Mythography: Difference between revisions
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[[Image:Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, Apotheosis of Homer, 1827.jpg|thumb|right|350px|''L'Apothéose d'Homère'' from [[Dominique Ingres]], 1827]] |
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A '''mythographer''', or a '''mythologist''' is a compiler of [[mythology|myth]]s. The word derives from the [[Greek language|Greek]] "μυθογραφία" (''mythografia''), "writing of fables",<ref>[http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3D%2369032 μυθογραφία], Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, ''A Greek-English Lexicon'', on Perseus Digital Library</ref> from "μῦθος" (''[[mythos]]''), "speech, word, fact, story, narrative"<ref>[http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Dmu%3Dqos μῦθος], Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, ''A Greek-English Lexicon'', on Perseus Digital Library</ref> + "γράφω" (''graphο''), "to write, to inscribe".<ref>[http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Dgra%2Ffw γράφω], Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, ''A Greek-English Lexicon'', on Perseus Digital Library</ref> '''Mythography''' is then the rendering of myths in the arts. In the 21st century, the mythographer might also be a scholarly interpreter, sometimes drawing on [[field work]], often with the aim of contributing to the fields of [[cultural anthropology]], [[religious studies]], or a '''myth theory'''. |
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==Rationalistic approaches== |
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One of the first Western attempts at rationalization of mythology, and more generally of religious beliefs, can be traced to [[Euhemerus]]. This Greek mythographer at the court of [[Macedon]] in the late 4th century BC held that myths were actually true stories of historical persons, twisted and amplified. This doctrine is called ''Euhemerism''. Even today, the [[Ancient astronaut theories]] has been described as "''neo-Euhemerism''" by French sociologist [[Jean-Bruno Renard]]. |
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The ''[[philosophe]]s'', such as [[Voltaire]], were interested in dispelling myths, not explaining their existence. While the basic understandings of the Western world were informed by [[Christianity]] in all areas of study, the term '''mythographer''' referred to someone who attempted to explain [[paganism|pagan]] myths in terms of misremembering the events of the [[Old Testament]] or wilfully altering them. Some of the theories of explanation from classical times were also used, such as the [[apotheosis]] of a local hero. This was before the [[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]], or, speaking more precisely, before the arrival of [[historicism]]. |
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==Romanticism== |
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It has been a consistent strand of [[Romanticism]], to insist on a level of validity of myth, and these arguments have often connected myth with the creative imagination. These notions come together in the concept of [[mythopoeic]] imagination, which has been articulated in the anthropological work of [[Jadran Mimica]],<ref>{{cite book |
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| title = Intimations of Infinity |
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| first = Jadran | last = Mimica |
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| year = 1988 |
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}}</ref> among others. Theories with an academic basis which support this thinking have been popular, in the sense of receiving much attention; without ever being able to support claims of reliability acceptable to more rationalistic perspectives. |
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==Myth theories== |
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Already in the 19th century there was a tendency to produce large-scale myth theories, such as those of [[Max Müller]] with emphasis on [[solar myth]]s (shared with [[Adalbert Kuhn]] the philologist), [[Andrew Lang]], [[Wilhelm Mannhardt]], and [[James Frazer]]. The work of Müller and Frazer, in particular, was seen by others as a contribution to [[comparative religion]], and a myth theory was an implicit commentary on [[Christianity]]. This aspect of mythography was certainly controversial, and those who worked in the area tended to make the inclusion of Christian sacred narratives within the theory only tacitly. The scope of theories also expanded to cover myth from all parts of the world, where the initial field was mainly [[classical mythology]] and myths from areas adjacent to the [[Roman Empire]]. Mythography reached both into the past, for example with the background of all [[Indo-European language]]s, and wherever in the contemporary world anthropologists were working. Cyril Charles Martin, writing in the ''[[Catholic Encyclopedia]]'' of 1913 on [[paganism]], summed up theories as follows: |
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{{cquote|Historians of religion usually assume that religions developed upwards from some common germ which they call Totemism, Animism, Solar or Astral Myth, Nature Worship in general or Agrarian in particular, or some other name implying a systematic interpretation of the facts.<ref>[[:s:Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)/Paganism|Wikisource: ''Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)/Paganism'']]</ref>}} |
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Scholars such as [[Carl Jung]], [[Georges Dumezil]], [[James Hillman]] and [[Claude Lévi-Strauss]] continued this tradition in the 20th century. The direction of comparative religion is represented by [[Mircea Eliade]], and also to some extent by the literary critic [[René Girard]]. The French sociological school has argued in terms of myths having social function. |
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There were numerous other mythographic 'schools' in the first half of the 20th century. [[Ernst Cassirer]]'s approach was through [[philosophy]], specifically the so-called [[Marburg School]] of [[Kantian]] thought; it had a direct influence on [[Susanne Langer]], and has been traced as an influence on [[Mikhail Bakhtin]]. |
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Mythography is the study of the study of myths (the study of myths itself being mythology), as well. In examining how mythology has been studied, one can see the differences and similarities readily, as evidenced by William Doty's ''Mythography: The Study of Myths and Rituals''. |
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==Myth criticism== |
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Besides the anthropologist's reason — better understanding of a particular culture in its own terms, that is, for the purposes of [[cultural anthropology]] — there are very varied reasons behind the interest of the mythographer. The origins of [[Greek drama]] were the immediate cause of the rise of the [[myth-ritual school]], of [[Jane Ellen Harrison|Jane Harrison]], [[Gilbert Murray]] and others. [[Karl Kerenyi]], also involved in [[Greek mythology]], was an associate of [[Carl Jung]], who adopted mythological material in his psychological theories. |
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In general [[literary criticism]], myth criticism was put forward by [[Maud Bodkin]], [[Philip Wheelwright]], and others such as [[Francis Fergusson]], [[Leslie Fiedler]], and [[G. Wilson Knight]]. The critic [[Northrop Frye]], working from [[William Blake|Blake]] and the [[Bible]] as fundamental, always wished to distinguish himself from the myth-ritual school, but is often seen as in some sense having summed up the whole tendency. [[Robert Graves]] was interested in ''poetic theory'', and supported his celebrated ''[[White Goddess]]'' with analysis harking back to Müller and Frazer, as well as the myth-ritual tendency. |
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==Universal myth theories== |
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The old idea of a ''universal'' myth theory, derided by [[Voltaire]], is in modern times most famously represented by [[Joseph Campbell]]. There were many books written in the 17th century purporting to explain all myths. But Voltaire was deriding a Christian myth theory, while Campbell proposes a psychological one. |
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Perhaps the last work which employed this earlier use of the term ''mythography'' was [[George Eliot]]'s novel ''[[Middlemarch]]''. Its character Casaubon was involved in such a project in the mid-19th century. The story tells of a woman who proved unable to finish the project after his death and abandoned it. Casaubon's character is a satire on academic pedantry and hubris. |
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==See also== |
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*[[Allegory in the Middle Ages]] |
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*[[Comparative mythology]] |
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*[[Folkloristics]] |
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*[[Myth and ritual]] |
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*[[Mythopoeia (genre)|Mythopoeia]] |
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*[[Religion and mythology]] |
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==References== |
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{{Reflist}} |
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*Burton Feldman, Robert D. Richardson, ''The rise of modern mythology, 1680–1860'' (1972); reprint: Indiana University Press, 2000, ISBN 978-0-253-20188-1. |
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==External links== |
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* [http://www.phillwebb.net/History/TwentiethCentury/Continental/Mythology/Mythology.htm PhillWebb.net], Mythology/Mythography |
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[[Category:Mythography]] |
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Revision as of 04:04, 30 April 2013
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