Open AccessAn Archetypal Reading of the Mythic Representations in Seamus Heaney's Selected Poems
Author(s) -
Alaa Abbas Ghadban
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
international journal of research in social sciences and humanities(online)/international journal of research in social sciences and humanities
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2454-4671
pISSN - 2249-4642
DOI - 10.37648/ijrssh.v11i04.017
Subject(s) - archetype , poetry , mythology , literature , the imaginary , scapegoat , homeland , criticism , unconscious mind , art , character (mathematics) , philosophy , aesthetics , psychoanalysis , epistemology , psychology , geometry , theology , mathematics , politics , political science , law
Archetypes reveal the shared roles among universal societies. This archetype may create a sharedimaginary which is defined by many stereotypes that have not separated themselves from thetraditional, biological, religious and mythical framework. In the same way, archetypal criticismrepresents that body of many stereotypes including plot structure, symbols, character type, themesthat occur in mythology, religion, and stories across cultures and time periods. Heaney poetry hasrested on a wide range of mythic patterns and archetypal images, particularly the image of thescapegoat/sacrificial victim and earth goddess. His archetypal images have been identified with thecontemporary issues in his country. Therefore, this paper explores the underlying archetypal patternthat Heaney implies in some selected poems. These poems target the mythological heritage of hishomeland which he either celebrates or criticized. His poems exhibit the poet's unconsciousattachment to the universal archetypes which set social phenomena.