Description
Book SynopsisAn exploration of Spanish writer Carmen Martín Gaite's religious outlook through the inner journeys of five female characters. For Martín Gaite, a truly religious, or spiritual, perspective requires conscious attention to the products of the unconscious (dreams, images, memories, premonitions), followed by reflection and action, as well as a similar attentiveness and responsiveness to external events both large and small. This reconnection of the supernatural and day-to-day worlds also involves descent to the unconscious - the way to wholeness - as depicted in so many myths and fairy tales, including those which Martín Gaite used to retell or enhance the works analysed in this book: Sleeping Beauty, The Little Mermaid, Amor and Psyche, Demeter and Persephone, and the Descent of the Goddess Inanna. Looking at the extent to which these female characters attend to, reflect on, and respond to their dreams, images, memories and events, the analysis suggests that Martín Gaite uses her stories to try to communicate both the road to her own enlightenment and warnings about paths that lead away from this.
Table of ContentsChapter 1: In Spirit and Truth Chapter 2: The Link has Broken: Matilde's Dream in El balneario Chapter 3: When the Meaning is Lost: Death and Life in Lo raro es vivir and Irse de casa Chapter 4: ¡Oh Inanna! No investigues los ritos del mundo inferior: Mariana's Descent to the Underworld in Nubosidad variable Chapter 5: Looking for the Lost Daughter: Sofía's Search in Nubosidad variable Conclusion Bibliography Index
