Date post: | 22-Jan-2018 |
Category: |
Education |
Upload: | andreas-oennerfors |
View: | 136 times |
Download: | 3 times |
First edition 1851,
Nervaltravelled to Lebanon and Turkey in 1843
Frame narrative (recurs and
breaks into the chapters): ‘Une
légende dans un café'
1 Adoniram
2 Balkis
3 Le Temple
4 Mello
5 La Mer d’Airain
6 L’ Apparition
7 Le Monde Souterrain
8 Le Lavoire de Siloe
9 Le trois Compagnons
10 L’Entrevue
11 Le Souper du Roi
12 Makbénach
BALKIS:descendent of Noah
SOLOMON: descendent of
Abel
ADONIRAMdescendent of
Tubal-Kain / Kain / Satan?
Orpheus/Prometheus/the Artist, Nerval himself?
The Temple
A play written by playwright
Peter Oswald (2009)
(1843) 1851 1875 / 1897 1904 / 2009
What are Nerval’s potential motives and the potential of the legend’s motifs?
◦ Simply recounts a novel told in an Istanbul café? (frame narrative creates the impression that it is just documentary, spontaneous and performative)
◦ Makes a statement about the source of the Hiramic legend in freemasonry? Oriental and links to Islamic mysticism?
◦ Or: re-introducing the figure of Balkis into the story (which is present rudimentary in some masonic traditions and moreover has a strong Renaissance legacy) brings the occult dimensions of the conflict between Cain and Abel to life.
◦ In extension: re-charging the legend with a theosophical/mystical/esoteric dimension opens up for performance and expression => literature as inspiration for esoteric practices
◦ Picked up in anthroposophy, it served Steiner as a vehicle of addressing gender-specific qualities in his teachings, potentially as an element in his Esoteric School
◦ Nerval transformed into a theatre play, The Temple, in 2008/2009 by renown English playwright Peter Oswald, which highlights its performative potential.