Le Guin's magic in the context of Taoism: reading A Wizard of Earthsea
This research examines the role of magic in fantasy fiction, with a particular emphasis on Ursula K. Le Guin's A Wizard of Earthsea (1968). The research shows how the concept of balance is essential to the coming-of-age tale of a young wizard's development into a responsible adult through qualitative thematic analysis of the themes of true name, voyage, and shadow in the novel. The theoretical foundation for analyzing Le Guin's magic is derived from the Taoist philosophy and the Jungian theory of wholeness. Le Guin's portrayal of magic emphasizes the Taoist idea of balance that is realized through the interconnectedness of opposites by showing how mastering magic equips the wizard with knowledge that helps him to see things' real meanings. By choosing the road of balance, the wizard is able to face and reconcile with his darkness, which leads to mental development and completeness. The study's findings support the idea that magic, with its philosophical underpinnings, acts as an internal force that drives the wizard into spiritual maturity and marks a key turning point in the story. A Wizard of Earthsea offers a distinctive viewpoint on the function of magic in the fantasy genre by examining binary interactions within a framework of balance and wholeness.
Figures
Park, Y. S, Mustofa, A. and Kurnia, F. D. (2023). Le Guin's magic in the context of Taoism: reading A Wizard of Earthsea, Research Result. Theoretical and Applied Linguistics, 9 (2), 156-165. DOI: 10.18413/2313-8912-2023-9-2-0-8
While nobody left any comments to this publication.
You can be first.
Aldea, B. (2008). Balancing opposites, the fictions of Ursula K. Le Guin, Philologia. Studia Universitatis Babes-Bolyai, 1, 157-162. (In English)
Armitt, L. (2005). Fantasy Fiction: An Introduction, Continuum, New York, USA. (In English)
Attebery, B. (2004). Fantasy as mode, genre, formula, in Sandner, D. (ed.), Fantastic Literature, Praeger, London, UK, 293-309. (In English)
Barbour, D. (1974). Wholeness & balance in the Hainish novels of Ursula K. Le Guin, Science Fiction Studies, 1 (3), 164-173. (In English)
Cummins, E. (1993). Understanding Ursula K. Le Guin, University of South Carolina Press, Columbia, USA. (In English)
Esmonde, M. P. (1979). The Master pattern: The psychological journey in the Earthsea Triology, in Olander, J. D. and Greenberg, M. H. (eds.), Ursula K. Le Guin, Taplinger Publishing Co, New York, USA, 15-35. (In English)
Frye, N. (2020). Anatomy of criticism: four essays, Princeton University Press, Princeton, USA. (In English)
Galbreath, R. (1980). Taoist Magic in the Earthsea Trilogy, Extrapolation, 21 (3), 262-268. (In English)
Hardin, J. (1991). Reflection and Action, University of South Carolina Press, Columbia, USA. (In English)
Hogsette, D. S. (2018). The Way of the Fantasist: Ethical Complexities in the Taoist Mythopoeic Fantasy of Ursula Le Guin’s A Wizard of Earthsea, in Stratman, J. (ed.), Teens and the New Religious Landscape: Essays on Contemporary Young Adult Fiction, MacFarland and Company, Jefferson, USA, 171-188. (In English)
Hogsette, D. S. (2022). The Transcendent Vision of Mythopoeic Fantasy, McFarland and Company, Jefferson, USA. (In English)
Holland, N. N. (1990). Holland's Guide to Psychoanalytic Psychology and Literature-and-Psychology, Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. (In English)
Huang, Y. and Dai, H. (2017). Fantasy and Taoism in The Earthsea Cycle, Advances in Literary Study, 5, 39-55. https://doi.org/10.4236/als.2017.53005(In English)
Huang, Y. and Dai, H. (2021). A Taoist Study of Magic in The Earthsea Cycle, Religions, 12 (3), 144. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel12030144(In English)
Hunt, P. and Lenz, M. (2001). Alternative Worlds in Fantasy Fiction, Continuum, New York, USA. (In English)
Huskinson, L. (2004). Nietzsche and Jung: The Whole Self in the Union of Opposites, Brunner-Routledge, London, UK. (In English)
Jung, C. G. (1959). AION, Princeton University Press, Princeton, USA. (In English)
Jung, C. G. (1966). The Practice of Psychotherapy (2nd Ed.), Routledge, London, UK. (In English)
Jung, C. G. (1966a). Psychology and Religion, Yale Univ. Press, New Haven, USA. (In English)
Jung, C. G. (1969). The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious (2nd Ed.), Princeton University Press, Princeton, USA. (In English)
Jung, C. G. (1970). Two Essays on Analytical Psychology (2nd Ed.), Routledge, London, UK. (In English)
Jung, C. G. (1977). C. G. Jung Speaking: Interviews and encounters, Princeton University Press, Princeton, USA. (In English)
Kain, P. (1998). How to do a close reading, Writing Center at Harvard University, USA. (In English)
O’sullivan, E. (2010). Historical Dictionary of Children’s Literature, The Scarecrow Press, Lanham, USA. (In English)
Oldstone-Moore, J. (2003). Taoism: Origins, Beliefs, Practices, Holy Texts. Sacred Places, Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. (In English)
Rosen, D. (1997). The Tao of Jung: The Way of Integrity, WIPF & Stock, Eugene, USA. (In English)
Slethaug, G. E. (1986). The paradoxical double in Le Guin's A Wizard of Earthsea, Extrapolation, 27 (4), 326-333. (In English)
Slusser, G. E. (1986). The Earthsea trilogy, in Bloom, H. (ed.), Ursula K. Le Guin, Chelsea House Publishers, New York, USA, 71-84. (In English)
Smith, C. D. (1990). Jung’s Quest for Wholeness: A Religious and Historical Perspectiv, State University of New York Press, Albany, USA. (In English)
Spivack, C. (1984). Ursula K. Le Guin, Twayne Publishers, Boston, USA. (In English)
Tikiz, G. and Çubukçu, F. (2016). The Act of Wizardry and the Development of a Wizard within a Constructivist Perspective: Ursula Le Guin’s A Wizard of Earthsea, Humanitas, 4 (8), 323-341. https://doi.org/10.20304/humanitas.277553(In English)
Timmerman, J. H. (1983). Other Worlds: the fantasy genre, Bowling Green University Press, Bowling Green, USA. (In English)
Walker, S. (2002). Jung and the Jungians on Myth, Routledge, London, UK. (In English)
Zimmerly, S. M. (2018). Finding Balance Through Friendship: Reading A WIZARD OF EARTHSEA, The Explicator, 76 (1), 8-10. https://doi.org/10.1080/00144940.2018.1430676(In English)