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The Symbolism of Crossroads
Crossroads in storytelling often indicated the place/time of decision. A anagnorisis occurs after the decision has been made. Character arc or penance follows. The ur-crossroads story features a character with special skills, who has supposedly traded his soul with the devil. One such story, attached to an actual person, is the story of Robert Johnson, who was so good […]
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The Symbolism of Broomsticks
Broomsticks are useful storytelling symbols that serve double duty — they are a symbol of female oppression (tied to the house and the drudgery of housework) but also, by leap of imagination, turn into a vehicle by which to escape. Broomsticks may keep a woman housebound, but also afford the imaginative freedom to fly. Which […]
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The Symbolic Basement In Fiction
In Gaston Bachelard’s Symbolic Dream House, you probably shouldn’t go down to the basement, ever. I mean it. Nothing good ever happens down there. The basement is the house version of a fairytale forest — a descent into the subconscious. We can’t control our subconscious. That’s what makes it scary. EXAMPLE ONE: BASEMENTS AND BEREAVEMENT […]
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The Three Types of Symbolism
Ah, symbolism. A key to understanding texts. Also immensely irritating, and an excellent way to alienate keen readers from the close reading of texts.
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The Symbolism Of Windows
Window symbolism is as old as architecture itself. We can even find mention of windows in ancient mythology. Egyptian palaces had a window in which the Pharoah showed himself. The window itself became equated with the horizon. The sun rises above the horizon, filling the world with light. Many stories feature windows, whether it’s children […]
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River Symbolism In Storytelling
here there is a river there is symbolism. At least, in stories. The nature of rivers also differs between cultures.
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Symbolism Of The Forest In Storytelling
Be it woods or forest, when a character enters the trees in fiction, beware! We learned this from fairytales, but is fear of the forest innate, or taught to us via fiction?
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The Symbolism of Stairs And Attics
STAIRS Halfway down the stairs Is the stair Where I sit. There isn’t any Other stair Quite like It. I’m not at the bottom, I’m not at the top; So this is the stair Where I always Stop. A.A. Milne Common-sense lives on the ground floor […] on the same level as the others, as […]
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Islands and Symbolism in Literature
We see islands in the oldest literature we know, from Shakespeare’s The Tempest (Prospero’s Island) to Homer’s The Odyssey (Circe’s Island) to Jason and the Golden Fleece (Lemnos, Doilones, Cius etc). A well-known island from Greek mythology is Ogygia, considered ‘navel of the sea’. This island is mentioned in Homer’s Odyssey as the home of the nymph […]
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Fog Symbolism
In stories and in art, fog and mist symbolises a variety of related things: obfuscation, mystery, dreams, confusion and a blurring between reality and unreality. First, a description of fog from classic literature: Fog everywhere. Fog up the river, where it flows among green aits and meadows; fog down the river, where it rolls defiled […]
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The Symbolism Of Cardinal Direction
The cardinal directions — north, east, south and west — have quite different associations in each culture around the world. This article focuses on the Western literary tradition, which is heavily influenced by the Bible. One commonality across ancient traditions: cardinal directions are in some way sacred. Many traditions have rules and guidelines around which […]
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Making Use Of The Miniature In Storytelling
Outside is the big world, and sometimes the little world succeeds in reflecting the big one so that we understand it better. Fanny and Alexander, Ingmar Bergman Stories featuring vast size differentials are as old as storytelling itself. These differentials can be created in various different ways, and are much utilised across children’s stories in […]
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What can flight symbolise in literature?
Flight is amazingly common in children’s stories. Several other motifs should be considered symbolically similar: FLOATING AS FLIGHT SYMBOLISM Characters might hold onto helium balloons, levitate by magic or by supernatural means. A picture book example of floating can be seen in “Outside Over There” by Maurice Sendak, in which Ida floats backwards out the […]
