Ремифологизация в XX и XXI вв. и ее роль в осмыслении природы современного мифа (на материале новостных текстов англоязычных СМИ)

Abstract

The paper studies the processes of remythologization in the 20th and the 21st century and their influence on the nature of modern myth as a cultural and linguistic phenomenon. The aim is to identify the features of the remythologization processes in the 20th and the 21st century, within which the transformation of the phenomenon of modern myth took place and is taking place. Remythologization affects the mythologization of public consciousness, the understanding of the phenomenon of myth, as well as the perception of the surrounding reality verbalized in the media through myths. The research is novel in that it is the first to consider the trends of the remythologization process during the specified periods in diachronic terms, to describe the influence of these processes on the functioning of myth in modern society and culture and to identify the distinctive features of remythologization in the 20th and the 21st century. The research findings indicate that modern myth, born of remythologization in the 20th century, is being reborn today and is undergoing rethinking regarding the modern process of remythologization, which confirms the emergence of new reinterpreted meanings of “old” myths. The paper provides the examples of mythologemes contained in the media that demonstrate the variable content of myth reinterpreted in the 21st century and performing the function of an interpreter of events for modern people. The work is based on English-language media texts.