What do I mean by allegorical sound? It is a sound that should, at least, reinforce the explicit meaning of the work. It may enrich the explicit meaning with nuance and texture.
But there is - potentially - an even greater role. Much of learning, appropriately and necessarily, is logical, practical, and as a result reductionist. Learning seeks to define even what is infinite.
Allegory of various types - mythology, poetry, and music - can remind us to treat our definitions as we might a good tool: with respect but without deference.
Allegorical sound can take us beyond intellectual definitions into experience of the mystery. Please see an enclosure in my original Email for a - very poor - example of what I mean. If there is a way to insert wav. files to this blog, I have not discovered it.
Saturday, January 6, 2007
The Original Greek
The first sentence of John's gospel was originally written in koine Greek... the international street language of the Eastern Mediterreanean.
"In the beginning was the word" is/was arche logos. The original Greek can be seen at this translation site.
For me these four syllables - ar che lo gos - suggest a primordial, mysterious, and powerful origin much better than the English equivalent.
Logos is accurately translated as word. It could also mean word to first century Greeks. But words had a greater power then than, I am sorry to say, they have today.
Logos is an expression of cosmological cause and purpose. Logos is the origin of the universe, the ground of being and source of all creation.
Arche is beginning, origin, an active cause, a foundational concept, and guiding purpose. Arche logos is orgin of origin.
"In the beginning was the word" is/was arche logos. The original Greek can be seen at this translation site.
For me these four syllables - ar che lo gos - suggest a primordial, mysterious, and powerful origin much better than the English equivalent.
Logos is accurately translated as word. It could also mean word to first century Greeks. But words had a greater power then than, I am sorry to say, they have today.
Logos is an expression of cosmological cause and purpose. Logos is the origin of the universe, the ground of being and source of all creation.
Arche is beginning, origin, an active cause, a foundational concept, and guiding purpose. Arche logos is orgin of origin.
In the beginning...
Teleologic is engaged in the art of allegory. We have long used visual elements for allegorical purposes. We now seek to enrich our work with allegorical sounds.
An effective allegory communicates meaning, but does so implicitly. Our educational architectures are usually quite explicit. But even the most explicit expression may benefit from the texture and depth of allegorical suggestion. (More is available on allegory at the Dictionary of the History of Ideas.)
For the 2007 Christmas season I propose that we create a digital message focused on the first phrase in the Gospel of John: "In the beginning was the Word."
Further, I propose that we work on it together using this blog. This will provide a full documentation of our purposes and processes. This will either serve as the means by which the message is distributed... or will be linked to the message.
An effective allegory communicates meaning, but does so implicitly. Our educational architectures are usually quite explicit. But even the most explicit expression may benefit from the texture and depth of allegorical suggestion. (More is available on allegory at the Dictionary of the History of Ideas.)
For the 2007 Christmas season I propose that we create a digital message focused on the first phrase in the Gospel of John: "In the beginning was the Word."
Further, I propose that we work on it together using this blog. This will provide a full documentation of our purposes and processes. This will either serve as the means by which the message is distributed... or will be linked to the message.
Above is a visualization of the so-called "big bang" that many believe was the origin of our universe. Courtesy of PhysicsWeb.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)