In Search of the Labyrinth

In Search of the Labyrinth explores the enduring cultural legacy of Minoan Crete by offering an overview of Minoan archaeology and modern responses to it in literature, the visual and performing arts, and other cultural practices. The focus is on the twentieth century, and on responses that involve a clear engagement with the material culture of Minoan Crete, not just with mythological narratives in Classical sources, as illustrated by the works of novelists, poets, avant-garde artists, couturiers, musicians, philosophers, architects, film directors, and even psychoanalysts – from Sigmund Freud and Marcel Proust to D.H. Lawrence, Cecil Day-Lewis, Oswald Spengler, Nikos Kazantzakis, Robert Graves, André Gide, Mary Renault, Christa Wolf, Don DeLillo, Rhea Galanaki, Léon Bakst, Marc Chagall, Mariano Fortuny, Robert Wise, Martin Heidegger, Karl Lagerfeld, and Harrison Birtwistle, among many others. The volume also explores the fascination with things Minoan in antiquity and in the present millennium: from Minoan-inspired motifs decorating pottery of the Greek Early Iron Age, to uses of the Minoans in twenty-first-century music, poetry, fashion, and other media.

In cautarea labirintului exploreaza mostenirea culturala durabila a Cretei minoice, oferind o imagine de ansamblu asupra arheologiei minoice si a raspunsurilor moderne la aceasta in literatura, artele vizuale si spectacolului si alte practici culturale. Accentul se pune pe secolul al XX-lea si pe raspunsuri care implica un angajament clar cu cultura materiala a Cretei minoice, nu doar cu naratiuni mitologice din surse clasice, asa cum este ilustrat de lucrarile romancierilor, poetilor, artistilor de avangarda, modelor, muzicieni, filozofi, arhitecti, regizori de film si chiar psihanalisti - de la Sigmund Freud si Marcel Proust la DH