Publication Date
3-1-2008
Document Type
Article
Abstract
In spite of its history and illegality, the use of absinthe, the aperitif made famous in fin de siècle Parisian cafés, is on the rise again in the United States and abroad. Writers and artists like Baudelaire, Verlaine, Wilde, van Gogh, Hemingway, Degas, Picasso and Gauguin all prominently featured absinthe in their writing and art, often attributing their creativity, as well as emotional instability, to the effects of la fée verte, or the green fairy. Consequently, absinthe has earned a reputation as a mysterious and dangerous substance capable of inducing all manner of psychosis, violence and passion. Yet contemporary science shows that the absinthe myth cannot be accounted for by the pharmacological reality. This article describes the history of absinthe and recent scientific developments, and uses a psychoanalytic framework to explain why the absinthe myth endures.
Publication Title
Food, Culture, And Society
Volume
11
Issue
1
First Page
87
Last Page
99
DOI
10.2752/155280108X2276069
Publisher Policy
post-print with 18-month embargo
Open Access Status
OA Deposit
Recommended Citation
Cargill, Kima, "The Myth of the Green Fairy: Distilling the Scientific Truth About Absinthe" (2008). SIAS Faculty Publications. 280.
https://digitalcommons.tacoma.uw.edu/ias_pub/280