Crossing the narrow bridge – among the myth, the rite and the circus act
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Date
2012
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Wydawnictwo Naukowe UAM
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Abstract
All of the elements present within the contemporary phenomenon known as ‘circus’ can be
found in the symbolic traditions of ancient and archaic cultures, most often manifested as
mythical pictures, ritual and magical acts, mythical stories and cult objects. In several previous
studies we have tried to find the visual, mythical and symbolic ancient models of some
classical circus acts, such as the trapeze, juggling and fire-eating. This paper discusses the
act of tightrope walking. The introductory part presents basic information regarding this
circus act, along with the phrases, elements and skills it consists of. The text continues with a
historical review of this circus skill, which reaches as far back as the great civilizations of the
Old World. As a mythical paradigm of this act we took the mythical representations from all
over the world regarding crossing the mythical bridge conceived in its cosmological dimension
– as communication through the cosmic horizons (sky-earth-underworld). This paper
reviews several variants of mythical representations of the narrow bridge between ‘this
world’ and the ‘underworld’ registered in different parts of the planet and originating from
different ages: the log i.e. a tree trunk bridge, a snake bridge, a phallic bridge, blade bridge,
and the hair i.e. string bridge.
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Keywords
circus, tightrope walking, hair bridge, blade bridge, snake bridge
Citation
Poznańskie Studia Slawistyczne, 2012, nr 2, s.71–93
ISBN
978-83-232-2409-9