Therapy Through Fa?rie: Therapeutic Properties of Fantasy Literature by the Inklings and by U. K. Le Guin

by Anna Cholewa-Purgal

Overview

This book argues that the fantasy fiction rooted in J. R. R. Tolkien’s concept of Faёrie, as represented by the fantasy works of the Inklings and of U. K. Le Guin, has certain psychotherapeutic properties. Faёrie’s generic ‘ethos’ seems to draw on ‘moral imagination’ and on logos (meaning and word), which informs its secondary worlds and encourages a search for an unconditional sense of life, against the postmodern neo-nihilistic aporia. The book postulates an applicability of logotherapy (‘therapy through meaning’, developed after WW2 by Victor Frankl,) to the workings of Faёrie, whose bibliotherapeutic potential rests on its generic marks, identified by Tolkien as Fantasy, Recovery, Escape (breaking free from incarcerating meaninglessness), Consolation, and (cathartic) Eucatastrophe.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9783631673812
Publisher:	Peter Lang GmbH, Internationaler Verlag der Wissenschaften
Publication date:	01/26/2017
Edition description:	New
Pages:	381
Product dimensions:	5.83(w) x 8.27(h) x (d)

About the Author

Anna Cholewa-Purgał works at Jan Długosz University of Częstochowa, Poland, and holds a PhD in literary studies from the University of Łódź. Her major research interests are fantasy literature, mythopoeia, ekphrasis and therapy in literature, as well as art and music therapy.

Table of Contents

Fantasy fiction – Faёrie – The Inklings – J. R. R. Tolkien – C. S. Lewis – Owen Barfield – Charles Williams – Ursula K. Le Guin – Mythopoeia – Moral imagination – Neonihilism – Logotherapy – Therapy through meaning – Victor Frankl – Bibliotherapy – Narrative therapy – Catharsis – Eucatastrophe – Therapia pauperum.