Granì (Feb 2016)
The functioning of myth and narrative in the modern mass consciousness
Abstract
Myth and narrative are taken as self-apparent and universal tools of personal and social interests’ justification, that are ingrained deeply in our cognitive structures. In this article, the myth and narrative are analyzed as the features of human psycholinguistic structures, aiding the creation of variety of meanings that affects the everyday mass consciousness. Modern myths differ from the classical ones, due to their genesis and clear pragmatics, framed for a particular social group. This unites modern mythology with the ideology. Narrative becomes the way of the last maintenance, turning the plot of various events into yet another mythological subject. Therefore, the article presents the process of narrative’s genesis from the myth; the common and distinctive features of myth and narrative are compared. They have such common features as metaphoricity, symbolism, imagery. Myth and narrative are based on the metaphorical theory of truth. Instead of searching the truth, their main function becomes the creation of meanings through the interpretation and representation. The differences between the classical myth and narrative are also analyzed in the article (tabulated), which are stipulated mainly due to the different time perception - cyclic for a myth and linear for narrative. The article also shows the features, distinguishing the modern political myth from the traditional classical.
