Myths and Literature (and Women)

More and more writers today craft myth-like narratives that feature female heroes and world affirming mythic stories. For instance, Native American poet and novelist Louise Erdrich has twin heroes in her myth/novel The Antelope Wife, Chinese American writer Maxine Hong Kingston revives the myth of Fa Mulan in The Woman Warrior, and Toni Morrison has mythic tendencies in some of her work, like Paradise. Such works often involves feminist dimensions. Echoing Lévi-Strauss’ image of the bricoleur, feminist myth scholar Marta Weigle agrees that perhaps the most important function of myth is its world-creating, world-affirming aspects. She distinguishes male-centered myths that often serve as charters for male dominance in society, from female-centered myths that typically affirm and create the world itself (Weigle 1982). Weigle employs images of spinning and weaving in her analysis of the world creating, life affirming functions of myth.

Marta Weigle explains that myths are needed in times of identity crisis: “Significant psychic transformation – whether an important decision, critical insight, creative task, schizophrenic break, or change in consciousness – is heralded and expressed by cosmogonic myths and motifs in dreams and various verbal and visual creations” (1989, 10). Only apparent incompatibility needs myth to resolve or make sense of social dilemmas.

Weigle also notes the paucity of female creators, deities and heroines in many of our traditional stories: “Quite simply: such female creator deities are rare” (1983, 45). She also laments the rarity of female heros, as evident in the awkwardness of terms for them: “‘Creatoress,’ ‘creatrix’ and ‘culture heroine’ are awkward and almost meaningless designations, reflecting the relatively weaker roles women play in creation, transformation and origin myths – when they appear at all in such narratives about ordering the world” (1983, 53). As Weigle notes: “Culture heroes, whether human or animal, female or male, bring or bring about valuable objects, teachings and natural changes which make possible human society and survival” (1983, 53).

It is thus very exciting to find so many strong women hero figures and re-visioned myths in the work of contemporary women writers, particularly in women writers of color. Erdich's novel offers one such hopeful example. Though the ancient, real and mythical worlds of the Ojibwe may have been “shattered,” or “cracked apart” as Louise Erdrich puts it in The Antelope Wife, by European and American invasions and assimilation, contemporary Ojibwe people build new worlds from those fragments, as Erdrich builds her myth / novel representing this process. Her novel includes obvious fragments from the mythic traditions of her culture, while offering images for how to successfully mediate such impulses, build or incorporate a comprehensive and meaningful worldview, and thrive as Native Americans in today’s world. Clear mythic tendencies within the novel direct the reader to consider it in terms of scholarship on myth. Mythology theories are typically applied to oral forms. Erdrich’s novel encourages us to notice that such fluidity of form as has been noticed in oral genres also applies to written genres. Her novel works as a myth: it offers images and symbols of the re-birth of culture that maintain traditions while suggesting how to live and think about being Native today.

The Antelope Wife symbolizes the revitalization of Ojibwe culture. Erdrich’s innovative myth is a resource for and a representation of her community, which serves a contemporary audience well by offering characters and symbols appropriate to the times, drawn from her own experiences, inspiration and creative resources, and maintaining traditional images and messages. She thus realizes a folkloristic principle of dynamic convergence between individual willed creativity and communal resources. Erdrich’s work may be considered a traditional story, or myth, given a dynamic and fluid, folkloristic view of tradition. (See my other work, including my PhD dissertation—Coming to Life (2000)—for further discussion of all of these issues.)

Lévi-Strauss, Radin, Boas, Weigle, and others stress that mythic thought, as highly symbolic, offers rich resources for making sense of the world, affirming worldview, and confirming human nature.   

Taken: http://www.faculty.de.gcsu.edu~mmagouli/defmyth.htm

K	W	L
El Mito tiene un elemento real y otro ficcional o imaginario.	¿Cuál es el verdadero origen de los Mitos?	Algunos ejemplos de escritores que se basan en mitos para sus obras: Louise Erdrich, Maxine Hong Kingston, ect.
El Mito es base de muchos textos literarios.	Actualmente, ¿es posible originar nuevos mitos?	Los mitos surgen en épocas de crisis de identidad del ser humano.
Hace referencia a un tiempo primigenio.		Presentan escasez de mujeres creadoras, deidades y heroínas.
No pierden vigencia a lo largo del tiempo.		En la escritura contemporánea encontramos más mujeres escritoras que en la antigüedad.
Se transmiten generalmente de forma oral.		Un ejemplo de esta literatura femenina es “The Antelope Wife” (Louise Erdrich)

Read the text and make a graphic organizer:

DEFINING MYTH
From the Greek mythos, myth means story or word. Mythology is the study of myth. As stories (or narratives), myths articulate how characters undergo or enact  an ordered sequence of events. The term myth has come to refer to a certain genre (or category) of stories that share characteristics that make this genre distinctly different from other genres of oral narratives, such as legends and folktales. Many definitions of myth repeat similar general aspects of the genre and may be summarized thus: Myths are symbolic tales of the distant past (often primordial times) that concern cosmogony and cosmology (the origin and nature of the universe), may be connected to belief systems or rituals, and may serve to direct social action and values.

The classic definition of myth from folklore studies finds clearest delineation in William Bascom’s article “The Forms of Folklore: Prose Narratives” where myths are defined as tales believed as true, usually sacred, set in the distant past or other worlds or parts of the world, and with extra-human, inhuman, or heroic characters. Such myths, often described as “cosmogonic,” or “origin” myths, function to provide order or cosmology, based on “cosmic” from the Greek kosmos meaning order (Leeming 1990, 3, 13; Bascom, 1965). Cosmology’s concern with the order of the universe finds narrative, symbolic expression in myths, which thus often help establish important values or aspects of a culture’s worldview.  For many people, myths remain value-laden discourse that explain much about human nature.

There are a number of general conceptual frameworks involved in definitions of myth, including these:

1. Myths are Cosmogonic Narratives, connected with the Foundation or Origin of the Universe (and key beings within that universe), though often specifically in terms of a particular culture or region. Given the connection to origins, the setting is typically primordial (the beginning of time) and characters are proto-human or deific. Myths also often have cosmogonic overtones even when not fully cosmogonic, for instance dealing with origins of important elements of the culture (food, medicine, ceremonies, etc.).
2. Myths are Narratives of a Sacred Nature, often connected with some Ritual. Myths are often foundational or key narratives associated with religions. These narratives are believed to be true from within the associated faith system (though sometimes that truth is understood to be metaphorical rather than literal). Within any given culture there may be sacred and secular myths coexisting.
3. Myths are Narratives Formative or Reflective of Social Order or Values within a Culture (e.g. functionalism).
4. Myths are Narratives Representative of a Particular Epistemology or  Way of Understanding Nature and Organizing Thought. For example, structuralism recognizes paired bundles of opposites (or dualities -- like light and dark) as central to myths.
5. Mythic Narratives often Involve Heroic Characters (possibly proto-humans, super humans, or gods) who mediate inherent, troubling dualities, reconcile us to our realities, or establish the patterns for life as we know it.
6. Myths are Narratives that are "Counter-Factual in featuring actors and actions that confound the conventions of routine experience" (McDowell, 80).

Taken: http://www.faculty.de.gcsu.edu/~mmagouli/defmyth.htm

¡¡¡GOOD LUCK!!!

Read the text and write an abstract

Analysis of Major Characters

 

  Don Quixote de la Mancha 

 

The title character of the novel, Don Quixote is a gaunt, middle-aged gentleman who, having gone mad from reading too many books about chivalrous knights, determines to set off on a great adventure to win honor and glory in the name of his invented ladylove, Dulcinea. Don Quixote longs for a sense of purpose and beauty—two things he believes the world lacks—and hopes to bring order to a tumultuous world by reinstating the chivalric code of the knights-errant. Initially, Don Qui-xote’s good intentions do only harm to those he meets, since he is largely unable to see the world as it really is.

As the novel progresses, Don Quixote, with the help of his faithful squire Sancho, slowly distinguishes between reality and the pictures in his head. Nonetheless, until his final sanity-inducing illness, he remains true to his chivalric conception of right and wrong. Even though his vision clears enough to reveal to him that the inns he sees are just inns, not castles as he previously believed, he never gives up on his absolute conviction that Dulcinea can save him from all misfortune. Furthermore, even when Don Quixote must retire from knight-errantry, he does so in the spirit of knight-errantry, holding to his vows and accepting his retirement as part of the terms of his defeat at the hands of the Knight of the White Moon. Despite his delusions, however, Don Quixote is fiercely intelligent and, at times, seemingly sane. He cogently and concisely talks about literature, soldiering, and government, among other topics.

No single analysis of Don Quixote’s character can adequately explain the split between his madness and his sanity. He remains a puzzle throughout the novel, a character with whom we may have difficulty identifying and sympathizing. We may see Don Quixote as coy and think that he really does know what is going on around him and that he merely chooses to ignore the world and the consequences of his disastrous actions. At several times in the novel, Cervantes validates this suspicion that Don Quixote may know more than he admits. Therefore, when Don Quixote suddenly declares himself sane at the end of the novel, we wonder at his ability to shake off his madness so quickly and ask whether he has at least partly feigned this madness. On the other hand, we can read Don Quixote’s character as a warning that even the most intelligent and otherwise practically minded person can fall victim to his own foolishness. Furthermore, we may see Don Quixote’s adventures as a warning that chivalry—or any other outmoded set of values—can both produce positive and negative outcomes. Given the social turmoil of the period in which Cervantes wrote, this latter reading is particularly appealing. Nonetheless, all of these readings of Don Quixote’s character operate in the novel.

Sancho Panza 

 

The simple peasant who follows Don Quixote out of greed, curiosity, and loyalty, Sancho is the novel’s only character to exist both inside and outside of Don Quixote’s mad world. Other characters play along with and exploit Don Quixote’s madness, but Sancho often lives in and adores it, sometimes getting caught up in the madness entirely. On the other hand, he often berates Don Quixote for his reliance on fantasy; in this sense, he is Don Quixote’s foil. Whereas Don Quixote is too serious for his own good, Sancho has a quick sense of humor. Whereas Don Quixote pays lip service to a woman he has never even seen, Sancho truly loves his wife, Teresa. While Don Quixote deceives himself and others, Sancho lies only when it suits him.
Living in both Don Quixote’s world and the world of his contemporaries, Sancho is able to create his own niche between them. He embodies the good and the bad aspects of both the current era and the bygone days of chivalry. He displays the faults that most of the sane characters in the novel exhibit but has an underlying honorable and compassionate streak that the others largely lack. Sancho does not share Don Quixote’s maddening belief in chivalrous virtues, but he avoids swerving toward the other extreme that equates power with honor. Though Sancho begins the novel looking more like the contemporaries against whom Don Quixote rebels, he eventually relinquishes his fascination with these conventions and comes to live honorably and happily in his simple position in life. He therefore comes across as the character with the most varied perspective and the most wisdom, learning from the world around him thanks to his constant curiosity. Though Sancho is an appealing character on many levels, it is this curiosity that is responsible for much of our connection with him. He observes and thinks about Don Quixote, enabling us to judge Don Quixote. Sancho humanizes the story, bringing dignity and poise, but also humor and compassion.
Through Sancho, Cervantes critiques the ill-conceived equation of class and worth. Though Sancho is ignorant, illiterate, cowardly, and foolish, he nonetheless proves himself a wise and just ruler, a better governor than the educated, wealthy, and aristocratic Duke. By the time Sancho returns home for the last time, he has gained confidence in himself and in his ability to solve problems, regardless of his lower-class status. Sancho frequently reminds his listeners that God knows what he means. With this saying, he shows that faith in God may be a humanizing force that distinguishes truly honorable men, even when they have lower-class origins.

Dulcinea del Toboso

The unseen, unknown inspiration for all of Don Quixote’s exploits, Dulcinea, we are told, is a simple peasant woman who has no knowledge of the valorous deeds that Don Quixote commits in her name. We never meet Dulcinea in the novel, and on the two occasions when it seems she might appear, some trickery keeps her away from the action. In the first case, the priest intercepts Sancho, who is on his way to deliver a letter to Dulcinea from Don Quixote. In the second instance, Sancho says that Dulcinea has been enchanted and that he thus cannot locate her.

Despite her absence from the novel, Dulcinea is an important force because she epitomizes Don Quixote’s chivalric conception of the perfect woman. In his mind, she is beautiful and virtuous, and she makes up for her lack of background and lineage with her good deeds. Don Quixote describes her chiefly in poetic terms that do little to specify her qualities. She is, therefore, important not for who she is but for what her character represents and for what she indicates about Don Quixote’s character.

Taken:

http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/donquixote/canalysis.html

Don Quixote has long-lasting influence, impact on Spanish culture.

 

Often cited as one of the best literary works ever written, audiences have enjoyed Miguel de Cervantes’s “Don Quixote” for more than 400 years. Whether for pleasure or academic study, readers all over the world have become familiar with the iconic text and characters. 

The tale, a comedic satire of medieval romances, has enchanted audiences and set precedence for writers to come. As such, the text is arguably as prolific in both the original and translated versions. At the University of Alabama, the text is required reading for Spanish majors and often accompanies undergraduate and graduate English studies.

Despite the relevance and importance to students in both departments, the translation of the text and the way in which it is surveyed varies between the two. Because the majority of students studying “Don Quixote” at UA are native English speakers, professors in Spanish and English classes face a challenge in relating the text to students.

“Don Quixote is a product of its time, written for an audience from 1600,” Steven Allon, a Spanish major at UA, said. “It assumes a knowledge that many modern readers lack. This gap hinders understanding, although the professor makes great efforts to bridge our understanding.”

Assistant Professor William Worden in the Spanish department compared the text to Shakespearean language in difficulty and said he is impressed by the ability of students to interpret the novel.

“Spanish has not changed as much as English linguistically, but Cervantes is playing with the lost Spanish language,” Worden said.

That language provides insight into Spanish culture and history, Worden said. His students, primarily seniors in the major, including many who have studied abroad, are mostly prepared before entering the challenging course. Although the students use an edition with English footnotes to guide their reading, the text is difficult to understand at first, he said.

“The archaic vocabulary slows translation, especially in the beginning,” Allon said. “You will find yourself looking up every other word, sometimes without any result.”

Though translating the work poses the most obvious difficulty, understanding the language used by Cervantes provides another obstacle, said Natalie Hopper, an instructor and graduate student in the English department.

“The tricky thing is that “Don Quixote” is very nuanced and culturally specific, kind of like Shakespeare is in the English language,” she said. “That is to say, even Spanish speakers may not fully understand and appreciate the text just like Shakespeare is difficult for English speakers.”

Worden and Hopper agreed that some expressions and elegance will be lost even to the most fluent Spanish students or avid readers.

“For instance, here we say, ‘pay an arm and a leg,’ whereas they would say ‘pay with an eye,’” Worden said.

Despite losing some meaning in translation, students studying the text at UA gain insight into literature at the time of Cervantes, his culture and the history of Spain. Further, students studying Spanish may begin to understand the gravity the novel has had on Spanish culture today. From ballets and plays to art and even a Coldplay song, “Don Quixote” has had a substantial impact, he said.

Hopper explained that the widespread influence of the novel is in part because the novel is simultaneously old-fashioned and progressive.

“The medieval romance aspect of it combined with the self-parody and the meta nature of the text don’t really come together like that in any other text that I can think of,” she said. “It’s a pretty one-of-a-kind text.”

Spanish and English students alike learn that Cervantes further distinguished “Don Quixote” from other literature of the time from breaking from the traditional style and theme.

“It simultaneously looks backward and pokes fun at the literary tradition leading up to it and gestures towards the types of writing that will come later,” Hopper said.

The book, often considered the first modern novel, is revered by writers internationally and set the standard for future novelists, Worden said.

“William Faulkner said, ‘Don Quixote, I read that every year as some do the Bible,’” Worden said.

Whether students have an interest in Spanish or English, chances are they will study Cervantes’ “Don Quixote” at some point in their career.

“Reading this book opens doors to understanding other literature,” Worden said. “I advise [anyone] to read the first ten chapters. You’ll see what the fuss is about.”

Taken: http://alpineliving.ua.edu/?p=1314


Abstract:

Don Quijote, de Miguel de Cervantes, es una de las obras más leída y más citada en el mundo. Todos los lectores alrededor del mundo tienen conocimiento de la obra en cuanto a su estilo y a personajes. 

Se trata de una comedia satírica de los romances medievales, y ha sido considerada por muchos críticos como un auténtico precedente de gran parte de la literatura posterior. Como motivo de ello, ha tenido que ser traducida a varias lenguas y es parte del programa escolar de muchos países.

Por ejemplo, en la Universidad de Alabama se hizo un estudio acerca de la forma de abordaje de la obra y de la recepción de los alumnos. 

Los estudiantes optan por estudiar la obra en su idioma original y su respectiva traducción en inglés, con el fin de solucionar los posibles problemas de interpretación del texto.

Otro tema que puede ser un obstáculo a la hora de leer Don Quijote de la Mancha, es el tiempo, es decir, la enorme distancia que hay desde el momento en que fue escrita (año 1600) y nuestro presente. En este sentido, el docente debe encontrar la mejor manera de acercar a los alumnos a dicho contexto.

Afirmar que la época en que fue escrita la obra es distinta a la actualidad, implica también la existencia de un español diferente al que conocemos hoy en día; esto genera otra dificultad para el lector.

Para intentar solucionar estos problemas, se propone que los estudiantes utilicen ediciones con notas y guías para comprender el texto en su profundidad. 

 

 

Mira el siguiente video:
By the rivers of Babylon

Taken: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYK9iCRb7S4

Y compara con el siguiente texto:

Psalm 137

¹ By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept
    when we remembered Zion.
² There on the poplars
    we hung our harps,
³ for there our captors asked us for songs,
    our tormentors demanded songs of joy;
    they said, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”

⁴ How can we sing the songs of the Lord
    while in a foreign land?
⁵ If I forget you, Jerusalem,
    may my right hand forget its skill.
⁶ May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth
    if I do not remember you,
if I do not consider Jerusalem
    my highest joy.

⁷ Remember, Lord, what the Edomites did
    on the day Jerusalem fell.
“Tear it down,” they cried,
    “tear it down to its foundations!”
⁸ Daughter Babylon, doomed to destruction,
    happy is the one who repays you
    according to what you have done to us.
⁹ Happy is the one who seizes your infants
    and dashes them against the rocks.

Taken: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+137&version=NIV

Multiple choice:

1) ¿Qué ciudad recuerdan los cantantes?

a) Jerusalén   b) Sión   c) Babilonia

2) ¿Cuál es el sentimiento que predomina en la canción? (puede haber más de una correcta)

 a) Tristeza   b) Alegría   c) Enojo

3) ¿En qué lugar se sientan ellos a llorar según ambos textos?

a) En los ríos de Babilonia  b) En las costas del Mar Mediterráneo  c) En las orillas del Mar Rojo.

4) ¿Por qué los cantantes se niegan a cantar canciones sobre Sión?

a) Porque les está prohibido  b) Porque no están en su tierra  c) Porque les han quitado sus instrumentos

5) ¿Qué otro sentimiento encontramos en el Salmo 137?

a) Venganza  b) Perdón  c) Amor