Mirušais Dievs Kā Zombijs: Brīva Interpretācija Par Metaforu: Dead God as a Zombie: an Interpretation of a Metaphor.
The article is based on two perspectives. Firstly, it is an interpretation of the story "The Dead Man" (Le Morte) by French writer Georges Bataille. From this perspective, the main focus is laid on the "death of God" and one of the characters (the Count). The second perspective i...
| Published in: | Cel̜š |
|---|---|
| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | Latvian |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
LU Akadēmiskais apgāds
2013
|
| In: |
Cel̜š
|
| Further subjects: | B
Theology
B Bataille, Georges, 1897-1962 B PRESUMPTIONS (Law) B Popular Culture B DARABONT, F B DEAD Man, The (Short story) B Metaphor |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) |
| Summary: | The article is based on two perspectives. Firstly, it is an interpretation of the story "The Dead Man" (Le Morte) by French writer Georges Bataille. From this perspective, the main focus is laid on the "death of God" and one of the characters (the Count). The second perspective is a presumption that religious motifs tend to merge with the popular culture; within it, they gain a new meaning and then are transformed into a new concept. Such continuity gives a possibility for interpretation when concepts of popular culture are brought back into theology as metaphors which have some meaning for the modern world. Thus, a zombie, or a walking corpse has come from religion, and in popular culture (in TV series and movies, such as Deadset or The Walking Dead) a zombie is a dead man who is still able to perform some functions of a living human. There are two characteristic marks of a zombie, essential in the context of the interpretation of "death of God", as it can be seen in "The Dead Man". First, a zombie is not aware of his/her own death, and, second, a zombie does not have free will, he/she is lead only by hunger. The interpretation of the "Dead God" as a zombie begins with the quote from F. Darabont's TV series The Walking Dead: "I think, he (God - I.J.) had something else in mind, when he spoke about resurrection". A zombie can be interpreted as an "imperfect resurrection" because of the absence of God. For Bataille, the phenomenon which we call "death" is primary our awareness of death; the image of the corpse impersonates the destiny of the humankind: the corpse confirms that death is violence which refers to each human being. This is why the taboo, which does not allow to look at a corpse, is a distance between life and violence, and, simultaneously, also a vain try to deny one's own death, thus constructing a safe world, where everything can be "used", as Bataille puts it, "the world of a project". As an opposite, there is a world of the absolute, where a human being tends to be aware of his/her own death. This is the only way how human being can be aware also of the "death of God". The Count in "The Dead Man" symbolizes a zombie, who is stuck between life and death he is a link between the world of a project and the world of the absolute. Count himself is stuck between the "has been" and "will be", he can also be interpreted as an "eternal return" (as Bataille understands Nietzsche's concept). Also, the Count is an "old God", similar to God of concepts and dogmas, a christian god, characterized by Nietzsche. As a zombie, a state between the dead one and alive, as a distance and an eternal return the Count symbolises not only the caricature of the absolute. Also, the Count is a moment of crucifixion, a moment when Christianity dies on a cross. Keeping in mind the whole interpretation of the story, it is also possible to look at "zombie stories" from another perspective: the image of a zombie embodies a portrait of a human being from the 21st century. This being is an individual without free will, he/she goes, wherever the herd leads him/her, and is not capable of being aware of one's own death (so - it is impossible for a human being in the 21st century to be aware of the "death of God"). From Bataille's perspective, one can only be aware of the absence of God (and thus, desire for the absolute, for the impossible) only if one is fully aware of one's own death. In all other cases, every attempt of a human being to "resurrect" the dead God will end in a creation of a Dead God-Zombie, and, as such, will belong to the world of a project. |
|---|---|
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Cel̜š
|