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"PRIMITIVE MYTHOLOGY" (JOSEPH CAMPBELL).
Term Paper ID:23123
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Essay Subject:
Critical review of work seeking to find & describe a natural history of humanity in a synthesis of myths & religions.... More...
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6 Pages / 1350 Words
1 sources, 12 Citations,
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Paper Abstract:
Critical review of work seeking to find & describe a natural history of humanity in a synthesis of myths & religions.
Paper Introduction:
Joseph Campbell, in Primitive Mythology: The Masks of God, argues that humankind, despite its many differences, has historically shown more similarities overall. Specifically, the author believes, from his analysis of the evidence, that there is a "unity of the race of man, not only in its biology but also in its spiritual history, which has everywhere unfolded in the manner of a single symphony." He further argues that the future holds "the next great movement" in this symphony, with the same "motifs" as in the past. Although his book is positive in its assessment of human advances, he nevertheless notes that there is no assurance that the future of the human race will be bright. This symphony of unity and its motifs "might be put to use by reasonable men to reasonable ends---or by poets to poetic ends---or by madmen to nonsense and disaster" (Campbell, 1991, v).
Text of the Paper:
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Campbell does not claim that hehas definitively mapped out the origins and development of humanity withrespect to these issues. Hedoes not directly aim to disparage local ethnic interpretations, but ratherto explore the content of conflicting myths in different cultures andcivilizations in order to show that those conflicts are not a matter ofcontent but of interpretation. We would be left with amore united world, but it would be the unity of a utopia without passion,without the mysterious contradictions and conflicts which Campbell wants toexpose as masks based on local ethnic interpretations and rituals. He concludes that civilization is mythology: mythology---andtherefore civilization---is a poetic, supernormal image, conceived, likeall poetry, in depth, but susceptible of interpretation on various levels"(Campbell, 1991, 472). Joseph Campbell, in Primitive Mythology: The Masks of God, arguesthat humankind, despite its many differences, has historically shown moresimilarities overall. Campbell explores mythology to arrive at "the elementary idea" of"the total secret of the human species," rejecting or minimizing thesignificance of "local ethnic ideas or forms" (Campbell, 1991, 13 -131). . . Campbell sets out to question the argument of Thomas Mann that "theearliest foundations of humanity, its history and culture, revealthemselves unfathomable" (Campbell, 1991, 5). (Campbell, 1991, 224). The problem is that if all the world's people were to agree withCampbell, the world would likely not be a more spiritual or loving place,but would more likely be one in which the emotional and intuitive rootsbehind the various religions would wither and die. . . . . . Although his book is positive in its assessment of humanadvances, he nevertheless notes that there is no assurance that the futureof the human race will be bright. In the hunting world the masculine psyche prevails and in the planting world the feminine (Campbell, 1991, 229; 351). The author is, among other things, trying to convince the reader thatthe members and adherents of each civilization, mythology and religion seethemselves and their beliefs as superior to every other. He generallychides those who provincially believe their own cultures superior, butCampbell himself, as a rational and scientific analyst of history, asessentially superior to the narrow-minded in every civilization, past andpresent. Therefore, Campbell concludes that these various interpretations ofmythology from one culture to another are "masks" hiding the unity of thosemythologies at their most fundamental levels: "We may therefore think ofany myth or rite either as a clue to what may be permanent or universal inhuman nature . . Campbell seeks to find a natural history of the human race, and inthat search he finds a unity of themes running through all civilizationsand religions: The comparative study of the mythologies of the world compels us to view the cultural history of mankind as a unit; for we that such themes as the fire-theft, deluge, land of the dead, virgin birth, and resurrected hero have a worldwide distribution---appearing everywhere in new combinations while remaining . . . Campbell is also concerned with a new way of looking at these mythsfrom the historical and scientific points of view, a new way which willtake into account the differences in interpretation of myths in the manycultures. Campbell's basic message, then, is that there is nothing new underthe sun. that all must go who would transcend their time-bound, earth-bound faculties and limitations (Campbell, 1991, 463). or . This symphony of unity and its motifs"might be put to use by reasonable men to reasonable ends---or by poets topoetic ends---or by madmen to nonsense and disaster" (Campbell, 1991, v). . . At each point of his examination, Campbellkeeps his focus on this intention to find similarity of content andcontrast in interpretation. He asks thereader to join with him in seeing these traditions as "passing forms" to bereplaced by a more objective and united overview. . The distinctive challenge of mythology lies in its power to effect this dual end; and not to recognize this fact is to ,miss the whole point and mystery of our science (Campbell, 1991, 462). Clearly, if we were to come to agree with Campbell's analysis, wewould see the folly of the wars which grew and grow out of theseconflicting interpretations. For example, in comparing the Spanish and New World (Aztec)interpretations of the myth relating to rebirth, Campbell writes: No wonder, we may say, if the Spanish padres thought they recognized in the liturgies of the New World a devil's parody of their own hugh myth and holy mass of the sacrifice and resurrection! Specifically, the author believes, from his analysisof the evidence, that there is a "unity of the race of man, not only in itsbiology but also in its spiritual history, which has everywhere unfolded inthe manner of a single symphony." He further argues that the future holds"the next great movement" in this symphony, with the same "motifs" as inthe past. Primitive Mythology. . Essentially, Campbell, as ascientist and not a poet or imaginative thinker, disagrees with Mann andbelieves instead that much can be known of the historical roots ofhumanity, if not in all its specifics than certainly in terms of the mythswith which Campbell is primarily concerned. Whereas, when the mystics talk, no matter what their desi, their words in a profound sense meet---and the nations too. . Campbell finds that differences among cultures---even between twobranches of the same culture---are due to such fundamental traits aswhether a culture or cultural branch is based on hunting animals or growingplants, or a masculine or feminine emphasis: Among the Indians of North America two contrasting mythologies appear, according to whether tribes are hunters or planters. to render an experience of the ineffable through the local and concrete, and thus, paradoxically, to amplify the force and appeal of the local forms even while carrying the mind beyond them. only a few and always the same (Campbell, 1991, 3). He seeks above all to show the unity behindthese conflict interpretations in order to lead the reader to theconclusion that the differences among cultures are not as significant as isgenerally believed. The names of Shiva, Allah, Buddha, and Christ lose their historical force and come together as adequate pointers of a way . . . Campbell argues that these various mythologies and theirinterpretations and related liturgies are united in their roots, and alsoargues that they aim at a transcendence of the very local interpretationsthemselves: The force of the mythological symbol itself . as a function of the local scene, thelandscape, the history, and the sociology of the folk concerned" (Campbell,1991, 461). He notes again that although each culture shares these myths,they interpret them in sometimes starkly contrasting ways: Evidently some mythology of a broader, deeper kind than anything envisioned anywhere in the past is now required: some arcanum arcanorum far more fluid, more sophisticated, than the separate visions of the local traditions, wherein those mythologies themselves will be known to be but masks of a larger---all their shining pantheons but the flickering modes of a "timeless schema" that is no schema (Campbell, 1991, 18). This may be true, but his conclusion with respect tothe same general end or goal of the various mythologies and religions iscertainly not a new one. . . He fails to see the scientific myths he himself accepts blindly---such as that reality consists of observable and measurable phenomena andthat the true believers of every civilization and religion are similarlydeluded. is . As scientific as his study is, Campbell goes tothe mystics in order to support his conclusions. New York: Arkana.----------------------- 3 The problem with Campbell's perspective is that as he moves furtherand further away from the differentiating specifics of "local traditions"in order to approach this new synthesis of mythologies, he risks losingcontact with the unique qualities of those local traditions. isnecessarily in the way rather of a prospectus than of a definition; forthese materials have never before been gathered to a single summation,pointing to a science of the roots of revelation" (Campbell, 1991, 7). If weagree that each religion is basically the same as any other, we would seeno reason to practice any religion, and would thereby lose contact with thevery specific rituals which allow us to transcend our "limitations" in thefirst place. He first quotesRamakrishna: "God has made different religions to suit different aspirants,times and countries. Campbell, as we have seen, argues that the specific evidence hediscusses have never been before brought together as he has brought themtogether in this book. One can reach God if one follows any of thepaths with wholehearted devotion." Then the author includes his ownthoughts: Every student of comparative mythology knows that when the orthodox mind talks and writes of God the nations go asunder. The result, again, is ascientific perspective on mythology---rather than mythologies---which gutsthose mythologies of the very characteristics which makes them special,impassioned, and most human. Instead, he writes, "the whole review . ReferencesCampbell, Joseph (1991). . . . .
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