“
Che was practically the architect of the Soviet-Cuban relationship.
”
— Alexander Alexiev, KGB official [38]
On January 8, 1959, Castro's army rolled victoriously into Havana. In February, the revolutionary government proclaimed Guevara "a Cuban citizen by birth" in recognition of his role in the triumph.[39] When Hilda Gadea arrived in Cuba in late January, Guevara told her that he was involved with another woman, and the two "agreed on a divorce,"[40] which became finalized on May 22.[41] On June 2, 1959, he married Aleida March, a Cuban-born member of the 26th of July movement with whom he had been living since late 1958.[42]
During the rebellion against Batista's dictatorship, the general command of the rebel army, led by Fidel Castro, "introduced into the liberated territories the 19th-century penal law commonly known as the Ley de la Sierra".[43] "This law included the death penalty for extremely serious crimes, whether perpetrated by the dictatorship or by supporters of the revolution. In 1959, the revolutionary government extended its application to the whole of the republic and to war criminals captured and tried after the revolution. This latter extension, supported by the majority of the population, followed the same procedure as that seen in" the Nuremberg Trials held by the Allies after World War II.[44] To implement this plan, Castro named Guevara commander of the La Cabaña Fortress prison, for a five-month tenure (January 2 through June 12, 1959).[45] Guevara was charged with purging the Batista army and consolidating victory by exacting "revolutionary justice" against traitors, chivatos, and Batista's war criminals.[46] Serving in the post as "supreme prosecutor" on the appellate bench, Guevara oversaw the trials and executions of those convicted by revolutionary tribunal. Raúl Gómez Treto, senior legal advisor to the Cuban Ministry of Justice, considered removing restrictions on the death penalty to be justified in order to prevent citizens themselves from taking justice into their own hands.[47]
It is estimated that several hundred people were executed on Guevara's orders during this time.[48]
On June 12, 1959, as soon as Guevara returned to Havana, Castro sent him out on a three-month tour of fourteen countries, most of them Bandung Pact members in Africa and Asia. Sending Guevara from Havana also allowed Castro to appear to be distancing himself from Guevara and his Marxist sympathies, that troubled both the United States and some of Castro's 26th of July Movement members.[50] He spent twelve days in Japan (July 15–27), participating in negotiations aimed at expanding Cuba's trade relations with that nation. During this visit Guevara also secretly visited the city of Hiroshima, where the American military had detonated an atom-bomb fourteen years earlier. Guevara was "really shocked" at what he witnessed and by his visit to a hospital where A-bomb survivors were being treated.[51]
Upon returning to Cuba in September 1959, it was evident that Castro now had more political power. The government had begun land seizures included in the agrarian reform law, but was hedging on compensation offers to landowners, instead offering low interest "bonds", which put the U.S. on alert. At this point the affected wealthy cattlemen of Camagüey mounted a campaign against the land redistributions, and enlisted the newly disaffected rebel leader Huber Matos, who along with the anti-Communist wing of the 26th of July Movement, joined them in denouncing the "Communist encroachment."[52] During this time Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo was offering assistance to the "Anti-Communist Legion of the Caribbean" who was training in the Dominican Republic. This multi-national force comprised mostly of Spaniards and Cubans, but also of Croatians, Germans, Greeks, and right-wing mercenaries, were plotting to topple Fidel Castro.[53]
These developments prompted Castro to further clean house of "counter-revolutionaries", and appoint Guevara chief official at the National Institute of Agrarian Reform INRA and later President of the National Bank of Cuba BNC, while allowing him to retain his military rank.[54] At first glance it seemed a strange choice for the important position, Guevara had been promoting the creation of self-sufficient industries since his days in the Sierra Maestra. Guevara was expecting the U.S. to invade, and the Cuban population to then leave the cities and fight as guerrillas, although Guevara's hopes for armed uprisings elsewhere were failing.[55]
In 1960 Guevara provided first aid to victims when the freighter La Coubre, a French vessel carrying munitions from the port of Antwerp, exploded twice while it was being unloaded in Havana harbor, resulting in well over a hundred dead.[56] It was at the memorial service for the victims of this explosion that Alberto Korda took the famous photograph now known as Guerrillero Heroico.
Guevara desired to see a diversification in Cuba’s economy, as well as an elimination of material incentives, in favor of moral ones. Guevara viewed capitalism as a “contest among wolves” where “one can only win at the cost of others”, and thus desired to see the creation of a “new man and woman”.[57] An integral part of fostering a sense of “unity between the individual and the mass”, Guevara believed, was volunteer work and will. To display this, Guevara "led by example", working "endlessly at his ministry job, in construction, and even cutting sugar cane" on his day off.[58] During this time he also wrote several publications advocating a replication of the Cuban revolutionary model, promoting small rural guerrilla groups (foco theory) as an alternative to massive armed insurrection.
Guevara did not participate in the fighting of the 1961 Bay of Pigs Invasion, having been ordered by Castro to a secretly prearranged command post in Cuba's western Pinar del Río province, where he fended off a decoy force.[59] He suffered a bullet grazing to the cheek during this deployment, however, when his pistol fell out of its holster and accidentally discharged.[60] In August 1961, during an economic conference of the Organization of American States in Punta del Este, Uruguay, Che Guevara sent a note of "gratitude" to U.S. President John F. Kennedy through Richard N. Goodwin, a young secretary of the White House. It read "Thanks for Playa Girón (Bay of Pigs). Before the invasion, the revolution was shaky. Now it's stronger than ever."[61]
Guevara played a key role in bringing to Cuba the Soviet nuclear-armed ballistic missiles that precipitated the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962. During an interview with the British Communist newspaper The Daily Worker a few weeks after the crisis, Guevara still fuming, stated that if the missiles had been under Cuban control, they would have fired them off.[62] Sam Russell, the British correspondent who spoke to Guevara at the time came away with "mixed feelings", calling him "a warm character" and "clearly a man of great intelligence", but "crackers from the way he went on about the missiles."[63]
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Che Guevara in Cuba
“
Che convinced Castro with competence, diplomacy and patience. When grenades were needed, Che set up a factory to make them. When bread was wanted, Che set up ovens to bake it. When new recruits needed to learn tactics and discipline, Che taught them. When a school was needed to teach peasants to read and write, Che organized it.
”
— Time Magazine: "Castro's Brain", 1960 [25]
Guevara arrived in Mexico City in early September 1954, and renewed his friendship with the other Cuban exiles whom he had known in Guatemala. In June 1955, López introduced him to Raúl Castro who later introduced him to his older brother, Fidel Castro, the revolutionary leader who had formed the 26th of July Movement and was now plotting to overthrow the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista in what became the Cuban Revolution. Guevara recognized at once that Castro was the cause for which he had been searching.[26]
Although he planned to be the group's medic, Guevara participated in the military training with the members of the Movement, and, at the end of the course, was called "the best guerrilla of them all" by their instructor, Colonel Alberto Bayo.[27] The first step in Castro's revolutionary plan was an assault on Cuba from Mexico via the Granma, an old, leaky cabin cruiser. They set out for Cuba on November 25, 1956. Attacked by Batista's military soon after landing, many of the 82 men were either killed in the attack or executed upon capture; only 22 found each other afterwards.[28] Guevara wrote that it was during this bloody confrontation that he laid down his medical supplies and picked up a box of ammunition dropped by a fleeing comrade, finalizing his symbolic transition from physician to combatant.
Only a small band of revolutionaries survived to re-group as a bedraggled fighting force deep in the Sierra Maestra mountains, where they received support from the urban guerrilla network of Frank País, the 26th of July Movement, and local country folk. With the group withdrawn to the Sierra, the world wondered whether Castro was alive or dead until early 1957 when the interview by Herbert Matthews appeared in The New York Times. The article presented a lasting, almost mythical image for Castro and the guerrillas. Guevara was not present for the interview, but in the coming months he began to realize the importance of the media in their struggle. Meanwhile, as supplies and morale grew low, Guevara considered these "the most painful days of the war."[29]
At this point Castro promoted Guevara to comandante of a second army column. However, Guevara's first idea to hit an enemy garrison at Bueuycito did not go as planned. When his men were late to arrive, he began the attack without them. He told a sentry to halt, but when the sentry moved, Guevara decided to shoot. However, his gun jammed, as did the gun of the young rebel who was with him. Guevara fled under a hail of bullets, which in turn brought a hail of bullets from the rebels in the hills, and the barracks surrendered before Guevara repaired his tommy gun. As Guevara said, "My survival instincts took over.
As Guevara reconsidered his tactics, he imposed even harsher disciplinary treatment. Deserters were punished as traitors, and Guevara was known to send execution squads to hunt down those seeking to escape.[31] As a result, Guevara became feared for his brutality and ruthlessness.[32] During the guerrilla campaign, Guevara was also responsible for the execution of a number of men accused of being informers, deserters or spies.
Guevara was also instrumental in creating the clandestine radio station Radio Rebelde in February 1958, which broadcast news to the Cuban people and statements by the 26th of July movement, and provided radio telephone communication between the growing number of rebel columns across the island. Guevara had apparently been inspired to create the station by observing the effectiveness of CIA supplied radio in Guatemala in ousting the government of Jacobo Arbenz.
In late July of 1958 Guevara would play a critical role in the Battle of Las Mercedes by using his column to halt a force of 1,500 men called up by Batista's General Cantillo in a plan to encircle and destroy Castro's forces. Years later, USMC Major Larry Bockman, would analyze and describe Che's tactical appreciation of this battle as "brilliant".[35] As the war extended, Guevara led a new column of fighters dispatched westward for the final push towards Havana. In the closing days of December 1958, Guevara directed his "suicide squad" in the attack on Santa Clara, that became the final decisive military victory of the revolution.[36][37] Radio Rebelde broadcast the first reports that Guevara's column had taken Santa Clara on New Years Eve 1958. This contradicted reports by the heavily controlled national news media, which had at one stage reported Guevara's death during the fighting. Batista, upon learning that his generals were negotiating a separate peace with the rebel leader, fled to the Dominican Republic the next day on January 1, 1959.
Che convinced Castro with competence, diplomacy and patience. When grenades were needed, Che set up a factory to make them. When bread was wanted, Che set up ovens to bake it. When new recruits needed to learn tactics and discipline, Che taught them. When a school was needed to teach peasants to read and write, Che organized it.
”
— Time Magazine: "Castro's Brain", 1960 [25]
Guevara arrived in Mexico City in early September 1954, and renewed his friendship with the other Cuban exiles whom he had known in Guatemala. In June 1955, López introduced him to Raúl Castro who later introduced him to his older brother, Fidel Castro, the revolutionary leader who had formed the 26th of July Movement and was now plotting to overthrow the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista in what became the Cuban Revolution. Guevara recognized at once that Castro was the cause for which he had been searching.[26]
Although he planned to be the group's medic, Guevara participated in the military training with the members of the Movement, and, at the end of the course, was called "the best guerrilla of them all" by their instructor, Colonel Alberto Bayo.[27] The first step in Castro's revolutionary plan was an assault on Cuba from Mexico via the Granma, an old, leaky cabin cruiser. They set out for Cuba on November 25, 1956. Attacked by Batista's military soon after landing, many of the 82 men were either killed in the attack or executed upon capture; only 22 found each other afterwards.[28] Guevara wrote that it was during this bloody confrontation that he laid down his medical supplies and picked up a box of ammunition dropped by a fleeing comrade, finalizing his symbolic transition from physician to combatant.
Only a small band of revolutionaries survived to re-group as a bedraggled fighting force deep in the Sierra Maestra mountains, where they received support from the urban guerrilla network of Frank País, the 26th of July Movement, and local country folk. With the group withdrawn to the Sierra, the world wondered whether Castro was alive or dead until early 1957 when the interview by Herbert Matthews appeared in The New York Times. The article presented a lasting, almost mythical image for Castro and the guerrillas. Guevara was not present for the interview, but in the coming months he began to realize the importance of the media in their struggle. Meanwhile, as supplies and morale grew low, Guevara considered these "the most painful days of the war."[29]
At this point Castro promoted Guevara to comandante of a second army column. However, Guevara's first idea to hit an enemy garrison at Bueuycito did not go as planned. When his men were late to arrive, he began the attack without them. He told a sentry to halt, but when the sentry moved, Guevara decided to shoot. However, his gun jammed, as did the gun of the young rebel who was with him. Guevara fled under a hail of bullets, which in turn brought a hail of bullets from the rebels in the hills, and the barracks surrendered before Guevara repaired his tommy gun. As Guevara said, "My survival instincts took over.
As Guevara reconsidered his tactics, he imposed even harsher disciplinary treatment. Deserters were punished as traitors, and Guevara was known to send execution squads to hunt down those seeking to escape.[31] As a result, Guevara became feared for his brutality and ruthlessness.[32] During the guerrilla campaign, Guevara was also responsible for the execution of a number of men accused of being informers, deserters or spies.
Guevara was also instrumental in creating the clandestine radio station Radio Rebelde in February 1958, which broadcast news to the Cuban people and statements by the 26th of July movement, and provided radio telephone communication between the growing number of rebel columns across the island. Guevara had apparently been inspired to create the station by observing the effectiveness of CIA supplied radio in Guatemala in ousting the government of Jacobo Arbenz.
In late July of 1958 Guevara would play a critical role in the Battle of Las Mercedes by using his column to halt a force of 1,500 men called up by Batista's General Cantillo in a plan to encircle and destroy Castro's forces. Years later, USMC Major Larry Bockman, would analyze and describe Che's tactical appreciation of this battle as "brilliant".[35] As the war extended, Guevara led a new column of fighters dispatched westward for the final push towards Havana. In the closing days of December 1958, Guevara directed his "suicide squad" in the attack on Santa Clara, that became the final decisive military victory of the revolution.[36][37] Radio Rebelde broadcast the first reports that Guevara's column had taken Santa Clara on New Years Eve 1958. This contradicted reports by the heavily controlled national news media, which had at one stage reported Guevara's death during the fighting. Batista, upon learning that his generals were negotiating a separate peace with the rebel leader, fled to the Dominican Republic the next day on January 1, 1959.
Che Guevara in Guatemala
“
After graduation, due to special circumstances and perhaps also to my character, I began to travel throughout America, and I became acquainted with all of it. Except for Haiti and Santo Domingo, I have visited, to some extent, all the other Latin American countries. Because of the circumstances in which I traveled, first as a student and later as a doctor, I came into close contact with poverty, hunger and disease; with the inability to treat a child because of lack of money; with the stupefaction provoked by the continual hunger and punishment, to the point that a father can accept the loss of a son as an unimportant accident, as occurs often in the downtrodden classes of our American homeland. And I began to realize at that time that there were things that were almost as important to me as becoming famous for making a significant contribution to medical science: I wanted to help those people.
”
— Che Guevara, 1960
On July 7, 1953, Guevara set out again, this time to Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras and El Salvador. In December 1953 he arrived in Guatemala where President Jacobo Arbenz Guzmán headed a democratically elected government that, through land reform and other initiatives, was attempting to end the latifundia system. Guevara decided to settle down in Guatemala so as to "perfect [him]self and accomplish whatever may be necessary in order to become a true revolutionary".
In Guatemala City, Guevara sought out Hilda Gadea Acosta, a Peruvian economist who was well-connected politically as a member of the left-leaning American Popular Revolutionary Alliance (APRA). She introduced Guevara to a number of high-level officials in the Arbenz government. Guevara also established contact with a group of Cuban exiles linked to Fidel Castro through the July 26, 1953 attack on the Moncada Barracks in Santiago de Cuba.[19] During this period he acquired his famous nickname, due to his frequent use of the Argentine interjection "che", which is used in much the same way as "hey" or "pal".[20]
Guevara's attempts to obtain a medical internship were unsuccessful and his economic situation was often precarious. On May 15, 1954 a shipment of Škoda infantry and light artillery weapons was sent from Communist Czechoslovakia for the Arbenz Government and arrived in Puerto Barrios,[21][22] prompting a CIA-sponsored coup attempt.[21] Guevara was eager to fight on behalf of Arbenz and joined an armed militia organized by the Communist Youth for that purpose, but frustrated with the group's inaction, he soon returned to medical duties. Following the coup, he again volunteered to fight, but soon after, Arbenz took refuge in the Mexican Embassy and told his foreign supporters to leave the country. After Hilda Gadea was arrested, Guevara sought protection inside the Argentine consulate, where he remained until he received a safe-conduct pass some weeks later and made his way to Mexico.[23]
The overthrow of the Arbenz regime cemented Guevara's view of the United States as an imperialist power that would oppose and attempt to destroy any government that sought to redress the socioeconomic inequality endemic to Latin America and other developing countries. This strengthened his conviction that Marxism achieved through armed struggle and defended by an armed populace was the only way to rectify such conditions.
After graduation, due to special circumstances and perhaps also to my character, I began to travel throughout America, and I became acquainted with all of it. Except for Haiti and Santo Domingo, I have visited, to some extent, all the other Latin American countries. Because of the circumstances in which I traveled, first as a student and later as a doctor, I came into close contact with poverty, hunger and disease; with the inability to treat a child because of lack of money; with the stupefaction provoked by the continual hunger and punishment, to the point that a father can accept the loss of a son as an unimportant accident, as occurs often in the downtrodden classes of our American homeland. And I began to realize at that time that there were things that were almost as important to me as becoming famous for making a significant contribution to medical science: I wanted to help those people.
”
— Che Guevara, 1960
On July 7, 1953, Guevara set out again, this time to Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras and El Salvador. In December 1953 he arrived in Guatemala where President Jacobo Arbenz Guzmán headed a democratically elected government that, through land reform and other initiatives, was attempting to end the latifundia system. Guevara decided to settle down in Guatemala so as to "perfect [him]self and accomplish whatever may be necessary in order to become a true revolutionary".
In Guatemala City, Guevara sought out Hilda Gadea Acosta, a Peruvian economist who was well-connected politically as a member of the left-leaning American Popular Revolutionary Alliance (APRA). She introduced Guevara to a number of high-level officials in the Arbenz government. Guevara also established contact with a group of Cuban exiles linked to Fidel Castro through the July 26, 1953 attack on the Moncada Barracks in Santiago de Cuba.[19] During this period he acquired his famous nickname, due to his frequent use of the Argentine interjection "che", which is used in much the same way as "hey" or "pal".[20]
Guevara's attempts to obtain a medical internship were unsuccessful and his economic situation was often precarious. On May 15, 1954 a shipment of Škoda infantry and light artillery weapons was sent from Communist Czechoslovakia for the Arbenz Government and arrived in Puerto Barrios,[21][22] prompting a CIA-sponsored coup attempt.[21] Guevara was eager to fight on behalf of Arbenz and joined an armed militia organized by the Communist Youth for that purpose, but frustrated with the group's inaction, he soon returned to medical duties. Following the coup, he again volunteered to fight, but soon after, Arbenz took refuge in the Mexican Embassy and told his foreign supporters to leave the country. After Hilda Gadea was arrested, Guevara sought protection inside the Argentine consulate, where he remained until he received a safe-conduct pass some weeks later and made his way to Mexico.[23]
The overthrow of the Arbenz regime cemented Guevara's view of the United States as an imperialist power that would oppose and attempt to destroy any government that sought to redress the socioeconomic inequality endemic to Latin America and other developing countries. This strengthened his conviction that Marxism achieved through armed struggle and defended by an armed populace was the only way to rectify such conditions.
Ernesto Guevara was born on 14 June 1928[1] in Rosario, Argentina, the eldest of five children in a family of Basque and Irish descent.[7] Growing up in a family with leftist leanings, Guevara was introduced to an array of political perspectives even as a boy. Though suffering from the crippling bouts of asthma that were to afflict him throughout his life, he excelled as an athlete. He was an avid rugby union player and earned himself the nickname "Fuser"—a contraction of "El Furibundo" (raging) and his mother's surname "de la Serna"—for his aggressive style of play.[8] Ernesto was also nicknamed "Chancho" (pig) by his schoolmates, because he rarely bathed, and proudly wore a "weekly shirt".
Guevara learned chess from his father and began participating in local tournaments by the age of 12. During his adolescence and throughout his life he was passionate about poetry, especially that of Neruda, Keats, Machado, Lorca, Mistral, Vallejo, and Whitman.[9] He could also recite Kipling's "If" and Hernández's "Martín Fierro" from memory.[10] The Guevara home contained more than 3,000 books, which allowed Guevara to be an enthusiastic and eclectic reader, with interests including Marx, Faulkner, Gide, and Verne.[11] He also enjoyed reading Nehru, Kafka, Camus, Lenin, and Sartre; as well as France, Engels, Wells, and Frost.
As he got older he developed an interest in the Latin American writers Quiroga, Alegria, Icaza, Dario, and Asturias.[13] Many of these author's ideas he would catalog in his own handwritten notebooks of concepts, definitions, and philosophies of influential intellectuals. These included composing analytical sketches of Buddha and Aristotle, along with examining Bertrand Russell on love and patriotism, Jack London on society, and Nietzsche on the idea of death. Sigmund Freud's ideas also fascinated him as he quoted him on a variety of topics from dreams and libido, to narcissism and the oedipus complex.[14]
In 1948, Guevara entered the University of Buenos Aires to study medicine. While still a student in 1951, Guevara took a year off from his medical studies to embark on a trip traversing South America by motorcycle with his friend Alberto Granado, with the final goal of spending a few weeks volunteering at the San Pablo Leper colony in Peru, on the banks of the Amazon River. Guevara used notes taken during this trip to write an account entitled The Motorcycle Diaries, which later became a New York Times best-seller[15] and was adapted into a 2004 award-winning film of the same name.
Witnessing the widespread poverty, oppression and disenfranchisement throughout Latin America, and influenced by his readings of Marxist literature, Guevara began to view armed revolution as the solution to social inequality. By trip's end, he also viewed Latin America not as separate nations, but as a single entity requiring a continent-wide liberation strategy. His conception of a borderless, united Hispanic America sharing a common 'mestizo' Hispanic America was a theme that prominently recurred during his later revolutionary activities. Upon returning to Argentina, he completed his studies and received his medical diploma in June of 1953.
Collection by source
Guevara learned chess from his father and began participating in local tournaments by the age of 12. During his adolescence and throughout his life he was passionate about poetry, especially that of Neruda, Keats, Machado, Lorca, Mistral, Vallejo, and Whitman.[9] He could also recite Kipling's "If" and Hernández's "Martín Fierro" from memory.[10] The Guevara home contained more than 3,000 books, which allowed Guevara to be an enthusiastic and eclectic reader, with interests including Marx, Faulkner, Gide, and Verne.[11] He also enjoyed reading Nehru, Kafka, Camus, Lenin, and Sartre; as well as France, Engels, Wells, and Frost.
As he got older he developed an interest in the Latin American writers Quiroga, Alegria, Icaza, Dario, and Asturias.[13] Many of these author's ideas he would catalog in his own handwritten notebooks of concepts, definitions, and philosophies of influential intellectuals. These included composing analytical sketches of Buddha and Aristotle, along with examining Bertrand Russell on love and patriotism, Jack London on society, and Nietzsche on the idea of death. Sigmund Freud's ideas also fascinated him as he quoted him on a variety of topics from dreams and libido, to narcissism and the oedipus complex.[14]
In 1948, Guevara entered the University of Buenos Aires to study medicine. While still a student in 1951, Guevara took a year off from his medical studies to embark on a trip traversing South America by motorcycle with his friend Alberto Granado, with the final goal of spending a few weeks volunteering at the San Pablo Leper colony in Peru, on the banks of the Amazon River. Guevara used notes taken during this trip to write an account entitled The Motorcycle Diaries, which later became a New York Times best-seller[15] and was adapted into a 2004 award-winning film of the same name.
Witnessing the widespread poverty, oppression and disenfranchisement throughout Latin America, and influenced by his readings of Marxist literature, Guevara began to view armed revolution as the solution to social inequality. By trip's end, he also viewed Latin America not as separate nations, but as a single entity requiring a continent-wide liberation strategy. His conception of a borderless, united Hispanic America sharing a common 'mestizo' Hispanic America was a theme that prominently recurred during his later revolutionary activities. Upon returning to Argentina, he completed his studies and received his medical diploma in June of 1953.
Collection by source
Introduction Of Che Guevara
Ernesto "Che" Guevara (June 14,[1] 1928 – October 9, 1967), commonly known as Che Guevara, El Che, or simply Che, was an Argentine Marxist revolutionary, politician, author, physician, military theorist, and guerrilla leader. After his death, his stylized image became an ubiquitous countercultural symbol worldwide.
As a young medical student, Guevara travelled throughout Latin America and was transformed by the endemic poverty he witnessed. His experiences and observations during these trips led him to conclude that the region's ingrained economic inequalities were an intrinsic result of monopoly capitalism, neo-colonialism, and imperialism, with the only remedy being world revolution. This belief prompted his involvement in Guatemala's social reforms under President Jacobo Arbenz, whose eventual CIA-assisted overthrow solidified Guevara’s radical ideology.
Later, in Mexico, he joined and was promoted to commander in Fidel Castro’s 26th of July Movement, playing a pivotal role in the successful guerrilla campaign to overthrow the U.S.-backed Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista.[2] After the Cuban revolution, Guevara served in many prominent governmental positions, including president of the national bank, minister of industry, and “supreme prosecutor” over the revolutionary tribunals and executions of suspected war criminals from the previous regime. Along with traversing the globe to meet an array of world leaders on behalf of Cuban socialism, he was a prolific writer and diarist. One of his most prominent published works includes a manual on the theory and practice of guerrilla warfare. Guevara left Cuba in 1965 to incite revolutions first in an unsuccessful attempt in Congo-Kinshasa and then in Bolivia, where he was captured with help of the CIA and executed.
Both notorious for his harsh discipline and revered for his unwavering dedication to his revolutionary doctrines, Guevara remains an admired, controversial, and significant historical figure. As a result of his death and romantic visage, along with his invocation to armed class struggle and desire to create the consciousness of a "new man" driven by "moral" rather than "material" incentives [3]; Guevara evolved into a quintessential icon of leftist inspired movements, as well as a global merchandising sensation. He has been venerated and reviled in a multitude of biographies, memoirs, books, essays, documentaries, songs, and films. Time Magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century,[4] while an Alberto Korda photograph of him entitled Guerrillero Heroico (shown), was declared "the most famous photograph in the world."
Source : from collection
As a young medical student, Guevara travelled throughout Latin America and was transformed by the endemic poverty he witnessed. His experiences and observations during these trips led him to conclude that the region's ingrained economic inequalities were an intrinsic result of monopoly capitalism, neo-colonialism, and imperialism, with the only remedy being world revolution. This belief prompted his involvement in Guatemala's social reforms under President Jacobo Arbenz, whose eventual CIA-assisted overthrow solidified Guevara’s radical ideology.
Later, in Mexico, he joined and was promoted to commander in Fidel Castro’s 26th of July Movement, playing a pivotal role in the successful guerrilla campaign to overthrow the U.S.-backed Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista.[2] After the Cuban revolution, Guevara served in many prominent governmental positions, including president of the national bank, minister of industry, and “supreme prosecutor” over the revolutionary tribunals and executions of suspected war criminals from the previous regime. Along with traversing the globe to meet an array of world leaders on behalf of Cuban socialism, he was a prolific writer and diarist. One of his most prominent published works includes a manual on the theory and practice of guerrilla warfare. Guevara left Cuba in 1965 to incite revolutions first in an unsuccessful attempt in Congo-Kinshasa and then in Bolivia, where he was captured with help of the CIA and executed.
Both notorious for his harsh discipline and revered for his unwavering dedication to his revolutionary doctrines, Guevara remains an admired, controversial, and significant historical figure. As a result of his death and romantic visage, along with his invocation to armed class struggle and desire to create the consciousness of a "new man" driven by "moral" rather than "material" incentives [3]; Guevara evolved into a quintessential icon of leftist inspired movements, as well as a global merchandising sensation. He has been venerated and reviled in a multitude of biographies, memoirs, books, essays, documentaries, songs, and films. Time Magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century,[4] while an Alberto Korda photograph of him entitled Guerrillero Heroico (shown), was declared "the most famous photograph in the world."
Source : from collection
Che Guevara , The Patriot
Che Guevara was born Ernesto Guevara on June 14, 1928 in Rosario, Argentina. His family owned a ranch and was relatively wealthy. He developed asthma at an early age and, although his family moved to a drier area, it did not improve his condition. He grew up as a sickly child and was unable to play in rough sports like his friends. As a result, he read a lot of books and became something of an intellectual.
He attended college classes at the Buenos Aires University, but didn't participate in the revolutionary students movement. He focused on his studies of medicine, with a specialization in leprosy. During his college years, Che also spent a lot of time playing rugby, his favorite sport.
Late in his college years, Che left with his friend Alberto Granado, a biochemist, for a massive tour of South America on an old motorcycle. They traveled to Peru, Colombia, Venezuela, and Argentina before returning to Argentina, where Che finished medical school. During his travels, he had developed Marxist views and met Fidel Castro during a residency in Mexico City.
He spoke frequently with Castro, learning more about Marxism and pledging his help to the revolution in Cuba, which was controlled by dictator Fulgencio Batista. Guevara, Castro, and other revolutionaries were trained in the art of guerrilla warfare on a farm in Mexico by a captain in the Spanish Republican Army. They gave Guevara his nickname "Che", which is a word often used in Argentina to say "hey" or "wow". The Mexican police arrested Castro and
Guevara during their training, but they were released shortly after.
Che was a doctor to the soldiers under him in the Cuban Revolution, but also served as a commander. Che and Castro began to develop differences in opinion, most notably on economic policy, eventually resulting in Che's resignation. Che left for the African Congo with 120 Cuban revolutionaries to initiate a communist revolution there, but it ultimately failed.
Che moved back to South America and took an intense interest in Bolivia, believing that it was weak enough to allow a revolution due to the large poverty rate. He found it very difficult to recruit people and was arrested by the Bolivian Special Forces on October 8, 1967. His arrest was reportedly backed by the CIA, who feared the spread of communism in South America. The next day, he was taken to an abandoned schoolhouse in the town of La Higuera and executed that afternoon. His last words before the execution were reportedly "You are only killing one man". Following his death, his body was dumped in an unknown and has not been found since.
In 2005, the movie "The Motorcycle Diaries" was released, featuring an account of Che's travels throughout South America.
He attended college classes at the Buenos Aires University, but didn't participate in the revolutionary students movement. He focused on his studies of medicine, with a specialization in leprosy. During his college years, Che also spent a lot of time playing rugby, his favorite sport.
Late in his college years, Che left with his friend Alberto Granado, a biochemist, for a massive tour of South America on an old motorcycle. They traveled to Peru, Colombia, Venezuela, and Argentina before returning to Argentina, where Che finished medical school. During his travels, he had developed Marxist views and met Fidel Castro during a residency in Mexico City.
He spoke frequently with Castro, learning more about Marxism and pledging his help to the revolution in Cuba, which was controlled by dictator Fulgencio Batista. Guevara, Castro, and other revolutionaries were trained in the art of guerrilla warfare on a farm in Mexico by a captain in the Spanish Republican Army. They gave Guevara his nickname "Che", which is a word often used in Argentina to say "hey" or "wow". The Mexican police arrested Castro and
Guevara during their training, but they were released shortly after.
Che was a doctor to the soldiers under him in the Cuban Revolution, but also served as a commander. Che and Castro began to develop differences in opinion, most notably on economic policy, eventually resulting in Che's resignation. Che left for the African Congo with 120 Cuban revolutionaries to initiate a communist revolution there, but it ultimately failed.
Che moved back to South America and took an intense interest in Bolivia, believing that it was weak enough to allow a revolution due to the large poverty rate. He found it very difficult to recruit people and was arrested by the Bolivian Special Forces on October 8, 1967. His arrest was reportedly backed by the CIA, who feared the spread of communism in South America. The next day, he was taken to an abandoned schoolhouse in the town of La Higuera and executed that afternoon. His last words before the execution were reportedly "You are only killing one man". Following his death, his body was dumped in an unknown and has not been found since.
In 2005, the movie "The Motorcycle Diaries" was released, featuring an account of Che's travels throughout South America.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Dracula - Adaptations
Dracula
Dracula has been the basis for countless films and plays. Three of the most famous are Nosferatu (1922), Dracula (1931), and Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992). Nosferatu, a film directed by the German director F.W. Murnau, was produced while Stoker's widow was alive, and the filmmakers were forced to change the setting and the characters' names for copyright reasons. The vampire in Nosferatu is called Count Orlok rather than Count Dracula.
The character of Count Dracula has remained popular over the years, and many films have used the character as a villain, while others have named him in their titles, such as Dracula's Daughter, Brides of Dracula, and Zoltan, Hound of Dracula. An estimated 160 films (as of 2004) feature Dracula in a major role, a number second only to Sherlock Holmes. The number of films that include a reference to Dracula may reach as high as 649, according to the Internet Movie Database.
Most tellings of the Dracula story include the Count along with the rest of the "cast": Jonathan and Mina Harker, Van Helsing, and Renfield. (Notably, the novel roles of characters Jonathan Harker and Renfield are more than occasionally reversed or combined, as are the roles of Mina and Lucy. Quincey Morris is usually omitted entirely, as is Arthur Holmwood.)
Dracula - Themes
Dracula
Dracula is an epistolary novel, written as a collection of diary entries, telegrams, and letters from the characters, as well as fictional clippings from the Whitby and London newspapers and phonograph cylinders. This literary style, made most famous by one of the most popular novels of the 19th century, The Woman in White (1860), was considered rather old-fashioned by the time of the publication of Dracula, but it adds a sense of realism and provides the reader with the perspective of most of the major characters. By use of the epistolary structure, Stoker, without employing either an omniscient narrator or any awkward framing device, maximizes suspense by avoiding any implicit promise to the reader that any first-person narrator must survive all the story's perils.
Although some critics find the novel somewhat crude and sensational, it nevertheless retains its psychological power, and the sexual longings underlying the vampire attacks are manifest. As one critic wrote:
What has become clearer and clearer, particularly in the fin de siècle years of the twentieth century, is that the novel's power has its source in the sexual implications of the blood exchange between the vampire and his victims...Dracula has embedded in it a very disturbing psychosexual allegory whose meaning I am not sure Stoker entirely understood: that there is a demonic force at work in the world whose intent is to eroticize women. In Dracula we see how that force transforms Lucy Westenra, a beautiful nineteen-year-old virgin, into a shameless slut.[12]
Dracula may be viewed as a novel about the struggle between tradition and modernity at the fin de siècle. Throughout, there are various references to changing gender roles; Mina Harker can be seen as a thoroughly modern woman, using such modern technologies as the typewriter. She also displays some characteristics of the New Woman through her rejection of deference to male superiority and her economic independence. However, Mina still embodies a traditional gender role, as seen in her feminine and maternal nature and her occupation as as an assistant schoolmistress.
Stoker's novel deals in general with the conflict between the world of the past — full of folklore, legend, and religious piety — and the emerging modern world of technology, positivism, and secularism.
Van Helsing epitomizes this struggle because he uses, at the time, extremely modern technologies like blood transfusions; but he is not so modern as to eschew the idea that a demonic being could be causing Lucy's illness: he spreads garlic around the sashes and doors of her room and makes her wear a garlic flower necklace. After Lucy's death, he receives an indulgence from a Catholic cleric to use the Eucharist (held by the Church to be trans-substantiated into the body and blood of Jesus) in his fight against Dracula. In trying to bridge the rational/superstitious conflict within the story, he cites new sciences, such as hypnotism, that were only recently considered magical. He also quotes (without attribution) the American psychologist William James, whose writings on the power of belief become the only way to deal with this conflict.
No character in the novel advocates a rejection of science in favour of either religion or superstition. Van Helsing receives the admiration of the other characters and succeeds in defeating Dracula by dint of a combination of encyclopedic knowledge and "open-mindedness." Late in the novel, as Dr. Seward comes to embrace Van Helsing's open-mindedness, he writes, "In an age when the existence of ptomaines is a mystery we should not wonder at anything!" For the characters, and presumably for the author, science opens the possibility of shockingly unfamiliar phenomena. If the novel sounds a cautionary note, it merely warns against the presumption that established science as yet offers a complete world-view. Within Stoker's fictional universe, (correct) superstitious beliefs have an empirical basis and promise to yield to scientific inquiry.
Jonathan Harker's character displays the problems of dwelling in a strictly rational modern world. Visiting Count Dracula in Eastern Europe, Jonathan scoffs at the peasants who tell him to delay his visit until after Saint George's feast day. As a solicitor, Jonathan is concerned “with facts — bare meagre facts, verified by books and figures, and of which there can be no doubt”. All of Jonathan’s rationality weakens him to what he witnesses at Castle Dracula. For example, the first time Jonathan witnesses Dracula crawling down the face of the castle headfirst, he is in complete disbelief. Not believing what he sees, he attempts to explain what he saw as a trick of the moonlight.
The characters of Dracula use modern technology and rationalism to defeat the Count. For example, during their pursuit of the vampire, they use railroads and steamships, not to mention the telegraph (and a telephone is even used on their behalf at one point), to keep a step ahead of him (in contrast, Dracula escapes in a sailing ship). Van Helsing uses hypnotism to pinpoint Dracula's location. Mina even employs criminology to anticipate Dracula's actions and cites both Cesare Lombroso and Max Nordau, who at that time were considered experts in this field.
A number of scholars have noted the theme of a 'barbarian' prince attempting to usurp British society as being an example of the invasion literature which was popular at the time. Author Kim Newman characterized Dracula as being the story of "a one-man invasion" and drew attention to Van Helsing's claim that Dracula's goal was to become "the father or furthurer of a new order of beings, whose road must lead through Death, not Life"
Although some critics find the novel somewhat crude and sensational, it nevertheless retains its psychological power, and the sexual longings underlying the vampire attacks are manifest. As one critic wrote:
What has become clearer and clearer, particularly in the fin de siècle years of the twentieth century, is that the novel's power has its source in the sexual implications of the blood exchange between the vampire and his victims...Dracula has embedded in it a very disturbing psychosexual allegory whose meaning I am not sure Stoker entirely understood: that there is a demonic force at work in the world whose intent is to eroticize women. In Dracula we see how that force transforms Lucy Westenra, a beautiful nineteen-year-old virgin, into a shameless slut.[12]
Dracula may be viewed as a novel about the struggle between tradition and modernity at the fin de siècle. Throughout, there are various references to changing gender roles; Mina Harker can be seen as a thoroughly modern woman, using such modern technologies as the typewriter. She also displays some characteristics of the New Woman through her rejection of deference to male superiority and her economic independence. However, Mina still embodies a traditional gender role, as seen in her feminine and maternal nature and her occupation as as an assistant schoolmistress.
Stoker's novel deals in general with the conflict between the world of the past — full of folklore, legend, and religious piety — and the emerging modern world of technology, positivism, and secularism.
Van Helsing epitomizes this struggle because he uses, at the time, extremely modern technologies like blood transfusions; but he is not so modern as to eschew the idea that a demonic being could be causing Lucy's illness: he spreads garlic around the sashes and doors of her room and makes her wear a garlic flower necklace. After Lucy's death, he receives an indulgence from a Catholic cleric to use the Eucharist (held by the Church to be trans-substantiated into the body and blood of Jesus) in his fight against Dracula. In trying to bridge the rational/superstitious conflict within the story, he cites new sciences, such as hypnotism, that were only recently considered magical. He also quotes (without attribution) the American psychologist William James, whose writings on the power of belief become the only way to deal with this conflict.
No character in the novel advocates a rejection of science in favour of either religion or superstition. Van Helsing receives the admiration of the other characters and succeeds in defeating Dracula by dint of a combination of encyclopedic knowledge and "open-mindedness." Late in the novel, as Dr. Seward comes to embrace Van Helsing's open-mindedness, he writes, "In an age when the existence of ptomaines is a mystery we should not wonder at anything!" For the characters, and presumably for the author, science opens the possibility of shockingly unfamiliar phenomena. If the novel sounds a cautionary note, it merely warns against the presumption that established science as yet offers a complete world-view. Within Stoker's fictional universe, (correct) superstitious beliefs have an empirical basis and promise to yield to scientific inquiry.
Jonathan Harker's character displays the problems of dwelling in a strictly rational modern world. Visiting Count Dracula in Eastern Europe, Jonathan scoffs at the peasants who tell him to delay his visit until after Saint George's feast day. As a solicitor, Jonathan is concerned “with facts — bare meagre facts, verified by books and figures, and of which there can be no doubt”. All of Jonathan’s rationality weakens him to what he witnesses at Castle Dracula. For example, the first time Jonathan witnesses Dracula crawling down the face of the castle headfirst, he is in complete disbelief. Not believing what he sees, he attempts to explain what he saw as a trick of the moonlight.
The characters of Dracula use modern technology and rationalism to defeat the Count. For example, during their pursuit of the vampire, they use railroads and steamships, not to mention the telegraph (and a telephone is even used on their behalf at one point), to keep a step ahead of him (in contrast, Dracula escapes in a sailing ship). Van Helsing uses hypnotism to pinpoint Dracula's location. Mina even employs criminology to anticipate Dracula's actions and cites both Cesare Lombroso and Max Nordau, who at that time were considered experts in this field.
A number of scholars have noted the theme of a 'barbarian' prince attempting to usurp British society as being an example of the invasion literature which was popular at the time. Author Kim Newman characterized Dracula as being the story of "a one-man invasion" and drew attention to Van Helsing's claim that Dracula's goal was to become "the father or furthurer of a new order of beings, whose road must lead through Death, not Life"
Collection by source
Dracula - Historical and geographical references
Dracula
Although Dracula is a work of fiction, it does contain some historical references. The historical connections with the novel and how much Stoker knew about the history are a matter of conjecture and debate.
Following the publication of In Search of Dracula by Radu Florescu and Raymond McNally in 1972, the supposed connections between the historical Transylvanian-born Vlad III Dracula of Wallachia and Bram Stoker's fictional Dracula attracted popular attention. During his main reign (1456–1462), "Vlad the Impaler" is said to have killed from 20,000 to 40,000 European civilians (political rivals, criminals, and anyone else he considered "useless to humanity"), mainly by using his favourite method of impaling them on a sharp pole. The main sources dealing with these events are records by Saxon settlers in neighboring Transylvania, who had frequent clashes with Vlad III and may have been biased. Vlad III is revered as a folk hero by Romanians for driving off the invading Turks. His impaled victims are said to have included as many as 100,000 Turkish Muslims.
Historically, the name "Dracul" is derived from a secret fraternal order of knights called the Order of the Dragon, founded by Sigismund of Luxembourg (king of Hungary, Croatia and Bohemia, and Holy Roman Emperor) to uphold Christianity and defend the Empire against the Ottoman Turks. Vlad II Dracul, father of Vlad III, was admitted to the order around 1431 because of his bravery in fighting the Turks. From 1431 onward, Vlad II wore the emblem of the order and later, as ruler of Wallachia, his coinage bore the dragon symbol. The name Dracula means "Son of Dracul".
Stoker came across the name Dracula in his reading on Romanian history, and chose this to replace the name (Count Wampyr) that he had originally intended to use for his villain. However, some Dracula scholars, led by Elizabeth Miller, have questioned the depth of this connection. They argue that Stoker in fact knew little of the historic Vlad III except for his nickname. There are sections in the novel where Dracula refers to his own background, and these speeches show that Stoker had some knowledge of Romanian history. Yet Stoker includes no details about Vlad III's reign and does not mention his use of impalement. Given Stoker's use of historical background to make his novel more horrific, it seems unlikely he would have failed to mention that his villain had impaled thousands of people. It seems that Stoker either did not know much about the historic Vlad III, or did not intend his character Dracula to be the same person as Vlad III.
Vlad III was an ethnic Vlach. In the novel, Dracula claims to be a Székely: "We Szekelys have a right to be proud..."
The Dracula legend as he created it and as it has been portrayed in films and television shows may be a compound of various influences. Many of Stoker's biographers and literary critics have found strong similarities to the earlier Irish writer Sheridan le Fanu's classic of the vampire genre, Carmilla. In writing Dracula, Stoker may also have drawn on stories about the sídhe — some of which feature blood-drinking women.
It has been suggested that Stoker was influenced by the history of Countess Elizabeth Bathory, who was born in the Kingdom of Hungary. Bathory is known to have tortured and killed anywhere between 36 and 700 young women over a period of many years, and it was commonly believed that she committed these crimes in order to bathe in or drink their blood, believing that this preserved her youth. No credible evidence of blood-drinking or other blood crimes in the Bathory case has ever been found, however the stories and influence may explain why Dracula appeared younger after feeding.[10]
Some have claimed the castle of Count Dracula was inspired by Slains Castle, at which Bram Stoker was a guest of the 19th Earl of Erroll. However, since as Stoker visited the castle in 1895—five years after work on Dracula had begun—there is unlikely to be much connection. Many of the scenes in Whitby and London are based on real places that Stoker frequently visited, although in some cases he distorts the geography for the sake of the story.
It has been suggested that Stoker received much historical information from Ármin Vámbéry, a Hungarian professor he met at least twice. Miller argues that "there is nothing to indicate that the conversation included Vlad, vampires, or even Transylvania" and that, "furthermore, there is no record of any other correspondence between Stoker and Vámbéry, nor is Vámbéry mentioned in Stoker's notes for Dracula.
Following the publication of In Search of Dracula by Radu Florescu and Raymond McNally in 1972, the supposed connections between the historical Transylvanian-born Vlad III Dracula of Wallachia and Bram Stoker's fictional Dracula attracted popular attention. During his main reign (1456–1462), "Vlad the Impaler" is said to have killed from 20,000 to 40,000 European civilians (political rivals, criminals, and anyone else he considered "useless to humanity"), mainly by using his favourite method of impaling them on a sharp pole. The main sources dealing with these events are records by Saxon settlers in neighboring Transylvania, who had frequent clashes with Vlad III and may have been biased. Vlad III is revered as a folk hero by Romanians for driving off the invading Turks. His impaled victims are said to have included as many as 100,000 Turkish Muslims.
Historically, the name "Dracul" is derived from a secret fraternal order of knights called the Order of the Dragon, founded by Sigismund of Luxembourg (king of Hungary, Croatia and Bohemia, and Holy Roman Emperor) to uphold Christianity and defend the Empire against the Ottoman Turks. Vlad II Dracul, father of Vlad III, was admitted to the order around 1431 because of his bravery in fighting the Turks. From 1431 onward, Vlad II wore the emblem of the order and later, as ruler of Wallachia, his coinage bore the dragon symbol. The name Dracula means "Son of Dracul".
Stoker came across the name Dracula in his reading on Romanian history, and chose this to replace the name (Count Wampyr) that he had originally intended to use for his villain. However, some Dracula scholars, led by Elizabeth Miller, have questioned the depth of this connection. They argue that Stoker in fact knew little of the historic Vlad III except for his nickname. There are sections in the novel where Dracula refers to his own background, and these speeches show that Stoker had some knowledge of Romanian history. Yet Stoker includes no details about Vlad III's reign and does not mention his use of impalement. Given Stoker's use of historical background to make his novel more horrific, it seems unlikely he would have failed to mention that his villain had impaled thousands of people. It seems that Stoker either did not know much about the historic Vlad III, or did not intend his character Dracula to be the same person as Vlad III.
Vlad III was an ethnic Vlach. In the novel, Dracula claims to be a Székely: "We Szekelys have a right to be proud..."
The Dracula legend as he created it and as it has been portrayed in films and television shows may be a compound of various influences. Many of Stoker's biographers and literary critics have found strong similarities to the earlier Irish writer Sheridan le Fanu's classic of the vampire genre, Carmilla. In writing Dracula, Stoker may also have drawn on stories about the sídhe — some of which feature blood-drinking women.
It has been suggested that Stoker was influenced by the history of Countess Elizabeth Bathory, who was born in the Kingdom of Hungary. Bathory is known to have tortured and killed anywhere between 36 and 700 young women over a period of many years, and it was commonly believed that she committed these crimes in order to bathe in or drink their blood, believing that this preserved her youth. No credible evidence of blood-drinking or other blood crimes in the Bathory case has ever been found, however the stories and influence may explain why Dracula appeared younger after feeding.[10]
Some have claimed the castle of Count Dracula was inspired by Slains Castle, at which Bram Stoker was a guest of the 19th Earl of Erroll. However, since as Stoker visited the castle in 1895—five years after work on Dracula had begun—there is unlikely to be much connection. Many of the scenes in Whitby and London are based on real places that Stoker frequently visited, although in some cases he distorts the geography for the sake of the story.
It has been suggested that Stoker received much historical information from Ármin Vámbéry, a Hungarian professor he met at least twice. Miller argues that "there is nothing to indicate that the conversation included Vlad, vampires, or even Transylvania" and that, "furthermore, there is no record of any other correspondence between Stoker and Vámbéry, nor is Vámbéry mentioned in Stoker's notes for Dracula.
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Dracula - Reaction
Dracula
When it was first published, in 1897, Dracula was not an immediate bestseller, although reviewers were unstinting in their praise. The contemporary Daily Mail ranked Stoker's powers above those of Mary Shelley and Edgar Allan Poe as well as Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights. [5]
According to writers Nina Auerbach and David Skal, the novel is more important for modern readers than contemporary Victorian readers, who, they assert, enjoyed it as a good adventure story; and allege that it reached its iconic legend status only later in the 20th century.[6]This assertion is contradicted, however, by the actual statements of Victorian readers and reviewers themselves who described Dracula as "the sensation of the season" and "the most blood-curdling novel of the paralysed century".[7] The Daily Mail review of June 1, 1897 proclaimed it a classic of Gothic horror:
"In seeking a parallel to this weird, powerful, and horrorful story our mind reverts to such tales as The Mysteries of Udolpho, Frankenstein, The Fall of the House of Usher ... but Dracula is even more appalling in its gloomy fascination than any one of these."[8]
Other reviewers compared it favorably to the novels of Wilkie Collins and similar good reviews appeared when the book was published in the USA in 1899
According to writers Nina Auerbach and David Skal, the novel is more important for modern readers than contemporary Victorian readers, who, they assert, enjoyed it as a good adventure story; and allege that it reached its iconic legend status only later in the 20th century.[6]This assertion is contradicted, however, by the actual statements of Victorian readers and reviewers themselves who described Dracula as "the sensation of the season" and "the most blood-curdling novel of the paralysed century".[7] The Daily Mail review of June 1, 1897 proclaimed it a classic of Gothic horror:
"In seeking a parallel to this weird, powerful, and horrorful story our mind reverts to such tales as The Mysteries of Udolpho, Frankenstein, The Fall of the House of Usher ... but Dracula is even more appalling in its gloomy fascination than any one of these."[8]
Other reviewers compared it favorably to the novels of Wilkie Collins and similar good reviews appeared when the book was published in the USA in 1899
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Dracula - Background
Dracula
Between 1879 and 1889 Stoker was business manager for the world-famous Lyceum Theatre in London, where he supplemented his income by writing a large number of sensational novels, his most famous being the vampire tale Dracula published on May 18, 1897. Parts of it are set around the town of Whitby, where he was living at the time.
Before writing Dracula, Stoker spent seven years researching European folklore and stories of vampires, being most influenced by Emily Gerard's 1885 essay "Transylvania Superstitions", and an evening spent talking about Balkan superstitions with Arminius Vambery.
The Dead Un-Dead was one of Stoker's original titles for Dracula, and up until a few weeks before publication, the manuscript was titled simply The Un-Dead. The name of Stoker's count was originally going to be Count Vampyre, but while doing research, Stoker became intrigued by the word dracul. Dracul is derived from the word draco in the Megleno-Romanian language, meaning devil (originally dragon). There was also a historic figure known as Vlad III Dracula, but whether Stoker based his character on him remains debated and is now considered unlikely.
The novel has been in the public domain in the United States since its original publication because Stoker failed to follow proper copyright procedure. In England and other countries following the Berne Convention on copyrights, however, the novel was under copyright until April 1962, fifty years after Stoker's death.[3] When the unauthorized film adaptation was released in 1922, the popularity of the novel increased considerably, owing to the controversy caused when Stoker's widow tried to have the film banned.
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Dracula - Plot summary
Darcula
The novel is mainly composed of journal entries and letters written by several narrators who are also the novel's main protagonists; Stoker supplemented the story with occasional newspaper clippings to relate events not directly witnessed by the story's characters. The tale begins with Jonathan Harker, a newly qualified English solicitor, journeying by train and carriage from England to Count Dracula's crumbling, remote castle (situated in the Carpathian Mountains on the border of Transylvania and Moldavia). The purpose of his mission is to provide legal support to Dracula for a real estate transaction overseen by Harker's employer, Peter Hawkins, of Exeter in England. At first seduced by Dracula's gracious manner, Harker soon discovers that he has become a prisoner in the castle. He also begins to see disquieting facets of Dracula's nocturnal life. One night while searching for a way out of the castle, and against Dracula's strict admonition not to venture outside his room at night, Harker falls under the spell of three wanton female vampires, the Brides of Dracula. He is saved at the last second by the Count, however, who ostensibly wants to keep Harker alive just long enough because his legal advice and teachings about England and London (Dracula's planned travel destination was to be among the "teeming millions") are needed by Dracula. Harker barely escapes from the castle with his life.
Not long afterward, a Russian ship, the Demeter, having weighed anchor at Varna, runs aground on the shores of Whitby, England, during a fierce tempest. All of the crew are missing and presumed dead, and only one body is found, that of the captain tied to the ship's helm. The captain's log is recovered and tells of strange events that had taken place during the ship's journey. These events led to the gradual disappearance of the entire crew apparently owing to a malevolent presence on board the ill-fated ship. An animal described as a large dog is seen on the ship leaping ashore. The ship's cargo is described as silver sand and boxes of "mould" or earth from Transylvania.
Soon Dracula is menacing Harker's devoted fiancée, Wilhelmina "Mina" Murray, and her vivacious friend, Lucy Westenra. Lucy receives three marriage proposals in one day, from an asylum psychiatrist, Dr. John Seward; an American, Quincey Morris; and the Hon. Arthur Holmwood (later Lord Godalming). Lucy accepts Holmwood's proposal while turning down Seward and Morris, but all remain friends. There is a notable encounter between Dracula and Seward's patient Renfield, an insane man who means to consume insects, spiders, birds, and other creatures — in ascending order of size — in order to absorb their "life force". Renfield acts as a kind of motion sensor, detecting Dracula's proximity and supplying clues accordingly.
Lucy begins to waste away suspiciously. All her suitors fret, and Seward calls in his old teacher, Professor Abraham Van Helsing from Amsterdam. Van Helsing immediately determines the cause of Lucy's condition but refuses to disclose it, knowing that Seward's faith in him will be shaken if he starts to speak of vampires. Van Helsing tries multiple blood transfusions, but they are clearly losing ground. On a night when Van Helsing must return to Amsterdam (and his message to Seward asking him to watch the Westenra household is accidentally sent to the wrong address), Lucy and her mother are attacked by a wolf. Mrs Westenra, who has a heart condition, dies of fright, and Lucy apparently dies soon after.
Lucy is buried, but soon afterward the newspapers report children being stalked in the night by a "bloofer lady" (as they describe it), i.e. "beautiful lady"[1]. Van Helsing, knowing that this means Lucy has become a vampire, confides in Seward, Lord Godalming, and Morris. The suitors and Van Helsing track her down, and after a disturbing confrontation between her vampiric self and Arthur, they stake her heart, behead her, and fill the mouth with garlic.
Around the same time, Jonathan Harker arrives home from recuperation in Budapest (where Mina joined and married him after his escape from the castle); he and Mina also join the coalition, who turn their attentions to dealing with Dracula.
After Dracula learns of Van Helsing and the others' plot against him, he takes revenge by visiting — and biting — Mina at least three times. Dracula also feeds Mina his blood, creating a spiritual bond between them to control her. The only way to forestall this is to kill Dracula first. Mina slowly succumbs to the blood of the vampire that flows through her veins, switching back and forth from a state of consciousness to a state of semi-trance during which she is telepathically connected with Dracula. It is this connection that they start to use to deduce Dracula's movements. It is only possible to detect Dracula's surroundings when Mina is put under hypnosis by Van Helsing. This ability gradually gets weaker as the group makes their way to Dracula's castle.
Dracula flees back to his castle in Transylvania, followed by Van Helsing's group, who manage to track him down just before sundown and destroy[2] him by shearing "through the throat" and stabbing him in the heart with a Bowie knife. Dracula crumbles to dust, his spell is lifted and Mina is freed from the marks. Quincey Morris is killed in the final battle, stabbed by Gypsies who had been charged with returning Dracula to his castle; the survivors return to England.
The book closes with a note about Mina's and Jonathan's married life and the birth of their first-born son, whom they name Quincey in remembrance of their American friend
Not long afterward, a Russian ship, the Demeter, having weighed anchor at Varna, runs aground on the shores of Whitby, England, during a fierce tempest. All of the crew are missing and presumed dead, and only one body is found, that of the captain tied to the ship's helm. The captain's log is recovered and tells of strange events that had taken place during the ship's journey. These events led to the gradual disappearance of the entire crew apparently owing to a malevolent presence on board the ill-fated ship. An animal described as a large dog is seen on the ship leaping ashore. The ship's cargo is described as silver sand and boxes of "mould" or earth from Transylvania.
Soon Dracula is menacing Harker's devoted fiancée, Wilhelmina "Mina" Murray, and her vivacious friend, Lucy Westenra. Lucy receives three marriage proposals in one day, from an asylum psychiatrist, Dr. John Seward; an American, Quincey Morris; and the Hon. Arthur Holmwood (later Lord Godalming). Lucy accepts Holmwood's proposal while turning down Seward and Morris, but all remain friends. There is a notable encounter between Dracula and Seward's patient Renfield, an insane man who means to consume insects, spiders, birds, and other creatures — in ascending order of size — in order to absorb their "life force". Renfield acts as a kind of motion sensor, detecting Dracula's proximity and supplying clues accordingly.
Lucy begins to waste away suspiciously. All her suitors fret, and Seward calls in his old teacher, Professor Abraham Van Helsing from Amsterdam. Van Helsing immediately determines the cause of Lucy's condition but refuses to disclose it, knowing that Seward's faith in him will be shaken if he starts to speak of vampires. Van Helsing tries multiple blood transfusions, but they are clearly losing ground. On a night when Van Helsing must return to Amsterdam (and his message to Seward asking him to watch the Westenra household is accidentally sent to the wrong address), Lucy and her mother are attacked by a wolf. Mrs Westenra, who has a heart condition, dies of fright, and Lucy apparently dies soon after.
Lucy is buried, but soon afterward the newspapers report children being stalked in the night by a "bloofer lady" (as they describe it), i.e. "beautiful lady"[1]. Van Helsing, knowing that this means Lucy has become a vampire, confides in Seward, Lord Godalming, and Morris. The suitors and Van Helsing track her down, and after a disturbing confrontation between her vampiric self and Arthur, they stake her heart, behead her, and fill the mouth with garlic.
Around the same time, Jonathan Harker arrives home from recuperation in Budapest (where Mina joined and married him after his escape from the castle); he and Mina also join the coalition, who turn their attentions to dealing with Dracula.
After Dracula learns of Van Helsing and the others' plot against him, he takes revenge by visiting — and biting — Mina at least three times. Dracula also feeds Mina his blood, creating a spiritual bond between them to control her. The only way to forestall this is to kill Dracula first. Mina slowly succumbs to the blood of the vampire that flows through her veins, switching back and forth from a state of consciousness to a state of semi-trance during which she is telepathically connected with Dracula. It is this connection that they start to use to deduce Dracula's movements. It is only possible to detect Dracula's surroundings when Mina is put under hypnosis by Van Helsing. This ability gradually gets weaker as the group makes their way to Dracula's castle.
Dracula flees back to his castle in Transylvania, followed by Van Helsing's group, who manage to track him down just before sundown and destroy[2] him by shearing "through the throat" and stabbing him in the heart with a Bowie knife. Dracula crumbles to dust, his spell is lifted and Mina is freed from the marks. Quincey Morris is killed in the final battle, stabbed by Gypsies who had been charged with returning Dracula to his castle; the survivors return to England.
The book closes with a note about Mina's and Jonathan's married life and the birth of their first-born son, whom they name Quincey in remembrance of their American friend
Collection by source
Dracula - Introduction
Dracula
Dracula is an 1897 novel by Irish author Bram Stoker, featuring as its primary antagonist the vampire Count Dracula.
Dracula has been attributed to many literary genres including vampire literature, horror fiction, the gothic novel and invasion literature. Structurally it is an epistolary novel, that is, told as a series of diary entries and letters. Literary critics have examined many themes in the novel, such as the role of women in Victorian culture, conventional and repressed sexuality, immigration, colonialism, postcolonialism and folklore. Although Stoker did not invent the vampire, the novel's influence on the popularity of vampires has been singularly responsible for many theatrical and film interpretations throughout the 20th and 21st centuries.
Collection by source
Guy Maddin's Dracula: Pages from a Virgin's Diary.(the making of a dance film)
Guy Maddin was a horror-movie buff as a kid. But Dracula was his least favourite of all the classics. In fact, he still finds most film versions of Dracula "boring." And as for filmed dance, well, he was clearly of the opinion that once dancers were reduced to eight centimetres in height on a television screen, this was just plain dull.
So what possessed the acclaimed Manitoba filmmaker to take the Royal Winnipeg Ballet's (RWB) version of Bram Stoker's Dracula and shoot it for broadcast on the CBC? Well, no doubt the director of such experimental and surreal films as Tales from the Gimli Hospital, Archangel and Twilight of the Ice Nymphs would never turn down a challenge. And as Maddin relates the journey to bring Dracula: Pages from a Virgin's Diary to the screen, it becomes clear that what the director relished most was the experimentation the project afforded him. Mark Godden's Dracula is a complex, three-act ballet, exploring the range of emotions of Dracula's victims and the dichotomy of good and evil through dance. Faced with the challenge of bringing ballet to the small screen, Madden tested out different shooting techniques and styles to accentuate the plot elements for television audiences, and learned to incorporate movement into his filmmaking in ways he had never done before.
Directing a dance film was never in Maddin's plans. It all began with a phone call from Winnipeg producer Vonnie Von Helmolt, asking him to see RWB's version of Brain Stoker's famous tale of the undead. She was convinced that the vibrant colours of Twilight of the Ice Nymphs and the gothic sensibility found in Maddin's previous work made him the perfect choice for the project. "On first viewing, I found the narrative slipping away from my rapt attention at times and I remember thinking even then that if I ever made a dance movie I would have to approach it differently than a choreographer would" recalls Maddin "Choreographers have a captive audience in theatre seats while on television you are dealing with itchy trigger fingers on the remote control
This concerned Maddin despite the fact that in his own work he has never tried to court a general audience with mainstream fare. I am an old war veteran of alienating audiences with opaque plots. I have spring many out of their seats in the past and I don't really want to do that anymore," he says. "I kept telling myself I better not do this film because I don't know anything about dance -- I wouldn't even know how to jazz this up for television viewers." To legitimize his concerns Maddin spoke to several dancers and choreographers about filmed dance, and they all echoed the same response: they did not like it at all. "So many people agreed that on television, something is lost, it's arid," he says. Convinced that dance did not translate to television, Maddin turned the project down.
Von Helmolt, persisted. She set up a meeting between Maddin and Godden the ballet's choreographer. The dancers then performed the ballet in its entirety for Maddin and fellow filmmaker and collaborator deco dawson, who partnered with Maddin on the award--winning short The Heart of the World They recorded the performance, with dawson on Super 8 and Maddin with a video camera. "Suddenly, I understood the motivation behind their performance because I had to move with them," recalls Maddin. "I recognized that deeply buried and at times right there as plain as the nose on my face - were plot elements of Bram Stoker's story that I had been unaware of. Suddenly the narrative came to life for me
Maddin was hooked. But in true Maddinesque form, it would not be a mere televised replication of a ballet danced on the stage. It would bear the artistic stamp of its director, with distinctive, beautifully bold cinematography, strong visuals, a signature "primitive," hallucinogenic style, fragmented cutting and dark thematic tone.
While he did watch all the classic film adaptations Maddin claims they were of no significant influence, beyond re-introducing the character of Renfield to the ballet after watching Todd Browning's 1931 version with Bela Lugosi and Dwight Fry as Renfield. "I love the way the character was played -- it was the most over the top performance," says Maddin. "So I stuck Renfield back in the story, gave a VHS of the Draclula to the dancer playing Renfield, and got him to watch it."
"My biggest influence was the work I did with deco on The Heart of the World," he says. Chosen in 2000 as the U.S. Society of Film Critics' top experimental film, The Heart of the World harkens back to the early black-and--white Russian style, telling the story of two brothers in love with a female scientist who predicts the world is about to suffer a fatal heart attack. The story is compressed in a lightening--paced six minutes, and brimming with bold imagery. "It was the first movie I made with a lot of energy in it and I wanted to capture the same kind of kinetic omph' factor on this one," explains Maddin. The style and tone of The Heart of the World makes an indelible print on Dracula, also shot on black and white to achieve a rich, dark feel; with stark, primal imagery and a fast-paced intensity set against the strains of the music of Gustav Mahler. The style of Dracula is reminiscent of a 1920s silent movie, with an eery modern touch achieved by computer enhanced graphics tinting certain elements such a s Dracula's eyes, the inside of his cape and a vampiress during her death throes in vivid red
There are many psychological intrepretations of Stoker's famous 1897 novel about the blood-sucking Transylvanian count. "I had a rigid single interpretation of Dracula," Madding says. "I am most comfortable looking at Dracula as a male possessiveness story." In Maddin's film, Dracula is not a literal figure. Rather, he is an external objectification of heterosexual male jealousy." As soon as women acknowledge lust, the men who care for, admire and desire them can't deal with this, and have to track down and expunge the source of this lust somehow, meanwhile hurting the women who have created the jealousy in them," he says. In Maddin's retelling, Dracula is an archertype of the sexual rival. He points out that movie version of Dracula all stylize the destruction of the undead women with a stake driven through the heart. In Stoker's novel the women were not only stabbed, but also had their hearts removed and heads cut off. "So she can no longer think about the other person, and her heart can no longer feel for him."
Maddin was also influenced by the xenophobia that he saw in Stoker's novel. "Dracula comes from Eastern Europe, where mysterious Slavic, capitalistic people come from; and the men that set out to capture him are concerned he might have stolen English money, as well as their women's hymens. It sure sounds to me like good old-fashioned Victorian England anti-Semitism," he says. Dracula, in effect, then, in Maddin's version is "the other," which our human nature both draws us to and repels us at the same time.
To capture the dance from different angles and perspectives and ensure more set-up shots, Maddin used three camera operators -- cinematographer Paul Suderman (Hey, Happy!) shooting on Super 16, with himself and dawson switching between Super 16 and Super 8. Maddin also bent some union rules and created the position of associate director for dawson. Envisioning a film that was "quick and primitive and fragmented in style," the cinematography team managed 100 set-up a day throughout the shoot. Instead of cumbersome dollies and tracks to move the cameras around the dancers, they reworked a high chair with a food tray, pushing dawson around the dancers to shoot among them, capturing their movement from various angles and perspectives. While the Super 16 was setting up, they would shoot close-ups of the dancers using the Super 8 camera, lit only by a 60-watt blub illuminated against a corkboard, creating dark pools of light against a shadowy background.
To clarify the narrative. Maddin added pantomime scenes not in the original ballet, most notably in the opening, to set up the story. Intertitles, as well as pantomimed preludes and interludes, reminiscent of silent films, provide plot details and dialogue. To keep viewers on their toes, he switches between intertitles, subtitles and surtitles. "It's not quite Pop-up Video, but they are packaged to be interesting." he laughs.
To ensure that viewers were held captive by the emotions of the characters and drawn to the momentum of the narrative. Maddin looked for opportunities to focus the camera on the dancers' faces, rather than their feet. When the music swelled and the choreography peaked. Maddin moved the camera in tightly on they faces as opposed to the intricate dance moves. "The dancers were great melodramatic facial performers, and by closing in I was trying in keep viewers in touch with their personalities," he says. Maddin admits that the did not always do honour to the choreography of the ballet, particularly in the editing room. "When it came down to what was best for the movie, that sometimes meant removing dance sections or showing them from the least flattering angle," he explains.
Despite a dubious beginning. Maddin remains enthusiastic about Dracula. "I loved the experience," he says. "I knew from the beginning that at worst I would learn a lot from doing this picture, which I did." Most importantly, working with dancers taught him about the importance of movement, and this will inform his future projects, he says. "I was always scared of movement in my films. I wasn't that experienced with blocking and I landed to get uncomfortable performances from actors when they had to mill about." He would also consider working with a choreographer on his next film - which won't be a dance film, by the way - to work with the actors in the blocking of the film to add a grace of movement for scenes. "When talkies frist came about, there were movie and dialogue directors, so I might be a director with a blocking director -- I'm not ashamed to hire people." he says. Maddin also plans to return to the three camera shoot in future projects, not only for additional coverage but to offer up different perspectives on a scene, as if various eyes are viewing the same event.
Would ever direct a dance film again? Maddin hasn't ruled it out." But next time I would like to choreograph from scratch, directly for film, as opposed to taking a dance from the stage and then hacking at it with a razor-sharp camera."
Collection: from source
So what possessed the acclaimed Manitoba filmmaker to take the Royal Winnipeg Ballet's (RWB) version of Bram Stoker's Dracula and shoot it for broadcast on the CBC? Well, no doubt the director of such experimental and surreal films as Tales from the Gimli Hospital, Archangel and Twilight of the Ice Nymphs would never turn down a challenge. And as Maddin relates the journey to bring Dracula: Pages from a Virgin's Diary to the screen, it becomes clear that what the director relished most was the experimentation the project afforded him. Mark Godden's Dracula is a complex, three-act ballet, exploring the range of emotions of Dracula's victims and the dichotomy of good and evil through dance. Faced with the challenge of bringing ballet to the small screen, Madden tested out different shooting techniques and styles to accentuate the plot elements for television audiences, and learned to incorporate movement into his filmmaking in ways he had never done before.
Directing a dance film was never in Maddin's plans. It all began with a phone call from Winnipeg producer Vonnie Von Helmolt, asking him to see RWB's version of Brain Stoker's famous tale of the undead. She was convinced that the vibrant colours of Twilight of the Ice Nymphs and the gothic sensibility found in Maddin's previous work made him the perfect choice for the project. "On first viewing, I found the narrative slipping away from my rapt attention at times and I remember thinking even then that if I ever made a dance movie I would have to approach it differently than a choreographer would" recalls Maddin "Choreographers have a captive audience in theatre seats while on television you are dealing with itchy trigger fingers on the remote control
This concerned Maddin despite the fact that in his own work he has never tried to court a general audience with mainstream fare. I am an old war veteran of alienating audiences with opaque plots. I have spring many out of their seats in the past and I don't really want to do that anymore," he says. "I kept telling myself I better not do this film because I don't know anything about dance -- I wouldn't even know how to jazz this up for television viewers." To legitimize his concerns Maddin spoke to several dancers and choreographers about filmed dance, and they all echoed the same response: they did not like it at all. "So many people agreed that on television, something is lost, it's arid," he says. Convinced that dance did not translate to television, Maddin turned the project down.
Von Helmolt, persisted. She set up a meeting between Maddin and Godden the ballet's choreographer. The dancers then performed the ballet in its entirety for Maddin and fellow filmmaker and collaborator deco dawson, who partnered with Maddin on the award--winning short The Heart of the World They recorded the performance, with dawson on Super 8 and Maddin with a video camera. "Suddenly, I understood the motivation behind their performance because I had to move with them," recalls Maddin. "I recognized that deeply buried and at times right there as plain as the nose on my face - were plot elements of Bram Stoker's story that I had been unaware of. Suddenly the narrative came to life for me
Maddin was hooked. But in true Maddinesque form, it would not be a mere televised replication of a ballet danced on the stage. It would bear the artistic stamp of its director, with distinctive, beautifully bold cinematography, strong visuals, a signature "primitive," hallucinogenic style, fragmented cutting and dark thematic tone.
While he did watch all the classic film adaptations Maddin claims they were of no significant influence, beyond re-introducing the character of Renfield to the ballet after watching Todd Browning's 1931 version with Bela Lugosi and Dwight Fry as Renfield. "I love the way the character was played -- it was the most over the top performance," says Maddin. "So I stuck Renfield back in the story, gave a VHS of the Draclula to the dancer playing Renfield, and got him to watch it."
"My biggest influence was the work I did with deco on The Heart of the World," he says. Chosen in 2000 as the U.S. Society of Film Critics' top experimental film, The Heart of the World harkens back to the early black-and--white Russian style, telling the story of two brothers in love with a female scientist who predicts the world is about to suffer a fatal heart attack. The story is compressed in a lightening--paced six minutes, and brimming with bold imagery. "It was the first movie I made with a lot of energy in it and I wanted to capture the same kind of kinetic omph' factor on this one," explains Maddin. The style and tone of The Heart of the World makes an indelible print on Dracula, also shot on black and white to achieve a rich, dark feel; with stark, primal imagery and a fast-paced intensity set against the strains of the music of Gustav Mahler. The style of Dracula is reminiscent of a 1920s silent movie, with an eery modern touch achieved by computer enhanced graphics tinting certain elements such a s Dracula's eyes, the inside of his cape and a vampiress during her death throes in vivid red
There are many psychological intrepretations of Stoker's famous 1897 novel about the blood-sucking Transylvanian count. "I had a rigid single interpretation of Dracula," Madding says. "I am most comfortable looking at Dracula as a male possessiveness story." In Maddin's film, Dracula is not a literal figure. Rather, he is an external objectification of heterosexual male jealousy." As soon as women acknowledge lust, the men who care for, admire and desire them can't deal with this, and have to track down and expunge the source of this lust somehow, meanwhile hurting the women who have created the jealousy in them," he says. In Maddin's retelling, Dracula is an archertype of the sexual rival. He points out that movie version of Dracula all stylize the destruction of the undead women with a stake driven through the heart. In Stoker's novel the women were not only stabbed, but also had their hearts removed and heads cut off. "So she can no longer think about the other person, and her heart can no longer feel for him."
Maddin was also influenced by the xenophobia that he saw in Stoker's novel. "Dracula comes from Eastern Europe, where mysterious Slavic, capitalistic people come from; and the men that set out to capture him are concerned he might have stolen English money, as well as their women's hymens. It sure sounds to me like good old-fashioned Victorian England anti-Semitism," he says. Dracula, in effect, then, in Maddin's version is "the other," which our human nature both draws us to and repels us at the same time.
To capture the dance from different angles and perspectives and ensure more set-up shots, Maddin used three camera operators -- cinematographer Paul Suderman (Hey, Happy!) shooting on Super 16, with himself and dawson switching between Super 16 and Super 8. Maddin also bent some union rules and created the position of associate director for dawson. Envisioning a film that was "quick and primitive and fragmented in style," the cinematography team managed 100 set-up a day throughout the shoot. Instead of cumbersome dollies and tracks to move the cameras around the dancers, they reworked a high chair with a food tray, pushing dawson around the dancers to shoot among them, capturing their movement from various angles and perspectives. While the Super 16 was setting up, they would shoot close-ups of the dancers using the Super 8 camera, lit only by a 60-watt blub illuminated against a corkboard, creating dark pools of light against a shadowy background.
To clarify the narrative. Maddin added pantomime scenes not in the original ballet, most notably in the opening, to set up the story. Intertitles, as well as pantomimed preludes and interludes, reminiscent of silent films, provide plot details and dialogue. To keep viewers on their toes, he switches between intertitles, subtitles and surtitles. "It's not quite Pop-up Video, but they are packaged to be interesting." he laughs.
To ensure that viewers were held captive by the emotions of the characters and drawn to the momentum of the narrative. Maddin looked for opportunities to focus the camera on the dancers' faces, rather than their feet. When the music swelled and the choreography peaked. Maddin moved the camera in tightly on they faces as opposed to the intricate dance moves. "The dancers were great melodramatic facial performers, and by closing in I was trying in keep viewers in touch with their personalities," he says. Maddin admits that the did not always do honour to the choreography of the ballet, particularly in the editing room. "When it came down to what was best for the movie, that sometimes meant removing dance sections or showing them from the least flattering angle," he explains.
Despite a dubious beginning. Maddin remains enthusiastic about Dracula. "I loved the experience," he says. "I knew from the beginning that at worst I would learn a lot from doing this picture, which I did." Most importantly, working with dancers taught him about the importance of movement, and this will inform his future projects, he says. "I was always scared of movement in my films. I wasn't that experienced with blocking and I landed to get uncomfortable performances from actors when they had to mill about." He would also consider working with a choreographer on his next film - which won't be a dance film, by the way - to work with the actors in the blocking of the film to add a grace of movement for scenes. "When talkies frist came about, there were movie and dialogue directors, so I might be a director with a blocking director -- I'm not ashamed to hire people." he says. Maddin also plans to return to the three camera shoot in future projects, not only for additional coverage but to offer up different perspectives on a scene, as if various eyes are viewing the same event.
Would ever direct a dance film again? Maddin hasn't ruled it out." But next time I would like to choreograph from scratch, directly for film, as opposed to taking a dance from the stage and then hacking at it with a razor-sharp camera."
Collection: from source
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
iPhone 2.0 or No iPhone 2.0, Device Management Still the Mobile Key
Apple, which certainly knows a good thing when it sees it, is trying to squeeze into the enterprise space with the release of the iPhone 2.0.
This PCWorld.com story says the device supports Microsoft Exchange and offers GPS, faster downloads and other features that will attract business users. The story concludes, however, that the initiative has some enterprise problems. For instance, corporate users may not want to install iTunes, which is necessary to get access to the software developers kit (SDK). Other problems mentioned also seem pretty significant: inadequate tools and lack of a support organization.
I wasn’t thinking of the iPhone 2.0 introduction when I wrote a post last week on mobile device management, but it seems like an even more important topic now that Apple has apparently come only part way into the enterprise mobility tent. Employees are people, and they are attracted by iPhones — and almost certainly will be more tempted to take the leap and use the iPhone for work if it’s marginally more business-friendly. Whether they do or not is an important question. Perhaps even more important is whether companies execute this — or any other — mobile initiative within a mobile device management framework.
Forrester says that somebody should be in charge of managing mobile devices. This person, according to this account in The Wall Street Journal, should be in charge of both the devices and creating the policies to optimize their use. Though the story doesn’t say so, creating policies almost certainly will be a group effort and the subject of much debate in the organization.
Regardless, the lines between business and consumer mobility are blurred. The story quotes a Visage study that says 80 percent of employees with company-supplied devices use them for personal use, and 89 percent of respondents use personal devices for work. The study says corporate policies simply aren’t keeping up with this transition. It doesn’t phrase it this way, but the bottom line finding is that there is a management free-for-all that could come back to haunt the organization.
Cisco is taking a crack at helping organizations better manage assets. Late last month, the company introduced the Cisco 3300 Series Mobility Services Engine (MSE), which is part of Cisco Motion. The MSE features application programming interfaces (APIs) to software applications that will provide enterprises with the ability to manage wired and wireless networks. Cisco also released applications for the MSE focusing on awareness, wireless intrusion prevention, client management and intelligent roaming. The company says that many third-party applications, from companies such as Nokia, Oracle, AreoScout, Agito and others will be available.
The key to any mobile device management initiative is a good set of policies. This post at Absolute Software refers to an IT Pro piece on creating such policies. Policies should begin with an audit to find out what the organization’s holdings are. The final policy statement should be easily understood by all.
Issues to be addressed include what employees should do if they lose their device and incentives for quick reporting of lost devices. The policy should say where devices can and can’t connect, what applications can be used, and what type of data can be accessed. The company should support virtual private networks (VPNs) and strong encryption and passwords. There should be procedures for wiping data off lost devices and for discarding those that are no longer used. Finally, procedures should be included for processing devices that belong to employees who are leaving the company.
Glitzy devices are great — from Apple or others — but organizations must be prepared to do the hard and unglamorous work of adequately managing them.
http://www.itbusinessedge.com/blogs/cip/
This PCWorld.com story says the device supports Microsoft Exchange and offers GPS, faster downloads and other features that will attract business users. The story concludes, however, that the initiative has some enterprise problems. For instance, corporate users may not want to install iTunes, which is necessary to get access to the software developers kit (SDK). Other problems mentioned also seem pretty significant: inadequate tools and lack of a support organization.
I wasn’t thinking of the iPhone 2.0 introduction when I wrote a post last week on mobile device management, but it seems like an even more important topic now that Apple has apparently come only part way into the enterprise mobility tent. Employees are people, and they are attracted by iPhones — and almost certainly will be more tempted to take the leap and use the iPhone for work if it’s marginally more business-friendly. Whether they do or not is an important question. Perhaps even more important is whether companies execute this — or any other — mobile initiative within a mobile device management framework.
Forrester says that somebody should be in charge of managing mobile devices. This person, according to this account in The Wall Street Journal, should be in charge of both the devices and creating the policies to optimize their use. Though the story doesn’t say so, creating policies almost certainly will be a group effort and the subject of much debate in the organization.
Regardless, the lines between business and consumer mobility are blurred. The story quotes a Visage study that says 80 percent of employees with company-supplied devices use them for personal use, and 89 percent of respondents use personal devices for work. The study says corporate policies simply aren’t keeping up with this transition. It doesn’t phrase it this way, but the bottom line finding is that there is a management free-for-all that could come back to haunt the organization.
Cisco is taking a crack at helping organizations better manage assets. Late last month, the company introduced the Cisco 3300 Series Mobility Services Engine (MSE), which is part of Cisco Motion. The MSE features application programming interfaces (APIs) to software applications that will provide enterprises with the ability to manage wired and wireless networks. Cisco also released applications for the MSE focusing on awareness, wireless intrusion prevention, client management and intelligent roaming. The company says that many third-party applications, from companies such as Nokia, Oracle, AreoScout, Agito and others will be available.
The key to any mobile device management initiative is a good set of policies. This post at Absolute Software refers to an IT Pro piece on creating such policies. Policies should begin with an audit to find out what the organization’s holdings are. The final policy statement should be easily understood by all.
Issues to be addressed include what employees should do if they lose their device and incentives for quick reporting of lost devices. The policy should say where devices can and can’t connect, what applications can be used, and what type of data can be accessed. The company should support virtual private networks (VPNs) and strong encryption and passwords. There should be procedures for wiping data off lost devices and for discarding those that are no longer used. Finally, procedures should be included for processing devices that belong to employees who are leaving the company.
Glitzy devices are great — from Apple or others — but organizations must be prepared to do the hard and unglamorous work of adequately managing them.
http://www.itbusinessedge.com/blogs/cip/
Finger Yoga
Yoga is an ancient art - known in India for thousands of years.It's basic aims are "spiritual" in nature. However, as a basic component exercises were developed designed to gain and maintain good health - and to purify the body so it would serve as a suitable vehicle.
These exercises form one of the "limbs" of yoga - known as "Hatha Yoga" - which translates roughly as bodily yoga.
Hatha YogaHatha yoga is one of the most fundamental, and remedial forms exercise.It is universal in scope - and can be practiced by anyone. Hatha yoga should be the foundation of any exercise program. In other words, regardless of whether you dance, play sports, practice martial arts, do resistance training - or whatever - you should learn and practice yoga first - for the sake of safety and in order to best attain and maintain good health.
Hatha yoga is centred around static stretching exercises. It includes passive and active stretches.
Finger YogaFinger yoga is hatha yoga for the fingers.Extremities need yoga like every other part of the body. However hands are rarely given much attention in yoga classes - where focus naturally is concentrated on very important areas - such as the spine.
To a certain extent, hands represent a microcosm of the organs of action. They need a slightly different emphasis, perhaps from the other limbs. In particular, they are easier to apply excess force to, and potentially expose more connective tissue to stretching forces.
Mudras"Mudra" is the traditional term for yoga poses involving the hands.Mudras have a range of traditional uses - from meditation aids to symbolic gestures; from healing poses to dance moves; from invocations to prayers.
However relatively few of them correspond closely to the asanas of hatha yoga.
Much of the literature associated with healing and therapy using mudras deals with effects of mudras on distant parts of the body - in a manner rather reminiscent of reflexology. It seems unlikely that much of this material is very well founded.
While the yoga asanas map fairly closely to effective stretching and strengthing exercises, mudras covered by the existing literature do not appear to cover this ground very effectively.
http://www.herbalhealing.co.uk/yoga_finger.htm
These exercises form one of the "limbs" of yoga - known as "Hatha Yoga" - which translates roughly as bodily yoga.
Hatha YogaHatha yoga is one of the most fundamental, and remedial forms exercise.It is universal in scope - and can be practiced by anyone. Hatha yoga should be the foundation of any exercise program. In other words, regardless of whether you dance, play sports, practice martial arts, do resistance training - or whatever - you should learn and practice yoga first - for the sake of safety and in order to best attain and maintain good health.
Hatha yoga is centred around static stretching exercises. It includes passive and active stretches.
Finger YogaFinger yoga is hatha yoga for the fingers.Extremities need yoga like every other part of the body. However hands are rarely given much attention in yoga classes - where focus naturally is concentrated on very important areas - such as the spine.
To a certain extent, hands represent a microcosm of the organs of action. They need a slightly different emphasis, perhaps from the other limbs. In particular, they are easier to apply excess force to, and potentially expose more connective tissue to stretching forces.
Mudras"Mudra" is the traditional term for yoga poses involving the hands.Mudras have a range of traditional uses - from meditation aids to symbolic gestures; from healing poses to dance moves; from invocations to prayers.
However relatively few of them correspond closely to the asanas of hatha yoga.
Much of the literature associated with healing and therapy using mudras deals with effects of mudras on distant parts of the body - in a manner rather reminiscent of reflexology. It seems unlikely that much of this material is very well founded.
While the yoga asanas map fairly closely to effective stretching and strengthing exercises, mudras covered by the existing literature do not appear to cover this ground very effectively.
http://www.herbalhealing.co.uk/yoga_finger.htm
Types of Yoga
The Sanskrit word yoga stems from the verbal root yuj meaning "to yoke" or "to unite." Thus, in a spiritual context, yoga stands for "training" or "unitive discipline." The Sanskrit literature contains numerous compound terms ending in -yoga. These stand for various yogic approaches or features of the path. The following is a descriptive list of forty such terms. Not all of these form full-fledged branches or types of Yoga, but they represent at least emphases in diverse contexts. All of them are instructive insofar as they demonstrate the vast scope of Hindu Yoga.
Abhâva-Yoga: The unitive discipline of nonbeing, meaning the higher yogic practice of immersion into the Self without objective support such as mantras; a concept found in the Purânas; cf. Bhâva-Yoga
Adhyâtma-Yoga: The unitive discipline of the inner self; sometimes said to be the Yoga characteristic of the Upanishads
Agni-Yoga: The unitive discipline of fire, causing the awakening of the serpent power (kundalinî-shakti) through the joint action of mind (manas) and life force (prâna)
Ashtânga-Yoga: The unitive discipline of the eight limbs, i.e., Râja-Yoga or Pâtanjala-Yoga
Asparsha-Yoga: The unitive discipline of "noncontact," which is the nondualist Yoga propounded by Gaudapâda in his Mândûkya-Kârikâ; cf. Sparsha-Yoga
Bhakti-Yoga: The unitive discipline of love/devotion, as expounded, for instance, in the Bhagavad-Gîtâ, the Bhâgavata-Purâna, and numerous other scriptures of Shaivism and Vaishnavism
Buddhi-Yoga: The unitive discipline of the higher mind, first mentioned in the Bhagavad-Gîtâ
Dhyâna-Yoga: The unitive discipline of meditation
Ghatastha-Yoga: The unitive discipline of the "pot" (ghata), meaning the body; a synonym for Hatha-Yoga mentioned in the Gheranda-Samhitâ
Guru-Yoga: The unitive discipline relative to one's teacher
Hatha-Yoga: The unitive discipline of the force (meaning the serpent power or kundalinî-shakti); or forceful unitive discipline
Hiranyagarbha-Yoga: The unitive discipline of Hiranyagarbha ("Golden Germ"), who is considered the original founder of the Yoga tradition
Japa-Yoga: The unitive discipline of mantra recitation
Jnâna-Yoga: The unitive discipline of discriminating wisdom, which is the approach of the Upanishads
Karma-Yoga: The unitive discipline of self-transcending action, as first explicitly taught in the Bhagavad-Gîtâ
Kaula-Yoga: The unitive discipline of the Kaula school, a Tantric Yoga
Kriyâ-Yoga: The unitive discipline of ritual; also the combined practice of asceticism (tapas), study (svâdhyâya), and worship of the Lord (îshvara-pranidhâna) mentioned in the Yoga-Sûtra of Patanjali
Kundalinî-Yoga: The unitive discipline of the serpent power (kundalinî-shakti), which is fundamental to the Tantric tradition, including Hatha-Yoga
Lambikâ-Yoga: The unitive discipline of the "hanger," meaning the uvula, which is deliberately stimulated in this yogic approach to increase the flow of "nectar" (amrita) whose external aspect is saliva
Laya-Yoga: The unitive discipline of absorption or dissolution of the elements prior to their natural dissolution at death
Mahâ-Yoga: The great unitive discipline, a concept found in the Yoga-Shikhâ-Upanishad where it refers to the combined practice of Mantra-Yoga, Laya-Yoga, Hatha-Yoga, and Râja-Yoga
Mantra-Yoga: The unitive discipline of numinous sounds that help protect the mind, which has been a part of the Yoga tradition ever since Vedic times
Nâda-Yoga: The unitive discipline of the inner sound, a practice closely associated with original Hatha-Yoga
Pancadashânga-Yoga: The unitive discipline of the fifteen limbs (pancadasha-anga): (1) moral discipline (yama), (2) restraint (niyama), (3) renunciation (tyâga), (4) silence (mauna), (5) right place (desha), (6) right time (kâla), (7) posture (âsana), (8) root lock (mûla-bandha), (9) bodily equilibrium (deha-samya), (10) stability of vision (dhrik-sthiti), (11) control of the life force (prâna-samrodha), (12) sensory inhibition (pratyâhâra), (13) concentration (dhâranâ), (14) meditation upon the Self (âtma-dhyâna), and (15) ecstasy (samâdhi)
Pâshupata-Yoga: The unitive discipline of the Pâshupata sect, as expounded in some of the Purânas
Pâtanjala-Yoga: The unitive discipline of Patanjali, better known as Râja-Yoga or Yoga-Darshana
Pûrna-Yoga: The unitive discipline of wholeness or integration, which is the name of Sri Aurobindo's Yoga
Râja-Yoga: The royal unitive discipline, also called Pâtanjala-Yoga, Ashtânga-Yoga, or Râja-Yoga
Samâdhi-Yoga: The unitive discipline of ecstasy
Sâmkhya-Yoga: The unitive discipline of insight, which is the name of certain liberation teachings and schools referred to in the Mahâbhârata
Samnyâsa-Yoga: The unitive discipline of renunciation, which is contrasted against Karma-Yoga in the Bhagavad-Gîtâ
Samputa-Yoga: The unitive discipline of sexual congress (maithunâ) in Tantra-Yoga
Samrambha-Yoga: The unitive discipline of hatred, as mentioned in the Vishnu-Purâna, which illustrates the profound yogic principle that one becomes what one constantly contemplates (even if charged with negative emotions)
Saptânga-Yoga: The unitive discipline of the seven limbs (sapta-anga), also known as Sapta-Sâdhana in the Gheranda-Samhitâ: (1) six purificatory practices (shat-karma), (2) posture (âsana), (3) seal (mudrâ), (4) sensory inhibition (pratyâhâra), (5) breath control (prânâyâma), (6) meditation (dhyâna), and (7) ecstasy (samâdhi)
Shadanga-Yoga: The unitive discipline of the six limbs (shad-anga), as expounded in the Maitrâyanîya-Upanishad: (1) breath control (prânâyâma), (2) sensory inhibition (pratyâhâra), (3) meditation (dhyâna), (4) concentration (dhâranâ), (5) examination (tarka), and (6) ecstasy (samâdhi)
Siddha-Yoga: The unitive discipline of the adepts, a concept found in some of the Tantras
Sparsha-Yoga: The unitive discipline of contact; a Vedantic Yoga mentioned in the Shiva-Purâna, which combines mantra recitation with breath control; cf. Asparsha-Yoga
Tantra-Yoga: The unitive discipline of the Tantras, a kundalinî-based Yoga
Târaka-Yoga: The unitive discipline of the "deliverer" (târaka); a medieval Yoga based on light phenomena
Yantra-Yoga: The unitive discipline of focusing the mind upon geometric representations (yantra) of the cosmos.
http://www.herbalhealing.co.uk/yoga_types.htm
Abhâva-Yoga: The unitive discipline of nonbeing, meaning the higher yogic practice of immersion into the Self without objective support such as mantras; a concept found in the Purânas; cf. Bhâva-Yoga
Adhyâtma-Yoga: The unitive discipline of the inner self; sometimes said to be the Yoga characteristic of the Upanishads
Agni-Yoga: The unitive discipline of fire, causing the awakening of the serpent power (kundalinî-shakti) through the joint action of mind (manas) and life force (prâna)
Ashtânga-Yoga: The unitive discipline of the eight limbs, i.e., Râja-Yoga or Pâtanjala-Yoga
Asparsha-Yoga: The unitive discipline of "noncontact," which is the nondualist Yoga propounded by Gaudapâda in his Mândûkya-Kârikâ; cf. Sparsha-Yoga
Bhakti-Yoga: The unitive discipline of love/devotion, as expounded, for instance, in the Bhagavad-Gîtâ, the Bhâgavata-Purâna, and numerous other scriptures of Shaivism and Vaishnavism
Buddhi-Yoga: The unitive discipline of the higher mind, first mentioned in the Bhagavad-Gîtâ
Dhyâna-Yoga: The unitive discipline of meditation
Ghatastha-Yoga: The unitive discipline of the "pot" (ghata), meaning the body; a synonym for Hatha-Yoga mentioned in the Gheranda-Samhitâ
Guru-Yoga: The unitive discipline relative to one's teacher
Hatha-Yoga: The unitive discipline of the force (meaning the serpent power or kundalinî-shakti); or forceful unitive discipline
Hiranyagarbha-Yoga: The unitive discipline of Hiranyagarbha ("Golden Germ"), who is considered the original founder of the Yoga tradition
Japa-Yoga: The unitive discipline of mantra recitation
Jnâna-Yoga: The unitive discipline of discriminating wisdom, which is the approach of the Upanishads
Karma-Yoga: The unitive discipline of self-transcending action, as first explicitly taught in the Bhagavad-Gîtâ
Kaula-Yoga: The unitive discipline of the Kaula school, a Tantric Yoga
Kriyâ-Yoga: The unitive discipline of ritual; also the combined practice of asceticism (tapas), study (svâdhyâya), and worship of the Lord (îshvara-pranidhâna) mentioned in the Yoga-Sûtra of Patanjali
Kundalinî-Yoga: The unitive discipline of the serpent power (kundalinî-shakti), which is fundamental to the Tantric tradition, including Hatha-Yoga
Lambikâ-Yoga: The unitive discipline of the "hanger," meaning the uvula, which is deliberately stimulated in this yogic approach to increase the flow of "nectar" (amrita) whose external aspect is saliva
Laya-Yoga: The unitive discipline of absorption or dissolution of the elements prior to their natural dissolution at death
Mahâ-Yoga: The great unitive discipline, a concept found in the Yoga-Shikhâ-Upanishad where it refers to the combined practice of Mantra-Yoga, Laya-Yoga, Hatha-Yoga, and Râja-Yoga
Mantra-Yoga: The unitive discipline of numinous sounds that help protect the mind, which has been a part of the Yoga tradition ever since Vedic times
Nâda-Yoga: The unitive discipline of the inner sound, a practice closely associated with original Hatha-Yoga
Pancadashânga-Yoga: The unitive discipline of the fifteen limbs (pancadasha-anga): (1) moral discipline (yama), (2) restraint (niyama), (3) renunciation (tyâga), (4) silence (mauna), (5) right place (desha), (6) right time (kâla), (7) posture (âsana), (8) root lock (mûla-bandha), (9) bodily equilibrium (deha-samya), (10) stability of vision (dhrik-sthiti), (11) control of the life force (prâna-samrodha), (12) sensory inhibition (pratyâhâra), (13) concentration (dhâranâ), (14) meditation upon the Self (âtma-dhyâna), and (15) ecstasy (samâdhi)
Pâshupata-Yoga: The unitive discipline of the Pâshupata sect, as expounded in some of the Purânas
Pâtanjala-Yoga: The unitive discipline of Patanjali, better known as Râja-Yoga or Yoga-Darshana
Pûrna-Yoga: The unitive discipline of wholeness or integration, which is the name of Sri Aurobindo's Yoga
Râja-Yoga: The royal unitive discipline, also called Pâtanjala-Yoga, Ashtânga-Yoga, or Râja-Yoga
Samâdhi-Yoga: The unitive discipline of ecstasy
Sâmkhya-Yoga: The unitive discipline of insight, which is the name of certain liberation teachings and schools referred to in the Mahâbhârata
Samnyâsa-Yoga: The unitive discipline of renunciation, which is contrasted against Karma-Yoga in the Bhagavad-Gîtâ
Samputa-Yoga: The unitive discipline of sexual congress (maithunâ) in Tantra-Yoga
Samrambha-Yoga: The unitive discipline of hatred, as mentioned in the Vishnu-Purâna, which illustrates the profound yogic principle that one becomes what one constantly contemplates (even if charged with negative emotions)
Saptânga-Yoga: The unitive discipline of the seven limbs (sapta-anga), also known as Sapta-Sâdhana in the Gheranda-Samhitâ: (1) six purificatory practices (shat-karma), (2) posture (âsana), (3) seal (mudrâ), (4) sensory inhibition (pratyâhâra), (5) breath control (prânâyâma), (6) meditation (dhyâna), and (7) ecstasy (samâdhi)
Shadanga-Yoga: The unitive discipline of the six limbs (shad-anga), as expounded in the Maitrâyanîya-Upanishad: (1) breath control (prânâyâma), (2) sensory inhibition (pratyâhâra), (3) meditation (dhyâna), (4) concentration (dhâranâ), (5) examination (tarka), and (6) ecstasy (samâdhi)
Siddha-Yoga: The unitive discipline of the adepts, a concept found in some of the Tantras
Sparsha-Yoga: The unitive discipline of contact; a Vedantic Yoga mentioned in the Shiva-Purâna, which combines mantra recitation with breath control; cf. Asparsha-Yoga
Tantra-Yoga: The unitive discipline of the Tantras, a kundalinî-based Yoga
Târaka-Yoga: The unitive discipline of the "deliverer" (târaka); a medieval Yoga based on light phenomena
Yantra-Yoga: The unitive discipline of focusing the mind upon geometric representations (yantra) of the cosmos.
http://www.herbalhealing.co.uk/yoga_types.htm
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