Assimilating Giants: The Appropriation of Gog and Magog in Medieval and Early Modern England
Assimilating Giants: The Appropriation of Gog and Magog in Medieval and Early Modern England
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同化巨人：中世纪和近代早期英格兰对歌革和玛各的挪用
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发表时间：
2002
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通讯作者：
V. Scherb
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作者：
V. Scherb
歌革和马戈格出现在《创世纪》和《启示录》中，长久以来都与开始和结束联系在一起。从《圣经》的传统进入晚期古典和中世纪的文学和历史中，这两个人有时是一个人（歌革马戈格），有时是分开的（歌革和马戈格），有时是种族群体（歌革和马戈格的种族），有时是土地。无定形的术语，这些名字在一个时间或另一个附加到斯基泰人，哥特人，撒拉逊人，犹太人和阿尔宾纳的巨大儿子，等等。对许多中世纪的作家来说，歌革和马戈格起着类型学隐喻的作用，这些名字可以用在任何外来的、有威胁的或积极敌对的事物上，而这种方式违反了圣经的用法。自从歌革和马戈格最早出现在有文字记载的历史中以来，无论他们的确切定义是什么，他们都满足了一种对群体团结感的文化需求，这种团结感本身是许多因素的产物，包括与特定地区的联系、共同的历史和独特的共同文化。这些元素是安东尼D。斯密把以前时代的“种族意识”称为主要存在于文化共同体的“神话、记忆、价值和象征”中的意识。[1]虽然歌革和马戈格的角色随着时间的推移而变化，但他们的神话有助于形成一种独特的西方意识，并最终形成英国意识。他们与一个社会群体的疏远使不同的民族能够将自己视为一个社区的一部分，无论是种族的、宗教的、民族的还是地方的。在漫长的历史中，歌革和马戈格为一系列历史共同体提供了一种文化定位。他们出现的故事经常用他们来强调一个民族团结一致反对由两人代表的外来势力，一个特定群体分享约翰·阿姆斯特朗所说的“共同命运”的程度。2即使在最早的
Appearing in both Genesis and Revelation, Gog and Magog have long been associated with beginnings and endings. Passing into late classical and medieval literature and history from biblical tradition, the two were sometimes a single being (Gogmagog ), sometimes separate (Gog and Magog ), sometimes ethnic groups (the races of Gog and Magog ), and sometimes lands. Amorphous terms, the names were at one time or another attached to the Scythians, Goths, Saracens, Jews, and the gigantic sons of Albina, among others. For many medieval writers, Gog and Magog functioned as typological metaphors, names that could be appropriated to whatever was alien, threatening, or actively hostile in a manner that paralleled biblical usage. Since their earliest appearances in written history, Gog and Magog — whatever their precise definition —h ave fulfilled a cultural need for a sense of group solidarity, itself a product of many factors including an association with a specific territory, a shared history, and a distinctive shared culture. These elements are central to what Anthony D. Smith calls the “ethnic consciousness” of previous eras, a consciousness that resides chiefly in the “myths, memories, values, and symbols” of cultural communities. 1 Although their role changes over time, the myths of Gog and Magog contribute to the formation of a uniquely Western and, eventually, English consciousness. Their estrangement from a social group has allowed various peoples to identify themselves as part of a community, whether ethnic, religious, national, or local. Over their long history, Gog and Magog have provided a kind of cultural orientation for a whole series of historical communities. Stories in which they appear often use them to stress the solidarity of a people against the alien force represented by the two, the extent to which a given group shares what John Armstrong terms a “common fate.” 2 Even in their earliest