The reading of four contemporary novels, namely: Credo by Melvyn Bragg, The Catastrophist by Ronan Bennett, Everything You Need by A.L. Kennedy and American Gods by Neil Gaiman explores the prominent position of mythification and remythification in contemporary literature. The discussion of Bragg's novel examines the significance of Celtic mythology and folklore and to what extent it influenced Christian mythology on the British Isles and vice versa. The presentation of the transition from a cyclical, pagan to a linear, Christian belief system is analysed. My analysis of Bennett's novel supports the observation that political myth as myth transformed contains elements and qualities embodied by sacred myths and investigates the relevance of Johan Degenaar's observation that "[p]ostmodernism emphasises the fact that myth is an ambiguous phenomenon" and practices an attitude of "eternal vigilance" (1995: 47), as is evident in the main protagonist's dispassionate stance. My reading of Kennedy's novel explores the bond that myth creates between the artist and the audience and argues that the writer as myth creator fulfils a restorative function through the mythical and symbolic qualities embedded in literature. Gaiman's novel American Gods focuses on the function of meta/multi-mythology in contemporary literature (especially the fantasy genre) and on what these qualities reveal about a society and its concerns and values. The thesis contemplates how in each case the original myths were substituted, modulated or transfigured to be presented as metamyth or myth transformed. The analysis shows that myth can be used in various ways in literature: as the data or information that is recreated and transformed in the creative process to establish a common matrix of stories, symbols, images and motifs which represents a bond between the author and the reader in terms of the meaning-making process; to facilitate a spiritual enrichment in a demythologized world and for its restorative abilities. The study is confirmed by detailed mythical reference. / English Studies / (D. Litt. et Phil. (English))

Le but principal de cette thèse est d’analyser les westerns et films partisans de notre corpus comme des récits mythiques qui véhiculent un mythe national, respectivement américain et yougoslave, et affirment ainsi la société et la nation en question. Le travail est divisé en quatre parties. La première partie étudie l’idéologie nationale et la notion de mythe national ; la deuxième est consacrée à l’analyse des oeuvres d’art en tant que récits mythiques créés autour d’une idéologie nationale, qui sert de « mythomoteur », selon l’expression d’Anthony D. Smith. La troisième partie examine l’axe diachronique du récit mythique et l’évolution de ces oeuvres dans le temps, et la quatrième partie creuse la relation entre l’idéologie véhiculée par les oeuvres et la réussite de la création du mythe national américain et yougoslave. / The principal goal of this thesis is to analyze the works of the corpus as mythical narratives that carry the notion of the national myth and that participate in the creation of the national myth of the society and the nation in question. The work is divided into four sections. The first section inspects the national ideology and the notion of the national myth. The second is dedicated to analyzing the works of our corpus as the mythical narratives. The principal idea is to analyze the works at hand as if they were created around the nationalist ideology (that serves as a mythomoteur, according to the definition proposed by Anthony D. Smith). The third section inspects the diachronical axis of the mythical narrative and the placement of the works on a temporal line (on that diachronical axis), while the fourth section inspects the relation between the ideology carried by the works of the corpus and the success of the creation of the American and Yugoslav national myth.

Text in Afrikaans / Verkragting, 'n toenemende misdaad, word deur verskeie mites omring. Die doel van die navorsing was om verkragtingsmites te beskryf en oak om vas te stel of daar 'n verskil tussen mans en vroue bestaan betreffende die aanvaarding van die verkragtingsmites. 'n Verkennende studie van bestaande literatuur het aan die lig gebring dat die gemeenskap, polisie, hofamptenare, mediese personeel en die media bepaalde wanvoorstellings aangaande verkragting het. Om die bestaan van verkragtingsmites te bewys, is 'n kwantitatiewe studie uitgevoer wat 136 mans en 165 vroue se persepsies oar verkragtingsmites getoets het. Statisties-beduidende verskille tussen die geslagte is aangeteken. Die resultate van die navorsing dui daarop dat mans en vroue die mite aanvaar dat verkragting 'n seksuele eerder as 'n geweldsmisdaad is. Verder blyk dit duidelik dat vroue meer geneig is om verkragtingsmites te aanvaar wat hul slagoffervatbaarheid kan verhoog. / Rape, an increasing crime is surrounded by various myths. The aim of this research was to describe these myths and also to establish whether or not men and women differ with regard to the acceptance thereof. An exploratory study revealed that society, the police, court officials, medical staff and the media have certain misconceptions with regard to rape. To prove the existence of these myths a quantitative study with 136 males and 165 females was undertaken during which their perceptions pertaining to rape myths were tested. Statistically significant differences were noted. Research results indicated that men and women accept the myth that rape is a sexual rather than a violent crime. It furthermore became evident that women are more inclined to accept rape myths which in tum increase their victim vulnerability. / Sociology / M.A. (Criminology)

A storyscape is the new medium of storytelling. It originates in the model of transmedia storytelling defined by Henry Jenkins (2006a) in Convergence Culture and applied to The Matrix franchise. The storyscape medium is conceptualized from the author/designer perspective as four gestalts that create a whole from stand-alone parts. The four gestalts are mythopoeia, character, canon, and genre. This approach frames the authoring of this story-centric model in opposition to the design approaches of world-building or storyworlds. The four gestalts also provide an academic approach that unites theory and practice with a unified design vocabulary and an orientation toward the creation of a cultural and creative product that is defined as the storyscape medium. Storyscapes, such as The Star Wars franchise or the Marvel Universe, consume the lion’s share of our cultural capital (Johnson 2014). Therefore, the development of a consistent vocabulary, a design approach, and an understanding of how they create meaning and define worldviews is critical to our understanding and practice of a new medium (Dena 2009). Starting with the frame of storytelling as a practice and previous aesthetic models such as The Poetics, this research charts the evolution of the storyscape medium across topics of academic transmedia approaches, principles, affordances, and the connecting or conceptualizing principles that act as gestalts.

This dissertation explores myth-making in Latin America by focusing specifically upon four Amerindian and mestizo figures: Doña Bárbara, mestiza protagonist of Rómulo Gallegos’ 1929 novel; Anacaona and Hatuey, Taíno caciques who first appeared in Bartolomé de las Casas’ Brevísima relación de la destrucción de las Indias (1552); and Andrés Chiliquinga, indigenous protagonist of Jorge Icaza’s Huasipungo (1934). The present analysis examines the evolution of these myths from their original appearance to literary and film versions throughout the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries in the Caribbean and Andean regions. The project focuses upon the ways in which artists have interpreted these myths, their embedding in society’s collective memory, and their mythical functions in anti- and postcolonial discourse. By breaking down each myth into its most basic structure, this project identifies the core connotations contained within that reveal each myth’s function as a cultural foundation in Latin America. It also examines how the versions of a myth depart from one another, thus underscoring possible critiques of the myth. Finally, it examines the ways in which some of these myths have become commodities, particularly in contemporary popular culture. By examining these figures as cultural myths—bridging past and present—, this research argues that a mythic-interpretive model proves effective as it leads us to a deeper understanding of the universal connotations contained not only within the stories chosen here, but the Latin American narrative as a whole.

Šiame darbe buvo analizuojami literatūriniai sapnai, remiantis analitiniu, interpretaciniu, naratologiniu, kino teorijos, V. Proppo „Pasakos morfologijos, C. G. Jungo archetipų teorijos interpretaciniais tyrinėjimo metodais. Tyrinėjimo šaltiniai – šiuolaikiniai romanai: norvegės H. Wassmo bei lietuvio L. Gutausko „Septintas susitikimas“ ir „Vilko dantų karoliai“. Šių autorių veikalai pasirinkti dėl juose sutinkamų sapnų parankumo šio darbo tyrinėjimo analizei. Darbe siekta remiantis Prince’o ir Jungo pasiūlytomis technikomis analizuoti literatūrinius sapnus, juos siejant, taikant jiems kinui būdingas sąvokas, sampratas, teorijas siejant sapnus su mitais bei pasakomis. Šiam tikslui pasiekti darbe buvo atliekami tokie uždaviniai: teoriškai formuluota sapno kaip naratyvo samprata, ieškota kino naratyvo principų sapne. Taip pat bandyta atpažinti sapne pasireiškiančius pasakos ar sakmės siužetus ir motyvus, rasti sąsajas tarp mito ir sapno, ieškota archetipinių vaizdinių sapnuose. Toks darbo objektas pasirinktas ne atsitiktinai: svarbus aspektas, kuris skatina rašytojus integruoti sapnus į kūrinio meninę realybę – tai troškimas artikuliuoti komplikuotas šiuolaikinio subjekto patirtis, susijusias su „tiesos“ pažinimu ir jos perteikimu. Įterpti į tekstą sapnai veikia kaip intertekstas, perkoduojantis siunčiamą pranešimą kita „kalba“. Atkodavus sapną, jo reikšmė gali būti vartojama kūrinio prasmės įtaigai stiprinti. Pats literatūrinis sapnas, jį ypač mėgstančių rašytojų kūryboje... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / In this work in nonintegration way the literary dreams were analyzed, according to analytical, interpretational, narathological, theoretical instruments, offered by Russian formalism, C. G. Jung’s theory of archetypes. The sources of research – 8 literary dreams of Herbjørg Wassmo‘s novel „Septintasis susitikimas“ and Leonardas Gutauskas‘ first part of „Vilko dantų karoliai“. The literary dream itself in the creation of its admirers or when it becomes a basis of the composition structure of creation, constantly attracts the attention of people in literature. So the choice of such an object also determines its topicality in the contemporary scientific world. The works of these authors are chosen due to handiness of dreams for the research analysis of this work. In this work it was tryed, according to technics, offered by Prince and Jung, to analyse the literary dreams, by relating it, applying cinematic concepts, conceptions, theories, relating dreams with myths and fairy-tales. To archieve this goal there were formulated such tasks: to theoreticaly formulate the conception of dream, as narrative, to look for the principles of cinematic narrative in the dream, to recognize the plots and motives of fairy-tale and saga, which come through it, to find the relations between the myth and dream, to look for an archetypical visuals in the dreams. Such an object of work was chosen nonaccidentally: the important aspect, which encourages writers to integrate dreams in artistical reality... [to full text]

Mitinis žmogus - šiuolaikinėje visuomenėje atspindintis senosios kultūros pasaulėžiūros suvokimą. Žmogus sąmonės lygmenyje laviruojantis tarp praeities kultūros dvasinių įsitikinimų ir šiuolaikinės visuomenės informacijos bei žinių. / The mythical man - in a modern society, reflecting the culture of the old world-perception. Man exists between the level of consciousness of the past culture and spiritual beliefs of modern society of information and knowledge.

Women who learn to clown within Western contemporary theatre and performance training lack recognizably female exemplars of this popular art form. This practice-as-research thesis analyses my past and present clowning experiences in order to create an understanding of a woman-centered clown practice which allows for the expression of material bodies and lived experiences. It offers a feminist perspective on Jacques Lecoq’s pedagogy, which revolves around a notion of an ‘inner clown’ and is prevalent in contemporary UK clown training and practice. The thesis draws on both the avant-garde and numerous clown types and archetypes, in order to understand clowning as a genre revealed through a range of unsocialised behaviours. It does not differentiate necessarily between clowning by men and women but suggests a re-think and reconfiguration to incorporate a wide range of values and thought processes as a means of introduction to a wider audience. Specific concerns with the terms clown and clowning initiate this investigation, resulting in the creation of a ‘clowning continuum’, which offers a practical way of understanding various modes of clowning and various types of clowns. I examine my experiences, including those of ‘failure’, while working with renowned performer trainers, as well my negotiation of gender and sexuality through both my clowning in character and my creation of clowns. The twentieth century avant-garde artist Baroness Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven, who inspired me to create ‘Clown Elsa’ and take her to art galleries and onto the street, is identified as a ‘radical female proto-clown’. My practical investigations into the potential interrelatedness of the masquerade of femininity and the mask of the clown are also shaped by discourses of hysteria and the carnivalesque. Drawing on Bakhtin’s concepts of carnival, dialogic practice and heteroglossia, as well as the transgressive potential of classical myth and archetypes for women, this thesis reconfigures clown practice and discourse by both challenging and developing upon Lecoq’s outmoded pedagogic practice. Its goal is to open it up for more types and modes of clown, in particular an ‘inner clown’ that can operate in a number of masks. It culminates in my creation of a feminist clown, Sedusa, who is inspired by Hélène Cixous’s writing on l’écriture feminine, myth and laughter in ‘The Laugh of the Medusa’ (1976). Sedusa expands clown models and masks for women by exploiting the ‘masquerade’ of femininity, a term originally coined by Joan Riviere in 1929. The thesis includes a performance as Sedusa as an embodiment of my research findings.

The aim of this thesis is to build a paradigm to unravel the human mind’s fundamental kinship with the cosmos and its role as the vehicle of the universe’s unfolded meaning. The concept of ‘boundary’ is presented as a primary ontological force that drives, provokes and defines our thinking, consciously and subconsciously, in our attempt to achieve an understanding of self within the cosmos. It provides the hidden thread, the ‘limited concept’ that acts as a guide towards the building of this paradigm. Challenging its primarily physical interpretation, this thesis examines the concept of boundary from its genesis, imbedded in the primary moment of the birth of human consciousness within the universe, following it along its progressive complexity. Merging a primarily phenomenological with an epistemological approach by building on a number of essential evolutionary phases in our existence, through a synthesis of induction and deduction, we are confronted by how they are driven by boundary. Myth, religion, language, culture, philosophy, science, and even architecture are manifestations of humanity’s gradual attempt to understand, adapt to and transform our world and ourselves within it and in reference to it, displaying an inherent dynamic between our mind and our world. Bound in this dialectical creative opposition, our conceptualisations of the world are seen both as insights of our mind in its attempt to unravel the meaning of the cosmos, as well as the cosmos’s attempt to gradually reveal its nature within us, thus revealing their radical kinship. Ultimately, the aim is to reveal architecture and its embodied nature as a fundamental manifestation of our existence within the cosmos and to distil its message and purpose, its timeless task. Architecture is exposed as an existential medium, engaging the boundary between man and the cosmos, inviting us to read a model of the world while at the same time endowing us with our own sense of self and finally enabling us to coexist with our world in an interactive evolving equilibrium.

Capitalism's success, according to Karl Marx, is based on continued development of new markets and products. As globalization shrinks the world marketplace, corporations are forced to seek both new customers and products to sell. Commodification is the process of transforming objects, ideas and even people into merchandise. The recent growth of the World Wide Web has caught the attention of the corporate world, and they are attempting to convert a free-share-based medium into a profit-based outlet. To be successful, they must change Web users' perception about the nature of the Web itself. This study asks the question: Is there mythic evidence of commodification on the World Wide Web? It examines how the World Wide Web is presented to readers of three national publications-Wired, Newsweek, and Business Week-from 1993 to 2000. It uses Barthes' two-tiered model of myths to examine the descriptors used to modify and describe the World Wide Web. The descriptors were clustered into 11 general categories, including connectivity, social, being, scene, consumption, revolution, tool, value, biology, arena, and other. Wired articles did not demonstrate a trend in categorical change from 1993 to 2000; the category of choice shifted back and forth between Revolution, Connectivity, Scene, and Being. Newsweek articles demonstrated an obvious directional shift. Connectivity is the dominant myth from 1994 to 1998, when the revolution category dominates. Similarly, Business Week follows the prevailing myth of connectivity from 1994 to 1997. From 1998 on, the competition-related categories of revolution and arena lead all categories. The study finds evidence of commodification on the World Wide Web, based on the trend in categories in Newsweek and Business Week that move from a foundational myth that presents a perception of cooperation in 1994 to one of competition in 1998 and later. The study recommends further in-depth research of the target publications, a review of articles in less-developed countries, and content analysis and ethnography online.