«SHAMAN ROAD»: THE MOTIVE OF DREAM-TRAVEL IN THE NOVELS BY M. FREI


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Abstract

The article studies the role of the oneirosphere in the stories written by M. Frei by means of motive analysis, mythological and metaphysical method (the term by A. Beguin). The relevance of the topic is due to the low popularity of both M. Frei’s creativity, and the genre of fantasy itself among contemporary researchers. The novelty of the approach of M. Frei’s image of the oneirosphere is that the state of sleep experienced by the heroes is viewed not as passive contemplation, but as a way of actively transforming the personalities of the heroes and the world which they live in. The motive of dream-travel reflects different stages of the shaman’s experience of the protagonist and the characters close to him. The authors also assess the dream experienced by the heroes from the point of view of the mythological consciousness, which shaman has. The characters who travel in a dream can transfer themselves not only to another geographical point but also to another world. The motive of dream-travel can have a creative nature: heroes who see some new worlds while sleeping can embody such dreams in reality. The main hero of the stories, Sir Max, uses travel in a dream in order to pass through the next stage of initiation: he receives new magical skills. In particular, when he sleeps he spontaneously receives the ability to transfer other people to other points of space. Like a shaman, Max experiences a threat of disintegration of personality in a dream: he is pressured by other worlds, trying to lure him into them and destroy his present individual self in favor of some hypothetical future of the new self.

Secondary characters most often perform the functions of magical assistants of the protagonist: spirits-helpers, totem animals, magical donors who not only protect his current personality from disintegration, but also create the most comfortable conditions for further self-development.

About the authors

E. A. Safron

Petrozavodsk State University

Author for correspondence.
Email: morenov@ssau.ru
ORCID iD: 0000-0002-7045-4310

Сandidate of Philological Sciences, associate professor, assisstant professor
of the Department of German Philology and Scandinavian Studies, Institute of Philology

M. V. Lukashеvich

Petrozavodsk State University

Email: morenov@ssau.ru
ORCID iD: 0000-0003-1381-6992

lecturer at the Department of Germanic Philology and Scandinavian Studies, Institute of Philology

References

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Copyright (c) 2018 Safron E.A., Lukashеvich M.V.

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