This book investigates the triadic constellations between ritual, family, and therapy in literature in English. Many rituals, so-called rites of passage in particular, are strongly associated with the changing status of individuals as members of a family unit. Traditional healing rituals were often designed to have a therapeutic effect, sometimes mentally, but also physically, whereas modern psychotherapies often include ritual elements in order to enhance the efficacy of their treatment. Families, on the other hand, can be the site of therapeutic activity by providing protection, stability, and emotional comfort; yet, difficult family constellations may also be the origin of emotional distress and the reason why a person needs counselling and therapeutic support in the first place. Modern therapies, such as family systems therapy, have expanded their range of interest and influence in order to look at the whole family unit, not just the symptomatic individual, as client. This study discusses nine literary texts—six novels, one literary memoir, and two plays—in which the three dimensions intersect and mutually influence each other.

lgrsnf/Ritual, Family and Therapy in Anglophone Literatures.pdf

Springer Nature Switzerland AG

Switzerland, Switzerland

Acknowledgements
Contents
1 Introduction
References
Part I Theoretical Framework
2 Literature and Family
References
3 Ritual and Family
References
4 Family and Therapy
References
5 Ritual and Therapy
References
6 Literature and Therapy
References
7 Ritual and Literature
7.1 Symbolic Action and Aesthetic Experience
7.2 Social Drama, Liminality and Communitas
7.3 Framing and Play in Ritual and Literature
7.4 Ritual and Literary Genres
References
8 Family, Ritual, Therapy and Literature: Connections
References
Part II Religious Frames, Artistic Transformations
9 Queer Pilgrims: Ann-Marie MacDonald, Fall On Your Knees (1997)
9.1 A Tale of Two Families
9.2 Ritual Consolations
9.3 Therapeutic Effects
References
10 From Talking Cure to Walking Cure: David Lodge, Therapy (1995)
10.1 Therapy and Its Discontents
10.2 Family in Fragments
10.3 Pilgrimage as Ritual
References
Part III Agonistic Families in American Theatre
11 Painful Lessons: Paula Vogel, How I Learned to Drive (1997)
11.1 Abusive Family Bonds
11.2 Therapy and Forgiveness
11.3 Ritual Elements
References
12 No Child’s Play: Noah Haidle, Mr Marmalade (2005)
12.1 Unsettling Family Structures
12.2 In Search of Therapy
12.3 Ritual and Play
References
Part IV Unusual Families and New Scottish Identities
13 Elective Affinities: James Robertson, And the Land Lay Still (2010)
13.1 Troublesome Families
13.2 Ritual and Therapy
References
14 Cultivating the Family Tree: Jackie Kay, Red Dust Road (2010)
14.1 Biological and Adoptive Families
14.2 Religious, Social and Narrative Rituals
14.3 Therapy and Memory
References
Part V The Anatomy of Grief
15 The Therapist at the Crossroads: Siri Hustvedt, The Sorrows of an American (2007)
15.1 Introduction
15.2 Family Secrets
15.3 Therapy, Art and Writing
15.4 Gift-Giving and Ritual Re-integration
References
16 Story-Tellers in Limbo: Jeffrey Eugenides, The Virgin Suicides (1993)
16.1 Family and Gender
16.2 Therapy and Illness
16.3 Myth and Ritual
References
17 The State of the Nation: George Saunders, Lincoln in the Bardo (2017)
17.1 Families and the Nation
17.2 Rituals in Crisis
17.3 Embracing Otherness as Therapy
References
Part VI Conclusion
18 Liminality–Multiperspectivity–Transformativity
References
Index

2025-04-26