LIBRI DI MICHELE COLAFATO

This article begins reminding the reader of the importance in Sociology of Religion of some of the leading figures, characterized by their being intellectually and biographically on the border between worlds and cultures, and by their acting as embodiments and mediators. One such figure, in Buddhism, is that of Shunryu Suzuki. Suzuki, soon renamed «Suzuki-roshi», is portrayed as loyal to the teaching of Master Dogen Zenji, the founder of Soto Zen school and, at the same time modern, eager to test the spirit of Zen in the middle of a «counterculture », made of pacifism, anti-war protest, over-indulgence, rebelliousness towards discipline and social rules. Suzuki’s proposal appears to be nonsectarian, open to discussion and dialogue, characterized by trust in an idea of religion as one extended to all aspects of every-day life, without hierarchies and preferences.

Narrating Borders - Ivo Andric was always aware of the fact that narrations reproduce «the symbolism of borders» within collective identity, followed by interiorized division and hostility. On the other hand, narrations have the potential to disclose the horizon of forced identifications since they allow models of beauty and goodness to circulate and retained in our memory. For this purpose, according to the great Serbio-Bosniac writer, «disinterested abnegation/denial» are demanded of both the artist and the scientist, who are also asked «to forget themselves and their personal interests». The paradox found in his work shows how the flowering of bridges of wonder does not hinder the existence of steep, harsh banks. But in the presence of the dedication, without attachment of even anonymous actors. S.