myth – a kind of story – sacred – reference to sacred beings provides template for ritual...
TRANSCRIPT
Myth
• Myth – A kind of story– Sacred – reference to sacred beings• Provides template for ritual practice by describing
event or practice that ritual re-enacts
– Usually refers to remote time, or somewhere outside of time
– In calendrical festivals/rituals of intensification, this time “comes” again as the observation goes on
Narrative and storytelling
• Importance of storytelling in non-literate societies– Or in societies with robust oral traditions– Folklore from myth to homilies
• Myth remains important in complex societies– Now transmitted via mass media and electronic
media
Performance and narrative• Performative/narrative– Most recent approach– Stresses that myths grow in contexts of
performance and storytelling• Embodiment also – reenactment of stories of the
deities/saints/figures of myth
Genres – oral/textual/audio-visual– How are myths related and transmitted
generation to generation?• How are myths kept “alive”?• New components are woven into them as time
goes on so they do not become “stale”
• “Storytime” – reading for children• Comics• Films• Games?