An Existential Look at “Moomin Stories”: A Philosophical Commentary on Olga Tokarczuk’s “Moomins: Road to Maturity” Cover Image

Egzystencjalne spojrzenie na „Opowiadania Muminków”. Filozoiczny komentarz do „Muminków. Droga do dojrzałości” Olgi Tokarczuk
An Existential Look at “Moomin Stories”: A Philosophical Commentary on Olga Tokarczuk’s “Moomins: Road to Maturity”

Author(s): Ewelina Zygan
Subject(s): Philosophy, Language and Literature Studies, Studies of Literature, Philosophical Traditions, Polish Literature, Existentialism
Published by: Wydawnictwo Naukowe Uniwersytetu Marii Curie-Sklodowskiej
Keywords: existentialism; philosophy; psychology; Moomins; determinism; personality; education

Summary/Abstract: The article is a philosophical commentary on Olga Tokarczuk’s therapy program Moomins: Road to Maturity. The main goal of the article is to show the existential background of Moomin Stories, and thus go beyond the interpretation proposed by the Nobel Prize winner in the perspective of depth psychology. The article emphasizes the adoption of a different attitude towards Tokarczuk’s reading of Moomins, which is reductionist and deterministic. Meanwhile, the existential interpretation allows for a critical discussion of the assumptions adopted in the psychological and developmental reading of the Nobel Prize winner.

  • Issue Year: 7/2022
  • Issue No: 1
  • Page Range: 347-366
  • Page Count: 20
  • Language: Polish