Some literary scholars view myth criticism as passe; an approach to literature that enjoyed a heyday in the 1950s and 1960s before being replaced by approaches that are considered to be more theoretically sophisticated and satisfying, such as feminism, new historicism, and deconstruction. Moddelmog argues that there are many good reasons not to cast out myth criticism from the community of critical approaches. Most obvious among them is that myth has attracted many writers of this century -- from James Joyce to Thomas Pynchon, Virginia Woolf to Flannery OʹConnor, Thomas Mann to Alain Robbe-Grillet, William Faulkner to Alberto Moravia -- and that to ignore myth is to dismiss an essential part of their work. Moddelmog suggests that by reconstruing the relationship between myth and literature, we will find that mythic approaches are frequently not only necessary but also highly stimulating, engaging readers in many varieties of questions, quests, and conclusions. -- Publisher description.

"This new edition of MYTHOLOGIES is the first complete, authoritative English version of the French classic, Roland Barthes's most emblematic work"--

We all tell stories about who we are, where we come from, and where we are going. These personal myths in turn shape who we become and what we believe—as individuals, families, and nations. This book offers readers the tools to detect the story line in their own lives and to write and tell it to others, opening up a hidden world of self-discovery and meaning. The numerous accessible exercises are followed by examples of personal stories and inspiring quotes to stimulate the journey to the center of one's purpose. "By the art of fantasy and imagination, story and image, these authors map the ways personal stories deepen into transpersonal mythic journeys." —David Miller, Ph.D., Watson-Ledden Professor of Religion, Syracuse University

"Messages, Signs, and Meanings can be used directly in introductory courses in semiotics, communications, media, or culture studies. Additionally, it can be used as a complementary or supplementary text in courses dealing with cognate areas of investigation (psychology, mythology, education, literary studies, anthropology, linguistics). The text builds upon what readers already know intuitively about signs, and then leads them to think critically about the world in which they live - a world saturated with images of all kinds that a basic knowledge of semiotics can help filter and deconstruct. The text also provides opportunities for readers to do "hands-on" semiotics through the exercises and questions for discussion that accompany each chapter. Biographical sketches of the major figures in the field are also included, as is a convenient glossary of technical terms." "The overall plan of the book is to illustrate how message-making and meaning-making can be studied from the specific vantage point of the discipline of semiotics. This third edition also includes updated discussions of information technology throughout, focusing especially on how meanings are now negotiated through such channels as websites, chat rooms, and instant messages."--Jacket.

Using examples such as the Wonderbra advertisements and the film Waterworld, Bignell presents an investigation of the critical approach to contemporary media studies and discusses the challenges posed by post-structuralist theory and postmodernism.

Whether revered for his masculinity, condemned as an icon of machismo, or perceived as possessing complex androgynous characteristics, Ernest Hemingway is acknowledged to be one of the most important twentieth-century American novelists. For Debra A. Moddelmog, the intense debate about the nature of his identity reveals how critics' desires give shape to an author's many guises. In her provocative book, Moddelmog interrogates Hemingway's persona and work to show how our perception of the writer is influenced by society's views on knowledge, power, and sexuality. She believes that recent attempts to reinvent Hemingway as man and as artist have been circumscribed by their authors' investment in heterosexist ideology; she seeks instead to situate Hemingway's sexual identity in the interface between homosexuality and heterosexuality. Moddelmog looks at how sexual orientation, gender, race, nationality, able-bodiedness--and the intersections of these elements--contribute to the formation of desire. Ultimately, she makes a far-reaching and suggestive argument about multiculturalism and the canons of American letters, asserting that those who teach literature must be aware of the politics and ethics of the authorial constructions they promote.

Robert Graves tells us that “the poet’s first enrichment is a knowledge and understanding of myths.” Certainly, as this collection of essays, poems and visual images affirms, mythology has been a field richly mined by poets and artists from antiquity through to the present day. It is testament to both the enduring power of myth, as well as the adaptability of its form, that poets and writers continually turn to the mythic for both inspiration and guidance. This volume presents a diverse collection of analytical and creative works by scholars, poets and visual artists, in response to their varied explorations of the prolific dialogue that exists between myth and poetry.