Cretomania

<p>Since its rediscovery in the early 20th century through spectacular finds such as those by Sir Arthur Evans at Knossos Minoan Crete has captured the imagination not only of archaeologists but also of a wider public. This is shown among other things by its appearance and uses in a variety of modern cultural practices: from the innovative dances of Sergei Diaghilev and Ted Shawn to public and vernacular architecture psychoanalysis literature sculpture fashion designs and even neo-pagan movements to mention a few examples.</p><p>Cretomania is the first volume entirely devoted to such modern responses to (and uses of) the Minoan past. Although not an exhaustive and systematic study of the reception of Minoan Crete it offers a wide range of intriguing examples and represents an original contribution to a thus far underexplored aspect of Minoan studies: the remarkable effects of Minoan Crete beyond the narrow boundaries of recondite archaeological research.</p><p>The volume is organised in three main sections: the first deals with the conscious unconscious and coincidental allusions to Minoan Crete in modern architecture and also discusses archaeological reconstructions; the second presents examples from the visual and performing arts (as well as other cultural practices) illustrating how Minoan Crete has been enlisted to explore and challenge questions of Orientalism religion sexuality and gender relations; the third focuses on literature and shows how the distant Minoan past has been used to interrogate critically more recent Greek history.</p>