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Faculty of Humanities 9301506x Sarah-Britten@za.yr.com / The New South Africa came into being on February 2, 1990, with State President F.W. de Klerk’s announcement of the sweeping changes that signalled the end of white minority rule. The New South Africa immediately assumed mythical status, functioning as a structuring, legitimating narrative in the face of a history that carried with it the possibility of inter-racial conflagration. Later, another myth emerged, that of the rainbow nation, together with a latter day epic hero in the form of Nelson Mandela. Together with a third, less defined myth of the freedoms promised by the new Constitution of 1996, these constitute a mythology of the New South Africa. Advertising played an important role in the propagation and interrogation of these myths. Campaigns for an assortment of consumer goods and services tracked momentous shifts in society, politics and culture, often with penetrating insight and incisive humour. Three campaigns, for Castle Lager (beer), Vodacom (cellular network) and Castrol (motor oil), and individual advertisements for Nando’s (fast food chicken), Sales House (retail clothing) and South African Airways, are analysed. The material is approached using a hybrid methodology of a structure that draws upon Fairclough’s (1989, 1995) Critical Discourse Analysis, while analysing the texts themselves using an approach most closely allied to the social semiotics of Barthes (1972). Using this approach, it can be seen, for example, how the Castle Lager ‘Friendship’ campaign is perhaps the most sustained articulation of the ideals embodied in the New South Africa and particularly the myth of the rainbow nation. In contrast, an analysis of the Vodacom ‘Yebo Gogo’ campaign reveals that even at its most dominant, the mythology of the New South Africa was being undermined by prototypical myths that would consolidate under the heading of the African renaissance. An overview of all of the campaigns analysed in this thesis point to the existence of three types of approach to advertising the nation, namely, incantatory, novelistic and identificatory. Incantatory advertising reproduces dominant national myths without questioning them; in contrast, novelistic advertising interrogates the assumptions upon which such myths are based even if it ultimately endorses them. Identificatory advertising focuses on ‘typical’ examples of what constitutes South Africanness, without any attached overt ideological agenda. Incantatory advertising tends to emerge at important national anniversaries or international sporting events, while identificatory advertising became more prominent as the mythology of the New South Africa became less immediate. It is likely that advertising will continue to play a significant role in the imagining of the South African nation.

À partir de la constatation de l’absence du mot mito dans les écrits de Leopardi on a essayé de reconstruire le rapport changeant de Leopardi avec le mythe en en mettant en lumière la cohérence substantielle. De l’approche érudite et démystifiant propre à la rédaction du Saggio sopra gli errori popolari degli antichi on est passé à la lecture du Discorso di un italiano intorno alla poesia romantica. Du Discorso on a analysé la défense de la valeur poétique des fables anciennes et la démarcation des conditions de possibilité de l’usage des fables anciennes par les poètes modernes. Les pages du Zibaldone ont nous permis de comprendre le motif du recours au favoloso biblique et le motif de la non-réalisation du projet des Inni cristiani. Si à cause du changement des opinioni popolari les fables grecques ne sont plus capables de susciter la persuasion dont la fiction littéraire a besoin, le favoloso tiré par la tradition biblique se démontre être moins indiqué par rapport à celui païen à l’emploi en littérature. Alla Primavera et l’Inno ai patriarchi semblent prendre congé des fables anciennes or pendant les ans successifs Leopardi émancipe le statut de la mythologie de la religion en créant les bases pour un approche diffèrent à la réécriture des matériaux mythologiques. Le Operette morali et la catabase de Leccafondi dans les Paralipomeni constituent le résultat de l’émancipation des figures de la mythologie grecque de leur propre sfondo di senso : le cosmos. La création d’un sfondo di senso capable de mener au langage ce que de la nature des hommes et des choses est changé pendant les siècles jette les bases pour un emploi moderne des matériaux mythologiques. / The myth in the work of Giacomo Leopardi

Thesis advisor: Susan Michalczyk / This thesis explores crow and wolf symbolism within the mythology of Western Tradition, focusing on the Bible, Greek and Roman mythology, Native American folklore, Shakespeare, and Aesop's fables. Much of the animal imagery in literature is negative and does not truthfully represent the animals symbolized. This thesis investigates why these negative associations are formed, how they relate to the biological lives of wolves and crows, and explores their ambiguity in relation to the positive symbolism that exists. Negative symbols acquire strength as cultures grow further away from the land they live on and focus on industry and humanity instead of the world around them. The behavior of both wolves and crows is secretive, causing people to create stories to explain their actions. Furthermore, humans use these animals as a "shadow" to themselves, bestowing characteristics upon them which are found in human nature but are generally considered unacceptable. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2004. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: College Honors Program.

伍國文. / 手稿本(cops. 2 & 3複印本) / Thesis (M.A.)--香港中文大學硏究院哲學學部. / Shou gao ben (cops. 2 & 3 fu yin ben) / Includes bibliographical references: leaves 215-220. / Wu Guowen. / Thesis (M.A.)--Xianggang Zhong wen da xue yan jiu yuan zhe xue xue bu. / Chapter 第一章 --- 引言 --- p.1 / Chapter 第二章 --- 卡西勒的符號形式哲學的大概 --- p.7 / Chapter 第一節 --- 理論的基礎──超驗的觀念論 --- p.7 / Chapter 第二節 --- 從「理性批判」到「文化批判」 --- p.9 / Chapter 第三節 --- 形式與符號的概念 --- p.13 / Chapter 第四節 --- 人是符號的動物 --- p.20 / Chapter 第五節 --- 摹本說的駁斥 --- p.26 / Chapter 第六節 --- 文化形式的系統 --- p.35 / Chapter 第三章 --- 卡西勒的神話理論的要點 --- p.55 / Chapter 第一節 --- 引言 --- p.55 / Chapter 第二節 --- 神話是否可以被了解 --- p.57 / Chapter 第三節 --- 神話起源的理論 --- p.66 / Chapter 第四節 --- 神話的根柢和創造神話的心靈能力 --- p.79 / Chapter 第五節 --- 神話的基本體驗 --- p.88 / Chapter 第六節 --- 神話的空間、時間和數字觀念 --- p.94 / Chapter 第七節 --- 神話的思想方式 --- p.115 / Chapter 第八節 --- 神的觀念的發展 --- p.129 / Chapter 第九節 --- 神話的功能 --- p.137 / Chapter 第十節 --- 神話意識的發展 --- p.141 / Chapter 第十一節 --- 神話和其他文化形式的關係 --- p.149 / Chapter 第十二節 --- 神話和宗教及語言的比較 --- p.155 / Chapter 第十三節 --- 神話對現代的影响´إ─政治神話 --- p.164 / Chapter 第四章 --- 卡西勒的神話理論的批評 --- p.199 / 參考資料 --- p.215

The title of this dissertation emerged from an undergraduate Honours paper that investigated modern scholarly views concerning the authenticity of the Pythia’s possession. An attempt to answer one particular subquestion (Was the Pythia the priesthood’s puppet?) elicited significantly more divergent modern opinions than the discussions concerning the other possible causations of the Pythian prophecies (divine inspiration, clairvoyance, intoxication, and/or charlatanry) that the paper examined. The mere suggestion of the possibility that the Pythia may have enjoyed some degree of autonomy while performing her role in the consultative procedure stirred considerable controversy among modern scholars. This reaction identified a need for further reexamination of the Pythia’s role in the Delphic Oracle as depicted in both ancient literature and the commentaries of modern scholars. However, this dissertation is concerned more with what ancient and modern sources claim the Pythia actually did (i.e. the role she performed) during a mantic consultation than with how the Pythia managed to produce the oracles she uttered (i.e. the underlying causation of her ability to produce prophecies). Ancient sources, in particular Herodotus, Diodorus Siculus, and Pausanias, depict and apparently accept the Pythia as the speaker of the oracles, for, after all, the Pythia functioned as Apollo’s mouthpiece “and as such she counted for little.”1 Most early 20th century modern scholars, all with access to the same ancient sources, nevertheless contend (perhaps because they do not believe in Apollo) that the Delphic priesthood was (must have been) responsible for at least the composition, or the interpretation, or even the actual delivery to the enquirers, of the oracles. However, some later modern scholars acknowledge, even if they cannot fully comprehend or embrace, the ancient sources’ portrayal of the Pythia as speaking the oracles directly to enquirers. Compton commences an article on the Delphic mantic session with these words: “As one reads through important treatments of the operation of the Delphic oracle, disparities in interpretation are striking.”2 The discrepancies between both ancient authors and modern scholars and between early 20th century and some later modern scholars warrant a reexamination of how all sources depict the Pythia’s role in the Delphic Oracle. Modern (20th and 21st century for the purpose of this dissertation) scholars all have access to the same ancient sources. However, an examination of modern commentaries on the role of the Pythia in the Delphic mantic (divinatory, oracular) consultation (session) appears to indicate a watershed year for a shift in modern perspective: 1978. Pre-1978 modern scholars depart from the ancient authors and depict the Delphic priesthood as the major player in the mantic procedure whereas several later modern scholars, in and after 1978, return to the ancient depiction of the Pythia as the one who delivers the Delphic oracles directly to the enquirers. A search for an explanation for this shift in modern interpretations of ancient literature underlies this dissertation, which seeks to answer not only how and also why modern classical scholarship on the topic of the Pythia evolved as it did. An investigation of this evolving view of the Pythia’s role includes examination of ancient literature and the commentaries on these ancient sources by modern scholars as found in English literature (including English translations and/or secondary quotations of Danish, French and German scholars) for information both about the person and role of the Pythia and about the composition and role of other Delphic temple personnel, referred to as the Delphic priesthood in this dissertation. Ancient and modern depictions of every step of the consultative process that culminated in the enquirers receiving the oracles that they accepted as Apollo’s answers to their enquiries—in effect, the entire process of oracular consultation, including its physical location, and the process of transfer of communications at Delphi—are also relevant. This dissertation uses the term “chain of communication” to indicate the elements in the communicative process whereby the Pythia learned the content of enquirers’ questions, and, in turn, enquirers learned the content of Apollo’s replies to their questions. Answers to specific questions such as those that follow must, therefore, be sought first in ancient literature before divergent modern scholarly contentions can be evaluated. Who was the Pythia, and what was her role? Who comprised the Delphic priesthood, and what was its role? Who put the enquirer’s question to the Pythia? Who heard the Pythia’s reply? Who spoke the response to the enquirer? Was the response oral or written, in prose or verse form? Who wrote the response down and/or composed the verse? These are some of the questions that indicate a direction for investigation in order to evaluate the division of roles within the Delphic Oracle’s administration. The findings in Chapters 3-6 of this dissertation are, therefore, consistently arranged under the headings of the Pythia (her person and role), the Delphic priesthood (its structure and overall function in the Delphic Oracle), the chain of communication (who did and said what, and how, and to whom, during a Delphic mantic session), and the location in which this mantic consultation took place. Because the first three headings all address aspects of the respective roles played by the Pythia and priesthood during an oracular consultation, some overlap of content is inevitable. Chapters 1 and 2 outline and review ancient Greek divinatory methods, seers, and oracles. Chapter 3 explores relevant ancient references to the Delphic Oracle as found in 8th-4th century BCE sources, including Homer, 5th century BCE tragic poets, and the historian Herodotus. Chapter 4 investigates post-4th century BCE ancient sources, including the works of historian Diodorus Siculus, Delphic priest, historian, and prose commentator Plutarch, and geographer Pausanias. Chapters 5 and 6 cover relevant modern scholarly views. Parke’s 1939 and Parke and Wormell’s 1956 authoritative works on the Delphic Oracle dominate the early 20th century (pre-1978) period, and Fontenrose’s innovative 1978 work on the same subject introduces the later period of modern scholarship on the Delphic Oracle. The conclusion attempts an explanation for and reconciliation of the various ancient and modern views. This dissertation essentially seeks to answer two questions: how do ancient and modern scholars view the role of the Pythia in the mantic procedure at Delphi, and can the variety of interpretations be explained and reconciled? / Classics and Modern European Languages / M.A. (Classical Studies)

Although living with different social and cultural background, the two writers, Oe and Gao came to the same scheme; to re-write the history of their time and to reconstitute a projective identity by the myth-making in their novels. / My study aims to feature the concept of "archetype" or "archetypal structure", the basic cluster of myth in Oe and Gao's novels, in order to discern the final determination of the two writers in terms of their search on the expressive power of language and their strategy of their myth-making. By applying Frye's theory, I would like to explore the hidden ideological significance behind Oe and Gao's novels. / Oe Kenzaburo and Gao Xingjian are two significant Asian writers in contemporary literary world. Not only because of their achievement as Nobel Prize laureates, but also because of their commitment to the creation of "myth" in modem time, a "modem myth" which surpasses the limit of literature to become a cultural exertion, a story of resistance against the existing ideology within their specific social contexts. / The tendency of "return to myth" in the works of Oe and Gao made their novels, specifically The Silent Cry and Soul Mountain to become a meaning system by displacing the archetypal motifs in Japanese and Chinese ancient mythology to a modem situation. This refers the reader to a familiar analogy in order to guide the reader to accept and believe what the writers said is true. / Wan, Mu. / "Jan 2010." / Adviser: Leo Lee Ou-Fan. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 73-04, Section: A, page: . / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2011. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 309-322). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [201-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstract also in Chinese.

This study traces the diverse interpretations of Japan’s oldest official history, the 720 Nihon shoki, from its earliest scholarly treatment in the ninth century until its enshrinement within the canon of Japanese national literature in the modern period. Elites in the early eighth century produced a number of texts that described the fundamental principles of the world and the contours of the Japanese empire, such as Kojiki (712), Kaifūsō (751), Man’yōshū (late 8th c.), and as the official court narrative, Nihon shoki. While each of these possesses its own “imperial imagination,” Nihon shoki is distinct because it heavily incorporates historical polities across Northeast Asia, especially on the Korean peninsula, in creating a narrative of ancient Japan in the world. Further, Nihon shoki, while written primarily in Literary Sinitic, also includes elements of the Japanese vernacular, and rather than delineating a single orthodox narrative, provides a number of alternative, conflicting accounts of Japanese mythology. These characteristics animated much of the debate surrounding the text’s proper reading and meaning as later commentators grappled with its exegesis. The dissertation comprises an introduction and five chapters. The first chapter analyzes the discourse surrounding the Nihon shoki in the eighth and ninth centuries, when lectures were periodically given on the text at court. The notes from these lectures reveal controversies over how the text was composed and the proper method of reading it. After the lectures, courtiers composed Japanese poetry about major figures depicted in the work, frequently creating new mythologies that departed from the original as they sought to connect their vision of antiquity with the present. The poems also demonstrate the use of digests and alternative texts that were used as stand-ins for Nihon shoki. I discuss two of these in detail, Kogo shūi (807) and Sendai kuji hongi (c. 936), and show how they took advantage of ambiguities in Nihon shoki to position themselves as authoritative accounts. In Chapter 2, I take up approaches that used Nihon shoki as an originary narrative from the twelfth to fifteenth centuries. This type of treatment begins to appear to a limited degree in poetic treatises such as Minamoto no Toshiyori’s Toshiyori zuinō (1113) and Fujiwara no Nakazane’s Kigōshō (1116) and became widespread through the middle of the twelfth century. These same mid-century scholars were also responsible for producing picture scrolls based on the text and the first Nihon shoki commentary, Shinzei’s Nihongi shō (circa 1150). As the trend intensified, citations began to go further and farther afield, often attributing stories and facts to Nihon shoki that are not in the original text. Use of Nihon shoki as an originary narrative was also adopted in political treatises by commentators such as Jien (1155-1225), and I discuss the methods and acrobatic intellectual maneuvers of these agents in blending Buddhist and continental cosmology with the Nihon shoki creation story. I focus especially on Jien’s Gukanshō (c. 1220) and Ichijō Kaneyoshi’s (1402-1481) Nihon shoki sanso (1457). Chapter 3 begins with the uneasy syncretism between Nihon shoki and Song Confucian metaphysics in the seventeenth century. Works in this lineage, such as Hayashi Razan’s Jinmu tennō ron (1618), imagine the gods as metaphors for human actors and form the mainstream of intellectual treatment of Nihon shoki in the Edo period. Other Confucian thinkers, such as Yamazaki Ansai, instead read the gods as factual and use Nihon shoki as evidence of universal Confucian metaphysics; in Ansai’s case the result was an entirely new school of Shinto, and his disciples were responsible for the first two commentaries that covered the entire text. One response to this was a reading that prioritized continental histories over the Nihon shoki chronicles, epitomized by the full-length commentary Shoki shukkai (c. 1785). Another arose in the nascent discipline of national learning, exemplified by Motoori Norinaga’s (1730-1801) criticism of Ansai. Norinaga went on to write a full commentary of the Kojiki, but his reading relied heavily on Nihon shoki, and he cites it more than any other text in his narrative of Japan’s divine age. Chapter 4 introduces a diversity of approaches that attempt to reconcile Nihon shoki with the ideal of a modern national history at the end of the nineteenth century. I begin outlining an 1888 debate that continued for nearly a year over the chronology of Nihon shoki; producing an accurate chronology of Japanese history was considered critical to measuring Japan’s societal progression in comparison to other civilizations. I then discuss historical and linguistic study of the divine age from 1890-1912. Contemporary scholarship often misreads these accounts as being based in positivist historicism, but I show that they are actually rooted in original reinterpretations of Nihon shoki that mix-and-match variant pieces to create a new imperial narrative. Particular attention is given to how such readings were used to justify colonial expansion to Korea. Chapter 5 addresses Nihon shoki’s shifting position in national literature by analyzing several histories of Japanese literature written from 1890 to 1912, especially Takatsu Kuwasaburō and Mikami Sanji’s Nihon bungaku shi and Haga Yaichi’s Kokubungakushi jikkō. The variety of interpretations applied to Nihon shoki illustrate major shifts in ideas about what constituted literature, how literary periods should be divided, the role of academics in creating a national canon, and whether literature should focus on universal characteristics of civilization or particular attributes of national culture. By the end of this period, emphasis on the idea of a shared national language led scholars to sideline Nihon shoki in favor of texts written in something more closely resembling the Japanese vernacular like Kojiki and Man’yōshū. It also cemented the eighth-century as “Ancient Japanese Literature” (jōdai bungaku), a field periodization still in place today.

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My ongoing series of assemblages are an expression my modern mythology through the juxtaposition of esoteric symbols and my collection of beloved action figures. Though myth is founded in partial truths and allegories, it has the unique capability to speak about our relationships to one another and the universe. My artwork conceives of anime, comics, and videos games as part of our contemporary mythology. Inspired by a fusion of pop culture and spirituality, I also draw on the magical properties attributed to flowers, gemstones and other materials to create shrines, altars, and other objects. Juxtaposing these properties, found in my research of esotericism and mythology, with action figures establishes symbolic connections that act as an interface to the spiritual symbolism explored in each piece. The collision of masking tape, shoe polish, flowers; gemstones and repurposed objects result in re-contextualizations of characters from popular culture. My practice suggests new possibilities for cultural symbolism reflective of my own unique experiences and values and as an active expression of creative freedom in our experiences of the divine. My assemblages re-examine traditional categorizations in art and culture, such as sacred and profane and high and low, while attempting to demystify the veil that separates the experiential from the transcendent.