Abstract
This article gives an ethnographic account of the epic tradition of She people in China, noting the dual transmission methods of stories, in which the core of the story is preserved in pictorial depictions within primarily sacred contexts, whilst more flexible oral retellings fit the stories to the daily life of the She in modern China. The article contrasts western views of myth as a feature of a pre-modern way of life which has lost its relevance in the modern world with common understandings of myth in China as factually based and relevant to contemporary life. The article shows how the She deploy their mythic heritage to reinforce their ethnic identity and to pursue material interests within the context of modernizing Chinese state, numerically and politically dominated by the Han majority, and draws upon the work of Claude Levi-Strauss to suggest that myth remains an important component of Chinese modernity.
Highlights
Numerous scholars have discussed the meaning of myth (e.g. Cruz & Frijhoff, 2009), there is little agreement on a clear definition of the term
This paper will first consider western scholarship on myth, showing that from Tylor to Lévi-Strauss, western theorists have generally contrasted myth explicitly with science, associating myth primarily with pre-modern societies, and science with the modern. It will note the somewhat different attitudes to myth prevalent in modern China, and will introduce my fieldwork, which focused on the mythology of the She people from the southeast of the country
It will suggest that this survival justifies Lévi-Strauss’s assertion that myth survives in the modern world and is as rational as science in its own way
Summary
Numerous scholars have discussed the meaning of myth (e.g. Cruz & Frijhoff, 2009), there is little agreement on a clear definition of the term. The origins and meanings of myths have generated heated debates in the fields of the humanities and social sciences throughout the world. This paper will first consider western scholarship on myth, showing that from Tylor to Lévi-Strauss, western theorists have generally contrasted myth explicitly with science, associating myth primarily with pre-modern societies, and science with the modern. It will note the somewhat different attitudes to myth prevalent in modern China, and will introduce my fieldwork, which focused on the mythology of the She people from the southeast of the country. It will suggest that this survival justifies Lévi-Strauss’s assertion that myth survives in the modern world and is as rational as science in its own way
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