Thematic volume:
transmutatio
la via ermetica alla felicità
the hermetic way to happiness
Deadline for proposals: 30 October 2011
Information as supplied by the editors follows below:
Dear Colleagues,
The Board of Editors of the interdisciplinary journal Quaderni di Studi Indo-Mediterranei (Bologna University site; UBC site) is soliciting contributions to its fifth thematic volume, scheduled to appear in 2012. This issue will contain twelve to fifteen essays addressing the theme of transmutation in the Indo-Mediterranean world.
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Common to all spiritual traditions of the Eurasian world is the tenet that a transcendental energy (nous, pneuma, spirit, light, …) confers life to matter. While exoteric understandings of the relationship between these two principles establish a divide that only an institutionalized revelation (via a prophet, redeemer) can bridge, so as to enact after-death salvation, esoteric traditions emphasize instead the transmutative power of the divine within matter as a way of achieving ultimate realization (enlightenment) by activating the visionary (enlightening) potential innate to individual and universal life.
Within the esoteric understanding, which has variously drawn upon the opus alchemicum as its source, a further divide can be noted. On the one hand we find those seeking to achieve happiness by acting on matter as an object of technical manipulation (thus inflecting the opus alchemicum in the direction of chemistry, economics, economic “speculation”). On the other hand there are those for whom ultimate realization is possible only as a manner of «trasumanar» (Dante Par. 1.70), and who therefore project the opus alchemicum onto the paths of meditation, philosophy, psychoanalysis, art, the Muses, and any “Music” activity calling upon the liberating/redeeming power of the cosmic subtle body.
All aspects of alchemy, gnosis, hermeticism in literature, the visual arts, music, theology, history of religions and cultures, philosophy, economics, and psychoanalysis are welcome.
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Please send proposals for essays (250 to 350 words) accompanied by a bio-bibliographical sketch to Daniela Boccassini or Carlo Testa, co-editors of this volume, by October 30, 2011.
Quaderni di Studi Indo-Mediterranei accepts proposals and essays in all major European languages. The editors of the volume will strive for a balanced and diversified table of contents. They will confirm accepted submissions by December 23, 2011. Subsequently, the final deadline for submitting the completed essays will be June 1, 2012. The average length recommended for each contribution is of 6,000 words, with a maximum length allowed of 7,000 words, including footnotes and bibliographical references.
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The journal Quaderni di Studi Indo-Mediterranei is based at the University of Bologna, Italy, and is supported by ASTREA (Associazione di Studi e Ricerche Euro-Asiatiche). Editor in Chief: Carlo Saccone; Board of Editors: Daniela Boccassini, Alessandro Grossato, Carlo Saccone.
The journal counts among its editorial associates world-renowned specialists from major European and North American Universities.
For further information on the journal’s mission and an overview of previous issues please go to:
- http://www2.lingue.unibo.it/studi indo-mediterranei/ (Italian website)
- http://qusim.arts.ubc.ca/ (North American website)
Quaderni di Studi Indo-Mediterranei is committed to upholding a high profile in comparative studies and the highest standards of peer-reviewed scholarship.