107 pages • 3 hours read
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Parallel Myths by J. F. Bierlein, a scholarly study of cultural mythology and its extensive cross-cultural intersectionality, was originally published in 1994. The book takes up the work popularized by Joseph Campbell in the 1980s and, in the author’s words, attempts to make the subject more “reader friendly” as well as more globally inclusive. Bierlein notes the rise in the popularity of myth in the last few decades, and his work aims to account for that rise, analyzing it from the perspective of disciplines as diverse as anthropology, philosophy, psychology, and religion.
Summary
Parallel Myths begins with a rudimentary definition of myth: a “mirror” in which we, society, see ourselves. Mythic stories are ubiquitous in film and literature and serve as a psychological balm against the existential dread of daily life. Human beings, he argues, need purpose in their lives as much as they need food and water, and myths offer that purpose. The English language is even peppered with words that have their origins in myth, including our ways of measuring time and recording history. They provide a bridge between the mortal world and the divine mysteries of the universe without which the natural world loses its wonder.
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