Modern myths are cultural phenomena that have a mythological nature, but originated in the culture of a scientifically-rational society. The phenomenon of modern myth is correlated with the processes of remithologization as a strategy for interpreting the myth as a significant, autonomous, valuable experience and universal cultural principle.
In the study of ethnography of the XX century, modernity was considered a fruitful field for mythologization. At the same time, in the works of V.P. Rudnev and a number of other scientists (S.P. Batrakova, V. B. Mirimanov, E. M. Meletinsky, A. K. Yakimovich), the term neomythologism appears as a phenomenon of the direction of modernism, realized as:
- creative borrowing of ancient mythological motifs and plots
- likening of an artistic language to mythological parent language with its polysemantism and associativity
- the creation of their own (copyright, ideological) mythological worlds and images.
A. L. Toporkov identifies four types of myths:
- Myths of political and public life created by politicians, political parties and the media.
- Religious and ethnic myths associated with self-identification (past and present of Orthodoxy and Russia)
- Myths related to “non-religious beliefs” (about aliens , bigfoot and psychics )
- Myths of mass culture (the myth of the USA and the American way of life )
Contemporary Mythology in Literature
With the advent of the era of modernism in art, which was marked by the processes of remythologization (the revival of interest in the mythological worldview), the authors actively used motifs and plots from mythology to structure the artistic space of the work. It is noteworthy that the myth often plays not only biblical and ancient myths, but also the historical and cultural reality of previous years, everyday mythology, and literary texts of the past. Thus, the boundaries of the definition of myths are erased. For example, the position of Rolland Bart was such that "anything can be a myth." The connotation of the meaning of myth was no longer inclined to "fiction", this term is perceived through the prism of the archaic attitude as a "genuine, real event", and, more importantly, a sacred event, significant and serving as an example to follow. "Thus, the meaning of myth in context of modernity is evolving from “displaying true reality” in sensory images to “myth as a universal symbolic key to comprehending the entire human culture”.
Artistic mythologism is defined as:
- modeling of reality according to the laws of mythological thinking and the creation of deep mythological and syncretic structures of thinking (lack of objective spatio-temporal connections, geographical confinement, motifs of werewolfing, duality of characters;
- recreation of ancient mythological plots and characters (often with ironic overtones); their use in the context of realistic narrative is possible;
Literature
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- Baryshnikov P. N. Mythology of the present // Bulletin of the Peoples' Friendship University of Russia . - 2006. - No. 1 - S. 182-189.
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- Neklyudov S. Yu. The structure and function of myth // Myths and mythology in modern Russia. / Ed. K. Aymermacher , F. Bomsdorf , G. A. Bordyugov . - M .: AIRO-XX, 2000 .-- S. 17-38. - 216 p. ( copy )
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- Rudnev V.P. Dictionary of 20th Century Culture: Key Concepts and Texts. - M.: Agraf, 1997 .-- 384 p.
- Contemporary Russian mythology / comp. M.V. Akhmetova . - M .: RGGU , 2005 .-- 285 p.
- Toporkov A. L. Myths and mythology of the XX century: traditions and perception // Man and society: searches, problems and solutions, 1999.
- Hübner K. The truth of the myth. - M .: Republic , 1996 .-- 387 p.
- Chernyshov A.V. The modern state of Soviet mythology // Chernyshov A.V. Modern Soviet mythology. - Tver: A. Chernyshov, 1992. - S. 4-27. - 77 p. - 1000 copies.