Getting Ready for the Final ExamCourse Summary

The Functions of Myth

• The nature of the world

• Code of behavior• Life Stages• Relationship to

the divine

Function of “Telling Stories”

• Rehearsing ideas in a social context

• Presenting culture specific realizations of mythic themes

• Critiquing the problems of society

Stories have two levels

• Literal– The plot– The setting– The characters

• Figurative– Metaphors– Symbols– Allegory

Example: Gilgamesh

• Be brave• Serve your people• Don’t fear death

Example: Beowulf

• Be brave• Serve your people• Don’t fear death

Example: Bhagavad Gita

• Be brave• Serve God• Don’t fear death

Sundiata

• Be brave• Serve your people• Don’t fear death

Implied Social Critique

• Stories address some crisis• Tension makes them interesting

Knowing cultural background

• Myths are about the human condition: – Fear (be brave)– Selfishness (serve

others)– Mortality (accept

death)

We tell myths to do specific cultural critique as well

• Kings should not abuse their people or blaspheme the gods

• People shouldn’t steal gold from other people’s hordes

• Kings shouldn’t invade other people territory and interfere with the line of succession

Power of Myth

• Speaks to human condition• Applicable across time and culture

Speaks to individual cultures

• The reader must also understand the implied cultural critique

• The reader must also understand the cultural context– History– Religion

Myth and social critique of our own culture

Superheroes

Superheroes: Historical Context

Real historyFictional history

Superheroes: Religious Context

• Judeo-Christian underpinning• Modern ecumenical• Global crisis of faith – doubt and conflict

• Nietzsche: God is dead– unsettling of shared belief

• Separation from the traditional divine– Superheroes are not in direct contact with the divine

• Rise of personal agency

Post Modernism

• A pastiche of conflicting genres• The only constant is change

Humans still need myths and heroes• Star Wars– Classic hero’s journey– Bad guys have to be faceless (and ultimately non-human)

• Wall-E– Classic hero’s journey– Bad guy is a computer

• Avatar– Classic hero’s journey– Bad guys are corporate eco-busters

Frank Miller’s Batman

• Batman and Superman– Classic hero – Modern hero (flawed)

• Frank Miller’s Batman and Superman– Social critique– Hero critique

As you read:

• Keep a chart of behavior for Batman and Superman– Heroic -- Not

Heroic

• Note social critique – what is Miller upset about in his culture.– Age? Justice? Politics?

How to Read a Graphic Novel

• Look at how the panels are arranged and how they relate to each other.

• Note the emotion evoked by the drawing style• Read the word balloons and panel action from

right to left, from up to down.• Don’t think this will take less time to read than

an all-word novel! You have to read the pictures as well as the words.