Heroes, Gods, and Myths: The Myths That We Create and How They Create Us; Volume 2, Number 1 Fall 2008
During a recent trip to Mexico, I glimpsed a weather-beaten billboard for a Christian children’s organization that pleaded “Sea un heroe, salve un niño” – Be a hero, save a child. The definition of heroism implied in this advertisement, complex in its inclusion of religion, morality, and cash donations, doesn’t strike us as powerful myth – but perhaps it should. How are the tropes of heroes, gods, and myths used and understood? In our current issue, “Heroes, Gods, and Myths,” three young scholars explore our contemporary understanding of these notions as they are manifested vis-a-vis the lenses of nation, religion, fantasy and culture. Kathryn Kleppinger uses the work of of Bernard-Marie Koltès as an access point to discover the mythology that surrounds national belonging. Willemijn Don engages La Tentation de saint Antoine by Gustave Flaubert to understand whether religion acts only as a “pretext to write about temptation, sexual sin and bizarre heresies and fantasies.” Finally, Pablo Martínez Diente delves into the posthumous work of José Asunción Silva entitled De sobremesa, using it as productive artifact that aids us in exposing our underlying cultural beliefs. Similarly, our roundtable respondents debate these issues from the perspective of nation, yet also address them as if they were the product of a social inheritance. In all cases, the issue’s exploration proves productive toward both literary and philosophical ends. Where should this exploration take us next?
Heroes, Gods, and Myths: The Myths That We Create and How They Create Us; Volume 2, Number 1 Fall 2008
During a recent trip to Mexico, I glimpsed a weather-beaten billboard for a Christian children’s organization that pleaded “Sea un heroe, salve un niño” – Be a hero, save a child. The definition of heroism implied in this advertisement, complex in its inclusion of religion, morality, and cash donations, doesn’t strike us as powerful myth – but perhaps it should. How are the tropes of heroes, gods, and myths used and understood? In our current issue, “Heroes, Gods, and Myths,” three young scholars explore our contemporary understanding of these notions as they are manifested vis-a-vis the lenses of nation, religion, fantasy and culture. Kathryn Kleppinger uses the work of of Bernard-Marie Koltès as an access point to discover the mythology that surrounds national belonging. Willemijn Don engages La Tentation de saint Antoine by Gustave Flaubert to understand whether religion acts only as a “pretext to write about temptation, sexual sin and bizarre heresies and fantasies.” Finally, Pablo Martínez Diente delves into the posthumous work of José Asunción Silva entitled De sobremesa, using it as productive artifact that aids us in exposing our underlying cultural beliefs. Similarly, our roundtable respondents debate these issues from the perspective of nation, yet also address them as if they were the product of a social inheritance. In all cases, the issue’s exploration proves productive toward both literary and philosophical ends. Where should this exploration take us next?