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"Myth History."
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Quest for a Suitable Past
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.
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Exploring the life, myth, and art of the medieval world
\"This exciting book offers readers an examination of the world of medieval myth and its historical roots. It brings an ancient culture to life as never before. As a result, this is a world history like no other. It is filled with the strange stories, mystic rites, angry gods, vision quests, and magic symbols at the heart of all cultures but left out of most history books. Such myths are central to understanding how, since the dawn of time, people around the world have sought to explain birth, death, creation, love, and other mysteries of life\"--Provided by publisher.
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The Myths We Live By
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.
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Myth of the western : new perspectives on Hollywood's frontier narrative
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? This book 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 sixty-five year period, this book adds new depth to our understanding of specific film texts and of the genre as a whole.
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Memories as Weapons: The Politics of Peace and Silence in Post-Civil War Mozambique
Political and legal debates over the value of official silence in the aftermath of civil wars are inconclusive. On the one hand, official silence is considered disrespectful to the memory of the victims and an impediment to establishing a culture of accountability and respect for human rights. On the other, silence is regarded as instrumental to achieving peace. Yet, longitudinal analysis of the dynamics of official silence in Mozambique demonstrates that, in this post-conflict country, as in others, silence has not in fact been achieved. Official silence in politically pluralistic environs can also offer opportunities for political elites to use memories as weapons to settle accounts with former wartime foes. In post-civil war Mozambique, Frelimo and Renamo over time have moved away from the initial strategy of official quiescence. Both parties appropriated the official silence to wage fierce political battles where memories of the violent past are used as the principal weapon. The interruption of silence through manipulative appropriations of the grisly past take place in dispersed political activities; however, the most confrontational and violent eruptions of memory occur in the Mozambican national parliament. These political confrontations signal the necessity in this politically pluralistic society for complex readings of memory against the prevailing monolithic official history.
Journal Article
The myth of the Titanic
\"Why does the story of the Titanic retain such a hold on the popular imagination, one hundred years after it sank on the night of 15 April 1912? Howells explores the myths around the Titanic legend, showing what they reveal about the culture of their time, as well as the role that myth still plays in our lives today\"-- Provided by publisher.
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Kenneth Burke on Myth
Kenneth Burke--rhetorician, philosopher, linguist, sociologist, literary and music critic, crank--was one of the foremost theorists of literary form. He did not fit tidily into any philosophical school, nor was he reducible to any simple set of principles or ideas. He published widely, and is probably best known for two of his classic works, A Rhetoric of Motive and Philosophy of Literary Form. His observations on myth, however, were never systematic, and much of his writing on literary theory and other topics cannot be fully understood without fleshing out his thoughts on myth and mythmaking.
Laurence Coupe is Senior Lecturer at the Manchester Metropolitan University. He is the author of Myth (1997) and editor of The Green Studies Reader (2000).
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