Symbolika zła w cyklu "Ziemiomorze" Ursuli K Le Guin
The Symbolism of Evil in Ursula K. Le Guin’s “Earthsea” Cycle

Summary/Abstract: Evil as a force, character, or concept tends to play an important role in fantasy. While its use may be limited to being a plot driver in the form of a main antagonist, literary representations of evil may be also laying claim to universal validity. This essay proposes a reading of the representation of evil presented in the Earthsea cycle (written by Ursula K. Le Guin) as an example of the latter case. Hermeneutics of symbols of Paul Ricœur is used to unpack the original vision of evil presented by the Le Guin. It is argued that the conception of evil which arises from the symbols employed by Le Guin is primarily “hermeneutic/semiotic” in as much as it connects evil to the destruction of meaning rather than to immoral action. This is an unusual and highly relevant concept of evil with significance outside of the fictional universe.

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