What is myth? Why do myths exist? What do myths do? Where are myths going? This reader is organized into 4 parts which explore these questions. Drawing on over 10 years of experience teaching myth in religious studies and anthropology departments in the UK, USA and Continental Europe the editors have brought together key works in the theory of myth. Key features include: - a general introduction to the reader that outlines a comparative and interpretative framework - an introduction contextualizing each part and sub-section - an introduction to each reading by the editors - a companion website that provides discussion questions and further reading suggestions, including primary sources. From functionalism to feminism, nationalism to globalization, and psychoanalysis to spatial analysis, this reader covers the classic and contemporary theories and approaches needed to understand what myth is, why myths exist, what they do, and what the future holds for them.

Acknowledgements In Search of Mythology, Jonathan Miles-Watson and Vivian AsimosPart One: What is Myth ?Locating the Field, Jonathan Miles-Watson and Vivian Asimos 1. A Two-Dimensional Scheme for the Classification of Narratives, C. Scott Littleton2. The Idea of Folklore, Daniel Ben Amos3. Myth in Primitive Society, Bronislaw Malinowski Part Two: Why do Myths Exist?Section A: Global Theories of MythAre All Myths the Same? Jonathan Miles-Watson and Vivian Asimos 1. Balder and the Mistletoe, James Frazer2. The Myth of the Birth of the Hero, Otto Rank3. The Historical Development of Mythology, Joseph CampbellSection B: Myth and Dreams(Dis)Embodied Mythology, Jonathan Miles-Watson and Vivian Asimos 1. Flying Saucers: a modern myth, Carl Gustav Jung2. The Vampire as a Blood Thirsty Revenant, Alan Dundes3. More than Stories, More than Myth, Amba SepieSection C: Myth and History The Search for Truth, Jonathan Miles-Watson and Vivian Asimos1. Myth and Reality, Mercia Eliade 2. The Original Elements of Mythology, Max Muller 3. Cú Chulainn's Women and some Indo-European Comparisons, Nicholas Allen Part Three: What do Myths Do?Section A: Structuralist ApproachesMyth and Meaning, Jonathan Miles-Watson and Vivian Asimos1. Jewels and Wounds, Claude Lévi-Strauss 2. Pulleyar and the Lord Buddha, Edmund Leach 3. An Outline of Propp's Model for the Study of Wondertales, Manuel Aguirre Section B: Neostructuralist Approaches Beyond Binaries, Jonathan Miles-Watson and Vivian Asimos1. We Think What We Eat, Seth Kunin 2. The Gun and the Bow, Stephen Hugh-Jones 3. The Meaning of Myth, Mary Douglas Section C: Spatial Theories From Page to Place, Jonathan Miles-Watson and Vivian Asimos1. Myth Memory and the Oral Tradition, Frances Harwood 2. Implicit Mythology in the Shimla Hills, Jonathan Miles-Watson 3. Stone-Faced Ancestors: The Spatial Anchoring of Myth in Wamira, Miriam KhanPart Four: Where are Myths GoingSection A: Myths and Popular CultureWhat Good Are Old Stories? Jonathan Miles-Watson and Vivian Asimos1. Amateur Mythographies, Ika Willis 2. Storm Power, an Icy Tower and Elsa's Bower, Lauren Dundes, Madeline Streiff and Zachary Streiff 3. Science Fiction as Mythology, Marilyn Sutton and Thomas Sutton Section B: The Future of MythologyMythological Terminalia, Jonathan Miles-Watson and Vivian Asimos1. Does Myth have a Future? Robert Segal Copyright AcknowledgementsIndex