Saturday, April 24, 2010

Lavinia Fontana, Noli me tangere, 1581, 80 x 65.6 cm (Uffizi)


oli me tangere, meaning "don't touch me", is the Latin version of words spoken, according to John 20:17, by Jesus to Mary Magdalene when she recognizes him after his resurrection.

The original phrase, Μή μου ἅπτου, in the Gospel of John, which was written in Greek, is better represented in translation as "cease holding on to me" or "stop clinging to me".[1] The biblical scene of Mary Magdalene's recognizing Jesus Christ after his resurrection became the subject of a long, widespread and continuous iconographic tradition in Christian art from late antiquity to the present.[2] This phrase is also said in Whoso list to hunt by Sir Thomas Wyatt.


[edit] Liturgical use

The words were a popular trope in Gregorian chant. The supposed moment in which they were spoken was a popular subject for paintings in cycles of the Life of Christ and as single subjects, for which the phrase is the usual title.

In the Eastern Orthodox Church the Gospel lesson on Noli me tangere is one of the Twelve Matins Gospels read during the All Night Vigil on Sunday mornings.

Noli Me Tangere (commonly referred to by its shortened name Noli) is a novel written in Spanish by Filipino writer and national hero José Rizal, first published in 1887 in Berlin, Germany. The English translation was originally titled The Social Cancer, although more recent translations have been published using the original Latin title.

Noli Me Tangere was Rizal's first novel. He was 26 at the time of its publication. This book was historically significant and was instrumental in the establishing of the Filipino sense of national identity. The book indirectly influenced a revolution although the author actually advocated direct representation to the Spanish government and larger role of the Philippines inside Spain's political affairs. The novel was written in Spanish, the language of the educated classes at a time when natives were markedly separated into diverse ethnolinguistic groups.

The novel created so much controversy that only a few days after his arrival, Governor-General Emilio Terrero summoned Rizal to the Malacañang Palace and told him of the charges saying that Noli Me Tangere was full of subversive ideas. After a discussion, the liberal Governor General was appeased; but he mentioned that he was unable to offer resistance against the pressure of the Church to take action against the book. The persecution can be discerned from Rizal's letter to Leitmeritz: "My book made a lot of noise; everywhere, I am asked about it. They wanted to anathematize me ['to excommunicate me'] because of it ... I am considered a German spy, an agent of Bismarck, they say I am a Protestant, a freemason, a sorcerer, a damned soul and evil. It is whispered that I want to draw plans, that I have a foreign passport and that I wander through the streets by night ..."

Rizal depiction of nationality by emphasizing the qualities of Filipinos: devotion of a Filipina and her influence to a man's life, the deep sense of gratitude, and the solid common sense of the Filipinos under the Spanish regime.

This novel and its sequel, El Filibusterismo (nicknamed El Fili), were banned in some parts of the Philippines because of their portrayal of corruption and abuse by the country's Spanish government and clergy. A character which has become a classic in the Philippines is "Maria Clara" who has become a personification of the ideal Filipino woman, loving and unwavering in her loyalty to her spouse. Another classic character is the priest "Father Dámaso" which reflects the covert fathering of illegitimate children by members of the Spanish clergy. In the story, Father Dámaso impregnates a woman. Copies were smuggled in nevertheless, and when Rizal returned to the Philippines after completing medical studies, he quickly ran afoul of the local government. First exiled to Dapitan, he was later arrested for "inciting rebellion" based largely on his writings. Rizal was executed in Manila on December 30, 1896 at the age of thirty-five.

The book was instrumental in creating a unified Filipino national identity and consciousness, as many Filipinos previously identified with their respective regions to the advantage of the Spanish authorities. It lampooned, caricatured and exposed various elements in colonial society.

Nowadays, Noli me Tangere and its sequel, El Filibusterismo, is studied by Third Year and Fourth Year secondary school students in the Philippines as part of the curriculum, usually as part of their Filipino subject. The novel is also often among the topics of the required course on the study of Rizal's life in tertiary education in the country. Textbooks designed for students were made by various publishers, and the text itself is oftent condensed or abridged to facilitate learning for students.


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