DOCSLIB.ORG

The Cannibal Mother: Philip Pullman's the Golden Compass and The

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Cannibal Mother: Philip Pullman's the Golden Compass and The The Onyx Review: The Interdisciplinary Research Journal © 2017 Center for Writing and Speaking 2017, Vol. 3, No. 1, pp. 9–20 Agnes Scott College The Cannibal Mother: Philip Pullman’s The Golden Compass and the Sexual Anxieties of Bluebeard Folktales Taylor Drake Agnes Scott College Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy is renowned for its condemnation of Christian fundamentalism and positive portrayal of sexual maturation; yet these themes supposedly do not come into prominence until after the first book, The Golden Compass. However, here I will argue that The Golden Compass contains subtle retellings of “Bluebeard” (ATU 312) and “The Robber Bridegroom” (ATU 955), folktales wherein a young woman finds a room full of the corpses of her husband’s previous wives. Through repurposing elements of these folktales – and recasting the villain as the protagonist’s mother – The Golden Compass presents a strong condemnation of what feminist Elizabeth Spelman calls “somatophobia,” Western philosophy’s hostility to the body that is used to rationalize the subjugation of women. While Pullman’s use of the Bluebeard cycle ultimately reinforces his publicly-stated goals for the series, judging The Golden Compass as a Bluebeard retelling allows for reevaluations of both feminist and Freudian interpretations of the folktales, revealing an alternate interpretive paradigm that re-centers narrative importance on the family and thus exposes the manufactured nature of sexual anxieties in Judeo-Christian society. s English authoress Angela akin to analyzing it by its prologue Carter once wrote: “I am all for (Waldman). A putting new wine in old bottles; What is left for the first book, then? especially if the pressure of the new wine Although the connection between makes the old bottles explode” (37). Carter’s Pullman’s plucky heroine Lyra Belacqua fairy tale retellings challenge the ideological and the Biblical Eve is not codified until the paradigms of some of the Western world’s second novel, Pullman utilizes retellings of oldest and most-beloved stories—but the Bluebeard cycle, fairy tales in which perhaps she could have gone back further. “Eve is allowed to get away with it,” to Fellow Englishmen Philip Pullman has question the proposed destructiveness of made no secret that the His Dark Materials female curiosity and sexual maturation trilogy is “a retelling of Miltonian (Warner 244). It is not merely the exciting temptation and fall,” meant to “represent the prologue to a series that eventually tackles fall as entirely good,” intending for his new themes of sexual maturity and the dangers of wine to destroy the old bottle entirely religious fundamentalism. Instead, the (Waldman). By returning to the beginning of folkloric context reveals The Golden human life, – and its stories – Pullman seeks Compass as itself a thematic heavyweight, to challenge fundamental notions of albeit more subtly so, and the fruition of maturation and sexuality. By his own hundreds of linked attempts to express and admission, however, most of the books’ ease somatophobic anxieties. Miltonian intertextuality happens “after The The Golden Compass is the quest of 11- Golden Compass ends”—an ending so open year-old orphan Lyra Belacqua to find her that analyzing the novel independently feels friend, Roger, who has been kidnapped by a group known colloquially as the “Gobblers”; The Onyx Review, 2017, 3 (1) 9 T. Drake / THE CANNIBAL MOTHER: PHILIP PULMAN’S THE GOLDEN COMPASS AND THE SEXUAL ANXIETIES OF BLUEBEARD FOLKTALES over the course of the novel, this journey poem at the end of Charles Perrault’s “La becomes centered around “Dust,” a Barbe Bleue,” identified as the first literary mysterious element that her father Lord variant, defined this attitude: Asriel wants to study and that the theocratic Curiosity despite its attractions, Magisterium wants to suppress. Comes with the cost of many regrets; “The Gobblers” are the Oblation Board, …And always at too high a cost a government program spearheaded by the (Heiner, “Moral” 17). manipulative but gorgeous Mrs. Coulter, This comes despite Perrault’s own Lyra’s biological mother. Based on research flippant tone, and the additional moral that that Dust begins to accumulate in a person Anyone with a sensible mind once their daemon – a physical …Will easily see that this story manifestation of the soul able to shapeshift Is a tale from past times (Heiner, during prepubescence – finds its permanent “Another Moral” 17). form, the Magisterium has concluded that Perrault also calls Bluebeard’s test Dust is remnants of Original Sin. Thus, the “impossible,” implying that Fatima’s Oblation Board have been tasked to sever, or disobedience was an inevitability (Heiner, “intercise,” the metaphysical tie between “Another Moral” 17). This second moral child and daemon, ultimately at the cost of also concludes by stating that the traditional the child’s life. power dynamics within marriage have Next, for simplicity’s sake, the phrase shifted so that “it is hard to judge which of ‘Bluebeard cycle’ will refer to stories of [the man and woman] is the master,” which ATU tale types 311, 312, and 955; as much too conflicts with the denouncement of folkloric scholarship refers to tale types by female curiosity that most seem to have their most famous variants, 311 and 955 taken away (Heiner, “Another Moral” 17). shall here be referred to as Fitcher’s Birds Still, much of the scholarship and art around and Robber Bridegrooms respectively, while the Bluebeard cycle is entrenched in 312 shall be called Maiden-Killers to avoid misogyny – sometimes even rationalizing confusion with Bluebeard the character. The the first wife’s murder as the result of an heroine of this cycle shall be here Fatima, as unrelated and equally-imaginary crime. bestowed upon her by the Victorian stage Yet even to other feminist scholars, (Kiesel 26). Warner’s earlier praise that the Bluebeard Bluebeard is a hideous man who woos a cycle allows Eve to escape blameless is one young girl with his immense wealth, and a more often heaped upon The Maiden month after their wedding day hands her the Killer’s sister-tales, Fitcher’s Bird and The keys to his castle – demanding before he Robber Bridegroom. As professor Cristina departs, however, that she not enter one Bacchilega posits, however, focusing on the closet door. She does, whereupon she finds forbidden chamber rather than Fatima’s all the bodies of his previous wives hanging disobedience reframes the Maiden-Killer along the walls. Her husband immediately narrative as “a process of initiation which returns and vows to behead her for her requires entering the forbidden chamber,” transgression, but just as he is raising his an acquisition of life-affirming knowledge sword, her brothers arrive to cut him down and a first assertion of autonomy, which is a with their own. paradigm that The Golden Compass falls Vastly more shocking than the violence into within its opening pages (197). of the tale is how many authors and scholars Lyra’s snooping in the Retiring Room cite curiosity as the true villain. A short of Jordan College reveals her caregivers’ The Onyx Review, 2017, 3 (1) 10 T. Drake / THE CANNIBAL MOTHER: PHILIP PULMAN’S THE GOLDEN COMPASS AND THE SEXUAL ANXIETIES OF BLUEBEARD FOLKTALES attempt to poison her father. Rather than Amber 376). While Freud characterizes the Fatima’s illusions of her marriage destroyed basement as the area of the house where – or, in many cases, her repressed inappropriate feelings are kept hidden, Lyra uneasiness validated – Lyra’s childish, feels these room not as threatening but unquestioning trust in the goodwill of adults “quiet, expectant,” awaiting her exploration is struck a blow. Like Walter Crane’s (Tartar 50; Pullman, Amber 376). Further illustrations of Fatima, key-in-hand, framed cementing the sexual overtones of this scene against a tapestry of the Temptation in Eden, – and its connection to the biblical story – is this scene mirrors what Marina Warner the fact that Malone’s sexual awakening is claims is the “inner structure” of the symbolized by her first kiss in a garden, a Bluebeard cycle (244). Lyra is destined to be kiss which feels like “paradise” and whose “tempted, as Eve was,” and thus, following memory later leads Malone to renouncing Warner’s line of reasoning, the Jordan her covenant (Pullman, Amber 376). Scholars, beholden to the Magisterium, are Before one can explore the newly- God’s agents– strict older men trying to alighted rooms of the house, however, one stamp out those who will arouse Eve’s must question why one has been told not to. dangerous intellectual curiosity (Pullman, The acquisition of this mistrust of adult Amber Spyglass 67). authority in the novel’s opening scene is This “inner structure” can perhaps unquestionably presented as a necessary act; explain why so many echoes of the without Lord Asriel, the trilogy would not Bluebeard cycle have arisen with seemingly exist. Through these cues, regardless of little intention on Pullman’s part. To whether one hears the folkloric echoes, Warner, Fatima is Eve, Bluebeard is God, Pullman primes both protagonist and patron the key the apple, and his dead wives’ to not only question the motives of bodies the knowledge of both good and evil seemingly-benign authority figures, but to (Warner 244). The Freudian symbolism of a dare to enter their forbidden chambers. key going into a lock is also blatant, and this Although the first chapter echoes The imagery of opening doors representing Maiden-Killer, the most salient influence is female sexuality will resurface later in that of The Robber Bridegroom upon Lyra’s story. While listening to former-nun chapter fifteen to the ending of part two. In Mary Malone (the second serpent) describe many ways, Pullman’s use of the Robber her own sexual awakening, Lyra feels “as if framework regresses the novel into she had been handed the key to a great conventional fairy tale tropes.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Mythlore Index Plus
    MYTHLORE INDEX PLUS MYTHLORE ISSUES 1–137 with Tolkien Journal Mythcon Conference Proceedings Mythopoeic Press Publications Compiled by Janet Brennan Croft and Edith Crowe 2020. This work, exclusive of the illustrations, is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA. Tim Kirk’s illustrations are reproduced from early issues of Mythlore with his kind permission. Sarah Beach’s illustrations are reproduced from early issues of Mythlore with her kind permission. Copyright Sarah L. Beach 2007. MYTHLORE INDEX PLUS An Index to Selected Publications of The Mythopoeic Society MYTHLORE, ISSUES 1–137 TOLKIEN JOURNAL, ISSUES 1–18 MYTHOPOEIC PRESS PUBLICATIONS AND MYTHCON CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS COMPILED BY JANET BRENNAN CROFT AND EDITH CROWE Mythlore, January 1969 through Fall/Winter 2020, Issues 1–137, Volume 1.1 through 39.1 Tolkien Journal, Spring 1965 through 1976, Issues 1–18, Volume 1.1 through 5.4 Chad Walsh Reviews C.S. Lewis, The Masques of Amen House, Sayers on Holmes, The Pedant and the Shuffly, Tolkien on Film, The Travelling Rug, Past Watchful Dragons, The Intersection of Fantasy and Native America, Perilous and Fair, and Baptism of Fire Narnia Conference; Mythcon I, II, III, XVI, XXIII, and XXIX Table of Contents INTRODUCTION Janet Brennan Croft .....................................................................................................................................1
    [Show full text]
  • Subversive Female Mentors in Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials
    This is the published version of the bachelor thesis: Baró González, Jana; Martín Alegre, Sara, dir. "Witch-oil" : subversive female mentors in Philip Pullman’s ’His Dark Materials’. 2015. 29 pag. (801 Grau en Estudis Anglesos) This version is available at https://ddd.uab.cat/record/137417 under the terms of the license “Witch-oil”: Subversive Female Mentors in Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials TFG Estudis Anglesos Supervisor: Dr Sara Martín Alegre Jana Baró González June 2015 Table of Contents I. Introduction 3 II. His Dark Materials as Children’s Fantasy 4 III. Deceiving the Authority: Marisa Coulter as a Subversive Mother 8 IV. The Wicked Hag and the Joyful Goddess: Serafina Pekkala as a Contemporary Witch 15 V. Serafina Pekkala and Mrs. Coulter as Lyra’s Contrasting Mentors 22 VI. Conclusions 25 VII. Bibliography 27 Abstract Philip Pullman’s fantasy trilogy His Dark Materials follows Lyra Belacqua’s journey across different worlds, where she meets a series of adult figures who act as her guides and mentors – and also as tormentors and pursuers. This paper will focus on two of the women who teach and nurture Lyra: Serafina Pekkala, a witch, but a benign figure; and Marisa Coulter, an intelligent, glamorous woman who turns out to be her mother, and one of the main villains. In my view – from a Gender Studies perspective –, Serafina and Coulter offer positive examples of the representation of women in fantasy literature, which their role as mentors for the protagonist, with all their differences, prove. Their memorable personalities go beyond stereotypes, and they are characters with agency and believable motives.
    [Show full text]
  • Mcsporran, Cathy (2007) Letting the Winter In: Myth Revision and the Winter Solstice in Fantasy Fiction
    McSporran, Cathy (2007) Letting the winter in: myth revision and the winter solstice in fantasy fiction. PhD thesis http://theses.gla.ac.uk/5812/ Copyright and moral rights for this thesis are retained by the author A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the Author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the Author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given Glasgow Theses Service http://theses.gla.ac.uk/ [email protected] Letting the Winter In: Myth Revision and the Winter Solstice in Fantasy Fiction Cathy McSporran Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of English Literature, University of Glasgow Submitted October 2007 @ Cathy McSporran 2007 Abstract Letting the Winter In: Myth-Revision and the Winter Solstice in Fantasy Fiction This is a Creative Writing thesis, which incorporates both critical writing and my own novel, Cold City. The thesis explores 'myth-revision' in selected works of Fantasy fiction. Myth- revision is defined as the retelling of traditional legends, folk-tales and other familiar stories in such as way as to change the story's implied ideology. (For example, Angela Carter's 'The Company of Wolves' revises 'Red Riding Hood' into a feminist tale of female sexuality and empowerment.) Myth-revision, the thesis argues, has become a significant trend in Fantasy fiction in the last three decades, and is notable in the works of Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman and Philip Pullman.
    [Show full text]
  • Introduction 1
    INTRODUCTION The novel “Northern Lights” by Philip Pullman is the first book of the trilogy “His Dark Materials”, published in 1995. It is a fantasy novel with a story that takes place in our parallel universe. The novel won the Carnegie Medal (a literary award for outstanding books for children and young adults) one year after it was published. It was adopted into a Hollywood feature film in 2007 under the title “Golden Compass” along with an accompanying video game. Both the trilogy and the film were faced with controversy because some critics claim they are sending a negative image of religion. I have chosen this book for my paperwork because I have already read it in Croatian and really enjoyed the story of a universe where every human has its own “daemon” or animal companion. With that companion you are never alone; you always have someone to talk to and someone that will always help you when you find yourself in difficult situations. In that way this universe, where we are surrounded with hundreds of people every day and yet we feel alone, would seem much more fulfilled. 1 1. PHILIP PULLMAN Philip Pullman is an English writer born in Norwich, England on 19th of October, 1946. His father, a Royal Airforce Pilot, was killed in a plane crash when he was seven years old. When his mother remarried they moved to Australia where he discovered the art of comic books. From 1957 he was educated in Wales and spent time with his grandfather in Norfolk. During that time he discovered John Milton’s epic poem “Paradise Lost” which became a great influence for his trilogy “His Dark Materials”.
    [Show full text]
  • Extract from Chapter Ten of La Belle Sauvage Eleven-Year-Old Malcolm
    Extract from chapter ten of La Belle Sauvage Eleven-year-old Malcolm lives with his parents at the Trout Inn near Oxford, across the river Thames from Godstow Priory, where the nuns are looking after a special guest. One night his father comes to Malcolm’s bedroom. Now read on: “Malcolm, you en’t in bed yet—good. Come downstairs for a minute. There’s a gentleman wants a word with you.” “Who is it?” said Malcolm eagerly, jumping up and following his father out. “Keep your voice down. He’ll tell you who he is if he wants to.” “Where is he?” “In the Terrace Room. Take him a glass of Tokay.” “What’s that?” “Hungarian wine. Come on, hurry up. Mind your manners and tell the truth.” “I always do,” said Malcolm automatically. “News to me,” said his father. But he ruffled Malcolm’s hair before they entered the bar. The gentleman waiting gave him a start, though all he was doing was sitting still by the cold fireplace. Perhaps it was his dæmon, a beautiful silvery spotted leopard, or perhaps it was his dark, saturnine expression; in any event, Malcolm felt daunted, and very young and small. His dæmon, Asta, became a moth. “Good evening, sir,” he said. “Your Tokay what you ordered. Would you like me to make up the fire? It’s ever so cold in here.” “Is your name Malcolm?” The man’s voice was harsh and deep. “Yes, sir. Malcolm Polstead.” “I’m a friend of Dr. Relf,” said the man. “My name is Asriel.” “Oh.
    [Show full text]
  • The Subtle Knife Is the Second Part of the Trilogy That Began with the Golden Compass
    The Subtle Knife is the second part of the trilogy that began with The Golden Compass. That first book was set in a world like ours, but different. This book begins in our own world. * * * * * In The Subtle Knife, readers are introduced to Will Parry, a young boy living in modern- day Oxford, England. Will is only twelve years old, but he bears the responsibilities of an adult. Following the disappearance of his explorer-father, John Parry, during an expedition in the North, Will became parent, provider and protector to his frail, confused mother. And it's in protecting her that he becomes a murderer, too: he accidentally kills a man who breaks into their home to steal valuable letters written by John Parry. After placing his mother in the care of a kind friend, Will takes those letters and sets off to discover the truth about his father. Will does indeed make an astonishing discovery, but it's not about his father. Along a busy road, he happens upon an extraordinary window in the air. Almost invisible to the eye, it opens into an entirely different world. Anxious to remain hidden, Will ventures through this window into the shimmering, haunted city of Cittàgazze, where he meets Lyra Belacqua and her dæmon, Pantalaimon, who have also wandered into Cittàgazze from yet another world while searching for the answers behind Dust. Aside from Will and his new companions, this city is eerie, empty and silent. The people have fled to the hills to escape the Specters, phantom-like beings that feed on the consciousness of grown-ups, leaving them zombie-like and void forever after.
    [Show full text]
  • Satanic Characters in Philip Pullman's Trilogy, His Dark Materials
    1 Dreadful Monsters or Self-sacrificing Parents? Satanic Characters in Philip Pullman’s Trilogy, His Dark Materials Zsuzsanna Tóth * University of Szeged, Hungary Abstract Within a close transtextual inheritance of John Milton’s Paradise Lost (1667) and William Blake’s The Marriage of Heaven and Hell (1790-1793) starring Satan, Philip Pullman’s contemporary fantasy trilogy, His Dark Materials (1995-2000), retells the Judeo-Christian myth of the Fall of Man in order to criticize the grand narrative of Christianity. From the theoretical position of myth criticism, the paper proves that on the one hand, in Pullman’s mythopoesis the symbolic role of Satan is divided into two characters, a man called Lord Asriel and a woman called Mrs Marisa Coulter. On the other hand, their about-turn cannot be considered a real character development even though both the public and private purposes of Lord Asriel and Mrs Coulter diametrically change at the end of Pullman’s story. Keywords: character-development, fantasy literature, myth-criticism, Satan 1. Introduction: On the Devil’s Party Satan as the embodiment of antagonism has been a recurring character in Judeo-Christian literature. Since the era of Romanticism, he has been interpreted as a tragic, heroic figure (Pál and Újvári, 2001: 364), also as one of the embodiments of man’s intellectual freedom (405). The most prominent examples are John Milton’s Paradise Lost (1667), Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s Faust (1808; 1832) and Mikhail Bulgakov’s The Master and Margarita (1966). The list continues with a British author of children’s and adolescents’ fiction, namely Philip Pullman (1946- ) who retells the Judeo-Christian myth of the Fall of Man in his post-modern fantasy trilogy, entitled His Dark Materials .
    [Show full text]
  • La Communauté Des Esprits Est Le Deuxième Tome De « La Tri- Logie De La Poussière »
    La trilogie de la Poussière LIVRE DEUX PHILIP PULLMAN La trilogie de la Poussière LIVRE DEUX Illustré par Chris Wormell Traduit de l’anglais par Jean Esch GALLIMARD Gallimard Jeunesse 5, rue Gaston Gallimard, 75007 Paris www.gallimard-jeunesse.fr Titre original : The Book of Dust, volume two – The Secret Commonwealth Initialement publié en Grande-Bretagne par David Fickling Books, Oxford, en association avec Penguin Books, Londres, en 2019 © Philip Pullman, 2019, pour le texte © Chris Wormell, 2019, pour les illustrations intérieures © Éditions Gallimard Jeunesse, 2020, pour la traduction française À Nick Messenger, poète délicat et ami indomptable Tout ce en quoi il est possible de croire est une image de la vérité. William Blake Note de l’auteur La Communauté des esprits est le deuxième tome de « La tri- logie de la Poussière ». Le personnage principal, Lyra Parle-d’Or, appelée jadis Lyra Belacqua, était également la protagoniste d’une précédente trilogie : « À la croisée des mondes ». De fait, cette pre- mière histoire débutait et s’achevait par son nom. Lyra avait alors onze ou douze ans. Dans le premier tome de « La trilogie de la Poussière », La Belle Sauvage, Lyra était bébé. Bien qu’elle occupe un rôle central dans le récit, la majeure partie de l’action tournait autour d’un garçon nommé Malcolm Polstead, âgé lui-même de onze ans environ. Dans ce présent ouvrage, nous faisons un bond en avant d’une vingtaine d’années. Les événements décrits dans « À la croisée des mondes » se sont produits dix ans auparavant. Malcolm et Lyra sont désormais adultes.
    [Show full text]
  • His Dark Materials" and Tolkien’S "The Lord of the Rings"
    University of Dayton eCommons Joyce Durham Essay Contest in Women's and Gender Studies Women's and Gender Studies Program 2009 Medieval Romance and British Romanticism: Gender Constructions in Pullman’s "His Dark Materials" and Tolkien’s "The Lord of the Rings" Emily Elizabeth Howson University of Dayton Follow this and additional works at: https://ecommons.udayton.edu/wgs_essay Part of the Women's Studies Commons eCommons Citation Howson, Emily Elizabeth, "Medieval Romance and British Romanticism: Gender Constructions in Pullman’s "His Dark Materials" and Tolkien’s "The Lord of the Rings"" (2009). Joyce Durham Essay Contest in Women's and Gender Studies. 3. https://ecommons.udayton.edu/wgs_essay/3 This Essay is brought to you for free and open access by the Women's and Gender Studies Program at eCommons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Joyce Durham Essay Contest in Women's and Gender Studies by an authorized administrator of eCommons. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. Medieval Romance and British Romanticism: Gender Constructions in Pullman's His Dark Materials and Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings by Emily Elizabeth Howson Winner 2009 Joyce Durham Essay Contest in Women's and Gender Studies Medieval Romance and British Romanticism: Gender Constructions in Pullman's His Dark Materials and Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings In a 1999 interview, Philip Pullman, author of His Dark Materials, replied to a question about gender, saying, "Eve is the equal of Adam and shares in whatever it is that happens" (Pullman, Parsons par. 30). J.R.R Tolkien, author of The Lord of the Rings expressed a different attitude toward male and female.
    [Show full text]
  • <I>His Dark Materials</I>
    Volume 24 Number 2 Article 1 10-15-2004 His Dark Materials: A Look into Pullman's Interpretation of Milton's Paradise Lost Karen D. Robinson Texas A&M University and Purdue University, IN Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.swosu.edu/mythlore Part of the Children's and Young Adult Literature Commons Recommended Citation Robinson, Karen D. (2004) "His Dark Materials: A Look into Pullman's Interpretation of Milton's Paradise Lost," Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature: Vol. 24 : No. 2 , Article 1. Available at: https://dc.swosu.edu/mythlore/vol24/iss2/1 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Mythopoeic Society at SWOSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature by an authorized editor of SWOSU Digital Commons. An ADA compliant document is available upon request. For more information, please contact [email protected]. To join the Mythopoeic Society go to: http://www.mythsoc.org/join.htm Mythcon 51: A VIRTUAL “HALFLING” MYTHCON July 31 - August 1, 2021 (Saturday and Sunday) http://www.mythsoc.org/mythcon/mythcon-51.htm Mythcon 52: The Mythic, the Fantastic, and the Alien Albuquerque, New Mexico; July 29 - August 1, 2022 http://www.mythsoc.org/mythcon/mythcon-52.htm Abstract Explores ideas of duality and other concepts from Milton’s Paradise Lost that influenced Pullman’s Dark Materials trilogy. Additional Keywords Milton, John. Paradise Lost; Pullman, Philip.
    [Show full text]
  • Lyra Belacqua in His Dark Materials
    REWRITING THE FALL: LYRA BELACQUA IN HIS DARK MATERIALS REWRITING THE FALL: LYRA BELACQUA’S RESISTANCE TO ADULT IDEOLOGY IN HIS DARK MATERIALS By DANIEL T. MOORE, B.A. A Thesis Submitted to the School of Graduate Studies in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts McMaster University © Copyright by Daniel T. Moore, September 2014 ii McMaster University MASTER OF ARTS (2014) Hamilton, Ontario (English) TITLE: Rewriting the Fall: Lyra Belacqua’s Resistance to Adult Ideology in His Dark Materials AUTHOR: Daniel T. Moore, B.A. (McMaster University) SUPERVISOR: Professor Iris Bruce NUMBER OF PAGES: v, 100 iii ABSTRACT This thesis examines resistance to adult ideology by child/adolescent characters in Philip Pullmans’ His Dark Materials. Drawing on terminology provided by Maria Nikolajeva (aetonormativity) and Roberta Trites (power within repression) this paper describes the development of Lyra Belacqua, the protagonist of The Golden Compass. It identifies in Pullman’s text a particular emphasis on allowing children to develop into adolescents before subjecting them to religious or secular ideologies. This thesis works with the terms Entwicklungsroman and Bildungsroman in order to illuminate and complicate the subject- positions: adolescent, child and adult. This thesis demonstrates the particular attention to qualities of adolescence and childhood in Pullman’s works, and the effect that reconstructing adolescence as an end-point for child characters has on child protagonists, by contrast to adulthood as a destination. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my mother and father, without whom I would not have been able to pursue my degree, and who have encouraged me and supported me every step of the way.
    [Show full text]
  • Lord Asriel, Experimental Theologian : Man, Maker, Media and the Challenges of Seeing the New
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE Lord Asriel, Experimental Theologian : Man, Maker, Media and the Challenges of Seeing the New journal or Notre Dame Seishin University kiyo. Studies in publication title foreign languages and literature, Studies in culture Notre Dame Seishin University kiyo. Studies in Japanese language and literature volume 38 number 1 page range 10-23 year 2014 URL http://id.nii.ac.jp/1560/00000125/ 10 紀要 Vol. 38 No. 1（通巻第 49 号）10 〜 23（2014） Lord Asriel, Experimental Theologian: Man, Maker, Media and the Challenges of Seeing the New ※ Kate Bowes 実験的神学者 ﰀアズリエル ― 人、創造主、メディア、新しいものを見るという挑戦― ケイト・ボウズ フィリップ・プルマンの三部作『ライラの冒険』には「実験的神学者」が登場する。実 験的神学とは作者プルマンが作り出した虚構の分野で、これは究極の現実的実存である神 について知られていることは真実で信用できると断言できるのか、そうであれば、どのよ うにして断言できるのか、という重要な質問に焦点が絞られているように思える。この質 問を検討するために、作家は生存の核にある神秘を理解するための二つの異なる方法を取 り入れている。すなわち、科学（実験）と宗教（神学）である。純粋なる現実・実存の識 別は我々には不可能なため、我々にできる精一杯のことは現実のように思えるものを解釈 することであるが、これは修練を伴い、想像力を駆使することが要求される。本稿におい が撮影し、手を加えて披露する写真ﰀ、のカメラﰀては、『黄金の羅針盤』のアズリエル の人物像を明らかにし、さらに、見ることに専心し、多くの光学ﰀ等を通してアズリエル 的器具が発明されたヴィクトリア朝にも言及する。加えて、これまで見たことがなかった ものを見るということはどういうことか、知られているものをどのように伝えるのかとい の写真が掲げる中心的問題から、実験的神学者が現実を境界付けるためﰀう、アズリエル に使用する質問方法を考察していく。 キーワード：実験的神学、カメラ、見ること This essay is the first of a proposed series looking at the so-called Experimental Theologians who appear in Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy. It will explore the methods they use to interrogate the boundaries of reality in and beyond which God is. Experimental theology, a fictional discipline created by the author, seems to revolve around the central question: are the things claimed to be known about God true or reliable, and if so, how? In asking such a question the author puts into the ring Key Words: experimental theology, camera, seeing ※ 本学文学部英語英文学科 11 two different, but ultimately complementary, modes of apprehending the mystery at the core of life.
    [Show full text]