Cosmogynesis: The female hero in Tanith Lee’s The winter players
Literator
| Field | Value | |
| Title | Cosmogynesis: The female hero in Tanith Lee’s The winter players Cosmogynesis: Die vroulike held in Tanith Lee se The winter players | |
| Creator | Donaldson, Eileen | |
| Description | The mass appearance of female heroes in popular culture in recent decades may encourage the opinion that the female hero has achieved the same credibility as her male counterpart. This article demonstrates, however, that she continues to generate ambivalence and that the primary reservation of most scholars is that a female hero either cannot or should not perform the masculinity of the archetype. Scholarly arguments tend towards two positions: that a female hero is an oxymoron; or that she should be limited to battles on behalf of women in which she champions feminine characteristics and challenges the belief that femininity is not heroic. Neither of these positions take archetypal heroism into account. Advocating a return to Jungian archetypal theory, I argue that the masculinity of the archetype may be as successfully performed by a female hero as by a male hero. Once this premise is accepted, the female hero should be expected to undergo the same trials and perform the same function as a male hero, in short, she should navigate the heroic monomyth outlined by Joseph Campbell. I illustrate this point through a literary analysis of Tanith Lee’s 1976 fantasy novella The winter players. Die massaverskyning van die vroulike held (heldin) in afgelope dekades mag die indruk wek dat die heldin dieselfde geloofwaardigheid bereik het as haar manlike ekwivalent. Hierdie artikel voer egter aan dat sy haarself steeds in ‘n staat van ambivalensie bevind en dat die meeste kenners steeds die opinie huldig dat sy nie kan, of behoort deel te hê aan die manlike argetipe nie. Akademiese posisies is geneig om in twee kategorieë te val: die vroulike held word óf as ‘n oksimoron gesien, óf beperk tot die posisie waar sy namens vroue veg, tipiese vroulike eienskappe openbaar en die aanname uitdaag dat die vroulike nie heroïes kan wees nie. Deur middle van ‘n verdediging van Jung se teorie van argetipes, voer ek aan dat die Jungiaanse manlike argetipe net so suksesvol deur ‘n vroulike as ‘n manlike held verteenwoordig kan word. Sodra hierdie aanname aanvaar word, kan daar van die vroulike held verwag word om dieselfde toetse as die manlike held te deurstaan en om Joseph Campbell se monomite aan te durf. Ek illustreer hierdie stelling deur middel van Tanith Lee se 1976 novella, The winter players. | |
| Publisher | AOSIS | |
| Date | 2017-11-28 | |
| Identifier | 10.4102/lit.v38i1.1413 | |
| Source | Literator; Vol 38, No 1 (2017); 10 pages Literator; Vol 38, No 1 (2017); 10 pages 2219-8237 0258-2279 | |
| Language | eng | |
| Relation |
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:
https://literator.org.za/index.php/literator/article/view/1413/2481
https://literator.org.za/index.php/literator/article/view/1413/2480
https://literator.org.za/index.php/literator/article/view/1413/2482
https://literator.org.za/index.php/literator/article/view/1413/2476
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