Ai confini dell’umano: Selvaggi, Folli, Orsi. Tradizioni amerindiane ed europee medievali

Abstract

From a comparative analysis of the mythic production of two cultural worlds, far away from each other in time and in space, such as the Native Americans of the North-West Coast and European medieval men, deep analogies have emerged between some particular figures which cross-cut both cultural systems. They are mythical beings, like the Wild Man, the Fool and the Bear. These figures show meaningful contiguities and contaminations among themselves, so much so that the functional and semantic boundaries which separate them are not always clear-cut.The Wild Man is, in all his articulations, the central figure of a set of beliefs and rituals which permeated all Europe during the Middle Ages. The visible signs of his presence in European imaginary are innumerable: tales and legends from oral tradition show him as the protagonist, as well as engravings, miniatures, sculpted decorative elements in churches and cathedrals, tapestries, frescos, and paintings.The iconographical sources have constituted the main instrument for this study, permitting, through the checking of “family resemblances”, the analysis of the attributes and functions characterizing these legendary beings. The results of this research have been published in multimedia form on the web site La maschera del selvaggio: Indiani d’America e Tradizioni europee [The Wild Man Mask: American Indians and European Traditions, http://www.selvaggi-america-europa.unito.it/]. Through this medium has been possible to organize and create iconographical routes, which permit to better emphasize and compare the common characteristics of these figures.Wild Men, Fools and Bears share the position of beings placed on the borders of the human world, because they show anthropomorphic, zoomorphic and phytomorphic traits. These aspects make them beings that exceed humanness, particularly in contexts where the mythical thought produces, contains, and perpetuate knowledge. Insofar as they are associated with the woods, with the world of the beasts, they are regarded as participating with the primordial and original forces of nature.