No Traditionalists here-but one interesting context for them

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Product Description

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."--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."--Joyce Carol Oates

"An inspiring effort to bring gender to bear on matters of race, ethnic identity, and spirituality."--Susan Gubar

"A fascinating, wide-ranging and provocative tour of twentieth century Western culture."--Cynthia D. Schrager, Women's Review of Books

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1193747 in Books
• Published on: 1998-10-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 280 pages

Amazon.com Review
In the 18th and 19th centuries, colonization of so-called "primitive cultures" by Western countries was the way of the world. Powerful nations sought to increase their wealth and power by subjugating the peoples of Africa, Asia, and the Americas. Now, in the 20th century, cultures once dismissed as inferior have become a source of fascination to Westerners, who perceive in them a heightened spirituality, stronger sense of community, greater reverence for nature--all the things, in fact, that the West fears it has lost. Marianna Torgovnick, a professor and chair of the English department at Duke University, explores the West's modern quest for ecstasy in the provocative work Primitive Passions.

What makes Professor Torgovnick's book so valuable is how wide she casts her net. New Age philosophy, travel literature--even the movie Dances with Wolves--are all grist for her discussion. C. G. Jung, Isak Dinesen, Georgia O'Keeffe, and D. H. Lawrence populate her chronicle as she examines the different ways men and women respond to primitive ecstasy. Primitive Passions is an intelligent and illuminating survey.

From Library Journal
Torgovnick (English, Duke Univ.) successfully elaborates upon her previous book, Gone Primitive (LJ 6/15/90), which dealt with the Western fascination with primitivism. In the first two sections of her new book, she contrasts Western male and female perceptions of the primitive by analyzing the lives and works of intellectuals and artists ranging from Andre Gide to Georgia O'Keeffe. In the third section, she examines the current Western attraction to primitivism apparent in the widespread admiration of Native American culture and traditions and in the attempts of the men's movement and New Agers to imitate what they perceive to be Native American customs or spirituality. Dividing her book this way effectively allows the reader to see a clear difference in how men and women see the primitive and to admit the possibility that the primitive is still valued in today's Western world. A worthy addition to academic anthropology collections that will also be appreciated both by scholars in literature and gender studies and informed lay readers.?Ximena Chrisagis, Wright State Univ. Lib., Dayton, Ohio
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Why are Westerners drawn to "primitive" cultures? Torgovnick answers this complex question by exploring subtle, rarely scrutinized aspects of Western spirituality, individualism, racism, sexuality, and romanticism. She begins her creative inquiry by defining primitive as "oceanic," a vision of life rooted in the interconnectedness of humans, earth, animals, god, and the universe, that is, life as a seamless, all-encompassing force. This cosmic vision has both attracted and repelled Westerners eager to escape the confines of their restrictive world but terrified of merging with nature and other cultures and losing their sense of self and of control. Torgovnick is also intrigued with perceptions of gender, particularly the association of the primitive with femaleness, and this theme underlies her portraits of people who sought the oceanic in the (to them) exotic realms of Africa and New Mexico, including Carl Jung, D. H. Lawrence, Isak Dinesen, Dian Fossey, and Georgia O'Keeffe. Torgovnick's interpretations of the cross-cultural experiences of her compelling subjects, especially the women, are fresh and provocative, and Torgovnick is just as animated and insightful in her bold and original inquiries into the newfound respect for Native Americans, the men's movement, and the rage for body piercing. Donna Seaman