We Have Art in Order Not to Die of the Truth Meaning

We have art in order non to die from the truth."

Nietzsche F. (1901, posthumous), Volition to Power; Section 822.

The concept of "tragedy" is frequently only associated with Europe, however, information technology is also a meaning chemical element in the Australian Aboriginal civilization and their Dreamtime stories. Past referring to Nietzsche'south philosophy in The Birth of Tragedy and Other Writings (1999) of the Dionysian and Apollonian forces we will explore what makes these Aboriginal Dreamtime stories and their traditional cultural practices 'tragic' art forms.

Portrait of Friedrich Nietzsche past Edvard Munch, c. 1906; Munch-museet, Oslo, Norway; De Agostini Picture Library/Bridgeman Images.

German philosopher, Nietzsche in The Nascency of Tragedy (1872) developed the thought of artistic creation every bit a synthesis of course and emotion, a reconciliation between the Apollonian and Dionysian impulses. Apollo and Dionysus are two Ancient Greek deities who correspond two contrary worlds of existence; the Apollonian, as the world of dream, embodies the idea of artist as a image-making, while the Dionysian, as the earth of rapture, where the homo, overwhelmed by the ecstatic and cluttered force, loses his subjectivity. The Apollonian energy gives shape to the formless volition of the Dionysian emotion, which is "an irrational driving force that originates the artist'south creative urge" (Van de Braembussche A., 2009). Human beings demand the capability of dreaming to reconstruct the Dionysian into something less chaotic: only art has the power to save men from the horrific nature of existence by creating Apollonian representations with which men can survive. The Attic tragedy was where the ii sexes coexisted harmoniously; the Dionysian representation, such as music, dance and masks, is expressed in an Apollonian world of dreams and symbols. In the Dionysian state of existence men are capable of claiming dorsum their liberty, cultivating their instincts and, finally, cocky-determining. Indeed in the Attic tragedy, the chorus was a place of liberation which created somewhat of a detachment between the tragedy and the outside real world. Thus the scene became a place free from gild restrictions and moral rules and, in that way, the viewer identified himself in the chorus and, alienated from his own nature, he was transferred in a condition without space and time because he had become a servant of Dionysus. By watching a tragedy the observer can feel pity and fearfulness but, being aware that it is an art form, he cleanses himself from whatsoever class of violence: that is the so-called catharsis.

In Steiner'southward stance the staging of tragic events is not universal, but belongs to European as a continent (de Mul, 2014). The specific awareness of the tragic sense of life is mostly due to the Aboriginal Greeks who were the main creators of the 'tragic' and European countries adult different means to perform it on stage throughout the centuries. However, Europe was not the just continent to express the sense of tragic in an art form and is also revealed in the Dreamtime stories of the Australian Aboriginal culture. For the Aboriginals, the Dreamtime stories express the origins of the universe and workings of nature and humanity. Dating back to around 65,000 years ago Dreamtime is 1 of the oldest continuing cultural beliefs and is the foundation of Aboriginal life. The Aboriginal stories and various expressions of art forms were motivated past their desire to empathise the land and how life came to be. It is evident by comparing Nietzsche's earth of dreams, the Apollonian and the world of nature, the Dionysian with their ancient cultural practices and fine art forms that we tin also recognise a sense of 'tragedy' other than the Western platonic. The Dreamtime stories are a reflection of both bodily dreams and conscious beliefs of life and death. The themes of many Dreamtime stories embody Dionysian elements of chaos, representing the earth of raptures, yet also signify elements of the Apollonian through its fictional and 'dream' similar qualities. For instance in the Dreamtime story of the 'Rainbow Serpent' it is evident that both Dionysian and Apollonian values exist through the destruction and cosmos of life. According to the Aboriginals, the earth was flat and arid, until one 24-hour interval the Rainbow Ophidian awoke and travelled his way beyond the land creating the mountains and valleys with his winding body. The Serpent besides controls the h2o in the land, "then he has the power of life and decease in the desert" (Rainbow Serpent Dreamtime Story, 2019). This story has been depicted through rock paintings, some dating dorsum to vi,000 to 8,000 years agone, showing varying images of rainbow arcs and the omnipotent and terrifying snake. The power and importance of the Serpent is his power to create pelting and water for the land, nevertheless if disrespected he can too cause drought, leading to the life of Aboriginals to be perished. Another rendition of this story is that of the Rainbow Lorikeet brothers. The Rainbow Serpent made laws that all animals had to obey, if followed, then the animals could be rewarded by condign humans. However, those that did not obey would be turned into stone and make the mountains of the land. The story states that one twenty-four hour period it started to rain heavily, and the Rainbow Lorikeet brothers went to the Rainbow Serpent to seek shelter. The Rainbow Snake was rather hungry and decided to trick them past offer protection from the rain in his mouth, they climbed in and he closed it shut, swallowing them both! It is said, "now, every time, just subsequently it rains, y'all can encounter the Rainbow Serpent sharing his cute colours with the people on the ground as his way of maxim deplorable for taking those Rainbow Lorikeet brothers" (The Rainbow Serpent, 2018). Existence a symbol of both peace and life, just likewise devastation and demise it is evident in the stone paintings and stories of the Rainbow Ophidian, that from tragedies such as drought present in the natural earth (Dionysian), the Aboriginals transformed this "suffering into an aesthetic phenomenon" by use of the dream world (Apollonian).

Rainbow Serpent, cave painting in Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Commonwealth of australia.

Ray, D. (2017). Australia's longest Rainbow Serpent Aboriginal Rock Art.

(Video, double-click to lookout man).https://www.youtube.com/watch?five=g70hbibxUJI&fbclid=IwAR1x2W9VmpL_k4DnWXZOmD0aKL1jlJZLWHuhI4YbMrTPtVwnIXiiwfi1F7s

The Crocodile Dreaming Awurrapun story is another example of a tragic tale that evokes loss and life and the cosmos of how the saltwater crocodile got its skin. Sisters, Helen McCarthy Tyalmuty and Kerry Madawyn McCarthy limited this lamentable story of their grandad and fisherman, Harry Limen Morgan through their paintings and storytelling. Years agone, a man lived by a pocket-sized creek that runs into the Daly River, and he was known by his tribe to be an excellent fisherman. Not only would he catch enough fish to provide for his family unit but also the rest of the tribe. He was highly admired past all the women, however overtime jealousy amongst the men started to grow. One nighttime, two men from the tribe devised a program to murder him and followed him to the river. While the man was line-fishing, the two men threw his fishing net over him. Trying to free himself from the net, the man rolled and struggled but this only further tightened the net around his trunk. Thrown into the river, he thrashed and swirled around and his spirit eventually left his body. However entangled in the net, the ii men hung him from a tree. The fisherman'south wife later discovered her married man's body and "overcome with grief, she wrapped herself in her own line-fishing cyberspace and rolled into the river" (Crocodile Dreaming Awurrapun, 2019). Her spirit also left her body and she could again be reunited with her married man. In one case the tribe discovered her trunk, they hung her alongside her husband. From this tragedy, the saltwater crocodile was built-in, as neither the husband nor the wife died in spirit, simply transformed into the crocodile. In Helen McCarthy Tyalmuty'due south painting (below) it is evident from the square skin pattern created by the net that this is what formed the skin of the crocodile. The crocodile skin tin can be recognised through the natural chemical element of the Dionysian and the Apollonian in its chapters to explain the ability of nature through storytelling and painting. Therefore, the synthesis of the two forces is embodied in this tragic art course.

Helen McCarthy Tyalmuty painting of Awurrapun Crocodile.

Through the Dreaming stories, the Aboriginals consistently relate the world of nature (Dionysian) and the world of dreams (Apollonian). The significance of this culture and their Dreaming stories is that they are neither science nor religion based but creations of art, dance and tales which teach and enlighten their people of the origins of all living things and how to survive. Art is the most crucial element in Australian Aboriginal life, and although the Ancient Dreaming stories are much simpler than Ancient Greek mythology or Shakespeare, they as well emphasise the 'tragic' in guild to sympathize their reality. Australian Aborigines "have the longest continuous cultural history" on earth (Understanding Ancient Art, 2019) and to survive and thrive in such an incredibly harsh and unique environment such as Commonwealth of australia is a testament to their culture and endurance of many tragic fates, including the abiding battle with drought, heatwaves and dangerous wildlife. Although the Dreamtime stories are not traditionally associated with 'tragedy' from a Western viewpoint, they were imperative in passing on cognition about how to alive and understand the 'good and evils' of life just similar European tragedy. They translated their way of life into art through storytelling, ceremonial body painting, songs and dance, therefore creating a "synthesis of form and expression" (Van den Braembussche, 2009, p. 89).

Fear of the unknown is an instinctive of all humans and is axiomatic in the art of the Australian Aboriginals every bit they endeavour to make sense of their earth through stories, dances and painting. By producing stories nigh creation, nearly a positive moment where everything takes form, the Apollonian force rationalizes and shapes the Dionysian formless fear. Dionysus is the essence of life but needs Apollo to represent it. This is why art is mimetic, it imitates the "primal forms of nature" (Van de Braembussche A., p. ninety), and represents them. Every bit we said, the synthesis of Apollonian and Dionysian, for Nietzsche, is encased in the Greek tragedy. The same machinery happens hither, the Dreamtime stories were narrated with dances, performances, music and art.

Traditional Aboriginal ceremonial dancing.

From stone paintings to wood carving and formalism dances, the tribes figuratively correspond the Dreamtime stories. Mircea Eliade, in his theory of 'eternal return', suggests that commonly religions tend to associate moments of the year with mythical events, and then that every year is a replication of a mythical era. The aforementioned Dreamtime occurrences are annually re-enacted by the Aboriginals. "In Kimberly the rock paintings, which accept been painted by the Ancestors, are repainted in guild to reactivate their creative force, every bit it was kickoff manifested in the mythical times, at the kickoff of the World." ("Myth and Reality", pg. 43)

National Geographic. Stone Art | National Geographic.

(Video, double-click to lookout.) https://www.youtube.com/sentry?five=oSHKqX8_pqU&fbclid=IwAR0PMUFoDAeOXTITpzXATdR0yGwW0KFafGlsvF5MIg4-25NFWa0dxshrE5U

Ancient ritual of body painting.

These rituals have been the aforementioned for centuries, just why is that? In Furore, Simbolo, Valore past De Martino (1962) he suggests that the 'first human being', similar the Australian Aboriginals, utilize symbolic repetition of rituals to create an Apollonian dream world, where he finds protection from reality. It gives him the thought that he can master nature, the Dionysian. This still occurs now, after thousands of years. The rituals and what they stand for correspond the history of their people and culture, and will go on to alive in the common hidden of the group, preserving the indomitable free energy that makes them indestructible.

Traditional ancient body painting during a ceremony.

Art transforms suffering into an artful experience. As a tragic art, Aboriginal Dreamtime stories and rituals are a way of understanding and surviving the truth of reality. The Australian Aboriginal civilisation being such an incredibly rich and primordial tradition, still lives on today in various art forms of vocal, trip the light fantastic toe, story-telling and painting highlighting the significance of Nietzsche's philosophy that there is no fine art for art'south sake, simply that "we accept art in order not to die from the truth." (BrainyQuote, 2019)

Radio Bardejov(2018) Ancient dance show – Australia

(Video, double-click to watch).https://www.youtube.com/watch?five=OhyKsEn6_So&fbclid=IwAR1x2W9VmpL_k4DnWXZOmD0aKL1jlJZLWHuhI4YbMrTPtVwnIXiiwfi1F7s

By Nina De Maria (550041) | Asia Benedetti (550092) | Iseult Taylor (547688)

Referencing:

Books

Eliade M. (1975), Myth and Reality, London, England: George Allen & Unwin.

De Martino E. (1962), Furore, Simbolo, Valore, Milano, Italy: Il Saggiatore.

Van de Braembussche A. (2009), Thinking Fine art, Berlin, Germany: Springer.

Nietzsche F. (1999), The Birth of Tragedy and Other Writings, Cambridge University Printing.

Websites

de Mul, J. 2014, Destiny Domesticated: The Rebirth of Tragedy out of the Spirit of Technology, xiii-xiv. Retrieved Oct 10th, 2019 from:

https://books.google.nl/books?hl=it&lr=&id=Ym3EAgAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PR5&dq=de+mul+europe+equally+the+tragic+continent+&ots=_431VOffVB&sig=pJz17vlatsUK7dRW2_04AKJexPc&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=de%20mul%20europe%20as%20the%20tragic%20continent&f=false

(2019) Eternal return (Eliade) - Howling Pixel. Retrieved October 8th, 2019 from: https://howlingpixel.com/i-en/Eternal_return_(Eliade)

(2009) Psycopaedìa, La società apollinea e il suo confronto con il dionisiaco. Retrieved October 8th, 2019 from http://www.psicopolis.com/psicopedia/eseIo.htm

(2019) Agreement Ancient Dreamings, Artlandish Ancient Art Gallery. Retrieved October 11th 2019, from https://world wide web.aboriginal-art-australia.com/aboriginal-fine art-library/understanding-ancient-dreaming-and-the-dreamtime/

(2019) Stories, Kakadu National Park. Retrieved October 18th 2019 from https://parksaustralia.gov.au/kakadu/discover/civilisation/stories/

(2018) The Rainbow Snake, Dreamtime. Retrieved October 11th, 2019 from https://dreamtime.cyberspace.au/rainbow-serpent-story/

(2019) Rainbow Serpent Dreamtime Story, Japingka Aboringal Art. Retrieved October 11th, 2019 from https://japingkaaboriginalart.com/articles/rainbow-serpent/

(2019) Crocodile Dreaming Awurrapun, Japingka Aboringal Art. Retrieved October 11th, 2019 from https://japingkaaboriginalart.com/articles/awurrapun-crocodile-story/

(2019). Rainbow Serpent, Artlandish Aboriginal Art Gallery. Retrieved from https://www.aboriginal-fine art-australia.com/aboriginal-art-library/rainbow-snake/

(2018) The Rainbow Ophidian, Dreamtime.Retrieved October 11th, 2019 from https://dreamtime.net.au/rainbow-serpent-story/

Carli, R. (2015). Art every bit a stimulus to life. Daily Dialectic. Retrieved Oct 15th, 2019 from http://dave.kinkead.com.au/dailydialectic/fine art-stimulates-life

(2019) Friedrich Nietzsche Quotes, BrainyQuote. Retrieved Oct 20th, 2019 from https://world wide web.brainyquote.com/quotes/friedrich_nietzsche_159176

Images

Pinterest (2019) Rainbow Serpent, cavern painting, Arnhem Land, Commonwealth of australia. [image]. Retrieved from https://i.pinimg.com/originals/0f/27/1b/0f271bcf1f28bdc294fd16eb6bf44929.jpg

Davis Alspaugh, L. (2014) Munch Paints Nietzsche, Ecce Hom. [image]. Retrieved from https://hedgehogreview.com/blog/thr/posts/ecce-homo-munch-paints-nietzsche

Aboriginal Spirituality, The Religious World. Retrieved from https://religiousworldlcr.weebly.com/ancient-spirituality.html

Pinterest (2019) Aboriginal Rituals. Retrieved from https://www.pinterest.ru/pivot/535717318153960272/?nic=1a

(2019). Ancient ceremonies, Artlandish Aboriginal Art Gallery. Retrieved from

https://www.aboriginal-art-commonwealth of australia.com/aboriginal-fine art-library/aboriginal-formalism-dancing/

YouTube videos

Ray, D. (2017). Australia's longest Rainbow Serpent Aboriginal Rock Art. Retrieved from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g70hbibxUJI&fbclid=IwAR1x2W9VmpL_k4DnWXZOmD0aKL1jlJZLWHuhI4YbMrTPtVwnIXiiwfi1F7s

Radio Bardejov. (2018) Aboriginal dance prove - Australia. Retrieved from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?5=OhyKsEn6_So&fbclid=IwAR1x2W9VmpL_k4DnWXZOmD0aKL1jlJZLWHuhI4YbMrTPtVwnIXiiwfi1F7s

National Geographic. Stone Art | National Geographic. Retrieved from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSHKqX8_pqU&fbclid=IwAR0PMUFoDAeOXTITpzXATdR0yGwW0KFafGlsvF5MIg4-25NFWa0dxshrE5U