Dancing Goddess: Principles of a Matriarchal Aesthetic / Edition 1

by Heide Gottner-Abendro, Maureen T. Krause

Overview

Blending theory, criticism, and ritual, reveals the foundations of the ancient tradition of "matriarchal art," and shows how that tradition flourishes in the works of major contemporary women artists and in contemporary women's spirituality.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780807067536
Publisher:	Beacon Press
Publication date:	11/30/1991
Edition description:	1st English ed
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 8.20(h) x 0.50(d)

Table of Contents

	Preface	ix
	Acknowledgments	xv
1	Art as Ghetto: A Critical Examination of the History of Art in the Public Sphere	1
2	The Dancing Muse: Principles of a Matriarchal Aesthetic	31
3	Witchcraft/Witch Art: Interpretive Commentaries on Contemporary Women's Art	75
4	The Lunisolar Play: The Seasonal Cycle as Matriarchal Art-Utopia	157
	Afterword	213
	Notes	234

Editorial Reviews

The Dancing Goddess presents a radical definition of art, and brings forth a new holistic view of the person and society, art and spirituality. A thoroughly founded, comprehensive interpretation that combines clear thinking, knowledge, and poetic vision. —Ursula Pfafflin, Christian Theological Seminary

From the Publisher

A heady mixture of art history, feminist theory and classical mythology, this abstruse volume promulgates an aesthetic based on the author's research into matriarchal societies of the past in different parts of the world, including Egypt, the Mediterranean, Oceania and America. In scattered detail, Gottner-Abendroth, who taught aesthetics at the University of Munich, examines in particular the worship of such cyclical, unifying forces as Mother Earth, the Moon goddess and the nine muses. Providing no broader historical or cultural context, she then proceeds to set forth ``Nine Theses on a Matriarchal Aesthetic.'' We are told, among other things, that ``matriarchal art knows no separation of artistic genres''; that ``eroticism is its dominant power''; and that matriarchal art, which is holistic and inclusive, neutralizes the aesthetic split caused by patriarchy into a ``formalist, elite, socially effective art and a popular, diffuse, socially despised ghettoized art.'' The second half of this study looks at how matriarchal art corresponds to contemporary women's art and spirituality. Although one's interest is occasionally piqued by some of the author's ideas, this is not a book for the lay reader. Photos. (Aug.)

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