A New Look at the Archeology of the Sacred in the Transition from the Pre-Modern Cosmos into the Post/Modern Village

Year 2007, Volume: 4 Issue: 1, 77 - 126, 01.01.2007

Şevket Yavuz

Abstract

This article aims at the archeology (the level of what made [an event, situation, or phenomenon] possible and a position avoiding to connect change to causal processes) of sacred in the processes of transitions from the pre-Modern cosmos where the sacred was and became meaningful through its meaning and connection into the Post/modern village, in which the sacred has been disjointed from its contexts and reconstructed in a highly weird manner. And depending on these features, the thesis of the article is that sacred is a search for meaning and telos in being and existence in every era. This is because life without sacred is devoid of its splendor; thence, the continuity of life is meaningless as well. With sacred, individual and societies somehow compensate on their part the wish and will to be eternal and join into the life of consoling world of collective therapy through sacred. On the other hand, with respect to the search and construction of the sacred vary according to the societal stratification of the masses and those who uphold power. Hence, it seems appropriate to analyze the demand and manifestation of the sacred as follows: (a) sacred and the search for the sacred pertaining to the needs, emotions, and wants of the grassroots; (b) sacred and the construction of the sacred based on the fantasies and whims of those who uphold power or historical context shaped in accord with power-centric hierarchy with reliance upon the needs and emotions of the masses. This article tries to shed light firstly on both the conception of sacred in polytheist milieux in the pre-Modern world and the viewpoint of the sacred within the Abrahamic tradition in general, and Islam in particular; secondly on how the sacred is disjointed from the domain of metaphysics and is formatted within secular molds in the processes of Modernity and how in the Post/modern era the sacred is molded through the paradox of secular-but-sacred mechanism and then marketed  in the Post/modern mart. The Modern processes that had sent the sacred into exile firstly reconstructed its own sacredness, and then through Post/modern blurriness it turned the sacred into secular-but-sacred freakiness. Succinctly, in the processes of Modernity, the sacred things, sacralizations and sacralized things are profanized in accord with the partitioned ontology in Modern times; whereas in the Post/modern situation and historical mode, the sacred is returning to the home in the forms of secular-but-sacred nature. Nevertheless, archaically-rooted neo-pagan reflexes, it would seem, ever postpone or suspend the natural and normal manifestation and construction of the sacred and this historical state seems to be the destiny of the 21st century.

Keywords

Pre-modern cosmos, Post/modern village, archeology, value, truth, hierophany, sacred.

Modern Öncesi Âlemden Post/Modern Bir Köye Evrilişte Kutsal'ın Arkeolojisine Yeniden Bakış

Abstract

Kutsalın anlam ve bağlamının var olduğu ve anlamlı olduğu Modern öncesi bir kozmostan, tüm anlam ve bağlamlarının çözülüp yepyeni bir konumda ve ucûbe bir bağlamda kurulduğu Post/modern bir köye evrilen süreçlerde kutsallığın arkeolojisini--yani; kutsal fenomenini imkan dairesine katan temel prensipler ve değişimi innî süreçlere bağlamaktan kaçınan durum--irdelemeye çalışan bu makale, kutsalın aslında her devirde varlık ve varoluşta bir mana ve hedef aramak olduğunu tez olarak ortaya koyar. Kutsalı olmayan bir hayatın görkemi ve anlamı olmadığından devamlılığının da bir manası yoktur. Kutsal ile insan ve toplumlar bir yönüyle sonsuzluk özlem ve emelini bir şekilde telafi ederler ve kolektif bir terapinin rahatlatıcı dünyasına katılırlar. Öte yandan, güç ve otoriteyi elinde tutan elitler ile halkın durumuna göre bir faklılık arz eder kutsallık arayışı ve inşası. Buna bağlı olarak kutsalın talebini ve tezahürünü iki boyutta incelemek mümkündür: (a) kitlelerin ihtiyaç, duygu ve istekleri açısından kutsal ve kutsallık arayışı; (b) gücü elinde tutanların veya güce göre şekillenmiş tarihsel durumların öngördüğü fantezileri ve arzuları açısından-ama kitlelerin ihtiyaç ve duyguları üzerine oturan--mukaddes ve kutsallık inşası. Modern öncesi politeist dünyanın gizemli atmosferindeki kutsallık tasavvurlarıyla, İbrahimî geleneğin ve başta İslâm'ın kutsiyet telakkilerini inceleyen bu çalışma, daha sonra da Modern süreçlerde kutsalın, metafizik düzlemden koparılıp seküler kalıplar içinde formatlandığını, Post/modern bir dünyada da seküler-ama-kutsal bir paradoksluk ile yeniden kalıplanarak markete sürüldüğünü iddia eder. Kutsalı tarih dışına sürgün eden Modern süreçler, kendi seküler kutsallarını inşa ettikten sonra, bunları Post/modern bir flûlukta tekrar seküler-ama-kutsal ucubeliğe döndürdü. Kısaca, Modern süreçlerde önce parçalanan ontolojiye eşgüdümlü olarak profanlaş/tırıl/an kutsallar, kutsiyet veya mukaddesler, Post/modern durumda ve tarihsel kiplikte seküler-ama-kutsal formlarda tarihe yeniden döndürülmeye çalışılmaktadır. Ama ısrarla arkaik kökenli neo-pagan refleksler, kutsalın kendi doğal ve normal açılımını ve inşasını öteliyor gibi ve bu durum 21. yüzyılın kaderi olacağa benziyor.

Keywords

Modern öncesi âlem, Post/modern köy, arkeoloji, hiyerofani, değer, gerçek, kutsal.

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