Definition of Myth: on the Road to Inclusive Approach

• Main Author: Oleksandr Siedin
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy 2019-12-01
• Series: Наукові записки НаУКМА: Філософія та релігієзнавство
• Subjects: myth; mythology; work on myth; definition
• Online Access: http://nzpr.ukma.edu.ua/article/view/186443

The article explores the ways to solve the problem of the lack of a common interdisciplinary definition of myth at the beginning of the 21st century. The problem was actualized in the 20th century after the development of new theories that reject the enlightening stereotypes of archaic nature of myth, and instead develop the ideas about the existence of modern mythology, the inability to escape from myth and its active participation in the formation of the current worldview. A number of contemporary researchers have been attempting to evade a common ultimate definition of myth in favour of forming a productive, inclusive discourse. So, there are attempts to refrain from defining myth at all (Omid Tofighian), to elaborate a compromise definition (Robert Segal), to define not a myth but a “work on myth” (Hans Blumenberg, Chiara Bottici), to evolve a detailed but flexible definition that is open to adjustments (William Doty). These investigations ground an interdisciplinary theoretical foundation that can be used for further studies of the mythic phenomena in each individual perspective, without neglecting the achievements of various discourses. It is also noticed that a common feature of contemporary efforts to define a myth is an observation that we always deal with a myth not as an isolated story but simultaneously with the diversity of its plots and manifestations. The studies focus on its multiplicity, variability, modifiability through time. The other important side of myth is significance that it produces for both universal and specific aspects of the life of social groups. If the narrative stops producing significance, it loses its mythic status and transforms into the products of the mythology of other epochs.