This is Icarus: the imaginary in “This is Earl Sandt” by Robert Olen Butler
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.51359/2175-294x.2025.262237Keywords:
creative writing, imaginary, Robert Olen ButlerAbstract
This article investigates the mythopoetic elements of the short story “This is Earl Sandt”, by Robert Olen Butler. Based on texts by Gilbert Durand and Gaston Bachelard, among others, I explore the way in which the imaginary is constructed in the story, as well as the implicit relationship between the narrative and the myth of Icarus. Regarding the historical period in which the text was written and considering Butler’s classes and recordings of his creative process, I also propose a connection between the imaginary in the story and the historical context of the United States in the aftermath of the attacks of September 11, 2001.
References
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