The New Myths of Speculative Fiction Cinema: How Mythical Thought is Returning in the Contemporary World

Abstract

This paper argues that the decline of myth and mythical thought is reversing and that the substitute of ancient myth in modern societies – politics – has been replaced by the speculative fiction genre of cinematic storytelling. With this in mind the paper creates a link between: our species ability to tell stories and our necessity to consume them; the importance and characteristics of myth and mythical thought; the human craving for mythical stories; the contemporary speculative fjction trend worldwide in the box offjce; and a study of the most infmuential fjlms of all time.