Mythopoeic Narnia: Memory, Metaphor, and Metamorphisis in the Chronicles of Narnia
by Salwa Khoddam(
by Salwa Khoddam(
Book Description
Mythopoeic Narnia offers a fresh approach to reading The Chronicles of Narnia based on an inquiry into Lewis’s use of the classical and Christian symbols that percolated in his imagination. This study of the literary contexts of these stories – their traditional myths and motifs – places Narnia in the company of highly ranked mythopoeic works in Western Literature.
In Lewis’s imagination, memory and metaphor interact to advance a change of heart and mind in his readers – a Christian metamorphosis. So much rides on these deceptively simple fairy tales. Like Lewis’s The Allegory of Love, they open a door for readers into the magical world of the Western Imagination.
Mythopoeic Narnia offers a fresh approach to reading The Chronicles of Narnia based on an inquiry into Lewis’s use of the classical and Christian symbols that percolated in his imagination. This study of the literary contexts of these stories – their traditional myths and motifs – places Narnia in the company of highly ranked mythopoeic works in Western Literature.
In Lewis’s imagination, memory and metaphor interact to advance a change of heart and mind in his readers – a Christian metamorphosis. So much rides on these deceptively simple fairy tales. Like Lewis’s The Allegory of Love, they open a door for readers into the magical world of the Western Imagination.
Salwa Khoddam
Praise for Mythopoeic Narnia
“This book is a triumph of research and scholarship. The scope of research is breathtaking, and the accumulation of scholarly data is stunning.”
Leland Ryken, Professor of English at Wheaton College
Author of Triumphs of the Imagination
“Salwa Khoddam’s Mythopoeic Narnia reads the Narnian books archetypally. Classical and Christian traditional meanings of images are brought to bear on Lewis’s highly traditional art, revealing the subliminal messages and patterns Lewis expected the story elements to carry.”
Joe R. Christopher, Professor Emeritus at Tarleton University Author of C.S. Lewis (Twayne’s English Authors Series)
“This book is a triumph of research and scholarship. The scope of research is breathtaking, and the accumulation of scholarly data is stunning.”
Leland Ryken, Professor of English at Wheaton College
Author of Triumphs of the Imagination
“Salwa Khoddam’s Mythopoeic Narnia reads the Narnian books archetypally. Classical and Christian traditional meanings of images are brought to bear on Lewis’s highly traditional art, revealing the subliminal messages and patterns Lewis expected the story elements to carry.”
Joe R. Christopher, Professor Emeritus at Tarleton University Author of C.S. Lewis (Twayne’s English Authors Series)
About the Author
Salwa Khoddam, PhD, is Professor Emerita of English at Oklahoma City University in Kansas City. She is the co-founder of the C.S. Lewis and Inklings Society and co-editor of Breathed Through Silver: The Inklings Moral and Mythopoeic Legacy.
Salwa Khoddam, PhD, is Professor Emerita of English at Oklahoma City University in Kansas City. She is the co-founder of the C.S. Lewis and Inklings Society and co-editor of Breathed Through Silver: The Inklings Moral and Mythopoeic Legacy.
