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This course is an introduction to the study of certain sorts
of human narratives commonly known as myths. The course also
serves as a general introduction to the theories and methods
of the academic study of religion. What these two seemingly
different course goals have in common is that scholars who
have tried to explain the origin and function of religion
have often started by trying to explain the origins and functions
of myths. Accordingly, we will examine several different theoretical
perspectives (sociological, psychological, semiotic, political,
structuralist, etc.), each of which attempts to account for
the existence and function of myths.
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Fall
2007 Syllabus (PDF)
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Fall
2007 Revised Syllabus (PDF)
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Note on Final Review Essays: when submitting your
final assignment, students must submit along with their final
version a copy of the draft version that their partner has
proofed and corrected/edited, as evidence of the collaborative
relationship with a partner.
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Books
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 The
main book for the course is not yet
published, so we will use a copy of the pre-publication manuscript
of Jeppe
Sinding Jensen's new anthology,
Myth
and Mythologies (see the PDFs posted below). The course
also uses, as a references resource, Robert
Segal's recent book, Myth:
A Very Short Introduction.
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The course also includes Roland
Barthes's Mythologies
and Bruce
Lincoln's Discourse
and the Construction of Society.
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 The
final assignment in the course entails writing a book review
of the well-known author, Karen
Armstrong's recent book, A
Short History of Myth.
Want to learn more
about this author? More?
Even more?
Yet more
still?
Listen to an NPR
interview with Armstrong.
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Readings
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"Adonis"
in Encyclopedia Mythica
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"Adonis"
in Wikipedia
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| Apollodorus,
Library 3. 14, 3-4 |
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"Apollodorus"
in Wikipedia
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Ovid
(43-13 BCE, Rome), Metamorphoses, Book X (search for
"Adonis")
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"Ovid"
in Wikipedia
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Karen
Armstrong, Chapter 1, "What is a Myth?" from A
Short History of Myth (PDF)
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Bruce Lincoln,
"Theses on Method"
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Bruce
Lincoln, "Mythic Narrative and Cultural Diversity in American
Society"
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Russell
McCutcheon, "Approaches to the Study of Myth"
(PDF)
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Russell
McCutcheon, "Myth" (PDF)
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Robert
Segal, "Introduction: Theories of Myth" (PDF)
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Myth and Mythologies: A Reader (edited
by Jeppe Sinding Jensen, Aarhus University, Denmark)
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All of the following files are PDFs
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Table
of Contents
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I. General Introduction
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Jeppe
Sinding Jensen, "Introduction"
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II. Philosophical Approaches
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Jeppe
Sinding Jensen, "Introduction"
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| Lucien
Lévy-Bruhl, "How Native Think" |
| Susan
Langer, "Life-Symbols: The Roots of Myth" |
| Ernst
Cassirer, "The Place of Language and Myth in the Pattern
of Human Culture" |
| Karl
Popper, "The Worlds 1, 2, and 3" |
| John
Searle, "Language and Social Reality" |
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III. Psychological Approaches
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Jeppe
Sinding Jensen, "Introduction"
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| Friedrich
Max Müller, "Comparative Mythology" |
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Bronislaw
Malinowski, "Myth in Primitive Psychology"
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Sigmund
Freud, "Introductory Lectures on Psycho-Analysis"
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Mircea
Eliade, "Cosmogonic Myth and 'Sacred History'"
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IV Sociological Approaches
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Jeppe
Sinding Jensen, "Introduction"
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Émile
Durkheim and Marcel Mauss, Primitive Classification:
"Conclusion"
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Georges
Dumézil, "The Gods: Aesir and Vanir"
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Mary
Douglas, "Primitive Worlds"
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Pierre
Clastres, "What Makes Indians Laugh?"
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V. Semiological and Narratological Approaches
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Jeppe
Sinding Jensen, "Introduction"
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| Claude
Levi-Strauss, "Overture" |
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Marcel
Detienne, "The Myth of 'Honeyed Orpheus'"
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Roland
Barthes, "Introduction to the Structural Analysis of
Narratives"
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Roy
Wagner, "The Theory of Symbolic Obviation"
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VI. Cognitivist Approaches
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Jeppe
Sinding Jensen, "Introduction"
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Edwin
Hutchins, "Myth and Experience in the Trobriand Islands"
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Bradd
Shore, "Dreamtime Learning, Inside-Out"
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Jerome
Bruner, "The Transactional Self"
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Andy
Clark, "Language: The Ultimate Artifact"
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VII. Conclusion
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Jeppe
Sinding Jensen, "Myth and Mythologies Today"
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