The Biblical Archetypal Analysis Of The Magician Of Lublin

Isaac Bashevis Singer(1904-1991), a prominent American Jewish writer, won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1978. The Magician of Lublin, published in 1960, is considered as his best novel. Scholars both from abroad and China have done plenty of research on it from diverse perspectives. However, archetypal elements in this novel haven’t attracted much critical attention and research based on Biblical archetypes is rather rare. Based on the previous research by other scholars, the thesis aims at giving a Biblical archetypal analysis of The Magician of Lublin in terms of characters, narrative patterns and motifs.After a general introduction to Singer and the plot of his novel The Magician of Lublin, the thesis makes a literature review of this novel and reveals the significance of archetypal analysis of it. After introducing the Archetypal Criticism, especially Frye’s Biblical archetypal theory, the thesis concentrates on the Biblical archetypal characters, narrative patterns and motifs in the novel. Yasha and Esther are displacements of Biblical characters: Yasha bears some resemblance to Saint Paul, who initially is sinful, but becomes a Saint. The Biblical archetype of Esther is Job, who holds endless patience under great sufferings. Secondly, the thesis demonstrates the U-shaped archetypal narrative pattern and the inverted U-shaped pattern of The Magician of Lublin. Thirdly, the thesis analyzes the Biblical archetypal motifs. The two main motifs in The Magician of Lublin are wandering and return.Based on the above analysis, the thesis emphasizes the significance of Singer’s employment of Biblical elements in The Magician of Lublin, showing that the minority cultures will be inevitably weakened in the mainstream culture. The profound archetypal elements reveals the author’s attention to Jewish cultural heritage, pursuit of Jewish identity and exploration on the destiny of Jews.