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12 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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mythology. what do they explain? what do they challenge? what types work?
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- things are beyond the realm of human experience
- myths stretch reality- challenges us to think about limits of human consciousness and creativity - myths the work, work because they are persuasive |
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myths- CF, TV= SE, ET, EP and/or PF
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- powerful, convincing fictions
- stories whose truth-value is taken to be self-evident - stories that explain why things are the way they are - stories that explain the past and/or predict the future |
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symbols
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- something that stands for something else
- signals the importance of an important domain of experience ex) snakes are a symbol of evil - you can unpack any myth based on its symbolic components |
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freud- a psychological theory of mythology: different levels of consciousness in the mind
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- ID: subconscious, evil and dangerous instincts
- EGO- conscious control of the ID - SUPER-EGO- social and cultural conventions that keep people from engaging in violent/aggressive behavior - mythology allows us to see the potential for that structure aka MYTHS express the CONFLICT between the ID and the SUGER-EGO |
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Malinowski: A functional theory of mythology
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- myths justify the SOCIAL ORDER
- myths explain why society functions in the way that it does - need to make sense of the different meanings |
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different creation myths make sense in the context that they are told
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- Declaration of Independence- a powerful fiction rather than a powerful statement of facts
- Genesis- explains gender roles- helps explain a profound contradiction- how can g-d allow for the creation of evil. shows how people struggle to survive |
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Claude Levi- Strauss: Structural theory of mythology
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- forms of social organization are structured in terms of binary opposition
- myths reflect binary oppositions - focus on the structural elements you can break the story down into- NOT message, plot, function, or context - structure of a myth enables people to overcome a logical contradiction in their perceptions of the world - myths explain events that cannot be easily understood |
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example of structural theory in Popal Voh- Mesoamerican ballgame
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- It is a Mayan creation myth
- structure: life, death, and rebirth -- good conquers evil -- death through sacrifice leads to rebirth |
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Mesoamerican Ballgame
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- the game itself: we see how a myth and sport come together
- the myth: a creation story - meaning: human beings are relating to g-d through competition |
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symbolism of mythology in ballgame
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- Popol Voh
- mythic twins beat g-d of death in a ball game in the under world |
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symbolism of ballgame as art
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- circle= cycle of life, death, rebirth
- calendar- rituals linked to astology - maize g-d- Hun Humahpu - "I" Shape- four cardinal directions: E, N, S, W |
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ballgame rules
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- loser dies
- winner take all |
