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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 6 page discussion of the evolutionary nature of myth. The author reviews the contentions presented in Roland Barthes' "Myth Today" (an essay published in H.D. Tallack's Critical Theory: A Reader) and ties these contentions in with observations from historic European interactions with the traditional world and with contemporary interactions between traditional cultures and the Western World. Bibliography lists 4 sources.
Page Count:
5 pages (~225 words per page)
File: AM2_PPmythTd.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
is in effect a type of speech. Barthes justifies this contention with the observation that just like speech is a system of communication, so too is myth. Barthes
definition of myth, however, is somewhat more complex than this simplistic observation. He suggests, for example, that:
"myth is not defined by the object of its message, but by the way in which it utters this message (Barthes 27)"
Never-the-less, Barthes suggests that everything can be a myth, that even the solid non-verbal objects of our world, a tree
for example, can form the basis for myth when it passes from its "closed, silent existence" to a verbal one. No law, says Barthes, prevents this transition of solid matter
to myth. Utilizing Barthes interpretations of myth it is easy to see how myth is in effect oral tradition. That tradition can be either fiction or very much based
in fact. Fictional or factual, however, oral tradition provides incredible insight into social customs, history, religion, spirit concerns and numerous other aspects of the people from whom it is
spawned. Barthes views on the evolution and purpose of myth are echoed by a diversity of authors. Mibiti (2002)
contends, for example, that myth is: "broader than history in explaining some aspects of society.
It is a language of expressing truths or realities for which history does not supply a full explanation".
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