Asketische Motive in Pier Paolo Pasolinis Filmen

This paper explores the theme of ascesis in Pier Paolo Pasolini’s cinematography. In the first part, I distinguish three classical forms of ascesis: renounciation of food, sexual abstinence, and insulation from social communities (and in particular from cities). Drawing upon this historical reconstruction, I shall define ascesis as a movement of separation from, and contrast with, a given reality, either natural or cultural. In the second part of the paper, I will investigates the presence of the theme of ascesis in Pasolini’s movies, both in its more classical forms (as for instance starvation or isolation in desert or deserted places, either real or metaphorical ones), and in the various form of ‘separation’ from reality.