Mirror-Images, or Love As Religion in Philip Pullman’s Trilogy, His Dark Materials

• Authors: Zsuzsanna Tóth
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

Philip Pullman retells mankind’s archetypal memories of the Fall in his fantasy trilogy, His Dark Materials. I aim to prove that the age-old religious desire for the oneness of the sacred and the profane, as well as of spirit and matter is manifested in Pullman’s fictional mythology in a way that religion and love also turn out to be one.

Keywords

EN

fantasy literature; myth-criticism; Philip Pullman; religious symbolism

• Publisher: Sciendo
• Journal: Romanian Journal of English Studies
• Year: 2013
• Volume: 10
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 293-301

Dates

published

2013-03-01

online

2013-02-22

Contributors

author

Zsuzsanna Tóth

• University of Szeged

References

• Bertilsson, Margaret. 1991. “Love’s Labour Lost? A Sociological View” in The Body. Social Process andCultural Theory. Mike Featherstone, Mike Hepworth and Brian S. Turner (Eds.). London: Sage, pp. 297 - 324.
• Bird, Anne-Marie. 2005. “Circumventing the Grand Narrative: Dust as an Alternative Theological Vision in Pullman’s His Dark Materials” in His Dark Materials Illuminated: Critical Essays on Philip Pullman’sTrilogy. Millicent Lenz and Carole Scott (Eds.). Detroit: Wayne State University Press, pp. 188 - 198.
• Dollimore, Jonathan. 1998. Death, Desire and Loss in Western Culture. New York: Routledge.
• Ferguson, John. 1976. An Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Mysticism and the Mystery Religions. London: Thames & Hudson.
• Freitas, Donna and King, Jason. 2007. Killing the Imposter God: Philip Pullman’s Spiritual Imagination in HisDark Materials. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
• Freitas, Donna. 2007. ‘The accidental heretic’ in Salon [Online]. Available: http://www.salon.com/2007/12/07/freitas/ [Accessed 2012, September 29].
• Fried, Kerry. No date. “Darkness Visible: An Interview with Philip Pullman” in Amazon.com Message [Online]. Available: http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=amb_link_2079432_11/002-7083137-2301611?ie=UTF8&docId=94589&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=0QW4GD8JBKQXMTFSBZT2&pf_rd_t=1401&pf_rd_p=196508801&pf_rd_i=9459 [Accessed 2012, September 30].
• Frye, Northrop. 1973. Anatomy of Criticism: Four Essays. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press.
• Hunt, Peter and Lenz, Millicent. 2001. Alternative Worlds in Fantasy Fiction. Contemporary Classics ofChildren’s Literature. London, New York: Continuum.
• Klaniczay, Tibor. 1976. Hagyományok ébresztése. Budapest: Szépirodalmi Könyvkiadó. Pál, József and Újvári, Edit (Eds.). 1997. Szimbólumtár: Jelképek, motívumok, témák az egyetemes és a magyarkultúrából. Budapest: Balassi.
• Pinsent, Pat. 2005. “Unexpected Allies? Pullman and the Feminist Theologians” in His Dark MaterialsIlluminated: Critical Essays on Philip Pullman’s Trilogy. Millicent Lenz and Carole Scott (Eds.). Detroit: Wayne State University Press, pp. 199 - 211.
• Pullman, Philip. 2002. “Philip Pullman” in CBBC Newsround [Online]. Available: http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/chat/hotseat/newsid_1777000/1777895.stm#question12 [Accessed 2012, September 29].
• Pullman, Philip. 2007. His Dark Materials Book I: The Golden Compass. New York: Lauren-Leaf.[WoS]
• Pullman, Philip. 2007. His Dark Materials Book II: The Subtle Knife. New York: Lauren-Leaf.
• Pullman, Philip. 2007. His Dark Materials Book III: The Amber Spyglass. New York: Lauren-Leaf.
• Roberts, Susan. 2002. “A Dark Agenda?” Surefish [Online]. Available: http://www.surefish.co.uk/culture/features/pullman_interview.htm [Accessed 2012, September 29].

Identifiers

DOI

10.2478/rjes-2013-0028