Alan Dundes defines myth as a sacred narrative that explains how the world and humanity came to be in their present form. This new volume brings together classics statements on the theory of myth by authors such as William Bascom, Jan de Vries, G. S. Kirk, James G. Frazer, Theodor H. Gaster, Mircea Eliade, Bronislaw Malinowski, C. G. Jung, and Claude L?vi-Strauss.
Rather than limiting this collection to classical Roman and Greek mythology, Dundes gives the book a worldwide scope. The twenty-two essays by leading experts on myth represent comparative functionalist, myth-ritual, Jungian, Freudian, and structuralist approaches to studying the genre.
Alan Dundesis Professor of Anthropology and Folklore, University of California, Berkeley, and author of numerous books on folklore, includingLa Terra in Piazza: An Interpretation of the Palio of Siena(California, 1975, 1982).
Acknowledgments
Introduction
The Forms of Folklore:
Prose Narratives WILLIAM BASCOM
Theories Concerning
"Nature Myths" JAN DE VRIES
The Problem of Defining Myth LAURI HONKO
On Defining Myths G.S.KIRK
Slippery Words: Myth J.W. R0GERS0N
The Fall of Man JAMES G. FRAZER
The Truth of Myth RAFFAELE PETTAZZONI
Myth and Story THEODORE H. GASTER
Cosmogonic Myth
and "Sacred History" IRCEA ELIADE
An Ideological Dichotomy:
Myths and Folk Beliefs
Among the Shoshoni AKE HULTKRANTZ
The Creation Myths of
the North American Indians ANNA BIRGITTA ROOTH
The Cultural-Historical
Background of Myths on
the Separation of Sky and Earth K. NUMAZAWA
The Role of Myth in Life BR0NISLAW MALIN0WSKI
The Plasticity of Myth:
Cases from Tikopia RAYM0ND FIRTH
The Flexibility of Myth TH.P.VAN BAAREN
The Mythic ERIC DARDEL
The PsychologlÓ8
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