Myths Of The Underworld In Contemporary Culture

Author : Judith Fletcher
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0191079804
Total Pages : 272 pages
Book Rating : 4.01/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Myths of the Underworld in Contemporary Culture written by Judith Fletcher and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2019-04-25 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Myths of the Underworld in Contemporary Culture: The Backward Gaze examines a series of twentieth and twenty-first century fictional works that adapt Greco-Roman myths of the catabasis, the heroic journey to the underworld. Covering a range of genres - including novels, comics, and children's culture, by authors such as Elena Ferrante, Salman Rushdie, Neil Gaiman, A. S. Byatt, Toni Morrison, and Anne Patchett - it reveals how an enduring fascination with life after death, and fantasies of accessing the world of the dead while we are still alive, manifest themselves in myriad and varied re-imaginings of the ancient descent myth. The volume begins with a detailed overview of the use of the myth by ancient authors such as Homer, Aristophanes, Vergil, and Ovid, before exploring the ways in which the narrative of a return trip to Hades by Odysseus, Aeneas, Orpheus, and Persephone can be manipulated by contemporary storytellers to fit themes of social marginality and alterity, postmodern rebellion, the position of female authors in the literary canon, and the dislocation endured by refugees, exiles, and diasporic populations. It also argues that citations of classical underworld stories can disrupt and challenge the literary canon by using media - such as comic books, children's culture, or rock music - not conventionally associated with high culture.

Author : Judith Fletcher
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0192524224
Total Pages : 237 pages
Book Rating : 4.25/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Myths of the Underworld in Contemporary Culture written by Judith Fletcher and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2019-04-11 with total page 237 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Myths of the Underworld in Contemporary Culture: The Backward Gaze examines a series of twentieth and twenty-first century fictional works that adapt Greco-Roman myths of the catabasis, the heroic journey to the underworld. Covering a range of genres - including novels, comics, and children's culture, by authors such as Elena Ferrante, Salman Rushdie, Neil Gaiman, A. S. Byatt, Toni Morrison, and Anne Patchett - it reveals how an enduring fascination with life after death, and fantasies of accessing the world of the dead while we are still alive, manifest themselves in myriad and varied re-imaginings of the ancient descent myth. The volume begins with a detailed overview of the use of the myth by ancient authors such as Homer, Aristophanes, Vergil, and Ovid, before exploring the ways in which the narrative of a return trip to Hades by Odysseus, Aeneas, Orpheus, and Persephone can be manipulated by contemporary storytellers to fit themes of social marginality and alterity, postmodern rebellion, the position of female authors in the literary canon, and the dislocation endured by refugees, exiles, and diasporic populations. It also argues that citations of classical underworld stories can disrupt and challenge the literary canon by using media - such as comic books, children's culture, or rock music - not conventionally associated with high culture.

Author : Evans Lansing Smith
Publisher : Modern American Literature
ISBN 13 : 9781433120275
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.75/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Thomas Pynchon and the Postmodern Mythology of the Underworld written by Evans Lansing Smith and published by Modern American Literature. This book was released on 2012 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Thomas Pynchon and the Postmodern Mythology of the Underworld is devoted to the work of one of the most highly acclaimed writers of the post-World War II period of American literature, Thomas Pynchon. Through close readings and broad amplification, this book illustrates that the descent to the underworld is the single most important myth in Pynchon's work, conferring shape and significance upon each of his novels. This book also offers a unique perspective on postmodernism, which is characterized by ludic syncretism - the playful synthesis of myths from a variety of cultures. In addition, Thomas Pynchon and the Postmodern Mythology of the Underworld is a major contribution to the study of myth and literature as a whole, through the definition of what Evans Lansing Smith calls necrotypes - archetypal images catalyzed by the mythology of the underworld. This book employs an interdisciplinary methodology that will be of critical interest to scholars of comparative literature, mythology, and religion; to theorists and critics of modernism and postmodernism; to depth psychologists in the traditions of Jung, Freud, and James Hillman; as well as to the broad base of Pynchon enthusiasts and exponents of popular culture.

Author : Virgil
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 454 pages
Book Rating : 4.03/5 ( download)

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Download or read book AEneid written by Virgil and published by . This book was released on 1909 with total page 454 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Author : George Alexander Gazis
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 019878726X
Total Pages : 266 pages
Book Rating : 4.66/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Homer and the Poetics of Hades written by George Alexander Gazis and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2018 with total page 266 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines Homer's use of Hades as a poetic resource. By portraying Hades as a realm where vision is not possible, Homer creates a unique poetic environment where social constraints and divine prohibitions are not applicable. The resulting narrative emulates that of the Muses but is markedly distinct from it, as in Hades experimentation with and alteration of epic forms and values can be pursued, giving rise to a 'poetics of Hades'. In the Iliad, Homer shows how this alternative poetics works through the visit of Patroclus' shade in Achilles' dream. The recollection offered by the shade reveals an approach to its past in which regret, self-pity, and a lingering memory of intimate and emotional moments displace an objective tone and a traditional exposition of heroic values. The potential of Hades for providing alternative means of commemorating the past is more fully explored in the 'Nekyia' of Odyssey 11; there, Odysseus' extraordinary ability to see (idein) the dead in Hades allows him to meet and interview the shades of heroines and heroes of the epic past. The absolute confinement of Hades allows the shades to recount their stories from their own viewpoint. The poetic implications of this are important since by visiting Hades and hearing the shades' stories, Odysseus-and Homer--gains access to a tradition in which epic values associated with gender roles and even divine law are suspended in favour of a more immediate and personally inflected approach to the epic past. -- Prové de l'editorial.

Author : Lindsay Christinee
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
ISBN 13 : 1646045742
Total Pages : 168 pages
Book Rating : 4.47/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Myths of the Underworld written by Lindsay Christinee and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2023-12-12 with total page 168 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Immerse yourself in stories of gods and goddesses of the underworld and explore how themes of death, love, and revenge are depicted in folklore and mythology by different cultures around the world. Myths of the Underworld is a vibrant collection of ten retellings of forbidden love, acts of vengeance, and naive attractions. Modernized for today’s reader, these diverse stories span time and space. But while the cultures and traditions are varied, the themes woven throughout these tales reveal how the struggle to understand and accept death and all that comes with it is one that is quintessentially human. The ten different stories include: Hades and Persephone, the classic myth from Ancient Greece Kali, the Indian goddess (and wife of Shiva), known for her fierceness on the battlefield Anubis, the ancient Egyptian god of the underworld Mictlantecuhtli and Mictecacíhuatl, the lovers who ruled the Aztec underworld The Shinigami, Japanese spirits of the underworld Maman Brigitte, the Haitian intermediary of death Gamab, the Namibian god of fate who gifted rain to mankind Hel, the Norse overseer of the underworld Sedna, the Inuit goddess of the sea and the underworld The Sand Hills, the home of the dead for the Blackfeet Nation The tales in Myths of the Underworld are sure to captivate and enchant readers. Perfect for fans of mythology, romance, and fairy tales.

Author : Mark William Padilla
Publisher : Lexington Books
ISBN 13 : 1666915920
Total Pages : 339 pages
Book Rating : 4.21/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Classical Vertigo written by Mark William Padilla and published by Lexington Books. This book was released on 2024-03-18 with total page 339 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo has dazzled and challenged audiences with its unique aesthetic design and startling plot devices since its release in 1958. In Classical Vertigo: Mythic Shapes and Contemporary Influences in Hitchcock’s Film, Mark William Padilla analyzes antecedents including: (1) the film’s source novel, D’entre les morts (Among the Dead), (2) the earlier symbolist novel, Rodenbach’s Bruges-la-morte, and (3) the first-draft screenplay of Maxwell Anderson, a prominent Broadway dramatist and Hollywood scenarist from the 1920s to the 1950s. The presence of Vertigo amid these texts reveals and clarifies how themes from Greco-Roman antiquity emerge in Hitchcock’s project. Padilla analyzes narrative figures such as Prometheus and Pandora, Persephone and Hades, and Pygmalion and Galatea, as well as themes like the dark plots of Greek tragedy, to reveal how Hitchcock used allusive form to construct an emotionally powerful experience with an often-minimalist script. This analysis demonstrates that Vertigo is a multifaceted work of intertextuality with artistic and cultural roots extending into antiquity itself.

Author : Umberto Rossi
Publisher : Cambridge Scholars Publishing
ISBN 13 : 1443881511
Total Pages : 235 pages
Book Rating : 4.17/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Dream Tonight of Peacock Tails written by Umberto Rossi and published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing. This book was released on 2015-09-04 with total page 235 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Dream Tonight of Peacock Tails marks the first in-depth examination of Pynchon’s debut novel, which was immediately recognized as a breakthrough masterpiece. The eight essays collected in the volume provide both scholars and avid readers with new and original insights into a too-often underestimated work that, probably even more than Gravity’s Rainbow, established Pynchon as one of the great masters of twentieth-century American literature. This book deliberately privileges a multidisciplinary and transnational approach, encompassing collaborations from a particularly international and diverse academic context. As such, this volume offers a multifaceted pattern of expanding investigation that tackles the novel’s apparently chaotic but meticulously organized structure by rereading it in the light of recent US and European history and economics, as well as by exploring its many real and imagined locations. Not only are the essays brought together here revelatory of Pynchon’s way of working, but they also tell us something about our own ways of approaching his fiction.

Author : Paul Tran
Publisher : Penguin
ISBN 13 : 0525508341
Total Pages : 112 pages
Book Rating : 4.42/5 ( download)

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Download or read book All the Flowers Kneeling written by Paul Tran and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2022-02-15 with total page 112 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Paul Tran’s debut collection of poems is indelible, this remarkable voice transforming itself as you read, eventually transforming you.” —Alexander Chee, author of How to Write an Autobiographical Novel “This powerful debut marshals narrative lyrics and stark beauty to address personal and political violence.” —New York Times Book Review A profound meditation on physical, emotional, and psychological transformation in the aftermath of imperial violence and interpersonal abuse, from a poet both “tender and unflinching” (Khadijah Queen) Visceral and astonishing, Paul Tran's debut poetry collection All the Flowers Kneeling investigates intergenerational trauma, sexual violence, and U.S. imperialism in order to radically alter our understanding of freedom, power, and control. In poems of desire, gender, bodies, legacies, and imagined futures, Tran’s poems elucidate the complex and harrowing processes of reckoning and recovery, enhanced by innovative poetic forms that mirror the nonlinear emotional and psychological experiences of trauma survivors. At once grand and intimate, commanding and deeply vulnerable, All the Flowers Kneeling revels in rediscovering and reconfiguring the self, and ultimately becomes an essential testament to the human capacity for resilience, endurance, and love.

Author : Skye Hellviolet
Publisher : Independently Published
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.12/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Shadow King written by Skye Hellviolet and published by Independently Published. This book was released on 2024-04-04 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Delve into the depths of mythology and mystery with "Echoes of the Underworld" by Skye Hellviolet. This captivating book takes readers on a journey through ancient legends, modern interpretations, and the timeless symbolism of the underworld archetype. From the ancient myths of Greece and Egypt to the contemporary tales of fantasy and science fiction, "Echoes of the Underworld" explores the universal themes and archetypes that have captivated human imagination for centuries. Through vivid storytelling and insightful analysis, Skye Hellviolet sheds light on the hidden truths and deeper meanings behind these timeless tales, inviting readers to uncover the mysteries of the human psyche and the collective unconscious. With a blend of scholarship and creativity, "Echoes of the Underworld" offers a fresh perspective on familiar stories and introduces readers to lesser-known myths and legends from cultures around the world. Drawing on her background in literature and psychology, Skye Hellviolet delves into the symbolism of the underworld archetype, exploring its relevance to contemporary culture, spirituality, and personal growth. Whether you're a lover of mythology, a seeker of wisdom, or simply someone who enjoys a good story, "Echoes of the Underworld" is sure to captivate and inspire. Journey into the depths of the human psyche and discover the echoes of the underworld that resonate within us all.