Welsh Mythology

Welsh Mythology
Author: Jonathan Miles-Watson
Publisher: Cambria Press
Total Pages: 353
Release: 2009
Genre: Drama
ISBN: 1604976209

A little-known lecture by Lévi-Strauss is the inspiration for this work. In this lecture, he intuitively suggested that in medieval Europe there once existed a set of myths, centred on the grail, which are structurally the opposite of the goatsucker myths that he famously analyzed in his mythologiques series. This work uses Lévi-Strauss' inspirational lecture as a launchpad for an exploration of a group of related medieval Welsh myths, two of which have been briefly considered previously by Lévi-Strauss himself. The root of the methodological approach this book employs throughout is the Structuralism of Claude Lévi-Strauss; however, it has been modified to incorporate the suggestions of later neo-Structuralists. This analysis tool is applied to a group of myths, which have become conveniently--if somewhat erroneously--known as the Mabinogion. The name Mabinogion appears as part of a colophon at the end of one of the myth of Pwyll and it was later adopted first by Pugh (1835), and then by Lady Charlotte Guest (1838) as a title for their now famous translations of Welsh mythology. Consequently, the title has stuck to describe the material that is contained within their translations and, while it is a somewhat inaccurate way to describe the myths, it has the virtues of being both a succinct and widely recognised signifier. The term has come to signify eight myths, or perhaps more accurately eight groups of myths, which are all present in the late fourteenth-century manuscript Llyfr Coch Hergest (The Red Book of Hergest), and all but one of which can be found in the slightly earlier Llyfr Gwyn Rhydderch (The White Book of Rhydderch). As such, the Mabinogion is the key collection of medieval Welsh mythology and an important source for early Arthurian material. Although Structuralism and the Mabinogion have attracted a good deal of attention from the academic world, there has been never been a sustained attempt to follow Levi-Strauss' intuitive insights with a methodical Structuralist analysis of this material. In the year of Lévi-Strauss' centenary celebrations, this work is the first sustained attempt to follow his intuitive suggestions about several Mabinogion myths with a detailed Structuralist analysis of the Mabinogion. This work is therefore a unique anthropological presentation and analysis of the Mabinogion, which argues for a radical, new interpretation of these myths in light of the existence of a central system of interlocking symbols that has the Grail at its heart. Through the analysis, the book reveals a logical organizational principle that underlies a body of material that has previously been viewed as disparate and confusing. This underlying structure is demonstrated to be, as Lévi-Strauss suggested it may, the opposite of that which Lévi-Strauss himself uncovered in the Americas. The revelation of this new form of underlying structure leads to a rethinking of some important aspects of Structuralism, including the Canonical formula, at the same time as acting as a tribute to the farsightedness of Lévi-Strauss. This book makes important contributions to the fields of Arthurian studies, anthropology, Celtic studies, cultural studies, medieval studies, mythology and religious studies.

Sex for Structuralists

Sex for Structuralists
Author: Shanna de la Torre
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 140
Release: 2018-08-03
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 3319928953

This book argues that structuralism makes itself useful when it engages with the non-Oedipal logics of femininity and psychosis. Building from the psychoanalytic belief that norms repress unconscious desire while structures open onto the creative resources of the symbolic, Sex for Structuralists looks to key texts in myth, trauma, and unconscious fantasy by Sigmund Freud, Jacques Lacan, and Claude Lévi-Strauss. It also examines innovative writings by contemporary Lacanian thinkers in order to discover what becomes of structuralism when the ground upon which it ostensibly stands (namely, that of the zero symbol or the incest prohibition) drops out from under it.

Structuralism & Semiotics

Structuralism & Semiotics
Author: Terence Hawkes
Publisher: Univ of California Press
Total Pages: 196
Release: 1977-01-01
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 9780520034228

"This guide discusses the nature and development of structuralism and semiotics, calling for a new critical awareness of the ways in which we communicate and drawing attention to their implications for our society. Published in 1977 as the first volume in the New Accents series, Structuralism and Semiotics made crucial debates in critical theory accessible to those with no prior knowledge of the field, thus enacting its own small revolution. Since then a generation of readers has used the book as an entry not only into structuralism and semiotics, but into the wide range of cultural and critical theories underpinned by these approaches." "Structuralism and Semiotics remains the clearest introduction to some of the most important topics in modern critical theory. An afterword and fresh suggestions for further reading ensure that this new edition will become, like its predecessor, the essential starting point for anyone new to the field."--BOOK JACKET.

Literary Theory: A Guide for the Perplexed

Literary Theory: A Guide for the Perplexed
Author: Mary Klages
Publisher: A&C Black
Total Pages: 196
Release: 2006-01-01
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 9780826490735

This Guide introduces theory in a clear, accessible way, focusing on the major approaches and theorists.

Theories of Mythology

Theories of Mythology
Author: Eric Csapo
Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
Total Pages: 352
Release: 2005-01-24
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 9780631232483

Theories of Mythology provides students with both a history of theories of myth and a practical ‘how-to’ guide to interpreting myth, the most elementary form of narrative. Both a history of theories of myth and a practical ‘how-to’ guide to interpreting myth. Introduces the major theories of myth from the nineteenth century to the present day. Covers comparative approaches, psychoanalysis, ritual theories of myth, structuralism, and ideological analysis. Supplies readers with the theoretical tools for imitating each method. Features detailed exemplary readings of familiar myths.

The Methods of the Gernet Classicists (RLE Myth)

The Methods of the Gernet Classicists (RLE Myth)
Author: Roland A. Champagne
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 241
Release: 2015-03-05
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 1317555937

The Gernet Centre was founded as a place where the structural method could be applied to the classics. ‘Structuralists’ attribute the survival, origin and function of myths to common crosscultural factors they identify as ‘structures’. As this book, first published as The Structuralists on Myth in 1992 explains, these structures are bundles of information not obvious either to the narrator or to the listener. The bundles are collected features that reveal either the reasons for the survival of myths, or their origins, or their functions within their contexts. The structuralists consider themselves to have talents as the collectors from myths of these bundles of information.

The Raw and the Cooked

The Raw and the Cooked
Author: Claude Lévi-Strauss
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Total Pages: 420
Release: 1983-03-15
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9780226474878

"Lévi-Strauss is a French savant par excellence, a man of extraordinary sensitivity and human wisdom . . . a deliberate stylist with profound convictions and convincing arguments. . . . [The Raw and the Cooked] adds yet another chapter to the tireless quest for a scientifically accurate, esthetically viable, and philosophically relevant cultural anthropology. . . . [It is] indispensable reading."—Natural History

Myth and Music

Myth and Music
Author: Eero Tarasti
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter
Total Pages: 369
Release: 2012-01-02
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 3110808757

Structuralism in Myth

Structuralism in Myth
Author: Robert Alan Segal
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 350
Release: 1996
Genre: Folklore
ISBN: 9780815322603

First Published in 1996. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.