Myths Vesa Matteo Piludu University of Helsinki. Myths in antiquity or in folk cultures Sacred...

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Myths Vesa Matteo Piludu University of Helsinki

Transcript of Myths Vesa Matteo Piludu University of Helsinki. Myths in antiquity or in folk cultures Sacred...

Myths

Vesa Matteo Piludu

University of Helsinki

Myths in antiquity or in folk cultures

Sacred narratives about gods, heroes, fantastic beings or exceptional humans

Oral tradition, many variation

Ancient myths tell us why the world was organized as it was (cosmology)

Ancient or traditional myths weren’t obvious but complicate: many philosophers, including Plato, discussed on their inner meaning

Ancient myths were deep, ambiguous, suitable for speculation

The meaning of myth was more relevant than action

Common people believed in myths: they were part of religion

Myths were reenacted in rituals

Myth today

In common sense, today myths are considered purely fantastic narratives, generally separated from official religions

Official religions have books, dogmas, prescriptions

In common language: a myth could be also a false story that many people consider real

“The myth of the honest Finnish politicians”

Famous person with an successful story: “The myth of Garbo”

In ancient times or traditional societies the things were more complicate

In scientific literature and in semiotics, there are several definitions of myth

Claude Lévi-Strauss

”The myths are living in us”

Relevance of myths for all the societies, including the modern ones

Unconscious force Many of us does not know that we are (still) believing in several

unconscious myths

Lévi-Strauss was interested in myths of the Native American

Mitheme = myth reduced to an elementary formula, used for comparition with other version

Eero Tarasti

Has reelaborated Lévi-Strauss theories for his Myths and Music

Analysis of Sibelius’ Kullervo, Stravinsky’s Oedipus Rex and Wagner’s Siegfried

Myth or cult of Sibelius in Finland

Umberto Eco

Middle age myth in Joyce (translation of symbols)

Modern myths: popular superheroes (Les Misérables, The Three Musketeers, Monte Cristo, feuilleitons, James Bond, comic books)

The (popular) literature of XIX century is still influencing our popular literature, cinema, comics

Simplified epic elements

Ronald Barthes: Mythologies in 1954 - 1956

The essays were written every month for two years, from 1954 to 1956

Topics suggested by current events and media (articles, films, shows, exhibitions)

Barthes tried to reflects on myths of French daily life

He was upset for the naturalness and simplicity with newspapers and common sense dress up a reality determined by history

Confusion between Nature and History Ideological abuse of this confusion

A modern myths is the language of the falsely obvious: the mythologist should unmask the mystification that transform myths of middle class in universal and natural facts

Soap-powders and detergents

In the first Word Detergent Congress There was Omo euphoria The detergents haven’t harmful effect on skin and they could save

miners from silicosis

Chlorinated fluids are presented as aggressive: they beats, pushes

They are like liquid saviors but blind, liquid fire in war: they burn, kill the dirt

Powders are selective: are separating agents of liberation The dirt isn’t killed, is forced out, as in an exorcism They aren’t soldiers, are police

The dirt, in any case, is the enemy

Ronald BarthesOmo myths: dept and foamy

Commercial and social vanity: comparison between two objects and one is whither than the other

In Omo myths, the consumer is helping the police, he is the accomplice of a liberation

Omo is cleaning in dept all what is obscure But are the clothes so deep as seas or oceans?

Mythology of foam the foam is absolutely useless It’s only luxury, a symbol of abundant proliferation, a vigorous germ,

an airy substance Bubbles connected with air and spirituality

The mythology cover the real abrasive function of the detergent under the cover of a mystical substance that govern the molecular order of materials … transforming all in bubbles

Myths in Commercial

70s Mr. Bubble Commercial http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjymtNGUhFA&feature=related

OMO Retro African Commercial http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCVJg7QpvRk

Nirma Washing Powder http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkcbGGPQKB0&feature=related

Indian commercial lady selling washing powder http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFRGh2bXqa8&feature=related

Fairy liquid old finnish commercial http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewPJHu8xJnU&feature=related

Coral steppi http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-qoKf87UHQ&feature=related

Attention

In this course we will listen to Finnish music’s masterpieces … but also tracks of evident bad taste will be included.

National myths today

Today there are several “national” myths

Civil religion

Myths about “national characters” and “national culture” as monolithic truths, something that is not necessary to analyze

Stereotypes and racist attitude towards foreigners or own national characters

Lack of humor on national myths

Often the national myths are very distorted version of historical facts

Old concepts of the XIX century

Arctic Paradise or Frozen Hell?

Finnish national myths “swing” between exaltation (nature, Kalevala, Sibelius, sisu, sauna, Winter War, hockey and sports, absence of corruption, technology, welfare, Nokia, nice blond women, Finland on the “top” of something, school system)

and lack of self-esteem (supposed cultural marginality, Civil War, cold and depressive weather, “the Finns are too serious”: introversive national character, alcoholism and suicides, ugly fat men passing all the time in the pub)

both attitudes present an radical and unreal vision of the country

Finland seems an Arctic Paradise or a Frozen Hell

The foreigners living in Finland sometimes repeat the same stereotypes, depending on their experience

Competition with the Swedish and Finnish-Swedish

The Finns tends to forget regional differences: Finnish culture seems only one, monolithic

Helsinki University’s national stereotipes

“A Finn speaks only if has something intelligent to say” (Ridiculous) comment in a small guide for foreign students!

It seems that: Finns say only intelligent things Or even worse that…

Finns are mostly silent because they’re stressed about saying something stupid.

Racist indirect discourse. It seems also that: all the other peoples speak to much all the other peoples are saying (mostly) idiotic things

Obviously Finns say (a lot of) imbecile or inconvenient things like all the other people in the World: this statement is a clear demonstration of this fact.

It exist even a verb, höpöttää … for never-ending “bla-bla” chatting puhua perättömiä = to talk senselessly puhua taukoamatta = to talk continuously

Helsinki University and Lordi

For Finns it’s extremely relevant the success abroad …

Some years ago in a guide for foreigner students there was a short list of relevant historical facts in Finland:

1917 Independence … 2006 Lordi won the Eurovision

competition

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mh3hj9-J76Y

It is really an historical fact or the most relevant Finnish composition?

Before the “great international win” Lordi was considered by popular media a clown or a satanist.

Artistic Myths

In politics, propaganda commercials the attitude towards myths is often conservative: the statements or slogans are consciously based on common sense and stereotypes. The mythical discourse is simplified.

Artists sometimes have free attitude toward myths

Often they offers innovative and fresh interpretation of archaic myths

Some artistic interpretation could include also social critic or the reversal of the myth itself

Myths of the course

Finnish Mythology, Kalevala, shamanism

Myths of places relevant for Finnish imaginary: Karelia, Lapland, Ostrobotnia (Pohjanmaa)

Literary myths (Aleksis Kivi, Punainen viiva)

Composers’ myths: Sibelius, Uno Klami

Spirituality in music: Rautavaara’s Angels

National-romantic myths, “Finnishness” (Suomalaisuus)

Myths and social critic

Relations folk music – Romantic, modernist and contemporary myths

Popular and rock music’s myths

Critical attitute

It is necessary a critical attitude towards myths as in Antiquity

Critical does not means necessarily negative: myths are also creative and a relevant part of human imaginary