The fear - Part II, but still very interesting :)

Today I wouldn't write anything, because I found very, very interesting speech. The relationship of fear and imagination, the fear in the literature and thorough analysis of fear- that's all you can finde in speech with fiction novelist Karen Thompson Walker. If tou want to see the fear from completely another point of view, you should necessarily watch it. Only 11 minutes of this speech... :)

                       

http://www.ted.com/talks/karen_thompson_walker_what_fear_can_teach_us#t-801us#t-801

Something about the biggest fear...

      The last subject of our lectures were phobias and fear. I thing the biggest phobia for everyone is the death because we have no influence on it. As we know, the concept of the death changes all the time, because it's the element of the culture in which we live. But did you ever wonder what was the perception of death in Polish folk cultre? For sure you don't because currently the death became something rational, which is not related with any symbols. 

       In the past in Poland people believed that superior foreces could give poeple the signs of about the death of a family member or a neighbor. Under superior forces people understood widely defined nature: plants, animals, dreams and superstition inherited from generation to generation. When somebody was deathly ill and was lying in the house, then all the doors and windows have been opened  for to facilitate the departure of his soul.  People has been putting all the chairs upside down because they didn't want to death soul stay at home. The coffin has been exposed in front of the house to inform the neighbors about the death. It's very interesting for me because I understand death in a different way. For me it is some kind of mystery which in fact creates the sense of our lives. And what do you think about it? ;) 

Source: Jankowska B., Komentarze do Polskiego Atlasu Etnograficznego, Polskie Towarzystwo Ludoznawcze, Wrocław 1999. 

The mystery of existence

Lucian Blaga-  a poet, philosopher, translator, and dramatist, Romanian writer Lucian Blaga (1895–1961) narrowly missed winning the 1956 Nobel Prize for Literature because of Soviet government interference. Blaga created the field of philosophy of culture and the concept of Mioritic Space, both of which became key concepts in the development of a Romanian national identity. I don't want to describe his poetry because I think his poem speaks for itself. :) 

I do not destroy the crown of miracles of the world
and I don’t kill
by my mind the mysteries I come across
along with my path
in the flowers, in the eyes, on the lips or graves.
Others’ light
suffocate the spell of the incomprehensible hidden
in deepness of dark,
but me,
with my light I increase the world’s mystery -
and the way the moon by its white rays
do not diminish, but shivering
increases the mystery of night,
the same way I enrich the dark horizon
by deep shivers of sacred mystery
and all that is impossible to understand
becomes more incomprehensible
under my eyes -
since I love
flowers and eyes and lips and graves.

Source: encyclopedia.com

Nuieluşa- workshops of Romanian traditional decoration

On 5 December 2014 in the lobby of Collegium Novum took place the workshops of Romanian traditional decoration, organized by the Students Scientific Society UAM.

Nuieluşa is a decoration made of twigs and various additives: ribbons, bows, strings, etc., It is prepared on Day of Santa Claus. Nuieluşele are preparing throughout Romania, and are giving for your loved ones, friends. Undoubtedly, there are not many countries in Europe, but also in the world that can boast of such kind of tradition. What can we learn from the Romanians is the ability of the joy of the small things that make up the amazing atmosphere. In fact, to do the decoration we needn't many things, and it's not just about the materials, but about commitment, joy and smile. That's all we have tried to transmit all our participants. See yourself if we managed to do this ...;)

Endangered Languages

According to the report prepared by UNESCO, by the end of this century half of 6000 languages will disappear. Currently 96% of languages spoken throughout the earth are used by only 3% of people. There are languages that use only a few people. The highest number of languages that are endangered, was recored in Australia - namely the Aboriginal population. The situation is very similar in Equatorial Africa and Amazonia. The scientists estimates show that every two weeks dies one language with the oldest inhabitants who know the language's rules. Obviously disappearing languages are replaced with the most popular: English, Chinese or Spanish.

It is interesting that  two years ago Google has created a special Internet platform called ”Endangered Languages Project”. On this site you can search and post audio and video recorded in endangered languages. According to UNESCO, in Poland are threatened two languages: Kashubian and Silesian.

Source: nesweek  

Psycholinguistics

 

There is no coincidence that English people are known by privacy, Polish people by honesty and Japanese by respect for the others. The differences between peoples come from the first language: structure, grammar, words. In the book "Through the Language Glass. How Worlds Colour Your Wold” dr Guy Deutscher states that the language we speak creates in our brain certain schemes and evaluation of reality. Therefore, the word "bridge" for Spanish is associated with strength, but for Germans with elegance. In most European languages, not just people, but the words have a specific gender and phenomena that influence our perception. Death in Polish is feminine, so death’s imagine is an old woman with a scythe in hand, while in German is masculine (der Tod), in English, there is no gender, so it looks like skeleton. The importance of gender things show cartoons, dubbed in different languages, for example in French fork will be dubbed by a woman, while in Polish by a man. That shows that by learning languages we don’t only discover different cultures. Moreover, that’s the best key to understanding the world.

Source: nesweek.pl

The true face of Dracula

Dracula is a horror novel written by the Irish writer Bram Stoker, published in England in 1897. That’s why many of us thinks that Dracula is only a vampire. However, the true is that Dracula is also historical figure and namely it is Vlad III the Impaler. He lived in the fifteenth century and, as it can be assumed from his nickname, he wasn’t very mild king. Everyone thinks his castle is in Bran, but in fact it’s in Poenari. He was often capricious ruler, he was as cruel as he could impaled mice when he was closed in the dungeon. Currently, in Romania Dracula's character is used to drive tourism. Romanians approach him with respect, treating him as an important figure in their history, often as a national hero. 

Romanian king, Vlad Impaler

Castel of Dracula

The real castle of  Dracula

Source: www.info.ebran.ro