Abstract
Roland Barthes’ discussion of myth in “Myth Today” produces, almost as a by-product, the figure of the mythologist, that is, of the one who is able to identify – to see through – the ‘double system’ of myth. Put differently, the text’s discussion of myth (re-)produces its readers – and literary scholars more generally – as figures that occupy a very particular position in relation to myth. More specifically, they are placed in the position of an outsider, of one who, because of their understanding of myth, can never again be truly immersed in it. This paper, then, makes use of Julia Kristeva’s notion of abjection to explore the precarious position of the mythologist. Importantly, this is not an attempt at bluntly forcing one theoretical framework onto the other, simply because it is possible. Instead, it is an exploration of how ideas can traverse each other, as one idea comes to illuminate and draw to the fore what remains at the margins in the other. Accordingly, this paper does not claim that the mythologist clearly is or is not an abject figure. Instead, it illustrates that, by thinking through the lens of Kristeva’s framework, aspects of myth which would otherwise remain intangible in Barthes’ text can be made available for exploration. In this way, it aims to not only illuminate the role of the mythologist, but also performatively demonstrate that letting one idea travel through another can be particularly fruitful when the connection between them is not necessarily obvious.
Presenters
Matteo KobzaPhD Student / Teaching and Research Assistant, General and Comparative Literature, University of Zürich, Zürich (de), Switzerland
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
2024 Special Focus—Traveling Concepts: The Transfer and Translation of Ideas in the Humanities
KEYWORDS
Critical Theory, Literary Theory, Myth, Abjection, Travelling Concepts
