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This series presents an innovative and accessible overview of the world's mythological traditions. The inaugural volume provides a theoretical introduction to the study of myth, while the individual case studies from throughout time and around the world help guide the reader through the wondrous complexity and diversity of myths, and their widespread influences in human cultures, societies, and everyday lives.
List of contents
- Prologue
- Introduction
- Chapter 1: Definitions and Starting Points
- Chapter 2: Highlights in the History of Mythological Research
- Chapter 3: Studying Mythology Comparatively
- Chapter 4: Some Current Trends
- Conclusion
- Glossary
- Works Cited
- Index
About the author
Tok Thompson is Associate Professor of Teaching, Anthropology, and Communications at the University of Southern California.
Gregory Schrempp is Professor of Folklore at Indiana University.
Summary
The Truth of Myth is a thorough and accessible introduction to the study of myth, surveying the intellectual history of the topic, methods for studying myth cross-culturally, and emerging trends. Readers will encounter insightful commentaries on such questions as: What is the relation of mythology to religion? To science? To popular culture? Did the events recounted in myths actually occur? Why does the term "myth" have so many contradictory definitions and connotations? Offering serious students with an intellectual "toolkit" for launching into this fascinating field, the book is especially useful in conjunction with case studies of individual mythological traditions.
Additional text
This is an excellent book on the study of mythology and provides a lot of fresh impetus for comparative mythology in a wider sense. All of us who dabble in cross-cultural comparison would do well to take notice!... Tok Thompson and Gregory Schrempp write with wonderful clarity and offer a number of original ideas alongside with a firm command of modern scholarship on myth... As a scholar of Indo-European mythologies I find the book a most useful resource. We can learn from a more inclusive approach to mythologies globally and employ methods from anthropology and indigenous studies to enrich our understanding of Indo-European cultures.
