Search

In linguistics, onomastics is the science that studies the history and origin of toponyms, along with their structural aspects. This study aimed to determine the origin of toponyms by comparing their linguistic and ethnocultural, as well as mythical, information. A qualitative research design guided this study. A few toponyms were identified through random sampling method including Yrgyz (Irgiz), Burkanbulak, Esik (Yssyk), Auliesu, Zhaiyk (Ural) and Zher-Su, which were collected from etymological, explanatory and mythological dictionaries and collections of mythical texts. The etymological and component analysis methods were applied to study these names. The criteria to select these toponyms were that all should be names of rivers or hydronyms, since river-water was a mythological symbol (the source of life, death and disorder); and that they should occur not only in one language, but in several related languages. The findings revealed that the archetype of each word conformed to phonetic changes. There were also structural connections between these words. Besides, each word had symbolic connotations. This study would provide useful insights about ethnocultural and mythical information of these words and help in broader understanding of the cultural characteristics.

This comparative study looks into the image of the wolf in Genghis Aitmatov's "Plakha" and Jack London's "White Fang." For this purpose, first, the concept of the wolf in fiction is discussed, and the representation of wolves in these two texts is analyzed. This study explores the relationship between wolves and human beings as expressed in the texts in a way that helps understand the image of the wolf with specific cultural beliefs and practices that find aspirations in the text mentioned. The study concludes that Aitmatov associates Kazakh people with the wolf, unlike London's wolf, whose existence does not center around issues of freedom and independence.

This conceptual research analyses the historical development of the German concept of "Bildung" to the Danish "dannelse." The starting point is J.G. Fichte's 1808 "Addresses to the German Nation," in which "Bildung" is analyzed as a key concept. The paper illustrates the influence Fichte had on N.F.S. Grundtvig, the "father of modern Denmark," with important adaptations based on English liberties and Nordic mythology. Grundtvig's "dannelse" is then analyzed based on his 1832 "milestone" work, "Nordic Mythology." The paper finds that "Bildung" and "dannelse" can be considered parallel concepts of similarity in their shared emphasis on the mother-tongue as a "living language," and focus on social cohesion. However, "Bildung" and "dannelse" can also be characterized as concepts of difference, in that: 1) "dannelse" popularized "Bildung," meaning that it was not just for the academic bourgeoisie, but the entire "folk"; 2) freedom of expression is fundamental to "dannelse," in contrast to the stability of will and moral order in "Bildung;" 3) in "dannelse," national unity is expanded to a wider circle of belonging, the whole of humankind; 4) Nordic mythology is a social cohesive in "dannelse," to contrast Fichte's more rational conception of "Bildung." Written by a British author for an English-speaking readership, this research does not feign to be more than a prefatory glance at two rich and complex concepts. However, in shedding light on the historical development of "Bildung" to "dannelse," it aspires to edge readers closer toward a shared conceptual understanding or, more aptly, to better understand misunderstandings.

This study examines the legacy of ancient cultures by comparing the logical principles of Chinese and Greek mythology. Using the structural analysis method of Levi-Strauss and a narrative literature review methodology (based on a review of 69 articles), we identified seven factors, including fate, heroism, gods, nature, ethics, symbolism, and allegory. Our findings suggest that, despite cultural differences, ancient Chinese and Greek mythology share similarities that continue to influence contemporary writing. These issues have both practical and theoretical ramifications for authors, historians, and consumers interested in the connection between mythology and literature. However, this study has several shortcomings, including a lack of primary sources and an emphasis on Chinese and Greek civilizations. Future research could examine the legacies of other ancient societies as well as the impact of mythology on various literary genres. This study contributes to the ongoing discussion regarding the significance of historical and cultural legacies and their continued relevance in contemporary society.

People are born into an existing culture and are shaped by it, whether they realize it or not. The fact that people socializing in the same cultural environment have similar values, norms and behavior patterns results from this feature of the culture. While there are quite distinguishable differences between the cultures of different societies in the world, when it comes to violence against women, the distinctiveness of cultures disappears and societies show great similarities with each other. This is due to the fact that men's perspectives on women are similar around the World. The elimination of the violence primarily depends on men to change their perspective on women; to accept that women are human beings in the true sense of the word to accept that they have a dignity and this honor is at least as valuable as their own and to perform their relations with women on this acceptance. For a world without violence, both formal and informal education institutions have great responsibilities. The problem of violence can be solved by starting a total education campaign in the media, schools and religious institutions, especially in the family. The cultural basis of violence against women is tried to be revealed in this study. With this aim, the hints of the culture that feed violence are traced in proverbs and creation myths collected from different parts of the world.

Within the scope of the study area to strengthen the creative process of the transmission of intangible cultural heritage through teaching practices which UNESCO emphasizes, in this research, it is aimed to develop content for learning processes enriched with context-based questions that can be used in high school geography and history lessons based on the meta-program model and to explain the procedures that can be performed in this process. This research is a longitudinal document analysis study constructed in a qualitative research design. The achievement of to be able to explain the intangible elements representing Turkish culture within the framework of the legitimacy source of power (Kök-Tengri faith and Kut) theme, which is determined to be organized as an interdisciplinary behavior content in geography and history instructional programs, was chosen as the research unit. The stated achievement was analyzed within the framework of knowledge and cognitive process dimensions, transformed into goal-behavior statements and associated with context-based questions. On the basis of the processes in this research, new studies can be conducted in which intangible cultural heritage elements will be integrated with international competence frameworks and integrated into instructional content designs. It is thought that these studies will strengthen the transmission of the intangible cultural heritage to the younger generations through the curriculum and the textbooks resulting from these programs.

The objective of this study was to promote the use of metaphorical stories based on classical Greek myths in academic teacher training. The aim is to favour processes of personal assemblage and the constitution of teacher identity. Based on 8 classical myths, 4 of them featuring a female character and another 4 a male character, the group of participants narrated positive as well as disappointing experiences they had lived through during their academic training. Moreover, they selected the myths, among those proposed, that provided the metaphors that best described their specific personal trajectories. Adopting a qualitative approach, we followed a narrative-biographical tradition and collected 37 stories. This narrative corpus was analysed using the AQUAD software. The results showed that classical Greek myths contain and provide a powerful and illuminating narrative scaffolding, helping students to adopt a different perspective in the narration of their own academic trajectories. The myths equally helped them to become more aware of the most genuine life and personal experiences that shaped their own teacher identity.

Images are part of the communication strategies of both the hegemonic powers and political activism. Images have recently been the focus of studies on social movements, highlighting the importance of visual activism in social media. However, the relationship between these visual narratives and mythological structures and how they operate to mobilize social change has not been significantly explored. This study analyses the role of environmental activism memes on social media and how, in anthropological terms, they can be understood as myths or narratives that offer a model for perceiving, understanding, judging and acting in the world. We draw from ongoing research into eco-influencers on Instagram, taking environmental memes characterized by binary oppositions of "before" and "after" as the study subject. This contrast establishes a temporal narrative and future prediction, involving a cause-and-effect relationship and a moral judgement of our actions. We argue that, in the case of the environmental meme, the myth-based approach helps in understanding its role in articulating the cosmic, social and personal orders as it brings human action into harmony with the cosmic order while projecting its images onto the human experience.

In 2019 the climate movement experienced an unprecedented growth in its mobilization capacity and its political and media impact. This success is closely linked to the rise of Greta Thunberg and her global impact, as well as to the organization effort of "Fridays for Future" in hundreds of local groups around the globe. This paper studies the connection between these two elements based on the movement frame analysis and its dissemination on social media. Through an analysis of the activists' speeches and social media messages, Greta's key role in the establishment and evolution of a new frame for the climate movement can be seen. This is reinforced and legitimized with her own personal story told through the hero's journey or monomyth. Then, the inclusion and adaptation of Greta's frame in the local group of "Fridays for Future" in Barcelona based on the content analysis of its publications on Twitter and Instagram will be analyzed. The results show how, despite the reluctance regarding personified leadership, Greta's frame has a significant influence on the discourse of the local movement and on the "Fridays for Future" Barcelona's social media followers. The analysis also provides empirical evidence of the relevance of glocal dynamics in online social movements.

The study identifies the archetypal motives of the Hero and the Seeker in modern rap lyrics, demonstrating a certain archetypal basis of the rap artists' identity. The problem of the archetype-identity correlation has been solved through the use of the method prioritizing the discursive role invariant as the index of the artists' both psychic dispositions and cultural-semiotic background, thus performing identity eliciting function. The aim of the article is to identify the rappers' archetypal roles of Hero and Seeker based on the linguistic and narrative devices. Four motive-descriptors underlying the Hero archetype are manifested by role invariants of Champion winner, Warrior-soldier, prophet / savior and noble rescuer. Each of them is based either on the metaphorical interpretation of rap performance as the sporting contest, a battle at war, the Universe and blessing, or on allusions to precedential characters significant for the rap artists' self-identification. Narrative manifestations of the Hero formation involve five correlations with stages of the Hero's Journey associated with Joseph Campbell's Monomyth: Ordinary World of childhood and adolescence; obstacles and enemies; Inmost Cave as an inner conflict and fears the Hero has to face; metaphorical "death" foregrounded by symbols of "beyond world" or transition space between the worlds; a transfiguration into a new status in a new world of luxury and success, "awarded" by material symbols of prosperity.

Various scientific studies, interpretations, analyses, and comparisons have revealed a strong link in the origin of Kazakh mythology in contemporary Kazakh society. The main problem in this lies in the fact that existing research on mythology has always centered in fields of literature, philosophy, religion and culture, and history. Previous scholars have always overlooked the study of mythology in the field of art. It's for this reason, that this research article centered on the mythology in the art of painting education and especially pictorial analysis of Kazakh mythology. In the article, the definition and history of Kazakh mythology are given and the studies of the researchers on mythology are mentioned. The painting educations made within the scope of the research article are inspired by the myth of "Er Tostik". The research conducted within the scope of a creative and scientific analysis shows that the works related to the formation of Kazakh mythology have an important place in the history of Kazakh painting education. Besides, important subjects of Kazakh mythology in Kazakh art history were determined and how they affected the works of the painters were examined and interpreted comparatively.

Mythology and folklore have long been important means for promoting literacy in human societies. This study aimed at validating a mythology and folklore module and evaluating its effectiveness in teaching the subject of mythology and folklore. This was in response to inadequate learning resources in teaching literature and to address the call for effective instructional materials. The study used comparative-experimental research design. The results revealed that the developed module consisted of excellent contents, relevance and mechanics as evaluated by experts in the area. The module was also assessed by the students as highly acceptable, valid, reliable, and usable. Third Year Bachelor of Secondary Education (BSED) major in English students for School Year 2015-2016 were the participants of this study. The students were divided into control and experimental groups. The groupings were based on their GPA during the previous semester. While the experimental group utilized the developed module, the control group did not. The test instruments were the different exercises given every after the topics which lasted for one hour every session. Based on the results, the performance of the college students in literature in experimental group had improved from poor to excellent achievement whereas the control group had relatively improved from poor to fair achievement. Hence, it is recommended that the module be used in similar contexts particularly in learning mythology and folklore.

The article considers one of the new social phenomena that have arisen in society, and is currently changing everyday social practices, which are one of the integral parts of the new media - computer games. The problem of the study is conditioned by the fact that computer games are gaining popularity, while increasingly influencing players, changing their established way of life, behaviors, forming new styles of communication and attitude to the surrounding reality. The activation of interest in the process of everyday social practices arose due to the shift of value orientations in the structure of students' lifestyle. The aim of the study is to analyze the impact of computer games on everyday social practices of students-gamers. The leading methods for the study of this problem is the interview method, which allows revealing more fully and multifaceted impact of computer games on everyday social practices of students-gamers. It was found that the main characteristics of the gamer are: the ability to appreciate the game; the ability to play a lot of fun, not to chase the game awards; to see in the games something of great importance; to know a lot about different games; to be able to play well and understand the game. It is shown that computer games do not generate subcultures, but only try to unite people and teach them to work together in a team. Gamers arrange events for any particular game they play. Such meetings are most often of a competitive nature. Students-gamers note the following skills that they acquire through the games: meeting new people; learning English; improving communication skills; interesting stories; historical moments; military Affairs (weapons, equipment, military battles, etc.); myths and legends of different world cultures. The practical significance lies in the fact that the data obtained in the work can be used in social psychology, age psychology, psychology of work, sociology, as well as for further theoretical development of this issue.

Teachers serve as gatekeepers to the implementation of curriculum in their classroom (Thornton, 2005). Their beliefs about a topic and the wider political environment can influence what they teach. To this end, our goal was to investigate whom preservice teachers identify as heroes and why, which heroes should be included in the curriculum, and how this might influence instruction of the NCSS theme Individual Development and Identity. This study was an exploratory study using the qualitative methods of an open-ended survey and focus group. We were guided by the research question: How do preservice elementary teachers conceptualize heroes? The participants were elementary preservice teachers in their final semester prior to teacher internship. We surveyed participants to determine their perceptions of heroes. We conducted a follow up focus group with five participants. The participants conceptualized heroes as serving a pedagogical function. We learned that these preservice teachers had a balanced concept of heroes and considered heroes valuable to the school curriculum. They saw heroes as role models for students to imitate. Of interest to the study of heroes in the social studies curriculum, these preservice teachers were able to overcome the barrier of the flawed hero. Rather than shifting away from teaching heroes and focusing on heroic actions as Barton and Levstik (2004) recommend, they were able to keep the curricular gate open (Thornton, 2005) to teaching heroes by developing the concept of the gray hero.

The aim of social studies course is to educate individuals as citizens with national and universal values, to provide them with skills which are required in life contributing to see themselves as part of the society they live in. In this process it can be used literary work and media products. One of the media products that can be employed in social studies courses is documentaries. In addition, documentaries can be employed in value education as a resource. The aim of the study is to analyse the use of a documentary entitled "Talisman of the City" (Sehrin Tilsimi) which was broadcasted on TRT TV website in Turkey. Document analysis was used in the research and each episode (total 50 episodes) are analysed as a document. The data obtained were examined using the descriptive analysis. The findings suggest that the documentary analysed contains most of the values. Those values which are frequently mentioned in the documentary are found to be love, respect and helpfulness. In the context of the elements of cultural heritage, many elements were found in the legends.

In spring 2018, two honors colleges--Indiana State University (ISU) and University of Wisconsin-Stout (UW-Stout)--came together to create a cross-institutional collaboration blurring the boundaries between campuses. This project connected first-year honors students with the core curriculum of two geographically separated honors colleges. Building on their studies of Classical mythology, ISU honors students in Classical Cultures of Greece and Rome reviewed, advised, and critiqued screenplays composed by UW-Stout students in Honors English, leading to the production of short films presented at ISU's "Spring Classics Fest" and UW-Stout's "4:51 Short Film Festival and Exhibition." Drawing on our NCHC 2018 panel presentation in Boston, this illustrated paper highlights the value of cross-institutional collaborations for honors students, teachers, and programs. The collaborative process advanced skills in critical reading, analysis, and writing; engaged students and teachers in the scholarship of teaching and learning; and contributed to curricular innovation. Examples of assignments, interim results, and student-created short films are featured along with students' assessments of the value of crossing campus boundaries.

Challenging the embedded mythologies that surround Anzac, especially as the centenary of First World War played out over the 2014 to 2018 commemoration period, can be confronting for tertiary students as well as a difficult space for tutors to navigate. This is especially the case for teacher education students who form the majority cohort taking a first-year course in Australian History as part of their teaching education degree programs at a large New South Wales university outside Sydney. Experiences of student disruptions, confrontations and occasional anger prompted tutors to question whether the topic of Anzac should be covered at all. An alternative was sought, where careful interrogation of teaching practices was undertaken. Three pedagogical approaches were examined; the traditional lecture format, using documentary film to glimpse at deeper historiographical problems within lectures and tutorials that allowed for more intense critical thinking and analysis of historical resources via focused questions. The efficacy of these pedagogical approaches was systematically assessed through surveying students in the Australian History course prior and post teaching about Anzac. This paper examines the background of teaching Anzac in the tertiary space, the use of specific pedagogical approaches and the results of the survey. Students' main preference for teaching methods about Anzac was through documentaries in both surveys. However, the second most preferred method was the lecture format more generally and this preference increased in the post survey. There was also evidence of less resistance to the contested nature of Anzac mythologies.

The use of the monomyth to shape the narratives of fiction with deep meanings, while feeling both new and recognizable, is consistently experienced across all cultures throughout time. As past publications have utilized this approach to subconscious symbolism to explain many experiences, it has not yet been utilized to explain the process of counselor development. The structures utilized in this exploration of the Hero's Journey concept include the seminal work "Hero with a Thousand Faces "by Joseph Campbell (1949) being applied to the structure of counseling development as reviewed by Rønnestad and Skovholt (2003). Each stage of the journey will be translated into an understanding of how students grow from before their master's program through their senior years as experts in the counseling field. The following article will engage this metaphor to explore the narrative of a counseling student on their quest to become a counseling professional through use of the stages from the monomyth as used to describe the Hero's Journey.

Young people, in the age of puberty and early adolescence, are in need of images and narratives as role models to mirror their actual thoughts and feelings, and to stimulate the development of their (tradition(s)-related) life orientation. The development of a life orientation we see as a religiously or secularly founded process of identity construction--a work-in-progress; a process of 'learning by doing'. This is described in Part I of this contribution. As Jacob Moreno, the founder of psychodrama stated: 'Thinking is in the action'. 'Doing'--being actively involved in a situation--is the defining characteristic of key persons and key objects in narratives. This is in line with John Dewey's view that the activity new perspectives are created; learning by doing. In bibliodrama, making use of psychodrama techniques, connections are established between narratives from traditional (religious or secular) worldviews--but also from myths and fairy tales--and young people's individual life experiences. Seemingly without effort and as child's play, bibliodrama creates an encounter between the here-and-now and the once-and-then of narratives of long ago. The theoretical framework of this practice and the methods of bibliodrama are described in Part II. In Part III we present an example of bibliodrama performed with 18--20-year-old students of the Odisee Hogeschool (Odisee University of Applied Sciences) of Brussels (Belgium). We conclude our contribution with a few preliminary conclusions, a discussion and recommendations for the practice of bibliodrama in education to familiarise students with (religious and secular) life orientations traditions, in order to facilitate the construction of their own authentic life orientation.

Seeking the solution to the problems of contemporary man and approaching the social events through mythology is the other way to use the healing power of literature education. Having served as a guide for people in the past, mythology is the mirror of the past, which indicates the reasons and possible results of the events that have experienced today. The communities, which internalize the information well through myths, can direct their future, as well. In this study, we aim to examine the child education and the social problems that arise as a result of this education through the protagonist of Duca Kocaoglu Deli Dumrul story, his relation with his parents and his life told in one of the twelve texts in the Book of Dede Korkut, which is an epic of Oghuz Turks. To this end, Suphi Altindöken, which had sparked a debate by killing Özgecen Aslan, a university student in Mersin in 2015, and Deli Dumrul, who shows relatively different characteristics from the other protagonists in the Book of Dede Korkut will be compared by their education that they receive from their parents and the environment that they grew up. In this comparison, we have used two tragedia; of Alcestis and of Antigone by Euripides and Sophocles, two playwrights from 5th and 4th centuries B.C. respectively, and used the story of Dumrul and Azrael, published by Murathan Mungan in 2000. In the context of a mythological story from the 12th century and an event from the 21st century, the main elements of child education, especially the parents' attitude, will be included.

The 21st century individual should be able to access information and critically evaluate and interpret it. What creates this obligation is the information bombing and political and commercial perception management brought about by virtual networks, the media and globalization. Therefore, critical thinking and its sub-component, critical reading, are becoming more and more important because they are the assistants of the individual who has to distinguish right from wrong and the truth from propaganda in life and texts. The aim of this study is to reveal the effect of performing reading activities with critical reading questions developed by the researchers on critical thinking and reading skills, and to pave the way for further research in this area. Study sample consisted of 232 students of Agri Ibrahim Çeçen University in the academic year of 2016- 2017. Participants were recruited using random sampling technique. This was a mixed design study. The qualitative dimension of the study was based on a screening model. Data were collected using document review and interview methods, and were analyzed using content analysis. The quantitative dimension of the study was based on a quasi-experimental model. Data were collected using a Critical Thinking Self-Evaluation Form and a Critical Reading Scale (pretest-post-test) before and after a 7-week application. Data were analyzed using a statistical software package. T-test and ANOVA were used for analysis. Results show that reading activities with critical reading questions have a statistically significant effect on students' critical thinking and reading skills. Qualitative data also support these results.

The use of Classical Greek myth as a narrative and metaphorical tool can contribute to the construction of a professional teaching identity. Adopting a biographical narrative approach, the present study sought to assess this contribution in a group of teacher and researcher trainees undertaking a postgraduate university course. The construction of personal narratives used for collective interpretation by the participants that generated them was analysed and interpreted in relation to the development of teacher professionalism. Our findings show the effective activation of metacognitive processes in order to rethink teacher professionalism from a narrative point of view. Using the structure and content of Classical myths as a scaffold, participants established valuable reflections on crucial aspects of teaching, identifying personal achievements and conquests as well as fears and insecurities. The structures latent in myth provided an effective framework with which to project and identify at least three hermeneutical themes--symbolism, function and structure--that form constituent elements of professional identity and are not only intertwined but are also constituted within a community of practice. Thus, Greek myths continue to offer an interesting cognitive and emotional scaffold that contributes to teacher professionalism, facilitating the formulation of a reflective, collaborative and personal meaning of identity which brings together personal teaching experiences and knowledge and is necessarily shared with the surrounding community of practice.

Intertextuality, the term defining the relationship and the similarity of a newly-produced text with previous ones, has provided a broad array of subjects to be studied especially in social sciences. Firstly, literary works have been analyzed within the framework of intertextuality, and striking similarities have been found among literary texts. Nevertheless, the world cannot be limited to the literature since there are numerous ways and possibilities for human beings to express themselves. Philosophy, for instance, is the deepest version of humans' self-expressions and understandings; therefore, it has been inevitably influenced by external sources such as myths, literature, politics, economics or society. Although the intertextuality in philosophy has been mostly analyzed through the written philosophical works, there is a more basic and evident relationship in philosophers' perspectives: the intertextuality in the philosophy itself. Accordingly, this study aims to illustrate the role of the intertextual references in the formation of philosophical approaches. For this purpose, the study will focus on Albert Camus's "absurd" philosophy, and the intertextual relationship between Camus's philosophy and the myth of Sisyphus will be examined from a comparative perspective. By this way, it is aimed to demonstrate how our happiness is dependent on our desire to "imagine Sisyphus happy".

Ecological problems are some of the most important items on the agenda of humanity in the 21st century. Adding spiritual depth, ethical point of view and basic human traditions to the contribution that human beings provide to ecological problems through intellect will provide realistic and lasting results. In the Palaeolithic Age, where man is under the domination of nature, he owes gratitude to the divine power of nature and worships its elements. With the beginning of industrialization, myths were only old-time stories for humanity. Due to the holism rule of ecology the salvation of nature may be possible by all the living things in the ecosystem behaving in the same way and with the same interaction. Today, there is a need for nature education in which we can teach all mankind that protecting a tree is no different from protecting a forest. Myths in the world we live today remind us of the spiritual, inner richness that nature provides to man; is an effective educational material in the sense that their ancestors can repeat their life integrated with nature. Mythology should be included in nature education. For a qualified nature education, we need the magical atmosphere that mythological stories will create. In addition to this, Duha Kocaoglu Deli Dumrul Epic will examine the historical ecological perspective of the Turkish community and the messages they give to solve their present ecological problems.

This essay examines the interaction between the myth of the Wandering Jew, diaspora history and the notion of cosmopolitanism. This is a paradoxical synthesis that points in several directions: towards the ideals embedded in international education; towards the roots of anti-Semitism; in the direction of the notion of cosmopolitanism as a crime against the nation (something that Hitler, Stalin and Henry Ford agreed upon). The figure of the Wandering Jew has roots in history and myth and is a presence in the "Protocols of the Elders of Zion." The figure wanders through history as an emblem of a cursed outcast, the possessor of arcane secrets, and a sophisticated global "flâneur." The essay explores Biblical, literary, and historical sources with further reference to memoirs including Edmund de Waal's "The Hare with Amber Eyes."

One of the conspicuous features of the twentieth-century West was silence. This idea could be supported by examining reflections of Ludwig Wittgenstein, Fritz Mauthner, John Cage, Samuel Beckett, Ihab Hassan, Franz Kafka, Wassily Kandinsky, Jean-Paul Sartre, Virginia Woolf, Wolfgang Iser, Jacques Derrida, and Pierre Macherey. To me, silence is not a mere theory, but rather a phenomenon from which we can get practical benefits. I believe silence is an eye, eye of knowledge. We can broaden our knowledge of the world through silence. To convey the idea that silence is an eye, I have concocted the word s[circle with dot in center]lence, where [circle with dot in center] has replaced the letter i and stands for the eye. This means knowledge can enable us to see, thereby acquiring knowledge of, what used to be invisible, and accordingly unknowable. In other words, through silence, we can achieve a certain type of literacy. I substantiate this claim by exploring the Horus myth, Ojo de Dios, John Cage's 4' 33," the nature of Expressionist paintings, Hinduism, thoughts of Hermes Trismegistus and Ibn al-Arabi, and practices of Mohammad, the prophet of Islam.

In this article, the author discusses binary oppositions and the imperative of achieving a middle way with his sophomore "Critical Reading, Thinking, Writing" students in connection with chapters 3 and 5--"Entering Into the Serpent" and "How to Tame a Wild Tongue"--in Gloria Anzaldúa's "Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza", which advocates creating a new third thing that is greater than the sum of its parts. He and his students use the text as a laboratory to illustrate the play of binaries and their resolution into balanced dualities. This essay maps his pedagogical approach and provides an aid to instructors. After describing his "Critical Reading, Thinking, Writing" course and showing how Anzaldúa fits into it, he discusses how related thinkers helpfully illuminate her project, especially with regard to binaries and common ground. The essay then employs collapsing the binary to demystify some of the text's difficult background material. In addition to showing how binaries may transform into a new third thing, this section provides discussion questions for students and possible answers for instructors, including an interpretation of the Juan Diego story as a little allegory of balanced opposites. The conclusion examines common ground as a recurring theme in Anzaldúa's writings, and a brief Appendix sketches additional critical-thinking approaches to the two chapters.

The article dwells upon the problem scarcely investigated in literary studies: a folklore tradition in O. Mandelstam's poetry. The researchers studied manifestation of mythological tradition in the poet's artistic world and revealed different archetypal models but they paid no attention to folklore elements. Only folklorists and ethnographers, while describing children's games associated with the theme of death, refer to one text of the poet illustrating their scientific research. This remark made it possible to develop the idea of folklore tradition existing in the acmeist's works having a latent character. The folklore commentary of one of the poems makes it possible to understand an image structure of the text in other way and brings a reader to the ontological level of the content.

Discovering the cultural dimensions of high ability is analogous to a large-scale creative problem-solving initiative. Just as the early phases of the creative-problem-solving process require broad-scope searches through diverse data sources, understanding the culture-giftedness nexus requires broad-scope excursions through interdisciplinary scholarly sources that can enable deeper understanding of culture. Here, we engage in such an excursion and borrow insights from leading thinkers in cultural anthropology, English studies, political science, ethical philosophy, and history, and use these insights to generate new ways of thinking about the cultural aspects of giftedness. The foreign concepts analyzed include anti-anti-relativism, mythological archetypes, the artificial reification of culture, distant proximities that influence personal identity, ethnocentrism and particularist morality, differing views of nature, and the influence of critical communities and motley coalitions in a globalized world.

The purpose of this study is investigating the convenience of cartoon films with respect to the developmental levels of pre-school children. Content analysis, one of the techniques of qualitative research, was used in the study. 10 cartoon films, five local and five foreign, showed in Turkish television channels from the year of 2014 to 2015 were investigated in terms of different points. A rubric including 20 items was used in the study and the tool was prepared by the researchers in the light of the related literature and views of the experts. Results showed that value factor was more frequently included in cartoon films while factors such as sexuality and superstitious beliefs were less likely observed. Furthermore, local cartoon films had more positive aspects in comparison with the cartoon films of foreign countries.

The prevalent question raised in literary theories has been the quiddity of literature. However, the question of "what is literature?" is a philosophical issue. On the other hand, the relationship between myth and literature has always been raised by most scholars and many have considered literature a subtype of myths. In this paper, while pointing transiently to the concepts and definitions of myth from the perspective of the great thinkers, with a different view, the role of myth in creation of artistic works is discussed. In this review, the critic attempts to interpret the literary work--or some sources in the text--to its prototype or archetype with its deep structure. With the help of this method, tracing the old or new mythology, distorted or worn, it is understood how they have passed over the whole cultural field and have found their specific formation.

Knowing the origin of a language helps us to determine the historical background of that language. As language itself is such a system of a society that is continuously evolving as that aforementioned society learns and technologically develops along with its roots or origins. Like many other languages, English is also a language that has roots or origins in many different languages. In this sense, the English language, rooted as Anglo-Saxon, is known to derive most of its words from the Latin and Greek languages by whose modern cultures, it is assumed to be affected most. In this study, this derivation of words and the intrinsic difficulties probable to occur for English as a Foreign Language learners (hereafter EFLs) with a special interest upon the case of pluralization are scrutinized. That is why it is enlightened by the author of this paper within the scope of the historical background, the etymology of the English language within a linguistic perspective. As a result, the most common and confusing plural forms of Greek-originated English words, and some curing methods are defined.

The article reviewed the history of Rome and Attila, their influence on the political and social situation in Europe. The aim of the article is to study the origins of Rome, its crisis and destruction. It also considers the impact on the collapse of the Empire, the impact that Attila had on the destruction of Rome and the analysis of Attila as a political and military leader, his history, heritage and influence on the cultures of European and Turkic people. The article also tells about the life of the Huns. The principles of historicism, objectivism, dialectical unity of the historical and logical are applied in the article, as well as the comparative-historical and historical-analytical methods. Abstraction and generalization were applied from the general methods of scientific knowledge. The analysis of foreign and domestic historians is undertaken, and the folklore of European countries, in particular the North German and Norse tribes is considered in the article. The results of the article show social, economic and political factors that influenced the emergence and decline of Rome, describe Attila's personality as a prudent and cruel leader, and the motives that drove him like a lust for power and expansionist views. The formation of Attila as a legend contributed to European militarized tribes, as well as his pursued policy of cult of personality. The Romans endowed him with exceptional abilities to explain their own military setbacks; the church cultivated the image of Attila in order to strengthen its influence. Article supplements the historical chronology of Europe, the history of the Turkic people. The study of folklore related to Attila allows us to look into the development of literary tendencies in medieval Europe

This research investigates the problems of self-identification of the Kazakh ethnic group in the post-totalitarian period, which are based on the values of traditional nomadic life of Kazakhs. The research shows the mechanisms of evolution of the ethnic group's worldview paradigms and their typology. The purpose of the research is to investigate the national image of Kazakhs' world through the structure of their artistic thinking, based on the assumption that art plays a significant role in the formation of an ethnic group's worldview. The research found that the significant factors in the structure of the ethnic worldview are traditional art, mythopoethic notions, language, and peculiarities of the national psychology and ethics. The features of mythopoethic reflection of reality in the artistic and spiritual practice of the nation, which are recorded in monuments of national art, were studied in detail. The research analyzed the typical features of the worldview of Ancient Turks as a prototype of the ethnic worldview of Kazakhs, which had a considerable effect on the structure of the Kazakh space-and-time continuum; the cults of ancestor, life and, death worshiping, which are relevant for the Kazakh mentality, were investigated. Special attention was paid to the main worldview cult of Ancient Turks-Tengri, which has numerous manifestation in the Kazakh culture: in cosmology, artistic thinking, ornamental, music, and epic art. The analysis allowed defining the ethnic worldview and concluding that the modern Kazakh culture is a synthesis of numerous elements of various cultures, which predetermines the exogenous nature of the traditional Kazakh worldview.

Shahnameh as one of the most important literary works that reflects the pure thoughts of the past Iranians, plays a key role in preserving the Iranian cultural heritage and national identity. Mythology helps us to understand the civilizations included the cultures. For example, the image of the women in the literary works is different from their modern popular image that ignores the real position of the women. Abu ?l-Qasim Ferdowsi, the highly revered Persian poet, is one of the literary figures who considered the role of women in his literary masterpiece in spite of the prevailing attitudes towards the women in his era. Some studies, due to the lack of understanding the Ferdowsi's poems, have claimed that he is a misogynist poet. However, Ferdowsi has equally ranked men and women in his long epic. For example, there are a number of chaste and compassionate mothers in Shahnameh, who play a vital role in shaping the epic character of the heroes. Or, the women who fall in love and relinquish all her possessions for the sake of fruition, such as Manijeh and Katayun who leave the king's court for the sake of love. Ferdowsi's imagery of women is not a descriptive account of their charming superficial beauties, but it reflects the wisdom, bravery, and belligerency of these women.

One of the myth-making phenomena is lake, which has often a counterpart in reality. Regarding the possible limits of mythological lakes of Iranian "Bundahišn", sometimes their place can be found in natural geography. Iranian "Bundahišn", as one of the great works of Middle Persian (Pahlavi) language, contains a large number of mythological geography names. This paper focuses on the mythical lakes of Iranian "Bundahišn". Some of the mythical lakes are nominally comparable to the present lakes, but are geographically located in different places. Yet, in the present research attempt is made to match the mythical lakes of Iranian "Bundahišn" with natural lakes. Furthermore, they are studied in the light of etymological and mythological principles. The study indicates that mythical lakes are often both located in south and along the "Fraxkard Sea" and sometimes they correspond with the natural geography, according to the existing mythological points and current characteristics of the lakes.

Taking a lead from recent articles in "The History Teacher," the author placed history, popular culture, and historical literacy at the core of a history course entitled "Enchanted Capitalism: Myths, Monsters, and Markets." Drawing on folklore, literature, popular culture, and economics, the course explored the rise of capitalism and its relation to tales of monstrosity in England from the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries, and the globalization of capitalism in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries and its relation to tales of vampires and zombies from Sub-Saharan Africa, Britain, the U.S., and Japan. The course asked students to explore the relationship between capitalism and the rise of stories involving a new kind of monster-- one that is undead--and, in doing so, interrogate key symbolic registers in which capitalist commodification is experienced by people in established capitalist societies and in societies undergoing capitalist development at different times and in different places to see if there were important differences in the kinds of monsters each culture produced in folklore, literature, video, and film. This article describes historical contexts for the course, course goals and structure, teaching the course, and student engagement used to meet learning outcomes.

Fun games can generate a flow experience for players, and further increase their willingness to continue gameplay. However, an important issue that has long concerned educators and game developers is how to incorporate learning subjects into games and achieve the goal of learning through play. This study designed an English blockade-running game based on Greek and Roman mythology, and proposed a research model to predict future willingness of learners to use game-based learning with smartphones after flow experience. A total of 376 college students participated in this study. Data analysis revealed that the model achieved a good fit, and most hypotheses were supported. Finally, this study will further discuss and explain these phenomena in the educational setting, and also make suggestions for future development.

All over the world, among various cultures, water has always been a major concept and given a lot of attention. Many nations in different ways have delivered it in different symbolic forms. The implications given to water are based on cultural and national tendencies. Being highly important, water and its semiology has beckoned prominent poets and authors' attention and because of its great function it has been utilized in conveying those poets' intentions thereby enriching their works. In the current study, we look into the importance of water and its symbolic representation in Sohrab Sepehri's and Gibran Kahlil Gibran's works. The results show that Sohrab has used the symbolic aspects of water more than Gibran has. Sohrab's symbolism is rooted in Persian-Islamic mythology, both national and religious, thus mainly oriental in origin. On the other hand, Gibran has been influenced by the western and universal symbols of water.

This paper addresses the incidence of 'Women against Women' in Nigerian folklore. Much has been written on Nigerian folklore, but mainly from within the mortal axis, as reflected in many folktales that cut across different communities in Nigeria. However, it has been observed that this gender phenomenon extends to the supernatural realm, where gods and goddesses, especially the latter, seem to prefer members of the opposite sex as the objects of their attention and goodwill. This paper focuses on Benin mythology, with particular emphasis on the cult and festivals of the Bini goddess, Ovia. Of the origin stories of most of the gods and goddesses in Bini mythology, the "Ovia" cult is unique, as it provides a gender reason why membership is restricted to men. Adopting a psychoanalytical and feminist approach, the paper concludes that Ovia's deliberate exclusion of women re-echoes the negativity ascribed to women.

Myths are accounts of the origin of societies and institutions not subject to rationalization but often used by historians and philosophers in their quest to study African history; for it is only thus that we can comprehend the various aspects of the continent's history and culture. This paper examines the critical understanding of African worldview, the place of African philosophy and the significance of myths in the reflection of African experience.

This paper aims to investigate university students' perceptions of drama activities in terms of providing suggestions for constructing an effective drama class. A total of ten students who participated in Interactive English, an elective English course during the second semester of 2013 at a Korean university, took part in this study. The students' perceptions of the activities as written in their journals and in response to questionnaires were analyzed. The results show that the subjects perceived that (1) all the 10 activities used in the drama course improved their communication skills (2) all the 10 activities improved their confidence; (3) activities that involved Group Homework, Mantle Expert, Role Play and Nursery Rhymes enhanced students' cultural awareness of the target language; (4) awareness, competence, and thinking ability were considered effective results of a drama class. Regarding these results, it is suggested that an activity based drama course gave students the speaking opportunity to increase their confidence, the practice necessary to become self-aware, and through stories, myths and nursery rhymes, a taste of other cultures.

This research aims to prove that the mythical-metaphorical narratives from cultures in harmonic relationship with their natural environment can be considered as an educational resource within the context of education for sustainable development. Using the Earth Charter as a basis and after establishing as analysis categories the competencies that education should foster in the students from this perspective, a content analysis of 28 stories was performed. The results endorse the existing coherence between the materials analysed and the principles and values that the Earth Charter's text reflects and the relevance of these materials as educational resources within the framework of education for sustainable development.

This paper reviewed the scientific contents in Igbo culture. Description of the Igbos who constitutes an ethnic group occupying southeastern Nigeria was made. It x-rayed the pre-colonial, colonial, and post-colonial culture of Igbo people and identified the scientific cultural activities, which can be harnessed to meet the challenges of modern day globalization. The advent of science and science education in Igbo culture and its applications in various cultural activities of the Igbos both in the pre-literate and post-literate era were discussed. The implications of these for the development of Igbo nation were examined and recommendations were made on how the scientific cultural activities can be improved to enhance the integration of the Igbo culture into the modern-day globalization. (Contains 1 table.)

The Ju/'hoan Bushman origin myth is depicted as a contextual frame for their healing and transformative ways. Using Recursive Frame Analysis, these performances are shown to be an enactment of the border crossing between First and Second Creation, that is, pre-linguistic and linguistic domains of experience. Here n/om, or the presumed creative life force, is infused into the community. As the Ju/'hoan Bushmen struggle to maintain their way of life in the face of economic and political change, they are likely to increasingly come into contact with social service and other aid programs. Any future for social work with the Bushmen is served by an understanding of how they relate to n/om. In particular, supporting Bushman communities requires highlighting the importance of the way changing forms arise in their recurrent mythological border crossings, the heart of Bushman transformative experience. (Contains 4 footnotes.)

Building on Ndofirepi's plea for an approach to teaching philosophy to high-school learners in Africa that is a hybrid of western and African thought, I argue that a critical touchstone is needed if the traditional wisdom is to be sifted, and that this can be found in the idea of the questioning and responsible subject. Traditional proverbs and myths, whether African or not, reveal a growing sense of responsibility but philosophy, I argue, can contribute the principle of non-contradiction and the foundational norm of responsibility. The principle and the norm can be found to be at the heart of the modern scientific enterprise and can in principle ground a dialogue between African traditional and modern European value-systems.