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.
With a new Introduction by the author
An elegant and sane little book. - The New Statesman
Myths, as Mary Midgley argues in this powerful book, are everywhere. In political thought they sit at the ...heart of theories of human nature and the social contract; in economics in the pursuit of self interest; and in science the idea of human beings as machines, which originates in the seventeenth century, is a today a potent force. Far from being the opposite of science, however, Midgley argues that myth is a central part of it. Myths are neither lies nor mere stories but a network of powerful symbols for interpreting the world. Tackling a dazzling array of subjects such as philosophy, evolutionary psychology, animals, consciousness and the environment in her customary razor-sharp prose, The Myths We Live By reminds us of the powerful role of symbolism and the need to take our imaginative life seriously.
Mary Midgley is a moral philosopher and the author of many books including Wickedness, Evolution as a Religion, Beast and Man and Science and Poetry. All are published in Routledge Classics.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Reseña del libro
Rodríguez Melchor, María Dolores (coord.): La pervivencia y reescritura del mito: adaptación, traducción y recepción. McGraw Hill. 2022, 124 págs. ISBN 9788448634629, 124 p.
The study of institutional myths has been central to organizational sociology, cultural sociology, and the sociology of education for 30 years. This article examines how the myth concept has been ...used and develops neglected possibilities by asking: What happens when myths become incarnate, and how does this occur? In other words, what happens when conformity to a rationalized cultural ideal such as "accountability" is no longer symbolic but is given tangible flesh? Data from a two-year ethnography of an urban elementary school provide answers and reveal "recoupling" processes through which institutional myths and organizational practices that were once loosely connected become tightly linked. In the school studied here, recoupling accountability with classroom practices created a phenomenon that teachers labeled "turmoil." The findings advance our understanding of the micro-sociological foundations of institutional theory by "inhabiting" institutionalism with people, their work activities, social interactions, and meaning-making processes.
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