Stylist as Mythmaker - Abstract

Vishvanatha Kaviraja Institute New Delhi | London | New York, 2020

Human culture has always weaved myths around its pattern of existence for multiple purposes. The interplay of religion and social practices have found their own space within the sphere of mythology. It is possible to read mythical texts to probe into the greater picture of human civilization. The contribution of myths towards the shaping of human beliefs, behavioural patterns are evident and assessing them often reveals a plethora of cultural histories unexplored and therefore unacknowledged before. The contribution of mythopoeia towards the construct of human socio-cultural identity has been largely accepted. Modern academia has thus taken a strong interest in revisionist literature to understand the hitherto unknown nuances of human civilization. In the edited anthology, Art and Aesthetics of Modern Mythopoeia: Literatures, Myths and Revisionism (Vol-II), like the first volume, an attempt has been made to anthologize the works of a large number of authors who have talked about pertinent issues in the context of myth-making, the latent politics of mythopoeia and has taken into account several underexplored texts that are rich in mythical content. This volume offers a wide range of critical studies involving classical as well as modern myths around the globe.

Mythmaking Across Boundaries, 2016

If there is anything that radically set the 20 th century apart from what had gone before, it is the two unprecedented developments: the birth of psychology and the rise of the fantastic. The two processes were not unrelated: psychology came in the wake of discovering that the human mind contains a dimension that is only partially accessible to consciousness. The literary fantastic, in turn, was an attempt to explore this dimension and its influence on the human mind. Both psychology and the fantastic identified myth to be foundational for their fields, either as a record of alternative modes of thought or as a narrative strategy hardwired into human cognitive architecture. One result of this rediscovery of myth has been the proliferation of myth theories. In this chapter I look at four approaches to myth that have not made it into the myth theory canon. These include Immanuel Velikovsky's euhemerist reading of world myths as a memory of cosmic catastrophes and near-extinction events witnessed by various human societies in the past; Julian Jaynes' proposal about Greek myths—especially those recorded in the Iliad—as narrative accounts of bicameral consciousness that preceded our modern subjective consciousness; Sean Kane's comparative perspective on world mythtelling traditions as forms of humanity's dialogue with nature; and Jonathan Gottschall's social Darwinist reading of the Iliad and the Odyssey that positions these texts as narrative testimonies of a struggle for Darwinian fitness within an exacting eco-cultural niche. Starting with a brief taxonomy of myth theories, their types, and contexts in which they emerged and functioned, I call attention to the fact that any theoretical approach to myth is inescapably mythopoeic. Theories of myth are attempts to recreate the meaning of myths once their literal account is " no longer accepted, " 1 and also attempts to identify the source and urgency of specific myths both to the people Züleyha Çetiner-Öktem. Ed. Mythmaking Across Boundaries. Newcastle, UK: Cambridge Scholars Press, 2016

Mythmaking across Boundaries, 2016

This volume explores the dynamics of myths throughout time and space, along with the mythmaking processes in various cultures, literatures and languages, in a wide range of fields, ranging from cultural studies to the history of art. The papers brought together here are motivated by two basic questions: How are myths made in diverse cultures and literatures? And, do all different cultures have different myths to be told in their artistic pursuits? To examine these questions, the book offers a wide array of articles by contributors from various cultures which focus on theory, history, space/place, philosophy, literature, language, gender, and storytelling. Mythmaking across Boundaries not only brings together classical myths, but also contemporary constructions and reconstructions through different cultural perspectives by transcending boundaries. Using a wide spectrum of perspectives, this volume, instead of emphasising the different modes of the mythmaking process, connects numerous perceptions of mythmaking and investigates diversities among cultures, languages and literatures, viewing them as a unified whole. As the essays reflect on both academic and popular texts, the book will be useful to scholars and students, as well as the general reader.

Journal of emerging technologies and innovative research, 2020

JCLA: Vishvanatha Kaviraja Institute, Cuttack, Orissa , 2020

It is a fact that mythopoeia has always been a steady proponent in the construct of any socio-cultural order. In the contemporary times, owing to the rise of cultural studies, a steady interest towards Revisionist literary texts has also surfaced. The association of Indian culture and values with a plethora of mythological narratives have made several scholars curious because they do offer an array of new perspectives of understanding the art, aesthetics and also the politics of myths within a larger social, religious and cultural context. Similarly, by exploring the trope of myth, it has been possible to look at the cultures of other countries as well. This anthology offers new readings of classical myths across continents and cultures. The anthologized essays have collectively explored the various trends of Revisionist literature. Sincere attempts have also been made to highlight the ways in which re-readings of select literary works can admirably transform set notions and ideas of human existence.

Myths in Art

The ubiquitous depictions of ancient myths in Renaissance art are viewed as expressions of classical revival, demonstrating the importance of the Greek and Roman legacy in the intellectual and artistic culture of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. While this is basically true, some of the misconceptions inherent in this broad generalization will be demonstrated in this study. Without delving into broader aspects of skepticism regarding the validity of the "Renaissance myth", I will focus on essential questions of tradition and innovation regarding myths in Renaissance art. In order to understand the orientation, function or aim of the myth in Renaissance art, it is imperative to consider the re-adaption of literary and artistic precedents that accumulated over centuries, bearing conservative, conflicting or interweaving interpretations. Multifarious precedents were part of the artistic and literary legacy

2013

In search of a scientifically useful minimal definition of the term "myth", this article traces the development of the concept from the cultural environment of classical Greece, in which it was born, until its modern use in the framework of socio-anthropological studies. Of all the terms of the vocabulary of religious anthropology "myth'' is certainly the most used one. Unfortunately, its wide-spread use is directly proportional to its indeterminateness. Moreover, it regards not only the everyday lexis (what is exactly intended, when, for instance, people call an actor or a soccer player "mythic"?), but also academic communications: various authors can intend by this concept diametrically opposed things.

2011

Contents: Introduction, Isabelle Loring Wallace and Jennie Hirsh Prologue: Faraway, so close mythic origins, contemporary art: the case of Kara Walker, Lisa Saltzman. Section I Myth as Meaning: A poetics of becoming: the mythography of Cy Twombly, Craig G. Staff Art is glimpsed, Sharon Hecker Narcissus, narcosis, neurosis: the visions of Yayoi Kusama, Jody B. Cutler The porous space of Bracha L. Ettinger's Eurydices, Marisa Vigneault Double take, or theorizing reflection in Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Jennie Hirsh. Section II Myth as Medium: Lichtenstein's Narcissus, Graham Bader Philomela as metaphor: sexuality, pornography and seduction in the textile works of Tracey Emin and Ghada Amer, Giulia Lamoni Icarus returned: the falling man and the survival of antiquity, Sharon Sliwinski Deep shit: thoughts on Wim Delvoye's Cloaca project, Isabelle Loring Wallace. Section III Myth as Method: A new Parrhasius: Duane Hanson's uncanny realism, Elizabeth Mansfield Over and over, a...