The past may be approached from a variety of directions. A myth provides a sense of direction: it reunites people around certain values and projects and pushes them in one direction or another. The ...present volume brings together a range of case studies of myth making and myth breaking in east Europe from the nineteenth century to the present day. In particular, it focuses on the complex process through which memories are transformed into myths. This problematic interplay between memory and myth-making is analyzed in conjunction with the role of myths in the political and social life of the region. The essays include cases of forging myths about national pre-history, about the endorsement of nation building by means of historiography, and above all, about communist and post-communist mythologies. The studies shed new light on the creation of local and national identities, as well as the legitimization of ideologies through myth-making. Together, the individual contributions show that myths were often instrumental in the vast projects of social and political mobilization during a period which has witnessed, among others, two world wars and the harsh oppression of the communist regimes.
Myths have intrigued scholars throughout history. 'Twentieth Century Mythologies' traces the study of myth over the last century, presenting the key theories of mythology and critiquing traditional ...definitions of myth. The volume presents the work of influential scholars in mythology: the noted Indo-Europeanist Georges Dumezil, the structuralist anthropologist Claude Levi-Strauss, and the historian of religions Mircea Eliade. 'Twentieth Century Mythologies' is an indispensable resource for scholars of religion and myth and for all those interested in the history of ideas.
What is the nature of the relationship between the Hollywood Western and American frontier mythology? How have Western films helped develop cultural and historical perceptions, attitudes and beliefs ...towards the frontier? Is there still a place for the genre in light of revisionist histories of the American West? Myth of the Western re-invigorates the debate surrounding the relationship between the Western and frontier mythology, arguing for the importance of the genre's socio-cultural, historical and political dimensions. Taking a number of critical-theoretical and philosophical approaches, Matthew Carter applies them to prominent forms of frontier historiography. He also considers the historiographic element of the Western by exploring the different ways in which the genre has responded to the issues raised by the frontier. Carter skilfully argues that the genre has - and continues to reveal - the complexities and contradictions at the heart of US society. With its clear analyses of and intellectual challenges to the film scholarship that has developed around the Western over a 65-year period, this book adds new depth to our understanding of specific film texts and of the genre as a whole - a welcome resource for students and scholars in both Film Studies and American Studies.
Denial and Acceptance Murdoch, Brian O.
Mythlore,
03/2024, Letnik:
42, Številka:
2 (144)
Journal Article
Recenzirano
The story of Orpheus’s failed attempt to bring Eurydice back from the dead is a frequently used theme in literature and in the modern lyric in particular, and it has been the subject of sometimes ...excessively complex critical attention. One core of the myth, however, is the need for the living to face and to accept the fact of the death of someone close to them. Modern lyrics in different European languages—the heirs to the classical myth—make clear how Orpheus’s attempt to bring his wife back from Hades was always impossible, and that his reaction was thus a form of denial. Although many aspects of the broad Orphic complex are treated in the lyric, the poems selected demonstrate the core element of the myth, even when Eurydice is apparently given more prominence than Orpheus, the bereaved husband. It can also be related to C.S. Lewis’s A Grief Observed.
Mythologism of Modern Kazakhstani Prose: Lexico-Semantic Aspect Shanayev, Ruslan U.; Joldasbekova, Bayan U.; Kakilbayeva, Inkar T. ...
Vestnik Rossijskogo universiteta družby narodov. Seriâ: Teoriâ âzyka, semiotika, semantika (Online),
03/2023, Letnik:
14, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
The research attempts to determine the nature of mythologism in modern prose of Kazakhstan, to explain the use of myths in the novels by Abdizhamil Nurpeisov, A. Zhaksylykov and N. Verevochkin, which ...are representatives of the spiritual and intellectual stream in the modern literary process. The subject of the authors’ research is the multifunctionality of myth, its semantics and structure-forming function in the works of Kazakhstani prose writers of the late XXth - early XXI centuries. In the first part of the article, the main attention is paid to the mythopoetics of A. Nurpeisov’s dilogy “Last Duty”, the interpretation of mythologeme and the meaning of the actions of the protagonist, which we consider as a mythological hero. The second part is devoted to the analysis of the mythological plot of Aslan Zhaksylykov’s novel “Singing Stones”, the interpretation of the symbolism of the sacred stone Yin-Yang. The next section deals with the novel of Nikolai Verevochkin, which we treat as a myth-novel.
This article explores the works of Austrian writers Elias Canetti (1905—1994) including the novel “Auto-da-Fé” (“Die Blendung”, 1935) and the autobiographical book “The Tongue Set Free: Remembrance ...of a European Childhood” (“Die gerettete Zunge. Geschichte einer Jugend”, 1977), as well as Barbara Frischmuth (born 1941) with works such as “Queen of the Animals” (“Herrin der Tiere”, 1986), “Beyond Measure” (“Über die Verhältnisse”, 1987), and “Children to Each Other” (“Einander Kind”, 1990) within the context of 20th-century Austrian literature. The article identifies and analyzes mythological images present in these works, focusing on the concept of ‘personal myth’ (interpreted by Elias Canetti as ‘Privatmythos’). Through a genre-based analysis, the article delves into the artistic realization of the authors’ personal myths and the motives behind myth-making. It is established that the personal myth encompasses aspects of both the “mythical” and the “mythological”. The authors suggest a distinction between these terms, which have ambiguous interpretations. It is argued that Canetti viewed the ‘personal myth’ as an individual’s unique dream or fixation, representing their aspirations. Canetti’s autobiography allows for a synthesis of existing and constructed facts. In her “Demeter Trilogy”, Barbara Frischmuth constructs a comprehensive worldview where archaic mythology interacts with modernity, offering insights into contemporary cultural realities.
Algorithms have developed into somewhat of a modern myth. On the one hand, they have been depicted as powerful entities that rule, sort, govern, shape, or otherwise control our lives. On the other ...hand, their alleged obscurity and inscrutability make it difficult to understand what exactly is at stake. What sustains their image as powerful yet inscrutable entities? And how to think about the politics and governance of something that is so difficult to grasp? This editorial essay provides a critical backdrop for the special issue, treating algorithms not only as computational artifacts but also as sensitizing devices that can help us rethink some entrenched assumptions about agency, transparency, and normativity.
Pocos meses después del final de la Segunda Guerra Mundial, el neofascismo italiano se reorganizó en un partido, el Movimiento Social Italiano (1946-1995), heredero directo de la tradición fascista. ...En este texto, analizaremos cómo se produjeron las rupturas del neofascismo italiano, considerando tres momentos principales: el contexto de la migración de antiguos fascistas al comunismo o a la democracia cristiana; las disputas entre las corrientes internas del MSI: el centro conservador mayoritario, la inspiración republicana revolucionaria de Saló y el fascismo espiritualista de Julius Evola; por último, la normalización del MSI en la vida política en la década de 1990 y su posterior disolución. A lo largo de su historia, e incluso en la siguiente fase, la Alianza Nacional postfascista, el MSI cuestionó la doctrina fascista, sufrió contrastes internos entre una función estabilizadora en clave anticomunista y una praxis antisistema, pero apenas cuestionó el mito mussoliniano, que sigue influyendo en la derecha italiana.
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