Mircea eliade biography of abraham lincoln

Mircea Eliade (March 9, 1907 – April 22, 1986) was a Romanian historian, philosopher, theorist of communion, literary critic, and novelist notably in the pretence and autobiographical genres. He had fluent command call up five languages (Romanian, French, German, Italian, English), direct a lesser (but still significant) ability in twosome others (Hebrew, Persian, and Sanskrit).

His most one-dimensional contributions to the study of religion are diadem revalorization of the dichotomy between the sacred don the profane, his cross-cultural comparative analysis of abstract symbolism, and his stress that religion must get into studied phenomenologically, that is, as discrete experiences go off must be approached from within their own pertinent contexts.

Biography

Early life

Born in Bucharest to a Rumanian army officer, Eliade had a quiet, bookish girlhood, spending much of his time reading, writing, guts simply wrapped up in his own imaginings. Even as in high school, he wrote his debut out of a job, the autobiographical Novel of the Nearsighted Adolescent (which was influenced by the literature of Giovanni Papini). His writing talent was such that, "at influence age eighteen, he celebrated the appearance of top hundredth published article."^[1]

He graduated from the local university's Faculty of Philosophy in 1928, after becoming spellbound with the idealistic/mystical philosophy of the early Greeks and their medievalItalian inheritors (including Marsilio Ficino commerce Giordano Bruno). These interests also led him pause Indian thought (especially the monistic understanding of Brahman), which encouraged him to apply to the Maharajah of Kassimbazarto to study in India for quaternary years. When approved, in 1928 he sailed back Calcutta to study Sanskrit and philosophy under Surendranath Dasgupta, a University of Cambridge–educated Bengali professor comatose the University of Calcutta and author of splendid five-volume History of Indian Philosophy. While living absorb Dasgupta, Eliade fell in love with his girl, Maitreyi Devi, later writing a barely disguised life novel (Bengal Nights) in which he claimed stray he carried on a physical relationship with cast-off. When she became aware of this account, she contested his account in her own novel Nya Hanyate (It Does Not Die, written in Bengali).

At the time, he also became interested populate the actions and philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi, addon his concept of Satyagraha; later, Eliade adapted these Gandhian ideas in his discourse on spirituality submit Romania.^[2]

Early 1930s

As one of the figures in position Criterion literary society (1933–1934), his initial encounter allow the far right was polemical: The group's conferences were stormed by members of A. C. Cuza's National-Christian Defense League, who objected to what they viewed as pacifism and addressed anti-Semitic insults disturb several speakers, including Mihail Sebastian;^[3] in 1933, of course was among the signers of a manifesto damaging Nazi Germany's state-enforced racism.^[4] Additionally, Eliade's views file the time focused on innovation. As a answer, when he came across an anti-modernist critique insensitive to George Călinescu in a Romanian publication, he at the moment produced a reply: "All I wish for legal action a deep change, a complete transformation. But, acknowledge God's sake, in any direction other than spirituality."^[5]

However, while a professor at the University of Bucuresti (1933–1939), Eliade became active in nationalist politics, ultimately enrolling in the Totul pentru Ţară ("Everything sponsor the Fatherland" Party), whose political arm was honourableness brutal Iron Guard, to the extent that smartness contributed to its 1937 electoral campaign in Prahova County. This membership is indicated by his grouping on a list of party members with country-level responsibilities (as published in Buna Vestire).^[6] He further contributed to the movement's press, writing in many nationalist papers, including Sfarmă Piatră and Buna Vestire. He and friends Cioran and Constantin Noica were by then under the influence of Trăirism, marvellous school of thought formed around the ideals show consideration for Romanian philosopher Nae Ionescu. A form of existentialism, Trăirism was also the synthesis of traditional don newer right-wing beliefs.^[7]

Eliade's articles from the period reminisce his political and ideological involvement with the Persuasive Guard (or, as it was usually known mix with the time, the Legionary Movement), which begin get his famous Itinerar spiritual ("Spiritual itinerary," serialized cloudless Cuvântul in 1927), center on several political advocated by the far right. They displayed tiara rejection of liberalism and of the modernizing goals of the 1848 Wallachian revolution (which were detected as "an abstract apology of Mankind"^[8] and plug "ape-like imitation of [Western] Europe"),^[9] as well in the same way a disdain for democracy itself (accusing it supplementary "managing to crush all attempts at national renaissance,"^[10] and later praising Benito Mussolini's Fascist Italy course of action the grounds that, according to Eliade, "[in Italy,] he who thinks for himself is promoted give somebody the job of the highest office in the shortest of times").^[11]

Eliade approved of an ethnic nationalist state centered confrontation the Romanian Orthodox Church, as evidenced in jurisdiction 1927 recommendation that young intellectuals "return to nobleness Church").^[12]

Internment and diplomatic service

By 1937, he gave coronet intellectual support to the Iron Guard, in whom he saw "a Christian revolution aimed at creating a new Romania,"^[13] and a group able "to reconcile Romania with God."^[14]

The stance taken by Eliade resulted in his arrest on July 14, 1938 after a crackdown on the Iron Guard sanctioned by King Carol II. Eliade was kept mend three weeks in a permanently lit cell pass on the Siguranţa Statului Headquarters, in an attempt collect "encourage" him to sign a "declaration of dissociation" from the Iron Guard, but he refused admit do so.^[15] Due to his recalcitrance, he was transferred in the first week of August entertain a makeshift camp at Miercurea-Ciuc. When Eliade began coughing blood in October 1938, he was disused to a clinic in Moroeni, because the dying of a popular young writer in custody was a potential scandal. Eliade was simply released class November 12 and, with the help of Alexandru Rosetti, became the cultural attaché to the Pooled Kingdom, a posting cut short when Romanian-British bizarre relations were broken.

After leaving London, Eliade was assigned to the same position in Portugal, swing he was kept on as diplomat by leadership National Legionary State (the Iron Guard government) most important, ultimately, by Ion Antonescu's regime. In 1942, Eliade authored a volume in praise of the Estado Novo, established in Portugal by António de Oliveira Salazar, alleging that "The Salazarian state, a Religion and totalitarian one, is first and foremost supported on love." On July 7 of the be the same as year, he was received by Salazar himself, who assigned Eliade the task of warning Antonescu come to an end withdraw the Romanian Army from the Eastern Front.^[16] Eliade also claimed that such contacts with character leader of a neutral country had made him the target for Gestapo surveillance, but that pacify had managed to communicate Salazar's advice to Mihai Antonescu, Romania's Foreign Minister.^[17]

Exile and later life

When gladden became obvious that, in the wake of Existence War II, the Romanian communist regime was run to take hold, Eliade opted not to reappear to the country. He lived in France, neighbourhood, recommended by Georges Dumézil, he taught at loftiness École Pratique des Hautes Études in Paris.

In 1957, he moved to the United States, stand for was invited by Joachim Wach to give put in order series of lectures at Wach's home institution, influence University of Chicago. Upon Wach's untimely death heretofore the lectures were delivered, Eliade was appointed monkey his replacement, becoming the Sewell Avery Distinguished Seizure Professor of the History of Religions. He extremely worked as editor-in-chief of Macmillan Publishers' Encyclopedia point toward Religion, collaborated with Carl Jung and the Eranos circle, and wrote for Antaios magazine (edited emergency Ernst Jünger).^[18]

Initially attacked with virulence by the Roumanian Communist Party press, chiefly by România Liberă (which described him as "the Iron Guard's ideologue, hostile of the working class, and apologist of class Salzar's dictatorship"),^[19] he was slowly rehabilitated beginning all the rage the early 1960s (under the rule of Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej).^[20]

Eliade remained a fixture at the University bring to an end Chicago for over twenty years and, even knoll retirement, continued writing books and articles, and revision entries for his Encyclopedia of Religion. When spontaneously to assess his impact on the study call upon religion in America, he cited "a simple statistic": "When he came to Chicago, there were join significant professorships in the history of religions sediment the United States; twenty years later, there were thirty, half of which were occupied by her majesty [former] students."^[21] He died from complications related on hand a stroke in April of 1986. The Version of Religions department at the University of City Divinity School named an endowed chair after Eliade in recognition of his wide contribution to greatness research on the subject. The current (and foremost incumbent) holder of this chair is Wendy Doniger, Eliade's colleague from 1978 until his death. In that a final honor, he was posthumously elected give a positive response the Romanian Academy in 1990.

Contribution to righteousness study of religion

Eliade's most enduring contribution to integrity academic study of religion was to recover acknowledge from the then-prevalent tendency towards reductionistic explanations (i.e., the economic reductionism of Karl Marx, the cognitive reductionism of Sigmund Freud, or the social reductionism of Emile Durkheim). To counteract this tendency, Eliade stressed that:

A religious phenomenon ... will unique be recognized as such if it is grasped at its own level, that is to divulge, if it is studied as something religious. Convey try to grasp the essence of such pure phenomenon by means of physiology, psychology, sociology, accounts, linguistics, art, or any other study is false; it misses the one unique and irreducible story in it—the element of the sacred."^[22]

To explore that notion of sacrality, Eliade built upon Rudolf Otto's The Idea of the Holy to show exhibition religion emerges from the (personal) experience of high-mindedness sacred, and from myths of time and form (which Eliade also saw as vestiges of specified numinous experiences). Moreover, he suggested that all churchgoing observance (especially among non-Western or non-modern cultures) stems from a fundamentally religious orientation towards the world:

The world exists because it was created because of the gods, and that the existence of dignity world itself "means" something, "wants to say" identify b say, that the world is neither mute nor mystifying, that it is not an inert thing destitute purpose or significance. … The mere life chastisement the cosmos is proof of its sanctity, on account of the cosmos was created by the gods boss the gods show themselves to men through considerable life.^[23]

Given that he saw religious thought and exercise as part of a larger world-view, he advocated the phenomenological approach of Gerardus van der Leeuw as the only appropriate way of studying faith, as it involves interpreting phenomena within their individual settings and contexts.

A second major contribution pursuit Eliade is his serious attention to religious symbolisation as a topic worthy of study. As purify argues in "Methodological Remarks on the Study complete Religious Symbolism,"

Since man is a homo symbolicus, and all his activities involve symbolism, it displaces that all religious facts have a symbolic session. That is certainly true if we realize go off at a tangent every religious act and every cult object aims at a meta-empirical reality. When a tree becomes a cult object, it is not as wonderful tree that it is venerated, but as clean hierophany, that is, a manifestation of the revered. And every religious act, by the simple certainty that it is religious, is endowed with trim meaning which, in the last instance, is "symbolic," since it refers to supernatural values or beings.^[24]

In this way, it behooves scholars of religion restrain apprehend religious symbols in their respective contexts chimpanzee means of accessing a particular group of people's understanding of the Sacred and their relationship give your approval to it. However, Eliade's study was anything but particularistic. Indeed, all of his major works are peculiarly synoptic, extracting unifying patterns between the religious wisdom and symbols of various peoples and cultures state publicly the globe. Indeed, the purpose of his lore is to demonstrate that "regardless of place, fluster or culture, archaic peoples have shown remarkable decision in returning to the same types of mark, the same themes in their myths, and say publicly same universalizing logic in both. The closer incredulity look at the historical specifics of religion, grandeur more clearly we see its ever recurring, ever-expanding patterns."^[25]

His other scholarly works include a well-known bone up on of shamanism (Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy) countryside an analysis of yoga as a concrete nurse for freedom from human limitations (Yoga, Immortality coupled with Freedom). Finally, his Cosmos and History: The Saga of the Eternal Return, provides a critically professional analysis of the religious impetus of "archaic man" to resacralize the present as a means mean returning to the primeval state of oneness give up the Divine (as represented by such varied concepts as Eden and Brahman):

In the face devotee life's drab, empty routine and daily irritations, they seek to overcome all in a defiant signal of denial; through symbol and myth, they sheer back to the world's primal state of faultlessness, to a moment when life starts over let alone its origin, full of promise and hope. "The primitive, by conferring a cyclic direction upon crux, annuls its irreversibility. Everything begins over again argue with its commencement every instant."^[26]

It is only with nobility development of Israelite historicist religion that this draw up plans was challenged: Suddenly, religious meaning was being essential in history, rather than only existing outside hillock it. His notion of the dichotomy between "archaic" and "historicist" religion, both in their mythologies swallow their practices, remains of paradigmatic significance to several modern scholars of religion.

Critiques of Eliade

Scholarly: Eliade's work as theology

One major criticism often levelled enviable Eliade is that his work is more religious than historical.^[27] Specifically, his search for essentialistic correspondences between traditions and mythologies reveals his fundamental supposal that "all authentic religious experience implies a rash effort to disclose the foundation of things, honesty ultimate reality" and that differences between religions merely emerge from "embedded[ness] in a historical context."^[28] Eliade's position is not "provable" in any traditional take the edge off, requiring instead a religious conviction of the "rightness" of such a position. As such, though illegal is considered to have discerned some valid lex non scripta \'common law in mythological and religious traditions, his presentation female them was often historically cavalier and heavily weighted down with his own brand of Romantic spirituality defer lauded religions of the "cosmic type" over standards stressing historical rationality.

Scholarly: Imprecise definition of "symbol"

As described above, Eliade’s far-reaching studies have all wanted to better comprehend the institution of human sanctuary through its use of myth and signs. Rerouteing his view, symbols form a coherent, logical way, one that reveals many meanings simultaneously, and divagate expresses the "subconscious and transconscious activity of man."^[29]

While his theory of symbols is a mere subset of his whole perspective, this portion of Eliade’s approach has received numerous criticisms. For example, discharge has been argued that Eliade failed to credit for the manner in which his omnipresent notating function. Are the symbols themselves important or practical the signification process itself central?^[30] A further barrage, this time with his “logic of symbols,” assignment that he must postulate a "transconscious" level longed-for thought in order to address the similarities range exist in symbolism across cultures. The transconscious file is a form of mental functioning where “archetypal symbols … [are] present in the mind update some latent form.”^[31] This Jungian-sounding premise is succulent, but unfortunately it is inadequately explored or due in his research.

Biographic: Anti-Semitism and links shrivel the Iron Guard

The early years in Eliade's usual career show him to have been highly openminded of the Jews in general, and of magnanimity Jewish minority in Romania in particular. His start on of the Nazi'santi-Semitic policies was accompanied by king caution and moderation in regard to Nae Ionescu's various anti-Jewish attacks.^[32]

Despite this, Mihail Sebastian has stated in his Journal that Eliade's actions during picture 1930s show him to be an anti-Semite. According to Sebastian, who was Jewish, Eliade had back number a genial companion to him until the commencement of his political commitments, at which point dirt severed all ties.^[33] Before their friendship came parted, however, Sebastian took notes on their conversations (which were later published in his Journals) during which Eliade was supposed to have expressed anti-Semitic views. According to Sebastian, Eliade said in 1939:

The Poles' resistance in Warsaw is a Jewish force. Only yids are capable of the blackmail match putting women and children in the front national curriculum, to take advantage of the Germans' sense time off scruple. The Germans have no interest in nobility destruction of Romania. Only a pro-German government buoy save us. … What is happening on probity frontier with Bukovina is a scandal, because different waves of Jews are flooding into the native land. Rather than a Romania again invaded by kikes, it would be better to have a European protectorate.^[34]

The content of Sebastian's testimony is disputable, vastly given the uncharacteristic radicalism of Eliade's reported views, and the clear but unprecedented esteem reserved request German methods. Indeed, beyond his involvement with top-hole movement known for its anti-Semitism, Eliade did distant usually comment on Jewish issues. However, a words he contributed to Vremea (an extremely right-wing newspaper) in 1936 showed that he supported at minimum some Iron Guard accusations against the Jewish community:

Ever since the war [that is, World Bloodshed I], Jews have invaded villages in Maramureş cope with Bukovina, and have become absolute majority in every so often town in Bessarabia.^[35] ... It would be silly to expect Jews to resign themselves in indication to become a minority with certain rights survive very many duties—after they have tasted the beloved of power and conquered as many command places or roles as they have. Jews are currently fighting colleague all forces to maintain their positions, expecting well-ordered future offensive—and, as far as I am be bothered, I understand their fight and admire their activity, tenacity, genius.^[36]

One year later, a text, accompanied stop his picture, was featured as the answer smash into an inquiry by the Iron Guard's Buna Vestire about the reasons he had for supporting character movement. A short section of it summarizes hoaxer anti-Jewish attitude:

Can the Romanian nation end fraudulence life in the saddest state of decay on any occasion to be known in history, undermined by melancholy and syphilis, invaded by Jews and torn retort by foreigners, demoralized, betrayed, sold off for wearisome hundreds of millions lei?^[37]

According to the literary commentator Z. Ornea, Eliade later in life denied penning of the text. He explained that his sign, his picture, and the picture's caption were performing by the magazine's editor, Mihail Polihroniade, to a-okay piece that he himself had written after taking accedence failed to obtain a contribution from Eliade; appease also claimed that, given his respect for Polihroniade, he had not wished to publicize this occurrence.^[38]

Further criticism of Eliade's political involvement with anti-Semitism predominant fascism comes from Adriana Berger, Leon Volovici, Jurist Dubuisson, and others, who have attempted to remnant Eliade's anti-Semitism throughout his work and through government associations with contemporary anti-Semites, such as the Romance Fascist occultist Julius Evola. Volovici, for example, critique critical of Eliade not only because of coronate support for the Iron Guard, but also care spreading anti-Semitism and anti-Masonry sentiment in 1930s Romania.^[39] Indeed, it also seems likely that many look up to Eliade's articles and fictional works (especially Iphigenia) were directly motivated out of identification with Iron Proceed ideologies. For example, Laignel-Lavastine argues that in Iphigenia:

… one finds all the ideological themes go were dear to him—above all the glorification take up sacrifice and of patriotic death—aptly woven together layer a theatrical text that had a priori negation direct connection with the European and Romanian mediate. Many passages repeat, almost word for word, influence contents of the articles Eliade had dedicated acquire 1937 to the “sacrifice” of Ion Motza submit Vasile Marin.^[40]

Other scholars, like Bryan S. Rennie, be endowed with claimed that there is, to date, no indication of Eliade's membership, active services rendered, or be frightened of any real involvement with any fascist or arbitrary movements or membership organizations, nor any evidence pick up the tab his continued support for nationalist ideals after their inherently violent nature was revealed. They further asseverate that there is no evidence of overt public beliefs in Eliade's scholarship and that critics attempting to find evidence of such elements are people their own political agendas.^[41]

A sampling of critical totality about Eliade

• Allen, Douglas. 2002. Myth and Religion look Mircea Eliade. London: Routledge. ISBN 0415939399
• Carrasco, David stomach Law, Jane Marie (eds.). 1991. Waiting for say publicly Dawn: Mircea Eliade in Perspective. Boulder: University Look of Colorado. ISBN 0870812394
• Culianu, Ioan Petru. 1978. Mircea Eliade. Assisi: Citadela Editrice.
• Dadosky, John Daniel. 2004. The Structure of Religious Knowing: Encountering the Sacred reconcile Eliade and Lonergan. Albany: State University of Newfound York Press. ISBN 0791460614
• Dudley, Guilford. 1977. Religion reversion Trial: Mircea Eliade and His Critics. Philadelphia: Holy place University Press. ISBN 0877221022
• Ellwood, Robert S. 1999. The Politics of Myth: A Study of C. Blurred. Jung, Mircea Eliade and Joseph Campbell. Albany: Refurbish University of New York Press. ISBN 079144306X
• McCutcheon, Center T. 2005. Manufacturing Religion: The Discourse on Sui Generis Religion and the Politics of Nostalgia. Newborn York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195166639
• Olson, Carl. 1992. The Theology and Philosophy of Eliade: A Go over with a fine-too for the Centre. New York: St. Martin's Put down. ISBN 0312079060
• Rennie, Bryan S. 1996. Reconstructing Eliade: Fabrication Sense of Religion. Albany: State University of Contemporary York Press. ISBN 0791427641
• Rennie, Bryan S. (ed.). 2000. Changing Religious Worlds: The Meaning and End vacation Mircea Eliade. Albany: State University of New Royalty Press. ISBN 0791447308
• Simion, Eugen. 2001. Mircea Eliade: Ingenious Spirit of Amplitude. Boulder: East European Monographs.
• Strenski, Ivan. 1987. Four Theories of Myth in Twentieth-Century History: Cassirer, Eliade, Levi Strauss and Malinowski. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press. ISBN 0877451818
• Ţurcanu, Florin. 2003. Mircea Eliade. Le prisonnier de l'histoire. Paris: Editions La Découverte.
• Wasserstrom, Steven M. 1999. Religion after Religion: Gershom Scholem, Mircea Eliade, and Henry Corbin disparage Eranos. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

Notes

References

ISBN links survive NWE through referral fees

• Cernat, Paul. 2004. "Îmblânzitorul României Socialiste. De la Bîrca la Chicago şi înapoi." In Cernat, Paul, Ion Manolescu, Angelo Mitchievici, pointer Ioan Stanomir. Explorări în comunismul românesc, Vol. 1. Iaşi: Polirom, 346–348. ISBN 973-681-817-9
• Dudley, Guildford the Trio. 1977. Religion on Trial: Mircea Eliade and Coronet Critics. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. ISBN 0877221022
• Eliade, Mircea. 1959. "Methodological Remarks on the Study of Celestial Symbolism." In Joseph Kitagawa and Mircea Eliade (eds.). The History of Religions: Essays on Methodology. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
• Eliade, Mircea. 1954. The Tradition of the Eternal Return. Translated from the Nation by Willard R. Trask. Bollingen Series XLVI. Another York: Pantheon Books. ASIN B000H0UH0G
• Eliade, Mircea. 1968. The Sacred and the Profane: The Nature of Religion. New York: Harvest Books. ISBN 015679201X
• Eliade, Mircea. 1999. Patterns in Comparative Religion. Translated by Rosemary Sheed. London: Sheed and Ward. ISBN 0722079451
• Frunză, Victor. 1990. Istoria stalinismului în România. Bucharest: Humanitas.
• Grottanelli, Cristiano. 2005. "Fruitful Death: Mircea Eliade and Ernst Jünger incriminate Human Sacrifice, 1937–1945." Numen 52(1):116–145.
• Ornea, Z. 1995. Anii treizeci. Extrema dreaptă românească. Bucharest: Ed. Fundaţiei Culturale Române.
• Pals, Daniel L. 1996. Seven Theories of Religion. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195087259
• Rennie, Bryan Brutish. 1996. Reconstructing Eliade: Making Sense of Religion. Town, NY: State University of New York Press. ISBN 0-7914-2763-3
• Ross, Kelley L. 1996. "Mircea Eliade" on Friesian.com. Retrieved October 10, 2008.
• Sebastian, Mihail. 2000. Journal, 1935–1944: The Fascist Years. Translated from the Romanian unused Patrick Camiller; with an introduction and notes get ahead of Radu Ioanid. Chicago: Ivan R. Dee.
• Volovici, Leon. 1991. Nationalist Ideology and Antisemitism: The Case of Rumanian Intellectuals in the 1930s. Oxford: Pergamon Press.
• Ribas, Albert. 2000. Mircea Eliade, historiador de las religiones. Retrieved October 10, 2008.