“ The Hero with a Thousand Faces ” ( Eng. The Hero with a Thousand Faces ; in some translations - “The Thousand-Face Hero” [1] ) is a book by American scientist Joseph Campbell on comparative mythology . In 2011, the book got into the list of the best and most influential books according to the Time magazine version (among books written in English since 1923) [2]
| Hero with a thousand faces | |
|---|---|
| The Hero with a Thousand Faces | |
 | |
| Genre | science , comparative mythology |
| Author | Joseph campbell |
| Original language | English |
| Date of first publication | 1949 |
| Publisher | Sofia |
Content
Key ideas
Campbell wrote The Hero with a Thousand Faces in 1949 and used the books of the theory of Freud , Jung , Arnold Van Gennep , as well as the research of the ethnographers James George Fraser and Franz Boas and the psychologist Otto Ranque .
Campbell, exploring the myths of the peoples of the world, came to the conclusion that most of the legends have a common plot structure of the journey of the archetypal hero, which he called the mono-myth . The hero, according to Campbell, makes a journey in several stages: having received the call, he leaves the ordinary world and with the help of a mentor overcomes the barrier on the way to the supernatural world. Further, the hero is expected to be tested, with the help of allies, as well as the most difficult test, by accepting which, he will receive an award. Then comes the metaphorical death and resurrection. After this, the hero returns with a reward to the ordinary world and is on the way waiting for him to be tested again. Returning, the hero can apply the resulting award to improve the ordinary world.
When creating the book, Campbell studied the classics of mythology and literature, in particular, he was guided by the paths that were followed by such heroes: Osiris , Buddha , Jesus , Prometheus , Mohammed , Moses . Guided by the theory of Van Gennep, Campbell developed his classification of transition rites, also dividing them into three stages: separation, dedication, and return or separation, liminal, and final stages .
The term monomith is borrowed from Finnegans Wake , Joyce .
Impact
Based on the ideas presented in the book, Hollywood producer Christopher Vogler wrote a training manual for screenwriters . This short, 7-page note has influenced the scripts of many films, in particular the Walt Disney studio. George Lucas used the Campbell theory in his Star Wars [3] [4] .
Russian editions
- Campbell D. Hero with a Thousand Faces: Myth. Archetype Unconscious = The Hero with a thousand faces / ed. I. Old; per. from English K. Semenov. - SPb. : Sofia, 1997. - 336 p. - ISBN 5-220-00066-7 .
- Campbell D. Thousands Hero = The Hero with thousand faces / Trans. from English A.P. Homik. - K. , M .: Vakler; Refl-beech; AST, 1997. - 384 p. - (Constellation of Wisdom (Astrum Sapientiae)). - 11,000 copies - ISBN 5-87983-054-3 , ISBN 5-87983-058-6 , ISBN 966-543-195-1 , ISBN 5-15-000228-3 .
See also
- Comparative mythology
- Vladimir Propp
- The morphology of the fairy tale
- Monomyth
- Index of plots of folklore tales
Notes
- ↑ Translation by Alexander Homik
- ↑ Susanna Schrobsdorff. All-TIME 100 Nonfiction Books (English) // Time. - ISSN 0040-781X .
- ↑ Pacifica Graduate Institute - Joseph Campbell Chronology . web.archive.org (April 30, 2011). The appeal date is February 2, 2019.
- ↑ TV.com. Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth: The Hero's Adventure . TV.com. The appeal date is February 2, 2019.