From Word to Canvas

Reviews / Votes

'Definitions of myth that are period- and culture-specific argue that myths are eternal and unchanging, and such definitions often result in patriarchal epistemic violence being done to women. This volume of essays, which ranges across a number of world cultures, argues rather for a definition of myth that allows for poetic reinvention and transvaluation of mythic narratives in new generations and cultural imaginaries. Focusing on the contemporary feminist transformation of the mythic narratives of Cassandra, Medusa, Persephone and Demeter, Orpheus and Eurydice, the story of Beatrice Cenci, and Vietnamese traditional folk tales, the essays in this anthology demonstrate beautifully how contemporary women artists, in art, performance, and narrative, reconfigure mythic subtexts and challenge the structures of control inherent in them, to provide a feminist reflective gaze on the "landscape of myth.'Professor Janet A. WalkerRutgers University'Rajan and Bahun assemble a series of new explorations of the roles of women as actors in, interpreters for and rewriters of mythology. From Word to Canvas: Appropriations of Myth in Women's Aesthetic Production presents explorations in writing and art that interrogate the power relationships between the female archetypes that are represented in both traditional and rewritten texts and the readers, observers and consumers of those mythic representations. Addressing a diverse range of mythical systems and cross-pollinated engagements, this anthology gives voice to some of the most urgent and current interpretations.'Dr. Helen Asquine FazioHA Fazio Associates