Neil Gaiman’s Sandman recasts Orpheus as the son of the Dream King, but otherwise leaves the ancient tragedy intact. In the television adaptation, Orpheus survives as an immortal, severed head, speaking calmly, prophetically, and with the explicit wish for death. He is neither alive nor dead, suspended between worlds. Gaiman uses this image to exploreContinue reading “Katabasis”
Tag Archives: Victor Turner
Christmas, 1796
The ghost of Christmas past haunts us. Most of the Christmas traditions we Americans cherish are refinements and reinventions of the late Victorian era: Christmas trees, stockings and carols didn’t much exist before the 1840s. They were formalized during the reign of Queen Victoria, who, with Prince Albert, popularized the decorated evergreen and the domesticContinue reading “Christmas, 1796”
Protective Arts 