ALCHEMY AND MERMAIDS IN CONTEMPORARY POLAND: “THE LURE”

Abstract

What kind of stories would mythological creatures tell on entering the world of the confused European East in search of identity at about the time of the collapse of communism? The mix of boring and gloomy everyday life and the escapist flights to musical performances and nightclub entertainments bred a tension which remained unresolved for humans feeling more and more like strangers on earth, so much estranged from their human essence as to become prey to the hybrid creatures of the deep. The two mermaids, who step onto the shore and become singers in a nightclub, are ironically called Silver and Golden. Inspired by a fairy tale – Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid -, Robert Bolesto's screenplay for The Lure, a movie directed by Agnieszka Smoczyńska (2015), is actually playing upon esoteric plots and symbols, such as the alchemical wedding of the sun (gold) and the moon (silver), or their association with the philosopher's stone. Their singing is indeed fatal, luring humans into their death and losing their identity in the attempt to appropriate human form and relationships.

Keywords

• multispecies ethnography
• object philosophy
• posthumanism
• becoming-animal
• becoming human