Ronny Diehl

Burning Man - The American Frontier revisited in Acoustic Space Ronny Diehl

Master's Thesis from the year 2010 in the subject American Studies - Culture and Applied Geography, grade: 100%, Humboldt-University of Berlin (English Department), language: English, abstract: This is a book about Burning Man - its history as a re-enactment of the American Frontier and its cultural significance and symbolism for the post-modern, post-western, post-rational society. As a European, Burning Man has always struck me as an event of the Wild West where almost everything was possible and acceptable and where a community reinvented civilization anew. Like the typical Western stories and movies, Burning Man is a story of humble beginnings in the isolation of the desert. The growth from a primitive to complex society seen in the numerous institutions and services we see today in Black Rock City was also accompanied by a surge in rules to safeguard the health and well being of its citizens. Therefore, Burning Man serves as an echo-land of the American Frontier myth. At the same time, Burning Man is the event of the 21st century that foretells the undergoing changes of Western society and mankind. After 3000 years of left-brain-hemisphere dominance induced by the phonetic alphabet and later typography, the age of electric and electronic media finally brought us back to right-hemisphere modes of perception and cognition. Participation and a new emphasis on ritual are just two examples of this new awareness wherein the space/time dimensions have changed dramatically from linear to acoustic. With this essay I want to give something back to the Burning Man community and hope that maybe some feel inspired to think of Burning Man in a new historical and global context. Anyone interested in American history and the countercultural precedence of Burning Man as well as Burning Man as the Marshall McLuhan's Global Theater will definitely find some interesting insights. This is the master thesis as part of my American Studies Program at Humboldt-University in B