“THE DIONYSIAN IS NO PICNIC”: THE CHTHONIAN IN RACHEL ROSENTHAL’S PANGAEAN DREAMS: A SHAMANIC JOURNEY

Abstract

Rachel Rosenthal, as a prominent performance artist, strikingly depicts the social, political, and ecological dangers of the contemporary era, blending them with autobiographical elements. In Pangaean Dreams: A Shamanic Journey (1990), an intriguing example of ecodramaturgy, Rosenthal, initiating a long journey into the entire history of nature, attempts to make sense of the pain in her body relating it to the global, cosmic, and geological pains in the body of nature. This relation becomes dominantly evident in the use of two motifs, Pangaea—the supercontinent in Wegener’s scientific theory, and Gaia—the mythical primordial goddess. In this shamanic journey, Rosenthal identifies with Pangaea and Gaia through which she rethinks the chthonian realities of nature and rejects the romantic idealization of nature. Using Camille Paglia’s scrutiny of the term chthonian as a theoretical framework, this study elaborates on how Rosenthal’s shamanistic ecodramaturgy is based on an awareness of chthonian nature through which destruction pairs with regeneration in a meaningful circularity.

Keywords

• Rachel Rosenthal
• Pangaean Dreams: A Shamanic Journey
• Chthonian
• Camille Paglia

“DİYONİZYAK BİR KIR EĞLENCESİ DEĞİLDİR”: RACHEL ROSENTHAL’IN PANGAEAN DREAMS: A SHAMANIC JOURNEY PERFORMANSINDA KİTONYEN

Abstract

Önde gelen bir performans sanatçısı olan Rachel Rosenthal, çağdaş çağın sosyal, politik ve ekolojik tehlikelerini otobiyografik unsurlarla harmanlayarak çarpıcı bir şekilde tasvir eder. Ekodramaturjinin ilgi çekici bir örneği olan Pangaean Dreams: A Shamanic Journey (1990) adlı performansında Rosenthal, doğanın tüm tarihine uzun bir yolculuk başlatarak, kendi bedenindeki acıyı doğanın bedenindeki küresel, kozmik ve jeolojik acılarla ilişkilendirerek anlamlandırmaya çalışır. Bu ilişki iki motifin, Wegener’in bilimsel teorisindeki süper kıta Pangaea ve mitik ilkel tanrıça Gaia’nın kullanımında baskın bir şekilde belirginleşir. Bu şamanik yolculukta, Rosenthal, Pangea ve Gaia ile özdeşlerek, doğanın kitonyen gerçekliklerini yeniden düşünür ve doğanın romantik idealleştirilmesine karşı çıkar. Camille Paglia’nın kitonyen terimine ilişkin incelemesini teorik bir çerçeve olarak kullanarak, bu çalışma Rosenthal’in şamanistik ekodramaturjisinin nasıl yıkımın anlamlı bir dairesellikle yeniden doğuşla eşleştiği kitonyen doğaya dair bir farkındalığa dayandığını inceler.

Keywords

• Rachel Rosenthal
• Pangaean Dreams: A Shamanic Journey
• Kitonyen
• Camille Paglia

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