Contents
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§1.1. What Is Myth, and How Do We Study and Compare It? §1.1. What Is Myth, and How Do We Study and Compare It?
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§1.2. Definition of Myth and Its Study in the Past §1.2. Definition of Myth and Its Study in the Past
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§1.3. Comparative Mythology §1.3. Comparative Mythology
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§1.3.1. Diffusion §1.3.1. Diffusion
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§1.3.2. Archetypes §1.3.2. Archetypes
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§1.4. Laurasian Mythology: Establishing the Common Origin of the Mythologies of Eurasia and the Americas §1.4. Laurasian Mythology: Establishing the Common Origin of the Mythologies of Eurasia and the Americas
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§1.5. Earlier Explanations of Myth §1.5. Earlier Explanations of Myth
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§1.6. Ur-Forms, History, and Archaeology §1.6. Ur-Forms, History, and Archaeology
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§1.7. Summary §1.7. Summary
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Cite
Abstract
This introductory chapter explores the definition, scope, and past investigations of myth: a “true” narrative that tells of cosmology and society as well as of the human condition and that is frequently employed to explain and justify social circumstance. Worldwide similarities between individual myths are habitually explained by diffusion or by common human psychic traits (Jungian archetypes). However, the current Laurasian proposal supersedes these approaches as it involves a whole system of myths, notably one characterized by a narrative structure (story line) from the creation of the world to its end. The Laurasian scheme also supersedes the Jungian proposal because the actual formulation of myths and their arrangement in a complex narrative system are located on higher planes than that of the archetypes. The artistic arrangement of myths in Laurasia (and beyond) is explored and traced back in time to the Mesolithic or Upper Paleolithic period. Finally, the history of the Laurasian scheme is sketched, from the Paleolithic until today.
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