WHAT IS MYTH?WHAT IS MYTH?WHAT IS MYTH?WHAT IS MYTH?

A traditional, typically ancient, story dealing with supernatural, ancestors or heroes in the worldview of a people by explaining the natural world, customs or ideals of that society (i.e. creation stories, Prometheus)

WHAT IS MYTH?WHAT IS MYTH?WHAT IS MYTH?WHAT IS MYTH?

A popular belief or story that has become associated with a person, institution, or occurrence, especially one considered to illustrate a cultural ideal (I.e. John Wayne, JFK, Ghandi)Myth is a body of story that matters

Myth as Literary TheoryMyth as Literary Theory

Mythological criticism is used to identify the recurrent universal patterns underlying most literary worksUses archetypes to create meaning (which most of the time is shared experience)Carl Jung (Swiss psychologist):

we all share a "'collective unconscious (primal memories common to the human race based on basic primordial experiences -such as the sun, moon, fire, night, and blood, archetypes "trigger the collective unconscious."

Myth as Literary TheoryMyth as Literary Theory

Joseph Campbell (American author) – His ideas reveal psychological truths across many areas of study and culturesmonomythic structure - the commonality of archetypes appearing in myth, legends, folklore of all cultures (I.e. the hero of a 1000 faces)The Hero Journey – a hero must go on a journey (can be internal or external) that includes a departure, journey and return

Ancient Examples of MythAncient Examples of Myth

Modern Examples of MythModern Examples of Myth

The Hero JourneyThe Hero Journey