« Pitching a Propsal | Main | Hayden White (02092005) »
February 10, 2005
Myth; fiction
In lay discourse, myth is generally a synonym for untrue. In most humanistic discourse, on the other hand, it means something more like a shared framework for making meaning, one that isn't itself subjected to critical scrutiny. In such discourse, use of the word myth isn't itself a value judgment but is a reasonably value-free descriptor.
Mythical thinking, White says, takes "signs and symbols for the things they represent" and takes metaphors literally. "When a fiction, such as a novel or a poem, is taken literally, as a report of reality rather than as a verbal structure with more or less direct reference to the world of experience, it becomes mythologized" (177).
Posted by senioritis at February 10, 2005 08:55 AM