Prologue: Defining Myth: An Introduction to the Special Issue on Storytelling and Myth

Abstract

Storytelling, Self, Society, 7:85-90, 201 1 Copyright©Taylor &Francis Group, LLC ISSN1550-5340 print /1932-0280 online DOI:10.1080/15505340.201 1.560799 Ö Routledge Taylor &Francis Group Prologue: Defining Myth: An Introduction to the Special Issue on Storytelling and Myth JohnS. Gentile Human beings have always been mythmakers. - Karen Armstrong Approaching myth requires anembrace ofparadox. - Glen Slater andDennis Patrick Slattery Storytelling andmyth areinextricably intertwined. Often considered as "sacred narrative" or"culturally important stories" suchdefinitions ofmyth demonstrate that eventhough mythemes (essential kernels ofmyth) maybecarried byimages, suchas paintings andsculptures, myth itself presupposes andrequires narrative. Myth isnotoriously difficult todefine.1 "There isnoonedefinition ofmyth," as G.S. Kirk hassaid,"noPlatonic form ofa myth against which allactualinstances canbemeasured" (7). Myth resists stable boundaries andis,ultimately, anessentially contested concept.2 "It wouldbe niceto beginwitha clearandconcise definition of 4 myth,"' BruceLincolnadmits attheopening ofTheorizing Myth: Narrative ,Ideology ,andScholarship ,"butunfortunately that can'tbedone"(ix). Whileacknowledging thechallenges ofdefinition, I ultimately agreewith Wendy Donigher O'Flahery;whileitmaybe "impossible to define a myth," itis also "cowardly nottotry"(25). Myth- as a term, as a concept, andas a fieldof study - ismultivalent andambiguous, andlikeitsmany narratives holdstogether binary opposites that enrich itsstudy andenliven itsdiscussion. Perhaps myth's major paradox maybethat itcanmeaneither truth or(particularly incasualconversation ) falsehood. "Tobeginwith a definition," argues EricCsapoinTheories ofMyth, is "in an important senseto beginat theend" (1). Therefore, rather thanposita monolithic definition at theopeningof thisissue of Storytelling, Self Society on storytelling and myth - whichwouldriskpremature closure - I instead invite in other voicesto opena conversation. Herearejusta few Address correspondence toJohn S.Gentile, Chair, Department ofTheatre, Performance Studies and Dance, Kennesaw State University, 1000 Chastain Road, MD#3103, Kennesaw, GA30144. E-mail: jgentile@kennesaw.edu 86 GENTILE ofthescholars pastandpresent whocometothestudy ofmyth from a variety ofbackgrounds, disciplines, andperspectives; their braveattempts atdefinition maystimulate thethinking ofthereaders ofthisspecialissuebefore turning tothe featured essays.Someofthosedefinitions include: Walter Burkert : Myth isa traditional talewith secondary, partial reference to something ofcollective importance (23). Wendy Donigher Amyth isa story that issacred toandshared bya group of O'Flahery: peoplewhofind their most important meanings init;itis a story believed tohavebeencomposed inthepastabout anevent inthepast, ormore rarely, inthefuture, anevent that continues tohavemeaning inthepresent because itis remembered; itis a story that is part ofa larger group of stories (27). Robert Segal:I propose that toqualify as a myth, a story, which canof course express aconviction, beheld tenaciously byadherents. ButI leaveitopen-ended whether thestory must infact be true (6). Roland Barthes : Myth isa type ofspeech (109). CarlGustav Jung: Myths areoriginal revelations ofthepreconscious psyche, involuntary statements about unconscious psychic happenings , andanything but allegories ofphysical processes (154). Jane Ellen Harrison: Theprimary meaning ofmyth inreligion isjustthe same as inearly literature; itthespoken correlative ofthe acted rite, the thing done . . . (328). Bruce Lincoln : Myth [is]ideology innarrative form (xii). James Hollis : Myth isthe dramatization ofconscious orunconscious values ofa group oranindividual (Trackingil). Myth isanenergycharged image, oridea, that hasthe power tomove anddirect the soul(What Matters 159). Alan Dundes:A myth is a sacred narrative explaining howtheworld and man came tobeintheir present form (1). Lawrence J.Hatab : Amyth isa narrative which discloses a sacred world (19). Mircea Eliade : Themyth relates a sacred history, that is,a primordial event that took place atthe beginning oftime, abinitio. But torelate a sacred history isequivalent torevealing a mystery (95). William G.Doty : Myths coalesce socialvalues orprojections that havebeen found worthy ofrepetition andreplication (Myth 19-20). Henri and Myth isa form ofpoetry which transcends poetry inthat it Mrs. H.A.Frankfort : proclaims a truth; a form ofreasoning which transcends reasoning inthat itwants tobring about thetruth itproclaims; a form ofaction, ofritual behaviour, which doesnot find its fulfillment inthe actbut must proclaim andelaborate apoetic form oftruth (16). PROLOGUE: DEFINING MYTH 87 Lucy Huskinson : Myth isa conscious interpretation ofunconscious communication andassuch itsnature isboth rational andnon-rational, archetypal image andineffable, numinous "content" (9). Edward F.Edingen Myths arenotsimply tales ofhappenings inthe remote past but eternal dramas that areliving themselves out repeatedly in ourown personal lives andinwhat weseeallaround us.. . . They areeternal patterns ofthe waylife happens below the surface, ifonly onecanseeit(3). James Hillman: Psychology shows myths inmodern dress andmyths show our depth psychology inancient dress (156). Claude Lévi-Strauss: Myths andrites arefar from being, as hasoften beenheld, the product ofman's "myth-making faculty," turning itsback onreality. Their principal value isindeed topreserve until the...