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Library | Material Type | Call Number | Child Count | Shelf Location | Status | Item Holds |
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Summary
Summary
Imagination has long been regarded as central to C. S. Lewis's life and to his creative and critical works, but this is the first study to provide a thorough analysis of his theory of imagination, including the different ways he used the word and how those uses relate to each other. Peter Schakel begins by concentrating on the way reading or engaging with the other arts is an imaginative activity. He focuses on three books in which imagination is the central theme-- Surprised by Joy, An Experiment in Criticism , and The Discarded Image --and shows the important role of imagination in Lewis's theory of education. He then examines imagination and reading in Lewis's fiction, concentrating specifically on the Chronicles of Narnia, the most imaginative of his works. He looks at how the imaginative experience of reading the Chronicles is affected by the physical texture of the books, the illustrations, revisions of the texts, the order in which the books are read, and their narrative "voice," the "storyteller" who becomes almost a character in the stories. Imagination and the Arts in C. S. Lewis also explores Lewis's ideas about imagination in the nonliterary arts. Although Lewis regarded engagement with the arts as essential to a well-rounded and satisfying life, critics of his work and even biographers have given little attention to this aspect of his life. Schakel reviews the place of music, dance, art, and architecture in Lewis's life, the ways in which he uses them as content in his poems and stories, and how he develops some of the deepest, most significant themes of his stories through them. Schakel concludes by analyzing the uses and abuses of imagination. He looks first at "moral imagination." Although Lewis did not use this term, Schakel shows how Lewis developed the concept in That Hideous Strength and The Abolition of Man long before it became popularized in the 1980s and 1990s. While readers often concentrate on the Christian dimension of Lewis's works, equally or more important to him was their moral dimension. Imagination and the Arts in C. S. Lewis will appeal to students and teachers of both children's literature and twentieth-century British writers. It will also be of value to readers who wish to compare Lewis's creations with more recent imaginative works such as the Harry Potter series.
Reviews (1)
Choice Review
Schakel (Hope College) is one of the best known and most prolific contemporary Lewis scholars. This volume treats Lewis's various comments on the importance of the imagination in leading the moral life and in the education of children. This reviewer has some reservations: first, he is unaware if either Lewis (or Schakel) ever defined the notoriously ambiguous word "imagination"; second, he wonders whether the imagination can be taught. Children seem to need no such instruction, and adults who retain their imaginations are sometimes viewed by their peers as strange. Another problem with this work and Lewis studies in general is their distance from the spirit of Lewis, who often urged readers always to read the original text on their own and without assistance from secondary sources. This volume assumes that the reader is already familiar with the Narnia sequence and Lewis's other fiction. Do such readers want help in their reading? For those who appreciate Lewis's commentary on medieval literature, the issue is always curiosity about the ultimate tendencies of Lewis's aesthetic and religious writings. The problems Lewis describes in the early 1840s are much greater today, and one wonders whether Lewis's own religion (Anglican) would welcome its most famous apologist. Good bibliography. Extensive collections. J. R. Griffin University of Southern Colorado
Table of Contents
Preface | p. ix |
Acknowledgments | p. xi |
Editions Used and Abbreviations | p. xiii |
1. "Feeding the Imagination" Lewis's Imaginative Theory and Practice | p. 1 |
2. "The Temptation to Get a Nice New Book" Texts and the Imaginative Reading Experience | p. 23 |
3. "It Does Not Matter Very Much"--or Does It? The "Correct" Order for Reading the Chronicles | p. 40 |
4. "Narrative Nets" Lewis and the Appeal of Story | p. 53 |
5. "He Looks As Though He'd Make It Come Out All Right" Lewis and His Storytellers | p. 70 |
6. "Four Fiddles, Three Flutes, and a Drum" Lewis and Music | p. 89 |
7. "Notable Dances and Feasts" Lewis and Dance | p. 111 |
8. "Glimpses of Heaven in the Earthly Landscape" Lewis and Art, Architecture, and Clothing | p. 137 |
9. "Let the Pictures Tell Their Own Moral" Lewis and the Moral Imagination | p. 163 |
Appendix Table for Converting Page References to Chapter Numbers | p. 189 |
Bibliography | p. 193 |
Index | p. 205 |