Absinthe

Absinthe myth

Lucila Patricia Sandoval Herrera
Research projects.
This essay is going to deal with absinthe

My subject of research deals around the social myths and facts that revolve around the commonly known drug and beverage: Absinthe. Referred also as Absenta, or Ajenjo, in different regions of the world.

My hypothesis is that based on the general information circling in social groups relating to Absinthe, there have been a series of fallacies and myths created around this particularly beverage.

My investigation must be done in a qualitative way, since my base of study is the general opinion regarding this particular beverage.

The variables related here are the diverse statements dealing with the image of absinthe, collected from diverse social groups, and in different ways.

These are statements which I’ll work with to determinate if they are a fact or a myth, or perhaps simply a fallacy:

Absinthe is usually referred as an hallucinogen drug commonly used through the Victorian time and now banned.

Absinthe is usually considered and talked about as a liquor.

Absinthe was created by bohemian artists.

Absinthe has the spiritual rituals of many drugs being a gathering of many different kinds, of substances with psychotropic and hallucinogen effects.

Absinthe is a forbidden drug, equal to heroin and hashish.

Absinthe can kill with a few drinks.

Absinthe is similar to LSD.

Absinthe and Ajenjo are the same thing.

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What does absinthe mean?
It is one of the hardest, strongest beverages with alcoholic content, ever made, also a very powerful psychotropic, but the idea of absinthe is quite a myth on it’s own. The word absinthe holds a lot of meaning as well as a handful of strange stories and myths of it’s own. Absinthe is actually not a liquor as it doesn’t contain sugar.

Also called the Fairy of the Green Eyes, or The green fairy, absinthe was originally developed in Switzerland and has a tradition in Eastern Europe countries, but contrary to general talk it was not French beverage, though it was adopted by the French bourgeois in the late 1800 and then became associated with the bohemian way of life along with artists and low working class, it was even pilled up with the alcoholic working class matters.

The story tells that a doctor from Switzerland discovered the mixture of distinct types of herbs that created such an intense alcoholic liquid. It’s known that the French army tasted this magnificent drug during war as a sort of remedy for certain injuries, the date varies from but an approximate would be the mid 1800. Of course the French army took great interest and soon had the potion shipped to France, more specifically to the city of light: Paris. Now in that time Paris was the center of the world in what culture, arts and such refer to. It’s not strange to think that the beverage developed well in such an envirorment of possibilities.
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What is the cultural relevance of absinthe?

Absinthe had a huge impact on the bohemian culture of the late 1800 specially the decade prior to the end of the century in which the artistic bohemian culture was in awe of production and art creation which still inspires us to date. From it’s introduction in the mid 1800 to the last decade the beverage had built a reputation of the art elixir, a fountain of inspiration desire and irreverent decadence.

The panorama of Paris 1890 was one of deep conflict and clash of classes, with the boho culture associated to sordid places filled with libertinage and whores. Absinthe became known in this kind of low life places contrary to the use of the bourgeois in the upper class, it was used to revitalize the senses, to create a state of passionate inspiration.

The French people became really adept to this certain kind of poison and by 1810 there were over 36 million liters of Absinthe ingested only in France, let alone the rest of the world.

In this time the beverage took it’s widely known nickname of the green fairy, which makes obvious allusions to the bohemian and romantic standard of beauty and what an elixir should represent. In many ways the green fairy went from being a medicinal drug, to become the symbol of a decadent way of life that was deeply influenced by art creation and diffusion.

For example the green fairy was the image of a naked or wearing little gowns character with a voluptuous body that showed in between her outfit, this was a time in which showing your arms for a picture was scandalous.

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The bann

Because of the connotations that this drug acquired in the first decade of the century, the French government decided to ban the beverage to calm down certain circles of artistic and revolutionary environments.

As any prohibition it was followed by a considerable clandestine traffic and illegal consume, the difference was that in 1916 when war devastated half of the world including Europe, the views of art and revolution changed drastically, and the threat became the enemy of the state, no the inside. Thought here were many protests and illegal consumption, the net of clandestine sellers went down with the war, and apparently there were heavier worries than those of chasing the green fairy.

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References

The book of Absinthe, Baker Philip, 2001, 1-27

Wikipedia/absinthe.com
Wikipedia/absenta.com.mx
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