Gorazd Kocijančič
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Gorazd Kocijančič (born 17 September 1964) is a freelance Slovene
philosopher Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...
,
poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...
and
translator Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''trans ...
. Kocijančič is well known for his translation of the entire corpus of
Plato Plato ( ; Greek language, Greek: , ; born  BC, died 348/347 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher of the Classical Greece, Classical period who is considered a foundational thinker in Western philosophy and an innovator of the writte ...
's work into Slovene.


Selected publications

Kocijančič has published over 360 works, since 1987.


Notable works

* ''Mediations'', 1996 * ''Between the East and the West: Four Contributions to the Ecstatics'', 2004 * ''To Those Outside: Exoteric Writings 1990-2003'', 2004 * ''The breaking. Seven radical essays'', 2009 * ''Erotics, politics etc. Three essays about soul'', 2011


Books

In his book ''Mediations'' (1996), Kocijančič expressed his understanding of a contemporary
Christian philosophy Christian philosophy includes all philosophy carried out by Christians, or in relation to the religion of Christianity. Christian philosophy emerged with the aim of reconciling science and faith, starting from natural rational explanations wit ...
stemming from the idea of a radical apophatic thought. In his book ''Between the East and the West: Four Contributions to the Ecstatics'' (2004) he formulated his understanding of the relationship between different spiritual traditions and the metaontology, gnoseology,
ethics Ethics is the philosophy, philosophical study of Morality, moral phenomena. Also called moral philosophy, it investigates Normativity, normative questions about what people ought to do or which behavior is morally right. Its main branches inclu ...
and
ecclesiology In Christian theology, ecclesiology is the study of the Church, the origins of Christianity, its relationship to Jesus, its role in salvation, its polity, its discipline, its eschatology, and its leadership. In its early history, one of th ...
of the supraconfessional, Eastern-Western
Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...
. His work ''To Those Outside: Exoteric Writings 1990-2003'' (2004), is a collection of short newspaper articles, columns and book reviews published in various journals and newspapers, in which he comments on current events, newly published books and artistic events from the perspective of his
anarchic Anarchy is a form of society without rulers. As a type of stateless society, it is commonly contrasted with states, which are centralized polities that claim a monopoly on violence over a permanent territory. Beyond a lack of government, it can ...
philosophy of culture. For this work he received the Rožanc Award the same year it was published.


Translations

Kocijančič has translated into Slovene (and written upon) a
Pre-Socratic Pre-Socratic philosophy, also known as early Greek philosophy, is ancient Greek philosophy before Socrates. Pre-Socratic philosophers were mostly interested in cosmology, the beginning and the substance of the universe, but the inquiries of the ...
verse composition from
Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...
by the poet and thinker
Parmenides Parmenides of Elea (; ; fl. late sixth or early fifth century BC) was a Pre-Socratic philosophy, pre-Socratic ancient Greece, Greek philosopher from Velia, Elea in Magna Graecia (Southern Italy). Parmenides was born in the Greek colony of Veli ...
(''Parmenides: Fragments 1995'') and ''The Elements of Theology by
Proclus Proclus Lycius (; 8 February 412 – 17 April 485), called Proclus the Successor (, ''Próklos ho Diádokhos''), was a Greek Neoplatonist philosopher, one of the last major classical philosophers of late antiquity. He set forth one of th ...
'' (1999). He translated and commented upon complete works of
Plato Plato ( ; Greek language, Greek: , ; born  BC, died 348/347 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher of the Classical Greece, Classical period who is considered a foundational thinker in Western philosophy and an innovator of the writte ...
(2004). He has also worked on the ''New standard translation of the Bible into Slovene'' by providing translation of and commentary to the
Gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...
s and certain deuterocanonical books of
Old Testament The Old Testament (OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible, or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew and occasionally Aramaic writings by the Isr ...
and the revision of the entire
New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...
, and translated and annotated numerous patristic works such as ''Thoughts of the Greek Fathers on Prayer'' (1993), ''The Wisdom of the Desert'' (1994), ''Apostolic Fathers'' (1996), ''
Gregory of Nyssa Gregory of Nyssa, also known as Gregory Nyssen ( or Γρηγόριος Νυσσηνός; c. 335 – c. 394), was an early Roman Christian prelate who served as Bishop of Nyssa from 372 to 376 and from 378 until his death in 394. He is ve ...
: Life of Macrina, Dialogue On the Soul and Resurrection'' (1996), ''Logos in Defence of the Truth: Selected Writings by the Early Christian Apologists'' (1998), ''
Maximus the Confessor Maximus the Confessor (), also spelled Maximos, otherwise known as Maximus the Theologian and Maximus of Constantinople ( – 13 August 662), was a Christianity, Christian monk, theologian, and scholar. In his early life, Maximus was a civil se ...
: Selected Works'' (2000). His last work is translation of the complete works of ''
Dionysius the Areopagite Dionysius the Areopagite (; ''Dionysios ho Areopagitēs'') was an Athenian judge at the Areopagus Court in Athens, who lived in the first century. A convert to Christianity, he is venerated as a saint by multiple denominations. Life As rel ...
'' (2009) and
Boethius Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius, commonly known simply as Boethius (; Latin: ''Boetius''; 480–524 AD), was a Roman Roman Senate, senator, Roman consul, consul, ''magister officiorum'', polymath, historian, and philosopher of the Early Middl ...
’ ''Consolation of Philosophy'' (2012). With others he also edited and translated
Meister Eckhart Eckhart von Hochheim ( – ), commonly known as Meister Eckhart (), Master Eckhart or Eckehart, claimed original name Johannes Eckhart,
's ''Sermons and Treatises'' (1996) and edited the translation of a series of books on history of medieval philosophy.


Poetry

His collection of
poetry Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...
''Your names'' (2000) was published
bilingual Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. When the languages are just two, it is usually called bilingualism. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolin ...
ly with an English translation. His other three collections are ''Thirty steps'' and ''We’re gone'' (2005), ''Certamen spirituale'' (2008) and ''
Primož Trubar Primož Trubar or Primus Truber () (1508 – 28 June 1586) was a Slovene Protestant Reformer of the Lutheran tradition, mostly known as the author of the first Slovene language printed book, the founder and the first superintendent of the Prot ...
is leaving Ljubljana'' (2012). Many of his poems are translated in various languages and included in anthologies of Slovene poetry.


Other interests

His other interests include nineteenth-century
thought In their most common sense, the terms thought and thinking refer to cognitive processes that can happen independently of sensory stimulation. Their most paradigmatic forms are judging, reasoning, concept formation, problem solving, and de ...
; for example he translated V. Solovyov's ''Spiritual foundations of life'' (2000), and provided an introduction to it titled "The Subject and the Doctrine and contemporary currents of philosophical thought". He also translated E. Lévinas ''Time and the Other'' (1998), and wrote an introduction to it with the title "Other time? Different Other? Phenomenology as a hermeneutical problem". Besides translating philosophical and
theological Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of an ...
texts and writing poetry, he has also been involved in literary translation. He has translated from
Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...
a selection of
poem Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...
s by the most renowned Hebrew poets of the
Middle Age Middle age (or middle adulthood) is the age range of the years halfway between childhood and old age. The exact range is subject to public debate, but the term is commonly used to denote the age range from 45 to 65 years. Overall This time span ...
s; Judah ben Samuel Halevi's: ''Selected Poems'' (1998),
Solomon ibn Gabirol Solomon ibn Gabirol or Solomon ben Judah (, ; , ) was an 11th-century Jews, Jewish poet and Jewish philosopher, philosopher in the Neoplatonism, Neo-Platonic tradition in Al-Andalus. He published over a hundred poems, as well as works of biblical ...
's ''Crown of the Kingdom'' (2011). From
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
he has translated Rilke's ''Marienleben und Stundenbuch'', and with Vid Snoj poems by
Angelus Silesius Angelus Silesius, Order of Friars Minor, OFM (9 July 1677), born Johann Scheffler, was a German Roman Catholicism, Catholic priest, physician, Mysticism, mystic and Christian poetry, religious poet. Born and raised a Lutheranism, Lutheran, he be ...
and
Paul Celan Paul Celan (; ; born Paul Antschel; 23 November 1920 – c. 20 April 1970) was a German-speaking Romanian poet, Holocaust survivor, and literary translation, literary translator. He adopted his pen name (an anagram of the Romanian spelling Ancel ...
. From French he has translated
Paul Claudel Paul Claudel (; 6 August 1868 – 23 February 1955) was a French poet, dramatist and diplomat, and the younger brother of the sculptor Camille Claudel. He was most famous for his verse dramas, which often convey his devout Catholicism. Early lif ...
's ''Cent phrases pour l’eventail'' and Charles Peguy. He also edited and translated an anthology of Christian
Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
poetry ''Athos - The Dividing Line Between Heaven and the Earth''. In 1997 he edited the journal "Tretji dan" and contributed to it until 2000, he was also an editor of its book collection. Later he founded the international multilingual electronic journal for culture and spirituality "Logos" Currently he is working on his own philosophical system: the first, ontological part, was published under title ''Razbitje. Sedem radikalnih esejev'' (2009), and the second under title ''Erotics, politics etc. Three essays on the soul'' (2011).


Personal life

Gorazd Kocijančič was born in
Ljubljana {{Infobox settlement , name = Ljubljana , official_name = , settlement_type = Capital city , image_skyline = {{multiple image , border = infobox , perrow = 1/2/2/1 , total_widt ...
,
Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...
(then part of
Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...
) to Janez Kocijančič and Andreja Kocijančič, an ex- rector of
University of Ljubljana The University of Ljubljana (, , ), abbreviated UL, is the oldest and largest university in Slovenia. It has approximately 38,000 enrolled students. The university has 23 faculties and three art academies with approximately 4,000 teaching and re ...
. In 1986 he finished the study of
philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...
and
Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
on
Faculty of Philosophy A faculty is a division within a university or college comprising one subject area or a group of related subject areas, possibly also delimited by level (e.g. undergraduate). In North America, academic divisions are sometimes titled colleges, sc ...
in Ljubljana and soon got a job as a librarian in a manuscript department of the National and University Library of Slovenia. Since 2008 he maintains a status of a "self-employed in
culture Culture ( ) is a concept that encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, Attitude (psychology), attitudes ...
". He translates from 10 languages (e.g. Greek,
Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
and
Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...
). Beside his own works he has collaborated in translation of standard slovene translation of the
Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...
and has translated and commented on many
Church Fathers The Church Fathers, Early Church Fathers, Christian Fathers, or Fathers of the Church were ancient and influential Christian theologians and writers who established the intellectual and doctrinal foundations of Christianity. The historical peri ...
(e.g.
Apostolic Fathers The Apostolic Fathers, also known as the Ante-Nicene Fathers, were core Christian theologians among the Church Fathers who lived in the 1st and 2nd centuries AD who are believed to have personally known some of the Twelve Apostles or to have be ...
, apologetes,
Origen Origen of Alexandria (), also known as Origen Adamantius, was an Early Christianity, early Christian scholar, Asceticism#Christianity, ascetic, and Christian theology, theologian who was born and spent the first half of his career in Early cent ...
, Evagrius Ponticus,
Gregory of Nyssa Gregory of Nyssa, also known as Gregory Nyssen ( or Γρηγόριος Νυσσηνός; c. 335 – c. 394), was an early Roman Christian prelate who served as Bishop of Nyssa from 372 to 376 and from 378 until his death in 394. He is ve ...
,
Dionysius the Areopagite Dionysius the Areopagite (; ''Dionysios ho Areopagitēs'') was an Athenian judge at the Areopagus Court in Athens, who lived in the first century. A convert to Christianity, he is venerated as a saint by multiple denominations. Life As rel ...
, and
Maximus the Confessor Maximus the Confessor (), also spelled Maximos, otherwise known as Maximus the Theologian and Maximus of Constantinople ( – 13 August 662), was a Christianity, Christian monk, theologian, and scholar. In his early life, Maximus was a civil se ...
.


Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


References


External links


COBISS - Personal bibliography, Gorazd Kocijančič

Kud Logos - International Journal for Postsecular Theoria, Poiesis and Praxis
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kocijancic, Gorazd Slovenian poets Slovenian male poets Slovenian translators Living people 1964 births Writers from Ljubljana 20th-century Slovenian writers 21st-century Slovenian writers University of Ljubljana alumni 20th-century Slovenian philosophers 21st-century Slovenian philosophers