BOOK REVIEW: IOAN CHIRILĂ (COORD.), "ENCICLOPEDIA IMAGINARIILOR DIN ROMÂNIA. VOLUMUL IV: IMAGINAR RELIGIOS/THE ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF THE IMAGINARY FROM ROMANIAN SPACE. VOLUME IV: RELIGIOUS IMAGINARY". IAȘI: POLIROM, 2020, 383 P.

Abstract

Man, as a being created for and out of communion, cannot define himself outside his relationship with God the Creator, with otherness and with the whole universe. However heavy the layer of dust that lies between the human person and these three aspects of the alter ego, and however fierce the struggle against this origin, the whole of man's being betrays, consciously or unconsciously, his origin beyond matter. At the same time, man is not only defined by reason, and this is not the only trait that distinguishes him from other creatures, but, beyond relating to the world through sensations and feelings, the human being has been given the capacity to create symbols for realities that transcend the tangible. Interestingly, these representations become specific to a smaller or larger collectivity or even to a certain period of time, forming a true collective imaginary.