tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-934096967055481899.post4221645261207610811..comments2024-03-04T11:22:53.502-05:00Comments on Fifty Books Project 2023: The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph CampbellFifty Books Projecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08640286429668778869noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-934096967055481899.post-46836061462476786052015-07-31T11:46:21.493-04:002015-07-31T11:46:21.493-04:00SO there's lots of interesting stuff in narrat...SO there's lots of interesting stuff in narrative theory/narratology that people still use. Vladimir Propp made a really influential study of the narratives of folk tales that is still used to classify them today. The book I reviewed a couple of months ago, The Sense of an Ending, is basically about the relationship between narrative theory and the human fear of death. I know there's more and if I think of a good one I'll let you know.Christopherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12500451355263180972noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-934096967055481899.post-14126525585501618132015-07-28T01:04:54.446-04:002015-07-28T01:04:54.446-04:00Fair: I think Campbell's goals were similar to...Fair: I think Campbell's goals were similar to Graves then. I think for Campbell, the framework reflects the subconscious of the mind, and thus represents a universal story. However, to be fair to Campbell, I think he was really focused only on "myths," not all stories. I think the difference matters for him because myths more intentionally have moral lessons for their audiences.<br /><br />I hadn't thought about cultural imperialism, but that makes sense.<br /><br />For my purposes, Campbell's book has been helpful. I did not know it when I picked up the book, but what I'm really interested in is "narrative theory." This book served as a handy introduction. So...get ready for more reviews about story structure. I guess.Randyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14977189004050200033noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-934096967055481899.post-84103403073278447542015-07-27T19:52:54.230-04:002015-07-27T19:52:54.230-04:00So, I can't really speak about Campbell, only ...So, I can't really speak about Campbell, only Graves, who really thought about this as WAY more than a framework for telling a story; he thought of every religious myth and poem as telling essentially the SAME story. That's part of the problem: at some stage, it becomes way too reductive. Psychoanalysis is still around, but I don't think anybody really thinks about Jungian archetypes in a serious way--do they?<br /><br />The other problem is that in practice, these theories lend themselves to cultural imperialism because they turn less visible religions and myth systems into pale versions of more visible religions and myth systems. Something happens to them like the round peg that gets cut so it can fit into the square hole.<br /><br />Have you ever read Middlemarch? I think there's a good reason George Eliot gave Causubon the task of creating a "key to all mythologies," and that is that it is a fool's game.Christopherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12500451355263180972noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-934096967055481899.post-47313463839447873092015-07-22T11:50:38.679-04:002015-07-22T11:50:38.679-04:00Do you think no one takes it seriously anymore bec...Do you think no one takes it seriously anymore because psychoanalysis has fallen out of favor? Or do you think Campbell's theory is just substantively problematic?Randyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14977189004050200033noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-934096967055481899.post-30114709929013461482015-07-19T15:57:29.301-04:002015-07-19T15:57:29.301-04:00This stuff was the hot shit about sixty years ago,...This stuff was the hot shit about sixty years ago, but my understanding is that no one really takes it seriously anymore. Probably for good reason. You should Robert Graves' <i>The White Goddess</i>, though, which is similar except that it is the work of a completely insane person.Christopherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12500451355263180972noreply@blogger.com