{"id":957,"date":"2020-12-11T12:33:16","date_gmt":"2020-12-11T12:33:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-jefferson-africanamericanlit\/?post_type=chapter&p=957"},"modified":"2021-04-13T19:42:24","modified_gmt":"2021-04-13T19:42:24","slug":"tips-for-reading-mythology","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-jefferson-africanamericanlit\/chapter\/tips-for-reading-mythology\/","title":{"raw":"Tips for Reading Mythology","rendered":"Tips for Reading Mythology"},"content":{"raw":"Reading mythology can be difficult.\u00a0 Here are several suggestions to help you read them.\r\n
    \r\n \t
  1. Take time to make time: account for the frequent gaps in chronology and timeline continuity. \u00a0Give weight to time, thinking about how myths figure the passage of time.<\/li>\r\n \t
  2. Try different lenses: Myth often reveals psychological states or changes. \u00a0Also read the way a scientist would, using hypotheses and tests. \u00a0Be an anthropologist, studying the structure and function of a story or hero or monster. \u00a0Read as a literary critic, adopting approaches, using literary terms like motivation, conflict, irony.<\/li>\r\n \t
  3. Have cognitive complexity, the ability to hold two or more disagreeing points of view at once.<\/li>\r\n \t
  4. Look it up: If a word or name doesn't make sense, find its origin.<\/li>\r\n \t
  5. Read flexibly: As with reading Shakespeare, readings of myth run into dead end words, reordered phrases, and stilted, archaic language. \u00a0Try and do a running translation of the work as you see it. \u00a0Boil down long phrases: It may take forty lines to say that a hero was angry. \u00a0Conversely, it may take six lines to discuss the creation of the world and man! \u00a0Clearly, dealing with time flexibly is a must for a reader of myth.<\/li>\r\n \t
  6. Cognitive Dissonance-Struggle with It! \u00a0The notion of cognitive dissonance states that we'll attempt to \"gel\" two or more contradictory ideas, reaching a state where we're comfortable. \u00a0This is often impossible with mythology, so you should try and read against the tendency to explain away contradictions. \u00a0(This is sort of like attempts to keep metaphors-which are dissonant identifications of two unlike things-in our minds for a while.)<\/li>\r\n \t
  7. Use binaries\/get past binaries: Pairs of choices (binaries) can be useful tools in analysis. \u00a0We can look at a hero in terms of what they are and are not, just as we can contrast a protagonist with an antagonist. \u00a0We can contrast Eastern and Western mythological systems. \u00a0Still, don't get stuck in the either\/or logic of binaries. \u00a0For example, many heroes go beyond fear and desire, achieving something transcendent of both (i.e., Buddha, Jesus).<\/li>\r\n \t
  8. E.M. Forster, the English novelist, said \"Only connect.\" \u00a0Making thematic, symbolic or other connections helps. \u00a0Heroes and myths have many similarities. \u00a0By marking your book with care, you can draw upon the obvious connections and discover implicit ones.<\/li>\r\n \t
  9. Keep asking \"How does the action reflect psychological awareness and changes in awareness?\" \u00a0Tie your answers to specific textual details.<\/li>\r\n \t
  10. Reading these myths aloud creates an experience of them that goes beyond reading silently. \u00a0Reread, too. \u00a0Adopt a voice as you do this. \u00a0Take a stance with your tone.<\/li>\r\n \t
  11. Appreciate what's lost in translation. \u00a0Read names, think of alternate syntax (word order), and focus on alternate verbs that'd do better at conveying the action of what you're reading.<\/li>\r\n \t
  12. Remembering audience and purpose, we know that most myths are limited in usefulness as scientific or even narrative pieces. \u00a0For example, the labors of Herakles isn't primarily an account of the constellation Sagittarius and its founding. \u00a0What is it for, then?<\/li>\r\n \t
  13. Figure out what your favorite lenses are: anthropological, psychological-of which there are many, mythological, literary, historical, feminist, Marxist, structuralist, reader response. \u00a0Usually, you're using at least two of these approaches when you read.<\/li>\r\n \t
  14. Setting and conflict are good lenses for understanding difficult myths. \u00a0There's almost always an emphasis on how the landscape affects the plot, or how conflict relates to the audience.<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>","rendered":"

    Reading mythology can be difficult.\u00a0 Here are several suggestions to help you read them.<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Take time to make time: account for the frequent gaps in chronology and timeline continuity. \u00a0Give weight to time, thinking about how myths figure the passage of time.<\/li>\n
    2. Try different lenses: Myth often reveals psychological states or changes. \u00a0Also read the way a scientist would, using hypotheses and tests. \u00a0Be an anthropologist, studying the structure and function of a story or hero or monster. \u00a0Read as a literary critic, adopting approaches, using literary terms like motivation, conflict, irony.<\/li>\n
    3. Have cognitive complexity, the ability to hold two or more disagreeing points of view at once.<\/li>\n
    4. Look it up: If a word or name doesn’t make sense, find its origin.<\/li>\n
    5. Read flexibly: As with reading Shakespeare, readings of myth run into dead end words, reordered phrases, and stilted, archaic language. \u00a0Try and do a running translation of the work as you see it. \u00a0Boil down long phrases: It may take forty lines to say that a hero was angry. \u00a0Conversely, it may take six lines to discuss the creation of the world and man! \u00a0Clearly, dealing with time flexibly is a must for a reader of myth.<\/li>\n
    6. Cognitive Dissonance-Struggle with It! \u00a0The notion of cognitive dissonance states that we’ll attempt to “gel” two or more contradictory ideas, reaching a state where we’re comfortable. \u00a0This is often impossible with mythology, so you should try and read against the tendency to explain away contradictions. \u00a0(This is sort of like attempts to keep metaphors-which are dissonant identifications of two unlike things-in our minds for a while.)<\/li>\n
    7. Use binaries\/get past binaries: Pairs of choices (binaries) can be useful tools in analysis. \u00a0We can look at a hero in terms of what they are and are not, just as we can contrast a protagonist with an antagonist. \u00a0We can contrast Eastern and Western mythological systems. \u00a0Still, don’t get stuck in the either\/or logic of binaries. \u00a0For example, many heroes go beyond fear and desire, achieving something transcendent of both (i.e., Buddha, Jesus).<\/li>\n
    8. E.M. Forster, the English novelist, said “Only connect.” \u00a0Making thematic, symbolic or other connections helps. \u00a0Heroes and myths have many similarities. \u00a0By marking your book with care, you can draw upon the obvious connections and discover implicit ones.<\/li>\n
    9. Keep asking “How does the action reflect psychological awareness and changes in awareness?” \u00a0Tie your answers to specific textual details.<\/li>\n
    10. Reading these myths aloud creates an experience of them that goes beyond reading silently. \u00a0Reread, too. \u00a0Adopt a voice as you do this. \u00a0Take a stance with your tone.<\/li>\n
    11. Appreciate what’s lost in translation. \u00a0Read names, think of alternate syntax (word order), and focus on alternate verbs that’d do better at conveying the action of what you’re reading.<\/li>\n
    12. Remembering audience and purpose, we know that most myths are limited in usefulness as scientific or even narrative pieces. \u00a0For example, the labors of Herakles isn’t primarily an account of the constellation Sagittarius and its founding. \u00a0What is it for, then?<\/li>\n
    13. Figure out what your favorite lenses are: anthropological, psychological-of which there are many, mythological, literary, historical, feminist, Marxist, structuralist, reader response. \u00a0Usually, you’re using at least two of these approaches when you read.<\/li>\n
    14. Setting and conflict are good lenses for understanding difficult myths. \u00a0There’s almost always an emphasis on how the landscape affects the plot, or how conflict relates to the audience.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\t\t\t
      \n\t\t\t

      Candela Citations<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t
      \n\t\t\t\t\t\t
      \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
      CC licensed content, Original<\/div>