Shamanic elements in “His Dark Materials” by Philip Pullman
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ShamanicElementsInHisDarkMaterials.pdf (171.9 KB)
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2015
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Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to analyze five themes of the trilogy His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman in the light of their similarity to shamanic motifs. Firstly, I focus on the idea of daemons as similar to the shamanic concept of the helpful spirits that have the form of animals. Secondly, I describe Pullman’s idea of Dust as a kind of spiritual concept and I present Lyra as the mediator who communicates with Dust by means of her alethiometer which resembles a shamanic drum. Thirdly, I show the character of John Parry, the only shaman in the novels, and some other characters who have similar skills. Fourthly, I analyze Lyra’s dream in a cave as an initiation rite and the introduction to the motif of the descent to the underworld. This descent is the last motif I focus on, and the most similar to the shamanic ones. In conclusion, I try to explain why the shamanic motifs are used in the trilogy and why they are still vivid in modern culture.
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His Dark Materials Mroczne materie Philip Pullman shamanism shamanic shaman shamanistic szamanizm szaman szamański alethiometer aletheiometr dajmon dajmony daemon daemons jaskinia cave jaskinia sen sen w jaskini dream dream in a cave dust pył John Parry Lyra Mary Malone Lee Scoresby witch czarownica fantasy fantastyka literatura fantastyczna literatura młodzieżowa literatura dziecięca Greek land of the dead Coulter Lord Asriel death śmierć Little Girl Lost Lyca Blake nagualism helping spirit Milton Grumman drum Orpheus mediation
Citation
Kleczkowska K., Shamanic elements in “His Dark Materials” by Philip Pullman, [w:] Literatura na granicach, red. K. Kuchowicz et al., Kraków 2015, s. 31–46.