Literary Symbolism

Symbols and Images: Water, Wind, Moon

by Dario Abram

Money Paves the Road to Perdition

by DARLA JORDAN MILLER

ENGL. Dr. B. Moore; Literary analysis: symbolism. This essay is a literary analysis of symbolism based on the book/movie The Road to Perdition. Thank you Dr. Moore, for making us dig a little deeper.

Images and Symbols in Tolkien's Works. Hell

by Robert Lazu

Published in "Archaeus. Studies in the History of Religions", XI-XII/2007-2008.

By highlighting the profile of hell as a symbol of evil, constantly encountered as such at all levels of human... more By highlighting the profile of hell as a symbol of evil, constantly encountered as such at all levels of human culture, the author’s aim is to reveal its powerful influence on Tolkien’s works. Just like the paradisiacal paradigm, the “archetype” of hell continues to impregnate deeply “the anthropological structures of the imaginary realm” (Gilbert Durand) even in the context of a radically desacralized culture. Although J. R. R. Tolkien did not consciously and programmatically speculate on such symbols, he had possibly hoped for a more specialized appeal to his readers by introducing these symbols in his literary creation. How does one account for the recurrence of so many symbolic hypostases of hell in Tolkien’s works? Tolkien seems to have been partly aware of the symbolism embedded in the structure of the evil fortresses in Middle-earth. However, we should not conclude that he had a premeditated systematic “plan” of including certain symbols in the framework of his fairy tales.

Il tema del giardino e della foresta nella letteratura indiana medievale

by Alessandro Grossato

The Beauty (and Darkness- No Need for Bias Here) of Language

by Poppy Valentine

This thought paper walks through some positive and negative aspects of language- verbal, written & symbolic-... more This thought paper walks through some positive and negative aspects of language- verbal, written & symbolic- depending on their employment & interpretation. This paper also provides advise on how one can become a more effective practitioner of language.

From Servius to Frazer: The Golden Bough and Its Transformations

by Anthony Ossa-Richardson

Пушкин как трикстер, или некоторые мифологические соответствия (A. Pushkin as a Trickster, or some Mythological Equivalences)

by Anastasia Felcker

published in Приложение к журналу Stratum plus, Антропологические исследования в Молдове 2005-2006, pp. 82-86.

Felcker / Felcher A. Pushkin as a Trickster, or some Mythological Equivalences.

It is well known that a... more Felcker / Felcher A. Pushkin as a Trickster, or some Mythological Equivalences.

It is well known that a number of modern culture’s imageries are narrowly interwoven with the characters of classical mythology. The author suggests an idea that such an interweaving is possible for Alexander Pushkin, the Russian top-poet. There are numbered different examples of characters which could possibly
correspond with Pushkin. But the most striking “claimant” to this place is the trickster. The author suggests to compare Pushkin’s behavior during the selected period of his life (1921-23/4) with the behavior of the trickster. She collected several examples from Pushkin's biography and memoirs that could confirm the suggested model. Her analysis shows that Pushkin’s image may correspond with the trickster's image according to a number of features.

Mona Lisa's Satanic Smile: Occulture, Esoterization and Anti-Madonnas

by Per Faxneld

Paper presented at Evil, Women and the Feminine, 3rd Global Conference, Warsaw, Poland (May 13th – May 15th, 2011).

As has been thoroughly studied by among others Bram Dijkstra, there existed a pervasive discourse during the 19th... more As has been thoroughly studied by among others Bram Dijkstra, there existed a pervasive discourse during the 19th century in which women were portrayed as demonic and dangerous. In this context, older cultural artifacts where re-interpreted as expressions of these ideas, one interesting example being Leonardo da Vinci’s La Gioconda (Mona Lisa). The tradition of ascribing satanic traits to it was more or less initiated by French Romantic Théophile Gautier, and then taken up by writers like Walter Pater, Oscar Wilde, Algernon Swinburne and Georg Heym. The paper discusses the manner in which these authors – Symbolists, Decadents and early Expressionists – wrote about the painting as an icon of eternal feminine evil. More specifically, the emphasis on La Gioconda as literally an icon, a sort of altarpiece of wickedness, is explored.

Such a religiously influenced interpretation of an originally completely secular portrait is, the paper seeks to demonstrate, related to a contemporary tendency in pictorial art to blasphemously sacralize sin. Instances of this include the so-called altar to Sin in German Symbolist Franz von Stuck’s grand villa, as well as works by among others Edvard Munch. Further, the darkly numinous aura many felt La Gioconda exuded needs to be understood in a framework of 19th century "occulture" (a term developed – in a scholarly context – by Christopher Partridge, who however only applies it to post WWII phenomena) and romantic ideas concerning artists as seers, mystics and even magicians in a more literal sense.

On the Conservatism of Post-Jungian Criticism: Competing Concepts of the Symbol in Freud, Jung and Walter Benjamin

by Matthew Charles

Earlier version of an article published in 'International Journal of Jungian Studies' (April 2012)

The renewed interest in analytical psychology by academics working in the humanities has lead to the emergence of a... more The renewed interest in analytical psychology by academics working in the humanities has lead to the emergence of a post-Jungian field of cultural criticism, at the theoretical core of which stands Jung’s theory of symbolism. This article examines the centrality of symbolism to both Freud and Jung’s psychology, and explains how the differing concepts of the symbol lead to their divergent theories of interpretation in psychology and art criticism. Acknowledging the advantages of Jung’s more expansive account of the symbol, it argues that Walter Benjamin’s critical engagement with Jung nonetheless provides a useful correction to the problematic conservatism inherent to his concept of the symbol and its contemporary application.

Sojourn: Contemporary Mythopoeics As Initiation, Underworld Journey and Atonement

by Geoff Berry

The Boy Who Didn't Know Who-He-Was: An Existential Fairytale (With Psychological Commentary)

by Ronald L. Boyer

This is a paper recently prepared for a methodology class assignment.

This student paper consists of an original short story, in the form of a fairytale, with accompanying psychological... more This student paper consists of an original short story, in the form of a fairytale, with accompanying psychological commentary on the numerous mythopoeic or archetypal symbols that appear (spontaneously) in the text, from a Jungian perspective. Extensive notes and references are included for the reader interested in archetypal psychology and its interface with creative process, particularly the construction of written narratives.

The Symbolic Patterns in Edward Morgan Forster's A Room with a View and Their Rendering in the Film by James Ivory

by Krzysztof Fordonski

Vaz Ponce de Leao, Isabel ed. Actas do Congresso International Literatura, Cinema e Outras Artes. (Homenagem a Ernest Hemingway e Manoel de Oliveira) O Porto: Edicoes Universidade Fernando Pessoa, 2001, pp. 353-362

The article offers a detailed examination of the way the screenplay writer and director of the movie 'A Room with a... more The article offers a detailed examination of the way the screenplay writer and director of the movie 'A Room with a View" dealt with the symbolic patterns present in the original novel by E. M. Forster.

The Symbolic Meaning of Water in 'A Room with a View' by E. M. Forster

by Krzysztof Fordonski

Bela, Teresa and Zbigniew Mazur eds. Tradition and Postmodernity. English and American Studies and the Challenge of the Future. Kraków: Universitas, 1999 pp. 203-212.
This is an early version based on conference paper - the final version may be found in http://uw.academia.edu/KrzysztofFordonski/Books/168168/The_Shaping_of_the_Double_Vision_The_Symbolic_Systems_of_the_Italian_Novels_of_Edward_Morgan_Forster

The article presents a detailed analysis of the variety of uses of water symbolism in E. M. Forster's novel 'A Room... more The article presents a detailed analysis of the variety of uses of water symbolism in E. M. Forster's novel 'A Room with a View'

"Autobiography and the Quest for ... Nothing"

by Gregory Nixon

@ *JCT: Journal of Curriculum Theorizing* 13 (1), Spring 1997. 30-37.

In this piece, I attempt to portray literary autobiography, depending mainly on the 'scholarship' of poets and the... more In this piece, I attempt to portray literary autobiography, depending mainly on the 'scholarship' of poets and the evocations of my own memory. The portrait is less a linear journey than a spiralling series of concentric circles. Rather than explain or describe the details of my past, I create images of experience of such a nature that I trust the reader may identify with them. The story I tell is a phenomenology of time, language, memory, and return; but it is also a phenomenology of the experience of lifewriting: an inner autobiography of soul, if you will. Interspersed with this are reflections on the narrative process as I undergo it. In this manner, I hope to reveal the lived reality of this particular human being through processes of fear and desire, as well as of teaching and learning.