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Bruno Lo Turco

Università degli Studi "La Sapienza" di Roma, Istituto Italiano di Studi Orientali - ISO, Faculty Member

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Phone: +39 06 88 37 80 46
Address: Istituto Italiano di Studi Orientali, complesso Marco Polo, circonvallazione Tiburtina 4, 00185 Roma, Italy

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Beatrice Falcucci

Pompeu Fabra University

carmela mastrangelo

Università degli Studi "La Sapienza" di Roma

Federica Olivotto

Valentina Bella Lanza

Università Degli Studi di Napoli "L'Orientale"

Musée royal de Mariemont

Francesco Ferraioli

Filipa Lowndes Vicente

Universidade de Lisboa

Arianna D'Ottone

Università degli Studi "La Sapienza" di Roma

Davor Antonucci

Università degli Studi "La Sapienza" di Roma

Università degli Studi "La Sapienza" di Roma

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Papers by Bruno Lo Turco

The Oriental School of Rome: Research Areas

Rivista degli Studi Orientali n.s., 2024

The ongoing research project at the ISO titled The Oriental School of Rome: History, Figures, Cul... more The ongoing research project at the ISO titled The Oriental School of Rome: History, Figures, Cultural Scene, Manuscript and Book Collections aims to examine the last two centuries of Oriental Studies in Rome. The project focuses on three main areas: the general history and perspectives of Oriental Studies in Rome, the prominent figures in the field whose contributions are relatively un- known internationally, and the significant manuscript and book collections preserved in Rome. The project has enabled the examination of a sequence of pertinent and hitherto unexplored historical queries. These encompass three separate yet intimately linked subjects: the adjacency between Oriental Studies in Rome and the political domain, the ideological correlation between Oriental Studies in Rome and Italian colonialism, and the continuity of Oriental Studies in Rome before and after the city’s capture.

Oriental Studies in Nineteenth-Century Rome

RIVISTA DEGLI STUDI ORIENTALI n.s., 2021

This article aims to synthetically reconstruct the history of Oriental studies in nineteenth-cent... more This article aims to synthetically reconstruct the history of Oriental studies in nineteenth-century Rome. It will also try to situate this history in the wider scenario of the great political changes that implicated Rome and its university in the second half of the nineteenth century. The sphere of politics and that of Oriental studies had large areas of direct overlap: not only various exponents of Oriental studies acted in close contact with political figures, but also various political figures were themselves Orientalists. The Italian government and parliament were constantly involved in the development of Oriental studies, while in turn Oriental studies provided politics with parliamentarians. Oriental studies represented faithfully certain characteristics of Italian university, such as the absolute contiguity of the academic domain with politics. Oriental studies in Rome, which for centuries were driven by missionary activity, after the unifcation of Italy received a major thrust forward from the government plans of colonial growth. Despite the obvious ideological opposition between papal power and Italian government, a sort of ideal continuity was therefore established: Oriental Studies were always motivated by expansion programs, which were of a religious and cultural type in the missionary phase, and of a colonial and commercial type in the colonial phase. Furthermore, the overlap between Oriental studies and the national political scene is crucial for a correct reconstruction of the Italian expansionist policy up to the Second World War.

Storicità del soggetto ed etica nel buddhismo indiano

Areté. International Journal pf Philosophy, Human & Social Sciences, 2022

The article shows how the interpretation of the fundamental Buddhist doctrine of paṭiccasamuppāda... more The article shows how the interpretation of the fundamental Buddhist doctrine of paṭiccasamuppāda ("dependent origination"), set out in the Pali Canon, can and should be facilitated by the use of categories such as "historical" and "finite." The subject, in the description that results from the paṭiccasamuppāda, is reduced to a sum of historical facts and is therefore understood as radically contingent. In such a context, moral action cannot be rationally founded, since there is no concept of essential subjectivity on which to base it. This situation is analogous to that in which contemporary antifoundationalist thought has found itself. And even the solution provided by a contemporary philosopher like Richard Rorty, namely a sense of commonality in suffering, is analogous to the Buddhist one. These analogies could be a prelude to a "fusion of horizons" between the thought of ancient Buddhism and some important trends of contemporary thought.

Il sacrificio della satī e la «crisi della presenza»

Veda e Iran antico, lingua e grammatica 13 Fra lessico e grammatica. I nomi dell'acqua nell'india... more

The Word that ceases to escape: Affirmation of writing and reinterpretation of the Vedic tradition

Resisting and justifying changes: How to make the new acceptable in the Ancient, Medieval and Early Modern world , 2021

This article describes how the history of Indian thought has been substantially affected by the f... more This article describes how the history of Indian thought has been substantially affected by the first encounter that Brahmanic circles had with writing (5 th c. BCE). This encounter was immediately followed by a rejection of writing, which not only determined the evolution of the concept of Veda but, through a prolonged theoretical elaboration, would also give rise to the system of Mīmāṃsā. Although the Indian society of the classical and medieval period was certainly not characterized by primary orality, since writing was relatively widespread, the description of the Veda developed over the centuries by Brahmanical circles is precisely the result of a reflection on orality, considered as an intrinsic feature of the Vedic tradition. Even many centuries after the initial Brahmanic refusal of writing, greater or lesser resistance to the internalization of writing technology marks the gap between Mīmāṃsā and Vedānta, both of them based on the hermeneutics of the Veda. In any case, Vedānta, in order to place itself in the tradition of authoritative orthodox thought, does not reject the hermeneutics of Mīmāṃsā, but declares it preparatory to its own. This is the expedient with which Vedānta justifies the change and renders the new acceptable.

The divine scribe: A new interpretation of the Gaṇeśa episode from the Mahābhārata

A. D’Ottone Rambach (ed.), Palaeography Between East & West. Proceedings of the Seminars on Arabic Palaeography at Sapienza University of Rome. Rivista degli Studi Orientali N.S., 2018

The Gaṇeśa episode from the Mahābhārata, widely regarded as a late addition, narrates the mythica... more The Gaṇeśa episode from the Mahābhārata, widely regarded as a late addition, narrates the mythical circumstances that led to the first written record of the poem: Vyāsa asks Gaṇeśa to write down the whole epic at his dictation. In the past, the episode was claimed to represent an attempt to promote the figure of Gaṇeśa, a god on the rise. Nevertheless, this explanation fails to account for the connection between the god and the act of writing an original work. A closer examination of the episode is therefore needed, with a view to reaching a more satisfactory interpretation. Our assumption is that the passage should be read as a realistic staging of the questions raised by the relationship between author, symbolised by Vyāsa, and scribe, symbolised by Gaṇeśa. In this context, the figure of Gaṇeśa serves to emphasize the relevance of the technology of writing and its professionals.

La satī: operatrice del sacro e spirito tutelare

M. Ferrara, A. Saggioro (eds.), Corpi sciamanici. La nozione di persona nello studio dello sciamanesimo. Roma: Nuova Cultura, 2017

Buddhism and Modernity: In the Margin of Donald S. Lopez Jr.'s "Buddhism and Science"

Kriterion. Revista de filosofia (Filosofia e budismo), 2016

The present article aims at setting the issue of the relationship between Buddhism and science in... more The present article aims at setting the issue of the relationship between Buddhism and science in a historical and philosophical frame wider than that one taken into account by the international scholarship so far. The historical point of view allows us to conclude that the narrative that connects Buddhism with science is not based on features intrinsic to Buddhist thought. In fact, such narrative prospered thanks to the development of a dialectic, typical of the 18th and 19th centuries, between science and religion. The philosophical point of view allows us to conclude that such narrative is backed by a metaphysical-like thought that denies the specificity of both science and Buddhism.

L’etica dell’ambiente nell’Induismo

S. Sangalli (ed.), Dialoghi di Pratica Etica. Roma: Luiss University Press, 2015

Nel 2007 una 'cospirazione del silenzio' intaccò il prestigio della Presidenza dell'Unione indian... more Nel 2007 una 'cospirazione del silenzio' intaccò il prestigio della Presidenza dell'Unione indiana. Il candidato ufficiale alla carica era una leader del Partito del Congresso, Pratibha Patil, contro la quale esistevano gravi accuse di corruzione, estesamente riportate dalla stampa. La Patil aveva avviato, nel Maharashtra, una banca di credito cooperativo, che aveva concesso ai familiari della Patil stessa prestiti di tale portata da eccedere il capitale sociale. La banca rinunciò poi ad esigerne la restituzione e dovette essere posta in liquidazione coatta. All'epoca il Presidente dell'India uscente era Manmohan Singh, anch'egli esponente del Partito del Congresso, la cui integrità era unanimemente riconosciuta. Singh, però, non si espresse sulla questione, limitandosi ad accennare di sfuggita alla 'campagna di diffamazione' dell'opposizione e rimettendosi implicitamente alle scelte del Partito. Prathibha Patil fu dunque eletta Presidente dell'Unione e non fu mai indagata.

Guerre Stellari: un catalogo di miti?

T. Franco (ed. ), Effetti collaterali. La fantascienza tra letteratura, cinema e tv. Bologna: Elara, 2015

sé), a far sorgere il dubbio che, per antifrasi, il senso riposto della vicenda riguardasse piutt... more sé), a far sorgere il dubbio che, per antifrasi, il senso riposto della vicenda riguardasse piuttosto la contemporaneità. E poi, il fatto che le due precedenti opere di Lucas siano state THX 1138 6 e American Graffiti 7 , pellicole che sono tutto tranne che superficiali -tali saranno stati semmai i vari epigoni, anche televisivi, generati in specie dalla seconda -, dovrebbe quanto meno indurre al sospetto circa una presunta vacua esteriorità di Star Wars. Certo, se da una parte il film è concepito come un svago per ragazzi, ispirato direttamente alla letteratura d'intrattenimento giovanile e ai fumetti, in specie Flash Gordon, dall'altra riflette sulle fonti e sui cardini di questa letteratura, che non sono né neutri né ingenui, ma spesso ideologicamente ben connotati. Per scrivere la sua sceneggiatura, Lucas si era rivolto ai fratelli bert. Come si vede, quasi tutti autori di libri considerati "per ragazzi" 8 , ma allo stesso tempo straordinariamente influenti e ricchi di implicazioni filosofiche. Lucas, poi, non si era limitato alla narrativa, ma aveva ampliato la sua area d'interesse allo studio dei miti e delle fiabe. Tra i personaggi che lo influenzarono e, anzi, incontrò personalmente, vi furono Bruno Bettelheim -il cui interesse verso le fiabe culminerà in The Uses of Enchantment, che fornisce una lettura psicanalitica dei Grimm 9 -e Joseph Campbell, sul quale ultimo ci soffermeremo 10 .

Il cuore nero dell'India: omicidi rituali e stereotipi letterari

A. Calanchi (ed.), Arcobaleno noir. Genesi, diaspora e nuove cittadinanze del noir fra cinema e letteratura. Giulianova: Galaad, 2014

In 1839, thanks to the novel Confessions of a Thug, the stereotype of a Hindu sect of murderers, ... more In 1839, thanks to the novel Confessions of a Thug, the stereotype of a Hindu sect of murderers, alleged worshippers of Kali, who acted after gaining the confidence of their future victims, spread in the West. Since then the Thugs appeared in many novels as well as later on in many films. In nineteenth-century India there really existed gangs of marauders, who nevertheless killed travellers only in order to rob them, without any religious implications, contrary to popular belief. But those who invented the stereotype were maybe aware of the existence of secret tantric cults, which attributed a special religious value to actions opposed to public morals, such as murder.

In dialogo con la filosofia indiana

C. Cunegato, Y. D’Autilia, M. Di Cintio, Significato e dignità dell’uomo nel confronto interculturale. Roma: Armando, 2013

Brevi note su oralità, scrittura e auralità in India

U. Mondini, L'epopea di Pabuji. Le cerimonie nuziali. Roma: Progetto Cultura, 2013

Con questa Collana di Quaderni di Ricerca Antropologico-Filosofico-Storico-Religiosa si vuole and... more

Propagation of written culture in Brahmanical India

Scripta, 2013

In classical and especially medieval India books had a high circulation among cultured people. Ne... more In classical and especially medieval India books had a high circulation among cultured people. Nevertheless, Brahmanical culture regarded writing as a contemptible activity. In fact, a written text was understood as the defective realization of a perfect sonic essence. In the case of a revealed text, the written realization relied directly on the sonic essence. In the case of a text of human origin, the relation with the sonic essence was only indirect. In both cases that essence remained so crucial that the historical circumstances in which the text had been written down, and the fact itself that it was written down, were always thought of as insignificant. This ideology could have been developed by Brahmanism as a factor of self-identification in opposition to those flourishing cultures that assigned enormous significance to books.

Note sulla funzione cosmopoietica della parola divina

P. Caracchi et al., Tīrthayātrā. Essays in Honour of Stefano Piano. Alessandria: Dell'Orso, 2010

È vietata la riproduzione, anche parziale, non autorizzata, con qualsiasi mezzo effettuata, compr... more

Buddhismo, relativismo e linguaggio

M. Barbiani, Larlun. Tracce di una via filosofica tra Oriente e Occidente. Roma: La Lepre, 2010

Aamer Hussein, Il nuvolo messaggero. Roma: Caravan, 2010

The Construction of Nature: Ṛṣis and Kavis

Pandanus, vol. '09, 2009

Some Observations on Sanskrit as Court Language

C. Pieruccini , P. Rossi, Kings and Ascetics in Indian Classical Literature. Milano: Cisalpino, 2009

Prefazione all'edizione italiana.

M. Hulin, Sette racconti iniziatici tratti dallo Yogavāsiṣṭha. Roma: La Parola, 2009

The Oriental School of Rome: Research Areas

Rivista degli Studi Orientali n.s., 2024

The ongoing research project at the ISO titled The Oriental School of Rome: History, Figures, Cul... more The ongoing research project at the ISO titled The Oriental School of Rome: History, Figures, Cultural Scene, Manuscript and Book Collections aims to examine the last two centuries of Oriental Studies in Rome. The project focuses on three main areas: the general history and perspectives of Oriental Studies in Rome, the prominent figures in the field whose contributions are relatively un- known internationally, and the significant manuscript and book collections preserved in Rome. The project has enabled the examination of a sequence of pertinent and hitherto unexplored historical queries. These encompass three separate yet intimately linked subjects: the adjacency between Oriental Studies in Rome and the political domain, the ideological correlation between Oriental Studies in Rome and Italian colonialism, and the continuity of Oriental Studies in Rome before and after the city’s capture.

Oriental Studies in Nineteenth-Century Rome

RIVISTA DEGLI STUDI ORIENTALI n.s., 2021

This article aims to synthetically reconstruct the history of Oriental studies in nineteenth-cent... more This article aims to synthetically reconstruct the history of Oriental studies in nineteenth-century Rome. It will also try to situate this history in the wider scenario of the great political changes that implicated Rome and its university in the second half of the nineteenth century. The sphere of politics and that of Oriental studies had large areas of direct overlap: not only various exponents of Oriental studies acted in close contact with political figures, but also various political figures were themselves Orientalists. The Italian government and parliament were constantly involved in the development of Oriental studies, while in turn Oriental studies provided politics with parliamentarians. Oriental studies represented faithfully certain characteristics of Italian university, such as the absolute contiguity of the academic domain with politics. Oriental studies in Rome, which for centuries were driven by missionary activity, after the unifcation of Italy received a major thrust forward from the government plans of colonial growth. Despite the obvious ideological opposition between papal power and Italian government, a sort of ideal continuity was therefore established: Oriental Studies were always motivated by expansion programs, which were of a religious and cultural type in the missionary phase, and of a colonial and commercial type in the colonial phase. Furthermore, the overlap between Oriental studies and the national political scene is crucial for a correct reconstruction of the Italian expansionist policy up to the Second World War.

Storicità del soggetto ed etica nel buddhismo indiano

Areté. International Journal pf Philosophy, Human & Social Sciences, 2022

The article shows how the interpretation of the fundamental Buddhist doctrine of paṭiccasamuppāda... more The article shows how the interpretation of the fundamental Buddhist doctrine of paṭiccasamuppāda ("dependent origination"), set out in the Pali Canon, can and should be facilitated by the use of categories such as "historical" and "finite." The subject, in the description that results from the paṭiccasamuppāda, is reduced to a sum of historical facts and is therefore understood as radically contingent. In such a context, moral action cannot be rationally founded, since there is no concept of essential subjectivity on which to base it. This situation is analogous to that in which contemporary antifoundationalist thought has found itself. And even the solution provided by a contemporary philosopher like Richard Rorty, namely a sense of commonality in suffering, is analogous to the Buddhist one. These analogies could be a prelude to a "fusion of horizons" between the thought of ancient Buddhism and some important trends of contemporary thought.

Il sacrificio della satī e la «crisi della presenza»

Veda e Iran antico, lingua e grammatica 13 Fra lessico e grammatica. I nomi dell'acqua nell'india... more

The Word that ceases to escape: Affirmation of writing and reinterpretation of the Vedic tradition

Resisting and justifying changes: How to make the new acceptable in the Ancient, Medieval and Early Modern world , 2021

This article describes how the history of Indian thought has been substantially affected by the f... more This article describes how the history of Indian thought has been substantially affected by the first encounter that Brahmanic circles had with writing (5 th c. BCE). This encounter was immediately followed by a rejection of writing, which not only determined the evolution of the concept of Veda but, through a prolonged theoretical elaboration, would also give rise to the system of Mīmāṃsā. Although the Indian society of the classical and medieval period was certainly not characterized by primary orality, since writing was relatively widespread, the description of the Veda developed over the centuries by Brahmanical circles is precisely the result of a reflection on orality, considered as an intrinsic feature of the Vedic tradition. Even many centuries after the initial Brahmanic refusal of writing, greater or lesser resistance to the internalization of writing technology marks the gap between Mīmāṃsā and Vedānta, both of them based on the hermeneutics of the Veda. In any case, Vedānta, in order to place itself in the tradition of authoritative orthodox thought, does not reject the hermeneutics of Mīmāṃsā, but declares it preparatory to its own. This is the expedient with which Vedānta justifies the change and renders the new acceptable.

The divine scribe: A new interpretation of the Gaṇeśa episode from the Mahābhārata

A. D’Ottone Rambach (ed.), Palaeography Between East & West. Proceedings of the Seminars on Arabic Palaeography at Sapienza University of Rome. Rivista degli Studi Orientali N.S., 2018

The Gaṇeśa episode from the Mahābhārata, widely regarded as a late addition, narrates the mythica... more The Gaṇeśa episode from the Mahābhārata, widely regarded as a late addition, narrates the mythical circumstances that led to the first written record of the poem: Vyāsa asks Gaṇeśa to write down the whole epic at his dictation. In the past, the episode was claimed to represent an attempt to promote the figure of Gaṇeśa, a god on the rise. Nevertheless, this explanation fails to account for the connection between the god and the act of writing an original work. A closer examination of the episode is therefore needed, with a view to reaching a more satisfactory interpretation. Our assumption is that the passage should be read as a realistic staging of the questions raised by the relationship between author, symbolised by Vyāsa, and scribe, symbolised by Gaṇeśa. In this context, the figure of Gaṇeśa serves to emphasize the relevance of the technology of writing and its professionals.

La satī: operatrice del sacro e spirito tutelare

M. Ferrara, A. Saggioro (eds.), Corpi sciamanici. La nozione di persona nello studio dello sciamanesimo. Roma: Nuova Cultura, 2017

Buddhism and Modernity: In the Margin of Donald S. Lopez Jr.'s "Buddhism and Science"

Kriterion. Revista de filosofia (Filosofia e budismo), 2016

The present article aims at setting the issue of the relationship between Buddhism and science in... more The present article aims at setting the issue of the relationship between Buddhism and science in a historical and philosophical frame wider than that one taken into account by the international scholarship so far. The historical point of view allows us to conclude that the narrative that connects Buddhism with science is not based on features intrinsic to Buddhist thought. In fact, such narrative prospered thanks to the development of a dialectic, typical of the 18th and 19th centuries, between science and religion. The philosophical point of view allows us to conclude that such narrative is backed by a metaphysical-like thought that denies the specificity of both science and Buddhism.

L’etica dell’ambiente nell’Induismo

S. Sangalli (ed.), Dialoghi di Pratica Etica. Roma: Luiss University Press, 2015

Nel 2007 una 'cospirazione del silenzio' intaccò il prestigio della Presidenza dell'Unione indian... more Nel 2007 una 'cospirazione del silenzio' intaccò il prestigio della Presidenza dell'Unione indiana. Il candidato ufficiale alla carica era una leader del Partito del Congresso, Pratibha Patil, contro la quale esistevano gravi accuse di corruzione, estesamente riportate dalla stampa. La Patil aveva avviato, nel Maharashtra, una banca di credito cooperativo, che aveva concesso ai familiari della Patil stessa prestiti di tale portata da eccedere il capitale sociale. La banca rinunciò poi ad esigerne la restituzione e dovette essere posta in liquidazione coatta. All'epoca il Presidente dell'India uscente era Manmohan Singh, anch'egli esponente del Partito del Congresso, la cui integrità era unanimemente riconosciuta. Singh, però, non si espresse sulla questione, limitandosi ad accennare di sfuggita alla 'campagna di diffamazione' dell'opposizione e rimettendosi implicitamente alle scelte del Partito. Prathibha Patil fu dunque eletta Presidente dell'Unione e non fu mai indagata.

Guerre Stellari: un catalogo di miti?

T. Franco (ed. ), Effetti collaterali. La fantascienza tra letteratura, cinema e tv. Bologna: Elara, 2015

sé), a far sorgere il dubbio che, per antifrasi, il senso riposto della vicenda riguardasse piutt... more sé), a far sorgere il dubbio che, per antifrasi, il senso riposto della vicenda riguardasse piuttosto la contemporaneità. E poi, il fatto che le due precedenti opere di Lucas siano state THX 1138 6 e American Graffiti 7 , pellicole che sono tutto tranne che superficiali -tali saranno stati semmai i vari epigoni, anche televisivi, generati in specie dalla seconda -, dovrebbe quanto meno indurre al sospetto circa una presunta vacua esteriorità di Star Wars. Certo, se da una parte il film è concepito come un svago per ragazzi, ispirato direttamente alla letteratura d'intrattenimento giovanile e ai fumetti, in specie Flash Gordon, dall'altra riflette sulle fonti e sui cardini di questa letteratura, che non sono né neutri né ingenui, ma spesso ideologicamente ben connotati. Per scrivere la sua sceneggiatura, Lucas si era rivolto ai fratelli bert. Come si vede, quasi tutti autori di libri considerati "per ragazzi" 8 , ma allo stesso tempo straordinariamente influenti e ricchi di implicazioni filosofiche. Lucas, poi, non si era limitato alla narrativa, ma aveva ampliato la sua area d'interesse allo studio dei miti e delle fiabe. Tra i personaggi che lo influenzarono e, anzi, incontrò personalmente, vi furono Bruno Bettelheim -il cui interesse verso le fiabe culminerà in The Uses of Enchantment, che fornisce una lettura psicanalitica dei Grimm 9 -e Joseph Campbell, sul quale ultimo ci soffermeremo 10 .

Il cuore nero dell'India: omicidi rituali e stereotipi letterari

A. Calanchi (ed.), Arcobaleno noir. Genesi, diaspora e nuove cittadinanze del noir fra cinema e letteratura. Giulianova: Galaad, 2014

In 1839, thanks to the novel Confessions of a Thug, the stereotype of a Hindu sect of murderers, ... more In 1839, thanks to the novel Confessions of a Thug, the stereotype of a Hindu sect of murderers, alleged worshippers of Kali, who acted after gaining the confidence of their future victims, spread in the West. Since then the Thugs appeared in many novels as well as later on in many films. In nineteenth-century India there really existed gangs of marauders, who nevertheless killed travellers only in order to rob them, without any religious implications, contrary to popular belief. But those who invented the stereotype were maybe aware of the existence of secret tantric cults, which attributed a special religious value to actions opposed to public morals, such as murder.

In dialogo con la filosofia indiana

C. Cunegato, Y. D’Autilia, M. Di Cintio, Significato e dignità dell’uomo nel confronto interculturale. Roma: Armando, 2013

Brevi note su oralità, scrittura e auralità in India

U. Mondini, L'epopea di Pabuji. Le cerimonie nuziali. Roma: Progetto Cultura, 2013

Con questa Collana di Quaderni di Ricerca Antropologico-Filosofico-Storico-Religiosa si vuole and... more

Propagation of written culture in Brahmanical India

Scripta, 2013

In classical and especially medieval India books had a high circulation among cultured people. Ne... more In classical and especially medieval India books had a high circulation among cultured people. Nevertheless, Brahmanical culture regarded writing as a contemptible activity. In fact, a written text was understood as the defective realization of a perfect sonic essence. In the case of a revealed text, the written realization relied directly on the sonic essence. In the case of a text of human origin, the relation with the sonic essence was only indirect. In both cases that essence remained so crucial that the historical circumstances in which the text had been written down, and the fact itself that it was written down, were always thought of as insignificant. This ideology could have been developed by Brahmanism as a factor of self-identification in opposition to those flourishing cultures that assigned enormous significance to books.

Note sulla funzione cosmopoietica della parola divina

P. Caracchi et al., Tīrthayātrā. Essays in Honour of Stefano Piano. Alessandria: Dell'Orso, 2010

È vietata la riproduzione, anche parziale, non autorizzata, con qualsiasi mezzo effettuata, compr... more

Buddhismo, relativismo e linguaggio

M. Barbiani, Larlun. Tracce di una via filosofica tra Oriente e Occidente. Roma: La Lepre, 2010

Aamer Hussein, Il nuvolo messaggero. Roma: Caravan, 2010

The Construction of Nature: Ṛṣis and Kavis

Pandanus, vol. '09, 2009

Some Observations on Sanskrit as Court Language

C. Pieruccini , P. Rossi, Kings and Ascetics in Indian Classical Literature. Milano: Cisalpino, 2009

Prefazione all'edizione italiana.

M. Hulin, Sette racconti iniziatici tratti dallo Yogavāsiṣṭha. Roma: La Parola, 2009

Il suono della conoscenza. Oralità, scrittura e pensiero in India

Il complesso pensiero dell'India brahmanica dovrebbe essere compreso entro un orizzonte culturale... more Il complesso pensiero dell'India brahmanica dovrebbe essere compreso entro un orizzonte culturale caratterizzato da uno specifico tipo di auralità: una condizione stabile in cui un'ideologia basata sulla parola scritta, a differenza di quanto accadde in Occidente, non si sviluppò mai, sebbene la scrittura fosse assai diffusa. La recitazione pubblica di testi, tipica della cultura aurale indiana, era infatti percepita come vantaggiosa e gratificante. La recitazione ad alta voce non era intesa, insomma, come l'unico rimedio possibile a una carenza di supporti scritti dovuta all'inadeguatezza e lentezza del processo produttivo. La centralità della voce, caratteristica della visione brahmanica del mondo, era dunque un tratto culturale che derivava dall'apprezzamento delle valenze comunitarie e delle caratteristiche estetiche della parola parlata. Nell'ambito culturale brahmanico il testo scritto non era visto come entità indipendente, ma solo come manifestazione secondaria dell'essenza vocale dell'opera. Il pensiero brahmanico, anzi, difese attivamente il prestigio della voce dalle ideologie basate, implicitamente o esplicitamente, su Sacre scritture.

Mokṣopāya-Ṭīkā of Bhāskarakaṇṭha. The Fragments of the Nirvāṇaprakaraṇa

Part II. Critical Edition. Halle (Saale): Universitätsverlag Halle-Wittenberg, 2019

Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek verzeichnet diese Publikation in der Deutschen Nationalbibliograf... more

The State and Hinduism: The idea of Dharma and its influence on Indian politics, law and economics

by Bruno Lo Turco and Lucia Cosmano

Samuele Sangalli (ed.), Religion and Politics. Religious Liberty and Confronting New Ethical Challenges. What is the Public Role of Faith in Today’s Globalized World, 2016

Under the supervision of Prof. Bruno Lo Turco 2 uNot by not acting in this world does one become ... more

AQVA - "Il Gange oltre il Gange. Riproducibilità del fiume sacro" - 11/12/2017

by Marinella Ceravolo, Bruno Lo Turco, Flavia Pacelli, and Ludovica Bertolini