1st Edition

When the Golden Bough Breaks Structuralism or Typology?

By Peter Munz Copyright 1973
    160 Pages
    by Routledge

    160 Pages
    by Routledge

    This original, provocative study, first published in 1973, presents a new method of interpretation of mythology, and reveals the wide-ranging implications of this universal phenomenon for many disciplines. The volume begins with a sympathetic but critical examination of Lévi-Strauss’s interpretation of mythology. Professor Munz points out the deficiencies in structuralist interpretations, and takes Lévi-Strauss’s neglect of the historicity of all myths as a starting-point for an alternative approach to mythology. Myths, he argues, come in typological series. If the whole series is read forward to the most specific version, the myths will reveal their inherent meaning typologically.

    1. Introduction  2. A Critique of Structuralism  3. The Ambivalence of the Distinction Between Structuralism and Functionalism  4. The Phenomenon of Typology  5. The Opportunism of Structuralism  6. Typological Interpretation  7. Myths and Metaphysics  8. Metaphysics and Symbols  9. Symbols and Signs  10. Symbols and Psychology  11. The Truth Value of Symbols  12. The Equivalence of Symbols  13. Metaphors and Societies

    Biography

    Peter Munz