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Copyright of Acta Sociologica (0186-6028) is the property of Instituto de Investigaciones Filosoficas and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The Balkans have long been a land of myths and symbols that have influenced the actions of ordinary people and political leaders alike. The recent bloody wars of the former Yugoslavia after 1990 have brought to live ancient legends, as well as contemporary myths used as tools to justify and fuel etnic hatred and conflict. Today, as the region moves towards European integration, new symbols arose, some ready to replace the old ones. Along with them, the Balkans have a real chance to move out of the darkness into a brighter future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the oral tradition and mythology of the Klamath and Modoc, related indigenous peoples of California and Oregon. Subsistence risk, or danger related to food shortages, is emphasized in these myths along with coping strategies including conservation, hunting skills, cooperation, and supernatural agency.

The article offers information on the demythologized culture or the mythical elements and works of Romanian historian Mircea Eliade. It mentions the argument of professor Peter Lowentrout regarding the fiction of fantasy writers such as Eliade that can restore a sense of sacredness to the people's lives and reenchant the world. According to Eliade, imaginary worlds that revive wonder and religious awe are quintessential and that it is through imagination that space becomes sacred, hence preeminently real. It discusses the short story of Eliade titled "A Great Man."

Copyright of Cuadernos de Literatura is the property of Pontificia Universidad Javeriana and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The present analysis has set itself the purpose to approach the mythical dimension of the advertising performance by identifying the specific traits of several myths: the myth of returning to the origins, the erotic myth and the heroic myth. Among these I have focused my attention especially on the last one (the hero's myth) which can often be spotted in advertisements, endowed with a partially modified image in comparison to the classic perspective. The intention is to prove that advertising reactivates mythical structures which then it organizes and also allows the possibility of recognizing the old levels of significances. In this article I have shown the hypostases of the hero in advertising depending on the relationships between the product and the consumer. The approach is based on examples taken from the Romanian advertising performances which represented also the basis for my reconstruction of the heroic profile within the contemporary data. Finally, I have underlined some of the myths' features discovered inside the advertising performance. The analysis of these characteristics relies on the definition of the myth from the narrative perspective, as a sacred and exemplary history, as it was suggested by Mircea Eliade and Claude Lévi- Strauss. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the ancient names which have been associated with Lundy Island. They all describe traditions which belong to the magical realm of the "Otherworld." The objective has been to bring together for the first time the many disparate and, at times, perhaps tenuous links with Lundy in literature. Consideration is also given to aspects of the island's past which may have contributed toward this mythological status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Iran, ancient mythical elements are very much alive in the present as a part of the fabric of ordinary people's lives and worldview. This paper explores the relationship between culture, myth, and artistic production in contemporary Iran, using the specific examples of symbols and mythological themes evoked in the work of painter/writer Aydin Aghdashloo and photographer/video artist Shirin Neshat. The paintings of Aghdashloo, in which he deliberately damages beautifully-executed classical style Persian miniatures, convey a sense that the angelic forces have failed and that the world is succumbing to the destructive and degenerative activities of the demonic. The photographs, videos and installations of Neshat likewise draw heavily on cultic forms inherited from ancient Iranian tradition. It is important to note that in none of these cases does the artist use mythological themes and symbols to express their original cultural meaning; rather, they appropriate well-known elements of ancient Iranian culture and imbue them with new meanings relevant to contemporary issues and understandings. What these examples do illustrate is the persistent resonance of ancient Iranian culture among Iranians up to the present day. Iranian artists have demonstrated the effectiveness of evoking their target audience's deep sense of cultural identity to convey contemporary messages using ancient cultural concepts, sometimes on a subconscious level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the aesthetic value and purposes of revising and reinterpreting contemporary women's writings in Italy. It is explained that myth is a narrative which is underpinned by a deep structure of belief. It is remarkable that myths provide important insights as a reflection of the society's ideological beliefs. Writing myths provides a chance for women to bring attention to women's issues and to challenge the historical patriarchal male social system.

The article discusses the mythological development of placemaking in America. It is said that one of America's enduring mythologies involves the origins of not only its Revolutionary leaders, but also its cultural landscapes, one of which is colonial New England. In order to create a common past, Americans established the colonial revival, which emerged in 1814-1864 and led to the landscape of preindustrial New England. America's mythology is important in the establishment of the design approach New Urbanism, which addresses issues such as transportation, health and socioeconomics. A description of the animated TV series"The Simpsons,"as a placemaker in American culture is included.

This article focuses the presence of utopia in the myths of Latin American cities and nations. The author explains that utopian values and ideals rise from European myths of creating a New World, and that Latin American nation building is connected to this notion. Also important to Latin American nation building are the involvement of writers and intellectuals in defining utopia. Topics include how utopias are destroyed within a society, the connection between writers and politics, and cultural aspects of Latin America.

This article seeks to explore how the myth of the ‘rural idyll’ can be detrimental to those who currently experience some of the greatest social exclusion in rural areas — children and young people. The research explores the views and experiences of the young residents of a small town in the south-west of England ( n = 157, ages 12–18 years). The results suggest that rural policy and practice have failed to meet the needs of young people, contributing to their social exclusion in rural communities. Community engagement, facilities and youth consultation are discussed in the context of policy and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revue des Sciences Sociales is the property of Universite des Sciences Humaines and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article analyzes the narratives about women in the Pilaga society in Argentina through Idoyaga Molina's fieldwork conducted between 1972 and 1995. The myth "The Origin of Women" shows that the role of a woman, as manifested through her morphology and customs, is focused on domestic and reproductive aspects of the family life and explains the intergration of men and women, while "The Star-woman Seduces an Ugly Man" narrative emphasizes the impossibility of unions and marriages of human beings with those with a godly or mythical nature because the tie is centered on sexual desire that produces emotional instability. The conclusion states that the two myths describe the status of women in the society that is related to power and not of subordination.

The intention of this paper is to ascertain whether the search for one's highest and true being is inherent in humanity, how it can best be accomplished, and with what possible results. To this end, I have tried to identify common themes in psychology, myth, and astrology. This article begins with an exploration of the tenets of the main exponents of growth-oriented psychologies. I will then look at the role of mythology and its symbolic language. Consequently, I will analyse current developments within astrology and what the influence of psychology has been. Looking then for possible correlations between psychology and astrology, I will use, as my principal example, the archetype of the Self and the symbolism of the astrological sun. I will suggest that the theme most deeply-rooted in the human psyche is that of the hero's journey and I will examine what this means in the different disciplines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper consists of an exploration of three basic discourses on myth: premodern, modern and postmodern. Premodern discourse does not speak about myth but from myth as a living reality. Modern discourse introduces logos as basis for speaking critically about muthos. Postmodern discourse explores the variety of ways in which myth functions, emphasising the important role played by the socio-political context in which myths are used. In conclusion, the function of myth is linked to culture and ideology and the question is raised as to whether, and in what ways, meaning - and also the meaning of myth - operates in the service of power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Literator is the property of African Online Scientific Information System PTY LTD and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Historical Studies is the property of Canadian Catholic Historical Association and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

INTRODUCTION Seventeen years ago, without exciting much notice, I wrote on the 'whole past' as narrated in a Yavapai mythology of twenty-four sequential tales (Bahr 1981), and four years ago [...]

The anthropological study of cosmologies has most often coincided with examinations of religion, and thus owes its greatest intellectual debt to Durkheim's insistence that the basis of religion, and systems of classificatory thought, are eminently social. Tracing this line of thought through the anthropological work on religion since Durkheim, this article suggests that an examination of a culture's myth, ritual, and iconography reveals how its cosmology conveys the relationship between social rupture and social integration. In a discussion which considers a variety of ethnographic contexts, and focuses on the Andean case more deeply, the classificatory principle of dualism plays a central role by emphasizing reciprocity and thereby conveying the idea of an integrated cosmos.

Human life and cultural identity can either be patterned after the myth of the machine or the mythology of empire, which suggests some cultures are destined to rule. The two myths are inextricably linked by the concepts of progress and the binary models of savagery and of civility. The Lewis and Clark expedition showed colonial mythology as social phenomenon. In 1997, the land they explored contains a nuclear arsenal that could give rise to multiple Hiroshimas. Perhaps humans can control or suppress what they have created.

Classical allusions in the landscape paintings of Nicolas Poussin were seen by Denis Diderot as proving the necessary moral, allegorical nature of great art. Diderot was convinced art had a clear social purpose, an attitude typical of the Enlightenment. 'Shades,' a fictional dialogue between the spirits of Leonardo da Vinci and Poussin, was written to prove the equality of French art with Italian art.

Mythos is the Greek word from which we derive 'myth' (Ruck & Staples, 1994). In its original form, mythos referred to the stories that were passed via oral tradition, having [...]

Rural mythologies have long been an important component in expressions of national identity in New Zealand. As a pastoral nation carved from the bush in the nineteenth century, rural dwellers have long claimed their place as 'backbone of the country'. Rural mythology transmission in New Zealand has taken place historically, through many processes. Fictions about the 'great way of life' in the country, involving particular rural values, activities and artifacts, have become dominant imagery in visual culture about national and local identity. Images that sentimentalize country life abound in media advertising, on postage stamps, in small-town promotion projects (eg town murals, roadside objects, festivals), and in contemporary popular and vernacular culture. This article addresses the ways in which versions of the real New Zealand' draw from romantic, nostalgic and invented versions of the past, and of rural way of life., The pakeha (white New Zealander) rural colonial myth was perpetuated by, and for, early European settlers of New Zealand. People migrated across the world for a way of life that [...]

The 'jibaro' is a mythologized peasant used to express a proto-national identity in the Caribbean colony of Puerto Rico during the late colonial period and the wars for independence. An analysis of the 'jibaro' sheds light on the social, cultural and political factors affecting ethnic and pronational identity in Latin American and Caribbean colonies.

Myth tellings are best understood according to a Bakhtinian approach as a way of constantly reimagining culture. Variability is thus an essential feature of myth, one which contrasts with the orientation toward finality of meaning in literary culture. An analysis of four different versions of a Yurok myth about the custom of blood money shows how the myths are altered by individual tellers to explore different aspects of the custom. This approach to myth suggests the need to understand culture in a Boasian sense as problematic.

In A Room of One's Own, Virginia Woolf observes that '[w]omen have served all these centuries as looking-glasses possessing the magic and delicious power of reflecting the figure of man [...]

The oral narratives regarding one rich landowner in northern Costa Rica are an example of the devil pacts in folklore and are not merely based on economic exploitation. The beliefs of the people on diabolic phenomenon of the landowner, Francisco Cubillo Incer are also based on sexual dominance and gender antagonism. Cubillo was a poor Nicaraguan immigrant who rapidly acquired wealth and power. Although the stories appear to be based on economic exploitation other landowners are not accused of having made pacts with the devil in order to become rich.

The structure of society can be approached through analogy with the structure of the individual psyche, with an anthropological id consisting of the collective unconscious, language and multiple archetypes. The level of the social ego consists in the constellation of social roles, and the institutional level forms the social superego. River metaphors are useful for analyzing the dynamics of the social imaginary in six stages: trickling, watershed, confluences, the name of the river, shoreline development, and meanders and deltas. Examples discussed include the transition from Romanticism to decadence and the semantic basin of the myth of St Francis.

The 1001 stories which Scheherazade told to her husband, the sultan, symbolically demonstrate the power of myths and stories to heal family rifts and build a sense of security. The stable family itself can be seen as a mythological story, and an archetype of balance for the past and future. Professionals who work with families can facilitate the telling of ancient myths and personal stories, which reinforce values and confidence. Creation stories can assist families in feeling comfortable with change. Examples of stories used in various religious traditions and cultures are presented.

In the debate about the existence of matriarchy, there are on one hand those supporters, both male and female, who must state due to lack of proof that no such [...]

Presents a study that examined the question of why the deadly myths of aggression emerge with such force and chronicles. Definition of violence and aggression; Importance of empiricism in the study of political aggression; Myth of the necessity of aggression.

Discusses the work of Beroul and Gottfried whose work examined the consequences of Tristan and Isolde's affair, an affair which violates the codes of the trust of family, the trust of society and the trust of God and the Church. Beroul's Forest of Morrois; Gottfried's symbol of the Cave of Lovers; Meaning of Tristan and Isolde's inability to communicate with Ogrin; Communion and the `missing' of bread; More.

That the distinction between myth and history is a tenuous one hardly requires elaborate documentation. Anthropologists have recorded the way in which accounts of the tribal past, recorded in genealogies, change with the organisation of the social groups to which they refer. In Malinowski's phrase, they serve as the ‘mythical charters’ of the social system. But this is a feature not only of non-literate societies. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

URSULA LE GUIN was born in Berkeley, California, in 1929, to Alfred Kroeber, one of the founders of modern anthropology, and psychologist/ writer Theodora Kroeber. The family spent winters in [...]

Myths from one culture do not readily translate to another. Some feel people who believe in myths are not civilized, but myths convey hidden messages to collective identities and are shared by all literatures. Language, with myth, is another powerful tool that permits people of different cultures to live together. The modern world should not attempt to erase cultural differences, but incorporate them through shared myths., My personal experience as a Colombian novelist includes several years living in the United States of America. When I was in my twenties and my native city--Medellin--was a provincial town [...]

Focuses on `Mythologies,' a work written by Ronald Barthes which was considered as one of the founding texts of the hydra-headed discipline of cultural studies. Indicators of the naturalizing power of myths; Information on Marcel Ophuls's `The Sorrow and the Pity'; Introduction of several articles on the Nazi's occupational era in France.