Mythology encompasses religion--that is, human relationships to god(s) and the god’s relationships with each other.

Britannica.com:

• “The term mythology denotes both the study of myth and the body of myths belonging to a particular religious tradition.”

• In anthropological terms, the word does NOT mean a myth is false. It means that it has been, or is, believed.

Myths are

• the stories in which people believe and on which they base their moral code

• they describe people’s understanding of the meaning of life

• they are accepted as truth by members of the faith

Folklore

• need not be accepted as truth

• includes stories about the gods, magic, etc., related to and symbolically illustrating the myths

• brings religious principles to life

• includes folk medicine, folk art, folk music, folk tales, etc.

Folk culture is

• tied to mythology and folklore

• it includes life style customs (folk medicine, folk art, etc.)

Fairy tales:

• Tales involving magical occurrences

• Typically, they have authors, although they are often retellings of traditional tales

Importance of symbols:

• Myths and folklore originated in prehistory when humans depended on the oral tradition

• Symbols, according to Jung and Campbell, transcend the oral. They can communicate at a subliminal level, and people need not be able to understand or read the language to relate to the symbols [Book of Kells, Star Wars, e. g.]

Differentiating myth from folklore:

• For Christians, the Resurrection is a core myth. It’s hard to imagine a Christian without that belief.

BUT you can easily be a Christian and not believe that St. Patrick drove the snakes out of Ireland! [although there is symbolic truth to that story -- the dragon/snake is a symbol of the Druids]

Remember about folklore:

• It’s purpose isn’t to entertain. It’s to transmit traditional beliefs and values.

Brunvand, who studies urban folklore:

• “...folklore is material that gets orally transmitted in different versions in the traditions of various social groups. Proverbs, riddles, rhymes, jokes, anecdotes, and ballads are among the folk forms that circulate in oral and usually anonymous variants.”

Anthropological views of myth:

• myth performs an explanatory function. The nature of things is explained as established by the gods

• myth expresses human or social need; it expresses the culture’s perception of the universe; it affirms the culture rather than explains it.

Creation myths

• (Creation: the chaos of power out of which the proper conventions and institutions emerge)

• Some say the universe was created out of nothing; some, that it resulted from violence among the gods

• Nearly all creation myths contain a flaw which explains the difference between the perfection of Creation and the imperfect world we live in

• An element of healing is introduced

• Creation myths set the model for other aspects of culture

Origin of the deities

• Most myths reveal specific deities which existed at the time of creation

• Oldest, earth/mother and father/sky. New deities appear as their offspring

• Deities may express sacredness in phenomena (lightning, mountains, fire)

• Involves order and causality

Myths of renewal and rebirth

• Time is seen as having a cyclical rhythm

• Rituals are associated with the cycle

• The creative power runs down or is overrun by the actions of the gods or of humans

• There is a ritual reenactment of creation

Folklore and children

• Grimm’s fairy tales in the original are violent and explicit, not intended for children. The tales were collected to study German linguistics.

– from the oral tradition

– adults told and retold them for adults, children listened

Bettelheim’s Meaning of Enchantment

• Bettleheim believed folklore was/is critical to children's development

– that they needed the unexpurgated versions because of the layers of meaning they contain. The children would understand based on their level of development.

Notable writers:

Joseph Campbell wrote many books focusing especially on myth and folklore related to the Hero archetype.

Carl Jung studied and wrote about universal archetypes.

Women and folklore (Some titles)

• Andrea Dworkin. Woman Hating

• Jean Shihoda Bolen:

– Crossing to Avalon

– Goddesses in Every Woman

• Maxine Hong Kingston. Woman Warrior

• Estes, Women Who Run with the Wolves

• Faludi. Backlash

Men and Myth

• Robert Bly. Iron John

• Sam Keen. Fire in the Belly

• Jean Shihoda Bolen. Gods in Every Man

• Jane Tompkins. West of Everything

• also

– Faludi. Stiffed

– Raising Cain

Family folklore:

Every family has its own folklore based on the families of origin of each of the parents. Examples:

• traditions (ways of celebrating, grieving, etc.)

• foods

• rituals

• sayings

• events

• initiations

Other folklore:

• local ghost stories

* occupational lore

* lore that bonds specific groups

Occupational Lore in Librarianship of the Past:

• Card Catalogs

• Corporate entries

• Early days of automation

• Library hand

• Selectric typewriters

• ALA filing rules

• P-slips

• On-order files

• Storage rooms full of discards and unadded gifts

• “favorite” characters (staff and patrons)

• Major events in the life of the library

Lore that Bonds the “Silent Generation” (my generation)

• D-Day

• The Cold War

• “The Shadow Knows…”

• Burma Shave signs

• Ed Sullivan

• Perry Como

• Captain Video

• Candy cigarettes

• Roy Rogers

• Poodle skirts

• Crinolines

• Keds & PF Flyers for gym

• Nylons in two pieces

• The bomb

What lore bonds YOUR generation??

Contemporary folklore:

• folklore isn’t just from the past

• it’s all around us

• it reveals something about our personal myth [belief system] and about the myth [belief system] of our culture(s)

Brunvand

“We are not aware of our own folklore any more than we are of the grammatical rules of our language.”

Urban Folklore and Internet Hoaxes:

• Jan Harold Brunvand, The Vanishing Hitchhiker, The Choking Doberman

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Mythology and Folklore

Mythology encompasses religion--that is, human relationships to god(s) and the god’s relationships with each other.

Britannica.com:

• “The term mythology denotes both the study of myth and the body of myths belonging to a particular religious tradition.”

• In anthropological terms, the word does NOT mean a myth is false. It means that it has been, or is, believed.

Myths are

• the stories in which people believe and on which they base their moral code

• they describe people’s understanding of the meaning of life

• they are accepted as truth by members of the faith

Folklore

• need not be accepted as truth

• includes stories about the gods, magic, etc., related to and symbolically illustrating the myths

• brings religious principles to life

• includes folk medicine, folk art, folk music, folk tales, etc.

Folk culture is

• tied to mythology and folklore

• it includes life style customs (folk medicine, folk art, etc.)

Fairy tales:

• Tales involving magical occurrences

• Typically, they have authors, although they are often retellings of traditional tales

Importance of symbols:

• Myths and folklore originated in prehistory when humans depended on the oral tradition

• Symbols, according to Jung and Campbell, transcend the oral. They can communicate at a subliminal level, and people need not be able to understand or read the language to relate to the symbols [Book of Kells, Star Wars, e. g.]

Differentiating myth from folklore:

• For Christians, the Resurrection is a core myth. It’s hard to imagine a Christian without that belief.

BUT you can easily be a Christian and not believe that St. Patrick drove the snakes out of Ireland! [although there is symbolic truth to that story -- the dragon/snake is a symbol of the Druids]

Remember about folklore:

• It’s purpose isn’t to entertain. It’s to transmit traditional beliefs and values.

Brunvand, who studies urban folklore:

• “...folklore is material that gets orally transmitted in different versions in the traditions of various social groups. Proverbs, riddles, rhymes, jokes, anecdotes, and ballads are among the folk forms that circulate in oral and usually anonymous variants.”

Anthropological views of myth:

• myth performs an explanatory function. The nature of things is explained as established by the gods

• myth expresses human or social need; it expresses the culture’s perception of the universe; it affirms the culture rather than explains it.

Creation myths

• (Creation: the chaos of power out of which the proper conventions and institutions emerge)

• Some say the universe was created out of nothing; some, that it resulted from violence among the gods

• Nearly all creation myths contain a flaw which explains the difference between the perfection of Creation and the imperfect world we live in

• An element of healing is introduced

• Creation myths set the model for other aspects of culture

Origin of the deities

• Most myths reveal specific deities which existed at the time of creation

• Oldest, earth/mother and father/sky. New deities appear as their offspring

• Deities may express sacredness in phenomena (lightning, mountains, fire)

• Involves order and causality

Myths of renewal and rebirth

• Time is seen as having a cyclical rhythm

• Rituals are associated with the cycle

• The creative power runs down or is overrun by the actions of the gods or of humans

• There is a ritual reenactment of creation

Folklore and children

• Grimm’s fairy tales in the original are violent and explicit, not intended for children. The tales were collected to study German linguistics.

– from the oral tradition

– adults told and retold them for adults, children listened

Bettelheim’s Meaning of Enchantment

• Bettleheim believed folklore was/is critical to children's development

– that they needed the unexpurgated versions because of the layers of meaning they contain. The children would understand based on their level of development.

Notable writers:

Joseph Campbell wrote many books focusing especially on myth and folklore related to the Hero archetype.

Carl Jung studied and wrote about universal archetypes.

Women and folklore (Some titles)

• Andrea Dworkin. Woman Hating

• Jean Shihoda Bolen:

– Crossing to Avalon

– Goddesses in Every Woman

• Maxine Hong Kingston. Woman Warrior

• Estes, Women Who Run with the Wolves

• Faludi. Backlash

Men and Myth

• Robert Bly. Iron John

• Sam Keen. Fire in the Belly

• Jean Shihoda Bolen. Gods in Every Man

• Jane Tompkins. West of Everything

• also

– Faludi. Stiffed

– Raising Cain

Family folklore:

• traditions (ways of celebrating, grieving, etc.)

• foods

• rituals