Occident

Au XIXe siècle, l'Occident a connu un engouement prononcé pour tout ce qui touche à l'Orient. Selon l'auteur, ce mode de représentation qui, plus qu'une mode, est une idéologie destinée à justifier les entreprises coloniales et néo-coloniales, influence encore les rapports entre les deux mondes. Elle est flagrante dans la littérature et dans l'art en général. …

Une guerre dévastatrice vient d’éclater au cœur de l’Europe, qui ravive les pires traumatismes du passé ; des menaces de cataclysme nucléaire sont constamment agitées, alors qu’on les croyait définitivement écartées ; un bras de fer planétaire se déroule, opposant l’Occident à la Chine et à la Russie…

Une réflexion sur la modernisation comme phénomène social à travers une analyse des différentes modalités de sa mutation en Occident. L'anthropologue montre également comment certaines sociétés se sont intégrées dans ce mouvement d'ensemble tout en conservant leurs particularités. …

La fin de l'Empire romain en Occident fut un processus militaire, politique et social complexe. La chute de Rome fut longtemps perçue comme une rupture. L'auteur montre ici le long processus et non l'effondrement subi de cet empire, ainsi que le rôle des chefs barbares comme acteurs du jeu politique romain. …

Nominated for a Grammy (2002) for best Classical Album, Orient Occident represents the newest and, more importantly, epic portrayal of historical music to date. Regardless of any award, this album will continue its reputation as the most important record of new music in 2002, for the very fact that in the world of new music, Arvo Pärt is a puritan's feast. On the threshold of being a globally resonating composer, Pärt remains full of powerful ideas in film, stage, oratorio and orchestral music. Pärt's talent surmises the infinite variety of spiritual symbolism. He is a composer deeply rooted in the ancestrally religious past of his native Estonia. Further removed from Roman Catholic preaching, the Eastern European Orthodox church took to a more enlightening approach―renunciation. Pärt has, indeed, spent much of his time clarifying his search for richness in life's meaning. His work is as timeless as the art of work is meaningless. This meaningless struggle has dispirited Pärt's yearning soul, and with his newest music we are drawn to his misty, remote retreat. In Orient Occident, not only does Pärt recreate a shameless force of magnitude as a great work (three great works to be exact: "Wallfahrtslied", "Orient & Occident", and "Como Cierva Sedienta"), he has reorganized his approach making this change a revelatory turn from past familiar traits. Having rediscovered himself half dozen times before this year, Pärt introduces a lustrous version of his suffering, and a handsomely classical departure than previously heard. Pärt's climactic reinvention of his artistic path makes this album a sumptuous account of a composer charged with a silent worship.

« Il y a assurément deux façons d[e] parler [du terrorisme], car le terrorisme n’est pas considéré comme tel lorsqu’il est pratiqué (et sous une forme nettement plus meurtrière) par ceux qui, de par leur pouvoir, sont parés de vertu. »
Depuis la fin de la Seconde Guerre mondiale, le colonialisme et le néocolonialisme occidentaux ont causé la mort de 50 à 55 millions de personnes, le plus souvent au nom de nobles idéaux comme la liberté et la démocratie. …

La vieille tradition se trompe : l'Occident n'est plus européen, et l'Europe n'est plus l'Occident. Dans sa marche vers l'ouest, le soleil de notre civilisation s'est terni. Parti d'Hellade, investissant l'Italie, puis l'Europe occidentale, puis l'Angleterre, et enfin, ayant traversé les mers, s'étant installé en Amérique, le centre de l'« Occident» s'est lentement défiguré. …

Nominated for a Grammy (2002) for best Classical Album, Orient Occident represents the newest and, more importantly, epic portrayal of historical music to date. Regardless of any award, this album will continue its reputation as the most important record of new music in 2002, for the very fact that in the world of new music, Arvo Pärt is a puritan's feast. On the threshold of being a globally resonating composer, Pärt remains full of powerful ideas in film, stage, oratorio and orchestral music. Pärt's talent surmises the infinite variety of spiritual symbolism. He is a composer deeply rooted in the ancestrally religious past of his native Estonia. Further removed from Roman Catholic preaching, the Eastern European Orthodox church took to a more enlightening approach―renunciation. Pärt has, indeed, spent much of his time clarifying his search for richness in life's meaning. His work is as timeless as the art of work is meaningless. This meaningless struggle has dispirited Pärt's yearning soul, and with his newest music we are drawn to his misty, remote retreat. In Orient Occident, not only does Pärt recreate a shameless force of magnitude as a great work (three great works to be exact: "Wallfahrtslied", "Orient & Occident", and "Como Cierva Sedienta"), he has reorganized his approach making this change a revelatory turn from past familiar traits. Having rediscovered himself half dozen times before this year, Pärt introduces a lustrous version of his suffering, and a handsomely classical departure than previously heard. Pärt's climactic reinvention of his artistic path makes this album a sumptuous account of a composer charged with a silent worship.