Edited with text by Anselm Franke, Erhard Schüttpelz.
On the image politics of Aby Warburg’s legendary lecture on the Hopi snake ritual
Aby Warburg’s famous lecture on the Hopi snake ritual in Arizona is one of the most commented-upon art history documents of the 20th century. But while Warburg’s essay is firmly anchored in the canon of art history, to a wider public—especially in Europe—little is known about its source, the snake ritual and its history. A Kind of World War addresses what Warburg largely ignored himself: that not only the ritual, but also the images of the ritual—to whose global distribution Warburg contributed—have a political history. The volume seeks to demonstrate that Warburg’s art history, insofar as it outlines an internal history of the European psyche, must be read in conjunction with its external counterpart, the history of colonization, war and cultural entanglement.
FORMAT: Pbk, 6 x 9 in. / 88 pgs / 110 color. LIST PRICE: U.S. $15.00 LIST PRICE: CANADA $20 ISBN: 9783959054942 PUBLISHER: Spector Books AVAILABLE: 4/26/2022 DISTRIBUTION: D.A.P. RETAILER DISC: FLAT40 PUBLISHING STATUS: Out of stock indefinitely AVAILABILITY: Not available TERRITORY: NA LA ASIA AFR
Published by Spector Books. Edited with text by Anselm Franke, Erhard Schüttpelz.
On the image politics of Aby Warburg’s legendary lecture on the Hopi snake ritual
Aby Warburg’s famous lecture on the Hopi snake ritual in Arizona is one of the most commented-upon art history documents of the 20th century. But while Warburg’s essay is firmly anchored in the canon of art history, to a wider public—especially in Europe—little is known about its source, the snake ritual and its history.
A Kind of World War addresses what Warburg largely ignored himself: that not only the ritual, but also the images of the ritual—to whose global distribution Warburg contributed—have a political history. The volume seeks to demonstrate that Warburg’s art history, insofar as it outlines an internal history of the European psyche, must be read in conjunction with its external counterpart, the history of colonization, war and cultural entanglement.
