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ABSTRACT
I n the Western cultural tradition there is a particular aspect of consciousness
discernable in certain fictive literature; mythopoeic literary consciousness (MLC), the
evolution of which may be traced back to its earliest manifestation in the cave
paintings of the Upper Palaeolithic period in Europe. Researchers agree that those
cave paintings are indicative of shamanic activity, which suggests an interesting
relationship between shamanic consciousness and MLC. This research investigates
contemporary experiences of this relationship in the context of place and the
I maginal Realm using a combination of empirical and textual methods.
The evolution of the narrative psyche is described; beginning with recent
interpretations of the aetiology and meaning of the European Upper Palaeolithic cave
paintings. Shamanism is then examined and linkages are made with subsequent
esoteric traditions such as Gnosticism, Hermeticism, the I maginal Realm of the Sufi
mystics, and the Romantic Movement in European literature. The I maginal Realm,
as a metaphysical construct, is posited in relationship to de Chardin’s Noosphere,
Sheldrake’s Morphic Resonance, the Celtic Web of Wyrd and Jung’s Collective
Unconscious.
Empirical research is presented on contemporary expressions of this tradition.
Three internationally recognised Australian authors, David Malouf, Thomas Keneally
and Colleen McCullough, were either interviewed or completed a questionnaire on
their backgrounds, the role of place relationships, states of consciousness when
writing and reading, the role of literature and related questions. Five dedicated
readers and two professionally credentialed practicing shamans completed similar
questionnaires on their experiences and views on literature, the act of reading, and
shamanic and creative consciousness. The responses are accompanied by textual
analysis of the work of the three authors, drawing out themes of importance.
Further discussion of the empirical and textual material in the context of
broader literature establishes the epistemological dimensions of both mythopoeic
literary consciousness and shamanic consciousness. The nature and relationship of
consciousness and soul are examined from a perspective that unites them with the
anima mundi and posits them in relationship with place and elsewhere-place.
The concluding section revisits core themes to posit the mythopoeic writer
and MLC within the heritage of a metaphysical tradition that delineates the
existential boundaries of the psyche. I t is argued that MLC is a manifestation of the
narrative imperative of the psyche or soul to orientate itself along a place-elsewhere-