts? And so, it allowed, in a strange way, for me, this film, and all of us really, now to have this discussion.
And I think that this economic system that we have is an evil system. I truly believe that it is essentially designed to cause harm to people. It’s not an accident that this happens, because capitalism is, in its own way, its own Ponzi scheme. You know, we talk a lot about Bernie Madoff, and I guess he became a nice poster boy and a distraction from the real subject, but, in fact, capitalism, especially capitalism now as we know it, is a pyramid scheme, and it’s set up so that, again, the richest one percent sit on top of the pyramid. Their job is to convince everybody under them in the pyramid, all the worker ants, that they, too, could be at the top of the pyramid someday, when, of course, they know only a few people can sit on top of that pyramid. “If you just sell enough Amway, you can be up here with us.” No, that’s really not how it works. But it has worked for a long time, because a lot of everyday average Americans started believing this, this ruse that they, too, could be rich someday.
And so, I just—I just felt like it was time to just go after this and name it and not be afraid to name it and realize, OK, I know all the names I’m going to be called and, you know, this, that or whatever, and, you know, what I’m going to, you know, be dragged through, but I just—I just am tired—it really is—I am tired of having to dance around this or deal with this symptom of the problem or that calamity caused by capitalism. I mean, I could keep doing this ’til the end of my life, and I don’t think anything is really going to change that much. And I’d like to see change in my lifetime. And so, I made this film to just kind of, you know, go for it and start a discussion and stop these people, who are just blocks from us, who right now are planning today’s moves to make life miserable for millions of Americans and people around the world.
JUAN GONZALEZ: And the issue of the people who are now dealing with the crisis?
MICHAEL MOORE: Well, you know, the day that President Obama named Timothy Geithner as Treasury Secretary, and actually before that, when he brought Robert Rubin in on the campaign, former head of Citigroup and Goldman Sachs, and also Larry Summers—if you don’t know who that is, he’s a very famous feminist from Harvard University. When Obama did this, I thought, OK, you know, instantly, in order just—I do this all the time. In order to sort of prevent myself from sinking into a deep pit of despair, I start, you know, spinning it in my head.
Well, OK, maybe Obama is like me and everybody else: you know, he doesn’t understand derivatives and credit default swaps. So he’s going to the people who helped, you know, create this system. And then I thought, and maybe he’s like my dad. Maybe he’s like, you know, OK, you made this mess, come in here and clean it up. And so, who better to go to than these guys? You know, the large banks, they hire bank robbers, former bank robbers, to advise them on how to prevent bank robberies. And really, again, who better to do that than a bank robber? Well, who better to help fix this mess than the people who helped to create it?
Now, that’s my hope. But as I point out in the film, President Obama received an enormous amount of money from financial institutions, employees of those institutions. And the employees of Goldman Sachs were his number one private contributor, donating almost a million dollars to his campaign.
AMY GOODMAN: Michael Moore, I wanted to turn to an interview that you did in Capitalism: A Love Story with the former bank regulator Bill Black about Timothy Geithner, President Obama’s Treasury Secretary and the former president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
BILL BLACK: …pretty much everything he’s done in life. Most of the institutions that destroyed the economy were under his direct regulatory authority.
MICHAEL MOORE: How did he get the job as Treasury Secretary?
BILL BLACK: By completely screwing up his job as president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
MICHAEL MOORE: That makes no sense.
BILL BLACK: Of course it makes perfect sense. This is not new to Washington. People who will give you the wrong answer, but the answer you want, are invaluable, and they often get promoted precisely because they’re willing to say and do absurd things. These are the people that promised us that financial deregulation would make all of us rich, and these are the people who were personally made rich.
AMY GOODMAN: Timothy Geithner and then Bill Black, who he is?
MICHAEL MOORE: Mm-hmm. Bill Black is a former bank regulator for the federal government, and he was one of the people who helped to uncover the savings and loan scandal back in the ’80s, and he went after them. And he’s quite well known and beloved by people who pay attention to this sort of thing. And he’s been very vocal about this crash and this bailout. And he plays an important role in this film in terms of helping to explain, in very simple language, how the American people have had this money stolen from them and how he doesn’t think things are going to change a whole lot with the foxes now guarding the henhouse.
JUAN GONZALEZ: Well, and Michael, of course, one of the issues that created or helped to spur the financial crisis was the tidal wave of home refinancing and subprime loans. And let’s go to an excerpt from Capitalism: A Love Story that deals with the foreclosure crisis.
MICHAEL MOORE: The scam to swindle people out of the homes they already owned was masterful. Here’s how it worked. First, tell these homeowners that they own a bank, and that bank is your home. So if your home is worth $250,000, that makes you a quarter-millionaire. You’re sitting on a gold mine! You own your own bank: the Bank of You. And you can use your bank to get more money. Just refinance. Everyone’s doing it! Of course, hidden in the dozens or hundreds of pages of fine print are tricky clauses that allow the bank to raise your interest rate to a number you didn’t know about, perhaps so high that you won’t be able to repay your loan. But that’s OK. If you can’t repay it, we’ll just take your house.
AMY GOODMAN: An excerpt of Capitalism: A Love Story. It’s debuting in New York and Los Angeles, then opening around the country in the beginning of October. Make your home a bank, Michael Moore.
MICHAEL MOORE: Yep, that’s what Alan Greenspan said and told people, and they went after—if people remember this, they went after elderly people who already owned their home. The home’s paid off. And they figured, geez, you know, these people are sitting on these homes; we could get them to think that their home is a bank and borrow against it. And that’s how it started. And the first wave of people who started to lose their homes were senior citizens who had taken out loans that they didn’t quite understand, that had a lot of funny language. These contracts are sometimes fifty to a hundred pages long, with these balloon payments. And, you know, it’s not unusual that people would try to take advantage of old people, but to have it be done by the federal government, people that we pay, people that are supposed to be there representing us, this was tragic.
And after they got away with it with the elderly people, they figured, “Well, what’s the next group we can go to? You know, how about—how about the poor and the working class? Because, you know, they’re probably desperate to own their own home, because we don’t actually let them own their own homes with the way, you know, our economic situation here is set up.” So, they go after—they go after people with low incomes or people who may have bad credit because they have low incomes.
But as Bill Black points out in my movie, this—I mean, I tell you, it was disturbing, the week or so after the crash, where the instant explanation, if you remember this, from the media was that this crash was caused by all those people—“those people” referring to, often, people of color—who took out loans they shouldn’t have had. They shouldn’t have been—you know, they couldn’t afford a house, and why were they doing this? Do you remember this? It was really—it was disturbing, and it was—parts of it were racist, I thought. And—
JUAN GONZALEZ: Well, even beforehand, I recall that in early 2007, when I did a series of columns in the New York Daily News about the subprime crisis as it was spreading—
MICHAEL MOORE: Mm-hmm, yes.
JUAN GONZALEZ: —and I had the people in our business section of my newspaper and others saying, “Oh, that’s just a few minority people who took out bad loans, and the subprime crisis is not going to affect the general economy. It’s only a small portion of the overall mortgage economy.” So this was being spread for a couple of years.
MICHAEL MOORE: Yeah, yeah.
AMY GOODMAN: You begin Capitalism: A Love Story with one of these families—actually, not a family of color, a white family—in North Carolina. They are filming their own eviction.
MICHAEL MOORE: Yes, one day, a videotape arrived in the mail, and I didn’t know what it was. And I popped it in, and there unfolds—it appears that—I mean, all of a sudden, this house is being, you know, surrounded by seven police cars and all these sheriffs. And it’s kind of harrowing when you first watch it, because you don’t quite know what’s going to happen here or if there’s going to be violence or whatever. But they film their own eviction. You see it really for the first time from the point of view of the person being thrown out of the house, as opposed to, say, my camera on the outside filming what the police are doing from the outside and then going in the house. And it’s—you know, first of all, I’m happy they sent it to me. But I get this stuff a lot. I mean, I get a lot of things in the mail or through email or whatever from people who are hoping that I can give voice to their condition.
I just want to point out one more thing, Juan, on what you were saying, and thank you for those early columns. I’m sure, you know, business writers and people would look at you and say, “Oh, well, what do you know about this, you know? Where’s your economics degree? You know, this is—get with the program here.” But now the FBI has said that this mortgage fraud, that 80 percent of it—80 percent of it—was caused by the banks and the lending—other lending institutions, mortgage companies, etc., not the people. Eighty percent of it.
And the number one reason, it turns out, that people lose their homes is because of medical bills. It’s the number one cause of foreclosure and the number one cause of bankruptcies in this country. And we’re at a point right now where one in eight homes are either in delinquency or foreclosure, homes with mortgages, and there’s a foreclosure filing in this country once every seven-and-a-half seconds. Every seven-and-a-half seconds there’s a foreclosure filing in this country. I mean, this is a crisis.
You know, I can’t stand the nightly news with that Dow Jones average they always show to report how well the wealthy are doing on Wall Street and how it’s climbing every day, etc., etc., and there’s never any indicators about what’s happening to people in their daily lives, the bulk of the people in this country, the 14,000 yesterday who lost their health insurance and the 14,000 who will lose their health insurance today and tomorrow and the day after that. Where’s that index? Wouldn’t that be great to see that on the nightly news each night, where before cutting to commercial break we list the number of people who lost their homes today, lost their jobs today, lost their health insurance today, people who died today because they didn’t have health insurance? You know, these statistics are readily available, so this isn’t just rhetoric. I mean, these are actually proven facts. And they could report that every night.
But instead, they—you know, they’re there to report on what benefits those in power, and they go to places of power to cover that, but what they consider power. But the actual power, the way this country’s set up, is you and me, everyone listening and watching, everybody else who’s not listening and watching. The power is supposed to be with us, but we rarely, rarely, rarely hear our stories being covered by the media, other than in your column, on your show here, and a few other places.
AMY GOODMAN: Well, let’s go back to Capitalism: A Love Story. In this scene, Michael Moore takes, well, an armored truck to Wall Street.
MICHAEL MOORE: We’re here to get the money back for the American people.
GOLDMAN SACHS SECURITY: I understand, sir, but you can’t come in here.
MICHAEL MOORE: Can you just take the bag?
GOLDMAN SACHS SECURITY: No.
MICHAEL MOORE: Take it up there?
GOLDMAN SACHS SECURITY: Absolutely not.
MICHAEL MOORE: Fill it up? I got more bags. Ten billion probably won’t fit in here.
We want our money back!
I went to all the banks.
You’ve seen this guy?
MORGAN STANLEY SECURITY: Yeah, yeah.
MICHAEL MOORE: OK, we’re here to make a citizen’s arrest, actually.
And just drop it from the windows.
And everywhere I went…
I’m going to take it back to the US Treasury right in this car. It’s safe. You can trust me.
AMY GOODMAN: Michael Moore, as you’re going through that revolving door, you can’t push it. Was it locked?
MICHAEL MOORE: No, no. There’s a guy you can see—you’ll see it on the big screen. There’s a guy on the other side pushing the other way, so it’s like a tug-of-war. That was at AIG headquarters. So at least they’re good for that, I guess.
AMY GOODMAN: So the whole area is a crime scene?
MICHAEL MOORE: As far as I’m concerned, it is. I want to know where the investigation is on this. How did this happen? How did Goldman Sachs end up as king of the hill and their competitors in the dust? How much did the fact that there were almost a dozen or so former Goldman people inside the Bush administration concocting this bailout? I think these are legitimate questions to ask, and I hope that the Obama Justice Department will conduct some sort of criminal investigation.
There’s the larger crime, though, of course, of how the pie is divided in this country. And the fact that one guy can come to the table and take nine slices of that pie and leave one slice for everyone else at the table to fight over, that is criminal. That is offensive on so many levels. If we say we believe in democracy, it’s offensive on that level. If you have any kind of moral or ethical code that you live by, whether it’s because of your religion or your own spirituality or just because you know right from wrong, anyone, anyone over seven years old, maybe even a few five- and six-year-olds, know that if one guy takes nine slices of the pie and leaves one slice for everybody else, that’s just inherently wrong. And we allow that to happen.
AMY GOODMAN: We’re talking to the Academy Award-winning filmmaker Michael Moore. His latest film is just coming out. It’s called Capitalism: A Love Story. Stay with us.
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AMY GOODMAN: Our guest for the hour is Michael Moore. Juan?
JUAN GONZALEZ: Well, Michael, as you mentioned earlier, Capitalism: A Love Story comes twenty years after your classic debut film Roger & Me that examined how Michael’s home town of Flint, Michigan was devastated by plant closings at General Motors. While Moore was filming his new film, GM filed for bankruptcy.
MICHAEL MOORE: For twenty years I tried to warn GM and others that this day was coming, but to no avail. Maybe now they’d listen. So I went down to the headquarters of General Motors one last time to share some of my ideas.
GM SECURITY GUARD 1: Hey guys, if you don’t have—if you don’t have permission, you can’t film here.
MICHAEL MOORE: Huh?
GM SECURITY GUARD 1: If you don’t have permission from General Motors, you can’t film here.
MICHAEL MOORE: I’m just going up to see the chairman.
GM SECURITY GUARD 1: No, sir. No, sir.
MICHAEL MOORE: You know, I’ve been doing this for like twenty years.
GM SECURITY GUARD 1: I understand, sir.
MICHAEL MOORE: And I have not been let into this building for twenty years.
GM SECURITY GUARD 1: Four [inaudible] and a seven, six bravo, or alpha.
GM SECURITY: [over walkie-talkie] Go ahead.
GM SECURITY GUARD 1: Yeah, it’s Michael Moore here to see the chairman.
GM SECURITY GUARD 2: Gentlemen?
MICHAEL MOORE: Yes.
GM SECURITY GUARD 2: You need to get prior permission. You cannot film here, OK?
MICHAEL MOORE: But if I can’t go in and get permission, what am I supposed to do?
I guess they’re right: Breaking up is hard to do.
GM SECURITY GUARD 2: Stop that. Don’t do that.
AMY GOODMAN: Michael Moore in Capitalism: A Love Story. You’re back at GM.
MICHAEL MOORE: Well, for one last visit, I guess. I really—you know, I thought, honestly, I thought they would call my bluff this time and invite me in, considering how I’m now one of the owners of GM, as you are and everyone now listening. And I was ready. I mean, I brought along some things I was going to talk to them about, about how General Motors could be building things that we need for transportation for the twenty-first century. Not the internal combustion engine, I think that’s caused enough damage to the planet, but there’s another way to go. And our industrial infrastructure could help provide these things that we need, whether it’s transportation or alternative energy systems or whatever that is that would help advance our society, would help make us a better people, a better world. There’s a lot of good that the old, or I should say now “the new,” General Motors could do, especially as long as it’s in receivership.
As long as it’s pretty much still in our hands, we can really tell them what to do. And I wish that President Obama would exercise his authority as the de facto chairman of the board of this company, and of Chrysler, to tell them, “I’m sorry, this is the way it is from now on. This is how we’re going to do things, because, you know, the polar icecaps are melting, because we need to have jobs, real jobs, that pay real wages that people can raise a family on, and here’s how we’re going to do it.”
I mean, listen, I live in Michigan. The state is in desperate shape. The official unemployment rate is approaching 20 percent. Where I live, the county and the area that I live, it’s—in some areas it’s 22, 23 percent. So, you know, I see this every day, and it’s pretty devastating to witness.
JUAN GONZALEZ: Michael, General Motors may be under new management, but it has a long institutional memory. I understand you were like banned from a showing of your film in Detroit because—at a GM-owned theater?
MICHAEL MOORE: There’s only one movie theater in the entire city of Detroit. The entire city has one open movie theater, and it is in the—it is in the General Motors headquarters complex. And so, we were able to rent the theater for the Detroit premiere of the film. And after we did that, I think somebody upstairs figured out what was going on, and so they—when I showed up for the premiere, they tried to stop me from going in there. And in fact, they did, and they—finally, the compromise was I could come in, but there could be no press or cameras or anything around, because they didn’t want that shot of me actually being inside the belly of the beast for the first time in twenty years. So the press had to stay outside, and I was allowed to—you know, to go in.
JUAN GONZALEZ: Inside the belly of the crippled beast.
MICHAEL MOORE: The crippled these. The poor crippled beast that has crippled tens of thousands of families in my state and elsewhere.
AMY GOODMAN: There is a section of your film on religion that is very important, I think will speak to a lot of people, “Christianity and Capitalism,” and the film that you use to illustrate this, Jesus of Nazareth.
MICHAEL MOORE: Well, you know, this is the first I’ve ever really talked about this in any of my films, because I’m kind of loath to talk about religion. I think it’s a private matter, and I’m sick of hearing everybody discuss it or shove it down our throats. I’m not a proselytizer. I was raised Catholic. I am a Catholic. I have a lot of problems with the institution known as the Catholic Church, all the obvious ones that we don’t need to go into right now.
But the lessons that I was taught as a child, I’ve always felt were very good lessons, that we would be judged by how we treat the least among us; that the first shall be last, the last shall be first; that the rich man is going to have a very hard time getting into heaven. And one day, when someone asked Jesus, like, what’s the password to get in through the pearly gates, and JC said, “Well, actually, I’ll give it to you,” and he said, “This is what you’ve got to do. We’re going to ask you a series of questions when you get up there, and these are the questions. When I was hungry, did you feed me? When I was homeless, did you give me shelter? When I was sick, did you provide aid and comfort? When I was in prison, did you come visit me? If you did any of these things for the people who are the least among us, who have the least, then that means you did it for me, and you can now enter. But if you are thinking that you’re going to—if you’re going to live your life making as much money as you can and then using that money for your own purposes, for your own pleasure and enjoyment, and not share it with others, not help others, then, I’m sorry, that’s not going to—that’s not going to work.”
Now, I’m being a little facetious here, because, you know, the whole issue of the afterlife, I think, has always been used by those in power to get us just thinking about the reward that’s some place off in the distant future, like when we’re dead, so for right now just go ahead and, you know, suffer through whatever it is you’re suffering through.
But I believe—I’m just, you know, so tired of hearing this term, this idea that Christianity is somehow—or this is a Christian nation or whatever, and it’s like—well, first of all, there shouldn’t be any kind of a religious nation. But it’s also a lie, too, because what part of what Jesus said relates to what we’re doing now? I mean, I can’t see this guy, if he was here, you know, being part of a hedge fund. I can’t see, you know, Jesus trying to claw his way into the one percent so he can punk on the rest of the people. You know, I just—these people say they believe in him; I wish they actually would, frankly, because we’d be living in a kinder and gentler society.
So, in the film, I appropriate a piece of film from Franco Zeffirelli’s Jesus of Nazareth, and I imagine if they actually think that Jesus would approve of what they’re doing, what would Jesus sound like if he were a capitalist? And so, I—you know, our editor, actually, dubbed in his voice into Jesus’ mouth, and he goes around preaching the capitalist bible. Yes, it gets a lot of laughs, and it’s also—I’m waiting for the onslaught of believers who are not going to appreciate what I’m doing here.
But, you know, I go to see the priest who married my wife and I, and I go to see the priest who married my sister and her husband. And every priest I go to—and those are just the first two I start with, people I know. I didn’t go looking for, you know, socialist priests. And they both just rail against capitalism as a sin. It’s evil, it’s destructive, it’s contrary to what’s in the Bible. It’s contrary to all the major religions, not just Christianity, but Judaism, Buddhism, Islam, the church of Bill Maher. Whatever you believe in or don’t believe in, it’s just contrary to what—to what we know right and wrong is.
JUAN GONZALEZ: Michael, you have obviously amassed a lot in terms of the indictment of capitalism as a system, but some would say the film doesn’t offer much in terms of the alternative. Where in the film do you see your offering of what alternative would be like?
MICHAEL MOORE: Well, I’m very clear in the film that, you know, I’m not an economist. But the alternative, the economic order that we need to create for the twenty-first century—and that’s what we really need to do. We need to quit having the argument about the economic system that was invented in the sixteenth century versus the one that was invented in the nineteenth century. We need to—come on, we’re smart people. We’re in the twenty-first century. We have a whole new set of issues and problems that we face. Can’t we come up with an economic order that has these two basic underpinnings: that it is run democratically and that it is run with a sense of ethics and morality? So, whatever we construct, for me, personally, it has to have those two things in its foundation.
I do show in the film some very specific examples of workplace democracy, where a number of companies have decided to go down the road of having the company actually owned by the workers. And when I say “owned,” I’m not talking about some ding-dong stock options that make you feel like you’re an owner, when you’re nowhere near that. But I mean these companies really own it. And I’m not talking about, you know, the hippy-dippy food co-op, and I don’t mean that with any disrespect to the food co-ops who are listening or any hippies that are listening. But I go to an engineering firm in Madison, Wisconsin. These guys look like a bunch of Republicans. I mean, I didn’t ask them how they vote, but they didn’t necessarily look like they were from, you know, my side of the political fence. And here they all are equal owners of this company. The company does $15 million worth of business each year.
I go to this bakery. It’s not a bakery really; it’s a bread factory out in northern California, Alvarado Street Bakery. And they’re all paid. They all share the profits the same. They’re all shared equally, including the CEO. And they vote. They elect, you know, who’s going to be running this and how this is going to function. The average factory worker in this bread factory makes $65,000 to $70,000 a year, which, I point out, is about three times the starting pay of a pilot who works for American Eagle or Delta Connection. And that’s another harrowing scene in the movie, where I interview pilots who are on food stamps—pilots who are on food stamps because of how little they’re paid. So—
AMY GOODMAN: Finally, Michael, before you go, your film before Capitalism: A Love Story was Sicko, and now you see this whole debate. We only—well, we have less than a minute, but your thoughts on the healthcare crisis and debate and where it’s going here?
MICHAEL MOORE: President Obama, the reason why this is failing is because you took a half measure. He only went halfway, this public option. That’s why the base isn’t excited. That’s why there aren’t millions of people out in the streets supporting him. Had he done what he said he was going to do in 2003, when he first started thinking of running for Senate, that we need a single-payer system, like every other Western democracy, you know, I think all of us, everybody, would be out there massively. And it would make the town hall meetings and the teabag stuff look like the Disney Channel. You know, that’s what he would have had. But he can’t get anybody excited with this. He started out with a compromised position. You don’t start out compromising. You may have to compromise somewhere along the line, but you don’t start out that way.
So I hope he goes back and he rethinks this, now that he realizes that all his olive branch, bipartisan thing rea