/ 1968

A SPIRAL OF DEVELOPMENT AND/OR FALL

Two key concepts that explain the essence of life are the concepts of time and space. Movement through time and space, according to one way of thinking, enters the path of circular motion in a close and predictable system. According to another, for the humans, movement has a linear path in an open and unpredictable system. A compromise between these two extreme positions of understanding development is symbolized by a spiral – it attempts to open a close system, to bring it back to almost the same position but also to lead it in a direction of development and movement towards new forms. So, a circle, a spiral and a ray are symbols of understanding progression in time which has its beginning. In this paper, the problem of development is presented through the symbolism of a spiral. In the context of monotheistic religions, the beginning is given by the creation of the world and counting of the days. A spiral is established in time by a cycle of weeks. The second message of the Old Testament comes from the fall into sin. Since then, through knowledge of the good and the evil, the spiral has unwound in two directions, a direction of life and a direction of death, and their battlefield are the Earth and the Being.

/ 1968

SPIRAL AS A PERPETUAL WINDING AND UNWINDING OF THE SAME – CHINESE ANGLE

Spiral cosmic energy is an umbilical cord that connects the man with the Earth and the Heavens. The classic Book of Change and the DNA use this basic cosmic pattern or a “universal code” to develop their forms and functions. DNA contains genetic material and processes for creation of biological, physical bodies. The classic Book of Change contains principles of philosophical and psychological processes based on which changes and transitional states of mind and spirit occur, in accordance with the principle that the “Heavens/Cosmos and Man are intertwined as One”.

/ 1968

SPIRAL CREATION AND DESTRUCTION

Starting from the point that the spiral is a natural shape, the author studies its expressions in culture. Determined by a circular line which progressively moves away from the centre, the spiral becomes a symbol of human detachment from nature in the process of self-creation. Symbolizing the process of individualization, the spiral denotes a circular determination of initial elements and a linear determination of new creation. Its metaphor also denotes a progressive increase of emotional and aggressive negativity as a challenge to human survival. Spiral spread of hatred and destruction is, however, limited by an opposite growing force. This can in fact justify why in the history, in spite of its forcefulness, the evil has never won and why it can prevail only temporarily in the future.

/ 1968

SPIRAL AND THE SPIRAL PATH AS POSSIBLE SIGNIFICATION OF INDIVIDUALISATION – CHRISTIAN VIEW

The process of getting to know yourself (Gnothi s’eaungton) is long lasting; it is also a process of individualization and/or deification. Gradual and troublesome separation of one(Self) from the outer environment and influence (Heidegger’s concept of Self), searching for one(Self) as a Personality – on the way from an individual to personality – could be a little daringly called a spiral path. The spiral (Greek word) is defined as a curve (curved line, bent line, bend) consisting of a sequence of a growing number of bends around a point in a plane. This point can be also denoted as a hub (centre, focal point, core) or an axis, an imagined middle straight line around which a solid body revolves. In mathematics, the spiral is a curve in a plane which circulates indefinitely around a determined point. The spiral hyperbolically (relating to a hyperbole) represents a curve which, on the one side, gets indefinitely closer and closer to the point 0 (asymmetrical point), while on the other, it also determines the curve by the fact that the two, if continued, get closer and closer to each other but never meet. Doesn’t this amazing image of an asymptote remind us of the Man-God relationship?

/ 1968

IN MEMORIAM: DUŠICA DUDA MILOVANOVIĆ

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/ 1968

THE CONTEXT OF MEDIA SPECTACLE UNDER THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF SOCIAL CRISIS

From the perspective of a predominantly hegemonic discourse, the paper addresses the issue of what happens to the meaning of media contents when the ideological aspect of message coding is unclear. The paper analyses the processes caused by the media context in contact with active audience under the circumstances of social crisis, on the example of the media spectacle of the state ideological apparatus of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1987 – the Youth Day.

/ 1968

E-BOOK

Unlike many texts written in the past two decades about the end of the printed book, this paper deals with the end of e-books. The latest reports of big losses in electronic publishing show that printed books have taken precedence again, which seems to hold ground. However, ups and downs in e-publishing have been happening before: the initial optimism from the beginning of the 90s has been replaced by serious doubts, followed by launching of the Kindl reader that gave e-books precedence over printed versions. In contrast to this rather unstable situation on the market, the appearance of e-books has caused more controversy and future predictions than any other new medium before them. Many have predicted the end to the printed books and thus the end to an entire civilization, others have announced digital culture as a whole new way of life. Only some of them hesitated to call the changes revolutionary and most agreed that e-books have many advantages over the printed ones. Will anyone dare to predict anything now?

/ 1968

NARRATIVE ASPECTS OF THE HYPERTEXT

The paper discusses narrative aspects of the hypertext, with special emphasis on achrony and focalisation. It also questions the thesis that the database offers resistance to narrative. On the contrary, a database as a symbolically unorganised system is arranged into an encoded order of the storyline owing to narratological strategies. The narrative lines can only be limited by the focaliser (author/reader).