Semitic Religion and Sacrificial Ritual

We now turn to the broader intellectual context during the final three decades of the century, when sociology and anthropology were moving to the fore of the scene, often pushing philology backstage, as the preferred approach to the study of religion. As we shall see, the stakes, which were high, showcase at once ambivalent attitudes towards Judaism and the precarious status of Jewish scholars. The standing of Jewish scholars in the comparative and anthropological tradition reflects the strategy chosen by some among them (not always in a reflexive, conscious way) to overcome this precarious status. Both the comparative and the anthropological method permitted them to circumvent the traces of Christian theology which they correctly detected in more traditional, philological approaches to the study of the monotheist systems. Our three main protagonists here are Max Müller, Julius Wellhausen, and William Robertson Smith.

Tari Baris Babuang pada Upacara Pegingsiran Jro Pingit di Desa Pengotan

Bali is one of the islands that is very well known to foreign countries. Besides being famous for its natural beauty it is also known by the nickname of the Thousand Temples. It is known that the Balinese are usually inseparable from the sacred arts which are believed to complement the ceremony. Meanwhile in the village of Pengotan has a sacred dance that is the Baris Babuang dance. Baris Babuang is one element of universal culture that is part of the arts. Baris Babuang dance is danced by carrying banana fronds which can also be called the papah biu war. This research focuses on two things, namely the Babuang Baris Dance Function at the Pegingsiran Jro Pingit ceremony in Pengotan Village and the Meaning of the Babuang Baris Dance at the Pegingsiran Jro Pingit ceremony in Pengotan Village. The purpose and objective of this research is to find out the function and meaning of the implementation of the Babuang Baris Dance at the Jro Pingit ceremony. Then the authors use the Functional Theory of B. Malinowski and the ceremonial theory of William Robertson Smith to help strip the results of the research. This study uses qualitative methods to describe an event or phenomenon that occurs in a research subject such as behavior, perception, motivational action holistically and analyzed by collecting data that has previously been recorded besides audio visual recording, then recorded again in the recapitulation sheet then processed in the form of scientific writing. The results of this study state that, the function of Babuang Row Dance in relation to public trust, functions as a reinforcement of solidarity between citizens and the meaning of Babuang Row Dance to invoke safety, the meaning of kinship meaning the symbol of harmonization.

“Sardoodledom” on the English Stage: T. W. Robertson and the Assimilation of Well-Made Play into the English Theatre

The article discusses a vital figure in the development of modern English theatre, Thomas William Robertson, in the context of his borrowings, inspirations, translations and adaptations of the French dramatic formula pièce bien faite (well-made play). The paper gives the definition and enumerates features of the formula created with great success by the French dramatist Eugène Scribe. Presenting the figure of Thomas William Robertson, the father of theatre management and realism in Victorian theatre, the focus is placed on his adaptations of French plays and his incorporation of the formula of the well-made play and its conventional dramatic devices into his original, and most successful, plays, Society and Caste. The paper also examines the critical response to the well-made play in England and dramatists who use its formula, especially from the point of view of George Bernard Shaw, who famously called the French plays of Scribe and Victorien Sardou—“Sardoodledom.”

A compreensão dos povos indígenas da América portuguesa por Alexandre Rodrigues Ferreira durante a Viagem Filosófica (1783-1792): A apropriação de uma tradução francesa de The History of America (1777), de William Robertson

Este artículo trata de la forma en que el naturalista Alexandre Rodrigues Ferreira utilizó la edición francesa de La Historia de América (1777), del historiador William Robertson, para comprender a los pueblos indígenas de la América portuguesa durante el Viaje filosófico (1783-1792). Procedemos comparando la edición francesa con dos de sus escritos, Participación General de Río Negro (1787) y Observaciones Generales y Particulares sobre la Clase de los Mamais (1790), destacando los usos y apropiaciones textuales que hizo el naturalista. Argumentamos que la comprensión de los pueblos indígenas de las regiones que visitó se basó en la identificación de su «modo de subsistencia» y la existencia de un «carácter general» amerindio, conceptos incorporados de su lectura de Robertson. [pt] Este artigo versa sobre a maneira como o naturalista Alexandre Rodrigues Ferreira mobilizou uma edição francesa de The History of America (1777), do historiador William Robertson, para compreender os povos indígenas da América portuguesa durante a Viagem Filosófica (1783-1792). Procedemos por uma comparação da edição francesa com dois de seus escritos, a Participação Geral do Rio Negro (1787) e as Observações Gerais e Particulares sobre a Classe dos Mamais (1790), evidenciando-se os usos e as apropriações textuais feitas pelo naturalista. Argumentamos que a compreensão dos povos indígenas das regiões que visitou se baseou na identificação de seu «modo de subsistência» e pela existência de um «caráter geral» ameríndio, concepções incorporadas a partir de sua leitura de Robertson.

The Rhetoric of Empire in the Scottish Mission in North America, 1732–63

In 1755, William Robertson delivered a sermon before the Society in Scotland for Propagating Christian Knowledge, entitled The Situation of the World at the Time of Christ's Appearance…. He addresses British imperial expansion and its prospects for civil and moral improvement, while denouncing the moral decay manifest in the growth of slavery and exploitation of natives. Through advocating a considered balance between submission to revealed religious principles and the exercise of reason, Robertson stresses the necessity of both for promoting virtue and preventing vice. The SSPCK, an organisation dedicated to spreading ‘reformed Christianity’ as a catalyst of cultural progress (and thus the growth of virtue) among rural Scots and Natives in North America, was responding to a perceived lack of government commitment to this very task. Empire provided the framework for mission, yet the government's secular agenda often outweighed religious commitments. This article makes use of SSPCK sermons from the eighteenth century to trace the attitudes of Scottish churchmen and missionaries towards the institutions and motives driving empire, in a period when they too were among its most prominent agents. This will shed light on the Scottish church's developing views on empire, evangelism, race, improvability and the role of government.