The abyss as a concept for cultural theory : : a comparative exploration / / edited by Marko Pajević.

• TeilnehmendeR: Pajević, Marko,
• Place / Publishing House: Leiden, Netherlands : : BRILL Academic Publishers,, 2024.
• Year of Publication: 2024
• Edition: 1st ed.
• Language: English
• Series: Textxet: Studies in Comparative Literature Series
• Physical Description: 1 online resource.

"This edited volume provides a comparative exploration of corresponding concepts of the abyss in various languages and cultures. Fourteen chapters investigate ancient cultures such as Hebrew, Ancient Greek, Sanskrit and Old Norse, but also more contemporary American, African and Asian languages, such as Hawaiian, Umbundu, Chinese and Khasi, as well as European languages, such as German, Estonian, English, French, Polish and Russian. The book combines ethnolinguistics with history of ideas, literature, folklore, religion and translation, based on the conviction that language and our linguistic concepts give evidence of and shape our ideas about the world and about ourselves"-- Provided by publisher.

Table of Contents

Intro -- ‎Contents -- ‎Foreword -- ‎Acknowledgements -- ‎Notes on Contributors -- ‎Chapter 1. Introduction: Thinking the Abyss as a Concept for Cultural Theory and the German 'Abgrund': The Ambivalence of the Human (Pajević) -- ‎Abstract -- ‎Keywords -- ‎1. Introduction -- ‎2. The Word 'Abgrund' in German -- ‎3. Conceptual History of Abgrund -- ‎4. The Shift in Romanticism and Its Consequences -- ‎5. Further Consequences for Philosophical Anthropology of This Modern Conception of Abgrund -- ‎6. The Options in Dealing with the Abyssal -- ‎7. Final Observations -- ‎8. Organisation and Content of the Volume -- ‎References -- ‎Part 1. Ancient Cultures -- ‎Chapter 2. Praising God's Creation in Abyss: tǝhōm in the Biblical and Apocalyptic Literature (Nõmmik) -- ‎Chapter 3. The Origins of the ἄβυσσος in Greek (Päll) -- ‎Chapter 4. The Birth of the Abyss in the Rigveda (Sellmer) -- ‎Chapter 5. Before the Creation in Old Norse Mythology-Empty Abyss or Crowded Place (Sävborg) -- ‎Part 2. Pacific, African and Asian Cultures -- ‎Chapter 6. Hānau ka Pō: The Abyss in Hawaiian Thought (Ing) -- ‎Chapter 7. The Void Against Transparency: Translating the Abyss into Umbundu (Dulley) -- ‎Chapter 8. Abyss, Chaos, and Emptiness: A Journey to the Depths of the Chinese Intellectual Tradition (Indraccolo) -- ‎Chapter 9. The Abyss in the Indigenous Khasi Worldview: The Search for Traditional Models (Lyngdoh and Järv) -- ‎Part 3. European Cultures -- ‎Chapter 10. Journey to the North: The Experience of the Abyss in Mythology and Philosophy (Sooväli and Krull) -- ‎Chapter 11. An Exploration of the Meaning and Usage of Abyss in English (Stojičić) -- ‎Chapter 12. In Search of Abyssos in Contemporary French Through Lexical Pathways (Koselak-Marechal) -- ‎Chapter 13. The Abyss in Polish (Głaz).

‎Chapter 14. The Doubling of Bezdna: Notes on the Russian Poetic Concept of Abyss (Leibov).