Born in Mexico City in 1914, writer, poet, and diplomat Octavio Paz won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1990, eight years before his death in 1998. The Writing in the Stars explores Paz's life and ideas by establishing a dialogue between the structure and recurring images of his major poems and the ideas of Carl Jung.
Although other literary critics have pointed to Jungian concepts in Paz, a comprehensive study on the subject has yet to be undertaken. Rodney Williamson takes up this challenge, adopting a Jungian perspective to explore successive phases of Paz's poetry. Williamson illustrates how archetypal images infuse Paz's early poetry and his surrealist period and shows how the circular structure of Paz's longer poems, such as 'Piedra de sol' and 'Blanco,' are based on the Eastern sacred circle or mandala, a major archetype of psychic wholeness in Jung. He argues that a grasp of the psychological importance of Jung's archetypes is essential to understanding the various syntheses of creative truth and existence sought by Paz at different defining moments of his career as a poet. The Writing in the Stars will prove fascinating to anyone interested in Latin-American literature, Jungian psychology, or critical theory.
Authors
- Bibliography, etc. Note
- Includes bibliographical references (p. [159]-166) and index
- Control Number Identifier
- CaOOCEL
- Dewey Decimal Classification Number
- 861/.62
- Dewey Decimal Edition Number
- 22
- General Note
- Issued as part of the desLibris books collection
- ISBN
- 9780802090843 9781442685055
- LCCN
- PQ7297.P285
- LCCN Item number
- Z969 2007eb
- Modifying agency
- CaBNVSL
- Original cataloging agency
- CaOONL
- Physical Description | Extent
- 1 electronic text (172 p.)
- Published in
- Canada
- Publisher or Distributor Number
- CaOOCEL
- Rights
- Access restricted to authorized users and institutions
- System Control Number
- (CaBNVSL)slc00222069 (OCoLC)753358800 (CaOOCEL)424347
- System Details Note
- Mode of access: World Wide Web
- Transcribing agency
- CaOONL
Table of Contents
- Contents 8
- Prelude 12
- Phase One: The Dialogue with the Other 23
- Phase Two: The Birth of Ego Consciousness and the Search for Self 58
- Phase Three: Mandala and the Ritual of Meaning 103
- Phase Four: The Circular Journey and Return to the Source 120
- Phase Five: The Human Couple 140
- Conclusions: A Handful of Words 150
- Notes 154
- References 168
- Index 176
- A 176
- B 176
- C 176
- D 177
- E 177
- F 177
- G 178
- H 178
- I 178
- J 178
- K 178
- L 179
- M 179
- N 179
- O 179
- P 179
- Q 180
- R 180
- S 180
- T 181
- U 181
- V 181
- W 181
- Y 181
