Suddenly the bone snapped in two

Freud, fantasy, and Taran Wanderer

Bibliographic Data

ID6130283
AuthorsLiam Butchart (0000-0002-2353-8976, Center for Medical Humanities, Compassionate Care, and Bioethics, Stony Brook University Renaissance School of Medicine, Stony Brook, New York, USA, corresponding author)
Year2021
Volume44
Issue1-2
Pages46-58
Publication date2021-07-03
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Scandinavian Psychoanalytic Review (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0106-2301 • E-ISSN: 1600-0803
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/01062301.2022.2125715
OpenAlexW4299878805
LanguageEN
References cited27

Lloyd Alexander’s Chronicles of Prydain have garnered both critical interest and popular acclaim. Notably, the fourth book of the cycle, Taran Wanderer, is strikingly different from its predecessors, shedding much of the trappings of high fantasy for a simple bildungsroman. This paper examines the text, using Freud’s theories of symbolism, the family romance and the Oedipal conflict, to elucidate Taran’s underlying psychology and to show how the character’s unconscious motivations, molded by his identity as a foundling, drive the narrative. Finally, by applying insights gained from reader-response theory, this paper considers why Taran Wanderer, and adolescent fantasy literature more broadly, resonates so strongly with readers

Aesthetics · Art · Character (mathematics) · Fantasy · Identity (music) · Literature · Narrative · Narratology · Psychoanalysis · Psychoanalytic theory · Romance · Unconscious mind · Folklore, Mythology, and Literature Studies · Gothic Literature and Media Analysis · Philosophy · Psychology · Themes in Literature Analysis

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