Pandanus ’11: Nature in Literature, Art, Myth and Ritual

The present article, based particularly on my field research in the Tana Toraja area, discusses the role of the buffalo in the culture of the Toraja people. Since the buffalo is for them the most important of all animals, it is natural that it occupies a place in many spheres of life for this ethnic group. I shall present here several possible classifications of this animal, based on various criteria. I shall also mention the presence of the buffalo in Toraja art. Finally, I will focus on the ways in which the buffalo influences the form of funeral rites as well as the shifts in the practice of funeral rites at the present time, when most Toraja people are Christians. I shall also discuss the views of adherents of the Pentecostal movement, who are strongly opposed to elements of the original religion, Aluk Todolo, being present in contemporary rituals. These gradual changes in the function of the buffalo could provide a most apt subject for future inquiry based on field research in Tana Toraja.

This paper analyses literary images of the water buffalo and banteng cattle as found in Old Javanese court kakawin poetry. Even though both the buffalo and banteng had already been domesticated in the pre-Islamic period, their literary image is very different from that of true domestic cattle. Even though limited in number, the descriptions in several kakawin poems prove that the buffalo and the banteng were considered to be mighty and ferocious animals, in sharp contrast with real domestic cattle, that were described as manageable animals, under the full control of their herders. This ferocious image of the water buffalo and the banteng was used as a tool of poetical description in warfare scenes and in contexts referring to wilderness.

The paper discusses another of the animals appearing in the Sangam texts. It appears relatively infrequently (18x) with hardly any symbolic function. However, it is a component part of the description of nature and it also documents the fact that the Sangam description of nature maintains a very realistic and concrete vision of nature. Besides defining a few basic properties of the animal, its enemies and other contexts (its flesh was eaten), the paper summarises a number of simple and complex attributes and formulaic expressions appearing with this animal and in other contexts.

A number of Dalit narratives are set in the darkness of night and darkness is applied in Dalit poetry as imagery very often. The passages depicting a night atmosphere frequently stand out in the texts and show a certain predilection of the authors. Turning points of from bad to worse are frequently accompanied by mention of a decrease in day-light and increase of darkness. Dalit writers see the darkness round themselves from the position of a disadvantaged community.

This paper describes the role of the body and body parts in multi-word (verbo-nominal) naming units of action. The body, i.e. consciousness of the body, is considered to be the main source of verbal communication, since many verbs are associated directly with functions of body parts. The primary verbs are verbs denoting spatial orientation and they are compatible with nouns of particular body parts. These body motivated semantic units often have metaphoric power and serve as stylistic figures, used in literary language as well as in popular sayings. The discussed phenomena in Hindi and Sanskrit are amply exemplified for many organs and body parts.

Highly valued poetry, philosophical essays and extensive collected letters (just published in 2004 for the first time in a complete form) of the leading personality of Czech Symbolism Otokar Březina (1868 in Počátky – 1929 in Jaroměřice nad Rokytnou) is very well-known to the literary and cultural world. Much less known is the poet’s use of many terms, metaphors and names from the field of natural sciences, which form an organic part of his work. The main aim of this article is to outline the symbolism, practical usage and meaning of all those names in Březina’s art and life.

The bisexual form of Vishnu is, according to inscriptional and textual evidence from the 11th century AD onwards, an Indian idea. Images of Vishnu and Lakshmi united in one body, however, were only rarely depicted and that only in the northern fringe of India. In accordance with Shiva-Ardhanarishvara the left half of the body is female.