This original, provocative study, first published in 1973, presents a new method of interpretation of mythology, and reveals the wide-ranging implications of this universal phenomenon for many disciplines. The volume begins with a sympathetic but critical examination of Lévi-Strauss’s interpretation of mythology. Professor Munz points out the deficiencies in structuralist interpretations, and takes Lévi-Strauss’s neglect of the historicity of all myths as a starting-point for an alternative approach to mythology. Myths, he argues, come in typological series. If the whole series is read forward to the most specific version, the myths will reveal their inherent meaning typologically.
1. Introduction 2. A Critique of Structuralism 3. The Ambivalence of the Distinction Between Structuralism and Functionalism 4. The Phenomenon of Typology 5. The Opportunism of Structuralism 6. Typological Interpretation 7. Myths and Metaphysics 8. Metaphysics and Symbols 9. Symbols and Signs 10. Symbols and Psychology 11. The Truth Value of Symbols 12. The Equivalence of Symbols 13. Metaphors and Societies
Biography
Peter Munz