Wednesday, April 29, 2009

"Individual wonders were seen as signs of human sin and the righteous wrath of God" 175
I think now we admire individual differences, i.e. wonders

Evoked the notion of terror - "monsters" as evil omens, unknown, terrifying
This idea obviously fits in with the notion of the word "monster" of course, the label signifies fear, which as we discussed from the later chapters, is one of the greatest ideas associated with wonder. This actually reminds me of a discussion I was having with a friend earlier today. We were discussing the topic of driving somewhere unfamiliar, the idea of now knowing where you are. I shared my view that I get very uncomfortable with that situation and that I become nervous and feel that I would be more likely to get it or cause an accident than if I were in familiar territory. But then I realized that studies show exactly the opposite, noting that you are most liking to get in a car crash near your home, seemingly due to your lack of paying attention because you are familiar with the area. I decided that this is a personality based division, that some people (like me) are scared/fearful of the unknown and would prefer to stay in familiar territory, while others (I actually used my brother as an example) thrive on this "fear" of the unknown, and are energized by the challenge the new area/experience provokes.
Back to the topic... I think. So this is related because I feel that the ideas surrounding "monsters" changed with societies acceptance of the unknown. As we grow to be more technologically advanced the unknown seems less scary and more inviting. This is obviously a large estimate/generalization, and as I mentioned before, I'm one of those people who are still "scared," at least most of the time, but that is how I see these changes within the field/idea of "wonder."

Another notion of monsters is related to creativity/arts/literature and the like. This I feel, again, still comes up in life today and that it is a personal outlet of expression, but unlike in the time period this book is studying, I think we are more accepting of these ideas today. Maybe it is because we appreciate them as creativity as opposed to the threat that "monstrous" ideas evoked in the past.

What I would love to know is where these monstrous paintings/works of art were sparked? Did these creators dream these things or just want to have some fun with people? Obviously, I feel we have comparable artists/creators today, but living in a world with so much more fear/cautiousness as these people did may have impacted them a bit more.

No comments:

Post a Comment