Marina Warner

Marina Warner is a renowned novelist and cultural critic. She has co-curated the major exhibition on the theme of Metamorphosis at Londons Science Museum.

Disembodied eyes, or the culture of apocalypse

Memories at risk! cries a poster for digital cameras. The ad means to say that unless you take photographs, the parties, the family gathering, the children growing up, life itself,

By Marina Warner

/ 17 Apr 2005

A life for freedom

I first met Edward Said when the BBC asked us to give the Reith Lectures in successive years and held a press reception to announce the forthcoming series. He was

By Marina Warner

/ 28 Sep 2003

Wrapping up Hair

All extracts from From the Beast to the Blonde by kind permission of the author. The body reveals to us through hair the passage of time and the fluctuating claims

By Marina Warner

/ 27 Apr 2003

Sorry: the present state of apology

The theme of apology is in the air: governments are saying it to former colonial subjects, or to political prisoners in post-dictatorships; former terrorists to their targets; banks and businesses

By Marina Warner

/ 7 Nov 2002

Scene One: Io

In which the archetypal figure of human heroic suffering meets the persecuted eternal feminine. Before history invented public apology, was there any solace? The heifer Io guarded by Argos, on

By Marina Warner

/ 6 Nov 2002

Scene Two: St Augustine's Confessions

In which, in the moment of confession, two figures emerge: the apologist and human self-portraiture. From the very beginning self-scrutiny is a danger zone. St Augustine by Sandro Botticelli In

By Marina Warner

/ 5 Nov 2002

Scene Three: The Marriage of Figaro

In which forgiveness, and human recognition work their magic. But how well, and for how long? Maybe, nothing short of revolution will do? Again, we skip on several centuries from

By Marina Warner

/ 4 Nov 2002

Scene Four: Red Dust by Gillian Slovo

In which many kinds of truthand reconciliation, are investigated. Sometimes only a deep pychic process can effect healing. Where does the personal end and the political begin? Red Dust

By Marina Warner

/ 3 Nov 2002

Sorry: the conclusion

In which apology comes to play a necessary part in our modern world, contributing to the revisioning of national history and the shaping of group identities. But do we fully

By Marina Warner

/ 1 Nov 2002