Post by Argent'horn on Apr 8, 2009 14:01:52 GMT -5
During the final session of the Octavia Butler Symposium at Medgar Evers College on March 28, four people presented brief versions of their research papers on Butler's work.
During the question and answer period at the end of the session, one man asked why we in modern day America do not take mythology seriously. I have been thinking about this since then, and I have decided to post a brief reflection here.
In the first place, many conservative religious people, Christian, Muslim, Mormon, and others, take their mythology very seriously indeed in our culture. However, this is more of a divisive use myth than a unifying one.
More to the point, it seems to me that we are constantly creating myth, in our numerous art forms, our sports activities, and, more viscerally, the lives of our celebrities.
Media such as People Magazine would not be so overwhelmingly popular, I think, if many people did not attribute mythic significance to the daily lives of celebrities. And, the celebrities who seem to be most significant, from a mythic point of view, are those who we consider deeply flawed in one way or another, and whose suffering is made public with or without their permission. Being a mythic figure is not at all benign, and in itself can be profoundly difficult for the person involved, I think, even beyond the Greek tragedy-like suffering which confers mythic status so readily.
What is really happening, I propose, is that we Americans have had no, or few, common, unifying myths for the past several decades. This may be ultimately because we are in a state of social and cultural transition, and are groping for new myths. The mythic figures we have, we may admire or pity or whatever. Nevertheless, not many of them, whether real people assigned the role of mythic hero, or fictional characters created for the purpose, have captured our imagination the way that would be necessary for creating cultural cohesion.
So, in a very brief summation, I think we take mythology quite seriously, and we are all involved in the creation of new myths even as we create a new society and culture. Steve has said that he sees only progress, and I think maybe this myth building is a big part of it. I don't know, or really care, how long it takes, but I hope it is successful and that we create a more egalitarian society that the world has yet seen. I also hope that the trends I am seeing in sf and fantasy are significant contributors to this process.
During the question and answer period at the end of the session, one man asked why we in modern day America do not take mythology seriously. I have been thinking about this since then, and I have decided to post a brief reflection here.
In the first place, many conservative religious people, Christian, Muslim, Mormon, and others, take their mythology very seriously indeed in our culture. However, this is more of a divisive use myth than a unifying one.
More to the point, it seems to me that we are constantly creating myth, in our numerous art forms, our sports activities, and, more viscerally, the lives of our celebrities.
Media such as People Magazine would not be so overwhelmingly popular, I think, if many people did not attribute mythic significance to the daily lives of celebrities. And, the celebrities who seem to be most significant, from a mythic point of view, are those who we consider deeply flawed in one way or another, and whose suffering is made public with or without their permission. Being a mythic figure is not at all benign, and in itself can be profoundly difficult for the person involved, I think, even beyond the Greek tragedy-like suffering which confers mythic status so readily.
What is really happening, I propose, is that we Americans have had no, or few, common, unifying myths for the past several decades. This may be ultimately because we are in a state of social and cultural transition, and are groping for new myths. The mythic figures we have, we may admire or pity or whatever. Nevertheless, not many of them, whether real people assigned the role of mythic hero, or fictional characters created for the purpose, have captured our imagination the way that would be necessary for creating cultural cohesion.
So, in a very brief summation, I think we take mythology quite seriously, and we are all involved in the creation of new myths even as we create a new society and culture. Steve has said that he sees only progress, and I think maybe this myth building is a big part of it. I don't know, or really care, how long it takes, but I hope it is successful and that we create a more egalitarian society that the world has yet seen. I also hope that the trends I am seeing in sf and fantasy are significant contributors to this process.
