Hello DMB:
I think how our autobiographical stories create a "self" is analogous to how
our myths create a collective self. There are universal aspects found in all
the diverse set of myths of the world-- I sometimes think that those
universals stem from whatever is driving human behavior. I always liked this
summary of Rollo May's Cry for Myth.
G. Boeree:
Enter myths, stories that help us to “make sense” out of out lives, “guiding
narratives.” They resemble to some extent Jung’s archetypes, but they can be
conscious and unconscious, collective and personal. A good example is how
many people live their lives based on stories from the Bible.
Many stories emphasize the magical granting of one's wishes (infantile).
Others promise success in exchange for hard work and self-sacrifice
(neo-Puritan). Many of our stories today say that valuelessness is itself the
best value! Instead, says May, we should be actively working to create new
myths that support people’s efforts at making the best of life, instead of
undermining them!
Erin
DMB In an effort to perhaps begin the dusting off process, I'd like to offer
an insight as to the true nature of mythology. Here's a description of the
> various schools of thought on the topic. Naturally, these are Campbell's
> words....
>
> "Mythology has been interpreted by the modern intellect as a primitive,
> fumbling effort to explain the world of nature (Frazer); as a production of
> poetical fantasy from prehistoric time, misunderstood by succeeding ages
> (Muller); as a repository of allegorical instruction, designed to shape the
> individual to his group (Durkheim); as a group dream, symptomatic of
> archeytpal urges within the depths of the human psyche (Jung); as the
> traditional vehicle of man's profoundest metaphysical insights
> (Coomaraswamy); and as God's Revelation to His children (the Church).
> Mythology is all of these. The various judgements are determined by the
> viewpoints of the judges. For when scrutinized in terms not of what it is
> but of how it functons, of how it has served mankind in the past, and of how
> it may serve today, mythology shows itself to be as amenable as life itself
> to the obsessions and requirements of the individual, the race, the age."
MOQ.ORG - http://www.moq.org
Mail Archive - http://alt.venus.co.uk/hypermail/moq_discuss/
MD Queries - horse@darkstar.uk.net
To unsubscribe from moq_discuss follow the instructions at:
http://www.moq.org/md/subscribe.html
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Sat Aug 17 2002 - 16:01:59 BST