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| Le vie spirituali dei briganti |
| Author(s): | |
| Editor(s): | Alessandro Grossato |
| Publisher(s): | Edizioni Medusa |
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The mythical archetype of the brigand and the symbolic constellation of the “God of Thieves” probably date back to the beginnings of humanity and the figure of the “divine trickster”.
The common theme in the various essays in this book entitled Le vie spirituali dei briganti, (“The spiritual ways of brigands”), the third volume in the Viridarium series, edited by Alessandro Grossato, is religious phenomena in the decidedly anomalous category of individuals and organisations, which have always lived at the edge of their respective societies. Here spiritual phenomenology is rather complex and until recently little documented because of its undoubtedly problematic nature. There are six essays in the book. The first by Carlo Donà examines the theme of the redemption of the brigand in the Mediaeval narrative tradition, beginning from the evangelical figure of St Dismas, the “good thief”. Still in the Mediaeval Western world, Franco Cardini illustrates the opposite paradoxical case of the noble crusader Reginald of Châtillon, Lord of Krak and Montreal (West Central Jordan), who was almost celebrated as a Christian martyr, despite having carried out untold robberies to the detriment of harmless Muslim pilgrims. Angelo Iacovella describes some details and little-known forms of organised brigandry in Mediaeval Islam. In the fourth essay Alexandro Gossato considers the spiritual way of thieves in Hinduism: from the figures of their patron divinities right up to the extreme form of the thags, stranglers devoted to Kali, who plundered the trade routes of India until the second half of the 19th century. Attilio Andreani analyses the emblematic figure of the bandit Zhi, while, lastly, Giorgio Arduini traces a highly significant historical and anthropological profile of the ambiguous criminal organisation of the Yakuza, and its rituals and symbols, especially those connected to the practice of tattooing. Arguably even more than the others, given it survives today, this Japanese example reveals what can really happen when the “way of excess” encounters in its own particular fashion the “way of the gods”.
CONTENTS
Alessandro Grossato
Introduzione. Le vie spirituali dei briganti in Europa e in Asia
Carlo Donà
Pessimae vitae finis optimus: la santità dei briganti nei racconti religiosi del Medioevo
Franco Cardini
Martire o brigante? Una nota su Rinaldo di Châtillon
Angelo Iacovella
Ayyarùn e Futuwwa
Alessandro Grossato
La via dei ladri in India
Attilio Andreini
Il Bandito Zhi: empietà e virtù
Giorgio Arduini
Yakuza: quando la via dell’eccesso incrocia la via degli dèi |
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