The faun's bookshelf : C.S. Lewis on why myth matters / Charlie W. Starr.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Starr, Charlie W., 1963- author.

Contributor:

Rebecca Pepper Sinkler Fund.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Lewis, C. S. (Clive Staples), 1898-1963.

Criticism and interpretation.

Lewis, C. S. (Clive Staples), 1898-1963--Criticism and interpretation.

Lewis, C. S.

Literature and myth.

Genre:

Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Physical Description:

xxi, 181 pages ; 21 cm

Place of Publication:

Kent, Ohio : The Kent State University Press, 2018.

Summary:

While visiting with Mr. Tumnus in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Lucy Pevensie notices a bookshelf filled with such titles as Nymphs and Their Ways and Is Man a Myth? Be- ginning with these imaginary texts, Charlie W. Starr offers a comprehensive study of C. S. Lewis's theory of myth, including his views on Greek and Norse mythology, the origins of myth, and the implications of myth on thought, art, gender, theology, and literary and linguistic theory. For Lewis, myth represents an ancient mode of thought focused in the imagination--a mode that became the key that ultimately brought Lewis to his belief in Jesus Christ as the myth become fact. Beginning with a f The Faun's Bookshelf goes on to discuss the many books Lewis imagined throughout his writings--books whose titles he made up but never wrote. It also presents the sylvan myths central to the first two book titles in Mr. Tumnus's library, including explorations of the relation- ship between myth and reality, the spiritual significance of natural conservation, and the spiritual and incarnational qualities of gender. Starr then turns to the definition of myth, the literary qualities of myth, the mythic nature inherent in divine glory, humanity's destiny to embrace (or reject) that glory, and a deeper exploration of the epistemological ramifications of myth in relation to meaning, imagination, reason, and truth.

Contents:

Foreword by Devin Brown

Folios and fauns. Of the making of many (fake) books : Lewis and mythopoeia ; Fauns and their fantasies ; Might myth be real?

Narnian reality, terran myth. The life and letters of Silenus ; Fauns are from Mars, nymphs are from Venus ; Why sylvan myths matter

Terran reality as myth in Narnia. Defining myth ; Men, monks, and gamekeepers ; a study in popular legend ; Is man a myth?

Beyond the bookshelf. Mythic knowing ; Lewis and the North ; An interpretive mystery of mythic proportion.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Rebecca Pepper Sinkler Fund.

ISBN:

9781606353493

1606353497

OCLC:

1017600065