Mythology in the Modern Novel: A Study of Prefigurative Techniques

John J. White

Published by Princeton University Press 1972

Mythology in the Modern Novel

A Study of Prefigurative Techniques

John J. White

Volume 1670 in the series Princeton Legacy Library

https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400871780

Overview
Contents

About this book

J. J. White reexamines the use of myth in fiction in order to bring a new terminological precision into the field. While concentrating on the German novel (Mann, Broch, and Nossack), he discusses the work of Alberto Moravia, John Bowen, Michel Butor, and Macdonald Harris as well, in order to show the modern predilection for myth in whatever national literature. Throughout his discussion, Mr. White delineates carefully his specific subject: the novel in which mythological motifs are used to prefigure events and character—Joyce's Ulysses is, of course, the archetypal novel in this tradition.

Setting forth his terms, and making clear his use of them, Mr. White then analyzes the wide appeal of the mythological novel for both twentieth-century novelists and critics: he distinguishes four ways in which modern novelists use myth and surveys the range of critical literature on the subject. His concluding chapters are discussions of specific texts in which he differentiates between novels which have a unilinear parallel between myth and plot, novels of "juxtaposition" in which chapters retelling myth parallel modern action, and novels of fusion in which the action of the modern account synthesizes more than one mythic prefiguration of mythological motif.

Originally published in 1972.

The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Preface Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	ix
Acknowledgments Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	xi
Chapter One. Myth and the Modern Novel Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
Chapter Two. Terms and Distinctions Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	32
Chapter Three. Approaches to the Mythological Novel Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	76
Chapter Four.The Unilinear Pattern of Development Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	118
Chapter Five. Distorted Motif-Structures Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	191
Select Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	241
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	255