Synopses & Reviews
Marianna Torgovnick's
Primitive Passions investigates Westerners' profound attraction to cultures that we call "primitive." Torgovnick explores the stories of Carl Jung, Isak Dinesen, D. H. Lawrence, and Georgia O'Keefe and the ways they used the primitive as a medium for soul-searching and personal fulfillment. Brilliantly linking literature, art, psychology, and cultural studies,
Primitive Passions provides insight into our very notion of the exotic.
"Primitive Passions intends to provoke thought, not to tell you what you already know and for that reason alone it's extraordinary."and#8212;Walter Kendrick, New York Times Book Review
"A powerfully argued, impassioned, and intelligent exploration of the 'primitive' in our culture and in ourselves. Like Marianna Torgovnick's previous work, it is certain to be much discussed and provocative."and#8212;Joyce Carol Oates
"An inspiring effort to bring gender to bear on matters of race, ethnic identity, and spirituality."and#8212;Susan Gubar
"A fascinating, wide-ranging and provocative tour of twentieth century Western culture."and#8212;Cynthia D. Schrager, Women's Review of Books
Synopsis
Introduction Pt. I: MenCh. 1: "What an Ecstasy It Would Have Been!": Gide and Jung in Africa Ch. 2: "Something Stood Still in My Soul": D. H. Lawrence in New Mexico Pt. II: WomenCh. 3: Loving Africa: Memoirs by European Women Ch. 4: Dian Fossey Among the Animals Ch. 5: "The Bones and the Blue": Georgia O'Keeffe and the Female Primitive Pt. III: Trends and MovementsCh. 6: New American Indian/New American White Ch. 7: Of Drums and Men Ch. 8: Medicine Wheels and Spirituality: Primitivism in the New Age Ch. 9: Piercings Conclusion Notes Bibliography Acknowledgments Index
Synopsis
In this provocative and illuminating book, Marianna Torgovnick explores the psychology of our profound attraction to cultures we call "primitive". Whether located in Africa, the South Pacific, or the American Southwest, the primitive has become synonymous in the Western imagination with a range of emotions and experiences thought to be lost in modern life: reverence for the land and for nature; strong communal bonds; sexual plentitude; and, perhaps most intriguing, and ecstatic sense of connection to the universe and the life force. Torgovnick investigates the numerous ways we have turned toward the primitive out of spiritual hunger for such deeply human experiences - a hunger that could once be satisfied within the West's own mystical traditions but that often no longer can be. Brilliantly encompassing religion, art, psychology, literature, and other aspects of our culture, Primitive Passions offers new insight into our ideas of spirituality and gender, and, ultimately, into the hidden but vital parts of ourselves.
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. 245-257) and index.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Pt. I: Men
Ch. 1: "What an Ecstasy It Would Have Been!": Gide and Jung in Africa
Ch. 2: "Something Stood Still in My Soul": D. H. Lawrence in New Mexico
Pt. II: Women
Ch. 3: Loving Africa: Memoirs by European Women
Ch. 4: Dian Fossey Among the Animals
Ch. 5: "The Bones and the Blue": Georgia O'Keeffe and the Female Primitive
Pt. III: Trends and Movements
Ch. 6: New American Indian/New American White
Ch. 7: Of Drums and Men
Ch. 8: Medicine Wheels and Spirituality: Primitivism in the New Age
Ch. 9: Piercings
Conclusion
Notes
Bibliography
Acknowledgments
Index