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INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION The idea of undertaking a comparative investigation into the notion of . Apocalypse at the end of our second millenium was born from a per- ceived resemblance of our own fin de si6cle to that of one hundred years ago. Many point to signs that might indicate a crisis in our conven- tional assessment of social and cultural ritual, a crisis that recalls the malaise of the late sixteenth century in the Low Countries, of the French Revolution, of the Industrial Revolution in England, of the late nineteenth century in Russia, of the holocausts of the two World Wars, and of the creeping ecological paralysis of more recent times. These signs are often associated with excessive violence, religious fanaticism, and political iner- tia, although their "significance" as Armageddon should not be exagger- ated, for the simple reason that our own historical calculations often have nothing in common with chrohological sequences in other parts of the world, such as the Chinese calendar. The Apocalypse is a state of mind, not a scientific rule, and the fact that we tend to associate it with the end of a regime or the end of a century is fortuitous, for it may http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Experiment Brill

INTRODUCTION

Experiment , Volume 4 (1): -8 – Jan 1, 1998

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Publisher
Brill
Copyright
Copyright © Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands
ISSN
1084-4945
eISSN
2211-730X
DOI
10.1163/2211730X98X00025
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

The idea of undertaking a comparative investigation into the notion of . Apocalypse at the end of our second millenium was born from a per- ceived resemblance of our own fin de si6cle to that of one hundred years ago. Many point to signs that might indicate a crisis in our conven- tional assessment of social and cultural ritual, a crisis that recalls the malaise of the late sixteenth century in the Low Countries, of the French Revolution, of the Industrial Revolution in England, of the late nineteenth century in Russia, of the holocausts of the two World Wars, and of the creeping ecological paralysis of more recent times. These signs are often associated with excessive violence, religious fanaticism, and political iner- tia, although their "significance" as Armageddon should not be exagger- ated, for the simple reason that our own historical calculations often have nothing in common with chrohological sequences in other parts of the world, such as the Chinese calendar. The Apocalypse is a state of mind, not a scientific rule, and the fact that we tend to associate it with the end of a regime or the end of a century is fortuitous, for it may

Journal

ExperimentBrill

Published: Jan 1, 1998

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