RESEARCH ON CULTURE AND ART
Year:2009 | Volume:1 | Issue:1|Papers Count:8

Facing this historical symbol and theme countless questions strikes the mind, e.g. how the Islam joins such theme-common in various people and religions-to its culture? What does cross, as a mystery with numerous layers, associate in Islamic culture?What is the relationship between this symbol and perfect man in theosophy and Islam? By considering some extensive meanings, the content of this secret and Islamic conservatism in linking the elements and taking them from preceding cultures how meanings accorded to Islamic idea and Ideology are extracted and conveyed?Answering these questions and their explanation ax a scientific rule including the conclusions of this study is one of the present research targets.The most important finding is the agreement of this mystery with perfect man in Islam by mentioning some Koran verses and its presence state in Islamic culture and civilization. This research results from the theories including: the cross with plenty of hermeneutic capacities as a sacred mystery that able the addresses to interpret it and the cross as one agent of the mystery of perfect man virtually is similar to him.

A considerable number of English dramas of the English Renascence (the golden era of the drama writing in England) take oriental issues and elements especially Iranian ones. This paper regards one of these works, which is specifically associated with Iran focusing on the importance of examining such texts in the form of a view of the orientalist discourse with regard to the historical-political backgrounds. In this work, the orientalist view in representing the Eastern people (the Iranians and the Turkish) is the outcome of the political and power relationships of the last decades of the 16th century. Nonetheless, the more private relations such as those between the writers of this work and Shirley family and generally the issue of the financial support of the writers of that era should be noticed. Thus, the relation between travel writing and literature (especially drama) as the two main components of the orientalism in the rebirth era is also examined. For the analysis of such texts, the theory of Edward Said regarding orientalism as the discourse of the dominance of West on the Orient is necessary but not sufficient: in order to have a better understanding of the macro-narrative of the orientalism, it is necessary to study 'petits recits' in its history such as the text discussed here.

Recognizing and analyzing the economical foundations of art in renaissance as the basis of a society which mainly aims at individual freedom is of great importance for understanding of renaissance characteristics.This paper strives to cast light on the role of economical system in that era in supporting the big artistic projects.Two economical supporters of art in the middle Ages were church institution and guilds. Church institution, although in renaissance period had been weakened by strengthening humanism, was still counted as a supporter of arts; but the works of art, ordered by church, were not as in the middle Ages following the religious patterns. Renaissance artists, having been affected by new ways of thought, were inclined to express and create those works of arts which both in form and content were humanistic.Decreasing the power of church was parallel with increasing the power of monarchy. Italy, in that time, was not dominated by a central power; sometimes Spanish and French kings had considerable roles in supporting Italian artists. In Italian metropolitans - both dictatorial and republic - artists were enthusiastically supported. The art formed in the realm of republic state had more flexible boundaries than that formed in the realm of dictatorial one. The roots of renaissance, thus, were planted in Florence republic, a city dominated not by a dictator but by associations and groups.Increasing the power of merchant class and the emergence of the concept of nationality in Italy in 14th century has caused the middle class to appear. As this class developed, small and local families changed into big and rich dynasties which grounded significant artistic projects. The works of art, now more than any other time, follow the rules of competition. Middle class, monarchic class and church competed with each other to support humanistic culture and such competition led to the expression of a wide variety of artistic genius.

From sign-semantics point of view, the present essay tries to put forth an analysis of visual signs related to martyrs pictures. The objective is to study sign-semantically the meaning. Sign-semantics means "appearing and making appear the meaning" which is grasped from linguistic data; in other, more objective word, it relates to how "the meaning appear" in the surface of an utterance. In the pictures being studied, one can easily pursuit "the process of meaning creation" from the innermost layer, where the fundamental categories of semantics are constructed in a square-form structure called the square of semantics, through the middle layer, where the narrative structures are established, to the surface layer of discourse where the mentioned fundamental categories are expressed. The main questions discussed here are: is it possible to regard the different texts produced on the common, cultural basis as a single text of narration? In order to find appropriate answer to such questions, the essay introduces, at first, the narrative and discursive theories from semantics perspective and, thereafter, tries to analyze the pictures according to those theories. The paper, finally, came to the conclusion that some of the pictures studied are originating from the cultural which can have a mythical dimension too.

Since in post-revolution years the inclination toward traditional forms (types of traditional theater) has increased, some of playwrights have tried to create, by integrating one or more elements in each theater form, their own eclectic form. Quality and quantity of this process is a noteworthy subject in the history and critique of contemporary theatre literature.This study mainly focuses on how plot expression is originated from eclecticism of two different forms, namely Iranian traditional theater form and Western theater one. According to morphology theory of Iranian theater the ninth form, i.e. "eclectic theater", was chosen and analyzed in Iranian plays.The form and content of eclectic plays of 1981-2001, above all, are analyzed; then, after the selection of a considerable number of such works, the concept of "researching criticism" of eclectic form in Iranian theater literature is paid attention to.What, in fact, have motivated us to do research into the eclectic plays were the formal and content elements in Iranian theater forms, especially eclectic one; it is, of course, followed by "researching criticism".Eclectic form is an innovation which has provided us with the possibility of progressing and moving forward in the realm of play-writing in Iran, author holds. Being familiar with eclecticism, too, helps the contemporary theater literature in Iran.

Historical city the context of is a part of national, cultural resource of a given society, a part which is from aesthetic, collective memory and urban identification standpoints noteworthy; this part is also there where we live. None the less, such contexts have some disadvantages such as confusion in appearance, inaccessibility, shortage of urban institutions and facilities, chaos in economical, social structure, and worn out buildings – which have made many people to leave such contexts.The present essay aims at identifying and analyzing the problems of Ardakan (a city of Yazd province) historical context in terms of management, economical, social, corporeal issues.The methodology used here is analytic; the study has been, moreover, established on documentary work, field study, and questionnaire-based data collecting. Making use of statistical methods and existing data by Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Expert Choice software, the study traces back the problems and thereafter analyzes them. Some suggestions are given, at the end, to repair the worn contexts.The findings reveal the fact that appropriate opportunities, due to the lack of programming and weak management, are not created and utilized; on the other hand, the small towns constructed newly (on the margins of old cities) which contain urban infrastructures and main institutions make the gaps in context wider. On the other hand, the statistical techniques and software demonstrate that 51.6 per cent of solutions are as to maintain and repair the old context and not to destroy them. But what is happening in reality proves the wrong solution to be dominant and widespread!

Culture is meaning system that inserted in the mind of human beings and characteristic to them. Although behaviors and rituals related to marriage, birth, eating, etc are, as many believe, influenced by culture, i.e. they differ between different cultures, but, at first glance, death is seen by many as a sudden, accidental phenomenon which does not follow any determined pattern and is the same in all societies. The truth is that death, like other human behaviors, is a social, cultural category; looking from this standpoint, one can distinguish the dying steps for any individual. Moreover, one would argue that the ways of dying are internalized by the process of socialization and, hence, taught. The ways of dying, for this reason, are not the same in different societies. The meaning and the forms of giving meaning (as Weber puts it forth, Sinngebung) to it is subject to change in a given society in historical periods. Let us set an example. The time and the place of dying, and the causes thereof, which were common in the past time are all changed in modern societies. Remembering the mentioned phenomenon and confronting with it, in addition, is intentionally avoided today.This is the ignorance of death and life experience which are unavoidable realities of human being.The essay tries to introduce a new disciplinary which takes the death as its object; dose not metaphysies vather as a cultural, social element as a cultural, social element.

Recognition of Revitalization Oriented Movements in the Iranian Architecture is an opportunity to rethink about contemporary Iranian architecture. This paper discusses the impacts and consequences of revitalization oriented trends on contemporary Iranian architecture. It will discuss the interactions and challenges between tradition and modernity, which is obvious in the new generation of contemporary Iranian architects.Research questions are 1- What are the main approaches and groups in contemporary Iranian architecture?2- What are their perspectives regarding globalization and regionalism in contemporary architecture? 3- What are the impacts of their ideas on the contemporary Iranian architecture? 4- What are the specifications of the third group (global-regionalism)?This paper in based on a kind of a value-free approach, which analyse Contemporary Iranian buildings.Theoretical framework of the paper is based on literature review in the case of contemporary Iranian architecture, as well as the critical papers those focused on Contemporary Iranian buildings. The paper analysed the buildings in five categories:1- The main concept and spatial character: I- International Style II- Conservative Traditionalism III- Iranian Modernism IV- Iranian Post-modernism V- Eclecticism.2- The architects’ attitudes (especially in this project): I- Anti-modernist Regionalism, II- Anti-regionalist Modernism, III- Moderates, IV- Avant-garde.3- Building form: I- Familiar, II- Western-looking, III- New and Eye-catching, IV- Fantastic, V- Exotic.4- Materials and facing details: I- Brick, II- Exposed-Concrete, III- Steel and Glass, IV- High-Tech, V- Granite Slabs, VI- Colourful Façade.5- Contextual relationships: I- Homogeneous, II - Indifferent to the Context, III – Contrasting.The results of the paper show that revitalization oriented movements in the Iranian architecture are one the most determining forces in contemporary Iranian architecture.