By: Casingal, Monique Irish B.

MYTHOLOGICAL
LITERARY
CRITICISM
APPROACH
Mythological/Archety
pal
is a type of critical theory that
interprets a text by focusing on
recurring myths and archetypes in
the narrative, symbols, images,
and character types in literary
work.

is the combination of anthropology,

psychology, history, and
comparative religion.
 Stereotypes, Tropes, and Archetypes

Stereotype(n): A widely held but fixed

and oversimplified image or idea of a
particular type of person or thing.

Stereotypes can be seen as sets of

characteristics or behaviors that are
commonly associated with one another,
thus making it easier for association.
Stereotypes, though, are not literary. They
refer to beliefs held about groups in reality,
not types of characters. The literary cousin
of the stereotype is the trope.
 Trope(n): devices and conventions
that a writer can reasonably rely on as
being present in the audience
members minds and expectations.

Tropeis a stereotype that writers find

useful in communicating with readers.
Tropes are things that pop up
repeatedly in media as cultural norms
in storytellingtypes of characters,
settings, plot lines, etc. Tropes are
culturally-based, which is what sets
them apart fromarchetypes.
 Archetype(n): a very typical
example of a certain person or
thing; types that fit fundamental
human motifs.

Anarchetypeis a kind of character

that pops up in stories all over the
place--atropeis a character that
puts that archetype in a cultural
context.

(e.g. The Scholar = archetype;

 Its important to mention that none
of these things are necessarily
clichs.

Clich(n):A trite or overused

expression or idea; often a vivid
depiction of an abstraction that
relies upon analogy or
exaggeration for effect, often
drawn from everyday experience; a
person or character whose
behavior is predictable or
superficial.
Recap:
Stereotypes:Not literary. We avoid using this term
to talk about classifying characters, settings, plot
points, etc..

Archetypes:The broad, all-encompassing norms of

the stories humanity tells. The same archetypes can
be found in all or nearly all cultures.

Tropes:Culturally-specific norms in storytelling.

Tropes are cultural classifications of archetypes.

Clichs:Overused and hackneyed phrases,

characters, settings, plot points, etc.. Clichs are
defined by a loss of the meaning or as a distraction
from the story.
Origins:
Social Anthropology

Psychoanalysis
Contributors:
Sir James George Frazer

Carl Gustav Jung

Northrop Frye
Frazer (from
Anthropology)
Frazers The Golden Bough (18901915)
was the first influential text dealing with
cultural mythologies.

In it, he identified the shared practices

and mythological beliefs between
primitive religions and modern religions.
Frazer argues that the death-rebirth
myth is present in almost all cultural
mythologies, and is acted out in terms
of growing seasons and vegetation.
Jung (from
Psychoanalysis)
Frazer's work deals with mythology
and archetypes in material terms,
but the work of Carl Gustav Jung,
is, in contrast, immaterial in its
focus.

Jung's work theorizes about myths

and archetypes in relation to the
unconscious, an inaccessible part
of the mind.
 From a Jungian perspective, myths
are the "culturally elaborated
representations of the contents of
the deepest recess of the human
psyche: the world of the
archetypes.

The collective unconscious is a

number of innate thoughts,
feelings, instincts, and memories
that reside in the unconsciousness
of all people.
 To Jung, an archetype in the
collective unconscious is
irrepresentable, but has effects
which make visualizations of it
possible, namely, the archetypal
images and ideas, due to the fact
they are at an inaccessible part of
the mind. He coined this as
primordial images.
Frye (from Literature)
Because of Frye, archetypal
criticism was finally theorized in
purely literary terms.

For Frye, literary archetypes "play

an essential role in refashioning the
material universe into an
alternative verbal universe that is
humanly intelligible and viable,
because it is adapted to essential
human needs and concerns"
Frye is sorta cool
Frazers Jungs Archetyp
death- collective es origins
rebirth unconsciou
myth s
Fryes Not unnecessary Boring. The
opinion ritualistic since if the function
s since it is unconscious and effect
involuntary, is of
and unknowabl archetypes
therefore, e, then it are much
must be cannot be more
done studied interesting.
 Two Categories in Frye's
Framework
Comedic

Comedy mythos of spring (birth of the hero, revival and

resurrection)

Romance mythos of summer (triumph, usually a

marriage)

Tragic

Tragedy mythos of autumn (the "fall" or demise of the

protagonist)

Satire mythos of winter (darkness, dissolution, the return

of chaos, the defeat of the heroic figure)
 Five Different
Spheres
Human
Animal
Vegetation
Mineral
Water
 Sphere Comedic Tragic
Animal docile and predatory and
pastoral (e.g. hunters (e.g.
sheep) wolves)
Vegetation pastoral but a wild forest,
also or a barren
represented land
by gardens,
parks, roses
and lotuses
Mineral Cities, a a desert or
temple, or ruins
precious
stones
Water represented the seas,
In Being a Mythological Critic:

Mythological critics compare one

work to others with similar story
lines to uncover the archetypes,
and compare the differences as
well as the similarities how it helps
to define the underlying existence
of the human condition.
 Mythological criticism is about the
symbolic meaning, the undertones of
the archetypes: the moon that looms
large over the horizon is different
from the moon that sits quietly
unnoticed in the heavens.

Each has a different undertone of the

archetype of the moon. While they
share certain qualities, they also vary
in certain qualities and meanings.
Misconceptions
Myths are merely primitive fictions,
illusions, or opinions based upon false
reasoning.

Actually, mythology encompasses

more than grade school stories about
the Greek and Roman deities or clever
fables invented for the amusement of
children (or the harassment of
students in college literature courses).
 As Mark Schorer says in William
Blake: The Politics of Vision (New
York: Holt, 1946), "Myth is
fundamental. It is the dramatic
representation of our deepest
instinctual life, of a primary
awareness of man in the universe,
capable of many configurations,
upon which all particular opinions
and attitudes depend." (29)
SOME EXAMPLES OF ARCHETYPES
Yin-yang a Chinese symbol
representing the union of the
opposite forces of the yang
(masculine principle, light, activity,
the conscious mind) and the yin
(female principle, darkness,
passivity, the unconscious)

Water the mystery of creation,

birth, death, resurrection; life cycle;
eternity, fertility and growth.
 Ouroboros the ancient symbol of
the snake biting its own tail,
signifying the eternal cycle of life,
primordial unconsciousness, the
unity of opposing forces.

Red blood, sacrifice, violence,

disorder and so on.
Archetypes in Characters

The Hero: He or she is a character who

predominantly exhibits goodness and
struggles against evil in order to restore
harmony and justice to society.

The Mother Figure: Such a character may

be represented as Fairy Mother who guides
and directs a child, Mother Earth who
contacts people and offers spiritual and
emotional nourishment, and Stepmother
who treats their stepchildren roughly.

 The Innocent Youth: He or she is

inexperienced with many
weaknesses and seeks safety with
others but others like him/her
because of the trust he or she
shows in other people.

The Mentor: His or her task is to

protect the main character. It is
through the wise advice and
training of a mentor that the main
character achieves success in the
world.
 Doppelganger: It is a duplicate or
shadow of a character that represents
the evil side of his personality.

The Scapegoat: A character that takes

the blame of everything bad that
happens.

The Villain: A character whose main

function is to go to any extent to
oppose the hero or whom the hero must
annihilate in order to bring justice.
Archetypes in Situations

The Journey: The main character

takes a journey that may be
physical or emotional to
understand his or her personality
and the nature of the world.

The Initiation: The main character

undergoes experiences that lead
him towards maturity.
 Good Versus Evil: It represents the
clash of forces that represent
goodness with those that represent
evil.

The Fall: The main character falls

from grace in consequence of his or
her own action.
Thank you and have a nice day
(bread)!