![]() A few recent and earlier Russian-language articles have been published that deal with ancient representations of mushrooms in the vast land of the ‘Russian Eurasia’. Their shifting status makes them a particularly suitable material for authorial subversion and challenges to the norm. They can be classified as stimulants, narcotics or intoxicants 4 many are articles of pleasure, healing, and sensual delight which, at the same time, are endorsed as necessities and staples. This study aims to contribute to the topic of representations of substances which have been ostracized and/or tabooed (in this case, hallucination-inducing mushrooms). Many historically illicit drugs have been objectified as various products fit for human consumption, some have been legitimized by culture, some condemned, some are viewed as healthy, some as poisonous, many that were deemed a luxury were reconsidered as necessity, and they all form intersections filled with contradictions that encompass several of these categories. ![]() The fungal traces are widespread in the modern period, we can think of authors such as Molière-starting from Tartuffe (etymologically a truffle) proceeding to the town of Molières which is found to the south of the River Dordogne, near to Beaumont du Perigord (a name that alludes to the suggested presence of the most valuable black truffles). Wells’ fantastic story The Purple Pileus. 2 The most notable case is of course H.G. Lawrence, and many others (like Emily Dickinson). Mushrooms employed as literary tropes standing for various signs of decay and rottenness are abundantly present in Shelley, Keats, Tennyson, Conan Doyle, D.H. The myconymic fashions of human existence make for a fairly intriguing segment of the world culture. Fig.1) constitutes one of the less explored topics in both Russian and world literature. Anthropomorphic artistic representations of mushrooms and specifically, the Mukhomor ( Amanita Muscaria, cf. 1 Of particular interest are the issues of body politics and subversion of the norm in relation to psychoactive matter in Russian literature and culture, from the 19th century to the first post-Soviet decade. The importance of culture-specific dimensions in studying the use of psychoactive substances has been highlighted by a number of recent studies dedicated to the subject. A heroic mushroom-eater, Partorg Dunaev joins one of the sides in this fight and gradually reaches the “utmost limits of sacrifice and self-rejection.” This article contextualizes the fungi-entheogenic episodes of Moscow conceptualism into a broader sphere of constructed visionary/ hallucinogenic reality by focusing on psilocybin fungi, particularly the fly agaric/ Amanita muscaria/ Mukhomor, and their cultural significance.ġ Introduction: the Amanita muscaria/Fly Agaric/ Mukhomor Mushroom The reader discovers the so-called “parallel war” sweeping over the Russian territory where legendary Russian/Soviet fairy heroes are locked in combat with their opponents, the characters of the Western children’s tales, and books. He subsequently transforms into an exceptionally strong wizard who is capable of fighting spectral enemies both on earth and in heaven. Partorg Dunaev finds himself deep in a mysterious forest, where he inadvertently snacks on unknown hallucinogenic mushrooms. As the narrative of the novel unfolds, its main character, the Communist Partorg (Party Organizer) Dunaev, is wounded and shell-shocked at the very beginning of the Great Patriotic War (World War II). Apart from analyzing the ethnobotanical historical background of manifesting hallucinogenic mushrooms on the Russian soil (including Siberia), this article focuses on Pavel Peppershtein’s novel Mifogennaia Liubov’ Kast ( The Mythogenic Love of the Castes), which was co-authored with Sergey Anufriev. biochemical substances such as plants or drugs ingested in order to undergo certain spiritual experience, or “generating the divine within”). Aside from the mushrooms per se that were particularly important for Moscow conceptualism, this article also mentions various ethno-botanical entheogens (i.e. This paper explores the mythopoetic theme of mushroom-induced beliefs, which influenced the Moscow conceptualists, and employs background historical scholarship by R.G. ![]() This article addresses the complex role of mushrooms, particularly that of the fly agaric ( Amanita muscaria), in the art of Moscow conceptualism in a broad setting.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |