Gurdjieff
in the Public Eye The history of Gurdjieff in newspaper articles, magazines, and books during his lifetime traces his public reputation in what is said of him on the world stage. Some of the writers were reporters, others followers and visitors to the Institute, and still others were persons intrigued by social and religious fads of the day. Many of the newspaper reports written by journalists, who had neither seen his demonstrations nor listened to him or his followers, pandered to readers intrigued by scandal and the sensational by inventing stories about him and his activities. Nonetheless, the articles
printed between 1914 and 1949, the year of his death constitute a topical
history of his life and his work in a running account of Gurdjieff’s
changing public image as a man and a teacher, and provide an insight into
the way his teaching was perceived from an age in which theosophy was
a prevalent intellectual occupation.
|