„Mroczna otchłań”. Archetypowa interpretacja opowiadania Przemiana Juana Romero Howarda P. Lovecrafta

Abstract

The setting of “The Transition of Juan Romero” – the short story by Howard Phillips Lovecraft, who was the originator of modern American horror fiction – is “the gold mine in the Cactus Range”. Drawing on the theories of Carl Gustav Jung, the author of the present interpretation amplifies the cultural dimensions of Lovecraft’s text, giving prominence to its origin from the ancient myths of the Aztecs, and using the so-called psychological alchemy to show the archetypal symbolism and structure of the story. Such a critical perspective, which takes into account different layers of the authorial intentionality and the reader’s response, reveals the complexity of the characters and situations, which are informed by the archetypes of the Shadow and the Great Mother (in her negative, “devouring” form). The interpretation emphasizes the evocativeness and depth of Lovecraft’s archetypal imagination, which strengthen his (and the reader’s) “play with fear”.