Table of contents:
Acknowledgements. Introduction: Perfection, Paradigm, Possibility, The Myth of Mythlessness Part I: Reading Myth 1. Order, Dying Gods, Words and the Word, The Mythical Method 2. Chaos, The Comic Vision, Singer as Shaman, The Sacred and the Profane, The Heart-of-Darkness Trip 3. Ends, The Circuitous Quest, The Rhetoric of Revelation, Apocalypse without Apocalypse Part II: Mythic Reading 4. Realism and Non-Realism, Allegory: The Perspective of Perfection, Radical Typology: Permanent Possibility, Enlightenment and Counter-Enlightenment 5. Psyche, The Primal Crime, The Search for the Self, The Grammar of the Mind 6. History, Criticism as Romance, A Single Story?, In the Labyrinth, Bibliography
Laurence Coupe offers students a crucial overview of the evolution of 'myth', from the ancient Greek definitions to those of a range of contemporary thinkers. This introductory volume
- provides an introduction to both the theory of myth and the making of myth
- explores the uses made of the term 'myth' within the fields of literary criticism, anthropology, cultural studies, feminism, Marxism and psychoanalysis
- discusses the association between modernism, postmodernism, myth and history
- familiarises the reader with themes such as the dying god, the quest for the grail, the relation between 'chaos' and 'cosmos', and the vision of the end of time
- illustrates the relation between myth, culture and literature with discussions of poetry, fiction, film and popular song.
An indispensable overview of the evolution of myth, from ancient Greek definitions to those of contemporary thinkers.
Acknowledgements. Introduction: Perfection, Paradigm, Possibility, The Myth of Mythlessness Part I: Reading Myth 1. Order, Dying Gods, Words and the Word, The Mythical Method 2. Chaos, The Comic Vision, Singer as Shaman, The Sacred and the Profane, The Heart-of-Darkness Trip 3. Ends, The Circuitous Quest, The Rhetoric of Revelation, Apocalypse without Apocalypse Part II: Mythic Reading 4. Realism and Non-Realism, Allegory: The Perspective of Perfection, Radical Typology: Permanent Possibility, Enlightenment and Counter-Enlightenment 5. Psyche, The Primal Crime, The Search for the Self, The Grammar of the Mind 6. History, Criticism as Romance, A Single Story?, In the Labyrinth, Bibliography
Laurence Coupe offers students a crucial overview of the evolution of 'myth', from the ancient Greek definitions to those of a range of contemporary thinkers. This introductory volume
- provides an introduction to both the theory of myth and the making of myth
- explores the uses made of the term 'myth' within the fields of literary criticism, anthropology, cultural studies, feminism, Marxism and psychoanalysis
- discusses the association between modernism, postmodernism, myth and history
- familiarises the reader with themes such as the dying god, the quest for the grail, the relation between 'chaos' and 'cosmos', and the vision of the end of time
- illustrates the relation between myth, culture and literature with discussions of poetry, fiction, film and popular song.
An indispensable overview of the evolution of myth, from ancient Greek definitions to those of contemporary thinkers.