Mysterium tremendum - human sacrifice as a liter ary motif in contemporary Latin-American prose fiction

The aim of this article is twofold: firstly, it examines the meaning and the role of the frightening Aztec ritual of human sacrifice in its original religious and political context. Human sacrifice was an integral part of the Aztec world view. It facilitated the communication between the supernatural forces and the human world through the interchange of vital energy. Human sacrifice also had a political meaning, as over time it intensified and was transformed into a formidable display of state power. Secondly, the article investigates the use of human sacrifice as a literary motif in modern Latin-American prose fiction. The selected examples illustrate how the Aztec ritual has acquired different connotative values, distant from its original denotation. It has been transformed into a symbol of historical violence, existential fears and irrational reality.

Changes occurring in the modern world have a significant impact on the perception of a number of social phenomena that are studied by social pedagogy. One of them is violence in partnerships, which is associated with the stereotype of a man as the main perpetrator of violence. Stereotypes functioning in the consciousness of our community are often inconsistent with reality. Most people, however, have the conviction that they are true and unchangeable. This conviction led to the sole identification of the woman with the victim and the man with the perpetrator of violence. Most people are unaware of the existence of battered husband syndrome. The aim of the article is to analyze the phenomenon of female violence against men in the perception of academic youth. Research analyzes presented in the article focus on the assumption of changing the stereotype of man as the perpetrators of violence.

W artykule zostaje przywołana koncepcja mimetyzmu i kozła ofiarnego autorstwa René Girarda. Zasada mimesis w ujęciu francuskiego intelektualisty stanowi fundament społecznej natury człowieka. Jako taka oznacza jednocześnie źródło społecznego cierpienia skutkującego kolektywną przemocą, jak i warunek ładu społecznego osiąganego za sprawą instytucji kozłów ofiarnych. Koncepcja kozła ofiarnego odwołuje się do czterech stereotypów, które składają się na schemat prześladowczy ukazujący przemoc jako specyficzną zasadę regulacji stosunków społecznych w sytuacji poważnego kryzysu społecznego. Zaprezentowane koncepcje zostały umieszczone w polu pytań, jakie stawiają współczesna pedagogika, edukacja międzykulturowa i krytyczna pedagogika religii.

From the ancestral rite to the modern rite. Around Leopardo al Sol by Laura Restrepo

This article proposes an analysis of Laura Restrepo’s Leopardo al sol (1993), a novel that proposes a sociocultural interpretation of the impact of the illegal economies of drug trafficking on traditional society. By analyzing the ingredients of the convention and poetics narco in the text, we observe how the violence represented in Leopardo al sol takes the form of a particular syncretism of modern elements of a civilization of spectacle and archaic elements intrinsic to mentalities anchored in mythical and magical thinking.

Problematyka tekstu konkluduje wokół zagadnienia przemocy, którego źródła należy dopatrywać się w tekście „Przyczynek do krytyki przemocy” autorstwa Waltera Benjamina. Przedmiotem refleksji są różne formy przemocy ustanawiającej prawo, jak i przemocy podtrzymującej prawo, a także ich związku z wolnymi od przemocy środkami, a więc „czystymi środkami”. Takie podejście pozwala na krytyczną analizę zależności istniejącej między jednostką (człowiekiem), a funkcjonowaniem instytucji (państwa, władzy) opartej na określonych regulacjach prawnych. Tekst zachęca do zastanowienia się nad tym: czy przemoc rozumiana jako zasadna może być moralna? i czy wszelka przemoc jest środkiem do sprawiedliwego czy też niesprawiedliwego celu? Wydaje się, że część końcowa tekstu poprzez różnicowanie rodzajów przemocy, dzieląc ją na boską, mityczną, wychowawczą, pozwala odpowiedzieć na te dwa kluczowe, przedstawione wcześniej pytania.

Polarization: the polemic with the article “Fanaticism as an educational problem”

The criticism of the article “Fanaticism as an Educational Problem” focuses on the selective treatment of fanaticism symptoms, ignoring the role of political polarization and age in analysing this phenomenon. Gałkowski and Gałkowski’s article (2023) presents a valuable proposal for a minimal educational program, but it requires considering a broader social, cultural, and individual context in diagnosing fanaticism and applying effective tools to counteract this phenomenon. The starting point of the debate is the observation that fanaticism remains a negatively perceived label that excludes individuals or social groups, hence the need for clarification on how cultural diversity and intercultural communication can contribute to it. Fanaticism is associated with an existential crisis, but there are also specific developmental phenomena in children that can be mistaken for fanaticism. Literary works can help in understanding this phenomenon. The proposed examples indicate that fanaticism is primarily a group phenomenon characterized by action rather than solely an attitude to the truth. In preventing and dismantling fanaticism, it is important to consider emotions related to uncertainty and develop skills to cope with it. Finding effective alternatives to psychoactive substances in emotional regulation and violence prevention poses a challenge. Fanaticism can be present in the inertia of customs and can be recognized by sensitive young people in society’s reactions to demands for social change. The situation of individuals expelled at the Polish-Belarusian border highlights the difference between uncompromising commitment and fanaticism. Human rights should be respected without exceptions, and the willingness to accept external judgment distinguishes activists from fanatics. Building relationships free from fanaticism in communities, especially in the case of refugees, requires considering the atmosphere and pedagogy of the place, which play a crucial role in combating fanaticism.