Benjamin Cavallaro, Period 6, 11/09/23

 Benjamin Cavallaro, Period 6, 11/9/23

Modern Mythology 2024

Research Paper 

     Something that intrigued me since the first project we did in our mythology class, and has continued to come up over our lessons, is repeating motifs and stories across different cultures and times. When looking through all the Cinderella stories I wondered how such similar stories came from such different places. I was similarly curious about the similarities drawn between Dionysus and Jesus or the similarities between different creation myths we studied in class, especially when pertaining to the concept of Chaos. So, following this interest, I decided to research a little bit on comparative mythology and folklore analysis. 

     From cursory research I learned that comparative mythology and folklore are large but controversial fields. There are certainly identifiable repetitions in stories across the world, similar to the Cinderella stories we read in class. One well known example of mythological repetition is the story of the flood. In both the Abrahamic Bible and the Mesopotamian epics of Gilgamesh and Atrahasis there are stories about a great flood brought on by a god wiping out all life save a man who builds a boat and the species he protects. Other repeating themes in mythology include gods that die and are reborn, a fated apocalypse, and an afterlife. (Comparative Mythology) A flaw common in this analysis that is shown with these examples is that, particularly with comparative mythology analysis, there is a heavy focus on motifs from Christianity. Oftentimes these connections can be created because of biases brought from familiarity with Christian stories or a kind of confirmation bias. 

     There are three possibilities that comparative folklorists and mythologists believe that these motifs could travel across cultures and geographically; either through communication and the spreading of stories, called diffusion, different cultures having a common root or ancestor these stories come from, or the similarities happening completely independently. (Comparative Mythology) The most popular interpretation from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries was the “Finish method.” The Finish method catalogs and compares different stories as well as historical and geographical of those stories in order to determine a single point of origin and path of diffusion. (Dorson) This method firmly supports the idea of similarities in folklore being caused by diffusion, mostly through historical context like trade routes and colonization. It is also detail focused, and deflects from answering the question of why similarities in folklore exist in a philosophical, artistic, or metaphysical way. 

     In contrast with the Finish Method some posit that the source of similarity in folklore and myth can be found in Psychoanalytic or Jungian theory. The core of this approach is more philosophical and metaphysical, drawing parallels between symbols in folklore and parts of human nature. One of the most popular examples of this is the Oedipus complex, Sigmund Freud’s theory that young boys are innately sexually attracted to their mothers, which was directly named after the Greek myth of Oedipus. (Dorson) This approach supports the idea that similar folklore was developed independently because of similarities in human nature. Although it has less evidence backing it, it does address elements of literary analysis that the Finish method does not. This kind of theory inspired the idea of the monomyth and Hero’s Journey that I, and many others, am personally familiar with from past English classes. 

     One more recently popular way of analyzing similarities in folklore is Structural Theory. Structural Theory analyzes less of the actual contents of the stories and more of the way the stories are told structurally to inform how similarities are made. For example, Structural theory identifies the presence of repetition or gaps in traditionally oral myths that allow for better memorization or improvisation respectively. It would look at the monster, villain, or other antagonist not through the lens of how they contribute conflict and excitement, as well as consistency, to a story. (Dorson) By doing this Structural Folklore theory attributes similarities in Folklore to the constraints and methods of the medium of Folklore itself. 

     Through my research I realized that the answer I wanted was not as easy to find as I anticipated. There are a plethora of conflicting theories, many more than I wrote about here, that are all similarly fascinating and have massive amounts of research on them. I find myself drawn to the more philosophical explanations of comparative folklore and the fascinating meaning they bring to the stories humanity has created, but I also can’t help agreeing with the more rational perspective of something like the Finish Method either. One thing is for sure, doing this research has only cemented my fascination with folklore as a subject that is almost larger than life, with so many possible meanings and influences. 

Works Cited:

"Comparative Mythology ." Encyclopedia of Religion. . Encyclopedia.com. 18 Oct. 2023 <https://www.encyclopedia.com>

     

Dorson, Richard M. “Current Folklore Theories.” Current Anthropology, vol. 4, no. 1, 1963, pp. 93–112. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/2739820. Accessed 9 Nov. 2023.