The Great Divorce: A Dream by C.S. Lewis: A Comeback of the Medieval Genre

ATHENS JOURNAL OF PHILOLOGY Pub Date : 2022-09-01 DOI:10.30958/ajp.9-3-3

Natalya Davidko

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Abstract

It is universally acknowledged that the Renaissance has exerted a great influence on modern literature and art. This view has been so overwhelming that it has ousted other possibilities, as a result, the influence of medieval literature has been grossly underestimated. In the current article I want to show the role of the “dream vision” genre in shaping the modern genre of spiritual philosophical fiction elaborated in the works by C.S. Lewis, specifically in his exceptionally original novel The Great Divorce. The aim is to examine systematically and expose the intrinsic affinity of Lewis’ work with the ground breaking works of the father of the genre, a French Cistercian monk Guillaume de Deguileville (1295-1358). Separated by time and culture, the works display a remarkable congruity of both form and content including the narrative structure, themes and motifs, allegorical representations and symbolism. The discovered similarities are not accidental because they draw upon the same epistemological position concerning understanding and interpretation of essential properties of the Christian doctrine. Keywords: dream vision, pilgrimage, cardinal sins, comparative analysis

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《伟大的离婚:一个梦》作者:C.S.刘易斯:中世纪文学流派的回归

文艺复兴对现代文学艺术产生了巨大影响，这是举世公认的。这种观点是如此压倒性，以至于它排除了其他可能性，因此，中世纪文学的影响被严重低估了。在这篇文章中，我想展示“梦境”类型在塑造C.S.刘易斯作品中所阐述的现代精神哲学小说类型中的作用，特别是在他的原创小说《大离婚》中。本书的目的是系统地考察并揭示刘易斯的作品与该流派之父、法国西多会修士纪尧姆·德吉guileville(1295-1358)的开创性作品之间的内在联系。尽管时代和文化不同，但这些作品在叙事结构、主题和母题、寓言表达和象征主义等方面表现出了形式和内容的一致性。所发现的相似之处并非偶然，因为它们在理解和解释基督教教义的基本属性方面采用了相同的认识论立场。关键词:梦异，朝圣，原罪，比较分析

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ATHENS JOURNAL OF PHILOLOGY

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