Eleni Papanou

Finding Light Through Darkness in Dystopian Fiction – Part Two

Finding Light Through Darkness in Dystopian Fiction – Part Two

In part one of the dystopian book series, we discussed how tales like 1984 raised our collective consciousness to the horrors of totalitarian systems. If that’s true, why is it difficult for us to join together and articulate current events to lessons we’ve learned from the book? In my mid-twenties, I had the realization that…

Finding Light Through Darkness in Dystopian Fiction – Part One

Finding Light Through Darkness in Dystopian Fiction – Part One

I’ve seen a meme floating around on Facebook of a Euler diagram linking together a host of dystopian movies and novels to an ominous undisclosed location. It started popping up during the start of the pandemic. Comments about the meme varied, yet I got the sense that those who responded were bound together by a…

Once Upon a Time – A Visionary Fiction Perspective

Once Upon a Time – A Visionary Fiction Perspective

I first started watching Once Upon a Time with my daughters this year.  The visionary fantasy story was created for television by Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz. It focuses on a young boy, Henry, who believes that his book of fairytales is based on real-life events. The setting is Storybrooke, Maine where Henry’s foster mother, Regina,…

Dark Characters in Visionary Fiction Can Reveal the Light
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Dark Characters in Visionary Fiction Can Reveal the Light

By Eleni Papanou Visionary fiction’s theme is the evolution of human consciousness. But what does that mean? What is consciousness? Psychologist, William James, coined the phrase stream of consciousness . He identified consciousness as something that is shaped by experience and how the experience is processed in our minds. So it’s our life experience that…

Therapeutic Benefits of Visionary Fiction – Application – Part 5
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Therapeutic Benefits of Visionary Fiction – Application – Part 5

This is the final installment of the Visionary Fiction as Personal Therapy Series.  In part 1, we discussed recognition, when a reader experiences a sense of familiarity while reading. In part 2, visionary fiction authors expressed their feelings of recognition while they were writing their stories. In part 3, various authors discussed how they reacted to issues…

Therapeutic Benefits of Visionary Fiction – Examination – Part 3
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Therapeutic Benefits of Visionary Fiction – Examination – Part 3

This is part 3 of the Visionary Fiction as Personal Therapy Series, which was inspired after I learned about bibliotherapy in my psychology classes.  It led me to discover an article by Debbie McCullis in the February, 2014 issue of the Journal of Poetry Therapy.  McGullis listed  a four step process used in bibliotherapy, which…

Harold Ramis: A Comedic Visionary Crosses Over

Harold Ramis: A Comedic Visionary Crosses Over

By Eleni Papanou March 3, 2014 “When I was twelve, I read the line, ‘An unexamined life is not worth living.’ I took it seriously to heart. And literally. Like it was a requirement in life, akin to the Buddha’s suggestion that we maintain ‘sufficiently inquiring minds.’” Harold Ramis interview in Shambhala Sun When Harold…

Unison by Eleni Papanou (Excerpt)

Unison by Eleni Papanou (Excerpt)

RESONANCE   First Incarnation   Time is relevant to sound. An infinite voice sings life into this universe, and I’m but one note resonating within this expanse of boundless potential. While that’s an easy abstraction to grasp, my own potential remains elusive. After eight parallel lifetimes I’ve been adrift somewhere between struggle and mastery, both…

Visionary Fiction – Light Carrier Of This Dark Age – Eleni Papanou
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Visionary Fiction – Light Carrier Of This Dark Age – Eleni Papanou

Eleni Papanou I see visionary fiction as a timely genre and one of the light carriers of this dark age.  It’s the ideal counterbalance to western pop culture that seems to favor violent themes and images that permeate the whole media landscape. The present cycle will continue until a contrasting alternative presents itself. I see…