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

Authors : Evrim ERSÖZ KOÇ

Pages : 150-164

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Publication Date : 2023-04-28

Article Type : Research Paper

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 insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(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, Kitonyen, Camille Paglia