MYTH-PHORIE

FORMS AND TRANSFORMATIONS OF MYTH

Abstract

The investigations developed by the Human Sciences on myth have allowed revaluing it on the basis of certain theoretical achievements that contrast with the massive devaluation of which it was for a long time the object, under the pressure of positivist rationalism. On the one hand, myth has been granted an irrefutable identity and legitimacy as a symbolic mode of apprehension of human experience; on the other hand, it is no longer restricted only to the archaic mode of thought, to traditional civilization, but its polymorphism allows it to structure and guide representations and actions, even in societies with rational representations and norms. However, in many academic approaches there remains a persistence of false evidence, of clichés, which deserve to be the object of critical analysis. In particular, myth is still frequently assimilated to constructions and fixed narrative behaviors, to a closed field of meanings, in opposition to rational productions of thought which, on the other hand, would be characterized by mobility, a possibility of adaptation to new data and, therefore, a capacity to progress the contents of the act of thinking.