Doris T. Myers

C.s. Lewis in Context Doris T. Myers

Although C. S. Lewis (1898-1963) achieved a level of popularity as a fiction writer, literary scholars have tended to view him as a minor figure in an insignificant genre - science fiction - or have pigeonholed him as a Christian apologist and moralist. In this work Myers places his work in the literary milieu of his times and the public context of language rather than in the private realm of personal habits or relationships. A central debate early in the 20th century concerned the nature of language: was it primarily objective and empirical, as Charles K. Ogden and Ivor A. Richards argued in "The Meaning of Meaning", or essentially metaphorical and impressionistic, the approach of Owen Barfield in "Poetic Diction"? Lewis espoused the latter theory and integrated it into the purpose and style of his fiction. Myers therfore argues that he was not out of touch with his time, as some critics claim, but a 20th-century literary figure engaged in the issues of his day. New readings of many of Lewis's best-known works reflect this linguistic approach. For example, Myers analyses "The Pilgrim's Regress" (1933) in terms of a distinction between archetypal and individual metaphor, to highlight the work's strengths and weaknesses. Instead of interpreting "That Hideous Strength" (1945) conventionally as a defence of Christianity, she reformulates the debate as that of, language the facilitator of rule versus language the instrument of tyranny. She also draws a new parallel between the "Chronicles of Narnia" and Spenser's "Faerie Queen", showing that they are modelled on similar heroic ideals and narrative technique. "Out of the Silent Planet" (1938), "Perelandra" (1943), and "Till We Have Faces" (1956) are also discussed. By approaching Lewis's fiction through the linguistic controversies of his day, Myers not only develops a framework within which to evaluate his works, but also clarifies his literary contributions.