The Mythmaker
The Mythmaker

Author: Carter Wheelock

Publisher: University of Texas Press

Published: 2014-05-29

Total Pages: 203

ISBN-13: 029272716X

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Readers who are intrigued, though often mystified, by the intellectual fantasies of Jorge Luis Borges will find this book a revelation, a skeleton key to one of the most fundamental and baffling aspects of Borges’s fictions: the pattern of symbolism with an inner meaning. Carter Wheelock’s study reduces a number of literary and intellectual abstractions to concrete terms, enabling the reader to understand Borges’s fantasies in ways that show them to be not so fantastic after all. Indeed, they are amazingly consistent and minutely accurate in their symbolic depiction of the magic universe of the mind. Wheelock also discusses the affinity between Borges’s philosophical idealism and his “esthetic of the intelligence,” the relationship between these and the esthetic ideas of French Symbolism, and the influence on his fictions of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám. Why is it that this “writer’s writer” from the Argentine—erudite, allusive, elusive—has attracted such international attention? In Wheelock’s opinion, it is because he has symbolized in his short stories the fundamental form of the human consciousness, the functioning of the imaginative (world-creating) mechanism, and the eternal battle between form and chaos. The Mythmaker is concerned with elucidating the particulars of Borges’s fictional works, but even as it does so it also reveals their universality.

The Mythmaker
The Mythmaker

Author: Hyam Maccoby

Publisher: Barnes & Noble Publishing

Published: 1986

Total Pages: 268

ISBN-13: 9780760707876

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The author presents new arguments which support the view that Paul, not Jesus, was the founder of Christianity. He argues that Jesus and also his immediate disciples James and Peter were life-long adherents of Pharisaic Judaism. Paul, however, was not, as he claimed, a native-born Jew of Pharisee upbringing, but came in fact from a Gentile background. He maintains that it was Paul alone who created a new religion by his vision of Jesus as a Divine Saviour who died to save humanity. This concept, which went far beyond the messianic claims of Jesus, was an amalgamation of ideas derived from Hellenistic religion, especially from Gnosticism and the mystery cults. Paul played a devious and adventurous political game with Jesus' followers of the so-called Jerusalem Church, who eventually disowned him. The conclusions of this historical and psychological study will come as a shock to many readers, but it is nevertheless a book which cannot be ignored by anyone concerned with the foundations of our culture and society. -- Book jacket.

Myths and Myth-Makers
Myths and Myth-Makers

Author: John Fiske

Publisher: Good Press

Published: 2019-11-26

Total Pages: 202

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Myths and Myth-Makers by John Fiske is a textbook about comparative mythology providing insight into prejudice and human nature. Excerpt: "IN publishing this somewhat rambling and unsystematic series of papers, in which I have endeavored to touch briefly upon a great many of the most important points in the study of mythology, I think it right to observe that, to avoid confusing the reader with intricate discussions, I have sometimes cut the matter short, expressing myself with dogmatic definiteness where a skeptical vagueness might perhaps have seemed more becoming. In treating popular legends and superstitions, the paths of inquiry are circuitous enough, and seldom can we reach a satisfactory conclusion until we have traveled around Robin Hood's barn and back again."

The Writer as Mythmaker
The Writer as Mythmaker

Author: Bernth Lindfors

Publisher:

Published: 2004

Total Pages: 354

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

South Asian readers and scholars find Wole Soyinka and his work especially fascinating. The manner in which he deals with colonial and postcolonial experience, the metaphysical strain embedded in his commentaries on his Yoruba heritage, and the numerous comparisons he makes with other cultures appeal to a South Asian sensibility. His brilliant style, versatility in handling a variety of genres, and wonderfully ironic sense of humor are also extremely impressive. Moreover, his social activism in particular, his fearless opposition to suppression of any kind renders him a charismatic and inspiring figure. He is the sort of person who attracts, generates and actively takes part in controversy. These multifaceted and multitalented characteristics, often paradoxical, appeal to South Asian minds which also view life in a holistic rather than a bipolar manner. The essays in this volume focus on all the major genres in Soyinka's oeuvre: fiction, poetry, criticism, autobiography, and especially drama. The contributors employ a variety of critical techniques in coming to terms with the writings of the first African to win the Nobel Prize for Literature.

Japanese Culture and Behavior
Japanese Culture and Behavior

Author: Takie Sugiyama Lebra

Publisher: University of Hawaii Press

Published: 1986-08-01

Total Pages: 452

ISBN-13: 9780824810559

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Every chapters offers insights into one aspect or other of contemporary Japanese life. Newly included are discussions on such topics as dinner entertainment, skiing cross-culturally, male chauvinism as a manifestation of love in marriage, and domestic violence. Ten chapters have been retained from the first edition because they have achieved the status of classics.

World Mythology
World Mythology

Author: Roy G. Willis

Publisher: Macmillan

Published: 1993

Total Pages: 326

ISBN-13: 9780805027013

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The great myths of the world create meaning out of the fundamental events of human existence: birth, death, conflict, loss, reconciliation, the cycle of the seasons. They speak to us of life itself in voices still intelligible, yet compellingly strange and distant. World Mythology offers readers an authoritative and wide-ranging guide to these enduring mythological traditions, combining the pure narrative of the myths themselves with the background necessary for more complete understanding. Here, noted mythology expert Roy Willis, brings together a team of nineteen leading scholars navigate a clear path through the complexities of myth as they distill the essence of each regional tradition and focus on the most significant figures and the most enthralling stories. All aspects of the world's key mythologies are covered, from tales of warring deities and demons to stories of revenge and metamorphosis; from accounts of lustful gods and star-crossed human lovers to journeys in the underworld. All are told at length and are accompanied by illuminating and readable introductory text. Also included are summaries of important theories about the origins and meaning of myth, and an examination of themes that recur across a range of civilizations. Beautifully illustrated with more than 500 color photographs, works of art, charts, and maps, World Mythology offers readers the most accessible guide yet to the heritage of the world's imagination.

W. B. Yeats
W. B. Yeats

Author: Alexander Norman Jeffares

Publisher: Psychology Press

Published: 1997

Total Pages: 504

ISBN-13: 9780415159395

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This set comprises of 40 volumes covering nineteenth and twentieth century European and American authors. These volumes will be available as a complete set, mini boxed sets (by theme) or as individual volumes. This second set compliments the first 68 volume set of Critical Heritage published by Routledge in October 1995.