THE BODINESS OF A SHADOW: THE VISUALISATION OF AN INTEGRATED PERSONALITY IN MAX FREI’S ECHO NOVELS

Abstract

The research focuses on the analysis of postmodern playing with the semantic field of the concept of Shadow in Max Frei’s fantasy cycles The Labyrinths of Echo (Лабиринты Эхо, 1996 – 1997) and The Chronicles of Echo (Хроники Эхо, 2004 – 2013) through the prism of the combination of mythological motifs with the concepts of deep psychology by Carl Gustav Jung and Erich Neumann. Providing human shadow with the bodiness along with leveling up the binary oppositions deprives the “shadow” of its traditional connotations (disembodied/bodyless? – dark – negative – evil) and allows to visualize the assimilation process of the Shadow (in Jungian sense) as part of a holistic person capable of integration with the world. A Shadow is regarded as a distinct creature/ a separate/a creature on its own which exists independently of a person but ensures the consistency of an individual’s mental life. The consideration of the evolution of the concept of shadow in Max Frei’s novels allows considering the solution of current problems dealing with the personality integration by means of fantasy literature. The article continues the study of the substantiation of elements of the unconscious in the fantasy writings by Max Frei based on the Echo series.