Fantastic Metamorphoses, Other Worlds: Ways of Telling the Self (Clarendon Lectures in English Literature)

Metamorphosis is a dynamic principle of creation, vital to natural processes of generation and evolution, growth and decay, yet it also threatens personal identity if human beings are subject to a continual process of bodily transformation. Shape-shifting also belongs in the landscape of magic, witchcraft, and wonder, and enlivens classical mythology, early modern fairy tales and uncanny fictions of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. In __Fantastic Metamorphoses, Other Worlds__, acclaimed novelist and critic Marina Warner explores the metaphorical power of metamorphoses in the evocation of human personality. Beginning with Ovid's great poem, __The Metamorphoses__, as the founding text of the metamorphic tradition, she takes us on a journey of exploration, into the fantastic art of Hieronymous Bosch, the legends of the Taino people, the life cycle of the butterfly, the myth of Leda and the Swan, the genealogy of the Zombie, the pantomime of Aladdin, the haunting of doppelgangers, the coming of photography, and the late fiction of Lewis Carroll. Beautifully illustrated and elegantly written, __Fantastic Metamorphoses, Other Worlds__ is sure to appeal to all readers interested in mythology, art, and literature. "Metamorphosis is a dynamic principle of creation, vital to natural processes of generation and evolution, growth and decay. In this book, Fantastic Metamorphoses, Other Worlds: Ways of Telling the Self, Marina Warner also explores how ideas of individual identity and consistency are threatened if a person is subject to a continual process of transformation. Shape-shifting belongs too in the landscape of magic, witchcraft, and wonder, in classical mythology, early modern fairy tales and the uncanny fiction of the last two centuries." "Mutating, Hatching, Splitting, Doubling - Marina Warner's exhilarating journey of exploration tracks the four dominant metamorphic processes to reveal their power in evoking personality. She covers a dazzling range of topics and suggests richly unexpected connections. All this is set against a background of historical encounters with other cultures, especially of the Caribbean, and presented with her characteristic zest." "Beginning with Ovid's great poem, Metamorphoses, a founding text of the metamorphic tradition, she carries us into the fantastic art of Hieronymus Bosch, the legends of the Taino people, the life cycle of the butterfly, the myth of Leda and the Swan, the genealogy of the Zombie, the pantomime of Aladdin, the haunting of doppelgangers, the coming of photography, and the late fiction of Lewis Carroll"-- Inside flap Cover 1 Half Title Page 3 Title Page 5 Copyright 6 Dedication 7 Thanks and Acknowledgements 9 Contents 13 List of Illustrations 14 Introduction 19 'ALL THINGS ARE CHANGING ...': METAMORPHOSIS AND THE TRANSMIGRATION OF SOULS 19 CROSSING AND RECROSSINGS: THE TRANSMIGRATION OF STORIES 35 Chapter 1: Mutating 47 RAMÓN PANÉ: An Account of the Antiquities of the Indians 47 DANTE: INFERNAL METAMORPHOSES 53 OVID MORALIZED: DISFIGUREMENTS OF THE SPIRIT 57 THE LOST GOLDEN AGE: HIERONYMUS BOSCH 61 RAMÓN PANÉ: THE COMING OF WOMEN AND THE COMPANY OF GHOSTS 80 Chapter 2: Hatching 93 MONSTERS 93 MARIA MERIAN: Of the Metamorphoses of the Insects of Suriname ( 1699-1701) 97 APULEIUS, THE TRANSFORMATIONS OF LUCIUS, AND THE TALE OF CUPID AND PSYCHE 102 LEDA AND THE SWAN 111 LEONARDO ET AL 121 W. B. YEATS: PROFANE ANNUNCIATION 128 GRUBS AND NYMPHS 131 Chapter 3: Splitting 137 THE NATURE OF ZOMBIES 140 Zemis AND obeah 150 'I AM THE SLAVE OF THE LAMP' 159 SPELLBINDING COLERIDGE 168 JEAN RHYS AND Wide Sargasso Sea 172 Chapter 4: Doubling 179 'OURSELF BEHIND OURSELF, CONCEALED ...' 179 AERY NOTHINGS AND PAINTED DEVILS 184 'IF THIS BE MAGIC ...' 187 THE EYE OF THE IMAGINATION 189 HALOES OF GLORY 197 THE 'EERIE' STATE 205 QUESTIONS FAR AND WIDE 214 Epilogue 223 Notes 231 Picture Sources 269 Index 271 Metamorphosis is a dynamic principle of creation, vital to natural processes of generation and evolution, growth and decay, yet it also threatens personal identity if human beings are subject to a continual process of bodily transformation. Shape-shifting also belongs in the landscape of magic, witchcraft, and wonder, and enlivens classical mythology, early modern fairy tales and uncanny fictions of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. This collection of essays, given as the Clarendon Lectures in English 2001, takes four dominant processes of metamorphosis: Mutating, Hatching, Splitting, and Doubling, and explores their metaphorical power in the evication of human personality. Marina Warner traces this story against a background of historical encounters with different cultures, especially with the Caribbean. Beginning with Ovid's great poem, The Metamorphoses, as the founding text of the metamorphic tradition, she takes us on a journey of exploration, into the fantastic art of Hieronymous Bosch, the legends of the Taino people, the life cycle of the butterfly, the myth of Leda and the Swan, the genealogy of the Zombie, the pantomime of Aladdin, the haunting of doppelgangers, the coming of photography, and the late fiction of Lewis Carroll.

Metamorphosis is a dynamic principle of creation, vital to natural processes of generation and evolution, growth and decay, yet it also threatens personal identity if human beings are subject to a continual process of bodily transformation. Shape-shifting also belongs in the landscape of magic, witchcraft, and wonder, and enlivens classical mythology, early modern fairy tales and uncanny fictions of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. In Fantastic Metamorphoses, Other Worlds, acclaimed novelist and critic Marina Warner explores the metaphorical power of metamorphoses in the evocation of human personality. Beginning with Ovid's great poem, The Metamorphoses, as the founding text of the metamorphic tradition, she takes us on a journey of exploration, into the fantastic art of Hieronymous Bosch, the legends of the Taino people, the life cycle of the butterfly, the myth of Leda and the Swan, the genealogy of the Zombie, the pantomime of Aladdin, the haunting of doppelgangers, the coming of photography, and the late fiction of Lewis Carroll. Beautifully illustrated and elegantly written, Fantastic Metamorphoses, Other Worlds is sure to appeal to all readers interested in mythology, art, and literature.

"Mutating, Hatching, Splitting, Doubling - Marina Warner's exhilarating journey of exploration (originally the Clarendon Lectures in English, 2001) tracks the four dominant metamorphic processes to reveal their power in evoking personality. She covers a dazzling range of topics and suggests richly unexpected connections. All this is set against a background of historical encounters with other cultures, especially of the Caribbean, and presented with her characteristic zest.". "Beginning with Ovid's great poem, Metamorphoses, a founding text of the metamorphic tradition, she carries us into the fantastic art of Hieronymus Bosch, the legends of the Taino people, the life cycle of the butterfly, the myth of Leda and the Swan, the genealogy of the Zombie, the pantomime of Aladdin, the haunting of doppelgangers, the coming of photography, and the late fiction of Lewis Carroll."--BOOK JACKET. Myths and tales of metamorphosis, from Leda and the swan to Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, command great excitement and pleasure among readers. This book explores stories of transformation, in poetry, fiction, and painting. It shows how ideas about human personality, such as the zombie and the doppelganger, develop in the encounter between cultures. I, brother Ramon, poor hermit of the order of St Jerome, by the order of our illustrious Lord Admiral, Viceroy and Governor of the islands and the mainland of the Indies, write what I have been able to learn and know of the belief and the idolatry of the Indians, and how they observe their gods . . .