Re-examining the “Hero’s Journey”: A critical reflection on literature selection for affective bibliotherapy programs on resilience
Re-examining the “Hero’s Journey”: A critical reflection on literature selection for affective bibliotherapy programs on resilience

Summary/Abstract: This article critically examines the Hero’s Journey arc, popular in affective bibliotherapy forchildren and young people. Privileging this archetypal model of resilience represses and excludesdifference. It posits two alternatives, foregrounding characters who face additional cultural,social, and political factors that hinder their capacity to act, and argues that bibliotherapy must beinclusive, incorporating stories that offer alternative depictions of resilience that are complicated,messy, and non-linear but no less “heroic”.

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