Diss.--Theologische Fakultät--Göttingen--Georg-August-universität, 1998. / Bibliogr. p. 421-454. Index.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Queensland, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references.

John Fowles¡¦s The Magus, as a metafiction, is designed to criticize the fictional writing in the context of inter-reflexive narrative. More than displaying his innovative writing style, Fowles extends the possibility of fictional writing with the application of spiral structure, allegorical rhetoric and the abundant mythological elements in this book. This thesis sets out to analyze the mirror-text and discuss how such a text reflects the symbolical meaning carried by the mythological symbols within the narrative, which, taken together, reinforce the significance of the hero¡¦s adventurous journey¡Xthe journey as a process of the development of the hero¡¦s personality. To elaborate the narrative strategy of this novel, in the first chapter, I shall discuss the function of the mirror-text and its relation with the primary text. Applying Mieke Bal¡¦s narratological theory to enhance my understanding of the mirror-text, I would bring forth the cumulative effect of the mirror-text. The arrangement of the mirror-text aims to decompose the text by projecting the deficiencies in the primary text. In Chapter Two, I shall, on the one hand, decompose the text by using Vladimir Propp¡¦s method of morphology. On the other hand, after introducing Joseph Campbell¡¦s analysis of mythology, I would discuss the mode and significance of the heroic journey in detail and explore how the motif of mythology structures the narrative of The Magus. After examining the novel both structurally and semantically, in the final part, I would put emphasis on the psychological condition of the hero. Jungian psychological study, which encompasses mythic symbols, would be adapted for illuminating the development of the hero¡¦s personality. The personal development is taken as an analogy in the novel. From the growth of an I-narrator, Fowles takes the novel as not only an aesthetic discourse with which he scrutinizes the reality he perceives but also a mirror upon which the author and the readers are allowed to project their ¡§lack¡¨ onto the ¡§maternal textual body.¡¨ Like the symbolic rebirth of a hero, the author and the text are reborn from the readers¡¦ interpretations.

The purpose of this essay is to analyze the novel “The Magus” written by John Fowles through the theoretical lens of postmodernism, and the aim is to highlight the existentialism behind the story. The study seeks to explain the intricate relationship described in the novel between societal norms and manipulation, and existential themes such as the fragmentation of reality, the autonomy to choose, and the search for meaning in life. The analysis focuses on four characters, in particular their role in the narrative, as well as the use of intertextuality and specific narratological solutions like the first-person narrator and non-linear storytelling. Through the understanding of the sub-stories in the novel, this paper aims to offer a better understanding of Fowles’ ability to interconnect postmodernism with existential themes to create a rich and complex story, and ultimately to underscore the human condition within our society.

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