Summary This article seeks to unveil Ben Okri’s antidote to the proposition that the “normal” world is an asylum for mind control. Acknowledging its rich literary undercurrent, I posit that The Freedom Artist (2019), countering Blake’s “mind-forg’d manacles” in “London”, is a culmination of Mental Fight (1999); the novel is a linear progression of the anthology’s subtitle: “an anti-spell for the 21st century”. Although aligning my reading with the view that Okri’s eleventh novel is a penetrating exploration of how our freedom is being eroded by today’s post-truth society, I argue against the grain of organised religions’ promise of redemption, exploring the possibility of mental and emotional freedom via high order thinking/[HOT consciousness. The novel’s double narra-tive provides interlocking blueprints for ontopoiesis/heightened consciousness. The initiation of the young male protagonist, Mirababa, runs parallel to that of Karnak, whose lover, Amalantis, is arrested and spirited away by the thought police for voicing the forbidden question: “Who is the prisoner?” The discussion is perforce limited to the “initiations” – one a spiritual immersion, the other a transformation to intuitive logic for the Bildungsreisende. Both re-awakenings are made manifest by masterfully em- bedding the major arcana of Tarot wisdom within the distinctly dystopian storylines for the enhancement of consciousness.

中文翻译：

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在 Ben Okri 的《自由艺术家》（2019 年）中反击思想锻造的手铐

总结 本文旨在揭示 Ben Okri 对“正常”世界是精神控制庇护所这一命题的解毒剂。承认其丰富的文学暗流，我认为自由艺术家（2019）与布莱克在“伦敦”中的“思想锻造手铐”相反，是精神斗争（1999）的高潮；这部小说是选集副标题的线性发展：“21 世纪的反咒语”。虽然我的阅读与 Okri 的第 11 部小说是对我们的自由如何被当今后真相社会侵蚀的深入探索的观点一致，但我反对有组织的宗教承诺的救赎，探索精神和情感自由的可能性通过高阶思维/[热意识。小说的双重叙事为本体论/意识增强提供了连锁蓝图。年轻男主人公米拉巴巴的启蒙与卡纳克的启蒙平行，卡纳克的情人阿玛兰提斯因说出禁忌问题“谁是囚犯？”而被思想警察逮捕并带走。讨论仅限于“启蒙”——一个是精神沉浸，另一个是对 Bildungsreisende 的直觉逻辑的转变。通过巧妙地将塔罗牌智慧的主要奥秘嵌入明显的反乌托邦故事情节中以增强意识，这两种重新觉醒都得到了体现。“犯人是谁？” 讨论仅限于“启蒙”——一个是精神沉浸，另一个是对 Bildungsreisende 的直觉逻辑的转变。通过巧妙地将塔罗牌智慧的主要奥秘嵌入明显的反乌托邦故事情节中以增强意识，这两种重新觉醒都得到了体现。“犯人是谁？” 讨论仅限于“启蒙”——一个是精神沉浸，另一个是对 Bildungsreisende 的直觉逻辑的转变。通过巧妙地将塔罗牌智慧的主要奥秘嵌入明显的反乌托邦故事情节中以增强意识，这两种重新觉醒都得到了体现。