BBC’s Inspector Lewis: Is Fantasy Literature Perverse?

August 6, 2012 by 18 Comments

For those of you who have read my books and blog posts here over the last decade, the name ‘Titus Burckhardt’ is not unknown. I have referenced his ideas on alchemy and Perennialism from the start and remain not-so-secretly convinced that Ms. Rowling’s reading in hermeticism that set the story scaffolding for her Hogwarts Saga was founded in Burckhardt’s Alchemy: Science of the Cosmos, Science of the Soul. His Mirror of the Intellect, too, I suspect was influential, if only in drawing out the meaning for Ms. Rowling of the many mirrors in the English fantasy tradition. Harry Potter for Nerds has an important essay by Erin Sweeney on Rowling’s astrological-alchemical artistry that assumes just this Rowling-Burckhardt connection.

I’ve also mentioned another traditional writer in thoughts posted here, Martin Lings, who was both a Perennialist and Sufi like Burkhardt and a student and friend of C. S. Lewis.’ Frankly, I think the links joining the Inkling writers and the greater Coleridgean resistance to the errors of modernity with the Perennialist school to be significant and important, both for understanding the artistry and meaning of Tolkien, Lewis, Williams, Rowling, et aliorum, which is to say the power of their work, but in understanding ourselves, as readers and as human beings. Lings’ Sacred Art of Shakespeare is the model of exposition in this regard that I have tried to emulate.

Imagine my intrigue, then, when I heard from a mentor and friend that the BBC had filmed an episode in its Inspector Lewis ‘Masterpiece Mystery’ called ‘Allegory of Love’ that explored the tradition of English fantasy out of Oxford, notably, Lewis Carroll, C. S. Lewis, and J. R. R. Tolkien, in light of Perennialist teaching. I watched it last night via Hulu plus and my wife’s laptop and I review it below the jump; please watch the show yourself before reading what follows because I make no allowance in it for those not wanting to be spoiled.

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Filed Under: C. S. Lewis, Hog Pro Notes

Rings in the Dock: C. S. Lewis and the ‘Meaning in the Middle’

July 9, 2012 by 1 Comment

When I was listening to the remarkable Malcom Guite talk about C. S. Lewis and the Imagination, a YouTube gem sent to me by James Cutsinger at USC and posted below, I had a ‘Ring Composition’ forehead-slapping “Aha!” moment. Rev Dr. Guite quoted the passage below from God in the Dock, and, forgive me, it’s very hard to read this — after reading Alastair Fowler’s  Triumphal Forms: Structural Patterns in Elizabethan Poetry and receiving some keen (ahem) training from W&L’s Suzanne Keen, at least! — and not think that C. S. Lewis was a ring writer who designed his works with an Eye for Chiasmus, the meaning in the middle, what Fowler calls “the Sovereign Midpoint”!

“I think we are rather in this position. Supposing you had before you a manuscript of some great work, either a symphony or a novel. There then comes to you a person, saying, ‘Here is a new bit of the manuscript that I found; it is the central passage of that symphony, or the central chapter of that novel. The text is incomplete without it. I have got the missing passage which is really the centre of the whole work.’ The only thing you could do would be to put this new piece of the manuscript in that central position, and then see how it reacted on the whole of the rest of the work. If it constantly brought out new meanings from the whole of the rest of the work, if it made you notice things in the rest of the work which you had not noticed before, then I think you would decide that it was authentic. On the other hand, if it failed to do that, then, however attractive it was in itself, you would reject it.

“Now, what is the missing chapter in this case, the chapter which Christians are offering? The story of the Incarnation . . .

“If I accept this supposed missing chapter, the Incarnation, I find it begins to illuminate the whole of the rest of the manuscript.” (C. S. Lewis, God in the Dock, Part I, chapter 9, paragraphs 3, 4 & 8 )

Sanford Schwartz has already made the point (ahem) that the three books making up Lewis’ Space Trilogy are ring compositions with definitive story turns. I’m four books into charting the Narniad seven and the structures there are a variety of rings, all of which have remarkable story pivots. More on this as I work it out — but it was delightful to find this God in the Dock quotation which means, if I ever become so silly as to make this discussion turn on Lewis’ intention or knowledge of the subject (i.e. my incipient dementia — or, as bad, a book contract!), I won’t have to stand on my head and base my case on the ‘Argument from Silence.’ Thank you, Rev. Dr. Guite and Profs Cutsinger and Keen!

Filed Under: C. S. Lewis, Ring Composition

Malcolm Guite: C. S. Lewis and the Imagination

July 6, 2012 by 1 Comment

Prof James Cutsinger, C. S. Lewis and Coleridge scholar at the University of South Carolina, sent me this YouTube lecture featuring Malcolm Guite speaking about Lewis’ spiritual journey, the conflict of reason and imagination, and their resolution in Logos. I was already late for bed when I sat down to preview it but sat riveted for more than an hour. Enjoy!

It should not come as a great surprise that Rev Dr Guite thinks Coleridge’s ideas of Logos and imagination are important for understanding Lewis and his Inkling companions. Check out his website, though, for the discovery that this scholar is also poet, rock musician, and artist!

Filed Under: C. S. Lewis

Guest Post: Harry Potter and C. S. Lewis’ Four Loves

July 5, 2012 by 14 Comments

David Holland writes:

One of the books on my summer reading list this year was C.S. Lewis’ The Four Loves.  It is an excellent read, as Lewis always is, but as I read I started making connections with the Hogwarts saga.  I found that Harry follows a clear progression of each of Lewis’ four loves, and that Rowling’s characterizations of Harry’s loves match Lewis’ descriptions very closely.  Considering that one of the overarching themes of the Potter series is the power of love over evil, I believe that Rowling would see all of four of these as powerful forces in the life of her protagonist.  Below is a brief description of how I see Rowling and Lewis overlap.  I would love to hear your thoughts!

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Filed Under: C. S. Lewis, Guest Posts

Taylor C. S. Lewis Conference: A Remarkable Slate of Speakers

May 27, 2012 by 3 Comments

Here’s the thing, serious readers. I get a lot of mail and almost all of it is from thoughtful people like you who want to ‘run something by me’ for my opinion. These are rarely subjects that are throw-away questions not deserving some real discussion and expansion. My blog post ‘drafts’ file, consequently, is now at 109 entries in the queue of topics waiting for me to come back to them. And I don’t think I’ll ever work through that back-log because as I write up one, two more enter the back of the line.

Some posts, though, have to jump to the front of the line because, if they don’t move to the point, their date of expiration passes and they’re worthless.

Today’s first post is an example. Next week the annual gathering at Taylor University of C. S. Lewis and Inkling Mavens takes place and The Colloquium on C. S. Lewis and Friends is a wow meeting of minds. No, Gilderoy will not be speaking (I’ll be working the 8th Day Books table with my friend Joshua), but that’s a good thing as David and Crystal Downing, Alan Jacobs, Woody and Susan Wendling, and a host of brilliant scholars and insightful readers will be. Check out their slate of speakers and schedule here, and, if you live nearby (Perelandra?) or can make the trip from afar, I hope to see you there!

Filed Under: C. S. Lewis, Hog Pro Notes