https://www.gutenberg.org/files/10897/10897-h/10897-h.htm
Tricksters defy duality: they are both light and dark, heroic and villainous, foolish and wise, benign and malicious. Tricksters are lovable, yet, they can be hateful at the same time. They can be friendly, but similarly fearsome; they are the “Anti-Hero”.
In mythology and folklore, Tricksters are portrayed as jokers, pranksters, clowns, rule-breakers, alchemists, magicians, truth-tellers, and wise fools.
In psychology, Tricksters are the mischievous archetypes of the collective unconscious that shatter old paradigms and gleefully poke sticks at our sanctimonious beliefs and stiff pretensions.
They often play roles in creation or origin stories (e.g. Serpent in the Garden of Eden?) They can represent “outsider figures”, the “other” they are a trans-cultural concept, an “archetype” that tends to show up in diverse human cultures; therefore, they represent a possible unity in human culture regardless of societal influence.
For this assignment, compare and contrast in a minimum of 500 words double spaced, the trickster figures you have read about in this module with contemporary tricksters. What are the similarities and what are the differences?
Do the tricksters we examined have a malevolent or benevolent nature? Or could it be said that they are neither and both at the same time? You are REQUIRED to use quotes from the readings in this module to prove your points.
For example: Could either of these tricksters compare to Loki from the Thor lore, or what about Bugs Bunny, from Looney Toons cartoons? Bugs is a well-known anthropomorphized animal trickster, who is always up to shenanigans and trickery, in many of the Looney tunes episodes his antics examined and explored contemporary politics and culture.