Monday 29 October 2012

Unit 2: The Secret Lair of the Pagan Colossus






Colossus: 
Adjective
1. extraordinarily great in size, extent, or degree; gigantic; huge.
2. of or resembling a colossus
3. ( initial capital letter ) Architecture . noting or pertaining to a classical order whose columns or pilasters span two or more stories of a building.
(http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/colossal)

Pagan:
Noun
1. one of a people or community observing a polytheistic religion, as the ancient Romans and Greeks. polytheist. 
2. a person who is not a Christian, Jew, or Muslim. heathen, gentile; idolater; non-believer. 
3. an irreligious or hedonistic person.
4. a person deemed savage or uncivilised and morally deficient.

Adjective
5. pertaining to the worship or worshippers of any religion that is neither Christian, Jewish, nor Muslim. heathen, heathenish, idolatrous, polytheistic. Christian, Jewish, Muslim, monotheistic.
6. of, pertaining to, or characteristic of pagans. 
7. irreligious or hedonistic. unbelieving, godless, atheistic, agnostic; impious, profane, sacrilegious, unholy, ungodly. religious, pious, devout. 
8. of a person deemed backward, savage, or uncivilised or morally or spiritually stunted. primitive, uncultivated, uncultured, heathenish, barbaric, barbarous, philistine. civilized, cultivated, cultured, urbane.

'Colossus' influences in media:

http://www.deviantart.com/

http://www.wired.com/news/images/full/colossus03_f.jpg
http://media.officialplaystationmagazine.co.uk/
http://www.nerdsraging.com

http://img.hexus.net/



'Pagan' influences in media: 

http://wp.patheos.com.s3.amazonaws.com/blogs/
'This film is downright Jungian in its expression of these mysteries, using the imagery of pagan Scotland to weave a world where the human connection to the natural world is seen as the secret to happiness and fulfillment' (Peg Aloi, 2012)

http://i.cdn.turner.com/
'Second, it is a narrative incarnation of the pagan worldview of earth worship as described in the Gaia Hypothesis, a scientific theory of planets as living organisms with consciousness. The notion of nature worship in opposition to the Judeo-Christian notion of man’s dominion over nature is an ancient theme that originates in Israel’s battle for the Promised Land with the pagan nature religion of the Canaanites' ( Brian Godawa, 2011)

http://hilery.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/princess_mononoke.jpg
' The story is a powerful tale of environmental abuse, disaster, and valiant honor. Land spirits, animal spirits, and various Gods figure prominently throughout the film and we see what happens when mankind falls out of balance with them.' (Krasskova, 2010)

http://tinribs27.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/wicker-man-lee.jpg?w=300&h=206
'The original “Wicker Man” is a story about sacrifice and renewal, about Pagan and Christian theological differences, and about sacral kingship' (Krassokova, 2010)

Bibliography

quotes

Brian Godawa. In: http://www.equip.org [online] At: http://www.equip.org/articles/avatar-a-postmodern-pagan-myth/ (Accessed on 29/10/12)


2 comments:

  1. I LOVE the Wicker Man!

    Nice post, Katy - get in there! :D (and watch The Wicker Man as homework!)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hey Katy :)

    I thought this was the most immediate way of contacting you; one of the annual joys of University life (and being a course rep!) is the Annual Monitoring report that the course team put together - and one of the 'must haves' are reports generated by the course reps - following the guidelines below. I know it's a bit more work and you've got a pagan colossus to wrestle with, but if you could each generate a brief report as per the outline below - and email it to me by Monday, I'd be very appreciative; rest assured, your report need only be short.

    This is the official bit:

    "The Student Representative(s) from the relevant year of the course should be asked to write a brief report on their experiences of the course so far. This should be no longer than one side of A4 paper, and can be in the form of a bulleted list. The student(s) who wrote the report may wish to state their name and year of course either at the beginning or end of the report, but this is optional."

    And this is your guidance:

    "This report is an opportunity for you to highlight the strengths of the course... It is also an opportunity for you to outline areas that you think could be improved..."

    As the guidance says, your list need only be bullet points etc.

    Thanks again, Katy - much appreciated :)

    ReplyDelete