Mythic Themes Research Articles

SONGS IN THE COUNTERTRANSFERENCE OR "GILDING THE PHILOSOPHIC PILL".

Songs that interrupt the psychoanalytic psychotherapist's countertransference reverie are invariably relevant and potentially useful. Like any other countertransference "presence," songs accompanying the narrative may contribute to understanding both patient and analytic process. Taking their intrusive, fecund, pesky presence one step further, song lyrics may be used as metaphor-saturated interventions, helping reach the well-defended patient. Five brief vignettes illustrate the process. Because we must learn to tolerate ordinary unhappiness, Blues music, a carrier of preconscious mythic themes (love and work), may prove especially useful, helping the patient indirectly embrace everyday wisdom, endure hard times, universalize misery, and see ourselves in the roomy mirror of metaphor.

THE STUDY OF THE WORD “LONELINESS” IN THE POEMS OF SOHRAB SEPEHRI IN THE FRAMEWORK OF PSYCHOLINGUISTIC

Sohrab Sepehriis concidered as one of the geniuses of Persian poetry by creating the artistic and mythical themes. The present study is a descriptive-analyticeone which data has been collected on the basis on “library method” and the word “Loneliness” has been accurately studied in Sohrab Sepehri complete poetical work with the psychological approach to language.In this research, Sohrab Sepehri`s complete poetical worka in the book named “hasht ketab” have been scrulinized according to Leech view (1969).The author seeks to answer these questions: what items has Sohrab Sepehri benefited from to present the element “loneliness”on the basis of psycholinguistics? And which of his books has presented the highest frequency of the element “loneliness”? This research illustrates the fact that Sohrab Sepehri has benefited from “Sense of Words” and due to the fact that he has also been a skillful painter besides being an out standing poet, it is speculated that he has also used the element “color of words”. The results indicate the element of loneliness has been found to be a very significant item in Sohrab Sepehri`s poetical works, but the frequency of presenting this element overweighs in one of his books named “Death of color”.

Maria Magdalena i Provence: Tribal og post-aksial askese

The final episode in the legend of Mary Magdale according to Legenda aurea is an example of extreme asceticism in a ‘historic (post-axial) religion’. But the scenario with the saint in the ‘desert’ is built on mythical and ritual themes well-known from ‘tribal’ and ‘archaic’ religions. Axaial asceticism contains a previously unknown, universal ideal about a durative, lifelong asceticism; but this ideal both prolongs and inverts forms of asceticism that were well-known in earlier forms of religion.

MITOS GREGOS NO TEATRO BRASILEIRO DOS ÚLTIMOS 30 ANOS

A experiência exílica é uma tônica em peças brasileiras recentes de tema mítico. Baseado na Trilogia perversa (BENDER, 1986), em Ismene, Princesa de Tebas (SENNA, 2006) e n’ O Olimpo carioca (BRANDÃO, 2012), o artigo mostra que os mitos antigos, enquanto mapeiam problemáticas palpitantes para a época em que eles retornam (o páthos do imigrante, do perseguido político e mesmo da cidade tida como refúgio ideal para problemas “olímpicos”), funcionam como o “tiroir à double entrée” de que fala Espagne (1999, p. 78): não são apenas pontos de passagem entre culturas, mas deflagradores de “itinerários da memória” (ESPAGNE, 1999, p. 138).

‘Throttle College’? Ted Hughes's Cambridge Poetry

This work breaks new ground in Hughes studies by conducting the first literary analysis of his student creative writing, and reveals highly significant insights about a period in his life that scholarship has too often overlooked. During his student days, Hughes was researching some of the mythical themes that lend such strength to his published poetry, and some of his writing at Cambridge provided the groundwork for later published poems and prose criticism. His undergraduate writing suggests that Hughes was gaining confidence in his poetic talent, but that he wished to practise his skills by mastering traditional metres and rhyme schemes, and to deflect negative criticism by placing his poems within a satirical prose narrative.

Cosmology of Epics in Translation of Rig Veda

With comparative mythology and epics of ancient cultural ties can be realized and even this type of translation can be useful in understanding other mythologies so that, if the Mythic theme is unclear if the password by comparing other tribal myths, which is formed in the course of human life, they can be implemented and Decoding. Today, the first book of mythology studies Rig Vedic mythology that represents the Aryans, Persians and the Aryans of India shows that before the separation of the gods, myths are common in the books of The Rig Veda precedes it works. And Perhaps this is common in the literature, epics and heroic stories of the nations to achieve common cultural affinity with empathy and integrity of many may be that the points of human life and root dark many misunderstandings and even to understand the cultural differences and finding a way to achieve a sense of mythology, literature, and customs of people living today Even if the purpose of creation. Some pundits root and mythological beliefs held down while the latter are not so heavenly, celestial and human cognition dutifulness religions and gods are always relative to the distant days of mythology, Religion and gods in the path of history, thorough and deep is more.

The Architectural Lessons of Anselm Kiefer's La Ribaute

ABSTRACTThis article examines the architectural significance of Anselm Kiefer’s situated art practice, exploring how relationships of poetry, history and culture, presented across all of his work, provide vital lessons for architectural thinking and doing. Kiefer’s creation of La Ribaute, outside Barjac, France, is particularly well suited to the study of a hermeneutic approach to architectural creation, since the reinterpretation of historical and mythical themes across painting, sculpture, earthworks and architecture critically situates modern creative practice within the larger continuum of human culture and knowledge.

Posmodernidad y educación: imperativos categóricos de la pobreza contemporánea

<p>Este artículo se fundamenta en los postulados de la teoría del círculo vicioso de la pobreza, analizando la situación de marginalidad social, desigualdad y vulnerabilidad que aqueja a un porcentaje de la población mundial. Metodológicamente el estudio se aborda desde una perspectiva deductiva y holística de la realidad, se analiza el fenómeno de la pobreza en sus diferentes dimensiones sistémicas en un contexto histórico definido por la aplicación cíclica de modelos y paradigmas económicos. El objetivo es demostrar cómo la pobreza se ha convertido en un tema mítico donde las doctrinas económicas y sociales no la han podido definir ni medir eficazmente. La pobreza, cabalgando entre modernidad ilustrada y la postmodernidad emancipadora, constituye la frustración de ideologías, teorías y principios que tuvieron la pretensión de ser depositarios éticos de la verdad en sus axiomas, al tiempo que perpetuaba la marginalidad social.</p>

Mimesis ja pyhä Panu Tuomen runoudessa

Mimesis and the Sacred in the Poetry of Panu Tuomi The article examines two works by the Finnish poet Panu Tuomi: Pyhan Vituksen tauti (2003) and Vaaleanpunainen ilmestyskirja (2005). The article traces the presence of so-called mimetic relationships in Tuomi’s vision of a desacralized world. Tuomi’s romantically motivated poems, which often address some distant other and use different archaic motives, are interpreted through the mimetic theory developed by literary critic and anthropologist Rene Girard. In Tuomi’s poems, the romantic thirst for the other’s being – in Girardian terms the metaphysical desire – often results in a mimetic and rivalistic relationship which turns its objects into compelling models. Many of these mimetic relationships, along with the recurring mythical themes and motifs of the poems, such as contagious diseases or mythical twins, signal the undifferentiation of human relationships in a world which no longer has the ability to externalize such mimetic rivalries through the category of the sacred and thereby stabilize the boundaries of individuals and communities. The article demonstrates that such signs of mimetic crisis are integral to Tuomi’s apocalyptic vision. In addition, besides Tuomi’s alchemical leanings, the poems have distinctly Catholic and mystical aspects to them. Most importantly, however, Pyhan Vituksen tauti and Vaaleanpunainen ilmestyskirja function through their poetic form as critical commentaries of their own modern and desacralizing world.

The Myth of the Forest in Eminescu's Poems

Myths have always been a source of inspiration for different literary genres, the ideas and mythical themes becoming important subjects in literary works, because between literature and mythology always existed different esthetical bonds. There are numerous myths expressed in Eminescian works, but the myth of the sacred wood is the most relevant, this myth coming form the old Indies as well as from the Germanic peoples too. In expressing love and care for the wooden areas, the poet used some hypocoristic words as little, dear forest, as well as the collocations like beloved forest, Forest, my precious. The mutual feelings of love or the dialogues between the forest and the poet are expressed in the poems Oh, remain! Why do you wail?, Forest, oh, my dear forest!, Musatin and the Forest. In the golden forests, Dochia had a sumptuous palace and the Dacian Gods lived the dark green of the woods (Memento Mori). The forest was unmoved, having the conscience of eternity, while the man is changing/wandering alone. The destiny of the wanderer would end once the man entered the spatial dimension.(One Wish Alone I Have)

The Power of the Paranormal (and Extraordinary)Mutants and Mystics: Science Fiction, Superhero Comics, and the Paranormal. By Jeffrey J. Kripal. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2012. Pp. xvi+370.Authors of the Impossible: The Paranormal and the Sacred. By Jeffrey J. Kripal. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2010. Pp. xiii+332.

Review Essay: The Power of the Paranormal (and Extra-Ordinary) Ann Taves, University of California at Santa Barbara Mutants and Mystics: Science Fiction, Superhero Comics, and the Paranormal. By Jeffrey J. Kripal. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2012. Pp. xvi + 370. Authors of the Impossible: The Paranormal and the Sacred. By Jeffrey J. Kripal. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2010. Pp. xiii + 332. “Secret Talk.” By Jeffrey J. Kripal. Unpublished journal. Jeffrey Kripal’s Mutants and Mystics [MM] is the dazzling companion to his path-breaking book, Authors of the Impossible [AOI]. The two volumes, which were originally conceived as one, have different content and structures, but related foci and a common underlying thesis that grounds the making of reality in the constant feedback loop between “consciousness and culture.” Where AOI focused on theorists (Frederic Myers, Charles Fort, Jacques Vallee, and Bertrand Meheust) whose research on paranormal phenomena has been neglected by scholars of religion, MM focuses on paranormal themes in superhero comic books and science fiction. AOI is a conventional looking book that devotes chapters to each of the four theorists. MM, which explores mythic themes in superhero comic books and science fiction, looks and feels very different. The book’s chapters are devoted to the seven basic tropes (or “mythemes”) that authors and artists combine to generate what Kripal refers to as a mythic “Super-Story.” The book’s design reflects its content. Not only is the cover a stunning explosion of color,

El caos en los barrios de la frontera en la obra narrativa de L. H. Crosthwaite

If apocalypse is a metaphor of the end and the beginning of an age, collapse of cultural, political and social concepcions, construction of new identities and social realities, literature of “frontera norte de Mexico” is good to realize an investigation of the biblical and mythical theme in postmodern sence. Colapsing any idea of legal and civil life in a national State, urban culture of “la Frontera” presents the social caos of ilegal and criminal conducts, as much es gendre violence and the political idea of national identity in crisis. Mexico protagonize a contradiction between nacionalist pride, frontier defence and emigration to the Unites States, with apocalyptical implication these days. The narrative of Luis Humberto Crosthwaite permit to analyze the different representations of broken identity in the social caos of the frontier. The apocalypsis as inminent catastrophe, social insicurity and uncertain identity leads the individual to new urban and social representations.

Mutants and mystics: science fiction, superhero comics, and the paranormal

In many ways, twentieth-century America was the land of superheroes and science fiction. From Superman and the X-Men to the Fantastic Four these pop-culture juggernauts, with their powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men, thrilled readers and audiences - and simultaneously embodied a host of our dreams and fears about modern life and the onrushing future. But that's just scratching the surface, says Jeffrey J. Kripal. In Mutants and Mystics, he offers a brilliantly insightful account of how comic book heroes have helped their creators and fans alike explain a wealth of paranormal experiences ignored by mainstream science. Delving deeply into the work of major figures in the field - from Jack Kirby's cosmic superhero sagas and Philip K. Dick's futuristic head-trips to Alan Moore's sex magic and Whitley Strieber's communion with visitors - Kripal shows how creators turned to science fiction to convey the reality of the inexplicable and the paranormal they experienced in their lives. Expanded consciousness found its language in the metaphors of sci-fi-incredible powers, unprecedented mutations, vast intergalactic intelligences-and the themes from mythology and religion they drew from; the wildly creative work that followed caught the imaginations of millions. Moving deftly from Cold War science and Fredric Wertham's anticomics crusade to gnostic revelation and alien abduction, Kripal spins out a hidden history of American culture, rich with mythical themes and shot through with an awareness that there are other realities beyond our everyday understanding. A bravura performance, beautifully illustrated and brimming over with incredible anecdotes, Mutants and Mystics is that rarest of things: a book that is guaranteed to broaden - and maybe even blow - your mind.

Medieval amulet illustrating the divine horseman myth, Rozhdestveno, Perm Territory

An amulet from a medieval site in the Perm Territory is described. The amulet is made from a broken, horn comb and bears an incised drawing representing a mythological scene well known in both medieval and more recent artifacts manufactured on both sides of the Urals. The scene includes a horseman, a bird of prey, and the celestial bodies. Most specialists believe that the scene refers to the divine horseman, a cultural hero and central figure in Ob Ugrian mythology. The drawing is unusual in that it shows the horseman figured in the sky rather than on the ground as is the case in all similar representations recorded previously. The composition apparently illustrates the mythical theme of the hero “patrolling the world at the height of the clouds,” and is relevant to the understanding of the divine horseman myth as it circulated among the Permian Finns and Ob Ugrians.

Star Trek as Myth: Essays on Symbol and Archetype at the Final Frontier (review)

Matthew Wilhelm Kapell. Star Trek as Myth: Essays on Symbol and Archetype at the Final Frontier. London: McFarland, 2010. 229 + ix pp. $39.95 (USD). ISBN: 978-0-7864-4724-4 Star Trek as Myth is a compilation of fifteen essays that demonstrate how "Star Trek is a kind of contemporary mythological system" (1). The anthology is divided into two sections and includes an introduction by Kapell, which offers a fascinating commentary on the relation of the Star Trek phenomenon in its infancy to the Moon Landing in 1969, the year Star Trek (The Original Series, hereafter called TOS) was cancelled. Kapell argues that the basis of Star Trek's power over the American psyche is its presentation as "mythos cleverly disguised as a kind of speculative logos" (7). Star Trek creates stories that seem to agree with the logic of science while creating a mythos of the future to which contemporary scientific advances appear to be heading. As a distinctly American phenomenon, the Star Trek mythos is informed by the historical formation of the United States. As testament to this, Kapell's study relies on Frederick Jackson Turner's frontier thesis that "it was an ever-expanding western frontier, continually opening before American Manifest Destiny, full of free land and opportunity that created the American way of life" (8). Although there has been significant research done in frontier theory since Turner forwarded his groundbreaking "Frontier Thesis" in 1893, Kapell does not acknowledge this and instead draws a straight line from Turner's thesis to Gene Roddenberry s "Wagon Train to the stars" (9). The first of two sections of the text, "A Partial Cannon of Star Trek Myth Criticism" contains essays whose original publication dates run from 1977 to 2001, each of which includes a brief postscript written by its original author speaking to the enduring relevancy of the franchise. The first essay is William Tyrell's "Star Trek as Myth and Television as Mythmaker" in which he examines the recurring theme of paradise in TOS to make a larger argument about the "power of television" (19). Peter J. Claus' essay relies on structural analysis of the TOS series to find "the same significance in myth of television" that Levi-Strauss found in traditional forms of myth (40). Scott Littleton's essay argues that a "secularized mythology of the future" is apparent through the study of "fundamental mythic themes and motifs" in TOS as well as the first three films released between 1979 and 1984. Next, Ace Pilkington draws on the same incarnations of Star Trek to show a message of hope for the future in Star Trek's "multiplicity of mythic messages" (44). Kapell's essay in this section convincingly argues that the holocaust on the planet Bajor in Star Trek: Deep Space 9 (DS9) is a dangerous simulacrum based not on history, but on Americanized representations of the Holocaust which ultimately "lessens the dramatic impact of the spectacle and harms the memory of the event" (68). …

“I Think You and I Are Destined to Do This Forever”: A Reading of the Batman/Joker Comic and Film Tradition through the Combat Myth

Abstract: This paper compares comic and film representations of the characters Batman and the Joker to the structure and characterization of religious narratives known as “combat myths,” which generally portray a figure of order defending society against a chaos monster. The paper also demonstrates how the Batman film of 2008, The Dark Knight, updates the mythic theme by casting the opposing characters as representatives of democratic society and terrorism, respectively. Ultimately, I argue that by investigating how the rivalry of Batman and the Joker reinvigorates this ancient, cross-cultural mythic theme, we gain insight into the enduring popularity and significance of these characters.

Turning Aliens into Socialists

Immediately after the Second World War Sweden was struck by a wave of sightings of strange flying objects. In some cases these mass sightings resulted in panic, particularly after authorities failed to identify them. Decades later, these phenomena were interpreted by two members of the Swedish UFO movement, Erland Sandqvist and Gösta Rehn, as alien spaceships, or UFOs. Rehn argued that ‘[t]here is nothing so dramatic in the Swedish history of UFOs as this invasion of alien fly-things’ (Rehn 1969: 50). In this article the interpretation of such sightings proposed by these authors, namely that we are visited by extraterrestrials from outer space, is approached from the perspective of myth theory. According to this mythical theme, not only are we are not alone in the universe, but also the history of humankind has been shaped by encounters with more highly-evolved alien beings. In their modern day form, these kinds of ideas about aliens and UFOs originated in the United States. The reasoning of Sandqvist and Rehn exemplifies the localization process that took place as members of the Swedish UFO movement began to produce their own narratives about aliens and UFOs. The question I will address is: in what ways do these stories change in new contexts? Texts produced by the Swedish UFO movement are analyzed as a case study of this process.

Myth Sells: Mattel’s Commission of The Masters of the Universe Bible

Many adults of the millennial generation share childhood memories of “syndication cartoons”—cartoons created to promote an existing product. Mattel’s “He-Man” was one of the most successful syndication characters of all time. However, few people know that in 1982, Mattel commissioned a document called, “The Masters of the Universe Bible.” The “Bible” drew on comparative mythology in order to create a modern mythos for Mattel’s franchise. While most syndication cartoons were unsuccessful, He-Man became a global phenomenon and turned Mattel’s fortunes almost overnight. This article suggests that He-Man had such an influence precisely because of the mythic themes outlined in this document.

Sprich zu mir in Seuchensprache/Speak to me in plague language (Vanadium-i-ching 1983): An analysis of Einstürzende Neubauten as Artaudian artists

ABSTRACTThis article brings into focus an aspect of Artaud's seminal influence on experimental music which, although ranging from David Tudor to Japanese noise artists, has yet to be fully explored in comparison with available literature on Artaud and theatre. Sprich zu mir in Seuchensprache contributes to this discussion by arguing that the Berlin-based music collective Einstürzende Neubauten are one of the most effective working examples of Artaudian artists. The evidence given is in the musicians' philosophy of music as apocalypse and utopia; in their risk-filled (but disciplined) physicality with their industrial playgrounds and their work with dance troupes; their investigation into, and use of, found sound and unusually constructed instrumentation; their expanded gestural vocalization and their use of the scream. Neubauten's lyrics also support Artaudian concerns in their avoidance of personal shopping and shagging for cosmic, scientific, biological and mythical themes and in the structuring from dreams, lists and chance games. Finally Neubauten pursue the desire to create an artist—recipient shared transforming ‘cruelty’ that reaches beyond the ears and eyes.

Object Relations Perspectives on “Phantom of the Opera” and Its Demon Lover Theme: The Modern Film

This study of the modern film version of "Phantom of the Opera" employs a mythic theme to illustrate how women can involve themselves with charismatic and eroticized narcissistic men, who are unavailable for true relationship within the conscious world of societal connection. How can the healthy-heroic woman extricate herself from the seductive web of such men, men who seek to own the women--not through sexual relations--but through ownership and control of the women's creative talents? What are the developmental, internal world, dynamics that spell out the muse turned demon/lover theme in British and American Object Relations terms? Similar to the mythic vampire who entrances women to suck their blood, the male muse haunts the female artist to possess her talents. The "demon lover" creates himself to woo the unsuspecting female with potential but yet unrealized creative talents. He woos through entrancement, like so many psychologically wounded narcissistic characters who require mirroring to have any sense of existence!