Literary notes about taboo (AI summary)
In literature, the term "taboo" is often used to evoke the weight of prohibitions that shape both personal and collective conduct. It appears as a marker of social restraint—such as forbidding the utterance of a respected name in the presence of an elder ([1]) or as a ritual injunction that governs everyday activities ([2]). Psychoanalytic perspectives portray taboo as an inner commandment that, when violated, catalyzes feelings of guilt and anxiety, akin to symptoms seen in compulsion neuroses ([3], [4]). Meanwhile, in mythic and anthropological narratives, taboo also emerges as a potent symbol of the sacred versus the unclean, where transgression might attract divine retribution or provoke the ineffable forces of negative magic ([5], [6]). Additionally, it encapsulates the ambivalence inherent in cultural practices, indicating both prohibitive power and the potential for liberation under shifting social circumstances ([7]).