Title
Ritual and myth in the contemporary novel
Date of Award
1967
Document Type
Senior Scholars Paper (Colby Access Only)
Department
Colby College. English Dept.
Advisor(s)
(unknown)
Abstract
Using Eliade's deflnition of myth, I have made a study of the mythic elements in the works of each novelist and attempted to relate each one into a type of odyssey from a fallen world to the birth of another. I feel that the final vision of each novelist is ultimately the same -- a linear progress of history has become invalid, and a cyclical view of history is the only acceptable one possible. Essentially, modern man is confronting a metaphysical terror of history with his discovery that he has become trapped by time. To escape from time he must return to a cyclical concept of history through the timelessness of myth which makes man a part of primordial time and every action the cosmogonic act.
Keywords
Fiction -- 20th century -- History and criticism, Myth in literature, Ritual in literature
Recommended Citation
Hunt, Laurie, "Ritual and myth in the contemporary novel" (1967). Senior Scholar Papers. Paper 428.https://digitalcommons.colby.edu/seniorscholars/428
Copyright
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Comments
Full-text download restricted to Colby College campus only.